Surviving and Exploring the Wilderness

Osborne Russell is employed as a trapper for the Columbia River Company and later is an independent trapper. This is how he earns his living, but he also enjoys exploring the Oregon Territory as part of the West. In his careful observations in his Journal, Russell shows his acute interest in the phenomena of the Northern Rocky Mountains region. Russell takes enormous pride in his developing skills to survive in the wilderness. Even when he is robbed and wounded he tells his companions how to survive. Russell is able to kill animals with a gun and sometimes with a knife. He can make a fire and cook the butchered meat and prepare the skins. By preparing skins, drying them and turning them into a shelter, Russell is able to survive conditions that would kill a less able person. Likewise, Russell calmly fights Indians, sometimes...