| Gloomy Terrors and Hidden Fires: The Mystery of John Colter and Yellowstone Contributor(s): Anglin, Ronald M. (Author), Morris, Larry E. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1442226005 ISBN-13: 9781442226005 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers OUR PRICE: $52.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: October 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Adventurers & Explorers - History | Expeditions & Discoveries - History | United States - 19th Century |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2014015694 |
| Physical Information: 0.99" H x 5.46" W x 10.09" (1.20 lbs) 270 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1800-1850 - Cultural Region - Western U.S. |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: From 1810, when a newspaper published the first account of "Colter's Run," to 2012, when one hundred and fourscore participants in Montana's annual John Colter Run charged up and down rugged trails--even across the waist-deep Gallatin River--interest in Colter, the alleged discoverer of Yellowstone Park, has never waned. Drawing on this endless fascination with an individual often called the first American mountain man, this book offers an innovative, comprehensive study of a unique figure in American history. Despite his prominent role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the early exploration of the West, Colter is distinctly different from Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Kit Carson, and the other legends of the era because they all left documents behind that allow access to the men themselves. Colter, by contrast, left nothing, not a single letter, diary, or reminiscence, so that second-, third-, or fourth-hand accounts of his adventures are all we have. Guiding readers through this labyrinth of hearsay, rumor, and myth, this is the first book to tell the whole story of Colter and his legend, examining everything that is known--or supposedly known--about Colter and showing how historians and history buffs alike have tried in vain to get back to Colter the man, know what he said and feel what he felt, but have ended up never seeing him clearly, finding instead an enigma they cannot unravel. |
Contributor Bio(s): Morris, Larry E.: - Larry E. Morris is the author of The Fate of the Corps: What Became of the Lewis and Clark Explorers after the Expedition, a History Book Club selection favorably reviewed by such publications as The Wall Street Journal, New Scientist, and The Missouri Historical Review. Morris is one of six authors whose work on Lewis and Clark is recommended by Encyclopedia Britannica. Choice named Fate an Outstanding Academic Title and said it "ranks among the best books in the crowded world of Lewis and Clark hagiography." In 2005, the Washington State Library selected thirty-three "essential core books about the expedition." That list included Fate, which, according to the WorldCat database, has been placed in more libraries than any of the other books except those by Ambrose, Bernard DeVoto, and Ken Burns. Morris is also the author of The Perilous West: Seven Amazing Explorers and the Founding of the Oregon Trail (given a Starred Review by Library Journal) and co-author of Gloomy Terrors and Hidden Fires: John Colter and the Mystery of Yellowstone (called a "definitive biography" by Booklist), both published by Rowman & Littlefield. |