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Harmon's Journal: 1810-1819
The first real look at the Canadian West Harmon's Journal —the first published English-language journal written in B.C.-is a lively, engaging story that, unlike other early journals, captures the rough-and-tumble life of a fur trader and explorer in the western Canada of 200 years ago. Harmon's descriptions of the cultures and customs of the people he met provide important observations of various First Nations almost before they were touched by European culture. He also details activities of the traders and explorers with whom he exchanged letters—such notable personalities as David Thompson, Simon Fraser and John Stuart. Harmon writes with honesty and often raw emotion in his accounts of his travels and adventures, and his reflections are often profound. Harmon's Journal is the authentic 1957 edition of the journal edited by esteemed historian William Kaye Lamb.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1820
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 7, 2020
I read this journal following the autobiography of John Tanner The Falcon who at about 9 years of age was captured by members of the Shawnee tribe, kept for several years in a state of systematic abuse, then sold to an Ottowa woman of stature (chief), who was married to an Ojibwe. John, renamed "falcon", was then treated as a family member and grew to adulthood, and became a highly regarded hunter and trapper.
John Tanner's account is so rich in detail that it may not be fair to compare his autobiography to Harmon's journal.
Daniel Williams Harmon was an American from Vermont who accepted employment as a clerk with the North West Company, the competing firm in the fur trade to Hudson's Bay Company.
This book includes very brief journal entries over the course of his 16 years "west" in what was then remote regions of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, etc.
Was hoping for some bits of genealogy interest, but there are few people mentioned by name except for other clerks and management of the fur trade companies. There is a distinct class division observed by Harmon, which makes him seem a bit wimpy and whiny compared to people who actually do the work. Though he has his share of hardships, he is surrounded by nameless, faceless people he calls "My People" who maintain him during his travels and his stays at various forts. Voyageurs are given a fairly unflattering "character profile" that seems bitter and derogatory. To be fair, Harmon is culturally unprepared for his work. He speaks only English, when a minimum of French and at least one Native language is required. It seems he cannot relate to the people around him. He complains that all they talk of is "Horses, Dogs, Canoes and Women, and strong Men who can fight a good battle".
Harmon does mention meeting John Tanner and one other man who similarly was captured as a youth and was fully integrated and adapted to First Nations hunting / gathering way of life. This second man is not identified by Harmon or the editors. This unnamed man's story, perhaps, is lost.
Even with mention of clerks names, there is little genealogical interest as their families are not named. For example, from unrelated genealogical studies, there is a Julie MacKenzie b. 1805, married to Frenchman Pierre Truchon dit Leveillé . Her scrip document from the Canadian government states she is a child of "Mackenzie, Scotsman" and Marie a Native woman. Which MacKenzie, Scotsman is her father? There are two or three mentioned in this journal who could be Julie's father, but you won't find any clue of it.
Other points of interest to a reader may be the various Forts supporting the fur trade and the condition of them in this period. The land is definitely still surprisingly rich in wildlife, however the fur trade has taken a real toll on population numbers. Some areas no longer have beaver populations. As an overall insight to the history, this journal definitely adds to the picture.
Harmon's attitudes change over time. He starts out a young inexperienced American man, early 20s, who views Native people as "savages" and not entirely human. As his experience grows, his attitudes change as he sees hospitality based cultures in action, then compares tribal hospitality with those tribes in close contact with European / UK peoples. The tribes change when in contact ending the hospitality that had saved so many lives, and in imitation of Europeans / UK people, begin to demand payment for everything and become selfish and close handed. John Tanner finds similar treatment and culture shock when he attempts to return home in his late 40s.
He finds many of the customs to be unfathomable, whereas reading from Tanner, one has insight to the logic or social reasoning behind customs, or when something is completely out of the norm.
In 1805 Harmon decides to take up living as husband and wife with a 14 year old Metis (typically father is French or Scots, mother is First Nations):
We don't hear of her again for nearly two years, when there is one line stating she has delivered a boy named by him "George Harmon".
Throughout the journal Harmon infrequently refers to the woman who shares his household, presumably contributing greatly to his comfort and ease in life, and who bears his children. He refers to his wife only as "the Woman" or "the mother of my children". He waxes relatively long about how he pines for his friends and family back home, or for the friends he makes during the course of his work. In contrast, the birth of a child gets one sentence maximum.
