Tom Fitzpatrick Mountain Man Extraordinaire

Tom Fitzpatrick was a mountain man with two nicknames given him by the Indians he interacted with as both friends and enemies for many years. One of the nicknames was Broken Hand and the other was White Hair. Following is his story and how he earned those names. Thomas Fitzpatrick was born in Ireland in 1799. He came to the United States as a teenager and like many young men of his era started hearing tales of the Rocky Mountains and the potential to get rich as a beaver trapper in the mountains. He made his way to St. Louis, the starting point of most of the expeditions headed west. He joined William Ashley's crew in 1823, headed up the Missouri River and ultimately into the dangerous and exciting life of a mountain man. He possessed traits that served him well as a proficient trapper and leader among his peers. Self-assurance, marksmanship, decisiveness and most of all a healthy dose of common sense. Ashley put together a small party of trappers and adventurers headed by another famous mountain man Jedediah Smith with Fitzpatrick second in command. One member of the party had friends among the Crow Indians and he had heard from the Crows that across the Continental Divide in the Green River country there was an abundance of beaver untouched by white trappers. They made their way westward along a broad relatively flat region which seemed like no major climb at all. Eventually they noticed that the streams were flowing westward and that they had crossed the Continental Divide. They had accidentally discovered the South Pass and descended into the Green River area which indeed was abundant with beaver. The South Pass would become very important to future immigrants that would use the Oregon Trail on the westward migration. A group of Shoshone Indians joined the Fitzpatrick party and seemed friendly gorging on excess beaver meat not needed by the trappers. However one night the supposedly friendly Indians slipped away with the trapper's horses. This put them in a and after cashing their furs and other gear they took off on foot to try to recover their horses. They got lucky and encountered the group of Shoshone's and got the drop on them. They took back their horses but one horse was unaccounted for. Fitz was not going to stand for the loss of even one horse and he ordered the captured Indians back to their camp. They informed the camped Shoshone's that if they did not produce the one missing horse there would be a funeral ceremony to conduct. The horse appeared and the lucky trappers retraced their tracks to the Green River and on to the first rendezvous in the summer of 1824 where they were able to sell their pelts. This episode put Tom in high regard among the trappers and solidified him as a leader and someone to be looked up to. In 1830 Fitzpatrick along with three other trappers to include Jim Bridger bought the fur company of Jedediah Smith, William Sublette and David Jackson and renamed it the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. The real leader of the outfit was Fitzpatrick. In 1832 he returned to St. Louis for supplies for the trappers and his company. The company was short on money but Tom was able to arrange with Milton Sublette's older brother to get supplies. On his way back to the mountains with supply train in tow he experienced his most famous brush with death. The 1832 rendezvous was getting ready to start in Pierre's Hole a valley in eastern Idaho on the west side of the Teton Range. There was intense competition among the fur trapping companies and Fitzpatrick knew that the early arrivers would likely get first shot at purchasing the highest quality furs and thus the most profit. He decided to go ahead of the supply train and let people know his group was on the way. He took two good horses and planned to ride them alternately so as to always have a fresh mount. He traveled alone and he traveled lightly. While stopping for a brief bite of jerky and to rest his horses a grizzly came charging in on him. Knowing the ways of grizzlies rather than run which would have triggered an immediate attack he jumped to his feet to confront the bear. The bear turned and ran and so did Tom back toward his horse. The grizzly seeing his prey running away gave chase. Tom thought he had just enough time to get to his horse and ride away to safety. The plan was a good one except that the horse seeing a charging grizzly bolted just as his rider arrived throwing him to the ground. Again the experienced mountain man stood to confront the bear and again the bear ran away but it made a mistake this time. It stopped to eat his adversary's lunch. This gave the trapper time to slowly retrieve his gun and kill the giant grizzly on the spot. The result for the brave mountain man was some delicious bear steaks. The morning of the next day Fitz had the misfortune of being spotted by a band of grovant warriors. They chased him into a canyon and had him cornered with three sides being towering mountainous walls. He turned one of his horses loose and tried riding the other one up a steep rocky slope. The footing was terrible for the horse and it soon became winded from the steep slope and treacherous footing. The Indians gave chase and were closing fast on the cornered mountain man. He leapt from his horse and while briefly out of sight of his pursuers found a crevice in the rocks to hide in. He put leaves and grass in the opening to help conceal himself. Even though the natives searched the remainder of the day the lucky trapper was not discovered. He slept in his hiding place and awoke the next morning to the realization that the war party had not left. The bloodthirsty Indians began a second day of searching the hillside but again were unable to find their quarry. During the second night of entrapment he decided to free himself from the band of scalp hunters. He slowly and quietly descended the steep hillside, skirted the Indian encampment on foot and set out to put as much distance as possible between him and his enemies. When he reached Pierre's River, knowing that many hostiles remained in the area, he felt like his best chance was to cross the river. He built a small raft and set about the crossing. A fast current took him into rocks in the swift water destroying the makeshift raft and sending him against the strong current to swim to safety. When he finally arrived on the other riverbank the only thing he had left was a knife in his belt and a deep sense of despair. For several days he plotted on living on plants and roots. His partners back at the rendezvous sent out a party to try and find him. It is unclear how he made it back to the safety of the rendezvous camp but make it he did. Some say he just wandered in one day. Some say that two Iroquois hunters rescued him and others say the mountain man search party found him. Regardless suffice it to say that when he finally did make it back he was dazed, starving, had very little clothing left, feet bare, body bleeding and bruised and hollow cheeks. The ordeal had such a profound effect on him that his hair turned white and thus the nickname White Hair. He gained the nickname Broken Hand during another close encounter with a party of Blackfeet. The Indians chased Fitzpatrick to a bluff overlooking the Yellowstone River. He had no other choice than to jump into the river horse and man. While scampering to freedom he attempted to dislodge his rifle from its cover and accidentally shot himself in the hand. For the remainder of his life his mangled hand earned him the nickname Broken Hand. Thomas Fitzpatrick spent the remainder of his life as a guide for wagon trains and also as a guide for John Fremont's second mapping expedition for the government. He also was appointed by the government as an Indian agent for tribes including Arapahos, Cheyenne, Kiowas, Shoshones and Sioux. While on official government business in 1854 in Washington D.C. Fitzpatrick died of pneumonia at age 55. He lived well beyond the life expectancy of Rocky Mountain beaver trappers. If you enjoyed this video give a thumbs up, make a comment and most importantly subscribe to the channel. As always thanks for watching!