This is an excerpt from the book Tribes and Trappers: A History of Montana, Volume I
George Caleb Bingham painting, c. 1850 The North American fur trade was nothing new by the time Lewis and Clark had gone back to St. Louis in 1806, and had in fact been going on since the first Europeans arrived in the New World. Fur trading in America can be divided into three distinct periods: the “French Era,” which was the longest and lasted from 1600 to 1760; the “British Era” from 1760 to 1816; and the final period, the “American Era,” which lasted from 1816 to 1850 and saw the end of fur trading altogether.
Two Rivals Compete
Latin: a skin for a skin The Largest and longest-lasting fur trading company was the Hudson’s Bay Company, which began in 1670, and at one point became the world’s largest landowner. They were primarily focused along the eastern coast and in Canada, but they branched out into the Rocky Mountains in the 19th century.
The Northwest Company began operations in 1783 and went into direct competition with the Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada. Two explorers for the company, David Thompson and Simon Fraser, pushed heavily into the Rocky Mountains in the late 18th century. Thompson would build the Saleesh House trading post in 1809 near what is today Thompson Falls.
The Northwest Company fell on hard times the next year when there was a sharp-decrease in animals for fur, particularly the beaver, due to overharvesting. The company also took some hits when their post Sault Ste. Marie was destroyed in the War of 1812. New fur trading regulations took effect in British North America beginning in 1821, and the company just couldn’t continue on its own.
The Northwest Company began operations in 1783 and went into direct competition with the Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada. Two explorers for the company, David Thompson and Simon Fraser, pushed heavily into the Rocky Mountains in the late 18th century. Thompson would build the Saleesh House trading post in 1809 near what is today Thompson Falls.
The Northwest Company fell on hard times the next year when there was a sharp-decrease in animals for fur, particularly the beaver, due to overharvesting. The company also took some hits when their post Sault Ste. Marie was destroyed in the War of 1812. New fur trading regulations took effect in British North America beginning in 1821, and the company just couldn’t continue on its own.
Two Rivals Combine
Northwest Company coat of arms The Hudson’s Bay Company was also hurting because of these changes, and the two decided to merge their operations that same year, 1821. The 97 trading posts that flew the Northwestern Company flag, and the 76 that were held by the Hudson’s Bay Company, were merged, and with staggering results.
The total land area under the Hudson’s Bay Company increased to 3,000,000 square miles, and their total employees increased to 1,500. Nearly the entirety of all the trading going on in the Pacific Northwest was controlled by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
But new upstarts were already on the scene, and edging into the profits of an already dwindling trade.
The total land area under the Hudson’s Bay Company increased to 3,000,000 square miles, and their total employees increased to 1,500. Nearly the entirety of all the trading going on in the Pacific Northwest was controlled by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
But new upstarts were already on the scene, and edging into the profits of an already dwindling trade.
Fashion Dictates
Castor canadensis, North American Beaver In the end it wouldn’t be the double-dealings, nefarious and shady business practices, or even the turf fights that occasionally broke out between trappers and mountain men that would prove the downfall of the North American fur trade. Instead it was something as fleeting as fashion.
Fashion trends in Europe were changing, and the once popular fur-hats that were so often worn by fashionable of the courts and salons of Europe gave way to the newest thing from the Orient, silk. Silk hats became all the vogue, and the fur hats that had supported the lives of countless thousands, opened up the West to European and later American expansion, and created an American mythos, simply went by the wayside.
Fashion trends in Europe were changing, and the once popular fur-hats that were so often worn by fashionable of the courts and salons of Europe gave way to the newest thing from the Orient, silk. Silk hats became all the vogue, and the fur hats that had supported the lives of countless thousands, opened up the West to European and later American expansion, and created an American mythos, simply went by the wayside.
Notes
Bryce, George. The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company. New York: B. Franklin, 1968
Schwörer, Ute. The Reorganization of the Fur Trade of the Hudson's Bay Company After the Merger with the North West Company, 1821 to 1826. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1988
“Timeline: A Brief History of the Fur Trade.” White Oak Society. Web. Retrieved 23 March 2013. http://www.whiteoak.org/historical-library/fur-trade/time-line-a-brief-history-of-the-fur-trade/
Bryce, George. The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company. New York: B. Franklin, 1968
Schwörer, Ute. The Reorganization of the Fur Trade of the Hudson's Bay Company After the Merger with the North West Company, 1821 to 1826. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1988
“Timeline: A Brief History of the Fur Trade.” White Oak Society. Web. Retrieved 23 March 2013. http://www.whiteoak.org/historical-library/fur-trade/time-line-a-brief-history-of-the-fur-trade/
