This unprecedented volume about British Columbia's earliest authors and first explorers (prior to 1800) provides a fascinating range of characters, events and intrigues. The names Cook and Quadra ring a bell for most of us, as do Bering and Vancouver, but what about the first year-round European resident of B.C, the Irish drunkard John Mackay? He voluntarily wintered at Nootka Sound in 1786 well before the more famous John Jewitt became the so-called “white slave” of Chief Maquinna in 1803. A year later the first European woman to visit and write about British Columbia was the 18-year-old bride Frances Barkley. She circumnavigated the globe with her husband after making a lasting impression at Friendly Cove with her long red hair in 1787. And how much do we know about the Greek-born navigator Juan de Fuca? Or the Machiavelli of the maritime fur trade, John Meares?
More than 50 pre-19th century characters are presented – each with their own entry and bibliography. A few unlikely inclusions are French philosopher Denis Diderot and Jonathan Swift whose second volume of Gulliver's Travels is situated in a region roughly equivalent to British Columbia. Alan Twigg has researched and skilfully introduced the first people to write about the west coast of Canada, provided extracts, gathered images, taken photographs and let the composite story unravel like a mini-series. First Invaders concludes with Alexander Mackenzie and his overland trek to the Pacific in 1793, after providing ample coverage of the many lesser-known Spaniards and Americans who arrived in the wake of Captain James Cook in 1778—and Captain Juan Pérez, the ‘discoverer' of British Columbia, in 1774.
$24.95 1-55380-018-4
Some responses to First Invaders: The Literary Origins of British Columbia, Vol. 1 (Ronsdale, 2004).
“There is absolutely no substitute for this panorama of our shared beginnings.” --Mark Forsythe, CBC Almanac
"First Invaders is the most enjoyable book on B.C. history that I have read for years." -- Jim Christy, Georgia Straight
"First Invaders is a treasure trove of little-known information. -- Robert J. Wiersema, Quill & Quire
"Engrossing... It's hard to imagine anyone better qualified to undertake the project than Twigg." -- David Colterjohn, Vancouver Sun
"Fascinating historical accounts" -- Campbell River Mirror
"Fascinating... Studded with scads of maps and illustrations... A reference book even impecunious students afford." -- Lynne Van Luven, Times Colonist
"I got lost and found in it." -- Edith Iglauer, author of Fishing with John
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Thompson's Highway: British Columbia 's Fur Trade, 1800–1850
The Literary Origins of British Columbia, Vol. 3 (Ronsdale Press)
For his third volume about B.C. literary history, Alan Twigg traces the writings of David Thompson, Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser and thirty of their peers, mainly Scotsmen, who founded and managed more than fifty forts west of the Rockies prior to 1850. This lively and unprecedented panorama introduces remarkable but little-known characters such as the wandering artist Paul Kane; the spy Henry James Warre; the botanist David Douglas; the “white slave of the Nootka,” John Jewitt; the devout Christian Daniel Harmon; and John D'Wolf (Herman Melville's uncle), the inspiration for Moby Dick .
With many b/w photos and a detailed inventory of fifty forts, Thompson's Highway also anticipates a wide range of bi-centennial events to mark David Thompson's discovery of the Columbia River, near Golden, B.C., in 1807. After the failure of Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser to find a navigable route to the Pacific Ocean, it was the remarkable mapmaker, David Thompson, who was most instrumental in creating the “highway” for commerce that connected both sides of the North American continent. Thompson's explorations and mapping enabled George Simpson, the “Little Emperor” of the Hudson's Bay Company, and James Douglas, the founding father of the province, to finally bring viability to the corporate fur trade on the so-called Western Slope, ultimately giving rise to British Columbia.
The first two volumes in this series are First Invaders (Ronsdale, 2004) and Aboriginality (Ronsdale, 2005).
$24.95
ISBN-10: 1-55380-039-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-55380-039-2
6 x 9 250 pp trade paper
BISAC: HIS006000, REF009000
6 X 9 230 pp 60 b&w photos & maps
Trade paper
Price $21.95 CDN $18.95 US
History, Literary Reference, Pacific Northwest Coast
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