Who is John Hoback mountain man?

Answer 1

John Hoback along with 2 friends Reznor and Robinson were adventurers.

The history of Hoback's family starts with Jacob Hoback coming from the Frankfort area of Germany in 1738 aboard the ship Thistle arriving in Philadelphia. Jacob Hoback's brother Michael and Jacob's family came at the same time. The ship log only lists adult males but we do know that one of Jacob's sons was named Michael.

Questions surround which Michael did what. John Hoback descends from one of the Michaels. John Hoback's parents were with Daniel Boone when he settled Frankfort Kentucky.

John Hoback married Lillie Hearn and had at least 2 children with her. He left Kentucky, heading west with Lewis & Clark. Later Hoback, Reznor and Robinson headed out to Missouri to meet up with friends to head west to be fur trappers. This group founded Henry's Fort at Henry's Fork in Wyoming.

Hoback, Reznor & Robinson lost all their possessions after spending a winter trapping so they started back to Kentucky. This trip took them through a different pass than the one used by Lewis and Clark. They happened upon Wilson Price Hunt the leader of the Overland Astorians. He hired them to lead them west. They took the group back through the new route that later became the Oregon Trail. This was in 1811. Hunt was so pleased with their work he named the Hoback River after John Hoback.

The Astorians set the group up with supplies and hired them to trap. They again had misfortune and was heading back to Kentucky. They again met up with some Astorians and decided to stay in the west to trap.

In 1812 or 1813 they met up with some of their old friends from their first trip trapping. The friends were also being sponsored by the Astorians. So they formed a group with 2 cabins about a mile or so apart. One of the men was married to an Indian woman. One day while she and her 2 children were visiting a nearby village she heard that some of the younger men were wanting to attack the trappers. She hurried back to warn the men. When she came upon the first cabin finding her husband and all others but one already dead. She took the survivor and her 2 children and headed for the other cabin only to arrive and find all dead. She then returned to the friendly village to hide from those who had killed the trappers. A few days later another man who worked for the Astorians came into the village. She told him her story, if it were not for that we wouldn't know what had happened to the group.

The stories of many of the mountain men are recounted in a book by Robert M. Utley titled A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and Paths to the Pacific.

Much of the genealogy has been researched by myself as my great-grandmother was a Hoback.

HOBACK ANCESTRY

First Generation

(4) Great Grandparents

Johann "Michael" Hoppach and Anna Martha Hoback (d before 1781)

John "Michael" Hoback (Americanized)

b 1709 Alesac, France

d Blue Ridge Mountains

Second Generation

(3) Great Grandparents

Johannes Valentine Hoppach and Elizabeth Van Benschoten Hoback (b abt 1745 Duchess County, N.Y. - d 1799 Hardin County, Kentucky)

John Valentine "Felty" "Felt" Hoback (Americanized) (Trapper John)

b 1745 Hessen County, Germany

d 1-5-1814 Wyoming

(Left Hardin County, Kentucky in 1800)

(Family reported John dead in 1909 after 7 + years missing)

Third Generation

(2) Great Grandparents

Michael Hoback and Margaret Elizabeth Howell Hoback (b abt 1776 Virginia - d October 1850 Larue County, Kentucky))

d winter 1840-41

m 11-14-1792 Nelson County, Kentucky

Fourth Generation

Great Grandparents

Valentine "Felty" Hoback and Nancy Ann Clark Hoback (b 1805 Breckenridge, Kentucky - d after February 1865 Hardin County, Kentucky)

b 1798 Hardin County, Kentucky

d Between June 1859 and May 1863

m 9-28-1820 Hardin County, Kentucky

John Hoback is my great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. My name is Danny Schanz, Son of Steve Schanz.