Changes in the Northwest Much change.

A Quick Review of the Fur Trade Competition!! HBC settled in the Hudson’s Bay area NWC settled along the St. Lawrence river and Montreal Traded heavily with the Huron and Cree people Scottish merchants in Montreal created the North West Company (NWC) in Montreal

A Bitter Rivalry 1790s NWC relied on pushing further west in order to get fur (created some of the first settlements out west) Competition become intense and sometimes violent Destroying each other’s boats Bribes for rival’s First Nation’s people

Thomas Douglas, Fifth Earl of Selkirk Son of a rich landowner Daddy died, brother died, Selkirk got a ton of land and a huge fortune He provided poor Scottish farmers with homes and land. Solution was to also buy land in the Red River Valley Selkirk tried to buy a chunk of land from HBC but they refused (wanted monopoly) Selkirk then bought shares in HBC to gain influence within the company, then he bought 40 468 hectares of land Became known as the Selkirk Concession or Assiniboia

Look Familiar?

Set up by the North West Company Fort Gibraltar Set up by the North West Company Created right underneath the nose of Fort Douglas (Owned by HBC) Destroyed in 1816 but was recreated a year later https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrILfVQxzww

Fort Garry Established fort in 1822 Central building for the HBC 1869: The fort was surrendered to the NW trade company 1870: Fort was seized by Louis Riel Winnipeg continued to grow around it and the name disappeared Now used as street, business, and hotel names

Assiniboia’s Population Mix Selkirk hired Miles MacDonell (Scottish born North American) to arrange for immigrants to come to the colony The 1st group arrives in 1812 (36 Scottish and Irish workers) They spent the first 2 winters at the HBC post at Pembina, ill equipped for the rugged landscape and harsh winters They were assisted byChief Peguis’s Saulteax People and the Metis They gave them food and helped them adapt Without this help, few would have survived The settlement grew slowly as immigrants from Scotland and Ireland arrived

Unwanted Guests The new Scottish immigrants attempted to build relationships with both the HBC and the NWC NWC was not welcoming because they thought that the settles were all in support of the HBC (Remember, Selkirk bought land from them) Needed to try and build relations with First Nations to help them survive Aboriginals may have been apprehensive because their last experience with Europeans was not ideal

The Metis People The Metis culture was originally a result of the fur trade (French fur traders & First Nations) Most Metis men worked on the fur trade for the NW company Many were Roman Catholic religion based on their French ancestry Relied heavily on the fur trade & The buffalo hunt

Metis Government The buffalo hunt was so important that the Metis formed a government to oversee each hunt A captain was elected to lead Under the captain, a council of lieutenants was elected to represent the hunters Hunts were carried out with military like precision Strict rules were necessary to manage the large number of hunters

The Hunt Often organized 2 major hunts per year The Metis hunted in massive groups, sometimes as big as 1600 people Everyone (men, woman, and child) participated in the hunt because the Metis needed everyone that they could to help carry the hides home Could often attain over one million pounds of meat and hide Late 1700s: introduction of the horse, which changed the way the hunted entirely

Largest Hunt During a hunt in 1840, 1,630 men, women and children managed 1,210 carts, and more than 400 horses, and 500 dogs.

1840 Bison Hunt http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions- exhibitions/batoche/docs/proof_en_buffalo_hunt.pdf The 1840 Bison Hunt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPzeY9itfLE

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump Before the use of horses Used for 5,500 years by aboriginals (around 6,000) years ago. 35 foot high cliffs Aboriginals would dress like wolves and scare the buffalo into running towards the cliff The momentum of the other buffalo behind them would cause them to be pushed off, breaking their legs or killing them People would be waiting at the bottom to process the buffalo parts

Pemmican Proclamation 1810: Metis were main providers of buffalo products to the NWC Selkirk Settlers were not able to grow crops so they too chose to hunt bison Aboriginals felt like this was infringing on their rights 1814: A Pemmican Proclamation banned the export of Pemmican (Out of the Red River settlement) by Miles MacDonell (Governor of the Colony) Meant to insure there would be provisions put in place to protect immigrants However, the new immigrants continued to export it to the NWC

Pemmican War: The fight for Jerky It begins when HBC employees begin searching NWC forts and seizing pemmican The NWC retaliated by arresting and imprisoning the HBC men for burglary, but also destroyed the crops and destroyed the buildings of Selkirk immigrants near Fort Douglas Together, the Metis and the NWC were determined to drive the Selkirk immigrants from the colony They took farm equipment and horses and threatened the colonists Skirmishes continued for several years In 1815 MacDonnell resigned as governor and is replaced by Robert Semple Who had no experience with the fur trade

Battle of Seven Oaks (15 minutes of Fame) 1816: Semple tells HBC to capture and burn Fort Gibraltar Cuthbert Grant (Scottish and Metis ancestry) was the leader and spokesperson for the Metis Took 60 people (40 Metis) and found a wooded area (Seven Oaks) near Fort Douglas Semple met them and a fight broke out lasting a whopping 15 minutes 20 HBC members (including Semple) died The Metis lost 1 person Fort Douglas surrendered instantly

After Seven Oaks When hearing of the battle at Seven Oaks Lord Selkirk was en route to the colony with his own private army In retaliation Selkirk captured Fort William (present day Thunder Bay) the heart of the NWC fur trade empire Selkirk winters at Fort William and head towards Fort Douglas in the spring, capturing NWC forts along the way The war continues in this manner for 5 years Selkirk’s colony grows, but slowly

A Historic Merger HBC and NWC had been fighting since they were created NWC was much larger but didn’t have the finances of the HBC (British govt) HBC pushed their prices so low to the point of losing money, but had more business than the NWC NWC reached the Pacific by 1793, with the HBC soon after NWC was not making as much money because they had no where to go and the HBC was scooping up most of the First Nation’s clients 1821: Massive merger of both companies, creating the largest fur-trade organization in North America (kept the Hudson’s Bay Company name)

The Decline of the Fur Trade…No More Bison Burgers The overhunting of beaver fur and the introduction to felt hats marked a huge decline in trades Bison robe became the new thing and it caused a mass slaughtering of bison Bison were killed by the thousands, driving the species to the edge of extinction As low as 1,000 left worldwide (now back up to 500,000)

The 49th Parallel The late 19th Century: Britain and USA had constant issues around land claims Both wanted the Pacific Northwest: Britain called it Columbia District USA called it Oregon Country 1845: Joint control over this area was terminated 1846: Oregon Treaty: Divided the border as we see it today.