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John Colter
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John Colter

American explorer
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Quick Facts
Born:
c. 1775,, in or near Staunton, Va. [U.S.]
Died:
1813, [in present-day Missouri, U.S.]
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John Colter (born c. 1775, in or near Staunton, Va. [U.S.]—died 1813, [in present-day Missouri, U.S.]) was an American trapper-explorer, the first white man to have seen and described (1807) what is now Yellowstone National Park.

Colter was a member of Lewis and Clark’s company from 1803 to 1806. In 1807 he joined Manuel Lisa’s trapping party, and it was Lisa who sent him on a mission to the Crow and other Indian tribes that led Colter to travel alone to the Yellowstone area. In three expeditions to the Three Forks area (head of the Missouri River) in 1808–10, he narrowly escaped with his life in battles involving warring Indian tribes. After the third incident he retired to a farm on the Missouri.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.