The Mountain Men

The Mountain Men is a 1980 American Adventure Western film directed by Richard Lang and starring Charlton Heston and Brian Keith. Heston's son, Fraser Clarke Heston authored the screenplay. Plot Bill Tyler is an argumentative, curmudgeonly mountain man. Henry Frapp is Tyler's good friend and fellow trapper. Together, they trap beaver, fight Native Americans, and drink at a mountain man rendezvous while trying to sell their "plews", or beaver skins, to a cutthroat French trader named Fontenelle. Tyler looks for a legendary valley, in Blackfoot territory, "so full of beaver that they just jump in the traps." Running Moon leaves her abusive husband, a ruthless Blackfoot warrior named Heavy Eagle, and comes across the two trappers in the dying days of the fur trapping era. While at first Bill only wants to take her to safety at the rendezvous, she refuses to leave and eventually becomes his woman. While trapping, Bill and Henry are attacked by Blackfeet and Henry is scalped by Heavy Eagle in front of Bill. Tyler runs back to camp and he and Running Moon flee only to be caught. Later, Tyler (thinking Running Moon has also been killed) is given a chance to run for his life (similar to the real life event of John Colter) and is chased by warriors whom he initially eludes by hiding in a beaver den. They pursue him until he and Heavy Eagle fall into a raging river. Heavy Eagle makes it to shore and Bill goes over a waterfall. Heavy Eagle returns to his camp and tries to make Running Moon his woman again, raping her, but she refuses to submit to him. He knows Bill Tyler survived and will come for her, just as he had done. On his survival trek, Bill comes across Henry who had survived the scalping and eventually learns that Running Moon is still alive. He and Henry set out to rescue her while they are followed by another pair of trappers, Le Bont and Walters, who are also looking for the valley of beavers. After Le Bont and Walters are killed by Heavy Eagle and his warriors, Henry is shot in the chest with an arrow and dies in Tyler's arms. Tyler then sneaks into the Blackfoot camp and finds Running Moon, but before they can escape, Heavy Eagle arrives. Tyler and Heavy Eagle engage in hand-to-hand combat, and just as Heavy Eagle is about to kill Tyler with a knife, Running Moon shoots him with a musket, killing him.