Simon Fraser

Simon Fraser bronze

As young men, barely into their teenage years, Simon Fraser, the youngest child of eight, and Alexander MacKenzie, an orphan, joined the North West Trading Company, a fur trading company looking for new trade routes. It is the result of these explorations of these men who, as British subjects, helped define the boundaries of what became the province of British Columbia. It was because of the allegiance of their fathers that made these men British subjects - a subtle nuance which made a huge impact when defining the boundaries of Canada.

Simon Fraser, UE, is the son of Loyalist, Captain Simon Fraser who served in the Indian Department (King's Royal Regiment of New York). Simon, the explorer is immortalized in the bronze statue "Desperate Undertaking" by Ralph Sketch, located in the New Westminster Library, in British Columbia. His story is told here by journalist Dan Hilborn.