In 1858, he traveled to the Canadas where he was engaged by the Hudson's Bay Company to settle as a clerk at Fort William on the Ottawa River.

In August 1869, Horetzky was assigned the same position as an accountant at Upper Fort Garry, but was short lived due to the Red River Rebellion, so he was given permission to travel back.

During the fall and winter of 1871, Horetzky was assigned to, and took many decent views of the country between the Red River and Yellowhead Pass in the Rocky Mountains and returned back to Ottawa.

Horetzky and one of the authors, John Macoun, parted from the group to survey a more northern route through the Peace River Country.

In March, 1873, Horetzky went on to publish many articles from his experiences in the northern route in the Ottawa Daily Citizen along with a short pamphlet, The north-west of Canada.