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{{more citations needed|date=October 2007}}
{{short description|Historical fur-trading company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{about|the historical fur trading company|the modern grocery and retail company|The North West Company}}
{{Infobox company
| name             = North West Company
| image            = North West Company - Coat Of Arms.jpg
| image_size       =
| image_alt        =
| image_caption    = Company coat of arms
| type             = Private
| fate             = Merger
| successor        = [[Hudson's Bay Company]]
| foundation       = {{start date and age|1779}}
| founder          = [[Benjamin Frobisher]], [[Joseph Frobisher]], [[Simon McTavish (fur trader)|Simon McTavish]], Robert Grant, [[Nicholas Montour]], Patrick Small, William Holmes, [[George McBeath]]
| defunct          = {{end date and age|1821}}
| location_city    = [[Montreal]], Lower Canada
| area_served      = [[Territories of the United States|United States territory]], [[Russian America]], [[British Canada]]
| industry         = [[North American fur trade]]
}}

The '''North West Company''' was a [[Fur trade in Canada|Canadian fur trading]] business headquartered in [[Montreal]] from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] in the regions that later became [[Western Canada]] and [[Northwestern Ontario]]. With great wealth at stake, tensions between the companies increased to the point where several minor armed skirmishes broke out, and the two companies were forced by the [[British government]] to merge.

==Before the Company==
After the French landed in Quebec in 1608, independent French-Canadian traders commonly known as {{lang|fr|[[coureurs des bois]]}} spread out and built a fur trade empire in the [[St. Lawrence River|St. Lawrence]] basin. The French competed with the Dutch (from 1614) and English (1664) in New York and the English in [[Hudson Bay]] (1670). Unlike the French who traveled into the northern interior and traded with First Nations in their camps and villages, the English made bases at trading posts on Hudson Bay, inviting the indigenous people to trade. After 1731, {{lang|fr|[[Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de La Vérendrye|La Vérendrye]]|italic=no}} pushed trade west beyond [[Lake Winnipeg]]. After the British conquest of [[New France]] in 1763 (and the defeat of France in Europe), the management of the fur trading posts was taken over by English speakers. These so-called "[[pedlar (fur trade)|pedlars]]" began to merge because competition cost them money and because of the high costs of outfitting canoes to the far west.

==Beginnings==
[[Image:SimonMctavish.jpg|thumb|200px|Following the 1787 death of [[Benjamin Frobisher]], Simon McTavish dominated the company, until his own death in 1804. His nephew William McGilivray ran the company, until the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] merger of 1821.]]

There are historical references to a North West Company as early as 1770, including the Montreal-based traders [[Benjamin Frobisher]], [[Isaac Todd]], [[Alexander Henry the elder]] and others, but the standard histories trace the company to a 16-share organization formed in 1779, which included Todd, [[Simon McTavish (fur trader)|Simon McTavish]] and [[James McGill]]. Seeking to break the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] [[monopoly]] over the [[North American fur trade]], in 1780, the organization was joined by [[Peter Pond]] and Alexander Ellice, with his brothers,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Jennifer S.H. |title=North West Company |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/north-west-company |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=29 January 2020 |date=2007}}</ref> Robert and James,<ref name="Wilson">{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Bruce G. |title=Enterprises of Robert Hamilton: A Study of Wealth and Influence in Early Upper Canada, 1776–1812 |date=1983 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |page=59 |isbn=9780773573369 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJ-uAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 |access-date=29 January 2020}}</ref> (and, later, his sons, including [[Edward Ellice (merchant)|Edward Ellice]]).<ref name="DCB-Ellice">{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=George W. |title=Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume 5 |date=1966 |location=Canada |page=300 |isbn=9780802033987 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=evippMryHjsC&pg=PA300 |access-date=29 January 2020}}</ref>

In the winter of 1783–1784, the North West Company was officially created on a long-term basis, with its corporate offices on Vaudreuil Street in Montreal. It was led by businessmen Benjamin Frobisher, his brother, [[Joseph Frobisher|Joseph]], and McTavish, along with investor-partners who included the Ellices, Robert Grant, [[Nicholas Montour]], Patrick Small, William Holmes, and [[George McBeath]].
{{Further|Northwest Company Express}}

==Official founding==
In 1787 the North West Company merged with a rival organization, Gregory, McLeod and Co., which brought several more able partners in, including John Gregory,<ref>{{cite DCB|title=Gregory, John|first=Marjorie Wilkins|last=Campbell|volume=5|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/gregory_john_1817_5E.html|access-date=5 October 2015}}</ref> [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Alexander Mackenzie]], and his cousin Roderick Mackenzie. The 1787 company consisted of 20 shares, some held by the agents at Montreal (see below), and others by wintering partners, who spent the trading season in the fur country and oversaw the trade with the aboriginal peoples there.

