Bernard Pratte
Bernard Pratte Jr. was an American businessman and politician. He served the eighth mayor of St. Louis, between 1844 and 1846.
Early life and business career
Pratte was born on December 17, 1803, in St. Louis. He was the second son of General Bernard Pratte Sr. and his wife, Emilie Sauver. Bernard Sr. was a fur trader and officer in the War of 1812, who was later appointed a judge in the Missouri Territory.Pratte was the first person born in St. Louis after the Louisiana Purchase. Of French descent, he was a member of the Chouteau Family through his mother's side. Pratte attended St. Louis schools until age 15, when he was sent to Georgetown, Kentucky.
Pratte returned to St. Louis in 1821, and worked for his family's steamboat business, Bernard Pratte & Co. In 1832, he and Pierre Chouteau Jr. drove a steamboat through the Missouri River, to the mouth of to Yellowstone River, the first to do so. In 1833, Bernard Pratte & Co. was dissolved and succeeded by Mulligan & Pratte, which he worked as a steamboat operator for until 1838. In 1841, he and Jean Charles Cabanné founded a competitor to Chouteau's steamboat business, which by 1845, ran Choutea's business out of St. Louis. He served as director of the Bank of the State of Missouri some time after serving as mayor of St. Louis.