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About the Book
The twenty-five years between 1821 and 1846 were turbulent but important years in the history of the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest: 1821 saw the merger of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company, and 1846 saw the signing of the Oregon Treaty, which established the Canada-U.S. border.
Archibald McDonald was a man who experienced these changes first hand. As a senior HBC officer, he was sent to the Columbia District headquarters at Fort George in 1821 to oversee the recently absorbed NWC posts and assets. After the merger, McDonald went on to direct operations at Thompson River (1826-28), Fort Langley (1828-33), and Fort Colvile (1833-44).
During his tenure in the Pacific Northwest, letters were McDonald’s only link with the outside world. Collected here for the first time by Jean Murray Cole, these public and private letters to friends, business colleagues, missionaries, botanists, and many others provide a fascinating narrative of the expansion of the fur trade at a critical time in its history.
McDonald’s witty and ironic style make these informative letters highly readable and entertaining. They are an invaluable primary resource for historians of the fur trade and the Pacific Northwest, anthropologists, geographers, and specialists in native studies. More general readers will be fascinated by these amusing snapshots of early settlement in the Pacific Northwest.
About the Author(s)
Jean Murray Cole is an independent writer, researcher, and historian based in Indian River, Ontario. She is the author of many regional histories and of Exile in the Wilderness: The Biography of Chief Factor Archibald McDonald 1790-1853 (University of Washington Press 1979).
Table of Contents
Illustrations
Introduction
Part 1: Fort George and Thompson River, 1822-28
Part 2: Fort Langley, 1829-33
Part 3: Fort Colvile, 1834-44
Part 4: Envoi, 1845-49
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
Reviews
This book will be a “must-read” for those interested in the Pacific fur trade during this period, but the letters are interesting in themselves, and the background and explanatory notes provided by the editor give this book a much wider appeal.
-- Morag MacLachlan, editor of The Fort Langley Journals, from B.C. History, Spring 2005
Sample Chapter
Introduction
Chapter 1
Related Topics
History > Canada
History
BC Studies
Other Ways To Order
In Canada, order your copy of This Blessed Wilderness from UTP Distribution at:
UTP Distribution
5201 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario
M3H 5T8
Phone orders: 1(800)565-9523 or (416)667-7791
Fax orders: 1(800)221-9985 or (416)667-7832
Email: utpbooks@utpress.utoronto.ca
Ordering information for customers outside Canada
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