Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/89



During the time that Iowa had been under the dominion of France, no towns had been laid out or permanent colonies established. Fur traders, within its limits, hunters, trappers and missionaries had ascended the Des Moines, the Iowa, the Cedar, Wapsipinicon and the Missouri. Their cabins had been built in the beautiful groves; but the Indian nations that occupied the State when Columbus discovered America still held undisputed possession. No record has been left of the French traders and missionaries who for a century visited the “beautiful land” and named many of its water courses. They made no war on the natives, but mingled with them in friendly intercourse. Little can ever be known of the history of the inhabitants during all the years which elapsed from 1492 up to 1800.

One consideration which led to the early exploration of the valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri and their tributaries, was the importance of the fur trade in all of that region. As early as 1667 the Hudson's Bay Company had been organized by English capitalists. The principal business was dealing in buffalo, elk, bear and deer skins and furs in the British possessions of North America. The company sent its hunters, trappers and traders far north into the Arctic regions, as well as south through Canada, and westward to the Pacific Coast. Its operations grew to such magnitude, and its profits became so large, that the stock of the company was sold at a premium of two thousand per cent. The visions of rich gold mines that had lured the first Spanish adventurers into the far west, had gradually faded away. New sources of wealth were sought by those who were yearly penetrating the wilderness of America.

A strong rivalry grew up between the English and French over the fur trade, and it was one of the chief causes leading to the war with French and Indians on the frontier. French traders had pushed their traffic up the rivers of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and