Rock Bush (Photo from vpauld on Ancestry.com.)
In 1859 Rock Bush came from Green river, Wyoming, where he had been employed for two years on a ferry, and took up a claim on the north bank of the Cache la Poudre river, about three miles southeast of Laporte, where he still lives.
— Ansel Watrous (1911)
Laroque Bousquet was born in Québec, Canada in 1830 to parents of French descent, his ancestors having emigrated to Canada some time in the mid 1600s. In 1857, Laroque set off for adventure in the Nebraska Territory (which included most of what is now Wyoming). With a team of oxen, he crossed the Great Plains, finally arriving at the Green river after a three month journey. There he settled in as a ferry man, shuttling emigrants across the river on their way to Utah, Oregon and California. He met a Shoshone woman who is called Josette Plante in family genealogies. Rock and Josette settled in together and in 1859, they had a son, Louis.
While ferrying people across the Green river, Laroque, who also started to go by the name Rock, began to hear stories of a beautiful and fertile valley to the south, along a river called the Cache la Poudre. With a newborn son, he decided he needed to settle down on some land of his own. So the three packed up and traveled southeast where they settled on some property just north of the Cache la Poudre river, three miles downstream from the town of La Porte. His claim was about where the McMurray Natural Area and Soft Gold Park are today.
Rock and Josette added two more sons to their family, Antoine and Joseph. It appears that Josette died around 1867. Only Rock and the three boys appear in the 1870 Larimer County census.
When Rock first settled on his property, there were only a few other families living along the river between La Porte and the confluence of the Poudre river and the South Platte (where the Greeley Colony would be settled a few years later). But in 1860, settlers began to trickle in. Among them were Joseph Mason, J. M. and F. W. Sherwood, A. F. Howes, and G. R. Strauss.
Ansel Watrous recounts a bit of excitement in Rock’s life, saying that:
“In 1865, a band of thieving, blood-thirsty Sioux Indians swooped down upon the Caché la Poudre valley and drove off a large number of horses. Among the sufferers from the raid was Rock Bush, who lost several head of animals. He put in his claim for damages to the Government soon after, and in November 1886, twenty-one years afterward–he got word from Washington that he had been allowed $700–the amount of his actual loss without interest. His claim, with thousands of others of a similar nature, had laid in some pigeon hole at Washington all that time awaiting the slow-going movements of the powers that be. Mr. Bush, who is still living and one of the surviving venerated pioneers of the Caché la Poudre valley, was thankful that his life was spared to see the end of the matter and to enjoy the use of the money so long past due.” — Ansel Watrous (1911)
In the early 1870s, Rock married Johanna Forbes, the teenage daughter of another settler. She had emigrated from Germany with her parents in 1862 when she was 9 years old. Together Rock and Johanna had seven children — Philomela (called Amelia, or Mealia), Henry, Augusta (called Gussie), Rock Jr., Guy, George, and Ralph. Henry and Ralph must have died while still quite young because they’re not mentioned at all in Ansel Watrous’s history. Ansel also left out the fact that Rock had three sons by his Shoshone wife (who also wasn’t mentioned).
Rock Jr, Gussie, and Joe (Photo from Joseph Lariviere via Ancestry.com.)
Rock’s oldest boy, Louis, moved on to Livermore for a time, showing up there in the 1880 census. Then he appears to have moved to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Antoine ended up in Wyoming. I haven’t been able to find any more information than that on him.
Joe moved to South Dakota where, in 1900, he was a day laborer and boarded with the Clement family. By 1910, he shows up in Rawhide, Wyoming, married to the Clements’ daughter, Sadie, and they have three children. They ended up having six kids total.
Joe’s family — including one grandson. (Photo from Marie Tocco via Ancestry.com.)
Rock’s daughter, Amelia, married Joseph Henry Lariviere. They ended up in Detroit after spending some time in Minnesota. They had seven children.
Amelia Bush with her husband Joseph Henry Lariviere and their children. (Photo from allenvi on Ancestry.com.)
Gussie married Alphons Desjardins and they had two children — Alvina and Paul. They remained in Fort Collins and lived at 431 N. Whitcomb near what is now Lee Martinez Park.
Gussie with her son Paul’s children. (Photo from Joseph Lariviere via Ancestry.com.)
Rock Jr. married Maud Campbell and they had eight children. They stayed in the Fort Collins area and farmed… possibly on the same land that Rock Sr. had settled.
Guy married Margaret Schauer and they had five children. They lived in a house on the 300 block of E. Mountain, between where the Western Convenience gas station and the Organic Alternatives marijuana shop are today.
George married Grace Marie Parsoneault and they had three boys. Grace died in May of 1918. Their middle son died only two days later. It’s likely they both died of the same illness.
The picture of Rock Bush in Ansel Watrous’s History of Larimer County.
Though many of our early founding fathers are immortalized with streets being named after them, or camp grounds, or parks, I have yet to come across anything in Fort Collins or Larimer County that bears witness to Rock Bush. Ansel Watrous does mention him many times in his History of Larimer County however, which bears witness to his importance and value during the early days of Fort Collins.
