the 1820s. Through his profits from the company, John Jacob Astor made numerous, lucrative land investments and became the richest man in the world and the first multi-millionaire in the United States. The German-born Astor is ranked as the eighteenth-wealthiest person of all time, and the eighth to create his fortune in the United States. He used part of his fortune to found the Astor Library in New York City. Later it merged with the Lenox Library to form the New York Public Library. On the frontier, the American Fur Company opened the way for the settlement and economic development of the Midwestern and Western United States. Mountain men working for the company improved Native American trails and carved others that led settlers into the West. Many cities in the Midwest and West, such as Fort Benton, Montana, and Astoria, Oregon developed around American Fur Company trading posts. The company played a major role in the development and expansion of the young United States. See also North American fur trade Fur trade in Montana References Bibliography Cochrane, Timothy (2018), Gichi Bitobig, Grand Marais: Early Accounts of the Anishinaabeg and the North Shore Fur Trade. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. External links American Fur Company collection, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library Fur trade History of United States expansionism American companies established in 1808 Defunct companies of the United States 1808 establishments in New York (state) Economic history of the United States