The Mountain Man and American Anguish

The Mountain Man and American Anguish
In the article the main argument is figuring out if a “Mountain Man” is what most Americans where taught to believe. A mountain man is not really what most Americans are lead to believe, he symbolizes much more than just a trapper, fighter, trader and American rebel. He carries the image of how most Americans felt at the peak of the nineteenth century. The author backs up his argument and thesis by explaining how Hollywood has altered the view of what a mountain man is. He does this by showing us all the different images of what a mountain man is in The Adventures of Kit Carson, The Oregon Trail and in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. In these few Hollywood productions the mountain man is not the same but is what Hollywood thought most people wanted to see or believe at the time to raise their profit margin. By showing us all of these different diverse views the author is proving to us that most people can potentially have the wrong idea of what a mountain man is. He is not just a trapper, fighter, trader and American rebel. During the time frame where most Americans felt they did not have control over their lives a mountain man was the symbol they needed. He proved that he could take control over his life and survive on his own. I believe that the strength of this article comes from all of the different views that Hollywood has made of what a true mountain man is, when really they have not captured what he really was or stood for. They have made this easy to prove by distorting his view with all of their productions and not basing a lot of them off of facts. Also Hollywood did not explain what he stood for and why he was doing things his own way, all they wanted to share was the adventures and stories to raise profit. I also believe that there are some weaknesses in this article only because there are not a whole lot of documented true mountain men. If there was a documentary or autobiography it would be easier to fully