Work, or Wark, John (1792-1861). Born in Ireland. Entered service of Hudson's Bay Company, 1814; employed east of the mountains until 1822, when transferred to the Columbia; in charge of Fort Simpson, 1835-1849; appointed chief factor, 1846; removed to Victoria, 1849, as one of the managers of the Company's affairs on the Pacific slope. In 1857 a member of the Legislative Council of Vancouver Island. Died at Victoria. Index: D Leads expedition into wilds of Oregon and the Upper Missouri in 1834, 132; member of Victoria board of management, 265; his death, 265. Bib.: Bancroft, History of British Columbia; Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names.
Workman, T. Md Liberal, elected for Montreal in by-election in 1876, 224.
Wrangell, Ferdinand Petrovitch, Baron von (1796-1870). Born in Pleskau, Esthonia. Educated in the school for cadets in St. Petersburg. Entered the Russian navy in 1812; in 1817 took part in a scientific expedition to Siberia and Kamtchatka; and in 1820 commanded an expedition to explore the Russian polar seas, which reached 72° 2' north latitude. In 1827 appointed governor of Russian America (Alaska), and during his administration made surveys of the country, opened roads, built bridges, and instituted various other reforms and improvements. In 1834 recalled to Russia; in 1837 rear-admiral; in 1847 vice-admiral. Strongly opposed to the cession of Alaska to the United States. Index: D Succeeds Baranoff in Russian America, 45.
Wright, Justice. S Barrack-master, 47.
Wright, Philemon (1760-1839). Born in Woburn, Massachusetts. In 1800 emigrated to Canada, and ascended the river Ottawa sixty miles beyond any previous known settler, with the object of selecting a suitable tract of land for a settlement. Eventually chose the site of the present town of Hull, Quebec, and received a grant from the government. Imported several of the best breeds of cattle from Great Britain, and, introducing other improvements, the agricultural settlement grew into an important and thriving township.
Wyoming District. Hd Laid waste, 151.
X Y Company. Founded at Montreal in 1795 by several partners of the North West Company, who had become dissatisfied with the administration of the old company, and particularly resented the autocratic ways of its chief, Simon McTavish, popularly known among the fur traders, because of his domineering manner, as "Le Premier," and "Le Marquis." The backbone of the new concern was the powerful Montreal firm of Forsyth, Richardson & Co. Alexander Mackenzie was almost persuaded to join the new company in 1795, but did not actually do so until 1801. Meanwhile the X Y Company had built a post at Grand Portage in 1797, and followed their rivals to the Assiniboine, the Saskatchewan, the Athabaska, and even into the remote Peace River country. On the death of McTavish, in 1804, the two companies were united as the North West Company. Index: MS Organized by malcontents from North West Company, 6, 92; builds rival post at Grand Portage, 93; Mackenzie becomes the head of, 98; absorbed by North-West Company, 1804, 99. Bib.: Masson, Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest; Bryce, Hudson's Bay Company.
Yale, James Murray. Entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company about 1815, when still a boy, and after some years' service east of the mountains, transferred to New Caledonia. Eventually promoted to the rank of chief factor; and retired from the service about 1870, settling near Victoria, where he died. Fort Yale on the Fraser River was named after him. Index: D At Stewart Lake, 99; in command at Fort George, 1823, 105. Bib.: Bancroft, History of British Columbia.
Yamaska River. Rises in Brome Lake. After a course of about ninety miles falls into the St. Lawrence at the head of Lake St. Peter. Index: Ch Named by Champlain, De Gênes, 52.
Yellowhead Pass. Through the Rocky Mountains. Elevation, 3733 feet above sea level. The summit of the pass is eighteen miles in a straight line from the Athabaska River. Yellowhead Lake, a little west of the summit, discharges its waters into the Fraser River. Because of its easy gradients, this pass was favoured by (Sir) Sandford Fleming as the route for the Canadian Pacific Railway, but political considerations forced the selection of the much more difficult Kicking Horse Pass.