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Some More History

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN FUR TRADE

It was the search for the famed “Northwest Passage” which revealed America as a
source for the fur-bearing beaver. The Northwest Passage, which would have provided a
faster and more direct route to the Far East, was, of course, never found as it does not
exist. What was found, however, was an over-abundance of beaver in the lakes, streams
and rivers of the North American continent. As beaver were extinct in Europe, this was a
magnificent find. Beavers were highly desired for their fur which was utilized to
manufacture the fashionable hats of the period. The first to discover this great wealth
were the French of 17th and 18th century Canada. However in 1763, Britain’s victory
over France in the French and Indian War revealed a new leader of the American fur
trade, and the Hudson’s Bay Company along with independent trappers monopolized the
business for the next two decades. By 1787, the independent trappers formed a coalition
under the name of the North West Company and challenged the supremacy of the
Hudson’s Bay Company, rivaling for the rights to establish forts in what is now westcentral
Canada and on the Pacific Coast.
Inevitably, the clashing of interests led to arguments, bribery, thievery, arson and even
murder. The rivalries between the companies knew no bounds. When London got hold
of the scandal in 1821, the British government forced the two competitors to unite as an
enlarged business under the single name of the Hudson’s Bay Company. With the two
forces joined, their tactics were now turned to eliminating the opposition, the American
Fur Company, which had been secured by a charter from the state of New York on April
6, 1808. To further complicate matters, the Russians had also found an interest in the
Pacific Coast where sea otter were in abundance. The Russians were transporting furs to
the Siberian coast where they were then shipped to China. One of the Hudson’s Bay
Company’s first major moves was the establishment of Fort Vancouver at the mouth of
the Willamette River in Oregon Country. The new manager of the joined company,
George Simpson, encouraged his men to range as far west and as far south as possible
and to trap the beavers to extinction. This would in turn create a “buffer zone” or “fur
desert” that would be worthless to American fur trappers. As Britain and the United
States had agreed by treaty to share the occupation of this territory, this blatant attempt at
monopolization ignited American tempers.
Meanwhile, the Hudson’s Bay Company had discovered a new and competent rival in
John Jacob Astor whose American Fur Company by 1810 was already a dominant force
in the region of the Great Lakes. Astor was a commercial genius; a German immigrant
who had landed at Baltimore in the spring of 1784 to seek his fortune. He traded the
small assortment of musical instruments he had brought with him from Germany for
beaver pelts which he sold to London for profit. His modest beginnings soon developed
into the start of a small fortune and by 1800 Astor had become a powerful man of the
trade. With his American Fur Company already an established success, Astor attempted
to attain a monopoly of the entire region with the creation of the Pacific Fur Company on
June 23, 1810 as a subsidiary of his present company. Astor planned to build a large
post, Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon Country as a direct rival to
the still existing North West Company. In September of 1810, the Tonquin was
dispatched from New York under the command of Captain Jonathan Thorp to sail around
Cape Horn and on to Astoria.
The Tonquin had barely set sail when dissention started between Captain Thorp and
the ship’s passengers, four of Astor’s partners and twenty-nine employees of the
company. Finally, after a stormy seven-month journey, the Tonquin reached land and
with the small party that remained began construction of Fort Astoria on the southern
bank of the Columbia.
Soon after their arrival, the Tonquin began trading with the coastal Indian tribes. All
went well until in anger, Captain Thorp slapped a Chinook chief across the face. The
avenging Indians countered with an attack on the Tonquin, killing all but five of the men
aboard. Four of these men were later captured and tortured to death and the fifth, again
escaping detection, blew himself and the ship to pieces the following day as the Indians
returned for a final looting of the ship.
At the same time the Tonquin was dispatched, a second expedition was preparing to
journey overland to Astoria. The party of overland Astorians left St. Louis in early 1811
under command of Wilson Price Hunt, following the trail that Lewis and Clark had
earlier used. Detours from this trail were taken, however, to avoid attack by the
Blackfoot Indians. The party followed the Snake River in canoes. When the river
became unnavigable, the party separated into smaller groups and traveled by foot,
reaching Astoria in the winter of 1812 in very poor condition. By the following June, the
War of 1812 had broken out between Britain and the United States. The Astorians had
little choice but to sell their fort and all its equipment, stores and outposts to the North
West Company in 1813. The first United States attempt at establishing control of Oregon
Country had failed to realize Astor’s ambition. However, the attempt later played an
important role in the treaties of 1818 and 1828 with Britain in which the two nations
agreed to share control of Oregon Country; and, later, in the negotiations that recognized
Oregon as part of the United States.
Prior to Astor’s venture to the Pacific Coast, other Americans had been trapping in the
Rocky Mountain region of the United States. With the return of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition in 1806 other Americans began to develop a fever for the fur-bearing creature.
As Lewis and Clark were about to start the final leg of their journey from the mouth of
the Yellowstone River, they met two American trappers heading West to the Rockies.
John Colter was asked to accompany the trappers as a guide and, with the permission of
the captains, spent the fall and winter trapping beaver on the Yellowstone. Tiring of the
mountains, Colter started his return trip to St. Louis down the Missouri alone. At the
mouth of the Platte River in the spring of 1807, he met a new brigade of trappers
commanded by Manuel Lisa, one of the most successful fur traders of St. Louis, and was
once again persuaded to return West. Colter returned at the end of the season with a
wealth of pelts which Lisa brought to St. Louis for trading. This success enabled Lisa to
form the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company whose first brigade of trappers was sent
upriver in 1809. However, the party returned in failure in July of 1811 and therein led to
the Company’s downfall. Between 1812 and Lisa’s death in 1820, the Missouri Fur
Company underwent several reorganizations. With the loss of Lisa and thus the
company’s driving inspirational force, the Missouri Fur Company lasted only until June
of 1830.
After a lull in the fur trade caused by economic and political repercussions of the War
of 1812, the American fur trade once again revived in the 1820s. William Henry Ashley
and Andrew Henry, a former partner of Lisa’s, began the establishment of the Rocky
Mountain Fur Trade Company by placing an advertisement in St. Louis newspapers in
1822. The ad read simply: “To enterprising young men. The subscriber wishes to
engage one-hundred young men to ascent Missouri river to its source, there to be
employed for one, two, or three years.” The expedition left St. Louis around April 15th
of that year with men such as Jim Bridger, William and Milton Sublette, Hugh Glass,
Thomas Fitzpatrick, Jim Beckwourth and Jedediah Strong Smith. The men traveled up
the Missouri River by boat to establish a fort and trading post. Trouble arose with the
Arikara Indians and Ashley decided to abort the river expedition due to the impending
dangers. Instead, he would send his men overland in small groups with a year’s
provisions “on credit” in return for the year’s pelts, which would be exchanged at a
predesignated meeting place in the mountains. The men would trap on their own rather
than trading American goods with the Indians for pelts, as had previously been the
arrangement. Rather than having the men spend considerable time to travel to St. Louis,
Ashley would bring the supplies to the trappers. Thus was born the tradition of the
Rocky Mountain Rendezvous and the free trapper who bore the name of the “mountain
man.”
Henry retired in 1824 while Ashley continued to journey to the yearly rendezvous
through 1826 when he left the mountain life to pursue a political career. On July 18,
1826, the articles of agreement were signed and the company passed to the hands of
Jedediah Smith, David Jackson and William Sublette with the newly formed name of
Smith, Jackson and Sublette. In 1830, Smith and his associates sold their company to
Thomas Fitzpatrick, Jim Bridger, Milton Sublette, Robert Campbell and Henry Fraeb.
The final downfall of the company was marked by the rendezvous in the Green River
valley during the summer of 1834 when, amid many discouraging conditions, Campbell
and Fraeb sold their interests in the partnership the following fall. The company
continued under the control of Fitzpatrick, Bridger and Sublette who sold the company to
the American Fur Company the following year.
The year 1824 marked a tremendous increase in the number and activity of those
entering the business of the fur trade. American trappers had now begun to penetrate the
southern and central Rockies from new bases at Taos and Santa Fe, rivaling the well
established base at St. Louis. About April 1, 1824, the first Santa Fe expedition was
organized in Franklin, Missouri. After a successful expedition, the party returned home
to Franklin on September 24, 1824. American fur traders had been drawn to this region
after the independence of Mexico from Spain and during the next decade the fur trade
and the Santa Fe trade had developed in direct proportion with each other, constituting a
primary portion of the overland commerce to Missouri.
But America’s greed for the fur-bearing beaver had all but depleted its supply and,
coupled with lower prices for pelts and the new trend towards Chinese silk in European
fashions and coonskin caps in Poland, Russia and Germany, the fur trade began its rapid
decline. With the sale of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1834, the American Fur
Company had achieved a monopoly. However, Astor, foreseeing the inevitable end of
the fur trade, sold his shares to the company before the deal had been completed. By the
mid 1830s the beaver trade was doomed. By the 1840s, the beaver trade was finished.
Trading activity passed from the rendezvous site to key trading posts like Fort Laramie,
Fort Bridger and Bent’s Fort.
For several trappers the end of the beaver trade was the beginning of fame, if not
fortune, as guides for emigrant wagon trains traveling west to Oregon and California.
Some guided the U.S. Army on exploratory expeditions into the Rocky Mountains.
Others will become famous army scouts fighting the Indians, who were once their
partners in the beaver trade.
Though their days of glory lasted little more than twenty years, these rugged
individuals left a permanent mark on the history and legend of the west.

