Athabasca Pass
The subject of this post is the Athabasca Pass, and the Hudson’s Bay Company men who used this route to reach the Columbia District from the Saskatchewan. In 1826, Aemilius…
Read morePaul Kane leaves Jasper’s House
Artist Paul Kane was not impressed with the little post of Jasper’s House, but, fortunately for him, the incoming York Factory Express did not remain at the post for long.…
Read moreThe men in the 1826 York Factory Express
Many of the men who travelled in the York Factory Express worked west of the Rocky Mountains for many years — some worked here for just a year or so.…
Read moreTwo Canoes: John Work comes down the Columbia River
So in the last John Work journal, he and Peter Skene Ogden had reached Boat Encampment, having come down the Big Hill from Athabasca Pass. In this bit of journal,…
Read moreSnowshoeing
The HBC’s “Rupertsland” was a land of winter, and for the HBC men snow-shoes were essential. At some point in their lives, every man who worked for the HBC (and…
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