A large part is down to the trade in beaver pelts Hudson Bay company, and the Russian expansion into Siberia was in large part down to obtaining more beaver pel

A large part is down to the trade in beaver pelts Hudson Bay company, and the Russian expansion into Siberia was in large part down to obtaining more beaver pelts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_fur_trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_fur_trade Beaver pelts have been referred to as ‘soft gold’.