Canada's Fur Trade History & Genealogy

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Canada's Fur Trade History & Genealogy An information & exchange page for historical & genealogical input pertaining to the fur trade in Canada.

09/12/2026

Métis History Tidbit.

Our Children and Youth need to know ALL our Métis History.

Forced Removal of Mountain Métis.

The forced removal of Mountain Métis families from the Jasper valley occurred
between 1909 and 1910 when the Canadian government created Jasper National Park.

The Eviction Process.

Park creation:

Ottawa established the Jasper forest reserve in 1907 to protect wilderness for public enjoyment.

Forced removal:

Officials viewed Indigenous and Métis residents as obstacles to nature conservation and forced them out.

A Long-Time Home:

Before Jasper became a famous National Park, Mountain Métis families lived, farmed, and built cozy log cabins in the valley for over 100 years.

Living with Nature:

The families spoke the Cree language and loved the land. They were experts at hunting, fishing, and caring for the local plants and animals.

The Big Move:

Between 1909 and 1910, the Canadian government decided to turn the area into a protected park and told the Métis families they had to move away.

Starting Over:

The families had to leave their beautiful valley homes behind. They packed up and moved to nearby towns like Hinton, Edson, and Grande Cache to start new lives.

Remembering History:

Today, parks and communities are working together to make sure everyone remembers the Mountain Métis families who first took care of the beautiful Jasper valley.


08/30/2026

The Hudson's Bay Company charter was signed by King Charles II of England on May 2, 1670, in a document that gave the company something remarkable: sovereign trading rights over all territory draining into Hudson Bay. The charter named this territory Rupert's Land after Prince Rupert of the Rhine, King Charles's cousin and the company's first governor. Rupert's Land encompassed approximately 7.7 million square kilometres, an area larger than Western Europe, covering most of what is now Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, large parts of Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories, and portions of the northern United States. The company was established to exploit the fur trade. European demand for beaver fur, which could be processed into felt for the wide-brimmed hats fashionable across the continent, was insatiable, and the beaver populations of Europe had been largely depleted. North America had beavers in extraordinary abundance. The HBC built its first trading posts at the mouths of rivers flowing into Hudson Bay, sent ships annually to collect furs and deliver trade goods, and established relationships with the Indigenous peoples of the interior who were the primary trappers and fur suppliers. Over the following two centuries the company expanded its network of trading posts across the continent, employing thousands of traders, factors, and labourers, many recruited from Scotland and the Orkney Islands because of their reputed hardiness and skill at navigating difficult terrain. The company's employees explored, mapped, and traveled much of the Canadian interior generations before settlement followed. The HBC beaver, which appeared on the company's coat of arms from 1678, was on Canadian identity before Canada was a country. In 1870 the company negotiated the sale of Rupert's Land to the new Dominion of Canada for 300,000 pounds and one-twentieth of the fertile land in the territory.

08/29/2026

Métis History Tidbit.

Métis salt-making was a vital early seasonal industry in Manitoba, where families extracted salt from natural brine springs long before modern industrial mining.

Historical Context and Locations.

Brine Springs:

Operations focused on natural salt springs around the Red River valley, La Rivière Salé, Lake Winnipegosis, and other interior Manitoba locations.

Economic Role:

Alongside hunting, fishing, and trapping, salt production provided essential commodities for local fur trade posts and regional settlements.

The Monkman Family:

James Joseph Monkman is recorded as one of the earliest and most prominent Métis salt-makers, establishing operations as early as 1818 near Winnipegosis.

Methods.

Evaporation:

Instead of deep underground rock-salt mining, early Métis and Indigenous salt makers gathered saline water from surface springs and boiled it down in large iron kettles until the water evaporated, leaving crystallized salt.

Trade:

The finished salt was packed and traded extensively throughout western Canada to preserve food and supply trading posts.

08/28/2026

Métis History Tidbit.

Echoes in the Marrow:

How the Métis Transformed Bison Bone and Sinew.

The crack of a rifle brought a bison down, but it was the quiet ingenuity of the processing camp that gave the animal a second life.

To the Métis, leaving any part of the bison behind was an unthinkable waste.

Long after the meat was dried into pemmican, the remaining skeleton and sinew became the raw materials for an entire hardware store on the open prairie.

While trade metal was common by the 19th century, bone and sinew remained irreplaceable for their specific properties:

Bone offered rigid, carveable durability, while sinew provided unmatched, elastic tensile strength.

🦴 Tools Carved from Bone.

Bison bones are incredibly dense, making them perfect for structural, heavy-duty applications.

The Fleshers and Scrapers:

Made from the heavy leg bones (tibia and metatarsus), these tools were notched with teeth to scrape fat, tissue, and hair from raw hides.

Without them, leather production was impossible.

Sled Runners and Awls:

The long, flat rib bones were bound together to make slick, durable winter sled runners.

Thinner splinters of bone were filed down on stones into sharp awls used to punch clean holes through tough leather before sewing.

The Marrow Pestles:

Heavy joint bones were used as hammers to crush other bones, releasing the rich, fatty marrow used to bind pemmican.

🧵 The Engineering of Sinew.

Sinew is the tough, fibrous tendon stripped from along the bison’s spine and legs. It was the "space-age" adhesive and thread of the Plains.

The Indestructible Thread:

Once dried, sinew was pounded until it separated into fine, incredibly strong threads.

When moistened with saliva and used for sewing, it shrunk slightly as it dried, locking seams into a watertight, unbreakable grip.

Cordage and Binding:

Braided sinew was used to lash handles onto bone tools and secure the structural frames of snowshoes, providing a flexible hold that wouldn't snap in sub-zero winter temperatures.

Image Source: Hide Scraper, 18th century. Bone, red pigment, hide, 8 11/16 x 2 3/8 in. (22 x 6 cm) 8 11/16 x 2 3/8 in. (22 x 6 cm) 8 1/2 x 11 in. (21.6 x 27.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, 13.17.


08/28/2026

Métis History Tidbit.

Ste. Madeleine was a Metis community formed in 1902 by Jules DeCorby. The community thrived and was home to over two hundred people and had a school, church and post office.

Community members gathered behind Beliveau School, which no longer exists, ca early 1900s.

Source: Manitoba Museum.

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