Fort Lisa in North Omaha

Fort Lisa was located where Ponca Creek meets the Missouri River.  It was established by Manuel Lisa as president of the Missouri Fur Company.  There is a plaque off of John Pershing Drive at Hummel Park which commemorates this.  It was built in 1807 and was more a trading post than a fort.  Manuel Lisa was instrumental in keeping the local Native Americans loyal to the United Sates during the war of 1812.  The fort was located within a mile of Cabanné's post of the American Fur Company, which was built in 1820.  Manuel Lisa ran the fort until 1820 when he passed away.   Then Joshua Pilcher ran the fort, but moved south to the Bellevue area in 1823 and the fort was abandoned.  Although the plaque is a ways from the river, the river could have had a different route 200 years ago.  However the exact location is not known.

The fort has several distinctions.  First crops grown by a white man in Nebraska, first white woman to visit Nebraska, the wife of Manuel Lisa.  And the first steam powered ship to come up the Missouri stopped at Fort Lisa.  

Manuel Lisa