| Fur trader and
explorer, it is noted that he was born in Cuba on
08 Sep1772. Some sketches, however, generally
list his place of birth as the West Indies, while
others indicate he was born in New Orleans. His
parents were of Spanish descent, his father,
Christobal De Lisa a native of Spain who came to
America about the time the Spanish took
possession of Louisiana; and his mother Maria
Ignacia Rodriguez, was a native of St. Augustine,
Florida. The
family lived in New Orleans where he was educated
and became a trader with the Osage Indians before
coming to St. Louis in 1807. He soon formed an
association with other traders and after their
first expedition up the Missouri River,
established the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company
which was initially made up of Benjamin
Wilkinson, Pierre Chouteau, Sr., Manuel Lisa,
Auguste Chouteau, Reuben Lewis, William Clark,
Sylvester Labadie, Pierre Menard, William
Morrison, Andrew Henry and Dennis Fitzhugh. In
1819 it would become re-organized and known
simply as the Missouri Fur Company - its partners
being Lisa's brother-in-law Thomas Hempstead as
well as Andrew Woods, Joseph Perkins, Moses
Carson (brother of Kit), John B. Zenoni and
Joshua Pilcher.
Manuel Lisa,
though disliked and envied by many, was also
respected and known to be the most knowledgeable
of the Indians. Adventurers, scholars, and those
seeking adventure in the Rocky Mountains sought
his friendship. In 1811 the author Henry
Brackenridge accompanied him and the English
botanists Nutall also enjoyed his company and
hospitality at his trading post in the Mandan
country. In 1819 Stephen Long's scientific
expedition on the Western Engineer, also made
camp near his post.
He was first
married to a widow, Mary "Polly"
Charles by whom he had three children, the eldest
Sally died in 1809, another infant who died
shortly after Polly in 1817, and Manuel who died
in 1826 at the age of eighteen. Living among the
Omaha Indians, he took a wife of one of the
leading families whose name was Mitain and by her
had two children - Rosalie who was taken to be
raised in St. Louis, and Raymond. While still
married to Mitain, Manuel married Mary Hempstead
on 08 Aug 1818. Mary was the daughter of Stephen
and Mary (Lewis) and widow of John Keeney who
died in 1810.
During Lisa's
winter at Council Bluffs he became ill and
returned to St. Louis, but under the care of a
physician moved to the mineral springs. Relief
was not to come, he died near St. Louis a Sulphur
Spring on the 12th of August 1820. It is said
that between 1807 and 1820 he had made a dozen
trips and 26,000 miles of river travel.
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