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McGillivray map North America 1817

A map exhibiting the principal trading stations of the North-West Company. 1817
University of British Columbia Library

A map exhibiting the principal trading stations of the North-West Company. 1817 [detail]
University of British Columbia Library

A map of America, between latitudes 40° and 70° North, and longitudes 80° and 150° West; exhibiting the principal trading stations of the North-West Company; and intended to accompany the narrative of occurrences in the Indian countries of North America, connected with the Earl of Selkirk, the Hudson’s Bay and the North-West Companies.

[The Earl of Selkirk referred to was Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk [1771–1820], who established the Red River Colony in 1812 in what in now Manitoba.]

The map appears in Notice respecting the boundary between His Majesty’s possessions in North America and the United States, 1817, attributed to Simon McGillivray [1785–1840].

McGillivray played a role in merging the family owned North West Company with the rival Hudson’s Bay Company.

On the map there is a note near the head of Canoe River: “Snare Inds. (now destroyed)”

This map includes:
Athabasca Country
Athabasca Pass
Canoe River
Canoe Encampment [A NWC post indicated here]
Finlay River [as “Finlay’s Bra.”]
Fraser River [as “Fraser’s R.”]
Mackenzie River [as “MacKenzie Riv.”]
Peace River [as “Unjigah or Peace R.”]
Unjigah River [as “Unjigah or Peace R.”]

References:

McGillivray, Simon [1785–1840], attributed. Notice respecting the boundary between His Majesty’s possessions in North America and the United States; with a map of America, between latitudes 40° and 70° North, and longitudes 80° and 150° West; exhibiting the principal trading stations of the North-West Company; and intended to accompany the narrative of occurrences in the Indian countries of North America, connected with the Earl of Selkirk, the Hudson’s Bay and the North-West Companies. London: B. McMillan, 1817. University of British Columbia Library

Anderson, Alexander Caulfield

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Alex Caulfield Anderson [ca. 1865]
BC Archives A-01076

Alexander Caulfield Anderson [1814–1884]

b. 1814 — Calcutta, India
d. 1884 — Victoria, B.C.

Alexander Caulfield Anderson was born near Calcutta in 1814 and died at Saanich in 1884.

He was educated in England and joined the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1831 as an apprentice clerk. After a year of service at Lachine, he was assigned to various HBC posts throughout the northwest, including Fort Vancouver, Fort McLoughlin, Fraser Lake, Fort George, Fort Nisqually, Fort Alexandria, and Fort Colvile.

He was promoted to chief trader in 1846, and would have been made chief factor had he been willing to accept a post in New Caledonia. Between 1846 and 1847, in response to the Oregon boundary issue, Anderson led three exploring expeditions in an attempt to find a route, from the HBC post at Kamloops to the HBC post Fort Langley, which would fall entirely within British territory. Two of the routes that he identified were used at various times by the HBC brigades between the interior posts and the ocean.

He retired from the Company in 1854, and settled with his wife Eliza Birnie, whom he married in 1837, in Cathlamet, Washington. They eventually had 13 children. In 1858 Anderson was persuaded by James Douglas to accept the position of postmaster of Victoria; he later served briefly as collector of customs, and also had various business interests in Victoria. In 1876 he was appointed as both Dominion inspector of fisheries and the federal representative on the Dominion-Provincial Joint Commission on Indian Land in British Columbia. His appointment to this commission ended in 1878. Anderson was considered scholarly, and wrote several reports, articles and manuscripts about the history of the northwest coast. (1, 2, 3)

Works pertinent to the Mount Robson region of which Anderson was author or co-author:

— British Columbia Archives. A.C. Anderson papers MS-0559 (1834–1884).
— The Dominion at the West. A brief description of the province of British Columbia, its climate and resources. Victoria: Printed by R. Wolfenden, Government Printer, 1872. University of British Columbia Library

References:

