Manuel Lisa

Life & Legacy

Manuel Lisa, also known as Manuel de Lisa (September 8, 1772, in New Orleans Louisiana (New Spain) – August 12, 1820, in St. Louis, Missouri), was a Spanish citizen and later American citizen who, while living on the western frontier, became a landowner, merchant, fur trader, United States Indian agent, and explorer. Lisa was among the founders, in St. Louis, of the Missouri Fur Company, an early fur trading company. Manuel Lisa gained respect through his trading among Native American tribes of the upper Missouri River region, such as the Teton Sioux, Omaha and Ponca.
After being appointed, as US Indian agent, during the War of 1812, Lisa used his standing among the tribes to encourage their alliance with the United States and their warfare against tribes allied with the United Kingdom. While still married to a European-American woman in St. Louis, where he kept a residence, in 1814 Lisa married Mitane, a daughter of Big Elk, the principal chief of the Omaha people, as part of securing their alliance. They had two children together, whom Lisa provided for equally in his will with his children by his other marriage.