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Milton
G Sublette was
born in Somerset, Kentucky, the second of eight children.
The date of his birth is uncertain, but was probably in 1801.
The Sublettes were descendents of French Huguenot refugees who
first settled in Virginia in 1700. Succeeding
generations of Sublettes migrated westward to Kentucky seeking the
advantages offered by the frontier, those being land and opportunity.
In the fall of 1817, Milton’s family moved to St. Charles, a
small community west of St. Louis. Within
a few years of the move, both of the parents would die, leaving the care
of the children to near relatives and the oldest son, William Sublette.
For
the five Sublette sons, life in St. Charles was to be a training ground
for frontier survival and existence. There
they were exposed to the hardships of primitive living, as well as the fur
trader’s culture growing up around the Upper Missouri River.
Eventually four of the five Sublette sons would themselves
participate in the fur trade. By
the earliest 1820’s St. Louis and by proximity, St. Charles, would
become the gateway to the trans-Mississippi West. To the southwest,
lucrative trade routes to Mexican Santa Fe & Taos were being
developed, while to the west and northwest a wealth of furs was being taken from the Upper Missouri River and Northern Rocky
Mountain regions. From St.
Louis, wealth and empire stretched along the western horizon.
In 1821, William
Ashley and Andrew Henry
would form a partnership to exploit the fur resources of the Upper
Missouri River Basin, and in 1822 and 1823 would field large expeditions
to the mountains. At least by
1823 both Milton and William Sublette would be in the employ of the
Ashley-Henry partnership. Prior
to 1826 little is known of the activities of Milton Sublette.
He probably continued to work for the Ashley-Henry partnership,
gaining skills as a trapper and trader.
By this time he would be described as a man standing well over six
feet tall, large of stature, strong of arm, audacious and reckless of life and money – the stereotype mountain man.
In
the spring of 1826 Milton Sublette was recruited in St Louis by Ewing
Young to join a trapping venture to the southwest.
By September of 1826 Milton Sublette was engaged in trapping on the
Gila River in a party under the leadership of LeDuke and Thomas L Smith.
During the course of the hunt, Coyotera Apaches ambushed the party.
In the ensuing skirmish, Sublette was hit in the leg, but was saved
from death by Thomas Smith, who carried Sublette off to safety.
This injury would plague Sublette for the rest of his life, and
eventually would be the cause of his death. The
trappers were driven back to the Rio Grande by the hostility of the
Apaches. Here Ewing Young
would consolidate his trapping parties into a single large brigade.
In addition to Milton Sublette and Thomas Smith, Ewing Young’s
brigade would include such notables as Isaac Williams, Ceran St. Vrain,
John Rowland, Sylvestre Pratte, James O Pattie and Miguel Robidoux.
Confident with the combined fire power of ninety some rifles, Young
lead the brigade back into Apache territory in search of beaver.
Although
the 1826-1827 season was moderately successful trapping beaver, it also
proved to be quite dangerous. Young’s
brigade trapped up the Salt and Verde Rivers.
While in this area, Young, who believed in revenging Indian
aggressions, set an ambush for the Apaches, and raided a village of Papagos
Indians. Young’s brigade
then followed the Gila River down to the Colorado River where they passed
near three Mojave Indian villages.
Although Jedediah Smith and his party had
spent a few days with these Indians peacefully several months earlier in
the fall of 1826, the relationship between the Mojaves and Young’s
brigade was extremely tense and unfriendly.
This may have been a result of Young’s general contempt for all
Indians which he did little to conceal. In any case, the trappers, anticipating trouble, forted up.
When the Mojaves did attack, sixteen Indians were killed.
The trappers then moved up the Colorado River unmolested.
However, the Mojave Indians followed the brigade, and four days
later, in a night attack killed two trappers and wounded two others.
The trappers then divided into two groups, one group responsible
for trapping the streams and rivers, while the other group ranged the
surrounding country to prevent further Indian attacks.
Young’s brigade
followed the Colorado River up to its headwaters, then passed over the
continental divide and followed the South Platte River to the vicinity of
present day Denver. Then they
headed south to the upper Arkansas River where they again skirmished, this
time with Blackfoot Indians. The
hunt being over with and seeking to avoid further trouble, the brigade
headed rapidly south to the Rio Grande, and thence on to Santa Fe.
