S 8 M 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
tMAY 10, 1002. 
den's work, then, is that of a man naturally well equipped 
for his task, and having success to a fund of original 
material greater than has 'ever yet been studied, and 
which, in fact, includes most, or all, that exists. 
The work is divided into five parts, with an appendix. 
These are: Part I. — The Fur Trade; II. — Historical; 
III. — Contemporary Events Connected With the Fur- 
Trade; IV. — Notable Incidents and Characters in the 
History of the Fur Trade; V. — The Country and Its In- 
habitants. The Appendix includes a number of hitherto 
unpublished documents. The work is illustrated by re- 
productions of ten contemporary prints, and a large fold- 
ing map of the country west of the Mississippi as it was 
in 1843. This map is of very great interest, for it shows 
the location of Indian tribes, the early trading posts, and 
the routes of travel through a country so changed now 
that most of its early landmarks have disappeared. 
All this is very general and can convey but little actual 
information concerning this splendid work, and we may 
profitably descend to particulars, and endeavor to give 
some fragmentary sketch of the life of this heroic era. 
The expression is not too strong, for indeed the free 
trapper of the far West was a hero, as much so as the 
knight of the Round Table, and yet this free trapper, the 
man who laid the foundations of an empire, has absolutely 
passed away. Here and there, scattered over the great 
territory now crossed in a thousand directions by lines of 
railroad, dotted by small farms, or, if still unfenced, 
ranged over by the domestic cattle and horses and sheep 
of the modern farmer and ranchman, there still remain 
a few survivors of this romantic period; but a very few 
years must see the death of the last of these, who once 
with the rifle and trap and scalping knife roamed over 
that then unknown territory. Capt. Chittenden truly says 
that "The free hunter of the far West was, in his rough 
way, a good deal of a knight-errant. Caparisoned in 
the wild attire of the Indian, and armed cap-a-pie for in- 
stant combat, he roamed far and wide over deserts and 
mountains, gathering the scattered wealth of those re- 
gions, slaying ferocious beasts and savage men, and lead- 
ing a life in which every footstep was beset with enemies, 
and every moment pregnant of peril. The great propor- 
tion of these intrepid spirits who laid down their lives in 
that far country is impressive proof of the jeopardy of 
their existence. All in all, the period of this adventurous 
business may justly be considered the romantic era of 
the history of the West." And again, "It was the trader 
and trapper who first explored and established the routes 
of travel which are now, and always will be, the avenues 
of commerce in that region. They were the 'path- 
finders' of the West, and not those later official explorers 
whom posterity so recognizes. No feature of Western 
geography was ever discovered by Government explorers 
after 1840. Everything was already known, and had been 
for fully a decade. It is true that many features, like 
the Yellowstone wonderland, with which these restless 
rovers were familiar, were afterward forgotten and were 
rediscovered in later years; but there has never been a 
time until very recently when the geography of the West 
was so thoroughly understood as it was by the trader 
and trapper from 1830 to 1840." 
The influence of the fur trade upon the Indian was 
profound and far-reaching. True, the trader brought to 
the Indian corrupting vices and desolating disease, but he 
also brought to him his first lessons in the life that he was 
yet to lead. "They mingled with his people, learned his 
language and customs, understood his character, and, 
when not impelled by business rivalry, treated him as a 
man and as a brother. The extensive intermarriage of 
the two races during a period of more than a century 
under the fur trade regime has probably done more than 
any other one thing toward the ultimate civilization of an 
almost untamable race." 
The influence of those resolute pioneers, who, single- 
handed and alone, stood their ground against their Brit- 
ish rivals between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Moun- 
tains, must not be under-estimated. Their valiant bear- 
ing prevented in a large degree those international com- 
plications which so often threatened the peace of the two 
countries along other portions of the frontier. 
The early portion of. the first part of Capt. Chittenden's ■ 
work deals with the character of the fur trade ; the 
traders' relation with the Indians ; the evil effects of com- 
petition ; the liquor traffic ; trading posts, and the trapping 
fraternity. This last includes the different vocations of 
the wandering population of the west country in its early 
days, and who for many years were its sole white occu- 
pants. These white men were made up of three sepa- 
rate nationalities — the Americans, the French and the 
Spaniards — but whatever his nationality, the individual 
was likely to occupy one of the roles given below. First 
there was the bourgeois, or partisan; he was usually a 
partner in the fur trading company — often a man of a 
high order of ability; such a man, for example, as Ken- 
neth McKenzie, William Laidlaw, Alexander Culbertson 
or William Bent. These were men fit to command 
armies, or in our time to manage great railroads, or fill 
any other high calling. They had charge of the trading 
ppsts, the bourgeois wsuajly j^maining at headquarters, 
while the partisan led expeditions. The bourgeois pos- 
sessed absolute authority, and his position with regard to 
the employes of the post was that of a feudal chief. He 
was treated with the greatest respect, and conducted his 
business with an almost military discipline. 
