Missouri Fur Company
Encyclopedia
The Missouri Fur Company (also known as the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company or the Manuel Lisa Trading Company) was one of the earliest fur trading companies in St. Louis, Missouri
. Dissolved and reorganized several times, it operated under various names from 1809 until its final dissolution in 1830. It was created by a group of fur traders and merchants from St. Louis and Kaskaskia, Illinois
, including Manuel Lisa
and members of the Chouteau
family. Its expeditions explored the upper Missouri River
and traded with a variety of Native American
tribes, and it acted as the prototype for fur trading companies along the Missouri River until the 1820s.
in August 1808, he reported to merchants there about the potential of the region for fur trading. On February 24, 1809, Lisa and other prominent fur traders from the St. Louis area formed an association company; its members included Benjamin Wilkinson (nephew of Louisiana Territorial Governor James Wilkinson
), Jean Pierre Chouteau
(son of St. Louis co-founder René Auguste Chouteau
), Auguste Pierre Chouteau
(son of Jean Pierre Chouteau), Reuben Lewis (brother of Meriwether Lewis
), William Clark (co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
), Pierre Menard
, Andrew Henry
, Sylvester Labadie, William Morrison, and Andrew Fitzhugh. The articles of association, signed on March 9, 1809, defined the roles of the company's partners: Lisa and Wilkinson were named as field traders, Clark was listed as the company agent in St. Louis, and no members were permitted to trade outside their role as members of the company. The company acquired the equipment and posts of its members' private fur companies (including Fort Lisa
in present-day North Dakota, where the Bighorn River
emptied into the Yellowstone
); the company capital resources totaled at least $40,000. Among the equipment and supplies to be traded with Native Americans for furs were guns, ammunition, and whiskey. The company defined its field of operations as the entire Missouri River valley upriver from the Platte River
.
) and carried supplies for at least five new trading posts. The group built the new posts along the Missouri River in the fall of 1809. The expedition traveled as far as Fort Lisa on the Yellowstone River at the mouth of the Bighorn, where they wintered over. The next spring, the expedition returned from Fort Lisa to the Three Forks of the Missouri
, where they built another trading post about two miles above the confluence of the Jefferson
and Madison
rivers.
As the expedition was trapping large numbers of beaver, its members expected to return to St. Louis with a substantial supply of furs that would yield a good profit. However, they had built the post at the Three Forks on Blackfeet
territory without their permission, and the Blackfeet did not permit trapping on their land. Additionally, the Blackfeet disliked Lisa's having previously traded with the Crow Nation
, whom they considered enemies. On April 12, 1810, a party of Blackfeet warriors attacked the traders, killing five and capturing horses, guns, ammunition, traps and furs. They attacked the party again on April 23, 1810, at which point several traders decided to return to St. Louis with Pierre Menard, while Andrew Henry was left in command of the remaining trappers. During the return journey of the Menard group, in early May 1810, George Drouillard
, formerly an interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was killed in an ambush. At one point the trappers under Henry's command at the Three Forks post were attacked by more than 200 Blackfeet warriors, and they were forced to abandon the post in late 1810.
Henry and the trappers bivouacked across the Continental Divide
at a temporary trading post on the north fork of the Snake River
, now known as Henry's Fork in present-day Idaho
. When hunting at the new post did not yield enough food, the trappers had to kill their horses and subsist primarily on horse flesh. In the spring of 1811, the group dissolved when some members headed south toward Spanish territory and others (such as Andrew Henry) headed east toward the Missouri River valley and St. Louis. The first trade and trapping expedition of the Missouri Fur Company failed to supply the company with furs and resulted in their abandonment of Fort Lisa on the Yellowstone River.
's offer to invest in five more shares (of $3000 each) was rejected by the association members.
In early 1812, the newly reorganized company sent an expedition with $11,000 of trade merchandise on two boats up the Missouri River. This expedition, led by Manuel Lisa, returned on September 27, 1812, with few furs and little profit. The next year's expedition was unprofitable as well, and in the fall of 1813, the association was again dissolved and reorganized.
Manuel Lisa was the primary owner of the new company, with few original members and less capitalization. At this time the company began to be called the Manuel Lisa Trading Company. Because of the outbreak of the War of 1812
, he undertook few operations; news of the war reached the Louisiana Territory in 1813. The war interrupted trade with the upper Missouri River tribes until 1816, and during this time the company focused its efforts at Council Bluff. It was near there that a new Fort Lisa was constructed, in what is now North Omaha, Nebraska
.
