from the department of defense. the lessons learned are going wonderfully. it is internationally harmonized. it is 65 megahertz. we are so excited. we are going to turn around and have the broadcast incentive auction. i think that discussion is going well. the greenhill report which the fcc but out that values the spectrum, those numbers have turned the discussion from a policy discussion to a business decision, which is where the discussion needed to turn. we are excited about those options -- auctions. our carriers will come to them with a big checkbook. it will be a win-win situation for everyone. >> monday night on c-span2. year, c-span is touring cities across the country exploring american history. next, a look at our recent visit

to green bay, wisconsin. you are watching american history tv every weekend on c-span3. >> [speaking french language] i must speak english because you don't understand french. welcome to heritage hill. you have come here to understand more about the fur trade. i have in front of you on my counter all these different furs involved in the fur trade. the otter, the bob cat, the badger, the fox, the muskrat, the skunk, the beaver, and the bear. but the most important animal for the fur trade was the beaver. the beaver was important because of its fine under fur that made

excellent felt for hats. and hats were very popular in europe. and the problem in europe is they were pretty much hunted out of existence there. the fur trade had to go somewhere and america ended up being a very good place. because there were a lot of beavers. well, the first european influence in the area in this area of wisconsin was jean nicollette. he was an explorer sent here by champlain to look for the northwest passage to the orient and of course that never was to be, but he did run into the winnebago tribe. he already knew the value of a pelt because the fur trade was just starting up. he had already been working for a fur trade company earlier. when he came to this area and met the winnebagos they actually gave him a feast. in one feast, they say six score

beavers were in the feast. so 120 beavers. he knew right away there were a lot of beavers in the area so when he got back and reported people interested in that said here is a place we could go. in this area, only the native americans were doing the trapping. there was not many europeans. there were hardly any europeans at all doing the trapping. the french set up outposts right in the indians' back yard. the fur trade cabin during the fur trade was used as a business and a residence for the fur traders. the french called the fur traders bourgeois. they would live here, set up his life in this wilderness, and indians would come to him in the spring of the year to do the trading. they would bring their furs that they had been trapping and hunting all winter long, bring them into the cabin, and this was where the trade would happen.

they were giving the indians trade goods that were mostly coming from europe. it was technology that was not available to the indians so by this whole trade, the indians went from stone age to iron age. because now they were starting to do things with a lot better tools. for instance, they could now have a tomahawk or ax blade made out of metal. it would be a lot better than a stone they were using before. the beads are coming from europe and will be porcelain and glass. the colors available especially like the dark blues are just not even available in nature. but, also, the ornate glass beads were very desirable to the native americans. they could show they had a very successful year because not only

did they provide the things they really needed but a bead was something they wanted. just like today. luxuries are how people who are prosperous show they are prosperous. these were definitely luxuries to the native americans. one trade good that was very --ular was for million vermillion. it's a powder made from minerals. the native americans would mix it with grease and make their war paint. so in that respect, the fur trade isn't really changing the way that the native americans live, but it's just making it more convenient and easy because vermilleon made a lot brighter color and made them look a lot more fierce when they put war paint on. back at this time in history, roads were not existent. to get around, you had to go by water.

and the bay of green bay connects to lake michigan and we're also on the fox river. so transportation was easy north and south. right here is where green bay would be. the rendezvous, the area where things were transferred back and forth was all the way up over here in macinac. during the same time period, in the spring of the year, all of the trade goods are coming from, off the map here, in montreal, but across this area where there's a lot of portages and pretty difficult travel all of the way across and then into lake huron and over to macinac in larger boats called canoe

de montreals. everything is transferred. so now all the large boats are going to take all the furs back. and get back in time before it gets too cold. and all of the trade goods are going to come in the smaller canoes back with the trader and his voyagers back to green bay to be traded with the native americans. the fur trade was active in the green bay area for nearly 200 years. it was prosperous for all the different nationalities that were involved in the fur trade. first the french. then the british. then the americans. the way that the french ran the fur trade was probably the best way that anybody could run the fur trade. they really understood the indians. they, at least as far as the indians thought, they really cared about them. they took on their customs. there was a really good culture -- cultural exchange. they intermarried with the native americans and started a

whole nother group of people. those were the people involved in the fur trade even coming into the british period. people of indian and french descent. now, britain kind of came into play around here right after the french and indian war because they won it. the french were still involved in the fur trade as far as being the traders. so the people actually still dealing with the native americans were the french here but now they had to answer to the british as far as, you know, what is fair trade and where they would receive their licenses and that respect. john jacob astor started the american fur trade company and its effect in green bay is pretty long reaching. when he was working with the local traders here, he was charging them more for goods and

he was giving them less money for their furs. now because of that they have to borrow money from him year after year and because of that borrowing of money they get in debt to him to the point where they basically now have to sell their land to him. the land they sold to him became the town of astor. that became a large part of what was later to become green bay. the fur trade really started declining in the middle part of the 1800's. in this area the decline of the fur trade kind of happened in a couple different ways. on the supply side we were , pretty much hunting ourselves out of fever. now muskrat became the main animal for the fur trade at the end. in europe in the demand side now people are going to silk hats and because of that, there was

not as much of a demand for the beaver. once the decline of the fur trade happened, it kind of changed everybody's lives because now the traders are out of a job. now the native americans have to find another way to survive. it kind of added tension to everybody's life. they couldn't go on as usual. green bay is on the map because of the fur trade. because people came here at that time and then stayed. locald out where c-span's content vehicles are going next online. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. campaignt of c-span's

2014 coverage. follow us on twitter and like us on facebook to get debate schedules, video clips of key moments, previews from our politics team. you can instantly share your reactions to what the candidates are saying. stay in touch and engaged by following us on twitter and liking us on facebook. >> next on the civil war, the way the union and confederate commanders attempted a variety of innovations in the final year of the conflict. mr. white is a co-author. this is part of a symposium hosted by the emerging civil war blog. >> our first speaker today is a