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1497
John Cabot discovers Canada's east coast.
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Apr 20, 1534
Jacques Cartier trades with the First Nations people of Newfoundland
The First Nations brought fur pelts of otter, mink, marten and fox and traded them for European tools, pots and liquor. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jacques-cartier -
1535
Indigenous people and the fur trade
Indigenous peoples were important partners in this growing fur trade economy. The fur trade also determined the relatively peaceful patterns of Indigenous-European relations in Canada. A central social aspect of this economic enterprise was extensive intermarriage between traders and Indigenous women, which gave rise to an indigenous fur-trade society that blended Indigenous and European customs and attitudes. -
Europeans discover beaver fur is ideal for hats
The increasing demand for beaver pelts sent the coureurs de bois, skilled woodsmen, trappers and canoeists, into the woods of Canada to trade with Indigenous peoples. -
Samuel de Champlain founds Quebec
Champlain saw the potential for profit from the fur trade, and used Quebec to control the trade with native peoples. -
Company of One Hundred Associates is founded
This company was chartered to capitalize on the North American fur trade and to expand French colonies. They were granted a monopoly to manage fur trade.
http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/CompanyofNewFrance-QuebecHistory.htm -
Radisson and des Groseilliers
Radisson's brother-in-law, Mdard Chouart des Groseilliers was a fur trader. So the two men decided to start working together and explored beyond the territory known to the Europeans. They were the first to negotiate with the Cree and establish durable trade patterns. Their efforts lead to the founding of the Hudson Bay Company. -
Coureur des bois
The Coureur des bois, or "wood-runners" to the English, were unlicensed fur traders who engaged in the fur trade in ways that were considered to be outside of the mainstream. -
Hudson Bay Company chartered as the first company to trade fur
HBC was a fur trading business for most of its history.
Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson were the first to propose a trading company to reach the interior of the continent. -
Voyageur
A worker, minor partner in a company or independent contractor involved in the fur trade. The implementation of the trading licence system in 1681 set voyageurs apart from coureurs des bois.
Unlike the coureurs des bois, Voyageurs were contracted by merchants or military officers with permits.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/voyageur -
Period: to
Height of Canadian fur trade
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The Saskatchewan River fur trade
The Saskatchewan River was a major transport and trade route for furs, stretching for 1,939 km from the Rocky Mountains headwaters to Cedar Lake in central Manitoba.
HBC used the river to trade fur in 1754.
The fur trade had negative impacts on the lifestyles of First Nations, including the introduction of European diseases such as smallpox, measles and scarlet fever. -
Samuel Hearne
Samuel Hearne was the first European to travel by land across the Arctic from the east coast to the Arctic Ocean. He established Fort Cumberland, the HBC’s first inland trading post. Traded with the Cree and Chipewyan peoples. -
North West Company is founded
North West Company was a major force in the fur trade from the 1780s to 1821. Founded by Montreal traders (mainly Highland Scots) to resist inland advances of the Hudson’s Bay Company. (See HBC picture for map of routes). -
David Thomson
David Thomson was called “the greatest land geographer who ever lived.” He walked or paddled 80,000 km or more in his life, mapping most of western Canada. At the Hudson’s Bay Company, he was valued as a fur trader, but Thompson wanted to explore rather than trade, so he left. -
Sir Alexander Mackenzie
The Mackenzie River, named in his honour, symbolizes Mackenzie’s important place as a pioneer and fur trader in Canadian history. The first European to cross North America, he inspired subsequent adventurers and traders, such as the famous Lewis and Clark expedition sponsored by the American military (1804–6). He started the fur trade as a young boy, and came to enjoy the business. -
Hudson Bay Company and North West Company merge
The new entity would operate under the Hudson’s Bay Company name and under the terms of its Charter, which was renewed for another 21 years.The resulting Company was the most powerful fur trading entity in the world, spanning the continent from sea to sea to sea. HBC gained the North West Company’s most valuable resource, its traders and voyageurs. -
Start of the decline of fur trade in Canada
In 1870 the HBC's vast territory in the West was transferred to Canada. In the face of competition and the presence of the Canadian government, Hudson Bay Company reduced their share in the fur trade. The decline resulted chiefly from the clearing of large areas for settlement. -
First modern day fur farm
The world’s first modern day fox farm opened on Prince Edward Island in 1895. Mink and fox have now been farmed for well over 100 years. -
Canada joins the World Conservation Union (IUCN)
The IUCN is the world’s oldest global environmental organization. Their work focuses on valuing and conserving nature, ensuring effective and equitable governance of its use. The fur trade in Canada is monitored by them at all times. -
Canadian Association for Humane Trapping (CAHT)
CAHT is a charitable, non-profit organization which works constructively toward minimizing the suffering imposed on wild animals by devices or trapping systems used to capture them. It is not a trapping, anti-trapping or animal rights organization. CAHT is a Member of IUCN. -
The Rise of the Anti-fur Movement
Anti-fur campaigns became part of popular culture during the 1980s-1990s. Beginning with the anti-sealing campaign in the 1970s and expanding to a more general campaign focused on all animals used to make fur garments. Brigitte Bardot, a famous French actress/model, traveled to Canada. Bardot was able to exert a strong influence on many of the people purchasing fur as a fashion accessory. -
Hudson’s Bay Company ends its fur trade
HBC sold its Canadian fur-auction business to Hudson's Bay Fur Sales Canada (now North American Fur Auctions). In 1991, the Bay agreed to stop retailing fur in response to complaints from people opposed to killing animals for this purpose. -
Modern fur trade in Canada
Canada’s fur trade contributes nearly $1 billion to the Canadian economy annually. Annual royalty and licence fees paid by fur trappers help pay for government managed wildlife and habitat conservation programs. Canada’s most important fur markets are U.S., China, Hong Kong , Europe (Italy, Germany, Denmark, Poland, , Greece). -
Conclusion
The fur trade played an important role in developing Canada as we know it today; in fact, it might be the most important part of our history. Modern day fur trade is very different from what they did hundreds of years ago, but it is still around.
