_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.
[Illustration: 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: