20 Facts About Margaret Poisal

Margaret Poisal married Thomas Fitzpatrick, an Indian agent, and they worked together negotiating peace between Native American tribes and the United States government.

Margaret Poisal grew up during a period where Arapaho and Cheyenne ranched across the Great Plains.

Margaret Poisal was born in 1834 to John Poisal, a French Canadian hunter and trapper, and Snake Woman, niece of Chief Niwot.

Margaret Poisal's father worked for the Bent brothers.

Margaret Poisal was one of the first Arapaho girls to receive a formal American education.

Margaret Poisal attend a convent school in St Louis, Missouri.

Margaret Poisal's father raised cattle and horses at the mouth of Cherry Creek in 1857.

Margaret Poisal's father died in 1861 in a cabin on Cherry Creek.

Margaret Poisal married Thomas Fitzpatrick in November 1849.

Margaret Poisal was a fur trader, scout, and Indian agent to the Southern Arapaho and Cheyenne people.

At the time, Margaret Poisal was pregnant with their second child.

Margaret Poisal inherited an estate of two lots and houses in Westport, Missouri and more than $10,000.

Margaret Poisal married Lucious J Wilmot, a gardener, on February 2,1856.

Margaret Poisal married for a third time to a man with the surname of Adams by 1883 when she was an interpreter at the Medicine Lodge treaty council and she was living on lands she received from the Arapaho.

Margaret Poisal attended the meetings, having women attend the meetings meant as a sign of trust for a peaceful outcome by Native Americans.

Margaret Poisal acted as a translator and negotiated for restitution for the Sand Creek massacre.

Margaret Poisal worked as a negotiator and peacemaker over several years.

Margaret Poisal was the interpreter for the Arapaho delegation to Washington, DC, in 1883.

Margaret Poisal did not appear to be employed as an interpreter again, likely due to alcohol abuse or because it was easier to hire interpreters after a generation of Arapaho children had been educated in English-speaking schools.

Margaret Poisal died by 1892, according to her brother John's estate papers.