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74-539: According to the journal of North West Company fur-trader Alexander Henry the younger , the carts made their first appearance in 1801 at Fort Pembina , just south of what is now the Canada–United States border. Derived either from the two-wheeled charettes used in French Canada or from Scottish carts , it was adapted to use only local materials. Because nails were unavailable or very expensive in

148-472: A brigade of canoes. Interpreters and guides could earn up to three times as much as a middleman. The social dynamics of the company was rooted in kinship and descent or ethnic origin. The company was formed by a closed network of persons of Scots descent related through blood or marriage. Several important Montreal agents were related to Simon McTavish; and his successors, brothers William and Duncan McGillivray, were his nephews. Of 128 leading figures in

222-478: A cart can break a half-dozen axles in a one-way trip. The axles are ungreased, as grease will capture dust, which acts as sandpaper and can immobilize the cart. The resultant squeal sounds like an untuned violin, giving it the sobriquet "the North West fiddle"; one visitor wrote that "a den of wild beasts cannot be compared with its hideousness." The Red River Trails on which the carts were used extended from

296-620: A consultant to the government of Ontario for the restoration of the North West Company trading post in Fort William, Ontario , Fort William Historical Park . Campbell also wrote a book for young adults— The Nor'westers —which won the 1954 Governor General's Awards . In addition, the North West Company is a case example in John Roberts The Modern Firm (Oxford). Selkirk, Manitoba Selkirk

370-616: A full-scale replica cart. Fort Nisqually Living History Museum in Washington State has a half-scale replica. Fort Snelling , a historic site near Saint Paul, Minnesota, operated by the Minnesota Historical Society, has a full-sized replica. The fort was an important early stop for traffic on what would become the Red River Trail . The Remington Carriage Museum , Cardston, Alberta, also has

444-690: A full-size replica of a Red River cart, as does Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site in La Junta, Colorado. The Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta displays a full-size replica of a Red River cart in front of their home in Pembina Hall. This Red River cart was donated to the faculty by the Métis Nation of Alberta in November 2015. The Métis also donated an example to

518-501: A rival organization, Gregory, McLeod and Co., which brought several more able partners in, including John Gregory, Alexander Mackenzie , and his cousin Roderick Mackenzie. The 1787 company consisted of 20 shares, some held by the agents at Montreal (see below), and others by wintering partners, who spent the trading season in the fur country and oversaw the trade with the aboriginal peoples there. The wintering partners and

592-517: A shareholding partner, although many remained clerks. The engagés or servants did not constitute a uniform group with equal status. The lowest level of the status pyramid was formed by the voyageurs , who paddled between Montreal and the posts around the Great Lakes. Seasonally employed, they were known by their diet and referred to as mangeurs du lard ('pork-eaters'). Hivernants , or wintering servants, who paddled canoes from

666-570: A temperature as high as 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) in June 1995 and a temperature as low as −45.6 °C (−50.1 °F) in February 1966. Selkirk has 21 days with snowfall per year, from about November (sometimes as early as September or October) to around April (sometimes as late as May). General seasons The City of Selkirk gets its water from four carbonate aquifer wells in the City and two in

740-544: Is a city in the western Canadian province of Manitoba , located on the Red River about 22 kilometres (14 mi) northeast of Winnipeg , the provincial capital. It has a population of 10,504 as of the 2021 census. The mainstays of the local economy are tourism , a steel mill , and a psychiatric hospital . A vertical lift bridge over the Red River connects Selkirk with the smaller town of East Selkirk . The city

814-515: Is a prominent feature of the area. It was constructed in 1961 as a replacement for a previous tank built in 1909. The current water tower has a maximum storage capacity of 946,000 litres. In March 2020, the City announced a local design competition that would see the repainting of the 40 m (130 ft) structure. In August 2016, the City of Selkirk partnered with the provincial and federal governments to cost share upgrades to its water treatment and distribution infrastructure. The Selkirk project

