Name: Seminoe Dam Site

County: Carbon

Authority Name: 

GNIS Entry

Longitude:  1065432W

Latitude: 420924N

Legal Description:

Elevation: 6253/1906

(ft/m)

Feature Type: Locale

Origin of Name: 

Far to the north may be seen the Seminoe Mountains, named for Seminoe Lajeunesse, a French trapper and trader. It is said that Lajeunesse's real name was Basil and that the name Seminoe was corrupted from a French nickname, "Cimineau," although some reports have it that Seminoe was the name given to him by his Snake squaw. Lajeunesse established a trading post on the Overland Trail above Devils Gate. Early in the sixties, with two men and fifteen pack animals loaded with goods, he started out to trade with the Sioux. On the way the party was attacked by Indians in Bates Hole, southwest of Casper, and Lajeunesse was killed. Lajeunesse was a successful hunter and trapper, and the old settlers who remember him say that the mountains were called Seminoe to perpetuate the name of one of the bravest and truest pioneers of Wyoming. He accompanied Fremont on the first expedition into Wyoming, and was one of those chosen to make the ascent of Fremont Peak. He is reported to have accompanied United States troops as a scout on a number of expeditions. His uncle, Gabriel Lajeunesse, was, so tradition says, the hero of Longfellow's "Evangeline." It is interesting to note that some recent maps show these mountains as the Seminole Mountains, the compilers of the maps evidently assuming that they were named for the Seminole Indians and that the "l" had been omitted by mistake from the maps on which they were shown as Seminoe.

Source: Guidebook of the Western United States