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Robert Stuart December 30, 1812 Campsite

Historic Campsite

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place:4014786

place:4015284

The Astorian tree hunting journey for canoe stock, continued ascending both the right and left banks of the North Platte River when their luck changed. Stuart and 5 others “killed four Buffaloe” on the right [west] bank and François LeClairc discovered 3 suitably large cottonwoods on the left [east] bank of the river. They camped near the mouth of Cherry Creek near present day Torrington, WY; dressed out their wild game; and prepared to ford the river in the morning to the trees LeClairc had found on the east river bank (Rollins 1935, 198, 206 note 103).

Irving described the Astorian party retracing their way back up the North Platte River as:

Accordingly, on the 27th of December, they faced about, retraced their steps, and on the 30th, regained the part of the river in question. Here the alluvial bottom was from one to two miles wide, and thickly covered with a forest of cotton-wood trees; while herds of buffalo were scattered about the neighboring prairie, several of which soon fell beneath their rifles. (1836, 2: 179)

— Irving

Attribution of Source Material

The preceding summary for the approximated December 30, 1812 Robert Stuart Campsite location is used with thanks for the public domain source of Irving 1836. Additionally, appropriate parenthetical citations are used with thanks and credit in specific summary passages and quotes for sources that are not in the public domain Rollins 1935. Errors regarding unintended and improper copyright usage will be corrected immediately following notification.

Primary Sources

Irving, Washington. Astoria, Or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, 1836. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Astoria_Or_Anecdotes_of_an_Enterprise_Be/t6k-AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0.

Rollins, Phillip A., ed. 1935. The Discovery of the Oregon Trail: Robert Stuart’s Narrative of His Overland Trip Eastward from Astoria in 1812-1813. Bison Book Edition reprinted from the original 1935 edition by Edward Eberstadt and Sons. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.

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Classified As

Historic Campsite