News Release - Book Launch
The Lower Fort Garry Volunteer Association announces the public launch of
its recently published book,
Inland Armada: The York Boats of the Hudson's
Bay Company by Dennis F. Johnson.
Inland Armada is the remarkable story of the Hudson's Bay Company boats
which replaced the canoes of the early fur trade. In their role as the Company's
principal freight carriers, the York boats moved all manner of passengers and
goods: explorers, settlers, soldiers, artillery, trade goods, gunpowder, furs,
church bells, and even livestock. Powered by oar and sail, the York boats
were manned by exceptional boatmen - initially Orkneymen, but later French
Canadians, Metis, Cree, Ojibwa, Chipewyan, and members of other First
Nations communities. Unfortunately, their crucial role in the development of
Canada has been largely ignored. Yet without their contribution through the
Hudson's Bay Company, it is likely there would be no Canada at all.
Continental ambitions of the Americans would have likely prevailed.
In highlighting the impact of the HBC York boats on the history of Canada,
Inland Armada examines their origins, their role in extending the fur trade
and their role in settlement. It also portrays the exploits and daring deeds
of the boatmen, as they navigated the inland waterways of North America
to lay the foundations of Canada's western provinces and northern territories.
Comprising 100 pages, the book includes over 50 photographs, plus maps,
illustrations, references and an index.
Further information can be obtained by contacting Dennis F. Johnson or
the Lower Fort Garry Volunteer Assoc. Contact information is available here:
http://www.redriverdescendantsreunion.org/NewsRelease-BookLaunch.htm(J.J.)This will be great reading for those interested in the Fur Trade, HBC,
History of Canada & just the plain Ingenuity & Craftsmanship of the pioneers
who made them.
