The Hudson Bay Company

In the year of 1670 we set up on this shore
We did not know how long to stay, no one had been before.
We bartered with the Indians with coloured beads and steel
Exchanged them for raw otter hides, Artic fox and seal.
Made wives from friendly Indians, usually the Cree,
Many a MacPherson has one in his family tree.
Journeyed ever westward on the rivers and the creeks
Bartering for beaver hides, away for weeks and weeks.
Paddled in birch bark canoes, wore moccasins for shoes
For meat we hunted buffalo, caribou and moose.
West through Manitoba, into Saskatchewan,
Right on into Alberta, wherever rivers ran
Sometimes a new river would be a mile away.
Back breaking porterage would take up most the day.
The years went by and the fur trade then left us high and dry
We had to seek out other means to make a profit by.
We sold lots of land to the government that we had taken with no fight,
And made another killing in the sale of mineral rights.
Today we function widely in the realm of real estate
Or shop in our department stores, at last count twenty-eight.