1. Anderson, Alexander Caulfield [1814–1884]. British Columbia Archives. A.C. Anderson papers MS-0559 (1834–1884). BC Archives
2. Anderson, Alexander Caulfield [1814–1884]. The Dominion at the West. A brief description of the province of British Columbia, its climate and resources. Victoria: Printed by R. Wolfenden, Government Printer, 1872. University of British Columbia Library
3. Anderson, Nancy Marguerite [1946–]. The Pathfinder: A.C. Anderson’s Journeys in the West. Heritage House, 2011

Camp of Anderson’s party 1835

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British Columbia. : Fraser River drainage
Across Fraser River downstream of Tête Jaune Cache
52.9667 N 119.4292 W Google — GeoHack
Not currently an official name.

This appears on:
John Arrowsmith’s map BC 1859

Detail of Tête Jaune Cache area, John Arrowsmith map,1859
Colonial Dispatches, Uvic

The Hudson’s Bay Company party of Alexander Caulfield Anderson [1814–1884] cached canoes and contents here in October 1835:

The winter of 1835-36 is here referred to. Crossing the Rocky Mountains from Tête Jaune’s Cache to Jasper’s in September, on foot, I had returned with a party of some 22 persons, with horses. After embarking in our canoes and descending Fraser River a few miles, we were ice-bound — the winter being premature in an unwonted degree — about the 23rd of October. Short of provisions, and unable to make our way downwards owing to the unequally frozen condition of the stream, we made a cache of the canoes and their contents, at a point noted in Arrowsmith’s map, and retraced our steps to Jasper’s — the snow being about nine inches deep at the Summit of the Pass The supplies obtainable at Jasper’s were inadequate to our wants; and we had to continue our retreat down the Athabasca, and across to Edmonton on the Saskatchewan. There we obtained copious supplies, with dog-sledges to convey them. Leaving some of the party there, to follow in the Spring, we set out on our return. We had experienced some little difficulty on the way down: but the return-trip, being now provided with snow-shoes, warm clothing, and plenty of pemican, was performed with comparative comfort, —the journey from Edmonton to Stuart’s Lake occupying only 46 days. It was on this return trip that the observations noted in the text were made. The depth of the snow for a short distance at the summit of the Pass was about eight feet—but it was melting very fast at the period of our passage, about the 1st January, and there was a warm rain falling. (1)

References:

1. Anderson, Alexander Caulfield [1814–1884]. The Dominion at the West. A brief description of the province of British Columbia, its climate and resources. Victoria: Printed by R. Wolfenden, Government Printer, 1872, p. xxxvii. University of British Columbia Library

Also see:

QV

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References:

Nisbit, Jack. Mapmaker’s Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia River, his complete history. 2005
Mackie, Richard Somerset. Trading Beyond the Mountains: The British Fur Trade on the Pacific, 1793-1843. UBC Press, 1997
Warman, Cy. “Railway Construction up to Date.” Canadian Magazine, V. 37 (June 1911):398
O’Hagan, Howard [1902–1982]. Roundhouse before the mountain. 1949. Whyte Museum
Campbell, Marjorie Wilkins. The Saskatchewan. 1950
Cautley, Richard William [1873–1953]. High lights of memory : incidents in the life of a Canadian surveyor. 1950. Whyte Museum
Lavender, David. Winner Take All: The Trans-Canada Canoe Trail. Toronto & New York: McGraw-Hill, 1977
Hayes, Derek [1947–]. First Crossing: Alexander Mackenzie, His Expedition Across North America, and the Opening of the Continent. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2001
Sherwood, Jay. Surveying Northern British Columbia. A Photo Journal of Frank Swannell. Qualicum Beach, BC: Caitlin Press, 2004
Anderson, Nancy Marguerite. The Pathfinder: A.C. Anderson’s Journeys in the West. 2011
Anderson, Nancy Marguerite. The York Factory Express: Fort Vancouver to Hudson Bay, 1826-1849. 2021
Anderson, Nancy Marguerite. The HBC Brigades: Culture, Conflict and Perilous Journeys of the Fur Trade. Ronsdale Press, 2024