All language subtitles for The West S01E02.eng

At the beginning
of the 19th century,

the western border
of the United States

is the Mississippi River.

Beyond it lies French Louisiana,

a land that, for most Americans,
is too vast to imagine,

too mysterious to comprehend.

But when President Thomas
Jefferson buys it from Napoleon,

American explorers
quickly seek out

its most valuable resource,

animal furs.

As trappers and traders pursue
their fortunes out west,

Native Americans will
be forced to fight

to preserve the riches
of their homeland.

One daring mountain
man named John Colter

will get caught up in
a clash of cultures,

forging a legend with
a run for his life.

People live on myths.

And the myths that really stick
in the American experience

are the myths of the West.

The mountains were taller,
the deserts were harsher.

The snows were deeper.

American West conjures wonder,
possibility, opportunity.

The figure of
the mountain man.

Notorious outlaws.

The cowboy.

The discovery of
gold in California.

This train of wagons

trailing across the prairie.

Everybody has a reason
for wanting this land.

But most of that land
was already occupied.

We have been residents
for more than 10,000 years.

But this is a clash
of two different ways

of seeing life itself.

Fighting for the future of
your homeland on the one side,

and fighting for the destiny

of the new republic
on the other side.

The history of
the West is a creation story.

It's the creation of what we
think of as modern America.

The West is a place
where anything is possible.

It is the essence of
the American Dream.

The core of this, is what
are we to be as a nation?

The reckoning is coming.

The West
is this canvas

on which American dreams
become larger than life.

March 1803.

The United States is young.

It's been independent
for just 20 years,

and its economy
and infrastructure

are still in their infancy.

But the nation is growing fast.

Ohio has just entered the
union as the 17th state.

The US population is 5.3
million, and rising 35% a year.

The majority of
Americans are farmers.

And for President
Thomas Jefferson,

the future of the republic
rests on their shoulders.

To Jefferson's mind,

the ideal American
citizen was a farmer

cultivating a small
tract of land.

Jefferson saw
the yeoman farmer

as almost a natural aristocrat.

And he was opposed to
that inherited aristocracy

of Europe culture.

Jefferson also
needs American farmers

to build the nation's economy,

but as more settlers move West,

the Mississippi River
becomes increasingly vital

for trade and transport,

and it's vulnerable
to foreign influence.

France has just
taken over the lands

west of the Mississippi River.

Spain is down in
Mexico, another threat.

The British are up
north in Canada,

so you still have
empires that are circling

around the United States or
pressing in from all sides.

With so many
potential European threats,

Jefferson needs to make
sure American farmers

have free access to
the Mississippi River

to ship their crops.

So he looks to acquire
the port of New Orleans.

That's all Jefferson wants,
control of the port city,

so we can control all of
that produce going down river

and it'll be under
American jurisdiction.

But Jefferson
will have to bargain

with the leader of
the French Republic,

Napoleon Bonaparte.

Napoleon has designs
on a global empire,

which includes the
western hemisphere,

but when slaves revolt in Haiti,

Napoleon finds himself in
the midst of a quagmire.

His imperial goals are
starting to fall apart.

He needs to finance this army

and he's looking for
any way out that he can.

Jefferson sent his diplomats
over to make an offer

for New Orleans, and
that's when Napoleon said,

"Well, I don't know
about New Orleans.

Why don't you buy
the whole thing?"

Napoleon offers
to sell the United States

the entire territory
of Louisiana,

a vast swath of
land that stretches

from the Mississippi
to the Rockies.

828,000 square miles,

575 million acres
for $15.6 million.

The greatest land sale in human
history, 3 cents per acre,

doubling the size
of our republic

with a single stroke
of Jefferson's pen.

It's impossible for us to get
our brains around this moment.

With France now gone

from the North
American continent,

the United States
is down one rival.

Now, its primary threat is
its former colonial ruler,

Great Britain.

The Treaty of Paris in
1783 settles the revolution

and the US thinks,
"Okay, we're free now.

We're free of British influence,
we're our own people."

The British aren't
thinking the same way.

They're looking to push over
the US at any opportunity.

