Synopsis
Alexander Ross, the pioneer recorder of the early fur trade in the far northern West, led a beaver trapping expedition in 1824 into the vast, unfamiliar territory east of trading posts in the Pacific Northwest. He and his men ventured deep into Snake River country in present-day Idaho and Montana. In this narrative, based on the accounts left by Ross and others, historian and legal scholar John Phillip Reid describes the experiences of the earliest Hudson’s Bay Company fur-trapping expeditions—ventures usually overlooked by historians—and explores the interaction between the diverse cultures of the Pacific Northwest.Ross recorded in exquisite detail the endless vexations of managing a brigade drawn from the widest possible mixtures of ethnic backgrounds and nationalities—his men included métis (or mixed-bloods), Americans, Canadians, and Native “freemen” (independent contractors) from over a dozen Indian nations. Ross’s accounts reveal the consequences of running low on supplies and having to butcher the animals, and how hunting game for sport threatened the stock of ammunition and the condition of the horses. Entire expeditions were at the mercy of the most careless trapper and the weakest horse. Hiring guides was chancy, for local tribesmen did not always know the locations of beaver streams, or even the terrain ahead. Religion could be problematic, as well; both French Canadians and Iroquois refused to work on Catholic holy days.More than merely chronicling Ross’s accounts, Reid uses early trapping expeditions as a lens for examining legal, institutional, and commercial behavior among the diverse population the fur trade drew together. In addition, he assesses broader issues such as cultural conflict between Ross and his men, and the Hudson’s Bay Company’s drive to discourage American settlement in the Northwest by exterminating the beaver there. Those interested in the history of the early Northwest will find this well-crafted saga both engaging and enlightening.
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About the Authors
Kimberly Roblin has worked with the anthropology, art, and archival collections since joining Gilcrease in 2005. An Associate Curator, she researches and develops content for exhibitions and is a regular contributor to the museum's publications, including the Gilcrease Series and the Gilcrease Journal. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Oklahoma.
Amanda Lett is Project Curator for Gilcrease Museum.
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Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. On a humid morning in Philadelphia in 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, severing forever all ties with Great Britain. With the stroke of a pen, a new republic was formed, the United States of America. As colonists-turned-citizens took to the streets in celebration, few had any real sense of the new nation's immediate future or could foresee the great struggles that lay before it in the centuries to come.Forging a Nation: The American History Collection at Gilcrease Museum explores that struggle - the history of the United States - as told through art, artifacts, and archival materials that illuminate some three hundred years of a shared cultural experience. Drawn entirely from the diverse and noted collections of the Gilcrease Museum, this volume examines the foundations of the American republic from colonial times through the Early National period.With essays focused on some of the finest artworks, artifacts, and documents in the Gilcrease Museum collection, Forging a Nation offers a unique examination of early American life. The catalog of artists includes such essential American painters as Charles Willson Peale, John Singleton Copley, Robert Feke, Benjamin West, George Catlin, Alfred Jacob Miller, Emanuel Leutze, John Vanderlyn, William Tylee Ranney, and John Wesley Jarvis. Also included are rare sculptures by Jean Antoine Houdon, Hiram Powers, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens and an extensive array of American archival treasures, including a handwritten transcription of the Declaration of Independence itself.Forging a Nation examines the national self across time - through the triumphs and tragedies of the Civil War and the violence and inequities involved in the ensuing settlement of the American West. This essential retrospective ends with the closing of the frontier, when the nation was poised at the center of the world stage, its frontiers about to become those of industry, science, technology, and social justice. Forging a Nation: The American History Collection at Gilcrease Museum explores that strugglethe history of the United Statesas told through art, artifacts, and archival materials that illuminate some three hundred years of a shared cultural experience. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780972565790
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Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware - When the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and created a new nation - the United States of America - few colonists-turned-citizens could foresee the great struggles that lay before it in the centuries to come.' Forging a Nation 'explores those struggles--the history of the US--as told through art, artifacts, and archival materials that illuminate some three hundred years of a shared cultural experience. Seller Inventory # 9780972565790