Simon Fraser (explorer)

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Simon Fraser
Pre-1825 portrait of Fraser
Born20 May 1776
DiedAugust 18, 1862(1862-08-18) (aged 86)
Occupations
SpouseCatherine McDonell
ChildrenNine altogether, one died at infancy
Parent(s)Isabella Grant and Simon Fraser II

Simon Fraser (20 May 1776 – 18 August 1862) was a Canadian explorer and

fur trader who charted much of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia
. He also built the first European settlement in British Columbia.

Employed by the

knighthood but declined the title due to his limited wealth."[1]

Early life

This historic marker is located in front of Fraser's birthplace home. The home is still standing in Mapletown, NY, one-half mile north of NY Route 7 on Rensselaer County of Mapletown, Hoosick, New York.[2]

Fraser was born on 20 May 1776 in the village of Mapletown,

Frasers of Lovat.[4]

Simon's father came with his regiment to

district.

Fur trade

In 1789 at the age of 14, Fraser moved to Montreal for additional schooling, where two of his uncles were active in the fur trade, in which his kinsman, Simon McTavish, was the undisputed leading figure. In 1790, he was apprenticed to the North West Company.

Exploration west of the Rockies

In 1789, the North West Company had commissioned Alexander Mackenzie to find a navigable river route to the Pacific Ocean. The route he discovered in 1793 — ascending the West Road River and descending the Bella Coola River — opened up new sources of fur but proved to be too difficult to be practicable as a trading route to the Pacific. Fraser was given responsibility for extending operations to the country west of the Rockies in 1805. Mackenzie’s expeditions had been primarily reconnaissance trips, while Fraser’s assignment, by contrast, reflected a definite decision to build trading posts and take possession of the country, as well as to explore travel routes.

Ascending the Peace River and establishing posts

In the autumn of 1805, Fraser began ascending the

Fraser Lake. Later the two men would build another post there which is now known as Fort Fraser. Fraser later sent the expedition's logbook keeper, Jules-Maurice Quesnel
, up the river at the forks to see what was there and ended up naming the river after him aka the Quesnel River and lake.

Delays and the founding of Fort George (Prince George)

Fraser had found out from the Indigenous people that the Fraser River, the route by which Mackenzie had ascended the West Road River, could be reached by descending the

Robert Gray
.

Unfortunately, Fraser's plan to begin the journey in 1806 had to be abandoned due to a lack of men and supplies as well as the occurrence of local famine. Fraser would not be resupplied until the autumn of 1807, meaning that his journey could not be undertaken until the following spring. In the interval, Fraser contented himself with a journey to the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers. There he established a new post named Fort George (now known as Prince George), which would become the starting point for his trip downstream.

Descending the Fraser River

From the outset, the aboriginal inhabitants warned Fraser that the river below was nearly impassable. A party of twenty-four left Fort George in four canoes on May 28, 1808. They passed the West Road River where Mackenzie had turned west and on the first of June ran the rapids of the

Hells Gate). On the 28th they left the Fraser Canyon near Yale
where the river becomes navigable. Escorted by friendly Indigenous people and well-fed on salmon, they reached the sea on the second of July. Fraser took the latitude as 49°. Since he knew that the mouth of the Columbia was at 46° it was clear that the river he was following was not the Columbia.

Fraser proved adept at establishing friendly relations with the tribes he met, being careful to have them send word to tribes downstream of his impending arrival and good intentions. For the most part, this tactic was effective, but Fraser encountered a hostile reception by the

Musqueam people as he approached the lower reaches of the river at present-day Vancouver. Their hostile pursuit of Fraser and his men meant that he was unable to get more than a glimpse of the Strait of Georgia on July 2, 1808. A dispute with the neighboring Kwantlen people led to a pursuit of Fraser and his men that was only broken off near present-day Hope
.

Returning to Fort George proved to be an even more perilous exercise, as the hostility Fraser and his crew encountered from the aboriginal communities near the mouth of the river spread upstream. The ongoing hostility and threats to the lives of the Europeans resulted in a near mutiny by Fraser's crew, who wanted to escape overland. Quelling the revolt, Fraser and his men continued north upstream from present-day Yale, arriving in Fort George on August 6, 1808. The journey upstream took thirty-seven days. In total it took Fraser and his crew 2+12 months to travel from Fort George to Musqueam and back.

Fraser and the Battle of Seven Oaks

Fraser was just thirty-two years old when he completed the establishment of a permanent European settlement in

Battle of Seven Oaks in June 1816, resulting in the death of the colony's governor, Robert Semple
, and nineteen others. Though not involved in the attack, Fraser was one of the partners arrested by Lord Selkirk at Fort William. He was taken in September to Montreal where he was promptly released on bail. Fraser was back at Fort William in 1817 when the North West Company regained possession of the post, but this was evidently his last appearance in the fur trade. The following year, Fraser and five other partners were acquitted of all charges related to the incident in the dead colony.

Later life

Fraser settled on land near present-day

Rebellions of 1837. According to historian Alexander Begg, Fraser "was offered a knighthood but declined the title due to his limited wealth."[1]

He had nine children altogether; one died in infancy. Fraser was one of the last surviving partners of the North West Company when he died on August 18, 1862. His wife died the next day, and they were buried in a single grave in the

Roman Catholic cemetery at St. Andrew's West. Begg quotes Sandford Fleming in an address to the Royal Society of Canada
in 1889 as saying that Fraser died poor.

An account of Fraser's explorations can be found in his published journals: W. Kaye Lamb, The Letters and Journals of Simon Fraser, 1806-1808. Toronto, The MacMillan Company of Canada Limited, 1960.

List of British Columbia communities founded by Fraser

List of place names, institutions and other named for Fraser

New Westminster, British Columbia

References

  1. ^ a b History of British Columbia from its earliest discovery to the present time, p. 97 Archived 2011-05-27 at the Wayback Machine, Alexander Begg, publ. William Briggs, Toronto, 1894. In 1965, a university was built and named Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Today, the university has three campuses within Metro Vancouver (Surrey, Vancouver and Burnaby).
  2. ^ a b c "Simon Fraser, the Explorer". Archived from the original on 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
  3. ^ Family of Simon Fraser
  4. ^ THE FRASERS OF GUISACHAN
  5. ^ http://www.canadianrosesociety.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=55 Simon Fraser rose

External links