A Free Trapper's Contract
Wait, I thought free trappers didn't have contracts? Some didn't, while many did. Free trappers would often sign on with a specific fur company for a season or two, not as an employee, but as a contractor, in today's terminology. An example of a free trappers' contract can be found between Johnson Gardner (trapper) and Kenneth MacKenzie (American Fur Company agent) Gardner and MacKenzie agreed that Gardner would trap, and MacKenzie would buy his beaver " at the price per pound net weight of four dollars and twelve and a half cents" ... "on the spot where it is cached, the weight thereof to be regulated and adjusted by Francis A. Chardon and James A. Hamilton on its arrival at Ft. Union, the number of skins being ..... and the weight now considered to be ..... " There followed a long list of goods that Gardner would agree to buy, which MacKenzie agreed to supply. Each year these contracts would be renegotiated and signed by the trapper with their mark.

Free Trapper Study by Paul Calle

Good stuff. There certainly is a lot of misunderstandings about how all the company and free trapper stuff worked out during that period. Do you have any comment on contractual differences between the British companies and their American counterparts? I know they (Hudson Bay) brought in a lot of labor including eastern Indian tribal members and Sandwich Islanders.

Good Stuff k snow

$4.12.5 per # was big money then, I assume?

^^^For mountain prices in the early 1830's I think that was a very good price. Would have made a prime blanket beaver worth about $7. Great money in those days.

In 1825 Gardner convinced a bunch of Hudson bay trappers to sell their beaver to him for $3.50 a lb. That almost lead to bloodshed with Ogden's Hudson Bay brigade.

K snow, didn't Gardner eventually get killed by the Arikara?

good read guys thanks,

Very nice.Thanks for sharing

I haven't done a ton of reading into the operations of the Hudson Bay Co, but I know early they had 3 year contracts for their new employees. And you worked your way up from pork eater (new guy) to hivernant (one who spent the winter in country with the Indians) and up. Promotion from within was the only way to advance in the HBC. And yes, later on they imported a lot of labor from the East, not sure what those "contracts" looked like at all.

If there's one thing I an bad with, it's names and dates. I've never been a good historian, I can't remember that stuff to save my soul. I am much more of a hobby anthropologist/archaeologist, with an emphasis on using what they had to do what they did (experimental archaeology).

But yes, Gardner rings a bell as having a role in that episode.

There were a lot of different ways it could be done and this was one of them. Thanks for detailing it, these posts are interesting.

These free trappers could make a LOT of money in a short amount of time. A few of them went back east after a couple years and bought a farm or something of that nature, but most of them preferred to stay in the mountains. Some of them blew most of their money at the rendezvous and then did it all over again each year.

One thing of interest, most art shows mountain men as grizzled old men, but most of them were in their 20's. By the time the Mountain man period came to a close (the last rendezvous was in 1840) they were 35-40, with very few older than that.

Keep this stuff coming!

Spot on about the age Bernie. I struggle to include pictures with these posts sometimes, as I know there are Issues with almost all of them. The pic with this one is more like a guy who was a free trapper during the boom, and stayed in the mountains for the rest of his life. Beards were also uncommon in the mountains. Lots of shaving equipment was brought to and sold in the mountains. Beards were not in style, quickly identified you as a non-native, and harbored lice.

Yeah the coonskin cap was a myth too. Hard to find accurate pictures.

Yep, I've got a write up on hats and headgear also. Sure ruffles feathers in the buckskinning community.

I’ve seen big big bear traps, and replicas labeled Mackenzie online. I’d imagine that’s the same Mackenzie?

Very good read , thanks for doing this!

MacKenzie goes way back in the fur trade, you'll see that name used on a lot of stuff, whether the connection is direct or not.

Thank you for sharing this information very interesting stuff

More than happy to share.

Let me know if there are any topics you'd like info about.

I am working on some on the trapping techniques they used.

k snow - My new favorite thread. Thanks. Educating me!!

Jack

Wow, I am flattered, seriously. Thank you for making my day. I hope I can continue to meet your expectations.

It was your photo phriday posts that gave me the idea.