DOCSLIB.ORG

The Story of Montana

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Story of Montana TH E STORY OF MONTANA BY KATE H AMMOND FOG AR TY NEW Y ORK AND CH ICAG O THE A . S . BARNES COMP ANY C O P Y R I G H T 1 1 6 B Y , 9 , & R S C M T H E A . B A N E O P A N Y | 916 (Dm A4 3 8 1 6 6 PREFACE “ The writing o f the Story o f Montana was under taken while the author was o n the staff o f the Butte Public Library to meet the demand f o r a suitable text f o r c o f book s hools , and also for the many lovers Montana wh o wish to become familiar with the main facts o f its early as well as present-day history without t c e having o onsult many separat volumes . M ur di uch interesting so ce material has been stu ed , and it is hoped that others may be led to c onsult t o these sources with profit themselves . The author gladly acknowledges her indebtedness t o those who have aided her in gathering the material ; to those who have granted permission to use certain illus t rat io ns , and more than all to those who by their encouragement have enabled her to overcome many obstacles . KATE HAMMOND FOG ARTY CONTENTS X O O PART I . EARLY E PL RERS IN M NTANA ri 1. The First White Men to go up the Missou River o in l The Boats they Came s O The People they Met - e The Scenery they Saw m The Animals they Hunted a The Posts they Built fl The Journals t hey Wrote H E PART II . T INDIANS hi 1. f Be ore the W te Men Came i a a nd 2 . Wh t the Explorers Learned bout the I ans a n a 3 . The Fur Traders mong the I di ns G reat Peace Councils n di 5 . Sources of I an History F PART III . THE UR TRADE r The Men at the Hea d of the Fur Trade e t The Fur Companies of Montana e p The Posts of the American Fur Company - s a t Transporting G oods to the Mount in s n e N oted Trappers s e The Hudson Bay Company in Montana r« The Journals and Letters of the Fur Traders VIS ITO R S PART IV . TO THE POSTS 1. Prince Maxim ilian Ca tlin the India n Painter 3 . N Audubon , the aturalist 4 . Father D e Sm et 5 . a . G o v . Is ac I Stevens t 6 . The Books hey Wrote vi CONTENTS TH E To PART V . MISSIONARIES THE INDIANS 1. The Iroquois i Flathead Delegations to St . Lou s Father Desmet ’ Mar s Missio n St . y Z St . Ignatius Mission Blackfeet Missions Crow Missions ’ Father D e Sm e t s Journ als TH E PART VI . FIRST SETTLERS Western Em igration G old in Montana Settlers in Montana Road Agents and Vigilantes Montana Made a Territory Later Discoveries Books Written by Pioneers H D E PART VII . T E SOL I RS IN MONTANA l i 1. Early Mi itary Expedit ons i i 2 . M l tary Roads Montana Forts 4 Battles Fought in Montana li 5 . Sources of Mi tary History V M PART VIII . DE ELOP ENT OF THE STATE a 1. Early Quartz D ys 2 l N k. Exploration of Yel owstone ational Par ’ a 5 G e 3 . Mont na Early ov rnors 4 Building of Railroads u l 5 . Agricult ral Val eys - 6 . Stock raising i 7 . Development of Rich M nes 8 . Later G overnors 9 Montana a State PART IX . TRANSFORMATION OF THE INDIANS 1. Trea ties 2 . Reservations i 3 . Soldiers and Ind ans CONTENTS vii i l i s 4 . Fr end y Ch ef i i 5 . Francis Leupp and Ind an Leg slation 6 . Indian Farmers N O R M I O PART X . ATI NAL P OBLE S N M NTANA at 1. Irrig ion - in 2 . Dry land Farm g 3 . Forestry CONCLUSION TITLES FOR COMPOSITION AND OR IGINAL RES EARCH Q UESTI ONS ON THE STATE OF MONTANA PR ONOU N CING G LOS SARY X INDE . LIST OF ILLUSTR ATIONS The State Capitol at Helena Hea d of the Big Blackfoot Valley The Flatheads m Bull-Boats In G The Buffaloes Roamed reat Herds . Pend d ’ Oreille Indian Village Relics of Indian Days ’ The Indian s Wagon . The Buffaloes were tame o u f L dges made of B falo skins . Old Fort Owen All that 1s left of Fort Benton G o v t G . Stevens Distribu ing oods Charlot , Chief of the Flatheads A Little Flathead i n House Bu lt by the I dians . The Mission of St . Ignatius The House which w a s built for them First House of the Missionaries Old Fort Benton The G reat Salt Lake Trail An old Prospector Panning out G old The old Stage Coach “ ’ ” ’ e Robb r s Roost , a Road Agent s Resort A Mud Wagon Cantonment Stevens m t he Bitter Root Valley i ’ Cantonment Wr ght . Lieut . Mullan s Winter Quarters The First Army Stat ion in Yellowstone Park Custer’ s Last Stand A Sioux Warrior ’ s G rave Prospector Panning out G old Hydraulic Mining Anaconda Hill - A Jerk Line , Tw elve x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Sheep at the River An Old Time Cattle Ranch A Ranch Interior The Old OX ” Cow Camp Sheep in Custer County Sheep Shearing Hauling Wool to the Warehouse A Miner’ s Cabin in Butte Real Cowboys ’ Pend d Ore ille Indians Painted Lodges of the Black feet The Rising G eneration The Last of the Buffaloes The G reat Falls of the Missouri in their Natural state and after completion of Power Development LIST OF MAPS FACIN G PAGE Lewis and Clark