We begin in this number publication of a series of "Youthful Portraits" depicting present-day H.B.C. employees as they appeared at a "tender age." It appears that considerable interest will be demonstrated by our readers in trying to discover familiar likenesses in these quaint old photographs.
McKay Post Manager Dies
B. F. Cooper Served H.B.C. Thirty-Seven Years in North
B. F. Cooper, an old timer and Hudson's Bay fur trader, died at Fort McMurray, May 28th, after an illness of some weeks. Mr. Cooper was an Englishman, an old "blue-coat school" boy, brought up in London. Instead of moving in the limelight of politics Mr. Cooper chose the quiet and lasting work of pioneering on the frontier posts of the empire and for thirty-six years had been a trusted and faithful servant of the Hudson's Bay Company, in charge of the Fort McKay post.
B. F. COOPER
A few weeks before his death, an urgent message was sent to Fort McMurray for medical help and immediately the Company chartered a motor boat to bring Mr. Cooper from McKay. He was given every possible care.
The funeral took place on Sunday, May 29th, in the little Presbyterian church at McMurray, the coffin being covered with the Hudson's Bay flag and borne by Hudson's Bay men, C. C. Sinclair, J. Cunningham, L. Lane, G. Petty, H. Porter, Captain McLeod, Ed. Jones and J. Sutherland. The little church was crowded with people who followed to the cemetery the remains of the respected old timer whose only relative present was a son of sixteen years. Mr. Cooper leaves a wife and seven children. His record with the Company follows:
| Date | Capacity | Post |
|---|---|---|
| 1884-1885 | Clerk | N.D. Office, Winnipeg |
| 1885-1887 | In charge | Fort Ellice |
| 1887-1895 | In charge | Touchwood Hills |
| 1895-1899 | Accountant | Chipewyan |
| 1899-1904 | Clerk in charge | Fond du Lac |
| 1904-1905 | Clerk | Onion Lake |
| 1905-1912 | Clerk | Fort Smith |
| 1912-1914 | Post Manager | Chipewyan |
| 1914-1921 | Post Manager | McKay |
Tried for North Pole by Balloon
H.B.C. Was on Lookout for Ill-Fated Andree Polar Party, 1896
By H. M. S. COTTER
While I was stationed at North West River Post on the Labrador coast in 1896, the government of Norway and Sweden sent out an arctic expedition in a polar balloon to make an attempt at reaching the North Pole.