He was born probably c. 1775 in Amherst County, Virginia, United States. Through his mother, a daughter of William Floyd and Abadiah Davis, he traced his descent from Nicketti, a sister of Pocahontas, but his Pryor ancestry is untraceable. As a youth he moved to Kentucky, probably with the family of Charles Floyd, his uncle.
There is no information about his education.
At Louisville, October 20, 1803, he enlisted with the Lewis and Clark expedition, and on April 1 following, at the Wood River camp, was made a sergeant. His faithful services during the expedition are copiously recorded in the journals of Lewis and Clark.
He entered the regular army, February 27, 1807, as an ensign in the 1th Infantry. In the same year he led an expedition to return the Mandan chief, Shehaka, but was attacked by the Arikaras, September 9, and though maintaining a brave and skillful defense was driven back with loss.
On April 1, 1810, he resigned from the army and later started a trading post near the present Galena, Illinois. The Winnebagos attacked him on New Year's day, 1812, and he lost all his property and barely escaped with his life.
On August 30, 1813, as a first lieutenant of the 44th Infantry, he reentered the army; on October 1, 1814, he became a captain, and later served with distinction in the battle of New Orleans. On June 15, 1815, he was honorably discharged.
With a partner he started a trading house at Arkansas Post, Arkansas, but in 1819 moved upstream to the Verdigris, where he established another post. In ill health, poor, and unable to collect a claim against the Government, he had a hard struggle for a livelihood. On May 7, 1831, he was formally appointed a sub-agent of the Osages, a place he had temporarily held twice before, but died at the agency about a month later.
Nathaniel Pryor as a Captain sucessfully participated in War of Independence 1812, the last battle, in which he served with distinction was the Battle of New Orleans. He also met with Claremont the Osage Cheif and Mathew Arbuckle, to avoid a War between the Osage and Delaware tribes and, finally, he reached the peaceful agreement. Pryor Creek, is a city in and County seat of Mayes County Oklahoma, named after him. And there's the Pryor Mountain in Carbon and Big Horn Montana Location named for him.
He was a man of great character, and ability.
Quotes from others about the person
"A braver man, " wrote Gen. Sam Houston to President Jackson about Pryor.
According to Elliott Coues, "Pryor was in many respects unfortunate, and he seems to have been fated to experience the constant impact of disaster. "
He married an Osage woman and after 1820 lived with the tribe. He was reported to having several children with her.
