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A Trapper's Life Mountain Rose
A Trapper's Life Mountain Rose
A Trapper's Life Mountain Rose
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A Trapper's Life Mountain Rose

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Rosette left home when she was only eight-teen, and went out into the Rocky Mountains alone with one horse, two mules, rifles and supplies. knowing how to defend herself, she could kill a animal with one shot, and not afraid to use both rifles and handguns to protect herself against other mountaineers.
A mess group that was operated by men who she hunted with at times, hated her because she was not afraid to express her own feelings and thoughts. One day she came to a small town and began to sell pelts for cash, when a strange man came up to her name Chris Barton. Something about his behavior and human responses was unclear to her, and it seemed if this was just her imagination, but was it for real?
Until the day Rosette was caught by the Ute Indians that changed everything she had felt for him, and then she knew the truth about who he really is. But in the back of her mind there was one question must be answered, could she love and trust him again?
LanguageEnglish
PublisherAuthorHouse
Release dateOct 14, 2011
ISBN9781467043175
A Trapper's Life Mountain Rose
Author

Diane Briscoe

Diane Briscoe lives in Alaska with her husband, children and dogs. She currently is involved in two shooting clubs; Alaska 40ners and the mountain men.

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    A Trapper's Life Mountain Rose - Diane Briscoe

    Mountain Rose

    A Trappers Life

    Diane Briscoe

    US%26UKLogoB%26Wnew.ai

    AuthorHouse™

    1663 Liberty Drive

    Bloomington, IN 47403

    www.authorhouse.com

    Phone: 1-800-839-8640

    © 2011 by Diane Briscoe. All rights reserved.

    No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

    First published by AuthorHouse 10/12/2011

    ISBN: 978-1-4670-4316-8 (sc)

    ISBN: 978-1-4670-4318-2 (hc)

    ISBN: 978-1-4670-4317-5 (ebk)

    Library of Congress Control Number: 2011918399

    Printed in the United States of America

    Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

    Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

    This book is printed on acid-free paper.

    Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

    Contents

    Writers Message

    Year Rendezvous Locations

    Introduction

    Chapter One

    Chapter Two

    Chapter Three

    Chapter Four

    Chapter Five

    Chapter Six

    Chapter Seven

    Chapter Eight

    Chapter Nine

    Chapter Ten

    Chapter Eleven

    Chapter Twelve

    Chapter Thirteen

    Phrasebook

    I dedicate this book to my sister-n-law who were patient with me in correcting my mistakes. To my husband who got me shooting black powder guns, my oldest son Robert and his wife Michelle, I love you and thank-you. To all the people participated in reenactments that keep the old west and the Mountain men alive.

    Writers Message

    The Mountain men lived in dangerous surroundings, and most of them were in fear for their life, when they came in contact with grizzly bears and hostile Indians along with poisonous insects and snakes. A lack of trails and unmarked roads took a heavy toll upon the trappers. Most of the mountaineers were trained in wood crafts and the use of river craft of a varied selection use of fire arms.

    In the 1800’s the area known as the Louisiana Territory and St. Louis on the banks of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. This vast area was nearly unexplored by the Americans, when President Jefferson selected two men known as Meriwether Lewis and Rogers Clark. In 1804 to 1805 the expedition departed from the St. Charles Mo. area and on down the Missouri River, then they crossed onto the Rocky Mountains. In 1806 the expedition returned to St. Louis while the Z. Pike traveled up the Arkansas River were most dependent on the information gathered by Lewis and Clark. They saw herds of buffalo on the prairie, mule deer and elk hundreds of miles of waterways with massive marshlands, streams and hundreds of areas of prime beaver habitat and beaver’s. As the news had quickly spread across the land of vast potential quantities of valuable beaver reached north to east, and most all over the nation.

    These men who were called mountain men did not fear adventure and desire the promise of quick cash from the beaver’s fur. Most of the early Rocky mountain fur trappers had very little idea as to what lay ahead on the next day’s travel; even some of them got killed. When food became scarce they would slaughter their own packing mules for food (that might have been their last choice). Water was scarce when the dry season came, as the sun drained most of them to death.

    They legends of the mountain men have persisted largely from the truth to the tales that were told from generations to generations. The life in the Rocky Mountains was rough and always faced death on a daily basis, including a slow agony of starvation, dehydration, burning heat, and freezing cold temperatures. Their life was ruled not by the yearly calendar, nor by a clock, but by the climate and all four seasons.

    Mountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from the sixteenth century to 1850’s. Most were born in Canada, the United States, and in Mexican territories. Then there were some European immigrants that moved west in search of financial opportunities.

    Many were free trappers who were independent and traded their pelts to whoever would provide the best prices, as for some of them were not so lucky. Then others that worked for a major fur company that hunted and trapped in brigades. The trappers that worked for a company carried a basic gear that include fire arms, powder horns and shot pouches (also called possible bags), knives and hatchets, canteens, cooking utensils, supplies of tobacco, coffee, different spices, and pemmican. Some of these items were carried on one or two mules that also carried their pelts and canvas for tents.

    The North West Company held the first rendezvous in the Boise River in 1819. An annual rendezvous was held at Horse Creek on the green river (now present day Pinedale, Wyoming). When the yearly rendezvous began, it was selected in a lush valley, big enough for five hundred mountain men and Indians, and for a thousand of horses grazing and watered by either the owners or men that was hired to take care of them. While the campsites were grouped and spread out over several miles, the celebration was a vast amount of luxuries which consisted of; mirth, songs, dancing, trading, racing, target-shooting, yarns, and frolicking. The gathering was not just to company trappers, but also for free trappers.

    In Pierre’s Hole valley below and west of the Tatons, mountain men from several different companies attended the rendezvous that was the largest in the rocky mountains. American fur company St. Louis Company of William Sublette and Robert Campbell was at the rendezvous, when several of men were bitten by a mad wolf that hung around for three nights. By 1830, the Hudson’s Bay Company institute a policy to destroy the American Fur trade, then transformed into a trading enterprise. In 1841 the American Fur Company and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company were in ruins, but about fifty American trappers still continued to work in the Snake River County. And after the strategic victory by the Hudson’s Bay Company taking over the Snake River as it was used for immigrants for the Oregon Trail.

    Shortly after, another fur trading and supply grew in Taos (what is today New Mexico). This trade attracted many French Americans from Louisiana, French Canadian trappers, and Anglo-Americans. Some Mexicans had also pursued the beaver trade, while trappers and traders in the Southwest covered territory that was inaccessible to the large fur companies.

    This included parts of New Mexico, Nevada, and California, central and southern Utah. The decline in beaver and the fur trade had some immigrants went to the west found work as guides and hunters for the traveling parties.

    The British had gained control over the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest, after the Pacific fur Company was sold. They also had begun to destroy the fur resources in the Rocky Mountains so the American fur traders could not compete with them at the same time, this halted the American expansion onto the region. After 1825 few American trappers went west of the Rocky Mountains and found it unprofitable. It was told that the Hudson’s Bay Company had forced the American trappers to remain in the Rockies, and that gave the name Mountain Men.

    Year Rendezvous Locations

    Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life Don’t be trapped by dogma-which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become Everything else is secondary."

    Author unknown

    Introduction

    Rosette was not into wearing pretty dresses or fixing her hair to attract men, and to stand over a hot stove preparing meals for another person. She wanted to be in the Rocky Mountains with her father where the blood, gore, hunting, and skinning animals of took place. The thing she longed for more than anything else to be a mountaineer like her father’s footsteps.

    Rosette left her home when she was eight-teen to become a free trapper. She quickly realized hunting animals was harder than it seemed and she was on her own. When Rosette got enough pelts she would go into the men’s mess group to sell her furs and meats. Every time she was scorned and made fun of just because she was a women. But Rosette did not care what other people thought about her, all that she wanted is to have the respect just like the other men and to be noticed.

    Danger was always lurking on a daily basis when she went on her own into the Rocky Mountains with her horse and two mules. Rosette always had her two muskets and bot hand guns loaded and was not afraid to use them to protect her against other mountaineers, but when it came to her worst enemies the grizzly bear or the Indians, fear would strike her in the gut as if she was being stabbed with a sharp blade repeatedly. Rosette knew if she was caught by the local Indians hunting and trapping on their land, it would mean death for her.

    Rosette met a strange man named Chris Barton in a small town gazing down at each fur stand on either side of the street. When he turned around to see what all the commotion was, Rosette stood behind her sled with an angry man waving his loaded hand gun in front of her face. That was the day Chris came to her rescue. After a strange man had protected her she quickly fell in love with a man she barely knew, but did not trust him just yet. To relax around Chris was harder then she thought, and she was not used to a man being nice to her cause of the ridicule she had to deal with at the mess group.

