Memories of a Mountain Man

By John J. Law

Carlos 'Bolo' Damon was a mountain man. Like most of his kind, Carlos was a loner and quite able to live off the land and his own skills. Damon lived off the land and hunted various animals for their furs and like his peers, blazed many trails that later travelers would use and benefit from. Damon hunted and worked where his feet, or his mount would take him. It didn't really matter. For a man like Carlos, what mattered was the fur that he could obtain, and there was plenty of that in the still bountiful woods.
It was just another day for Damon. His wanderings had brought him to a patch of woods where he had observed one of his more valuable prey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.C. Hulsey Books
• Release date: Dec 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798201467890

Book preview

One

Carlos ‘Bolo’ Damon was a mountain man. Like most of his kind, Carlos was a loner and quite able to live off the land and his own skills. Damon lived off the land and hunted various animals for their furs and like his peers, blazed many trails that later travelers would use and benefit from. Damon hunted and worked where his feet, or his mount would take him. It didn't really matter. For a man like Carlos, what mattered was the fur that he could obtain, and there was plenty of that in the still bountiful woods.

It was just another day for Damon. His wanderings had brought him to a patch of woods where he had observed one of his more valuable prey. Damon had observed some beavers in the area, and he knew that one of them had set up residence here. He immediately realized this when he spotted a clump of twigs and bark piled upon each other.

The clump of twigs and bark from Aspen were set upon each other and were sealed with flowing water from the nearby river. The water was there to ensure some degree of protection from predators, but the resourceful little animal never factored in the most dangerous predator of all, a mountain man.

Today, Carlos Damon was that predator. He set up his small, steel beaver trap beside the clump of damp twigs. He had worked this job long enough to know the movement patterns and habits of the tiny animal that gave him and his kind a livelihood. The beaver lived in that little home of wooden twigs and water, but had to move on land eventually. Damon concealed the beaver trap on the ground where the beaver was most likely to travel to move out of its home to forage. Once he was satisfied with the position of the trap, he retreated to a nearby bush and simply waited.

Many times, hunting required as much patience as it did resourcefulness and a quick trigger finger. For a mountain man like Carlos Damon, waiting was an essential part of the hunt. A man could have so much skill with a rifle or setting a trap or tracking an animal, but if he had no patience to wait for the right time to strike, all of that would be for naught.

Damon waited for the trap to be sprung and his prey to be caught. While he waited, his mind wandered to the past, to events that helped shape the man that he was now.

Two

Carlos could still remember that fateful night very clearly. He could still see his father Francis drinking with the Delaware the tribe of Indians that would have a huge impact on most of Bolo's life. Francis was a huge man built like a rock or a grizzly. For young Carl and his siblings, Francis was a mix of both, a large man that was terrifying when he lost his temper, but also tender