In 1844 he signed on with Pierre Choutreau and brought a boatload of goods to Ft Union. In April of 1849 he and James Bridger fought an Indian battle at the site of what is now Great Falls, Montana. He was connected with the American Fur Company until 1863. He later built the first house on the site of Ft Benton, Montana and in 1871 the first house in Chouteau County outside of Fort Benton. Later in life he ranched near Browning, Montana where he married an Indian woman and fathered six children.
'The Dillon Tribune,' Dillon, MT
20 October 1911, page 10:
LIVED IN MONTANA FOR 67 YEARS.
From Forest and Stream.
"Charles Chouquette, old timer, voyageur, trapper, interpreter and scout, died recently at his home on the Blackfeet Indian reservation in Northwestern Montana. He had lived in what is now Montana for almost the allotted span of a man's life, and had witnessed all the changes that more than three score years had brought. During his long life he was honest, sober, industrious, reliable, highly thought of by his neighbors and friends; equally esteemed by the bourgeois of the fur company for whom he might work, the chief of the Indian tribes among whom his work lay, or the superintendent of the Indian school on the reservation.
Native of St. Louis. "Charles Chouquette was born in St. Louis, February 18, 1822, the very year in which the town received its charter as a city. Its population was still largely French. It was already the center of an important fur trade, which was constantly growing greater. This fur trade, though well established out over the plains, had not long before begun to extend up the Missouri river. Of the French population of St. Louis, many of the strongest, most courageous and best of the young men took service with the fur traders. Among these was Charles Chouquette, who, at the age of 21, became an employe of the American Fur company, and in 1843 set out for the west, reaching Fort Union in 1844, 'the year of the high water,' as he used to call it. Not long after Charles Chouquette reached Fort Union came the terrible small pox, when the Indians gathered about the post and died there in appalling numbers. The emoployes of the fort buried them as they could, but at last, when freezing weather came, it was impossible to dig trenches for this purpose, and the bodies were stacked up like cord wood to await the return of spring and the thawing of the ground.
Hot and Thrilling Experiences. "During his residence at Fort Union Charles Chouquette was often chosen for tasks of difficulty and danger. He often carried dispatches from Fort Union to the nearest post to the eastward and the stories that he told of night rides in summer and of foot journeys in winter, when dogs carried packs of mail, were of extraordinary interest. After years of service at the mouth of the Yellowstone, he moved up the Missouri to Fort Benton, and later lived at Sun River and Choteau. After a time he left the service of the fur company and became a free trapper, following that vocation during the season when furs were prime, and after the fur season closed occupying himself with other pursuits. In one of his trapping journeys he wandered into the then unknown Yellowstone park. Here or near here his horses were stolen by Indians, probably Sheep Eaters or Crows, and he was obliged to return to Fort Benton on foot, carrying his scanty possessions on his back. He used to say that the Indians of those days regarded the Yellowstone park as sacred ground, and that they used to boil antelope in a hot spring and considered that food their most powerful medicine in sickness. On the plains with Charles was a brother, Roque Chouquette, who many years ago was frozen to death between Fort Benton and Sun River. Roque Chouquette was travelling in company with Major Vaughn, then agent of the Montana Blackfeet. A great storm came on and Roque was sent to look for shelter and never returned. This was about the winter of 1857. His bones were found the following spring. In the year 1855, when Governor Stevens made the first great treaty with the upper Missouri Indians - Blackfeet, Gros Ventres, Assiniboines, Crows and Sioux - Charles Chouquette was one of the interpreters during the eight days of the counciling. Before this he had chosen a wife and made his home among the warlike Blackfeet on the upper Missouri and Marias rivers, and here and among these people he died as he had lived. One of his daughters, Louise, married the late Charles Aubrey, long known in northern Montana political and business circles and long a correspondent of Forest and Stream. Another daughter married John Wren, a familiar figure in Fort Benton and Choteau county in the days of the buffalo, the steamboat, and the bull team. Another married R. Morgan. Two sons, Charles and Antoine, live today on the Blackfoot Indian reservation.
"Charles Chouquette came to the plains when might was right and the will of the strongest was the only law. He lived there for two generations of people, 67 years elapsed from the time when he reached old Fort Union until that day when he started on the long trail from which travelers do not return."