    One question Rosette still had, who is this man that saved her a few months ago? Something about Chris’s behavior and human responses was unclear, especially when he got angry. Was it for real? or was it just Rosettes imagination? Many questions she wanted answered, but Chris never gave her not one clue who he really is. Until the day when Rosette was caught by the Ute Indians that changed everything she had felt for him, and could she ever love him again?

    Chapter One

    The human senses of hearing, sight and smell were used every day to keep Rosette alive and away from danger. Dame nature has lavishly bestowed upon her that innate curiosity and a fondness for strange and new things, and also having devotion of three years traveling in remote areas. Rosette had tread upon unfrequented ground and mingled among scenes with a love of adventure.

    Life as a mountaineer was not just harsh, but also very lonely. Rosette would spend many months in the Rocky Mountains, and sometimes when she was in an enfeebled state of health sensibly admonished her to see an otherwise invigorating air and climate. It was not life for a woman, but for Rosette this is what she wanted to follow in her father’s path.

    Clothes for Rosette were not fancy or made with expensive fabric, but made by her own two hands with different parts of animal hides she was unable to sell. Her daily wear consisted of a buffalo hair jacket with gaily leather fringes at the seams, her pants the same material down to her ankle was cut and made in a fashion particular to herself. The deer and buffalo furnishes were the required coverings for her feet that was insulated with buffalo hair up to both of her knees for the winter season.

    Rosette adjusts the coons cap on her head, as the tail of a fox draped from the back of her head. The legs from the fox dangled down over both of her ears, and the head of the animal rested on the front of her head. A medium size scar was made from a startled deer that jumped up after it was shot, while Rosette was bend over and started to skin the animal it gauged her in the face. The antler forced its way under her skin tearing the flesh from her face making a medium size scar indent near the right ear up to the corner of her right eye. Her long hair was coarse, greasy and bushy from the lack of care as it loosely dangled in the middle of her back.

    Rosette stood next to a large tree with her horse tied to the same tree behind her. Taking of both mittens, she brought the musket up to her face and tightly closed one eye placing her cheek down onto the ice cold stock looking down the black barrel. The stock of the musket rested, pressing firmly into her shoulder while the wood underneath the barrel lay in her left hand with a tight hold. She released warm air from her lungs, slowly exhaling into the cold December which turned her breathe white. She held the musket out in front of her still as possible with one finger rested lightly on the trigger. The sounds of breaking branches somewhere in the woods made her take a quick swallow at the same time she closed her lips then licked them once. Suddenly, a brown white tailed deer came darting out of the woods and she quickly pressed the hammer back with her thumb then squeezed on the trigger. The thrust of her musket made a quick jerk backwards into her shoulder, at the same time grey smoke came from the end of the barrel leaving the scent of sulfur into the freezing air.

    Rosette forced the bottom of her stock into the snow then bent forward and down at her waist synching the leather straps lightly on the snowshoes around both feet. Standing up right and put her mittens back onto both hands then brushed the snow off of her shoes, then reached into her possible bag grasping a hold of a spy lens wrapped in calf skin. Where are you? She said looking through the spy lens to search for her kill with one hand and eye closed at the same time wiping her cold nose on her sleeve.

    Both of her hands quickly turned red from the extreme cold temperatures outside while continuing to hold onto the lens, when she found the animal lying on a pile of rocks lightly covered in snow, as Rosette carefully walked on top of the powder layered snow underneath her feet. When she walked up to the animal and at the same time nudging it with the end of the barrel to make sure it is dead, then bent down at her waist. A single stream of blood ran down off of the hind quarters of the rump, as it turned the white snow dark red.

    When suddenly, Rosette heard breaking branches as if someone was watching her at a distance. She quickly lifted her head up looking forward to see if she could spot anyone, but nothing was there. Next, she stood back up and quickly reloaded the musket at the same time a flock of birds flew miles high above her as if they were also spooked. Voices from other hunters in the distance made her paranoid and begin to get desperate for time. Rosette knew if she was caught by the Indians or by any other mountaineers that hunted and trapped nearby her journey would be the last for her and she would be forced to face death. Rosette used the skills that her father had taught her to protect herself, but what she feared the most was the grizzle bear. It was the wild animal that ruled the Rocky Mountains and hunted mountaineers and Indians as if they were prey, and it only took one swipe with the paw to kill any animal or even a person.