Route and Verendrye Route 8 V Tribal Homes of the Indians 22 The River Systems of the N orthwest 72 ’ ’ D e Sm e t s G overnor Stevens route to Washington . Father First Trip to the Flatheads First Settlements Military Posts and Military Roads The State of Montana showing important Towns . TH E S TORY OF MONTANA PAR T I EARLY EXPLORER S IN MONTANA TH E S H ME N ‘ G U P TH E M S S 1. FIR T W ITE TO O I OURI ' - Lo o king f o r t h e P a cific O ce an . The first white men t o go up the Missouri h ad a great Object in view . They were looking for the Pacific Ocean . It seems strange to us that the year 1743 had been reached before the people o f America had learned the first thing about the western continent . But just consider for a moment the conditions as they were in those days . H o w many miles would yo u o ne o r care to travel at stretch on horseback , in a stage - coach ? Or h o w far do you think yo u would care to go up a river if yo u had to ro w all the way ? o r Canoes were their boats , and horses oxen their m only eans of land locomotion . Steamboats were not used until 18 19 and Such a thing as a railroad n 0 was o t known anywhere until 183 . o f Then there were , course , no supply stations and they had to carry with them provisions enough to last until their return , and they were in great o f o f danger falling into the hands the hostile Indians , 2 EARLY EXPLORERS IN MONTANA with no way o f escape ; o r o f being badly wounded and unable to return to their homes . difficu lt ie S With all these in the way , men were indeed brave who would venture far in the wilder t ness , and even having such a grea object as the o f discovery an ocean had not charms for many . Th e Fre nch f u r trad e rs . The French fur trad ers were great men for seeking new lands . They were continually pushing farther into the wilderness and building trading posts where it would seem im possible for white men to go . These Frenchmen were friendly to the Indians , because they wanted their trade . They would go into their lodges and become like members o f the tribe and the Indians would tell them stories about their life in the wilderness . — Ve re nd rye an d h is so n s One of the traders b was much interested in a story often told y t the o f f Indians , a river which lowed from far up in the western mountains , and of another river which flowed in the opposite direction and which had its head waters so near that of the first river that only the mountains stood between them , and this second e riv r flowed down into a great salt sea , so great that no Indian could venture far o u t in a canoe . ' This French trader , Pierre Gaultier de Varennes , w a s Sieur de la Verendrye , an employee at Fort Ni o e n r o f . p g , a trading post no th Lake Superior He very much desired to see this great salt sea ; but how was the feat to be accomplished ? He knew that in order to do it he would have to have a num ber of companions , and they would need provisions enough TH E FIR ST WHITE ME N 3 to last them several years .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • In Search of the Fraeb Battlefield and Trading Post, August 1841 Greg Pierce and Mark E
    plains anthropologist, Vol. 60 No. 235, August, 2015, 223–245 ARTICLE In search of the Fraeb battlefield and trading post, August 1841 Greg Pierce and Mark E. Miller Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA During the late 1830s and early 1840s, trading posts in Wyoming were relocat- ing to major waterways and trail systems to capture the burgeoning indigen- ous bison robe and overland Euroamerican emigrant trade. Recent research discovered references to a “Fraeb’s trading post” operating in southern Wyoming during the 1830s. Wyoming cultural records also contain a site form for 48CR1184, the “Bridger and Fraeb trading post,” located in south- central Wyoming. The construction of a post in southern Wyoming during the 1830s would have been at odds with developing economic models. Histori- cal references describe a battle between Euroamerican trappers and Native Americans near the supposed Fraeb’s trading post. However, reliable refer- ences to the nature of the structure associated with the battle have not been discovered. In 2011, the authors conducted archaeological investigations in an effort to locate the battle site and possible remains of the post to gain insight into historic activities at this location. keywords fur trade, Henry Fraeb, trading post, historic archaeology, dendrochronology This article is an outgrowth of work by the senior author developing a multiple property nomination on trading posts in Wyoming for the State Historic Preser- vation Office (Pierce 2012a), and a public booklet on the same subject (Pierce 2012b). In the nomination, information was analyzed for 29 trading posts occupied between 1832 and 1868.
