The Nor'Westers: The Fight for the Fur Trade

Elizabeth Fisher is a former elementary-school principal in Toronto, who
spent 10 years as a teacher-librarian.

The Nor’Westers is a stirring, well-written account of the men who
created the North West Company, a company that set out to expand not
only the fur trade but also the knowledge of the vast unknown lands of
Northwest Canada. Determined to make a success of their new endeavor,
the Nor’Westers challenged the powerful Hudson Bay Company, at one
point attempting to have the that company’s monopoly revoked by the
British Parliament.

Campbell vividly portrays the entrepreneurs who planned and invested in
the company, the voyageurs who paddled and carried the mighty canoes
westward, and the Indians who worked with them along the routes. She
acknowledges the contributions of explorer Alexander Mackenzie and
geographer David Thompson, who opened up and detailed the areas of the
Northwest. Looking at the map of the trade routes, the reader cannot
help but be impressed by the vision and stamina of the Nor’Westers.
Highly recommended.