Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-12-06
Fur Trade Was Lush Business for Those i'm Upper
Brackets But Skinny for Indians, Free Truppers

A hundred and fifty years ago, and
for some time thereafter, you couldn't
beat the fur trade for q nice, juicy
business. It was packed with enough
adventure to thrill anyone TO the heels
and the profits were something TO
write home about.
But the golden harvest was confined,
for the most part, to the boys in
the upper brackets. John Jacob Astor
did very well for himself, and so did
William H. Ashley, the Sublettes,
Mai. Andrew Henry, Kenneth McKen-
zie and other kingpins in the business.
For the most part, however, actual
producers, the Indians and the free
trappers who hied forth and bagged
the beaver and brought in the buffalo
hides, had little to show for it but
a few grand Sprees year and the
accompanying hangover.
The fur trade was glorious for the
boys at the top because their cash
outlay for the rich pelts was mere
peanuts compared to the fabulous
profits they received in the eastern
markets.
What the Indians and free trappers
got in exchange for their pelts, in the
main, was liquor, and cheap liquor at
that, often diluted with liberal shots
of tea or river water. The Indian
quickly became a passionate devotee
of firewater and, given few snifters,
was willing to hook everything In sight
for more.
Indian bucks and Squaws as well,
likewise were paSsionately fond of
trinkets and decorative cloth and
would toss valuable pelts over the
counter in exchange for cheap calico
or junk jewelry that was scarcely
worth carting home.
His Life Was Lonesome
The free trapper, too, was an easy
victim of the traffic, and perhaps I'M
derstandably so. Although the wild, |
undisciplined life held a distinct |
charm for him, for the most part |
he was lonely at best. He was out |
with his traps in all kinds of weather
and all kinds of country and any mo-
ment Blackfeet Indian might drill
him with an arrow or rifle ball He
might go for months entirely alone,
or with one or two companions.
His fare was of the simplest, con-
sisting largely Of meat, and for shell
ter he had the open air and blanket.
Small wonder it was, then, when
1t came time for the rendezvous, that
be was chatting at the bit. The rem
devious offered the companionship
joviality and departure from routine
that his soul craved. 1t was carnival,
4 three-ring circus, a rousing holiday.
He brought with him his years
catch and colossal thirst and he sur
most of the former to satisfy
The latter.
The rendezvous was first established
by General Ashley on Henry's Fork
If the Green river-on the Utah
Wyoming boundary-in 1925 and was
leld annually thereafter for about a
lozen years. Supplies of guns, powder,
,ar lead, flint, coffee, sugar, knives,
blankets and large quantities Of al
'ohoI and tobacco, together with mir
ors and beads for the Indians, were ]
,rought out by pack train from st.
souis to trade to the red men, free
rappers and other mountain men for
he precious beaver pelts.
This great mountain fair was an
lolnced by couriers many weeks in I
dvance and went on for 10 days or !
wo weeks. In addition to trade, there C
vas plenty OF merriment besides All O
Orts Of racing, betting gambling L
rinking, fighting and shooting and Y
ven marrying Of Indian girls by the q
-appers, went on from day to day. ?
hey Left With Nothing
MANY an Indian" says Joseph q. n
Lasters in his book, Stories of the k
ar West" "bartered his precious pelts a
,r gewgaws and the free trapper II
AIDED all he had for sufficient alco- v
oil to last a week in the greatest a
alteration his imagination could de- +,
Sc. In the end, the proprietors who IL
nd brought the supplies to the noun
Iins had the pelts of beaver, otter, :,
uskrat and lynx and the robes of Z
lie wolf, the buffalo and the coyote, =:
lille the mountain men and Indians -
i'd scarcely enough powder, lead = =
APPS and other supplies to last them 8.
r a few. months Of the trapping sea- -
n again in the mountains -
The rendezvous continued until -
,out 1889, when the beaVer-and the ~ =,
pretty generally disap- = :.
,ared from the streams and lakes of "
e great west. &c
Kenneth Mckenzie, the king of the ~
issour1, who ruled In regal splendor az
Fort Union, was one of the most -,
lorful men of the fur trade. With "
much display of the purple as was
mpatible with the wilderness, Nc IN
,nzie ruled the realm of the Missouri Js
der the overlordship Of the all ~
werful American Fur Co., founded vi
John Jacob Aston From the time II
its establishment In 1892, this ST.
lding station remained the port Of In
1ntana until the rise of Fort Ben at
] caused it to decline and ultimate
to be dismantled. Of
Mckenzie, year after year, defied pr
rivalry. Company after company S.