French-Canadians in Anderson's New Caledonia

In the six years that Alexander Caulfield Anderson kept the Fort Alexandria journals, he wrote in the names of many of his men.
As his handwriting is sometimes hard to read, I have to take a guess at a few of the names.
Below is a listing of the men who worked or passed through the fort, with whatever information I have about them.

Pierre Cadotte -- Cadotte was a common name in the fur trade and there is a huge Metis family, but whether or not this man belongs to it I cannot tell you. But in Oct. 1844 Anderson wrote, "Michel Ogden with Cadotte & Laframboise (Ind.) off to Grand Lac on a drouine," and later, "M. Ogden off to trade salmon below with Montigny, Cadotte & 2 Indians." I strongly suspect Cadotte is Metis or Native.

Abraham Charbonneau -- accompanied A.C. Anderson on his first expedition across the country between Kamloops and Fort Langley, and came to New Caledonia from Fort Colvile. He may be a Metis descendent of Touissant Charbonneau who came across the country with the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1805. He was first mentioned in the journals in spring 1846, and in June Anderson says "They will be forwarded at Kamloops by Charbonneau, Lacourse & Touin, whom I left there in passant." In Jan. 1847, Anderson wrote, "Vautrin returned from Ft. George, having left two men (Charbonneau & Desautels) on the way -- the former being sick & unable to travel. Three days after these men cast up. they have their feet frozen and altogether are in dismal plight."

Edouard Crete -- Crete was a French Canadian who came from Sorel and entered the service in 1838, coming straight to New Caledonia and serving as master of the canoe and bateau fleet for New Caledonia. In Oct. 1846 Anderson writes, "Four men, Crete, Fallardeau, Vautrin & Roi are come down to winter here." In Oct. 1846, "Rene & Crete putting down flooring in the house...Crete & Roi laying flooring &c in dwelling houses." In Oct. 1847 Anderson wrote that "This eveing the boutes arrived from S. Lake. Crete, Davis, Roi, Michel & two Owyhees -- no leather has come down, the supplies from Peace River having once more remained along the way.." I understand he retired in the Columbia, and that Crate's Point, on the Columbia River, is named for him.

William Davis -- In Feb. 1846 Anderson writes, "Linneard preparing for the chimney, with Davis & others." Davis accompanied Anderson his his first expedition across the country between Kamloops and Fort Langley; but in Sept. 1846 "it was intimated to me that two men, Ignace [Yarantrimarat] & Wm. Davis, deserters from the Brigade, were arrived. Immediately I got up & having seized the men, had them tied." He was put to work at Fort Alexandria, and in Oct. 1846, "Linneard, Lacourse, Davis & 4 lads off to clear & break up new land at the Riv. a la Barriere, where I intend to carry on operations hereafter." In April 1847, Anderson said that "Bapts. Lapierre being sent to conduct the trades at Thleuz-cuz, accompanied by William Davis."

"Delonaise" -- This man could be a Metis son of Louis Delonie or Delaunois (Delauney)who was steersman in New Caledonia in 1822-1827. He appeared for the first time in the journals after Marineau returned from Fort Colvile with three new men in Nov. 1844, when "Mr. Charles, with Marineau, Atla (as guide) and the man Delonais to Thleuz-cuz..." On Nov. 15th, "Today, Delonais, the man who accompanied Mr. Charles, cast up. He states that he lost himself 3 days ago, but having succeeding in finding the encampment in the night, he slept there, and next morning was unable to find his horses, which he had hobbled closely." Delonaise is sent north to Fort George with a guide, as he is unfamiliar with the country, and does not appear again in the Fort Alexandria journals.

Joseph Desautels (Desautel) accompanied Anderson on his second expedition between Kamloops and Fort Langley in 1847, and was a 20-year-old French Canadian from Yamaska, Quebec, who entered the service in 1843 and came directly to New Caledonia. In March 1846 Anderson's journal says, "Express party off about 8am to encamp at the guard when they will get fresh horses. Marineau, Wentrel, Desautels, Lanctat & Charbonneau compose the party -- the first and last to return from Colvile." Desautels also returned to New Caledonia.

Michel Fallardeau was a 20-year-old Metis when he entered the service in 1827 at Fort Vancouver. By 1837 he was in New Caledonia and in Dec. 1845 Anderson noted that "Camille Lonctain installed as as carter. Fallardeau variously occupied," and "Fallardeau preparing the wood for a winnowing machine," and "Fallardeau & Liard winnowed 63 bushels of barley, finishing about 1pm." Fallardeau accompanied Anderson on his second expedition across the country in 1847, and appears to have retired in 1851. However, some historians have said that Kamloops' Paul Fraser beat Fallardeau to death. If this is true, this may be the reason why Anderson was "very bitter with [Fraser] at Langley" in summer 1850.

Alexandre or Alexis Gendron was in his mid to late twenties when he served under Anderson at Fort Alexandria, and was a blacksmith. In January 1843, Anderson wrote: "Gendron, cook & sundries." In August 1843, "Gendron after milking cattle, having breakfast &c, set out with Thirouac to commence covering the barn." He may have helped in building the Fort Alexandria mill; "Gendron sifting flour," in April 1844. Anderson wrote of this mill's construction, "to grind our wheat, we had a small portable mill, with stones two feet in diameter...the mill itself was well made and efficient, but the driving gear, constructed at Alexandria, was a marvelous piece of workmanship. In those days of make-shifts, and dove tailing of means and appliances, to turn a Canadian voyageur into a millwright was nothing. Hence our mill, of which by the way we were very proud, rumbled round in a most eccentric manner." In Oct. 1845, "Yesterday Alexis Gendron & Heloise (formerly Esther Moreau), step-daughter of Joachim Lafleur, were united in matrimony by the Revd. Pere Nobili S.I." In Jan. 1847, "Gendron at intervals, making nails &c."