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888-647: Is advertised as the Catfish Capital of the World due to the large amounts of catfish in the nearby Red River. This nickname was part of an advertising campaign to attract American anglers to fish for trophy-sized catfish. Selkirk is also home to Chuck the Channel Cat, a fiberglass statue of a catfish that measures 25 feet (7.6 m) long. The catfish was named after local sport fisherman Chuck Norquay, who drowned while doing what he loved most: fishing in

962-538: Is complex, but it is necessary to keep track of who was competing with whom. Note that the definition of partner is not completely clear. For example, after Duncan McDougall surrendered Fort Astoria , he became a NWC partner with one one-hundredth of a share. XY Company or formally the New North West Company, and sometimes Alexander MacKenzie & Co. In 1798 Forsyth, Richardson & Co, Parker, Gerrand & Ogilvy and John Mure of Quebec formed

1036-690: Is connected to Winnipeg via Highway 9 and is served by the Canadian Pacific Railway . The city was named in honour of the Scotsman Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk , who obtained the grant to establish a colony in the Red River area in 1813. The present-day city is near the centre of the 160,000-square-mile (410,000 km ) area purchased by the Earl of Selkirk from the Hudson's Bay Company . The first settlers of

1110-467: Is extremely flat with fields of wheat and canola surrounding the city. Due to Selkirk's position on the edge of the Canadian Prairies , there is a moderate 510.4 mm (20.1 inches) of precipitation annually. Selkirk has a climate with four very distinct seasons. A general year will include warm (sometimes hot) summers, cold winters, and a comfortable spring and autumn. Selkirk has recorded

1184-544: Is located in the Interlake Region of Manitoba, about 22 km northeast of the provincial capital Winnipeg on the Red River . A vertical lift bridge over the Red River connects Selkirk with the smaller town of East Selkirk . The city mostly borders the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews , except to the east, where it borders the Rural Municipality of St. Clements across the Red River. The terrain

1258-604: Is now Nunavut Territory, the Eddystone , a ship that Fraser acquired. At Charlton Island, they laid claim to the region inhabited by the Inuit , in the name of the North West Company, and were able to capitalize on the rich furs of the area. Their expansion northwestward cut into the profits of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1800, HBC profited £38,000 in trade compared to the North West Company's £144,000 in 1800. This bold move caught

1332-410: Is said that Simon McTavish made a personal petition to Prime Minister William Pitt , but all requests were refused. A few years later, with no relief to the Hudson's Bay Company's stranglehold, McTavish and his group decided to gamble. They organized an overland expedition from Montreal to James Bay and a second expedition by sea. In September 1803, the overland party met at Charlton Island , in what

1406-409: The 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Selkirk had a population of 10,504 living in 4,417 of its 4,643 total private dwellings, a change of 2.2% from its 2016 population of 10,278. With a land area of 24.47 km (9.45 sq mi), it had a population density of 429.3/km (1,111.8/sq mi) in 2021. The median household income in 2005 for Selkirk was $ 42,502, which

1480-596: The Fort à la Corne Trail . The carts were the primary conveyance in the Canadian West from early settlement until the coming of the Canadian Pacific Railway toward the end of the century. Carts could not be used west of Fort Edmonton because there were no roads or trails passable by wheeled vehicles over the Rocky Mountains. The Hudson's Bay Company would use Red River carts as their main commercial cart in

1554-637: The Juno Beach Centre in France to commemorate their participation in the invasion of Normandy in 1944 and the liberation of Europe. North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario . With great wealth at stake, tensions between

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1628-779: The North American beaver in particular. The destruction of the North West Company post at Sault Ste. Marie by the Americans during the War of 1812 was a serious blow during an already difficult time. In addition, the company was hurt by the refusal after the war with the United States to let Canadian traders freely cross its northern border. This reduced much of the border trade, which had previously been profitable for them, and artificially divided traders' relations with those several Native American tribes whose territories spanned

