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.

Originally published: New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Among a people of strange speech --The first generation : Pierre Laclède Liguest -- Haughty children of the middle waters -- The business of St. Louis -- Auguste and Pierre, greatly loved and greatly feared -- New rulers, new ways -- Intrigues and possibilities -- Enveloped in a cloud of miseries -- Dreaming big--and stumbling -- The third generation -- Auguste and Pierre : men of property -- Pierre Jr. : gentle creole, driven tycoon -- A.P. Chouteau : star-crossed hero -- François and Bérénice : together to a new place -- Pierre Jr. : position, advantage, and perhaps vanity.