Etienne provost biography examples

FELLOW TRAPPERS CALLED ETIENNE PROVOST “THE MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS”
Jeffrey D. Nichols
History Blazer, August 1995

Although he does not have the wide recognition of Jim Bridger or John Colter, Etienne Provost was considered by his contemporaries as one of the most knowledgeable, skillful, and successful of the mountain men.

Provost gave his name (phonetically) to the Provo River and the city of Provo. It seems likely that most of the early settlers of Provo were unaware of the bloody incident that gave the river its name. Provost’s contemporaries, however, knew of his skills and nicknamed him “the man of the mountains.”

Of French Canadian ancestry, Provost was born in 1785 in Chambly, Quebec.

Etienne provost biography examples

Around 1814 he became involved in the St. Louis fur trade, often trapping in what was still Spanish territory. Provost and his companions were twice captured and held prisoner by Spanish authorities. About 1822 he began operating out of Taos in present-day