IN DECEMBER,1844 SUBLETTE TRIED TO BECOME SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. HIS FRIENDS WROTE TO PRES. POLK, AND THEN WILLIAM WROTE IN MARCH,1845, AND IN MAY ANOTHER LETTER WAS WRITTEN. BOTH SUBLETTE AND HIS WIFE WERE IN ILL HEALTH AND UNDER DR.BEAUMONTS CARE. NO ANSWER CAME FROM POLK, SO THEY DECIDED TO GO TO THE EAST FOR THEIR HEALTH. ON JULY 14 HE, FRANCES,HER SISTER MARY HEREFORD, CAMPBELL, AND A NEGRO SERVANT LEFT ST.LOUIS ON THE STEAMBOAT "SWIFTSURE,#3" BOUND FOR CINCINNATI AND PITTSBURGH. THE HEREFORD FAMILY AGREED TO CARE FOR THE FARM, AND HIS BUSINESS FRIEND JAMES W. SMOOT CONSENTED TO COLLECT SEVERAL NOTES WHICH WERE DUE TO EXPIRE IN SUBLETTE'S ABSENCE. THEY PASSED CAIRO ON THE FIFTEENTH, MADE A SHORT STOP AT LOUISVILLE, AND REACHED CINCINNATI THE FOLLOWING DAY. CAMPBELL'S COUSIN ROBERT BUCHANAN GREETED THEM AT THE WHARF, AND THE NEXT AFTERNOON, THURSDAY, JULY 17, THEY BOARDED ANOTHER STEAMER, THE UNCLE BEN, AND CONTINUED UP THE OHIO. ACCORDING TO CAMPBELL, WILLIAM WAS IN FULL HEALTH, ALTHOUGH THEY HAD PURCHASED SUNDRIES,ICE AND MEDICINES AND C" IN CINCINNATI.
SUBLETTE WAS SERIOUSLY ILL BY THE EIGHTEENTH OR NINETEENTH, WHEN THEY REACHED PITTSBURGH. ON THE TWENTY-SECOND, WHILE STILL ABOARD THE BOAT, HE DREW UP A NEW WILL IN WHICH FRANCES WAS GIVEN THE BULK OF HIS ESTATE, INCLUDING APPROXIMATELY ONE-HALF OF SULPHUR SPRINGS. ANDREW AND SOLOMON WERE GRANTED THE REMAINDER OF THE SPRINGS PLUS SOME MINOR LAND TRACTS AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. THERESA COOK WAS BEQUEATHED A SLAVE GIRL, ANOTHER SLAVE GIRL WAS TO BE FREED WITHIN A YEAR, AND CAMPBELL WAS TO SHARE WITH FRANCES ANY "SURPLUS COMING TO MY ESTATE FROM THE BUSINESS OF SUBLETTE AND CAMPBELL." ANDREW AND CAMPBELL WERE APPOINTED EXECUTERS, BUT NOWHERE IN THE DOCUMENT WAS THERE ANY HINT, AS HAS BEEN CHARGED ,THAT SUBLETTE, IN ORDER TO KEEP FRANCES FROM REMARRYING, "WILLED HIS PROPERTY TO HIS WIFE ON CONDITION THAT SHE SHOULD NOT CHANGE HER NAME". (DEED RECORD U3,PG247,MSS,ST.LOUIS CRDO;RECORD OF WILLS C,PP181-82,MSS,ST.LOUIS PC)
AS SOON AS QUARTERS WERE AVAILABLE IN PITTSBURGH, THE PARTY MOVED INTO THE CITY. A DISASTROUS FIRE THE PREVIOUS APRIL HAD BURNED OVER A LARGE SECTION OF THE METROPOLITAN AREA, AND HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS WERE AT A PREMIUM. SUBLETTE WAS MOVED INTO ROOM #8 AT THE EXCHANGE HOTEL. DR.WILLIAM ADDISON, WHO RESIDED NEARBY AND WAS A WELL KNOWN MEDICAL MAN, HIGHLY RESPECTED AS A LOCAL HISTORIAN AND NATURALIST AS WELL AS A PHYSICIAN, WAS