Fur Trade

To the Headwaters

An abundance of beaver encouraged Corps of Discovery members John Colter and John Potts to return to the headwaters. In 1808, Blackfeet Indians killed Potts in a confrontation and stripped Colter bare, giving him a chance to run ...

The Fur Traders and the Military at Fort Wayne

The French built Fort St. Philippe (Fort Miamis) west of this area by 1722, to command the land portage here between the Maumee and Wabash Rivers. It was important to the French to protect the area in their political competition ...

Influence of the Fur Trade

Green Bay was home...

to many people for thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived. The rich waters of the bay attracted a number of American Indian Tribes - all members of a large and complex trading network stretching throughout ...

Sounds along the byway...fur traders bringing their goods.

Frontier Military Scenic Byway

In 1825, Cyprian Chouteau, of the Chouteau family that founded St. Louis, Missouri, came to this area to open a trading post. The Choteau family members were extensive fur traders in the Missouri River Valley and present-day ...