OCT 21: Early Crossing of Continental Divide

Oct. 21, 1812, seven men of the Pacific Fur Trading Company, led by Robert Stuart, become the first European-Americans to cross the Continental Divide at South Pass in present-day Wyoming. They carry word from Vancouver Island that most of the crew of the Tonquin, one of John Jacob Astor’s trading ships, were massacred on June 15 by Tla-o-quiaht Indians after the Tonquin’s captain insulted a chief of the tribe.

The ship Tonquin in 1811. (Credit: Library of Congress)