User:Viriditas/Rocky Mountain Jim

Jim Nugent (Birth date unknown — September 7, 1874, Estes Park, Colorado) popularly known as Rocky Mountain Jim, was a Colorado trapper best known as the guide for English explorer Isabella Bird in her historical 1873 ascent of Longs Peak. Bird documented the experience of being the first woman to climb Long's Peak with Nugent's help in her 1879 travel memoir, A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains.

Nugent's origins as a mountain man in Colorado are shrouded in mystery with various accounts and legends calling him a "ruffian", a "desperado", a defrocked priest and/or an expelled schoolmaster from Canada. Bird described him as educated, "strikingly handsome, well dressed and barely forty, with sixteen shining gold curls falling down his collar". A friendship developed between Bird and Nugent during their time together, but it is unknown if their relationship remained strictly platonic. Nugent expressed his affection and love for Bird, but was heartbroken when she rejected him and returned to England.

After a protracted dispute over land in 1874, Nugent was shot in the head without warning by Griffith J. Evans, a local rival. The exact circumstances of Nugent's death and questions about his background remain a subject of interest for historians.

Life in Colorado

Rocky Mountain Jim came to Estes Park Colorado in 1867 and was an explorer of the Rocky Mountain National Park. He got his fame due to a bear attack (see below).

Near Fatal Bear Attack

In 1869 Rocky Mountain Jim nearly lost his life in a bizarre incident. While exploring up Old Fall River Road, Rocky Mountain Jim saw a grizzly bear and her cubs ferociously chasing his hunting dog. When the bear saw Jim, it immediately began going for him. Jim shot the bear 5-10 times but in turn was mauled unconscious by the bear. Hours later, he woke up nothing but a mangled mess; the bear was dead from his gunshots having bled out while he was unconscious. In the attack he lost his left eye, nose, left ear and was scalped. He miraculously survived and spent 9-10 hours riding his horse all the way up Old Fall River Road to Grand Lake where he encountered natives and was taken to a hospital.

Ascent of Long's Peak

Jim Nugent was asked to guide English author Isabella Bird through the Rockies up Long's Peak. Nugent agreed. It is rumored that Nugent and Bird had an affair though they agreed they weren't meant for marriage. Nugent's fame was brought up big time after successfully summiting Long's Peak with Bird.

Death

After a dispute with neighbor and rival Griffith J. Evans, Jim was shot in the head sometime around June 19, 1874. He survived the initial shooting enough to press charges against Evans, but succumbed to his injury in September. He was buried in the Mountain Home Cemetery, but his remains were moved to Grandview Cemetery sometime later.

Post-Death

Griff Evans was charged by Jim for the shooting. Griff remained in jail for 3 months as he was put on trial for the murder. In his defense, Griff said that he was shooting because Jim threatened his daughter. Evans never was convicted for the murder because the case was quickly ended due to the lack of witnesses.

In popular culture

Author James C. Work wrote a 2006 fiction novel about Nugent's death titled, The Tobermory Manuscript: A Western Story.

References

Bird, Isabella L. 1879. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons. (Also available via Gutenberg).
Chartier, JoAnn and Enss, Chris. 2002. Love Untamed: Romances of the Old West. Globe Pequot. ISBN 0762711426.
Chubbuck, Kay (ed.) 2002. Letters to Henrietta. UPNE. ISBN 1555535542.
Dunning, Harold Marion and Bird, Isabella L. 1967. The Life of Rocky Mountain Jim (James Nugent). Johnson Pub. Co. OCLC 001169565
Mills, Enos A. 1905. The Story of Estes Park and a Guide Book. Outdoor Life Pub. Co.
Mills, Enos A. 1924. The Rocky Mountain National Park. Garden City, New York, Doubleday, Page & Co.
Pickering, James H. 2005. This Blue Hollow: Estes Park, The Early Years, 1859-1915. University Press of Colorado. ISBN 0870818015.
Willse, Jim. 1974. Rocky Mountain Jim's Demise West's Legend. Sarasota Herald Tribune. September 15: 31.