The Role Of The Fur Trade In Colonial Arkansas

The first attempt to establish a successful fur trade in colonial Arkansas did not go as planned. It wasn’t until the end of the 18th century when trade became an important part of the Arkansas Post. The most important trade items in early colonial Arkansas were bear oil, buffalo meat, and buffalo fat. Later, French trappers, traders, and hunters loaded canoes and flat boats with beads, guns, iron hatches, pots, knives, blankets and cloth to exchange for Indian furs. Unfortunately, the fur trade in colonial Arkansas was not always profitable. One reason may have been that it was very expensive to carry so many supplies on the long, hard journey up Arkansas’ rivers. To cut down on expenses and increase profits, European traders often hired Indians
They set these to bring financial gain to their home countries. Trappers used strong steel traps with long chains to capture animals for their furs. They also began using new traps. ne of those were to drill a hole in a log and drive two nails in each side of the hole. Then you put a piece of silver in the bottom of the hole you drilled. When the coon sticks his paw in the hole to get the silver when he pulls his paw out the nails will keep him from getting his paw out of the hole. Even better traps are coming along. A new one called a snare is a wire that animals walk through. The wire pulls tight and the animal is trapped in the
They set these to bring financial gain to their home countries. Trappers used strong steel traps with long chains to capture animals for their furs. They also began using new traps. One of those were to drill a hole in a log and drive two nails in each side of the hole. Then you put a piece of silver in the bottom of the hole you drilled. When the coon sticks his paw in the hole to get the silver when he pulls his paw out the nails will keep him from getting his paw out of the hole. Even better traps are coming along. A new one called a snare is a wire that animals walk through. The wire pulls tight and the animal is trapped in the wire. Trapping and trading became difficult as settlements moved westward and fur animals decreased in population, but it started to become less important. Frontier trading post began to look like the stores in the East. The fur trading continued in parts of the West, most frontier trading post have been replaced though.In the early 1800’s trappers caught any kind of animal with a fur and would trade it with other Indians or settlers. These men were called mountain men. The reason they were called this is because they could get up and around the mountains better than anyone