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American Fur Company, John Jacob Astor Indian Medal, n.d. [1832-42]. Copper
From Stack's October 2006 New York Auction, Session 1 on Oct 17, 2006
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![American Fur Company, John Jacob Astor Indian Medal, n.d. [1832-42]. Copper, gilt. Prucha 61, Belden...](http://www.stacksarchive.com/gallery/ST1006b/01/ST1006b0183t2.jpg "American Fur Company, John Jacob Astor Indian Medal, n.d. [1832-42]. Copper, gilt. Prucha 61, Belden...") American Fur Company, John Jacob Astor Indian Medal, n.d. [1832-42]. Copper, gilt. Prucha 61, Belden 65. Choice Extremely Fine. From the same dies as the silver medal in the preceding lot. 64.9mm. Rims 4.0 - 4.6mm. thick. 1,732.6 gns. Not holed. Even, rich yelow gold in color on both sides, the gilding barely worn except for the highest points, the color having aged very nicely. A few scattered and shallow marks, some hairlines, but a clean piece with no serious defects. Extremely rare: the cataloguer can confirm the existence of only five fire-gilt copper American Fur Company Astor medals: (1) American Numismatic Society ex lot 1140 of H.P. Smith's sale of the Charles Stedman Collection (November 17, 1882), described as having planchet flaws; (2) Missouri Historical Society; (3) University of North Dakota; (4) this example; (5) Long Island collection. The Finer of the Two Privately Owned. This example is unknown to the collecting fraternity, having passed via private treaty sale into the Ford Collection.
The origin and purpose of the Astor medals were intimately bound up with the history of the fur trade in the Missouri River watershed. The idea for a silver medal to be distributed to Indians by agents of the American Fur Company (AFC) was the brainchild of Kenneth McKenzie. McKenzie had worked for the Northwest Company in Canada and the Columbia Fur Company in America. When the latter firm was taken over by Astor's American Fur Company, McKenzie was put in charge of the firm's Missouri interests and operated as the Upper Missouri Outfit (UMO).
In 1828, McKenzie's outfit founded a post just north of the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, which came to be known as Fort Union. The fort, described as the best in the west, was a 240 x 220 foot square shaped stockade with walls 20 feet high and stone bastions on two corners. Inside were quarters for the factor, men, and Indian scouts. In the center, flanking the flag pole, were cannon trained on the main gate, in case of an attack. Nations the fort was meant to service included the Mandan, Hidatsa, Assinoboin, and Yankton Sioux.
McKenzie's hopes for the success of his trade out of Fort Union along the Yellowstone and upper Missouri depended on his being able to outsell his British rivals from the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1831, he proposed to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., who managed the western interests of Astor's American Fur Company, that silver medals be made as presents for the Indians, to offset the advantage the Hudson's Bay men had over the Upper Missouri Outfit boys in the war for the Indians' hearts and minds.
Chouteau agreed with McKenzie's assessment, writing (August 17, 1831) to the main AFC office in New York ''It is at this establishment [i.e., Fort Union] that we shall have to combat the opposition of the English traders, who have a fort not far distant, and who, as is their custom, will undoubtedly do everything in their power to excite the Indians against us. This difficulty might nevertheless be somewhat diminished if the government could be persuaded to place at our disposal a few presents, which would be delivered to the Indians in the name of the President of the United States. The English government, if I am well informed, allows the Northwest Company [i.e., an old habit, Chouteau meant the Hudson's Bay Company] an annual sum for this particular purpose. A little indulgence of this nature on the part of the government will secure the confidence and friendship of these savages toward us.''
Ramsey Crooks, to whom the McKenzie-Chouteau idea was directed at the AFC, enquired of Secretary of War Lewis Cass, an old crony of Chouteau's, who, perhaps not unexpectedly, replied that the government saw no problem with the American Fur Company issuing medals on its own authority. As Chittenden so nicely described Cass' decision ''The way in which a government delegated a function which belonged only to itself, but concealed its action under a fiction of words, is described in a letter from Crooks to Chouteau November 16, 1832: '...and the medals for his [i.e., McKenzie's] outfit are in the hands of the die maker, who, I hope, will give us a good likeness de notre estimable grand-papa [Astor]. I wrote to Washington about them, and the War Office made no objection to our having these ornaments made. Remember, they are ornaments, not medals.' ''
There was some objection to the Astor medals, but it came not from public spirited citizens. Rival fur trading firms complained to Washington that the American Fur Company had usurped the authority of the government by distributing medals along the frontier. On an enquiry from Washington about these matters, Chouteau replied ''...before the die for the Astor medals was struck the matter was submitted to Governor Cass, then Secretary of War, who gave his consent to the measure, and a sample of the medals was deposited with the department accompanied by letters of the President of the American Fur Company.''
Ex Bowers & Merena privately on July 22, 1992.
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Click on an image below for a larger version ![Click to open a larger image - American Fur Company, John Jacob Astor Indian Medal, n.d. [1832-42]. Copper, gilt. Prucha 61, Belden...](http://www.stacksarchive.com/gallery/ST1006b/01/ST1006b0183a.jpg "Click to open a larger image - American Fur Company, John Jacob Astor Indian Medal, n.d. [1832-42]. Copper, gilt. Prucha 61, Belden...") ![Click to open a larger image - American Fur Company, John Jacob Astor Indian Medal, n.d. [1832-42]. Copper, gilt. Prucha 61, Belden...](http://www.stacksarchive.com/gallery/ST1006b/01/ST1006b0183b.jpg "Click to open a larger image - American Fur Company, John Jacob Astor Indian Medal, n.d. [1832-42]. Copper, gilt. Prucha 61, Belden...")
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