, speaker of the territorial legislature), Joseph Perkins, Andrew Woods, Moses Carson, John B. Zenoni, Andrew Drips, and Robert Jones purchasing remaining shares. Lisa's last expedition departed in late 1819 and returned from Fort Lisa in the spring of 1820. After his return, Lisa unexpectedly died in St. Louis of an unknown illness in August 1820. Joshua Pilcher became the new president of the company and in 1821 tried to expand operations to the upper Missouri region. Pilcher sent an expedition to the mouth of the White River
, where in the fall of 1820, the company built Fort Recovery. In late 1821 Pilcher directed the construction of Fort Benton
at the mouth of the Bighorn River on the Yellowstone River, the site of the former Fort Lisa
.
describing the attack:
The surviving members of the group constructed boats to float toward Fort Vanderburgh on the Missouri River, twelve miles above the confluence with the Yellowstone River, and eventually returned to St. Louis.
(owned by John Jacob Astor) and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company
(owned by former Missouri Fur Company shareholder Andrew Henry and William Henry Ashley
). Competition was not the only problem the company faced, as its suppliers and agents became increasingly unreliable.
Pilcher led the last expedition of the Pilcher Company, and they left Council Bluff in September 1827 heading toward the Salt Lake Valley
via the Platte
and Sweetwater River
rivers. While they were encamped in the South Pass
, all of the expedition's horses were stolen; the expedition bivouacked on the Green River
for the winter. During the winter camp, water destroyed all of the expedition's trade goods. In the spring of 1828, most of the men returned to Council Bluff. Pilcher and nine others, however, bought new mounts and in August 1828 explored the Pacific Northwest to reconnoiter prospective trade routes. The group wintered at Flathead Lake
, but their horses were stolen in February 1829. Seven of the nine trappers resigned to return home, and Pilcher and one other attempted to reach Fort Colville
on the Columbia River
. Traders at Fort Colville, then owned by the Hudson's Bay Company
, offered Pilcher a return to St. Louis, which he accepted.
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Dissolved and reorganized several times, it operated under various names from 1809 until its final dissolution in 1830. It was created by a group of fur traders and merchants from St. Louis and Kaskaskia, Illinois
Kaskaskia, Illinois
Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. In the 2010 census the population was 14, making it the second-smallest incorporated community in the State of Illinois in terms of population. A major French colonial town of the Illinois Country, its peak population was about...
, including Manuel Lisa
Manuel Lisa
Manuel Lisa, also known as Manuel de Lisa , was a Spanish-American fur trader, explorer, and United States Indian agent. He was among the founders in St. Louis of the Missouri Fur Company, an early fur trading company...
and members of the Chouteau
Chouteau
Chouteau was the name of a highly successful French fur-trading family based in St. Louis, Missouri, members of which established posts in the Midwest and Western United States...
family. Its expeditions explored the upper Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
and traded with a variety of Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribes, and it acted as the prototype for fur trading companies along the Missouri River until the 1820s.
Creation of the company
When Manuel Lisa returned to St. Louis from his first expedition to the upper Missouri RiverMissouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
in August 1808, he reported to merchants there about the potential of the region for fur trading. On February 24, 1809, Lisa and other prominent fur traders from the St. Louis area formed an association company; its members included Benjamin Wilkinson (nephew of Louisiana Territorial Governor James Wilkinson
James Wilkinson
James Wilkinson was an American soldier and statesman, who was associated with several scandals and controversies. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, but was twice compelled to resign...
), Jean Pierre Chouteau
Jean Pierre Chouteau
Jean Pierre Chouteau was a French-Canadian fur trader, merchant, politician and slaveholder. An early settler of St. Louis, Missouri, he became one its most prominent citizens. He and his brother Auguste Chouteau, known as the "river barons", negotiated the many political changes as the city...
(son of St. Louis co-founder René Auguste Chouteau
René Auguste Chouteau
Rene Auguste Chouteau , also known as Auguste Chouteau, was founder of St. Louis, Missouri, a successful fur trader and a politician. He and his partner had a monopoly for many years of fur trade with the large Osage tribe on the Missouri River...
), Auguste Pierre Chouteau
Auguste Pierre Chouteau
August Pierre Chouteau was a member of the Chouteau fur trading family who established posts in Oklahoma....
(son of Jean Pierre Chouteau), Reuben Lewis (brother of Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark...
), William Clark (co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
), Pierre Menard
Pierre Menard
Pierre Menard was a fur trader and U.S. political figure. Pierre Menard was born at St. Antoine-sur-Richelieu, near Montreal, Canada, third in a family of ten children...
, Andrew Henry
Andrew Henry (fur trader)
Major Andrew Henry was an American fur trader who, with William H. Ashley started the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1822...
