The fur trade is as old as Canada itself. It provided the economic basis for the founding and expansion of New France. The French fur-traders, Pierre Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers were the first to advocate the routing of the fur trade through Hudson Bay whereas the explorer La Verendrye (Pierre Gaultier de Varennes) pioneered a canoe route from New France to the West. It was the fur trade which opened up this country and prepared the way for white settlement.
The fur trade had a particularly formative influence on what is today western Canada. Under the aegis of two large concerns, the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, the country was explored to the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. For nearly two centuries (1670-1870), the fur trade was the region's dominant activity. Important centres such as Winnipeg, Edmonton and Victoria were originally fur trade posts.
The fur trade was more than just an economic enterprise. Unlike other primary resource industries, it was based on a commodity exchange between two groups of people - Indians and whites. From the Indian, the trader received beaver pelts and other furs in return for European goods such as iron tools, kettles, guns, blankets and beads. Significantly, this interaction also involved a cultural exchange which produced an early Western society that was a blend of Indian, British and French attitudes and traditions. Although the Indian became dependent on European goods, the white man had to adopt Indian modes of travel and items of food and clothing in order to carry out the trade. The traders also married extensively with women from the Indian tribes. Thus, in the fur trade, Indian and white were dependent upon one another; this may explain why the early history of western Canada is free from serious Indian-white conflict.
The Indians of western Canada which the traders first came in contact with were Woodland tribes, the Cree and the Assiniboine. In the early period of the Hudson's Bay Company, before it moved inland to counteract North West Company competition in 1774, the Cree and the Assiniboine assumed the role of middlemen. From various bands in the interior they collected furs and brought them down to the Bay to trade for European goods which were in turn traded to the inland tribes. As the traders moved into the Northwest, they came into direct contact with these tribes. In the northern Athabasca and Mackenzie River districts were the Athapaskan tribes, of whom the Chipewyan were the most numerous. Further south lived the Plains Indians, the most prominent of whom were the Blackfoot. The Carrier Indians dominated the trade of the northern interior of British Columbia; as the trade spread toward the Pacific the traders met many other Indians, including highly developed coastal peoples such as the Tsimshian, Haida and Nootka.
Although white-Indian conflict was minimal, the fur trade was not without violence. The fierce struggle for control between the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company resulted in lawlessness and bloodshed. With the amalgamation of the two companies in 1821, the entire western region was brought under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company. For almost half a century, the monopolistic and paternalistic rule of the Hudson's Bay Company brought to western Canada stability and a remarkable unity. Its territories passed to the recently-formed government of Canada in 1870.
A Brief History of the Western Fur Trade
The following outline covers the most important events of the fur trade for the period under consideration.
1670: The Hudson's Bay Company is formed by a royal charter granted by King Charles II of England. Ironically, the inspiration for the founding of the company had come from two renegade fur-traders from New France, Radisson and Des Groseilliers, who realized the superiority of the Bay route for tapping the rich fur resources of the Northwest.
1690-92: HBC apprentice Henry Kelsey travels inland from York Factory to contact new tribes of Indians and bring them down to the Bay to trade. He is the first European to see the Canadian prairies and buffalo.
1713: Hudson Bay is confirmed as an English possession by the Treaty of Utrecht. This brings to an end over two decades of conflict between England and France for its control.
1730-50: The French, led by La Vérendrye, occupy the western hinterland, building forts as far west as the forks of the Saskatchewan River. By bringing their goods to the Indians, the French seriously curtail the trade of the English posts on Hudson Bay.
1763: By the Treaty of Paris, New France is ceded to England. Owing to the war, French traders had been forced to withdraw from the West as early as 1759.
1766: The first Anglo-American traders (known as the "pedlars") from the new British colony of Quebec appear on the Saskatchewan River. The Hudson's Bay Company finds itself confronted with formidable new competition.
1774: The Hudson's Bay Company establishes its first inland post, Cumberland House, to meet increasing competition.
1779: The "pedlar" Peter Pond pushes over the height of land at the Methye Portage and discovers the Athabasca country. This will prove to be the richest fur bearing region in the whole Northwest.
