Trading Beyond the Mountains looks at the years of exploration between 1793 and 1811 leading to the commercial development of the Pacific coast and the Cordilleran interior of western North America. Mackie examines the first stages of economic diversification in this fur trade region and its transformation into a dynamic and distinctive regional economy. He also documents the Hudson's Bay Company's employment of Native slaves and labourers in the North West Coast region.

This is the first book to disclose the extent and scale of the diverse commercial operations of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Pacific coast. It also provides an overdue account of the economic origins of British Columbia. With its impressive collection of maps and illustrations, it will be of interest to students and specialists of Canadian economic history, the history of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, Native History, and the fur trade.