The wintering partners and the Montreal agents met each July at the company's depot at [[Grand Portage]] on [[Lake Superior]], later moved to [[Fort William, Ontario|Fort William]]. Also under the auspices of the company, Alexander Mackenzie conducted two important expeditions of exploration. In 1789, he descended the Grand River (now called the [[Mackenzie River]]) to the Arctic Ocean,<ref>{{cite book|first=Alexander|last=Mackenzie|title=Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793|volume=I|date=1903|publisher=A.S. Barnes & Company|location=New York|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35658|access-date=5 October 2015}}</ref> and in 1793 he went overland from [[Peace River]] to the Pacific Ocean.<ref>{{cite book|first=Alexander|last=Mackenzie|title=Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793|volume=II|date=1903|publisher=A. S. Barnes & Company|location=New York|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35659|access-date=5 October 2015}}</ref> Further explorations were performed by [[David Thompson (explorer)|David Thompson]], starting in 1797, and later by [[Simon Fraser (explorer)|Simon Fraser]]. These men pushed into the wilderness territories of the [[Rocky Mountains]] and Interior Plateau and all the way to the [[Strait of Georgia]] on the [[Pacific Coast]].<ref name=innes>{{cite book|last=Innis|first=Harold A.|title=The Fur Trade in Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Economic History|location=Toronto, Ontario|publisher=University of Toronto Press|orig-year=1930|date=2001|edition=reprint|isbn=978-0-8020-8196-4|url={{google books|eCgps70cHV4C|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=5 October 2015}}</ref>

==Frobisher–McTavish deal==
The death of Benjamin Frobisher opened the door to a takeover of the North West Company by Simon McTavish, who made a deal with Frobisher's surviving brother Joseph. The firm of McTavish, Frobisher and Company, founded in November 1787, effectively controlled eleven of the company's twenty outstanding shares. At the time the company consisted of 23 partners, but "its staff of Agents, factors, clerks, guides, interpreters, more commonly known today as {{lang|fr|voyageurs}} amounted to 2000 people."<ref>{{cite book |first=William |last=Kingsford |chapter=John Johnston, of Sault Ste. Marie: A Passage in Canadian History |editor-first=G. Mercer |editor-last=Adam |title=Canadian Monthly and National Review |page=3 |volume=VII |date=July 1881 |location=Toronto |publisher=Rose-Belford Publishing Co |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/rosebelfordscana07torouoft#page/n3/mode/2up |access-date=5 October 2015 }}</ref>  In addition to Alexander Mackenzie, this group included [[United States|Americans]] [[Peter Pond]] and [[Alexander Henry the elder]].  Further reorganizations of the partnership occurred in 1795 and 1802, the shares being subdivided each time to provide for more and more wintering partners.

Vertical integration of the business was completed in 1792, when Simon McTavish and John Fraser formed a London house to supply trade goods and market the furs, McTavish, Fraser and Company. While the organization and capitalization of the North West Company came from [[Anglo-Quebecer]]s, both Simon McTavish and Joseph Frobisher married [[French Canadian]]s. Numerous French Canadians played key roles in the operations both in the building, management, and shareholding of the various trading posts scattered throughout the country, as well numbering among the {{lang|fr|voyageurs}} involved in the actual trading with natives.

In the northwest, the Company expanded its operations as far north as Great Bear Lake,<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Keith |editor-first=Lloyd |title=North of Athabasca: Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Documents of North West Company, 1800–1821 |publisher=McGill-Queens University Press |series=Rupert's Land Record Society series |year=2001 |location=Montreal, Quebec & Kingston, Ontario |page=38 |url={{Google books|7fSjmXgjVggC|plainurl=yes|page=38}} |isbn=0-7735-2098-8 |access-date=5 October 2015 }}</ref> and westwards beyond the Rocky Mountains.  For several years, they tried to sell furs directly to [[China]], using American ships to avoid the British East India Company's monopoly, but little profit was made there. The company also expanded into the United States' [[Northwest Territory]] (today's Midwest of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin). In 1796, to better position themselves in the increasingly global market, where politics played a major role, the North West Company briefly established an agency in [[New York City]].

Despite its efforts, the North West Company was at a distinct disadvantage in competing for furs with the Hudson's Bay Company, whose charter gave it a virtual monopoly in [[Rupert's Land]], where the best furs were trapped. The company tried to persuade the [[British Parliament]] to change arrangements, at least so the North West Company could obtain transit rights to ship goods to the west needed for trading for furs. It is said that Simon McTavish made a personal petition to Prime Minister [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]], but all requests were refused.

