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Fort Sublette Concept Fort Sublette Site Plan AMM 2001 American Mountain Men at the first Living History Days, 2001 - (back, l to r) John Kramer, "Two Bears" Terry, Pat Quilter, Dan Akerblom, Jim Hardee, Randy Bublitz. (front, l to r) George Thompson, Armand Gerard, "Badger". Ground Breaking for MMM - 1974 Ground breaking for the Museum of the Mountain Man, 1974 – (l to r) Phil Marincic Jr, Bill Reisner, Mike Steele, Bob McFarland, GlennWise, John Gallemeore, Ray Sell, Raymonde Sell, Dean Binning, Bert Reinow, Allice Harrower, Calvin Elliot, Richard Hecox, and Elton Cooley is on the Cat. American Mountain Men 5. American Mountain Men at the 2023 Green River Rendezvous - (back l to r) Keith "Moki" Hipol, Mary Hipol, Doyle Reid, Barry Haron, Erik Dalley, Richard Ashburn, Jay Williams, John VanPaepeghem, Mac MacAdams. (front l to r) Mark Wardle, Rick Baird, Denny Leonard, Montana Merchant, Brian Deglow, George Korhel.

PINEDALE, WYOMING - Thanks to a very generous donation by the Gooch Family (Rusty, Rosemary, Lindsey & Wes) and a matching grant from Sublette County, the Museum of the Mountain Man is building an 1830s era fort to be named Fort Sublette. The Fort will allow living history interpretation and demonstrations all summer long expanding the partnership with the American Mountain Men (AMM) who have provided living history interpretation during Green River Rendezvous and Living History Days for 25 years.

Ground breaking will be held on Saturday, October 18, 2025 at 1pm at the Museum of the Mountain Man with a short program honoring the donors and the strong AMM/MMM partnership. Dirt work to prepare the site for construction will be completed this fall. During the winter, cabins and blockhouses will be built off site and moved to the fort site in the spring and summer of 2026. When complete, a 100ft by 100ft log palisade wall will be built around the location with a gate opening onto the large lawn at the Museum. Optimistically, the fort will be ready for Rendezvous in July 2026.

Fort Sublette is designed anticipating what William Sublette might have built if he had chosen to build a Fort here in the 1830s. It is inspired by what is known about real forts of the time, including Fort Bonneville (1832), Fort William (1832) – later Fort Laramie, Fort Bridger (1842), Fort Hall (1834), Fort Boise (1834), Fort Buenaventura (1846), Fort Union (1828), and Bent’s Fort (1833). The living history interpretation, guided by the American Mountain Men, will include a trade room where visitor can trade for period items, blacksmith, inventory room, fur room, fur press, living quarters, Booshway house, supply/equipment room, tailor shop, dining/cooking, beaver press, corral, tack room, beaver trapping, beaver processing, hand talk, firearms, among others period crafts and skills.

William Sublette is the namesake of the new fort. He was among the small group of trappers who entered the Green River Valley in the spring of 1824 to find abundant beaver and friendly Shoshone Indians. Hitting the motherlode, they sent word to St. Louis for more supplies. The first Rendezvous was held when supplies arrived the next summer and 16 Rendezvous were held from 1825-1840, including six where Horse Creek joins Green River near what is now Daniel, Wyoming. William Sublette became a company owner (Smith, Jackson, & Sublette) and later primary supplier to the Rocky Mountain fur trade. He built Fort William (later named Fort Laramie) and several other forts along the Missouri River. Sublette County is named for William and his four brothers (Milton, Andrew, Pinckney & Solomon).

American Mountain Men - The American Mountain Men is a national association of individuals dedicated to the preservation of the traditions and ways of our nation’s greatest, most daring explorers and pioneers, the mountain men. Their goals are to keep alive the skills of the mountain men, to preserve their abilities and emulate their way of life as historically accurately as possible. As partners of the Museum over the last 25 years, they educate approximately 1000 students during Living History Days held each May, and thousands of visitors during Green River Rendezvous each July.

Museum of the Mountain Man - A dream since 1936 when the Sublette County Historical Society was formed and the first Rendezvous Pageant was held, the Museum of the Mountain Man was started in 1974 and fully opened in 1990 by a dedicated and relentless group of locals who were determined to make it happen. Thirty-five years later, the institution is thriving with over 10,000 visitors from all 50 states and at least 30 countries each year. It is the only museum dedicated to the mountain men and Rocky Mountain fur trade era. The Sublette County Historical Society, dba Museum of the Mountain Man is a public, non-profit organization governed by a Board of Trustees elected by the membership.

Bicentennial Expansion - The fort is the first step in a major expansion effort honoring the bicentennial of rendezvous (2025-2040). The Bicentennial Expansion envisions tripling the facility space, expanding interpretation of the Plains Indians, building an Alfred Jacob Miller art gallery and strengthening museum operation with a state-of-the-art collections care facility, among other initiatives. It is this generation’s turn to build on the great platform our predecessors worked so hard for, leaving a stronger institution that will last for the next centennial and spreading the story of the mountain men.

For more information, contact Clint Gilchrist, Executive Director, Museum of the Mountain Man, director@mmmuseum.com, 307-367-4101.