Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: The Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast, 1785-1841 [Paperback]

James R. Gibson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1999

Using a diverse range of sources, including Russian repositories and the logs and records of American ships, this text provides a comprehensive history of the maritime fur trade. The book treats all the major actors in the trade and all of the scenes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an outstanding book. As in his earlier books and articles, Gibson's scholarship and methodology are meticulous. His antiquarian zeal for small facts is combined with an ability to combine them and derive firm evidence ... he indicates the significance of the trade, methods, and changing fortunes to better effect than Howay's other earlier treatments. The work is therefore a major contribution, at once a comprehensive survey and modern approach." Richard Pierce, Visiting Professor of History, University of Alaska. "A masterful study. Hitherto no good analysis has been done on the economic side of these affairs. Gibson's judicious treatment is to be applauded. Based on meticulous research and extensive knowledge of primary and secondary sources ... the scholarship is exceedingly sound. This book will become the standard source unlikely to be superseded. Gibson's work does for the Northwest Coast of North America what Harold Innis's did for the Atlantic fisheries." Barry Gough, Department of History, Wilfrid Laurier University.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (August 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295979003
• ISBN-13: 978-0295979007
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,215,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good coverage of interesting topic, August 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: The Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast, 1785-1841 (Paperback)

Too much has been made of Lewis & Clark. The real exploration of America's West Coast and the real contribution to American culture was that of a select group of Boston traders who departed poor their New England homes, turned round the Cape, and up to the Pacific Northwest, there trading iron and wool for otter skins, the most dense and precious of all mammal pelts and one of two items alone that the Chinese would deign to purchase from Americans.

Gibson tells the stories of these men, the men who established profitable trade for America, who brought hard currency into a broken economy, who set the stage for the American heritage of exploration cum capitalism that we see today in Silicon Valley.

I don't believe it is a coincidence that the shares held by the investors (half), captain (tenth), supercargo (seven percent), and crew (33 percent, total) mirrors that of technology companies today.