Fur trading post

“ The world needs millions of these skins each year, and the market is not so limited as with the high priced furs. Looks like a great future for the raiser of these animals. There is no denying the fact that the supply of wild fur bearers is gradually becoming less, not only in America, but throughout the entire world, while the demand for furs is constantly increasing. ”

“ The era of the early fur trade, typified by the white trader and the Indian hunter, began drawing to a close after the French and Indian War. The white trader then became the trapper and a whole new conception of the fur trade in America developed as the frontier rolled across the plains and on to the Rocky Mountains. Today we may be on the threshold of still another era, that of the fur farmer.
In any case the fur industry continues to be big business in this country, total activity at all levels—raw furs, dressing and dyeing, and retail sales—being estimated at about one billion dollars. ”

“ The skunk, mink and muskrat do well in settled sections. There is always a cash market for raw furs and since the discovery of America, raw furs have been an important article of commerce. An industry paying the hunter and trapper probably $15,000,000 yearly is one that should receive attention. The demand for furs is increasing as the population of the world is becoming more and more. ”

“ As it is natural to prefer articles that are rare and far-fetched, and as furs can be easily carried to any part of the world, most prefer foreign to domestic furs of the same quality. Thus we export much of our fox, marten, fisher, otter, beaver, and muskrat fur, while we import Astrakhan, Russian sable, ermine, Siberian squirrel, French rabbit, or cony, chinchilla, and nutria fur. ”

“ The dyer and his art have greatly changed the fur trade. It is he who enables the salesgirl to wear furs that look like those of her customers. For example, here is a coat made of the best beaver. Its price is four hundred dollars, and beside it is another made of dyed rabbit fur, marked one hundred and fifty dollars. It is hard for a novice to tell which is the better. All sorts of new names have been devised by the furriers to popularize dyed skins of humble animals, from house cats to skunks, in order to increase the supply of good-looking and durable furs. ”

“ CHAPTER V. TRADING-POSTS AND THEIR STORIES. As early as the first decade of the present century, the great fur companies sent out expeditions up the valley of the Platte in the charge of their agents, to trap the beaver and other animals valuable for their beautiful skins. The hardships of these pioneers in the beginning of a trade which in a short time assumed gigantic proportions are a story of suffering and privation which has few parallels in the history of the development of our mid-continent region. ”

“ I’m a fur-trader, my boy. Have joined a small company, and up to this time have made a good thing of it. You know something of the fur trade, if I mistake not. Do come and join us; we want such a man as you at a new post we have established on the coast of Labrador. Shooting, fishing, hunting, ad libitum. Eating, drinking, sleeping, ad infinitum. What would you more? Come, like a good fellow, and be happy!
“Ever thine, J. Murray.”
“I’ll sell the farm,” said Jack Robinson, folding the letter. ”

“ But the extensive trapping operations since that time have sadly depleted the ranks of all species of fur-bearing animals and some of the most valuable are rapidly nearing extinction. This is especially true of the central and eastern portions of the United States, and the time is approaching when the ever increasing demand for furs must be met by some way other than trapping the wild animals—but how? Fur farming appears to offer the only solution to the problem. ”

“ After this, the Pacific Fur Company now being at an end, Ross, Cox, and McLellan entered the service of the Northwest Company.
The American Fur Company, established by Mr. Astor, began operations in 1809. One after another, other fur-trading companies were absorbed, until Astor saw himself at the head of all the fur trade south of Canada, with the possible hope of reaching out for the trade of the northern country east of the Rocky Mountains. West of that range was a vast field as yet almost untouched. ”

“ Fur farming as an industry is only in its infancy, in fact, not begun. The future looks bright to those who engage in the business in a business way. To those who expect to make a fortune at the business in a year or two, we predict failure, but to all who are willing to go at the industry intelligently, building a substantial enclosure, paying the same careful attention to the feed and care of their fur animals that they would to other "stock," to get the best results, far more than ordinary profits should result. ”

“ Suppose thousands engaged in the business of raising fox, skunk, mink, coon, opossum and [Pg 34] muskrat, what effect would it have upon the market? Would they overstock it? How many hundreds of thousands of persons are today raising cotton and wool to furnish clothing to the millions of people and there has always been a market. The same will be the case with fur. In fact, unless thousands engage in the fur raising business, the demand is going to far exceed the supply at no distant day. ”

“ Now, the fur trade is, for some reason or other, a very curious description of barter. Like some mysterious chemical agency, it pervades and permeates every thing it touches. If a man cuts off legs, cures diseases, draws teeth, sells whiskey, cotton, wool, or any other commodity of civilized or uncivilized life, he will be as sure to do it with a view to furs as any doctor, dentist, or general merchant will be sure to practise his particular calling with a view to the acquisition of gold and silver. ”

“ What a pitiful business is the fur trade, which has been pursued now for so many ages, for so many years, by famous companies, which enjoy a profitable monopoly, and control a large part of the earth's surface. Unweariedly they pursue and ferret out small animals by the aid of all the loafing class, tempted by rum and money, that they may rob some little fellow-creature of its coat to adorn or thicken their own, that they may get a fashionable covering in which, to hide their heads, or a suitable robe in which to dispense justice to their fellow-men! ”

“ With Fort Smith as a centre, there remains an unmarred fur-preserve and a race of hardy trappers. Is the fur-trade diminishing? Statistics are extremely difficult to get, dealers do not publish dividend-sheets, the stockholders of the Mother-Lodge of the H.B. Company do not advertise. There is no import duty on raw skins into the United States, and so no means of keeping tally on the large shipments of fur which yearly find their way south from Canada. ”