CONSULTED. THE TAINT OF CONSUMPTION TOOK IT'S TOLL, AND ON WEDNESDAY JULY 23, 1845, WILLIAM DIED, FAR FROM HIS BELOVED SULPHUR SPRINGS, FARTHER FROM THE MOUNTAINS. LATE IN THE AFTERNOON OR EARLY ON THURSDAY EVENING, CAMPBELL TOOK FRANCES AND HER SISTER TO THE LEVEE AND PLACED THEM ABOARD A STEAMER, PROBABLY THE "NORTH BEND," SCHEDULED TO LEAVE FOR ST.LOUIS IN THE MORNING. HIRED SERVANTS CARRIED WILLIAM'S REMAINS ABOARD, BUT CAMPBELL COULD NOT ACCOMPANY THEM HOME, SINCE HE HAD TO PROCEED TO PHILADELPHIA ON EMERGENCY BUSINESS AND FAMILY AFFAIRS. THE WOMEN WERE HOME BY THE SEVENTH, AND SUBLETTE'S REMAINS WERE TAKEN TO THE FARM TO BE PREPARED FOR BURIAL IN THE FAMILY PLOT.
THE DAILY MISSOURI REPUBLICAN, HIS POLITICAL ADVERSARY IN LIFE, COMMENTED, "HIS DEATH IS AS UNEXPECTED AS IT WILL BE SINCERELY DEPLORED BY NUMEROUS FRIENDS ALL OVER THE STATE." CARRIAGES GATHERED AT THE CORNER OF FOURTH AND CHESTNUT EARLY IN THE MORNING ON A CLOUDY AUG.8, A SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE OLD SUBLETTE-CAMPBELL STORE. ALL "FRIENDS OF THE DECEASED" WERE INVITED TO JOIN THE FUNERAL PROCESSION TO THE FARM, WHERE SERVICES WERE TO BE HELD. THE MOURNERS MOVED SLOWLY OUT THE OLD MANCHESTER ROAD THROUGH A SLIGHT SHOWER, AND AT SULPHUR SPRINGS, WITH THE HEREFORDS, NEIGHBORS, FRIENDS, AND SLAVES IN ATTENDANCE, WILLIAM WAS BURIED NEAR HIS GREAT STONE HOUSE.
SINCE ANDREW WAS IN THE WEST, CAMPBELL THEN PROCEEDED TO CARRY OUT THE BEQUESTS OF THE WILL, BUT WOULD NOT COMPLETE HIS DUTIES UNTIL 1857, SINCE THERE WERE DIFFICULTIES OVER REMAINING PARTNERSHIP ACCOUNTS, SUITS IN DEBT, AND THE KANSAS CITY LANDS. AT TIMES HE HAD SHARP DIFFERENCES OF OPINION WITH FRANCES BECAUSE SHE WAS A COMPETENT MANAGER OF HER SHARE OF SULPHUR SPRINGS AND RESENTED CAMPBELL'S KNOWLEDGE OF HER AFFAIRS.
(RECORD OF WILLS C,PG183,MSS,FILE OF ESTATE OF WILLIAM L.SUBLETTE, FILE 2052,MSS,ST.LOUIS PC.)
ANDREW SUBLETTE REACHED MISSOURI IN EARLY AUTUMN,1845. HE AIDED CAMPBELL WHENEVER POSSIBLE WITH THE ESTATE. HE WAS NOT CONTENT TO BECOME A FARMER, SO JOINED THE ARMY AND WENT TO THE MEXICAN WAR AS A CAPTAIN OF COMPANY "A" OREGON BATTALION OF THE MISSOURI MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS. HE MUSTERED OUT NOV.6,1848 AT FORT LEAVENWORTH,AND THE FOLLOWING JUNE ACCOMPANIED NAVY LT.EDWARD FITZGERALD BEALE FROM ST.LOUIS OVERLAND WITH MESSAGES TO CALIFORNIA. WHILE THERE HE WORKED THE GOLD FIELDS FOR A TIME, BUT THE WORK WAS DETRIMENTAL TO HIS PRECARIOUS HEALTH AND HE FELL ILL. GROVE COOK TOOK HIM IN AND NURSED HIM BACK TO HEALTH.
