Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History/William H. Ashley

Ashley, William H., fur trader and Congressman, was born in Powhatan county, Va., about 1778. In 1808 he went to Upper Louisiana (now Missouri) and was there made a brigadier-general of militia. In 1822 he organized the Rocky Mountain Fur company and went to the Rocky mountains, where he formed friendly relations with the Indians. with whom he traded for many years and accumulated a comfortable fortune. In some of his excursions from the States to his trading posts he crossed Kansas, though his route was generally up the Platte valley. In 1820 he was elected lieutenant-governor of Illinois, and later removed to Missouri. From 1831 to 1837 he represented a Missouri district in Congress. He died at Boonville, Mo., March 26, 1838.