Frontier Commerce: Trade and Business in the Old West

[INTRO MUSIC]

Howdy y’all, Chip Schweiger, here. Welcome to another edition of Way Out West.

The podcast that takes you on a journey through the stories of the American West, brings you the very best cowboy wisdom, and celebrates the cowboys and cowgirls who are feeding a nation. 

Out on the edge of the known world, where rail lines ended and wagon ruts began, the Old West ran on more than grit—it ran on trade.

Before banks and barcodes, business was done with beaver pelts, buffalo hides, and a firm handshake.

Trading posts were the heartbeat of frontier commerce.

Cowboys, trappers, soldiers, ranchers, and Native peoples all came together under one roof—with different languages, customs, and currencies—but a shared need to make a deal.

So today on the show, we’re stepping into the dusty world of the frontier marketplace—where cash was rare, trust was everything, and a plug of tobacco might just buy you a hot meal.

After the episode, check out the show notes at WayOutWestPod.com/frontier-commerce

[MUSIC]

Howdy and welcome back. 

Way Out West on the edge of everything—where the land was wide, the rules were few, and the only thing louder than the wind was a six-shooter—there was still one thing that kept the West turning: commerce.

Now you might think the Old West was all cattle drives, saloons, and shootouts.

And sure, we’ve got plenty of that.

But behind every cowboy, every wagon train, every fort and frontier town—was trade.

The frontier didn’t run on credit cards. It ran on beaver pelts, buffalo hides, flour, whiskey, and grit.

Trading posts were the lifeblood of this economy. 

Look, I’m too old to cowboy for money anymore and too young to retire, so I turned to accounting to make a living. 

Which is why I’m looking forward this week to steppin’ inside the world of ledgers scribbled in pencil, of bartering across cultures, of saloons that actually ran tabs and general stores that doubled as banks.

Because I think when you really boil it all down, the Old West was a marketplace—and just like now, business was personal.

CHAPTER 1: Life Before the Ledger

Let’s ride back before the cowboy hat even had its crease—to a time when the West was still wild and wide open.

Before towns were settled and railroads drove across the plains, there were trading posts. These weren’t flashy stores with wooden floors and glass cases.

No sir. These were simple, often rough-built buildings—sometimes just a few log walls and a dirt floor. But they were vital.

They sat at river crossings, at the base of mountains, beside wagon trails and military forts. They were the first spark of civilization in a wild place.

Places like Fort Union, Bent’s Fort, Fort Laramie, or the Santa Fe Trail stops.

These outposts were where trappers, Native Americans, soldiers, pioneers, and eventually cowboys all came to do business.

Not because they wanted to—but because they had to.

CHAPTER 2: Who Came to Trade

Now, who came to these places?

You had fur trappers rolling in with mules loaded with pelts—beaver, fox, and sometimes even grizzly.

You had Native Americans bringing hides, beadwork, and game. Soldiers from nearby forts came in search of supplies the Army couldn’t provide fast enough.

Ranchers brought beef. Cowboys brought coin—when they had it. Women came too. Homesteaders trading butter or eggs from their chickens.

Some brought hand-sewn quilts or candles. Others came looking for things they couldn’t make on the homestead: sugar, needles, boots, calico cloth.

And the traders? Well, they saw it all. They were the go-betweens.

And they learned to read people just as well as they read prices.

Trading wasn’t just about goods. It was about relationships.

Out there, you didn’t just buy—you bargained. 

You earned trust.

Because without banks, background checks, or warranties, reputation was everything.

CHAPTER 3: What Got Traded

Alright—so what was on the shelf? What did people actually trade?

Let’s start with the basics. The things folks couldn’t make for themselves on the trail or out on the homestead.

We’re talkin’ flour, sugar, coffee, salt, lard, dried fruit.

Powder, shot, and lead. Nails, rope, pans, and horseshoes.

Wool blankets, knives, buttons, boots. Maybe a bolt of calico cloth if your gal was feelin’ fancy.

And of course—alcohol and tobacco.

Whiskey was its own kind of currency. So were cigars and chewing tobacco plugs.

Some general stores even stocked morphine and laudanum, back when those were legal cures for just about anything.

On the other side of the counter came payment—
And that’s where things got interesting.

Because money? That was rare. Especially in the early days.

Instead, trade came in the form of buffalo hides, beaver pelts, silver ore, or even livestock. Cowboys might pay in beef. A ranch hand might settle a debt with a saddle or a pair of spurs.

One settler might offer chickens or homemade soap. Another might trade labor—fixing the roof on the store for a bag of flour.

