USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 11
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In their second encampment they were not troubled with Indian visitors, and nothing occurred to mar their happiness. They built two canoes, and on the 8th of March placed them on the turbulent waters and departed from their encampment. Soon they encountered innumerable sand-bars and snags, and after vainly attempting to go for- ward with the canoes they were obliged to give them up and make their way on foot. They finally reached Grand Island and three days later met an Otto Indian. This friendly sav- age conducted them to his village, which was near, and there they met two Indian traders, white men, Dornin and Roi, who were direct from St. Louis. These men informed them of the war which was then going on between the United
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States and England. Mr. Dornin furnished them with a boat made of elkskin stretched over a pole frame. With this boat they entered on their journey down the Platte and soon reached the Missouri, and on the 30th of April they arrived at St. Louis and brought the first intelligence of Mr. Hunt's party, which had left St. Louis more than a year and a half before. Thus terminated one of the most remarkable expe- ditions that ever crossed the Rocky Mountains .*
To sum up the character of Robert Stuart, it can be said of him that he was resolute, absolutely void of fear, and yet withal endowed with great caution. He led his followers through a wilderness during the most inclement season of the year and in spite of fate or fortune preserved their lives and afterward safely delivered his dispatches to Mr. Astor, the promoter of the great enterprise of which he, himself, was a partner. Citizens of our state, as they study the map of Wyoming and follow his route, must not forget that his party were the first Americans to traverse the valley of the Sweetwater. It is a great oversight that this stream does not bear the name of Stuart. The members of this party were also the first explorers of the North Platte. The wan- derings, sufferings and explorations of these men forever associates their names with the early history of our state.
The Stuart party were not the last Astorians to cross Wyoming. On the 4th of April, 1813, David Stuart, Donald Mckenzie, Mr. Clark and such other Americans who had not entered into the service of the Northwest Fur Company left Astoria on their way across the Rocky Mountains. John
*Many people have tried to discover the trail of the Stuart party across Wyoming. Gov- ernor William A. Richards, who from his profession as a surveyor has become familiar with the topography of the country, says that the Stuart party entered Wyoming through the Teton Pass, crossed Snake River somewhere near the mouth of the Hoback, proceeded up that stream to its head and went down Lead Creek to Green River; continued down Green River a short dis- tance, then took a southeasterly course, crossing two branches of New Fork and some other minor streams, then the Big Sandy and some of its tributaries; crossed the Continental Divide in the vicinity of the South Pass, then crossed the streams forming the headwaters of the Sweet- water, traveling in a northeasterly direction. They left the valley of the Sweetwater, thinking it ran south, and continuing northeast ascended the Beaver Divide. From this elevation, seeing the western' end of the Rattlesnake Range, they shaped their course toward it, going nearly east, passing across the Muskrat country, where the party suffered greatly for want of water. Reach- ing the Rattlesnake Range, they went down a small stream to the Sweetwater, which they fol- lowed east. They failed to notice its junction with the North Platte, but continued down that stream through the canon and made their first winter camp just below where the river emerges from the canon, probably two or three miles below Bessemer and near where Fort Caspar was subsequently located. Leaving this camp through fear of Indians, they proceeded down the North Platte, making their second winter camp in Nebraska. „,
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Hoback, Pierre Dorion, Pierre Delaunay, the veteran Ken- tuckians, Robinson and Rezner, all perished in the wilder- ness. Those who returned reached civilization at different periods and told their stories of the fate of the great expedi- tions that went by sea and land to establish a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia.
CHAPTER XI.
ASHLEY'S TRAPPERS IN WYOMING.
TRAPPING ON THE YELLOWSTONE, BIG HORN, BIG WIND AND OTHER SOURCES OF THE MISSOURI-NAMES THE SWEETWATER AND CHANGES THE NAME SPANISH RIVER TO GREEN RIVER-EMPLOYS OVER 300 TRAPPERS-HIS EXPEDITION TO SALT LAKE-MARVELOUS SUCCESS AS A FUR TRADER-MAKES A FORTUNE AND SELLS OUT TO SUBLETTE, CAMPBELL, BRIDGER AND OTHERS-HIS SPEECH TO THE MOUNTAIN MEN-CHANGES THE CHARACTER OF THE TRAPPER BY MOUNTING HIM ON HORSEBACK-A LIFE-LONG PERSONAL FRIEND OF EVERY TRAPPER WHO SHARED WITH HIM THE DANGERS OF THE MOUNTAINS-AU- THOR'S TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN TRAPPER.
