Miles Goodyear was born February 24, 1817 in Hamden Connecticut. He was orphaned when he was a child and his oldest brother couldn’t keep his family together. As a young boy he dreamed of living in the Rocky Mountains with plenty of freedom away from farm work. In 1834 at the age of 17, he left Connecticut and reached Chicago by 1836. He met Missionaries there that were headed to Oregon. He decided to stick with the kind Missionary party because they provided him transportation, meals and supplies. Being with the Missionaries provided him with many opportunities to be in contact with mountain men. By then he had been trading and trapping since 1833 with supplies from Hudson’s Bay Company. Around 1845 Miles decided he wanted his own trading