During the year
that Young and his brigade were out trapping, the political situation in
Mexico had changed drastically. Strict
regulations prohibiting trapping by foreign nationals were promulgated,
and the former Governor, who had indulged the Americanos was replaced by a
new Governor, Manuel Armijo, who was decidedly unfriendly to Americans. As they
approached Santa Fe, the trappers were made aware of the changed
political/commercial environment. The
years catch was hidden in the village of Penablanca, while the trappers
continued on to Santa Fe. Somehow,
rumor of the hidden furs must have escaped, because Governor Armijo issued
search and seizure orders, resulting in the confiscation of the packs of
furs. When returned to
Santa Fe, the seized furs were found to be damp, and they were spread on
the parade grounds of the local militia.
While the furs were drying, Milton Sublette inquired of Young,
where his furs were. Young
pointed them out, and Sublette sprang forward, gathered them together and
carried them off “before the eyes of the whole garrison.”
The Governor mobilized the garrison to capture the offender, but
Sublette and the furs had disappeared.
Sublette would be the only trapper in the brigade to profit from this season. After hiding out
for the remainder of the summer, Milton Sublette joined in the expedition
of Sylvestre Pratte and Ceran St. Vrain in the fall of 1827.
Thomas L Smith was also present.
The movements of this fur party during the 1827-1828 season are
unknown, but were probably to the northwestward, both to avoid Apaches and
Mexicans. This expedition was
moderately successful gathering in furs, although the dangers of the
mountains would again take their toll.
Sylvestre Pratte died at Park Kyack on September 1, and was
succeeded in command by Ceran St. Vrain.
Later, Thomas L Smith would be shot in the leg just above the a After Pratte’s
death, the party would move on to the Green River to winter.
In April 1828, part of the company decided to return over the
mountains and down the Platte to St. Louis, however, they crossed the
trace of a large group of Indians, and fearing an attack, most of the
trappers directed their course back to Taos, which they reached on May 23
1828. When the furs were sold,
Sublette's share came to $919.07. Rather
than going to Taos, Milton Sublette probably continued on to St. Louis,
because in the spring of 1828, he accompanied the party of Colonel
Meredith Marmaduke to Santa Fe with trade goods.
While in the vicinity of the Arkansas River, they were attacked by
approximately 200 Commanches. That
the party survived at all probably owes a great deal to the skill and long
experience of Milton Sublette in fighting Indians.
The Marmaduke party was in Santa Fe only long enough to acquire a
herd of twelve hundred horses to take back to St. Louis.
Such a large herd of horses proved to be irresistible to Indians
along the trail.
On August 28, near the confluence of the Pawnee Fork and the
Arkansas River, Commanches were successful in driving off over half of the
herd. The rest of the animals
were driven on to Missouri without further adventure, arriving in late
September. By early
spring
of 1829, Milton Sublette had entered the employ of his brother William
Sublette, working for Smith, Jackson and Sublette.
Initially he assisted with the supply caravan going up to
rendezvous. (For more on the 1829
Rendezvous) After the rendezvous on the Popo Agie, Milton Sublette
joined with Henry Fraeb and Jean Baptiste Gervais as company trappers.
The 1829 season they would work the streams and rivers of the
Bighorn Basin. This
association would set the stage for his participation as a partner along
with Thomas Fitzpatrick, James Bridger, Henry Fraeb and Jean Gervais in a
new firm, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, which would buy out Smith
Jackson and Sublette at the 1830 Rendezvous
for a sum of $16,000. Milton Sublette
married an Indian woman in 1829. By
1831 she had a child, and was traveling on horseback along with Milton
Sublette during the hunt. A
second child was born in 1832. Nothing
is known regarding Milton Sublette’s wife’s name, tribe, or even her
eventual fate. Milton Sublette
captained one of the company’s two brigades during the 1830-1831 season.
Sublette’s brigade was composed of about 80 men, included Thomas
Fitzpatrick, James Bridger, and Joseph Meek.
