Cultures in co-operation and conflict: Indians in the fur trade on the northern Great Plains, 1807–1840

The fur trade on the northern Great Plains from 1807 to 1840 may be viewed as an alliance between two sets of cultures each with a demand for the other's products. The Indian's rôle in this fur trade was crucial: he produced the robes and furs, provisioned the traders and greatly influenced the pattern of trading post locations. The fur trade functioned successfully only by adjusting its system of operations to the existing patterns of Indian occupance and by working within those limits to encourage the production of robes and furs. Properly conducted, the fur trade fitted well with the Indian's way of life. Nevertheless, in the process of this culture contact the relationship between the trader and the Indian soured, and the trader became an agent in the destruction of Indian populations and the modification of Indian cultures.