Ian Beardsell's Reviews > The Pathfinder: A.C. Anderson's Journeys in the West

I had read this book once before some years ago, but appreciated it even more so now having recently read about other BC explorers.

Nancy Marguerite Anderson is an actual descendant of her historical subject, A.C. Anderson, who worked for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in the middle of the 19th century throughout the Pacific Northwest region of New Caledonia and Oregon Territory. This was an interesting turning point in the history of the fur trade, when most of the new areas had been explored and forts and trading posts mostly well established. However, with the border settlement between Canada and the US in the mid 1800s, the HBC found themselves needing to abandon their outposts on the Columbia River south of the 49th parallel, and figure out how to get furs from the interior of what was becoming British Columbia, to their post at the outlet of the Fraser River at Fort Langley. The task fell to AC Anderson, who was already by then quite experienced with the geography of the area and having held various senior positions in many of its fur trading posts.

Although not as well hailed as the travels of Alexander Mackenzie or David Thompson, Anderson's helped to open up various routes that later were the basis of our roads and highways in the 20th century. He lived a very interesting life in the fur trade, married a half-indian woman (as many traders did), and raised a large family, which followed him from place to place. At the end of his HBC career, he eventually settled in the Victoria area and was on good terms with BC's first colonial governor and old colleague from the HBC, James Douglas, who connected Anderson into government roles, such as a member of the Indian Reserve Commission and Fisheries Inspector in the later 1800s.

I love putting the pieces of local history together, and relying on the account of a local BC author with an actual ancestral connection to a key historical figure is a wonderful way to do it!