North West Company and the XY Company

The North West Company was one of the first companies to establish trading posts in the grand Nord. Previously, trappers had carried their furs across the Barrens to Hudson Bay posts on the shores of Hudson Bay. The North West Company hoped to cut into the supply of furs to the Hudson’s Bay Company by establishing posts more convenient to the trappers. A trader by the name of Peter Pond established Pond Fort on the Athabasca River, which opened that area to the fur trade. During his first season there, Pond obtained over 80,000 prime beaver pelts in trade.

Other trading companies, most notably the XY Company, had the same idea in mind and were also competing to establish posts in the area. Travelling up the Slave River from Athabasca, along the shores of Great Slave Lake and eventually on to the Mackenzie, parties from competing companies often crossed paths. When they did, traders treated each other as threats and enemies, often resulting in bloodshed.

The majority of this conflict ended in 1821 with the amalgamation of the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company.