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Title: The Great Company

Being a History of the Honourable Company of Merchants-Adventurers Trading into Hudson's Bay

Author: Beckles Willson

Release Date: March 9, 2013 [eBook #42279]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT COMPANY***

 

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THE GREAT COMPANY

BEING A

HISTORY OF THE HONOURABLE COMPANY OF
MERCHANTS-ADVENTURERS TRADING
INTO HUDSON'S BAY

BY

BECKLES WILLSON

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
LORD STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL
Present Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company

WITH

ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY ARTHUR HEMING

AND

MAPS, PLANS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
1900

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, by The Copp, Clark Company, Limited, Toronto, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture.

TO

The Right Honourable

SIR WILFRID LAURIER, G.C.M.G.,

TO WHOSE GENEROUS SUGGESTION AND CONTINUED
ENCOURAGEMENT IS SO LARGELY DUE THE
COMPILATION OF THESE ANNALS.

PREFACE.

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Praiseworthy as the task is of unifying the scattered elements of our Canadian story, yet it will hardly be maintained that such historical studies ought not to be preceded by others of a more elementary character. Herein, then, are chronicled the annals of an institution coherent and compact—an isolated unit.

The Hudson's Bay Company witnessed the French dominion in Northamerica rise to its extreme height, decline and disappear; it saw new colonies planted by Britain; it saw them quarrel with the parent State, and themselves become transformed into States. Wars came and passed—European Powers on this continent waxed and waned, rose and faded away; remote forests were invaded by loyal subjects who erected the wilderness into opulent provinces. Change, unceasing, never-ending change, has marked the history of this hemisphere of ours; yet there is one force, one institution, which survived nearly all conditions and all régimes. For two full centuries the Hudson's Bay Company existed, unshorn of its greatness, and endures still—the one enduring pillar in the New World mansion.

In pondering the early records of the Company, one truth will hardly escape observation. It did not go forth amongst the savages with the Bible in its hand. Elsewhere, an old axiom, and true—first the missionary, then the soldier, then the trader. In the case of the Company, this order has been reversed. The French associations in Canada for the collection and sale of furs were preceded by the Jesuits—brave, fearless, self-denying—whose deeds form the theme of some of Parkman's most thrilling pages.

A few years since, in the solitudes of the West, two European tourists were struck by the frequency with which they encountered a certain mystic legend. Eager to solve its meaning, they addressed a half-breed lounger at a small station on the Canadian Pacific Railway.

"Tell us, my friend," they said, "what those three letters yonder signify. Wherever we travel in this country we encounter 'H. B. C.' We have seen the legend sewn on the garments of Indians; we have seen it flying from rude forts; it has been painted on canoes; it is inscribed on bales and boxes. What does 'H. B. C.' mean?"

"That's the Company," returned the native grimly, "Here Before Christ."

Might not the first missionary who, in 1818, reached York Factory contemplate his vast cure, and say: Here, bartering, civilizing, judging, corrupting, revelling, slaying, marching through the trackless forest, making laws and having dominion over a million souls—here before Christ!

It is probable a day is at hand when all this area will be dotted with farms, villages and cities, a time when its forests will be uprooted and the plains of Rupert's Land and the North-West Territory tilled by the husbandman, its hills and valleys exploited by the miner; yet, certain spots in this vast region must ever bear testimony to the hunter of furs. Remote, solitary, often hungry and not seldom frozen—the indomitable servant of the Great Fur Company lived here his life and gave his name to mountain, lake and river.

Whatsoever destiny has in store for this country, it can never completely obliterate either the reverence and admiration we have for brave souls, or those deeper feelings which repose in the bosoms of so many Canadian men and women whose forefathers lent their arms and their brains to the fur-trade. The beaver and the marten, the fox and the mink, may soon be as extinct as the bison, or no more numerous than the fox and the beaver are to-day in the British Isles; but this volume, imperfect as it is, may serve as a reminder that their forbears long occupied the minds and energies of a hardy race of men, the like of whose patience, bravery and simple honest careers may not soon again be seen.

He who would seek in these pages the native romance, the vivid colour, the absorbing drama of the Great North-West, will seek, I fear, in vain. My concern has been chiefly with the larger annals of the Hudson's Bay Company, its history proper, which until now has not been compiled.

Toronto, 27th June, 1899.

class="x-ebookmaker-pageno" title="xi"/>

INTRODUCTION.

