(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Indians 201: Montana Indians and Fort Manuel Lisa [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-26 One of the first fur traders to enter into the upper Missouri River area of what is now Montana was Manuel Lisa (1772-1820), a Louisiana Spaniard by birth. In 1802, Lisa had obtained a monopoly to trade with the Osage, but when the United States acquired Louisiana, this trading license was no longer valid. In 1807, Lisa established a fort at the confluence of the Bighorn and Yellowstone Rivers. The venture was under the auspices of the Missouri Fur Trading Company of St. Louis and included four men who had been with Lewis and Clark. The expedition had a total of 42 men, including 37 French Canadians. The trading post was named Fort Raymond by Lisa, but most people called it Fort Manuel. In his book John Colter: His Years in the Rockies, Burton Harris writes: “The first permanent building in what is now the state of Montana was a log cabin, consisting of two rooms and a loft.” The claim that this was the first permanent building in Montana, however, either ignores or is unaware of the permanent structures which had been built centuries earlier by Indian peoples. Burton Harris also reports: “This trading fort had coal for fuel, a luxury that was not often encountered on the frontier during that period.” Fur trading companies at this time would establish a trading post at a location convenient for several tribes, then have the Indians come to them bringing in the furs to trade. The new fort was located in Crow country. However, the Yellowstone Valley at this time was also used by the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Blackfoot hunting parties. This meant that the new trading post was also positioned to trade with these Indian nations as well as the Crow. Lisa departed from the usual practice of waiting for Indians to bring in furs to trade by sending out his own trappers. He ignored any possible concerns that Indians might have about taking their animal resources. In 1807, John Colter, one of Manuel Lisa’s employees, set out from Fort Manuel to make trade alliances with the Absaroka (Crow). According to William Goetzmann and Glyndwr Williams, in their book The Atlas of North American Exploration From the Norse Voyages to the Race to the Pole, Colter “…received nothing but friendship from the Crow, who led him to the sulfurous geysers on the Shoshone, or Stinking Water River.” When he later reported about the geysers and other sights that he had seen, many non-Indians did not believe him. Colter was in a Crow camp when it was attacked by the Blackfoot and he fought the Crow. As a result, the Blackfoot considered the fur traders to be allies of their enemies and treated them accordingly. As a result, the Blackfoot attacked the fur trading and fur trapping parties. The following year, 1808, John Colter again set out from Fort Manuel, crossed the Bozeman Pass and encountered a Flathead buffalo hunting party. He convinced them to return with him to the fort to establish trade relations. Near Bozeman Pass they were attacked by a large Blackfoot war party. Colter was wounded in the thigh. As the Flathead were about to be defeated, the Crow entered the battle, and the Blackfoot were driven off. In his book Blackfoot Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri, John Lepley writes: “It was the first of several encounters in the Three Forks area that fueled the hatred of the Blackfoot for the Americans.” The following year, John Colter was trapping when he was discovered by a Blackfoot party. From the Blackfoot perspective, he was not only trespassing on their hunting grounds, but he was also stealing their resources. Colter is captured. Instead of killing him, they strip him naked, and tell him to run for his life. This was a traditional punishment for people who were banished. Colter managed to escape, and his story became legendary. Lisa had hoped to monopolize the Missouri River fur trade and to establish trade with the Blackfoot. However, when he failed to establish peaceful relations with the Blackfoot, the fort was abandoned in 1811. In his 1956 University of Montana M.A. Thesis The Cultural, Social, and Religious Backgrounds of the Education of the Crow Indians 1885-1955, William James Henderson reports: “Not only did the Blackfeet refuse to patronize the fort, but they also set themselves the task of its destruction. They ran off the livestock, lurked in the vicinity to harass and ambuscade the hunting and trapping parties, and even laid siege to the fort itself.” More American Indian histories Indians 101: The Fur Trade in Northwestern Montana, 1807-1835 Indians 101: Nor'westers and Indians in the Columbia Plateau Indians 101: Cultures in Contact on the Northern Plains Indians 101: Fur Trade in the Rockies, 1801 to 1806 Indians 101: The Astorians and the Indians Indians 101: The Fur Trade in 1816 Indians 101: The Fur Trade in 1818 Indians 101: The fur trade in 1821 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/26/2148815/-Indians-201-Montana-Indians-and-Fort-Manuel-Lisa Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/