Wicked River
The Rivière Maligne, otherwise known as the Wicked River, earned its ferocious nick-name over the years. The Maligne was, of course, the Sturgeon-Weir River that led the early free-traders, the…
Read morePaul Kane
I have not paid enough attention to Paul Kane, and I am beginning to regret that fact. He is a very useful guy when it comes to west-of-the-Rockies history, and…
Read moreJohn Whalika
Who was John Whalika? He was one of my great-great-grandfather’s First Nations slaves — a Haida man who James Birnie rescued from the Indian slave trade that flourished up and…
Read moreMeasles and Dysentery
I wrote about the 1847-1848 measles epidemic in my first book, The Pathfinder, in which I said: Measles began to sicken a few Dakelh around the fort [Fort Alexandria, Fraser…
Read moreNorway House fire
I am proofing my York Factory Express manuscript, which is an interesting process. It is a chance to catch errors, and I found one. This is what I said in…
Read more