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Show I BIT TRAPPERS IN THE 1 GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY s ' Aihley's First Expedition a Failure Explored the Yellowstone Yellow-stone His Trappers Discovered South Pass and the Great Salt Lake He Descended the Green River Built a Trading Post on the Site of Provo Brought the First Wheeled Vehicle Over the Oregon 'Trail to Ogden. One hundred years ago, SL Louis v&b tlio center of the American fur trade. Then tho MIhsIbbIppI river parked "the frontier" and when men spoke of tho west they meant Ohio or Kentucky. From St. Louis tho business or trading trad-ing with tho Indians of the plains was carried on and enorgetlc Americans Ameri-cans were casting nbotit for means of competing with tho English and Canadians for tho fur trade of the Rockies. It Ib a curious fact that St. Louis still holds Its supremacy as the center cen-ter of the fur trade and that tho volume of tho business Is even greater great-er now than it was in those ploneor dayB. , The first explorers of tho Rocky mountains were not looking for landa on which to build homes. They were searching out beaver streams, for the fur of tho beaver was In great demand In tho world'B markets and almost worth Its weight In sliver, If not gold. v , 4K Chittenden In his history of tnc I American fur trade of the far west, I, putB great stress upon the name of I General William IL Ashley nnd I aacrlbea much of tho prominence of Louis fn the fur business to his efforts and his name is also woven I Into the story of the early history of the country about Ogden City and the Great Salt Lake. William II. Ashley was born In Virginia in 1778. Ho came to t Louis In 1S02 and later was engaged I In mining for a number of years and I then was a manufacturer of gunpow-I gunpow-I der. In 1814 he helped to organize I a bank. Ho took nn active Interest In military affairs, was a captain of militia in 1813, a colonel In 1819 and a goneral in 1822. He was elected Wiho, first lieutenant-governor of the jiiew state of Missouri in 1820. j It was in 1S22 that Ashley seems o have decided to engage In tho fur 1 business. At .that time ho organized tho Rocky Mountain Fur company with Major Andrew Henry as his partner. part-ner. Henry had already made at least one trip to tho mountains. On March 20, 1822, tho Missouri Republican of St. Louis contnined an advertlBoraent slgnod by Ashley call-f call-f Ing for "100 enterprising young men" to engage in an expedition to ascend tho Missouri river to Its source, and to be gone one, two or three years. I Tho 100 volunteers were duly en rolled and Included such names as Jim Brldgcr, Hugh Glass, Etlonno ProvoBt, Jcdldlah S. Smith, Thomas , FlUpatrlck. tho Sublette brothers. H. Fracb, David E. Jackson, Robert Campbell, Edward Rose and many L jjthcr Hf -the choicest spirits of tho r frontier, Probably nover boforo and certainly f never since has the roster of an ex-' ex-' plorlng expedition Included so many names destined to become famous In ! tho history of tho west, j Tho first division loft St. Louis In two keel boats April 15, 1822, under command of Honry. a little below i Independence, Mo. One of the boats Lf waa wreckod on a snag and a loss 1 of $.10,000 worth of goods wa3 sua-I sua-I talned. Tho party sufferod further loss of R their horsoB v,hlch were stolen by tho ABslnlbalns near Mandan, N. D. Henry built a trading post at the mouth of the YellowBtono and the next spring started for the country of tho Blackfect where ho lost four men In a fight and then retreated to tho Yellowstone, while ABhloy returned re-turned to St. Louis. On March 10. 1823, Ashley left SL Louis with another 100 men on two keel boat3 and on the 30th of May arrived at the Arlckaree villages, located lo-cated JuBt south of tho line between North and South Dakota. These woro two In number, fortified with a stockado of logs about fifteen feet high and placed directly on the bank of tho Missouri river. Tho Ashley party spent several days hero buying horaoB from tho Indians, In-dians, the two keel boats being anchored an-chored near tho west bank and opposite op-posite the lower village. On "June 1, 1823, there was a great powwow ashore which Ashloy attended. There was much oratory and much smoking of the pipe of peace. Ashley returned re-turned to his quarters on one of the keel boats well pleased with the attitude at-titude of the Indians. That night his Interpreter, Edward Rose, warned him that the IndlanB wcro plotting mischief