The Fur Trade

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In Europe there was a big demand for beaver fur which was used to make felt hats.

The history of the Missouri frontier is mostly a story of the quest for fur, primarily the fur of the beaver. Long before settlements and farms appeared in Missouri, men roamed the frontier seeking fur. The furs were obtained mostly by trading with native American tribes who had inhabited the Missouri country for thousands of years.

A beaver's fur consists of two kinds of hair-coarse outer or guard hair and downy soft underhair. Through a microscope, the underhair appears as slender strands studded with tiny barbs. This barbed characteristic results in superior felt. In an era when most occupations were outdoors and required sturdy headgear, high quality felt was important. For centuries, beaver felt was the primary material used in the construction of hats.

The French began the quest for beaver fur in the New World around 1600. They started in the north in what is now Canada, moved down the St. Lawrence River and split at the western edge of the Great Lakes.

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Traders and trappers moved westwaard in search of beaver pelts. The skins were stretched on willow frames to dry, then bundled and shipped for tanning.

One branch of the trade continued west through the northern river systems, while the other branch followed the Mississippi River south to the mouth of the Missouri River then up the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains.

The French pioneered the quest for beaver, followed by the English, then the Americans. Thus, several types of frontiersmen appeared on the Missouri frontier, dressed and equipped according to the mix of their own culture and the native cultures among whom they lived.

Throughout most of the fur trade, business was conducted by bartering with the native Americans. European or American goods such as blankets, beads, jewelry, guns, ammunition, whiskey, sewing awls, cloth, mirrors, knives, cooking vessels and iron tomahawks were traded to the native Americans in return for beaver pelts.

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Louisiana Purchase, 1803

Later, following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, native Americans became more aggressive toward intruders on their lands. Europeans then had to abandon the barter system and take up steel traps. While beaver pelts were the basis for much of the fur trade in this area, they were not the only furs of value. Deer hides and buffalo robes also were in demand. These furs, like beaver, were bundled and shipped east for tanning, then manufactured into garments, shoes and boots.

People of the Fur Trade

Traders

The earliest fur merchants on the Missouri frontier were called coureurs de bois (kur-rur-duh-bwa) "runners of the woods." These swarthy Frenchmen set out from settlements along the Mississippi with loads of trade goods. They circulated among the native American tribes until their goods were traded away; then they returned to the settlements. There they sold the accumulated furs, paid off any debts and either re-outfitted or used their earnings to launch into some other business.

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Coureurs de bois carried trade goods to the native Americans.

Many of these early frontier business-men enjoyed life among the native Americans and spent most of their time on the frontier. Often they took native American wives and adopted some of the religious and social attitudes of their chosen tribe. Technically, the coureur de bois was an outlaw. Trading licenses were controlled by the French government and were restricted. Politics and a healthy bribe were usually necessary to procure a license. Even then, part of the proceeds of trade went to the government.

Trappers

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Trappers went after their own furs.

The traders dominated the Missouri fur business from its beginning in the late 1600s until the early 1800s. Between 1800 and 1820 trading began to give way to trapping. The trappers, rather than bartering with the native American tribes, went after furs themselves. Each man carried 6 to 12 steel traps which were set in shallow water along river or stream courses. Above the trap, a willow twig, with its exposed end dipped in beaver scent (castor), was jabbed into the bank. The trap was anchored on a chain staked in deep water. A beaver swimming up to investigate the scent would put a foot into the trap. Once captured, the animal swam instinctively for deep water where the burden of the trap and chain caused it to drown quickly. When steel traps were in short supply, trappers borrowed the native American methods of snares and deadfalls.

Beaver skins were stretched on circular willow frames and allowed to dry. Then the dried pelts were compressed in a fur press, wrapped in deer hide and bound. Bales of beaver hides were shipped east for processing. St. Louis, founded in 1763 a few miles from the mouth of the Missouri River, quickly became a world center for the fur trade.

Boatmen

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The keelboat, a unique creation of the Missouri River fur trade, was powered by sail, pole or tow rope.

