American Samurai Vol:7

Colter's Run

John Colter was born in Stuarts Draft, Colony of Virginia, in 1774. The legendary mountain man and trapper lived an extraordinary life. He accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific, was the first white man to cross Union Pass, see the Tetons, stand at the headwaters of the Colorado and Snake Rivers, and witness the springs and geysers of what would later become Yellowstone National Park. Among all his adventures, it is "Colter's Run" that would later become a legend.

A year after returning from the Lewis and Clark expedition, John Colter teamed up with another former member of the expedition, John Potts. Together, Colter and Potts set out to establish trading relations with local Indian tribes. At this time, the Blackfeet were known as the “the bad-hearted Indians” due to the fact that they had taken more trappers' scalps than any other tribe, and Colter and Potts would find out just how bad-hearted they were.

Colter's first encounter with the Blackfeet occurred in 1808. After weeks of travel and negotiations, Colter and Potts were leading a group of 800 Crow Indians back to a trading post when they were attacked by 1,500 Blackfeet. Despite the intense skirmish, Colter, Potts, and the Crow managed to beat back the Blackfeet and reach Fort Raymond. However, during the battle, Colter took an arrow to the leg but miraculously survived.

Later that fall, with his leg healed, Colter and Potts were heading down the river to set traps when they were discovered by a group of Blackfeet. Colter and Potts paddled to shore, and a Blackfoot grabbed Potts’ rifle. Colter acted quickly and wrestled the rifle free, returning it to Potts, who then shot the Indian. Unfortunately, Potts received a fatal flurry of arrows instantly. Colter, realizing he had no way out, threw up his hands and surrendered.

What happened next is a scene out of Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto. The Blackfoot Chief wanted to use Colter for sport, so he was stripped naked and told to run. The Blackfeet gave him a head start, but soon Colter could hear their war cries as 100 Blackfoot began to hunt him down.

Cold and naked, with blood pouring from his nose, he ran for six miles, his pursuers dropping out one by one until only one remained. Colter waited for him to draw near…

Again he turned his head, and saw the savage not twenty yards from him. Determined if possible to avoid the expected blow, he suddenly stopped, turned round, and spread out his arms. The Native American, surprised by the suddenness of the action, and perhaps at the bloody appearance of Colter, also attempted to stop; but exhausted with running, he fell whilst endeavouring to throw his spear, which stuck in the ground, and broke in his hand. Colter instantly snatched up the pointed part, with which he pinned him to the earth, and then continued his flight.

- John Bradbury, Three Years Among the Indians

Colter seized the spear and drove it into the warrior, killing him instantly. He snatched the Indian’s blanket and ran another five miles until he reached the Madison River. Once he reached the river, he plunged into the icy water and hid inside a beaver lodge. The Blackfeet searched the area, but Colter managed to escape capture. Emerging at nightfall, he climbed out and walked for eleven days, armed with nothing but the Indian blanket, until he reached a trader's fort on the Little Big Horn some 300 miles away

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His altercations with the Blackfoot weren’t over. In the following years, they pursued him many times. The next spring, he returned to the same spot where his chase had begun, intending to recover the traps he had dropped in the water when the Blackfeet found him and Potts. Once again, the Blackfeet discovered him, and he barely escaped in a hail of bullets.

Then, in the early spring of 1810, Colter led a group of 32 trappers up the Yellowstone toward Three Forks where they planned to construct a trading post, which, amazingly, they did right in the heart of hostile Indian country. The Blackfeet were constantly harassing the group, and by late April, Colter finally had enough and returned to St. Louis — the first time in six years he had been in “civilization.”

Colter tried to settle down to a quiet farm life in Missouri with his new wife. However, when the War of 1812 kicked off, a restless Colter enlisted and fought with Nathaniel Boone's Rangers. It was his last adventure. Colter died of jaundice on May 7, 1812, and was buried near Miller's Landing.

John Colter is a testament to the American spirit, the rugged frontiersmen, he was an American Samurai.

-TJS