The survivor is a real person. The True Revenant Story: What Really Happened to Hugh Glass

This stern man in the picture is a bright representative of a now rare profession - trapper, fur-bearing animal hunter, trap specialist. They could not establish its exact origin; they say, however, that in early years he was involved in the activities of Jean Lafitte, a pirate and smuggler. What is known for sure is that Hugh (that was his name) fell for the advertisement of William Henry Ashley in the newspapers of St. Louis in 1822 - “... 100 enterprising young men are required ... to reach the sources of the Missouri ... employment - two, three, or four years" - the announcement was received short name- "Ashley's Hundred."

Literally from the first days of the expedition, Hugo established himself as a skilled and hardworking hunter. In August 1823, in what is now South Dakota, Hugh encountered two grizzly bear cubs and their mother. He did not have time to use the gun - the bear attacked instantly. I had to fight with a knife, my comrades arrived and the bear was finished. However, Hugh also suffered seriously. W. G. Ashley was convinced that a person would not survive after such wounds and asked two volunteers to stay with the wounded comrade and bury him. Fitzgerald and Bridger (by the way, a very outstanding personality) volunteered.

Later they will tell the story of the Indian attack, they say they were forced to take the gun and equipment of the dying man and suddenly flee. They had already dug a hole for him, covered Hugo with a bearskin and flashed his heels. But at first they simply said that Hugh died; they came up with the Indians later.

Meanwhile, Hugo had come to his senses and was obviously somewhat surprised by the lack of comrades, weapons and equipment. A broken leg, deep (to the ribs) wounds on the back and suppuration. 300 km to civilization and a knife in hand. I think - at first he swore from the bottom of his heart. Then he threw the skin of a freshly killed bear over the fresh wounds - so that the larvae from the untreated skin would at the same time rid him of gangrene and crawled. The journey to the Cheyenne River took 6 weeks. Diet: berries and roots. Plus, once we managed to drive away two wolves from a killed young bison. On Cheyenne he assembled a raft. Well, you understand, he got to Fort Kiowa on the Missouri.

It took a long time to recover. He took a gun and decided to take revenge. But Bridger had just gotten married and Hugh forgave him in absentia. And Fitzgerald hid in the ranks of the US Army - killing a soldier in those days meant a certain death sentence. In 1833, Hugo was killed by Indians.

It was an interesting time. Conquest of the Wild West. Cowboys and Indians. Heroes. Scoundrels. Researchers. Adventurers. The story inspired Roger Zelazny to write his only non-fiction story. And there is, of course, a film.

Current page: 1 (book has 15 pages total) [available reading passage: 10 pages]

Elizaveta Buta
Survivor Hugh Glass. True story

© Elizaveta Buta

© TD Algorithm LLC, 2016

* * *

Who beaten by life was, he will achieve more,

He who has eaten a pound of salt values ​​honey more highly,

He who shed tears laughs sincerely,

He who has died knows that he lives.

Omar Khayyam

Prologue

1859 Napa Valley

In the last days of summer, the Napa Valley was literally drenched in sunshine. Every square centimeter of George Yount's vast domain was basking in the pre-sunset rays. The air was filled with lively and somehow melancholy sounds. It seemed that with the onset of evening everything here plunged into a light slumber, systematically flowing into deep sleep. Somewhere in the distance, a newly built mill rumbled, the dissatisfied cries of hired workers could be heard, and endless plantations of ripening grapes could be seen. Yount recently completed construction of his own winery. This year he planned to make his first batch of wine.

The Gold Rush safely bypassed the valley, and the trappers 1
Trapper ( English. trap - "trap") - a hunter of fur-bearing animals in North America.

Hunters of fur-bearing animals had nothing to do here. More precisely, ten years ago it was impossible to meet a pale-faced person here at all. And a clash with the Redskins also seemed unlikely. The deserted but fertile land of the Napa Valley belonged to Mexico. When George Yount decided he had had enough adventure for his life, he remembered his old connections and turned to an old friend for help. He helped him get sixteen and a half acres without anyone the required land. So George Yount became the first official settler of the Napa Valley. Of course, people already lived here, but there were so few of them that Yunt could rightfully consider himself a conqueror of endless spaces. The improbably rapidly aging fellow trappers, the adventurers whose golden age had ended many years ago, disapproved of Yount's decision to become a farmer. However, everyone has their own path, and it is not for them to judge Yunt. Eventually, even the legendary John Colter returned to St. Louis, got married and became an ordinary farmer. True, it only lasted for a few years. The unprepossessing and hard life quickly killed the legendary trapper. Literally three years after retiring, Colter fell ill with jaundice and died somewhere near New Haven.

George Yount was so busy building a farm that he did not even notice how several years of his life had passed. Not the most disgusting ones, I must admit. He was rightfully considered here the most respected person in the city, or rather, in a small settlement, but that’s not so important. He liked to spend evenings at small terrace of your home. Old friends, local residents, heads of administrations from neighboring settlements and young adventurers often visited him. The latter came here mainly in search of accommodation for the night. The Yount Ranch was open to anyone who needed it. George Yount's only requirement was these evening gatherings on the terrace of his Napa Valley home. Here, together with the guest, according to the old trapper habit, they lit a pipe, and Yount started his endless stories. He was an excellent storyteller, so guests listened with pleasure to stories from half a century ago. Fifty percent of them were complete fiction, but exactly the same amount of them were true. Now, contemplating the surprisingly calm expanses flooded with an endlessly joyful sun, all the stories about the legendary trappers and great expeditions seemed even too realistic. Even if all this did not really happen, all these legends would simply need to be invented for such sunny and quiet evenings last days summer.

In that distant year of 1859, the famous writer and no less famous adventurer named Henry Dana decided to stay at the Yunta ranch. He was a thin, gloomy man in his early forties with a very heavy look. He wore long hair, was always dressed in a formal suit, topped off with a bowler hat that hid his receding hairline. It was already difficult to discern in him that completely insane guy who dropped out of school. prestigious university for service as a sailor on a merchant ship. And yet he was not adapted to a quiet and measured life. Henry Dana had been a fairly successful politician in Massachusetts for many years. He came to California in connection with some business. Having learned that the legendary George Yount, famous for his stories about trappers, lived nearby, Dana decided to stay at the Yount ranch for some time. All these stories could easily make up more than one book.

