The Washington herald., 1913-10-19
HISTORIC PHASES OF FUR TRADE

America and established little trading
stations which proved the valguards OF
civilization. Albany and st. Louis and
many other fiourishing American cities
are the outgrowth of these stations. In
the early days the most valuable frrs
could be obtained from the Indians In
exchange for glass beads or other triies
At one time this trade was carried on.
especially In Canada. by coureurs de-
bois; but the scandalous practices of these
reckless rangers brought the trade into
such disrepute that a licensing system
was established.
Beaver skins as Currency.
Beaver skins were used In New Am
sterdam and elsewhere in place Of gold
and silver for currency. and the figure
of beaver is a conspicuous device on
the escutcheon of the city Of New York.
The search for furs was one of the
objects of the daring expeditions OF the
voyasers of French Canada, as the
search for gold was the motive Of the
Spanish invasion of Mexico and South
America.
"The famous Hudson Bay Company
originated in 1910 and claimed the en-
tire country from the Bay to the Pa
cifc, and from the Great Lakes 10 the
Arctic Ocean. except such portions as
Russians. Toward the close OF this
eighteenth century certain Canadian
merchants formed the Northwest Fur
Company, having their headquarters at
Montreal, their operations being carried
on in the districts watered by rivers
that flow to the Pacific. This organ
ization soon became a formidable COM
petitor Of the Hudson Bay Company.
In 1S21 the two companies united In
17fS3 merchants nf Now OrlaanS
established a fur-trading post where
st. Louis now stands. under the man
agement OF the Brothers Chouteau
For the first half of the nineteenth CEN
tury the ST. Louis trade was from $780,
600 to $4,000 year. One of the most
famous of early American fur traders
was John Jacob Astor, OF New York,
who began by trading in a small way af-
ter his arrival in the country in I7SL
BY Is1o-l2 his trade, conducted under the
name OF the American Fur Company,
was enormous. An entirely new field
for American enterprise was opened by
the purchase Of Alaska in 1867, which
secured complete control OF an import
ant seal fishery. This field was SO
eagerly worked that 1t was found nee
essary to limit the taking of seals TO
the bachelor males, lest the animals
should be altogether extermlnated."
Industry mt Present Time.
Speaking Of the industry at the pres
ent time, the encyclopedia continues:
Collectors and dealers in Canada and
the United States forward their furs to
the seaboard. chiefly to New York, for
sale there, or for consignment princi-
pally to London and Leipzig. OF the
fur marts, London is the chief; for
thither tends, by the laws of trade, not
only much Of the produce of Asia and
Europe, but also the fine peltries of
Chile and Peru, the nutria from Buenos
Ayres, the fur seal of Cape Horn and
South Shetland, the hair seal from New
Foundland, as well as the inferior pei
tries of Africa. To prepare fur skins ik
a way to endure this long transportation
Is simple and easy matter. When strip
ped from the animal the flesh and fat
are carefully removed and the pelts hung
in cool place to dry and harden; moth