Of all industries, that of manufacturing the pelts of animals into articles for the use of mankind is the most ancient, and hardly a country exists in which, to some extent, the skins of different beasts are not so used at the present time. The manufacturing of skins into articles of apparel and luxury is an industry apart from all others, and one requiring great knowledge and experience, as the stability as well as the appearance of most furs depends much upon the mode of curing, drying, and making up.
The Canadian provinces owe their first start on the road to prosperity to the fur trade. The French pioneers discovered that as the Native Indians were ignorant of the value of the furs which they accumulated, an enormous profit was possible to the successful trader in those articles. In the infancy of the industry there was absolutely no limit to the percentage of profit, as the Native Indians would exchange the most valuable of pelts for European trinkets that were worth nothing except the cost of transportation. The trade in furs with the natives soon created a class known as coureur des bois or rangers of the wood, whose untamable licentiousness brought scandal upon the traffic, and led to the licensing system, which itself soon became subject to abuse. During twelve or more months these men would be absent from the trading-posts, when they would return with canoes laden with packs of beaver and other skins, with the proceeds of the sale of which they would indulge in the most extravagant dissipation. Their funds would thus soon become exhausted, and they would again disappear on a voyage for subsistence.
The British merchants of New York soon began to encroach upon the business of the Canadian traders, which led to bitter feuds regarding the infringement of territorial rights. Prior to 1795 the trade was almost wholly monopolized by great trading companies, the Dutch East India Company having been first in the field, with trading-posts at New Amsterdam (New York), Beaverwyck (Albany), and several points on the Delaware and the coasts of Maine. The Hudson's Bay Company for almost two hundred years monopolized the trade in furs, although after 1790 it had a somewhat powerful rival in the Northwest Company. In 1805 the latter company established trading-posts on the Pacific coast. In 1808 John Jacob Astor established the American Fur Company, with its line of posts across the continent, intending to form a depot for furs at the mouth of the Columbia River, and to ship the furs directly to China and India from that point. He subsequently changed its name to the Pacific Fur Company, and was on the highroad to success, when, in 1813, his resident partner treacherously sold out the whole establishment to the Northwest Company, on the plea that the British forces, with whom we were then at war, would have captured it. The Russian-American Fur Company, having its trading-post at Sitka, in Alaska, and subordinate posts on the Yukon, carried on an immense traffic for many years, but in 1867 transferred its property and rights to the United States, simultaneously with our purchase of Alaska. Mr. Astor, after the treacherous transfer of the Pacific Fur Company to the Northwest Company, confined his operations to the region east of the Rocky Mountains, and with his partner and successor, Mr. Ramsay Crooks, transacted for many years a profitable business in furs.
The preparation of most skins for packing and transportation is by no means so difficult as might appear. After being stripped from the animal they are carefully cleaned of fat and flesh, and dried in a cool, dry place. When thoroughly dry they are ready for shipment.
The fur trade has been split up into departments, and very few firms carry on all the branches of the business, as was formerly done, under one roof. The taxidermist may be said to conduct a collateral branch of the fur industry. The manufacturing furriers and fur dealers represent an enormous investment of capital, and most of them are importers and exporters as well. There are a large number of important manufacturing firms in America. The manufacture of hats and caps can only be referred to as a branch industry allied to the fur trade, inasmuch as the felt is made from fur. Of course there are hats and caps made directly of fur, which come within the province of the furrier.
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