On this day in 1670, King Charles II granted a permanent charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company which included a monopoly over the region drained by all rivers and streams flowing into Hudson Bay in northern parts of present-day Canada, taking possession on behalf of England. The area was named “Rupert’s Land” after Prince Rupert, the first governor of the company appointed by the King. This drainage basin of Hudson Bay spans 3,861,400 square kilometers (1,490,900 sq mi), comprising over one-third of the area of modern-day Canada, and stretches into the present-day north-central United States.
The company established a number of posts along James Bay and Hudson Bay. During the fall and winter, First Nations men and European fur trappers accomplished the vast majority of the animal trapping and pelt preparation. They traveled by canoe and on foot to the forts to sell their pelts. In exchange they typically received popular trade-goods such as knives, kettles, beads, needles, and the Hudson’s Bay point blanket.
HBC traders explored and operated in much of what is now the northern and western United States. The company even established a presence in the Sandwich Islands (Now Hawaii) for a time.
In 1869, after rejecting the American government offer of CA$10 million, the company approved the return of Rupert’s Land to Britain. The government gave it to Canada and loaned the new country the £300,000 required to compensate HBC for its losses. HBC also received one-twentieth of the fertile areas to be opened for settlement and retained title to the lands on which it had built trading establishments. The deal, known as the Deed of Surrender, came into force the following year. The resulting territory, the North-West Territories, was brought under Canadian jurisdiction under the terms of the Rupert’s Land Act 1868, enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Deed enabled the admission of the fifth province, Manitoba, to the Confederation on 15 July 1870, the same day that the deed itself came into force.
Poundmaker, a chief of the plains Cree First Nation wearing a Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket, Image courtesy of the National Archives of Canada
Cats have a bad reputation. Some people even think that cats are total a-holes. That’s actually not true at all. Cats are affectionate and loving creatures, they even gladly help their humans to solve puzzles!
Here are some SIGNZZZZ
Today is the birthday, in 1954, of Prescott Niles, bassist with The Knack. Their first single, ‘My Sharona’ was an international No.1 hit in 1979. Their album Get the Knack became one of the most successful debuts in history, selling over one million copies in less than two months and spending five weeks at No.1 on the Billboard album chart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbr60I0u2Ng
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