The Fur Trade Revisited is a collection of twenty-eight essays selected from the more than fifty presentations made at the Sixth North American Fur Trade Conference held on Mackinac Island, Michigan, in the fall of 1991. Essays contained in this important new interpretive work focus on the history, archaeology, and literature of a fascinating, growing area of scholarly investigation. Underscoring the work's multifaceted approach is an introductory essay by Lily McAuley titled "Memories of a Trapper's Daughter." This vivid and compelling account of the fur-trade life sets a level of quality for what follows. Part one of The Fur Trade Revisited discusses eighteenth-century fur trade intersections with European markets. The essays in part two examine Native people and the strategies they employed to meet demands placed on them by the market for furs. Part three examines the origins, motives, and careers of those who actually participated in the fur trade. Part four focuses attention on the indigenous fur-trade culture and subsequent archaeology in the area around Mackinac Island, Michigan, while part five contains studies focusing on the fur-trade culture in other parts of North America. Part six assesses the fur trade after 1870 and part seven contains evaluations of the critical historical and literary interpretations prevalent in fur-trade scholarship.
List of IllustrationsForewordPrefaceIntroductionMemories of a Trapper's Daughter: Banquet Address of the Sixth North American Fur Trade ConferenceMcAuleyLilyTransatlantic Fur Trade Markets and EntrepreneursExchange Patterns in the European Market for North American Furs and Skins, 1720-1760WienThomasBritish Capital in the Fur Trade: John Strettell and John FraserDuckworthHarry W.Native People and Changing Trade RelationsArticulation of the Lakota Mode of Production and the Euro-American Fur TradePickeringKathleenFrench and Spanish Colonial Trade Policies and the Fur Trade among the Caddoan Indians of the Trans-Mississippi SouthPerttulaTimothy K.The Flow of European Trade Goods into the Western Great Lakes Region, 1715-1760AndersonDean L.“No less than 7 different nations”: Ethnicity and Culture Contact at Fort George-Buckingham HouseGullasonLyndaLooking at the Ledgers: Sauk and Mesquakie Trade Debts, 1820-1840KurtzRoyce“Half-Breed” Rolls and Fur Trade Families in the Great Lakes Region—An Introduction and BibliographyHansenJames L.Becoming a Trader: Origins, Lives, and SurvivalThe Career of Joseph La France, Coureur de Bois in the Upper Great LakesTannerHelen HornbeckThe Cadottes: Five Generations of Fur Traders on Lake SuperiorSchenckTheresa M.The Fear of Pillaging: Economic Folktales of the Great Lakes Fur TradeWhiteBruce M.Roots in the Mohawk Valley: Sir William Johnson's Legacy in the North West CompanyDevineHeatherFaithful Service under Different Flags: A Socioeconomic Profile of the Columbia District, Hudson's Bay Company and the Upper Missouri Outfit, American Fur Company, 1825-1835SwagertyWilliam R.WilsonDick A.Failure on the Columbia: Nathaniel Wyeth's Columbia River Fishing and Trading CompanyColeBradford R.The Fur Trade at MackinacThe Michilimackinac Misfortunes of Commissary RobertsMarshallPeterEffects of the American Revolution on Fur-Trade Society at MichilimackinacWidderKeith R.Apprentice Trader: Henry H. Sibley and American Fur at MackinacGilmanRhoda R.Crucifixes and Medallions from MichilimackinacRinehartCharles J.Archaeology and Material CultureA Newly-Discovered Trade Gun TypeDuncanJames R.When Rivers Were Roads: Deciphering the Role of Canoe Portages in the Western Lake Superior Fur TradeBirkDouglas A.Origins of Fort Union: Archaeology and HistoryHunt, Jr.William J.Into the Twentieth CenturyThe Hudson's Bay Company in Southwestern Alberta, 1874-1905KlassenHenry C.Creating Corporate Images of the Fur Trade: The Hudson's Bay Company and Public Relations in the 1930sGellerPeterCapt. Thierry Mallet: Adventurer, Businessman, WriterHoyleGwynethFur Trade Literature and Interpretation: Issues and ProblemsLong's Voyages and Travels: Fact and FictionBlanarMichaelThe H.B.C.'s Arctic Expedition 1836-1839: Dease's Field Notes as Compared to Simpson's NarrativeMacLarenI. S.Fur Trade Social History and the Public Historian: Some Other Recent TrendsPayneMichaelAbout the Authors and EditorsIndex
Jennifer S.H. Brown is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Peoples in an Urban and Regional Context, and Director of the Centre for Rupert’s Land Studies, University of Winnipeg.
