Joe Walker: Humble Hero

Despite a career that rivals any of the greatest mountain men of the frontier era, Joe Walker remains relatively unknown.

Born of humble beginnings in Tennessee, young Walker's thirst for adventure leads him to join his cousin Sam Houston in the violent Creek War of 1813, but the horror he witnesses on the battlefield leaves him with a lifelong abhorrence of bloodshed.

After the war, Walker's wanderlust takes him to distant New Mexico, where he helps pioneer what becomes the famous Santa Fe Trail. When he is hired by the mysterious Benjamin Bonneville to guide a trapping expedition into the Rocky Mountains, Walker leads the first wagon train to ever cross the Continental Divide. His greatest exploration is a grueling trek across the Great Basin Desert seeking an overland route to California, which leads to a frightening confrontation with the Paiute tribe  and a battle he'll do anything to avoid.