NANCY MARGUERITE ANDERSON

An Accidental Historian, writing about the people who worked in the Territory West of the Rocky Mountains before 1858 — so many good stories!

Parks Canada History

By Nancy Marguerite Anderson January 18, 2020 "The Brigades", York Factory Express

As we Canadians know, many of our historic sites are run by Parks Canada — for example, Jasper Park, York Factory, Fort St. James, and Fort Langley. Before Parks Canada…

The Voyageur’s Fire-Bag

By Nancy Marguerite Anderson January 4, 2020 "Journeys", "The Brigades", "York Factory Express"

The fire-bag was an important piece of equipment to the Canadien voyageur, and to anyone else who travelled in the wilderness. Why? you might ask. Here is the answer, written…

Cheese

By Nancy Marguerite Anderson November 23, 2019 "The Brigades", Hudson's Bay Company

Yes. Cheese. An odd subject, perhaps, for a fur trade blogpost, but I have found cheese mentioned at times in the list of provisions the HBC men carried across the…

Joachim Lafleur

By Nancy Marguerite Anderson September 28, 2019 "The Brigades", "York Factory Express"

Joachim Lafleur worked at Fort Okanogan in the 1840’s, when Alexander Caulfield Anderson was in charge of Fort Colvile. I just wrote a tweet that mentioned Lafleur, and that reminded…

Traditional Metis employment West of the Rocky Mountains

By Nancy Marguerite Anderson June 15, 2019 "The Brigades", Metis in the West

I have had a most interesting interview that I am not going to tell you about, but it got me thinking about the careers that the Metis people may have…