The Government Factory System and the Indian Trade

One of the least known or explored aspects of the North American fur trade was the participation in such trade by the United States Government through a system of public trading houses. As an outgrowth of an attempt to bring about more orderly conditions on the frontier, the American Government entered the fur trade in 1795 and continued its participation until the middle of 1822.It will be the object of this thesis to relate the general history of this Governmental enterprise, which was commonly referred to as the factory system, but the primary concern will be an examination of the operational methods employed by the Government in its prosecution of the trade.