Editing John Colter

{{Short description|Member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition}}
{{For|similarly named people|John Coulter (disambiguation){{!}}John Coulter}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = John Colter
| image       = John Colter historical marker.png
| caption     = John Colter historical marker, located in [[Stuarts Draft, Virginia]]
| birth_date  = c.1770&ndash;1775 
| birth_place = [[Stuarts Draft, Virginia|Stuarts Draft]], [[Colony of Virginia]] (present-day Stuarts Draft, Virginia)
| death_date  =  May 7, 1812 or November 22, 1813 (age 36&ndash;43) 
| death_place = Sullen Springs, [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], [[Territory of Missouri]] (present-day St. Louis, Missouri)
| resting_place = Miller's Landing, Franklin County, Missouri (present-day New Haven, Franklin County, Missouri)
| occupation  = frontiersman, soldier, fur trapper
| employer    = [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. Government]], self employed
| nationality = American
| other_names = John Coulter, John Coalter 
| known_for   = Being considered, the first, known, American, mountain man, the first known person of [[European ethnic groups|European]] descent to enter the region which later became [[Yellowstone National Park]] and to see the [[Teton Mountain Range]], and having been a one of the first, white, American men to see the [[Rocky Mountains]] and the [[Pacific Ocean]], as a member of the 1804&ndash;1806 [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]].
| title = 
| term = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| party = 
| boards = 
| spouse =  Sallie Loucy 
| children = 1
| relatives = 
| known for =  
}}
'''John Colter''' (c.1770&ndash;1775 – May 7, 1812 or November 22, 1813) was a member of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] (1804–1806). Though party to one of the more famous expeditions in history, Colter is best remembered for explorations he made during the winter of 1807–1808, when he became the first known person of [[Ethnic groups in Europe|European]] descent to enter the region which later became [[Yellowstone National Park]] and to see the [[Teton Mountain Range]]. Colter spent months alone in the wilderness and is widely considered to be the first known [[mountain man]].<ref name=zimmerman>{{cite web |last=Zimmerman |first=Emily |title=John Colter 1773?–1813 |work=The Mountain Men: Pathfinders of the West 1810–1860 |publisher=American Studies at the University of Virginia |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Mtmen/johncol.html |access-date=May 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911143506/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/mtmen/johncol.html |archive-date=September 11, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Early life==
John Colter was born in [[Stuarts Draft, Virginia|Stuarts Draft]], [[Colony of Virginia]] in 1774, based on assumptions by his family.<ref name="Harris">{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Burton|title=John Colter, his years in the Rockies|date=1993|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln|isbn=978-0803272644|edition=1. Bison Book print.}}</ref> There is some debate as to which variation of the family name, Coalter, Coulter, or Colter, is correct, and the issue was further convoluted by [[William Clark]] utilizing all three spelling variations during his daily journals. It is unknown whether Colter was literate or knew how to write. Two signatures possessed by the [[State Historical Society of Missouri|Missouri State Historical Society]] assert that the proper spelling of the family name was "Colter" and that Colter was at least able to write his own name.<ref name="Harris" /> Sometime around 1780, the Colter family moved west and settled near present-day [[Maysville, Kentucky]]. As a young man Colter may have served as a ranger under [[Simon Kenton]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Clark |first=Charles |url=http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~landc/html/clarke.html |title=The Men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition |access-date=November 16, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908230541/http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~landc/html/clarke.html |archive-date=September 8, 2006 }}</ref>

