Miles Goodyear: The Adventures of the Only Connecticut Mountain Man in the Rocky Mountain West

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© 2021 Stephen Darley. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse 11/15/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4127-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4125-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4126-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021921373

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Illustrations

Chapter 1 Early Life in Connecticut

Chapter 2 Entering the West with the Whitmans

Chapter 3 First Years as a Mountain Man

Chapter 4 William Drummond Stewart’s Special Rendezvous

Chapter 5 Trapping in the Mountains and the Plains

Chapter 6 Founding Ogden, Utah

Chapter 7 First Trek to Califonia and Meeting the Mormons

Chapter 8 Andrew Goodyear Goes West

Chapter 9 Miles Sells Fort Buenaventura

Chapter 10 The Longest Horse Drive in Western History

Chapter 11 Death in the Gold Fields

Chapter 12 Miles’ Wife Pomona and their Children

Epilogue

Appendix A Newspaper Article Regarding Life of Miles Goodyear

Appendix B Miles Goodyear Timeline

Appendix C Miles Goodyear Family Tree

EndNotes

Bibliography

FOREWORD

Relocating to New England as an adolescent after spending my early years traveling with my family sparked a desire in me to establish roots. The rich colonial and early American history surrounding me here provided fertile ground for my growing curiosity about all things historic. When my husband and I settled in North Haven I was afforded an opportunity to volunteer at the North Haven Historical Society, where I became acquainted with Steve Darley. Although I did not know then precisely what motivated his interest, he had long researched and written about colonial and early American history. He always spoke enthusiastically about the subjects he was currently investigating and was willing to share tidbits that might be of interest to others. Steve graciously supplied research papers to our organization and presented programming to historical society members and the public. His meticulously researched book The Battle of Valcour Island in part inspired my visit to Lake Champlain, where I would see the setting of this battle firsthand. Steve’s engaging style of writing makes his books most informative and easy to read, and I was not disappointed when I read his latest about Miles Goodyear. It also revealed that his interest was rooted in his youth, having grown up where Miles would ultimately settle, and settling where Miles was raised as a child.

Anyone who regularly passes over the Pines Bridge in North Haven, Connecticut is familiar with the little white house sitting next to the bridge, extremely close to the river. It is this dwelling that Miles Goodyear would find himself living in as a young boy, and it is this place that would mark the starting point of his adventures as a mountain man and Western settler. For many in the early nineteenth century, life was not kind. This was the case for Miles Goodyear, orphaned at the age of three, separated from siblings, and hired out at the age of ten as a farm hand. As one would expect, little first-hand information was available about Miles’ early years, but Steve’s rigorous research uncovered facts about Miles that could be pieced together to provide a picture for the reader. Letters, books read by Miles as a child, and written family records unearthed by Steve all helped to shed light on Miles’ motivation to set out for the West. Of particular interest to me were the family names associated with this period of Miles’ life – Andrews, Bassett, Ray, Tuttle, Smith, Jacobs, and Bradley – all pointing to deep roots in North Haven.

North Haven’s atmosphere now as a quiet suburban town gives no hint that it could have been the birthplace to the adventurous spirit demonstrated by Miles Goodyear. It is no less than amazing that he accomplished much of what he dreamed of doing during his short lifetime. With no money, goods, or social network to support him, Miles set out for the West, learning the skills needed to become an accomplished fur trapper and mountain man. He achieved his goals with grit, the physical stamina of youth, and innate intelligence. Miles must have exuded these qualities as he traveled with individuals along his path – Steve writes of many persons who mentioned him, either by name or as the red-haired Yankee. Miles must have made quite the impression on everyone with whom he interacted. It is not surprising, then, that he also participated in the search for gold when it was discovered, as other North Haveners would. Miles demonstrated real Yankee ingenuity, surviving and thriving on whatever good fortune or resource became available.

Steve Darley has breathed life into the facts regarding the singular being of Miles Goodyear. His exploration of the many versions of Miles’ adventures lends a depth of truth to the biography. Steve’s personal connection to Miles’ settlement in Utah enriches the narrative and points to how connected we all are in our citizenry as Americans. So much of Miles’ story is unique to him, but also common to all who traveled west in search of something different, something soul satisfying, something to fulfill dreams. This narrative also speaks to what the human spirit can accomplish – regardless of hardship, poverty, illness, or physical barriers. Steve demonstrated that a penniless orphan can become an accomplished explorer, trader, and friend to many, and has convinced me that even a sleepy Connecticut suburb can give rise to greatness.

Susan A. Iverson

Volunteer Archives Manager,

North Haven Historical Society and Museums

PREFACE

Among the romantic and heroic images of the old west is that of the fur trapper or mountain man who roamed the Rocky Mountains singly or in groups in the first half of the nineteenth century to find the valuable beaver pelts that were used in the eastern United States and various countries in Europe to provide top hats for the rich, well dressed men.¹ The famous author of The Oregon Trail, Francis Parkman, said of the fur trappers, I defy the annals of chivalry to furnish the record of a life more wild and perilous than that of a Rocky Mountain Trapper.² They were men who poet and author John Neihardt called the splendid wayfarers of this world,³ and who another author called this reckless breed of men,⁴

These iconic men trapped the prized beaver skins all over the Rocky Mountain west and their lives have been described in various books and histories of that era to help us understand what they did and how unique they were. I have been fascinated by the lives of the mountain men for over forty years.

