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 .MOUXTAIN AXD PRAIRIE: 
 
 A JOL'KXIV 
 
 FROM VICTORIA TO WINNIPEG, 
 
 r/./ pi:ace ku'er pass. 
 
 c 
 
 F- ' - 
 
 nv TIIK 
 
 W 'A 
 
 It'^i 
 
 Ri:V. DANIEL M. GORDON, B.D, 
 
 OTIAUA. 
 
 IVITJl MAPS AXD ILLUSIRAPIONS. 
 
 UoiiHou : 
 .-^AMl'SON L()\V, MARSTON, SEARLK, ^: RIVINOTON, 
 
 CROWN nUILDINGS, iSo, FLEET STREE'l'. 
 
 i8So. 
 [./// rights rcstri'cu, | 
 
re 
 
 .(SI 5 
 
 
 Jn 
 
 that fi 
 
 certai 
 
 rcsolv 
 
 Poit i 
 
 Colum 
 
 Poaco 
 
 C'o])ioi 
 
 ing HCA 
 
 with tl 
 niimis 
 Simpso 
 been r 
 rosourc 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 In ^lay, t870, the Canadian Parlianiont, havingdocided 
 that additional information .should be obtained ivirardini' 
 certain proposed routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway, 
 resolved that a party be sent to examine the country from 
 Port Simpson, on the Pacific, across northern Jh-itish 
 Columbia and throuii;h the Ro(dcy Mountains by way of 
 Peace River and Pine River Passes to the j)rairies. 
 Copious information had already been procured regard- 
 ing several other routes connecting the Prairie I?egion 
 with the Pacific, but the final selection of a Pacific ter- 
 minus was reserved until this northern route to Port 
 Simpson had been examined and fuller information had 
 been o]»taiiicd regarding the general character, the 
 resources, and the engineering features of the country. 
 
IV 
 
 rnr.FACK. 
 
 Tlic party ;»])|»()inl(.'il (o mako tliis examination consi.stod 
 of Messrs. JI. J. Cambie and IT. A. F. Mac-leod, of the 
 Canadian Pacific Ivaihvay enu;ineering wtatr, and Di". (J. 
 Jt[. l>awson, of tiie Geological Survey of Canada. Tiic 
 writer accoin])anicd tlicm. TLey travelled together 
 from Victoria, V. I., to the mouth of the Skecna 
 thence across the northern ])art of the Province to Fort 
 McLeod, whei-e tlie party was divided, — Dr. Dawson 
 proceeding Ijy Pine River Pass, the others by Peace 
 Eiver Pass, to meet at Duuvegan. From Dun vegan 
 the writer came eastward in advance of the others. 
 
 The following chapters, consisting chiefly of notes 
 taken by the way, record his impressions of the country 
 traversed from the Pacitic to Winnipeg, across the '* sea 
 of mountains" and the more inviting sea of prairies. 
 The illustrations arc from photographs by I)r. G. M. 
 Dawson, Mr. Selwy.i, and J\Ir. lloretzky — the frontis- 
 piece being taken, by jiermission, from tiie Geological 
 Survey Report for 1878-79. The maps are from the 
 most recent and most authentic in the Departments 
 of the Canadian Pacific Railway and of the Interior. 
 
j'uni'Acn. 
 
 V 
 
 Ciirlylc bays th;it '' >()nie Ijooks aiv >;uitcil for i;n me- 
 diate use and immediate ol)livion." It is tlie writer's 
 hope that ore tlie accompan3'ing record of liis jounn'v 
 across mountain and ])raii'ie passes into oblivion it m:iy 
 bc of use in acquainting some of Jiis follow-couutiymeu, 
 in a slight degree, M'ith the character and (he resources 
 of that half of the Dominion that Hob between "Winnijiog 
 and the Western Sea. 
 
 DAXIEL M. GOliDUX. 
 
 The Manse, 
 
 Oltaiva, May 1880. 
 
Ottawa 
 Res 
 \Vc 
 
 Along I 
 the 
 Moi 
 Sim 
 
 Leave P 
 and 
 Car\ 
 Stea 
 Villi 
 Lip-( 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 VANCOUVER ISLAND AND TUH LOWKR FRASER. 
 
 Paok 
 
 "^ Ottawa to San Francisco,— Victorui.— Indian . -id Chinese Labourer?.— 
 Resources of British Columbia.— San Juan.— The Lower Fraser.— Xcw 
 Westminster.— Burrard Inlet.— Yale to Boston Bar i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 VICTORIA TO THE 8KEENA. 
 
 Along the Coast.-The Chain of Channels— Nanaimo.— Bute Inlet and 
 the Route of the Canadian Pacific Railway.— Port Essington and the 
 Mouth of the Skeena.-Metlahkatlah.— :Mission to the Indians.— Port 
 Simpson.— Work Inlet 32 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 UP THE SKEE.NA. 
 
 Leave Port Essington.— Canoes, Crews, and Stores.— No Trout.-Trackinj,' 
 and Poling.-Indian Watch-tower.— Catching and Curing Salmon.— 
 Carved Posts.-Burial Customs.-The Sweat ing-bootli.-IIeight of 
 Steam Navigation.— Division of Coast n,nd ruseade Range.— Indian 
 Villages.— Gold-washing.— Medicine Ma'n.- The F .rks of Skecna.— 
 Lip-ornaments and Nose-rings.— Mosquitoes 5(i 
 
VIII 
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I'OKKS UF SKKKXA TO LAKK liARINE. 
 
 Our rackcr.«.— Tlic Tniil.— Up the Susciua.—Coul.— Women Packing and 
 Xiirsin.ir.— Skilokisp Susiiension Uritlgc.— The Ooatzanli.— The N'atalt- 
 siil.— Cascade Range compared with Swiss Alps.— Indian Legends. — 
 Taim-Shin. — Scene on the Summit.— Approach Lake Babino. — 
 Engage Crew?.- Offended Chief.— IJabine Indians.— Neighbourhood of 
 Lake 
 
 87 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BABINE TO FOUT M'LKOD. 
 
 T'p 1 alee Eabiuc.— Fort I'abine.— Indian Farming.— Indian Reserves in 
 Bri(i.<h Cukunbia.— Reluctance in telling names.- Lake Stewart.— 
 ]{. C. ]\Ii?!^ions.— Fort St. .James.— Ilomc-sick Indian.— Mulo Train.— 
 Fulldwing Trail.— Fort McLcod.— Attractions of the II. B. Service.. . • 113 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THROrun THE MOUNTAINS BY BOAT. 
 
 Explorers of Peace River.— Division of Party.— Leave Fort McLeod. — 
 The Parsnip.— Fur Traders and Gold Hunters.- Mining.— The Nation 
 River.- Pete Toy and Nigger Dan.— Finlny River and Rapids.— The 
 Unchagah.— Peace River Pass.— Parle-pas Rapid.— Moose Hunting.- 
 Buffalo Tracks.— Terraces.— The Canon Coal.— Navigable Extent of 
 River.— Indian Iluntofg.— Charlie's Yarns Hi 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Hudson's hope to dunveoan. 
 
 The Prairie Region.— II. B. Company and the North-AVest Company.— 
 Hudson's Hope.— Moose.— The Climate.— Fertile Flats.— The Plateau. 
 —On the Raft.— Appearance of Country.— Fort St. John.— Massacre 
 at the Old Fort. -Bear Hunting.— Dunvegan.-IIighlanders Abroad. 
 Moostoos and his Fight with a (irizzly.— Missions to the Indians li)8 
 
COSTESTS. 
 
 IX 
 
 ing and 
 >?;italt- 
 
 ;c!ids. — 
 ibino.— 
 •hood of 
 
 87 
 
 CHAPTER \MI. 
 
 I'KACK UIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 Province of Unchafcali.— Outfits of Exploriii;,' Parties.— Old Journals at 
 Dunvegan.— Record:^ of Climate.— Boavcr Indians.— Cree Music. — 
 Expedition to Battle River.— Character of Country.— Bear Iluntinj.'.— 
 Size and Character of Peace Rivei Country.— The Cliuiatc.— Danger 
 of Summer Frosts. — IncrcascdSunlight.— Temperature.— Coal-beds. — 
 Facilities of Communication 19<> 
 
 CIIAPTi;U IX. 
 
 crves in 
 cwart. — 
 Train.— 
 irvicc-. • • 113 
 
 DUNVKGAN TO KDMOXTON. 
 
 Leave Dunvegan.— Farewell View of Peace River.— Cooking.— Lesser 
 Slave Lake.— Another Stage. — Postal Arrangements.— Indian Hospi- 
 tality.— Athabasca River and Landing.— (iambling.— Road tu Fort 
 Edmonton. — Telegraph Office— Crec Camp. — Our Indian Policy.— 
 Farm Instructors,— Treaties.— Siou.x. — Edmonton District.— Canadian 
 Pacific Railway 2_M 
 
 CPIAPTER X. 
 
 cLeod.— 
 e Nation 
 
 Is.-Thc 
 anting.— 
 
 xtent of 
 
 IJJ 
 
 FDMONTON To liATTLKKOUD. 
 
 Steamers on S.askatchcwan.— Prepare to cross the Prairie.— Trail.-. — 
 Prairie TravcL—Pemmican. — Victoria. — Ilalf-hrecd Farmers.— Chris- 
 tian Missions in Xorth-West.— Victoria to Fort Pitt.— Royal Mail.— 
 Dog-driving.- Fort Pitt. — The Trail again.— Treeless Prairies.— Tree 
 Culturc.—Ba,ttleford.—< Jovernment of North- West.— Climate. —Char- 
 acter of Country. — (Jreat Plain.— Homestead and Pre-emption Law.— 
 Prospect of Settlement 25:5 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 npany.— 
 Plateau, 
 ^las.sacre 
 
 Abroad. 
 
 ans P'S 
 
 UATTLKFOKD TO WIXNIPKG. 
 
 Battleford to Cnrlton.— Duck Lake.— A Blizzard.— Fellow-travellers. — 
 CrossSouthSaskatchcwan.— Delayed by Snow.—IIumboldt.— Alkaline 
 Lakes.— Touchwood Ilills.— Indian Farming.— Break-downs.— Prair'.c 
 
X 
 
 COXTEXTS. 
 
 fires.— Qu'Appcllo.— Fort Ellicc— Township Surveys.— Co1oni?ation 
 Companic?. — Proliibitory Liquor Law.— Shoal Lake. — Salt Lake. — 
 Little Saskatchewan.— Enter Manitoba.— Joe's Temptations.— Heavy 
 Roads. — Portage La Prairie.— "Winnipeg.-Prospcct.s of Immisrarits. — 
 Loyalty to the Empire • . . . ■ 25l 
 
 Map shewing part of the North-West Territories and 
 
 IJritish Columbia To face page 
 
 M.ip shewing the Canadian Pacific Coast " " 
 
 Map showing part of Northern British Columbia and of 
 Poaco River District,— with author's route from 
 Port Essington to Fort Edmonton " " 
 
 Map shewing Southern iwrtion of the North-"\Vest Tcrri 
 tories,— witli author's route from Fort Edmonton to 
 Wimiipog " 
 
 1 
 32 
 
 bC, 
 
 2o2 
 
 ILT^TJSTTlvVT'TONS. 
 
 Indian Village, Quoon Charlotte Islands Frontispiece. 
 
 Frascr River (IH miles above Yale) To face page 2S 
 
 Motlahkatlah " " IG 
 
 Junction of Nation and Parsnip " " 147 
 
 Mount Selwyn " " 153 
 
 Peace River (20 miles above the Canon) " '• 101 
 
 Fort Edmonton " •' 239 
 
 Prairie Carta crt route •• '• 255 
 
mipation 
 
 Lake.— 
 
 — Iloavy 
 
 irar.ts. — 
 
 2S1 
 
 oe page 1 
 32 
 
 56 
 
 252 
 
 isi 
 
 )10C0. 
 
 
 30 
 
 page 
 
 LS 
 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 
 147 
 
 
 
 
 153 
 
 
 
 
 IGl 
 239 
 255 
 

A 
 
 PHOTO UT>1 8T THE ■UNUND UTH CO MONTRkAL 
 
MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 CIIA1»T£E I. 
 
 55 
 
 VANCOUVER ISLAM) AND THE LOWER FRASER. 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 •'•46 
 
 •A 
 
 Ott<a^s•a to San Francisco. — Victoria — Indian and Cliinese Laltonr- 
 crs. — Resources of British Columbia. — San Juan. — The Lower 
 Fraser. — New Westminster. — Burrard Inlet. — Yale to Bostou 
 Bar. 
 
 From Ottawa to San Francisco by rail, thence by 
 steamer to Victoria, V. I., a journey in all of about four 
 thousand miles, was a requisite preliminary to our more 
 interesting journey from Victoria across Northern 
 British Cokimbia, through the Hocky Mountains, by 
 the Peace River Pass, and over the prairies to Wimiipeg. 
 
 The railway route across the Continent is so often 
 traversed, so familiarly known, and has been so fre- 
 quently described, that we need not linger long upon it. 
 
 Ontario was just bursting into leaf, for the season had 
 been somewhat lato, as we passed through on the 13th 
 May, 1870. At Chicago we entered on the prairies of 
 Illinois; prairies which to one who had not yet seen the 
 Valle\^ of the Saskatchewan or the farm lands of Mani* 
 
$? 
 
 MOlWTArX AXr> VUAiniE. 
 
 4 
 
 toba, scorned rich ])oyon(l all rivals. The country is as 
 fertile as it is flat, but it suifor.s from the biting north 
 wind that .sweeps down from Lake Michigan ; therefore 
 almost every homestead is guarded by a grove of Lom- 
 bai-(ly jioplars, or other quickly grown trees. At 
 Burlington we crossed the Mississippi and passeci into 
 Iowa, which seems like a continuation of Illinois, save 
 that the soil is scarcely so rich, and occasional stretches 
 of rolling country vary the monotony of the dead-level 
 prairie. At C/ouncil Bluffs we crossed the Missouri and 
 entered upoii the plains of Nebraska, that look like a 
 Bca of grass^ sometimes rimmed by low hills on the 
 distant horizon, sometimes stretching* away an unbroken 
 level as far as the cyo can reach, occasionally dotted with 
 the bleached bones of cattle, or the herds of the ranchers, 
 or the caravans of new immigrants. One of its towns, 
 Sidney, the outlet of the Black Ilills mining country, is 
 a centre for those incidents and anecdote* that seem to 
 British and New England cars characteristic of Western 
 life. Here, and at almost any point between this and 
 Ogden, you may hear stories of atrocities by Indians, 
 and of worse atrocities by white men; of train robberies^ . 
 murders, etc., by the ruflijius who frequently gravitatOk 
 towards gold and silver mines. Three days before wo 
 passed through, a murderer had been lynched, hung to 
 the telegraph post neaiv>t to the station, and the inci- 
 dOB^ onusod little comment and no enquiry. The nuning 
 
 s? 
 
 if 
 
VAXCOrVER ISLAXD AXD THE LOWF.R FUASER. 
 
 •y IS as 
 ; north 
 ereforo 
 f Lom- 
 s. At 
 !u into 
 .9, save 
 retches 
 ,d- level 
 iirr and 
 : like a 
 on the 
 broken 
 ed with 
 nchers, 
 towns, 
 iitry, is 
 (ooni to 
 Western 
 lis and 
 ndians, 
 )borie9^ 
 avitate^ 
 ore wo 
 
 lUllg to 
 10 inci- 
 mining 
 
 :1 
 
 districts, howc'- r, are gradually coming under law and 
 order; vigilance committees have already done good 
 work, as tlioy did in the early days of San Francisco; 
 and as capital is being largely invested, business and 
 society are becoming more settled, so that life and 
 jiroperty may soon be as safe here as they have long been 
 in California and Montana. 
 
 "We crossed the liocky Mountains at a height of 8,000 
 feet above sea-level, more than G,000 feet higher than where 
 we expect to i-e-cross them at the Peace Eiver Pass, and 
 with no sign that we had reached such an altitude, save 
 the stunted vegetation around us, the snowy peaks 
 shimmering in the distance, and the more exact indica- 
 tions of railway-map and aneroid. "Wo rattled along 
 through the Echo and Weber Canons, where the frown- 
 ing and jirecipitous rocks alternate with snatches of 
 scenery that remind one of some parts of Scotland, 
 especially of the uplands of Galloway, though here the 
 grass is not so rich and no sheep are seen grazing on 
 the hillsides. Then came the plains of Utah, part of 
 the Great American Desert that lies between the Eocky 
 Mountains and the Sierras of Nevada, Avlterc nothing 
 grows without irrigation, but where, with this assist- 
 ance, many dreaiy fevels have been changed into 
 smiling fields. Wearisome, at times, even to the 
 traveller hy rail, what must those alkali plains Ivavo 
 heen to the traveller by stage in the old coaching days? 
 
BIorXTAIN AND PL'AiniE. 
 
 or, still worse, to the earlier Mormons, many of whom 
 ti'aversed them on foot? It was a relief to j^ass from 
 the Desert, over the snowy range of the Sierras, by 
 many an abandoned gold claim — abandoned by whites, 
 though now worked by Chinese — down to the smiling 
 valley of the Sacramento. They had been ploughing in 
 Ontai'io when we left a week ago ; here in California 
 they were reaping. Touching the sea at Oakland, we 
 crossed, by a ferry of four miles, to San Francisco, 
 arriving at the very hour we had hoped to do when 
 leaving home seven days ago. 
 
 'Frisco — for life is too short, and business too pressing, 
 to allow Californians to use, in common conversation, 
 the full name San Francisco — was agitated about the 
 new constitution which the State of California had 
 recently adoj^tcd. Newspapers and people alike were 
 full of it. How far it might conflict with the Federal 
 authority, and how far it might fulfil the hopes of its 
 advocates, still remained to be seen, for though passed 
 it had not yet come into force. Its chief points are : the 
 taxation of all manner of property, stocks, bonds, mining 
 shares, etc., as well as real estate ; the restraint of some 
 huge monopolies, especially the Central Pacific Lailroad; 
 and the fuUilment of the maxim, "the Chinese must go." 
 It was the boiust of an American j^oet regarding his 
 country, that 
 
 " Ilcr free latch-strin?: never w.tp drawn in 
 Against the poorest child of Adam's kin " ; 
 
 m 
 
 •0m 
 
VA.ycoUyiU! I.<LA.\I> AM) THE UnVEll FliASEll. 
 
 l»ut apparently California is prepared to repudiate this 
 lionoiiraMo claim. 
 
 Time did not {.dmit oi our seeing tne city to aavan- 
 tage, though even a liurried visit to its chief business 
 tetreets, its markets, its Chinese quarter and its wharves, 
 give sufficient evidence that, though inferior to a number 
 of cities in the East, San Frai . iscohas many attractions. 
 Its chief attraction, however, is its harbour. It is small 
 praise to call this the finest harbour on the Pacific, for 
 the North American Pacific is singularly destitute of 
 good liarbours. The next best are those of British 
 Columbia, but they are scarcely worthy of mention in 
 comparison. This is one of the finest harbours in the 
 world. 
 
 At mid-day on Tuesday, the 20tn May, wo .eft it, and 
 steamed out through the Golden Gate on to the blue 
 waters of the Pacific. The City of Chester, on which wo 
 took passage for Victoria, was lightly laden, and seemed 
 capable of more motion in the wrong direction than any 
 other steamer afloat. The effect of this on the writer is 
 seen from the following extracts from a brief journal. 
 They are somewhat monotonous : " Tuesday evening, 
 sea-sick; "Wednesday, 21st, do.; Thursday, 22nd, do." 
 To examine the life preservers, or 'lie slats in the upper 
 berth; to hear the gong call others to dinner; to listen 
 day and night fur the bell that each half hour marks 
 oiF the time; to wonder if it would be well to take tlio 
 
■ f 
 
 MOUXTATX AXD r77.\TnTE. 
 
 medicine now tiiat should have been taken last night; 
 to hear the o:rindinix oftlie shaft, varied 1)V an occasional 
 whirr as the screw rose out of the water ; to leave un- 
 ojDened the books that were brought for reading by the 
 way; to abandon all desire for A trip around the woj-jd ; 
 to feel thankful that the steamer is not bound for Yoko- 
 hama or Honolulu; to question the boasted progress of 
 medical science that has not found any remedy for sea- 
 sickness; and to long for tlio fulfilment of the prophecy: 
 *'Thero shall be no more sea;" these were some of the 
 lighter occupations that engaged attention when not 
 engrossed with tL*!! more serious and painful duties of 
 the situation ; nor did it greatly lessen one's discomfort 
 to kiK)w that others were similarly engaged. 
 
 It is about 750 miles from San Francisco to Victoria. 
 On Friday, tho 23rd. we rounded Cape Flattery and 
 entered the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. AYe had some 
 sixty-five miles more to run, and when we awoke on 
 Saturday morning we fbund that we were safely moored 
 at the wharf in Victoria. 
 
 Before starting for the Skeena, where wc purposed 
 leaving the coast on our journey eastward, we required to 
 spend a few days in the southern part of the Province, 
 which is, even yet, a, comjiarative stranger to the sister 
 Provinces east of the Rocky Mountains. Although. 
 Vancouver Island was constituted into a Crown colony in 
 1849, it really was little known outside of the ledgers of 
 
VANCOVVEIl 7>T..L\7» ASD THE LOWER 7"/?. IS/;//. 
 
 t night; 
 casioiifil 
 avc un- 
 ; by Iho 
 world ; 
 1* Yolco- 
 ^rcss of 
 for Rca- 
 Dpliccy: 
 of the 
 lien not 
 utiea of 
 comfort 
 
 ''ictoria. 
 'vy and 
 id some 
 vokc on 
 moored 
 
 iirposed 
 lircd to 
 'ovince, 
 3 sister 
 though, 
 lony in 
 gers of 
 
 the Hudson's Bay Company and the official documents 
 of Downing Street, until 1858, when the discovery of 
 gold on the Fraser attracted thousands to Victoria, and 
 when the mainland portion of what is now the Province of 
 British Columbia was first erected into a colon}'. The 
 two colonies were united in ISGG, the one giving the 
 name to the united colony — British Columbia, the other 
 giving the cajntal — Yictoi-ia. The old rivalry, liowever, 
 between the two capitals still exists, as New West- 
 minster has not yet abandoned her claim to present and 
 prospecti^'e superiority to Yictoria. On the 20th July, 
 1871, the colony was united to the other Pi-ovinces of 
 the Dominion, and Canada was thus extended from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 
 Victoria is British Columbia in much the same way 
 as Paris is France. Originally an Indian village gathered 
 around a post of the Hudson's Bay Comj)any, then a 
 small settlement of traders, etc., it sprang fbrwai*d 
 rapidly under successive waves of excitement : first, on 
 the discovery of gold on the lower Fraser; again, in 
 ISGO, when new and most profitable gold fields were 
 opened in Cariboo; and, subsoauently, on the dis- 
 covery of gold in Cassiarjn 1873L Ita population 
 like its prosperity has fluctuated, at one time swelling 
 to 12,000, but now shrunk to less than half that 
 number. Although some parts of it, esi;)ecially those 
 occupied by the Chinese and the Indians, have a worn- 
 
m 
 
 8 
 
 Moi'STAIX .\M> PHAiniK. 
 
 
 out look, yet it is upon the whole a jji-etty little city, 
 with delightful drives, tasteful gardens, comfortable 
 homes, a charming public park, and views of the snow- 
 capped Olympian range, the sight of which on a warm 
 day is as refreshing as a breeze from the hill tops. 
 The surroundings of the city are very attractive, the 
 foliage being rich and varied, the shrubs including 
 species seldom seen in tlie eastern Provinces, and not 
 grown there as here in the ojien air, such as holly, ivy, 
 arbutus, etc., while the yew and the scrub oak give 
 additional attraction to the scenery. It is somewhat 
 inconveniently situated for the capital of the Province, 
 as the harbour is only a small bay with very limited 
 accommodation, the true harbour being at Esquimault, 
 some four miles distant. Esquimault, wliich was 
 for a time supposed to bo a suitable terminus for the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway, is beautifully land-locked, 
 and easy of access, but the harbour is very small — too 
 small to allow a large vessel to enter under canvas and 
 come to anchor, unless she had most of the liarbour to 
 herself. The road-stead outside of the harbour, however, 
 known as the Hoyal Roads, is safe and commodious, and 
 the value set upon Esquimault by the Imperial and Do- 
 minion authorities is seen in the fact that it is the site of 
 a Government graving-dock now in course of completion. 
 Victoria is a focus for people from every land. Men of 
 almost all nationalities rub shoulders here. There arc- 
 
VAXCor\-i:i! l>l.ASI> A.\l> Till-: lokeu fhaseh. 
 
 Indians, the old possessors of the soil, whoso contact with 
 city life has not yet greatly improved them; Spaniards, 
 whoso former influence along this coast is notched in 
 many of the names of British Columbia, such as Quadra 
 (the old name of Vancouver Island), Texada, Yaldes, etc. ; 
 Chinese, who are rapidly becoming ubiquitous along 
 the Pacific ; Frenchmen ; Eussians ; Americans ; Jews ; 
 and Britons from almost every quarter of the Empire. 
 Yet, though its j^opulation is thus mixed, there is a, 
 strong English tone in Victoria, and a deep attachment 
 to the Empire. Unfortunately there is not 3'et the same 
 strong attachment to the Dominion. The people hardly 
 regard their Province as a^i integral portion of Canada, 
 and still speak of Canadians as of a distant people, 
 severed from them in life and purpose. Yet the same 
 was the case in Nova Scotia for some years after -Con- 
 federation. Along the Atlantic coast, as here, t'he 
 communication was more frequent with the old country 
 than with the interior Provinces ; many doubted the 
 wisdom of Confederation ; some, evc^i of its friends, con- 
 sidered it to be premature ; some vehemently opposed 
 it; but none would now undo it, or bring back the 
 isolated life in which ea<;h of the Provinces formerly 
 dwelt; and, naturally, as the intercourse of British 
 Columbia with other parts of the Dominion becomes closer 
 and more frequent, and as the construction <»f our Pacific 
 Eailway proceeds, loyalty to the Empire will develop 
 
M 
 
 10 
 
 :\rorxT.ii\ ash vumutk. 
 
 1 
 
 loyalty to the commonweal of the Dominion, of Avhicli 
 this Province forms a part. The people, however, thought 
 that they had a grievance against the Dominion. When 
 they entered Confederation, in 1871, it was agreed upon, 
 as one of the articles of the union, that the Government 
 of the Dominion should " undertake to secure the com- 
 mencement, simultaneously, within two years of the date 
 of union — of the construction of a yailway from the 
 Pacific to the Eocky Mountains, and from such point as 
 may be selected, cast of the Pocky Mountains, towards 
 the Pacific, to connect the seaboard of British Columbia 
 with the railway system of Canada — and, further, to secure 
 the completion of such railway within ten years of the 
 date of union." Nearly nine years have passed and con- 
 struction is only now commencing. True, there was far 
 moi'e work involved than was at first anticii^ated, in the 
 looation of the line. Nearly four millions of dollars 
 liave been expended in the surveys, of which a large 
 portion has been disbursed in British Columbia, .^^any 
 routes had to bo examined, amounting in the aggregate 
 to 40,000 miles, of which one-fourth M'as measured, yard 
 by yard, through forest, mountain and prairie; but these 
 are facts of which an impatient people take little notice. 
 Since, liowever, construction has been commenced, it may 
 reasonably be expectc<l that adverse criticism towards 
 the Canadian (rovcrnment, on the part of the people of 
 Britisii Columbia, will cease, and that they will recognise 
 
VAScnrvrR /ST..1.V/) A\n Tirr r.nwFn f/msft?. 
 
 11 
 
 the earnestnosH of tlio Doniinioii authorities in Ailtllliiig, 
 asfaras ])Ossil)le, the pledges given wlien British Columbia 
 entered Confederation. Certainly, the people canliardly 
 rcirard themselves as identified in interest with their 
 fellow-Canadians until greater facilities for ijitercourso 
 liavo been provided, and these can be most fully secured 
 ly the construction of the Canadian Pacific Eailway. 
 
 .Afany causes have I)een at work to i-etard the progress 
 of Victoria — causes that have similarly allected the wel- 
 fare of the whole Pj-ovince. It suffers, and has suffered, 
 lai'gely, from the fact that many of its temporarjM'itizens 
 have l)cen only birds of passage, coming with the inten- 
 tion of leaving as soon as they had made their " pile," and 
 therefore taking no interest in the settlement or develop- 
 ment of the country. For this reason many, even of the 
 better educated British Columbians, take no active part in 
 the political or other public interests of the Province, and 
 some are confirmed in this course b}' the condition of the 
 franchise, which, being virtually that of manhood suffrage, 
 places a large amount of powei'in the hands of the floating 
 population. The mining excitement, too, has slackened. 
 Men do not now ccMne in from the gold-fields as they onco 
 did, so flush with money that the}' could throw a handful 
 (»f $20 gold j)ieces at a saloon-keeper's mirror, and ask the 
 jtroprietor to take the price of the sliattered glass from 
 the coins on the floor. ]\rore ca])ital and (dieajier labour 
 are now required to woi-k the gold-fields to advantage. , 
 
12 
 
 Mnl'XTAiy A-\I> PRAIRIE, 
 
 The cxtcnisivo iron deposits of the Province are 
 lying undibturbcd. The great coal-fields are worked 
 only in a very small degree, and mines that may yet give 
 emjtloynicnL to many thousands now emj)loy only a 
 few hundreds. The agricultural capacity of many dis- 
 tricts is but imperfectly known, and even the recognized 
 officials can hardly tell t4ie new immigrant where to go 
 for the best unoccupied farm lands, for much fertile soil 
 is still covered, or hemmed in, by forests of large timber. 
 
 Although forty millions of dollars have been taken out 
 of the gold mines of British Columbia, there is very little 
 in the Province to-day to represent that amount. Many 
 have carried their money away ; many others have left 
 the country "dead broke"; and while in Ontario, and 
 other Provinces, the fortunate remained on account of 
 their success, and the disajipointedalso remained, because 
 unable to get away ; and while all thus settled, worked, 
 and developed the resources of those ^^rovinces, many 
 who had been disappointed in British Columbia could easily 
 move elsewhere, and they left the Province rather the 
 worse for their having lived in it. It must be confessed, 
 too, that Victoria sutlers from saloons more perhaps than 
 most of our cities, there being some sixty saloons for a 
 population of about 5,000, — " an intolerable deal of sack 
 to one halfpenny Wort a of bread." 
 
 Copper currency is unknown, tiie smallest coin being a 
 "bit" — that is, the Hnglish sixpence, whose nearest 
 
VAX'orvi:!: islaxd axd the lower eraser. 
 
 13 
 
 equivalent is the ten-cent piece. The hotel clerk smiles 
 M'hen you offer him three Canadian cents in payment of 
 a three cent stamj"), and su^^gests that he does not keep a 
 museum of curiosities, while it is said that the presence 
 in church of Canadians from the older Provinces can be 
 sometimes detected by the discovery of co2)per coins :n 
 the collection. 
 
 Labour is still dear, notwithstanding the presence of a 
 large Chinese element, against which the chief accusation 
 laid by the anti-Chinese agitators is that it keeps down 
 the price of labour, and so impoverishes white men. 
 Labourers receive from 82 to $2.50 per day; mechanics, 
 $■4 to 85. Ilousehokl servants receive from $15 to $30 
 2iev monthj and farm servants $20 to 640 jDcr month, with 
 board and lodging, while other labour is j^aid in pro- 
 portion, s that the country is a most expensive one for 
 those on salaries, whose incomes are measured by the 
 figures that prevail in otlier parts of Canada, or in Eng- 
 land, — an attractive one for labourers who arc willing to 
 work, and fior capitalists who have brains to guide their 
 irivestments in mining, lumbering and fishing, — and a 
 very paradise for domestic servants. 
 
 The twogj:caLLlaiiSCH4:^l»lx>«rcrs, however, in S(juthern 
 British Columbia, are the Indians and the Chinese. 3Iany 
 of the Tiidi.'ins work admirably on steamers, in saw-mills, 
 in salmon-cannories, ttc. Tiiey are active, strong, good- 
 tempered, with very little sell-restraint if lif^iKn* is within 
 
14 
 
 Mdi'XTArx AXD rRAiinr:. 
 
 reach, and witli a groat contempt for Chinamen; Bomo of 
 them arc excellent f:irmers,witJi very comfortable cottages ; 
 and a number of the Lillooet Indians along the Lower 
 Eraser, who bear a specially good name, raise cattle and 
 hay for market. White settlers find no trouble from 
 them. One white settlor reports regarding those in his 
 neighbourhood: "The Indians go into farming; quite 
 quiet ; keep cats." The keeping of cats is a new test 
 of civilization, although pcrha2)s not much more reliable 
 for that purpose than the use of suspenders. 
 
 It is not easy to map out, with accuracy, the different 
 Indian tribes, or dialects, to be met with in the Province. 
 The generic name is Siwash, a corruption, no doubt, of 
 "sauvage," but when you try to define all the sj)ecies of 
 Siwash you are sure to run across some of the lines laid 
 down by one or other of the writers on this subject. On 
 Vancouver Island there arc the Ahts, the Cowichans, the 
 Comox and others. On the mainland, we have the Koot- 
 anles, the Lillooots, the Shuswaps, the Chilcotins, the 
 Bellacoulas, thoTsimpseans, thoBabines, the Sicanies, and 
 others; and on Queen Charlotte Islands, the Ilaidahs. Their 
 huiguages dillVr in much the same degree as the dialects 
 of luiglish from Cornwall to Caithness, although some- 
 times one might bo tempted to include the varieties of 
 Gaelic as well as of English in this comparison. A 
 comuKm medium of communication with most of them, 
 however — at least, with those near tlie coast — is found 
 
VAXCOrVER ISLAXD ASD THE l'i-)VER r.UASER. 
 
 15 
 
 in tlie Chinook jargon, wliirli was originally the language 
 of the Chinook Indians, near the mouth of the Columlna 
 Eivor, but which has ])een enriched and altered by the 
 addition of words from the SjXudsh, French and other 
 hmguages. It is easily acf|uired; it ca-nnot be said to 
 have any grammar ; but it forms a most convenient means 
 of intercourse with the Indians, from the Fraser to Ahtska, 
 being more profitable to the traveller in those regim 
 than all other modern languages. 
 
 The other chief labourer of Britis-h Columbia is the 
 Chinaman. It is not merely within recent years that 
 men have come from the land of the Celestials, across the 
 Pacific, to our own Avestern coast. There is ample 
 evidence that at some past period the blood of the Chinese, 
 or of the Japanese, was blendcil with the blood of our 
 Intlians, for many of the Pacific ludians are of such a 
 marked Mongolian typo of face that you can scarcely 
 tell them from the Chinamen except by the difference of 
 dress, or of language, or iy the absence of the pig-tail, 
 wliich, however, the Chinaman often wears coiled up 
 under his cap. As lately, indeed, as 18^i, Japanese junks 
 Were found stranded on our western C')ast. "Whether 
 the coming of the Asiatics was the result of accident, or 
 of set purpose, one consequence has been an infusion of 
 Asiatic blood amongst some of our Indian tribes. The 
 immigration, however, of Chinamrii f)r trade ami labour, 
 is a thing of recent dato. As yet their presence can 
 
>!i 
 
 1(5 
 
 MOUNT A IX AXn rUMUIE. 
 
 ilil 
 
 hardly be said to Imve had any Borious effect on the 
 lw]x)ur market of the Province, or to provoke much hos- 
 tility ; but as those who have already arrived may be only 
 the advanced guard of a large army of workmen, it is 
 j)Ossiblc that British Columbia may yat witness a strife 
 between white and Chinese labour similar to that which 
 has seriously disturbed the j^eace of California. 
 
 The Chinamen, as a class, are sober, diligent, frugal 
 and trustworthy. They are objected to b}'' the saloon- 
 keeper, who gets no custom from them, — by the indolent, 
 whom they prevent from exacting exorbitant wages for 
 a minimum of work, — by agitators, who try to win the 
 favour of the white working-man, and b}' others who are 
 more or less influenced hj those objectors. And yet 
 remove the Chinamen and you disturb every industry 
 in British Columbia; exclude their future immigration 
 and you increase the cost of working your future 
 factories. It is, of course, only fair that all citizens should 
 contribute a due share to tlie good of the commonwealth. 
 If, thei'efore, the Chinaman does not consume enough of 
 our produce, preferring his rice to our wheat, if his work 
 is not enough to entitle him to live among us, and if his 
 labour precludes the employment of those who seem to 
 have a prior claim upon the country-, then regulations 
 may be framed to lay upon him a more equitable share of 
 the general burdens. But if it is objected that the Cliineso 
 come and work hero only with the view of carrying their 
 
VASi' )r •,■!::: :^!..\.\i) .iX!> t:iu Lnwr.u ruAsi:!;. 
 
 17 
 
 carnini;:^ out of the country, it may he asked, for what 
 other purpose arc hundreds oflJritons no.v doing husiness 
 in China, and witli what other object, indeed, liave many 
 of the anti-Chinese agitators themselves gone to British 
 Cohimbia? O)', il' it l)e objected that our civilization, as 
 well as our commerce, may suffer, that the Chinese lower 
 the general tone — then surely we have little faith in our 
 civilizatif^n an<l in our Christianity if we cannot hope 
 rather to mould the Mongolian to a higher life. Even if 
 we wTiild we could not, with any consistency, close one 
 of our ])orts against Chinese immigration, remembering 
 the ^vay in which the ports of China were opened fin* the 
 commerce of our empire ; and before any serious wish 
 should be exjtressed, or serious attempt he made, to 
 exclude them, some more vigorous efforts for their im- 
 provement, than have yet been witnessed, arc required of 
 UH if we 1)0 a Christian people. 
 
 The development of the resources of British Columbia, 
 however, may well call for the fullest possible supply of 
 cheap lalxnir from whatever quarter it may lie derived, 
 for there can be no doubt about the vast extent of tho 
 resources of this Province. Comparc<l with Ontario, 
 Manitoba, and other agricultural Provinces, it is an in- 
 ferior farming country, although parts of the valley of 
 the Fraser, and tho vnlleys of some of its tributaries, as 
 well as other southern portions of the Province, are ri(di 
 
 in arable and in pasture lands, while, from the f;icilitiea 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 :HOUNTAiy AND rUATIlIK 
 
 t.l 
 
 that they afford for wintering cattle, without housing or 
 home-feeding, many parts are specially adapted for stock- 
 raising. 
 
 But, while tlie agricultural capacities of the Province 
 are small, it is in otlicr respects exceptionally wealthy. 
 Its bituminous coal is of the best quality, in quantities 
 that are practically inexhaustible, found close to tho 
 water's edge. The estimated coal-producing area of the 
 Comox district alone is given in the Geological Survey 
 Beportfor 1871-2 (page 80) as 300 square miles; where 
 the estimated quantity of coal underlying the surface, is, 
 on the same authority, set down as 25,000 tons j)er acre, 
 or sixteen million of tons per square mile ; and yet, as if 
 this were not sufficient to warm the world for a while, 
 and to enrich Vancouver for ages, tho Geological Sur- 
 vey Report assures us that the coal measures " run 
 " in a narrow trough, which may be said to extend to tho 
 " vicinity of Cape Mudge on tho north-west, and to 
 " approach within fifteen miles of Victoria on tho south- 
 " east, with a length of about 130 miles." 
 
 Even these areas do not exhaust the coal measures of 
 the island. It was at Fort Rupert, near the northern 
 extremity of Vancouver, a trading post of the Hudson'?* 
 Bay Company, that coal was first found on the island, but 
 while the Company were making all necessary prepara- 
 tions for mining and shipping coal here, the mines at 
 Nanaimo were discovered, and being richer, more accossi- 
 
 % 
 
VANCOVVER ISL.IXD A\D THE LOWER ERASER. 
 
 19 
 
 ousing or 
 for stock- 
 
 Provinco 
 
 wofilthy. 
 j^iiantitiea 
 5C to tho 
 •ea of the 
 al Survey 
 s ; where 
 urface, is, 
 
 per acre, 
 I yet, as if 
 
 a while, 
 'gical Sur- 
 
 cs " run 
 jnd to tho 
 and to 
 
 le south- 
 
 asures of 
 northern 
 ludson'si 
 and, but 
 prepara- 
 mines at 
 3 accessi- 
 
 *4 
 
 ble, and more convenient for shipjDing, they have been 
 opened and worked, while the coal fields at F'ort Eupert 
 have been allowed to lie idle. Coal from Nanaimo forces 
 its way into San Francisco, notwithstanding the h'gh 
 duty against it. It is used on the Central Pacific Eail- 
 road, and it is regarded by the U. S. War Department 
 as being 20 i^er cent, better than the best coal of the 
 Pacific States. From Fort Eupert there is said to bo a 
 low flat country extending along the north-western por- 
 tion of tho island to Quatsino, another locality where 
 coal has been found. Possibly this flat land may ovor-lio 
 extensive beds of coal, and Quatsino being directly accessi- 
 ble from tho Pacific, would be advantageously situated 
 for largo shijiments. Moreover, it is at least possible 
 that rich coal beds may yet be found underlying the tim- 
 ber lands., whose dense forests have hitherto prevented 
 any thorough examination of the interior of the island ; 
 and there are known to be extensive beds of anthracite 
 coal in Queen Charlotte Islands. 
 
 In addition to tho rich coal measures of Vancouver, 
 there are abundant iron deposits. Tho whole island of 
 Texada, not far from the coal-fields of Nanaimo and Comox, 
 seems to be almost a mass of iron ore, easy of access 
 for mining and smelting, and with facilities in the imme- 
 diate vicinity for producing unlimited charcoal. The ore 
 of Texada is reported, upon assay, to yield 80 per cent, 
 of pure iron of the best quality. 
 
20 
 
 MOrXTATX AXn PR. \ in IE. 
 
 -A- 
 
 Silver and copper may be added to the list of mineral 
 resources, while the gold fields of the Province, though 
 ceasing to a?ttract the large numbers that they once did, 
 and being wrought at a great disadvantage, on account 
 of the high price of 2:)rovisions and of labour, still yield 
 a large return, and may be expectea to yield more when 
 improved machinery and cheaper living are introduced ; 
 for even of Williams' Creek, one of the most paying in 
 the Cariboo district, which was supposed to have been 
 exhausted, Dr. G. M. Dawson, of the Geological Survey, 
 states that " it would not bo extravagant to say that the 
 " quantity of gold still remaining in the bed of this creek, 
 *' which has been worked over, is about as great as that 
 " which has already been obtained ;" and the same may 
 reasonably be supposed to bo the case with other mines. 
 
 It., mineral resources, however, though so extensive, 
 are but a portion of the wealth of this Province. Its 
 fisheries are amongst the richest in the world. Salmon 
 swarm in its rivers, in almost incredible numbers, so that 
 the Indian, or any one else who may foUov/ his example, 
 can, in a few days, catch enough salmon to form his 
 chief article of food for the year. The coast is rich with 
 halibut, herring and cod. In the northern waters the 
 seal and the otter abound, wiiile in the river Kassc, and 
 its neighbourhood, the Indians catch large numbers of 
 oolachan, or candle-fish. This fish, which is about 
 the size of the smelt, and considered by some a 
 
 ■'^ 
 
 t 
 
 .3 
 
 m 
 
VAXCOfVKR /.s7..l.\7> AX!) Till-: I.oKEll riiASICU. 
 
 21 
 
 mineral 
 tiiough 
 mco did, 
 account 
 ill yield 
 re wlien 
 'oduced ; 
 lying in 
 ivo been 
 Survey, 
 that the 
 lis creek, 
 as that 
 ime may 
 r mines, 
 ctensive, 
 ICC. Its 
 Salmon 
 ), so that 
 xamplc, 
 brm his 
 ich with 
 ters the 
 so, and 
 bers of 
 about 
 ome a 
 
 great delicacy, is so fat that by simply inserting 
 a piece of pith, it serves as a candle, the pith 
 burning like the wick of a well-filled lamp. One 
 gets some idea of the abundance of the oolachan, and 
 also of the herring, from the manner in which they are 
 frequently caught. In a pole, about ten feet in length, 
 nails are inserted, which arc set about an inch and a hali 
 apart, like the teeth of a comb. When the fisherman in his 
 canoe comes upon a shoal of fish, he draws the polo 
 quickly through the water, and with a backward sweep 
 impales several ujjon the sharp teeth. In two or three 
 hours he may secure a boat load. 
 
 Added to its resources of the mine, and of the sea, this 
 Province boasts the largest of all Canadian timber, — vast 
 forests of Douglas pine. Excellent for ordinary use, this 
 wood is specially suited for such purposes as ship- 
 building, the manufacture of spars, etc., where toughness, 
 lightness, and durability are essential qualities. Trees of 
 Douglas pine sometimes grow to a gigantic size, being 
 even 180 feet in length, and from nine to eleven feet in 
 diameter at the base. Near the northern coast there are 
 extensive forests of cedar and hemlock. 
 
 This enumeration of the chief resources of the Province 
 may to some appear tiresome as an exhibition catalogue, 
 but it is necessary in order to convey even a faint idea of 
 the country's wealth. Only in respect to farming does 
 British Columbia soeni inferior to any of its sister Pro- 
 
22 
 
 3for.V7'.i/.v Asn I'Iimuik. 
 
 r 
 
 ||!^ 
 
 vinccs. Its climate is much bettor than that along our 
 Atlantic coast, for it has no cold stream from the Arctic 
 flowing down M^ion it, and its shores are washed by a 
 warm oceanic current, that keej)S its ports open at all 
 seasons, and that gives the southern parts of the Province a 
 climate not unlike that of the south of England, while 
 securing, even to the northern parts, at least near the sea, 
 a temperature as moderate as that enjoyed 10 degrees 
 further south on the Atlantic coast of America, 
 
 It would be unreasonable to question the future pros- 
 perity of such a Province. The tariffs of other countries 
 may for a time delay its development ; they cannot per- 
 manently prevent it. Its time must come, when the 
 restless and speculative sj)irit created by the gold fever, 
 and still toopaljiably present, shall give place to steady 
 labour, wheri industry shall unfold the resources of which 
 as yet only the outskirts have been grasped, and when 
 possessions similar to tho.se that see 3d the material 
 prosperity of the Mother Country, shall make British 
 Columbia one of the wealthiest Provinces of the 
 Dominion. 
 
 While waiting for some of our party to complete their 
 arrangements before starting for the Skeena, two of us 
 visited the Frascr Eiver. From Victoria we went by 
 steamer to Now Westminster, seventy miles distant, near 
 the mouth of the Fraser, the capital of the old colony of 
 British Columbia before its union with Vancouver. Our 
 
 
 •1 
 I 
 
 I 1 
 
VANCOrVIlIi /SL.I-VD .LVD THE LOWER FHASEIi. 
 
 2;} 
 
 course lay through the Straits of San Juan do Fuca, tlicneo 
 across tho Straits of Georgia into tlio broad and turbid 
 Frasor. 
 
 The sight of tho ishiiid of San Juan can iiardly fail to 
 arouse Canadians into indignation and regret at the way 
 in which our rights have usually suffered in any contro- 
 versy with our ntiighboiirs regarding our boundary line. 
 A large portion of the State of Maine was lost through 
 the reckless ignorance, it would seem, of some of those 
 who were engaged in negotiating the Ashburton Treaty, 
 or Ashburton Cajntulation, as it has sometimes been 
 called. "Washington Territory and part of Oregon were 
 lost to us, it appears, because tho then Premier of Eng- 
 land considered the country not wortli contending for, 
 basing his judgment on a report of his brother, who con- 
 demned it as useless because the salmon in the Columbia 
 Elver would not rise to the fly. And, surely, there must 
 have been serious carelessness in the wording of the 
 Treaty, or some culpable deficiency in the evidence and 
 arguments submitted to the Emperor of German}^, when, 
 as arbitrator, he decided that the boundary line should 
 run down the Haro Straits, instead of following either 
 the Middle Channel or the Straits of Rosario, thus giving 
 to the United States an island to which until recently 
 they laid no claim. 
 
 Not long ago there died in San Juan an aged servant 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company, a Scottish Highlander, 
 
24 
 
 i»for.V7'.l/.V .l.N7> VUAUnK. 
 
 wlio, witli a brolhoi- nn<l sister, had come tlierc wlien the 
 ]>ritish title to tlio island wa- undisputed. It was the 
 dying wisli of (he old man, as well as the desire of his 
 only Hurviving rehitivcs, tliat Ids remains should not lie 
 in a foreign land. Willi some diffieulty and expense they 
 were removed to Victoi-ia, wlu're the brother and sister, 
 who spoke ver}' little English, told their story to the 
 Kev. S. ^[aegregor, who could speak to them in their 
 native (raelie. The little funeral procession of two, 
 accompanied hy the clorgyi.nan, passed from the wharf 
 to the graveyard, and there they left the bones of tlic 
 old Loyalist beneath the protection of the flag he loved. 
 As it noars the sea, the Fi-aser flows, broad and slow, 
 between low alluvial lianks or tide-flats. It starts on its 
 
 windinu: course some HOO miles above this, in the 
 
 ippor 
 
 nlopos of the Rocky ^Fountains, cleaving its way through 
 many a wild caiton, skirting ri(di gold bars and fertile 
 valleys, and receiving as its tributaries all the stroams 
 which flow from the Itockies through the Cascade Range 
 to the sea. Other rivers, such as the Bellacoula, the 
 llomathco, the Skeena, and the Nasse, rising m the inierior 
 plateau, flow through the Cascades to the Western ►Sea; 
 others, again, both from tho Cascades and the Rockies, 
 swell the waters of tlie Peace in its northward flow to 
 the Arctic Ocean; but the Frjiser »ilono, rising in the 
 Rockies, cuts its course tiirough the high brokiMi plateau 
 that divides the Rocky .Mountait\s tVom the Cascade or 
 
 i I 
 
vaxcouvl:i: islaxd axd the lower rnAsri:. 
 
 25 
 
 Coast llaiigo, ami, forcing it.-^ way tlirough this hitter, 
 finds rest at hast in the Pacific. 
 
 Near the moutli of tlic Frascr is the little city of Xew 
 Westminster, which was shorn of some of its pretensions 
 and prospects when Yictoi'ia was chosen as the capital of 
 the united colony, but which has now every chance of 
 soon surpassing its old rival, as the neighbouring harbour 
 of Eurrard Inlet has been selected as the terminus of the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway. Although the city can scarcely 
 bo said to have a harbour, it being little movQ than a 
 river l)ank approadied l)y the winding Fraser, yet it 
 claims, as in some sense its own, the harbnur of Burrard 
 Inlet, about nine miles noi-th, — a claim, perhaps, as vaHd 
 as that on which Victoria prides itself on the possession 
 of Esquimaul 
 
 Though smaller and less attractive than Victoria, with 
 somewhat more of a backwoods appearance, it has a pulse 
 of life and energy stronger in proportion to its population 
 than is found in its rival. It is the centre towards which 
 tho lines of travel and of traffic from the interior convortre. 
 Tho herds of cattle from tho ranches of Kamloops, the 
 farm products of Sumas and Xicola, with sii.iilar returns 
 from other districts, are brought liero as to a common 
 point of distribution. 
 
 Burrard Iidet is cortawi.y tho most suitable harbour in 
 British Columbia f«u- the terminus of our Pacific Railway. 
 Only two others can bo seriously compared with it, — 
 
26 
 
 lilOVNTATX AXD mATRIE. 
 
 if ; 
 
 Port Simpson and Esquiniault. Port Simpson, although 
 in some respects suitable, especially if the convenience of 
 the Asiatic trade ^vero n-. le a jirominent consideration, 
 is too far north to servo the general interests of the Pro- 
 vince ; while, at the same time, in ajjproaching it from 
 the east it would bo necessary to traverse a largo tract 
 of country that, as far as known, is seriously deficient in 
 resources. 
 
