Recommended Readings and Resources Books Articles Educational Materials Internet sites

Recommended Readings and Resources

The following sources are only a selection of the voluminous literature on the fur trade in the American and Canadian West. This bibliography includes some of the best recent work on a variety of topics as well as important classics that deserve attention. The selections reflect a decided emphasis upon the period around the early 1800s and the geographical area surrounding modern-day Montana. Also, the Native American role in the fur trade gets much attention. Selections are listed in alphabetical order by author’s name.

 

Books

• Barbour, Barton H. Fort Union and the Upper Missouri Fur Trade. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001.

 

• Brown, Jennifer S. H. Strangers in Blood: Fur Trade Company Families in Indian Country. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1980.

 

• Ewers, John. Plains Indian History and Culture: Essays on Continuity and Change. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.

 

• Hafen, Leroy R., ed. The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West. 10 vols. Glendale, Calif.: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1965-1972.

 

• Hanson, James Austin. When Skins were Money: A History of the Fur Trade. Chadron, Neb.: Museum of the Fur Trade, 2005.

 

• Jablow, Joseph. The Cheyenne in Plains Indian Trade Relations, 1795-1840. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.

 

• Jenish, D'Arcy. Epic Wanderer: David Thompson and the Mapping of the Canadian West. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.

 

• Innis, Harold. Peter Pond, fur trader and adventurer. Toronto: Irwin and Gordon 1930.

 

• Lepley, John G. Blackfoot Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri. Missoula, Mont.: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 2004.

 

• Newman, Peter C. Empire of the Bay: An Illustrated History of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Toronto: Madison Press, 1989.

 

• Nisbet, Jack. The Mapmaker’s Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau. Pullman: Washington State University Press, 2005.

 

• Ray, Arthur J. Indians in the Fur Trade: Their Role as Trappers, Hunters, and Middlemen in the Lands Southwest of Hudson Bay, 1660-1870. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974.

 

• Thompson, David. Journals Relating to Montana and Adjacent Regions, 1808-1812. Transcribed from a Photostatic Copy of the Original Mss., Edited and with an Introduction by M. Catherine White. Missoula: Montana State University Press, 1950.

 

• Tyrrell, J. B., ed. David Thompson's Narrative of His Explorations in Western America, 1784-1812. Toronto: Champlain Society, 1916.

 

• Van Kirk, Sylvia. Many Tender Ties: Women in Fur Trade Society in Western Canada, 1670-1870. Winnipeg, Man.: Watson & Dwyer, 1980.

 

• Wishart, David J. The Fur Trade and the American West, 1807-1840: A Geographical Synthesis. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1979.

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Articles

• Alwin, John. "Pelts, Provisions & Perceptions: The Hudson’s Bay Company Mandan Indian Trade, 1785-1812," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, V. 24, No. 3, July 1979, pp. 16-27.

 

• Binnema, Theodore (Ted), "Allegiances and Interests: Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) Trade, Diplomacy, and Warfare, 1806-1831," Western Historical Quarterly 37 (Autumn 2006): 327-350.

 

• Brown, Jennifer. "Ultimate Respectability: Fur-Trade Children in the Civilized World. Part I of Two Parts," The Beaver: Magazine of the North, Winter 1977, Outfit 308.3, pp. 4-10.

 

• ---. "Ultimate Respectability: Fur-Trade Children in the Civilized World. Second of Two Parts," The Beaver: Magazine of the North, Spring 1978, Outfit 308.4, pp. 48-55.

 

• Campbell, Gregory, "Enterprise in the Rockies: Companies, Trappers, and Trappers’ Wives in the 19th Century Fur Trade," Gilcrease Journal, Vol. 9, Issue 2, 2002, pp. 26-47.

 

• Hurtado, Albert L., "When Strangers Met: Sex and Gender on Three Frontiers," Frontiers, Vol. 17, No. 3, 1996. pp. 52-75. Hurtado examines the relationships between men and women and conflicting cultural norms in three case studies: the Missouri Fur Trade, Franciscan Missions, and California Gold Rush.

 

• Judy, Mark A., "Powder Keg on the Upper Missouri, Sources of Blackfeet Hostility, 1730-1810," American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 11, Issue 2, 1987, p. 127-144.

 

• Lansing, Michael, "Plains Indian Women and Interracial Marriage in the Upper Missouri Trade, 1804-1868," Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 4, Winter 2000., pp. 413-133.

 

• McLerran, Jennifer, "Trappers’ Brides and Country Wives: Native American Women in the Paintings of Alfred Jacob Miller," American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Vol. 18, Issue 2, 1994, pp. 1-41.

 

• Murray, Robert A., "First Tracks in the Big Horns," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 26, No. 1, January 1976, pp. 2-13.

 

• Oman, Kerry R., "Winter in the Rockies," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 52, No. 1, Spring 2002, pp. 34-47.

