The Cadottes: A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior

The early history of the Great Lakes depicts the interactions between Europeans hoping to exploit the natural wealth of the New World and the indigenous population. The first to establish permanent trading posts were the French Canadians. They took native wives in "the Indian way" to cement relationships and enhance trade. Later, the British replaced the French. When the Europeans returned to the East they broke off with the native wives.

But some traders' families remained intact and flourished. Silbernagel offers us the Cadottes whose family presence on Madeline Island in western Lake Superior were important figures for two hundred years.

The Cadottes: A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior is an interesting family history that also illuminates the history and geography of the region, the Ojibwe culture, the life of the colorful voyageurs and early fur traders, and the rise of the lucrative fur trade that produced the first multimillionaire in America.

When Silbernagel viewed the gravestone of Michel Cadotte on Madeline Island he became motivated to learn more about his life and the history of the area. He spent fifteen years researching five generations of Cadottes fur traders and interpreters for business and political ventures.

I was particularly interested in learning more about the interactions between Europeans and the Ojibwe. My husband recently donated an heirloom bible to a museum; the book had been given to his second-great-grandmother by John Riley whose father was a New York State-born trader and his mother an Ojibwe chief's daughter. I was very interested to learn that the Cadotte children were sent East for their education since one oral tradition said Riley was educated in New York State.

I enjoyed learning more about wild rice and maple syrup. I was horrified to learn about the Sandy Lake Tragedy, the forced migration of Great Lakes natives that resulted in more deaths than the Sand Creek Massacre or Wounded Knee.

The Cadottes is more than a family history. It will appeal to a wide range of readers. Through the history of one family, readers gain a well-rounded and detailed understanding of the times, people, and culture of the Colonial Great Lakes.

The book's illustrations include maps; historical depictions of voyageurs, Ojibwe, and the settlements; photographs of places, events and personages; and even snowshoe styles and beaver hat styles by era.

I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

from the publisher:
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. 

About the author:Robert Silbernagel studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin and spent his newspaper career in Colorado. He writes a bimonthly column for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel and has published on Aldo Leopold and Colorado history.

To learn more visit
http://thecrite.com/coloradomesau/criterion-advisor-signs-book-deal/

The Cadottes: A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior
by Robert Silbernagel
Wisconsin Historical Society Press
May 29, 2020
Hardcover $28.95 USD
ISBN 9780870209406, 087020940X