and wanted him to move the boats across to the cast bank of the river. Ashley refused re-fused this advlco and even left hlB land party of forty men camped on tho river bank, guarding the newly purchased horses. About daylight of Juno 2, the Arick-areee Arick-areee opened fire from tho shelter of their stockades and some timber near the river, concentrating their fire on the land party. Ashley In his account says: "1 think that about three-fourths of thorn (the Indians) are armed with London fusils that carry a ball with groat accuracy and force and which thoy uso with as much expertness as any men I ever saw handle arms." Ashley sent skiffs to bring off the shore party but they refused to retreat. re-treat. Thoy continued firing at the Indians, using their horses aB protection. protec-tion. Fourteen men were killed and nine were wounded. All tho horses wero cither killed or captured by the Indians. The survivors of the shore party, Including Jim Brldger. Jededlah S. Smith and Jackson finally retreated Into tho river and swam out to the boats. It was said that not over eight of the Indians were killed or wounded. The fight was all over In fifteen minutes and tho two keel boats hoisted hoist-ed anchor and drifted down the river out of tho line of five. The boatmen, the Canadian voy-ageurs, voy-ageurs, objected strangely to being mixed up In nny Indian fighting and InslBted on going some distance down the river. From his new camps Ashley Ash-ley sent word to the nearest government govern-ment post asking for tho aid of United Uni-ted States troops. He then sent a messenger across tho country to tho Yollowstono to summon sum-mon Henry to relnforco him. His message was carried by Smith who volunteered for tho service. Henry returned promptly with all but 20 or his men. The Missouri Fur company compa-ny sont 40 volunteers to help and when Colonel Leavenworth arrived on July 19, 1S23, with six companies of regulars, the Sioux were bo lmpresseu with the opportunity to get even with their old enemies, tho Arlckarees, that they contributed 600 volunteers. The wholo forco moved up tho river riv-er to the Arlckaree villages, some of tho expedition In boats and the balance bal-ance marching along the west bank. On the 9th of August, 1S23, the first fighting occurred between tho Sioux who led the advance and the Arlckarees, Arlcka-rees, resulting in some losses on both sides. On the arrival of the regulars regu-lars tho Arlckarees retreated behind tho palisades of their vlHages. The next day an attack waa mado at tho same time on -both villages. Tho Sioux for some reason stayed out of tho fight. First tho artillery opened open-ed flro with solid shot plowing through tho palisades and mud huts In the villages. Tho chief. Gray Eyes, was killed by the first shot but tho bombardment did not have tho effect of forcing the IndlanB out from behind their defenses. Colonol Leavenworth thon ordered the riflemen to open fire, but tho Indians In-dians held their ground. Tho Sioux seem to have suddenly decided that tho whites were not Btrong enough to win and wero watching for an opportunity op-portunity of changing sides. Leavenworth Leaven-worth mado a caroful Inspection of the villages and decided against a general aEsault. Ho colled a halt for the day and retired to his cabin : on his boat Later in the day tho Indians sont out their leading chiefs who asked for terras of peace and Leavenworth hav-lng hav-lng In mind tho general policy of the government toward tho Indians, at once consented much to the disgust dis-gust of the Sioux and of tho trappers. trap-pers. There waB a pow-wow and tho pipe of peace was smoked. At first some of tho leaders among the trappora would not participate. Thoy wanted want-ed rovengo for tho loaa of their comrades com-rades In tho first battle, but Leavenworth Leaven-worth persisted and a treaty was drawn and signed. The treaty demanded that the Indians In-dians were to restore all tho goods taken from Ashley but tho Indians avoided this and on the night of the 12th fled from their villages. On August 15th the soldiers started back down the river and it Is said the trappers burned the two villages Tho general effect of tho affair was not good as tho Indians continued tholr depredations on the trappers for many years. At tho conclusion of the Leavenworth Leaven-worth campaign Ashley sent Henry and about 80 men back to the Yellowstone. Yel-lowstone. Tho post at tho junction with Missouri was abandoned and the I expedition proceeded up to