1783: The formation of the Montreal-based North West Company really dates from this year when a sixteen-share partnership formed in 1779 is reorganized with Simon McTavish and the Frobisher brothers emerging as dominant partners.
1793: Alexander Mackenzie makes his epic overland journey to the Pacific. He was disappointed not to have found a viable water route as was the case when he followed the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean in 1789. After his famous voyages, Mackenzie left the North West Company and joined the rival XY Company.
1804: After the death of Simon McTavish, the XY Company is absorbed by the North West Company. The Nor'Westers now enter into a campaign of unprecedented violence to try to drive out the Hudson's Bay Company.
1808: Simon Fraser's descent of the tortuous Fraser River proves that it will not serve as an outlet to the Pacific. The region of the upper Fraser, known as New Caledonia, becomes a valuable fur-producing area for the North West Company.
1811: Nor'Wester David Thompson at last finds a viable route to the Pacific by descending the Columbia River. He has been preceded by the Pacific Fur Company; it has already built a post at the river's mouth but, during the War of 1812, the Nor'Westers are able to buy out the Americans.
1811: The Hudson's Bay Company grants Lord Selkirk the 116,000 square mile territory of Assiniboia to found a colony. The Nor'Westers try to destroy the Red River Colony, the violence culminating in the Seven Oaks "Massacre" of 1816.
1821: The conflict is ended when the Hudson's Bay Company absorbs its rival. The entire fur trade system is reorganized and consolidated under the guidance of George Simpson, the new overseas governor.
1846: The "Oregon Territory" is ceded to the United States and the Columbia River ceases to be the Pacific outlet of the Canadian fur trade. Fort Victoria, founded in 1843, now becomes the Pacific headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company.
1870: The Hudson's Bay Company surrenders Rupert's Land to the government of Canada.
Life in the Fur Trade
Life in fur trade society will be discussed under the following headings: Personnel, Transport, Forts, Indian Trade, and Recreation and Family Life.
Personnel
During its long history, hundreds of men found employment in the Canadian fur trade. Of the two main companies, the North West Company was by far the largest. It is estimated that in 1811 the Canadian concern employed 1,200 men compared with 300 for the Hudson's Bay Company.
Although somewhat different in their personnel structures, both companies were organized along hierarchical lines -- both had an officer and a servant class. Fur trade society, it should be emphasized, was imbued with notions of rank and class which cut across the egalitarian, individualistic influences of the frontier environment.
a) The North West Company
The Nor'Westers were divided into three ranks: wintering partner (bourgeois), clerk (commis) and engagé. The wintering partners were charged with the management of the fur trade districts of the Northwest. They met annually with the company's agents from Montreal to arrange details of the next year's business. They were truly partners because they were not paid salaries but held shares in the concern, the proceeds of which enabled many of the early bourgeois to retire with handsome fortunes. Hardy, proud, sometimes ruthless, the wintering partners were a close-knit group of predominantly Highland Scots origin. Names such as McTavish, Mackenzie, Macdonald, Fraser, Campbell and Cameron abound. Most of the wintering partners served an apprenticeship as clerks. These junior officers, whose main duties were to keep accounts and make copies of journals and correspondence, were paid an annual salary of one hundred pounds plus their food and clothing.
One of the strengths of the North West Company lay in its skilled work force of French-Canadian engagés or voyageurs. In the days before the Conquest, the French Canadians masterminded all aspects of the fur trade. After the Conquest, they were relegated to the working class of the Canadian trade, but the Nor'Westers were dependent upon their engagés' unique knowledge of the water routes and their expertise in dealing with the Indians. Contracted at Montreal to serve for a period of one to three years, the voyageurs were paid according to their function as canoemen. The most important was the brigade guide and interpreter, followed by the bowsman and steersman, and then the ordinary middleman. Besides his salary, each man received an équipement, consisting of a blanket, clothing and a ration of tobacco. Characterized by their weather-beaten faces and over developed arm and shoulder muscles, most of the voyageurs were small men, averaging five-foot, six inches. The costume of the voyageur was distinctive; he did not resemble the buckskin-clad mountain man commonly portrayed in American motion pictures. His dress consisted of a coat (capot) made out of blanket or duffel, a striped, cotton shirt, and leather or corduroy trousers. Around his waist, he wore a multicoloured, wide worsted sash (ceinture fléchée) from which was suspended a smoking bag, containing a clay pipe and tobacco, and probably a knife. The costume was completed by Indian moccasins and a hat or fur cap.