MOUNTAIN MEN OF WYOMING
It is a documented fact that John Colter, after leaving the Lewis and Clark expedition
to travel with Manuel Lisa, traveled through Pryor Gap and passed through the present
city of Cody and Yellowstone Park. Some believe that he wintered in Pierre’s Hole on
the Idaho side of the Tetons; however, the only evidence of his stay is a much disputed
rock measuring 4x8x13 inches and bearing the profile and name “John Colter” and the
date “1808.”
The overland Astorians on their journey to Fort Astoria entered northeastern
Wyoming near the Big Horn Mountains in late summer of 1811. That fall, the party
observed the magnificent Tetons before following the Columbia River to Astoria,
arriving in January, 1812.
On October 21, 1812, Robert Stuart led a party of returning Astorians through South
Pass on their return to St. Louis, bringing news to Astor’s agents about the loss of the
Tonquin and her crew. The path he followed would one day become the famous Oregon
Trail that led thousands of emigrants to their new homes in the Pacific Northwest. It
should be noted, however, that some historians believe South Pass was discovered by
Andrew Henry in 1811. Still others argue that the Pass was not found until later by
Etienne Provost, Thomas Fitzpatrick and Jedediah Smith. Credit, none the less, is given
to Robert Stuart for the discovery of South Pass.
Ten days following Stuart’s discovery of South Pass, he and his party happened upon
a striking fall of water which he named the “Fiery Narrows.”
This landmark is today located off highway 220 near Alcova, thirty miles west of Casper.
At Bessemer Bend, Stuart’s party built the first cabin in Wyoming, planning to spend
the winter. Due to hostile Indians, however, the party relocated near present-day
Torrington, establishing a second camp on New Year’s Day. On March 20th the party
broke camp and followed the Platte to the Missouri, arriving in St. Louis on April 30,
1813.
In 1820, a fur trapper named LaRamee told companions that he was heading up a
tributary of the Platte River to trap beaver. He planned to return the following spring and
when he did not appear, his friends became worried and sent out a search party. He was
found dead in a cabin about twenty-three days from the mouth of the river.
Years later in 1868, Jim Bridger told John Hunton, an old time resident of Fort
Laramie, that while in his teens, he had been a participant of the search party which had
been sent to find LaRamee. Bridger claimed that the party found an unfinished
cottonwood cabin and one broken beaver trap but no LaRamee. Two years following the
search, the Arapahoes had told Bridger that they had killed LaRamee and placed his body
under the ice in a beaver dam. Nevertheless, the name of LaRamee lives on in its
corrupted American version, Laramie. His name was left to the Laramie River, Laramie
Peak, Laramie Plains, Laramie County, Fort Laramie, the town of Fort Laramie, and the
city of Laramie, Wyoming.
It is interesting to note that Fort Laramie began as a fur trading post named Fort
William, after William Sublette. In 1834, Sublette and Robert Cambell joined forces
against the all-powerful American Fur Company and built Fort William on the Laramie
River, more commonly called Fort Laramie. In the fall of 1834, the fort was sold to Jim
Bridger, Thomas Fitzpatrick and Milton Sublette, who subsequently sold the fort to the
American Fur Company the following year. In 1841, the American Fur company rebuilt
the fort buildings, replacing the log with adobe, and renamed the post Fort John. With
the decline of the fur trade, the fort began to take on military significance as a supply
post due to its strategic western location. By the 1860s and 1870s, Fort Laramie had
become the most important post on the Northern Plains, serving as a Pony Express and
Overland Stage Station, an army base, and a supply center and protective shelter for
ranchers and homesteaders.
The fort was abandoned in 1890 and lay idle until 1937 when the State of Wyoming
bought 214 acres for the creation of Fort Laramie National Historic Site in 1938.
In April of 1830, William Sublette set out from St. Louis for the Wind River
Rendezvous, determined to see if the trek from St. Louis to the West could be made by
wagon. On July 4th, Sublette stopped at Independence Rock on the Sweetwater River
and possibly gave the rock its name.
Following closely behind Sublette, Captain Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville, a
Frenchman by birth and a graduate of West Point, entered the fur trade upon a two-year
leave of absence from the army. Financially backed, Bonneville’s outfit of 110 men with
goods and supplies left Independence, Missouri in twenty wagons. Bonneville’s wagons
went by way of South Pass, over the Continental Divide and to the west of the Wind
River Range. On the Green River in western Wyoming, Bonneville constructed a post
which trappers graciously nicknamed “Fort Nonsense” and “Bonneville’s Folly.” Due to
competition from numerous fur enterprises in the region and bad business practices
Bonneville, at the end of three years, was bankrupt.
There has been much debate as to the mission of Captain Bonneville. Many attest to
the belief that he was not simply in the region to reap a profit, but rather as an agent of
the United States government, to report on the activities of the British in Oregon Country.
There has never been any positive evidence produced in support of this position.
Beginning in 1843 Jim Bridger built Fort Bridger, on Blacks Fork of the Green River.
Like Fort Laramie, Fort Bridger enabled the mountain men to get supplies year round
when they needed them and not have to wait until the next summer’s rendezvous. Later,
Fort Bridger will become important as a supply stop-over on the Oregon Trail for
pioneers. In 1858 the United States Army rebuilt the trading post as a permanent military
post that remained active until 1890.
It is William Ashley’s rendezvous, however, for which Wyoming is most famous.
Except for two locations in Northern Utah and Pierre’s Hole on the Idaho side of the
Tetons, all summer rendezvous were held at various sites in Wyoming. The first was
held in 1825 on Henry’s Fork near present day McKinnon in the southwest corner of the
state. Two rendezvous were held on the Popo Agie River near Lander, one on Ham’s
Fork near Granger and six were held on the Green River, including the last two
rendezvous of 1839 and 1840. With its strategic location in the northern Rockies and its
abundance of beaver-rich rivers and streams, Wyoming became a true participant in the
American fur trade.

