Hugh Glass was a scout, trapper, hunter, and adventurer.  He was near middle age when he signed on with William Ashley and Andrew Henry at St. Louis in early 1823 to travel the Missouri River to trap and hunt. 

 

One day while away from the group Hugh was scouting for game when he was surprised by a grizzly bear and her two cubs.  The only weapon he had was his knife, which he used to fight the grizzly.  The bear threw him around like a doll but all the while Hugh kept fighting with his knife.  Finally both Hugh and the bear fell to the ground -- Hugh had beaten the bear.  Hugh was in terrible shape.  He was badly mutilated from his fight with the grizzly and was near death.  The other members of his party arrived and bandaged him up and treated his wounds as best they could.  It wasn't hard to see that Hugh was near death and there was really nothing that could be done for him -- the bear had torn him apart and they were in the middle of the plains.

 

People were asked to volunteer to stay with Hugh until he died and to bury his body.  Two volunteers, John Fitzgerald and Jim Bridger, agreed to stay with Hugh.  It was so obvious that Hugh didn't have much time left so they started digging his grave.  Before this dreary task could be completed, Indians were spotted approaching the men.  They grabbed Hugh's rifle, knife, and other equipment and left to find the others in their group.  Hugh was left for dead on the plains.

 

Hugh Glass awoke and found himself in an awful situation.  He was alone on the plains without even a knife and 200 miles from the nearest settlement.  He had a broken leg and his wounds from the bear attack  were terribly infected.  He set his own broken leg and made a split to help protect it.  On September 9, he began crawling.  He dragged himself towards the Cheyenne River which was 100 miles away to his south.  It took Hugh 2 months to reach the Cheyenne River.  He made a dugout from a fallen tree and shoved it into the water and began floating down the river.  He reached the Missouri River and eventually arrived at Ft. Kiowa and safety.

 

Hugh returned to the Upper Missouri country and lived there until his death.  In 1833, he and two others were on a hunting trip.  A band of Arikara Indians jumped them and all were killed.

 

A historical marker preserves the story of Hugh Glass on the southern shore of the Shadehill Reservoir, 12 miles south of Lemmon, South Dakota.