After the expedition of Lewis and Clark, the fur trade was greatly stimulated among Americans. Not only did rich men, like John Jacob Astor, send out expeditions, but men with small capital made excursions up the Missouri, entered the mountain country and pursued the perilous task of fur trapping. St. Louis at that time was a frontier town and it became the outfitting point of the fur trade. There was a motley population of French and Indian half-breeds, and Spaniards with Indian blood, and other mixed races. Manuel Lisa was the pioneer fur trader, and it was to his enterprise that St. Louis was indebted for turning the trade in that channel. Lisa was born in Spain but came to this country at an early age and on his arrival at St. Louis from New Orleans, he early became known as a bold partisan and at the same time as a man possessed of good business
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qualifications. He had made money in merchandising and was reputed wealthy. There had grown up Spanish and French establishments in New Orleans, and these had estab- lished branches from time to time in the new city of St. Louis. The Frenchmen and Spaniards had worked together, consequently when Lisa determined to organize a fur com- pany he readily got the assistance of both the Spanish and French merchants. He induced eleven of the leading busi- ness men of St. Louis to join him in fur trapping and trading with a view of controlling the Indian trade and fur business on the upper branches of the Missouri. Among these were. Pierre Chouteau, Sr., William Clark, Sylvester Labadie, Pierre Menard and Auguste P. Chouteau. These gentle- men organized the Missouri Fur Company, with a paid-up capital of $40,000. Lisa was the leading partner in the company and had charge of all the expeditions sent into the widerness. He recruited trappers and voyageurs, the former of Kentucky and Tennessee and the latter half-breed French and Spanish who had been boatmen along the Ohio and Mississippi. The Kentucky and Tennessee hunters readily took to trapping. They were unerring shots with the rifle and therefore had little fear of the wild Indians. The Mis- souri Fur Company sent its first expedition up the Missouri about the time Lewis and Clark returned from the Colum- bia, and by the time the season of 1808 arrived they had two hundred and fifty men in their employ and several trad- ing posts in successful operation in the mountain country. Lisa's principal lieutenant was an Alexander Henry, who built several of these posts and in 1810 established a post on Henry's Fork of the Snake River, called Post Henry. This latter was found to be too far in the wilderness and was abandoned a year after it was established. It will be re- membered that Mr. Hunt and his party visited Post Henry on October 8, 1811 and found it deserted.
I will here mention that Alexander Henry, on leaving the employ of the Missouri Fur Company in 1812, engaged with the Northwest Company and some years later was on the Columbia River. The Missouri Fur Company was very
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successful for a few years, having enjoyed a fair share of the fur trade on the headwaters of the Missouri. It would have been more profitable had not the Northwest Fur Com- pany, with their usual enterprise and English audacity, pushed their operations into American territory. Lisa had one great advantage, and that was his ability to keep on friendly terms with the Indians. Come what would, he was always equal to the emergency. He seldom had difficulty with the natives, unless it was the Blackfeet. These were beyond the control of even the most sagacious trader since the unfortunate affair of Captain Lewis, who was obliged to kill one of that tribe.
