York Factory (historical settlement)

York Factory is a historic trading post located on the Hayes River in Manitoba, Canada. It was established in 1684 by Hudson’s Bay Company and named after the Duke of York, who would later become King James II. This fort legally became the property of the British government with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Throughout the eighteenth and into the nineteenth century, York Factory became the most important fur-trading post in northern Canada. By the mid-nineteenth century, it consisted of fifty buildings and was a major transportation hub. However, trading declined quickly with the increase of lower-cost rail transportation, and York Factory could no longer sustain its size. York Factory was closed in 1957 and became listed as a National Historic Site in 1960. Little remains of the original buildings except for a large depot and a smaller outbuilding. Extreme weather conditions continue to deteriorate the historical site and, because it is only accessible by air or water, York Factory has never gained fame as a tourist attraction.

Brief History

York Factory is one of the oldest Hudson’s Bay Company posts in North America, founded just fourteen years after the company’s establishment in 1670. The Hudson’s Bay Company, which is still in existence, began during a period of time in the seventeenth century when the French held a monopoly over the fur trade in North America. In the 1650s, the Cree, a First Nations group in northern Canada, told two French traders, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Medard des Groseilliers, that the region of Hudson Bay was an untapped resource for the best furs in the region. Other European fur traders had not yet reached the area because it was located in a frigid region northwest of most fur trading posts. Radisson and des Groseilliers began a year-long expedition into the Hudson Bay region and returned with prime furs.

However, the governor of New France confiscated the furs and briefly jailed Radisson. The two French traders journeyed to France afterward hoping to convince their government to allow them to set up a trading post in the Hudson Bay region, but they were denied. Frustrated with the French government’s lack of interest in their ambitious plan, the two men turned to the British government. In 1667, Radisson and des Groseilliers set out on an expedition, financed by the British government, to establish trading posts in the region. The several-year voyage was a success and the explorers returned with beautiful furs. In 1670, a royal charter from King Charles II incorporated the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Soon after the Hudson’s Bay Company began, American traders began to build temporary posts along the Hayes River and Hudson Bay. Rupert House was the earliest post, built by des Groseilliers and his men in 1668 along the banks of James Bay. Moose Factory and Fort Albany were established in 1673 and 1679. In 1684, a Hudson’s Bay Company trader named John Abraham built a permanent post in the marshland at the mouth of the Hayes River. He called this trading-post York Factory. Soon after its construction, the Thirty Years’ War began, and possession of York Factory was taken by the French. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 returned York Factory, and all other posts, to the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Overview

By 1730, York Factory became the Hudson’s Bay Company’s most important post because of its access to the waterway systems of the region. Competition rose during this time due to the success of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the region. In 1774, the Company established the Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan, which began a period of construction on interior posts. As the number of interior posts grew, York Factory began its new role as a hub of the region. York Factory was no longer a trading post, but grew into a storage, manufacturing, and distribution center. In 1810, it became the center of the Northern Department of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

During this time, many buildings were added to York Factory. The Factory included a guesthouse, depot, summer mess house, house for the officer in charge, lumber house, ice house, boat shed, smithy, and many other buildings. They were laid out in the shape of an H around a central courtyard. In 1830, Frances Simpson, the wife of Rupert’s Land governor George Simpson, described the York Factory complex as being dominated by a large, central building that contained a grocery store, haberdashery, pharmacy, and even places to buy perfume and other goods. By 1830, the York Factory complex comprised fifty buildings spread out over eleven acres. The largest building was the white depot building, which still stands.

As the population of York Factory grew every year, the post could no longer sustain its growth. Too many natural resources were required to keep the large complex running. By 1880, forty to sixty men and women were required to transport the needed firewood to fuel the complex. In 1873, York Factory ended its time as the main depot and headquarters for the Northern Department. Operations at York Factory were reduced from 1872 to 1884. In 1957, after the heyday of the fur trade industry was long gone, York Factory closed.

For over two hundred years, York Factory played an important economic role in the fur trading industry of North America. It provided jobs for thousands of men and women and produced fur that was transported across the world. But York Factory was also an important space for early encounters between First Nations people and European fur traders. The Cree, who long inhabited the area around Hudson Bay, became part of the York Factory community and, alongside European settlers, worked as traders and employees. From 1772, York Factory was home to over two hundred men, women, and children who grew up in this unique and isolated community.

Little remains of York Factory and extreme weather conditions continue to threaten the site. However, the Canadian government is conducting archeological digs with the hope that more information will be discovered about the early days of this important fur-trading post.

Bibliography

Beardy, Flora, and Robert J. Coutts. Eds. Voices from Hudson Bay: Cree Stories from York Factory. Montreal: McGill-Queens UP, 1996. Print.

Carlos, Ann M., and Frank D. Lewis. "Trade, Consumption, and the Native Economy: Lessons from York Factory, Hudson Bay." The Journal of Economic History 61.4 (2001): 1037–1064. Print.

"Celebrating a Fur Trade Christmas." Canada's History 94.6 (2014): 14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Jan. 2016.

Cockling, Matthew. An Adventurer from Hudson Bay: Journal of Matthew Cocking, from York Factory to the Blackfeet Country, 1772-1773. Amazon, 2013.

Dalton, Anthony. River Rough, River Sooth: Adventures on Manitoba’s Historic Hayes River. Toronto: Dundurn, 2010.

Hargrave, James. Letters from Rupert’s Land: 1826-1840. Montreal: McGill-Queens UP, 2009.

Payne, Michael. The Most Respectable Place in the Territory: Everyday Life in Hudson’s Bay Company Service, York Factory, 1788-1870. Ottawa: National Historic Parks and Sites, 1989.

"The Secret of the York Factory Depot." Parks Canada. Parks Canada, 21 Dec. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/mb/yorkfactory/edu/visites-tours.aspx.

"York Factory." Hbc Heritage: Our History. Hudson's Bay Company, 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/places/forts/york