Crazy Crow Trading Post offers this list of Frontier History & Mountain Man History Web Resources related links to help you in your search for information about the fur trade era and related topics. Inclusion in this list does not represent an endorsement by Crazy Crow, although we do try to be selective – and reserve the right to do so.

Empire of the Bay

Website for “The Empire of the Bay” documentary that ran on PBS – telling the story of the shrewd merchants and bold explorers of the Hudson’s Bay Company who tamed a wilderness and opened up the heart of a vast continent. The York Factory was once the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company — a trading network that encompassed nearly three million square miles of North America, from the Arctic Ocean to San Francisco, from Labrador to Hawaii. It is here, in this frigid wilderness, that the foundation of modern Canada was laid. This fascinating story of this empire spans three centuries of wars and spoils, of exploration and exploitation, of intrigue and sheer human endurance.

Glossary of American Mountain Men Terms, Words & Expressions

Compiled by Walt Hayward & Brad McDade. Hundreds of terms. Know what an ‘airline’ is? This term was in use long before the invention of aircraft, referring to the shortest and straightest line between two points. Find out what else you don’t know!

Mountain Men and the Fur Trade

This website is an on-line Research Center devoted to the history, traditions, tools, and mode of living, of the trappers, explorers, and traders known as the Mountain Men. The primary purpose of the American Mountain Man Virtual Research Center Project is to provide a means for the dissemination of information related to the history of the Mountain Men in the American West. We do this by creating a digital repository of historical materials pertaining to that period and region, and making it available via this website on a long-term basis.

Outfit of a Trapper: Osborne Russell’s Purchases at Fort Hall

Fascinating story told through anecdotes from Russell’s journey that incorporates his purchases showing the type items fur trappers used. In the spring of 1834, a young man named Osborne Russell hired on with the Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company to hunt in the Rocky Mountains. He kept a detailed diary of his experiences in the mountains, and later these notes were published as Journal of a Trapper. This book is one of the best first-hand narratives available of the everyday life of an ordinary trapper during the heyday of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade. Russell’s Journal is well known to most students of Fur Trade history, and is frequently used as a primary source by those researching the typical activities and lifestyle of the Mountain Men. As enlightening as Russell’s Journal is, the details he provides about his equipment are limited. Fortunately, other reliable sources are available that provide additional insight into Russell’s outfit. One particularly good source for Russell’s first few years in the mountains are the accounting records of Fort Hall, which cover the period from its establishment on August 4, 1834 until its sale to the Hudson’s Bay company in August 1837. Two ledgers and one journal have survived, and are in the manuscript collection of the Oregon Historical Society. These documents show us what was purchased by Russell and his peers, for what price, and on what day. In this article, Russell’s transactions are examined from these accounting records, relate them to what he wrote in Journal of a Trapper, and speculate on how he used the items he purchased and what items were in his outfit.

Names of People in the West During the Fur Trade (PDF)

Have you ever wondered how many people were in the early American west? I have. Over the years, experts and historians have claimed between 2500 to 4500 people were in this wild and adventurous place. It drew many individuals for various reasons like: money, adventure or health. This list, still far from complete, will hopefully recognize those who are mentioned in the journals,
diaries and autobiographies of the day. These individuals, whether they were well known or not, led interesting lives, had grand
adventures and many stories to tell. I guess in a way, this list is for the unknown ones. Those who made the hard trip west, sometimes for only a short time, but saw the west as it was and will never made a list of “famous” people.

Rendezvous in the Rocky Mountains, 1825-1840

Including hyperlinks to historic source documents pertaining to each rendezvous, as well as photos of thses sites.

Road to Rendezvous: The Rocky Mountain Fur Trade in 1834

As soon as Europeans came to the coasts of North America, they began trading for furs with the people who already lived here. Eventually they built trading posts where rivers joined lakes, or joined other rivers. Trade goods were shipped upriver from the coasts by canoe or keelboat. Furs were shipped back down the same way. Trappers, mostly Indians, brought furs to the posts and traded them for the goods the storekeepers had to offer. It was big business. River cities like New York, Montreal, and St. Louis grew rich on it. France and England fought a long war for it in the mid 1700s. Later, the big fur companies fought small wars with each other to control the trade.