The New Caledonia "Lacourse" men were the LaCroix or Lacroise brothers -- Michel, Theodore, and Pierre. Michel LaCroix (Lacroise), entered the fur trade in Montreal in 1839 and came directly to Fort Vancouver. By 1840 he was in New Caledonia, remaining there till about 1867. Theodore Lacourse worked at Fort Alexandria and accompanied Anderson on both his explorations across the country between Kamloops and Fort Langley; and Anderson must be speaking of Theodore when he writes in April 1846, "Linneard, Vautrin & Lacourse having prepared the ploughs, made a beginning to plough this evening in the home field." Pierre LaCroix was also in New Caledonia, and in September 1846 Anderson wrote, "Yesterday afternoon I rec'd a note from Mr. Manson stating the desertion of two men, Pierre & Theodore Lacourse. I have commissioned the Inds. to search for these men & if they discover them to give me notice. I have also sent down word to the same effect to the Rapid, with directions to the Indians to steal their horses & bring them back to me with prompt intelligence." It is hard to tell exactly who abandoned the brigade, but it appears from Anderson's writing that William Davis was one of the deserters and Ignace was the other. Anderson's journal says, "this morning intimation was brought that Davis, having left Ignace, was returned hither, & that during the night endeavoured to persude Lacourse to set out with him for Kamloops." In Jan. 1847, "P. Lacourse cutting wood for a large wheel for the mill. Theodore Lacourse & Ignace threshing."

Joachim Lafleur -- A French Canadian, Lafleur came from Montreal and joined the fur trade as a 23 year old in 1828. He worked in the Columbia and Fort Colvile district until 1838 when he came to New Caledonia (Kamloops). In 1848 he accompanied Anderson to Fort Colvile and remained there until 1854, when he returned to Canada. Joachim Lafleur was afraid of snakes, and on one occasion startled the brigade-men when he found a snake that Anderson had killed and hung on a bush by the trail.

Francois Laframboise -- A French Canadian, Laframboise joined the fur trade in Montreal as a 20 year old and came directly to the Columbia district in 1831. By 1837 he was in New Caledonia, and appears on many occasions in the Fort Alexandria journals. In January 1845, Anderson wrote in his journal, "Today the following men arrived from S. Lake to pass the remainder of the winter here -- [Franc.] Laframboise, Pierre Cadotte, Pierre Lefevre, Charles ..., William, Wentrel...Men disposed as follows: Gendron, kitchen; Marineau, cutting wood in lieu of Rene who is sick, Linneard & Cadotte thrashing wheat; Lamframboise winnowing oats; Thirouac variously; Wentrel, wood." In 1846 Laframboise returned to the Columbia district, and retired about 1850, remaining in the country.

Olivier Laferte dit Theroux -- A French Canadian, Laferte entered the fur trade from Yamaska, Quebec, in 1828, and came to the Columbia in 1832. By 1837 he was in New Caledonia, where he is sometimes listed as a Fisherman. I thought that Anderson may have used both his names in the Fort Alexandria journals -- at least there is a Therioux/Theriouac/Thirouac that I am unable to trace. But in March 1845, Thirouiac retires though Anderson writes about Laferte, "I have engaged Olivier Laferte for 2 years Thleuz-cuz wages at 19 pounds with 3 pounds as fisherman, the same terms as his last engagement." In March 1845, "Laferte, whose toe is still sore from a frost-bite, employeed making wedges & [masses] for the press." A few days later, "Laferte (who has been laid up with his frozen toe ever since his arrival) making pegs &c."

Therouac -- In June 1843, Therouac was planing boards for Anderson's residence, and "Thirouac, M. Ogden, &c, making chimney in dairy." In March 1845, Anderson wrote that "Two retiring servants accompany [Mr. Lane to Fort Colvile], Lefevre & Therouiac."

Baptiste Lapierre -- From the journals, February 1843, "Yesterday Mr. McLean arrived from Chilcotins, accompanied by Liard. Baptiste Lapierre, whom I expected over on his way to Canada, is now willing to renew his employment & has consequently remained at home." In Sept. 1845, "Baptiste Lapierre arrived from Thleuz-cuz. He is come by permission of Mr. Charles, to enter upon a connubial treaty with Lolo's former wife; but unfortunatly for his views the lodge is at present absent. The old man wishes to form a permanent alliance with her; and as she is of a discrete age, and I believe of a decent character, I think the old man might do worse." Pere John Nobili married the pair. In Oct. 1846, "Baptiste Lapierre, interpreter." In Oct. 1847, "Lapierre with Laframboise (the Native) & Montigny made an early start for Thleuz-cuz, having to pass round by Chilcotins on the way back."

Thamire Liard appears to have had two names -- his other being Thomas Stanislaus. A French Canadian, he came from St. Constant, Laprairie, and entered the service in 1833, coming almost directly to Fort Vancouver. In July 1843, "This evening Mr. McLean & Liard cast up from Chilcotins, which they left this morning with two of Mr. McLean's horses." In Oct. 1845, "Liard with a number of Ind. lads, began digging potatoes, the crop of which promises to be abundant." He retired in the Columbia in 1848.

The man listed in the journals as Jean Lennard/Lenniard/Linneard turned out to be Jean Baptiste Leonard, a French Canadian who joined the fur trade in 1840 and came directly to Thompson's River and New Caledonia. In the early 1840's he was twenty six years old. Leonard at at Fort Alexandria when Anderson arrived in 1842; "John Lennard digging a hole for a necessary." Later, "The cattle having come home, sent Linneard to move them back to the Prele, as we have no fodder for them, reserving the cows which seem to be near their time." "Linneard and Lefevre off to Stonia to mow for hay." In Nov. 1844, "Linneard brewed some beer." In July 1846, "Linneard & Vautrin thrashed some wheat for grinding, as we have not quite sufficient flour to complete the quantity (50 bags) intended for the interior." In Sept. 1847, "Linneard &c tying & carting grass for barn-thatch, previously mowed." (In winter they covered the boat-storage house with hay and in the spring used that hay, if necessary, to feed the animals.) In January 1848, "Linneard laid up with the measles," and a day later the houses were crowded with the sick.

Baptiste Lolo and Edouard Lolo both served at Fort Alexandria at various times, and would have been Metis descendents of the Thompson's River Native named Lolo. John Todd married a daughter of Jean Baptiste Lolo, and the Lolo name appears often in the Kamloops and Fort Alexandria area.

I have been unable to discover anything about Marineau who worked for years under Anderson at Fort Alexandria, and who almost always led the Fort Colvile express every spring and fall. He was married to a Native woman and may have been Metis; from the Fort Alexandria journals, December 1842: "Dispatched Edouard Lolo and Marineau's brother-in-law to Kamloops with the letters rec'd yesterday." But Marineau is often mentioned in regards to important duties, "Want of ink chiefly has interrupted my journal for a time but now by the arrival of Marineau from Colvile, I have received a supply. He & Gendron arrived here yesterday (18th April 1844) but there was no intelligence of import, further than the safe arrival of Mr. Ogden at Colvile on the 26th Ulto." In Dec. 1844, "poor Marineau, having met with severe lacerations of the eye, lies [in a bad way] & suffers much. I am doing what I can to relieve him."

