The history of the fur trade brought about the creation of the Metis Nation. The buffalo hunt further solidified these new people as a nation. These new people carved out a place for themselves in Hudson's Bay Company's Red River Valley Settlement at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. This area was a significant trading crossroads of the fur trade. In the fall of 1801, a group of Metis settled on the banks of the Red River where Winnipeg now stands. They were called "freemen" because they were bound neither by Indian custom nor fur trade company law. Their long, narrow river lots were reminiscent of farms along the St. Lawrence Valley. Three main groups emerged -- buffalo hunters, traders, and voyageurs.

In 1811, the Hudson's Bay company made a land grant to Lord Selkirk of 116,000 square miles of land in the Red River Valley (southern Manitoba) for an agricultural settlement and source of provisions for the fur trade. Efforts by the Scottish settlers to restrict Metis hunting and trading practices eventually led to the settlers defeat in 1816 at the Battle of Seven Oaks where the victorious Metis led by Cuthbert Grant, Jr. unfurled the flag of the Metis Nation.

In 1821, the amalgamation of the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company closed many fur trade posts and forced their employees and families to move to the Red River Settlement. Here the Scottish Metis (English Half-breeds) joined with French Metis to defend common interests against the governing Hudson's Bay Company. Throughout this era, the settlement was greatly dependent on the Hudson's Bay Company and in many ways the Red River Settlement was a "company town". The company formed the official government of the settlement, it had an official monopoly on business, it was the largest landowner and, in one way or another, everyone in the settlement was somewhat dependent economically on the company. The owners of the company, however, felt that despite the Hudson's Bay Company official position, the settlement was a hindrance to profits and a constant nuisance to the men running the business. The high population of Metis in this area was taken into account by the Hudson's Bay Company authorities in its administration of the Red River Settlement. They had no choice but to recognize the land holding system of the Metis and the Metis tradition of settling these lots without formal legal title.

In 1849, Guillaume Sayer and three other Metis were arrested for illegally trading in furs. At their trial, three hundred Metis, under the leadership of Louis Riel, Sr., surrounded the courtroom and demanded the release of the four men. Although the traders were found guilty, they were released without punishment. When the crowd of Metis heard the verdict, they interpreted it as being an acquittal and promptly drew the conclusion that no one could be penalized for trading in furs. The Sayer trial became much more significant than the trial of four men. This case signified the trial of Hudson's Bay Company rule and the trade monopoly had been broken once again, giving way to free trade and the beginning of the Metis Nation governing itself.

By 1840 the population of the Red River Settlement (one of the largest west of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri on the plains of North America) consisted of 5,720 francophone Metis, 4,080 anglophone Metis and 1,600 non-Aboriginals. The company accepted that it could not form an effective government, nor could it maintain a monopoly in the area. However, since the company was still expected to pay the costs of governing the settlement, it began to look for a new political system for Rupert's Land. By challenging the Hudson's Bay Company monopoly in the trade of furs, Metis free traders and merchants became the most articulate proponents of a growing Metis nationalism. In 1845, they petitioned the Governor of the Red River Settlement for a recognition of their special status: to no avail.

The Metis took seriously the governing of their territory. They established guidelines and penalties called "Laws of the Hunt", which later became known as and utilized throughout North America as the "Laws of the Prairie". Click here to read them or go to my buffalo hunt page to understand how they were implemented. These laws were the beginnings of the government of the New Nation.

There were several options open to the Hudson's Bay: to sell the land to the United States; to make it a direct colony of Britain; or to become part of Canada (a self-governing colony of Britain's at that time: made up of what is now southern Ontario and southern Quebec). Some Canadians hoped that the Northwest would become a colony of Canada, an agricultural hinterland. Rupert's Land would be both a market for Canadian manufactured items and a supplier of food that could be exported to pay for manufacturing growth. With prodding from the British government, the Hudson's Bay Company sold its political rights in Rupert's Land to the Canadian government in 1869, but the transfer was not smooth as you will see.

The Resistance in the Northwest was over surveying of land. Go on to read what happened