Castor Canadensis

We publish a semiannual journal titled Castor Canadensis (the North American beaver). Publication began in March 1981 with general information about the society and upcoming events. The journal has evolved to focus on scholarly articles about Jedediah Smith, his fellow trappers and traders, and the fur trade in general. We distribute Castor to our members in print form. Issues back to the spring of 2009 are available in pdf format on this website at no charge.

This 1824-dated flintlock was found in central California near French Camp; significantly, Jedediah Smith and his party passed through this area in January 1828. In the early 1830s British brigades began to strip California of beaver before the Americans could and periodically sojourned at French Camp. Thus, this lock could have been discarded by someone from the Hudson’s Bay Company.