The Fur Tannery & Three Rivers Furs

The North American fur trade was the continent's earliest commercial enterprise. Driven primarily by the European demand for beaver felt hats, it financed early exploration, initiated permanent colonization, and established the first sustained economic and diplomatic networks between Indigenous communities and European powers. River commerce here in St. Joseph Co. was a lucrative business fueled by local and regional trading posts in Coldwater, Mendon, Colon, and Three Rivers.

Trappers and voyageurs acted as the continent's first explorers. Their pursuit of new hunting grounds

charted uncharted waterways, mapped Michigan's intricate river systems laying the geographic: foundation for America's westward expansion. The trade profoundly changed Native American lifesty by introducing new technologies and European dependencies...and built a renowned local business.