1702-634: The Red River Colony arrived in 1813. Although the settlers negotiated a treaty with the Saulteaux Indians of the area, the commercial rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company gave rise to violent confrontations between the settlers and the trading companies. In recognition of the Earl's importance in bringing settlers to the region, the town was named Selkirk and incorporated in 1882. Selkirk

1776-617: The Red River Colony via fur- trading posts , such as Pembina and St. Joseph in the Red River Valley , to Mendota and St. Paul, Minnesota . Furs were the usual cargo on the trip to St. Paul, and trade goods and supplies were carried on the trip back to the colony. The Carlton Trail was also an important route for the carts, running from the Red River Colony west to Fort Carlton and Fort Edmonton in present-day Saskatchewan and Alberta , with branches such as

1850-766: The Selkirk Recreation Complex . Selkirk is also home to the Selkirk Fishermen of the Capital Region Junior Hockey League . Selkirk has hosted major events in conjunction with the city of Winnipeg , such as select games of the 2007 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships . In 2009, Selkirk was host to the Telus Cup , Canada's national midget hockey championship, with the Winnipeg Thrashers as

1924-524: The War of 1812 led to its sale to the North West Company in 1813. When HMS Racoon and its Captain Black arrived, he went through a ceremony of possession, even though the fort was already ostensibly under British control. Due to treaty complications of the Treaty of Ghent requiring the return of seized assets, putative ownership of the site was returned to the United States in 1817. Renamed as Fort George by

1998-873: The 1860s. This was due to an increased success of the Minnesota cart route instead of the York Factory boat route. Invented and developed by the Métis and Countryborn peoples the Red River cart became a symbol of their heritage rooted in mobility and social networks . The National Museum of American History displays a Red River cart collected in the 1850s in its American Enterprise exhibition. Models may be found at St. Louis , Duck Lake and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan , and Selkirk, Manitoba . The Clay County Historical Society in Minnesota and Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington, each have

2072-566: The British East India Company's monopoly, but little profit was made there. The company also expanded into the United States' Northwest Territory (today's Midwest of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin). In 1796, to better position themselves in the increasingly global market, where politics played a major role, the North West Company briefly established an agency in New York City . Despite its efforts,

2146-650: The Canadians to get around the British East India Company 's monopoly and ship furs to the Chinese market. Cargo ships owned by the North West Company conveniently sailed under the American flag, and doing so meant continued collaboration with John Jacob Astor . However, Astor was as aggressive as Simon McTavish had been. An intense rivalry soon developed between him and William McGillivray over

2220-616: The Caribbean. Its headquarters are across the street from the Forts Rouge, Garry, and Gibraltar National Historic Site of Canada, the site of an old North West Company fort. Further information on the North West Company can be found in Marjorie Wilkins Campbell 's 1957 book The North West Company , as well as her 1962 biography of William McGillivray, McGillivray, Lord of the North West . Campbell served as

2294-683: The English in Hudson Bay (1670). Unlike the French who traveled into the northern interior and traded with First Nations in their camps and villages, the English made bases at trading posts on Hudson Bay, inviting the indigenous people to trade. After 1731, La Vérendrye pushed trade west beyond Lake Winnipeg . After the British conquest of New France in 1763 (and the defeat of France in Europe),

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2368-453: The Great Lakes to the interior trading posts, and worked at them during the winter, formed the next higher band of employees. Status and pay differed depending on a man's role in the canoe . The milieu or middleman was the drudge of canoe travel, while the responsibilities of the bowsman or devant and the steersman or gouvernail were rewarded with up to five times as high pay as a common middleman, especially if serving as leader of

2442-524: The Hudson's Bay Company off guard. In succeeding years it retaliated rather than reaching a compromise, which McTavish had hoped might be negotiated. Simon McTavish brought several members of his family into the company, but nepotism took a back seat to ability. His brother-in-law, Charles Chaboillez , oversaw the Lower Red River trading post. McTavish also hired several cousins and his nephews William McGillivray and Duncan McGillivray to learn

