Traits of American Indian Life and Character; [Rare Americana Series Number Nine] [Reprint of 1853 London issue]

San Francisco: The Grabhorn Press, 1933. First Edition, 1st Printing. Very Good Plus. Limited to 500 copies [11.25x7.34 in] xii, 108 pp., six toned plates of native life, including frontispiece; Brown paper covers with black back strip, brown paper labels on front and spine; Minimal shelf wear to covers, edges or corners, light age toning of text along edges, offset shadows on end papers and rear cover, light water spots on spine label. {Grabhorn 189, Howes F139]. The Hudson Bay Company was chartered by England in 1670 to be the sole trade company for Rupert's Land (the drainage basin of Hudson Bay comprising most of modern Western Canada). At the period (truncated) of this book, George Simpson (c.1787-1860) was the Governor of the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) in North America. He was an administrator and experienced in the Fur trade that managed the HBC affairs from Montreal and greatly influenced the development of Western Canada. The HBC forts and trading posts were to support the fur trade and exploration, along with keeping the peace with the Native Americans.

From the preface by Watson, "... cloaking himself in anonymity, 'A Fur Trader' has given us intimate sketches of the Far West savage, his life and his contacts with the roving trapper ... Authentic reports of the decade from 1830 to 1840 descriptive of the American Indian west of the Rockies are few; yet among those few this book - believed to have been written by Peter Skeene Ogden, one of the Hudson's Bay Company's most esteemed servants ...". Peter Skene Ogden (c. 1790- 1854) was a British-Canadian fur trader and explorer of the Pacific Northwest for the American Fur and the North West Companies, rival companies to HBC. In the early 1800's both companies had violent interactions with HBC that ended in 1821 with a merger. Ogden's past actions resulting in deaths to HBC employees were forgiven and he continued to serve HBC until his retirement to Oregon with his Native American wife. He kept journals and established and managed a number of HBC forts and trading posts throughout the 1830's to 1840's. It is more likely that Ogden is the author of this book.

From Howe, an alternate author was Duncan Finlayson (c. 1796-1862) who was an officer in the HBC and served as Governor of Assiniboia (Red River Colony in Canada's Northwest Territory). From the 1830 to 1840's, Finlayson was a Chief Trader in the Red River and Columbia River areas, serving HBC in a number of capacities, and could have written this book before his retirement to London in 1859

The book was first printed in London, 1853, without plates. This book includes reproductions of six contemporary plates from De Smet's Missions de l'Oregon et Voyages aux Montangnes Rocheuses, Gand, 1848. The six plates tell a story of an Native American hunt. (Inventory #: 14289)