Press Room

Local fur trade historian Mark Weadick will present a history presentation “Fur Trade Free Hunters: Their Lives and Legacies” at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13 at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library at 702 E. Front Street in Coeur d’Alene.

Weadick’s presentation will cover the free hunters, who were often French-speaking Iroquois Indians who signed on with fur traders to work six months for the company and six months trapping for themselves. Dressed as a free hunter, Weadick will present on the free hunters’ impact on today’s world. He will also show a film called “The Coin of the Realm” that depicts the fur trade history of the Spokane House on the Spokane River.

Weadick is a muzzleloader hunter and trapper and in 1984 he completed the fur trade skill requirements to become a member of the American Mountain Men. He holds a bachelor’s degree in forestry from Purdue University. After a 35-year career with the Idaho Department of Lands, he now does forestry consulting and continues to explore fur trade history.

The program is part of a series offered this fall by NIC’s Molstead Library and the Museum of North Idaho.

The event is free and open to the public.

Information: (208) 772-3953.

(Pictured above) Mark Weadick, dressed as a fur trade free hunter, shows how beaver pelts were stretched and dried before packing into bundles to be transported by canoe to the east.