1828 Four men, William "Toopeechee" Reed, Jim Reed, Dennis Julien, and Augustus Archambeaux, French traders from Kentucky, entered the Uintah Basin and set up a trading post near a spring of water just south and east of the present settlement of Whiterocks. The site was at a junction of trails used by the local Ute people. They brought in the first butcher knives, coffee beans, and other articles traded to the locals for fur. Antoine Rubidoux purchased the enterprise in 1832 and built a larger "fort" just east of the post. Fort Robidoux, a center for fur traders, had a life of 12 years. In 1844, this fort was burned to the ground.