I was watching a PBS nature show where a fan of John Colter, of Yellowstone fame, was playing around the park in the dead of winter, outdoor camping. He had put a small lean-to for the strong wind, and basically buried himself in modern insulation and waterproof stuff for the attempts at sleep. He noted that Colter did not have these things, and most probably used a bison hide to get a similar level of protection. All I could think of was a simple question. Tanned and finished to the job, what must that thing Colter used have weighed? Did he use some kind of pack animal that could handle the temps, and if he did, how did keep it fed?

From what I remember of the story of John Colter, and the account is at the minimum, questionable, especially viewed using late 20th./early 21st. century thinking.

If I remember correctly, the account I read, Colter was trying to escape re-capture by the Indians. Do not remember which tribe off hand. Again if I remember correctly he had no gun/horse, possibly had a knife and the clothes on his back. However or whatever happened, he supposedly stumbled into the geyser/hot springs etc. area of what we know today as Yellowstone N.P. and the Indians would not follow him in there.

One thing I have learned over the almost 50 years I have been studying the American West from before the Corp Of Discovery expedition up thru the end of the Indian Wars, things happened/took place, that in todays world seem totally impossible.

While those "happenings" may not have actually occurred as the 'written/recorded" history described them, they did happen. As with any account of history prior to about 1940 or so, all we have to go on is what was recorded, and it needs to be kept in mind, that just as with todays 4th. Estate "reporters", the folks that recorded those happenings put their own spin on things, depending on what their mindset was about the situation.

From my experience, trying to rationalize such events using modern day knowledge, simply does not work.

40-50 pounds is what I was told a fullsize Buffalo skin weighs. My neighbor growing up was big into trapping and mountain man rendezvous. They took me along to a couple of them and there were plenty of Hides for sale. He is the one who told me they weighed between 40-50 pounds depending on male female and how old the animal is.

Media ? There was a woman who was captured by the Indians and lived with them a number of years.She wrote a book about her experiences and in general thought she was treated well. The media wasn't going to accept that they wrote many articles about how she was terribly abused .
Annie Oakley [Little Sureshot] was in interesting woman but had the same problem with made-up stories about her.She went after them and sued every one of them !!!

I have an RCMP buffalo greatcoat it weighs at most 25 pounds and I'd be willing to sleep in it. A properly thinned buffalo hide isn't that heavy and we have to remember that the big bulls probably weren't tanned with hair on because of the thickness of the hide, it would have been a small cow or big yearling. With a fire going in front of a lean-to -10C is easy to take with only a light jacket. Someone on the run who couldn't light a fire would be in a much more uncomfortable situation.

If you get a chance to watch "Dances With Wolves," pay attention near the end of the movie when it's the dead of winter. You'll see that some of them are wearing bison hides for warmth.

Also, earlier in the movie, Graham Greene carried a hide on his horse in front of him and gives it to Kevin Cosner as sort of a gift.

Only guessing, but I would think a buffalo robe like those without the head and legs maybe weighes less than 25 lbs.

OK. I would have thought it would be much heavier and a problem to carry around.

I just shot a cow bison today in the Henry Mountains of Utah. Wet the full size hide is ~80 lbs...she is a good sized cow and I will have a hunt report/pictures later. I imagine that tanned hair on the whole shebang will go 20-30 lbs.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:

If I remember correctly, the account I read, Colter was trying to escape re-capture by the Indians. Do not remember which tribe off hand. Again if I remember correctly he had no gun/horse, possibly had a knife and the clothes on his back. However or whatever happened, he supposedly stumbled into the geyser/hot springs etc. area of what we know today as Yellowstone N.P. and the Indians would not follow him in there.[QUOTE]
John Colter was one of the first "Mountain Men," and was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

He was traping beaver near the headwaters of the Missouri river with his partner, John Potts when they were captured by the Blackfeet indians. Potts killed one indian and was in turn killed.

The other indians wanted to kill Colter, but one of the chiefs suggested they have some fun with him. The chief asked Colter if he could run, and Colter replied that he was a slow runner.

The Blackfeet then stripped Colter of all of his cloths and weapons, gave him a little headstart, and began chasing him across the prairie.

After three miles, Colter was bleeding from his nose, cuts on his legs from running through the bushes, and his feet were cut and full of cactus thorns, but he had outrun all but one of the braves. Coulter then suddenly stopped and killed the brave with his own spear, but it was broken in the fight.

Colter then ran another mile to the Madison River, where he jumped in and hid under a log jam until the indians gave up looking for him that night. He left the river under the cover of darkness, and made an 11 day, 300 mile journey naked, unarmed, and on foot to Manuel's Fort near the confluence of the Bighorn and Yellowstone Rivers.

John Colter did not travel through what is now Yellowstone Park during that escape, but he is given credit for discovering Yellowstone in his wanderings as a Trapper. When he described Yellowstone to the other Trappers, they thought the cold and solitude had made him crazy, and they referred to the place as "Colter's Hell."

From the accounts that I read, Colter did not have a buffalo robe to sleep in during that escape.

buffybr, Many Thanks for the information you provided. It has been a few years since I read the account of Colter's adventures.

Just my opinion, but to try and rationalize the stories about the exploits of the people that lived during those times by comparing them to how things are today, just will not work.

A tanned bison hide, hair on, makes an excellent sleeping pad. I lay mine on a tarp, to keep it clean, then place my sleeping bag on top. Or when in my wall tent, it is draped over my cot, then bag on top. Winter, summer, and fall.