Chouteau, Rene Auguste, << shoo TOH, ruh NAY aw GOOST >> (1749-1829), was a French fur trader and merchant who helped found St. Louis, Missouri. Chouteau was born in New Orleans on Sept. 7, 1749. In 1763, he traveled up the Mississippi River with his stepfather, Pierre Laclede Liguest, and visited the site of what is now St. Louis. The next year, at age 14, Chouteau helped set up a permanent settlement there. St. Louis became a center of the fur trade, and Chouteau the city’s most influential trader. Chouteau helped American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark prepare for their famous expedition to the Pacific Ocean. The expedition began near St. Louis in 1804. Chouteau also helped the federal government negotiate treaties with American Indian tribes. His younger half-brother, Jean Pierre Chouteau, also played an important role in settling the American frontier. Rene Auguste Chouteau died on Feb. 24, 1829.