CHAPTER 4: The Trader’s Role

Now let’s talk about the trader himself—or herself, in rare but notable cases.

A trader wasn’t just a shopkeeper. He was a businessperson, a dealmaker, a middleman between cultures, and sometimes the de facto mayor of a one-building town.

The best traders were fluent in multiple languages—English, Spanish, maybe French, and at least a few Native tongues.

They needed that to build trust and keep trade flowing. They also had to know how to weigh and measure just about anything. How to balance a ledger by candlelight. And how to settle disputes when a deal went sour.

The smart ones extended credit—but only if they believed you were good for it.

Some would keep a little notebook behind the counter with tabs and tallies—marking what folks owed, and when they promised to pay.

And if they were lucky, those folks made good on their word.

If they weren’t lucky?
Well… a dishonest trader didn’t last long in the West.

Let’s take a quick break, and when we come back, we’ll talk about saloons, gambling debt, boomtowns and what we can learn from all this frontier commerce. Be right back

[Music]

THIS WEEK in the WEST

He was just a kid with a booming voice who was too skinny and too young to get into the army, but once "Foghorn" Clancy got his nickname he was on his way to being part of rodeo lore. 

On the next episode of "This Week in the West," my friends from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum tell the story of a Hall of Fame rodeo announcer and the sport's greatest historian. 

New episodes drop every Monday on your favorite podcast provider. Just look for this week in the west. I bet you’ll be glad you did.

[Music]

CHAPTER 5: Saloon Tabs and Gambling Debts

Welcome back. Now let’s ride over to the saloon side of frontier commerce.

The saloon wasn’t just a place to blow off steam. It was its own kind of economy.

A cowboy fresh off a cattle drive might not have seen a town in two months.
When he hit the saloon, he didn’t just spend—he celebrated.

He bought rounds for his trail buddies, placed bets at the poker table, maybe paid for a warm bath or a hot meal.

And more often than not? He ran up a tab.

Now, saloonkeepers were businessmen too.

They also kept ledgers behind the bar, marking down what you drank, what you owed, and whether or not you were the kind of man who’d come back to settle up.

Some cowboys paid in silver.
Some in IOUs.
Some with spurs, saddles, or promises backed by the trail boss.

It was risky—but it worked more often than you’d think.
Because again, reputation meant everything.
If word got out that you didn’t pay your debts?
You might never find work again.

CHAPTER 6: From Outpost to Boomtown

As time rolled on, the West changed.

Railroads stretched farther. Towns grew.
Trading posts gave way to general stores, mercantiles, and even early department stores.

Banks showed up, finally bringing a more formal kind of credit.

Mail-order catalogs let settlers pick goods from back East.
And eventually, folks started using paper money more than pelts.

But the spirit of that frontier economy didn’t die.

In many small Western towns even today, you’ll still find a handshake deal, a bartered favor, or a neighbor trading beef for firewood.

Ranchers still are known to swap calves for hay.

Some old-timers still keep running tabs at the local café.

And every now and then, you’ll hear someone say,
“Just put it on my account—I’ll settle up after branding.”

Commerce in the West has always been about more than dollars and cents.

It’s about trust. Grit. And doing business with folks you’d ride the river with.

CHAPTER 7: CLOSING

So what can we learn from frontier commerce? Well, Maybe it’s this:

Business doesn't have to be complicated to be meaningful.

When you take away the apps, the contracts, the bank loans, and strip it down to its raw bones—trade is about trust. About knowing your word matters.
About earning your place in a community that depends on each other to survive.

And that’s still true today—whether you’re working cattle, running a business, or just figuring out how to make ends meet.

So next time you shake hands on a deal—remember the trail dust, the bar tabs, and the old trading posts that built this country.

Because out here Way Out West? Commerce wasn’t just about profit—it was about honor.

OK, before we wrap up this week, we’ve got one more thing.

Cowboy Glossary: Term of the Week

[BULL SOUND]

Yep, that distinctive call from Buster the Bull means it’s time for the cowboy glossary term of the week. 

This week’s term is Trading Post

A frontier-era store or outpost where goods were bartered instead of bought. Often located near forts or travel routes, these posts were vital to settlers, Native tribes, and cowboys alike—offering everything from flour and ammo to tobacco and tinware. They were more than stores—they were the economic and social heart of the early West.

[OUTRO MUSIC]

Well, that does it for this week’s episode. Thanks for ridin’ along on this journey Way Out West.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider leaving us a review or rating us on Apple or Spotify. That’ll help get this to more fans of the American West. And, if you’ve done that already, thank you.

This is Chip Schweiger reminding you to keep your ledger honest and your word gold.

We’ll see ya down the road.