The History of Fur Trapping

Beaver pelts were in great demand for gentlemen's hats.

Since the early days of man, animal pelts have been valued for clothing and were traded between different tribes. Russia was the main source of fur pelts until the discovery of North America. By 1578, European explorers traveled along the eastern coast trading hatchets, knives and beads for furs and meat. As small settlements developed around the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, Indians brought pelts to trade for cloth, blankets, tools and guns. The prospect of wealth attracted many Europeans who formed trading companies in fierce competition for land and trapping privileges. The fur trade promoted early exploration of North America.

French Explorers 1600-1760

Indians trapped beaver to trade their pelts for blankets, beads, knives.

By 1599, Champlain, LaSalle and other French explorers, seeking inland routes, expanded trade with Indians, collecting “beaver wool,” prized by Paris hat makers. Trading increased as the demand for beaver pelts grew and the Hudson Bay Company, formed by a group of English merchants, sent shiploads to Europe. Quebec, founded in 1608 by Champlain, grew into a major trading center as the French expanded their control of the Great Lakes into Canada and explored the Mississippi River.

French & Indian War 1754

The Great Lakes were important fur trapping areas.

Bitter conflicts developed between French and British trappers over trading rights between the Mississippi and the Allegheny Mountains. In 1754, these disputes erupted into the French and Indian War, which Great Britain won in 1763. Britain gained control of France’s colonial empire and trading rights. Furs were sent to London instead of Paris.

Effects of the American Revolution

Around 1670, in the southern colonies, deerskin was an important trade item.

War began in 1774, sending traders north and west, away from the conflict. In 1783, the North West Company was formed to compete with Hudson Bay Company (HBC). Western expansion was the goal as both laid claim to lands in Canada and Montana. North West put trading boats on the Great Lakes and in 1793, Alexander Mackenzie became the first to cross the continent, reaching the Pacific. HBC built its Columbia River headquarters at Fort Vancouver, Washington as Russia established the Russian-American Company in 1799 in what would become Alaska.

Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and the War of 1812

Mountain men held their annual rendezvous west of the Continental Divide.

This land purchase increased the United States by 828,800 square miles, fueling exploration. Lewis and Clark set off in 1803 to find an easier route to the Pacific and to gather information about the acquisition. The War of 1812 disrupted trade across the continent and, at its end, the U.S. re-claimed lands that had been occupied by the British and forbade foreign traders to operate in American territory. North West withdrew and merged with HBC. Jacob Astor, William Ashley formed trading companies and hired white frontiersmen to trap. These “mountain men” ventured far into the Rocky Mountains and held an annual gathering, a “rendezvous,” where they sold furs and bought supplies for the coming year.

Decline of Fur Trapping and the Westward Expansion

Mountain men guided settlers across the mountains to Oregon, California, Utah.

The fur trade began to gradually decline as the European demand for pelts dropped, land was cleared and towns grew up around wilderness trading posts. The value of beaver fur dropped sharply in the 1830’s when gentlemen switched to silk hats. Mountain men became guides for wagon trains headed west to Oregon, California and Utah and, by 1870, most fur trapping ended.

References

• PCMAF(Powell County Museum & Arts Foundation): The Fur Trade
• Whiteoak: Time Line- A Brief History of the Fur Trade
• Montana Trappers: Hudson's Bay Company
• History: This Day in History.Old West-Ashley's fur trappers attacked by Indians
• Oklahoma Historical Society: Fur Trappers and Traders