2516-834: The Montreal agents met each July at the company's depot at Grand Portage on Lake Superior , later moved to Fort William . Also under the auspices of the company, Alexander Mackenzie conducted two important expeditions of exploration. In 1789, he descended the Grand River (now called the Mackenzie River ) to the Arctic Ocean, and in 1793 he went overland from Peace River to the Pacific Ocean. Further explorations were performed by David Thompson , starting in 1797, and later by Simon Fraser . These men pushed into

2590-515: The NWC since around 1787. McTavish, Fraser & Co. was the London agent of Simon McTavish, from about 1790. John Fraser was his cousin. Simon McGillivray worked there and became a partner in 1805. Edward Ellice , a man of great influence, was involved. Todd & McGill was formed in 1776, was in the NWC by 1779, separated in 1784 and rejoined in 1792. They apparently wanted to concentrate on

2664-473: The NWC, having 25% interest in the combined company. The South West Company: was an 1811 attempted partnership between two North West Company firms (McTavish, McGillivrays & Co and Forsyth, Richardson & Co) and John Jacob Astor to import goods through New York and deal with the Great Lakes trade. It was mostly blocked by the War of 1812 but remnants existed until at least 1820. Astor had been dealing with

2738-537: The North West Company and 76 that belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company. When the competition between both companies came to an end, new board of directors wanted two field governors to oversee the newly defined territory, and George Simpson was appointed to the Northern Department. George Simpson (1787–1860), the Hudson's Bay Company Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land , who became the Canadian head of

2812-521: The North West Company was at a distinct disadvantage in competing for furs with the Hudson's Bay Company, whose charter gave it a virtual monopoly in Rupert's Land , where the best furs were trapped. The company tried to persuade the British Parliament to change arrangements, at least so the North West Company could obtain transit rights to ship goods to the west needed for trading for furs. It

2886-535: The North West Company, continued to operate until the Hudson's Bay Company's takeover and the replacement of Fort Astoria by Fort Vancouver . The Canadian fur trade began to change in 1806, after Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the blockade of the Baltic Sea as part of the ongoing struggle between France and Britain for world dominance. Britain was dependent for almost all of her timber on the Baltic countries and on

2960-580: The Oriental market and westerly expansion to unclaimed territory in what is now the Columbia River basin , in the present-day states of Washington and Oregon . Astor's Pacific Fur Company beat the North West Company in an effort to found a post near the mouth of the Columbia, Fort Astoria . A collapse in the sea otter population and the imminent possibility of British seizure of Astoria during

3034-677: The R.M. of St. Andrews. Water is then cleaned at the Selkirk Water Treatment Plant before being sent out to distribution lines. Five of the six wells are deep, while the Tower well is shallower. Because of this water from the Tower well needs more maintenance. McLean Well (drilled in 1959), Christie Well 1 (drilled in 1968. used only in emergencies), Rosser Well (drilled in 1987), Tower Well (1997), Christie Well 2 (drilled in 2015), Render Well North (drilled in 2017), Render Well South (drilled in 2017). The Selkirk Water Tower

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3108-682: The Red River in 2009. Ice breakers and backhoes were to be strategically placed along the Red River Floodway , which might have needed to be opened before the ice was fully melted. Officials examined past ice jams and provided contingency plans if the Floodway jammed upstream of bridges or on tight corners. Selkirk is home to the Selkirk Steelers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League , who play in

3182-615: The Red River. After Chuck was built in 1986, the town council decided to place Chuck in front of Smitty's Restaurant on Main Street. The Marine Museum of Manitoba , a collection of historical marine artifacts of Lake Winnipeg and the Red River area, is located in Selkirk. Selkirk is also the site of a Canadian Coast Guard base. The yearly Selkirk Fair and Rodeo is held to celebrate the area's agricultural history. It celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2008. The Selkirk Mental Health Centre,

