Fraser (1808)
Fraser, Simon (1776-1862). Journal of a Voyage from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, Performed in the Year 1808. Facsimile of manuscript from the original in the Toronto Public Library. Edition of reproduction limited to 3 copies. [Toronto: 1967?].
Simon Fraser, an explorer and fur trader, was born in 1776 in Mapletown, Vermont. In 1792 he entered the service of the North West Company as an apprentice, and ten years later he was admitted as one of the partners of the firm.
In 1805 the North West Company entrusted Fraser with the mission to expand its commercial operations beyond the Rockies. In the autumn of that year he built Rocky Mountain Portage House at the eastern end of the Rocky Mountain River canyon and then, shortly afterwards, the Trout Lake post (Fort McLeod), the first permanent White settlement beyond the Rockies within the present borders of Canada. From May to August 1808, Fraser managed, at the cost of tremendous effort, to go down the river that now bears his name to its mouth and then to follow it back up. However, this accomplishment was of no use to the company, since the Fraser River turned out to be unusable as a trade route. Fraser for his part continued to be active in the fur trade until 1816, when he retired. He then did some farming near Saint Andrews, Ontario, until his death in 1862.
Few voyages of exploration surpassed Fraser's 1808 feat in danger and difficulty. As he put it at the time, "We were obliged to pass where no man should venture." Moreover, having put up the first permanent posts in the region, Fraser is regarded as the pioneer in the settlement of what is now the British Columbia mainland.
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