, Sylvester Labadie, William Morrison, and Andrew Fitzhugh. The articles of association, signed on March 9, 1809, defined the roles of the company's partners: Lisa and Wilkinson were named as field traders, Clark was listed as the company agent in St. Louis, and no members were permitted to trade outside their role as members of the company. The company acquired the equipment and posts of its members' private fur companies (including Fort Lisa
Fort Lisa (North Dakota)
The first Fort Lisa , also known as the Fort Manuel Lisa Trading Post and as Fort Manuel, was started by the notable fur trader Manuel Lisa of the Missouri Fur Company in 1809. It was located near the Gros Ventres village located between the mouth of the Little Missouri and that of the Big Knife...
in present-day North Dakota, where the Bighorn River
Bighorn River
The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately long, in the western United States in the states of Wyoming and Montana. The river was named in 1805 by fur trader François Larocque for the Bighorn Sheep he saw along its banks as he explored the Yellowstone River.The upper...
emptied into the Yellowstone
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
); the company capital resources totaled at least $40,000. Among the equipment and supplies to be traded with Native Americans for furs were guns, ammunition, and whiskey. The company defined its field of operations as the entire Missouri River valley upriver from the Platte River
Platte River
The Platte River is a major river in the state of Nebraska and is about long. Measured to its farthest source via its tributary the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to...
.
Company expeditions and reorganizations
Henry-Menard Expedition of 1809–1811
Pierre Menard and Andrew Henry led the first expedition of the company, leaving St. Louis about June 1809 to escort a Mandan chief back to his home and gather furs to bring back for sale in St. Louis. The expedition comprised at least 150 men (including expert riflemen and American militiaMilitia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
) and carried supplies for at least five new trading posts. The group built the new posts along the Missouri River in the fall of 1809. The expedition traveled as far as Fort Lisa on the Yellowstone River at the mouth of the Bighorn, where they wintered over. The next spring, the expedition returned from Fort Lisa to the Three Forks of the Missouri
Missouri Headwaters State Park
Missouri Headwaters State Park is a Montana state park that marks the official start of the Missouri River. It includes the Three Forks of the Missouri National Historic Landmark.It is located near Three Forks, Montana at an elevation of ....
, where they built another trading post about two miles above the confluence of the Jefferson
Jefferson River
The Jefferson River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the U.S. state of Montana. The Jefferson River and the Madison River form the official beginning of the Missouri at Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks...
and Madison
Madison River
The Madison River is a headwater tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 183 miles long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana form the Missouri River....
rivers.
As the expedition was trapping large numbers of beaver, its members expected to return to St. Louis with a substantial supply of furs that would yield a good profit. However, they had built the post at the Three Forks on Blackfeet
Blackfeet
The Piegan Blackfeet are a tribe of Native Americans of the Algonquian language family based in Montana, having lived in this area since around 6,500 BC. Many members of the tribe live as part of the Blackfeet Nation in northwestern Montana, with population centered in Browning...
territory without their permission, and the Blackfeet did not permit trapping on their land. Additionally, the Blackfeet disliked Lisa's having previously traded with the Crow Nation
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
, whom they considered enemies. On April 12, 1810, a party of Blackfeet warriors attacked the traders, killing five and capturing horses, guns, ammunition, traps and furs. They attacked the party again on April 23, 1810, at which point several traders decided to return to St. Louis with Pierre Menard, while Andrew Henry was left in command of the remaining trappers. During the return journey of the Menard group, in early May 1810, George Drouillard
George Drouillard
George Drouillard was a civilian interpreter for the Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery.-Biography:George Drouillard was born in 1773 at the Detroit River region, son of Pierre Drouillard and a Shawnee woman of the Flat Head sept named Asoundechris...
, formerly an interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was killed in an ambush. At one point the trappers under Henry's command at the Three Forks post were attacked by more than 200 Blackfeet warriors, and they were forced to abandon the post in late 1810.
Henry and the trappers bivouacked across the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
at a temporary trading post on the north fork of the Snake River
Snake River
The Snake is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
, now known as Henry's Fork in present-day Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
. When hunting at the new post did not yield enough food, the trappers had to kill their horses and subsist primarily on horse flesh. In the spring of 1811, the group dissolved when some members headed south toward Spanish territory and others (such as Andrew Henry) headed east toward the Missouri River valley and St. Louis. The first trade and trapping expedition of the Missouri Fur Company failed to supply the company with furs and resulted in their abandonment of Fort Lisa on the Yellowstone River.
