John Colter was a pioneersman, frontiersman, mountainman, explorer and the one who made the momentous discovery of the Yellowstone area. John Colter was also a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. He is most remembered for his explorations after he was discharged from the army in 1806, even though he was part of the expedition that would change history. He would become known as the person who was of European descent to enter a region that would later become known as the Yellowstone National Park. The area that he would enter would be called Jackson Hole and the Teton Mountain Range. He was largely considered to be the first mountain man since he spent months alone in the wilds.
John Colter was born sometime around 1774 or 1775, in Augusta County, Virginia, the son of Joseph and Ellen Shields Colter. It would be around 1780, his family would move west to Kentucky, but little is known about his childhood, but it is thought that he may have served for Simon Kenton as a ranger as a young man. His skills for the outdoors so impressed Meriwether Clark that he was offered a job and given the rank of private. This date was October 15, 1803 and he would become a permanent member of this group as they made their way across the country.
It was on February of 1804, while Lewis was away, Colter and three others in the group defied orders given by Sergeant Ordway and upon his return, Lewis punished them by confining them to the camp for about ten days.Colter was considered one of the best hunters of the group and was the one who was almost always sent out to scout the area for any game that was needed. He would be instrumental in helping find ways to get through the Rocky Mountains and also get help from the local Indian tribes, the Nez Perce, in order to get information on the rivers and the streams that were on their way west.
It would be in November of 1805, that they would reach the Pacific Ocean and Colter was one of the men picked to accompany Clark to head towards the main part of the ocean from their camp.They would explore that area and up the coast to what would become Washington state. In 1806, they would return to what would become North Dakota and this is where they would encounter two men with the names of Forest Hancock and Joseph Dickson, who were headed up the Missouri River to search for furs. Colter was granted an early honorable discharge in order to go with them in August of 1806 and help them return to the area that they had previously explored. The group managed to keep their partnership going for two months and then parted ways in 1807, at which time, Colter headed for civilization. He met up with Manuel Lisa who was leading a party that included several former members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Colter made the decision to return to the wilds and was instrumental in helping build Fort Raymond, which was near the Yellowstone and Big Horn Rivers. He would be later sent by Lisa to search out the Crow tribes and to figure out if they could trade with them.
In October of 1807, he would leave the Fort and would explore the Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks over the course of winter. He would be credited as the first white man to ever enter this area and the area where their geysers and other hot spots, would become known as “Colter’s Hell”. He would continue his explorations of the area for a while before heading back. Parts of the area he explored and told about would later become the state of Wyoming. He would return 1810 after being away from civilization for almost six years.
In his remaining years, he would marry a woman named Sallie and he would settle down on a farm he had bought in Missouri. He would visit with William Clark sometime in 1810 and he would let him know about what he had discovered. He would fight in the War of 1812 under Nathan Boone and his rangers. It is unclear of what or exactly when John Colter died but many believe that he died on May 7, 1812 or on November of 1813. He is buried near New Haven on private land.
