Mountain men, trappers by another name, roamed the Rocky Mountain region of North America in search of beaver but they weren't lone wanderers dressed in buckskin and raccoon caps armed with nothing but a rifle and 'scalpin' knife. Few mountain men were free trappers. Instead, most worked for fur companies, slept in a camp and trapped beaver in parties of 2 or 3. Trappers wore leather breaches and moccasins, but they also wore wool coats and even boots. And while a mountain man carried a powder horn and knife he also tied beaver traps, hatchet, canteen, cooking utensils and coffee to the animal that carried his supplies. What's more the life of a trapper was often difficult. The weather in the mountains was often harsh and a trapper's meals had to be caught or picked. So why so many tall tales? In the early 1800s life in the American West was hard for city people to understand. Tall tales made it sound adventurous.