William Sublette was one of the characters in history building in the western country for several years, and it is right that more than passing mention be made of him and his achievements. He was born in 1799 and at the age of nineteen started in business for himself by ope/iing a billiard hall at Saint Charles, Missouri. He was a Kentuckian, and his father was said to be the man who killed Chief Tecumseh.

His first visit into this country was on the trip up the valley with General Ashley in 1823, when Scott was one of the party.

Sublette had several brothers in the wilderness, one of whom, Milton, died at Fort Laramie in 1836. William was a thorough mountaineer, a man with a frank and open countenance, very expressive ; was light complectioned and had blue eyes. He stood six feet two in his moccasins.

In the years 1827-1828 and 1829, Sublette was the member of the firm that conveyed pel-

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

tries to market and provisions and merchandise into the mountains. He used pack horses and mules for the most part, and followed the trail of Jacques Laramie.

This partnership with Smith and Jackson ended in 1831 upon the death of Smith. And immediately thereafter he formed a partnership with Robert Campbell, another of General Ashley's "enterprising young men."

Going a little ahead of my story, Campbell, in June, 1835, with thirteen men, began the erection of a trading post about a mile from the mouth of the Laramie river, and in honor of William Sublette he named it Fort William. This was the beginning of Fort Laramie.