Hugh Glass was an American frontiersman and fur trapper. His legend told of his exploits in the American West, including his actions as an explorer. He is famed as a hero most of all for his legend of a cross-country trek after an attack from a grizzly bear.

The life and legend of Hugh Glass is one of remarkable will, persistence, and revenge. If there is one takeaway to take from this epic and phenomenal piece of history, it should be that revenge is a double-edged sword. For one, it may be the most potent type of motivation. It may also be something that will never satisfy you. Just like a rich man who always wants more money and is never happy, having your sights solely set on revenge could be an endless task. The key to it is letting revenge motivate and drive you to rise from the ashes while finding another purpose once you have risen.

Batman brought himself to his peak while seeking out revenge on the criminals in Gotham and something similar could be said of Hugh Glass. You may not be a crime fighter or American frontiersman, but you may have had your heart-broken by a girl or you may have been bullied. Use that negative energy for revenge to make you stronger and more successful, then put your new-found strength and success to noble use. Beating up a bully when you become stronger or breaking someone’s heart who hurt your feelings just makes you sink to their level. Be something more.

Hugh Glass a Youth

Not much is known about Hugh Glass when he was a child. What is known is that he was born about 1780, most likely in Pennsylvania.

Hugh Glass a Man

In 1822, his first famous adventure began. It started with a response to an advertisement for a group of one hundred men to “ascend the river Missouri”. These men were later known as Ashley’s Hundred, named after the man who placed the advertisement, General William Ashley.

It was on this first adventure that Hugh Glass fully established himself as a fur trapper. It was also when he had the fateful encounter with a grizzly bear, a story that would make him the stuff of legend and a hero.

On August, 1823, while scouting alone for any game, Glass accidentally surprised a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs. The bear immediately attacked and wounded him over and over. It was not until help arrived from his trapping partners that the bear was finally killed. Glass was left badly injured and unconscious, and none of his friends present thought he would survive much longer.

The pair who had been first on the scene, Bridger and Fitzgerald, was supposed to have stayed with Glass until his “death”. However, they soon fled, claiming an attack by the Arikaree Indians, and reported that Glass had died.

On the contrary, Glass actually survived. Here started his odyssey from the Grand River fork to Fort Kiowa, a story that would make him a national hero. Hugh Glass set his own leg, took the bear skin his friend’s had covered him with and began crawling, all without any equipment. His painfully slow progress took him overland to the Cheyenne River, which took six weeks to reach.

He fed mostly on wild berries and roots, and once was able to feast on the meat of a downed bison calf. Once he reached the river, he produced a raft that he used to float to Fort Kiowa. On the way, some natives gave him food and weapons and a cover for the wounds on his back. Thanks to them, he was able to reach Fort Kiowa safely.

Hugh Glass had every intention of avenging himself on Bridger and Fitzgerald, and after a long recuperation, set out to do so. However, he found himself letting Bridger go on account of his youth, and when he learned that Fitzgerald had joined the army, he forced himself to let go of revenge altogether.

The Death of Hugh Glass

Glass returned later in life to the frontier as an expert fur trapper and trader. However, in the winter of 1833, he was killed in the Yellowstone River by the Arikara Indians, along with several fellow trappers.

Hugh Glass Trivia

• He stopped gangrene from entering his wounds by placing maggots on them to eat the dead flesh.
• A monument in memory of him as a hero was set up near the area where he was mauled.
• Legend says that at some point he went on to sail with pirates.