At one time, the best way anyone could devise to get their pelts sold, was to transport them to one of the many posts that had been built in various locations in the West. It soon be came apparent that this system was very inefficient and it had already been proven that transporting their pelts all the way back to St. Louis was not a good way to do business.
The people of St. Louis grew tired of the "uncivilized" mountain men and their somewhat rowdy ways. In 1825, a new system was improvised that seemed to meet everyone's needs. The trappers would gather at Henry's Fork of the Green River and meet up with General Ashley.
This first rendezvous was a modest affair--Ashley had not yet learned that he would sell more whiskey than anything else. But it did the job. The men got their provisions and Ashley got the fur started towards St. Louis.
The logic of the rendezvous system struck everyone: Summer was no good for trapping, and it was the best time to move a pack train to the mountains. And so it became an annual event, but it was never modest again. It lasted until the early 1840's,when beaver was hardly worth the effort to trap, and it was the shinin' time of a mountain man's year.

YEAR AND LOCATION OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN RENDEZVOUS, 1825 - 1840
1825 Henry's Fork of the Green River, Wyoming
1826 Cache Valley (near present Hyrum), Utah
1827 Bear Lake, Utah
1828 Bear Lake, Utah
1829 Upper Popo Agie, near Lander, Wyoming
1830 Wind River headwaters near Riverton, Wyoming.
1831 Supply train did not reach the rendezvous area in time, so no rendezvous was held.
1832 Pierre's Hole, Idaho
1833 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
1834 Ham's Fork, Wyoming
1835 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
1836 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
1837 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
1838 Wind River at the mouth of Popo Agie Wyoming
1839 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming
1840 Green River near Horse Creek, Wyoming. This was the last of the great Rocky Mountain Rendezvous.

FAVORITE WINTERING- CAMPS OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN
Thompson's River, Montana
Yellowstone (now Livingston), Montana
Taos, New Mexico
San Luis Valley, New Mexico
Brown's Hole
Ogden, Utah
White River, Utah
Cache Valley, Utah
Smoke River, Idaho

TYPES OF LODGES USED BY THE MOUNTAIN MEN
Trapper's cabin --This is was a small, one-room log cabin, usually having a sod roof.
Tipi --The mountain man did adopt the skin lodge of the Indian. These were often old tipi's the Indian no longer wanted. Usually obtained through trading with the Indian.
Lean-to --If caught in bad weather, the mountain man would often construct a lean-to where he was. Naturally, these were made from whatever could be found in the area.
Trade fort --Mountain men were sometimes known to winter in a trade fort. More often than not they were at odds with the factor and not really welcome.
Buffalo robes green earth, and open sky --This was the favorite lodge of the mountain man, the one he spent most of his life in.