Peter Weiser
Private Peter M. Weiser was a member of the Corps of Discovery from Pennsylvania. He proved a capable and reliable soldier throughout the expedition and was selected by Lewis for the advance party that made first contact with the Shoshone in August 1805. On the return journey, Weiser was part of Lewis's party exploring the Marias River. After the expedition, he became a fur trapper and trader, working for the Missouri Fur Company in the Snake River country of present-day Idaho, where the Weiser River was named in his honor.
Biography
Peter Weiser was a private of German descent in the Corps of Discovery. He was a reliable soldier who participated in many of the expedition’s key events, including the salt-making detail at the coast and several diplomatic councils.
Weiser was part of the salt-making camp near present-day Seaside, Oregon, where men boiled seawater to produce salt during the winter at Fort Clatsop. This tedious but essential work produced enough salt to help preserve meat for the return journey.
After the expedition, Weiser joined the fur trade. The Weiser River in Idaho is named after him, as is the town of Weiser. He is believed to have been killed by Native Americans while trapping in Idaho around 1810-1812.
Related Locations
Note: the longest gap between tagged appearances is about 9 months (Aug 12, 1804 → May 20, 1805). Peter Weiser may have been present in the corps during that span but is not named in the journals.
Journal Entries (39)
From the Heacock Memorial Archive
3 lewis-clark.org articles that mention Peter Weiser, preserved here for Robert Heacock’s photography. The articles were written by that site’s contributing authors.
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