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Trappers Mountainmen and Fur Traders in the 1800s
There were essentially two realms of trade: The Rocky Mountain Fur Trade and the Upper Missouri. The two regions had different circumstances and hence very different methods of operating business. The Upper Missouri trade relied on the Indian tribes to bring their buffalo skins to trading posts. There, the robes were bought and sent to St. Louis via the river.
The Rocky Mountain Trapping system was quite different. In the Rockies, beaver was the fur of choice. It was trapped mainly by the Euro-American mountain men traveling in company groups. The pelts were sold at a yearly rendezvous where the buyers would travel overland to the designated site and then haul the furs via mule train and wagon to the city to be sold. This system allowed the mountain men to stay in the wilderness year round, as they did not have to travel to a trading post to sell their catch. These two systems were not sealed from one another. Depending on the terrain, available capital, and the attitude of the nearby Indian tribes, a fur company would often use both the rendezvous system and trading posts.
The first of the fur giants was the British Hudson's Bay Company, chartered in 1670. The Hudson's Bay Company dominated the trade of Northern Canada and the Oregon territory well into the 19th Century. The first substantial American venture was the Pacific Fur Company started by John Jacob Astor in 1810. Astor's dream was to create a corporation that covered all of the West, starting with a fort at the mouth of the Columbia River. He sent one group by ship to build the fort and another by land to establish a useable overland route. The fort "Astoria" was erected as planned and the overland group arrived in 1811. The French North West Company was already trapping in the vicinity and provided keen competition for Astor. With the coming threat of British invasion during the War of 1812, Astor sold his fort to the North West Company for a fraction of its cost. The British did invade and take over the fort, renaming it Fort George. After the United States won the war, the post was returned to America, but not to Astor.
The American fur trade was dormant from 1814 to 1819 due to the economic and political turmoil caused by the War of 1812. The loss of Astoria and trouble with the Blackfeet Indians on the Missouri also dealt a blow to the trade.
Manuel Lisa did manage to run the Missouri Fur Company from about 1807 to 1820; this group built Fort Raymond in 1807 and trapped and traded with the Indians on the Upper Missouri. In 1822, John Jacob Astor again made a debut into the fur industry by establishing the Western department of the American Fur Company in St. Louis. A year earlier, the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company had merged, resulting in British dominance of the Columbia River. Also in 1822, William Henry Ashley advertised for "one hundred young men to ascend the Missouri River to its source, there to be employed for one, two or three years." This marked the beginning of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Though it would change hands several times, this company would innovate the industry by creating the "free trapper system" and the rendezvous.
Both Astor's new American Fur Company and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company would be successful in creating the Rocky Mountain trading system. As both companies branched out, they would eventually compete for control of the Upper Missouri trade. The stiff competition ended with the American Company's collapse in 1834. This was just as well. By 1834, the decline in demand for beaver hats (the fashion had turned to silk) combined with an increasing scarcity of resources (the beaver had been nearly trapped out) to weaken the market. In the early 1830's, beaver was worth almost $6/lb in Philadelphia; by 1843 the price was not even $3/lb.
The fur companies were a central force in the lives of the mountain men. They provided the economic system and often the initial capital that was necessary to the trapper's life. But if the fur giants helped the trapper operate, they also controlled him. The mountain man was a slave to the fur market created by the competition between companies. The amount of control a company had over a trapper depended on what contract for his services he was under. "Engages" were men that were supplied and salaried by the company. The furs which they collected were all company property. "Skin Trappers" or "Share Croppers" were outfitted by the company in exchange for a set share of the pelts at the end of the season. The "free-trapper" was at the top of this social pyramid. He was beholden to no company. He outfitted himself and trapped with whom and where he pleased.
The American fur trade was dormant from 1814 to 1819 due to the economic and political turmoil caused by the War of 1812. The loss of Astoria and trouble with the Blackfeet Indians on the Missouri also dealt a blow to the trade.
