| This dissertation is a reconstruction of the cultural setting of a fur trade fort on the northern Plains in the nineteenth century. It is an ethnohistorical examination of Euroamerican life styles within the temporal, geographic, and cultural bounds of the Fort Clark fur trade post, North Dakota. In simple terms, this is a description of what life was like on a daily basis for the Euroamericans.; This site was chosen as a research topic because several features make it unique. First, Fort Clark is one of the most richly referenced nineteenth century fur trade sites on the northern plains. Second, academic investigation of the site is limited, with the result that this work is the most in-depth study to date. And last, this fur trade fort was the first and longest lived of only two fur trade centers on the upper Missouri River that was contiguous to sedentary tribes of American Indians, resulting in personal and cultural interactions at complex levels not attained at forts that catered only to nomadic tribes.; Life at Fort Clark was comprised of beliefs and behaviors taken from many ethnic backgrounds, with French-Canadian and American Indian cultures having the most influence. Euroamerican cultural characteristics included a social status system comprised of slaves at the lowest level and owners at the highest level. The company was based on a market economy system, but to achieve its capitalistic goals the men on the frontier had to accommodate and adopt American Indian cultural practices, including forms of generalized reciprocity, liaisons with tribes via marriage, and trading rituals. |
