William L. Sublette: 52 Ancestors #3 (Wheat side)

The subject of this post, William Lewis Sublette, has come to my attention lately, and not through genealogy. In fact, I heard about him while I was being trained as a museum volunteer. His uncommon surname jogged my memory, and I went home and looked him up in my family tree.  

William L. "Bill" Sublette is not technically my ancestor--at least, not my direct line ancestor. He is my 1st cousin, 5 times removed. His mother and my 4th great grandmother were sisters. His name might be one that you know, even though I didn't recognize it at first. He is among the group of adventurers known as "mountain men"--men like Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger, and Kit Carson. His name and those of his brothers, as well, are written in the history books, and he was involved in many historic events in his short life of 46 years.

His mother, Isabella Whitley, came from an adventurous family. She came to Kentucky from Virginia in 1775 at age 1, riding horseback on the lap of her mother, Esther Fullen Whitley. Her sister, my 4th great grandmother Elizabeth, age 3, rode tied to Esther's back. In the 1780s William and Esther Whitley built the first brick house in Kentucky, and that is where Isabella, who had married Philip Sublette in 1797, gave birth to her first son William in 1798. They went on to have several more children: Milton, Sophronia, Pinckney, Mary, Andrew, Sally, and Solomon. 

Whitley House, Crab Orchard, KY

The Sublette family moved to St. Charles, Missouri, in 1817. William was appointed deputy constable of the township in 1820, and then constable. In 1822 he saw this advertisement in the Missouri Gazette and Public Adviser. 

General William Henry Ashley and Major Andrew Henry co-founded the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1822. Their plan was to compete with John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company by teaching young men to do the trapping themselves instead of trading for furs with the Native Americans. 

This was also the beginning of the rendezvous. From 1825-1840 in various pre-announced locations, the rendezvous was an annual meeting of the trappers with supply wagons brought in by the fur companies. In addition to selling furs and replenishing supplies, the trappers also swapped stories, competed in races and target shooting, and did business. After the rendezvous of 1826 in Cache Valley, Utah, William Sublette and David Jackson bought out Ashley's interest in his fur company. In 1830 they sold out to William's brother, Milton, and his partners.

Map of rendezvous sites from furtrapper.com

The 1832 rendezvous at Pierre's Hole, Wyoming, was attended by up to two hundred trappers from the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, led by William Sublette; trappers from the American Fur Company; small groups of independent trappers; and large numbers of Nez Perces and Flatheads. As the rendezvous began to break up, Milton Sublette's group of about 100 trappers headed towards Salt Lake. Within a day they were involved in a incident with a group of Gros Ventre. A battle ensued with about 250 Gros Ventre warriors, and riders were dispatched to bring reinforcements from the rendezvous site.

William Sublette arrived to aid his brother and coordinated an attack against the Gros Ventres' position. In this first rush towards the Gros Ventre camp William Sublette was wounded. Tricked by the Gros Ventre into thinking that the rendezvous site was being attacked, the trappers rushed back. Returning next morning they found the Gros Ventre position abandoned. The wounded Sublette returned to St. Louis to recover from his injury.

After recuperating for over a year, William returned to the West and built Fort William as a fortified trading post (later known as Fort John, then as Fort Laramie). Over the many years of exploring the area and organizing wagon trains to supply the rendezvous, Sublette was partially responsible for blazing the Oregon Trail. He found a shortcut through the Rocky Mountains which was named Sublett's Cut. Purchased by the U.S. Army in 1849 and renamed Fort Laramie, the fort founded by Sublette protected pioneers emigrating to the Northwest.

In 1844 William Sublette married Frances Hereford of Tuscambia, Alabama. In 1845 Sublette was desirous of obtaining the office of Superintendent of Indian Affairs at St. Louis. While on a trip back East to secure the position, he died in Pittsburgh in 1845. First buried in the family graveyard on his farm near St. Louis, his remains were later moved to Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. Sublette willed his property to his widow on the condition that she never change her name. Four years later she married his brother, Solomon Sublette, thus preserving William's legacy in more ways than one.

William Sublette's grave in St. Louis

Contributions and namesakes of William Lewis Sublette:

• One of the first explorers of what is now Wyoming
• Given credit by some for naming the valley of Jackson's Hole for his partner, David Jackson
• While supplying the rendezvous, brought wagons across the South Pass of the Rockies, thus blazing this trail for future immigrants
• Helped found Kansas City, Missouri
• Built the first horse racing track in Missouri in the spirit of his grandfather and namesake, William Whitley
• For a time Yellowstone Lake was known as "Sublette's Lake"
• Sublette Street in Pocatello, Idaho, is named for him
• Sublette County in Wyoming is named for him (See www.sublette.com)
• Sublette, Kansas, is named for him (See sublettekansas.com)
• The Sublett Range is southeast Idaho is named for him
• Sublette Park and Avenue in St. Louis are named for him