One of the first results of the intercourse between French traders and native tribesmen in the Middle West was the Indian hunters loss of independence.

To obtain the mer- chandise of the European the simple native had to pay the price in furs, and to get a sufficient quantity of this form of money he had to procure a gun and ammunition.

Thus it happened that the Indians became dependent upon the French for their supply of goods and guns, powder and shot.

Among the earliest traders in the Upper Mississippi Val- ley was an experienced bush-ranger, Nicholas Perrot, French Commandant of the West.

Some time during the year 1690 a party of Miami Indians came to him with a request that he set up a trading-post in their country south of the Wisconsin River, and they made presents of beaver skins and a piece of ore which came from a very rich Lead Mine.