USA > Wyoming > The history of Wyoming from the earliest known discoveries > Part 27
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After crossing the mountain he turned north, hoping to find a passage to the headwaters of the Yellowstone, but the snow lay deep in the mountains and he was unable to force a passage; therefore the party headed west and finally missed the park entirely. The division under Lieutenant Maynardier kept away from the mountains and at last reached the Three Forks, where was found the commander awaiting them. This government expedition resulted in nothing as far as the upper Yellowstone was concerned. Less than a year after its return, the War of the Rebellion broke out and the army officers found employment on the battlefields of the south. During the war a number of pros- pecting parties from Montana entered the upper Yellow- stone country and some of them saw the wonders of the park, but the gold excitement was too intense to allow nat- ural wonders to attract public attention at that time. In 1863 a prospecting party left Virginia City, Montana, going into Idaho and finally reached the Snake River. They
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passed up that stream through Jackson's Hole and finally discovered what is now known as Shoshone Lake; then passed directly through the park, noted many hot springs and some geysers; but the leader of the party, Walter W. DeLacy, was in search of gold, and therefore paid little at- tention to anything else. Following DeLacy's party were others, all in search of the precious metal. The first expedi- tion entitled to the name of explorers were three gentlemen, David E. Folsom, C. W. Cook and William Peterson. They had expected an escort of United States troops, but being disappointed, they resolved to go forward alone. They started from Diamond City, on the Missouri, September 6, 1869. The party was well armed and equipped and success- fully penetrated the park, saw many of the wonders, and after thirty-six days returned with a story which led to the organization of the Yellowstone expedition of 1870. This party was headed by the Surveyor-General of Montana, Henry D. Washburn, accompanied by the Hon. N. P. Lang- ford, Cornelius Hedges, Walter Trumbull, Samuel T. Hau- ser, T. C. Everts, Benj. Stickney, Warren C. Gillette and Jacob Smith, all leading citizens of Montana. As this ex- pedition takes me beyond the date covered by the first vol- ume of this history, the report will be given in Volume II of this series. It will be observed that the United States had not up to the last date spoken of succeeded in sending an expedition into the park. The gentlemen above referred to, like those who went to the park in 1869, were unable to procure an escort of United States troops, and yet sixty- three years had elapsed since John Colter had penetrated and made known the Wonderland of America.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
HISTORY OF FORT LARAMIE.
A NOTED POST IN THE WILDERNESS-STORY OF JACQUES LARAMIE-NAM- ING LARAMIE RIVER-ROBERT CAMPBELL BUILDS FORT WILLIAM -NAME CHANGED TO FORT LARAMIE-PURCHASED BY MILTON SUB- LETTE, JIM BRIDGER AND OTHERS-SOLD TO AMERICAN FUR COM- PANY-BECOMES THE CAPITAL OF THE WILDERNESS-PALMY DAYS AT THE OLD TRADING POST-IMPORTANT STATION ON THE OVERLAND TRAIL-CLOSING DAYS OF THE FUR TRADERS AT FORT LARAMIE.
