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Bear Grease

Ep. 294: The Extraordinary Life of Ellis Bell

Bear Grease

MeatEater

Wilderness, Sports

4.87.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of the Bear Grease podcast, we hear the remarkable story of fourth-generation farmer and Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame member Mr. Ellis Bell from Forrest City, Arkansas. Mr. Bell tells the story of his heritage and personal journey as a minority farmer, along with the values he learned along the way.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, American History Buffs. Hunting History Buffs, listen up. We're back at it with another volume

0:05.1

of our Meat Eaters American History series. In this edition titled The Mountain Men, 1806 to 1840,

0:13.6

we tackle the Rocky Mountain Beaver trade and dive into the lives and legends of fellows like

0:19.9

Jim Bridger, Jed Smith, and John Coulter.

0:23.6

This small but legendary fraternity of Backwoodsmen helped define an era when the West represented not just unmapped territory,

0:31.4

but untapped opportunity for those willing to endure some heinous and at times violent conditions.

0:38.3

We explain what started the Mountain Man era and what ended it.

0:42.5

We tell you everything you'd ever want to know about what the Mountain Men ate,

0:46.0

how they hunted and trapped, what gear they carried, what clothes they wore,

0:49.7

how they interacted with Native Americans,

0:52.1

how 10% of them died violent deaths, and even detailed

0:56.4

descriptions of how they performed amputations on the fly. It's as dark and bloody and good as

1:03.7

our previous volume about the white-tailed deer skin trade, which is titled The Long Hunters,

1:09.8

1761 to 1775.

1:13.2

So again, this new Mountain Man edition about the beaver skin trade is available for pre-order now wherever audio books are sold.

1:21.8

It's called Meat Eaters American History, The Mountain Men, 1806 to 1840, by me, Stephen Ronella.

1:35.8

To me, that was success, where most people were dying to get away from the country because they saw other people

1:47.0

going north, looked like they was building a better life because they came back driving a new car.

1:54.1

I didn't look at having a new car as being success. I looked at my dad having a better crop.

2:02.9

That was the success that I was looking for even as a smaller child.

2:07.2

I wanted my success to be right here on the land.

2:12.9

On this episode, I want to introduce you to a fourth generation soybean and rice farmer,

...

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