North West Company
The
North West Company was a Canadian fur trading company that operated in competition
with the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1783-1821 when the two companies
were forced to merge.. Competition between the two fur-trading companies was
very fierce and occasionally resulted in open conflict. The North West Company
was staffed and run primarily by Canadiens, or Montreal-based traders, the
Nor’Westers, who pooled their resources in hopes of reducing competition
amongst themselves and edging out the Hudson’s Bay Company monopoly.
As a result of their continual skirmishing the British government pressured
the two rivals to merge in 1921 under the Hudson's Bay Company name and charter.
Guiding Questions for the North West Company
- Describe the formation
and history of the North West Company
- How did the existence of the North West Company help to settle the west
In your Colony, carefully visit each of the North West Company sites listed below. Take turns recording point form notes about the history of the North West Company and how it helped Canadian Pioneers survive and settle in the early Canadian West.