I have a book about Buckskin Bill (who's real name is Sylvan Hart) called Last of the Mountain Men. Saw this vid. and thought others here might find it interesting.
Video transfer quality from film isn't very good but still get the idea.

Read a lot about Sylvan Hart, nice to see this footage!

Great post!

Thanks for posting, very interesting

Stopped at his cabin in 1996 when we ran the river. Cool place. He made some big black powder rifles that were on display.

Had a chance to run the Middle Fork many years ago, but I had a big job that needed getting done. Bummed me out!

Benn to his place a couple of times. You can get a ice cream bar there.

I read that book when I was in the Army in 1969 and would have like to have met him. Never took the time though. Another man who would have been interesting to speak with would have been RM Patterson. GD

There was a big story about him in Outdoor Life when I was in high school, about 1966. Fascinating story, a man living in the year 1830.

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A friend grew up across the river from Bill and had some awesome stories..Those that grew up on the river had an interesting life and stories behond modern civilization...Very interesting..I spend most of my time above the river getting firewood on the ridge and hunt there sometimes..You can drive down to the river across from Mackey bar and take the bridge over...


Jayco 👍

Thanks for sharing this.

I've hunted Unit 20A three times over the past 33 years.

Last trip was a backpack in 20 miles to Black Lake, in 2016. Great country. Made it all the way back to near Runway Ridge. Cottonwood Creek is some beautiful country.

At 63 I doubt I'll be walking back in that far again...but I'd like to try! Maybe once I retire....

Thanks for sharing that video. Know the guys that own Whitewater Ranch. Just from the modern stories they tell, there are still some pretty tough characters living on that river.

That is the country I spent a good number of my summers in when I was growing up.

The family went and visited him a couple times when I was a kid. My dad was friends with the owners of Mackay Bar and we did numerous raft trips back then. Flew into Chamberlain Basin, shuttled trucks back and forth, etc. My dad always had summers off, as he was a school principal, so spending a good part of summer in the back country was what we did.

My mom was absolutely convinced I was going to fall in the river and drown on Buckskin Bills catwalk he built over the river.

I only have a mix of memories of the place and him, as it has been a very long time ago, and I was a kid. His shop was amazing, he made his own rifles, grew his own food, and he had a tower on a hill that was pretty cool. For a kid it was like a castle.

The guy was not really the hermit people made him out to be. He seemed to like people. He just liked living in the mountains.