Y is for York Factory

Full circle. York Factory, the fur trading headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Northern Department is where my novel, Rivers of Stone, began.

Catriona, disguised as a boy, and Dougal, her husband, landed here when the annual ship arrived from Britain late in the summer of 1842. 

They met an interesting array of historical personages, including James Hargrave, the Chief Factor, and his wife, Letitia, a gossipy letter-writer some 15 years younger than her husband, who has given us pretty clear pictures of what life was like at that isolated fur trading post.

Situated in the middle of Cree country, York Factory was near enough to Hudson's Bay to be affected by every storm that rose over its waters. In the winter, Polar bears and wolves scampered on the ice, hunting for unsuspecting sea otters. In the summer, this main supply depot was pretty much surrounded by marshland. Workers sank to their ankles in mud and had to walk five miles to gather firewood. Everyone dreaded the black flies and mosquitoes.

Letitia Hargrave described York Factory as surrounded by ". . . a desolate waste of green swamp grass and small scrub as far as the eye could see" (McGoogan 52).

York Factory in 1853 (Wikipedia)

By the 1840s, York Factory was an fenced outpost of some 30 buildings built of wood, with the main depot and guest houses in the center. Along each side, a hospital, doctor's house, bakehouse, cooperage, library, various fur and provisions stores, and quarters for officers and servants. In the center, the Company flag flapped from a tall pine (Newman 50).  

But the lives of those who lived there year round were complicated by boundaries of class and race. In the winter, Letitia Hargrave might dine with the 'gentlemen' and officers, but through the summer, when the men ate outside, she dined alone. 

James Hargrave had a piano brought for his new wife; she was rare, a European wife with a servant from the Orkney Islands in a land of country wives. In the earlier years of the fur trade era, such wives, both Metis and tribal, were prized. The marriages were arranged by the father of the young woman and the husband to be. Property was exchanged (typically horses), and the husband promised to honor his wife all his life (Brown 76). But gradually, such marriages were seen as an impediment to promotion by ambitious clerks far from home. 

Letitia befriended such a country wife and wrote of Mrs. Gladman that she had been 'married' when she was 12 to a Mr. Stewart: ". . . She was dragged out of her mother's room and sent away with him & he beat & maltreated her til life was a burden" (MacInnes). After nine years, Mr. Stewart left her, and she 'went with' Mr. Gladman. Letitia continues,  ". . . from what she says, the ladies here have a custom of smothering their babies" (MacInnes).  I've read elsewhere that some tribal families hid their daughters and/or their children when the traders visited.

Tomorrow marks the last day of the April A to Z Blogging Challenge, with an entry for the letter Z. I wonder what zat will be?

Some references: Peter C. Newman, An Illustrated History of the Hudson's Bay Company; Jennifer S. H. Brown, Strangers in Blood: Fur Trade Company Families in Indian Country; and Morag MacInnes, "Letitia Hargrave in the Nor'Wast," Frontiers Magazine. 

Another helpful read is Michael Payne's The Most Respectable Place in the Territory: Everyday Life in Hudson's Bay Company Service, York Factory, 1788 to 1870 (found at a used book store!).

November 1: NaNoWriMo begins . . .

How do we challenge ourselves to reach our goals?

National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, has officially begun.

My word count today = 510 words on Rivers of Stone, not bad at all for someone who routinely writes 250-300 words a day. My personal goal (as a NaNo rebel) is to write 10,000 words this month, far below the 50,000 words that is the norm for NaNoWriMo writers. But 10,000 words seems more than enough for me.

Today I finished reading Sylvia Van Kirk's Many Tender Ties: Women in Fur-Trade Society, 1670-1870 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1983). Van Kirk unveils how early fur traders across Canada and the northern United States benefited from marrying Native American women.

Letitia Hargrave (Wikipedia)

Dubbed 'country wives,' these women and their Métis children created a bridge between two divergent cultures. But once the Scottish chief traders began to bring Scottish wives with Victorian values to the wilderness, these native wives were ostracized, then accepted, and then ostracized again. Her book includes maps, excerpts from letters, and photographs which bring these stories to life. For the wilderness required usefulness in a way that a Victorian woman of a certain class, raised to shine genteelly in a drawing room, would not be prepared for.

At York Factory, for example, Hudson's Bay would freeze-up in October with Spring break-up allowing the passage of ships not until May -- 8 months of isolation. Letitia Hargrave, the Scottish wife of Chief Trader James Hargrave, had a piano at York Factory, servants, enjoyed wine, bore children, and wrote gossipy letters home to her large family -- a treasure today for researchers. But there are no letters from 'country wives.'

Read more of Letitia Hargrave's letters at the Champlain Society.
Check out NaNoWriMo and jump right in!.
Take a look at Sylvia Van Kirk's book, Many Tender Ties, at Amazon.

Have you taken the NaNoWriMo challenge? If yes, are you a NaNo rebel setting your own goals?

Here are two quite interesting articles to keep the writing steaming right along:

"Role Playing Tip #1: Being Angry" at Mind Weave Role-Playing Platform

Karen Woodward's post, "Creating Vivid Characters for NaNoWriMo"

Finding inspiration in images and research . . .

Each day begins with a little writing. First I open my daily log, note down questions I want to answer, and I stare at the images I've begun to collect. For each day begins with a little writing. Just a micro-scene that allows me to explore my characters. I know where the story is going, but I'm less sure of the supporting cast. Later, if there's time, I do some research for I'm drawn to the women of this time.

Letitia Hargrave (Wikipedia)

This week's discovery is two-fold. First, Letitia Hargrave. She was born in Edinburgh in 1814. Somehow she met James Hargrave, the Chief Factor who served the Hudson's Bay Company in upper Manitoba, at York Factory, the opening scene of Rivers of Stone.

When they married in 1840, Letitia was 27. They lived at York Factory from 1840 until 1851. Note that my Rivers of Stone begins at York Factory in 1842. She was one of the first English brides brought to Canada, and her gift is her letters, collected into a book in 1947.

Letitia Hargrave was a shrewd observer. The voice that emerges from these letters is of a woman with close ties to her family back 'home' who is discovering her new 'home' as the wife of a powerful man in very isolated upper Manitoba. So far, I've only found a few pages of her journal to read online; the book itself is not available at local libraries. But I did find one book, Recalling Early Canada, a formal study of letters and life, with one chapter devoted to Letitia. Just like chocolate ice cream!

Second treat this week: I was trolling online at the Spokane Public Library, actually renewing books, when their ad announced they've begun to digitize a few documents from their Northwest Room, a reference collection. Of course I can go there. It's just downtown, a ride of 20 minutes, throw a quarter or five into the parking meter, no pens allowed, and I could spend hours reading. Sounds like fun.

Dr. John McLoughlin (Whitman Mission)

But I found online the Journal of a Voyage from Fort Vancouver to York Factory Hudson's Bay 1841 by George T. Allan. This 34-page treat gives me Mr. Allan's recollections, recorded 50 years later, of this memorable trip. I have my maps out!

More names, more places. The intrepid and much-written-about Dr. John McLoughlin, Chief Factor of Fort Vancouver.

The Whitman Mission. The Oregon Treaty of 1846.

The plot thickens. My characters begin to find their way.

In what ways do images and research inform your writing?