Besides trappers and traders, there were others on the frontier. Furs often went to market on boats, thus a need for boatmen. Lone traders might simply chop down a cotton-wood, hollow it out to make a dugout or pirogue, and transport the furs themselves. Larger operations, how-ever, employed boatmen.

The voyageur (vwa-a-jur') was the truck driver of the eighteenth century. He piloted the great freight canoes used by the French fur companies. These canoes ranged from 25 to 36 feet (7 to 11 meters) in length and carried 1 to 3 tons (1,016 to 3,048 kilograms) of cargo and a crew of 4 to 8 people. A jolly, hardworking lot, the voyageurs dressed in bright colors and sang incessantly. In the north where portages were often necessary, these sturdy rivermen would shoulder 95- pound (43-kilogram) bales of fur, sometimes several at a time and jog the portage trail. Most of them were less than 5 1 / 2 feet tall (1.7 meters). Smaller men took up less space in the canoe.

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Voyageurs piloted the large freight canoes that carried bales of fur to St. Louis

The voyageur was replaced on the Missouri frontier by the keelboatman. The keelboat was a unique creation of the Missouri River fur trade. It was 60 to 80 feet long (18 to 24 meters), had a small central cabin flanked with two walkways and was capped with a mast. The keelboat was powered by sail, pole or cordelle (tow rope).

Women

Women played a role in the early fur trade, although pioneer or European women were rare on the frontier. The woman of the fur trade was usually a native American woman. Traders often took a native American wife (sometimes while also maintaining a home in some downriver settlement).

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The woman on the frontier was usually a native American woman. Native American women were valued for their skills.

The skills of native American women made them valuable partners. They could handle horses, make and break camp speedily, cook, make clothing and, when necessary, handle weapons. In addition, part of the dowry of a native American bride was a large assortment of relatives. When a trader married into a village, he immediately acquired a host of in-laws as customers. There are few instances of traders or trappers bringing their wives from the East onto the frontier. Gentlewomen were found generally in isolated forts and trading houses where they did their best to maintain some of the comforts of civilization.

Native Americans

The relationship the fur men had with the native Americans changed drastically through the 200 years of the fur trade. At first, traders found an eager market for trade goods and great support from the native Americans. Traders were encouraged to marry into the tribes and trade relationships were jealously guarded. As more Europeans poured onto the tribal lands, tensions developed. The use of alcohol as a trade item contributed to the decline of relations.

Finally, animosity between the races and growing competition for land and wildlife resources led to open hostility. outweigh the gains of dealing in furs. And finally, the beaver almost disappeared. Relentless trapping eventually reduced the beaver to near extinction. Not until people began practicing modern game management did beaver populations recover their former abundance.

Mountain Men

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The mountain man marked the peak of the trapping era from the 1820s to the 1840s.

As relations with the native Americans deteriorated, trading became more difficult and trapping became more efficient. Groups of trappers, called brigades, worked river systems for beaver, frequently in defiance of treaties and federal laws. The peak of the trapping era came with the emergence of the mountain man. Often sited as examples of supreme independence, these free spirits roamed the West for the last 30 years of the fur trade. Most worked for large companies, but a significant number were free trappers who worked alone. They gathered furs to sell to the highest bidder at the summer rendezvous, when trappers met with fur companies and other traders at a camp in the north to buy supplies for another year.

The mountain man appeared in the early 1820s and faded with the collapse of the fur trade in the late 1840s. A combination of circumstances caused the fur trade to end rather abruptly. First, silk replaced beaver felt as the primary material for fashionable hats. Native American hostility made the risks outweigh the gains of dealing in furs. And finally, the beaver almost disappeared. Relentless trapping eventually reduced the beaver to near extinction. Not until people began practicing modern game management did beaver populations recover their former abundance.

Other Pioneers

As the fur trade abated, traders and trappers also passed from the scene. In their place came the buffalo hunters, cowboys, miners and sod-busters-all pioneers in their own right, but their lifestyles never required the same self-reliance and understanding of nature as those who went after fur.

Time Line for Missouri Frontier