Topic: North West Company

North West Company fur-trading organization in North America in the late 18th and early 19th cent.; it was composed of Montreal trading firms and fur traders. Formation After the conquest of Canada by the British, which was formalized by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the French traders from Montreal and the coureurs de bois were gradually supplanted, more or less, in the fur trade by Scotsmen. Many of these new traders allied themselves with the French already in the country, and vigorous partnerships sprang up. The Montreal men contested control of the trade in the North with the ... Read more