You’ve probably seen the 2015 film The Revenant . In it, Leonardo DiCaprio played the character of a frontier worker who survived a vicious bear attack and is abandoned by his peers, one of whom kills his son. Fueled by the need for revenge, DiCaprio manages to survive his severe injuries and embarks on a quest for revenge. But did you know that this film was inspired by a true life story of a man named Hugh Glass?
Hugh Glass was an American frontier explorer, fur trader, and hunter legendary for surviving a savage attack by a bloodthirsty grizzly bear and making it over 300km to safety without supplies, weapons, or medical attention. His story has been made into two feature films, including the award-winning The Revenant . It has also inspired several books. Learn more about this lion-hearted man, including his childhood, his son, the infamous bear attack and how he eventually died.
biography
Hugh Glass was born in the city of Scranton,Pennsylvania in 1783, his parents were Irish immigrants. Not much is known of Glass’s early life, except that he worked as a seaman in his early thirties. Unfortunately, he was captured in the Gulf of Mexico by a notorious French pirate, Jean Laffite, who forced Glass to work for him. Hugh Glass worked for him for two years before fleeing to a town called Galveston, Texas.
However, it wasn’t Uhuru for Glass yet, as he was recaptured by a Native American tribe called the Pawnee tribe. One account states that the tribe nearly used him for human sacrifice, but his life was ultimately spared. Hugh lived with them and learned to hunt and track from them. He is also said to have married a Pawnee woman. His relationship with them was so cordial that in 1821, when a Pawnee delegation was sent to meet government officials, Glass was part of that delegation.
What was Hugh Glass known for?
Hugh Glass is legendary for surviving a bear attack against all odds. After accompanying the Pawnee tribe to the government meeting in 1821, he decided not to return with them. In 1822, General William Henry Ashley, a well-known figure in the fur trade, decided to start a company that would not only scour the areas around the Missouri River for animals and screen them for their pelts, but would also buy pelts from local Native American tribes who hunted them . The company later became known as the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. To achieve his goal, General Henry placed an advertisement in several area newspapers calling for 100 men to follow him on the expedition.
In August 1823, Glass and his group returned on another mission. Part of Glass’ job description was to look for meat for the other men to eat. On one such occasion, he and her two cubs approached a grizzly bear. Fueled by a mother’s instinct to protect her cubs from apparent danger, the enraged bear lunged at Glass and viciously ripped into his body. He sustained multiple serious and bloody injuries to his legs, scalp, ribs, neck and other parts of his body.
Some reports say that Hugh Glass single-handedly killed the bear, while others say he killed the bear with the help of his colleagues. Whatever the case, the fact was that by the end of the fight, the bear was dead and Glass was in a sorry state. His colleagues didn’t expect him to survive, but they built a makeshift stretcher on which they carried him for two days.
However, after two days there was still no improvement in Glass’s condition and he was barely alive. The group, still threatened by further attacks from the Arikara tribe, decided to leave Glass behind when he slowed their pace. Two men were appointed to stay with Glass and bury him once he had given up the ghost. The two men were John Fitzgerald and Jim Bridger. They stayed with him for five days and when he still hadn’t died or was getting better they decided to abandon him to his fate and return to Fort Kiowa. They also divided his gun, knife, and other weapons among themselves.
But Glass refused to die. He somehow regained consciousness and managed to tend to his wounds as best he could. He knew his only chance of survival was to find a way back to Fort Kiowa, which was 200 to 300 miles away. Smaller men would have asked God to take their own lives, but that wasn’t Hugh Glass. He started the journey by crawling and when he got better he walked. He kept walking until he met a fellow Indian tribe who gave him a boat made out of animal skins (though some reports said he had built the boat himself). With this boat he reached his destination. He survived by eating insects, wild animals, and berries. Exactly six weeks after being left for dead, Hugh Glass went to Fort Kiowa with exactly one thought,
search for revenge
Hugh Glass remained at Fort Kiowa until he was fully recovered. At one point, he went in search of Fitzgerald and Bridger to take off his pound of meat. His preliminary investigations revealed that the company was based at Fort Henry, Yellowstone River. He got there but found that the company had moved to another fort near the Bighorn River. When he got there, he confronted Jim Bridger. Bridger, then only 19, trembled with Glass’s anger. He showed remorse for his actions and Glass had no choice but to forgive the young man who had been misled by the elder Fitzgerald. He forgave him and advised him to change for the better.
Hugh Glass learned that Fitzgerald had joined the Army and was stationed at Fort Atkinson. He continued his journey to this place. When he got there, he couldn’t exact the revenge he wanted either. Some say he forgave Fitzgerald of his own accord, while others said he couldn’t kill him because Fitzgerald was a US Army soldier and therefore government property. Whatever the true case, Fitzgerald’s life was spared as well, and he returned Glass’s gun to him.
Hugh Glass’s son
Some accounts state that the Pawnee woman to whom Hugh was married bore him a son. Even the movie, The Revenant ticked that line as well. But there is not a single piece of evidence that anything like this happened. To the best of our knowledge, Hugh Glass had no children up until his death.
How did he die?
After the 1823 expedition, Hugh Glass continued to be a hunter, trapper and fur trader on various expeditions. It was a way of life that he was comfortable with. Hugh Glass died in 1833 after an attack by the Arikara tribe.
A sculpture depicting Hugh Glass and the infamous bear attack is located near the site of the attack in the town of Lemmon, South Dakota.