Manuel Lisa did manage to run the Missouri Fur Company from about 1807 to 1820; this group built Fort Raymond in 1807 and trapped and traded with the Indians on the Upper Missouri. In 1822, John Jacob Astor again made a debut into the fur industry by establishing the Western department of the American Fur Company in St. Louis. A year earlier, the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company had merged, resulting in British dominance of the Columbia River. Also in 1822, William Henry Ashley advertised for "one hundred young men to ascend the Missouri River to its source, there to be employed for one, two or three years." This marked the beginning of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Though it would change hands several times, this company would innovate the industry by creating the "free trapper system" and the rendezvous.
Both Astor's new American Fur Company and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company would be successful in creating the Rocky Mountain trading system. As both companies branched out, they would eventually compete for control of the Upper Missouri trade. The stiff competition ended with the American Company's collapse in 1834. This was just as well. By 1834, the decline in demand for beaver hats (the fashion had turned to silk) combined with an increasing scarcity of resources (the beaver had been nearly trapped out) to weaken the market. In the early 1830's, beaver was worth almost $6/lb in Philadelphia; by 1843 the price was not even $3/lb.
The fur companies were a central force in the lives of the mountain men. They provided the economic system and often the initial capital that was necessary to the trapper's life. But if the fur giants helped the trapper operate, they also controlled him. The mountain man was a slave to the fur market created by the competition between companies. The amount of control a company had over a trapper depended on what contract for his services he was under. "Engages" were men that were supplied and salaried by the company. The furs which they collected were all company property. "Skin Trappers" or "Share Croppers" were outfitted by the company in exchange for a set share of the pelts at the end of the season. The "free-trapper" was at the top of this social pyramid. He was beholden to no company. He outfitted himself and trapped with whom and where he pleased.
The ways of the Mountain Men
The life of the mountain man was rough, and one that brought him face to face with death on a regular basis--sometimes through the slow agony of starvation, dehydration, burning heat, or freezing cold and sometimes by the surprise attack of animal or Indian. The mountain man's life was ruled not by the calendar or the clock but by the climate and seasons. In fall and spring, the men would trap. The start of the season and its length were dictated by the weather. The spring hunt was usually the most profitable, with the pelts still having their winter thickness. Spring season would last until the pelt quality became low. In July, the groups of mountain men and the company suppliers would gather at the summer rendezvous. There, the furs were sold, supplies were bought and company trappers were divided into parties and delegated to various hunting grounds.
The tradition of the rendezvous was started by General William Ashley's men of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1825. What began as a practical gathering to exchange pelts for supplies and reorganize trapping units evolved into a month long carnival in the middle of the wilderness. The gathering was not confined to trappers, and attracted women and children, Indians, French Canadians, and travelers. Mountain man James Beckworth described the festivities as a scene of "mirth, songs, dancing, shouting, trading, running, jumping, singing, racing, target-shooting, yarns, frolic, with all sorts of extravagances that white men or Indians could invent." An easterner gave his view: "mountain companies are all assembled on this season and make as crazy a set of men I ever saw." There were horse races, running races, target shooting and gambling. Whiskey drinking accompanied all of them.
The life of the mountain man was rough, and one that brought him face to face with death on a regular basis--sometimes through the slow agony of starvation, dehydration, burning heat, or freezing cold and sometimes by the surprise attack of animal or Indian. The mountain man's life was ruled not by the calendar or the clock but by the climate and seasons. In fall and spring, the men would trap. The start of the season and its length were dictated by the weather. The spring hunt was usually the most profitable, with the pelts still having their winter thickness. Spring season would last until the pelt quality became low. In July, the groups of mountain men and the company suppliers would gather at the summer rendezvous. There, the furs were sold, supplies were bought and company trappers were divided into parties and delegated to various hunting grounds.
The tradition of the rendezvous was started by General William Ashley's men of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1825. What began as a practical gathering to exchange pelts for supplies and reorganize trapping units evolved into a month long carnival in the middle of the wilderness. The gathering was not confined to trappers, and attracted women and children, Indians, French Canadians, and travelers. Mountain man James Beckworth described the festivities as a scene of "mirth, songs, dancing, shouting, trading, running, jumping, singing, racing, target-shooting, yarns, frolic, with all sorts of extravagances that white men or Indians could invent." An easterner gave his view: "mountain companies are all assembled on this season and make as crazy a set of men I ever saw." There were horse races, running races, target shooting and gambling. Whiskey drinking accompanied all of them.
