More Information on Joseph Robidoux III:

Joseph Robidoux III was the eldest son of a large family, born in St. Louis on August 10, 1783. His father was active in the fur trade along the Upper Missouri River with the Iowa, Pawnee, Oto and Omaha tribes. When still a young man Joseph ventured out to the family trading post, which was located in the vicinity of present-day St. Joseph, Missouri. He married Eugenie Deslisle in 1800, but she died soon after the birth of their son Joseph Robidoux IV in 1803. Joseph Robidoux III returned to the family trading post and in 1805 fathered a daughter by an Indian woman there. Joseph's father, died in 1809, and Joseph III became the family patriarch, directing a large fur trade operation which continued to venture further and further west. He married Angelique Vaudry of St. Louis in 1814, and had eight children by her. He also had numerous offspring by Indian women of the Oto and Iowa tribes. During the early years of the fur trade Robidoux and his family were ruthless competitors, notorious for supplying liquor to the Indians to gain the favor of their trade. Robidoux became involved in trade on the Santa Fe Trail soon after it was opened in 1821. He was the oldest and most prominent citizen in St. Joseph, Missouri when that town was founded, and had a part of the trade of outfitting pioneers for the Oregon and California trails in the 1840s. Joseph Robidoux III died in his home in St. Louis (Another home, not the one in Block 6) on May 27, 1868, at age 84.