Winner of the 2009 BC Book Prizes' Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize

In 1808 seeking a navigable route to the western sea for the North West Company, Simon Fraser descended the great river that now bears his name. Most of us learn that much in school----but who was this blunt, tenacious man, and what drove him to make a dangerous journey halfway across an uncharted continent?

Journalist and poet Stephen Hume followed in Fraser's footsteps and canoe wake for four years. He studied fading maps and diaries in archives across North America, interviewed the descendants of people who aided Fraser and retraced Fraser's route across British Columbia's vast and varied landscape.

Hume found Fraser's own blazes and signs in the wild terrain that the Nor'wester crossed with the help of aboriginal peoples, all the way from the Rocky Mountains to the mouth of the ferocious river we call the Fraser. This is the story of diligent research and reconstruction of his route, the rigours of early nineteenth-century travel and the peoples and places he saw and recorded.

Simon Fraser: In Search of Modern British Columbia is the story of Fraser's great journey, but not solely from a historian's or biographer's pen. Hume writes with his usual lyrical power based in a profound knowledge of the landscape and history of BC.

Stephen Hume was raised in fishing, farming and logging communities across Alberta and BC and studied at the University of Victoria. A journalist for over 35 years, Hume was editor-in-chief at the Edmonton Journal before moving to BC to become columnist and feature writer for the Vancouver Sun. He has won more than a dozen awards for his poetry, essays and journalism, including the Writers Guild of Alberta Literary Award, the Southam President's Award and the Marjorie Nichols Memorial Award. Stephen became the first Canadian to win the Dolly Connelly prize for environmental writing. His other books include Raincoast Chronicles 20: Lilies and Fireweed, Bush Telegraph and Off the Map, which was shortlisted for a Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Book Prize. He currently teaches professional writing at the University of Victoria.

Stephen Hume's profile page

Simon Fraser: In Search of Modern British Columbia

The author provides a chronological journey of Simon Fraser’s life, especially his exploration and the establishment of trade relations with the Aboriginals. Beginning in the early 1800s, Hume takes readers through Simon Fraser’s experiences as he opened up a territory that is now the province of BC. His accounts of the early Aboriginal nations and cultures comprise a high percentage of this book. He writes of how both European and Aboriginal cultures changed and assimilated as they learned from each other. The author includes a useful description of methods for gathering evidence to maintain both historical reliability and credibility.

Hume is an award-winning author. Presently he is a senior writer and columnist for the Vancouver Sun.

Simon Fraser: In Search of Modern British Columbia

The author provides a chronological journey of Simon Fraser’s life, especially Fraser’s exploration and the establishment of trade relations with the Aboriginals. Beginning in the early 1800s, Hume takes readers through Simon Fraser’s experiences as he opened up a territory that is now the province of BC. His accounts of the early Aboriginal nations and cultures comprise a high percentage of this book. He writes of how both European and Aboriginal cultures changed as they learned from each other. The author includes a useful description of methods for gathering evidence to maintain both historical reliability and credibility. Social Studies teachers may wish to discuss these academic procedures with their students.

Hume is a senior writer and columnist for the Vancouver Sun.