In 1803-04, he helped to supply the
Lewis and Clark
Expedition, though neither explorer particularly liked him.
After the expedition returned to
St. Louis,
Lisa organized the first large-scale fur trading and trapping
venture an in 1807, with partners, Pierre Menard, William
Morrison and about 50-60 trappers, loaded in keelboats, made
his first expedition up the
Missouri
River. After meeting opposition from the
Arikara,
Mandan
and
Assiniboine
Indians,
the party reached the confluence of the Yellowstone and Big
Horn Rivers in present-day
Montana,
and soon built Fort Raymond.
After thoroughly working the area and obtaining
thousands of pelts, they returned to
St. Louis.
He then formed the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company in the
winter of 1808-09 along with several partners including Pierre
Choteau, Sr., Auguste Choeau, Jr., Andrew Henry, Pierre
Menard, Benjamin Wilkinson, Reuben Lewis, William Clark,
Sylvestre Labbadie, and William Morrison.
In the spring of 1810, Andrew Henry and Pierre
Menard, led by John Colter, left Fort Raymond with a group of
trappers, traveling to the Three Forks of
Montana,
where they established Fort Henry. They then crossed over
Bannock Pass into present-day Idaho, where they established a
second post on Henry's Fork of the Snake River, which was also
called Fort Henry. However, both forts were short-lived, as
the post at the Three Forks was abandoned after only a few
months due to continuous attacks by
Blackfoot
warriors. Fort Henry in
Idaho
was abandoned the following year.
The War of 1812 created difficulties for the
St. Louis Fur Company and they were forced out of the
dangerous Dakota country. The partnership was dissolved the
same year. Spending more time on other business venture, he
took part in forming the first bank in
St. Louis
- the Bank of St. Louis in 1813 and was named one of the
commissioners.
Lisa’s wife, Mary died in 1817, while he was
living among the
Omaha
Indians.
He soon took an Indian wife named Mitain and the couple would
have two children. However, while still married to Mitain, he
married a
St. Louis
widow named Mary Hempstead Keeney on August 8, 1818.
In 1819, the fur company was
reorganized under the name of the
Missouri Fur Company
with partners Manuel Lisa, his brother-in-law, Thomas
Hempstead, Andrew Woods, Joseph Perkins, Joshua Pilcher, Moses
B. Carson and John Zenoni.
Lisa and his wife returned to
Fort Lisa
near present-day Omaha, Nebraska, while Joshua Pilcher moved
from camp to camp trading with the
Indians. When Pilcher returned to
Fort Lisa,
he found Lisa in poor health. Lisa soon returned to
St. Louis
for treatment and the doctor recommended that he move to the
mineral springs. However, the springs didn’t help and he died
near
St. Louis
at Sulphur Spring on the August 12, 1820 at the age of 48. He
was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in
St. Louis.
During his lifetime, it is estimated that he
made more than a dozen trips up the
Missouri
River, logging some 26,000 miles of river travel.
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, January, 2010.
