Fort Pierre in Stanley County, South Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
American Indians and the Fur Trade
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 18, 2016
1. American Indians and the Fur Trade Marker
The fur trade worked thanks to American Indians. They harvested buffalo and other furbearers and bartered them to white traders. For a time, this system benefited both the traders and American Indians.
Traders relied on the American Indians to bring in large quantities of furs to places like Fort Pierre Chouteau and its many outposts. In central South Dakota, the Arikara and Sioux supplied most of the buffalo robes and furs to the traders. The local tribes knew the land, were familiar with seasonal movements of game, and were expert hunters and hide preservers. It was more profitable to provide rifles, traps, and knives to American Indians than to hunt and trap them on their own.
American Indians would trade furs for European items such as knives, guns, and beads. With resources depleted, the fur trade was all but over in the 1860s. Its legacies, both positive and negative, remain.
Images courtesy of the South Dakota State Historical Society.
Erected by The South Dakota State Historical Society, a Preserve America grant, and the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Corporation.
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Industry & Commerce.
Location. 44° 22.042′ N, 100° 22.305′ W. Marker is in Fort Pierre, South Dakota, in Stanley County. It can be reached from Island Drive 0.3 miles south of U.S. 83, on the right when traveling north. Marker is located along the river walk, east of Island Drive, overlooking the Missouri River. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 312 Island Drive, Fort Pierre SD 57532, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in East River. It is also in the American Lewis & Clark Corridor, on the prairies, and on the Northern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Ruperts Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Old Deadwood Trail (approx. 0.2 miles away); John C. Waldron (approx. 0.2 miles away); Bad Humored Island / Perils Along The Way (approx. Ό mile away); South Dakota Railroads (approx. 0.4 miles away); Steamboats on the Missouri (approx. 0.4 miles away); Exploring the Lewis & Clark Trail (approx. 0.4 miles away); Pierre's First School (approx. 0.4 miles away); Pierre (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fort Pierre.
More about this marker. Marker is a large composite plaque, mounted horizontally on waist-high posts.
Also see . . .
1. American Fur Trade. The Fur Trapper website homepage:
Native American Indians were the major source of beaver pelts
Sketch by W M. Cary, Harpers Weekly 1868
2. Marker detail: Fur-traders on the Missouri attacked by Indians
The greed of the fur trade destroyed the indigenous way of life on the northern plains and soured relations between American Indians and non-Indians.
2. Fort Pierre Chouteau, South Dakota Largest Trading Post on the Great Plains. Legends of America website entry (Submitted on June 17, 2024, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 18, 2016
3. American Indians and the Fur Trade Marker (wide view; looking north across Missouri River)
Credits. This page was last revised on June 17, 2024. It was originally submitted on October 5, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 572 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 7, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
