Locating fur trade sites... Advise wanted/needed

[Toecutter]

I have bin doing alot of exploring on the local river here, mostly hiking to tributaries and detecting.. unfortunately I dont seem to have any luck when on site and no Im not hopping for instant success but Iv done alot of searching and it just seems like I might be missing something in my way of searching.

Question: If you set up a trade site on a tributary what corner would one set up on? would you set up in a place that you can see all directions of the river and tributary?
: Is detecting the tributaries the wrong place to be?
: Would the trade site be close to the water or maybe high ground near the water?

Any help will be appreciated, thank you!

 

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[Trezurehunter]

Just my opinion, but I would think they would put the Trade stores on the high ground in an area where they could see as much as they could, within a reasonable walk of the River. People did not mind a short walk back then to get their goods, and remember the old saying "high and dry". Places flooded back then also, and they were aware of that fact.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Toecutter, here's a couple links which may provide some helpful info.

These may be a gold mine for you. The second link is a map
showing the posts from Hudson Bay Co. in 1790, although I
don't know if they are in Michigan.

https://search.lib.umich.edu/catalog/Record/004672371

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wcl1ic/x-8699/wcl008770

https://www.cmich.edu/library/clark.../BeaverIslandandMichigan/Pages/Fur-Trade.aspx

https://ss.sites.mtu.edu/mhugl/2016/10/28/fort-michilimackinac-trade/

This one may also be very helpful

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fur_trading_post_and_forts_in_North_America#Michigan

 

[releventchair]

I have bin doing alot of exploring on the local river here, mostly hiking to tributaries and detecting.. unfortunately I dont seem to have any luck when on site and no Im not hopping for instant success but Iv done alot of searching and it just seems like I might be missing something in my way of searching.

Question: If you set up a trade site on a tributary what corner would one set up on? would you set up in a place that you can see all directions of the river and tributary?
: Is detecting the tributaries the wrong place to be?
: Would the trade site be close to the water or maybe high ground near the water?

Any help will be appreciated, thank you!

One example can be Louis Campeau (sp.) setting up on the Grand River .
A study of GrandRapids history covers some of that. And the museum in G.R. had some other details , like a freetrapper sneaking in early spring to do some trading , that hints of wheres and whens.
But , contact with folks willing to trade mattered first. A network with connections...
Later came more permanent sites the traders established with client coming to them.
Trappers row in Detroit is an example there... Now it's GreekTown , and casinos.

I had an ancestor running a general store in Northern MI. Actually , one each side of the family in the same area.
Natives did visit the one , I lack info on the other.

Removed far enough from a "village" back then made it more convenient for the clients.
Many small streams meant plenty of water and sites to pause along travels.
Neither store were on water. Close obviously.

Depending on who was involved , permissions (or lack thereof) often created less conspicuous activities.

Then there is what has changed since.
One site I have seen flooded over 50 yards beyond river channel in spring. Lots of sediment deposited , and erosion too.
One summer tons of earth dropped off a bank where softened by a spring/water.
In between those two spots on that site I recovered a steel foothold trap three feet deep below ground level in the exposed bank. Last manufactured in the 1920's.
Native mounds near the river are not far away. Thousands of years of occupation. Yet I have no relics to show there.

Where mounds are located might hint of other similar locations to peek at.
The vantage can be in what a river was at the time. Rapids for example stopping traffic for varied reasons.
Forks/tributaries hitting a stream or river as you mentioned.
But that is for clients.

IF I was stocking a post , where could I get a boat in and upriver? Or haul by oxen /mules or horses? Depending on the river , How far up? What time of year ect..

Non post traders were a different group. Yet some related to a post. Others stimulated interest in thier factors post.
Others competed with "official" traders.