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List of Hudson's Bay Company districts

This is a list of Hudson's Bay Company districts. Hudson's Bay Company districts were territorial divisions of the Hudson's Bay Company by which the company governed and administered areas of North America during the fur trade.

Background

On May 2, 1670 the company received from Charles II a charter giving them exclusive privilege to trade in the entire Hudson Bay drainage basin, and to exercise all of the legislative, judicial and executive power there. Charles II named the territory Rupert's Land, after his cousin Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the company's first Governor.^[1]

In 1821 the Hudson's Bay Company following a merger with the North West Company was granted monopoly to areas of the continent that reached the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans.^[2] This territory was divided into administrative districts. In 1856 there were 34 administrative districts. The company ruled over 149,060 native people. An additional 10,000 were Métis or white.

In 1870 Canada gained control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory from the Hudson's Bay Company through the Deed of Surrender.^[3]^[4]

Hudson's Bay Company district headquarters in 1856

Montreal Department

The 9 districts in the Montreal Department included:

Rupert's River District
Temiscamingue District
Fort Coulonge District
Lac des Sables District
Lachine District
St. Maurice District
King's Posts District
Mingan District
Esquimaux Bay District

Southern Department

Ottawa River Basin. The area labeled Lake Huron is the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron

The 7 districts in the Southern Department or Le Petit Nord included:

Albany District included the trading posts of Albany Factory (district headquarters), Marten's Falls, Osnaburg and Lac Seul. The posts were frequented by 1,100 native people.

Kinogumissee District included the trading posts of Metawagamingue (district headquarters) and Kuckatoosh. The posts were frequented by 400 native people.

Lake Superior District included the trading posts of Michipicoten (district headquarters), Batchewana, Mamainse, Pic, Long Lake, Lake Nipigon, Fort William, Pigeon River and Lac d'Orignal. The posts were frequented by 1,330 native people.

Lake Huron District included the trading posts of Lacloche (district headquarters), Little Current, Mississangie, Green Lake and Whitefish Lake. The posts were frequented by 1,100 native people.

Sault Ste. Marie District included the post of Sault Ste. Marie (headquarters). The posts were frequented by 150 native people.

Moose District included the trading posts of Moose Factory (district headquarters), Hannah Bay, Abitibi and New Brunswick. The posts were frequented by 730 native people.

East Main District included the trading posts of Great Whale River (district headquarters), Little Whale River and Fort George. The posts were frequented by 700 native people.

Northern Department

Mackenzie Basin. The best beaver country was to the south and along the Rockies.

The 10 districts in the Northern Department or Le Grand Nord included:

Athabasca District included territory surrounding Lake Athabasca and included Wollaston Lake and the trading posts of Fort Chipewyan (district headquarters), Dunvegan, Vermillion and Fond du Lac. The posts were frequented by 1,550 native people.

Mackenzie River District included territory on both sides of the Mackenzie River including Great Bear Lake and the trading posts of Fort Simpson (district headquarters), Fort au Liard, Fort Halkett, Fort Yukon, Peel's River, Lapierre's House, Fort Good Hope, Fort Rae, Fort Resolution, Big Island and Fort Norman. The posts were frequented by 10,430 native people.

English River District included major fur trade posts on Lac La Biche in Alberta and on Green Lake, Lac Île-à-la-Crosse, Lac La Loche and Lac la Ronge in Saskatchewan. The administrative centre was in Île-à-la-Crosse. The population of the district was made up of 1,370 Cree and Dene people.

Saskatchewan District included territory of the North and South Saskatchewan River and the trading posts of Fort Edmonton(district headquarters), Fort Carlton, Fort Pitt, Rocky Mountain House, Lac La Biche, Lesser Slave Lake, Fort Assiniboine, Jasper's House and Fort a la Corne. The posts were frequented by 28,050 native people.

Cumberland District included the trading posts of Cumberland House (district headquarters), Moose Lake and The Pas. The posts were frequented by 750 native people.

Swan River District included the trading posts of Fort Pelly (district headquarters), Fort Ellice, Qu'Appelle Lakes, Shoal River. Touchwood Hills and Egg Lake. The posts were frequented by 2,200 native people.

Red River District included the trading posts of Fort Garry (district headquarters), Lower Fort Garry, White Horse Plain, Pembina, Manitoba and Reed Lake. The posts were frequented by 8,250 people including native people, Metis and whites.

Lac la Pluie District included the trading posts of Fort Frances (district headquarters) , Fort Alexander, Rat Portage, White Dog, Lac du Bonnet, Lac de Boisblanc and Shoal Lake. The posts were frequented by 2,850 native people.

Norway House District included the trading posts of Norway House (district headquarters), Berens River and Nelson River. The posts were frequented by 1,080 native people.

York District included the trading posts of York Factory (district headquarters),Churchill, Severn, Trout Lake and Oxford House. The posts were frequented by 1,500 native people.

