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It is a bright spring morning in the year 1807. Manual Lisa and his brigade of 60 hired trappers are deep in the heart of northwest beaver country. On Lisa's order, they turn their keel boats toward shore. Lisa and John Colter jump from their keel boat, and wade a short distance to the rocky bank; they are standing at the junction of the Bighorn and Yellowstone Rivers. This landing of Lisa and his hired men ended a 170-year history of traditional beaver trade with the Indians. Lisa felt that the Plains Indians were too unstable to establish a fur trade with, so he hired his own trappers. The Plains and Mountain Indians were horse warriors, who felt wading around in muddy beaver ponds was beneath them. Why slog around in swamps when hunting buffalo and making war plans were far more attractive? Bringing trappers to the mountains freed Lisa from depending on the whims, moods, and politics of the Indians. Since the Indian was now unemployed as potential beaver men and not the least happy with the new arrangement, Lisa sweetened their loss with gaudy gifts and by marrying one of them. All summer the brigade built Lisa's Fort for beaver business and protection. His trappers brought the beaver "plews" in to Lisa's fort. Lisa would take the furs downriver to St. Louis and reap huge profits. The trapper stayed poor, Lisa got rich. Except for competition from Astor's American Fur Company, Lisa pretty well monopolized beaver trade east of the Rockies until February 13, 1822. On that date, the Lieutenant Governor of the state of Missouri, William Ashley, placed an ad in the Missouri Gazette and Public Advertiser soliciting the services of "enterprising young men" to go with him into the wilderness on a quest of great adventure and profit. Among the 62 "greenhorns" Ashley hired were such unknowns as Jed Smith, Jim Bridger, Tom Fitzpatrick, Hugh Glass, the Sublette brothers, Edward Rose, and James Clyman. Average men who became great adventurers and explorers, even legends. The former farmers, riverboat men and apprentice blacksmith formed a brotherhood that opened the west for settlement. Their great adventure was to begin in the early morning hours of June 2nd when, without warning or provocation, 600 Arikara warriors attacked Ashley's party. Outnumbering them 10 to 1, the Arikaras, armed with new "English Fusils," routed the trappers, killing 12. Ashley relayed word downriver to Colonel Henry Levenworth to bring his army fast. Colonel Levenworth came with 1100 men: 200 regulars, 700 Sioux allies, and 200 white volunteers. The "Relief Force," dragging two cannons and three swivel guns, chased the wily Arikaras all over the countryside with little result. "It was like chasing deer with a brass band." After weeks of this, Ashley grew impatient and called an end to the farce. The army went back downriver; Ashley continued upriver to Yellowstone country. Their deadly adventure had begun. The mountain men faced great dangers. One in five would be dead in a year. Why did they do it? Why take such great risks? How dangerous was it? James Pattie reports "that 116 men left Santa Fe in the spring of 1826; 16 survived a year." Antoine Robidoux reported "of the 300 men that came to the mountains with him in the late twenties, only three survived." Why did they do it? They were young and felt they could beat the odds, the pure danger and adventure were exciting, and their great curiosity and sense of discovery drove them, but mostly the money. And, here was a chance to find fame and fortune in a virgin land. The alternative was going back east and farming the rest of their lives. A mountain man could make more money trapping one beaver than a highly-skilled worker back east could earn in two days. To keep his men in the mountains trapping and searching for new beaver trapping areas, to keep in touch with his far-flung brigade, and to be sure his men didn't trade with his rivals, Ashley had a rather unique plan. Ashley instructed his men to meet him at Henry's Fork on the Green River (near the Utah-Wyoming borders), July 1825. He would bring a caravan of fresh supplies from St. Louis, pick up the beaver they had trapped, pay them the $200 wages they had earned, and re-outfit them with supplies for another year. At the same time, they could take the month off to rest, party, gamble, drink, and trade. He also put out the word for them to bring in all Indians, free trappers and employees of other companies to the "Rendezvous" to trade and join the party. This started the rendezvous system. Every year the rendezvous site was to be different. This encouraged the trappers to explore far and wide for new trapping grounds and move the rendezvous to a well-known site nearby to accommodate them. The structure of the rendezvous was simple: supply the men with essentials of the trade, take the beaver and sell them for profit, and sell goods at inflated prices. Company traders get rich, while the trappers stay poor and dependent on the company. Ashley controlled every option. A good trapper could bring in 400 pelts. Jed Smith once brought in a record 668 pelts. A free trapper made from $1,000 to $3,000 at the rendezvous, just to turn around and give it back by paying inflated prices for trade goods. Basic essentials or a "kit" consisted of 25 pounds of powder, 100 pounds of lead, flints, traps, clothes, coffee/tea, sugar, tobacco, whiskey, and trade goods (knives, beads, etc., for the Indians). Beaver sold for $2 to $4 a pound at rendezvous. Ashley resold these in St. Louis for $6 to $8. He profited $80,000 his first year, a real fortune in 1825, worth $10 million today. The trapper could do nothing to control the market. If he wanted to trade he had to trade with Ashley. Whiskey sold for 30 cents per gallon in St. Louis; Ashley sold it for $2 a pint at rendezvous. The whiskey was cut, watered down, and short measured. Tobacco, coffee, tea, and sugar bought for 10 cents a pound in St. Louis sold for $2 a pound at the rendezvous. Likewise, lead (6 cents) and black powder (7 cents in St. Louis) sold for $2 a pound at the rendezvous. Traps that cost $1.50 at the factory sold for $12 to $17 apiece. The Indians fared much worse; they paid 2000% higher price for the same goods. The tribes traveled from far and wide to trade. Even old enemies called a truce during the rendezvous. Out of the rendezvous emerged a different sort of trade. In later years, the tribal leaders supplied Indian women for the pleasure of the trappers and demanded in return whiskey (a pint), beads, or tobacco in trade for romantic favors. The price for a squaw (wife) was much higher than a fleet horse, a red blanket, or a gallon jug of whiskey. From reports, once sold, the Indian squaws really cared for their mountain men and followed them back to the mountains to help with mundane camp chores, prepare plews for trade, and provide warm companionship on those long winter nights. Essentially, the trapper risked his life and a year's back-breaking work for one big blowout at rendezvous. They fully realized they were being used and abused to make rich men richer. Why did they do it? They had to do something, and it sure beat farming. The rendezvous provided needed essentials, female companionship, new clothes, reuniting of old friends, news, conversations, Indian trade, whiskey, a mental health break from loneliness and grim winter confinement. After the beaver trading business was over, it turned into one big party. As many as 2000 souls attended the bash. They sang, danced, bragged, strutted their new finery, fought, gambled, competed in various sporting events such as wrestling, horse racing, and shooting. One trapper spent his year's profits on a barrel of whiskey to share with his friends. When the party was over, he was sick, broke, and drained of energy. They left for the mountains to face another hard dangerous year. The rendezvous system flourished till the bottom completely fell out of the beaver market. Following the first rendezvous came Cache Valley (1826 and '31), Bear Lake (1827 and '28), Pierre's Hole (1829 and '32), Popo Agie River (1830), Green River (1833), and so on... The last great rendezvous was held on the banks of the Green River (Wyoming) in 1840. It was more of a wake than a party since it knelled the end of the beaver trade. A great era was over. As a group, the mountain men developed a distinctive life style and language. There was a crucible these rogues and heroes were forged from; they shared the common experience of surviving despite all that nature, animals, and savages could throw in their path. Unemployed now, many trappers moved on to Oregon and California for the free land and adventure. Some guided wagons for the emigrant pioneers; most disappeared into the back country to survive off the land. Some went native. After 15 years the great party was over. |
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