 Esquimault is smaller than Bnrrard Inlet, and, even 
 with the roadstead of Eoyal lioads, would not give as 
 much harbourage as Burrard with its roadstead, English 
 Bay; while the enormous cost and practical inutility of 
 a railway from Esquimault to Nanaimo, which would have 
 been a necessity if Esquimault had been chosen as a 
 terminus, as well as the great expense and other objec- 
 tions that might bo urged against the Bute Inlet route, 
 render Bnrrard Iidet much more eligible as the Pacific 
 terminus of the line. 
 
 Objection has been taken against it on the ground that 
 any vessels bound from the Pacific for Burraid Inlet might, 
 in case of disturbance between Britain and the United 
 States, bo stopped by the batteries of San Juan ; but there is 
 little doubt that in the event of such disturbance the batter- 
 ies of San Juan would soon bo held by the British, or Van- 
 couver be held by the States; that hoth islands, in short, 
 would, in the event of war, fall to the power that held 
 naval supremacy on the Pacific. At the same time, if a 
 
VAXcorvEn t^laxd axd T:in lon-nn rnAsrn. 
 
 27 
 
 course north of that which runs liy tlio valley of the 
 Fra.ser to Burrard Inlet had been selected for our railway, 
 much of the traffic of the southern jiart of the Provinco 
 must inevitably have passed to any Northern Pacific 
 railway that may be constructed through United States 
 territory with a terminus in the neighbourhood of Pugot 
 
 Sound. 
 
 Burrard Inlet is already a busy place, for it is the 
 centre of the British Columbia timber trade, — the manu- 
 facture and export of the Douglas pine, which grows in 
 "•rcat excellence and abundance in this vicinity. Lura- 
 berers here work under great advantages as compared 
 with those of our Eastern Provinces. The climate is so 
 moderate, and the pine forests are so close to the water's 
 edge, that men are at work in the woods all the year 
 round foiling trees and drawing them, by moans of oxen, 
 to the water, so that they can be easily ranted to tho 
 mills ; while other gangs of men are at work throughout 
 the whole year in the mills and on the docks, sawing and 
 piling lumber and loading vessels, which have easy access 
 to tho mill-wharves at all seasons. The road from New 
 "Westminster to Burrard Inlet passes tiirough a forest of 
 Douglas pine, where on cither side rise those giants, 
 straight, lofty and almost branchless, waiting for tlio axe. 
 
 From Xew "SVestminstor we went by stcumer 100 miles 
 to Yale, tho head of navigation on tlie Fraser. There nro 
 navigable roaches of tho river above Yale, but nil progress 
 
h ! '1 
 
 V % 
 
 28 
 
 3I'>L'STATy AXD rRAIUTE. 
 
 by Htoamcr from the sea beyond thi.-s point is prevented 
 by the cliaracter of the river — wild, broken and rapid — 
 and by tlie precipitous canons tlirough which it flows. 
 From Yale, the one great highway to the interior is 
 the waggon-road which was built by the Province at a very 
 largo co.->t when the Cariboo gold-fever was impelling 
 thousands up the banks of the Fraser. It follows, for the 
 most part, the 'ourse of the river, though taking some 
 times the ea.^ ■ Vv,.ieys of tributary streams, running 
 northerly aboi 300 miles until it reaches Quesnel, and 
 theii striking east to the Cariboo district, one of the 
 richest gold-mining fields ever known. 
 
 Anxious to see something of the canons of the Fraser, 
 we drove over this road as far as Boston Bar, a distance 
 of 25 miles. For wild and startling scenery this drive 
 has few equals. The road winds around high and preci- 
 pitous hills, sometimes cut out of the rock, sometimes 
 built up on crib-work at an altitude of several hundred 
 feet above the river, while leaning over the side of the 
 waggon you look down on the Fraser, at the foot of the 
 Bheer and rugged clifl', wild, masterful, turbulent, whirl- 
 ing and swirling in rapids and eddies that invariably 
 prove fatal to any who fall within their grasp. Frequently 
 one meets great ox-teams, dragging hn.ge waggons, or 
 extensive i)ack-trains of mules, well laden, carrying their 
 cargoes to the interior. Only steady nerve and experience 
 coukl enable a man to guide a span of horses at a rattling 
 

 
 
 
 From a I'liolo. by Dr. G. M Dawson. 
 
 FRASER RIYER (IS miles above Yale). 
 
!>■ 
 
 li 
 
 il 
 
 I 
 
 Jr 
 
 1^ 
 
r.i.vrofT'/:.? ;>•/,. i.vn .i.vn run lower fhaser. 
 
 20 
 
 pace, sometimes at full speed, over such a road, near the 
 edge of those precipitous banks, and around corners where 
 you know not what mnle-train or ox-waggon you may 
 meet ; but the drivers on this line are men of nerve and 
 experience. "We were in the hands of such a Jehu, and 
 although at times the driving was furious as that of the 
 son of ISTimshi, yet we had every confidence in him. 
 AYhat is life worth without faith in your fellow-inan ? 
 
 Often along this lower jiart of the river we passed " bars" 
 that once attracted thousands — Emory Bar, Wellington 
 Bar, Boston Bar, &c., — for small grains of gold arc com- 
 monly first detected at the head of a sand-bar, where the 
 current of the river leaves oidy the heavier sand and the 
 metallic particles that are borne down with it. Rome of 
 these bars are still worked by Indians and Chinamen, 
 who make fair wages at them, but they do not yield 
 enough to attract the more restless or more ambitious 
 white man. 
 
 From the road one can see the old trail by which 
 hundreds of gold-hunters travelled, tlirough hardship 
 and suffering, before the waggon-road was made, carrying, 
 in many instances, provisions, blankets, mining tools, &c., 
 & burden of some 120 lbs. per man, for nearly 400 miles. 
 "We hear of the han'ful of Bucccssful men, wlio.-e good 
 fortr.nc sends hundreds of others to the mines. "W"o hear 
 nothing of the thousands of unfortunates, broken in 
 t)uriac, bi-okon iu all st»bor industry that would fit them 
 
30 
 
 MOi'XTAI.y \XD PRAIRIE. 
 
 W i 
 
 !i 
 
 for steady labour, often broken in liealth, but still un- 
 broken in hoi)e, wtill strong in the gaming spirit that 
 flings the past to the winds, and, with confident outlook, 
 says, " better luck next time." 
 
 A rough crowd those miners often wore ; and yet, our 
 knowledge of British Columbia to-day, small as it is, 
 would bo much smaller but for them. They opened up 
 the country and made it known. The Indians could not, 
 and the Hudson's Bay Company's officials would not, let 
 the outside world learn from them about this land of 
 canon and of mountain. But the miner came, and he 
 laughed at difficulties that would have made other men 
 despair. lie jiierccd the country from Kootcnay to Cas- 
 siar. Eailway explorers and surveyors followed, and 
 now almost every available pass and road and stretch of 
 farm land, at least in the southern jDortion of the Province, 
 is mapped out. Few of thr miners made fortunes, yet 
 many helped to open the country for those who have 
 come after them. They may rest in unknown and 
 unhonoured graves, but their work, however different in 
 aim, was in result not unlike that of an advanced guard 
 in many an old conflict, who bridged the ditch with their 
 bodies that others might pass over them to victory. 
 
 Frequently along the Fraser society was wild as the 
 scenery, although, thanks to the prompt administration 
 of justice by Sir Matthew Bcgbie and Judge Eeilley, life 
 anci property were as safe in the mi ing districts as in 
 
 fl 
 
rAWCOUVEIt ISLAND AND THE LOWER FRAF!ER. 
 
 31 
 
 ^rovince. 
 
 the best regulated parts of th(5 country. But the language 
 was sometimes rough, very rougli. A Canadian clergyman 
 on one occasion visited Cariboo, and hearing occasional 
 profanity, ho attempted gently to remonstrate with the 
 offenders. The miners could stand a good lecture on 
 Sunday, but they did not relish reproofs of this kind 
 through the week for what, after all, ap])eared to them 
 little more than emphatic language ; so they undertook 
 to astonish his reverence. By pre-arrangement some of 
 them, when within ear-shot of the Doctor, dropped into 
 conversation, and interlaided their talk with such pro- 
 fanity as even they themselves had never heard before. 
 No wonder that the good man was horrified and gave the 
 miners of Cariboo a bad name, although, had he been be- 
 hind tho scenes, ho would hardly have taken this as a 
 epecimcu of their common conversation. 
 
 ,s as in 
 
f . I 
 
 i 
 
 • CirAPTEPc IT. 
 
 VICTORIA TO THE SKEENA. 
 
 Along the Coast. — The Chain rrf Channels. — Nanaimo. — Bute Inlet 
 and the Route of the Canadian Pacific Railway. — Port Essington 
 and tlio Month of the Skeena. — iMctlahkatlali. — Mission to the 
 Indians. — Port Simpson. — WoiJc Inlet. 
 
 Having returned to Yictoriu, and liaving completed all 
 our preparations for our journey northward and across 
 the mountains, wo left there on Tuesday, the 3rd June, 
 for Port Essington, at the mouth of the Skeena, in the 
 commodious steamer Ohjmpia, belonging to the Hudson's 
 Bay Company. 
 
 As the Olympia was to go as far as Fort Wrangel, in 
 Alaska, where travellers for the Cassiar gold fields leave 
 the coast to ascend the Stickino, and was to call at Fort 
 Masset, and at other intervening 2:)orts, before returning, 
 and as she was incomparably more ooinfortablc than the 
 ordinary steamers on this route, there was a goodly 
 number of passengers on board. We had a party of 
 ladies and gentlemen from Tictoria, who availed thom- 
 i^elves of this opportunity of seeing a portion of our 
 
om2)leted all 
 and across 
 le 3rd June, 
 )cna, in the 
 10 Hudson's 
 
 IS 4, 
 
 '%K4 
 
 o. — Bute Inlet 
 Port Essington 
 Mission to tlie 
 
 i^.:. 
 
 ^Yrangel, in 
 fields leave 
 call at Fort 
 3 returning, 
 blc than the 
 18 a goodly 
 a party of 
 ailed thcm- 
 :ion of our 
 
 188 
 
PHOTO LITH BY THE flURLAND LiTH CO MONTREAL 
 
No 
 ver 
 sta 
 V03 
 mc 
 of] 
 Chi 
 froi 
 
 8Ufl 
 
 C 
 
 nor 
 tha 
 ext 
 cha 
 pioi 
 int( 
 
 unl 
 Sirr 
 Him 
 of 
 nor 
 tha 
 sho( 
 is la 
 sm< 
 
 Of-AN 
 
TTCTOULi TO THE SKFEKA. 
 
 33 
 
 Northern Pacifi-*, of which Victorians, in general, know- 
 very little, Komc traders and miners for Cassiar, a 
 staff of railway engineers, with assistants, axemen, 
 voyageiirs, etc., that were to be engaged <luring the sum- 
 mer in tlie upper part of the Province, and also a numher 
 of Ilaidah Indians, returning to their homes on the Queen 
 Charlotte Islands, after one of those visits to Victoria, 
 from which the morality, both of whites and Indians, 
 suffers considerably. 
 
 Our course lay eastward througli the Ilaro-Straits, then 
 northward between Vancouver and the smaller islands 
 that stud the Straits of Tieorgia, until, leaving the northern 
 extremity of Vancouver, we passed through the chain of 
 channels that divide the mainland from the long succes- 
 sion of islands which fringe the coast, with scarcely any 
 interruptions, as f;u' as Alaska. 
 
 This land-l(K'ked strip of ocean that stretches almost 
 unbroken along our Pacific coast from San Juan to Port 
 Simpson, some 500 miles in length, is one of the most 
 ningular water-ways in tlie world. On the western side 
 of Vancouver and of the line of islands lying to tho 
 north, the waves of the ocean I»reak in an unceasing roll 
 that, oven in calm weather, strikes the shore as with tho 
 shock of battle; })ut liore, inside* of this breast-work of 
 islands, between it and the mainland, tho seals, commonly, 
 Hmooth as a canal. It is deep enough for the largest man- 
 of-war, even within a few yards of almost any part of tho 
 
 .1 
 
 « — ^ 
 
 
 ■" J 
 
 
 I 
 
 '1 
 
 >; 
 
34 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRATniE. 
 
 r 
 
 Hhore, and yet tlio tiniest steam yacht runs no risk of 
 rough water. For pleasure sailing, this deep, smooth, 
 safe, spacious, land-locked channel, or series of channels, 
 is probably without a rival. Now it broadens to a width 
 of several miles, and again it narrows to the space of a 
 few hundred yards; the numbei* of islands enabling one 
 to shape his course over calm water in almost any wind, 
 while on every hand one is girt by varied and attractive 
 scenery. For commercial purposes, when the mines 
 along the sea-board become more fully developed, its 
 forests more extensively utilized, and its coasting trade 
 increased, the value of such a highway, possessing all the 
 advantages of deep-sea navigation, yet protected by a 
 lino of break-waters from all the dangers of the sea, can 
 hardly be over-estimated. 
 
 Only in two places is it exposed to the gales and the 
 swell of the Pacine. First, from the north end of Van- 
 couver Island, as you round Cape Caution, for a distance 
 of about thirty miles ; and, again, foi less than ten miles, 
 on passing Mill)ank Sound. Here, with a strong westerly 
 wind, the sea runs high, but the surrounding lan<l forma 
 a barrier against all except westerly winds. At two 
 places — Dodd's Narrows, near the entrance to Nanaimo, 
 and at Seymour Narrows, between Vancouver and Valdca 
 Islands, — there is, at certain conditions of the tide, a 
 strong current, which might cause a delay of two hours, 
 at the utmost, to an ordinary steamer , t)Ut the a])proRche!i 
 
 J f 
 
VICTORIA TO THE SKEENA. 
 
 35 
 
 to these Narrows arc so struiglit and wide tha^ they 
 would offer no danger to navigation. For the rest, there 
 is no more difficulty or cause of delay than would be met 
 with in a deep, narrow lake. 
 
 The one diacomfort, to which the traveller along this 
 coast is most likely to be subjected, is the moist climate, 
 which prevails when you jmss beyond the protection of 
 the mountains of Vancouver. Until you approach tho 
 northern extremity of that island, its lofty hills, some of 
 which are over 7,000 feet in height, intercept the showers 
 that drift landward from tho Pacitic, so that these fall 
 upon the western slopes ol the island. Hence the eastern 
 coast, from Vancouver northw^ard, enjoys a most delight- 
 ful climate ; but when you have passed Vancouver, the 
 islands to tho north, being less lofty, no longer serve in 
 tho same degree to intercept the clouds from the Pacific. 
 These roll inland until they strike tine lofty summits of 
 the Coast Eange, which run close to tho sea-board along 
 its whole length; and hence the northern part Oi" tho 
 coast enjoys, or rather endures, a much greater rain-f"U 
 than either the east coast of Vancoiiver Island or tho 
 southern part of tho mainland. In this respect it is not 
 unlike some portions of the west of Scotland, where the 
 proverbial relief from the rain is that "whiles it snaws." 
 
 After leaving Victoria, our first place of call was 
 Departure Bay, a coaling station adjoining the extensive 
 Kanuimo cojU-fields. Nanainio, however, is known in tho 
 
 I'll 
 
 II 
 
 1' 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 :f^ 
 
 I 
 
 ' J) 
 
 i 
 
36 
 
 MO FKTA m A XD P P 1 TRIE. 
 
 Eastern Provinces less by its coal-fields than by the much 
 disputed project of a railway to connect it with Esqui- 
 mault. Had it been absolutely necessary at any cost to 
 build thid railway, cither as a separate Hne or as part of 
 the Canadian Pacific Eailway, there might have been some 
 projDriety in the proposal ; but, apart from the fact that 
 the country through which it would pass is one of the 
 most difficult of countries for railway construction, even 
 were it built and in working order, coal could be conveyed 
 more cheaply from Nanaimo to Victoria by largo barges 
 than by rail. Fifty miles north of Nanaimo arc the 
 coal-fields of Comox. In the various mines of those dis- 
 tricts Indians and Chinamen are employed, as well as 
 white labou^'crs. The wages of Mdiite men range from 
 $2 to S5 per day; the others receive from $1 to $1.50. 
 
 The day continued clear and beautiful. Sometimes wo 
 passed close to the shore, and beneath the shadow of the 
 hills ; sometimes by low lying islands, well timbered 
 with cedar; while on either liand rose a background of 
 snow-capped mountains, — on one side those of Tancouver 
 Island, which, howQver, will lose their snow ore the 
 summer is ended, on the other hand the coast range of 
 tho mainland, some of whose peaks remain white through- 
 out the year. 
 
 On Tuesday night wo passed through tho Seymour 
 Narrows, that sopai-ato Yaldes Island from Yancouvor. 
 This locality, like a number of others in British Columbia, 
 
VICTORIA TO THE SKEF.SA. 
 
 37 
 
 has attracted attention chiefly through its connection 
 with ono of the proposed routes of the Pacific Railway, 
 as any lino by Bute Inlet would necessarily pass over, or 
 near, Yaldos Island ; over it if the straits were to bo 
 bridged from tho mainland to Vancouver, near it if a 
 ferry should bo used connecting Bute Inlet with Van- 
 couver. 
 
 Like the other fiords that cut into this rough, moun- 
 tainous coast, Bute Inlet, which is about fifty miles in 
 length, is a narrow arm of the sea, hemmed in on either 
 side by lofty banks of rock, in many places precipitous, 
 in all places very steep, with no anchorage except a few 
 chains at the head of the inlet, where tho Eiver Iloraathco 
 flows into it. This limited anchorage has been designated 
 "Waddington Harbour. Near the mouth of the inlet is 
 Valdes Island, which, though regarded as an isolated 
 island until a thorough survey had been made, is really 
 a group of islands, separated from each other and from 
 tho shores of the mainland and of Vancouver by wide 
 channels. 
 
 If an unbroken lino of railway cioming from the east to 
 Wrtddington Harbour wore to pass over to Vancouver 
 and 80 down to Victoria, it must skirt tho precipitous 
 side of Bute Inlet, cross by a succession of long-span 
 bridges to Vancouver, and run about ono hnndred and 
 seventy miles along the eastern coast of that island by 
 Comox and Nanaimo to Esquimaiilt, the true harbour of 
 
 Ml 
 
 ' \ 
 
 I 
 
 >■ •: 
 
 I 
 
38 
 
 MOUXTAiy AND PUAIBIE. 
 
 Victoria. This lino from "Waddington to Yancouver 
 would involve the construction of works so stupendous as 
 to place it practically out of the question ; although not, 
 indeed, impossible to engineering science, the cost would 
 bo so enormous that it may well be regarded as financially 
 impossible, and may therefore be abandoned. Tho alter- 
 native is a ferry from Waddington Harbour to Vancouver, 
 forming a break of some seventy miles of steam navigation 
 as a link between the line on the mainland and the line that 
 would follow tho coast of Vancouver to Esquimault, and 
 even the latter section would bo so costly, owing to the 
 broken character of tho country between Nanaimo and 
 Esquimault, that its construction could not be justified 
 unless this part of Vancouver were almost as thickly 
 Bottled as the mining districts of England, or unless thoro 
 were absolutely no other way of reaching a suitable har- 
 bour on the Pacific. 1 line from tho oast to the excel- 
 lent harbour at Burrard Inlet will bo loss expensive and 
 fifty miles shorter than one terminating at "Waddington 
 Harbour, and as Burrard Inlet is but seventy mil-es 
 distant irom Esquimault, while Waddington Harbour is 
 about two hundred and fifty miles, these considerations 
 amply justify tho decision of the Government in selecting 
 Burrard Inlet as the terminus. 
 
 Wo passed through the Seymour Narrows by night, 
 BO tlxnt wo saw nothing of Valdos Island, nor of tho 
 neighbourhood of Bute Inlet. On Wedncf^day morn- 
 
'I 
 
 u 
 
 VICTORIA TO THE SEE EN A. 
 
 39 
 
 ing we drew away from Vancouver Island, and, crossing 
 the entrance of Queen Charlotte Sound, we passed Capo 
 Caution and entered Fitz-IIugh Sound, continuing our 
 course through a succession of channels that render navi- 
 gation liere unusually safe and enjoyable. For a little we 
 felt the roll of the Pacific when passing Cape Caution, 
 but ere long wo were in smooth water again, and even 
 those most sensitive to sea-sickness soon recovered their 
 confidence. Wo found, Iwwover, as wo hnd expected, that 
 when we left the shelter of the Vancouver Mountains the 
 climate bocamo much moister and a drizzling rain gen- 
 erally obsjciired our view. Sometimes, when the leaden 
 mist would lift, we could see the hills, now bare and pre- 
 cipitous, now wooded and gently sloping, now rugged and 
 8now-caj)ped ; sometimes jn-esenting a wall of adamant, 
 as if defj'ing the attacks of the ocean, and sometimes 
 cleft by a deep narrow gorge, or fiord, whose beetling 
 sides had opened thus far to the inroads of the sea, but 
 forbade any further advance. 
 
 The whole country appeared to bo wrapped in silence ; 
 no sign of life could be seen except some salmon-canning 
 establishment, such as that at Oarden;i Bay (now called 
 Aberdeen), or an occasional Indian village that had 
 grown up m some locality well favoureil for shooting and 
 fishing, or had clustered ai'ound some postol the Hudson's 
 Bay Company. 
 
 Thursday dawned heavy and dull as the day before, but 
 
 i 
 
 ^i 
 
 i 
 
40 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIEIE. 
 
 in tho course of the morning the clouds lifted, the driz- 
 zling rain ceased, and as ^xc passed through Grenville 
 Channel we were favoured with wider views of tho scenery, 
 which still continued to be most attractive. Sometimes 
 the stretch of water broadened to several miles, its sur- 
 face broken by wooded islands, whose foliage seems to be 
 freshened and preserred by the moisture to which it is 
 exposed; sometimes it narrows to a few hundred yards,. 
 bound on either hand by hills, whose valle^^ and ravines 
 are channels for foaming torrents that are fed by the 
 snow fields above then.'. 
 
 About mid-day on Thursday we reached Port Essingtou 
 (formerly called Sjiucksute), at the mouth of the Skeena. 
 Port Essington has not many attractions. The village 
 consists of some fifteen or twenty houses, the bes;t of 
 which is occupied by tho solitary white trader of the 
 place, the others by Indians. The chief staple of trade, 
 which is also tho chief article of food, is salmon, for here 
 as elsewhere along tho coast, salmon is found in x3xtraor- 
 dinary abundance, and during tho fishing season there is 
 a ready market for them at the small cannery, a little 
 north of this, known as "VVillaclach, called also Woodcock's 
 Landing, or Inverness. There is very little land in the 
 vicinity fit for cultivation, the country being for tho most 
 part rugged and mountainous; but there are excellent 
 cedar forests close at hand, a fact that induced an enter- 
 prising firm to build a steamer hero some years ago, as it 
 
 If 
 
riCTOUTA TO THE SKEEXA. 
 
 41 
 
 was possible to bring the engines, etc., here more casil}' 
 than cedar could be convej'cd to Victoria, but the price 
 of labour made the venture a costly and unprofitable one. 
 
 For some distance from the mouth of the river the clear 
 sea-water is discoloured by the dark waters of the Skeena ; 
 indeed, the river seems to push back the sea rather than 
 to blend with it, for though there are the usual tidal 
 variations, exj)Osing at low water a rough beach in front 
 of the "tillage, yet the water near the shore is almost per- 
 fectly fj-esh, and is constantly used for cooking and other 
 doincstic purposes. The large 1 jay that receives the waters 
 ofthe river affords good anchorage, but it cannot be called a 
 good harbour, for not only is the access from the sea some- 
 what intricate, but durir " the winter season it is blocked 
 with ice brought down by the Skeena. Adjacent islands 
 prevent the waters of the Pacific from having much effect 
 upon the bay, except in the rise and fall of the tide, and 
 as it receives the waters of a large river that in winter 
 arc ice-cold, and frequently blocked with ice floes, this 
 bay, unlike the great majority of the bays on the Pacific 
 coast, is ice-bound for a part of the year. 
 
 We were to leave the coast at Port Essington on our 
 journey towards the Peace Eiver district, but before doing 
 80 it was necessary for us to go as far as Port Simpson 
 and Work Inlet ; so, having landed a party of engineers 
 and their assistants, who were to work in thisneighl)Our- 
 hood and up the river during the summer, we steamed 
 
 i 
 
 t 
 
 » 
 
SfsTTRSr. 
 
 42 
 
 MOUNTAIS ASD PltAiniE. 
 
 northward, arriving a little before sunset at Metlahkatlah, 
 •where it w^as ncces.sary for us to call in order to secure 
 Indians and canoes for our journey up the Skeena, and 
 where Ave were all anxious to visit Mr. Duncan and his 
 most interesting Mission-station. 
 
 Almost every one who takes any interest in Missions 
 to the Indians of British Columbia knows something 
 about Metlahkatlah ; but, although we had heard and 
 expected much, our information and our exjiectations 
 alike fell short of the reality. There are active missions 
 to the Indians ^naintained by the Methodist Cli'drch at 
 Victoria and at Port Simpson. There arc missions of the 
 Anglican Ch^irch at Lytton and elsewhere. There are 
 several missions maintained by the Eoman Catholic 
 Chuich. But it is no injustice to these others to say that 
 none of them have been so singularly successful as that 
 Avhicli Im conducted by Mr. Duncan at Motlalikatlah. 
 It is in connection with the Anglican Church, in so far 
 as Mr. Duucan is a member of that communion and loyal 
 to her teaching ; but, not being an ordained clergyman, 
 ho is not subject to direct ecclesiastical authority in the 
 management of the mission, and is thus perfectly free to 
 exercise his own judgment and energy. 
 
 Though now a very active and thrivmg community, 
 Metlahkatlah must have jircscntod a most uninviting 
 appearance when Mr. Duncan commonv'cd his work there, 
 seventeen years ago. Tlie Tslni] scans, as the Indians of 
 
riCTORTA TO THE SKEEXA, 
 
 43 
 
 tliis district aro called, woro at tliat time as fierco, turbu- 
 lent, and unchaste as any of the other coast tribes, not 
 excepting the Ilaidahs. Everything had to be done, and 
 it was difficult to see where the work of reformation should 
 begin ; and it required a man with strong faith in God, 
 and in the possibilities of human nature, to undertake 
 the work. Neccssarilj^, Mr. Duncan set himself to acquire 
 the language of the people to whom ho had come, and ho 
 was liimself the first to make Tsimpsean a written 
 language, or to translate into it any portion of the Scrip- 
 tures; but, wdiile teaching them in their own tongue, ho 
 endeavours also to secure that they all, and moi-e par- 
 ticularly the young among them, shall learn English. 
 
 It has, from the first, been a leading object with him to 
 draw in the Indians from their scattered settlements 
 towards one or more centres, and this haji been simplified 
 by the fact that they live largely upon fish, of which, at 
 any point along the coast, they can procure an abundant 
 supply. Hence, when the mission h^d been once estab- 
 lished, the determinatio'n ot any Indian to go and make 
 liis home at Mctlahkatlah was almost equivalent to a 
 profession of his conversion to Christianity, or at least of 
 his desire for Christian instruction. 
 
 One of the first reforms effected among them was in the 
 character of their dwellings, and the need of this is seen 
 from the fact that although the Indians in and around 
 Yicioria were, when Mr. Duncan camo to Mctlahkatlah^ 
 
4i 
 
 moi'i'nwiy a:\ii rnMRiE. 
 
 I 
 
 \ 
 
 nominally Cliri.stian, yet, largely on account of tho 
 slums in which they have been allowed to live, they have 
 made but little progress ".i cleanliness, and in some other 
 virtues that are closely allied to godliness. Indeed, one 
 does not need to go among Indians for illustrations of 
 this. Anyone who has been much among the lapsed 
 classes of our large cities must know that much of their 
 degradation is caused, or is at least increased, by their 
 surroundings; 
 
 and it must be so with savaij-es. Let 
 
 grown-uji members of one or more families be huddled 
 together in the same sleeping apartments, and purity 
 becomes impossible. All the vices among the Indians 
 have not been introduced by the rough characters that 
 hang on the outskirts of civilization, although no doubt 
 many of their worst vices have been strengthened by 
 intercourse with whites. 
 
 To give them homes for huts was one of Mr. Duncan's 
 first objects, and it is surprising how much has been 
 effected in this respect. Not only have their original 
 huts given place to better houses, but these again, through 
 the educating influence of this improvement, have stimu- 
 lated the people to take advantage of Mr. Duncan's plan 
 to j)rovido still better dwellings. He desires, as far as 
 possible, to secure uniformity in the character of the 
 bouses, and many of the Indians, at his suggestion, have 
 built comfortable dwellings on the following plan : — the 
 houses are built in j^airs, which are connected by one com- 
 
VICTORTA TO THE SKFFNA. 
 
 45 
 
 mon room tliat serves as a giiest-cliaml>er for l)oth 
 families, wlierc they may entertain their lieathen fi-iends 
 who have not yet fallen into their own ways. Each 
 house consists of two rooms on the i^round floor and of 
 three bedrooms upstairs, one for the parents, one for the 
 sons, a third for the daughters. There is of course no 
 constraint put upon the people to nialce them build 
 houses of this kind, but they are educated into the desire 
 for comfortable homes, and when they have secured a 
 certain pro23ortion of the cost, Mr. Duncan advances the 
 remainder, allowing them sawn cedar lumber at 87.00 
 per thousand feet. Already the result is a degree of 
 neatness, cleanliness and uniformity seldom found in any 
 of our eastern villages. 
 
 To have a busy, industrious and j^rosperous community 
 there must be men of different trades. Mr. Duncan 
 found those Indians skilful in certain arts, such as weav- 
 ing and carving. They weave mats from ruslies or from 
 cedar bark, which is sometimes simply cut into strips or 
 sometimes j^assed through the more elaborate process of 
 being soaked, beaten and twisted into threads. Out of 
 this matting they make baskets, floor-cloths, cargo-covers, 
 etc., for it is so closely woven that it is impervious to 
 water. They carve wood and silver with considerable 
 ingenuity, the former chiefly for door-posts and other 
 ornaments in connection with their houses, the latter 
 principally for bracelets, the favourite pattern being the 
 
 i 
 
 m: 
 
 I 
 
 ; 
 
 4m1 
 
 
 I i 
 
I i 
 
 'f 
 
 I II 
 
 r 
 
 46 
 
 MOVNTAIS A SI) I'UMRIE. 
 
 boavci-, tliough tlioy somciiiiios adopt tho pattern of tlio 
 ea«^lc from the United States half-dollar piece. These 
 bracelets are fre(_[uently purchased and worn as curios by 
 white visitors. 
 
 While maintaining the arts and trades which ho 
 found in existence among them, Mr. Duncan introduced 
 the ordinary trades of Anglo-Saxon communities, some 
 of which he learned in order that he might instruct tho 
 Indians, while in others he has secured instruction for 
 his flock by sending some of their own number to Victoria 
 to be taught. For tho greater convenience and better 
 training of these, a series of excellent worl.shops has 
 been erected, where the smiths, coopers, carpenters, 
 weavers, shoemakers, etc., ply thoir trades, and a good 
 saw-mill provides all the sawn lumber used by tho 
 people. 
 
 There is a large, commodious and well-arranged school- 
 house; a town hall, to which a reading-room is attached, 
 and in which justice is administered; a good jail, to 
 which any oU'eiiders, their number being very small, aro 
 taken and imprisoned by Indian policemen ; while 
 prominent lur situation as for influence is Hie church, 
 a building that can comfortably accommodate 1,000 
 people. The ediflcc is most tastofnlly constructed, 
 CJothic in architecture, plain and substauLiul, an endur- 
 ing testimony to the skill and energy of the missionary, 
 who was architect, clerk of workft, and chief builder. In 
 
 ' i; 
 
)miiy, 
 :. In 
 
 k 
 
 ^ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
1 f . 
 
 ■ 
 
 1 f 
 
 i t 
 
VICTORIA TO THE SKEENA. 
 
 47 
 
 the religious services there is an utter lack of outward 
 show, — none of those appeals to the senses which many 
 regard as essential to any effective mission work among 
 Indians. It is the reality and not the mere ritual of reli- 
 gion that the missionary tries to impress upon the j)coplc. 
 The service of the Church of England is used ; the 
 most simple and popular hymns are sung ; and evidence 
 of the genuine grasp which the people take of the 
 instruction imparted to them is found in their diligence 
 and trustworthiness, which cause them to be employed 
 in preference to any others by those who require men to 
 convey goods to the interior, in their careful observance 
 of the Sabbath, whether at home or in the country, and 
 in the ability with which the better educated among 
 them are able to conduct services in some of the Indian 
 settlements which Mr. Duncan is unable to visit. 
 
 Their chief source of food and of wealth is found in the 
 abundance of fish, — of salmon, halibut, whales, fur-seal, 
 sea-otter, etc., — which are obtained around the coast. 
 These they exchange for goods or money at the store in 
 the village, or with traders from other parts of the 
 country. Formerly they used to go in large numbers to 
 Victoria to sell and buy, and these visits frequently 
 proved injurious to the virtue of both men and women. 
 It was necesnary, if possible, to remove this temptation, 
 and therefore Mr. Duncan established a store at Metluh- 
 katlah, whore all that the community couUl rcijuiro 
 
 I 
 
 4 I 
 
i 
 { 
 
 f 
 
 III* 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 j ; 
 
 i ■' 
 
 k 
 
 i 
 
 48 
 
 MO ux TA r\ A XD I '/?. I / /: / /:. 
 
 miglit ])Q purchased as reasonably as at ^^(*t()ria. The 
 necessity for their annual visits to tlio temptations of the 
 capital has thus been removed, and, although some critics 
 liave found fault with Mr. Duncan for engaging thus far 
 in mei'cantile j)ur,suits, yet anyone who understands the 
 circumstances can see that the step was necessary in the 
 interests of his mission. 
 
 Other centres besides ]\retlahkatlah liavo been chosen 
 for similai" mission work, and thei'e are at present, in 
 ccnnection with this mission, stations at Fort Ilupcrt, 
 V.T., at 3Iu;iset in Queen Charlotte Islands, and on tho 
 River Nasse. 
 
 Considering the former state of affairs among tho 
 Tsimpseans, as illustrated in what has until recently 
 prevailed, and even to a great degree still prevails 
 among the Ilaidahs, and contrasting with that their 
 present condition, — the chastity of the women, the 
 steady, honest industi-y of the men, the thrift and clean- 
 liness of all, — it is not to be wondered at that the people 
 ai'c intensely attached to Mr. Duncan, or that every 
 visitor speaks with cordial ])raise oi this indefatigable 
 missionary, and of tlu> success with Avhi(di (Jod has 
 crowned his devoted and stoutdiearted labours. 
 
 Around ^Metlahkatlah some attempts have been mado 
 at gardeidng. Vegetables are grown with fair success, 
 oapeeially jiotatoes, Imt. willi the exception of a few 
 occasional patches of lulerabie soil, the country in Ihia 
 
 1^ 
 
 i; 
 
VUTiiUlA Til THE SKEESA. 
 
 49 
 
 Tho 
 of the 
 critics 
 us far 
 lIs tho 
 in tho 
 
 chosen 
 cnt, in 
 Juj)crt, 
 on tho 
 
 ni^ tho 
 x'cutly 
 revails 
 their 
 n, the 
 clean- 
 pooplo 
 every 
 tijj;ablo 
 )(1 has 
 
 made 
 
 |iK'cesfl, 
 a few 
 III thia 
 
 neighbourhood is unfit for cultivation, and, 1»eyond the 
 resources of the fisheries and of the cedar forests, otfers 
 few inducements to settlers. 
 
 We had had rain for the two precodint^ days, but our 
 evening at Metlabkatlah was fair. y\v. Duncan kept a 
 weather record f )r one season, fi-oni Octol)er till April, 
 and found that for those seven months only an average 
 of seven days per month wei'c fair, and, after a resilience 
 of seventeen years in this locality l>e thinks that this is a 
 fair average proportion of fine weather f )r that part of the 
 year, l>ut that the proportion of wet weather during the 
 remaining months is not so large. Yet, although the rain- 
 fall is apparently heavy, the climate seems to be healthy, 
 if one may judge from the fresh and vigorous appearance 
 of the people, and those resident here say that the cold 
 is not more severe than in the southern parts of the 
 Province. 
 
 To Canadians along the Atlantic seaboard it may seem 
 strange that the climate on our Pacific Coast should be 
 so mild — that the harbour of Port Simpson, for instance, 
 in latitude 5i° 30', is never frozen — and that it enjoys a 
 climate as mild as that of Halifax, although ten degrees 
 north of Halifax, that is, as much further north of Ilali- 
 faK as Halifax is of the lower part of North Carolina. 
 Tho climate of this whole coast, liowever, is made much 
 more tem]>erate tlian that of the same latitude on tho 
 Atlantic by reason of tlio Kuro-Siwaf or warm oceanic 
 
 ; 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
! ^.i! 
 
 i^;l 
 
 50 
 
 MouxTAiy iXD rrniRiE. 
 
 M. 
 
 rl I 
 
 cui'reut, which, flowing iiorthwui-d along the coast ot 
 Japan, washes tiie .shores of the Aleutian Islands and 
 sends its influence as far as the coast of British Columbia; 
 while, at the same time, there is no Arctic current flow- 
 ing down our Facific seaboard :is there is along our 
 Atlantic shores. 
 
 Before leaving ^^fetlahkatlah we arranged for the em- 
 ployment of two canoes and two crews of Indians for 
 our trij) wp the Skeena, Mr. Duncan's Indians, as they arc 
 commonly called, being most reliable. At daybreak on 
 Friday morning wc continued our journey to Port Simp- 
 son, about twenty-five miles north of Mctlahkatlah, which 
 we approached by Cunningham Passage, between Fiu- 
 layson Island and the mainland, and entered throuf^h 
 Dodd's Channel. 
 
 Port Simpson is a small village that has gathered around 
 an old Hudson's Bay Company's post (from which it is 
 sometimes called Fort Simpson), occupied almost entirely 
 by Indians. Here, as at many points along the coast, the 
 Indians have become accustomed to cash payments in 
 trade, although in the interior they genei-ally adhere to the 
 old system of l)arter. At one time articles wore valued 
 here according to the number of seals that they were 
 worth, or the number of them that a seal might be worth, 
 just as the Indians of tlie Peace Piver district still 
 measure the value of an article hy beaver skins. At a 
 later period the blanket was the chief currency, and 
 
U.; 
 
 riCTOniA TO TIIF SKFEXA. 
 
 51 
 
 ;oast ot 
 ids and 
 urabia; 
 nt flow- 
 
 11 Lr our 
 
 the em- 
 iiaus for 
 they arc 
 )rcak on 
 rt Simp- 
 h, which 
 3cn Fiu- 
 throufrh 
 
 1 around 
 h it is 
 entirely 
 oast, the 
 iienta in 
 e to the 
 valued 
 cy Avcro 
 e worth, 
 ict still 
 At a 
 cy, and 
 
 a cuiioc or seal skin was wortli so many blankets or frac- 
 tions of a blanket. Now, however, the Indians of the 
 coast, like the U. S. Government, have come down to 
 specie payment. 
 
 Tlie harbour of Port Simpson is easy of access for 
 steam navigation from the soiitli through the channel by 
 which we approached it, and casj- of access to sailiiig 
 ships or steamers approaching it from the west through 
 Dixon's Straits, that separate the Queen Charlotte Islands 
 from Alaska ; and it is as safe as it is accessible. Facing 
 the west it has two approaches : Dodd's Passage, between 
 the southern extremity of the harbour and a reef of rocks, 
 and Liskip Passage, which separates this reef of rocks 
 on its northern side from Birnie Island; while, between 
 Birnie Island and the northern extremitv of the harboui' 
 there is a choked passage, unfit for any navigation except 
 that of canoes or other light craft. The reef of rocks, 
 although hidden at high ti<le, is traceable at low water on 
 account of the kelp attached to it. It serves as a jiartial 
 breakwater for any sea that might roll in from the Pacific, 
 while Birnie Island further protects the harbour on the 
 western side. Its only oxjjosure is in the direction of the 
 approach known as InsL ip Passage, but no severe galea 
 ever visit it from that f[uaitor. Finlayson Island and the 
 Dundas Islands protect it to the south-west and south, 
 wliile any gales from the noi-tii-east, east, or south-east, 
 (the prevailing (quarters for high winds in this locality), 
 
 .1 
 
 ! : 
 
 ♦ 
 
 f 
 
 
52 
 
 ^r^lI■\TAr\ axd I'nAiniK. 
 
 f 
 
 can scarcely have any influence iijion it, as it is so well 
 defended on those sides by the high surrounding land. 
 The extent of the harbour may be set down at not less 
 than three miles in length, with an average breadth of 
 one mile. Its anchorage is reported to bo excellent by 
 Captain Lf 'is o^ he Objmpia^ one of the most experi- 
 enced navij...; ' f those waters. 
 
 Port Simp..' v\i-, until the recent decision of the 
 Government, considerci.i by some a possible terminus of 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway. If trade with Asia were 
 the chief consideration in the selection of an ocean ter- 
 minus, Port Simpson mustunquestionably be preferred to 
 either Burrard Inlet or Esquimault, as it is easier of access 
 than Esquimault, as large as Burrard Inlet, if not larger, 
 and as safe as either of them ; while, in point of latitude, it 
 is much to be preferred, as a vessel sailing from this port 
 could at once take advantage of the northern circle and 
 so shorten the distance very greatly in crossing to the 
 coast of Japan or China, and the same advantage would 
 bo enjoyed by any vessel bound for this port from the 
 "western coast of ihe Pacific. At the same time, the 
 chain of channels that stretches from Victoria to Port 
 Simpson aftbrds remarkable facilities for coast navi- 
 gation, and brings Port Simjison within comparatively 
 easy access of the southern parts of the Province. Indeed, 
 in view of the difficulties, amounting almost to impossi- 
 bilities, that would have to be encountered in the con- 
 
VICTORIA TO THE fiKEEXA. 
 
 53 
 
 ude, it 
 is port 
 
 and 
 
 o the 
 
 would 
 
 )m tlie 
 
 c, the 
 
 Port 
 
 navi- 
 itivoly 
 ndecd, 
 
 possi- 
 ic con- 
 
 struction of a line by Bute Inlet to Esquimault, Burrard 
 Inlet and Port Simpson may fairly be regarded as the 
 only two points worthy of serious consideration in the 
 selection of a Pacific terminus for our Canadian Pacific 
 Eailway. But, while probably fewer engineering diffi- 
 culties would be experienced in reaching Port Simpson 
 from the east by way of Pino Eiver Pass than must be 
 encountered in reaching Burrard Inlet by the Yellow 
 Head Pass, yet, as the resources of British Colur . i. ere 
 confined almost entirely to the southern part of the ' o- 
 vince, as the ountry between Pino Eiver -no Port 
 Sira2)Son seems to be generally deficient in resoii. dS; aa 
 the selection of Port Simpson would necessariJ ■ ^hr-^w the 
 traffic of Southern British Columbia into the United States 
 railways, and as the interests of the country on the 
 eastern side of the Eocky Mountains will be better served 
 by a line running through Edmonton and the Yellow 
 Head Pass than by one through the Peace Eiver districi 
 (by either Pine Eiver or Peace Eiver Pass) to the Pacific, 
 the weight of argument is in favour of the decision 
 already arrived at by the Government in the selection of 
 Burrard Inlet as the Pacific te minus of the railway. 
 
 From Port Simpson we steamed around by Cape Mas- 
 kelyne into Work Cluiunel, which runs in a south-easterly 
 direction nearly i^arallel to the Pacific for about thirty 
 miles, thus forming the T^'mpseau Peninsula. This 
 peninsula is about twelve miles in width from near +^e 
 
 I, I 
 
 4 \. 
 
 in 
 
 »f' 
 
 :, ;> 
 
 i 
 
'"i^A, 
 
 * w* 
 ii)i 
 
 M i 
 
 i ! 
 
 m. 
 
 iy 
 
 
 II 
 
 f 
 
 in 
 
 54 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND m A III IE, 
 
 mouth of the Skeena to Cape Maskelyne. Work Channel 
 has never been fully surveyed. It eeems to be similar to 
 many others of the deep inlets that run into the mountains 
 along this coast, and that have often been likened to the 
 fiords of Norway. The banks are precipitous, although 
 along the south-westerly shore there runs for the most 
 part a ledge or bench, while, near Port Simpson, the land 
 dips, so that from the head of the inlet a road might be 
 constructed without extreme difficulty along the south- 
 westerly shore of the inlet and through this valley to Port 
 Simpson. At the head, or south-eastern extremity of the 
 inlet, a stream enters from the south, and up the valley of 
 this stream there is a pass at low altitude connecting by a 
 few miles Work Inlet with the river Skeena. 
 
 As we were returning to Port SimjDSon, the drizzling 
 rain, which had fallen more or less steadily since Wednes- 
 day morning, ceased ; the clouds broke away ; the sky 
 grew clear, and the day became bright and fair as an 
 English May day. Steaming around Cape Maskelyne, 
 we could see along the coast of Alaska for many miles, 
 and as vv^e turned south and passed Port Simpson, the 
 harbour and its surroundings appeared to great advantage. 
 The sea was calm ; the rugged hills were purpled by the 
 light of the westering sun, as we ran down along the 
 coast past Metlahkatlah and WillaclachtoPortEssington, 
 where we lauded on the afternoon of Friday, the 6th June. 
 Before leaving the Olympia we wrote to our friends in 
 
VICTOnTA TO THE SKKEXA. 
 
 55 
 
 laiinel 
 Liar to 
 ntaiiis 
 to the 
 hough 
 most 
 10 land 
 ^ht be 
 
 BOUth- 
 
 to Port 
 ^ of the 
 illeyof 
 ng by a 
 
 the east, thinking that this miglit be the last chance avo 
 could have of sending woi-d to them before reaching 
 the telegraph station at Edmonton, east of the Eocky 
 Mountains. The engineering party, who had landed at 
 PortEssington the day before, vv^ere already under canvas. 
 They asked us to share their camp, for they were " on 
 hospitable thoughts in-tent," and we gladly availed our- 
 selves of the offer. Next day we were to commence our 
 journey up the Skeena. 
 
 
 «ii 
 
 M,' 
 
 ' m 
 
 f*5 
 
 
 •izzling 
 
 ednes- 
 
 he sky 
 
 as an 
 vclyne, 
 
 miles, 
 on, the 
 
 ntage. 
 
 by the 
 |ng the 
 ington, 
 |i June. 
 
 nda in 
 
 1 
 
 '.^ 
 
i^' 
 
 ii 
 
 ff 
 
 ,1! 
 
 PI' 
 
 \^ 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 UP THE SKEENA. 
 
 Leave Port Essington. — Canoes, Crews, and Stores. — No Trout. — 
 Tracking and Poling. — Indian Watch-tower. — Catching and 
 CiH'ing Salmon. — Carved Posts. — Burial Customs. — The Sweat- 
 ing-booth. — Height of Steam Navigation. — Division of Coast 
 and Cascade Range. — Indian Villages. — Gold-washing. — Medi- 
 cine-man. — The Forks of Skeena. — Lip-ornaments and Nose- 
 rings. — Mosquitoes. 
 
 Wo left Port Essington on Saturday, *7th -Tune, east- 
 ward bound, our proposed route being up the Skeena, 
 to the village of ILizelton; thence on foot to Babino; up 
 Lake Babino; down Stewart's Lake to Fort St. James; 
 across country with a muli train to Fort McLood ; down 
 the Parsnip and Peace Eivers to Buuvegan ; thence on 
 to Edmonton, and across the prairies to Winnipeg. 
 
 We wore not in search of adventure, and the woi-k 
 in which we were engaged was not one that would 
 naturally involve us in thrilling episodes or hair-breadth 
 escapes, while wo had largo enough crows and sufficient 
 creature-comforts to spare us any real hardship. Yet 
 our journey had the attraction of novelty. Wo would 
 
I 
 
 Trout. — 
 liing and 
 lie Sweat- 
 
 of Coast 
 ?. — Medi- 
 iid Nose- 
 
 le, east- 
 Skeena, 
 lie; up 
 James ; 
 ; down 
 ence on 
 
 r 
 
 L3 WOi'k 
 
 would 
 jreadth 
 [fficient 
 ). Yet 
 
 woukl 
 
 PHOTO LITH BY THE BURLANO LITH CO MO!H"l Rf. ^L 
 
 1 
 
 
 ; 
 
 f 
 
 ■ . \ 
 
 '"^■-■^- " -' 
 
(•M(Jl(J titMH> 'Hf Hll" AN(Mft1i:PMON'«l*l 
 
fll — 
 
 111 
 
IP r//;;>7i.'E/:.v.i. 
 
 57 
 
 
 see the country; our ciifT^ineer.s would examine its fitness 
 for railway construction ; our geologist would take note 
 of its mineral and agricultural resources ; antl we would 
 learn something of the cliaracter and life of the inhabi- 
 tants. Indeed, from the mouth of the Skeena to Fort 
 St. James the country was so little known that any 
 information we could obtain beforehand was most frag- 
 mentary, while of a large portion of it there was not 
 even a correct map to In? ha<l, the best, Truteh's, rei^uir- 
 ing considerable alteration so far as this northern part 
 of the Province is concerned. 
 
 Our first duty, preparat(»ry to leaving the coast, was to 
 examine our canoes, make the ac(j[uaintanee of the crews, 
 and see that all our stores were safely on board. The 
 boats are spoken of as canoes, but they are very 
 diflferont from the birch-bark canoes of the eastern 
 Provinces, as they arc ma<le of wood, sound and firm, 
 capable of as rough usage as any wooden boat. They 
 arc, however, neither carvel nor eliid<er-buill, but simj^ly 
 "dug-outs," each one being made of a cedar log. When 
 the log has been shaped and holb^wed, it is lill(>d with 
 water into which highly heated stones are dropped. 
 The wood is thus steamed, the steaming process being 
 sometimes assisted by a gentle tire beneath the boat ; 
 the sides in this way beconu' pliable and aio extended; 
 the seats are forced in ; and the thin, tough shell of cedar, 
 retaining the shape widch it ha> tlnis received, server, ns 
 
 c 
 
 \ 
 
58 
 
 MOUM'ALX ..yD Vli.UlilE. 
 
 an excellent boat. Somelime.s these canoes are ati much as 
 sixty feet long, and capable of carrying several tons of 
 freight, and are so safe that the Indians of Queen Charlotto 
 Islands use them in whale-fishing and in making long 
 journeys down the coast. They arc usually modelled 
 with taste and skill. Before the Indians had iron tools 
 they used to make their canoes, carvo their dooi'-posts, 
 and do all their other work in wood with such rude instru- 
 ments as a chisel of fliut or of elk-horn, fastened in a wooden 
 handle or held by a haft of twigs, a stone mallet, a 
 mussel-Rhell adze and a gimlet of bone; and yet, with 
 these and with the assistance of fire they produced 
 excellent work. 
 
