1/1/2024 0 Comments Furs of fury![]() As historian DanielFrancis has remarked, the rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company andthe North West Company "was not really between two commercialenterprises at all rather it was a rivalry between two great geographicpossibilities. Interior waterways formed the highwaysof commerce throughout the fur trade era, and the lay of the landfunneled this commerce into a few main channels. ![]() Lawrence and Ottawarivers and the Great Lakes, by lighter canoe through the maze of lakesand rivers of the Canadian Northwest, by keelboat and steamboat on theMississippi and Missouri rivers. Goods were moved almostentirely by water: by ship between Britain and Hudson Bay, by largecanoe between Montreal and Grand Portage via the St. As the fur trade penetratedthousands of miles into the interior of the continent, transportationbecame a major component of the business. First, thephysical geography of North America–the system of lakes and rivers,the Rocky Mountain cordillera, the deep indentation of HudsonBay–determined the main outlines of expansion and competitionbetween the great fur trade rivals. Geography was important to the fur trade in various ways. For all three of these interpretive frameworks, geographyprovides essential context. Third, and most recently, historians have treatedthe fur trade as a system of cultural exchange between Europeans andIndians. Second, historians haveinterpreted the fur trade as an incubus for three of North America'searly corporate giants: Hudson's Bay Company, North West Company, andAmerican Fur Company. First, historians have interpreted the fur trade as anobject of imperial rivalry, first between England and France and laterbetween Britain and the United States, as these nations competed forpossession of the North American continent. Historians of the fur trade have shaped their material around threemajor themes. (Courtesy of National Archives of Canada) Red River Expedition at Kakabeka Falls, Ontario. The Environment and the Fur Trade Experience in Voyageurs NP: The Environment and the Fur Trade Experience: 1730-1870 (Chapter 1)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |