User:Jared.r.wilson-2/sandbox

Trading post and fur related details involving the Hudson Bay Company.

= Trading Post: Draft Contributions =

Historical Events
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.