by Erin Eddins, Source Publications
I spent a very long time thinking about what historic treasure to hunt for this edition of The Regular Joe. There were several great stories that started to unfold on the blank pages I see when I close my eyes. I began mapping out how I would tell the story of old school houses that are no longer here. Some very great contacts have been provided to me but I will need more time to further develop this story. Don’t worry, it is coming. But for now, there is a little taste of this history in this week’s feature. Still I didn’t think I was quite ready to tell that story; maybe next issue.
I ate dinner at the D & G on March 25th for Second Harvest’s Dine Out Against Hunger event and I sat adjacent to a quirky little sign. For almost an hour I sat staring at the I-Buy-Anything sign, my brain was spinning. This one I really need to rally the troops for. I hear I-Buy’s name all of the time but there is little about him on the internet. So in preparing for an up coming issue please start calling and writing to me with all of the information you have on I-Buy. As an aside, thank you so much to the very kind folks who have provided Irish history and information. I will be writing a follow up Irish article in June.
Enough about what I will be writing about. Let’s get down to brass tacks and talk about the topic for this edition of Old Joe: Joseph Robidoux.
I sat for a few hours in front of my computer screening searching out everything St. Joseph. Nothing was striking me this evening but I noticed a trend: Joseph Robidoux. Well of course when you are searching out the history of our town it only makes sense that our founder and namesake be mentioned frequently. I remembered back to our fledgling issue and that picture of our stoic city father with his shades, iPod and cup of Joe. Immediately I realized this is long over due. So Joseph Robidoux it is but where do you start? Well, how about at the end.
On August 10, 1866 The New York Times reported on Robidoux’s 82nd birthday:
Missouri Pioneers and Patriarchs – Joseph Robidoux
Yesterday, in St. Joseph, Mo., Mr. Joseph Robidoux celebrated his eighty-second birthday, in which he was joined by Mr. John Patee, another of Missouri’s patriarchs. The occasion was a most interesting one.
Mr. Robidoux is well known to the older citizens of St. Louis, the Choteau family and all of the pioneer traders of the West, especially those who were identified with the American fur trade. He was the first white man who made a permanent settlement on the Upper Missouri, and, though over four score years of age, is remarkably vigorous, and is within himself an abridged history of the country lying west of the Mississippi.
At the base of Black Snake Hills, on a spot now occupied by the City Hotel, St. Joseph, once stood a block-house occupied by Mr. Robidoux as a trading post, when St. Louis was but a French village. He was the founder of the city, owning all the ground of the original plot of the town which he named.
Mr. John Patee, who united with Mr. Robidoux in the celebration of the eighty-second birthday, is some few years Mr. Robidoux’s junior. He is another of Missouri’s pioneers in enterprise as well as patriarchs in age. The Patee House, of St. Joseph, the largest hotel in that State, excepting the Lindell and the Southern hotels, stands to-day as a monument of his energy and liberality. It is now, however, administering to the intellectual appetite instead of [h]eeding the public. It was purchased some year or more ago, and dedicated to the cause of female education, and is presided over by Prof. Robinson, late Superintendent of Public Schools in Missouri.
The numerous friends of Mr. Robidoux in St. Louis, as well as relatives, will be pleased to learn of his good health even at his advanced age. His step is yet elastic, and though his voice is somewhat [weak], its French accent is as distinguishable as in days long since passed away.
This is the kind of history I love. I read this article over and over immersing myself in the time, the culture and the pattern of speech of the period. The 82nd birthday of a man now is hardly news to anyone outside of friends and family. So what it must have meant to be the founder of a city, a pioneer and a true visionary of our country’s future. The New York Times felt it print worthy to make note of his celebration. (Rest assured the other names mentioned in their article will not go unnoticed. But this is Joseph’s time to shine. We’ll meet the other sometime down the road.)
Now, let’s go back to the beginning. Robidoux was born in St. Louis, Missouri to a family of nine. His father, Joseph Robidoux II, taught him and his six brothers about the fur trade, which later provided the drive for Robidoux to venture up the Missouri River.
By the early 1800’s Robidoux was trading in Illinois with great success but mounting enemies. As he further honed his skills other fur traders targeted him and he was forced to leave what is now Chicago. But the foundation of another future city soon found Robidoux trading there. The area later became Omaha. While living there he married for a second time. His first wife, Eugenie Delisle, had passed away eight years prior, in 1805. From the first marriage Robidoux had two children, a daughter Messanie and a son Joseph F. His daughter had passed away prior to the death of his wife.
Robidoux and his second wife, Angelique Vaudry, had seven children: Faraon, Julius, Francis, Felix, Edmond, Charles and Sylvanie. Boy, all of these names sound familiar. He and his family continued to live in the area directly east of what is now Omaha. But let’s jump ahead to how he ended up in, excuse me creating, our fine city.
The American Fur Company viewed Robidoux as too strong of competition and consequently bought him out of his operation in what is now Council Bluffs, Iowa. In addition they paid him a stipend to agree not to begin operations in competition with the American Fur Company. The sum was $1000 per year which was unheard of at that time.
Needing to find a new trade, Robidoux became a baker in his homeland of St. Louis and continued working as such until in 1826 the American Fur Company hired him to travel to the Blacksnake Hills and start a trading post.
Now, recall what The New York Times told us: At the base of Black Snake Hills, on a spot now occupied by the City Hotel, St. Joseph, once stood a block-house occupied by Mr. Robidoux as a trading post, when St. Louis was but a French village. He was the founder of the city, owning all the ground of the original plot of the town which he named.
The very same company that had purchased Robidoux’s livelihood from him ended up putting him not only back into his life skill and trade but also laid the groundwork for him to make his mark on the world…okay, well at least on us here in Joe Town.
Even after Missouri became a state, Robidoux was very much a pioneer. At that time this area was not in fact a part of the state, much less the Union. Our lands were still owned by the Iowa, Sac and Fox Tribes. Robidoux was ahead of his times as he developed liaisons with each of the three tribes as well as the French settlers. He prospered.
Even after the Platte Purchase, which added the future St. Joseph, as part of a large land transfer from Indian control to Union, Robidoux was the leader in taming the wild frontier. To aid in his taming, Robidoux contracted Frederick W. Smith and Simeon Kemper to prepare plans for our city. Smith’s plans ultimately won simply due to the width of the streets. Less street space equaled more land to sell to the town’s residents. The plans were approved in 1843 and our city started to come to life with land sales ranging from $100 to $150. And as they say, the rest is history….well, except for that little blurb in The Times some years later. I guess he really was a pioneer and a patriarch.