7. Sir George Simpson

One of the men credited with promotion of industrial and trade expansion in Canada's Northwest is Sir George Simpson. Known as "the little Emperor", Sir George was governor of Hudson Bay Company during the first quarter of the 19th century. He wrote of the Selkirk Settlement of the Red River Valley, "Red River is like a Lybian tiger. The more we try to tame it, the more savage it becomes; so it is with Red River; for every step I try to bring it forward disappointment drives it back two."