In consequence to those developments, French and Scottish fur traders, referred to as Canadian traders, established independent firms in Montreal and expanded their business west of the Great Lakes. ... In 1774, the HBC appointed Samuel Hearne and financed a project which established Fort Cumberland along the Saskatchewan River, five hundred yards of a Montreal trading post near Sturgeon Lake. ... The NWC requested the right to trade through York factory on Hudson Bay to Lake Winnipeg and offered to withdraw all other posts in proximity of the Bay. ...