Five Fur Traders of the Northwest captures the day-to-day life of the
fur trader during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
utilizing authentic journals of five fur traders.
Peter Pond, a founding partner of the North West Company, makes detailed
observations of the region's native peoples. John Macdonell describes
with care his first trip over the fur trade route through the Great
Lakes and the Minnesota-Ontario border lakes to the region of Lake
Winnipeg. Archibald N. McLeod's journal tells of wintering at Fort
Alexandria on the Assiniboine River. Hugh Faries writes of life at the
North West Company's fort on the Rainy River. Finally, John Sayer
records his establishing of a trading post in the St. Croix River
country near present-day Pine City, Minnesota. (This diary was
originally attributed to Thomas Connor, but research conducted since the
1965 edition has established Sayer as the true author.)
These documents offer dramatic, firsthand glimpses of the daily
existence of voyageurs and Native Americans and detailed data on
canoeing, trading practices, trade goods, and Indigenous customs.