been away from civilization for almost six years. Final years and death After returning to St. Louis, Colter married a woman named Sallie and purchased a farm near Miller's Landing, Missouri, now New Haven, Missouri. Around 1810, he visited with William Clark and provided detailed reports of his explorations since they had last met. From this information, Clark created a map which, despite its previously mentioned discrepancies, was the most comprehensive map produced of the region of the explorations for the next 75 years. During the War of 1812, Colter enlisted and fought with Nathan Boone's Rangers. Sources are unclear about when Colter died or the cause of death. One report states that after suddenly turning ill, Colter died of jaundice on May 7, 1812, and was buried near Miller's Landing. Other sources indicate he died on November 22, 1813. Legacy Colter's legacy has had a profound impact on the image of the American West and frontier, with Colter's Run seeing many incarnations and recreations, including a retelling by Washington Irving. The stereotypes of reclusive frontier mountain men may be thanks to Nicholas Biddle's written characterizations of Colter, which paint him a man easily beguiled by the trapping prospects of the wilderness and intimidated by the possibility of returning to regular society. Because no written materials attributed to Colter have ever been discovered (besides his signature,) Biddle's characterizations cannot be directly contested. Traditionally, it is thought that Lewis and Clark's Expedition played a major role in heightening tensions between white explorers and the Blackfeet Indians. Despite this notion, Manuel Lisa's party originally interacted peacefully with the Blackfeet. However, it was after Colter and Potts were forced to battle the Blackfeet alongside the Flatheads and Crows that the relations between white explorers/trappers and the Blackfeet nation seemed to deteriorate. This led Major Biddle and many other frontiersman to draw the conclusion that Colter had actually upset relations with the Blackfeet, which was only expounded upon by the notoriety of Colter's Run. Numerous locations in northwestern Wyoming have been named after him, notably Colter Bay on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park and Colter Peak in the Absaroka Mountains in Yellowstone National Park. A plaque commemorating Colter was displayed at a roadside pulloff on U.S. Route 340 just east of Stuarts Draft, near his birthplace. When the road was widened in 1998, the plaque was moved just north of the intersection