Edward Hempstead). As a measure of Lisa's social standing, Pierre Chouteau was a witness at his second wedding. After living a year in St. Louis, Lisa took Mary with him for the winter of 1819-1820 to Fort Lisa in Nebraska (Mary Lisa reportedly became the first woman of European descent to travel so far up the Missouri River). When he and Mary arrived, Lisa sent his second wife Mitain away from the fort. By the time of his 1819 expedition, Lisa had developed strong relationships with the Omaha, Ponca, Yankton and Teton Sioux, Mandan and Arikara peoples. He was instrumental in extending the "commercial outreach of St. Louis" to the Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers and to tribes previously more under British influence. By 1829 the Missouri Fur Company had invested capital of about $10,000, highest among the local firms. Although Lisa returned to St. Louis in good health in April 1820, he soon became ill. The unidentified illness caused his death at Sulphur Springs (now within the city of St. Louis) on August 12, 1820. He was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery at the Hempstead family plot. Although his will provided for $2000 for each of his children upon reaching adulthood (including those by Mitain), there is no evidence that they received any money. The historian Chittenden believed Lisa left few assets to his estate. After his death, Joshua Pilcher led the Missouri Fur Company to do business under various names until about 1830. By 1830, John Jacob Astor had gained a monopoly with his American Fur Company. As the fur trade had been declining overall with changes in taste, Pilcher dissolved the Missouri Fur Company. See also List of fur trading post and forts in North America Fur trading Notes References Further reading Judith A. Boughter, Betraying the Omaha Nation, 1790-1916, University of Oklahoma Press, 1998 External links Photograph of Lisa's grave in Bellefontaine Cemetery 1772 births 1820 deaths American fur traders Mountain men American people of Spanish descent People from New Orleans Louisiana Creole people of Spanish descent People of Colonial Spanish Louisiana People of pre-statehood Missouri Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery People from New Madrid, Missouri