Like gold dust in the mining camps, beaver fur was the medium of exchange in the mountains. In 1825 William Ashley came up with an idea unique to the fur industry that came to be known as the rendezvous system. Previously the trappers had to transport their furs to St. Louis by boat or on foot. Ashley’s plan was simple; he would purchase the supplies in St. Louis and transport them to the

True West March/April 2025
In This Issue:
Western Books & Movies
More In This Issue
- Truth Be Known
- What Has Taught Me: Deb Goodrich
- Earp, Cowboy Songs & Prairie Hygiene
- Trails of the Old West
- The Frontier Characters of South Dakota
- The Bowie Knife
- The Kindled Flame 1835
- King of the Scatterguns
- Selling the Mythic West and the Real West
- A Gut Punch Turns into a Miracle Reprieve
- The Beginnings of the Bird Cage
- Frontier Colossus