Sailing with Vancouver
One man retraces the ancient voyages of Captain Vancouver alone in his sailboat in this updated edition of a classic travelogue.
As Sam McKinney retraced the explorations of Captain George Vancouver and his men from Puget Sound to Queen Charlotte Sound he wondered, "Could I have been one of them?"
In the 1790s, Vancouver’s crew rowed for long hours …
John Rae's Arctic Correspondence, 1844-1855
Although Arctic explorer and Hudson Bay Company surveyor John Rae (1813–1893) travelled and recorded the final uncharted sections of the Northwest Passage, he is best known for his controversial discovery of the fate of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845. Based on evidence given to him by local Inuit, Rae determined that Franklin’s crew had r …
The Land of Heart's Delight
Shortlisted for the 2014 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize
Shortlisted for a 2014 BC Book Prize
Finalist for the Lieutenant-Governor's Medal for Historical Writing
Just how, and why, did Vancouver Island get onto the map? How was knowledge of our immediate geography acquired and recorded? With 130 maps, dating between 1593 and 1915, this cartograph …
The Discovery of a Northwest Passage
For centuries, colonial powers searched for a sea passage that would link the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The route, known as the Northwest Passage, would cut thousands of miles from sea travel and open up commercial trade to and from Asia. There were numerous expeditions to find the passage, though none successful. It was while searching for one of …
The Discovery of a Northwest Passage
For centuries, colonial powers searched for a sea passage that would link the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The route, known as the Northwest Passage, would cut thousands of miles from sea travel and open up commercial trade to and from Asia. There were numerous expeditions to find the passage, though none successful. It was while searching for one of …
The Arctic Journals of John Rae
Scottish doctor and explorer John Rae is a controversial figure in the history of the Arctic. He began his career with the Hudson's Bay Company as a surgeon in Moose Factory, Ontario, where he learned to survey, live off the land, and travel great distances on snowshoes. These skills served him well when, in 1846, he was charged with completing the …