Museum of the Fur Trade (I)

…continuing with our road trip into northern and western Nebraska this past July.

Although most of this part of our July road trip was simply the matter of following a route and checking out sights and places along the way, this stop was a return to a favorite museum just east of Chadron…from our trip through part of western Nebraska over 35 years earlier.  

The Museum of the Fur Trade amazed us when we had stopped by to check it out those many years ago.  There was so much history and so many artifacts packed into such a smallish space, it was both impressive and mind boggling.  Our first observation on this occasion was that the museum was much, much larger than it had been on our first visit!

No matter your view on trapping or killing animals for fur, skin and/or food, the fur trade was key to the exploration and eventual settlement of North America by European immigrants.  This activity is part of our history and is worthy of our preservation and understanding.

The two exhibits above display artifacts from early trade in the south of what is now the USA and from French and British trade in Eastern North America. 

Much of the fur, skin and hide trade was through the Europeans trading with the various Native American tribes.  By 1665, only France and England remained as major and competing trading entities.  In the late 1690’s the first fighting between the two groups began in both Maine and New York State.  Following these early conflicts, British and French forces with their respective Indian allies clashed repeatedly from Hudson’s Bay to Florida.    

This Potawatomi bag made from trade yarn is just one example of the impressive number of Native American artifacts on display throughout the museum.

The Potawatomi are a Native American people who lived in parts of the Great Plains, the upper Mississippi River area and around the western Great Lakes Region.  In the late 1800s they were pushed west by the European/American encroachment, eventually being removed to Nebraska, Kansas and the Indian Territory…what is now Oklahoma.  Today the Potawatomi number about 28,000 tribal members.

Probably one of the most distasteful form of animal harvest from today’s non-native viewpoint, sealing has been part of Native Americans and Canada’s First Nations Peoples for at least 4,000 years.  The meat was an important source of fat, protein and vitamins, with the animal’s pelts being prized for their warmth.

The ship model in the first photo is of the “Francis Alyn”.  It was built in New York in 1869 and it was the first steam powered ship to operate in Antarctic waters.  It returned to port after a 3-year cruise.  It’s cargo of seal pelts was valued at $6,235,000 in today’s dollars.

That semi-see through parka or jacket in the second photo is a Native American waterproof raincoat that was made from seal intestines by Native peoples along the western coast of North American when they went hunting for sea otters in their ocean going kayaks.

Note: The first recorded commercial seal hunt by Europeans is thought to have occurred in 1515 when a cargo of fur seal skins from Uruguay was sent to Spain for sale in the markets of Seville.

Every one of these displays is packed with interesting and historic artifacts.  In this one, that colorful chest at the right caught my attention.  This fancy Chinese camphorwood chest was a popular trading item with Native Americans in the northwest.  They came in various sizes and they were valued because they offered moth-proof protection for people’s clothing.

This is a diorama of Ft. Pierre. (1832 – 1855) This was the largest trading post on the Missouri River.  Ft. Pierre was at the eastern terminus of the Fur Trader’s Trail and it was supplied by steamboats from St. Louis.  Furs and robes were gathered here from points west and north for shipment downriver.  The post was built by the American Fur Company but was later owned by Pierre Chouteau Jr. and Company of St. Louis.

I love this display of creativity!  The saying goes that “necessity is the mother of invention”…and that is certainly true in this case.  These 3 items are ‘snow goggles’.  They were designed to prevent snow blindness which is caused by the intense reflection of sunlight off a blanket of snow.  Native Americans used what they had available to solve this problem.  From the top these snow goggles were made from caribou hooves, wood and bone.

I noticed this hat with fancy and colorful beadwork in another display case.  It is a Scottish Glengarry bonnet that was made by a member of the Iroquois Tribe for an employee of the Hudson Bay Company.  Many of that company’s employees were from Scotland.

The Hudson Bay Company was founded in 1670 when Britain’s King Charles II granted a charter to the venture.  That charter gave them a fur/skin trading monopoly over all the rivers and streams that surround and flow into Hudson in what is now northern Canada.  The charter covered about 1,490,900 square miles and reached down into what is now north central portions of the United States.  Its size was about a third of the land that is now part of Canada…an area larger than India.

As I mentioned previously, the number of Native American artifacts on display in the museum is quite impressive.  So is the quality of the items!  In this photo there are some stunning examples of beadwork on four pair of Lakota/Sioux moccasins. 

The Sioux are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples and they consist of 2 major divisions, the Dakota and Lakota.  The Lakota are the westernmost Sioux, known for their hunting and warrior culture.  With the arrival of the horse, by the 1850s they were the most powerful tribe on the Great Plains.  It was the Lakota Sioux that defeated General Custer and the 7^th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of Little Big Horn.  Conflicts with the U.S. ended with the horrific slaughter known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.  Today, there are upwards of 170,000 members of the Sioux Nation.

There are many displays showing the artistry and creativeness of Native American peoples.  In the center of the first photo there is a spectacular Sioux woman’s dress.  The second photo shows a Sioux beaded saddle blanket with fancy saddle bags.  I love those boots too!

This is a Cheyenne painted buffalo robe that dates back to 1870.  After introducing the Sioux to the values of the horse, the Cheyenne peoples were forced to the west by the more numerous Sioux.  At one time, there were 10 bands of Cheyenne across the Great Plains ranging from southern Colorado into the Dakotas.  Today there are roughly 23,000 Cheyenne.

It is estimated that around 50,000,000 buffalo were slaughtered in the 1800s, both for their hides and as a weapon of war.  The European/American immigrants realized that for the Plains Indians, bison or buffalo were essential to the tribe’s continued survival.  Consequently, killing off the buffalo helped defeat and subdue the Native American’s that depended on them.

The Plains Tribes used every part of a Buffalo for food, clothing, tools, fuel and utensils.  Buffalo meat was eaten raw, roasted and boiled.  The tongue was a preferred ‘menu’ item.  Extra meat was cut into thin strips, then dried and smoked.  Some of it was mixed with fat and dried fruit to make pemmican.  It would last for a long time and it was easy to carry.

Other uses for the buffalo included robes, bedding, rugs, clothing, bags, arrow quivers, tipi covers, moccasin soles and knife sheaths.  Buffalo horns were made into rattles, spoons and cups.  Buffalo hair was woven into ropes and belts.  Tendons were used as sewing thread, ropes and bowstrings.  Even the brain of the Buffalo was used…to help condition and soften the hides.

There were so many Native American artifacts in this display, I didn’t even try to focus on any particular item.  One could spend a half hour or more just reading and appreciating each and every piece in the case…

With this I’ll end Part I of our exploration of the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron Nebraska.  Part II will focus on a broad range of trade items, Native American items, firearms, specific tribal leaders, a couple of well-known frontiersmen and the original trading post near Chadron.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave