William L. Sublette - Explorer, Trapper, & Mountain Man

OLD WEST LEGENDS

William Sublette - Explorer, Trapper, & Mountain Man

William Lewis Sublette (1799-1845) - An explorer, fur trapper, trader, and mountain man, Sublette was born in Stanford, Kentucky on September 21, 1799. In 1817 he moved with his family to St. Charles, Missouri. On February 13, 1822, William Henry Ashley, who co-founded the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, placed an advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Adviser, calling for 100 enterprising men to "ascend the river Missouri." Sublette applied and soon became part of the trapping group referred to as Ashley's Hundred, along with several other would-be famous mountain men including Jim Beckwourth, Thomas Fitzpatrick, David Jackson, Hugh Glass, James Bridger and Jedediah Smith.

The Rocky Mountain Fur Company was the first to depend primarily upon trapping for their furs, rather than buying them from Native Americans. The men who worked for Ashley did not earn a fixed wage, rather they split the proceeds of the furs they obtained.

A trappers' campfire, Currier & Ives, 1866.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

On June 1, 1823 Ashley and his party of 70 men were attacked by 600 Arikara Indians, inciting what is known as the Arikara War. Twelve of Ashley's men were killed and the rest were forced to retreat. Jedediah Smith volunteered to contact Andrew Henry and bring back reinforcements. A couple of months later, Colonel Henry Leavenworth leading 200 soldiers and 700 Sioux allies attacked the Arikara villages on August 9th.

Sublette continued trapping, accompanying Jedediah Smith and others into the Crow country and by the spring of 1824, was working on the Green River and its tributaries in Wyoming. Later that year, he accompanied Smith to the Pacific northwest, reaching Hudson's Bay Company territory. Two years later, he, along with Jedediah Smith and David Jackson, purchased Ashley's interest in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.

Over the next several years he continued to trap in the mountains, while make several trips back to St. Louis to sell the furs and obtain supplies. In 1830, he was the first to bring wagons back to the Rocky Mountains, and helped to blaze the Oregon Trail by finding a shortcut, now known as "Sublette's Cut" in Wyoming. That year, when he returned to St. Louis, the partnership with Smith and Jackson was dissolved. In 1831, he entered the Santa Fe Trade, but abandoned the idea after the death of Jedediah Smith. He soon returned to trapping in the mountains and was present at the Battle of Pierre's Hole on July 18, 1832, in which he was wounded. However, he recovered and in December of that year,

formed a partnership with Robert Campbell, who had long been with him on numerous mountain expeditions. Their firm operated for the next ten years with their only serious opposition being the American Fur Company. They later sold their business to the American Fur Company and Sublette settled down in St. Louis, Missouri, where he became involved in business and politics.

In 1844, Sublette married Frances Hereford, of Tuscumbia, Alabama. In the spring of 1845, Sublette desired to become the Superintendent of Indian Affairs at St. Louis and soon made a trip to Washington to secure the position. During his trip he was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 23rd, where he became ill and died. He was initially buried in the private burying ground on his farm on the outskirts of St. Louis. However, later, his remains were removed to Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Sublette willed his property to his wife Frances on the condition that she would not change her name. Four years after William Sublette's death, she married his brother, Solomon P. Sublette, thus never changing her last name.

Trapper's last shot, by T.D. Booth

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

Also See:

List of Old West Explorers, Trappers, Traders & Mountain Men

The Rocky Mountain Fur Company

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