George Nelson (1786-1859) was a clerk for the North West Company whose unusually detailed and personal writings provide a compelling portrait of the people engaged in the golden age of the Canadian fur trade. Friends, Foes, and Furs is a critical edition of Nelson's daily journals, supplemented with exciting anecdotes from his "Reminiscences," which were written after his retirement to Lower Canada. An introduction and annotations by Harry Duckworth place Nelson's material securely within the established body of fur trade history. This series of journals gives readers a first-person account of Nelson's life and career, from his arrival at the age of eighteen in Lake Winnipeg, where he was stationed as an apprentice clerk from 1804 to 1813, to his second service from 1818 to 1819 and an 1822 canoe journey through the region. A keen and respectful observer, Nelson recorded in his daily journals not only the minutiae of his work, but also details about the lives of voyageurs, the Ojibwe and Swampy Cree communities, and others involved in the fur trade. His insights uncover an extraordinary view of the Lake Winnipeg region in the period just prior to European settlement. Making the full extent of George Nelson's journals available for the first time, Friends, Foes, and Furs is an intriguing account of one man's adventures in the fur trade in prairie Canada.
Author(s): Harry W. Duckworth
Series: Rupert's Land Record Society Series, 15
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 568
City: Montreal
Cover
FRIENDS, FOES, and FURS
Title
Copyright
Contents
Maps
Preface
Introduction
THE LAKE WINNIPEG JOURNALS
1 Extract from Sorel Journal, 1804–1805
2 Lac du Bonnet Journal, 29 August 1805–8 March 1806
3 Extract from Sorel Journal, 1806–1807
4 Extract from Reminiscences, Fall 1807
5 Journal at Dauphin River, 3 November 1807–31 August 1808
6 Journal at Dauphin River, 1 September 1808–31 March 1810, with an extract from Reminiscences
7 Journal at Dauphin River and Tête-au-Brochet, 1 April 1810–1 May 1811
8 Summary of Nelson’s Letters to His Family, 1811–1812, with an extract from Reminiscences
9 Lake Winnipeg Journals, 1818–1819: Introduction
10 Journal at Tête-au-Brochet, 21 September 1818–8 June 1819
11 Journal at Tête-au-Brochet, 1819
12 Journal from Fort Alexander to Cumberland House, 16 August–16 September 1819
13 Journal from Cumberland House to Fort William, 3 June–22 August 1822
APPENDICES
A Glossary and Special Terms in Nelson’s Lake Winnipeg Journals
B Indigenous People Mentioned in Nelson’s Lake Winnipeg Journals
C Voyageurs Mentioned in Nelson’s Lake Winnipeg Journals
D Clerks, Freemen, and Partners
E Place Names Mentioned by Nelson
References
Index