Next in importance to the bourgeois was the clerk, 
who in time might become a bourgeois; his social rank 
was equal, and in the bourgeois' absence he took com- 
mand. Often he was sent out on expeditions, especially to 
trade with the Indians. Often the clerk was a stock- 
holder or a partner in the company, though usually he 
was only a salaried employe. 
The hunters and trappers were men who did much of 
the work of gathering the fur. In the further west, 
among the mountains, they were often called mountaineers 
or mountain men. They were the ones who led the ex- 
peditions, whose skill was depended on to avoid Indians, 
or whose courage, if necessary, to fight them. They killed 
the meat and trapped the beaver ; but also they were ready 
to do any work that might present^ itself. When a sec- 
tion of country had been reached that it was desired to 
trap through, these men went often in small groups by 
themselves, and worked up particulars streams, later join- 
ing the main company. 
The camp keepers constituted another class, whose duty 
was to remain in camp and care for the furs that the 
trappers might collect. They skinned the beavers and 
dried and prepared the skins for shipment. 
The free trappers were a class not bound by contract 
to any company. Sometimes several might be partners; 
sometimes they worked singly; or, if in companies, each 
might work for himself. The free trapper sometimes 
hired men to work for him, and he thus became a fur 
trader in a small way. These men, as their name implies, 
were free and independent; and they were highly re- 
spected and envied by others of the profession. Usually 
they maried Indian wives, and often had considerable 
families. They were on good terms with the Indians, and 
often traded with them. But like almost all the inhabitants 
of the plains of that day, they were improvident, and 
drank and gambled away the proceeds of their labors. 
The voyageur was usually a Frenchman, either of 
Canada or of Louisiana. He was a gay spirit, cheerful 
and happy, always singing at his work, and laughing and 
joking with his companions. He was willing to labor, and 
cheerfully endured all sorts of discomforts. He it was 
who cordelled the keel boat up the Tong course of the 
Missouri, and who propelled the laden canoe over other 
waters. The old writers constantly dilate on the cheery 
temperament of the Frenchman of the fur trade, but also 
on his lack of courage, and his inefficiency when danger 
from Indians threatened. 
At the chief posts of the fur trade there were artisans, 
boat builders, blacksmiths, carpenters and other me- 
chanics who found constant employment in the making of 
repairs and in the manufacture of new articles required 
by the service. The raw hands, greenhorns, often known 
as engages, were mostly recruited from Canada, and 
were wholly without experience. They were sent out as 
apprentices, bound by rigorous rules, and under such 
small pay that it was inevitable that when they arrived 
at the end of their term of service they should be in the 
company's debt. From the fact that on their way out to 
service they were fed largely on pork, they were con- 
temptuously called mangeurs de lard. 
Except for the bourgeois, and the clerks, in part, all 
those employed by the companies were thriftless and im- 
provident. The universal testimony is that the men spent 
their wages faster than they would earn them, and spent 
them for goods or food, which cost immensely; "about 
five hundred per cent, on the original cost." 
Concerning the characteristics of the hunter, Capt. 
Chittenden says : "The hard life which - he was com- 
pelled to follow left a deep impression upon his physical 
appearance. He was ordinarily gaunt and spare, browned 
with exposure, his hair long and unkempt, while his 
general make-r>p, with the queer dress which he wore, 
made it often difficult to distinguish him from an Indian. 
The constant peril of his life and the necessity of un- 
remitting vigilance gave him a kind of piercing look, his 
head slightly bent forward, and his deep eyes peering 
from under a slouch hat, or whatever headgear he might 
possess, if studying the face of the stranger to learn 
whether friend or foe. On the whole, he impressed 
one as taciturn and gloomy, and his life did to some ex- 
tent suppress gaiety and tenderness. He became accus- 
tomed to scenes of violence and death, and the problem 
of self-preservation was of such paramount importance 
that he had but little time to waste upon ineffectual re- 
flections. His conversation with his companions, where 
interspersed with lighter touches, was still of a dry wit 
order, not much abounting in hearty laugh or relaxed 
countenance. Such evidences of affection or love for his 
fellows as he did display were generally couched in 
language of an opposite character through which his com- 
panions would divine his intended meaning. In spite, 
however, of his apparently unsocial disposition, he was 
'generous, even to a fault.- So few were his numbers 
that friendships became deeply rooted. His 'possibles' 
were always at the disposal of his companions, and their 
word or promise was all the security he wanted." 