    [Show full text]
  • The Infrastructure of the Fur Trade in the American Southwest, 1821-1840
    Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Plan B and other Reports Graduate Studies 5-2014 The Infrastructure of the Fur Trade in the American Southwest, 1821-1840 Hadyn B. Call Utah State Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports Part of the American Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Call, Hadyn B., "The Infrastructure of the Fur Trade in the American Southwest, 1821-1840" (2014). All Graduate Plan B and other Reports. 367. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/367 This Creative Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Plan B and other Reports by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE FUR TRADE IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST, 1821-1840 by Hadyn B. Call A plan-B thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History Approved: _________________________ _________________________ John D. Barton David R. Lewis Major Professor Committee Member _________________________ Robert Parson Committee Member UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, UT 2014 2 THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE FUR TRADE IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST, 1821-1840 Introduction Careful study of the published history of the American Southwest reveals that historians have not provided a comprehensive analysis of the infrastructure that enabled the fur trade in the American Southwest to thrive. Analysis of that infrastructure unveils an amalgamation of blended characteristics derived from the French, British, and American systems along with characteristics derived from the Southwest’s own evolutionary development over time and space.
    [Show full text]
  • Plot Outline
    The Fur Trade in Colorado: A Selected Bibliography and Chronology Compiled by Ben Fogelberg Assistant Editor, Colorado Historical Society Brief Chronology 1806 Returning from their journey to the Pacific, Lewis and Clark meet trappers heading west 1815 A.P. Chouteau and Jules De Mun party first large fur brigade to upper Arkansas and southern Rockies 1822 William Ashley’s famous call for “enterprising young men” 1823 Arikara Battle temporarily closes Missouri River to trade, inspires “Rocky Mountain trapping system” whereby trappers travel overland to interior West and rely on rendezvous for re-supply 1825 Rocky Mountain Fur Company’s first rendezvous 1826 Ashley sells Rocky Mountain Fur Company to William Sublette, David Jackson, Jedediah Smith 1830 Smith, Jackson, Sublette sell Rocky Mountain Fur Co. to Thomas Fitzpatrick, Jim Bridger, Milton Sublette, Henry Fraeb, Jean Baptiste Gervais 1830 William Sublette takes first supply wagons to mountains, does not cross Divide 1831 Jedediah Smith killed by Comanches on Cimarron Cutoff, Santa Fe Trail 1833 Bent’s Fort constructed 1834 Astor’s American Fur Co. buys out Rocky Mountain Fur Co. 1835 Fort Vasquez established on the South Platte by Andrew Sublette and Louis Vasquez 1836 Fort Lupton established on the South Platte by Lancaster P. Lupton (possibly 1837) 1837 Fort Jackson established on the South Platte by Peter Sarpy and Henry Fraeb 1837 Fort St. Vrain established on the South Platte by Bent and St. Vrain 1838 Bent and St. Vrain purchase Fort Jackson from Sarpy and Fraeb 1842 El Pueblo established on Arkansas River 1843 Fort Bridger established, marks traditional end of the fur trade era, though limited trapping and fur/hide trading continues 1 Bibliography Selected sources on the fur trade in Colorado, with general works on the fur trade in the Rocky Mountain West.
