Before The Company
After the French landed in Quebec in 1608 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 the English on Hudson Bay (1670). Unlike the French who travelled into the interior, the English confined themselves to trading posts on Hudson Bay. After 1731 La Vérendrye pushed trade west beyond Lake Winnipeg. After the conquest in 1763 management 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.
Read more about this topic: North West Company
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