The Company

1. The Audacious Genesis: French Vision, English Monopoly

The Company was not a colonizing enterprise—nothing in its charter had do with missionaries or conquest—but nor was it a purely business enterprise.

A bold proposition. In 1665, two French coureurs de bois, Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson, weary of being snubbed by French authorities, presented a grand scheme to England's King Charles II: exploit the vast beaver pelts of northern North America via Hudson Bay, bypassing French-controlled St. Lawrence trade routes. Despite the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London, their vision of direct access to prime furs and a potential Northwest Passage captivated English aristocrats and financiers, including Prince Rupert.

Royal charter and monopoly. In 1670, King Charles II granted Prince Rupert and his associates a sweeping charter, establishing the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) as "true and absolute Lordes and Proprietors" of Rupert's Land—a territory encompassing over 40% of modern Canada. This monopoly, absurd in its geographical misunderstanding, aimed to secure valuable beaver pelts for Europe's booming felt hat industry, which had shifted to London due to French Huguenot hatters fleeing religious persecution. The Company's primary goal was profit, but it also carried vague obligations to the Crown, such as searching for the Northwest Passage.

Early trade and challenges. The HBC quickly established primitive outposts along Hudson Bay, trading manufactured goods for furs with the Cree. This mutually beneficial trade was immediately profitable, but the Company's presence soon attracted the attention of French colonial authorities, who saw it as a threat to their fur trade. Radisson and Groseilliers, despite their indispensable knowledge of Indigenous languages and customs, found their loyalties questioned and eventually returned to French service, only to be thwarted again by European politics.

2. Life on the Bay's Chilly Rim: A Century of Quiet Trade

The Company permit no European women to be brought within their territories; and forbid any natives to be harboured in the settlements. This latter has never been obeyed.

Harsh realities, predictable routines. After years of conflict with France, the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) returned HBC posts to English control, ushering in a century of "quiet monopoly." Life at the isolated, poorly constructed forts was harsh, with freezing winters, monotonous food, and swarms of insects in summer. Despite London's directives, the Baymen, mostly Orkney Islanders and Lowland Scots, adapted to local conditions, often relying on Indigenous hunters for fresh meat and adopting practices like spruce beer for scurvy.

Cultural blending and country marriages. London directors initially forbade relationships between employees and Indigenous women, fearing "debauching" and resource drain. However, these "country marriages" became common and vital for the Company's success, fostering kinship ties, securing trade privileges, and providing essential domestic and survival skills. These unofficial unions led to a growing population of "country born" or "citizens of the bay," who formed a distinct mixed-heritage society around the forts.

Local autonomy vs. London's dictates. The vast distance between London and the Bay meant that many directives from the London Committee were politely ignored or adapted to local realities. While the Company sought to impose a rigid class system, the officers were often competent tradesmen rather than gentlemen, and the unique blend of customs at the forts created a society distinct from either British or purely Indigenous norms. This local autonomy, however, would be challenged as the Company faced new threats and sought greater control.

3. Beyond the Bay: Indigenous Networks and Unseen Plagues

The repeated waves of sickness inflicted upon groups—a seemingly endless sequence of mourning and sorrow in a changing world—would have more than offset any material benefit from the trade goods obtained through contact with foreigners, had such a trade-off been understood or available.

Trade's transformative power. The fur trade profoundly influenced Indigenous material culture. Metal tools, firearms, and cloth from the HBC made life easier, altered hunting practices, and shifted power dynamics. Brass kettles replaced ceramic, and guns provided military advantages. These goods filtered deep into the continent through ancient Indigenous trade networks, creating new economic incentives and reordering traditional ways of life.

The rise of middlemen. The Home Guard Cree, living closest to HBC posts, quickly established themselves as powerful middlemen, controlling access to European goods and trading them at inflated prices to inland peoples like the Blackfoot. This created short-lived commercial empires and intense inter-group competition. HBC's initial reluctance to venture inland allowed these Indigenous monopolies to flourish, but also limited the Company's reach and profits.