Fort Laramie, the first garrisoned post located in Wyo. ming, has clustered about it more historic incidents than any other military spot in the west. From first to last, the reminiscences of this fortified camp are full of tragedy, and these stories, if all told, would fill numerous volumes. For the purposes of this history, however, I must confine myself to the events which bear upon the conditions which sur- rounded the trader, trapper, hunter, emigrant, and the way- farer who sought shelter behind the ramparts of this gar- rison or needed succor from the strong arms of those who were placed at this fort to aid and assist all who passed through the country. To commence at the beginning, it is necessary to tell the story of Jacques Laramie, a French Canadian who came into the country in the employ of the Northwest Company, when that organization first extended its operations to the waters of the upper Missouri. A short time after Laramie came to the Rocky Mountains, the Northwest Company and the Hudson Bay Company com- menced a ruinous rivalry in trade which greatly reduced the profits of each. The trappers of the rival organizations tried to outwit, out-trap and outdo each other in general. Frequently they became embroiled and blood was shed. Jacques Laramie was a lover of peace and held himself aloof from quarreling with his fellow-men, and above all, he was opposed to the shedding of blood. He went on the
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theory that the world was wide and there was room enough for all; he therefore gathered about him a number of relia- ble trappers, who shared his views, and led them to a new and undisputed territory. This country was the headwaters and tributaries of the North Platte. Here they trapped un- disturbed. Laramie and his trappers soon made the ac- quaintance of many Indian tribes who either inhabited or made annual visits to the North Platte. These natives from the very first held Laramie in high esteem. He was of a resolute character, manly in conduct and kindly in disposi- tion. His associates regarded him as absolutely honest, and his courage was never questioned. His conduct toward the Indians was such as to command their respect and good will. Every act of his life commended him as worthy of the friendship of both the white men and the natives. The free trappers regarded him as a partisan worthy of their confidence. Annually they brought their peltries to the rendezvous at the mouth of the Laramie River, and these were disposed of in St. Louis and goods were brought back to be distributed among the trappers at a price amounting to cost and carriage. This method of association was not a new idea; it had been practiced by trappers on the Missouri, Mississippi and other rivers for many years, and it was con- sidered more profitable than dealing with the large traders in the country. There was one thing absolutely necessary in such co-operation; that was, an honest factor, and in this instance, as I have said, Jacques Laramie possessed their entire confidence. The furs were packed on horses or mules to a navigable point on the Platte River some distance be- low Grand Island, where bull boats were constructed and the peltries consigned to these, and without difficulty they floated down the Platte and the Missouri and finally reached St. Louis. The trappers in a body convoyed the furs to the embarking point and brought back the horses and mules, which were again sent to meet the goods at a specified time, and thus it was that the free trappers under the partisan Laramie received their annual supplies. The business grew rapidly, from the fact that many Indians sold their peltries
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to the association, receiving in pay the merchandise brought in annually; but all this was soon to terminate in a disaster which caused great loss to the trappers and their Indian allies. About the year 1820, Laramie announced his inten- tion to trap on the Laramie River and its tributaries, not- withstanding the fact that it was well known among trap- pers as a dangerous country, for the reason that it was the battle ground of the northern and southern tribes. Here they had met in fierce combat for many years. The southern tribes in their passage north often encountered armed bands of northern tribes, who disputed their right to occupy the hunting grounds north of the Laramie Plains. Laramie's friends urged upon him the danger of penetrating the dis- puted country, but he calmed their fears by saying that he would go alone and throw himself upon the protection of the Indians who were known to be friendly to him. His companions were silenced but not convinced, and they parted with him with many misgivings as to the wisdom of his course, but they knew it would be useless to attempt to dissuade him from his purpose. At the next rendezvous, Laramie, the heretofore central figure in the camp, was absent. The free trappers, with forebodings of evil, organ- ized a strong party and went up the Laramie River in search of a cabin which he had informed them he would build. In two or three days they found the cabin and the lifeless re- mains of their beloved partisan. There was every indication that he had met his death at the hands of savages. They had rewarded his friendship by basely murdering him, and thus brought on the war of extermination which was after- wards waged by Laramie's trappers and all others who pur- sued trapping in Wyoming. The friends of Laramie re- turned to the rendezvous on North Platte, but they were changed men and resolved never more to trust the friend- ship of a race of murderers. From that time on they spoke of the river on the banks of which Laramie had been mur- dered as Laramie's River, and later trappers in the country called it Laramie River. I have talked with some old trap- pers who are of the opinion that Laramie's cabin was lo-
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cated at the mouth of the Little Laramie. Be that as it may, this is the origin of the name Laramie River, from which comes Laramie Plains, Laramie Range, Laramie Peak, Fort Laramie, Laramie County, Laramie City and Little Laramie River.
The story of Jacques Laramie has been hard to trace. I have talked of this renowned trapper with many of the older class of pioneers, such as Baker, Majors, Wiggins, Perri, Chapman, Lowe, Street and many others. All knew something about him from tradition, but none could speak positively as to the time when Laramie was killed or as to the date of the Laramie trappers occupying the North Platte country. The murder was charged at the time to the Arapahoes, but this tribe strenuously denied the charge, and, Indian like, claimed that other Indians had committed the murder, and ingeniously argued that they would not have killed Laramie because he had given them in exchange for their furs more and better goods than they had ever received from the large fur companies. The fact of the murder of Laramie is given by many writers. Col. A. G. Brackett says that Laramie was killed on the headwaters of the stream which bears his name. Bancroft says that Laramie was a French trapper, who in the earliest hunting times was killed by the Arapahoes on this stream, and credits the statement to Schell. Other writers give the same fact, but none enter into particulars. I fix the date of the murder as about 1820, but it might have been three or four years earlier.
