A Local Hero

Isaac Cowie was only 18 years old when he arrived at Fort Qu'Appelle to take a position as a clerk in the trading post. His duties revolved around the fur trade in Canada, the shipping of furs to Europe and the movement of European goods to the Fort Qu'Appelle area. Instead of money, they used European-made goods like tools, blankets and beads as payment for furs. In his journals, Isaac Cowie wrote many details about how people lived and worked at the trading posts in the mid 1800's.