The Brothers Robidoux and the Opening of the American West

by Robert J. Willoughby

  It was expected that Joseph E. would work among the Panis, whether for Jeffre or Sarpy. Baptiste Roy had also worked with that tribe, so there might have been further motive to secure the furs and skins they produced. “I remark in passing, and you must listen—it is not the profits I am hoping for from the 20 to 25 extra packs that he might get in trading that are important to me—it is rather my desire to stop these Americans and delay the work of our friend Baptiste—although I know you do not need it, but a little help doesn't hurt. So, my dear Bady, I have unfolded to you everything—in order to avoid any reproach. Then I will do like Pilate—I will wash my hands.”6

  As with most Indian treaties, constant renegotiations had an impact on the business of the Indian traders like Joseph Robidoux. In 1836, a new treaty, “between John Daugherty, U. S. Agent for Indian Affairs and Joshua Pilcher U. S. sub-agent being specially authorized therefore, and the chiefs, braves, head men of the Otoes, Missouri, Omahas, and Yancton & Santee bands of Sioux duly authorized by their respective tribes,” mentioned Robidoux and a fellow trader and competitor by name.

  Joseph Robidoux and Lucian Fontenelle, during an intercourse of many years aware of the heavy losses sustained by them at different times by their liberality in extending large credits to them and their people which have never been paid and which owing to the imperishable situation of their country and their scanty means of living never can be, are anxious to win some credence of gratitude for such benefits and favors and compensate the said individuals in some measure for their losses. To this end at the earnest solicitation of said tribes it is agreed that the said Joseph Robidoux shall have the privilege of selecting three sections of land any where within the ceded territory, so soon as the same shall be surveyed, and the said Lucian Fontenelle shall be permitted to select two sections in like manner, which shall be conveyed to them by the United States without cost whenever the land so selected shall be posted by them, their agents or legal representatives to the register and receiver of the land office of the district. It is however distinctly understood that if the President and Senate of the United States should refuse to ratify this and the last preceding article, or either of them, or any part thereof, that such refusal shall in no way effect the relinquishment and cession made by the tribes hereto, in the first article of this convention.

  Robidoux and Fontenelle got nothing, as their land grants were apparently considered exorbitant by the members of the Senate.7

  In 1839, the state legislature politically organized Buchanan County and set its boundaries. Robidoux filed claim to two quarter sections, 320 acres, in the northwest corner of Washington Township, itself in the northwest corner of the county. Robidoux's post, for the first time, came to the attention of others as a property with great economic potential. A viable, profitable trading post already operated there, and the natural advantages proved attractive, based on the number of people who flocked to its immediate vicinity. The bluffs and rolling hills, built on a base of ample limestone, provided safety from flooding, and the post sat close enough to the embankment for easy access to a boat landing. Those limestone deposits also provided an abundant supply of natural building material. To the south, the floodplain, or river bottom as it is called, was composed of some of the richest soils in the world, brown loess, and sugar clay, deposited by centuries of flooding. The river made a great curve at the site, forming a huge backward C with the combination of hills and plain forming an amphitheater-like site, facing the river, as if the post sat on a stage. A flat prairie, running from the opposite bank of the river west, served as a backdrop, against the opposite bluffs, three or four miles' distances. Nearby lay ample grassland for grazing and plenty of standing timber. Numerous creeks, like the Blacksnake, drained the area, leaving little ground marshy or excessively wet. The river, as it made its big bend, cut its deepest channel against the eastern bank, freeing it from the sandbars that made shallow the Kansas side.

  The natural advantages of the Blacksnake Hills, based on a pleasant topography, rich farmland, and location on the Missouri River, with the transportation link it provided, clearly made that site superior to the other little towns and trading posts that had popped up in the region. Because of the topography of the rest of the county, the Blacksnake Hills site acted as the mouth of a funnel through which all produce had to pass on its way to the river. On two occasions in 1838 and 1840, Robidoux confronted claim jumpers who saw the potential and had visions of laying out a town, and on another occasion he turned down a lucrative offer to purchase his site by investors from Independence, Missouri.

