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A Metis Man’s Dream: From Traplines to Tugboats in Canada’s North
The nautical history is, often much to the surprise of Canadians, is rich and diverse. It covers a huge geographic area of the world in which it does not occur to outsiders that ships are carrying the people and supplies that make modern life possible in the north. The ‘freshwater fleet’ is huge and some of the vessels have migrated to saltwater and can be found in other parts of Canada.
The author and historian Neil Gower has captured a detailed look into the life of a Metis man who created a modern marine industry in the north. Gordon Gill’s life traces his evolution to businessman, mariner and shipbuilder. Gower speaks with authority in the book as a lawyer involved in the business deals and operations and a longtime freind of the principal player in the story.
The book reads easily as a narrative which captures the spirit and feeling of the times. It is also a window into the aboriginal and Metis cultures which is often glossed over by the popular media. I felt a better understanding of some issues facing modern Canada after reading the book.
Besides being a pleasant and easy rea I highly recommend this book to any reader wishing to understand northern Canadian maritime heritage. It is like listening to the testimony of eye witnesses to a most remarkable story.
Published by Friesen Press, Altona MB. ISBN 978-1-03-914548-1 (paper). The book can be ordered directly from Friesen or through Amazon.
Site News: August 18, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 93,618 vessel histories (with 15,919 images and 13,842 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,620 entries (with 4,020 images).
In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!
My special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.
Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who has proofread thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 11,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.