Journal Kept By John Thompson [Thomson] At Riviere Rouge / 1798-9.
| Database ID | 26318 | |
| Institution | University of Saskatchewan Libraries Special Collections | |
| Fonds/Collection | Morton Manuscripts Collection | |
| Series | MSS-C500 | |
| File/Item Reference | MSS-C500-4-15 (Box 6 O/S) | |
| Date of creation | 1798-1799 | |
| Physical description/extent | 1 book; 37 pages | |
| Number of images | 1 | |
| 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. John Thomson (d. 1928?] was a North West Company clerk at Red River and Rocky Mountain Fort. | |
| Scope and content | This journal describes the winter trading season from the beginning of October 1798 to the end of April 1799. Provides details of daily life at the fort, especially the negotiations with Indian hunters and trappers for food and furs,in exchange for such trade goods as rum, tobacco, ammunition, and tools. Individual Indians and traders are mentioned often; as are encounters with Chipewyan and Beaver Indians. | |
| Restrictions on access | There are no restrictions on access. | |
| Contributer | Thomson, John (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 | Photostat done 1931. On title page: Taken from the photostat copy in the Public Archives of Canada. The original is said by Dr. Doughty to be in the Library of the Imperial Institute, London. | |
| Treaty boundaries | Treaty 1 | |
| Cultural region | Plains | |
| Names | Thomson, John | |
| Subject | Chiefs Exploration Fishing Forts Fur Trade Hudson's Bay Company Hunting and Trapping Survival Beaver North West Company Dene - Chipewyan | |
| Date Range(s) | 1776-1799 | |
| Permanent Link | https://digital.scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy/permalink/26318
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