Most of the men who served in that occupation came from frontier states such as Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri and Virginia. For the most part, the New England states were not represented in that group of men who braved the unknown and untamed vast wilderness that then constituted the far west.

But surprisingly there was one of these mountain men who was born and raised in Connecticut, and though he died in his early thirties, he made his mark in that wild and perilous life.⁵ He was not only a mountain man, but he was also a horse trader and gold seeker, as well as the founder of the City of Ogden, Utah, and the town known as Goodyears Bar in California. He traveled extensively throughout the far west, including across the Great Plains, through the Rocky Mountains, across the deserts of Utah, California and Nevada and overland to California and the Pacific Ocean.

His name was Miles Morris Goodyear⁶ and his life story is full of intrigue, wild adventures and involvement with people of consequence from the time he went west until his death in 1849 at the ripe old age of thirty-two years.

Although he lived at the same time as Kit Carson⁷ and Jim Bridger⁸, Miles Goodyear never achieved their fame or name recognition. His biography is included in the ten volume series edited by LeRoy Hafen⁹, which identifies him with a Native American name of Red Deer.¹⁰ No dime novel or prize winning book contains his story, he never penned a journal, he only wrote two known letters, he is the subject of only one little known hard cover biography¹¹ and there is only one historic marker that includes his name¹².

As far as is known, he never returned to Connecticut after he left it as a teenager to seek his fortune in the west. Nonetheless, he is Connecticut’s major, and as far as we know, only contribution to the era of the mountain men and the grandiose drama that included the exploration and settlement of the Rocky Mountain west prior to the Civil War.

The life and accomplishments of Miles Goodyear have been appropriately claimed by the State of Utah, primarily because his was the second permanent settlement in that state, and that primitive settlement in time became the City of Ogden. Even though he lived half of his short life in Connecticut, that state has never recognized his important role in the early settlement of the west. Because it is probable that he is entirely unknown in Connecticut, there is good reason to look at his achievements in a Connecticut context as well as the Utah or western context.

I have a personal interest in Miles Goodyear because I was born and grew up in northern Utah about 40 miles north of Ogden, Utah, where Miles built his fort. Since then I came east and have lived in North Haven, Connecticut, for the past thirty-five years. Both locations are significant in my life as they were in the life of Miles. Our journey was the opposite of each other. I grew up in the place he founded and he grew up in the place I now live. I found his story of great interest and decided to write about his life if I could find new information not previously published.

Miles Goodyear, who one writer described as a restless native of Yankee land,¹³ left a significant footprint on the development of the far west. He, like all of his fellow mountain men, was restless and did not stay in any one place for very long. He was familiar with most of the important players in the opening of the west from his first entry in 1836 to his death at a gold mining camp in 1849. He had intimate knowledge of the travel routes of the western plains and mountains of the 1830’s and 40’s because he traveled extensively during his western sojourn.

Goodyear had dealings with many of the early Mormon leaders including Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, James Brown, Porter Rockwell and William Clayton. He had personal relationships with all of the experienced fur trappers of his era including Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Old Bill Williams, Broken Hand Fitzpatrick, Black Harris and many others. He became a skilled mountain man who won their respect and friendship which was not given lightly. He came into contact with John C. Fremont on his well-known western expeditions. He knew the famous missionary Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa, and he knew Sir William Drummond Stewart of the British Army, who was made famous in DeVoto’s acclaimed history, Across the Wide Missouri.

As his father and mother before him and his children after him, Miles died at a young age. His uncle Timothy Andrews also died young. As this biography will confirm, some members of the extended Goodyear Family died young while others lived to a ripe old age. It is interesting that three generations of the Goodyear family that included Miles died young, most in their thirties.

Dale Morgan, writing in 1968, provided a summary of how Miles Goodyear’s story evolved over the years.

I think it very interesting that the story of the red-headed mountain man, Miles Goodyear, whose Fort Buenaventura, founded in the late summer of 1846, marks the true beginning of Ogden, has had to be rewritten half a dozen times during the past fifty years. It has been constantly expanded to assimilate fresh information...¹⁴

It is hard to imagine how Miles could compress so many adventures and so much living in the short span of only thirty-two years. Well may it be asked, if in the brief space of thirty years, many of the sons of the old commonwealth of Connecticut saw more of romance---experienced more of adventure--- shaped more events which have passed into history than did the hero of our sketch.¹⁵ Obviously I believe the answer is a resounding No! Although unknown outside of Utah, in every way Miles was a man who made his mark in the mountains and plains of the far west and this is his story.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In writing this book, there are a number of people, organizations and libraries that have been helpful and whose assistance was invaluable in researching the life of Miles Morris Goodyear for this book. Each of their efforts is acknowledged below.

