Journals and Letters of William MacGillivray, English River.

This book is a handwritten copy of William MacGillivray's journals from 9 September 1789 - 13 June 1790; and from about 7 February - 14 June 1793; as well as his letters to Roderic Mckenzie from 21 July 1791 - 20 June 1792. In his writings he describes his travels to such places as Lac d'Orignal, Lac Froid, and on the Beaver River among other locations from Fort Isle a la Crosse and region to Le Pas; as well as to Riviere Maligne, Rat River, and other destinations. He mentions his trade-related encounters with many Indians, particularly the Knisteneaux (Cree) and Chipewyan, referring to a number of those he met by name.

Historical note:

The North West Company, a Canadian fur-trading company, was once the chief rival of the powerful Hudson's Bay Company. The company was founded in 1783 and enjoyed a rapid growth. It originally confined its operations to the Lake Superior region and the valleys of the Red, Assiniboine, and Saskatchewan rivers but later spread north and west to the shores of the Arctic and Pacific oceans. It even penetrated the area then known as the Oregon Country, where it constructed posts in what are now the U.S. states of Washington and Idaho. Its wilderness headquarters was located first at Grand Portage on Lake Superior and after 1805 at Fort William (also on Lake Superior, at the site of the present city of Thunder Bay, Ontario). Competition with the Hudson's Bay Company became especially intense when that company established the colony of Assiniboia on the Red River (in present-day Manitoba) in 1811-1812, across the North West Company's line of communications. A few years later, open conflict broke out, during which North West Company men destroyed the Red River colony (see Seven Oaks Massacre) and Hudson's Bay Company men destroyed the North West Company post of Fort Gibraltar (located on the site of modern Winnipeg, Manitoba) and captured Fort William. Under pressure from the British government, the old North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company were merged in 1821 under the name and charter of the latter company. The New North West Company, or XY Company, had a brief existence (1798-1804) as a competitor of the old North West Company before being absorbed by the latter. William MacGillivray, fur trader, (b. ca.1746 Stratherrick, Inverness-shire, Scotland - d. 1825 London, England) arrived in Canada in 1784 and entered the service of the North West Company as a clerk. In 1785-1786, he was in the Red River Department, and in 1786-87 he was in charge of the post at Lac Des Serpents, and, with Roderick McKenzie was mainly responsible for bringing about the union of the North West Company and the Gregory, McLeod Company in 1790, and a member of the firm of McTavish, Frobisher and Co in 1793. On the death of his uncle, Simon McTavish in 1804, he became the chief director of the North West Company. Fort William was named for him in 1807. He directed the policy of the North West Company in regard to the Selkirk settlement at the Red River, and in 1816 he was arrested by Lord Selkirk at Fort William and sent down to Canada for trial. With his brother Simon, he helped to negotiate the union of the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Company in 1821, and after the union he became one of the joint board for consulting and advising on the management of the fur-trade. He died in London in 1825.