3256-463: The U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts (which at that time included the large territory of Maine). By then, however, tensions had also begun to escalate again between Britain and the United States. In 1809 the American Government passed the Non-Intercourse Act , which effectively brought about an almost complete cessation of trade between the two countries. Britain became totally dependent on her Canadian colony for her timber needs, especially

3330-417: The XY Company. In 1799 MacKenzie left the NWC and went to England. Next year he bought shares in XY and soon became the effective head of the firm. Alexander Henry the younger was an XY winterer. They built a number of posts close to NWC and HBC posts. The murder of an HBC man by an XY man at Fort de l'Isle led to the Canada Jurisdiction Act which extended Quebec law to western Canada. In 1804 it merged with

3404-498: The border. All these events intensified competition between the companies. When Thomas Douglas convinced his fellow shareholders in the Hudson's Bay Company to grant him the Selkirk Concession , it marked another in a series of events that would lead to the demise of the North West Company. The Pemmican Proclamation , the ensuing Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816, and its violence, resulted in Lord Selkirk arresting William McGillivray and several North West Company proprietors. He ordered

3478-502: The business. William McGillivray was groomed by his uncle to succeed him as Director of the North West Company, and by 1796 he had effectively done so, acting as Montreal agents' representative at the annual meetings at Grand Portage, and later at Fort William. Simon McTavish was an aggressive businessman who understood that powerful forces in the business world were always ready to pounce on any weakness. As such, his ambition and forceful positions caused disagreements between him and some of

3552-431: The companies increased to the point where several minor armed skirmishes broke out, and the two companies were forced by the British government to merge. After the French landed in Quebec in 1608, independent French-Canadian traders commonly known as coureurs des bois spread out and built a fur trade empire in the St. Lawrence basin. The French competed with the Dutch (from 1614) and English (1664) in New York and

3626-429: The companies to cease hostilities. In July 1821, under more pressure from the British government, which passed new regulations governing the fur trade in British North America, a merger agreement was signed with the Hudson's Bay Company. By this, the North West Company name disappeared after more than 40 years of operations. At the time of the merger, the amalgamated company consisted of 97 trading posts that had belonged to

3700-412: The company's twenty outstanding shares. At the time the company consisted of 23 partners, but "its staff of Agents, factors, clerks, guides, interpreters, more commonly known today as voyageurs amounted to 2000 people." In addition to Alexander Mackenzie, this group included Americans Peter Pond and Alexander Henry the elder . Further reorganizations of the partnership occurred in 1795 and 1802,

3774-399: The company, 77 were of Scots descent. Due to the prevalent kinship structures, it was all but impossible for unrelated men to advance from engagé to bourgeois . Beyond the non-operating investors, these were some of the post proprietors, clerks, interpreters, explorers and others of the nearly 2,500 persons employed by the North West Company in 1799: The history of the partnership

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3848-682: The company, owning one or two shares each. They were not salaried, but received their income from the company's profits through their shares. Trading goods were advanced to them on credit by the agents of Montreal. They wintered in the interior, managing a district with several trading posts, and were in charge of the actual trade with the Indians. During the summer, the agents and the associates met at Fort William. The wintering partners normally began their career path as clerks. The clerks or commiss were salaried employees. They began their career as apprentices serving five to seven years, before advancing to clerks and bookkeepers. Each hoped to become

3922-463: The company. Montreal merchants , or agents de Montréal were owners of trading companies and shareholders in the North West Company. They were responsible for hiring staff, exporting furs, acquiring supplies, merchandise and provisions, and organizing their shipment to the inland trading posts. For this, they received commissions, in addition to the profits they made as shareholders. Wintering partners or associés were also shareholders in

