|
1835 Green River (Siskeedee Agie) Rendezvous: By the spring of
1835 William Sublette and Robert Campbell had finalized the arrangements
to sell Fort William to Fontenelle,
Fitzpatrick and Company. On
April 9th, both Campbell and Fitzpatrick left for the fort,
arriving sometime in May. Campbell
then returned to St. Louis with all of the furs and buffalo robes which
had been accumulated at the fort over the winter.
On his return trip he was accompanied by 12 men, including Andrew
Sublette. On June 27th
while on his return trip, Campbell met Fontenelle, who was on his way to
the mountains with a supply train for the 1835 rendezvous.
The pack train included 50-60 men, six wagons, and 200 or so
horses. Traveling with
Fontenelle were Dr. Marcus Whitman and Samuel Parker, missionaries sent
out to assess possibilities for mission work among the Flathead and Nez
Perce Indians. Lucien Fontenelle
arrived at Fort William on July 27, where the rendezvous bound supplies
were transferred from the wagons to the pack animals for final transport.
Fontenelle would remain at the fort, but Fitzpatrick would
accompany the supply train to the rendezvous.
Fitzpatrick left the fort on August 1, and would arrive at the
Green River-Horse Creek rendezvous site on August 12.
(Map) This may have
been one of the best attended rendezvous, with about 300 trappers and
company men, 2,000 Shoshoni Indians, and forty or so lodges of Flathead
and Nez Perce Indians. A small
party of Hudson’s Bay Company men under the leadership of Francis
Ermatinger were also present. Sir William
Drummond Stewart traveled to this years rendezvous with Ermatinger's
party. While at
rendezvous, Dr. Whitman performed several surgical procedures, removing an
iron Blackfoot arrow from the back of Jim Bridger, which Bridger had received
in a skirmish three years earlier, and also removing another arrow from
the shoulder of a hunter which had been lodged there for two and one-half
years. Marcus Whitman
and Samuel Parker were so impressed with the mission possibilities amongst
the Flathead and Nez Perce Indians while at rendezvous, that Whitman
return east at the end of rendezvous to obtain additional associates.
The rendezvous
would begin to break up August 21st, with Jim Bridger and a
brigade of about 50 men raising camp for Pierre’s Hole.
Samuel Parker would accompany this group that far.
Parker then intended to travel on to Oregon country with the aid of
Indian guides. (For a description of
a Service preached by Parker after the breakup of Rendezvous click
here.) Fitzpatrick did
not leave rendezvous until August 27th, to pack the accumulated
furs back to St. Louis. His
party contained about 85 men, including Jean Gervais, Henry Fraeb and Dr.
Marcus Whitman. On arriving at
Fort William, Fontenelle would assume leadership of the St. Louis bound
pack train, and Fitzpatrick would remain behind.
Fitzpatrick would not return again to St. Louis until January of
1836. There he would find that
Fontenelle had been neglecting company business, and was instead drinking
heavily. During the winter
of 1835-1836 William Sublette and Robert Campbell would renew their
partnership for an additional three years.
|