William L. Sublette (ca. 1799-1845) was the oldest of five brothers, all of whom were involved with the Rocky Mountain West to one degree or another, though perhaps none were as impactful. He was among the young men in 1823 who signed on with Henry & Ashley to trap and was soon a brigade leader for that company. Sublette became a primary business driver behind several of the industry’s most successful years and his ruthless business style was virtually unmatched.
In 1826, along with Jedediah Smith and David Jackson, Sublette purchased William H. Ashley’s interests to form the legendary firm Smith, Jackson & Sublette. He served as the firm’s logistical anchor, managing the high-risk supply runs that kept the mountain men equipped and profitable. His treks from the mountains to St. Louis and back laid out the trail that would be used by thousands of emigrants in the decades ahead. Ultimately, Sublette’s travels between supply centers in the East and the various rendezvous locations made him more familiar with the trail than virtually anyone in the business.
In 1830, he proved the value of his trail by taking that summer’s supply caravan to the rendezvous by wagon rather than a pack train. Thus, he proved that wheeled vehicles and cattle could cross the Great Plains and reach the mountains, effectively opening the Oregon Trail to future mass migration. Smith, Jackson & Sublette sold their fur business to a conglomerate of five veteran trappers who, for the first time, established the Rocky Mountain Fur Company (RMFC).
The following year, Sublette made a short-lived attempt at the Santa Fe trade, but had returned to St. Louis in time to lead the supply caravan to the 1832 rendezvous in Pierre’s Hole, today’s Teton Valley, Idaho. Sublette was a key commander during two major conflicts during his fur trade tenure, the Arikara War (1823) and the Battle of Pierre’s Hole (1832). His leadership and survival during these clashes cemented his status with his mountain comrades.
Sublette joined with Robert Campbell in a business partnership in 1832. Drawing on William Ashley’s connections with eastern suppliers and credit, the two continued to supply and market furs for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and other trappers. In 1834, Sublette was instrumental in the construction of one of the earliest trading posts in the Rockies at the junction of the Laramie and North Platte Rivers, where he constructed Fort William, later renamed Fort Laramie. It became the most vital resupply and military hub on the central overland route for decades.
That same year, Sublette learned of the RMFC dealings with entrepreneur Nathaniel Wyeth. Wyeth, who hailed from the Boston area, contracted with RMFC to bring trade goods to them, undercutting Sublette’s high prices. Sublette managed to reach rendezvous ahead of Wyeth and convinced RMFC to renege on the agreement with Wyeth, forcing the Bostonian to establish the second trading post to be built in 1834 – Fort Hall.
Throughout the early 1830s, Sublette’s leadership and business acumen successfully challenged John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. Through ruthless efficiency and a network of rival posts, he and Campbell forced Astor into an 1834 agreement that divided the western trade, thereby preventing a total corporate monopoly in the Rockies.
RECOMMENDED READING
John E. Sunder, Bill Sublette, Mountain Man (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959). Buy now.