Edouard Montigny accompanied Anderson on both his expeditions across the country between Kamloops and Fort Langley, and was one of his most responsible men. He entered the service in 1833 at Fort Vancouver, and it is assumed he was the son of Ovid Montigny and his country wife. Edouard had a brother named Baptiste, who also worked at Fort Alexandria but who deserted in Sept. 1844. Anderson wrote, "I suspect the scamp has let some of our horses stray off, and is afraid of his brother's anger."

Jean Baptiste Paquette (B) came from Lachine in 1846 and entered New Caledonia in 1848 with Anderson; he was a French Canadian boy who appears to have remained at Kamloops. In Dec. 1846, the expressmen returned, and "Paquet, a lad who came in with Marineau, being weakly & unwell, I have kept here for the present."

Pierre Roi was a French Canadian who came from Sorel, Quebec, and entered the service in 1840. He came directly to New Caledonia; he was probably one of the men who helped construct the Fort Alexandria mill because he later was miller at Fort Colvile. He is first mentioned in the Fort Alexandria journals in March 1846, when Anderson says, "Pierre Roi & Lacourse have remained here -- the latter not being under engagement, the former having taken the place of Camille Lonctane. He has a promise to winter at Alex'r; I have been glad to secure him, as he is a handy man."
In July 1846, "Gendron, Vautrin & Roi employed about the new house &c Linneard laid up with a painful whitlow." In Oct. 1847 "Roi with the women of the Fort has taken up the turnips & carrots. Linneard at the potatoes will, I think, finish Monday if fine." In Nov. 1847, Anderson notes that "Roi being laid up with a strain, as he says, by falling under a piece of wood, we have a hard matter to warm ourselves, to the neglect of other necessary work."

Michel and Camille Lonctane could easily have been Metis children of Andre Lonctain, who worked for the Pacific fur Company and North West company on the west coast before 1819, and who trapped in the Snake River district 1826-7. In Oct. 1845 Anderson noted that, "Pere Nobili, Rene, Laferte, Ignace, Lenniard, Wentrel & Camille Lonctain is come by the boat" from Fort St. James. A few days later, "Liard & Camille off to the lakes to cut hay for use until the train road be open to hay from Stonia." In Nov. 1845, "Evening Michel Lonctane arrived for this post -- he brings a letter from S. Lake -- all well there." Posts which were short of winter provisions often sent men to Fort Alexandria to be fed over the winter. In Feb. 1848, "Michel Lonctane's former wife died today in the vicinity of the fort. I have told Rene to make a coffin. The little girl is in her father's charge & will be taken down this spring."

Charles Touin was a French Canadian who entered the service in 1833 and came to the Columbia district. By 1837 he was in New Caledonia and he worked for the HBC in the Columbia and New Caledonia until 1858. In June 1845 Anderson wrote, "Touin continued grinding at mill." In Jan. 1848 "Last night Touin's little boy, who has been suffereing for some time under the effects of an attack of the measles, died. This the only fatal case that has yet happened in the fort." In March 1848, "Touin is sent down to take Fallardeau's place -- having strict injunctions to watch the horses close & not suffer them to stray downwards. Pierre Roi continues at his ploughs -- the others variously." In April 1848 Touin looked for a Native horse thief. Anderson writes, "Lapierre & Touin arrived. They do not succeed in finding the scamp they are in search of, who managed to conceal his track upon the frozen ground and morning crust. They went a long distance and seem to have done their work zealously, though without success."

Jean-Baptiste Vautrin was a French Canadian who came from Ft. Edouard [?] and entered the service in 1833, coming to the Columbia. He spent 1837-1851 in the New Caledonia district, and in January 1845, "Vautrin arrived yest'y from Thleuz-cuz with the accs. of that post, his 9th day thence." Vautrin accompanied Anderson on his first expedition across the country between Kamloops and Fort Langley. In December 1842, Anderson wrote in his journal that "Men employed at house, carting and two (Dubois & Vautrin) being sawing...." In Oct. 1846, "Vautrin (who has been sick during the greater part of the week) commenced yesterday the care of a coal furnace previously built & fired by Gendron." In November, "Yesterday evening the wife of J. Bte. Vautrin (a daughter of Lolo's) was taken ill, and shortly after gave birth to a still born child. She afterwards fell into a state of exhaustion, and I was applied to for assistance." The woman died. In Dec. Anderson "was under the disagreeable necessity of chastising one of the servants under my command ---having occasion to reprimand J. Bte Vautrin for disrespectful language, which I did quietly in my sitting room, the man replied in so improper a manner that I was compelled to strike him a number of blows, in order to maintain that authority without the possession of which one's efficiency in this country is more than doubtful." In March 1847 Anderson wrote, "Today Pere Nobili set out for Kamloops, accompanied by his man & Bapte. Lolo, together with Vautrin. The last, whose time was expired & who was on his way out, had my sanction to make an arrangement to accompany Mr. Nobili till the spring, when he will be disposable for the summer brigade &c. He has therefore renewed his agreement with HBC for another year. His wages during the interval of his serving P. Nobili will be settled in the a/c of the latter at Vancouver." In March 1848, "Pierre Roi & Vautrin employed making ploughs &c. Linneard repairing harrows &c in preparation for sowing time." I believe Vautrin retired to Victoria and would have been one of the voyageurs who paddled Lady Franklin up the waters of the Gorge in March 1861.

There were other men listed that I have not been able to find in HBC or Metis records.

In July 1843, "Quebec and Gendron arranged (or I should rather say made) three cradles, which I intend to employ for harvesting our grain." Quebec may have been a nickname for another man, but he often appears in these journals in 1842.

"Allard" may have been a Metis descendent of the St. Bonfiace Allards. In June 1845 Anderson noted that "Allard, who accompanied Mr. Porteous hither, is very ill." He must have returned to Ft. George, because in Nov. 1845 Anderson writes that "Allard & an Ind. from F. George are likewise come wt horses for a supply of seed wheat &c." In Nov. 1846 "Allard arrived from Ft. George on horseback. Mr. Maxwell has sent him down to meet the express and likewise to get some medical assistance from me, as he is unwell. But I am afraid I can do little to benefit him...his disorder seems to be a violent chronic rheumatism."

