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Show recent times, it has become a favorite spot for Utes to camp during the fall deer and elk hunts ( 4.3). Indeed, two of the consultants ( 1.3; 4.3) saw improvements to this campground as a benefit and convenience for the Ute people who still come to this area to gather and hunt. D. 2 Historic Forts and Trails Fort Robidoux, the oldest trading post in Utah, also known as Fort Uinta or Wintey, was established by Antoine Robidoux in the 1830s. There appears to be some confusion over its whereabouts. Although some sources locate it on the right side of the Uinta River, just below the present town of Whiterocks, others place it south of town but on the west side of the Whiterocks River ( Creer 1947: 74; Pike Oral History, American West Center, 1967). One of the consultants ( 4.2) described its location on the west side of the Whiterocks River just south of the bridge on the road between the towns of Whiterocks and Tridell ( 4.2). In a general sense, both reported locations are probably correct because it would put the fort somewhere between the two rivers and close to the spot where the Whiterocks flows into the Uinta. This spot is very likely, since trading entrepots were typically established at the junctures of two or more rivers to take advantage of and maintain control over the trapping grounds along more than one watercourse. Whatever its precise location, the fort itself consisted of a collection of cabins built inside a log palisade that were inhabited by some of the trappers and their Indian wives. Other trappers and local Indians, lived in wickiups constructed of brush and hides in areas surrounding the fort ( Auerbach 1941: 40). This fort was the central entrepot for trapping parties frequenting the Bear, Green, and Colorado rivers and their tributaries. Not only was it the center for trade in the area, but it was also a place of respite for travelers journeying over the trails that passed along the Uinta River and interlaced the entire region in both north- south and east- west directions ( Creer 1947: 76). This was a major spot for the local Utes and even for friendly Shoshones to gather and trade beaver, otter, deer, sheep, buffalo, elk skins, and horses for fire- arms, tobacco, knives, beads, and other European goods of value. In 1844, the fort was destroyed by Utes over grievances with local traders ( Creer 1947: 73- 76; Conetah 1982: 78). From the 1820s to the 1850s, the local Utes, neighboring Shoshones, and incoming travelers used an historic trail that crossed the Uinta mountains following the Uinta River ( Eells 1909: 156- 159; Creer 1947: 74- 78; Ferris 1983: 341- 342). William Ferris's dairy of his travels in the area includes a map which documents this trail along what was then ( 1834) called the Eurata River ( Ferris 1983, map insert of region), and it recounts 99 |