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Mr. Beckles Willson has asked me to write a short introduction for his forthcoming book on the Hudson's Bay Company, and it gives me great pleasure to comply with his request.

It is gratifying to know that this work has been undertaken by a young Canadian, who has for some years had a laudable desire to write the history of what he appropriately calls "The Great Company," with whose operations the development of the Western parts of Canada has been so closely connected.

The history of the Company during the two centuries of its existence must bring out prominently several matters which are apt now to be lightly remembered. I refer to the immense area of country—more than half as large as Europe—over which its control eventually extended, the explorations conducted under its auspices, the successful endeavours, in spite of strenuous opposition, to retain its hold upon what it regarded as its territory, its friendly relations with the Indians, and, finally, the manner in which its work prepared the way for the incorporation of the "illimitable wilderness" within the Dominion.

It is not too much to say that the fur-traders were the pioneers of civilization in the far West. They undertook the most fatiguing journeys with the greatest pluck and fortitude; they explored the country and kept it in trust for Great Britain. These fur-traders penetrated to the Rocky Mountains, and beyond, into what is now known as British Columbia, and even to the far north and northwest, in connection with the extension of trade, and the establishment of the famous "H. B. C." posts and forts, which were the leading features of the maps of the country until comparatively recent times. The names of many of these early explorers are perpetuated in its rivers and lakes; and many important Arctic discoveries are associated with the names of officers of the Company, such as Hearne, Dease, and Simpson, and, in later times, Dr. John Rae.

The American and Russian Companies which were seeking trade on the Pacific Coast, in the early days of the present century, were not able to withstand the activity and enterprise of their British rivals, but for whose discoveries and work even British Columbia might not have remained British territory. For many years the only civilized occupants of both banks of the Columbia River were the fur-traders, and it is not their fault that the region between it and the international boundary does not now belong to Canada. Alaska was also leased by the Hudson's Bay Company from Russia, and one cannot help thinking that if that country had been secured by Great Britain, we should probably never have heard of the Boundary Question, or of disputes over the Seal Fisheries. However, these things must be accepted as they are; but it will not, in any case, be questioned that the work of the Company prepared the way for the consolidation of the Dominion of Canada, enabling it to extend its limits from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the international boundary to the far north.

The principal business of the Company in the early days was, of course, the purchasing of furs from the Indians, in exchange for arms, ammunition, clothes and other commodities imported from the United Kingdom. Naturally, therefore, the prosperity of the Company depended largely upon good relations being maintained with the Indians. The white man trusted the Indians, and the Indians trusted the white man. This mutual confidence, and the friendly relations which were the result, made the transfer of the territory to Canada comparatively easy when the time for the surrender came. It is interesting to note also, that while intent upon trading with the Indians, the Company did not neglect the spread of civilizing influences among them. The result of their wise policy is seen in the relations that have happily existed since 1870 between the Government and the Indians. There has been none of the difficulties which gave rise to so many disasters in the western parts of the United States. Even in the half-breed disturbance in 1869-70, and in that of 1885, the Indians (with very few exceptions) could not be induced to take arms against the forces of law and order.

Although the Red River settlement was inaugurated and carried out under its auspices, it has been stated, and in terms of reproach, that the Company did not encourage settlement or colonization. The statement may have an element of truth in it, but the condition of the country at the time must be borne in mind. Of course, the fur trade and settlement could not go on side by side. On the other hand, until the country was made accessible, colonization was not practicable. Settlers could not reach it without the greatest difficulty, even for many years after the transfer of the territory took place, or get their produce away. Indeed, until the different Provinces of Canada became federated, and were thus in a position to administer the country and to provide it with the necessary means of communication, the opening up of its resources was almost an impossibility. No single province of Canada could have undertaken its administration or development, and neither men nor money were available, locally, to permit of its blossoming out separately as a Colony, or as a series of Provinces.

The work of the Company is still being continued, although, of course, under somewhat different conditions. The fur trade is quite as large as ever it was, and the relations of the Company are as cordial as of old with the Indians and other inhabitants in the districts remote from settlement, in which this part of the business is largely carried on. It has also adapted itself to the times, and is now one of the leading sources of supplies to the settlers in Manitoba, the North-West Territories, and British Columbia, and to the prospectors and miners engaged in developing the resources of the Pacific province. Besides, it has a very large stake in the North-West, in the millions of acres of land handed over to it, according to agreement, as the country is surveyed. In fact, it may be stated that the Hudson's Bay Company is as inseparably bound up with the future of Western Canada as it has been with its past.

