Monday, November 16, 2020

Hugh Glass and John Colter: Mountain Men, Survival and the American Dream

Mountain Men: True Grit and Tall TalesThe boys will play for 30 minutes.

Then we will record their numbers for their exercises..

We'll then do the Pledge of Allegiance and go over the class rules and affirmations

  • I am a warrior
  • I play hard
  • I work hard
  • I respect others
  • I never quit
  • I defend those who can't defend themselves
  • I fight for what is right
  • I am a son of God


We then read from Mountain Men: True Grit and Tall Tales, by Andrew Glass.  This is such a fun book for kids!
First we read about John Colter, who had to run away from the Blackfoot Indians.  After reading and discussing his courage and will to survive, we ran and did 6 laps to get a feel for how he must have felt.  
Then we went back inside and read about Hugh Glass, who survived a bear attack against all odds and crawled back to civilization.  His story was recently depicted on the big screen in the film The Revenant. It’s definitely not appropriate for children!

Afterward we had the boys do their best to crawl around the house before their got a snack.

The two points I wanted to make were about survival and the American Dream.  
These men were survivors when all the odds were against them!  Also, Mountain Men are a great example of individual enterprise.  Many came from nothing and worked hard and took huge risks to make their fortune- the classic rags to riches story.  One great defining characteristic of America is that with hard work and determination, anyone can go far.

For the record, we studied this era again the follwing week.  This time we read about Jedediah Smith.

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