The Accoutrements of a Mountain Man

THE HISTORIAN SAYS:  "The trapper in this image sports what the mountaineers called a neck pouch which holds both his pipe and his tobacco. Alfred Jacob Miller, the only artist to attend a Rocky Mountain rendezvous, painted several mountain men wearing such accouterments. Miller reported, "Under privations of all kinds, the universal resort of the Trapper was the pipe of tobacco; this is suspended in a gage d'amour from his neck; - he carries also tinder and flint, with which to strike a light in a moment ... it is his universal medicine." The French name for the small pipe bag translates to "token of love," denoting the mountaineers' pleasure in smoking, thus many of these pouches were heart-shaped."
Jim Hardee, 2015.

 


Jim Hardee is the author of the award winning publication relating to the fur trade era including Obstinate Hope: The Western Expeditions of Nathaniel J. Wyeth, Volume 1 and Pierre’s Hole: The Fur Trade History of Teton Valley, Idaho. He is also editor of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journal. Hardee has provided commentary in television documentaries, including “Taming the Wild West: The Legend of Jedediah Smith,” produced by The History Channel in 2005. Jim is the director of the Fur Trade Research Center and is a presenter for many conferences and symposiums.


Citation:  Marvin C. Ross, The West of Alfred Jacob Miller (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1968), 26, 37

Painting by
Z.S. Liang
MOUNTAIN MAN 1840
oil on canvas
42 x 26 in
(106.68h x 66.04w cm)
$38,000
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