-Have you ever heard of a person with bare hands who killed the bear? – Henry asked Dana that evening. They sat on the terrace, George's wife brought them young, even too young, wine, and the conversation smoothly turned to times long past.

“I even know a couple of such daredevils,” George chuckled, “the banks of the Missouri are full of grizzly bears.” Almost every trapper has encountered them, although most often the fight ended before it began. If the bear did attack, the result was not difficult to predict, but sometimes you were lucky. Jedediah Smith, one of Ashley's hundred, killed a bear, Hugh Glass...

– I read about a man who killed a bear with one knife. He was considered dead and left, but he crawled three hundred kilometers and still survived. – Henry Dana even leaned forward a little from the curiosity that burned him. He read that story in one of the magazines. It was published by a journalist, a collector of stories, back in the 1820s. Moreover, the author of the article was not at all interested in the man who defeated the grizzly bear. The journalist did not even mention his name at that time, limiting himself to only describing the fight itself. Henry Dana remembered that story for the rest of his life, but did not even hope to find out the details of that man’s life.

“His name was Hugh Glass,” George Yount nodded slowly. - A man of amazing honesty. Do you know what the trappers said about him? Born to run. His story began long before the fight with the bear.

1823

Dying is only difficult the first time. Then it turns into a game. Fate loves it when there is a person who challenges it. She always takes the fight. She likes to watch with interest how a person tries to deceive her. No one has ever succeeded in doing this, but sometimes, very rarely, fate gives in to the crazy people desperately trying to overtake it at a turn.

An incomprehensible creature came out into a clearing near the shore of the majestic Grand River. Without a doubt, a predator. Dangerous. All wrapped in the skins of the animals he killed. These predators appeared here recently. They looked a lot like the Arikara Indians. 2
Arikara, Ri - a group of closely related Indian tribes speaking the language of the Arikaraddoan family.

To which the local forests are already accustomed. Yet these predators were different from the Indians. They were much more dangerous and ruthless. Their weapons were capable of destroying any beast in just an instant.

Hugh Glass peered with horror into the shining, black eyes of the bear. The grizzly watched the creature with no less horror. This continued for one, very long moment. Then the clearing was poisoned by the monstrous scream of Hugh Glass. This voice literally destroyed the poor animal’s hearing. All her instincts begged her to run away from here. Then a small, one-year-old bear cub came into the bear’s field of vision. The second one carelessly hobbled towards an incomprehensible creature wrapped in the skins of local animals. The she-bear's instincts instantly changed her mind. She must protect her children, so she cannot run. The animal growled with no less frenzy.

Hugh Glass knew very well that when meeting a bear in the forest, it was important to scare the animal. This is the only chance for salvation. Only this time this technique did not work. The scream undoubtedly scared the grizzly, but she had no intention of running. Two one-year-old bear cubs deprived her of this opportunity. One of the most dangerous and unpredictable animals in the world accepted his challenge. He saw it in the grizzly bear's brilliant black eyes. Just a couple of seconds to reload the gun. He was an excellent hunter, so this was not a problem. As soon as the bear took the first, cautious step towards Hugh, he fired. There was a dull sound, barely audible against the background of the cacophony of screams. Misfire.

Two men ran out into the clearing. They ran to the heartbreaking screams coming from the clearing. One was a little older. His face had long been frozen with indifferent disgust towards what was happening. The second is still just a boy with tousled hair.

These two did not cause fear to the bear. They didn't scream. The bear bent slightly and in one jump overtook Glass. The trapper managed to get his last hope for the fight. Dying is not scary if you know that the last moments of your life will be spent in battle. Glass managed to stick his hunting knife. The bear roared in pain. Popping sounds were heard from somewhere on the other side. He didn't even have time to realize that these were shots. His entire consciousness was swallowed up by the giant mouth of a bear with fangs bared in rage.

The bullet that hit the target left the bear no chance to live. There were only a few moments of agony left in her arsenal. In a futile rage, she gathered the strength that was leaving her and struck the most dangerous of the predators in the clearing. Her claws ran all over right side Glass's body. Behind the claws there were deep grooves from which blood flowed. Dying, the bear was still able to neutralize at least one of the trappers in the clearing. This left a chance for life for her children.

In an instant everything became silent. The bear let out a final wheezing roar and exhaled. She lost, just as every living thing in the world would one day lose, just as Hugh Glass was losing now. These are the last minutes of his life. He was aware of this.

As soon as the animal stopped showing signs of life, two trappers rushed to pull off the giant carcass. Hugh Glass welcomed his agony. Jim Bridger suddenly appeared before his eyes. The boy who became his son in the few months that they knew each other. The clearing was flooded midday sun. Glass did not feel pain, but the fear of the unknown still splashed in his eyes, gradually giving way to humility. After all, he lived interesting life. So...why not?

Part one. Pirate

Chapter 1. Childhood. Philadelphia

Hugh Glass fought a bear at the age of thirty-six. Who would have thought that a boy who was destined for a completely quiet, unremarkable life would turn into a desperate adventurer, a trapper, the greatest of mountain men? 3
Mountainmen, mountain people, highlanders ( English Mountain, men) were hunters, pioneers and fur traders in the Wild West of the United States who flocked to the Rocky Mountain region in search of valuable furs in the early 19th century.

No one, except perhaps Hugo Glass himself.

Philadelphia in the 1780s and 1790s was one of the largest cities in the United States. From 1775 to 1783, this city served as the capital of the “united colonies”, and a little later in 1790 it became the temporary capital of the newly formed state. The largest trading port, located in an unusually flat area for this area, became a refuge for emigrants from all over the Old World. The city was literally swarming with merchants, swindlers, bandits, pirates, businessmen, aristocrats and adventurers.

Here in 1783, Hugh Glass was born into a family of Irish emigrants who fled from annoying creditors. One of five children in the family. From birth he was labeled as a difficult teenager.

The Glass family in Ireland were famous for their weapons. They made the best guns in the country, light and strong, they very rarely misfired. However, life played a bad joke on them. It remains unknown to history how the Glass family suddenly went bankrupt overnight. There was only one way out. Escape from the island. Further away. Preferably overseas. It was rumored that there, in North America, people, almost stepping off the ramp of a ship, get a fortune. And the Glasses desperately needed a second chance, at least a minimal opportunity to start over from scratch.