[[Image:Charltonisland.png|thumb|237px|Charlton Island]]
A few years later, with no relief to the Hudson's Bay Company's stranglehold, McTavish and his group decided to gamble. They organized an overland expedition from Montreal to [[James Bay]] and a second expedition by sea. In September 1803, the overland party met at [[Charlton Island]], in what is now [[Nunavut]] Territory, the {{ship||Eddystone|1802 ship|2}}, a ship that Fraser acquired. At Charlton Island, they laid claim to the region inhabited by the [[Inuit]], in the name of the North West Company, and were able to capitalize on the rich furs of the area. Their expansion northwestward cut into the profits of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1800, HBC profited £38,000 in trade compared to the North West Company's £144,000 in 1800.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Canadian Prairies|last=Friesen|first=Gerald|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1987|isbn=0-8020-6648-8|url={{Google books|SIMHAcD8LNkC|plainurl=yes|page=62}}|pages=62}}</ref> This bold move caught the Hudson's Bay Company off guard.  In succeeding years it retaliated rather than reaching a compromise, which McTavish had hoped might be negotiated.

==Late 18th/early 19th century==

{{Multiple image
| direction = vertical
| image1 = Flag of the North West Company Pre-1801.svg
| caption1 = Original flag of the North West Company
| image2 = Flag of the North West Company Post-1801.svg
| caption2 = The Company's flag after 1801
}}

Simon McTavish brought several members of his family into the company, but nepotism took a back seat to ability.  His brother-in-law, [[Charles Chaboillez]], oversaw the Lower Red River trading post. McTavish also hired several cousins and his nephews [[William McGillivray]] and [[Duncan McGillivray]] to learn the business. William McGillivray was groomed by his uncle to succeed him as Director of the North West Company, and by 1796 he had effectively done so, acting as Montreal agents' representative at the annual meetings at Grand Portage, and later at Fort William.

Simon McTavish was an aggressive businessman who understood that powerful forces in the business world were always ready to pounce on any weakness. As such, his ambition and forceful positions caused disagreements between him and some of the shareholders, several of whom eventually left the North West Company during the 1790s. Some of these dissidents formed their own company, known unofficially as the [[XY Company]], allegedly because of the mark they used on their bales of furs. Their cause was greatly strengthened in 1799, when the North West Company's hero explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, quit his old partnership and soon after joined them.

There was intense competition between the rivals. When Simon McTavish died on 6 July 1804, the new head William McGillivray set out to put an end to the four years' rivalry. It had escalated to a point where the master of the North West Company post at [[Great Bear Lake]] had been shot by an XY Company employee during a quarrel. McGillivray was successful in putting together an agreement with the XY Company in 1804. It stipulated that the old North West Company partners held 75 per cent of the shares, and the former XY Company partners the remaining 25 per cent. Alexander Mackenzie was excluded from the new joint partnership.<ref name=rich>{{cite book|last=Rich|first=E. E.|title=Montreal and the Fur Trade|location=Montreal, Quebec|publisher=McGill-Queens University Press|date=1966|isbn=978-0-7735-9431-9}}</ref>

Under William McGillivray, the Company continued to expand, and apparently to profit, during the first decade of the 19th century. Competition with the Hudson's Bay Company was intense, however, and profit margins were squeezed. The North West Company branch in New York City had allowed the Canadians to get around the [[British East India Company]]'s monopoly and ship furs to the Chinese market. Cargo ships owned by the North West Company conveniently sailed under the American flag, and doing so meant continued collaboration with [[John Jacob Astor]].

However, Astor was as aggressive as Simon McTavish had been. An intense rivalry soon developed between him and William McGillivray over the Oriental market and westerly expansion to unclaimed territory in what is now the [[Columbia River basin]], in the present-day states of [[Washington (state)|Washington]] and [[Oregon]].  Astor's [[Pacific Fur Company]] beat the North West Company in an effort to found a post near the mouth of the Columbia, [[Fort Astoria]]. A collapse in the sea otter population and the imminent possibility of British seizure of Astoria during the [[War of 1812]] led to its sale to the North West Company in 1813. When [[HMS Racoon (1808)|HMS ''Racoon'']] and its Captain Black arrived, he went through a ceremony of possession, even though the fort was already ostensibly under British control. Due to treaty complications of the [[Treaty of Ghent]] requiring the return of seized assets, putative ownership of the site was returned to the United States in 1817. Renamed as Fort George by the North West Company, continued to operate until the Hudson's Bay Company's takeover and the replacement of Fort Astoria by [[Fort Vancouver]].<ref name=rich />

The Canadian fur trade began to change in 1806, after [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] ordered the blockade of the [[Baltic Sea]] as part of the ongoing struggle between France and Britain for world dominance. Britain was dependent for almost all of her timber on the Baltic countries and on the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts (which at that time included the large territory of Maine). By then, however, tensions had also begun to escalate again between Britain and the United States.

