Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

TRADING POSTS and THE BEAVER

This last summer, I took a break from fishing in the far north Canadian wilderness to vacation with Co-pilot in another wilderness area…the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota. If you enjoy unspoiled nature, I highly recommend both of these places. You’ll find what you’re looking for…times ten.



During that stay we chanced upon a very interesting museum next to an international river and chain of lakes, a land steeped in early American history. The more we looked, the more we were intrigued. It was a beautiful summer day, so we attended a guided walk-along seminar throughout the museum and a complete outdoor reproduction of an early Indian/European trading post. It’s been some time since we needed the college credits awarded, but very much enjoyed getting an education on the importance of these trading posts to North American development. Until we took this tour, I had seriously underestimated how much this almost forgotten industry figured into present-day US and Canada.



We found out a lot about….

THE ANIMAL THAT HELPED CREATE AMERICA.

NO…it wasn’t the Raccoon. …..(but a warm coonskin cap does help on a cold winter’s day.)


By now you have figured out that the focus of this thread is…The importance of the Fur Trade in history. The Fur Trade….was one of the earliest and most important industries in North America.

I’ve always been a student of history, plus I own a camera or two…so, here we go.

Did you know that the fur trade played a major role in the development of the United States and Canada for more than 300 years? The truth is, there’s a lot more to our national history than some seasick Pilgrims hitting a rock on the East Coast…

The fur trade began in the 1500’s as an exchange between Indians (native Americans) and Europeans. The natives traded furs for goods like tools and weapons.




Beaver fur, which was used in Europe to make felt hats, became the most valuable of these furs.

The Beaver Hat...considered the top style in Europe for 300 years. Just imagine that…a fad lasting 300 years! I think the only fashion fad that could possibly beat that would be…the thong?



The fur trade was top gun until the mid-1800’s, when fur-bearing animals became scarce and silk hats became the popular item. Today, US trappers sell their pelts for cash, although Eskimo and Indian trappers in Canada still trade their furs to trading companies for various goods.

On a personal note…As did a lot of youngsters in western ND, I ran a trapline using a live-trap my father crafted for me. I used it in prime fur winter months to make extra spending money…and did well. Was good hard work…mink made my day, but rabbits were a mainstay. My c-cker spaniel, Blackie, and I both enjoyed those childhood forays. Blackie especially loved it….and I caught him several times.


I’m pretty sure I caught the trapping bug from daily views and thoughts when passing this historical character’s statue.. Pierre Bottineau.


He lead quite an interesting life. Pierre was born in a hunting camp on the buffalo trail near Grand Forks, ND. His father Charles Bottineau was a French-Canadian Protestant, and his mother Marguerite Macheyquayzaince Ahdicksongab "(Clear Sky Woman)" was half Dakota and half Ojibwe of the Lake of the Woods band, she was a sister of Pembina Ojibwe Chief Misko-Makwa or Red Bear.


The earliest fur traders in North America were French explorers and fishermen who arrived in what is now Eastern Canada during the early 1500’s. Trade started after the French offered the Indians knives, kettles, and other gifts as a means to establish friendly relations. The Indians in turn gave pelts to the French. By the late 1500’s, a great demand for fur had developed in Europe. This demand encouraged further exploration of North America. The demand for beaver increased rapidly in the early 1600’s, when fashionable men began to wear felt hats made from beaver fur. Such fur as fox, mink, marten, and otter were also traded. But…the Beaver was King! as our tour guide tells us below.



We learned that, in 1608, a famous French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, established a trading post on the site of the present-day city of Quebec. This city became the fur-trade center. The French expanded expanded their trading activities along the St. Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes. They eventually controlled most of the fur trade in what was to become Canada. The French traders obtained furs from the Huron nation, and later, from the Ottowa. Indians obtained furs from other Indians, and so on….to trade with the French at their outposts. Ther French also developed the fur trade along the Mississippi River.


Thus began the heyday of the French Voyaguers…the supreme canoeists of the day.




Portages were hard work and the voyageurs averaged 3 per day. (I think I can remember ‘every’ portage I’ve ever done…only too well.)



Each voyageur was expected to carry 90lbs across the portages…many portages required 4-5 trips.



These voyageurs had always intrigued me as a child and I devoured books about them and the wilderness they roamed through in pursuit of beaver. Enough so that later in life, a buddy and I made our own ‘voyageur’ trip across a good part of Canada. Did we come across any beaver? That’s another story that you can read about here:

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=9642#pid73121

My recorded accounts of that initial trip are all old style video…8mm..taken with a small battery-run movie camera. (I’m working on transferring those old movies to a disc..and then captured photos.) Our canoe trip was 45 days full of adventure, excitement, and wilderness sights. Looked exactly like this:




Back to the museum, what say we let our ‘Voyageur’ guide take us on a walking tour through history? (He was chosen for this detail because he is of French descent…and he’s the right height and shape for a canoeing voyageur…back in the day.)
We begin… allons-y!






We learned what the canoes carried, the gear…and what the weights were per canoe/man.



You’d be amazed at the sheer volume and variety of goods these voyageurs carried. I think I would have enjoyed the bartering that must have been a part of the game….much like old-time Baja.





The voyageurs ‘highway’ routes….still unchanged today.



Their typical campsites reminded me of our own on present adventures. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Plus, nostalgia is good for the soul.



