Included in this collection are items representing the operations of several of Chouteau's predecessor companies as well as records of the later firm. Of particular note is a letter from Pierre Menard to Pierre Chouteau (April 21, 1810), written from the Three Forks of the Missouri, describing an attack on Menard's party by a group of Blackfeet. The two journals in the collection were kept by employees of the Choteau Company while operating from posts in what is now Montana. The Fort Benton journal (September 28, 1854 - November 30, 1856) was primarily kept by Andrew Dawson (1818-1871), but also by Alexander Rose, during May-October, 1856. The entries detail daily life and trading at Fort Benton, the Company's primary post for trade with the Blackfeet tribes at the head of navigation on the Missouri River. The James Chambers journal (January 1855-August 1856) reflects primarily the activity at Fort Sarpy, principal company post for fur trade with the Crows, but also includes entries from Fort Union and Fort Benton. Chambers' journal is also a detailed description of the life of the traders of the era. With the original journals are various transcripts, notes, indices, and miscellany, produced when the volumes were edited for publication in Vol. X (1940) of Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, done by Society Library staff members John B. Ritchie and Anne McDonnell. Also included are copies of correspondence by chief agents at Fort Union for the American Fur Company (1834-1835) and post inventories representing operations of the Chouteau firm. All of the copies in this group come from the collections of the Missouri Historical Society.