The Cadottes, a fur trade family on Lake
Superior
Robert Silbernagel
Wisconsin Historical Society Press May 29, 2020
ISBN: 9780870209406
304 pp
Ebook: $10.99
Hardcover: $28.95
Buy on Amazon
About the Book:
The Great Lakes fur trade spanned two
centuries and thousands of miles, but the story of one particular family, the
Cadottes, illuminates the history of trade and trapping while exploring
under-researched stories of French-Ojibwe political, social, and economic
relations. Multiple generations of Cadottes were involved in the trade, usually
working as interpreters and peacemakers, as the region passed from French to
British to American control. Focusing on the years 1760 to 1840—the heyday of
the Great Lakes fur trade—Robert Silbernagel delves into the lives of the
Cadottes, with particular emphasis on the Ojibwe–French Canadian Michel Cadotte
and his Ojibwe wife, Equaysayway, who were traders and regional leaders on
Madeline Island for nearly forty years. In The Cadottes: A Fur Trade
Family on Lake Superior, Silbernagel deepens our understanding of this era with
stories of resilient, remarkable people.
My Review:
After having visiting Madeline Island not long ago, taking the Lake Superior Circle Tour, and living in Wisconsin, Silbernagel’s story brings the era of Great Lakes fur trading and the voyageurs’ rich history to life. His book makes me want to go back to the Island now and consider anew the events unfolding there 200 years ago.
The history of fur trade in the Americas is a jumble of nationalities, exploration, high competition, and rich in folk legend. Despite the fashion of beaver fur felted hats worn since the fourteenth century in Europe, the American trade came in relatively late, during the last hundred years of the fashion. Men like John Jacob Astor quickly and under nascent US government sanction took control of the fur industry and reaped the staggering benefits while its agents mostly had a subsistence living.
But the fur trade is only part of the story of the Cadottes. Delving into the complexities of Ashinaabe, British, French, and developing US territorial trade, treaty agreements, battle, customs, religion, language, education, and law, Silbernagel creates an amalgamation of Great Lakes culture in one easy-to read volume. Following the several generations of the Cadotte family from emigration to today, the author explains how the French came to explore the new world not to conquer but to take part in the people they met, which is how Michael, part Ojibwe, and his Ojibwe wife, whose English name was Madeline, met and married. In the late 1700s they married in a traditional Objibwe custom, but forty years later, formalized their union in a legal Catholic ceremony. Silbernagel explores their reasons in the chapter “A Method to their Marriage,” one of 24 chapters devoted to helping readers understand the unique history of a developing nation of which little written documentation exists, or survives.
Recognizing the end of the fur trade era was near, the Cadottes and descendants shifted to more general trade, an attempt at lumber trade and commercial fishing, and interpreting between the Ojibwe and US government representatives during this period of upheaval.
Filled with photographs and illustrations, maps and abundant references, the history lover is sure to find The Cadottes an excellent addition to one’s expanding knowledge.
About the Author
Robert Silbernagel studied journalism at
the University of Wisconsin and spent his newspaper career in Colorado. He
retired as the editorial page editor of The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction,
Colorado, and currently writes a history column for the newspaper. He is an
avid horseman and enjoys outdoor activities in the West, as well as reading and
writing about history, publishing books since 1975 on such subjects as Aldo
Leopold and Colorado history.
