Territorial Timeline

The North West Company absorbed into the British owned Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1821 the two leading fur trading companies in North America, Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, merged under the name Hudson’s Bay Company. The Hudson's Bay Company quickly moved into the Pacific Northwest, increasing the British presence and strengthening British claims to the region.

Charles II of England chartered the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670. The company was originally formed to trade with the Indians around Hudson's Bay in Canada, but the fur trade led the company's traders and trappers further west. The Hudson's Bay Company controlled the fur trade throughout Canada east of the Rocky Mountains, but prior to 1821, they had no posts west of the Rockies, leaving that area to its rival the North West Company. In 1821 the two companies merged and the Hudson's Bay Company quickly moved into the Pacific Northwest, establishing its headquarters at Fort Vancouver in 1824.