James Birnie, 1826
My great-great-grandfather was a member of the 1826 York Factory Express journey that crossed the Rocky Mountains from the Columbia River to Hudson Bay and return. I have known this…
Read moreJohn Work’s Journey to the Columbia District, 1823
Three years before the York Factory Express existed, John Work travelled over much of their route, on his way from York Factory to Spokane House, on the Spokane River. He…
Read morePeter Skene Ogden reports on the California gold rush
Peter Skene Ogden, Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver in 1848, was definitely a character, and his private letters prove that. However, the hard part of reading Ogden’s letters is his…
Read moreJohn Lee Lewes, the fop of the fur trade
In 1848, Alexander Caulfield Anderson left Fort Alexandria forever, and took over the supervision of Fort Colvile, on the Columbia River just south of the 49th parallel. The man in…
Read moreNative Bridges in the Fraser Canyon
At Fort Alexandria, the first days of April 1847 came in pleasant and warm, though snow still lay on the ground. On April 23, Montrose McGillivray arrived at the fort…
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