James Kipp: (1788 - aft.1865)
He was born in Montreal and was married to
Medicine-Bird & Four-Bears (Earth-Woman), both of the Mandan tribe.
He was also reported to have married the daughter of Alexander Culbertson
(who was the son of Joseph Culbertson & Mary Finley) & Natawischicksina
(Blackfeet).
James entered the fur-trade early in his life
and in about 1818 arrived on the Upper Missouri River, employed by the
Columbia Fur Co., at Fort Mandan. In 1822 he built a post among the Mandans
and in 1825 establish a post for the Columbia Fur Co. at the mouth of the
White Earth River, for the Assiniboine trade. He continued his career of
constructing fur post for the American Fur Co., with Fort Floyd in
1828 (the fore-runner of Ft.Union), Fort Clark in the spring of 1831 and
Fort Piegan in the winter of 1831/32.
In 1850 James was detained at Fort Pierre
due to the illness of one of his nephews, Joseph Desautel (trader at Ft.Clark)
who died from the illness at Ft.Pierre on 15 Nov.1850 [another nephew on
the Missouri was Jacques Bruguiere). In 1865 James retired from the fur-trade
and settled on his Missouri farm near Independence, Mo.
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