A vital and compelling addition to Miss Sandoz' multi-volumed epic of the Great Plains, this book is a sweeping, panoramic account of the beaver trade in its drive across America for profit and territory. Covering two and a half centuries, it ranges from the beginnings of the trade along the St. Lawrence to the last great rendezvous of traders and trappers on Ham's Fork, in what is now Wyoming, in 1834. The exploits of Chauvin and Champlain are followed by the fur fairs at Montreal, with the canoe brigades bringing the fortunes in pelts from the wilderness down the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence. The traders and trappers probe ever deeper into the teeming continent around Hudson's Bay, beyond the Great Lakes, along the upper Missouri and into the Rockies. The daring French coureurs de bois and voyageurs make way for the Britons and Scots of the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies and their American competitors—Manuel Lisa's Missouri Fur Company, Astor's men, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, and others. Miss Sandoz mingles a wealth of information on the economic aspects of the fur trade with stirring accounts of hardship and peril in the wilds. The role played by the Indians in the fiercely competitive business is fully discussed, the significance of the Lewis and Clark expedition, along with its drama, recounted. The lore of the beaver, its life and habits as revealed in fact and embellished by legend, adds a fascinating dimension to the story. Authoritative, complete, and above all engrossingly readable, The Beaver Men is a landmark in the literature of the American frontier.

Mari Sandoz Henry G. Alsberg (editor)

The beaver men, spearheads of empire