On the Trail of Ashley’s 100

An adventure awaits those who follow the Western routes of the mountain men.

- JOHNNY D. BOGGS

It might not be the most famous advertisement in the annals of Old West history, but when you look at the names who answered the call, it surely ranks up there: 

To Enterprising Young Men

The subscriber wishes to engage ONE HUNDRED MEN, to ascend the river Missouri to its source, there to be employed for one, two or three years. - For particulars, enquire Major Andrew Henry, near the Lead Mines, in the County of Washington, (who will ascend with, and command the party) or to the subscriber at St. Louis.

Wm. H. Ashley.

February 13

Among those answering the ad, which appeared in the Missouri Gazette, Missouri Republican and St. Louis Enquirer between February 13 and March 26, 1822, were Jim Beckwourth, Jim Bridger, David E. Jackson, Tom Fitzpatrick, Jedediah Smith and William Sublette. Even Mike Fink tagged along.

A Virginia native born in 1778, Ashley arrived at the lead mines in St. Genevieve, Missouri, in 1802 and moved to St. Louis in 1819. He became lieutenant governor in 1820, and in 1821-the year Missouri was admitted as the 24th state-he was appointed brigadier general of state militia.

Ashley befriended another lead miner, Pennsylvania-born Andrew Henry, who had helped incorporate Manuel Lisa's St. Louis Fur Company and had partnered with Lisa on their upriver journeys, establishing a post at the Three Forks of the Missouri River.

St. Louis (Gateway Arch National Park, Jefferson Barracks County Park, Missouri History Museum) had been founded in 1764 by fur traders Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau, while nearby St.

Charles (Lewis & Clark Boat House and Museum, First Missouri State Capitol Historic Site) was home to many workers in the fur trade, including Sublette.