ROMANTIC HISTORY

Evening Star, Issue 19276, 15 June 1926, Page 12

ROMANTIC HISTORY

HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY

ADVENTURE AND EXPLORATION

Tlio early history of the Hudson's Bay Company is the siory of a business quest lor turs, of adventure and exploration, and ol conliiet between tiro Freucu and tho British for supremacy in Canada (states the Winnipeg correspondent of tho 'Christian science Monitor;. , The eastern seaboard had already been occupied by intrepid explorers and adventurers of Branco when, in 16 10, Pierre Radisson and his brothor-m-law, Medard Groseiiliors, headed the first dehmto furtradin" expedition in behalf of tho British company. Those two men had made previous fur-procuring excursions into tho wilds of Ruperts Land, and, smarting under a feeling of injustice at the treatment by the french Governor at Quebec, they crossed to Franco seeking restitution, hailing to obtain it, or any assistance in fitting out ibheir proposed expedition into Hudson s Bay, they secured an audience with Prince Rupert (cousin of King Charles II.), a distinguished soldier and sailor, a patron ot tho° arts and sciences, and the most dominant figure in England at that period. The two adventurers enlisted his support. In June, 1668, Radisson, on the Eaglet, and Grossoilliera, on the Nonsuch, sot out from the Thames. The Eaglet failed to make her objective, ann returned to England. The Nonsuch wa.s successful, passing through Hudson’s Bay and reaching south of James Bay on September 29 of that year. •V palisade fort was built, and there an active trade for pelts was done with the Indians, the Nonsuch finally returning to England loaded with valuable furs. CHARTER FROM KING CHARLES. Tills led to tho granting of the. charter by King Charles 11. to “The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Tradini' Into Hudson's Bay ” on May 2, 1670. The validity of this charter has been challenged from time to time, but the highest lecal authorities have invariably declared it to° be good in law. Changes and concessions have been made by the company right down tho two and a-half centuries of its existence— slowly, it is true, but generally with wise forethought. By its influence and wisdom, its groat resources, and through the enterprise of its loyal and intrepid servants, it has been largely responsible for tho opening up of this vast domain of unexplored, almost unknown, territory, now known as tho Dominion of Canada. In 1671 Moose Factory was established by Radisson and Groseilliers for the Hudson’s Bay Company on the west coast of James Bay. Prince Rupert was the first governor of "the company, and a leader in its enterprise. He was succeeded by the Duke of York who afterward became King James IL YOUTH EXPLORES PRAIRIES. In 1688 Henry Kelsey, a mere youth of eighteen years, a servant of the company, started a series of explorations along the Churchill River, penetrating into the wooded country and farther still to the prairie lands, of which he took possession in the name’ of the company. He is said to have been the first white man to see the buffalo of the plains. Fort Prince of Wales was built by the Hudson’s Bay Company at the mouth of (he Churchill River, on Hudson’s Bay, in 1718. In 1751 Pierre Gaultier de Varennee de la Verendrye set out at tho head of a party of adventurers representing some Montreal merchants, his purpose being to trade for

furs with the hitherto unknown Indian tribes of (lie West. La Verendrye and his sons pushed westward until they came within sight of the Rocky Mountains. Thus was tho country explored. STONE FORT BUILT. Tho original wooden structure of Fort Prince of Wales was replaced in 1731 by a stone fort, said to be one of the strongest on the continent, and supposed to be impregnable, although it fell at a later date before the French in 1782. •Samuel Hoarnc, another mere boy in tho employ of tho Hudson’s Bay Company,, under orders, explored the great region extending from Great Slave Lake to tho mouth of the Coppermine River, on the Arctic Ocan, which be reached on July 18, 1771, after having previously made two unsuccessful attempts. From 1789 to 1793 one Alexander Mackenzie began to be heard of. He was a servant of tho North-west Company, and set out to reach the mouth ot the great river that now bears his name. Ho arrived at tlie Arctic Ocean before midsummer, 1789. Mackenzie in 1793 explored the Peace River to its source in the Rookies, and, | crossing tbo divide, marched westward, and ' on July 20, 1793, came to tire Pacifio Ocean, I which for 300 years had defied approach | from overland. I The North-west and the X. Y. Fur TradI ing companies amalgamated in 1804 and I started on a policy of aggression against I the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1811 Lord i Selkirk was granted by the Hudson's Bay | Company 116,000 square miles of land in the neighborhood of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, upon which to form his projected Red River Settlement or Selkirk Colony. His colonists reached the banks of the Red River in 1812. This was the birth of tbo great Western Canadian city of Winnipeg. RIVALRY BROUGHT TROUBLE. Largely the result of the Red River Settlement and the fear that this land settlement would affect the fur trading throughout the district, there grew up much ill-feeling between the servants of the two rival companies. George Simpson, an able, I shrewd, and aggressive “gentleman advenI hirer,” came to the fore and succeeded in | 1821 in cementing the combination of the j North-west and the Hudson’s Bay cora- ! panics, thus ending a, strife that had lasted | many years, and starting upon another ; definite phase of Canada’s development, i Simpson was a power in the land for forty | years. | Fort Garry (now Winnipeg) was built in ; 1822, and was rebuilt in 1835, when the first Government for the Red River Settlement was organised. Meantime the Hudson's Bay Company's operations extended west, also south-west into what is now United States territory of Washington and Oregon. Vancouver Island war. granted by Queen I Victoria to the company in 1849, but in I 1859 it became a Crown co’ony under tho ! governorsh : p of James Douglas, an officer j of the Hudson's Bay Company. ! The confederation of the various British j colonies into the Dominion of Canada was I brought about in 1870, when tho reins of j tho Government, held so long bv (he old company, were transferred to the nonunion of Canada., ! During the Great War in Europe the Hudson's Bay Company acted as pnreluising agents for the French Government; it put into operation a vast shipping service, which transported over 18.010,060 tons of ■ goods, as well as passengers and Irocps. i One hundred mid fen ships under the eotnI panv's flag were lost through submarine and other causes. In I'g ; " The Gentlemen * dyenfiirpr? " celebrated their 250t,h anniversary, w'-eu Sir Hubert. .U. A n .or:.iey, G.8.E., the then Governor of the company, made a triumphal tour of Western Canada amid pageantry end old-time pomp.