With their
extensive network

of North American
outposts, the British

run the most profitable
fur trade in the world.

The fur trade, the
trade in animal pelts

in the 17th and the
18th and 19th century,

was one of the greatest
economic machines

in the entire Western world.

In exchange for
weapons and other goods,

Native people trade valuable fur

such as fox, marten,
mink, and sea otter,

which Europeans take overseas

and sell at a markup.

The British had a
tremendously developed

infrastructure in the fur trade.

It was easy to come
down from Canada into

what was technically
US territory

and take furs, or
trade for furs.

Jefferson
suspects the newly acquired

territory of Louisiana
is filled with furs

and other valuable resources.

He asked Congress to fund an
expedition to explore the area.

He wants to know
what's out there.

Various flora and fauna

and species of bird and fish,
and he wants to know it all.

Jefferson
tasks two Army officers,

Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark,

with a mission to lead
a Corps of Discovery

into Louisiana territory.

In May of 1804, they head west

from St. Louis on
the Missouri River.

And the kind of young
men who were capable

of doing this are
like Navy Seals.

The rest of us
wouldn't last two days

on the Lewis and
Clark expedition.

The party totals 45,

including scientists,
photographers,

and several healthy young men

with exceptional
survival skills.

Among them is
32-year-old John Colter.

John Colter is born in
Virginia in the early 1770s

and he grows up on a farm

and has access to
the great outdoors.

And spends a lot of time there

really learning his
way around a forest.

John Colter is
the type of person

Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark were trying to recruit

for the Corps of Discovery.

Extraordinary endurance,

incredible outdoor skills,

and ability to confront things
in a spontaneous fashion,

and able to rendezvous at
a very distant location.

And he had all of
those things in spades.

When we think of, like,
a natural in baseball

or a natural athlete, he
was a natural mountain man.

He could read the land.

He had skills that
most people don't have.

He had drive.

He is a person
who is resistant

to the strictures
of modern society,

of rules, of churches, of laws,

and he's gonna be
much more comfortable

away from all that, out
there in the wilderness.

To be part of a
historic mission

that's authorized by the
Congress of the United States,

that had to be so intoxicating.

This is the moon mission.

This is a mission to Mars.

As the
Corps of Discovery

heads deeper into this
uncharted territory,

they experienced
the harsh conditions

of the Northern Plains.

They also discover the
fabled beauty of the land

and encounter the Native
nations who call it home.

The biggest
misconception is that

the west was a virgin land.

They knew better,

and we certainly know better
that it wasn't a virgin land,

it was a peopled land.

East of
the Mississippi,

Native nations are being
pushed off their lands

by an onslaught of
American settlers.

It's different in the West,
as the Corps discovers.

They are trying to collect not
only scientific information,

but also diplomatic and
military information

in order to be
able to ascertain,

how hard is it going to be
to get control of this place,

or the many places that
different peoples inhabit.

They require a tremendous amount

of help from Native peoples.

They had, among their
party, the Frenchman,

who knew some of
the Native peoples,

and his wife that everyone
knows as Sacagawea.

Serving as a
guide and translator,

Sacagawea will prove
invaluable to the mission.

So much so that Lewis and Clark
name a river in her honor.

Oftentimes, it's connections
with Indians that are crucial

because if Indians
don't want you there,

you're not gonna
last long there.

Throughout the
expedition's first year,

Lewis and Clark
encounter numerous tribes

across the Northern Plains.

John Colter proves his word.

John Colter turns
out to be really good

interacting with
Native Americans,

and bartering with them, and
getting information from them.

He's also really good
at navigating his way

through wilderness.

And so whenever there's
a job to be done

to send somebody a hundred miles

on a journey to do something,

they pick John Colter
because he can do it

and he can find his way back.

Lewis and
Clark task Colter

with finding a lost
member of the corps.

They send him on
scouting missions

and he quickly
gains a reputation

as one of the most skilled
hunters in the party.

I mean, just imagine
what it was like

to be alone, danger every day,

have no idea what you're
going to encounter.

He became a professional
man of the West.

As the
corps makes its way

up the Missouri River,

Colter can't help but
notice the abundance

of a particular animal.