THE BEAVER
It was not the fur of the beaver which made him one of the most sought after animals
in Europe and North America, but rather the pelt for its barbed, fibrous underhair which
was pounded, mashed, stiffened, and rolled to make felting material for hats. Hats of all
descriptions were produced from this highly valued hair. Coats of a light coloring were
used to make day-time hats and those of a more luxurious dark brown produced the
elegant hats of the evening. Many shapes and styles were created to satisfy the fashion
demand, formal and informal styles and even some military headgear were made of
beaver. From the 17th century through the mid-19th century, no European was without a
beaver hat. Then the styles turned to other fabrics such as Oriental silk, and the beaver
hat was locked away in the closet.
The beaver is an amphibious creature which averages four feet long from the tip of the
nose to the end of the tail. Weighing about forty pounds, the beaver is the second largest
rodent in the world. The tail, which is noted for its flat, rounded appearance, is ten to
fifteen inches in length and covered with rough skin that resembles scales. The tail
allows the beaver to steer in water and signal other beavers by slapping the water. The
beaver is an excellent swimmer, and while under water can seal its ears, mouth, and
nostrils. The beaver is generally light brown in color, although some may possess very
dark coats. Their teeth are much longer and more powerful than those of most other
animals and are used to fell trees which constitute the basis of their vegetarian diet,
especially the bark of the birch, willow and cottonwood trees. Aspen trees are the
favorite food of the beaver. The beaver uses its front feet to grasp trees and the webbed
hind feet to swim. The beaver can cut trees down in a matter of minutes and is
considered one of the finest engineers in the world in building dams.
Four glands near the abdomen of the beaver contain a secretion called castoreum, a
yellowish substance which is extracted from the animal’s food and then conveyed
through vessels into the glands. Castoreum (castor) is important because it is used to
waterproof the fur of the beaver. The beaver often emits a small quantity of castoreum
upon the river bank, which will attract every beaver in the area. The odorous substance is
used to “mark territory.” Trappers took advantage of this process and collected the
castoreum left upon the banks, replacing the substance strategically above the traps. The
beaver would be lured by the odor and then caught by the traps which lay beneath the
surface of the water.
According to legend, the Indians of early America respected and often worshipped the
beaver. The Cherokees believed that the earth was created by Manitou, (a spirit or force
of nature, either good or bad, deified in the religion of the Algonquin Indians) who
inhabited the water-covered world with beavers. Manitou soon realized that
accommodations had to be made for land animals. Unsure of how to accomplish this
task, Manitou asked the beavers for advice. The animals dove to the bottom of the ocean,
brought up mud and stone and outfitted the world with plains and mountains and valleys.
The Algonquin tribes along the St. Lawrence River believed that thunder was
produced by their almighty beaver father, Quahbeet, as he slapped his giant tail against
the ground.
The five nations of the Iroquois confederacy were bound together by their common
clans, such as the “beaver clan” in which members of the tribe were reincarnated as
beavers. In this way, any beaver in the vicinity of the tribe could be a close friend or
relative. Many tribes shared this belief, thereby they refused to hunt beaver near their
homelands as they might be killing a loved one.
The Flathead tribe thought that beavers were a race of man that had angered the Great
Spirit and, as punishment, were sentenced to a life of hard labor.
The Indians’ adherence to the legends, however, was treated more casually with the
introduction of the white man’s materials. The tribes valued the beaver pelts only as
winter clothing and as bed robes; therefore, they were quite willing to trade these pelts for
the much coveted modern articles from the States.