3996-401: The countryside around Montréal . Many Métis sons followed in their fathers' footstep, whether as bourgeois or engagés . Through descent and education, the bourgeois laid claim to the status of gentlemen , while the engagés did the physical labour. The bourgeois or masters of the North West Company belonged to three different levels, depending on the role performed in

4070-530: The draft animal in front and form the frame of the cart to the rear. Crosspieces hold the floorboards, and front, side and rear boards or rails made of willows or dimensional lumber enclose the box. These wooden pieces are joined by mortices and tenons . Also of seasoned oak is the axle, lashed to the cart by strips of bison hide or " shaganappi " attached when wet, which shrink and tighten as they dry. The axles connect two spoked wheels, 5 to 6 feet (1.5–1.8 m) in diameter, which are "dished" outward from

4144-414: The early West, these carts contain no iron at all, being entirely constructed of wood and animal hide. The cart can be dismantled, the wheels covered with bison hides to make floats and the box placed on top. Thus the cart can be floated across streams. Red River carts are strong enough to carry loads as heavy as 1,000 pounds (450 kg). Two 12-foot-long (3.7 m) parallel oak shafts or "trams" bracket

4218-420: The great white pine used for ships' masts. Almost overnight, timber and wood products replaced fur as Canada's number one export. Fur remained profitable, however, as it had a high value-to-bulk ratio. In an economy short of ready money, fur was routinely used by Canadian merchants to remit value to their London creditors. By 1810, another crisis hit the fur industry, brought on by the over-harvesting of animals,

4292-430: The host team. The Notre Dame Hounds defeated the Calgary Buffaloes 4–0 in the gold medal game, which was broadcast live from Selkirk on TSN . Selkirk is also the home of the Selkirk Curling Club which has hosted numerous curling events, including the Masters Grand Slam of Curling in 2014, Canadian Junior Curling Championships in 1997 and the Viterra/Safeway Select Manitoba Men's Provincial Curling Championships. Selkirk

4366-475: The hub, in the form of a shallow cone, for extra stability. Motive power for the carts was originally supplied by small horses obtained from the First Nations . After cattle were brought to the Selkirk Settlement in the 1820s, oxen were used, preferred because of their strength, endurance, and cloven hooves, which spread their weight in swampy areas. The cart, constructed of native materials, can easily be repaired. A supply of shaganappi and wood are brought;

4440-549: The largest mental health facility in the province, is a major employer in the city. It is surrounded by a park-like campus on the outskirts of the city. Gerdau , owned by Gerdau S.A. of Porto Alegre, Brazil, operates a steel minimill in Selkirk. This steel mill (known locally as MRM or "The Manitoba Rolling Mills ") is another major employer. Selkirk has three community newspapers: The Interlake Enterprise , The Selkirk Record , and The Selkirk Journal . Amphibex excavator icebreakers were at work breaking up ice flows on

4514-415: The management of the fur trading posts was taken over by English speakers. These so-called " pedlars " began to merge because competition cost them money and because of the high costs of outfitting canoes to the far west. There are historical references to a North West Company as early as 1770, including the Montreal-based traders Benjamin Frobisher , Isaac Todd , Alexander Henry the elder and others, but

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4588-520: The northern division of the greatly enlarged business, made his headquarters in the Montreal suburb of Lachine . The trading posts were soon reduced in number to avoid redundancy. The masters or the bourgeois of the North West Company were most often of Scottish descent, whether born in Canada or Scotland , and brought capital to the enterprise. Over time, many were related, since sons and nephews were recruited. The servants or engagés were most often Canadiens , mostly peasants' sons from

4662-485: The old North West Company partners held 75 per cent of the shares, and the former XY Company partners the remaining 25 per cent. Alexander Mackenzie was excluded from the new joint partnership. Under William McGillivray, the Company continued to expand, and apparently to profit, during the first decade of the 19th century. Competition with the Hudson's Bay Company was intense, however, and profit margins were squeezed. The North West Company branch in New York City had allowed