In 1809 the American Government passed the [[Non-Intercourse Act (1809)|Non-Intercourse Act]], which effectively brought about an almost complete cessation of trade between the two countries. Britain became totally dependent on her Canadian colony for her timber needs, especially the great white pine used for ships' masts. Almost overnight, timber and wood products replaced fur as Canada's number one export.  Fur remained profitable, however, as it had a high value-to-bulk ratio. In an economy short of ready money, fur was routinely used by Canadian merchants to remit value to their London creditors.

==Forced merger==
By 1810, another crisis hit the fur industry, brought on by the over-harvesting of animals, the [[North American beaver]] in particular. The destruction of the North West Company post at [[Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario|Sault Ste. Marie]] by the Americans during the [[War of 1812]] was a serious blow during an already difficult time. In addition, the company was hurt by the refusal after the war with the United States to let Canadian traders freely cross its northern border. This reduced much of the border trade, which had previously been profitable for them, and artificially divided traders' relations with those several Native American tribes whose territories spanned the border.

All these events intensified competition between the companies. When [[Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk|Thomas Douglas]] convinced his fellow shareholders in the Hudson's Bay Company to grant him the [[Selkirk Concession]], it marked another in a series of events that would lead to the demise of the North West Company. The [[Pemmican Proclamation]], the ensuing [[Battle of Seven Oaks]] in 1816, and its violence, resulted in Lord Selkirk arresting William McGillivray and several North West Company proprietors. He ordered the seizure of their outpost property in [[Fort William, Ontario|Fort William]] and charged them with the deaths of 21 people at Seven Oaks. Although this matter was resolved by the authorities in Montreal, over the next few years some of the wealthiest and most capable partners began to leave the North West Company, fearful of its future viability. The form of nepotism within the company too had changed, from the strict values of Simon McTavish to something that was harming the business in both its costs and morale of others.<!-- what does that mean? --><ref>{{cite book|title=Aspects of the Fur Trade; Selected Papers of the 1965 North American Fur Trade Conference|editor-first=Russell W.|editor-last=Friedley|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|date=1967}}</ref><ref>Davies, K.G.; "From Competition to Union"</ref>

By 1820, the company was issuing coinage, each copper token representing the value of one beaver pelt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coinsandcanada.com/tokens-medals-commercial.php?title=north-west-company-1820&id=201|title=Coins and Canada – North West Company – 1820 – Pre-confederation commercial tokens|website=www.coinsandcanada.com}}</ref>  But the continued operations of the North West Company were in great doubt, and shareholders had no choice but to agree to a merger with their hated rival after [[Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst|Henry Bathurst]], the [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies]], ordered the companies to cease hostilities. In July 1821, under more pressure from the British government, which passed new regulations governing the fur trade in British North America, a merger agreement was signed with the Hudson's Bay Company. By this, the North West Company name disappeared after more than 40 years of operations. At the time of the merger, the amalgamated company consisted of 97 trading posts that had belonged to the North West Company and 76 that belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company.  When the competition between both companies came to an end, new board of directors wanted two field governors to oversee the newly defined territory, and George Simpson was appointed to the Northern Department.<ref>Keith, H. Lloyd. "'Shameful Mismanagement, Wasteful Extravagance, and the Most Unfortunate Dissention' : George Simpson's Misconceptions of the North West Company." ''Oregon Historical Quarterly'', Winter 2001, p. 434. ''Academic OneFile''</ref> [[George Simpson (administrator)|George Simpson]] (1787–1860), the Hudson's Bay Company Governor-in-Chief of [[Rupert's Land]], who became the Canadian head of the northern division of the greatly enlarged business, made his headquarters in the Montreal suburb of [[Lachine, Quebec|Lachine]]. The trading posts were soon reduced in number to avoid redundancy.

