Zenas Leonard was born in 1809 in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. He left home in 1830 and spent a year working at a mercantile in Pittsburgh. He left St. Louis on April 24, 1831, with a fur trapping company commanded by Captain Blackwell and Captain Gant. Seventy men were furnished the equipment needed for the trip.
The fur trapping brigade followed the Missouri River until they reached Fort Osage. They purchased further supplies here, then traveled to the mouth of the Kansas River. They continued up the Kansas River to the Republican River where they met the Otoe tribe, with whom they traded some vegetables. Soon afterwards they had to slaughter their last beef. They began to get worried about food. They were still a long way from buffalo country. The men had to live on fish and mussels for a while. Finally they had to kill two horses to keep them going. They changed courses and started toward the Platte River. They caught a few wolves, wild cats, mussels, and antelope.
About mid-July they reached the Platte. In a few days they reached buffalo country. Leonard took part in the buffalo hunt in which six or seven were shot. They feasted on the meat for several days. Game was not a problem from that point. At the first of August they reached the forks of the Platte. They crossed the river and followed the North Platte. At the junction of the Laramie River, the group split up to go trapping. Leonard's group, led by Captain Gant, went up the Sweetwater River.
By the first of October it started to snow. Leonard's group camped near a cottonwood grove. They felled some trees and built some houses and stables in which to spend the winter. They killed lots of game. The men did alright, but unfortunately, the horses starved to death. Leonard and some others twice tried to make a trip to Santa Fe to purchase cheap horses. Both times they were thwarted, once by weather, once by Indians. They gave up on the idea of going to Santa Fe. On April 20, they set out for the rendezvous with the others. When they reached the rendezvous point, no one was there. They trapped for a little while hoping someone would show up. Finally someone did. It was Thomas FitzPatrick and 115 men. The entire party joined FitzPatrick's expedition to the Snake River country. They started out July 1. They headed to the
