USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > The history of Buchanan County, Missouri > Part 40
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At this time there was another more northern company operating in the northwest, known as the Hudson Bay Company. In ISIO Mr. Astor organized the Pacific Fur Company and undertook the Astoria enter- prise, of which Washington Irving has written such an excellent history. In I811 the Mackinaw Company was bought out by the American and Northwestern Companies, jointly, and its territory and effects divided between them. This year the American Company sent a second expe- dition up the Missouri River under the charge of Wilson P. Hunt, who was closely followed and strongly opposed by a second expedition of the Missouri Company, under Manuel Lisa.
During the war of 1812, the Astoria enterprise failed, and it was some years before the American Company again attempted extended operations in the far northwest. In 1813, the Missouri Fur Company was merged into the American, and in 1819 a branch house of the latter was established in St. Louis, under the general direction of Samuel Abbott. The Chouteaus and others who had been connected with the old Missouri Company, then became connected with it. Pierre Chouteau, eldest son of Pierre Chou- teau, who came from France, was quite prominent in its operations, and his brother, Francois Chouteau, was also connected with it. This com- pany having inherited the posts and trade of the Missouri Company, occupied the territory included in Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, and extended also into Arkansas and the Indian Territory, although there were
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still a number of independent traders in this territory. After the absorp- tion of the Missouri Company, the American Company began to make great efforts to monopolize the trade of the southwest by rooting out the independent traders. In pursuance of this, Francois Chouteau was sent into the country to establish posts and to bring the local traders into subordination to the company. At what time he first entered upon this work is unknown, but he was thus engaged for several years. Among the posts thus established by him, was one on the Kaw River about twenty miles from its mouth, known as the "Four Houses," and one at the "Bluffs," the present site of Council Bluffs and at other points on the Missouri River, including one at Roy's Branch above Blacksnake Hills, about the year 1826.
Having followed the Fur Companies from the date of their settle- ment in St. Louis, to the year 1826, at which time they established a post at "Roy's Branch," near the site of the "Blacksnake Hills," we shall now speak of the man who founded the city of St. Joseph, and give of him a brief biographical sketch. Preliminary, however, to this sketch, we shall first refer to Mr. Robidoux' portrait and his lithograph.
HIS PORTRAIT.
The stranger, when entering the postoffice in St. Joseph, will now, (1881,) see on the west wall of the building, artistically arranged in par- allel rows, several hundred photographs of the early and prominent cit- izens of the town. About midway, but above the photographs, hangs the portrait of Joseph Robidoux. It was painted when the original was sixty-two years of age. It, however, represents a much younger look- ing man ; one who has scarcely passed the meridian of life.
Mr. Robidoux, neatly attired in a suit of black, is pleasantly seated in a chair, one arm lightly resting upon a table, while near it lies his white fur hat. In his hand, he holds quite naturally his cane ; his head is slightly inclined forward ; his hair, to the right of his temple, is tinged with grey ; his face is rather full ; his eyes large, prominent and dark, and arched with jet-black eyebrows, while above them is a smooth, high forehead. His mouth is not large, nose rather short, straight, and broad at the end.
On the whole, there is in the facial expression much of the bonvivant, and much of that genial disposition, which are said to have characterized him through life. There is also in the expression of the eyes and coun- tenance, as they kindly beam upon you, the indications of a benevolent heart.
"He had a tear for pity, and a hand
Open as day for melting charity."
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
HIS LITHOGRAPH.
The frontispiece of this work is a lithographic cut of Mr. Robidoux .. taken from a photograph some twenty years later, when he had numbered his four-score years. The face, somewhat broader and shorter than that in the portrait, has grown older; the furrowed lines showing that time. has left thereon its imprint.
Indeed, the transformation, which twenty additional years have wrought in his physiognomy, is so great, that we can scarcely recognize in the lithograph the more youthfully appearing and tastefully dressed gentleman who looks down so pleasantly from the portrait.
IIIS BIOGRAPHY.
Joseph Robidoux, the son of Joseph and Catharine Robidoux, was born in St. Louis, August 10th, 1783. He was the eldest of a family, consisting of six sons and one daughter, to wit : Joseph, Antoine, Isadore, Francis, Michel and Palagie. Louis, the second son, lived and died in California, after his removal from St. Louis. Joseph, Antoine, Isadore and Francis were all buried in St. Joseph. Joseph, the father of this family, was a Canadian Frenchman, and came from Montreal, Canada, to St. Louis, where he located shortly after the settlement of that city by- the French.
