John Muir

"This illuminating biography - based on the little-known life of British Columbia pioneer John Muir - tells the amazing story of a family from Scotland who came out to Vancouver Island in the late 1840s to work as "consignee" labourers for the Hudson's Bay Company. Ashby recreates the story of the Muirs' struggle to develop a country based on democratic principles - in opposition to the hierarchic edicts of Governor James Douglas. Drawing on the Muir family diaries, Ashby recounts the family's voyage from Scotland, their search for coal at Fort Rupert and Nanaimo, and their challenge to the Hudson's Bay Company when they initiated what may have been the first labour strike in Canada. Muir proceeded to acquire property in Sooke, building the first successful steam-operated sawmill in B.C. and developing the largest privately owned fleet of ships in the Northwest. He became a magistrate, with a sense of justice for the working man, and then a member of the first Legislative Assembly. Ashby is to be commended for vividly bringing back to life this vibrant figure, a man who deserves to be better known in his own right and for his contribution to the development of the West. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.