Fur Trade Wars

At its height, the HBC’s holdings covered almost a tenth of the world’s land surface, stretching from the Arctic Ocean across the Prairies and the Rocky Mountains to British Columbia and Oregon. When the upstart North West Company of Montreal challenged the HBC supremacy, however, an ongoing battle erupted which changed the course of Canadian history.University of Manitoba historian J. M. (Jack) Bumsted has written a colourful, in—depth account of this titanic struggle. Combining astute scholarship with an accessible writing style, Bumsted’s Fur Trade Wars brings to life the dramatic events and memorable characters that helped shape a nation.

The early history of the Hudson’s Bay Company comes alive in these true tales of fur-trade wars, incredible wilderness journeys, hardships and danger. Founded by the extraordinary adventurers and renegades Radisson and des Groseilliers, the HBC attracted many memorable characters. Explorer Henry Kelsey was the first European to see the buffalo herds. James Knight met a mysterious fate on a frozen northern island. Brave Isabel Gunn worked in the fur trade disguised as a man. Anyone who enjoys historical adventure will relish these exciting stories of Canada’s oldest company.

The early history of the Hudson’s Bay Company comes alive in these true tales of fur-trade wars, incredible wilderness journeys, hardships and danger. Founded by the extraordinary adventurers and renegades Radisson and des Groseilliers, the HBC attracted many memorable characters. Explorer Henry Kelsey was the first European to see the buffalo herds. James Knight met a mysterious fate on a frozen northern island. Brave Isabel Gunn worked in the fur trade disguised as a man. Anyone who enjoys historical adventure will relish these exciting stories of Canada’s oldest company.

At the time of its publication in 1930, The Fur Trade in Canada challenged and inspired scholars, historians, and economists. Now, almost seventy years later, Harold Innis's fundamental reinterpretation of Canadian history continues to exert a magnetic influence. Innis has long been regarded as one of Canada's foremost historians, and in The Fur Trade in Canada he presents several histories in one: social history through the clash between colonial and aboriginal cultures; economic history in the development of the West as a result of Eastern colonial and European needs; and transportation history in the case of the displacement of the canoe by the York boat. Political history appears in Innis's examination of the nature of French-British rivalry and the American Revolution; and business history is represented in his detailed account of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Companies and the industry that played so vital a role in the expansion of Canada. In his introduction to this new edition, Arthur J. Ray argues that The Fur Trade in Canada is the most definitive economic history and geography of the country ever produced. Innis's revolutionary conclusion - that Canada was created because of its geography, not in spite of it - is a captivating idea but also an enigmatic proposition in light of the powerful decentralizing forces that threaten the nation today. Ray presents the history of the book and concludes that "Innis's great book remains essential reading for the study of Canada."

What did happen to the body of Thomas Scott?The disposal of the body of Canadian history's most famous political victim is the starting point for historian J.M. Bumsted's new look at some of the most fascinating events and personalities of Manitoba's Red River Settlement.To outsiders, 19th-century Red River seemed like a remote community precariously poised on the edge of the frontier. Small and isolated though it may have been, Red River society was also lively, well educated, multicultural and often contentious. By looking at well-known figures from a new perspective, and by examining some of the more obscure corners of the settlement's history, Bumsted challenges many of the widely held assumptions about Red River. He looks, for instance, at the brief, unhappy Swiss settlement at Red River, examines the controversial reputation of politician John Christian Shultz, and delves into the sensational scandal of a prominent clergyman's trial.Vividly written, Thomas Scott's Body pieces together a new and often surprising picture of early Manitoba and its people.

Throughout much of the nineteenth century the Hudson's Bay Company had a virtual monopoly on the core area of the fur trade in Canada. Its products were the object of intense competition among merchants on two continents – in Leipzig, New York, London, Winnipeg, St Louis, and Montreal. But in 1870 things began to change, and by the end of the Second World War the company's share had dropped to about a quarter of the trade. Arthur Ray explores the decades of transition, the economic and technological changes that shaped them, and their impact on the Canadian north and its people. Among the developments that affected the fur trade during this period were innovations in transportation and communication; increased government involvement in business, conservation, and native economic welfare; and the effects of two severe depressions (1873-95 and 1929-38) and two world wars. The Hudson's Bay Company, confronting the first of these changes as early as 1871, embarked on a diversification program that was intended to capitalize on new economic opportunities in land development, retailing, and resource ventures. Meanwhile it continued to participate in its traditional sphere of operations. But the company's directors had difficulty keeping pace with the rapid changes that were taking place in the fur trade, and the company began to lose ground. Ray's study is the first to make extensive use of the Hudson's Bay Company archives dealing with the period between 1870 and 1945. These and other documents reveal a great deal about the decline of the company, and thus about a key element in the history of the modern Canadian fur trade.

Back in print. George T. Hunt’s classic 1940 study of the Iroquois during the middle and late seventeenth century presents warfare as a result of depletion of natural resources in the Iroquois homeland and tribal efforts to assume the role of middlemen in the fur trade between the Indians to the west and the Europeans.

This cricial period of history is neglected and ignored but it shaped the West in many ways. The fur trade played a key role in the development and ultimate ownership of lands and resources on the West Coast of North America. The struggle played out far from the capitals of power and shifted over time as rulers, governments, tribes, companies and individuals struggled to get rich or merely to survive. The players in this complex conflict included Russia, Great Britain, America, France, Spain, Mexico, Hawaii, and the many First Nations whose lands it had been. At times the fur trade was incredibly profitable and helped make some men and women very rich. The economic returns and taxes also helped support governments. But like most "gold rushes" it more often led to suffering, abuse, death, and despair for the sailors, trappers, and fur traders involved. The ecological impacts were equally severe and can still be seen today. Recommended for all historians and students of the west, with special detail on sea otters and beaver.