Glass lay mutilated and alone, more than 200 mi (320 km) from the nearest settlement at Fort Kiowa on the Missouri. He did so only to find himself abandoned, without weapons or equipment, suffering from a broken leg, the cuts on his back exposing bare ribs, and all his wounds festering. Later claiming that they were interrupted in the task by an attack by "Arikaree" Indians, the pair grabbed Glass's rifle, knife, and other equipment, and took flight.īridger and Fitzgerald incorrectly reported to Henry that Glass had died.ĭespite his injuries, Glass regained consciousness. Bridger (then 17 years old) and Fitzgerald stepped forward, and as the rest of the party moved on, began digging his grave. Henry asked for two volunteers to stay with Glass until he died, and then bury him. Henry (who was also with them) became convinced the man would not survive his injuries. Glass managed to kill the bear with help from his trapping partners, Fitzgerald and Bridger, but was left badly mauled and unconscious. Glass got up, grappled for his knife, and fought back, stabbing the animal repeatedly as the grizzly raked him time and again with her claws. Before he could fire his rifle, the bear charged, picked him up, and threw him to the ground.
Near the forks of the Grand River in present-day Perkins County, in August 1823, while scouting alone for game for the expedition's larder, Glass surprised a grizzly bear mother with her two cubs. These men would later be known as Ashley's Hundred. Glass's most famous adventure began in 1822, when he responded to an advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Adviser, placed by General William Ashley, which called for a corps of 100 men to "ascend the river Missouri" as part of a fur trading venture. Best documented, however, are his actions as an explorer of the watershed of the Upper Missouri River in present day South Dakota and Montana, Glass was famed most of all for his legendary cross-country trek after being mauled by a grizzly bear.
Stories about Glass assert that he was a sailor, a reluctant pirate with Jean Lafitte, and an honorary Pawnee. Little is known about Glass's early life.
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