Gloomy Terrors and Hidden Fires: The Mystery of John Colter and Yellowstone

John Colter often "travelled day and night" into uncharted territory like fellow 19th-century frontiersmen Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, and Samuel Brady. Unlike those "other mythmakers of the era," however, who "left documents behind that allow access to the men themselves," Colter apparently left nothing. To pull together this volume on his feats and his forays into what would become Yellowstone National Park, authors Anglin (Forgotten Trails) and Morris (The Perilous West) relied on second- and third-hand accounts to give Colter his due and satisfy their own curiosity about his achievements. Among those from Kentucky handpicked by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to journey westward toward the Pacific, Colter had "an exceptional sense for survival" and an instinct for direction. A rugged backwoodsman, he could endure "fatigue, privations, and perils," and had also "learned how to track men and animals." Colter later became the first white man to go into Yellowstone, and the authors address how and why he went, and what he experienced along the way. Anglin and Morris make a valiant effort to tell Colter's fascinating, if complicated, story and celebrate his legacy. (Oct.)