As an aristocrat, the life of Sir William Drummond Stewart could have been filled with every luxury.
Instead, Sir William, who became the 7th Baronet of Murthly after the death of his brother, chose a hard-scrabble life in the American West.
Working for five years as a beaver trapper in the fur trade, he was part of a way of life that would die out shortly after he took his title.
However, thanks to Sir William a valuable record of this trade lives on he commissioned American artist Alfred Jacob Miller to create the only contemporary visual record of the 1830s fur trade.
Each year, the trappers sold their furs and purchased their equipment for the following year at the annual Rocky Mountain Rendezvous and in 1837 Miller painted the meeting.
By 1840 silk would replace beaver fur as the material of choice for top hats, rendering the beaver fur trade obsolete.
The links Sir William created between the Rocky Mountains and Murthly are being celebrated this week.Click here for a full photo galleryAfter he returned to Scotland in 1838 Sir William brought with him two American Indians. This weekend, after more than 170 years, tribesman will once again set foot in Murthly.
Eastern Shoshone tribe members, who refer to themselves as American Indians, have travelled from the Wind River reservation in Wyoming to take part in an open day at Murthly Castle on Sunday.
There, along with re-enactors portraying mountain men, they will recreate a Rocky Mountain fur encampment.
Tribal elder Willie LeClair will appear dressed in full traditional costume, complete with feather and horse hair headdress.
“It’s a great honour to be able to visit the place where my ancestors came,” he said.
“They were probably, like us, in awe of what they saw and the culture is very different to what we grew up in.”
Doyle Reid, mountain man re-enactor, said the portraits painted by Miller allowed them to recreate the Rendezvous.
He said: “We know how they dressed because of Miller. Without him we wouldn’t know what they looked like.”
The weekend also features seminars on the fur trade, given by American authorities on the subject and theatre performances at Birnam Arts today and Saturday.
See the weekend’s full programme by clicking here.