Manuel Lisa and the Opening of the Missouri Fur Trade

By Richard E. Oglesby

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806118601
• ISBN13: 9780806118604
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.0" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Manuel Lisa: A forgotten giant

So much has been written about the great William Ashley period of the American fur trade in the Far West (c.1822-1840), that it's easy to forget there was a distinct pre-Ashley period, a period dominated by Manuel Lisa. It was Lisa, immediately after the Lewis and Clark expedition, who first trapped furs along the Missouri-Yellowstone River corridor. Lisa was born in New Orleans in 1772 and began trading furs with the Osage about the same time Lewis and Clark set off for Oregon. He helped supply the expedition, and upon its successful return in 1807, Lisa made his first keelboat journey up the Missouri. He had always fancied establishing trade with Santa Fe, but the Spanish were never interested, so he set his eyes toward the northwest. He established Fort Raymond at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Big Horn Rivers, and formed the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company in 1809. After a few lean years, by 1812 enough furs were being brought back to St. Louis to make his efforts profitable. In 1814 William Clark appointed Lisa sub Indian agent for the tribes above the Kansas River, which ended up being a brilliant political move. This was during the War of 1812 with England, at which time the Indians were getting belligerent toward the Americans; Lisa had a sterling reputation with the tribes, however, being perceived by the Indians as always being a fair dealer with them, and this helped quell their opposition and basically kept the tribes out of the war altogether. By the last year of his life, Lisa had made over a dozen trips up the Missouri. As in the subsequent trading period, the Blackfeet were his biggest nemesis: their hatred of first the British and then the American was absolute. During the winter of 1819-1820, Lisa apparently became ill, and he died in St. Louis in August of that year. Lisa's trappers had explored all the important beaver streams of the Rocky Mountain West by the time of his death. He devised and established the system which combined trading with the Indians to keep them friendly with trapping furs, both done from an established post built in the wilderness. William Ashley would later incorporate the rendezvous into Lisa's system, but it would remain in place for years to come. Manuel Lisa was a major figure in the early West and should be better known and appreciated. Oglesby is an excellent writer, scholarly but not dull. He writes with care, but even better he writes with style. He's a joy to read. Anyone interested in the opening of the West should read this book.

Commanding

Although I was expecting bold, daring and exciting tales of the wild frontier, this book does portray Manuel Lisa's vision, exploits and dealings in the fur trade of the early 1800's very well. From establishing Fort Raymond at the confluence of the Big Horn River and Yellowstone River in 1807, the book takes the reader along Lisa's other adventures up the Missouri River thru 1820. Supported by historical documentation from such men as Thomas James, John Bradbury, Henry Brackenridge and John Luttig, to the many correspondence letters from Lisa to others, Oglesby does an exemplary work piece of this man's life. Well liked by most Indian tribes but oftentimes thought of as an abrasive and badgering individual by the whites, this is a man who simply wanted to fulfill his dreams of opening the fur trade in the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. The book is not just about his adventures, as it is also about the business transactions, strategies, financial responsibilities, etc. associated with the heavily competitive fur companies of the day.