The Chouteaus: First Family of the Fur Trade by Stan Hoig

colorful tale of generations of a family leading the opening of the American Westby Henry_Berry

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April 09, 2008: A movie of the life of the Chouteaus would have to be one of those generational epics running as a week-long series on channels such as HBO. 'This family [featured] energetic, adventurous men destined to play significant roles in the advance of the United States and Euro-American civilization westward from the Mississippi River.' The Chouteau men were active mostly before the Louisiana Purchase. By their explorations and commercial ventures in large parts of the area of the Purchase and contacts with Native Americans, they eased the growth of the United States beyond the Mississippi River. Some of the Chouteau men were prototypes of the mountain men who became legendary in American lore though the Chouteau men were usually more entrepreneurial (rather than individualistic) in their activities and aims. One of them spent time in a Spanish jail in the Southwest for misunderstandings with Spanish authorities about his presence in Spanish territory. And rather than trapping themselves and selling or trading the seasonal catch, most of the Chouteau men worked to create business networks of Native American tribes, European and American buyers, and varied commercial interests such as transportation and banking. In general, the Chouteau men also recognized the desirability and in some ways necessity of relations with governmental authorities. The first of the Chouteau men were actually children of a man who has come to be known historically as Leclede and a Marie Therese, the wife of Rene Auguste Chouteau, who after some time in New Orleans returned to France abandoning her. The children were given the Chouteau name because the mother had to keep this name since the parents' Catholicism forbid them from divorcing. It was Laclede who set the pattern for the following two generations of the Chouteau men who had such an influence on opening the West for Euro-American settlement and development. In sympathy with French claims to upper parts of the Mississippi at the time of the French and Indian War, Laclede 'committed himself to the proposition of constructing and operating one of the first franchised trading operations in the barely explored wilderness of the Mississippi Valley.' In 1763 with his teenaged son Auguste a member of his crew, Laclede set out by keelboat up the Mississippi from New Orleans. During this trading venture, in the Spring 1764, Laclede named a site where cabins for shelter and sheds for storage of furs had been built Saint Louis in honor of the French king. This was the origin of the city of Saint Louis which at first an outpost, later became a key crossroad in trade between the western lands and the eastern towns and cities. Before long, Laclede's wife moved from New Orleans to Saint Louis with their children. One of these was named Pierre Chouteau. Auguste and Pierre Chouteau and their male children carried on the tradition begun by their father Laclede. Pierre's eight sons especially had an incomparable role as sources of information about the areas and in advancing trade and other commercial interests as a prelude to settlement as they pursued their varied interests. Hoig--professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma--follows the adventures and accomplishments of the Chouteaus through developments relating to the Louisiana Purchase up to the Civil War. There are many legendary explorers and pioneers in the story of the United States' westward expansion. But the Chouteau's are...