Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1942-08-14
BEAVER BROUGHT
FIRST SETTLERS
INTO NORTHWEST

- - - - w A~S =
FUR PROFIT WAS BAIT; YELLOW
METAL LURED PIONEERS
AT LATER DATE
It is generally understood that the
discovery Of gold led to the settle
ment Of Montana. The lure of the
yellow metal Is proverbial: but there
are other ways Of getting 1t besides
the uncertain methods of digging 1t
out Of the ground or washing it from
river sands. and this was recognized
by the initiated as a source Of wealth,
at very early date in the history
Of our country.
It was not the policy OF those who
first made fortunes here, to encourage
the influx of settlers, yet the fur
trade paved the way here, as it had
done farther east. for the state
builders.
Beaver in Montana were plentiful,
at the beginning of the 18th century.
and beaver at that time was the most
desirable fur. The fashion for both
men and women demanded 1t, not for
making wraps. but for beaver hats,
which were worn then by both sexes.
In Europe and America. Those were
curious looking head coverings, with
wide and narrow brims; straight,
curled and cooked, crowns low and
high, bell-shaped, and pointed like a
sugar loaf, with ear flaps and with
out, the ingenuity of the hatters must
have been taxed to devise such re-
markable, and often ugly designs, but
those of high and low estate all wore
them.
They must have been exceedingly
uncomfortable to wear and because of
their lack of ventilation led to bald
ness, which may have been the reason
why wigs were then in vogue. But
when was fashion ever secondary to
comfort? The beaver hats, hot, heavy
and unsanitary as they were, and ex-
pensive as well, continued to be the
prevailing style.
Reason for Everything
1t has been said that whenever one
wishes to do anything, he can always
give a good reason for it. This applies
to fashions, as to other things. Years
ago, when women pierced their ears,
and wore long earrings reaching near
" to their shoulders, they advanced
IilEo dS lIlCIl CNltLoC All
dom. ut is good for the eyes" In
the same way the wearers of beaver
hats claimed that they improved the
hearing. and quickened the memory,
especially If castoreum was rubbed
into the hair.
There being such a great demand
for beaver skins, our shrewd Yankee
ancestors did not fail to profit by 1t.
The first boat returning to England,
was said to have carried couple OF
hogheads of furs.
The Dutch residents of New York
entered largely into the trade, and
the center for this trade was Fort
Orange, the present Albany. Over
10 900 beaver skins were sent in 1857
from Fort Orange to New Amsterdam,
New York city,.
Alice Morse Earle has told what in
roads were made in the trade, IN
Two Centuries of Costume:
"Unscrupulous and crafty citizens
of Fort Orange and their thrifty,
penny-turning wives decoyed the In
dian trappers and hunters into their
peaceful, honest kitchens under pre-
tense of kindly Christian welcome to
the peltry bearing braves; and they
fulfilled the guileless savages with
Dutch schnapps, or Barbados kill
DEVIL until the befuddled and half
crazed Indians parted with their
precious stores of handicapped skins
and threw off their we'll oerspired
and creased coats and exchanged
them for such valuable Dutch wares
as knives, scissors, beads and jews
harps, or even a few pints of quickly
vanishing rum, instead of solid Dutch
guilders, or substantial Dutch blan-
kets. And even before these strategic
Dutch citizens could corral and fleece
them, the incoming fur-bearers had
to run as insinuating gauntlet OF
boschloopers, bush-runners, drummers,
or breakers who sailed out on the
narrow Indian paths to buy the COW
eted furs before they were brought
into Fort Orange"
But the question What could the
worn beaver coats have for the
trader?" This is answered by Dutch
writer, Adrien van de Donck:
"Outside of the coat of (beaver) tur
many shining hairs appear called WIN
ter hairs, for they fall out in summer
and appear again in winter. When
hats are made OF the 1ur, tne rougH
hairs are pulled out for they are
useless. The skins are usually first
sent to Russia, where they are slightly
valued for their outside shining hair,
and on this their greatest recommen-
dalton depends with the Russians
After the hairs have fallen out, or
are worn, and the peltries become old
and dirty and apparently useless, we
get the article back, and convert the
fur into hats before which it cannot
be we'll used for this purpose, for
unless the beaver has been worn, and
is greasy and dirty, it will not felt
properly, hence these old peltries are
the most valuable. The coats which
the Indians made of beaver skins and
which they have worn for long time
around their bodies until the skins
have become foul with perspiration
and grease are afterwards used by the
matters and make the best hats"
Indians Did 1t Better
It will be seen from the foregoing
that there was a saving in buying the
Indians cast off coats, which the