Legendary mountain man James P. Beckwourth was an icon of his time, and an inspiration to generations of wilderness explorers and adventurers. A chapter-by-chapter recollection of the greatest adventures of Beckwourth's life, this autobiography recounts the experiences which served to build the legend around his name. Born a slave to a white father and a black, enslaved mother, Beckwourth never knew or experienced easy living. Apprenticed as a blacksmith by his father and master, an argument with the smithy led to his expulsion from the job. After the family moved to Missouri, the assertive young James persuaded his father to free him from slavery; after a series of court hearings between 1824 and 1826, he gained his freedom. Life as a free man of black heritage was difficult in the United States of the early 19th century. Finding nature to be better company than his fellow man much of the time, the young Beckwourth headed westward and joined the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.