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September 30th, 2026
Daily puzzle · Medium · Streets map
Theme: Cities Founded on the Fur Trade
Long before they became major cities, these places were fur-trading outposts where beaver pelts, sea otter skins, and other furs flowed toward global markets. Montreal and Winnipeg grew from the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company networks that mapped much of Canada. Novosibirsk-adjacent Siberian trade routes fed the tsars' fur wealth through hubs like Irkutsk, while Astoria and Sitka marked the Pacific edges of the North American fur rush.
1
Montreal, CanadaMontreal was a key hub of the North American fur trade from the 1600s onward.
2
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaWinnipeg grew near the historic Hudson's Bay Company post at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers.
3
Irkutsk, RussiaIrkutsk became a major center of the Siberian fur trade that funded the Russian Empire's expansion.
4
Sitka, AlaskaSitka served as the capital of Russian America, built around the sea otter fur trade.
5
Astoria, OregonAstoria was founded in 1811 as a fur-trading post by John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company.