There are, of course, many other things that might be mentioned in an introduction of this kind, and there is room especially for an extended reference to the great and wonderful changes that have been apparent in Manitoba, the North-West Territories, and British Columbia, since, in the natural order of things, those parts of Canada passed out of the direct control of the Company. The subject is so fascinating to me, having been connected with the Company for over sixty years, that the tendency is to go on and on. But the different details connected with it will doubtless be dealt with by Mr. Beckles Willson himself much better than would be possible in the limited time at my disposal, and I shall therefore content myself with stating, in conclusion, that I congratulate the author on the work he has undertaken, and trust that it will meet with the success it deserves. It cannot fail to be regarded as an interesting contribution to the history of Canada, and to show, what I firmly believe to be the case, that the work of the Hudson's Bay Company was for the advantage of the Empire.

London, June 23rd, 1899.

CONTENTS.

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CHAPTER I.—1660-1667.

class="tdr-tc" colspan="2">PAGE. Effect of the Restoration on Trade—Adventurers at Whitehall—The East India Company Monopoly—English Interest in North America—Prince Rupert's Claims—The Fur Trade of Canada—Aim of the Work. 17 CHAPTER II.—1659-1666. Groseilliers and Radisson—Their Peregrinations in the North-West—They Return to Quebec and Lay their Scheme before the Governor—Repulsed by him they Proceed to New England—And thence Sail for France, where they Endeavour to Interest M. Colbert. 23 CHAPTER III.—1667-1668. Prince Rupert—His Character—Serves through the Civil War—His Naval Expedition in the West Indies—Residence in France—And ultimately in London—He receives Groseilliers and introduces him to the King. 35 CHAPTER IV.—1668-1670. The Prince Visits the Nonsuch—Arrival in the Bay—Previous Voyages of Exploration—A Fort Commenced at Rupert's River—Gillam's Return—Dealing with the Nodwayes—Satisfaction of the Company—A Royal Charter granted. 44 CHAPTER V.—1668-1670. Danger Apprehended to French Dominion—Intendant Talon—Fur Trade Extended Westward—News of the English Expedition Reaches Quebec—Sovereign Rights in Question—English Priority Established. 52 CHAPTER VI.—1671. First Public Sale at Garraway's—Contemporary Prices of Fur—The Poet Dryden—Meetings of the Company—Curiosity of the Town—Aborigines on View. 60 CHAPTER VII.—1671-1673. Mission of the Père Albanel—Apprehension at Fort Charles—Bailey's Distrust of Radisson—Expedition to Moose River—Groseilliers and the Savages—The Bushrangers Leave the Company's Service—Arrival of Governor Lyddal. 69 CHAPTER VIII.—1673-1682. Progress of the Company—Confusion as to the Names and Number of the Tribes—Radisson goes to Paris—His Efforts to Obtain Support there, and from Prince Rupert, in England, Fail—Arrival of M. de la Chesnaye—With his help Radisson Secures Support—And Sails for Quebec—Thence Proceeds with Two Ships to Attack the English Ports in Hudson's Bay—His Encounters with Gillam's Expedition from London, and his Son's, from New England. 80 CHAPTER IX.—1682-1683. Death of Prince Rupert—The Company's Difficulty in Procuring Proper Servants—Radisson at Port Nelson—The two Gillams—Their Meeting—Capture of the New England Party—The First Scotchman in the Bay—Governor Bridgar Carried off Prisoner—Indian Visitors to the Fort—Disasters to the Ships—The French Burn the Island Fort—Radisson's Harangue to the Indians—Return to France. 94 CHAPTER X.—1684-1687. Hays writes to Lord Preston—Godey sent to Radisson's lodgings—La Barre's strenuous efforts—Radisson Returns to the English—He leaves for the Bay—Meets his nephew, Chouart—Fort Bourbon Surrendered to the Company—Radisson's dramatic Return to London. 112 CHAPTER XI.—1683-1686. Feigned Anger of Lewis—He writes to La Barre—Importance Attached to Indian Treaties—Duluth's Zeal—Gauthier de Comportier—Denonville made Governor—Capture of the Merchant of Perpetuana—Expedition of Troyes against the Company's Posts in the Bay—Moose Fort Surrendered. 125 CHAPTER XII.—1686-1689. The French Attack upon Fort Rupert—Governor Sargeant Apprised—Intrepidity of Nixon—Capture of Fort Albany—Disaster to the Churchill—The Company Hears the ill News—Negotiations for Colonial Neutrality—Destruction of New Severn Fort—Loss of the Hampshire—The Revolution. 134 CHAPTER XIII.—1689-1696. Company's Claims Mentioned in Declaration of War—Parliament Grants Company's Application for Confirmation of its Charter—Implacability of the Felt-makers—Fort Albany not a Success in the hands of the French—Denonville urges an Attack upon Fort Nelson—Lewis Despatches Tast with a Fleet to Canada—Iberville's Jealousy prevents its Sailing to the Bay—Governor Phipps Burns Fort Nelson—Further Agitation on the part of the French to Possess the West Main—Company Makes another Attempt to Regain Fort Albany—Fort Nelson Surrendered to Iberville—Its Re-conquest by the Company. 146 CHAPTER XIV.—1696-1697. Imprisoned French Fur-Traders Reach Paris—A Fleet under Iberville Despatched by Lewis to the Bay—Company's four Ships precede them through the Straits—Beginning of a Fierce Battle—The Hampshire Sinks—Escape of the Dering and capture of the Hudson's Bay—Dreadful Storm in the Bay—Losses of the Victors—Landing of Iberville—Operations against Fort Nelson—Bailey Yields—Evacuation by the English.

tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">158 CHAPTER XV.—1698-1713. Petition Presented to Parliament Hostile to Company—Seventeenth Century Conditions of Trade—Coureurs de Bois—Price of Peltries—Standard of Trade Prescribed—Company's Conservatism—Letters to Factors—Character of the Early Governors—Henry Kelsey—York Factory under the French—Massacre of Jérémie's Men—Starvation amongst the Indians. 169 CHAPTER XVI.—1697-1712. Company Seriously Damaged by Loss of Port Nelson—Send an Account of their Claims to Lords of Trade—Definite Boundary Propositions of Trade—Lewis anxious to Create Boundaries—Company look to Outbreak of War—War of Spanish Succession Breaks Out—Period of Adversity for the Company—Employment of Orkneymen—Attack on Fort Albany—Desperate Condition of the French at York Fort—Petition to Anne. 187 CHAPTER XVII.—1712-1720. Queen Anne Espouses the Cause of the Company—Prior's View of its Wants—Treaty of Utrecht—Joy of the Adventurers—Petition for Act of Cession—Not Pressed by the British Government—Governor Knight Authorized to take Possession of Port Nelson—"Smug Ancient Gentlemen"—Commissioners to Ascertain Rights—Their Meeting in Paris—Matters Move Slowly—Bladen and Pulteney return to England. 198 CHAPTER XVIII.—1719-1727. The South Sea Bubble—Nation Catches the Fever of Speculation—Strong Temptation for the Company—Pricking of the Bubble—Narrow Escape of the Adventurers—Knight and his Expedition—Anxiety as to their Fate—Certainty of their Loss—Burnet's Scheme to Cripple the French—It Forces them Westward into Rupert's Land. 208 CHAPTER XIX.—1687-1712. Hudson's Bay Tribes Peaceful—Effect of the Traders' Presence—Depletion of Population—The Crees and Assiniboines—Their Habits and Customs—Their Numbers—No Subordination Amongst Them—Spirituous Liquors—Effect of Intemperance upon the Indian. 217 CHAPTER XX.—1685-1742. Errant Tribes of the Bay—The Goose Hunt—Assemblage at Lake Winnipeg—Difficulties of the Voyage—Arrival at the Fort—Ceremony followed by Debauch—Gifts to the Chief—He makes a Speech to the Governor—Ceremony of the Pipe—Trading Begun. 230 CHAPTER XXI.—1725-1742. System of Licenses re-adopted by the French—Verandrye Sets Out for the Pacific—His Son Slain—Disappointments—He reaches the Rockies—Death of Verandrye—Forts in Rupert's Land—Peter the Great and the Hudson's Bay Company—Expeditions of Bering—A North-West Passage—Opposition of the Company to its Discovery—Dobbs and Middleton—Ludicrous distrust of the Explorer—An Anonymous Letter. 240 CHAPTER XXII.—1744-1748. War again with France—Company takes Measures to Defend its Forts and Property—"Keep Your Guns Loaded"—Prince "Charlie"—His Stock in the Company Confiscated—Further Instructions to the Chief Factors—Another Expedition to Search for a North-West Passage—Parliament Offers Twenty Thousand Pounds Reward—Cavalier Treatment from Governor Norton—Expedition Returns—Dobbs' Enmity—Privy Council Refuse to Grant his Petition—Press-gang Outrages—Voyage of the Seahorse. 257 CHAPTER XXIII.—1748-1760. Parliamentary Committee of Enquiry Appointed—Aim of the Malcontents—Lord Strange's Report—Testimony of Witnesses—French Competition—Lords of Plantations Desire to Ascertain Limits of Company's Territory—Defeat of the Labrador Company—Wolfe's Victory—"Locked up in the Strong Box"—Company's Forts—Clandestine Trade—Case of Captain Coats. 269 CHAPTER XXIV.—1763-1770. Effect of the Conquest on the Fur-trade of the French—Indians again Seek the Company's Factories—Influx of Highlanders into Canada—Alexander Henry—Mystery Surrounding the Albany Cleared Up—Astronomers Visit Prince of Wales' Fort—Strike of Sailors—Seizure of Furs—Measures to Discourage Clandestine Trade. 286 CHAPTER XXV.—1768-1773. Report of the "Great River"—Company Despatch Samuel Hearne on a Mission of Discovery—Norton's Instructions—Saluted on his Departure from the Fort—First and Second Journeys—Matonabee—Results of the Third Journey—The Company's Servants in the Middle of the Century—Death of Governor Norton. 299 CHAPTER XXVI.—1773-1782. Company Suffers from the Rivalry of Canadians—Cumberland House Built—Debauchery and License of the Rivals—Frobisher Intercepts the Company's Indians—The Smallpox Visitation of 1781—La Pérouse appears before Fort Prince of Wales—Hearne's Surrender—Capture of York Fort by the French—The Post Burned and the Company's Servants carried away Prisoners. 314 CHAPTER XXVII.—1783-1800. Disastrous Effects of the Competition—Montreal Merchants Combine—The North-Westers—Scheme of the Association—Alexander Mackenzie—His two Expeditions Reach the Pacific—Emulation Difficult—David Thompson.

