Canada A Peoples History The Pathfinders

Canada A Peoples History
The Pathfinders 
Time Span: 1670 To 1850

The Canadian west is opened by the great fur-trading empires of the Hudson's Bay and

Northwest Companies, the native people who were their indispensable allies, and bold explorers and map makers who ventured from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean and long-sought-for Pacific.

Pierre Esprit Radisson defies a governor to take New France's trade far into the continent's interior and later, founds an English trading empire; Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de la Vérendrye, spends a lifetime searching for the Western Sea and pays dearly for it.

Tough Dene chief Matonabbee leads Samuel Hearne on a monumental trek into the Barren Lands; Alexander Mackenzie's dash to the Pacific makes him one of the most celebrated men of his age. And David Thompson comes to the forbidding shores of Hudson Bay as a 14-year-old apprentice and eventually unlocks the secrets of the West more than any other man.

As the fur trader's day comes to an end, settlers on the prairies and gold miners in British Columbia begin to claim the west for themselves.

Complete Credits for Episode 6 Director: Michelle Métivier Writer: Gordon Henderson Editor: Mark Solnoky Cinematography: Derek Kennedy Original music: Claude Desjardins and Eric Robertson Featuring: Gordon Tootoosis (Saukamapee), Art Kitching (Samuel Hearne), Geordie Johnson (Daniel Harmon), Shawn Smyth (David Thompson), James Douglas (Sir James Douglas)

Summery found at http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISODESUM2LE.html