"This is a book that will fascinate everyone with an interest in outdoor tools and skills."-Jay Cassell, Deputy Editor, Field & Stream<BR><BR>"Not only does Russell describe the knives, traps, and other iron tools and weapons of the trapper-trader, but he also tells us how they were used-to trap beaver, make a dugout canoe, or build a blacksmith's forge."-Library Journal<BR><BR>"This book will send every frontier history buff scurrying to re-examine his rusty treasures, and every museum of western lore to set up new exhibits."-Journal of American History<BR><BR>This classic history of early-nineteenth-century fur trappers and traders showcases the devices that enabled path-breaking frontiersmen to open the unmapped American West, including:<BR><BR>Many of the illustrations included were created by the author's own work on the artifacts available: Carl P. Russell examined, measured, sketched, and photographed them himself. In some instances, the rare specimens were loaned from private or public museum collections for inclusion in this history.<BR><BR>Sprinkled with little known facts and lore that will fascinate everyone with an interest in the American West, this book, the result of thirty-five years of painstaking research, is the definitive guide to the tools of the mountain men.