Philadelphia generously gave them this opportunity. The months-long voyage in the hold of the ship was difficult for the family. The chances of surviving such a journey are no greater than winning at Russian roulette. The Glass family managed to avoid serious losses.

At the dawn of the formation of the United States of America, the Glass family settled in one of the less prestigious areas of the largest city. In just a couple of years, the father of the family managed to make a small fortune and open a shop selling a variety of foodstuffs.

Hugo Glass began to surprise his parents from the first years of his life. A smart, intelligent boy, he was fascinated by maritime affairs from birth. At first, the boy's parents did not pay attention to this, but the older Hugh became, the more often he could be found on the banks of the Schuylkill River, the largest tributary of the Delaware River.

From time to time a family friend came to see them, according to another version - distant relative engaged in maritime trade. Every time he found himself in Philadelphia, he certainly stopped at the Glasses. Of course, he brought with him many different gifts, but the most important advantage of his appearance were endless stories about distant shores and incomprehensible customs of other countries. And once he gave Hugh a very useful advice, to which he, however, did not pay any attention at first. What to take from a five-year-old boy? I remembered the words of a family friend a couple of days later. Together with their parents they went out of town. While his parents were arguing passionately about something, Hugh decided to take a walk along a small path. Very soon he became completely and irrevocably lost. For a five-year-old child, the forest instantly turned into a gloomy and formidable enemy who wanted to destroy it without fail. I wanted to run away, but where?

“Sooner or later, all roads lead to people, Hugh.” The main thing here is just to find the way,” a family friend, whose name remains unknown to history, told him a couple of days ago. Hugh stood on the road, but he didn’t know where exactly to go. Deciding that the main thing was to simply move forward, he continued on his first great journey. Five hours later, the family friend’s words were confirmed. Hugh came out to a small village consisting of several houses. Here he was noticed and taken to his relatives. It turned out that they were not that far away, the path just took too big a detour.

In matters of study, Hugh proved himself to be a very obstinate child. He flatly refused to study theology, which literally infuriated the teachers Sunday school. The boy also listed spelling and language learning as his least favorite subjects. But he studied mathematics and cartography with great pleasure. Discipline was lame on both legs. Hugh constantly ran away from home, categorically did not want to do his homework and listened with horror in his eyes that they intended to send him to training as a gunsmith. In fact, the position is no better than a slave, and for long years, if not for life.

This went on for a little over a year. Everything changed when Hugh turned thirteen. That year his mother fell ill. The cholera epidemic then claimed many lives. Hugh's mother suffered for several weeks. Anticipating the imminent end, she called Hugh to her and, in a voice choked from excessive tension, gave life instructions.

“Study theology, pray, help your father...” she quietly asked. The boy's face showed nothing but despair at the inability to help in any way. The woman pointed to an antique music box that stood next to her bed and asked her to take it for herself. So that Hugh does not forget about his roots. The next day the woman fell into unconsciousness.

The fever lasted three days, and on the fourth day she died. Everyone Hugh Glass had ever loved died or betrayed him. His path seemed never to lead to people. That incident in the forest is just the exception that confirms the rule. The father began to pick up the bottle more and more often, the family's income dropped sharply, and Hugh began to be beaten often.

The day his mother passed away changed Hugh Glass's world forever. It seemed as if someone had reloaded the gun and pulled the trigger. There was a deafening explosion, and everything around was covered in acrid smoke. Despite all the disadvantages of black powder, it has a number of undoubted advantages. It ignites instantly. All his brothers and sisters are almost grown up, some have left to study, one sister has already gotten married. There was nothing keeping Glass in Philadelphia anymore. The streets of this city are empty. Almost a third of the city’s population suffered from the epidemic, while the rest were afraid to go out onto the streets. Houses in which all family members died were boarded up. Sometimes it began to seem that there were simply no sounds left in the city except this measured knock of hammers. To drown it out, Glass opened a gifted music box and listened to the tune of an old Irish song.

A couple of months after his mother's death, Glass's father announced:

“I achieved my goal, I sold you to a gunsmith,” he muttered slurringly. After which the man, barely able to stand on his feet, walked towards Hugh, who was sitting peacefully on the stairs, grabbed him by the collar and threw him down. Glass didn’t have time to group himself, so he simply fell head over heels at the gunsmith’s feet. A melancholic-looking middle-aged man led him to the workshop.

Now he spent almost all twenty-four hours a day in a dirty and dusty basement. The gunsmith had several slaves, but Glass only interacted with one. A newly acquired black boy of the same age as Glass was at first wary of the appearance of an apprentice. However, Glass' position here soon became clearer. In fact, he was now the same slave as the black servants of the gunsmith, like that boy. They became friends out of hatred for their master. The main and only goal of both was survival. Moreover, Hugh had an undoubted advantage here. He had a family and, albeit nominal, freedom granted to him by birth.

Day after day, Glass was engaged in cleaning guns, cleaning the workshop and other, even more boring activities. The master gunsmith did not spend much time teaching the apprentice the basics of his art. And Glass himself did not show any zeal for studying. Of course, at first gunsmithing seemed to him a rather interesting occupation, but the closer he became acquainted with the work, the less interest weapons aroused in him. However, whether he wanted it or not, he began to understand weapons better than any hunter. And our own recipe for explosive powder soon appeared. In those days, almost every hunter had his own recipe for making black powder. Some people preferred larger gunpowder, others a special type of coal, etc.

For some time Glass served as an apprentice to a gunsmith. Exactly until the smoke screen cleared before my eyes. Just when it seemed to everyone that life had returned to normal, Glass saw a goal in front of him. And it was by no means to become a gunsmith, like his ancestors from Ireland; this goal was thousands of kilometers away from this gloomy basement. Perhaps he could not yet say the exact coordinates of the goal, but one thing was clear: in order to get closer to the goal, you need to at least start the journey.

Together with a black slave boy, Hugh Glass began to think through an escape plan. However, they did this in about fifteen minutes, but the question of where to run tormented the teenagers’ heads for a long time.

And then one fine morning Hugh Glass woke up with the thought that there was only one way out, and he knew which one. A family friend of theirs had just arrived in Philadelphia. All that was left was to find him and ask for help.

“I want to go serve on a ship,” he said gloomily and clearly.

The family friend looked carefully at the boy, who had a decisive expression on his face that was uncharacteristic for his age, and realized that this was not a question or a request, but a simple statement of fact.

