Rendezvous
Rendezvous is a word that means meeting in French. In 19th century America, rendezvous referred to meetings in the west at a designated place to trade furs and goods. The majority of rendezvous happened in the Rocky Mountain region and frequently occurred in Indian villages. Rendezvous started in the year 1810 and continued throughout the better part of the century up to the 1880’s. Rendezvous lasted anywhere from a couple days to several weeks (Harris 42). Rendezvous impacted the geographical movement of the American people. Rendezvous helped develop the west because they brought people together to trade various goods, they made it a profitable business to trap and hunt, and enticed trappers and traders to move west and map …show more content…
Louis or some other city to take their furs to a buyer. Trappers disliked a journey of this type because they didn’t enjoy going back into civilized society and because it was a 1316 mile trip from the top part of modern day Utah, where most rendezvous were held, to St. Louis (Schaubs). This was not the most cost effective way to sell furs. General William Ashley started the traditional rendezvous. The first rendezvous was a gamble to see if mountain men would meet at a designated location. Companies used the rendezvous as a place to organize their trappers and convey the date and location of the next rendezvous. The mountain men preferred the rendezvous system in which they sold the beaver pelts in the Rocky Mountains. After selling the furs, buyers took them east where they processed the furs and made them into beaver …show more content…
The men who participated in rendezvous soon abandoned trapping and returned to other professions. Jim Bridger, one of the most famous mountain men, exemplifies the trappers who attended rendezvous. In 1843, after a long season of trapping beavers, Bridger went to a rendezvous and found that the price for a prime beaver pelt had gone from $6.00 to $4.00. But food was still the same price. This made Bridger very angry. “In the old days Jim had often seen a single trapper blow a thousand dollars. But now the glory days were past” (Vestal 136). The days of beaver trapping and trading pelts were no longer
Rendezvous is a word that means meeting in French. In 19th century America, rendezvous referred to meetings in the west at a designated place to trade furs and goods. The majority of rendezvous happened in the Rocky Mountain region and frequently occurred in Indian villages. Rendezvous started in the year 1810 and continued throughout the better part of the century up to the 1880’s. Rendezvous lasted anywhere from a couple days to several weeks (Harris 42). Rendezvous impacted the geographical movement of the American people. Rendezvous helped develop the west because they brought people together to trade various goods, they made it a profitable business to trap and hunt, and enticed trappers and traders to move west and map …show more content…
Louis or some other city to take their furs to a buyer. Trappers disliked a journey of this type because they didn’t enjoy going back into civilized society and because it was a 1316 mile trip from the top part of modern day Utah, where most rendezvous were held, to St. Louis (Schaubs). This was not the most cost effective way to sell furs. General William Ashley started the traditional rendezvous. The first rendezvous was a gamble to see if mountain men would meet at a designated location. Companies used the rendezvous as a place to organize their trappers and convey the date and location of the next rendezvous. The mountain men preferred the rendezvous system in which they sold the beaver pelts in the Rocky Mountains. After selling the furs, buyers took them east where they processed the furs and made them into beaver …show more content…
The men who participated in rendezvous soon abandoned trapping and returned to other professions. Jim Bridger, one of the most famous mountain men, exemplifies the trappers who attended rendezvous. In 1843, after a long season of trapping beavers, Bridger went to a rendezvous and found that the price for a prime beaver pelt had gone from $6.00 to $4.00. But food was still the same price. This made Bridger very angry. “In the old days Jim had often seen a single trapper blow a thousand dollars. But now the glory days were past” (Vestal 136). The days of beaver trapping and trading pelts were no longer