 We had two canoes, twenty-five feet keel and of about 
 four feet eight inches beam, with five of a crew in each, 
 irrespective of our foreman and our cook. They were 
 capital fellows as indeed the Metlahkatlah Indians gene- 
 rally are. Some of them had retained their old Indian 
 names, some had received " Boston " names, as English 
 words are commonly called by the Coast Indians, i)robably 
 from the fact that the first vessels navigated by white 
 men sailing to the Columbia Eivcr hailed ^rom Boston. 
 In one boat were Yilmauksh, Matthias, Ilcuben, Theodore, 
 and Christopher ; in the other Kamigham, Ilighsh, 
 CharlcH, Ilonry and Oswald. 
 
 Our most essential stoi-es were Hour, bacon, beans and 
 tea, which form the staple food of travelling parties 
 
 
rP THE SKrFXA. 
 
 59 
 
 tliroughout the interior of Britinh Columbia. Of those it 
 was necessary for us to take a goodly quantity, a.s wc 
 could not expect to add to our supplies before reach- 
 ing Fort Si. James, whicli might possibly take five 
 or six weeks. Not only are extra stores valuable in 
 case of delay, but they are also of great use in dealing 
 with the Indians, a little flour, tea, or tobacco, being 
 more serviceable than money in purchasing salmon or 
 such other commodities as the Indians might have to 
 barter. Our crews, who would be fed from our stores, 
 took with them as delicacies a quantity of dried oola- 
 chansand of dried herring spawn with dulse, — delicacies 
 that we had no desire to share with them. 
 
 For several miles before it reaches the sea the Skeena 
 is nearly two miles in width. Its banks are lofty, the 
 hills on the north nido sloping gently to the water, 
 which is 80 shallow that at low tide a great breadth of 
 beach is laid bare. In passing ^'i> wo could see on either 
 side of Work Channel t^omo of the hills that wo had been 
 admiring the day before, as a narrow neck of land, not 
 more than three hundred feet in height divide- the 
 waters of the river from those of the inlet. 
 
 As we started up the river we ha<l the tid. i our 
 ftivour, for the tide makes itself felt for over vcnty 
 miles above Port Essington, and as there wa- a light 
 breeze blowing upstream we sot the small ) it-sails, 
 thus making easily about eighteen miles before wo 
 
 N| 
 
 fr 
 
 - I 
 
 15 
 
 i 
 
 il. 
 
 I I 
 
i! 
 
 il 
 
 I 
 
 III 
 
 v\ 
 
 GO 
 
 M(irXTAI.\ A\D PRAiniE. 
 
 pitched camp for the night. When camp had been 
 pitclied and supper ended, we observed that, in one 
 respect at least, our men wore more luxurious than our- 
 Belvcs. They were all provided with feather pillows, 
 thoui^h for each of us a coat was asoftenouich substitute. 
 Their tents gave but a partial j^rotection against tho 
 weather, being simply the two boat-sails sjH'ead like an 
 awning, heneath which they slept five in a row; their 
 blankets were so short that their feet remained uncover- 
 ed; but of this one comfort they made sure, each head 
 with its mass of dense black hair was softly pillowed. 
 
 We campe<l near a stream that looked as if it might 
 bo well stocked with trout, but an hour's careful fishing 
 failed to secure a single rise. Indeed this was the case 
 with iiX'^vy tributary of the Skcena on which wo cast a 
 fly; l(.m])titig and likely as the stream might appear, 
 we could rover find tho slightest indication offish. Tho 
 morning had been dull and overcast, but the afternoon 
 and evening were beuutifullj- clear. The light of the 
 setting sun lingered oil the snow-clad peaks; gradually 
 tho tints of the clear sky changed ; the stars a])peared, 
 and after a long '' confab" around the camp-fire, — the first 
 of many cunip-fires around which the evening hours 
 wore s2)ent, — all was silent and still. 
 
 Tho next day, like all our Sundays, waw a day of rest. 
 The Indians joine<l in our service, and, though unaccufl- 
 1,omed to converse in Fiiigli"^h, they united audibly in tho 
 
ydv. 
 
 rr ruE skkv.sa. 
 
 61 
 
 Lord's Prayer, and sang a number of Knglisli liymns, 
 which they Iiad been in the liabit of singing at ^lethildcat- 
 hah. Some of them liad excellent voices, and they had been 
 trained to sing i-ii parts. The bass was particularly 
 good; and as we listened to them, or joined with them, 
 we felt that it would be very difficult to find a congrega- 
 tion in our eastern Pivn-inces from which wc could 
 select, at random, ten such good singers as our canoe- 
 men. 
 
 Next morning we ft)und the proverbial dilHculty, 
 which many travelling parti, 's have experienced, of 
 making an early start on the Monday, as ii' all were 
 anxious to enjoy a continuance oi' the Sabbath rest. 
 Oiu canoein*.' iiours were Iron, 7 a.m. till \ r.M., with an 
 hour at mid-day for lunch and a- the S ^ • na, like all 
 the rivers along the Canadian Pacific coast, is very 
 rapid, our ascent was slow, usually averaging about 
 eleven miles a day. 
 
 Various means, besides the ordinaiy use of the ])ad- 
 dles, were necessary for ju'opelling the canoes. Some- 
 times, when a favourable beach gave tli'^ opportunity, tho 
 men " tracked " — that isj dragged the eanoe by 
 tow-rope, in the same way as is done with (ordinary 
 canal boats, — but frequentl}-, where the l)ank was too 
 precipitous, or tho overhanging woods were too dense to 
 allow tracking, "poling" became necessary. Tvich man 
 is provided with a ]ieral<jck ]ii)lc, from ten to fourteen 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
62 
 
 MOrXTATS AKD rUMUIE. 
 
 
 I 
 
 „ i. 
 
 feet ill leiiglli, some extra ones being kept on hand in 
 case of loss oi- breakage. A strong steering oar has 
 been lashed to the cross-bar at tlio stern, for in some 
 phices a paddle for steering 2:»urposes would be as feeble 
 as a feather, and if the canoe were to sheer ft might 
 involve an upset. The men lay themselves to their 
 work, poling against the stream as if they were strain- 
 'iig their strength to the utmost, and the poles seem to 
 grip the gravelly bottom, while the current makes them 
 quiver and rattle against the side of the canoe. Foot 
 after foot is gained, but the current grows stronger, for 
 we are nearing a rapid. "With that powerful spurt for 
 which the Indian is remarkable, each man draws on his 
 reserve strength, and, as he bends to the gunwale, ho 
 Jays out every ounco of his force upon the pole, as if the 
 pole were a spcur transtlxing a dragon more formidable 
 than any that St. George ever encountered. Perhaps it 
 may be necessary for the men to spring out and seize 
 the vanoc ; this they do most nimbly, and then fairly 
 lilt her \\^ as they press forward, although themselves 
 nearly overborne by the rushing water. If a strong 
 breeze be blowing in our favour, we hoist our sail; then, 
 at it we go, — sail, wind, and poles against the force of 
 the river. The wind scatters the spindrift from the 
 rough water around us, as it does in a storm at sea. The 
 mast and sails seem to be strained to the uttermost, 
 although, perhaps, these, like their owners, have a 
 
rr THE SKEENA. 
 
 63 
 
 reserve supjily of strength, wliich only a further iieces- 
 Bit}'' can disclose. Even the Indians a2)pear excited, 
 while to us the situation has at least the charm of 
 novelty. \J]), uji, we go, each moment expecting that 
 Bomething will give way, until we have passed the 
 rapid. Then it may be necessary to cross the river. 
 Thj poles are dropped ; the paddles are snatched, and 
 flash out like sword-blades. For a few moments we 
 are borne backwards, but the calmer water which 
 tempted us across is soon reached, and each man gives 
 a hearty "ho! hoi" and braces himself for another 
 pull, or to fight the next rapid that may be waituig for 
 U8 in this up-hill navigation. 
 
 For about eighty miles from the coast, the river is 
 dotted with islands that have been formed by the rich 
 alluvial dejjosits borne down by the stream, and that are 
 now covered by a luxuriant growth of timber, chiefly 
 cotton-wood, spruce, — which sometimes measures six 
 feet in diameter, — as2)en, willow, with occasional hemlock 
 and cedar. "\Ye frequently followed the narrow channels 
 between these islands, where the water is calmer than in 
 the open current, or, if swift, is more easily mastered 
 than the full force of the river The foliage on either 
 side, which sometimes almost met in an arch above 
 us, tv'as rich and varied, and the sun-light streaming 
 throtigh the trees burnished the leaves and cast a net- 
 work of Shade on the water that swept beneath them. 
 
 \ I 
 
 I 
 
il'l 
 
 e 
 
 64 
 
 .V'lrsTAix Asn vnMuiF.. 
 
 The banks were rich with ei'ab-ii})plo trees, eiirrant, 
 cranbci'ry and raspberry bushes, and strawberries in 
 blossom, etc., and vegetation appeared to be at least as far 
 advanced as it is at the same date in Ontario. The hills 
 on both sides become more precipitous as we ascend, 
 being generally covered to the snow lino with spruce 
 and cedar, except where an avalanche of snow or a land- 
 Blidc has swept away all the timbei-, and exposed the 
 bare rocks. The river, from bank to bank, often 
 widening to a span of a mile, is fringed with wcll- 
 Avooded flats, wliich, like the numerous islands, though 
 apparently fertile, are liable to inundation every j^ear. 
 If any object, such as the reclamation of land, or the 
 construction of a road, were to be served by it, tho bed 
 of the river might at many points be narrowed with ho 
 great difli .'ulty by blocking \x\) the channels between the 
 northern shore and the nearest islands, w^hcre the water 
 is usually very shallow. 
 
 About thirty-six miles from the sea stands a rocky 
 blulV, some eighty feet in height, in front of a precipitous 
 hill, to which our attention was directed by one of our men, 
 whose father had bidden him look for it, as historic 
 memories werx) connected with it. For years it had been 
 used as a watch-tower by the Indians of this district, from 
 which to sec the approach of the Ilaidahs, who made 
 plundering visits to the mainland from their ocean homes 
 on the Queen Chai-lotte Islands, and who frequently ex-| 
 
IP Tirr SKFFSA. 
 
 (15 
 
 I I 
 
 iTiint, 
 C8 in 
 as far 
 3 hills 
 scend, 
 ipruco 
 I land- 
 ed the 
 often 
 1 well- 
 though 
 r jGar. 
 or the 
 Jio bod 
 ith no 
 en the 
 Avator 
 
 rocky 
 [ipitous 
 ir men, 
 listoric 
 [d been 
 |t, from 
 made 
 homes 
 ly cx-i 
 
 tended their raids for some distance into the interior. 
 On a narrow level surfhco, at the top of the blntf, wo 
 found a small hollow, or basin, perfectly circular, a foot 
 in diameter, and five inches in dcptli, which had been 
 liewn out of the rock, and liad no doubt been used in 
 olden times as a bowl in which to grind '' wundali." 
 "Wundah is a phmt which the Indians use for chewing, as 
 many use tobacco, and is much relished by the coast 
 tribes. In many a liouse among the Tsimpseans, one 
 may find a curiously carved stone bowl, made si)ecially 
 for this purpose, and each evening the Indian's wife, in 
 token of her affection for, or subjection to, her lord, grinds 
 up and prepares liis " <juid " of wundah. Among the 
 earth near the summit of the bluff we found some char- 
 coal. This and the wundah-mortar were the only relics 
 of the people that may, from this rocky eminence, fre- 
 quently have watched the aj^proach of their foes, and met 
 their onsets in days of yore. 
 
 Looking around from this height we seemed to be girt 
 about by an am])hitheatre of hills, for we were already well 
 into the Coast Eange. Indeed, all along the Skeena the 
 views are very sti-iking. Some of the summits are snow- 
 capped, some are wooded, and some expose peaks of bare 
 gray rock. In the foreground are islands of rich and 
 varied foliage, and a broad strong river that now flows 
 gently by some quiet reach, and now rushes ra])idly jn 
 
 in a masterful current, while the birds fill the air with 
 
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 iiu'lody HUfli as one never liears in tlie woods of Ontario, 
 One becomes so accustomed to these views that after o 
 few days the}" almost lose their im2)ressivenes8, and yet 
 could any of the scenes through which we were 2)assiiig 
 from day to day be transferred to our eastern Provinces, 
 it would be the object of many a pilgrimage on the part 
 of tourists and of artists. 
 
 In oui- course we passed Indians engaged in fishing, for 
 the first run of salmon had already begun, and salmon 
 swarm in the Skeena, as in other rivers of British Colum- 
 bia, in almost incredible numbers. Different families, or 
 ratlier, different settlements and villages, along the river,, 
 seem to have their separate fishing grounds, with which 
 others must not interfere, and in three or four w<;eks tlio 
 villagers may secure a sufficient supply of salmor. to servo 
 as their chief article of food for the whole year. These 
 salmon may be speared, they may bo caught with scoop- 
 net or with gill-net, but, unlike thosC' on the Atlantic 
 coast, they cannot be pcrguadcd to riso to the fly. Whethor 
 from the turbid character of the rivers, or from somo 
 peculiarity in tho species, or from unguossed causes, the 
 salmon in these waters give no response to the angler, lot 
 him cast his flies never so skilfully. In another respect 
 also they differ from the salmon in our eastern streams. 
 It seems that when they once return to the rivers to 
 sjDawn, the}' never go back to tho ocean. Descending to 
 tho soa when a your old they arc full-grown before thoy 
 
 ii^ 
 
ario, 
 ter 
 -I yet 
 
 inccs, 
 3 x^ai't 
 
 ig,for 
 nlmon 
 ;;oluni- 
 lies, or 
 
 rivciv 
 which 
 ika the 
 servo 
 These 
 scooi)- 
 Lhuitic 
 icthcr 
 
 Homo 
 ,es, the 
 ler, lot 
 respect 
 
 rotiraH. 
 
 erii to 
 
 ling to 
 they 
 
 VI' TIIESKEFNA. 
 
 GT 
 
 return to the rivers, and they only return to t>pa\vn. 
 Having spawned once they die. This, at least, is the 
 commonly accepted tlieory among those that liave most 
 carefully examined the subject ; but it has not yet been 
 clearly jn'oven that they do not descend to the sea under 
 the ice in winter, though it is manifest, from various 
 experiments and many observations, that they do not 
 return while the rivers are still free from ice. 
 
 The Indians preserve theii- salmon after they have 
 cleaned them simply by drying them in the sun, and as 
 the curing ground is usually near the beach, quantities of 
 sand are commonly blown over the fish while tliey are 
 being dried. One i-esult of this is that the teeth of the 
 Indians a?'e gi-adually ground down by the sand, whicli 
 has tlius been incor])oraied with their food, ho that you 
 can approximately tell the age of an Indian by "mark of 
 mouth," the teeth of the young being but slightly all'ected, 
 while those of tlie aged liave in some cases disaj)peured 
 altogether, being worn down to the <rums. 
 
 Occasionally we passed an Indian village on the banks of 
 the river, consisting of a few rude houses made of rougn 
 cedar boards. Attached to some ol these iiouses are small 
 potato patclies, but the amount ol' cultivable soil here is 
 very limited. Each house accommodates two or more 
 families, and in the villages along the Uj)per j»art of the 
 river, as in those of the llaidahs on the (i^u«»*n ('hnrlotte 
 Islands, almost every lu>u>e is adorned by a curiously 
 
 I 
 
 ''I 
 
 1. 
 
 s I 
 
 
 U'SrI- 
 
 
 
 'I 
 
 I 
 
08 
 
 3I0UXTATN ASD rUAITtlE. 
 
 f* 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 carved door-poist. The figures ingeniously cut upon tlicso 
 door-posts ai-e supposed to be the heraldic bearings of 
 the family — the toicm, as it is sometimes called, which is 
 occasionally tattooed upon the arm or chest of the Indian ; 
 but as heraldry among the Indians is almost as compli- 
 cated as among the nobility of England, it is difficult for 
 the uninitiated to understand all that is intended by these 
 figures. Frogs, bears, beavers, whales, seals, eagles, men, 
 sometimes men tapering otf into fish, like the fabulous 
 merman, are the figures most frequently seen. Several 
 of these may be found on each post, the post being about 
 thirty feet high and two feet in diameter, the carving 
 being executed with remarkable skill, and wonderful ex- 
 pression being thrown into the faces. In some instances 
 the post is large enough to admit of a hole being made 
 through it sufficient to serve as the door- way of the house, 
 and this ojicning is usually, by a quaint conceit, the 
 mouth of one of the carved figures. In man 3^ cases more 
 labour is expended on this post than upon all the rest of 
 the house, and although it often serves a useful pur- 
 pose as part of the dwelling, it is sometimes quite 
 distinct, standing in front of it like a flag-staft'. 
 
 Not far from any of these villages may be seen the 
 little cemetery, with its carved and painted monuments. 
 Frequently, however, the grave of the Indian is separate 
 from the graves of his kinsmen, and is commonly marked 
 by his canoe and his gun, or in the southern part of the Pro- 
 
 ^ 
 
VT THE SKEEXA, 
 
 69 
 
 quite 
 
 In tho 
 
 Inents. 
 haralo 
 larked. 
 10 Pro- 
 
 vince by the liide of his horse, his o^vn remains being 
 enclosed in a rough box, which li Bonietimes hiid upon 
 the ground, and sometimes interred a few feel beneath 
 the surface. Among some of the Skeena Indians the 
 remains of the dead are cremated, tho charred bones 
 and ashes being enclosed in a box which is left in the 
 ground near the outskirts of the village, or sometimes 
 attached to the carved door-posts. This practice of cre- 
 mation, however, is now dying out, being more observed 
 among tho Ilaidahs oi Queen Charlotte Islands than 
 among any others. With them, it is said, the idea prevails 
 that if their enemies should secure the dead body of any 
 one of their tribe, they would make charms which would 
 render them irresistible in battle. They are, therefore, 
 careful to prevent tho possibility of their being conquered 
 by any charms or influences furnished by themselves, or 
 of meeting the fate of tho eagle who has nursed the 
 pinion that impels the shaft now reddened with his life- 
 blood. Among tho Indians of tho Stickino tribe, near the 
 Alaska boundary, tho obsequies have in some instances 
 assumed a more serious aspect. It is enid that on tho 
 occasion of a chief's death among them, not many years 
 ago, twelve slaves were executed in order that they might 
 accompany their master and serve him in the spirit world ; 
 and tho slaves submitted willingly, as they preferred 
 death, with the prospect of continuing in the service of 
 tho old chief, t(^ life with the prtjspect of serving his suo- 
 
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V' 
 
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 70 
 
 MO UNTA TX- A SD m. I lit IE. 
 
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 cessor. Where the Indians are becoming Christians, 
 however, the remains of the dead are interred in 
 ordinary graves. 
 
 Frequently, near the viHages, and sometimes, too, in 
 solitary and sochidcd spots, we j^f^ssed the remains of a 
 "sweating-booth," the Indian's substitute for a vapour- 
 bath. A few bi*anches are fastened together like a hen- 
 coop, giving sjDace for a man to sit and turn round in ; 
 these arc covered with blankets ; stones arc heated and 
 placed inside this enclosure ; the bather, in nature's 
 bathing costume, creeps in, taking with him a can of 
 water, which ho pours upon the stones. If ho has suj^j^lied 
 himselt with a sufficient number of heated stones, and a 
 sufficient quantity of water, or if friends will Bup2:)ly 
 these for him while ho continues his bath, ho may remain 
 there, enjoying the steaming until ho is almost exhausted 
 by the process. The use of the sweating-booth prevails 
 amongst manj of the North American Indians. This and 
 the " pot-latch," or grand feast, at which some generous 
 spend-thrift or some aspirant for the chiefship spends 
 his little all in banqueting his friends, aro the supreme 
 luxuries of an Indian's life. 
 
 About seventy miles from the sea stands tho little villagG 
 of Kitsumgallum, the highest point over reached by 
 steamer on the Skoona. In ISfiO, tho stern-wheel steamer 
 Mumford came up thus far with su[)plies for those engaged 
 in constructing the tolcgra[)h line which was projected 
 
 \ 
 
i 
 
 UP THK SKKENA. 
 
 71 
 
 from the United States, tlirongli British Cohimbia and 
 Alaska, to the nortliern jtarts of Asia. In 1SG5 the 
 AVestcrn Union Telegraph Ojmpany of the United States, 
 probably the most powerful corporation of the kind in 
 the world, commenced explorations with a view towai-ds 
 the construction of an overland telegraph, which, by \\\.y 
 of Bchririg Straits, was to unite the old and new worlds. 
 After the expenditure of three million.-; of dollars, the 
 scheme was abandoned, owing to the success of the Atlantic 
 cable. To construct and maintain this telegraph it was 
 necessary to clear a wide track on cithei' side ol the pro- 
 posed line, which is now known as the " telegraph trail," 
 running from Quesnel by Fort Fraser and the valley of 
 the Watsonquah, neai- the I'^oi'ks of the Skeena, as far 
 north as Fort Stager, some forty miles beyond llazelton. 
 Before the project was abandoned tlie line had lieen com- 
 pleted as far north as Quesnel, and this portion became 
 eventually the property of the Government of British 
 Columbia, and was by them transferred to the Dominion 
 Government ; but beyond Quesnel the only i-emiumt of 
 this expensivo undertaking is the trail which was cut 
 in connection with the work of construction. 
 
 A little beyond the point where the Mu/iiford was com- 
 pelled to stop, we were able, from a hill some 250 feet in 
 height, to trace, for some distance, a valley whicli encloses 
 Lake Lakclse, to the south of the Skeena, and which 
 loads throuirh from the Skeena to Kitimal, at the head of 
 
 
 
 t 
 
72 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PIIAIUIE. 
 
 IM 
 
 "1 
 
 u 
 
 Dougliis Channel, an arm of Gardner Inlet. This pass 
 would connect the waters of the Skeona at this point 
 with the tide-waters of the Pacific, by a much nearer 
 route than that which we had followed ; but the harbour at 
 Kitimat is much inferior to that of Port Simp.son, and its 
 approach from the ocean is more difficult. Indeed, a 
 general depression may be traced in a direction somewhat 
 similar to that of the coast line along the valley of the 
 u])per waters of the Xasse Eivcr, and by the streams and 
 lakes which at Kitsumgallum connect it with the Skeena, 
 thence by the valley just mentioned to Kitimat, on the 
 northern arm of Gardner Inlet, down to the south arm of 
 that inlet, and from that point to the head of Bean Chan- 
 nel, and oven to thefcouthernextremity of Bentinck Arm. 
 This depression is not clearly indicated in the published 
 maps of British Columbia. It cannot properly be called 
 a valley, but if we may suppose the general level of the 
 land to be lowered by, say, 1,500 feet, — and the average 
 level of British Columbia, exclusive of any poi-tion of the 
 Peace Eiver district, is estimated at little short of 3,000 
 feet above the sea, — there would be traceable among the 
 remaining elevated ridges a valky or chain of valleys in 
 the direction indicated. This depression seems to mark 
 off the mountains between it and the coast as somewhat 
 distinct from those lying to the east of it, which are more 
 properly known as the Cascade Eange. A fuller exami- 
 nation than has yet been made, both geological and 
 
 ! 
 
UP THE SKEi:\A. 
 
 13 
 
 topographical, would, however, I o required before this dis- 
 tinction could be decidedly drawn between the so-called 
 Coast and Cascade Eanges. At the same time, it may be 
 noticed that in going up the Skcena the highest mountains 
 east of this line have a somewhat different appearance 
 from those west of it, the summits being loftier and more 
 peaked than those nearer the coast. 
 
 At two places in our ascent of the river it was noces- 
 sary for us to make a portage — first, at the Tsipkeagh 
 Falls, or Eapids, a little above Kitsumgallum, and again 
 at Kitsilas, some miles further on. At Tsipkeagh we 
 required not only to carry our cargo, but also to drag our 
 canoes overland some thirty or foi-ty yards to the calmer 
 water above. The river as it passes over these falls is 
 not more than 500 yards wide, hemmed in by a ledge of 
 rock on either shore^ and with wooded islands in the 
 broad reaches above and below. On the southern ledge, 
 as at the upper end of almost every island that is exposed 
 to the main current of the river, there are huge piles of 
 worn and shattered trees, the accumulated drift of years, 
 borne down by freshets and left stranded by the receding 
 waters. 
 
 At Kitsilas, when the water is high, a portage of nearly 
 a quarter of a mile is necessary, but in moderate water 
 such as we experienced, the portage can bo taken in two 
 Instalments of twenty or thirty yards each, connected by 
 a bay of the river. Here there is a small Indian village, 
 
 , i' 
 
 II 
 
Pifl 
 
 T4 
 
 jSioustain and puaiuie. 
 
 t li 
 III li 
 
 I 
 
 ! ! i: 
 
 1 
 
 aud as \vc ajiproachcd it \vq saw several jicrsons catcliing 
 salmon with scoop-nets. Wo bought three twenty-five 
 pounders, paying seventy-five cents each for them, an 
 exorbitant price, but even here the first of the season 
 sell at fancy figures. Two or three days later, a small 
 piece of tobacco would be sufficient to buy the largest 
 salmon on the Skocna. But jii'ic'cs vary, dc2)ending not 
 so much on the supply or the demand as on the Indian's 
 need of what you offer in exchange, or on the price that 
 he received from his last customer. Unless he hai^pens 
 to want what you offer it makes little difference to him 
 whether lie sells or not, and if any traveller going before 
 you has paid high prices, whether for salmon or for the 
 hire of men o'* of canoes, you need not expect to pay 
 less. 
 
 On a nameless stream near Kitsilas some gold miners 
 had been prospecting shortly before we passed. They 
 found little more than the " colour " of gold — that is, the 
 small sand-like f)articles which, though of no great value 
 in themselves, indicate the presence of gold, in greater 
 or less quantities, in the rock from which these particles 
 have been washed down. Gold " colour " may bo obtained 
 in almost any river of British Columbia by washing the 
 dark sand to be seen at the upper extremities of the sand- 
 bars, the darkest sand being that of the magnetic iron 
 ore which has been borne down from some of the rocky 
 beds, or sides, of the river. When any quantity of earth 
 
 1 
 
rr THE SKEESA. 
 
 75 
 
 'hey 
 
 is washed in a pan cxpo.se<l to the current, tliis dark 
 Band, being heavy, sinks to the 1)ott<)m of the pan, and 
 all else can be gradually separated from it, while, if there 
 is any gold dust, it will sink in the washing and be found 
 in the dark sand, where it may bo readily detected. 
 Should this "colour " bv plentiful, it may lead to further 
 exploring, and perhaps to successful mining. No success, 
 however, has hitherto attended the efforts of Tuiners on 
 the Skeena. 
 
 Above this the river becomes narro"wer, for the most 
 part not more than from 300 to 500 yards in width. The 
 banks are still fringed by flats, but there are fewer islands 
 dotting the surface of the ilvcr, so that the landscape 
 loses, to some degree, the attraction of the rich groves 
 of cotton-wood with which for a few days we had been 
 familiar. Sometimes these flats, or plateaux, which aio 
 several hundred yards in width, and which are hero 
 exiiosed to inundation, are heavily timbered, and their 
 number and extent irtcrease as wo ascend the river, the 
 timber including spruce, homiock, cedar, aspen, and, less 
 frequently, Douglas pine, birch and mountain ash. 
 
 Nearer the river-banks, where tho soil has probably 
 been cleared of its timber through fire set by tJio Indians 
 in order to secure a larger growth of berries, the flats are 
 usually rich with pea-vine, strawberries, raspberries, 
 gooseberries, and with a great variety of wild flowers, 
 puch as the rose, columbine, liiinea, violet, anemone, etc 
 
 1 \ I 
 
 I '\.\ 
 
 ■t i 
 
7G 
 
 MoL'STAiy A.\I> I'l! \IRIE. 
 
 ii 
 
 % 
 
 
 Sonic of thcHO flatH appear well fitted for cultivation. 
 They arc of light loam, covering a sandy soil about two or 
 three feet in dcjith upon a gravel bed, and wherever 
 cultivated, as at the scattered Indian villages along the 
 river side, they yield good crop« of potatoes, nothing elso 
 apparently being attempted. 
 
 Wc passed through the narrows known as Quotsalix 
 Canon on the afternoon of Wednesday, 18th June. As we 
 approached the canon, our attention was attracted by a 
 glacier which we saw up the course of a tributary stream 
 that (lows in on the north bank. It was too far away, 
 however, to admit of close examination. There are sev- 
 eral scattered houses at this narrow part of the river, and 
 rocky ledges running down to the water's edge give it the 
 character of a cafion, though only on a small scale. Above 
 these, the nearer hills arc, for the most part, rounded, 
 with gentle slopes towards the flats that fringe the river, 
 while the remoter hills are lofty, with rugged, serrated, 
 snow-capped peaks. One of these summits, named Ish- 
 ganisht, which approaches the river bank more closely 
 than the others, is the grandest we saw in our course up 
 the Skeena. It terminates in a cluster of snow^-clad peaks, 
 whose valleys, forming a semi-circle, enclose a glacier. 
 Beyond this are some distinctly marked benches, or ter- 
 races, while, further up, the country appears more open, 
 until on reaching Kitwongah we found a wide stretch 
 on either side, apparently suitable for cultivation. 
 
 f: 
 
vp Tiin >7v'/.7;.v.). 
 
 77 
 
 
 Kitwongah, about forty miles above Kitsilas, is a little 
 Indian village containin; about twenty houses, each 
 house representing several families, and distinguished 
 chiefly for its numerous and curiously carved dooi'-posts. 
 Attached to one of these j)osts we saw a rude box, about 
 the size of an ordinary tool-chest, said to contain the 
 cremated remains of an old Indinn, and outside of the 
 village several such boxes may be seen left on the ground 
 and exposed to the weather. From Kitwongah there is 
 a trail running northerly to the Xasse River, which meets 
 one running in from Kitsigeuchlah, and, further on, one 
 running in from Kispy-ox. Near the junction of these 
 trails the Eev. Mr. Tomlinson is establishing a mission 
 connected with the mission at Metlahkatlah. The j)lace 
 is well suited for such a pui-2:>osc, as there is a great deal 
 of traflBc along these trails, and manj- others besides the 
 residents in these localities might thus come under the 
 missionary's influence; while, at the same time, the 
 neighbourhood is said to be better suited for farming 
 than any other locality in this district. 
 
 Camping on the plateau ojiposito Kitwongah we heard 
 at night, when retiring, a tum-tumming as if on some 
 sort of tambourine, accompanied by a chanting sound, 
 as of the human voice. "We thought that the natives 
 might be having a dance, but on hearing the same 
 sounds next morning, from the time we rose until we left 
 camp, we fancied that even Indian dissipation would not 
 
 5 ', 
 
 ''S 
 
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 • H 
 
 ,i 
 
m 
 
 ■'iij> , 
 
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 « 
 
 v« 
 
 MOUNT AIS AND PliAIIUK. 
 
 kceji up such revelry all night. AVe found on euquiiy 
 that it wa.s the work of the medicine-man, who was 
 practising on some sick person according to the usual 
 method of the native tloctors. They do not prescribe any 
 medicine ; they simply rattle sticks upon a small drum, 
 or tambourine, and howl in a most melancholy manner, 
 thinking that by such means they can banish the evil 
 spirit by whom they sup^iose the disease to have been 
 caused. After the medicine-man leaves, some old woman 
 may admin"ster a preparation of herbs, which has pos- 
 sibly a healing effect, but if the patient recovers it is not 
 the nurse, but the medicine-man, who receives the credit, 
 wherea!9 if the j)atient dies the medicine-man is praised 
 for his bravery in attacking so formidable a spirit. In 
 either case it is for him a game in which he may win, but 
 cannot lose, wliile the suH'erer might well pray for death 
 to release him from the torment of such an attendant. 
 
 The next village reached by us was Kitsigeuchlah. 
 Ai)proaching it we had an exceedingly tough stretch of 
 tracking for a mile and a half, and then crossed the river 
 just below the village where it is about 150 yards wide 
 and where the water is very wild and the current strong, 
 rolling like the sea in a storm. In uich a place a false 
 move on the part of the steersman would speedily send 
 each man struggling with the stream on his own account ; 
 but wo were in tiu- hands of skilful canoemen. Seven 
 years ago Kitsigeuchlah was burnt down, the lire having 
 
 r \ 
 
 » 
 

 UP THE F^KEFXA. 
 
 70 
 
 on euquiry 
 11, who was 
 to the usual 
 escribo any 
 sniall drum, 
 >ly manner, 
 ill the evil 
 have been 
 old woman 
 3h has pos- 
 ers it is not 
 } the credit, 
 1 is praised 
 spirit. In 
 ay win, but 
 y ibr death 
 lendant. 
 ii^'cuc'hlali. 
 stretch of 
 I tlie river 
 ards wide 
 ent strong, 
 ice a false 
 edily send 
 I account ; 
 II. Seven 
 1.0 iiavin;*' 
 
 spread from a mining camp in the neighbourhood at a 
 time when the Indians were away salmon-fishing. They 
 suffered severely for a season through this disaster, but 
 the Government allowed them some S500 damages, and 
 the village has recently been rebuilt. Just bej'ond the 
 village is the river of the same name that flows in from 
 the south, and above its entrance, on both banks of the 
 Skeena, there is a vein of carbonaceous slate, with sand- 
 stone, iron-stone and clay. We found a small quantity 
 of inferior coal cropping out of the surface, but further 
 examination would be requisite to ascertain if there is 
 any large deposit in this vicinity. 
 
 From Kitwongah to the Forks, on the north side of 
 the river, a distance of about twenty miles, there is an 
 almost continuous stretch of plateau, broken only by 
 occasional ridges, while ajiparcntly a valley runs in a 
 direct lino between these two points, some distance back 
 from the winding valley of the river. The district 
 enclosed between these two valleys, with the exception 
 of a hill rising out of the centre of it, seems to be suit- 
 able for cultivation. Possibly this uitjiei* part of the 
 Skeena may compare favouralily in ]>oint of agricultural 
 resources with some of the restricted cultival>le southern 
 portions of the Province, but as yet there has l)ecn 
 scarcely anything done here by white men in the wa}' of 
 farming, and tlio small potuto-jiatches of the Indians do 
 not suj)ply sufficient data to warrant any decided ojjinion. 
 
 I 
 
 
 i^ 
 
 4 
 
fi^^ 
 
 80 
 
 MO u\ T. i rx A \D ritA in ie. 
 
 II 
 
 "Working up the river above Kitsigcuchltih, and passing 
 several rich flats, similar to those we had already seen, 
 "vve reached the Forks of the Skeena on the afternoon of 
 Saturday the 21st June. Tlie village stands at the 
 junction of the vSkcena and "Wat^onquah; hence its name 
 of" the Forks." Its Indian name is Kitunmax ; its more 
 recent name Ilazelton. In front of it flows the strong 
 rapid river ; immediately adjoining it is a stretch of 
 excellent land, which, where cultivated, yields abundant 
 crojis, especially of roots and oats, though as yet no 
 wheat has been tried ; and, where left uncultivated, the 
 land is covered by luxuriant herbage. In rear of the 
 village, and surrounding this rich, flat, low land, as well 
 as on the opposite, or northern, bank of the river, there 
 arc plateaux of light soil partly wooded, which give 
 every promise of good returns if cultivated; and in the 
 distance in several directions, beyond the lower wooded 
 hills, there are snow-clad j^eaks and ranges. 
 
 At a little distance back from the village stands a 
 cluster of peaks which the Indians cnll Nilkiawdah, 
 known commonly by the name Eochc-Debould, a name 
 which more correctly belongs to a broken mass of rock 
 at its base, in the canon of the Watsonquah. It is the 
 most striking feature of the surrounding landscape, 
 standing 5,955 feet above the level of the village, that 
 ip, about fi,000 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 The population of the village consists of about 250 
 
 ', 
 
 \ 
 
UP THE SKEEXA. 
 
 81 
 
 individuals, with tliree white families, the only whites 
 found on the river with the exce])tion of one family at 
 Port Essington. The Indians here consider themselves 
 quite distinct from the Coast Indians ; indeed, each village 
 along the river is the centre, if not of a separate tribe, at 
 least of a separate division of a tribe, sufficiently important 
 to regard itself as distinct from others, with tribal rights 
 on land and water. It is not easy to ascertain with any 
 accuracy the population along the valley of the river, 
 but it may aj^proximately be set down at about two 
 thousand, including in that number some settlements 
 adjacent to the Skcena. 
 
 For a time the " Forks " was looked on as a promising 
 village, it being the jioint from which a large proportion 
 of the supplies was portaged to the mining district of 
 Omenica, 200 miles east of this. Had the mints turned 
 out as well as was nt first expected, the jiromised growth 
 and importai.ce of the village might have l)een realised, 
 but as the Cassiar gold-fiekls drew away the miners, the 
 glory departed from Omenica, and though there arc still 
 some fifty white men, and a smaller number of Chinamen 
 there, yet they are meeting with so little success that the 
 mines will probably ere long bo abandoned. 
 
 The Indians here live i low houses, several families 
 
 in one dwelling, most of them, like the m.'ijority of those 
 
 on the Skoena, being still Pagan, though an increasing 
 
 number arc Christians. There was for a time a teacher 
 
 7 
 
 m iH 
 
 . •' i' 
 
 I !' i< 
 
 « 
 
 
82 
 
 MOUSTAIX AXD VUAUilE. 
 
 I'l 
 
 I , 
 
 1 
 
 among them nominally Christian, iXnd during Ijis resi- 
 dence here many professed Christianity; but the teacher 
 abandoned his work, became careless, left for the mines, 
 and thei'cupon many of the Indians went back to their 
 old ways, and the Chief l)Joughl his Bible to one of 
 the white residents, saying that ho did not want it any 
 longer if it taught men to act as the teacher had done. 
 If a mission station l)e established, as pi'oposed, some- 
 where in this vicinity, it is to be hoped that the success 
 which has placed Mothihkatlah foremost among the mis- 
 sions to the Indians of JTorth America, may be relocated 
 among the Indian^ of the interior. It is manifestly 
 necessary not only to instruct these men in the truths of 
 rhristianit}'', but to train them in trades, in agriculture, 
 and in habits of settled industry. For the most part 
 they are peaceable and well disposed; although they arc 
 apt to take advantage of an employer if they tind him at 
 all in their power, — perhaps to desert him in an emergency 
 if he will not accede to their demands. The Achwilgates, 
 for instance, on the Watsonquah, sometimes ask exorbitant 
 charges for the privilege of crossing the river, giving the 
 use of their canoes as an excuse for levying heavy toll; 
 and thoir neighbours, the Kispyox Indians, imposed such 
 tolls on those passing through their territory as to stop 
 for a time the cattle traffic which had been carried on 
 extenoiv^ely for some years, by drovers taking cattle from 
 tlio Frj,mer River District, by Avay of Watsonquah and 
 
 t 
 
11 
 
 IT THE SKEEKA. 
 
 83 
 
 the Upper Skecna, .v^ the mines of Cussiar. Phybically 
 these Indians of the interior are as active as tlie Coast 
 Indians, not apparently as strong, yet capable of carry- 
 ing heavier burdens. Mentally they seem cjuite equal to 
 them, and it may reasonablj' bo hoped thai, if similar 
 jH'ivileges of instruction be given them, they may soon 
 equal the Indians of Mctlahkatlah in industry and in 
 general good conduct. 
 
 The climate of the Skeena valley is by no means as 
 pleasant as that of the southern part of the Province, 
 though much better than its latitude and the physical 
 characteristics of the country might lead one to expect. 
 During our course from Port Essington to the Forks, — 
 that is, from the *7th until the 21st June, — we had most 
 enjoyable weather ; on four days we had slight rain; for 
 the remainder, though the aky was frequently overcast, 
 the weather was fine. The proportion of rain diminishes 
 towards the interior, and the snow-fall, which in some 
 seasons is seven or eight feet near the coast, docs not 
 exceed three feet at the Forks. Horses have been win- 
 tered out here, though it was necessary to shovel away 
 a quantity of snow in order that they might be able to 
 feed on the grass beneath. The cold of winter is severe, 
 the thermometer falling frequently to 30° below zero 
 for several consecutive days, and sometimes as low as 
 45°, while it rises in summer to 90° in the shade, and 
 sometimes higher, a variation very much greater than 
 
 
 If 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
*'l 
 
 .1 
 
 [f 
 
 ■ ill 
 
 ;■ ) 
 
 it 
 
 1 
 
 81 
 
 MOUNTAIN A^SD rHATRIE. 
 
 that of the Houthern part of the Province. At the same 
 time the climate of the Forks is said by the white resi- 
 dents to be very healthy, and the number of thriving 
 children to be met with seems to confirm this. The most 
 frequent complaint is ophthalmia, which i:»rovails in 
 almost every Indian village, caused no doubt, or, at any 
 rate, increased, by the smoke of the camjD-fire and of 
 their houses. 
 
 After our tents had been pitched, near the river's edge, 
 a large proportion of the inhabitants came to inspect our 
 premises, watching with special curiosity the labours of 
 the cook, as if they all expected an invitation to a grand 
 pot-latch. Among our visitors were some women who 
 wore a kind of lip ornament, which used to be much 
 more common among them than it now is. It consists 
 of a piece of wood passed through the lower lip. At first 
 the hole is made m the lip with a needle, and a propor- 
 tionately small piece of wood, about half an inch in 
 length, is inserted and left there. Gradually this hole is 
 made larger, and, while the length of the "ornament" 
 remains about the pame, its diameter is increased, the 
 desire ot the wearer being apparently to make it «as large 
 as poetuble. Others of our visitors had adorned them- 
 selves with nose-rings, a favourite ornament with savages. 
 
 One of our party, who had been a great deal among 
 the Indians of British Columbia, showed a looking-glass, 
 on one occasion, to some young women who had adorned 
 
IP TllF SKEEXA. 
 
 85 
 
 thcms'^\'es with nose-rings. Apparently, though familiar 
 with the sight of nose-rings on each other, none of them 
 realized until then what they looked like on themselves, 
 and the effect of this disclosure was that very soon after- 
 wards they appeared without thom. These intended 
 ornaments are, as may be imagined, a serious disfigure- 
 ment, though, as with some absurd decorations worn by 
 their civilized sisters, the Indians usually regard them 
 as things of beauty. 
 
 Among others who came to interview us was the son 
 of the chief of the Ach wilgato tribe. He was not dressed 
 in the traditional picturesque attire of an Indian chief; 
 one sees little of that phase of Indian life outside of 
 Cooper's novels ; nor had ho come to question our right 
 of way through the country. lie was anxious simply to 
 hire as one of those who should " pack " for us — that is, 
 carry our im2)cdimenta, consisting of tents, blankets, 
 baggage, provisions, etc., across to Lake Babine. We 
 left the management, however, of this, as of most details 
 of a similar nature, to our excellent foreman, McNeill, 
 who had long been fi.miliar with the Indians of this part 
 of tlie Province, and who had spent two years at Fort 
 Stager, some distance north of this, in charge of the 
 supplies left there by the Western Union Telegraph 
 Company before they finidly abandoned their project of 
 a great overland line between America ar-i Europe. 
 
 Wo spent a Sunday at the Forks, and had service in 
 
 i- 
 
 
 !, , 
 
 k 
 
 ,\ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 '1 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 ,( 
 
 H 
 
86 
 
 MOUNT A rs Axn rn.irniE. 
 
 
 the school-hoiisc with some of tlic villagers, as well as 
 with our own crews. Throughout the day we wore more 
 troubled with mosquitoes than during any other part of 
 our journey. It is a common belief among the people 
 of Victoria that there are no mosquitoes in the Province. 
 We found them, however, as active and powerful as we 
 had ever known them in Ontario. If, as is said, it is the 
 female mosquito that stings, this is the only instance in 
 which there appears to l>e a superabundance of female 
 labour in British Columbia. 
 
 ,i; ; 
 
 ^. 1. 
 
rHAPTP:R IV. 
 
 FORKS OF SKEENA TO LAKE llAT^TXE. 
 
 Our Packers. — Tho Trail. — Up the ^Susqua. — Coal. — Women Packing 
 and Nursing. — Skilokiss Susi^unsion Bridge. — The Ooatzauli. — 
 The Nataltsul. ^Cascade Pvange compared with Swiss Alps. — 
 Indian Legends. — Taim-Shin. — Scone on the Summit. — 
 Approach Lake Baliine. — Engago Crews. — Offended Chief. — 
 Babine Indians. — Neighbourhood of Lake 
 
 On the 23rd June we loft the Forks for Lake Biibine. 
 Early that morning we paid off our crews, and saw them 
 .start for home. They would go down in two and a-half 
 days the distance that it had taken us thirteen working 
 days to ascend. We had found them capital fellows, — 
 active, industrious and thoroughly reliable. We gave 
 them a cheer as they left, which was heartily returned 
 by them, and we then began acquainting ourselves with 
 our new hands. We req^uircd a considerable number to 
 portage our stores, etc., across to Babine, for althougli 
 the trail is sufficiently good for mules, yet there was (m\y 
 one mule in the village. 
 
 Having collected those who had engaged to go, it was 
 no easy matter to apportion their paclvs, as each one 
 
 }n 
 
 i<\ ]' 
 
 H 
 
 M 
 
8B 
 
 MOVSTAIN ASD ritATIiTE. 
 
 <: ;»l 
 
 II 
 
 M 
 
 Hccinod to think lie liad tlie heaviest, and to regard' 
 himself as the most ill-used labourer in the company. 
 Among our packers was the Aclnvilgato prince, as wc 
 called him, — the son and heir-apparent of the chief of 
 the tribe, — with his wife, who, like many of the native 
 women of the district, can carry a very heavy pack 
 without a murmur, and whom none of us was gallant 
 enough to relieve of her burden. We had also the 
 medicine-man, a strapping, sinewy fellow, with his 
 wife, and a number of others. Nowadays each of the 
 Indians of this neighbourhood restricts himself to the 
 possession of one wife, but formerly polygamy was com- 
 mon among them ; yet with them, as with the Mormons 
 and Turks, the number of their wives depended pretty 
 much upon their wealth. If a man was able to support 
 more than one, his ideas of 2)ropi'icty did not jjrevent 
 him from having several dear ones ; but, as a rule, his 
 means were not sufficient to meet such increase of re- 
 sponsibilities. Polygamy seems to have been more 
 common among the Coast Indians, who, from the varied 
 and abundant suj^ply of fish at their doo" ', were more 
 amply furnished with the means of supporting a family 
 than the less favoured tribes of the interior. 
 
 The trail which we followed is a portion of the route 
 which leads from the Skeena, by Babine, the Frying-pan 
 Pass and Lake Tatla, to the Omenica district, 200 miles 
 from the Forks ; and, as the only rival route to Omenica 
 
rOUh'S OFSKEENA TO LAKE liAIllXE. 
 
 89 
 
 from the coast is tlie more cxjicnsive one of the waggon 
 road along the Fniscr Eiver, and the trail from Quesncl, 
 this trail from the Skccna has been for somo years the 
 highway for a good deal of traffic. Following it we 
 ascended at once to the plateau iti rear of the village, 
 from which we had extensive views of the surrounding 
 country, and specially fine views of the Eoche-debouk'. 
 
 About two and a half miles from the Forks we struck 
 the old telegraph trail which runs through the valley of 
 the "Watsonquah to Fort Stager, about forty miles beyond 
 this, and after following it for a mile we turned up the 
 vailey of the Susquah, a tributary of the "Watsonquah, 
 2)assing over low rolling hills that are separated by 
 narrow valleys, the channels of wild and precipitous 
 Htrcams. On the banks of one of these streams we found 
 a vein of carbonaceous shale, in which a small quantity 
 of true coal could be detected, — another indication of the 
 jwssibility of finding coal measures in this jjart of the 
 country. Here and there we saw small patches that 
 might be cultivated, and the liill slopes, where clear of 
 timber, abound in pea-vine and wild grass, which afford 
 excellent pasture. The valley of the Susquah, however, 
 is not as rich as the valley of the Watsonquah. There 
 the grass is particularly good, but with the exception of 
 that, and of the land around the Forks, there seems to be 
 very little throughout this district that is fit for cultiva- 
 tion, while even of this one cannot speak with much con- 
 
 I I 
 
 in 
 
 V:' 
 
 "^^ '. 
 
i i 
 
 M ' 
 
 no 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND 1 •HAITI IE. 
 
 ridoiicc on account of the limited efforts hitherto made in 
 farming, and the probable climatic difficultios. The 
 wood with which hill and valley are timbered is chiefly 
 poplar and .small-sized Hpriicc. 
 
 We pitched camp about six miles from the Forks, 
 after half a day's march, it being slow work for the 
 packers, each with his burden of at least 100 lbs. Ono 
 of our packers was the ownier of the only mule kept at 
 the Forks, so he took the mule to carry his burden, while 
 he himself walked at ease like a gentleman, the object of 
 general envy. Some of the other packers used their 
 dogs to assist them, the dog trotting along gaily with 
 his balanced burden on either side. Their day's work 
 did not prevent these dogs from bai-king as vigorously 
 as two others, idler and more indulged, that accom2)anied. 
 us, and judging by the muzzles that were put on them 
 before the provision boxes were opened, their reputation 
 for honesty was of a low order. 
 
 Most of the men who packed for us belong to the Achwil- 
 gate tribe, and are accustomed to attend the services of the 
 Roman Catholic Mission which has for some time been 
 established among them. It was gratifying to notice 
 that they had prayers each evening, one of their own 
 number leading their service. It is surprising how these 
 men pack as well as they do, and more surprising how 
 their wives endure such toil. They do not look very 
 robust, though they must be sinewy to stand it at all. 
 
\ t 
 
 FORK;< OF .-iKKEXA To LAKE IIAHISE. 
 
 91 
 
 Some of them were wvW up in years, having been long 
 accustomed to buch labour j and it is fjuite common to boo 
 an Indian woman carry her young child on the toj^ of a 
 heavy pack,, while, after climbing a hill that prostrates 
 others for a Tittle with fatigue, the first thing she may 
 have to do is to nurse her infant. Indeed they require 
 to nurse their children much longer than is necessary in 
 civilized communities on account of the scarcity of 
 suitable food for the 3'oung, their chief article of diet 
 being dried salmon. Their capacity for carrying heavy 
 bui'dens lies in their ability to preserve an accurate 
 balance rather than in any great muscular strength. 
 The pack rests on the back, chiefly between the shoul- 
 ders, supporlf.'d by a tump-lino v.'hich passes in a broad 
 band across the forehead, and secured by the ends of 
 the line beiniir tied across the chest. Sometimes the 
 packer may have difficulty in raising his pack, or rather 
 in raising himself with his pack from the sitting posture 
 in which it is fastened on, but once erect he moves oflP 
 nimbly with it. His ability for this kind of work is 
 developed from childhood, for even the little ones are 
 trained to carry some of the family goods and chattels 
 almost as soon as they can walk by themselves. 
 
 Although the walk was tiresome to the burden-bearers, 
 to us it was very enjo3''able, our only discomfort being 
 caused by occasional rain, when one was forced to recog- 
 nize the strides that civilization has made in mastering 
 
 rw 
 
 i» 1, 
 
^2 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND I'RAIEIE. 
 
 '. I 
 
 It 
 
 it 'i 
 
 M 
 
 the difficulties which climate and tcm2)erature may cast 
 across the path of the traveller. Foot-travel, buck-board, 
 covered coach, and railway-car mark stages of progress 
 in the conquest of such difficulties. 
 
 On our second day from the Forks our cook, a Lillooet 
 Indian from the Lower Fraser, who had been with us all 
 the way from Port Essington, returned to the Forks, 
 partly in order to join another party there, but partly 
 also because he felt somewhat afraid to accompany us 
 further with the prospect of returning alone among the 
 Kisi:)yox Indians, through wliose territory we were 
 travelling; for there is still among the Indians of one 
 tribe a lingering jealousy, if not a positive enmity, 
 towards those of another, often preventing them, unless 
 wl'cn under the protection of white men, from crossing 
 into each other's teri-itory. In view of the necessity of 
 his leaving us we had secured another at the Forks, a 
 good-humoured, active fellow ; and indeed he required 
 to be active, for he had a large family to cook for, as the 
 Indians received food from us in addition to wages, and 
 they are as capable as most men for discharging the 
 duties of the table. 
 