The devastating impact of disease. European diseases like smallpox, influenza, and measles, unknown to North American Indigenous populations, swept through the continent in devastating waves. These epidemics, often spread inadvertently by traders and travelers, caused massive population declines (up to 80% in some regions), leading to widespread starvation, social disintegration, and forced migrations. The Company's local agents often provided aid, but the scale of suffering was immense, fundamentally altering the cultural and political landscape of Rupert's Land.

4. The Nor'Westers' Challenge: Inland Expansion and Rivalry

There is no life so happy as a voyageur life.

New competition from Montreal. After the British conquest of New France, a new, aggressive fur trade enterprise emerged from Montreal: the North West Company (Nor'Westers). Led by shrewd financiers like Simon McTavish and adventurous partners like Alexander Mackenzie, they pushed deep into the interior, establishing numerous temporary posts and challenging the HBC's coastal monopoly. Their business model, based on profit-sharing and dynamic field partners, contrasted sharply with the HBC's more bureaucratic, salaried structure.

The voyageur's epic journey. The Nor'Westers relied on a vast network of French-Canadian and Iroquois voyageurs, elite athletes who paddled huge birchbark canoes (canots du maître and canots du nord) thousands of kilometers from Montreal to Grand Portage (later Fort William) and then to distant western outposts like Fort Chipewyan. This grueling journey, involving back-breaking portages and relentless paddling, was fueled by pemmican supplied by Plains Indigenous peoples, creating a complex and interdependent supply chain.

Mackenzie's continental quests. Driven by ambition and Peter Pond's geographical theories, Alexander Mackenzie embarked on two epic expeditions: first, down the "River of Disappointment" (Mackenzie River) to the Arctic Ocean in 1789, and then across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific in 1793. While failing to find a Northwest Passage, his journeys provided crucial geographical knowledge, documented Indigenous cultures, and highlighted the potential for a Pacific trade route, further fueling the Nor'Westers' expansion and setting the stage for intensified competition with the HBC.

5. Companies at War: Pemmican, Métis, and Bloodshed

We may truly say that liquor is the root of all evil in the North West.

Escalating conflict. The rivalry between the HBC and Nor'Westers intensified into open warfare in the early 19th century. Both companies built forts within sight of each other, engaged in cutthroat pricing, and used intimidation and violence. The Nor'Westers, with their larger workforce and aggressive tactics, often resorted to burning rival posts, seizing furs, and harassing HBC employees and their Indigenous customers.

The Pemmican War and Métis identity. The conflict centered on the Red River valley, a vital source of pemmican for both companies' brigades. Lord Selkirk's utopian agricultural colony, established in 1812, directly threatened the Nor'Westers' supply lines and the livelihood of the Métis, a distinct mixed-heritage people who had developed a strong sense of identity and self-governance through their biannual bison hunts. The Métis, led by Cuthbert Grant, fiercely resisted Selkirk's attempts to control their land and resources.

Seven Oaks and its aftermath. The Pemmican Proclamation (1814), banning pemmican export, ignited the "Pemmican War." This culminated in the Battle of Seven Oaks (1816), where Métis warriors clashed with Selkirk's settlers and HBC employees, resulting in 21 deaths, including Governor Robert Semple. The violence, fueled by liquor and a breakdown of social norms, brought both companies to the brink of bankruptcy and forced the British government to intervene, leading to their eventual merger.

6. The Little Emperor's Iron Rule: Reshaping the Fur Empire

In no colony subject to the British Crown is there to be found an authority so despotic as is at this day exercised in the mercantile Colony of Rupert’s Land; and authority combining the despotism of military rule with the strict surveillance and mean parsimony of the avaricious trade.

Simpson's ascendancy. In 1821, the financially crippled HBC and Nor'Westers were forcibly merged by the British government, retaining the HBC name. George Simpson, a shrewd and ruthless London clerk with no prior fur trade experience, was appointed governor of the Northern Department. He quickly consolidated power, firing over a thousand surplus employees, cutting costs, and imposing strict discipline to restore profitability.

A new corporate culture. Simpson transformed the Company into a highly centralized, efficient, and profitable enterprise. He replaced canoes with larger York boats, implemented quotas, and controlled trade goods. His management style was despotic, characterized by snap decisions, constant touring, and a relentless focus on profit. He viewed Indigenous peoples and even his own employees as "chits to be moved around the board," often displaying condescending and racist attitudes, particularly towards mixed-heritage individuals and country wives.

