FIGURE 5.1: Fort Union on the Missouri, by Karl Bodmer, ca. 1845 1670s 1720–60 1775–82 1776 Hudson’s Bay Horses and Smallpox United States 1804–6 1808 Company enters guns reach epidemics kill declares Lewis and Clark American Fur 1830s North American Montana many Montana Independence Expedition Company formed Montana fur traders fur trade tribes Indians from Great Britain turn to bison hunting 1670s 1720–1760 1775–1790 1800 1820 1825 1807 First fur trade rendezvous Americans establish 1828 1809 Fort Union established the fi rst fur trading St. Louis Missouri 80 post in Montana Fur Company formed READ TO FIND OUT: ■ How beaver changed the history of this region ■ How Indian people helped the fur trade ■ Why the market shifted from beaver to bison ■ Who the “Black Robes” were and how they infl uenced Indian life The Big Picture The fur trade was the beginning of a new economy based on exploiting natural resources mostly for the profi t of people living far away. Second to humans, beavers change the landscape more than any other animal. They dam streams, create wetlands, and trim trees. They also create habitat for fi sh, turtles, frogs, and ducks. In the early 1800s beavers changed the history of Montana, too. When Lewis and Clark fl oated downriver toward St. Louis in 1806, they met eleven separate trapping parties heading up the Missouri River. Already, adventurers and fur traders were excited about mak- ing money in this region. By this time the fur trade was well established in North America, and eastern Indian tribes had been involved for more than 100 years. The fur trade followed the Lewis and Clark Expedition into present- day Montana. It changed people’s economic activities and their travel patterns. It brought the fi rst wave of outsiders drawn here by the natural resources of the land. It created new confl icts between tribes. And when the beaver trade shifted to the bison robe trade, it nearly destroyed the bison species altogether. 1846 1860 1876 First steamboat Battle of the Fort Benton fur trading 1880 post established arrives in Little Bighorn Fort Benton 1862 First train enters 1848 Montana gold Montana Territory California gold rush rush begins 1840 1860 1880 1900 1837–40 1874 Smallpox epidemics kill Samuel Walking Coyote 1841 1883 1883–84 many Montana Indians brings bison to the Father DeSmet builds Fewer than 200 Many members of the northern 1832 Flathead Reservation St. Mary’s Mission bison remain on tribes die during Starvation Winter The steamboat Yellowstone the Plains 81 reaches Fort Union 4 — NEWCOMERS EXPLORE THE REGION 8 1 M i Kootenai lk R Fort Belknap, Juneaux Post, 1872 Post, 1808 iv (Fort Turnay) er 1871–73 Price’s Post, Fort Conrad, 1875–87 1870 Fort Kootenai, 1811 Fort Browning, Tom Campbell’s Fort Copeland, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, C Badger Creek Post, 1868 1869–71 House, 1870–71 1865–67 1833 la Howse’s House, 1810–11 Hammel’s Wolf Point 1854–63 Fort Union, rk House Fort McKenzie, Baker’s Post, F Rocky Mountain Front Fort Kaiser, c. 1865–67 Post, 1860s 1828–65 o 1833–44 r 1868–69 Fort Kipp, k Fort Galpin, 1862–84 Poplar Post 1859–60 Fort La Barge, 1862–63 Fort Chardon, Fort Andrew(s), 1860–80 Fort William, Saleesh (Salish) House 1844–45 1862–66 Fort Peck, 1866–79 Fort Gilbert, 1833–58 1809–47 Fort Piegan, Fort Charles, Rocky Point, Fort Dauphin, 1861–62 1864–67 Fort Benton, 1846–83 1831–32 1881–82 Fort Porchette, 1871 1860–67 (Fort Lewis, Fort Clay) Flathead Post, 1823 Fort Campbell, Brasseau’s House, (Saleesh House) 1846–60 Fort Clagett (Camp Cook), c. 1864 Fort Connah, 1847–71 1866–78 Fort Musselshell, Fort Lewis, 1844–47 Fort Hawley, r e 1869–74 v (Fort Cotton) 1866–69 i Fort Carroll, R Reed’s Fort 1874–? e c. 1874 n sto Fort Sherman, 1873–74 Juneau’s Fort, 1880 ow M Yell is s o u Fort Alexander, r Fort Sarpy, Fort Sarpy, r i 1842–50 e R Robert’s Trading Post, 1871 1857–c. 1860 v i 1850–55 i Fort Owen, v e R r 1850–72 t o o r Fort Pease, 1875–76 r e t Fort Van Buren, 1832–43 (Fort Cass) t i Fort Cass, 1832–35 B Fort Benton, 1821–23 Three Forks Post (Yellowstone) (Fort Henry), 1810 r Fort Manuel Lisa, ive 1807–11 Yellowstone R B i t � te r ro o t M Miles o un 0 20 40 60 80 100 tains Fur Forts in Montana FIGURE 5.2 At the Center of the Storm: North American Beaver European people’s demand for beaver fur began even before they set foot on North America. The beaver’s durable, warm, elegant fur made the perfect top hat. Beaver hats, coats, and other fur items became very fash- ionable among high-class Europeans. But