"This latest work of Captain Chittenden's...is a history of the early trading posts and pioneer fur companies...the result of years of research among original manuscripts, journals, documents, scattered all over the United States." -Sioux City Journal, Jan. 20, 1902

"Captain Hiram M. Chittenden's 'History of the American Fur Trade in the Far West...notable contribution to Western history...the history of the American fur trade in the far West...was the history of the West itself." -Boston Evening Transcript, April 3, 1902

"Captain Hiram Martin Chittenden's 'The American Fur Trade of the Far West,'...is largely based upon unpublished records scattered in all parts of the United States...a new and consecutive history of the Great West down to 1850." -San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 15, 1902

"There was a time when Ashley was a national figure...Ashley's deeds have been recorded in Capt. Hiram Chittenden's monumental history of the American Fur Trade of the Far West." -The Madisonian (Virginia City, Montana), July 8, 1927

Why is Capt. Chittenden's book on the fur trade considered by many to be the most important work on the early far Westward expansion of the prior 1850?

In 1902, Hiram Martin Chittenden (1858 –1917) published the results of years of original research on the fur trade in his book titled " The American Fur Trade of the Far West."

In introducing his book, Chittenden writes:

"The nation owes a debt of gratitude to those resolute pioneers, who, single-handed and alone, stood their ground against their British rivals between the Great Lakes and the Rocky mountains. Their valiant bearing prevented in a large degree those international complications which so often threatened the peace of the two countries along other portions of the frontier. The fur trade, therefore, had a real and potent influence upon the history of the West—an influence imperfectly understood as yet, but which will be more fully recognized as time goes on. It is the purpose of this work to promote an appreciation of its importance by presenting a history of THE AMERICAN FUR TRADE OF THE FAR WEST during the period of its principal operations in that extensive region.... Excepting a few important works dealing with special features, the history of the American fur trade has never heretofore received any particular attention."

About the author:

Hiram Martin Chittenden was born October 25, 1858, and died October 9, 1917. He was an American engineer and historian. A graduate of West Point, he was the Seattle district engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers from 1906 to 1908). Chittenden was one of the first three elected Port Commissioners at the Port of Seattle. He also helped found the Pacific Coast Association of Port Authorities, later known as the Association of Pacific Ports in 1913. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Seattle are named in his honor.

As a historian he was noted for his work on the American West, especially the fur trade. Historian Gordon B. Dodds stated,

'His works on the Yellowstone, the fur trade, and on Missouri River steamboating were long recognized as definitive....His style was formal, clear, and undramatic. His works contain a mass of detail. He was typical of the Progressive era of American history in his strong belief in progress and in 'the divine mission of the Anglo-Saxon.'

Chittenden also wrote the noted work History of early steamboat navigation on the Missouri River: life and adventures of Joseph La Barge.