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B. Canada, 1800–1850: Conflict and Challenges · Canada, 1800–1850: Conflict and Challenges

Fur Trade Rivalry, the Red River Settlement and Seven Oaks

B3 B2About 45 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can explain the rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company.
  • I can describe the founding of the Red River Settlement and the role of Peguis.
  • I can explain the causes and consequences of the Pemmican Proclamation and the Battle of Seven Oaks from different perspectives.

Words to know

Hudson's Bay Company (HBC)
A British fur trading company founded in 1670. It had posts on Hudson Bay, and traders brought furs to them.
North West Company (NWC)
A fur trading company based in Montreal. Its voyageurs paddled far inland to trade.
pemmican
Dried, pounded meat (usually bison) mixed with fat, sometimes with berries. It kept for a long time and fed fur trade canoe brigades.
Red River Settlement
A colony started in 1812 by Lord Selkirk near the meeting of the Red and Assiniboine rivers (now Winnipeg).
Pemmican Proclamation
An 1814 order banning pemmican and other food from being taken out of the Red River colony for one year.
merger
When two companies join to become one.

Let's start with a question

What would happen if two rival stores fought over the same customers, and one of them suddenly said, "Nobody can take food out of this area"? Now imagine the area is the size of a small country, and the food is what keeps hundreds of canoe paddlers alive.

That is roughly what happened at Red River between 1812 and 1816.

Two rival companies

In the early 1800s, two companies competed for furs in the Northwest:

  • The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), founded in 1670, claimed trading rights over Rupert's Land. For a long time it waited for First Nations traders to bring furs to its posts on Hudson Bay.
  • The North West Company (NWC), run by merchants in Montreal, sent voyageurs by canoe deep into the interior to trade directly with First Nations. Its main inland meeting place was Fort William (now Thunder Bay).

The NWC brigades depended on pemmican, much of it supplied by Métis hunters and traders from the Red River area. Pemmican was the "fuel" of the fur trade.

Two birchbark canoes rest on a rocky riverbank in front of a reconstructed fur trade post with a pointed log palisade and wooden buildings.
A reconstructed fur trade post as it looks today. Canoes like these carried furs and trade goods across the Northwest, where the two rival companies competed. AI-generated image
HudsonBayHBC postson the bayMontreal(NWC)Fort William(NWC)the interior(furs)Red RiverSettlementpemmicanto the brigadesNWC canoe brigades(dashed line)Sketch, not a map; not to scale
Why Red River mattered: the HBC traded from posts on Hudson Bay, while NWC canoe brigades from Montreal relied on pemmican from the Red River area. The new colony sat right on that supply line. Sketch, not to scale.

Lord Selkirk's colony

Thomas Douglas, the Earl of Selkirk, was a Scottish lord who wanted to help poor farmers from Scotland. In 1811 the HBC granted him a huge area around the Red and Assiniboine rivers, which he called Assiniboia. The first settlers, mostly from Scotland, arrived in 1812.

  • The land was not empty. It was home to Anishinaabe (Saulteaux), Cree and Assiniboine peoples, and to Métis families.
  • Chief Peguis of the Saulteaux helped the settlers survive their first hard winters, sharing food and knowledge.
  • To the NWC and the Métis, the colony sat right across the pemmican supply route. It looked like an HBC plan to cut off their trade.

The Pemmican Proclamation and Seven Oaks

  • January 8, 1814: The colony's governor, Miles Macdonell, issued the Pemmican Proclamation, banning the export of pemmican and other food from the colony for one year. The Métis and NWC saw it as an attack on their livelihood and their rights on their own land.
  • 1815–1816: Tensions grew. In 1815, many settlers were driven away, then returned. In March 1816, HBC men destroyed the NWC's Fort Gibraltar.
  • June 19, 1816: Cuthbert Grant, a Métis leader, led about 60 Métis and First Nations men taking pemmican to NWC canoe brigades. HBC Governor Robert Semple came out with 28 men to stop them at a place called Seven Oaks. Shooting broke out. Semple and 20 of his men were killed. On the Métis side, one young man was killed.

The Métis call it the Victory of Frog Plain (La Grenouillère). The Métis songwriter Pierre Falcon wrote a song about it that is still sung. Many historians see Seven Oaks as an important moment when the Métis acted together as a nation.

PerspectiveHow they saw Seven Oaks
MétisDefending their right to hunt, trade and move pemmican on their own land; a victory for the Métis Nation
Selkirk settlers and HBCA massacre of the colony's governor and men; a threat to their homes
North West CompanyA defence of its trade route against an HBC scheme
Saulteaux under PeguisAllies and helpers of the settlers, worried about the violence on their lands
Different groups described the same event in very different ways. Even the names they used are different.