By leaving Philadelphia, Glass felt like he was betraying his family to some extent, but staying in it dead city he couldn't do it anymore.

Chapter 2. Sailor

Strictly speaking, about early years There is practically no reliable information about the life of Hugh Glass. Some sources claim that he went into the service of a gunsmith, after which he ran away and ten years later ended up on the ship of the famous pirate Jean Lafitte. Other sources deny service with a gunsmith, but they talk at length about how quickly Hugh made a naval career for himself. Most of Glass's biographers say nothing at all about the first thirty-six years of Hugh Glass's life. His story has long turned into a legend, in which only two facts are reliable: a bear and three hundred kilometers of crawling. What brought him to the banks of the Grand River? Here we have to be content with meager stories that sometimes bear little resemblance to the truth. The kind that pioneer George Yount often told on his Napa Valley ranch.

On a merchant ship, Hugh became a cabin boy. None of Glass's former acquaintances were here, not even that family friend was on board. He decided to stay at the port.

Fifteen-year-old Glass knew nothing about the laws of marine life. The first thing he did was put his foot on the post on which the ship was moored. A passing sailor casually pushed him into the water and moved on. Subsequently, it turned out that you can never sit on bollards (as these bollards were called) - this way you show disrespect for the boatswain. There were a great many such signs and superstitions. For Glass it was a revelation. Superstitions are the lot of impressionable women, but not sailors. Of course, he knew that the sea has its own laws, but he did not expect that there were so many of them. Moreover, most of them seemed strange and even stupid at first.

– Water is an element, you cannot challenge it, you can only rely on luck. And on the shore, too, no matter what you do, everything depends on luck, and it does not tolerate neglect and arrogance,” one of the sailors told Glass then.

All the troubled teenagers early XIX centuries, sooner or later they got on the ship. It was believed that the naval service quickly knocks down the arrogance of overly arrogant boys. In most cases, they simply could not withstand the strict rules of life at sea. Stepping ashore, they became meek and obedient, respectable citizens who only occasionally began long stories about the wonderful and free life at sea. However, usually those who like to tell such stories never set foot on the ship again, even as a passenger.

Like everyone else, Hugh and his friend, whom the captain reluctantly also accepted into service, thought that working on the ship was nothing more than an adventure. What could be so difficult about getting from one destination to another? There is no need to row, the sails themselves will lead you to the shore. If you're lucky, you'll have to recapture the goods from the pirates, well, you'll have to do something urgently when the storm begins... In any case, this is only a small part of the journey. The rest of the time you can stand thoughtfully on the deck and look into the distance. Needless to say, Hugh was wrong.

Everything on the ship depended on the will of the captain, the first person on the ship. He turned out to be a stern and very religious man. His assistants were a match for him. Already in the second week of the voyage, the sailors were literally howling from the wolfish order that the captain had established here.

There were several immutable laws in force on the ship, the main one of which was to always be on task. The second most important law was the need to remain silent while working. In general, both of these rules were in effect to one degree or another on all merchant and military ships. Work deprives a person of the need to think, and at sea this is important. Since people are unable to go ashore, sooner or later thoughts take on a gloomy tone. With such an attitude, luck will definitely turn away from you, and soon from the entire crew. She doesn't like gloomy people. This resulted in one of the main maritime laws, the implementation of which the captain did not need to monitor. Whatever happens to you, you shouldn't take it too seriously. Storm, attack, illness, death... Whatever. Gloomy thoughts attract failure, and this reduces the chances of survival not only for the individual, but for the entire team. Whatever happened, the first thing was to find a way to turn it into a joke.

The ship's crew consisted mainly of young and hot-tempered people. In a confined space, this inevitably led to mutual irritation, smoothly flowing into skirmishes, fights and riots. This led to another rule: remain silent while working. The less you talk, the less reasons for conflicts.

The work never ended. Just one check of rigging, tackle and cage 4
Lilacing is a special type rigging work, which consists of the following: castor (old canvas, cut into long narrow strips) is placed on a trenched and tarred cable along the descent of the cable so that each step overlaps the next one.

They occupied the entire crew for many months, not to mention the watch that each sailor had to maintain every day.

Hugh spent day after day stubbing and making so-called “thin ends,” or, in land language, ropes. From old cables and other junk it was necessary to weave usable skimmushgars, benzel and trout lines and marlins.

This went on day after day. Only on Sundays the team was released from most work. On this day, the sailors studied the Holy Scriptures, whether they wanted to or not. Every minute of life should be occupied with business, since it is customary to give people a day off, let them spend it usefully for business.

Gradually, Glass began to show more and more interest in studying. A couple of stops in ports unfamiliar to him very clearly explained to him the value of knowledge. Languages, mathematics, cartography, astronomy - all these sciences were simply necessary for the sailor. Not all team members understood this, but Glass quickly realized that information, knowledge and intelligence are the most valuable goods that can be transported.

The law of silence, almost immutable, was easier for Glass to bear than anyone else. He didn't need to talk to people. He preferred to contact people only on business. This good quality for a sailor played a cruel joke on him. On the one hand, he received the respect of the team for his taciturnity and harshness, on the other hand, he turned out to be completely unsuited to learning languages. His quick and tenacious mind literally refused to remember all these completely illogical laws of foreign languages. Some knowledge comes easier, some more difficult, but sooner or later every person masters the minimum necessary for himself.

Very soon Glass learned the basics of cartography, mathematics and astronomy. Mathematics and cartography were especially useful. In any port, it was easy for a person who could count well and draw a map of the area to find a part-time job. A couple of extra dollars for a day or two was a good help for ten dollars a month on the ship.

Beginners are lucky. The first few raids went quite calmly. Glass quickly got used to it and began to be respected by the team. Thanks to his invaluable knowledge, the level of respect of his comrades skyrocketed. It began to seem to Glass that life at sea was strictly ordered, systematized and devoid of any surprises. This is partly true, but not always.

They had a long voyage ahead of them, so they left the port loaded to capacity. In addition to goods, the ship was literally packed with food products prepared for the duration of the voyage. The diet was not particularly varied, but the team needed a lot of high-calorie food to maintain morale. And yet, it took a little more to cross the ocean. The voyage was drawing to a close. The team was completely exhausted and angry. Food supplies were running out, so the cook’s already modest ration was cut in half. This did not add optimism to anyone. Moreover, everyone began to suspect each other of theft. The first to suspect, of course, was the cook and his assistant, but very soon irritation and suspicion spread to all members of the team. It began to seem that someone was being given a larger ration, someone was being unfairly deprived, and so on. On top of that, corned beef, the main dish on the ship, although high-calorie food, was not able to replace vegetables and fruits. From a lack of vitamins and general weakness, a good half of the crew suffered from scurvy. People started dying. In sequence.

