Jacques La Ramée was a French-Canadian trapper born on June 7, 1784 in
Yamaska, British Canada. His appearance is believed to be similar to the above woodcut by artist Arther Heming. His surname has been given several spellings, including La Ramee, Laramée, LaRamée, La Ramie, La Rami, La Remy, and Laramie.
As an adult, La Ramée made his way into Wyoming and explored the Laramie River in Colorado and Wyoming.
La Ramée was known to have started out fur trading with the North West Company, a fur-trading company out of Canada. He was also known as a peaceful man who got along well with the Native American Indian tribes, who sold their pelts to him.
In 1815 or 1816, La Ramée organized a group of independent, free trappers. They settled in the area where Fort Laramie would later be located. At that time, it was known as La Ramie’s Point. This was the confluence of the North Platte River and what is now the Laramie River.
In 1821, against his fellow trappers’ warnings about hostile Native American tribes, La Ramée decided to pursue trapping along the river that now bears his name. When he did not show up for the rendezvous the following year, a search party went looking for him.
But what really happened to the trapper? Many stories surround La Ramée's death and some say that he was found stuffed under a beaver dam. Others heard that he slipped on some ice and died on the Laramie River, along with other assumptions.
An alleged 'eye-witness' account from a guy named Pierre Lesperance was that Arapaho or Ute Indians attacked him and killed him, although the Arapahos denied it. One story claims this took place near the headwaters of a river in Colorado near Cameron Pass. Here, his remains were found several years later by the expedition sent to locate him.
No one really knows what happened to Jacques La Ramée except that he was never seen again.
1872 map with Laramie place names highlighted by author
Later, the name
Laramie—an Americanized spelling of La Ramée—would be given to the Laramie
Mountains, Fort Laramie, Laramie Plains, Laramie City, and Laramie Peak,
Wyoming. For information about the places that have Laramie in their name,
please CLICK HERE.
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Sources:
https://wyomingsteakhouse.com/jacques-la-ramie/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_La_Ramee
https://kgab.com/what-really-happened-to-jacques-la-ramee-the-man-laramie-was-named-after
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