Charles Autobees

Charles Autobees (1812–1882), whose last name was also spelled Urtebise and Ortivis, was a fur trader and pioneer in the American Old West. He was the founder of Autobees, Colorado.

Early life

Charles Autobees was born in St. Louis in 1812 to Francis Autobees and Sarah T. Tate. Francis was French-Canadian and may have had Native American heritage as well. After Francis drowned in the Saint Lawrence River while logging, Sarah married Bartholomew Tobin, who was living in St. Louis. Sarah and Bartholomew had another son, Thomas Tate Tobin.

Fur trader By the age of 16, Autobees was a fur trader based in St. Louis. Many of his activities are unclear, but he was associated with many famous figures of the old west including Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Juan Antonio Laforet, Geminien P. Beauvais, James Bordeaux, Charles Nadeau, Chat Dubray, Jean Baptiste Charlefou, Tom Tobin, A. G. Boone, Carlos Beaubien, Joseph Barnoy and James P. Beckwourth. In the early 1830s, he was a part of the American Fur Company and may have taken part in a battle with the Blackfeet on Salmon River. This was likely one of the many battles described in Thomas D. Bonner's Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth. He may also have been involved in the July 1832 battle known as the rendezvous at Pierre's Hole.

In 1834, Autobees left the American Fur Company and moved to Fort Hall on the Snake River where he worked for Nathaniel Wyeth and Robert Evans. In 1835, Autobees joined a party of Hudson's Bay Company trappers. In the spring of that year, his party had another battle with Blackfeet.

In 1847, Autobee and Tobin were living and farming on the St. Charles River south of Pueblo. In 1849, Autobees, Asa Estes, Bill Williams and others were employed as guides and spies by Lieutenant J. H. Whittlesey in an attack on the Utes in reparation for perceived injuries of settlers in along the Colorado River.

Autobees settlement In 1853, Richens Lacy Wootton, Levin Mitchell, William Kroenig, and Autobees built the Huerfano village (Autobees, Colorado) on the south side of the Arkansas River near the mouth of the Huerfano River.