The Travels, Explorations and Surveys of Peter Fidler (1769-1822)
Artist rendition of Peter Fidler and Philip Turnor
Since an early introduction to David Thompson, Peter Fidler became an interest to me. Fidler, an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company, was trained or (as some speculate) reintroduced into the craft of astronomical surveying by the Hudson Bay Company’s chief surveyor, Philip Turnor. Fidler was a remarkable surveyor and unfortunately has not received the recognition he has deserved.
Like Thompson, Fidler’s explorations, surveys and travels have been placed within a contemporary geographic information system and as a result, distance traveled by Fidler can be measured. Spatial layers were created displaying his known movements between 1789 and 1822 and a distance recalculated utilizing a modern geographic information dataset; the results of which are displayed below.
Distances Traveled by Peter Fidler 1789-1822
| Year | Distance (km) | Watersheds Traveled |
| 1789 | 2042 | Hayes, Nelson, Saskatchewan River and Lake Winnipeg |
| 1790 | 1090 | Saskatchewan and Churchill River |
| 1791 | 3743 | Red River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1792 | 5197 | Hayes, Nelson, Churchill, Saskatchewan River and Lake Athabasca, Great Slave Lake, Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1793 | 4501 | Hayes, Nelson, Saskatchewan,Churchill, Seal River and Hudson Bay, Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1795 | 1142 | Hayes, Nelson, Saskatchewan, Red River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1796 | 1326 | Saskatchewan, Red River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1797 | 3019 | Hayes, Nelson, Saskatchewan River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1799 | 1627 | Churchill, Nelson, Saskatchewan River and Lake Athabasca Watersheds |
| 1800 | 2460 | Churchil, Saskatchewan River and Lake Athabasca Watersheds |
| 1801 | 3835 | Hayes, Nelson, Saskatchewan River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1802 | 4467 | Hayes, Nelson, Saskatchewan, Churchill River and Lake Winnipeg and Athabasca Watersheds |
| 1803 | 2648 | Saskatchewan, Churchill River and Lake Athabasca Watersheds |
| 1804 | 2648 | Saskatchewan, Churchill River and Lake Athabasca Watersheds |
| 1805 | 2648 | Saskatchewan, Churchill River and Lake Athabasca Watersheds |
| 1806 | 3516 | Hayes, Nelson, Saskatchewan,Churchill, Reindeer River, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Athabasca Watersheds |
| 1807 | 4212 | Hayes, Nelson, Saskatchewan,Churchill, Reindeer River, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Athabasca Watersheds |
| 1808 | 4665 | Hayes, Nelson, Red, Churchill and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1809 | 2785 | Churchill and Reindeer River Watersheds |
| 1810 | 3149 | Nelson, Churchill and Reindeer River Watersheds |
| 1811 | 1766 | Churchill River Watersheds |
| 1812 | 2025 | Hayes, Nelson Red River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1815 | 3305 | Hayes, Nelson Red River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1816 | 2818 | Hayes, Nelson Red River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1817 | 3194 | Red River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1818 | 2841 | Red, Winnipeg, Albany River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1819 | 653 | Red River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1820 | 3069 | Hayes, Nelson River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| 1821 | 445 | Saskatchewan River and Lake Winnipeg Watersheds |
| Total Km traveled in the Fur Trade | 80,838 |
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