Establishment of Manitoba

Date: July 15, 1870 • Location: Thompson, Canada

Following the transfer of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company, Manitoba was established as a province of Canada.

Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British America based on the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The right to "sole trade and commerce" over Rupert's Land was granted to the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), based at York Factory, effectively giving that company a commercial monopoly over the area. The territory operated for 200 years from 1670 to 1870. Its namesake was Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who was a nephew of King Charles I and the first governor of the HBC. In December 1821, the HBC monopoly was extended from Rupert's Land to the Pacific coast.