The Explorations of the La Vérendryes in the Northern Plains, 1738–43 by G. Hubert Smith (review)

226 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW professional scientist. Hewas abletosee moreofournewcountry thanpossibly anyotherof hiscontemporaries andbecameoneof Canada's mostfamous advocates. Firstpublished in 1955,Macoun's autobiography isawelcome addition toa growinglistof available primarysource material.Likemostautobiographies, however, thisoneisnotwithoutitsdeficiencies. Dictated inthelasttwoyears of hislife with occasional references to hisdiaries,it suffersfrom thelapses of memoryof an old manand,asexplorers'memoir,lacksthe freshness and spontaneity of a W.F. Butleror a G.M. Grant. Macounemerges from thisvolumeasanarchetypal romantic, battlingthe Canadiantopography, theharshclimate,andhiscritics. Naturewastheretobe conquered and, if man struggled, our entirenation,includingareaslikethe LakeAthabasca region,couldbecome the'Garden'of theworld.All those who in any way challengedhis advocacy, especially John Palliser, becamethe recipients of virulentattacks. Always a precocious,stubborn man, intolerant of criticism,Macoun frequentlyallowedhisenthusiasm for Canadatosurpass thelimitsof scientific professionalism. Hisgeneralizations wereoftenbased oninsufficient dataand only data supportinghis expansionist dream were considered. Although William Saunderswas a contemporaryand a friend, Macounmakesno mentionofhisresearch andfailedtoconsider thelengthofthegrowingseason anywhere in hisanalysis. It isnotclearwhytheOttawaField-Naturalists' Clubrepublished Macoun's autobiography asitscentenary project.Byhisownadmission Macoun omitted mostof thebotanical informationwhichhadalready beenpublished inannual government reports.The historical content isuneven, incomplete, andlacking in objectivity. Althoughtherealvalueof theautobiography isasanexcellent exampleof the expansionist propagandaanalysed by Doug Owramin his recentstudy,the publisherhasmadelittle attemptto placeit in thatcontext. The book's introductionanditseditinglackthe comprehensiveness andthe professionalism wehavecometoexpectfromreprintedprimarymaterials in thepastdecade. CL^RENCE I•^R•Malaspina College TheExplorations oftheLa V•rendryes in theNorthern Plains,z738-43. c. HUB•:•T SMITH. Editedby w. }t^¾MONr• woorz Lincoln,Universityof NebraskaPress, 198o. Pp.xviii,16o,illus.$13.95. W. Raymond Wood,aprofessor ofanthropology attheUniversity ofMissouri atColumbia, haseditedthelateG. HubertSmith's manuscript concerning the travelsof the La V•rendryes.Smith,alsoan anthropologist, undertookthe study in 195 øfor theUnitedStates NationalParkService whichwas concerned REVIEWS 227 aboutthe plansof the vs Army Corpsof Engineersto flood part of the V•rendrye NationalMonumentlands.As the editor notes,it is ironicthat contraryto Smith'srecommendations his report providedthe impetusto disestablish V•rendrye National Monument asa unit of the National Park system. Smith'sreport, whichin essence is thisvolume,consists of an abridged version oftheLaV•rendryeJournalof •738-9, anaccount ofthetravels ofLa V•rendrye'ssons in •74• and•743,andextensive 'interpretation' orcommentary on bothdocuments. The commentary is helpful in that it soberlyand thoroughly redresses theconclusions of several earlierhistorians concerning thespecific routesof the La V•rendryes.Smithisparticularly criticalof the conclusions of the former secretary of the StateHistoricalSociety of North Dakota,Orin G. Libby,who wrotea numberof articlesconcerning the La V•rendryesearlierin thiscentury.Much of the criticism appearsvalid,but there is someinconsistency in Smith'sbelittlingLibby'srelianceon oral tradition as 'naive and historicallyunsound'(85) while he is 'reasonably confident'of MelvinR. Gilmore'sconclusions basedon similarevidence(•43). Understandably Smithdoesnotsuggest aspecific routeofhisown,andthis omission exemplifies a frustrationfamiliartohistorians of exploration andthe fur trade- thelackof sufficiently reliable information tosupport comfortable conclusions. Certainlybetween•738and •743theSieurdela V•rendryeand hissonsexploredthe area that isnow southernManitobaand the western Dakotas. Exactlywheretheywentwithinthisareaandif theywentbeyondit withinsight oftheRocky Mountains wedonotknow,and,probably, willnever know.All of thisis interestingfrom a narrowperspective, but it shouldbe emphasized that the importanceof La V•rendrye restsfar morewith the establishment of the posts westand north of Fort Kaministikwia thanit does with his explorationsto the southwest.As GustaveLanctot noted, La V•rendrye,'thisgreatest figurein Canadianexploration,' wonfor Francethe opportunity to capturethefur tradeof thewest. P•.T•.R T. SHEm•H.L University ofArkansas atLittleRock Sir George Arthur,Bart x784-x854. A,G,L,SHAW. Melbourne,Melbourne University Press, •98o.Pp.xv,3o7,illus.$34.5 o. Sincethe more important colonialgovernorstended to move from one imperialposting toanotherin differentpartsof theglobe,theirbiographies arenotoriously difficultto write.Professor Shawhasmadea herculeaneffort totraceallthesources relatingtoArthur andhasvisited thearchives inallthe countries inwhichArthurserved. The resultisadetailed (attimesexcessively so)andprobably definitivestudyof Arthur'slife. Butinevitably some sections of the book are better than others. Professor Shaw is most at home with the ...