38 CHARACTER AND COSTUME OF MOUNTAINEERS. 



introduce the reader. To particularize would exceed my limit-, nor could 

 I do full justice to the subject in hand by dealing in generalities ; — how- 

 ever, I yield to the latter. There are many crude originals mixed with the 

 prime ingredients of these companies. A genaiue mountaineer is a 

 problem hard to solve. He seems a kind of sui genus, an oddity, both in 

 dres.^, language, and appearance, from the rest of mankind. Associated 

 with nature in her most simple forms by habit and manner of life, he 

 gradually learns to despise the restraints of civilization, and assimilates 

 himself to the rude and unpolished character of the scenes with which he 

 is most conversant. Frank and open in his manners and generous in his 

 disposition, he is, at the same time, cautious and reserved. In his frankness 

 he will allow no one to acquire an undue advantage of him, though in his 

 generosity, he will oftentimes expend the last cent to assist a fellow in 

 need. Implacable in his hatred, he is also steadfast in his friendship, and 

 knows no sacrifice too great for the benefit of those he esteems. Free as 

 the pure air he breathes, and proudly conscious of his own indcpcnJonce, 

 he will neither tyrannize over others, nor submit to be trampled upon, — and 

 is always prepared to meet the perils he may chance to encounter, v/ith an 

 undaunted front. Inured to hardship and deprivation, his wants are few, 

 and he is the last to repine at the misfortunes which so often befall him. 

 Patience becomes as it were interwoven with his very nature, and he sub- 

 mits to the greatest disasters without a murmur. His pov/ers of endurance, 

 from frequent exorcise, attain a strength and capacity almost incredible, — 

 such as are altogether unknown to the more delicately nurtured. His is a 

 txade, to become master of which requires a long and faithful apprentice- 

 ship. Of this none seems more conscious than himself, and woe to the 

 *' greenliorn" who too prematurely assumes to be "journeyman." His 

 ideas, his arguments, his illustrations, all partake of the unpolished sim- 

 plicity of his associations ; though abounding often in the most vivid 

 imagery, pointed inferences, and luminous expositions, they need a key to' 

 make them intelligible to the novice. 



His dress and appearance are equally singular. His skin, from 

 cons I ant exposure, assumes a hue almost as dark as that of the 

 Aborigine, and his features and physical structure attain a rough and 

 hardy cast. His hair, through inattention, becomes long, coarse, and 

 busily, and loosely dangles upon his shoulders. His head is surmounted 

 by a low crowned wool-hat, or a rude substitute of his own manufacture. 

 His clothes are of buckskin, gaily fringed at the seams with strings of the 

 same material, cut and made in a fashion peculiar to himself and asso- 

 ciates. The deer and buflalo furnish him the required covering for his 

 feet, which he fabricates at the impulse of want. His waist is encircled 

 with a belt of leather, holding encased liis butcher-knife and pistols — while 

 from his neck is suspended a bullet-pouch securely fastened to the belt in 

 front, and beneath the riirht arm hangs a powder-horn transversely from his 

 shoulder, behind which, upon the strap attached to it, are affixed his bullet- 

 mould, ball-screw, wiper, awl, &c. With a gun-stick made of some 

 hard wood, and a good rifle placed in his hands, carrying from thirty to 

 thirty-five balls to tiie pound, the reader will have before him a correct like- 

 ness of a genuine mountaineer, when fully equipped. 



This costume prevails not only in the mountains proper, but also in the 



