The trading post settlement of the canadian northwest, 1774–1821

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-7488(87)80045-2Get rights and content

Between 1774 and 1821, fur traders from Hudson Bay and the St Lawrence valley built rival trading posts throughout the Canadian Northwest, and it was during this period that the competition for furs and the building of trading posts reached their peak in the region. From an analysis of the changing numbers and distribution of posts, it is apparent that the trading post settlement of the Northwest did not proceed in the simple east-west manner protrayed in the literature. Rather, it cvolved independently, and in parallel stages, within two major economic regions—the Petit Nord lying between Lake Superior and James Bay and extending west to lake Winnipeg, and the Grand Nord lying to the west and north of Lake Winnipeg and to the east of the Rocky Mountains. These findings present a new spatio-temporal framework within which to interpret the development and impact of the Northwestern trade. They also suggest an approach to the study of the fur trade by which a fuller understanding of its nature and significance can be achieved.

Notes (17)

  • E. Voorhis

    Historic forts and trading posts of the French regime and of the English fur trading companies

    (1930)

    Thematic study of the fur trade in the Canadian West 1670–1870

    (1930)
  • The most comprehensive mapping of trading posts is contained in Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources,...British Columbia Division

    Occasional Papers in Geography (1962) 37–46

    (1930)
    Donald B.Freeman et al.

    A spatial duopoly: competition in the western Canadian fur trade, 1770–1835

    Journal of Historical Geography

    (1981)
  • Arthur J. Ray, Indians in the fur trade: their role as hunters, trappers and middlemen in the lands southwest of Hudson...
  • The first recorded use of the term Petit Nord is La Vérendrye's 1729 observation that the Indians living near lake of...E.E.Rich

    Hudson's Bay Company 1670–1870

    (1960)
  • GeorgeHoldsworth

    The historical geography of the fur trade of the Little North and its expansion into the East Winnipeg Country to 1821

  • The only exception in this respect is the historian, E. E. Rich, whose works are in part organized in terms of this...E.E. Rich

    Hudson's Bay Company 1670–1870

    (1960)
    E.E. Rich

    The fur trade and the Northwest to 1856

    (1967)
  • This paper exploits and expands upon data on trading posts collected for the Historical Atlas of Canada...
  • E.A. Mitchell

    Fort Timiskaming and the fur trade

    (1977)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (1)

View full text