On Trail and Rapid

Bishop Bompas emerges as the fearless heart of this Northland adventure, a missionary hero whose faith, endurance, and sacrifice carry him through Canada's far frontier among Indigenous peoples, winter wilderness, and the harsh demands of service. From the fur-trading companies and early explorers who opened the North-West to the tragic violence of Bloody Falls, the story blends discovery, danger, and moral struggle, tracing the routes of Hearne and Mackenzie and the bold journeys that followed. Robert Campbell's river expeditions, the rise and fall of Fort Selkirk, and the push toward Fort Yukon reveal a region shaped by trade, rivalry, and uneasy contact with native communities. Against this backdrop, William Carpenter Bompas's life unfolds: a gifted boy from a devout Baptist home who abandons law for ministry after illness and spiritual searching. His later journeys by canoe, trail, and mountain pass—through blizzards, famine, rapids, and exhaustion—show him ministering at Hudson's Bay posts, reaching Fort Babine, and finally arriving at Port Essington and Metlakahtla, transformed by the ordeal and steadfast in his calling. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.