“Trappers and traders were the trail makers and path finders of Colorado, the real pioneers of the Rocky Mountain West…  It was the trapper’s persistent search for beavere and the trader’s urge to barter with red men, that unlocked the geographical secrets of the western wilds and eased the way for official explorers and for settlers.”

                                                Dr. LeRoy Hafen
                                                Former Director, Colorado State Historical Society

Pikes Peak’s backcountry abounded in beaver a hundred years ago.  Even today, the streams are choked with the well-engineered dams of these industrious animals.  Their luxuriant pelts could make a hard working trapper rich, selling for about $6 each.  Trappers generally set about six to twelve traps each day, and harvested an equal number of pelts.  Florissant was a favorite trapping area for Kit Carson and his band of independent trappers during the 1840s and the early 1850s.

Pikes Peak Historical Society Museum features a mountain man display, including our gorgeous “George Ruxton” completely outfitted in period costume and accoutrements.  Ruxton traveled through Pikes Peak backcountry in 1847, and left an account of his experiences in his books “Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains” and “Life in the Far West.”  

To learn more about the Mountain Men click HERE....