  Warren Samuels and two other gentlemen, land speculators, early in 1839 had given the Blacksnake Hills a serious look as a potentially profitable town site. In the fall of 1839, they approached Robidoux with an offer of $1,600 for his property. The Indian trade had been steadily declining. Robidoux invited them to dinner and after pleasant negotiations, the parties agreed to terms. Samuels and his partners intended to pay him the money the next day. But then Robidoux brought out the cards for a friendly game to pass the rest of the evening. As the hour grew late an argument erupted, supposedly involving the game, and Robidoux suddenly called off the deal. The men from Independence went home the next morning empty handed. It may have been that Robidoux suddenly had second thoughts about the price they offered, and he used the argument as a way to back out. Maybe he, as an inveterate poker player (several contemporary sources say he had “a passion for card playing”), felt he had been cheated. What we can say with certainty is that Robidoux retained control of the prime Blacksnake Hills site.8

  Joseph Robidoux still made his money from the Indian trade across the Missouri River in northeast Kansas where the Ioway, Sac, and Fox tribes lived. He remained constantly concerned about the government annuities, the distribution to the Indians by the agents, and the salability of his own products from St. Louis, on which his trade and livelihood depended. If a problem existed, like the gap of time between the appointment of one Indian agent and the next, Robidoux sweated. In a letter he complained to Pierre Chouteau, “Excuse my importunities; this business is so important to me that I cannot neglect it, by not revealing to you the danger I run if this merchandise is sold to these Indians. During long years I have learned to know these Indians, especially these greedy Sacs. If the merchandise is exposed to their eyes for perhaps two weeks before the arrival of the agent, you know the Indians well enough, my dear Cadet, that they are going to want to give them to their wives, to the children. It would be difficult for them to have them—I may even say impossible. On the other hand, if they do not see them they could not want them so much & three quarters of the difficulties would be smoothed out.”9

  Joseph wanted the annuity payment merchandise to remain where he could see it, if not control it. “I repeat, if these merchandise remain n the trading-house while waiting for the agent no one will know about them and no one can chatter. On the contrary, if you expose them to the danger of being stolen by these Indians, exposing them to the sight of those good-for-nothings who live with them, these farmers, blacksmiths, militia & interpreters, who will constantly be giving them bad advice, without mentioning the venders of whiskey who will also stick in their words in hopes of getting a blanket from these unfortunates.”10

  Having previously given the Indians advances against their annuities from his own stock, Joseph found that practice less than satisfactory. “I remember one spring when I gave them some advances—and they seemed satisfied, seated on some heaps of my merchandise. I said to them, You are satisfied but I fear that I shall not be. You have insisted that I give you my merchandise. You are naked, and you have spoken truly—but I have to pay for this merchandise—and if, as I believe, your Great Father the President is sending some merchandise to pay you, do you think that will be my affair? Oh well they answered, that doesn't matter—we will take this merchandise, are we to receive nothing during all eternity. We will always pay you. They said this, my dear Cadet, while they were lying. So, my dea
r Cadet help your old comrade.”11

  Likewise he relied on the influence of Chouteau to intercede with the government whenever a threat or problem arose he could not handle locally. In late July 1839, he wrote Pierre Chouteau, “Knowing that the Government is sending some merchandise aboard the St. Pierre to pay the annuities of the Sac & Foxes of Missouri, and that this merchandise must be transported to their villages until an agent is appointed to distribute it. I believe it is my duty to warn you that it is exposed to the danger of being stolen as there is no settlement suitable for receiving it. So I am offering to receive it at my establishment at Black Snake, to house it and give it all necessary care, to transport it to its destination without charge, at the first request of the agent who is appointed for that purpose.” Chouteau knew the profitability of the Blacksnake Hills post tied directly to those same annuities and forwarded Robidoux's letter to Joshua Pilcher, the chief Indian agent on the Missouri with the note, “If Major Pilcher wants to consent to the request of Mr. Robidoux I will be responsible for the delivery of the above merchandise.”12

