Born on September 7, 1749
Born René Auguste Chouteau in New Orleans, he was raised by his stepfather, Pierre Laclède, and his mother, Marie Thérèse Chouteau. As Laclède’s clerk and lieutenant, the 14-year-old Chouteau led the workers who began building St. Louis on February 15, 1764. He prospered as the village grew into a commercial hub, adapting to Spanish rule in 1770 and U.S. control in 1804. Diversifying into banking and real estate as the fur trade declined, Chouteau, the town’s business and social leader, was the first board of trustees chairman upon its incorporation in 1809. As an early historian of the city wrote, “Laclède founded, and Auguste Chouteau built, St. Louis.”