IN 1851 OR 52, ANDREW WAS IN LOS ANGELES, WHERE HE FORMED A PARTNERSHIP WITH JAMES THOMPSON TO SUPPLY WHEAT TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CALIFORNIA. BEFORE THE CONTRACT COULD BE FULFILLED, HE DIED AS THE RESULT OF AN ENCOUNTER WITH A GRIZZLY BEAR WHILE HUNTING IN THE HILLS NEAR HIS HOME. SOME OF THE HEREFORDS WHO HAD BY THEN SETTLED AT LOS ANGELES ARRANGED FOR HIS BURIAL ON DEC.20,1853. AFTER THOMPSON, ANDREW'S BUSINESS PARTNER RESIGNED THE POSITION, THOMAS HEREFORD SERVED AS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE. THOMPSON HAD ESTIMATED ANDREW'S PROPERTY WAS WORTH APPROX. $5,000, BUT HEREFORD ESTIMATED THAT AFTER HE HAD PAID ALL OF ANDREW'S DEBTS SCARCELY $2,000 WOULD REMAIN, SINCE AS HE SAID IN A LETTER TO SOLOMON,"AS LONG AS HE(ANDREW) HAD MONEY EVERY ONE THAT WANTED ANY OF IT GOT IT AS YOU WELL KNEW HIS PROPENSITIES FOR CARDS." WHEN A FINAL SETTLEMENT WAS MADE EARLY IN 1857, HEREFORD INFORMED SOLOMON THAT PROPERTY VALUED AT ONLY $200 REMAINED.
SOLOMON DID NOT RETURN TO ST.LOUIS UNTIL EARLY SEPTEMBER,1846, AFTER AN ABSENCE OF THREE YEARS IN THE WEST. DURING THOSE YEARS HE ENGAGED IN THE INDIAN TRADE, FOUND HIS WAY TO CALIFORNIA, AND KEPT UP AN INTERMITTENT CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. AFTER PARTING WITH WILLIAM AT LARAMIE FORK IN THE SUMMER OF 1843, SOLOMON TRAVELED SOUTH TO THE PLATT-ARKANSAS RIVER AREA, WHERE HE MET ANDREW IN 1844 AT BENT'S FORT. THEY WERE AT TAOS IN OCTOBER, THEN BACK ON THE ARKANSAS, AND IN THE SPRING OF 1845, HE WAS IN TAOS ONCE AGAIN. DURING THE SUMMER OF THAT YEAR, ANDREW SET OUT FOR ST.LOUIS, BUT SOLOMON TURNED WEST, JOINED A SMALL GROUP OF FIFTEEN ADVENTURERS, AND ON OCT.5, REACHED SUTTER'S FORT IN CALIFORNIA. HE SPENT THE NEXT SEVEN MONTHS ON THE PACIFIC COAST BETWEEN SUTTER'S DOMAIN AND LOS ANGELES, SAW GROVE COOK, TRADED IN LAND AND ANIMALS, AND MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF ON CHRISTMAS EVE, 1845, WHEN AT YERBA BUENA (SAN FRANCISCO) HE AND A GROUP OF CELEBRANTS AWAKENED A LOCAL MERCHANT AND ABUSED HIM "SHAMEFULLY."
IN MAY,1846, HE STARTED FOR ST.LOUIS BY A CIRCUITOUS ROUTE-HAPPY TO BE ON HIS WAY HOME. HE PARTITIONED BENTON FOR A JOB IN THE INDIAN SERVICE,AND WAS FINALLY COMMISSIONED OCT.21,1847,"AGENT FOR THE UNITED TRIBE OF SACS AND FOXES OF THE MISSISSIPPI." HE SCARCELY HELD THE JOB SIX MONTHS WHEN HE RESIGNED IN APRIL,1848, BECAUSE OF CONTINUAL SICKNESS.
