Fort Raymond was an outpost established by

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

Manuel Lisa Manuel Lisa, also known as Manuel de Lisa (September 8, 1772, in New Orleans Louisiana (New Spain) – August 12, 1820, in St. Louis, Missouri), was a Spanish citizen and later American citizen who, while living on the western frontier, became a ...

. Alternatively it was called either Manuel's Fort or Fort Manuel. It was the first trading post maintained by European descendants in the modern state of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Construction

In November 1807 work began on the station that Lisa named after his son. The initial buildings were "temporary shelters and a trading house with two rooms and a loft". The post was located at the confluence of the

Bighorn The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspeci ...

and the

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountain ...

Operations

Lisa oversaw daily operations for nine months after opening Fort Raymond. During the winter

John Colter John Colter (c.1770–1775 – May 7, 1812 or November 22, 1813) was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806). Though party to one of the more famous expeditions in history, Colter is best remembered for explorations he made ...

was sent with trade goods to the

Niitsitapi The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...

homelands to establish commercial relations. He met a group of indigenous men and agreed to travel with them. These men were from two nations that were traditional enemies of the Niitsitapi, the Salish and Apsáalooke. An armed group of Niitsitapiksi was encountered and a battle ensued with Colter joining his traveling party against the Nittsitapi. Colter's presence on the battlefield, noted by Niitsitapiksi warriors, had a ruinous effect on future commercial efforts by Manuel Lisa.

Closure

Lisa returned to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

in 1808, leaving a complement of fur trappers at Fort Raymond. Upon arriving at St. Louis Lisa joined

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

in forming a jointly owned effort to exploit fur bearing populations, the Missouri Fur Company (MFC). After returning to the station in the spring of 1809, Lisa formally added Fort Raymond as MFC property. The station was abandoned after the opening of Fort Lisa in 1810.

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* * * {{coord missing, Montana Fur trade Missouri River History of United States expansionism 1807 establishments in the United States

Raymond Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...