Blackfoot (Niitsitapi, Siksikaitsitapi) Search this
Object Type:
Bag
Place:
United States, North America
Accession Date:
10 Dec 1887
Notes:
FROM CARD: "FOR TOBACCO. BUCKSKIN FRINGED ON LOWER END. INSIDE ORNAMENTED."
Original list in accession file indicates Rau got this object from David Adams. This is presumed to be David Adams the fur trader. Always active in the fur trade, in 1832, he joined Bonneville's expedition to the Rocky Mountains and later became involved in the fur trade with the American Fur Company. In 1841, he formed a partnership with John Sibille to trade with Indians on the Platte River. In 1849, he led an expedition to California in search of gold. All business ventures were financially unsuccessful and he returned home penniless and in debt. In 1853, David became the toll gate keeper for Gate 1 on Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis and in 1857 he opened a blacksmith shop with Joseph Hughes. Although he became a successful guide and trapper, he ended up spending his later years in St. Louis impoverished, and died in 1874.
