Leaving the Columbia
I find Sir George Simpson’s book, An Overland Journey Round the World, an interesting read, partly because of what he says of the reasons he made the plans for the…
Read moreJohn Kirk Townsend & the 1836 Brigade
The 1836 Brigade is only a small part of the story that ornithologist John Kirk Townsend tells — but it is an interesting part of his story. His book, published…
Read moreTwo Seized Ships
In late November or December of 1851, the HBC suffered from having two more ships seized by the American customs agents, as I told you in my last post, found…
Read moreFort Victoria Ships
The years between 1844, when Charles Ross died, and 1846, when the Fort Victoria journals begin, are a bit of a wasteland so far as information re: the workings of…
Read moreLog of the Steamship Beaver, 1835
The steamship Beaver left the London docks on August 27, 1835, and reached Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia River, on April 10, 1836. The log itself has been lost in…
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