Mountain Man Osborne Russell Describes a Bighorn Sheep Hunt - Primary Source
Hunters might appreciate this bighorn sheep hunting story from the 1830s.
There are many of us who enjoy connecting with the past. To do so, we can read about it, write about it, and visit museums. These are good ways to learn, but they might not quite get us what we are searching for. For some people, we need something more real. For real experiences, we can do living history which is a great way to learn about history. Then there are the activities we do as part of our normal lives that help us connect with the past. Hunting is one of those activities.
I doubt I’m the only person who has ever considered ancient hunters while out in pursuit of my own game. In some ways, hunting is as real as living history can get. When you are outside in pursuit of wild game, you’re (more or less) participating in the same arena that hunters of the old days also operated in. Sure, the physical world has definitely changed, but in some places there is certainly still enough similarity that you can really get a feel for what they experienced. It should go without saying that this really depends on where you are, but a good hunt in a remote area usually whets the appetite.
The animals, too, have changed little if at all. Pursue any of the big game species in North America, and you must still overcome the same instincts that hunters have had to out-wit for thousands of years. Of course, there are some behavioral differences (animals do learn), but the basic prey is still the same. Combine the same animals with the same forces of nature, and you can see why hunting is one great way that many people around the world connect with people of the past.
If you are a hunter, perhaps you have also found yourself kicking around the same ideas. If you have, you may find this journal entry by Osborne Russell interesting.
Osborne Russell was a trapper that lived the life of a mountain man from 1834 to 1843. Although this certainly was a long career as far as trappers went, he is not necessarily remembered for how long he was a trapper. Instead, he is best remembered for the journal he left behind. It is perhaps the best insight into the life of mountain men that we have. It is from this journal that Russell recorded the following bighorn sheep hunt. The location is somewhere in present-day Wyoming, east of the town of Alpine Junction. The date is between February, 10 and March, 18. Russell records:
“Feby 10th Moved with the camp up the river to where we had caught the Beaver and encamped. Lewis fork comes thro. this kanyon for about 12 Mls. where the rock rises 2 or 300 feet forms a bench and ascends gradually to the Mountain which approaches very close on the Nth side and on the South is about 3 or 4 Mls distant and an occasional ravine running from the mountain to the river thro the rocks on the Nth side forms convenient places for encamping as the bench and low Spurs are well clothed with bunch grass. Here we found imense numbers of Mountain Sheep which the deep snows drive down to the low points of rocks facing the South near the river We could see them nearly every morning from our lodges standing on the points of rock jutting out so high in the air that they appeared no larger than Weasels. It is in this position that hunter delights to approach them from behind and shoot whilst their eyes are fixed on some object below. It is an exercise which gives vigor health and appetite to a hunter to shoulder his rifle at day break on a clear cold morning and wind his way up a rugged mountain over rocks and crags at length killing a fat old Ewe and taking the meat to Camp on his back: this kind of exercise gives him an appetite for his breakfast. But hunting sheep is attended with great danger in many places especially when the rocks are covered with sleet and ice. I have often passed over places where I have had to cut steps in the ice with my butcher Knife to place my feet in directly over the most frightful precipices, but being excited in the pursuit of game I would think but little of danger until I had laid down to sleep at night, then it would make my blood run cold to meditate upon the scenes I had passed thro. during the day and often have I resolved never to risk myself again in such places and as often broken the resolution. The sight of danger is less hidious than the thought of it.”
Although I’ve never been fortunate enough to hunt bighorn sheep, I have heard similar stories about the risks involved. As you can tell, Russell must have been an adrenaline junkie. He just couldn’t hold himself back from this intense, dangerous, and very rewarding pursuit. I imagine many sheep hunters today can surely relate to this mountain man from the 1830s. That is just one part of what makes hunting a good way to connect with history.
