of the expedition, giving Deserters Canyon its name. The river proved to be a rough and difficult to traverse, and Black's assessment was that this fact — coupled with what he perceived to be the general absence of marketable furs or a healthy First Nations population — made the territory impracticable for the extension of the fur trade or as a northern route to the Pacific. Nonetheless, Black and his crew had completed an extraordinarily extensive survey of what is now north-central British Columbia. They had not only journeyed to the source of the Mackenzie River, but had travelled over the Arctic-Pacific divide, and to the sources of two major watersheds — the Stikine and Liard Rivers. Later career After an interval at Fort Dunvegan and York Factory, Black was appointed Chief Factor of Fort Nez Percés (near present-day Wallula, Washington) in 1825. This posting allowed Black to exercise his renowned vigour in opposing competition, in this instance from American traders. His difficulties in maintaining a good relationship with the local Nez Perce clients led to Black's transfer to the company's Thompson's River Post (now Kamloops) in 1830. In 1837, Black was appointed as Chief Factor in charge of the inland posts of the Columbia. Here Black was murdered on February 8, 1841, shot by a nephew of Chief Tranquille of the local group of Secwepemc (Shuswap) following a minor quarrel. He is interred near Kamloops. Places named for Black The Finlay River was locally called Black's River by early fur traders, but the Hudson's Bay Company had inadvertently filed Black's journals under John Finlay's name, fixing his name as the name of the river Black traversed. The fur trader and explorer John McLeod re-located the river that Black discovered (the Kechika) and named it Black's River; however, the Canadian government officially recorded the name as the Kechika. The Samuel Black Range lies between the Toodoggone and Firesteel Rivers. Black Lake is a small lake on the south-western side of the Samuel Black Range. References External links A brief but thorough synopsis of Black's life and career by George Woodcock, published on the Royal British Columbia Museum website. An account of Black's expedition and a modern partial re-tracing of his route is to be found in R.M. Patterson's Finlay's River, originally published in 1968. A new edition has been published by TouchWood Editions (). A description of the Samuel Black