| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.1

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 218 words from this article are provided below; about 341 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Fort Union and the Upper Missouri Fur Trade. By Barton H. Barbour. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. xvi, 304 pp. $34.95, ISBN 0-8061-3295-7.)

Seeking to extend its influence over the lucrative upper Missouri River region, in 1829 the Western Department of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company began building a large trading post just above the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers. Soon to be known as Fort Union, the palisaded fort eventually featured large stone bastions protruding from two corners and an elaborate bourgeois house in its interior. In 1834, Astor's retirement allowed the powerful Chouteau family of St. Louis to buy out the Western Department, including Fort Union. Under the banner of Pratte, Chouteau, & Company and its successor, Pierre Chouteau Jr. & Company, Fort Union was the region's most important fur-trading post for the next three decades. 1

Barton H. Barbour's new study addresses the history of this strategic post within an impressively broad context. Fairly traditional discussions of the upper Missouri fur trade (whose profits stemmed from trapping expeditions, the Indian trade, and government contracts), the construction of the post itself, and the scientists, explorers, artists, and missionaries who passed through Fort Union's walls are followed by chapters on society, Indian policy, the company's competitors, and its ultimate demise. . . .

There are about 341 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.