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Trader King : the thrilling story of forty years' service in the North-West Territories, related by one of the last of the old-time wintering partners of the Hudson's Bay Company / Mary Weekes ; as told to her by William Cornwallis King.

Van Pelt Library F1060.9 .K56 2007
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
King, William Cornwallis, 1845-1940.
Contributor:
Weekes, Mary, 1885-
Series:
Western Canadian classics
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
King, William Cornwallis, 1845-1940.
King, William Cornwallis.
Hudson's Bay Company--History.
Hudson's Bay Company.
Frontier and pioneer life--Canada, Northern.
Frontier and pioneer life.
Hudson's Bay Company--Biography.
Fur traders--Canada--Biography.
Fur traders.
History.
Northwest, Canadian--Biography.
Northwest, Canadian.
Canada.
Northern Canada.
Genre:
Biographies.
Autobiographies.
Physical Description:
xiv, 159 pages ; 22 cm.
Place of Publication:
Calgary : Fifth House, [2007]
Summary:
Trader King is the graphic and powerfully moving story of one of the most fearless and colourful traders of the Canadian North-William Cornwallis King. Having worked for the Hudson's Bay Company from 1862 to 1903, King relates an exciting first-hand account of the early days of the fur trade in Canada. An excellent storyteller with a sharp memory and an eye for detail, King takes us on his travels with the voyageurs, trading missions with Native groups, walks across the Barren Lands, and his experiences with starvation and forest fires-all done while loyally representing the interests of the Hudson's Bay Company.
During his time in the North-West, King became a part of the history unfolding in Canada. He knew Dr. John Rae and Sir Sanford Fleming, he met men who were part of the search for the Franklin expedition, he established Fort Nelson, and he was at the very centre of the fur-trading industry in Canada. His stories capture the isolation of living in the far North, yet King revelled in the experience.
Mary Weekes's extensive interviews with King in 1936 culminated in this book, a treasure-trove of stories from a northern world that no longer exists. As she did in The Last Buffalo Hunter, Weekes wrote the story from King's own perspective, which makes us feel that we are ourselves interviewing the indomitable Trader King.
Contents:
Our Multi-coloured Past ix
Chapter 1 I Join the "Company of Adventurers" 1
Chapter 2 I Go on a Trading Trip 9
Chapter 3 I Leave for Mackenzie's River 21
Chapter 4 I Reach Norway House 31
Chapter 5 Grand Rapids to Portage La Loche 37
Chapter 6 With the Mackenzie River Brigade 45
Chapter 7 I Trade with the Montagnais and Yellowknives 57
Chapter 8 I Establish Fort Nelson 67
Chapter 9 I Walk Across the Barren Lands 79
Chapter 10 I Trade with the Loucheux Hunters 89
Chapter 11 A Link with Franklin 95
Chapter 12 With the Sir Sanford Fleming Expedition 105
Chapter 13 I Entertain the Geological Survey Party 115
Chapter 14 Macoun and His Plants 119
Chapter 15 I Return to Fort Rae 127
Chapter 16 Tale of a Cannibal 133
Chapter 17 From Fort Smith to York Factory 139
Chapter 18 Trader King's Account of the Last Council Meeting 151.
ISBN:
9781897252154
1897252153
OCLC:
132305256

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