Hans Birkigt and the Old Trading Post; The Fur Trade

Notes - This is an account of German immigrant, Hans Birkigt, who arrived in Athabasca in 1928. He became a fur trapper during the winters. One particularly eventful winter was spent up north without an axe. Mr. Birkigt had chartered a plane and accidently left his axe on the plane after the pilot had an emergency landing on a lake and let Mr. Birkigt, his dogs and supplies out. Mr. Birkgit went on to run the local raw fur, dry good and trapping supply store in Athabasca, where he hired his future wife as a store clerk. He ran the store for almost twenty years until his death from a second heart attack in 1963. Hans' wife continued to run the store until 1977 (7 pages)