The Journal of John Work: January to October, 1835

Archives of British Columbia Memoir No, X. John Work (c.1792-1861) was a Chief Factor – trading agent – for the Hudson’s Bay Company. This volume reprints Work’s journals from 1835, when he was posted to trade along Canada’s west coast. Work describes his travels along the coast aboard the vessel Lama from the mouth of the Columbia River (in present-day Oregon) to Fort Simpson (in present-day Alaska). His journals offer a day-to-day account of sailing, trading with First Nations groups, and conflict with American fur traders for business in the region. Work’s journals are edited and annotated by historian Henry Drummond Dee (a teacher and administrator at Victoria High School, British Columbia) to offer context and insight into the minutiae of Work’s life as an HBC employee.