User:Jared.r.wilson-2/Trading post

General Information
A trading post could be either a single building or an entire town. Trading posts could be established in a range of areas, including relatively remote ones, but were most often near the ocean, a river, or another natural resource. While trading posts of the past are not common anymore, the modern equivalent would be Amazon, Ebay, and flea markets.

Economic Significance
Honestly can't do much here because there are not any articles that go in depth on this and I would just be extrapolating on small bits of information (which isn't good for wikipedia).

Early Examples
Roman Empire: The Roman Empire could control such a large amount of land because of their efficient systems for spreading information, goods, and other supplies across large distances. Goods specifically were vital to fueling outposts in distant territories, like northern Africa and western Asia. Trading posts played a large part in managing these goods, where they were going, and when. Some goods exchanged at these trading posts and other parts of the Roman trade system were precious stones, fabrics, ivory, and wine. There is also evidence that they traded cattle at the Empúries trading post, established in the 6th century BCE, on the Iberian Peninsula.

North American Trading Posts
Eric Jay Dolin's Fur, Fortune, and Empire provides some historical context on events and the origins of trading posts in North America. One of the first examples given is that of the Kennebec Trading House, established in 1628 by the Plymouth colonists. This trading house was strategically stocked with goods that the native Indians would trade furs for; some of these goods included clothing, blankets, and corn.

The next event from Dolin's book features early conflicts between the French and Plymouth colonists. This occurs in 1631 when the French go to the Plymouth Penobscot trading post. With the masters and most of the crew gone to get supplies, this left only a few servants to attend to the French. When the Frenchmen learned that this was the case, they decided to feign interest in a few of the guns available at the trading post, which they turned back onto the servants. They ordered for all things valuable, leaving with £500 of goods and £300 in beaver pelts.

A good portion of Fur, Fortune, and Empire focuses on the journey of John Jacob Astor, who founded the American Fur Company (AFC). One of the great feats achieved by the AFC was the establishment of a trading post in the native Blackfoot tribe's territory, located in modern-day Montana along the Rocky Mountains. The Blackfoot tribe had killed many Americans and, up to this point, only traded with the Hudson Bay Company. In order to erect a trading post in Blackfoot territory, they would need an inside contact to establish contact on their behalf. Jacob Berger, a trapper, offered Kenneth McKenzie to serve as this contact and get the AFC into negotiations with the Blackfoot. The talks were successful, and McKenzie was able to build a trading post in Blackfoot territory, adjacent to the Missouri and Marias rivers, naming it Fort McKenzie.

Noochuloghoyet Trading Post: This is an American trading post established in the last 19th century, located in central Alaska adjacent to the Yukon River. This was an important trading post for the fur trade, though it has historically gone by different names and the level of involvement varied greatly while active.

Important Trading Posts in North America

 * Fort Vancouver
 * Fort Edmonton
 * Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
 * Fort Michilimackinac
 * Cahokia
 * Fort William, Ontario
 * Taos Pueblo
 * Tadoussac