Johanna passed away in 1913 and Rock followed two years later. They are both buried in Grandview cemetery.
Sources for this article:
Ansel Watrous’s book, the History of Larimer County.
Ancestry.com.
But I first learned about Rock Bush while reading through an early history of Fort Collins on the Archive’s website — The Colorado Gold Rush, Early Settlement, and the Creation of Fort Collins, 1844-1866.
Rock Bush has two great grandaughters living in Oakhurst California, both of whom are very pleased to read of their great grandfathers history. Thankyou for publishing this on the internet.
Wonderful! I’m so glad you found the article, Mike. 🙂
“The Colorado Gold Rush, Early Settlement, and the Creation of Fort Collins, 1844-1866” link doesn’t work.
By the way, there are 3 sisters, great grandaughters, two in Oakhurst California and one in Indio California.
It should work now. Thanks for letting me know.
I’m Rock’s great, great granddaughter (Guy was my grandma’s dad). It’s fun to read some more family history and see some great photos as well!
Awesome! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Rock Bush is my grandfather’s (Donald Bush) grandfather (so my . . . great great grandfather?). My dad, (Duane Bush) lives in Fort Collins still. Thank you for this! Even now, the resemblance between Rock and my dad is strange, uncanny, and kind of wonderful. My grandfather has spent a lot of his retirement researching the family – recently, we found a small info board along the Poudre River in Fort Collins just off of Shields that includes a photo of Rock and some details about his life.
Oh! I haven’t seen the signage about Rock Bush. I’m guessing it’s up around the North Shields Ponds Natural Area. Alvina Desjardins used to live just down the street from me. I’m guessing she’s a cousin or aunt to you. Unfortunately I only chatted with her once. I wish I’d been able to get to know her better.
Thank you so much for this article. Rock Bush was my great grandfather. My grandmother was Gussie (Augusta) Desjardins. I am the little boy in the striped shirt in the photo of Gussie with her son Paul’s children. I know I have some information somewhere about Rock Bush that my father, Paul and his sister, my Aunt Alvina sent me. I’ve moved several times though so I will have to see if I can find it. My father Paul died in Riverside, California in 2003 and my Aunt Alvina died in Fort Collins in May of 2017, just a couple of months short of her 100th birthday.
You’re Aunt Alvina was my neighbor! She lived on the corner and I’m three houses down from the opposite corner (towards Grant). I only spoke with her once, unfortunately.
Your great grandfather was a pretty important early settler here. I’ve been working on Laporte and Bellvue history lately and his name always comes up (even though he was much closer to Fort Collins).
My Aunt was a rather shy woman and I think she kept to herself, especially in her later years. She never married and during the years I was growing up, she would come out to Riverside, California and stay with us for Christmas. even on those visits, she was pretty quiet. After my dad died, I would call her every Sunday to keep up the tradition that he had with her, but as she lost her hearing (and could never seem to get her hearing aid to work with her phone), it became more and more difficult to have long distance conversations with her. I went to see her around 2008 when she was having some health difficulties and I think it was around that time that she had to move out of her house and into an assisted living apartment. My sister and I visited her there on one occasion and then I went back and saw her again after she had to go into a nursing home. At one point I had wanted to write a children’s book based on her mother (Gussie) so I wrote her and asked her a number of questions. I will have to see if I can find her response. I have a number of things that belonged to Alvina and there is actually an old baby doll of hers that is an amazing condition that I would love to donate to a Fort Collins History Museum if there is such a thing. Do you know of a museum in Fort Collins that might be interested? I am sure the doll is probably from around 1920 or so. I can send you a photo if you would be interested in seeing it.
The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery may be interested in it. You’ll want to speak to Jordan over there.
Yes, Alvina did keep to herself. She was a silent presence at the corner. With her passing and that of Josie Clements around the corner, and Stanley down the street… well, the old guard all seemed to pass on around the same time.
I will get in contact with Jordan. Thank you for the tip! I have a few things that belonged to my grandmother, Rock’s daughter Gussie that they might be interested in as well. I am about to turn 71 myself and since I never had children to pass them on to, I would hate to see them getting tossed out or sold at a yard sale. Since they are connected to the history of Fort Collins, I would love to find them a good home with a historical society. The name Josie Clements sounds familiar to me. I think I remember my Aunt mentioning a friend named Josie.
If the museum doesn’t want the items, let me know and we’ll see if we can find another appropriate Fort Collins site for them. But hopefully the museum will take them.
Yes, I think both Josie and Alvina were part of the historical society as well as the Pioneer Association. They probably did a lot together. And they lived just around the corner from each other.
Rock Bush was my Great, Great Grandfather. His son George was my grandfather and my father was also named George, S. Bush. my name is Thomas Bush and I live in Spokane, Washington. My father passed away in Pueblo, Colorado around the year 2000. I am now 80 years old. I have one brother also named George that is still living in Port Townsend, Washington.
Thanks for sharing, Thomas! Rock Bush was an important part of our early history here in Fort Collins.