Many emigrants found the wait at St. Joseph too long, and like Bruff looked elsewhere for a crossing point. The Frinks, who initially traveled alone, composing their mini-train of “two wagons, one drawn by four horses, a lighter one drawn by two horses, besides two saddle horses for Mr. Frink and myself,” also opted to move on. “We were ready to start to-day, and decided that we would travel up along the east side of the Missouri River before attempting to cross over to the west side. Here we again heard alarming and discouraging accounts of deeds of violence and bloodshed that had recently been committed on the plains.”39
Away from Robidoux's town, the 49er's had not left our noted family behind. As the stream of emigrants pushed up the Platte River Road, past Ash Hollow between the south and north forks of the Platte, members of the Robidoux clan steered emigrants to Chimney Rock and beyond to Scott's Bluff. There they again encountered a Mr. Robidoux at the pass bearing his namesake. The massive formation of the chain of bluffs seemed at first too daunting for the wagon trains. By veering south away from the river and around the bluffs through what is called the Gering Valley, the emigrants found a gentler road with a less rigorous climb, idyllic scenery, and a small but marvelous spring. On a gentle ridge, traversing the valley floor, they found the establishment of the Robidouxs, a cabin that served as storefront and residence and a blacksmith shop. Many of the passing emigrants, who had not seen a white man outside their own parties since departing Fort Kearny, stopped, looked, did some business, and wrote in their journals of the encounter. Which Robidoux they actually encountered for the most part remains a mystery, though there is some legitimate speculation that one of the six brothers might be the one referred to. Whichever Robidoux it might have been, that he was a western squaw man, keeping an Indian wife and children, does not help narrow the field, as nearly all the brothers and their sons practiced the taking of Indian wives.40
William Kelly, an emigrant who had started from England for the gold fields, wrote, “we found a rustic log-hut, the country residence of a Mr. Rouberdean [sic], of St. Louis, a blacksmith by trade, who for-seeing an active business from the overland migration, settled himself in this sequestered nook, getting into sharp collusion with the long dormant echoes of the neighbors, and taking unto himself a Sioux spouse, a perfect queen of the wilderness.”41 All six of the brothers haled from St. Louis, but so did many of their children. That his trade as a blacksmith is identified does not disqualify one of the six brothers, though there is no previous reference to any of them practicing that occupation.
There is a hint at which Robidoux it might have been, given by a civilian traveling with soldiers passing through to Fort Laramie and the Oregon country. The man, George Gibbs, accompanied the famed Mounted Riflemen detachment under the command of Colonel William Loring from Fort Leavenworth. In June 1849 he reported being astonished to see a log cabin in the pass and thought it belonged to an emigrant who decided to stop and go no farther: “It turned out to be the ‘fort’ of an Indian trader, who with his half-breed family had settled himself here, posted up a sign ‘Tinware, by A. Rubidue.’ [Apparently even members of the family varied the spelling.] He occupied himself by doing blacksmith work for the emigrants in the interval of the trading seasons.”42 Here one concludes the A. is for Antoine. But it is not the brother Antoine, late of the Mexican War. Most likely it is Antoine, the son of brother Francois, and a clerk in the employ of his uncle Joseph.
Several emigrants who spoke with A. Robidoux heard from him that “he has been trading with the Indians for 14 years.” Others reported that this Robidoux did well in his trade, “seems much at his ease, making money plentifully,” and “he shoes horses for one dollar a shoe and sets the tires on a wagon for $8; all other work is proportion. He sells flour at eight and Bacon at $10 per hundred.” Another emigrant passing in 1849 stated, “Robideau rents his forge,” for a “scandalous” rate, when he grew too tired to keep up with the high demand. While well above the prices for services and commodities charged back in St. Joseph, Robidoux figured in the cost of transportation and a healthy profit, not only for himself at the pass but for the benefactor and main creditor, Uncle Joseph.43
Niles Searls, a young lawyer who joined the 49ers almost on a lark, wrote of reaching Robidoux's Pass on June 25, 1849. “Scott's Bluff, like many others which we have passed, is an isolated pile of rocks, resembling on a magnified scale, a combination of all the different styles of architecture. When seen in the distance, it bears a good resemblance to an ancient castle of feudal times. Passing on one-half mile we encamped near another ravine close by another equally good spring, with plenty of wood for cooking purposes skirting the bluffs. Near this is the house of a Mr. Rubudone [sic] a Canadian Frenchman, who has a native wife. Keeps a grocery and a blacksmith shop.”44 While many emigrants tried to spell the name, most missed the mark. Many more simply referred to the shopkeeper and blacksmith as a Frenchman.
