Tracking: Using the Lines, and Using the Poles
“Rowing.” “Tracking.” “Portage.” “Tracking Lines.” “Lining the Boats.” “Tracking the Boats.” “Use the Poles.” I use these words and phrases all the time, both in my tweets, and in my…
Read moreBuilding Fort Shepherd
In this April 1856 letter to Angus McDonald of Fort Colvile, James Douglas described the HBC buildings that were to be erected at the new Fort Shepherd, on the Columbia…
Read moreThe Grande Dalles in the NWC’s Long Narrows
The Long Narrows of the North West Company was a “five mile stretch of fast water 194 river miles from Fort George,” or Astoria, their then headquarters on the Pacific…
Read moreThe York Factory Express, Introduction
Welcome to the York Factory Express, and its many stories of Scottish traders and Métis voyageurs and others who travelled across the continent in the Express boats. This is my…
Read moreMaypole Tree
In late May, 1846, Alexander Caulfield Anderson set out from Fort Langley on his return journey to Kamloops, across the range of mountains that separated Fort Langley from the interior…
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