In the summer of 1834 Robert Campbell accompanied Captain William Sublette on his return trip to St. Louis as far as Laramie's Fork, where it was agreed should be erected a trading post. Campbell brought with him from the west a number of French Canadians, also a few half- breeds from St. Louis, and with the aid of these he con- structed the post. The first structure was erected on the left bank of the Laramie, a half mile above its junction with the North Platte. Timber was cut in the hills and the fort erected was of logs, one end of which were set in the ground,
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projecting out about eighteen feet, forming what is known as a picket fort. The fort was 130 feet square and around the inside were small buildings for the use of the trader and his trappers. During the period of its construction Mr. Campbell was in his natural element, as he was by nature calculated to push without ceasing every undertaking in which he engaged. The force was completely organized, a detachment was sent to the woods for the timber, and a band of hunters supplied buffalo, elk, deer and mountain sheep. By the time winter approached there was an abun- dant larder and plenty of fuel had been gathered to keep up cheerful fires during the long winter months. Mr. Camp- bell had with him a stock of merchandise which he traded for furs with independent trappers who came along, and also with the Indians. There was at the fort that winter a motley collection of American trappers, hunters, French Canadians, half-breeds, Mexicans and Indians. Robert Campbell presided over the multifarious assembly with that true dignity which was a part of his nature. He was at this time still a young man, scarcely in his prime. He is spoken of as being tall, with a fair complexion and rather light colored hair. His figure was erect and his bearing that of a man of much reserved power. He settled disputes and bick- erings with a word, and so that neither side could feel ag- grieved. This was the first commander as well as the build- er of the great military post which during the next fifty years was to be first an important trading center and then the theater of military events in the far west. When the establishment had been fully completed, Campbell sought for a proper name for this, the first permanent settlement in what was thirty-four years later the Territory of Wyo- ming, and he finally determined to call it Fort William, in honor of his friend, Captain William Sublette, and thus it was known among trappers. How long Robert Campbell remained in command of Fort William, tradition does not say. We next find him at the head of a large mercantile es- tablishment at St. Louis, and his place became the popular outfitting resort of fur traders and trappers. He took in
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exchange for his goods the peltries of his customers. He. necessarily employed large capital in the business, as he supplied goods all over the Rocky Mountain country. An- nually Fort William drew its supplies from Campbell's es- tablishment. Somehow the name Fort John became at- tached to this post. I find quite a number of writers who mention it by this name.
John Hunton, who has lived for many years at Fort Laramie, told me the past winter the origin of the name Fort John. He said when he went to Fort Laramie in 1867, there was an old half-breed Pawnee trapper around the place, Antoine Ladeau, who spoke English well. This trap- per knew the history of the country and often told stories relating to Robert Campbell, William Sublette, Jim Bridg- er, General Harney, General Connor and others. He was a perfect encyclopedia of all events that had happened on the Platte during the early days. He claimed that Fort Lara- mie never bore the name of Fort John, but that there was a Fort John at the mouth of Laramie River occupied at one time by Adams and Sybylle. This I think offers a clear ex- planation of the name Fort John. It is simply a mistake of trappers, who mixed the names of the two forts. Ladeau was born on the Platte River and came to the fort at the forks of the river when he was a boy. His father was a Frenchman and his mother a Pawnee. When but a small boy he was captured by the Sioux and brought up by them. He was an interpreter for General Connor in his Powder River campaign, and died in 1881.