TIMELINE
1743 - Verendryes brothers, first Europeans to enter Wyoming
1803 - Louisiana Purchase
1806 - John Colter first white American to enter Wyoming
1811 - Wilson Price Hunt’s party crosses Wyoming
1812 - Robert Stuart’s party returning from Oregon discovers South Pass
1823 - William Ashley’s fur trappers arrive in Wyoming led by Jedediah Smith
1824 - Ashley’s trappers cross South Pass westward and find good trapping on the Green
River and its tributaries
1825 - First rendezvous held in Wyoming on Henry’s Fork of the Green River
1826 - First recorded visit to Yellowstone Park by trappers
1826 - Ashley sells out to Jed Smith, David Sublette, William Sublette
1830 - First wagons being drawn by mules cross Wyoming to rendezvous
1830 - Rocky Mountain Fur Company organized
1832 - Battle of Pierre’s Hole
1832 - Captain Bonneville takes first wagons over South Pass
1834 - Fort William built (later Fort John and finally Fort Laramie)
1840 - Last rendezvous held
1842 - Fort Bridger established

THE ERA OF THE MOUNTAIN MAN
Before the 1820s and the birth of the mountain man, the fur trade of the Rocky
Mountains existed as an exchange of goods between Indian and white man, pelts for
manufactured articles. However, when several major fur companies entered into the
field, the business of the fur trade grew into a complex organization. “Engages,” or
trappers supplied and salaried by a fur company, worked for the companies
headquartered in St. Louis, the fur trading capital of the United States. These men were
employed at salaries of two to four hundred dollars a year. The “skin trappers” were
those outfitted by a company on credit, who paid their debts at the end of each season by
promising their pelts to a designated fur company. With the introduction of Ashley’s
rendezvous, the “mountain man” came into being. This man was known as the “free
trapper” and owed allegiance to no single company. By 1830, there were several hundred
“free trappers” in the Rocky Mountain region.
The mountain men knew the back country by heart and developed close relationships
with the Indian tribes of the mountains, often adopting their customs and becoming more
Indian than white in appearance. Much of this transformation may be attributed to
necessity rather than desire. For example, as their clothing from the states began to
deteriorate with the wear and tear of mountain life, they made convenient use of Indian
clothes.
The mountain men came from a variety of backgrounds. Some were literate while
others were not, some were escaped criminals who were forced to the mountains to
escape punishment of their crimes, many possessed tremendous pride in their work and
loved the freedom of the untrodden terrain—the mountains, the skies, the plains and the
forests. The men were generally young, averaging between twenty and thirty years old.
Most never concerned themselves with the prospect of saving money. Zenas Leonard,
who passed three years with the trappers, said: “Scarcely one man in ten of those
employed in this country ever thinks of saving a single dollar of his earnings, but all
spend it as fast as they can find an object to spend it for. They care not what may come
to pass tomorrow, but think only of enjoying the present moment.”
The trapper’s language was a strange combination of English, French, and Spanish,
with barely a hint of grammatical accuracy and literary correctness. Their humor was of
a dry wit, conversations sparsely lined with subtle touches of humor. Rarely were loud
echoes of laughter heard from the mountains, this was simply not their way of life.
Life in the mountains was valued for its freedom from legal restraints, but not to be
confused with lawlessness. Life, liberty, and the rights of property were greatly
respected. Trust was an essential component of life. No written agreements were ever
needed for the “Golden Rule” prevailed.
The era of the mountain man lasted only a few years, from 1822 till 1840. By that
time, the trapper had nearly eliminated the supply of beaver in the mountains and the
European fashions had turned away from the beaver towards other items such as silk and
coonskin caps. The fur trade had died and with it died the mountain man.
The end of the fur trade brought about new dilemmas for the mountain men, who were
forced by necessity to seek out new professions. Many became guides for the emigrant
trains, protecting them from the hazards of the trail and leading them to their new homes
in the Pacific Northwest. Some of the mountain men became scouts for the army, while
others became hunters for trading posts. A few, such as Joe Meek, appointed as U.S.
Marshal, came to hold positions of authority. Still others served as officers to the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, where their intimate knowledge and a genuine concern for the tribes
added much to a service that was not noted for its compassion. Finally, some trappers
refused to live any other life than that of the mountains, many of them crossing
completely over to the Indian culture.
They were the true trailblazers who had set the stage for the establishment of the
Oregon Trail. They had uncovered mountain passes and essential waterways. They
knew the routes for safe passage to the West and were instrumental in the settlement of
Oregon and California. In an unsophisticated yet successful process, the mountain men
accomplished the initial phase of Western exploration.

