The National tribune., 1901-05-16
HUDSON BAY COMPANY
Description sgf 4, q, the Operations
Under the Oldest American
Franchise

emerges into view.ig The biggest of the
cluster is surm6Hnted by a flagstaff and
red ensign, bearing the mystic letters
Ii. b. G.
do you see that fag?" remarks your
guide, jerking an unsymmetrical thumb
i'll the direction of the red ensign. "a
little stained and tattered, eh? But it's
got a history, has that fiag-for it was
brought to Fort Campbell by Sir George
Simpson, the king of the fur trade in
1852. 1t has been twice stolen since by
Indians and once by Ricls half-breeds.
The second time it was kept for a whole
year, and l myself had to go to Fort
Perseverance, 212 miles, to redeem 1t with
six old I'll. b. fire squirts' and a gallon
jar of Ponds Extract
What" inquiries the ''tenderfoot' Wis
itor to the mighty fur-bearing region of
the far north. ''are fire squirts?'
''E'ire-squirts." laughs the guide, a griz-
zled veteran, who has been in the service
of the Hudson Bay Company since boy
hood, and himself, it is whispered, not
without a drop of the blood of the abor-
igiral in his veins, "fre-SquirtS are KIND
of old-fashioned percussion smooth bore
musket, and as for Ponds Extract, that 8
another name for rumi You see, we re
not allowed to sell the Indians alcohol in
any form, nor even give it away: but we
had to redeem that flag, and as we didn {
exactly relish killing off all the 40 Indians
in the settlement in order to get 1t, what
else could we do to induce them to sur
render it? But" he adds, 1.-The Chief
Commissioners expected tomorrow with a
new piece of bunting and Old George
will be laid away in the factory for spe-
cial occasions. And that's the history OF
the flag at the fort, and nowhere we
are at the fort itself"
AS he concludes a half-dozen men come
out of what seems species OF general
store and set up cry of greeting.
rs it the Chief comingT they ask.
'No-tenderfoot." Iaconically rejOins the
guide THE Chief will be here after din
ner tomorrow"
With that the birch bark canoe is drawn
up on the bank, and, after a round of in
Productions much more formal than one
would have expected in the wilderness,
you find yourself safely within one of the
forts of the famous Hudson Bay Com
pany, listening to the conversation of the
factor, the traders, several half-breeds and
Indians, and one or two sportsmen, who
have recently been on big game tour in
the Canadian northwest.
On the numerous shelves in the rear OF
the well-worn oaken counters are piled as
marvellous an assortment of merchandise
as one could dream to find in the back
woods" Its chief marvel consists in its
heterogeneity-for to all the details Of
perfumery and hardware, are added the
tempting wares of the confectioner, the
gCnsmith, the bookseller, the StatiOner and
the tObacconist. n Through the cloud OF
smoke pervading this interesting empo-
rum the outlines of a stove are visible
in the center, and around the stove are
scattered the forms of the principal hab-
;tucs and patrons.
The fort is particularly well inhabited
just at present, because the annual visit
OF the Chief Commissioner is expected,
and there is a great deal of unwonted ex-
citement and nervous commotion, in con-
sequence of so portentous an event. AT
present the talk concerns a haplesS free
trader" or private rival to the Company,
who has come to grief, at his opposition
'store" some mile or two distant, through
selling some new, patent flannelette shirts
t. the Indians, in exchange for their furs.
The story runs that this dealer laid in
q large stock Of gaudy-hued fannelette
ubdergarments, which by reason of their
vivid reds, green's and blues, made great
sensation in the Indian country. Nothing
like them had ever been seen thereabouts.
The Company's factor had nothing like
them to offer. and for considerable time
the free trader" drove fiourishing trade.
1t was believed that the original cost
was about two shillings each garment, and
as they were sold to the Crees and Black
feet for something over 10 shillings or its
equivalent, the profits were gigantic. The
Hudson's Bay post was comparatively de-
serted, while these seductive fiannelette
shirts lasted and the faith of the Indians
in the COmpany's enterprise considerably
shaken But one day-it was still Sum-
merit rained; it came down a perfect
deluge, and the next day the rival store
was barricaded by indignant redskins.
The flannelette encircled still their manly
h,rti ha
said to have been garment. Each seemed
fastened to it's owners person like a chest
protector or cummerbund, while the ex-
posed skin was stained and saturated with
scarlet, green or blue, according to the
original hue of the fiannelette. 1t was in
vain that the alarmed free-trader protest
ed that the shirts were fine-weather shirts,
such as the white chiefs wore on the Sab
bath and on holidays; the Indians contin-
ued to flourish their scalping-knives and
snap their firearms around the premises,
demanding the return, of their furs or
money; and the upshot was that the un-
happy rival to the Company was obliged
to take refuge in the COmpany's fort,
where he was, magnanimouSly enough,
given board and lodging until Spring. So
ended the rivalry, it was said, and now,
if the Indians wanted any novelty not to
be found here, they would have to travel
to the nearest establishment not operated
by the Company, trifing jaunt of 800
or 400 miles.
Adjoining the store was the fur-house,
where the peltries purchased from the
hunters and trappers are packed into bales
and stored until Spring, and which on the
whole presents an aspect not dissImilar
from that of the fur-roOms OF the Com
pany in the city of London, whence all
these furs ultimately find a resting place
for a season at least.
OF recent years very vivid change has
come over the spirit of the COmpany's s
dream. Not that it is no longer power
and q very potent one-in the land it
once ruled with u rod OF iron; not that it
is not still the largest fur-trading corpora
ton in the world-no; for it is both of
these. But today it Is managed and con-
trolled on the scene of its operations; its
Governor is merely what we cali a
chairman of a board of directors; its SER
wants are principally Canadians and In
dian half-breeds, and the romance which
adorned its pristine career is fast and yet
faster slipping away from us into the twi-
light Of history. Today, if there were
any Honorable Company of Merchants,
Adventures in England Trading into
Hudson Bay" it might be you or I, or
any similar set of sober persons at home
who happen to have invested our hard
earned increment in what is cOlloquially
known on the London Stock Exchange as
Hudson Bays" much too good thing,
however, to be seen often in the market
Humanity and civilization have invaded
largely, but there is still territory, wider
than Europe, which has not been en-
croached upon to any extent, and in this
huge territory the Company is still lord
nnramonnt ONLY lately we heard of Eorr