How the Mountain Men Trapped Beaver
Mountain men trapping beaver. Via wikicommons.
Here are some good resources to understand how the mountain men trapped beaver.
Almost all people who are familiar with the mountain men know they were mostly trapping beaver. What some folks may not be aware of is how that trapping was actually being done. If a trapper was going to survive in the mountains, their ability to consistently catch beaver was extremely important. This is especially true if they ever hoped to get out from under the large debts incurred while employed by major fur companies. Their task was made more difficult by the fact that beaver can be a tricky animal to trap, so the trapping must be done correctly to avoid creating “trap shy” beaver.
Mountain men didn’t have a lot of the equipment that modern trappers have so their sets had to be quite a bit more primitive than trappers today. As with most of their lifestyle, when a mountain man made a beaver set he used a combination of manufactured items and primitive woods lore. For a trap, mountain men used a large double spring foothold trap that had a length of chain attached to it. These traps are very similar to the traps still used today by some trappers today.
After finding a location with active beaver sign the trapper would wade into the creek and approach the location. Once the trap was set, the trapper would anchor it below water using a sapling cut nearby. Since this primitive anchoring system was unreliable, the trappers often attached a float stick that would sit on top of the water. If you are reading Shinin’ Times, you’ll know why trappers knew the value of adding a float stick.
Once the trap was anchored, the last thing to do was bait the set. Beaver are very territorial creatures and mark their territory with a scent called castor. Each beaver has castor glands on their hind end and are constantly marking their home range. If a beaver smells an unfamiliar castor scent they will often go investigate it. When mountain men trapped a beaver they would harvest a beaver’s castor glands and store it in a primitive bottle they carried. Once the trapper moved to a new location he applied castor from the foreign beaver on the bank above his trap. If he was lucky, a beaver in the new territory would come to investigate and step in the well-hidden trap.
One important skill when trapping beaver was to be able to identify beaver sign. If you enjoy living history you might enjoy this video put out by a member of the American Mountain Men; Teton Todd.
Another video that tries to show how the mountain men trapped beaver was created by a living history school. In the video, the presenter tries to show viewers what it actually would have been like in the 19th century.
A man’s ability to make a living in the mountains depended in part on his ability to consistently trap beaver. After looking through these resources hopefully you’ll have a better idea of how the mountain men actually trapped beaver.
