Joaquin Antoine Leroux, aka Watkins Leroux (1801–1861), was a 19th century

mountain man A mountain man is an Geographical exploration, explorer who lives in the wilderness and makes his living from hunting, fishing and trapping. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s ...

and trail guide based in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. Leroux was a member of the convention that organized

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...

Biography

In 1846, Leroux served as the guide for the

Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to Jul ...

under

Philip St. George Cooke Philip St. George Cooke (June 13, 1809 – March 20, 1895) was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War. He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual, and is sometimes calle ...

along with

Pauline Weaver Pauline Weaver (c. 1797 – June 21, 1867), born Powell Weaver, was an American mountain man, trapper, military scout, prospector, and explorer who was active in the early Southwestern United States. Several geographic features in Arizona are na ...

and

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (February 11, 1805 – May 16, 1866), sometimes known in childhood as Pompey or Little Pomp, was an American explorer, guide, Animal trapping, fur trapper, trader, military scout during the Mexican–American War, ''alcal ...

. Cooke was directed to take his religiously segregated troops to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to assist in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

. In 1849, Leroux served under Lieutenant J.H. Whitesley in a punitive campaign against the

Ute Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute people, a Native American people of the Great Basin * Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah * Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah * Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern ...

Indians. That same year he played an important role in the aftermath of the White Massacre. In 1851, Leroux guided the Lorenzo Sitgreaves expedition through Arizona, advising them to explore the

Little Colorado River The Little Colorado River () is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona, providing the principal drainage from the Painted Desert region. Together with its major tributary, the Puerco River, it drains an area of about in ...

valley, where the party came across the Wupatki ruins built by prehistoric Indians. By 1853, Leroux had become a wealthy sheep rancher and landowner, but was still open to trailblazing requests (albeit with personal valet). He would participate in two expeditions that year to help survey proposed routes for the proposed Transcontinental Railroad. In summer, he accompanied

Amiel Weeks Whipple Amiel Weeks Whipple (October 21, 1817 – May 7, 1863)Anderson, TSHA was an American military officer and topographical engineer. He served as a brigadier general in the American Civil War, where he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chanc ...

on an expedition at the 35th parallel.tomjonas.com
When returning from the Whipple expedition in 1854, Leroux recorded in his journal an archaeological site in the

Verde Valley The Verde Valley (; ) is a valley in central Arizona in the United States. The Verde River runs through it. The Verde River is one of Arizona's last free-flowing river systems. It provides crucial habitat for fish and wildlife, fresh water fo ...

.nps.gov
Later that same year, he was recruited at

Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colony founded in Taos, New Mexico ** Taos Pueblo, a Native American ...

by John W. Gunnison, surveying a central route (between the 38th and 39th parallels), after Gunnison's party became bogged down in the San Juan River valley. Gunnison, however, quarrelled constantly with Leroux's advice, often to the detriment of the party in terms of terrain or favorable campsites, and Leroux eventually quit the expedition. Two days later, most of the party, including Gunnison, was slaughtered when they unexpectedly came upon a group of

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...

Indians.

Legacy

Named for Leroux are: * Antoine Leroux, New Mexico * Leroux Springs in the

San Francisco Peaks The San Francisco Peaks (Navajo: , , Hopi: ''Nuva'tukya'ovi'', Western Apache: ''Dził Tso'', Keres: ''Tsii Bina'', Southern Paiute: ''Nuvaxatuh'', Havasupai-Hualapai: ''Hvehasahpatch''/''Huassapatch''/''Wik'hanbaja'', Yavapai: ''Wi:mun Kwa'', ...

, for many years the primary water supply for

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ), known locally as Flag, is the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, in the southwestern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831. Flagstaff is the principal city of the Coconino Cou ...

* Leroux Wash, Arizona *Antoine Leroux Land Grant

Biography

Legacy

References

Further reading