Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri, 1840-1865 [Paperback]

John E. Sunder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1993

"By beginning where the standard works leave off and carrying the story up to its logical conclusion in 1865, this book fills a definite void in the history of the fur trade in the American West. Set in the upper Missouri country, which was bypassed by settlement until the 1860s, it focuses primarily upon the St. Louis firm of Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Company, usually known as the American Fur Company....This is not the distorted and romanticized approach so typical of much of the literature on the earlier fur trade. Drama is inherent, but it is sound, well-conceived, carefully documented history."-American Historical Review

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John E. Sunder is the author of The Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri, 1840-1865 and Joshua Pilcher, Fur Trader and Indian Agent and editor of Matt Field on the Santa Fe Trail, all published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press (September 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806125667
• ISBN-13: 978-0806125664
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,482,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LATE FUR TRADE VOLUME, February 14, 2009

By 

Kay's Husband (Virginia, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri, 1840-1865 (Paperback)

As has been pointed out, one of this book's value is that it deals with the later period of the fur trade. Fur trade volumes can cover the years of the 18th century right up to the late 1830s, but not many books carry forward the story to as late as 1865, no matter what area.

Two accounts of the American fur trade that many readers will still consider as chief among all the books are THE AMERICAN FUR TRADE OF THE FAR WEST by CHITTENDEN and THE FUR TRADE by Phillip's. Neither of these fairly standard works carry the discussion beyond the year 1840. The main point of Sunder is that after 1840 the fur trade 'indelibly marked the economic, political, religious, literary, and scientific life of the Upper Missouri Valley ... (reaching) out from the hunting grounds of the Sioux, Assiniboins, and Blackfeet to touch the nation and the world'.

This is John Sunder's framework in this 1965 volume from The University of Oklahoma Press: Norman. And in the near 300 pages that follow he states his case to make that point. The book from which this review follows is my hardcover copy, 1st printing, 1965. As far as I know, this book has been available in print, either in hardcover or trade, since the very day it was printed. If you have any interest in the Upper Missouri fur trade then this is a book you need to see.

Though I have many books of the fur trade resting on my home library shelves, I take great joy that this one long ago found a resting place there. Even if you have to obtain a previous owned copy from a dealer, it is advised that be done. Amazon is getting low on their stock and I don't know that Oklahoma still has this book in its current line for sale.

Semper Fi.