William Henry Ashley (c. 1778 – March 26, 1838) was an American miner, land speculator, manufacturer, territorial militia general, politician, frontiersman, fur trader, entrepreneur, hunter, and slave owner. Ashley was best known for being the co-owner with Andrew Henry of the highly-successful Rocky Mountain Fur Incorporated, otherwise known as "Ashley's Hundred" for the famous

mountain men A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

working for the firm from 1822 to 1834.

Early life and ventures

Although born a native of

Powhatan County, Virginia Powhatan County () is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,033. Its county seat is Powhatan. Powhatan County is included in the Greater Richmond Region. The James River forms the cou ...

, William Ashley had already moved to Ste. Genevieve, in what was then a part of the

Louisiana Territory The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory was formed out of the ...

, when it was purchased by the United States from France in 1803.

Career

On a portion of this land, later known as

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, Ashley made his home for most of his adult life. Ashley moved to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

around 1808 and became a brigadier general in the

Missouri Militia The Missouri Militia is a private militia in the U.S. state of Missouri. The Missouri Militia is not a part of the Missouri State Defense Force. which is the state defense force for the state of Missouri."Of these high-risk states, Arizona, Florid ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. Before the war, he did some real estate speculation and earned a small fortune manufacturing

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

from a lode of

saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate Salt (chemistry), salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ...

mined in a cave, near the headwaters of the Current River in Missouri. When Missouri was admitted to the Union, William Henry Ashley was elected its first lieutenant governor, serving from 1820 to 1824 under Governor

Alexander McNair Alexander McNair (May 5, 1775 – March 18, 1826) was an American frontiersman and politician. He was the List of governors of Missouri, first Governor of Missouri from prior to its entry as a state in 1820, until 1824. Early life Alexander ...

. Ashley was a candidate in the

1824 Missouri gubernatorial election The 1824 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on August 2, 1824, Frederick Bates defeated Lt. Gov William Henry Ashley. Both candidates were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. The death of Frederick Bates in August 1825, meant th ...

, losing to Frederick Bates.

Entry into the fur trade

In the early 1820s, William Henry Ashley and Andrew Henry, a bullet maker he met through his gunpowder business, posted famous advertisements in St. Louis newspapers seeking one hundred "enterprising young men . . . to ascend the river Missouri to its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years." The men who responded to this call became known as "Ashley's Hundred." Between 1822 and 1825, Ashley and Henry's Rocky Mountain Fur Company sponsored several large scale fur trapping expeditions in the mountain west. Jedediah Smith's party, part of Ashley's Hundred, were officially credited with the American discovery of South Pass in the winter of 1824. Ashley devised the rendezvous system in which trappers, Indians and traders would meet annually in a predetermined location to exchange furs, goods and money. His innovations in the fur trade earned Ashley a great deal of money and recognition, and helped open the western part of the continent to American expansion. In 1825, he led an expedition into the Salt Lake Valley. South of the Great Salt Lake, he came across

Utah Lake Utah Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in the center of Utah County, Utah, United States. It lies in Utah Valley, surrounded by the Provo- Orem metropolitan area. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Salt ...

, which he named Lake Ashley. He established Fort Ashley on the banks to trade with the Indians. Over the next three years, according to 19th century historian

Frances Fuller Victor Frances Auretta Fuller (Barritt) Victor ( pen names: Florence Fane, Dorothy D.) (May 23, 1826 – November 14, 1902) was an American historian and historical novelist. She has been described as "the first Oregon historian to gain regional and nat ...

, the fort "collected over one-hundred-and-eighty thousand dollars' worth of furs". In late 1824, he explored present-day northern

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, ascending the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/ Mountain West. It ...

to the base of the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...

, then ascending the

Cache la Poudre River The Cache la Poudre River ( ), also known as the Poudre River, is a river in the state of Colorado in the United States. Name The name of the river () is a corruption of the original Cache à la Poudre, or "cache of powder". It refers to an ...

to the Laramie Plains and onward to the Green River. On June 2, 1823, Ashley was beaten by

Arikara Arikara (), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011)

Indians at their villages near the Grand River. Ashley reported twelve men killed and eleven wounded, of whom two died.

Later political career

In 1826, Ashley sold the fur trading company to a group including Jedediah Smith but continued supplying the company and brokering their furs. Upon the death of

Spencer Darwin Pettis Spencer Darwin Pettis (1802August 28, 1831) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri and the fourth Missouri Secretary of State. He is best known, however, for being a participant in a fatal duel with Major Thomas Biddle. Pettis County, Missouri, ...

in August 1831, he was elected to finish out Pettis's term in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. As a member of the

Jacksonian Party Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21, and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, And ...

, Ashley won election to the seat in 1832 and re-election in 1834. In 1836, he declined to run for a fourth term in Congress, instead running unsuccessfully in the 1836 Missouri gubernatorial election. Many attribute his defeat to his increasingly pro-business stance in Congress, which alienated the rural Jacksonians. After the loss, he went back to making money on real estate, but his health declined rapidly.

Death

On March 26, 1838, Ashley died of pneumonia at age 59. Ashley was buried atop a Native American

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

in Lamine Township,

Cooper County, Missouri Cooper County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,103. Its county seat is Boonville. The county was organized December 17, 1818 and named for Sarshell Coo ...

, overlooking the juncture of the

Lamine River The Lamine River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. It is formed in northern ...

and the Missouri River. William H. Ashley is the namesake of the small community of

Ashley, Missouri Ashley is a census-designated place in Pike County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Route 161, approximately six miles south of Bowling Green. Ashley was platted in 1836. The community was named for William Henry Ashley William ...

. Also Ashley Falls and Ashley Creek in northeast Utah, and the

Ashley National Forest Ashley National Forest is a National Forest located in northeastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming. Within the Forest's bounds are (with in Utah and in Wyoming) of vast forests, lakes, and mountains, with elevations ranging from . The fores ...

are named for him.http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5276871.pdf#page=2

References

External links

"Ashley, William Henry" ''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed.''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, William Henry 1770s births Year of birth uncertain 1838 deaths People from Powhatan County, Virginia Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Lieutenant Governors of Missouri American fur traders American slave owners Politicians from St. Louis People from Ste. Genevieve, Missouri