Mountain Men Research Paper

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A mountain man is a male trapper and explorer who lives in the mountains. Mountain men were most common around the North American Rocky Mountains from around 1810 through the 1800s. Almost 3,000 mountain men were in the mountains at around 1820 and 1840, the peak beaver harvest period. While there were many free trappers, most mountain men were employed by major fur companies. The life of company men was nearly militarized. The men who had the company also had mess groups that hunted and trapped in brigades and they all reported to the head of the party. Mountain men rose up in geographic and economic expansion driven by huge earnings in the North American fur trade (wickipedia).
Donald Mackenzie, represents the North West Company, Mountain …show more content…

This trade attracted numerous French Americans from Louisiana and some French Canadian trappers, in addition to Anglo-Americans. Some New Mexican residents also pursued the beaver trade, as Mexican citizens initially had some legal advantages. Trappers and traders in the Southwest covered territory that was generally inaccessible to the large fur companies. It included parts of New Mexico, Nevada, California and central and southern Utah. After the decline in beaver and the fur trade, with some emigrants to the West using the Mormon Trail, former trappers found work as guides and hunters for the traveling parties (HistoryOnTheNet).
After the short-lived American Pacific Fur Company was sold, the British controlled the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest, under first the North West Company and then the Hudson's Bay Company. To prevent American fur traders from competing, the British companies adopted a policy of destroying fur resources west of the Rocky Mountains, especially in the upper Snake River country. After the Hudson's Bay Company took over operations in the Pacific Northwest in 1821, the Snake River country was rapidly trapped out

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