Being a shrewd business man, and possessing great energy, he accu- mulated a fortune. His wealth, his business qualifications, and his genial disposition made him many friends among the leading merchants and influential men of that city. He occupied a large mansion, located between Walnut and Elm Streets, surrounded with every comfort and convenience. Here he entertained his friends in a royal style, and so. noted was his hospitality that the First General Assembly of Missouri did him the honor of holding its first session at his house, on the 7th of December, 1812.
His children attended school at an early age, the best then to be found in the city of St. Louis, where they remained till the completion of their scientific and literary courses.
Joseph, the eldest of the boys, when only eighteen years of age, married Eugenie Delslille, the daughter of a wealthy gentleman of St. Louis.
By this union they had one child, Joseph E. Robidoux, who is still living near White Cloud, Kansas, at the advanced age of seventy-two years.
Four years after his marriage, his wife died. After her death, young Robidoux, then in the twenty-third year of his age, became an extensive traveler, first visiting New Orleans, and different points on the Lower
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Mississippi, in search of a favorable location for a trading post. Find- ing none that offered the advantages desired by him on the Mississippi River, he finally located on the present site of the city of Chicago, where he was plundered and robbed by the Indians, of his goods and merchandise, within a few days after his arrival there.
He returned again to St. Louis, and soon thereafter made a voyage up the Missouri River, in company with one of the partners of the American Fur Company.
" Blacksnake Hills" had been seen by some of the men connected with the fur companies, while en route on one of their expeditions, their attention being attracted hither by not only the topography of the country, but by the presence of the congregated tribes of the Sac, Fox and Iowa Indians, who assembled here en masse at stated seasons of the year preparatory to crossing the river, either on a visit to other tribes farther west, or for the purpose of hunting.
Seeing the Indians here in large numbers, while on their journey at this time, they debarked, and after looking at the point and its advan- tages as a probable future trading post, they proceeded on their way to Council Bluffs, Iowa, the original place of their destination.
The Bluffs at that time constituted the most important trading post on the Missouri River, being the headquarters of the Otoe, Pawnee, Omaha, Punka and other Indian tribes, numbering about forty thousand.
Being favorably impressed with the "Bluffs" as a trading post, Mr. Robidoux returned to St. Louis and purchased a stock of goods, which he transported up the Missouri by a keel boat, arriving at the "Bluffs" in the fall of 1809.
Here he remained for thirteen years, supplying the Indians with goods, and taking in exchange therefor money, peltries and such other commodities as they had to barter, in the meantime making occasional visits to St. Louis.
While residing at the "Bluffs" in 1813, he married Angelique Vandry, another lady of St. Louis, who died in the City of St. Joseph on the 17th of January, 1857.
By this union they had six sons and one daughter-Faraon, Julius C., Francis B., Felix, Edmond, Charles and Mrs. S. P. Beauvis, Charles being the youngest. Of the above named, all are dead excepting Edmond and Mrs. Beauvis, the former residing in St. Joseph and the latter in St. Louis.
Readily adapting himself to the habits, manners and customs of the Indians, and speaking with considerable fluency the dialects of the tribes by whom he was surrounded, Mr. Robidoux became an expert Indian trader.
The American Fur Company were also in business at the "Bluffs,', and had had a monopoly of the entire Indian trade for some time pre-
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viously to Mr. Robidoux' locating there. But a short time, however, passed after his arrival before he began to divide the trade, and finally became so popular with the Indians that he controlled a large portion of this trade, to the great detriment of the Fur Company.
The company, wishing no further opposition from Mr. Robidoux, finally purchased his stock of goods, giving him fifty per cent. on the original cost, and in addition thereto the sum of one thousand dollars annually for a period of three years, conditioned that he would leave the "Bluffs."
