Jacques La Ramee
Jacques La Ramée | |
---|---|
British Canada | |
Died | 1821 (aged 37) |
Nationality | Canadian |
Other names | Jacques Laramée, La Ramie, La Rami, La Remy, or Laramie |
Occupation(s) | voyageur, frontiersman, coureur des bois, trapper, fur trader, hunter, explorer |
Employer(s) | North West Company, La Ramée family free trapping company |
Parent(s) | Joseph Fissiau dit Laramée and Jeanne Mondou |
Jacques La Ramée (June 8, 1784 – 1821) was a
Early life
Jacques La Ramée was born on June 8, 1784, in
Volume VI of the North West Company registry cites[when?] two Laramée brothers, Jacques and Joseph.[1] A variant of the name La Ramée was first documented in the western United States in 1798, referring to a canoe man who worked until 1804. This may have been Francois Laramée, who is also listed in the registry of the NW company.[1] This La Ramée had several sons who ventured west into Wyoming and Idaho. According to Joachim Fromhold, one of the sons was the Jacques La Rami for whom the Laramie River was named.[2]
According to Lakota writer Susan Bordeaux Bettelyoun, her father, fur trader James Bordeaux, was La Ramée's cousin and discovered his body after his death.[3]
Fur trader and explorer
According to historian C. G. Coutant, Jacques La Ramée worked as a voyageur and fur trader for the North West Company and John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company.[4][5][6] Employees of the North West Company and its rival, the Hudson's Bay Company, were in competition, and disputes at times turned violent. In 1821 the two feuding companies merged.[7]
La Ramée was known for his character and peaceful reputation. He organized a group of independent trappers, who set out in 1815 to find the headwaters of the North Platte River in the United States Unorganized Territory of present-day Wyoming.[8] Coutant writes that La Ramée and his band of trappers befriended many Native American tribes, who would trade pelts to them for European goods. This enterprise established the free trapper rendezvous in Wyoming, where trappers represented themselves without middle-men or an umbrella company.[9] According to journalist Jim McKee (citing Robert Stuart from 1812), free trappers would rendezvous each May on the Oregon Trail pathway along the shore of the North Platte River. La Ramée was a leader and was considered the trappers' spokesperson. He assigned trapping areas among the free traders.[6]
LaRamée's rendezvous
In 1815, La Ramée organized a free-trapper rendezvous at the junction of the North Platte and what is now named the Laramie rivers. Later fur-trading companies held annual rendezvous here.
Death
La Ramée was known to have set off in 1820 to trap along what is now known as the Laramie River and its tributaries.[10][11] He was never seen alive again.[12][13] When he did not show up for the rendezvous, organizers initiated a search for him.[10] Speculation on his disappearance and death vary. It was said that he slipped on ice and fell into the Laramie River; or that his body was found in a small cabin; or that he was found "stuffed under a beaver dam"; or that he was killed by rival trappers or traders, and thrown into the Laramie River. An alleged eyewitness account, from Pierre Lesperance, said that La Ramée's camp was attacked by Arapaho warriors, but the latter vigorously denied this.[14][15][16][17]
Legacy
Several geographic sites in Wyoming were named for La Ramée (anglicized to Laramie), including the
Laramidia, an island continent in the Late Cretaceous, was named after the Laramide orogeny, which in turn was named after the Laramie Mountains.
In popular culture
See also
References
- ^ a b Hafen, LeRoy R. (1966). The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West, Vol. VI. Glendale, California: Arthur H Clark Company.
- ISBN 978-1-105-65418-3.
- ISBN 9780803261648.
- ISBN 1293790222.
- ISBN 0803212801.
- ^ a b McKee, Jim (February 18, 2007). "Fort Laramie was in territory from 1854–1867". Lincoln Journal Star.
- ^ Eddins, Ned O. "Mountain Men Fur Trade Exploration History". The Fur Trapper. Archived from the original on 2015-05-07.
- ISBN 0933472641.
- ^ McDermott, John D.; Hafen, Leroy R. (ed.) (1982). "J. LaRamee" in The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West (Vol. VQ. Spokane, WA: Arthur H. Clark Co. pp. 223–225.
{{cite book}}
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has generic name (help) - ^ a b c d e f Shumway, Grant Lee (1921). History of Western Nebraska and its People, Volume II. Lincoln, Nebraska: Western Publishing and Engraving Company. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- ISBN 9780803259362. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- ^ "Jacques Laramie First Independent Trapper in State". Lincoln Journal Star. 26 February 1912. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
- ^ Spearman, Frank K. (1904). "The First Transcontinental Railroad". Harper's New Monthly Magazine. 109: 717. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- ^ Pitcher, Don (2000). Wyoming Handbook (Fourth ed.). Emeryville, CA: Avalon Travel Publishing, Inc. Hafen, LeRoy (1968). The mountain men and the fur trade of the far west. Spokane, WA: Arthur Clark Co.
- ^ Chittenden, Hiram H. (1935). The American Fur Trade of the Far West. Lincoln, NE, and London UK: University of Nebraska Press.
- ISBN 0-8032-9417-4.
- ISBN 978-087004-5714. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ National Park Service (2000). NPS Historical Handbook: Fort Laramee. United States National Park Service.
- ^ University of Wyoming. "Jacques LaRamie Historical Marker Site near Wheatland, WY". Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ Hardee, Jim. "The Fur Trade in Wyoming". Wyoming History. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ Fisher, James J. (October 2, 1986). "For was a rest stop before the peaks". Indiana Gazette. The Kansas City Star.
External links
- "NPS Historical Handbook: Fort Laramie". National Park Service. 9 December 2000. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
- "Jacques La Ramie (In Honor of Jacques La Ramie)". Find a Grave. 2009. Retrieved 2015-05-01.