Fur Traders
Matt C.
Who, What, Where and Why
The fur traders sent from the North West Company arrived in western American in 1807 to find bigger and better trapping areas. Once these “mountain men” arrived, they began trading for the precious furs: seals, sea otters, and beavers. For the first few years, these furs were very valuable due to their popularity. For example, one of the biggest fashions of the time was to wear beaver skin hats. Then, the furs went out of style and the demand for furs decreased. With the resulting drop in the value of pelts, the fur traders moved on to better furs. So the high demand for fur brought these traders to the west.
John Colter
One famous fur trader was John Colter. He was an explorer on the Lewis and Clark expedition. After the trip he realized that he still yearned for adventure. So he headed west and became a fur trader under a man named Dixon. Colter was trapping in Blackfeet territory, and knowing the hostilities from the Lewis and Clark expedition, he remained invisible. He set traps at night and retrieved them in the early morning. One morning while recovering his traps with his partner, Potts, they were ambushed by Indians. The chief commanded them to come ashore immediately. Colter obeyed the chief; Potts refused and was pierced like a pin-cushion with arrows. Instead of being killed, Colter was forced to try to run away. He was given a head start and then hundreds of Indians began the hunt. He escaped to freedom and decided that mountain life was too much for him so he became a farmer. Colter was a highly successful trader driven by a sense of adventure with legendary skills and ability to survive.
Conflict
A source of conflict for the fur traders like Colter was the Native Americans. When the trappers moved west to find game they might not have known they were really invading the Native American’s land, and stealing their livelihood. In the beginning, the Native Americans tried not to take offence to this. But once they found that their space and wildlife were becoming scarce, the Indians became hostile towards the fur traders. They began attacking them and driving them off their land. Sometimes these attacks were without warning, other times the chiefs and sometimes Indians gave the men ample warning to leave their land, but because they ignored these warnings, they were attacked. This is shown through the fur trader, John Colter. He and his partner, Potts, were caught trapping scarce beavers on blackfeet territory, they were told to leave, but they didnt. Potts was shot down by the blackfeet, but Colter was forced to run to freedom. Had they left this conflict could have been avoided. Sometimes when the Indians attacked the fur traders, others would respond and there would be a bigger conflict then what was deserved. For example when Narcissa and Marcus Whitman were massacred by the Cayuse Indians, the American settlers around the area were worried that the Cayuse would continue their massacre and kill them all. So the a force of five hundred settlers marched into the Cayuse camp and demanded that the murders were brought forth for excutions. The Cayuse refused and this marked the beginning of the Cayuse War. Therefore, the dispute over land and wildlife was a continued source of conflict between the Indians and the traders.
Themes of the American West
The fur traders highlight several key themes of the American West. These include Land Use, Natural Resources, and the Environment. It relates to this theme because as the fur traders began trapping for a profit they began to trap the animals to near extinction because the demand was so high. For example, beaver skin hats became the style in America and Europe so trappers began trapping as many beavers as possible, the beaver almost became extinct because they trapped so many, so the jobs of the fur traders became much harder so many had to quit or move on. Also, the fur traders used the land to survive, they ate its game and drank its water. The reason they were able to do this is because they were in relatively untouched environment, and there was very minimal pollution because, like the Indians, the fur traders learned to respect land. But when the land was taken for granted or misused there could be dire consequences for those involved. The fur traders learned that they need to respect this extraordinary place, in order to survive and make a living.
Interesting Facts
The American West was a unique time and place in American history. Samuel Colt developed the modern gun which brought about cowboys and gunfighters. Because the U.S. Government did not have strong control of this land, the streets were ruled by violence. Another interesting fact is that the first cattle drive was on the Chisholm Trail stretching from Texas to Kansas. In 1874, Joseph Glidden discovered barbed wire, which was an inexpensive, durable, and effective fencing material. It allowed ranchers to open up their land and make it easier to farm. Furthermore, in 1877 Congress passed the Desert Land Act that allowed the homesteaders to buy up to 640 acres of public land for 25 cents an acre in places where the arid-climate required large scale farming. These inventions, adventures, and changes helped shape the American West.