==Social and ethnic structure==
The masters or the {{lang|fr|bourgeois}} of the North West Company were most often of Scottish descent, whether born in [[Canada]] or [[Scotland]], and brought capital to the enterprise. Over time, many were related, since sons and nephews were recruited. The servants or {{lang|fr|[[engagé]]s}} were most often {{lang|fr|[[Canadiens]]}}, mostly peasants' sons from the countryside around [[Montréal]]. Many [[Métis]] sons followed in their fathers' footstep, whether as {{lang|fr|bourgeois}} or {{lang|fr|engagés}}. Through descent and education, the {{lang|fr|bourgeois}} laid claim to the status of [[gentlemen]], while the {{lang|fr|engagés}} did the physical labour.<ref>[http://fwhp.ca/about-us/our-history/fort-william-circa-1815/131-class-structure-of-the-north-west-company-circa-1816  "Class Structure of the North West Company circa 1816." ''Fort William Historical Park.''] Retrieved 30 November 2017.</ref>

===Bourgeois===
The {{lang|fr|bourgeois}} or masters of the North West Company belonged to three different levels, depending on the role performed in the company.

'''Montreal merchants''', or {{lang|fr|agents de Montréal}} were owners of trading companies and [[shareholder]]s in the North West Company. They were responsible for hiring staff, exporting furs, acquiring supplies, merchandise and provisions, and organizing their shipment to the inland trading posts. For this, they received commissions, in addition to the profits they made as shareholders.<ref name="CNO">[http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/french/history/02.htm "Organisations des activités de traite de la CNO." McGill University."] Retrieved 30 November 2017.</ref>

'''Wintering partners''' or {{lang|fr|associés}} were also shareholders in the company, owning one or two shares each. They were not salaried, but received their income from the company's profits through their shares. Trading goods were advanced to them on credit by the agents of Montreal. They wintered in the interior, managing a district with several trading posts, and were in charge of the actual trade with the Indians. During the summer, the agents and the associates met at Fort William. The wintering partners normally began their career path as clerks.<ref name="CNO"/>

'''The clerks''' or {{lang|fr|commiss}} were [[salaried]] employees. They began their career as [[apprentice]]s serving five to seven years, before advancing to clerks and bookkeepers. Each hoped to become a shareholding partner, although many remained clerks.<ref name="CNO"/>

==={{lang|fr|Engagés}}===
The {{lang|fr|engagés}} or servants did not constitute a uniform group with equal status. The lowest level of the status pyramid was formed by the {{lang|fr|[[voyageurs]]}}, who paddled between Montreal and the posts around the Great Lakes. Seasonally employed, they were known by their diet and referred to as {{lang|fr|mangeurs du lard}} ('pork-eaters'). {{lang|fr|[[Hivernants]]}}, or wintering servants, who paddled canoes from the Great Lakes to the interior trading posts, and worked at them during the winter, formed the next higher band of employees. Status and pay differed depending on a man's role in the [[canoe]]. The {{lang|fr|milieu}} or middleman was the drudge of canoe travel, while the responsibilities of the bowsman or {{lang|fr|devant}} and the steersman or {{lang|fr|gouvernail}} were rewarded with up to five times as high pay as a common middleman, especially if serving as leader of a brigade of canoes. [[Interpreter]]s and [[guide]]s could earn up to three times as much as a middleman.<ref>Podruchny, Carolyn (1999). "Unfair Masters and Rascally Servants? Labour Relations Among Bourgeois, Clerks and Voyageurs in the Montréal Fur Trade, 1780–1821," ''Labour/Le Travail''  43, p. 48.</ref>

===Social dynamics===
The social dynamics of the company was rooted in [[kinship]] and descent or ethnic origin. The company was formed by a closed [[Social network|network]] of persons of Scots descent related through blood or marriage. Several important Montreal agents were related to Simon McTavish; and his successors, brothers William and Duncan McGillivray, were his nephews. Of 128 leading figures in the company, 77 were of Scots descent. Due to the prevalent kinship structures, it was all but impossible for unrelated men to advance from {{lang|fr|engagé}} to {{lang|fr|bourgeois}}.<ref>Pannekoek, Frits (1987). ''Western Canadian Society 1670–1870,'' Canadian Historical Association Booklet # 43.</ref>

==Company staff==
Beyond the non-operating investors, these were some of the post proprietors, clerks, interpreters, explorers and others of the nearly 2,500 persons employed by the North West Company in 1799:<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Masson|editor-first=L. R.|title=Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest|volume=2|location=Québec|publisher=De L'Imprimerie Générale A. Coté et Cie|date=1890|url=https://archive.org/stream/lesbourgeoisdela02massrich|access-date=5 October 2015}}</ref>