Although, a stoop and a crawl into one of the early voyageur shelters made me glad we have North Face tents today! Those guys were a mite shorter than me…and a helluva lot more limber than I am today!



These trading rifles look like they were NOT of the best quality.



..and I think we know why.


The traders quarters were like the Hilton compared to the poor voyageurs.



During the 1600’s, the English settlers developed a fur trade in what are now Virginia and New England. English traders later formed an alliance with the Iroquois and extended their trading area from Maine down the Atlantic Coast to Georgia.

European business companies handled a large number of furs shipped from North America during the 1600’s and 1700’s. The most famous of these firms, The Hudson’s Bay Company, was founded in 1670. It was founded by a group of English merchants, with the help of two French fur traders. The British government gave the company sole trading rights in what is now the Hudson Bay region. A vast territory. (History tidbit: A certain Lord Selkirk used his influence as the majority shareholder of the Hudson’s Bay Company to gain a land grant of 300,000 square kilometers (120,000 square miles) of land on Red River, in the Assiniboine region of central Canada. Lord Selkirk agreed that he would provide settlers and militia for the region over the next decade. Lord Selkirk's new lands at Red River were almost four times larger than the whole of Scotland.)

During the 1700’s, French and British traders complained bitterly over trading rights between the Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi River. This competition, plus other conflicts between the two nations, lead to the French and Indian War of 1754. Great Britain won the war in 1763 and took over France’s colonial empire in North America. Otherwise, we’d be français langue today.

The fur trade started to decline in the Eastern United States by the late 1700’s. The decline resulted chiefly from the clearing of land for settlement. As more and more land was cleared, fur-bearing animals became increasingly scarce. At the same time, over-trapping hurt the industry in the Western United States and Western Canada. In addition, the value of beaver fur dropped sharply in the 1830’s, when manufacturers in Europe began using silk for hats instead of beaver fur. At least the beaver did not suffer a cruel end like ‘the sea mink’. And so ended the fur fad. By 1870, most of the fur trade had ended in North America. But the silk trade with China boomed again.

So now we can see how the fur trade contributed to the development of French and British empires in North America.
The high points are:
- During the 1600’s, the prospect of new wealth from the fur trade attracted many Europeans to the New World.
-Traders and trappers explored much of North America is search of fur.
-They built trading posts in the wilderness, and settlements grew up around many.
-Some of these settlements later became such major cities as Detroit, New Orleans, St. Louis in the US….and Edmonton, Montreal, Quebec, and Winnipeg in Canada.
-The fur trade promoted friendly relations between and white traders.
-However, it also brought hostility towards white settlers because the clearing of land threatened the supply of fur-bearing animals.

All in all, the claims of North American fur traders played an important role in establishing the border between the US and Canada. As in the case of this heritage museum/seminar we have just visited in northern Minnesota, the areas of trade here established the border in the area of the Great Lakes. I’m glad we took the seminar….hope you liked it and perhaps learned a little more about the history of FUR.

When you’re buying that silk top hat to attend a royal inauguration…remember all the history-making BEAVER you’ll be saving!

And as to the wilderness we all love, what say we Leave It to Beaver!






[Edited on 1-2-2014 by Pompano]

Roger,
Thanks for the informative post....as a Canadian kid in school we learned a whole lot about the voyageurs and the fur trade...and related issues as you have pointed out.

Those days were the REAL old west days....not the Billy The Kid stuff.

And we also appreciate that you have known for a long time that "Beaver Was King".......

That's our national animal

Pomp, If you haven't read Bernard De Voto's "The Course of Empire", you should. It goes into great detail about the history , exploration and development of the north American Continent. Most of it centering around the fur trade. Very interesting stuff.

Quote:

Originally posted by watizname Pomp, If you haven't read Bernard De Voto's "The Course of Empire", you should. It goes into great detail about the history , exploration and development of the north American Continent. Most of it centering around the fur trade. Very interesting stuff.

Pompano, Thanks for the history tour. Having trapped beaver, catching 'em isn't that difficult, but skinning 'em is a chore. They aren't half bad simmered down into a rich chili gravy. Happy New Year!

The beaver, one of my heros growing up

Please note the name and initials of Mr. decay germ. Any relations to anyone we know?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0po-g28uTg

Sorry Pompano, just had to hijack this.

I wonder if she knew the 'Rootbeer Lady'?

I have several friends who have taken the guided trips on the Quetico Provincial Park near the BWCAW. On the Boundary Waters we've always outfitted ourselves. Both ways are good.

edit to add:

Ely, Minnesota was the home of an author of many Boundary Water wilderness books, Sigurd Olson... He was known honorifically as the Bourgeois — a term the voyageurs of old used of their trusted leaders. Among others are these favorites in my bookcase..'Spirit of the North' & 'The Lonely Land', which he wrote the year I graduated high school...1961. I was 17.




[Edited on 1-3-2014 by Pompano]

'The Lonely Land' was published in 1961 making you 6 years younger than me

The Root Beer Lady's name was Dorothy_Molter and she got that title by making and selling root beer to passing canoeists on Knife Lake from her camp called "kwitchurbeliakin"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr1M3nOnVlk‎


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Molter‎


[Edited on 1-2-2014 by durrelllrobert]

[Edited on 1-2-2014 by durrelllrobert]