Up the Columbia River
My book, The HBC Brigades: Culture, Conflict, and Perilous Journeys of the Fur Trade, was published by Ronsdale Press in July 2024. You can purchase it through your local bookstore,…
Read moreShipwrecks on the Columbia River
The mouth of the Columbia River was crisscrossed with dangerous sandbars, and shipwrecks were relatively common. On many occasions, James Birnie was there to help in the rescue of the…
Read moreThe Grande Dalles in the NWC’s Long Narrows
The Long Narrows of the North West Company was a “five mile stretch of fast water 194 river miles from Fort George,” or Astoria, their then headquarters on the Pacific…
Read moreFort Nisqually Stories
A year or two ago I was invited to speak to the Anderson Island Historical Society — Anderson is the name of the island off the old location of Fort…
Read moreAlexander Caulfield Anderson at Fort Nisqually
This is a talk I gave in front of the Anderson Island Historical Society, in Puget Sound. Alexander Caulfield Anderson had history here — he spent almost two years in…
Read more