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  A Brief Sketch of the Fur Trade and Fur Traders among the Ojibways from the Formation of the Northwest Company in  to  Among the first traders who pushed their enterprise to the villages of the Ojibways on Lake Superior,after France had ceded the Canadas to Great Britain,the names of Alexander Henry and the Cadottes appear most conspicuous . The Northwest Fur Company was not formed till the year . It originated in the following manner:— Three or four rival traders, or small companies, had proceeded from Montreal and Quebec,and located trading posts on the north coast of Lake Superior, about the mouth of Pigeon River, up which stream they sent outfits to the “Bois Fort” and Muskego Ojibways, and then to the Kenisteno and Assineboines of Red River. The rivalry between these different traders became extremely bitter, and at last resulted in the murder of Waddon, who was shot in cold blood, within his trading house, at Grand Portage. This outrage brought the most sensible portion of the traders to their senses,and they immediately made efforts to compromise their difficulties , and to join their interests into one. These efforts resulted in the formation of the Northwest Company, which soon became so rich and powerful that for a long time they were enabled to monopolize the northern fur trade, and cope with the most powerful and favored combinations which the capitalists of Great Britain could bring against them. In the year ,immediately after the noted expedition of John Baptiste Cadotte to the Upper Mississippi,the Northwest Company extended their operations over the whole Ojibway country within the limits of the United 272 1. The North West Company had its beginnings in the business connections of traders in the years after the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War.It was reorganized in as a monopoly controlled by Simon McTavish and again in  to include the Montreal merchants who had been left out of the  agreement (Wallace ,–). 2. Waddon (Waddens) was actually killed at Lac la Ronge in an altercation with Peter Pond in  (Wallace ,). Schenck bk p i-xxiv 1-318_Layout 1 5/13/11 10:54 AM Page 272 States,on Lake Superior and the Mississippi. Their trade in these regions was divided into four departments:— The Fond du Lac department consisted of the country at the head of Lake Superior,and the sources of the St.Louis and Mississippi Rivers.The FolleAvoinedepartmentconsistedofthecountrydrainedbythewatersof the St.Croix.TheLacCoutereilledepartmentcoveredthewatersoftheChippeway ; and the Lac du Flambeau department,the waters of the Wisconsin. The depot for this portion of their trade was located at Fond du Lac, but their great depot was at Grand Portage on the north coast of Lake Superior and within the limits of what is now known as Minnesota Territory . From this point they sent their outfits up Pigeon River, towards the northwest, and occupied the country of the Kenisteno and Assineboines. Here,each summer,the partners and clerks of the company,who had passed the winter amongst the inland posts,collected their returns of fur,and were met by the partners from Montreal with new supplies of merchandise. These yearly meetings were enlivened with feastings,dancing,and revelry, held in the great hall of the company. In the style of the feudal barons of old, did these prosperous traders each year hold their grand festival surrounded by their faithful and happy “coureurs du bois” and servitors.The eyes of an “old northwester,” while relating these happy scenes of by-gone times, will sparkle with excitement—his form will become momentarily erect as he imagines himself moving off in the merry dance,and his lips will water, as he enumerates the varied luxuries under which groaned long tables in the days of these periodic feastings. Amongst the different partners of this company on its first formation, the names of Frobisher,McTavish,Pond,Gregory,and Pangman are mentioned as most conspicuous. In their future operations, the names of Sir Alex.McKenzie and McGilvray soon became prominent as the most active partners. They were early opposed at some of their northern posts by the Brief Sketch of the Fur Trade and Fur Traders · 273 3. North West Company traders were already wintering in Fond du Lac in , according to Jean-Baptiste Perrault (, ). The earliest records of the North West Company in Minnesota were those of John Sayer,whose account book for the Fond du Lac Department covered the years –. 4. The Folle Avoine, the Chippewa...

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