Since the voyageurs were illiterate, we have to rely on the writings of the bourgeois for descriptions of them. They were universally praised for their incredible endurance, strength, good nature, generosity and buoyant spirits, but they were criticised for their improvidence, gluttony, boastfulness and ignorance. It should be emphasised that the customs and language of the voyageurs formed an integral part of fur trade, society. French was, in fact, the working language of the fur trade.
b) The Hudson's Bay Company
Before the union of the two companies, the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company constituted a small group of men, largely of English origin. There was greater social mobility in this smaller company, however, because its servants and tradesmen, who were drawn almost exclusively from the Orkney Islands, could progress into the officer class. Enured to a cold climate, hardworking, thrifty and sober, the Orcadians were useful employees, although they lacked the voyageurs' knowledge of canoe travel and the wilderness. The Orcadians' relations with the Indians were surprisingly good, their respectful treatment earning the Indians' friendship as much as the French Canadians' familiarity.
With the amalgamation of 1821, the personnel of both companies were incorporated into the Hudson's Bay Company. There were now two ranks of "commissioned officers" or partners who received a share in the profits of the trade: twenty-five Chief Factors and twenty-eight Chief Traders. The prowess of the old North West Company was underscored by the fact that over half of the Hudson's Bay Company's "commissioned officers" were former Nor'Westers.
The Chief Factors considered themselves to be the gentlemen of the fur trade. Like the bourgeois, they wore dignified dress, enjoyed special rations and better accommodation and even had personal servants.
[The Chief Factor] was lord paramount; his word was law, he was necessarily surrounded by a halo of dignity, and his person was sacred so to speak. He was dressed every day in a suit of black or dark blue, white shirt, collars to his ears, frock coat, velvet stocks and straps to the bottom of his trousers. When he went out of doors, he wore a black beaver hat worth forty shillings. When traveling in a canoe or boat, he was lifted in and out of the craft by the crew; he still wore his beaver hat, but it was protected by an oiled silk cover, and over his black frock he wore a long cloak made of Royal Stuart tartan lined with scarlet or dark blue bath coating.... In camp his tent was pitched apart from the shelter given his crew. He had a separate fire, the first work of the boat's crew after landing was to pitch his tent, clear his camp, and collect firewood sufficient for the night before they were allowed to attend to their own wants. Salutes were fired on his departure from the fort and on his return....
Those aspiring to become "commissioned officers" entered the service at the rank of clerk. Kinship ties and the requirement of a good formal education resulted in the majority of the nineteenth-century clerks being recruited from Scotland. It was virtually impossible for a servant of the company to progress through the ranks to become an officer. The new position of "postmaster", which would give a man charge of a small post, was the highest rank an ordinary employee could hope to obtain. The French Canadians and an increasing number of halfbreeds served the company primarily as boatmen, while the Orkneymen were largely employed as artisans - coopers, boatbuilders, blacksmiths, carpenters and so on.
Transport
Transportation comprised an important and colourful aspect of fur trade life. In an age before train or plane, how were such vast stretches of wilderness to be traversed? A glance at the map will show that western Canada is provided with natural avenues of transport in its many lakes and rivers. We do not utilise the rivers today, but in the fur trade era, rivers such as the Assiniboine, the Saskatchewan, and the Athabasca were the highways of the West and gave to the whole area a sense of geographical unity more pronounced than it is today. Both the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company built up truly remarkable transport systems - the former's based on the canoe, the latter's on the York boat. In his book Beyond the River and the Bay, Eric Ross suggests that these craft fittingly symbolise the nature of the two companies - the slow, steady progress of the HBC York boats contrasted with the rapid, extravagant advance of the Nor'Westers' canoes.