the Big Horn and from that point smaller par-tlos par-tlos found tholr way Into the volley of tho Snako nnd some under Provost Pro-vost spent the winter In the Bear Rlvor valley and tho valley of tho Great Salt Lake. Ashley had returned to SL Loula and became a candidate for governor of Missouri but was defeated. Ills fur hunting expeditions had so far been a failure and ho was almost bankrupt but was able to fit out an- other party which loft St. Louis October Oc-tober 24, 1824, and which he led In person. Tho routo was up tho Missouri to Council Bluffs, thence up the Platte river, following the south fork of that river to the mountains. He appears to have marched straight wost to tho Green river, keeping a llttlo north ot tho south line of Wyoming. Ashley romalned on tho Green river riv-er until the spring of 1825 when he led part of his expedition on a wild goose chaso down the river In an effort to explore It and reach tho Pacific. After passing by boat some distance dis-tance down the river, his boat was wrecked In a cascade near the mouth of tho river that has since been given his name. There aro conflicting stories about this affair. Jim Blckwllh claims to havo saved Ashley from drowning and Ashley commemorated the event by Inscribing on a rock near at hand "Ashley, 1825." Forty years later Major Powell while exploring the Green river, found tho inscription and got the date confused. con-fused. Ho wrote n serious account of Ashley's mishap telling how the party after the wreck scaled the canyon can-yon wall and walked to Salt Lake City and wcro given employment on tho construction of tho Temple until -hey could be sent homo to SL Louis. The fact was that when Ashley's party left tho Groen river they started west along the south base of the Uintah Uin-tah mountains until thoy fell in with Etlenno Provost, who had evidently been Instructed to meet them. By Provost the expedition was con-1 con-1 ducted to Utah Lake where Provost and his party had the year before been treacherously attacked by the Indians with whom they were smoking smok-ing the pipe of peace. This event was supposed to have occurred somewhere near the site of the City ot Provo. ABhley, Provost and their followers, follow-ers, explored tho country to the south. They entered the valley of the Sevier and followed that stream to the Sevier lake. Tho river and lake now known as the Sevier were both named for Ashley. Ashley and his men explored the mountain streams and trapped bea-ber bea-ber that year from as far south as Marysvale, Utah, to Cache valley on the north, and as the winter came on they gathered at the agreed rendezvous rendez-vous on the Green-river In western Wyoming. In traveling north along the west slope of the Wasatch, Ashley and his party passed the present site of Ogden Og-den City and near Ogden, or not far to tho north, probably In Cache valley, val-ley, he mot up with Poter Skcen Ogden, Og-den, the Hudson Bay company trader, tra-der, after whom our city is named. There is much conflict regarding what followed. By some the claim Is made that ABhley's men, by accident, acci-dent, discovered a "cache" whero Ogden Og-den had concealed a lot of beaver fur and having no use for a Britisher, anyhow, deliberately appropriated tho contents of the cache which they turned turn-ed over to Ashloy. Jim Bockwlth In his biography, says that the furs "cost Ashley comparatively compara-tively little." Audubon, famous as tho great authority au-thority on birds, was a personal friend of Ashley and was told by him that tho defeat by the Arlckarees which drove him away from tho upper up-per Missouri, was really a very fortunate for-tunate thing for him as It caused him to go to tho vicinity of the Great Lake where he "procured a hundred packs of beaver skins for a mere song." Chlttonden quotes some other authority au-thority for tho statement that Ogden, for some reason, wns in great need and was compelled by his necessities necessi-ties to offer his entire catch of beaver bea-ver to Ashley at the latter's own prlco. Wyeth In his history of Oregon (Vol. 1, page 74), says: "Mr. Gardner, Gard-ner, one ot his (Ashley's) agents, mot a Mr. Ogden, clerk of the H. B. Co., In the Snake country at the head of a trapping party. Gardner Induced the men of Ogden's party to desert by promises ot supplies and good prices for furs. The furs thus obtained amounted to about 130 packs or 13,000 pounds, worth at that time about 75,000. Those wero great days. There can be no doubt that Ashley Ash-ley