“ The trapper, the dig 'em-out and the dog-hunter are all money-mad, made so by the high prices of fur. But unlike our ancestors, the trapper, dig'em-out and dog-hunter should be able to see the folly in taking the furbearers when in an unprime condition, because we all know the difference in the value of a fox, a skunk, a mink, or the skin of any other fur-bearing animal taken in September or late in the spring when unprime, than the same skins would be worth if taken in November or any month during the winter. ”

“ These announcements are continually calling for unlimited quantities of raw furs; they are ever urging men and boys to push their trapping operations to the utmost. These concerns are giving free advice to beginners; they offer free instructions in the art of trapping the fur bearers. All this has had but one result: The fabulous prices paid for raw furs and the extensive advertising in recent years have kindled a crusade on our fur bearers which has developed a crisis. ”

“ When a hunter brings in his bales of fur, he takes them to the warehouse, where they are assorted and appraised by the chief trader, after much haggling. When the value is determined, the trader pushes over the counter as many “beaver” (lead pellets) , as the furs are worth. The hunter takes these to the store, and, after much travail and advice, exchanges them for winter supplies and gewgaws that strike his fancy. In this primitive way is wrought the gigantic trade that covers woman with fur, from queens with their ermine to the shop-girl with her scraggly muskrat or rabbit. ”

“ More money goes to the trapper to-day for such common skins as red-fox and skunk and muskrat than was ever paid to the fur-hunter for beaver, seal, and sea-otter in the old days. Six million dollars worth of raw furs are sold annually by auction in London, and Canada is the Mother Country's chief feeder. Included in these London sales are some hundred thousand martens, or Hudson Bay sables, and probably four times that number of mink. ”

“ Where are they to come from, if not from fur farming?
A well known fur dealer in Minneapolis sizes up the situation in a nut-shell:
"Under proper conditions, with intelligent care, raising fur animals can be made to pay. The raiser starting on a small scale and increasing as their knowledge increases. Most all successful business is built up by starting small."
Conda J. Ham, in the Hunter-Trader-Trapper Magazine, says:
"Did you ever stop to seriously think where your furs and your fur coats would come from twenty or thirty years from now? ”

“ Who'd think there was so much that is interesting in the capture of wild animals, and preparing their skins for the market. Then again I suppose these big houses that buy in bulk have ways of handling the furs that increases their value a great deal. The fur we see on the shoulders of our fine ladies has mighty little resemblance to the pelt the poor trapper brings in to the post, and trades for tobacco, powder and shot, tea, sugar, coffee and such indispensables, not to mention whiskey," suggested Cuthbert, wisely.
At this Owen shrugged his shoulders. ”

“ As an article of food they are highly esteemed, especially by the colored people, and find a ready sale in the market.
While the fur of this animal is not, strictly speaking, a valuable one, to the prospective fur-farmer it is well worth considering, especially if located near a market. At present prices the young animals by midwinter, will average a dollar each in value, when selling both the skin and carcass. The ease with which they may be raised is also an important factor, so that on the whole, in many sections, they will be found to be a profitable animal to handle. ”

“ But of all these fur marts that of London is the chief, for thither tend by the laws of trade, not only much of the produce of Asia and Europe, but also the fine peltries of Chili and Peru, the nutria from Buenos Ayres, the fur seal of Cape Horn and South Shetland, the hair seal from Newfoundland, as well as the inferior peltries of Africa. To prepare fur skins in a way to endure this long transportation is a simple and easy matter. When stripped from the animal the flesh and fat are carefully removed, and the pelts hung in a cool place to dry and harden; nothing is added to protect them. ”

“ In selling breeding stock, be fair and square. We have already referred to the dishonest tactics of many dealers and hucksters, who merely buy up rabbits from here, there and everywhere, and sell them out again at a good profit. Too often these gentlemen are willing to stretch the truth a point or two in order to make a sale. They have worked a great injury to the industry by their ability to "gather in the suckers" and have disgusted many budding fanciers with the whole rabbit business. ”

“ But the furs from the more distant regions are, as a rule, of the more valuable kinds, and cannot supply the demand of the great middle class of people, the largest consumers. Such furs cannot take the place of those of the muskrat, skunk, raccoon and oppossum, for these furs are usually made up to imitate the more expensive kinds. ”

“ The increasing prices paid and the apparent disregard of certain interests for the survival of our native fur bearing animals caused thousands of people to go into the business of producing furs for market. In Canada there are hundreds of silver fox farms and more are springing up all the time.
The pelt of the native rabbit is practically worthless from a commercial standpoint. It can be used in glue making and the hair is used in making felt hats, but as an article of fur it is worthless. ”

“ Their deeds are known even so far as where the Great Salt Lake beats on the shore where the sun rises. They are not women, and when their enemies hear the sound of their name they grow pale; their hearts become like those of the reindeer. My brethren are famous, too, in the use of the snow-shoe, the snare, and the gun. The fur-traders know that they must build large stores when they come into their lands. They bring up much goods, because the young men are active and require much. The silver fox and the marten are no longer safe when their traps and snares are set. ”

“ The result was more than enough to pay for the construction and labor, and he expects a much larger return of better fur next year. Hundreds of New England farms have brook-fed marshes that could be utilized to equal advantage.
The fur market is a rising one; more in proportion, perhaps, for cheap furs than for the more expensive. The trolley and automobile have increased the demand enormously. The people who buy rich furs are constantly becoming more numerous, and they have their imitators among the many who can afford only the lower grades.—Boston Transcript. ”