Article: Fortitude in distress: the North West Company and the War of 1812: by 1812, North America's rivalrous fur-trade companies were at each other's throats. Then the U.S. declared war on Great Britain and struck at Canada. For one fur-trade company, it was the beginning of the end.

Looking back through a haze of nostalgia, twenty-first century aficionados of the North American fur trade often miss the difficulties and dangers associated with the continent's biggest presettlement business. Moreover, few remember that during the War of 1812, Montreal's North West Company played a significant role in the defence of "the Canadas." The company motto, Fortitude in Distress, was perhaps at no time more appropriate than during the War of 1812, for the NWC readily participated on the side of Britain and ultimately paid a substantial price for its involvement.

As the second decade of the nineteenth century began, the fur trade had reached a level of ...

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