Published In

Oregon Historical Quarterly

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 2023

Subjects

Sea otter -- Effect of human beings on -- Northwest Coast of North America -- History, Hunting, -- Oregon, Fur trade -- Oregon

Abstract

Sea otters are an iconic species in the history of what is now known as Oregon. Their pelts brought great wealth in late eighteenth and nineteenth century China, motivating some of Oregon’s earliest exploration, trade, and contact between Native American and Euro-American people. Over time, hunting eliminated the species from Oregon’s coastal waters. This article provides a broad introduction to the history of Oregon’s now-extinct sea otter population, describing the emergence of the Chinese market that created and sustained the hunt, the British discovery of profits to be made by trading for the pelts, and the rise of American traders. This historical information is placed within the context of sea otter ecology and provides estimates of Oregon’s sea otter population on the eve of the maritime fur trade.

Rights

This is the publisher's final PDF article as it appears in Oregon Historical Quarterly. Copyright © 2023, Oregon Historical Society. Reproduced by permission.

This article is part of a special issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly featuring authors exploring sea otters in Oregon, a species that has been absent from Oregon waters for more than a hundred years.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/41735

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