==Lewis and Clark Expedition==
John Colter, along with [[George Shannon (explorer)|George Shannon]] and [[Patrick Gass]], joined the expedition while Lewis was waiting for the completion of their vessels in [[Pittsburgh]] and nearby [[Elizabeth, Pennsylvania]]. The outdoor skills he had developed from this frontier lifestyle impressed [[Meriwether Lewis]], and on October 15, 1803, Lewis offered Colter the rank of [[private (rank)|private]] and a pay of five dollars per month when he was recruited to join what became the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  The expedition arrived at the [[Mississippi River]] in November and in December established its 1803-1804 winter camp at Wood River, north of [[St. Louis]].  While Lewis and Clark were away from camp making preparations, Colter and three other recruits disobeyed Lewis’ orders, leaving the camp to go to a whiskey shop.  Upon his return, Lewis disciplined Colter and the others with ten days’ confinement to quarters.<ref name="Ambrose">{{cite book |last=Ambrose |first=Stephen E. |year=1996 |title=Undaunted Courage |url=https://archive.org/details/undauntedcourag000ambr |url-access=registration |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-684-82697-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/undauntedcourag000ambr/page/129 129]}}</ref> Soon thereafter, Colter was [[court-martial]]ed after threatening to shoot sergeant [[John Ordway]]. After a review of the situation, Colter was reinstated after he offered an apology and promised to reform.<ref name="BLM">{{cite web |url=http://www.id.blm.gov/lc/colter.htm |title=Private John Colter |work=The Personnel of the Lewis and Clark Expedition |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Land Management |access-date=November 16, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060923091818/http://www.id.blm.gov/lc/colter.htm |archive-date = September 23, 2006}}</ref>

Colter was considered to be one of the best hunters in the group and was routinely sent out alone to scout the surrounding countryside for [[Game (hunting)|game meat]].<ref name="BLM"/> Colter was often trusted with responsibilities that went beyond hunting and woodsman activities. He was instrumental in helping the expedition find [[mountain pass|passes]] through the [[Rocky Mountains]]. In one instance, Colter was handpicked by Clark to deliver a message to Lewis, waylaid at a [[Shoshone]] camp, concerning the impracticability of following a route along the [[Salmon River (Idaho)|Salmon River]]. In another instance he was charged with retracing a route in the [[Bitterroot Mountains]] to recover lost horses and supplies, and not only returned with some of the recovered resources and horses but also retrieved deer to gift the hospitable [[Nez Perce]] tribes and strengthen sick corp members.<ref name="Harris" /> Colter was noted by Lewis for his ability to barter with various tribes, an attribute which may have led to his later role with [[Manuel Lisa]].

Colter never appeared on sick lists, suggesting very advantageous health. He was often one of the few hunters allowed to leave the camp during points of illness and recuperation, showing Lewis and Clark's confidence in him. Another major contribution Colter made to the Corps of Discovery was providing the expedition with the means to swiftly descend the Bitterroot Mountains, allowing access to the [[Snake River]], [[Columbia River]], and subsequently the Pacific Ocean. While hunting far ahead of the main party, Colter encountered three [[Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes|Tushepawe Flatheads.]] Through non-verbal peace symbols and communication, Colter was able to persuade the Flatheads to abandon their search for two Shoshones who had stolen 23 head of horses and accompany him to the expedition's camp.<ref name="Harris" /> One of the young Flatheads agreed to act as the party's guide down the mountains and through Flathead country, a great advantage in challenging and unfamiliar terrain plagued by a scarcity of game.  Once at the mouth of the Columbia River, Colter was among a small group selected to venture to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, as well as explore the seacoast north of the Columbia into present-day [[Washington (state)|Washington]] state.<ref name="Ambrose2">{{cite book |last=Ambrose |first=Stephen E. |year=1996 |title=Undaunted Courage |url=https://archive.org/details/undauntedcourag000ambr |url-access=registration |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/undauntedcourag000ambr/page/313 313–316] |isbn=0-684-82697-6}}</ref>