by the 1700s most of Europe’s beavers were killed off. As demand for beaver increased, fur companies sent explorers out across Canada and North America to fi nd more. Montana Joins When explorers arrived in the Rocky Mountain region, they found the World Market that beavers were more abundant here than elsewhere. The fur from Indian or non-Indian, trappers were Rocky Mountain beaver was also thicker and more luxurious. Soon seldom paid in money. Usually they beaver pelts were so valuable that they became their own currency in were paid in materials and supplies to the Rocky Mountain region. They were not only worth dollars, but last them another winter. they also could be exchanged as dollars. What they sold: furs of beaver, otter, and mink; skins of elk, deer, and bear; bison robes, tongues, and tallow. British Companies in Western Montana What they bought: red, blue, and green cloth, glass beads, wide leather Two main British-owned fur companies competed for North America’s belts, clothing, blankets of various furs: the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company. The kinds, Spanish saddles, tin kettles, cop- Hudson’s Bay Company was the fi rst corporation in North America. per pots, fancy bridles, axes, hatchets, It started the North American fur trade in 1670 in northern Canada. knives, rope, fi les, traps, guns, ammu- The Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company were nition, sugar, tobacco, coffee, fl our, bitter rivals for the profi ts of North American beaver. Wherever and liquor. the North West Company built a trading fort, the Hudson’s Bay Company would follow behind to build one, too. 8 2 PART 2: A CENTURY OF TRANSFORMATION FIGURE 5.3 FIGURE 5.4 FIGURE 5.5 But the high cost of competition—and a slump in the European fur FIGURES 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5: How did a beaver’s market—ate up profi ts for both companies. After years of bitter rivalry, fur become a hat? Trappers stretched and fl attened hides into plews (fi gure 5.4) to the two companies merged in 1821 into one business named the Hudson’s make them easier to transport. Each plew Bay Company. weighed at least 1½ pounds and was worth about $6 ($135 today). Transforming The two British companies operated mostly to the north and west of plews into top hats (fi gure 5.5) took time present-day Montana. They built forts in northwest Montana, west of and skill. Europeans wore beaver felt hats the Continental Divide. for 300 years (1550 to 1850). Fur companies often sent brigades (teams) of Indian, Métis, and Fur Forts in Montana non-Indian trappers out of fur posts on long expeditions. This practice became known as the post-and-brigade system. The brigades commonly went out for a year at a time. They traveled through a specifi c region, camped together, often split up to cover more ground, and watched out for one another’s safety as they trapped an area and moved on. The fur trade could not have happened without the American Indians. Assiniboine and Cree bands, who dominated present-day central Canada, were accomplished middlemen between fur traders and other tribes. They transported beaver pelts and bison robes to trading forts, where they exchanged them for manufactured goods. Then they traded those goods with other Indian groups for more pelts and robes. Many tribes across the continent provided furs in trade, allowed fur companies to build forts, and helped the trappers and traders. They traded furs and hides for European items like guns, metal arrowheads, scissors, and iron pots that made their lives easier or gave them an advantage over other tribes. Bridge Between Cultures: The Métis in the Fur Trade From the eastern Great Lakes region to the Rocky Mountains, the fur trade relied on the Métis people. The Métis were the mixed-blood descendants of early European fur traders who married native women. The French called them “métis,” meaning “mixed.” Over time they developed their own lan- guage and a separate identity as a people. They called themselves Métis. Born into the fur trade, the Métis acted as a bridge between Indian and non-Indian cultures. They spoke both native and European languages and had family ties to both groups. By the middle of the 1700s, they had become as necessary a part of the fur trade as the beavers themselves. 5 — BEAVER, BISON, AND BLACK ROBES 8 3 Many cities in the Great Lakes area, including Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Milwaukee, began as mixed-blood communities in the early 1700s.