Moosonee

Moosonee () is a town in northern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately south of James Bay. It is considered to be "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port. Nearby on Moose Factory Island is the community of Moose Factory to which it is connected by water taxi in the summer and ice road in the winter.
There is no road connection to the community but flights are provided by Air Creebec and by Thunder Airlines. Moosonee is the also the railhead of the Ontario Northland Railway where goods are transferred to barges and aircraft for transport to more northerly communities. Moosonee is not particularly far north, being located at 51°N—which is roughly the same latitude as Saskatoon, Calgary, London (UK), and Berlin—but is colder due to its proximity to Hudson Bay, and isolated due to its lack of road access to the rest of Ontario. The community was the site of a fur trading post set up in 1903 by Revillon Frères, competitors to the Hudson's Bay Company which later bought out Révillon.
Moosonee formerly held the status of a development area, the only community in the province with that designation, and was governed by a locally elected board subject to formal appointment by the Ontario provincial government. It became incorporated as a town effective January 1, 2001, with an elected mayor and four-person council. The most recent municipal council was elected on October 27, 2014, and three replacement councillors were elected in a by-election held on July 7, 2015. For 2014–2018 the town council consists of mayor Wayne Taipale, and councillors Tony Tourville, John Moore, Carman Tozer and Cathy Turner.
History.
In 1900, Annie Hardisty and her two daughters were the first settlers on the site. But the place really developed when on June 6, 1903, four canoes and a crew of 21 persons of the Révillon Frères company arrived on the banks of the Moose River near the much older Moose Factory to establish the Moose River Post. This Parisian furrier had ambitious plans to set up a chain of fur trading posts in direct competition with the Hudson's Bay Company, including five on James Bay. But it suffered a setback when their supply ship that carried all the provisions shipwrecked near Fort George. The Revillon Frères Museum is located on First Street.
Moose River Post became the most important location for Révillon Frères and was quickly expanded with a staff house, carpenter's shop, warehouse, and sawmill. The buildings were spaced far apart as a preventive measure to minimize the spread of fire. By 1912, it was reported that "the whole line of good substantial buildings, built principally for their French Canadian employees, stretches along the river front for nearly a mile northward from the residence of the inspector."
Moose River Post (and Moose Factory) were prosperous but isolated. It was supplied only once per year by ship coming from Montreal around the Labrador Peninsula. Mail arrived only four times per year, twice by canoe and twice by toboggan. During World War I, Révillon Frères' chartered supply ship was requisitioned for war service. So from then on until 1932, the post was supplied by scows from Pagwa on the National Transcontinental Railway coming down the Pagwachuan, Kenogami, and Albany Rivers.
In 1932, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway was extended from Cochrane to Moose River Post, that was renamed at that time to Moosonee, derived from the Cree word meaning "at the Moose [River]". In 1936, Révillon Frères sold its Canadian operations to the Hudson's Bay Company and the Moosonee post closed. The HBC also exited the fur trade and opened a retail store in Moosonee (now Northern Store part of The North West Company). With the end of the fur trade business, Moosonee's economy became centred on transportation.
In 1962, Moosonee became the site of RCAF Station Moosonee that was part of NORAD's Pinetree Line chain of radar stations. It closed in 1975 and some of its buildings were used by the Town after the closure, including the base swimming pool and recreation centre.
In 1968, the town was classified as a development area board. In November 2000, it was incorporated as the Town of Moosonee.
Demographics.
The population was 1,725 in 2011, down from 2,006 in the Statistics Canada 2006 Census, although there are about 3,500 people by municipal government estimate. Census figures for Moosonee may be inaccurate because of incomplete enumeration, a common problem with remote communities. About 85 per cent of the population are native Cree.
The number of total private dwellings was 635, of which 545 are occupied by usual residents. Population density per square kilometre is 3.6. The most recent detailed census information available for Moosonee is from 2011. Mother tongue was 79.3% English, 17.7% Cree, 1.8% French, and 1.2% other language. The town was 75.7% First Nations, 17.3% White, and 5.4% Métis (1996 data).
As of 2021, however, the Town of Moosonee Web site stated that the population is approximately 3,500 "with about 85% being Cree".
Services.
Moosonee has two elementary schools, Moosonee Public School and Bishop Belleau Separate School (Roman Catholic) that offer kindergarten through grade eight. Bishop Belleau School also provides a French Language Instructional Unit for children who are entitled to be educated in French. There is a public high school, Northern Lights Secondary School, that provides grades nine through twelve. Northern College's Moosonee campus provides some post-secondary programs.
Health services are provided through the Moosonee Health Clinic of the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (merger of the former James Bay General Hospital and the Weeneebayko Health Ahtuskaywin which operated Weeneebayko General Hospital in Moose Factory).
Payukotayno (pronounced pay-k-ta-no) Family Services provide child care and social assistance to Moosonee, Moose Factory, Attawapiskat First Nation, Fort Albany, Kashechewan and Peawanuck. Payukotayno is a recognized Ontario Children's Aid Society and means 'one family' in Cree.
As of 2020 a "satellite Trades Centre" was being operated in the community by Northern College "linked to the ... Timmins Campus"; courses included technology, trades and apprenticeship programs.
Climate.
Moosonee has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfb"), with warm summers and cold winters. James Bay acts as a thermal reservoir to moderate spring and fall temperatures. Freeze-up on the Moose River normally occurs between late November and mid-December, with mean daily minimum January temperatures approximately . Spring break-up, or spring thaw, usually occurs in April. Mean annual precipitation is approximately , and mean annual snowfall is approximately . Precipitation is somewhat higher in summer than at other times of the year. Severe thunderstorms can occur from time to time. Moosonee used to have a subarctic climate with a yearly mean temperature of -1.3 °C (29.7 °F), but due to global warming that temperature has risen.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Moosonee was on 31 July 1975. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 24 January 1935.
Transportation.
The town is billed as "a major transportation hub for Ontario’s Far North".
As of 2020, the MV Niska 1 ferry was operating between Moosonee and Moose Factory island, carrying passengers and vehicles.
Moosonee Station and Yard.
The main method of access is by Ontario Northland Railway which reached the town in 1932 and which provides passenger and freight train service to Cochrane. Ontario Northland's "Polar Bear Express" train runs from Moosonee station to Cochrane six days per week during the summer months and five days per week during the rest of the year. Moosonee Station is located at the end of First Street and has a small station building, freight shed, diesel shed and an outdoor yard to store trains. Tickets are sold by phone or at the offices Cochrane, Ontario, Moosonee, Moose Factory and Timmins. The train will stop on demand in some locations as part of the flag stop service. No meal service is available on this train.
There are also two freight trains per week. During the summer and early fall shipping season, goods can be transported from Moosonee by barge. In January 2007, responsibility for the Port of Moosonee was transferred from the federal government to the Town of Moosonee.
Airport.
The town is also accessible via the Moosonee Airport, served with scheduled flights of Air Creebec, Moosonee Water Aerodrome and cargo service through North Star Air.
Roads.
Moosonee is inaccessible by road. The nearest road outside of Moosonee ends at Otter Rapids which is south of Moosonee. During the early months of 2008, a winter road was open between Moosonee and the provincial road system at Otter Rapids. This road was built to support the twinning of the electric transmission lines that run from Otter Rapids to Moosonee. Local residents report it taking five or six hours to get to Timmins from Moosonee via Otter Rapids and Smooth Rock Falls. This road was not in service in 2009. In late 2009, members of the Moose Cree First Nation voted for the construction of a seasonal winter road south to Otter Rapids.
During the winter, ice roads are plowed and maintained on the ice across the Moose River to Moose Factory and winter roads are maintained to the coastal communities of Fort Albany, Kashechewan and Attawapiskat. In recent years, much of the traffic heading up north has been destined for the Victor Diamond Mine operated by De Beers Canada to the west of Attawapiskat.
In January 2021, the 311-kilometre James Bay Winter Ice Road was under construction, to connect Attawapiskat, Kashechewan, Fort Albany and Moosonee. It opened some time in winter 2021 and was said to accept loads up to 50,000 kilograms in weight. The road was operated by Kimesskanemenow LP, "a limited partnership between the four communities it connects".
Feasibility studies have been undertaken on the construction of a permanent all-season road to the communities of Moosonee, Fort Albany, Kashechewan and Attawapiskat River. The project, if undertaken, will entail a "coastal road" connecting the four communities with each other, as well as a road to link the coastal road to the provincial highway system at Fraserdale, Kapuskasing or Hearst.
Communications.
Moosonee has a local radio station, CHMO 1450 AM, that is generally operated by volunteers, plus a rebroadcasting facility for CBC Radio One Northern Ontario from CBCS-FM Sudbury on 1340 AM. Most homes subscribe to either Creecable cable TV or a satellite TV service to receive their programming, following the 2012 closure of the local CBC Television and TVOntario repeaters.
Ontera, formerly Ontario Northland Telecommunications, but now owned by Bell, provides telecommunications service in Moosonee (NPA-NXX 705-336).
Attractions and tourism.
Tourism agencies recommend the Polar Bear Express as a "great rail excursion" in summer, between Cochrane and Moosonee, to view the "hydroelectric dams, isolated homes and perhaps even some wildlife." No meal service is available on this train.
A private company offers freighter-canoe ferry across the Moose River to Moose Factory where Centennial Park exhibits 19th-century buildings from the fur-trading era.
Notable attractions in Moosonee include:
The Tidewater Provincial Park is on nearby Charles Island, adjacent to Moose Factory Island.


Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley

Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley is a Canadian writer. He was a winner of the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature in 2015 for "Skraelings", which he cowrote with his wife Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley. The book was also a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature at the 2014 Governor General's Awards.
The duo also cowrote the 2008 book "Qanuq Pinngurnirmata", a volume of Inuit mythology. The book was reissued in 2015 as "How Things Came to Be: Inuit Stories of Creation".
Of Scottish and Mohawk heritage, he was a second-place finalist in the Writers of the Future competition in 2005 for his short story "Green Angel".


