Richard Chute was born September 23, 1820, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the son of James Chute (1788-1834) and his wife Martha Hewes Clapp. James Chute initially was a school teacher but later became a Presbyterian minister, moving his family to Columbus, Ohio. In 1831 the family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Chute's parents both died by the time he was 15 years old.

In 1841 Chute went to work as a clerk for W. G. and G. W. Ewing, Fort Wayne, Indiana-based buyers of furs and skins. In 1844 the firm sent him to build a fur trading post along the Minnesota River about eight miles above Fort Snelling. In 1845 he became a partner with the Ewings, and the name of the firm became Ewing, Chute & Co. A few years later he became involved in the fur business with P. Choteau, Jr., & Co. In 1854 Chute moved to St. Anthony, Minnesota, where he engaged in the real estate business. He was also for many years associated with, and an owner of, the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company. After retiring from the company in 1880 he spent time in Washington, Atlanta, Hawaii, and elsewhere. Chute died in Chicago of heart disease on August 1, 1893. He was survived by brothers James Thurston and Samuel Hewes Chute (1830-1913), both of Minneapolis, and sisters Sarah R. Chamberlain, Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Alex Sharp, Brooklyn, New York.

Richard Chute married Mary Eliza Young (1832-1918) in 1850. They had five children: Charles Richard, Minnie Olive, Mary Welcome, Will Young, and Grace Fairchild. It was claimed that Charles was the first student enrolled at the University of Minnesota.

Richard Chute was an organizer of the Republican Party in Minnesota (1855), a regent of the University of Minnesota (1876-1882), a president of the Minneapolis Board of Trade (1880), and an elder in the Andrew Presbyterian Church.

The St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company was incorporated in 1856, although it had been operating informally for a few years prior to this. The company controlled the water power on the east side of the Mississippi River at the Falls of St. Anthony. The east bank land was at that time owned by Franklin Steele, Thomas E. Davis, John F. Sanford, and Frederick C. Gebhard. Chute and John S. Prince of St. Paul purchased a one-eighth interest in the property from Steele. Chute's interest in the company eventually grew much larger, and by 1875 he and his brother Samuel held a one-half interest in the company. Chute became agent of the company and manager of the property in 1856, and served as its president from 1868 to 1880. During these years a dam was built, sawmills erected, flumes excavated, and mills and factories located on the east bank of the river. The Chute brothers sold the stock of the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company to James J. Hill and his Great Northern Railway Company associates in 1880. Hill, in turn, managed and controlled the company until it was merged into the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company.

In 1865 Richard Chute formed a business partnership with his brother, Dr. Samuel H. Chute. Chute Brothers described themselves as "dealers in real estate, mill sites, and water power," and by the late 1870s also as "Agency of St. Anthony Falls Water-Power Co." Around 1890 the name of the firm was apparently changed to Chute Brothers Company, "dealers in real estate." These firms were involved in major business deals with New York investors Frederick Butterfield and John E. Andrus. Other family real estate businesses included Chute Realty Company (established by 1903); Samuel H. Chute Company (established by 1910); and L. P. & F. B. Chute (established by 1897), which was actually a Minneapolis law firm that specialized in real estate matters.