The Lifeline of the Oregon Country: The Fraser-Columbia Brigade System, 1811-47 [Paperback]

James R. Gibson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998

In The Lifeline of the Oregon Country, James Gibson compellingly immerses the reader in one of the most intractable problems faced by the Hudson’s Bay Company: how to realize wealth from such a remote and formidable land. The personalities, places, obstacles, and operations involved in the brigade system are all described in fascinating detail, stretch by stretch from Fort St. James, the depot of New Caledonia on the upper reaches of the Fraser River, to Fort Vancouver, the Columbia Department’s entrepôt on the lower Columbia River, and back. Never before has such a rich collection of primary information concerning the fur trade supply system and the constraining role of logistics been so meticulously assembled. The Lifeline of the Oregon Country will prove indispensable to historians, researchers, and fur trade enthusiasts alike, and is an important contribution to our understanding of the economic history of the Pacific Slope.

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About the Author

James R. Gibson is a historical geographer at York University. He is the author of the award-winning Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: The Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast 1785-1841 (1992), as well as of Imperial Russia in Frontier America: The Changing Geography of Supply of Russian America 1784-1867 (1978), and Farming the Frontier: The Agricultural Opening of the Oregon Country 1786-1846 (1984).

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0774806435
• ISBN-13: 978-0774806435
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,869,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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