This chapter examines the stereotypes associated with the fur trade and contends that, in the Ohio River valley, an Indian-controlled fur trade was associated with increased levels of prosperity. This chapter also analyzes the types of trade goods transported into the Ohio region and shows how cloth became the most desirable object of trade. Europeans wove cloth to meet specific Indian demands, and traders transmitted instructions detailing the color, style, and even the weave of cloth meant for Indian consumption. By the mid-eighteenth century, luxury goods became a crucial part of the trade, and when the Seven Years’ War ended, the fur trade entered an expansionary period. Detroit emerged as one of the most prosperous fur trade posts in the western Great Lakes. This chapter is filled with dramatic illustrations of how cloth was transformed into the increasingly elaborate dress that characterized the diverse Indigenous people who lived in this region.
Where Two Worlds Meet: The Great Lakes Fur Trade