a)The North West Company
The Indian birchbark canoe -- a narrow, graceful, keelless craft - was ideally suited to the rapid, shallow streams and numerous lakes of the Canadian Shield. Following the lead of the French, the Nor'Westers adapted the canoe to create an effective transport system which ultimately stretched thousands of miles from Montreal to the Pacific. To cover such vast distances in the few ice-free months of the year, the North West Company utilized two sets of canoes which rendezvoused at a depot at the west end of Lake Superior to exchange goods and furs. From Montreal came the big freight canoes (canot du maître) loaded with merchandise and provisions. The canot du maître was from thirty-five to forty feet long, weighed up to 600 pounds and required a crew of eight to twelve men. It had a carrying capacity of approximately four tons! From the - western interior came brigades of North canoes (canot du nord) bringing the annual fur returns. The canot du nord was about half the size of the canot du maitre, required a crew of four to five men, and had a carrying capacity of about one and a half tons.
The canoes were made of sheets of birchbark, about a quarter of an inch thick, stretched over a slender frame of bowshaped cedar ribs. The sheets were sewn together with wautap, the root of the spruce tree split into threads, then the seams were made watertight with tree gum. Since it could easily be damaged in rough water, every canoe carried a supply of birchbark, wautap and gum for repairs. One disadvantage of the canoe was that it was usually worn out after a season's use and had to be replaced.
The crew of each canoe consisted of a bowman who directed the course of the canoe, a steersman, and a varying number of middlemen (depending on the size of the canoe) who sat two abreast and paddled with rapid, synchronised strokes. A brigade, consisting of from four to eight canoes, was commanded by a guide or conductor, usually a senior voyageur of considerable experience. The voyageurs of the North West Company were divided into two groups - les mangeurs de lard (the pork-eaters) who manned the canots du maître to the Lakehead and les hommes du nord (the northmen) who transported goods beyond Lake Superior in their canots du nord. The men who paddled the North canoes looked down on their countrymen who paddled the freight canoes because they supposedly had a softer life. This was exemplified by the latter's diet of salt pork, dried peas and biscuit; the Northmen had to be content with Indian pemmican, the staple food of the interior brigades. The mystique of the Northmen was demonstrated by the initiation ceremony which they imposed on every newcomer who passed over the "Grand Portage." The greenhorn was dubbed with a cedar bough dipped in water after making several vows, one of which was that he would not kiss another voyageur's wife without her consent.
One cannot help but marvel at the strength and endurance of the French-Canadian voyageurs. During the short travel season, they worked up to eighteen hours a day, paddling and portaging with no protection from the elements. To regulate their paddling and to keep up their spirits, the voyageurs sang: their repertoire ranged from old French folk songs such as "A la claire Fontaine" to indigenuous tunes such as "Mon canot d'écorce" (My birchbark canoe) and "Parmi les Voyageurs (Among the Voyageurs). Every two hours, the voyageurs would rest their paddles and take a short break during which they invariably smoked their pipes. Eventually it became common to talk of the distance travelled in terms of these "pipes" or rest stops. The voyageurs much preferred the exhilaration of running the rapids to the labour of the portage. Yet on the route from Montreal to Lake Athabasca, it is estimated that navigational obstacles such as waterfalls and rapids necessitated 120 portages and 200 décharges, points where the cargo had to be portaged but the empty canoe could be run down the rapids. Obviously an upstream journey against the current was more difficult and time-consuming than the downstream journey. In fairly shallow water, the voyageurs, standing in the canoe, used long, iron-tipped setting poles to push their craft along the side of the rapid. Against a large rapid, the canoe would be "tracked"; the voyageurs walked along the bank, sometimes even in the water, and pulled the loaded canoe by means of a rope or tracking line while one or two men remained on board to guide the craft.