This large brigade would travel deep into Blackfoot Indian country,
where they would trap the Three Forks region of the Missouri River.
Although the new
company would have a successful season, poor timing in ordering supplies
would jeopardize the existence of the company.
There would be no trade goods or supplies at the 1831
Rendezvous for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company trappers because the new
company could not get a man to St. Louis until two months past the
deadline for completing the arrangements.
Consequently the supplies would be shipped out of Santa Fe, and
would not arrive in the mountains until long after rendezvous was over.
As a result, it was necessary to track down the separate fur
brigades in order to re-supply them.
In the fall of
1831, James Bridger and Milton Sublette, along with Joe Meek and about
fifty other trappers worked the forks of the Snake River, before
establishing their winter quarters in the same area.
At this same time the American Fur Company was intent on becoming a
power in the Rocky Mountain Region. Although
this company had immense resources in men and money, this company lacked
“on the ground” experience in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
As a result, an American Fur Company brigade, under the leadership
of William H Vanderburgh and Andrew Dripps, followed the Rocky Mountain
Fur Company men all through the spring hunt, learning mountain trapping
and geography from the experts, but spoiling the hunt for both companies.
At the 1832
Rendezvous, the partners of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company would
propose dividing the fur country between the two companies.
Vanderburgh and Dripps resoundingly rejected the proposal,
confident in the resources and staying power of the American Fur Company,
and intent on driving all competitors out of the mountains.
This rendezvous would begin to break up around July 17th.
One of the groups under Milton Sublette, accompanied by Nathaniel
Wyeth and his men, 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 Fontenelle and Etienne Provost for the American Fur
Company men, which was tardy arriving to rendezvous.
As the caravan approached, it became clear that it was a large
party of Blackfoot Indians. A
disorganized day-long battle ensued. The battle was joined by additional mountain men,
lead by William Sublette, riding out from the rendezvous.
There are conflicting accounts of this battle, though the results
would be a small number of trappers killed or injured, and an unknown
number of Blackfoot Indians killed. The
Blackfoot Indians withdrew from the scene during the night.
Following the
breakup of rendezvous, a brigade of American Fur Company trappers
continued to dog a brigade of Rocky Mountain Fur Company men under James
Bridger and Thomas Fitzpatrick. This
high stakes game of hide-and-seek would eventually turn deadly when the
brigades of both companies would be separately ambushed by Blackfoot
Indians. William Vanderburgh
would be one of those who would die. During the
1832-33 season, Wyeth would continue to travel with Milton Sublette’s
party. They would revive a
business concept first tried by John Jacob Astor in 1810, that is trapping
parties would come overland across the Rocky Mountains, and thence down
into the Columbia River Basin, while supply ships would be sent to meet
them at the mouth of the Columbia River.
In this way they hoped to gain a competitive edge on the American
Fur Company. At the same
time, William Sublette and Robert Campbell were preparing to launch a
direct attack against the American Fur Company.
The objective of William Sublette and Robert Campbell was a
partition of the fur country, with them in control of the transmontane
region, while ceding the Upper Missouri Basin to their competitors.
To accomplish this they would establish a series of forts and posts
in direct competition with those operated by the American Fur Company.
William Sublette and Robert Campbell, in their capacity as supplier
to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company again at the 1833
Rendezvous, raised their prices to levels such that the Rocky Mountain
Fur Company would never be able to payoff its debts.
Less than one
month after the breakup of the 1833 Rendezvous, the Rocky Mountain Fur
Company would enter into a secret agreement with Andrew Wyeth to supply
trade goods and supplies at prices far lower than those charged by William
Sublette and Robert Campbell. During
the fall and winter of 1833, Kenneth McKenzie, who was in charge of the
American Fur Company’s forts on the Upper Missouri River would destroy
the St. Louis Fur Company (William Sublette and Robert Campbell) as a fur
trading outfit by offering as much as $12 for beaver. Even still William
Sublette and Robert Campbell remained fierce competitors to be dealt with.
During the winter
of 1833-34, both Milton Sublette and Wyeth would travel to the east coast
to obtain trade goods for the coming years rendezvous.