about that time was In possession posses-sion of a big stock ot beaver In the summer of 1825. It required nearly 50 horses to carry It, each loaded with two packs of 100 pounds each. Tho routo homo waa by way of South Pass to tho Big Horn river. Here tho party constructed boats of buffalo bides called "bull bouts,' and, loading In tho furs, Ashley with 25 of his men floated down the river to tho Yellowstone and thonce to tho old Henry Fort at tho Junction of tho Yellowstone and tho Missouri. At this point on August 19, 1825, be mot a military force under Gen-oral Gen-oral Atkinson who offered to transport trans-port Ashley and his furs down the river In the government keel boats. The expedition reached Council Bluffs September 19, and SL LouIb October 8th. Ashley's return from tho mountains with a fortune In beavor fur made a tremendous sensation. Ho was the horo of the hour. Everybody wanted to get Into the fur business and now that he no longer needed financial backing a lot of people wanted to Invest In his enterprises. Moreover Ashley waa successful in a love affair and was married happily within two weoks of his return to Miss Ellrabelh Christy. Within four days after the wedding bo sent oil another expedition of 70 men to the mountains. Ashloy stayed in St. LouIb until March, 1826, when ho set out with another party for the valley of the "Grand Lake." The rendezvous for the summer ot 1826 -was fixed in Caohc valley. Ashley went to the mountains by way of tho North Platto and South Pais taking with blm a six pound cannon on whceU which was probably the first wheeled vehicle ve-hicle to travel over that famous route, the Oregon Trail. This same cannon was the first wheeled vehicle to pass through Ogden Og-den for Ashley took It from Cache valley down to Utah Lake, or. as somo insist, to Sevier Lake, whore he had built a fort and where he mounted tho cannon as part ot Us equipment. Returning to some point "near tho Grand Lake, west of tho Rocky mountains," moun-tains," probably at or near Ogden, Ashley sold his fur trading business to Jcdldlah Smith, David E, Jackson and Miiton L. Subletto, July IS, 1826. It was a deal whoreln Ashley wns to furnish tho supplies and goods for trading with tbo Indians and for trapping, at a reasonable price, and was then to buy the new company's furs on tho same terms. It was a flno deal for Ashloy and made him the king of the fur trade for a number of years. He returned to St. Louis, September S, with 123 packs of beaver. In April, 1827, Ashley started with another party for the mountains but falling sick he was obliged to return to St. Louis. In September he went out to moet the return party which arrived in St. Louis, October 15, with 130 packs of fur. His dividends that year amounted to 70 per cent For those days ho was an Immensely wealthy man. Ashloy was successful therefore he becamo tho great authority on everything every-thing pertaining to IndlanB, fur trapping trap-ping and the Rocky mountains. Ho was elected to congress In 1831, 1833 and 1835. To tho last he was the biggest man In the fur trade. In a governmental report dated October 24, 1831, ho la thus referred to: "Some years back General Ashley extended his trado and hunting excursions west to the mountains, but he has since sold out to Messrs. Sublette. Jackson and Smith, and now has nothing moro to do with the business, either of hunting hunt-ing or trading about the mountains. He brings on goods, etc., from the eastward to this city and furnishes Sublette, Jackson and Smith with air thoy require and receives annually from them their furs in payment. "Perhaps it would not be exceeding exceed-ing the truth to say that half a million mil-lion of dollars In furs arc now annually an-nually brought down the Missouri river riv-er that formerly went to Hudson bay and It -la tho enterprising spirit ot General Ashley which has occasioned the change of this channel of trade.'' General Ashley died March 26 1S3S. At his own request, made shortly before his death, he was burled bur-led on an Indian mound overlooking the Missouri river a mile above tho LaMlne river. Chittenden laments that the grave of Ashley has been neglected and that quite recently the farmer who owns the land wrote that it was un-ma.'ked un-ma.'ked save by "a llnd tree to the foot and a cedar to the head." But men like Ashley do not need monuments over their graves for their memories will always bo cherished cher-ished so long as tho history of the "far west" Is written or read. oo |