Auguste Pierre Chouteau
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| August Pierre Chouteau | |
| Born | 9 May 1786 St. Louis, Missouri, US |
|---|---|
| Died | 25 December 1838 (aged 52) Fort Gibson, Arkansas, US |
August Pierre Chouteau (St Louis 9 May 1786- † Fort Gibson, AR, 25 December 1838) 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 (1767-1793) [1]
One of his brothers was Pierre Chouteau, Jr. (who founded Fort Pierre). A step brother (after his father married Brigitte Saucier) was Francois Gessau Chouteau, who was one of the first settlers of Kansas City, Missouri.
He was among the first Missouri appointments to West Point by Thomas Jefferson. After graduating in 1806 he resigned the Army in 1807 and became of the family fur trading business although he served as captain of the territorial militia during the War of 1812.
After the war he was arrested in 1817 by the Spanish during a trading expedition on the upper Arkansas River and was imprisoned in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
After being release he continued the family trade among the Osage (tribe) and established his home in Salina, Oklahoma after the tribe had been forced out of Missouri. In 1832 Washington Irving visited the post and described it in Tour of the Prairies.[2]
Chouteau, Oklahoma is named for him.
