15. The market for beaver skins saw Native American tribes wiped out by war and disease in the 18th century
Through the High Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, Europeans hunted beavers for fur and castoreum, making them near-extinct. However, when they began to colonize North America, they found beavers in abundance. Soon Britain and France became fierce rivals in the lucrative beaver-skin trade. Skins fetched high prices back in Europe. Native Americans had killed beavers for fur and meat for centuries, and thus came into conflict with the immigrants. Some Native Americans entered into the trade, but contact with Europeans came at a high price. As well as spreading disease, Europeans also mercilessly slaughtered tribes interfering with their trade.