(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Indians 101: American Indians and the fur trade 200 years ago, 1823 [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-07-11
The North American fur trade, based primarily on the exchange of European manufactured goods for furs prepared by Indians, began with the early European explorers and by the nineteenth century was dominated by formal trading companies. With the fur trade, American Indians were incorporated into the world-wide market economy. During the first part of the nineteenth century, the fur trade was driven largely by European fashion which used beaver pelts in the manufacture of hats and other items.
Shown above is a depiction of the fur trade on display at the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Alberta, Canada.
Shown above are some of the beaver pelt hats that were popular at this time.
Shown above is one of the popular hats.
Shown above is a beaver pelt.
Shown above are two beaver pelts.
Briefly described below are some of the events relating to the American Indian fur and hide trade in 1823.
An Oneida Indian trader
In addition to the English and American fur trading companies, there were also American Indian traders who prospered because of the trade. One of these was the Oneida trader Sarah Ainse who died in Ontario in 1823. Once prosperous, she died destitute at nearly 90 years of age. While she had asserted the right of native women to own land, the British colonial government had repeatedly denied her land claims.
For more about her, see Indians 201: Sarah Ainse, Oneida trader
Hudson’s Bay Company
The oldest fur trading company in North America was the London-based Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) which had been granted a royal charter in 1670.
Shown above is a display of Hudson’s Bay Company trade items.
In 1823, the Hudson’s Bay Company sent out John McLeod and a party of explorers from Fort Simpson in Canada’s Northwest Territories to make contact with the Nahanni Indians. At first they failed to find the Nahannis, but while returning to the fort, the party made contact with the Nahannis. The HBC explorers asked White Eyes about large rivers flowing into the Pacific which could be used as trading routes. White Eyes, however, was not aware of any large river west of the mountains.
In North Dakota, the British-owned Hudson’s Bay Company trading post at Fort Douglas was closed when it was discovered that it was in American territory. Ojibwa and Métis claimed the deserted fort.
In Idaho, the Hudson’s Bay Company sent an expedition under Finan McDonald into the Snake River district. The expedition provided employment for freemen who might otherwise create problems by working for other companies. The expedition had an encounter with Blackfoot warriors who killed six of their men.
Columbia Fur Company
The Columbia Fur Company was formed in 1822 by Kenneth McKenzie and William Laidlaw, formerly with the North West Company. The Columbia Fur Company was formed to compete with the American Fur Company on the Missouri River.
In North Dakota in 1823, James Kipp established a trading post among the Mandan for the Columbia Fur Company. The Mandans were a farming people living in permanent villages which served as trading centers for the nomadic buffalo hunting tribes. The new trading post, called Tilton’s Post, only lasted for a year.
Missouri Fur Company
The Missouri Fur Company had been formed in 1807 by Manuel Lisa and four men who had been with Lewis and Clark.
In Montana, the Missouri Fur Company sent out a party of 30 men to the Three Forks area to establish peaceful trade relations with the Blackfoot. While the Blackfoot seemed agreeable to the idea of having trading posts in their territory, they later attacked the Missouri Fur Company party near present-day Billings, Montana, killing seven and taking all of the trappers’ property. The Blackfoot then took the Americans’ cache of over 1,000 furs and sold them to the Hudson’s Bay Company at Edmonton House in Alberta for $15,000.
More American Indian histories
Indians 101: The Fur Trade in 1816
Indians 101: The Fur Trade in 1818
Indians 101: The fur trade in 1821
Indians 101: The Canadian fur trade 200 years ago, 1821
Indians 101: The fur trade in Washington
Indians 101: The Fur Trade in Northwestern Montana, 1807-1835
Indians 101: Nor'westers and Indians in the Columbia Plateau
Indians 101: Fur Trade in the Rockies, 1801 to 1806
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/11/2180118/-Indians-101-American-Indians-and-the-fur-trade-200-years-ago-1823
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
