In the annals of American Culture, there are many romantic characters and eras that hold the imagination and stimulate that place in our hearts dealing with nostalgia and the myth that the old days were better than the present.  The Mountain Man who roamed the Great Western Frontier was such a character.  Much has been written and invented about the story of the Fur Trade.  Whether the story is true or embellished, they remain one of the most compelling set of characters we have in our history - period!  The truth is that these industrious gentlemen who came from a variety of backgrounds - from escaping simple poverty, to businessmen, to shady operators, to dreamers, to clergy (Old Bill Williams had been a Preacher) - they all came West to either escape something or to find something. It was a very difficult life at times but they fell in love with the untrammeled West and the freedom that the life in the trapper's trade offered them, no matter how difficult and dangerous it was.