The name Fort William was changed in a rather singu- lar manner. The subject was often discussed at Campbell's store in St. Louis, and this discussion was brought on by an eccentric shipping clerk whose duty it was to do the marking on all bales and boxes of goods which were sent out. His instructions were that all goods intended for this post were to be marked "Fort William, on Laramie River," as there were other Fort Williams in the Rocky Mountain country, but this artist of the marking-pot was troubled with forgetfulness, and he never could remember whether
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it was Fort William or Fort John, and finally one day there was no one at hand to give him the desired information, so he marked the long row of bales and boxes "Fort Laramie," instead of "Fort William, on Laramie River." Some one called Campbell's attention to the mistake, and that prac- tical business man saw that his clerk had for once blun- dered correctly and given the fort on Laramie River its proper name, and ever afterward it was known as Fort Laramie.
At the opening of the season of 1835, Robert Campbell and William Sublette sold Fort Laramie to a syndicate of trappers at the head of which was Milton Sublette and Jim Bridger. Milton Sublette, like his brother William, was a bold, determined partisan, and Bridger was worthy to be classed as one of the bravest of leaders in the fur trapping business. These two men had for associates, Fitzpatrick, who had already won his spurs as a great leader, Basil Lajeunesse, who afterwards became one of Fremont's men, was a member of the syndicate; also W. M. Anderson and old Jack Robinson. The new company was composed of young men, but all possessed experience in trapping and trading and Indian fighting. They promptly sent out their trappers into all parts of Wyoming, and the outlook for the new organization was certainly very bright. There was only one thing in the way, and that was Fontenelle of the American Fur Company, who had gathered about him a large number of the best trappers in the Rocky Mountains, and many of these were associates and friends of Jim Bridg- er, Milton Sublette and other partners in the association. Fontenelle made a proposition to Milton Sublette that he and the members of his company become partners in the American Fur Company and thus put a stop to an unprofita- ble competition. This deal was accomplished early in the summer of the same year, and thus Fort Laramie passed into the hands of the American Fur Company and remained their property for fourteen years. In 1836 the logs of the fort were discovered to be badly rotted, and so the company rebuilt it at an expense of $10,000. It chanced that quite a
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number of Mexicans wintered at Laramie in 1835-6, and they made the proposition to build the new fort after the plan of such buildings in their own country, and thus it was that adobes were used. When completed, it was a substantial structure and served every purpose for which it was intended. Fremont, who visited the fort in 1842, gives a full description of it as it appeared at that time. This will be found in the first chapter of Fremont's explorations in Wyoming in this volume.
Fort Laramie from this on controlled the fur business of Wyoming. Everything being in readiness to conduct business on a large scale, two trappers, Kiplin and Sybylle, were sent out over the Black Hills to the north to invite the Sioux Indians to come to the fort and trade, and to live and hunt in that vicinity. Much to everybody's surprise, the two ambassadors returned bringing with them over one hundred lodges of Ogalalla Sioux under their chief, Bull- Bear. The Sioux nation at this time numbered many thou- sands, consisting of numerous bands, each bearing a prefix to distinguish them from the others. In spite of the best efforts of the American Fur Company, the Sioux succeeded in driving away the Cheyennes, Pawnees and other tribes who had heretofore made the country adjacent to the North Platte their annual hunting grounds. The Sioux at this time were warlike and disposed to rule the whole country. Buffalo, deer, elk and mountain sheep were plentiful in the mountains and on the plains around the fort, and conse- quently the natives had no difficulty in procuring food. Those were happy days for the Indians. They sold their furs and robes at the fort and received in exchange bright blan- kets, beads, knives, powder and lead, and occasionally pro- cured a gun. During the next two or three years Fort Laramie became the resort of thousands of Indians; also of free trappers, who camped under its walls in large numbers. They found fault with the prices charged for goods, but as they sold their beaver skins at a fair price they put up with over-charge. The Sinclair brothers, who were popular lead- ers of free trapper bands, were among the number who sold
