In the late 1840s he explored various route possibilities for HBC to connect interior forts with the Pacific Ocean.

In 1876 he was appointed as dominion inspector of fisheries and proposed building British Columbia's first hatchery.

[1] In March 1831 Anderson and his brother joined the Hudson's Bay Company and emigrated to Canada.

[1] Anderson was transferred to the New Caledonia department within HBC, which administered the north-central part of British Columbia, and remained there for five years.

[1] After the Oregon Treaty, the border between the United States and British North America was established along the 49th parallel.

HBC had used the Columbia River to travel between their interior posts and the Pacific Ocean by going to Fort Vancouver, but under the treaty this route would be partly within the United States.

James Douglas met with Anderson in Victoria and convinced him to accept a government appointment in the city.

[1] The earliest records of Anderson's observations of fish species in British Columbia are written in 1860.

[3] In 1871 he wrote an essay entitled The dominion at the west; a brief description of the province of British Columbia, which won a provincial prize.

He wrote a partly-autobiographical manuscript called “History of the northwest coast” which was given to Hubert Howe Bancroft.