John Colter (abt. 1768 - abt. 1812)

Born about 1768 in Staunton, Augusta, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Susannah (Mason) Colter — married 20 Feb 1806 in Washington County, Virginia, USA

Husband of Eleanor (McCheney) Colter — married 28 Jan 1808 in Augusta City, Virginia, USA

Descendants

Died about 7 May 1812 at about age 44 in Sullen Springs, St. Louis County, Missouri

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John Colter is Notable.

Biography

John Colter was a Western Explorer and one of the "nine young men from Kentucky" who accompanied Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on the Corp of Discovery. He was a trapper when personally selected by Lewis for his outdoorsman skills. A member of the Corp from 1804–1806, Colter was given early leave from the Corp to join another expedition. He may be best remembered for explorations he made during the winter of 1807–1808 when he became the first known person of European descent to enter the region which later became Yellowstone National Park, and to see the Teton Mountain Range. Colter spent months alone in the wilderness, and it is this fortitude, along with his encounter with some Blackfeet warriors, that many consider him to be the first known mountain man.

John Colter was born about 1775 in Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia to Joseph Colter and Ellen (Shields) Colter. The family surname has been variously spelled Coalter, Coulter, or Colter. At about age 5 the family moved to Maysville, Kentucky. John Colter’s first wife may have been named Susannah (Mason) Colter ^[1], and it is reported that she died not even two to three years into their marriage. Colter may have had a second wife named Eleanor (McCheney) Colter (1768-1841), ^[2] but little is known of this relationship.

Upon his return to St. Louis about 1811, John Colter married Sallie Loucy (Unknown) Colter who is referenced in his probate record. ^[3] Charles Clarke includes detail on this marriage in his work “The Men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition”^[4]

(Colter) married a woman named “Sallie.” Mrs. Dye, in The Conquest, page 311, states, “Coalter – married a (squaw).” Other traditions say she was a white woman. Whichever, they settled on a farm near Charette, Franklin County, Missouri. They had a son, Hiram Colter, who became the father of eight children.

The Mrs. Dye mentioned above authored a 1902 book "The Conquest: The True Story of Lewis and Clark" but she does not mention other children for Colter. However, besides the son Hiram, most online trees also attribute a daughter named Evangelina who died young.

John Colter died of illness (jaundice) at the age of 42 on May 7, 1812. However, sources aren't sure of the exact date or whether it was 1812 or 1813. But we do know that Colter’s estate was probated in 1813 and auctioned in December of that year. The payment to his widow Sallie recorded as $124.44.^[4] Therefore, we know that his death occurs prior to these events in either 1812 or 1813. ^[5]

Namesake
Colter was a close friend and neighbor in Missouri to Nathan Boone, youngest son of Daniel Boone. Boone honored his friend’s recent passing by naming his son born in 1816 John Coulter Boone.

The Original Mountain Man

George H. Yater originally presented at the 1991 annual meeting of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation in Louisville:

Coulter enlisted in the Corps of Discovery on October 15, 1803, and was one of the expedition’s best hunters. After leaving the Corp expedition he remained in the West, had many adventures, and became the “Father of the Mountain Man.” The biography excerpt below is from a paper by George H. Yater which describes Colter’s most famous exploit.^[6]

Later, in the summer of 1808, he joined the Crow and Flathead Indians on an expedition up the Yellowstone to the Three Forks in Montana. Here the group was attacked by the Blackfeet – grumpy as usual – and Colter was forced to fight against them. Colter was wounded in the leg and returned to Lisa’s fort to rest and recover. Then in early fall he and John Potts, another former member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who had joined Lisa’s venture, went trapping up the Jefferson, or perhaps the Madison, and tried – unsuccessfully – to avoid the Blackfeet. When the two trappers were discovered, Potts was “riddled” after he returned rifle fire. Colter, not so rash, received a different treatment. He was stripped of all his clothing – even his moccasins – and sent running while the Blackfeet pursued him.

'That must have been one of the most amazing foot races of all time – Colter running for his life with a horde of Indians in pursuit. The run was perhaps six miles and blood began gushing from Colter’s nose. Finally, when only one pursuer was left, Colter wheeled toward the Indian and startled him so that he stumbled as he attempted to thrust his spear into the trapper. Colter seized the spear, pinned the Indian to the ground with it, snatched the warrior’s blanket and fled toward the river, plunged into the icy water and hid under some driftwood. The Blackfeet searched for him until dark, but never found him.

'With nothing but the Indian blanket in the chill fall weather, Colter set out for Lisa’s fort – 300 miles away – and made it. Unbelievably, the next spring he returned to the same spot where his ordeal had begun. He wanted to retrieve the traps he had dropped in the water when the Blackfeet appeared. Once again the Blackfeet discovered him; 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 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.” By the way, I was amazed to run across a long account of Colter’s adventures in a Louisville newspaper of 1885, copied from a New York newspaper, but with no indication of his Kentucky background.

Sources

1. ↑ Marriage: "Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940" Ancestry Record 60214 #2505520 (accessed 13 March 2022) John Colter marriage to Susannah Mason on 20 Feb 1806 in Washington Co., Virginia.
2. ↑ Marriage: "Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940" Ancestry Record 60214 #3832698 (accessed 13 March 2022) John Coalter marriage to Eleanor Mcchesney on 28 Jan 1808 in Augusta, Virginia.
3. ↑ Probate: "Virginia, U.S., Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850" Ancestry Record 7832 #24912 (accessed 13 March 2022) John Coalter probate.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Clarke, Charles G. The Men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Biographical Roster of the Fifty-One Members and a Composite Diary of Their Activities from All Known Sources. University of Nebraska Press, 2002. pgs 46-48
5. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3554/john-colter
6. ↑ Yater, George H. “John Colter Biography.” Lewis and Clark in Kentucky, Kentucky Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, https://lewisandclarkinkentucky.org/kentucky-people/the-nine-young-men-from-kentucky/john-colter/john-colter-biography/.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Colter
• The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. 2005. U of Nebraska Press / U of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries-Electronic Text Center. 5 Oct. 2005 <http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu>.
• Staff. “The People - Corps of Discovery.” Corps of Discovery - United States Army, U.S. Army Center of Military History, 12 Jan. 2019, https://history.army.mil/LC/the_people.htm.
• Dye, Eva Emery. The Conquest: The True Story of Lewis and Clark. Leopold Classic Library, 2016. Book 2, pg 311 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Conquest:_The_True_Story_of_Lewis_and_Clark
• Harris, Burton. John Colter: His Years in the Rockies. New York: Scribner, 1952. Reprint. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1986.
• Morris, Larry E. The Fate of the Corps: What Became of the Lewis and Clark Explorers After the Expedition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.
• Morris, Larry E. Gloomy Terrors and Hidden Fires: The Mystery of John Colter and Yellowstone. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2014
• https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/82311576/person/42461452301/facts Goodman Family Tree