This collection includes interviews with Montana fur trappers, fur buyers, game wardens and wildlife managers detailing trapping methods and experiences in Montana during the first half of the 20th century. The interviews were conducted between 1980 and 1982 by Edd Nentwig and Diann E. Wiesner. In addition to trapping methods, the interviewees discuss predator control, the history of trapping in Montana, their trapping mentors, and the advancements in trapping technology. The original interviews are held as Oral History collection OH 099 at Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula.
This collection includes 21 interviews.
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Albert P. Schulz Interview, December 4, 1980
Albert P. Schulz
Albert Schulz describes some of his experiences trapping along the Rosebud River in Alberta, Canada, in the early 1910s. He talks about learning to snare rabbits from his father, and the three years (1912-1914) that he spent learning to trap from Dan Fletcher, a bachelor ... Read More
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Clarence Leonard Lawrence Interview, June 20, 1981
Clarence Leonard Lawrence
Clarence Leonard Lawrence describes how he taught himself to trap as a boy living in Eastern Montana around 1912. He notes that after he began trapping he became acquainted with Charlie Walker, a man who made his career hunting and trapping wolves year-round. Lawrence talks ... Read More
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Earl R. White Interview, May 23, 1981
Earl R. White
Earl White of Forsyth, Montana, talks about learning to trap in 1924 before going to work as a government trapper in predator control in 1944. He discusses government policy on predator control and the use of 1080 poison. White describes the trapping techniques he used ... Read More
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Fuller Laugeman Interview, 1982
Fuller Laugeman
Fuller Laugeman of Winett, Montana, describes his start in fur trapping as a young boy and his continuation of it throughout his life. He recounts his experiences of trapping, primarily beaver, all across Montana. He describes his methods and the different types of traps he ... Read More
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Herschell Wells Interview, August 20, 1982
Herschell Wells
Herschell Wells recalls how he started trapping during the early 1930s when he was a kid and how he focused on trapping muskrats and mink along the stream. Wells notes that as he got older, he started to prefer trapping predators, such as cats, fox, ... Read More
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Joe Johnson Interview, July 17, 1981
Joe Johnson
Joe Johnson reminisces about his early life working on a farm in Ohio, as a water boy for a company in Pennsylvania, a short stint in the U.S. Navy, and working in the subway tunnels in New York. He goes on to describe his first ... Read More
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Joe Pocha Interview, June 15, 1981
Joe Pocha
Joe Pocha of Augusta, Montana, talks about trapping when he was a young boy and then, later, after he retired from the smelter in Helena, Montana. He describes some of his trapping methods and the animals he liked to trap, including mink, raccoon, and beaver. ... Read More
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Larry "Slim" Coomber Interview, May 22, 1981
Larry R. Coomber
Larry “Slim” Coomber discusses how he trapped in order to survive the Great Depression. He describes trapping coyotes and bobcats as a means of predator control for the Montana State Fish and Game Department. Coomber recalls fellow trappers who taught him many of his skills, ... Read More
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Lawrence Humble Interview, April 8, 1980
Lawrence Humble
Lawrence Humble of Hamilton, Montana, describes his time as a trapper and buyer and seller of fur in Montana, starting in 1910. He talks about how a love of the outdoors and his acquaintance with trapper and game warden Charles Peyton led to his decision ... Read More
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Lester Barton and Tex Baker Interview, February 14, 1981
Lester Barton and (Clarence) Tex Baker
Lester Barton discusses his life and career as the game warden for the Montana Department of Fish and Game for 17 years, a prison guard for ten years, and his experience as a fur trapper. He describes working as a game warden in the Butte-Silver ... Read More
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Lester Barton Interview, December 30, 1980
Lester Barton
Lester Barton talks about his life and career which includes over 50 years of trapping experience. He tells about working as the game warden for the Montana Department of Fish and Game for 17 years during the mid-20th century and his ten years as a ... Read More
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Lui Salina Interview, December 29, 1980
Lui Salina
Lui Salina describes his experiences as a fur buyer for Beckman’s Furs of Great Falls, Montana, and his 50-year relationship with the fur industry. Salina acknowledges the historical necessity of fur trapping in cold, northern territories, but also discusses how developments in the tanning, dyeing, ... Read More
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Olive Hamilton Interview, July 16, 1981
Olive Hamilton
Olive Hamilton tells of her two years trapping in Mineral County, Montana, in the mid-1920s. She describes trapping marten, mink, beaver, otter, coyotes, and other wildlife. She discusses the process of skinning different animals, including the difficulty of skinning certain ones. Hamilton recalls walking an ... Read More
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Ray Catron Interview, July 18, 1981
Ray Catron
Ray Catron talks about growing up in Cameron, Missouri, where he began his trapping career at the age of seven hunting mostly civet cats and possums. He reminisces about moving to Billings, Montana, when he was 20 years old. Catron describes working on the railroad, ... Read More
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Richard "Dick" Kenck Interview, April 1, 1982
Richard Kenck
Richard Kenck describes different methods of trapping and how different animals should be trapped. He discusses trapping in relation to population control and working with land owners for this reason. He also talks about running a trap line with a partner instead of trapping alone.
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Richard "Dick" Kenck Interview, December 12, 1981
Richard Kenck
Richard Kenck reminisces about growing up in Choteau, Montana, on a ranch at the mouth at the Dearborn Canyon. He recalls trapping as a young boy, starting with smaller animals such as marten then larger animals including beavers, mountain lions and coyotes as he got ... Read More
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Tex Baker Interview, December 19, 1981
Clarence "Tex" Baker
Tex Baker talks about his first trapping experiences in the Seeley Lake country, including one of his best years of trapping. He explains how he made his own snow shoes to traverse the mountains and creeks. He talks about his relationship with the game wardens ... Read More
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Tex Baker Interview, May 18, 1981
Clarence "Tex" Baker
Tex Baker discusses his 70 years of experience trapping and selling furs. He recalls that he began trapping at age six on his father’s homestead in Wyoming and later moved to New Mexico to trap coyote, fox, and lynx. Baker notes that when he wasn’t ... Read More
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William "Bud" Moore Interview, December 12, 1981
William Moore
William “Bud” Moore describes his introduction to trapping as a child. He details how he learned to trap, some of the mountain men who influenced his decision to trap, and his father’s encouragement of the lifestyle. Moore reminisces about trapping alone in the Lochsa wilderness ... Read More
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William E. "Bill" Cottrill and Emma Mae Cottrill Interview, May 21, 1981
William E. Cottrill and Emma Mae Cottrill
Bill and Emma Mae Cottrill reminisce about the Leo M. Goldberg Fur and Wool House, Inc. of Helena, Montana, and the fur trade in Montana from 1914 to 1968. Bill recalls beginning work for Goldberg’s on October 17, 1928, as a messenger boy, and soon ... Read More
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Willis Kent Interview, August 1982
Willis Kent
Willis Kent describes how his father and grandfather first taught him how to trap in Missouri. Kent details his life as a trapper and tells of the numerous other jobs he took up to provide additional support for his family. He discusses how after trapping ... Read More