Jacques La Ramee

Jacques La Ramée sometimes, rendered La Remy or La Ramie or Laramée (June 8, 1784-1821) – 1821) was a French-Canadian fur trader who lived in what is the present-day U.S. state of Wyoming, after moving there in 1815. In 1820 or 1821, he left, for the season, to go trapping, along the present-day Laramie River. After failing to arrive at the following year, trappers rendezvous, a search party was sent out to locate him. Accounts of his disappearance vary; some stories conclude that he was killed by Arapaho Indians, which they vigorously denied. A number of sites in Wyoming are named for him, including the Laramie River, the city of Laramie, Fort Laramie, Laramie Peak, and Laramie County, Wyoming.La Raméeb is credited, as being the first European to explore and name the Laramie River of Wyoming and Colorado.

Early life

Jacques La Ramée was born on June 8, 1784, in Québec, British Canada, to Joseph Fissiau dit Laramée and Jeanne Mondou. The North West Company registry cites two Laramée brothers, Jacques and Joseph. The name LaRamée (Laramée, Laramie, La Ramée) first appears in the West in 1798, referring to a canoe man who worked until 1804. This probable relative may have been Francois Laramée, who is also, listed in the registry of the North West Company. This ancestor had several sons who ventured west into Wyoming and Idaho. Joachim Fromhold writes that one of the sons was Jacques La Rami (sic) for whom the Laramie river is named.