While traveling, Milton would be troubled by an inflammation in
his foot, almost certainly a result of his leg wound received in 1826
while trapping on the Gila River. Although
he would receive treatment, there would be little improvement, and his leg
would continue to trouble him. At about this
same time, William Sublette traveled to New York, with the purpose of
negotiating with the American Fur Company for the partition of the western
fur country. Sublette was
successful at selling the St Louis Fur Company to the American Fur
Company. Most of the competing
forts and posts owned by the St Louis Fur Company would be abandoned, and
the American Fur Company would withdraw from the mountains for a year.
As part of this agreement, it would appear that William Sublette
had assured the American Fur Company that the Rocky Mountain Fur Company
was on the edge of ruin, and would go out of business within a year.
This final assurance was threatened by the secret agreement between
the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and Andrew Wyeth.
William Sublette would become aware of this agreement when a letter
intended for Milton was mistakenly delivered to William.
In April 28,
1834, Nathaniel Wyeth’s supply caravan would set off for the mountains with
about 75 men, including Milton Sublette.
Milton would turn back to St. Louis after only ten days of travel
because of the “fungus” in his leg, that made it impossible for him to
proceed. William Sublette with
a competing supply train left St. Louis on May 5th, seven days
after Wyeth, but because of his long experience in running supply caravans
to the mountains, William would pass Wyeth on May 12th.
Although Wyeth sent a message ahead to Thomas Fitzpatrick, one of
the partners of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, to await his arrival,
William Sublette forced the dissolution of the company due to it’s debts
by arriving first. By the time
Wyeth arrived, there wasn’t much left besides resentments and
hard-feelings. Wyeth would
take his unsold goods on to the Snake River Basin where he would establish
Fort Hall, which would eventually be sold to
the Hudson’s Bay Company. Milton
Sublette’s leg would continue to worsen, and in February 1835, Dr.
Farrar would amputate Milton’s leg.
In the early 1800’s nothing could be done for the pain of such an
operation, short of getting drunk or being knocked unconscious, and many,
faced by amputation would chose to die of their injuries.
(See Mountain Medicine)
Not only did Milton Sublette survive, but he departed in the spring
of 1835 for the mountains to continue his fur trade activities.
Milton Sublette was a partner in a successor company to the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company, known as Fontenelle and Fitzpatrick Company, which
also included as partners James Bridger, Andrew Drips, Thomas Fitzpatrick
and Lucien Fontenelle. On
August 7th, Fitzpatrick and Fontenelle returned to St. Louis to
make supply arrangements for the 1835 rendezvous.
The main problem faced by the new company was they were dependent
on the American Fur Company for supplies.
The American Fur Company, in its previous takeover of the St. Louis
Fur Company had promised William Sublette that they would stay out of the
Northern Rocky Mountains in 1835. Through
a complicated three-way deal, an agreement was made whereby
Sublette-Campbell would sell Fort Williams to Fontenelle-Fitzpatrick with
a percentage of the operations going to Sublette-Campbell.
The American Fur Company would send a supply train to the
mountains, and Sublette-Campbell would cease sending supply trains to the
mountains. This would be
William Sublette and Robert Campbell’s last trip to the mountains.
From this time forward they would put their efforts into real
estate and mercantilism in Missouri. Thomas
Fitzpatrick, accompanied by Milton Sublette left Bellevue on May 14, 1836
with a supply train for this years rendezvous.
This supply train included about 70 men, with 400 head of
livestock, mostly mules, and seven wagons and one cart.
Dr. Marcus Whitman and his party of missionaries would accompany
the train to rendezvous, but they wouldn’t catch up to the train until
May 24th, in the vicinity of Loup Fork.
The Whitman party consisted of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, Henry
H. and Eliza Spaulding and William H
Gray.
Due to the rigors of the trail, and the reoccurrence of the
“fungus” in his leg, Milton Sublette would not proceed any further
than Fort William. Here he
would serve as the “majordomo” of the fort until he would succumb to
the infection in his leg on April 5th, 1837.
Milton Sublette, “Thunderbolt of the Rocky Mountains” was dead
at the age of 36. To learn more
about Milton Sublette see the following references:
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in a skirmish with Indians, probably in North Park.