Sinclair, Bertrand W., 1881-1972

Bertrand W. Sinclair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on January 9, 1881, the son of George and Robina (Williamson) Sinclair. The family moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1889. He arrived in Fort Benton, Montana, in 1898. He worked for a time on the TL ranch in the Bears Paw Mountains. He then moved to Great Falls where he was a neighbor and friend of Charles M. Russell. He left for California about 1907. He stayed in California for 5 years and then, after he and Bertha divorced in 1912, settled in Vancouver, British Columbia. He wrote many Western novels, some based on his Montana experiences. He married the western novelist B. M. (Bertha) Bower in Great Falls on August 12, 1905. In 1910 the couple was living in Santa Cruz, California. He later married Ora Charlotte Allen. He died in on October 20, 1972 in Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada.

Bertrand Sinclair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and came to North America in 1889. He began his prolific writing career in 1902 when he sold an article to a San Francisco newspaper. When Sinclair came to Vancouver in 1912, his work assumed a West Coast orientation in which outdoor activities, fishing and logging played an important role. Pender Harbour became his home in 1922 where he continued to develop themes pertaining to the relationship of character to environment. Sinclair spent many of his later years enjoying pursuits such as commercial fishing rather than writing.