Donny Parenteau

Donny Parenteau (born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) is singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best for known his solo career and his work as fiddle player, guitarist, and mandolin player for country music singer Neal McCoy. In February 2011, Parenteau signed with the record label 306 Records/EMI Music Canada to help distribute his albums.
Early life.
At 14, Parenteau took up the fiddle. After mastering the fiddle, he picked up other instruments like the guitar (both acoustic and electric) and the mandolin (both acoustic and electric). Parenteau cites some of his influences as Bryan Sklar, Freddie Pelltier, and George Pistun
Career.
After picking up the violin at a young age, by 19 he was playing professionally. In 1991, Parenteau was playing in Edmonton, Alberta and was invited to a show by Neal McCoy who was also playing in Edmonton. Upon talking with McCoy, Parenteau discovered they had similar taste in music. McCoy was looking for a fiddle player, but didn't have the money to hire one. Parenteau wanted the chance to audition and would not let up until he got the chance to audition. Parenteau listened to the group jamming and had a grasp of what they were playing. It was that song he would use as the audition piece. During his time touring with McCoy, Parenteau got to open for such artists as Merle Haggard, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Buck Owens, George Jones, Charlie Pride, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams, Jr., Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, and Shania Twain. Parenteau also graced the Grand Ole Opry stage. Parenteau was the only member of the live band that was also on the recordings. After performing with Neal McCoy for 12 years and playing 250–300 shows a year, Parenteau returned to Prince Albert to embark on a solo career.
Charity work.
Parenteau has done a number of humanitarian and charity work. Evidence of that was winning the 2001 SCMA International Humanitarian Award. Parenteau has also made appearances on Telemiracle starting on the 32nd edition of the telethon. Parenteau co-wrote the current Telemiracle opening theme song with Brad Johner entitled "You are the Miracle". It became the theme in 2011. He also embarks on a tour of elementary schools in Saskatchewan each year as a motivational speaker in which he spreads his message of anti-bullying.
Awards and nominations.
Parenteau has been nominated for a multitude of awards all across Canada picking up a number of them along the way. In 2008, Parenteau was nominated for his country's highest honour by being nominated for a Juno Award.


Alexis Aubichon

Alexis Aubichon (born in 1787 in Alsace-Lorraine, France) was a soldier and trapper.
Life.
He spent his younger years traveling and exploring the wilderness. He became head of Hudson’s Bay Company, to foster exploration and settlement in the west. His work impacted Oregon's development years after his time. During the conscription of Napoleon’s army in 1791, his family left the country and settled in Canada.
Twenty years later in 1811, he joined the settlement of the Red River of the North. It was during this time he met a Native American woman. The couple had one son together, his wife passing shortly after.
American citizenship.
It is said that Aubichon and his brother were drafted to the British Army, but then rejected because of their French descent. They left and joined the American army during the war in Britain. After being honourably discharged, they received their American Citizenship. However, the documents that support this information were destroyed. Later, this information was confirmed by Aubichon’s granddaughter, Catherine Petit Colbert. She wrote a letter giving her testament that throughout the years she lived with her grandfather, he repeated events in his life, including how he obtained American Citizenship.
In 1823, he married Comcomly's daughter Elvamox, also called MaryAnne, but their marriage was not recognized legally by the church until 1839 when a priest officiated it. At the time they had five children together: Alexis, Sophie, Emilie, Julie, and Catherine, ranging from ages 3-17, Alexis being the oldest. In the years to follow, they had three more children, Isabel, Lulu, and Philomen.
Legacy.
In 1840, he constructed "Obeshaw Landing". Later, this made an impact in Oregon’s development. Eventually, "Obeshaw Landing" became known as "Butte Landing". This was his last known work before retiring in 1841. He retired in Buteville, Marion County. He participated in the Champoeg Meetings (1841-43) and supported adopting French as the language of government.


McGregor Range

The McGregor Range is a mountain range in the Central Interior of British Columbia, located between the main spine of the Rocky Mountains and the Fraser River on the northeast and southwest, and between the Torpy River on its southeast and the McGregor River on its northwest. Though adjacent to the Rockies and very mountainous, the McGregor Range is part of the McGregor Plateau, a subdivision of the Fraser Plateau.


Andrew Graham (naturalist)

Andrew Graham (1733 – 8 September 1815, Prestonpans) was a Scottish naturalist and a chief factor with the Hudson's Bay Company.
Andrew Graham was born in 1733, probably in the vicinity of Edinburgh.
He emigrated to Canada and worked for the Hudson's Bay Company from 1749 to 1775. His first assignment was to the company's most northerly trading station at Prince of Wales's Fort, now known as Churchill, Manitoba. There he served on three summer expeditions on board the sloop "Churchill" which traded with the Inuit who inhabited the northern parts of Hudson Bay. In 1753 he gained the position of assistant writer at York Factory in Manitoba, here he impressed the chief factor James Isham and was appointed to positions of higher responsibility. In 1761 he became master at Fort Severn in Ontario where apart from the seasons 1765–66 and 1771–72 when he was acting chief at York, and 1769–70 when he was on leave he remained until 1774. In March 1774 he returned to Prince of Wales's Fort as chief factor and remained there until August 1775 when he retired and returned to Scotland.
As a naturalist, his principal contribution was a series of manuscript called “"Observations"” penned by Graham from 1767 onwards. These may have been a continuation of notes made by Isham in the 1740s. Among the subjects covered are stories of life at the company's posts on Hudson's Bay, trade lists, meteorological and astronomical observations, some transcripts of diaries written by explorers hired by the company explorers, and the first known vocabularies of local First Nations languages. Although, these short vocabularies were obtained second hand from other company men, as Graham never travelled into the interior. Altculture at this time. Most importantly, Graham's writings have lengthy sections on the natural history of the bay region, with the greatest details on the bird. From 1770 he was also able to collect many specimens, mainly birds, and have these sent to London, many of them being described by Johann Reinhold Forster. Graham was assisted at times by fur trader and company surgeon Thomas Hutchins, who also worked on meteorological problems who may have plagiarised much of Graham's work.
Graham had a tangled personal life and was married at least twice, marrying Patricia Shere in Edinburgh in 1770, he was also married to a Barbara Bowie at some point, and when he retired two mixed-blood children accompanied him back to Scotland. When he died in Prestonpans in 1815, his will indicates he was a relatively wealthy man.


Montreal Lake (Saskatchewan)

Montreal Lake is a lake in Saskatchewan, Canada and the source of the Montreal River. It is located between Saskatchewan Highway 2 on the west side and Highway 969 on the east side. Prince Albert National Park is across Saskatchewan Highway 2 and Clarence-Steepbank Lakes Provincial Park is across Saskatchewan Highway 969 from the lake. Timber Bay and the town of the same name Montreal Lake are near the east shore on Saskatchewan Highway 969
Fish species include: walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, lake trout, lake whitefish, cisco, burbot, white sucker and longnose sucker.


Fort Pierre Chouteau

Fort Pierre Chouteau, also just Fort Pierre, was a major trading post and military outpost in the mid-19th century on the west bank of the Missouri River in what is now central South Dakota. Established in 1832 by Pierre Chouteau, Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri, whose family were major fur traders, this facility operated through the 1850s.
It was for many years the largest trading post in the northern Great Plains and a major trans-shipment point for buffalo furs. The archaeological remains of the fort, located in Stanley County just north of the town of Fort Pierre, were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1991.
Setting.
Fort Pierre Chouteau was located just north of the confluence of the Missouri and Bad rivers, on a low terrace above the west bank of the Missouri River. This site was of strategic importance for several reasons. It served as a midpoint among the outposts of the American Fur Company (AFC), which monopolized trade on the upper Missouri by 1830, and as an endpoint for a major overland shipment route to Fort Laramie in present-day eastern Wyoming.
This fort was built as a replacement for Fort Tecumseh, located on what is now LaFramboise Island closer to the river confluence. The island fort had been built in 1817 by the Columbia Fur Company, the AFC's predecessor in the regional fur trade. That fort was poorly sited and subject to flooding from the river. Some of its timber elements were reused in the construction of Fort Pierre Chouteau.
History.
The first people of European descent to encounter Native Americans in the Fort Pierre area were a pair of French explorers, the La Vérendrye brothers, during their 1743–44 expedition. They buried an inscribed lead plate on a hill near the confluence of the Missouri and Bad Rivers, claiming the territory for the King as part of New France.
The next major non-native visitors were members of the American Lewis and Clark Expedition, who camped in the area in 1806. They were commissioned by the United States government to explore and survey major areas of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. In 1817 trader Joseph La Framboise, Jr., son of parents from Quebec and Ontario who were fur traders in the region, established a French-Canadian trading post here. His mother was Métis and took over the post in Michimilimackinac, Michigan after her husband's death. The development of the trading post marked the start of permanent white settlement of the Missouri/Bad River area.
In 1822, former fur traders for the privately held, British Hudson's Bay Company established the Columbia Fur Company in competition. They built Fort Tecumseh as well as other outposts on the Upper Missouri. In 1827 John Jacob Astor through his American Fur Company, a near monopoly, purchased the assets of the Columbia Fur Company. The AFC turned management of the Upper Missouri Operation (UMO) over to Bernard Pratte and Pierre Chouteau, Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri. When Chouteau ascended the Missouri River in 1832 on the maiden voyage of the steamship "Yellowstone", he ordered construction of what was formally dubbed Fort Pierre in his honor. Astor retired from the fur business in 1834, and Chouteau purchased the Fort Pierre operation. He eventually bought out Pratte and became the principal operator of this post and its fur trade.
Fort Pierre and the surrounding community rapidly developed as a major center for Chouteau's trading business. In addition to its central location for company logistics, it was also generally surrounded by a settlement of Lakota Sioux and other Plains Indian tribes, who traded buffalo furs for American and European goods. At its height in the 1850s, the company was part of a complex trading network extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Eastern United States and Europe: it shipped 100,000 fur robes through Fort Pierre.
In the 1850s the American bison or buffalo was subjected to extreme over-huntings, caused in part by the fur trade and high world demand, but also spurred by the advance of American railroads into the western frontier. There was an increase in the number of men who hunted the animals for sport and killed as many as they could shoot. Pierre Chouteau sold the fort that bore his name to the United States government in 1854. The government found the facilities inadequate and abandoned them in 1857 in favor of Fort Randall to the south. Salvageable buildings and materials were transported to Fort Randall, and any surviving timbers were used to fuel steamboats on the river. The trade in buffalo furs effectively ended by the early 1860s, when the United States Army established a presence in the region.
After closure.
Fort Pierre Chouteau became part of reservation lands assigned to the Sioux in the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868. When the Dakota Territory was partitioned in 1889 and the Sioux reservation was reduced in size, the fort's land became available for homesteading. It was used as pasture land until 1930, when it was acquired by the state of South Dakota. The state property was further enlarged by a land gift in 1970. Archaeological activity in the 1980s identified a number of elements of the fort's structure, confirming its location.
The site is now an open meadow just north of the city limits of Fort Pierre, on the north side of Fort Chouteau Road. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1991. A stone marker is located near the center of the site, accessible by a gravel path. There are no visible remains of the fort's buildings and infrastructure. The state is developing plans for improved access and interpretation at the site.


