Streets have old names

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MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS 060126 The Hudson Bay Company in downtown Winnipeg at the intersection of Portage and Balmoral Street was sold to an American. close cut processed

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DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Donald Smith (left). York Avenue and Garry Street are among city streets recognizing the Hudson�s Bay Co.�s far-reaching ties to Winnipeg.

Generations of Winnipeggers have grown up associating the Hudson's Bay Co. with its signature building at the southeast corner of Portage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard, but few are likely aware the iconic retailer's influence permeates much of downtown.

The area between the Assiniboine River and Portage Avenue used to be known as the Hudson's Bay Reserve and many of the streets and avenues there are named for 19th-century leaders of the company as well as for some of its trading posts.

The most important of all may have been Donald Smith. Best known as the central figure in the 1885 photograph commemorating the driving of the Last Spike of the transcontinental railroad -- he's the white-haired man holding the sledgehammer -- Smith spent an astounding 75-year career with HBC. He rose up through the ranks from chief trader all the way to governor and the company's largest shareholder.

Smith spent a considerable amount of time in Manitoba, even serving double duty as a member of the legislative assembly from 1870 to 1874, and as a member of Parliament representing Selkirk from 1870 to 1880.

Smith has downtown streets named after him -- Donald and Smith -- as well as a third in the West End, Strathcona, in honour of his title, Baron Strathcona of Glencoe and Mount Royal, after he was appointed as Canada's high commissioner to England.

Almost as influential was Nicholas Garry, the HBC director who volunteered to travel to what was then British North America to explain the company's merger with the North West Company in 1821.

The following year, Garry became deputy governor of the HBC, serving until 1835, when he was declared of "unsound mind." He is commemorated by not only Garry Street but Fort Street, which was named for the company's Fort Garry trading post, itself named in Garry's honour.

Two other thoroughfares have HBC locations to thank for their names.

York Avenue was named for the company's trading post, York Factory, on the shores of Hudson Bay. Once the hub of the company's northern operations -- its heyday was in the mid-1800s -- it was declared a National Historic Site in 1960. (Some historians also say York Avenue was named after James, the Duke of York, HBC's second governor.)

And Edmonton Street was named for the company's Fort Edmonton trading post, which later became the self-appointed City of Champions thanks to the exploits of the NHL Oilers and CFL Eskimos.

Joseph James Hargrave, chief trader at HBC, only has one street named after him, Hargrave Street, but he has another connection to a Winnipeg roadway because he was born and raised at York Factory. (Hargrave also published Red River, a book describing the history of the Red River Colony prior to Louis Riel's Red River Rebellion in 1869-70.)

Maureen Dolyniuk, manager of HBC's archives, which are based in Winnipeg, said the city was the epicentre of the company's North American operations for many years, dating back to the early 19th century.

"From the time of the Lord Selkirk settlement in 1812 and the company establishing its headquarters at Upper Fort Garry in 1835, through to the formation of the province in 1870, (HBC) played a prominent role in the business, education, government and public affairs, and their operations formed the nucleus of the city of Winnipeg," she said.

"These people would have been the leaders of the community at the time. They were the government before government was established in this country. (HBC oversaw) a court system, education and all the programming prior to there being a government in Manitoba."

Jody Baltessen, an archivist for the City of Winnipeg, said HBC was heavily involved in the discussion whether to incorporate Winnipeg as a city back in the 1870s.

"As soon as you form a city, you need to get revenue, which is done through the assessment of land. Certain groups didn't want to pay taxes. Because of who was on the land at the time, the Hudson's Bay Co. was a part of that debate," she said.

In addition to establishing a number of trading posts in the area, many people who lived in Winnipeg had relationships with HBC or were descendants of HBC employees.

"They predated the City of Winnipeg," Baltessen said. "The HBC still haunts the city. Naming something after a person was a way of honouring them and recognizing that they were here."

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 9, 2009 B1