Fort Lisa ( Nebraska ) Fort Lisa ( 1812 – 1823 ) was established in 1812 in what is now North Omaha in Omaha , Nebraska by famed fur trader Manuel Lisa and the Missouri Fur Company , which was based in Saint Louis . The fort was associated with several firsts in Nebraska history : Lisa was the first European farmer in Nebraska ; it was the settlement by American citizens set up in the then - recent Louisiana Purchase ; Lisa ' s wife ( his third ) was the first woman resident of European descent in Nebraska ; and the first steamboat to navigate Nebraska waters , the " Western Engineer " , arrived at Fort Lisa on September 19 , 1819 . History . Lisa established Fort Lisa on the Missouri River about 12 miles north of what became Omaha after abandoning his trading posts in the Upper Missouri River Valley , which were Fort Raymond / Manuel in Montana and the original Fort Lisa in North Dakota . The War of 1812 disrupted the fur trade with Native Americans for years . Fort Lisa ( Nebraska ) was located , " at a point between five and six miles below the original Council Bluff - where Lewis and Clark had a council with the Missouri and Otoe Indians , August 3 , 1804 , and now the site of the town of Fort Calhoun . . . " The site of Fort Lisa is located at 11808 John J . Pershing Drive in the northwest corner of Hummel Park , north of Florence , Nebraska . Father De Smet , a historical figure after Lisa ' s time , identified the fort as being a mile north of Cabanne ' s Trading Post on the Ponca Creek . The fort traded in furs , cattle , horses and land , and served as a base from which Manuel Lisa acted as a sub - agent to neighboring tribes for the federal government . With his wide trading network , Manuel Lisa had a unique role in relation to American Indian tribes . He traveled extensively among them to share agricultural products and build relations , as well as to promote trade . According to one source , the influence of Manuel Lisa , exerted from Fort Lisa , was strong enough to hold all the Missouri River Indians firmly in alliance with the United States during the War of 1812 . He organized war expeditions from Fort Lisa against tribes on the Mississippi River allied with the British . During the same period he secured the allegiance of tribes along the northern Missouri River . In 1819 the first steamboat to ply the Missouri River , the " Western Engineer " , piloted by Stephen Harriman Long , arrived at the fort . Aboard the ship were General Henry Atkinson and Captain Stephen Watt Kearny , both important to the future development of the American West . Later forts in the Nebraska Territory were named after them : Fort Atkinson and Fort Kearny . Lisa spent the winter of 1819 - 20 at Fort Lisa with his third wife , Mary Hempstead Keeney . That winter at the fort , they had the company of Major Stephen H . Long , whose famous expedition encamped a mile and a half north of Fort Lisa . In 1820 Lisa returned to St . Louis , where he died that year . Major Joshua Pilcher next ran Fort Lisa and succeeded Lisa as president of the Missouri Fur Company . He closed Fort Lisa in 1823 after building Pilcher ' s Post downriver at what became Bellevue . Fort Lisa likely influenced the positioning of several nearby historically significant sites . In competition , the American Fur Company established Cabanne ' s Trading Post two and one - half miles south in 1822 . The proximity of the posts , along with Fort Atkinson , in turn influenced the positioning of Cutler ' s Park , the Mormon Bridge , Fort Omaha , and Florence . These establishments attracted the flow of Mormon Trail pioneers , which in turn led to the development of Kanesville , Omaha , Saratoga , and eventually all of North Omaha , as well as many further points in the western expansion of the United States .