"Hudson Bay Trapper"
 |
 |
(21 3/4" high x 13 1/2 wide x 28" long; approx weight 70-80 lbs.)
This bronze sculpture depicts a Metis' trapper of the 1800-1820 period running his trap line. The offspring of a former French Canadian Voyager and an Ojibwa Indian woman is making his way on snowshoes along a beaver stream. He has checked his traps and rather than carry the carcasses of the three adult beavers, weighing an average of 30-40 pounds each, he has skinned and laced them into stretching and drying frames. Two of his five traps did not contain beaver, so he has removed them and will locate them in a more productive section of the stream. The average trapper carried or was assigned five to six , five pound hand forged traps. The gun he carries in his right hand is a 24 ga. smooth bore, called an Indian trade gun. These guns, made especially for the Indian trade, all had a cast brass dragon side plate opposite the lock side of the gun, and were capable of shooting both buck shot or ball. This versatility enabled the taking of a wide variety of game.
The snowshoes are typical of the Ojibwa of the Great Lakes region and Western Canada, even into the Western U.S. A deep snow has blanketed the earth and a period of severe cold and high winds have crusted the snow so that the trappers weight, distributed by the snowshoes, does not cause hem to sink into the snow as would occur on fresh snow. His coat is made from a blanket and was commonly called a capote, although "capote" is french and refers to the hook which in this case is made as a part of his coat.
The Hudson Bay Trapper is a limited addition of 15 bronze castings. Craig can be contacted on prices.