The ocean generously accepted everyone. When the body, wrapped in canvas, was lowered into the water, the depths of the sea, with a barely audible hiss, accepted it into its embrace. With this slight hiss against the background of the general measured roar of the waves, the ocean seemed to remind us of insignificance human life. Not only the body disappeared, but also the memory of the person. One of the main rules: do not allow dark thoughts on the ship, no matter what happens. Everyone tried not to talk or think about the departed comrades, about the fact that several more people were so bad that they were simply lying below and waiting in the wings. Many by that time were so weak that they could no longer get up.

Against the backdrop of hunger and disease, several storms and steam pirate ships on the horizon were not even considered as troubles. It was in the order of things, it happens in any voyage. To be honest, almost any long voyage took with it the lives of more than one or two crew members, and hunger was also far from uncommon. Sometimes you are more lucky, sometimes less. All the will of God. At least, that’s what the captain, a very religious man for his profession, believed.

Glass once again proved to his comrades that he is worthy of respect. It seemed that he was not at all worried about hunger or the deaths of his comrades. Every day he got up and carried out all the assignments from morning to evening. Fast, clear and unquestioning. It was impossible to tell from his face what he was thinking about now. He could well be accused of callousness and cowardice. Sick and embittered by hunger sailors periodically came to exactly this opinion about this man, but Glass was not at all worried. The main thing is to survive, and for this you just need to follow a pre-planned action plan. The friend with whom he escaped from the gunsmith decided to stay in the first port in which their ship anchored. Glass was friends with a couple of sailors who treated the cabin boy condescendingly. He was soon promoted to sailor, but Glass preferred to treat the rest of the crew with a certain degree of mistrust.

When one of the sailors with whom Glass communicated died, the unfortunate man's rations went to Hugh. In the evening, Glass was about to eat the unexpectedly received extra portion, when he suddenly heard the mocking advice of one of the sailors:

- Think about it, guy, what you want: if you live, then it’s better not to, but if you die quickly, so as not to suffer, then eat.

Glass, puzzled, put aside the piece of corned beef and looked at the sailor. It is unlikely that the unfortunate person before his death rubbed his rations with rat poison in the spirit of “so don’t get it from anyone,” so why then can’t you eat?

“If it gets really bad, eat it,” the sailor chuckled and fell asleep. Glass hid the rations away and also tried to sleep.

Based on real events, the filmmakers emphasize to us. But often, when making films based on real events, filmmakers take liberties with the facts. Some events are a little boring and are neglected, some events are invented to add entertainment to the film and make the plot exciting, intriguing, and interesting. Real story"The Revenant" is not as spectacular, but also admires the strength and thirst for life of the main character. And also, in fact, he forgave everyone.

Yes, a hunter and a pioneer. And this is one of the few facts that are known about him reliably. In 1823, he signed a document requiring him to participate in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company's exploration expedition, organized by General William Henry Ashley, who advertised for expedition members in the Missouri Gazette & Public Advertiser. It was on this expedition that Glass was attacked by a bear.

Expedition advertisement Missouri Gazette & Public Advertiser, 1823

No. After the first battle with the Arikara Indians, the organizers of the expedition, General Ashley and Major Henry, decided to go through the mountains.

Little is known about Glass's life before the bear attack. A hypothesis is also a marriage with an Indian woman, with whom he allegedly fell in love when he lived in captivity among the Indians. And according to legend, he was captured after escaping from the pirate Jean Lafitte. Hugh Glass was an experienced hunter and explorer. Where and how he acquired these skills, one can only guess.

Yes. This happened in the summer of 1823, five months after Glass joined the expedition. The meeting with the beast took place on the banks of the Missouri. The she-bear had two cubs and was therefore very aggressive. She caused him a huge amount of damage, including a broken leg and a puncture in his throat. Glass's colleagues heard his screams, rushed to his aid and drove off the bear with gunfire.

Illustration in The Milwaukee Journal article Milwaukee Journal, 1922

No. At least they weren't found. Although it is reliably known that Hugh Glass was literate. A letter has been preserved that he wrote to the parents of the hunter John Gardner, who died during an attack by the Arikara tribe on the expedition. Some papers among the documents of the organizers of the expedition characterize him as not an ordinary person with a difficult character, but do not leave us with information about the incident. However, there are stories written from the words of eyewitnesses. Thus, the story of the attack appeared in 1825 in the Philadelphia Literary Magazine. It quickly spread throughout all states and became a legend.

No, at least not all of it. The bear attack occurred in the summer.

Yes. Assuming that the hunter was mortally wounded, the leaders of the expedition paid two other hunters to stay with him until the end and bury him according to Christian customs. They stayed with Glass for several days (the exact number is unknown), and then they placed him in a shallow grave, collected all the weapons and supplies and left to catch up with the expedition.

moosegantz.com

No. This part of the film is pure fiction. There is no evidence that Glass had children, much less that these children were killed in front of him. But revenge for your son is a more interesting plot device than revenge for yourself.

This is unknown. But sleeping in animal carcasses is not uncommon in various survival tactics. This and other details of Glass's journey have emerged from numerous retellings of his macabre adventure.

Hugh Glass crawled for six weeks. The distance he covered changed and grew from retelling to retelling, and now it is not possible to establish it.

No. Hugh Glass did catch up with John Fitzgerald and Jim Bridger, but forgave them both.

Almost nothing is known about this, except that he continued to work as a trapper on the Yellowstone River.

Yes. According to an article in The Milwaukee Journal, a visitor to Fort Union shared news of the hunter's death. “Old Glass and two companions went to Fort Cass to hunt bear, and as they crossed the river on the ice they were shot and scalped by the Arikara Indians.” This happened in 1833.

How far away the blood, pain and cold on the screen seem when you are sitting in a warm cinema hall and eating salty popcorn while the projector buzzes... But not on “The Revenant”. It won't work that way with this film - either you felt the suffering of the characters with every cell of your body, or you haven't watched The Revenant. There is no third. For the hyperrealism of this film, we should thank the film’s director, Alejandro Iñárritu, who is convinced that masterpieces of this level are not filmed in a cozy film studio. And so the film crew goes to work at -25, the actors wander knee-deep in cold water, DiCaprio eats raw bison liver. All this is so that we believe them, believe the film. What is the essence of the film “The Revenant” and why was all this suffering necessary? Let's figure it out.

