beyond Île-à-la-Crosse as the NWC diverted Indian provisioners from Clarke’s path. In October he established Fort Wedderburn on an island in Lake Athabasca, across from the NWC’s Fort Chipewyan (Alta). He
, and he died there, aged 71.
Fluent in Cree and Chipewyan, Charlebois was a skilful carpenter, constructing chapels, schools, and residences as
1803 he was sent to the Peace River country, where the XY Company had established itself, and then two years later to Fort Chipewyan (Alta) on Lake Athabasca to combat the incursions of the HBC men, whom
for Oxford House and then Cumberland House where he took charge of the district, 1852–53. From 1853 to 1857 Bell supervised the company’s Athabasca District from Fort Chipewyan. Following a year’s