    [Show full text]
  • Archaeological Investigations of Fraeb's Post: Preliminary Results
    1) This presentation discusses archaeological investigations conducted by the Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist in 2011 investigating Fraeb’s Post in southern Wyoming. Henry Fraeb was a fur trapper and trader working in Wyoming and Colorado during the early 19th century. Historical accounts mention a Fraeb’s Post in southern Wyoming, dating to the early 1840s. However, our current understanding of fur trading activities in the 19th century suggest that constructing a post in this area, during this time, would have been unusual. So to further investigate this, archaeological survey and dendochronological studies were conducted. 2) This work is an outgrowth of a larger project conducted by this author. I was working on the development of a Multiple Property Document for the National Register of Historic Places. This document was part of a larger initiative spearheaded by the Planning and Historic Context Development Program within the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to increase the number of nominations of archaeological sites to the National Register of Historic Places. The Multiple Property Document I worked on examined 19th century trading posts in Wyoming. Wyoming’s fur trading posts were involved in a number of significant historical developments in the West including the exploration of the region, the establishment and maintenance of trade relationships with tribal groups in the area, the facilitation of westward emigration, and the development of a local transportation and communication infrastructure. Due to the connection of the posts to these important historical developments it was determined that trading posts in general culturally significant and should be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
    [Show full text]
  • THE COLORADO MAGAZINE Published Bi-Monthly by the State Historical Society of Colorado
    THE COLORADO MAGAZINE Published bi-monthly by The State Historical Society of Colorado Vol. XVII Denver, Colorado, May, 1940 No. 3 Place Names in Colorado (B)* Bachelor, Mineral County. Named for the Bachelor Mine, which was staked out in 1884 by George 'Wilson. One version is that the camp was so-named because of the absence of women. Between 1895 and 1908 the town had a population of more than a thousand inhabitants. It was abandoned after the highway was built, the population moving to Jim Town, which later became Creede. 1 Bachelor Switch, Ouray County. This town was named for the Bachelor Mine, Uncompahgre District,2 and its location at a switch on the Rio Grande Southern Railroacl. 3 Bailey, Park County. Bailey was named for a settler, William Bailey, who established a hotel and stage station here in 1864. 'l'he station was known as Bailey's Ranch; the later settlement adopted the name, later shortening it.4 In 1878 the narrow-gage Denver & South Park Railroad made Bailey its terminal. Bakers Crossing, Arapahoe County. In 1859 Jim Baker, fa. mous Mountain Man, established a small store here and operated a toll bridge, built to replace the old ferry ; hence the name. Baker's adobe house stood on the south side of Clear Creek, near what is now 53rd and 'l'ennyson Streets in the present city of Denver.5 Bakers Park, San Juan County. This was the first permanent settlement on the present site of Silverton, and was named for the surrounding area, which had been called Bakers Park since 1860.
    [Show full text]
  • HISTORIC TRAIL MAP of the GREELEY 1° X 2° QUADRANGLE, COLORADO and WYOMING
    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY HISTORIC TRAIL MAP OF THE GREELEY 1° x 2° QUADRANGLE, COLORADO AND WYOMING By Glenn R. ScottI and Carol Rein Shwayder2 Pamphlet to accompany MISCELLANEOUS INVESTIGATIONS SERIES MAP 1-2326 IU.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colo. 2Unicom Ventures, Greeley, Colo. CONTENTS Introduction 1 Unsolved Problems 1 Method of Preparation of the Historic Trail Map 1 Acknowledgments 3 Agricultural Colonies Founded in the Greeley Quadrangle 4 Indian Trails in the Greeley Quadrangle 4 Chronology of Some Major Historical Events 5 Railroads in the Greeley Quadrangle 13 People and the Dates they were Associated with Places in the Greeley Quadrangle in the Early Days 13 Some Toll Roads and Bridges in the Greeley Quadrangle 27 Sources of Information 28 FIGURES 1. Regional Map of the Overland, Mormon, Smoky Hill, Santa Fe, Cherokee, and Oregon Trails 2 2. Sketches of Fort St. Vrain, Fort Vasquez, and Fort Lupton 7 III INTRODUCTION about Indian attacks did not end until the Indians were removed from eastern Colorado in about 1871. Discovery of gold in the Rocky Mountains in central Westward movement of whites into the Great Plains Colorado in 1858 led to the establishment of new trails to area was encouraged by the Homestead Act of 1862. Many the future site of Denver, thence to the gold fields. These persons displaced by the Civil War moved onto the newly trails included the Overland Trail up the South Platte River, opened land even though the Indians were still a potential the Smoky Hill Trail across the dry plains of eastern menace.
