The first Rocky Mountain Rendezvous was held north of this point on Henry Fork of the Green River between Birch and Burnt Fork Creeks during June and July 1825. Created as a time-saving way for trappers to replenish supplies and trade furs without traveling to St. Louis each summer, the gathering was planned for the Green River but moved to Henrys Fork because that site provided better forage for animals. Under the direction of William Ashley, one hundred twenty trappers gathered at Burnt Fork to barter their furs, among them William Ashley, Jedediah Smith, Bill Sublette, Davey Jackson, Tom Fitzpatrick, Etienne Provost, James Beckwourth, and Jim Bridger. Beckwourth recalled that when Ashley opened his goods, the camp became a lively little town of at least eight hundred people, about half women and children, where scarce groceries were eagerly welcomed, whiskey sold freely, and all kinds of sport were indulged in heartily. On July 2, 1825, Ashley and his men departed for St. Louis with furs worth $50,000. The rendezvous continued to be held annually throughout the region until 1840, when declining demand for beaver pelts ended one of the western frontier's most colorful traditions, later reenacted by modern-day mountain men as nineteenth-century fur fairs.