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Fort Union

(Encyclopedia)Fort Union, trading post of the American Fur Company, erected in 1828 near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers, on the Mont.-N.Dak. line; it controlled converging routes of travel fr...

Jenkins, John, American pioneer, 1728–85

(Encyclopedia)Jenkins, John, 1728–85, American pioneer, b. probably Connecticut. In 1753, Jenkins explored the Wyoming Valley for the proposed Susquehanna Company. A settlement (1762) under his leadership was des...

Jenkins, John, American pioneer, 1751–1827

(Encyclopedia)Jenkins, John, 1751–1821, American pioneer: see under Jenkins, John, 1728–85. ...

Armstrong, John, 1717?–1795, American pioneer

(Encyclopedia)Armstrong, John, 1717?–1795, American pioneer, known as the “hero of Kittanning,” b. Co. Fermanagh, Ireland. He laid out the town of Carlisle, Pa. In 1756 he led the expedition that destroyed Ki...

Cox, Ross

(Encyclopedia)Cox, Ross, 1793–1853, American fur trader. He joined John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company in 1811 and went to the Astoria post on the supply ship Beaver. He was active in the trade in the Columbia...

fur seal

(Encyclopedia)fur seal, fin-footed marine mammal of the eared seal family (Otaridae), highly valued for its fur. Like the closely related sea lion, the nine species of fur seals are distinguished from the true seal...

fur trade

(Encyclopedia)fur trade, in American history. Trade in animal skins and pelts had gone on since antiquity, but reached its height in the wilderness of North America from the 17th to the early 19th cent. The demand ...

synthetic fur

(Encyclopedia)synthetic fur: see fur.

Juneau, Solomon Laurent

(Encyclopedia)Juneau, Solomon Laurent jo͞onōˈ, jo͞oˈnō [key], 1793–1856, French Canadian fur trader and founder of Milwaukee, Wis., b. near Montreal. In 1818, as an agent of the American Fur Company, he mov...

Smith, James, American political leader

(Encyclopedia)Smith, James, c.1719–1806, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Ireland. He settled in Pennsylvania in his youth and practiced law at York. He s...