"The Real" Hugh Glass: the story that inspired Iñárritu

No matter how terrible the story that formed the basis of the plot of “The Revenant” may seem, alas, it actually happened. At any rate, Hugh Glass actually existed. He was a fur trapper in North America in the early 19th century. People who worked for Glass described him as willful and strong-willed and difficult to manage. Hugh Glass became a legend after he was attacked by a bear. In 1823, Glass joined a fur-trading expedition to North Dakota. While exploring the Missouri coast, he came across a mother bear with two cubs. The animal attacked the hunter, tore off his scalp, pierced his throat with its claws and broke his leg. His comrades came running to Glass’s screams, and after several shots the enraged beast was killed.

Left - the historical Hugh Glass, right - Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

Hugh Glass was on the verge of death. The leaders of the expedition ordered two of its members to stay with Glass so that they could give their comrade a Christian burial. However, after a couple of days, realizing that every hour the expedition was moving further and further from them, the eldest, John Fitzgerald, convinced the younger, Jim Bridger, to leave the dying Glass and hurry after his comrades. They lowered his body into the grave and went home. When the seriously wounded Hugh Glass came to, he was completely alone in a deep forest. Straining all his strength, he crawled to the nearest stream, where he managed to get water, and he spent the next six weeks on a difficult journey to the nearest hunters’ camp.

Having turned into a legend, this story acquired many fantastic details, which were added at their own discretion by everyone who ever had to retell it. Many people liked it, perhaps because it reflected the unshakable spirit of the brave pioneers who roamed the expanses of America in those years. However, the ending was unexpected: having found Fitzgerald and Bridger, Hugh Glass... forgave both. In other words, he acted in a Christian manner with those who denied him the right to be buried according to Christian customs. This upset the screenwriters of the film “The Revenant” a lot, who had to come up with additional motivation for their hero - he took revenge on his offenders not for himself, but for the one who was dearer to him than his own life - for his son.

The essence of the conflict in the film “The Revenant” and the images of the characters

Captain Henry's team, which includes Hugh Glass, his half-breed son Hawk, John Fitzgerald and young Bridger, are invaders hunting in the Indian territories. These people, by definition, cannot be “good guys.” But why do we sympathize with Glass and hate Fitzgerald throughout the film? Is it just Glass’s endurance, physical strength and agility that we admire, or is there something else? Now I will have to resort to some simplification, but it will help us place emphasis on the events of the film and understand why some characters evoke sympathy and others disgust.

The attitude of heroes to nature

If we line up all the heroes on some imaginary scale from “plus” to “minus,” where the position is determined by several criteria, then I would say the most important, determining factor is the hero’s proximity to nature. And the closest people to it are, of course, the Indians. From time immemorial they have lived on these lands, wisely using natural resources, investing their wisdom in hunting, fishing, and horse breeding. But representatives of Western civilization brought chaos into this measured life, bringing with them firearms, violence, and robberies. Now the Indians can no longer live as before, they are always under threat of destruction, it has become difficult for them to hunt - and we see how representatives of the Erikari tribe rob Captain Henry's detachment in order to seize meat and furs, which they will need to exchange for horses from French detachment.

Hugh Glass seems to merge with nature in this shot. He knows how to camouflage and sneak up no worse than the Indians

It would seem that the Indian tribes are doomed, because bows cannot resist guns. But the Indians have something that the Europeans do not have - they know and understand nature, they can merge with it and sneak up to the camp silently, they attack as if wild animals. And next on our scale of closeness to nature is Hugh Glass. He lived for several years with the Pawnee Indian tribe, learned their language, he absorbed their wisdom along with the parables that his wife, the mother of young Hawk, told him. He alone understands the Indians - remember how deftly he neutralizes one of the attacking ri, hiding in the branches tall tree- where no one else from Captain Henry's squad would have noticed him. He manages to survive a collision with armed ri pursuing him on horseback. The very existence of his son is eloquent evidence that Glass felt closer to the Indians than to people like John Fitzgerald or the Frenchman Toussaint.

How does Glass feel about the harsh nature in which he has to survive? He is a skilled and dexterous hunter, in terms of camouflage in the thicket he is not inferior to the Indians who grew up in these forests, he unerringly makes paths through the snow... And he also treats animals and local people with gratitude, although this feeling is completely devoid of any sentimentality. When Glass's horse dies, in a matter of minutes he assesses his situation and realizes that the only way not to freeze to death that night is to climb into the still warm carcass of the animal. But, leaving in the morning, the hunter touches the skin of the animal and freezes for a moment - this is how he says goodbye to the creature, whose death allowed him to survive, this is how he pays him tribute of gratitude. Compare this with Fitzgerald's story of how his father met God in the form of a squirrel, "roasted him and ate him." This predatory attitude towards nature is unacceptable to Glass.

DiCaprio and Iñárritu on the set of The Revenant

Selflessness and greed

What other characteristics help us distinguish the true heroes of this story from the pathetic and insignificant people? Another trait that “worthy” characters possess is selflessness. Captain Henry offers a $100 reward to anyone who stays with Glass during his final hours. Hawk and Jim Bridger unanimously refuse the reward, since saving the life of one of the most important members of the squad is a matter of honor for them. John Fitzgerald behaves completely differently, first taking the triple reward into his hands, and then completely ruining the safe in which the proceeds from the entire expedition are kept. The French are also greedy - they make dishonest deals with the Indians, despite the reproaches of the tribal leader. Captain Henry has a completely different, reasonable attitude towards material values ​​- he understands when it is necessary to sacrifice little (leave the furs in the forest) in order to save something more - the lives of the expedition members.

