The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-12-22
FUR TRAPPING
NOT LOST ART
BUSINESS CATCHING WARMLY
COATED BEASTS OF THE WILD
PLACES is PR osPERINe AN
MINNESOTA AND NORTH DAko.
IA ARE FIRST IN RANK.

People generally seem to think the
days of trapping are over" sail To-
cal furrier the other day. las a mat
ter Of fact, as many or more fur bear
ing animals are trapped in North Da-
kota and Minnesota now as were ever
taken, and, except for the very WHO
animals ind the animals Of prey, 1t Is
safe to say as many are captured OF all
kinds as in the old days.
TN fact, there are some animals that
increase in number with civilization
The reason for this is that they find
more food in the neighborhood OF the
farmer or the ranchman, and In taxing
UP their abode near men they have dis
covered cunning ways of protecting
themselves by keeping under cover or
in holes"
The furrier went on to quote some
figures that made it look as II fur
trapping were not an old calling at all,
but very modern one, despite the ro-i
nance that clings about the bygone
days of the trapper,
Million Minnesota Muskrats.
One of these facts was that a million
muskrats weere taken | a single year
in Minnesota recently. A muskrat skin
now is worth about 25 cents. In the
days when Martin Mcleod and Nor
man Kittson were trapping along the
Red river and Minnesota valleys
rat was worth from Ito 10 cents.
Thousands are shipped ach year to
foreign markets, .hiefly to London, and
| in some of the sales there as many as
million are disposed of. All of these
come from America, and a. large part
of them pass through the hands of st.
Paul fur houses.
| St. Paul is the largest primary fur
market in the world. The furs go to
that city not only from the state itself
and from neighboring states, but from
the far North, the British domains and
Alaska
Up through the North the old Hud-
son Bay company still maintains its
posts much as 1t did hundred years
ago. Their factors trade direct with
the trappers and Indians, as they did
then, giving them merchandise in ex-
change for their bundles of furs. And
in that part of the country the profess
sional trapper is as much in evidence
as he ever was. He goes out much as
he used to do with pack of a hun
dred pounds or more on his back, OF
with traps and supplies loaded onto a
pack horse, or in a bateau to be rowed
along the streams and portrayed across
divides he says the winter through
and returns in the spring with his load
!of %A m
bacco, much as they used to do wher
Mendoza was one t the factors.
Farmer Boy Gets HiS Money.
But in the states the professions
trapper has given place to the farmer
boy Most of the furs brought in from
North Dakota and Minnesota points arr
taken by boys on the farms. They
learn the haunts of the animals in tht
fall, and as soon as the winter coats
are grown they set their traps It IL
a paying business. A goo5 days catch
sometimes nets as much as $25 or $50
Half dozen minks will bring in thai
much to the trapper, and they are moi
an uncommon catch, with good luck.
The skunk IS really domestic ami
NAL. He fourishes in civilization, TAX
ing up his abode near the farm house
to prey on chickens and rats and mice
A skunk census in Minnesota woulC
probably show a much larger popula-
ton than could Lave been found in the
days of the trapper. Also he is a much
sought animal by the furriers. The
fur makes up very handsomely into
collars and neck pieces, In Europe it Il
much worn, and has been in demand
for years, but 1t is only recently thai
Americans have come to appreciate the
beauty of skunk fur. Skunk fur here /.
generally known as black marten OIL
Alaskan sable. In Europe it goes un.
der its own proper name.
The silver fox, like the marten and
the sable, are captured almost exclu,
sively in the far north. Most of tn.
; beavers that go through St Paul alst
|, come from the Dominion. This doei
not mean, however, that there are nj
. beavers in Minnesota. There are stil
a good many of them, but. a law ex
lists in this state, as in several others
against their destruction There are
Il good many beavers in the St Croix
Beavers hive in permanent comnuni
ties, members of the same family bein,
found in these communities to tn,
third and fourth generations" 4
beavers fur is so sensitive to the con
Editions under which the animal lie
that firriers who handle the skins cal
tell from what waters the animals ha.
been taken.
The red fox and the weasel are tw,
other furred animals which are cap
tured largely within the state. TIL
: weasel fur is the ermine Of European
countries. the "ermine too dear for
king" being the winter coat of this lit
tie farm fellow. The weasel, like tn
skunk. stays close neighbor to man
and during the winter many of thes
, handsome little skins, about the size o
the hand, are brought to st. Paul fur
riers.
i indians Stick to Trade.
) Indians are still great trappers, an
many of the furs which are handled Il
) st. Paul are caught by Indians. To tn
I larger fur dealers Indians come in wit
J their "hauls" nearly every day. Man
! fof them cannot speak English, but al
) Of them know the sign Of the dollar
{ and in Chippewa or Sioux o. the uni
versal language of grunts stand out 70
their price on the furs they bring in.
One of the greatest differences be
|, tween the old fur trade and the pres
emit is the greater ease and quicknes
with which the trapper can market hi
furs In the old days 1t took a veal
!, often more, to market The season
, catch, for the trapper had often to re
( furY1 RI I, far-off civilization Now !,