French Fur Trade

French Fur Trade

By: McKenna Nugent

A river otter looking out over the river.

Table of Contents:

Pg. 2…………………………………………………… Vocabulary
Pg. 3…………………………………………………… Trade
Pg. 4………………………………………………Trade Items
Pg. 5……………………………………………… Fur Trade
Pg. 6…………………………………………… Beaver Pelts
Pg. 7………………………………………… French Trappers

Pg. 1

Vocabulary:

French Fur Trade
Beaver Furs
Huron Indians
Iroquois:
New France:
Jacques Cartier:
Samuel de Champlain:
Alcohol:
Coureurs de Bois:
Castor gras:
Newfoundland​:
Aboriginal:
Parchament:
St. Lawrence River:

Pg. 2

Trade:
For starters the ​French Fur Trade b​ egan in the 1500’s. It was a

trade between Native Americans’ and French colonists. A lot of
the trading between these two groups was made using the​ f​ urs
of the native animals. When a man by the name of ​Jacques
Cartier​ established France’s

claims to the area now known

as Canada in 1534. Later

(1608), France created its

empire in Quebec, Canada. This
was established by ​Samuel de
Champlain.​ During this time

New France established a
friendly relationship with the ​Huron Indians.​ The main reason

these two groups became allies is because of trade and military
advancements. In fact, the I​ roquois​ tribe is a well known enemy

of the Huron Indians. Not only did the people who inhabited

Canada want friendly

relationships, they
wanted ​beaver furs​. In

the fur trade the

beaver fur was an

important trade item,
even to N​ ew France​.

And, unlike the British

and Spanish, France is

going to rely on the good trade relationships with the native

indians, mainly because the natives knew where they beavers

thrived, and France’s demand for furs kept increasing. ​Pg. 3

Trade Items:

One of the biggest problems in trading was the exchanging of
alcohol.​ It created many problems for the natives in regards to
attention and hunting. Mainly because they were so drunk that

they couldn’t think straight (or
shoot for that matter). The French
also traded metal axes. These were
big in the 1600’s and replaced stone
axe’s because they were more
durable. They also tended to trade
jewelry and cooking utensils. The
trade items were most likely
things that, nowadays, people find
useless or
replaceable.
Things like, alcohol, jewelry, utensils, pots
and pans, clothes, and fabric. Now the
Huron and New France were not the only
people “involved” in the Fur Trade, there
was also a people called the c​ oureurs de
bois,​ which means the runners of the
woods. These were the people to form
the relationship between the Native
Indians and the colonists.

Pg. 4

Fur Trade:

The fur trade started in the 1500’s in what is today the U.S. and
Canada. In 1578 there were 350 Europeans fishing off the coast
of ​Newfoundland​. The fisherman would trade metal tools
(mainly knives) for the natives’ well-worn pelts. First fisherman
started receiving beaver and sea otter pelts, but they would
occasionally get deer, bear, ermine, or skunk.

Fur robes were
blankets of
sewn-together
beaver pelts. The
pelts were also
called ​castor gras​.
By the 1580’s
beaver was the
“major starting
material” in the
French felt-hatters industry. Soon after these furs made there
way to Europe. Then when Huguenot refugees fled to Europe
they brought the skills needed to make goods out of the furs
with them.

Pg. 5

Beaver Pelts:+

Beaver pelts were an important part of the early Canadian fur
trade. A​ boriginal​ and European hunters supplied trade networks

that capitalized on the popularity
of beaver pelts in European
markets. As beavers’ grew
endangered in certain areas,
hunters moved farther north and
west, along the way establishing a
network of forts and supply
routes that laid the groundwork
for the development of Canada.

There are two main types of beaver pelts in
the fur trade, coat beaver and p​ archment.​
Coat beaver pelts had been processed and
worn for a single season by hunters-usually
aboriginal peoples-before being traded.
Parchment pelts were sun dried immediately
after skinning.

Pg. 6

Trench Trappers:

Quebec on the S​ t. Lawrence River​ marked the permanent
movement of the fur trade from the exterior of the country to
the interior of the country in 1608. S​ amuel de Champlain​ was
one of the few men who led an expedition to further colonize
Canada and extend the fur trade. He made friends with many
native groups, most importantly the Huron.
But as the trade started to develop
independent traders started to do some
trading of their own. These people actually
had an edge over the French traders due to
the use of currency, as well as the
importance of personal contacts and
experience in the fur traders. The newly
established English colony, however, to the
south quickly joined the indecisive trade.
Raiding the St. Lawrence River Valley and
capturing Quebec from 1629 t0 1632.

Pg. 7