Denis Julien

Denis Julien (born c. 1772) was an American fur trapper of French-Canadian Huguenot origin best known for his activity in the southwestern United States in the 1830s and 1840s, at a time when he was one of the few people of European descent in the area.

The first written documents mentioning him are baptismal records from the Saint Louis Cathedral for three children born to Julien and his Native American wife Catherine in 1793, 1798, and 1801.

[1] Julien was mentioned in an 1808 letter by then-Governor of the Louisiana Territory Meriwether Lewis to Secretary of War Henry Dearborn as an "old and rispected [sic] trader among the Ioways.

[2] An entry dated December 26, 1825 in James Kennerly's journal at Fort Atkinson suggests that Julien shot and wounded another man.

[1][3] In 1827, Julien made his first trip to the far west as a member of a party led by François Robidoux to recover cached furs.

[5] Julien stayed on at Fort Robidoux until 1836, and the series of rock inscriptions he made during and after this time are the only record of his movements in the latter part of his life.

[2] Of the eight markings generally accepted as authentic Julien inscriptions, seven are in present-day Utah and one just across the state line in Colorado; two of these eight have evidently been lost in modern times, though they are considered reliably reported.