Fontenelle's Post
Fontenelle's Post, first known as Pilcher's Post, and the site of the later city of
In 1828 Lucien Fontenelle, a French-American fur trader representing the American Fur Company, bought the post and became the lead agent. In 1832 he sold the post to the US Government, which used it for the Missouri River Indian Agency (or Bellevue Agency) until about 1842.[3][4]
The Post also served as the first home of
History
In 1822 Joshua Pilcher of the Missouri Fur Company built a fur trading post on the west bank of the Missouri River to trade with the local Native American tribes of Omaha, Otoe, Missouri and Pawnee. Fur trading in the United States was not regulated by governments, and fur traders competed madly for the lucrative business, enticing the American Indians with various trade goods and often liquor. At first Pilcher competed with John Jacob Astor's Cabanné's Post of the American Fur Company (AFC) north of Bellevue. In 1823 Astor bought Pilcher's, bringing it into his monopoly of the fur trade under the American Fur Company.
In 1828 the trader Lucien Fontenelle, born into a wealthy French Creole family in New Orleans, purchased Pilcher's Trading Post.[5] Having started trading at age 19, Fontenelle was then 28 and a representative of the American Fur Company. The site became known as Fontenelle's Post.
Like many traders, Fontenelle had married a high-status Native American woman, and formed important alliances with her people. She was Me-um-bane (Bright Star), a daughter of the Omaha principal chief
With the fur trade declining because of changes in taste in Europe and the decline of game in the US, in 1832 Fontenelle sold the post to the US government. It was used by the
Fontenelle was appointed US Indian agent at
From 1840 to 1853,
Iowa trading post
At one time, the Bellevue and Council Bluffs area was bristling with trading posts on both sides of the Missouri River, reflecting the busy economy related to western emigration. When the French Creole
Marriage and family
Like many other fur traders, Sarpy married a local woman, Ni-co-mi of the Iowa tribe. She had a daughter, Mary Gale, born during her first marriage to John Gale, an American surgeon who had been stationed at Fort Atkinson (Nebraska). When it was closed in 1827, he was reassigned. Sarpy and Nicomi also had children.
Ni-co-mi wanted to stay with her people. Her daughter Mary Gale married Joseph LaFlesche, a Métis fur trader adopted as a son by the Omaha chief Big Elk, and groomed and named by him as his successor as the future principal chief.
Sarpy's Post, Iowa
Sarpy's post was located at an area variously called: Point aux Poules (Hens' Point), Point of the Pulls, Pull Point, Sarpy's Point, Nebraska Post Office, Council Bluffs Post Office, and Traders Point. Owned by Astor's American Fur Company, Sarpy's Post served mostly European and United States travelers, and especially outfitted pioneer expeditions going west.[9] The Post was located downriver from present-day Council Bluffs, Iowa.
By 1846 Sarpy expanded his operations to run
In 1849 a post office was established on the Iowa side of the river; it was called Nebraska. In 1850 it was called the Council Bluffs Post Office and was located at Sarpy's Point, present-day Iowa. It was reopened on the Nebraska side in 1852 just south of the curve of the river at Sarpy's Point (Iowa) and named Trader's Point Post Office.[9]
See also
References
- ^ Mayhew, H. and Smucker, S.M. (1857) The Religious, Social, and Political History of the Mormons, Or Latter-day Saints, from Their Origin to the Present Time: Containing Full Statements of Their Doctrines, Government and Condition, and Memoirs of Their Founder, Joseph Smith, Miller and Orton Publishing Company. p 247.
- ^ Elliott, R.S. (1885) Notes Taken in Sixty Years. R. P. Studley & Company. p 194.
- ^ Fontenelle Nature Association Archived 2009-03-22 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 7 Aug 2008
- ^ a b c "Fontenelle's Post"[usurped], Nebraska National Register Sites in Sarpy County, 17 Aug 2007, accessed 9 Aug 2008
- ISBN 0-8032-7218-9, accessed 27 Dec 2010
- ^ Kira Gale, "Escape from Death and a Sister’s Revenge: the Daughters of Omaha Chief Big Elk", Kira Gale Blog at Lewis and Clark Travel, 13 April 2007, accessed 30 November 2011
- ^ Melvin Randolph Gilmore, "The True Logan Fontenelle", Publications of the Nebraska State Historical Society, Vol. 19, edited by Albert Watkins, Nebraska State Historical Society, 1919, pp. 64-65, at GenNet, accessed 25 August 2011
- ^ (n.d.)"Logan Fontenelle", Nebraska Department of Education, accessed 4 Aug 2008
- ^ a b (n.d.) Ray Raymond, "Council Bluffs: 1846-1852", map showing changed course of the river, and narrative, Rootsweb.com
External links
- Historic image of Fontenelle's Post.
- Peter Sarpy, Nebraska Studies website
Further reading
- Richard E. Jensen, The Fontenelle and Cabanné Trading Posts: The History and Archeology of Two Missouri River Sites, 1822-1838, Nebraska State Historical Society, 1998