History of the Canadian Fur Trade
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History of The Canadian Fur Trade One of the most prominent features of the Canadian Fur Trade has always been its intimate association with water, and Canada has lots of it! Two fur traders travelling in a canoe on one of Canada’s rivers With long distances and no roads, the transport of heavy cargo by land was not possible. Therefore, the superhighways of the day were Canada’s river systems. River systems North America, and the continental divides that separate them Arctic divide 2 Mackenzie 1 Laurentian 2 divide 6 3 1 6 St Lawrence 3 St. Lawrence Pacific divide 5 4 5 4 Mississippi Atlantic Before the arrival of the White man, many tribes of native people were Great divide scattered across the continent, each with Eastern different resources in their area and divide each with different needs The first fur-trading occurred between these native tribes This took place for thousands of years before the arrival of any Europeans cargo of furs and other trade goods Tribes of the Saint Lawrence River System The Montagnais and Algonquins were hunter gatherers living in colder regions where there were fur-bearing animals with thick, rich fur. Montagnais Having no agriculture, these tribes often ran out of food and lived on the edge of starvation.* Algonquins The above tribes would trade their furs in exchange for food , Hurons with the Hurons who had agriculture, and often had excess food to trade Iroquois On the other hand, these three tribes (Montagnais, Algonquins + Hurons) did NOT trade with the Iroquois who *This is graphically described by Rick curved lines indicate were their traditional enemies ! Revelle in his book “I am Algonquin” trade routes First well-documented trade with the White Men was with the Vikings about 1000 AD Labrador Newfoundland some records of trading furs with the native people Then 500 years later, John Cabot came from England in 1500 Claiming land for England Claimed the land for England, but he was mainly interested in fishing on the Grand Banks rather than in the fur trade The land itself was quite inhospitable, and he came ashore only to dry his fish drying fish 3) To find animals for the Fur Trade. Fur the for animals find To 3) 2) Seeking a northern route to China to route northern a Seeking 2) chiefs and took them to France to them took and chiefs 1) To claim land, land, claim To 1) not treat them well. He kidnapped the kidnapped He well. them treat not He travelled inland for three purposes: purposes: three for inland travelled He Cartier traded furs with natives but did did but natives with furs traded Cartier Montreal r e i t r a C s e u q c a J France New New 35 years later, Jacques Cartier came from France in 1536 in France from came Cartier Jacques later, years 35 The animals used in the fur-trade included: Sable Mink Henry VIII with Otter Ermine Ermine Trim Furs were very popular in Europe as trim for garments of the rich. The most Important fur was the Beaver 1) outer Beaver guard hairs 2) soft inner fur Inner fur was obtained when a native person Two types of wore the garment with beaver fur beaver fur: the fur inside for a season. was used for Body movement and sweat beaver hats removed the outer guard hairs There was a craze for these hats in Europe where they were a “must-have” for all gentlemen! Making of a Beaver Hat scrape inner making compress the wool into a then shape the felt layer into a hat fur off the hide beaver wool layer of felt mad hatter at Alice’s tea party mercury was often used in processing, sometimes causing neurological disease (i.e. “mad hatter” syndrome) Another Beaver product is Castoreum Another Beaver product is Castoreum “Castorium” is a secretion produced by the beavers anal glands, and is used by the beaver to water-proof its fur and mark its territory. It has been used medicinally throughout history to cure mental illness, improve memory, and many other conditions It has an intense vanilla flavor with a “hint of strawberry” and is used today as an additive in ice cream, soft drinks, some alcoholic drinks such as Swedish schnapps, candy, and perfume. (Seriously !! ) 67 Years after Cartier, Samuel de Champlain came from France in 1603 Explored Montreal Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario Trading with Aboriginals A cultured humanist, Champlain respected the aboriginals. He felt that they could be equal to or even superior to the White man, in spite of the fact that their sexual customs were very different and they were capable of great cruelty. He wanted to establish good long term relations between the French and the native tribes, and he sent his young men to live with the them and learn their languages and culture Viewing Georgian Bay Being a soldier, Champlain agreed to help the Algonquins fight their traditional enemy the Iroquois Montagnais