California hide trade facts for kids
The California hide trade was a big business in California from the early 1820s to the mid-1840s. It was a system where people traded different products along the California coast.
Sailors from all over the world came to California. They traded finished goods like clothes and tools. In return, they received animal hides (skins) and tallow (animal fat) from cattle. These cattle belonged to California ranchers. This trade was very important for the region's economy at the time. It connected cities from China to Peru to Boston. Many countries, including Russia, Mexico, the United States, and the United Kingdom, were involved.
How the Trade Worked
The California hide trade was all about exporting hides, horns, and tallow. This happened in the early 1800s, starting around 1810. Rancheros, who were wealthy cattle farmers, and their vaqueros (cowboys) took care of cattle. These cattle roamed freely along the California coast. Native American workers also helped them. The cattle provided food and many supplies. They were also the main source of income for these people.
The cattle hides were taken to the shore. The fat from the cattle was melted down to make tallow. This tallow was stored in containers made from hides called botas. Both the hides and tallow were kept near important ports like San Diego and Monterey. They waited there to be sold to ships from other countries.
California hides were the most traded item. People even called them "California banknotes." This was because they were often used like money. First, the hides needed a lot of work. Sailors, helped by Native Americans and Hawaiian Kanaka people, did this tough job. They were called "droghers." The hides were cleaned, stretched, dried in the sun, whipped, salted, and folded.
After this, the hides were taken by small boats to the big ships. These ships sailed to Boston and the Northeast United States. There, the hides were made into leather goods like shoes and boots. The tallow went to South American countries like Peru and Chile. It was used to make candles and soap.
The Mexican government ruled California at this time. They charged a fee for foreign ships entering their waters. Trading captains often tried to avoid this fee. They sometimes used tricks or paid money to collectors. A special tax system charged up to 15,000 pesos. This tax was paid at the customs house in Monterey. Once paid, ships could trade at all California ports. Avoiding this tax was seen as a sign of skill for many captains. American ships often made three times the value of their cargo.
The local Spanish-speaking settlers, called Californios, bought many manufactured goods from the trading ships. The writer Richard Henry Dana Jr. called these ships "floating department stores." The Californios bought many different finished goods. These included silk, wine, sugar, lace, cotton, hats, clothes, tobacco, cutlery, and tea from other countries.
Important Trading Places
By the mid-1820s, the hide and tallow trade was California's most profitable business. Spanish missions first helped with this trade. Later, private ranches took over. Taxes from these products supported the local economy and roads. California ports grew very important. These included San Diego, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Pedro, and Monterey.
Bostonian ships picked up prepared hides in California. They sailed up and down the California coast. They would stop and trade at these cities for about four months at a time. The crew stored the hides at La Playa in San Diego Bay. They would gather tens of thousands of hides over a few years. Once enough hides were collected, the ships would start their journey home. Some round trips could take as long as three years for one ship.
Goods from this trade reached many parts of the world. This included Canton in China, Lima in Peru, and Boston in the United States. The Hawaiian ports of Honolulu and Oahu were also important stops. They were on the way to California, China, and other places. These included Russian ports like Petropavlovsk, Fort Ross, and Sitka. Hawaii itself was a major trade hub. It offered unique goods like tobacco, which could be sold in California. It also provided a safe place for ships during winter.
Canton in China was a good market for seal and otter skins. These skins were mostly collected earlier in the century off the California coast. But the populations of seals and otters started to decrease. Sometimes, these skins sold for more than twelve times their original price. Fort Vancouver, a British area, was another key starting point for the California coast. This was when the Hudson's Bay Company became powerful there. The hide trade truly became a global business.
Global Connections and Different Cultures
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The hide trade grew a lot after Mexico became independent in 1821. During Mexico's "secularization" period in the 1820s and 1830s, individual ranches replaced missions. By 1840, the number of large ranches grew very quickly. There were over one million cattle in the region.
Many nations, including Russia and the United Kingdom, traded along the California coast. This helped the economy grow. But the United States became the most important trading nation. American trade first started with sailors from New England. They were interested in California's otter and seal skins. However, this business quickly became less important after 1800.
As hides and tallow became the main products, big companies got involved. These included John Begg and Company from the United Kingdom. From Boston, companies like Bryant and Sturgis, William Appleton and Company, and Marshall and Wildes showed great interest. John Begg and Company's representatives, Hugh McCulloch and William Hartnell, helped keep British influence in the trade for three years, starting in 1822. This was seen as the first year of the trade.
The United States and the United Kingdom competed for control of the trade. The United States eventually became more powerful. The company Bryant and Sturgis became the most important private business. Their associate, William Gale, helped them take in four-fifths of all hides from California. Bryant and Sturgis became so well-known that locals thought their city, Boston, was the entire United States. So, American influence in California started as early as the 1820s.
During the successful hide trade, California was a place where many cultures met. It was a frontier shaped by people from all over the world. Native Americans, including the Tlingit, Chinook, Kodiak, Haida, Aleut, and Tsimshian groups, often interacted with white traders. These interactions were sometimes good, sometimes not. Tlingit Native Americans, who hunted otters, would sometimes board foreign ships. They would travel from Alaska to other places to find new trading areas. Tlingits also gained from trade. They got things like copper, porcelain, buttons, and dishes that they might not have found otherwise.
Often, American or British traders and sailors from the east stayed in California. They became some of the first Americans to settle there. They lived with and married into Spanish families. This was because Mexico had welcoming laws for foreign residents. Eventually, by the 1840s, the booming hide and tallow trade began to slow down. This happened because there were too many hides in the eastern markets like Boston. The trade itself had created this oversupply.
Stories and books about the region made California famous. These included Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast and Alfred Robinson’s Life in California. These books were written by sailors and travelers. The California hide trade helped create a dream of success in the American West. This dream later inspired many immigrants during the Gold Rush. Historian John Caughey said, "The hide and tallow trade had made California an outpost of New England." In the end, the California hide trade set an important example. It changed how people viewed the West for many years to come. If you want to learn more, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts is a great place to find out about the California hide trade.
