Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, September 1817 to September 1822

While the letters do not begin until 1817, they refer as far back as 1809, when Colin Robertson left the North West Company, eventually joining the HBC in 1812. The main body of letters begins after Robertsons second seizure of the North West Companys Fort Gibraltar (Winnipeg) in March 1816 and the Seven Oaks Massacre that June. Ensuing events include Robertsons trial and acquittal in Montreal on charges arising from the seizure of Fort Gibraltar, his ambush and rearrest by North West Company men in 1820, his escape from incarceration to the United States, an additional flight from England to France to avoid debtors prison, and his appointment as chief factor of Norway House under the reorganized company of 1821.