The Chouteaus : first family of the fur trade /
Author / Creator: | Hoig, Stan. |
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Imprint: | Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press, 2008. |
Description: | 1 online resource (xi, 337 pages) : illustrations, maps |
Language: | English |
Subject: | |
Format: | E-Resource Book |
URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11170523 |
Summary: | In the late eighteenth century, the vast, pristine land that lay west of the Mississippi River remained largely unknown to the outside world. The area beckoned to daring frontiersmen who produced the first major industry of the American West--the colorful but challenging, often dangerous fur trade. At the lead was an enterprising French Creole family that founded the city of St. Louis in 1763 and pushed forth to garner furs for world markets. Stan Hoig provides an intimate look into the lives of four generations of the Chouteau family as they voyaged up the Western rivers to conduct trade, at times taking wives among the native tribes. They provided valuable aid to the Lewis and Clark expedition and assisted government officials in developing Indian treaties. National leaders, tribal heads, and men of frontier fame sought their counsel. In establishing their network of trading posts and opening trade routes throughout the Central Plains and Rocky Mountains, the Chouteaus contributed enormously to the nation's westward movement. |
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Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xi, 337 pages) : illustrations, maps |
Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-315) and index. |
ISBN: | 9780826343499 082634349X 9780826343475 0826343473 1283889552 9781283889551 |