[CANADIAN FUR TRADE]. CLARK, Duncan (1785-1850?) An important archive of manuscript material related to the early fur trade in Canada or the Rebellion of 1838. [Canada, ca. 1788-1862].
Includes over 80 autograph letters or ledgers, signed documents, and various printed ephemera from the period, a set of portable scales for weighing gold in eighteenth-century book box (6 ¾ x 3 ½ x 1 ¼”) belonging to fur trader and prospector Peter Grant (1764-1848, Clark’s grand-uncle and partner of North West Company) with his manuscript weight chart affixed to the inside, signed by him; also included is Clark’s iron ax head (approximately 8” long). Possibly the most attractive part of this collection is the hand-drawn map of the North-West from drawings made by Duncan Clark, which illustrates the Long Lake District (including English River, Little Long Lake, etc.); map is ink on paper and backed on linen, 20 x 25 ½”, mounted between wooden rods (map is worn, creased, soiled). Letters and documents range in sizes, and generally have wear, creases, occasional soiling, several documents have later tape repairs.
Duncan Clark was a fur trader and soldier (serving during the War of 1812). He was a clerk and fur trader for the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company from 1818-1824. Later he was involved in the Grenville Militia Company (his manuscript day-book of orders and reports, November 26, 1838 - March 16, 1839, as well as a muster record of soldiers) during the Rebellion of 1838. Some of the major documents in this collection are: an account ledger for potash production at Matilda, Upper Canada, 1831-32 (this is possibly the only extant such record from the Hudson Bay Company or the North West Company - exceedingly rare); a ledger for “Long Lake House, H. B. Company, 1824, a “Book-Keeping” ledger fair copy copied by Clark in 1810; a printed document signed by Sir John Colborne appointing Clark, Jacob Brouse, James West and others as Commissioners of the Eastern District, 1833; an autograph letter signed by Clark describing fur trade affairs at Ft. William in 1818 (written in 1859); a small manuscript journal, “Historical Facts from Charlevoix” describing events from 1497-1710 (undated); letter from Col. P. Van Koughund to Major Duncan Clark regarding the formation of a Cornwall Regiment of Militia, 1838; a land deed (“Memorial”) between Samuel Shares and James Paul in Matilda, 1850, witnessed by Clark; manuscript legal document appointing Clark the Deputy Returning Officer for the Township of Edwardsburgh, 1847; a printed document (“Indenture”) between Hugh Monro of Edwardsborough, Upper Canada and Duncan Clark for land in Grenville, 1833; and much more.