Author John Henricksson has written an interesting book about eight almost unknown people of the fur trade era history. The stories of the men and women who canoed and portaged the Hudson Bay watershed from Lake Winnipeg, east, north and south with some treks to the west coast—though at different times and for different purposes—seem amazingly similar as they planned for their wilderness experience.
King Charles II of England claimed the one and onehalf million square acres he named Rupert’s Land. It covered 40 percent of modern Canada, with Hudson Bay’s entire drainage system including parts of Minnesota and North Dakota. On May 2, 6170 he granted a charter to the Hudson Bay Company making them the absolute lords and proprietors of those areas. The company was in effect handed a vast hunting and trapping preserve to dispose of and exploit at will, making them ultimate absentee landlords. The first “overseas,” or resident governor, was Charles Bayley. For almost 200 years, between 1670 and 1850, the fur trade was the major focus of the HBC, which was called irreverently by some, “Here Before Christ,” maintained a monopoly in the fur trade.
Canoes become a symbol of the northern wilderness and as their only method of transportation, were the focus of the careers of the characters in Over the Portage. They were fur traders; explorers; canoeists, Native Americans, artists, and unlicensed trappers, also known as couriers de bois.
These early explorers spoke an array of languages, primarily Native American; English; French; Scottish and Swedish.
The chapter headings alone are enough to make you want to pick up the book: Pierre Espirit Radisson, The Unremembered Frenchman Who Was Here First; George Bonga, A True American Legend; Jacob Fahlstrom, Minnesota’s First Swedish Settler; Giacomo Constantino Beltrami, The Man With The Red Umbrella; John Bigsby, Enjoys The First Boundary Waters Canoe Trip in 1823; Frances Anne Hopkins, The Voyageur’s Artist; Ben Ferrier, Traces Sir Alexander MacKenzie’s Route by Canoe Across the Continent. The book is also interspersed with stories of Sir Alexander MacKenzie and other interesting characters.
Henricksson’s book is designed by Charles Fayers, with illustrations by Kelly Dupre. In addition to the eight tales it includes interesting acknowledgments, introduction, preface; a Hudson Bay Company addendum and extensive bibliography section. All of which help us to feel like we were there, especially when we’re familiar with our north woods. A good read for all.
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