Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 13:00:42 -0800 (PST)
Message-Id: <199902122100.NAA09360@ns.intelenet.net>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
From: redcanoe@pangea.ca (Douglas Ingram)
Subject: Re: baidarka Canoeing with the Cree
Sorry to confound the centrism that is often typically American...
But the book in question describes a trip from Minneapolis to York Factory,
on the shores of Hudson's Bay. York Factory was, for a couple of hundred
years, the main port of entry for the HBC, and was its major trading post,
until the forced merger of the HBC with the North West Company, which
operated out of Montreal. The NWC accessed its trading area through the use
of 27-36 foot long birch Bark canoes. Some of the HBC trade then went east
along the voyageur routes, but a lot of it still went North to York Factory
by York boat. The advent of the Railway across Canada brought all of this
pretty much to a close.
The book is quite a good read. It is especially noteworthy when you
consider the ages of the two entrepid paddlers, kids really, and the
expererience, knowledge, and equipment available to them.
The paddled up the Mississipi river, portaged over to the head waters of the
Red River, paddled north through Winnipeg, then up the East shore of Lake
Winnipeg, then up the Hayes River to York Factory. This was the traditional
trade route.
The trip is almost all in Manitoba, and ends up nowhere near New York,
although that would be an interesting trip too.
>A book written by Eric Sevareid (US newsman) when he was a boy is now
>available on-line. It was written in 1935 and describes a canoe trip
>from Minneapolis to New York (2250 miles).
>
>The on-line format is a little rough, but it probably beats buying the
>book itself which I've seen for sale at $20 or $30.
>
>http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/lhbumbib:@FIELD(AUTHOR+@band(+S
evareid,+Arnold+Eric,++1912+))
>
>If that URL gets mangled, start here
>
> http://www.cs.cmu.edu/booksearch.html
>
>...and look it up. I'll try to include this in the next CD-ROM.
>
>--
>Charles Hall
>
>
Douglas Ingram
Red River Canoe & Paddle
P.O. Box 78, GRP 4, RR 2
Lorette, Manitoba
Canada
ROA OYO
(204)878-2524
URL: www.wilds.mb.ca/redriver
e-mail: redcanoe@pangea.ca