Algonquin Huron Champlain firing weapon at Iroquois Iroquois Unfortunately this caused the Iroquois to later team up with the British and fight against the French in the brutal “Beaver” wars 1610 -1763: Coureurs de Bois Explored Great Lakes, Upper Mississippi and Lake Winnipeg North West coureurs de bois South These traders included Radisson and Because beavers were easy to trap, and the white men Groseilliers, 1654-1660 wanted more and more furs, the animals became They heard from the natives about depleted in the St Lawrence region, and French a giant northern salt water lake next traders (called “Coureurs de Bois”) explored south of to the richest fur-bearing areas the great lakes and also north-west to Lake Winnipeg. And they realized that this lake must be Hudson’s Bay, which Henry Hudson had discovered in 1611 Then they had a brilliant idea ! “Why not take furs directly from Hudson’s Bay back to France, bypassing the long St Lawrence river and the hostile Iroquois?” They returned to Montreal with their idea along with many furs, but New France instead of being thanked, their furs were confiscated by the Iroquois Governor of New France for trading without a licence!! This made Radisson and Groseilliers very angry, so they said *** to New France and they travelled to England There they met with Prince Rupert and then with his cousin King Charles II to whom they proposed their Hudson’s Bay fur-trading route. Prince Rupert King Charles II The king sent fur-trading expedition to Hudson’s Bay and it successfully returned with furs. The King then granted a charter to the “Company of Adventurers Operating out of Hudson’s Bay” in 1670 This charter granted to Prince Rupert the land drained by all the rivers flowing into Hudson;s Bay o o York Factory o o Was called Rupert’s Land The HBC set up trading posts (forts) along the shores of the bay The largest fort was York Factory, home of the Factor (i.e. a chief Trader) York Factory 1670, Life on Hudson’s Bay -was awful !! colder than Siberia in winter Infested with mosquitoes in summer -traders’ houses were freezing in winter, even on inside, and they almost never bathed -they led a life of total isolation with one supply ship coming per year -but they were expected to live the formal life of English gentleman at all times -forts had strict discipline like theBritish Navy, and even had bells and whistles to announce meals, etc. -there was a strong hierarchy of different ranks of officers and their employees -the traders were encouraged to associate with the natives as little as possible -but there was lots of good food and alcohol -traders came to regard the HBC as their only family, and had tremendous loyalty to the Company Trading with the Natives Guns Ammunition Knives Hatchets Metal Pots Steel Traps and fish hooks Beads Tobacco Hudson’s Bay Blankets (made into clothing) Later came alcohol with its disastrous effects on native life and culture ! HBC Traders waited on the shore of Hudson’s Bay, and let the natives came to them to trade their furs at the York factory store Radisson and Groseilliers soon got sick of being in“Proper British Society” and went back to New France 1682-1763, New France before the Two things had happened: British conquest 2) French traders had pushed HBC north into Rupert’s Land, Rupert’s Land Here, they were competing with the HBC since they were trading with natives who would normally have taken their furs to the Bay NEW FRANCE 1) Lasalle had explored south to New Orleans in the 1880’s and claimed the land for France In 1763 the British conquered New France Rupert’s Land Rupert’s Land NEW FRANCE fall of Quebec HBC was initially glad to be rid of the competition from the French traders, but then these were replaced by even more aggressive British traders who eventually formed the North West Company Fur Trade Route of North West Company (3000 miles long) Arctic divide Mackenzie River Laurention Lake Athabasca divide Grand Portage Montreal. Lake Huron, Ottawa River Methy Portage Rainy River Lake Superior Mattawa River (Arctic Divide) Lake of the Woods Grand Portage Lake Nippissing Athabasca River Winnipeg River (Laurention Divide) French River Lake Athabasca Lake Winnipeg Georgian Bay Mackenzie River Saskatchewan River Churchill River North West Company had two classes of individuals 1). Voyageurs loading canoes at the 2. Traders Lachine starting point (called Bourgeois (near Montreal) by the voyageurs) Neat Fur Trade Museum at Lachine head strap Voyageur carried 180 pounds, or sometimes furs trade goods even more (up to 400 lb ! Voyageur flechée = with a red toque arrow pattern ceinture flechée ceinture flechée red toque on a senior voyageur Voyageurs “en route” - Paddled 18hr/day from 3:00 am to dusk (9:00 pm) 7days/week! - Worked as hard as Roman galley slaves, but sang “off-color” songs all the way - These birchbark canoes were miracles of efficiency.