In 1832 the Hudson’s Bay Company built a fort that was to become the southernmost outpost of the fur company’s influence. From here the HBC controlled the trade for beaver on the Umpqua, the Rogue and the Klamath. And the beaver pelt became the medium of exchange until the winds of fashion in Europe changed.
There was a time on the river when to buy five fish hooks, glass beads or brandy or just about anything else you had to pay in beaver.