In the late eighteenth century, most of the fur traders using the Ottawa River-Great Lakes canoe route into the interior of North America belonged to the North West Company, which used Fort William as its inland headquarters. To the north, the rival Hudson's Bay Company exported furs by ship from its sub-Arctic posts. By 1810, both companies were expanding their operations inland into the fur-rich Athabaska area. Their intensifying competition provoked violent clashes between contending traders. Disturbed by the bloodshed and the disruption of trade, the British government insisted that the two companies settle their differences. In 1821, they merged into a jointly owned monopoly that adopted the name and northern trade routes of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Location

By the Information Centre at Old Fort William, south of Broadway Avenue, Thunder Bay

Themes

• Exploration
• Fur trade