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JJDESIGNS NEWS UPDATE 27[SUP]th[/SUP] MARCH 2023
THE FUR TRADE
MOUNTAIN MEN – THE RENDEZVOUS
A mountain man was an explorer who lived in the wilderness. They were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails (widened into wagon roads) allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains traveling over roads explored and in many cases, physically improved by the mountain men and the big fur companies originally to serve the mule train based inland fur trade.
Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). Approximately 3,000 mountain men ranged the mountains between 1820 and 1840, the peak beaver-harvesting period. While there were many free trappers, most mountain men were employed by major fur companies. The life of a company man was almost militarized. The men had mess groups, hunted and trapped in brigades and always reported to the head of the trapping party.
This man was called a "boosway", a bastardization of the French term bourgeois. He was the leader of the brigade and the head trader.
Rendezvous – A French term denoting a gathering to conduct commerce.
The Rocky Mountain Rendezvous was an annual rendezvous, held between 1825 to 1840 at various locations, organized usually by a fur trading company at which trappers and mountain men sold their furs and hides, and replenished their supplies.
The fur companies would assemble teamster-driven mule trains which carried whiskey and supplies as well as money to a pre-announced location each spring/summer and set up a trading fair, the Rendezvous.
At the end of the fair, the teamsters packed the furs, and took them out, either to Fort Vancouver in the pacific Northwest for the British companies, or to one of the northern Missouri river ports, such as St. Joseph, Missouri for the American companies.
The enterprise that eventually came to be known as the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1822 by William Henry Ashley and Andrew Henry.
Among the original employees, known as “Ashley’s Hundred”, were Jedediah Smith , who went on to take a leading role in the company’s operations, and Jim Bridger, who was among those who bought out Smith and his partners in 1830. It was Bridger and his partners who gave the enterprise the name “Rocky Mountain Fur Company”.
The company became a pioneer in western exploration, most notably in the Green River Valley. The operations of other aspiring organizations like the American Fur Company would often overlap, causing a fierce rivalry. Growing competition motivated the trappers to explore and head deeper into the wilderness. This led to greater knowledge of the topography and to great reductions in the beaver populations.
Eventually the intense competition for fewer and fewer beavers and the transient style of fur hats brought the Rocky Mountain Fur Company down. Nearly a decade after its founding, the stock holders sold all their shares, leaving behind a legacy in terms of both western settlement and folklore. The US government, seeking geographic knowledge or travel advice regarding the West, would seek out former members of the company as consultants. Ashley himself later became a congressman whose expertise was Western affairs.
William Henry Ashley (c. 1778 – March 26[SUP]th[/SUP] 1838) was an American miner, land speculator, manufacturer, territorial militia general, politician, frontiersman, fur trader , entrepreneur, hunter, and slave owner.
He was best known for being the co-owner with Andrew Henry of the highly successful Rocky Mountain Fur Company, otherwise known as “Ashley’s Hundred” for the famous mountain men working for the firm from 1822 to 1834.
Major Andrew Henry (c. 1775- January 10[SUP]th[/SUP] 1832) was an American miner, army officer, frontiersman, trapper and entrepreneur. Alongside William H. Ashley, Henry was the co-owner of the successful Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Henry appears in the narrative poem the Song Of Hugh Glass, which is part of the Neihardt’s Cycle of The West. He is portrayed by John Huston in the 1971 film “Man In The Wilderness”, and by Domhnall Gleeson in the 2015 film The Revenant, both of which depict Glass’s bear attack and journey.
Rendezvous were known to be lively, joyous places where all were allowed, fur trappers, Indians, native trapper wives and children, harlots, travelers, and later tourists ( who would venture from as far as Europe to observe the festivities.
James Beckworth describes, “ Mirth, songs, dancing, shouting, trading, running, jumping, singing, racing, target shooting, yarns, frolics, with all sorts of extravagances that white men or Indians could invent.”
