“Perhaps the best account of the fur trapper in the Rocky Mountains when the trade there was at its peak.” Aubrey HainesIn 1830, 16-year-old Osborne Russell left his Maine farm and ran away to sea. He didn't like it. He ended up joining an expedition headed to Oregon by way of the Rocky Mountains. Along the way he acquired the skills necessary for survival in the mountains. He also learned the Snake language, hunted buffalo, and trapped beaver, looked for new trails west, and kept a journal that forms the basis of this vigorously authentic book. The descriptions are so accurate that contemporary readers are using the book to retrace Russell's footsteps!