The Hudson's Bay Company was established in 1670 by two enterprising coureurs des bois, Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson. They approached the British about setting up a post in the northwest frontier, because the tighter trading laws in New France were too restrictive for unlicensed traders. They built a settlement called Fort Charles, later known as York Factory. It was situated on James Bay in the Hudson Bay region. Before that time, the British traded primarily with the Iroquois natives. After the completion of York Factory, the British fur traders had access to the northern territory and the valuable beaver pelts.
The Hudsons Bay company had fierce competition now from the other company, because both wanted control of the fur trade. That started a fur trade war. So the Nor'westers and the Baymen sometimes would do anything to gain control of the fur trade. They would destroy each other's things or bribe the other company's traders with more money. They would even use violence and murder to get more fur.
As they competed with the North West Company for furs, the Hudson's Bay men explored much of Canada. Henry Kelsey was the first white explorer to see the buffalo of the western plains. Samuel Hearne set up the first inland trading post at Cumberland House. David Thompson was fifteen when he apprenticed with the Hudson's Bay Company. Later in life, he found the route to the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River.
Before 1759, there were several independent trading companies in the Montreal area. As the Hudson's Bay Company grew more powerful, the smaller companies became scared that they would be squeezed out of the fur trade profits. They formed the North West Company. The Nor'westers, as they came to be known, were mostly Scottish business men. The partners in the company belonged to a private association called the Beaver Club. Members of this special club received a medallion, with a picture of a beaver on one side and a voyageur canoe on the other. The motto was "Industry and Perseverance". Like the coureurs de bois, the Nor'westers knew that the First Nations trappers were more willing to trade in their own territory than travelling long distances to a fort. To get higher trade profits, the Nor'westers pushed further and farther west, exploring and setting up trading posts until finally they reached the Pacific Ocean.
HBC Territory from 1764 until 1820
The North West Company was formed in 1783 by Montreal fur traders. A lot of them used to be coureurs de bois. They had nobody to work for after New France was lost to Britain and so they started this company along with some other young Scottish men.
The Northwest Company operated several posts within the interior of present day Minnesota. One such significant post was located at Lower Red Cedar lake (Cedar lake), just 4 miles east of present-day Aitkin.
As Lewis & Clark embarked on their journey to explore the West, Lt. Zebulon Pike and his expedition left from St. Louis on a journey to explore the headwaters of the Mississippi. His mission included orders to assess the extent of British trade operations in the upper reaches of the newly acquired possession known as the Louisiana Purchase. During the winter of 1805-06, Pike and a detachment of men first encountered British trade operations at the Northwest Comapny post on Lower Red Cedar lake. Pike became the guest of the post factor and bivouacked at the post where he also met with Babesigaundibay (Curly Head).
Following the War of 1812, the British cartel known as the Northwest Company was forced by an act of Congress to abandon their posts on American soil. John Jacob Astor soon replaced the posts in this region with his own American Fur Company operations. Headquarters for the vast Fond du Lac region of the American Fur Comapny were moved from Fond du Lac to nearby Sandy lake. This location commanded the important Savanna Portage that was the most important link between the Mississippi waterway network and Lake Superior.
Chief factor and partner of the American Fur Company's vast Fond du Lac region, which covered much of northern Minnesota, was William Alexander Aitkin . William Aitkin headquartered his operations at Sandy lake. Astor sold his holdings and control to partner Ramsey Crooks in 1836.
Aitkin seemed to sense trouble brewing from Ramsey Crooks as Aitkin's correspondence to fellow partners expressed concerns over his situation. It seems likely that Crooks was worried about Aitkin's powerful influence. William Aitkin become one of the most influential men of the region and held marriage ties to the Ojibwe of the region. This positioned Aitkin, should he so desire, to take over the richest region held by the American Fur Comapny for himself. By 1838, Aitkin had a falling-out with Crooks and was dismissed for alleged reasons of "mismanagement. "
It didn't take William Aitkin long to make a return. As he regrouped, he established sources for trade goods in St. Louis and made plans to return to regain his former empire. By about 1840-41 Aitkin strategically located his post along the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Mud river. This placed him west of Sandy lake and strategically situated along travel routes to-and-from Mille Lacs. In 1841 Aitkin lost his license to trade at this location, possibly as a result of political pressure on Indian agents by Ramsey Crooks. By 1842, the American Fur Comapny was for all practical purposes- out of business. Aitkin, however, continued in the fur trade for another decade, moving further down the river as time went on.