 About seventeen miles from tlie Forks we crossed the 
 Skilokiss by an Indian Mispension bridge ingeniously 
 matle. Four large cotton-wood trees had been felled 
 and trimmed, two on each side of the stream. These 
 projected from the banks until they mot and overlapped. 
 
FORKS OFSKEENA TO LAKE DAnTXE. 
 
 93 
 
 Tlioy were then lashed together midway across tho 
 stream, the lower portions, lying on the bank, having been 
 heavily weighted with logs and stones to prevent tho 
 bridge from sagging ; a rail and platform were added, and 
 the whole structure completed without a nail or s]Mke, tho 
 fastenings being of roots and of tough inner bark. This 
 is a common Indian method of constructing bridges, 
 although sometimes the trees that form the main sup- 
 ports instead of being placed level are set at an angle 
 from the banks so as to form an arch from which girders 
 are suspended that serve as supports for a level ])latform. 
 
 After following for some distance the valley of tho 
 Susquah the trail leads up the valley of a tributary 
 stream, tho Ooatzanli, running along the face of a low 
 range of hills. Ascending we found that the views, 
 looking westwards along tho course we had traversed, 
 grew more and more attractive. On the opposite sido 
 of the river stands the Nataltsul, a cluster of peaks, tlio 
 loftiest of which cannot be less than seven or eight 
 thousand feet in height, enclosing a small ghicior in 
 a shell-shaped valley that receives the snow and rivulets 
 from their scarped and rugged sides. 
 
 From this westward there is a range of snow-cr.pped 
 peaks and serrated ridges along tlie line of the Sus(|uah, 
 while the view is closed by the Roche-deboulo tiiat 
 stands massive, compact, well-defined, the sentinel of tho 
 Skecna. Sometimes tho scenery becomes almost Alpine 
 
 ; i 
 
 U 
 
 
 f^' 
 
I '5 !) 
 
 94 
 
 MOUNTAIN AXD TRAIRIE. 
 
 H;. 
 
 
 w 
 
 ,!f *<■ 
 
 i 
 
 in cliaractor, ullhougli it has not the sustained grandeur 
 of the heights oi' Switzerlaml. Anyone who has looked 
 from the liighi-Jvuhn, nj»on tlie cloud-raked, snow-capped 
 summits ot the Obcrland Alps, or from the Gorner-Grat 
 on the Matterhorn, Monte Eosa, and other peaks that 
 encircle Zermatt, will seek in vain for similar effects 
 among our Canadian Alps. And yet it is not so much 
 great height that they lack, for beyond a certain point 
 the eye does not readily detect additional height ; and, 
 besides, tlic contour and surroundings of a mountain may 
 be such as to maice it more impressive than some loftier 
 summit, as the Matterhorn is more impressive than Mont 
 Blanc. They seem to lose in comparison with their 
 European rivals rather in the distance that divido;i 
 their loftier peaks and clusters, for these are not massed 
 as closely as are the heights oi' Switzerland. As you look 
 upon them you think that you can grasp their details, 
 and this impression weakens their effect upon you. They 
 lose still more in this comjiarison, b;,' the fact that tho 
 low ranges of intervening hills are commonly covered by 
 burnt and branchless trees — rampikes, as they are called, 
 — which have, in part, been strewn by the wind, but 
 which, for the mo>t pari, stand, weathering the storm, 
 blackened by the flames, or else bleached by sun and 
 rain, a picture of desolation without sublimity, and of 
 barrenness without lolief 
 Eucli day's nuirch usually began for us about 8.30 a.m., 
 
FORKS OF SKEEXA TO LAKE liAETXE. 
 
 95 
 
 .111., 
 
 our pack-train having started an hour earlier. To us 
 the walk, or rather the leisurely stroll, was very enjoy- 
 able, as it did not need much exertion for us to keep up 
 with our pack-bcarors, who rcquii-ed the relief of a fi*e- 
 quent halt, and we would gain nothing by going away 
 in advance of tents and proviwions. Indeed our daily 
 walk was little over ten miles, broken by numerous stop- 
 pages to sketch, botanize, geologize, philosophize, and 
 get-up-to-our-eyes in admiration of the valley that was 
 gradually stretching behind us. 
 
 "While thus enjoying the scenery one could not help 
 speculating as to the possible thoughts that might flit 
 through the minds of our Indian fellow-travellers, mai'ch- 
 ing over the country of their fathers with the burdens 
 of the white man. The scientist sees everywhere some- 
 thing to remind liim of the laws of nature, and of pre- 
 hist )ric changes on the surface of the earth ; — the pietist 
 may pass through the study of these same laws to Ilim 
 who first appointed them; — the poet can find, even in 
 the meanest flower that blows, " tlroughts that do often 
 Ho too deep for tears." Is the Indian never awakened 
 to reflection by the hills and streams and forests, or is 
 he thinking only of the weight of his j^ack, and of the 
 supper in store for him when the burden of the day shall 
 drop from his weary shoulders? lie knows littlo about 
 the laws of nature, little at least that would servo liim 
 in a comj^otitive examination, that favorite modern test 
 
 ii# 
 
 .*( 
 
 p< 
 
 I 
 
 I t 
 
 !! 
 
 t' 
 
.1 
 I I 
 
 I ,1 
 
 mi 
 
 i 
 
 ^f 
 
 96 
 
 MOUXTATy ASD PR Al It IK. 
 
 of knowledge, although he may know much that might 
 enable him, in certain cases, to distance his examiners. 
 His poetry and his religion are of a vague, indefinite 
 character, not easily ascertained except where he has 
 received the teaching of the white man. And yet he 
 retains some of the traditional beliefs of his forefathers, 
 which he may possibly tell you if your acquaintance with 
 him is sufficiently long and intimate. 
 
 You may get from liim, for instance, some of the 
 legends about Taim-Shin. lie may tell you how this 
 supernatural being made the branches of the spruce 
 trees. Taim-Shin can assume what disguise he chooses. 
 On one occasion he a2)pearcd as a little boy, in the hut 
 of an old woman, and asked her to let him eat and rest. 
 She gave him food and shelter on condition that he would 
 not look at what she did. His curiosity was awakened 
 by this demand, and, though he pretended to be asleep, 
 he watched her. When she thought herself unobserved 
 she went out to a little spring not far from her hut, 
 walked around it once or twice, crooning an old song. 
 Then, from the clear water of the spring there arose, in 
 the form of win' to strips or ribbons, something that she 
 ate with evident relish. Shu did this several times, each 
 time securing a new supply of food, and then returned, 
 to her hut. Taim-Shin had followed her unseen, and 
 when she was returning homewai-d he ran ahead of her, 
 and lay down, so that when she came in she thought that 
 
FORKS OF SKEENA TO LAKE B A BINE. 
 
 97 
 
 his sleep had been unbroken. Then she slept, and ho 
 went out to the spring. He tried to repeat her incanta- 
 tions, and in response, the white substance rose from the 
 water, but when he attempted to eat it he found it hard 
 as wood. Again and a;- dn he tried, but with the same 
 result. Then, seizing some of the white strips, he flung 
 them in his disappointment at a spruce tree, — which, 
 like all spruce trees uj) to that time, had been as bare of 
 twig or foliage as a hewn log, — saying that thcv were fit 
 only for the woods. The ribbons hung on tlu i.ees and 
 became branches, and, ever since, the spruce tree has ])een 
 as it is now. 
 
 If a thunder-shower is passing the Indian's thoughts 
 may turn to the thunder-bird, the belief in which appears 
 to be common to all the Indians of the northern pai-t of 
 the Province, especially to the coast tribes. The general 
 idea seems to be that there is a supernatural being resid- 
 ing among the mountains who sometimes sallies forth in 
 search of food, covering himself with wings and feathers 
 as one puts on a roat. His body is so large that it 
 darkens the heavens, and the rustling of his wings jn'O- 
 duces thunder. Sometimes he seizes small fish, as an eagle 
 would, by suddenly darting down to the sea, then ho 
 hides them under his feathers, and, in catching a whale, he 
 darts one of these ca2)tured fish down with great velocity, 
 and thus ]>r()duces the lightning. 
 
 If he hears the dismal cry of the loon, he has for that 
 
 ^■■■ 
 
 i ^ 
 
 "^ 
 
 i 
 
 f 
 
98 
 
 MOUNTAIX AXD VRMIili:. 
 
 11 
 
 iilso a legend. The .story is that two Indians wore out 
 fishing; tlie success of one j^i'ovoked the jealousy of the 
 other to such a degreg that the unsuccessful fisherman 
 stunned his companion, stole his fish, and then cut out 
 his tongue, that he might tell no tales. In answer to 
 any questions the mutilated man could only give a low 
 wail. The supernatural being who is concerned in 
 human aff'airs, known by some of the coast Indians as 
 Quawteaht, and by others as Taim-Shhi, changed the 
 injured man into a loon, his assailant being changed into 
 a crow ; and hence the dreary cry of the loon, as if it 
 were the wail of the tongueless.* 
 
 Perhaps some legends like these, wdiich are common 
 ani'jng the Indians, may flit through their minds as they 
 traverse the woods and the hill sides. It is questionable 
 whether, apart from their Christian teaching, they had 
 any higher conception of a Supreme Being than that 
 which these legends illustrate, although, as their burial 
 rites and customs prove, they have always had a strong 
 belief in a future life. They have also a strong belief in 
 ghosts, and especially in the deep interest taken by 
 departed friends, such as husband or wife, in the aff'airs 
 of those left behind. But it is really diificult to ascer- 
 tain, with any clearness or accuracy, the ideas of the 
 
 • For this legend I am indebted to Mr. G. M. Sproat'fi interesting 
 book, '' Scenes and Studies of Savage Life.' There seem to bo seve- 
 ral versions of the legend of the thunder-bird. 
 
FOnKS OFSKEENA TO LAKE BATtlNE. 
 
 99 
 
 ^■\ 
 
 Indians in rc<^ard to the .supernatural, partly because 
 their conceptions on these subjects arc at best vaguo 
 and shadowy, and partly because they are very reticent 
 in speaking about them to those outaido of their own 
 tribe. 
 
 Moving along the trail at much the same pace with 
 ourselves was another pack-train, consisting apjmrently 
 of two native families on their way to trade with some 
 of the Indians of the interior in dulse and other commo- 
 dities of the coast, which they might exchange either for 
 money or for furs. Money is much more current now 
 among the Indians here than it was some years ago, 
 numbers of them having earned considerable sums by 
 packing sui^plies lor the miners and othera to Omenica, 
 so that .low, whatever they are being paid for, whether 
 labour, furs or other marketable commodity, they gener- 
 ally like to receive their pay in coin. 
 
 Frequently we met parties of Indians on their return 
 trip, and observed that moat of the women had their 
 faces smeared with black grease, as a precaution against 
 mosquitoes and black-flies, perhaps alsc as a beautifying 
 cosmetic. Whatever its value for defensive jjurposes, it 
 was not a success aa an ornament j but the mosquitoes 
 and black-flies along aome parts of this trail were trouble- 
 some enough to justify almost any expedient that might 
 render them harmless. 
 Wo did not reach the summit between the Skoena and 
 
 ( t: 
 
 
 «t 
 
 
 'I 
 
 Ottavien9\9. 
 
 m , 
 
100 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 I r 
 
 ''i*< 
 
 
 Babine, until the afternoon of Thursday, the 20th. On 
 the way we observed a profusion of wild flowers, — lupin, 
 violet, forget-me-not, etc. — and on the opposite side of 
 the Ooatzanli we saw some small grassy meadows. The 
 highest point crossed by the trail is about 4,500 feet 
 above sea-level, or 3,850 feet above the Forks. But about 
 750 feet below this there is a small lake from which flow 
 the waters of the Ooatzanli westwards, and also those of 
 a small stream that flows eastwards into Lake Babine; 
 the level of this lake, which is about 3,100 feet above the 
 Forks, and about 1,550 feet above Lake Babine, is the 
 lowest altitude of the pass. 
 
 Each evening after camp had been pitched and the 
 vigorous appetite of the whole party had been appeased, 
 the scene was usually one of life and animation for a 
 little while; and it was esj^ccially so on the evening on 
 which we reached the summit, as our up-hill tramp of 
 forty miles from the Forks was over, and from that 
 point to Babine, a distance of about ten miles, was all 
 down grade ; so that on this evening in particular all 
 seemed in good humour. If any member of our party 
 happened to take an observation with a sextant, or if 
 some were comparing tneir aneroids, the men would 
 crowd around as if hung-cring and thirsting after know- 
 ledge ; and, although accustomed to conceal their feelings, 
 they could not help expressing their surprise when any 
 explanation was given of the use of the instruments. One 
 
FORKS OF SKEENA TO LAKE B A DINE. 
 
 101 
 
 of the men, Yesseii, who continued in our employ as far 
 as Dun vegan, succeeded bo "vvell in noting w'th accuracy 
 the readings of the aneroid, that he was frequently after- 
 wards spokeipof as " the astronomer." In addition to the 
 pursuit of knowledge, the men employed the leisure of 
 the evening in drying their clothes, which had been 
 drenched with perspiration, and cooling themselves off 
 after their day's work. The cooling process was con- 
 ducted in much the same way as it is with a race-horse 
 when bridle and saddle are taken oft, and a blanket is 
 thrown over him. Commonly the Indian has no change 
 of suit, but he has a blanket, and that serves the same 
 purpose. At these evening halts there was usually some 
 repairing to be done ; moccasins required mending ; 
 rents had been made in nether garments ; some of the 
 packs had caused blisters, so that even backs required 
 repairs; while, if there was nothing else to attract atten- 
 tion, all could find an unfailing source of interest, if not 
 of information, in watching the cook baking bread for 
 the next day's use. Gradually, however, these details 
 are completed ; the long northern twilight and a com- 
 fortable camp fire tempt one to linger yet awhile under 
 the clear sky, but the blankets spread on the spruce 
 boughs have strong attractions after a day in the open 
 air. The Christian Indians have had prayers, conducted 
 by one of themselves in their o^\'n language, for they 
 have no knowledge of ours. We too have joined in a 
 
 m 
 
 if Sfi ' 
 
 m 
 
 I It 
 
 •? 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 i l! I 
 
 '1 1' 
 
102 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PIlAIIilE. 
 
 \li 
 
 ' i ' 
 
 if, 
 
 
 ilr 
 
 (1 
 
 all are Bleeping as soundly aa 
 
 similar service ; and soon all are 
 if death reigned in the camp. 
 
 Having spent a night at the summit wo left next 
 morning with the prospect of an easy forenoon's work ; 
 and after the dogs had ended their morning fight, — in 
 which they usually indulged in the interval between the 
 removal of their muzzles and the adjustment of their 
 packs, — our train started down-hill to Lake Eabine. Our 
 cook, Charley, whom we had hired at the Forks, a jovial 
 fat fellow, was the last of the train to leave. The morn- 
 ing start had each day been for him a busy time, as he 
 felt himself possessed of a petty brief authority, which 
 he was careful to exercise to the utmost, and he fairly 
 bristled with business until all were on the move. The 
 personal habits of an Indian cook are not su^h as to pre- 
 possess one in favour of his cooking, but fresh air and 
 hunger destroy many scruples, and we were in hopes 
 that Charley might have a bath at Lake Babine, even 
 thoiigh it could have no retroactive influence. 
 
 "We were struck with the absence of life on the hills 
 that we had been traversing; with the exception of 
 insect life, which was painfully abundant, a few small 
 birds "nd an occasional partridge were the-only creat- 
 ures that disturbed the otherwise unbroken silence, 
 though later on in the season bears or cariboo might be 
 found here. It may be, however, that game is more fre- 
 quently found in this vicinity than our own experience 
 
 

 FORKS OFSKEENA TO LAKE BABINE 
 
 103 
 
 ■would lead us to suppose; and it is manifest from the 
 frequent remains of old camp fires that the trail is often 
 travelled. 
 
 Soon after leaving the summit we caught, througli 
 the burnt timber, glimpses of Lake Babine stretching 
 away below us, for the one redeeming feature of ram- 
 pikes is that you can see further through them than 
 through leafy woods. Near the end of the hill wo crossed 
 a stream which flows into Lake Babine from the little 
 lake that at its western extremity supplies the Ooatzanli, 
 and on the bank of this stream we found some coal. 
 From this stream to the edge of the lake there is a 
 meadow more than half a mile in length, slightly wooded 
 with groves of poplar and spruce, and rich with wild 
 hay, vetches, etc. If the climate permitted, a good farm 
 or at least good grazing-land might be made of this 
 meadow, but as we had frost two nights between the 
 Skeena and Lake Babine, it would seem that the climate 
 is too severe for farming, while the long winter, during 
 which cattle would require to be housed and fed, would 
 render stock-raising unprofitable. 
 
 Nearing the lake, on the afternoon of the 27th, we 
 heard from the little Indian village at the head of it the 
 barking of dogs, a sound frequent in every Indian village, 
 but notoriously frequent here. Babine has quite a repu- 
 tation in this respect. We know the locality by sound^ 
 before we could detect it by sight. Ask any Skeena In- 
 
 I 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 I I 
 
 •Mill 
 

 104 
 
 MOVNTAm AND riiAIIilE. 
 
 diau for information about Babine, and the first item he 
 will mention, the one of which he feels absolutely certain, 
 is — "Many dogs there!" 
 
 We had no desire to visit the village, which is situated 
 near the lower end of the lake on its eastern bank, and 
 preferred camping on the western side, si*^ the village and 
 its inhabitants are such as to remind one of the answer 
 given by a British resident in India, when asked for 
 information regarding the manners and customs of the 
 people around him: — ''Manners none, customs nasty." 
 Before our tents were pitched, howevei, we had a host of 
 visitors from the village, and among others the chief, 
 whom we unfortunately failed to recognize. The curiosity 
 of each of them seemed limitless. They would stand or 
 sit at the door of each tent in turns, scrutinizing the 
 proprietor and his baggage, and watching all his move- 
 ments. Even a heavy thunder-shower that swept over us 
 failed to damp the ardour of their investigations. 
 
 Having paid off the men that came with us from the 
 Skeena with the exception of l'^'^, Yessen and Jim, who 
 had proved themselves specially useful, we proceeded to 
 engage others to accompany us up the lake, and across 
 from Babine to Stewart Lake. Babine Lake discharges 
 its watertj into the Skeena by Babine River, which is 
 seventy miles in length, flowing for the most part between 
 precipitous banks, with an elevated plateau along the 
 southern side, and joining the Skeena near Fort Stager. 
 
 
 i 
 
FURKS OFt<KFF\A TO LAKE DA DINE. 
 
 105 
 
 Tho lower end of the Lake and Bubine Eiver abound in 
 salmon : indeed tho fisficiy hero is known as one of tho 
 best in tho northern part of the Province. 
 
 Tho work of engaging crows to take us to tho upper 
 end of tho lake, and to pack for us across the eight 
 milo portage that connects Lake Babinc with Lako 
 Stewart, was not as easy as we had at first expected. 
 Tho chief, whose dignity may have been offended by our 
 failure to recognize him, but whose appearance was a 
 valid excuse for our oversight, had returned to tho village, 
 while we deferentially smiled at and nodded to one of 
 his men, who wore a coat of many buttons. "VVe soon 
 discovered that we had been bowing to the wrong man, 
 for, when we tried to make terms for two crews and their 
 canoes, we found that tho chief had issued an edict that 
 none were to go with us e?;cept at an exorbitant figure 
 on which he had decided. To accede to his terms would 
 not only be a serious matter for ourselves, but it would 
 also be a serious matter for a surveying party that was 
 expected soon to visit this lake, as well as for any subse- 
 quent visitors, for the prices we paid would regulate the 
 price for the rest of the season. Eather therefore than 
 agree to their demand we would make canoes, paddle 
 down the lake twenty-five miles to the II. B. Company's 
 post at Fort Babine, and try to secure men there. How- 
 ever, before deciding on our further course, wo determi nod 
 to interview the chief. A deputation wont over to the 
 
 tit 
 
 
 'I 
 
106 
 
 MOUXTAIX AND mATRIE. 
 
 i lit i; 
 
 I 
 
 • « Si 
 
 ^ 
 
 t 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 i; • 
 
 I 
 
 V i 
 
 village, and ventured through the accumulation of nick- 
 ening odours to his house, where he received them with 
 the dignity of one who feels that his rights have been 
 overlooked and that now his turn has come ; but by a 
 little gentleness and flattery, applied through the aid of 
 a friendly interpreter, and by the offer of a special rate 
 for the use of his own canoe, the chief was soon brought 
 to terms, an! icable relations were resumed, and the utmost 
 cordiality marked the rest of our intercourse with him. 
 Later on in the evening he paid us a second visit, told 
 us that he had been sick, and, with child-like confidence, 
 put himself into our hands for treatment. A consulta- 
 tion was held, medical stores were examined, and a lib- 
 eral allowance of pills, accompanied with some tobacco, 
 was dealt out to him, it is to be hoj^ed with good effect. 
 The Indians very frequently ask travellers for medicine, 
 and seem grateful for the smallest favours in this line, so 
 far as any of them will allow themselves to show their 
 gratitude. 
 
 When mention is made of the chief of an Indian tribe it 
 must not be -lupposed that the chiof is by any means the 
 influential j)erson that the ordinary imagination pictures, 
 lie has not the absolute authority with which ho is credit- 
 ed. Indeed ho lias very little Jiuthority; his proposals are 
 loyally followed by tho men when approved by them, as 
 was the case when tho Babinc villagers were told to insist 
 U])(>n our paying them an exorbitant rate, but they ai'O 
 
 iiti 
 
 I.f5 
 
 i J 
 
. \ 
 
 FORKS OFfiKKESA TO LAKF. 7!AitTSR 
 
 107 
 
 aro 
 
 rigidly ignored wlicii not in harmony with thoir own 
 wishes. Sometimes to Englissh, and even to Canadian 
 cars, it sounds well when a settler reports his marriage 
 to the daughter of an Indian chief. A young English- 
 man, well-connected at home, who has been for some 
 years a resident in the wilds of British Columhia, wrote 
 to his friends that he had foi'med such an alliance. His 
 mother, thinking that his marriage was somewhat simi- 
 lar to that of Smith with the daughter of Pocahontas, 
 and regarding her daughter-in-law as a native princess, 
 sent out to her a beautiful satin dress as a wedding 
 present. The poor squaw could hardly understand its use, 
 and had no conception of its value. A pair of blankets 
 would really have boon a more appropriate gift. 
 
 The Indians of Eabine, though nominally Christian, 
 have the poorest reputation for honesty of any ol' the 
 British Columbian tribes. It is a cardinal article of an 
 Indian's creed and practice not to tamper with anything 
 entrusted to his care. Such a charge he considers sacred; 
 but, in regard to this doctrine, the chief of the Babines 
 and some of his men have, on more than one occasion, 
 been guilty of heresy, having taken serious li-berties with 
 provisions of which they had somewhat imprudently 
 been appointed guardians ; and, in their general dealingn 
 with us, they wore more ready to prove exorbitant, way- 
 ward, and unreliable than any others whopi we employed. 
 The II. B. C(»mpany's agent at Fort Babinc says of them, 
 
 m 
 
 11 
 

 '1 
 
 108 
 
 MOL'NTAIS AND PRAIDIE. 
 
 that " they won't take what they can't reach, but that 
 they can reach very far;" while they seem idle enough 
 to realize the miner's description of an indolent acquaint- 
 ance, who "had been orn tired, and was unable to do 
 any work between meals." 
 
 Some years ago, before the present Eoman Catholic 
 Mission was established here, after the brief visit of a 
 Cliristian Brother to the village, one of the Babino 
 Indians constituted himself priest for the tribe, manu- 
 factured his own vestments, baptised the people, pretend- 
 ed to receive revelations from heaven, and acquired for a 
 time great influence over the others. lie used to feign 
 that ho was dead, and that he came to life again, saying 
 that during the interval he liad passed into the spirit 
 world. After one such experience, ho said he had been 
 at the gate of heaven, and being asked why he did not 
 go in, he rc2)lied, that St. Peter, of whom he had heard 
 the Christian Brother speak, was away at the salmon- 
 fishing, and that the gate watj shut. At another time ho 
 declared that he had been dead, and had passed right 
 into heaven, but had come back to teacli tno tribe. They 
 asked him what heaven was like : *< Oh very like one of 
 the Company's Forts," he said, " and the men were launch- 
 ing tho boats to go and set their nets." 
 
 Even after the old chief had relaxed his terms, we 
 found some difficulty in getting trustworthy crews. One 
 man, Jacimo, who had been previously out with a party 
 
FORES OFSEEEKA TO LAEE liABJSE. 
 
 109 
 
 of surveyors, was anxious to go with us in any capacity. 
 He told us he had been through the Peace and Pine 
 River country, and as we were going in that direction, 
 we agreed to take liim. lie then thought himself indis- 
 pensable, and so at once demanded that his pay should 
 be increased, and his work diminished. " Well, what 
 can you do? Cook?" "No." " Cut trail?" '' No;" he 
 " was not good with an axe." '' Pack ?" " No;" he had 
 " hurt his back some time ago and it was not quite well.^' 
 " Paddle ?" " No ;" his back was too " stiff for paddling." 
 Apparently Jacimo wished to go as "guide, philosopher 
 and friend," but as we did not require him in that 
 capacity, we allowed him to remain. Then he would 
 have come gladly at any wages, but of course had we 
 taken him he would have been ready to desert us, or 
 to demand exorbitant wagcB, on the first emergency. 
 
 Even after our crews had been secured wo were delayed 
 for a day by strong wind, which made the lake so rough 
 aa to be unsafe for the cotton-wood canoes. These canoes, 
 or dug-outs, are much narrower than the cedar canoes of 
 the coast, or the birch-bark canoes of tlie cast. They 
 look like elongated horse-troughs pointed at each end ; 
 yet they are very much safer and swifter than their ap- 
 pearance would lead one to suppose. They are made m 
 the same manner as the cedar canoes which we had used 
 coming up the Skeena, but witli much less taste, and on 
 account of the small mzc of the cotton-wood as compared 
 
 
 
 
 I \ 
 
 |ti 
 
 i 
 
 ' * '< 
 
110 
 
 MOUXTAIX A\D PltAllilE. 
 
 i 
 
 with the cedar, they are very much smaller than the 
 coant canoes. 
 
 A day'w detention in the midst of Babine Indians is not 
 pleasant, but in travelling through a country where facili- 
 ties of conveyance are still of the most primitive charac- 
 ter, one is exposed to delays and disappointments. We 
 had to accejDt this detention with all available grace as 
 one of the enforced pauHCs of life, and utilized our delay 
 to examine some parts of thO neighbourhood. Near the 
 village st: s t^ trail to Lake Tatla, which leads over 
 low rolling lills eastward, by the Frying Pan, or Firepan 
 Pass, through snow-clad ranges, towards Omenlca, 150 
 miles from Babine. Following tnis trail for a, short dis- 
 1 ance as it gently ascends a low ridge that skirts the Lake, 
 we had an extensive view of the country east and west,-^ 
 of the Cascade Range through which we had come, and of 
 lofty 8now-caj)poil peaks and ranges that lie between thla 
 and the Omenica district. But although, both cast and 
 west, there are high mountains in the distance, the nearer 
 country is gently rolling, and seems as if it might be 
 easily traversed in almost any direction. 
 
 This district, like many other parts of British Columbia, 
 was almost unknown, except to Indians and H. B. Com- 
 pany's ofTicials, until it was explored by minors in search 
 of gold. Gold was discovered in Omenica in 1872, and 
 for a tmie the new mines attracted a good deal of attention. 
 A gold commissioner was stationed there by the British 
 
 ii^' J 
 
m 
 
 FORKS OF SKEEXA TO LAKE DABINE 
 
 m 
 
 the 
 
 be 
 
 inh 
 
 Columbia Government ; men crowded in under the ex- 
 citement that Ih always aroused by the discovery of new 
 diggings ; supplies were required ; Indians were em- 
 ployed as porters, and times were brisk about Babine. 
 But the glory has to a great extent departed ; the mines 
 have not realized the expectations formed of them ; only 
 a few of the eager crowd are left there now ; capitalists 
 have not thought it worth while to begin quartz-crushing, 
 and the whole district seems to be falling back into the 
 silence and stillness of former years. 
 
 Although, however, gold-mining has slackened, it seems 
 probable that something ma}: yet be realized out of the 
 argentiferous galena which is known to exist in this 
 district As yet the region has not been examined by 
 any of the Geologicr Survey staff, but valuable speci- 
 mens of this galena have been found, and although, under 
 the present difficulties of access to Omenica, the produc- 
 tion of silver and lead would not be remunerative, yet, if 
 the facilities lor communication were Increased there 
 might perhaps be a profitable industry established hero. 
 Occasional indications, too, of Coal, or at least of lignite, 
 have been discovered in this northern part of the Pro- 
 vince in rock formations which are said to be somewhat 
 similar to those in which the coal-fields of Vancouver 
 Island are found. 
 
 This can never be a good farming country, for, although 
 potatoes and barley may be cultivated in some mea- 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 ! 
 
 > 1 
 
if 
 
 I i 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 \i> ' 
 
 112 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIUIE. 
 
 su:c around Babinc, raid although there are small pas- 
 tu; c lands near the borders of the lake, yet the climate is 
 too severe, and the summer too short for farming. It is true 
 that at this elevation, in some portions of the interior 
 plateau of the southern part of the Province between the 
 Eocky Mountains and the Cascade Eange, arable farming 
 and stock-raising arc successfully carried on^ but, on ac- 
 count of the difference of latitude, and the small proportion 
 of land fit either for the plough or for pasture, farming 
 cannot be as successfully carried on in these northern 
 districts. Indeed, unless some valuable mineral resources 
 be developed here, in sufficient quantity to be remunera- 
 tive notwithstanding the difficulty of access and cost of 
 labour, this portion of the Province must continue for 
 some time to como, as in the past, valuable chiefly for its 
 fur- bearing a;nmals. 
 
 \ 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 BABINE TO FORT MCLEOD. 
 
 r. 
 
 TJp Lake Babine, — Fort Babine. — Indian Farming. — iian Rostrves 
 in British Columbia. — Reluctance to mention names. — Lake 
 Stewart. — R. C. Missions. — Fort St. James. — Home-sick Indian. 
 — Mule train. — Following Trail. — Fort McLeod. — Attractions 
 of the H. B. C. Service. 
 
 We left the lower end of Lake Babine on the cvcninfir 
 of the 30th, a number of villagers having gathered to see 
 us off, perhaps attracted to our camp by the prospect of 
 a possible breakfast. Our crews were much inferior to 
 the Motlahkatlah men, and were ready to slacken tlieir 
 feeble efforts on the least provocation. If we spoke to one 
 of them he immediately ceased paddling, as if to do 
 justice to the subject of enquiry, and the others stopped 
 out of sympathy. Sometimes tliey used English expres- 
 sions which they had picked up at random from the 
 miners, by whom they had been employed, and euch 
 phrases as " Go ahead," " All right," '' You bet your life," 
 etc., were made to do duty on many occasions without 
 the least regard for tlie fitness of tilings. 
 
 The lake from the village to Fort Babine, some twonty- 
 
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 i i 
 
 >!■{ 
 
 ;« u 
 
'i f 
 
 It I 
 
 ' ! ■ , . 1 'i 
 
 
 I ', 
 
 
 
 114 
 
 1H0U^'TAT^^ AXD PRAIRIE. 
 
 i' 
 
 five miles, has an average width ol about a mile. The 
 banks rise very gently, with a good deal of low-lying 
 land fringing the lake. There is no timber along its 
 sides except small poplar and spruce, and the lightly 
 wooded slopes, backed by undulating hills, give place 
 occasionally to tracts of excellent jjasturo. AVerc it not 
 for the lofty summits that here and there stretch up in 
 the back ground, one would have little idea that he was 
 m a country that has, for the most part, been fitly 
 described as a " sea of mountains." 
 
 Our bowman, in one of those periods of loquacity with 
 which he relieved the monotony of paddling, informed 
 us that there was a " large town " at the Fort. We found 
 it to be an ordinary Indian village, built like the one at 
 Babine, a few yards from the lake shore, while between 
 the dwellings and the water's edge stand a row of fish 
 caches, or small huts supported by poles, six feet in 
 height, in which the year's supply of dried salmon ia 
 stored. This, v, ith jjotatoes that can easily be raised 
 around the village, forms the staple article of food. 
 Should the nalmon fail great destitution and distress are 
 the result. Instances have been known in which 
 through this cause many Indian families were forced to 
 subsist for weeks upon bark and berries, when even the 
 dogs lived by browsing. Only such dogs as were abso- 
 lutely necessary had been spared, for some must bo 
 kept as hauling dogs for the vinterj all others had 
 
B A DINE TO FORT McLEOD. 
 
 115 
 
 ■ with 
 )rmed 
 found 
 3110 at 
 Itween 
 fibh 
 et in 
 ion is 
 aiBed 
 food. 
 s are 
 rvhich 
 ed to 
 the 
 abso- 
 6t be 
 had 
 
 II 
 
 
 been eaten. When provision is plentiful dogs are some- 
 times fattened lor food, and when the stores are reduced 
 the dogs grow thin, and then at the touch of the knife 
 they fill the platters that they once had licked. One 
 Indian, who, with his dog, had been reduced to extreme 
 hunger, cut off the dog's tail, cooked it, dined off it, and 
 then gave the bone to its original owner. 
 
 As we landed near the Fort, or rather immediately after 
 we were first sighted, and as we approached the land, the 
 host of unemployed men and boys about the village 
 rushed down to sec and to scrutinize. Their curiosity 
 on such occasions is intense. You may fix on theni a 
 reproving stare as steady as the head-light of a locomotive, 
 but they will meet you with a gaze as calm and unflincii- 
 ing as your own. You long in vain for privacy however, 
 as no unkindness is intended it would be foolish to take 
 offence. 
 
 Following a trail that leaves the lake-side near the Fort, 
 Messrs. Cambie and Macleod examined the country for 
 some distance east of Babine to ascertain its fitness for 
 railway construction. Were it necessary to locate a line 
 across this northern part of the Province more than one 
 favourable route might be found connecting Port Simpson 
 with the Pine River Pass. Probably the bc.it of them 
 would be that by the valleys of the Skeena and the 
 Watsoii([uah and Lakes Fra.^er, Stewart and McLeod. 
 Any northern route, howovor, whether by way of Pine 
 
 \\ 
 
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 1 1 
 
IIG 
 
 :\IOrNTAIN AND rUATUTE. 
 
 II 1^ ■ V\ 
 
 I i^^ l^i 
 
 III I 
 
 m 
 
 River or of Peace J\iver, muHt touch the sea at Port 
 Simpson, and there arc conchisivc reasons against making 
 tliat the Pacific terminus of our transcontinental road. 
 
 Soon after leaving the bay on which Fort Babino is 
 situated, we had an almost unbroken view to the head 
 of the lake, or rather, to an horizon where no land was 
 visible, while on either side the low purple hills slope 
 gently down, ridge after ridge, to the water's edge. The 
 banks in some places are more precipitous than those 
 Tiear the lower end of the lake, but, for the most part, 
 the scenery is similar in character, though with more 
 numerous islands fringing the shores. About twenty 
 miles from its upper extremity the lake bends suddenly 
 eastward, and here the banks on the north shore become 
 precipitous and rocky, while granite and marble bluffs 
 and basaltic columns are visible at some points, the hills 
 on cither side bcng higher than those near Babiue 
 village. There is no good timber near the lake shore, 
 but some timber of fair size is found between the lake 
 and the Watsonquah Valley. 
 
 'tVe did not reach the head of the lake, which is about 
 a hundred miles in length, until the forenoon of Thurs- 
 day, 3rd July, and owing to a thunder-storm and to the 
 great unwillingness and delay of our canoemen in port- 
 aging our tents, baggage, etc., we did not reach Lake 
 Stewart till the next day, although the j^ortage is only 
 about eight miles in length. A waggon-road, fit for 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 8 
 
about 
 rimrs- 
 :o the 
 port- 
 Luke 
 only 
 It for 
 
 TiAIilSK TO FORT McLKOD. 
 
 117 
 
 ox-carts, connecta tlic two lakes, and the country on 
 either side affords good pasture. We were surprised to 
 find, at the head of Stewart Lalce, a well-stocked farm, 
 owned and worked by the Indian "tyliec," or chief, who 
 raises excellent cattle, as well as good crops of hay and 
 vegetables, lives in a cottage, and wears an air of 
 respectability. 
 
 There arc frequent stretches of undulating country 
 and of plateau fringing the numerous lakes, from wdiich 
 arable farms might on a small scale be formed, and which 
 already afford abundance of rich pasture. In the valley 
 of the Nechaco and along the borders of Fraser and 
 Francois Lakes, a little south of Lake Stewart, there arc 
 considerable areas well fitted for stock-raising, and some 
 that would be suited for the growth of hardy cereals and 
 roots. With few exceptions, however, an elevation of 
 2,000 feet above the sea-level may be regarded as the 
 maximumaltitudeof cultivable land in British Columbia, 
 whereas Babine and Stewart Lakes are 2,200 feet above 
 the sea. The backward seasons incidental to such an 
 elevation in this latitude, the long winter during which 
 cattle require to be housed and fed, and the summer 
 frosts which prevent the cultivation of wheat, although 
 admitting the successful growth of barley and roots, 
 render these northern districts much less inviting than 
 some of the southern parts of the Province. At the 
 same time, if the Indian:! here were as good farmers as 
 
 n 
 
 \ m 
 
 '1 
 
 a 
 
 ^ . ■ 
 
 \ 
 
 . I 
 
» !■ 
 
 ■ii: t I 
 
 
 HI 
 
 ^|i 
 
 118 
 
 MO UXTA rV A Xn PR A TRIE. 
 
 the Lilloocts in the valley of the Fraser, or if the coun- 
 try were more eawily accessible and facilities of inter- 
 course more abundant, so that a market might be 
 su2iplied for farm produce, this northern plateau, if it 
 may be so called, between the Cascade Eange and the 
 Rocky Mountains could sustain a considerable popula- 
 tion. 
 
 The limited extent of farm-lands throughout British 
 Columbia has led to a difterent policy, in the allotment 
 of Indian reserves, from that which has prevailed in 
 the other Provinces, In the North-West Territories, 
 for instance, where, of late years, treaties have been 
 made with largo tribes of natives^ the Governmem: recog- 
 nized from the jQrst the Indian title to the whole territory, 
 and did not oftei a single acre for settlement until that 
 title had been extinguished by treaty. In British Col- 
 umbia, however the Indian title to the soil has never 
 been so fully recognized. In all negotiations with the 
 Indians the Government allowed them whatever reserves 
 they asked for, but proceeded on the principle that the 
 Indians had no right to any land beyond what wa8 
 necessary for their maintenance, a j)rinciple in which the 
 natives themselves seem always to have acquiesced. 
 
 These reseri'es were by no means as large as those 
 allowed in the other Provinces, nor was it practicable that 
 they should be j for had they been extended to eighty 
 acres j)er family, as the Dominion Government desired 
 
 1 
 
 Mill 
 
1 
 
 1 
 
 ighty 
 
 rArjyr m ronr McLeod. 
 
 nw 
 
 that they Hhoiild, the result would Imve l»ccn, in inanj'' 
 cases, the sacrifice of large tracts of land to Indians 
 who would not utilize thr:n and the exclusion of many 
 white settlers. Besides, the reserves could not e(iuita!)ly 
 bo of uniform size, for some parts of the Province being 
 well suited for farminir admitted of hinder reserves of 
 arable and of grazing lands than others ; while, at the 
 same time thone tnbes that lived chieflv by fishin<r did 
 not require large reserves of land, and could be more 
 ajipropriately assisted or compensated by the whites in 
 other waj's, such as by instruction in ti-ades or by the 
 supply of increased facilities f )r traffic. 
 
 Through their intercourse with the whites, especially 
 in the southern parts of thePi'QYinc^, the Indians have 
 already very materially advanced. "When labour was 
 scarce, in the early days of gold-mining, many of them 
 were employed by the miners, and many also l)y farmers 
 and others who soon followed on thotra'ck of the miners. 
 They enjoyed almost equal rights with the white settlers ; 
 they were, for the most part, industi'ious and trust- 
 worthy; and so they became );oatmon, porters, herders, 
 and in a number of cases independent fnrniovs and stock- 
 raisers. "Whether from superior natural ability, or from 
 their intimate contact and partial com])etition with the 
 whites, or from the Government policy that regarded 
 them not as minors in a state of tutelage but as respon- 
 sible citizens, it is manifest that the Indians of British 
 
 f 
 
 In 
 
 ! \ 
 
 ■ I 
 
 
m 
 
 120 
 
 MOU^fTArX AXD PRATRIH. 
 
 ,1 
 
 If 
 
 f i 
 
 u 
 
 H>)i 
 
 Columbia are as a rule in a bottci-, more self-reliant, and 
 more hopeful condition than those of the other Provinces, 
 and more clearly destined to blend with the whites in ther~ 
 ordinary avocations of civilized commujiitics. Some of 
 them have Ijeen a little irritated on learning, thi'ough the 
 representations of designing men, that the Indians of the 
 other Provinces had been moi-e liberally dealt with than 
 they had themselves been, but there is reasonable ground 
 for expecting that the Indian Commissioner of the Pro- 
 vince with his ofiicial assistants will allot the rcserve;i 
 on an e(j[uitablo and satisfactory basis, so that although 
 the policy pursued in the other Provinces has not been, 
 and cannot now be, adopted in Bi'itish Columbia, yet the 
 true object of the (lovernment in dealing with the 
 Indians, — their material, intellectual and moral eleva- 
 tion, — will proiKibly be as fully realized here as in any 
 other part of the Dominion. 
 
 At the head of Stewart Lake we paid off the crews 
 who had come with us from Rabine, with the exception 
 of two, Jim and Yessen, who had acconipanied us from 
 the Forks and had been faithful amouir the faithless. 
 When the others, who wore anxious to be re-engaged, 
 found their olfers of service refused, they tried hard to 
 dissuade these t\\^o from coming with us, as much from 
 jealousy towards them as from the desire to inconvenience 
 us. Thoy have little union among therasolvos, and will 
 seldom make com men cause witli each other. Perhaps 
 
lova- 
 Jiny 
 
 ■cws 
 
 )ti()ii 
 
 Vom 
 
 1I0S8. 
 
 .god, 
 
 •d to 
 
 from 
 
 ionoo 
 
 NVill 
 
 •Imps 
 
 BADIXE TO FORT McLEOD. 
 
 121 
 
 it is this lack of unity, combine 1 with a dread of the 
 indefinite power of the whites, tliat has prevented them 
 from giv'ing much trouble to travellers or settlers, "We, 
 at least, had no more difficulty with them than we might 
 have expected with white labourers if similarly situated, 
 though we found them inclined to be more indolent if 
 treated with special kindness and leniency. 
 
 When jDaying off the men we had occasion to notice 
 what we had observed on previous occasions, a great 
 reluctance on their part to tell their names, a reluctance 
 amounting almost to a superstitious dread. When asked 
 their names they usually request some companion to 
 reply for them; and even in referring to each other, they 
 will often use a roundabout description rather than the 
 appropriate^ name. A woman in speaking of her husband 
 will sometimes point to her son and refer to her husband 
 as " that boy's father," rather than mention his name. 
 One ot our men, Jim, was so called by us because wo 
 could not ascertain his correct name, and we re(iuiied 
 some way by which to distinguish him from tlie others. 
 
 Is not this reluctance to utter names a common char- 
 acteristic of primitive people ? May it not be traced to 
 the idea that a man's namo isliould be something more 
 than a mere word-of-call by which to distinguisii him 
 from his fellows; that it should be, in some sense, ex- 
 pressive of his ciiaiacter or of hi-^ influence, and that, 
 thoretbro, to toll one's name would be to disclose the 
 
122 
 
 3I0UXTAIX IXD rnAIIilE. 
 
 i, I 
 
 il' ' 
 
 I I, 
 
 Becret of his power ? Among* the Scandinavians of old 
 it was commonly thought that to utter aloud the name 
 of a fighting warrior woula infallibly strip him of his 
 strength, and probably it is to this that wo m-ust attribute 
 the practice still prevalent in the British and Canadian 
 Parliaments of referring to members not by name but 
 hy their constituencies, while, if any member is guilty of 
 a breach of discipline, the Speaker of the House threatens 
 to " name " liim. At any rate, whatever be the origin of 
 this reluctance to disclose the name, or whatever be its 
 connection Avith the practice of peoj^le elsewhere, it seems 
 to prevail generally among the Indians. 
 
 Our ('aiu[) was pitched near the lake, by the bank of a 
 little stream called the Yekootchee, which rises near the 
 streams that flow through Lake Babino and the Skeena 
 to the sea, and flows through Lake Stewart and the Fraser 
 to the Pacific, nearly five hundred miles from the Skeena. 
 A little to the north of this i,here is a chain, or rather, a net- 
 work of lakes, some of which discharge their waters 
 through the Peace to the Arctic Sea, others through the 
 Skeena or the Fraser to the Pacific, while one small lake 
 near Fori Connolly draiuH both ways, at one end into a 
 tributary of the Slceena, at the other into a tributary of the 
 Peace. 
 
 We expected to meet, somewhere on Stewart Lake, 
 probably iii Fort St. James, Mr. G. Major, who had left 
 Victoria shortly before wo had, intending to come by the 
 
 h 
 
nAItlNE TO FORT McLEOD. 
 
 123 
 
 M 
 
 pako, 
 loft 
 tho 
 
 3 
 
 road along the I^raser Valley, with mulo-train and 
 supplies for our journey eastward from Fort St. James. 
 Great was our joy on the night after we reached Lake 
 Stewart to bo roused up by his arrival, and to find that he 
 had brought a large sail-boat from the Fort wliich would 
 save us tho necessity of paddling down tho lake. Next 
 morning the camp was early astir, and we were soon 
 under sail, gladly discarding the canoes that wo had con- 
 ditionally engaged, which were smaller aiid more cranky 
 even than those on Lake Babine. 
 
 On our way wo mot P^^ro Lejacqucs, tho missionary of 
 this district, whose charge embraces tiie whole territory 
 between tho Forks of Skeena and Fort ;^[cLeod, east 
 and west, and between Fort Connolly and Fort St. George, 
 north and south. After leaving the valley of tho Skeena 
 and of the Nassealltho Christian Indians of the interior 
 throughout this northern district are Roman Catholic. 
 The mission is under the direction of tho Oblato Fathers, 
 and tho missionaries, if all arc like the dcvc'jd Pt^ro 
 Lcjacquos, aro " in journeyings often and in labours 
 abundant." 
 
 Lake Stewart is forty miles in IcMigth, ranging from 
 one to six miles in width ; tho scenery is bolder than that 
 of Lake Babine. If tho latter might bo compared to 
 Loch Lomond, Lake Stewart might be not unfitly logard- 
 cd as tho Loch Katrine of British Columbia. 
 
 As our progress down tho Lake was interrupted for a 
 
 ii' 
 
 U 
 
 * 
 
 I ■ [ 
 
124 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND rilAJRIE. 
 
 I' "I 
 
 y\} ) 
 
 
 I' 
 
 I'! ' ' 
 
 If. 
 
 time by head wind, it took us the whole day to make 
 the distance, but we reached Fort St. James that evening, 
 5th July, the veiy day on which, when leaving Victoria, 
 we thought we might possibly arrive there if we were 
 favoured by the weather and by absence of unforeseen 
 accidents. The distance travelled had not been great, yet 
 as one is exposed to many delays and disappointments in 
 such a country, where the means of communication are 
 of a very primitive kind and where, as far as travel is 
 concerned, almost everything is uncertain except the 
 flight of time, we felt peculiarly thankful that this stage 
 of our journey had been brought so successfully and 
 pleasantly to a close. 
 
 The day alter our arrival was one of rest, a Sabbath 
 for whlcili all felt thankful. The men who had accom- 
 panied om'i^ack- train from Yale, us well as some 11. B. C. 
 officials, Avith ourselves, formed a goodly congregation 
 at our service, which In the morning was cond cted in 
 the open air, and in the evening, in a large room of the 
 Foi't. After evening service we enjoyed an hour or two 
 of sacred music, for hein), nearly iOO miles from the 
 nearest tovvn, wo found that M!r. Alexander, the factor, 
 had an excellent organ, which ho pLiyod with much taste 
 and ability. Years of lifo in these wflds had ftiiled to rob 
 him of his lovo of music, or of his artistic tmich of the 
 keys. The ovoning was very beautiful, passing as it 
 soomed that such a day should do, not 'nto darkness, but 
 
 
BABIXE TO FORT McLEOD. 
 
 125 
 
 into the calm radiance of a northern midsummer nijL,^ht. 
 
 Fort St. James, the centre of the II. B. Company's posts 
 of northern British Columbia is beautifully situated on a 
 broad flat about twenty feet above the beach, with a com- 
 manding outlook, and with views of scenery that remind 
 one greatly of the Scottish Highlands. There are no snow- 
 capped summits visible from thq Fort, but look in any 
 direction you may, there is a back-ground of hills which 
 in some jDarts border the lake, and jn others are separa- 
 ted from it by wooded plateaux or by gently undulating 
 slopes, while, under the prevailing westerly winds, the 
 waters of the lake break upon the beach with the musical 
 monotone of the sea. 
 
 Like many of the II. B. Company's posts, the Fort 
 consists of a few subtantial wooden buildings, surrouinlcd 
 by a stockade. The houses are ranged in shape nearly 
 resembling the letter II, with the factor's dwelling as the 
 cross-bar of the letter. It is one of the oldest trading posts 
 of the country, and is the centi'al depot for a Ini-go district 
 which includes Forts Babine, Comiolly, McLeod, George 
 and Fraser, a district formerly known as New Caledonia, 
 and no doubt so luimod by the Scottish officers of the old 
 North-West Company on account of its general resem- 
 blance to some parts of Scotland. About a mile above 
 the Fort there is an Indian village ])Ossessing a jii^etty 
 little church, and houses which have an air of neatness and 
 cleanliness not always found among the Indians, while 
 
 • t 
 
 3 
 
 
 1 
 
 
12G 
 
 MOrXTAlX AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 'm 
 
 iiC 
 
 between the Fort and the village there is an excellent 
 saw-mill, and immediately adjoining the Fort is a large 
 garden, in which onions, carrots, 'cttuce and other 
 vegetables are successfully grown. 
 
 From Foi't St. James the trail leads to Omcnica, and 
 during the first years of the mining excitement there, 
 many came up by the waggon route from Yale to 
 Quesnel, which is the great arterial highwaj' of British 
 Columbia, and by the trail from Quesnel, so that for 
 several seasons there was considerable traffic at this 
 place. jDuring the influx of the miners thero was a 
 tavern close to the Fort, but that establishment, which 
 is often regarded as a sort of avant courier of western 
 civilization, has been closed, probably from want of 
 pati'onage rather than from pressure of principle, as few 
 now go by this route to Omenica. 
 
 Monday was devoted to the examination of our stores 
 and to writing letters to friends in the east, which would 
 go by way of Victoria, this being the last chance we 
 would have of sending them an 3' word until reaching the 
 telegraph station at Edmonton, in the valley of the Sas- 
 katchewan. We were to travel with a mule-train as far 
 as Fort McLcod, about seventy miles from Fort St. James, 
 intending there to divide our ptirty, some to go with the 
 mule-train through Pine liiver Pass, others by boat down 
 the Parsnip and Peace Eiver, through the Kocky Mount- 
 ains to Dunvegan. 
 
