Journal of the Rocky Mountain Fort / Fall 1799.
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| Database ID | 26315 | |
| Institution | University of Saskatchewan Libraries Special Collections | |
| Fonds/Collection | Morton Manuscripts Collection | |
| Series | MSS-C500 | |
| File/Item Reference | MSS-C500-4-20 (Box 6) | |
| Date of creation | 1799-1800 | |
| Physical description/extent | 1 book; 25 cm x 17 cm | |
| Number of images | 62 | |
| 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 journal, likely written by Simon Fraser (20 May 1776Â18 August 1862), covers the trading season from 5 October 1799 to 20 April 1800. The North West Company trader describes the daily life at the fort, including the frequent killing of buffalo for food, and the trade with Indians for furs. charted much of what is now British Columbia. | |
| Contributer | Simon Fraser (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 | Handwritten copy. Occasional notes on blank pages by A.S. Morton. Title on spine: Journal - Rocky Mt. Fort (Athabasca 1799 / NW Co. | |
| Treaty boundaries | No data | |
| Cultural region | Northwest Coast Plateau | |
| Names | Fraser, Simon | |
| Subject | Exploration Fur Trade Hudson's Bay Company Hunting and Trapping Survival Wildlife - Buffalo North West Company Aboriginal | |
| Date Range(s) | 1776-1799 1800-1819 | |
| Permanent Link | https://digital.scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy/permalink/26315
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