J. Goldsborough Bruff, who had departed from St. Joseph in May 1849, arrived at Robidoux's Pass late on July 6, stopping “1 mile from a trading-post and Blacksmith's shop kept by one of the Robedeaux's of St. Joseph, Mo. To trade with the Indians.” The next day, he described the scene there, “In a deep gulch lies a cool clear spring and brook. Close by is a group of Indian lodges & tents, surrounding a log cabin, where you can buy whiskey for $5 per gallon; and look at the beautiful squaws, of the traders. Flour here sells for 10 cents per pound. At the west end of the Bluffs you have the 1st sight of Laramie peak, about 60 miles off.”45
At Joseph's age in 1849, being nearly sixty-five, with the hereditary infirmity of diminishing eyesight plaguing him and his brothers, and other maladies from a rigorous frontier life, we can only wonder how often or if ever he ventured from his home in St. Joseph. An emigrant named Henry Page wrote in early May 1849 that he encountered near the Big Nemaha in northeast Kansas, “Mr. Robidoux on his way to meet his train of pack mules carrying furs.” Old Joe would have known the road to the Nemaha Agency well because of the business he did there and as it laid only a day's ride west of St. Joseph, it might be entirely possible that he ventured out on the road.46
Joseph did continue his efforts as an active Indian trader even through the heyday of the great migration from his town. In July 1849 Joseph Robideaux (sic) received a trade license from Agent Thomas Fitzpatrick, declaring capital of $5,000 and employment for most of his immediate family, including brother Francois, son Joseph E., and nephews Antoine and Sellico who were likely camped at Scott's Bluff. The following year in July 1850, he again re-licensed offering capital of $12,000 and adding brothers Michel and Isadore to the list of employees. Once again in July 1851 he took license from Agent D. D. Mitchell, offering capital and sureties in the amount of $5,000 with brothers Michel and Francois as assistant traders with son Joseph E. and nephew Antoine as clerks.47
With the 49ers well past by September 1949, William Ridenbaugh editorialized about the prospects of St. Joseph and lionized its founder Joseph Robidoux.
It is scarcely six years since the town was surveyed and laid out by its enterprising proprietor, Joseph Robidoux, and it now has a population of over two thousand. We might add in connection with this that the town is much indebted to Mr. Robidoux, for its growth and prosperity. His only object seems to have been to push the town ahead, regardless of pecuniary considerations. Instead of reserving valuable lots for himself, as most persons would have done, he has invariably sold them at a low price. When the town was first laid out he put a price upon his lots, from which he seldom departed. Many persons who are now in easy circumstances, are indebted to Mr. R. for all they possess. At an early day he sold these lots at a low price, and gave them their own time to pay for them, and they are now enjoying comfort and ease which they could not have acquired, except for his kind and generous spirit. Had Mr. Robidoux pursued the course that many proprietors of town have done, St. Joseph would not at this time have more than one half of its present population. From the sale of lots Mr. R. has only a
cquired ease and comfort, where others would have realized a fortune.48
Joseph Robidoux, always the trader, found time and opportunity to deal with the many emigrants streaming through his town. He is mentioned in a transaction recorded in the journal of Thaddeus Culberson in 1850. “Alex bought from one Mr. Robidoux, the founder of the town, four fine horses for $248.00. This old man came to this place many years ago and traded with the Indians. He has a pre-emption right for the land and when the town was laid out, of course he made a pastle of money. It is a good location for a town as the bluff retires from the river and leaves a fine level plain place for the town which can easily be drained into the river. There are a number of fine large brick houses in the place and the courthouse is a handsome brick building standing on the highest point in the place. I have one of the Robidoux horses while I remain in the upper country, he is a fine quiet animal and an excellent prancer.”49
In early September 1850, Joseph Robidoux suffered a great personal tragedy from which he did not soon recover. His youngest son, Charles, had recently returned home from college and spent some time catching up with some of his old friends. The event as reported in the St. Joseph Gazette, on September 18, 1850, read as follows: “On Sunday night 8th inst. At 11 o'clock, he and a young friend of his were on the main street indulging in some harmless merriment when a gun was fired from a window and he was shot dead on the spot. He was crossing the street at the time and the load, consisting of buckshot entered the top and back part of the head tearing it in a horrible manner. He pronounced the name of his friend three times and expired.”50