FRANCES ,WHO HAD BEEN ILL AND DESPONDENT DURING THE WINTER OF 1847-48, PLANNED TO ACCOMPANY HER BROTHER THOMAS TO THE WEST TO SEEK BETTER HEALTH. SHE MET SOLOMON AT INDEPENDENCE HE PROPOSED AND IN SOMETHING OF A SURPRISE CEREMONY IN MAY,1848, THEY WERE MARRIED. THEY REMAINED IN INDEPENDENCE SEVERAL MONTHS. FRANCES RETURNED TO THE FARM IN THE SPRING OF 1849,ALTHOUGH SOLOMON DID NOT RETURN UNTIL THE LATE AUTUMN OR EARLY WINTER. THAT YEAR THERESA COOK DIED IN THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN ST.LOUIS, AND ON MAY 17, THE OLD SUBLETTE-CAMPBELL STORE WAS SWEPT AWAY IN A GREAT BUSINESS- DISTRICT FIRE. FORTUNATELY, THE INSURANCE ON THE BUILDING WAS ENOUGH TO COVER THE LOSS AND TO SETTLE ONCE AND FOR ALL THE LAST DEBTS OF THE OLD PARTNERSHIP.
SOLOMON AND FRANCES, AFTER THEIR MARRIAGE, HAD MOVED INTO NEW QUARTERS ON THE FARM-PROBABLY INTO THE HOUSE OCCUPIED BY THE HEREFORDS NEAR THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE TRACT, FACING WHAT IS NOW SHAW AVENUE. IN THE SAME YEAR, 1848, LAWYERS REPRESENTING SOLOMON,FRANCES, AND ANDREW SOLD 388 ACRES OF THE SPRINGS TRACT,INCLUDING RESORT FACILITIES AND THE STONE HOUSE, TO DAVID W. GRAHAM. TWO YEARS LATER GRAHAM RESOLD 29.99 ACRES OF THAT TRACT-ACRES CONTAINING THE HOUSE AND RESORT-TO THOMAS ALLEN. MUCH OF THE REMAINING LAND GRAHAM SUBDIVIDED. AFTER 1849,SOLOMON AND FRANCES SPENT MOST OF THEIR TIME IN ST.LOUIS COUNTY AT THE SUBLETTE FARM. THEY LEARNED THAT CROP RAISING WAS A DIFFICULT, MANY TIMES A COSTLY BUSINESS. THEIR FAMILY OBLIGATIONS GRADUALLY INCREASED. FRANCES HAD GIVEN BIRTH TO HER FIRST CHILD,A SON, SOLOMON PERRY,JR.
IN DECEMBER,1849. A DAUGHTER, ESTHER FRANCES, FOLLOWED IN OCTOBER,1853; THEN ANOTHER SON, WILLIAM HUGH.IN JUNE,1856. BOTH SONS DIED BEFORE THE AGE OF TWO AND THE SORROW OF THEIR DEATHS SERIOUSLY AFFECTED THEIR MOTHER'S HEALTH. IN AUGUST,1855, SHE MADE A WILL IN WHICH SHE LEFT ALL HER PROPERTY TO SOLOMON, EXCEPT FOR ONE HUNDRED ACRES TO GO TO HER DAUGHTER. SOLOMON DIED FIRST, ON AUGUST 31,1857, BUT FRANCES QUICKLY FOLLOWED, ON SEPTEMBER 28,1857. THE HEREFORDS AT THE FARM TOOK CHARGE OF YOUNG ESTHER FRANCES (FANNIE), WHO WAS ALSO IN POOR HEALTH AND SURVIVED ONLY UNTIL MAY 6,1861, WHEN SHE DIED AND WAS BURIED IN THE FAMILY PLOT. THE HEREFORDS CONSIDERED THEMSELVES LEGITIMATE HEIRS TO SULPHUR SPRINGS, SINCE FANNIE WAS THE LAST OF HER LINE-THE LAST OF AN ENTIRE BRANCH OF THE SUBLETTE FAMILY.
