Mountain Man Math

To the mountain men, trapping was a business. Some worked for fur companies for money. Others worked for themselves. The trappers traded the animal skins for things they needed to live. Here is a list that shows what some of the skins were worth during the early 1800s:

Large blanket / 50 muskrat pelts or 2 beaver pelts / Horse / 12 beaver pelts
Hawkins 50 caliber Gun / 100 muskrat pelts or 4 beaver pelts / Axe / 25 muskrat pelts or 1 beaver pelt
Beaver Trap / 30 muskrat pelts or 2 beaver pelts / Keg of Black Powder / 40 muskrat pelts or 2 beaver pelts
Fathom (2 yards) of Cloth / 3 beaver pelts / 1 - Piece of Hard Candy / 5 muskrat pelts
Bag of Flour / 2 beaver pelts / 10 pounds of Coffee / 2 beaver pelts
Bowie Knife / 3 beaver pelts / 1 pound of Sugar / 3 beaver pelts
Store made wool pants / 50 muskrat pelts or 2 beaver pelts / Metal cooking pot / 40 muskrat pelts or 2 beaver pelts
  1. Trapper Mark has 75 muskrat pelts and 4 beaver pelts. How many blankets can he buy? _____3_____
  1. Trapper Pete has 6 beaver pelts and 100 muskrat pelts. How many beaver traps can he buy? _____6_____
  1. Trapper Jim and his wife have 50 muskrat pelts and 20 beaver pelts. How many beaver traps can they buy? __11__
  1. Trapper Paul bought 12 bags of flour, 4 guns, and 4 blankets. How many beaver pelts did it cost him? _____48___
  1. Trapper Joe traded all his muskrat pelts for beaver pelts. He got 1 beaver pelt for every 25 muskrat pelts. If he traded 300 muskrat pelts, how many beaver pelts did it cost him? _____12____
  1. Trapper Antoine bought 3 pieces of hard candy, 10 pounds of coffee, 2 bags of flour, and a Bowie knife. How many beaver and muskrat pelts did it cost him? _____15 muskrat & 9 beaver_____
  1. Trapper Jedediah lost his horse, Hawkins gun, Bowie knife, his Black Powder and 6 beaver traps in an avalanche. How many beaver pelts would it take to replace his lost items? _____33____
  1. Trapper Annie took over for her husband that was killed by a bear. She has 80 muskrat pelts and 24 beaver pelts. How many beaver traps must she buy to keep her husbands trapping business going? ____14______
  1. If trapper James wanted to make a cake for his birthday. How many beaver pelts would it cost him to get the supplies? ____7____
  1. Trapper Liver-eating Johnson is going to go to a dance at the Rendezvous. He needs a new shirt and pair of store bought pants for the dance. How many beaver pelts will it cost him? ____5_____

Mountain man Math *key*

1.  3

2.  6

3.  11

4.  48

5.  12

6.  15 muskrat and 9 beaver

7.  33

8.  14

9.  7

10.  5

2 pts each 20 pts possible