The Letters and Journals of Simon Fraser, 1806-1808

by W. Kaye Lamb (Editor), Michael Gnarowski (Foreword by)

Overview

B.C. journalist Stephen Hume has said that fur trader and explorer Simon Fraser should be celebrated as the founder of British Columbia. Certainly, the achievements of the Scottish-descended United Empire Loyalist adventurer were impressive. During three extraordinary years, 1805-1808, Fraser undertook the third major expedition (after Alexander Mackenzie’s and Lewis and Clark’s) across North America, culminating in his famous journey down the river in British Columbia that now bears his name.

Employed by the Montreal-based North West Company, Fraser was responsible for building many of British Columbia’s first trading posts. His exploratory efforts helped lead to Canada’s boundary later being declared at the 49th parallel. In this new volume, librarian and archivist W. Kaye Lamb provides a detailed introduction as well as illuminating annotations to Fraser’s journals, which were originally published by Macmillan of Canada in 1960.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781550029246
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	05/30/2007
Series:	Voyageur Classics , #6
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

W. Kaye Lamb (1904-1999) had a long and distinguished career as an archivist and librarian in Canada. He was instrumental in setting up Canada's National Library in 1953.

Simon Fraser (1776-1862) explored and charted much of what is now British Columbia. The Fraser River and Simon Fraser University in British Columbia are named after him.

W. KAYE LAMB (1904-1999) had a long and distinguished career as an archivist and librarian in Canada. He was instrumental in setting up Canada's National Library in 1953.

Michael Gnarowski co-edited The Making of Modern Poetry in Canada, compiled The Concise Bibliography of English Canadian Literature, and edited the Critical Views on Canadian Writers series for McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Gnarowski is professor emeritus at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Table of Contents

Foreword   Michael Gnarowski     11
Acknowledgements     19
Introduction     21
Ancestry and Early Life     22
The North West Company     29
Three Years of Exploration     35
The Fraser Manuscripts     52
Later Years     58
Family and Fame     72
The Great Journey: Exploring the Fraser River     81
Journal of a Voyage from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean Performed in the Year 1808: From the original manuscript in the Toronto Public Library     83
Fort George to the Thompson River     83
Thompson River to the Strait of Georgia     109
Return Journey to the Thompson River     127
Thompson River to Fort George     139
Second Journal of Simon Fraser from May 30th to June 10th 1808: From the transcript in the Bancroft Library, University of California     151
Background of the Great Journey     181
First Journal of Simon Fraser from April 12th to July 18th 1806: From the transcript in the Bancroft Library, University of California     183
At Rocky Mountain Portage     183
Rocky Mountain Portage to McLeod Lake     204
At Fort McLeod     218
Fort McLeod to the Nechako River     223
Letters from New Caledonia August 1806 to February 1807: From transcripts in the Bancroft Library, University of California, and from manuscripts in the Archives of British Columbia     247
Miscellaneous Papers     275
Fraser's Notes on His Family     275
Isabella Fraser's Claim for Compensation, 1787     278
Jules Quesnel's Description of New Caledonia and of the Journey Down the Fraser River in 1808: Letter to J.M. Lamothe, May 1, 1809     280
Fraser's Declaration to the Earl of Selkirk, August 16, 1816     282
Petitions for Land Submitted by Fraser in 1818     283
Letter from Fraser to Donald AE. MacDonell, 1840     285
Fraser's Application for a Military Pension, 1841     287
Memorandum by Simon Fraser and John McDonald of Garth, 1859     290
Letter of John A. Fraser, son of Simon Fraser, to the editor of the "Hastings Chronicle", 1862     290
Memorial of Fraser's Last Will and Testament, 1862     294
Petition Submitted by Harriet Fraser, Daughter of Simon Fraser, in 1887 and again in 1890     298
Portraits of Fraser     301
Select Bibliography     303
Notes     305
Index     323