All the way up,

they're seeing more and
more and more beaver

and he, like others, on the
Corps of Discovery are thinking

that there's wealth
to be had here.

Beaver are such unique species

because their hair is
so dense on their hide

and it makes it extremely
soft, very durable,

and so it became extremely
popular for top hats

during the 19th century.

Beaver fur becomes one
of the hot commodities,

essentially the gold of
the early 19th century.

So, the person that can
acquire beaver pelts

is sitting on a fortune.

By the summer of 1806,

the Corps of Discovery
is finally headed back

towards St. Louis.

Over the course of two years,

they've made an incredible
8,000 mile round trip voyage

mapping not only the
Louisiana territory

but vast areas of the
Pacific Northwest.

Their discoveries of
rivers, mountains,

Native nations,
plants, and animals

create a catalog of the West

drawn in detail in the
journals of Lewis and Clark.

So they get beyond
the Yellowstone River.

They're this close to St. Louis

and they encounter the first
white men they have seen

for a very, very long time.

Their names are Forrest
Hancock and Joseph Dickson.

They've had a rough time of it

and now they're in hopes
of repairing their fortunes

by trapping beaver.

One of the most beaver-rich
areas in the entire nation

was around the headwaters
of the Missouri River,

and that's where Colter
had just come from

with the Lewis and
Clark expedition.

And so he's one of
the very few white men

to have actually
been to that place.

Hancock and Dickson,
they asked the captains,

"Is there anyone among
you who might be willing

to come back with us

to serve as a kind of
guide or companion?"

And Lewis and Clark
think, are you nuts?

You know, we're just
weeks from home.

Of course no one's
gonna turn back.

And Colter steps forward
and says, "I'll do it.

I wanna do it.

I wanna go back."

So in
the fall of 1806,

John Colter turns
back to the West

while the rest of the Corps
of Discovery heads home.

They have been out of contact

with American society
for nearly two years.

Because they
were gone so long,

people just assumed that
they too had perished.

And so, when they finally
show up in St. Louis,

it's like they came
back from the dead.

"Here we are!"

As news of
their return spreads,

Lewis and Clark become
national celebrities.

Americans savor their
detailed accounts

of the wild frontier
and its riches.

Meriwether Lewis writes
this very reassuring

letter to President Jefferson.

"The West abounds
with essentially

infinite numbers of beaver.

This resource is unlimited."

For
President Jefferson,

this discovery presents
an incredible opportunity,

a chance to compete with the
British in the fur trade.

A handful of American trappers
are already making their way

up the Missouri River,
including John Colter.

And Colter turns back
with Hancock and Dickson

and goes up to the mouth
of the Yellowstone.

He knows its unlimited wealth

if you can really harvest this.

By the early 1800s,
the idea in America

that one can come from
very humble circumstances

and through hard work
and a little bit of luck,

one can elevate themselves
up to a higher class.

That has been firmly entrenched
after 200 years of colonization.

And so people like John Colter
are imbued with that idea

that even though I'm born
to humble circumstances,

I can get into the fur trade.

And if I work hard
and I apply myself,

I can become fabulously wealthy.

As John Colter
leads Dickson and Hancock

up the Missouri River,

the winter of 1806
is about to set in.

He knows if he wants to survive,

he'll have to find
Native allies.

So he sets up camp
near the Crow.

Crow people in the
19th century were located

all along both sides of
the Yellowstone River.

We occupied an area that was
about 40 million acres in size.

Crow people are not hung
up on race politics.

They are welcoming of anyone

who wants to come and
share their community.

They're opening
their doors to them

and John Colter is
one of those people.

He knows how to speak
plain sign language.

Once a person could learn
how to use this language,

then they were
able to communicate

with any tribe on the
northern or southern plains.

Colter comes in and he's gaining

hundreds, thousands of years

of local knowledge
from these tribes.

Every plant that he's
looking at on the ground

is something that the Crows
can identify as something

that's either edible or useful
in some utilitarian way.

But some Native
nations don't want Americans

trapping on their lands.

The Blackfeet are
strongly opposed

to American fur traders
coming up the Missouri River

into Blackfeet territory,

and many of those fur traders

ended up paying
with their lives.

