However, when his mother died and his father remarried, Trapper Nelson ran away from home, heading west.
29 Facts About Trapper Nelson
1.
2.
Trapper Nelson spent time in a Mexican jail and was later released.
3.
Trapper Nelson made money for food by gambling with other road bums until he made it to South Florida, where he, his step brother Charles Nelson and friend John Dykas set up camp.
4.
On December 17,1931, Charles Trapper Nelson shot partner John Dykas in the back, killing him.
5.
Trapper Nelson, angered by his step-brother's actions, testified against him at the trial for Dykas' murder.
6.
Trapper Nelson made money by selling the furs of the animals he trapped, and ate the meat, starting rumors that he ate everything from opossums to stray house cats.
7.
Trapper Nelson acquired extensive land holdings, bidding on tax auctions during the Great Depression.
8.
When Chillingworth was murdered in the 1950s, Charles Trapper Nelson was briefly considered a suspect.
9.
Trapper Nelson eventually developed a zoo on his property in the 1930s, calling it "Trapper Nelson's Zoo and Jungle Gardens".
10.
Tours along the river from West Palm Beach would stop there for lunch and stretch breaks, and Trapper Nelson shared the profits with the boat captains.
11.
Locally prominent people and celebrities alike visited, including boxing champion Gene Tunney and actor Gary Cooper, to see his animals, watch Trapper Nelson wrestle alligators, and buy souvenirs.
12.
Trapper Nelson was known locally as the "Tarzan of the Loxahatchee", and cared for the locals' exotic pets.
13.
Trapper Nelson finally married in 1940 in an attempt to avoid the draft for World War II.
14.
Trapper Nelson joined the Military Police in Texas, but while training, he tore a muscle in his leg and was transferred to Camp Murphy, which was very close to his land.
15.
Trapper Nelson divorced his wife, and after that Nelson bought cars for the women he wooed, paying for them in installments to ensure they would stay for at least a while.
16.
Trapper Nelson got a subscription to the Wall Street Journal and added more and more land to his sprawling camp.
17.
Trapper Nelson did, but the Health Department found them "unsatisfactory", and in 1960 he was forced to close his zoo.
18.
Trapper Nelson already had a deep-seated mistrust of the government, and the closing of his zoo was, to him, enough to confirm his paranoia.
19.
Trapper Nelson began to dam the river leading to his camp to keep boats away, and installed fences and padlocks to discourage land travelers.
20.
Trapper Nelson put up signs around his land reading "Danger: Land Mines".
21.
Trapper Nelson began to develop severe stomach pains, but refused to see a doctor.
22.
Trapper Nelson distrusted them because his brother-in-law, Philp Celmer I had died during pacemaker surgery.
23.
Trapper Nelson was ill, and had to urinate using a catheter.
24.
Trapper Nelson ventured into town once a week to check his mail at the post office, and would sometimes buy steaks, but for the most part he remained holed up in his cabin.
25.
Trapper Nelson became a lonely man, and a rather sick one.
26.
In July 1968, Trapper Nelson failed to appear for a planned meeting with an old friend.
27.
Trapper Nelson was found dead in his cabin from a shotgun blast to his stomach on July 30,1968.
28.
Shortly before his death, a man who repaired one of Trapper Nelson's jeeps found out he was sick and had not seen a doctor in six months.
29.
Trapper Nelson was adamant that he would not live in that manner.