Harold Innis on Peter Pond: Biography, Cultural Memory, and the Continental Fur Trade ed. by William Buxton (review)

Harold Innis on Peter Pond offers numerous insights into the interplay between history, biography, and commemoration through a series of Innis's writings on fur trader Peter Pond. A comprehensive introduction by William Buxton – who has written extensively on Harold Innis – details the evolution of Innis's analysis of Pond's contributions to Canadian history. Buxton links Innis' writings on Pond to the historian's broader historiographical trajectory. Thus, Pond represents the evolution of Innis' historiographical development, particularly as it relates to nation-making and continentalism. To Innis, Pond was fundamental to the formation of the North West Company (nwc). In turn, through its expansion across the continent, the nwc was influential in shaping Canada's political boundaries, making Pond, according to Innis, "one of the fathers of Confederation" (49).

Buxton argues against environmental determinist interpretations of Innis's works, suggesting that his "life-long project was informed by the French possibilist tradition of cultural geography which eschewed environmental determinism in favour of an approach that emphasized the interplay between geography and human endeavour" (xiv). Buxton extends this argument beyond Innis' historical interpretations, contending that Innis "sought to shape public life through a diverse series of intersecting and overlapping knowledge initiatives" (xiv). In advancing this argument, Buxton explores how Innis' structural works intersected with his biographical writing about Pond. Moreover, he examines how this writing underpinned Innis' engagement with commemoration, particularly as it related to Canada's Diamond Jubilee. In addition, Buxton describes the genealogy of the Pond memoir, a key primary source in Innis' writings. As Innis revisited Pond on numerous occasions over the course of his career, Buxton periodized the historian's writings on the explorer. The period leading up to the publication of Innis' 1930 biography of Pond was rooted in his commitment to state-building while the period from 1932 to 1947 emphasized a shift toward "continentalism," where Innis examined Pond's contributions to the fur trade and exploration through a continental context.

The introductory essay is followed by three sections. The first section contains a series of Innis' published writings on Pond. These include articles published in the Canadian Historical Review, selected excerpts from The Fur Trade in Canada, and the entirety of Peter Pond: Fur Trader and Adventurer. Presented in chronological order, these writings provide insights into the evolution of Innis' interpretations of Pond as new materials came to light. The second section contains correspondence between Innis and Florence Atherton Pond LeGrand Cannon, one of Pond's descendants, following Innis' publication of Peter Pond. Finally, the third section contains a series of archival documents that Innis' student R. Harvey Fleming had transcribed, as well as an unpublished manuscript by Fleming, documenting Pond's fur trading activities in the upper Mississippi region.

While the first section is useful to understanding the trajectory of Innis' writings on Pond, the LeGrand Cannon-Innis correspondence is instructive with respect to both the continual piecing together of Pond's life and the interaction between Innis' scholarship and commemoration. For example, in a 1932 letter, Innis requested a photostat of Pond's diary to check against his published material. This request was in light of new materials that Innis had accessed regarding the trader. In 1935, LeGrand Cannon wrote to Innis noting that a commemoration stone was to be paced in Milford, Connecticut in honour of Pond. This example demonstrates how Pond's biographical works contributed to commemoration and extended beyond the Canadian border. The addition of maps would have improved the book by helping readers geographically situate Pond's travels.

Similar to Innis' efforts to rescue Pond from obscurity, Buxton has drawn attention to the historian's often-ignored biographical works. By bringing together Innis' academic writing, his correspondence with LeGrand Cannon, and the archival materials transcribed by Fleming, Buxton has provided not only a detailed picture of Innis's scholarship on...