Français  Contact Us  Help  Search  Canada Site Volume 1 (1000–1754) Volume 2 (1755-1871) Volume 3 (1872–2000) CHAPTER 1 The Conquest CHAPTER 2 The Revolt of Pontiac and the American Invasion CHAPTER 3 The Coveted Pacific Coast CHAPTER 4 The Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 CHAPTER 5 Demobilization CHAPTER 6 The Royal Navy, Ruler of the Seas A Power Force In Defence From Sail to Steam A Revolution in Artillery Arctic Exploration Franklin's Tragic Expedition Discovery of a Northwest Passage Events in the North West Territories The Red River Volunteers The Pacific Coast The Victoria Voltigeurs The Purported Russian Threat The Gold Rush and the Royal Engineers The Pig War The Royal Navy Patrols the West Coast The Volunteer Corps CHAPTER 7 A Decade of Turbulence APPENDIX A The British Armed Forces APPENDIX B Daily Life of Soldiers and Officers APPENDIX C Uniforms and Arms APPENDIX D Reference      CHAPTER 6 The Royal Navy, Ruler of the Seas           Events in the North West Territories ( 2 pages )           1 2      Bloody Rivalry for the Fur Trade                In fact, part of the fur trade was conducted through the Arctic Ocean.  From the end of the eighteenth century onward, the rivalling North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company controlled this trade.  Beginning in 1816, people were upset by a number of bloody incidents, including the terrible massacre by the men of the North West Company of a group of Scottish colonists established by Lord Thomas Selkirk at Seven Oaks, today the city of Winnipeg.  Lord Selkirk recruited some 80 demobilized Swiss soldiers from the Meuron and Watteville regiments, took Fort William, and re-established his colony on the banks of the Red River.  In the end, in 1821 the Hudson's Bay Company took over its rival and found itself operating an immense network of trading posts from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean.  Most furs and goods for trading from this point on came through Hudson Bay, and hence via the Arctic Ocean, on both the outbound and the return journey to England.           1 2   Last Updated: 2004-06-20 Important Notices