The Fur Trade

[Gary Oak]

I was certain that I had a thread on the fur trade after reading a book on the fur trade however as I cannot find it I am starting another one. The fur trade was a real wild west and only for real adventures. I just watched this superb movie The Revenant last night and it was so realistic. The bear attack, the bear wounds, the views of the people, the fur traders parties, the natives outside the forts etc... was all so real. You know that they had PHD historians working on this movie. Fictional movies can be very informative when done like this.

[Blue Frost]

It must have been an exciting time, and dangerous, the river pirates, and thieves, the natives, and nature itself.

[Gary Oak]

This true tale of adventure finally solved the mystery of what it was like in the huge are from North to the Arctic Ocean south to the northern Canadian provinces east from Hudson Bay west to the Rocky Mountains. Looking at a modern map the areas he travelled was a lot longer than he thought. He was blissfully unaware of the gigantic Great Bear Lake. A lot of woke politically correct lies are exposed such as natives respect for nature. Their extreme waste and unnecessary animals or bird killing is documented, the natives respect for their elders is shown as the elders got the scraps until they were too much of a burden and left to die, when they met far weaker groups the simpleton gang rapped the women if they didn’t simply kill the men and take the girls and would rob smaller groups of everything they wanted often leaving the robbed group to freeze to death in the Arctic winter. It is a very interesting read. Apparently the northern natives didn’t murder each other nearly as often as the southern natives but they would exterminate Eskimo settlements simply because they were different and they could.

[Gary Oak]

The story of Jerimiah Johnson I suppose could be put on the legends thread, the cannibalism thread, the hermits, the adventurers thread or the founding of the USA thread but this thread is just as appropriate as Jeremiah Johnson after fleeing to the mountains lived off of trapping. His story is a story of adventure. https://honesttopaws.com/s/legend-johns ... euJE&bdk=0

[Gary Oak]

I found this story on Facebook which gives an idea of the adventurous and rough life of the fur traders.

[Blue Frost]

The Fur Traders, and other trades had a lot to be worried about, there was also other traders taking your catches, and stealing your stuff.
Also Pirates, yes pirates on the rivers that would kill you, and take everything.
Many trader just vanished, and it wasn't nature.

[Gary Oak]

I didn’t know that due traders might have laudenum and opium to put disagreeable people to sleep. The character of some of the fur traders appear to be quite shady. I’m sure that it would catch up to them as it does to drug dealers. This story does give an impression of what this wild era was like.

[Blue Frost]

Well Laudanum is made from Opium so it's not hard to make.
Morphine, and codeine is a derivative also I have read.
For Laudanum you take powdered opium, and put in alcohol is all I know about it.

Up till the 50s the stuff was common, and usually over the counter in drugstores, to bad people abuse it like they do, or we could get it when we need it right.

[Gary Oak]

This story really shows what a rough adventurous world the fur traders experienced.

[Blue Frost]

Most where a bit crazy so that likely helped, my guess is the natives thought they where a bit special
They amaze me really, a lot traveled into the unknown, and could find their way back out of the wilderness so well, and roughen it was their life.
Dealing with animals that can eat you, the freezing cold, heat, and hostiles of all kinds.
Some mostly in isolation for months, to a year or two at a time.

[Gary Oak]

Well they didn’t have TV, smart phones, internet, air conditioning, electricity, ROKU, movie theatres, not many books if they could read etc…. So at least they could make things interesting.

[Blue Frost]

I would say making friends was the best thing they could do.
Fellow trappers, the natives, and anyone else that would be invested in keeping them alive.
If you had someone after you your friends might help, or even keep whomever from messing with you.
Be a dick with everyone disliking you, well, who cared if you died right.

I had an Idea of moving off in the woods myself long ago, but family kept me here.
I had two uncles who would go out in the woods a lot for months, it sounded peaceful.
They of course was a bit crazy, but good people.