Kin and family as the highest value for Glass and the Indian community

Finally, it is also important what goals the heroes set for themselves and what they are going towards. For the heroes of the film “The Revenant,” the clan, the family, is at the center of the universe. Hugh Glass had no one closer to his wife and son. When his wife was killed, Glass shot the offender, regardless of the fact that he was an officer. Glass was dying when he lost the last thing he had left - his son Hawk. He couldn't leave this world without taking revenge on Fitzgerald, and that's all vitality he collected it not in order to bring himself back to life, but in order to punish the culprit. Remember what Glass wrote on the stone on the wall of the cave - “Fitzgerald killed my son.” There was nothing more important in his life than this terrible fact. The second character for whom the fate of his family is more important than anything else is the Indian chief, whose tribe tirelessly wanders through the forests in search of the chief's daughter Powaki. For him, every European is an enemy, because any of them could take his daughter away and harm her. And this justifies all the cruelty with which the Ri tribe pursues Captain Henry’s detachment.

In his dreams and memories, Glass constantly returns to his wife

The captain himself thinks about his relatives - when he goes in search of Fitzgerald, he tells Glass that he forgets his wife’s face. But Captain Henry thinks not only about his wife, he tries to save the lives of people in his squad, helps them cope with injuries - after all, he is a doctor. The aspirations of young Bridger, devoted to Hugh Glass, are not at all selfish. But John Fitzgerald doesn’t care about anyone but himself - his thirst for profit is stronger common sense, he is ready to put himself and others at risk in order to earn more, he is ready to betray.

Multilingualism in the film “The Revenant” and the problem of misunderstanding

This is not the first time that Iñárritu has addressed the topic of misunderstanding between people - he made the film “Babel” on this topic, the characters of which speak five different languages. So in “The Revenant” this theme comes up again, although not so clearly. The members of Captain Henry's expedition speak English, the French communicate in their own language - but they do not know and do not recognize each other's languages. “Can you speak our language?” they sarcastically ask a Frenchman who has come to the hunters’ camp and speaks English with a monstrous accent. Somehow the members of the French detachment negotiate with the Indians, covering up fraud and deception with their ignorance of the language.

Only Hugh Glass can speak the Indian dialect. He speaks this language with his son when they are alone. In front of strangers, Glass forbids his son to open his mouth - he knows that the whites will not listen to the half-breed Indian, for them he is like a mute. This is the language used in the parable that Glass’s wife tells him. In the sounds of this language one can hear the wisdom of nature, the whisper of wind and grass. This once again emphasizes Glass's connection with nature. At the same time, he strives to get away from idle talk, telling Captain Henry: “I love silence.”

Hugh Glass and the Indian don't need many words to understand each other

Lying on a stretcher in a semi-conscious state, Glass cannot utter a word. He is forced to remain silent when he watches Fitzgerald kill his son Hawk. At this moment, he himself is like an Indian among whites who do not know his language. But, having met an Indian on the road, Glass easily negotiates with him. He saves his life by humbly falling to his knees before the owner of these places. He asks for some meat with gestures. Their communication is laconic, but every word has greater value than the idle chatter of whites. Once in the French camp, Glass again, with just a couple of words, manages to negotiate with the captive girl. He clearly communicates better with Indians than with white people.

So what is the point of The Revenant?

Above, I have placed the characters in places on a scale from “positive” to “negative”. I don’t like these terms in themselves, and in relation to this film they seem completely inappropriate. Of course, the main source of evil in this film is the traitor and murderer John Fitzgerald. But which of the heroes can be called unconditionally positive? The simple-minded Jim Bridger, who failed to discern the deception in Fitzgerald's words and became a traitor against his own will? Captain Henry, who equipped the detachment on an aggressive campaign into the lands of the Indians? Or the Indians who have been fighting each other on this land for centuries? Or maybe Hugh Glass, who made bloody revenge his goal in life?

I do not give an answer to these questions. Let me just say that this film is both about moral choice and about the huge difference between values different people, and the different ideas of justice, and the different languages ​​we speak... Many of us - especially those who judge others too harshly, like John Fitzgerald, who was envied by the noble birth of Captain Henry and the skills of Hugh Glass - never found themselves in a critical situation and do not realize how difficult it is to act and make decisions in the conditions in which the characters in the film live. “Survivor” will teach someone to move forward towards their goal without giving themselves the chance to lose. Someone - to be more attentive to others and learn to listen, without dividing people into “whites” and “reds.” But for some, the meaning of the film “The Revenant” will be something completely different. But the main thing is that this film made you think and look for answers, which means that the film crew did not work in vain in twenty-degree frosts, and the vegan DiCaprio did not bite into a bison’s liver in vain.

You can argue until you're hoarse about the artistic value of the film. "Survivor", but the fact remains: it is he who is doomed to enter the textbooks on film studies for bringing the long-awaited Oscar to one of the brightest actors of the generation. What also gives the picture some weight is the fact that "Survivor" based on real events: Because of this, the feat of Hugh Glass shown on screen, who single-handedly defeated a grizzly bear and defied the harsh elements, takes on a true shade of heroism.

But what was the basis for the film's script? In honor of the second anniversary of the film's release being celebrated today, I decided to delve deeper into the study of the issue and find out the relationship between truth and fiction. I’ll say right away: the real story differs quite significantly from the film, but this does not make it any less amazing - believe me, there are many impressive facts left behind the scenes of the film.

I'll start with the literary basis.

Editions of the books that formed the basis of the film

The script was written mainly based on a 2002 fiction book (by Michael Pahnke), which, in turn, absorbed three other novels, written much earlier and today successfully forgotten. None of these authors knew Glass: the described details of events, memories, dialogues are all just a figment of the writers’ fantasies. Based only on this kind of “documents,” what can we say for sure about Glass?

He lived, he defeated the bear, he died.

There is no historical evidence (and, fortunately for fictional writers, no refutation) that Hugh there was a relationship with a native Aboriginal woman, who allegedly gave birth to a half-breed son. There is also not a word about flying on horseback from a cliff and then spending the night in her womb. Even the fact of eating raw liver of a freshly killed buffalo has not been confirmed. What is known for certain?

Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass. "Survivor", 2015

Glass lived in Pennsylvania with his wife and two children, he went on boats until he was captured by pirates, who set the condition - to join them and serve or go overboard to feed the fish. In general, the whole next year Hugh together with the pirates, he robbed and possibly killed, until, together with another poor fellow captive, he escaped from the ship and swam to the town Galveston.

Agree, this episode of his biography can already be developed into a fascinating story: when faced with death, a law-abiding citizen becomes a criminal.

Having traveled 1,000 miles to the West, Glass and his accomplice stumbled upon the Indians: the same Pawnee, with one of which is cinematic Glass allegedly gave birth to a son.

