Auguste Chouteau

Auguste Chouteau (baptized September 7, 1749, New Orleans [now in Louisiana, U.S.]—died February 24, 1829, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.) was a wealthy fur trader, cofounder of St. Louis, and leading citizen of the Missouri Territory.

Chouteau was an infant when his mother separated from his father. In 1757 she formed a liaison with Pierre Laclède Liguest, who took Auguste and the rest of the family to the Illinois country in 1763. The following year 14-year-old Auguste commanded a group of 30 men who built a village on the west bank of the Mississippi at the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Laclède, under whose direction the village was created, named the new settlement St. Louis. From that time on he was one of the growing town’s most influential citizens, eventually becoming the leader of its economic and social life.

In 1778—following Laclède’s death—Auguste succeeded to his mentor’s prosperous fur-trading business and greatly enlarged it. By 1794 Auguste Chouteau enjoyed a monopoly of the trade with the Osage tribe. He also helped finance most of the other individuals and companies involved in the fur traffic of the Louisiana Territory. After the Louisiana Territory was sold to the United States (1803), he was appointed one of the three justices of the first territorial court.

During the remainder of his life Auguste Chouteau held a number of public offices: colonel of the St. Louis militia, judge of the Court of Common Pleas, negotiating commissioner with several tribes, president of the board of trustees of St. Louis, and U.S. pension agent for the Missouri Territory. But his primary interest always was his business, which continued to prosper. At his death Chouteau was the wealthiest citizen in St. Louis, the unofficial banker to the community, and the town’s largest landowner.