Peter M. Weiser
Peter M. Weiser | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 3, 1781 |
| Died | 1810[2] |
| Cause of death | killed by Blackfoot Confederacy |
| Occupation(s) | soldier, quartermaster, cook, hunter, fur trapper |
| Known for | Lewis and Clark Expedition |
| Parent | John Phillip Weiser |
| Relatives | Conrad Weiser (great-grandfather) |
Peter M. Weiser (October 3, 1781 – c. 1810) was an American soldier and member of the Corps of Discovery on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Early life
[edit]Weiser was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania of German parentage, the son of John Phillip Weiser. He was the great-grandson of noted settler and diplomat Conrad Weiser of the Pennsylvania Colony.[3]
Lewis and Clark Expedition
[edit]Weiser enlisted as a private in the Corps of Discovery by January 1, 1804. He was probably recruited in 1803 by William Clark at Fort Kaskaskia, Illinois while serving in the 1st Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army.
Weiser was one of several soldiers in the Corps who faced disciplinary problems before the expedition left Missouri. On March 3, 1804, he, John Colter and others were disciplined for asking permission to go hunting as a pretext for an unauthorized visit to a nearby "whiskey shop". As punishment they were confined to camp for ten days.
During the expedition Weiser often served as quartermaster, cook, and hunter. On August 24, when Lewis had gotten the expedition started toward Lemhi Pass, a Shoshone rode up from the rear of the column to inform Lewis that one of his men was sick. Lewis went back to discover Weiser, whom he dosed with tincture of peppermint and laudanum. During the winter of 1805–06, while the expedition was at Fort Clatsop, he was part of the salt-making detail on the Oregon coast.
In the late spring of 1806, while the Corps was camped near present-day Kamiah in north central Idaho, he took part in a detached search expedition for food in the surrounding mountains. At the time, the Corps was camped by the Clearwater River waiting for the snow to melt on Lolo Pass. After the party noticed that the local Nez Perce had fresh salmon in their lodges, Weiser, Private Frazer and Sgt. John Ordway were sent on expedition to hunt for the fish about 30 miles southwest to the Salmon River, which they called the North Fork of "Lewis's River." (They had been about 125 miles upstream of the Salmon River when they descended it for a short distance in 1805 after crossing Lemhi Pass. They then turned and ascended its North Fork until they left it to cross over to the Bitterroot River, which they considered to be the main fork of Clark's Fork.) Lewis and Clark separated in two groups on July 3, 1806 east of Lolo Pass, Lewis was to go east to meet the Missouri River at the Great Falls and Clark south; Weiser was in Clark's group. Clark's group ascended the Bitterroot and made their way to Three Forks where they split again. Weiser and Colter were put under the command of Ordway who would descend the Missouri to meet up with Lewis. On July 19, they met part of Lewis's group, and on July 23, Weiser was severely injured in the leg. His group met up with the remaining four of Lewis's group on July 28, and Weiser made it safely back to St. Louis
Post-Expedition years
[edit]In 1807 Corps of Discovery members John Potts and George Drouillard, joined the party of Spanish fur trapper Manuel Lisa on the Upper Missouri River. Lisa and his company of 42 men (including John Baptiste Champlain and Benito Vázquez)[4] moved up the Missouri until they reached the mouth of the Yellowstone River. After ascending the Yellowstone some 170 miles, they established Fort Raymond, a trading post at the mouth of the Bighorn River in present-day Montana. Weiser and Colter were at Fort Raymond in July 1808. Between 1808 and 1810 Weiser was on the Three Forks of the Missouri and the Snake River.
Death
[edit]Weiser died around 1810 by the Blackfoot Confederacy. He may have survived up to 1825; however, this is not known.[2]
Legacy
[edit]The town of Weiser, Idaho, and the nearby Weiser River are named for Weiser.
References
[edit]- ^ Weiser, Frederick (1960). A Genealogy of the Family of John Conrad Weiser, the Elder (D. 1746). Prepared on the Two Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of His Arrival in America, 1710-1960. Google Books: John Conrad Weiser Family Association. p. 706. ISBN 9780598446930.
- ^ a b "Peter M. Weiser". www.3rd1000.com. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ Weiser, Frederick (1960). The Weiser Family A Genealogy of the Family of John Conrad Weiser, the Elder (D. 1746). Prepared on the Two Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of His Arrival in America, 1710-1960. John Conrad Weiser Family Association. p. 706. ISBN 9780598446930.
- ^ St Louis Cathedral Records; Vasquez papers file, Missouri Historical Society Library: Pierre Louis Vasquez Bible in possession of Douglas Whitney.