It appears sometimes that Charles Onarese was an Iroquois employee; he does not often appear in the journals. In March 1848, "Men variously employed about the duties of this place, except Onarere, who continues lame."

Michel Cola -- In January 1843, "Michel Cola. & Trudelle began building a necessary."

Dubois -- When Anderson arrived at Fort Alexandria in 1842, the journal read, "Dubois & LeFevre squaring timber.." He is not mentioned afterwards and must have left the fort.

Ignace was another deserter from the brigade, but I do not have his surname. He occasionally appears in the journals, and in Nov. 1845 "This morning about 4am. Ignace [Kananhurat's] wife expired, having been ill for some time past." In Sept. 1846, "it was intimated to me that two men, Ignace [Yarintrimarat?] & William Davis, deserters from the brigade, were arrived. Immediately got up & having seized the men, had them tied. Upon entreaty, however .. I liberated them & they are to proceed to S. Lake. Accordingly they set out this morning." But Ignace returned to Fort Alexandria "having a badly crushed foot that prevents his walking well..I am sick & weary of these deserters & all the anxiety & trouble they occasion." In March 1847 "Fallardeau, Crete & Ignace set out for Stuarts Lake to assist in bringing down the boats. The last was reengaged by me yesterday for 2 yrs. as boute -- having a promise to winter either at Alexr. or Colvile, at the option of the Concern."

Joseph Lebrun is not mentioned until October 1846, when Anderson's journals says, "Evening Joseph Lebrun with 6 Indians in 3 canoes arrived from Fort George, to my great surprise. They are come down expecting to return loaded with grain & wheat -- an extraordinary expectation when it is known that our harvest has failed, and that I had furnished the whole quota of 50 barrel, which I had engaged to supply for the upper parts. However, since these poor people have been referred to me for flour, they shall not be disappointed; but the grain must first be thrashed & ground...I'm out of humour at these irregularities, and so must stop." Lebrun was a Fort George man.

Pierre LeFevre -- When Anderson arrived at Fort Alexandria in 1842, the journal read, "Dubois & LeFevre squaring timber." Later, "LeFevre mortising posts, etc."
"Lenniard, LeFevre, Theriouac & Indian plowing." Lefevre retired in March 1845 and probably returned to Quebec.

Lefleche, who occasionally appears in these journals, might have been a Native man. "Dispatch M. Ogden, Montigny, E. Lolo & Lafleche (the last as guide) to the barrier on Chilcotin River, to trade salmon."

Michel Kavonoss/Karnasse -- From the journals, "Michel Karnasse cut his knee & is disabled."

Lambert -- in March 1845 Anderson wrote, "Lambert, one of the Ft. G. men who came down with Mr. Porteous, will remain here till spring, his services not being required at F. George where provisions are scarce."

Jacques Muriscott/Mariscatte/Mariscat might be Morrissette, a large Metis family. On December 25th 1842, "sent 3 ft. Tabo by Jack Muriscotte (who came for his rations) to Columetra, with a message to encourage the Inds. to trap small furs. The horses Jack reports to be doing well." In winter 1842, Jacques worked at the Horse Guard near Williams Lake, but shortly thereafter Anderson wrote, "Mr. Tod informed me that a good many of our horses are scattered in the vicinity of the Carrot &c and that some have been brought to Kamloops. These horses ... were lost prior to my arrival, Mariscatte having been alone down at the guard & apparently having neglected them. Since Thomas has been there I have every reason to be satisfied with their care of the horses..."

Rene Talanalong or Old Rene might be a Kanaka or Hawaiian man. In May 1843, Anderson wrote, "Late yesterday evening Rene Talanalong [hasted] for the canoe, it appears that he had been thrown from his [horse] while endeavouring to overtake a pack horse which had taken fright and having laid for some time senseless he made the best of his way to the fort being unable to follow the brigade." In May 1844, "the wife of Rene Salahoamy was released from her protracted sufferings," leaving a boy of 8 or 9 years of age. In March 1845, "Rene has no task assigned him; but does what he finds convenient." In April 1847 Anderson writes that "Baptiste Lapierre & Rene have made 11 packs."

Trudelle -- On Monday November 21st, 1842, "Trudelle lost the day looking for a horse." On December 19th, 1842, "Trudelle arranged Mr. Demers' chimney."

Thomas was at Fort Alexandria in 1842 -- Saturday, December 17, 1842, "Thomas, who came here with Marineau for his rations -- sought his horses, but did not succeed in finding them." On Monday Dec. 19th, "Thomas went off to horse guard."

Wentrell -- Wentrell came into New Caledonia with Anderson in early winter 1842, as the journal notes: "Today Lefevre & Wentrel (a lad who accompanied me hither) hauling pickets, with 5 horses." Later in June 1843, "Jack and Wentrel set out today for Okinagan with sundry horses as per list." He remains however in the district, because Anderson wrote in Nov. 1845 that "Wentrel is by no means a trustworthy character." A day later he "started Ignace & Wentrel to return in quest of the lost property."

For the most part these are the men who are mentioned in Anderson's Fort Alexandria journals. Through Anderson's notes you can see the employee's lives, the work they had to do and the difficulties they had to overcome. Each man had his own skills, and some appear to have been very skilled in various work -- others unreliable at best. If you can complete some of these stories I would appreciate hearing from you.

The Gentlemen in New Caledonia district

At this point we are following Alexander Caulfield Anderson's outgoing journey from New Caledonia to the Columbia district, in 1840.
Anderson returned to New Caledonia in November 1842, and remained in the district until spring, 1848.
This was an isolated district for the fur traders, but it sometimes appears as if no one was in the district other than Alexander Caulfield Anderson.
That is not so; however there were probably more Metis men in the district than white men.
Here are some of the gentlemen who worked the district at the same time Anderson was in charge at Fort Alexandria, 1842-1848.
Not all were Metis, but more than you would expect were.

For the most part, the gentlemen who worked the New Caledonia fur trade remained in the territory for a number of years, though Archibald McKinlay left McLeod Lake with the outgoing 1840 brigade and was placed in charge of Fort Nez Perce.
Peter Skene Ogden planned to leave the territory in 1844 but abandoned his plans when John Lee Lewes, who was to replace him, lost his hand in a shooting accident.
Fort Colvile's Archibald McDonald retired from the fur trade and Lewes took over this less difficult post.
John Tod remained at Kamloops until 1848; though he was the fur trader that was closest to Fort Alexandria, he rarely if ever visited the post.
But other men did.

