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FUR TRADE

Native American Bibliography


The fur trade brought the French, the English, and the Americans into what is now Michigan. The Native Americans both gathered furs and traded them.


Books

Biggar, H. P. The Early Trading Companies of New France: A Contribution to the History of Commerce and Discovery in North America. NY: Argonaut Press, 1965.
Biggar traces the birth and growth of trade and commerce to the year 1632 in New France.

Burnett, William. Letter Book of William Burnett: Early Fur Trader in the Land of Four Flags. n. p.: Fort Miami Heritage Society of Michigan, 1967.
The fur trade during the period following the Revolutionary War and during the War of 1812.

Chute, Janet E. "Ojibwa Leadership during the Fur Trade Era at Sault Ste. Marie." In New Faces of the Fur Trade, Selected Papers of the 7th North American Fur Trade Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1995 edited by Jo-Anne Fiske, Susan Sleeper-Smith, and William Wicker. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1995. 153-174.
No other Ojibwa group during the mid to late fur trade era attracted so much attention from traders and colonial administrators as the 'Crane' band of Sault Ste. Marie.

Clayton, James L. The American Fur Company: The Final Years. Dissertation. Cornell University, 1964.
It is clear from the data of the final years that the American Fur Company has been unjustifiably condemned by many writers. On the whole it did not exploit the Indians, debauch the Indians with liquor, or use its influence with the government to exploit the public.

Documents Relative to Indian Trade. Submitted to the Senate by the Committee on Indian Affairs. February 11, 1822. Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1822.
Invoices and accounts of the Factories system of the United States.

Five Fur Traders of the Northwest. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society, 1965.
These documents offer dramatic, first hand glimpses of the daily existence of voyageurs and Indians, detailed data on canoeing, trading practices, trade goods, and Indian customs.

Gilman, Carolyn. Where Two Worlds Meet: The Great Lakes Fur Trade. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society, 1982.
Catalog of an exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Hale, Nathaniel C. Pelts and Palisades; The Story of Fur and the Rivalry for Pelts in Early America. Richmond, VA: Dietz Press, 1959.
It was the trader in quest of beaver who first met and conducted diplomatic relations with the Indians.

Hamil, Frederick. Sally Ainse, Fur Trader. Detroit, MI: Algonquin Club, 1939.
A Detroit fur trader, possessor of a large grant of land from the Chippewas.

Hamil, Frederick. When Beaver was King. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1951.
Brief history of the fur trade.

Hamilton, Henry E. Incidents and Events in the Life of Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally, 1888.
Hubbard was a fur trader and a founder of Chicago. The Indians were his constant companions.

Harrington, Steve. Fair Shake in the Wilderness: The Life and Times of Rix Robinson. Grand Rapids, MI: Maritime Press, 2000.
Rix Robinson proved that Indians should be treated fairly even though the Old Northwest Territory was flooded by white settlers.

Hubbard, Gurdon Saltonstall. The Autobiography of Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard, Pa-pa-ma-ta-be, "The Swift Walker." Chicago, IL: R.R. Donnelley and Sons, 1911.
Hubbard was a fur trader with the American Fur Company, traveling and living with the Indians.

Johnson, Beverly Hayward. "Letters From Mackinac, Harbingers of Struggle." In Entering the 90's: The North American Experience: Proceedings from the Native American Studies Conference at Lake Superior State University, October 27-28, 1989. edited by Thomas E. Shirer. Sault Ste. Marie, MI: Lake Superior State University Press, 1991. 58-73
John Lowe's 1780 -1846 letters. Lowe was a fur trader.

Johnson, Ida A. The Michigan Fur Trade. Lansing, MI: Michigan Historical Commission, 1919.
An account of the fur traders' regime in Michigan. Depicts the lives of traders and their relations to the red men.

Laird, Matthew R. The Price of Empire: Anglo-French Rivalry for the Great Lakes Fur Trade 1700-1760. Dissertation. College of William and Mary, 1995.
As the English and French grappled for North American hegemony, trade with the Indian groups of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley transcended mere financial calculations and assumed broader imperial significance.

Letter from the Secretary of War, Transmitting an Abstract of Licenses Granted to Trade with Indians, Within the Year Commencing 10th September, 1832.
Licenses to trade with the Indians.

