Note 5 — Front matter

(page page 6).—Upon the downfall of New France (1763), the fur trade of the Northwest fell into the hands of citizens of Great Britain. In 1766, a few Scotch merchants reopened the trade, with headquarters at Mackinac, employing French-Canadians as agents, clerks, and voyageurs. In 1783-87, the Northwest Company was organized, also with Mackinac as a center of distribution, as the chief rival of the Hudson Bay Company and of the old Mackinaw Company. In 1809, John Jacob Astor organized the American Fur Company. Two years later he secured a half interest in the Mackinaw Company, which he renamed the Southwest Company. In the war of 1812-15, Astor lost his Pacific post of Astoria, which fell into the possession of the Northwest Company, and the trade of the Southwest Company was shattered. In 1816, Congress decreed that foreign fur-traders were not to be admitted to do business within the United States. Under this protection Astor reorganized the American Fur Company, which flourished until his retirement from business, in 1834.