As the 19th century dawned, the United States and Great Britain were locked in a struggle for control of North America's northern Pacific coast, a region rich in furs. By 1818, the two nations had agreed to share access to the Oregon Country, as they had come to call the region, until they could decide upon a boundary. Seven years later, in a bold move designed to anchor Britain's claim to all of Oregon, the Hudson's Bay Company--the giant fur trading organization--moved its Columbia Department headquarters from Fort George at the mouth of the Columbia to the newly established Fort Vancouver located 100 miles upstream. For the next two decades, Fort Vancouver was directed by strong-willed, capable men who built it into the fur trading capital of the Pacific coast.

The Hudson's Bay Company found itself at the center of this fur trading business. As the vagaries of fashion carried the beaver hat to the heights of popularity, the demand for that animal's fur increased enormously. From Fort Vancouver, the Hudson's Bay Company sent out brigades of trappers that included from 50 to 200 men, women, and children. Trapping was difficult and dangerous work, particularly because most of it was done in the winter, when animal pelts are the thickest.

The earliest trappers had adopted the Indians' method of breaking into a beaver lodge and taking the animals, but soon the steel trap came into use. The trap, designed to catch the beaver by the leg, was set into shallow water. It was attached by a chain to a sharpened stake implanted in deeper water. The traps were baited with castoreum, a scent obtained from glands in the hind legs of the beaver. All this activity was going on while the trapper stood in the water, often ice-cold, so that he would not leave his scent on the bank. The curious beaver, attracted by the castoreum, stepped into the trap. The next morning the trapper skinned his catch. Back at camp, he or his Indian wife, scraped the flesh from the skins and stretched them to dry. After almost a year in the wilderness, the trapping brigades, with their furs in tow, readied themselves to return to Fort Vancouver. Joining up with one another, the brigades made their way to the Columbia and Fort Vancouver where the people awaited their arrival.

Now the company clerks took over, appraising the furs, paying the trappers, and preparing the furs for shipment to London. In the 1830's, silk hats were introduced. As the beaver population of the Northwest declined through over-trapping, silk replaced beaver on the market. By the 1860's the demand for beaver pelts had declined and the large scale commercial trapping of beavers came to an end. Since their near-extinction, beaver populations have made a come-back in the areas where trapping took place.

At about the same time as this decline of beavers occurred, American settlers were becoming attracted to the rich farm lands of Oregon's Willamette Valley. This influx of Americans eventually resulted in the division of the Oregon Country along the 49th parallel, a decision that left Fort Vancouver on American soil. For a few years the Hudson's Bay Company continued to trade with the settlers and the Indians, but trade diminished and the Company moved out in 1860.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST FUR TRADERS
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

1. Why were Europeans and Americans interested in Northwest coast furs?
   
   In his voyage to the Northwest Coast, Captain Cook discovered that native Indians were willing to trade beautiful sea otter pelts for brass buttons and other pieces of metal. These pelts were also worth quite a bit of money on the other side of the ocean. The most valuable fur was the sea otter, which was worth as high as $120.00 in China. Beaver and seal were also valuable.
   
   
2. What were some of the things that the natives of the region were willing to take in exchange for their furs?
   
   At first the natives were interested in anything that was made from metal: buttons, strips of copper, tea kettles, etc. as well as calico cloth, beads (particularly blue beads), wool, blankets, rice, molasses, and tobacco. Later, guns, gunpowder, and liquor also became important trade items.
   
   
3. What were the names of the native tribes that lived amongst and traded with the Hudson's Bay Company?
   
   The lower Columbia River region was populated by a family of natives, known collectively as the Chinooks. Tribal groups included the Clatsops, Klamaths, and Wahkiakums. The Quinalt and Makah inhabited the Washington coast. Still further north lived the Nootka, the Kwakiutl, the Haida, and the Tlingit.
   
   
4. Who gained the most from the fur trade?
   
   From a dollar and cents standpoint, the merchants who sponsored the fur trading ventures to the Northwest coast were the real winners, if enough furs were obtained. Early on in the trade, an investment of $10,000 to $50,000 might gross $150,000 to $250,000. But the natives were shrewd traders. In most cases they obtained material goods that they could not have obtained otherwise. So viewed in this light, the natives made a "good deal" also.
   
   
5. Who was John McLoughlin?
   
   John McLoughlin was born in Quebec in 1784 and trained as a physician near Montreal. He joined the Northwest Company as a physician at its post at Fort William. When the Northwest Company merged with the Hudson's Bay Company, McLoughlin was named head of the Columbia Department. His job was to keep peace with the Indians, squeeze Americans out of the market, and firmly establish the British claim to all of Oregon. As a businessman he was successful. However, he was generous to the settlers, selling them supplies and lending them credit. When the new Oregon boundaries became established, he retired and moved to Oregon. He later became an American citizen and is known as the "Father of Oregon".

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Last modified on: January 31, 2004