Daniel Francis

Reading the National Narrative

The Fur Trade on Film

Nov 16, 2016

In 1919, to celebrate its upcoming 250th anniversary, the Hudson's Bay Company sent a filmmaker named Harold Wyckoff into the Canadian northwest to document the fur trade at some of its remote posts. The result was a silent film, "The Romance of the Far Fur Country," released the following year, then forgotten.

A few years ago Winnipeg documentarians Kevin and Chris Nikkel discovered the film in a British archive and made their own movie, "On the Trail of the Far Fur Country," in which they follow Wyckoff''s route across Canada showing the old film to local residents.

This remarkable film about a film is available for viewing on the website of BC's Knowledge Network until January 15. Do yourself a favour and take a look. And thanks to my Comox pal John Clark for bringing it to my attention.