Hind (1858)
Hind, Henry Youle (1823-1908). Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857, and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860.
|
|
|
In the middle of the nineteenth century, the vast British territories west of the Great Lakes were under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company, which had the monopoly of the fur trade. Starting in the early 1850s, a growing number of politicians from Upper Canada came to demand the annexation of these territories. However, there was hardly any information about the geography, geology or resources of the plains. In 1847 the government of the Province of Canada decided to send an expedition with the mission to explore the route to Red River (Manitoba) and study the opportunities for farming in the region. George Gladman, a retired fur trader, was chosen to lead the expedition; he was accompanied by Simon James Dawson, an engineer, and Henry Youle Hind, a geologist and naturalist.
Born in Nottingham, England, in 1823, Hind studied at Queen's College, Cambridge, before emigrating to Toronto in 1846. He first taught chemistry and mathematics at the teachers' training college and then, in 1853, became professor of chemistry and geology at the University of Trinity College, a position he still held when he was chosen as a member of the 1857 expedition. However, the instructions given to Gladman, Hind and Dawson were unclear, which led to a poisoning of the relations between Gladman on the one hand and Hind and Dawson on the other. When a second expedition was organized in 1858 with the mission to continue the work of the first, while pushing on to the Saskatchewan River, Hind and Dawson were chosen as leaders.
In later years, while continuing his teaching career, Hind was again hired by the government to make geological assessments, notably in Labrador in 1861, New Brunswick in 1864, and Nova Scotia from 1869 to 1871. Hind died in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in August 1908. In addition to his account of the 1857 and 1858 expeditions, he wrote several works on geology, the natural sciences and agriculture.
Alphabetical Navigation
|
Chronological Navigation
|
|