After rendezvous, the men headed off to their fall trapping grounds. Contrary to the common image of the lonely trapper, the mountain men usually traveled in brigades of 40 to 60, including camp tenders and meat hunters. From the brigade base camps, they would fan out to trap in parties of two or three. It was then that the trappers were most vulnerable to Indian attack. Indians were a constant threat to the trappers, and confrontation was common. The Blackfeet were by far the most feared, but the Arikaras and Comaches were also to be avoided. The Shoshone, Crows and Mandans were usually friendly, however, trust between trapper and native was always tenuous. Once the beaver were trapped, they were skinned immediately, allowed to dry, and then folded in half, fur to the inside. Beaver pelts, unlike buffalo robes, were compact, light and very portable. This was essential, as the pelts had to be hauled to rendezvous for trade. It is estimated that 1,000 trappers roamed the American West in this manner from 1820 to 1830, the heyday of the Rocky Mountain fur trade. In November the streams froze, and the trapper, like his respected nemesis the grizzly bear, went into hibernation. Trapping continued only if the fall had been remarkably poor, or if they were in need of food. Life in the winter camp could be easy or difficult, depending on the weather and availability of food. The greatest enemy was quite often boredom. As at rendezvous, the motley group would have physical contests, play cards, checkers and dominos, tell stories, sing songs and read. Many trappers exchanged well worn books and still others learned to read during the long wait for spring, when they could go out and trap once again.
Fort Bridger
The equipment of the mountain man was sparse and well used. Osbourne Russell provides an apt description of the typical mountain man from one who was there.
"A Trappers equipment in such cases is generally one Animal upon which is placed...a riding Saddle and bridle a sack containing six Beaver traps a blanket with an extra pair of Moccasins his powder horn and bullet pouch with a belt to which is attached a butcher Knife a small wooden box containing bait for Beaver a Tobacco sack with a pipe and implements for making fire with sometimes a hatchet fastened to the Pommel of his saddle his personal dress is a flannel or cotton shirt (if he is fortunate to obtain one, if not Antelope skin answers the purpose of over and under shirt) a pair of leather breeches with Blanket or smoked Buffalo skin, leggings, a coat made of Blanket or Buffalo robe a hat or Cap of wool, Buffalo or Otter skin his hose are pieces of Blanket lapped round his feet which are covered with a pair of Moccasins made of Dressed Deer Elk or Buffaloe skins with his long hair falling loosely over his shoulders complete the uniform."
From the University of Virginia's American Studies project on Henry Nash Smith's Virgin Land
Famous Mountainmen and Trappers
Jedediah Smith
Born: 1799 in Bainbridge or Jericho, New York
Dead: 1831 by Comanche indians by the Cimarron River.
At the age of 22, Jedediah Smith signed on with the expedition of General William Ashley to travel to the Upper Missouri and trap beaver. A year later, he led another of Ashley's groups deep into the central Rockies where he rediscovered the forgotten South Pass, the key to the settlement of Oregon and California.
The wandering spirit was planted deep in the heart of Jedediah Smith. Born January 6th, 1799, Smith's family moved several times in an effort to stay on the edge of the growing frontier boundary. According to family tradition, young Jedediah read Biddle's 1814 edition of the Lewis and Clark journals and was set on living a life in the wilderness.
In his lifetime, Smith would travel more extensively in unknown territory than any other single mountain man. He traveled in the central Rockies, then down to Arizona, across the Mojave Desert and into California making him the first American to travel overland to California through the southwest. In a most amazing journey, he also came back from California across the desert of the Great Basin. The heat became so unbearable Smith and his men had to bury themselves in sand to keep cool. Though he was an accomplished outdoorsman, Smith did not fit the stereotype of the typical mountain man. He never drank, never used tobacco, never boasted and was rarely humorous. Another rare quality was his strident faith. Smith was very religious and often prayed and meditated.
