Charles Autobees

Charles Autobees (1821-1882) - Trader, trapper and mountain man, Autobees was born in 1821, probably in St. Louis, Missouri. His mother was a woman named Sarah Autobee, believed to have been a Delaware Indian. She was widowed either before or shortly after Charles' birth, as she was married to Bartholomew Tobin, when a second child and Charles' half-brother, Tom Tate Tobin, was born in May, 1823. When Charles was just 16 years old he went west work as a beaver trapper. He soon returned to St. Louis, Missouri briefly, and when he went west again to Taos, New Mexico, his 14 year-ol brother Tom Tobin came with him in the company of Ceran St. Vrain. Charles lived as a mountain man and trader for several years, often working with such names as William Bent, Ceran St. Vrain, Kit Carson, James Bridger, and James Beckwourth He was also a familiar figure among numerous Indian tribes including the Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Teton Lakota, Navajo, and Ute. During these years he learned to speak a number of tribal languages as well as Spanish. He was also "married" to a number of Indian women and two hispanic women over the years.

In 1853, he homesteaded a ranch near the junction of the Huerfano and Arkansas Rivers. At this time he was "married" to an Arapahoe woman named Sycamore. Settling in the midst of Ute territory, most other area pioneers were driven away by the tribe. However, when Charles was threatened by them, he and his wife Sycamore, both fought steadily against them for more than two hours, before the Ute finally retreated. In 1861, he became one of the first three County Commissioners of Huerfano County, Colorado Territory. Over the years, he also operated a ferry across the Arkansas River, ran a saloon near Fort Reynolds, Colorado, and acted as a scout during the Indian wars.

Though he lived on his ranch for 30 years, it was later found that the land didn't qualify under US Government Homestead rules and he eventually lost his property. He spent his last years with his second "legal" wife, Juanita Gomez, living in near poverty. He died on June 17, 1882 and was buried in the Saint Vrain Cemetery in Avondale, Colorado. The original headstone marking the exact location of his grave was swept away by one of the many floods of the nearby Huerfano River. However, an elevated memorial headstone was later erected.

• http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-explorerlist-a.html#Charles Autobee

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From his Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Autobees

Charles Autobees (1812–1882), whose last name was also spelled Urtebise and Ortivis, was a fur trader and pioneer in the American Old West. He was the founder of Autobees, Colorado.

Early life

Charles Autobees was born in St. Louis in 1812 to Francis Autobees and Sarah T. Tate. Francis was French-Canadian and may have had Native American heritage as well. After Francis drowned in the Saint Lawrence River while logging, Sarah married Bartholomew Tobin, who was living in St. Louis. Sarah and Bartholomew had another son, Thomas Tate Tobin.[1]

Fur trader

By the age of 16, Autobees was a fur trader based in St. Louis. Many of his activities are unclear, but he was associated with many famous figures of the old west including Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Juan Antonio Laforet, Geminien P. Beauvais, James Bordeaux, Charles Nadeau, Chat Dubray, Jean Baptiste Charlefou, Tom Tobin, A. G. Boone, Carlos Beaubien, Joseph Barnoy and James P. Beckwourth. In the early 1830s, he was a part of the American Fur Company and may have taken part in a battle with the Blackfeet on Salmon River. This was likely one of the many battles described in Thomas D. Bonner's Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth. He may also have been involved in the July 1832 battle known as the rendezvous at Pierre's Hole.[1]

There are conflicting accounts for many parts of Autobees' life. Autobees' son claimed that his father took a Flathead woman for a partner and had a daughter named Eliza with her.[1] In another account, Autobees spent twenty years with an Arapaho woman named Sycamore.[2]

In 1834, Autobees left the American Fur Company and moved to Fort Hall on the Salmon River where he worked for Nathaniel Wyeth and Robert Evans. In 1835, Autobees joined a party of Hudson's Bay Company trappers. In the spring of that year, his party had another battle with Blackfeet.[1]

