The York Factory Express for Booksellers
The annual York Factory Express journey to Hudson Bay, and its return as the Columbia Express, was unique to the Hudson’s Bay Company’s fur trade west of the Rocky Mountains…
Read moreThe men in the 1826 York Factory Express
Many of the men who travelled in the York Factory Express worked west of the Rocky Mountains for many years — some worked here for just a year or so.…
Read moreTwo Canoes: John Work comes down the Columbia River
So in the last John Work journal, he and Peter Skene Ogden had reached Boat Encampment, having come down the Big Hill from Athabasca Pass. The year is 1823 —…
Read moreAn addition to the Cannibalism post
This will be a shorter-than-my-normal post, and it is part of the Cannibalism post of a few weeks ago. But this story is interesting: it is Paul Kane’s story of…
Read moreSnowshoeing
The HBC’s “Rupertsland” was a land of winter, and for the HBC men snow-shoes were essential. At some point in their lives, every man who worked for the HBC (and…
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