McKenney, Thomas. A Report in Relation to Indian Trade. Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1820.
McKenney's report on the factory system of the government.

Morse, Eric. Canoe Routes of the Voyageurs: The Geography and Logistics of the Canadian Fur Trade. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society, 1961.
How the voyageurs got across the continent.

Neill, Edward D. The Development of Trade on Lake Superior and Its Tributaries During the French Regime. St. Paul, MN: Pioneer Press, 1890.
Includes much about the Native Americans of the region.

Nelson, George. My First Years in the Fur Trade: The Journals of 1802-1804 edited by Laura Peers and Theresa Schenck. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2002.
These journals are valuable for candid observations on the customs and culture of the Ojibway people. They provide detailed descriptions of Ojibwa spiritual practices.

Nute, Grace Lee. Caesars of the Wilderness, Medard Chouart, Sieur des Groseillers and Pierre Esprit Radisson, 1618-1710. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1978.
These men were early fur traders in the Great Lakes area.

Peers, Laura. "Fur Trade History, Native History, Public History: Communication and Miscommunication." In New Faces of the Fur Trade: Selected Papers of the Seventh North American Fur Trade Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1995 edited by Jo-Anne Fiske, Susan Sleeper-Smith, and William Wickem. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 1998. 101-119.
Peers comments on attempts by historic sites to develop relationships with Native communities and to acknowledge Native perspectives on the fur trade. These attempts are a fascinating development at the intersections between fur trade history, Native history, and public history.

Reese, Ted. Soft Gold: A History of the Fur Trade in the Great Lakes Region and Its Impact on Native American Culture. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2001.
Reese discusses the development of the fur trade and the European struggle for its control, while examining the involvement of Native Americans in that industry which led to the eventual demise of their culture.

Richmond, Rebecca L. The Fur Traders of the Grand River Valley. Grand Rapids, MI: Historical Society of Grand Rapids, 1907.
A paper read before the Historical Society of Grand Rapids.

Saum, Lewis D. The Fur Trader and the Indian. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1965.
From a survey of fur trader records Saum has drawn sketches of the fur traders and the lives they led. He finds the traders' views of the Indian does not seem to have been dominated by preconceived attitudes.

Skinner, Constance Lindsay. Beaver, Kings and Cabins. NY: Macmillan, 1943.
From the early fur traders and their relations with the Indians came glamorous stories of courage and perseverance, which are the highlights in the romance of early American history.

Sleeper-Smith, Susan. "Furs and Female Kin Networks: The World of Marie Madeleine Reaume L'archeveque Chevalier." In New Faces of the Fur Trade: Selected Papers of the Seventh North American Fur Trade Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1995. Edited by Jo-Anne Fiske, Susan Sleeper-Smith, and William Wickem. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 1998. 53-72.
Marie Madeleine spent most of her life at Fort Joseph. Her marriage to two traders was indicative of 18th century society.

Sleeper-Smith, Susan. Indian Women and French Men: Rethinking Cultural Encounters in the Western Great Lakes. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2001.
Sleeper-Smith provides a perspective on a colonial world where kinship determined identity. The primary focus of the book is the role that Native women played in establishing the fur trade as an avenue of sociocultural change.

Van Kirk, Sylvia. Many Tender Ties: Women in the Fur Trade Society, 1670-1970. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
Van Kirk includes a little on the fur trade in the Old Northwest.

Wheeler, Robert C. A Toast to the Fur Trade; A Picture Essay on its Material Culture. St. Paul, MN: Wheeler Productions, 1985.
Material culture of the fur traders and the Native Americans.

Widder, Keith R. "Effects of the American Revolution on Fur Trade Society at Michilimackinac." In The Fur Trade Revisited: Selected Papers of the Sixth North American Fur Trade Conference, Mackinac Island, Michigan, 1991. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1994.
The fur trade was the common denominator that linked all groups of people residing in the western Great Lakes region before and during the American Revolution.

Woodward, Arthur. The Denominators of the Fur Trade: An Anthology of Writings on the Material Culture of the Fur Trade. Pasadena, CA: Westernlore Press, 1979.
Includes chapters on wampum, trade beads, Indian trade silver, silver gorgets, metal tomahawks, Green River knives and trade goods. Profusely illustrated.