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Jul 16, 2023 · Jamie’s grandfather Simon Fraser, 11th Lord of Lovat, is the link between Outlander ’s fictitious story and the Scottish real history, and it’s through him that the connection of Simon Fraser of Balnain to Jamie can be explained.
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Simon Fraser (20 May 1776 – 18 August 1862) was a Canadian explorer and fur trader who charted much of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia. He also built the first European settlement in British Columbia.
Simon Fraser (born 1776, Mapletown, New York [U.S.]—died August 18, 1862, St. Andrews, Canada West [now in Ontario, Canada]) was a Canadian fur trader and explorer who discovered the Fraser River in British Columbia.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jun 23, 2008 · Simon Fraser is best known for his daring exploration of the Fraser River (then believed to be the Columbia). On 28 May 1808, hoping to discover a new transportation route to the Pacific, Fraser left Fort George with two clerks, 16 voyageurs and two Indigenous guides.
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Simon Fraser, born in 1776 in Vermont, was one of the earliest explorers of European descent to travel the interior of British Columbia and, in 1808, became the first to descend the Fraser River. During this journey, he was accompanied by Tse’Khene, Secwepemc, St’at’imc, Nlaka’pamux and Sto:lo guides, French-Canadian voyageurs and others, and used knowledge he learned from the Indigenous Peoples he met along the way. The expedition down on the river that now bears his name is considered one of Canada’s greatest explorations.
Fraser was a partner in the North West Company during the critical years of competition in the fur trade. He began his career in 1792 as an apprentice clerk in Montréal. By 1801, he had been promoted to wintering partner, responsible for managing some of the company’s posts as well as the practical details of obtaining furs from the local people. His rise to prominence coincided with the rise of the North West Company as a major commercial force. It controlled over two-thirds of the Canadian fur trade before it finally merged with its main competitor, the Hudson’s Bay Company, in 1821. The North West Company’s expansion was due, in no small part, to the exploration of men like Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser, and David Thompson, all of whom worked for the company during this period.
Like many explorers and fur traders of this era, Fraser was aware that he needed the assistance and knowledge of the Indigenous Peoples. During his journey down the Fraser River (which he originally thought was the Columbia River), he was accompanied by over 20 men which included French-Canadian voyageurs, Scottish clerks, Métis hunters, and Indigenous guides. As the expedition passed through First Nations’ territories, Fraser often sent First Nation representatives ahead of the party to inform the local communities of their imminent arrival and to assure them that the group’s intentions were friendly. The Indigenous groups provided the travellers with important information, advice, guides, food, and canoes. Oral accounts of Fraser’s travels have survived in many of these communities.
Fraser’s voyages, and the fur trading posts he created, drove the North West Company’s expansion west of the Rockies and, as a result, established a permanent British presence in a territory still unmapped by Europeans. His explorations focused on finding a water route from the interior to the coast. Between 1805 and 1808, he crossed the Rocky Mountains and endeavoured to trace the Columbia River to its mouth, giving the name New Caledonia to what is now the north-central region of the province. In 1805, he established Fort McLeod, which was the first permanent European settlement west of the Rocky Mountains in what is now British Columbia. The next year, he established Fort St. James, Fort Fraser and Fort George (later Prince George). In 1808, his final and most arduous journey brought a party of 24 men down a river to the Strait of Georgia, where he discovered he was not on the Columbia River as he thought but instead on the Fraser.
Simon Fraser was unable to locate a viable water route to the Pacific for the North West Company. His party experienced the extremely dangerous and challenging canyons, particularly through Hell Gate and Black Canyon on the Fraser River. His expeditions, however, laid the foundation for others who later succeeded in connecting the Pacific with the interior of British Columbia. Fraser not only initiated the first European settlements in British Columbia, he also contributed to the continental ambitions of the one of the most important commercial empires of 19th century Canada. Fraser retired from the North West Company, married in 1820 and settled near Cornwall, Ontario. He died in August 1862, at the age of 86.
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•Government of Canada Announces 13 New National Historic Designations
Simon Fraser Descending the Fraser River, 1808. (Library and Archives Canada).
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Parks Canada History and Archaeology
Simon Fraser was a Scottish explorer and fur trader who explored and mapped much of the area now known as British Columbia, Canada in the late 1700s. In 1808, he became the first European to navigate the entire length of the Fraser River, which is now named after him.
Dec 28, 1995 · On May 28, 1808, Fraser and a company of 23 men set out from Fort George to follow the river to the Pacific. Their harrowing journey, 520 miles in length and 36 days long, revealed both the ruggedness of the British Columbia interior and the courage of those who traversed it.
