The Fraser Canyon War
I have to re-write the last two chapters of my brigades book because I fell into a story I had not researched nor discovered until now. Why had I not…
Read moreThe Similkameen Valley section of the Brigade Trail
In 1849, Royal Engineer Lieutenant Henry Spencer Palmer rode over the brigade trail to Fort Colvile at the side of Angus McDonald, who was then in charge of that Columbia…
Read moreBrigade Journey North, from the Similkameen Forks
The junction of the Similkameen River with the Okanogan was, from the early days of the HBC in the Canadian Okanagan, known as the Similkameen Forks. In later years, Anderson…
Read moreNorth of Fort Okanogan
At Fort Okanogan the members of the incoming brigades left the boats and continued their journey on horseback, up the Okanogan River toward Okanagan Lake and Kamloops. You will…
Read moreSalmon Runs, 1843 to 1858
As a BC-ite and fur trade historian of sorts, I have been brought up on the notion that the salmon runs were regular events, and that only once in every…
Read more