250 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY I Bon. 176 



THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF KIPP'S POST 



After the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, and the Lewis and Clark 

 Expedition of 1804-6, American fur traders surged into this vast 

 new trade area. Many of the former French-Spanish traders re- 

 mained in the field to compete with them. Manual Lisa, Pierre 

 Chouteau, and others backed trading ventures that expanded rapidly 

 into the Upper Missouri River region and penetrated well beyond 

 the mouth of the Yellowstone River. 



Although little detailed information is available, the evidence indi- 

 cates that these ventures were largely curtailed by the War of 1812 

 with Great Britain, and little fur trading was done on the Upper 

 Missouri from about 1812 to 1820. At the time Kipp's Post was in 

 operation (ca. 1826-30), American fur traders were still regaining 

 the ground lost during the hostilities with Britain. The American 

 Government was also trying to undermine the English influence with 

 Indian tribes in northern Louisiana Territory (Chittenden, 1954, vol. 

 1, pp. 127-128 ; Wesley, 1935, pp. 155-156) . 



At this period, the fur trade had not changed much since the days 

 of the I790's when the French-Spanish of Louisiana sought mainly 

 the smaller choice furs such as beaver and otter that were not bulky 

 and were highly valuable. The late 1820''s and early 1830's brought 

 changes to this region as the American Fur Company bought out or 

 swamped its competitors and established permanent posts such as 

 Fort Clark, a short distance below the mouth of the Knife River, 

 which remained in operation until the fur trade was virtually ex- 

 tinct in the 1860's. Great changes also came about for the native 

 populations of this area. 



Weakened by diseases and liquor, they became more dependent upon 

 the fur-trade posts. Former luxuries became necessities, and the de- 

 cline of the village tribes was especially evident. With improved 

 transportation facilities brought about by the advent of the steamboat 

 on the Upper Missouri in the 1830's, and the drastic decline in the 

 value of that staple of the fur trade — the beaver pelt — buffalo hides, 

 tongues, and pemmican, and deer hides supported the declining fur 

 industry. All of this was not yet evident during the heyday of the 

 Columbia Fur Company on the Upper Missouri, but grew more ap- 

 parent within 10 years after their amalgamation with the American 

 Fur Company in 1827. 



THE COLUMBIA FUR COMPANY 



The Columbia Fur Company was organized in late 1821 or early 

 1822, probably as a result of the merger of the Hudson's Bay Company 

 and the Northwest Company of Montreal, which threw many ex- 

 perienced employees out of work. Chittenden (1954, vol. 1, p. 323) 



