Posted on Feb 13, 2018
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Missouri Lieutenant Governor William Ashley places an advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Advisor seeking 100 “enterprising young men” to engage in fur trading on the Upper Missouri.
A Virginia native, Ashley had moved to Missouri just after President Thomas Jefferson concluded the Louisiana Purchase from France, which made the region American territory. Young and eager to make a name for himself, he entered into a partnership with Andrew Henry to begin manufacturing gunpowder and lead, two commodities that were in short supply in the new nation. During the War of 1812, Ashley’s business prospered, and he also joined the Missouri militia, where he eventually earned the rank of general. When Missouri became a state in 1822, he used his business and military fame to win election as lieutenant governor.
Casting about for opportunities to enrich both Missouri and his own pocketbook, Ashley realized that St. Louis was ideally situated to exploit the fur trade on the upper Missouri River. Ashley recruited his old friend Henry as a partner, and the two men placed their famous advertisement asking for robust, adventurous young men to come west to join a fur trapping expedition up the Missouri. Among the scores who responded and came to St. Louis were such future legendary mountain men as Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger, as well as the famous river man Mike Fink. In time, these men and dozens of others would uncover many of the geographic mysteries of the Far West.
In 1822, Ashley and a small band of his fur trappers built a trading post on the Yellowstone River of Montana in order to expand outward from the Missouri River. Arikara Indians, though, were deeply hostile to Ashley’s attempts to undercut their long-standing position as middlemen in the fur trade. Arikara attacks eventually forced the men to abandon the Yellowstone post. Out of desperation, Ashley hit on a new strategy: instead of building central permanent forts along the major rivers, he decided to send his trappers overland in small groups traveling by horseback. By avoiding the river arteries, the trappers could both escape detection by hostile Indians and develop untapped new fur regions.
Almost by accident, Ashley invented the famous “rendezvous” system that revolutionized the American fur trade. In order for the trappers to obtain necessary supplies and deliver their furs, Ashley told the trappers to meet with him in a large meadow near the Henry’s Fork of Wyoming’s Green River in the early summer of 1825. This first fur trapper rendezvous proved a huge success. Ashley took home a tidy profit for his efforts, while the fur trappers not only had an opportunity to trade for supplies, but a chance to enjoy a few weeks of often drunken socializing.
After organizing a second highly profitable rendezvous in 1826, Ashley decided to sell out. His rendezvous system, though, continued to be used by others, and eventually became the foundation for the powerful Rocky Mountain Fur Company. With plenty of money in the bank, Ashley was able to return to his first love, politics. He won election to Congress three times and once to the Senate, where he helped further the interests of the western land that had made him rich.
A Virginia native, Ashley had moved to Missouri just after President Thomas Jefferson concluded the Louisiana Purchase from France, which made the region American territory. Young and eager to make a name for himself, he entered into a partnership with Andrew Henry to begin manufacturing gunpowder and lead, two commodities that were in short supply in the new nation. During the War of 1812, Ashley’s business prospered, and he also joined the Missouri militia, where he eventually earned the rank of general. When Missouri became a state in 1822, he used his business and military fame to win election as lieutenant governor.
Casting about for opportunities to enrich both Missouri and his own pocketbook, Ashley realized that St. Louis was ideally situated to exploit the fur trade on the upper Missouri River. Ashley recruited his old friend Henry as a partner, and the two men placed their famous advertisement asking for robust, adventurous young men to come west to join a fur trapping expedition up the Missouri. Among the scores who responded and came to St. Louis were such future legendary mountain men as Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger, as well as the famous river man Mike Fink. In time, these men and dozens of others would uncover many of the geographic mysteries of the Far West.
In 1822, Ashley and a small band of his fur trappers built a trading post on the Yellowstone River of Montana in order to expand outward from the Missouri River. Arikara Indians, though, were deeply hostile to Ashley’s attempts to undercut their long-standing position as middlemen in the fur trade. Arikara attacks eventually forced the men to abandon the Yellowstone post. Out of desperation, Ashley hit on a new strategy: instead of building central permanent forts along the major rivers, he decided to send his trappers overland in small groups traveling by horseback. By avoiding the river arteries, the trappers could both escape detection by hostile Indians and develop untapped new fur regions.
Almost by accident, Ashley invented the famous “rendezvous” system that revolutionized the American fur trade. In order for the trappers to obtain necessary supplies and deliver their furs, Ashley told the trappers to meet with him in a large meadow near the Henry’s Fork of Wyoming’s Green River in the early summer of 1825. This first fur trapper rendezvous proved a huge success. Ashley took home a tidy profit for his efforts, while the fur trappers not only had an opportunity to trade for supplies, but a chance to enjoy a few weeks of often drunken socializing.
After organizing a second highly profitable rendezvous in 1826, Ashley decided to sell out. His rendezvous system, though, continued to be used by others, and eventually became the foundation for the powerful Rocky Mountain Fur Company. With plenty of money in the bank, Ashley was able to return to his first love, politics. He won election to Congress three times and once to the Senate, where he helped further the interests of the western land that had made him rich.
