Frances Backhouse on the mighty beaver

Models of industry and all that is Canadian, beavers are not very glamorous, but they are survivors — they survived despite being almost wiped off the map by humans. Frances Backhouse is the author of Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver, and she spoke to The Next Chapter about the "gold rush" for beaver pelts that marked the start of a new phase in Canada's history. This segment originally aired on March 7, 2016.

HOW THE BEAVER HAT FAD CHANGED HISTORY

Canadian history, at least from the colonial point on, begins with the beaver. If it weren't for the beaver, the first Europeans who arrived in Canada probably wouldn't have stuck around or showed so much interest. They arrived at a time when Europe had pretty much wiped out its own beaver population, and there was this craze for beaver hats. So the hatters back in Europe were desperate for beaver pelts. When the first explorers arrived in North America and discovered that there were beavers here, they started shipping them back to Europe, and this was like gold. Really, North America's first gold rush was the rush for beaver pelts. 

Frances Backhouse's comments have been edited and condensed.