In 1830, Smith, rattled over the death of his mother and his neglect of family duty, decided he had had enough of mountain life. He purchased a farm and townhouse, complete with servants, in St. Louis. However, he would have to make one more fated trip into the wilds of the Southwest. When Smith sold his shares in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company the year before, he had agreed to help procure supplies for the subsequent owners. He left in the spring of 1831 and while looking for water on the Santa Fe Trail, he was killed by Comanche warriors. They never found his body
John Colter
Born: 1775 in Staunton, Virginia
Dead: 1813 in New Haven, Missouri
John Colter was the prototypical mountain man. By 1806, he had already crossed the continent twice with Lewis and Clark, gaining valuable experience in the rigors of wilderness life. In 1807, Colter joined Manuel Lisa's newly formed Missouri Fur Company on an expedition to the Rocky Mountains. The party was successful in getting up the Missouri and establishing Fort Raymond. That winter, Lisa sent Colter out to all the winter Indian camps to alert them of his presence and desire to trade. Alone, with only his rifle and a 30lb pack, Colter traveled an estimated 500 miles that winter with the help of Indian guides. His route has been disputed, but general consensus is that he was the first white man to see Jackson's Hole and Yellowstone Lake. He also saw part of the thermal wonders of Yellowstone and through the tales he told it would come to be called "Colter's Hell."
The next year, while trapping beaver he and a partner were attacked by Blackfeet Indians. The attackers swarmed on Colter, stripping him naked and taking all his possessions. They killed his partner and Colter awaited his own execution. To his puzzlement, they set him free and told him to run. He took off and soon realized this was a game of "human hunt". After running a couple of miles, Colter turned around and killed the only Indian that was close with his own spear. He stole his blanket and continued to run until he came to a river. By hiding in the river under a pile of logs, Colter was able to evade his pursuers. He walked the 200 miles back to Fort Raymond with only a blanket for warmth and bark and roots to eat. After eleven days, he stumbled into the stockade, more dead than alive. The Blackfeet would not leave Colter alone, however, and eventually they would drive him to leave the mountains for good. After gaining strength at Fort Raymond, he returned to the site of the attack to retrieve the traps he had thrown in the river. Again he was attacked, but this time he escaped unscathed.
Shaken, but not ready to give up his exciting and dangerous life, Colter signed on to lead another Missouri Fur Company party in 1810. True to past experience, the group was attacked by the Blackfeet and Colter finally vowed to leave the west. He did just that, using his fur trade profits to buy a plot of land in Missouri and build a cabin. There he married a woman remembered by history simply as "Sally" and had a son. It was jaundice, not the Blackfeet that killed John Colter in 1813. In 1926 the rests of his body were found together with his personal things near New Haven, Missouri.
Born: 1804 in Richmond, Virginia
Dead: 1881 in Kansas City, Missouri
James Bridger (Old Gabe) was in good company when he signed on with Hugh Glass, Jedediah Smith, and Thomas Fitzpatrick to be a member of General Ashley's Upper Missouri expedition. At the age of 17, he was the youngest member of the expedition. This was beginning of a long and colorful career in the mountains for Jim Bridger. After working for Ashley, Bridger trapped the Rocky Mountains with various companies and partnerships. Renowned by his peers, Bridger was an able brigade leader and an excellent trapper. Year after year he was able to avoid Indian attack and turn a profit from his trapping. One particular discovery early on in Bridger's career brought him lasting celebrity. To settle a bet in the winter camp of his trapping party of 1824, Bridger set out to find the exact course of the Bear River from the Cache Valley. He returned and reported that it emptied into a vast lake of salt water. The men were convinced he had found an arm of the Pacific Ocean. In reality, he was the first white man to view The Great Salt Lake.
Bridger's most important discovery would come years later, in 1850. Captain Howard Stanbury stopped at Fort Bridger and inquired about the possibility of a shorter route across the Rockies than the South Pass. Bridger guided him through a pass that ran south from the Great Basin. This pass would soon be rightfully called Bridger's Pass and would be the route for overland mail, The Union Pacific Railroad line and finally Interstate 80. Although he would remain a trapper, Bridger easily turned to other means of income after the softening of the beaver market in the 1840's. In the summer of 1841, Bridger and Henry Fraeb began building a crude structure on the west bank of the Green River. They intended it as a trapping and trading base. Later that summer, the first wagon load of overland missionaries and emigrants rolled up and Fort Bridger was born. He guided goldminers in Montana. He helped the Stage caoch companies with the routes.... James Bridger died on a Missouri farm in 1881. At 77, he was one of the last living mountain men.
