The most senior officer at a post was called the chief factor. The factor ran the fort on a daily basis based on orders from the Hudson's Bay Company. The factor was responsible for his post, and he alone was responsible for trading with the Indians, though the actual bartering for pelts was done by the chief trader, a position John Tod was commissioned for in 1834.

The yearly trading event was a practised ritual. It began when the Indians came downstream with convoys of pelt-laden canoes at the end of the winter hunting season. These convoys arrived at a point above the trading post in June or July. Then, once collected, a mass of canoes made a grand entrance.

 Sweeping around the last bend in the river, the canoes were paddled up the river to the fort, their crews chanting, shouting and firing their muskets into the air to mark the celebration of the event. The waiting Hudson's Bay men raised their flag and fired off a round or two from their cannon to mark the end of another long, lonely winter, and to salute the Indians.

Having landed, the Indian captains responsible for trading made their way to the chief factor for a ceremony of greeting based on traditional ritual of the tribal council. The pipe ceremony began with the burning of sage or sweet grass to symbolize purification and cleansing. The ceremony itself was the passing of the peace pipe; smoking it symbolized divine friendship and trust among the First Nations.

 The chief factor would point the pipe in the four directions (North, West, South, and East), smoke the pipe, and then pass it to the chief Indian trading captain. The chief trading captain repeated the actions of the factor, then passed the pipe around the whole party, clockwise (the direction of the sun), with each man smoking in turn. During this time, no talking was initiated. Once the pipe was completely smoked, it was returned to the chief factor who then twirled the pipe four times above his head before placing it on the table. The Indians concluded the ceremony with a resounding “Ho”, meaning “it is so.” Then talking and trading could begin.

British Columbia Archives, B-01547

As a chief trader, John Tod would have dealt with the First Nations people on a one-to-one basis. Because of this method, trading took several days. A Hudson's Bay Company trader might have spent twenty years as a clerk at a post before making this position. It took John Tod twenty-three years of service with the company before he acquired this position. Each of the First Nations would present to John Tod their pelts to be checked for quality. Then he would wait until the Indian peered into the store and chose his barter goods, each item worth a set value in furs. For example, a musket required a dozen "made" beaver. Other items they would trade for included knives, hatchets, flints, files, kettles, cloth, beads and tobacco.