A Comparison of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company The Northwest in 1800 A Comparison of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company

The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) In the 17th century the French had a monopoly on the fur trade. Two French traders, Radisson and Groseilliers, learned from the Cree that the Hudson Bay was home to the best fur. At first they sought French support to set up a trading post on the Bay but they were turned down by Colbert, the newly appointed French Secretary of State. Radisson and Groseilliers approached a group of businessmen in Boston, Massachusetts to help finance their trading post. The business men agreed and took Radisson and Des Groseilliers to England to obtain financing.

Rupert's Land A Royal Charter from King Charles II in 1670 granted the HBC a monopoly over the fur trade in the area known as Rupert’s Land. The company founded its first headquarters at Fort Nelson which is now in present-day Manitoba. Other posts were established around the southern edge of Hudson Bay in MB, ON, and QB. These posts were called “Factories” because a Factor (a person acting as a mercantile agent) did business there.

A HBC post on Lake Winnipeg HBC Trading Posts The HBC built trading posts at the mouths of rivers emptying into the Hudson Bay. They encouraged the Assiniboin, the Cree, and the Ojibwa trappers and traders to bring their furs to them. They followed this “Stay by the Bay” policy for the next century. First Nations traders did the majority of the actual trapping, traveling by canoe. First Nations received metal tools and hunting gear in exchange for their pelts. The beaver was the most prized pelt. A HBC post on Lake Winnipeg c. 1884

HBC Post at Moose Factory The 19th Century The HBC’s standard of trade was very strict and there was little room for bargaining. They had a very rigid hierarchy (people in authority ranked from top to bottom). The local bosses, aka the “Factors,” were British, as were the clerks and labourers at the posts. Everyone who worked for the HBC was a salaried employee. Only the London partners shared in the profits. The HBC shipped furs to England every summer and received their trade goods during this time as well. HBC Post at Moose Factory

HBC Trading Posts

Enter the North West Company In 1783 the North West Company (NWC) was established and the HBC had a rival. Their “stay-by-the-bay” policy was challenged as NWC posts began to crop up in the western and northern interior. First Nations trappers were more willing to travel to these new posts rather than make the long journey to the Bay. By the end of the 1780s the HBC had established their own inland posts in an attempt to gain back some of the trade that had gone to the NWC. North West Company Arms

The North West Company When New France fell in 1763, the French fur trade was seized by English merchants from Montreal. Benjamin and Joseph Frobisher and Simon MacTavish, discussed how they might break the stranglehold the HBC held on the fur trade. 1783 several companies merged to form the NWC The NWC was a very dynamic and aggressive operation and its structure was based on partnerships rather than the “top-down” approach of the HBC. The NWC’s Montreal partners bought trade goods from England and arranged for the sale and shipment of pelts. The hivernants (wintering partners) who remained in the Northwest did the actual fur trading. The hivernants were not salaried employees like the HBC’s employees as they had a share in the company’s profits. Simon MacTavish

The NWC Continued… Geography influenced the NWC’s decision to build posts inland. Furs had to be shipped from Montreal to England so the NWC established a major trade depot at Ft. William, which was located at the head of Lake Superior. In the spring trade goods were shipped from England to Ft. William. Eventually the NWC stretched all the way west from Ft. William to Ft. Fraser and all the way North to Ft. Providence. Fort William

NWC Posts

North West Company Token Success for the NWC? The NWC was more lenient in its trading standards than the HBC. They were willing to negotiate prices with First Nations trappers and they were willing to trade alcohol for fur. Their approach to fur trade was quite beneficial and by 1800 the NWC had a large network of trading posts. The first decade of the 19th century saw great success as the NWC expanded its operating territory. Competition with the HBC was intense, however, and profits were small. A NWC branch had been established in New York City and this allowed them to ship furs to China. The War of 1812 saw the destruction of a NWC post at Sault Sainte Marie which resulted in a serious blow to the company. North West Company Token

Alexander Mackenzie Mackenzie was a partner in the NWC.                                                    Mackenzie was a partner in the NWC. He traveled down the Fraser river towards Prince George. Missed the Nechako river entirely. Why? When he reached the Pacific Ocean he wrote the following message on a rock: “Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada by land, the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.“

Simon Fraser Like Mackenzie, Fraser was also involved with the NWC; however, he was the youngest partner in the history of the NWC. Fraser had found out from the Native people that the Fraser River, could be reached by descending the Stuart River, which drained Stuart Lake, and then by descending the Nechako River to its convergence with the Fraser. Fraser decided to take a journey to convergence of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers. There he established a new post named Fort George which would become the starting point for his trip downstream.