Canadian Wilds: Tells About the Hudson's Bay Company, Northern Indians and Their Modes of Hunting, Trapping, Etc.

by Martin Hunter

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224 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1935

Reviews

[Jeff Swystun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1907, this reads like a chronicle from 1707. The author, “entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1863 as a clerk and retired in 1903 a commissioned officer of twenty years' standing.” This book is Martin Hunter’s memoir and his remembrances seem from times earlier.

He pays homage to his longtime employer, the Hudson's Bay Company and runs down the fur trading profession. The battle between that Anglo company and the French concern, The North West Company, is a lively history. I have read much written on the subject, but this entry was great given Hunter’s proximity.

The rest of the book bounces around in a great way. The thread are wilderness adventures. He speaks throughout of both wonder and concern for “the Indian”. He spends a great deal of time speaking paternally of his concern for their drinking, “Amongst the Indians many lives have been sacrificed thru the liquor curse, shooting, stabbing and drowning being the principal results of their fatal debauches.” Both fur trading companies used booze as a business tactic.

“It has been a transformation in which the Indian has fallen to most of the white man's vices and adopted very few of his virtues. My experience has been over considerable of the country and amongst several tribes and my observation has told me that about the Mission centers (be the denomination what it may) is to be found the greatest debauchery and rascality in the Indian and that right at their very gates.”

Canada is still dealing with these issues and the author laments in an empathetic but detached way, “Poor, fast disappearing race! I have lived with them, hunted with them and walked the long trail and from my city home I often yearn for the old life in that North Country.”

It is amazing to learn of how expeditions, small and large, were outfitted. Tips for surviving and thriving are many, “Two of the best auxiliaries to a short supply of provisions that a party can take on any trip in the wilds of Ontario or Quebec, are gill-net and snaring wire.” He leads through native hunting techniques for hunting beaver, lynx, foxes, otter and musquash.

The HbC men carried 90 pound packs. Hard work that prompted this observation, “I have often seen the blood appear on my moccasins, working its way through three or four pairs of socks and become so dried and caked that before the shoes could be removed at the night's camp-fire, warm water had to be poured freely upon the moccasin to release the foot.”

His ‘things to avoid’ list is amazing:

- Never leave your axe out doors all night. Intense cold makes it exceedingly brittle, most likely the first knot you put it into will cause a gash in the blade and an axe is an essential part of a trapper's outfit, and impossible to replace when far from settlements.
- Never, in very cold weather, carry your gun by the barrel; if occasion caused you to fire it off, the chances are the barrel will burst at the place where your hand heated the iron.
- Never cut your night's wood from low ground bordering on water. It will cause you untold annoyance by continually shooting off live coals and sparks all over your blankets.
- Never carry all your supply of matches about your person, have a few, even though only a half dozen, in some damp-proof article amongst your blankets. A very good receptacle if you have not a water proof box, is an empty Pain Killer vial. See that it is thoroughly dry, drop in your few matches and cork tightly. (Hikers use the vial trick to this day)

Here is some questionable advice, “It is not generally known that the position one assumes when making one's bed has a great deal to do with getting a restful night's repose. When possible lie with your head to the north. The magnetic earth currents flow from the north, and thus from your head down through your body. The tired feeling you had when retiring has all flowed out through your feet before morning.”

There are so many stories, so many things to remember that this reflects a full career. A career proudly served in the quasi military organization known as the HbC.

[Michael Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshing look back in history about the Hudson Bay Company and the trials of hunting in the Canadian wilds. I love reading books published in the late 19th century or earlier 20th century. This is one of my all time favorites from that time period.