Traps

Trapping Beaver by Alfred Jacob Miller

I think I've started and re-wrote this blog several times now maybe this time I'll stick to a plan. My main purpose is to share and inspire others to include steel traps in their history portrayals. I think there is a lot left out in many historical presentations of the fur trades when traps aren't present. In the last few years however there has been more traps have come into the scene and hopefully it will continue on and grow into a more complete historical scene.

A few years ago it was thought that steel traps were rarely known before 1800. Now it's becoming more known , thanks to good researchers, that steel traps were actually common and the numbers are large. By 1790 we see big numbers of traps being made out of New York and Montreal factories. All the research and studies have brought better awareness of where the traps came from and more types of traps are started to appear.

I portray an 1830's fur trapper , I started trapping when I was a kid and had good influence from family and freinds who also trapped. It wasn't long I met trap collectors who owned and traded some of the older traps. I needed traps in my presentation, not having any just didn't make any sense for a beaver trapper in the Rocky Mountains. I found that modern traps just didn't compare to period traps of the time. I found there is only a few blacksmiths out there that would make them , and they were too expensive to have made. After doing a little research I started making my own. It has been a great history lesson and I feel like my display of the fur trade is more complete.

But moving on , whether it be a longhunter, market hunter or mountain man , traps were around and the art of trapping was beginning to be a standard way of harvesting tons of fur each year. There is a big difference in traps and the methods of trapping next to our modern world. Although trapping in general has always been mainly a traditional art, the comparison is important when using historical traps.

One of the key elements about the early steel traps is understanding how they work compared to modern traps. A modern trapper would see our traps as crude and primitive , most would never use one. It's obvious that historical traps are weaker, slower, and had many faults in craftsmanship. The key is knowing how to use them. It was the challenge of a trapper to be successful with them and it's most certain that the challenge was overcome. Steel traps evolved over time and the old methods changed and evolved as well.

The above trap is an 18th century, French gear trap. Just one of the oldest and more complicated traps known. It was meant to clutch the neck of the animal and kill fast. Not exactly to prevent suffering, but to keep him from dragging the trap off or pulling out.

This is a trap I built for Isaac Walters, these were made in many sizes. The modern term for this trap is "leaf spring" trap. It's about 24 inches long with a 6 inch jaw size. This was a common size noted in several journals. It may be that it was the best all around size for the majority of the animals harvested during the fur trade. It is an English design, as most of our traps were. A modern version of this trap can still be bought today in some countries. This style of trap was largely used in Australia and New Zealand , some huge size leaf spring traps were used in Africa where the English had influence. It can also be made with double springs, one on each end of the trap.

This is a really nice beaver catch by Isaac Walters using the trap above. Isaac is a really great historian, and fur trade enthusiast. His success with using a period trap is due to his research and study on the methods and techniques of trappers in history. It was a great pleasure to work with him on building this trap.

One small detail about Isaac's catch that I'm really proud of is that it caught the beavers leg higher. I copied what trap makers were doing 200 years ago , by making the jaws taller. This is likely their intention when they designed traps according to the demands of trappers. By doing this the trap immobilizes the leg and he can't work himself free , a lower clutch would give him leverage to move out. However Isaac makes the perfect catch by fast drowning and eliminates all chances of him getting free anyway.

This is a similar "leaf spring" trap, most likely an Isaac Veal , a maker out of Montreal Canada. Veal was an Englishman who came to Montreal and set up shop. Often these have differences but basically the same trap. The base on this one serves as a support so when the spring rises to close the jaws the trap base is supported and doesn't absorb the spring pressure, intending to make the trap faster. The jaw shape has that raised curve to it , something you can find in many of these traps. The Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly has a great article on Isaac Veal.

It's most likely that the traps seen in Alfred Jacob Miller's painting, Trapping Beaver, is a leaf spring trap.

Finally we get down to the Icon for all traps , the long spring. These were made by many English makers working around the Quebec, and New York area factories early on. It became the trap that everyone wanted.