Western Department

The 8 districts of the Western Department included:

Columbia District included the trading posts of Fort Vancouver (district headquarters), Umpqua, Cape Disappointment, Chinook Point, Carveeman, Champoeg, Nisqually and Cowelitz. The posts were frequented by 2,200 native people.
Coleville District included the trading posts of Fort Coleville (district headquarters), Pend Oreilles River, Flat Heads, Kootenay and Okanagan. The posts were frequented by 2,500 native people.
Snake Country District included the trading posts of Walla Walla (district headquarters), Fort Hall and Fort Boise. The posts were frequented by 700 native people.
Vancouver Island District included the trading posts of Fort Victoria (district headquarters), Fort Rupert and Nanaimo. The posts were frequented by 12,000 native people.
Fraser River District included the trading post of Fort Langley (district headquarters). The post was frequented by 4,000 native people.
North West Coast District included the trading post of Fort Simpson (district headquarters). The post was frequented by 45,000 native people.
Thompson River District included the trading posts of Fort Kamloops (district headquarters) and Fort Hope. The posts were frequented by 2,000 native people.
New Caledonia District included the trading posts of Stuart Lake (district headquarters?), McLeod's Lake, Fraser's Lake, Alexandria, Fort George, Babines, Conolly's Lake and Honolulu (Sandwich Isles). The posts were frequented by 12,000 native people.

The total population in the 34 districts included 149,060, not enumerated 6,000 and 4,000 Eskimos for a total of 159,060. European and Metis 10,000 removed for a population of about 150,000 under HBC rule.

References

^ "The Royal Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC corporate collections)". Retrieved 2014-12-07.
^ "(HBC Site Map) Business/Fur trade/The Deed of Surrender". Retrieved 2014-12-07.
^ George Bryce. (1910), The remarkable history of the Hudson's Bay Company (page 491), London: Sampson Low, Marston
^ Richard Somerset Mackie (1997), Trading Beyond the Mountains; The British Fur Trade on the Pacific, 1793-1843 (Map 1, p. xvi), Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press

External links

Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory Order

Map of territorial claims by 1750 in North America, before the French and Indian War, that was part of the greater world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War (1756 to 1763). – possessions of Britain (pink), France (blue), and Spain (orange, California, Pacific Northwest, and Great Basin not indicated) –

The French had spread out and built a fur trade empire in the St. Lawrence / Great Lakes watershed and into the Red River area while the Hudson's Bay Company remained on the coastlines of the Hudson Bay. After the British conquest of New France in 1763, management of the French fur trade was taken over by English-speaking investors and fur traders from Montreal. The canoe routes into the interior were revived and the voyageurs, guides and interpreters who were French-Canadian or Métis passed on their knowledge of the country to their new employers while the native people through the Métis or interpreters showed them navigable routes into unexplored areas such as the Athabasca. Some of these investors formed the North West Company in 1779. In 1774 the Hudson's Bay Company built their first inland post at Cumberland House. Both the NWC and the HBC set up posts along these routes often within a short distance of each other.

The founding of a permanent colony by Lord Selkirk (a major stockholder of the HBC) on the Red River in 1812 was cause for concern by the NWC. The Governor, appointed by Lord Selkirk, attempted to exercise control over the Red River area claiming the rights of the HBC under the Royal Charter of 1670. The Governor issued the Pemmican Proclamation in 1814 and set up armed blockades to prevent the flow of food from leaving the colony. This alienated both the NWC who relied on pemmican to feed their brigades and the Métis who supplied the pemmican through their buffalo hunts. What followed were a number serious clashes that included the Battle of Seven Oaks involving the NWC, the HBC and the Métis. The Pemmican War ended in 1821 when the NWC merged with the HBC.

The Hudson Bay drainage system (Rupert's Land). The Royal Charter of 1670, granted the HBC control over the region drained by all rivers and streams flowing into Hudson Bay.

After the merger, with all operations under the management of Sir George Simpson (Governor/Administrator) from 1826 to 1860, the company had a corps of commissioned officers, 25 chief factors and 28 chief traders, who shared in the profits of the company during the monopoly years. Its trade covered 7,770,000 km² (3,000,000 sq mi), and it had 1,500 contract employees.^[1]^: 8–23

The corps of commissioned officers consisted of 25 chief factors (each head of a district) and 28 chief traders (each head of a major post).

^ Galbraith, John S. (1957). Hudson's Bay Company As an Imperial Factor 1821–1869. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

[Royal_Charter-1] "The Royal Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC corporate collections)". Retrieved 2014-12-07.

[HBC_Site_Map-2] "(HBC Site Map) Business/Fur trade/The Deed of Surrender". Retrieved 2014-12-07.

[3] George Bryce. (1910), The remarkable history of the Hudson's Bay Company (page 491), London: Sampson Low, Marston

[4] Richard Somerset Mackie (1997), Trading Beyond the Mountains; The British Fur Trade on the Pacific, 1793-1843 (Map 1, p. xvi), Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press

[galbraith-5] Galbraith, John S. (1957). Hudson's Bay Company As an Imperial Factor 1821–1869. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

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