1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Into the Unknown..., Dec 12 2010
By D. S. Thurlow - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Letters and Journals of Simon Fraser, 1806-1808 (Paperback)
"The Letters and Journals of Simon Fraser" is a Voyageur Classic, one of a series of books about prominent Canadians. Simon Fraser was a fur trader who in 1806-1808 explored a route from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean via what is now known as the Fraser River. His expedition was only the third to cross North America to the Pacific Ocean, after Sir Alexander MacKenzie and the Americans Lewis and Clark.
This book opens with a scene-setting foreward by Michael Gnarowski, followed by an introduction by Kaye Lamb that sketches Fraser's interesting life as a Scottish immigrant to Britsh North America and his career with the North West Company. Next are his journals and letters associated with the actual 1806-1808 expedition. Also included are copies of some surviving letters from later in Fraser's life.
The big interest, of course, is the hair-raising expedition of 1808, from near present day Fort George on the Britsh Columbia side of the Rockies, down the Fraser River to the site of Vancouver, and back through hundreds of miles of unmapped wilderness. Fraser and his small expedition traveled by canoe and on foot down a river even today considered all but impassable. Along the way, they survived contact with a series of Indian tribes, whose conduct ranged from cautious hospitality to open hostility. The expedition dealt with injuries, the loss of canoes and equipment, and the fear of the unknown.
Fraser's expedition was at the time considered a failure, in that he was looking for a navigable route for supplying inland trading posts. His journal had limited readership in his own lifetime, and his rather laconic prose understates the perils of a courageous journey. However, a modern readership can more readily appreciate the achievement of a pioneering Canadian. "The Letters and Journals of Simon Fraser 1806-1808" is highly recommended to that audience.
