Zeb Crocker had a love of nature and the outdoors. He wanted to explore and experience new beginnings. At the age of eighteen he left home and ventured into the new frontier. With nothing more than the clothes on his back, his horse and his Hawken rifle, he headed west. He hired on with a land company surveying parcels of land for folks like himself moving westward. It gave him the opportunity to blaze new trails and become familiar with the unknown. He gained experience and before long he was using his new-found knowledge to guide wagon trains moving westward to find new land and new beginnings. It also afforded him the opportunity to meet and learn the customs and languages of the indigenous people. He learned how to hunt and fish and survive living off the land and making use of all that nature could provide. He made use of his knowledge and acquired skills working as a tracker and scout for the U.S. Army. He learned how to fight, which was essential if a man was to survive. He even tried his hand prospecting for gold in the mountains of California. Before long Zeb's wanderlust strikes again and this time, he pinned his survival on his ability to hunt deer, elk, and bear for their valuable hides, and learned to trap beaver along the mighty rivers. It was from that endeavor that truly prompted Zeb on to the raging Gila River where he really became an Arizona Mountain Man.