4. NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE FUR TRADE:
ONE PART OF THE ECONOMIC EQUATION

The furs and lands that fell in the purview of Native Americans were highly desired by Europeans. Frederick Philipse dealt with two groups of Native Americans: the River Indians of the lower Hudson Valley and the Iroquois of Northern and Western New York State. Furs fetched high prices in Europe where deep wilderness had long been depleted. In exchange, Philipse and other traders offered Native Americans wampum, guns, metal tools, cloth, and cheap ceramics.

As southern New York became depleted of furs, New York merchants turned a covetous glance to the powerful Iroquois Confederacy and the fur-rich lands under its control. Local Albany merchants lobbied the government and were granted a monopoly in dealing with the Iroquois. Frederick Philipse circumvented the ban by establishing a house in Albany run by his father-in-law.