After traveling thousands of miles, in 1806 the expedition returned to the [[Mandan]] villages in present-day [[North Dakota]]. There, they encountered Forrest Hancock and Joseph Dickson, two frontiersmen who were headed into the upper [[Missouri River]] country in search of [[North American fur trade|beaver furs]]. On August 13, 1806, Lewis and Clark permitted Colter to be [[Military discharge#Honorable|honorably discharged]] almost two months early so that he could lead the two trappers back to the region they had explored.<ref name="Ambrose3">{{cite book |last=Ambrose |first=Stephen E. |year=1996 |title=Undaunted Courage |url=https://archive.org/details/undauntedcourag000ambr |url-access=registration |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-684-82697-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/undauntedcourag000ambr/page/399 399]}}</ref> Upon his discharge, Colter had earned payment for 35 months and 26 days, totaling $179.33 1/3rd dollars.<ref name="Harris" /> However, a discrepancy in the books provided Colter with payment for the two months he had skipped to accompany Hancock and Dickson trapping. This over-payment may have been justified by Colter's significant work ethic and personal praise by [[Thomas Jefferson]] himself. In 1807, Colter's settlement was retracted after Congress passed a mandate supplying all members of the Corps of Discovery with doubled wages and land grants of 320 acres. Lewis personally took responsibility for Colter's reparations, and following Lewis' death and Colter's subsequent return to St. Louis, a court decided Colter was owed an amount of $377.60.

==Mountain man beginnings==
Colter, Hancock, and Dixon ventured into the wilderness with 20 beaver traps, a two-year supply of ammunition, and numerous other small tools gifted to them by the expedition such as knives, rope, hatchets, and personal utensils.<ref name="Harris"/> The route of the trapping party is not known. It is speculated that unfriendly [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfeet]] in the region of the Lower Missouri and a lack of horses forced the company to seek their fortunes in the tributaries of the less-prosperous Yellowstone Valley, a region inhabited by the friendlier [[Crow people|Crows]]. The dangers of the narrow and rapid [[Yellowstone River]] and the absence of game may explain the quick dissolution of the trapping party.

After reaching a point where the [[Gallatin River|Gallatin]], [[Jefferson River|Jefferson]] and [[Madison River]]s meet, known today as [[Three Forks, Montana]], the trio managed to maintain their partnership for only about two months.  There is much speculation as to where the party, at that point only consisting of Colter and Hancock following a falling out with Dixon, spent the winter of 1806–1807.<ref name="Morris">Morris, Larry E. ''The Perilous West''. Lanham, MD: Row & Littlefield Publishing. 2013, p. 20.</ref> However, Wyoming historian [[John K. Rollinson|J.K. Rollinson]] asserts in a personal letter that he had met the stepson of one of Colter's companions, mostly likely Hancock's as Dixon is known to have left the region for Wisconsin in 1827.<ref name="Harris" /> This stepson, Dave Fleming, accompanied his stepfather on a hunting trip to [[Clarks Fork Yellowstone River|Clark's Fork Canyon]] as a boy and was informed that his stepfather had made camp in this exact spot while trapping with Colter many years earlier. Fleming reportedly remembered and passed on this detail as his stepfather asserted that during winter of 1806–1807, Colter had grown restless with taking shelter and ascended the canyon into the Sunlight Basin of modern-day Wyoming, which would make him the first known white man to have ever entered this region.<ref name="Harris" />

Colter headed back toward civilization in 1807 and was near the mouth of the [[Platte River]] when he encountered [[Manuel Lisa]], a founder of the Missouri Fur Trading Company, who was leading a party that included several former members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, towards the Rocky Mountains. Among the band were [[George Drouillard]], [[John Potts (American frontiersman)|John Potts]], and [[Peter M. Weiser|Peter Weiser]]. Colter once again decided to return to the wilderness, even though he was only a week from reaching St. Louis. At the confluence of the Yellowstone and [[Bighorn River]]s, Colter helped build [[Fort Raymond]] and was later sent by Lisa to search out the Crow Indian tribe to investigate the opportunities of establishing trade with them.<ref name="BLM" />

==Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Jackson Hole==
[[Image:Map of Lewis and Clark's Track, Across the Western Portion of North America, published 1814.jpg|thumb|300px|Map of [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Lewis and Clark's Track]], including Colter's route.]]
Colter left Fort Raymond in October 1807 and traveled over {{convert|500|mi}} to establish trade with the Crow nation. Over the course of the winter, he explored the region that later became [[Yellowstone National Park|Yellowstone]] and [[Grand Teton National Park]]s. Colter reportedly visited at least one [[geyser]] basin, though it is now believed that he most likely was near present-day [[Cody, Wyoming]], which at that time may have had some [[Geothermal gradient|geothermal]] activity to the immediate west.<ref name="NPS">{{cite web |url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/grte1/chap3.htm |title=John Colter, the Phantom Explorer—1807–1808 |work=Colter's Hell and Jackson Hole |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=November 16, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061014141520/http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/grte1/chap3.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = October 14, 2006}}</ref> Colter probably passed along portions of the shores of [[Jackson Lake (Wyoming)|Jackson Lake]] after crossing the [[Continental Divide of the Americas|Continental Divide]] near [[Togwotee Pass]] or more likely, [[Union Pass]] in the northern [[Wind River Range]]. Colter then explored Jackson Hole below the Teton Range, later crossing [[Teton Pass]] into [[Pierre's Hole]], known today as the Teton Basin in the state of [[Idaho]].<ref name="NPS"/> After heading north and then east, he is believed to have encountered [[Yellowstone Lake]], another location in which he had seen geysers and other geothermal features. Colter then proceeded back to Fort Raymond, arriving in March or April 1808. Not only had Colter traveled hundreds of miles, much of the time unguided, he did so in the dead of winter, in a region in which nighttime temperatures in January are routinely {{convert|-30|°F}}.

Colter arrived back at Fort Raymond, and few believed his reports of geysers, bubbling [[mudpot]]s and steaming pools of water. His reports of these features were often ridiculed at first, and the region was somewhat jokingly referred to as "[[Colter's Hell]]". It is commonly believed that Colter's Hell referred to the region of the Stinking Water, now known as the [[Shoshone River]], particularly the section running through Cody.<ref name="Harris" /> The river's original title was thanks to presence of [[Hydrogen sulfide#Occurrence|sulphur]] in the surrounding area. His detailed exploration of this region is the first by a white man of what later became the state of Wyoming.
[[File:Colters Hell.jpg|left|thumb|Colter's Hell of the Shoshone River, just west of Cody, Wyoming]]

==Colter's Route==
It is not known if Colter produced his own crude map that informed Clark's version or if the details were simply dictated to Clark by Colter following his return to St. Louis after a six-year absence. Colter's Route was included in a version of Clark's map, titled "A Map of Lewis and Clark's Track Across the Western Portion of North America from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean," which was published in 1814.  Clark's original field sketches, drawn on numerous separate sheets that traced the flows of principal rivers as opposed to traditional rectangular or square maps, were shown to President Jefferson in 1807 and did not include Colter's Route, as he was still traveling at the time.<ref name="Harris" /> A version of these original field maps was produced in 1810 by Clark and [[Nicholas Biddle]] so that inaccurate recordings of latitude and longitude could be corrected by astronomer and mathematician [[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler|Ferdinand Hassler]]. This 1810 manuscript provided the details of Colter's Route that were published in 1814. Several unexplained geographical discrepancies were printed on the 1814 map, including the Big Horn Mountains and basin being drawn about two times too large, an error believed to be Clark's.<ref name="Harris" /> The nature behind these discrepancies eludes historians, as Clark had not only his own personal information of the region but information from George Drouillard and John Colter as well. It is likely that Colter never saw Clark's full field maps, as another major discrepancy places Colter's starting point at the midsection of Pryor Creek, as opposed to only geographically likely departing point at the mouth of the Big Horn River. The inaccuracies that plague the 1814 map's details of the area between Manuel's Fort on the Yellowstone and the likely location of Colter's Hell have fueled much of the scholarly disagreements surrounding Colter's Route.<ref name="Harris" />