BAnrSE TO FORT MLEOD. 
 
 12- 
 
 
 and 
 
 wc 
 
 the 
 
 Sas- 
 
 ,s far 
 
 .mos, 
 
 the 
 
 town 
 
 (Unt- 
 
 il! making prciiarations for such a journey, it was 
 necetifciary to select men suitable, not only for accompany- 
 ing the packers, ^v■llO had the management of the mule- 
 train, but some also that would be suited for the trip 
 down Peace Eiver. Our old friends, Jim and Yessen, 
 who had come all the way from the Skeeria, were rc-engjig- 
 cd, at their own request, to accompany us to Dunvegan. 
 At first they seemed happy at the pi-ospect of visiting 
 an unknown land, but after a little Jim's heart failed 
 him. He grew terribly home-sick. He had already 
 come to the most distant place that he knew, and when 
 the men spoke to him about the world beyond Fort St. 
 James, he lost Aaith in the possibility of his return if he 
 should venture further. Suddenly he remembered that 
 his wife and children had no food, that they could not 
 fish, that they would starve if he remained away. What 
 was the white man's gold when weighed in the balance 
 against the tender, <linging affection of s(|uaw and 
 papooses, and the unspeakable charms of home ? Yessen 
 might remain if he wouM, but not Jim. Stolidly he 
 stood the chaffing of all around, and very soon after we 
 left Stewart Lake he »vould be in the bosom «»f his 
 family, with strange tales to tell of all the wonders ho 
 had seen, and of the offers of gain that ho had resisted. 
 This may seem singular in 2^eople so little given to ex- 
 press their feelings, but it is cpiite a common thing for an 
 Indian to treat his cmployei' as Jim ti'cated us. 
 
 f!i 
 
 11111 
 
 -t 
 
 "(l 
 
IM 
 
 li'i' i 
 
 ii ^ 
 
 [I 
 
 128 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PR A HUE. 
 
 YesHCD, whom bj'' way of honourable distinction we 
 called the '' astronomer," clung to us and proved himself 
 diligent and trustworthy. He had probably never seen 
 a horse until this trip. Once when he was offered the 
 chance of relieving a licavj day's march by an hour in 
 the saddle, and was asked if he could ride, he answered 
 " Perhaps." He made the attempt, but having forgotten, 
 or rather having never learned, to tighten the girth, he 
 soon rolled off, and for some weeks ..^terwards preferred 
 going on foot. The other men wlioni we required, in 
 addition to our foreman McNeill, and those who had to 
 take charge of t4ie pack-train, wo had no difficulty in 
 pi'ocuring at Fort St. James. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 8th Jul}', we left Fort St. James for 
 Fort McLeod, seventy miles distant, whei'e our journey 
 down Peace River would begin. This portion of the 
 countr}^ with the exception of the gold-mining district 
 of Omenica, a little to the north, is probably in much the 
 same condition as it was when these fur-trading posts 
 were established. The trails may be a little better imd 
 more frequently traversed ; land has been cleared here 
 and there by forest fires; but the liabitations of white 
 men are still confined almost exclusively to the Hudson's 
 Bay Company's forts. The Indians shift their wigwams as 
 frequcntl}' as ever, not growing, it would seem, nor declin- 
 ing, in numbers ; the foliage comes and goes unobserved; 
 the silence of hili and forest is little more disturbed than 
 
liABISE TO FORT McLEOD. 
 
 129 
 
 if the voice of mau had never broken in upon their 
 primeval repose. Even yet the facilities of communica- 
 tion are few, though somewhat improved of recent years. 
 A gentleman still living in Yictoria, who was clerk at 
 one of these northern posts in the days of Napoleon, did 
 not hear of the battle of Waterloo until two j^ears after 
 it had been fought; but although the only white man in 
 the district, he took down his old flint-lock and fired a 
 feu-de-Jole. 
 
 The only route connecting Fort St. James and Fort 
 McLeod is a bridle-path which leads sometimes over low 
 hills, or by the margin of small lakes, sometimes 
 through thick woods, or over treacherous swamps, where 
 we were frequcn / delayed by the necessity of " brush- 
 ing" the trail, that is, of laying large branches cross-- 
 wise upon the path, to afford sure footing for the mules 
 that carried our supplies, and for the horses that carried 
 ourselves. 
 
 As there are many parts of British Columbia to which 
 goods can be transported only by means of mule-trains, 
 this mode of conveyance is very frequently adopted. 
 The best breeds of mules have been brought to the Pro- 
 vince from the Pacific States, and the Mexicans, who 
 first introduced them from Europe, are the most expe- 
 rienced mule-drivers and packers. To one who sees it 
 for the first time the packing of a mule-train is interest- 
 ing as well as novel. Very early in the morning, per- 
 
 10 
 
 [•■i| 
 
 Mi, 
 
 fi! 
 
 ,1 
 
 .'I'l 
 
^ 
 
 llff. 
 
 ^ 
 
 130 
 
 MOrSTAIN AND rEATTlTE. 
 
 li I 
 
 )l; 
 
 P 
 
 ^\ 
 
 IL 
 
 hups by throe o'clock, tlic mcii start out to fetch the 
 mules from the pasture where they liave been feeding 
 over night, and as they are very gregarious, following 
 the boll-mare as closely as a flock of sheep follow the 
 bell-wether, a protracted search for the mules is seldom 
 necessary whe a once the bell-marc has been found. Before 
 five o'clock all are collected, and the work of packing 
 begins. The apparaho, or pack-saddle, which is made of 
 strips of wood, leather and padding, as carefully as an 
 ordinary riding-saddle, is first secured by a broad^ firm 
 girth, which is bound or " sinched," as tightly as two men 
 can pull, c.'ich pressing his knee or foot against the 
 animal's side to gain increased leverage, a blinder having 
 been previously placed across the mule's eyes, to prevent 
 all rooven^ent on his part, as this temporary sightless- 
 ness secures perfect stillness. Then the packers pile up 
 the load, which has been already arranged in two large 
 bundles. These are placed one on each side of the 
 apjiaraho, and are bound on or sinched as securely a& 
 possible, the rope being fastened in a nianner peculiar to 
 this process. The blinder is then removed, and the 
 mule is turned free to reconcile itself to its burden of two 
 or three hundred pounds, and the j^i'ocess is repeated 
 until the whole train is prepared to start. While the 
 train is in motion some of the packers are continually 
 passing to and fro, to see that each mule's pack is quite 
 fioeurc. Should it begin to loose.), and be allowed to jolt 
 
 i, .' ii 
 
 u."- ■ 
 
li S4aroi^>j.*» V* 4^»***aHi 
 
 ■'? 
 
 liAIirXE TO FORT McLEOD. 
 
 131 
 
 and away, it would soon cause trouble, and when the 
 slightest indication of this is detected the pack ib ac onco 
 sinched up afresh. Heavily laden mules seldom go at 
 any other pace than a walk, and as they cannot bear the 
 burden of their packs very long, fifteen miles a day is 
 considered on the average good travelling for a mule- 
 train. 
 
 Being well mounted on horses we greatly enjoyed our 
 ride to FortMcLeod, even though our daily progress was 
 slow, and though the woods were sometimes so thick that 
 both hands were required for pressing aside the branches 
 that would otherwise strike against the face. The fresh 
 morning air, the peeps through the timber, the profusion of 
 wild flowers, the broad views, when, from some rising 
 ground which the fire had cleared we could see a w^ido 
 sweep of country, the glimpses of stream or lakelet, 
 j^artly flashing in the sun and partly shaded by the over- 
 hanging trees, an occasional snatch of song, trolled out 
 by some of the company, the jH'Ocession of riders moving 
 Indian file, now slowly and carefully over bog, or rock, 
 or wind-fall, now breaking into a canter where the trail 
 permits this freedom, now halting to examine some 
 curious rock formation, or peculiar plant, or some trace 
 of a far past glacial period, — these and similar elements 
 were sufticient to render our morning rides pleasant in 
 the extreme. For the sake of our mules we usually 
 camped soon after mid-day. 
 
 i> 
 
 i 
 
 
 ^*l 
 
 * « 
 
 * 
 
 5 
 
:■■ .1 
 
 ! ; 
 
 
 132 
 
 MOrXTATX A\n VnAJlilK. 
 
 The conntr}' presents few features of interest. It seems 
 here to be utterly unfit for agi'iculture, both from tho 
 character of the soil and from its altitude, which ranges 
 from 2,200 feet to 2,700 feet above sea level. The timber 
 where it has been spared by fire, is of a poor quality, and 
 there are few signs of mineral resources. There is still, 
 however, a considerable annual yield of furs, bear and 
 beaver being the most abundant. Indeed often along this 
 trail that we were traversing we saw traces of beaver 
 in tho stubs of trees, that had been cut b}'- their teeth 
 as well as they could have been cut by the axe, in the 
 regularly-built barriers or dams, and in their cunningly 
 contrived houses, which rise like small islands near the 
 shore of pond or lake, arched above with no visible outlet, 
 the entrance being from beneath. 
 
 Passing from Carp Lake to Long Lake, the two chief 
 sheets of water between Fort St. James and Port McLeod, 
 we crossed the " divide " that separates the waters flow- 
 ing into the Pacific from those that flow through tho 
 Peace Eiver into the Arctic Sea. From Long Lake an 
 excellent trout stream, known as Long Lake Eiver, flows 
 into McLeod Lake. Its descent is very rapid, and in 
 its course there is a water-fall of great beauty, estimated 
 at 130 feet in height. A little further on is Iroquois 
 Creek, near which there is abundance of pasture, and a 
 few miles further, in the course of which the trail passes 
 over a ridge about 150 feet above McLeod Lake, wo 
 
 m 
 
BABIXE TO FORT McLEOD. 
 
 133 
 
 reach Fort McLeod. Having rested near Iroquois Creek 
 on the 13th, wo did not reach Fort McLeod until Monday 
 the 14th, — seventy miles in seven days. 
 
 Fort McLeod is beautifully situated at the lower end 
 of McLeod Lake, whose waters arc emptied by the Pack 
 Eiver into the Peace. There is abundance of excellent 
 pasture on the plateau around it, and it boasts a small 
 garden that seems capable of raising anything that can 
 withstand occasional summer frosts. Indeed there is suflS- 
 cient good land in this immediate neighbourhood for a 
 large farm, if the climate were only suitable. 
 
 Some have supposed that wherever an abundance of 
 the service-berry is to be found it indicates a climate fit 
 for the growth of grain, but this seems to bo as great a 
 mistake as to imagine that the presence of the humming- 
 bird argues an equable and genial climate ; for the 
 humming-bird may be seen around the banks of Babino 
 Lake, and as far north as the Stickine, while the service- 
 berry grows in abundance near Fort McLeod ; yet iiubine, 
 Stickine, and McLeod arc all unfit localities for the 
 growth of grain. 
 
 The snow-fall here is heavier than at Fort St. James, 
 averaging about five feet, and gardening is about three 
 weeks later. The lake usually freezes about the middle 
 of November, and opens about the middle of May. All 
 the traffic betAvecn Peace Rivet' ajid Frtiser River passes 
 this way, as the route from the rai':>ni[) (as tlic southern 
 
 i 
 
 Mi 
 
 I) 
 
 ,! 'I 
 
 !1 
 
 
 f 
 
 1 I 
 
I I 
 
 134 
 
 MOVXTAIX AND rilAiniF. 
 
 branch of the Peace is called) by the Pack River, Lake 
 McLeod, Summit Lake, and the Giscombe Portage 
 to the Frascr, is much shorter than the route by the 
 head-waters of the Parsnip and the head- waters of the 
 Fraser. 
 
 Near the Fort there is a plain little church used by the 
 E. C. Mission, and a small grave-yard, kej^t with 
 great neatness. The graves are in almost every case 
 covered by small houses of squared timber, although the 
 bodies have been interred at the usual depth of six feet. 
 In the church we saw a large heavy whip, which is used 
 for punishing those whom the priest condemns, one 
 man being specially set apart to administer the lash. At 
 the time of our visit no Indians were to bo seen around 
 the Fo''t, but in the early i)art of June, and of October, 
 they swarm in for a few days to sell their furs, and to 
 procure another season's supjDlies, dividing their leisure 
 time between listening to the priest juid rattling their 
 gambling-sticks, for all Indians seem to be born gamblers. 
 They appear to be throughout this district quiet, trust- 
 worthy and industrious. The only act of violence 
 recorded against any of them in this neighbourhood was 
 the murder of a clerk of the Company many years ago, 
 under somewhat peculiar provocation. The clerk had 
 been irritated by the Indian, and said to liim by wa^ of 
 intimidation, ** Your wife and child will be doiul before 
 
 your 
 
 next visit to this Fort. 
 
 By 
 
 a strange coincidence 
 
 41 
 
IhililXE TO FORT MrLF.OD. 
 
 135 
 
 the poor man's wife and cliild died that winter in 
 the woods. He at once attributed their deatli to the 
 secret influence of the elerlv, whose random words 
 had been I'emembercd and regarded as a threat of coming 
 doom. Soon after, he appeared at the Fort, and deli- 
 berately shot tlie clerk, supposing him to be the mui-dcrer 
 of his family. In old days it was thought expedient to 
 keep not less than three white men at even llie smallest 
 trading post in New Caledonia, but of lateyeai's this has 
 been found unnecessary, partly because the Indiana are 
 HO quiet, and partly because one or two Indians^ or half- 
 breeds, are found to be (j^uite as serviceable as while men 
 for all oi-dinary purposes around the Fort. 
 
 The name "F(U-t" a})plied to these posts of the JI. B. 
 Company is frequently itnposing in moi'e ways than one. 
 Itnaturall3'suggestswalls,liastions,l()0]vholes, formidable 
 gateways, a f()i'tific(I residenci", palisades, etc; but fre- 
 quently, as in the case ol' Fort McLeod, tlie reality is very 
 different from the vision. A small singlo-storicd dwelling 
 made of hewn logs, little l)etter than the rude farni-house of 
 a Canadian backwoodsman, a trading-store as plaiti as tho 
 dwelling, a smoke-house for curing and storing lish and 
 meat, and a stable constitute the whole establishment. 
 
 This Fort is said to have had its days of greatness, when 
 it was surrounded by a palisade, and had other visible 
 signs of importance, but it is now one of tho smaUest 
 posts in British Columbia. The manager, a young English 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
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 w 
 
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 * 
 
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 ■ ! \ 
 
 
 
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 II.' 1 
 
 13G 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND rRAIUTE. 
 
 gentleman, who lias whiled away some of his lonely 
 hours by sketching for the Graphic, has named it 
 "Fort Misery," a name indicative of many a drearj^ aay. 
 Indeed it is difficult to discover what attractions many 
 of the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company find in their 
 secluded and lonely life. Familiar in many instances in 
 earlier days with comfortable and even luxurious homes, 
 and able to procure positions in civilised life where a 
 competence, if not a fortune, was assured, they have 
 chosen instead a life that in many cases cuts them off 
 for a large portion of the year from any intercourse with 
 the outer world or any companionship worthy of the 
 name, and from all or almost all that we are accustomed 
 to regard as the advantages of civilization. When sick- 
 ness comes they are dependent upon themselves, or on 
 their Indian neighbours. AVhen their children grow up 
 they must send them away to school, often at an expense 
 which their incomes cannol well afford. Their promo- 
 tion comes slowly at the best, for it is a service in which 
 men live long, and promotion may moan the charge of a 
 post further away from civilization, while the prospect 
 of becoming a chief-factor, or of being able to retire with a 
 competence, is distant and shadowy. Missionaries will 
 undergo all this, and more than this, but they are 
 animated by a clear and lofty 2)urpose, that nerves them 
 for exile and luu\b;hip if they can but fulfil their aim. 
 Gold-hunters will undergo much, but they too have a 
 
BAB INK TO FORT McLEOD. 
 
 137 
 
 definite object before them; but the spell of the 11. B. C. 
 service seems as vague, though it be as powerful, as that 
 which binds the sailor to his sea-faring life, which he may 
 often abuse, but which he cannot abandon. 
 
 Its agents may be attracted by the utter freedom which 
 it gives them from the conventionalities and artificial 
 restraints of society, by the authority which they enjoy 
 over Indians and half-breeds, or by the scope for adven- 
 ture and the opportunity for sport which most of them 
 delight in. Ask them what fascination they find in it, 
 and they can hardly tell you. Listen to them when 
 several of them are together " talking muskrat," (to use 
 their own term for discussing the Itusiness of the Com- 
 pany,) and they have scarcely a good word for tlie service ; 
 only when an outsider finds fault with it, will the}' speak 
 in its defence ; and yet let them leave it for a time and 
 they long to come back to it. One of them, a young 
 Irish gentleman who had spent years in the service on 
 the Upper Ottawa and had returned to Ireland, informed 
 some of his Canadian friends that ho "found Dublin 
 awfully dull after Temiscximingue." But withal, among 
 the officers of the Hudson's Ba}' Company 3'ou find many 
 men of education and rcfinemonl, competent to fill i)laces 
 of importance in society had they chosen the more settled 
 walks of lil'e. Of late their prospects have been consid- 
 erably reduced, as the fur-trado of the Company has, 
 «incc 1871, been entirely separated from its landed 
 
 
 life. 
 
 11 
 
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 ■VT'- 
 
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 138 
 
 MOUXTAIN AND PHATIiTE. 
 
 1 ! 
 
 estates, th ; profits of the hitter going entirely to the 
 Englisli shareholders, while all the officers, engaged in 
 trading, are paid exclusively from the proceeds of the 
 fur sales. Two-fifths of the profits of the fur-trade are 
 divided, according to rank, among the commissioned 
 officers, who are known as junior chief traders, chief 
 traders, factors and chief factors. As, however, the land 
 held by the company must be its great and increasing 
 source of wealth in the future, whereas the prospects of 
 the fur trade must naturally (b'niinish with the advance 
 of civilization and of settlement, the Service is even loss 
 attractive than it once was. 
 
 '1 
 
 I 
 
 1 't 
 
 I I; 
 
 it 
 
i 
 
 CILVPTER YI. 
 
 TIIRdUail THE MOl'NTAIN.S BY BOAT- 
 
 
 Explorers of Peace River. — Division of Party. — Leave Fort McLeod. 
 — The Parsnip. — Fur Traders anjl Gold Hunters. — Mining. — 
 The Nation Iliver. — Pete 'ivy and Nigger Dan. — Finlay River 
 and Rapids. — The Unchagah. — Peace River Pass. — Parle-pas 
 Rapid. — Moose Hunting. — Buffalo Tracks. — Terraces. — The 
 Canon Coal. — Navigable Extent of River. — Indian Hunters, — 
 Charlie's Yarns. 
 
 In 1*703 Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the intrepid explorer 
 who was the first to cross this northern part of the con- 
 tinent, liaving made a previous journey from Montreal to 
 the mouth of the great river since known by his name, 
 that flows into the Arctic Sea, passed through the liocky 
 Mountains by way of Peace River to the Pacific. Ho 
 touched the western ocean at Dean Inlet, where he left 
 ujion the rock the inscription, *' Alexander Mackenzie, 
 from Canada, by land, 22nd July, 1793.' There by a 
 Htrange coincidence he almost met another daring trav- 
 eller, Capt. Vancouver, who was then cruising along the 
 coast, and who had jiasscd Dean Inlet but a short time 
 before his arrival. After spending a night within sound 
 of the sea, ho retraced his course by the Valley of tho 
 
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 ilil 
 
 140 
 
 ^TOU}fTAL' ASD P'iAIRIE. 
 
 
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 III 
 
 1 1 
 
 h 
 
 x'eace. His purpose was partly to explore the country 
 and x)artly to extend the fur trade of the North "West 
 Company, with which he was connected and which was 
 8ubsec[uently amalgamated with the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany ; and, through his influencr, fur-trading posts were 
 planted, ere the close of the century, in this remote land 
 west of thii mountains, Fort St. James being then, as 
 now, the central depot of the district. Mr. Mackenzie's 
 narrative of his journey contains the earliest account we 
 have of any portion of that country, on which we were 
 now entering, that is unwatered by the Peace; for, though 
 the so-called Peace Eiver country lies east of the Eocky 
 Mountains, yet at Fort McLeod we stepped into the boat 
 in which we were to be borne by tributary streams to the 
 Peace and by it through the Mountain Range, Others, 
 whose journe3^s have been recorded for us, have smco 
 traversed the same country. Sir George Simpson, then 
 Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, passed by this 
 route to the Pacific in 1828, taking his canoe from York 
 Factory, on Hudson's Bay, to the mouth of the 
 Fraser River.* But, of recent accounts, the most de- 
 tailed and interesting is that given in the Report of the 
 Geological Survey of Canada for IStS-IB, which contains 
 the record of a journey by Messrs. Selwyn and Macoun 
 in the interests of tlio (Joologicnl Survey in 1875. 
 
 ♦ Butlt'i'rt Wild Xorth Land and Horctzky'rt Cunada on the Pacific^ 
 containing narrativts of onriitvs liy way of Peace Rivor to tlio 
 western sea, ar6 fuuiiliarly known to many reuckis. 
 
 I >l 
 
TimOVGn TTTE MOUXTATyS /?!' nOAT. 
 
 Ul 
 
 
 I.^<leed very much is due to the staff of tlie Geological 
 Survey and to the engineers of the Canadian Pacific Kail- 
 way for the knowledge that we possess of Bi-itish Colum- 
 bia and of the Rock} Mountains, as well as of our vast 
 Prairie Region. Exposed, in many instances, to hard- 
 ship, cut off for months at a time from intercourse with 
 any whites except those of their own party, pursuing 
 unweariedly their examination of the country to ascer- 
 tain its physical features, the character and extent of its 
 resources, and its facilities for railway construction, they 
 have acquired a mass of information which is to a large 
 degree stored up in blue-books, but which forms the basis 
 of many a grave decision and important undertaking of 
 Government as well as of many a venture of private 
 enterprise. 
 
 At Fort McLeod our party was divided, some, under the 
 direction of Dr. Dawson, proceeding through the Pocky 
 Mountains by way of Pine River Pass, accompanied 
 by the mule-train with supplies for continued explora- 
 tions east of the mountains, while Messrs. Cambio, 
 McLeod, Major and I with four of a crew descended Peace 
 River by boat, all expecting to rendezvous at DuiivegRn, 
 the central 11. B. C. Dcjiot of the Peace River District east 
 of the Rockies. Wo srere fortunate enough to procure at 
 Fort McLeod a capacious boat, forty feet keel, nine feet 
 beam, which, although old and well-worn, was by a fow 
 repairs and by frequent pumping fit for our purpose. 
 
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 142 
 
 Mf> I '.vr.i rx . I SD rpA iuik. 
 
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 Our (lepartii.ro from the Fort was somewliat delayed by 
 tlie work of trail-making, as all the available men had to 
 assist in clearing the trail for the mule-train, from Fort 
 McLcod to the crossing of the Parsiiip, at the mouth of 
 the Misinchinca. At that point those who were to proceed 
 by Pin Rivo;* ?a! s had the benefit of the boat in cross- 
 ing tin P'i'iip ore we continued our course down 
 stream. TUv .anie trail had been followed some years 
 before by an explv,/ng party, but a good deal of labour 
 was necessary in cutting a course through the accumu- 
 lated windfalls of several seasons. One of our Indians, 
 an excellent fellow whom we had engaged for the trip 
 down the Peace River, while employed in trail-making 
 cut his right ankle so badly that ho had to be carried 
 back LO Fort McLeod. lie at once gave up hope, not 
 only of being ablo to accomj^any us, but also of ever 
 recovering from the etfects of the accident, for it is 
 characteristic of Indians under any sickness or accident 
 to grow despondent, and to take a most hopeless view of 
 the situation. Although enduring pain without a mur- 
 mur, they very quiclvly despair of all recovery. Perhaps 
 they have good reason for this habitual despondency in 
 sickness, as the sick and wounded are very readily left 
 behind by the others, and from luck of care a slight 
 accident or illness may in many cases prove most 
 serious. 
 
 Passing- from Lake McLeod d(nvn Pack River, which 
 
 in\ 
 
. <1 
 
 TIinOUGn THE MOrXTATXS BY BOAT. 
 
 143 
 
 Cll 
 
 is about seventeen miles in length, we entered the 
 Parsnip, the great southern tributary of the Peace, whose 
 sources lie near the upper waters of the Fraser on the 
 "western slopes of the mountains. It was by way of this 
 river that McKenzie's course lay when, after reaching 
 its head waters, he carried his canoe, as Simpson did half 
 a century later, to the great northern bend of the Fraser, 
 a route much more circuitous than that which connects 
 the two rivers l)y way of Lake McLeod, Su'nmit Lake 
 and the Giscombe Portage. 
 
 The Parsnij), so called from the abiuK.',. ico .. cow- 
 parsnip that grows near its banks, m diaris joretty 
 evenly a width of about five hundred fec^ , anu a current 
 of about three or four miles an hour. , Is dotted by 
 numerous islands, at the upper end of which it sometimes 
 divides so evenly that it is difficult to distinguish the 
 main channel, while at the same time there are many 
 sloughs, or "slews" so-called, where part of the r 
 
 flows by some devious and half-hidilen course, ^.lat 
 might, when they blend again with the main current, bo 
 mistaken for tributary streams. The banks are some- 
 times bare and steeji, wi' h exposures of sand, clay and 
 gravel, and with occasion il croppings of sandstone and of 
 limestone; sometimes they arc pleasantly varied by 
 levels of pasture land, or ]»y low wooded hills. 
 
 The voyageurs observe changes in the river, from year 
 to year. The soil being light and sandy is easily washed 
 
 
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 144 
 
 3for.vrvi7yyi.V7) vjtAiniE. 
 
 down by the current in the ^-pl•ing, when tlie river rises 
 fifteen or twenty feet above its lowest summer level ; the 
 fehores are cast into new curves ; bars of sand and gravel 
 are removed from one locality, and built up in another; 
 the islands are worn away above, and increased by deposits 
 further down ; and the slopes and bushes along the banks 
 have, in some places, been stripjjed by fire of much of 
 their foliage, while in others they have been covered by 
 new growths of bush or tree. 
 
 Borne steadily and pleasantly along by the current 
 we met some fur-traders, struggling up stream with 
 their cargoes en route to Victoria, engaged in the preca- 
 rious task of competing with the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany. Such competition is no safe nor easy work unless 
 one can bring large capital into it, and conduce business 
 at many different stations, for the Company may gain 
 largely at some of its posts although losing at others, 
 and can thus average a fair rate of profit, whereas "free 
 traJers," as their rivals are called, if dependent only on 
 one or two posts, may be ruined in a single season. 
 Besides, the Company have usually to pay less for their 
 furs than others do, as the Indians are not readily 
 seduced from a service which has always been faithfully 
 and honestly conducted, and which has witnessed the 
 rise and fall of many rivals, while it still remains a 
 strong, successful and useful corporation. 
 
 Wc met also straggling miners engaged in prospect- 
 
TIIROVGII THE MOCNTAIXS BY BOAT. 
 
 145 
 
 ing; in one case, a Bolitary Frenchman, in anothoi-, 
 
 three Scotchmen. Many a time tlie miner will start otY 
 
 alone to prospect new districts, trusting to his o%A^n 
 
 brain, bone and sinew, taking some small supjilics to 
 
 stand between him and starvation if he should find no 
 
 game nor human liabitation in his wandering. Onward 
 
 he goes, washing a pan-full of sand from this stream, and 
 
 then passing on to the next, until he finds sufficient gold 
 
 to tempt him to prolong his search at some particular 
 
 point. Smiling at dangers that would make less resolute 
 
 men despair, restless in his rambling as the wandering 
 
 Jew, broken perhaps in fortune, sometimes broken in 
 
 health, but never broken in hope, the miner has pierced 
 
 almost every p?\rt of the country, opening the gates to 
 
 let in the outer world, toiling with a degree of patience 
 
 and of energy that would soon have enriched him if he 
 
 could have practised the same , irtues in some of the 
 
 more settled walks of life. Weeks maj'- be spent by him 
 
 upon some promising " bar," where the stream has 
 
 deposited the precious particles far from the vein that 
 
 once held them ; or he may trace the gold to the alluvial 
 
 deposits of some older water-courses, and may find rich 
 
 "pay-dirt" on levels fur above the present rivers. Or, 
 
 to vary the excitement, he may seek for the channel of 
 
 some ancient stream far below the depth of the present 
 
 water-course, and may find there the deposits of post 
 
 ages. This latter, which is called "deep-digging," hu3 
 
 11 
 
 -i! 1 
 
 ! 
 
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 ^N 
 
140 
 
 MOUNT A IS AXD m AT HIE. 
 
 M 
 
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 ill Britisli ColiimLia as iu California, fre(|uciitly 2)rovcd 
 most profitable. By regular mining oporations tlio 
 course of the older stream is followed, at a depth pcrhjips 
 of from thirty to a hundred feet below the surface, the 
 buried channel being traceable by the rocks and gravel 
 of its bed. Tunnels are formed; timbers are introduced 
 to suj^port the sides and roof; and the miner, standing 
 ankle-deep in wet sand and gra\'el, beneath the con- 
 tinuous dripping that i^recolatcs through from above, 
 carries on Iiis laborious search. AVliat cares he for 
 cramps, discomfort, rheumatism, or other ills that flesh 
 is heir to, when sudden wealth seems always close at 
 hand ? 
 
 Quartz-mining has as yet received little attention in 
 British Columbia, the alluvial dei)osits whether on the 
 surface or along the buried channels, — known generally 
 as placer-mining, — having hitherto absorbed the energy 
 of miners. These deposits, however, must in course of 
 time become exhausted, while an important source of 
 wealth may remain to be developed in the gold-bearing 
 rocks from which at some period, recent or more remote, 
 the alluvial gold has been borne down by the current. 
 Quartz-crushing may require more capital and cheaper 
 labour than aie at present available, but when developed 
 it is likel}' to prove a much more valuable and more 
 permanent industry than phicer-mining. ^lany more 
 have lost than have gained by gold-mining, and yet 
 
b' proved 
 lions tlio 
 1 pcrha^JS 
 '■face, tho 
 kI gravel 
 itroduccd 
 Htanding 
 the con- 
 1 above, 
 lie for 
 lat flesh 
 close at 
 
 tition in 
 on the 
 >nerally 
 energy 
 'Urse of 
 U'ce of 
 •earing 
 emote, 
 UTent. 
 1 caper 
 i3lo2)od 
 more 
 more 
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 TllUorau THE MOVSTMS^ UY BnAT. 
 
 117 
 
 although lieM aftci" fu'M may prove iiii[)roliial»le ihcro 
 arc Ihoiisamls aliMig the Paeilie for wliom the mines have 
 all the fascinatioM that the dice have fiH* the ^•anlhjel•, 
 ami who are iva'ly with one areoi-d to v\\>\\ towards the 
 newest "diggini;-s" Let the solitary I'li-nehman or tlie 
 three Scots whotn we met on the Pai'snij* tind a rieh 
 gold-tield and make it known, and the news would 
 spread like wild-lire; men would gallu'i- from every 
 centre of j)opuhilion la'twicii Ca^-^iar ami San FramMsco; 
 and these nnpe'iph'(l sM!itudt.'s would soon ln.'conie f;imi- 
 liar to manv thou-ands. 
 
 The Nation .River joins the Parsnip from the west 
 about thirty-two mih's l)ulow the mi»utli of Pack Pivur, 
 after I'eeeiviny; the waltrs of iiuini,'rous lakes that lie to 
 the south of the Omenica district, hetween \,\\kv I>ahine 
 and the Parsnip, a ii'i;ion not \et survr\cd, hardh' e\eii 
 explored, ami little known excrpt to the Indians. From 
 the mouth of the Mi-inchinca, twelve mih-s above 
 l^a<dc liiver, to the inonih of the Xation, trace of 
 li;rnite have been found, I'ei'-.irdinir which Mi-. Sd w\'n 
 says, — '* Sonu' of the bjoek- found along the shore.- ^'{' 
 the l^ir idp Were of largi* -i/c, and sullicieiitly pure and 
 compat! to be of vahie as fuil if found in thicl< seam-."' 
 Landing !iearly o]>posite the moiiih of the Nation wo 
 lound the soil giu.il, the groinid undulating, ccnered with 
 a rich crop of wild hay and pea-vine, fioni which it may 
 roabunably lie infcned that many of tlie flats and slopes 
 
 ;i 
 
 . V 
 
148 
 
 ^rol■^'r^I^' a\d vumiuf.. 
 
 Hi 
 
 l( 
 
 Jiloiiir tlio I'ivor, and ]K'rlia{)s also tlio upper plateaux, 
 would alloivl fxec'llent and abundant pasturage. 
 
 ]ietAveen the Nation and the Finlay we passed bars 
 where goM has been found year after year, thougli not 
 in ver}' large quantities, pi'obably borne down fi'om 
 the I'ocks in the neighbourhood of Onieniea. On this 
 part of the river there lived at some distance from eaeji 
 other, foi" several years, two men familiarity name, if not 
 jn j)erson, to eveiy traveller throughout this region, and 
 whom the readers of T>utlei-'s Wlhl Xorth Ldnd will 
 rememlier, — Pete Toy and Nigger Dan. Both gave 
 attention to ti'a])ping and mining. In winter they 
 searched foi* game and in summer for gold. The neigh- 
 bouring woods and hills sup))lied them with moose, bear, 
 bcavei- and mai-ti-n, — ])rovisions and furs, — while the 
 t>and-b;irs gladilened and enriched them with gold. Over 
 and ovci", year aftei' year, they Avashed the silt bi'ought 
 down i^^y the i-iver at the spring flood and deposited 
 along the margin of ^^^^no j»a'-ticular liar, linding at each 
 returning sumuier that from the territory drained l>y itn 
 wosiern ti'ibutarii's thi> ri\ei' had i-olU^I along new par- 
 ti(des of gold, to U-ave them whi'i-e it had left a similar 
 l)recious burden tho j»rece(iing year. Tlu-y knew the river 
 with all itsswii-ls and rapi<ls, its ieejams and fie^hcts, as 
 well as they knew theii- own cabins. Kach kept his own 
 territory and held on his own course as if utterly indepen- 
 dent of the outside world, althouglj the de.'sire lur its 
 
TIIUOVGU THE MOrSTAIXS BY BOAT. 
 
 149 
 
 luxuries may first liiivo incited them to search I'ur gold 
 in this voluntary exile. 
 
 Pete would face almosi any curretit, would dare the 
 waters in any condition ofday oi- night, of frost or flood 
 hut he launched his frail dug-out once too often. Thou^di 
 frequently upset, and seemingly like the beaver formed 
 to live on land or wuiter, the i-iver at last received him 
 that he rose no more. For some years he liad an old 
 chum, Joe Dates, that lived with him; and hoth bon- a 
 good name f )r honesty and hospitality. Joe was said to 
 have made a good 1\' "pile," whicli he kept hi<l in ~.ome 
 spot known only t<> himself, but death called him away, 
 as he had called T'ele, and as ho calls most men, unex- 
 pectedly; and the place that contains the hidden trea- 
 sure is now a sealed secret, to be sought for, perhai)s, al 
 some future day, with as much eagerness, and as little 
 success, as the reported treasures of Captain Kidd, near 
 the sliores of the Bay of Fundy. Nigger Oan, who 
 came t<> Bi'itish Columbia as cook for Captain rallisor, 
 still lives, but he has ex(d»ange<l the frci'dom of the 
 woods and mountains for the continement of a police- 
 Htation. lie lias been known for vears as Xigger T)an. 
 Negro lie is, or at least mulatto, and his name i> haniol 
 Williams, but miners and Irajipers are seldom (ailed by 
 tiieir stirnames, IOn<piii-e at any diggings fn' J<din 
 McI)onaltl, a man whoso litlie form was familiai- in many 
 of the mining dirttricts, and no one seems to .huvo ever 
 
 
 , i'l 
 
 ii 
 
 iM 
 
1' 1 
 
 1 I 
 
 f ' 
 
 150 
 
 MorST.llS ASD rUMlilE. 
 
 heard of him; liiit iisk fov Carihoo Jacu, and you find 
 that almost every miner fi-om Kootcnay to Cassiar known 
 him; — and ^o with Grey John, Dancing Bill, Yankee 
 Jim, and the rest of the wild, roving " hoys," v>'ho have 
 sought their fortunes amongst tlie crowd, from the lower 
 bends of the P'"rascr to the hanks of the Stickine, and 
 l)e3'ond the mountains of Alaska. 
 
 Nigger Dan had hut a poor reputation. Rumours 
 dark as his own skin were current regarding him. The 
 distinciion between "mine" and "thine" was too subllo 
 for him, or if he knew it, it was only to ignore it. lie 
 moved down from the banks of the Parsnip to the ncigh- 
 ]»ourhood of Foi't St. John, near Dunvegan. There he 
 wageil war like a son of Islunael instead of a descendant 
 of Ham, the outer woi'M being repivsentcd liy the II. B. 
 Company, wliile Dan's hand was against the Company 
 and the Company's against liim. lie had a garden which 
 was unfenced, and, because the Company's liorses, cattle, 
 find dogs made a free pasture and highway of his open 
 garden, lie treated them to poison and lead. All know 
 the value of horses and cattle, and some set a fancy price 
 on a favourite dog, but in this region good dogs liavo a 
 recognized, market value on account of the oxtensivo 
 use made of them in winter in liauling toboggans. Somo- 
 timcH four moose-skins, worth 810, have been given for 
 one dog. And not oidy did tliis liormit distinguislj him- 
 self by general acts of slaughter; — lie had threatened 
 
 I- 
 
4 
 
 THROUGH THE MOL'STAINS BY liOAT. 
 
 151 
 
 the life of one or two men, and rumour gave him the 
 credit of having executed years ago a nimihir threat; — 
 and )>e had aet fire to a store of the II. B. Company, so 
 that the time had come when something must be cU)ne. 
 The Company are not given to Ij'nching, but yet hiw 
 must be administered even on the remote banks of tlie 
 Peace River, so by a skilful piece of strategy Dan was 
 seized, a warrant luiving been issued for his apprehen- 
 sion, and was taken ofi'to l^dinonton to be tried; but it 
 is now ascertained that the trial must be conducted at 
 Victoria, as Fort St. John is in Bi'itish Columbia, not in 
 the North-West Territories. In a country where tlio 
 inhabitants are few, and where crime is but little known, 
 one man may acquire considerable importance and give 
 great annoyance, and so during 1879 Peace River district 
 was more concerned about this one individual than it 
 could bo over the rise and fall of CJovernments or the fato 
 of empires. 
 
 On approacliing the "Forks" where the Finlay and 
 Parsnip meet, some seven ty-scvon miles below Pack 
 River, we caught to the north-cast the first glimpse, 
 high up among the hill tops, of the g; between the 
 mountains through which the Peace 1 or carves its 
 way. Tlic hills are here rugged and nscl}' massed, 
 with occasional snow-peaks glistening :mongst them. 
 
 The Finlay, so named from its fir white explorer, 
 drains a great portion of Omenica by one branch, while 
 
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152 
 
 MOUNTAIN AKD PRAIRIE. 
 
 '.\4 I 
 
 by another it rcoeivos llic waters of" an unexplored i-egion 
 to the north of Omenica. For fully 300 miles before it 
 joins the Parsnip it lias twisted and coiled itself by many 
 a rugged mountain range, and through many a rocky 
 cafion, receiving, as its tributaries, streams whose sands 
 glitter with gold. Here its flow is gentle, but thirty 
 miles off we could see bold snow-capped mountains that 
 tell of the character of the country through which it 
 carves its way. And the Parsnip, ere the two rivers 
 blend, has flowed nearly as far as the Finlay, by many a 
 curve fi'oni the uplands Avhcre its sources lie near the 
 head-waters of the Frascr. As they meet, their waters 
 broaden into a small smooth lake, and then rush down 
 in a rough and stormy current, nearly half a milo in 
 lehglh and some two hundred and fiff' yards in width, 
 Fiiown as the Finlay Rap. \s. Here the names Parsnip 
 and Finlay arc dropped, and from this onward until it 
 meets ncai- Fori Chipewyan the waters that empty 
 Lake AthabaHca, a thousand miles away, the united river 
 is known as the Peace. The Sicanies of northern British 
 Columbia call it tlie Tsetaikah, — "the river that goes 
 into the mountain." The Beavers, who live east of the 
 Rocky Mountains, call it the Unchagah, — that is, "the 
 Peace" — for on its banks was settled onco for all a feud 
 that had long been waged between them and the Crees. 
 About a mile below the rapids the river, with its forces 
 now united from the south and west, turns suddenly 
 
 
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 TUliOVGH THE MOUSTAJSS UY llOAT. 
 
 153. 
 
 eastward. Al this bciul it i.s fringed on both banks 
 by j^^entlo slopes and irreguhir benches, beyond which 
 rise the hills, at first not more than 2,000 to 2,500 feet 
 in height, some scarpetl by ravines, some castellated 
 with regular strata of rock, but for the most part lightly 
 wooded. This is the beginning of the Peace River Pass. 
 Our progress was delayed for a little by a heavy 
 thunder-shower, and being anxious to see this part of 
 the river '.o advantage, we waited under shelter until 
 the rain had ceased. The storm soon spent itself, tho 
 sun came out with splendour, and large white l»illowy 
 clouds, floating across the sky, !nade the deep blue 
 beyond seem further away than ever. Almost immedi- 
 ately below tho entrance to the Pass, Blount Selwyn 
 rises to tho right, 4,570 feet above the river, 0,220 feet 
 above the sea. It is a massive pyramid, flanked by a 
 ridge of rock on either side, its lower slopes formed by 
 the detritus washed down from side and summit, ])artly 
 covered by burnt timber, and tinted by frequent i)atchcs 
 of grass; its upper slopes in j)art moss-covered, in part 
 bare as polished granite, broken and irregular as if 
 shattered by fire and frost; its sides now shelving, now 
 precipitous, grooved and seamed by torrent and by 
 avalanche; its edge ragged and serrated, until it ternd- 
 nates in a solitary snow-clad peak. Along the northern 
 bank of tho riv^er tho hills are grou})ed in endless variety 
 of form, the irregular masses looking as if they had been 
 
 
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 154 
 
 MOUXTAIX A.\D PH. I HUE. 
 
 iluny there at some tcri-ible convulsion of nature, to show 
 into how many ditTerent .sha}»o.s mountains can be cast 
 
 Nearly o])i)osite Mount Solwyn the Wicked River, a 
 stream dear as crystal and noisy as a cascade, falls in 
 on the left hank through a gorge between the hills. To 
 the right and left, alternately, sweep the broad curves of 
 the main river, which is here from 200 to 250 yards in 
 width, while the ridges, between which it winds, appear 
 to be dove-tailed as you look down the Pass. The view 
 changes with each bend of the current. Here a rugged 
 shoulder bare and hard as adamant, butting upward for 
 recognition, there a frowning precipice, with no trace of 
 vegetation, or a wooded knoll, solid beneath but with a 
 fair green surface, heie a wild ravine, there a great shell- 
 shaped valley, while stretching far up are the peaks that 
 I'oi'm a resting place for the eagle and the cloud. 
 
 The day being fine there was a perpetual play of light 
 and sliade on river and hill, and so as we were swept on 
 by the current, cloud, mountain and river, peak, bluff, 
 and wooded banks were woven into countless and ever- 
 changing combinations. Sketches, jjhotographs and 
 words alike fail to give an adet_[uate picture of this part 
 of our journey. Even could one thus convey any clear 
 conception of separate i)arls of the Pass, yet it is impos- 
 sible to reproduce that sequence and blending of views 
 that was wrought by our own motion down the river as 
 it ceaselessly shifted the scenes. 
 
TIlRolcll THE MOUS'TM.ys ]1Y }Uh[T. 
 
 155 
 
 Thei'O was little snow to bo seen even on the liiij-hest 
 peaks, much loss than wo had expected. Indeed, in this 
 rosjicct the Eocky Mountains are less Alpine in a])pear- 
 ance than the Cascade Range through wliirh wo camo 
 when ascending \hc Skeona ; but hero the Tvockies arc 
 much lower than they are further s<juth, while the ])oaks 
 are clustered much more closely than on the Skeona. 
 
 Gradually, as we were borne onward, we found the 
 character of the lulls changing. Instead of being bold 
 and jieakod and sori-atod, they are covered with woods to 
 the summit. Tho valley begins to widen. To tlu- i-ight 
 rises Mount Garnet Wolsoloy, so naincd by Diitlor, the 
 last of the range thatsooni with sharp (.'d<^(i<< to cleave the 
 sliy. Though the width of tho rivei- continues much the 
 same, yet the plateaux on either side lu-oadon until tho 
 hills are sot about two miles apart, fi-om north to south, 
 bummit from summit. We recognise that we have 
 pierced, from west to oast, tho Eango of tho Kooky 
 Mountains, through a pass about twenty-two miles in 
 length, borne pleasantly along in a large b(,at upon the 
 waters of tho great Unchagah. 
 
 Passing tho Clearwater and other small tributai-ios, 
 whoso crystal purity is in marked contrast with tho 
 turbid, grayish colour of the Peace, we i-an with safety 
 the Parle-pas rapid, so called because it is not heard far 
 up tho river, and may bo closely approached before it is 
 recognised as a strong rough rapid, although it speaks 
 
 
 
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 MOUSTAIS AS'D PRAlIilE. 
 
 loudly euoiigli wlicu you arc once in it.s grasp and cannot 
 retrace your course. Our i)ilot, Cluii'lic Favel, who had 
 gone forward to examine it before venturing to run it 
 held the long " sweep " that was lashed astern to serve as 
 the steering oar, for an ordinary rudder would be useless 
 here ; the fopr oars were vigorously manned, and then into 
 the boiling current wo went. We liad taken the first plunge, 
 when mid-way we were caught l)y an eddy ; the bow 
 swung around a little ; had it swung much further we 
 must have been swamped, for the waves were angi-y as 
 in a storm at sea ; the men bent themselves to their oars; 
 the helmsman let out some of his reserve strength ; it 
 was only the work of an instant ; the boat swung back 
 into its true course, and the next moment we wei'e in 
 calm water, Avisliing we had another rapid to run. 
 
 Wo 2)assed a number of small streams, but below the 
 mouth of the Fiiday tlie tributary streams are not as 
 large nor as fre([uent as one would expect in a land of 
 mountains. Indeed, until it receives the Pine Kiver tho 
 united waters of the streams on tho eastern slopes scarcely 
 make any iterceptible diifercnco in the volume of tho 
 main river. This may perhaps bo due to tho reduced 
 rain-fall on the eastern, as compared with that on tho 
 western side of tho mountains. 
 
 We were l)eing borne pleasantly along by tho strong 
 and steady current when, hush! — " there's a moose," said 
 Charlie, and no one darod to distrust tho old man's keen 
 
<'^ 
 
 
 Tiinoran tui: moi'stms^! py noAT. 
 
 157 
 
 TiHion. Tho splashing oars are silenctvl ; all eyes are 
 turned away from stream, and hill, and wood, and are 
 focussod in one direction. Sure enough, there it is at 
 some distance down tho river's bank, close bv the water's 
 edge. Eager liands grasp the rifles, for we liave been 
 hoping for a chance like this. The 1»oat dro]is quietly 
 down tlie current, each head is bejit low, we draw neai'cr 
 and nearer, we will soon be within safe and easv rani^o. 
 No ! surely, it cannot 1)0 ! Yes, it is, — a great brown rock I 
 A growl of disappointment, then a gcnei'al '"oar, and a 
 proposal to present the too Idind, and too blindly trusted, 
 Charlie with a pair of spectacles, — and our solitary 
 moosediunt iw over. 
 
 Continuing down stream we find flats and benches in 
 almost unbroken succession, stretching between the river 
 and the now receding hills, some of them half a mile in 
 ■width, and less than thirtj- feet above the water's edge, 
 with rich F*oil and luxuriant pasture. The banks, 
 where not broken by the water that in |)laces has ex]iosed 
 the sand, (day, or gravel bed, are green with grass, 
 kinnikinnick, juniper, low red cedar, vetches, an<l tho 
 beautiful silverbcrry ]ilant. Along both sides of the 
 river there are terraces, in tier upon tier, some M'ith their 
 edges as clearly cut as if they had been meant for fort- 
 resses, others distinctly marked, but wooded ; indeed 
 these terraces continue for many miles, a striking and 
 beautiful feature of tlio landscape, giving it an appear- 
 
 
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 158 
 
 MOUNr.ilS AND riiMUIE. 
 
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 anco of cultivation. Those on the right bank arc almost 
 uniformly timbered, those on the nortli bank are grassy 
 and smooth. Their aides are occasionally seamed by old 
 buffalo trails, for though the buffalo has not been seen 
 on the banks of the Peace for many years, this was once 
 the pasture land for large herds that found hero their 
 western limit. They wandered over a vast expanse of 
 country " in herds ujion an endless plain." Prairie and 
 hill-side furnished them with unlimited suj)plies of food, 
 for even in winter by pawing away the light snow 
 they could always find plenty of grass uj^on the plains. 
 The bow and spear and rifle of the Indian long made 
 little inroad upon their numbers, while the reduction 
 thus caused would in the course of nature be soon repaired ; 
 and it required but a small proportion of them to enable 
 the Indian to supply his own wants. The buffalo fed 
 him, clothed him, housed him, for his flesh was the 
 Indian's food, and -his hide gave him clothes and tent. 
 But the trader came wanting buffalo robes. Tiie skill of 
 the Indian soon thinned out the herds, and the French 
 half-l)recds caiTiod on a still more successful war of 
 extermination against tliem. P'abulous numbers were 
 slain annually until, by degrees, the vast herd.^ were 
 reduced, and now their mimbcr is so raj>idly diminishing 
 that on all the Canadian plains the bull'alo will soon bo 
 extinct. 
 
 Gradually tho valley widens, sometimes from bank to 
 
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 link to 
 
 THROUGH THE MOl'STAIKS nY BOAT. 
 
 159 
 
 bank the river is not more than 500 feet, though it 
 usually B2)rcad8 out its watora to twice that width. The 
 flats are frequently covered with aspens that seem hero 
 to take, in part at least, the place which the cotton-wood 
 holds on the flats and islands of the Skeena and of the 
 Parsnip, indicating it is said a drier soil, if not also a 
 drier climate. Along the hill sides, on the northern 
 bank, the stratification of the rock can be very clearly 
 seen, traceable even below the grass, the lines running 
 in various directions, though never much crumpled nor 
 abruptly broken. Throughout the Eocky Mountains, in- 
 deed, the strata of the rocks, which are chiefly limestone 
 and sand-stone, are easily discernible, while in the Cascade 
 Eange, composed of rocks of an earlier formation, scarcely 
 any sign of stratification can be detected. 
 
 The general appearance of the country upon either 
 side between the river and the now receding hill; , and 
 particularly on the north side, is that of a ])astoral dis- 
 trict. Some of the flats and lower slopes might furnish 
 arable farms; others, at least in the summer season, 
 appear suited fOr stock raising, while the low grassy 
 hills resemble some of the sheep-farming portions of 
 Scotland. Mile after mile extend the terraces, some- 
 times as regular as if cut by .-(puire and rule, now smooth 
 as a lawn, now lightly wo(jded, cleft here and there by 
 ravines. 
 
 Ilavo tho Indians no legends connected with these 
 
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 3T0VNTAiy AM) PRAiniE. 
 
