cache-la-poudre

Updated: May 7, 2025

During their conversation that night he said that Mountain Phil was a very bad man, and that he would often steal their horses and sell them to the Comanches. Next morning after breakfast our horses were brought in, saddled up and we were off on our journey again to Cache-la-Poudre. It might be of interest to our readers to know how this stream acquired its name.

William F. Drannan - Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains : An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West

He gave the letter to me, saying, "Give this letter to Capt. McKee, and if you want to go to Santa Fe with him, do so, or if you had rather be with me, you will find Jim and me on the Cache-La-Poudre; just suit yourself, Willie, in regard to this matter, and I shall be satisfied." The next morning we were up and on the road by the time the sun was up.

William F. Drannan - Chief of Scouts

Uncle Kit was, however, very well satisfied with our work, with the exception of Mountain Phil, whom he had furnished for the winter, and who had not caught a beaver. We soon had our traps and furs together, loaded up and were on our way to New Mexico. The third day about noon we reached the Cache-la-Poudre, where we again ran on to the American Cannibal.

William F. Drannan - Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains : An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West

I asked him where he was going to trap, and he said he thought he would trap on the head of the Cache-la-Poudre, and the quicker we went the better it would be for us. "I have all the traps we will need this winter," he said; "now you boys go to work and mould a lot of bullets." The reader will understand that in those days we used the muzzle-loading gun, and we had to mould all of our bullets.

William F. Drannan - Chief of Scouts

Harney was stationed on North Platte with a considerable body of soldiers. The day following, after having crossed the Cache-la-Poudre, we reached Gen. Harney's camp. The General, being a good friend of Uncle Kit and Jim Bridger, insisted on our being his guests, so we took supper with him and camped there for the night.

William F. Drannan - Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains : An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West

Uncle Kit, having made quite a sum of money, concluded that he would take a trip over to the headwaters of the Cache-la-Poudre to look for a new field where he could trap the coming winter on a large scale, and wanted Johnnie and I to accompany him, which we did.

William F. Drannan - Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains : An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West

There was a Frenchman by the name of Virees Roubidoux camped on the stream spoken of, with a little squad of men; they were attacked by a band of Indians, and the first word uttered by Roubidoux was "Cache-la-poudre," which means in English, "hide the powder," and from that time on the stream has been so called.

William F. Drannan - Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains : An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West