John Colter is one of the more well known names in American exploration, and is the first known European to enter the region which later became known as the Yellowstone national park.
Colter was a very experienced explorer and an expert in survival after making numerous trips guiding parties through the frontier. One day in 1806 he left on a beaver trapping hunt with 2 other men he had met on an earlier expedition, Hancock and Dixon. the 3 of them went into the wilderness with 20 beaver traps and enough ammunition to last them for 2 years.
They headed out into the Yellowstone valley in a region inhabited by the reasonably friendly Crow tribe, and made their way to what is now known as the Three Forks in Montana. The partnership only lasted for about 2 months before they fell out with each other, and Dixon left the trio. Colter and Hancock spent the next few months sheltering through the winter of 1806-1807.
Colter got bored with sitting around and left on his own to head towards the Sunlight Basin in Wyoming, which made him the first white person to enter the area. After a short explore he headed back to civilisation where he met a fur trader on the way. After being convinced to join the expedition he turned round and once again headed out into the wilderness, even tough he was only about a week away from St. Louis.
After helping to build Fort Raymond at the meeting point of the Bighorn and Yellowstone rivers, he was sent to establish possible trade routes with the Crow Indian tribe.
Everything was going well for Colter so far and he had gained an excellent reputation across the frontier, so the following year in 1808 he decided to launch his own expedition to explore an area near the Three Forks in Montana. He left with a man named John Potts and another unknown man he’d met on the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804.
While leading a group of 800 Indians from the Crow and Flathead tribes back to fort Raymond to establish trade, they were attacked by a large group of around 1500 warriors from the Blackfeet tribe, who were at open war with any Europeans and anyone who helped them.
During the fighting Colter was shot in the leg by an arrow, but fortunately the Crow and Flathead warriors managed to fend off the attackers and Colter managed to make it back to fort Raymond. The following year in 1809 after spending several months healing, Colter and Potts decided to head out once again into the wild.
This time they decided to cover most of the ground by rowing a canoe up the Jefferson river, hoping to quietly slip through Blackfeet territory unnoticed. This didn’t go according to plan as several hundred Blackfeet warriors surrounded both sides of the river bank and demanded they come ashore. The Blackfeet were armed with rifles they had either stolen or traded, and so rowing away wasn’t an option.
Colter swam ashore first leaving Potts in the canoe along with both their rifles. After reaching shore Colter was beaten and stripped naked, and upon seeing what had happened Potts decided to go out fighting, picking up a rifle and shooting one of the Indians. The response to this was the several hundred Indians surrounding the banks all opened fire at the same time and Potts died in a hail of bullets. His body was brought to shore and hacked into pieces, which made Colter think his fate wouldn’t end up being much better.
After taking him to a council meeting that he couldn’t understand a word of, they told Colter to run. It was at this point he realised that he was the center piece of their days entertainment and after getting a short head start he would be pursued by some of the tribes young warriors, who were all competing to kill him first.
Unknown to the tribe, Colter was extremely fit and along side the motivation of not wanting to get turned into dog food quickly managed to outrun his pursuers, all except one. A Scottish explorer and writer named John Bradbury met Colter several years after this incident and recorded Colters explanation as follows:
Again he turned his head, and saw the savage not twenty yards from him. Determined if possible to avoid the expected blow, he suddenly stopped, turned round, and spread out his arms. The Indian, surprised by the suddenness of the action, and perhaps at the bloody appearance of Colter, also attempted to stop; but exhausted with running, he fell whilst endeavouring to throw his spear, which stuck in the ground, and broke in his hand. Colter instantly snatched up the pointed part, with which he pinned him to the earth, and then continued his flight.
— John Bradbury, 1817
He managed to get a blanket from the Indian and after running for about 5 miles reached the Madison river were he hid through the night in a beaver lodge. The next day he started the 11 day walk to a traders post at Little Big Horn, and after helping to build another fort in 1810 decided to leave the wilderness for good. At the point of his return he had been gone from civilisation for close to 6 years.