Edward Huggins

Edward Huggins (June 10, 1832—January 24, 1907) was a Hudson's Bay Company clerk, Pierce County commissioner, Pierce County auditor, and historian of the Northwestern United States. The Fort Nisqually Living History Museum has a collection of items related to Huggins.
He was born in London, England, June 10, 1832, and by the time he was fifteen had signed on with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). He was sent to the Columbia Department in 1849, arriving at Fort Nisqually by way of Fort Victoria, April 13, 1850. Here stayed there for the duration of his time in the HBC, serving the company as a clerk for 22 years and eventually becoming proprietor of Fort Nisqually from 1859 to 1869.
After the Fort closed, he became an American citizen and claimed the land the Fort stood on to establish a farm. He was employed as a school teacher and became active in local politics. He served on the Pierce County Board of Commissioners from 1876 through 1880. In his second term, he was named Chairman of the Board. Huggins was re-elected to the Board in 1884 and served as Board Chairman until 1886 when he was elected Auditor, a position he held for four years. After political service, he served on the Board of the Washington State Historical Society and was Vice President of the National Bank of Commerce of Tacoma.
Early life.
Edward Huggins was born in Southwark London to Edward and Ellen (Chipp) Huggins. After receiving an education at Queen Elizabeths Grammar school now St Olaves Free Government school, he was employed at a firm not far from Beaver House, the Hudson's Bay Company Headquarters. He joined the company in 1849 as a settler bound for Vancouver Island and sailed for America in October of that year aboard the "Norman Morrison". The settlement venture was abandoned when he arrived and Governor, Sir James Douglas sent him to Fort Nisqually where he would serve in the capacity of a clerk.
Fort Nisqually.
He arrived at Fort Nisqually March 13, 1850 aboard the schooner and began his clerkship. Under the direction of Dr. William Fraser Tolmie, Huggins quickly became involved with the workings of Fort Nisqually, and the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC), taking inventories, managing farm operations, and trading with customers in the company store.
When the Puget Sound War broke out in 1855, he was sent to Muck Station, one of a dozen farm stations operated by the PSAC, to take charge and keep the farm running while the conflict raged. While in charge of Muck Station, American militia men arrested several Hudson's Bay Company employees working at the station and accused them of neutrality in time of war. Throughout the 1850s one of Huggins main tasks was serving notices to American squatters who had settled on land belonging to the PSAC. Squatters would plague Nisqually for the majority of its operation.
Edward Huggins was in charge of Muck Station up until he became manager of Fort Nisqually. After serving a couple years at Nisqually he volunteered to manage Muck which he ran from 1858-59. During this time Dr. Tolmie was promoted to a position in Victoria on the governors board leaving Huggins in charge of the fort. He would run Nisqually until it closed in 1869.
After the fort closed Huggins was asked to take a position at Fort Kamloops in British Columbia without promotion. Already an American citizen and upset that the company had not given him a promotion his entire time working for them, he retired and claimed the land the fort stood on. He continued to operate the farm and ran the company store until all the goods were gone. He purchased more land surrounding his farm and increased his farming operations.
During the 1870s he became employed as a school teacher which enabled him to enter politics.
Political career.
He was elected to the Pierce County Board of Commissioners in 1876 and served through 1880. He was elected to a second term, where he was named Chairman of the Board. Huggins was re-elected to the Board in 1884 and served as Board Chairman until 1886 when he was elected Auditor, a position he held for four years.
After political life, Huggins became involved with starting the Washington State Historical Society. He was the president its first year and was on the board until his death in 1907. He also helped in starting the First National Bank of Tacoma, this organization was instrumental with the Young Men's Business Association of Tacoma who funded the removal of Huggins house and granary from the original location to Point Defiance Park. Where they stand as a living history museum.
Throughout his time in political office and after, Huggins played a major role in telling the history of the earliest settlers of Fort Nisqually, and the Washington Territory. He provided many of the early historians with primary accounts of the time, and would give them letters, and journals written at the time so that they could record the early history of Washington State.
Family.
He married Leticia Work, daughter of fur trader John Work, in 1857 and they had 8 children. They lived on the site of Fort Nisqually until he took a house in Tacoma while serving in the county government. They lived here until 1906 when they sold the property to the Dupont Company and moved in with their son Thomas. Edward Huggins died in 1907 at the age of 75.


