BROKEN HAND, THE LIFE STORY OF THOMAS FITZPATRICK, CHIEF OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN

Denver: The Old West Publishing Co., 1931., 1931. First edition. First edition. Ltd. edition, #80 of 100 copies, signed by both authors. Boards with cloth spine, light green front and rear endpapers, xi, 12 - 316 pp., frontispiece, preface, illustrated, appendix, notes, index. "Known by the Indians as 'Broken Hand,' Thomas Fitzpatrick was a trapper and a trailblazer who became the head of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. With Jedediah Smith he led the trapper band that discovered South Pass; he then shepherded the first two emigrant wagon trains to Oregon, was official guide to Fremont on his longest expedition, and guided Colonel Phil Kearny and his Dragoons along the westward trails to impress the Indians with howitzers and swords. Fitzpatrick negotiated the Fort Laramie treaty of 1851 at the largest council of Plains Indians ever assembled. Among the most colorful of mountain men, Fitzpatrick was also party to many of the most important events in the opening of the West." "Fitzpatrick (1799-1854) ranks with Jedediah Smith, Bridger and Carson as the four greatest mountain men. His first trip over the Santa Fe trail was in 1831, with the caravan on which Jedediah Smith lost his life. Fitzpatrick was later a guide for such men as Fremont, Abert and Kearny; in 1846 he was agent for the tribes on the Arkansas, Platte and Kansas Rivers."---Jack Rittenhouse. "Fitzpatrick was one of the original Ashley men who traveled extensively in the mountains and was a close friend of Jed Smith. Known as "White Hair", he presided at the great 1851 Ft. Laramie Indian Peace Council."---Camille E. Cazedessus II. "Fitzpatrick was not only influential in shaping the fur trade during its formative years, but equally so as an early guide to emigrants and Army expeditions, and as an Indian agent, being generally respected red and white alike for his work in this connection. He has occasionally been hailed with some justification as the greatest of all frontiersmen of his period."---Dan L. Thrapp. The classic biography on this great frontiersman. Small bookseller's label at bottom of rear pastedown sheet, else fine, attractive copy of the rare limited edition.