DCHP-1 Online

Northwester

• 1a n. Hist. a wintering partner (def. 1) or employee of the North West Company.

  See also: Montreal man  Northwest pedlar  Nor'Wester (def. 1b)  wintering partner (def. 1)  

  • 1791  (1889)  It would be unbecoming a North-Wester to appear below so unprovided in that line.
  • 1827  (1829)  . . . when a mutiny appears about anything, the best way to have peace, is just to take the North-Wester's plan--dash into the mob, and knock the first down you meet, with a whack beneath the ear, when quietness is restored in a twinkling.
  • 1860  Among those present we also noticed Mr. Dease and other veteran North Westers.
  • 1938  Clarke was an ex-Northwester, first man into the Athabasca for the Hudson's Bay Company, and the founder of Fort Wedderburn.

• 1b n. pl. the North West Company collectively.

  See also: Nor'Wester (def. 1c)  

  • 1816  (1818)  The fur-traders, or North-westers, as they are familiarly termed, take the lead in society, for they give the best dinners.
  • 1855  (1956)  The Tartars never held the Grand Lama in higher estimation than the Canadians did the North Westers in those days.
  • 1958  The North West Co. which had crossed the Rockies to establish Fort McLeod in 1805 had extended South to Kamloops also by 1812. Astor sold out to the North Westers in 1813.

• 2 n. a native or resident of the Northwest Territories (def. 1b).

  See also: Northwest Territories (def. 1b)  Nor'Wester (def. 2)  

  • 1882  Pain killer, the former standby of the North-Westers[,] was entirely at a discount.
  • 1889  More power to the elbows of our sturdy North-Westers. . . .