* '''Athabaska''' ([[Prince George, British Columbia|Fort George]], [[Fort McLeod]], [[Fort St. James]], [[Rocky Mountain Portage]]):
** [[John Finlay (fur trader)|John Finlay]] (proprietor), [[Simon Fraser (explorer)|Simon Fraser]], Alexander MacKenzie, Duncan Livingston, [[John Stuart (explorer)|John Stuart]], James Porter, John Thompson, [[James McDougall (explorer)|James McDougall]], G. F. Wintzel, John Steinbrucks;
* '''[[Churchill River (Hudson Bay)|Upper English River]]:'''
** [[Angus Shaw]] (proprietor), Donald MacTavish (proprietor), [[Alexander MacKay (fur trader)|Alexander MacKay]], Antoine Tourangeau, Joseph Cartier, Simon Réaume;
* '''Lower English River:'''
** Alexander Fraser (proprietor), John MacGillivray, Robert Henry, Louis Versailles, Charles Messier, Pierre Hurteau;
* '''[[Fort Dauphin (Canada)|Fort Dauphin]]:'''
** A. N. McLeod (proprietor), Hugh McGillis, Michel Allary, Alexander Farguson, Edward Harrison, Joseph Grenon, François Nolin, Nicholas Montour;
* '''[[Edmonton, Alberta|Upper Fort des Prairies]] and Rocky Mountains:'''
** Daniel Mackenzie (proprietor), John MacDonald (proprietor), James Hughes, Louis Châtellain, James King, François Décoigne, Pierre Charette, Pierre Jérôme, Baptiste Bruno, David Thompson, J. Duncan Campbell, Alexander Stewart, Jacques Raphael, Francois Deschamps;
* '''Lower Fort des Prairies:'''
** Pierre Belleau, Baptiste Roy, J. B. Filande, Baptiste Larose;
* '''[[Assiniboine River|Upper Red River]]:'''
** John Macdonell (proprietor), George MacKay, J. Macdonell, Jr., Joseph Auger, Pierre Falcon, François Mallette, William Munro, André Poitvin;
* '''[[Red River of the North|Lower Red River]]:'''
** Charles Chaboillez (proprietor), Alexander Henry the younger, J. B. Desmarais, Francois Coleret, Antoine Déjarlet, Louis Giboche;
* '''Lac Winipic:'''
** William MacKay (proprietor), John Cameron, Donald MacIntosh, Benjamin Frobisher, Jacques Dupont, Joseph Laurent, Gabriel Attina, Francois Amoit;
* '''Nipigon'''
** Duncan Cameron (proprietor), Ronald Cameron, Dugald Cameron, Jacques Adhémar, Jean-Baptiste Chevalier, Allen MacFarlane, Jean-Baptiste Pominville, Frederick Shults;
* '''[[Pic River|Pic]]:'''
** J. B. Perrault, Augustin Roy;
* '''Michipicoten and the Bay:'''
** Lemaire S<sup>t</sup>-Germain, Baptiste S<sup>t</sup>-Germain, Léon Chênier
* '''[[Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario|Sault Ste. Marie]] and Sloop "Otter":'''
** John Burns, John Bennet, [[John Johnston (fur trader)|John Johnston]];
* '''[[La Pointe, Wisconsin|South of Lake Superior]]:'''
**[[Michel Cadotte]] (partner), Simeon Charrette, Charles Gauthier, Pierre Baillarge;
** Francois Malhiot,<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Wisconsin Fur-Trader's Journal, 1804–05|last=Malhiot|first=Francois Victor|work=Wisconsin Historical Collections|volume=XIX|date=1910|url=http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/whc/id/13326|pages=163–233|access-date=5 October 2015}}</ref> clerk in charge at [[Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa|Lac du Flambeau]]
* '''[[Duluth, Minnesota|Fond du Lac]]:'''
** John Sayer (proprietor), J. B. Cadotte, Charles Bousquet, Jean Coton, Ignace Chênier, Joseph Réaume, Eustache Roussin, Vincent Roy;
* '''[[Fort Frances, Ontario|Lac La Pluie]]:'''
** Peter Grant (proprietor), Arch. MacLellan, Charles Latour, Michel Machard;
* '''[[Grand Portage]]:'''
** Doctor Munro, Charles Hesse, Zacharie Clouthier, Antoine Colin, Jacques Vandreil, François Boileau,  Mr. Bruce.

