The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

BOGY, JOSEPH (ca. 1749–?).

An early French-Canadian settler and trader of the Three Forks area, Joseph Bogy (Baugy, Bougie) was born in Canada around 1749. Bogy, whose paternal great-grandfather had arrived in Canada circa 1650, was baptized in Quebec in 1752. He married Marie Plasy or Duplasy at Kaskaskia in present Illinois in 1788. They raised several sons, including their first born, also named Joseph. The younger Joseph received his education at New Orleans, he married Marie Bauvais there in 1805, and fathered Sen. Lewis Vital Bogy of Missouri.

By 1786 the elder Bogy had traveled to Arkansas Post in present Arkansas, at that time part of Spanish Louisiana, to make his living as a fur trapper and trader. He also served as secretary for Juan Ventura Morales, the Spanish administrative official of Upper Louisiana. Knowledgeable in the lay of the land, Bogy appraised and assessed the Arkansas Post area for an inventory conducted by Capt. Francisco Casa y Luengo. That listing was given to Lt. James B. Many, the U.S. commander at Arkansas Post, following the transferral of Louisiana from France to the United States in 1803.

Bogy extended his business dealings to the Three Forks vicinity of present Muskogee County, Oklahoma, where the Verdigris, Grand, and Arkansas rivers merge. The Arkansas River route provided an advantage to shipping furs to New Orleans and St. Louis. Bogy was successful in the business of trade and dressed the part of a traditional Canadian boatman. He was well mannered, courteous, and generous to visitors and explorers.

On January 7, 1807, while trading with Osage Indians, Bogy had approximately nine thousand dollars in merchandise taken by Choctaw Indians under the leadership of Pushmataha. In defense of his actions, Pushmataha rationalized that Osage were enemies of the Choctaw, and, therefore, any connections with the Osage were just cause for retaliation. Based on a provision in his trader's license, Bogy brought a claim before the U.S. government for reimbursement of damages and ultimately realized compensation. After confronting the Choctaws, Bogy constructed a "poteau style" establishment, made of mud-chinked, vertically set logs, for his trade goods. He employed Joseph Robin and Joseph Duchasin to skin trapped animals and pack pelts for trade.

An industrious entrepreneur, Joseph Bogy was instrumental in settling the Three Forks region. In 1819 botanist Thomas Nuttall encountered him at Arkansas Post. Bogy later escorted Nuttall from Fort Smith to the Three Forks, where, at the estimated age of seventy, Bogy remained an active figure in the business of trade and commercialism. The date of his death is unknown.

Betty L. Kuhlman