Feature on Peter Loramie. TOPIC:
PEOPLE, PIONEERS, INDIANS
Written by Jim Sayre in August, 1998
LORAMIE'S LIFE AFTER SHELBY COUNTY DETAILED BY MISSOURI EDUCATOR |
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| Peter
Loramie, the relatively obscure backwoods Indian
trader of the late 1700’s in what is now known as Shelby County, is better known in
Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as Don Louis Lorimier, diplomat, military officer, and
government official, according to Loramie/Lorimier expert and Missouri resident Linda Nash. Loramie, or Lorimier, worked for three different governments in his lifetime —French, Spanish and American, Nash said. "He played a significant supporting role in a very dynamic period of history." While commanding Spanish forces in the Cape Girardeau area, Loramie met with Meriwether Lewis at the start of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Nash, a 25-year teaching veteran from Jackson, Missouri, spoke July 16, 1998, to more than 110 members of the Shelby County Historical Society and the Fort Loramie Historical Association. Loramie came from a French military family, but earned very little as an army officer, according to Nash. He earned extra money by moonlighting as an Indian trader, first setting up shop near present-day Fort Loramie in 1769. It was called the Frenchman’s store. "He became a good hater of Americans," Nash said, "Because the Americans were pressuring the Indians westward, threatening his livelihood." There is no truth to the rumor that Loramie was a Jesuit priest, Nash reported. He had three wives and the Jesuit order has no priesthood record of the name. Loramie, burned out of his local trading post in 1782 by General George Rogers Clark, lost up to $70,000 worth of trade goods such as silver, cloth, blankets, brass kettles, bells, ribbons and vermilion. "Remember, that is in 1782 dollars. It would be a lot more than that in current dollars," Nash cautioned. |
This 1940’s painting of Lorimier by a Missouri artist shows a sophisticated figure in sharp contrast to Loramie’s local rough-cut image. [ Back ] [ Next ] [ Up ] [ New Search ] |
