Glass, Hugh (1780?-1833), was an American hunter and trapper. He is best known for a heroic journey in which he dragged himself hundreds of miles to safety after a grizzly bear nearly killed him.
What little is known of Glass’s early years is based mainly on legend. Glass was a seaman in his 30’s when pirates captured him and forced him to join them. He later escaped from the pirates but, in the American Plains, was captured by Pawnee Indians. He lived with the Pawnee for several years, until late 1822. The following year, he became a trapper for a Rocky Mountain fur-trading company.
In August 1823, while away from the others on a trapping expedition, Glass was set upon by a grizzly bear and mauled savagely. The attack, which took place near what is now Lemmon, South Dakota, left Glass unconscious and near death. The group’s leader asked two men to stay with Glass and bury him. One of the two was 19-year-old Jim Bridger, later a well-known frontiersman. Fearful of Indian attack and believing Glass would die anyway, the men took his weapons and abandoned him. Glass awoke and began making his way to the nearest settlement, Fort Kiowa, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) to the southeast. He crawled and rafted to what is now Chamberlain, South Dakota, arriving at the fort in early October.
Glass lived another 10 years. But in early 1833, he and two others were killed by Arikara Indians while crossing the frozen Yellowstone River, near what is now Bighorn, Montana.