==Colter's Run==
The following year, Colter teamed up with [[John Potts (American frontiersman)|John Potts]], another former member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, once again in the region near Three Forks, Montana. In 1808, Colter and Potts set out from Fort Raymond to negotiate trade agreements with local nations. While leading a group of 800 Flathead and Crow Indians back to the trading fort, Colter's party was attacked by over 1,500 Blackfeet.<ref name="morris" /> The Flatheads and Crows managed to force the Blackfeet into retreat, but Colter suffered a leg wound from either a bullet or arrow. This wound was not serious as Colter quickly recuperated and left Fort Raymond with Potts once more the following year.

In 1809, another altercation with the Blackfeet resulted in Potts' death and Colter's capture. While going by canoe up the [[Jefferson River]], Potts and Colter encountered several hundred Blackfeet who demanded they come ashore. Colter went ashore and was disarmed and stripped naked. When Potts refused to come ashore, he was shot and wounded. Potts then shot one of the Indian warriors and was instantly pierced with arrows so numerous, that, to use the language of Colter, "he was made a riddle of."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2616 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925015401/http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2616 | archive-date=September 25, 2012 | title=Colter the Mountain Man }}</ref> His body was brought ashore and hacked to pieces. After a council, Colter was told to leave and encouraged to run. It soon became apparent that he was running for his life pursued by a group of Indians. A fast runner, after several miles the naked Colter was exhausted and bleeding from his nose but far ahead of most of the group with only one assailant still close to him.<ref>Page 30, James, ''Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans''</ref> He then managed to overcome the lone man:

{{blockquote|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 Native American, 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 (naturalist)|John Bradbury]], 1817.<ref name="colter">{{cite web |url=http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2616 |title=Colter the Mountain Man |work=Discovering Lewis and Clark |publisher=Lewis-Clark.org |access-date=November 16, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925015401/http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2616 |archive-date=September 25, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Page 30, James, ''Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans'' contains a somewhat different version of the struggle.</ref>}}

Colter took a blanket from the Indian he had killed. Continuing his run with a pack of Indians following, he reached the [[Madison River]], {{convert|5|mi|spell=in}} from his start, and hiding inside a [[Beaver#Lodges|beaver lodge]], escaped capture. Emerging at night he climbed and walked for eleven days to a trader's fort on the Little Big Horn.<ref>Pages 31–32, James, ''Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans''</ref>

In 1810, Colter assisted in the construction of another fort located at [[Three Forks, Montana]]. After returning from gathering fur pelts, he discovered that two of his partners had been killed by the Blackfeet. This event convinced Colter to leave the wilderness for good, and he returned to St. Louis before the end of 1810. He had been away from civilization for almost six years.<ref name="colter"/>

==Final years and death==
After returning to St. Louis, Colter married a woman named Sallie and purchased a farm near [[New Haven, Missouri|Miller's Landing, Missouri]], now New Haven, Missouri.<ref name="redisc">{{cite web |url=http://www.l3-lewisandclark.com/ShowOneObject.asp?SiteID=30&ObjectID=181 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020829104058/http://www.l3-lewisandclark.com/ShowOneObject.asp?SiteID=30&ObjectID=181 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 29, 2002 |title=John Colter |publisher=The Lewis and Clark Rediscovery Project |access-date=May 8, 2007 }}</ref> Around 1810, he visited with William Clark and provided detailed reports of his explorations since they had last met. From this information, Clark created a map which, despite its previously mentioned discrepancies, was the most comprehensive map produced of the region of the explorations for the next 75 years.<ref name="zimmerman"/> During the [[War of 1812]], Colter enlisted and fought with [[Nathan Boone]]'s [[United States Rangers in the War of 1812|Rangers]].<ref name="redisc"/> Sources are unclear about when Colter died or the cause of death. One report states that after suddenly turning ill, Colter died of [[jaundice]] on May 7, 1812, and was buried near Miller's Landing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/jeff/LewisClark2/CorpsOfDiscovery/TheOthers/BurialSites.htm#JohnColter |title=Burial Sites |publisher=National Park Service |work=The Lewis & Clark Journey of Discovery |access-date=June 28, 2006}}</ref> Other sources indicate he died on November 22, 1813.<ref name="morris">{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Larry E. |year=2004 |title=The Fate of the Corps: What Became of the Lewis and Clark Explorers After the Expedition |url=https://archive.org/details/fateofcorps00larr |url-access=registration |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=0-300-10265-8}}</ref>