    [Show full text]
  • STRIDEN VID PIERRE's HOLE 1832 Av BERTIL THÖRN Delvis Innehållande Översatt Och Bearbetat Material Författat Av: Jim Hardee, Bradley H
    STRIDEN VID PIERRE’S HOLE 1832 SAMMANFATTNING AV OLIKA ÖGONVITTNESSKILDRINGAR 2018 INDIANKLUBBEN 2 Följande text är en sammanslagning av två serieartiklar som förekommit i INDIANKLUBBENS medlemstidskrift NORDAMERIKAS INDIANER nr 4 Vinter år 2000 samt nr 1 Vår år 2001. Hela texten från tidningsartiklarna är med, men de har här uppdaterats och kompletterats med ytterligare uppgifter. Omslagsbilden är utförd av John Clymer och har titeln: TRADER AT PIERRE’S HOLE RENDEZVOUS Det är en oljemålning från 1971 i storlek 506 x 1016 mm Alla illustrationer är hämtade från Internet Personer vars nedtecknade hågkomster ligger till grund för denna historia är bland andra: Nathaniel J. Wyeth John Wyeth Warren Ferris Joseph Meek George Nidever Zenas Leonard John Ball Robert Campbell William Sublette Den egentliga huvudpersonen i min tolkning av händel- sen, © Bertil Thörn 2018 Joshua Leclerc, är dock en uppdiktad person, medan alla andraINDIANKLUBBEN omnända var verkliga personer som alla deltog i hän- delsen Helsingborg 2018 3 INNEHÅLLSFÖRTECKNING TEXTAVSNITT Innehåll FÖRORD..................................................................................... 6 Inledning ..................................................................................... 7 Bakgrund ..................................................................................... 8 Rendezvous ............................................................................... 12 Handeln vid rendezvous ............................................................ 22 Uppbrottet från rendezvous
    [Show full text]
  • The Life and Archive of Robert Campbell (1804-1879) By, Andy Hahn, Executive Director, Campbell House Museum
    Newsletter of the Jedediah Smith Society • University of the Pacific, Stockton, California SUMMER 2018 The Life and Archive of Robert Campbell (1804-1879) BY, ANDY HAHN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CAMPBELL HOUSE MUSEUM Robert Campbell holds a unique place Jedediah Smith who in the history of the fur trade. He not had just days earlier only had an unusually successful and long trading career returned from the which touched nearly every corner of the West, but more Rockies. Smith was importantly Campbell left a very large collection of letters, quickly preparing to ledgers, and journals, including his famous “Narrative,” that leave St. Louis again give detailed accounts of events and people from the fur so he could be in the trade. Strangely this archive is still largely unknown. His mountains to trade the career began in earnest when William Ashley and Jedediah next summer. Smith Smith hired the 21-year-old Campbell as the company clerk offered Campbell to for their caravan heading to the 1826 rendezvous. Campbell’s position of company relationship with Smith would be pivotal to his future. clerk for the trade caravan that would Campbell was born in 1804 at his family home in County depart within weeks. Tyrone in Ireland (preserved as a museum at the Ulster- With two years in the American Folk Park). Economic stagnation in Ireland pushed mountains under his a young Robert to follow his older brother Hugh to America. belt, Smith became Hand-colored photograph of By the fall of 1823 Campbell had arrived in St. Louis and a Campbell’s mentor, Robert Campbell, circa 1860 meeting with John O’Fallon presented an opportunity for the teaching him about young immigrant.
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental Assessment, Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, Proposed
    ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ARAPAHO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE PROPOSED DONATION OF THE CHANDLER RANCH Jackson County, Colorado UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Environmental Assessment Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge Chandler Ranch Addition July 2009 Prepared by: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge 953 CR 32, Walden, CO 80480 970 723 8202 And U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Refuge Planning P.O. Box 25486 DFC Denver, CO 80225 303 236 4345 Chapter 1 – Purpose of and Need for Action The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is the principle Federal agency with the responsibility for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million­ acre National Wildlife Refuge System (System) which encompasses more than 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices, and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. National wildlife refuges are established for a particular purpose. Formal establishment is generally based upon a statute or executive order that specifies a purpose for that refuge.
