The Remarkable History of The Hudson’s Bay Company, by George Bryce

By the time that the author wrote the history of the famed Hudson’s Bay Company, that company had transformed from one of the largest landowners in North America, with holdings that at one point extended from the eponymous northern bay of the Arctic Ocean well into what is now part of the United States. Such a sprawling company, which was a major imperial landholder in its own right over the course of more than two centuries receives in this book a sprawling history that has fortunately been saved from oblivion by publishers who have brought it out in inexpensive editions that allow it to be accessible to contemporary readers who want to read a friendly but by no means propagandistic account from someone who lived in Canada in the second half of the 19th century. Besides the remarkable span of corporate power and remarkable time of rule, it is also remarkable just how much of the time the Hudson’s Bay Company spent involved in a great deal of conflict–conflict with the French, conflict with rival companies, and conflict with the British and Canadian governments over its increasingly anomalous role within Canadian society.

Although this particular book is not the sort of history that would command approval from contemporary historiographers, this is a history that is easy to appreciate on its own grounds. The author does not claim more than to understand inferential reasoning on the part of the native tribes upon whom the business of the Hudson’s bay Company depended, making the reasonable claim that the company must have done a good enough job regarding providing an income for the pelts and other products that it sought to export to Europe because many traders and hunters and trappers from native backgrounds were willing to travel to its posts in order to trade. This is sound and reasonable logic, and most of this is spent in one of two tasks–either seeking to explain the behavior of the men who were in charge of the company’s operations in Europe and North America, as well as the documentation involved in the company’s business, including the stocks in each of the forts/factories under the company’s rule. This book also contains a surprisingly fierce discussion of the Metis War that led to establishment of Canadian rule over the Prairie provinces between British Columbia and Ontario that includes an accusation on the part of rebels to be part of an American plot to increase American control of the region, which sounds like fighting words in the context of late 19th century history, and not an incident that one will find in American accounts of the West.

This book is about 500 pages and is divided into 48 fairly short chapters that cover around 250 years or so of history. The author begins with the first fur traders (1) and the founding of the Hudson’s Bay company (2). This is followed by discussions about the methods of trade (3), great early governors (4), early adventurers (5), the rivalry with the French (6), and the state of the company after the treaties of Ryswick and Utrecht (7). As might be expected, matters relating to the Northwest are common in this book, from the dream of the Northwest passage (8) to the formation of the Northwest Company in rivalry to the Hudson’s Bay Company (14), as well as notable explorations in the Northwest (16), and the founding of a New Northwest company in rivalry with the other one (17). The author explores the place of the Hudson’s Bay company and its employees as supposed lords of the lakes and forests (18, 19, 20), as well as the impulse of union in the face of anarchy and violence (21), and the colony that was started in the area of Manitoba under company rule (23). As might be imagined corporate territorial rule led to various trouble and even the outbreak of fighting (24, 25), as well as the forced union of all interests (29), but the author does not neglect writing about the life of ordinary traders (30), including those from Montreal (31), those in the far north (32), those in the frontiers of the fur country (33), and those in Rupert’s land (34). The author discusses the beginnings of the Red River settlement (35), life on the prairies (36), life on the shores of Hudson Bay and Labrador (37), company efforts in the wild Yukon (37) and in British Columbia (38) as well as the Pacific Northwest (39). Surprisingly, the author spends some time talking about missionaries (40), company relationship with local tribes (41), the unrest in the Red River colony (42), as well as Canada’s own covetous attitude for the colony (43), which later became Manitoba. Towards the end of the book the author winds up the story of Hudson Bay’s rule over parts of Canada (45) as well the present state of the company in the author’s time (46), and his thoughts about the future of the Canadian west (47). The book ends with various appendices with information in them concerning authorities and references (a), a summary of Pierre Espirit Radisson’s life (b), company posts (c), chief factors (d), information about Alaska (e), the Cree syllabary (f), and the names of officers in a particular photo towards the end of the book, as well as an index.