The Real Story of Beaver Dick Leigh

**Disclaimer** I believe I mispronounced Bannock, after further research, it seems to be pronounced 'Ban-uck', I will fix this mistake in the future and I apologize. Richard “Beaver Dick” Leigh was more than a mountain man — he was a living bridge between the fur trade era and the settled American West. Born in England in 1831, he crossed an ocean as a child, claimed to have served in the Mexican War, trapped the Tetons when the beaver trade was fading, and guided some of the most famous names of the 19th century — including Nathaniel Langford and Theodore Roosevelt — through the Yellowstone and Jackson Hole wilderness. Lakes in Grand Teton still carry his name, but the real story of Beaver Dick is far more complex than legend.In this episode of Wild West Deep Dives, we break down the conflicting accounts surrounding his early life, examine his own diary entries, explore his marriage into the Shoshone community, and confront the heartbreaking smallpox tragedy of 1876 that wiped out his first family in less than two weeks. We also trace his second marriage, his role in the Hayden Expedition that helped lead to Yellowstone National Park, and his final years along the Snake River in Idaho.This is not just a frontier survival story — it’s a deep historical dive into myth vs. memory, primary sources vs. regional lore, and what it truly meant to be called “the last of the mountain men.”Source for ResearchBeaver Dick Leigh, Mountain Man of the Tetons By Steve Roberts https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/beaver-dick-leigh-mountain-man-tetonsBeaver Dick Leigh By Teton Valley Magazine https://tetonvalleymagazine.com/departments/back-when/beaver-dick-leigh?srsltid=AfmBOopnDWFjRNZSONGDtNCN9zoFJmG2Jc7j2XMfiNQ0BfPON5OYvHubGet to know Idaho: Who was 'Beaver Dick' and why are there historical markers for him? By Brian Holmes https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/beaver-dicks-ferry-idaho-history/277-14fc52c8-4abc-4515-a4e6-21322f0ed998Richard Leigh’s Diary (4) https://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu/luna/servlet/detail/uwydbuwy~166~166~2~323076:Transcript-of-Diary-of-Richard-Leig?qvq=sort%3Arid%2Ctitle%2Cdate_original%2Csource%3Blc%3Auwydbuwy%7E166%7E166&sort=rid%2Ctitle%2Cdate_original%2Csource&mi=1&trs=6&cic=uwydbuwy%7E166%7E166 Richard Beaver Dick Leigh, Sr. The Yellow Pine TimesHistory of Teton National Forest By Esther B. Allan 1973