Auguste Pierre Chouteau

Who was Auguste Pierre Chouteau?

August Pierre Chouteau was a member of the Chouteau fur trading family who established posts in Oklahoma.

Chouteau was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His father was Jean Pierre Chouteau, one of the first settlers in St. Louis. His mother was Pelagie Kiersereau

One of his brothers was Pierre Chouteau, Jr.. A half-brother was Francois Gessau Chouteau, who established a trading post and was one of the first settlers of Kansas City, Missouri.

Auguste Chouteau was among the first young men from Missouri to be appointed to West Point by Thomas Jefferson. After graduating in 1806, he resigned the Army in 1807. He entered the family fur trading business, but he later served as captain of the territorial militia during the War of 1812.

After the war, Chouteau was arrested in 1817 by the Spanish during a trading expedition on the upper Arkansas River, as they considered that area under their control and excluded others from its lucrative trading. He was imprisoned in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

After being released, Chouteau continued the family trade among the Osage. He established his home in present-day Salina, Oklahoma, part of the western extent of their territory. In 1832 Washington Irving visited the post and described it in Tour of the Prairies.