Special thanks to Valerie Jacobson of the Reference Staff at the Research Center of the Utah State Archives & Utah State History, Utah Department of Heritage and Arts. During the pandemic the Research Center scanned numerous documents and photos for me to review all of which helped me to better understand Miles Goodyear, the Mormons and Utah in the 1840’s. Five of their photos are used in this book.

A very special thanks to my friend, Susan Iverson, Curator of the North Haven Connecticut Historical Society who helped me to find photos and information on people and places in North Haven who were relevant in understanding the early life of Miles Goodyear in North Haven. She also has written an impressive Foreword to this book.

The Library and Research Center of the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Missouri, provided scans of the original Diary of Matt Field from 1843. The Field Diary provided new information on Miles’ life in 1843 that I had not found in any other source. Most of the help was provided by Dennis Northcott, Associate Archivist for Reference.

Lorna Kirwan of the Bancroft Library at University of California Berkeley provided previously unknown Goodyear family letters regarding the life of Miles Goodyear’s brother, Andrew, and Miles’ two children. These documents added new information about Miles’ family to this book. The Library also provided me with a copy of a short biography of Andrew Goodyear.

Thanks to the Weber County Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP) for their assistance in providing me with information and photos of the original Miles Goodyear Cabin. The DUP has owned and maintained this historical treasure for many years. It is now located next to their Museum in Ogden, Utah. They have also helped to publish books containing information about Miles including a 72 page history of Miles Goodyear & His Cabin written by W. Dee Halverson that were helpful in researching this book.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints History Department and its access to Mormon records provided an invaluable service to find information about Miles interactions with the Mormons, including their purchase of his fort on the Weber River. Their online collection of important Mormon records is truly amazing.

The details on the life of Miles Goodyear, the history of Utah including the Native Americans and the accounts of forts and fur trappers in the nineteenth century owe a great deal to two Utah historians who are no longer with us. Dale L. Morgan and LeRoy R. Hafen did excellent research and each wrote many books on the history of the west. I have been a Dale Morgan fan for many years since I first read his biography of Jedediah Smith in 1966. I am constantly amazed at his level of research as I was with his article detailing the life of Miles Goodyear and the founding of Ogden. Hafen’s books are classics of the genre. Both contributed to the writing of this book.

The 1937 biography of Miles written by Charles Kelly and Maurice Howe was an invaluable asset in researching the life and story of Miles Goodyear. My book was written to update their historic first biography of Miles.

The records located in www.Ancestry.com regarding Miles Goodyear’s family and guardians in Connecticut have enabled me to provide much more detailed facts about his early life. I would not have been able to achieve that objective without the materials on their web site, including the New Haven Probate Records. I have been a member of Ancestry for many years and have found their materials to be excellent and unsurpassed in terms of genealogical information.

Ancestry.com also has a web site called Newspapers.com which contains issues of old newspapers dating back to the 1700’s. One of the newspapers on that site is the Ogden Standard Examiner which has numerous articles on Miles Goodyear, his fort in Ogden and the Miles Goodyear Cabin. It also has other Utah and Connecticut newspapers that were of help in my research.

A special thanks to my good friend, Katie Lansdale, of Hamden, Connecticut for her help in understanding the talents and ability of William Miles Goodyear as a pianist performing in 1861 at his school.

As was the case in my previous books, my stepson, David Picton, provided important work in producing the illustrations and maps in this book. This book contains twenty-one illustrations and maps which is more than I have included in any other book. I would not have been able to include these illustrations without him. I could not have produced the map contained in this book without his knowledge of Photoshop. He has either designed or helped in the design of book covers for all of my previous books.

My intelligent and lovely 17 year old granddaughter, Angela Darley, offered me very helpful suggestions in the preparation of my book. The title of the book was her choice.

Finally, this book would not have been possible without the help and assistance of my wife, Peggy Brennan. She gave me support as I wrote the book, but even more important she was the proof reader and copy editor on this book as she was on others. Her editing suggestions were immensely helpful and made this a much better book.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Front Cover: The Fur Trader, painted by well-known western artist, Charles M. Russell, in 1925. Public Domain. Courtesy of 1st-Art-Gallery.com for the reproduction.

Andrew Goodyear Photo, 1872. Classified Photo Collection, 921 Biography. Courtesy Department of Heritage and Arts, J. Willard Marriot Digital Library. Utah Historical Societry. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6ws91nv.

Miles Goodyear-Cabin (site) p.6. Photo. Department of Heritage and Arts. J. Willard Marriot Digital Library. Utah Historical Society. Ark:/87278/s60smr.

Miles Goodyear-Gravestone p.1. Photo. Department of Heritage and Arts, J. Willard Marriot Digital Library. Utah Historical Society. https://collectiond.lib.utah/ark:/87378/s6nk3tsn.

Miles Goodyear- Cabin P.9. Photo. Department of Heritage and Arts, J. Willard Marriot Digital Library. https://lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s67d38c6.

Ward Peck House photo. Image courtesy of North Haven Museum and Historical Society, North Haven, Connecticut.

North Haven School House on Green photo. Image courtesy of North