Ashley advertises for western fur trappers - Feb 13, 1822 - HISTORY.com
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Thanks TSgt Joe C. for letting us know that on February 13, 1822 Missouri Lieutenant Governor William Ashley placed an advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Advisor seeking 100 “enterprising young men” to engage in fur trading on the Upper Missouri.
In 1822,[citation needed] William Henry Ashley and business partner, Andrew Henry, a bullet maker, whom he met through his gunpowder business—posted famous advertisements in St. Louis newspapers seeking one hundred "enterprising young men . . . to ascend the river Missouri to its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years." The men who responded to this call became known as "Ashley's Hundred." Between 1822 and 1825, Ashley and Henry's Rocky Mountain Fur Company, did several large scale fur trapping expeditions in the mountain west. Ashley's men are officially credited with the American discovery of South Pass in the winter of 1824. Ashley devised the rendezvous system in which trappers, Indians and traders would meet annually in a predetermined location to exchange furs, goods and money. His innovations in the fur trade earned Ashley a great deal of money and recognition, and helped open the western part of the continent to American expansion.
In 1825, he led an expedition into the Salt Lake Valley. South of the Great Salt Lake, he discovered Utah Lake, which he named Lake Ashley.[dubious – discuss][1] He established Fort Ashley on the banks to trade with the Indians. Over the next three years, the fort "collected over one-hundred-and-eighty thousand dollars' worth of furs".[dubious – discuss][2] In late 1824 he explored present-day northern Colorado, ascending the South Platte River to the base of the Front Range, then ascending the Cache la Poudre River to the Laramie Plains and onward to the Green River.
On June 2, 1823, General Ashley was beaten by Arikara Indians at their villages near the Grand River. Ashley reported twelve men killed and eleven wounded, of whom two died.[3]
Later political career and death[edit]
In 1826, Ashley sold the fur trading company to a group including Jedediah Smith to focus on politics. As a member of the Jacksonian Party, Ashley won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1831, 1832, and 1834. In 1836, he declined to run for a fourth term in Congress, instead running unsuccessfully for Governor of Missouri. Many attribute his defeat to his increasingly pro-business stance in Congress, which alienated the rural Jacksonians. After the loss, he went back to making money on real estate, but his health declined rapidly. On March 26, 1838, William Henry Ashley died of pneumonia, at the age of 58. Ashley was buried atop a Native American burial mound in Cooper County, Missouri, overlooking the Missouri River.
William H. Ashley is the namesake of the small community of Ashley, Missouri.[4] Also Ashley Falls[5] and Ashley Creek[6] in northeast Utah, and the Ashley National Forest.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Ashley
In 1822,[citation needed] William Henry Ashley and business partner, Andrew Henry, a bullet maker, whom he met through his gunpowder business—posted famous advertisements in St. Louis newspapers seeking one hundred "enterprising young men . . . to ascend the river Missouri to its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years." The men who responded to this call became known as "Ashley's Hundred." Between 1822 and 1825, Ashley and Henry's Rocky Mountain Fur Company, did several large scale fur trapping expeditions in the mountain west. Ashley's men are officially credited with the American discovery of South Pass in the winter of 1824. Ashley devised the rendezvous system in which trappers, Indians and traders would meet annually in a predetermined location to exchange furs, goods and money. His innovations in the fur trade earned Ashley a great deal of money and recognition, and helped open the western part of the continent to American expansion.
In 1825, he led an expedition into the Salt Lake Valley. South of the Great Salt Lake, he discovered Utah Lake, which he named Lake Ashley.[dubious – discuss][1] He established Fort Ashley on the banks to trade with the Indians. Over the next three years, the fort "collected over one-hundred-and-eighty thousand dollars' worth of furs".[dubious – discuss][2] In late 1824 he explored present-day northern Colorado, ascending the South Platte River to the base of the Front Range, then ascending the Cache la Poudre River to the Laramie Plains and onward to the Green River.
On June 2, 1823, General Ashley was beaten by Arikara Indians at their villages near the Grand River. Ashley reported twelve men killed and eleven wounded, of whom two died.[3]
Later political career and death[edit]
In 1826, Ashley sold the fur trading company to a group including Jedediah Smith to focus on politics. As a member of the Jacksonian Party, Ashley won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1831, 1832, and 1834. In 1836, he declined to run for a fourth term in Congress, instead running unsuccessfully for Governor of Missouri. Many attribute his defeat to his increasingly pro-business stance in Congress, which alienated the rural Jacksonians. After the loss, he went back to making money on real estate, but his health declined rapidly. On March 26, 1838, William Henry Ashley died of pneumonia, at the age of 58. Ashley was buried atop a Native American burial mound in Cooper County, Missouri, overlooking the Missouri River.
William H. Ashley is the namesake of the small community of Ashley, Missouri.[4] Also Ashley Falls[5] and Ashley Creek[6] in northeast Utah, and the Ashley National Forest.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Ashley
William Henry Ashley - Wikipedia
William Henry Ashley (c. 1778 – March 26, 1838) was an American miner, land speculator, manufacturer, territorial militia officer, politician, frontiersman, trapper, fur trader, entrepreneur, and hunter. Ashley was best known for being the co-owner with Andrew Henry of the highly successful Rocky Mountain Fur Incorporated, otherwise known as "Ashley's Hundred" for the famous mountain men working for the firm from 1822-1834.
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