A map of MacKenzie's Track, from Fort Chipewyan to the North Sea in 1789 Source: McCord Museum/ Musée McCord

 


Trading Post on the River aux Rats









Fort William in Winter Source: Stewart Fund


"Their Posts extend from Mingan in Labrador by Tadoussac and St. Maurice to the North Shore of Lake Huron and along the South of Lake Superior to the Red river, and from that line through all the country to Hudson's bay and MacKenzie river." (Lord Selkirk 1804)

Between 1774 and 1821, fur traders from the HBC and the NWC built rival posts throughout the Canadian Northwest. It was during this period that the competition for furs and the building of trading posts reached their peak. The trading post settlement evolved independently and in parallel stages, within two major regions: the Petit Nord lying between lake Superior and James bay and extending west to lake Winnipeg, and the Grand Nord, lying to the north and west of lake Winnipeg and east of the Rocky Mountains.

Throughout this time, rival trading posts continuously entered a new area one after the other for the purpose of establishing the confidence of Indians. To attract their business, "out settlements" appeared to be the only answer: small tents of a few men who would go beyond HBC posts to meet the Indians in the spring. The traders' interest in setting up trading posts in the Northwest was intended to bypass the influence of the HBC.

Recent research has established that between 1774 and 1821, a total of 601 trading posts were established in Canada. Of these, 351 were built by Montreal-based traders and 250 were constructed by the HBC. Contrary to general interpretations of the fur trade, the advance of trading posts into the Northwest did not proceed progressively from east to west. Rather, the two expanding frontiers thrust simultaneously into the two regions, so that, until 1790, the settlement culminated in the east of the Petit Nord at the same time as it did in the west of the Grand Nord. By 1789, a framework of posts, mostly from the Montreal traders, was well developed in both major regions. Until 1804, there was a progressive in-filling of posts that proceeded until the limits of the trade was reached. During this period, trading posts reached a maximum density on the land, and there began the decline of fur resources that would plague the companies until 1821.

After 1804, the NWC and the HBC locked in an increasingly ruinous competition. Both companies reduced the number of posts operating in the Northwest and explored ways in which they could encroach upon rival posts. Following 1813, both companies again increased the number of posts and this expansion could not be sustained. It led to the merger of 1821, which led to an era of monopoly. Although the total number of active posts declined from 155 in 1805 to 109 in 1821, the two companies sought out the remaining pockets of fur bearing animals in the Northwest.


Copyright © McGill University, 2001
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