Fur trade

From BWCAWiki

The fur trade (also called the Indian trade) was a huge part of the early history of contact in North America between European-Americans and American Indians. European traders and trappers explored the continent and established relationships with native communities, hoping to obtain the best furs and pelts—beaver was especially prized—for European markets. Native hunters exchanged pelts for European-manufactured items that were desired in their communities, such as metal tools, firearms, clothing, and alcohol.

In the Boundary Waters region, the fur trade consisted mainly of French Canadians trading with local Ojibwe. These trades would occur over the winter, and groups of Voyageurs would paddle and portage the furs east to Grand Portage. They would then return with more trade goods before the waters froze for the next winter.

Often, the political benefits of the fur trade became more important than the economic aspects. Trade was a way to forge alliances and maintain good relations between different cultures. Consequently, there was much rivalry between different European-American governments for control of the fur trade with the various native societies.

The fur trade came to a close as game was depleted by overhunting, as expanding European settlement displaced native communities from the best hunting grounds, and as European demand for furs subsided.

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