Others wryly note the shrewdness of this makeshift proprietor, Robidoux. Various journalists refer to two or more “Frenchmen” and their squaws, and an indefinite number of children. In 1850 James Bennett found here “an encampment of near a 100 Sioux Indians” (relatives, no doubt!). In 1851 Father De Smet, returning from the Horse Creek Treaty Council, baptized Robidoux’s half-breed children. In 1851, Robidoux, feeling somewhat overrun by the emigrant hordes, retired to a secluded canyon about a mile southeast of the original location. The appearance of this second trading post has been providentially preserved in a sketch by the German traveler, Frederick Möllhausen. The site of this post has been identified in present Carter Canyon. Who was Robidoux? Although all the facts are not fully established, it appears that he was Joseph E. Robidoux, oldest son of the Joseph Robidoux who founded St. Joseph, Mo.; and that the other “Frenchman” seen there was his uncle, Antoine Robidoux, who earlier achieved pioneering fame in Utah and California. The younger Joseph is an elusive figure. He may well have been the Robidoux who led the first American Fur Company contingent by Scotts Bluff, in 1830, and who was seen at Fort Laramie in 1846 by Parkman. What became of Robidoux? Although reported to have died accidentally at Scotts Bluff, no grave has been identified. There is evidence that he returned to the Great Nemaha Indian Agency, in northeastern Kansas, in the late fifties, and died there in obscurity. There are many half-breed “Robidouxes” on Indian reservations in South Dakota who have identified the Scotts Bluff Robidoux as their ancestor. Modern research has revealed another fact long lost sight of. Robidoux’s trading post was not the only one in this neighborhood during the gold rush. It has now been definitely established that, in the summer of 1849, after they sold adobe-walled Fort John (Fort Laramie) to the U. S. Government, officials of the American Fur Company removed to Scotts Bluff. Contrary to a long-held erroneous impression, their new post was not located near Mitchell Pass (there never was a trading post near there); it was first located tentatively in Robidoux Pass, within a few hundred yards of Robidoux’s blacksmith shop. Then, for reasons which can only be surmised, it was moved to a point 6 miles below Robidoux’s and 8 miles south of Mitchell Pass, in present Helvas Canyon. In correspondence of the fur company it was identified as “Fort John, Scott’s Bluffs.” This post, being off the main trail, did not rate much notice by travelers, compared with the attention given to Robidoux, but there are occasional references. In 1850 James Bennett states that about 7 miles below Robidoux’s there was a trading post “3 miles to our left, where we could see a herd of cattle grazing.” Sgt. Percival G. Lowe of the Dragoons, in 1850, reports that “we turned south and camped near a trading post belonging to Major Dripps.”