Mountain Men's desire to make a living and their amazing ability to survive in the wilderness made them ideal trappers during the fur heyday and kept them in the mountains. They became explorers, guides, traders, and even government officials. The mountain men did not just wander around the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains creating material for adventure stories and tall tales, they were instrumental in exploring and settling the land west of the Mississippi. The mountain were an important role in expansion since they were great guides and guided the people moving west around and traded with them.
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