The Adventures of Radisson and des Groseilliers
By: Jackson Krebs
After spending two years living with the Mohawk, Pierre Radisson joined Sieur des Groseillieurs on a fur trading trip in 1659. They went further inland along Lake Superior than any other European had ever been before; They gave lakes, rivers and mountains French names along the way. They also saw there were a lot of fur animals.
Radisson and des Groseilliers looked for someone to help pay for them to find a vast sea that they had heard about from the First Nations people.
No!
Will you pay for our expedition?
Indeed
Will you pay for our expedition?
In 1668, Radisson and des Groseillieur set out from London in two ships. Radisson had to turn back because of a storm but des Groseilliers made it to what is now known as Hudson's Bay. They built a fort by Rupert River and traded there over the winter and returned to London the next summer with a shipload of furs.
Hudson's Bay Company
In 1670, Radisson and des Groseilliers travelled again to Hudson;s Bay and that same year the Hudson's Bay Company was granted a monopoly by King Charles II. This monopoly was for an area called Rupert's Land, what is now Western and Northern Canada, and allowed only The Hudson's Bay Company to trade there.
Monopoly Order
Rupert's House
The French did not agree with the King Charles' monopoly so in 1686, a French soldier named Pierre de Troyes led attacks on the forts along the bay. de Troyes and his troops surprised the British by attacking from inland by canoe instead of from the bay by ship. These lands were not given back to the British until 1917, when the French and British signed the Treaty of Utrecht.