Before Lewis and Clark : The Story of the Chouteaus, the French Dynasty That Ruled America's Frontier

Rating:
Summary: well researched and interesting, though of limited scope
Review: OK-I'm going on the wild assumption that you're checking out this book because of your interest in Lewis and Clark. Be warned, the subject matter in Christian's book is somewhat tangentially related, although you will be given little entertaining factoids such as that one of the scientific specimens sent back to Jefferson from St Louis at the start of the Expedition was a large hairball from the stomach of a buffalo.

I live in St Louis, so I found the story of its founding (by the Chouteaus and their father/husband Laclede) interesting. Christian lives up to the subtitle by giving you a detailed picture of the life of this dynasty as it affected this area, which means you get a good idea of what it was like to be a trader on the Missouri (and some of the neighboring rivers), including interesting insights into relations with American Indians. Indeed, it was quite eye-opening to see how welcoming the Indians initially were of the French settlers/traders in and around St Louis. It was also informative to read of how the French and Indians interbred and lived quite comfortably with one another, although on unequal terms. The Chouteau dynasty began in the 1760's and continued for roughly another 80 years or so, so they had to accommodate and adapt to the change in governance that occurred with the Louisiana Purchase by the US (which although purchased from France, consisted of a territory immediately previously administered-with a very long rein-by Spain).

If you're looking more for some background into what was known about the area encompassed by the Louisiana Purchase at the time L + C started off on their expediation (and quite a bit was known; and in fact North America had already been traversed in Canada, so L + C weren't quite the 'firsts' they're made out to be), check out The Course of Empire by DeVoto.

To learn about the journey itself which, not withstanding the caveats above, is truly fascinating story, do yourself a favor and try to find something other than the popular Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose. The account provided by Ambrose is in my opinion is seriously flawed, fundamentally lacking in basic historical background necessary to appreciate the Expedition, e.g., any indication of who'd previously explored the regions into which they were heading and lacking a summary map illustrating the geographic (mis)information L + C used to plan their journey. Undaunted Courage also falls down whenever Ambrose attempts the most rudimentary analysis. To top it off, his writing style often made me cringe.

To provide socioeconomic and political background to the Purchase and the settlement that was to follow it, I recommend Mr Jefferson's Loast Cause: Land, Farmers, Slavery, and the Louisiana Purchase by Roger Kennedy.

Rating:
Summary: well researched and interesting, though of limited scope
Review: OK-I'm going on the wild assumption that you're checking out this book because of your interest in Lewis and Clark. Be warned, the subject matter in Christian's book is somewhat tangentially related, although you will be given little entertaining factoids such as that one of the scientific specimens sent back to Jefferson from St Louis at the start of the Expedition was a large hairball from the stomach of a buffalo.

I live in St Louis, so I found the story of its founding (by the Chouteaus and their father/husband Laclede) interesting. Christian lives up to the subtitle by giving you a detailed picture of the life of this dynasty as it affected this area, which means you get a good idea of what it was like to be a trader on the Missouri (and some of the neighboring rivers), including interesting insights into relations with American Indians. Indeed, it was quite eye-opening to see how welcoming the Indians initially were of the French settlers/traders in and around St Louis. It was also informative to read of how the French and Indians interbred and lived quite comfortably with one another, although on unequal terms. The Chouteau dynasty began in the 1760's and continued for roughly another 80 years or so, so they had to accommodate and adapt to the change in governance that occurred with the Louisiana Purchase by the US (which although purchased from France, consisted of a territory immediately previously administered-with a very long rein-by Spain).

If you're looking more for some background into what was known about the area encompassed by the Louisiana Purchase at the time L + C started off on their expediation (and quite a bit was known; and in fact North America had already been traversed in Canada, so L + C weren't quite the 'firsts' they're made out to be), check out The Course of Empire by DeVoto.

To learn about the journey itself which, not withstanding the caveats above, is truly fascinating story, do yourself a favor and try to find something other than the popular Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose. The account provided by Ambrose is in my opinion is seriously flawed, fundamentally lacking in basic historical background necessary to appreciate the Expedition, e.g., any indication of who'd previously explored the regions into which they were heading and lacking a summary map illustrating the geographic (mis)information L + C used to plan their journey. Undaunted Courage also falls down whenever Ambrose attempts the most rudimentary analysis. To top it off, his writing style often made me cringe.

To provide socioeconomic and political background to the Purchase and the settlement that was to follow it, I recommend Mr Jefferson's Loast Cause: Land, Farmers, Slavery, and the Louisiana Purchase by Roger Kennedy.

Rating:
Summary: Chouteau Dynasty that Established St. Louis Before L & C
Review: When I originally read this book, I thought it was primarily dedicated to the exploration of the Louisiana territory before Lewis and Clark, but the book is really about the dynasty of the Chouteau family of French traders and town founders of St. Louis who not only came before Lewis and Clark by about 40 years but remained to develop the territory, town and engage in the fur business west of the Mississippi along with trading north up the Missouri. It as quite astonishing to read that when Lewis and Clark reached St. Louis to start their trek in 1803 that the accommodating Chouteaus, along with other French settlers and perhaps Spanish, had settled a town of 200 or more houses with the Chouteaus owning fairly upscale homes along with significant land grants that pre-dated the Americans. The Chouteaus were enterprising merchants that had significant contacts with local Indian tribes such as the Osages and other tribes in the surrounding areas North such as the Arikaras. Not only did the Chouteaus know the territory and trade as far west as Spanish held Santa Fe their family stayed in St. Louis and interacted with Governor Lewis of Louisiana until his death and had a lifelong friendship with Indian agent William Clark. The Chouteaus relationships with local tribes was key to having reasonaly good relations with whites and Indians. What is amazing about this book is the amount of documentation and letters that survived from over 200 years ago. The family has a long history after Lewis and Clark's adventure with sons graduating from West Point and their presence in local politics and involvement with St. Louis and the territory goes well into the 19th century. This book has a great amount of detail about a family that developed the interior of America.