Overview
As New Spain, New France, and the British Colonies stabilized, the Fur Trade contributed to social, political, and economic development in the territory between the Atlantic Coast and the Mississippi River. Following the Louisiana Purchase, the Fur Trade expanded westward from St. Louis, through the Rocky Mountains, and to the Pacific Coast. It was during this era of the Western Fur Trade that the Mountain Men emerged, blazing the trails that helped drive Westward Expansion.
Resources
People
William H. Ashley (c. 1778-1838) — Ashley was a fur trader and politician who organized successful fur trading expeditions in the American West. He is most well-known for establishing Ashley’s Hundred and the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous.
John Jacob Astor (1763–1848) — Astor was a German immigrant who came to America and became the wealthiest man in the nation. He was a shrewd and successful businessman, primarily involved in real estate and the Fur Trade. His involvement in the Oregon Territory contributed to America’s fulfillment of Manifest Destiny.
William Becknell (c.1790—1865) — Becknell was a trader who blazed the Santa Fe Trail in the early 1820s.
James Beckwourth (c.1798–1866) — Beckwourth was a famous Mountain Man who is most well-known for being a successful black man in the first half of the 19th Century and his reputation for exaggerating stories about his life.
Charles Bent (1799–1847) — Bent was a fur trader, merchant, and politician who rose to prominence during the Western Fur Trade Era and became the first Governor of the New Mexico Territory. He is most well-known for his trade ties to Santa Fe and his death during the Taos Revolt.
William Bent (1809–1869) — Bent was a fur trader, merchant, and frontiersman who rose to prominence during the Western Fur Trade Era. He is most well-known for building Bent’s Fort and his close ties to the Cheyenne.
Jim Bridger (1804–1881) — Bridger was a famous Mountain Man who is most well-known for his expeditions to the Rocky Mountains and Yellowstone, and the establishment of Fort Bridger along the Oregon Trail.
Robert Campbell (1804–1879) — Campbell was an Irish-born Frontiersman, fur trader, and businessman. He is most famous for the years he spent trapping and exploring the American West, as well as for various successful business ventures.
James Clyman (1792–1881) — James “Jim” Clyman was a frontiersman, mountain man, and explorer who rose to prominence in the early days of the Western Fur Trade. Clyman is most famous for keeping a detailed journal that was published as “Journal of a Mountain Man.”
Thomas Fitzpatrick (1799–1854) — Fitzpatrick was an Irish-born Frontiersman, fur trader, and businessman who played an important role in the Western Fur Trade. He is most famous for his years spent trapping and exploring alongside legendary Mountain Men, including William Henry Ashley, Jedediah Smith, and Jim Bridger.
Andrew Henry (c. 1775–1832) — Henry was a businessman, soldier, and fur trader who played an important role in the establishment of the Western Fur Trade. Henry is famous for building the first American trading post west of the Continental Divide and founding the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.
Manuel Lisa (1722–1820) — Lisa was a pioneer of the Western Fur Trade. He led expeditions along the Missouri River, built at least seven trading posts, and formed the Missouri Fur Company. His efforts helped lay the foundation for the Western Fur Trade and paved the way for the establishment of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and the American Fur Company.
Joshua Pilcher (1790–1843) — A prominent businessman and frontiersman who played an essential role in the Western Fur Trade. He assumed control of the Missouri Fur Company after the death of Manuel Lisa, but was overshadowed by the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and the American Fur Company.
Jedediah Smith (1799–1831) — Smith was a trapper, trader, Frontiersman, and Mountain Man who explored the territory between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast. He is most famous for finding the South Pass through the Rocky Mountains and leading the first American expeditions into Utah, Nevada, and parts of California.
William Sublette (1799–1845) — Sublette was a trapper, trader, Frontiersman, and Mountain Man during the Western Fur Trade Era. He is most famous for the years he spent trapping and exploring the American West, as well as his connections to the renowned Mountain Men of the time.
Groups
Iroquois Confederacy — The Iroquois Confederacy, also known as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Six Nations, was a league comprising six distinct Native American Indian nations that spoke the same language. The Confederacy is most well-known for its role in the Fur Trade and the wars and treaties that shaped the American Colonies.
Places
Astoria — Astoria, or Fort Astoria, was a trading post founded in 1811 by the Pacific Fur Company at the mouth of the Columbia River. It served as a strategic outpost in the Pacific Northwest and a center for trade with China before being acquired by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821.
Trappers Point, Wyoming — For nearly 40 years, the Western Fur Trade played an important role in shaping the American West and opening the land west of the Rocky Mountains to Westward Expansion. One of the most important events associated with the Western Fur Trade is the annual Rocky Mountain Rendezvous, which was held from 1825 to 1840. Six of the last eight Rendezvous were held at present-day Trappers Point near Pinedale, Wyoming.
Events
Battle of Lake Champlain (July 30, 1609) — The Battle of Lake Champlain was fought at Lake Champlain on July 30, 1609. It was the first battle of the Beaver Wars and the first time Native American Indians living in the region experienced European firearms.
Beaver Wars (1609–1701) — A series of battles that were fought over control of the Fur Trade in colonial America. During the wars, the Iroquois Confederation took control of the Fur Trade, eliminated rival Native American Indian tribes, and terrorized French settlements. The French and their Indian allies responded with attacks on Iroquois villages and English settlements. The conflict lasted for nearly a century and ended with the Peace of Montreal in 1701.
Louisiana Purchase (1803) — The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million and doubled the size of the nation.
Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) — A military expedition that explored the upper regions of the Louisiana Purchase from St. Louis westward to present-day Astoria, Oregon. The expedition was the first overland expedition conducted by the United States government and was a major achievement that helped open the frontier for Westward Expansion and the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny.
Companies
American Fur Company — Founded by John Jacob Astor in 1808. It became the first business monopoly in the United States, dominating as much as 90% of the Fur Trade during the first half of the 1800s.
Labor and Trade Systems
Fur Trade Factory System — The Fur Trade Factory System was a program that established a series of Trading Posts on the Western Frontier, allowing Native American Indians to trade furs with the United States Government. The system encouraged Indians to adopt American agriculture and education practices. It was eventually undermined by private businessmen, including John Jacob Astor, and ended in March 1822.
Overland Trails
California Trail (c. 1840–1869) — Used by more than 250,000 people to emigrate from the East Coast to the American West in the 19th Century. The trail played a crucial role in helping the United States settle the continent, from the East Coast to the West Coast.
Mormon Trail (c. 1840–1869) — Used by more than 60,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to migrate from the Midwest to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah in the 19th Century. Others used the trail to travel further into the American West. The trail played a role in helping the United States settle the continent, from the East Coast to the West Coast.
Oregon Trail (1841–1869) — The most famous of the Overland Trails, it was used by thousands of American pioneers who emigrated to Oregon and other western territories during the age of Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion. It was blazed by frontiersman Robert Stuart in 1812–1813 and was most popular from 1841 to 1869.
Wilderness Road (1607–1965) — The Wilderness Road, which was blazed by Daniel Boone and a group of men under his command, was a vital route for American pioneers who emigrated west in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is believed that as many as 300,000 people took the Wilderness Road into Kentucky.