By 1800, the business reached worldwide. Trade goods from factories in England, France, or Italy were shipped to North America by sea. Furs were shipped back the same way. In Europe, the furs sold for high prices. Soon, factories in New England were making trade goods, too. Merchants in Boston and New York sent ships all the way around Cape Horn at the tip of South America to the mouth of the Columbia River on North America’s west coast. The crews traded there for furs, and then sailed for China. In China they traded the furs for silks, then sailed home around the southern tip of Africa. When things went right, the profits were huge.

Six Legendary Mountain Men of the American Frontier | History Channel

Find out more about the lives of six adventurers who made their mark on the American frontier: John Colter, Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Jedidiah Smith, James Beckwourth, and Joseph Walker.

The Fur Trade in Wyoming

The Green, Snake, and Yellowstone rivers, principal tributaries of three of the West’s great river systems, rise in northwestern Wyoming along the Continental Divide. Around the year 1800, this high, well-watered country offered prime habitat for North America’s largest rodent, the beaver. Pelts from this flat-tailed creature were one of the most valuable commodities of a thriving, worldwide fur trade, and the hunt for beaver first brought non-indigenous people into the Rocky Mountains in search of its hide. Beaver fur makes high quality felt—a commodity in great demand by the hat industry. The fashion of the day demanded that men wear stylish hats, the best of which were made from beaver fur felt. Fashion created a huge market for beaver fur. Euro-American incursion into what is now Wyoming may have begun as early as the 1740s, when French fur trader Pierre de la Verendrye, is believed to have traveled into the Big Horn Mountains. Francois Antoine Larocque traded furs on Powder River in 1805. But it was after the Lewis and Clark Expedition returned from its epic journey to the Pacific in 1806 and reported the tremendous number of beaver in the mountain West that many adventurers retraced the explorers’ steps in hope of riches.

Topical Bibliography of Fur Trade Historical Source Documents

Where to read more about a large variety of topics in Fur Trade history such as: John Colter’s Escape from the Blackfeet, 1832 Battle with the Blackfeet in Pierre’s Hole, Joseph Walker’s California Expedition, Hudson’s Bay Company Expeditions to Snake Country, St. Louis Missouri Fur Company’ Activities on the Upper Missouri, The Southwestern Fur Trade, Astoria, and more. All content is available withing this site, it is not external linking to other sites.

Trading Posts of the Mountain Men

In 1843 there were in existence in the country west of St. Louis, Missouri no fewer 150 occupied or abandoned posts. The names of more than 100 have been recovered while the casual hints thrown out in the narratives and correspondence of the times make certain the existence of a much larger number. Some of these were really great establishments and lasted many years; others were very temporary affairs, being occupied only for a season or two. Abandoned sites were frequently reoccupied, often by different companies who christened them with new names. By far the greater number of these posts lay along the Missouri River and most of their names have long been buried in oblivion. Many are permanently lost, while others can not be cleared of uncertainty as to their true location and ownership. Many of the names are perpetuated in towns and villages which have grown up on or near the old sites. Others, that should have survived on account of their great importance, can no longer be found today. These establishments were generally designated as “Forts”, yet their primary purpose was trade. This article was written by Hiram Martin Chittenden and included in his book, The American Fur trade of the Far West, published in 1902. Chittenden served in the Corps of Engineers, eventually reaching the rank of Brigadier General.

Western Frontier: Early Forts Regale America’s Fur Trade Era

In the early 1800s, following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, a host of scouts, soldiers, trappers and traders began venturing from St. Louis, eager to explore and exploit the natural riches to be found in the wilderness of the West. It was America’s new economic frontier. The expansion of the fur trade would introduce new cultures and trading partners to farsighted business entrepreneurs.

To learn more about this era, pay a visit to one of several frontier forts established in the 1820s and 1830s, places like Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, a legendary trading post 90 miles southeast of Pueblo, Colorado; Fort Laramie National Historic Site, an important destination on the Oregon Trail in southeastern Wyoming; and Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Missouri River in far northwestern North Dakota. Walk the grounds of these early business hubs and you’ll gain new insights into a fascinating period of westward expansion.