The Mountain Man Real Story. Mountain man a 1965 historical novel by vardis fisher is largely a fictionalized retelling of johnson s experiences jeremiah johnson a 1972 film by sydney pollack starring robert redford 9 john johnston felton fowler s famous americans you never knew existed by bruce felton and mark fowler stein and day 1979 isbn 978 0 8128 2511 4. Hugh glass survival against the odds mauled by a grizzly bear left for dead without weapons or equipment to survive or die alone was a story so amazing that it became legend even among the mountaineers themselves.
The extreme conditions on mountain men are completely real. Mason gertz a cameraman who works on the show told men s journal he nearly lost part of my hand to frostbite while trying to film a lynx. The simple man versus government angle has served the eustace conway storyline well.
Advertisement johnston was born john garrison in 1824 but changed his last name to johnston after a scuffle in which he was involved while serving in the u s.
The movie was based on vardis fisher s novel mountain man and raymond thorp and robert bunker s biography of john johnson crow killer but the movie is a revisionist take on jeremiah johnson who is depicted as a man of good spirit and good intensions. Louis during the civil war. The story tellers among them would let you know that in the rockies the mountain men lived a tall tale every day. That s thrown a few out right there says chris richardson.