ALLEN WHO WAS A LEADING ST.LOUIS BUSINESS MAN AND A POWER IN THE MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILROAD, OFFERED IN NOVEMBER,1853, TO SELL OR LEASE THE RESORT AND HOUSE EITHER AS A PRIVATE ESTATE OR AS "A SUITABLE PLACE FOR A PUBLIC RESORT, OR FOR A WATER CURE." THE RAILROAD WHICH HE REPRESENTED HAD OPENED A STATION AT CHELTENHAM QUITE CLOSE TO THE RESORT IN 1852, AND VISITORS COULD COMMUTE EASILY TO ST.LOUIS. HE WAS UNSUCCESSFUL, HOWEVER AND TWO YEARS LATER WAS STILL ADVERTISING THE RESORT. FINALLY,ALLEN FOUND A BUYER. ON FEB.1,1858, FOR THE SUM OF $25,000--$8,000 IN CASH-HE CONVEYED THE ENTIRE TRACT AND ALL IT'S BUILDINGS TO TWO MEN WHO WERE SPOKESMEN FOR A SMALL, LOCAL FRENCH ICARIAN COMMUNITY. THE ICARIANS, DEVOTED FOLLOWERS OF ETIENNE CABET, A UTOPIAN-COMMUNIST WHO HAD DIED IN ST.LOUIS TWO YEARS BEFORE, ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES AT THE RESORT AND DISCOVERED THAT SUBLETTE'S STONE HOUSE WAS LARGE ENOUGH TO SHELTER NEARLY THE ENTIRE BROTHERHOOD. YET THEY COULD NOT MEET THE PAYMENTS ON THE PROPERTY, DISBANDED IN 1864, AND RETURNED THE ENTIRE TRACT TO ALLEN.
THE FOLLOWING YEAR HE SOLD IT FOR $18,000 TO SAMUEL HUMBLETON AND JAMES GREEN OF ST.LOUIS, WHO IN TURN TRANSFERRED IT TO THEODORE KOCK. BY 1870,THE RESORT WAS IN NEAR RUIN, AND THE RIVER DES PERES HAD TURNED INTO A TYPHOID AND MALARIA-RIDDEN SEWER. THE ICARIANS HAD SUFFERED FROM THE PESTILENTIAL WATERS, AND THE ST.LOUIS TIMES RELATED IN 1872 THAT "THE COTTAGE (RESORT) AND SPRING HAVE FALLEN INTO BAD REPUTE AND THE ODOR OF ONE IS NEARLY AS BAD AS THAT OF THE OTHER." THE SUBLETTE MANSION, ACCORDING TO THE ICARIAN REPORTS, WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE THREE YEARS LATER.
THAT PORTION OF SULPHUR SPRINGS NOT SOLD BY SOLOMON,FRANCES,AND ANDREW IN 1848 WAS THE TRACT ENGROSSED BY THE HEREFORDS AFTER LITTLE FANNIE'S DEATH IN 1861. FIVE YEARS LATER THEY SUBDIVIDED THE TRACT AND IN JUNE,1869, BEGAN TO SELL ONE ACRE BUILDING LOTS IN THE "FAIRMONT" PORTION OF THE ESTATE. MARY C.HEREFORD PARTICIPATED IN THE DEDICATION, AT WHICH REFRESHMENTS WERE SERVED TO OMNIBUS-LOADS OF PROSPECTIVE BUYERS FROM THE CITY. "FAIRMONT" WAS BOUNDED BY KINGSHIGHWAY, BISCHOFF (BERNARD),MACKLIND, AND NORTHROP.(INCORPORATED INTO THE CITY IN 1868.)
THE PREVIOUS YEAR SHE HAD ARRANGED FOR THE BODIES OF THE SUBLETTE FAMILY, MICIJAH TARVER, AND SEVERAL SLAVES TO BE MOVED TO A LARGE LOT IN BELLEFONTAINE CEMETERY,WHERE A SIZABLE GRANITE SHAFT WAS ERECTED TO MARK THEIR FINAL RESTING PLACE. A BOOK WHICH I CAN'T REMEMBER STATED THERE MAY HAVE BEEN INDIAN FRIENDS BURIED THERE. THE LAST VALUABLE TRACTS OF SUBLETTE'S LANDED EMPIRE WERE BEING DISTRIBUTED WHEN THE QUESTION OF LEGAL TITLE TO THE PROPERTY WAS RAISED.
