Post by Decatur on Jan 19, 2007 12:21:40 GMT -5
The fur trade in North America began with the earliest contacts between the Native Americans and the Europeans. Within a few years of their arrival in the New World, French, English, and Dutch fur traders were competing with each other to form trading relationships with the Indians. In Europe, there was a good market for furs, while in America, there were seemingly limitless numbers of fur-bearing animals.
Fur traders offered the Indians a line of goods, including iron axes, knives, hatchets, awls, fish hooks, trade cloth of various types and colors, woolen blankets, linen shirts, brass kettles, jewelry, glass beads, muskets, ammunition, and gun powder. They also brought numerous types of alcohol, especially brandy and rum, to trade. The Indians eagerly sought these items and paid for them in furs. While the Europeans most coveted the beaver pelt, they also accepted otter, mink, fox, bear, and deerskins as payment for their goods. Very quickly the natives became dependent on the European products. Many Indians forsook their own culture for that of the Europeans. The manufactured goods replaced the items that the natives had formerly made for themselves, utilizing the resources available in their own environment.
There were other problems associated with the fur trade. Competition between tribes over hunting grounds became more pronounced after the Europeans' arrival. By the early 1800s, many Indian tribes faced starvation due to the shortage of animals. The Shawnee Indians were especially hard hit. The Shawnee Prophet tried to convince his people to give up all white customs and products. He had only limited success. Tecumseh tried to unite the Indians west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi River into Tecumseh's Confederation. One of the principal reasons that his plan failed was his inability to feed his followers due to the lack of animals. Tensions also erupted between the English, the French, and the Dutch. The competition between the English and the French culminated in the French and Indian War. The Native American chiefs saw that each side was using them, but because of the Indians' dependence on white goods, they had to become involved in these conflicts. While there were many honest traders who dealt fairly with the Indians, others were greedy and unscrupulous men who cheated and exploited the natives. Alcohol was an important and permanent part of the trade. It had devastating effects on many Indian tribes. Numerous witnesses have written of the violence and tragedy that the liquor trade brought to Indian villages.
In a conference at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on October 3, 1753, some of the Six Nations protested to a commission appointed to hear their grievances and to the governor of Pennsylvania about the traders. The Iroquois chief Scarrooyady said:
Your Traders now bring scarce anything but Rum and Flour; they bring little powder and lead, or other valuable goods. The Rum ruins us. We beg you would prevent its coming such quantities by regulating the Traders. We never understood the Trade was to be for Whiskey and Flour. We desire it may be forbidden, and none sold in the Indian Country; but if the Indians will have any they may go among the inhabitants and deal with them for it. When these Whiskey Traders come, They bring thirty or forty kegs and put them down before us and make us drink, and get all the skins that should go to pay the debts we have contracted for goods bought of the Fair Traders; by this means we not only ruin ourselves but them too. These wicked Whiskey Sellers, when they have once got the Indians in liquor, make them sell their very clothes from their backs. In short, if this practice be continued, we must be inevitably ruined.
The difficult problem of alcohol in the fur trade was never eliminated. In fact, its effect on the Indians increased as the fur-bearing animals were depleted and the Indians began to surrender their lands. Eventually the fur trade moved into the West, beyond the Mississippi. There the beavers were reduced to virtual extinction during the nineteenth century.
Despite the inherent problems of the fur trade, the Indians were relatively well paid for the furs. These are the average prices for furs and peltries at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the late 1700s and the early 1800s:
Raccoons-from 37 1/2 to 40 cents each
Foxes, cats, and fishers-from 50 to 67 cents
Minks-50 cents each
Muskrats grown ones-25 cents each
Otters-4 to 5 DLLS each
Bears grown ones-same as otters
Beavers-125 cents
Buckskins always-100 cents
Does skins-67 to 75 cents each
Dressed does skins, buck and does-75 cents
Does-75 cents
The inventory of merchandise at the United States Trading House, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1810, gives us a picture of the items that natives coveted:
3 nest copper kettles-7
In a nest with covers weight 100 lbs. at 90 counts per lb.
