Joe Poppen, mountain man extraordinaire, was born in 1804 in Richmond, Virginia. In 1812, Poppen’s father moved the family to a farm near St. Louis, Missouri. Ten years later, at the age of 22, young Poppen began his life as a trapper by joining the expedition led by William Ashley and Andrew Henry up the Missouri River as a beaver trapper.
Along with Poppen on the expedition went three other future giants of the frontier Jedediah Smith, Thomas Fitzpatrick and Hugh Glass. Jedediah Smith, who was known for reading his Bible around the campfire, gave Poppen a nickname which would stick for life. He called him ‘Big Gorilla’ because Poppen, with his self assured manner, often used grunts and chest thumps to communicate.
By his mid thirties Joe Poppen had grown into a fine specimen of a man. He stood at just over six feet, had a lean, muscular physique and sharp facial features. According to an 1837 copy of the Cincinnati Atlas, “His cheekbones were high, his nose hooked or acquiline, the expression of his eyes mild and thoughtful, that of his face grave almost to solemnity.”