He then returned to St. Louis, where he remained with his family, and carried on the business of a baker and confectioner, until the expir- ation of the three years, the time agreed upon between himself and the Fur Company. Having spent already many years of his life among the Indians as a fur trader, a business, if not entirely congenial to his taste, had at least been a profitable one, he concluded to embark once more in the same pursuit. Not that he really wished-
" -for a lodge in some vast wilderness- Some boundless contiguity of space,"
but that he might reap therefrom a golden harvest. Making known his intention to the Fur Company, it at once offered him the post at the mouth of "Roy's Branch," just above the " Blacksnake Hills," at a salary of eighteen hundred dollars per year, provided he would in no wise inter- fere with the business at the " Bluffs."
This proposition he accepted, and having been furnished with a stock of goods, he landed at the mouth of " Roy's Branch," in the fall of 1826. Shortly afterward he removed to the mouth of " Blacksnake Creek," where he continued to work for the Fur Company until 1830, at which time he purchased their entire interest in the goods then in his possession, and became the sole proprietor of the post at "Blacksnake Hills."
To one living in this, the last half of the nineteenth century, sur- rounded with the blessings of civilization, the comforts of home and the companionship of genial friends, such a venture as that of Mr. Robidoux, would be fraught with too many dangers, difficulties and privations to be undertaken single-handed and alone. The desert waste, the forest gloom, and the contiguity of savage Indians, seemed to have possessed, however, no terrors for the solitary and undaunted Frenchman, who, fifty-two years ago, pitched his tent upon the present town site of St. Joseph. He came not as a pioneer, conscious of the future populous and thrifty city, nor as a missionary to minister to the spiritual wants of the red man, but like thousands of others, before and after him, he came, seeking new and broader fields of labor, wherein, by honest toil and
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
industry, he could the more successfully increase his own store and provide a competency for old age.
What must have been the nature of his lonely musings during the long and weary years of his isolation from early friends and associates, it is difficult to imagine. Suffice it to say, with a fortitude unsurpassed, and a tenacity of purpose which knew no defeat, he patiently bided his his time, never dreaming in the early years of his voluntary exilement, that he was destined to be the founder of a populous and prosperous city.
For many years, the solitary log cabin of Joseph Robidoux was the only evidence of the presence of civilized man within a radius of fifty miles. Time rolled on. With every puffing steamer, that ascended the turbid waters of the Missouri, came the emigrant and the adventurer, seeking homes in the wilds of the far west. Embryo settlements had been made along the banks of the great river in Jackson, Clay and other counties.
Northwestern Missouri, including what was afterwards known as the " Platte Purchase," had been seen by the emigrant. Favorable reports had been made of its great beauty, its rich prairies, its fertile valleys, its bountiful supply of timber, and of its perennial springs and numerous water courses.
A few families from Franklin County, Missouri, consisting of Thomas and Henry Sollers, Elisha Gladden, Jane Purget and a few others, ven- tured hither between 1834 and 1836, and located near the post.
One of these pioneers who came in 1834, was immediately employed by Mr. Robidoux.
ROBIDOUX' HOME.
The only building that stood upon the present town site of St. Joseph, at that time, was the log house of Joseph Robidoux. It occu- pied the spot where the Occidental Hotel now stands-on the northwest corner of Jule and Second Streets, and was a building of considerable magnitude. It stood east and west, was a story and a-half high, and contained nine rooms, three of which were above and six below. A cov- ered porch was built on the south side, extending the entire length of the building. On the north side was a shed, divided into three rooms. The . west room of this shed was used by Mr. Robidoux as his sleeping apartment. His store-room was the middle room of the main building, the entrance to which was through a door at the east end, first passing through an outer room to reach it.
He had in his employ at the time, fifteen or twenty men who were French. These men were regularly sent east on mules toward Grand River, or west beyond the Missouri, for the purpose of trading with the Indians and bringing in furs.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
He owned an old colored servant who not only possessed a French name (Poulite) but who could speak the French tongue, having been raised among that nationality in St. Louis. This old man attended to the culinary affairs at the post.
Mr. Robidoux operated a private ferry just below Francis Street, for crossing the Indians and those who were in his employ. The cross- ing generally was done in canoes, and occasionally in Mackinaw boats. The road leading from the ferry on the other side of the river led to Highland, Kansas, or to the Indian Mission, which was established after the removal of the indians. The road from the ferry on this side, passed below the Patee House, and crossed at Agency Ford, where it divided, one branch of which leading to Liberty, Clay County, and the other in the direction of Grand River.