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 terraces ? Tliey remind one somewhat of the " parallel 
 road.s " of Glen T(oy, but arc a.s much greater in extent 
 as our Canadian North-West is more extensive than 
 Scotland. The Scottish Highlander has his legend, or 
 as he regards it, his true history of these parallel roads. 
 Tell him about the glacial period, Avhen the ■whole land 
 was rasped by icebergs, or about ancient water-levels that 
 once stood high up along the slopes of Ben-Nevis, and he 
 smiles at your foolish fancies. Does he not know, for 
 did not his father tell him, that Fingal made those parallel 
 roads that ho might hunt down the red-deer, when, with 
 the dogs, of whose prowess Ossian hf;s sung, he coursed 
 the antlered game along the hill side? Has the Indian 
 no legends, no traditions of i-)aths cleft by the heroes^of 
 old for the chase of moose, buffalo or grizzly ? Is 
 there nothing in the beliefs and byegone history of the 
 Indians of this northern land worthy of some antiquary's 
 time and study, — worthy even of some small place in our 
 English literature ? 
 
 "Were it necessary to find a course for a railway as far 
 north as the Peace Eivcr Pass, a comparatively easy 
 route through the mountains is offered in this direction, 
 for even at the -^vildest and most rugged parts of the 
 Pass the mountains are almost invariabl}' fringed by flats, 
 or ])}'• gentle slopes of vaiying width. One or two aval- 
 anche courses, n few ravines and occasional projections of 
 rocic would form the chief difficulties, wijich are appa- 
 
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 ' in extent 
 nRive than 
 legend, or 
 illel roads, 
 ivhole land 
 levels that 
 v^is. and he 
 know, for 
 >so parallel 
 ^^hen, with 
 le coursed 
 the Indian 
 heroes of 
 [zz]y ? Is 
 ory of the 
 ntiqiiary's 
 ace in our 
 
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 vay as far 
 vely easy 
 direction, 
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 are appa- 
 
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TUEOUGn THE JlOUNTAiyr^' BT BOAT. 
 
 161 
 
 i'l 
 
 I • 
 
 rciitly much less Bcrious than many ob>tacles that have 
 been overcome on other Canalian railways. At its 
 higher, or western, extremity the Pass is not more than 
 1G50 feet above the sea level, and the cm-rent of the river, 
 which is very equable, i^ about four or five miles an hour 
 where it cuts through the mountain range. East of tho 
 Pass, for fifty miles, until the Canon is reached, the en- 
 gineering difficulties would probably be not much greater 
 than those presented by an open prairie, but tlie cliief 
 difficulty on this route would be found at the Caiion, 
 where the river sweeps around ilio V»aso of a solitary, 
 massive hill known as the Mountain of Rocks, or Portage 
 Mountain, just above Iludson's Hope. Yet even here, 
 though the work would be heavy, the difficulties would 
 not be insuperable. For any railway line, however, that 
 would pass by a northern route through the Rock'y 
 Mountains to the Pacific, the Pine Kiver Pass, a little to 
 the south of this, which is known to be practicable, would 
 be preferable to the route by way of Peace River. 
 
 The Canon of tho Peace River, which at its upper 
 extremity is about fifty miles east of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, is about twenty-five miles in length, and the river is 
 here a wild broken torrent, some 200 feet in width, which, 
 so far as known, has never been navigated except by tho 
 dauntless Iroquois crew that accompanied Sir George 
 Simpson on his expedition to the Pacific, in 1828. Its 
 
 rocky sides have been rent and peeled b}- the current, 
 
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 MVVNTAIN AM3 PEAJUIE. 
 
 hore scooped into great pot-holes, there seamed with 
 broad fissures, now broken into jagged edges, now worn 
 into smooth curves. The cliffs have in some places been 
 levelled into terraces, in others they rise sheer and preci- 
 pitous over 250 feet. Clambering along the face of the 
 cliff where a foothold was possible we found a narrow seam 
 of coal, about 150 feet above the river. A weather-worn 
 piece, which was the best specimen that the situation 
 allowed us to procure, when tested at the camp-fire 
 burned with a bright flame but with a large proportion 
 of ash. Another seam was observed, about two feet 
 thick where exposexl, and also a seam of lignite. The 
 course of the riyer ho'c is always curved as it dashes 
 alternately to the right and left, while from end to end 
 the Canon forms one great curve around the base of Port- 
 age Mountain. 
 
 This Caiion is the only obstruction to the navigation' 
 of the river for several hundreds of miles. From the 
 head of the Canon to the mouth of Pack Eiver, that 
 empties the waters of Lake McLeod, that is, about 150 
 miles, or even further up the Parsnip, the river is navi- 
 gable, except at low water, for steamers of light draught. 
 The Parle-i3as and Finlay Eapids arc the only rap' is of 
 any importance. These can be run with case and safety, 
 and could be surmounted without much difiieulty by 
 warping the steamer against the current, as is done on 
 the heavier And more tortuous rapids of the Fraser and 
 
ty t)y 
 
 TIIROVdH THE MOV ST A IS S BY liOAT. 
 
 163 
 
 the Columbia. From Hudson's Hope, ut the lower end of 
 the Canon, it flows full-fed and strong with no hindrance 
 to tteam navigation for nearly five hundred miles when 
 it leaps over the Vermilion Falls. Another break, re- 
 quiring a few miles of land ■communication occurs at 
 the Five Portages, on Slave Eiver. Beyond that there 
 is no further obstacle; the river is open to large steamers 
 down to the Arctic Ocean. There would thus be but 
 three breaks in the connection of continuous steum navi- 
 gation from the mouth of Pack Eiver down the Parsnip, 
 the Peace, the Slave and the Mackenzie, — different names 
 for one continuous water-course, — that is, fi-om Northern 
 British Columbia, through the Eocky Mountains, by the 
 fertile Peace Eiver District, to the Northern Sea, a dis- 
 tance in all, by water, of not less than 2500 miles. 
 
 We were forced to abandon our boat ut the head of the 
 Canon, but were fortunate enough to procure the horses 
 of some Indian hunters from Hudson's Hope to convey 
 our supplies, baggage, etc., across the twelve mile Portage 
 to the foot of the Canon. At the Hope as elsewhere 
 throughout these northern districts the agent employs 
 two hunters to supply the Post with provisions. These 
 men, accompanied by their families and by two grown 
 lads who go with them to bring home the game, arc 
 employed during most of the year in hujiling. Tliey 
 confine their attention almost entirely to moose and 
 bear, and scorn such small game us ducks and prairie- 
 
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 MOUNTAIX Asn riiAiniE. 
 
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 chicken, however al^imdant. Each hunter gets ten dollars 
 worth of ammunition in spring, and the same in autumn, 
 u pound of tea, of sugar and of tobacco each month, 
 and ho is paid from five to ten " skins " for each moose, 
 according to size, the " skin " being the chief currency 
 of the district, equivalent here to about SI. 50. We 
 fortunately met the hunters of the Hope near the 
 Canon, and were thus Hj)ared the dreary toil of port- 
 aging our tents, supplies, etc., twelve miles. As their 
 horses were employed to convey the slaughtered game 
 to the trading-post their harness was of the rudest 
 kind, especially when compared with the well made, well 
 kept apparahoes of the mule-train. One outfit consisted 
 of a small pack-saddle, shaped something like a diminu- 
 tive saw-horse, partly covered with patches of leather 
 and blanket, and girt with a broad belt of shaganappi. 
 The second horse carried two large bags, made of moose- 
 hide, that hung like panniers, one on either side. An- 
 other was equipped with what appeared to be either the 
 rudiments of a riding-saddle brought into use before it 
 had been finished, or the remains of a saddle in an 
 advanced stage of decay ; — and so with the rest. We were 
 not, however, in a humour to criticize severely, but, thank- 
 ful for such an unexpected conveyance, we were ready 
 to adopt what is called the Hudson's Bay fashion, — that 
 is, to use any thing you can get which will serve your 
 turn, and let the next man forage for himself 
 
 
THROUOH THE MOCSTAINB liY BOAT. 
 
 165 
 
 The trail loads up to a broad terrace which skirts the 
 base of a hill known as the Buffalo's Head. The hill 
 takes this name from a favourite camping ground close 
 by, which has, for many years, been marked by the head 
 of the last buffalo that was shot in this part of the Peace 
 District. From its summit a wide sweeping view maj" 
 be had of the valley of the rivcx' westward to the giant 
 peaks that girt thoPass, and eastward towards Dunvegan 
 where it flows through fertile plains. We had hoped to 
 ascend this summit while delayed near the head of the 
 Canon, but a dense haze like that of a day in the Indian 
 summer, only heavier, hung over the mountains, obscur- 
 ing the view. The trail passes over rolling country, 
 partly open pasture land, partly wooded with aspen, 
 poplar, spruce, black pine and tamarac. On the north 
 side rises the Buffalo's Head, a bare and rugged bluff, its 
 sides covered with grass, — and facing it to the south of 
 the trail, some five or six miles from top to top, stands 
 the Portage Mountain, called formerly the Mountain of 
 Eocks, raising its huge shoulder above all around, and 
 flanked by a cluster of smaller hills that seem to lean 
 against its sides, converging towards the summit. These 
 may be regarded as spurs or foot-hills of the Rocky 
 Mountains, although fifty miles east of the main range. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon when we left the head of the 
 Canon, and a thunder storm, which had been threatening 
 us for some hours, broke over us while on the trail. As 
 
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 166 
 
 MOUNTAiy A^D PRAIRIE. 
 
 WO trudged along however, Charlie, our old pilot, who 
 knows the country from Red Eiver to Victoria, whiled 
 away the time with .stories of the old mining days in 
 Omcnica ; how he had been among the first to " strike " 
 a paying bar on the Omenica, how Joe Evans, Bill 
 Eoberts, Twelve-foot Davics and he had gone in as the 
 advanced guard of a rushing multitude ; how flour sold 
 at a dollar a pound, and other provisions in proportion; 
 how Charlie himself turned his attention to the provision 
 market, and made twenty-five dollars a day by catching 
 and selling fish, while his klootchman, or Indian wife, 
 made five dollars a day by washing ; and how, when the 
 Cassiar mines were opened, and Omenica was " played 
 out," he turned back to Fort St. James, having no wish 
 to wander as far as the banks of the Stickino. He 
 recalled, with evident satisfaction, the fact that he 
 had never known any case of assault among the miners 
 except one, in which he was himself the victim, when, 
 at an evening party, at which in his capacity of fiddler 
 he refused to play some particular tune, he was attacked 
 by an inebriated Irishman. He had never known a case 
 of theft among the miners, and, although for a time he 
 carried the express for Rufus Syh -Htcr. Major Butler's 
 old travelling companion, and was known to be often the 
 solitary bearer of large sums of gold, yet none over 
 attempted in tho least degree to rob, molest or annoy him. 
 He attributed this oxcollont order in Onieuica, as also 
 
rnnnrGH the mountains by boat. 
 
 IGT 
 
 pilot, who 
 ria, whiled 
 ng days in 
 "strike" 
 !]van8, Bill 
 3 in as the 
 7 flour sold 
 )roportion ; 
 e provision 
 •y catching 
 idian wife, 
 r, when the 
 18 " played 
 ng no wish 
 
 kine. He 
 it that he 
 the miners 
 tim, when, 
 
 of fiddler 
 18 attacked 
 Dwn a case 
 
 a time ho 
 Dr Butler's 
 e often the 
 none over 
 innoy him. 
 ua, as also 
 
 elsewhere throughout our British Columbia Mines, to 
 the efforts and reputation chiefly of Sir Matthew Begbie, 
 for whom the miners have a profound esteem ever since 
 his memorable caution to them at Kootenay : — " Boys ! if 
 Ihere is any shooting at Kootenay, there will be hanging 
 at Kootenay. " 
 
 The rain was falling heavily, and the lightning playing 
 about us, as we pitched camp at the lower end of the Port- 
 age, on a plateau about ninety feet above the river. On 
 the opposite side, down near the water's edge, we saw a 
 solitary light glimmering in the small log-house that is 
 known as Hudson's Hope. Wo had passed the Mountains, 
 itnd had entered on the vast Prairie Hegion. 
 
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 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 Hudson's uope to dunveqan. 
 
 The Prairie Kegiou. — H. B. Company and the North-West Com» 
 pany. — Hudson'8 Hope. — Moose. — The Climate. — Fertile Flats. 
 — The Plateau. — On the Raft. — Appearance of Country. — Fort 
 St. John. — Massacre at the Old Fort. — Bear Hunting. — Dunve- 
 gan. — Hii^hlanders Abroad. — Peace River Indians. — Moostoos, 
 and his fight with a Grizzly. — Missions to the Indians. 
 
 During the past ccntiiiy much has been done to explore 
 the extreme nortli of what is now the Dominion of 
 Canada; for, althougli the Iludson's Baj" Company re- 
 ceived their charter in 16Y0 few travellers ventured 
 beyond the shores of Hudson's Bay until al)Out 1770, 
 when Stcarne discovered Great Slave Lake and traced 
 the Coppermine River to its mouth. Subsequent 
 explorers, some of whom were inspired by the hope of 
 discovering a north-west passage by sea from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific, acquired much information 
 regarding that lonely north-land, and mapped out the 
 country that borders the Arctic Ocean, But, while the 
 labours of Franklin, Back, Dease, Simpson, Rae, Rich- 
 ardson, MoClintock and others wore making the world 
 
 
4 
 
 nuDSON's iwrr. to dfnvegan. 
 
 160 
 
 famili 
 
 vith the shores of the Noi-thern Sea, a v st 
 
 lUiar witn mo si 
 territory was lying between that remote north-land and 
 the western United States which was almost entirely 
 unknown to any exco2)t the Hudson's Bay Company 
 officials and Indians until 1857, when Captain Palliser 
 made an expedition from Lake Superior to the Eocky 
 Mountains. The lonely regions of the north may long 
 continue to be, as they have been for ages, the home of 
 the musk-ox, the summer resort of the elk, the hunting 
 ground of the Indian, and the preserve of the fur-trader, 
 unless indeed their minerals should prove of sufficient 
 value to attract capital and i)opulation ; but this more 
 southern and more central territory-, about which the 
 outer world was long kept in ignorance while those who 
 held it on lease retained it for bullalo and beaver and 
 other fur-bearing animals, is one of the most fertile parts 
 of our empire, and may soon become one of the chief 
 granaries of the world. 
 
 This district which is sometimes called the Prairie 
 Eegion of Canada, and which includes the best portion 
 of the North-West Territories, may bo roughly described 
 as a great triangle, one side stretching for nearly one 
 thousand miles along the international boundary lino — 
 the 49th parallel ; a. -^ther extending from the btnmdary 
 northwai'd, in part along the foot of the Hocky Moun- 
 tains, for about eight or nine hundred miles; while the 
 base of the triangle is formed iu a broken and irregular 
 
 ( 
 
 i II 
 
 S' 
 
 
no 
 
 MOUNTATN AND PRAIRIE 
 
 . «( 
 
 . t 
 
 way by the chain of lakes that stretch from the Lake 
 of the Woods, a littl'' east of Manitoba, north-westward 
 to Great Slave Lake. 
 
 The estimated area of this prairie region is not less 
 than three hundred millions of acres, that is, about ten 
 times the size of England. Manitoba, covering nine 
 millions of acres in the south-east corner of this vast 
 triangle, is as comjiared with the whole territory little 
 moi-e than one square on the chess-board. It is un water- 
 ed by a great system of rivers that flow into the chain of 
 lakes which bound it along the north-east, and these 
 lakes, in turn, are emptied by another river-system that 
 flows through the remoter north land into the Arctic 
 Ocean and Hudson's Bay. The Peace and the Atha- 
 basca cut across the northern portion of this territory ; 
 the Saskatchewan cleaves its way for a thousand miles 
 through the rich central districts ; while through the 
 south-eastern j)Ortions flow the Assmiboine and the Red 
 Hiver, which unite their waters at Winnipeg, the capital 
 of Manitoba and present gateway of the North- West. 
 
 This immense territory, as well as that lying to the 
 north, was, for two centuries, held by the Hudson's Bay 
 Company. For a time their exclusive right to it was dis- 
 puted by a rival fur-trading corporation, the North- West 
 Company, which was formed in 1783, consisting chiefly 
 of French and Scottish residents in the old Province of 
 Lower Canada. This Company following the track of 
 
nUDSOS'S HOPE TO BUN VEGAN. 
 
 171 
 
 ^ 
 
 Verandaye, who had travelled from the St. Lawrence to 
 the Saskatchewan, pushed the fur-trade with great vigour, 
 extending their operations even to the Pacific. They 
 soon camo into collision ^v'ith the older corporation, and 
 not content with the peaceful rivalry of commerce, tho 
 servants of the two companies had many a bloody con- 
 flict, until the antagonism that was proving fatal alike to 
 the lives of the traders, the profits of the traffic, and the 
 peace of the natives was ended by the amalgamation of 
 the two companies in 1821, under the title of the older 
 corporation. 
 
 Thus reinforced, the Hudson's Bay Company secured 
 increased privileges and extended their sway over all 
 except our older Provinces from ocean to ocean, and from 
 the mouth of the McKenzie to the borders of California, 
 for there was no doubt nor dispute at that time about the 
 rightful ownership of Oregon. Subsequently their terri- 
 tory was diminished, first by the sacrifice of Oregon to 
 the demands of the United States, and later, when Van- 
 couver Island and British Columbia were erected into 
 Crown Colonies, but it was not until 1870, on the transfer 
 of the North- West Territories to Caniuia, that the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company, the last of the great monopolies that 
 have figured so largely in the colonial and commercial 
 annals of England, gave up their exclusive right to the 
 vast country that they had so long possessed. 
 
 During their tenure of the land, it hud been the policy 
 
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 172 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PliAIRIE. 
 
 of the Company to retain it as a great fur-preserve, and 
 therefore, they kept the outer world as far as possible in 
 ignorance of its resources and its capabilities, of its illim- 
 itable fertile prairies and its inexhaustible stores of coal, 
 of its capacity to support a population perhaps twenty 
 times as large as the present population of Canada. But 
 the time had come when the gates must bo unbarred, 
 when, through the efforts of successive travellers the 
 character of the country was becoming known, while 
 competent men declared that the greater portion of the 
 wheat-lands of the continent were contained within this 
 territoiy that had so long been sacred to the fur-trade. 
 The settlement of the country could be delayed no 
 longer, and the Company, recognizing the necessity that 
 had been thrust upon them, and unable to secure the con- 
 tinuance of all their chartered jjrivilegcs, transferred to 
 Canada their right and title to the whole tewitory ; and, 
 although on the Prairie Eegion the diminished yield of 
 furs, the increase of competition, and the progress of 
 settlement must reduce their traffic, yet, in the remoter 
 north-land competition will be powerless for many 
 years to come, and both soil and climate will protect 
 them from the inroads of colonisation. 
 
 The Company, consisting originally of Prince Eupert 
 and seventeen others, acquired their right and title 
 as *' the Governor and Company of adventurers trading 
 with Hudson's Bay, " under charter from Charles 
 
nUDSON'S HOPE TO BUS VEGAN. 
 
 n3 
 
 the Second on the easy terms llmt two elks and two 
 black beavers should be paid to the king whenever 
 he might come into the country. They received in 
 extinction of their claim the payment of one and a half 
 millions of dollars, the grant of fifty thousand acres 
 selected in the vicinity of their forts or trading-posts, 
 and the reserve o:* one-twentieth of the so-called " fertUe 
 belt,'' that is, of the portion of the j^rairie region lying 
 south of the north branch of the Saskatchewan. 
 
 "When we reached Iludson'.s Iloi^e we had comj^letely 
 passed the Mountains, even such outlying spui's as the 
 Portage Mountain and the Buffalo's Head; and here, 
 still following the Peace, we entered on the great Prairie 
 ^Region, for the river carves its way through the upper 
 portion of this vast fertile triangle in its course to the 
 Northern Sea. 
 
 The Ilope is an outpost of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 station at Fort St. John, forty-three miles further down 
 the river, and is the most western post of the Dunvegan 
 district. The agent, Charlette Dumas, an active, sinewy, 
 kind and trustworth}^ half-breed, with a guest of his, 
 Bob Armstrong, gave us a cordial welcome when we 
 visited them soon after our arrival. Bob is a specimen 
 of character more frequently met in British Columbia 
 than elsewhere in Canada, an educated, intelligent 
 rambler, gold-hunter and trapper by turn, captivated by 
 the wandering life for which this country affords abundant 
 
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 174 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE 
 
 scope, and now grown so accustomed to it that a city 
 would seem to him like a prison He had just returned 
 from Moberley's Lake where he had been " fishing for 
 the dogs,' as he expressed it that is, catching fish to 
 feed the dogs, for dogs must be fed summer and winter, 
 in order to bo ready for their winters work. While 
 feeding the dogs, Bob had also been doing something 
 towards the provision supply of the post, but this re- 
 sponsibility rests mainly upon the Indian hunters, while 
 Dumas himself attends to fur-trading, As the hunters 
 usually devote themselves to one kind of game at a time, 
 the people at the Hope, as at the other smallei trading- 
 })03t8, have not much variety of food ; when they have 
 moose they have little else than moose, and when they 
 have fish or bear it is, as Armstrong said, " fish or bear 
 straight.'' 
 
 Throughout the Peace Eiver country the moose is to 
 the Indian almost everything that the buffalo is to the 
 hunter of the plains, for this is the best moose country 
 in Canada. The flesh is his chief article of food j the 
 skin, when tanned, is the great material for dress, at least 
 for winter costume, while untanned it is used for count- 
 less liurjiosoSj among others as the covering; for his tent 
 or tepee ; and cut into strips, in which form it is known 
 as '• shagunuppi," it serves in almost every manufacture, 
 and for all kinds of repairs When moose are plentiful 
 traders and Indians live well, for moose moulUc and 
 
 I 
 
HUDSON'S HOPE TO DUN VEGAN 
 
 1*75 
 
 tongue is a dish for kings to dine upon. Sometimes, 
 however, when the hunters are unsuccessful foj" several 
 weeks, the people at some of the posts may be reduced 
 to the verge of starvation. Two years ago Dumas was 
 compelled to kill one of his horses for food, and last 
 spring he and his family had to eat some ol" the parch- 
 ments which had served as window panes, and only 
 regretted that they aad not enough of them. 
 
 Yet, while dej)endent for food on the precarious supply 
 of the chase, they might at this trading-post, as at every 
 other throughout the Dunvegan district, raise abundance 
 of stock and excellent crops with very little difficulty. 
 The soil of the broad river flat on which the house is situ- 
 ated is of the richest loam, and in the little garden 
 attached to it wheat and vegetables grow to perfection. 
 On the elevated plateaux, far above the river level, the 
 grass is so abundant that horses and cattle can feed in large 
 numbers. The horses can winter out, and sufficient wild 
 hay could, with no great labour, be cut for winter-feeding 
 a large number of cattle. Dumas informed us that some- 
 times frost occurs late in the spring, although potatoes 
 are usua^y planted by the first week in May. It had 
 occurred, for instance, on the 15th May preceding our visit, 
 but they rarely have any frost from that time until Sejj- 
 tember, the river being u ually open until the beginning 
 of December. 
 
 Indeed, we had already observed the marked eliange 
 
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 MO VNTA /.V A XD PR A TRIE. 
 
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 that there is between the climate on the east, and that 
 on the west side of the Eocky Mountains, that on the 
 east being drier and much warmer. Tliis is probably due 
 in part at least, to the fact that the prevailing westerly 
 winds blowing from the Pacific have, by the time they 
 come so far Inland, been relieved of much of their mois- 
 ture, — first by the Cascade Eange, and then by the 
 Eocky Mountains, — and becoming drier they become 
 warmer, while at the same time the general level of the 
 country here is lower than that of northern British 
 Columbia. But the temperate climate is, no doubt, caused 
 also in part by the warm current of air, the Gulf Stream 
 of the atmosphere, that flows from the south along the cen- 
 tral part of the continent. From the Gulf of Mexico, a 
 ^reat plain occupies nearly all the central portion of North 
 America as far as the Arctic Sea. Along this region of 
 plain and prairie the heated air of the tropics must move 
 northwards, and probably to this, as much as to the 
 winds from the Pacific, we owe the moderate climate of 
 our North-West. One naturally forms an impression of 
 the climate of this country from the lati+ude, an impres- 
 sion that in the minds of many has been confirmed by 
 reading Butler s Wild North Land, a record of a winter 
 trip when the lakes and rivers were ice-bound and the 
 country was covered with snow. But one might as cor- 
 rectly form his impressions of the climate of Ontario 
 by the \v^iiitry photographs that English visitors in 
 
 II 
 
Ti 
 
 HUDSON'S IIOFE TO DVNVEGAX. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Canada ho frequently send to their friends at liome. 
 Here, at Hudson's Hope, for instance, the climate is as 
 conducive to life and comfort as it is in Ontario, ten 
 degrees further south, while, throughout the North-West 
 Territory, with its dry air, its bright sunshine, and its 
 cool summer nights, fevers and bronchial affections are 
 almost unknown, and the conditions for health and labour 
 are peculiarly favourable. 
 
 At Hudson's Hope the fertile part of the Peace River 
 district may be said to commence, for above the Caiion 
 the land suitable for farming is very limited. As yet, 
 i~^.deed, the only places occupied by the white man, 
 throughout this vast northern country, are the Hudson's 
 Bay Company posts, a few mission stations^ and two or 
 three " free-traders' " establishments, and these are uni- 
 formly found on the fertile flats near the river's edge. 
 On these flats the soil is usually of the richest character ; 
 the garden at the Hope, for instance, though but poorly 
 cultivated, yields as good vegetables as are found in any 
 of our eastern markets, with excellent wheat and barley, 
 though these are grown in quantities so small as simply 
 to serve as samples of what the district might produce. 
 On a similar flat at Fort St. John, wheat, barley, and a 
 great variety of vegetables, are successfully cultivated, 
 while a still greater variety, including cucumbers, are 
 grown at Dunvegan, ninety-seven miles below Fort St. 
 John. It is the same at all the Hudson's Bay Company 
 
 13 
 
 liiji 
 
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 178 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PliAIIilE. 
 
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 poets along the valley of the Peace. "Wheat is grown as 
 far north as Fort Simpson in lat : 02° ; while wheat and 
 barley grown at the Chipewyan Mission, on Lake Atha- 
 baska, in lat: 58° 42", fully 600 miles north of Winnipeg, 
 took a medal at the Centennial exhibition in Philirdel- 
 phia in 187G. 
 
 By the Peace Hiver district, however, wo do not mean 
 merely the fertile flats that skirt the river, but the vast 
 plateau that, with few interruptions, extends in un- 
 broken level for many miles on either side, at an altitude, 
 in this western part, of about nine hundred feet above 
 the river level, an altitude that gradually diminishes to 
 about fifty feet below Yermilion, five hundred miles 
 further down the river. This plateau, through which 
 the Peace winds with a gentle current and almost as 
 uniformly as a canal, is narrow near Hudson's Hope, but 
 widens as it stretches eastward. Along the north bank, 
 for a width varying from twenty-five to seventy miles, the 
 land is known to be very fertile, partly well timbered, 
 partly covered with light poplar, partly prairie, with 
 rich herbage, luxuriant wild hay and j)ea-vine, at least 
 as far as the Salt Springs on Slave Eiver; while on the 
 south side it embraces one of the most fertile and prom- 
 ising tracts of the North- West, known as La Grande 
 Prairie, and, pursuing a south-easterly direction across 
 the Athabasca to Edmonton, the greater portion of the 
 land is fit for cultivation. 
 

 nUD/^OS'S HOPE TO DUNVEGAN. 
 
 179 
 
 For our journey down the rivor bolow the Canon we 
 could not procure a boat, nor could we oven obtain 
 canoes ; wo were therefore compelled to make a raft, ou 
 which wo drifted slowly down to Dunvcgan, one hundred 
 and forty miles, the current of the river being here some- 
 what slacker than it is nearer the mountains. Some- 
 times the river is not more than eight hundred feet in 
 width, but frequently it broadens to half a mile, encir- 
 cling islands in its flow. These islands are very beautiful, 
 some being thickly wooded, and gracefully arched, rising 
 like domes from the water's level — others, such as Los 
 Isles des Pierres, about five miles below Hudson's Hope, 
 being rocky, with flat lightly-wooded tops and preci- 
 pitous sides, along which the sandstone strata are 
 clearly marked, looking at a little distance as regular as 
 masonry. The benches or terraces, continue, but not in 
 so marked a manner, nor in so great a number as above 
 the Canon. Occasionally we ascended the plateau and 
 found the soil uniformly fertile, — in some parts heavily 
 timbered, in others lightly wooded with poplar copse, — 
 with occasional stretches of open prairie that increased 
 in number and extent as we moved eastward. 
 
 Drifting down a large and gentle river on a raft is not 
 very exciting ; it had, however, in our case at least, the 
 one advantage of allowing us leisure to observe the 
 scenery, which, though here not wild nor mountainous, is 
 by no means monotonous. The river flows in long, sweep- 
 
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 ft, _ 
 
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180 
 
 MOVSTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 ■•1 tit !'■ \ 
 
 
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 ing curves, with easy equable current. Borne onward by 
 its flow one fails to recognise the even level of the upper 
 plateau, as the lofty banks are so varied by valley and 
 ravine, by slope and terrace. Sometimes they are steep, 
 almost precipitous, walls of shale, sandstone or indurated 
 clay, — sometimes they are fringed by wooded flat or 
 shelving beach, with here a land-slide exposing a bank 
 of clay, there a deep gorge, its sides peeled to the bare 
 sand-stone or clothed with foliage. Now the valley 
 broadens, so that the expanded waters flow more gently, 
 again it narrows as if to impede the river, which is thus 
 forced into a stronger current. Each afternoon, for it 
 was now the last week of July, a heavy haze, deepening 
 as the day wore on, hung over the river, and, looking ber 
 hind us, it seemed to take a warm golden tinge from the 
 light of the westering sun. It was not fog nor smoke; 
 it reminded us of pictures of tropical scenery in which 
 form and colour alike grow indistinct as river and bank 
 and island are shrouded in dimness caused by the vapour 
 and the heat. 
 
 In a wide bend on the northern bank of the river 
 where the valley broadens to nearly a mile, backed by 
 grassy and lightly wooded slopes, nestles the little post 
 of Fort St. John. An older building than the present 
 one stood, some years ago, on the opposite bank, where 
 the gai*den of the P^ort is now ; and a still older Fort St. 
 John once stood about fifteen miles below this, at the 
 
u 
 
 r i 
 
 HUDSON'S HOPE TO DUN VEGAN. 
 
 181 
 
 ard by 
 1 upper 
 ey and 
 > Bteep, 
 lurated 
 flat or 
 a bank 
 10 bare 
 
 valley 
 gently, 
 is thus 
 1, for it 
 3pening 
 king be^ 
 •om the 
 smoke ; 
 
 which 
 id bank 
 vapour 
 
 river 
 ked by 
 ;lo post 
 present 
 
 where 
 \)rt St. 
 
 at tho 
 
 
 mouth of the North Pine Eiver The present Fort is of 
 the usual pattern of the smaller Hudson's Bay posts, — a 
 very plain building of squared logs, with store and out- 
 houses attached; while nearer the beach stands the log 
 cabin recently occupied by tho notorious Nigger Dan 
 
 We ascended the plateau and walked back about a 
 mile. The soil is surprisingly rich and the vegetation 
 very luxuriant. Mr. Selwyn, who rode about seven 
 miles from the river over the table-land or plateau, 
 describes it as " a fine level or slightly undulating coun- 
 try, covered with the richest herbage of astonishing 
 luxuriance," and he adds. "I have seen nothing in the 
 Saskatchewan region that at all equals it ; both the soil 
 and the climate here arc better. "-f^ Nigger Dan, however, 
 who is an experienced gardener, and to whom ,we are 
 indebted for some of the most recent records of climate 
 at Fort St. John, where he lived for several years, differs 
 from Mr. Selwj n in this comparison of tho valleys of 
 the Saskatchewan and (he Peace. Having spent, unwil- 
 lingly, the summer of 1879 at Foi't Saskatchewan, ho says 
 that he considers the Edmonton District superior to the 
 Peace Kiver country both in regard to soil and climate. 
 
 The day being very clear and cool with a strong wind 
 from the west, we could see tho liocky Mountains, some 
 seventy miles away there being apparently nothing but 
 prairie between us and them. To the south of the Peace 
 
 •Report) of PruKross), Geol. Survey of Cuimda, 1875-76, p. 51. 
 
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 .1 
 
 ll'l 
 
182 
 
 3I0UNTAiy AND mAIRIE. 
 
 
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 the country Hoemod to be about the same level as that on 
 which we stood, that is, about nine hundred feet above 
 the river, at least as far back as the valley of the Pine 
 River, which joins the Peace about five miles below Fort 
 St. John Beyond the Pine Eiver we could see low roll- 
 ing hills, but between the two valleys, away up as ftir as 
 Hudson's Ilope, there was unbroken plateau. 
 
 It was now indeed, for the first time, that we began to 
 realize the character of the country on which we had 
 entered. Thus far we had only seen the western end of 
 this fertile plateau, where it narrows towards the moun- 
 tains. To the east it stretches for many leagues, in 
 almost unbroken level, as far as Lesser Slave Lake ; — to 
 the north we know not accurately how fai, as explora- 
 tion has hitherto been confined to the vicinity of the 
 river valley. To the south-east, after you have passed 
 the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, the plateau ex- 
 tends, with few interruptions, to the valley of the Sas- 
 katchewan 
 
 Some parts of this plateau are indented with valleys, 
 or broken by low ranges of hills, some are wooded 
 densely or lightly and others are covered with the 
 ricliost grass Turn up the soil and almost everywhere 
 you find it rich with promise of the most bountiful re- 
 turns for any that will till it. Follow the course of the 
 broad Peace River as it winds in long sweeping curvoe 
 through this vast fertile country, and though you find \U 
 
\ 
 
 jiuDSoxs norr. to dvnvegah. 
 
 183 
 
 sides, now grooved by land-slips or carved and rolled into 
 terraces, now covered with trees or grassy as a lawn, yet, 
 above and beyond all the windings of the river and the 
 varied contour of its banks, stretches the prairie in 
 miles of superior soil, vast, rich and silent, traversed 
 only by the few Indians that disturb the solitude. Eecords 
 of tho climate kept at Fort St. John shew that the first 
 snow-fall usually occurs towards the end of October; tho 
 average date for the first appearance of ice on the river 
 is about the *7th November, and for the opening of tho 
 river about the 20th April, while planting [)egin8 early 
 in May, and potato digging about the third week in 
 September. The average depth of snow does not exceed 
 two and a half to throe feet; and here, as throu.G;}iout 
 the district, the horses winter out, finding abundant grass 
 on the neighbouring slopes and plateaux. Major Butler 
 states that when he passed here he encountered the 
 first mosquito of tho year on the 20 ih April, an incident 
 that to many in Ontario may be expressive of the early 
 opening of tho season. 
 
 We left Fort St. John at noon on the 30th July. Five 
 miles below tho Fort we passed the mouth of Pine River 
 which flows in from the south, a river that has become 
 well-known to many, at least by name, in connection 
 with one of the proposed routes of the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway, as the valley of the Pine River offers poi-liapa 
 the easiest and most practicable Pans through the Rocky 
 

 I i 
 
 184 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 I .1 ■ 
 
 
 i 
 
 l1 
 
 
 'li 
 
 n P 
 
 I 
 
 Mountains. Were it desiraljle to select a Pacific terminus 
 for our trans-continental roud as far north as Port Simp- 
 son, there would be no serious engineering difficulties in 
 constructing a line from the prairie region, by way of 
 Pine River Pass and the neighbourhood of Babinc, down 
 the valley of the Skeena to the coast. Below the mouth 
 of the Pine the Peace is dotted witli numerous islands, 
 which have apparently been produced V)y land slides or 
 by alluvial deposits washed down by the current, as they 
 show evidence of good soil similar to that on the flats 
 along the river banks. 
 
 Later in the afternoon we passed the mouth of North 
 Pine River, which joins the Peace about ten miles below 
 the mouth of the stream of the same name that flows in 
 from the south. Here stood the old Fort St. John which 
 was in 1823 the scene of a horrible massacre. Hughes, 
 the only White man then at the fort, had in some way 
 aroused the anger of an Indian, who, entering the store 
 soon after with some companions, threatened to take his 
 life, and before any defence was possible shot him dead. 
 At the time a party of H. B. Company voyageurs were 
 coming down the river from Hudson's Hope, and were 
 approaching the Fort immediately after the murder, 
 when an old woman shouted to them to keep away, as 
 the Indians had iilroady killed the agent. Either not 
 Understanding or not believing her they landeu, but as 
 they did so the whole crew, four in number, were shot. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
firDSON'S HOPE TO DUXVEGAN. 
 
 18f> 
 
 Shortly after another crew coming down the river towards 
 the Fort, were hailed and warned by the old Indian woman. 
 The interpreter, Charlette Lafleur, who was in the caiioo, 
 believing the woman's story, told the rest of the crew, and 
 they at once took the other side of the river and pa^sscd 
 down to Dunvegan. j^ few days later a Rolitai*y Indian, 
 who is still living at Fort Vermilion, was coming down 
 the river with letters from Hudson's Hope. Landing at 
 Fort St. John, he found the place utterly abandoned, ex- 
 cept by dogs that held carnival over the ir 1)uried re- 
 mains of the dead, As soon as word was brougii i to Dunvo- 
 gan Mr. McLeod, the agent then in charge, sent men in 
 pursuit of the murderers, but the whole band, who were not - 
 Beaver Indians but Sicanies, had vanished, some crossing 
 the Eocky Mountains, others fleeing in the direction of 
 the Lower Mackenzie, all escaping beyond capture. 
 Even the Beaver Indians fled for a time from the coun- 
 try, so that the whole district was abandoned. Dun- 
 vegan had to be deserted, as there were no longer any to 
 trade with. Subsequently the Beavers returned to their 
 old hunting grounds, and asked the Company to re-open 
 their post at Dunvegan, which they did in 1828; but 
 forty years passed before a station was re-opened in the 
 neighbourhood of old Fort St. John, and then it was not 
 at the scene of the massacre, but at a spot above it on 
 the opposite side of the river, from which it was after- 
 wards romovod to the present site. 
 
 i 
 
 I ! 
 
i\ 
 
 186 
 
 MOUNTAIS AND PBAIRIE. 
 
 II 
 
 ' J 
 
 '■1^ 
 
 If 11 i 
 
 I 
 
 I ( ' 
 
 Our life on the raft was varied by the excitement of 
 looking for bears along the grassy slopes of the north 
 bank, as there is here a great profusion of saskatum, or 
 service-berry bushes, and the bears, being exceedingly 
 fond of these berries, come out upon the high sloping 
 banks to enjoy them. Sometimes we saw ten or twelve in 
 a day, although in almost every instance they were beyond 
 range of our rifles, and we could not spare time for hunt- 
 ing. The dj^^ after we left Fort St. John, however, we 
 saw one so near that McLeod, Major and I were induced 
 to go ashore for a chase. Snubbing the raft to a tree, up wo 
 went through the thicket and along the flat, and then over 
 the low grassy hills, one of the young Indians leading at 
 a rapid pace. "We had tried to arrange a plan of action 
 so that the rifles would be stationed to the best advan- 
 tage before we closed in upon our game, but Peter the 
 Indian was so eager that he simply gave chase liko a 
 sleuth-hound, while we three followed to the best of our 
 ability, hurrying- to such points as we thought the bear 
 might probably pass if escaping the nearest rifle. We 
 soon heard the crack of the Indian's gun, and saw a 
 huge black bear rolling heels over head down the hill in 
 a direct line for Major, who fired at him, and then 
 stepped quickly and gracefully aside to give him the 
 road, thinking that he must bo already in the throes of 
 death. None of us, except th© Indian who could not 
 
 down hill. 
 
 epeak Engli 
 
 lying 
 
''i\ 
 
 I 
 
 
 nUDSOS^'8 HOPE TO DUWEOAN. 
 
 187 
 
 frequently prefers to roll heels over head, as he makes 
 more speed in this way than by running, his fore legs 
 being so much shorter than his hind legs. What was 
 Major's surprise to find that the bear, af^or rolling to 
 the foot of the hill, instead of resting in eternal stillness 
 hurried oif into the bushes. "We gave chase, tracking 
 him, as best we could, by the blood which stained the 
 grass and bushes, but we frequently got off the scent for 
 a time and so made slow progress. "We had a dog, the 
 property of our foreman, McNeill, but whistle and call 
 alike failed to wile him from the provision stores on the 
 raft, so, after following the blood-stained trail for about 
 a mile, we gave up the chase, and returned to the raft, 
 finding the remaining members of the i)arty in a state 
 of eager expectation, which was soon changed into bitter 
 disappointment as our failure dispelled the vision of 
 bear-steak that had risen before their minds. In the 
 afternoon of the same day we had another bear hunt ; 
 this time it was a grizzly. "We thought wo had him as 
 an easy j)rey, for he was swimming across the river, and 
 though at some distance above us seemed to be carried to- 
 wards us by the current ; but the same current was hurj-y- 
 ing us on also, and a raft is rather unwieldy in a strong 
 stream. Bang 1 bang I went rifle and shot gun, but, 
 though a shower of lead fell around him, he seemed to 
 have a charmed life, or something was seriously wrong 
 with our rifles, — we shall not say with our riflemen. In 
 
 t'l^i 
 
 » ! 
 
 1 
 
 i 'I 
 
 
|.: 
 
 188 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND I'/IATRIE. 
 
 the evening around the camp-fire there was a general 
 feeling of self-condemnation that we had to make our 
 supper off the old stand-by of bacon and beans, instead 
 of having a toothsome slice of fresh bear. 
 
 Several times in our course down the river, when we 
 ascended the plateau, we were unable, on account of the 
 clumps of wood, to obtain any very extensive view. The 
 trail by which Messrs. Macoun and Horetzky travelled, in 
 1872, runs below Fort St. John, on the south side of the 
 Peace. Of the country along the southern bank, at a little 
 distance from the rough and thickly wooded part that 
 borders the river between Dunvegan and Fort St. John, 
 Mr. Horetzky writes : — *' The whole country passed over 
 " during these few days was varied in appearance, the trail 
 " passing through wood and prairie, principally the 
 " former, and for the last two days through a rough coun- 
 " try covered with dense forest. A good many large 
 " creeks were crossed, and they invariably flowed through 
 *' deep depressions cut out by themselves, to a depth of 
 *' three and four hundred feet where we passed over them. 
 " Some very beautiful prairie land was also seen, but wo 
 " always kept to the north of La Grande Prairie, which 
 " unfortunately we hau not time to visit. Still the 
 " favourable appearance of the country we had passed 
 " through argued greatly in favour of the more southern 
 " section about which we had heard so much."* 
 
 • Canada ou the Pacific : -p 47. 
 
1 
 
 Grently but steadily we were swept onward towards 
 Dunvegan, the central II. B. Comjiany's post of the 
 Peace River district, reaching it on the 1st August. 
 Since leaving Fort St. James, at Stewart's Lake (the 
 central depot of New Caledonia), this was the point 
 towards which our thoughts were turned, for here we 
 would rendezvous for a short time, here would begin for 
 some of us the homeward journey, and here, though still 
 more than twelve hundred miles from Winnipeg, we would 
 at least seem to be nearing home. 
 
 The name Dunvegan recalled a scene very different 
 from any to be met with on the banks of the Peace. 
 Far away on the north coast of Skye, on a rocky steep 
 washed by the wild Atlantic, stands Dunvegan the Castle 
 of McLeod. To the west can be seen the lonely Island 
 of Lewis, but for the rest that western view is one of sea 
 and sky, — the ocean in calm and in storm, — the sky in 
 dull grey or deej) blue, its clouds torn and broken in the 
 tempest or resting motionless in purple and gold near 
 the setting sun. To the south rise the grim hills of 
 Coolinj to the east the mountains of the main land. 
 From that country of beauty and romance, of wild scenery, 
 weird legend and thrilling memories, came one of the 
 McLeods, many years ago, with fond recollections of his 
 northern home, and, as he phmted this fur-trading post 
 in the distant west, he named il after the chief castle of 
 his clan. 
 
 il 
 
 I' 
 
 1^ \ 
 
 ! t 
 
 H 
 

 . ,■ . ' ( 
 
 
 100 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 How fondly and frequently the thoughts of the Scottish 
 Highlander turn to the home of his childhood. He recalla 
 the outline of each hill as if it were some dear familiar 
 face ; he sees the well-known loch, now mirroring the 
 sky, and now whipped into foam by a squall from some 
 neighbouring glen ; he treads again, as in boyhood, the 
 winding path to the church, j'^ins in the service with 
 lowly and simple worshippers, and lingers in the kirk- 
 yard where the dust of his fathers is laid. He may pass 
 from that early home through the impulse, it may be, of 
 an honourable ambition, or perhaps forced through the 
 selfishness of the lords of the soil. Let him revisit the 
 land of his fathers, he may find many of the glens now 
 silent save for the bleating of the sheep, the old church 
 perhaps closed for VQvy lack of worshippers, monu- 
 ments in the kirk-yard to the memory of those who have 
 jiow no living representative in the land that once knew 
 them, while in some little church-yard in Glengarry or 
 Pictou, or other j)art8 of Canada that were settled by 
 Scottish Highlanders, may be found tombstones bearing 
 the same names, and, close by, the living heirs of the 
 men that once peopled those Highland glens. Yet meet 
 him where jou may you will find that, so long at least 
 as he is true to the habits and the memories of his early 
 years, the Highlander is strong in courage and fidelity, 
 strong in self-reliance and in simplicity of life, and, as a 
 tender tribute to the memory of the old land, he transfers 
 
1 
 
 HUDSON'S HOPE TO DUNVEGAS. 
 
 191 
 
 at least the names of her lochs and hills and castles to the 
 land of his adoption. 
 
 Yery unlike the original Dunvegau ib this H. B. Com- 
 pany's post that bears that Highland name. It stands 
 on a broad low flat in a large bend, on the northern bank 
 of the river, some thirty feet above the water level. 
 Behind it rises an abrupt ridge, broken by grassy slopes 
 and knolls, and leading to the rich pasture land of the 
 plateau that spreads its vast expanse eight hundred feet 
 above the fort. A new residence has recently been built, 
 and a new store is in course of completion, but with these 
 exceptions the buildings have a neglected, outworn look, 
 as if in the prospect of the new the old had not been 
 protected against decay. 
 
 At the time of our visit the Indians from the surround- 
 ing country had gathered near Dunvegan, to collect 
 service-berries for spicing their moose pemmican, 
 and to procure supplies for their autumn hunt. 
 As they came in on the Sabbath morning to the 
 Eoman Catholic mission in the neighbourhood of the 
 Fort, they inspected us and our tents with the liveliest 
 curiosity, many of them lingering around the fire where 
 the cook was at work in evident anticipation of some 
 show of hospitality on our part. They presented every 
 variety of Indian dress and fashion, except the war 
 paint ; some wore the old Hudson s Bay capote of navy- 
 blue cloth with brass buttons ; some wore skin coats 
 
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 I 
 
 i 
 
 91' 
 
192 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PJiAiniE. 
 
 P ' 
 
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 ^|E 'i 
 
 richly tasselated ; others were gorgeous in embroidered 
 leggings, or in hats trimmed with feathers and gay- 
 ribbons ; while the women were dressed simply in 
 tartans, bright patterns being evidently preferred, aa 
 if Scottish taste prevailed in the selection of imported 
 goods a3 well as in the naming of the forts. And 
 Scottish influence does largely prevail, — for almost every 
 H. B. Company's agent from Dun vegan to the mouth of 
 the Mackenzie is a Scotchman by birth or by descent, and 
 it is a common saying there, as in other parts of the 
 North-TVest, that the success of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany is due to Scotchmen and shaganajipi. 
 
 On& of these Indians, Moostoos by name, was worth 
 seeing, for he had passed through the rare experience of 
 fighting a grizzly bear and living to tell it. The black 
 bear is a common enough foe for these men to face, but 
 few men survive a hand-to-hand encounter with a grizzly. 
 Moostoos had come unexpectedly upon one that he found 
 gorgmg himself on the rei-^ains of a black bear, and the 
 grizzly at once turned on him. The Indian kept his 
 ground, and as the bear rose on his hind legs to 
 attack him he aimed at his breast, drew the trigger, but 
 the old flint-lock missed fire. Immediately the grizzly 
 sprang forward, and as he did so the Indian drew his 
 knife, but with one blow the bear struck it from him 
 and then felled him to the ground utterly defence- 
 less. Eis only possible chance now was to feign death, 
 
 '!• 
 
nUDSGN'S nOPE TO DrKVFGAS. 
 
 103 
 
 )roidered 
 and gay 
 mply iii 
 erred, aa 
 imported 
 ■ts. And 
 lost every 
 , mouth ot 
 scent, and 
 ,rts of the 
 Bay Com- 
 
 for many a wild animal, if not hungry, will leave a man 
 an soon aa he seems to be dead. With tooth and claw 
 the bear tore his flesh, at one stroke taking away his 
 scalp, carrying the right ear with it, at another stripping 
 a large piece from his shoulder, at another rending a 
 piece from his side. Through all this torture poor 
 Moostoos remained conscious, but was motionless as a 
 coi'pse till the grizzly, apparently thinking tluit he was 
 dead, moved olf, and then the lacerated man dragged 
 himself to the camp. He has never wholly recovered, 
 though it is four years since this happened, but he still 
 hunts with much energy and success. It is hardly 
 possible for him, however, to go nearer to the jaws of 
 death without finding them close on him. for ever than 
 he did in his fight with the grizzly. 
 
 There is a Eoman Catholic Mission near Dunvegan 
 r^onducted by Pere Tessier, one of the Oblate Fathers, 
 who was sufficiently liberal in spirit to join with us in 
 our service on the evening of the Sunday that we spent 
 here.* The Pdre told us that he had observed some 
 improvement among the Indians of later years, which 
 he ascribes to the influence of the Mission, especially in 
 their increasing regard for the marriage tie. and their 
 
 •The form of service used by us, on this as on almost every other 
 Sunday was one of those which, prepared by three clergymen of tlie 
 Anglican, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian Churches, have bein 
 published under the title of Short Sunday Services/or Travellers, by 
 Dawson Brothers, Montreal. 
 
 14 
 
 in 
 
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 194 
 
 3I0UNTAIN AND PBATRIE. 
 
 carefulness in observing the Sabbath — things not only 
 good in themselves, but probable indications of improve- 
 ment in other respects. It used to be common enough for 
 husband and wife to desert each other according to the 
 attractions offered by some third party, as well as for 
 the husband to take to his wigwam more than one wife, 
 his practice of polygamy depending chiefly upon the 
 amount of his worldly property and on his ability to 
 keep his lodge supplied with game. Gradually however 
 they are improving in this respect, as they are also in 
 keoj^ing the Sabbath. As yet their chief way of observ- 
 ing it is by abstaining from travelling or hunting, 
 though sometimes, like their better educated white 
 brethren, they try to bring conscience and desire into 
 harmony by starting on a journey on Saturday and 
 pleading the necessity of continuing it on Sunday. Yet 
 some of them regard this, as one of themselves expressed 
 it, as "trying to dodge the devil around the stump." 
 
