Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857 and of the Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858

Hind, Henry Youle

ISBN 10: 0804810095 / ISBN 13: 9780804810098

Published by Charles E. Tuttle Co, Rutland, VT, 1971

About this Item

Two volumes in one. Red cloth with bright gilt lettering and black trim on spine, cover is excellent. Dust jacket shows light rubbing and slight creasing. Binding tight, pages very clean, no markings. Three fold-out maps in excellent condition. 966 total pages. Packaged carefully for shipment in cardboard with U. S. tracking. Oversized or heavy books may require extra postage for priority or international shipment.

Seller Inventory # 016384

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857 and of the Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858
• Publisher: Charles E. Tuttle Co, Rutland, VT
• Publication Date: 1971
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0804810095
• ISBN 13: 9780804810098
• Binding: Cloth
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • History

About this title

Synopsis

Introduction to the new edition by Roy St. George Stubbs.

As late as 1857, the vast territory of the Canadian northwest was unknown to all but a handful of fur traders. Yet the determination of the Hudson's Bay Company to maintain its enormous fur preserve was being challenged by the persistent advance of settlement.

Anticipating the termination of the Company's license in 1859 and curious about the suitability of the territory for general settlement, both the Imperial and the Canadian governments commissioned expeditions in 1857 to explore and report on the area. An Irish-born army officer, Captain John Palliser, headed the British expedition; the moving spirit of the Canadian party was Henry Youle Hind.

Hind's energy and zeal for the project lead his expedition on a thorough exploration of the Red River and later, of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Rivers as well. First hand observation of the success of even limited farming in these areas convinced Hind that the prairies were capable of absorbing many thousands of settlers and of providing them with a good living. He wrote enthusiastically of the potentialities of western agriculture, envisaging a transportation system, either wagon road or railroad, from Lake of the Woods to the Rockies that would enjoy the advantage of being fed by an agricultural population from one extremity to the other. Substantial parts of this work made their first appearance as parliamentary papers in 1857. Hind's optimistic reports outweighed the less enthusiastic findings of Palliser and ultimately influenced the Imperial government to refuse the renewal of the Hudson's Bay Company's license two years later.

Hind's 'Narrative', factual and objective, yet enlivened by incidents of personal experience, is foremost a document of extraordinary vision and foresight and remains today a minor classic.