Stages of the Fur Trade

1497 Cabot discovers cod fishery 1534 Cartier claims Gulf of St. Lawrence for France – meets natives who want to trade furs for European goods French and natives meet each summer at Tadoussac, exchanging furs for European goods 1600 Informal fur trade between French and English fishermen and natives Increasing demand for furs in Europe – need for more organized trade to provide adequate supply Phase 1: Ship to Shore ( )

1608 Champlain establishes French settlement at Quebec  French form alliance with Huron, who become “middlemen in French fur trade  1630s: Jesuit missionaries sent to convert Huron to Christianity Phase 2: Company Monopoly ( ) Huron, weakened by disease, are exterminated in warfare with Iroquois French colony on verge of collapse due to Iroquois attacks Flow of furs to France disrupted

1663 Phase 3: Reorganization & Rivalry ( ) Young King Louis XIV assumes direct control of New France 1668 ‘Coureurs de bois’ (young Frenchmen) replace Huron as middlemen in fur trade French government issues licenses to fur traders  Two French traders Radisson & Groseilliers, refused license to export furs out of Hudson Bay, take their idea to England, making successful voyage in 1668

1670 Phase 3: Reorganization & Rivalry ( ) England’s King Charles II issues charter to Hudson’s Bay Co., granting it exclusive rights to trade furs out of Hudson Bay 1700 HBC charter grants ownership of all lands drained by rivers emptying into Hudson Bay Natives bring furs to HBC posts on shore of Hudson Bay (“sleep by the frozen sea”)

1700 Phase 3: Reorganization & Rivalry ( ) French establish chain of trading posts west of Great Lakes in effort to divert furs from HBC to Quebec 1763 French trading lines stretch thousands of kilometers into Canadian West 1730s La Vérendrye & sons establish French posts on Lake Winnipeg and Saskatchewan River  French lose Seven Years’ War  New France becomes British colony  Newly arrived English merchants assume control of French fur trade