96 TRANSACTIONS. 1906-7. 



gether from the far west to Lake Winnipeg, where the Hudson's 

 Bay people turned north to York Factory, while the Nor'-Westers 

 and X Y's turned south to Grand Portage or Fort William. 

 Sometimes one would steal a march on the other. The story 

 is told of one enterprising trader who, learning of the approach 

 of a party of Indians with a lot of valuable furs, invited his 

 unsuspicious rivals to a dance. When the dance was at full 

 swing, and the fiddles scraping furiously, the master with two 

 or three trusted men slipped out without attracting notice. 

 Harnessing dogs to their sleds they set off for the Indian camp, 

 where they drove a vigorous trade. The next morning the 

 rivals, hearing at last of the Indian visitors, and knowing nothing 

 of the way they had been . hoodwinked, set off for the camp — 

 only to meet the others half way, returning with sleds heavily 

 laden with bales of furs. 



But the war of the companies did not always run so peace- 

 ably by any means. There were quarrels and hand-to-hand 

 fights; plundering of rival brigades, and burning of rival trading 

 posts. At some of the forts hired ruffians were maintained to 

 bully the men of the rival camp. Everywhere and always the 

 conflict was disastrous to the Indians. Left to themselves the 

 fur companies used liquor very sparingly in their relations with 

 the Indians. But when the rivalry grew fierce, all sense of 

 decency or humanity was abandoned, and the traders outvied 

 each other in debauching the natives with cheap rum. The 

 conflict between the X Y's and the North West Company finally 

 culminated in a cold-blooded murder. The news was carried 

 down to the rival headquarters at Grand Portage, with the 

 result that the horrified partners of the two companies got to- 

 gether and agreed to pool their interests. Many years after- 

 ward, the bitter hostility of the North West and Hudson's Bay 

 Companies brought about a similar union, and the combined 

 interests, retaining the name of the older company, held there- 

 after a monopoly of the fur-trade of half a continent. 



It has generally been assumed, upon the strength of Mac- 

 kenzie's statements in his General History of the Fur-Trade, 

 that the first English trader from Canada who penetrated to 

 the Saskatchewan was Thomas Curry, and that he was followed 

 the next season by James Finlay. Mackenzie is not very clear 

 as to dates, but apparently Curry's journey was made in 1768-9, 

 and Finlay's in 1769-70. Mackenzie was somewhat astray. 