href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@42279@[email protected]#Page_327" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">327 CHAPTER XXVIII.—1787-1808. Captain Vancouver—La Pérouse in the Pacific—The Straits of Anian—A Fantastic Episode—Russian Hunters and Traders—The Russian Company—Dissensions amongst the Northmen—They Send the Beaver to Hudson's Bay—The Scheme of Mackenzie a Failure—A Ferocious Spirit Fostered—Abandoned Characters—A Series of Outrages—The Affair at Bad Lake. 344 CHAPTER XXIX.—1808-1812. Crisis in the Company's Affairs—No Dividend Paid—Petition to Lords of the Treasury—Factors Allowed a Share in the Trade—Canada Jurisdiction Act—The Killing of MacDonnell—Mowat's Ill-treatment—Lord Selkirk—His Scheme laid before the Company—A Protest by Thwaytes and others—The Project Carried—Emigrants sent out to Red River—Northmen Stirred to Reprisal. 361 CHAPTER XXX.—1812-1815. The Bois-Brulés—Simon McGillivray's Letter—Frightening the Settlers—A Second Brigade—Governor McDonnell's Manifesto—Defection of Northmen to the Company—Robertson's Expedition to Athabasca—Affairs at Red River—Cameron and McDonell in Uniform—Cuthbert Grant—Miles McDonnell Arrested—Fort William—News brought to the Northmen—Their confiscated account-books—War of 1812 concluded. 383 CHAPTER XXXI.—1816-1817. A New Brigade of Immigrants—Robert Semple—Cuthbert Grant's Letter—The De Meuron Regiment—Assembling of the Bois-Brulés—Tragedy at Seven Oaks—Selkirk at Fort William—McGillivray Arrested—Arrest of the Northmen—Selkirk Proceeds to Red River. 404 CHAPTER XXXII.—1817-1821. The English Government Intervenes—Selkirk at Red River—Makes a Treaty with the Indians—Hostilities at Peace River—Governor Williams makes Arrests—Franklin at York Factory—The Duke of Richmond Interferes—Trial of Semple's Murderers—Death of Selkirk—Amalgamation. 423 CHAPTER XXXIII.—1821-1847. The Deed Poll—A Governor-in-Chief Chosen—A Chaplain Appointed—New License from George IV.—Trade on the Pacific Coast—The Red River Country Claimed by the States—The Company in California—The Oregon Question—Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825—The Dryad Affair—Lieutenant Franklin's two Expeditions—Red River Territory Yielded to Company—Enterprise on the Pacific. 436 CHAPTER XXXIV.—1846-1863. The Oregon Treaty—Boundary Question Settled—Company Proposes Undertaking Colonization of North America—Enmity and Jealousy Aroused—Attitude of Earl Grey—Lord Elgin's Opinion of the Company—Amended Proposal for Colonization Submitted—Opposition of Mr. Gladstone—Grant of Vancouver Island Secured, but Allowed to Expire in 1859—Dr. Rae's Expedition—The Franklin Expedition and its Fate—Discovery of the North-West Passage—Imperial Parliament Appoints Select Committee—Toronto Board of Trade Petitions Legislative Council—Trouble with Indians—Question of Buying Out the Company—British Government Refuses Help—"Pacific Scheme" Promoters Meet Company in Official Interview—International Financial Association Buys Company's Rights—Edward Ellice, the "Old Bear." 459 CHAPTER XXXV.—1863-1871. Indignation of the Wintering-Partners—Distrust and Misgivings Arise—Proposals of Governor Dallas for the Compensation of the Wintering-Partners in Exchange for their Abrogation of Deed Poll—Threatened Deadlock—Position of those in Authority Rendered Untenable—Failure of Duke of Newcastle's Proposals for Surrender of Territorial Rights—The Russo-American Alaskan Treaty—The Hon. W. McDougall's Resolutions—Deputation Goes to England—Sir Stafford-Northcote becomes Governor—Opinion of Lord Granville as to the Position of Affairs—Lack of Military System Company's Weakness—Cession now Inevitable—Terms Suggested by Lord Granville Accepted—First Riel Rebellion—Wolseley at Fort Garry. 481 CHAPTER XXXVI.—1821-1871. The Company still King in the North-West—Its Forts Described—Fort Garry—Fort Vancouver—Franklin—Walla Walla—Yukon—Kamloops—Samuel Black—Mountain House—Fort Pitt—Policy of the Great Company. 497 The Hudson's Bay Posts. 509 APPENDIX. Royal Charter Incorporating the Hudson's Bay Company 515 The Alaska Boundary 527 Governors of the Hudson's Bay Company 531 Deputy-Governors of the Hudson's Bay Company 532 Index 533

