Beaver Robe

Fur robes were a common item prior to the introduction of wool blankets through trade. In many areas, some of these robes continued to be used occasionally. Buffalo robes come quickly to mind as a common robe that was used throughout history, but other fur robes were also used. A current project of mine is to make a beaver fur robe.
Beaver furs as robes were referred to as castor gras (literally, greasy beaver) during the French regime. For robes; warmer, thicker winter hides (heavy in under fur) were sewn into large blankets or “robes.” These could be used like a matchcoat, thrown around the wearer’s upper body, or as a blanket and bedding. Normally these were worn with the fur toward the wearer. When made into a robe and heavily worn, the guard hairs on the hides would be worn off from constant rubbing against the wearer, exposing the soft underfur.
Fur traders highly valued these castor gras as the missing guard hairs significantly lessened the amount of labor needed in processing these hides into felt. It should be noted that most beaver hides coming to Europe from North America were used to make felt hats. Only the under fur was utilized for this felt and the guard hairs had to be laboriously plucked out and removed in order to get to the fine under fur. Most period lists show castor gras as worth around twice as much as a plain winter beaver hide (castor sec – dry beaver). Interestingly, also mentioned in lists are demi castor gras. This would imply that these were beaver robes that are not fully worn.
When considering the value of a beaver hide, the work in making a beaver robe, and the cost of a nice wool blanket; it is surprising that beaver robes continued to be made after the start of the fur trade. To make a beaver robe, the hides first have to be tanned to a very soft state. This is no small task, even for a good tanner, as beaver are very tough hides. Some tanners I know refer to them as “baby buffalo” and would prefer to tan a full sized buffalo hide to doing a beaver. Once this work is done, hides need to be trimmed, so as to fit together, and then sewn together to form the robe/blanket. This is a considerable amount of sewing considering that most blankets were likely of 10-12 hides, although Father Lalemant (in the Jesuit Relations) mentions robes of 6 hides in a 1626 account.
All of this labor could be skipped if a person took the 6-12 hides that made the robe and traded them for a wool blanket of equal size. Actually, at most prices, a couple blankets could have been purchased. Not only does this avoid the labor, but wool blankets have advantage over a robe in that when they are wet (which happens occasionally), they are warmer and dry faster. In spite of this, beaver robes are still being used in some areas, well into the 19th century.
This continuation of beaver robe usage is interesting to me. Last year, I decided to take the 10 beaver I caught and make a robe. I wanted one to be able to use and explain the idea of castor gras but also because I knew it would be a fuzzy warm blankie to cuddle up in. A beaver blanket to me would be a great way to preserve the catches from my first year beaver trapping (with all of these coming from within 3 mi. of my house, most from withing ¼ mi.) and be able to use them for the history I love here in the western Great Lakes.
A cool example of beaver robes in Wisconsin comes from the fur trade journal of Michel Curot (1803-04). In it an Ojibwe man named Pichiquequi has 10 beaver that he refuses to sell. Curot comments that:
“…he was absolutely unwilling to give them to me. I demanded them from him on his credit; he was still less willing, replying that he loved them. I offered him a blanket to no avail. He told Smith that was he was keeping them to make a robe for himself to cover him in the night. No proposition moved him.” The next day, “He came this morning to ask me for rum. I tried again before fiving him any to demand of him the 10 beaver skins.  He replied, ‘Give me some rum.’ I gave him some hoping that he would give them to me, finally he said that they no longer belonged to him, but that I was not to be disturbed with regard to his credit, that he had already paid part and that he would still kill many beavers to pay me.”
Another NW Fur Trade mention of beaver blankets that I have always liked is found in the journal of Alexander Henry the elder. In it, he is travelling northwest of Wisconsin through the prairie and speaks of the cold being “so intense, that [their wardrobe was] exclusively of warm woolen clothes, we were obliged to wrap ourselves continually in beaver blankets, or at least in ox-skins, which the traders call buffalo-robes.” I find Henry’s wording interesting here in that he seems to imply that the buffalo-robes were inferior to the beaver.
For my robe, I cheated and did not brain tan the hides (too much work and too little time for this busy guy). I sent them to be tanned by a commercial tannery. I received the tanned hides this fall and was amazed with the soft warmth of these hides. I have since cut them into sizes to fit together and have sewn them all up. I now plan on painting the flesh side of the hides to decorate them as was common of hide robes. Unfortunately there is only one 18th century painting showing a beaver robe and only one extant beaver robe I know of (and these COULD be the same robe).
Looking at the extant robe which resides in Madrid and the Ben West painting of Guy Johnson (who is wrapped in a beaver robe) gives me an idea of at least what could be done with appropriate painting. To add to this, there are other painted hide robes (mainly buffalo and other large game) that are in museums and date to the 18th century. Many of these are in Paris. In order to come up with a pattern that is more specific to the western Great Lakes, I am also looking at the painting patterns of a number of Ojibwe and Cree coats that use similar motifs. Also, there is a set of Cree Dolls that have painted garments including a painted robe. All of these should give a fairly good indicator of what is appropriate to paint for a western/north-western robe. Now, I am facing the decision of what exactly to paint, and then I need to execute the painting. Until then, I have a nice unadorned beaver robe to keep warm with.