During the height of the British Empire, a time of exploration, discovery and colonization, Britain's lower-class citizens suffered under the weight of oppression upper classes. Many of these farmers, braziers, blacksmiths, etc. spent their long, arduous hours of manual labor daydreaming about freedom, adventure, excitement, and above all, land ownership in the New World. The class system of 18th-century England was rigid and restrictive of upward mobility; while the New World was said to be a place where a man of any kind could settle. Among these tired, sweaty dreamers, a handful of ambitious men were not content simply to dream. These few brave boys were willing to take the risks of sea voyage to find out for themselves if the rumors were true. So, the men made their arrangements and braved the howling storms and icy waters of the North Atlantic in search of their destiny. Joseph Howse was among the men who pursued their dreams despite the rigorous demands of the inhospitable landscape of Prince Rupert's Land. Howse may have shared their enthusiasm for what awaited them in the New World, but he did not share their motivations. It has been said that Europeans went to the New World in search of God, glory and gold. For the most part, it was these last two reasons that attracted men to the wilds of unknown continents; but yet, mixed with these desperate attempts to seek a better life or discover extravagant riches, history has shown that some men aspired to nobler ends. Howse was a skilled accountant, in-house trader, and an avid explorer for the Hudson's Bay Company, who is credited with being the first corporate trader to cross the Continental Divide. ... middle of paper ... every oppressed young person in Britain. In Rupert's Land, Howse found fame and fortune; found a passage through the Rocky Mountains; he found a wife; he found an eloquent and sophisticated people; he found the land and, in many ways, he found himself. However, it is not what Howse found in the New World that makes his life so noteworthy and impactful to both those around him and those who followed him; for what Howse has not lost in the New World is what is most striking: his purpose, his mission, and his intent. Howse's ability to keep his morality intact and his purpose at hand in a land fraught with temptation, tough choices, and even tougher people was extremely rare among colonists. Without that higher cause, Joseph Howse would be just another European who came to the New World for personal gain; and they are, as history has shown, all too common.