THE RENDEZVOUS SYSTEM 1825-1840
The rendezvous was one of the most interesting developments of the fur trade in the
Rocky Mountains. It arose from the necessity of carrying the trade into regions remote
from navigable rivers, where boats could not carry the annual merchandise nor bring
back caravans from the States, and rendezvous were appointed for each year at points
convenient for the trappers and Indians to meet the traders. These meetings were great
events and form one of the most picturesque features of early frontier life in the Far West.
From: Life, Letter and Travels of Father DeSmet, p. 216
During the summer of 1825 a unique idea was introduced to the American fur trade.
Beaver trappers had prearranged a meeting place with their employer in the Rocky
Mountains to sell their beaver pelts. More than any other state, Wyoming has been
identified as rendezvous country and the home of the mountain man because most of the
rendezvous were held in Wyoming. Eleven rendezvous were held in Wyoming during
the period of 1825 to 1840. The sites were chosen deliberately for the grass and water
supply and the availability of wood for fuel and game for food and sport. The most
suitable site proved to be the vicinity of Horse Creek and Green River, near present
Daniel, Wyoming. The rendezvous of 1833, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1839, and 1840 were all
held at this location.
The rendezvous was William Ashley’s great innovation to the fur trade. The original
system had depended on Indians to do the trapping, and white traders operating out of
forts, or posts trading for furs. But Ashley saw that his fur men could produce more pelts
by themselves. Furthermore, the rendezvous avoided the cost associated with a trading
post and the necessity of keeping a garrison on the payroll. At the first rendezvous
Ashley collected 9,700 pounds of beaver pelts worth $48,000 in Saint Louis.
Whether by intention or instinct, Ashley had hit upon a method that succeeded as long
as the beaver pelts lasted in abundance. The rendezvous was held for sixteen years and
only played out when the beavers had been hunted almost to extinction in the mountains
and fashion changed to silk hats.
In order to keep contact with his far-flung fur brigades, and possibly to be sure they
would not be tempted into trading with any itinerant rivals, Ashley told his men that in
July 1825 he would meet them at Henry's Fork on the Green River with a caravan-load of
goods from St. Louis. There he would pay them off for their previous years’ work, pick
up their furs and reoutfit them for the 1825-1826 season. At the same time, since no
trapping was done in midsummer, they could relax and lounge around the river for a few
weeks. Ashley also let it be known that if Indians, white freelance trappers, and
employees of other fur companies cared to sell their furs at Henry’s Fork, pick up
supplies and join in the fun and games, they would be more than welcome. Thus it was
that the rendezvous—soon to be the best known social and business institution of the
American mountain men—came into existence.
The trapper would come to the rendezvous bringing pelts to trade with the fur
company that would arrive with supply trains from Missouri. The trains would be loaded
with supplies for the trappers—traps, blankets, knives, guns, gunpowder, lead, coffee,
sugar, flour, and whiskey—all over priced due to the scarcity of competitive sellers.
After the first rendezvous each major fur company had a supply train at the rendezvous
site, creating intense rivalries as the companies competed for the furs of the free trapper.
Ashley’s journal contains some interesting facts about the 1825 Rendezvous; for example,
prices for the trading goods were as follows:
Item Price Unit
Coffee $1.50 lb.
Sugar 1.50 lb.
Tobacco 3.00 lb.
Powder 2.00 lb.
Fish Hooks 1.50 doz.
Flints 1.00 doz.
Scissors 2.00 each
Knife 2.50 each
Blue Cloth 5.00 yard
Scarlet 6.00 yard
Lead 1.00 lb.
Blankets 9.00 each
(3 point North West Blanket)
Buttons 1.50 doz.
The rendezvous took place each summer, usually late June or early July, and lasted for
several weeks. The mountain men reached the rendezvous after a year of solitary labor in
the wilderness. The trading only accounted for one to two days, with the remaining days
the mountain men devoted to entertaining themselves with any activity that would satisfy
their fun-starved appetites. The raw alcohol that was passed around served to release
inhibitions. There were horse races and foot races, wrestling and fighting, gambling,
duels, and romance with Indian women. At the end of the three or four weeks, the
trappers would return to the mountains to start trapping in the fall, probably having
squandered any profits they may have reaped from last year’s trappings.
Jim Beckwourth described the rendezvous as follows:
. . .On arriving at the rendezvous, we found the main body of the Salt Lake party already
there with the whole of their effects. The general would open none of his goods, except
tobacco, until all had arrived, as he wished to make an equal distribution; for goods were
then very scarce in the mountains, and hard to obtain.
When all had come in, he opened his goods, and there was a general jubilee among all at
the rendezvous. We constituted quite a little town, numbering at least eight hundred
souls, of whom onehalf were women and children. There were some among us who had
not seen any groceries, such as coffee, sugar, &c., for several months. The whisky went
off as freely as water, even at the exorbitant price he sold it for. All kinds of sports were
indulged in with a heartiness that would astonish more civilized societies.
Some of the more colorful events at the rendezvous had Jim Bridger as the central
character of merry making: in 1835 Dr. Marcus Whiteman removed a three inch point
from his back that had been lodged in his shoulder for three years while scores of
spectators watched in awe; in 1837 William Drummond Stewart presented Bridger with
an English full suit of steel armor which created quite an amusement with Bridger
clanking around camp with it on.