 

• Ott, Jennifer, "’Ruining’ the Rivers in the Snake Country: The Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fur Desert Policy," Oregon Historical Quarterly 104 (Summer 2003): 166-195.

 

• Ray, Arthur. "Smallpox: The Epidemic of 1837-38," Beaver: Magazine of the North, Autumn 1975, Outfit 306.2, pp. 8-13.

 

• Ronda, James P., "Astoria and the Birth of Empire," Montana, The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 36, No. 3, Summer 1986, pp. 22-35.

 

• ---. "A Moment in Time: The West—September 1806," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, V. 44, No. 4, Autumn 1994, pp. 2-15.

 

• Schilz, Thomas F. "Robes, Rum, and Rifles: Indian Middlemen in the Northern Plains Fur Trade," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 2-13.

 

• Sleeper-Smith, Susan, "Women, Kin, and Catholicism, New Perspectives on the Fur Trade," Ethnohistory, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2000, pp. 423-452.

 

• Smyth, David, "The Struggle for the Piegan Trade: The Saskatchewan vs. the Missouri," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 34, No. 2, Spring 1984: pp. 2-15.

 

• Swagerty, William R. "A View from the Bottom Up: The Work Force of the American Fur Company on the Upper Missouri in the 1830s," Montana: The Magazine of Western History 43 (Winter 1993): 18-33.

 

• Thomas, Gregory, "Fire and the Fur Trade: The Saskatchewan District: 1790-1840," Beaver 308 (Autumn 1977): 32-39.

 

• Van Kirk, Sylvia, "Thanadelthur," The Beaver: Magazine of the North, Spring 1974, Outfit 304:4, pp. 40-45.

 

• ---. "Women and the Fur Trade," The Beaver: Magazine of the North, Winter 1972, Outfit 303:3, pp. 4-21.

 

• White, Catherine M., "Saleesh House: The First Trading Post among the Flathead," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 33 (July 1942): 251-263.

 

• White, Linda Harper and Gowans, Fred R. "Traders to Trappers: Andrew Henry and the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade, The life and times, Part 2," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, V. 43, No. 3, Summer 1993, pp. 54-63.

 

• Wright, Mary C. "Economic Development and Native American Women in the Early Nineteenth Century," American Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 525-536.

 

• "Curriculum Connections, Additional Video Suggestions, Book Resources, and Web Sites," Edited by Carol Ray and Becky Timmons, Explorers, Trappers, and Traders of the Inland Northwest, Curriculum Guide Grades 6-12 Curriculum, Sponsored by the Northern Region, Kootenai National Forest and the Seattle District, Corps of Engineers, September 2000, pp. A-4-A-8.

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Educational Materials

Indian Education for All, OPI Publications, Montana Office of Public Instruction, PO Box 202501, Helena, MT 59620-2501, http://www.opi.mt.gov

 

• Montana Indians: Their History and Location (January 2007)

• Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians (January 2007)

• Model Lesson Plans: Social Studies (Winter 2006)

• Connecting Cultures & Classrooms: K-12 Curriculum Guide, Language Arts,

• Science, Social Studies (Fall 2006)

• Directory of Indian Education Programs in Montana (Revised November 2006)

• Lesson Plans Featuring Montana State Parks (September 2006)

• A History and Foundation of American Indian Education Policy (February 2001)

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Internet sites

• The Beaver: Canada’s History Magazine: Published by Canada’s National History Society, the site provides magazine index and search engine, educational materials. http://www.historysociety.ca/bea.asp

 

• The Champlain Society Digital Collection: This website contains eighty-three volumes of the Champlain Society’s seminal publications on Canadian exploration and discovery including both editions of David Thompson’s narrative. http://www.champlainsociety.ca/index.htm

 

• Northwest Journal Online: Offers detailed, well documented and referenced information for Canadian fur trade era re-enactors, historic site interpreters, and educators. http://www.northwestjournal.ca

 

• Also see "Life of David Thompson," available through Northwest Journal at http://www.northwestjournal.ca/V1.htm

 

• Montana Historical Society Education and Outreach: Footlockers, "From Traps to Caps: The Montana Fur Trade User Guide." http://www.his.state.mt.us/education/footlocker/default.asp

 

• Montana Historical Society, Montana: The Magazine of Western History: Site supplies links to magazine index, curriculum guides, and more! http://www.his.state.mt.us/pub/magazine/default.asp

 

• Montana OPI Indian Education Site: Source for an "abundance of information," from Grants and Research, to Curriculum Links. http://www.opi.mt.gov/indianed/

 

• Exploration, The Fur Trade in Canada: Information on history of Canadian Fur Trade, Hudson’s Bay Company History, Teacher’s Resources http://www.canadiana.org/hbc/intro_e.html