John Hatcher: Mountain Man

Long before the streets of Pocatello were lit by neon, John Hatcher was making his way along the Oregon Trail as a mountain man.

Though Hatcher is long gone, his trusty rifle remains some 150 years later, with his great-great-great-grandson, Dale, standing by its side.

“It’s quite the experience to kind of visualize along with the stories and have that history in your hand, or to be able to see it, and [it’s] definitely a piece of the Oregon Trail and founding and exploring out West,” Dale Hatcher said. “They probably traveled in a lot of the country we’re standing in right now.”

John Hatcher, who was born in Virginia around 1812, moved west to St. Louis before eventually following the Oregon Trail out to the West Coast. But his family has no idea what brought him West in the first place, or if he was ever actually in the area that would become Pocatello.

“But it would make sense because the rendezvous for the mountain men that they had in Wyoming and then, of course, the Oregon Trail,” Dale said. “Most likely, he came through here at one point and maybe even to the old Fort Hall, because that was kind of another hub along the way. So that’s an assumption at this point, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Either way, the rifle John once held, and another family gun, now sit in Pocatello at the Bannock County Historical Museum. They had previously been on display at the Museum of the Mountain Man in Wyoming, but with so many pieces of western history in Pocatello, Dale said it just made sense to move it to the Gate City.

“We’ll probably keep them here for at least another two years and then maybe on to another venue,” he explained.

While they are on display, Dale says he hopes people take some time to realize the significance the guns hold.

“A lot of people don’t appreciate, or don’t even realize, how tough they had to have been. And the extremes that they went through and, you know, every day you’re looking for food or shelter basically,” he said. “So comforts that we have today we take for granted.”

Dale made presentation Tuesday evening that he says was likely just part one, as he’d like to do another once he’s sorted through all the information and feels he can make another more detailed presentation.