Editing Hudson's Bay Company (section)

=== Early presence in present-day Canada (British Columbia) ===
The HBC also carried on the early presence in the region of the NWC in present-day central and northern [[British Columbia]] with noteworthy sites: [[Alexandria, British Columbia|Fort Alexandria]], [[Fort St. John, British Columbia|Fort d'Épinette (Fort St. John)]], [[Fort St. James]], [[Prince George (British Columbia)|Fort George]] and [[Kamloops|Fort Shuswap (Fort Kamloops)]].

Since the 1818 Treaty settled the 49th parallel border only as far as the [[Rocky Mountains]], the HBC was looking for a site further West in case the parallel border would become further extended at the end of the 10 years joint occupancy term.  By 1824, the HBC was commissioning an expedition to travel from the [[Fort Astoria|Fort George]] regional headquarter on the southern shore of the [[Columbia River]] all the way to the [[Fraser River]]. The three boats 40 some crew led by the [[James McMillan (fur trader)|James McMillan]] were first to officially ever make it to [[Puget Sound]] from the continent, to reach its northern end into [[Boundary Bay]] and to bypass the mouth of the Fraser. They shortcut through two mainland rivers and a portage in order to finally reach the lower Fraser. Friendly tribes were identified along with subsistence farming land suitable for sustaining a trading post. The first [[Fort Langley National Historic Site|Fort Langley]] was subsequently built (1827), establishing an early settlers long lasting presence in current day southern British Columbia. The fur trade in a wet climate turned out to be marginal and quickly evolved into a salmon trade site with abundant supply in the vicinity.

The HBC stretched its presence North on the coastline with [[Fort Simpson (Columbia Department)|Fort Simpson]] (1831) on the [[Nass River]], [[Fort McLoughlin]] (1833) and the [[Beaver (steamship)|Beaver]] (1836), the first steamship to ever roam the Pacific Northwest for resupplying its coastline sites. The HBC was securing a trading monopoly on the coastline keeping away independent American traders: "By 1837, American competition on the North West Coast was effectively over".{{sfn|Mackie|1998|p=126}}

The HBC gained more control of the fur trade with both the coastline and inland tribes to access the fur rich [[New Caledonia (Canada)|New Caledonia district]] in current day northern British Columbia: "monopoly control of the coastal fur trade allowed the HBC to impose a uniform tariff on both sides of the Coast Mountains".{{sfn|Mackie|1998|p=133}}

By 1843, under pressure from the Americans to withdraw further North with the looming [[Oregon Treaty]] border negotiation finalized in 1846, and strong of its coastal presence on the northern coast,  HBC built [[Fort Victoria (British Columbia)|Fort Victoria]] at the southern end of present-day [[Vancouver Island]] in southern BC. A well sheltered ocean port with agricultural potential in the vicinity would allow the new regional headquarter to further develop the trade on salmon, timber and cranberries. Trade via the Hawaiian post was also increasing. The [[Fort Rupert]] (1849) at the northern end of the island would open up access to coal fields. On the continent mainland, [[Hope, British Columbia|Fort Hope]] and [[Yale, British Columbia|Fort Yale]] (1848) were built to extend the HBC presence on the [[Fraser River]] as far as navigable. Brigades would link a rebuilt [[Fort Langley]] (1840) on the Lower Fraser to [[Kamloops|Fort Kamloops]] by 1850 and the rest of the transportation network to [[York Factory]] on the [[Hudson Bay]] along with the [[New Caledonia (Canada)|New Caledonia district]] fur returns.