Jules de Mun

Julius "Jules" de Mun (1782–1843) was a 19th-century French-American fur trader.[1]

Early life

De Mun was born in Port-au-Prince, Saint-Domingue to an aristocratic family originating from the Southwest of France.[2] He was educated in Paris, before moving to St. Louis in 1800.[3]

Trading career

In September 1815, de Mun went with Auguste Pierre Chouteau and his brother Pierre Chouteau Jr. to the Rocky Mountains on an expedition, to trade horses with the Arapahos and Comanche tribes. After a while, however, the trade began to dwindle and they ceased operations.[4] While trading in Mexico, de Mun was imprisoned alongside A. P. Chouteau for 48 days in Santa Fe, leading the group to file a claim against the Mexican government for confiscated goods worth $30,000.[5][6] Payment for the claim was not obtained until 1851, through an act of Congress.[7][8]

In 1817, de Mun opened a trading business with Auguste Pierre Chouteau in St. Louis, known as A. P. Chouteau, de Mun & Co., or Chouteau, De Mun & Sarpy. On 14 September 1818, de Mun dropped out of the business.[9]

Post-trading career and death

In 1820, de Mun moved with his family to Cuba, where he had purchased a large coffee plantation. They returned to St. Louis in 1831 and De Mun was made recorder of deeds for the county. De Mun died in 1843, leaving his property to his wife.[10]

Family

In 1812, de Mun married Isabella Gratiot, the daughter of Charles Gratiot Sr. and Victoire Chouteau and the granddaughter of Pierre Laclède, the founder of Saint Louis (Missouri); they had three daughters.

References
  1. Hafen, LeRoy Reuben (1982). Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West: Eighteen Biographical Sketches. U of Nebraska Press. p. 376. ISBN 0803272103. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  2. Clay, Henry (2015). The Papers of Henry Clay: Secretary of State, 1825. University Press of Kentucky. p. 325. ISBN 9780813156705. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  3. Hunter, Julius K. (1988). Westmoreland and Portland Places: The History and Architecture of America's Premier Private Streets, 1888-1988. University of Missouri Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780826206770. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  4. Flores, Dan (2008). "Bringing Home All the Pretty Horses: THE HORSE TRADE AND THE EARLY AMERICAN WEST, 1775-1825". Montana The Magazine of Western History. 58 (2): 19.
  5. Hafen, p. 30. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  6. Hafen, LeRoy Reuben; Lecompte, Janet (1997). French Fur Traders and Voyageurs in the American West. U of Nebraska Press. p. 101. ISBN 0803273029. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  7. Hafen, p. 46. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  8. Christian, Shirley (10 September 2000). "A Corner of New France". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  9. Hafen and Lecompete, p. 104. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  10. Hunter, p. 27. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
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