Joseph rushed to the scene and found his son dead. He railed at the owner of the store from which the shot had been fired from a second-story window, one Duncan MacDonald. A lynching seemed in the offing. “Mr. Robidoux was very much excited and was determined to burst open the front door of the store, with a rope in his hand as he wanted to get hold of the murderer and hang him on the spot and he was calling on the people to help him.” Cooler heads convinced Joseph to let the town's constable investigate and MacDonald survived a near thing. He left town for a while and ultimately never faced charges in the death of Charles, as he claimed he feared for his life and acted to avert the danger of a break-in, robbery, or worse.51
The Gazette reported that following the death of Charles,
He was taken to the residence of his brother Mr. J. C. Robidoux where his corpse remained until Tuesday morning. A large number of persons called on Monday to see it. Early on Tuesday a crowd of all sexes assembled to attend the remains to their final resting place. They were interred in the Catholic Cemetery, two miles distance, at 1/2 past 11 o'clock. Sixteen young gentlemen with long white streamers on their hats and white scarves upon their shoulders, all mounted on horse, noted as pall bearers, and a long procession, consisting of horsemen and carriages filled with ladies followed to the grave. Such was the end of our young friend. He lived beloved; he died lamented and this last public demonstration of regard and sympathy by a whole community, was soothing to the ears of his afflicted family.
His father, Mr. Joseph Robidoux, was one of the earliest pioneers to this far western country. He had the sagacity to select the site for, and to found this city. He has done more to promote its growth and prosperity than any other individual, and is now its wealthiest citizen. He is a man of generous feelings and is devoted to his children. Charles was his youngest. We know the poignancy of the old man's grief to have his son thus murdered in the main street of his own town. We sympathize with him in his affliction. In the condolence of the whole community his mind should find alleviation. The balm, which sympathy distils in sorrowing tears from the bosoms of his numerous friends should heal his wounded heart. We mourn the loss of Charles. We lament the manner of his death. We deeply grieve for his bereaved family—his aged parents, his brothers, his relatives—whose tenderest heart chords were so suddenly and violently sundered; but let them and us find consolation in a mutual condolence, and in the hope that our loss is his gain, and that he is now in full fruition of a brighter and happier existence.52
As Charles was old Joe's pride and joy, his first son Joseph E., though no doubt loved, caused his father embarrassment and grief. His eldest son had become a bona fide mountain man with all the trappings, from his mannerisms, dress, and uncouth behavior, to copious alcohol consumption and love of Indian women. Rudolph Frederick Kurz, the Swiss artist who traveled the West and knew Joe Robidoux, recounted a story about the old man and his son. “Now Joe Jr., was a confirmed drunkard and, on account of his bibulous habits, gave his father a great deal of trouble. Some years ago he went into the Catholic Church dressed like an Indian, i.e., practically naked, to the amazement of the assembled worshippers. The old man, being in rather poor circumstances financially on account of his great number of children and his unfortunate addiction to cards, took advantage of this opportunity to confine his drunken son, as a punishment, for several weeks in his cellar and refused to release him until Joe Jr., put in a favorable mood by receiving a glass of whisky after a long fast, signed a deed, already prepared, transferring the property to his father.” The aforementioned property consisted of town lots willed to him by his deceased mother's family in St. Louis, land estimated to be worth $90,000.53
December 25, 1850, the Gazette ran on the center of the front page, “CALIFORNIA A HUMBUG.” The article stated,