Certainly the life of the voyageur was hazardous and fatiguing. At particularly treacherous spots, there were often several white crosses commemorating voyageurs who had perished. The men were subject to internal injuries such as hernias from carrying heavy loads, usually two packs weighing ninety pounds each, over the portages. Nevertheless, the voyageurs themselves gloried in their hardiness and skill. In spite of the toil, no self-respecting brigade would approach a fort without first stopping to spruce up. Then, in their best clothes and with paddles flying and singing lustily, the voyageurs would draw up to the pier of the fort with a flourish.
b) The Hudson's Bay Company
Because it did not have access to birchbark or experienced canoemen, the Hudson's Bay Company did not adopt the canoe as the basis of its transport system. Instead, it developed the York boat, a keeled vessel made of native spruce. It was from twenty-eight to forty feet long and drew little water. The first York boats were introduced on the Saskatchewan River in 1795. The great advantage of the York boat was that with a crew of the same size as the North canoe it could carry three times the cargo. Another advantage was that it was more durable, lasting three years instead of one. The York boat's big disadvantage was that its great weight made portaging extremely difficult.
After the union of the two companies, an integrated transport system was implemented. The canoe retained predominance in the mountainous area west of the Rockies, but on the broad river systems such as the Saskatcbewan and the Mackenzie, the York boat prevailed. This water transport system was later supplemented by pack trains and brigades of Red River carts.
Fur Trade Posts
It is important to emphasise how widely scattered were the fur trade posts all across western Canada. The forts varied from large depots such as Fort William and York Factory, which almost became small towns in summer, to rough outposts, thrown up during the period of competition, which lasted only a few seasons.
The fur trade posts of western Canada, especially in the period after the union, had a characteristic style. Most of the posts were surrounded by a palisade, but little effort was expended on fortifications as there was not much danger from Indian attack. Most of the buildings were built of squared logs, but the notched "log cabin" construction was rarely used, the neater "post and fill" method being preferred; upright posts were placed at intervals and the spaces filled in horizontally with squared logs or thick planks. The roofs were shingled, the windows often shuttered. Glass windows were a luxury at most posts where thin parchment had to suffice. Most of the buildings were long, low, one-storey structures built around an open square. The most distinctive dwelling - was likely to be the "Big House", the residence of the Chief Factor. The fine furnishings, carpets, and silver service to be found in some of the "Big Houses" were provided by the officers themselves according to taste and means. In general, interiors and their furnishings were rough-and-ready. Although heat was provided by clay or stone fireplaces (later iron stoves) it was not unusual to wake on a winter's morning to find walls coated with ice and wash water frozen solid. Accommodation for the men's families was generally crowded and lacking in privacy. At the Nor'Westers' post of Fort Verrnilion in 1809, for example, each of the men's houses contained four or five families.
A major concern at an inland trading post was to provide enough food to see the people through the winter. Because imported food was so expensive, the traders were encouraged to live off the land. An important consideration in the location of most northern posts was their proximity to a good fishery. Every fall, thousands of whitefish (salmon on the Pacific coast) would be caught and dried. During the winter, nets were set under the ice. Around the posts on Hudson Bay, the annual goose hunts provided an important source of food. Most posts had an icehouse, where fresh meat could be kept frozen, but meat was only readily available at provision posts near the plains. Generally the diet was healthy but very monotonous. Few vegetables or extras were available although the officers were allowed luxuries such as tea, sugar and chocolate. The fur-traders had prodigious appetites. According to Nor'Wester Ross Cox, the daily ration was the equivalent of eight pounds of meat for a man, half that for a woman and one quarter for a child.
The Indian Trade
The main purpose of the posts was to provide trading stations for the Indians; the trade relationship which developed was a complex one in which the Indian played an active role. Because the Indian had no concept of money, a barter system was used. The basic unit of evaluation was set at one prime beaver pelt, known as Made Beaver (MB), and both furs and goods were evaluated according to a scale which became known as the Standard of Trade. For example, according to the North West Company's Standard at Cumberland House in 1820, it took three marten, eight muskrat, or one lynx skin to equal one MB. terms of trade goods, a woolen blanket cost eight MB while a gun cost fifteen. The Indians were sophisticated traders in that they resisted the traders' attempts to change the Standard of Trade to their disadvantage. Furthermore, they did not respond to European notions of supply and demand, and the trading system was worked out to accommodate Indian and not European attitudes.
