The Hudson's Bay Company was established by royal charter in 1670 and given trading rights in Rupert's Land, the territory crossed by rivers flowing into Hudson Bay. The HBC developed a centralized bureaucracy in which shareholders elected a governor and committee to organize fur auctions, hire staff, order trade goods and arrange shipping. Each HBC post was run by a chief factor or trader and council of officers. From 1713 to 1773 the HBC set up posts at the mouths of the major rivers flowing into the Bay, the most important being York Factory, Manitoba, but in subsequent years the company expanded inland. In 1821 it merged with the North West Company and extended its monopoly privileges to the North-West Territories. Posts in the Territories included Fort Dunvegan and Fort Vermilion, Alberta, Fort St. John and McLeod's Lake, British Columbia and Qu'Appelle Lake, Saskatchewan. British North America was divided into trading departments and districts. District managers met annually in departmental council meetings to pass regulations regarding local trade and deployment of staff and posts. In 1863 the International Financial Society bought controlling interest in HBC and the outlook shifted from the fur trade to real estate speculation and economic development in western Canada. In 1870 Rupert's Land was sold to Canada and HBC received a cash settlement, one-twentieth of fertile lands open for settlement and retained title to its trading posts. The company carried out increasing amounts of business with settlers, first through the posts and later through its retail and wholesale divisions.