What economy replaced the fur trade

This essay was published in 2000 as part of the original Meeting of Frontiers website.

Until major new sources of wealth were developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the fur trade dominated the economy of Alaska for more than 150 years. Following Bering's Second Kamchatka Expedition of 1741-42, the Russians began to barter sea otter pelts from Alaskan waters. China ultimately became the key market, where the upper classes sought luxurious pelts for their clothing.

The trade initially was conducted by Russian frontier merchants known as promyshlenniki, who indentured native Aleut hunters to procure furs for them. In time, larger Russian joint-stock companies replaced the activity of individual trappers and traders. The most influential of these corporations, the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, received a charter of monopoly from the tsar in 1799 and thereafter became the Russian-American Company. Although primarily a commercial entity, the company took on the responsibilities of Russian colonial government and became an outpost in the Pacific for the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg. The focus of the company remained on fur, however, as it maintained some forty trading locations throughout Alaska.

Although the Russians pioneered the fur industry in the North Pacific, competition soon arose in the regional trade with China. Following Captain James Cook's third voyage in 1776-79, other countries began operations along the northwest coast of North America. British and American (known as Boston Men) fur traders were the most active rivals, with as many as twenty-five hunting expeditions per year. Unlike the Russians, who sent their furs mainly through the town of Kiakhta on the northern Chinese border, British and American merchants brought their trade directly to the Chinese port of Canton.

The Russians initially tried to exclude other powers from the North Pacific, but eventually sought accommodation. In 1824 and 1825 the tsarist government concluded separate treaties with the United States and Great Britain that established boundaries and broad commercial regulations. Direct trade between the Russian-American Company and foreign vessels increasingly became the norm, with American ships even bringing Russian fur shipments to Canton. In 1839 the Russian-American Company also concluded a cooperative agreement with its greatest rival, the Hudson's Bay Company. Trade also expanded inland, as the Russian-American Company extended its reach up several river systems and worked with native and Russian trappers in the interior of Alaska. The legacy of the northern fur trade continued after the sale of Alaska to the United States, which granted a monopoly to the Alaska Commercial Company to harvest fur seals on the Pribilov Islands in the Bering Sea.

Hunting and Trapping

Among Alaska's most valuable natural assets were extensive populations of wese and European markets. The fur trade operated so effectively that many types of animals were driven rapidly to the brink of extinction. The region's native inhabitants hunted seals and walrus, from which they acquired meat, cooking oil, and skins that were used for clothing and shelter. Upon their arrival in Alaska, Russians, English, and Americans all sought to profit from the abundance of fur-bearing animals they encountered. Beaver and sea-otter pelts, in particular, brought extremely high prices in China.

Canada was built on the fur trade, which supplied European demand for pelts from animals such as the beaver (Castor canadensis) to make hats. In Michif, the word for beaver is “aen kaastor.” At the start of the fur trade, the First Nations did most of the trapping. However, the Métis, who are sometimes considered “children of the fur trade,” became skilled hunters and trappers as well. The Métis began making a living as trappers by the end of the 1700s. They sold furs to three fur trade companies: Hudson’s Bay Company, the North West Company, and the American Fur Company. Dealing with competing fur trade companies was profitable for Métis trappers because they could sell their furs to the highest bidder. However, these profits began to diminish in 1821 when HBC and the NWC merged, operating as a new entity under the retained HBC name. HBC’s new-found monopoly on the fur trade meant lower fur prices. Furthermore, in Europe, less expensive silk hats became more popular during the 1830s, causing beaver prices to continue to drop. Prices also dropped for the furs of other animals, and many Métis trappers who had become reliant on the fur trade had to do other things to support their families.

Métis women were integral to the fur trade. They were sought after as marriage partners for fur trade managers because of their kinship ties to local First Nations and Métis. Some English Métis women, known as “Country Born,” married high-ranking officials and became members of the “Red River aristocracy.” French Métis women were likely to marry fur trade labourers such as French-Canadian voyageurs. Their work was vitally important, as they provided food such as garden produce, berries, fish and game to the fur trade posts. They also made and sold hand-worked items such as sashes and quilts.

Voyageurs were the main labour force of the Montreal-based fur trade system. They paddled large fur trade canoes from Montreal to Fort William (now part of Thunder Bay, Ont.), then to what are now northern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories and into present-day Oregon. Few roads made by people existed, making the rivers the best way of connecting communities. The voyageurs used the river systems to haul furs and goods for trading purposes. 

From the 1770s until the 1821 merger, most voyageurs were French-Canadians from Lower Canada (now the southern portion of Quebec) and to a lesser extent Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) and Algonquins (Anishinaabeg). After the fur trade merger, the majority of boatmen working in the fur trade were Métis. Carrying on the voyageur way of life, they paddled transport canoes and York boats in the northern parts of the present-day Prairie provinces. They also unloaded freight canoes and York boats. Louis Riel counted on Métis boatmen, particularly the Portage La Loche brigade, as the muscle needed to support his provisional government during the Red River Resistance in 1869-70.

A map detailing the economic activity of the Métis people during the fur trade, ca. 1866

Métis boatmen worked for several months at a time, often enduring a great deal of hardship. In some places, a river would have too many rapids, or it was too narrow for boats to travel upon. Métis boatmen would then carry, or portage, their boats on their backs until they reached another lake or river. Those who were not carrying boats hauled heavy packs of trade goods on their backs. These bundles often weighed as much as 90 kilograms.  This heavy weight was held in place by a strap or tumpline around their heads. They often carried their boats and heavy packs for several kilometres through tangled underbrush, over slippery rocks and through clouds of blackflies. Today, the Métis honour their ancestors by holding “Métis Voyageur Games” at events across Canada such as the Back to Batoche festival. These events test the strength, accuracy and endurance of the participants.

After the 1821 merger of HBC and the NWC, many Métis fur trade workers became free traders, independent hunters and trappers. The bison hunts took on an increased importance as demand for bison robes and hides — the leather was used to make industrial belts — became more prominent from the 1840s until the great herds of bison began disappearing in the 1870s. Some of the Métis served as fur trade provisioners and as hunters, providing processed bison meat or pemmican to the fur trade workers.

Many sons of HBC traders also became fur trade employees, serving in a variety of positions such as clerks, postmen and factors. These English Metis were less likely to be involved in labouring positions such as manning York boats than their French Métis compatriots.

Today, Métis in the northern parts of the Prairie provinces and in Northwest Territories continue to trap. The Métis continue to honour the traditions of their fur trade ancestors by holding annual “King Trapper” events.