In the Fort Vancouver account books of 1844, B.223/d/156, these men are listed as being in New Caledonia:
Officer -- Donald Manson, C.T.
Clerks -- Alexander C. Anderson; Duncan Cameron; Thomas Charles; William F. Lane; William McBean; John McIntosh; Donald McLean; Henry Maxwell; William Porteus; William Todd.

In a letter to Governor Simpson, D.5/13, fo. 109, HBCA, this is a listing of gentlemen forming the New Caledonia establishment, 15th Feb. 1845:
Donald Manson, Stuart's Lake; Mr. A. C. Anderson, Alexandria; Thos. Charles, Thuzcuz; Wm. Porteous, Fort George; Wm Todd, Fraser's Lake; Donald McLean, McLeod's Lake; Henry Maxwell, Connollys Lake; Dun E. Cameron, Babine Lake. A note at the bottom says "The latter gentleman retired from the service this summer and as he goes out from this with the Brigade on the 21st April next, that post will be vacant."

These are the men who appeared, from time to time, in the Fort Alexandria journals:

The red headed clerk, Donald McLean, visited the fort regularly, but remained in charge at the Chilcotin post until it was closed down in early 1844. McLean was a Scot, born on the Isle of Mull and he entered the service in 1833. By the time Anderson arrived at Fort Alexandria in 1842, Donald McLean was probably about forty years old. Although McLean is often called the "bully of the fur trade," I find no reference to that reputation in Anderson's journals.

Donald McLean was the first man that Anderson met when he approached Fort Alexandria in 1842.
The second man who caused trouble for Anderson and the gentlemen of the district was William Morwick, who was in charge of the Babine fort.
Morwick was from the Orkney islands and was Peter Skene Ogden's cook at Fort St. James.
However, because of a chronic shortage of men, Morwick was put in charge of Fort Connolly, with the title of postmaster.
He was a shrewd man, but made some mistakes and was shot and killed by a Native named "Grand-Visage," who shot him in the head as he stood silhouetted between two parchment-covered windows.
Grand-Visage was tempted out of his hiding place and shot as he trustingly passed one of the bastions of the fort.
Peter Skene Ogden had to leave Stuart's Lake with the brigade and assigned Anderson the responsibility of solving the problems caused by the Natives' response to the shooting of Grand-Visage.
William McBean took over the post, and Anderson told him that it would be prudent to avert ill-will -- "in this we compromise none of our standing with the natives, seeing that we were the aggressors in this affair."

Fort George's William Porteus sometimes visited Fort Alexandria; there is no biographical record for him in the Hudson's Bay Archives unfortunately.

Porteus was replaced by Henry Maxwell, who sometimes came to Fort Alexandria to get treatment for his "chronic rheumatism." Born in 1817, Maxwell would have been thirty years old when Anderson met him, and he left New Caledonia for the Columbia at the same time Anderson did. Maxwell was born in Montreal and apparently not Metis, and retired to Delaware after 1864.

William Fletcher Lane worked for the North West Company 1820-21 and was born in Ireland about 1794. He came into the HBC as a clerk in 1821, and worked in the Ottawa River and English River districts until he was dismissed for being troublesome. In 1829 he rejoined the Company, and travelled west with Alexander Anderson in the Lachine brigade and Saskatchewan boats, both men bound for the Columbia district. Lane was diverted north to the Athabasca district, however, and reached New Caledonia about 1832. By the time Anderson knew him again in 1842, he would have been almost fifty years old, and it did not appear that they were friends.

The new Thluez cuz post, established in 1844, was first run by William Todd. He proved to be an unsatisfactory manager and was soon replaced. Todd was Metis, baptized in 1823 and joined the company in 1841. His birthdate is unlisted, but if it was about 1823 Todd would have been a very young man when Anderson first knew him -- only nineteen years old. In fact Anderson does write in the Fort Alexandria journals, "That gentleman is young and inexperienced and I am therefore (perhaps uselessly) uneasy in a high degree about the enterprise entrusted to him. I am anxious for the arrival of the Gentlemen expected by express, in the hope that one of greater experience may then be at my disposal."

William McBean was born at Folle Avoine, Lake Superior, about 1807, and was Metis. He entered the HBC service in 1828 at Rupert's River, and by 1833 was in New Caledonia. When Anderson re-entered the territory in 1842, McBean would have been thirty five years old. McBean made apprentice clerk at Babine and was clerk in charge at Fraser's Lake by 1841, but because he was Metis, would never have made Chief Trader.

Thomas Charles appeared in the New Caledonia district in November 1844, and this responsible young man took over the Thleuz-cuz post from Todd, running it fairly efficiently and making mistakes only because of inexperience with the country. James Anderson, A.C.'s son, tells us that this young man was a son of the Mr. William Charles of the Red River district, who travelled west as far as Red River with Anderson in 1832. If so, Thomas Charles is the brother of William Charles, who was in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company in Victoria in 1874-1885; both of them would have been Metis.

Paul Fraser acted as witness when Anderson was married at Fort Alexandria in 1837, and he clerked at Fort St. James and later worked in the Columbia district. He was Scottish and no relation to Simon Fraser, according to H.R. Hatfield in "Chief Trader Paul Fraser, his parentage and grave," Okanagan Hist. Soc. 1980. Paul Fraser returned to New Caledonia about 1844, and annoyed Anderson by riding his horses hard through deep snow until they were exhausted. Fraser beat his men and is sometimes accused of causing the death of one man; he was a man who "as usual promises great things, more I fear than can be reasonably expected from him." James Douglas continued his notes with, "He has an unfortunate tongue, which is a never failing source of trouble to himself and all around him. Anderson was very bitter with him at Langley about some reports to his prejudice and was disposed to go to great length with him but I advised him to drop the matter and patched up a reconciliation on Fraser's solemn promise of amendment for the future -- which I fear was forgotten as soon as the parties separated." (D.5/29, fo. 57b, HBCA). The French Canadian (Metis) employees did not forget Fraser's treatment of them -- Paul Fraser was killed when a tree being felled at the brigade's campsite by accident fell on his tent.