Best wishes,
john Jenkins
THE FUR TRADE
MOUNTAIN MEN – THE RENDEZVOUS
A mountain man was an explorer who lived in the wilderness. They were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails (widened into wagon roads) allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains traveling over roads explored and in many cases, physically improved by the mountain men and the big fur companies originally to serve the mule train based inland fur trade.
Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). Approximately 3,000 mountain men ranged the mountains between 1820 and 1840, the peak beaver-harvesting period. While there were many free trappers, most mountain men were employed by major fur companies. The life of a company man was almost militarized. The men had mess groups, hunted and trapped in brigades and always reported to the head of the trapping party.
This man was called a "boosway", a bastardization of the French term bourgeois. He was the leader of the brigade and the head trader.
Rendezvous – A French term denoting a gathering to conduct commerce.
The Rocky Mountain Rendezvous was an annual rendezvous, held between 1825 to 1840 at various locations, organized usually by a fur trading company at which trappers and mountain men sold their furs and hides, and replenished their supplies.
The fur companies would assemble teamster-driven mule trains which carried whiskey and supplies as well as money to a pre-announced location each spring/summer and set up a trading fair, the Rendezvous.
At the end of the fair, the teamsters packed the furs, and took them out, either to Fort Vancouver in the pacific Northwest for the British companies, or to one of the northern Missouri river ports, such as St. Joseph, Missouri for the American companies.
The enterprise that eventually came to be known as the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1822 by William Henry Ashley and Andrew Henry.
Among the original employees, known as “Ashley’s Hundred”, were Jedediah Smith , who went on to take a leading role in the company’s operations, and Jim Bridger, who was among those who bought out Smith and his partners in 1830. It was Bridger and his partners who gave the enterprise the name “Rocky Mountain Fur Company”.
The company became a pioneer in western exploration, most notably in the Green River Valley. The operations of other aspiring organizations like the American Fur Company would often overlap, causing a fierce rivalry. Growing competition motivated the trappers to explore and head deeper into the wilderness. This led to greater knowledge of the topography and to great reductions in the beaver populations.
Eventually the intense competition for fewer and fewer beavers and the transient style of fur hats brought the Rocky Mountain Fur Company down. Nearly a decade after its founding, the stock holders sold all their shares, leaving behind a legacy in terms of both western settlement and folklore. The US government, seeking geographic knowledge or travel advice regarding the West, would seek out former members of the company as consultants. Ashley himself later became a congressman whose expertise was Western affairs.
William Henry Ashley (c. 1778 – March 26[SUP]th[/SUP] 1838) was an American miner, land speculator, manufacturer, territorial militia general, politician, frontiersman, fur trader , entrepreneur, hunter, and slave owner.
He was best known for being the co-owner with Andrew Henry of the highly successful Rocky Mountain Fur Company, otherwise known as “Ashley’s Hundred” for the famous mountain men working for the firm from 1822 to 1834.
Major Andrew Henry (c. 1775- January 10[SUP]th[/SUP] 1832) was an American miner, army officer, frontiersman, trapper and entrepreneur. Alongside William H. Ashley, Henry was the co-owner of the successful Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Henry appears in the narrative poem the Song Of Hugh Glass, which is part of the Neihardt’s Cycle of The West. He is portrayed by John Huston in the 1971 film “Man In The Wilderness”, and by Domhnall Gleeson in the 2015 film The Revenant, both of which depict Glass’s bear attack and journey.
Rendezvous were known to be lively, joyous places where all were allowed, fur trappers, Indians, native trapper wives and children, harlots, travelers, and later tourists ( who would venture from as far as Europe to observe the festivities.
James Beckworth describes, “ Mirth, songs, dancing, shouting, trading, running, jumping, singing, racing, target shooting, yarns, frolics, with all sorts of extravagances that white men or Indians could invent.”
Best wishes,
john Jenkins