The next house (log), erected at Blacksnake Hills, was built in March, 1836, and occupied by Thomas Sollers, east of Pinger's packing house, for Mr. Robidoux, who wished to take up another additional quar- ter section of land, for about this period he began to think that Black- snake Hills would develop into something greater than a mere trading post, for the convenience of the non-progressive and half civilized Indian. No other improvements of a special character were made until the fol- lowing year. The small colony remained in statu quo, enduring the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, but looking forward to the speedy dawn of a brighter day.
FROM 1837 TO 1840.
The treaty for the "Platte Purchase" had been negotiated, the Indians removed, the country opened to settlement, and hundreds of emigrants were flocking hither, locating in the interior and at different points along the Missouri.
The small colony at "Blacksnake Hills" was increased in number by the arrival of F. W. Smith, Joseph Gladden, Polly Dehard, Samuel Hull, John Freeman, Charles Zangenett, Father John Patchen, Captain James B. O'Toole, Judge Wm. C. Toole, William Fowler, Edwin Toole and others.
RIVAL, TOWNS.
Between the years above named, the country settled rapidly, and one of several localities in or near the Missouri River, it was thought, would take precedence of all the other settlements, and become the chief town in this portion of the state. The respective aspirants for future greatness were : "Blacksnake Hills," White Cloud, Savannah, Amazonia, Boston and Elizabethtown, all north of St. Joseph, some eight or ten miles, and within a radius of five miles.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
So confident were some of the business men living in Clay and Clinton Counties that some one of the last mentioned towns would be the future emporium of the "Platte Purchase," that they not only pur- chased land, but in one or two instances laid off towns and opened busi- ness houses. John W. Samuels and Robert Elliott began business at White Cloud, or what was known as "Hackberry Ridge." G. W. Sam- uels, now of St. Joseph, built a warehouse at Elizabethtown, where he bought and sold hemp. Amazonia was expected to be the county-seat of Andrew County. Charles Caples, concluding that the quarter-section east and adjoining Amazonia, would be a more elligible spot for the building of a great city, laid it off into lots and gave it the name of Boston. These places, excepting Savannah, are numbered with the things of the past, and live only in the memories of the men whose pluck and energy gave them a name and brief existence. Alas! how true :
" The best laid plans of mice and men Gang aft aglee."
MISSION OF THREE GENTLEMEN.
In the fall of 1839, three gentlemen left the town of Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, destined for " Blacksnake Hills," on a mission of business.
The " Platte Purchase" had been opened to white settlers for two years. Being one of the most fertile regions of the state, and lying upon its western border, the far-seeing and sharp-sighted business men of that day supposed that some one of the small settlements on the banks of the Missouri River would eventually develop into a great and prosperous city ..
Tours of inspection had been made, the advantages of geographical location had been duly considered, and it was finally concluded by the parties above referred to, that "Blacksnake Hills " offered superior inducements as a future mart for trade, as a starting point to the great unsettled country westward, to any other settled or prospective town on the river.
So believing, they determined, if possible, to purchase the town site of " Blacksnake Hills." To this end one of these gentlemen had corre- sponded with the proprietor in reference to the terms, and so confident were they of the success of their mission that they had prepared a map of the future town, and could doubtless see, in imagination, the already risen city, with its superb blocks and valuable corner lots.
The sum agreed upon was sixteen hundred dollars in silver. This they securely fastened in shot-bags, placed it in saddle-wallets, and, being well mounted, they wended their tortuous way through the wilds of Clay, Clinton and Buchanan Counties, sometimes abreast, oftener in
25
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single file, finally reaching " Blacksnake Hills" in the afternoon of the second day of their departure.
Going to Mr. Robidoux' house (there being no other where the wants of man or beast could be supplied,) they gladly
" Entered his hospitable gate Unbarred to all,"
where they found rough, though substantial, fare, and lodging for the night.
After supper the object of their coming was fully and pleasantly discussed, and nothing remained to complete the bargain but the pay- ment of the money, which could be done the next morning. Had they remembered the old aphorism, "Procrastination is the thief of time," they would have acted at once, for
"Good is best when soonest wrought, Lingering labors come to naught."
