Édouard Berland was a French-Canadian voyageur who is
mentioned in the Jasper House post journals between 1827 and
1831. He worked in the region up to the Smoky River, where his
family name is still common. Berland worked for the Hudson’s Bay
Company (HBC) in the Columbia River district in 1839, was in
charge of the Kootenay Post in 1840, and travelled the
Saskatchewan River basin with George Simpson in 1841.1
As the name is quite widespread, there were probably other
voyageurs of the same name before him. For instance, Pascal
Breland (1811-1893) was a very influential Métis merchant from
the Red River region trading across the Prairies, and who was on
a committee to bring free trade to the area in 1849. The Berland
range southwest of Jasper is named for the fur trader Baptiste
Berland, for which the Berland River is also named. |