October 2021 • Nebraskaland 41
This 1894 oil painting by Ad Albrect is based on an 1850s sketch by Stanislas Schimonsky. It shows Bellevue near the end of
its trading post days, but the Missouri River bluff s seem to have grown to legendary proportions in the retelling — much like
Sarpy himself. History Nebraska 300P
steam ferry and played a prominent role in negotiating land
cessions by the Omaha and Oto tribes. In 1857, the Nebraska
legislature named Sarpy County in his honor.
"Sarpy lived the life of a minor frontier baron," writes John
Wickman, who says Sarpy was known for his hospitality and
for his love of "fast horses, fi ne hunting dogs,
and a considerable interest in the pleasures
of liquor."
Throughout his life, Sarpy cultivated a
reputation for both generosity and ruthlessness.
Missionary Samuel Allis described him in ways
that reveal as much about the time and place
as about the man himself. Allis said that Sarpy,
"although sometimes rough and uncouth, was
a high-toned gentleman, who exerted a great
infl uence among the whites as well as the
Indians. He was particularly generous to white
men of distinction and wealth, also to the
Indians when it paid well, but exacted every
penny of his hired men and others who earned
their living by labor. Still he was generous to
the needy … He was all that could be wished
for a man of the world, except the habit of
intemperance."
These sources say nothing about Sarpy's 1841
conviction for false imprisonment. Perhaps the
story didn't follow him out of Missouri. Peter
Sarpy died in Plattsmouth in 1865. His body was returned to
St. Louis for burial, but it's said that his wife Nicomi remained
in the Plattsmouth area.
N
Visit History Nebraska's website at history.nebraska.gov.
Bellevue, Nebraska Territory, from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper,
June 5, 1858. Contrary to the caption, there is no evidence that the
Bellevue trading post existed prior to 1823. History Nebraska 13000-50
