Joe Burke
In his outgoing York Factory Express journal of 1847, Thomas Lowe lists the passengers who are travelling up the Columbia River with him. A mysterious “Joe Burke” was among…
Read morePaul Kane’s “Big Hill”
So in 1846, Paul Kane and the few remaining men of the incoming York Factory Express spent their night trying to keep warm at their encampment on the shores of…
Read morePaul Kane at Jasper’s House
So, we just left Paul Kane watching as Montrose McGillivray punished a voyageur for stealing provisions of pemmican made with berries. The incoming York Factory Express party is travelling up…
Read morePaul Kane leaves Edmonton House
“We remained at Edmonton till the morning of the 6th [October],” Paul Kane wrote, “preparing for the arduous journey which now lay before us.” Paul Kane was travelling west with…
Read moreThe Railway vs the Express
Everything ends. Even the York Factory Express, that ran for twenty-six years across the Rocky Mountains to Edmonton House, came to a sudden, crashing, end. Surprisingly, its death was caused…
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