Alexander
Ross, the pioneer recorder of the early fur trade in the far northern
West, led a beaver trapping expedition in 1824 into the vast,
unfamiliar territory east of trading posts in the Pacific Northwest. He
and his men ventured deep into Snake River country in present-day Idaho
and Montana.
In this narrative, based on the accounts left by Ross and others,
historian and legal scholar John Phillip Reid describes the experiences
of the earliest Hudson’s Bay Company fur-trapping
expeditions—ventures usually overlooked by historians—and
explores the interaction between the diverse cultures of the Pacific
Northwest.
Ross recorded in exquisite detail the endless vexations of managing a
brigade drawn from the widest possible mixtures of ethnic backgrounds
and nationalities—his men included métis (or
mixed-bloods), Americans, Canadians, and Native “freemen”
(independent contractors) from over a dozen Indian nations.
Ross’s accounts reveal the consequences of running low on
supplies and having to butcher the animals, and how hunting game for
sport threatened the stock of ammunition and the condition of the
horses. Entire expeditions were at the mercy of the most careless
trapper and the weakest horse.
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More than
merely chronicling Ross’s accounts, Reid uses early trapping
expeditions as a lens for examining legal, institutional, and
commercial behavior among the diverse population the fur trade drew
together.
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In addition, he assesses broader issues such as cultural
conflict between Ross and his men, and the Hudson’s Bay
Company’s drive
to discourage American settlement in the Northwest by exterminating the
beaver there. Those interested in the history of the early Northwest
will find this well-crafted saga both engaging and enlightening.
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Forging a Fur Empire
Expeditions in the Snake River Country, 1809-1824
by John Phillip Reid
The
Arthur H. Clark Company, 2011
Order
a copy
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