Fort Simpson, built in British Columbia in 1831, was an important post for
the Hudson Bay Company in its tradings with the Tsimshian and other
Canadian Indian tribes. Indians were skilled merchants who viewed trading
as more than a commercial transaction; it was also a political and social
event that required elaborate preparations and ceremony, never to be
rushed through. Furs were usually exchanged for manufactured goods
(knives, pots and pans, mirrors, cloth). The Tsimshian Indians were
skillful, hones t traders, although they were sometimes susceptible to
bribery. As consumers they constituted an extremely active and hungry
market. This line drawing shows Fort Simpson and the houses built for the
Tsimshian Indians, about 1875.