Books about the fur trade

This topic comes up from time to time so I thought I would share. I have dozens of books on the fur trade and mountain men, etc. I just read one that took me by surprise. It's called Fur, Fortune and Empire by Eric Jay Dolin. This a remarkably detailed account of the fur trade in North America from the earliest explorers soon after Columbus through the late 1800's when the buffalo were mostly killed off. The detail is really good and despite the fact that it's a history book, it's very easy reading. The early explorers and fur traders, voyageurs, the dutch, the pilgrims, the wars between the english and the french, and between the US and Mexico were either all about beaver pelts or mostly about fur trade and he makes all these connections.

Very well researched and detailed book if you are interested in the history of the fur trade.

I'll look that one up, thanks.

Sounds like a good read. Thanks

I guess Tom Miranda has a new book out about the famous old mountain men / trappers. I'm hoping to get a copy for Christmas.

Bernie, have you read any of Peter Skene Ogden's journals or the autobiography of Alexander's Ross: Fur Hunters of the Far West?

Yes I believe so, although I tend to collect books about free trappers and mountain men more than books about the fur companies themselves, like the Hudson Bay Company and the Pacific Fur company. I especially like the journals of the mountain men so you can read their experiences in their own words.

Curious if he explains the buffalo's demise?

In great detail with lots of fact and numbers and first hand accounts.

I am of the opinion after reading a great article years back that a cattle virus decimated the tetonkas.

Just ordered book. Thanks

Going to look for it, Thanks

The buffalo were almost entirely gone way before the cattle arrived. Market hunting and the trade in buffalo robes fueled the slaughter. When the railroad came through, it was the beginning of the end because now they had a much better way to move the skins from the fields to the markets.