The Expansion was successful!
But while I was discovering new locations, I did not realize that I had also discovered a new river!
It was 1808 and I was set on exploring more of this river, which I thought was the Columbia River.
Again, my belief was that we were traveling the Columbia River. I wanted to find out if the river could be used as a fur trade route.
I was aware that in order to do this, I needed the assistance and knowledge of the Indigenous Peoples. During my journey down the Fraser(me) River (which I thought was the Columbia River), I 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, I often sent First Nation representatives ahead of the party to inform the local communities of our imminent arrival and to assure them that the our intentions were friendly. The Indigenous groups us with important information, advice, guides, food, and canoes.
So as I made my final and most arduous journey down the river to the Strait of Georgia, I discovered that we were not on the Columbia River. I knew that the mouth of the Columbia was at 46 degrees, but the latitude was at 49. This was an undiscovered river, later named after me. The Fraser River!
However, do not be fooled. It was not quite a happy ending in the moment. It was a bit of an anticlimax. In fact, in my journal I described the discovery as a "great disappointment in not seeing the main ocean, having gone so near it as to be almost within view.”
Not only was it not the mouth of the Columbia, the river I thought we were descending, but me and my men also met a hostile reception from Musqueam warriors, who promptly chased us upstream all the way to what is now the town of Hope.
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