Fur Trade in Montana and the West

The following sources are only a selection of the voluminous literature on the fur trade in the American and Canadian West. This bibliography includes some of the best recent work on a variety of topics as well as important classics that deserve attention. The selections reflect a decided emphasis upon the period around the early 1800s and the geographical area surrounding modern-day Montana. Also, the Native American role in the fur trade gets much attention. Selections are listed in alphabetical order by author’s name.  

To find additional sources, follow this link to our catalog.  The results shown are based on a general search of the topic and should be taken only as a starting place for your research.  

Books

• Barbour, Barton H. Fort Union and the Upper Missouri Fur Trade. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001.

• Brown, Jennifer S. H. Strangers in Blood: Fur Trade Company Families in Indian Country. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1980.

• Ewers, John. Plains Indian History and Culture: Essays on Continuity and Change. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.

• Hafen, Leroy R., ed. The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West. 10 vols. Glendale, Calif.: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1965-1972.

• Hanson, James Austin. When Skins were Money: A History of the Fur Trade. Chadron, Neb.: Museum of the Fur Trade, 2005.

• Jablow, Joseph. The Cheyenne in Plains Indian Trade Relations, 1795-1840. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.

• Jenish, D'Arcy. Epic Wanderer: David Thompson and the Mapping of the Canadian West. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.

• Innis, Harold. Peter Pond, fur trader and adventurer. Toronto: Irwin and Gordon 1930.

• Lepley, John G. Blackfoot Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri. Missoula, Mont.: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 2004.

• Newman, Peter C. Empire of the Bay: An Illustrated History of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Toronto: Madison Press, 1989.

• Nisbet, Jack. The Mapmaker’s Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau. Pullman: Washington State University Press, 2005.

• Ray, Arthur J. Indians in the Fur Trade: Their Role as Trappers, Hunters, and Middlemen in the Lands Southwest of Hudson Bay, 1660-1870. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974.

• Thompson, David. Journals Relating to Montana and Adjacent Regions, 1808-1812. Transcribed from a Photostatic Copy of the Original Mss., Edited and with an Introduction by M. Catherine White. Missoula: Montana State University Press, 1950.

• Tyrrell, J. B., ed. David Thompson's Narrative of His Explorations in Western America, 1784-1812. Toronto: Champlain Society, 1916.

• Van Kirk, Sylvia. Many Tender Ties: Women in Fur Trade Society in Western Canada, 1670-1870. Winnipeg, Man.: Watson & Dwyer, 1980.

• Wishart, David J. The Fur Trade and the American West, 1807-1840: A Geographical Synthesis. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1979.

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Articles

• Alwin, John. "Pelts, Provisions & Perceptions: The Hudson’s Bay Company Mandan Indian Trade, 1785-1812," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, V. 24, No. 3, July 1979, pp. 16-27.

• Binnema, Theodore (Ted), "Allegiances and Interests: Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) Trade, Diplomacy, and Warfare, 1806-1831," Western Historical Quarterly 37 (Autumn 2006): 327-350.

• Brown, Jennifer. "Ultimate Respectability: Fur-Trade Children in the Civilized World. Part I of Two Parts," The Beaver: Magazine of the North, Winter 1977, Outfit 308.3, pp. 4-10.

• ---. "Ultimate Respectability: Fur-Trade Children in the Civilized World. Second of Two Parts," The Beaver: Magazine of the North, Spring 1978, Outfit 308.4, pp. 48-55.

• Campbell, Gregory, "Enterprise in the Rockies: Companies, Trappers, and Trappers’ Wives in the 19th Century Fur Trade," Gilcrease Journal, Vol. 9, Issue 2, 2002, pp. 26-47.

• Hurtado, Albert L., "When Strangers Met: Sex and Gender on Three Frontiers," Frontiers, Vol. 17, No. 3, 1996. pp. 52-75. Hurtado examines the relationships between men and women and conflicting cultural norms in three case studies: the Missouri Fur Trade, Franciscan Missions, and California Gold Rush.

