Traildust: Frenchman left mark with adventures in Southwest

Soon after the opening of the Santa Fe Trail in 1821, fur trappers from the East fanned out into New Mexico's northern mountains to catch beaver. Their rich harvest of pelts was shipped over the trail to St. Louis where it commanded a high price. Among the cavalcade of trappers were many of French Canadian origin. A number of them took up residence in New Mexico, married, and became citizens of the Republic of Mexico. Representative of this new element in New Mexican society was Antoine Robidoux, one of six brothers all involved in the fur trade. When Antoine first reached Santa Fe in 1823 at age 29, he scarcely looked the part of an outdoorsman. Tall, slender, with a sensitive face and a curling mass of black hair, he might have been mistaken for a French artist or composer of music. Yet, his career in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains and beyond was to be filled with excitement, danger and high adventure...read more