IN LATE SPRING OF 1895, A FEW DESCENDANTS OF THE WHITLEY FAMILY MET IN ST.LOUIS AND ORGANIZED AS HEIRS OF THE SUBLETTE ESTATE "THAT THEY MIGHT ALL ACT IN UNISON." THE GROUP TRIED TO SHOW THERE WAS A SURVIVING MEMBER OF THE FAMILY. PINCKNEY W. SUBLETTE, SUPPOSEDLY DEAD IN 1828 WAS KNOWN TO BE ALIVE DURING THE CIVIL WAR. THEY TRIED TO FIND HIS BODY. THEY FOUND REMAINS BUT THE COURT REFUSED TO ACCEPT PINCKNEY'S REMAINS AS EVIDENCE. IN 1911 THE MISSOURI SUPREME COURT UPHELD THE LOWER COURTS DECISION.
IN 1926 SOME HEIRS TRIED TO REOPEN THE CASE. BY THEN THE RAPID WESTWARD GROWTH OF ST.LOUIS HAD TRANSFORMED SULPHUR SPRINGS INTO AN INDUSTRIAL AND RESIDENTIAL AREA. IN 1925 PINCKNEY'S REMAINS WERE RETURNED TO WYOMING AND PLACED IN SUBLETTE COUNTY WHICH WAS FORMED IN 1921 AS A CELEBRATION OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GRAND RENDEZVOUS OF 1835. THE REMAINS NOW REST BENEATH A STONE MONUMENT ON A BLUFF OVERLOOKING THE UPPER GREEN RIVER VALLEY
THE SUBLETTES-WILLIAM, MILTON, ANDREW, PINCKNEY, AND SOLOMON-WERE PART OF THE SOLID FOUNDATION PLACED BENEATH AMERICAN WESTWARD EXPANSION. THEIR LIVES EXTENDED FROM KENTUCKY, WHERE THEY WERE BORN, NOT WITH THE PROVERBIAL SILVER SPOON, BUT WITH ONE OF BETTER THAN AVERAGE METAL-TO THE MOUNTAINS. THE FUR TRADE WAS THE KEY TO THEIR CAREERS. EACH ONE EXPLOITED THE WESTS RESOURCES AND LEARNED THE WESTS SECRETS; YET ONLY WILLIAM TOOK THE FIRST WAGONS TO THE POPO AGIE; ONLY HE DIVIDED THE FUR EMPIRE WITH THE ASTOR INTERESTS; ONLY HE BUILT A LANDED ESTATE FROM HIS WESTERN PROFITS; AND ONLY HE WAS THE WESTS ARDENT SPOKESMAN. OF THE FIVE, HE KNEW BEST WHAT HE WANTED AND BELIEVED HE KNEW WHAT THE NATION NEEDED: AN AGRARIAN COMMONWEALTH. HIS WAS THE DREAM OF ARCADIA. THE BOOK "BILL SUBLETTE MOUNTAIN MAN" WAS A GREAT BOOK OF HIS LIFE AND WAS WELL DOCUMENTED."BUT NO PICTURE OF HIM."
THE RIVER DES PERES WAS UNUSABLE. WHAT THOMAS SCHARF HAD DESCRIBED IN 1803 AS A "ROMANTIC LITTLE STREAM" WAS, THE POST DISPATCH DESCRIBED IN 1894, "PRACTICALLY NOTHING LESS THAN A MONSTER OPEN SEWER", POISONING THE AIR WITH THE MOST DANGEROUS CORRUPTION AND MENACE TO HEALTH KNOWN. IT WAS ESPECIALLY BAD WHEN THE RIVER FLOODED. THE COUNTY DUMPED SEWAGE INTO THE RIVER, CAUSING THE CITY TO GET STATE FUNDS AND COUNTY MONEY TO BUILD A SEWER. THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN UNTIL THE 1920'S. IN THE EARLY DAYS THERE WAS AN ADVERTISEMENT ABOUT THE GREAT FISHING AND HUNTING.
