Chouteau

Chouteau, family of fur traders who helped to open up the Middle West. (René) Auguste Chouteau (1749–1829) co-founded with Pierre Laclède the trading past that became St. Louis (1764). Auguste's brother, (Jean) Pierre Chouteau (1758–1849), an Indian agent for tribes west of the Mississippi River, co-founded the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company (1809). His son, Auguste Pierre Chouteau (1786–1838), was an Indian treaty commissioner and made many expeditions into the West. Auguste Pierre's brother, Pierre Chouteau (1789–1865), headed the American Fur Company from 1834. By pioneering the use of steamboats he monopolized trade on the Missouri River.