Assiniboine River fur trade
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Fur trading on the Assiniboine River and the general area west of Lake Winnipeg, in what is now Manitoba, Canada, began as early as 1731.
Lake Winnipeg was a major junction for the fur trade routes. See Canadian canoe routes (early). To the southeast the route ran to Grand Portage and the French center at Montreal. To the northeast the Hayes River led to the English base on Hudson Bay. To the northwest the Saskatchewan River led west to the Rocky Mountains. From this river another route led northwest to the even richer Athabasca Country.
West of Lake Winnipeg is the chain of lakes that look like a single lake on large maps (Cedar Lake (Manitoba), Lake Winnipegosis and Lake Manitoba). West of this is the Assiniboine River. The Assiniboine flows southeast and then the east to Winnipeg, Manitoba where it meets the Red River of the North which flows north into Lake Winnipeg. Further west the Qu'Appelle River flows east to meet the Assiniboine. South of the Qu'Appelle is the Souris River which was not important in the fur trade. East of the upper Assiniboine the Swan River almost reaches the Assiniboine and flows into Lake Winnipegosis. To the southwest is the Mandan country on the upper Missouri. There was some overland trade with the Mandans until the Americans took it over around 1812. North of Lake Winnipeg is the so-called Muskrat Country which was of some importance around 1800.
The Assiniboine is mostly a prairie river and was not a good source of beaver. It mainly produced buffalo pemmican to feed the voyageurs further north. Because much of the Assiniboine is shallow and crooked, horses, dog sleds and later carts were used in addition to canoes. Most of the beaver came from the forests on the upper Assiniboine. This area was most easily reached via the Swan River from Lake Winnipegosis.
History
French Period
In 1691 Henry Kelsey reached the upper Assiniboine from Hudson Bay. In 1731, La Vérendrye began pushing French trade and exploration west from Lake Superior. He built Fort Maurepas (Canada) at the mouth of the Red River (1734), Fort Rouge (1738) at Winnipeg and Fort La Reine (1738) on the Assiniboine south of Lake Manitoba. Explorers were sent to the Mandan country and as far as Wyoming. When it became apparent the Assiniboine was not a route to the Pacific attention shifted north to the Saskatchewan River (Fort de la Corne, 1753). The French diverted much trade away from Hudson Bay to Montreal. The English responded by sending agents inland. In 1756-58 Joseph Smith and Joseph Waggoner made two trips to the Swan River and upper Assiniboine.
English Period
The western fur trade collapsed during the British conquest of Canada but it was soon restored by English-speakers. These so-called "Pedlars" joined together to form the North West Company. The Hudson's Bay Company responded by building posts inland, starting with Cumberland House, Saskatchewan in 1774. Competition between the HBC and NWC led to a great expansion to trade and exploration until the merger of the two companies in 1821. Pedlars reached Lake Winnipeg by 1767 and Fort des Épinettes west of Lake Manitoba in 1768. By the 1770s they were on the lower Saskatchewan River. The NWC reached the Swan River in 1787 and in the 1790s many posts were built on the upper Assiniboine. In 1787 the NWC built Fort Espérance on the Qu'Appelle River. In the 1790s Brandon House and Fort Montagne à la Bosse were built on the middle Assiniboine and there was trade from this area with the Mandans. In 1805 there was communication between the Assiniboine posts and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1811 the Red River Colony was founded which led to open violence culminating in the Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816. After 1821, when the two companies merged, the upper Assiniboine posts were closed and trade concentrated at Fort Pelly at the Swan River portage. In 1831 Fort Ellice was built at the mouth of the Qu'Appelle River and later became more important that Fort Pelly. The Carlton Trail gradually evolved as an overland route west from Winnipeg. By around 1870 St. Paul, Minnesota had a population of 120,000 while there were 11,963 inhabitants on Manitoba. There was a 450-mile cart trail from St. Paul to Winnipeg. Railroads and settlers arrived in the 1880s.
