Chapter 7 - Page 2

out to seek for

the band of free trappers, expected by Fontenelle, and to invite

them to his camp, had been successful in their search, and on the

12th of August those worthies made their appearance.

To explain the meaning of the appellation, free trapper, it is

necessary to state the terms on which the men enlist in the

service of the fur companies. Some have regular wages, and are

furnished with weapons, horses, traps, and other requisites.

These are under command, and bound to do every duty required of

them connected with the service; such as hunting, trapping,

loading and unloading the horses, mounting guard; and, in short,

all the drudgery of the camp. These are the hired trappers.

The free trappers are a more independent class; and in describing

them, we shall do little more than transcribe the graphic

description of them by Captain Bonneville. "They come and go,"

says he, "when and where they please; provide their own horses,

arms, and other equipments; trap and trade on their own account,

and dispose of their skins and peltries to the highest bidder.

Sometimes, in a dangerous hunting ground, they attach themselves

to the camp of some trader for protection. Here they come under

some restrictions; they have to conform to the ordinary rules for

trapping, and to submit to such restraints, and to take part in

such general duties, as are established for the good order and

safety of the camp. In return for this protection, and for their

camp keeping, they are bound to dispose of all the beaver they

take, to the trader who commands the camp, at a certain rate per

skin; or, should they prefer seeking a market elsewhere, they are

to make him an allowance, of from thirty to forty dollars for the

whole hunt."

There is an inferior order, who, either from prudence or poverty,

come to these dangerous hunting grounds without horses or

accoutrements, and are furnished by the traders. These, like the

hired trappers, are bound to exert themselves to the utmost in

taking beaver, which, without skinning, they render in at the

trader's lodge, where a stipulated price for each is placed to

their credit. These though generally included in the generic name

of free trappers, have the more specific title of skin trappers.

The wandering whites who mingle for any length of time with the

savages have invariably a proneness to adopt savage habitudes;

but none more so than the free trappers. It is a matter of vanity

and ambition with them to discard everything that may bear the

stamp of civilized life, and to adopt the