<p>Mountain Men were the principal figures of the fur trade era, one of the most interesting, dramatic, and truly significant phases of the history of the American trans-Mississippi West during the first half of the 19th Century. These men were of all types-some were fugitives from law and civilization, others were the best in rugged manhood; some were heroic, some brutal, most were adventurous, and many were picturesque.</p><p>The typical trapper was a young man-strong, hardy, and adventurous. Having succumbed to the lure of the wilderness, his thin veneer of civilization soon rubbed off. In the wilds he had little need for money-barter supplied his simple wants. Possibly short on book-learning, he could read moccasin tracks, beaver sign, and trace of the travois.</p><p>Memorials to them cover the West. Mountain peaks, passes, rivers and lakes carry their names. Towns and counties have been christened in their honor. Their trails have become our highways-their campfire ashes, our cities.</p><p>Included in Volume 8 are the biographies of Louis Ambroise; Albert Gallatin Boone; Robert Campbell; Michel Sylvestre; Malcom Clark; John Colter; Charles Compo; Jules DeMun; Pierre Dorion; John Dougherty; Andrew Drips; Edward and Francis Ermatinger; Jacques (Old Pino) Fournaise; Friday, the Arapaho; Antoine Janis; Charles Keemle; Jean Baptiste Lucier, Dit Gardipe; Robert McClellan; William W. McGaa; John McLoughlin; Mariano Medina; Robert Newell; James Pursley; Joseph Robidoux; Louis Robidoux; Jedediah Smith; Andrew Whitley Sublette; and William Sherley (Old Bill) Williams.</p>