Chouteau, Jean Pierre, << shoo TOH, jhahn pyair >> (1758-1849), who went by his middle name, was an American fur trader and a United States Indian agent. Indian agents represented the government in its dealings with Native Americans. Chouteau spent much of his life among Native Americans, many of whom liked and respected him.
Chouteau was born in New Orleans on Oct. 10, 1758. From 1794 to 1802, he and his half-brother Rene Auguste shared a monopoly of trade with the Osage people in what are now Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Jean Pierre became the first U.S. agent to the indigenous (native) peoples west of the Mississippi River (see Louisiana Purchase ). Chouteau was especially influential among the Osage and remained their agent for many years. In 1809, Chouteau and other business people formed the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company to develop the fur trade on the American frontier. Chouteau’s son Pierre, Jr., became a leading American fur trader and financier. Jean Pierre Chouteau died on July 10, 1849.
