With the arrival of the explorers came the trappers.
Tour the inside of the cabin at our museum
They used snares, and later, leg-hold traps to catch fur bearing animals.
This area has a variety of pelts such as beaver, wold, fox, bear and wild mink. Furs were easy to trade for goods needed to live in this area.
Beaver pelts were highly sought to make top hats
A trading post was erected in Mattawa in 1784 at the conjunction of the two rivers where the Mattawa Museum is located today.
Then a permanent trading post was built in 1830 by the Hudson Bay Company because of the increase in fur trade.
Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – HBC Fur Trade Post Map East Ontario