300 miles distant. At this juncture the
trader, licensed by an Indian agent, arrived upon the scene with his
goods, without which no family could subsist, much less collect any
quantity of furs.[228] These were bought on credit by the hunter, since
he could not go on the hunt for the furs, whereby he paid for his
supplies, without having goods and ammunition advanced for the purpose.
This system of credits,[229] dating back to the French period, had
become systematized so that books were kept, with each Indian's account.
The amount to which the hunter was trusted was between $40 and $50, at
cost prices, upon which the trader expected a gain of about 100 per
cent, so that the average annual value of furs brought in by each hunter
to pay his credits should have been between $80 and $100.[230] The
amount of the credit varied with the reputation of the hunter for
honesty and ability in the chase.[231] Sometimes he was trusted to the
amount of three hundred dollars. If one-half the credits were paid in
the spring the trader thought that he had done a fair business. The
importance of this credit system can hardly be overestimated in
considering the influence of the fur trade upon the Indians of
Wisconsin, and especially in rendering them dependent upon the earlier
settlements of the State.

The system left the Indians at the mercy of the trader when one nation
monopolized the field, and it compelled them to espouse the cause of one
or other when two nations contended for supremacy over their territory.
At the same time it rendered the trade peculiarly adapted to monopoly,
for when rivals competed, the trade was demoralized, and the Indian
frequently sold to a new trader the furs which he had pledged in advance
for the goods of another. When the American Fur Company gained control,
they systematized matters so that there was no competition between their
own agents, and private dealers cut into their trade but little for some
years. The unit of trade was at first the beaver skin, or, as the pound
of beaver skin came to be called, the "plus."[232] The beaver skin was
estimated at a pound and a half, though it sometimes weighed two, in
which case an allowance was made. Wampum was used for ornament and in
treaty-making, but not as currency. Other furs or Indian commodities,
like maple sugar and wild rice, were bought in terms of beaver. As this
animal grew scarcer the unit changed to money. By 1820, when few beaver
were marketed i