Fort Robidoux

The first year-round house of white men in Utah was a fur post, and the people who lived here longest burned it down. Antoine Robidoux, a French trader out of Taos, built Fort Uintah near here in 1832, a huddle of log cabins behind a palisade where two rivers meet. Mountain men wintered here — Kit Carson, Frémont, Whitman among them — trading pelts and horses. But he also dealt guns, whiskey, and, by some accounts, Ute captives, leaning on them harder as the beaver failed. In 1844 the Ute had enough, and put the fort to the torch.

What the plaque says

The first yearlong abode of white men in what is now Utah, was Antoine Robidoux's Indian and fur trading post (Fort Wintey or Uintah), which was built 8 miles north of here in 1832. It was on the trail from Taos, New Mexico to the Pacific northwest, and from Utah Lake to the Platte River region. Many trappers traded and wintered here. Several distinguished travelers sojourned here, including Kit Carson, Joseph Williams, Rufus B. Sage, Marcus Whitman, A.L. Lovejoy and John C. Fremont. All prior to the burning of the post by Indians in 1844.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Utah Field House of Natural History — 22 mi
  A dinosaur museum with life-size replicas in an outdoor garden
• Vernal — 22 mi
  The self-proclaimed Dinosaur Capital of Utah
• Steinaker State Park — 24 mi
  A warm-water reservoir popular for swimming in the desert heat
• McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs — 26 mi
  Massive Fremont-era rock art panels on private ranch land open to visitors

More markers nearby

• Northern Ute Veterans Memorial — 0.7 mi
• Fort Duchesne — 2.0 mi
• Roosevelt — 5.7 mi
• LaPoint Post Office — 8.8 mi