Hope, British Columbia

Hope is a commuter town and district municipality at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon. To the east, over the Cascade Mountains, is the Interior region, beginning with the Similkameen Country on the farther side of the Allison Pass in Manning Park.
Located east of Vancouver, Hope is at the southern terminus of the Coquihalla Highway and the western terminus of the Crowsnest Highway, locally known as the Hope-Princeton (Highways 5 and 3, respectively), where they merge with the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). Hope is at the eastern terminus of Highway 7. As it lies at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley in the windward Cascade foothills, the town gets very high amounts of rain and cloud cover – particularly throughout the autumn and winter.
Hope is a member municipality of the Fraser Valley Regional District which provides certain municipal services to unincorporated settlements and rural areas.
The District of Hope includes Hope Townsite (the previous Town of Hope) and surrounding areas, including the communities of Kawkawa Lake, Silver Creek, Floods, and Lake of the Woods.
History.
The history of Hope can be divided into two parts: thousands of years of First Nations settlement and a European settlement period from 1808 to the present day.
First Nations history.
Hope's First Nations settlement period starts with the living in the Fraser Valley. These First Nations origins date from 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, when the First Nations were in the area. In late 1782, killed thousands – an estimated two-thirds of the population.
European history.
The European settlement period of Hope history begins in 1808. Explorer Simon Fraser arrived in what is now Hope in 1808, and the Hudson's Bay Company created the Fort Hope trading post in 1848. The area was transformed by the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, beginning in 1858. The following year Governor James Douglas laid out the Fort Hope town site. Hope became part of the Colony of British Columbia when the new British colony was created on 2 August 1858. Along with the rest of British Columbia, Hope became part of Canada in 1871. Late in 1859, Reverend Alexander St. David Francis Pringle arrived in Hope. On 1 December of that year, he founded the first library on the British Columbia mainland. Within two years, he founded Christ Church (Anglican). Today, Christ Church is the oldest church on the British Columbia mainland still holding services on its original site and is a National Historic Site of Canada. Hope incorporated as a village on 6 April 1929, became a town on 1 January 1965, and was reincorporated as a District Municipality named the District of Hope on 7 December 1992.
Naming.
Fort Hope was built in 1848–49 by Henry Newsham Peers. He had discovered a route through the mountains that did not dip below the 49th parallel which had become the American border. Thus, the hope that his route would be workable was fulfilled.
World War II.
During World War II an internment camp for Japanese Canadians was set up near Hope at Tashme (today's Sunshine Valley) just beyond the 100-mile exclusion zone from the coast.
Recent history.
In 2011, the metal Kawkawa Bridge was demolished; previously, it was featured in the 1982 Rambo film, "First Blood". In 2020, a wood carved statue of Sylvester Stallone character John Rambo was erected in Hope.
Geography.
Hope is at the easternmost point of British Columbia's lower mainland area and is usually considered to be part of the Fraser Canyon area or "eastern Fraser Valley" as "Lower Mainland" is commonly understood as synonymous with "greater Vancouver". There are relatively significant peaks to the north, east, and south of the townsite. Only to the west can flat land be seen, and that view is dominated by the broad lower reaches of the Fraser River. The segment from Lytton to Hope separates the Cascade Mountains and Coast Mountains, thereby forming the lower part of the Fraser Canyon, which begins far upriver near Williams Lake. At Hope, the river enters a broad flood plain extending to the coast and Vancouver.
The Coquihalla and Sumallo Rivers and Silverhope Creek rise in the Cascade Mountains northeast and southeast and south of Hope, respectively, and empty into the Fraser River. The Skagit River begins south of Hope, across a low pass from the head of the Silverhope valley, which is the access to the Canadian shoreline of Ross Lake.
Climate.
Hope has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification "Cfb") with warm summers and moderately cold winters.
Economy.
Hope's labour force works in a variety of industries. Almost 50 percent of the labour force is involved in four main industries: accommodation and food services (17.1 percent), health care and social assistance (12.8 percent), retail trade (10.3 percent), and transportation and warehousing (8 percent) (2006 data).
One of the town's largest employers is Nestlé Waters. Nestlé, the world's biggest bottler of water, packages more than 300 million litres of water from Hope aquifers annually. Nestlé pays C$675 million to the provincial government for this quantity of water (C$2.25 per million litres). The Nestlé bottling plant employs approximately 75 people.
Economic development.
Hope's economic development planning is rooted in the community's strategic location, telecommunications infrastructure (high-speed internet), and strong support for new development and redevelopment. The 2014 Economic Profile identifies several sectors as significant areas of opportunity within the local economy:
In addition, the Revitalization Tax Exemption Bylaw, adopted by the Hope District Council in 2013, encourages property owners who develop or redevelop their properties to apply for financial incentives in the form of tax relief.
Arts and culture.
Chainsaw wood carving.
Hope holds chainsaw wood carving competitions and exhibitions. From 4 to 7 September 2008 the Second Annual Hope Chainsaw Carving Competition took place. Chainsaw wood carvings are displayed and exhibited throughout the downtown core of Hope. Memorial Park in downtown Hope has a display of chainsaw wood carvings. Hope is home to a notable widely known carver named Pete Ryan who has carved a number of the chainsaw wood carvings exhibited in downtown Hope.
Hope Arts Gallery.
The Hope Arts Gallery exhibits and sells a variety of art by local artists. The Hope Arts Gallery is located in downtown Hope and has several rooms displaying sculpture, pottery, paintings and drawings, jewellery, fabric arts, basketry, cards and gifts, and photography. The Hope Arts Gallery is run by volunteers from the Hope Arts Guild. The Hope Arts Gallery presents ART WALK, a self-guided tour to art and chainsaw wood carvings in Hope.
Hope Brigade Days.
One of Hope's largest events of the year is Hope Brigade Days. Brigade Days weekend occurs the weekend after Labour Day every September. Events include a parade, fireworks display, midway, chainsaw carving competition, demolition derby, kids' carnival, and 4x4 racing.
Attractions.
Hope Museum.
The Hope Museum shows the history, culture and heritage of Hope. In downtown Hope, together with the Hope Visitor Centre, the Hope Museum is open year-round. Exhibits include First Nations culture, early Fort Hope, the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, the Kettle Valley Railway, pioneer life, logging, and mining.
Hope Recreation Complex.
The Hope Recreation Complex includes a library, pool, arena, and fitness centre. The Hope and District Recreation Complex is run by the Fraser Valley Regional District.
Hope Slide.
The Hope Slide was one of the largest landslides ever recorded in Canada. It occurred in the morning hours of 9 January 1965, near Hope, killing four people. A viewing site showing the Hope Slide is approximately a 15-minute drive east of Hope on Highway 3.
Memorial Park and Friendship Garden.
Immediately adjacent to the District Hall in Hope is a Japanese garden called the Friendship Garden, dedicated to the Japanese-Canadians who were interned nearby at Tashme during World War II. It was built by local Japanese-Canadians and presented to Hope on 27 July 1991. Men from that camp were employed during the war building the Hope-Princeton Highway.
Hope Memorial Park, adjacent to the District Hall and Friendship Garden, is the site of a concert series on Sunday afternoons in July and August.
Memorial Park was granted to the then-village of Hope in 1932 by the province of British Columbia. It occupies roughly in the heart of the town.
Othello Tunnels.
Othello Tunnels is the popular name for the main human-made features of Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park, east of Hope along the canyon of the Coquihalla River and a decommissioned railway grade, now a walking trail, leading eventually to Coquihalla Pass. Originally part of the Kettle Valley Railway, five tunnels and a series of bridges give views of the Coquihalla River as it passes through the river's narrow gorge.
If you are an active hiker, there are two main options to explore Othello Tunnels. The first option is Othello Tunnels portion of Kettle Valley Trail - 4 km to-and-back, which is stroller-friendly and wheelchair-accessible. The second option is Hope-Nicola Valley Trail Loop - 5.5 km loop hiking trail, relatively well-maintained but not accessible, nor recommended for people with special needs.
Sports.
Curling.
The Hope Curling Club is near the Hope Recreation Complex. The club sponsors bonspiels such as the Men's Bonspiel annually in January as well as the Mixed Curling Bonspiel.
Golf.
Hope has a golf course and club on the banks of the Coquihalla River.
Hope Icebreakers Junior Hockey Club.
The Hope Icebreakers were a Canadian Junior ice hockey team. They played in the Pacific International Junior Hockey League and the town of Hope from the 2003-2008 seasons, after which they were approved by BC hockey to move to Mission, British Columbia. They subsequently changed their name to the Mission Icebreakers. The Icebreakers have a Sasquatch logo.
Government.
The District of Hope is a district municipality that is part of the regional district called the Fraser Valley Regional District.
District municipality.
The Mayor of Hope is Peter Robb.
Fraser Valley Regional District.
The mayor of Hope also serves as a director on the board of the Fraser Valley Regional District.
In addition to regional planning, the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) works in collaboration with the District of Hope to provide recreational and cultural programs, ice arena and swimming pool, regional parks, mapping, air quality, mosquito control, weed control, E911 dispatch fire service, and search and rescue.
Province of British Columbia.
Hope is in the Fraser-Nicola riding (electoral district) provincially. The current MLA for Fraser-Nicola is Jackie Tegart. Prior to the 2017 election, Hope was in the Chilliwack-Hope riding provincially, and represented by MLA Laurie Throness, who was elected in 2013.
Parliament of Canada.
Hope is in the electoral district of Chilliwack—Hope, which is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by Mark Strahl.
Infrastructure.
Transportation.
Highways.
The Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) passes through Hope. Hope is the southern terminus of the Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5), the western terminus of the Crowsnest Highway, locally known as the Hope-Princeton highway (Highway 3), and the eastern terminus of Highway 7.
Hope Aerodrome.
Hope Aerodrome (IATA: YHE, ICAO: CYHE) is west of the Hope Townsite(the previous Town of Hope) within the municipal District of Hope, British Columbia. The aerodrome is operated by the Fraser Valley Regional District. There is one turf runway long. The airfield is home to the Vancouver Soaring Association, a gliding club owning and operating school and recreational sailplanes and tow planes. Hope Aerodrome lies within the community of Flood in the District of Hope.
Railways.
Both the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways pass through Hope. The "Canadian", a Canadian transcontinental passenger train currently operated by Via Rail Canada, passes through Hope, calling at the Hope railway station.
Heliports.
Hope heliport is a private heliport at Fraser Canyon Hospital.
Charter helicopter service.
Hope has charter helicopter service available that provides service for the natural resource industry, including forestry and mining exploration, as well as other industries including film, tourism, and public service.
Health care.
Fraser Canyon Hospital.
Fraser Canyon Hospital is a 10-bed hospital and provides services including: 24/7 emergency care stabilization and triage and hospice beds and services. Emergency care stabilization and triage 24/7 is unique to Fraser Canyon Hospital due to its geographic isolation and emergency service requirements in an area where major highways converge. Fraser Canyon Hospital officially opened on 10 January 1959, and began as a 20-bed hospital, complete with delivery and operating rooms.
Education.
The Fraser-Cascade School District #78 operates several schools in the District of Hope. There are two schools in Hope Townsite (the previous Town of Hope): Coquihalla Elementary School, which offers Kindergarten to Grade 6; and Hope Secondary School, which offers Grades 7-12. In addition, Silver Creek Elementary School, in the community of Silver Creek, offers grades Kindergarten to 7, with these students then attending Hope Secondary School for grades 8-12. The Fraser-Cascade School District also operates other educational programs such as the District Alternative Secondary Program. District enrollment declined from 1,993 students in the 2009-2010 school year to 1,615 in 2014-2015.
In popular culture.
Hope has been a popular location to shoot films. "First Blood" (1982), the first Rambo film, starring Sylvester Stallone, Brian Dennehy, and Richard Crenna, was filmed almost entirely in and around Hope, as was "Shoot to Kill" (1988), starring Sidney Poitier, Tom Berenger and Kirstie Alley. "K2" (1992) was also filmed nearby, with the area's mountains standing in for the Himalayas.
"Hope Springs" (2003), starring Colin Firth and Heather Graham, was filmed in and around Hope, but set in a fictional Hope, Vermont, in the United States.
Other films made in whole or in part in and around Hope have included "Fire with Fire" (1986), "Yellow Dog" (1994), "White Fang II" (1994), "The Pledge" (2001), "The Stick Up" (2003, starring James Spader), "Suspicious River" (2004), "Afghan Knights" (2007), and "Wind Chill" (2007). Hope was the setting for a story by Todd McFarlane in #8-12.
Reality show contestant Ryan Jenkins from VH1's series "Megan Wants a Millionaire" was found dead in the Thunderbird Motel in Hope on 23 August 2009, of an apparent suicide after being charged with the murder of his wife in California.
In "Spider-Man" issues #8–12 (the "Perceptions" story arc), a Wendigo creature is blamed in the deaths of several children near Hope, British Columbia, and terrorizing the town. Spider-Man's alter ego, Peter Parker, is sent to take pictures during the media frenzy that follows.
The reality show "Highway Thru Hell", shown on the Discovery Channel, is based in Hope and surrounding areas.
In the 2012 video game "Deadlight", the protagonist, Randall Wayne, is from the town of Hope. A fictionalized version of the town and its denizens is presented via flashbacks.
"A Dog's Way Home" was partially filmed within the town.
Hope features as the final location in "Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville".


Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk

Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk FRS FRSE (20 June 1771 – 8 April 1820) was a Scottish peer. He was noteworthy as a Scottish philanthropist who sponsored immigrant settlements in Canada at the Red River Colony.
Early background.
He was born at St Mary's Isle, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, the seventh son of Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk, and his wife Helen Hamilton (1738–1802), granddaughter of Thomas Hamilton, 6th Earl of Haddington. His brother was Basil William Douglas, Lord Daer.
His early education was at the Palgrave Academy, Suffolk. As he had not expected to inherit the family estate, he went to the University of Edinburgh to study to become a lawyer. While there, he noticed poor Scottish crofters who were being displaced by their landlords. Seeing their plight, he investigated ways he could help them find new land in the then British colonies. In 1794, on the death of his brother Basil, Thomas became Lord Daer. After his father's death in 1799, Douglas, the last surviving son (two brothers died in infancy, two died of tuberculosis and two died of yellow fever), became the 5th Earl of Selkirk.
In 1798 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposers being Dugald Stewart, Andrew Coventry, and John Playfair.
Involvement in Canada.
When Thomas unexpectedly inherited the Selkirk title and estates in 1799, he used his money and political connections to purchase land and settle poor Scottish farmers in Belfast, Prince Edward Island, in 1803 and Baldoon, Upper Canada in 1804. (See Highland Clearances for more on the emigration of poor Scots.) In 1804, he was in Halifax and became a member of the North British Society. He travelled extensively in North America, and his approach and work gained him some fame; in 1807 he was named Lord-Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright, Scotland, and in 1808 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
In order to continue his work re-settling Scottish farmers, Selkirk asked the British government for a land grant in the Red River Valley, a part of Rupert's Land. The government refused, as the Hudson's Bay Company (H.B.C.) had been granted a fur trading monopoly on that land. However, Selkirk was very determined, and together with Sir Alexander Mackenzie bought enough shares in H.B.C. to let them gain control of the land. This position of power, along with his marriage connections (his wife Jean was the sister of Andrew Wedderburn, a member of the H.B.C. governing committee) allowed him to acquire a land grant called Assiniboia to serve as an agricultural settlement for the company. As part of the agreement for the land grant, Selkirk agreed to supply the Hudson's Bay Company with 200 men each year. He also agreed that the settlers would not be allowed to participate in the fur trade.
As part owner of H.B.C., Selkirk also wanted to stop the North West Company (N.W.C.) from competing with H.B.C. for furs in the region. By placing the Red River Colony astride the trade routes used by the N.W.C. coureurs des bois, Selkirk could cut off the easy flow of furs. However, the local Métis people who already inhabited the area had long-standing ties with the N.W.C. and refused to accept Selkirk's control over the area, which was contrary to the Royal Proclamation of 1763.
The first colonization attempt started in 1812, consisting of 128 men led by the new governor, Miles Macdonell. Arriving late in the season they had just arrived and built homes when the winter cut off any hope of planting, and the colony became reliant on the support of the Métis. Even with a full growing season the next year, the colony never thrived. Because of a shortage of food in 1814, Macdonell issued the Pemmican Proclamation, prohibiting the export of food from the entire area. The Métis, who made a living selling pemmican to the N.W.C. traders, responded by arresting Macdonell and burning the settlement.
Robert Semple was appointed as governor of the Red River Colony. By 1816, the violence intensified between the Métis and the newcomers, which resulted in the Battle of Seven Oaks, causing the deaths of 21 of Lord Selkirk's men, including the newly appointed governor, and one Métis. N.W.C. partners were accused of having aided the Métis attackers. All were exonerated at trial, and again when re-tried under Selkirk's instigation, which back-fired when they successfully counter-sued Selkirk.
Selkirk and his men responded to the Battle of Seven Oaks by seizing the trading post at Fort William that belonged to the North West Company. In the aftermath, Selkirk was ordered to appear in court in Montreal and was charged with four separate offences, all of which related to the alleged unlawful occupation of Fort William. Selkirk reportedly spent most of his acquired fortune defending himself (unsuccessfully) in court, shortly before his death in 1820 at Pau, France. The two companies were merged in 1821.
Legacy.
Selkirk's colonizing ambitions have been memorialized in the names of the City of Selkirk and the Village of East Selkirk, as well as the Winnipeg neighborhood of Point Douglas, the city's Fort Douglas Park on Waterfront Drive (where Fort Douglas once stood) and Winnipeg's Selkirk Avenue. The City of Selkirk is served by the Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School, which is administered by the Lord Selkirk School Division. The Lord Selkirk Highway runs from the international boundary between Manitoba and North Dakota, where it connects with Interstate Highway 29 in the United States, to the city of Winnipeg. Mount Selkirk and the Selkirk Mountains were also named in his honor.
The Métis peoples cite Lord Selkirk's intrusion as the period of time their identity as a people came into existence. The Métis existed prior to the confrontations with Lord Selkirk's men but their armed resistance to foreign encroachment became a rallying point for their shared identity. A flag and a national anthem were born during this period in time. A Manitoba Historical Plaque was erected in Winnipeg, Manitoba by the province to commemorate Lord Selkirk's role in Manitoba's heritage.
Selkirk and John Paul Jones.
At the age of seven, Thomas was almost kidnapped by John Paul Jones, commander of an American ship. Peter C. Newman tells the story as follows in his history "The Empire of the Bay".
In 1778, John Paul Jones, in the sloop Ranger, was cruising between Scotland and Ireland looking for prizes. Benjamin Franklin had suggested that he might capture a British nobleman to exchange for American prisoners. Having been born near the Selkirk estates, Jones selected the elder Lord Selkirk.
At the last moment, Jones decided not to go himself, but to assign the duty to two lieutenants and a boatload of sailors. As the Americans approached the Selkirk mansion, a governess saw them coming and removed young Thomas to safety. The Americans knocked on the front door and were greeted by the butler. Lady Selkirk came from the breakfast room to see what the fuss was about. She invited the American officers into the drawing room, told the butler to make tea and to find some whisky for the sailors who were waiting outside. When they explained that they had come to kidnap her husband, Lady Selkirk replied that unfortunately Lord Selkirk was not at home. When Lieutenant Wallingford suggested that instead, they might take the young gentleman they saw on the way to the house, Lady Selkirk replied that they would have to kill her first. After more discussion, Lady Selkirk suggested that, so that their mission would not be a complete failure, they might steal the family silver. The officers allowed as how that might be the best solution, so Lady Selkirk ordered the butler to provide the American gentlemen with what they needed. He filled a sack half full of coal, filled the top half with silverware and presented it to the officers. After drinking a toast to Lady Selkirk, they returned to their ship and presented their captain with his sack full of coal and silverware.
Jones wrote Lady Selkirk a flowery letter of apology, proposing himself to buy back the booty from the Navy and return it to the Selkirks. Lord Selkirk wrote back that he could not possibly countenance the return of his silver without the consent of the Continental Congress. The objects, which became the subject of protracted legal negotiations, were returned seven years later.
Marriage and family.
Lord Selkirk married Jean Wedderburn-Colville, sister to James Wedderburn and Andrew Colville, in 1807, and fathered:
Death.
On his death, his heir and successor Dunbar was only 10 years old and thus Selkirk's estates were put into a trust and managed by four executors named in his will. The Board of Trustees consisted of Andrew Colville (Colvile) of Achiltrie and Crommie, John Hallbrith (Halkett) of Waring, Adam Maitland of Dundrennan, and Sir James Montgomery, 2nd Baronet.


Zachariah Gillam

Zachariah Gillam (also spelled Zachary Guillam) (1636–1682) was one of a family of New England sea captains involved in the early days of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Biography.
The son of a prominent Massachusetts shipwright, he was engaged in the coastal trade. He must have known about and may have had some involvement in Radisson and Groseilliers' 1663 attempt to reach Hudson Bay from Boston. In 1665 his elder brother carried Radisson and Groseilliers to England which presumably increased his contact with the two adventurers. In 1668, in command of the 43-ton "Nonsuch" he carried Groseilliers from England to Hudson Bay where they wintered at the mouth of the Rupert River and returned the following year with £1,300 in furs. In May 1670, the same month that the Hudson's Bay Company was founded, he left England in the 75½-ton "Prince Rupert" with Groseilliers accompanied by "Wivenhoe" with Radisson and the new governor Charles Bayly. Bayly's attempt to found a fort at Port Nelson, Manitoba failed, so they returned to the Rupert River where they wintered, traded, explored the Moose River (Ontario) and returned to England in October, 1671. He returned in "Prince Rupert" in 1672/73 and again in 1674/75. At about this time he quarreled with Radisson, each accusing the other of peculation, and Gillam was dismissed from the HBC service. He was engaged in the coastal trade to North Carolina from 1677 to 1680 when he was accused of involvement in the 1677 Culpeper's Rebellion and sent in custody to England. In 1682 he returned to the HBC service and in June of that year left for the bay in "Prince Rupert" along with four other ships. "Prince Rupert" and "Albemarle" were to found a post at Port Nelson, Manitoba. When he arrived on 7 September he found two other groups already there. One was French under Radisson and Groseilliers who had returned to the French service and the other was a non-HBC expedition from Boston under Gillam's son Benjamin. On 21 October, during a storm, "Prince Rupert" dragged anchor and drifted out to sea. With only about nine men on board it was difficult to control her and she was crushed by the ice, losing all hands including Captain Gillam.
His elder brother Benjamin Gillam was in 1665 in command of "Charles" which brought Radisson and Groseilliers to England where they began the foundation of the Hudson's Bay Company.
His son Benjamin Gillam (1662/63-1706) appears in the records only in reference to the 1682 events at Port Nelson. On 21 June 1682 he left Boston for Hudson Bay in "Bachelor's Delight" intending to break into the HBC monopoly. On reaching Port Nelson he was soon joined by a French group under Radisson and then by his father's official HBC expedition. His father died in October and Benjamin was captured by the French in February. He was taken to Quebec, released and returned to Boston. Here he was briefly arrested for violating the monopoly but was soon released. The HBC later claimed him for its own and based its claim to Port Nelson on the grounds that Benjamin had arrived before the French party.
In 1690 the family appears in the records as shipbuilders for English Merchants.


List of mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains

This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains of North America.
The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:
Highest major summits.
Of the 100 highest major summits of the Rocky Mountains, 62 peaks exceed elevation, and all 100 peaks exceed elevation.
Of these 100 peaks, 78 are located in Colorado, ten in Wyoming, six in New Mexico, three in Montana, and one each in Utah, British Columbia, and Idaho. The 30 highest peaks are all located in Colorado.
Most prominent summits.
Of the 50 most prominent summits of the Rocky Mountains, only Mount Robson and Mount Elbert exceed of topographic prominence, seven peaks exceed , 31 peaks are ultra-prominent summits with at least, and all 50 peaks exceed of topographic prominence.
Of these 50 peaks, 12 are located in British Columbia, 12 in Montana, ten in Alberta, eight in Colorado, four in Wyoming, three in Utah, three in Idaho, and one in New Mexico. Three of these peaks lie on the Alberta-British Columbia border.
Most isolated major summits.
Of the 50 most isolated major summits of the Rocky Mountains, only Mount Elbert exceeds of topographic isolation, six peaks exceed , 19 peaks exceed, and all 50 peaks exceed of topographic isolation.
Of these 50 peaks, 17 are located in Montana, ten in Colorado, nine in Wyoming, six in British Columbia, five in Utah, two in Alberta, two in New Mexico, and one in Idaho. Two of these peaks lie on the Alberta-British Columbia border.


