ABSTRACT
In the 1920s, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) found itself with a massive land inventory in the Canadian prairies after surrendering its monopoly trading rights in Rupert's Land in 1870 and successfully negotiating ownership of extensive landholdings in return. The HBC's interest in taking advantage of the Empire Overseas Settlement Scheme first manifested itself in the creation of a subsidiary company, the HBC Overseas Settlement Limited (HBCOSL) in September 1925. In May 1927, the HBCOSL formed a partnership with the Cunard Steam Ship Co. Ltd. to undertake a more modest version of the earlier proposal. The HBC's internal instructions to its Lands Department called for the selection of “one hundred good quarter-sections in British communities and as contiguous as possible”. The Canadian Pacific Railway and the HBC used their separate sources for the supply of materials and, after comparing prices, generally used the cheapest suppliers for livestock, implements and other equipment.
