What Is Fort Pierre Chouteau?
From 1832 until 1855, this was the largest trading post on the upper Missouri River!
What Makes It Historical?
Having reached as far as Astoria, Oregon, John Jacob Astor set to filling in the gaps of his American Fur Company! In particular, he needed an outpost in middle of the continent to gather and ship a huge assortment of dead animals to market. The Missouri River had shifted away from his previous post, Ft. Tecumseh, and so this one got named for his regional agent, Pierre Chouteau, Jr., who had introduced steamboats to the region a year earlier!
With the help of these steamboats, this post did exactly what it set out to do, shipping 17,000 buffalo robes a year to the East Coast, and like any irresponsible trade, this one nearly destroyed its own supply! With the once-huge herds of buffalo nearly brought to extinction, the American Fur Company sold the fort to the US Army for $45,000 (about a million bucks today). It was the first military outpost in the region, with a maximum population of 900! The Treaty of Fort Pierre, signed here in 1855, would have given local tribes the right to self-police while getting aid for food and farms, but Congress never ratified it! With the government’s waning interest in the area, the Army abandoned it for Fort Randall within two years or buying it! Nevertheless, this fort’s legacy lives on in the name of South Dakota’s capital city, Pierre!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Become a member of the South Dakota State Historical Society!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
348-350 Fort Chouteau Rd
Fort Pierre, SD 57532
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Whenever the mood strikes you!
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