History and stories of Nebraska . untry along theMissouri River where the white men came to trade withthe Indians and where they built log cabins in which to live and store their goods. Backof this narrow strip were thegreat plains and valleys ofNebraska with herds of buf-falo, elk, deer and antelope,whose skins the Indiansbrought in from their summerand winter hunting trips. Inthe streams and lakes wereplenty of beaver, mink andotter and their pelts weretaken by the Indians andeagerly bought by the the traders in Old Nebraskacame up the river from in open boats. Some-times
History and stories of Nebraska . untry along theMissouri River where the white men came to trade withthe Indians and where they built log cabins in which to live and store their goods. Backof this narrow strip were thegreat plains and valleys ofNebraska with herds of buf-falo, elk, deer and antelope,whose skins the Indiansbrought in from their summerand winter hunting trips. Inthe streams and lakes wereplenty of beaver, mink andotter and their pelts weretaken by the Indians andeagerly bought by the the traders in Old Nebraskacame up the river from in open boats. Some-times these boats were canoeshollowed out of a great treeand sometimes they were madeout of plank. These boatshad oars and sometimes a mast and small sail. It waseasy to go down the river in them, but to come upagainst the swift current was very hard and slow. Eachboat was pulled up the river by a long rope called acordelle, the men walking along the bank or splashing acrossthe sand bars and shallows with the rope over their shoul- 34. Mantjkl Lisa. (Drawing by MissMartha Turner.) MANUEL LISA 35 ders. It took them fifty days to drag a boat from St. Louisto the mouth of the Platte. The trip down was made in tendays. The men who pulled these boats and those who tradedwith the Nebraska Indians in those days were nearly allFrenchmen, but the greatest leader among them was ManuelLisa, a Spaniard. He was born in New Orleans, came to when a very young man and at once began tradingwith Indians. When the exploring party of Lewis and Clarkcame back in 1806 from its two years trip to the PacificOcean with news of the rich fur country it had seen, ManuelLisa was the first man to act. Early in 1807 he went far upthe Missouri River and established trading posts. The nextyear he came down to St. Louis. Every year for the nexttwelve years he made long journeys with his men and boatsup and down the river. He carried the white mans goodsto Indian tribes which had never dealt with traders bef
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidcu3192400890, bookyear1913