The Blackfeet were feared by

their Native American
neighbors like the Crow,

and they transmitted
this fear to

the white folks that came on.

Watch out for the Blackfeet.

By the early 1800s,
the Blackfeet had been trading

with the British-owned Hudson's
Bay Company for decades,

making them one of the
most heavily armed tribes

on the Northern Plains.

But while the British respect
the Blackfeet's sovereignty,

Americans are using their
lands without permission.

The Blackfeet made a lot
of mountain men retire.

They have been on the Northern
Plains thousands of years

and they control,
militaristically,

the entire northern
portion of Montana,

probably for several
hundred miles.

This is their
sovereign homeland

and suddenly, these people
from outside are in,

no license, no negotiation,

just coming in, killing
stuff and and taking it out.

The Blackfeet rightly understand
that this is a threat.

John Colter
has found allies

in the Blackfeet's
fiercest rivals, the Crow,

who show Colter where
it's safe to trap

and which places to avoid.

But even with some help,
the work is relentless.

The beaver fur is thickest

and most valuable in
the middle of winter.

And in order to set the traps

and to retrieve the beaver,
if they do get trapped,

you have to go in the water

in absolutely
freezing temperatures.

And if you get wet
and it's really cold,

you can freeze to
death very quickly.

Colter makes it
through the long winter,

but the harsh conditions prove
too much for his partners.

I think Hancock and Dickson

really don't have
the right stuff.

They knew it, that's
why they asked for help.

And so he finally
gives up on them.

Colter leaves
Hancock and Dickson

with all the provisions.

By the spring of 1807,

he's on his way back
down the Missouri River,

defeated and alone.

But in the West, opportunity
is never far away.

This time, he gets all the way

to the mouth of
the Platte River.

So he's just days
from St. Louis now,

and he meets Manuel Lisa.

Now, Lisa a Spaniard.

He is a very ambitious
and driven man

and he is leading a large group

up to the Yellowstone country

to do industrial
extraction of beaver.

Colter discovers that
there are several members

of his friends in
Manuel Lisa's expedition

and he agrees to
work for Manuel Lisa.

And Colter turns back again.

So, this means he can't
get it out of his system.

There's something so
compelling in the West

that he overcomes his caution
again and again and again,

very nearly to the
point of death.

By the early 1800s,

British Canadian fur trade
has been going strong

for nearly two centuries

and the United States is
just beginning to catch up.

In the US, I mean, they're
kind of hobbling along

on horses and hauling boats
up rivers with ropes,

compared to this very
efficient British fur trade.

Our image of the fur
trade during this period

is dominated by these romantic
fascinating characters,

the mountain men, and
they were obviously,

they were sort of the
working force of it,

but all of this was run
by larger businesses.

The British
have already established

major fur trading
outposts in Canada,

such as the Hudson's
Bay Company,

employing hundreds of trappers

and generating a hefty
stream of revenue.

By contrast, the
American Great Plains

has nothing of the sort

until Manuel Lisa ventures
up the Missouri River.

Manuel Lisa will be
the first to establish

a trading post there.

This is a place that
traders can trade their furs

and their wares all year,

where Native Americans can come

and engage in commerce as well.

So it becomes an
important economic driver

in this long move toward
the settlement of the West.

Manuel Lisa creates
his trade fort

at the mouth of the Big Horn.

So in the heart of
Absaroka Crow Country.

It's in their interest to be
on good terms with the Crow.

Colter's
Experience with the Crow

makes him the perfect man
to head up trade relations

with the local tribes.

Manuel Lisa wants
Colter to go around

and inform the different tribes

that there's going be
a new trading post,

that they're welcome
to come there

and trade with their hides.

And so this is gonna
be a new Costco

or Walmart on the
Northern Plains.

If you'd said to him,
"What do you have to have?"

He would've said, "Powder,
ball, rifle, hatchet, knife.

Beyond that, I can make do,

I can make moccasins,
I can make clothes,

I can butcher animals."

Colter's exploration

of the upper Yellowstone
is legendary.

He makes his way west
of the Wind River range

into what we know of as
the Yellowstone Caldera.

