CHAPTER TWO 



THE EARLY FUR TRADE OF AMERICA 



From the days of its discovery by the Spanish De Soto 

 and its settlement by the hardy pioneers under Iber- 

 ville and Bienville, Louisiana has held an enviable 

 position in the fur trade of the North American continent 

 and its native mammals, at least those whose pelts found 

 ready purchasers, have been conspicuous in the state's 

 fauna. The pelts produced in Louisiana found their way 

 into the general trade marts with no special designation 

 as being "Louisiana furs," and for this reason, presumably, 

 few of the usually well-informed of the country in general 

 knew that this southern state was a fur producer; fewer 

 Louisianians, for that matter, knew it. 



In the early days there were only four important fur- 

 trading centers on the North American continent — Quebec, 

 Montreal, Fort James on Hudson Bay, and New Orleans, 

 the first two named being started by the original fur 

 traders, the French, and the third by the renowned English 

 of the famous Hudson's Bay Company. Quebec and Mon- 

 treal were noted then as fur centers and have continued to 

 be famous for the great number and varieties of fur animal 

 pelts handled in their trade. 



With the establishment of Crozat's monopoly, under a 

 grant of Louis XIV in 1712, came the first commercial 

 handling of furs in southern North America, with New 

 Orleans as the fourth fur center of North America, for 

 under the French King's grant Crozat was given exclusive 

 right to handle all peltries, beaver furs excepted, of the 

 then vast Louisiana. 



In spite of popular belief to the contrary, the English 

 "adventurers" of the Hudson's Bay Company were not the 

 original fur traders of North America. The French who 

 settled this north land hold this distinction and it was under 

 the French regime that it flourished, fell and rose again. 



From the earliest times the Basque and Breton fisher- 

 men upon the "banks" had traded for furs. As the French 



