California hide trade

Illustration from Two Years Before the Mast.

The California hide trade was a system of trade during the early 19th century in Alta California, present day California, United States.

The circuit would begin with a Clipper sailing ship leaving an East Coast port, often Boston or New York City, loaded with manufactured goods. The ship would then proceed around Cape Horn to the Colonial Mexico ports on the California coast. The goods were traded for the cow hides and tallow produced by the Ranchos of California and the Spanish Missions of California. The ship would sail back to the East Coast and repeat the process.

In popular culture

The California hide trade was part of the underlying setting in Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s book, Two Years Before the Mast. Dana tells of his voyage to California on board the Pilgrim and the subsequent trading along the pristine coast.

See also

• Maritime Fur Trade
• Californios
• List of Ranchos of California
• History of California to 1899