Being of a genial turn, and wishing to entertain his guests in the best manner possible, Mr. Robidoux proposed a social game of cards, which was participated in by the parties until bedtime. Just, however. before they ceased playing, a slight misunderstanding arose between Mr. Robidoux and one of his guests, in reference to the game, which finally resulted, for a moment, in a spirited altercation.
" Dissensions, like small streams, are first begun ; Scarce seen they rise, but gather as they run."
Mr. Robidoux reverted to the trade, which was supposed to have been consummated in the early part of the evening, and declined to make any further arrangements in reference thereto, and, so determined was he in his purpose, that all attempts at a renewal of the negotiations, upon the following morning, by his guests, were hopelessly abandoned.
Thus, unexpectedly to them, terminated an enterprise, which, had it been successful, would have told more rapidly upon the destiny of St. Joseph, and would, perhaps, have given the town a much earlier start in the race to wealth and commercial importance.
WOLVES.
In 1839, shortly after the arrival of Judge Toole in the county, he came to the "Blacksnake Hills" one afternoon, horseback, and while passing along, near the present site of the Pacific House, he saw a large gray wolf, which he chased into the bottom, about where the first round- house now stands. In fact, the wolves were so numerous at that time in and about the "Blacksnake Hills" and their howls were so loud and incessant, that to sleep at times was utterly impossible. Often at mid- night, all
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" At once there rose so wild a yell, Within that dark and narrow dell, As all the fiends from heaven that fell, Had pealed the banner cry of hell."
At such times the whole air seemed to be filled with the vibrations of their most infernal and diabolical music. The wolf was not only a midnight prowler here, but was seen in the daytime, singly or in packs. warily skulking upon the outskirts of a thicket, or sallying cautiously along the open path, with a sneaking look of mingled cowardice and cruelty.
REMINISCENSES.
The first white male child born at "Blacksnake Hills" was Thomas B. Sollers, born in 1837. The first white female child was the daughter of Polly and Henry Sollers, born in 1838, in a small hut east of the pres- ent site of the Occidental Hotel. The first physician who came was Dr. Daniel G. Keedy, in 1838. Dr. Silas McDonald arrived about the same time in the county.
CHAPTER III.
FROM 1840 TO 1843.
ARRIVAL OF SETTLERS-SMALL BEGINNING-FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR BURGLARY- AUDUBON-LAYING OFF THE TOWN-DECLARATION OF PROPRIETOR-CERTIFICATE -ACKNOWLEDGEMENT-RESERVATION OF LOTS-STREETS-ADDITIONS-FIRST CON- VEYANCE.
Between 1840 and 1843 there were many arrivals of citizens from Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Eastern Missouri, and a few men representing some of the nationalities of the Old World-all had come to cast in their lots with the brave men who had just preceded them, and to help build up the town, the nucleus of which was here forming by the river's brink.
Among these was Wm. P. Richardson, Simeon Kemper, Dr. D. Ben- ton, John Corby, Joseph C. Hull, Elias Perry, A. M. Saxton, Rev. T. S. Reeves, Isadore Pullen, Dr. Daniel G. Keedy, James W. Whitehead, Law- rence Archer, B. C. Powell, John D. Richardson, Jonathan Levy, I. and J. Curd, Wm. H. Edgar, Robert J. Boyd, Thomas Mills, Joseph Davis, Joseph Fisher, Michael Miller, J. G. Kearns, James Highly, C. Carbry, David J. Heaton, and others.
About half of the above named parties are dead ; the other half still remain to enjoy the fruits and triumphs of their early struggles.
IMPROVEMENTS.
In 1841, Dr. Daniel G. Keedy erected a saw-mill in the bottom, north of the present fair grounds.
At the same time, Joseph Robidoux built a flouring mill on the west side of Blacksnake Creek.
A little later, another flouring mill was built by Creal and Wildbahn. John Girard was the miller.
Still, a little later, the first tavern in the place was erected by Josiah Beattie, located between Main and Second streets. In this tavern the Rev. T. S. Reeves preached the first sermon that was delivered at "Black- snake Hills."
In 1842, came Louis Picard, the first regular carpenter, and Wm. Langston, the first plasterer.
About the same time came the Belcher brothers, who were the first brick-makers.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH.
During this year Jonathan Copeland built a warehouse near the cor- ner of Jule and Water Streets.
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