michigan.gov —  Background Notes The First People and the early European in the Great Lakes area engaged in a centuries-long relationship centered on the fur trade. Fur traders first came as individuals in the 1650s. They found excellent water routes through the Straits of Mackinac and up the St. Mary's River. They also found a source of wealth—furs. The beaver pelt became the unit of currency. As the business of fur trading grew, companies such as the Hudson's Bay Company, the North West Company and the American Fur Company were formed. Most fur traders worked for the big companies. They would use no money, but would trade items such as iron cooking pots, blankets, beads, knives, axes, liquor and rifles for the skins of the beaver, deer, bear, mink and other animals that the Indians had trapped. The Indians came to depend on the traders' goods. This changed their culture as they used iron pots instead of making clay pots and hunted with rifles instead of bow and arrow.