"While wandering about on his hunting expeditions) 
the mountaineer ordinarily had no shelter but the sky, arid 
lay down to sleep in the open air. His bed consisted gen- 
erally of a single buffalo robe, occasionally with leaves or 
boughs underneath. His saddle often did service as a 
pillow, while one or two blankets were his sole protection 
from the, cold. In the winter season, or at other titties 
when his .business required a Considerable sojourn In 
one place, he erected a rude hut for his better protection 
in either hot or cold weather. It was located near some 
stream where both grass and wood were plenty, and Was 
formed of skins spread over an arched framework of 
saplings bent to a semi-circle with their extremities in- 
serted in the ground. His fire was built in front, and 
nearby was a pole laden with the various meats which 
were his main reliance for food. The 'graining blocks' 
and stretching frame, used in cleaning and curing the 
skins, stood conveniently at hand. The traps hung on 
somfe neighboring tree, and perhaps a brace of elk antlers 
did service as a rack on which to hang his articles of 
clothing when not in use. The various equipments for 
his horse were carefully bestowed in some convenient 
place, and the steed himself was probably grazing near by, 
or eating the bark of cottonwood trees felled for the 
purpose." 
The wages paid in the fur trade were very small; ex- 
tremely so when the difficulty and danger of the work is 
considered. The pay of a clerk was about five hundred 
dollars a year. In addition they usually received their 
food, though oftentimes they were required to subsist on 
the country — that is to say, to depend on such food as 
could be killed. When not otherwise employed, they 
might be required to hunt, to gather berries, to work in 
the garden, or to perform almost any other service. As 
a large proportion of the employes were constantly in 
the company's debt, desertions were frequent. 
The fascination that the wild, free life of the frontier and 
beyond had for men who had experienced it, is well un- 
derstood. The love of adventure, the freedom from con- 
trol, the excitement of the chase, the possibility of meet- 
ing Indians, or at least of having new adventures from 
day to day, had wonderful attractions, and exercised an 
influence on men accustomed to the life which unfitted 
them for a return to civilization. Of course, many of 
those engaged in the fur trade were outlaws, who had 
fled beyond the region of the law to escape punishment 
for their crimes. Such, in brief, is Capt. Chittenden's 
account of the characteristic features of the fur trade. 
The history of the early fur trade is indeed the history 
of the discovery of the interior of America, and the author 
traces these interior explorations down to the year 1804, 
when Lewis and Clark set out on their memorable ex- 
pedition. 
The St. Lawrence Valley was the first, and remained 
the principal field of this trade, and Montreal was its 
chief emporium. After the exploratory work done by 
the early Jesuits and Frenchmen, came the fur trade of 
Canada, early set on foot by the Frenchmen, Groseilliers 
and Radisson, who were in the service of the French 
Company of the Hundred Associates. These men, who 
were indeed the founders of the fur trade, failed on ac- 
count of the interference of the French Government, and 
later succeeded in forming the famous monopoly known 
as the Governor and Company of Adventurers of Eng- 
land, trading into Hudson's Bay, known ever since that 
time as the Hudson's Bay Company. Nearly one 
-hundred years later a formidable rival arose — The 
Northwest Company of Montreal. At first it had a hard 
time, and its existence was seriously threatened, but from 
1787 it was very successful for more than a dozen years. 
Then a new rival arose, which was absorbed into the 
greater company, and finally, in 1821, the Hudson's Bay 
Company absorbed the Northwest Company. Meantime, 
however, in 181 1, a grant had been made to the Earl of 
Selkirk of a large tract of land in the Red River Valley 
and here more or less active fighting took place, in which 
the servants of both fur companies suffered, but the 
settlers brought out by Lord Selkirk suffered most of all. 
It is impossible here to trace the history of these early 
days. While the Hudson's Bay Company controlled all 
the fur- trade of the North, not a few Americans had 
pushed around the Horn, and were trading with the In- 
dians on the northwest coast; and since 1750 the Rus- 
sians had been trapping and trading on the coast still 
further to the north. 
Within what is now the United States, St. Louis was 
the center of the fur trade, and indeed it remained that 
center so long as a fur trade existed. The town was 
founded about 1763 by Pierre Laclede Liguest, who was 
in the employ of Maxent, Laclede & Company, of New 
Orleans, a firm that had been granted the exclusive trade 
of the Missouri River, as far' as to the mouth of the 
River St. Peters. Among the company who landed and 
marked out the sites for the trading post which was to be 
St. Louis, was Auguste Chouteau, then only thirteen 
years old, whose descendants still inhabit the town, and 
whose name is almost synonymous with the fur trade of 