•Although the author of this article is not identified, it is almost certain that it was written by George Bird Grinnell, the longtime editor of 'Forest and Stream' and the often times visitor to Montana, especially the Blackfeet Reservation.
Contributor: RunninonMT (49509864)
'The Dillon Tribune,' Dillon, MT
20 October 1911, page 10:
LIVED IN MONTANA FOR 67 YEARS.
From Forest and Stream.
"Charles Chouquette, old timer, voyageur, trapper, interpreter and scout, died recently at his home on the Blackfeet Indian reservation in Northwestern Montana. He had lived in what is now Montana for almost the allotted span of a man's life, and had witnessed all the changes that more than three score years had brought. During his long life he was honest, sober, industrious, reliable, highly thought of by his neighbors and friends; equally esteemed by the bourgeois of the fur company for whom he might work, the chief of the Indian tribes among whom his work lay, or the superintendent of the Indian school on the reservation.
Native of St. Louis. "Charles Chouquette was born in St. Louis, February 18, 1822, the very year in which the town received its charter as a city. Its population was still largely French. It was already the center of an important fur trade, which was constantly growing greater. This fur trade, though well established out over the plains, had not long before begun to extend up the Missouri river. Of the French population of St. Louis, many of the strongest, most courageous and best of the young men took service with the fur traders. Among these was Charles Chouquette, who, at the age of 21, became an employe of the American Fur company, and in 1843 set out for the west, reaching Fort Union in 1844, 'the year of the high water,' as he used to call it. Not long after Charles Chouquette reached Fort Union came the terrible small pox, when the Indians gathered about the post and died there in appalling numbers. The emoployes of the fort buried them as they could, but at last, when freezing weather came, it was impossible to dig trenches for this purpose, and the bodies were stacked up like cord wood to await the return of spring and the thawing of the ground.
Hot and Thrilling Experiences. "During his residence at Fort Union Charles Chouquette was often chosen for tasks of difficulty and danger. He often carried dispatches from Fort Union to the nearest post to the eastward and the stories that he told of night rides in summer and of foot journeys in winter, when dogs carried packs of mail, were of extraordinary interest. After years of service at the mouth of the Yellowstone, he moved up the Missouri to Fort Benton, and later lived at Sun River and Choteau. After a time he left the service of the fur company and became a free trapper, following that vocation during the season when furs were prime, and after the fur season closed occupying himself with other pursuits. In one of his trapping journeys he wandered into the then unknown Yellowstone park. Here or near here his horses were stolen by Indians, probably Sheep Eaters or Crows, and he was obliged to return to Fort Benton on foot, carrying his scanty possessions on his back. He used to say that the Indians of those days regarded the Yellowstone park as sacred ground, and that they used to boil antelope in a hot spring and considered that food their most powerful medicine in sickness. On the plains with Charles was a brother, Roque Chouquette, who many years ago was frozen to death between Fort Benton and Sun River. Roque Chouquette was travelling in company with Major Vaughn, then agent of the Montana Blackfeet. A great storm came on and Roque was sent to look for shelter and never returned. This was about the winter of 1857. His bones were found the following spring. In the year 1855, when Governor Stevens made the first great treaty with the upper Missouri Indians - Blackfeet, Gros Ventres, Assiniboines, Crows and Sioux - Charles Chouquette was one of the interpreters during the eight days of the counciling. Before this he had chosen a wife and made his home among the warlike Blackfeet on the upper Missouri and Marias rivers, and here and among these people he died as he had lived. One of his daughters, Louise, married the late Charles Aubrey, long known in northern Montana political and business circles and long a correspondent of Forest and Stream. Another daughter married John Wren, a familiar figure in Fort Benton and Choteau county in the days of the buffalo, the steamboat, and the bull team. Another married R. Morgan. Two sons, Charles and Antoine, live today on the Blackfoot Indian reservation.
"Charles Chouquette came to the plains when might was right and the will of the strongest was the only law. He lived there for two generations of people, 67 years elapsed from the time when he reached old Fort Union until that day when he started on the long trail from which travelers do not return."
•Although the author of this article is not identified, it is almost certain that it was written by George Bird Grinnell, the longtime editor of 'Forest and Stream' and the often times visitor to Montana, especially the Blackfeet Reservation.