We publish below a statement which presents a gloomy picture of the condition of affairs in the whilom land of gold. It was drawn up and signed by the passengers of the Alabama, returning from California, and handed to us by Col. Mills, formerly of Texas, with a pressing request that we should give it a place in our columns. Col. Mills is an observing and sagacious gentleman. He has spent several months in the mining districts of California and vouches for the correctness of the facts contained in the communication. The colonel assured us that he had never witnessed such scenes of suffering as were presented by the mining districts at this time. The miners have exhausted their means in this unprofitable labor, and are deeply in debt to the merchants. Col. Mills fears that this desperate situation of the miners will give rise to excesses and disorders of the most alarming character. The great object of a California emigrant is no longer to make a fortune, but to save enough to pay his passage back to the States. Thus is the golden mirage of California vanishing!54
During the spring of 1849–50 the Gazette printed long lists of the names of emigrants heading for California. The newspaper in the spring of 1851 filled with names of the returning emigrants from California. One list, of over one hundred names published on April 23, 1851, having disembarked from the steamer Atlantic, concluded, “of the above, a great majority have been very unfortunate in their mining operations and come home in a much worse condition than they were in before emigrating. Some of them we are informed had scarce money to pay their passage home. This state of affairs is truly discouraging to those contemplating emigration this year, and will doubtless have its effect in deciding many who are in comfortable circumstances, to stay at home.”55
During the summer of 1851 an emigrant named J. L. Johnson encountered an eastward-bound train of wagons hauling hides west of Fort Kearny on the Platte River Road. He identified the owner of the operation as “Robydous” and with them was an old man “entirely blind,” who had wintered at Scott's Bluff. All the brothers had failing eyesight, so we are left to wonder which one it might have been.56 Likely Prince Paul Wilhelm of Wurttemberg met the same one. He had first encountered Joseph Robidoux during the early 1820s at Council Bluffs and may have met him again in the fall of 1851 during his last tour of the American West.
Prince Paul relates, “About the beginning of October I had concluded my journey of explorations as far westward as I had originally planned, and without a day's delay for the sake of rest I started on my return to civilization. But I found to my great disappointment that I had to make a longer stay than I had intended, both at the settlement of the fur-trading company
at Fort John and at that of my friends of thirty years' standing, the Brothers Robidoux at Scotts Bluff.” Prince Paul traveled with an artist named Heinrich Moellhausen as his guide, but he became ill. The Prince lamented, “I have cause to regret that I did not take in his stead a clever French-Canadian,” which seems a passing compliment to the heritage of the Robidouxs. The Prince did not identify which of the Robidouxs he encountered at Scotts Bluff, but he did use the plural of brothers, meaning he encountered more than one—Joseph possibly; most certainly Francois, who would have been around Council Bluffs with Joseph thirty years earlier; and possibly Antoine, returning from California.57
Like his brothers operating on the eastern end of the great migration trails, during the California Gold Rush of 1849–1850, Louis saw a business opportunity and prospered from it. He found a market for his cattle by driving them north to the gold fields to supply meat to the miners. In 1850, California became a state as the result of a tumultuous compromise in the United States Congress that is remembered best for staving off the Civil War for another decade. But California did begin to put together a statewide infrastructure of local political units. Louis, who had already demonstrated his interest in local political activity early in his life in Santa Fe, lived in the San Bernardino Township and was elected one of the three associate judges for the newly organized Los Angeles County. He also served as the justice of the peace for his township. Besides hearing minor judicial cases he also served as an election official for the Jurupa voting precinct. Politically he took the side of the Whig Party and worked to sway voters into that way of thinking, especially those in the Agua Mansa settlement, mostly immigrants from New Mexico, who provided him with margins of victory in local elections. He did not have the same success in swaying voters in the presidential election of 1852, when a rouse led most of the voters to pick the Democratic candidate.58
The Brothers Robidoux and the Opening of the American West Page 29
