Leave It To Beaver, Redux
Last month, on our trip to Colorado, I bought myself another hat—-It has a picture of a leaping rainbow trout and the logo “Willow Fly Anglers.” When we got home, I tossed it on my pile of hats accumulated down through the ages. Apparently the Willow Fly Anglers hat was the last straw—-the pile came tumbling down. As I rebuilt the mountain of hats, memories of their acquisitions and associations returned. There were the assistant soccer coaches’ hats I wore when my children played the sport, various chapeaus from fly fishing venues, including New Zealand. There is the dressy black hat I purchased in Sicily. Putting it on reminds me of the Frosty the Snowman song: “There must have been some magic in that old black hat they found, for when they placed it on his head, he began to dance around.” When I put the Sicily hat on, I feel like when I walk down the block, I own the block.” There are the two caps recognizing Villanova’s basketball championships in 1985 and 2016…..just thought I would drop that in. There is my broad brimmed hat modeled on the one worn by Indiana Jones which I only wear when I go on adventures.
What I don’t have is a beaver hat.
I have been reading a great deal of British history lately, and the King’s armies seemed to be fitted with beaver hats. Why beaver?
“From fur pelts three primary materials used in clothing production can be derived: the full pelt (fur and skin), leather or suede (the skin with all furremoved, and felts (removing the fur from the pelt, and processing it with heat and pressure to form a piece of pliable material). Due to the strength and malleable quality of felts, they were used extensively in hat making. The physical structure of beaver fur predisposes it to the felting process, making it a highly desirable fur for felt production.”
http://cwh.ucsc.edu/feinstein/A%20brief%20history%20of%20the%20beaver%20trade.html
That should satisfy your curiosity about fur pelts and fur felts.
In Europe the major supplier of beaver fur was Russia. By the late 1700’s, even Russia was over beavered. Filling the void was the soon-to-be United States and Canada, both of which became optimal suppliers of beavers….dead beavers, that is. This economic enterprise sprouted the Mountain Men like Kit Carson and Jedidiah Smith and John Colter (of Lewis and Clark fame) and Jim Bridger.
Head apparel is one of those trendy fashion things. Growing up in the fifties, I noticed that all men, including my father, wore hats, those floppy crowns sported by Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton in the Honeymooners. 
“Beaver felts were used to make beaver hats. Hats, like other forms of dress, played a large role in reflecting one’s social identity. The shape and style of one’s hat indicated to a passerby one’s profession, wealth, and social rank and position. Color, shape, and material all carried specific meaning. In Ecclesiastical heraldry, for example, a red, wide-brimmed hat clearly indicated that its wearer was a cardinal, and interactions required a specific social protocol. In seventeenth century England, the shape and style of one’s hat reflected political and religious affiliation. Due to the expense of a beaver hat, being able to purchase one made a visual statement about one’s wealth and social status.” 
(photo courtesy of http://dappledphotos.blogspot.com/2005/11/capelli-e-galeri.html )
http://cwh.ucsc.edu/feinstein/A%20brief%20history%20of%20the%20beaver%20trade.html
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Just as over trapping in Russia resulted in a scarcity of European beaver, over trapping in North America caused the fur trade to dry up. There were other factors.
“The fur trade started to decline in the Eastern United States by the late 1700’s. The decline resulted chiefly from the clearing of large areas for settlement. As more and more land was cleared, fur-bearing animals became increasingly scarce. Over trapping of fur-bearing animals hurt the fur trade in the Western United States and Western Canada. In addition, the value of beaver fur dropped sharply in the 1830’s, when European hat manufacturers began to use silk instead of felt. By 1870, most fur-trading activity had ended.” http://www.montanatrappers.org/history/fur-trade.htm
So what happened to the Mountain Men? To Kit Carson and Jedidiah Smith and John Colter, and Jim Bridger? I did some research and nowhere did I discover that any of the Mountain Men petitioned the presidential candidates, Ulysses S; Grant or Horace Greeley to bring back beaver trapping. I did learn that on “March 1, 1872, President Grant played his role, in signing the “Act of Dedication” into law. It established the Yellowstone region as the nation’s first national park,.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Ulysses_S._Grant#Yellowstone.2C_buffalo.2C_and_conservation an act which would have protected beavers rather than make them fair game. And neither Grant nor Greeley campaigned to “Bring back beaver trapping!!!”
The Mountain Men knew their ways of making a living were means discarded on the dustbins of history. As the fur trade declined, mountain man Robert Newell told Jim Bridger: “[W]e are done with this life in the mountains—done with wading in beaver dams, and freezing or starving alternately—done with Indian trading and Indian fighting. The fur trade is dead in the Rocky Mountains, and it is no place for us now, if ever it was.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_man
So what happened to the Mountain Men? Kit Carson became a guide for western explorers and for the U.S. Army fighting Native Americans….hey, it was a living. John Colter became a farmer, Jedidiah Smith a cartographer. Jim Bridger?
“I have established a small store, with a Black Smith Shop, and a supply of Iron on the road of the Emigrants on Black’s fork Green River, which promises fairly, they in coming out are generally well supplied with money, but by the time they get there are in want of all kinds of supplies. Horses, Provisions, Smith work &c brings ready Cash from them and should I receive the goods hereby ordered will do a considerable business in that way with them. The same establishment trades with the Indians in the neighborhood, who have mostly a good number of Beaver amongst them.” Jim Bridger http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/mtmen/jimbrid.html
The Mountain Men adapted.
Today I find a touch of irony in the conservatives who advocate smaller government doling out less help to those who need it until they themselves need bigger government to provide more help to rescue them, begging presidents and congressmen to bring back jobs that have gone the way of the whaling industry and beaver trapping. Recent history provides two examples: car manufacturers who whine about government interference and regulations yet who screamed successfully for a bail out; and, in 2008, the banks. Same thing.
As a former teacher, I believe that education is at the heart of every issue. Instead of schools preparing students for the 1950’s, focusing on the low level skills like memorization (cramming for a test and forgetting all content within two days or less according to research) and preparing students for jobs which may or may not exist in the near future, (the job a student preps for his freshman year of college will mostly likely change by the time he graduates), schools should rethink the problem. The emphasis should be, in all subjects, the development of high level thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, making connections, and creative problem solving. Throw in critical thinking skills and we begin to help students adapt to change. Alvin Toffler in his 1970’s book Future Shock cautioned that the average high school student then would wear several hats during a career involving six or seven jobs. Students, to survive, would have to learn, unlearn, and learn again.
Admittedly if a candidate trying to win my vote told me the truth and said, “It will be challenging…you will have to work hard to adapt and change professions as the economic and geopolitical climates change.” I would not like that message. Of far greater appeal would be the candidate who promises unreality: “We’re gonna bring back beaver trapping!” Unlike the mountain men and their ability to adapt and persevere, we have localalized mini cultures which eschew the lessons of history and fight changing realities. A portion of this population is basing its hopes that beaver trapping will return, that beaver hats will return as fashion. As we all do at times, this mini culture is basing its hopes on fantasy instead of taking charge of its future.
“Wisdom is knowing what to accept.” Wallace Stegner
Those of us who don’t fall for those false hopes, who have studied history and are not daunted by the new realities, can only don their Indiana Jones’ hats and plow forward against the prevailing wind.
A beaver should not give its life so I can cover my receded (more accurately, what is the past plu-perfect participle of receded?) hairline. Nor should I expect that beaver hats will once again become the rage. My Villanova 2016 National Basketball Champions fits just fine, thank you.