Hugh Glass

Hugh Glass
Glass being attacked by a bear, from an early newspaper illustration of unknown origin
Born	c. 1783 Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	1833 (aged c. 50) Unorganized U.S. territory (near present-day Williston, North Dakota)
Other names	Old Hugh, Old Rinoe
Occupation	Frontiersman, trapper, fur trader, hunter, explorer
Employer	Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Jean Lafitte, self-employed
Known for	Surviving a grizzly bear attack
Spouse(s)	Unknown Pawnee woman

Hugh Glass (c. 1783 – 1833) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper and trader, hunter, and explorer. He is best known for his story of survival and retribution, after being left for dead by companions when he was mauled by a grizzly bear.

Born in Pennsylvania to Scots-Irish parents, Glass became an explorer of the watershed of the Upper Missouri River, in present-day Montana, the Dakotas, and the Platte River area of Nebraska. His life story has been adapted into two feature-length films: Man in the Wilderness (1971) and The Revenant (2015). They both portray the survival struggle of Glass, who (in the best historical accounts) crawled and stumbled 200 miles (320 km) to Fort Kiowa, South Dakota after being abandoned without supplies or weapons by fellow explorers and fur traders during General Ashley's expedition of 1823.

Despite the story's popularity, its accuracy has been disputed. It was first recorded in 1825 in The Portfolio, a Philadelphia literary journal, as a literary piece and later picked up by various newspapers. Although originally published anonymously, it was later revealed to be the work of James Hall, brother of The Porfolio's editor. There is no writing from Hugh Glass himself to corroborate the veracity of it. Also, it is likely to have been wildly embellished over the years as a legend.

Glass was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Scots-Irish parents who had emigrated from Ulster in present-day Northern Ireland. Glass' life before the famous bear attack is largely unverifiable, and his frontier story contained numerous embellishments. He was reported to have been captured by pirates under the command of Gulf of Mexico chief Jean Lafitte off the coast of Texas in 1816, and was forced to become a pirate for up to two years. Glass allegedly escaped by swimming to shore near what is present-day Galveston, Texas. He was later rumored to have been captured by the Pawnee tribe, with whom he lived for several years. He eventually wed a Pawnee woman. Glass traveled to St. Louis, Missouri in 1821, accompanying several Pawnee delegates invited to meet with U.S. authorities.