This Blessed Wilderness: Archibald McDonald's Letters from the Columbia, 1822-44

A.A. den Otter is a professor of history at the Memorial University of
Newfoundland in St. John’s. He is the author of The Philosophy of
Railways.

The author of this collection of correspondence, Archibald McDonald, was
a very prominent Hudson’s Bay Company officer in the Columbia
District. Prior to his posting in the Pacific Northwest, he was Lord
Selkirk’s lieutenant and spent one summer in the Red River settlement.
In 1820, he joined the Hudson’s Bay Company and spent a year at
Оsle-а-la-Crosse. A year later, after the merger of the Hudson’s Bay
and North West companies, McDonald moved across the Rockies to the
Columbia District to prepare an inventory of goods held at the various
posts. He remained in the district as an accountant in Fort George. In
1826, the company sent him to a post in southern British Columbia where
he explored the Thompson River and prepared a valuable map of the
region. Two years later, the company appointed him chief trader at Fort
Langley and in 1833 posted him at Fort Nisqually.

Another two years later, after a year-long furlough in England,
McDonald returned to the Columbia District to manage Fort Colvile, an
important agricultural post. He became a chief factor in 1841 and
retired to the Montreal area in 1844. Until his death in 1853, McDonald
farmed and was active in local affairs and provincial politics.

McDonald’s correspondence, capably collected, edited, and annotated
by Jean Murray Cole, provides an invaluable insight into the fur trade
and early agricultural era in the Columbia District. A keen observer of
society, including that of the Aboriginal peoples, a collector of flora
and fauna, and an avid correspondent with a number of British museums,
McDonald documented a wide spectrum of activities. Scholars will find
the collection a rich source on a wide range of subjects. Moreover, the
letters are nicely indexed.