The Life and Times of Joe Beeler, Upper Midwest Trader

The story covers the Golden Years of the Fur Trade Industry in North American from 1780 to 1840. With a historical background of those years, the reader is taken through the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, and the maturing of the young American Nation into an economic power on the world stage. The fictional Joe Beeler family, primarily involved with The Fur Trade, is threaded through these years. How initial contact with the Indian tribes by the Fur Men resulted in a better standard of living for the tribes, but the down side being the Indian's loss of their culture, and style of living. The settlement of land further and further west by the young American Nation caused the displacement of the Indian Tribes and the decline of The Fur Trade. Through it all, Joe Beeler maintained their family cohesiveness, despite the tragedies and hardships of living in the 19th century