Search

Michael has a BA in History & American Studies and an MSc in American History from the University of Edinburgh. He comes from a proud military family and has spent most of his career as an educator in the Middle East and Asia. His passion is travel, and he seizes any opportunity to share his experiences in the most immersive way possible, whether at sea or on the land.

Part of our in-depth series exploring Sioux Nation Forts

Fort Pierre Chouteau was a trading fort on the high Missouri River plain in the grandest, boldest sense. The late 18th and early 19th centuries were robust and fascinating times in the upper Great Plains. Wildlife, native tribes, and European traders, trappers, and settlers lived and moved in large numbers on the Missouri -- early highway to the new frontier.

In 1832 the American Fur Company built Fort Pierre Choteau after its predecessor Fort Tecumseh (1822-1832) was dismantled due to the shifting of the Missouri River. It was the largest fur trading post on the upper Missouri River, and became the center of commerce and dominant European settlement for the entire region.

George Catlin described the fort in 1832:

"This fort is undoubtedly one of the most important and productive of the American Fur Company's posts, being in the center of the great Sioux country, drawing from all quarters an immense and almost incredible number of buffalo robes, which are carried to the New York and other eastern markets and sold at a great profit."

An average 17,000 buffalo robes were traded each year at the fort for guns, shot, powder, tobacco, blankets, cloth, sugar, salt, coffee, and beads. Historic accounts indicate there were times when the fort was surrounded by hundreds of Native American tepees. Settlement here helped pave the way for major routes west, including the Bozeman and Oregon Trails, and, of course, the historic Fort Pierre-Deadwood Trail.

The fort was used as a fur trading post until 1855, when it was sold to the U.S. Army. The Army dismantled it two years later to build Fort Randall, and today little remains of the above-ground structure of the fort and associated buildings. Archaeological excavations each summer by the State Historical Society, State Archaeological Research, SD Archaeological Society, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Volunteers are welcome. The site has been designated as a national historic landmark.

Communities and Related Links
Fort Pierre

Have you visited this historic location?

Help out other Fort Tours readers by sharing a rating, then describe your experience below.

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this historic site.

Further reading

Recent Comments