The Rendezvous

Like gold dust on the mining frontier, beaver pelts acted as the medium of exchange in the mountains. Unique to the American experience was the rendezvous system, dreamed and schemed in 1825 by William Ashley. The procedure was simple; the trader would purchase his supplies in St. Louis and transport them out to the trappers in the mountains. This would save the trappers from having to make the long trip east for supplies. Like modern-day mail-order by computers the merchants took the goods t