Terminology: Voyageurs, Longhunters and Mountain Men

One of the more famous books on this time period is the novelized history series of Allan Eckert, one of whose volumes is called The Frontiersman, essential reading for anyone seeking a better understanding of the era.  However, the label of frontiersman to describe most of the people (usually male) who made their livings off the fringes of European settlement during the 17th-19th century didn't become current until years later, when historians were seeking a convenient label.  At the time, and since then, there were several terms used to describe these men, what they did, where they did it, and in what time period or country they were active.  We'll go over some of them here.

The first is the French Canadian coureur de bois (courier de bwah, woodsman) or voyageur (voy-ah-ger, traveler).  These men were active during the beaver trade of the 17th century and early part of the 18th century.  Primarily French, either from French or from the Francophone parts of Canada such as Quebec or Acadia, they weren't primarily interested in settlement.  Their query was the beaver and their role was either to hunt and trap the beaver themselves or make connections with Natives willing to do it for them in exchange for trade goods.  Over time, English and Scottish men joined the lucrative beaver trade.  As has been explained before, many of these men intermarried with local tribes.  Their descendants became known as the Metis.  Several Metis, themselves the sons of voyaguers or coureurs, also became skilled hunters, guides, interpreters and traders in their own right, providing an important cultural bridge between Natives and Settlers.

Longhunters are what we most commonly think of today as frontiersman, men who operated on the frontier east of the Mississippi.  Men such as Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton, who would venture into the wilderness for months at a time in search of beaver or other animal pelts.  Wearing buckskin hunting shirts, skin caps and either leggings or trousers made of skins, an outfit copied from the Cherokees' winter clothing, they also depended upon alliance with the Natives to access areas where beaver might be located, or to trade for pelts.  Some had been captured by Natives and spent time with them, such as Boone or Girty.  Others intermarried with Natives and their children became skilled interpreters, guides or traders, such as George Drouillard.  Their knowledge of Natives and the backcountry gave them marketable skills as guides or interpreters and men such as George Drouillard and Simon Girty capitalized on these skills to make a living on the frontier.  Unlike the coureurs or voyageurs, these men could be interested in founding settlements, as Daniel Boone attempted to do many times before settling Boonesborough.

Mountain men tended to operate west of the Mississippi, usually in the Rocky Mountains.  They were a 19th century extension of the longhunters, active from 1810-1880.  Whereas voyageurs or longhunters tended to operate independently, mountain men were more apt to be employed by a trading conglomerate such as the Hudson's Bay Company, or smaller outfitters such as Manuel Lisa and later Jim Bridger and William and Charles Bent.  Indeed, a man who started out as a mountain man employed by one of the above could hope to establish himself as a trader with a fortified trading post of his own, taking advantage of the lucrative business of outfitting Settlers heading west, and passing on his knowledge of the trails they would have to cross.  Like voyageurs and some longhunters, these men intermarried with Native women, though they might often have a relationship in more than one tribe, or later marry a White woman and leave their Native wives and children behind.  Their sons were often employed by the Army as scouts and interpreters, as several of the Bent family later did. 

Don't confuse mountain man, an itinerant fur trader or trapper, with overmountain man, a Settler from Pennsylvania, Virginia or the Carolinas who settled in Ohio, Tennessee, or Kentucky.  Unlike longhunters and mountain men, overmountain men were primarily settlers, though some, such as Davy Crockett, also functioned as hunters, guides, trappers or anything else to supplement their living as farmers.  And, of course, there are more specific terms, such as scout, guide, interpreter or trapper, depending on the function the individual was performing at the time, and often these roles changed over time.  The above are the most basic distinctions.