Pryor Mountains

The Pryor Mountains are a mountain range in Carbon and Big Horn counties of Montana. They are located on the Crow Indian Reservation and the Custer National Forest, and portions of them are on private land. They lie south of Billings, Montana, and north of Lovell, Wyoming.
The mountains are named for Sergeant Nathaniel Hale Pryor, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who vainly pursued horses stolen from the expedition in the area. The Crow Nation, a Native American tribe which lived nearby, called the mountains Baahpuuo Isawaxaawuua ("Hitting Rock Mountains") because of the abundance of flint there (which was chipped into arrowheads).
According to Crow Nation folklore, Little People (a race of high dwarf-like people with spiritual powers) lived in these mountains.
Geology.
The Pryor Mountains are a region of Montana and Wyoming. The Pryor Mountains consists of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks the most prominent unit is limestone (known as the Madison Group limestone) laid down about 300 million years ago. The limestone and older sediments rest on Archean metamorphic rock consisting of gneiss and schists. The gneiss is exposed along the northeast escarpment of East Pryor Mountain. During the Laramide orogeny in the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene Period (about 70 to 60 million years ago), the limestone was faulted and uplifted. The thick limestone blocks were tilted and uplifted as large blocks with the northeastern corner of the blocks forming the Bighorn and the Pryor Mountains.
Caves, carved by groundwater, can be found in the limestone throughout the Pryors. Among the better known are Big Ice Cave on the eastern edge of Pryor Mountain, and Mystery Cave (which contains some of the best speleothems of all the caves in the Pryors). Among the more notable are False Cougar Cave on East Pryor Mountain (which was used by Native Americans at times in the past), Shield Trap Cave (which features a vertical shaft about deep), Little Ice Cave, and Bell Trap Cave (which is similar to Shield Trap). Other popular features of the Pryors include Froggs Fault, a huge fissure in the earth, and a buffalo jump near Dry Head Lookout. Just below Dry Head Lookout is a small pocket in the cliff face surrounded by a low man-made fence of rock. This is a place used by several Native American tribes for vision quests, and as of 1971 was perhaps the last undisturbed such place in the United States.
The tallest peak in the Pryor Mountains is East Pryor Mountain (elevation ).
The Bighorn River flows north from Wyoming and through the plateau between the Bighorn and Pryor mountains. The river flows between the two mountain ranges, and has cut the Bighorn Canyon deep into the limestone.
Crooked Creek, one of the few perennial streams in the area, divides the Pryors in two and is one of the few places where Yellowstone cutthroat trout may be found. The Pryors contain the most diverse bat habitat in Montana as well, with 10 species found there.
Wild horse refuge.
The Pryor Mountains are also home to the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range, a protected area that is home to a herd of free-roaming feral horses. This herd was the subject of the 1995 documentary film "Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies" and its sequel, the 2003 documentary film "Cloud's Legacy: The Wild Stallion Returns".


Gregory Scofield

Gregory Scofield (born July 20, 1966 in Maple Ridge, British Columbia) is a Canadian Métis poet, beadwork artist, dramatist and non-fiction writer. He is a graduate of the Gabriel Dumont Institute Native Human Justice Program. His written and performance art draws on Cree story-telling traditions. He has published two instruction books on doing Métis flower-beadwork for the Gabriel Dumont Institute.
Background and career.
Scofield is a Red River Métis of Cree and European ancestry. He has ancestors from the North American fur trade and the Métis residents of Kinesota, Manitoba. He speaks the Cree language, and incorporates it into his poetry. He had a difficult childhood, including poverty, abuse and separation from his parents. He described his early years in his 1999 memoir, "Thunder Through My Veins".
Scofield has published eight volumes of poetry and a non-fiction memoir. He has also served as writer-in-residence at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of Winnipeg. He has also been a social worker dealing with street youth in Vancouver, and has taught First Nations and Métis Literature at Brandon University and the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. Scofield is gay. He is currently an assistant professor of English literature at Laurentian University, despite being a high school dropout and not having the relevant educational background.
He was the subject of a documentary film, "Singing Home the Bones: A Poet Becomes Himself", in 2007.
In 1998, Scofield's aunt was killed in an unsolved crime, and this informs his recent poetry. Most days, he tweets the story of a missing or murdered indigenous woman.
Identities.
Scofield sees himself as a "community worker" and his various identities are reflected through his writing. He initially felt shame of his Métis ancestry because the Canadian school system denigrated Métis history and heritage, and mocked its heroes such as Louis Riel. Instead, he yearned for a pure Cree identity, conscious that his own grandfather had denied his own Cree/Métis identity due to shame. In an early poem, "Between Sides", he wrote:
Scofield says he learned to take pride in the Métis aspect of his identity after participating in an annual Métis cultural gathering and festival called "Back to Batoche Days".
Scofield once feared that his gay identity might destroy his Native community connections. He initially tried to compartmentalize these identities, but came to understand that embracing both together helps with his community work, especially supporting gay Native youth. He mentions that his generation "didn't have the opportunities to learn about courting and respect", and hopes that his poetry and writing can help the younger generations come to terms with their own identities. His poetry in "Offerings" constitutes gay Native erotica:
Awards.
Scofield won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 1994 for his debut collection, "The Gathering: Stones for the Medicine Wheel". In 2013, he was among many Canadians who received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
In 2016, Scofield won the Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize for his lifetime body of work.
Critical response.
In a review of Scofield's book "Witness, I Am", Nicholas Bradley wrote, "Scofield is an observer, especially of tragedies, and his poems explore, with speech that verges on song, the meaning of knowing one’s place in the world. Muskrat Woman, the first section of "Witness, I Am", is a long poem about a flood—in Scofield’s words, 'a retelling, a reimagining of a much longer âtayôhkêwina—Cree Sacred Story'." Bradley also wrote, "The poems concern the living and the dead—those who have survived forms of colonial brutality, and those who must be remembered. Scofield’s distressing acts of testimony, mourning, and dissent suggest convincingly the importance of the literary arts to public discourse about matters of grave consequence."
The jurors for the 2016 Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize were Canadian poets Jeffery Donaldson, Karen Solie and Katherena Vermette. They commented, "His forms embrace the musical, the documentary, and the experimental in a vision of risk and generosity. From raw, urban truths to the solace of Cree cadence, from the heart beat of the drum to the wax poetics of a young Louis Riel, Scofield’s range of subject, work, and style dazzles. He has courage to let us in, and the patience to help us understand."


John Alexander McDougall

John Alexander McDougall (May 20, 1854 – December 17, 1928) was a businessman and politician in Alberta, Canada, He served as a municipal councillor, mayor and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
Early life.
John Alexander McDougall was born May 20, 1854 in Oakwood, Canada West (now Ontario) to Alexander J. McDougall and Janet Cummings. His father died in 1867 when John was thirteen. He left school and worked to support his family.
In 1873, he moved to Fort Garry (now Winnipeg) where he worked as a fur trader and completed his education at Manitoba College. In 1877 this work brought him to Edmonton, where he decided to settle, but not before returning to Ontario in 1878 to marry his high school sweetheart, Lovisa Jane Amey (1878-1943), with whom he would have three sons and three daughters. The pair settled in Edmonton in 1879, where McDougall commenced trading furs in competition with the Hudson's Bay Company.
In 1881, he was one of ten Edmontonians to guarantee the five hundred dollar annual salary of the settlement's first schoolteacher.
He became a justice of the peace in 1885.
Business career.
McDougall ran a general store in Edmonton starting in 1879. Soon he began to specialize in buying and selling furs.
John McDougall was the first president of the Edmonton Board of Trade, in 1889.
In 1896, McDougall joined with fellow Edmonton pioneer businessman Richard Secord and founded McDougall & Secord. This business advertised itself as "general merchants, wholesale and retail; buyers and exporters of raw furs; dealers in land scrip and north west lands; outfitters for survey parties, traders, trappers, miners and others for the north, and suppliers for country stores." The two ran the company until 1907, when they sold it.
Besides the fur trade, McDougall & Secord did a major business in buying Metis scrip and re-selling it at a profit. Sometimes a scrip, a mere scrap paper, could be obtained for a bottle of whiskey, then could be used to obtain 160 acres of choice farmland which then sold for $2 an acre. Alleged schemes that Secord used to secure scrip at that time are described in Rob Houle's research "Richard Henry Secord and Metis Scrip Speculation" (June 2016),available on-line.
With this business and their other lines, McDougall and Secord became millionaires by the time Alberta became a province in 1905.
In 1907, the two went into business as a financial house and mortgage corporation called McDougall & Secord, Limited. McDougall operated this company until his death, when its leadership was taken over by his son John Charles McDougall. It has now been closed permanently.
Political career.
In 1892, McDougall ran for alderman of Edmonton's first town council. He was narrowly defeated, finishing seventh place (16 votes behind sixth place Philip Daly) out of fourteen candidates in an election in which the top six candidates were elected.
He ran again in 1893 and finished first of nine candidates and was elected.
He was re-elected in 1894 (finishing second of nine candidates, behind Colin Strang) . He was elected to the public school board the same year (he served one year).
In 1895 McDougall ran for mayor against Herbert Charles Wilson, but was defeated, 129 votes to 91.
He made another attempt in 1896, and would be acclaimed mayor. He did not seek re-election in 1897, and stayed out of politics for the next decade.
In 1907 McDougall was again elected mayor, defeating Joseph Henri Picard 1217 votes to 437. During his second term as mayor, he installed an automatic telephone system in the city and oversaw the establishment of a street railway as a municipal operation. He did not seek re-election in 1908.
A Liberal, in 1909 he was elected as one of the two Members of the Legislative Assembly for Edmonton. He served his term, but did not seek re-election in 1913, when he was 59 years of age and decided to devote his energies to his business activities.
Last years and legacy.
McDougall spent many of his last years traveling the world with his wife. He died in Edmonton on December 17, 1928. He had been active with the Presbyterian Church, the Masonic Order and the Edmonton Club.
McDougall was one of the founders of St. John Ambulance in Alberta.
John A. McDougall School is named in his honour.
McDougall & Secord, Limited exists in Edmonton to this day, believed to be the oldest surviving company in Alberta. Its precursors—McDougall's General Store and Secord's Fur Store and Warehouse—are reproduced on 1885 Street in Fort Edmonton Park.