Clerk John McIntosh, whose story is told in an earlier posting, was another witness to Anderson's marriage -- not something that Anderson would have wished for. McIntosh was about thirty two years old when Anderson met him in 1835, and thirty seven years old when Anderson returned to New Caledonia the second time. McIntosh was the Metis son of a HBC Chief Trader, and had quite a few years of experience in the fur trade -- experience which did not translate to a promotion.

Twenty five year old Montrose McGillivray, who accompanied Anderson as clerk on his third expedition down the banks of the Fraser River to Fort Langley, was grandson of William McGillivray, partner and chief director of the NWC before 1821. A Metis, Montrose McGillivray died in the measles epidemic of 1848.

Finally the son of Peter Skene Ogden worked for Alexander Anderson at Fort Alexandria, as a clerk in the fur trade. Michel Ogden was obviously a Metis man, as his mother was Native. He joined Anderson at the old Thompson's River post when Anderson re-entered the territory in fall of 1842, and was one of two Metis men who led him over the trail that would become the new brigade trail between Kamloops and Fort Langley. Ogden accompanied Anderson on his expedition to Fort Langley up and down the Fraser River canyons in 1847, and he followed Anderson to Fort Colvile in 1848. He is regularly mentioned in the Fort Alexandria journals and proved to be one of Anderson's most reliable employees.

I have said that I am surprised how many of these gentlemen were Metis; but a surprising number of the employees of the fur trade of Fort Alexandria were also Metis, rather than French Canadians.
In my next posting, I will attempt to list them all for you, and to discover their stories.

Alexander Caulfield Anderson and James Birnie

I don't think you could find two more different men in the fur trade than these two men.
Anderson was a gentleman who studied Latin but not Greek, and could quote from Homer and other great classical writers -- Birnie was the son of a tanner who spoke in a rough Scottish brogue (of which he was very proud) and who read little more than "Scott's novels."
Yet, it appears, they got on very well.

James Birnie was the son of a tanner, and grandson of a shoemaker; an uncle apprenticed as a saddler -- but James chose a different career and joined the fur trade of the North West Comany in 1816.
He spent two years in Lachine "learning the French language of the fur trade."
In 1818 he left Lachine and crossed the country with the Lachine brigade and Edmonton brigade, and finally the Columbia express.
By November 1818 he was in the Columbia and a few months later was trapping for furs with Donald McKenzie in the Snake River district.
I suspect he was a valuable man in the North West Company, because he knew how to prepare the furs that the other men trapped.

In spring 1820 he accompanied the men who delivered the beaver pelts to the company's headquarters at Fort George (Astoria), and there he married Charlot Beaulieu, daughter of a free-trader named Beaulieu who hung around Spokane House and the Snake district.
In 1821 the North West Company was taken over by the HBC, and James Birnie was re-engaged while other men were released from the new Company's service.
In 1822 he was placed in charge of Spokane House, and kept the post's journals for two years.
On August 15, 1822, Charlot Birnie gave birth to their first daughter, Betsy, who would eventually marry Alexander Caulfield Anderson.

Birnie was at Fort Vancouver in 1824 when his son was born, and at Fort Okanagan when Governor Simpson arrived at the post.
Simpson took an immediate dislike to Birnie, saying that he was "useful in the Columbia as he can make himself understood among several of the Tribes and knows the country well; but not particularly active, nor has he much firmness: deficient in point of education; a loose talking fellow who seldom considers it necessary to confine himself to the truth."
Simpson always held a poor education against a man, and there is plenty of proof that Birnie did not have a good education.
But I suspect that Simpson, who had worked hard to cover up his illegitimate past in Scotland, found that Birnie's Scottish brogue reminded him of it.

Birnie was in charge of Spokane House in summer 1825, and planted the first crop of potatoes at the new Fort Colvile which was to be built that summer.
In spring 1826, Birnie crossed the Rocky Mountains with the outgoing express, and at Edmonton House they joined the Saskatchewan boats and travelled all the way to York Factory, on Hudson's Bay.
Governor Simpson's cousin, Lieutenant Aemelius Simpson, travelled with Birnie on the return journey from York Factory to Fort Vancouver, and he kept a journal of the trip.

In 1825 Birnie was assigned to the Thompson's River post (Kamloops), but never made it there.
Instead we find him at Fort Vancouver, helping in the construction of the second post.(Fort Vancouver was moved to a location closer to the river shortly after it was constructed for the first time.)
In November 1826 Birnie travelled south with dispatches for Chief Trader A.R. McLeod, leader of the first trapping expedition south to the Umpqua River.
In October 1827, Birnie was sent to the Nez Perce fort to assist and strengthen the express party as they travelled downriver to the headquarters -- one of the two Chinookian tribes at The Dalles had been more hostile than usual and McLoughlin worried about the express' safety.
In July 1828 Birnie signed a new contract with the company; in September he was still at Fort Vanocuver but in October he had built a new post at the Dalles of the Columbia River to prevent the Natives' furs from falling into the hands of an American competitor.
As the best trading place near the Dalles was amongst the Wishram Natives who tended to be more hostile to traders than their neighbours, the nervous American trader set up his camp close to Birnie's post for protection.
By April he had gone, and Birnie closed his post.

In 1830 Birnie was acting as doctor for the many fur traders who fell sick from the "intermittent fever" or malaria that attacked Fort Vancouver that year.
The botanist David Douglas may have been one of his patients; Peter Skene Ogden was also taken seriously ill.
On March 14, 1833, Birnie boarded the Dryad and sailed north to his new posting at Fort Simpson, on the Northwest coast close to Russian territory.
Alexander Caulfield Anderson was one of the men on the Dryad, and he and Birnie became fast friends (probably because Betsy was also travelling north on the Dryad with her father).
On this journey north, Anderson determined to marry Betsy Birnie when she was old enough (she was only 11 years old).

Birnie remained at Fort Simpson while Anderson served at Fort McLoughlin to the south.
They met again a year later when both men accompanied Peter Skene Ogden to the Stikine River to set up a post in the interior.
They were repulsed, and returned to Fort Simpson to rebuild it in a new location.
Birnie remained behind, and Anderson followed Peter Skene Ogden into New Caledonia; they would not see each other for many years.