==Organizational history==
The history of the partnership is complex, but it is necessary to keep track of who was competing with whom.  Note that the definition of partner is not completely clear. For example, after [[Duncan McDougall (fur trader)|Duncan McDougall]] surrendered [[Fort Astoria]], he became a NWC partner with one one-hundredth of a share.
* 1771: [[William Grant (fur trader)|William Grant]] and several others form a partnership which they call the "N. W. Société"
* 1775: [[Alexander Henry the elder]] speaks of a pool on the North Saskatchewan similar to 1779 (see [[Fort Sturgeon]]).
* 1779: Of 16 shares: 2 shares: Todd & McGill, [[Benjamin Frobisher|B & J Frobisher]], McGill & Patterson, [[Simon McTavish (fur trader)|McTavish & Co]], Holmes & Grant, Wadden & Co, [[George McBeath|McBeath & Co]]; 1 share: Ross & Co, Oakes & Co. The first three were large and closely connected. [[Peter Pond]] was a partner of McBeath and Patrick Small of McTavish.
* 1784: McGill & Todd secede. Of 16 shares: 3 shares: Simon McTavish, B & J Frobisher; 2 shares: George McBeath, Robert Grant, [[Nicholas Montour]], Patrick Small; 1 share: Peter Pond, William Holmes. The agreement was made in January and confirmed that summer when the winterers arrived at Grand Portage for the first meeting.
* 1787: McTavish buys 1 of McBeath's 2 shares. Gregory & McLeod join. Of 20 Shares: 4 shares: McTavish; 3 shares: Joseph Frobisher; 2 shares: Patrick Small, Nicholas Montour, Robert Grant; 1 share: McBeath, Peter Pond, Holms; former Gregory & McLeod members with 1 share each: John Gregory, Norman McLeod, Peter Pangman, Alexander MacKenzie.
* 1788: Merger creates '''McTavish, Frobisher & Co''' which controls half of the '''NWC'''.
* 1790: Of 20 shares: 6 shares: McTavish & Frobisher: 2 shares: Montour, Robert Grant, Patrick Small, John Gregory, Peter Pangman, Alexander MacKenzie; 1 share: McTavish's nephew and Donald Sutherland.
* 1792: Now 46 shares. 20 Shares: McTavish, Frobisher &Co (with new partner John Gregory), 6 Shares: Alexander MacKenzie, 2 Shares: Todd, McGill & Co, Forsyth, Richardson & Co, Montour, Sutherland, Angus Shaw, 1 Share: [[Alexander Henry the elder]] & [[Alexander Henry the younger]], Grant, Campion & Co, Robert and [[Cuthbert Grant]], Roderick McKenzie and others.
* 1796: Frobisher retires.
* 1802: 6 shares added to be distributed to clerks.
* 1804: McTavish dies, replaced by [[William McGillivray]]. Merger with XY Company.
* 1806: McTavish, Frobisher & Co becomes '''McTavish, McGillivrays & Co'''
* 1821: Merged with Hudson's Bay Company. Former NWC owners have half the capital but little power.

'''[[XY Company]]''' or formally the New North West Company, and sometimes Alexander MacKenzie & Co. In 1798 Forsyth, Richardson & Co, Parker, Gerrand & Ogilvy and John Mure of Quebec formed the XY Company.  In 1799 MacKenzie left the NWC and went to England. Next year he bought shares in XY and soon became the effective head of the firm. [[Alexander Henry the younger]] was an XY winterer. They built a number of posts close to NWC and HBC posts. The murder of an HBC man by an XY man at [[Fort de l'Isle]] led to the Canada Jurisdiction Act which extended Quebec law to western Canada. In 1804 it merged with the NWC, having 25% interest in the combined company.

'''The South West Company:''' was an 1811 attempted partnership between two North West Company firms (McTavish, McGillivrays & Co and Forsyth, Richardson & Co) and [[John Jacob Astor]] to import goods through New York and deal with the Great Lakes trade.  It was mostly blocked by the War of 1812 but remnants existed until at least 1820. Astor had been dealing with the NWC since around 1787.

'''McTavish, Fraser & Co.''' was the London agent of Simon McTavish, from about 1790. John Fraser was his cousin. [[Simon McGillivray]] worked there and became a partner in 1805. [[Edward Ellice (merchant)|Edward Ellice]], a man of great influence, was involved.

'''[[Isaac Todd|Todd]] & [[James McGill|McGill]]''' was formed in 1776, was in the NWC by 1779, separated in 1784 and rejoined in 1792. They apparently wanted to concentrate on the southern Great Lakes.

'''Gregory & McLeod''' joined in 1787. They employed [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Alexander Mackenzie]], Peter Pangman and John Ross.

==Revival==
In 1987, the northern trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company were sold to an employee consortium that revived the name [[The North West Company]] in 1990. The new company is a grocery and merchandise store chain based in [[Winnipeg]], with stores in Northern Canada, Alaska, US Pacific territories and the Caribbean. Its headquarters are across the street from the Forts Rouge, Garry, and Gibraltar National Historic Site of Canada, the site of an old North West Company fort.