    Rosette squatted back down to grasp a hold of the antlers and her breathing became more intense as she listened carefully to the voices as they came closer to her. The deer had a spread of two feet from each side with a texture of velvet fuzz, as warm blood froze quickly in the cold air. She took her mittens off and took a hold of the knife that rested in a holster on her side, stabbed it into the genitals and sliced it open until the blade hit the bone of the animal’s rib cage, then proceed to take all the innards out of the body. Bloody muscles and fat laid open while hot stream escaped out of the animals body at the same time Rosette gathered as mush of the main organs as were edible and put them into a cotton bag. Warm red blood filled lines on both hands as it froze on her skin, while the rest dripped down into the snow. Standing up right from a slight cramping in both legs, holding the lower back from the soreness of aching muscles from as were a single arrow head had partly entered into her back and was unable to be taken out. Her right hand was missing a finger which was cut off at the lover joint by a knife due to an infection exposing the skin covered bone.

    Grasping several hands full of snow and rubbing together to clean them, the red blood stained her skin with the scent of a fresh kill. Quickly, Rosette dragged the dead animal by its antlers over to the sled she built out of wood and hemp rope. Pulling the deer on top of the uneven wood by its antler, she took the bloody knife, leaning it against the musket to prop the belly open, then placed both hands inside of animal to warm them up. Next, she put her mittens back on that flung the rope over the animal tying it down tightly and covered it with layers of pre-tanned animal hides, then grabbed another hand full of snow to clean her blade and placed it back in the holster.

    Rosette continued to wear her snowshoes walking up to a nearby bush knelt down, then took off her of her mittens again. She reaches into the possible bag from around her neck and grasped onto the same spy lens, brought it up to one eye, and looked through it to see how far away the Indians were. Waah! redsticks too close for me." She said placing the spy lens back into the possible bag and quickly walked back over to her sled and horse. Facing imminent capture Rosette hurried to bury the remaining organs that were not edible into the snow, covered her tracks much as possible and quickly got onto her horse and left the site, kicking the animal three times on each side for it to trot. She heard Indians yelling in their native language at the same time one arrow flew past her and landed in a tree in front of her. Rosette took a quick look at the spear to see what tribe it was and saw the flake flint spear head tied to a long wooden stick with eagle feathers at the end. Just by looking at the spear she knew the tribe in the area were head hunters and would kill anybody that enters into their territory.

    The descending sun had set over the western horizon making the atmosphere glow with bright colors in the sky above her, with orange, red and yellow, sliding behind different sizes of trees making small to large streams of dull light. The freezing cold temperatures dropped quickly as night approached and made the journey back to her camp difficult to keep warm.

    There were no maps used during the mountain men era to find her way around, expect for several strips of material with stained animal blood that were tied to every fifth tree. Rosette walked past the trees gathering them all as she leaned to one side into the wooden saddle to remove them at the same time stuffing them all inside her buffalo fur jacket. Then making a slow descent down the snowy mountain pass through the fog, she saw the paths across two areas of higher elevation. The snowy trails had many challenges and were difficult to travel between deep valleys. Small rocks on the trail floor were glazed with ice that scraped against the bottom of the wooden sled. Thick fog made a blanket above her that looked like fluffy cotton frozen in midair. Everything around her was white, crisp and very cold, especially with every breath she took to fill her lungs. Suddenly, rocks covered with powdered snow fell from their sitting positions on the left side of her and echoed through the valley. Rosette quickly turned her head to take a look, when an unpleasant fear made her heart beat fast when she noticed a mountain lion traveling on a nearby ridge had caught the scent from the freshly killed animal behind her. Rosette knew this wild car had the greatest hunting skill in the mountain range of Montana and was most the terrestrial mammal of the north, besides the grizzly bear.

