John Colter: Explorer, Mountain Man, and Trapper

When Lewis and Clark, on their return trip, reached Fort Mandan, John Colter asked to be discharged at that point and his request was granted. … From that date this member of the exploring party has been identified with the country which in later years became Wyoming. Colter while with Lewis and Clark won the respect of the explorers and was often called upon to perform important service where bravery and cool-headedness were required. I regret that so little is known of his early history and that nothing is chronicled of his old age and death. No braver man ever entered the Rocky Mountain country. All that is known of his early life is that he was a hunter and woodsman and in his line had won renown before he joined Lewis and Clark.