While this treatment of Native women was common at the time, it was also common for families to remain together for life bearing upwards of a dozen children during a marriage. They were often married in the Roman Catholic church and each child baptized, something Harmon doesn't seem to be aware of. Native women were also free to leave a husband at their own discretion and Harmon surprisingly deems this cultural difference to be a wise course.
Harmon suffers spells of depression during the winters, and toward the end of his career becomes quite religious.
When he prepares to leave for Vermont after 16 years, he realizes how cruel it would be to abandon "the Woman / the mother" and take her children from her, or for him to leave his children behind to an unknown fate. Perhaps his increased religious fervor coupled with maturity delivers him a conscience, maybe even a heart. He resolves to take her back home if she agrees, as he knows she has the right to refuse, and marry her according to the customs of his family of origin, presumably ethnically English. He discloses that he speaks to his children primarily in Cree as the first language of their mother, but decides he wants them all together and for them to learn English and have a Christian formation.
Harmon gives brief glimpses of the general behavior in these remote areas, though he tends to write when his sensibilities have been offended by some behavior rather than in any systematically detailed way.
One of the items that shocked my sensibilities was the reported amount of meat rationed per person: 70 people = 450 lbs of meat a day. If Harmon was accurate in this estimation, that's 6.4 lbs of meat a day per person. Considering the cold climate conditions, types of clothing and shelter available, how people transported themselves and material across distances, it may very well have taken 6 lbs of meat a day to keep a person in an able state to work.
John Tanner's account is so rich in detail that it may not be fair to compare his autobiography to Harmon's journal.
Daniel Williams Harmon was an American from Vermont who accepted employment as a clerk with the North West Company, the competing firm in the fur trade to Hudson's Bay Company.
This book includes very brief journal entries over the course of his 16 years "west" in what was then remote regions of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, etc.
Was hoping for some bits of genealogy interest, but there are few people mentioned by name except for other clerks and management of the fur trade companies. There is a distinct class division observed by Harmon, which makes him seem a bit wimpy and whiny compared to people who actually do the work. Though he has his share of hardships, he is surrounded by nameless, faceless people he calls "My People" who maintain him during his travels and his stays at various forts. Voyageurs are given a fairly unflattering "character profile" that seems bitter and derogatory. To be fair, Harmon is culturally unprepared for his work. He speaks only English, when a minimum of French and at least one Native language is required. It seems he cannot relate to the people around him. He complains that all they talk of is "Horses, Dogs, Canoes and Women, and strong Men who can fight a good battle".
Harmon does mention meeting John Tanner and one other man who similarly was captured as a youth and was fully integrated and adapted to First Nations hunting / gathering way of life. This second man is not identified by Harmon or the editors. This unnamed man's story, perhaps, is lost.
Even with mention of clerks names, there is little genealogical interest as their families are not named. For example, from unrelated genealogical studies, there is a Julie MacKenzie b. 1805, married to Frenchman Pierre Truchon dit Leveillé . Her scrip document from the Canadian government states she is a child of "Mackenzie, Scotsman" and Marie a Native woman. Which MacKenzie, Scotsman is her father? There are two or three mentioned in this journal who could be Julie's father, but you won't find any clue of it.
Other points of interest to a reader may be the various Forts supporting the fur trade and the condition of them in this period. The land is definitely still surprisingly rich in wildlife, however the fur trade has taken a real toll on population numbers. Some areas no longer have beaver populations. As an overall insight to the history, this journal definitely adds to the picture.
Harmon's attitudes change over time. He starts out a young inexperienced American man, early 20s, who views Native people as "savages" and not entirely human. As his experience grows, his attitudes change as he sees hospitality based cultures in action, then compares tribal hospitality with those tribes in close contact with European / UK peoples. The tribes change when in contact ending the hospitality that had saved so many lives, and in imitation of Europeans / UK people, begin to demand payment for everything and become selfish and close handed. John Tanner finds similar treatment and culture shock when he attempts to return home in his late 40s.
He finds many of the customs to be unfathomable, whereas reading from Tanner, one has insight to the logic or social reasoning behind customs, or when something is completely out of the norm.
