Figures, Maps, and Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 The North West Passage by Land
2 Managing a New Region
3 George Simpson and a New Pacific Commerce
4 Nature Here Demands Attention
5 From Fort Vancouver to the Vermilion Sea
6 The North West Coast
7 New Markets for New Exports
8 Columbia Country Produce
9 Beyond the Mere Traffic in Peltries
10 Crisis in the Fur Trade
11 Simpson's Reorganization
12 The Native Foundation of Trade and Labour
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Using complex data from Company records, and extensive unpublished correspondence, as well as reports, contemporary accounts, and unpublished memoirs, Mackie takes us on an in-depth historical tour of the Columbia Department's multifaceted Pacific Coast operations. We are introduced to the fur trade, the overland transportation and trade system, the coastal carrying trade, and a wide variety of economic activities literally "beyond the fur trade" that gave the Hudson's Bay Company economic diversification in an age of staple dependencies ... No study to date has provided such depth.
Richard Somerset Mackie has an MA (Hons) in Mediaeval and Modern History from the University of St. Andrews. He is publisher and editor of The Ormsby Review in Vancouver.
Trading Beyond the Mountains is an overview of the development and
expansion of trade by the Hudson’s Bay Company before the
establishment of Fort Victoria. Well written and well researched,
it is not a history of forts and people, but of HBC policy in the
Columbia District and the evolution of its non fur-trade
enterprises such as lumber and salmon-fishing.
*Discovery Magazine*
By 1840 the company had developed an integrated commercial economy
in this huge area and had virtually destroyed American competition.
Individual American trappers and traders could not match HBC
capital and organization.
*Economic History*
Trading Beyond the Mountains is meticulously researched and
annotated, and supported with maps, tables and a massive
bibliography of primary and secondary materials, published and
unpublished.
*Journal of Pacific History*
Mackie has delved into obscure and little-known documents to
produce a comprehensive study of an unknown period of our
history.
*Comox Valley Echo*
Trading Beyond the Mountains … will hopefully initiate a
much-needed reevaluation of the role played by the Hudson’s Bay
Company in the history of Western North America.
*Business History Review*
What role did Natives play in the Company’s commerce? Recognizing
the existence of a Native exchange system featuring haiqua (shells)
and slaves, Mackie sees the Company as committed to fitting into
it.
*BC Studies*
Over these five decades, Mackie argues that the economic
development of the region was dramatic: in 1793 commerce consisted
primarily of a riverine fur trade; by 1843 the region possessed the
rudimentary elements of a commercial economy, including established
trade routes, export trades, local markets, and a large and cheap
labour supply.
*B.C. Historical News*
Trading Beyond the Mountains is a significant contribution to the
emerging national meta-narrative.
*Labour/ Le Travail*
Trading Beyond the Mountains ... includes an important chapter
on Native peoples’ (including slaves’) fundamental role in labour
and trade practices.
*The Canadian Historical Review*
Mackie produce[s] a well-balanced and orderly account of the
British fur trade across a huge area of the North American
continent.
*Journal of Imperial & Commonwealth History*
Mackie covers his selected topic in an engaging, highly readable,
and beautifully illustrated book … This is a welcome addition to
the literature of commercial policy and history of the Pacific west
coast.
*Native Studies Review*
This [is] exceptionally well documented history.
*Choice*
Richard Mackie’s Trading Beyond the Mountains is a milestone study
of the Hudson’s Bay Company. It is a fresh approach to an old
subject and is based in thoroughly modern research. It should be
read by anyone interested in the history of the fur trade or the
early history of the Canadian or American West.
*Letters in Canada*
This solid, narrative-based historical geography should become the
standard bearer on the origins and evolution of the eighteenth- and
nineteenth century British fur trade in the Pacific Northwest.
*Oregon Historical Quarterly*
Fluently written, abundantly documented, and supplemented with
numerous informative and beautifully crafted maps, Mackie’s
portrayal of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s dynamic and multifaceted
Pacific economy leaves a strong impression…
*Pacific Historical Review*
...an excellent and readable book [that] belongs in the library of
every historian and historical geographer with interest in western
North America.
*Journal of Historical Geography*
The book [Trading Beyond the Mountains] is a magisterial history of
commerce … The interpretation is illuminating, and accordingly,
every student of the northeast Pacific’s history should read this
book.
*Alaska History*
Richard Mackie has made an important contribution, and this work is
an essential acquisition for the libraries of scholars with an
interest in the maritime fur trade, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and
the region.
*The American Neptune*
Trading Beyond the Mountains breaks new ground in documenting the
scale and diversity of commercial operations by the Hudson’s Bay
Company.
*Booknews*
This book will prove extremely useful for anyone seeking
information on the HBC’s business in the western part of its
territory.
*The Canadian Historical Review*
This book is an important contribution to western historiography,
and it will have a long shelf life as a reference work.
*Albion*
This book is an original account, splendidly researched, of a
neglected period in west coast economic history.
*The Beaver*
An exemplary study – thoroughly researched, clearly written, and
voluminous…
*Canadian Journal of Native Studies*
A fascinating look at the history of economic development in the
Pacific Northwest.
*Books on Canada*
This well-timed narrative provides the first clear account not only
of the economic origins of British Columbia but also of the
maritime adventures of what had become the largest private
landowner in the world
*English Historical Review*
Trading Beyond the Mountains is a thoroughly researched and
comprehensive history of five decades of the fur trade … clearly
written and well documented …. an excellent resource for students
and those interested in the fur trade.
*Comox Valley Record*
Trading Beyond the Mountains provides a long overdue examination of
the activities of the NWC and HBC as they expanded into territories
lying west of the Rocky Mountains.
*Musings*
The author weaves a detailed account of the scale and scope of the
Hudson’s Bay Company’s diverse commercial operations in the region
and the expansion of their activities along the Pacific coast of
North America.
*Canadian Book Review Annual*
This is not simply a history of the fur trade. Mackie presents a
picture of the HBC as a dynamic, flexible commercial enterprise,
devising strategies to defeat American competitors and expand trade
into new commodities and new areas … The book is a valuable
addition to scholarship.
*British Journal of Canadian Studies*
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