Fueled by European demand for beaver hats, the North American trade that began with the French and English colonization of eastern North America moved West as supplies were trapped out. By the late 18th century, the North American trade was controlled by the Hudson’s Bay Company of Britain and the North West Company of Canada, but these were soon challenged by American entrepreneurs, newly awakened to the continent’s natural abundance by the Lewis and Clark expedition. Over the next 40 years, American companies like John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company, Manuel Lisa’s Missouri Fur Company and William H. Ashley’s Rocky Mountain Fur Company, dominated the fur trade of the trans-Mississippi region. They built forts along the rivers of the West — the Missouri, Yellowstone, Green, Snake, Laramie and Platte — the forts serving as supply points and trading posts where trappers, traders and Indians engaged in commerce. The fur trade dwindled in the 1840s when silk “top” hats came into fashion, but the forts continued to play a vital role in service of emigrants traveling West and the U.S. military.

Tags: beaver hats, Fur Trade, Lewis and Clark, Mississippi