"The Leviathan of the North": American Perceptions of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1816-1846

2003 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-517
Author(s):  
William R. Swagerty
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
The North ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

Trapped?

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Ashley Riley Sousa
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Trade Network ◽  
Central California ◽  
The North ◽  
White Settlers ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

This article re-evaluates the nature of Indigenous labor at Central California’s New Helvetia colony. The fur trade in Central California was not simply a vehicle for settler exploitation of Indigenous labor but a dynamic trade network shaped by Plains Miwok– and Valley Nisenan–speaking trappers and traders, Mission San José, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and white settlers. Analysis of the financial aspects of trade for the Indigenous trappers and ethnohistorical examination of their motives for engaging in the trade suggest that the fur trade was not a source of degradation and dependency, but a vehicle by which they creatively and purposefully engaged colonial forces and markets. This article orients the histories of Plains Miwok– and Valley Nisenan–speaking communities into the larger story of the North American fur trade and suggests New Helvetia and its fur trade can be better understood as what historian Lisbeth Haas calls “Indigenous colonial” creations.

Shoes, Canoes, and Lives in Unexpected Archives: Searching in Fur Trade Ledgers beyond the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy Nation-Knapper
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Economic Data ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Cultural Information ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

This article illuminates the existence and utility of fur trade ledgers and account books held in repositories beyond those held in the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives. While the vast holdings of the HBCA are a phenomenal resource for researchers of the North American fur trade, many smaller repositories across the continent hold fur trade sources that can complement research conducted in other institutions. Such sources can, when examined with an eye to the cultural information they contain, reveal far more about the cultural history of North America than simply the economic data for which they were created.

The North American Fur Trade: Bargaining to a Joint Profit Maximum under Incomplete Information, 1804–1821

1986 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 967-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann M. Carlos ◽  
Elizabeth Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Incomplete Information ◽  
North American ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Bargaining Process ◽  
The North ◽  
Potential Gain ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

We examine bargaining between the Northwest Company and the Hudson's Bay Company using recent models of bargaining under incomplete information. Two previously undisturbed bodies of correspondence are analyzed: letters between the two companies and letters between the Hudson's Bay Company and its London committee. Through merger the companies achieved a joint maximum, but the lengthy and costly bargaining process dissipated much of the potential gain through depletion of animal stocks. Achievement of a joint maximum was hindered by incomplete information, commitment to a strategy which led to bargaining breakdowns, delineation of each party's rights under law, and environmental changes.

scholarly journals Shoes, Canoes, and Lives in Unexpected Archives: Searching in Fur Trade Ledgers beyond the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy Nation-Knapper
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Economic Data ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Cultural Information ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

This article illuminates the existence and utility of fur trade ledgers and account books held in repositories beyond those held in the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives. While the vast holdings of the HBCA are a phenomenal resource for researchers of the North American fur trade, many smaller repositories across the continent hold fur trade sources that can complement research conducted in other institutions. Such sources can, when examined with an eye to the cultural information they contain, reveal far more about the cultural history of North America than simply the economic data for which they were created.

The Causes and Origins of the North American Fur Trade Rivalry: 1804–1810

1981 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 777-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Carlos
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Napoleonic Wars ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
The North ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

Two ideas contrary to those of the existing literature are advanced. First, the early years of the Hudson's Bay Company/Northwest Company duopoly were characterized by passive rather than by predatory competition. Second, the Hudson's Bay Company initiated the changes that eventually led to predatory competition. The Company's financial crisis of 1809–1810 brought about by the decline in demand due to the Napoleonic Wars shocked it out of complacency and into aggressive competition.

A Critique of Milgrom and Roberts' Treatment of Incentives vs. Bureaucratic Controls in the British North American Fur Trade

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary P. Spraakman
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Profit Sharing ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
North West ◽  
Organization And Management ◽  
British North American ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

In their 1992 textbook, Economics, Organization and Management, Milgrom and Roberts used 19th century fur trading companies as examples of effective (the incentive-based North West Company) and ineffective (the bureaucratic-based Hudson's Bay Company) organizations. Findings from detailed examinations of both companies' archives suggest that Milgrom and Roberts were not completely accurate in their depictions of the two companies' incentives and bureaucratic controls. In response to complexities of intercontinental trade, both companies used bureaucratic controls for coordination as well as profit sharing to motivate senior managers. More generally, the findings raise questions about Milgrom and Roberts' relatively negative conclusions concerning the effectiveness of bureaucratic controls.

Chronological list of expeditions and historical events in northern Canada. V. 1790–1821

Polar Record ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 15 (99) ◽  
pp. 893-920
Author(s):  
Alan Cooke ◽  
Clive Holland
Keyword(s):  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Northern Canada ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Rupert's Land ◽  
New Policies ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

During the period covered by this instalment of our list, the accomplishments of the North West Company, both in geographical exploration and in the realization of profits were great. It consolidated its position in the fur-rich Athabasca district and, with a few posts along Mackenzie River, began to draw in the furs of that immense territory. Its traders invaded not only the western part of Rupert's Land but even Hudson Bay itself. The Hudson's Bay Company rose only slowly to the challenge of its formidable rival, but, gradually, it began to adopt new policies and new techniques and to meet the North West Company on its own grounds and on its own terms. Finally, after a bitter struggle that was almost the destruction of both companies, the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1821, effectively absorbed the North West Company in a coalition that gave the older company greater strength than ever and a wider monopoly than Prince Rupert had thought of.

John Rae (1813–93): Explorer of the Canadian Arctic, the great pedestrian

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 206-208
Author(s):  
Brian Loosmore
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Chief Factor ◽  
Eastern Shore ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Northern Canada ◽  
Orkney Islands ◽  
The North ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

Born and raised in the Orkney Islands, Dr John Rae joined the Hudson's Bay Company and rose to be Chief Factor. Unusually tough and intelligent, he explored much of northern Canada, mapping the north eastern shore and finding controversial evidence of the lost Franklin expedition of 1845. A talented botanist, geologist, anthropologist and cartographer, he was northern Canada's most distinguished explorer.

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