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Beaver,
Furs and Skins
Furs:
The fur trade in North America was driven by European demand
for skins and furs of all types. Increasing
 wealth
and higher living standards in Europe starting in the 14th
and 15th centuries brought a desire for clothing which was both
comfortable and fashionable. Textiles
at the time were both coarse and rough, and colors were few.
Furs, by comparison, were soft and warm, and leather clothing was
comfortable, sturdy and durable. So
great was the demand in Europe, that by the fifteenth century, the harvest
of wild, native fur-bearing animals was no longer sufficient to meet
demand for leather and furs. At
this time, exploration and colonization of North America opened up the
vast fur and skin resources of that continent.
For two hundred years, Indians provided the labor to harvest the
furs and skins, in trade for iron and steel weapons and tools, brass,
silver and glass ornaments and relatively cheap textiles.
Beaver:
All types of skins and furs were in demand but the most sought
after included deer, muskrat, buffalo, raccoon, otter and bear.
Interestingly, a trader at the Marias made a shipment of furs to St. Louis
which included 1,500 prairie dog skins. However, the fur of the beaver was
especially desired and premium prices were paid for its skin.
Beaver fur has long been known for its superior felting qualities.
Pressed together with steam or hot water the fine fur (wool) became
felted cloth, valued especially for fashionable hats. Beaver
headpieces become so valuable that they were willed by fathers to eldest
sons. In France, beaver hats gained such status that generous
trade-ins were allowed for worn models on new purchases. The used
hats were sold in Spain, then trimmed of the most worn parts for resale in
Portugal, and finally they were traded for ivory in Africa. The fur of the
beaver was so precious for hat making that the sand from the floor in the
warehouses where the pelts were stored was sifted to salvage every last
hair. By the 1500's the beaver was essentially extinct throughout Europe.
Only small populations remained in northernmost Siberia and remote
parts of Scandinavia. On the
arrival of European explorers to the new world, the American beaver became
the soft gold of the French, English, Dutch and later the Americans.
Beavers live in and near streams, rivers and ponds. They are excellent
swimmers and can swim underwater for one-half mile and go without
breathing for up to fifteen minutes. Adult
beaver range in size from three to four feet, including the tail, and
weigh from 40 to 95 pounds. Unlike
most other kinds of mammals, beavers continue to grow throughout their
lives. Beaver live in family
groups, generally consisting of six individuals, but may number as many as
twelve.
Beavers are relatively slow and
awkward on land, but can easily evade predators in the water.
They build dams and canals so that additional areas are accessible to them within easy reach of water. Dams
may be up to 8 feet high and dams of more than 1,000 feet in length are
not uncommon. Canals are dug
to move logs to dams or lodges easily and quickly.
Canals are 12 to 18 inches deep and 18 to 24 inches wide, and may
run for 700 feet.
 Beavers live in dome shaped lodges constructed of mud and branches.
The
lodges generally are constructed in the middle of the beaver pond behind
the dam, although some may be constructed on the bank.
The lodge generally has multiple underwater entrances, leading into
an inner living chamber four to six inches above the water.
Trapping Beaver:
The presence of beaver could always be determined from well
maintained dams and lodges along a stream or river.
The trapper, having found fresh beaver sign, would concentrate his
trap-setting along waters that the animals frequented.
When a likely spot was found for a “set”, a bed for the trap
was prepared underwater in such a manner as to assure that the pan and
spread of jaws of the trap would be about four inches below the surface of
the water. After the trap had
been adjusted on the underwater bed, the trap chain was extended its full
length outward to deeper water, and a trap stake was driven deep into the
bottom sediments and a “float stick” was passed through the ring at
the end of the chain. Usually
the chain ring was tied to the stake with a strong cord to ensure that should the stake be pulled loose by
the captured beaver, the stake would remain tied to the trap.
The final step was the placement of the “bait”.
A pliable stick was cut to a length that would permit the stick to
extend from the stream bank to directly over the pan of the trap.
Castoreum was smeared on the end of the stick by the trapper from a
bait bottle which he carried. Then
the other end of the bait stick was jammed into the soil of the stream
bank, and adjusted so its end was suspended six inches above the water at
the set. The trapper then
waded from the water some distance from where the set was made.
Beaver are
very territorial animals, and each has a uniquely scented castoreum.
The scent of an intruder's castoreum is irresistible to the beaver, and it would attract
beaver in the area to investigate the baited stick.
The cautious beaver would approach from deep water, and getting
close would lift it’s nose to investigate the bait, setting one or both
front feet upon the pan of the trap, triggering it.
The frightened animal would then dive to deep water for safety,
taking along the heavy trap with it.
Eventually the weight of the trap drowned the beaver at the bottom
of the pond where it's carcass would
await the trapper when he made the next round of his sets.
Skinning the Beaver:
Skinning was always done in the vicinity where the animal was
trapped, and generally only the pelt, and perhaps the castoreum glands were carried back to camp. If
the trapper was working out of a large camp, he might be able to turn over
his freshly skinned pelts to a camp employee for stretching and drying.
If the party was small, the task of fleshing and stretching the pelt would be
done by the trapper himself.
After the pelt had been removed from the carcass, it was scraped
with a sharp knife or ax blade to free it from fat and shreds of flesh.
In order to dry it quickly and uniformly, it was stretched smoothly
in a hoop made by bending a supple willow branch of the appropriate size
into a circular form and then tying the ends together.
The skin was then sewed with sinew around the edges and attached to
the hoop. When dry the pelt
resisted attacks by insects and spoilage.
Rufus Sage writes
in the 1840's "The usual mode of dressing skins, prevalent in this
country among both Indians and whites, is very simple in its details and
is easily practised. It consists in removing all the fleshy
particles from the pelt, and divesting it of a thin viscid substance upon
the exterior, known as the "grain;"then, after permitting it to
dry, it is thoroughly soaked in a liquid decoction formed from the brains
of the animal and water, when it is stoutly rubbed with the hands in order
to open its pores and admit the mollient properties of the fluid, - this
done, the task, is completed by alternate rubbings and distensions until
it is completely dry and soft." The photo above is a
fleshing tool that might have been used by either a trapper or an
Indian.
Making
a Pack: As the dried pelts
accumulated in camp, they were pressed in to compact bundles, called a
 pack,
to ease handling. Dried pelts
generally weighed about 1 and ˝ pounds each.
The pelts were folded in the center, fur side in, and pressed into
a pack encased in a wrapper of deer skin or other less valuable material.
The drawing at left (by Mulcahy, Jefferson National Expansion
Memorial, St. Louis) shows how trappers in the field would have compressed
pelts into a pack. About 60
pelts went into each pack, with a total weight of about 100 pounds.
Each pack was valued at $300 to $600 dollars, depending on the
market conditions. A pack
animal could carry two packs. (Consider
that gold was
 worth
$20 an ounce, and a working farm could be purchased for around $1,500 at
this time). At the end of the
spring hunt, the fur packs would be sent back to St. Louis by pack train,
or by boat. If the furs were
sold to a large company that maintained a trading post in the area, the
packs might be opened, the pelts reconditioned and thoroughly dried, and
then repacked using more powerful presses.
A wedge press is shown at right.
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