  At the same time, Ramsey Crooks in New York had comments about the deal that existed with Joseph and his old partner, Baptiste Roy, and the company, which he described in a note to his cousin, Pierre Chouteau. “The contract of Roy & Robidoux looks bad, but hope you will be able to bring them to terms. After the opinion I gave you about selling the robes to Canter & Hurley, I would not have broached the subject again, but they seemed so much disappointed at our dealing even to accede to our first proposition that I deemed it a duty to address the house again to gratify them. Inferring above to Roy & Robidoux, I thought a word from you would set all right, but taking that in connection with the skin buy, insisting on Papin's goods, leads one to apprehend you may have trouble and if it so turns out I shall be really sorry that you were absent when these got to St. Louis, more especially as you would have been there to meet them. I will feel anxious till I learn the result of this extraordinary movement of the ‘Allied Powers.’” It clearly seemed Crooks had concerns that Robidoux had become too much the master of his own domain.13

  Though Joseph still owned the land, others began to arrive in the area that would for all intent remove from Robidoux's hands the decision to plant a town. They moved into Buchanan County and right up to the edge of Robidoux's Blacksnake Hills property. They saw the vision of a town and intended to show it to old Joe Robidoux as well. Buchanan County had been divided into eleven townships and those to the south, bordering Platte County and neighboring Clay County began to fill first. The people moving in mostly migrated from the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, following a pattern that developed early in Missouri history. Besides the attraction of both abundant and fertile farmland, Missouri's status as a slave state offered another reason for the large number of immigrants from Kentucky and Tennessee. Settlers who owned slaves brought them in with no questions asked.14

  Within two years of the Platte Purchase a steady stream of land-buying settlers and an indeterminate number of squatters pressed toward the Blacksnake Hills. Robidoux allowed his operatives and clerks to settle near the trading post on the river, by then also referred to as Robidoux's Landing. Thomas Sollers, Joseph Gladden, and Isadore Poulin brought their families there when they went to work for Robidoux. In 1837, John and William Whitehead settled two miles southeast of Robidoux's and shortly thereafter within a mile of the post were families named Hanson, Cochran, Pough, and Waymire. Frederick W. Smith, a surveyor, arrived in 1838, and another surveyor, named Simeon Kemper, in 1839. Dr. Daniel Keedy, one of the first physicians in Buchanan County, arrived in Washington Township in 1839, settling just south of Robidoux's store. He was soon joined by Dr. Silas McDonald, also a medical doctor, who moved into the area from Platte County. More families, with names like Fudge, Kaufman, James, Cox, and McCorkle, were Robidoux's neighbors by 1840.15

  At the Blacksnake Hills post, the shift away from the Indian trade to the supplying of the growing number of neighboring farmers began. Though the old weather-beaten trader who had initiated the site still personally preferred the Indian trade, the next generation of newly arrived merchants saw the coming market for farm supply more clearly. While the Indian trade hinterland quickly shrank, general stores began popping up at nearly every crossroads. Farmers needed a place to trade their produce, establish credit, buy tools, and sometimes just socialize. Besides the economic necessities, the newly arriving settlers also had political needs to be met. Buchanan County needed a county seat and many viewed the Blacksnake Hills post as the logical choice.

  Beginning in early 1839, the county court convened, literally in Robidoux's living room. County records show him being paid for the room and fuel for several months. Not only the county court but the circuit court as well met at his house, which also served as a polling place.16 What relationship existed between Robidoux and the judges is not certain. There may have been a misunderstanding between them at some point in time. For whatever reasons, a personality conflict, not enough rent, tired of too many people around him, and of Robidoux's instigation or not, the court voted to establish the county seat elsewhere. The spot they chose in August 1840 lay in the middle of the county, an uncharted plot called Sparta.17

