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fLSHatpre-aat-t)USt of the the nee der--on-thia.tierboxeu* 'flee I tedi Is;alnadopro-Post Stand Century Ago Come* Ag^in to the Family.Rancher* of the North Platt# Valley ' Are Interested in a 8omewhat • Curious Chain of • Events.Tachforre-’aee the 1 al-day dte-sel-?ver tionIEF'er's*Cheyenne, VVyo.—A little-known romance of tho Aator family is being told among tho ranchers of tho North Platte valley, where the old original John Jacob Aator had a fur-trading poat JuhL a century ago. ' T The first link in the chain was forged by the Aator traders in 18*2. Tho second was created when young William H. Force came to Wyoming thirty years ago and purchase*? aranch upon which were the remains of the old Aator trading post. The third has to do with the time when Kate Talmadge of New YorTr~cam?r-Urvisit Force’s sister and. remained to marry the brother, the courtship taking place around the old trading post. The fourth link was the birth of little Madeline Force. Other links are the .marriageof Madeline Force and John Jacob As:»•tor and the probable return of the old Aetor trading post site to the great-great-grandson of the original Astor. himself bearing, the name of the found--er of tho American family.A century' ago last December seven trappers, headed by W. Price Hunt, who was returning overland from As toria, Ore., stopped on the Ncrth Platte river, built winter quarters .andrnuiHK1tla!nnarca1)IdMr*. John Jacob Astor.■ toBelfdiy.sal-as-3 ofthefne5th-rl'sIsa-UDE?Room rs’ •i theie ves-roughtbride-ear-oldon thethe insignia of the American Fur company, the Aator concern. That post, was'the property of John Jacob Aator,and remained sd until It was desertedby the trappers in the spring-nl 1813, when tho men loaded their furs In canoes made from- cottonwood -trees and floated down thfc Platte and Missouri rivers to St.-Louis. ‘J . TThirty years' later Bruce Husband, in charge of Astor affairs In Wyoming, dropped down the river and built a new poat, this time within two milee of the post of 1813. The importance, of this post to the Astors can be seen when it is told that tho hides of 47,000 buffalo were shipped to St. Louis from the post in a single year. - But by 1850 the Astor company had left the-field, and not until a member of the family became diroctor of the Union Pacific railroad did they again hold an Interest In that part pf the world.Along In 1883 when so many eastern men of wealth were investing in great western ranches. William H. Force and others bought a big tract of land in ©astern Wyoming and western Nebraska. On the tract was the old Astor trading, post, now in ruins. - Along with Force were the Arbuckles of coffee fame and some others. Western ranchers say the books of the company showed an ownership of 6,000 brood mares. Mr. Force was manager.Mr. Force has long lived in the., cast, but ho retains ownership of the “P. O.” ranch—one of the largest in tho v.-est. This ranch, probably will some day come Into possession of Force's grandson. the posthumous son of John Jacob Astor, who went down in the Titanic With the ranch will, of course, go the Bitp of the first trading podt - Established by the Astors fn the trana-Mia-glBBipDl country. :_________«goat has banknote meal
Newspaper Details
Chatham Press
Chatham, New Jersey, US
Sat, May 31, 1913
Page 7
Full Page
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Allison M.
IL, USA 03 Nov 2021
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