Pierre Dorion Jr. (1782Royot, Daniel
''Divided Loyalties in a Doomed Empire.''
Newark: University of Delaware Press. 2007, p. 137.–1814) was a

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

fur trapper and interpreter who worked across the modern

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

and later the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

Early life

Pierre was named after his father, Pierre Dorion Sr. and had a

Yankton Sioux The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided into ...

mother. He remained among the Yankton peoples for much of his early life. Dorion met members of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

on 29 August 1804.Lewis, Meriwether
"August 29, 1804."
Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Online. Accessed February 26, 2016. At the time he was engaged in mercantile transactions with some of the 70 Yankton present by the explorer's camp. Later in 1806 he took

Marie Aioe Dorion "Madame" Marie Aioe Dorion Venier Toupin (ca. 1786 – September 5, 1850) was the only female member of an overland expedition sent by Pacific Fur Company to the Pacific Northwest in 1810. Like her first husband, Pierre Dorion Jr., she was Métis p ...

as a wife "through barter or wager." Dorion was employed by

Nathaniel Hale Pryor Nathaniel Hale Pryor (1772–1831) served as Sergeant in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Early life and family Nathaniel Pryor was born in Amherst County, Virginia and was a cousin of fellow expedition member Charles Floyd. A letter written b ...

as an interpreter in a trading expedition organized by Pryor in 1807. Besides Dorion there were 10 other men and a small boat used to sail up the Missouri River to trade with the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

nations. In 1809,

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, became an American citizen who, while living on the western frontier, b ...

hired Dorion for his services as an interpreter and "conducted their traders in safety through the different tribes of the Sioux." Irving, Washington
''Astoria''
Paris: Baudry's European Library. 1836, p. 87. While based at Fort Lisa, Dorion quickly became in debt due to excessive purchases of alcohol. In June 1810, Dorion, Marie and their two infant children left Fort Lisa for

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Pacific Fur Company

In the winter of 1810-1811, Dorion was the only qualified speaker of the

Sioux language Sioux is a Siouan language spoken by over 30,000 Sioux in the United States and Canada, making it the fifth most spoken indigenous language in the United States or Canada, behind Navajo, Cree, Inuit languages, and Ojibwe. Regional variation Si ...

s in St. Louis. This made him a desirable hire for fur traders. Both Lisa and

W. Price Hunt Wilson Price Hunt (March 20, 1783 – April 13, 1842) was an early American pioneer, pioneer and explorer of the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest of North America. Employed as an agent in the fur trade under John Jacob Astor, Hunt organized ...

wanted to have his services for their companies, respectively the

Missouri Fur Company The Missouri Fur Company (also known as the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company or the Manuel Lisa Trading Company) was one of the earliest fur trading companies in St. Louis, Missouri. Dissolved and reorganized several times, it operated under various ...

and the

Pacific Fur Company The Pacific Fur Company (PFC) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813. It was based in the Pacific Northwest, an area contested over the decades between the United Kingdom o ...

(PFC). In the end, Hunt was able to secure Dorion, on the condition that Marie and his two children be brought along as well. Early into the travel north where the PFC wintering camp was located, Dorion physically abused his wife and caused her to flee for a day. Upon rejoining the main party, Hunt led the expedition further up the Missouri, intent on following the course made by Lewis and Clark. After leaving

Fort Osage Fort Osage (also known as Fort Clark or Fort Sibley) was an early 19th-century factory trading post run by the United States Government in western Missouri on the American frontier; it was located in present-day Sibley, Missouri. The Treaty of ...

, Dorion "severely beat his squaw" as Marie desired to stay with newly made

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...

, rather than continue with the expedition. A war party of several hundred

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: *Lakota, Iowa *Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County *Lakota ...

and Yankton were eventually encountered. A battle was narrowly avoided by the firing the company cannons with only powder and the linguistic skills of Dorion. In the ensuing discussions with assembled Sioux leadership Dorion translated for Hunt. Assurances were given that the expedition wouldn't trade with the neighboring

Arikara Arikara (), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011)

Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still res ...

and the

Gros Ventre The Gros Ventre ( , ; meaning "big belly"), also known as the Aaniiih, A'aninin, Haaninin, Atsina, and White Clay, are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in north central Montana. Today the Gros Ventre people are ...

nations, all three of whom the Sioux were at war with. After this the expedition was allowed to continue towards the Pacific Coast. Lisa and his own expedition caught up with the Pacific Fur Company group in early June. John Bradbury recounted how tensions arose between Dorion and Lisa:

Mr. Lisa had invited Dorion, our interpreter, to his boat, where he had given him some whiskey, and took that opportunity of avowing his intention to take him away from Mr. Hunt, in consequence of a debt due by Dorion to the Missouri Fur Company...

A duel between Lisa and Dorion was narrowly avoided by

Henry Marie Brackenridge Henry Marie Brackenridge (May 11, 1786 – January 18, 1871) was an American writer, lawyer, judge, superintendent, and U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania. Born in Pittsburgh in 1786, he was educated by his father, the writer and judge Hugh H ...

and Bradbury intervening between the men.

Death

After many material struggles, the overland expedition reached

Fort Astoria Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the '' Tonquin'', while another party traveled overland from St. Louis. ...

in 1812. Dorion and his family were sent to the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

as part of a trapping outfit under John Reed the following year. Early in 1814, Dorion, Reed and five other trappers were killed by a band of either

Northern Shoshone Northern Shoshone are Shoshone of the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho and the northeast of the Great Basin where Idaho, Wyoming and Utah meet. They are culturally affiliated with the Bannock people and are in the Great Basin classification ...

Bannocks The Bannock tribe were originally Northern Paiute but are more culturally affiliated with the Northern Shoshone. They are in the Great Basin classification of Indigenous People. Their traditional lands include northern Nevada, southeastern Oreg ...

His wife and two children then began their celebrated journey back to the safety of Pacific Fur Company posts.

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorion, Pierre, Jr. 1782 births 1814 deaths Canadian fur traders Oregon pioneers Place of birth missing