The Portuguese Houses

Fort Laramie was the first settlement in Wyoming, but it did not house the first settlers. Several trapper-mountain men had established permanent homes before Fort Laramie in 1834.

Edward Rose, who built a cabin on the Big Horn River in 1807-08, is widely thought to be the first non-Indian to settle in Wyoming. Rose built the cabin, but most of his known history is of him living with Indians within their villages.

Bighorn River

Robert Stuart, who built a residence near Casper in 1812, is also considered one of the state’s earliest settlers.

The first know trader was Antonio Mateo, who established a trading post on the Middle Fork of the Powder River in 1828. This trading post, called the Portuguese Houses, consisted of several log-hewn buildings surrounded by a ten foot high, 200 X 200 stockade. Not much is known about him other than his name and today only a few mounds and deeply set rotting post bottoms are the only thing left.

The Stockade may have looked like this

In that day and time he most likely traded, tobacco, coffee, flour, sugar, lead, gunpowder, cooking utensils, knives and trinkets for furs. He reportedly had a wooden fur press made of cottonwood logs to press the beaver and sometimes other furs, into bundles for transportation to eastern markets. His fort was substantial enough that he stored furs for free trappers and for the very powerful Hudson Bay Company.

Fur Press Reproduction

Wow – this is post number 200, can’t believe it has been that many or that long. Thanks for reading, I am looking forward to another 200 or more.

200 Posts - Think I will rest a bit

Mountain Man - Mystery Man

Although the trapper period of Wyoming history lasted only about 20 years, (1820-1840) there was some activity by mountain man/trappers before that time. Those that made it are remembered as the colorful characters they were. One of the most famous, or in some circles, infamous men was Edward Rose. Rose was the son of a white trader and an African American/Cherokee mother. He was more than likely the first resident of Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin. Rose was in the Basin as early as 1807 or 08, a decade and more before the trapper period in the west.

Rose was described by Washington Irving as, “A dogged, sullen, silent fellow of sinister aspect more of a savage than a civilized man in his appearance.” Rose, who may have been a river pirate on the Mississippi before becoming a legend in the West, purportedly left the east after being released or escaping chains put on him by the law.

Washington Irving

Rose was adopted into the Crow tribe and was at times called by one of two Crow names, Five Scalps after killing five Blackfeet in and battle, and Nez Coupe, meaning Cut Nose. The Nez Coupe moniker referred to the scar and a small missing part on the side of the tip of his nose. Westerners who know Rose never saw him without the prominent scar leaving this historian to surmise that it was a result of a mix-up on the river. 

Mississippi River near Vicksburg Mississippi - I took this shot last October

Mississippi River near Vicksburg Mississippi - I took this shot last October

The exact year of Rose’s death is unknown, but some believe he died with legendary Mountain man Hugh Glass on the Bighorn River in a fight with the Arikara in 1833. Rose would have been about 53 at the time, quite a few years for the life he led. 

Me and a Mountain Man -not saying which is which