Before Lewis and Clark: The Story of the Chouteaus, the French Dynasty That Ruled America's Frontier (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780803225244)

Before Lewis and Clark relates the extraordinary saga of the Chouteaus, the dynastic family that guarded the gates to the West for three generations. From their St. Louis base, the Chouteaus, patrician and French in their origins, made their fortunes along the two-thousand-mile length of the Missouri River. Led by the brothers Auguste and Pierre, the family not only engaged in land speculation, finance, and the fur trade but also acted as suppliers and advisers to expeditions and enterprises between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains--including the famous expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from 1804 to 1806.
This is the story of the Old World meeting the New, of the eastern United States discovering the West, and of a wealthy, powerful, charming, and manipulative family that dominated business and politics in the Louisiana Purchase territory before and after the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Author: Shirley Christian
ISBN-10: 0803225245
ISBN-13: 9780803225244
Publisher: Bison Books
Language: English
Published: 05/01/2009
Pages: 536
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 1.20d