Alexander Barclay (frontiersman)

Barclay entered into a common-law relationship with Teresita Sandoval, one of the founders of the settlement and trading post El Pueblo.

Arriving ill from his trip, he was quarantined in Quebec for a time and then traveled to Toronto, and then settled north of Lake Huron.

As this exceeded fair trade, the additional horse he wished being worth (200) two hundred dollars, I declined any further conference on the subject telling him in his own tongue 'that all the world did not live for me.

Interested in exploring the frontiers of the American West, and tired of the mosquitos and humidity,[3][4] Barclay took employment with the Bent, St. Vrain & Company.

After surviving a serious illness he caught during the journey west,[3] he began work in 1838 in present-day Colorado at Bent's Old Fort on the Arkansas River.

Initially, he had difficulty managing the simple diet, the lack of trees, and the commotion from some of the Native Americans who lived outside the walls of the fort; the Comanche were especially troubling to him.

[4] He grew accustomed to the new landscape, including the views of the Spanish Peaks in the distance, and the experiences of meeting varied people along the Santa Fe Trail.

Instead of taking the customary trail, he was to travel north to the South Platte River and put the wagons on rafts, which was unsuccessful due to the low water level.

He had difficulty both in finding sufficient animals to obtain furs, and did not make much money when he tried to sell what he did get in St. Louis, due to a drop in demand.

[6] Around 1843, Barclay met Teresita Sandoval, one of the founders of El Pueblo and the common-law wife of Mathew Kinkead.

In June of that year, after much of his crop was killed by a heavy frost, he learned of the onset of the Mexican–American War, which might bring Mexican soldiers to the Hardscrabble area.

[2] Even though Hardscrabble was located within the Mexican Republic, Barclay continued to travel after the war began in May 1847 to El Pueblo to trade, dance, and socialize.

He hunted for large game in the area, and he imported cats to take care of the rats in the corn crib.

[11] He left Hardscrabble with their belongs, children, and animals for an area near Mora and La Junta Canyon in April 1848.

They built adobe houses and began planting crops, including wheat, corn, and "California pumpkins".