The part played by the Hudson's Bay Company in western Canadian education, 1821-1869

Abstract

One frequently finds in the history of pioneer days in Western Canada references to assistance given by the Hudson's Bay Conpany to the settlers and Indians, but there has never been a complete description of the Company's assistance to educational enterprises in the West. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that the Hudson's Bay Company provided significant support for education in Western Canada during the period 1821-69. (The investigation was entered nearly completely on this half century because before 1821 the Company never exercised the monopoly which its charter had given it, and in 1869 it gave up its monopoly and its government to Rupert's Land. )