Two-hundred years ago, a lone mountain man emerged from the wilderness of northwest Wyoming, having survived a perilous, exploratory trip through the wilds of the Big Horn Basin, the Wind River Basin, Jackson Hole and Yellowstone, bringing with him tales of amazing scenes including hot water and steam gushing from the earth.


The story of his amazing journey will be told at a special program next Thursday, April 3, at 7 p.m. at the National Park Service Cal S. Taggart Visitor Center at the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area just east of Lovell. The program is sponsored by the Lovell Chronicle and features historian and Colter enthusiast Gene Bryan of Cody.


John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery Expedition, is generally credited with being the first white man to explore much of northwest Wyoming, including the “Stinking Water” (Shoshone River), Colter’s Hell, the South Fork of the Shoshone River, Jackson Hole and what is now Yellowstone National Park.


Gene Bryan’s presentation “John Colter: Mountain Man or Maniac?” is the result of several years of research about the man described as the prototype for the hardy breed of independent adventurers who became known as “mountain men.”


Bryan explores several different theories as to where Colter’s route through this region might have gone and also explores the question of what would drive an individual to spend nearly a decade in the wilderness and do it largely alone.


Bryan’s interest in Colter started when he was with the Wyoming Travel Commission, and he still continues to research the intrepid adventurer/explorer whose exploits are being celebrated this winter, 200 years after he explored the region alone and on foot during the winter of 2007-08.


Bryan is the former director of the Wyoming Travel Commission, the Wyoming Dept. of Commerce and the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce. He spent nearly four decades involved in the travel industry, including a decade in the rodeo promotion with Cheyenne Frontier Days and the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. He is a native of Wyoming and a graduate of the University of Wyoming with a degree in journalism.


He describes himself as a “history junkie” and his fascination with John Colter and the Fur Trade Era in American history began during his first stint with the travel commission.


He and his wife, Jeanne, reside in Cody and they have seven grown children and a dozen grandchildren.