On his return to Fort Vancouver, Birnie was re-assigned to Fort George (Astoria) where he remained for many years.
In 1837 his daughter Betsy travelled up the brigade trail to marry Alexander Anderson.
Birnie acted as pilot for many of the ships that entered the Columbia River, and he guided them upriver to Fort Vancouver.
Some missionaries who arrived at the river mouth wrote their memoirs, giving an excellent description of both James Birnie and his wife, Charlot.
These missionaries had ignored Birnie's signals to find the safe crossing of the bar, but made it safely into the river in spite of that.
They told Birnie it was a miracle they made it across.
Birnie agreed with the Catholic missionaries that "God had saved them ... but in order that a second miracle might not be necessary he would ... guide them through the banks that lay between them and the fort [Vancouver.]"
He welcomed them to his house, and fed them two huge dinners, one of which included some blackberry pies baked by Charlot, his wife.
(I grew up on blackberry pies -- I guess it is part of my heritage.)
The missionaries were delighted by the Birnie family, but shocked that the Birnie women did not drink wine with their dinner.
Out of politeness, they too declined to have wine.

The missionaries would have described Charlot as a pretty woman with bright eyes and dark glassy hair, as another pioneer woman described her.
James was a big man; a broad-shouldered and deep-chested man who stood 6 feet tall.
In 1843, Francis Ermatinger described Birnie in a letter to his brother, Edward: "Birnie remains at Fort George and has children enough for a colony. He looks as young as ever, and is as fat and lazy as a man ought to be, when he is thought no more of than he is by Sir George [Simpson]."
Ermatinger knew something that Birnie did not -- that George Simpson had tried to have John McLoughlin retire Birnie with a pension of 60 pound per annum for seven years!
McLoughlin had refused to do so, saying privately that the Governor should do his dirty work himself, but telling Simpson he had no good man to replace Birnie.

When a frustrated Birnie finally retired from the HBC in 1846, he chose to settle in a place he called "Birnie's Retreat," on the north bank of the Columbia River halfway between Fort George and Fort Vancouver.
He might have chosen the north bank because he thought it might remain British territory, while the south bank would almost certainly go to the Americans.
It did not; the new boundary line ran along the 49th parallel, hundreds of miles to the north of Birnie's property.

Before Birnie left the company's employee, he had the Fort George men clear his land and build the store and house.
When he moved in, he brought with him some cattle which he had pastured on the Clatsop plains, and sixteen Native employees he had rescued from the slave trade that flourished up and down the coast.
Birnie opened his store to business, and almost immediately did well.
The American settlers travelled up and down the river and almost all stopped at the Birnie store.
Dried salmon sold for $20.00 a barrel, butter was $1.00 lb., lard was 60 cts.; fine shirts sold for $2.50 and whiskey for $3.00 a gallon.
Soon his son in law Anderson retired from the fur trade and settled beside him.

Birnie's Retreat was renamed Cathlamet, and the village became the social centre of the area around Fort Vancouver.
Charlot became a confident, self assured hostess who welcomed visitors into her home and entertained them on the porch that offered a spectacular view of the river and a bookcase filled with Birnie's volumes of Scott's novels.
But Cathlamet has remained isolated; even today it has one gravel road leading in and only one stop sign in the entire county!

But Birnie began to show confusion and Thomas Lowe warned, "In any transactions you have with Mr. Birnie endeavour to have everything put in black and white, and for God's sake leave nothing to be understood, as I have always found that these understandings are looked upon by him as the principal part of the bargain, and generally prove a fruitful source of misunderstanding afterwards."
To Anderson, Lowe wrote of Charlot, "I also know how difficult it is to reason with Mrs. Birnie. Her grief is most poignant at times and in these paroxysms it is fruitless to endeavour to console her."
They had plenty to mourn.
By 1854, two daughters and one son were buried in the little churchyard at the top of the hills, and three Anderson children were also buried there.

From early days, James Birnie had flown a handmade American flag above the store, which he cheerfully dipped at every passing ship.
He was sixty eight years old when he died in December 1864.
It was his last wish that he be buried in that handmade flag on his death.
Auld James Birnie, Laird of Cathlamet, died at home and was buried in the little churchyard at the top of the hill, carefully wrapped in his homemade American flag.

Charlot lived twelve more years in comfort, surrounded by her surviving children.
She died on July 7, 1878, and was buried beside her husband in the little cemetary at the top of the hill.
James and Charlot's shared grave has the largest stone in the pioneer cemetary, befitting of their standing as the founders of Cathlamet.

John Stuart and Alexander Caulfield Anderson

It does appear as though the old post at the Thompson's River was the centre of the fur traders' web -- and for many years it was.
Many famous men passed through this post, and a few famous women as well.
It is probable that the first fur trader who made his way from the North West Co.'s New Caledonia to the Columbia River came through the Kamloops area, though we don't know which trail he travelled to reach Kamloops.
It took the North West Company explorer John Stuart one summer to travel south from Stuart's Lake to the Columbia District, where he spent the winter.
Stuart wrote that he was "still in the Columbia in 1813 shortly after the purchase of Astoria from the Pacific Fur Company."

But Stuart was not the first to use this trail -- he writes that "in the summer of 1809, either Mr. David Thompson or Jacques Finlay, I am not certain which -- sent a party of four Indians from the Okanagan River to New Caledonia with a letter addressed to me. The letter was lost during the journey but the party arrived safe at Stuart's Lake where I was then stationed in the month of November."
He explains that one of these travellers was "another [female] who had been for some years resident at the Cote Establishments of the Flathead & Spokan posts as wife to Boisverd Mr. [David] Thompson's body servant -- I afterwards met her on the Okanagan River on my way to the Columbia in 1813 and being both [eccentric] & of [strong] disposition she was at the mouth of the Columbia when the Tonquin arrived there in 1811 & most useful to the newcomers."
This woman is mentioned in Jack Nisbet's "The Mapmaker's Eye; David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau," (Washington State UP., 2005), and was described by Thompson as a "little woman of masculine spirit." (see page 117).

