Nebraskaland

40 Nebraskaland • October 2021 he namesake of Sarpy County, Peter Sarpy (1805- 1865) was an important trader whose career spanned Nebraska's fur trade and territorial periods. This 1852 portrait by St. Louis artist Manuel Joachim de Franca is part of the Nebraska History Museum collections. "Sarpy's life is not easy to chronicle for he became a legend in his own time," writes historian John Wickman. Sarpy was born to a French Creole family, probably in St. Louis. His early life is poorly documented, but it appears that at age 19 he traveled up the Missouri River to present-day Nebraska. He worked at the American Fur Company's trading post near Bellevue. The company brought manufactured goods upstream by keelboat, traded for furs with local Native American tribes and sent the furs back to St. Louis. Later, he operated his own trading post, eventually trading with white settlers arriving in the area and operating ferries across the Missouri, Elkhorn and Loup rivers. Young Sarpy was known for his fi erce competitiveness and was loyal to his employer, John P. Cabanne. Acting on Cabanne's orders, in 1832 Sarpy and others illegally seized a competitor's keelboat. The action got Cabanne and Sarpy temporarily kicked out of the territory. Sarpy spent time in Colorado and returned home to St. Louis for several years. Court documents digitized by the St. Louis Freedom Suits Legal Encoding Project revealed what today is the most shocking chapter of Sarpy's life. While in St. Louis, Sarpy enslaved a man named Andrew. But Andrew was legally a free man. In 1839, Andrew's mother, Celeste (also legally free), appeared in court on Andrew's behalf to sue Sarpy for trespass and false imprisonment. The complaint alleged that Sarpy had "with force and arms assaulted the said plaintiff … and beat and bruised and ill treated him and then and there imprisoned him … ". Andrew feared that Sarpy would take him out of Missouri, where, presumably, it would be even more diffi cult to prove his free status. By then, Sarpy had already built another trading post at Bellevue. Sarpy disputed the charge and the case dragged on until Feb. 2, 1841, when the court found Sarpy guilty, freed Andrew and (presumably) awarded the $200 in damages Andrew had sought. Back in Nebraska, Sarpy became known for his ability to gain the respect of Native tribes in the region. He was in contact with tribes within several hundred miles of Bellevue. Like many fur traders, he married a Native woman. This certainly helped solidify his trading relationships — Peter and Nicomi remained married for the rest of Sarpy's life. As a businessman, Sarpy adapted to changing times. By the 1850s he was operating a ferry across the Missouri River, serving a growing number of emigrants heading west along the trails. In 1854, the year Nebraska Territory opened to Euroamerican settlement, Sarpy bought a 165-ton Sarpy County's Namesake Was "A Legend In His Own Time" By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska T The 1852 portrait of Sarpy at the top of this page is shown after its 2011 restoration by paintings conservator Kenneth Bé at History Nebraska's Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center. History Nebraska 292P-1

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