A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BEAVER (as a symbol of Canada) The quest
for religious and political freedom is often cited as the
reasons Europeans colonized North America, but natural resources
were another major draw. These included whales, vast schools of
cod, and towering lodgepole pines used for ship's masts. But the
resource that lured explorers across the continent was ACTUALLY
the beaver. After the early European explorers realized that
Canada was not the spice-rich Orient, the main mercantile
attraction was the beaver, then a population numbering in the
millions. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the fashion of the
day demanded fur top-hats, which needed beaver pelts. As these
hats became more popular, the demand for the pelts grew.
Explorers were dispatched deep into the North American
wilderness to trap and trade for furs with local natives. King
Henry IV of France saw the fur trade as an opportunity to
acquire much-needed revenue and to establish his North American
empire. Both English and French fur tra