Journal for 1805 & 6 / Cross Lake.
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| Database ID | 26301 | |
| Institution | University of Saskatchewan Libraries Special Collections | |
| Fonds/Collection | Morton Manuscripts Collection | |
| Series | MSS-C500 | |
| File/Item Reference | MSS-C500-4-23 (Box 7) | |
| Date of creation | 1805-1806 | |
| Physical description/extent | 1 book; 25 cm x 17 cm | |
| Number of images | 50 | |
| Historical note | The North West Company, a Canadian fur-trading company, was once the chief rival of the powerful Hudson's Bay Company. The company was founded in 1783 and enjoyed a rapid growth. It originally confined its operations to the Lake Superior region and the valleys of the Red, Assiniboine, and Saskatchewan rivers but later spread north and west to the shores of the Arctic and Pacific oceans. It even penetrated the area then known as the Oregon Country, where it constructed posts in what are now the U.S. states of Washington and Idaho. Its wilderness headquarters was located first at Grand Portage on Lake Superior and after 1805 at Fort William (also on Lake Superior, at the site of the present city of Thunder Bay, Ontario). Competition with the Hudson's Bay Company became especially intense when that company established the colony of Assiniboia on the Red River (in present-day Manitoba) in 1811-1812, across the North West Company's line of communications. A few years later, open conflict broke out, during which North West Company men destroyed the Red River colony (see Seven Oaks Massacre) and Hudson's Bay Company men destroyed the North West Company post of Fort Gibraltar (located on the site of modern Winnipeg, Manitoba) and captured Fort William. Under pressure from the British government, the old North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company were merged in 1821 under the name and charter of the latter company. The New North West Company, or XY Company, had a brief existence (1798-1804) as a competitor of the old North West Company before being absorbed by the latter. | |
| Scope and content | This diary was written while William McKay was proprietor in the Lake Winnipeg Department of the North West Company. The writer of this journal was exploring the Nelson River to determine the route over which the North West Company wished to transport its goods between the Interior and Hudson's Bay. He describes trading for furs with the Indians he met, often mentioning the importance of rum in the trade. The journal covers the preparations for winter, the hunger which occurred, and the journey on the river in the spring. | |
| Contributer | William McKay (author) | |
| Copyright holder | Public domain | |
| Copyright expiry date | Public domain | |
| Other terms governing use and reproduction | Responsibility regarding questions of copyright that may arise in the use of any images is assumed by the researcher. | |
| Type | Archival | |
| Primary Media | Textual documents | |
| Specific document types | Diaries | |
| Provenance Access Point | Morton, A.S. | |
| Other notes | This journal is a handwritten copy; is unsigned but 'almost certainly' written by William McKay. Notes on verso of title page and random notes on blank pages by A.S. Morton. Title on spine: Journal - Cross Lake - 1805-06 / NW Co. | |
| Treaty boundaries | No data | |
| Cultural region | Plains Subarctic | |
| Names | McKay, William | |
| Subject | Chiefs Exploration Forts Fur Trade Hudson's Bay Company Hunting and Trapping Survival Aboriginal Wildlife - Buffalo North West Company | |
| Date Range(s) | 1800-1819 | |
| Permanent Link | https://digital.scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy/permalink/26301
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