Stuart, Robert (1785-1848), was a Scottish-born American fur trader . Stuart’s explorations in 1812 helped forge a route that would become a key segment of the Oregon Trail . The trail, which linked the Midwest with the Pacific Northwest, was the longest of the great overland routes used in the westward expansion of the United States . Thousands of settlers followed the route during the mid-1800’s.
Stuart was born on Feb. 19, 1785, in Callendar, Scotland, in what is now the United Kingdom. About 1807, he traveled to Montreal, Canada, and started working in the fur trade. In 1810, Stuart became a partner in the Pacific Fur Company, a trading firm run by the German-born American businessman John Jacob Astor . Later that year, Stuart sailed from New York City to the Columbia River , in what is now the northwestern United States. The ship arrived in March 1811, and Stuart helped establish a fur-trading center called Fort Astoria in present-day Oregon.
In 1812, the traders decided to send a small group, led by Stuart, overland to report to Astor on their progress and supply needs. On June 29, Stuart set off from Fort Astoria with a party of fur traders and trappers. After taking a series of water and overland routes and enduring a number of setbacks, the party arrived in mid-August at what is now the border between Oregon and Idaho. There, a Native American guide promised to guide the group to a low pass in the mountains to the south. The guide deserted the group, however, and Stuart’s party set off in search of the pass on their own.
For centuries, Native Americans in the West had known about the crossing at South Pass in the Rocky Mountains, in what is now Fremont County, Wyoming. The pass is the lowest part of the Continental Divide , which separates eastward- and westward-flowing waters in western North America. In October 1812, Stuart’s party became the first nonnatives to make the crossing. The party then continued to eastern Wyoming, where they camped for the winter. The group arrived in St. Louis, in what is now Missouri, in the Midwestern United States, in the spring of 1813. Stuart returned to New York City that summer.
Stuart continued to work in the fur business for most of his life. In 1834, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he became active in public affairs. Stuart died in Chicago, Illinois, on Oct. 29, 1848.
