Rupert House, also known as Fort Charles, was first the Cree community of Waskaganish. The fort was established in 1668 on the banks of the Rupert River at the southern end of James Bay as the first Hudson’s Bay Company trading post on Hudson Bay. Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers, the two European figures in this painting by Montreal artist Lorne Bouchard, were French explorers and fur traders as well as brothers-in-law. Initially working together as independent traders for France, Radisson and des Groseilliers became acquainted with Britain’s Prince Rupert and soon entered service under the British Crown. Rupert chartered two vessels for the explorers, the Nonsuch and the Eaglet, and in 1668 they traveled down Hudson Bay and established Rupert House at the mouth of the river of the same name. Their return to England with a cargo of furs led to the formal establishment of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1670.

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