Paul Kane's Journal of his Western Travels, 1846-1848 - History and ...

a unique construction, made entirely of wood, held together by
leather strips. Easily repaired, a Red River cart had two high,
deeply dished wheels that made it stable, even in mud and
marsh. The combination in moving parts of wood and leather
made the cart a very noisy machine, but such materials also
made the cart a solid, buoyant raft and a transporter capable of
loads as great as 1000 pounds (450 kilograms). The carts were
hooked up to a pony or ox by two shafts attached to the axle.
Richerdsion/Richerdson, Sur John Sir John Richardson
(1787- 1865) explored the Arctic for the North West Passage
with Franklin in 1819- 1822 and again in 1824- 1826. In June,
1848, he was traveling north again, this time to search for his
missing corruade, whose expedition of 1845 seemed to have
disappeared. Heading north by way of the fur trade route,
Richardson planned to scour the northern coast of the continent.
Of coincidental interest is the fact that Richardson had spent the
entire winter of 1819-1820, during the first Franklin expedition,
at Cumberland House, near where Kane meets him.
river Le PIne/River Ie PIuie Rainy River, the modem border
between Ontario and Minnesota, runs from Rainy Lake to Lake
of the Woods. It was thought by traders to be one of the prettiest
watercourses on the route, but because modem travelers sometimes
find it monotonous, the traders' judgment may well be
ascribed to the fact that the river's I ~mile length required no
portages or other interruptions.
River MaIane Maligne River is the name of the watercourse
between Sturgeon Lake and Lac La Croix (in present-day
Quetico Provincial Park) that served the fur trade after 1830 in
the complex and circuitous stretch over the height of land
between the Lake Superior and Lake Winnipeg watersheds.
River Naloin Another riviere maligne, this one seems to be
Kane's reference to a point on the Winnipeg River where an
island fonns two channels, whose more common names were,
simply, the River and Blanche River. The latter name came
from the color given the channel by all its rapids and ledges.
Kane's brigade apparently passed up Blanche River. On any
given day, almost any river on the fur trade route, except
perhaps Rainy River, could have garnered the epithet of riviere
maligne from weary voyageurs. Naloin is probably Kane's
attempt at the word, Maligne. WA erroneously offers
"Malaine" (314), likely a phonetic transcription of the word
intended. by Kane.
river S! Martin See Rapped St. Marton.
River Tuch3/tbe Tush8y The Touchet River, in southeastern
Washington state, is a tributary of the Walla Walla River. South
of the lower Snake River, its channel mirrors that of the Snake as
it flows in a southwesterly direction to meet the Walla Walla
several miles inland from the Columbia River.
River Winapeg See Winepeg River.
Roches Brules Kane means Rocher Bnile portage, on the lower
Winnipeg River, nine miles upriver of Barrier Falls (see
Barriere portage) and one mile below Pointe des Bois (see
Point of Woock).
R~, Mr. Chief Factor Donald Ross (17'n? - 1852) was stationed
at Norway House from 1830 until 1851. Kane appears to have
enjoyed his company during his two five-week stays there, in
1846 and again in 1848. Ross, who had served for seven years as
The American Art lournal/ Volume XXI • Number 2
Paul Kane. DONALD ROSS, CHIEF FACTOR, NORWAY HOUSE.
August 13, 1846. Oil on paper, 7 x 6". Collection, British
Columbia Archives and Records Service, Victoria, British
Columbia, Canada.
Governor Simpson's secretary prior to the posting to Norway
House, was particularly active, not only because the Northern
COWlcil of the HBC held its annual meeting at his post, but also
because Wesleyan Methodist missionaries made their mission
(Rossville) at Playgreen Lake a sort of northern center for their
activities. Not swprisingly, Governor Simpson assessed him
favorably in his "Character Book" as a "very steady regular
well behaved man .... Bears an excellent private character, is
quite a man of his woni, and qualified to become useful in the
direction of the business" (198). Kane's high regard for Ross
seems to be reflected in the fact that his is the only portrait of a fur
trade factor Kane painted during his trip.
Rowand MJ: Joining the North West Company at age sixteen,
John Rowand (c. 1787 -1854) became a Chief Trader in the
HBC at the time of the companies' merger (1821). He rose to
head the Saskatchewan Department in 1823. For the next thirty
years, Rowand built Fort Edmonton into not only the district's
hub, from which fws were shipped annually to York Factory on
Hudson Bay, but also, once Rowand convinced Governor
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