York Factory, Manitoba
Encyclopedia
Factory (trading post)
Factory was the English term for the trading posts system originally established by Europeans in foreign territories, first within different states of medieval Europe, and later in their colonial possessions...
located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
in northeastern Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, at the mouth of the Hayes River
Hayes River
The Hayes River is a river in Northern Region, Manitoba, Canada that flows from Molson Lake to Hudson Bay at York Factory. It was an historically important river in the development of Canada, and is today a Canadian Heritage River and the longest naturally flowing river in Manitoba.-Course:The...
, approximately 200 kilometre south-southeast of Churchill
Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" that has helped its growing tourism industry.-History:A variety of nomadic...
. The settlement was headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
's Northern Department, from 1821 to 1873. It continued to operate as a fur trade post for over 270 years until 1957 when the company closed it down.
The complex has been owned by the Canadian government since 1968 and is now operated by Parks Canada
Parks Canada
Parks Canada , also known as the Parks Canada Agency , is an agency of the Government of Canada mandated to protect and present nationally significant natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative...
as the York Factory National Historic Site of Canada. Aside from a summer residence for Parks Canada staff and nearby seasonal hunting camps there is currently no one living permanently at York Factory. The wooden structure at the park site dates from 1831 and is the oldest and largest wooden structure in Canada built on permafrost
Permafrost
In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...
.
York Factory is currently located on the north bank of the Hayes River about 7 miles inland. To the north, across 'Point of Marsh' is the mouth of the Nelson River
Nelson River
The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Its full length is , it has mean discharge of , and has a drainage basin of , of which is in the United States...
. Although the Nelson is much larger (it drains Lake Winnipeg), the Hayes is a more practical canoe route. Due to the shallow bottom sea-going ships anchored at Five Fathom Hole 7 miles from the fort and goods were transferred by smaller boats.
History
During the 17th through late 19th century, the depot at York Factory and its predecessors were the central base of operations for company's control of the fur tradeFur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
and other business dealings with the First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
throughout Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
, the vast territory comprising the entire watershed of Hudson Bay, and which now forms much of Canada.
The first three HBC posts were established on James Bay
James Bay
James Bay is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean. James Bay borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay are part of Nunavut...
about 1670. In 1684 Fort Nelson
Port Nelson, Manitoba
Port Nelson is today a ghost town at the mouth of the Nelson River on Hudson Bay, in Manitoba, Canada. At its peak it had a population of about 1000 people. Immediately to the south is the mouth of the Hayes River. Although the Nelson is much larger, the Hayes is a better route into the interior...
was established at the mouth of the nearby Nelson River
Nelson River
The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Its full length is , it has mean discharge of , and has a drainage basin of , of which is in the United States...
. The company built a second fort on the Hayes river, naming it after the Duke of York
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
. The establishment of these forts provoked a response from New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
. In the Hudson Bay expedition (1686)
Hudson Bay expedition (1686)
The Hudson Bay expedition of 1686 was one of the Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay. It was the first several expeditions sent from New France against the trading outposts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay...
the French marched overland from Quebec and captured all the posts on James Bay. During King William's War
King William's War
The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...
France several times sent a naval force to Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
to capture or destroy the fort. In 1690 Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1702 (probable)was a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of...
tried but was driven away by a larger English ship. In 1694 d'Iberville returned, and captured the factory
Capture of York Factory
The Capture of York Factory was one of the Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay. In 1686 Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville marched overland from Quebec and captured all the English posts on James Bay. This left York Factory which was too far away and could only be reached by sea. In 1688 King William's...
with a show of force; he renamed it Fort Bourbon. English forces returned the next year and retook the fort from its small French garrison. In 1697, d'Iberville won the Battle of Hudson's Bay
Battle of Hudson's Bay
The Battle of Hudson's Bay, also known as the Battle of York Factory, was a naval battle fought during the War of the Grand Alliance . The battle took place on 5 September 1697, when a French warship commanded by Captain Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville defeated an English squadron commanded by Captain...
, the largest Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
naval battle in North American history. The French force won in the naval battle with three English
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s and again captured the fort. D'Iberville laid siege to the fort in a way that gave the appearance of being a much stronger force. Fort Nelson was held by the French until 1713, when it was returned to the British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
in the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
. After 1713, the headquarters was relocated to the current site on the mouth of the Hayes River.
Between 1788 and 1795 the company constructed an octagonal star fort
Star fort
A star fort, or trace italienne, is a fortification in the style that evolved during the age of gunpowder, when cannon came to dominate the battlefield, and was first seen in the mid-15th century in Italy....
of stone and brick on the site. The choice of material was poor, however, as the stone and brick could not stand up to heaving permafrost, and in 1831 the stone fort was razed. The three-story center section of the current compound was completed that same year, with the two-story wings finished within the two years that followed.
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
from the watersheds of the Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan River
The Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada, approximately long, flowing roughly eastward across Saskatchewan and Manitoba to empty into Lake Winnipeg...
and Red
Red River of the North
The Red River is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada...
rivers.
In the late 18th century, the centralized nature of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
's operation from the depot began to become a disadvantage against the more nimble voyageurs
Voyageurs
The Voyageurs were the persons who engaged in the transportation of furs by canoe during the fur trade era. Voyageur is a French word which literally translates to "traveler"...
of the North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
. They operated by traveling among the First Nations on the vast water network of lakes and rivers. In response the company began sending out its own traders from the depot and eventually established inland posts, first along the Saskatchewan River, and then stretching as far as the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
. Twice annually from 1821 to 1846 brigades known as the York Factory Express
York Factory Express
The York Factory Express, usually called "the Express" and also called the Columbia Express and the Communication, was a brigade operated by Hudson's Bay Company in the early 19th century connecting York Factory and Fort Vancouver. It was named "express" because it was not used only to transport...
traveled overland to Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
, headquarters for the HBC's Columbia Department. They brought supplies and trade goods and returned with furs destined for London.
The depot remained in company hands after the acquisition of Rupert's Land by the Dominion of Canada in 1870. The historic site is currently staffed by Parks Canada from June 1 to mid-September. Archaeological excavations of the 18th century "octagon" have been conducted since 1991.
In 1957 Hudson's Bay closed its York Factory store. The residents were relocated to York Landing Cree Nation, about 116km ENE of Thompson, Manitoba
Thompson, Manitoba
Thompson is a city in northern Manitoba. As the "Hub of the North" it serves as the regional trade and service centre of northern Manitoba. Thompson is located north of the Canada – United States border, north of the provincial capital of Winnipeg, and is northeast of Flin Flon...
.