322 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



Trappers' Associations 



In the good old days, "free trapping" was all the vogue 

 in the Louisiana marshes, as well as throughout the state. 

 A trapper, if he elected to pursue this vocation, merely 

 bought himself some traps and sallied forth anywhere the 

 fur was to be found and set the traps, skinned his catch, 

 and sold his pelts to the first visiting fur buyer. Then, as 

 the fur crop became more valuable, owners decided to share 

 in this annual harvest and either worked their own lands 

 or leased them out to trappers at so much an acre rental ; 

 a few — a very few, however — shared in the value of the 

 take. 



Less than six years ago there entered a new element 

 into the business. Fur trapping rights were purchased 

 from marshland owners, who were getting no revenue at 

 all from their lands, and the right to trap the acres were 

 subleased to practical trappers. In other cases, marshlands 

 were purchased outright and the owners went into the fur 

 business. This caused consternation among the "free trap- 

 pers," and, in a number of instances, open warfare, as the 

 majority of the trappers were decidedly antagonistic to 

 having their free trapping rights taken from them — even 

 by the owners of the lands on which they trapped without 

 even going through the formality of asking for this privi- 

 lege. The leasing companies and owners went into the 

 courts and invoked the trespass law. 



Trappers formed themselves into "protective associa- 

 tions," engaged lawyers and fought the rights of the own- 

 ers, but the courts upheld the landowners and his right to 

 lease the fur-trapping rights on his own property. Where- 

 upon, the trapping associations did a right-about-face, paid 

 in for membership stock, and in turn secured leasing rights 

 for their members, doing the identical thing the corpora- 

 tion they had been fighting had been doing, and peace 

 prevailed. However, as in most cooperative movements, 

 the trappers' associations were popular for about one year 

 and then they languished, and today most of them are dead. 