He experiences the geysers,
he sees the hot pools.

He's encountering these things

that only indigenous
people would've known.

And so in that way, it's like
discovering a new continent.

As Colter
lays the groundwork

for Lisa's trading post
known as Fort Raymond,

he helps to create the first
commercial infrastructure

for this region of
the American West.

This is what Thomas Jefferson
has been hoping for,

but his vision
doesn't stop there.

To him, the fur trade
in the Northern Plains

is a gateway to
the Pacific Coast.

So in these years,
the very early 1800s,

the West Coast is really
unclaimed territory.

Technically, Spain's up
as far as San Francisco,

you have Russian fur
traders way up in Alaska.

And then between those
Russian fur posts

in Alaska and San
Francisco, you have

2,000 miles of unclaimed
coast in the northwest.

This is an incredible resource
in both land and in furs,

and Britain knows it,
and the US knows it.

The British and the
Americans eventually end up

in a fur trading arms
race, so to speak,

to extract as
quickly as they can

the remaining furs across
most of Western North America.

But as
American trade networks

advance towards the Rockies,

it causes turmoil among
the Native nations.

A lot of these
tribes have agreements.

They're peaceful
with one another.

As pioneers and other
Americans move westward,

tribes steadily lose
land and resources,

and that causes
conflict amongst them.

The rivalry between
the Crow and the Blackfeet

has been building for decades.

Fights over territory
and horses are common.

But the latest sticking point

is Manuel Lisa's trading fort.

The Crow are benefiting
because now they're getting

rifle and shot,

they're getting kettles, and
handkerchiefs, and beads,

and all the things that
they want and can use.

And so they like
this arrangement.

But the Blackfeet know
that the fort means one thing,

more Americans trespassing
on their lands.

And it's not long
before John Colter

finds himself
caught in the fray.

As John Colter returns
from his thousand-mile trek

in the spring of 1808,

he passes through the middle
of a generational conflict

between two Native nations,

the Crow and their
rivals, the Blackfeet.

When Colter leaves
Fort Manuel Lisa in 1808

and makes his way to the West,

he comes into a group
of Crow hunter gatherers

and he joins their group.

And they encounter a very
large contingent of Blackfeet,

and there's a battle.

Colter's part of the Crow world.

He's naturally gonna
fight with the Crow.

In the ensuing
clash, John Colter,

he's a really good shot,

so he ends up killing a
number of Blackfeet warriors

before getting wounded
himself in the leg.

Wounded and bleeding,

Colter hikes the long trail,

through the snow,
back to Fort Raymond.

But his bravery has left
its mark on the Blackfeet.

When you talk about
plains Indian warfare

at the time that John
Colter was engaged in it,

it was pretty close up.

It was pretty personal
style of fighting

so people could see you.

They would remember
what you looked like.

And so, if he fought
against Blackfeet in 1808,

it's likely that they
remembered who he was

and that they
could identify him.

But as he
recovers at Fort Raymond,

the allure of the wilderness
is too great for him to resist,

and he's already
planning his next move.

While Colter is convalescing,

he sees all kind of trappers
coming into the fort with fur

and making really good money.

And it starts to gnaw at him

because he's an
exceptional trapper,

he knows how to do this.

So Colter heals
up from his injury

and like any good cowboy,

he wants to get back
up on that horse.

Meanwhile, a wealthy
entrepreneur in New York

also has his eyes
on the fur trade

with grand ambitions
to corner the market.

Well, John Jacob Astor
was born in Germany

in modest circumstances.

He comes to America
as a teenager,

he hears talk about this
lucrative fur trade.

So what does he do?

He gets to New York and
he goes into a furrier,

and he learns everything
he can about the trade,

and then somehow
goes out on his own

and eventually becomes the first

multimillionaire in America.

Jefferson gets a letter
from John Jacob Astor

and the letter
says to Jefferson,

"I have a plan for capturing

the entire fur wealth
of North America."

And Jefferson says,
"Who is this guy?

Come on down to the White
House, let's talk."

In the summer of 1808,

Astor goes to Washington
to meet the president

and lays out his plans.