  As such the Blacksnake Hills post clung to its last moments of isolation. In 1840, Richard L. McDonald wrote an account of a visit to an uncle, Dr. Silas McDonald, one of the first physicians in Buchanan County. In his letter he described what he saw at the Blacksnake Hills, “the only occupant and owner of a business house was a Frenchman named Robadoux [sic] who lived there a number of years as an Indian trader, and who was at that time still engaged in the occupation. He was moving around dressed in an old, red flannel shirt, his trousers strapped around the waist, on his head a slouched hat, and so tanned and weather beaten that it was difficult to tell whether he was a white man, a mulatto, or an Indian. His establishment consisted of three log cabins, one or more of which were filled with furs of otter, beaver, buffalo, deer, bear, and other skins; in the other buildings were stored provisions, trinkets, and supplies for the Indians, the latter chiefly in whiskey, tobacco and liquors. The old man seemed to be a very energetic, enterprising, shrewd business manager. He was familiar with several dialects of the Indian language and was highly respected by all the natives who dealt with him.”18

  In August 1840, Joseph Robidoux reported a problem over missing cargo from a river steamer. Apparently a substantial order of trade goods consigned to the company posts at Council Bluffs had been unloaded in the wrong place. He wrote to Pierre Chouteau, “I am writing these few words in haste—the Captain of the ship, will give you, I suppose the details of his voyage. He will leave today to look for what he left at Camp Leavenworth—and he says that he left everything there—which I do not believe. It would be much better for him to carry this merchandise back to St. Louis and deliver them to you—for it will take more than $5000 to pay for the transportation of these effects to the Bluff—that is no concern of mine, but my brother and my friends have an interest in it.” Which of Joseph's brothers had the interest is not identified, but Michel or Francois seem likely. Robidoux's letter pointed out that he clearly believed the cargo had been waylaid or sold off at some point below on the river, possibly in Liberty. “I believe that the captain leaves too much to his crew, engineer, sailor etc. and you know that that is a very bad thing.”19

  Business at the Blacksnake Hills post continued to decline and an economic crisis loomed for its factor. Robidoux wrote, “I rely on you to recommend me to Major Pilcher to assist me. There is no prospect of doing anything here—I am overloaded with merchandise, no money, no skins—believe me, my dear Cadet—I am not joking. There are lots of people here, but they are as loaded with money as a catfish with feathers, starving & lazy. I would like to be paid by these Sacs and Ayois—think of me, my dear Cadet—although you believe that I deserve to be blamed by you. You are wrong. If I do not receive my payment from these miserable Indians, that will do me con
siderable harm—and I count that you will not neglect me.”20

  But the burgeoning population of the county and Washington Township, despite what Robidoux thought of them, saw a stream of improvements that made Robidoux's outpost the foundation of a town, in fact, if not in legal title. The growing agricultural market in the region created a self-generating economic impetus, attracting more settlers, who planted more crops, and in turn created more demands for goods and services. Besides livestock of all kinds, the river bottoms and hillsides flowered with vast fields of corn and wheat. Some farmers raised tobacco, while hemp became popular with many more. The surrounding farmers needed a place to conduct business, and clearly the natural advantages of Robidoux's Landing topped all other towns in the region. The river landing, by 1840, saw more frequent stops by river steamers and that became an important drawing point. Robidoux opened a flour mill on the west side of Blacksnake Creek in 1841 to meet the demand to process local grain, and a sawmill, constructed by Dr. Keedy just south of the post, began operation that same year. The county court began the process of “viewing” or laying out roads throughout the county, and despite what had been hoped for the development of Sparta, Robidoux's Landing became the real center of the area transportation web.

  Craftsmen of all descriptions moved into the immediate area to fill the demands created by the growing population. Other millers arrived, harnessing power from the creeks and small rivers, north, east, and south of Robidoux's. Louis Picard, a professional carpenter, and William Langston, a plasterer, arrived in 1842, along with the Belcher brothers, who were brick masons. Dozens of new homes needed building and craftsmen found steady work. Jacob Mitchell, one of the early independent blacksmiths, earned a reputation as “a worthy son of Vulcan,” the ancient god of iron. A man named David Heaton arrived about that same time, practicing the trade of cabinetmaker. But when business slowed, or the need arose, he made coffins. John Patee came to the area to manufacture and sell harvesting machines, but wound up dealing in patent medicines. He bought a substantial tract of land just south of Robidoux's holdings that eventually became a major addition to the town.21