Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1881, Bertrand William Sinclair emigrated to Canada as a child before running away to Montana at age fourteen to work as a cowboy. This firsthand experience shaped his early literary career. Dissatisfied with the unrealistic portrayals of cowboy life in contemporary fiction, Sinclair began publishing his own Western stories in 1905, striving for a more authentic depiction of the American West. During this period, he married the prolific novelist B. M. Bower, who helped him refine his writing process.
After divorcing Bower and marrying her cousin, Ruth Isabelle Miner, Sinclair relocated to British Columbia, eventually settling in Pender Harbour. This move prompted a significant shift in his writing. He transitioned from American Westerns to novels set in his home province, focusing heavily on social causes and the lives of working-class people. To ensure accuracy, Sinclair worked in the local industries he wrote about, spending time in the timber industry before publishing Big Timber, and working as a commercial fisherman before writing Poor Man's Rock.
Sinclair's outdoor narratives were heavily influenced by Jack London, while his focus on social issues reflected the influence of Upton Sinclair, who may have been his cousin. Over a career spanning from 1905 to 1940, he produced more than sixty short stories, eleven novelettes, and numerous novels. Later in life, Sinclair transitioned away from writing, working full-time as a licensed commercial fisherman from 1936 until 1966. He resided in Pender Harbour until his death in 1972.
