(In writing this book the author had only one end in view,...)
In writing this book the author had only one end in view, that of relating in a simple way his experiences as a mountaineer. In these days, when such experiences are fast becoming a thing of the past, the story is of special interest.
https://www.amazon.com/My-Sixty-Years-Plains-Trapping/dp/1537414852?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1537414852
William Thomas Hamilton was born on December 6, 1822 in the River Till area, Northern England. He was of mixed Scotch and English ancestry. His parents, Margaret and Alexander Hamilton, brought him to the United States when he was two years old. He grew up in St. Louis.
His health was delicate and in 1842 with hopes of improving it his father sent him to the Northwest with a band of "free" trappers.
Hamilton went to school in St. Louis.
Bill Williams, a shrewd and clever trader and a man of courage and prestige on the frontier, headed the party of trappers. They traded first with the Cheyennes on the North Platte and later crossed into the Green River country. As "free" traders they were continually opposed by agents of the large fur companies, but by superior skill they obtained all the fur for which they could pay. The years from 1842 to 1845 determined Hamilton's career. He grew to know the Indians and how to trade with them or to fight them as enemies. He learned the sign language so well, according to his own account, that he could use it better than any other white man and as well as any Indian. In later years he interpreted the pictures on the cliffs near Flathead Lake and no one disputed his explanations.
In 1849 he went to California, but found no gold. He soon joined in attacking various Indian tribes that had been killing and robbing the miners and his party wiped out all the neighboring hostiles. He fought in the Rogue River War of 1855 and the Modoc War of 1856 and then traveled northeast to Walla Walla, where Colonel George Wright was fighting the Yakima, Spokane, and other tribes. Wright wished to learn the disposition of the eastern Indians and Hamilton volunteered to ascertain it. He visited the Nez Percés, the Piegans, the Blackfeet, the Crows, and the Kootenai, traded with them, and secured the information desired.
On his return in company with some Kootenai his party was attacked by Blackfeet, but after several desperate engagements the enemy was badly defeated. Hamilton then returned safely to Walla Walla with a fine collection of furs and presented his report to Colonel Wright. Having noted the confluence of Indian trails between the mouth of the Bitterroot and Hellgate Canyon, he moved there to trade. His post on the Rattlesnake, where Missoula now stands, was built in 1858 and was doubtless the first building within the present city limits. He remained here six years and in 1861 was elected sheriff of Missoula County. In 1864 he removed to Fort Benton and in 1869 went to the Yellowstone.
In 1873 he was appointed marshal for the Crow Indians and at the outbreak of the Sioux War became a scout for General George Crook. His services received praise, but accounts of them are vague. After the war he went to Columbus, Montana, where he lived the remainder of his life.
During his later life he engaged in trapping and in guiding tourists and entertaining them with stories of his exploits. He kept diaries and was fond of recounting his experiences. He wrote: "A Trading Expedition among the Indians in 1848 from Fort Walla Walla to the Blackfoot Country and Return, " which was published in Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana (1900); My Sixty Years on the Plains, which was edited by E. T. Sieber and appeared in 1905; and "Trapping Expeditions 1848-9, " which was printed in the Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana (1910), after his death. The Montana Historical Library has two unpublished manuscripts by him, "An Incident when Scouting with General Crook" and "My Experiences in Montana. " His writings are highly colored and sometimes contradictory.
(In writing this book the author had only one end in view,...)
Hamilton was given the name Wildcat Bill by Native Americans. He was considered a healer among them. Also called Sign Man, he excelled in Native American sign language.
He was versed in the mysteries of nature and knew when fish would bite and where to look for game. To the end his body was active, his eyes keen, and his mind alert.
Hamilton married in 1850, while in California, but his wife died the next year. Thereafter he lived alone.
