Before contact with white people, the Northwest Coast natives had traded
amongst themselves and with other indigenous people farther inland, but
by the end of the 1780s, when Russian coasters had penetrated the Gulf
of Alaska and British merchantmen were frequenting Nootka Sound, trade
had become the dominant economic activity in the area. The Tlingit,
Haida, Tsimshian, Nootka, Salish, and Chinook Indians spent much of
their time hunting fur-bearing animals and trading their pelts --
especially the highly prized "black skins" of sea otters -- to Russian,
British, Spanish, and American traders for metals, firearms, textiles,
and foodstuffs. The Northwest Coast Indians used their newly acquired
goods in intertribal trade while the Euro-American traders dealt their
skins in China for teas, silks, and porcelains that they then sold in
Europe and America. This traffic continued for more than half a century
until, in the early 1840s, the Northwest trade declined significantly
because of depletion of the fur-bearing animals due to over-hunting,
depopulation of the Indians by disease and warfare, and depression of
the market for furs. While previous studies have concentrated on the
boom years of the fur trade before the War of 1812, Gibson reveals that
the maritime fur trade persisted into the 1840s and shows that the trade
was not solely or even principally the domain of American traders. He
gives an account of Russian, British, Spanish, and American
participation in the Northwest traffic, describes the market in South
China, and outlines the evolution of the coast trade, including the
means and problems. He also assesses the physical and cultural effects
of this trade on the Northwest Coast and Hawaiian Islands and on the
industrialization of the New England states. Gibson's new
interpretations derive in part from his use of Western primary sources
that have been largely ignored by previous investigators. In addition to
being the first to use many Russian-language sources, Gibson consulted
the records of the Russian-American, East India, and Hudson's Bay
Companies, the unpublished logs and journals of a number of American
ships, and the business correspondence of several New England
shipowners. No more comprehensive or painstakingly researched account of
the maritime fur trade of the Northwest Coast has ever been written.
