LaMountain had little education, and on the early death of his father he became the sole support of his mother. When a young man he was successful in making several minor ascensions. Known more for his overbearingly contentious mannerisms, and a propensity to ride the coat tails of more successful balloonists, LaMountain was not considered relevant to the science of ballooning. In 1859 he was invited to join with the more senior and prominent, and just as sanctimonious, balloonist
John Wise in an attempt to cross the
Atlantic Ocean in Wise's mammoth aerostat appropriately named
Atlantic. The ascent was made from
St. Louis, Missouri, on July 1, with Wise, LaMountain and several guest passengers. They passed over the states of
Illinois and
Indiana during the night, reaching
Ohio by morning. The balloon then passed across
Lake Erie into
New York, and over
Lake Ontario, where it became entangled in a sudden storm and was forced to crash-land at
Henderson, New York. The time occupied in making this journey was nineteen hours and fifty minutes, and the distance traversed , or 826 in a straight line. Unfortunately the balloon was badly damaged and the two men's partnership dissolved upon which opportunity LaMountain took possession of the
Atlantic. In September 1859, La Mountain made an ascension with the
Atlantic, along with newspaperman John Haddock, from
Watertown, New York across Minnesota and Michigan. Again the weather worked against the flight. The ascension was made when the temperature was 84 °F., but on reaching a height of 3½ miles it had sunk to 18 °F. As night came on, the balloon had drifted over the
Canadian wilderness, and a partial descent was made to “tie up” until daylight. The two men attempted to fly northward, but unwilling to continue they set down permanently and spent the next four days wandering in the wilderness with no provisions. They were rescued by lumbermen who helped them find their way back. ==Civil War Days==