You Will Shoot Your Eye Out

I first heard of “Buckskin Bill” from my good friend, Dick Thompson. He told me about hunting in Idaho’s primitive area and stopping at a small crossroads general store to pick up supplies.

On the way, Dick notices someone sleeping under a large wagon. During a conversation with the store’s proprietor, Dick casually mentions the man he saw sleeping under a wagon down the road and wanted to know if someone should check on him.

The proprietor chuckled, saying,” That’s Buckskin Bill, he’s fine. Just resting up to make his trek home. It wasn’t the last time Dick would hear the name, as Buckskin Bill became famous as the last of the true mountain men. Books have been written and TV documentaries filmed about the famous mountain man who wanted to be left alone. His real name was Sylvan Hart.

The Beginning

Sylvan Hart was born in 1906 in Oklahoma. Hart was restless from a young age, as most boys were back then. He worked on Texas oil rigs during the Great Depression and later attended universities, but dropped out. Hart was highly intelligent, and college bored him. In 1932, after working for the Norden Bombsight Company, Hart headed west, seeking peace and adventure in Idaho’s rugged back country, in search of gold. He fell in love with the area.

The main branch of the Salmon River, known as the “River of No Return” for its treacherous rapids and isolation, became his sanctuary. The area was rich in natural resources. Besides being abundant in fish and game, minerals were abundant for Hart to use to make his own knives, guns, pots and pans from the raw materials.

He said, “My reaction to the Depression was to find a place with the natural resources to defeat it. I could have found no better place than Salmon River. I spent some $50 a year then for what little I needed to buy.”

Hart and his father originally purchased the 50 acres on the Salmon River in 1932 for the sum of one single American dollar. It was a dollar well spent, as he would go on to live off that same land until his death in 1980. Besides some metals, gunpowder, nails, and his favorite Darjeeling tea, almost everything was foraged from the surrounding land.

The Name

Hart earned the nickname “Buckskin Bill” for his preference for the clothes he made from hides he tanned himself, using the animal’s brain. His lifestyle was as unique as his attire. He built a compound of crude cabins with names like “Pneumonia Hall” and “Misery Mansion.” By the time of his death, Hart had created a veritable village on the riverbank, including a bomb shelter, a turret, a two-story house, and a blacksmith shop.

He would hunt, fish, and garden for food, while occasionally venturing into nearby towns to trade his furs for supplies. His presence always drew a crowd when spotted. He was loved by locals for his outgoing personality and tall tales, while still fiercely guarding his privacy and the rugged freedom of his chosen lifestyle.

Lifestyle

In his own words, Hart described his philosophy: “I live on beans and taters. I ain’t never been sick a day in my life … I figure it’s about 99% willpower.” His resourcefulness and ability to thrive in the harsh conditions earned him the respect and sometimes bemusement of both locals and the growing number of rafters venturing down the Salmon River.

In 1956, the National Forest Service designated the five-mile section of the Salmon, Hart’s home, as a “primitive area,” threatening potential eviction. Hart famously constructed a stone gun tower overlooking the river, a symbol of both his defiance and his fear of losing the life he had built. While he avoided eviction, the incident cemented his reputation as both a defender of the wild and a relic of a bygone era.

While never wealthy, Hart’s stories and lifestyle made him a folk hero.

Hart’s Survival Tips

“When you kill a deer, the first meal should be fried brains, one kidney, liver, heart, sweet bread, and any other odds and ends you might want to eat there. And if you are like me and need a little vitamins or medicine of some kind, it’s in there, and you always feel better after a meal or two like that.”

When speaking of his handmade muzzleloaders, Hart sad, “I don’t complain about anything, but if you had the choice between a flintlock rifle and lots of game, and a lot of modern technology, I would take the older type you see and take my chances.” It was this kind of hearty backwoods resourcefulness that people refer to when calling “Buckskin Bill” the last of the mountain men.

“You know, if you can make a really good gun, and do all the work, you don’t worry about breaking it. There’s some satisfaction in having a gun the way you want it. With a flintlock, too, you can shoot a long time without depending upon anybody else. If you’ve got the powder.”

Besides hunting and fishing, Hart had a huge garden as a year-round food source, with plenty of root vegetables in it. “I always had a garden, he said, “It was easy to get fruit, and I made moccasins and clothing out of animal skins.”

His isolation gave him time to think and ponder, leading to this statement, “For the city man, life is just a jumble, like the facts in a college freshman’s notebook. But you ask me anything about nearly anything, and I can answer because I’ve had time to think about it.”

It wasn’t the bears or mountain lions that worried Hart, living by himself in the wilds of Idaho. He stated, “I am afraid of one thing … A cold wind. That’ll kill you for nothing. You’ll just die like a damn fool.”

The End

Sylvan “Buckskin Bill” Hart died in 1980, and he was buried on his property. After his death, the U.S. Park Service declared his property and compound as the Buckskin Bill Museum, where visitors can glimpse the life of this remarkable mountain man and contemplate the vanishing wilderness lifestyle he embodied. The only way to access this unique piece of history is by rafting down the Main Salmon River or by taking a jetboat tour.

There are several good books and YouTube videos about the life of the last of the mountain men.