Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
May 10, 1805
Primary Source Reference:
Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 5
Additional Source Text:
"Presented to Mr. Jefferson by Messrs Boilevin and Peter Chouteau"
Notes:
These ores were among many items sent by Lewis and Clark to Thomas Jefferson, including maps and a horned lizard (also sent by Jefferson to Peale), on 18 May 1804. Founders Online, National Archives / https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-43-02-0340
Mine à Breton (or Berton), now Potosi, Missouri, was part of a large tract of land containing lead deposits. It developed a reputation for yielding exceptionally rich ore, and its operations had recently been upgraded by American émigré Moses Austin (1761-1821).
A Nicholas Boilevin unsuccessfully petitioned the U.S. Senate in 1816 for compensation for losses suffered at the hands of Indians and the British during the War of 1812.
Pierre Chouteau and his half-brother Auguste Chouteau were active in the western fur and Indian trades. He traveled to Washington with a delegation of Osage leaders, arriving on 11 July 1804.
