It was the quest for “brown gold” that
stimulated much of the early exploration
and colonization of the New World,
where beaver pelts were commonly
used as currency. The first waves of fur
traders and trappers emanated from the
Northeast coast and the mouth of the
Mississippi River. By the early 1900s,
beaver populations in the continental
U.S. and southern Canada were nearly
eradicated. Eventually beavers from
isolated, surviving colonies were used