The Lifeline of the Oregon Country: The Fraser-Columbia Brigade System, 1811-47 - Hardcover

Gibson, James R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0774806427 ISBN 13: 9780774806428

Publisher: UBC Press, 2001

Synopsis

“Furs is what brings us,” remarked an early trader in the Oregon Country, but “the difficulty of getting the necessary supplies will continue to operate against it.” An elaborate transport system of North canoes, Indian pack horses, and Columbia batteaux was devised to get supplies to the back country and furs out. First used in 1811, it became the lifeline of the fur trade of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Columbia Department until 1847, when the route was severed by the extension of the U.S.-Canadian border. The personalities, places, obstacles, and operations involved in the brigade system are all described in fascinating detail, stretch by stretch from Fort St. James ton the upper reaches of the Fraser River to Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River.

About this title

About the Author:

James R. Gibson is a historical geographer at York University.

Review:

“Furs is what brings us,” remarked an early trader in the Oregon Country, adding, however, that “the difficulty of getting the necessary supplies will continue to operate against it,” located as it was, “on the worst side of the Rocky Mountains.” Fortunately, the discovery in 1805 by Lewis and Clark that the Columbia River was navigable by canoe or boat to the Pacific led to the logistical linking of the New Caledonia and Columbia Districts by means of the Fraser-Columbia brigade system. First used in 1811 by the North West Company, this transport system of North canoes, Indian pack horses, and Columbia batteaux eventually became the lifeline of the fur trade of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Columbia Department until 1847, when the route was severed by the extension of the Canada-US border along the forty-ninth parallel to the Pacific.

In The Lifeline of the Oregon Country, James Gibson compellingly immerses the reader in one of the most intractable problems faced by the Hudson’s Bay Company: how to realize wealth from such a remote and formidable land. The personalities, places, obstacles, and operations involved in the brigade system are all described in fascinating detail, stretch by stretch from Fort St. James, the depot of New Caledonia on the upper reaches of the Fraser River, to Fort Vancouver, the Columbia Department’s entrepôt on the lower Columbia River, and back.

Never before has such a rich collection of primary information concerning the fur trade supply system and the constraining role of logistics been so meticulously assembled. The Lifeline of the Oregon Country will prove indispensable to historians, researchers, and fur trade enthusiasts alike, and is an important contribution to our understanding of the economic history of the Pacific Slope.

About this edition

• Publisher: UBC Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0774806427
• ISBN 13: 9780774806428
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304