1 nest containing 12 copper kettles without covers weight 100 1/2 lb-at 80 counts
38 rifles--$12.50
2 casks powder
185 lb. B.B. patent Shot--$14.50 cwt.
760 pair Ear Bobs Ca.--$12.50 per 100 pair
16 pair fluted wrist bands weight 14 oz 2 Dwts. Ca--$1.60 per oz.
31 head bands with eagles weight 23 oz. 8 dwts.
1 dozen broaches [sic] weight 3 oz. 5 dwts.
300 small ditto 1" 12
6 gorgets $18.36 per dozen
1 dozen larger round broaches weight 5 oz. 12 dwt.
1 dozen ear wheels weight 3 oz.
2 boxes bar lead
18 beaver traps--$2.25
20 ditto traps--$3.00
3 traps--$1.67
330 lb. pig tail tobacco--$15
2 shot bags-- $1. 259 yards yellow flannel-40 cents
7 1/2" red ditto-41 cents
14" white ditto-41 cents
14 3/4 blue cloth-1 2/6
6" stroud cloth 96 1/2
400 small crosses-6 1/2
200 crosses
47 nose wheels-20
23 fish lines with hooks
5 1/4 dozen ivory combs-300
1 gross straight awls
116 bullet moulds--37 1/2 cents
7 powder horns
2 large ditto
25 1/2 lb. powder-40 cents
27 lb. vermillion--$1.40
15 com. gun locks--$1.20
3 double roller ditto--$3.13
2" 3/4 bridled ditto--$2.87
11 best ditto--$2.80
28 pair two point blankets-- $2.27
6 pair 3 point ditto--$3.68
5 pair 3 1/2 point ditto--$3.75
1 pair American 3 point ditto
14 calico shirts--$1.20
59 pipe tomahawks--$1.50
196 lb. buckshot
10 fowling pieces--$11.33
33 plain tomahawks
119 axes
By the early 1800s, many Indian tribes faced starvation due to the shortage of animals. The Shawnee Indians were especially hard hit. The Shawnee Prophet tried to convince his people to give up all white customs and products. He had only limited success. Tecumseh tried to unite the Indians west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi River into Tecumseh's Confederation. One of the principal reasons that his plan failed was his inability to feed his followers due to the lack of animals.
www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1555
Taken from "Ohio History Central's Online Encyclopedia"
Fur traders offered the Indians a line of goods, including iron axes, knives, hatchets, awls, fish hooks, trade cloth of various types and colors, woolen blankets, linen shirts, brass kettles, jewelry, glass beads, muskets, ammunition, and gun powder. They also brought numerous types of alcohol, especially brandy and rum, to trade. The Indians eagerly sought these items and paid for them in furs. While the Europeans most coveted the beaver pelt, they also accepted otter, mink, fox, bear, and deerskins as payment for their goods. Very quickly the natives became dependent on the European products. Many Indians forsook their own culture for that of the Europeans. The manufactured goods replaced the items that the natives had formerly made for themselves, utilizing the resources available in their own environment.
There were other problems associated with the fur trade. Competition between tribes over hunting grounds became more pronounced after the Europeans' arrival. By the early 1800s, many Indian tribes faced starvation due to the shortage of animals. The Shawnee Indians were especially hard hit. The Shawnee Prophet tried to convince his people to give up all white customs and products. He had only limited success. Tecumseh tried to unite the Indians west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi River into Tecumseh's Confederation. One of the principal reasons that his plan failed was his inability to feed his followers due to the lack of animals. Tensions also erupted between the English, the French, and the Dutch. The competition between the English and the French culminated in the French and Indian War. The Native American chiefs saw that each side was using them, but because of the Indians' dependence on white goods, they had to become involved in these conflicts. While there were many honest traders who dealt fairly with the Indians, others were greedy and unscrupulous men who cheated and exploited the natives. Alcohol was an important and permanent part of the trade. It had devastating effects on many Indian tribes. Numerous witnesses have written of the violence and tragedy that the liquor trade brought to Indian villages.