THE SULPHUR SPRINGS WAS NOTED FOR IT'S HEALING QUALITIES,BUT I THINK IT CAUSED MORE DISEASE THAN GOOD HEALTH. THE SULPHUR SPRINGS CAME UP APPROX. WHERE THE RIVER MADE A BEND AT SULPHUR AVE. I HAVE READ SEVERAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THIS BUT HAVE ONLY ONE HAND DRAWN MAP FROM MEMORY,BUT NEVER FOUND AN OFFICIAL MAP. FROM ALL INDICATIONS IT WAS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RIVER DES PERES. THE LAKE FORMED LIKE A STRANGE LEFT HAND FACING EAST WITH THE THUMB GOING TO ELIZABETH BETWEEN SUBLETTE AND JANUARY, AND THREE FINGERS GOING ALMOST TO MACKLIND. ONE GOES ON THE NORTH SIDE OF WILSON. ONE GOES TO DAGGET, AND THE THIRD GOES TO MIDWAY BETWEEN SHAW AND PATTISON. THE ARM GOES TO SULPHUR AND THE RESORT.THERE WAS A WILSON BRIDGE OVER THE THUMB WHICH WOULD GIVE ME CAUSE TO THINK THIS WAS THE PATH FROM THE OLD SUBLETTE HOME AND GRAVE SITE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF NORTHRUP AT MACKLIND.A WALK UP MACKLIND,TURN ON WILSON AROUND THE LAKE WOULD LEAD TO SUBLETTE'S ROCK MANSION ON WILSON EAST OF SULPHUR.(1/2 MILE). HIGHWAY 44 OBLITERATES THE WHOLE PLACE. AS YOU ARE GOING WEST ON HY44 APPROX. AT MACKLIND, THE STREET ON THE NORTHERN EDGE OF THE HIGHWAY IS PATTISON. WILSON IS A STREET ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY AT HAMPTON. HOLIDAY INN MOTEL IS ON WILSON.IT'S JUST ABOUT HERE OR ON THE HIGHWAY WHERE I THINK SAT SUBLETTE'S MANSION. AS YOU ARE DRIVING WEST ON HY44,JUST EAST OF HAMPTON, YOU CAN VISUALIZE GRATIOT'S AND LATER SUBLETTE'S VAST HOLDINGS. TO THE NORTH THE TREE LINE IS ABOUT OAKLAND, THE TREE LINE TO THE WEST IS ABOUT McCAUSLAND, AND THE TREE LINE TO THE SOUTH IS ABOUT ARSENAL. ALL JUST A PART OF GRATIOT'S LEAGUE SQUARE AND WHAT A VIEW FROM THE BLUFF AT MACKLIND. IN THE EARLY 1800'S THERE WERE NO FACTORIES OR RAILROADS, JUST A BEAUTIFUL VALLEY WITH THE SMALL RIVER A FEW FARMS AND LOTS OF TREES.
BILL SUBLETTE MOUNTAIN MAN--NOTES
PG.94-12 ORIGINAL (DEED) RECORD (MAR.10,APR.26,1831) Q,P.548, R,P.615, T,P.355, MSS,ST.LOUIS CRDO; MISSOURI GAZETTE(ST.LOUIS), MAY 3,1817. PG.145--21 ORIGINAL (DEED RECORD) U,PG.140, MSS,ST. LOUIS CRDO; L.LEWIS CONTRACT WITH W.L. SUBLETTE, DEC.13,1834; JOHN LEWIS CONTRACT WITH W.L.SUBLETTE,DEC.23,1834; LINDSAY AND SAMUEL LEWIS CONTRACT WITH W.L.SUBLETTE,DEC.23,1834, SUBLETTE MSS. (SUBLETTE'S NEW ROCK MANSION, AND SLAVE CABINS).| HOME | DOGTOWN |
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