Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: The Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast, 1785-1841

Too much has been made of Lewis & Clark. The real exploration of America's West Coast and the real contribution to American culture was that of a select group of Boston traders who departed poor their New England homes, turned round the Cape, and up to the Pacific Northwest, there trading iron and wool for otter skins, the most dense and precious of all mammal pelts and one of two items alone that the Chinese would deign to purchase from Americans.Gibson tells the stories of these men, the men who established profitable trade for America, who brought hard currency into a broken economy, who set the stage for the American heritage of exploration cum capitalism that we see today in Silicon Valley.I don't believe it is a coincidence that the shares held by the investors (half), captain (tenth), supercargo (seven percent), and crew (33 percent, total) mirrors that of technology companies today.