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C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

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Notes to Pages 95, 211 271Field Note for Friday 2 JulyDorrien Smith's field note for this date states that she had sold"$200 worth or more" <strong>of</strong> her sketches by 2 July. Vyvyan'saccounts, following the last dated entry in her field notes, showa record <strong>of</strong> sales; it is not known how complete this record is tothis point, but it shows sales to people met prior to their arrival<strong>and</strong> during their stay at Aklavik totalling $252.50 (226). (Inthe last chapter <strong>of</strong> her book, Vyvyan remembers the figure <strong>of</strong>$600 as the total sales made during <strong>and</strong> as a result <strong>of</strong> thejourney.) The young Richard Bonnycastle, in his diary entryfor 4June 1926, noted that Dorrien Smith also held a show <strong>of</strong>her work at the Macdonald Hotel in Edmonton: "the pictureswere really awfully good," he wrote. "Scenes in Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> onthe continent. They were marekd [sic] at prices from 7.50 to30.00 but I don't imagine they sold many at those pricesalthough they were probably worth it" (Diary). fu is clear fromher letters to her mother <strong>of</strong> 15 <strong>and</strong> 28 August, Vyvyan also triedto arrange a shoWing while the women were in Vancouver.arrived during his third arctic expedition suffering fromtyphoid fever. A fiercely outspoken opponent <strong>of</strong> missionarywork with Inuit, Stefansson was thought by Mrs Fry to have aworse bark than bite (Fleming 292).Born on the Magdalen Isl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> educated at DalhousieUniversity, William Archibald Geddes (1894-1947) began hisarctic ministry in 1920, serving the first eight years at HerschelIsl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Shingle Point. He was present at the hanging <strong>of</strong>Tatamagana <strong>and</strong> Aligoomiak at Herschel Isl<strong>and</strong> on 1 February1924 (Frank Peake, The Bishop 145; Steele 241). Ayear aftermeeting Vyvyan <strong>and</strong> Dorrien Smith, Geddes was appointedarchdeacon <strong>of</strong> Yukon Diocese. Eventually, he rose to bishop <strong>of</strong>Mackenzie River <strong>and</strong> bishop <strong>of</strong> the Yukon (Frank Peake. TheBishop 147n).CHAPTER 15: PRELUDE TO ADVENTURE(5-8 JULY)Field Note for Saturday 3JulyAll very down on HBC's methods in last years surly to own<strong>cu</strong>stomers + keep free Traders outProbably owing to all the help given her by the HBC, Vyvy<strong>and</strong>id not publish this negative view <strong>of</strong> the company in the 1920s,but it is known to have been widespread. It is echoed byRichard Bonnycastle (1903-68), an HBC employee who wouldbe appointed district manager <strong>of</strong> the western Arctic on 29June1928 (Bonnycastle, Gentleman 97). In his diary, written as hesteamed on the Distributor to Aklavik two summers after Vyvyan<strong>and</strong> Dorrien Smith, he observed that "the average traveller inthe country resents the cheeky attitude <strong>of</strong> the Company clerks<strong>and</strong> other employees who think they are salt <strong>of</strong> the earth.Nothing puts the backs <strong>of</strong> the white population up more thanthis because they are powerless to do anything against theCompany. It is easy for Company employees, safe in the fold,to take such an attitude" (Gentleman 25).Field Note for Sunday 4- JulyMr Fry ... Mr GeddesRev W.H. Fry <strong>and</strong> his wife served at the Anglican missions atHerschel Isl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aklavik. When he visited Herschel in April1919, Archdeacon Hudson Stuck praised Fry for his interest inarctic exploration (Stuck, Winter 326). In the same year, MrsFry nursed Vilhjalmur Stefansson back to health when heIn their initial encounter with the Rat River, Vyvyan seems,according to her field notes, to be more aware <strong>of</strong> the wildlife.the mosquitoes, <strong>and</strong> the rain than <strong>of</strong> the lonely sensation <strong>of</strong> themotor boat's departure, leaving them "completely at themercy" <strong>of</strong> the guides (89). The field notes for the days prior totheir departure are unpeopled by old-timers <strong>and</strong> the forebodingsabout the women's doom, while the sense <strong>of</strong> being "undera spell" in "a magic world" <strong>of</strong> "hippogriff or a dinosaur" orother miracles, on the threshold <strong>of</strong> "magiC adventure," <strong>and</strong>accompanied by a guide with "an almost mystical union with hisown country," also seems to be a function <strong>of</strong>Vyvyan's retrospectivere-telling <strong>of</strong> the adventure. fu a prelude to theadventure, however, this chapter's shift in tone from the fieldnotes sets the stage for an ex<strong>cu</strong>rsion into a world unlikeanything Vyvyan <strong>and</strong> Dorden Smith had ever known.she hopped downstairs <strong>and</strong> out to see the Pioneer, aNorthern Trading vesselDorrien Smith's field note for 5 July confirms that Dr Cook<strong>cu</strong>t her leg out <strong>of</strong> its plaster <strong>of</strong> Paris cast, freeing her to moveabout <strong>and</strong> make some sketches.Rival to the HBC <strong>and</strong> Lamson <strong>and</strong> Hubbard. theEdmonton-based Northern Trading Company operated from1913 to 1925. At its height, it captured an estimated fourteenper cent <strong>of</strong> the fur in the Mackenzie district. FinanCially

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