Chouteau Expedition of 1810
While the Henry-Menard Expedition had trouble in the upper Missouri region, Auguste Pierre Chouteau launched his own expedition to the Mandan. He lost numerous furs and a trading post among the Mandan when a fire destroyed the post. The losses of the fire led Chouteau to return to St. Louis in late 1810, where low prices for beaver furs compounded the economic failure for his expedition.Reorganizations of 1812 and 1813
Although the terms of the association were set to expire in March 1812, the officers dissolved and reorganized the company in January 1812; it had fewer of its original members and approximately $30,000 in valuation. The new company operated as a joint-stock company with ten total shares, yet share ownership was restricted to St. Louis owners. The wealthy fur merchant John Jacob AstorJohn Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American business magnate and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...
's offer to invest in five more shares (of $3000 each) was rejected by the association members.
In early 1812, the newly reorganized company sent an expedition with $11,000 of trade merchandise on two boats up the Missouri River. This expedition, led by Manuel Lisa, returned on September 27, 1812, with few furs and little profit. The next year's expedition was unprofitable as well, and in the fall of 1813, the association was again dissolved and reorganized.
Manuel Lisa was the primary owner of the new company, with few original members and less capitalization. At this time the company began to be called the Manuel Lisa Trading Company. Because of the outbreak of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, he undertook few operations; news of the war reached the Louisiana Territory in 1813. The war interrupted trade with the upper Missouri River tribes until 1816, and during this time the company focused its efforts at Council Bluff. It was near there that a new Fort Lisa was constructed, in what is now North Omaha, Nebraska
North Omaha, Nebraska
North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the east, as defined by the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Omaha...
.
Reorganization of 1819
After the war, in 1819, the company dissolved and was reorganized. Only Lisa remained from among the original members, with Joshua Pilcher, Thomas Hempstead (brother of Edward HempsteadEdward Hempstead
Edward Hempstead was an American lawyer, pioneer, and one of the early settlers in the new Louisiana Purchase in 1805. Born in New London, Connecticut, Hempstead was the delegate in the U.S. House for the Missouri Territory from 1812 to 1814...
, speaker of the territorial legislature), Joseph Perkins, Andrew Woods, Moses Carson, John B. Zenoni, Andrew Drips, and Robert Jones purchasing remaining shares. Lisa's last expedition departed in late 1819 and returned from Fort Lisa in the spring of 1820. After his return, Lisa unexpectedly died in St. Louis of an unknown illness in August 1820. Joshua Pilcher became the new president of the company and in 1821 tried to expand operations to the upper Missouri region. Pilcher sent an expedition to the mouth of the White River
White River (South Dakota)
The White River is a Missouri River tributary that flows through the U.S. states of Nebraska and South Dakota. The name stems from the water's white-gray color, a function of eroded sand, clay, and volcanic ash carried by the river...
, where in the fall of 1820, the company built Fort Recovery. In late 1821 Pilcher directed the construction of Fort Benton
Fort Benton, Montana
Fort Benton is a city in and the county seat of Chouteau County, Montana, United States. A portion of the city was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1961. Established a full generation beforethe U.S...
at the mouth of the Bighorn River on the Yellowstone River, the site of the former Fort Lisa
Fort Lisa (North Dakota)
The first Fort Lisa , also known as the Fort Manuel Lisa Trading Post and as Fort Manuel, was started by the notable fur trader Manuel Lisa of the Missouri Fur Company in 1809. It was located near the Gros Ventres village located between the mouth of the Little Missouri and that of the Big Knife...
.
Jones Expedition of 1822
In early 1822, Pilcher sent an expedition led by Robert Jones from St. Charles, Missouri to the new Fort Benton. By the end of the year, the party had brought back more than $25,000 worth of furs to St. Louis. In early 1823, the same group left Fort Benton to negotiate with the Blackfeet for trade purposes, reaching the Three Forks by May. In late May 1823, the group met a party of Blackfeet with whom they negotiated for a new post near the Great Falls of the Missouri. Although the Blackfeet treated the Jones Expedition well, the expedition retreated back toward Fort Benton. On May 30, 1823, the same Blackfeet attacked the expedition. Pilcher wrote to the Indian agent at Fort AtkinsonFort Atkinson
Fort Atkinson is the name of several locations in the United States:*Fort Atkinson, Iowa, a town named after General Atkinson*Fort Atkinson State Preserve, 1840s U.S. Army post in Fort Atkinson, Iowa*Fort Atkinson , 1820s U.S. Army post...
describing the attack:
The surviving members of the group constructed boats to float toward Fort Vanderburgh on the Missouri River, twelve miles above the confluence with the Yellowstone River, and eventually returned to St. Louis.
