Editing Fort Vancouver (section)

===Fur trade operations===
With high demand from Europe for fur-based textiles in the early 19th Century, the HBC was forced to expand its [[North American fur trade|fur trade]] operations across North America to the Pacific Northwest. Prior to the establishment of Fort Vancouver, the HBC's largest westward fort was [[Fort William, Ontario|Fort William]] in present-day [[Ontario]], which the company gained through its merger with the NWC. From its establishment, Fort Vancouver was the regional headquarters of the HBC's fur trade operations in the Columbia District.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/fova/learn/historyculture/furtradefort.htm |title=Founding of the HBC's Fort Vancouver – Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=6 April 2018 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104132542/https://www.nps.gov/fova/learn/historyculture/furtradefort.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The territory it oversaw stretched from the Rocky Mountains in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and from [[Sitka, Alaska|Sitka]] in the north to [[San Francisco]] in the south. Fur trappers would bring pelts collected during the winter to the fort to be traded in exchange for company credit. The credit, issued by the company clerks, could be used to purchase goods in the fort's trade shops. Furs from throughout the Columbia District were brought to Fort Vancouver from smaller HBC outposts either overland, or by water via the [[Columbia River]]. Once they were sorted and inventoried by the company's clerks, the furs were hung out to dry in the fur storehouse, a large two-story [[Poteaux-sur-sol|post-on-sill]] building located within the walls of the fort. After the furs had been processed, they were mixed, weighed into {{convert|270|lb|kg|adj=on}} bundles, and packed with tobacco leaves as an insecticide. The 270-pound bundle of furs would be placed in a large press and wrapped in [[elk]] or [[American black bear|bear]] hide to create overseas fur bales. The large 270-pound bales were then placed on boats on the Columbia River for shipment to London via the HBC trade routes. The furs would then be auctioned off to textile manufacturers in London. A large demand came from hatters who produced popular [[Beaver hat|beaver felted hats]].