[[File:Release flier for JOHN COLTER'S ESCAPE, 1912.jpg|thumb|right|Release flier for the 1912 [[silent film]], ''[[John Colter's Escape]]'']]

==Legacy==
Colter's legacy has had a profound impact on the image of the [[Western United States|American West]] and frontier, with Colter's Run seeing many incarnations and recreations, including a retelling by [[Washington Irving]].  The stereotypes of reclusive frontier mountain men may be thanks to Nicholas Biddle's written characterizations of Colter, which paint him a man easily beguiled by the trapping prospects of the wilderness and intimidated by the possibility of returning to regular society.<ref name="Harris" /> Because no written materials attributed to Colter have ever been discovered (besides his signature,) Biddle's characterizations cannot be directly contested.

Traditionally, it is thought that Lewis and Clark's Expedition played a major role in heightening tensions between white explorers and the Blackfeet Indians. Despite this notion, Manuel Lisa's party originally interacted peacefully with the Blackfeet. However, it was after Colter and Potts were forced to battle the Blackfeet alongside the Flatheads and Crows that the relations between white explorers/trappers and the Blackfeet nation seemed to deteriorate. This led Major Biddle and many other frontiersman to draw the conclusion that Colter had actually upset relations with the Blackfeet, which was only expounded upon by the notoriety of Colter's Run.<ref name="Harris" />

Numerous locations in northwestern Wyoming have been named after him, notably Colter Bay on [[Jackson Lake (Wyoming)|Jackson Lake]] in Grand Teton National Park and [[Colter Peak]] in the [[Absaroka Range|Absaroka Mountains]] in Yellowstone National Park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=43.89667&lon=-110.64833&datum=nad27&zoom=4 |title=Colter Bay, USGS Colter Bay (WY) Topo Map |format=Map |publisher=TopoQuest USGS Quad |access-date=May 8, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=44.30167&lon=-110.10917&datum=nad27&zoom=4 |title=Colter Peak, USGS Eagle Peak (WY) Topo Map |format=Map |publisher=TopoQuest USGS Quads |access-date=May 9, 2008}}</ref> A plaque commemorating Colter was displayed at a roadside pulloff on [[U.S. Route 340]] just east of Stuarts Draft, near his birthplace. When the road was widened in 1998, the plaque was moved just north of the intersection of 340 and Route 608. A Kentucky historical marker commemorating Colter as one of the Lewis and Clark Expedition's "nine young men from Kentucky" is located in [[Maysville, Kentucky]].

==Popular culture==
* The first motion picture about John Colter's life was the 1912 [[silent film]], ''[[John Colter's Escape]]''.
* The original script for director [[Cornel Wilde|Cornel Wilde's]] 1965 movie ''[[The Naked Prey]]'' was largely based on Colter being pursued by Blackfeet Indians in Montana.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060736/trivia |title=Trivia for The Naked Prey (1965) |publisher=Internet Movie Database |access-date=May 8, 2007}}</ref> Films such as ''[[Run of the Arrow]]'' (1957) and ''[[The Mountain Men]]'' (1980) have incidents closely based upon Colter's Run. [[A. B. Guthrie Jr.]]'s 1947 story "Mountain Medicine" is a fictionalized account of Colter's Run.
* The TV series (2022) ''[[Into the Wild Frontier]]'' has one episode devoted to John Colter. Season 1, Episode 1: John Colter: King of the Mountain Men, 43 minutes.<ref>[https://m.imdb.com/title/tt17129114 imdb.com Wild Frontier]</ref>

