Early Fur Trading Posts in Alberta by J. N. Wallace (review)

35O THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW trifling errors; note 84 on page 98 is unhappily expressed: Ranaid MacDonald was never, in the early sixtiesor at any other time, "in association with" Sir JamesDouglas,the governor,in any enterprisein Cariboo. Fort Simpson, in northern British Columbia, is stated in note 24, page 34, to have beennamed after Sir GeorgeSimpson. This is a mistake; it was named after Captain Simpsonof the Cadboro(see Walbran's Place Names,p. 396). Perhapsthe editorswere led into this error by following Dunn's Oregon,p. 274. Occasionallythe materials gathered under one name seemto relate to two different persons; the result is a lengthy footnote, or two lengthy footnotes, in an endearour to evolve a theory to reconcilethe facts. Of this, notes79 and 81 on pages94 and 96 on Michael Klyne are an example. After reading the text and the two notes on it the reader is only a little more confused. It appears quite!mprobable that MichelKlein,a voyageur, isidentical with Michael Klyne, oneof Lord Selkirk's grantees. The biographical accountsare a distinct contribution to our knowledgeof the McDonald family. The volume contains about a dozen fine reproductions of photographs connectedwith the narrative. And the index includes both the text and the notes. F. W. HOWAY Early Fur Trading Posts in Alberta. By J. N. WALLACE. (Annual Report of the Alberta Land Surveyors Association,1922, pp. 1120 .) THIS is a conciseand interesting sketch of the building and location of someof the early tradingpostsin Alberta. Accordingto Mr. Wallace, there were no French forts in that province. He makes no mention of Fort La Jonquikre,which, accordingto Masson, citing the late Dr. Sulte, was built in !752 by M. de Niverville "au pied desmontagnes, • l'endroit m•me oh plus d'un si•cle aprksle capitaine Brisebois,de la police• cheval,fondait un postequi porta, pendantquelquesmoisle nom de sonfondateur,et senommeaujourd'hui Calgary". Mr. L. J. Burpee in The Search for the WesternSea, p. 273 et seq.,suggests very diffidentlythat La Jonqui•remay havebeenon the North Saskatchewan not far from Edmonton. Mr. Wallacedoesnot go.backinto the mists beyond!772. He claimsthat Peter Pond'sHouse,built about 1778, on the AthabaskaRiver near its mouthwasthe first fur-tradingpostin Alberta. The Montreal merchantswere in completepossession of the fur-trade of Alberta until 1792,whenthe Hudson'sBay Companybuilt BuckinghamHouse on the North Saskatchewan. From that point onward he traces succinctly the foundation of the different forts and indicatestheir exactlocations. The paper containsa skeletonmap of REVIEWS OF BOOKS 351 a portionof Alberta on whichthe sitesof the postsareshown. As the author is connected with the Survey Branchof the Department of the Interior thesepositions may betaken ascorrectaccording to our present information. F. W. HowAY Sagas oftheSea. ByARCI-IIBALD MACMECt-IAN. (TheKing'sTreasuries of Literature.) LondonandToronto: J. M. Dent & Sons. [1923.] Pp. 156. Tte•- essentiallymaritime quality of Nova Scotian life is aptly set forth in thesebriefhistoricalsketches by a long-timeresidentof the old portof..I-Ialifax. The talescannotbut appealto anyone whose im_agination haseverbeenluredby the hazardsof sea-faring, andtheir interest isenhancedfor all studentsof Canada'shistoryby the specialprovincial flavour of the collection. Five of the nine "sagas" recountincidentsin time of war,--the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Great War. Two of theseareexamples of idealdisciplinein theoldnavy andin the new; a third tellsof shipwreckand hazardous adventurein the carrying of dispatches betweenQuebec and New York in 1780; a fourthdescribes the sack of Lunenburg by a fleet of rebel privateers two years later; anothertellsthe lurid fate of an American privateerin Nova Scotian watersin 1813. The remainingfourare talesof peril in the work-a-day livesof seamen of the province. All of them are told with the charm and distinction whichwehavecometo expectin everythingtheauthor writes. Professor MacMechan has drawn his material almost exclusively fromoriginalsources, whichheduly notes,for each"saga", in the table of contents. Refrainingfromfictitiousembellishments, heachieves his expressed aim, to state the facts "as plainly as may be and let them speakfor themselves". Nevertheless the facts are illuminatedin the statement by the author'snautical knowledgeand enthusiasm,and, as onewould expectat his hands,are linked suggestively with the wider life of the provinceand given their due settingand significance. The volume stimulatesappreciationof the specialmaritime "colour" of Nova Scotia's community life, and well illustrates the important...