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1825
Randavouze Creek Rendezvous.
This rendezvous was held on Henry’s Fork between the confluences
of Burnt Fork and Birch Creek. This
rendezvous was located in territory then belonging to
Mexico. (Map)
General William Ashley and some of his men had
arrived by June 29th or 30th, however, the formal
date of the rendezvous was July 1st.
Ashley wouldn’t open his goods for trading until all of the men
had arrived, being as goods were scarce and hard to find in the mountains,
and Ashley wanted to ensure that all of his men had an equal opportunity
to obtain the needed supplies. On
July 2nd, Ashley was headed back to
St Louis
with a pack train loaded with furs, and the trappers were headed back to
the mountains.
Ashley reports
that there were 120 in attendance at this rendezvous:
29 deserters from the
Hudson’s Bay Company, 13 men with Etienne Provost, 7 men with Jedediah
Smith, 25 men with Ashley, and 25 to 30 men with John H Weber.
For more about the Hudson's Bay Company deserters see also Johnson
Gardner, Antoine Godin, or Peter
Skene Ogden. The remaining
men may have been part of Provost’s group, or may have been free
trappers. Whiskey was not
taken to this rendezvous, a serious omission which Ashley would correct at future
rendezvous. Beaver was purchased
for $2-$3 per pound for men in Ashley’s employ, and for $5 per pound
from free trappers. In
St Louis
the value of the furs returned from the mountains by Ashley in this year
would be about $50,000.
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1826
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