North West Company
![](/Images/godic/202501/30/North_West_Company_-_Coat_Of_Arms4731.jpg")
![Simon McTavish dominated the company, until his death in 1804. His nephew William McGilivray ran the company, until the Hudson's Bay Company merger of 1821.](/Images/godic/202501/30/SimonMctavish4731.jpg")
![Charlton island](/Images/godic/202501/30/Charltonisland4731.png")
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada. With great wealth at stake, tensions between the companies increased to the point where several minor armed skirmishes broke out, and the two companies were forced to merge.