Tracking: Using the Lines, and Using the Poles
“Rowing.” “Tracking.” “Portage.” “Tracking Lines.” “Lining the Boats.” “Tracking the Boats.” “Use the Poles.” I use these words and phrases all the time, both in my tweets, and in my…
Read moreThe York Factory Express, Introduction
Welcome to the York Factory Express, and its many stories of Scottish traders and Métis voyageurs and others who travelled across the continent in the Express boats. This is my…
Read moreUp the Athabasca River to Jasper’s House
This is the eighteenth leg of the York Factory Express stream, and today we are travelling up the Athabasca River to Jasper’s House, west of Fort Assiniboine. Interestingly, in some…
Read moreYork Factory Express: Cumberland House to Carlton House
The York Factory Express men are making their way upriver, from Cumberland House, on the Saskatchewan River to Carlton House on the North Saskatchewan. The men had left Fort Vancouver…
Read moreYork Factory Express, Norway House and the Crossing of Lake Winnipeg
On their arrival at Norway House, east of Lake Winnipeg, the men of the returning York Factory Express (now called the Columbia Express) knew they had completed the most difficult…
Read more