Journal of a Mountain Man

by James Clyman

Book Overview

In his own homey words, James Clyman relates his experiences in the heyday of the American fur trade and during the peak of immigration to Oregon and California. Clyman was a member of Jedediah... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0878421823
• ISBN13: 9780878421824
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Mountain Press Publishing Company
• Length: 295 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

journal of a mountain man

I was born 150 years too late. I like to read the adventures of the fur trappers and pioneers. The book arrived in excellent shape and is an enjoyable read even though life sometimes in the day was like today, mundane. Good read

Used Book Review

I was quite surprized at the condition that my book came in. The description said it was in "good" shape. Well, it was in much better shape than I had planned. Thank you so much for helping find a book that I had almost given up on finding.

Excellent first hand narrative...

We should be grateful that there were such men as Clyman to write down history as they saw it in the early to mid 1800's. Not many mountain men/frontiersmen were literate, and if this wasn't written down back then, it would have just been heresay. Clyman came out with Jedediah Smith in the 1820's as a fur trapper. He records what went on at that time. These couple of chapters are a fascinating read. Then in the early 1840's, he came out with the Oregon Trail emigrants. He was a very observant individual, describing not only the climate, but also geology, flora, fauna, agriculture, etc. along the way. There was a section in the book where he talks about "time and space" which really surprised me about how deep a thinker the man was...he was very intelligent, also writting poetry and prose. If you want to know what it was like then, read this book...it's a good one!

The Real Thing

This is one of my favorite books. I just bought one for my cousin and decided to submit a review. If you're looking for a literary masterpiece, go buy Finnegan's Wake. This book is written by a pretty illiterate guy who spent his life exploring the West, back when it was all indians and a few couple white men. The author hiked naked over a thousand miles after he ripped a hole in the back of the Indian tent where he was being held captive, attacked, killed and ate a badger with his bare hands, and was generally the toughest, meanest SOB I've ever encountered. If you're intrigued by the old West, but you're sick of reading and viewing the lightweight fluff, get this book. Its the Real Thing.