26 The Fur Traders. 



The Missouri Fur Company was the first to operate from 

 St. Louis westward. It had nearly run its course before 

 either of its principal competitors was well established. 

 Like that of many other great institutions, the history of 

 this company is practically the history of one man — 

 Manuel Lisa, who was born at New Orleans, September 

 8, 1772. About the year 1800, he secured from the Spanish 

 government the exclusive right to trade with the Osage 

 Indians. In 1808 he was the leading spirit in the or- 

 ganization of the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company, and 

 became still more prominent in its management after its 

 reorganization in 1811. The other members of the com- 

 pany were : Benjamin Wilkinson, Pierre Chouteau, Sr., 

 Auguste Chouteau, Jr., Reuben Lewis, William Clark, 

 Sylvester Labadie, all of St. Louis; Pierre Menard 

 and William Morrison, of Kaskaskia, Illinois; Andrew 

 Henry, of Louisiana, and Dennis FitzHugh, of Louis- 

 ville, Kentucky. The company included some of the 

 best traders in the west, but owing to a series of unfor- 

 tunate circumstances beyond their control the expecta- 

 tions of its founders were never fully realized. Another 

 reorganization took place in 1819 and, with the exception 

 of Manuel Lisa, not one of the names of the founders of 

 the old company appeared on the new charter; which 

 shows that the members were : Manuel Lisa, president ; 

 Thomas Hempstead, Joshua Pilcher, Joseph Perkins, 

 Andrew Woods, Moses Carson, John B. Zenoni, Andrew 

 Drips, and Robert Jones. The company continued in 

 existence until about 1830, when its affairs were finally 

 wound up. 



The great mistake of the Missouri Fur Company was 

 their unwillingness to permit Mr. Astor to have any share 

 in the business, as he was probably the only man who 

 could have carried them through their initial misfortunes 

 to ultimate success. 



Mention has been made of the incorporation of the 

 American Fur Company by Mr. Astor, April 6, 1808. As 

 was then stated Mr. Astor was the company, and the 

 incorporation was merely a fiction to broaden and facili- 

 tate his operations. 



When Congress by its action suspended the operations 

 of the South West Company, and the Pacific coast enter- 