The relationship is illustrated by the trade ceremony which was devised more by the Indians than the whites. Nearly every post had a building designated as the Indian Hall; there the Indians were received by the officers, the ritual pipe was smoked, and presents distributed. Originally, the Hudson's Bay Company did not trade liquor to the Indians; it was given in small quantities as a present during the trade ceremony. Later competition, especially between rival Canadian companies, resulted in the influx of thousands of gallons of liquor which had a very damaging effect on the Indians. After the union of 1821, the Hudson's Bay Company significantly cut down on the liquor traffic.
It should be pointed out that while the Indian suffered ill effects as the result of white contact, the fur traders had a vested interest in maintaining the Indian in his nomadic way of life. The Indian was the central figure in the fur trade operation and it can be argued that the fur-traders tampered less with the Indians' way of life than any other group of whites.
Recreation and Family Life
Once the hustle and bustle of the trade season was over and the long winter months set in, life at a fur trade post became a rather dreary routine. The men were employed with chores such as bringing in firewood, repairing buildings and equipment and making articles for the trade. The clerks checked accounts and copied journals. There was little to do for recreation. If the weather was not too cold a man might don his snowshoes and go out hunting; the evening might be spent in playing cards or telling tall tales. Many of the officers enjoyed reading. Such a good library was built up at Fort Chipewyan, for example, that it became known as "the Athens of the North." For the literate, a most welcome event would be the arrival of the winter packet, bringing news from the outside world. The writing of letters was a highly developed art among the officers.
Holidays and special events such as weddings which provided a break from the daily routine were celebrated with great gusto in fur trade society. The Nor'Westers were famous for their balls since the voyageurs loved to dance. New Year's Day was the most important holiday for the fur-traders, and it was celebrated according to well-established customs. Chief Factor John Stuart described the festivities at Fort Carlton in 1825. First thing in the morning, the men announced the New Year by firing "a Salute of Musketry." After that the men of the fort, dressed in their best clothes, came to pay the compliments of the season to the Chief Factor, who treated them to punch, rum and cakes. After the men had departed the women of the fort followed to pay their respects and were greeted with a kiss à la mode du pays, which was the customary salutation for women in fur trade society.The day before, special rations had been issued to each family so that they could have an "ample breakfast" of bear's meat and potatoes. In the late afternoon, the Chief Factor gave a feast. Again, as was customary, the men ate first, the women and children afterward. Stuart says it was a marvellous dinner featuring two kinds of meat stew, plenty of roasted buffalo ribs and humps, currant pies and plum pudding. In the evening, there was a dance which everyone attended. At midnight, the Chief Factor wished the company goodnight, "after which they all retired having previously got four Gallons of Rum amongst them all to drink prosperity to the Company."
There can be no doubt that the monotony and loneliness inherent in fur trade life would have been much worse without the development of family ties. It is a significant feature of fur trade society that although the traders brought no white women with them, they did not conform to the image of the "womanless" frontiersman. This is because the personnel of both the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company took wives from among the Indian tribes, mainly Cree, Ojibway and Chipewyan. These unions, contracted according to an indigenous marriage rite known as marriage à la façon du pays (after the fashion of the country), formed the basis of fur trade society and gave rise to a large half-breed population. Initially, the Hudson's Bay Company tried to prevent its servants from marrying Indian women; it was, however, never successful in enforcing regulations to prohibit this and eventually followed the lead of the North West Company which encouraged these alliances as a good way of cementing trade ties with the Indians.
"The custom of the country" derived from Indian marriage customs. Firstly, the trader had to secure the consent of the woman's parents and then pay them a "bride price" usually in trade goods and liquor. The bride was conducted to the fort where she exchanged her Indian garments for those of "Canadian fashion." Wives of officers were given privileged treatment in accordance with their husbands' rank and courteously addressed as "Madam" by the voyageurs. It was customary for families to be clothed and fed at the expense of the company. A difficult social problem arose when it came time for the trader to retire. Until the founding of the Red River Settlement, there was no place in the West for a man to retire with his family, and a native wife would have had difficulty adapting to life in Britain or eastern Canada. Thus, many traders left their Indian wives behind when they retired. Some wives were left annuities by their husbands; others, particularly Nor'Westers' families, were supported by the Company; others simply returned to live with their own people.
