A Hudson's Bay officer wrote in his journal after the epidemic that there was no "crowd of Indians to welcome us," just "solitary silence." The dramatic decline of natives provoked the start of an intense period of competition and growth between the two leading fur companies in North America. Between 1789 and 1805, 325 new posts were built on the North Saskatchewan River and elsewhere in the interior. Despite the Hudson's Bay Company's attempt to expand their industry westward, the NWC remained the dominant company well-into the 19th century, controlling nearly 80 percent of the northern fur trade by 1795. The expansion proved to be beneficial for both companies, introducing them to territories with abundance in resources. North of the Saskatchewan River was good fur country; beaver and otter were so common that "Women and Children kill them with sticks and hatchets." To the south of the river, there was a great amount of provisions in the form of buffalo meat and pemmican, which became an important source of food for the companies and their employees. The group of people who occupied the territory, referred to as Métis or mixed-bloods, became an important source of labor for both companies, especially for the NWC. .
The Métis originated from independent Canadian fur traders whom had children with aboriginal women around the Red River area in the early 18th century. Some on the first Canadian traders to settle in the Athabasca region married aboriginal women, whom they labeled as "country wives," as a way to help establish kinship ties with the tribe's trading partners. Not only did the Métis become the essential provider for furs in the area, they also specialized in commercial buffalo hunting, providing dried meat and pemmican to northern trading posts. Above all, the Métis played an important role in indigenizing the NWC traders, teaching them valuable techniques and tools, ultimately making them a more efficient company compared to their competitors.