Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-11-15
Getting Fur for the
Market Is a
Strenuous Occupation


! If he manages to take a silver fox.
the trapper is in great luck, for the
| pelt of a prime specimen of that ami
NAL is worth $500 to man who buys
| it down at Edmonton, and the very
best will bring the buyer as much as
$500. But the trapper gets few silver
foxes. and for these he receives price
much smaller than the figure at which
the white trader will eventually make
his sale. The animal of which the
trapper will probably capture most is
the lynx. One firm of traders brought
5000 lynx into Edmonton last sum-
mer, and these formed only part of
the total receipts. Others which are
taken in large numbers are beavers,
bears. otters. wolverines, minks, mar
tens. musk-rats, musk-oxen, fishers,
weasels and white, red, black and
cross fox. Tens of thousands are
trapped during the course of season.
The hunter or trapper must carry
traps and supplies into the remotest
regions, where even lumbermen are
unknown. He builds a low, white
sled, holding 800 pounds. and loads
this with pork, flour, underclothing
and steel traps. And when the ice on
streams and lakes will bear his weight
he starts into the wilderness, there to
Arrived at a point many miles from
the nearest habitation, the trapper
tries to find two parallel streams run
ming near each other. Here he pitches
his home camp, setting traps along
both rivers. The work of taking game
from the traps is varied by catching
fish, snaring rabbits and capturing
muskrats for bait and food. Now
and then the hunter may kill wan
4 To-,
lead to a big store of wild honey in a
hollow tree. In this utter solitude lives
the adventurer, perhaps forgetting
the day of the week or the month OF
the year He fixes the date for break
ing up camp and turning back to CIV
ilization by the condition Of the fur
on the animals he takes or by the ef-
fects of sunlight on the snow. Now
and then he will shoot deer, or even
moose. for the sake of the raw-hide,
meat and fat, which latter keeps his
traps from rusting. A file serves him
instead of a grindstone to keep axes
and knives keen, and he washes his
own clothes through a hole in the ice,
drying them by an open fire. The daz-
zling glare of February often brings
snow blindness, and month or TWO
later the ast-thinning fur on his prey
shows that further work is unprofta-
ble He then secrets his traps in hol-
low logs ready for the next season,
packs his load of pelts on the wide
sled, and trudges off through the for
est to the nearest post or settlement.
On arriving, the trapper sells his furs.
When the trading season is over the
trapperS go back to their winter hunt
ing grounds, which they do not leave
from October till June. Here they
may have a shack or hut built OF logs
which will enable them to Withstand
the rigorous weather, but the location
must be near the homes of the ami
mails, where they can frequently ex-
anime the score or more Of traps and
nets which are set for their capture.
The extreme cold weather largely en-
ables them to keep the skins cached
or stored out of doors until the late
spring. when they prepare for their
tourney southwark to meet the traders.
The furs may be packed on ponies, on
sledges or in boats or other water
craft for where waterways are avail
able these are used in making the
tourney. AS the traders now advance
farther into the wilderness, the hunt-
ers and trappers are saved many a
week formerly needed in making their
way to the nearest factory.
Many curious instances OF the man
ner in which the honesty OF the In
dians manifests itself are cited in the
north country. One of the tales told
Is of a native who, desiring food and
tobacco and blankets, broke into the
store Of a remote trading post when
had been locked and abandoned for
few weeks while the white man IN
charge transacted business elsewhere
The Indian supplied his needs. but ne
left pelts in payment for what he TOOK
and months later he came back to as
certain if he had left enough. EX-
cept in the matter Of price, the traders
deal fairly with the Indians, and ordl-
narily nothing but good feeling eX-
lists between the two classes one IN
dian found a post closed when he went
to it to dispose of his skins. Being
Unwilling to wait, he forcibly entered
and left mis- pack. but nothing with IL
to indicate his identity. Then ne re-
| tired. fastening the door as best ne
could. and not until a year later ana
he return. When he walked into the
post he told his story the price OF the
skins was handed over to him without
question. The accounts Of the white
man had been carefully kept, and he
was certain that no claim but JUST
one would be made.-Champer $
Journal.