Lachine, on the island of Montreal, was the site of the Hudson’s Bay Warehouse, an extant federally designated heritage building. Located upstream from the rapids of the St. Lawrence nearer to the city, Lachine proved to be an excellent location to both store the HBC’s trade goods and to assemble and launch the flotillas of trading canoes headed westbound towards Lake Superior. Nearly every fur that was shipped to Britain would come through this crucial waypoint. Franklin Arbuckle was supplied with historical references for the costumes, canoes and the warehouse building itself, allowing him to assemble this lush and dynamic scene of a Company convoy leaving on a spring morning, probably in the 1830s. The trees are still in bud—these brigades typically departed in May—and the air feels bright and crisp. The departing voyageurs are seen off by a cosmopolitan audience, consisting of urbane Montrealers and rural habitants alike.

For more information on the Hudson's Bay Company Calendar Paintings in PDF format, please click here.