Children of the Fur Trade:Forgotten Metis of the Pacific Northwest

Description

During the first half of the 19th century| a unique subculture built around hunting and mobility existed quietly in the Pacific Northwest. Descendants of European or Canadian fathers and Native American mothers| these mixed-blood settlers?called M(c)tis?were pivotal to the development of the Oregon Country| but have been generally neglected in its written history. Today we know them by the names they left on the land and the waters: The Dalles| Deschutes| Grand Ronde| Portneuf| Payette; and on the peoples who lived there: Pend Oreille| Coeur d Alene| Nez Perce. John C. Jackson’s Children of the Fur Trade recovers a vital part of Northwest history and gives readers a vivid and memorable portrait of M(c)tis life at the western edge of North America. This informal account shows the M(c)tis as explorers and mapmakers| as fur trappers and traders| and as boatmen and travelers in a vanishing landscape. Because of their mixed race| they were forced into the margin between cultures in collision. Often disparaged as half-breeds| they became links between the dispossessed native peoples and the new order of pioneer settlement.Meet the independently minded Jacco Finlay| the beautiful Helene McDonald| fearsome Tom McKay and the bear-fighting Iroquois Ignace Hatchiorauquasha| whose M(c)tisse wife| Madame Gray| charmed lonely fur traders. Here is the rawhide knot of the mountain men who brought their Indian wives to suffer the censure of missionaries while building a community where their mixed-blood children were no longer welcome. A riveting glimpse into a unique heritage| illustrated with historic maps| drawings| and photographs| this book will interest and inform both the scholar and the general reader.