On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early 1800s, as the American frontier pushed west, a small group of trappers and traders began moving through the Rocky Mountains, learning the land long before most Americans ever saw it. Thomas Fitzpatrick was one of the most important among them.

After losing his parents at a young age, Fitzpatrick headed west and built a life in the fur trade, earning a reputation among fellow mountain men for his skill and leadership in the rugged and uncharted terrain. He later helped organize the Rocky Mountain rendezvous, where trappers gathered to trade and resupply, and eventually took on a new role working as a U.S. representative with Native American tribes during a period of rapid expansion.

Historian and Our American Stories regular contributor Roger McGrath shares the story of a man who fundamentally shaped how the American West was opened.

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