The Fur Trade in the Moose-Missinaibi River Valley, 1770–1917 by Doug Baldwin, and: Michipicoten: Hudson’s Bay Company Post, 1821–1904 by John Weiler (review)

494 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW related Warrenpapers tobefoundelsewhere, andagood index.I wish thatI hadhad thisbookatmysidewhenI preparedmyvolume fortheCanadian Centenary Series some years ago. GEORGE F.G. STANLEY MountAllison University TheFur Tradein theMoose-Missinaibi RiverValley,•77o-•9• 7. DOUC BALDWIN. Researchreport 8, HistoricalPlanningand ResearchBranch,Ontario Ministry of CultureandRecreation, 1976.Pp.iv,93,maps, illus.$a.5o. Michipicoten: Hudson's BayCompany Post, •r 82•-• 9o4.JOHN WEXLER. Research report3, HistoricalSitesBranch,OntarioMinistryof Natural Resources, 1973.PP. vi, 59, maps,illus. Thesetworecentcontributions to thehistoryof northernOntarioform part of a singlepublication series,in spiteof the fact that a government reorganization resultedin thenameof theseries beingchanged beforethesecond reportappeared inprint.Theyhave been produced byphoto offset andbothareillustrated withearly photographs fromvarious government archival collections. In bothspatial andtemporal coverage Michipicoten isthemorelimitedof thetwo studies, .concentrating asitdoes onasingle Hudson's Bay Company post during the finalperiodofitsoperation. The otherstudy also focuses onapost oftheHudson's BayCompany, NewBrunswick House,butin additionit includes withinitsscope several otherposts intheMoose-Missinaibi valleyaswellasMichipicoten, whichwas oncepartof thesame transportation route. Weiler'sstudyof Michipicoten doesnot commence until the coalitionof the Hudson'sBayCompanyand the North WestCompanyin 18al, althougha brief outlineofitsearlierhistory datingbackto 17•5isprovided bywayofintroduction. The authorchallenges the viewheld by previoushistorians thatthe 18•1 coalition spelled thetriumphoftheHudsonBaysupply routeovertheeast-west system from Montreal. He contends that, on the contrary,the easterntrade and supplyroute steadily increased inimportance untilbymid-century nearlytwo-thirds of thegoods received atMichipicoten came either froha theLachine Depot near Montreal orfrom independent suppliers inCanadaWest.Thistrend,whichendedwiththecomplete abandonment oftheHudsonBayroutein 1863,iswelldocumented. Michipicoten's earlyexistence wasdominated bytheconcerns ofthefur trade,but thepostgradually tookonanumberofotherfunctions inlateryears. Weilerbriefly discusses the roleof Michipicoten asa centrefor commercial fishing,missionary activity, miningoperations, andthedistribution of Indianannuities, aswellasits function as a communication link between Ontario and the northwestern frontier. Although healso acknowledges thefactthatthepost was important as'acontact point forthecultural interactions ofnativeandEuropean civilizations' (41),thereislittleor no attemptto assess the natureand consequences of thisinteractionon the native people.On thecontrary, wearetoldalmost nothingaboutthenativepeopleexcept thattheyhuntedfurs(•9), snaredrabbits(34),andreceived annuities (41).This is disappointing inviewofthefactthattheIndiansweretheprimaryproducers in the fur trade,whichinturnwastheprimaryreason for Michipicoten. REVIEWS 495 On thetopicof culturalinteraction the reportbyBaldwinon TheFur Tradein the Moose-Missinaibi River Valley isbyfarthemoresatisfactory. Baldwin's study devotes an entiresection to thewayin whichthetradersviewedtheIndians,andtotheimpact thattheyhadontheIndianwayof life.In addition,Baldwingives a goodaccount of fur tradelogistics and strategy, bothin theearlydaysof intenserivalryandin the lateryears,whentheMoose-Missinaibi riverroutegavewayto moremoderntransportationsystems . Baldwinmaintains thattheriversystem leadingfrom MooseFactory toMichipicoten wasat one time the mostimportanttransportationroute in north-western Ontario.BothheandWeilerdeserve creditfor havingmadeitsstorybetterknown. j. GARTH TAYLOR NationalMuseum ofMan, Ottawa A Historyof HigherEducation in Canada,z663-z96o. ROBINS. HARRIS. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, •976. Pp.xxiv,7•5 . $37.5o. Mr Harris'sbookishardtoreview,intheordinarysense of thatword.It isamanual ratherthan a history.In greatdetailit givesparticularsof the originand developmentof practically everyacademic or semi-academic institutionthat existsor has existedthroughoutthe country.It consists of elaborate recitationof courses, curricula , and administration. It isa kind of academic'Who's Who.' How review a 'Who's Who'?There istheoccasional aptquotation anda fewillustrative passages, suchas that retailingthe caustic condemnation madeby EgertonRyersonof the purposelessness ofSirDanielWilson's absorption in'oldIndianbones' andbitsofbroken Indian pottery.Mainly it isa narrativein overwhelming and tediousdetailof the innerdevelopment of specific institutions. Whileitwillbeusefulasarecord,itishard toimagine anyonereadingthroughitsseven hundredpages for thepleasure of it. It issurprising thatthe authordid nottakemorepainsto widenhisarid collection of databy makingmorereferenceto the historical and social conditions under which our institutionsof learning developed.Little or none of the heat of the fierce struggles thatwereinvolved in suchcontroversies asthoseoverseparate schools, for example,isreflectedin thesepages. The bookisessentially a workof reference.Its numerousappendices, manyof them statistical,will be convenient. Its character asa work of reference isreflected in itsprice,whichwilleffectively preventprivatepersons frombuyingit. It willgointo libraries andtherewill,from timeto time,andfor matters of detail,beprofitably consulted. A.R.M. LOWER Kingston TheLittleEmperor: Governor Simpson oftheHudson's BayCompany. JOHN S.GALBRAITH. Toronto,Macmillan,•976. Pp.x, 232,illus.$•6.95. With thisbiography of GeorgeSimpson, thedominantfigurein theCanadian fur tradefrom •82• to •86o,Professor Galbraithhassuccessfully filledaserious gapin ...