Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

� Hudson’s Bay Company loading point at York Factory, Manitoba,
on the southwest shore of the bay. Ships sailed from here for
England, loaded with furs.
Rev. Canon John Turner in his kayak �
to the repository of world knowledge through exploration,
mapping and research. It changed living conditions and
opened up new avenues for trade and income for the
indigenous people of northern North America, and its
archives are a central source for their written history and
also for land claims in law.
The company operated not only as a commercial
enterprise controlling the North American fur trade
but also as a de facto government in many areas of the
continent before large-scale settlement. Its trappers and
traders provided the first contact with local indigenous
people. The network of its trading posts and agencies
covered the continent from Newfoundland to Vancouver
Island and north from the St Lawrence to the Arctic. At its
� Map of Hudson’s Bay Preserving the archives today �
furthest extent, its operations stretched to Alaska, Hawaii,
Russia and possibly even as far south as Texas.
The company’s records were gathered from remote
trading posts dotted across the North American wilderness
and taken across lakes and rivers, through mountain
passes and over endless prairies to York Factory on the
shores of Hudson Bay for transportation to London. Given
the difficulty of collecting the records and the extremes
of weather and sailing conditions to which they were
exposed, their survival is extraordinary.
In fact, the archives are a meticulous record of the daily
commercial activities of the company. The vast span of its
business is also evident, ranging from records of decisions
taken by administrators in London or Montreal, clerks
at isolated trading posts, and sea captains and explorers.
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