WOMEN AT THE 1838 RENDEZVOUS
One recorded episode in 1838 at the Popo Agie rendezvous by two missionary
wives is very illustrative of eastern opinions of wilderness lifestyles.
Mary Walker wrote:
“Last night disturbed by drunkards. A large company arrived under command of Capt.
Bridger. A no. of them came to salute us. One man carried the scalp of a Black-foot
[sic]. The music consisted of tamborines [sic] accompanied by an inarticulate sound of
the voice. They . . . fired and acted as strangely as they could.”
Myra Eells was shocked even more:
“Last night twelve white men came, dressed and painted in Indian style, and gave us a
dance. No pen can describe the horrible scene they presented. Could not imagine that
white men, brought up in a civilized land, can appear to so much imitate the Devil.”
Between the time the rendezvous ended and trapping season began the mountain men
remained free to search out new beaver country. Encouraged to wander by the fur
companies the trappers became great pathfinders for the future influx of white pioneers.
During this time period the mountain men produced a fresh burst of land exploration.
Historians are still trying to figure out exactly where all of them wandered. It is certain
that by the 1830s, American trappers had explored the mountains of the West from the
eastern slopes of the Rockies to the Sierra passes into California, and from the Columbia
River in Oregon to the Mojave Desert of Nevada. They were the first white men to look
upon such wonders as the badlands of the Great Basin, the chasm at Yosemite, the
redwoods of California, and the beauty of Yellowstone Park.
Alfred Jacob Miller, a young artist from New Orleans, received the opportunity of
witnessing the 13th rendezvous in the Green River Valley. His eyewitness account and
sketches are considered the most thorough and detailed description of this annual festival
in its sixteen year tradition:
At certain specified times. . . the American Fur Company appoint a ‘Rendezvous’ . . . for .
. . trading with Indians and Trappers, and here they congregate from all quarters. The
first day is devoted to ‘High Jinks,’ in which feasting, drinking, and gambling form
prominent parts. Sometimes an Indian becomes so excited with ‘Fire Water’ that he
commences ‘running a muck’ - he is pursued . . . and secured . . . ‘Affairs of honor’ . . .
are adjusted between rival Trappers - one . . . of course, receiving a complete drubbing; -
all caused evidently from mixing too much Alcohol with their water. Night closes this
scene of revelry and confusion. The following days exhibit the strongest contrast. . . . The
Company’s great tent is raised; - the Indians erect their picturesque white lodges; - The
accumulated furs . . . are brought forth, and the Company’s tent is a besieged and busy
place. Now the women come in for their share of ornaments and finery.
The 13th rendezvous was held in June, 1837 with more than 2,000 participants,
trappers, Indians and fur company agents all in attendance. Although the price for pelts
was lower than expected and the cost of supplies was, as usual, overpriced, the 13th
rendezvous lived up to its yearly tradition of wild activity. Though this year, as the
mountain man returned to the wilderness, marked the last of the great rendezvous. Only
three more would be held and they failed to meet the expectations of all who participated.
The falling price of the beaver had made the trip to the mountains from Missouri not
worth the expense of travel. Fewer than 120 white men attended the rendezvous of 1840.
When the American Fur company, sponsor of the gatherings since 1836, announced that
there would be no more rendezvous after 1840, most of the mountain men who had been
working the Rockies soon drifted away. Many went to California, New Mexico, or
Oregon. A few went home to Canada, Missouri, Kentucky, or Virginia. Only a minority
remained in Wyoming.
Tobert Newell, in a statement to Joe Meek, perhaps best summarizes the feelings of
the old mountain man towards the future of the fur trade:
Come,” said Newell to Meek, “We are done with this life in the mountains - done with
wading in beaver dams, and freezing or starving alternately - done with Indian trading
and Indian fighting. The fur trade is dead in the Rocky Mountains, and it is no place for
us now, if ever it was. We are young yet, and have life before us. We cannot waste it
here; we cannot or will not return to the States. Let us go down to the Wallamet and take
farms . . What do you say, Meek? Shall we turn American settlers?”
Thus died an American lifestyle and an era in Western history. The mountain man
was compelled to change his livelihood by forces beyond his control.

STORIES OF SURVIVAL

“The Story of Hugh Glass”
One of Ashley’s and Henry’s men, Hugh Glass set out for the Yellowstone River
with the Henry party. One day the old man went out to hunt some meat and stumbled
upon a grizzly bear and her two cubs. Before he could even reach his gun or turn to flee,
the grizzly had seized him by the throat, inflicting several severe and life-threatening
wounds. Finally, the main hunting party came upon the scene and killed the grizzly with
several shots as she stood over her victim. Hugh Glass was not expected to live
considering the seriousness of his wounds and the mangled condition of his body. Glass
defied the odds and survived that night and the next. There were no surgical aids to help
repair his wounds and he was unable to move or to be moved. The delay of the trapping
party, however, could jeopardize the entire group and everyone was beginning to worry,
though they were determined not to leave Hugh Glass alone. Major Henry offered a
pleasing solution. By way of reward, two men would remain with Glass until he passed
away. These two men, after watching Glass suffer for five days, judged that he could not
live much longer. Beginning to fear for their own safety, the two men decided to catch
up to the main party and explain that Glass had died. As a dead man would have no need
for a gun or supplies, the two gathered up all the supplies, leaving Glass defenseless in
the process. This done, the pair set out in search of their employer. But Hugh Glass
was not dead. A few months later, he appeared at Henry’s Fort on the Yellowstone,
thirsty for revenge. Only the younger member of the pair, Jim Bridger, was at the fort
and, due to his age and inexperience, his life was spared. It was the other man who Glass
wanted. Told that this man was now stationed at Fort Atkinson down the Missouri, Glass
joined four other men who were headed in that direction. Glass barely escaped the
Indians who attacked the party, killing the four other men.
Finally, nearly a year since the grizzly attack, Glass reached the garrison. But after
Colonel Leavenworth pointed out the many disadvantages to killing a soldier of the
United States Army, Glass conceded to forget his plot of revenge.

