Fur Traders and Trappers of the Old West

Fur Traders and Trappers of the Old West By MERRILL J. MATTES Custodian. Scotts Bluff National Monument Published by: Yellowstone Library and Museum Association Fur traders In Jackson Hole. Fur Traders and Trappers of the Old West By MERRILL J. MATTES Custodian, Scotts Bluff National Monument Long before the emigrants' first white- who were not illiterate, or by the rare topped wagon trains appeared portentously traveler who happened among them. Yet, upon the Great Plains horizon, the West while they appear but faintly to us, en was an open book to the trappers and fur- veloped in a romantic haze, we can discern traders. They were a fearless and rugged something of the primitive economy, as well breed of men who explored every stream as the stalwart philosophy, of these rough and valley, blazed every trail, and defied frontiersmen who composed the real, if un savages, grizzly hears, and the innumerable witting, spearhead of America's inexorable terrors of the wilderness in their relentless march to the Pacific Ocean. quest for animal wealth. The story of their The western fur trade embraces the pe valiant deeds, of the heroic living which riod 1807 to 1843, or from the sequel of must have been their daily fare, has filtered the Lewis and Clark expedition to the first thinly down to us after a hundred years, great migration to Oregon.1 St. Louis was precariously preserved in the journals of the headquarters of the industry, but its those comparatively few of their number ramifications extended throughout the en- NOTE: The following areas which played an important role in the history of the western fur trade, either as hunting grounds of the western fur trapper, business centers of the fur industry, trading and military posts in fur trade territory, or significant landmarks along the trappers' trails, are administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Jackson Hole National Monument, Wyoming Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis, Missouri Fort Laramie National Monument, Wyoming Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska 4 ) ellowstone Park Library ami Museum Association Rendezvous tire trans-Mississippi West. The first {treat thirst for peltries and profits and the result wave of enterprise swept up the Missouri ing explorations, the heroic exploits, the River to its headwaters, hut in time the bitter struggle of factions, even the wars wealthy central Rocky Mountain region between nations, which characterize our became the most hotly contested trapping frontier history. grounds. Here, in the upper reaches of In the Far West the American Fur Com the Snake, the Yellowstone and the Green pany and its subsidiaries, controlled by John Rivers, were those fabulous valleys, such Jacob Astor, by 1830 had a virtual as Jackson Hole and Pierre's Hole, which monopoly of the trade, but earlier there became the true home of the historic trapper were other vigorous enterprises, such as or "mountain man." the "Rocky Mountain," the Missouri, and Beaver pelts, worth about six dollars the Columbia fur companies, which pro each, were the primary object of the western vided fierce and unrelenting competition. trapper's search, although there was some Such competition would end only by the traffic also in raccoon, otter, mink, fox, deer, virtual annihilation of one or the other of bear and buffalo. Before the introduction the rival concerns, or the merger of both. of silk, in 1840, the mark of social distinc In addition, numerous small "wildcat" out tion among fine gentlemen was a large plug fits were continually springing up to be hat fabricated from the rich fur of the devil the established interests. And all of beaver, and these quaint amphibious animals these conflicting American concerns were were therefore at a premium. Thus, male in turn arrayed against the powerful British vanity inspired the lawless adventurer's Hudson's Bay Company which, operating Fur Traders and Trappers of the Old If' est 5 from Canadian and Columbia River posts, his season's cargo, or murdering him in the openly invaded the wilderness claimed or process. Trappers who were bound to one technically owned by the United States. outfit by previous legal agreement seldom The trading companies might obtain their hesitated to sever this allegiance if another furs by bartering with the "free trappers," appeared to be more profitable. The or by hiring their own trappers on a salary Indian's love for gaudy trinkets and his basis, or by trading with the Indians. What passion for liquor were ideally calculated ever method was employed the manner of to make of the fur trade a vicious cycle of its execution was ruthless, for the lure of fraud, treachery and bloodshed, for the great wealth was irresistible, and there was traders not only leaned on the