    The lion began to stalk her and the horse as they went through the underbrush of dead trees. The closer the animal came to Rosette, the faster her heart beat with each breath she took. Next, she took out her spyglass to take a look, and she realized it was the largest mountain lion she had ever seen. It stood seventy-six centimeters across the shoulders, and eight feet from head to tail, as hisses and snarls became louder with every leap it took from tree branch to tree branch. Rosette’s horse became nervous and it stood up on both hind legs ready to defend itself from the predator as she tried to keep it under control, when suddenly she went tumbling off of the saddle from one side and onto the snowy ground landing on her side. Lying still in the same position, she saw its strong jaw wide open as it roared twice and did not take its eyes off of her. Rosette knew she was in for a fight, placing one hand down on her hip to find the knife still securely in place in the leather holster, at the same time the lion growled showing the top canine teeth proving it can take her down with no hesitation as it had chosen its prey. Slowly making her way to her horse pulling herself with both arms in front of her scooting on the same side while the animal walked slowly in a full circle around her until it had reached a comfortable distance. It continue growling viciously as it showed its top canine teeth, it stopped and crouched down on all four legs when suddenly it makes the final leap toward her, at the same time grasped for her knife with one hand. The lion took a hold of Rosette’s leather jacket, pulling and tearing on her sleeve making a low tone growl then she could feel the ends of its teeth bearing down through the leather what was left barely held together over her arm exposing its upper teeth. She stabbed the animal once in the side pushing deep and twisting the blade then quickly freed her arm from the mouth of the animal.

    Rosette got up on both feet staggering toward her horse, when suddenly in the corner of one eye she noticed the lion got back up on all four legs and dashed toward her once again. Grasping a hold of the musket by the end of the stock it fell down in the snow on the other side of her horse and the animal turned in a half circle, then bucked again with its hind legs. She made another attempt while her horse stood still one foot away from her and reached for the other preloaded rifle. This time grabbing it with a firm hold and pulling back the hammer quickly at the same time bringing the stock up to her cheek. The pounding of her heart made her fear the worst as claws from each paw took one quick swiping motion scratching her on the upper arm, when suddenly she took the end of her barrel and proceeded to beat the lion repeatedly on the head. Bare skin on her arm was exposed to the cold air as warm blood dripped onto the snowy floor beneath her feet. The lion backed away and shook the impact off. It again hissed and growled viciously at her sniffing its prey from a distance. Ok, you over grown kitty come and get me! Rosette said, once more brought the stock of her rifle up to her cheek, pulled back the hammer at the same time cursing to herself in an angry tone.

    Rosette stood still trying not to shiver from the extreme cold air piercing through her torn sleeve as she pressed the stock into her shoulder and adjusted the site in the middle of the barrel. The lion proceeded to leap once again into the air with an open mouth showing the canine teeth and front claws stretched out to the limit. She squeezed the trigger back and exhaled from her mouth, smoke exited from the barrel at the same time her horse again kicked both hind legs out from behind. The smoke slowly cleared the view in front of her as the lion laid on its side growling in a vicious tone and unable to move. Rosette ran over to her horse and reached into the saddle bag and took out another knife that was stained with dried blood. She had stored this knife in another holster lined with Indian beads and it was tied onto her wooden saddle. She ran back to the injured animal and bent down over the lion then on both knees as it lay still on the ground, at the same time it looked at her with an intense stare never took its eyes off of her. The animal proceeded to growl viciously at her, as she took a hold of the handle with both hands and forcefully stabbed it in the neck piercing the skin with the blade of her knife. No animal never gonna make me to go under! Rosette said, firmly stabbing continually and viciously as tears streamed down both sides of her face. This time Rosette placed one hand onto the shoulder, taking one more stab to the neck, and began to cut the head off. Warm blood ran out of the body as she grasped the feet to drag it over to the sled. Next, she took off all of the pelts and pulled the dead lions body over the top of the deer, then covered the two animals she had killed with the same pre-tanned skins.

    Rosette reloaded the rifle then slid it back into the wool blanket casing at same time tying the top closed securely, and then with a long piece of wool in the middle of the case she had tied it onto her saddle. Rosette mounted back onto her horse grabbing a hold of both blanket cases placing them both flat in between the saddle and her, then kicked the horse twice once on each side.

    Rosette continued to sit on her horse with the mule behind as the snowy slope in front of her descended down the hill. Slowly trekking and guiding her horse with the reins in one hand, she raised her head to see in front of her as the surrounding terrain extended out of in front her. Everything was beautiful and crispy white as it sparkled with the few cracks of the sun in between the clouds. There were only a few hours left of day light with the setting sun before her as it got dark while the temperature quickly dropped around her. Part of Rosettes face was covered by a handmade wool bandana that was poorly made and her coons cap was pulled down where only her eyes were exposed to the bitter cold weather.

