The Fur Trade Chapter 1 Summary

Chapter 5 presents the western area and how the Colorado Fur Trade really began in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, with Taos and Santa Fe being the trade centers. It all began with the “coarse fur” trade (deer, antelope and elk) with northern New Mexico by the Spanish beginning in the mid-1600s and lasting well into the 1850s, later expanding into the “fine fur” trade (beaver and muskrat) in the 1800s. From here, it’s hard to follow exactly how the trade was conducted as until the early 1800s, most trades outside of Santa Fe, Chihuahua city, or other specified locations in the states were forbidden, leaving many jailed in Mexico for the attempt. The Spanish would continue trading, as far north as Wyoming until 1821 when Mexico would

The fur trade today is extremely relevant as the trade was one of, if not the first international big business across the Midwest, not just Colorado. In fact, most of the fur trade depended on the demand for luxury furs in Europe and it was the lack of demand that ended the trade in the first place. Europe moved toward silk hats instead of felt in 1838, it was softer and easier to produce. Another way the book is relevant today is the presentation of rivers and other trails, trappers like Jean de la Maisonneuve (the first known explorer to the Platte) are reasons why we have many of the hiking trails and known rivers today. There are a lot strengths to the book, as some business today use some of the practices used by trappers like building “trade posts” where your supply was i.e.: a river or bison plain, or going to multiple buyers for a single product as to get the best price, also catering to supply and demand as well as consumer tastes. In retrospect, the entire trade managed to last 50 years spanning from the early 1800s into the 1850s and even when beaver had been trapped out in 1838, the trade still managed to go strongly trading bison robes instead, after the trade had been long gone many trappers moved to farming land or guided settlers through the country. This goes to show how adaptive the mountain man was as to keep his lifestyle. Butler’s text even relates back to a Bent’s Fort presentation in class, where homestead museum curator Ben Stinley presented the standard trade rifle, the flintlock system, and just how buying one gun would control your life as a trapper, to maintain the rifle you had to maintain the lifestyle to live and survive. The book gives us a little more detail on the firearm stating its probable worth was 16 beaver skins, and although the trade gun was the popular and reliable choice, flintlock weapons would be