Guillaume Sayer
Guillaume Sayer (October 18, 1799 – August 7, 1868) was a Métis fur trader who challenged the Hudson's Bay Company's monopoly in the Red River region. After leaving the HBC, he settled near the Red River Settlement.
In 1849, Sayer was arrested for trading independently with people outside the HBC monopoly. He was tried on May 17, 1849, with Métis leader Louis Riel Sr. supporting him. A crowd of armed Métis gathered outside the courtroom, and Sayer was allowed to choose a jury. He was found guilty, but the judge, Adam Thom, imposed no fine or punishment because of the pressure from the crowd. The rallying cry “Le commerce est libre!” (Free Trade!) symbolized that the HBC could no longer enforce its monopoly in the area.
The Hudson's Bay Company gave up its ownership of Rupert's Land in 1868, and the monopoly was officially ended in 1870 when trade was opened to anyone.
Sayer was born to John Sayer and Marguerite, an Ojibway woman, and was baptized in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, in 1815. He began work in the fur trade in 1818 as a coureur des bois with McTavish, McGillivray & Company, and later worked for the North West Company at Cumberland House (1818–1821). After the companies merged, he served the HBC as a Bowsman at Fort Pelly (1828–1829) and then as a Steersman (1829–1832). He left the HBC in 1832 and moved near the Red River Settlement.
On March 2, 1835, Sayer married Josephte Frobisher, the daughter of fur trader Alexander Frobisher. They had eight sons and four daughters. Sayer had previously traded with Norman Kittson at Pembina, which violated the HBC monopoly.
Sayer died on August 7, 1868, at St. Laurent, Manitoba, and was buried there on August 8. Some sources list his birth year as between 1779 and 1807, reflecting uncertainty about his exact date.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:41 (CET).