“Mountain Man” star, Eustace Conway Bio: Net Worth, Wife, Married, Death, Family

• Eustace Conway is a naturalist, reality television personality and owner of the 1000 acre Turtle Island Preserve in Boone, North Carolina.
• His net worth is estimated to be around $200,000, largely earned through his work in television.
• He left home at the age of 17 to live outdoors in the woods and hike the entire Appalachian Trail.
• He is a cast member of the History channel series "Mountain Men" and has featured in several documentary films and radio shows.
• He has fought to maintain ownership of Turtle Island and graduated from Appalachian State University with degrees in anthropology and English.

Who is Eustace Conway?

Eustace Robinson Conway IV was born on 15 September 1961, in Columbia, South Carolina, USA, and is a reality television personality as well as a naturalist, best known for being one of the cast members of the History channel series entitled “Mountain Men”. He is also the owner of the 1,000 acre Turtle Island Preserve located in Boone, North America. He was the subject of the weekly radio show “This American Life” segment “Adventures in the Simple Life”, and the subject of the book “The Last American Man”.

The Wealth of Eustace Conway

How rich is Eustace Conway? As of late-2018, sources estimate a net worth that is at $200,000, earned largely through a successful career on television. His exposure on television has allowed him numerous opportunities to help boost his wealth, along with working on other media projects such as documentary films and television specials. As he continues his career, it is expected that his wealth will also continue to increase.

Early Life and Media Beginnings

Very little information is available about Eustace’s childhood and family. What has been shared about his life is that at the age of 17, he decided to leave home so that he could live outdoors in the woods. He constructed a tipi and started living on his own. He proclaimed that he hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, and also that he rode horseback from the Atlantic to the Pacific across the US in 103 days, claiming it as a record however, researchers later discovered that the record was actually held by Bud and Temple Abernathy, children who crossed the country on an equestrian journey spanning just 62 days. His endeavors were eventually uncovered by many who found his life interesting, and in the late 1990s, he began being featured on the weekly radio show entitled “This American Life”, in the segment “Adventures in the Simple Life”. The show reported on his cross-country journey, with recordings on a taped handheld recorder that was used by him and his party. The features on him continued, and in 2003 he was the subject of the documentary film entitled “Full Circle: A Life Story of Eustace Conway”, directed by Jack Bibbo.

Mountain Men

In 2012, Conway was featured in another documentary entitled “Reconvergence”, in which he along with several others were covered, featuring the lives of four people with different lifestyles  and views. Shortly after the release of the film, he was cast in the reality television show “Mountain Men”, one of several cast members dubbed Mountain Men who are followed by a camera crew. In the show, he is seen residing on Turtle Island in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, hosting people and teaching them basic wilderness survival techniques.

He has also learned ancient techniques to harvest firewood, also helping him earn an income. There is a lien against his land, and he is seen fighting to maintain ownership of Turtle Island. He is often joined by his friend Preston Roberts on the show, and other cast members who are featured include Marty Meierotto who is a trapper and travels to a cabin on the Draanjik River in the Alaska North Slope, tending to animal traps once a month; and Tom Oar who resides in northwestern Montana, and always prepares for long winter seasons, with the help of his wife as well as his neighbors.

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Building Code Battle

In 2012, with the popularity of Eustace increasing thanks to the success of “Mountain Men”, he was eventually noticed by government officials who shut down public access to Turtle Island; according to reports, the place’s traditional buildings violated building codes. A month later, he appeared in front of the North Carolina Building Code Council in hopes of making a speedy resolution to the issue, However, as he was making progress, he was arrested for allegedly trespassing on a neighbor’s property, in over a dispute over the property border.

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The legal problems continued for him and his land over the next few months, when state officials took notice of the issue and the North Carolina General Assembly intervened, proposing an exemption for primitive structures when it comes to building code requirements. The Senate and the state’s House unanimously voted to pass H774, and it was signed in mid-2013 by Governor Pat McCrory. The entire story was covered in the Fox News special entitled “War on the Little Guy” hosted by John Stossel.

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Personal Life and Social Media

For his personal life, not much is known about Conway’s romantic relationships, if any. Many sources state that he is single and has never married, focusing more on his naturalist endeavors than anything else. There is some speculation that he just prefers to keep that aspect of his life away from the public. It is known that he has three siblings.

Contrary to popular belief, he actually completed his college education despite leaving home at a young age. He is a graduate of Appalachian State University, completing degrees in anthropology and English. He continues to teach at Turtle Island, and maintains the fight to preserve his land. He also remains as a main cast member of “Mountain Men”, which has aired for at least seven seasons as of 2018.

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18 Comments

  1. The show portrays him mostly as a lumberman with his own lumber mill and occasional mechanic and blacksmith. He lives just a horseback ride from town and not remote like Tom. I rarely see him hunt, fish, or trap. So, the question is. What qualifies him as a mountain man?

    1. Obviously you have only watched the show “Mountain Men”. It only shows snippets of his life on Turtle Island Preserve, a 1000-acre preserve in the mountains near Boone, NC. Read everything you can find about him when he was young before you begin learning about him when he began developing Turtle Island. There are tons of videos on youtube, and a book written about him…….”The Last American Man”. He lives the old-time way and is dedicated to teaching and preserving these ways that have become lost arts. He loves being outside, especially on his mountain preserve. He is opposed to any kind of modern development which is taking over our world. He doesn’t waste anything. He’s extremely inventive. He hunts for food, raises hogs, has chickens for eggs and food, etc. He raises all veggies on his land. He lives very self-sufficiently. His goal remains to preserve the old-time ways. Plus, he loves, loves the mountains.

