On the left is a portrait of Simon McTavish (1750-1804), who dominated the North West Company during its most prosperous period. His is a true "rags to riches" story. Arriving in America a penniless Scots boy, he ultimately controlled an enormous commercial empire, ending his days as the richest man in Montreal. A magnanimous, convivial man, he once confessed himself fond of "good wine, good oysters and pretty girls."
After the union of the two companies in 1821, the fur trade was dominated by Sir George Simpson - (knighted in 1841). Governor Simpson became known as "The Little Emperor" because of the autocratic rule he imposed upon the vast domains of the Hudson's Bay Company until his death in 1860. He was a renowned traveller. In a specially built canoe manned by a crack team of voyageurs, he traveled faster and farther than any other man in the fur trade.
