Friends, foes, and furs : George Nelson's Lake Winnipeg journals, 1804-1822 / edited by Harry W. Duckworth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Duckworth, Harry W., Author.

Contributor:

Nelson, George, 1786-1859, editor.

Series:

Rupert's Land Record Society series ; 15.

Rupert's Land Record Society series ; 15

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nelson, George, 1786-1859--Diaries.

Nelson, George.

North West Company.

Fur trade--Manitoba--History--19th century.

Fur trade.

Fur traders--Manitoba--Diaries.

Fur traders.

Fur traders--Manitoba--History--19th century.

Winnipeg, Lake (Man.)--History--19th century.

Winnipeg, Lake (Man.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (395 pages) : map.

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2019]

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Maps

Preface

Introduction

The Lake Winnipeg Journals

Extract from Sorel Journal, 1804–1805

Lac du Bonnet Journal, 29 August 1805–8 March 1806

Extract from Sorel Journal, 1806–1807

Extract from Reminiscences, Fall 1807

Journal at Dauphin River, 3 November 1807–31 August 1808

Journal at Dauphin River, 1 September 1808–31 March 1810, with an extract from Reminiscences

Journal at Dauphin River and Tête-au-Brochet, 1 April 1810–1 May 1811

Summary of Nelson’s Letters to His Family, 1811–1812, with an extract from Reminiscences

Lake Winnipeg Journals, 1818–1819: Introduction

Journal at Tête-au-Brochet, 21 September 1818–8 June 1819

Journal at Tête-au-Brochet, 1819

Journal from Fort Alexander to Cumberland House, 16 August–16 September 1819

Journal from Cumberland House to Fort William, 3 June–22 August 1822

Appendices

Glossary and Special Terms in Nelson’s Lake Winnipeg Journals

Indigenous People Mentioned in Nelson’s Lake Winnipeg Journals

Voyageurs Mentioned in Nelson’s Lake Winnipeg Journals

Clerks, Freemen, and Partners

Place Names Mentioned by Nelson

References

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780228000013

0228000017

9780228000006

0228000009

OCLC:

1112669678