The building of Fort Victoria
In summer 1843, Fort Victoria was built on Camosun Harbour or Inlet, on the southern end of Vancouver’s Island. Although it was at first sometimes called Fort Albert, that name…
Read moreFort Victoria Murderers 2
I ended the first section of this blogpost with the information that when Governor George Simpson arrived in the anchorage at Fort Stikine, he experienced a bad feeling. Both the…
Read moreSpring Thaw
As you can guess, it is very difficult to travel via dog sled when the ice on the lakes is melting in springtime. Even the shallow Echimamish River, that crossed…
Read moreThe Tin Canoe
James Evans was a Methodist missionary who set up the mission at Norway House as the result of a conversation with Governor George Simpson. According to the Dictionary of Canadian…
Read morePeter Skene Ogden reports on the California gold rush
Peter Skene Ogden, Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver in 1848, was definitely a character — and his private letters prove that. However, the hard part of reading Ogden’s letters is…
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