John Jeffrey
My book, The HBC Brigades: Culture, Conflict, and Perilous Journeys of the Fur Trade, was published by Ronsdale Press in July 2024. You may order the book through your local…
Read moreSamuel Black
Samuel Black was the oddest of all the HBC men. Black, born in 1780, was a young highlander of enormous size when he came to Canada and joined the fur…
Read moreDavid Douglas’s Athabasca River
In 1827, botanist David Douglas travelled with the outgoing York Factory Express down the Athabasca River to Jasper’s House. From the height of the Rocky Mountains, as shown above, the…
Read moreDavid Douglas and his YFE journey
The botanist named David Douglas journeyed out of the Columbia District in Edward Ermatinger’s 1827 outgoing York Factory Express. He left behind him an interesting journal. Here goes: On the…
Read moreTime and Distance in the York Factory Express
Time and distance: How much time did the York Factory Express men take to cover a certain distance of the Columbia River on their way to Boat Encampment? It varied…
Read more