Review by Choice Review
St. Louis, St. Joseph, and other Mississippi river towns were staging areas for the westward expansion of US commerce, influence, and ultimately sovereignty. Six brothers Robidoux were unwitting contributors to this process. The only interests of the House of Robidoux were in commerce from the time their father, Joseph II, helped found St. Louis until the eldest brother, Joseph III, died in 1868. The Robidoux focus on profits revolved around the fur trade and demonstrated the cutthroat ethics that dominated expanding commerce and the exploitation of Indians. Joseph III founded St. Joseph, Missouri, in part to reap profits supplying western migrants. Willoughby (Univ. of Arkansas-Fort Smith) has mined primary sources for details of the era revolving around the Robidoux brothers and provides a partial picture of a family that profited, lost, sued, cheated, and survived the frontier. They competed and partnered with major players like the Chouteaus, Papin, and Ashley; government officials like Clark and Wilkinson; and Indians. Activities included trade with the tribes, negotiating the French-Spanish-Mexican-US jurisdictions, land speculation, avoiding taxes, and even boosterism. Specialists will revel in the details, but general readers will be bewildered by the minutiae and numbers of characters involved. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty. G. Gagnon Loyola University of New Orleans
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
