County of marker: Callaway County
Location of marker: Katy Trail @ Olive St. & CR-485, Tebbetts
Marker erected: 2016
Marker erected by: Katy Trail State Park of Missouri State Parks, Missouri Department of Natural Resources
The exhibit funded by donations and parks, soils and water taxes which was approved by Missouri voters
Marker text:
Fur Trading in Missouri
Big Business on the Missouri River
The fur trade was a booming business in the wilderness west of St. Louis. Trapping primarily took place on the upper Missouri River in the Dakotas and Montana. Furs were then sent down the river to St. Louis and sold.
In 1809, William Clark and Manuel Lisa, a Spanish fur trader and explorer, helped create the Missouri Fur Co., one of the first fur trading companies in Missouri. Its headquarters were in St. Louis.
The Missouri Fur Co. was eventually absorbed by John Jacob Astor's American Fur Co., based in New York. Pierre Chouteau jr. and Bernard Pratt operated the company's western division in St. Louis. They later bought out their portion of the business and established Pierre Chouteau jr. and Co.
Yellowstone Paves the Way
The American Fur Co. pioneered the use of steamboats on the Missouri River. This revolutionized the fur trade, which had previously relied on small keelboats to transport furs.
The most famous fur trade steamboat was the Yellowstone. A boatyard in Kentucky designed and built the boat to handle the treacherous waters of the Missouri River. Her maiden voyage from St. Louis, Mo., began on April 16, 1831. On June 9 she arrived at Fort Tecumseh, S.D., 600 miles farther up the Missouri River than any previous steamboat had reached. She returned to St. Louis on July 15, loaded with furs. The success of the Yellowstone paved the way for the expansion of regular trade.
Call of the Wild
As the need for men on steamboats grew, St. Louis's Missouri Gazette and Public Advertiser, the first newspaper in Missouri, published the following listing on Feb. 13, 1822:
"To enterprising young men. The subscriber wishes to engage ONE HUNDRED MEN to ascend the Missouri River to
its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years. For the particulars enquire of Major Andrew Henry,
near the lead mines in the county of Washington, (who will ascend with, and command the party), or to the
subscriber near St. Louis."