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

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FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal Frontispiece. FACING PAGE Prince Rupert 32 Original Charter of The Great Company 48 Capt. Godey and Radisson 112 Marching out of the English Garrison 160 The Massacre of Jérémie's Men 192 The Bushranger and the Indians 337 Dog Brigade in the Far North 304 Tracking Canoes up the Rapids 368 Murder of Governor Semple 416 Sir George Simpson 432 Sir George Simpson receiving a Deputation 464 Interior Hudson's Bay Post 496

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ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.

PAGE Early Map of North America 19 Radisson 25 Chart of Hudson's Straits 30 Prince Rupert 36 English Map of 1782 57 The Beaver 60 Arms of the Hudson's Bay Co. 67 Type of Early Trading Post 71 Bark Canoe of Indians on Hudson's Bay 74 Landing of Iberville's Men at Port Nelson 155 Ships on Hudson's Bay 160 French Encampment 163 Capture of Port Nelson by the French 167 Trading with the Indians 171 A Coureur des Bois 173 An Early River Pioneer 178 Facsimile of the Company's Standard of Trade 181 French Map of the Bay and Vicinity 215 Indian Tepee 218 An Assiniboine Indian 219 Indian with Tomahawk 220 Esquimau with Dogs

href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@42279@[email protected]#im_0239" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">223 Modern Type of Indian 231 Type of Cree Indian 234 An Old Chief 237 Maldonado's Strait of Anian 246 Lapie's Map of 1821 247 Plans of York and Prince of Wales Forts 262 Map showing the Hays River 265 Fort Prince of Wales 281 A Blackfoot Brave 289 Alexander Henry 291 Dobbs' Map, 1744 301 Visit to an Indian Encampment 315 Indian Trappers 318 Ruins of Fort Prince of Wales 322 Sir Alexander Mackenzie 330 A Portage 337 De L'Isle's Map, 1752 345 The Rival Traders 353 York Factory 355 Lord Selkirk 372 Stornaway 380 A Bois-Brulé 384 Fort George (Astoria) 387 Arrival of the Upland Indians 388 On the way to Fort William 390 The Company's Ships in 1812 392 Fort Douglas, Red River 394 Scene of Red River Tragedy 411 Vicinity of Fort Douglas 414 Board Room, Hudson's Bay House 438 Red River Cart 441 Fur Train from the far North 446 Sir George Back, R.N. 451 Thomas Simpson 454 Hudson's Bay Company's Trade Tokens 458 Hudson's Bay Employees on their Annual Expedition 460 Opening of Cairn on Point Victory

tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">467 Discovery of Relics of Franklin Expedition 468 Fort Prince of Wales 477 Fort Garry 482 Arrival of Hudson's Bay Ships at York Factory 498 Fort Pelly 499 Fort Simpson 501 York Factory 502 Father Lacombe 504 Gateway to Fort Garry 507 Sketch Map of South-East Alaska 527

THE GREAT COMPANY.

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CHAPTER I.

1660-67.

Effect of the Restoration on Trade—Adventurers at Whitehall—The East India Company Monopoly—English interest in North America—Prince Rupert's claims—The Fur Trade of Canada—Aim of the Work.

