Accounts of John Colter's life exist in a handful of primary documents bequeathed to us by those who knew him.  These include the journals of the Corps of Discovery (the Lewis & Clark Expedition).  When the journey was over, Colter spent two more years trekking alone through dangerous and unfamiliar territory.

Historian David Weston Marshall crafts this captivating history from Colter's primary sources and has retraced Colter's steps-seeing what he saw, hearing what he heard, and experiencing firsthand how he and his contemporaries survived in the wilderness (how they pitched shelter, built a fire, followed a trail, and forged a stream)-immersing you in Colter's frontier world.

"John Colter would have stood amazed at the enduring spirit of discovery that followed in the wake of his adventures, even as we marvel at the undaunted spirit of Colter and his fellow explorers of America's first frontier."-Alan Bean, Apollo 12 Astronaut

"David Marshall's well-researched account of frontiersman John Colter combines tales of wild country with details of survival, endurance, and grit.  You can travel his paths through Yellowstone and the Tetons today and imagine, inhaling the sulfur of Colter's Hell, that you are there alone, in winter, warmly wrapped in a buffalo robe."-Jonathan B Jarvis, 18th Director of the National Park Service, Retired