[pct-l] Re: History of Ultralight (was: new resource for homemadeequipmt)

[jape at nethere.com (Eckert)]

> Here is a brief account of John Colter's solo hike in
> 1808 through the midst of the Rocky Mountains during
> WINTER by H.M. Brackenridge:  <snip>
> 
> Lightweight?  You bet.  The year:  1808.
> 
>
And then Mr. Coulter went ultralight.  Captured by Blackfeet Indians, he 
was stripped naked (FSO=zero) and given a chance to run for his life 
while being chased by warriors of the tribe.  He managed to disarm one 
and kill one of the warriers, and hid underneath a beaver lodge to avoid 
the rest.  Then, naked and barefoot, made the multi-day trek to safety. 
The following URL details (3) accounts of the incident, and like many 
stories from that era, there are a few discrepencies <g>     
http://alt.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/colter.html

BTW, I have read that he is also credited with being the first white (pc 
read European) person to journey through what we now know as Yellowstone 
Park  According to the text, Coulter's descriptions of the geothermal 
activity caused the area to be known as "Coulter's Hell".

Eckert