The Free Trapper was a uniquely American innovation in the fur trade and were known as the “Aristocrats” of the trade. They could go where they pleased, trap wherever and whenever they wanted and could sell their furs to the highest bidder.
Their favorite weapon was muzzle-loading Hawken rifle made by the Hawken brothers, Samuel and Jacob, of St. Louis. They didn’t mass produce their rifles but hand-made them one at time. They were also called “Rocky Mountain Rifles” and had a short
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