• Judy, Mark A., "Powder Keg on the Upper Missouri, Sources of Blackfeet Hostility, 1730-1810," American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 11, Issue 2, 1987, p. 127-144.

• Lansing, Michael, "Plains Indian Women and Interracial Marriage in the Upper Missouri Trade, 1804-1868," Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 4, Winter 2000., pp. 413-133.

• McLerran, Jennifer, "Trappers’ Brides and Country Wives: Native American Women in the Paintings of Alfred Jacob Miller," American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Vol. 18, Issue 2, 1994, pp. 1-41.

• Murray, Robert A., "First Tracks in the Big Horns," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 26, No. 1, January 1976, pp. 2-13.

• Oman, Kerry R., "Winter in the Rockies," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 52, No. 1, Spring 2002, pp. 34-47.

• Ott, Jennifer, "’Ruining’ the Rivers in the Snake Country: The Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fur Desert Policy," Oregon Historical Quarterly 104 (Summer 2003): 166-195.

• Ray, Arthur. "Smallpox: The Epidemic of 1837-38," Beaver: Magazine of the North, Autumn 1975, Outfit 306.2, pp. 8-13.

• Ronda, James P., "Astoria and the Birth of Empire," Montana, The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 36, No. 3, Summer 1986, pp. 22-35.

• ---. "A Moment in Time: The West—September 1806," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, V. 44, No. 4, Autumn 1994, pp. 2-15.

• Schilz, Thomas F. "Robes, Rum, and Rifles: Indian Middlemen in the Northern Plains Fur Trade," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 2-13.

• Sleeper-Smith, Susan, "Women, Kin, and Catholicism, New Perspectives on the Fur Trade," Ethnohistory, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2000, pp. 423-452.

• Smyth, David, "The Struggle for the Piegan Trade: The Saskatchewan vs. the Missouri," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 34, No. 2, Spring 1984: pp. 2-15.

• Swagerty, William R. "A View from the Bottom Up: The Work Force of the American Fur Company on the Upper Missouri in the 1830s," Montana: The Magazine of Western History 43 (Winter 1993): 18-33.

• Thomas, Gregory, "Fire and the Fur Trade: The Saskatchewan District: 1790-1840," Beaver 308 (Autumn 1977): 32-39.

• Van Kirk, Sylvia, "Thanadelthur," The Beaver: Magazine of the North, Spring 1974, Outfit 304:4, pp. 40-45.

• ---. "Women and the Fur Trade," The Beaver: Magazine of the North, Winter 1972, Outfit 303:3, pp. 4-21.

• White, Catherine M., "Saleesh House: The First Trading Post among the Flathead," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 33 (July 1942): 251-263.

• White, Linda Harper and Gowans, Fred R. "Traders to Trappers: Andrew Henry and the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade, The life and times, Part 2," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, V. 43, No. 3, Summer 1993, pp. 54-63.

• Wright, Mary C. "Economic Development and Native American Women in the Early Nineteenth Century," American Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 525-536.

• "Curriculum Connections, Additional Video Suggestions, Book Resources, and Web Sites," Edited by Carol Ray and Becky Timmons, Explorers, Trappers, and Traders of the Inland Northwest, Curriculum Guide Grades 6-12 Curriculum, Sponsored by the Northern Region, Kootenai National Forest and the Seattle District, Corps of Engineers, September 2000, pp. A-4-A-8.

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Educational Resources

To see a complete listing of Indian Education for All resources from the Montana Office of Public Instruction held by the Research Center, check our catalog.

• Montana Indians: Their History and Location (January 2007)
• Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians (January 2007)
• Model Lesson Plans: Social Studies (Winter 2006)
• Connecting Cultures & Classrooms: K-12 Curriculum Guide, Language Arts,
• Science, Social Studies (Fall 2006)
• Directory of Indian Education Programs in Montana (Revised November 2006)
• Lesson Plans Featuring Montana State Parks (September 2006)
• A History and Foundation of American Indian Education Policy (February 2001)

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