Impossible Journey
When I was doing research some time ago for another book (“The Brigades”), I ran across one man who made an impossible journey through New Caledonia, heading north to the…
Read moreDescending the Columbia River
I thought that for this series on the Columbia River, I might be able to access and read Samuel Black’s journal of his descent of the river in 1825. He…
Read moreJames Birnie Retires
James Birnie was a big man; a broad-shouldered and deep-chested man who stood six feet tall, according to Irene Martin, who wrote the book Beach of Heaven. He spoke in…
Read moreThomas Lowe and the York Factory Express
Thomas Lowe worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1842 to his retirement in 1849, and he kept journals of his experiences in the Columbia district the entire time he…
Read moreLillooet Lake to Fort Langley
We begin again with Alexander Caulfield Anderson’s journal of his exploration/expedition from Kamloops to Fort Langley, by what later became the Harrison-Lillooet Trail. The year is 1846, and his party…
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