Northwest Fur Trader Post

Erica Vetsch here:

Would you believe that US history was greatly influenced by a rodent?

Yep, the rodent known as Castor canadensis changed the course of US history. The humble North American Beaver.

By Steve from washington, dc, usa - American Beaver, CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3963858

Because of the demand for beaver-felt hats, voyagers from many European countries ventured into the unknown wilderness of the interior of North America, set up trading posts, and brought furs back to the cities of American and Europe. They traded blankets, cookware, beads, guns, and more to the Indians of the Great Lakes region in exchange for beaver, bear, fox, mink, fisher, wolf, mountain lion, ermine and more.

All goods had to be brought in via canoe and portage (carrying it!) and brought out the same way. Hundreds of miles of paddling and packing. Packs weighed hundreds of pounds, ditto canoes, and there were no roads.

Here in the state of Minnesota, we have a fine example of a fur trader post that dates from the winter of 1804. Found on the banks of the Snake River near present-day Pine City, Minnesota, the trading post was occupied for only one year, then abandoned to fall into decay.

When the remains were re-discovered in 1931 by a local Pine City resident who, over the next two decades visited the site, taking a few artifacts that he discovered. In 1958 he informed the Minnesota Historical Society about his find, and they, along with students at Hamline University, excavated the site, discovering hundreds of artifacts. In 1970, the MNHS opened the rebuilt site as a living history museum, teaching patrons about both the Ojibwe tribes and the fur traders of the North West Company.

By Jonathunder - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11848495

The centerpiece of the site is the trading post itself, which is one long building surrounded by a stockade. The building was living quarters, office, storeroom, and trading post all in one. The quarters were adequate, but hardly spacious, and because they were deemed to be temporary, there was no luxury to be found. Everything was utilitarian, and anything not necessary was left behind, hence the large number of artifacts found when the site was being excavated more than one hundred fifty years after it was occupied.

By Themightyquill - Own work, CC BY 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2565094

Hundreds of voyagers and fur traders plied their trade in the Great Lakes region, joining up at places like Fort William in Thunder Bay, Canada, or Grand Portage in Minnesota for the annual rendezvous, a chance to catch up with other voyagers and to party!

From the mid 18th century through about 1830, the fur trade brought great wealth to the North West Company and her rivals. After 1830, with fashions changing in Europe and beaver populations declining in North America, the fur trade became much less lucrative. But for a period of about eighty years, beaver was king.

You can visit the North West Fur Trading Post in the summer months, and you can learn more about the post by visiting http://sites.mnhs.org/historic-sites/north-west-company-fur-post

Erica Vetsch is a transplanted Kansan now residing in Minnesota. She loves history and romance, and is blessed to be able to combine the two by writing historical romances. Whenever she’s not immersed in fictional worlds, she’s the company bookkeeper for the family lumber business, mother of two, wife to a man who is her total opposite and soul-mate, and avid museum patron.

You can visit her online at www.ericavetsch.com and on Facebook at Erica Vetsch Author
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The Mad Hatter and Camel Urine

Did you know the crazy Mad Hatter in Alice and Wonderland is based on a historic fact?

When tall, black beaver-felt hats were the raving fashion, the hatters would bring in beaver pelts from all over, including multiple thousands from across the ocean in what would become The United States.

Once they received the furs from near and far, they had to find a way to treat the pelts to release the top layer of hair that was coarse and ugly (not good for the hats) and gathered the shorter, softer, under fur. The fine layer was then mixed with glue, shaped, and molded to fit a hat form. And like the 80s hair band—the taller, the bigger, the better.

But here’s the kicker, to release that long hair and access the fine fur the beaver skin had to be coated with mercury.

Yup mercury.

You know where I’m heading don’t you.

The hatmaker would heat the glue-fur combo over a lantern or candle to get a better shape out of the material. Unwittingly, they would breathe in mercury fumes which are a neurotoxin which led to several crazy hatmakers suffering from Mad Hatter Syndrome.

I was so intrigued when I learned this random little fact. Even more so, when I found that the Mad Hatter in the original Alice in Wonderland was supposedly based on the author's crazy-hatter friend.

But as I shared my tidbit with my friends, I found that many knew this crazy fact already.

BUT!!!

They didn’t know this extra special detail.

I laugh.

How on earth did the hatmaker’s figure out that mercury released the fur?

And here it is.

Some entrepreneuring individual figured out that camel fur, plus, camel urine equals released fur that could be used as felt. And the craft of felting was born.

As the demand for hats grew, so did the demand for camel urine. Eventually there wasn’t enough camel urine to go around. So, some other get-it-done fellow figured he would try human urine and see if it worked too. 

It did.

I know. Ugh.

As the easier to obtain and cheaper resource of human urine became the norm, they noticed the poor hatmaker with syphilis being treated with mercury produced a finer end product than their healthy counterpart. Eventually they got around to selling hats with urine-free mercury treatments. Improving sales and making hatmakers sick with the mercury exposure.

I think I’m just fine with seeing the elegant top hats behind museum glass or staged on vintage mannequin.

Camel pee… yuck.

I found a new respect for the crazy, mad hatters. Dealing with furs, camel urine, mercury poison, and fancy lords of the highest rank, on top of learning how to felt to perfection was no small task. They had to have some tenacity to be good at their jobs.

My hats off to you, hatters.

Do you know of any interesting facts behind the trades? How or why certain tricks-of-the-trade came about or trades that have become obsolete? I’d love to hear them.

CaraGrandle is a Historical Romance Novelist who prefers to write about the early settlers of the Pacific Northwest. She is represented by the Steve Laube Agency. Cara leads the author4TheAuthor writers group on Facebook, home to 185 writers. Together they're pressing back on busy and making a space for their dreams. Cara hosts a Writers Encouragement show weekly on Periscope. The show is on Tuesday mornings at 9:00am PST. Cara's Periscope show includes live, interactive author-interviews with leading Christian fiction novelists, editors, publicist and agents under the handle @CaraGrandle. 

Cara is currently out on submission. Follower her journey on her Facebook author page.