Dissolution
After the Jones Expedition, Pilcher dissolved the Missouri Fur Company in the fall of 1824. A new company named after Pilcher formed to take over the assets of the Missouri Fur Company, and it quickly withdrew from all former Missouri Fur Company posts above Council Bluff. The new company's trade power was limited by the expansion of rival companies such as the American Fur CompanyAmerican Fur Company
The American Fur Company was founded by John Jacob Astor in 1808. The company grew to monopolize the fur trade in the United States by 1830, and became one of the largest businesses in the country. The company was one the first great trusts in American business...
(owned by John Jacob Astor) and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company
Rocky Mountain Fur Company
The Rocky Mountain Fur Company, sometimes called Ashley's Hundred, was organized in St. Louis, Missouri in 1823 by General William H. Ashley and Major Andrew Henry . They posted advertisements in St. Louis newspapers seeking "One Hundred enterprising young men . ....
(owned by former Missouri Fur Company shareholder Andrew Henry and William Henry Ashley
William Henry Ashley
William Henry Ashley was a pioneering fur trader, entrepreneur, and politician. Though a native of Virginia, Ashley had already moved to St. Genevieve in what was then called Louisiana, when it was purchased by the United States from France in 1803...
). Competition was not the only problem the company faced, as its suppliers and agents became increasingly unreliable.
Pilcher Expedition of 1827–1829
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
via the Platte
Platte River
The Platte River is a major river in the state of Nebraska and is about long. Measured to its farthest source via its tributary the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to...
and Sweetwater River
Sweetwater River (Wyoming)
The Sweetwater River is a tributary of the North Platte River, long, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Its waters eventually reach the Atlantic Ocean. The Sweetwater rises in southwestern Fremont County, at the continental divide near South Pass Wyoming, on the southern end of the Wind River Range...
rivers. While they were encamped in the South Pass
South Pass
South Pass is two mountain passes on the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Wyoming. The passes are located in a broad low region, 35 miles broad, between the Wind River Range to the north and the Oregon Buttes and Great Divide Basin to the south, in southwestern Fremont...
, all of the expedition's horses were stolen; the expedition bivouacked on the Green River
Green River (Utah)
The Green River, located in the western United States, is the chief tributary of the Colorado River. The watershed of the river, known as the Green River Basin, covers parts of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The Green River is long, beginning in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming and flowing...
for the winter. During the winter camp, water destroyed all of the expedition's trade goods. In the spring of 1828, most of the men returned to Council Bluff. Pilcher and nine others, however, bought new mounts and in August 1828 explored the Pacific Northwest to reconnoiter prospective trade routes. The group wintered at Flathead Lake
Flathead Lake
Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in the western part of the contiguous United States. With a surface area of between and , it is slightly larger than Lake Tahoe. The lake is a remnant of the ancient inland sea, Lake Missoula of the era of the last interglacial. Flathead Lake...
, but their horses were stolen in February 1829. Seven of the nine trappers resigned to return home, and Pilcher and one other attempted to reach Fort Colville
Fort Colville
The trade center Fort Colville was built by the Hudson's Bay Company at Kettle Falls on the Columbia River, a few miles west of the present site of Colville, Washington in 1825, to replace Spokane House as a regional trading center, as the latter was deemed to be too far from the Columbia River...
on the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
. Traders at Fort Colville, then owned by the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
, offered Pilcher a return to St. Louis, which he accepted.
Final dissolution
By the time Pilcher returned to St. Louis in June 1830, he had become familiar with the Hudson's Bay Company's extensive network of British traders in Canada, as well as the operations of the powerful American Fur Company, which by this time nearly monopolized American trade. Pilcher refused to continue against such competition and, with company assets exhausted, he dissolved the Pilcher Company without an agreement and without purchase by another company. After the dissolution, most of its former traders worked for the American Fur Company, which had its western headquarters in St. Louis, but the peak of the fur trade had passed.See also
- North American fur tradeNorth American Fur TradeThe North American fur trade was the industry and activities related to the acquisition, exchange, and sale of animal furs in the North American continent. Indigenous peoples of different regions traded among themselves in the Pre-Columbian Era, but Europeans participated in the trade beginning...
- Hudson's Bay CompanyHudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
- North West CompanyNorth West CompanyThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
- Pacific Fur CompanyPacific Fur CompanyThe Pacific Fur Company was founded June 23, 1810, in New York City. Half of the stock of the company was held by the American Fur Company, owned exclusively by John Jacob Astor, and Astor provided all of the capital for the enterprise. The other half of the stock was ascribed to working partners...
- Mountain men