Fraeb's Post (Near Ione, Colorado; at the confluence of the Little Snake River and Battle Creek near the Colorado-Wyoming Border, Colorado)

Near Ione, Colorado; at the confluence of the Little Snake River and Battle Creek near the Colorado-Wyoming Border · Colorado · Indian Wars

Quick BriefFraeb's Post was a log trading post built in 1841 by Henry Fraeb and Jim Bridger near the Continental Divide at the confluence of the Little Snake River and Battle Creek on the Colorado-Wyoming border. The post became the site of a fatal conflict in August 1841 when Fraeb and four others were killed by Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors attacking a hunting party of 23 men.

History & Significance

Henry Fraeb, of German heritage from St. Louis, Missouri, was a mountain man, fur trader, and trade post operator operating across Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. He co-owned the Rocky Mountain Fur Company with Jim Bridger and others, having purchased the company in 1830 for $30,000.

In 1837, Fraeb opened the Fort Jackson trading post near Ione, Colorado with partner Peter Sarpy, before that venture was sold to competing interests. As beaver fur demand declined, Fraeb shifted focus to buffalo hides.

In 1841, Fraeb and Bridger constructed Fraeb's Post at the Little Snake River and Battle Creek confluence on the Colorado-Wyoming border. That August, Fraeb and his party of men traveled into the Little Snake River Valley to hunt bison, only to be attacked by Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors on the 21st.

The 23 buffalo hunters were attacked by approximately 500 warriors, with Jim Baker—who would later achieve prominence as an army scout and pioneer—fighting alongside Fraeb. After initial mounted assaults, the trappers established a defensive position behind log fortifications and successfully repulsed the assaults.

Fraeb was killed early in the two-day engagement, along with four companions. The battle left lasting geographical marks; Battle Creek, Battle Lake, and Battle Mountain received their names from the 1841 trapper-Native American conflict.