Giles Roberts

Giles Hyatt Roberts c. March 1797 – December 27, 1851 (aged 54) As no known photograph of Roberts exists, many artists have attempted to capture his image based on descriptions by some of his colleagues. This painting by Russ Docken portrays Roberts posing with his rifle.

Giles Hyatt Roberts^[1] (c. March 1797 – December 27, 1851) was a United States Army sergeant during the War of 1812 and the First Seminole War, a mountain man and trapper, a member of the Texan militia in the Texas Revoluion^[2][3] and sugar cane farmer in Havana, Cuba until his death from stomach cancer. He fought under the command of Andrew Jackson^[4] during his time in the military and worked for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company between 1822 and 1824. Among the original members of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company^[5] were Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, Thomas Fitzpatrick and Hugh Glass. Between 1825 and 1830, he explored many areas in the western United States.^[6] He moved to modern Texas in 1831 and fought for the Texan military during the Texas Revolution in the Siege of Béxar in late 1835. Beginning in early 1836 and continuing until his death, he owned and operated a small sugar cane farm in Havana, Cuba.

Early life and military career

Giles Hyatt Roberts was born in March 1797 in Frederick, Maryland^[7] to Alexander Roberts, a Scottish immigrant and soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and candlemaker. Giles's mother is unknown, though a large number of historians believe her to be Lenore Haggan, the widow of former soldier Jacob Haggan, who was in Roberts's regiment in the Revolutionary War. Jacob remained a friend of Roberts after the war had ended, living in Maryland just ten miles from each other. Many believe throughout much of the early 1790s, Lenore and Alexander may have planned on marrying, but were only impeded by Jacob. Jacob Haggan died of natural causes in 1795, and Lenore is known to have lived with Alexander until her own death in 1799, though she had denied during this time as being the mother of then two year old Giles, possibly out of fear of the sociological views against her.

Giles did not have any siblings, leaving much of his father's free time to teaching him arithmetic and language, and by age six he could read and write fluently. Much of his early life is undocumented except for his personal testimony^[8] in which he claims that his father was a devout Catholic and aspiring painter, who would occasionally sell his work at markets. He lived with his father in the same house he was born in until the War of 1812. During this time, at only fifteen years old, he convinced his father to let him join the United States Army.

During his time in the military, he fought under the command of Andrew Jackson in the Creek War, a lesser conflict during the War of 1812, and was stationed at Fort Mims^[9] where he was wounded, taking a musket ball to the abdomen, during the Fort Mims massacre, making him one of the few survivors of the massacre that killed between somewhere 400 and 500 people. He recovered, and went on to see combat in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815 when he was seventeen years old.

Later on, after the war had ended, he remained under Jackson's command when ordered by President James Monroe to confront the Seminole in Georgia in December 1817. He was discharged from the Army in early 1819.

Rocky Mountain Fur Company and Ashley's Hundred

Roberts joined the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1822 following the death of his father. Among the men he worked alongside included many famous mountain men, frontiersmen, and trappers, such as Hugh Glass, Jim Bridger, and Jedediah Smith. He participated in many large scale trapping operations between 1822 and 1824 under the command of William Henry Ashley. Ashley's original trappers were nicknamed "Ashley's Hundred."

Roberts was present on June 2, 1823 during an attack^[10] on Ashley's men by Arikara warriors in which fifteen trappers were killed. Following the attack, Hugh Glass, a fellow trapper, was mauled by a bear.

A depiction of the 1823 attack on Ashley's men.

During the winter of 1824, Roberts and other members of William Ashley's crew were credited with discovering the South Pass.^[11] Shortly after, Roberts quit trapping and instead set out on his own to explore the west.^[12]

Exploration in the west

Beginning in the early months of 1825, Roberts explored many areas of the western United States, including the modern states of Wyoming,^[13] Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. Along with former trapping partner Jim Bridger, he was one of the first European Americans to see what is now Yellowstone National Park and the Great Salt Lake in northern Utah.

In 1827, he was exploring northern Nevada near the modern Idaho border along with a group of nine others when he was attacked by hostile Native Americans and left for dead. Out of the ten original explorers, only Roberts and two others, John Bader and Hobart Binsley, survived. According to their journals and personal accounts,^[14] the trio wandered the wilderness for three weeks, living only on plants and small game.

Indian wife and child

During his time in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Roberts married a Crow woman he called Evening Star and had a child with her. The child's name and gender are not known, as he had not mentioned it in his journals.^[15] The child and Evening Star died the day of the child's birth. Some believe this is one reason that drove Roberts to quit the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.

Life in Texas and Texas Revolution

An artist's depiction of the Siege of Bexar.

In mid-1831, Roberts immigrated to the Mexican province of Texas and bought a small farm.^[16] He joined the Texan militia during the Texas Revolution in 1835 and fought in the Siege of Béxar.^[16] This is the only battle of the Texas Revolution Roberts participated in. Soon after in 1836, he boarded a United States merchant ship and immigrated to Cuba.

Life in Cuba and death

Soon after immigrating to Cuba, he purchased a sugar cane farm near Havana and lived there until his death in December 1851. Very little is known about his life during this period. It is known, however, that Roberts was remarried to a Cuban woman he called Maria.^[17]

Legacy and legend

Giles Roberts has perhaps experienced more in the American west than any other known explorer. Because of this, his story has drawn many to research his life as well as that of others he worked with and the land he roamed.

See also

• Rocky Mountain Fur Company
• Texas Revolution
• American westward expansion
• Exploration of the American west

References