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Hudson Bay Company. The Oldest Commercial Enterprise in North America. Early Beginnings. The French had a monopoly on the Canadian fur trade
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Hudson Bay Company The Oldest Commercial Enterprise in North America
Early Beginnings • The French had a monopoly on the Canadian fur trade • Two French traders, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers, learned from the Cree that the best fur country was northwest of Lake Superior and it was a "frozen sea” • They were financed from a group of businessmen from Chicago • The one of two ships that would be used to find the Hudson Bay was the Nonsuch
Nonsuch • Originally built by the British Navy as a merchant vessel • The name means “unequalled” • Picked because of its small size so that when she arrived in the Hudson Bay and the James Bay she could be sailed up-river • It could be taken out of the water so the thick ice of the bay wouldn't crush it.
HBC Charter • On May 2, 1670 King Charles II signed the charter that granted the company a monopoly over the Native Fur Trade • All rivers and streams that flowed into Hudson Bay in northern Canada would belong to the company • This would be called Rupert’s Land
Rupert’s Land • Consisted of the Hudson Bay drainage basin • HBC would own this land for 200 years from 1670 to 1870 • It was named after Prince Rupert who was the first director of the company and a first cousin of Charles II • This region was over 1.5 million square miles (3.9 million km²) of the drainage basin of Hudson Bay or nowadays one third the entire area of modern-day Canada
York Factory • 120 Kms Southeast of nowadays Churchill, Manitoba • It was the long time headquarters for the HBC until 1967 • During the Seven Years War the French Captured the fort but it was given back to the British in the Treaty of Utrecht • While it was under French control it was called Fort Bourbon
Coastal Factory System • Every fort would be located along a major river way • York Factory was the central location and then all of the supplies would be shipped afterwards • The native tribes would come to the fort • The Northwest Voyageurs had a series of stations and tribal alliances
Hudson's Bay Point Blanket • A wool blanket used in the 18th & 19th C. • In the point system a blanket of higher point value would supposedly be larger and warmer • Blankets varied in colour and design • Still can be bought today from $200 - 460
HBC in the 1800s • Were forced to merge together with their arch rival Northwest Company because of the fighting, murders, raids that each company was doing to the other • Its land now covered 7,770,000 km2 and it had over 1,500 contract employees • It would begin to print its own money • Would be getting furs all the way down to the San Francisco Bay • It was the ‘defacto’ government of the land west of Canada and north of the USA
Aboriginal Women for the HBC • The company’s success was because of the Aboriginal women • They were physically strong which proved valuable when HBC company employees traveled long distances • Could carry twice as much of a load then the European Men (hunt and carry game) • One aboriginal woman was worth at least two men in cost savings • They would make, repair clothing on the trips • They acted as mediators between two very different groups
Modern Day Operations • 1970, was the 300th birthday of the company • The head office is in Toronto • Its called ‘The Bay’ • There are now over 70,000 employees • Yearly revenue is 7 billion as of 2008