Benjamin Bonneville
Born: 1796 in Paris, France
Dead: 1878 in Fort Smith, Arkansas
Benjamin Bonneville was an explorer and military man, Benjamin Bonneville moved to the United States in 1803, attended West Point military school and was assigned to Fort Smith in the Arkansas Territory in 1821. In 1832, Benjamin Bonneville took a leave of absence from the military and led an 110 men expedition into Wyoming Territory, funded partially by John Jacob Astor supposedly to trap and trade. The trapping expedition for furs went poorly but the expedition to explore new territory went great. Benjamin Bonneville built a trading post on the Green River, the Walker expedition took Benjamin Bonneville to California as well as two trips to the Columbia River in Oregon Territory. Benjamin Bonneville returned to active duty in the Army in 1835. Benjamin Bonneville fought in the Mexican War and became a lieutenant colonel. In the 1850's Benjamin Bonneville received a command of a post in the Oregon Territory and was also active in the Civil War.
Christopher Kit Carson
Born: either 1809 or 1811 in Kentucky
Dead: 1868 in Buggsville, Colorado
Kit Carson was a daring and brave mountain man. He was also a fur trapper, army scout, and buffalo hunter. In 1826, at the age of 15, the apprenticed saddler ran away from Franklin, Missouri. Kit Carson hired on as a hostler for a hunting party going to Santa Fe. From 1842 through 1846 John C. Fremont hired Kit Carson as a guide for expeditions to the Northwest and California. Fremont's reports when published heralded Kit Carson as one of the most trusted and respected men in the West. Kit Carson guided Stephen W. Kearny's party from New Mexico to California during the Mexican War and his bravery saved the company. Kit Carson was appointed in 1853 as Indian agent for Taos, New Mexico. Kit Carson was extremely qualified and helped calm the Apaches on several different occasions that appeared nearly hopeless short the entrance of his masterful skills. During the Civil War Kit Carson joined the Union's Army 1st New Mexican Volunteers he was promoted to brigadier general for his outstanding campaign record. After the Civil War Kit Carson commanded Fort Garland garrison in Colorado
William Sublette
Born: 1799 in Lincoln County, Kentucky
Dead: 1845 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A mountain man,fur trader and frontier explorer, William Sublette was a partner in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1826 with Jed Smith and David Jackson until 1830 when they sold to Fritzpatrick, M. Sublette, Jim Bridger, Fraeb and Gervais. Exploring with Jackson, William Sublette discovered the geysers of Yellowstone Park in 1826. Credit is given to William Sublette for developing the Mountain man rendezvous affair an annual event for many years. William Sublette played a major part in establishing the wagon trail through South Pass and the building of what was known later as Fort Laramie. On March 10, 1830 William Sublette purchased his Sulfur Spring farm located on the River Des Peres, six miles from St. Louis, Missouri. William Sublette was one of the original developers of Kansas City, Missouri. Forming a land company William Sublette believed a new town could exist between Westport and Independence before his death in 1845.
William Sherley Williams
Born: 1787 on Horse Creek in western North Carolina
Dead: 1849 in southern Colorado on the upper Rio Grande
William Sherley Williams was a mountain man and master fur trapper known frequently as Old Solitaire or just Old Bill. William Sherley Williams guided the Sibley Survey of the Santa Fe Trail in 1825 and the disaster ridden Fremont railroad expedition of 1848. William Sherley Williams the mountain man mastered several Indian languages and lived with the Osage Indians and then the Ute Indians during his life time. The subject of many colorful stories and tales, it is hard to decipher fact from fiction except that William Sherley Williams was a true Mountain Man.
Reference Materials
A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and The Paths to the Pacific, by Robert M. Utley(1997)
John Colter; His years in the rockies, by Burton Harris(1993)
The Fur Trade of the American West, 1807-1840, by David J. Wishart(1979)
John Colter; His years in the rockies, by Burton Harris(1993)
The Fur Trade of the American West, 1807-1840, by David J. Wishart(1979)