Join the Campbell House Museum for a Lecture on “Historic Tales of Saint Louis” on Sunday, October 15! Local historian, Mark Zeman will be giving the presentation on his new book with the same title and will include stories of top hats, opium, and the extermination of the buffalo.
The event is free and no reservations are required. There is limited free parking in the lot adjacent to the house. Street parking is free on Sundays.
New Research on the career of Robert Campbell has revealed how Fur Trade historians, often with little research, repeatedly reproduced wrong information. Join Alan McFarland here at the Campbell House as he explores conflicting information about Robert Campbell’s life and career, and how authors often rely on outdated and poorly researched sources. It will also cover new discoveries and talk about the Campbell letters that are still missing. Campbell descendent Alan McFarland will travel from Ireland for the lecture and set the record straight.
Alan McFarland is Robert Campbell’s great-nephew and was born just a stone’s throw from the Campbell ancestral home near Plumbridge in County Tyrone. A retired military officer and politician, McFarland has made the study of Robert Campbell’s life his hobby and is working on a book about the Fur Trade.
All lectures are at the Campbell House and are free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. There is limited free parking in the Museum lot and street parking is free on Sundays.
For more information call 314–421-0325
Jim Bridger lived a life that legends are made of, not just as a mountain man but as co-owner of Fort Bridger during the days of the Oregon and California Trails. Bridger then guided map makers and Smithsonian scientists and ultimately played a crucial in keeping soldiers and travelers alive during the Plains Indian wars in the 1860’s.
Jerry Enzler, an award wining historian and museum director, brings to light a wealth of new information about this iconic frontiersman, including new information from the Campbell papers.True West Magazine just announced its 2022 Best of the West awards, and Enzler’s Bridger biography won the Reader’s Choice Nonfiction Award.
Copies of the book of the same title will be available for purchase and autograph.
A new one hour documentary titled “Robert Campbell, Mountain Man” was commissioned by the BBC for a series of famous Irish immigrants who become successful in America, Robert Campbell was the first person they picked! Last June, Alan McFarland and Michael Beattie (producer/director) were accompanied by an Irish film crew in the U.S. for 13 days of filming. Viewers are treated to stunning new footage of the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains and interviews with the Campbell House staff and experts on the history of the fur trade. Watch a preview of the documentary.
There will be a panel discussion immediately after the screening with director Michael Beattie and presenter Alan McFarland.
Screening is FREE and open to the public. Reservations are requested, please reserve online at nineNET.org/campbell or by calling 314–421-0325.
Parking is free in the lot adjacent to Nine Network, enter on Spring Street. The event is outdoors, bring chairs for seating.
Can’t attend this event? Watch the broadcast one Nine PBS on Monday, July 2 at 8 P.M.
By Andy Hahn
A few weeks ago Campbell House docent Tom Gronski and I returned from a 2,500 mile trip West, visiting the important sites of Robert Campbell and Rocky Mountain fur trade.
Red Rocks Canyon on the road up to the South Pass through the Wind River Range of the Rockies.
We followed the route of the Oregon Trail, which had been blazed by Campbell and other mountain men and fur traders during the 1820s and 30s. Our first stop was at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. The Joslyn holds one of the most important collections of art of the American West, including works by Karl Bodmer, Alfred Jacob Miller and George Catlin.
Following a 500-mile drive along the Platte River through Nebraska we arrived at Fort Laramie, where we met Alan McFarland, Robert Campbell’s g‑g-g-grand nephew, fresh off the plane from his home in Northern Ireland. Alan has a special interest in his uncle’s career in the fur trade and has made numerous research trips to America. Fort Laramie was the perfect place for our meeting because Campbell and his partner Bill Sublette founded Fort Laramie (originally called Fort William) in 1834. At this National Historic Site we were able to view an authentic fur trade encampment recreated by members of the American Mountain Men. The group later created tableau vivant from one of Alfred Jacob Miller’s artworks depicting a fur trade camp.
A little further west we followed the Sweetwater River across Wyoming towards the Wind River Mountain Range and the South Pass. Bill Sublette was the first person to take a wagon this far into the Rocky Mountains in 1830, setting a course for thousands that would follow the Oregon and Mormon Trails. The next few days were spent in the vicinity of Jackson, Wyoming where we visited most all of the sites of the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous. The highlights included visits to the Museum of the Mountain Man where we were able to see some original Campbell letters and Pierre’s Hole, site of the 1832 Rendezvous and subsequent battle. Campbell heroically saved his friend Bill Sublette’s life during the battle as recounted by Washington Irving in the Adventures of Captain Bonneville. Our trip ended with visits to other Rendezvous sites at Bear Lake, Cache Valley and finally Fort Bridger.
Enjoy the pictures and follow us West!
