The Indian and the Fur Man

Utah Historical Quarterly

Vol. 39, 1971, No. 2

The Indians and the Fur Men

BY HENRY HARRIS, JR. 1AN INTERVIEW BY FLOYD O'NEIL

O: Now, the Indian traditions here and the records we have, indicated that Fort Robidoux was probably opened around 1831, in that neighborhood. And certainly by 1833 Antoine Robidoux was in here. Now which one of the trappers was here before that time?

H: Only one that I've heard my mother say was Chambeau Reed. He and his party came in. He had his first trading post at Whiterocks — Chambeau Reed. He traded calico, beads, knives and stuff like that to the Indians, and buckskin and furs.O: Now what about Denis Julien, he would have been before Robidoux?H: Yes.O: Your grandpa used to talk about Denis Julien, what did he call him?H: Julien. That's what they call him, Denis Julien, and that's all I know.O: Was he here before Robidoux?H: Well, he was — I understand — Mother said he was here before.

1 The complete interview with Henry Harris, Jr., of the Uintah-Ouray Reservation is in the collection of the Duke Indian Oral History Project at the University of Utah,