Fort Lisa was started by famed
fur trapper Manuel Lisa in
North Omaha, Nebraska in 1806, may have been were
Sacagawea died, and was home to several firsts in Nebraska history.
History
Although dates vary according to account, at some point in 1806-07 fur trapper Manuel Lisa established Fort Lisa for the company he and
William Clark jointly owned called the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company. The famous
Astor Expedition undoubtedly came by the Fort in 1811. The site was reportedly rebuilt in 1812 and became the main post of the Missouri Fur Company.
Some sources say
Sacajawea died at Fort Lisa on December 20, 1812
[1].
- "An 1811 journal entry made by Henry Brackenridge, a fur dealer at Fort Manuel Lisa Trading Post on the Missouri River, stated that both Sacagawea and Charbonneau were living at the fort. He recorded that Sacagawea "…had become sickly and longed to revisit her native country." The following year, John Luttig, a clerk at Fort Manuel Lisa recorded in his journal on December 20, 1812, that "…the wife of Charbonneau, a Snake Squaw [the common term used to denote Shoshone Indians], died of putrid fever." He went on to say that she was "aged about 25 years. She left a fine infant girl".[2] Documents held by Clark show that her son Baptiste had already been entrusted by Charbonneau into Clark's care for a boarding school education, at Clark's insistence (Jackson, 1962)."[3]
The
Western Engineer, piloted by
Stephen Harriman Long, reached the fort in 1819 and was the first steamboat to ply the
Missouri River. Aboard the ship were General
Henry Atkinson and Captain
Stephen Watt Kearny, both important to the future development of the
American West, and both of whom later had forts in the
Nebraska Territory named after them:
Fort Atkinson and
Fort Kearny.
George Drouillard, a member of
Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery, was tried for the murder of a deserter from Fort Lisa whom he mortally wounded while trying to capture him.
[4]
Details of when the Fort ceased operations are sketchy. At some point after Lisa spent the winter of 1819-20 at Fort Lisa with his third wife, he returned to St. Louis and died. Some point thereafter Fort Lisa was commanded by Joshua Pilcher
[5], with the Fort eventually closing and being replaced by
Pilcher's Post.
[6]
Location
Fort Lisa was located, "at a point between five and six miles below the original
Council Bluff - where
Lewis and Clark had a council with the
Missouri (tribe) and
Otoe Indians, August 3, 1804, and now the site of the town of
Fort Calhoun..."
[7] The site of Fort Lisa is located at 11808 John J Pershing Drive, next to Hummel Park and north of
Florence.
The site of Fort Lisa may have influenced the positioning of several nearby historically significant sites, including
Fort Atkinson,
Cabanne's Trading Post and
Cutler's Park.
[8]
Influence
At the time of its establishment Fort Lisa was the only trading post in the
Great Plains region. This made the Fort instrumental in American relations with local tribes, as well as the early settlement of the
Nebraska Territory.
According to one source, the influence of Manuel Lisa, exerted from Fort Lisa, was strong enough to hold all the Missouri river Indians firmly in alliance with the American people. Lisa is also credited with keeping tribes in the region on the side of the
United States during the
War of 1812.
Fort Lisa provided several firsts in American history. The first European farmer in Nebraska, Lisa himself, was here
[9]; Fort Lisa was the first American settlement set up in the recent
Louisiana Purchase; the first woman of European descent in Nebraska was Lisa's second wife, and; the first steamboat to navigate Nebraska waters, the "Western Engineer", arrived at Fort Lisa on September 19, 1819.
[10]
The
American Fur Company established
Fort Robidoux two and one half miles south of Fort Lisa in 1822, and the proximity of both locations, along with
Fort Atkinson, in turn influenced the positioning of
Culter's Park, the Mormon Bridge,
Fort Omaha, and
Florence. These establishments led to the flow of
Mormon Trail pioneers, which in turn led to the development of Kanesville,
Omaha,
Saratoga, and eventually all of
North Omaha itself, as well as many further points in America's
western expansion.
See also
References
1.
^ Helmus, T., Toppin, E., Pounds, N. & Arnsdorf, V. (1990)
The United States Yesterday and Today. Silver Burdett & Ginn Inc.
2.
^ Drumm, Stella M., ed. (1920). "Journal of a Fur-trading Expedition on the Upper Missouri: John Luttig, 1812-1813". St. Louis:
Missouri Historical Society.
3.
^ From Butterfield, B "Spirit Wind-Walker". (n.d.)
"Sacagawea: Captive, Indian Interpreter, Great American Legend: Her Life and Death".
4.
^ Keogh, X. (1998)
"The American Federal Interpreter and How the West Was Won".
Proteus. VII(3). Summer.
5.
^ Davidson-Peters, A. (n.d.)
Major Joshua Pilcher
6.
^ (n.d.)
American Posts: West (Nebraska)
7.
^ Morton & Watkins. (n.d.)
Fur Trade History of Nebraska.
8.
^ (n.d.)
