Pierre Chouteau Jr. (January 19, 1789 – September 6, 1865), also referred to as Pierre Cadet Chouteau, was an American merchant and a member of the wealthy Chouteau fur-trading family of Saint Louis,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Early life and education

Chouteau was born in St. Louis, where his father, Jean Pierre Chouteau, was one of the first settlers and part of the ethnic French elite. His mother was Pelagie Kiersereau (1767–1793). One of his brothers was

Auguste Pierre Chouteau Auguste Pierre Chouteau (9 May 1786 – 25 December 1838) was a member of the Chouteau fur-trading family who established trading posts in what is now the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Chouteau was born in St. Louis, then part of Spanish colonia ...

. A half-brother (by his father's second wife Brigitte Saucier) was

François Chouteau François Gesseau Chouteau (February 7, 1797 – April 18, 1838) was a French-American pioneer fur trader and entrepreneur from the prominent Chouteau fur-trading family. He is widely regarded as the "Father of Kansas City". Chouteau was born i ...

, a trader who became one of the first European-American settlers of

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. His son-in-law was John F. A. Sanford who later became one of Chouteau's business partners.

Career

Pierre Chouteau followed in the family footsteps by starting a trade with the Osage tribe at age 15. He also operated

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

mines around

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

until the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

.Pierre Chouteau Jr. (Cadet)
/ref> Chouteau was a member of Bernard Pratte and Company, the Western agent for

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by exporting History of opiu ...

American Fur Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was a prominent American company that sold furs, skins, and buffalo robes. It was founded in 1808 by John Jacob Astor, a German Americans, German immigrant to the United States. During its heyday in the early 19th c ...

in 1827. He pioneered the use of

steamboats A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

on the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

. In 1834, Pratte and Chouteau bought all the Missouri River interests of the Astor Fur company. (The northern portion of Astor's company went to

Ramsay Crooks Ramsay Crooks (2 January 1787 – 6 June 1859) was an American fur trader who immigrated to Canada from Greenock, Scotland. He was the father of American Civil War Colonel William Crooks who served in the 6th Minnesota Regiment. In 1803, Ramsay ...

, who retained the "American Fur Company" title for his company.) It was reorganized in 1838 as Pierre Chouteau, Jr. and Company and continued until it dissolved in 1864. In 1847 Pierre and his brother Auguste established Fort Benton in present-day

Chouteau County, Montana Chouteau County is a county located in the North-Central region of the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,895. Its county seat is Fort Benton. The county was established in 1865 as one of the original nine coun ...

as the last fur trading post on the Upper Missouri River. In the early days, the Chouteau interests supplied pelts for the

beaver hat A beaver hat is a hat made from felted beaver fur. They were fashionable across much of Europe during the period 1550–1850 because the soft yet resilient material could be easily combed to make a variety of hat shapes (including the familiar top ...

industry. When the industry began to collapse around 1850, they began a trade in buffalo hides. Chouteau also invested heavily in

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

, rolling mills, and

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

. He was an influential contributor to US Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Benton was the namesake for Fort Benton when it was purchased by the US Army in 1865. Chouteau died at his daughter's home in St. Louis on September 6, 1865.

Legacy and honors

, was named for him, as is the town Choteau in nearby Teton County. *He built Fort Pierre in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, which was named for him.

Pierre, South Dakota Pierre ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of South Dakota and the county seat of Hughes County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,091. Pierre is the eleventh-most populous city of South Dakota, and the second-least populo ...

, the state capital across the Missouri river from Fort Pierre, also is named for him.

Papers

A portion of the Pierre Chouteau and Family Papers are available for research use at the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Educational institution, educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the Minnesota Terr ...

. They consist of original, photostatic copies from the

Missouri Historical Society The Missouri Historical Society was founded in St. Louis on August 11, 1866. Founding members created the historical society "for the purpose of saving from oblivion the early history of the city and state". Organization The Missouri Historica ...

, and typed transcripts of letters between Pierre Chouteau, Henry Chouteau, Ramsay Crooks, George Davenport, Hercules L. Dousman, Kenneth McKenzie, Henry M. Rice, Joseph Rolette, Henry H. Sibley, Joseph M. Street, and others as well as contracts, accounts, and other related documents concerning the fur trade, fur companies, the Dakota, Sauk, and Fox Indians, and similar matters. Some digital content is available.Pierre Chouteau and Family Papers
Minnesota Historical Society

References

External links

Pierre Chouteau and Family Papers
Minnesota Historical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Chouteau, Pierre 1789 births 1865 deaths Businesspeople from St. Louis People from Dakota Territory American people of French descent 19th-century American merchants