Sketch of Fort Lisa Upstart companies were trying to edge into the fur trade in the Rocky Mountains and Montana even before the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Northwest Company merged in 1821. These American-led companies were in direct conflict with their European counterparts, both for furs, and ideologies.
America was growing and expanding, the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark Expedition proved that, and the mountain men that worked for these new upstarts were individualistic, determined, and not one to let something like a little competition stand in their way, just like the country they represented.
America was growing and expanding, the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark Expedition proved that, and the mountain men that worked for these new upstarts were individualistic, determined, and not one to let something like a little competition stand in their way, just like the country they represented.
The American Fur Company
John Jacob Astor A company that tried to edge into the area not held by the then bickering Hudson’s Bay Company and Northwest Company was the American Fur Company. Started in 1808 by John Jacob Astor, the company proved so successful at sending out trappers for the furs that were in demand around Europe and America that by 1830 it had a complete monopoly on the trade.
One of the biggest reasons for the American Fur Company’s success was all of the anti-British fervor that followed American independence. Astor was able to gain control of many previously held British fur-trapping areas and trading routes. The company expanded rapidly, but in the end could not survive the demands of a changing marketplace, and they went belly-up in 1842.
One of the biggest reasons for the American Fur Company’s success was all of the anti-British fervor that followed American independence. Astor was able to gain control of many previously held British fur-trapping areas and trading routes. The company expanded rapidly, but in the end could not survive the demands of a changing marketplace, and they went belly-up in 1842.
The Missouri Fur Company
Manuel Lisa Not one to be outdone by the growing successes of other fur trading companies, Manuel Lisa returned from his role on the Lewis and Clark Expedition determined to take a piece of the action for himself. He headed back up the Missouri in 1807 with 42 men, and just as winter was beginning to take hold, established a trading post along the Bighorn River which he named Fort Raymond after his son, but which later came to be called Fort Lisa or Fort Manuel.
The fort would become the first trading outpost of its kind on the upper-Missouri, and in 1809 Lisa gathered together some other like-minded individuals and officially formed the Missouri Fur Company. The company proved quite successful for many years, but in the end it suffered the same fate that befell the other fur trading companies, and it barred the outpost gates for the last time in 1830.
The fort would become the first trading outpost of its kind on the upper-Missouri, and in 1809 Lisa gathered together some other like-minded individuals and officially formed the Missouri Fur Company. The company proved quite successful for many years, but in the end it suffered the same fate that befell the other fur trading companies, and it barred the outpost gates for the last time in 1830.
The Rocky Mountain Fur Company
William H. Ashley The final fur company to begin operating in the region was the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, which began in 1823. William H. Ashley was instrumental in getting the company off the ground, and his newspaper advertisements that offered multi-year contracts to explore up the Missouri attracted a wide-variety of men who would go on to become some of the most famous mountain men in history, such as Jim Bridger and Kit Carson.
Andrew Henry was Ashley’s partner in the company, and he devised a clever and quite destructive way to squeeze more profits from the fur trade. His traders were instructed to trade large quantities of alcohol with the Indian tribes they conducted business with, both in exchange for furs and services, as well as to get them too drunk to negotiate competently.
This strategy also worked in pulling Indians away from the Hudson’s Bay Company when they held their yearly rendezvous, or when they just blatantly entered the other company’s territory. The Hudson’s Bay Company eventually undercut the Rocky Mountain Fur Company’s profits, and that, coupled with the changing demands of Europe, spelled the end of the company’s shady practices in the 1830s.
Notes
Billington, Ray Allen; Ridge, Martin. Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier. No Publisher Listed, 2001. p 93-106.
Malone, Michael Peter; Roeder, Richard B.; Lang, William L. Montana: A History of Two Centuries. The University of Washington Press, 1976. p 47-50.
Wishart, David J. The Fur Trade of the American West: 1807-1840. The University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, 1979. p 141-161.
Andrew Henry was Ashley’s partner in the company, and he devised a clever and quite destructive way to squeeze more profits from the fur trade. His traders were instructed to trade large quantities of alcohol with the Indian tribes they conducted business with, both in exchange for furs and services, as well as to get them too drunk to negotiate competently.
This strategy also worked in pulling Indians away from the Hudson’s Bay Company when they held their yearly rendezvous, or when they just blatantly entered the other company’s territory. The Hudson’s Bay Company eventually undercut the Rocky Mountain Fur Company’s profits, and that, coupled with the changing demands of Europe, spelled the end of the company’s shady practices in the 1830s.
Notes
Billington, Ray Allen; Ridge, Martin. Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier. No Publisher Listed, 2001. p 93-106.
Malone, Michael Peter; Roeder, Richard B.; Lang, William L. Montana: A History of Two Centuries. The University of Washington Press, 1976. p 47-50.
Wishart, David J. The Fur Trade of the American West: 1807-1840. The University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, 1979. p 141-161.