==See also==
{{portal|Companies}}
* [[Coureur des bois]]
* [[Fort William Historical Park]], a reconstruction of the Fort William fur trade post as it existed in 1816, near [[Thunder Bay, Ontario]].
* [[Fur trade]]
*[[Grand Portage Indian Reservation]]
* {{ship||Isaac Todd|1811 ship|2}} – a ship built at Quebec in 1811 for John McTavish to wrest [[Fort Astoria]] and its trade from the [[Pacific Fur Company]] 
* [[List of trading companies]]
* [[North West Company Post]], a restored post near [[Pine City, Minnesota]] operated as a [[living history]] museum by the [[Minnesota Historical Society]]
* [[North-Western Territory]]
* [[Rupert's Land]]
* [[The North West Company]], the restored company.
* [[Voyageurs]]
* [[Astoria (book)]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
Further information on the North West Company can be found in [[Marjorie Wilkins Campbell]]'s 1957 book ''The North West Company'', as well as her 1962 biography of William McGillivray, ''McGillivray, Lord of the North West''. Campbell served as a consultant to the government of [[Ontario]] for the restoration of the North West Company trading post in [[Fort William, Ontario]], [[Fort William Historical Park]]. Campbell also wrote a book for young adults—''The Nor'westers''—which won the [[1954 Governor General's Awards]]. In addition, the North West Company is a case example in John Roberts ''The Modern Firm'' (Oxford).

{{refbegin}}
* Canada. ''Bill An Act to Incorporate the North West Company''. Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 2004. {{ISBN|0-659-04993-7}}
* Fox, William A. ''Archaeological Investigation of the North West Company Great Hall Cellar, Fort William, 1976''. Data box research manuscript series, 348. [Toronto]: Ministry of Culture and Recreation, Historical Planning and Research Branch, 1977.
* Hoag, Donald R. ''Agents of the North West Company in the Fond du Lac District''. Duluth: The Author, 1981.
* Keith, Lloyd. ''[http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/44446895?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Fcatdir%2Ftoc%2Ffy022%2F2002391822.html&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= North of Athabasca Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Documents of the North West Company, 1800–1821]{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}''. Rupert's Land Record Society series. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-7735-2098-8}}
* M'Gillivray, Duncan, and Arthur Silver Morton. ''The Journal of Duncan M'Gillivray of the North West Company at Fort George on the Saskatchewan, 1794-5''. Toronto: Macmillan Co. of Canada, 1929.
* Schwörer, Ute. ''The Reorganization of the Fur Trade of the Hudson's Bay Company After the Merger with the North West Company, 1821 to 1826''. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1988. {{ISBN|0-315-35812-2}}
* Selkirk, Thomas Douglas. ''A Sketch of the British Fur Trade in North America With Observations Relative to the North West Company of Montreal''. New-York: Printed for James Eastburn and Co. [by] Clayton & Kingsland, 1818.
* Wallace, W. Stewart. ''Documents Relating to the North West Company''. New York: Greenwood Press, 1968.
* Wallace, W. Stewart. "Documents Relating to the North West Company". Toronto: Champlain Society, 1934.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090303060932/http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm.php?id=record_detail&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000237&rd=119274&hs=0 Fort Frances Museum & Cultural Centre Fort Frances, Ontario: Celebrating Community]
* [http://www.norwestersandloyalistmuseum.ca/NWLM/Welcome.html/ Nor'Westers and Loyalist Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915135530/http://norwestersandloyalistmuseum.ca/NWLM/Welcome.html |date=15 September 2012 }}
* [http://champlainsociety.utpjournals.press/doi/book/10.3138/9781442618282 Wallace, W. Stewart. ''Documents Relating to the North West Company''. Toronto: Champlain Society, 1934.]
* [[hdl:10079/fa/beinecke.nwcompany|North West Company Voyageur Contracts]]. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
* [https://archivalcollections.library.mcgill.ca/index.php/north-west-company North West Company material]. Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University Library.

{{Fur trade regions}}
{{Hudson's Bay Trading Company, L.P.}}
{{Montreal History}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:North West Company]]
[[Category:Trading companies of Canada]]
[[Category:1779 establishments in the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)]]
[[Category:1821 disestablishments in Lower Canada]]
[[Category:Companies disestablished in 1821]]
[[Category:1821 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:Companies based in Montreal]]
[[Category:Defunct companies of Quebec]]
[[Category:Economic history of Canada]]
[[Category:Economic history of the United States]]
[[Category:History of the Rocky Mountains]]
[[Category:British North America]]
[[Category:Oregon Country]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1779]]
[[Category:Trading companies established in the 18th century]]
[[Category:Trading companies disestablished in the 19th century]]
[[Category:War of 1812]]
[[Category:Pemmican War]]
[[Category:Métis]]