Liguest, Pierre Laclede, one of the founders of St. Louis, Mo., was born in France in 1724, and at the age of thirty-one years came to New Orleans, where he engaged in business as a merchant. In 1762 he obtained a license from the governor of Louisiana giving him the exclusive right to trade in furs with the Indians in the Missouri valley. Under this license the firm of Maxent & Co. was organized, and in Feb., 1764, he established his headquarters where the city of St. Louis now stands. For several years he carried on a profitable trade in furs, establishing posts at various points in the Indian country. He died on June 20, 1778, near the mouth of the Arkansas river, while returning to St. Louis from New Orleans. There has been some question as to his correct name. Sometimes it appears as Pierre Liguest Laclede, at others as Pierre Laclede Liguest. Sharp's History of St. Louis, says: "In fourteen instances in which the name occurs in the archives it is written 'Pierre Laclede Liguest.' In the body of legal instruments, whether drawn by himself or a notary, this is the almost uniform orthography. But whenever 'Laclede signed his name to a document, the signature is universally 'Laclede Liguest.'"

Hyde & Conard's Cyclopedia of St. Louis says: "While a resident of New Orleans Laclede contracted a civil marriage with Therese Chouteau, who had separated from a former husband, and who was denied divorcement by the Catholic church. Four children were born to this union, but all of these children, upon confirmation in the church, took the name of the mother, and hence none of Laclede's descendants bears his name."