Chisasibi

Chisasibi ( meaning Great River) is a village on the eastern shore of James Bay, in the Eeyou Istchee equivalent territory (ET) in northern Quebec, Canada. It is situated on the south shore of La Grande River (the Grand River), less than from the river's mouth. Chisasibi is one of nine Cree villages in the region, and is a member of the Grand Council of the Crees of Quebec. The territory surrounding Chisasibi is part of the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory, of which parts are jointly managed by the municipalities of the Jamésie TE and the Cree Regional Authority of the Eeyou Istchee TE.
The surface area of the town is . The surface area of associated Chisasibi Cree village municipality is .
History.
The Cree have lived in the region for many centuries but were nomadic. In 1803, the Hudson's Bay Company founded Fort George, a trading post on the north shore which was relocated to the largest island in the mouth of La Grande River in 1837. Fort George became a permanent village as the local Cree population abandoned their nomadic way of life in the early 20th century and settled nearby. In 1940, its population was about 750 and grew to almost 2,000 in 1980.
In the mid 1970s, the construction of the James Bay hydro-electric project began, diverting upstream rivers into La Grande watershed, increasing its flow significantly, resulting in erosion of Fort George Island (also called Governor's Island) and disruption to the formation of a solid ice cover in winter. In response, the Quebec Government built a new community on the mainland's south shore, relocating the population and some 200 houses to the new site in 1981. The village was renamed Chisasibi (official name: Cree Nation of Chisasibi). At the same time, the Fort George Relocation Corporation was formed to oversee the relocation.
The Cree Nation of Chisasibi.
Chisasibi is the most northern Cree village accessible by road, and the northernmost community with year-round road access in eastern North America. A paved road, running from Radisson, and parallel to the Grand River, connects Chisasibi to the James Bay Road (French: "Route de la Baie James"). The James Bay Road (formerly part of Route 109) was built from 1971 to 1974 as part of the James Bay hydroelectric project and connects Matagami to Radisson. Chisasibi Airport is located just west of the village and Air Creebec operates scheduled service from this airport. Though this is the most northern village, this is not where the road ends. From LG-1 (La Grande-1 generating station), the road continues north to a location called Longue Pointe (Long Point). It is the farthest one can go by road east of the Hudson Bay.
Many Cree in Chisasibi engage in hunting, trapping, and fishing activities but all catch is meant for local consumption. Other economic activity includes local services (health care and education), employment by Hydro-Québec and some hospitality services. An elected Chief and Council help administer the Cree Nation of Chisasibi Office.
Other Cree villages near Chisasibi are Whapmagoostui, to the north in Nunavik, on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay near the Northern village of Kuujjuarapik, and Wemindji, about to the south.
Demographics.
The population of Chisasibi comprises approximately 4,000 Cree, about 250 Inuit, and 300 non-native people. Statistics Canada's 2011 Census shows a total population of 4,484. 2006 Census shows the median age of the population is 24.1 years old, the percentage of the population aged 15 and over is 66.2, and the total number of census families was 960.
Total private dwellings (excluding seasonal cottages): 788 (total: 885)
Languages.
Cree and Inuit are spoken as the first language in Chisasibi, in addition to English, as a primary language for official dealings. Only 7.8% of the residents of Chisasibi speak one or both of the official languages as a mother tongue. There has been criticism of the Quebec language policy with respect to native languages, particularly Cree, many related to Hydro-Québec's hydroelectric dam project in the James Bay region.
Mother tongues:
Education.
The Cree School Board operates Waapinichikush Elementary School and the James Bay Eeyou School (JBES; ; ), a high school. Eeyou opened in 1980. Previously the school provided boarding services for high school students for students from other villages of the James Bay region: Eastmain, Whapmagoostui, and Wemindji as at the time all high school classes in the region were in Chisasibi. Eeyou has 398 students.
Climate.
Chisasibi has a subarctic climate (Köppen "Dfc"), typical of the central latitudes of Quebec, with very cold and snowy winters and mild, rainy summers.


Communipaw

Communipaw is an unincorporated community and neighborhood located within Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It is located west of Liberty State Park and east of Bergen Hill, and the site of one of the earliest European settlements in North America. It gives its name to the historic avenue which runs from its eastern end near Liberty State Park Station through the neighborhoods of Bergen-Lafayette and the West Side that then becomes the Lincoln Highway. Communipaw Junction, or simply, The Junction, is an intersection where Communipaw, Summit Avenue, Garfield Avenue, and Grand Street meet, and where the toll house for the Bergen Point Plank Road was situated. Communipaw Cove at Upper New York Bay, is part of the state nature preserve in the park and one of the few remaining tidal salt marshes in the Hudson River estuary.
Communipaw-Lafayette.
Communipaw was part of Bergen City, New Jersey between 1855-1870 before merging with Jersey City, and was urbanized during the late half of the 19th century. Some streets of the neighborhood are part of the Communipaw-Lafayette Historic District. Lafayette Park is likely named for the Marquis de Lafayette, who was stationed in Bergen in 1799, and later re-visited in 1824. It is a city square, similar to Van Vorst Park and Hamilton Park; the buildings surrounding it were constructed in different periods. Whitlock Cordage is an intact complex of industrial buildings built in the Lafayette section along the long ago filled Morris Canal. The Housing Trust of America purchased the property to preserve the structures as affordable housing. The section near Johnston Avenue was the site of a stop on the Underground Railroad and African-American burial ground. Ficken's Warehouse, once the site of Bergen City's main post office, is on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hudson County, New Jersey.
Berry Lane Park was formerly an industrial area.
History.
Lenape.
At the time of European settlement in the 17th century, Communipaw was the site of the summer encampment and council fire of the Hackensack Indians, a phratry of the Lenape. They, along with the Raritan, Tappan, Wecquaesgeek, Canarsee and other groups who circulated in the region were collectively known as the River Indians by the immigrating population.
It is likely that the name is based in the Algonquian language Lenape. Earlier spellings are numerous and have included "Gamoenapa," "Gemonepan," "Gemoenepaen," "Gamenepaw", "Comounepaw", "Comounepan" "Communipau", "Goneuipan" There are a variety of interpretations of the meaning, though most sources relate it to being from , "on the other side of the river", and "pe-auke", "water-land", meaning "big landing-place from the other side of the river". (Current: "gamuck" meaning "other side of the water" or "otherside of the river" or "landing place at the side of a river").
New Netherland.
Henry Hudson, commissioned by the Dutch East India Company, anchored along the shore at Communipaw in 1609 during his explorations of the Upper New York Bay, North River (Hudson River) and Hudson Valley.
 On September 12 he sailed up to Communipaw, where Robert Juet, his mate, wrote in the log that it was "...a very good land to fall in with, and a pleasant land to see." In 1634 one of the first "bouweries", or homesteads, in the colony of New Netherland was built at Communipaw as part of Pavonia, a patroonship of Amsterdam businessman Michael Pauw. (Some have suggested that the name comes from "Community of Pauw", which likely is more a coincidence than a fact.)
For a time it bore the name of the Dutchman who settled there, Jan Everts Bout, and was called "Jan de Lacher's Hoeck", or "Jan the Laugher's Point", apparently in reference to his boisterous character. Plantations, worked by enslaved Africans, spread across the low-lying areas between the shoreline and the hill. It was here that Tappan and Wecquaesgeek fleeing dominant tribes from the north had taken refuge in 1643. They were attacked in the incident known as the Pavonia Massacre, subsequently leading to Kieft's War.
Originally the village of Communipaw was part of the colony under the jurisdiction of the Dutch West India Company. In 1653 it became part of the Commonality of New Amsterdam, which included all the settlements at Pavonia, Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island). It became a separate village in 1658, under the jurisdiction of Bergen, established at contemporary Bergen Square. By 1669, regulated ferry service to New Amsterdam had been established. After the last English takeover of New Netherland in 1674 it became part of the Province of New Jersey, in the county of Bergen, though it retained its Dutch character for hundreds of years. Washington Irving visited it often (at least once with future US president Martin van Buren) for inspiration. Writing in the early 19th century, he often referred to Communipaw as being the stronghold of traditional Dutch culture. John Quidor, an American Romantic painter, created works inspired the village: "Embarkation from Communipaw" and "The Voyage from Communipaw to Hell Gate". Suydam Street, which can be translated as "south dam", runs for one block south of Communipaw Avenue is taken early Dutch family, whose descendant, Rev. J. Howard Suydam, D.D, was member and historian of the Holland Society of New York.
Railroads.
Originally, the waters of the Upper New York Bay facing the village (situated near the site of today's Liberty Science Center) hosted vast oyster beds that were harvested well into the 19th century. As it was industrialized, first with the construction of ports and later with rail infrastructure, the shoreline was expanded with landfill, notably by the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Communipaw Terminal, officially known as the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, was the waterfront terminus.
The cove just to the south of the station is sometimes still called Communipaw Cove. The railroad also maintained a Communipaw Station in the neighborhood farther inland along the right of way now used by the Hudson Bergen Light Rail. Johnston Avenue is named for an early president of the company.
Transportation.
Buses traveling southbound through The Junction are the # 4, NJT 81 through Greenville to Curries Woods, with the 81 continuing to Bayonne. On some trips the NJT6 alternates its routes along the Lafayette Loop. Northbound the NJT6 travels to Journal Square, while the 4 and the NJT81 travel through Downtown Jersey City to Exchange Place. The nearest stations of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail are located along the southern periphery of the neighborhood at Garfield Avenue in Claremont neighborhood and at Liberty State Park.


