Happy New Year
We have learned from my last post that Christmas Day in the HBC fur trade tended to be quiet and restful, with little trouble from anyone. So let’s see what…
Read moreMerry Christmas
It is Christmas Day at the end of this week, and for the fun of it I am reporting on as many fur trade Christmases as I can find. We…
Read moreMeasles and Dysentery
I wrote about the 1847-1848 measles epidemic in my first book, The Pathfinder, in which I said: Measles began to sicken a few Dakelh around the fort [Fort Alexandria, Fraser…
Read more1858 Brigade Trails
It is interesting to see how the packers who followed the HBC trails into the upper district travelled up and down what they called “the Old Brigade Trail” to…
Read moreBetsy Birnie
Betsy was the eldest daughter of James and Charlot Birnie, born in 1822 at the North West Company’s Spokane House. She was a toddler at Fort Okanogan. When she was…
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