James Birnie, 1826
My great-great-grandfather was a member of the 1826 York Factory Express journey that crossed the Rocky Mountains from the Columbia River to Hudson Bay and return. I have known this…
Read moreJohn Work’s Journey to the Columbia District, 1823
Three years before the York Factory Express existed, John Work travelled over much of their route, on his way from York Factory to Spokane House, on the Spokane River. He…
Read moreClub Law
In 1841, while he was in charge of Fort Nisqually, Alexander Caulfield Anderson got into a little trouble with Chief Factor John McLoughlin. Anderson had quarreled with a French-Canadian employee,…
Read moreFort Okanogan to Fort Nez Perces
At Fort Okanogan, the brigades prepared to descend the Columbia River to Fort Nez Perces [Walla Walla] and Fort Vancouver, their headquarters a hundred miles inland from the mouth of…
Read moreThe Historic Hayes River
Once they left York Factory, built where the Hayes River flowed into Hudson Bay, the York Factory Express men followed up the “York Factory River” towards home. (The York Factory…
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