“I ain’t afraid to die anymore… I done it already.” – Hugh Glass
From the looks of the trailer, bloodsoaked is an understatement. These days, Hugh Glass is more a frontier folk hero than anything, as most would be after surviving a mauling by a grizzly bear. But back in his heyday, the Irish-American was a tried-and-true fur trapper and frontiersman who head west in the early 19th century. Born in Pennsylvania, a cross-country trek took him to the watershed of the upper Missouri River, what we might recognize as North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana.
The most interesting part of this man’s tale (or, better yet, lore) is that these adventures began in response to an ad in the Missouri Gazette and Public Adviser. Yep, he basically replied to the classifieds in his local newspaper and set about building his legend. How did this happen? General William Henry Ashley put out a call for a corps of 100 men to ascend the Missouri Men. Later known as Ashley’s Hundred, this corps included the likes of Thomas Fitzpatrick and William Lewis Sublette, both of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, as well as Jim Bridger and Jedediah Smith.
As for the bear mauling? Having surprised a grizzly bear and her cubs, the mother charged then body slammed the trapper. Resigning himself to death, he asked John Fitzgerald and Bridger to stay with him until he died and then bury him. The others in the party left. But before the two “friends” were able to do their job, they claimed they were attacked by Arikara Indians and had to flee. As mentioned before, Glass didn’t die, regaining consciousness without any of his weapons or equipment, handicapped by a broken leg and exposed ribs and festering wounds. The rest (including Fort Kiowa and the latter years), as they say, is history, a take of which is now available in feature film.
This history is told by Academy Award winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Academy Award hopeful — give him his damn Oscar already! — Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as the ever-transformative Tom Hardy.
Gritty.
The movie comes out December 25, 2015. Not sure if it is the way I’d like to spend Christmas, but to each their own.
