On this date in 1900, a resident from McHenry County claimed there were millions to be made from running skunk farms. H.P. Johnson spoke most earnestly about the profitability of the smelly mammal. Mr. Johnson assured that the animal is “as clean and harmless as a kitten when reared in a proper manner.”
Johnson argued that there was great value in raising skunks from the pelts and skunk oil. Skunk oil at the time was valued at around 8 dollars per gallon, the equivalent of a little over 200 dollars today.
Skunk oil was used for many things. One farmer reported using it mixed with turpentine or ammonia on the sores and swollen eyes of his chickens. He claimed that he had been using this mixture for many years, and the poultry had always recovered well. The oil was also used in leatherworking, and as a moisturizer that some use to this day.
At the time, demand for skunk fur was second only to the pelt of a muskrat. As it gained popularity in the 1880s and into the 1900s, skunk farms began expanding to meet the demand. The fur was popular worldwide, but almost all the pelts were traded in London and Leipzig.
In 1909, an article from The Pioneer Express of Pembina calculated the returns of a successful skunk farm. It claimed that should an industrious skunk farmer start with 20 skunks; he could be making well over twenty million dollars in about two years. This calculation was of course very optimistic and tailored to a farmer who ran his operation perfectly, and it also required the market for skunk pelts to remain optimal. This belief reflected the push for skunk farms and the current demand for the pelts across the US and into Europe.
Skunk fur would remain in high-demand under the fashionable name of “Alaskan or American Sable” until the 1950s, when the true origin of the popular pelt was discovered. Other than a brief resurgence in the 70s, the skunk pelt remained out fashion, finally becoming just an interesting footnote in the history of the North Dakota fur trade.
Dakota Datebook by Olivia Burmeister
Sources:
- The Ward County Independent. July 05, 1906, Image 5
- Bismarck Daily Tribune. April 20, 1900, Image 3
- The Pioneer Express. June 04, 1909, Image 3
- https://vintagefashionguild.org/fur-resource/skunk/
- https://blog.truthaboutfur.com/skunk-fur-forsaken/