From 1807 up to and including the period covered by the war of 1812 between England and the United States, a large number of trappers from the upper lake country transferred their enterprise to the headwaters of the Mis- souri. These formed minor associations, but the enterprise and capital of Lisa enabled him to overcome this opposition by engaging them to trap for the Missouri Fur Company. After the return of Ramsey Crooks in 1813, he became an active partisan in the service of Mr. Astor and assisted in the conduct of the affairs of the American Fur Company. With abundant capital, this great corporation occupied the territory from the great lakes west to the Rocky Mountains. Numerous posts were established in the country drained by the headwaters of the Mississippi, Missouri, Yellowstone and at other western points. This corporation a few years later had steamboats in its employ, and these carried mer- chandise to remote regions and brought away the furs. The Indian trade now included the skins of the beaver, otter, lynx, fox, raccoon; also the skins of the buffalo, Rocky Mountain sheep, deer and antelope. The steamboats of this company created no little wonder among the natives in the west and it is said that its passage up the rivers caused the inhabitants to rush in a fright from their villages and take refuge in the interior. The competition of the Northwest Fur Company and the American Fur Company was so ruin- ous to Mr. Lisa as to reduce his profits as well as the volume
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of his business. The Hudson Bay Company and the North- west Company from 1815 to 1821 waged a ruinous war on each other, and the result was that both of these British corporations greatly reduced their gains. In the year last mentioned the two companies consolidated under the name of the Hudson Bay Company and this amalgamated corporation assumed to monopolize the business on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, and thus matters stood in 1822 when General William H. Ashley of St. Louis, a man of large business capacity, thought he saw an opportunity to suc- cessfully enter the fur trade. His plan was to make friends among the Indians and employ them to trap in his service. Early in the spring of 1822 he started with a select company of able men for the mountains. He went up the Missouri, established a trading post on the Yellowstone, and from that base of operations covered the country to a considera- ble distance to the south with his trappers, going up the Big Horn and its tributaries as far as the Wind River Val- ley ; trapping on Big and Little Wind Rivers, Big Popo Agie, Little Popo Agie, North Fork and Beaver Creek, He re- turned to St. Louis late in the fall. The following spring (1823) he started again for the mountains by way of the Platte River route, and on reaching the forks of that stream he detached a small party to go up the South Fork and pro- ceeded himself with the main body up the North Fork and thence up the Sweetwater. This stream had not yet been named. The trappers found the water superior for drinking purposes and claimed that it left a pleasant taste in the mouth. General Ashley consequently named it Sweetwater, which name it bears today .*
In this party were several men who afterwards became famous in the Rocky Mountain country and whose names
*I have heard other traditions as to the name of this river. One is that a party of trappers in early times were going up its banks, having with them a mule loaded with sugar. The ani- mal fell into the stream and his load dissolved in the water; hence the name Sweetwater. I have been told by old pioneers who lived with the Indians in early days that the red men claim the name Sweetwater is the English for the Indian appellation. My own opinion is that Ashley discovered the excellent quality of the water and gave the river its name, and my reasons for thinking so are that his men suffered greatly from drinking the alkali waters between the place of crossing and the Sweetwater. After they started up the Sweetwater they came to other streams that were unfit for drinking purposes. All these facts were noted by General Ashley. It must be admitted that he was an explorer as well as a fur trader.
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are today closely associated with its early history. These were Robert Campbell, Jim Bridger, William Sublette, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Jim Beckwourth and Moses Harris. Ashley, Sublette and Campbell laid the foundation in the next few years for great fortunes. Ashley was of a cool, daring disposition and under his leadership his men became bold trappers and successful partisans. His company brought out in 1823 consisted of about forty men, and with these he attempted to cover a large territory. His plan of unification of the Indian tribes for the purpose of trade was only partially successful and he early sent back to St. Louis for more trappers. With his little band he pushed forward to Spanish River, the name of which he promptly changed to Green River, after one of his St. Louis partners. It has been claimed by several historians that the name of this river comes from the color of its waters; be that as it may, General Ashley named it .* Arriving on the banks of this river, he detached a party under the leadership of a man named Clements to go up Green River to its headwaters and trap on the main stream and its branches. There were seven men in the party, and among them Jim Beckwourth, a man named LeBrache and another named Baptiste. They were very successful in capturing beaver. These animals