 Mission work, however, must make very slow progress 
 among them, if for no other reason, on account of their 
 wandering life, as thoy are hunting during a great por- 
 tion of the year, and while hunting thoy are generally 
 separated, or banded perhaps in groups of not more 
 than two or three families. There is thus little or no 
 opportunity of educating their children, or of acquainting 
 ■either old or young with more than the outward forms 
 and requirements of Christianity. Son oral niisslons are 
 
 ■f ^ 
 
 
 1 
 
i^l 
 
 1 
 
 )t only 
 iprove- 
 igh for 
 ; to the 
 1 as for 
 le wife, 
 lon the 
 )iUty to 
 lowever 
 ) also in 
 ' observ- 
 [lunting, 
 i white 
 isiro inta 
 ay and 
 [ly. Yet 
 IxproBsed 
 
 p" 
 
 in'ogross 
 of their 
 |reat por- 
 :ciioraUy 
 lot more 
 tlo or no 
 uainUng 
 ,rd forms 
 iBiouB are 
 
 HUDSON'S HOPE TO DUNVEGAX. 
 
 195 
 
 maintained in this remote part of the North-West by the 
 Oblate Fathers, the only Protestant missions throughout 
 the district being those of the Church of England under 
 the direction of Bishop Bompus, the Bishop of Athabasca, 
 whose head-quarters are at Fort Cliipowyan. In addition 
 to the bishoj) there are four clergymen scattered through- 
 out this vast diocese, one at Vermilion, two on the Mac- 
 kenzie, and one on the Yucon. They labour unweariedly 
 among their widely scattered flocks, the bishop himself, 
 as well as the others, very frequently visiting the Indians 
 on their hunting exj^editions. They have to face many 
 discouragements, not only from the difficulties of travel 
 but from the slow and small results that they can witness 
 from their labours, as the wandering life of the people 
 precludes anything like the success that has attended 
 some of the miswions to the Indians of British Columbia, 
 notably that established by ]\Ii'. Duncan at Metlahkatlah. 
 Efforts are being made to secure the education of the 
 children, and if possible to induce some of the Indiana 
 to cultivate the soil, bur where ganie is so abundant it 
 cannot be expected that the Indians will take to farming 
 for many years to come. 
 
 tli I • 
 
 I 1 
 
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 r 
 
 1 
 
 I! > 
 
 iM 
 
 CHAPTER YIIL 
 
 PEACE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 Province of Unchagah. — Outfits of exploring parties. — Old journals 
 at Dunvegan. — Records of climate. — Beaver Indians. — Cree 
 music. — Expedition to Battle River. — Character of country. — 
 Bear-hnnting. — Size and character of Peace River Country.— 
 The climate. — Danger of summer frosts. — Increased sunlight. 
 — Temperature. — Coal-beds. — Facilities of communication. 
 
 The Peace River country, which is destined to become 
 an important province, — the Province of Unchagah, let 
 U8 call it, — may be said, so far as agricultural resources 
 are concerned, to begin near Hudson's Hope. West of 
 that the areas of fertile land are confined to the river 
 flats and to some restricted benches, and even for some 
 distance eastward till you approach P'ort St. John the 
 arable land is very limited. From Fort St. John it 
 stretches southward and south-eastward along the foot- 
 hills of the Rocky Mountains to the banks of the Atha- 
 basca, eastward to Lesser Slave Lake and the hilly country 
 that lies between it and the Athabasca River, north- 
 eastward as far as Lake Athabasca. The great river that 
 unwaters it and that gives it its name, entering this 
 
4 ^ 
 
 PEACE RIVER C0UNTB7. 
 
 197 
 
 I . 
 
 I , 
 I 1 
 
 fertile tract at the Canon, flows for nearly two hundred 
 and fifty miles in an easterly course, till fifty miles below 
 Dunvegan, after receiving from the south-west its chief 
 tributary, the Smoky Eiver, it turns suddenly northward. 
 Then, after flowing in many curves and with gentle cur- 
 rent for about three hundred miles it bends again, near 
 Fort Ycrmilion, to continue its winding course eastward 
 for two hundred miles more till it meets the waters that 
 empty Lake Athabasca. Here it drops the name that it 
 has borne from its entrance into the Eocky Mountains, 
 to be known as the Slave, and lower down as the Mac- 
 kenzie, as it rolls towards the Northern Sea. 
 
 Wo spent the month of August in this district of tho 
 great Unchagah, traversing the lower portion of it in 
 different directions, our explorations extending north- 
 ward seventy miles from Dunvegan, eastward as far aa 
 Lesser Slave Lake, and, including some subsequent 
 examinations made by Messrs. Uavvson and McLeod, 
 southward to the banks of the Athabasca. 
 
 Dunvegan was our head-ipuirters, and though we deeply 
 regretted the absence of tho factor, Mr. Macdougall, wo 
 wore greatly assisted by his clerk, Mr. Kennedy, in 
 making all necessary arrangements. Of course we wero 
 dependent on <' tho Company " for the supply ol horses, 
 iw the mulo-train from Pino lliver could not reach 
 Dunvegan before the middle of August; and wo wero 
 also dependent upon their agent to secure some Indian 
 
 ' ! 
 
 '■■ !■" 
 
 is .'J 
 
i^ 
 
 tt9 '^t'O^r t*i-r*<S-^ I'-Var-jTrTT-,-* 
 
 198 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRTE. 
 
 
 I 
 
 guides. The horses, however, were running wild upon 
 the plateau, and the " horse-guards " moved slowly in 
 search of them, so that we could only procure enough to 
 carry tents, provisions, etc., for two small exploring 
 parties. Even after the horses had been secured, pack 
 saddles required repairs, large supplies of shaganappi 
 had to be provided, and a number of etceteras collected, as 
 varied as the outfit of a small family on a holiday trip to 
 the seat* o. When other arrangements had been com- 
 pleted ore would invariably be some delay in con- 
 cluding terms with the Indian guides. The Indian is 
 never in a hurry, except when running down game. In 
 the ordinary concerns of life he endorses the saying that 
 " hours were made for slaves ;" as for liimself, being 
 a freeman, he can take time in large allowance and deal 
 with it liberally. Try to secure him as your guide, and 
 up to the last moment he will hesitate, like a gun that 
 hangs fire. Ilowever attractive your offer may be, and 
 however much he may really desire to go with you, an 
 Indian will seldom show any anxiety to accept your offer, 
 especially if he thinks that you are at all eager to engage 
 him. He may be wooed ; but ho will not be deprived of 
 his rights of courtship. Even after he begins to yield, 
 having determined from the first to go, he will picture 
 all sorts of difficulties, either hy way of testing your 
 courage and determination or by way of showing his 
 own extraordinary self-denial. And after all is arranged, 
 
A 
 
 i^EACE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 11>9 
 
 being 
 
 and you have stipulated how many skins' worth of goods 
 he will get for his services, he will loiter around the 
 camp, and until he sees you active and in earnest he will 
 not bridle a horse ; but when he is fairly started, though 
 often lazy he is always trustworthy. 
 
 Messrs. Canibie and McLeod having secured the neces- 
 sary conveyance and outfit, started on exploring trips in 
 different directions through the southern country. I 
 was anxious to go north as far as Battle Rivci-, but could 
 not for lack of horses. During this enforced delay, I 
 bad the opportunity of examining the old joui-uals of 
 Duiivogan, and of growing somewhat familiar with life 
 at an II. B. Company's Fort. The oldest of these records 
 is of date 1 1th Maj-, 1828, when the post was re-opcned 
 after it had boon abandoned for five years on account of 
 the massacre at Fort St. John. The entries of that date 
 tell that the buildings wore found in a very dilapidated 
 condition, — that numerous tracks of buffalo, moose, etc., 
 were noticed all around the Fort, — and add, '' the men 
 " commenced to get a j^lough and harrow i-eady to sow 
 " and plant wheat, barley and potatoes, having brought 
 " up a quarter keg wheat, one keg barley and ten kegs 
 "potatoes." A little later, there is the following 
 reference to the visit of Sir Goorgo Simpson, who passed 
 Dunvegan on his tour to the 'Pacific: — " Wednesdoy, 2,1th 
 " August, 1828. In the afternoon was agreeably surprised 
 " by the ar-ival of two canoes, being Governor Simpson, 
 
 '•\ 
 
 t « 
 
 I i? 
 
200 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRATRli:. 
 
 il i M 
 
 'I 
 
 " and suite, consisting of the following members — 
 " namely — A. Macdonald, (Chief Factor), Dr. HameljT", 
 " William McGillivray, clerk, and nineteen men, two 
 " women and one child. They are on their 'way, around 
 " by New Caledonia, to Columbia. Thursday 2Pith August. 
 " Busy making up pemmican, etc., for the strangers. The 
 " Governor had some conversation with the Indians, and 
 " his speech to them was much to the purpose. Tlio 
 '' sounding of the bugle, the piper dressed in Highland 
 " dress playing the bag-pipes, and every appearance, 
 " made the Indians stare and wonder " 
 
 Judging by these old records, life at Dunvegan has 
 not been very exciting for the past fifty years. There 
 are horses to be sent in one direction or another, hunters 
 to be fitted out for a fresh start, repairs and improve- 
 ments to bo made about the establishment, occasional 
 fresh arrivals of Indians req^uiring attention, the 
 crops or the garden in need of care, inventories to be 
 made of goods received or despatched, parcels to bo 
 forwarded when occasion offers, trips to be made in dif- 
 ferent directions, on foot, on horseback, in canoe, or 
 with dog-train, according to the country to be traversed 
 and the season of the year. Matters of this kind seem 
 trivial enough to the readers of newspapers, but they arc 
 the subjects around which, for the most part, the 
 thoughts and actions of the white man in this northern 
 land have centred over Bincc white men were seen liore. 
 
 
 1 1 
 
PEACE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 201 
 
 Sometimes the entries in these old journals iuJiciite the 
 extreme loneliness of the situation. The entry for 
 December 15th, 18^<4, is: " "What a glorious country for 
 " a convict settlement ; the last news from the civilized 
 ' world vpas in the beginning of June "; while that of 
 April 11th, 1878, is: "Cry of starvation all over the 
 country." Indeed, the want of food seems to prevail 
 among the Indians more or less every spring, as at that 
 season the hunters have often very little success. On 
 the fly-leaf of one or more of the journals, as in those 
 of many other II. B. C. jiosts, may be found the familiar 
 verse, attributed to Alexander Selkirk, calling in tjues- 
 tion the charms of solitude. 
 
 Sometimes these records convey imjjoitant informa- 
 tion about the climate. They show, for instance, that, 
 for the past six years, the average date for the departure 
 of ice from the river opposite Dunvegan has been the 
 18th April; a fact worthy of note in regard to the Peace 
 Eiver, in any comjxirison of this district with Ontario, 
 since April 30th was, from 1832 to 18T0, the average 
 date for the opening of the Ottawa Eiver at Ottawa. 
 While ice usually begins to form at Fort St. John 
 about the 7th November, the river does not close opposite 
 Dunvegan until the tii\st week in December. Potatoes 
 are usually planted here about the 4th May, and arc 
 gathered about the 23rd September, the yield being 
 sometimes in the proportion of forty to one, twenty-iivo 
 
 
 M' 
 
 %. 
 
 ! 
 
 'i 1 
 
 'it 
 
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II 
 
 I'll 
 
 202 
 
 MnUXTAIX ASD PRAIRIE. 
 
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 i 
 
 
 kegs having yielded one thousand kegs in a tield 
 ndjoining Dunvegan. 
 
 The Beaver Indians are lords of the soil throughout 
 the district from Hudson's Hoj^e to Vermilion, where 
 the territory of the Chlpewj'uns begins ; but they have 
 intermarried of late years with some Crees who came 
 here from th<?. Saskatchewan to escape the ravages of 
 small-pox in 1870, and with some Iroquois who formerly 
 lived near Jasper House, where a number of them had 
 settled in the old days of the North- West Company. 
 They are not a strong tribe, probably not more than five 
 hundred in all, including the hundred and fifty Crees and 
 Iroquois that are now united with them. With the 
 exception of a small Cree settlement at Sturgeon Lake, 
 none of them engage in farming ; their only occupation 
 is hunting, and, while indolent at every thing else, they 
 hunt with the energy and determination of weasels. 
 
 The Beavers appear to be mentally inferior to the 
 Crees, and many of them become the ready dupes of the 
 Cree medicine-men. One of them, for instance, named 
 Alec, who lives near Dunvegan, has been for some years 
 unwell. His sickness was originally caused by a fall, 
 but he persists in attributing it to an Indian at Lesser 
 Slave Lake who has, he imagines, cast a charm over him, 
 and who sends invisible pieces of bone, wood and iron 
 through the air, that enter his body and produce racking 
 pains. Though Alec is nom'ually a member of !Pdre 
 
PEACE RIVER COUSTIiY 
 
 203 
 
 U I 
 
 a lield 
 
 •oughout 
 n, where 
 ley have 
 'ho came 
 ,vage8 of 
 formerly 
 hem had 
 ompany. 
 thau five 
 Jrees aud 
 Vith the 
 on Lake, 
 cupation 
 se, they 
 sels, 
 
 to the 
 es of the 
 named 
 ae years 
 y a fall, 
 t Lesser 
 ver him, 
 ind iron 
 racking 
 of Pdre 
 
 Tessier's flock, yet he puts himself into the hands of 
 the Cree medicine-men. They go through certain 
 incantations and then profess to extract from his arm, 
 chest, or shoulders some pieces of wood, bone, or iron, 
 and the enraptured Alec, seeing his own views con- 
 firmed, and imagining himself greatly improved, becomes 
 more completely than ever the victim of the medicine- 
 man's imposture. 
 
 As yet no treaty has been made with the Indians of 
 this district as has been done with the tribes on our 
 southern prairies, so that the Government are not in a 
 position to oifer for settlement any of the country north 
 of the Athabasca, that being the present boundary, in 
 this direction, of the territory embraced by the Indian 
 treaties. The natives^ however, would offer no opposi- 
 tion to any settlers, as they are of a harmless and very 
 friendly disposition; but they may possibly ere long be 
 impressed with a sense of their own importance b}' being 
 called to conclude a treaty with the Government. Yet 
 even if reserves were set apart for them and provision 
 made for their instruction in farming, it can hardly be 
 expected that as large a projDortion of them as of the 
 Crees, Blackfeet, Saulteaux, and others will cultivate the 
 soil, or adopt the habits of the whites, as their country is 
 still ^plentifully supplied with large game. It is the 
 gradual extinction of the buffalo that is forcing the 
 Indians of the southern prairies to take to farming. 
 
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 204 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND niAIRlE. 
 
 Ono evening while delayed at Dunvegan I had a speci- 
 men of Indian music from Cliantre, the chief Crce singer 
 and di-uramer of the district. His song, if such it could be 
 called, was a wild dirge-like chant, with no rhythm nor 
 any perceptible air. His performance on the drum, which 
 he kept beating with a small stick, seemed to have no 
 connection whatever with the song except to add to the 
 volume of sound, the drum bemg a rude form of tam- 
 bourine. The oflFect was as confusing as that produced 
 upon the uninitiated in listening to selections from 
 Wagner's Lohengrin. In lack of melody, if in no other 
 respect, the Indian music of the past agrees with the 
 German music of the future. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 16th August, the party 
 from Pine Eiver under the direction of Dr. G. M. 
 Dawson, accompanied by the mule train, arrived 
 oj)posite the Fort. We had left them on the banks of 
 the Parsnip, at the mouth of the Misinchinca, on the 
 19th July, and they had been travelling as steadily 
 as possible since that date, coming up the valley of the 
 Misinchinca and down the valley of Pine River until 
 they reached the prairie country, across which they 
 travelled to Dunvc^jan. By the arrival of the mule train 
 with saddle-Iiorses and pack-mules we were enabled to 
 make our projected trip northwards. On the follow- 
 ing Monday, Mr. McConneJ, (Dr. Dawson's assistant) 
 and I started for Battle River, accompanied by Chamois, 
 
 1 1 > 
 
 II 
 
PEACE lUVEB COUNTRY. 
 
 205 
 
 id a speci- 
 I'ce singer 
 t could be 
 ythm nor 
 im, which 
 
 have no 
 add to the 
 n of tam- 
 
 produced 
 ons from 
 1 no other 
 
 with the 
 
 :he party 
 r. G. M. 
 arrived 
 banks of 
 , on the 
 steadily 
 ey of the 
 Lver until 
 lich they 
 nule train 
 nabled to 
 follow- 
 iissistant) 
 Chamois, 
 
 the packer, Nato an Indian guide, and Tom, a half-breed 
 cook and interpreter, while Dr. Dawson started on an 
 exploring expedition across La Grande Prairie, to return 
 by way of Elk and Smoky Elvers. "We took the trail 
 leading almost due north from Dunvegan, over tho 
 plateau that stretches its broad expanse about 800 feet 
 above the level of the river. For about forty miles wo 
 traversed open prairie that was dotted by occasional 
 clumps of aspen, and that was covered with luxuriant 
 grass and with a great abundance and variety of wild 
 flowers. The soil is uniformly a dark loam of the richest 
 character, and the abundant pasture is cropped only by 
 the horses, belonging to the Company, the priest and 
 the Indians, that roam unfettered over it summer and 
 winter. There are no badger-holes here, as there are on 
 the prairies of the Saskatchewan, making small pit-falls 
 for the horse ; we could ride at full galloj), without fear 
 of a cropper, in any direction that the willow and 
 poplar groves would allow, sometimes over several miles 
 of unbroken open prairie. 
 
 Occasionally we passed lakelets that abound with duck, 
 but these are left almost entirely undisturbed, for such 
 small game is unworthy of an Indian's regard. The large 
 mallards, however, with the prairie chicken which are 
 very numerous through this part of the country, formed 
 a welcome variation from the orthodox bacon and beans. 
 
 Forty miles north of Dunvegan we crossed a ridge 
 
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 206 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PR A TRIE. 
 
 
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 that rises about 550 feet above the plateau, closely 
 wooded with poplar and spruce. This ridge, or low range 
 of hills, runs westward as far as Hudson's Hope, where it 
 comes within about twenty miles of the Peace, and in 
 some parts it rises to a height of 1200 feet. Beyond this, 
 after traversing about a mile of mossy swamp, we camo 
 "upon a country as rich and fertile as that which lay 
 south of the ridge. In some parts it is closely timbered 
 with poplar, cottonwood, and occasional black pine, but 
 the soil is almost uniformly excellent even as far as 
 Battle River, one part of it known as White Mud Prairie 
 being ^particularly attractive. Between this ridge and Bat- 
 tle Eiver we had fourteen degrees of frost on the night of 
 the 20th August : we found afterwards that there had been 
 a very widespread frost that night throughout the 
 Peace River Country, but it was more severe in this 
 northern portion than on the prairies to the south of 
 Dunvegan. 
 
 Nato, our guide, was a fair specimen of the Beaver 
 Indian, — lazy and indolent except when engaged in eating 
 or in hunting, the two occupations that called forth his 
 energy Every day gave us opportunities of witnessing 
 his vigour at table, or rather at meal-time, for it is need- 
 less to say that there was no table ; and one afternoon 
 we had a 8j>ecial opportunity of seeing his enthusiasm 
 in hunting. "We were about to pitch camp when we saw 
 three bears at some little distance. As a considerable 
 
PEACE RIl'ER COU!iTRT. 
 
 207 
 
 I, closely 
 low range 
 I, where it 
 ce, and in 
 >yond this, 
 , we camo 
 which lay 
 
 timbered 
 c pine, but 
 
 as far as 
 !ud Prairie 
 ge and Bat- 
 he night of 
 L-e had been 
 ghout the 
 re in this 
 south of 
 
 he Beaver 
 id in eating 
 sd forth his 
 witnessing 
 it is need- 
 afternoon 
 snthusiasm 
 len we saw 
 msiderable 
 
 stream lay between us and them wo hesitated about 
 giving chase, whereupon Nato flung himself on the 
 ground in passionate disgust, as if life Jiad been 
 robbed of every attraction. I offered him my rifle; 
 with a sudden outburst of energy ho sprang up, 
 snatched it eagerly, and started in pursuit like a 
 blood-hound, running for a few minutes at a speed 
 which his former laziness would have led us to think 
 was utterly impossible for him. lie was soon close to 
 his game, and within half an hour he returned to camp, 
 having succeeded in killing two of the three. That night 
 he revelled over a supper of bear's meat, and having 
 gorged himself apparently to the limits of safety, ho 
 roasted two of tbo paws as a special tit-bit; then ho 
 stretched himself beforo the camp-flro thoroughly sated, 
 and next day he relapsed into his natural laziness. 
 
 Among the various theories that have been proposed 
 to account for the original settlement of Indians in this 
 country, it is a wonder that none have argued for their 
 origin from some son of Nimrod, or other mighty hunter, 
 who may be supposed to have followed game across Asia, 
 and around by an easterly course to our North-West. 
 Hunting is the one work in which, apparently, the white 
 man cannot excel them. AYith a keenness of the senseS) 
 in a great degree inherited and largelj sharpened by 
 necessity, they lay their grasp on all kinds of game, so 
 that the strength or the cunning, the sp( od, vision, or 
 
 \ i 
 
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 ii" il 
 
 2U8 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 i? 
 
 i 
 
 hearing of moose, bear, or beaver fail as a defence against 
 them. Sometimes they may have days or weeks of 
 hunger, and their life, as a whole, is far more toilsome than 
 Avhut would bo required of a farmer in thi^: fertile country. 
 But their wild, \ andering habits, their intense love of 
 the chase, their sense of power and of conquest in bring- 
 ing down tlieir game, their manner of life developed and 
 confirmed through long generations, render it extremely 
 diflScult for the hunting tribes of Indians to take up the 
 occupations of civilised communities. In this remoter 
 land, where such game as moose, bear, and beaver are 
 still veiy abundant, many years may elapse befo: neces- 
 sity compels them to adoj^t more settled habits ; yet in 
 course of time the herds of moose must meet the same 
 fate of gradual extinction as has already overtaken the 
 herds of 1 jiiilalo on our southern prairies ; and it would 
 be well for the Indians of the Peace if, ere that day 
 comes upon them, they could be induced to take to farm- 
 ing as some of the Indians of other tribes are already 
 doing. 
 
 On our way north we passed a number of Indians who 
 had started from l)unvegan a short time before us with 
 a band of horses that they were driving to Vermilion for 
 the II. B. Company. Their families accompanied them, 
 anil, as they required to hunt for their living, and as most 
 of them journeyed on foot, their progress was slow. The 
 Inen hunted and looked after the horses, the women did 
 
PEACE liirER COUNTRY. 
 
 209 
 
 je against 
 weeks of 
 3omo than 
 3 country. 
 jG love of 
 ■j in bring- 
 loped and 
 extremely 
 ke up the 
 [8 remoter 
 beaver are 
 fo: neces- 
 [ts ; yet in 
 t the same 
 
 taken the 
 it would 
 that day 
 to farm- 
 e already 
 
 dians who 
 ■0 U8 with 
 mi lion for 
 
 ied them, 
 lul as most 
 
 ow. The 
 vomon did 
 
 all the work of pitching camp, gathering wood, cooking, 
 etc., each child that was old enough to walk being re- 
 quired to help about the camp, while even the hungry, 
 cadaverous dogs were compelled to render unwill'ng assis- 
 tance in the way of carrying packs. They took little 
 provision with them except tea, and their baggage con- 
 sisted chiefly of the skins that formed their tepees, the 
 forest always furnishing them with lodge-poles. Some- 
 times the hunters rido, but the women and children are 
 compelled to walk, for wife, horse and dog share much 
 the same treatment at the hands of the red man. 
 
 Rattle River, which is about seventy miles north of 
 Dunvogan, is a beautiful stream, twcnt}- ^-ards in width, 
 with an average depth of about two feet, (he water heing 
 very clear, of a slightly brown or amber hue, very ditfer- 
 cnt in appearance from the turbid streams that flow from 
 the Bocky Mountains, and probably fed from the low 
 range of hills that lie between it and Dunvogan. The 
 scenery along the river is very pleasing ; the banks for 
 the most part slope gently, though sometimes there is a 
 precipitous side, exposing a rich loamy soil on a bed of sand 
 or clay. TVo rode for some distance along the trail that 
 skirts the northern bank of the river, and found the soil 
 and foliage very much the same as that on the southern 
 side ; and although in the river-bed there are many 
 pieces of limestone, yet we saw no rock along either 
 bank. Indeed from Dunvogan to BattU River we scarcely 
 
 15 
 
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 210 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
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 lilt: 
 
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 Mil 
 
 saw a solitary stone, and, so far as wo could judge, the 
 same is the case with the country lying immediately to 
 the north of this, a country that, from all wo could learn, 
 has not yet been traversed by white men. The whole 
 tract over which we travelled is well-watered, and has 
 abundance of good pasture, so that we had no difficulty 
 in finding good camping ground each evening. What- 
 ever may be its value for the growth of cereals, it is 
 already evident that it possesses very great advantages 
 for stock-raislxig. 
 
 We returned to Dunvegan on Thursday, 28th August. 
 Between that date and Monday, 1st Soi)tember, the other 
 members of our j)arty had completed their exploratory 
 trips east, west and south ; we therefore met to compare 
 notes and to form some estimate of the country that we 
 had been traversing.* This southern ^Jortion of the Peace 
 River District, to which our attention had been confined, 
 embraced from north to south between Battle Eiver and 
 the Athabasca, covers an area of not less than 30,000 
 square miles, a territory about the size of Scotland. 
 With few exceptions the country is Que of extraordinary 
 fertility, a large part being open praiiio covered with 
 luxuriant grass, while other portions are wooded more or 
 less densely. It is well-watered, some of the streams, 
 such as Smoky River and its chief aflluents, being rivers 
 
 *Iu this (losoriptiou uf the country I take tho liberty uf drawing frooly 
 upon tho reports prosontod by luy follow-travollora, which iiro publinhod in 
 tho Koport of tho Entfiuoor-iu-Chiot uf tho Cuuudiun Pacilio Kuilway fur 18S0. 
 
 V, 
 
I 
 
 'i 
 
 PEACE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 211 
 
 udge, the 
 liately to 
 lid learn, 
 le whole 
 , and has 
 difficulty 
 . What- 
 )als, it is 
 Ivantages 
 
 1 August. 
 
 the other 
 
 ploratory 
 
 compare 
 
 / that wo 
 
 Lho Peace 
 
 confined, 
 
 livGV and 
 
 m 30,000 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 ordinary 
 
 cd with 
 
 more or 
 
 streamH, 
 
 tig rivers 
 
 wing frooly 
 ubIiHhcd in 
 way lor 1680. 
 
 of considerable size. All its waters flow into the Peace, 
 except a few small tributaries of the Athabasca that 
 drain the southern portion of the district. These rivers 
 are, at their upper waters, near the prairie level, but 
 their channels constantly increase in depth till they 
 reach the level of the main river. Their valleys are fre- 
 quently wooded, sometimes with patches of the original 
 forest, but usually with second-growth timber such as is 
 commonly found on the prairie. Although much of the 
 prairie is now open, it must all at one time have been 
 densely forest-clad. Some of our southern prairies ap- 
 pear to have been always treeless, if we may judge by 
 the absence of all remains of forest or of driftwood in 
 their alluvial soil ; but it has evidently been otherwise 
 with the prairies of the Peace River Country; these 
 must all have been wooded at one time, and they have, 
 no doubt, been cleared by fire. Although at present the 
 woodlands may be less attractive to the farmer than the 
 open prairie, yet, whore the soil is fertile they must ulti- 
 mately bo as valuable as those parts that are now ready 
 for the plough. 
 
 . Along the southern borders of the district near the 
 Athabasca, is found the largest tract of poor land which 
 it contains. Hero the country, which is for the most 
 part closely wooded, is elevated considerably above the 
 adjoining prairie, and is ridgy and sandy, with occa- 
 sional patches of swamp. Along part of the eastern 
 
 1 1 
 
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 11 
 
 
 
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 ! 
 
 1 
 
 
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 Ik ■-. 
 
 8 
 
 212 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 borders, also, there are mossy swamps that render much 
 of the land unfit for agriculture, while, between Smoky 
 Eiver and Lesser Slave Lake much of the country is at 
 pi esent covered by swamps and beaver-dams, though parts 
 of it might ultimately be converted into good farm-land. 
 
 Making ample allowance, however, for the inferior 
 and useless land we may with confidence estimate 
 three-fourths of this southern portion of the Peace 
 Eiver Country, or about 23,000 square miles, to be 
 well suited to agriculture, while many sections of it 
 possess exceptional fertility. 
 
 But there are also largo tracts of fertile land to the north 
 of that which we traversed, areas that, being unwatered 
 by the Peace, may be properly included in our so-called 
 Province of Unchagah. Those familiar with that north- 
 ern portion assured us that from the confluence of the 
 Peace and Smoky Eivers, as far as Lake Athabasca, there 
 is a belt of fertile soil bordering the river for a width 
 varying from fifteen to fifty miles. East of t'..e Peace, 
 however, though drained by its tributaries, and lying 
 between Lesser Slave Lake and Lake Athabasca there is 
 an area of about 25,000 square miles that is broken by 
 hills, lakes, stroame, and marshes, which render it unfit 
 for farming. This is the best hunting-ground for beaver 
 known to the II. B. Company, 8000 beaver-skins having 
 been received in one year from this district at the single 
 post of Lesser Slave Lake. 
 
 if 
 
PEACE RtVETi COUNTRY. 
 
 213 
 
 In 1875 Professor Macoun passed down the river from 
 Dunvegan to Fort Chipewyan, the " capital of the north," 
 on Lake Athabasca. On that occasion he had oppor- 
 tunities of seeing some of the northern portions of the 
 country, and wherever he examined tho soil he found it, 
 excellent, and in some places astonishingly rich. Of the 
 country near Yermilion he says : " The whole country 
 " around this post is a plain not elevated at its highest 
 " point more than one hundred feet above the river, but 
 " the greater portion of it is less than fifty feet. From 
 " the highest point I reached, the view across the ri"er 
 " extended to the Cariboo Mountains, distant about forty 
 " miles. Tho intervening country seemed to be perfectly 
 " level or else to slope gradually upwards towards tho 
 " mountains. Tho soil examined is of the very best 
 " description."* "When somewhat more than half-way 
 between Vermilion and Chipewyan he spent a day at the 
 H. B. Company's post at Eed River, regarding which he 
 writes : '' The vegetation indicated that Eed Eiver was 
 " even warmer than Yermilion, and all garden vegeta- 
 " bles are much more advanced."! Of this northern 
 portion of the district we may safely estimate an area of 
 from 20,000 to 25,000 square miles to be fertile, possibly a 
 much larger area; so that within the District of Un- 
 
 • Report of Progress of Geological Survey of Canada for 1875-70, jip. . 
 159, KU 
 
 t Kcport Geol. Survey 1875-76, p. 161. 
 
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 214 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAiniE. 
 
 chagah, — exclusive of its great beaver-ground, — we may 
 confidently expect to find fertile territory almost equal 
 in extent to the united area of England and Wales. 
 
 But what about the climate, for fertile soil is of little 
 use without favourable climate ? Will it admit of the 
 cultivation of wheat throughout this large district, for 
 this is the crucial test now applied to climate in our 
 North- West Territories ? Let us gather up some of the 
 facts that may enable us to answer this question, at 
 least to give such a partial answer as our limited data 
 will aliow. 
 
 So far as actual experiment is concerned wheat 
 has not been cultivated on the prairie level, — that is, on 
 the general level of the country exclusive of the river 
 valleys, — except at Lesser Slave Lake, where it thrives 
 admirably. All other attempts at wheat culture 
 throughout tLe district have been on the flats that fringe 
 the river, which at Dunvegan is about 800 feet lower 
 than the plateau; but this difference of level between 
 prairie and river decreases further down the stream till 
 at Vermilion it is not more than from fifty to a hundred 
 feet. Should this difference of altitude lead us to expect 
 a less favourable climate on the prairie than has been 
 found on the river-flats ? Probably not. Professor 
 Macoun, speaking of the vicinity of Fort St. John, says : 
 " Notwithstanding the difference of altitude the berries 
 '' on the plateau ripened only a week later than those 
 
•'^J 
 
 PEACE lilVER COUNTRY. 
 
 215 
 
 " near the river, and Nigger Dan stated that there "was 
 " about the same difference in the time the snow disap- 
 " peared in the spring on the plateau and in the valley."* 
 In October, 1872, Mr. Horetzky when traversing the 
 prairie south of Dunvegan, found that, " curiously 
 " enough, the vegetation upon these uplands did not 
 " appear to have suffered so much from the effects of 
 " frost, this being probably due to the fact of the air in 
 " these upper regions being constantly in motion, while 
 *• in the deep and ca2)acious valiey of the river the winds 
 " have often no effect."f Dr. Dawson, writes J " In my 
 " diary, under date September 5th, I find the following 
 " entry: — Aspens and berry bushes about the Peace 
 " River Valley now looking quite autumnal. On the 
 " plateau 800 or 900 feet higher, not nearly so much so. 
 " Slight tinge of yellow only on some aspen groves.'* 
 And again, " "VVe found some rude attempt at cultivation 
 " also at the ' Cree Settlement,' which consists of a few 
 " loghouses built by Indians on the border of Sturgeon 
 " Lake, about seventy miles ^H)uth-we8t of the west end 
 '* of Lesser Slave Lake, and is at the average level of the 
 " country, with an elevation of about 2,100 feet. Here, 
 "on September 14th, the potato plants were slightly 
 " affected by frost, but not more so than observed with 
 
 •• Report of Qeol. Survey, 1875-70, v ■ 155- 
 
 * Canada on the Pacific, p. 44. 
 
 t Report of Engiieer-in-chief of (J. P. Railway, 1880, pp. : llfi, 117. 
 
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 SI 
 
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 W 
 
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 216 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIHIE. 
 
 1 
 
 t li 
 
 " those at Dunvegan two weeks before." At Dunvegan 
 I was informed that although the growth in early sum- 
 mer is usually more advanced in the valley than on the 
 plateau, yet, as the moisture lingers longer on the upper 
 level, the growth there seems to make more steady pro- 
 gress when it has once begun, while very little difference 
 has been observed between the upper and lower levels, in 
 regard to the time of the ripening, fading, and falling of 
 the leaves. We may, thereibre, vegard the climate of 
 the prairies as probably not less favourable than that of 
 the river-flats, 
 
 Now the ordinary experience at such places as Hud- 
 son's Hope, Fort St. John and Dunvegan is that wheat 
 thrives well. The season is long enough and warm 
 enough, the only danger being from summer frosts. 
 When Messrs. Selwyn and Macoun visited Peace Eiver 
 in 1875, they had no frost until September, and were 
 assured that frost rarely occurs in July or August. At 
 Vermilion on the 12th August, Mr. Macoun found barley 
 standing in shocks in the field, which had been eown on 
 the 8th May, and reaped on the 6th August, having been 
 in the ^ti'ouikI just ninety days, while he found some cars 
 of wheat fully ripe at the date of his visit, and was 
 assured that often a whole season passes without any 
 frost occurring from early in May until late in October. 
 In less than a day he observed 151 species of plants 
 which seemed to him to show conclusively that the cli- 
 
•unvegan 
 irly sum- 
 in on the 
 he upper 
 jady pro- 
 ifference 
 levels, in 
 falling of 
 limate of 
 n that of 
 
 3 as Hud- 
 
 lat wheat 
 
 ad warm 
 
 er frosts. 
 
 ice Eiver 
 
 and w^ere 
 
 just. At 
 
 id barley 
 
 EGwn on 
 
 '^ing been 
 
 iome cars 
 
 and was 
 
 lOut any 
 
 October. 
 
 )f plants 
 
 t the cli- 
 
 PEACE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 217 
 
 mate at Yermilion was much warmer than at Dunvegan. 
 Between Hudson's Hope and Fort Chipewyan he collected 
 591 species of flowering plants and ferns of which 434 
 are found on the western plains, 411 in Ontario and 402 
 in Quebec, from which he concludes that the tempera- 
 ture of the growing season throughout this district is 
 much like that of the southern prairies and of central 
 Ontario.* 
 
 Our own experience, however, was not quite so favour- 
 able. Each of our small parties had frost on several 
 occasions in August, at places widely separated, and 
 although on some of these it may have been local, on 
 others, especially on the 20th the frost was widespread. 
 There was sufficient frost at Dunvegan on the 20th and 
 25th to injure beans and cucumbers, and although some 
 of the wheat had ripened before the 20th August, the 
 frost of that night affected the rest to such an extent 
 that on our return on the 28th it did not appear to be 
 any farther advanced than it had been a fortnight pre- 
 viously. It was similar with the wheat at the Mission, 
 adjoining Dunvegan, and with a small patch at Hudson's 
 Hope : in both instances it was hopelessly injured by the 
 frost. This injury, however, had been sustained after 
 some of the wheat at Dunvegan had fully ripened ; and it 
 is not improbable that if more attention had been paid to 
 the selection of seed and to the time of sowing, all injury 
 
 • Report Qool. Survey 1870-76, pp. : 159, 167. 
 
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 218 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 and loss by frost might have been avoided. Besides, it 
 may be remembered that the summer of 18*79 was a 
 somewhat exceptional one, the weather of the early 
 months being cold and wet throughout much of the 
 North-Wcst. 
 
 Returning home by way of Edmonton I found that 
 there had been no frost there during August, that the 
 wheat had rijjenod to perfection and that a large crop 
 had heen harvested. So far, then, as present information 
 extends, it seems that the one danger to wheat crops in 
 the Peace Eiver Country is from early frost, that the 
 seasons when such frosts occur must be regarded as 
 exceptional, that care in the selection of seed and in 
 early sowing may obviate even this exceptional danger, 
 and that the Peace Kiver prairies are more liable to this 
 than the prairieo of the Saskatchewan. 
 
 Every wheat-growing country, however, seems to be 
 exposed to some influence by which occaBional crops 
 may be more or less injured. There are seasons whon 
 much of the grain of Britain remains unharvested on 
 account of the excessive rainfall. Parts of the Western 
 States and Territories will probably be always subject 
 to periodical invasions of locusts, such as have devastated 
 large areas as recently as 1874. Neither of these injur- 
 ious influences threatens wheat-culture in the Edmonton 
 district or in the Peace Eivor Country, for the rain-fall 
 though adequate seems nevor to be excessive, and the 
 
PEA CE RIVEii CO UNTR Y. 
 
 219 
 
 i ] i 
 
 northward course of the locust seems, according to Dr. 
 Dawson, to be " limited by the lino of the coniferous 
 forest which approximately follows the North Saskatche- 
 wan Eiver." * 
 
 It must bo noted, too, that the increased proportion of 
 sunlight in these northern districts must very largely 
 promote the rapid and vigorous growth of plants. At 
 Dunvegan, for instance, the duration of sunlight on the 
 21st June is one hour and a quarter greater than it 
 is at Winnipeg, while it is nearly two hours and a 
 quarter greater than it is at Toronto, a difference 
 which of course decreases to zero at the 21st March 
 and 21st September, while it is reversed during the 
 winter months. The average daily duration of sun- 
 light from the 15th May to the I5th August, — the wheat- 
 growing period, — is at least an hour and a half greater 
 at Dunvegan than at Toronto. This must largely 
 enhance the value of the northern prairies for agricul- 
 tural purposes, and it may in some measure account for 
 what climatologists have often observed, that the quality 
 of wheat improves the more closely you approach the 
 northern limit of wheat-growing lauds. While the 
 wheat-crop of the Peace Eiver district may possibly suffer 
 occasioiial injury from early frosts, barley, rye, and all the 
 ordinary varieties of roots may be regarded as a sure 
 crop, and these with the abundant and luxuriant pasture 
 
 I 1 
 
 
 1 
 I. 
 
 ! 1! 
 
 1 i'' 
 
 • Geology of the 49th Parallel, p. 305. 
 
 Hi 
 
220 
 
 MOUXTAIX AXD I'liAIRIE. 
 
 1 
 
 f: ;; 
 
 would render this country peculiarly well adapted for 
 stock-raising. The winter is severe but apparently not 
 more so than that of the Edmonton district. The snow- 
 fall, which averQijes from one-and-a-half to two feet, is 
 not sufficient to prevent horses wintering out, while, at 
 Dunvegan-, cattle are usually home-fed only from the 
 latter part of November till about the middle of March. 
 Here, as throughout all our Canadian North-West, the 
 cold of winter is much less severely felt than those living 
 near the sea-board would, from the indications of the 
 thermometer, be led to suppose, as the climate is dry and 
 steady, and the temperature seldom so extreme as to 
 prevent travelling, although travelling any distance 
 involves camping out at night. 
 
 The average summer temperature is as high as that 
 usually enjoyed ten degrees further south in Ontario and 
 Quebec, without the discomfort of oppressively warm 
 nights. Indeed, there is a very great difference between 
 the temperature of the day and that of the night. Dur- 
 ing the first fortnight of August, 1879, the average mid- 
 day temperature at Fort Dunvegan was *7*7° above zero 
 in the shade, while the average minimum at night was 
 42°, a fair example of the difference ordinarily observed 
 as between the day and night temperature of summer, 
 although sometimes the variation is much greatej*. This 
 depression of temperature, to whatever cause it is to 
 be ascribed, produces a very heavy dew-fall, which pro- 
 
' 
 
 '\ 
 
 rEAcr: nirFit corsTRY. 
 
 221 
 
 pted for 
 sntly not 
 le snow- 
 ) feet, is 
 while, at 
 rom the 
 f March. 
 ^oat, the 
 >se living 
 iti of the 
 } dry and 
 Dae as to 
 distance 
 
 ag that 
 ario and 
 y warm 
 
 between 
 it. Dur- 
 age mid- 
 3ove zero 
 ght was 
 observed 
 summer, 
 
 :•. This 
 
 it is to 
 lich pro- 
 
 
 bably assists very greatly in promoting vegetation, and 
 the change after a warm day is almost as refreshing as a 
 breeze from the sea. 
 
 In addition to its great agricultural resources the 
 Peace Eiver district possesses not only extensive 
 timber lands, large portions of which are within 
 easy access of the Peace or its tributaries, but it 
 is also rich in coal. Although no scams of great thick- 
 ness have yet been discovered, the area throughout 
 which coal or lignite has been found is so large that 
 there can be little doubt that valuable seams will jet be 
 developed. These coal-beds that underlie the Peace 
 Eiver district extend, it seems, in increasing thicknesH 
 to the south-eastward. Dr. Dawson says that " one of 
 " these reported to be eight feet thick, occurs near the 
 " projected railway-crossing of the North Pembina 
 " River, while between Fort Edmonton and the mouth of 
 " the Brazeau Eiver, on the Saskatchewan, a seam of 
 " coal fifteen to twenty feet in thickness was discovered 
 "by Mr. Selwyn in 18Y3 j" and he adds:— "While 
 " neither of these can be classed as true bituminous 
 *' coals, they are fuels of great value, and compare closely 
 " with those brown coals used extensively on the line of 
 " the Union Pacific Eailway in the Eocky Mountain 
 " region."* It has been estimated that " the total area 
 " of the western part of the prairie region between the 
 
 * Report of Engineer-in-Chief Can. Pacific Railway, 1880, p. 130. 
 
 \ 
 
 , t 
 
 I 
 
 II. 
 
 ■4 : 
 
 hi. 
 
 
 
 
 '1^ 
 
■'■"■ 
 
 f«J' - -.* - 
 
 M I 
 
 222 
 
 srorxTAix axd prairie. 
 
 \\ m\ 
 
 " forty-ninth and fifty-fourth parallels, now known by 
 " more or less connected lines of observation to bo under- 
 " laid by the lignite and coal-bearing formations, does 
 " not fall short of 80,000 square miles ; and should future 
 ** investigation result in affixing some of the fuels to the 
 " Lower Cretaceous, it must be very much greater." * 
 It has been established by the exj^lorations of 1879 that 
 coal does exist well down in the Cretaceous formation. 
 The localities, says Dr. Dawsonf in which coal is known 
 to occur in the lower or certainly Cretaceous zone arc : 
 Table Mountain, which is on the south bank of Pino 
 River, Coal Brook a tributary of the south branch of 
 Pine Hiver, Portage Mountain at the Canon of Peace 
 River, and on the lower part of Smoky River This is a 
 fact o2 considerable importance, for not only has the 
 coal-bearing area been thus proved to extend northward 
 to the fifty-sixth parallel, and thereby increased from 
 80,000 to probably 100,000 square miles, but it seems to 
 confirm the suj)position that the former estimate is much 
 too small for tlie coal-fields between the Athabasca and 
 the international boundary lino. The value of these 
 coal-fields In a country which, like our North- West, is in 
 some largo areas very destitute of wood, can scarcely bo 
 exaggerated 
 
 In any doveiopmont of the resources, whether of the 
 I'arm-lands, the forests or tlie mines of Peace River Dis- 
 
 • Dawcon ; (looloKy of llHli punillol, p. IHO. 
 
 t Rei'Ort of Eiiifiuoor-iu-Chiuf Can. Paoiliu Huilnuy, IHSU, p. 128. 
 
PEACE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 223 
 
 own by 
 under- 
 ms, does 
 Id future 
 Is to the 
 cater." * 
 L879 that 
 >rmation. 
 is known 
 iono are: 
 : of Pino 
 Dranch of 
 of Peace 
 This is a 
 ' has the 
 lorthward 
 iscd from 
 t Bcems to 
 ,0 is much 
 basca and 
 
 of thCBO 
 
 Vest, is in 
 arcely bo 
 
 trict, the great extent of navigable water presented by 
 the Peace and by several of its tributaries will furnish 
 facilities for communication throughout a large portion 
 of the country. Although our Canadian Pacific line will 
 not pass through it, and although it may not for many 
 years be found necessary to embrace it in our system of 
 railways, yet it is known that a branch line would be 
 perfectly feasible and for the most part oasj^ of construc- 
 tion, extending fi'om the vicinity of Edmonton to Pine 
 River or to Dun vegan. The district must naturally be 
 peopled by immigrants coming from the east, and there- 
 fore not until large portions of the country between 
 Manitoba and Edmonton have l)cen cultivated need we 
 look for many settlers on the banks of the Peace; but 
 none who traverse it can dou})t that the Province of 
 Unchagah must in due time prove to be a most valuable 
 portion of what is, as yet, the undeveloped interior of 
 our Dominion. 
 
 li M 
 
 lier of the 
 Liver Dis- 
 
 ll2S. 
 
 ■ill' 
 
^;i 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 DUNVEGAN TO EDMONTON. 
 
 H'^ I 
 
 « i :.i ' 
 
 i t 
 
 Leave Dunvegan, — Farewell view of Peace River. — Cooking.— 
 Lesser Slave Lake. — Another Stage. — Postal Arrangements.-—. 
 Indian Hospitality. — Athabasca River and Landing. — Gamb- 
 ling. — Road to Fort Edmonton. — Telegraph Office. — Creo 
 Camp. — Our Indian Policy. — Farm Instructors. — Treaties. — 
 Sioux. — Edmonton District.— Canadian Pacific Railway. 
 
 Our party separsitcd at Dunvegan, Homc to return by 
 way of Pino Eiver Pass to Vancouver iHland, others to 
 examine the country bordering the Athabasca and the 
 facilities for railway connection between the Peace River 
 District and the Saskatchewan, while I came by way of 
 Lesser Slave Lake towards Edmonton. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 2nd September, I loft Dunvegan on 
 a small raft, my only companion being the half-breed 
 Tom, who had accompanied mo to Battle Eiver; and, 
 borne along by the gentle current of the Peace, wo 
 reached next afternoon the Hudson's Bay post near the 
 mouth of Smok}^ Eiver. The Peace had fallen greatly 
 Binco our arrival at Dunvegan on the Ist August, and the 
 water, which was then turbid, had become clear, though 
 still possessing thatgrcyisli tinge which seems to bo an 
 
DUNVEGAy TO EDMONTON. 
 
 225 
 
 ordinary characteristic of tlio streams from tlio Eoeky 
 Mountains. Tlic country througli which the river winds 
 is similar to that above Dunvcgan, but hero the banks 
 slope more gently from the water, and the plateau 
 seems to bo somewhat lower. Gravel beaches frequently 
 fringe the banks on either side, and a number of well- 
 wooded inlands dot the river. 
 
 At Smoky River depot Nigger Dan, the notorious, 
 when on his way to bo tried at Edmonton, had left a 
 jn'otest in the form of an inscription on the door of the 
 storehouse : " Daniel Williams, prisner of Ilor Majesty 
 under fals pretenses." Public opinion in the Peace 
 Kivor country had centred more on him than on any 
 other subject during the summer of 1870. AVo had heiu'd 
 of him beyond the mountains. We found him to be tlio 
 one unfiiiling topic of conversation at each of the II. B. 
 Company's posts that wo had passed. At Lessor Shive 
 Lake and at Edmonton he continued to attract a lively 
 interest, and oven at Battleford one of the first points 
 in regard to our explorations in the Peace River coun- 
 try, about which the civil and military authorities of the 
 North-West made enquiries, was the accurate longitude 
 of Fort St. John, so that they might know whether it 
 was in the N. W. Territories or in British Colunihiu, 
 and thus decide whether Nigger Dan should bo tried at 
 
 Ota' 
 
 Edmonton or at Victoria. 
 
 At Smoky River depot I was again lhri>v;n upon iho 
 
 ( I 
 
 I i 
 
 , 
 
 I 
 
 ^^ 
 
 .,» \ 
 
 ^■■\\ 
 

 i , b T-ra ri,.--i*Ta.., ,'^ - ■^' 
 
 ■ I 
 
 r I 
 
 I 
 
 m, 
 
 m 
 
 ' 1 i" 
 
 1 
 
 1 . 
 
 1 
 
 . ! 
 
 i 
 
 I; i 
 
 1 
 
 r\ 
 
 1 
 1 ' 
 
 1 
 
 
 ; :' 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 ■ 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 226 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND rUAIEIE. 
 
 help of the Company's agents, through whose kindness 
 I was suppHed with a prairie- cart, two horses and an 
 Indian guide, while an Indian boy accompanied us on 
 horse-back. Indeed the ti*aveller in the North-West, at 
 least in the i-omoter districts, is almost entirely depen- 
 dent on the H. B. Company for conveyance. On the 
 more frequented prairie trails you may meet, during the 
 summer, long bands of carts belonging to independent 
 freighters, or you may at some points find that the 
 "free traders" can forward you more quickly and more 
 comfortably than the Coiipany; yet the assistance of 
 the Company's officials, who are almost invariably ener- 
 getic, hospitable and courteous, is of essential importance 
 in traversing the remoter north, while even on the mo^'o 
 familiar prairies they are the chief forwarders as well as 
 fur-traders. At nearly every post the Company keep a 
 large number of horses, for this costs nothing except the 
 hire of a few men to herd them, as the horses find abun- 
 dant pasture, both summer and winter; and if the agent 
 at any post has no horses under his charge he can 
 UBually make arrangements with Indians, half-breeds, 
 or, in some cases, with white settlers to provide them; 
 and thus the ti'aveller is forwarded by stages fi'om the 
 Eocky Mountains to "Winnii^eg. 
 
 The road from Smoky Eiver depot to Lessor Slave 
 Lake, about sixty-three miles in length, is a toler.ibly 
 ^ood waggon-road, although grooved occasionally into 
 
DUNVEGAN TO EDMONTON. 
 