Indian's virtually no law west of the settlements. ignorance of values to enhance his margin No claims or rights were recognized, ex of profit, but sometimes persuaded him to cept those which force alone could uphold. reject or make war on other traders, and Although many of the traders were men plied him with smuggled alcohol, to com respected in their home communities, and plete his demoralization: conscious of a moral code, many others were "In retailing the poisonous stuff (a pure little better than desperadoes who had little article never found its way to the Indian) compunction about robbing a compatriot of the degree of deception and cheating could Baling beaver hides with a wedge press. '» Yellowstone P/irk Library and Museum Association not have been carried further. A baneful at least this in their favor that they spared and noxious substance to begin with, it was the unhappy and deluded savage from a retailed with the most systematic fraud, portion of the liquor which he was supposed often amounting to a sheer exchange of to be getting."- nothing for the goods of the Indian. It Not all traders were vicious characters, was the policy of the shrewd trader first to but all traders were in business to make American beaver. get his victim so intoxicated that he could money and, if his rivals stooped to evil no longer drive a good bargain. The deeds in order to undermine his influence, Indian becoming more and more greedy for the "high-minded" trader usually managed liquor, would yield all he possessed for an to overcome his scruples and adopt similar additional cup or two. The voracious trader, tactics. This was simply good business. It not satisfied with selling his alcohol at a is plain that in this wild scramble there profit of many thousand per cent, would would he many casualties. Through shrewd now begin to cheat in quantity. As he filled management a few fortunes were made, hut the little cup which was the standard of it was a losing game for the rank and file. measure, he would thrust in his big thumb -Most were lucky if all they lost was their and diminish its capacity by one-third. original investment, for a substantial num Sometimes he would substitute another cup ber were swallowed up in the wilderness, with the bottom thickened by running tallow never to he heard from again ; perchance the until it was a third full. He would also victims of Indian arrows, rattler's fangs, dilute the liquor until, as the Indian's senses bear's claws, or the passions of their own became more and more befogged, he could lawless companions. treat him to water pure and simple. In all From St. Louis the traders regularly con this outrageous imposition, by which the ducted expeditions into the interior, some Indian was robbed of his goods, it must be times for a distance of two thousand miles. confessed that the tricks of the trader had The freight consisted of equipment and sup- Fur Traders and Trappers of the Old West 7 plies for the trappers, and trade goods for tomed mackinaws for downstream naviga the Indians. A typical inventor) would tion, depending on the current; and the include gunpowder, lead molds, hlankets, romantic and picturesque steamboat. The colored cloth, rifles, trade muskets, axes, bullboat was a favorite craft on shallow traps, knives, rings, heads, hridles, spurs, streams like the Platte. It was made of ribbons, cooking utensils, flints, looking- green or undried buffalo hides, stretched glasses, tacks, bracelets, tobacco, salt and over a frame of willows, birch, or other rum. On the return trip the principal Hexible wood, and assumed the shape of a cargo—if the expedition were a success— huge basket. In spite of its light draft, consisted of beaver pelts, buffalo robes, and which enabled it to float up to two tons other products of the hunt. of cargo, the bullboat was vulnerable to Methods of transportation were adapted snags and sandbars. The fur-trapper's to the topography of the land and the re canoe used on smaller streams was a "dug sources of the trader. River craft were out," fashioned from the trunk of a cotton- mainly relied upon in the valley of the wood, which capsized with irritating fre Missouri—large keelboats, variously pro quency. pelled upstream by poles, oars, sails or by Except in the Missouri River country, 20 to 40 men pulling alongshore; Hat-bot overland expeditions were the rule. In the A trading post in the wilderness. s. ~. nj 5" Fort Laramie In 1837 (Courtesy, Mrs. Clyde Porter, Kansas City, Mo.) 5' Fur Traders and Trappers (if the Old West 9 earlier years pack trains were used ex rather elaborate establishments of the clusively, but later these were augmented American Fur Company, such as Fort by wagons as the trails became more firmly Union and Fort Pierre on the upper Mis established.

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