North West Co

NORTH WEST COMPANY (NWC) was a trading company in Montreal that pioneered the land-based FUR TRADE in BC. The first Nor'wester to arrive west of the ROCKY MTS was Alexander MACKENZIE, who made the first transcontinental crossing to the Pacific in 1793. Afterwards he developed plans to exploit the commercial possibilities of the Northwest Coast. NWC followed up on these plans in 1805 by sending Simon FRASER across the Rockies into the area he christened NEW CALEDONIA, now north-central BC. Fraser and his men built several trading posts: Fort McLeod on McLEOD LK (1805), FORT ST JAMES on STUART Lk (1806), FORT FRASER on FRASER LK (1806), and Fort George (site of PRINCE GEORGE) at the confluence of the FRASER and NECHAKO rivers (1807). He descended the river that now bears his name in 1808 but decided it did not provide the passable supply route to the ocean that he was seeking. Farther to the south NWC sought an overland route to the Pacific via the COLUMBIA R. In 1811 David THOMPSON made his way to the mouth of this river, where he found the PACIFIC FUR CO already installed. Two years later the NWC bought out its American competition, taking sole possession of the trade on the Columbia and in New Caledonia. It took over lower Fort George at the mouth of the Columbia, which then became headquarters of the trade beyond the Rockies. The northern district of New Caledonia was supplied by CANOE brigades from the east. In 1813 a party of Nor'westers led by John STUART pioneered the Okanagan brigade route connecting the lower Columbia and the upper Fraser posts via the THOMPSON R and the OKANAGAN VALLEY, but thereafter the NWC chose not to use this route to supply New Caledonia. NWC had no involvement in the maritime FUR TRADE along the coast, nor was it able to achieve Mackenzie's dream of a trading link with China. On 26 Mar 1821 it merged with the HBC, which to that point had no presence west of the mountains. Retaining the HBC name, the new company took over all the NWC posts on the Columbia and in New Caledonia.