Saskatchewan River
As the York Factory Express men rushed down the flooding Saskatchewan River in their boats and canoes, they passed historic posts almost without noticing them. On their way upriver, they…
Read moreNorth Saskatchewan River
At Edmonton House, the York Factory Express joined the Saskatchewan Brigades, who were carrying their furs down the North Saskatchewan River to Hudson Bay. I had to learn about every…
Read moreBirchbark Canoes
From a book titled Canoe Crossings, I learned that what made birchbark canoes so special was that the grain of the bark that covered them was transverse rather than longitudinal.…
Read morePemmican
Pemmican was not eaten west of the Rocky Mountains, and it was not part of our experience. As a matter of fact, when the men of the York Factory Express,…
Read moreCarlton House Journal
From John Stuart’s Carlton House Journals of 1824-25 we find some unexpected information about the Hudson’s Bay Company west of the Rocky Mountains, and the creation of the York Factory…
Read more