William McGillivray may have been one of the more important figures in the Canadian fur trade, but not many people have written about the man behind the North West Company.
One biography on McGillivray, who led the North West Company from 1804 to 1821, existed but it was written in the 1960s with the only update made in the early 1970s.
So after writing four books on the fur trade, Manitoba author Irene Ternier Gordon decided she would write a book about the life of McGillivray.
"I guess people in Thunder Bay know about him but even in Winnipeg, which is a big fur trade place, most people had never heard of him and I thought it would be rather important since he was the most powerful business man at that time in British North America," she said.
The Laird of Fort William: William McGillivray and the North West Company was released in October and Gordon is launching the book in Thunder Bay Tuesday evening at the Waverley Resource Library.
Gordon did her research in Scotland, visiting sites and taking pictures, and also spent time at Fort William Historical Park researching the book.
And with four books on the fur trade already under her belt, Gordon still learned new things about the industry in her McGillivray research like the fact it took about four years from a person's first investment in the fur trade before they made any money back.
"In these days of almost instantaneous communications, I think most people, particularly young people, would find it almost impossible to imagine it would take such a long time," she said.
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Gordon was also surprised to learn how much hostility there was between the different companies and the bloodshed that came with those feuds.
The book highlights the different people involved in the fur trade from Aboriginal trappers to voyageurs and Scottish highlanders.
"It tells you about their lives. It tells you about the geography of the country," she said.
And Gordon hopes her readers take away how important the fur trade was for the Canadian economy.
Gordon will be at the Waverley Library at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening for a reading and slide show presentation. Copies of the Laird of Fort William will be available for sale.
