Curiously Named Locales: Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada

Far, far north in the province of Ontario, Canada, nestled into the Moose River, sits the town and island of Moose Factory. In the mid-seventeenth century, the Hudson Bay Company was granted a royal charter by King Charles II of England to all the lands that drained into the Hudson Bay. This land was called Prince Rupert's Land (after the King's cousin) and represents more than a third of all land in modern Canada. Two Frenchmen funded by the English set up the company in order to establish fur trading there, farther north than the previously settled trading posts, which were mostly situated near the Saint Lawrence River and primarily controlled by the French. These were mostly trading beaver pelts, but also squirrel, otter and moose. Traveling north to James Bay, the Company established several forts to trade fur with native trappers. The second of these was called Moose Fort, later changed in more pacific times to Moose Factory. In the vocabulary of the company and merchants in general, a 'factor' was a business agent in charge of buying or selling goods, and a 'factory' referred to their jurisdiction. 

    Moose Factory Island is mostly a reserve of the Moose Cree First Nation, which makes up the northern two-thirds of the island. The Cree people were historically migratory, though after Moose Fort was established, the people were exposed to European culture. The fort became the first English-speaking settlement in Ontario, which was then part of New France. The island is accessible from nearby Moosonee by boat and helicopter during the warmer seasons, and in the winter an ice road can be established over the frozen river. Historically the isolated island relied upon annual sea voyages for supplies, but in 1931, Moosonee was connected by rail to the Northern Ontario Railway.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_Company

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_Factory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_Cree_First_Nation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_Factory_Island

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert%27s_Land