by Rich Wandschneider | Jan 19, 2024 | beaver, Oregon history, Robert Boyd, sea otter
The new issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly just landed on my desk—and sent me back to the Fall 2023 edition. I am always amazed at the scholarship and the range of topics in OHQ. And sometimes kick myself for not digesting them whole as they show up. There is...
by Rich Wandschneider | Oct 25, 2023 | beaver, beaver hats, buffalo, Ken Burns, Nez Perce, Nez Perce Fisheries, Oregon, salmon
The new Ken Burns documentary, the American Buffalo, follows the Euro-Americans across the continent as they kill buffalo, kill them mostly for profit—meat for the railroad workers; tongues which fetched high prices as culinary delicacies in the East; buffalo robes...
by Rich Wandschneider | Apr 16, 2021 | beaver, beaver hats, fur trade, Hudson’s Bay Company
We know now that the fur trade in North America began in the 1500s with English, and French and Spanish Basque, fishermen off the Atlantic coast. When the fish weren’t enough—or when economies suggested—the fishermen went ashore and took and traded for beaver pelts...
by Rich Wandschneider | Nov 18, 2016 | Astor, beaver, Columbia District, fur trade, Georg Simpson, Hudson’s Bay Company, joint occupancy, North West Company, Oregon Country, salmon
President-elect Trump’s promise to promote coal mining and open more public lands for development of natural gas and oil is not new politics. And the Indian-centered and inspired movement to stop the Dakota Access pipeline is not the first fight by Native Americans...
