Chouteau, << shoo TOH, >> Pierre, Jr. (1789-1865), often called Cadet, acquired great wealth from the fur business and became one of the most powerful financiers of his day. He headed the western department of the American Fur Company for the American businessman John Jacob Astor. In 1834, Chouteau bought the department from Astor and created a fur-trading monopoly in the Missouri River Valley. His company pioneered in the use of steamboats in the fur trade. It became the first fur-trading firm to take a steamboat up the Missouri River to Montana. When the fur trade declined, Chouteau moved to New York and invested in iron and steel works.
Chouteau was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on Jan. 19, 1789. He served as a member of the Missouri State Constitutional Convention in 1820. Pierre, South Dakota, and Chouteau, Montana, were both named for him. His father, Jean Pierre Chouteau, also was an American fur trader (see Chouteau, Jean Pierre ). Pierre Chouteau died on Sept. 6, 1865.
