a"bility to do aziTthing that the Indian could do,. 'and' do it 'tetter, ■These ' 

 adventurers \irere perfectly fitted for the hazardous, task of exploring the 

 unknown western wilderness, and_ the "beaver: was the. lodestone that drew thefi" ■ ■ 

 across, the Plains to the.Eockies and -across the Eockies tc Mexico and to-^the '. 

 Pacific llorthv/est. But for these men the entire region of ITorthwesterh- -IJnit&iL 

 States would now in all proba"bility "be held "by 'Great Britain^, for they re-', 

 sisted the invasion' of the -..coveted territory "by Canadian fur ■.traders'' and 

 trappers » and thus first established the claim -of the -United -States- 'to the 

 great Oregon territory, . " .- ...^ 



SASLY TRAJ^FIC IN WIIxDLIZS AKD- ITS PRODUCTS ' 



Except for the fur animals and the "bison, there was for many years no 

 direct exploitation of wildlife. It V-ras at this time, however ^ that some 

 of the great American fortunes v;ere founded upon -the fur trade, •nota"bly that 

 of the Astor family. Their remote trading posts in a few years garnered the 

 v/ealth of fur and left to posterity scarcely more than scattered remna;nts of 

 what had "been a tremendous reso^orce* The pelts of fur animals and -the hides 

 of "bison were commodities that would endure transportation from the-v;ilder- 

 ness to the settlements, "but the flesh of game "birds and- mammals could not 

 "be sent "back over the long trail. 



Killing for the market did not "become a serious factor in the reduction 

 of game until stimulated "by the growth of cities and tov;ns nearer to the game 

 fields and the development of railways. Traffic in game as food' flourished 

 after the Civil War and probahly reached its peak in the '80' s. D-uring that 

 time uncounted millions of passenger pigeons, prairie chickens, grouse, ducks, 

 geese, upland plover, snipe, woodcock, quail, and other food species were 

 annually sent to market "by gunners v;ho , except for a few months in midsummer, 

 shot a.nd snared game the whole year round. It v;as during this time that the 

 passenger pigeon was exterminated and certain other game species v/ere so "badly 

 reduced that they have never since recovered. 



Strange to say, market shooting seems to have enriched no one engaged 

 in it. Today a pair of canvas"back d\-'cks taken from the Susquehanna Flats 

 and illicitly offered for sale will "bring the poacher from $3 to $5 if he ' 

 can conclude the transaction without "being caught "by Federal or State law- 

 enforcement, officers , in which case the offender may have to pay a $500 fine 

 and spend 6 months in jail. Much of the game earlier taken for the then 

 legitimate market spoiled on its way, and what was sound and saleable brought 

 prices so low that the receipts often were not sufficient to pay the gionner's 

 expenses. Ducks, geese, and other game birds sold for a fev.^ cents a pair, 

 and the business v;as so badly organized and competition so sharp that the 

 markets were nearly always glutted . The v,'ritten accounts of Bogardus and 

 other market shooters afford some indication of the extent of the slaughter. 

 They also refer to the uncertainty of profit and describe market shooting 

 generally as a hard, laboriOTis, and often hazardous enterprise, 'Y'et it was 

 continued until sportsmen and conservationists at the beginning of the pre- 

 sent century became alarmed at the destrxiction and sought legislation to pro- 

 hibit traffic in game. 



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