Colorado_Mountain_Men

Fur Traders, Trappers and Indians Fur trappers and traders began the relationship with the American Indians, which led to the eventual displacement of the Indians from their lands in the Rocky Mountains. From the start trappers and traders had a rocky relationship with Indians based on several factors. Traders and trappers were the first to pioneer into Indian territory, which caused alarm to the Indians. They threatened the Indian’s hunting lands. As trappers and traders became more known by the Indians, they became a source of income for the Indians, but they also competed with them for this income. Trappers and traders also changed the Indian way of life; they enticed them to trap and trade for trinkets such as glass beads and alcohol, and they introduced new life threatening diseases. Trapping and trading for furs in the Rocky Mountains began long before the Santa Fe Trail was opened in 1822. Trapping and trading of beaver furs began back in the mid-1700s and began to increase in the early 1800s. It started first with Indians trapping and snaring the beavers and selling them to traders in the mid 1700s. As time progressed Americans such as Manuel Lisa and others from the Missouri Fur Company, which was based out of St. Louis, began trapping in the Rocky Mountains in 1808. They even built a fort on the branch of the Lewis River in 1808, but they had to abandon it in 1810 due to hostile Indians and the difficulty of bringing supplies to its remote location. (http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~earlystlouis/missourifurco.html ) The Missouri Fur Company persisted in sending out more trappers despite the failure of its fort. In 1810 Ezekiel Williams came out to the Rocky Mountains with 19 trappers. Several men were killed by Arapahoe Indians, others moved on to Santa Fe, and Williams and two others were captured by Indians, held captive for two years and then escaped. They returned in 1813 to rescue their furs, and this started the boom in trapping in the Rocky Mountains. This rocky relationship with the Indians continued throughout the trappers’ history, as trappers trespassed on Indian lands and supplanted the Indians in this lucrative business. Fur traders were actually prohibited from trapping on Indian lands by the Trade and Intercourse Acts, but there was no one to enforce this ban. Beginning in 1790 with the Trade and Intercourse Acts, the federal government tried to protect the Indians from land speculators, fur trappers, fur traders, and the suppliers of the Mountain Rendezvous. These laws prohibited trespassing, trapping and hunting on Indian land and prohibited trading with Indians unless one had a license. In 1802 a prohibition of sale or trade of liquor to Indians was passed, and it was followed up by a stronger law in 1832. However it was very difficult to enforce any of these laws, and the trappers and traders basically ignored them. (http://www.thefurtrapper.com/rendezvous.htm#Trade%20and%20Intercourse%20Acts) The trappers hunted freely on Indian lands, and traders supplied alcohol to Indians. Trappers also changed the style of trapping. Indians had used snares to trap the beavers, and trappers used steel traps. This quickly eroded the beaver populations, which was detrimental to the Indians’ land and way of life. By 1822 the fur business was booming with the multiple trading companies such as the American Fur Company, Hudson Bay Company, and the Ashley-Henry Company. These trading companies advertised for young American men to trap the Missouri River, and this reduced the trading company’s reliance on Indian trappers. As more trappers trespassed on Indian lands and Indians were no longer needed to be trappers, tensions between the Indians and trappers increased. In 1823 Ashley and his men were attacked by the Arikara Indians, and 15 trappers were killed. This battle convinced the trappers to stop traveling by rivers where the Arikara Indians resided and to start trapping by horse overland. This actually had the effect of extending the trapping territory, since so much more land was available by horse rather than river, thus creating more tensions among the trappers and Indians. As the territory was expanded by horse travel over land, the need for stationary trading posts disappeared. General William Ashley then started the “Summer Rendezvous”, which became the new vehicle for trading pelts. Rather than bringing pelts to fixed forts for trading, a “fair in the wilderness” was set up each year at a different location, depending upon where the trapping had been taking place over the past year. Since beaver trappers had to keep moving to find virgin trapping areas, this changing location was ideal for trading. This Summer Rendezvous was positive for Indian-Trapper relations, because it meant that the trappers were moving to new territories, thus not permanently encroaching on their hunting lands. However the Indians had also been displaced as trappers by this influx of American men trappers. Large trapping camps, while mobile, were being set up on their lands. The continued sale of alcohol was also a problem for the Indians. The introduction of new diseases wiped out many Indians. The relationship strain between the Indians and Americans that began with the trappers persisted. Once the trappers came and trespassed on Indian lands, this opened the way for more people to move out west. Trappers became integrated with the Indians by taking Indian women as their wives and having children. Indians became reliant on trading for blankets, guns, ammunition, horse tack, trinkets and alcohol. The spread of new diseases killed many Indians. Indians resented and resisted the trespassing on their hunting grounds, but trappers just paved the way for the eventual removal of Indians from their lands. Sources: http://www.thefurtrapper.com/rendezvous.htm#Trade%20and%20Intercourse%20Acts http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~earlystlouis/missourifurco.html http://www.valleyprinters.com/trappers.html http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/trappers,_traders,_and_explorers/traderstrappersandmountianmen.html http://www.over-land.com/westpers3.html http://www.thefurtrapper.com/ http://encyclopedia.stateuniversity.com/pages/12920/Kit-Carson.html A Colorado History, Ubbelohde; 9th Edition: Pruett Publishing ISBN 0-87108-942-4; pages 33-36