The underwool from the beaver pelts was used to make the beaver hat. The fur trade was based on the barter system and in the late 1700s a blanket was worth seven prime beaver pelts, a gun cost 14 ...

As the years followed, the price of fur began to drop, and the market began to decline. Unfortunately for the Dakota, they had found themselves dependent on trade goods for survival, and the fur ...

It felt like how the fur trade began, someplace long ago ... “Feel how hard the bottom is on the run?” Beaten down by beaver traffic, he said. Breaking through the ice in another spot ...