Social disruption and paternalism. Simpson actively discouraged country marriages, preferring his officers seek white wives from Britain, and often callously discarded his mixed-heritage mistresses and their children. This new racial prejudice, coupled with the Company's increasing control over Indigenous lives (e.g., banning steel traps, restricting liquor), eroded traditional kinship ties and autonomy. Simpson's reign marked a profound shift, transforming the Company from a commercial partner into a paternalistic, quasi-colonial authority.

7. Old Oregon: Fur, Forts, and the American Tide

The country is a rich preserve of Beaver and which for political reasons we should endeavour to destroy as fast as possible.

McLoughlin's western domain. In 1824, Simpson dispatched Dr. John McLoughlin, a towering and volatile former Nor'Wester, to govern the vast Columbia Department (Old Oregon). McLoughlin established Fort Vancouver as the central hub, a thriving multicultural settlement that became known as the "New York of the Pacific." Despite being under Simpson's authority, McLoughlin largely ruled Old Oregon as a feudal lord, maintaining law and order over diverse Indigenous tribes and early American settlers.

The Mountain Men's invasion. American "Mountain Men," like Jedediah Smith, began pushing west in the 1820s, trapping beaver to extermination in the Rocky Mountains. Unlike the HBC's trading post system, these free trappers operated independently, meeting at annual "rendezvous" for supplies and revelry. Their aggressive tactics and disregard for Indigenous land claims led to constant low-level warfare and rapidly depleted beaver populations.

Scorched-earth policy and American settlement. To counter American encroachment and preserve British claims, Simpson and McLoughlin implemented a "scorched-earth" policy, using trappers like Peter Skene Ogden to deliberately exterminate beaver south of the Columbia, creating a "fur desert." However, glowing reports of Oregon's fertility, spread by figures like Hall Jackson Kelley and missionaries like Jason Lee, spurred a massive influx of American settlers along the Oregon Trail in the 1830s and 40s. McLoughlin, despite Company policy, generously aided these pioneers, further straining his relationship with Simpson.

8. The Monopoly's End: Gold, Governance, and a New Nation

The Company was nothing other than its people and their stories; everything else is now dust. And we live in their world, just as they live in ours.

The Oregon Treaty and McLoughlin's fall. The influx of American settlers made joint occupation untenable. Despite McLoughlin's efforts to keep settlers south of the Columbia, the provisional government formed by Americans in 1843 asserted U.S. sovereignty. In 1846, the Oregon Boundary Treaty set the 49th parallel as the border, ceding Old Oregon to the United States. McLoughlin, demoted and embittered by Britain's perceived abandonment of the territory, resigned from the HBC, becoming an American citizen and settling in Oregon City.

Gold Rush and Douglas's dilemma. In 1858, the Fraser River Gold Rush brought tens of thousands of prospectors to British Columbia, overwhelming the tiny Fort Victoria. James Douglas, the HBC's chief factor and governor of Vancouver Island, faced the challenge of maintaining British sovereignty and order amidst the chaos. He declared all gold government property, issued licenses, and, against geographical logic, built the Cariboo Road to ensure all trade flowed through British territory, cementing British Columbia's future.

The monopoly's demise. The gold rush, coupled with growing discontent in the Red River Settlement over the HBC's monopoly, sealed the Company's fate. Critics in Britain and Canada argued that the vast territory should not be held by a private company. Simpson's testimony before a British parliamentary committee in 1857, where he downplayed the land's agricultural potential, further damaged the Company's credibility.

A new era. In 1869, the HBC surrendered its land rights to the British Crown for £300,000, retaining its forts and 5% of the fertile belt. On July 15, 1870, Rupert's Land became part of the new Dominion of Canada. The Company transitioned from a territorial power to a retail business, its legacy intertwined with the lives of thousands of individuals—explorers, traders, Indigenous peoples, and settlers—whose dreams and struggles transformed a continent.

Last updated: August 16, 2025