    Kicking both sides of her horse to keep the animal from stopping, until reaching the exact same place where Rosette had camped before leaving on her hunt. She jumped down then wrapped both leather reins around her mitten three times, then planted her feet firmly into the loosely packed snow pulling the horse to a tree next to her. She did not have lots of money to buy an expensive tent that was made from cotton canvas nor a stove to keep warm, but a lean-to which was made from pelts and branches she had cut from nearby trees and skins for the sides.

    For a mountaineer is neither complex in its nature nor difficult, as single buffalo robe folded twice and spread upon another layer of skins made a comfortable mattress, along with the left over pelts after making her lean-to. To rest her head she either used a rock, or something else to substitute for a pillow. But in extremely low temperatures some nights were brutal and hard to keep warm, as she had to double up with buffalo pelts around her feet and legs. It did not matter what the season was or the time of day, danger was always there lurking in every direction, and especially at night when she slept with her trusty rifle and knife at her side.

    Rosette unloaded both her mule and the horse, while placing her saddle, musket, possible bags, rifle and all of her knives inside the lean-to, then tied animals to a nearby tree. Next, she dug a hole with both of her hands in the snow, then wrapped the carcasses with cotton cloth to keep them fresh, then she put them both down into the hole and covered them. Two hawks watched her from high up, the same time breaking a small twig from a tree and placed a stick to indicate where they are. Next, she took the last two wool blankets off of the sled and placed them over the mules and horses back to keep them warm throughout the cold night.

    It was almost dark, and Rosette had gathered much tinder to make a fire that was not fully covered in snow. The wind continued to slightly blow while the neighboring trees released frozen ice and snow down onto her, as the same time she took out a flint strike and steal with some recollected buffalo chips and tree bark from her possible bag. With several attempts striking the two objects together outside of her lean-to sparks flew when she slowly blew onto the small lighted fire for it to spread, then placed it on top of the organized wood.

    Rosette stayed in one place to warm herself, and then to take out a cotton bag wrapped with leather from her saddle bag to pour some coffee grains and gathered snow to melt it for hot coffee. She placed both of her hands over the hot coals to keep them warm, and after several minutes hot steam came from the spout of the coffee pot, and she poured the slightly thick liquid into a tin cup. Slowly sipping the hot liquid until it was gone from the coffee pot; she gathered more snow to make hot water for soup from pemmican using stale crackers for bread to give it a small flavor as some of the grains floated from the left over coffee. With a full stomach and ready for bed, Rosette placed a few smaller logs that she had collected from recent hunts on the fire to keep the fire going warm for part of the night.

    That next morning Rosette woke up to the cold and crisp air. The fire she made last night had died with the coals frozen together. With a few stretches she slowly got up to check on her mule and horse, then quickly gathered her belongings and the meat under the snow onto her sled. Riding on her horse down the trail next to a narrow mountain ledge in the lightly blackened sky of the rising dawn, Rosette gave her horse a few kicks through the thicket of mountain laurel and when she came to the other side; she was looking at an overgrowth of fallen trees that left a path at an angle downhill.

    The day that Rosette had left home was the last time she would ever see her mother in pain crying for her only child walked away for good. She had never forgotten when she left. Voices of both of her parents had echoed through her mind of the past, while her mother had begged for her not to leave. She can still remember her father giving one last hug then kissing her on the forehead and smiling at her one last time, but she knew he had to choose to trust his daughter going into the untamed Rocky Mountains, and it was no life for a woman to be alone. The longing to be a trapper like her father meant everything to her, but it was the first time she would see both of her parents hearts break and the last time she would see them alive in Virginia.

    Rosette remembered how her father’s hands had a rough touch while he placed a small oval shaped copper locket around her neck as she stood in front of a mirror in their living room to remember them by in the morning hours before leaving. Now look at you my sweet Rose, and daddy’s little girl. Her father’s voice had faintly entered her mind at the same time a foggy picture of his hands on both of her shoulders appeared in her mind. Daddy’s little girl! Rosette said, and a small smirk came across her face after whispering to herself.

    What she desired the most to hunt like her father and walk in his ways as a trapper. Fixing her hair every day and wearing nice dresses to make her all pretty to attract men was not her thing, but that is what her mother wanted for her only daughter. Blood and gore she was into, and getting dirty on a daily basis, as she neither hated to clean herself before meals nor staying in the same place for a long period of time. But she was the type of girl that had to explore and learn from her mistakes.

    Associated with nature in Rosette’s most simply forms by habit and manner of life, she gradually learned to despise the restraints of civilization. The freedom was as pure as the

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