Contributor: RunninonMT (49509864)
In 1844 he signed on with Pierre Choutreau and brought a boatload of goods to Ft Union. In April of 1849 he and James Bridger fought an Indian battle at the site of what is now Great Falls, Montana. He was connected with the American Fur Company until 1863. He later built the first house on the site of Ft Benton, Montana and in 1871 the first house in Chouteau County outside of Fort Benton. Later in life he ranched near Browning, Montana where he married an Indian woman and fathered six children.
'The Dillon Tribune,' Dillon, MT
20 October 1911, page 10:
LIVED IN MONTANA FOR 67 YEARS.
From Forest and Stream.
"Charles Chouquette, old timer, voyageur, trapper, interpreter and scout, died recently at his home on the Blackfeet Indian reservation in Northwestern Montana. He had lived in what is now Montana for almost the allotted span of a man's life, and had witnessed all the changes that more than three score years had brought. During his long life he was honest, sober, industrious, reliable, highly thought of by his neighbors and friends; equally esteemed by the bourgeois of the fur company for whom he might work, the chief of the Indian tribes among whom his work lay, or the superintendent of the Indian school on the reservation.
Native of St. Louis. "Charles Chouquette was born in St. Louis, February 18, 1822, the very year in which the town received its charter as a city. Its population was still largely French. It was already the center of an important fur trade, which was constantly growing greater. This fur trade, though well established out over the plains, had not long before begun to extend up the Missouri river. Of the French population of St. Louis, many of the strongest, most courageous and best of the young men took service with the fur traders. Among these was Charles Chouquette, who, at the age of 21, became an employe of the American Fur company, and in 1843 set out for the west, reaching Fort Union in 1844, 'the year of the high water,' as he used to call it. Not long after Charles Chouquette reached Fort Union came the terrible small pox, when the Indians gathered about the post and died there in appalling numbers. The emoployes of the fort buried them as they could, but at last, when freezing weather came, it was impossible to dig trenches for this purpose, and the bodies were stacked up like cord wood to await the return of spring and the thawing of the ground.
Hot and Thrilling Experiences. "During his residence at Fort Union Charles Chouquette was often chosen for tasks of difficulty and danger. He often carried dispatches from Fort Union to the nearest post to the eastward and the stories that he told of night rides in summer and of foot journeys in winter, when dogs carried packs of mail, were of extraordinary interest. After years of service at the mouth of the Yellowstone, he moved up the Missouri to Fort Benton, and later lived at Sun River and Choteau. After a time he left the service of the fur company and became a free trapper, following that vocation during the season when furs were prime, and after the fur season closed occupying himself with other pursuits. In one of his trapping journeys he wandered into the then unknown Yellowstone park. Here or near here his horses were stolen by Indians, probably Sheep Eaters or Crows, and he was obliged to return to Fort Benton on foot, carrying his scanty possessions on his back. He used to say that the Indians of those days regarded the Yellowstone park as sacred ground, and that they used to boil antelope in a hot spring and considered that food their most powerful medicine in sickness. On the plains with Charles was a brother, Roque Chouquette, who many years ago was frozen to death between Fort Benton and Sun River. Roque Chouquette was travelling in company with Major Vaughn, then agent of the Montana Blackfeet. A great storm came on and Roque was sent to look for shelter and never returned. This was about the winter of 1857. His bones were found the following spring. In the year 1855, when Governor Stevens made the first great treaty with the upper Missouri Indians - Blackfeet, Gros Ventres, Assiniboines, Crows and Sioux - Charles Chouquette was one of the interpreters during the eight days of the counciling. Before this he had chosen a wife and made his home among the warlike Blackfeet on the upper Missouri and Marias rivers, and here and among these people he died as he had lived. One of his daughters, Louise, married the late Charles Aubrey, long known in northern Montana political and business circles and long a correspondent of Forest and Stream. Another daughter married John Wren, a familiar figure in Fort Benton and Choteau county in the days of the buffalo, the steamboat, and the bull team. Another married R. Morgan. Two sons, Charles and Antoine, live today on the Blackfoot Indian reservation.
"Charles Chouquette came to the plains when might was right and the will of the strongest was the only law. He lived there for two generations of people, 67 years elapsed from the time when he reached old Fort Union until that day when he started on the long trail from which travelers do not return."
