The York Factory medical journals, 1846-52

The York Factory medical journals are the only surviving medical ledgers in the 200-year history of the Hudson's Bay Company, written by two physicians posted at one of the Company's largest and pre-eminent posts, York Factory. The daily journals offer us a unique glimpse, albeit for a seven-year span from 1846 to 1852, into the incidence and prevalence, duration, severity, treatment, outcomes, and seasonality of illness and disease. Occupations are noted, as are age and gender, in many of the entries. There are a total of 1,653 cases seen by the two physicians over the time period, 5 percent of which are Native. Several women were seen by the physicians, primarily for gynecological disorders. Gastro-intestinal disorders were a major source of morbidity at this time and place.