Mike's Grade 4 Project

The Canadian Fur Trade

The Early Fur Trade

Fur trade was one of the earliest and most important industries in North America. The fur trading industry played a major role in the development of Canada.

The earliest fur traders in North America were French Explorers and fishermen who arrived in what is now Eastern Canada. Trade started after the French offered the Indians needles, knives and other gifts. The Indians in turn gave pelts to the French. By the late 1500's a great demand for fur had developed in Europe. This demand encouraged further exploration of North America. Soon ships were sailing across the Atlantic to the shores of Hudson Bay. The men built trading posts. At first they returned to England with the ships. Then it was decided that the company should have men living in the posts all year long. Each summer a ship would bring them new trade goods and supplies and take back the furs they had gathered.

In 1608 the French Explorer Samuel de Champlain established a trading post on the site of the present day city of Quebec. The city became a fur trading centre. He had early learned that to carry on his explorations successfully, he must win the friendship of the Indians. To do this, the Indians were treated fairly and well and they came to respect Champlain and all the French people.

Samuel de Champlain

New France was based upon the fur trade which Champlain had worked hard to establish. He encouraged the coureurs de bois, young men skilled in living among the Native peoples, to explore further west and north. In the 1650's two of these traders Raddison and Groseilliers were seeking a route from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay. They hope to set up a fur trade company that would sail directly into Hudson Bay to avoid the long journey from Quebec to the best fur territories. They got no help from the government of new France and so they turned to the English for help. English came together with French fur traders to create the Hudson's Bay Company.

Pierre Radisson

The Nor'Westers

The fur traders who went west from Montreal were called pedlars. Most pedlars work by themselves but it was not easy to work alone. It would be much easier some thought if they worked together. Working together solved some of their prob lems but sometimes a pedlar would steal another's furs or try to scare the Indians he was trading with away. The Indians started getting angry with the traders because they started trading them watered down rum and stealing Indian women. Working together didn't last long because the pedlars began quarrelling and the partners split up.

Weapons and Tools of the Fur Trade

Weapons and ammunition amounted for a lot of the trade. Gunpowder was the most important of all. Twelve 50 pound barrels of gunpowder were carried on each journey. Metal tools and utensils such as scissors, awls, sewi ng needles, brass and steel wire, sword blades and arrow heads were also traded.

The Fight Over Fur

The great battle had begun. The young and active North West Company and the powerful Hudson's Bay Company were fighting for control over the fur trade. The Nor'Westers played by their own rules. They were willing to do almost anything to win the battle. The Indians would give their furs to the trader who gave them brandy and rum. Despite the rules against trading brandy and rum for furs the Nor'Westers did it anyway.

The Hudson's Bay Company wanted their traders to stay in their posts and wait for the Indians to paddle their canoes to the Bay loaded with furs. But the men began to realize that the pedlars and Nor'Westers were keeping the furs from reaching the Bay so the Baymen started building posts inland to get furs.

One of the owners of the Hudson Bay Company brought settlers to the Red River area. The Nor'Westers didn't like the idea of settlers coming to the area. They thought that the settlers would keep them from trading for furs. The Nor'Westers and Indians forced the settlers from their homes and burned their crops and houses. The settlers kept coming back. The Nor'Westers and Indians grew weary with the settlers and this started the Battle of Seven Oaks in June 1816. The Battle of Seven Oaks started other battles. The Baymen and Nor'Westers started arresting each other and capturing each others posts. No one could win the battle so in 1821 the two companies joined together.

The Decline of the Fur Trade

The fur trade started to decline in the late 1700's. The decline resulted from the clearing of large areas for settlements. As more and more land was cleared fur bearing animals became scarce. Over trapping of fur bearing animals hurt the fur trade in Western Canada. In addition the value of beaver fur dropped sharply in the 1830's when European hat makers began to use silk instead of felt. By 1870 most fur trading activity had ended.

The Effect of the Fur Trade

The prospect of wealth from the fur trade attracted many Europeans to the New World. Traders and trappers explored much of North America in search of fur. They built trading posts in the wilderness and settlements grew up around many of the posts. Some of these settlements later became such cities as Montreal, Edmonton, Quebec and Winnepeg.

Edmonton Montreal Quebec Winnipeg

The fur trade led to friendly relations between the Indians and traders but it also brought Indian hostility towards white settlers because the clearing of land threatened the supply of fur bearing animals.

Last updated May 9, 2002

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