Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
LISA, Manuel
LISA, Manuel. (New Orleans, LA Sept. 8, 1772, St. Louis, MO, Aug. 12, 1820). Of Spanish descent, Lisa gained citizenship when Louisiana was purchased by the United States in 1803. Entering the fur trade out of St. Louis, he soon became one of the leading traders on the upper Mississippi. He was granted a monopoly of trade with the Osage Indians in 1802, but this ended with the transfer of national dominion two years later. He led a number of river expeditions and in 1807 established a trading post at the mouth of the Bighorn River (located in present Montana). The following year he built Ft. Raymond there for trade with the Crow Indians; later called Manuel’s Fort, it was the first such outpost on the upper Mississippi.
On March 4, 1811, Lisa was one of those who purchased part of Dubuque's remaining claim at a public auction held on the steps of the court of common pleas in St. Louis, Missouri.
The 64,087 acres, the northern half of the MINES OF SPAIN, were divided by the estate administrator Rene Auguste CHOUTEAU into thirteen strips of 5,069 acres. Each strip ran from the edge of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER in a northeast to southwest direction. With the exception of one strip, each of the sections was seven-eighths of a mile wide and nine miles long.
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Sources:
Britanica OnLine. "Manuel Lisa". http://www.britannica.com/related-places/343231/related-places-to-Manuel-Lisa