In a conference at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on October 3, 1753, some of the Six Nations protested to a commission appointed to hear their grievances and to the governor of Pennsylvania about the traders. The Iroquois chief Scarrooyady said:
Your Traders now bring scarce anything but Rum and Flour; they bring little powder and lead, or other valuable goods. The Rum ruins us. We beg you would prevent its coming such quantities by regulating the Traders. We never understood the Trade was to be for Whiskey and Flour. We desire it may be forbidden, and none sold in the Indian Country; but if the Indians will have any they may go among the inhabitants and deal with them for it. When these Whiskey Traders come, They bring thirty or forty kegs and put them down before us and make us drink, and get all the skins that should go to pay the debts we have contracted for goods bought of the Fair Traders; by this means we not only ruin ourselves but them too. These wicked Whiskey Sellers, when they have once got the Indians in liquor, make them sell their very clothes from their backs. In short, if this practice be continued, we must be inevitably ruined.
The difficult problem of alcohol in the fur trade was never eliminated. In fact, its effect on the Indians increased as the fur-bearing animals were depleted and the Indians began to surrender their lands. Eventually the fur trade moved into the West, beyond the Mississippi. There the beavers were reduced to virtual extinction during the nineteenth century.
Despite the inherent problems of the fur trade, the Indians were relatively well paid for the furs. These are the average prices for furs and peltries at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the late 1700s and the early 1800s:
Raccoons-from 37 1/2 to 40 cents each
Foxes, cats, and fishers-from 50 to 67 cents
Minks-50 cents each
Muskrats grown ones-25 cents each
Otters-4 to 5 DLLS each
Bears grown ones-same as otters
Beavers-125 cents
Buckskins always-100 cents
Does skins-67 to 75 cents each
Dressed does skins, buck and does-75 cents
Does-75 cents
The inventory of merchandise at the United States Trading House, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1810, gives us a picture of the items that natives coveted:
3 nest copper kettles-7
In a nest with covers weight 100 lbs. at 90 counts per lb.
1 nest containing 12 copper kettles without covers weight 100 1/2 lb-at 80 counts
38 rifles--$12.50
2 casks powder
185 lb. B.B. patent Shot--$14.50 cwt.
760 pair Ear Bobs Ca.--$12.50 per 100 pair
16 pair fluted wrist bands weight 14 oz 2 Dwts. Ca--$1.60 per oz.
31 head bands with eagles weight 23 oz. 8 dwts.
1 dozen broaches [sic] weight 3 oz. 5 dwts.
300 small ditto 1" 12
6 gorgets $18.36 per dozen
1 dozen larger round broaches weight 5 oz. 12 dwt.
1 dozen ear wheels weight 3 oz.
2 boxes bar lead
18 beaver traps--$2.25
20 ditto traps--$3.00
3 traps--$1.67
330 lb. pig tail tobacco--$15
2 shot bags-- $1. 259 yards yellow flannel-40 cents
7 1/2" red ditto-41 cents
14" white ditto-41 cents
14 3/4 blue cloth-1 2/6
6" stroud cloth 96 1/2
400 small crosses-6 1/2
200 crosses
47 nose wheels-20
23 fish lines with hooks
5 1/4 dozen ivory combs-300
1 gross straight awls
116 bullet moulds--37 1/2 cents
7 powder horns
2 large ditto
25 1/2 lb. powder-40 cents
27 lb. vermillion--$1.40
15 com. gun locks--$1.20
3 double roller ditto--$3.13
2" 3/4 bridled ditto--$2.87
11 best ditto--$2.80
28 pair two point blankets-- $2.27
6 pair 3 point ditto--$3.68
5 pair 3 1/2 point ditto--$3.75
1 pair American 3 point ditto
14 calico shirts--$1.20
59 pipe tomahawks--$1.50
196 lb. buckshot
10 fowling pieces--$11.33
33 plain tomahawks
119 axes
By the early 1800s, many Indian tribes faced starvation due to the shortage of animals. The Shawnee Indians were especially hard hit. The Shawnee Prophet tried to convince his people to give up all white customs and products. He had only limited success. Tecumseh tried to unite the Indians west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi River into Tecumseh's Confederation. One of the principal reasons that his plan failed was his inability to feed his followers due to the lack of animals.
www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1555
Taken from "Ohio History Central's Online Encyclopedia"
