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There were seven post sites in the area. The first was built by a Francois Decoigne, under the directions of David Thompson for the North West Company (NWC) between 1799 and 1800. The post was located at the mouth of the Slave River where it entered the Athabasca River. Peter Fidler, stationed at Lac La Biche for the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), wanted to establish a competing post in the area, but recorded that he was not able to, for his men refused to go, and he lacked the necessary provisions for the trip. By 1802, the NWC had established two posts right on the lake. The one on the west end of the lake was attended by Mr. Jarvis, Tom Grey, and LeRamme in November 1802. The post was probably established by Angus Shaw; as a point of land 10 kilometres east was named Shaw’s Point as early as Thompson’s 1802 visit. The post became the principle HBC post after amalgamation.

Upon his next visit to Lesser Slave Lake, Thompson visited both posts on the lake. The west post became known as Blondin’s House and was where Thompson met Baptiste Paul. Thompson described the other post (near Little Slave River, on the east end of the lake), where he met John McGillivray, Mr McIntosh, and Jarvis as the main post at that time.

All three of the NWC posts remained in operation and played a part in the struggle with the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). In 1815, the Hudson’s Bay Company, in the person of John Clarke and the same Francois Decoigne who established the first NWC post, "invaded" the Lesser Slave Lake district. The NWC and their employees (who had been in the area since at least 1799) resisted. Decoigne, with his men including the two interpreters, John Lee Lewes and The Pigeon, were taken prisoner on 2 December 1816. Their goods were seized and their post, Fort Waterloo, partially burned. The NWC released the two interpreters in a week, but kept Decoigne until the end of the season.

The HBC made another attempt to compete at Lesser Slave Lake in 1817. John Lee Lewes was told of what his time in opposition to the firmly entrenched NWC would be like, when he encountered a group of HBC servants bound for the Bay in August. The group reported that the NWC had kept them imprisoned on an island since the spring and prevented them from fishing or otherwise feeding themselves. It was a tactic the NWC employed frequently in the years before the amalgamation.

Despite being watched around the clock, the HBC persisted, and their hunters and clients were repeatedly harassed and robbed. As well, there was little of the sharing of resources that has been reported in other competing posts. It appears that in the Athabasca district, the fight was too fierce for human mercy. The NWC not only refused to assist the HBC, but continually attempted to starve the competition into giving up.

In the end, the HBC won and opened a new post after the amalgamation in 1821. In total, the HBC had a post at the mouth of the Slave River, one at the Forks, and one at the west end of the lake.

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Community and Society

The Municipal District of Lesser Slave Lake

Fur Trade History and Competition