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their furs at the fort. Dick Wootton, Jim Beckwourth, Bissonette, Kit Carson, August Claymore, "Old Charlefou," L. B. Maxwell, "Black Harris," F. X. Matthieu and many others were occasional visitors at the fort. Those were days of enterprise, adventure and hair-breadth escapes. The stories that these men recounted as they met at the rendezvous or winter encampment were never excelled by like adventures in any land. The language spoken at Fort Laramie at that time was French for the most part, bad English, and a dozen Indian dialects. Every white trapper had his squaw and the traders and clerks in this respect were equally well provided. At the time of Fremont's visit, July 15, 1842, the fort was in charge of Mr. Boudeau; Galpin and Kellogg were his clerks. Frances Parkman, the author of "The California and Oregon Trail," who visited Fort Lar- amie in 1846, has left a very carefully written description of the noted trading post and its surroundings. Mr. Park- man was accompanied by Quincy A. Shaw of Boston, who afterwards became a prominent merchant in his native city and who still resides there, being at this date a very aged man. Henry Chatillon, a well known hunter in the Rocky Mountains, was the guide of this party. Describing the scenes in and around Fort Laramie, Mr. Parkman says in his chatty style:
"We tried to ford Laramie Creek at a point nearly op- posite the fort, but the stream, swollen with the rains in the mountains, was too rapid. We passed up along its bank to find a better crossing place. Men gathered on the wall to look at us. 'There's Bordeaux!' called Henry, his face brightening as he recognized his acquaintance; 'him there with the spy-glass; and there's old Vaskiss and Tucker and May; and, by George, there's Cimoneau!' This Cimoneau was Henry's fast friend and the only man in the country who could rival him in hunting. We soon found a ford. Henry led the way, the pony approaching the bank with a countenance of cool indifference, bracing his feet and slid- ing into the stream with the most unmoved composure. We followed; the water boiled against our saddles, but our horses bore us easily through. The unfortunate little mules came near going down with the current, cart and all, and
Fort Laramie in 1836.
(Page 303.)
FORT LARAMIE IN 1871. (From an old photograph.)
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we watched them with some solicitude scrambling over the loose round stones at the bottom and bracing stoutly against the stream. All landed safely at last; we crossed a little plain, descended a hollow, and riding up a steep bank found ourselves before the gateway of Fort Laramie, under the impending blockhouse erected above it to defend the en- trance.
"We were met at the gate, but by no means cordially welcomed. Indeed, we seemed objects of distrust and sus- picion until Henry Chatillon explained that we were not traders, and we in confirmation handed to the bourgeois a letter of introduction from his principals. He took it, turned it upside down and tried hard to read it; but his lit- erary attainments not being adequate to the task, he ap- plied for relief to the clerk, a sleek, smiling Frenchman named Montalon. The letter read, Bordeaux (the bourgeois) seemed gradually to awaken to a sense of what was ex- pected of him. Though not deficient in hospitable inten- tions, he was wholly unaccustomed to act as master of cere- monies. Discarding all formalities of reception, he did not honor us with a single word, but walked swiftly across the area, while we followed in some admiration, to a railing and a flight of steps opposite the entrace. He signed to us that we had better fasten our horses to the railing; then he walked up the steps, tramped along a rude balcony, and kicking open a door displayed a large room, rather more elaborately finished than a barn. For furniture it had a rough bedstead, but no bed; two chairs, a chest of drawers, a tin pail to hold water, and a board to cut tobacco upon. A brass crucifix hung on the wall and close at hand a recent scalp, with hair full a yard long, was suspended from a nail. This apartment, the best in Fort Laramie, was usually occu- pied by the legitimate bourgeois, Papin, in whose absence the command devolved upon Bordeaux. The latter, stout, bluff little fellow, much inflated by a sense of his new au- thority, began to roar for buffalo robes. These being brought and spread upon the floor formed our beds; much better ones than we had of late been accustomed to. Our arrangements made, we stepped out to the balcony to take a more leisurely survey of the long-looked-for haven at which we had arrived at last. Beneath us was the square area surrounded by little rooms, or rather cells, which opened upon it. These were devoted to various purposes, but chiefly to the accommodation of the men employed at the fort, or of the equally numerous squaws whom they
-(20)
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were allowed to maintain in it. Opposite to us rose the blockhouse above the gateway; it was adorned with a figure which even now haunts my memory; a horse at full speed, daubed upon the boards with red paint, and exhibiting a degree of skill which might rival that displayed by the Indians in executing similar designs upon their robes and lodges. A busy scene was enacting in the area. The wag- ons of Vaskiss were about to set out for a remote post in the mountains, and the Canadians were going through with their preparations with all possible bustle, while here and there an Indian stood looking on with imperturbable gravity.
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