Trading Beyond the Mountains: The British Fur Trade on the Pacific, 1793-1843

Joseph Leydon teaches geography at the University of Toronto.

The Hudson’s Bay Company’s Columbia District, located west of the
Rocky Mountains, is the focus of this book. The author weaves a detailed
account of the scale and scope of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s diverse
commercial operations in the region and the expansion of their
activities along the Pacific coast of North America. He considers the
markets to which exports were destined, diversification within this
fur-trade region, the formation of a distinctive regional economy, and
the central role played by key personnel within the Hudson’s Bay
Company. He sees the development of the Columbia district as part of a
strategy to incorporate the region into a larger trading realm uniting
the British Empire’s capital, commodities, and expertise. On a local
level, he recognizes the importance of the Hudson’s Bay Company to the
economic origins of British Columbia.

This study, best described as a business history, draws on the standard
fare of company records, reports, contemporary accounts supplemented by
unpublished correspondences, and memoirs. In exploring the business
acumen of the Hudson’s Bay Company personnel, Mackie examines their
competitive strategies for securing and maintaining market dominance;
their eagerness for trade; and their ability to open and exploit new
markets and products. By placing the Columbia district within the larger
realm of the British Empire, he makes us realize that global trade is
not an invention of the late 20th century.

Mackie could have been more adventurous in his analysis in a number of
areas. His data suggest the overexploitation of animal stocks, yet he
barely mentions the environmental impact of the fur trade. Similarly,
the company personnel’s description of Native communities as lazy and
primitive reveals their belief in the superiority of British culture.
This is a key element of the fur trade because it allowed Hudson’s Bay
Company to destroy Native culture through their disregard of Native
rights and traditions. Attention to these two areas would have enhanced
an otherwise skilfully written book.