Fort Robidoux, also known as Fort Uintah and Fort Wintya, was a fur trading post at the junction of the

Uinta River The Uinta River (historically also spelled Uintah River) is a tributary of the Duchesne River flowing through Duchesne and Uintah counties in Utah, United States. Originating in the Uinta Mountains The Uinta Mountains ( ) are an east-west tre ...

and Whiterocks River in the

Uinta Basin The Uinta Basin (also known as the Uintah Basin) is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. It is also a geologic structural basin in ...

of what is today Northeastern Utah. Fort Robidoux was founded in 1832 after

Antoine Robidoux Antoine Robidoux (September 24, 1794 – August 29, 1860) was a fur trapper and trader of French-Canadian descent best known for his exploits in the American Southwest in the first half of the 19th century. Early life Robidoux was born in 1794 in ...

bought the Reed Trading Post that had been in operation there since 1828. Robidoux had traded for

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

pelts in the Uintah Basin as early as 1824. By 1828 he had established his first trading post in the intermountain corridor of the western slopes of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

on the

Gunnison River The Gunnison River is located in western Colorado, United States and is one of the largest tributaries of the Colorado River. Description The river flows east to west and has a drainage area of according to the USGS. The drainage basin of ...

near present-day Delta, Colorado. That same year, Robidoux took out Mexican citizenship and married Carmel Benevedes, the daughter of the governor of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. This enabled him to obtain a Mexican trading and trapping license. With Robidoux's focus on the Colorado fort, William Reed, his twelve-year-old nephew James Reed, and Denis Julien traveled to the Uinta Basin and established the Reed Trading Post, making this the first permanent non-Indian residence and business in the

State of Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its we ...

. Once his operations were well established on the Gunnison River, Robidoux purchased both the site and business from Reed and expanded their operation by building a larger fort and bringing in trappers to trap the beaver-rich streams of the Green and Uintah rivers. Robidoux successfully competed in the Uinta Basin region's fur trade against competition from Fort Davy Crockett, the

American Fur Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was founded in 1808, by John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant to the United States. During the 18th century, furs had become a major commodity in Europe, and North America became a major supplier. Several British co ...

, the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

, and traders out of

Bent's Fort Bent's Old Fort is an 1833 fort located in Otero County in southeastern Colorado, United States. A company owned by Charles Bent and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain built the fort to trade with Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Plains Indians and ...

. Robidoux's business practices at Fort Robidoux included trapping and trading for furs from the Indians and from free trappers, horse trading, and the illegal practice of trading both guns and liquor to the Indians. There is some evidence that Robidoux was also involved in

Indian slave trade Slavery among Native Americans in the United States includes slavery by and slavery of Native Americans roughly within what is currently the United States of America. Tribal territories and the slave trade ranged over present-day borders. ...

.John D. Barton, Antoine Robidoux?Buckskin Entrepreneur (1993); David Weber, The Taos Trappers (1968); and LeRoy R. Hafen, The Old Spanish Trail (1954) During his years in business such notables as

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...

, Miles Goodyear,

Marcus Whitman Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary. In 1836, Marcus Whitman led an overland party by wagon to the West. He and his wife, Narcissa, along with Reverend Henry Spalding and his wife, E ...

, Joe Meeks, Captain John C. Fremont, August Archambeaux,

Rufus Sage Rufus B. Sage (1817–1893) was an American writer, journalist and later mountain man. He is known as the author of ''Scenes in the Rocky Mountains'' published in 1846, depicting the life of fur trappers. Life Rufus B. Sage was born on March 17 ...

, and the Reverend Joseph Williams all visited Fort Uintah. As the beaver trade declined in the late 1830s and early 1840s, so too did Robidoux's business. In August 1844

Ute Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute (band), an Australian jazz group * Ute (given name) * ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus * Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles * Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along ...

warriors attacked and burned both Fort Robidoux and the Gunnison fort. Causes for the attack could have included Robidoux's cheating of the Indians, involvement with the capture of Indian women and children for prostitution and slavery, and sales of guns and alcohol to the Utes. The attack and burning of Robidoux's forts were the only successful attack by Indians of a trading post in fur trade history.

References

{{reflist Robidoux Fur trade 1832 establishments in the United States

See also

References