“Escape from the Blackfoot”
In the fall of 1808, John Colter and his partner named Potts came upon a large group
of Blackfoot Indians while floating a stream near Three Forks. The Indians ordered the
men to shore. Potts, refusing to come in, shot an Indian from the boat and was
immediately riddled with arrows. The chief ordered Colter to be stripped of his clothes
and to run for his life while being pursued by a band of Indian braves. Colter ran with
desperate speed and dashed for a river some six miles in the distance. Even though at one
point an Indian overtook him, Colter was able to wield the spear from his grip and kill the
Indian with his own weapon. Colter finally reached the Madison river where he
remained hidden under a raft of floating driftwood for several hours. The Indians could
be heard yelling as they searched the area for him, a few even standing upon the raft
which sheltered him. After dark, the Indians abandoned their search and Colter swam
downstream and then traveled some two hundred miles to Fort Manuel.

“The Trapper’s Bride”
The prices varying in accordance with circumstances. He (the trapper) is seated
with his friend, to the left of the sketch, his hand extended to his promised wife, supported
by her father and accompanied by a chief, who holds the calumet, an article
indispensable in all grand ceremonies. The price of acquisition, in this case, was $600
paid for in the legal tender of this region: Vis: Guns, $100 each, Blankets $40 each, Red
Flannel $20 pr. year, Alcohol $64 pr Gal., Tobacco, Beads &c. at corresponding rates.
A Free Trapper (white or half-breed), being ton or upper circle, is a most desirable
match, but it is conceded that he is a ruined man after such an investment, the lady
running into unheard of extravagances. She wants a dress, horse, gorgeous saddle,
trappings, and the deuce knows what beside. For this the poor devil trapper sells
himself, body and soul, to the Fur Company for a number of years. He traps beaver,
hunts the Buffalo and bear, Elk &c. The furs and robes of which the Company credit to
his account.

The “Devil’s Gate”
The traveler on his way to the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains encounters this
singular scene, about 5 miles beyond Independence Rock, where the Sweet Water has
forced its way through a granite ridge. Col. Fremont, who seems to have measured it,
thus described it.—-
“The length of the passage is about 300 yards, and the width 35 yards. The walls of
rock are vertical, and about 400feet in height; and the stream in the gate is almost
entirely choked up by masses which have fallen from above. In the wall on the right bank
is a dike of trap rock, cutting through a fine grey granite; near the point of this ridge
crop out some Strata of the valley formation, consisting of a greyish sandstone and fine
grey conglomerate and marl.”
The sketch however will convey a better idea of the scene than any written description
can possibly accomplish.

“Indian Hospitality”
The sketch represents the interior of a Lodge and the Snake Indian entertaining a free
Trapper at a feast. The latter is engaged in recounting some adventure to his host, partly
by his limited knowledge of the Indian Language, and by signs.
To the right is seated an Indian woman who watches his every movement with intense
interest;—she has no doubt often heard of the extravagant generosity of these reckless
fellows, and worships him accordingly.
We had often opportunities of attending these feasts—but an invitation to one in the
valley of Green River posed us,—it was to a “Dog Feast.” Now in course of time we had
made some efforts to get rid of foolish prejudices, of one kind or other,— but how about
the Dog meat? “Oh we can manage that.” He then called a Trapper, who in
consideration of our promising to give him a paper of vermillion* would arrange the
matter;—on the day appointed, the vermillion was forthcoming. We sat by the trapper at
the feast who ate our share, seemed to enjoy it too;—and the etiquette appeared
satisfactory to our hosts, in every respect.
* 1 ounce.

“Moonlight—Camp Scene”
An old trapper is up on his feet spinning a yarn wherein he is giving an account of an
adventure of Markhead’s with a grizzly bear. According to his account, Markhead was
afraid of nothing on or under this earth, and “was bound to shine in the biggest sort of a
crowd.” The story, stripped of the trapper’s ornamentation, was to this effect.—That
Markhead for a wager determined to go into some wild cherry bushes where the bear
was known to be, and dispatch him simply with a tomahawk. In this affair, the “B’ar”
was too much for him. In approaching him through the bushes, he was not aware that
Bruin was so near, and in a moment the powerful brute had his paw on our hero’s head,
tearing away the entire scalp. Most wonderful of all in the course of time, the trapper
entirely recovered, and when we reached the Rendezvous in Oregon, we saw him well
and hearty; his head having little or no hair on it and presented a very singular
appearance.
During the recital there was a running commentary from the Trappers. — “Wagh”
“he was some”—“had old grit in him” —“could take the frissle off a darned panther’s
tail.”&c.

