什麼是哈德遜灣公司

加拿大經濟政治史上一家重要的商業公司。1670年5月2日在英國設立，目的是找尋歐洲通往太平洋的「西北通道」（Northwest Passage），以運送商業貨品。哈德遜灣公司承受的土地，也就是所謂的「魯伯領地」（Rupert's land），佔領哈德遜灣的鄰近土地，東起拉布拉多（Labrado）西岸，西到洛磯山脈（Rocky Mountain），南起加拿大南端邊境的紅河（Red River）源頭，北至哈德遜灣切斯菲爾德入口（Chesterfield Inlet on Hudson Bay）。哈德遜灣公司最初從事毛皮貿易，並且在哈德遜灣四周廣設驛站，後來在1783年出現競爭對手西北公司（North West Co.），雙方展開了長期的武裝鬥爭，直到1821年兩家公司合併。哈德遜灣公司原本享有獨家毛皮貿易權，但在1858年這份壟斷契約更新，其他獨立公司也獲准參與毛皮貿易。1870年哈德遜公司將領地賣給加拿大政府，換取三十萬英鎊、驛站周圍採礦權以及加拿大西部的肥沃區域。哈德遜灣公司在1991年以前都還是大型的毛皮採集及銷售商，後來事業版圖才漸漸擴張到房地產及百貨業。

Hudson's Bay Co.

Corporation prominent in Canadian economic and political history. It was incorporated in England (May 2, 1670) to seek the Northwest Passage to the Pacific, to occupy lands adjacent to Hudson Bay, and to carry on commerce. The lands granted to the company, known as Rupert's Land, extended from Labrador west to the Rocky Mountains and from the headwaters of the Red River on the southern Canadian border north to Chesterfield Inlet on Hudson Bay. The company first engaged in the fur trade and established trading posts around Hudson Bay. By 1783 competitors had formed the North West Co., and armed clashes continued until the two companies merged in 1821. The company was given exclusive fur-trade rights until 1858, when the monopoly was not renewed and independent companies entered the fur trade. In 1870 the company sold its territories to the government in exchange for £300,000 and mineral rights to lands around the posts and a fertile portion of western Canada. It remained a large fur-collecting and marketing agency until 1991, with extensive real-estate interests and many department stores.