    [Show full text]
  • The Last Button on Gabe's Coat: Jim Bridger in the Southwest, 1834-1848
    New Mexico Historical Review Volume 66 Number 2 Article 3 4-1-1991 The Last Button on Gabe's Coat: Jim Bridger in the Southwest, 1834-1848 Tim Wehrkamp Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmhr Recommended Citation Wehrkamp, Tim. "The Last Button on Gabe's Coat: Jim Bridger in the Southwest, 1834-1848." New Mexico Historical Review 66, 2 (1991). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmhr/vol66/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in New Mexico Historical Review by an authorized editor of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "The Last Button on Gabe's Coat": Jim Bridger in the Southwest, 1834-1848 TIM WEHRKAMP Osborne Russell had an eye for the quirky details of fur trade life. For example, "poor bull" characterized the meals in his camp of trappers on Blackfoot Creek, near Fort Hall, in the winter of 1835-1836. He contrasted this "feast" with exalted dining company composed of such "philosophical and independent dignitaries" as "Major, Judge, Squire, Dollar Pike, and Cotton," presided over by wry, whimsical "Gabe" as host and master of erstwhile ceremonies. 1 Such humor reminds us that informal sobriquets proliferated throughout the community of trappers. The "Major" was Joe Meek, George Ebbert answered to "Squire," "Cotton" was actually Cotton Mansfield, and Osborne Russell went by the title of "Judge."2 Beyond Blackfoot Creek, other traders sported equally distinctive nicknames: Tim Wehrkamp is an archivist and historian with the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Bent, St. Vrain & Co., 1830-1849 a Dissertation Submitt
    UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE BUSINESS IN THE BORDERLANDS: BENT, ST. VRAIN & CO., 1830-1849 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By DAVID C. BEYREIS Norman, Oklahoma 2012 BUSINESS IN THE BORDERLANDS: BENT, ST. VRAIN & CO., 1830-1849 A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY ______________________________ Dr. Albert L. Hurtado, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Paul A. Gilje ______________________________ Dr. Sterling Evans ______________________________ Dr. Catherine E. Kelly ______________________________ Dr. Sean O‟Neill © Copyright by DAVID C. BEYREIS 2012 All Rights Reserved. To My Dissertation Committee Acknowledgements Without financial support, this dissertation would not exist. Therefore, my first acknowledgements must go to those who helped support my work. Special thanks to the Department of History at the University of Oklahoma for providing me with five years of funding as a teaching assistant, research assistant, and instructor. The Anne Hodges Morgan and H. Wayne Morgan Dissertation Fellowship funded a transcontinental research junket. Finally, Cliff Hudson‟s generosity helped bring me to Norman, aided my research trips, and allowed me to attend national and regional conferences. Archivists and librarians make the work of historians possible, and I have had the good fortune to work with many fine individuals in repositories across the nation. On the East Coast, the staff at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University initiated me into the mysteries of archival work. In California, I wish to acknowledge the efforts of the staffs at the Braun Research Library, the Huntington Library, and the Bancroft Library.
    [Show full text]
  • The 1837 Fort Jackson Trading Camp Inventory
    The 1837 Fort Jackson Trading Camp Inventory: A Typical Outfit for the Plains Indian Trade and What it Tells Us About the Plains Indian Consumer ©Michael Schaubs 2015 On December 2, 1837 a trading party under James C. Robertson left Fort Jackson to trade on the Arkansas River.1 It’s likely that the purpose of the party was to trade with Cheyenne or Arapahoe Indians in the vicinity of Big Timbers (located in the present day Lamar, Colorado area), this being a favored wintering location for these Indians. A further purpose of the trading party may have been to tweak the Bent, St. Vrain & Co (BSVC), whose primary trading center, Bent’s Fort was located approximately 60 miles upriver. While many details of the trading party have been lost, the inventory of trade goods with wholesale costs has been preserved. The items listed on the Fort Jackson inventory (FJI) have been grouped into functional categories and for this study have been compared to the Fort Hall Ledgers (FHL), August 1834-December 1835, the Fontenelle, Drips and UMO inventory of 1833 (FDU) and the Montreal Merchant Records 1715- 1760 (MMR). I. Historical Setting of Fort Jackson The location of Fort Jackson is today uncertain, but is believed to have been several miles to the south of present day Platteville, Colorado, on the east bank of the South Platte River2. The valley of the South Platte River running along the front range of the Rocky Mountains was in many ways an ideal location for a trading post. This area, located approximately midway between Fort William (starting to be known as Fort Laramie in 1838) to the north and Bent’s Fort (also known as Fort William) to the south, had an abundance of food resources including buffalo and wild berries that drew large populations of Indians to the area.
    [Show full text]