“Trapping Beaver”
In hunting the Beaver two or more trappers are usually in company. On reaching a
creek or stream, their first attention is given to “sign.” If they discover a tree prostrate,
it is carefullyexamined to ascertain if it is the work of Beaver, and if thrown for the
purpose of damming the stream. Foot prints of the animal on the mud or sand are
carefully searched for, and if fresh, they then prepare to set their traps. One of these is
baited with “medicine”—hidden under water, and attached to a pole driven firmly on or
near the bank. A “float-stick” is made fast to the trap, so that if the Beaver should carry
it away, the stick remains on the surface of the water and points out its position.
With all the caution the poor trappers take, they cannot always escape the Lynx eyes
of the Indians. The dreadful war whoop, with bullets and arrows about their ears, are
the first intimations of danger; They are destroyed in this way from time to time, until by
a mere chance their bones are found bleaching on the borders of some stream where they
have hunted.

“Prairie on Fire”
Towards the Fall the grass, which has attained the height of 3 or 4 feet, becomes
parched and dry.
It is then very inflammable and either by accident or design takes fire. The manner of
its approach is insidious enough; at first a slight haze is seen near the horizon, but the
experienced eye of the Trapper or Indian immediately detects the nature of the visitor,
and all hands in the camp are immediately busy in setting fire to the long grass about
them;—not suffering it to make much headway, but beating it down with cloths &
blankets. In this manner large spaces are cleared, horses, mules, and tents are secured
in the burnt areas, which are enlarged as time permits, and escape from certain death is
thus averted through a very simple process.
The fire sweeps round with the speed of a race horse, licking up every thing that it
touches with its fiery tongue,—leaving nothing in its train but a blackened heath.

“MIXED BLOODS”
Dorion, an interpreter of mixed parentage that lived with the Sioux for some twenty
years in the early part of the nineteenth century, said, “The white man scatters his seed
like the cottonwood, blown on every careless wind.” Indeed, many of the marriages
between mountain men and Indian women produced children. This phenomenon is
called miscegenation, an interbreeding of races, especially whites and others.
The upbringing of the children sometimes provided an arena in which the Euro-
American and Indian societies clashed. In the fur trade society, while it was
acknowledged that Indian women were remarkably devoted and affectionate mothers,
Euro-American fathers exercised patriarchal authority. The story of Manuel Lisa,
Spaniard and principle in the Missouri Fur Company, provides an example. Lisa decided
that the daughter from his marriage to Mitain, an Omaha woman, should have a formal
education in St. Louis. He sent the little girl away to the city in the East. Mitain was
devastated, and slashed her skin, tore her clothing, and put ashes in her hair, the
prescribed rituals of her people for mourning the dead. A few years later, he attempted to
send their young son away in the same manner. The intense grief displayed by Mitain
aroused the anger of her people, the Omahas, who believed, like the majority of Indian
peoples, that children were virtually the “property” of their mothers by matrilinear right.
Only after Omaha chiefs and even government men protested did Lisa yield and let the
boy remain with his mother.

ROMANCE AND REALISM
Living today in an industrialized society, we find it difficult to imagine wilderness life
as it was in frontier America during the early nineteenth century. Indeed, it is hard to
recapture now the experiences of that eventful period in the past or even to picture the
land and its people more than a hundred years ago. Therefore, we must turn to the
surviving accounts of those who first explored the western wilds. Perhaps none recall
those bygone days more vividly than the pictorial reports of the nineteenth-century artists
like Alfred Jacob Miller who, in the company of fur trappers and traders, crossed the
trackless prairie and the distant Rocky Mountains. In his and other artists’ works the
image of the “romance of the Mountain Man” was established. For some people living in
the twentieth century the life of the mountain man is viewed as one of simplicity, getting
back to nature, getting away from the restrictions of urban life. For many the mountain
man and his life are synonymous with independence and self-reliance, daring and
courage, and a “don’t-tread-on-me” attitude.
Some historians have argued plausibly that the American fur trade was never very
important economically and moreover was never primarily a Rocky Mountain
phenomenon. It has been written that too much recognition has been given to the
‘incredible richness’ of the Rocky Mountain beaver trapping. Dale L. Morgan stated
that: “Maybe the American West was rich only in poor man’s terms.” Morgan’s
comment could describe Wyoming’s fur trade history. Lasting only sixteen years the
mountain man era existed in Wyoming’s semiarid environment that limited the beaver’s
habitat by the scarcity of water, aspen trees, willow trees, and brush.
In comparison with the national and international fur trade the amount of business
conducted did not add very much to the gross national product, even though it was the
only major economic activity of the region. At its peak the fur trade’s work force of
mountain men and traders did not exceed five hundred men. No more than 3,000 men
were involved in all fur trade activities west of the Missouri from 1810 to 1845, and most
of them earned barely a living wage. Company trappers’ wages were $400.00 a year,
with free trappers’ wages less, depending on their luck and initiative.
But paintings, motion pictures, books, and even public textbooks have exaggerated the
importance of the mountain man. What has been overstated, with romance and color, are
the ideas of freedom, independence, and self-reliance of the trapper’s life. Many men
stayed in the fur trade only a year or two. The work was often laborious and otherwise
disagreeable—lugging six or eight five-pound traps, wading into ice-cold water, setting
traps at just the right place so the captured animal would drown before it could chew off
its foot, skinning the victims in freezing temperature, or carrying the heavy wet animals
back to camp. Tension must have been prevalent—constant fear of Indians, and concern
about the safety and welfare of the horses, their only means of transportation. The stress
of finding productive beaver ponds year after year to ensure his continued livelihood
added to the demands placed upon the mountain man.
Whether the reader of history sees the life of the beaver trapper as exciting or harsh is
debatable. With the final verdict concerning the romantic versus realistic interpretation
of history still being argued, the art featuring the mountain man is a little bit of both.