In 1821, George Simpson, a Scottish fur trader, was appointed associate governor of the Northern Department of the Hudson’s Bay Company, then in the midst of merging with its rival, the North West Company. As he took on more significant roles, there followed four decades when Simpson was the de facto colonial ruler of Rupert’s Land, a vast territory stretching from east and north of Hudson Bay to the Rocky Mountains. In 1828, Simpson traveled to the West, leaving York Factory in May and arriving at the fur trading outpost of Fort St. James, in central British Columbia, later that year after an 8,000 kilometre journey along the Peace River—the longest documented North American canoe journey ever made in one season.

Robert Watson, editor of the HBC’s historical magazine The Beaver, wrote how the Company wanted the governor’s arrival depicted for its calendar: “September 17, 1828, was a wet day so would suggest that the Sun shadows be not so deep as shown, although we would want a fairly nice colourful sky-line and nothing savouring of drabness.” Adam Sherriff Scott has captured the scene nicely: the sun glows off the central figures, Simpson’s red cape echoing the Red Ensign and HBC flags, while the puddles and stormy shadows speak to the reality of the less than ideal weather. The attendant figures that surround the pair comprise the less celebrated but no less important figures who supported Simpson on this journey: Indigenous guides and labourers, voyageurs and attendants, and even the governor’s personal bagpiper.

For more information on the Hudson's Bay Company Calendar Paintings in PDF format, please click here.