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The year 1660 marked a cresting or high point for the Fur Trade in the Hudson-Mohawk region. It also marked the appearance in the historical record of competitiveness between two groups of would-be traders. That spirit is revealed in two petitions sent to the court of Fort Orange/Beverwyck in May 1660. These documents were signed by a total of seventy-nine individuals and constitutes the earliest, base list of Beverwyck fur traders. The first petition (dated May 25) came from a group of twenty-five traders who expressed concern that the "general decline and utter ruination" of the community would occur if "Christians" were allowed to "run into the woods" and use "surreptitious and improper ways to get the trade entirely into their hands." They asked that trading be confined to "this community and its inhabitants." This petition represented the more well-established (principal) fur traders - several of whom would serve as magistrates. PRINCIPAL TRADERS
Two days later (May 27, 1660), another group of Beverwyck inhabitants petitioned the court that "the Dutch may be allowed to go into the woods as brokers, which, although of dangerous consequence, cannot be prevented without causing greater mischief." This larger group of eighty, less well-established would-be traders further observed that "some of the petitioners" have said that they would trade in the wooks whether it was permitted or not! SMALL TRADERS
Jan Dircksen van Breemenn
The trade and these traders are the subjects of an article by Thomas E. Burke, Jr. entitled "The New Netherland Fur Trade, 1657-1661: Response to Crisis," A Beautiful and Fruitful Place, pp. 283-91. Petitions and lists of names printed in Court Minutes of Beverwyck 2:255-56. first posted 1/02; last revised 3/11/02 |