Union of the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies
In the late eighteenth century, most of the fur traders using the Ottawa River-Great Lakes canoe route into the interior of North America belonged to the North West Company, which used Fort William as its inland headquarters. To the north, the rival Hudson's Bay Company exported furs by ship from its sub-Arctic posts. By 1810 both companies were expanding their operations inland into the fur-rich Athabaska area. Their intensifying competition provoked violent clashes between contending traders. Disturbed by the bloodshed and the disruption of trade, the British government insisted that the two companies settle their differences. In 1821 they merged into a jointly owned monopoly which adopted the name and northern trade routes of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Ontario Plaques. Full page here.