Five Fur Traders of the Northwest captures the day-to-day life of the fur trader during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries utilizing authentic journals of five fur traders.

Peter Pond, a founding partner of the North West Company, makes detailed observations of the region's native peoples. John Macdonell describes with care his first trip over the fur trade route through the Great Lakes and the Minnesota-Ontario border lakes to the region of Lake Winnipeg. Archibald N. McLeod's journal tells of wintering at Fort Alexandria on the Assiniboine River. Hugh Faries writes of life at the North West Company's fort on the Rainy River. Finally, John Sayer records his establishing of a trading post in the St. Croix River country near present-day Pine City, Minnesota. (This diary was originally attributed to Thomas Connor, but research conducted since the 1965 edition has established Sayer as the true author.)

These documents offer dramatic, firsthand glimpses of the daily existence of voyageurs and Native Americans and detailed data on canoeing, trading practices, trade goods, and Indigenous customs.