*State Auditor W. O. Owen, when asked by the author what he thought was the origin of the name, said : "My own opinion is that the name was given to this stream from the intense and beautiful color of its water, and not, as many writers have claimed, from its verdant banks which afford such lively contrast with the desert country through which it runs for many miles. Now, while it is generally known that nearly all bodies of water, under certain conditions, will give forth a greenish hue, it must be understood that these conditions are not at all essential when viewing this particular stream; for the water of Green River is intrinsically green. No matter under what conditions it may be viewed the water of this stream, at least as far as that portion of it above the Green River Lakes is concerned, will be found to possess this color. The water in the upper portion of the two forks is as intensely green as a June meadow and is by far the most conspicuous feature in the landscape of that locality. Its color is so deep and striking that I was led, two years ago while executing surveys for Government, to make a careful and thorough examination of the matter, to ascertain if possible whence this brilliant green might come. My research resulted in a complete and certain solution of the problem. In various lo- calities along the forks we found the banks of the streams composed of a mineral substance re- sembling soapstone, and of a bright green color. Examination showed it to be extremely soft, wearing readily under slightest friction. I have seen banks of this material upwards of a hundred yards long, and the water, tearing along, possesses a grinding power sufficient to impregnate the entire stream with the coloring matter referred to. A peculiar feature of this coloring process lies in the fact that an excess of color may be imparted to the water without in the slightest de- gree affecting its limpidity. This would seem to indicate a transparency of the coloring matter itself when reduced to particles of infinite smallness. The large lake at the head of the northern fork of the river is said to be without a rival in point of color, and it is of an intense, bright green. Not merely green when viewed under certain illumination, but literally and actually green of its own nature. And near this lake the soapstone referred to above is to be found in abundance. I have colored a bucket of water by simply adding a small quantity of this material finely pulver- ized ; and in the face of these experiments, and the facts above mentioned, which any one who cares to may verify, it is difficult indeed to refer the christening of this river to any other source than that of the transparent green of its water."
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were numerous on the headwaters of this river at that time, as they had never been trapped. The traps were set and every one secured a beaver, and besides those caught in this way they shot a great many with their rifles. As they proceeded up the river they came to a branch on the west side of the main stream, up which they saw a number of wild horses pasturing in the beautiful green meadows, and they promptly called it Horse Creek, a name which it still bears. I am aware that another origin is given for the name of this creek, which is to the effect that Edward Rose, in 1824, while acting as interpreter and guide for a large party of trappers under Jedediah Smith and Thomas Fitzpatrick, instigated the Crows to steal the horses of the party, and that this branch of Green River took its name from that incident.
On another branch of Green River, farther up, they were attacked by a party of sixteen Blackfeet and one of their number, LeBrache, was killed. The trappers then retreated down the river and two days later were met by another detachment from the post on the Yellowstone. The rendezvous was to be at the place which later became the ford on Green River, and this detachment of trappers from the north was on the way to that point. It was fortunate for Clements' party that they met with this reinforcement, as the Blackfeet were still following them.
At the rendezvous that season there was great rejoic- ing, as all the brigades had been uniformly successful and consequently a large number of beaver packs were sent to the market. The army of trappers was increased the next spring to over three hundred, and most of these reached the country by way of the Platte River. General Ashley that year (1824) went with a party under his own immediate command down the Green River with a view to exploring new trapping ground to the south and west. The expedition proved to be one of great advantage financially, but its members underwent great privation, as they had a very dangerous passage down the river and suffered extremely, having taken little provisions with them, as they did not
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expect the canon to be of such length. They lost three guns and two boats when they passed over the rapids and were obliged to let their boats down with ropes when they came to the most dangerous places. Soon their provisions gave out and the beaver grew scarce until there was none to be seen. As it was impossible either to retrace their steps or to ascend the high cliffs on each side of them, their only choice was to go ahead. They passed six days without tast- ing food and the men were weak and disheartened. General Ashley listened to all their murmurings and heart-rending complaints. They often spoke of home and friends, declar- ing they would never see them more. Some spoke of wives and children whom they dearly loved and who must become widows and orphans. They had toiled, they said, through every difficulty; had risked their lives among wild beasts and hostile Indians in the wilderness. This they were will- ing to undergo, but they could not bear up against actual starvation.
The general encouraged them to the best of his power, telling them that he bore an equal part in all their suffer- ings; that he was toiling for those he loved and whom he yet expected to see again. He said they should endeavor to keep up their courage and not add despondency to the rest of their misfortunes.
