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1832
Pierre’s
Hole Rendezvous:
Due to the confusion surrounding the procurement of supplies, and
delivery to the mountains and thence to the trappers, Thomas Fitzpatrick
had neither furs, nor money when he arrived in By late April of
1832 Sublette left St. Louis
along with Thomas Fitzpatrick and Robert Campbell.
At Independence they were joined by Nathaniel Wyeth and his party
of New Englanders. Leaving
Independence, the supply train included 35 men, and 300 head of livestock.
At Laramie Creek, the supply train met with some of trappers employed by
John Gantt and Jefferson Blackwell, including Zenas Leonard. This
firm had gone bankrupt, and when informed of this by Fitzpatrick, these
trappers sold their furs to Fitzpatrick, and joined with the supply train
for the rendezvous. Fitzpatrick set
off alone to precede the pack train and make arrangements with his
trappers and some Indian tribes. He
was to meet back with Sublette on July 2, at a specified location.
Sublette continued with the supplies over The trappers had
begun gathering at Pierre’s Hole for this rendezvous in June.
There would be other fur companies at this rendezvous in addition
to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. These include the American Fur
Company, Hudson’s Bay Company, and some small independent fur
companies. Because of the
intense rivalry between the American Fur Company, and the Rocky Mountain
Fur Company, trappers for the two companies would remain apart in separate
camps during this rendezvous. Supplies for the
American Fur Company were being brought up the Missouri River
to Fort
Union, a company post at the mouth of the Yellowstone
This rendezvous
was one of the largest. It is
estimated that there were between 300-400 trappers present, and more than
one thousand Indians, primarily Flat Heads and Nez Perce.
This rendezvous
would begin to break up around July 17th.
One of the parties under Milton Sublette consisting of about 60 men
were proceeding to the southwest and made about 8 miles from the site of
the rendezvous before setting up camp.
The following morning as the men were raising camp, a caravan was
seen proceeding over the pass and down in to the valley.
No alarm was given, because this was expected to be the supply
train under Lucien Fontennelle and Etienne Provost for the American Fur
Company men. As the caravan
approached, it became clear that it was a large party of Blackfoot
Indians. A disorganized day
long battle ensued (see Battle of Pierre's
Hole), joined by additional mountain men from the rendezvous
site.
The battle was initiated by Antoine Godin because
of his vindictive hatred of the Blackfoot Indians. There are
conflicting accounts of this battle, though the results would be a small
number of trappers killed or injured, including Alexander
Sinclair, and an unknown number of Blackfoot Indians killed.
The Blackfoot Indians withdrew from the scene during the night.
William Sublette
would leave rendezvous on July 30th with 60 men including
Robert Campbell. The furs he
was packing to St. Louis would be valued at $58,305.
Although a large sum, it would still leave the Rocky Mountain Fur
Company in debt. The fall hunt
this year would become an ugly game of hide and seek between trappers of
the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, who knew the mountains well, and those of
the American Fur Company, who were seeking to spoil the hunt of their
competitors.
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