He'll set up a network
of trading posts

all the way from the Missouri
River to the Pacific Coast,

where he'll establish an outpost

to link the American
fur trade with Asia,

Alaska, and beyond.

It's this grand vision

and they've come out all
pumped out of this meeting

and Jefferson says, "I will
help you in any way I can."

Well, of course,
this'll help them

crush Britain in the fur trade.

But Astor's
not the only one

looking to make his
fortune in the fur trade.

In the fall of
1808, Colter decides

to embark on another
trapping expedition.

Competition for furs
has never been greater,

but Colter has an advantage.

He knows the terrain,
he knows the tribes,

and he alone knows where to find

the densest
population of beaver,

right in the middle of
Blackfeet territory.

When fur trappers first
came to Blackfeet country,

the Blackfeet told them,
"Don't hunt these beavers here

or we're gonna chase
you out of here."

A lot of fur trappers decided
that they were gonna go ahead

and trap anyway,

and a lot of them didn't
have very good results.

Colter is aware that
they are in the territory

that is patrolled by
the Blackfeet tribe,

which makes it a very
perilous venture.

But he knows his
prospects are great

and if he gets out there,

he can do well and
maybe make his fortune.

Colter decides
to go in with a partner,

someone he already trusts,

and he chooses John Potts,

his former canoe mate from
the Corps of Discovery.

Colter suggests to Potts that
they do most of their trapping

and most of their setting and
cleaning of traps at night,

under the cover of darkness.

And so it works for a while.

They managed to stay out
of the Black purview there

and trap quite a few
beavers for several months.

And so one morning while
the sun is coming up,

they are setting
and repairing traps

and they hear in the distance
this thunderous roar,

which they first think might be

just a herd of
buffalo passing by.

That's when they encounter
a very large contingent

of very angry Blackfeet.

Colter and Potts are on
the river in their boat

fixing beaver traps,

when a large group of
Blackfeet warriors

appears on the
banks of the river

and motions them to come ashore.

John Colter realizes
there's no escape.

It's totally pointless.

Hey, wait, wait, wait.

And Colter is
ready to go ashore

because that's what
they're asking him to do.

Potts, on the other hand,
immediately hesitant.

And actually, Potts
picks up his rifle

and aims at the Blackfeet group.

The Blackfeet unleashed a
barrage of arrows on Potts

and he was killed in
pretty short order.

They bring Potts to the
shore and they dismember him.

They butcher him
in front of Colter.

Colter listens to the
Blackfeet as they adjudicate

and decide what they're
gonna do with him,

and he's familiar with them

and they seem to be
familiar with him.

He's pretty sure
he is a dead man,

but willing to see if he can
maybe find a way out of this.

They strip him,

including his moccasins.

And he listens in

as the Blackfeet elders
make a decision.

Then they report to him,

we're giving you a
chance to survive.

They're speaking to him in
sign language, telling him,

we'll let you know when
you can start running.

He starts running as fast
as he can across this plain.

It's a flat plain but it's
covered in prickly pear

and all sorts of other things
that are slicing up his feet.

Colter may be
running for his life,

but the Blackfeet are
defending their homeland

from the ever
encroaching Americans.

This is not just
an opportunity

to get revenge
against John Colter.

This is actually part of a wider
effort by Native Americans,

by the Blackfeet here to
resist what they see now

as white seizure of resources

that Native Americans
have depended on.

Colter knows that
his only hope of survival

is to make it to a fort.

He's got six miles of
open territory to traverse

and then, he's still 200 miles
away from the nearest fort.

Blood was gushing out
of his nose and mouth,

his lungs were bursting.

His feet were so badly damaged

that the pain was just
absolutely excruciating.

At a certain
point, he's winded.

He turns around to
see his progress

and realizes that most of the
warriors are far behind him.

But there's one that's
right on his tail.

John Colter wheels around.

And his appearance apparently
shocks this Blackfoot Indian

because he's covered in blood.

And Colter somehow manages
to wrest the spear from him,

and stab him with
it and kill him.

There's no time
to savor the victory

because he's got hundreds of
other warriors hot on his tail.

And heads as fast as he
can to a river nearby.