4736-443: The operations both in the building, management, and shareholding of the various trading posts scattered throughout the country, as well numbering among the voyageurs involved in the actual trading with natives. In the northwest, the Company expanded its operations as far north as Great Bear Lake, and westwards beyond the Rocky Mountains. For several years, they tried to sell furs directly to China , using American ships to avoid

4810-443: The seizure of their outpost property in Fort William and charged them with the deaths of 21 people at Seven Oaks. Although this matter was resolved by the authorities in Montreal, over the next few years some of the wealthiest and most capable partners began to leave the North West Company, fearful of its future viability. The form of nepotism within the company too had changed, from the strict values of Simon McTavish to something that

4884-417: The shareholders, several of whom eventually left the North West Company during the 1790s.Some of these dissidents formed their own company, known unofficially as the XY Company , allegedly because of the mark they used on their bales of furs. Their cause was greatly strengthened in 1799, when the North West Company's hero explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, quit his old partnership and soon after joined them. There

4958-491: The shares being subdivided each time to provide for more and more wintering partners. Vertical integration of the business was completed in 1792, when Simon McTavish and John Fraser formed a London house to supply trade goods and market the furs, McTavish, Fraser and Company. While the organization and capitalization of the North West Company came from Anglo-Quebecers , both Simon McTavish and Joseph Frobisher married French Canadians . Numerous French Canadians played key roles in

5032-435: The southern Great Lakes. Gregory & McLeod joined in 1787. They employed Alexander Mackenzie , Peter Pangman and John Ross. In 1987, the northern trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company were sold to an employee consortium that revived the name The North West Company in 1990. The new company is a grocery and merchandise store chain based in Winnipeg , with stores in Northern Canada, Alaska, US Pacific territories and

5106-404: The standard histories trace the company to a 16-share organization formed in 1779, which included Todd, Simon McTavish and James McGill . Seeking to break the Hudson's Bay Company monopoly over the North American fur trade , in 1780, the organization was joined by Peter Pond and Alexander Ellice, with his brothers, Robert and James, (and, later, his sons, including Edward Ellice ). In

5180-412: The wilderness territories of the Rocky Mountains and Interior Plateau and all the way to the Strait of Georgia on the Pacific Coast . The death of Benjamin Frobisher opened the door to a takeover of the North West Company by Simon McTavish, who made a deal with Frobisher's surviving brother Joseph. The firm of McTavish, Frobisher and Company, founded in November 1787, effectively controlled eleven of

5254-422: The winter of 1783–1784, the North West Company was officially created on a long-term basis, with its corporate offices on Vaudreuil Street in Montreal. It was led by businessmen Benjamin Frobisher, his brother, Joseph , and McTavish, along with investor-partners who included the Ellices, Robert Grant, Nicholas Montour , Patrick Small, William Holmes, and George McBeath . In 1787 the North West Company merged with

5328-579: Was estimated to cost C$ 35.2 million and would include a new water treatment plant. The expanded system would be large enough to serve St. Andrews and the Lower Fort Garry Historic Park. Construction began in August 2018 to replace the aging wastewater facility built in 1976. The new one would cost C$ 35.9 million, the largest capital works project in the City's history, with construction expected to be completed by January 2020. In

5402-523: Was harming the business in both its costs and morale of others. By 1820, the company was issuing coinage, each copper token representing the value of one beaver pelt. But the continued operations of the North West Company were in great doubt, and shareholders had no choice but to agree to a merger with their hated rival after Henry Bathurst , the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies , ordered

5476-489: Was intense competition between the rivals. When Simon McTavish died on 6 July 1804, the new head William McGillivray set out to put an end to the four years' rivalry. It had escalated to a point where the master of the North West Company post at Great Bear Lake had been shot by an XY Company employee during a quarrel. McGillivray was successful in putting together an agreement with the XY Company in 1804. It stipulated that

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