(The famous image of the two renegades, Radisson and Groseilliers. No wonder it's ubiquitous, it's by Fredric Remington. I had no idea! from this blog .)I am up to the year 1670 (the year King Charles II granted the rights to all the land through which the rivers flow into Hudson's Bay to his cousin Rupert). (Yeah, that's an inelegant mouthful, but so's the size of that land! No one had any idea how much of it there was. No one had even been through it yet!)
I'll show you:
Staggering, isn't it?
Cousin Rupert, as you know, founded the Hudson's Bay Company--and all because of those enterprising, renegade coureurs de bois, Radisson and Groseilliers.
I can't tell you how much I'm learning.
I don't remember ever seeing a map that showed how much territory they covered! I see my house! (Well, not literally, but you know what I mean...)
ReplyDeleteMy teachers always said "Courier de bois"... so my brain automatically read your correct term incorrectly. (One teacher also taught us about the Last Days of Pomp-ee-eye, so you know I learned a lot of incorrect pronunciations!)
This is good. I'm gonna learn something this time around, because a lot of Grade 5 Social Studies (which was Canada) didn't stick.
Ooh - I didn't know that Rupert founded the Hudson's Bay Company. I knew all about his exploits in the Civil War and the shennanigans after the Battle of Naseby, etc., but nothing about him post-Restoration. Thanks for the lesson!
ReplyDeleteMy brain is reaching into a dusty corner and coming up with the name Rupert's Land. Is that what that area was called?
ReplyDeleteYou're right on target, scb. Rupert's land eventually extended over the Rockies, all the way to the Pacific. In a transaction that puts the Louisiana purchase to shame The HBC sold it to the Governemnt of Canada in 1869 for 1.5 million. That, (plus the actions of Riel) led to the creation of Manitoba as a province in 1870. But I'm getting waaaay ahead of myself!
ReplyDeleteAn absolutely excellent resource for brushing up on Canadian History is "Canadian History for Dummies" by Will ferguson. Yes, it's one of those wasp coloured books, but it's well organized (no mean feat when it comes to Canada--what a hodge podge of events and locations!) and engaging and, in spots, even amusing.