(1790-1843) – Trapper, trader, and Indian agent, Pilcher was born in Culpeper County, Virginia on may 15, 1790. After receiving an education in Kentucky, he entered the fur trade business and in 1819, partnered with manual Lisa and others in the Missouri Fur Company. He worked primarily in Nebraska, where he traded with the Omaha tribe. When Manuel Lisa died in 1820, he became the president of the company. However, competition from the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was increasing, causing financial difficulties for the company. On May 31, 1823, a large Blackfoot war party ambushed Pilcher’s men, killing seven of them and wounding four others. Their traps, pack horses and pelts were stolen Resulting in a loss of about $15,000, Joshua Pilcher pulled his men back from the Northwest, but the ambush caused a death blow for the company. They never returned to the northwest and by the spring of 1824, the Missouri Fur Company was bankrupt. By 1833 he was working for the American Fur Company and the following year, became the Upper Missouri Indian Agent. He later succeeded William Clark as Superintendent of Indian Affairs at St. Louis in 1838, a position he held until September, 1841. He died at St. Louis, Missouri on June 5, 1843.