The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson's Bay Empire | Book Review

 

The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson's Bay Empire by Stephen R. Bown

Copyright : 2020

Pages:486

I learned a lot about The Hudson's Bay Company and the geography of northern North America from this book. 

 Bown covers from The Hudson's Bay Company's inception in 1670 when French traders Radisson and Groseilliers, rebuffed by their county of nativity went to England to find investors, all the way to the dissolution of the government protections when The Hudson's Bay Company became a regular private business in 1870. Many interesting figures pepper the pages from the native wonder woman Thanadulther, to the visionary Alexander Mackenzie, to the ethically grounded David Thompson, to the overly optimistic Lord Selkirk, to the uniquely cultured Métis people, to the twin giants of the west: John McLoughlin and James Douglas. There are many, many others whom I don't have the time or space to mention in detail. 

 While I found many parts of this book interesting it was on the whole a history book and very dry and hard to read through. It took me three months to work my way through this history. My mind has been enriched, my curiosity satiated, and my interest piqued.

Things I learned......

 My favorite sections of the book were about the early days of the Hudson's Bay Company and getting to learn about the different Indian tribes and how the fur trading industry impacted the local and global economy. I was also fascinated to learn some of the technical aspects of trapping beaver and preparing their pelts in the early days. The most valuable beaver pelts to the Europeans were the pelts that had been worn all winter. The Indians wore them fur side towards the body. After a winter of use the guard hairs had mostly worn off. This made the fur perfectly prepared for the felting process in London. A pelt that was ready to felt was called One Made Beaver and was used as a standard of currency. 

 I learned that John Astor got his start in fur trading. I had not been aware of that before. I am now a little curious to learn more about his humble beginnings and his trajectory over time in the era that he inhabited. 

 My least favorite part of the book was learning about George Simpson who was in charge of operations for a greater portion of the 1800's. He messed up a lot of things. He changed the way The Hudson's Bay Company conducted business and created a widespread culture of racism. Up to that point the Natives and their way of life had been largely respected. Many, many company men took Indian wives and many, many employees of The Company were off mixed heritage. Under Simpson's reign none of the native wives were recognized and he phased out hiring or promoting anyone of mixed heritage. He had many native mistress who were cruelly discarded even though they and their families had seen the matches as marriages, and he never recognized any of many illegitimate children. 

 

 And that concludes my review and thoughts on The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson's Bay Empire.