by Nikki Rajala | Jun 5, 2026 | Featured
John Macdonnell’s brigade is working their way upstream since May 25, 1793. It takes them about 3 weeks to reach the Mattawa River, a tributary off the Ottawa River, which they call the Grand River. Eventually they reach the height-of-land, and, with a big...
by Nikki Rajala | May 22, 2026 | Voyageur
John Macdonell was born in Scotland in 1768, and his family migrated to New York in 1773 and then to Canada. He began his first trading venture in 1793, when he was 25. His diary describes his impressions of voyageur life. In this section, he has been on the...
by Nikki Rajala | May 9, 2026 | Voyageur
In 1793 John Macdonell left Lachine to serve as a clerk for the North West Company — and he kept a journal! While he commented on the trek up to Lake Winipic, I’m focusing on the first half of his journal — when his brigade left the Montreal area to their...