In 1805 Harmon decides to take up living as husband and wife with a 14 year old Metis (typically father is French or Scots, mother is First Nations):
my intentions now are to keep her as long as I remain in this uncivilized part of the world, but when I return to my native land shall endeavour to place her into the hands of some good honest Man, with whom she can pass the remainder of her Days in this Country much more agreeably, than it would be possible for her to do, were she to be taken down into the civilized world, where she would be a stranger to the People, their manners, customs & Language
We don't hear of her again for nearly two years, when there is one line stating she has delivered a boy named by him "George Harmon".
Throughout the journal Harmon infrequently refers to the woman who shares his household, presumably contributing greatly to his comfort and ease in life, and who bears his children. He refers to his wife only as "the Woman" or "the mother of my children". He waxes relatively long about how he pines for his friends and family back home, or for the friends he makes during the course of his work. In contrast, the birth of a child gets one sentence maximum.
While this treatment of Native women was common at the time, it was also common for families to remain together for life bearing upwards of a dozen children during a marriage. They were often married in the Roman Catholic church and each child baptized, something Harmon doesn't seem to be aware of. Native women were also free to leave a husband at their own discretion and Harmon surprisingly deems this cultural difference to be a wise course.
December 28 Monday. Payet one of my Interpreters, has taken one of the Natives daughters for a Wife, and to her Parents he gave in Rum & dry Goods &c. to the value of two hundred Dollars, and all the cerimonies attending such circumstances are that when it becomes time to retire, the Husband or rather Bridegroom (for as yet they are not joined by any bonds) shews his Bride where his Bed is, and then they, of course, both go to rest together,
and so they continue to do as long as they can agree among themselves, but when either is displeased with their choice, he or she will seek another Partner, and thus the Hymenial Bond, without any more ado is broken asunder--which is law here & I think reasonable also, for I cannot conceive it to be right for a Man & Woman to cohabit when they cannot agree, but to live in discontent, if not downright hatered to each other, as many do.
Harmon suffers spells of depression during the winters, and toward the end of his career becomes quite religious.
When he prepares to leave for Vermont after 16 years, he realizes how cruel it would be to abandon "the Woman / the mother" and take her children from her, or for him to leave his children behind to an unknown fate. Perhaps his increased religious fervor coupled with maturity delivers him a conscience, maybe even a heart. He resolves to take her back home if she agrees, as he knows she has the right to refuse, and marry her according to the customs of his family of origin, presumably ethnically English. He discloses that he speaks to his children primarily in Cree as the first language of their mother, but decides he wants them all together and for them to learn English and have a Christian formation.
Harmon gives brief glimpses of the general behavior in these remote areas, though he tends to write when his sensibilities have been offended by some behavior rather than in any systematically detailed way.
One of the items that shocked my sensibilities was the reported amount of meat rationed per person: 70 people = 450 lbs of meat a day. If Harmon was accurate in this estimation, that's 6.4 lbs of meat a day per person. Considering the cold climate conditions, types of clothing and shelter available, how people transported themselves and material across distances, it may very well have taken 6 lbs of meat a day to keep a person in an able state to work.
October 2, 2025
The setting of these journals is the exploration and fur trading taking place in and around the Canadian Rockies. Harmon worked for the North West Company and interacted with many other now famous explorers that he encountered along the way. This was the first journal of this kind that I’ve read that was full of overtly Christian themes. Harmon was candid about his failings and his faith and I’m really glad he wrote his thoughts down.
January 8, 2024
I was raised in Alberta but found the Fur Trade taught in school to be boring and repetitive. In contrast, Harmon's journal is full of interesting anecdotes and encounters with historical figures that I was only vaguely aware of in school. I was surprised by how relatable many of the problems and ideas in the book were despite being written more than two centuries ago.
August 21, 2016
It is usually a good read to read personal diaries and memoirs of people who did things. Harmon worked for the Northwest Fur Company from 1800 to 1816. He spent that whole time out in the field. He was moved from post to post, trading with the various Indian tribes of those regions. He eventually ended in what is now British Columbia where it took two years to get his furs to the canoes and ships that took the furs to Montreal and the world, and trade goods to him.
May 7, 2015
A thorough and interesting read about the experiences of an early fur trader. I give it only three stars due to comparison with the journals of Samuel Hearne, a much more literate, curious and thoughtful writer.
June 24, 2016
Absolutely fun read about the fur trade. It was informative and great way to learn about the time period. He was funny and honest. I recommend anyone interested in the fur trade to read this book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews