Fur Trade Forts

Fur Trade Forts. Protecting the Fur Trade. Fort Williams (1833-1834) , Fort Williams was constructed in late 1833 by the firm of Sublette and Campbell and named for one of its founders. William Sublette and Robert Campbell were St. Louis businessmen involved in the Rocky Mountain fur trade and wanted to tap into the lucrative Upper Missouri market. Their plan to oppose the American Fur Company at Fort Union collapsed by the summer of 1834 when they sold out to the Amererican Fur Company. Fort Williams was then dismantled and moved to Fort Union where it was used as a home for employees, stables for animals, and for hay storage. , Fort Mortimer (1842-1845) , Fort Mortimer was constructed by Fox, Livingston and Company of New York, and was named for Mortimer Livingston, one of the main investors in the company. Fort Mortimer was unique in that it was built out of adobe, one of the first such uses of the material on the Upper Missouri. Fort Mortimer lasted until 1845 when its partners, losing money, abandoned the fur trade along the Upper Missouri. , Fort William II (1846-1859) , Fort Mortimer was reoccupied by the firm of Harvey, Prime and Company in the spring of 1846 and renamed Fort William II. The St. Louis Fur Company ran a competent opposition to the American Fur Company until the death of its major partner, Alexander Harvey in 1854. The St. Louis Fur Company sold its forts in 1857 to Frost, Todd and Company who continued the opposition to the American Fur Company at Fort Union until 1859.