New Netherlander

New Netherlanders were residents of New Netherland, the seventeenth-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the northeastern coast of North America, centered on the Hudson River and New York Bay, and in the Delaware Valley.
The population of New Netherland was not all ethnically Dutch, but had a variety of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, including: other European ethnic groups (Germans, Scandinavians, French, Scots, English, Irish, Italians, and Croats); indigenous Amerindian tribes such as Algonquians and Iroquoians; Sephardic Jews (Jews of Spanish and Portuguese backgrounds) both from the Netherlands itself and the then recently lost colony of Dutch Brazil; and West Africans, the last mostly having been brought as slaves.
Though the colony officially existed only between 1609 and 1674, the descendants of the original settlers played a prominent role in colonial America. New Netherland culture characterized the region (today's Capital District, Hudson Valley, New York City, western Long Island, northern New Jersey and the Delaware Valley) for two centuries. The concepts of civil liberties and pluralism introduced in the province would later become a mainstay of American political and social life.
Background.
In 1621, the Dutch West India Company was founded for the purpose of trade. The WIC was chartered by the States-General and given the authority to make contracts and alliances with princes and natives, build forts, administer justice, appoint and discharge governors, soldiers, and public officers, and promote trade in New Netherland. The colonial administration was relatively autonomous and the Company preferred to rule through agreements with local leaders.
On the Atlantic coast were their bases for the slave trade and smuggling.
In the Caribbean and partly in Brazil and Suriname, plantations were worked by native Indians and African slaves. There were around 1,000 whites there, joined by Brazilian Jews, attracted by religious freedom which was granted to all the settlers.
History.
The Dutch set up two forts, Fort Nassau in 1614 and Fort Orange in 1624, both named for the Dutch noble House of Orange-Nassau. New Amsterdam was founded in 1624. The ship "Nieu Nederlandt" departed with the first settlers, consisting of thirty Flemish Walloon families. The families were spread out over the entire territory claimed by the company. To the north a few families were left at the mouth of the Connecticut River, while to the south some families were settled at Burlington Island on the Delaware River. Others were left on Nut Island at the mouth of the Hudson River, while the remaining families were taken up the Hudson to Fort Orange. Later in 1624 and through 1625 six additional ships sailed for New Netherland with colonists, livestock and supplies.
The southern outpost on the Delaware Bay was discontinued to focus the Company's resources on the area around New Amsterdam. The Dutch finally established a garrison at Bergen, which allowed settlement west of the Hudson within the province of New Netherland. Due to a war between the Mohawk and Mahican tribes in 1625, the women and children upriver at Fort Orange were re-located. In the spring of 1626, Minuit arrived to succeed Willem Verhulst, who had authorized the construction of a fort at the tip of Manhattan Island. Fort Amsterdam was designed by Cryn Fredericksz. Construction started in 1625.
The third Director of New Netherland, Peter Minuit, was a German-born Huguenot who worked for the Dutch West India Company. Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape.
In 1630, the managers of the West India Company, in order to tempt the ambition of capitalists, offered certain exclusive privileges to the members of the company.
The realization that greater inducements had to be offered to increase the development of the colony led the West India Company to the creation of the so-called "patroon system". In 1629, the West India Company issued its charter of "Freedoms and Exemptions" by which it was declared that any member of the Company who could bring to and settle 50 persons over the age of 15 in New Netherland, should receive a liberal grant of land to hold as "patroon", or lord, with the exception, per , of the island of Manhattan. This land could have a frontage of if on one side of a river, or if situated on both sides. The patroon would be chief magistrate on his land, but disputes of more than 50 guilders could be appealed to the Director and his Council in New Amsterdam. The first of this vast estate or colony was established in 1630, on the banks of the Hudson River. Over a period of four years was entitled to a plot with 25 miles of front to the river, with exclusive rights to hunting and fishing, and civil jurisdiction and criminal on earth. In turn, the "patroon" brought livestock, implements and buildings. Tenants pay rent to the agent and gave him first option on surplus crops.
The only restriction was that the colony had to be outside the island of Manhattan. A pattern of these colonies was the Manor of Rensselaerswyck.
Everardus Bogardus the second minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, the oldest established church in present-day New York, frequently was combative with the Director-General of the New Netherlands and their management of the Dutch West India Company colony, going up against the often-drunk Wouter van Twiller and famously denouncing Willem Kieft from the pulpit during the colony's disastrously bloody Kieft's War (1643–1645). He stepped up his denouncements when Kieft tried to place a tax on beer. Bogardus himself has been described as a stout and rarely sober individual. A Council of Twelve Men was chosen on 1641 by the residents of New Amsterdam to advise the Director of New Netherland, Willem Kieft, on relations with the Native Americans due to the murder of Claes Swits. the council was not permanent, The next time a council of eight men was created. Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam on May 11, 1647 to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of the New Netherland colony.
Though the region became a British colony in 1674, it retained its "Dutch" character for many years as early settlers and their descendants developed the land and economy.
Population.
Because of the dangers and hardships of life in the colony some colonists decided to return to the homeland in 1628. By 1630 the total population of New Netherland was about 300, many being French-speaking Walloons. It is estimated about 270 lived in the area surrounding Fort Amsterdam, primarily working as farmers, while about 30 were at Fort Orange, the center of the Hudson valley fur trade with the Mohawks.
Population estimates are for the European and African population and do not include the Native Americans.
Demographics.
Among the many settlers who sailed from the United Provinces of the Netherlands were Dutch, Flemish, Walloon, Huguenot, German, and Scandinavian people, who are sometimes called "New Netherland Dutch".
The first non-Native American to settle in Manhattan was Juan Rodriguez (Jan Rodrigues in Dutch), a Dominican man of African and Portuguese descent born in Santo Domingo.
Early ships to the new colony carried mostly Walloon passengers and Africans brought as slaves, many of whom later became free. The black population is dated to the importation of eleven black slaves in 1625. African slaves belonging the Dutch West India Company may have been brought directly, or via the Caribbean or other European colonies. When the colony fell, the company freed all its slaves, establishing early on a nucleus of free negros.
Sephardi Jews arrived after the loss of Dutch Brazil. King Manuel I of Portugal populated the São Tomé and Príncipe islands, in the slave trade route, with about 2,000 entrepreneur Sephardic Jews refugees after their expulsion from Spain. The first group of Spanish and Portuguese Jews arrived in New York (New Amsterdam) in September 1654.
Sarah Rapelje was the first female child of European parentage born in the colony of New Netherland.
An early settler from Africa was a wealthy Muslim, and land owner, Anthony Janszoon van Salee a religious refugee from Spain. From 1340 Portugal colonized islands in the Atlantic. Colonization was a success and provided a growing population for other Atlantic colonies. The route from Europe passed through the Azores islands. By 1490 were 2,000 Flemings living in the islands of Terceira, Pico, Faial, São Jorge and Flores. Because there was such a large Flemish settlement, the Azores became known as the Flemish Islands or the Isles of Flanders. Prince Henry the Navigator was responsible for this settlement. His sister, Isabel, was married to Duke Philip of Burgundy who ruled Flanders. There were also Portuguese and Basque fishermen and sailors.
Pietro Cesare Alberti, from Venice, is regarded as the first Italian settler in what is now New York State, having arrived in New Amsterdam in 1635.
Language.
Though Dutch was the official language, and likely the lingua franca of the province, it was but one of many spoken there, as many as eighteen by the 1630s. The Algonquin language had many dialects. Walloons and Huguenots tended to speak French. Scandinavians brought their tongues, as did the Germans. Africans may have spoken their mother tongues as well. English was on the rise to become the vehicular language in world trade, and settlement by individuals or groups of English-speakers started early. The arrival of refugees from New Holland in Brazil may have brought more Portuguese, Spanish, and Judaeo-Spanish speakers. Commercial activity in the harbor, which included pirateering, could have been transacted simultaneously in any of a number of tongues. In some cases people Batavianized their names to conform with the Dutch vernacular and official language, which also greatly influenced place naming.
English language speakers mostly arrived from New England and Long Island. In mid-seventeenth century, for political and religious unrest in England, emigrated to the Atlantic coast of North America, numerous Protestant Puritans, who settled in New Amsterdam. Among the early English settlers were two religious leaders, Anabaptist Lady Deborah Moody in 1645 and Anne Hutchinson, who took refuge in the province, as well as Elizabeth Hallet (nee Fones), niece of Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop, who sought refuge from religious persecution.
Religion.
Although the Dutch West India Company had established the Reformed Church as the official religious institution of New Netherland, the early Dutch settlers planted the concept of tolerance as a legal right in North America as per explicit orders in 1624. They had to attract, "through attitude and by example", the natives and nonbelievers to God's word "without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion, and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience."
Relations with the Lenape.
The arrival of the immigrants did not necessarily mean the departure of the indigenous people. There were fundamental differences in conceptions of property rights between the Europeans and the Lenape. The concept of ownership as understood by the "Swannekins", or "salt water people", was foreign to the "Wilden", or "natives". The exchange of gifts in the form of sewant or manufactured goods was perceived as trade agreement and defense alliance which included farming, hunting, and fishing rights. Often, the Indians did not vacate the property or reappeared as their migrational patterns dictated. The River Indians, such as the Wecquaesgeek, Hackensack, and Canarsee, within whose territories many European settlements were established, had regular and frequent contact with the New Netherlanders.
After the Dutch arrival in the 1620s, the Lenape were successful in restricting Dutch settlement until the 1660s to Pavonia in present-day Jersey City along the Hudson. The Lenape's quick adoption of trade goods, and their need to trap furs to meet high European demand, resulted in their disastrous over-harvesting of the beaver population in the lower Hudson Valley. With the fur resources exhausted, the Dutch shifted their operations to present-day upstate New York. While the Lenape produced wampum in the vicinity of Manhattan Island, temporarily forestalling the negative effects of this decline in trade,
Dutch settlers founded a colony at present-day Lewes, Delaware, on June 3, 1631, and named it "Zwaanendael" (Swan Valley). The colony had a short existence, as in 1632 a local band of Lenape Indians killed the 32 Dutch settlers after a misunderstanding escalated over Lenape defacement of the insignia of the Dutch West India Company. In 1634, the Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannock went to war with the Lenape over access to trade with the Dutch at New Amsterdam. They defeated the Lenape, and some scholars believe that the Lenape may have become tributaries to the Susquehannock.
Lenape population fell, due mostly to epidemics of infectious diseases carried by Europeans, such as measles and smallpox, to which they had no natural immunity.