Before contact with white people, the Northwest Coast natives had traded amongst themselves and with other indigenous people farther inland, but by the end of the 1780s, when Russian coasters had penetrated the Gulf of Alaska and British merchantmen were frequenting Nootka Sound, trade had become the dominant economic activity in the area. The Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Nootka, Salish, and Chinook Indians spent much of their time hunting fur-bearing animals and trading their pelts -- especially the highly prized "black skins" of sea otters -- to Russian, British, Spanish, and American traders...
Before contact with white people, the Northwest Coast natives had traded amongst themselves and with other indigenous people farther inland, but by th...
?Furs is what brings us, ? remarked an early trader in the Oregon Country, but ?the difficulty of getting the necessary supplies will continue to operate against it.? An elaborate transport system of North canoes, Indian pack horses, and Columbia batteaux was devised to get supplies to the back country and furs out. First used in 1811, it became the lifeline of the fur trade of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department until 1847, when the route was severed by the extension of the U.S.-Canadian border. The personalities, places, obstacles, and operations involved in the brigade system...
?Furs is what brings us, ? remarked an early trader in the Oregon Country, but ?the difficulty of getting the necessary supplies will continue to o...