One more night was passed amid the barren rocks and the next morning some of the party proposed that the com- pany cast lots to see which one should be sacrificed to afford food for the others, without which they would inevitably perish. General Ashley was horrified and begged them to wait at least one more day and in the meantime go as far as they could. By doing so, he said, they must come to a break in the canon through which they could escape. They consented and moved down the river as fast as the current would carry them, and to their joy found a break and in it a camp of trappers. They all rejoiced now that they had not carried their fearful proposition into effect. They had fallen in good hands and slowly recruited themselves with the party, which was in charge of one Provo, with whom Gené-
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ral Ashley was well acquainted. By his advice, they left the river and proceeded in a northwesterly direction, Provo accompanying them, supplying them with horses and pro- visions. They remained with his party until they reached the Great Salt Lake. Here they fell in with a large company of trappers, composed of Canadians and Iroquois Indians, under the command of Peter Ogden, who was in the service of the Northwest Fur Company. With this party Ashley made a good bargain, purchasing all their peltries at rea- sonable prices. The furs were to be paid for at the rendez- vous at Green River and the contract was that Ogden was to take in exchange merchandise of which General Ashley had an abundance. During this same season Fitzpatrick and Bridger, with a detachment of thirty trappers, went up the Snake River and trapped in all the tributary streams of that locality. Bridger, with a small party, followed the Snake river to its very source and wandered around for some time in what is now known as the Yellowstone National Park, and he evidently became fascinated with the wonders of that country. He talked with many persons about it, but as in Colter's case, his stories were laughed at by the trappers. The next year he happened to be at the trading post of the American Fur Company on the Yellowstone and there met a young Kentuckian, Robert Meldrum, who came out to be employed as blacksmith at that post. He was a good work- man, but he soon imbibed the love of adventure and went out as a trapper. During Bridger's visit to the post he told Meldrum what he had seen the year before, and that young man was fired with an ambition to go into that country. He soon after joined the Crows, and it was while living with these people that he found an opportunity to investigate the wonders around Yellowstone Lake. In later years he often talked with army officers and others about the geysers, and for a wonder his stories were believed.
General Ashley sold out his interests in the mountains to Captain William Sublette, Robert Campbell, James Bridger and others and retired from business, as he had accumulated a fortune. Sublette was at the head of the
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new company. Fitzpatrick was retained by the Captain and his operations for the next few years covered a large part of the northern Rocky Mountain country.
After the sale of his interest, General Ashley visited his trappers in the mountains for the last time and while at the rendezvous the Blackfeet attacked a village of Snake Indians, near the camp. The trappers, headed by Captain Sublette, went to the assistance of the Snakes and with right good will lent their aid to their Indian allies. Over 300 trappers mounted their horses, wheeled into line and swept down upon the Indians. and 173 of the Blackfeet were slain. The trappers had in this engagement eight men wounded, but none were killed.
General Ashley returned to St. Louis with two hundred packs of beaver, worth at that time about $1,000 a pack. Mountain men for many years talked about General Ashley's farewell speech to his trappers, and the following is re- ported to be what he said:
"Mountaineers and friends: When I first came to the mountains, I came a poor man. You, by your indefatigable exertions, toils and privations, have procured me an inde- pendent fortune. With ordinary prudence in the manage- ment of what I have accumulated, I shall never want for anything. For this, my friends, I feel myself under great obligations to you. Many of you have served me personally, and I shall always be proud to testify to the fidelity with which you have stood by me through all danger, and the friendly and brotherly feeling which you have ever, one and all, evinced toward me. For these faithful and devoted ser- vices I wish you to accept my thanks. The gratitude that I express to you springs from my heart, and will ever retain a lively hold on my feelings. My friends, I am now about to leave you, to take up my abode in St. Louis. Whenever any of you return thither, your first duty must be to call at my house, to talk over the scenes of peril we have encountered, and partake of the best cheer my table can afford you. I now wash my hands of the toils of the Rocky Mountains. Farewell, mountaineers and friends! May God bless you all."
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