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Show Genealogical research of the West Uiravah Basin tfirsfl lady By Kerry Ross Boren Antoine Robidoux married Carmel Benavides in 1828. Carmel Benavides was born in Sante Fe December 29, 1812, daughter of an old and prominent Spanish family. Her father, a captain in the armies of Spain, met his death at the hands of Commanches. Carmel Benavides was a very beautiful girl who was the "belle of Sante Fe", commanding the attention of numerous suitors. She was fond of dancing and would often ride the sixty miles from Sante Fe to Albuquerque in one day to attend a ball. She was equally known for her bravery, swimming the Rio Grande horseback when a man dared not try it, and accompanied ac-companied her husband Antoine across the plains and mountains many times. By the year 1833, she had crossed the plains between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sante Fe at least six times. Carmel Benavides Rnbidoux could well be called the "first lady of the Uintah Basin" inasmuch as she was the first recorded white woman to set in this hostile country of trappers, traders and Indians. She was at Fort Robidoux as early as 1833 and her spirit of adventure was all-consuming and her beauty must have livened the primitive surroundings considerably. That she could endure the hardships of mountain life is evident from an ad venture in 1833 while crossing the plains. The snow had piled so deep that the wagons were covered and the cold was so intense that every mule froze to death and they were forced to subsist on the frozen flesh for days to stay alive. Seven men froze to death and a servant girl who slept next to Carmel beneath the same blanket for warmth was discovered dead one morning. They were finally rescued by Joseph Robidoux, her husband's brother. Carmel Benavides Robidoux, though exposed to rough and primitive ways, was at all times a cultured and refined lady, affluent in the French, English and Spanish languages as well as several Indian dialects. She had no children and so adopted the child of a relative, Miss Amanda Barada. After the death of her husband, Carmel took her little child and returned to Sante Fe in the wagon train of a Mr. Leindendofer, a trader, and enroute the wagon train was attacked , by Commanches. Having no success in defeating the train, the Indians turned instead to trading with them, and of- :' fered to trade a papoose, ponies and a blanket for little Amanda Barada r. Robidoux, but Carmel refused. ': The Indians threatened to once again wipe out the train, but the undaunted ; spirit of Carmel prevailed and they were able to reach Sante Fe safely. " Amanda Barada Robidoux even- : tually married Colonel C. F. ;? Stollsteimer and resided at Durango, Colorado. Carmel Benavides Robidoux, i first lady of the Uintah Basin, lived out 7 the last days of her life at their home, dying at the age of seventy-six, a most r beloved and adored frontier heroine. |