Fur Trade Update (6 MAY)

This is an update from John Jenkins dated 6 May 24. There are some figures shown that have not been released yet.

Note these photos show many previous releases but are not an indicator that they are still available. 

Mountain Men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to

the 1880’s, with a peak in the 1830’s. Approximately 3,000 mountain men ranged the mountains between
1820 and 1840, the peak beaver harvesting period.
Whilst there were many free trappers most mountain men were employed by major fur companies. The
life of a company man was almost militarized. The men had mess groups, hunted and trapped in brigades
and always reported to the head of the trapping party, who was known as a “boosway”, which was a
bastardization of the French term bourgeois.

(note 4 figures on left not released yet)
The image of the lone trapper taking his leave of “civilization” and daringly plunging into the wilderness to
meet grizzly bears, harsh winters, mountain lions, and American Indians has sparked the imaginations of
millions. Stripped of its romanticism, the fur trade was a hard business, and its labor force was as
overworked, underpaid, and subject to hardships as any other nineteenth century occupation. Bent over
by the strains of their livelihood, few trappers remained in the business past the age of forty.

(future release)
Of those who decided to enter the fur trade business, many failed in their attempts to garner profits. 
However, those with enough experience, ability, and luck were often able to make a decent
living. Acquiring furs and transporting them to eastern markets presented a logistical nightmare.  Moving
pack trains of supplies into the mountains, and returning with bales of furs, was an incredible task.  The
thousand-mile trek through inhospitable western plains, rugged mountain passes, and lands claimed by
occasionally unfriendly American Indians often invited tragedy.
Carefully packed for weight and balance, a trade bale weighed approximately 90 pounds (41kg).

(the fire and man with arms outstretched not released yet)

     Another important economic dynamic of the fur trade was the depletion of the beaver which resulted
from over-harvesting. 
In 1793 alone, more than 182,000 beaver pelts were shipped via the Grand Portage—a volume that was
unsustainable and detrimental to the North American beaver population.

It has long been a tradition to view the environment as if resources were unlimited, and many business-
minded merchants and trappers were determined to extract any resource that was easily exploitable. 
This attitude of short-term exploitation flourished during the fur trade and persisted after 1840, as the
focus shifted from furs to minerals, timber, grass, land, and water.  Over trapping led to the virtual
extermination of the beavers; their exhaustion and the simultaneous decline in the popularity of beaver fur
hats, replaced by fashionable silk ones, brought an end to an era.
     As they gathered furs, the trappers worked hand-in-hand, and sometimes competed, with American
Indian tribes who had their own cultural traditions and distinct points of view.  On the western plains and

Rocky Mountains, the two very different cultures exchanged trade goods, but also ideas.  As they came
together in this wilderness, each culture would have to adapt to the other’s presence.
     These two very different cultural legacies collided on the western frontier. Yet each accepted
innovations from the other which suited their needs. The traders adopted American Indian foods, clothing,
language, and geographic knowledge. Trappers and traders frequently took native wives, both to secure
a helpmate and to solidify trading relations with specific tribes.  The American Indians, in turn, welcomed
manufactured trade goods such as iron awls and pots, beads, guns, and knives.  Plains Indians
expanded their production of bison robes to meet the new demands. In the long run, the exchange of
robes for manufactured goods created a one-sided trade relationship. Many American Indians became
dependent upon European-American trade goods, while others fought with each other for control of the
hunting grounds.  The effects of disease introduced by the European Americans seriously strained their
social and cultural traditions.  The strains created by the fur trade sometimes led to brief but violent
conflict. Yet the traders and American Indians who exchanged goods and ideas had to meet on peaceful
terms in order for the process to take place.
     The fur trade and the knowledge exchanged between these two cultures would also lead to further
settlement of the West.  By the end of the fur trade era, the American population was ready to move west
in search of new opportunities.  Due to the fur trade, the migrating pioneers ventured into a landscape
that was well charted, and one about which a great deal was known.  Military explorers and settlers alike
hired retired trappers and traders to guide them to their Western destinations. One of the major
achievements of the fur trade was the conversion of the trapper’s geographic knowledge, much of which
was learned from various American Indian tribes, onto maps.  In this sense, the trappers and traders of
the 1820s and 1830s represented the vanguard of the great western migrations of the 1840s and beyond.

The Rendezvous was an annual gathering, at various locations held by a fur trading company at which
trappers and mountain men sold their furs and hides and replenished their supplies.
Held every summer, the trappers came together for the Rendezvous (pronounced “Rondy-Voo”) It was a
celebration like Christmas, New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July all rolled into one.
The large fur companies put together teamster driven mule trains which packed in whiskey and supplies
into a pre-announced location each spring/summer and set up a trading fair- the Rendezvous.
Not only was the Rendezvous a place where the trappers could sell and trade their furs for all sorts of
commodities, such as clothing, saddles, bridles, tobacco, and whiskey ,but it was a place to meet traders
who might wish to engage their services for the coming year. 

These Rendezvous were known to be lively, joyous places, where all were welcome, fur trappers,
Indians, native trapper wives, and children, travellers, and even tourists who would venture from as far as
Europe to observe the festivities.
By the mid-1830s, the annual event would attract up to 500 men.
They were described as events “full of myrth, songs, dancing, shouting, trading, running, singing, racing,
target-shooting, yarns, frolics, with all sorts of extravagances that white men or Indians could invent!”
These events include many of the activities that were necessary for survival, centering on shooting,
guns and shotguns; throwing knives and tomahawks; primitive archery; as well as cooking, dancing,
singing, the telling of tall tales and of past rendezvous. 

(note two standing traders with whiskey are future release)
I’ve certainly enjoyed producing and looking back at this series!... and the Keel boat and fur Trade Post
didn’t even get out of their boxes.
New sets will be added throughout the rest of this year.