I picked up a Biblio Life reprint of this 1910 publication the other day. It is an interesting little booklet for anyone studying the settlers of the pre-1915 desertions. Essentially, it consists of copies of documents in the Selkirk Papers that help to identify exactly which people arrived as settlers in the 1811, 1812, 1813 and 1814 groups.

As I have read through the literature researching this topic, it has become apparent that, in the early days of the RRS – and well into its history – man’s best friend functioned mainly as the sled dog. A good breeding stock must have been in the area before the settlers arrived. Although there is mention of dogs being used at York Factory, I didn’t see any reference to them being brought down in the boats.

Many of the settlers, especially from the first two groups, left the RRS early in its history. By the time TLSARL was established 100 years ago, many of the relationships with those people had become so distant that the ties had dissolved. Some of those settlers left with very bad memories, and their descendants may not have wanted, in 1910, to have anything to do with remembering RRS history – who knows? In any case, their descendants often are not known to us at TLSARL.