Note 321 — TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA, IN THE YEARS 1832, 1833, AND 1834 (continued 6)

James Kipp was born in Canada in 1788. When about twenty years of age he entered the fur-trade, as hunter and trapper in the Red River region. By 1818 he was on the upper Missouri, and became the agent of the Columbia Fur Company at its Mandan post. Later, he became a trusted employé of the American Fur Company, building Fort Piegan among the Blackfeet (1831). For many years he was chief factor at Fort Clark, transferring (1835) to Fort McKenzie. Audubon found him in charge of Fort Alexander, on the Yellowstone, in 1843, and two years later he was entrusted with the important post at Fort Union. He retired from the fur-trade in 1865, and settled upon his Missouri farm, which he had acquired many years before. As late as 1876 he once more visited the Mandan, whose language he was said to have been the first white man to master.—Ed.