    2. He is a man. He lives in the mountains. He lives off the grid. Tom has more modern conveniences than Eustace. Yet both are Mountain Men. Perhaps it is the term mountain man you do not understand. Living off the land is not easy. I lived in the mountains of NC..(still have family there )as well as Alaska. It’s hard work, but satisfying to live off the land. I however am not “mountain folk”. I prefer modern conveniences. Mountain Folk “roughit” Living off the land and self sufficient. I hope this clears up any misconceptions. 🙂

  2. Mr Conway is nice enough. He has a bad habit of putting someone down for not doing a job that is not perfect.I hope that someone gave you a chance to learn.
    He fired Justin for messing up. Fine. Let it go. Justin has to learn too. After all we all. Have to learn to walk.

    1. Unless you have lived in the country and your livelihood determined by what you are capable being able to do, you have no right in criticizing Eustice’s decisions!! Justin is a spoiled, lazy person that has NO IDEA or responsibility!!! I grew up in the country and we, children, were taught heavily in responsibility. If we were told to do something, we did everything and above what our parents told us to do. Justin was to take care of the chainsaws, which were used for their livelihood. Instead of putting them up, like Eustice told him to do, Justin left them in an open trailer, where they being soaked by the rain. HOW STUPID CAN ANYONE BE??? Rain will destroy a chainsaw!!! My daddy had all kinds of tools and equipment. Everything had it’s place. If any of us used any of his too li s or equipment, it better be cleaned and put back in it, rightful, place!!! Tools and equipment cost money and some cost a lot of money. If the tools and equipment are well taken of they will last a lifetime and sometimes other lifetimes too, by passing the tools and equipment forward. Time and time again, Justice didn’t pay attention to what he was doing and caused equipment to be sacrificed over and over. Like with checking and correcting the site on the rifles. There are specific markings that are used to site a rifle. Just a thousants of an inch off on a site, will cause the bullet to be feet off in the shot!!! When you are hunting for your food, the site on your rifle is VERY important, in whether you go hungry or have something to eat. To Justin, he just wanted to complain about what had to be done. There should be NO complaining. Just do the work and then look around to see, if there is anything else that needs to be done…then get it done!!!

      1. Very well written comment Ms. Potts. I for one agree with you. Stop the whining and get the job done. Listen and respect your elders. You will learn a lot and become a better person for doing so.

  3. I was born in Tuckasegee. NC In the Smokies in 1939. We had no elect or running water and we eat anything that didn’t eat us first
    We fished and trapped animals to eat. We also dug ginseng to help us to buy food to eat. We had a saying there MAKE YOUR OWN OR DO WITHOUT
    We lived like folks in the 1800″s Life was hard in the mountains in my days so I can relate with Eustace
    Like Dolly Parton song IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHEN TIMES WERE BAD. But I left that life and moved away also served 6 years in the US Army infantry. Some one asked me why I joined the Infantry I told them it was like throwing a rabbit in a briar patch Hell I crawled through mud all my life. I went through survival course in the Army Never had no problem of course eating grass hoppers and picking my teeth with their legs was pretty gross. I am now a retired Electrician living in Middleburg , Florida I go to funerals and family reunions in the Mountains But I
    stay in Florida I’ve been asked why I live in Florida instead of the Smoky Mountains I tell them that Floridians came to the mountains and messed them up so I stay in Florida and mess up their state.

  4. I watch mountain. I really enjoy Eustace. Tom Oar Marty But Eustace is definitely my favorite. Preston R.I.P loved you also

  5. I just LOVE him. I could watch him all day, as a matter of fact I am watchinv him right now, i have Mountain Men taped and i put it on pause. i am watching the one where he has to pay back that money for the property he bought but I;m confused now his net worth from I read earlier is allot of money so why is he fixing that rotten carriage to get enough money to pay his payment for the month. i love love love Estise he is so handsome and such a MAN…ok going back to my show , Mountan Men. I love you Eustise xoxoxoxo

  6. Eutace has a wonderful heart as we can see in the episode as he puts the sculpture of the turtle on Preston’s grave. He even takes the animals he lives off of and gives them the honor for giving ‘all they had’ to him to live on. Let the state building guys leave him alone as he is above regular laws. His mode of building is fitted to historical laws. The man should not trespass. Go go go

  7. I Too Have Been Watching Mountain Men From The Very Beginning Going Back 15 Years. I Can Totally Relate To Eaustace And The Others. Due To The Fact Of The Love Of My Life Worked As A NYC Fireman And Also Was A NYC Policeman. But His Family Had Property In Schoharie County, Upstate NY And On His Vacations And Off Time He Went There &Trapped,Hunted And Fished.Skinned and Tanned The Hides Himself. It Was About Conservation. He Was In The Vietnam War And This “OLD TIMEY” Way Of Living Helped Him Immensely. I Still Have The “Mink Hat “ He Made Me. 💕 .
    So I Too Applaude Eustace And All The Other Mountain Men And Women For Keeping The American Way OF Life That Made America Great .

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