== Colter Stone ==
[[File:Colter_Stone.jpg|right|thumb|The Colter Stone, with the inscription "John Colter"]]
Sometime between 1931 and 1933, an Idaho farmer named William Beard and his son discovered a rock carved into the shape of a man's head while clearing a field in [[Tetonia, Idaho]], which is immediately west of the Teton Range. The [[rhyolite]] lava rock is {{convert|13|in}} long, {{convert|8|in}} wide and {{convert|4|in}} thick and has the words "John Colter" carved on the right side of the face and the number "1808" on the left side and has been dubbed the "Colter Stone".<ref name="stone2">{{cite web|last=Daugherty|first=John|date=July 24, 2004|title=The Fur Trappers|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/grte2/hrs3.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207082333/http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/grte2/hrs3.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive -->|archive-date=February 7, 2007|access-date=May 8, 2007|work=A Place Called Jackson Hole|publisher=Grand Teton Natural History Association}}</ref> The stone was reportedly purchased from the Beards in 1933 by A.C. Lyon, who presented it to Grand Teton National Park in 1934.

[[Fritiof Fryxell]], noted mountain climber of numerous Teton Range peaks, geologist and Grand Teton National Park naturalist, concluded that the stone had weathering that indicated that the inscriptions were likely made in the year indicated.<ref name="stone2" /> Fryxell also believed that the Beards were not familiar with John Colter or his explorations. However the stone has not been fully authenticated to have been carved by Colter. If the stone is an actual carving made by Colter, in the year inscribed, it would coincide with the period he is known to have been in the region, and that he did cross the Teton Range and descend into Idaho, as descriptions he dictated to William Clark indicate.<ref name="mystery2">{{cite web|title=The Mystery of the Colter Stone|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/grte2/hrs3.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207082333/http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/grte2/hrs3.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive -->|archive-date=February 7, 2007|access-date=May 8, 2007|work=History & Culture|publisher=Grand Teton National Park}}</ref>

Another possible artifact of Colter's was discovered within Yellowstone National Park in the 1880s. A log with the carved initials "J C" underneath a large X was discovered by Philip Ashton Rollins near Coulter Creek, a coincidentally named stream of no relation to Colter. Rollins and his party determined that the carving was roughly eighty years old. The artifact was lost by Yellowstone employees around 1890 while being transferred to the park museum.<ref name="Harris2">{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Burton|title=John Colter, his years in the Rockies|date=1993|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|isbn=978-0803272644|edition=1. Bison Book print.|location=Lincoln}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* Anglin, Ronald M. and Larry E. Morris (2016). ''The Mystery of John Colter: The Man Who Discovered Yellowstone.'' Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
* {{cite book |last=James |first=Thomas |title=Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans |year=2008 |orig-year=1916 |isbn=978-1-151-25120-6}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=LaLande |first=Jeff |encyclopedia=[[The Oregon Encyclopedia]] |title=John Colter |url=http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/john_colter/}}
* {{cite book |author=Laut, Agnes C. |title=The Fur Trade in America |chapter=John Colter-Free Trapper |publisher=MacMillan Company |location=New York |year=1921 |url=https://archive.org/download/cu31924002408536/cu31924002408536.pdf |pages=236–252 }}
{{Yellowstone history}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Colter, John}}
[[Category:Lewis and Clark Expedition people]]
[[Category:Mountain men]]
[[Category:People from Augusta County, Virginia]]
[[Category:People from Montana]]
[[Category:People from Park County, Wyoming]]
[[Category:19th-century American explorers]]
[[Category:1770s births]]
[[Category:1810s deaths]]