Chapter 4: Council Bluffs and Winter Quarters: 1846-1847 in
Mormon Pioneer Historic Resource Study. National Park Service.
9.
^ (n.d.)
Visual Tour of the Nebraska Courts
10.
^ (n.d.)
Semi-Centennial History of Nebraska - 1904
animal trapping has two separate but related meanings. Firstly, it describes the hunting of animals to obtain their furs, which are then used for clothes and other articles, or sold / bartered (see fur trade).
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Manuel Lisa (September 8, 1772 - August 12, 1820) was a well known fur trader and explorer who founded the Missouri Fur Company.
Born in New Orleans of Spanish parents (his father was a government official from Murcia), Lisa became involved in the fur trade while in
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North Omaha is an area in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that is defined by its historical and modern neighborhoods, as well as its diverse racial and socio-economic composition. It is located just north of Omaha's downtown.
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Sacagawea (Sakakawea, Sacajawea, Sacajewea; see below) (c. 1787 – December 20, 1812; see below for other theories about her death) was a Shoshone woman who accompanied the Corps of Discovery with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in their exploration of
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William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer who accompanied Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
William Clark was born in Caroline County, Virginia on August 1, 1770.
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The Astor Expedition of 1810-1812 was the next overland expedition from St. Louis, Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia River after the Corps of Discovery, led by Lewis and Clark.
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Sacagawea (Sakakawea, Sacajawea, Sacajewea; see below) (c. 1787 – December 20, 1812; see below for other theories about her death) was a Shoshone woman who accompanied the Corps of Discovery with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in their exploration of
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Fort Lisa was started by famed fur trapper Manuel Lisa in North Omaha, Nebraska in 1806, may have been were Sacagawea died, and was home to several firsts in Nebraska history.
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Stephen Harriman Long (December 30, 1784 – September 4,1864) was a U.S. engineer, explorer, and military officer. As an inventor, he is noted for his developments in the design of steam locomotives.
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Origin Confluence of Madison, Gallatin and Jefferson in Montana.
Mouth Mississippi River near St. Louis, Missouri
Basin countries USA, Canada
Length 2,341 miles (3,767 km)
Source elevation 4,045 ft
Mouth elevation 400 ft
Avg.
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Henry Atkinson (1782 - 1842) was a U.S. army officer. A native of North Carolina, he entered the army in 1808 as a captain in the infantry, serving at various outposts on the Western frontier.
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Stephen Watts Kearny (IPA: [ˈkɑɹni]; "Kar-ney") (August 30, 1794 – October 31, 1848) was a United States Army officer, noted for his part in the Mexican-American War, especially the conquest of California.
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Western United States—commonly referred to as the American West or simply The West—traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States (see geographical terminology section for further discussion of these
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The Nebraska Territory was a historic organized territory of the United States from May 30, 1854 until March 1, 1867 when Nebraska became the 37th U.S. state. It was established by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The territorial capital was Omaha.
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Location Nebraska, USA
Nearest city Omaha, NE
Coordinates
Established 1971
Governing body Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Fort Atkinson
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Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the western U.S. during the middle and late 19th century. The outpost was located along the Oregon Trail near present-day Kearney, Nebraska, which took its name from the fort (with a modification of
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Fontenelle's Post was established by the American Fur Company near Bellevue, Nebraska in 1806. This was first notable settlement in Nebraska by American settlers. The Post was also an early home of Moses Merrill, who founded the first mission in Nebraska Territory in 1855.
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Location Nebraska, USA
Nearest city Omaha, NE
Coordinates
Established 1971
Governing body Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Fort Atkinson
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The Missouri or Missouria were an aboriginal tribe that inhabited parts of the midwestern United States before European explorers arrived. The tribe belonged to the Chiwere division of the Siouan linguistic family, with the Iowa and Oto.
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Otoe may refer to
- Otoe tribe, a Native American people
- Otoe, Nebraska
- Otoe County, Nebraska
See also Oto.
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Seal
Motto:
Location of Fort Calhoun, Nebraska
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Nebraska
County Washington
Area
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Florence is a neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska on the city's north end. It is the site of Nebraska's oldest city, oldest cemetery for people of European descent, and oldest standing gristmill[1]. Florence was the site of an illegal Nebraska Territorial Legislature in 1858.
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Location Nebraska, USA
Nearest city Omaha, NE
Coordinates
Established 1971
Governing body Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Fort Atkinson
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Cabanne's Trading Post was established in 1822 by the American Fur Company as Fort Robidoux, named for the fur trapper Joseph Robidoux. Soon after it was opened the post became known as "French Company".
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Winter Quarters, Nebraska, was an encampment formed by approximately 3,500 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they awaited better conditions for their trek westward during the winter of 1846-1847.
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Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, and
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The Nebraska Territory was a historic organized territory of the United States from May 30, 1854 until March 1, 1867 when Nebraska became the 37th U.S. state. It was established by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The territorial capital was Omaha.
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Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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