That page in the nation's history which records the years immediately following the Restoration of the Stewarts to the English throne, has often been regarded as sinister and inauspicious. Crushed and broken by the long strain of civil war, apparently bankrupt in letters, commerce and arms, above all, sick of the restraints imposed upon them by the Roundheads, the nation has too often been represented as abandoning itself wholly to the pursuit of pleasure, while folly and license reigned supreme at court. The almost startling rapidity with which England recovered her pride of place in the commercial world has been too little dwelt upon. Hardly had Charles the Second settled down to enjoy his heritage when the spirit of mercantile activity began to make itself felt once more. The arts of trade and commerce, of discovery and colonization, which had languished under the Puritan ascendancy, revived; the fever of "Imperial Expansion" burst out with an ardour which no probability of failure was able to cool; and the court of the "Merry Monarch" speedily swarmed with adventurers, eager to win his favour for the advancement of schemes to which the chiefs of the Commonwealth would have turned but a deaf ear.

Of just claimants to the royal bounty, in the persons of ruined cavaliers and their children, there was no lack. With these there also mingled, in the throng which daily beset the throne with petitions for grants, charters, patents and monopolies,—returned free-booters, buccaneers in embryo, upstarts and company-promoters. Every London tavern and coffee-house resounded with projects for conquest, trade, or the exploitation of remote regions.

From the news-letters and diaries of the period, and from the minutes of the Council of Trade and the Royal Society, one may form an excellent notion of the risks which zealous capital ran during this memorable decade.

For two centuries and more mercantile speculation had been busy with the far East. There, it was believed, in the realms of Cathay and Hindustan, lay England's supreme market. A large number of the marine expeditions of the sixteenth century were associated with an enterprise in which the English nation, of all the nations in Europe, had long borne, and long continued to bear, the chief part. From the time of Cabot's discovery of the mainland in 1498, our mariners had dared more and ventured oftener in quest of that passage through the ice and barren lands of the New World which should conduct them to the sunny and opulent countries of the East.

English right to Hudson's Bay.

The mercantile revival came; it found the Orient robbed of none of its charm, but monopoly had laid its hand on East India. For over half a century the East India Company had enjoyed the exclusive right of trading in the Pacific between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, and the merchants of London therefore were forced to cast about for other fields of possible wealth. As far as North America was concerned, the merest reference to a map of this period will reveal the very hazy conception which then prevailed as to this vast territory. Few courtiers, as yet, either at Whitehall or Versailles, had begun to concern themselves with nice questions of frontier, or the precise delimitation of boundaries in parts of the continent which were as yet unoccupied, still less in those hyperborean regions described by the mariners Frobisher, Button and Fox. To these voyagers, themselves, the northern half of the continent was merely a huge barrier to the accomplishment of their designs.