Andrew Whitley Sublette or also, spelled Sublett (1808 – December 19, 1853 or 1854), was a frontiersman, trapper, fur trader, explorer, mountain man and brother to

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

, Milton, and Solomon, helped establish a trading post with

Louis Vasquez Pierre Louis Vasquez also known as Luis Vázquez (October 3, 1798 – September 5, 1868) was a mountain man and trader. He was a contemporary of many famous European-American explorers of the early west and would come to know many of them, inc ...

in 1835. The present day, Fort Vasquez, located on Highway 85, next to

Platteville, Colorado Platteville is a Statutory Town in Weld County, Colorado, United States. The population was 2,485 at the 2010 census. It is adjacent to Fort Vasquez on U.S. Highway 85. History Platteville was founded on May 27, 1871, and was incorporated on ...

, is a reconstruction. After selling the trading post in 1840, Andrew left the mountains and was seen in El Pueblo around 1844 and 1845 (present day

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most popu ...

), traveling along the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United S ...

, following herds of

American Bison The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...

. He died in an encounter with a

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos hor ...

in Southern California on December 19, 1853 or 1854. Sources variously place the site of his death as

Santa Monica Canyon The western border of Santa Monica, California, is the 3-mile (4.8 km) stretch of Santa Monica Bay. On its other sides, the city is bordered by various districts of Los Angeles: the northwestern border is Pacific Palisades, the eastern border ...

or nearby

Malibu Canyon Malibu Creek is a year-round stream in western Los Angeles County, California. It drains the southern Conejo Valley and Simi Hills, flowing south through the Santa Monica Mountains, and enters Santa Monica Bay in Malibu, California. The Malibu C ...

References

* Lecompte, Janet; ''Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn: Society on the High Plains, 1832—1856''; University of Oklahoma Press; Norman; 1978; * Noel, Thomas J. and Faulkner, Debra B; ''Colorado: An Illustrated History of the Highest State''; American Historical Press; Sun Valley, California; 2006; ; * Brotemarkle, Diane; ''Old Fort St. Vrain'': Diane Brotemarkle; 2001; Johnson Printing; Boulder, Colorado;

External links

Fort Vasquez Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sublette, Andrew 1808 births 1850s deaths Year of death missing American fur traders People from Colorado