Peter Abadie Sarpy (1804-1865)

Death date: January 4, 1965
State contribution: trading post owner-operator
National contribution: supplier of good to travelers, trappers, Indians, white settlers.

Peter Abadie Sarpy became well-known as the owner-operator of the Sarpy Trading Post in Bellevue and as a leader in commerce and politics at Bellevue from 1840 to 1860. Students are sometimes asked to make a research about him, but it can be complicated due to some “blind spots” in his biography. In that case, students prefer to buy papers online cheap and don’t bother with it at all. There is also a possibility for them to visit our site and delve into the flow of information.

Sarpy was born in 1804 in New Orleans, Louisiana and moved with his family to St. Louis, where he received his education. He came to Nebraska Territory in 1823 to work at the American Fur Company's trading post near Bellevue. He was employed by his brother's father-in-law, John P. Cabanne. Sometime later Sarpy established a trading post for white traders on the Iowa side of the Missouri River and he named it the "Trader's Post." The post at Bellevue mainly served the Indians.

In 1832 Sarpy was ordered by Cabanne to head a group of American Fur Company employees whose orders were to take possession of a keelboat belonging to a competing company. As a result of this illegal seizure, Cabanne and Sarpy were ordered to leave Indian territory for a year. Later Cabanne was replaced at the trading post by Joshua Pilcher.

During 1835 Sarpy operated the Council Bluff trading post for one year, then moved westward where he established Fort Jackson on the upper South Platte River in present-day Colorado in 1837. The next year Sarpy returned to the Bellevue area and in 1840 moved into the Bellevue trading post formerly occupied by Lucien Fontenelle.

Sarpy started a ferrying business across the Missouri between Bellevue and St. Mary's on the Iowa side. In 1847 Sarpy ferried the Mormons across the Missouri, helped supply them with food and clothing for the winter, and the following spring helped outfit them for the remainder of their travels. During the gold
rush years, Sarpy's ferry boats hauled many of the would-be gold miners across the Missouri.

In 1853 "Traders' Post" was moved to St. Mary's. That year Sarpy's ferrying business was expanded and included ferries across the Elkhorn at Elkhorn City (later called Elk City) in Douglas County and across a Loup River fork near present day Columbus.

After Sarpy returned to Bellevue in 1838, he became influential in community affairs. Through his efforts, the post office was established there in 1849. Tradition says that the Bellevue area received its name from Manuel Lisa in the early 1800s, though the village was not established until after 1832. In 1854, Sarpy, along with others in the Old Town Company, laid out the town of Bellevue. Later Sarpy joined Stephen Decatur and others in founding Decatur, a town along the Missouri in northeastern Burt County in 1857, and Sarpy started a trading post there.

Sarpy was married to Ni-co-mi, an Omaha Indian woman. He was given the title "White Chief" by the Omaha Tribe. Sarpy moved to Plattsmouth in 1862, and died there on January 4, 1865. Sarpy County was named in his honor.