Taos

In 1836, Charles settled in Taos, taking a job with flour mill and distillery operator, Simeon Turley. Autobees took another woman as a housekeeper, Serafina Avila, who had two more sons, Mariano in 1837 and Jose Tomas, known as Tom, in 1842. Serafina remained with Tom until her death in the 1870s. Autobees remained with and worked for Turley for eleven years. During that period, Autobees moved around, spending the winter of 1841-1842 and part of the winter of 1842-1843 at Fort Lancaster. He also accompanied Turley's trade wagons to New Mexico in the early 1840s. On January 20, 1847, Turley and his operation was attacked by Taos area Indians and Mexicans. Tom Tobin managed to escape and Autobee was on a mule train travelling to Santa Fe, but Turley died with many of his men.[1]

In 1847, Autobee and Tobin were living and farming on the St. Charles River south of Pueblo.[3] In 1849, Autobees, Asa Estes, Bill Williams and others were employed as guides and spies by Lieutenant J. H. Whittlesey in an attack on the Utes in reparation for perceived injuries of settlers in along the Colorado River.[4]

Autobees settlement

In 1853, Richens Lacy Wootton, Levin Mitchell, William Kroenig, and Autobees built the Huerfano village (Autobees, Colorado) on the south side of the Arkansas River near the mouth of the Huerfano River.[5]

References

• 1. LeRoy Reuben Hafen (1983). Trappers of the Far West: Sixteen Biographical Sketches. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 242–258. ISBN 0-8032-7218-9.
• 2. Lecompte 1980, p64
• 3. Lecompte 1980, p198
• 4. Lecompte 1980, p238
• 5. Lecompte 1980, p233

Bibliography

• Janet Lecompte (November 1, 1980). Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn: Society on the High Plains, 1832-1856. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-1723-2.

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From Legends of America:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/charles-autobees/

Charles Autobees – Trapper, Trader and Mountain Man

Charles Autobees (1821-1882) – Trader, trapper and mountain man, Autobees was born in 1821, probably in St. Louis, Missouri. His mother was a woman named Sarah Autobee, believed to have been a Delaware Indian. She was widowed either before or shortly after Charles’ birth, as she was married to Bartholomew Tobin, when a second child and Charles’ half-brother, Tom Tate Tobin, was born in May, 1823. When Charles was just 16 years old he went west work as a beaver trapper. He soon returned to St. Louis, Missouri briefly, and when he went west again to Taos, New Mexico, his 14 year-ol brother Tom Tobin came with him in the company of Ceran St. Vrain. Charles lived as a mountain man and trader for several years, often working with such names as William Bent, Ceran St. Vrain, Kit Carson, James Bridger, and James Beckwourth He was also a familiar figure among numerous Indian tribes including the Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Teton Lakota, Navajo, and Ute. During these years he learned to speak a number of tribal languages as well as Spanish. He was also “married” to a number of Indian women and two hispanic women over the years.

In 1853, he homesteaded a ranch near the junction of the Huerfano and Arkansas Rivers. At this time he was “married” to an Arapahoe woman named Sycamore. Settling in the midst of Ute territory, most other area pioneers were driven away by the tribe. However, when Charles was threatened by them, he and his wife Sycamore, both fought steadily against them for more than two hours, before the Ute finally retreated. In 1861, he became one of the first three County Commissioners of Huerfano County, Colorado Territory. Over the years, he also operated a ferry across the Arkansas River, ran a saloon near Fort Reynolds, Colorado, and acted as a scout during the Indian wars.

Though he lived on his ranch for 30 years, it was later found that the land didn’t qualify under US Government Homestead rules and he eventually lost his property. He spent his last years with his second “legal” wife, Juanita Gomez, living in near poverty. He died on June 17, 1882 and was buried in the Saint Vrain Cemetery in Avondale, Colorado. The original headstone marking the exact location of his grave was swept away by one of the many floods of the nearby Huerfano River. However, an elevated memorial headstone was later erected.