Jumps in the river,
begins to swim down river,

trying to get away from the
warriors who are in hot pursuit.

He eventually comes to a
cluster of fallen timbers,

logs that have been probably

chopped down by
beavers upstream.

If he can get underneath
this pile of logs

and find an air pocket,
he might be undetectable.

Colter gets under
it in such a way

that he can get
his nose and mouth

just above the water line.

And he waits in
ice cold water.

Eventually, the
Blackfeet arrive.

You're cold, you're
alone, you're bruised.

I don't know what he's thinking,

but I'm pretty sure
he was thinking,

"This is the last
day of my life."

John Colter's there in
the freezing cold water

under this pile of logs.

He's badly damaged.

He's totally exhausted.

The Blackfeet, they're
still searching for him.

All day, they were
moving back and forth,

gotta be here somewhere.

The Blackfeet become incensed

at not being able to find
him and leave him alone.

And he waits.

Finally, he's alone

and he carefully crawls
out from the river,

and begins to walk 200
miles to the nearest fort.

He has nothing to eat, so
he survives by eating bark

and by eating roots.

Colter learned how
to harvest wild plants

from the Crow Indians.

All Colter really needed to
survive was a digging stick.

He eventually gets
to Fort Raymond.

Sometimes in his telling,
7 days, sometimes 11 days,

but an incredible journey.

When Colter
reaches the fort,

he's so emaciated and dirty

that his peers don't
even recognize him.

He recovers and continues his
adventures for two more years,

but after a few more close
calls with the Blackfeet,

he finally decides
to call it quits.

In 1810, he returns to
St. Louis where he marries

and builds a small cabin
by the Missouri River,

next to Daniel Boone
and his family.

He soon gets a chance to share
his unparalleled knowledge

with the entire nation.

In 1811, Colter encounters
a group of explorers

on their way up
the Missouri River.

John Jacob Astor's
overland expedition,

which is headed to
the Pacific Coast

to set up a trading fort.

John Colter tells his
story to the Astor people,

among whom is a trained
British scientist,

botanist by the name
of John Bradbury,

who writes down Colter's story

about being chased by the
Blackfeet word for word.

And that's the definitive
source of the John Colter story.

Colter's
tale quickly spreads,

becoming a popular frontier
legend by the 1830s,

but with each retelling,
there are variations.

And while he surely
escaped the Blackfeet,

his story serves a purpose.

I've always believed
that the Blackfeet

wanted Colter to
survive that run.

They want to be feared,

they want to be respected,

and here's an
opportunity for them

to send that message loud
and clear through a legend.

No matter which
way you look at it,

John Colter is an
amazing human being.

Anyone who goes
through Montana naked

for 200 miles deserves a medal.

John Colter is
instrumental in creating

this mythical image of the
Westerner, the mountain man

that becomes a fixture
in American culture

so that in decades later,

Kit Carson will fill dime novels

with stories of his exploits.

Teddy Roosevelt, even though
he was born in Manhattan

and goes to Harvard,
goes out west

and does a little
dabbling in cattle.

And next thing you know,
Teddy Roosevelt is this icon

of the American West.

But after
Colter's story,

most Americans will avoid
Blackfeet territory,

reshaping the path to the west.

It seems surprising

that individuals
off on their own

can be agents of
historical change,

but that's essentially
what the mountain men

become over time.

John Colter and
mountain men like him

are really the spearhead
of the westward movement

because they learned from the
tribes where the passes were,

where the trails were,
where the rivers were,

how to navigate the landscape.

And then in turn, the mountain
men passed that knowledge on

to the white settlers.

John Jacob Astor's expedition
sets up a fur trading post

at the mouth of the Columbia
River in the spring of 1811,

naming it Fort Astoria.

For the US, it's a claim
to the Pacific Northwest,

and despite the war with
Britain that erupts in 1812,

the two nations agree to
share control of the region.

In the decades that follow,

American fur
trappers and traders

will seek out the riches
in what will become Oregon,

with Native nations as
their trading partners.

But a new kind of migrant
will follow on their heels.

Christian missionaries will
come to convert Native peoples

and transform their way of life.