Bcmiiiisccnces of John H. Charles. 59 



of Chouteau lie was stationed as agent at various places 

 up the river, among them Ft. Union, at the mouth of the 

 Yellowstone. I knew Larpenteur well. He purchased 

 goods of me for his trade with the Indians for several 

 years. 



He was a delicately built man, though his life was 

 one of much hardship. I believe he was thoroughly 

 honest and upright. If he w^as more conscientious, he 

 also had more refinement than the majority of the 

 French Indian traders. His wife was an American 

 woman. At the tradino- business he was very successful, 

 so I think he did not lose because of his honesty. 



In 1818, on thereabouts, Larpenteur settled at a ford 

 on the Little Sioux, in Harrison County, Iowa. This par- 

 ticular ford was on the route from Sioux City to Council 

 Bluffs. A little town grew up around him, which he 

 called Fontainbleau. There he lived till 1873, farming 

 in the summer and trading up the river with the Indians 

 in the winter season. 



Larpenteur was alive to the romance of his career. 

 He kept an interesting journal, which has since been 

 edited by Coues and published by Harper. It is very 

 interesting to me. 



Two of the most prominent men ever connected with 

 the fur trade of the Northwest and with the business of 

 steamboating on the Missouri were Pierre Chouteau, Sr. 

 and Jr. They were Frenchmen, descended from the men 

 who first settled and laid out St. Louis. The father first 

 traded upon the LTpper Mississippi, but later transferred 

 to the Missouri. He built the first steamboat on the 

 river, and ran it up to the mouth of the Yellowstone in 

 1831, astonishing the natives and everyone else who 

 saw it. 



When I came to Sioux City they were the principal 

 men doing business on the Upper Missouri. Of course, 

 they always had competition, but it never amounted to 

 much. I did business i^ersonally with Pierre Chouteau, 

 Jr., and so was acquainted with him, but not with his 

 father. 



I was better acquainted with some of the steamboat 

 captains and pilots than I was with the principals whom 

 they served. Two of the greatest pilots that ever guided 



