Alexander Barclay (frontiersman) facts for kids
Alexander Barclay (born May 21, 1810 – died December 1855) was an American frontiersman. He started his career in St. Louis as a bookkeeper. Later, he worked at Bent's Old Fort, a famous trading post. Barclay then traveled west, becoming a trapper, hunter, and trader. He lived with Teresita Sandoval, who helped start the trading post called El Pueblo. Barclay also helped create the settlement of Hardscrabble, Colorado and built Fort Barclay in New Mexico.
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Alexander Barclay's Early Life
Alexander Barclay was born on May 21, 1810. His mother raised him because his father wasn't good with money. He had a brother, George, and a sister, Mary, and he wrote letters to them throughout his life. People said he grew up in "genteel poverty," meaning they were poor but kept up a respectable appearance.
As a young man, Barclay worked in London, England, making corsets. He sold his business for 80 pounds and decided to start a new life. In 1833, he sailed to Canada, inspired by two friends. He arrived sick and had to stay in Quebec for a while. Then, he traveled to Toronto and settled north of Lake Huron. He built a simple log cabin without windows and lived there with friends, farming 120 acres of land. After his cabin and everything he owned burned down, he moved to St. Louis in 1836. He first worked as a bookkeeper for one of his English friends. Later, Barclay got a job as a clerk on a steamboat that traveled the Mississippi River.
Frontier Adventures in the American West
Working at Bent's Fort
Barclay was interested in exploring the American West. He was also tired of the mosquitoes and humidity in St. Louis. So, in 1838, he took a job with the Bent, St. Vrain & Company. After getting very sick during his journey west, he started working at Bent's Old Fort in present-day Colorado, located on the Arkansas River. Barclay was a bookkeeper and managed the fort's supplies. He ate a simple diet of wild game, sometimes bread, and no vegetables. At first, he found it hard to get used to the simple food, the lack of trees, and the noise from some of the Native Americans living outside the fort walls, especially the Comanche people.
Over time, he grew to like the new landscape, including the distant views of the Spanish Peaks. He also enjoyed meeting different people along the Santa Fe Trail. For much of the year, Barclay was in charge of the fort while the Bent brothers were away trading at Fort Saint Vrain, Taos, or traveling on the Santa Fe Trail. In the summer of 1842, Barclay was put in charge of a wagon train going to St. Louis. Instead of using the usual trail, he was told to travel north to the South Platte River and put the wagons on rafts. This plan didn't work because the water level was too low. He eventually arrived in St. Louis but decided to leave the trading company.
Life at El Pueblo Trading Post
After trying to raise buffalo calves, Barclay began trapping for furs along the upper Arkansas River in 1843-1844. He also hunted buffalo, moving north and west. He found it difficult to find enough animals for furs and didn't make much money when he tried to sell them in St. Louis, as demand had dropped. In 1844, he moved to the El Pueblo trading post to work as a trader. There, he reunited with old friends like Dick Wooten, Joseph B. Doyle, George S. Simpson, and Mathew Kinkead. His trading business involved traveling through the mountains and plains of Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico, and even to St. Louis. For example, in 1846, Barclay traveled to Ute camps in the Upper Arkansas River valley, the San Luis Valley, and the Wet Mountains. This became a common way of trading, along with running trading posts, after the fur trade changed from beaver pelts to buffalo skins. Besides furs, Barclay also traded for livestock and animal glands used in perfumes.
Settling Hardscrabble
Around 1843, Barclay met Teresita Sandoval. She was one of the people who helped start El Pueblo and was the partner of Mathew Kinkead. She was also the mother-in-law of George Simpson and Joseph Doyle. In 1844, Barclay moved with Teresita, who was 33 and a grandmother, and her children to Hardscrabble. There, Barclay and Teresita's sons-in-law built the settlement. Teresita also helped set up the settlements at Hardscrabble and Greenhorn. Kinkead had moved to California with their son, Juan.
At Hardscrabble, Barclay and Teresita ran a store, raised horses and cows, and grew crops. However, Native Americans and wolves reduced their livestock, and most of their crops struggled. In January 1846, Barclay wrote in his journal that the "Arapahoes threatened him" during a trip to Fort Laramie. In June of that year, after a heavy frost killed much of his crop, he learned about the start of the Mexican–American War. This war might bring Mexican soldiers to the Hardscrabble area. After Americans took control of New Mexico in 1846, Barclay was made the local leader, or alcalde, of the upper Arkansas area.
Even though Hardscrabble was in Mexican territory, Barclay continued to travel to El Pueblo to trade, dance, and socialize after the war began in May 1847. He and Teresita also hosted visitors from the Arkansas Valley, including friends from Bent's Fort. Using his skills from his earlier life, Barclay made hand-sewn clothes from buckskin. He hunted large game in the area and brought in cats to control rats in his corn storage. His trading business grew when troops arrived to fight in the war; they bought corn and mules. In August, about 500 Mormons set up a temporary camp near Pueblo, which also increased his business. He then lived in Pueblo for about a year, trading at the fort. After some small fights with Native Americans in the area, Barclay sold his property in Pueblo. Over the years, he traded at Fort Saint Vrain (near present-day Denver) and in Taos, traveling along the Trapper's Trail.
Building Fort Barclay
Barclay reportedly moved to New Mexico to build a permanent home for Teresita Sandoval. In April 1848, he left Hardscrabble with their belongings, children, and animals for an area near Mora and La Junta Canyon. They built adobe houses and started planting crops like wheat, corn, and "California pumpkins." They were close to supply sources, and being along the Santa Fe Trail meant they could hire travelers to help them. That year, Barclay and Joseph Doyle built Fort Barclay where the Mora and Sapello Rivers meet (east of present-day Holman, New Mexico). It was a 64-foot square fort with two stories, two round bastions (strong towers), and a courtyard with a well. It had a block of buildings, adobe and log houses, corrals for animals, a blacksmith shop, and dams. Travelers on the Santa Fe Trail often stayed at his fort. His trading post sold many different goods, including drinks and his homemade wine, as well as livestock. It was a strong fort, but it was also damp inside. He tried to sell it to the U.S. Army, but they said no and instead built Fort Union.
Barclay was very disappointed when the Army didn't buy his fort. Soon after, on October 10, 1853, Joseph Doyle left with several families, including Teresita, her son Tomas, and other family members. However, some records also say that Teresita stayed with him until he died. Barclay passed away in December 1855 at the fort, at 45 years old. He was described as "a very quiet, cool and considerate gentleman," known for being smart and dignified. His papers, drawings, and letters are kept in the Bancroft Library collection in Berkeley, California.
