Background
Busch, Briton Cooper was born on September 5, 1936 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of Niven and Phyllis (Cooper) Busch.
( Controversy arises whenever and wherever the sealing in...)
Controversy arises whenever and wherever the sealing industry is discussed. But the modern-day anti-sealing movement is very new in comparison with the industry it opposes. This comprehensive history begins with the opening of American trade with China, and follows the industry wherever North Americans have sought seals for their fat or their skins, from New England to Australia, from Cape Horn to the California coast. All the many species of seals hunted received due consideration, as do walruses and sea otters, also part of the larger sealing industry. Above all, this book studies the fur seals of the Bering Sea and the harp seals of the Newfoundland hunt, detailing the consequences of an industry's killing of more than 50,000,000 seals in 150 years. Busch weighs this toll against the economic benefits that sealing brought to a great many people in cities along both North American coasts. Based on extensive research into primary and published sources, Busch's history provides conservationists, naturalists, historians, and general readers with new information and new perspectives on a subject of continuing world interest.
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("I just begin to find out that whaling will never do for ...)
"I just begin to find out that whaling will never do for me and have determined to leave the ship here if possible." That sentiment, expressed by a foremast hand aboard the ship Caroline in 1843, is one shared by many of the whalemen in this fascinating book. Interest in Herman Melville's Moby Dick has contributed to a substantial literature on the history and lore of the industry. But not until now has the vast body of surviving whaleship logs and journals been used to paint an encompassing picture of the difficult but colorful life aboard nineteenth-century American whaling vessels. Briton Cooper Busch, author of a definitive history of the American sealing industry, in this book only incidentally discusses the actual chase for whales. His focus instead is the life of whalemen at sea, and particularly the harsh discipline that kept men aboard through long and often dispiriting years. Busch depicts the complex social world aboard ship, defining and detailing such issues as crime and punishment, competing racial elements, the social distance between officers and men, sexual behavior, and the role of women aboard ships. For oppressed, discouraged, or simply bored whalemen, several escapes existed, from the rarest of all mutiny through labor protests of various types, to individual desertion or appeal to an American consul abroad. To each of these topics Busch devotes a chapter. He also provides glimpses of those occasional moments of relief such as a Fourth of July celebration and such somber moments as a death at sea. Fascinating details and original quotations from individual whalemen make this book more than a study of general trends. For anyone with even a casual interest in whaling, it is indispensable.
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( "Boston Men." The term was used generically by native p...)
"Boston Men." The term was used generically by native peoples for years to refer to any American trading furs in the Pacific Northwest. Why? Because the first Americans to engage in fur trading on the North Pacific Coast were all from Boston-pioneers in the trade long before Americans made the first overland trek to the Pacific. The earliest accounts of the Northwest fur trade comprise this new work, prepared and edited by two top scholars in the field. They have gathered original narratives of the earliest stages of the fur trade: William Dane Phelps' "Solid Men of Boston," William Sturgis' "The Northwest Fur Trade," "William Sturgis on the American Vessels and the Maritime Fur Trade," and "Account of the Vessels Engaged in the Sea-Otter-Fur-Trade on the Northwest Coast from 1787 to 1809," compiled by William Tufts, Esq., from his own memoranda. These rare documents are brought together under one cover to reveal the the inner-workings and alliances on which the early fur trade depended. William Dane Phelps' "Solid Men of Boston" ranks as among the great texts of American maritime enterprise, and is published here in book format for the first time. It was the first history of the Northwest coast fur trade, compiled from original documents, invaluable ship logs, letters, journals and personal narratives. The first description of the pioneer American vessels fitted out of the Northwest Coast trade, the Columbia and the Lady Washington, is presented by Phelps. His is the only description of the voyages of the O'Cain and the experiences of the Winships. "Solid Men of Boston" clarifies the link between Yankees and the Northwest Coast, and with the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, and Alta California. The Columbia River colonization experiment figures prominently in Phelps' narrative. It was the first American attempt to establish a base on the Northwest coast, just months before Astor's famous Tonquin voyage to Astoria. John Kendrick's many alliances with Northwest Coast peoples are treated in detail. The validity of the Kendrick deeds and their consequences still inspire controversy. "The Northwest Fur Trade," William Sturgis' original account, accompanies Phelps' text. It is an important recollection of the operation of the commercial fur hunt. Before Phelps' own "Webfoot" adventures, Sturgis had sailed on four voyages in the Boston maritime fur trade. The Sturgis history recounted here set down a tradition of early fur-trade narratives. The final two appendices contain a further account by Sturgis on American vessels in the Northwest trade, and William Tufts' list of American vessels on the Northwest Coast, 1787-1809, drawn from James G. Swan's The Northwest Coast, or Three Years' Residence in Washington Territory (1875). The historical introduction to the work provides a detailed background to the text, supporting and clarifying its conclusions. A full bibliography and analytical index enhance the presentation.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870622617/?tag=2022091-20
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Busch, Briton Cooper was born on September 5, 1936 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of Niven and Phyllis (Cooper) Busch.
Bachelor of Arts, Stanford University, 1958; Master of Arts, University of California at Berkeley, 1960; Doctor of Philosophy, University of California at Berkeley, 1965.
Instructor, Colgate University, 1963-1965; assistant professor of history, Colgate University, 1965-1968; associate professor of history, Colgate University, 1968-1973; professor, Colgate University, 1973-1978; William R. Kenan, Junior professor, Colgate University, since 1978; department chairman, Colgate University, 1980-1985; director division social science, Colgate University, 1985-1991. Member county International communications of Maritime History, since 1996.
("I just begin to find out that whaling will never do for ...)
( Controversy arises whenever and wherever the sealing in...)
(19th century California history from renowned publisher A...)
( "Boston Men." The term was used generically by native p...)
(gray cover)
Member American History Association, Royal Society Asian Affairs, Middle East Institute, Middle East Studies Association, Western Front Association, Society Military History (book prize committee 1996-1998, chair 1998-2000), North America Society Oceanic History (executive council 1983-1988, vice president 1988-1991, president 1991-1992, 95-98, chairman book award committee 1987-1992, book prize 1984, 86, 94, 97).
Married Deborah B. Stone, August 16, 1958 (divorced 1984). Children: Philip Briton, Leslie Cooper. Married Son of Jill Harsin, June 4, 1985.