ON ANY cold winter night in the early 1800's it was not un-
common to see a fur trader set out from Pembina, with his
dog-sled loaded with valuable pelts, to make the long trek to
St. Paul or Fort Garry. With no roads, few landmarks, and the constant
danger of Indian attack, such a night trip was extremely hazardous.
Daylight, however, presented even more dangers, for the reflection of
the winter sun upon the snowy ground often caused snow-blindness;
daytime temperatures softened the drifts so that the dogs sank deep
into them, while at night they could skim easily over the frozen surface.
Despite the dangers of the fur trade, many men engaged in it, taking
their cargoes to the frontier cities and bringing back sled-loads of
supplies to be exchanged for the furs that Indians brought to the trad-
ing posts.

The first stores were at these posts, where the Indians came to barter
for blankets, trinkets, food, and alcohol, using the valuable beaver skin
as the standard of reckoning. To avoid long discussions over the price
of goods, the traders devised a system of marking that could be readily
understood by the natives: a single horizontal line drawn on an article
indicated a value of one beaver skin, two parallel lines placed the
price at two skins, and so on. The size of some English-made blankets
is still designated by a survival of this early system, with lines known
as 'points' woven into the border.

The fur trade prospered until the Indian insurrections of 1863-4.
Then trapping became a perilous occupation, and traders and trappers
returned East. Eastward, too, went most of the settlers who had come to
farm. The only ones to remain were Charles Cavileer and his little
colony at Pembina, who staunchly continued to cultivate their level
farms in the face of Indian dangers. With the exception of a few brave
adventurers, they had the entire area virtually to themselves, until the
extension of the Northern Pacific lines into the Red River Valley in

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