Isaac Slover (1780–1854) was an American 19th century

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

. He was one of the first American trappers officially allowed into

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 ...

, as part of the Glenn-Fowler Expedition of Hugh Glenn and Jacob Fowler. He was one of the first trappers to take up formal residence at

Taos, New Mexico Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Cha ...

. Slover is known for his association with many other trappers in the American Southwest, including

Ewing Young Ewing Young (1799-February 9, 1841) was an American fur trapper and trader from Tennessee who traveled in what was then the northern Mexico frontier territories of Santa Fe de Nuevo México and Alta California before settling in the Oregon Country. ...

and

William Wolfskill William Wolfskill (1798–1866) was an American-Mexican pioneer, cowboy, and agronomist in Los Angeles, California beginning in the 1830s. He had earned money for land in a decade as a fur trapper near Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he had become a ...

working the tributaries of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

in 1824, and with

James Ohio Pattie James Ohio Pattie (c. 1804Hafen (1966), p. 232 – c. 1850) was an American frontiersman and author from Kentucky. Between 1824 and 1830, Pattie took part in a series of fur trapping and trading expeditions, traveling through the American West a ...

and his father Sylvester Pattie on the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of n ...

and Lower Colorado River in 1828. Seeking food and water they cached their furs and went west to

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

where they were arrested and imprisoned at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

from late 1828 to 1829. Later from New Mexico, Slover crossed the southwest into

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

on the Old Spanish Trail, and helped open overland trading between that province and New Mexico. By 1843, Slover had established himself and his family in California, settling near

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

. He continued to trap and hunt in the region, and died of injuries received in a bear attack in 1854.(Hafen, Fur Trappers and Traders of the Far Southwest, pp. 51–55) Issac Slover is also thought to be buried in the cemetery of

Agua Mansa Agua Mansa ("gentle water") is a former settlement in an unincorporated area of San Bernardino County, near Colton, California, United States. Once the largest settlement in San Bernardino County, it is now a ghost town. Only the cemetery remain ...

Slover Mountain Slover Mountain (Mount Slover, Marble Mountain) is a former mountain in Colton, in southwestern San Bernardino County and the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Now a hill, it was surface mined for limestone in the 20th century. The Co ...

nearby where he lived was named for him.

References

;Literature *Hafen, LeRoy R., editor. ''Fur Trappers and Traders of the Far Southwest''. 1965, Utah State University Press, Logan, Utah, (1997 reprint). . ;Citations

External links

History of Slover Avenue
at the city of San Bernardino's website American fur traders 1780 births 1854 deaths People from San Bernardino County, California History of San Bernardino County, California Colton, California 19th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1780s-stub