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John C. Jackson 2007. 6 x 9 inches. 336 pages. Northwest Reprints Series Maps. B&W illustrations. Bibliography. Index. ISBN 978-0-87071-194-7. Paperback, $21.95. |
A riveting glimpse into a unique heritage, Children of the Fur Trade recovers a vital part of Northwest history.
During the first half of the 19th century, a unique subculture built around hunting and mobility existed quietly in the Pacific Northwest. Descendants of European or Canadian fur trapper fathers and Native American mothers, these mixed-blood settlers--called Metis--were pivotal to the development of the Oregon Country, but have been generally neglected in its written history. Today we know them by the names they left on the land and the waters: The Dalles, Deschutes, Grand Ronde, Portneuf, Payette; and on the peoples who lived there: Pend Oreille, Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perce.
John C. Jackson's Children of the Fur Trade gives readers a vivid and memorable portrait of Metis life at the western edge of North America. This informal account shows the Metis as explorers and mapmakers, as fur trappers and traders, and as boatmen and travelers in a vanishing landscape. Because of their mixed race, they were forced into the margin between cultures in collision. Often disparaged as half-breeds, they became links between the dispossessed native peoples and the new order of pioneer settlement.
"Children of the Fur Trade is a distinctive look at a forgotten people. At a time when all Americans are concerned about issues of cultural complexity and diversity, Jackson's book reminds us that those questions have been part of our history for a very long time."
--James P. Ronda, H. G. Barnard Professor of Western American History at the University of Tulsa and author of Lewis and Clark Among the Indians
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