Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Laurence, Through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans; In the Years 1789 and 1793. With a Preliminary Account of the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Fur Trade of that Country.

Mackenzie, Alexander, Sir. Philadelphia, PA: John Morgan, 1802.
  • 1789-93 Overland Voyages of Mackenzie Exploring the Far North.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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Mackenzie was the first white man to cross the Rockies, discover the river named for him, following it to the Arctic Ocean, and to write the early history of the fur trade.

In the Days of the Red River Rebellion.

McDougall, John. Toronto: Briggs, 1903.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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p. 26-27, winter of 1868-69 near Edmondton: Most of our reading was done by the time tallow dip or chimney fire; our literature was limited, and of the ancient type; one thousand miles to the nearest post gave us very little trouble with our mail.

A Voyage to the Arctic in the Whaler Aurora

Lindsay, David Moore. Boston: Dana Estes, 1911.
  • 1884 Whaling Voyage to Greenland (aboard Aurora).
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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This voyage was in 1884 to Greenland fisheries via Newfoundland. His introduction is prescient: I cannot imagine it being read by many, as the subject can only interest a few who have themselves gone down to the sea in ships. (p. 11). Lindsay was a lively reader but more in retrospect than in this book.

The Barren Grounds of Northern Canada.

Pike, Warburton. London: Macmillan, 1892.
  • 1889-91 Canadian Overland Journey to Barron Grounds by Warburton Pike.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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An 1889-91 trip from Edmonton to Athabasca and the barren grounds in search of caribou and musk-ox. Pike nearly starved on Peace River in 1891.

Through the Mackenzie Basin: A Narrative of the Athabasca and Peace River Treaty Expedition of 1899…. Also Notes on the Mammals and Birds of Northern Canada.

Mair, Charles. By Roderick MacFarlane. Toronto: William Briggs, 1908.
  • 1899 British Athabasca and Peace River Treaty Expedition of 1899.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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p. 5-7, where the Preface provides a good introduction to the expedition and this book: The literature descriptive of Northern Canada, from the days of Hearne and Mackenzie to those of Tyrrell and Hanbury, is by no means scanty. A copious bibliography might be compiled of the records of its exploration with a view to trade, science, or sport, particularly in recent years; whilst the accounts of the search for Sir John Franklin furnish no inconsiderable portion of such productions in the past. These books are more or less available in our Public Libraries, and, at any rate, do not enter into consideration here. Such records, however, furnished almost our sole knowledge of the Northern Territories until the year 1888, when the first earnest effort of the Canadian Parliament was made "to inquire into the resources of the great Mackenzie Basin." …

The Remarkable History of the Hudson’s Bay Company Including that of the French Traders of North-Western Canada and of the North-West, XY, and Astor Fur Companies.

Bryce, George. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1900.
  • Hudson's Bay Company.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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A general history of the Company from the seventeenth century until the end of the Reil Rebellion until after 1870 and the Company’s “great prospect” at the beginning of the twentieth century. He tries to recount with fairness the problems of the Company, its dubious Charter, the feud with Dobbs over Hudson Bay as the route to the NW Passage, problems with both Catholics and the metis, but he is too pro-British and anti-Catholic to be totally convincing. But he does show the urbane education and wide reading of many of the traders.

From Barrow to Boothia: The Arctic Journal of Chief Factor Peter Warren Dease, 1836-1839.

Dease, Peter Warren. Edited and Annotated by William Barr. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2002.
  • Hudson's Bay Company.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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Interesting for the accomplishments in surveying the Arctic coastline and for the interactions between Dease and Thomas Simpson, the co-leaders of this HBC expedition. Dease is modest, competent and, in his journal at least, dull. Simpson is the better educated, more egocentric (a la Peary), volatile, and in the end gets himself shot (or shoots himself). Simpson, the cousin of Governor George Simpson, is contemptuous of both Dease and George Back (who is also exploring at the same time), but can also be fawning and almost sanctimonious to his superiors.

Lands Forlorn: A Story of an Expedition to Hearne’s Coppermine River.

Douglas, George M. By George M. Douglas With an Introduction by James Douglas. (New York, G. P. Putnam’s, 1914). [Reprinted Tucson, AZ: Zancudo Press, 2008].
  • Hudson's Bay Company.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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p. 45-46, on finding two dead bodies, a dirty note-book, and some carbolic acid: The stench was insufferable, worse than any other form of decomposing animal matter, and blended with it was the peculiarly acrid smell of old smoke from spruce fires. One could remain in that loath some atmosphere only a few minutes at a time; the bodies were in a state of decomposition so advance that it was necessary to break the bunks down and carry them out as they lay. Close to the house on that pleasant point we buried them both in one grave, dug as deep as the frozen ground permitted.