Consequences

  • In August 1816, Selkirk led a force that captured the NWC headquarters at Fort William. Both companies brought each other to court.
  • In 1817 Selkirk signed an agreement, often called the Selkirk Treaty, with Peguis and other Saulteaux and Cree leaders for land along the rivers.
  • The rivalry was ruining both companies. In 1821 they merged under the name Hudson's Bay Company. Many voyageurs and posts were no longer needed, and many Métis and retired fur trade families settled at Red River.
  • Red River grew into a mixed community of Métis, First Nations and settlers, which you will study next lesson.
Selkirkgrantfirst settlersarrivePemmicanProclamationSeven OaksJune 19, 1816SelkirkTreatyHBC and NWCmerge
Ten years from Selkirk's land grant to the merger of the two companies. Each event helped cause the next.
Worked example

Modelled example: Why do names matter?

The same event of June 19, 1816, is called "the Seven Oaks Massacre" by some and "the Victory of Frog Plain" by others. What does each name tell us?

  1. "Massacre" means a killing of people who could not defend themselves. Using it suggests the Métis were attackers and the HBC men were victims. It is the settlers' and HBC's perspective.
  2. "Victory of Frog Plain" names a place and calls the event a win. It is the Métis perspective: they defended their rights.
  3. Historians today often use a more neutral name, such as Battle of Seven Oaks or Seven Oaks incident.
  4. Evidence check: Semple's men came out to stop the Métis, and the two sides were both armed. Historians still disagree about exactly who fired first.

Names carry perspective. A careful historian notices who chose a name and uses neutral words when explaining an event.

Hands-on activity

Make a pemmican trade map

You need: a large sheet of paper, coloured pencils, and a map of Canada (an atlas or online map with a grown-up).

  1. Draw and label Hudson Bay, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Superior, the Red River and Montreal.
  2. Mark York Factory (HBC, on Hudson Bay), Fort William (NWC, on Lake Superior) and the Red River Settlement (now Winnipeg).
  3. Draw the NWC canoe route from Montreal to Fort William and on to the Northwest. Draw the HBC route from York Factory inland.
  4. Circle the spot where the routes and the pemmican supply meet near Red River.
  5. Explain to a grown-up, using your map, why Selkirk's colony worried the NWC and the Métis.

Look for: your child pointing out that Red River sat at a crossroads of the trade.

Your turn

1

Which company was based in Montreal?

2

What is pemmican, and why was it important to the fur trade?

3

Who founded the Red River Settlement, and when did the first settlers arrive?

4

How did Chief Peguis help the settlers?

5

What did the Pemmican Proclamation (1814) ban?

6

Who led the Métis at Seven Oaks?

7

What happened to the HBC and NWC in 1821?

More practice: warm-up

1

In what year was the HBC founded?

2

What is the modern city at the Red and Assiniboine rivers?

3

What was the date of the Battle of Seven Oaks?

4

Which HBC governor was killed at Seven Oaks?

5

Name the Métis songwriter who wrote about Frog Plain.

More practice: on your own

1

Why did the NWC see the Red River Settlement as a threat?

2

Explain why the Métis felt the Pemmican Proclamation attacked their rights.

3

Why did the 1821 merger change life at Red River?

4

Why was the land granted to Selkirk not really "empty"?

5

Give one reason historians see Seven Oaks as significant for the Métis Nation.

Challenge

1

Trace a chain of at least four causes and consequences from the Selkirk grant (1811) to the merger (1821).

2

Was Seven Oaks mainly about business, land or identity? Argue for one, using evidence, and admit one piece of evidence for another side.

3

Explain how Peguis's actions show that First Nations made their own choices in this conflict, not just reacted to it.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which group mainly supplied pemmican to the North West Company?

2.

What was the Pemmican Proclamation?

3.

Who helped the Selkirk settlers survive their first winters?

4.

What did the Métis call the Battle of Seven Oaks?

5.

What happened in 1821?

6.

Why do historians often prefer the name "Battle of Seven Oaks" today?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Students describe significant events (B3), the fur trade rivalry and the conflict at Seven Oaks, and investigate them from Métis, settler, company and First Nations perspectives (B2).

Sensitivity: Seven Oaks was violent: 22 people died. Discuss it as a conflict with causes, without dwelling on the fighting. Present the Métis as a living nation with their own rights, not as a "mix" or as company workers.

How to help: Make the map together. If your family has visited Winnipeg (The Forks, Fort Gibraltar, Seven Oaks House Museum), share what you remember.

Common difficulties: Thinking the HBC and NWC were countries, and believing Selkirk's land was empty.