Page 280 |
Previous | 280 of 520 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
|
This page
All
|
256 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN
pound. The other furs and peltries, bear, marten, and
otter, etc., were reserved for a separate and subsequent
auction, while previous receipts from the Bay had been disposed
of by private treaty.
This first official sale, as it subsequently proved, of a series of
great transactions which for upward of two centuries have made
London the centre of the world's f u r t r a d e , excited the greatest
interest, and both the Prince of Wales and t h e Duke of York,
besides Dryden, the poet, were among the many spectators.
Previous to the advent of Canadian traders from the east, the
Indians of the surrounding country were wont to assemble i n t h e
spring at Lake Winnipeg, to the number of perhaps 1,500, where
also birch- bark canoes were built. Six hundred of these, c o n t a i n i ng
a thousand hunters, exclusive of women, came down annually to
York factory with furs to trade. Beaver were very numerous in
those days, and a great many were wasted i n v a r i o u s ways, often
as clothing and bedding. Not a few were hung on trees as n a t i ve
offerings upon the death of a child or near relation; occasionally
the fur was burned off and the beaver roasted whole f o r food
banquets among the Indians.
He further states that in 1742 two large expeditions of
natives from the interior came down to Tork and Churchill
( Fort Prince of Wales). One of them had 200 packs of
100 skins each ( 20,000 beaver, probably from Lake Winnipeg
country), and the other 300 packs of 100 each ( 30,000
beaver and 9,000 martens). This made a total of 50,000
beaver received from both " expeditions." I take it that
these came from the Chipewyan Indians of the distant
Athabasca and intervening country, reaching Churchill by
way of the English and Churchill rivers.
Doctor Bryce, in his concise History, writes that so effective
and successful were the operations of the great North-
West Company of Montreal, that toward the end of the
eighteenth century a single year's trade produce was enormous,
and comprised 106,000 beaver, 32,000 martens, 11,800
minks, 17,000 musquash and 17,000 skins of other animals.
Still, if we knew the total Hudson's Bay Company's catch
Object Description
Description
| Title | Page 280 |
| OCR | 256 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN pound. The other furs and peltries, bear, marten, and otter, etc., were reserved for a separate and subsequent auction, while previous receipts from the Bay had been disposed of by private treaty. This first official sale, as it subsequently proved, of a series of great transactions which for upward of two centuries have made London the centre of the world's f u r t r a d e , excited the greatest interest, and both the Prince of Wales and t h e Duke of York, besides Dryden, the poet, were among the many spectators. Previous to the advent of Canadian traders from the east, the Indians of the surrounding country were wont to assemble i n t h e spring at Lake Winnipeg, to the number of perhaps 1,500, where also birch- bark canoes were built. Six hundred of these, c o n t a i n i ng a thousand hunters, exclusive of women, came down annually to York factory with furs to trade. Beaver were very numerous in those days, and a great many were wasted i n v a r i o u s ways, often as clothing and bedding. Not a few were hung on trees as n a t i ve offerings upon the death of a child or near relation; occasionally the fur was burned off and the beaver roasted whole f o r food banquets among the Indians. He further states that in 1742 two large expeditions of natives from the interior came down to Tork and Churchill ( Fort Prince of Wales). One of them had 200 packs of 100 skins each ( 20,000 beaver, probably from Lake Winnipeg country), and the other 300 packs of 100 each ( 30,000 beaver and 9,000 martens). This made a total of 50,000 beaver received from both " expeditions." I take it that these came from the Chipewyan Indians of the distant Athabasca and intervening country, reaching Churchill by way of the English and Churchill rivers. Doctor Bryce, in his concise History, writes that so effective and successful were the operations of the great North- West Company of Montreal, that toward the end of the eighteenth century a single year's trade produce was enormous, and comprised 106,000 beaver, 32,000 martens, 11,800 minks, 17,000 musquash and 17,000 skins of other animals. Still, if we knew the total Hudson's Bay Company's catch |
Tags
Comments
Post a Comment for Page 280
