The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1883-05-19
Peltry Currency

Fur was the currency Of st. Louis
from the days of Laclede very nearly
until Missouri became State and the
town an Incorporated city. Other things
were taken IN exchange and barter
beeswax, whisky, potash, maple sugar,
salt, wood, feathers, bears oil. yenison,
fish, lead-but fur was the currency and
the standard Of value, the representa-
tive of and equivalent to the Hires tour
aois of hard metal. The only small coin
consisted of Mexican dollars, cut with
chisel into four or five pieces-"bits. "
A pound of shaved deerskin OF good
quality represented about twice the val
ne of the livre, and pound of beaver,
otter and ermine represented so many
pounds of deerskin. A pack" of skins
had definite weight, and thus trade
and computation were both easy. Checks
and notes were drawn against them,
deposits were made of furs and packs,
and on the whole they constituted a
much better and more uniform currency
than the staple tobacco which was at
one time the only circulating medium
in Virginia and Maryland Bons'
were species of order or note for
goods, redeemable in peltries, which,
when signed with the name of any re-
sponsible merchant or trader had full
currency in local and general trade;
Practically, they were certificates OF
deposit, but convertible or exchange
able into any other equivalents in the
course of trade and barter. Next to
the peltry, which had regular cur
rency and pretty near uniform value
from Mackinaw, Detroit and Prairie du
Chen among the French settlements all
the way to New Orleans and the Belize,
the best medium of certain value, but
only of limited circulation, was the
s.carot" of tobacco. This article is still
prepared in Louisiana by the planta-
ton manufacturers Of tobacco, and
sscarots'' of 'sPerique" may still be seen
in all the tobacconist's shops-a solid
roll of the shape and appearance of
bologna sausage. These rolls wero
called Carrots" from their resem-
| blance to the root of that name, and
they were in common use and demand
| in the early days of upper and lower
| Louisiana from their convenience. All
| the grown population, male and female,
took snuff; each carried his or her
snuif-box habitually and each prepared
! his snuff and filled his box in the morn
ing. The snuff was not ground as now,
out rasped or grated from the end of
one of these rolls, and hence their form
| and solidity was q desderatum. The
carrots had definite weight, like the
packs of furs and their usual value
was about two livres. They were some
times prepared by boringa half-inch or
inch hole in a log of tough wood; the
tobacco, damp and cured, was wedged
into this hole tightly with mallet and
| peg, and when the plug was as tight
and hard as desired the log was split
and the tobacco taken out.
The following copy of a st. Louis bill
of lading in 1909 will illustrate how
completely the people were saturated
with the conception of a peltry cur
rency: "Shipped by Peter Provenchere,
of the town of St. Louis, merchant, on
board the boat I. Madison, whereof
| Charles Quirey is master, now lying at
the landing before the town of ST.
Louis, and ready Immediately to depart
for Louisville, Ky, six packs of deer
skin, marked and numbered as per
margin Of. T., 96, SO, 109, Ill, 112,.
| 113), and barrel of bears oil, contain
ing about thirty-two gallons, all in good
order and we'll conditioned, which |
promise to deliver in like good order
and condition unavoidable accidents
excepted) unto Mr.. Francis Tarascon,
merchant, Louisville, or to his assigns.
And, moreover, l acknowledge to have
] of the said Peter Provenchere note of
| Peter Menard on Louis Lorimier, in
habitant of Cape Girardeau, for one
thousand pounds of receptacle deer
skins, the said note transferred to my
order, and bind and engage myself to
ask of the said Louis Lorimier the pay
ment of the said note, and if | reclaim it
to deliver to the said Francis Tarascon,
or assigns, the one thousand pounds of
deerskins, together with the said six
packs and the barrel now received, and
in case of no payment, to return the
note to Mr.. Tarascon he or they paying
freight. In witness whereof | have set
my hand to these bills of lading, all OF
the same tenor and date, one being &C
complished, the others null and void. y
The pack of deerskins was thus about
one hundred pounds in weight-in this
case the average was within a fraction
of 107 pounds-and notes were given,
not for the value of so many deerskins,
but made payable in receptacle skins
themselves, just as a warehouse bill to
day is payable in so many bales of cot
ton or hogsheads of tobacco, or an ele-
vator receipts is ''bonn for SO many
bushels of wheat or corn. The fixed
price was forty cents per pound for
finest deerskins, thirty cents for medi-
UNI, and twenty cents for inferior, and
all contracts, unless there was an ex-
press stipulation to the contrary were
made in this medium. Spanish coin
never affected the fur currency. The
Spanish Government paid off its officers
and troops in hard dollars, but this was
a mere drop in the bucket-less than
$4,000 a yearfor st. Louis. Even after
the transfer to the United States peltry
continued the controlling currency fol
number of years. Judge j. B. c
Lucas made his first purchase of house
for his residence in st. Louis in this
currency, buying of Pierre Duchou-
quette and wife their domicile for the
price of $500 in peltries. This was
December IA, 1807.-St. Louis Globe.
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