Work, John, 1792-1861

John Work (originally spelled Wark but he permanently adopted Work when it was anglicized on his contract with the Hudson’s Bay Company) was born in 1792 in St Johnstown, Ireland, and died in 1861 on his farm in Hillside (Victoria, British Columbia). His father was Henry Wark, his mother’s name is unknown, and he was the eldest of six children. In 1826, Work married a mixed Spokan woman named Josette Legace, “à la façon du pays,” and they had three sons and eight daughters. Work and his family settled on an 823-acre farm north of Fort Victoria, which he called Hillside. On June 15, 1814, Work joined the Hudson’s Bay Company as a writer in Stromness, Scotland, and was first assigned as a steward at York Factory in 1814 and 1815. He was then moved to Severn House under a junior trader position and quickly became district master in 1818. After the Hudson’s Bay Company merged with the North West Company in 1821, Work became a senior clerk and oversaw the Island Lake District, a position he held until 1823. Later that year, Work was reassigned to the Columbia District and his party reached the Spokane River on October 21, where he met his wife. During the 1824 tapping season, Work helped extend the fur trade into the Flathead country of Montana and soon after, joined an expedition led by Chief Trader James McMillan that explored the lower Fraser River to find a site to establish a major trading post. The expedition party found the Cowlitz Portage, which became an important route between the Columbia River and Puget Sound. In 1825, Work helped move the company’s headquarters from Fort George to Fort Vancouver on the north bank of the Columbia River. In 1826, Work established a new post called Fort Colville on the Columbia River near Kettle Falls, where he ran his trading operations until the summer of 1829. In 1830, Work was promoted to the rank of Chief Trader and oversaw the Snake country trading brigade. During the next year, he travelled over two-thousand miles across Oregon into what is now eastern Idaho, western Montana, northwestern Utah, and along the Humboldt River in Nevada. In 1831, Work was sent to the Salmon River country of Idaho and Montana’s Flathead country, after his harsh expedition over rugged terrain while facing competition from American trappers. The Hudson’s Bay Company then sent him to Sacramento Valley (California) in 1832, and in 1834, he was posted to Fort Simpson and supervised the company’s trade along the coast of British Columbia. In 1846, Work managed the coastal trade in Fort Simpson, Fort Stikine, and Fort Langley. Three years later, he established Fort Rupert to exploit coal deposits on the northern part of Vancouver Island.

Revised on June 12, 2024, by Leah Louttit-Bunker

http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/work_john_9E.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Work_(fur_trader)