Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1897-02-11
THE FUR TRAPPER.
He Has Had His Day In United states
and Il Disappearing.

bASNb ~
He Has Had His Day In the United ssaees
and Is Disappearing.
Among the changes an advanc.
ing civilization and a ~senseless dem
udation Of forest land r creating
throughout the length and breadth
of a great continent non is more
conspicuous than " those pertain
ing to the fauna Of this country. The
solitudes of the great primeval for
ests, that formerly abounded in wild
game, beautiful birds and fowls of
the air and valuable fur bearing
animals, T now nearly Us deserted
as the great western plains, where
the buffalo long since left nothing
but traces of his existence behind.
Trappers find 1t more difficult to OBJ
tain their furs each season, and
along with the sportsmen they re-
treat farther into the cold regions
north of us, penetrating into the
wilds Of British America, wherel life
in winter is scarcely endurable.
The fur trapper has had his day
In the United States, and as a prod
uct Of past conditions he is disap-
pearing as surely as the game which
he has hunted. In the great north
ern belt Of states bordering upon
the Canadian line he Is found in
dwindling numbers, vainly striving
to make a living in his precarious
calling and bemoaning the times
when it was an easy matter to find
enough animals in his traps each
day to keep him supplied with mon
ey. 1t is now the work Of a week
to gather the skins that formerly
came to his traps in a day.
The popularity of furs has not de-
clined. In fact, they L more in
demand than ever, and fashion de-
crees that they shall be worn every
winter on garments for men and for
women. Most of them command a
higher price than ever in the histo-
ry of civilization, but the trapper
does not profit 80 much by this
change as might be supposed. The
fur bearing animals r disappear
ing faster than the prices for furs
advance. Other unsettled regions
of the globe are being explored to
help supply the markets of the
world with skins, and science is DO
ing everything in its power to util-
ize the common skins of the domes-
ticated animals. The fur of the cat,
dog, sheep, lamb and other animals
of our barnyard and household has
already become valuable CONNER
cially, and through the dyer's art
and the curriers' skill the wearers
of cheap furs are totally deceived.
1t is not an easy matter to ascer-
tain the relative value of the impor-
tant furs, but those taken from the
forests and woods of this country
r much higher than In former
days. The silver fox that abounded
80 plentifully in u northern woods
Is now a comparatively rare animal,
and from 500 to 5000 is paid for
first class specimens. The darker
kl.v c-c-Eke s;l~~r-Rsn the moro
valuable 1t is, and consequently the
farther north the trappers go the
better luck they have. Those over
the Canadian border trap more and
better silver foxes than can be found
anywhere in the United States, al
though northern Maine and the
Michigan peninsula have yielded
some excellent silver foxes. Owing
to the great demand for this fur the
animals have been trapped and
hunted so p~ersistently that they are
very scarce, and the few remaining
ones are % timid and harder to
catch than the common red fox.
The trapper sees his industry
shrinking year by year, and with
out any possible improvement in
the future he realizes that the doom
of his class has been sounded. An
other generation, and he will be gone,
along with the Indian fighter, the
prairie scout and the buffalo hunter.
Philadelphia Times.