"Breakfast at Dawn" by Alfred J. Miller

Pawnee, unlike other tribes, were truly peace-loving, but, alas, the real meeting ended for Hugh much less pleasant than shown in the film. Instead of a bride, he received the unique experience of contemplating a companion burning alive: Pawnee They considered the arrival of strangers to be bad news and decided to sacrifice the fugitives. Glass was on the line for reprisals, but paid off in a very successful way. He had with him a piece of mercury sulfide, the so-called. “cinnabar”, which, like powder, is easily applied to the skin, giving it a bright scarlet color. The leader really liked the gift, and the whole tribe began to use it to apply war paint to their faces.

2 years have passed. Until January 1823 Glass lived with the Indians until he came with the chief to St. Louis for some negotiations with a local official on Indian affairs. The leader returned back to the tribe, and Glass he remained, seduced by an announcement about the recruitment of hundreds of volunteers to harvest beaver skins. The worker promised to enrich Hugh as much as $200 per year of fishing. Because The required number of volunteers was not found, the detachment was staffed with regulars of the local tavern.

Skulls of bison killed by trappers, 1870.

The enterprise was headed by a general William Ashley, and not the young captain Andrew Henry (played in the film Domhnall Gleeson). Ashley loaded up the crew and went fishing on the Missouri River in early March. Apart from the fact that in the very first days one of the crew members fell overboard and drowned, and three more died from a gunpowder explosion - everything went according to plan. At least until Ashley and Co. did not meet the Indian tribe Arikara, from whom the Yankees asked for 50 horses in exchange for a couple of kegs of gunpowder. Having received preliminary consent, the trappers set up camp and spent the night. And in the morning they were attacked by shameless redskins.

It is with this episode that the film begins.

Glass was wounded in the leg (not in the film), and the detachment was missing 15 people. Which, against the background of its total number, is not so much: director A.G. Iñárritu showed real carnage.

Down the river Grandee, the remnants of the detachment were looking for a place for a storehouse of skins. And they found a grizzly bear and two cubs that attacked Glass. The poor guy shot and tried to climb a tree, but the bear grabbed him with her claws, tearing off a piece of meat from his butt. Glass collapsed and found the paws of a predator on his neck. No one heard his screams: only grunts came from his torn throat.

Drawing for a newspaper, 20s of the XIX century.

Fortunately, the noise of the fuss was noticed Fitzgerald And Bridger(coincide with the names of the heroes Hardy And Poulter). It was they, not Glass, who killed the beast. To be fair, I note that the fatal wound could have been caused by Glass, who not only was the first to shoot at the shaggy man, but also plunged his knife into him.

Bandaged wounds Glass, the detachment laid him on a stretcher made of branches and dragged him with them. After 5 days of travel, Henry, seeing how much his progress had slowed down, invited two volunteers to stay and care for the dying man: the general was sure that Hugh won't survive. Volunteered Bridger And Fitzgerald, for which they were promised, according to various sources, from $80 to $400 (a huge amount! Remember how much the trappers were paid per year). The detachment moved further towards the fort, and Glass and his nurses were left behind.

After 5 days of waiting, Fitzgerald convinced Bridger leave Glass to die alone: ​​the chance of being found by the Indians was too great. Unlike the film, assassination attempts Glassa Fitzgerald did not undertake. Just as he didn’t kill his half-breed son... He simply wasn’t there and, probably, didn’t exist at all in nature.

But revenge for a child is such a win-win Hollywood trick, right?

In just two days Fitzgerald And Bridger got to the fort. Well, what about Glass?

Article in The Milwaukee Journal. 1922.

Glass I woke up and found myself abandoned and deprived of all ammunition: my friends and comrades had taken everything. Wrapped in the skin of a dead bear, left with him, Hugh I was just lying by the river. After almost a week (and not immediately, as Leo), Hugh crawled off in search of revenge. Crawling and crawling. He had broken ribs, a broken leg and deep wounds on his back. To prevent gangrene, Hugh got hold of maggots and let them eat his rotting flesh.

Standing up on my feet Glass continued on his way.

Alas, he did not make a picturesque flight on horseback from a cliff. Just as I have never met a funny Indian, a lover of snowflakes, who would give him this horse. There was no buffalo either. There was only a calf that was killed by wolves. Moreover, Glass did not drive them away until they were satisfied. Whether the liver that Leo feasted on was left after their meal is an open question.

Left behind the scenes is another very interesting episode related to the survivalist’s food. It is known for certain that Glass ate dogs. At that time, this was considered a very common phenomenon, but today showing it in a movie (even a feature film!) is an unthinkable overkill.

In the footsteps of H. Glass

Weeks later, with 350 miles of travel behind my wounded back, Glass I came across a French garrison, with whom I stayed for another 6 (!) weeks. Having patched himself up, he moved towards the fort Tilton where I thought Hugh, his offenders are hiding. On the way he was overtaken by the Indians Ri, from whose bloodthirsty intentions he was saved by friendly natives. Not salty slurping in Tilton, Glass does not give up the idea of ​​revenge and goes to the fort Henry where it finds Bridger, whom he forgives, believing that the boy was simply intimidated by Fitzgerald. Of course, the latter was not in the fort.

In film Glass still overtakes the scoundrel and gives him to be torn to pieces Ri.

The reality is this. Arriving at the fort Atkinson in 1824, Hugh finds out that the one who was here Fitzgerald He enlisted in the US Army, which means there is no way to get even with him: in those years, for depriving a serviceman of his life, they were led to the scaffold without talking. His blood offender (who, let me remind you, did not attempt either his life or the life of his fictional son) Glass was never found and nothing is known about his fate.

Memorial plaque in honor of H. Glass. Shadehill Nature Reserve, San Diego, USA

What Glass?

The film ends close-up half-mad faces Leo, meaningfully breaking the fourth wall. Of course, this is not where this man’s story ends. For some time he tried to engage in trade, but without success. Returning to the trapper's craft, Hugh and here he soon failed. The demand for skins fell and his occupation did not generate income. After 10 years, he earned money by supplying meat (which he obtained by hunting) for the fort. Cass. During one of the attacks, he and two accomplices were surrounded Ri, stripped to the skin and scalped.

Ironically, that day he went out to hunt a bear.

He was 50.

Portrait of Hugh Glass

WHAT TO SEE?
"Wild Prairie Man" (1971) - the first film about Hugh Glass