My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting

A nineteenth century mountaineer recounts his varied and adventuresome life on the American frontier in this classic Western memoir. In 1842, following the doctor’s orders for a change of climate, William Hamilton found himself accompanying a party of trappers on a year-long expedition. Heading into the wild, Hamilton would prove himself to be a fast learner, as adept with a firearm as with sign language. As the years continued, Hamilton was drawn into the Indian Wars brought about by territorial expansion. Hamilton vividly recounts a lifetime of exploring, trapping, trading, and fighting. He shows how every aspect of a mountain man’s life relied on his wits and knowledge in order survive the inhospitable environments. First published in 1905, Hamilton’s memoir relates an extraordinary life in a disappearing American West.