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Riverton lies at the confluence of the Big and Little Wind Rivers
and was established in 1906 on land ceded from the Wind River
Indian Reservation. The town was placed in a natural basin
that had long
been a gathering point for humans from Native Americans since
pre-history to the 1830 and 1838 mountain man rendezvous.
Today Riverton today is a bustling town of commerce.
Many residents of west central Wyoming come to Riverton to shop
and relax. With
everything from native crafts and bazaars to national retailers,
Riverton is a commercial city.
Rendezvous City
As the site of the fur trade's 1830 rendezvous and 1838 rendezvous,
Riverton played host to many of the legendary names of the mountain
man era. Jim Bridger, William Sublette, Kit Carson, and Jedediah
Smith are only a few of the legendary trappers and traders who
met here in 1838. The most impressive of these was the 1838 event,
which drew as many as 300 people including mountain men and traders,
Native Americans and missionaries to a bench of cottonwood trees
at the confluence of the Big Wind and the Little Wind. For several
days, they traded and celebrated a season of trapping the mountains.
Riverton, Wyoming, is home to the annual 1838 Mountain Man Rendezvous
with a living encampment, games of skill, food and dancing. Riverton
lies at the confluence of the Big and Little Wind Rivers. This
is the only rendezvous site that remains on original ground. The
1838 Rendezvous reenactment each summer features men and women
who demonstrate skills that were used by the mountain men that
have otherwise been virtually lost through the decades.
Ranching
Soon after its founding, the Riverton area was
promoted heavily in the East as a "farming paradise".
One of the last major homesteading 'openings' held in the United
States, this
development
had all the drama of the Old West - greedy Eastern speculators,
railroad expansion, claim jumpers, land races, feuds and shoot
outs. The Army was even called in from Fort Washakie to keep
the peace.
From these wild and wooly beginnings, Riverton has developed
into the agricultural and commercial hub of Fremont County. With
a farm/ranch
agriculture base, the Riverton area is a major producer of top-quality
cattle and horses, alfalfa hay and sugar beets.
1838 Rendezvous | Boysen Driving Tour | Boysen State Park
Castle Gardens Driving Tour | Relaxing Lifestyle
Riverton Attractions | Wind River Heritage Center
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