The sources for the above John Stuart quotes comes from his "Notes, 1840," E.24/7, HBCA.
These notes were, I believe, part of a long letter addressed to Alexander Caulfield Anderson, and corrected some statements that Anderson made in his first unpublished manuscript, which he submitted to a London publisher in 1837 or so.
The manuscript was rejected by the publishers and returned to the HBC offices in London, where the then secretary (Webster) offered it to retired John Stuart to read.
Stuart addressed a letter to Anderson, which probably was returned to Anderson with the unpublished manuscript.
"I have no hesitation in saying that this narrative gives the best account of those parts to which it has reference, that is extant, or perhaps ever was written," John Stuart wrote to Anderson in 1842.
"That part of it which has come within the personal ken of the author itself, is forcibly & so far as I know, accurately described: -- and if in the other there are passages that may appear apocryphal, and without deteriorating from the whole, might be omitted, there is but one "Gulliverism" throughout -- and its greatest defect is that in delineating the character of the Natives, the dark only is dwelt upon. If they have their vices, they have their virtues also, and nowhere is the [benign] virtue of hospitality carried to a greater extent, than among the North American tribes -- one and all. As a whole it contains much useful, and in the most cases correct information -- that is not to be found anywhere else -- and is so creditable alike to the author, and to the Honourable Company in whose service he is engaged, that from my soul I wish it was published."
The source of this John Stuart quote comes from Anderson's "History of the Northwest Coast," Mss. 559, Box 2, File 3, B.C. McKelvie Typescript, BC Archives. [The original is in the Bancroft Library, Berkeley University, CA.]

Anderson was still a young man when he received Stuart's letter, and his reply was not as polite as it could have been.
"Really my good Mr. Stuart," he wrote, "much as I appreciate the commendations you have deigned to bestow my labours at large, I must yet dissent from your criticism upon several passages, not specifically indicated. There may be "aprocryphal" statements certain, but they are stated in a bona fide; and if in some cases I may have been misled, by information drawn occasionally, of necessity, from others."

[In fact, it is easy to tell that Anderson got most of the information contained in the manuscript from his father in law, James Birnie.
The men who Anderson describes in later pages of the manuscript are men who knew James Birnie long before Anderson ever set a foot in the Columbia district.]

This manuscript was returned to Alexander Caulfield Anderson, who edited it and sent it out again to be published.
But the original manuscript has been lost.
It probably appears, in pieces, in his later manuscripts.
But below I include a piece of writing that might have appeared in this first manuscript:
"Bye the bye: what be your notion of a Beaver-lodge? The question seems so simple that one feels almost disposed to apologize while putting it. Judging, however, from my own misconceptions of some years back, and again from the marvelous accounts one sees constantly blazoned to the World in print, it may not be amiss to dwell while on the subject. for instance, I very recently saw in a work, professedly for the instruction of youth, a plate, supposed to represent a group of Beaver-ledges. Nice little mud cottages with nearly rounded roofs, and accurately vaulted doors, seated on a pretty eminence and shared by palms and other trees of tropical vegetation. The following astounding revelation accompanies the print. ["This vignette represents the Beaver, with several huts of three stories hight, built on the edge of a clear stream, supported and shaded (!) by tall trees and brambles. The huts have usually two doors, one to the water, and one to the land."] And to complete the picture a veritable beaver, perhaps intended to represent the "oldest inhabitant," is gravely promenading in the foreground! What can our old and esteemed friend, the worth Mr. Wombwell, say after this? -- His vocation's gone, Hal, depend on'it; the philosophers have usurped it!"
The above quote comes from Anderson's unpublished manuscript, British Columbia, held in BC Archives, and Wombwell was the proprietor of a menagerie that existed in London when Anderson was a youth. The quote probably comes from Pickwick Papers; Anderson was a great fan of Dickens' writings.

Anderson met both Simon Fraser and his clerk, John Stuart -- Simon Fraser was retired at Lachine at the time Anderson was there (1831-2) and attended a few of the fur trade parties. John Stuart he met at the half-built stone fort that replaced the rotting Red River post, as he travelled west with the brigade in 1832. It is unlikely the two men ever spoke again. But this is my first in a series of articles about the famous men that are connected, somehow, with Alexander Caulfield Anderson, and in each of these articles we will be following Anderson's lost manuscripts around the continent. Let's hope we find one of them, so that it [or they] can be published as John Stuart wished!

North Thompson River toward Kamloops

From the fur traders' traverse at Little Fort, the New Caledonia men remounted their horses and led their packhorses south, down the east bank of the North Thompson River toward the old Thompson's River post at the junction of the North and South Thompson Rivers.
The traverse was about forty miles north of the Thompson's River post, by their reckoning.
This was rough country, the most difficult leg of their voyage south. On both sides of the river the rocky banks cut right to the river edges in many places.
On occasion a horse would lose its footing and tumble down the cliffs into the river.
The men would rescue the valuable packs if they could, but many horses did not survive their falls.
It would have seemed easier to use canoes on this part of the river, but that was impractical
Firstly, this country did not grow the trees that provided the traditional trees for building the birch bark canoes that the fur traders were familiar with.

The Natives that lived around Kamloops and on the North Thompson River were Secwepemc.
The Secwepemc people preferred to travel by horseback and were, for the most part, unfamiliar with canoes.
Anderson said as much when wrote many years later that "these Indians principally do their travelling on horseback & have very little knowledge of the art of constructing canoes, the only use they ever make of them being just for the purpose of ferries where the water is too deep to ford."

The two photographs I have displayed in this section are both taken just south of present day Louis Creek, on the east side of the river.
The photograph above looks north, toward the traverse at Little Fort.
The photograph to the left was taken at the same place but looks south, toward Kamloops.

You can see that the trees are blackened and burned, though there is plenty of new growth at their feet.

A few years ago our province was on fire, with enormous forest fires burning huge acreage of forest land.
This was the famous or infamous "Barriere" fire, which burned down a town and its sawmill and destroyed a great deal of property.

The place-names listed on this map are taken from Anderson's 1867 map of British Columbia, and probably indicate stopping places on the brigades journey up and down the river.
Les Pineux might be "the Pines."
"Barriere" almost certainly got its name from a barriere or fish weir that always existed here.
"The Stockades" might have indicated a place where the Kamloops men kept their horses, but it seems a little distant from the fort.
It is more likely that this was another stop on the way upriver, and that the furtraders might have constructed a corral here.
I had assumed that Louis Creek got its name from a Native chief, but it seems that is not so.
There were two Louis' in this area when Anderson came as Dominion Commissioner of Indian Reserves, but one Louis (Petite Louis) lived in the Kamloops area, while the other lived on Shuswap Lake.
In 1877, the Native chief who occupied this land was named Andre, and it was he who accompanied Anderson and the other Commissioners over his land, riding all the way north to the old crossing place at Little Fort.