•Although the author of this article is not identified, it is almost certain that it was written by George Bird Grinnell, the longtime editor of 'Forest and Stream' and the often times visitor to Montana, especially the Blackfeet Reservation.
Contributor: RunninonMT (49509864)
'The Dillon Tribune,' Dillon, MT
20 October 1911, page 10:
LIVED IN MONTANA FOR 67 YEARS.
From Forest and Stream.
"Charles Chouquette, old timer, voyageur, trapper, interpreter and scout, died recently at his home on the Blackfeet Indian reservation in Northwestern Montana. He had lived in what is now Montana for almost the allotted span of a man's life, and had witnessed all the changes that more than three score years had brought. During his long life he was honest, sober, industrious, reliable, highly thought of by his neighbors and friends; equally esteemed by the bourgeois of the fur company for whom he might work, the chief of the Indian tribes among whom his work lay, or the superintendent of the Indian school on the reservation.
Native of St. Louis. "Charles Chouquette was born in St. Louis, February 18, 1822, the very year in which the town received its charter as a city. Its population was still largely French. It was already the center of an important fur trade, which was constantly growing greater. This fur trade, though well established out over the plains, had not long before begun to extend up the Missouri river. Of the French population of St. Louis, many of the strongest, most courageous and best of the young men took service with the fur traders. Among these was Charles Chouquette, who, at the age of 21, became an employe of the American Fur company, and in 1843 set out for the west, reaching Fort Union in 1844, 'the year of the high water,' as he used to call it. Not long after Charles Chouquette reached Fort Union came the terrible small pox, when the Indians gathered about the post and died there in appalling numbers. The emoployes of the fort buried them as they could, but at last, when freezing weather came, it was impossible to dig trenches for this purpose, and the bodies were stacked up like cord wood to await the return of spring and the thawing of the ground.
Hot and Thrilling Experiences. "During his residence at Fort Union Charles Chouquette was often chosen for tasks of difficulty and danger. He often carried dispatches from Fort Union to the nearest post to the eastward and the stories that he told of night rides in summer and of foot journeys in winter, when dogs carried packs of mail, were of extraordinary interest. After years of service at the mouth of the Yellowstone, he moved up the Missouri to Fort Benton, and later lived at Sun River and Choteau. After a time he left the service of the fur company and became a free trapper, following that vocation during the season when furs were prime, and after the fur season closed occupying himself with other pursuits. In one of his trapping journeys he wandered into the then unknown Yellowstone park. Here or near here his horses were stolen by Indians, probably Sheep Eaters or Crows, and he was obliged to return to Fort Benton on foot, carrying his scanty possessions on his back. He used to say that the Indians of those days regarded the Yellowstone park as sacred ground, and that they used to boil antelope in a hot spring and considered that food their most powerful medicine in sickness. On the plains with Charles was a brother, Roque Chouquette, who many years ago was frozen to death between Fort Benton and Sun River. Roque Chouquette was travelling in company with Major Vaughn, then agent of the Montana Blackfeet. A great storm came on and Roque was sent to look for shelter and never returned. This was about the winter of 1857. His bones were found the following spring. In the year 1855, when Governor Stevens made the first great treaty with the upper Missouri Indians - Blackfeet, Gros Ventres, Assiniboines, Crows and Sioux - Charles Chouquette was one of the interpreters during the eight days of the counciling. Before this he had chosen a wife and made his home among the warlike Blackfeet on the upper Missouri and Marias rivers, and here and among these people he died as he had lived. One of his daughters, Louise, married the late Charles Aubrey, long known in northern Montana political and business circles and long a correspondent of Forest and Stream. Another daughter married John Wren, a familiar figure in Fort Benton and Choteau county in the days of the buffalo, the steamboat, and the bull team. Another married R. Morgan. Two sons, Charles and Antoine, live today on the Blackfoot Indian reservation.
"Charles Chouquette came to the plains when might was right and the will of the strongest was the only law. He lived there for two generations of people, 67 years elapsed from the time when he reached old Fort Union until that day when he started on the long trail from which travelers do not return."
•Although the author of this article is not identified, it is almost certain that it was written by George Bird Grinnell, the longtime editor of 'Forest and Stream' and the often times visitor to Montana, especially the Blackfeet Reservation.
Contributor: RunninonMT (49509864)
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