by Charles W. Bowman
Biographies
URIEL HIGBEEMr. Higbee was one who early ventured to settle in the West. His first trip was in the spring of 1850. He came with three Roubedoux brothers. Mr. Higbee was born October 12, 1834, in Mansfield, Ohio. He went to Berrien County, Mich., when quite young. Soon afterward, his parents moved to Platte County, Mo. His father died when he was thirteen years of age. He attended school only a short time. St. Joseph, Mo., was the place he started from to come West, and Scott's Bluff, on the North Platte River, was where he landed. This was a trading-point. From there he went out for hundred of miles around, trading with the Indians. Buffalo robes and tongues, and elk-skins, horses and mules were the articles he dealt in principally. In the spring of 1857, he took them to St. Joseph, Mo. From 1851 till 1853, he was employed by Campbell, Choteau & Co. in the same business. For the following two years, Mr. Higbee was engaged in running a train of freight wagons from Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger. He made two trips a year. Mr. Higbee was present during the big Indian treaty of 1852. A long train of wagons loaded with Government goods, in charge of Fitzpatrick, came to Horse Creek and distributed them to the various tribes. There were 30,000 Indians present, composed of Cheyennes, Sioux, Arapahoes, Crows, Blackfeet, Snakes and Flat Heads. One evening, the Indians killed 250 oxen belonging to the train. July 2, 1855, Mr. Higbee stood guard, with 300 others, around Fort Leavenworth. The morning of the 3d, he started, with a train of twenty-six wagons, for Albuquerque, N.M., for Majors, Russell & Co. From this point, he went to Tucson with thirty-six wagons. The train was escorted by Maj. Newell, with 200 dragoons. The goods belonged to the Government. After he delivered them, he sold out his teams and returned to Albuquerque. On his way to the latter place, he had a fight with the Indians, and came near starving. In November of the same year, he was employed by the Government in running trains with supplies to different posts. In the spring of 1856, Mr. Higbee went to Salt Lake City, at the time of the Mormon outbreak, Col. Lovering commanding, joining Gen. Johnson at Fort Bridger. The command was 9,000 strong. The Mormons had abandoned the city and strongholds, and there was no fighting. Only about thirty persons could be found. All had gone to Provost City. Mr. Higbee went out to Salt Lake, passing over the ground where Denver now stands, but returned over the Gunnison trail, with Le Daux as guide, to Fort Union, N.M., in the fall of 1858. In the winter of 1858-59, there was serious trouble in New Mexico, and all were ordered out of Fort Union to Fort Burguin. About this time, he left Government employ, and was engaged with citizens in filling Government contracts. In the spring of 1860, Fort Burquin was abandoned. He then settled, with three others, on Purgatoire Creek, about where Trinidad now is situated, where he remained until 1866, ranching and cattle-raising. He then removed to Nine Mile Bottom, where he has remained until the present. Higbee Post Office and the precinct of Higbee were named for him. Since residing in Nine Mile Bottom, Mr. Higbee has held the offices of Sheriff and Constable for ten years. In common with others who lived there, he suffered from Indian and grasshopper incursions.
