Voyageurs
Europeans mainly traded alongside the coast of North America with Native Americans. The early fur trade with Native Americans, which developed alongside the coasts of North America, was not limited to the beaver. Beavers were not particularly valued and people preferred "fancy fur" or "fur that is used with or on the pelt. The fur trade was viewed as secondary to fishing during this era.
The earliest North American fur trading did not include long distance transportation of the furs after they were obtained by trade with the First Nations; it started with trading near settlements or along the coast or waterways accessible by ship. Soon, coureurs des bois achieved business advantages by travelling deeper into the wilderness and trading there. By 1681, the King of France decided to control the traders by publishing an edict that banned fur and pelt trading in New France.
Indian commerce with early English colonists and the early United States
From the outset of the sixteenth century, Native American societies are characterized as hunter-gatherer societies and horticulturalist societies. This era is classified as the Pre-Columbian Era. The specialization of each tribe was dependent upon the geographic factors of their territory. (E.g. North eastern tribes such as the Iroquois engaged in seasonal migration to hunt for moose and shellfish,) Previous to any European contact, many tribes focused their economies on the exploitation of furs. The first trade between finished European goods for Indian furs began in 1641 with French Jesuit priests in Great Lake region. This initial contact lead to the development of the fur trade, specifically beaver pelts, which paved the way for French and later English colonization.