Green River Rendezvous

The yearly commemoration the panel names began as a pageant on this ground. The first, in 1936, marked the centenary of the rendezvous of 1836 and was staged here at Daniel, where it stayed until 1956; after the show the highway through town was often closed so people could square-dance on its flat pavement, as they did in 1948. The pageant later moved to the Rendezvous grounds in Pinedale for bigger crowds. Its volunteers still sew their own costumes, and in 2018 they honored Ellen Reed, 95, who had played in the first one.

What the plaque says

Green River Rendezvous From the first big beaver season in 1824 to the last Rendezvous in 1840, the Green River Valley was the center of the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Six of the 16 summer Rendezvous (1833, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1839, 1840) were held here at the confluence of Horse Creek and the Green River. For mountain men who trapped during the long cold months for the best fur, the summer Rendezvous provided an opportunity to sell beaver hides, re-supply for the coming year, meet old friends, and celebrate. Rendezvous lasted up to a month and were attended by as many as 3000 trappers, traders, visitors, and Indians coming from hundreds of miles in all directions. The Green River Rendezvous provided a stage for the first Catholic Mass performed in the West by Father DeSmet, the arrival of the first white women to cross the Continental Divide, the sketches of artist Alfred Jacob Miller, the adventures of Scotsman William Drummond Stewart (Wyoming's first tourist), and colorful stories about men like Jim Bridger and Kit Carson. Since 1936, The Green River Rendezvous has been commemorated each year with a celebration the second weekend in July. The Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale is dedicated to interpreting and preserving the history of this colorful era. Sublette County Museum Board

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of the Mountain Man — 11 mi
  Six fur-trade rendezvous met near here on the Green; the only artist who ever saw one, Alfred Jacob Miller, came in 1837.

More markers nearby

• Narcissa Prentiss Whitman and Eliza Hart Spalding — steps away
• Pinckney W. Sublette — 1.4 mi
• First Holy Mass in Wyoming — 1.4 mi
• The Prairie of the Mass — 1.9 mi