The Opelousas courier., 1904-07-02
WILDERNESS GAME5fERS,
HOW ASTOR STARTED THE RACE
FOR THE FUR COUNTRY.

a1ISFCSFnaItOnS 10 conquer an IN.
pire Rich in Precious Skins.
The purchase OF Louisiana by the
united States. had the same effect at
the beginning of the nineteenth CEN
Jury that the opening Of new gold
neIds has today. All the restless
spirits Of the day-such ass have
pioneered every westward move
ment Of the race-set their faces to-
ward a region as rich in precious furs
as Spanish Eldorado was in gold.
From st. Louis and Detroit and
Michilimackinac, which SCor-, the out
most frontiers Of civilization n those
days, went forth an army of Jagged
tatterdemalions-white and half-breed
and Indian, French, English, Spanish
and American-without leader or com
mander, to conquer an empire the
size Of half a dozen European king
doms. And while the trappers set
out to their gigantic task as W
OF the value of their risk in the pro-
sress of the race as a lot of carous-
ing students loose on a lark, master
minds were consciously planning for
the exploitation of the new territory
and the organization of this gypsy
army, which, under disciplined leader
ship, could render splendid service.
In New York John Jacob Astor had
already accumulated a fortune as a
buyer Of furs from American traders
an1 or n ccJ1o, - JN,ror +o, NOD
frequently met the principal fur
traders of Canada at Montreal, and
knew the enormous profits which
these traders were making from, their
Western fields, that correspond with
the newly acquired ~territory of the
United States. What was to hinder
American traders from organizing as
powerful a company as these Nor
westers had in Canada, engaging the
hordes of free trappers now securing
westward of the Mississippi, and es-
tablishing fur posts to which all trap
pers would come through the Amer
lean West as the Nor'westers had
through Canada?
Astfr was so enamored of his plans
that in 1907 he laid them before the
shrewd fu7 merchants Of Montreal
and proposed a partnership that
would remSve all rivalry. But be-
ware of exposing profitable ideas to
a Scotchman! The Scotch merchants
took the profits and left Astor his
idea. In other words, they rejected
the partnership and at once set about
anticipating his plan.
For the Nor'westers had schemes
of their own. The dawnfall of France
in America in 1859 put an end to the
licenses that had limited the fur
trade to favorites of the court. More
than two thousand "voyageurs, cour-
eurs des bois, mangeurs de lard
Common raftsmen), famous hunters,
traders and trappers were suddenly
thrown on their own resources. The
Scotch merchants Of Montreal we're
quick to seize the opportunity. Unit
ing the Northwest Fur Company,
they engaged the entire retinue of
c~asttoff Frenchmen, woodscrafts1nen
who knew every path and stream
from Labrador to the Rocky Noun
tains. Within a few years their forts
were strung down the St. Lawrence
and across Labrador to the Atlantic,
up the Ottawa and the Great Lakes,
across the prairie to the mountains,
and down the Athabasca and Mac
kenZie to the Arctic Ocean. Their
headquarters were at Fort William,
on the north shore of Lake Superior.
Already Sir Alexander Mackenzie, a
leading partner, had crossed the
mountains to the Pacific; and Nor
west voyageurs yearly reached far
Their down the valley of the Columbia
the very territory which AS
tor designed for his new companys
hunting ground.
Rebuffed at Montreal, Aston turned
to- the other great f~ur-trading center
of America-St. Louis. st. Louis lay
at the gateway of the coveted land.
Why should ST. Louis ally itself with
far-away New York for the exploita-
ton of territory in which the Western
felt almost proprietary interest?
Astor's overtures were again rejected
and their only effect vas to hasten
the action of rivals. n
Rejection had on Astor's purpose
the same effect as a~bloW-it harden
ed his determination. If his plans
reused Jealous resentment among
rivals, they surely were not fatuous.
Here, then, were three powers
ready to spring at n another's
threats for the possession of an I'M
known land; one, the power OF a
a single master mind, John Jacob AS
tor. of New York; the second, Nor
w~esters, whose partners, swift, in
domitable and irresistible, pushed in
to the fur country; the third, st.
Louis traders, who were closer to the
coveted ground than their rivals by
the width of half a continent.
So the race for the fur country be
gan.-From Agnes C. Louis The
Fights Of the Fur Companies" in the
Century.