 227 
 
 deep ruts by the heavy traffic upon it, for the supplies of 
 the Peace Eiver district are forwarded from Edmonton 
 to Lesser Slave Lake, and by this route to Dun vegan. 
 Leaving the depot the road passes at once to the plateau 
 about six hundred feet above the river, and as it nears 
 the upper level the view, looking back upon the Peace, 
 as seen on a fair SejDtember evening, is one of the 
 loveliest in the North-West. The plateau stretches away 
 on either hand an almost unbroken level of fertile, virgin 
 soil; the slopes leading ffom it to the rivers, which here 
 blend their strength, are broken into all varieties of ter- 
 race and knoll, now grass-covered, now rjch with groves 
 that were already tinted with the mottled glory of 
 autumn; the well-wooded islands break the smooth and 
 steady current into ripples ; the mighty river winds its 
 slow northward course ; and over all, from an unclouded 
 sky, stream the rays of the setting sun. From such a 
 scene one turns unwillingly aw^'iy. More than a month's 
 acquaintance had made us familiar with the great Un- 
 chagah. We had followed it from away beyond the 
 junction of the Parsnip and the Finlay, where it first 
 assumes the name of the Peace River. We had been 
 borne by it through the range of the Rocky Mountains 
 along many a league, where it winds in graceful curves 
 between banks of over changing loveliness. Wo had 
 dreamed dreams of the time when this broad belt of tno 
 silent north-land which it unwaters would smile with 
 
 
 i» 
 
 i i:i 
 
■.< 
 
 ■f )■ 
 
 
 v ( 
 
 
 ; I 
 
 ! ,» 
 
 228 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND ritATRIE. 
 
 happy homesteads, when the music of the reaper and of 
 the mill-wheel would bo heard here, and when it would 
 bear upon its breast some portion of the commerce of a 
 thriving people. But henceforward its scenes of grandeur 
 and of boauty were to be enjoyed by us only in memory, 
 as we Irft it on our castwaid journey. 
 
 After leaving the river the road passes for the most 
 ])art through a beautiful tract of country, rolling prairie 
 alternating with woodland, the soil being excellent, while 
 the vegetation becomes richer and the pasture more 
 luxuriant on approaching Lessor Slave Lake. This part 
 of the journey aiforded some new experience. Through- 
 out the various changes of conveyance and of attena;-ncc, 
 since leaving the Pacific, wo had ahvays enjoyed the 
 services of a cook, and one of the recommendations of 
 the Indian guide, w^hom I took from Smoky River depot, 
 was that ho could do any such plain cooking as I might 
 require. I soon found, however, that his knowledge of 
 "plain cocking" was confined to the boiling of a kettle, 
 and dropping into it anything ho had, whether bacon, 
 fresh meat, or pemmican ; and, to make matters worse, 
 I was unable to converse with him. I had been told that 
 the boy who accompanied us could speak French, and I 
 thouglit that be might act as interpreter, but after a few 
 futile efforts to make myself intelligible to him, I con- 
 cluded that we had learned French from different mas- 
 ters, and so, during the two days of our journey, all our 
 
 i 
 
DUS VEGAN TO EDMONTON. 
 
 229 
 
 rs worse, 
 
 communication was by silent gesture, a simple but not 
 .'^Iways very definite method of intercourse. Attempting 
 to improve upon the cooking of my guide, I became for 
 the first time initiated into the mysteries of frying 
 bacon, of boiling rice, of making oatmeal porridge, and 
 of preparing the few other stores that I had brought with 
 me from Dunvegan. Foj* some time the result of these 
 eiforts was a very dismal kind of success ; but hunger is 
 a good sauce, and necessity soon developes ability. Con- 
 siderable anxiety and effort, too, were expended upon 
 ono of the cart-wheels. The cart was of the ordinary 
 prairie-cart pattern, with the addition of iron tires. Ono 
 of these tires had become loose. I afterwards found that 
 I might have left it behind, as a prairie cart will run as 
 well without one ; but, in my ignorance, I bound and 
 re-bound it with rope and shaganappi, until, from its 
 numerous bandages, the wheel looked as if it had been 
 fractured at every joint. The road is so free from stone 
 that the rope and shaganappi were scarcely at all worn, 
 and in no case cut through, by the time I reached Lesser 
 Slave Lake. 
 
 Approaching the lake the roa<l leads over a broad 
 marsh, which yields abundance of excellent hay. With 
 Buch an ample supply of fodder the H. B. Company's 
 agent at this post raises a goodly number of cattle ; and 
 the hay-stacks piled upon the marsh, Aviih the cattle 
 feeding on the rich pasture or standing knee-deep in the 
 
 .: 
 
 ! » 
 
 
 ii 
 
 ..ii 
 
 « I, 
 
 ' 1 
 
r »-:==-t»»sg*j»afcr44'»i!»>».'ji*K:* -» *mm 
 
 i>» wnii> « a I 
 
 
 ; I 
 
 'if 
 
 ff H 
 
 I 
 
 '1 
 
 1 1 
 
 I 
 
 ' 
 
 
 m I 
 
 )■ tl '!i| 
 
 ij) 
 
 i 
 
 230 
 
 MOVNTAiy AXD PRAIRIE. 
 
 shallow water by the margin of the lake, gave to the 
 vicinity of the Fort a more cultivated, pastoral appear- 
 ance than that of any place wo had seen since leaving 
 Victoria. 
 
 The Fort at Lesser Slave Lake consists of shop, store- 
 houses and dwellings of the Company's servants, ranged 
 i' a qu'^ Vi*an jjlc, and surrounded by a palisade, while at 
 a iA 'v V jrdy distance is the agent's residence, recently 
 erec A hundred yards oif is the dwelling of the 
 
 Eoman Cathoi: ^ priest, and a little further the establish- 
 ment of the free-traders, where Stobart,Eden & Co., have 
 a branch, while, in another direction, there are a few 
 small log-houses and Indian lodges. A number of Indians, 
 — " free-men," that is, men not in the regular service of 
 the Company, — live in the neighbourhood, being em- 
 ployed by the Company as occasion may require, and 
 able to 8U2:)port their families with very little labour by 
 fishing and shooting. The lake abounds with delicious 
 white-fish, rivalling those of the lakes of Ontario, and in 
 autumn with countless ducks, wavies and wild geese. 
 
 The Indians make no attempt at agricultui-e beyond 
 the cultivation of some small potato-patches. They 
 scarcely regard flour, potatoes or other vegetable diet as 
 any substitute for animal food. They want their rations 
 of meat, pm'ticularly of buffalo pemmican, which has 
 until recently been the staple provision from Peace 
 Eiver to "Winnipeg. While such large game as moose, 
 
DVNTEGAN TO EDMONTON. 
 
 231 
 
 ve to the 
 al appear- 
 je leaving 
 
 lOp, store- 
 ts, ranged 
 !, while at 
 
 recently 
 ng of the 
 establish- 
 ;Co,, have 
 are a few 
 »f Indians, 
 service of 
 )eing em- 
 uire, and 
 labour by 
 
 delicious 
 io, and in 
 geese. 
 •e beyond 
 DS. They 
 )lc diet aa 
 3 ir rations 
 i^hieh has 
 )m Peace 
 as moose, 
 
 j 
 
 bear and beaver continue, and while the lakes abound in 
 fish, they cannot see any use in farming, unless perhaps 
 it might be in stock-raising, since the richest crops would 
 not lessen their demand for animal food. Some vege- 
 tarian missionaries might be of service among them. 
 There is not much land in the vicinity of the lake fit for 
 cultivation, for, although wheat is grown hero with 
 marked success, yet the flats near the water's edge are 
 valuable chiefly for their marsh-hay and for the facilities 
 they afford in this respect for cattle-f» Ung. Beyond 
 these flats the country is broken by uill and ridges 
 varyii .^^ in height from 150 to 800 fec" . ^o\ .^ fho level of 
 the lake, while to the north of the Fui't n arge extent of 
 territory is covered by muskeg, f vamp, lalcelet and 
 stream. 
 
 The lake, which is about seventy miles in length, is 
 emptied by Lesser Slave Eiver into the Athabasca, which, 
 near Fort Chipewyan, meets the Peace in its northward 
 flow. The Athabasca, after receiving the ers of 
 
 Lesser Slave River, flows for about fifty miles in a south- 
 erly direction; then tui'nii:g shai'j^ly it resumes its 
 former course. At thin bend or Clbow there is a freight- 
 ing station of the H. B. Company, known as the 
 Athabasca Landing, for the Company have taken advan- 
 tage of this part of the river for the transport of their 
 Stores, furs etc., as the route by Lesser Slave Lake and 
 River and by this part of the Athabasca is a very direct 
 
 i I 
 
 I 
 
 J H 
 
 ■M 
 
 '1 
 
 Mi 
 
'•rtr'-.'SaKr .:a*%s«iim«.i.»^ 
 
 f 
 
 ; r i' 
 
 232 
 
 J»rO ITA' Tyl IN A ND PliA IlilE. 
 
 |i' ! 
 
 , ■ 
 
 one, and, in connection with the waggon-road by which 
 wc came from Smoky River depot and a waggon road 
 from the Landing to Edmonton, forms the most favour- 
 able route from the Peace to the Saskatchewan. 
 
 I had proposed going by canoe to the Landing, about 
 165 miles, and, in lack of easier conveyance, walking 
 from there to Edmonton, if I could secure Indians to 
 carry my tent, baggage and provisions ; but the agent, 
 Mr. Young, assured me that the Company's boat would 
 be going to the Landing in a few days, and would there 
 be met by carts that would at once return to Edmonton. 
 A heavy storm, which continued for three days, made it 
 impossible to proceed by canoe ; so I waited for the 
 speedier and more comfortable York boat. The delay 
 was irksome, for the season was getting well advanced, 
 but it was relieved by the hospitality of the Fort and by 
 the pleasure of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Macdougall, of 
 Dunvegan, homeward-bound from Edmonton. Mr. Mac- 
 dougall spent several years on the Yucon, and regards 
 his present post as m the very centre of civilisation, 
 when compared with the remoter north-land that borders 
 Behring's Straits. 
 
 VVe left the Fort with a fair breeze which soon fresh- 
 ened almost to a gale: the shallow waters of the lake 
 were whi2)ped into foam, and, in the absence of project- 
 ing promontory or sheltering island to form a harbour, 
 wo ran under close-reefed lug-sail almost from end to 
 
t 
 
 DUNVEGAX TO nOMOXToy. 
 
 233 
 
 end without halting, covering the distance in about nine 
 hours. When we liad once entered the river we Avero 
 largely dependent on our oars, for the stream winds by 
 many a curve and with very gentle flow. It maintains 
 throughout most of its course of forty-five miles a width 
 of about twenty yards, being regular and monotonous as 
 a canal, until nearing the Athabasca it passes over a 
 series of small rapids where it broadens to a span of 
 about fifty yards. Its banks are low, fringed for the 
 most part with \villows, while on cither side there is a 
 fertile plateau covered with luxuriant vegetation and 
 abounding in wild-cheny trees, whoso ripe fruit fre- 
 quently detained the Indian crew that accomjDanied me. 
 
 The Athabasca where it receives the Lesser Slave 
 River is nearly two hundred yards wide. For a short 
 distance after their waters meet the two streams may be 
 recognized by their colour, that of the Slave River being 
 brown, while the Athabasca nas the gray colour charac- 
 teristic of the streams that flow from the Eocky Moun- 
 tains. Very soon, however, they are blended beyond all 
 recognition. 
 
 At the junction of the two rivers I set up a post office 
 and left a mail bag. The office consisted of a tree well 
 blazed ; the bag, a fragment of a flour sack which was 
 tied to the tree, enclosed a letter for Dr. G. M. Dawson, '' to 
 be left till called for." It was his intention to come down 
 the Athabasca from a i^oint some distance west '^^' this, 
 
 
 I /I 
 
 i V\! 
 
 ■| 
 
 ''^ 
 
234 
 
 MOUNT AIS AND rUAIRIE. 
 
 '! ' 
 
 ■If' '' % 
 
 I . 
 
 If. 
 
 and my letter was to inform him that he would find certain 
 provisions cached for him in a small house at Athabasca 
 Landing. Any stores thus left for a traveller in these 
 regions though placed, as in this case, in an unlocked 
 hut, or even though fastened to the branches of a tree, are 
 as safe from all disturbance by the hand of man as though 
 they were guarded by a regiment. The wolverine may 
 sometimes help himself to them, and' it requires 
 thoughtful arrangement to secure them against his cun- 
 ning, but every Indian, or other traveller, holds it a 
 matter of sacred faith to leave them untouched, and passes 
 them as if they were not. The letter and provisions 
 were both in due time found in perfect safety by Dr. 
 Dawson. 
 
 After I had completed these postal arrangements my 
 boatmen were attracted by the sight of an Indian lodge 
 near the river, and, recognizing some friends, they went 
 ashore. After they had been gone for some time I 
 found them comfortably engaged at tea in the lodge, and 
 on my appearance die Indian woman at once u&ked me 
 to join them. As the tei^ee was hung round with dried 
 moose and beaver-tails, I ventured, with the assistance 
 of one of the men who acted as interpreter, to exjDress 
 admiration of this abundant store of provisions. The 
 Indian at once took down some moose-meat and some 
 beaver-tails, and presented them to me. It is customary 
 among the Indians that if one expresses fervent admir- 
 
i ; i 
 
 DVXVEGAS TO EDMOXTON. 
 
 235 
 
 I 1 
 
 certain 
 habasca 
 in these 
 nlocked 
 ;ree, are 
 though 
 ne may 
 foquires 
 his cun- 
 ds it a 
 d passes 
 ^visions 
 by Dr. 
 
 nts my 
 n lodge 
 y went 
 
 time I 
 gc, and 
 ied me 
 h dried 
 listance 
 express 
 The 
 i some 
 tomary 
 
 admir- 
 
 ation of some article lielonging to another, the possessor 
 at once gives up the coveted article to the admirer of it, 
 although he probabably takes an early opportunity of 
 repaying himself by admiring some of his friend's posses- 
 sions. It is told of a surveyor, Gore by name, who 
 was engaged in laying off the 11. B. Company's lands 
 near Lesser Slave Lake, that, when seated with his men 
 one evening around the camp-fire, he expressed frequent 
 and fervent admiration of a new pipe which one of the 
 Indians was smoking. The owner handed it to him 
 bidding him take it. The others assured the surveyor 
 that it would give great offence if he refused, so he 
 reluctantly accepted i+ Next evening the Indian was 
 loud in praise of a very fine otter-skin cap which Gore 
 was wearing. All turned towards him ; he knew what 
 was expected ; and taking off the cap he passed it most 
 unwillingly to the Indian, who thanked him and imme- 
 diately threw him his own old well-worn one in return. 
 The surveyor restrained all further expression of admir- 
 ation for the property of the Indians. 
 
 Accepting the proffered gift of our Indian acquaintance, 
 we reciprocated .lis hospitality by a gift of flour and 
 tobacco, and continued our journey down stream. The 
 current of the Athabasca, though swift nearer the moun- 
 tains, is here probably not more than two miles an hour. 
 It.-, banks, which are generally bordered by a beach of 
 sand or clay, slope rapidly uj) from the water's edge to a 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 'Ml 
 
 I >'^ >\ 
 
 \\ 
 
 j 
 
 ■I 
 
 n • 
 
 'II' 
 
^T 
 
 ii* • 
 
 < ! 
 
 fl 
 
 I I . 
 
 i\ 
 
 : \'i 
 
 
 m 
 
 ! l 
 
 I ' 
 
 23G 
 
 Mn rxT. 1 IX A XD ri:A thte. 
 
 height of from one to two huji<h\'d Cvvi. AVhere broken 
 they expose u li^^ht, loamy soil on a bed of sand and clay; 
 but they are, for the most part, closely wooded, chiefly 
 with poplar and spruce. Nearer the Landing, however, 
 the banks become moi-e varied, sometimes abrupt, with 
 here and there a land-slide, sometimes low and flat, 
 altliough at a short distance from the water's edge the land 
 seems to maintain a ])retty uniform level. The weather 
 waw beautifully fine, the woods were rich with many- 
 tinted foliage, the shores gravelly, grass-grown, and 
 Bandy by turns. No sign of life was visible axccpt an 
 occasional beavor on the beach. The Indians, knowing 
 that they would be in ample time to meet the carts from 
 Edmonton, sim})ly allowed the boat to be borno onward 
 by the current, while, coiling themselves in their blan- 
 kets, they i)assed hour after hour in sleep, for they have 
 an unlimited capacity for doing nothing when they are 
 not spurred into action by necessity. 
 
 Between the Landing and Lake Athabasca the river 
 passes over two falls, whei-e somewhat heavy j^ortages 
 would be required, and on that account freight for Fort 
 ChipjH'wyan and the northern districts, instead of pass- 
 ing along this portion of tiie river,goes from F(jrt Carlton 
 along the old I'oute by way of Lacrosse, Portage La 
 Lochc, and the Clearwater, one of the best known and 
 most frequently travelled routes of the north. On both 
 Bides of the Athabasca, as it flows northward from the 
 
 It 
 
 i 
 
broken 
 d clay ; 
 ohkifly 
 >wcver, 
 it, with 
 1(1 flat, 
 ho land 
 v^eathcr 
 
 many- 
 n, and 
 ccpt an 
 nowing 
 •ts from 
 onward 
 ir hlan- 
 oy havo 
 
 icy arc 
 
 10 river 
 )ortagos 
 bi- Fort 
 
 o 
 
 f jiaws- 
 Carlton 
 ago La 
 \vn and 
 !)ti both 
 I'oni thu 
 
 PUNVEGAN TO EDMQXTON. 
 
 237 
 
 Landing, the general altitude of the country decreases, as 
 it does along the course of the Peace River. Indeed, this 
 northward dip commences near the boundary line, for 
 the 49th parallel, though arl)itraril3'' chosen as the inter- 
 national boundary, marks approximately the watershed 
 of this portion of the continent, where the southern 
 tributaries of the Saskatchewan rise near the northern 
 tributaries of the Missouri. From that, northward, the 
 general level falls towards the Arctic Soa. 
 
 We reached the Landing on the evening of Wednesday, 
 the 17th September. The convej'ances from Edmonton 
 which we expected to meet there, did not arrive until 
 Friday morning. During this delay, and fearing that 
 there might be some unforeseen detention, T proposed to 
 the Indian boatmen that they should pack for me to 
 Edmonton. As only one of the four could talk English, 
 and as my proposals to the others were necessarily mado 
 through him, ho being himself disinclined to accept, 
 probably modified my otrerp. At any rate tho Indians 
 would not agree to go. Fortunately, however, the 
 arrivtd of tho conveyances on Friday removed all further 
 difficulty. "When the freiglit train from Edmonton had 
 come, tho Indians from the lake and those in charge of 
 tho carts spent the evening in the red man's favourite 
 recreation, gambling. The slakes were small, usuidly a 
 fig of tobacco, but tho excitement was as lively as it used 
 to bo at Badon-Baden. They ])lay in much tlio same 
 
 
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 238 
 
 MOUXTATN AND PRAIUIE 
 
 way as boys play "odds or evens," holding something in 
 one hand, folding their arms akimbo, jerking the body, 
 and droning a so-called song, that they may givT as little 
 indication as possible to the rival players as to which 
 hand contains the treasure. While play continues a 
 drum, or some appropriate substitute such as a tin pan, 
 is beaten, noise of some kind being apparently a neces- 
 sary accompaniment. 
 
 On Saturday mcrning the boats were loaded, and the 
 carts started on their return trip, while I had the advan- 
 tage of a buck-board which had been sent out with Mrs. 
 Young, whom we met on her way to Slave Lake. The 
 roa<l from the Landing to Edmonton, which is an 
 excellent waggon-road, ninety-six miles in length, was 
 made by the Company to avoid the necessity of freight- 
 ing goods for the north by (he old and difficult trail 
 which passed by way of Fort Assinoboine to Lesser Slave 
 Lake. After leaving the river it leads very qui( kly to 
 ihe j^latciiu which is hero about 350 feet above the level 
 of the Athabasca. Tlio country for several miles south 
 of thoLan<ling is broken into ridges, the soil being at first 
 rather poor, but it gradually becomes undulating prairie. 
 Sometimes the road passes over sandy soil through 
 groves of })ine, while here and there the landscape is 
 dotted with clumps of spruce; but twenty miles from the 
 Athabasca the country becomes more beautiful, rich witii 
 luxuriant grass and pea-vine, watered by frequei.t 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 
mething in 
 ' the body, 
 vs) aw little 
 d LO which 
 ontinues a 
 I a tin pan, 
 \y a neces- 
 
 )J, and the 
 the advan- 
 
 with Mrs. 
 iako. The 
 ich in an 
 3ngth, was 
 of freight- 
 icult trail 
 3H8cr Slave 
 luickly to 
 L' the level 
 liloM south 
 ingat first 
 ng prairie, 
 through 
 id scape is 
 s from the 
 
 rich with 
 froquoi.t 
 
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 DUNVEGAN TO EDMOXTOS 
 
 239 
 
 streams and lakelets, with loamy Hoil, occasionally dotted 
 with aspen copse. Xearing Stui-geon River, which the 
 road crosses about twenty-five miles north of Edmonton, 
 the country becomes i)eculiarly attractive, there being 
 already upon this river, about two miles above our cross- 
 ing, a thriving settlement with grist mill and other 
 appliances of an agricultural commiinit}-. Between 
 Sturgeon River and Edmonton the country is of the 
 richest undulating prairio character ; the soil is excellent, 
 and the road leads for miles by luxuriant hay meadows 
 and through gently rolling land of great fertility. Much 
 of the hay had recently been cut and stacked, and the 
 large stacks gave a cultivated ai^pcaranee to the country. 
 As wo a2:>2)roached Edmonton we passed many wheat- 
 fields where the grain, already cut, was being garnered, 
 the hearts of the settlers having being gladdened by an 
 abundant harvest. Wo came unexpectedly on a little 
 clump of houses on tho plateau overlooking the river, 
 and then a little further, and somewhat lower down, on 
 a slope leading to the river, we entered Fort Edmonton, 
 tho most important II. B. Compan^-'s Post in th(* North 
 West Territories. The shops, store-hoi' ^, offices, ser- 
 vants' dwellings, etc., are enclosed by :i isade, while at 
 a short distance, and a little higlier uj' o bank, outside 
 of the palisade, stan<ls the factor's hoiii»t , where, after this 
 stage of the journey east wnrd, the Ini hearted hospital- 
 ity of Mr. and Mrs. Uardisty was peculiarly welcome. 
 
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 240 
 
 MOUNTATN AND PRAIBTR 
 
 The telegraph line has been recently extended to Fort 
 Edmonton, but, in the summer of 1879, the nearest tele- 
 graph station was at Ilay Lakes, a 2)oint on the located 
 line of the C. P. Eaihvay, about thirty-five miles distant 
 from the Fort. Being anxious to send messages east- 
 ward, I hurried, by an excellent road, to Hay Lakes. 
 The country traversed by this road that runs southward 
 from Edmonton, is even superior to that lying north of 
 the Saskatchewan. It is rich in the extreme, consisting 
 chiefly of gently rolling prairie, dotted with groves of 
 aspen, poplar, etc., and covered with luxuriant herbage. 
 The tclcgraj)h office was a very rude shanty, but to one 
 who had fo)- months been cut off from tidings of friends 
 and of the world it seemed like a temple of science, as 
 it enshrined a battery and instrument that made it pos- 
 Bible to communicat':' with any point along the world's 
 four million miles of wire. Messages were soon sent to 
 Battlcford, Winnipeg and Ottawa, and the hours passed 
 slowly until tlic click announced the coming reply. 
 Tlio da}' was fine, and the ducks on the neighbouring 
 lakes temptingly abundant, but we did not care to leave 
 the house lest we might lose the earliest opportunity of 
 contin.uiMg our correspondence. 
 
 A large number of Crees had pitched camp in the 
 neighbourhood, waiting for some reliable report regard- 
 ing the approach of the buffalo across the boixlor, and 
 meanwhile living on ducks and prairie chicken, of which 
 

 ed to Fort 
 aresi tclo- 
 hc located 
 les distant 
 sages cast- 
 Lay Lakes, 
 southward 
 (T north of 
 
 consisting 
 I groves of 
 it herbage. 
 
 but to one 
 i of friends 
 
 science, as 
 ladc it pos- 
 tho world's 
 
 oon sent to 
 ours passed 
 
 ling reply, 
 hbouring 
 
 irc to leave 
 
 )ortunity of 
 
 imp in the 
 )ort regard- 
 30 1x1 or, and 
 n, of which 
 
 D us VEGAS TO EDMOSTON, 
 
 241 
 
 they daily killed several hundreds. Even the fattest and 
 largest mallard ducks were regarded by them as inferior 
 food. Until recently they would not have wasted powder 
 upon them, but the gradual extinction of the builalo is 
 enhancing the value of small game. As far back as 
 memory or traditioriican reach, the Indian of the ])rairics 
 has relied upon the buffalo for supplying food, clothing, 
 tent, — almost evcr^'thing ro(piisite for his maintenance. 
 The herds that annually visited the northern plains and 
 prairies scorned practically unlimited ; j'car after year 
 thousands fell befoi-o the rifle of the Indian and of the 
 half-breed, while the fur-trade furnished continual induce- 
 ment to procure an increasing annual supply of robes ; 
 but the work of destruction, carried on upon both sides of 
 the boundary, has gradually thin v ' off the herds to such 
 a degree, that already on our Canadian prairies the 
 buffalo has become almost extinct. 
 
 This change has of necessity forced the Indians into 
 new lines of life, while at the same time it has laid upon 
 our Government increased respcmsibility in its treat- 
 ment of the prairie Indians. I'ood must bo furnished 
 for many, wh<>, from long habits of dependence u}>on tho 
 buffalo, would starve if no aid were given them. Some 
 of the Indians indeed, especially among the Blackfoot, 
 take their stand upon the argument: ** We had j.lrnty 
 of food until tho white man cnme; now if, as you tell us, 
 
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 the great mother sends her white children here, then, 
 
 17 
 
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 242 
 
 BTOrXTAIX AXD PR A I RTF.. 
 
 If P !| 
 
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 1 
 
 Biiice the buffalo nro failing, the great motlior must 
 Buj^j^ly us with food." Their creed has at least the 
 merit of simplicity, and, as they have been trained only 
 to hunt, and are as yet incapable of maintaining them- 
 selves by farming, it is absolutely necessary that the 
 Government should assist in feeding them until they aro 
 educated into more settled ways of life. Looked at even 
 as a matter of policy, it is cheaj^er to feed than to fight 
 them, and the latter alternative might be forced upon us 
 if the former were not accepted, while, at the same time, 
 this humaner policy would be only in accord with the 
 considerate treatment that has always been shewn by 
 the British and Canadian Governments towards the old 
 possessors of the soil. Much reljef however would annu- 
 ally be iwj^uired, if the Indians were not trained into 
 self-help, and therefore, to reduce this burden, as well as 
 to cnUicate the Indians, as far as possible, into diligent 
 and useful citizens, the Government has appointed farm 
 instructors to teach them practical farming on the re- 
 serves that had previously been allotted to them. 
 
 Thirteen such farm-instructors have been ajipointed, 
 stationed on different Indian reserves between Manitoba 
 and the base of the Rocky Mountains.* It is as yet too 
 early to pronounce upon the results of this system, 
 
 ♦ Tho locatioriH at which the vnrious instructors in farming have been 
 stationed arc : Qu'Appcllu, Touchwood Hills, Fort Pclly, Prince Albert, 
 Duck Lake near Carlton, Battleford, Fort Pitt, Saddle Lako near Victoria, 
 Kdiuonton, lilackloot Crosaing, Fort Calgarry, Fort McLeod and Fort Walsh. 
 
icr must 
 least the 
 [ncd only 
 ng tlicm- 
 that the 
 they aro 
 d at even 
 1 to figlit 
 d upon U3 
 rime time, 
 . with the 
 shewn by 
 ds the old 
 )uld annu- 
 lined into 
 as well aa 
 diligent 
 nted farm 
 on the re- 
 ni. 
 
 ippointed, 
 Manitoba 
 as yet too 
 8 system, 
 
 ; have been 
 
 rinco Albert, 
 le.ir Victoria, 
 Vutt Wttldh. 
 
 DC'ATE^'.l.V TO EDMONTON. 
 
 24iJ 
 
 but there is every likelihood of its ultimate success. 
 Already a number of Indians, following the example of 
 their chiefs, are taking to fanning, and in this they seem 
 to be much more influenced by the example of the half- 
 breeds than by that of the whites, as the half-breeds aro 
 hunters like themselves, and were for many years 
 almost as dependent upon the bulfalo. Yet, even if this 
 attempt to make the Indians solf-su2)poriing should prove 
 a failure, the establishment ofgovernment farms on which 
 large cuantities of root crops can be raised will grc-atly 
 reduce the expense of feeding them. 
 
 There is no reasonable ground for any apprehension 
 of danger from the Indians, nor any likelihood of trouble 
 arising between them and the settlers. From the first the 
 Government have carefully respected their claims ; they 
 have extinguished, by treaty, the Indian title to the 
 land, before oftering an acre for settlement; and the 
 Indians know that the Government will keep faith ^vith 
 them. This is the open secret of Canada's success in 
 dealing with her Indians. In all, seven treaties have 
 been made with the tribes of the North-West, covering 
 the entire territory from the boundary line northwards 
 to the Athabasca, the Beaver and the Nelson Rivers, and 
 from the liocky Mountains eastward to Ontario. 
 
 These treaties guarantee, on the part of the Indians, 
 the entire surrender of the territory, with the exception 
 of certain reserves, it being understood that they con- 
 
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 214 
 
 MOUXTATX AXD rUAiniF. 
 
 ^■M"h:M\ 
 
 tiniie at liberty to hunt and fish without restriction over 
 all unoccupied lands ; and, on the part of the Canadian 
 Government, the payment of a certain annuity to each 
 family of the- tribe, the yearly distribution of a fixed 
 amount of ammunition, the establishment and mainten- 
 ance of schools, the gift of cattle, agricultural imple- 
 ments, etc., with some other lepn important provisions. 
 
 The only Indians in the southern portion of the Terri- 
 tories, not yet under treaty arrangement with the Gov- 
 ernment, are the Sioux, who crossed from the United 
 States nnder Sitting Bull in 1876, and who are camped 
 near "Wood Mountains. Eescrves had been allotted them 
 by the U. S. Government in the Black Hill country, not 
 far from the boundary. It was afterwards found that 
 the reserves contained rich mining-lands, and the Sioux 
 were therefore asked to move to other reserves without any 
 compensation for the sacrifices demanded of them. They 
 declined; and the Government resorted to the powder 
 argument, which was too strong for the natives, who 
 then sought refuge on Canadian soil, where they have since 
 remained on sufferance. Their chief contends that his 
 men are British subjects, that they never legally became 
 wards of the U. S. Government, that the territory in 
 which they dweljt belonged by right to Britain, and 
 should never have been ceded to the United States, that 
 therefore he and his men were improperly transferred to 
 a foreign government, — an opinion in which Sitting Bull 
 
DUWVEGAX TO EDMONTON. 
 
 245 
 
 IH 
 
 ition over 
 Canadian 
 y to each 
 f a fixed 
 mainten- 
 al implo- 
 (visionB. 
 the Tcrri- 
 tho Gov- 
 ic United 
 3 camped 
 tted them 
 intry, not 
 bund that 
 the Sioux 
 ihoutany 
 im. They 
 e powder 
 ;ivcs, who 
 lave since 
 that his 
 y became 
 •ritory in 
 tain, and 
 ates, that 
 sferred to 
 tting Bull 
 
 showH a pretty clear knowledge of the lifstory of our 
 boundary negotiations. Another band of Sioux, how- 
 ever, who crossed into Canada immediately after the 
 Minnesota massacre, in 1862, are settled near Prince 
 Albert and on Bird Tail Creek, where the}' have had 
 reserves allotted them by the Government, but receive 
 no further relief. 
 
 The Sioux under Sitting Bull have, in some degree, 
 cut olf the su])ply of buftalo that would otherwise have 
 helped to sustain our own Crecs and Blackfoet, but that 
 is the only injury intlicted by them. It is most improb- 
 able that they will show any hostility to the Government 
 or people of Canada; indeed they are clear-sighted 
 enough to see that, since the gradual extinction of the 
 buffalo, their chief prospect of sustenance lies in the 
 friendship of the Canadian Government, and that they 
 would forfeit this by any injury inflicted upon the 
 settlers. At the same time the Crees, Blackfeet and 
 Sioux have too much dislike, distrust and jealousy to- 
 wards each other to form any union for aggressive pur- 
 poses against the whites. In travelling from Edmonton 
 to Winnipeg we occasionally mot sensational rumours 
 regarding alleged acts of violence on the part of the 
 Indians, but further inquiry always proved these rumours 
 to be baseless. Even when sorely pressed by hunger, 
 and when pained by the sight of friends suliering from 
 starvation they displayed the utmost patience and endur- 
 
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 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, NY MfSO 
 
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 ancc, and made no attempt to procure relief by violence. 
 Throughout the whole country the white settlers are un- 
 disturbed by any anxiety about them ; and the natural 
 course of events must tend to make the whites every 
 year moj-e and more secure against any likelihood of 
 trouble from this quarter. 
 
 The district around Edmonton is one of exceptional 
 fertility and promise, the most promising indeed of all 
 the North-West Territories. Nowhere do settlers reap 
 larger crops "off the sod," that is, the first season that 
 the soil is ploughed. In some parts of the North-West 
 the land yields little or nothing the first summer, so that 
 the settler can only plough it up that the grass roots 
 may rot and that the soil may bo ready for seed the fol- 
 lowing spring. In most parts of the Saskatchewan 
 valley, however, good crops may bo raised on newly 
 broken land. Not only do the horses winter out, but 
 frequently the cattle also, for, even when the snow 
 averages three feet in depth, as it sometimes does, it is 
 so light, and the meadow hay and poa-'ine are so tall, 
 that cattle have little difficulty in foraging for themselves, 
 at least in the neighbourhood of llay Lakes. 
 
 This Edmonton district, as I saw it for thirty miles 
 south of the Fort, for more than twice that distance to 
 the north, and for any distance less than 200 miles east- 
 ward, to which the name can be properly applied, — and, 
 as reported by other travellers, for a considerable dis- 
 

 r\ 
 
 DUXVEGAN TO EDMONTON. 
 
 2-n 
 
 tance westward, — possesses not only the richest soil, but 
 is for the most part well-wooded, being indeed heavily 
 timbered along tlie upper waters of the Saskatchewan. 
 It is well sujiplied with coal, which is now used for 
 domestic jiurjioses at Fort Edmonton. Gold-washing on 
 the sand-bars of the Saskatchewan yields from $1 to SG 
 a day. The country is well watered ; it is connected by 
 a line of steamers with "VYinni^^eg ; its climate is enjoy- 
 able in the extreme; its fitness for wheat culture e(^ual 
 to that of any 2»art of the country west of the ]\ed liiver 
 valley. Out of such a district a prosperous Province 
 must ere long l.tc formed. 
 
 It is natural that the Government should legard 
 Edmonton as an essential point to be traversed by the 
 Canadian Paciiic llailway. Not oidy is it destined to be 
 the centre of an important district, it is also most favour- 
 ably situated as a distributing point for the country to 
 the north and south. To the north and north-west lies 
 the fertile Peace Eiver district. To the s(nith-west lies 
 the rich Bow River country, which is already rccogni/ed 
 as perhaps the best grazing district in Canada, including 
 a territory of about 20,000 square miles, running, that is, 
 from the boundary line about 200 miles northward, and 
 from the base of the llocky .^[ountuins about 100 miles 
 eastward. Owing to the " Chenook " winds, as they are 
 called, which apparently come from the Pacific across 
 the country once held by the Chenook Indians, near 
 
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248 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND rRATlUE. 
 
 !!• I 
 
 ! I 
 
 the Columbia River, tliis district enjoys an exceptionally 
 mild climate that renders it comparatively free from 
 snow oven in mid-winter, so that cattle are enabled 
 throiipjhoiit the whole year to graze upon its rich well- 
 watered plains. If our trans-continental railway were 
 to pass by the northern route through the Peace River 
 countiy to the Pacific, the traffic of this great grazing 
 district to the south of Edmonton would necessarily be 
 thrown into the United States railways, whereas it can 
 easily be drawn towards ouv own line, if that line should 
 pass not further north than Edmonton. At the same 
 time the Peace River country, as soon as circumstances 
 may require, can without much difficulty be connected 
 with the trunk line by a branch from the neighbourhood 
 of Edmonton. 
 
 How soon will the railway reach Edmonton ? If the 
 North-West is to be rajiidly peopled, — and on its settle- 
 ment must depend much of Canada's future prosperity 
 — facilities of communication must be provided, and tho 
 railway, as a great colonisation road, must precede or 
 at least accompany settlement. And while the peopling 
 of tho North-West requires tho construction of the rail- 
 way to the foot of tho Rocky Mountains, other reasons, 
 such as the interests of British Columbia, tho closer 
 union of the Provinces by lines of ti*affic, and tlie devel- 
 opment of commerce with Asia, demand railway exten- 
 Bion to tho western seaboard. 
 
1 
 
 DUNVEGAN TO EDMOXTOX. 
 
 24^ 
 
 The lino from Lake Superior to the Pacific consists of 
 
 the following sections : — 
 
 Miles. 
 
 1. Fort William to Selkirk 406 
 
 2. Selkirk vid Edmonton to Jasper Valley 1000 
 
 3. Jasper Valley to Kamloops 335 
 
 4. Kamloops to Yalo 125 
 
 5. Yale to Burrard Inlet 90 
 
 Total from Lake Superior to the Pacific 1,956 
 
 On section 1, the rails are laid 136 miles west of Fort 
 William and 90 miles east of Selkirk, and the remaining 
 180 miles will be completed by July 1882. On section 2, 
 200 miles arc already under contract from Solkirlc west- 
 wards. Section 4 is under contract. On sections 3 and 
 5 nothing has yet been done beyond the location of the 
 route. There are thus, (exclusive of the Pembina 
 Branch, 85 miles in length, from Emerson to Selkirk,) 
 226 miles in running order and 505 miles under contract. 
 With the strong tide of immigration that may at once 
 be expected to pour into the North- West, and tlie facil- 
 ities for railway construction from Selkirk to Jasper 
 Valley, ten years are surely an outside estimate of the 
 time required to extend the line across the prairies to the 
 Eocky Mountains. According to the terms of the con- 
 tract, it is contemplated that the section from Kamloops 
 to Yale will be completed in five years. Is it extravagant 
 to expect that with the work of construction proceeding 
 
 
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 250 
 
 MOiNTAL" .iND PUAIUIE. 
 
 on both sides of tlio Mountains, we shall, by the 
 close of the present decade, have our through line 
 complete / The claims of the prairie section for speedy 
 completion are more urgent than those of the British 
 Columbia line ; and the sale of lands and the increasing 
 traffic to be secured by it, as well as the cheaper cost of 
 construction, must make it the best paying portion of the 
 whole line. At the same time the completion of the lino 
 to the western coast may bo regarded a* a political 
 necessity, and, as it will developc the resources of British 
 Columbia, as it will give a seaport on the Pacific by 
 which the produce of our plains can bo distributed west- 
 wards, and as it will afford a route from Europe to China 
 for through traffic about 700 miles shorter than any other, 
 it is of manifest importance that the part west of the 
 Mountains be constructed as speedily as the finances of 
 the country will allow. 
 
 But will the finances of the country allow its construc- 
 tion at all ? Eegarding the line from Lake Superior to 
 the Rocky Mountains leading statesmen, on both sides of 
 politics, and other competent authorities seem to bo of 
 one mind. On the smallest reasonable allowance for the 
 increase of population in the Xorth-West this portion of 
 the line will not only pi-ovo directly a good commercial 
 enterprise, but indirectly a source of large increase to the 
 revenues of the country. For the remainder, the same 
 cannot with as great confidence be expected. The cost of 
 

 DUWEGAN TO FDMOSTON. 
 
 251 
 
 the line from Jasjicr Valley to Eurravd Inlet is estimated, 
 at from thirty to thirty-five millions of dollars. If 
 none of this were defrayed by the sale of land.s in the 
 Norfh-West, it would entail au annual expenditure of 
 nearly a million and a half of dollars of interest on cost 
 of' construction, on the part of the Dominion, and it 
 might bo questioned, whether, for a country with so 
 limited a revenue as Canada, this outlay would bo com- 
 pensated for by tho advantages that it would secure. 
 J3ut even the least sanguine can hardly suppose that the 
 completion of the line would lay this burden upon tho 
 revenues of the country, for there can be little doubt 
 that the sale of lands in the North-West will pay for tho 
 entire construction of the railway. At the same time, 
 the country cannot afford to peril too much on mere ex- 
 pectations, however well grounded, and therefore, until 
 a large immigration and extensive sales of public lands 
 be secured in the North- West, it would be well to " make 
 haste slowly " with the British Columbia section of the 
 line. 
 
 But our Pacific railway may well bo regarded as a 
 work of Imperial as well as of Canadian importance. It 
 concerns the welfare of the empire both as a colonisation 
 road and as part of a trans-continental highway. Tho 
 settlement of our North-West must very soon and very 
 periously affect the wheat supply of the mother country. 
 At present that supply is drawn largely from the United 
 
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 252 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAITilE. 
 
 States and from Eussia, and as theso countries, being 
 foreign, might become unfriendly, the receipt of bread- 
 stuffs from these sources might any season be imperilled; 
 whereas, if our own vast prairies were developed the 
 policy of foreign countries could not seriously disturb 
 the wheat market of Britain. Besides, the welfare 
 of the empire is concerned in the extension of this 
 line of railway to the western seaboard, as it would 
 not only provide speedy communication through British 
 territory with British possessions on the Pacific, but 
 would supply the great missing link in a rapid route 
 from England to Eastern Asia that would be safe against 
 foreign interference. 
 
ies, being 
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 fiperilled; 
 loped the 
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 ) welfare 
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 NORTH WESf (ERRIIORIES:' 
 
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 PHOTO LITH BY THt BURLANO UTH CO MONTREAL 
 
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 CHAPTER X. 
 
 EDMONTON TO BATTLEFORD. 
 
 Steamers on Saskatchewan. — Prepare to cross tlie prairie. — Trails 
 — Prairie travel. — Pemr^can. — Victoria. — ITalf-breed farmers 
 Christian Missions in North-West. — Victoria to Fort Pitt. — 
 Royal mail. — Dog-clriving. — Fort Pitt. — The trail again. — 
 Treeless prairies. — Tree Culture. — Battleford. — Government of 
 North-West. — Climate. — Character of country. — Great Plain 
 — Homestead and pre-emption law. — Prospect of settlement. 
 
 I left Fort Edmonton for Battleford on Friday, 26th 
 September. Earlier in the season I might have gone 
 down the Saskatchewan by steamer, for during the sum- 
 mer, a line of steamers belonging to the H. B. Company 
 plies between Edmonton and Eed River. The " Lily," a 
 boat of light draught runs from Edmonton to Fort Carl- 
 ton, a distance of about five hundred miles ; and, as the 
 river becomes deeper below Carlton, a larger boat, tho 
 " Northcote " runs from that point to the head of tho 
 Grand Eapids at the mouth of the Saskatchewan, a dis- 
 tance of about four hundred i.ales. These rapids, form- 
 ing a complete barrier to navigation, necessitate a 
 portage of three miles, which is traversed by a tramway, 
 connecting the steamers on the river with tho.'^e on Lako 
 
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 254 
 
 MOrXTA TS' AXn rUAIRlE. 
 
 Winnipeg. Another steamer, much more strongly Iniilt 
 than the river boats to stand tlio rough Abaters of the 
 Lake, runs from the moutli of the Saskatcliewan, two 
 hundred and eiglity miles to tlic mouth of Red River, 
 and wlien tlio water is high, thirty miles up the latter 
 river to the Stone Port, within twenty miles of Winnipeg. 
 The navigation of the Saskatchewan is much impeded at 
 some places during low water by rocks and sand-bars, 
 but these could bo removed and the river rendered navi- 
 gable throughout all the o^ien season at an estimated 
 outlay of $50,000. "Were these increased facilities for 
 navigation sui")plied, the cost of living in many parts of 
 the North- AVcst would be greatly reduced. At present 
 the average rate of freight by cart across the prairies is 
 $1.00 per cwt. for every hundred miles from Winnipeg, 
 that is, $5.00 jDcr cwt. to Prince Albert, $8.00 per cwt. to 
 Battleford, $10.00 jDer cwt. to Fort Edmonton, rates that 
 seriously affect the prices of imported goods. Besides, it 
 requires from fifty to seventy da^-s, according to the 
 weather and to the state of the roads, to cany freight 
 from Winnipeg to Edmonton, and nearly as long to make 
 the return trij), whcre'is, if the necessary improvements 
 were made on the Saskatchewan, tho round trip, from 
 Winnipeg to Edmonton and back, could be made in about 
 twenty-live days. 
 
 Tenable, however, to proceed by steamer down the 
 Saskatchewan, and unwilling lo go by canoe, I made j)re- 
 
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 strongly Ijuilt 
 waters of tlio 
 Ltclicwaii, two 
 3f Kcd Eivcr, 
 i up the latter 
 1 of \Yijinipcg. 
 3h impeded at 
 ind sand-bars, 
 cndcred navi- 
 an estimated 
 facilities for 
 lany parts of 
 . At i)resent 
 lie prairies is 
 >m "VYinnijjcg, 
 )0 2)er cwt. to 
 on, rates that 
 >. Besides, it 
 rding to the 
 carry freight 
 long to make 
 ni)rovomentH 
 id trip, from 
 lade in about 
 
 er down the 
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 EDMOyT0^ TO DATTLFFOnO. 
 
 255 
 
 parations for crosHiiig tho prairies. Through tlic kind- 
 ness of Mr. ITardisty I secured the services ot an English 
 half-breed, Fi'cd. Eowland, who, though sometimes a little 
 lazy in the morning, was faithful, cleanl}-, and intelligent. 
 Our waggon, which was single-seated, but with space 
 enough to hold provisions, baggage, tent, etc., piled up 
 in the rear, was drawn by two horses, while two others 
 ran loose, to take their turn in harness or under the 
 eaddle with which I occasionally relieved the tedium of 
 the drive. The only cjire that these horses require is 
 that at least one of them, tho hell-mare, be hobbled at 
 might, so that they may readily be found in the morning; 
 they can easily find food and water, and they can travel 
 thirty-five or forty miles a day without difficulty. A 
 prairie journey is now little more of a novelty than i\ trip 
 across tho Atlantic ; yet, like an ocean voyage, jt is full of 
 interest to one who makes it for the first time. Tho 
 primitive prairie cart is the convej'ance most frequently 
 employed, but it is well, if possible, to have saddle-horses 
 for the sake of comfort, and to leave tho carts for tents, 
 camp outfit, baggage, etc. In many instances, however, 
 tho cart has been abandoned for more pi-etcntious vehi- 
 cles. Tho light waggon, covered with a cotton awning 
 that gives it ihc name of "prairie-schooner," from its 
 fancied resemblance to a s».^-boat, the two-horse spring- 
 waggon similar to the ordinary " democrat " waggon of 
 Ontario, and the double buck-board are the greatest 
 
 
 ■H 
 
25G 
 
 MOUNT. im AND PnAIIilE. 
 
 Is 
 
 
 favourites. Of these the buck-board is the best, because 
 least liable to injury, aii important advantage, for, when 
 you are on the ])rairie there is no blacksmith's shop 
 round the corner at which to repair a spring or to replace 
 a bolt. 
 
 The chief trails across the prairies are so distinctly 
 grooved and worn that there is no danger of losing the 
 way, unless at some fork or cross-road where a finger- 
 post has not yet been erected. Sometimes the trail winds 
 over gently rolling country, or by aspen copse, so that 
 the track can be seen only a short distance ahead j at others 
 it stretches over a dead level plain, like an invitation 
 into boundless space, the numerous parallel grooves that 
 have been cut and worn by carts year after year being 
 regular as railway lines, while near any centre, such as 
 a farming settlement or a trading-post, the converging 
 trails remind one of the lines near a railway dej)6t. 
 Occasionall}^ one meets immigrants or freighters, with 
 their bands of prairie carts, at first almost as rarely as a 
 ship on mid-ocean but more frequently on moving east- 
 wards, like the increasing number of vessels that are seen 
 when nearing jjoi't. 
 
 Each day you pass places that have evidently been the 
 camping-gi'ound of others. The square of sod, dug out 
 by the careful freighter to form a fire-place that shall 
 not endanger the prairie grass, the lodge-poles left lying 
 on the ground, the ashes of recent camji-firos, the little 
 
 
 I 
 
lat arc seen 
 
 KD^TOyTON TO BATTLEFOKD. 
 
 257 
 
 enclosure, some ten feet squuro, Icnced in to contain the 
 extensive " smudge" of grass and leafy boughs, around 
 which the Itorses gather on summer evenings to secure 
 in the smoke a respite from the mosquitoes, — these 
 mementos of previous travellers are frequently seen and 
 are unfailing objects of interest. 
 
 One need have little difficulty in keeping the pot well 
 supplied with game, especially if accompanied by a 
 retriever, for abundance of ducks can be found in the 
 numerous lakelets that border the trail, and j^rairie 
 chickens are plentiful in all except the more settled dis- 
 tricts. As day after day passes one becomes more and 
 more m love with the climate as well as with the country, 
 and can understand how it should be noted for its pecu- 
 liar healthfulress, and especially for its freedom from 
 fevers and from diseases of the throat and lungs. 
 Though one day so closely resembles another in its 
 ordinary routine, yet there is a continual freshness and 
 interest in the journey, and if one has pleasant travelling 
 comjianions, and is favoured with fine weather, a trip 
 across the prairies, particularly after the mosquito season 
 is over, may be like a prolonged pic-nic. 
 
 On leaving Edmonton the larder contained some iresh 
 
 meat and fresh butter, — luxuries unknown for months, 
 
 as well as the ordinary substantials of bacon, pemmican, 
 
 etc. Butl'alo pemmican will soon be a matter only of 
 
 tradition and meraoiy upon the prairies. It is not tho 
 
 18 
 
 I' 
 
 '■'^fi 
 
 .1 
 
ilM; 
 
 258 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND rRAinfE. 
 
 •i i 
 
 most enjoyable variety of food ; indeed, tlie first day that 
 a man has to live on pemmican ho finds that he is not 
 very hungry ; and yet white men as well as half-breeds 
 and Indians find it a peculiarly nourishing diet, while it 
 has the advantage of comprising a great deal of food in 
 very small bulk, and of keeping fresh for an indefinite 
 period. The appetite of both whites and Indians around 
 Fort Edmonton for buffalo meat must have been keen in 
 the days when buffalo were abundant. Capt. Palliser 
 gives the daily ration of fresh meat served out at the 
 Fort i]i 1858, as 40G pounds to ninety-four persons. How 
 the Indians must long for the " good old times," when 
 they mourn over the extinction of the buffalo. 
 
 "We took the trail along the north bank of the Sas- 
 katchewan, it being in some respects preferable to that 
 which passes by Fort Saskatchewan along the southern 
 bank of the river. Already the autumn was upon us j 
 the trees were rapidly losing their leaves ; the cart-ruts 
 and the small streams were filled with fallen foliage; the 
 numerous plants scattered among the grass began to 
 wear a withered look, although still presenting almost as 
 much variety of colour as the foliage-plants in our 
 gardens in mid-summer. The days were warm and clear, 
 the nights cool, somctiraes frosty. It was impossible for 
 us to keep long liourw of travelling, as day-light is neces- 
 sary both for pitching and for moving camp, at least if it 
 
) day that 
 lie is not 
 alf-brecds 
 t, while it 
 of food in 
 indefinite 
 ms around 
 3n keen in 
 ;. Palliser 
 3ut at the 
 )ns. How 
 les," when 
 
 .f the Sas- 
 
 [)lc to that 
 
 e southern 
 
 upon us ; 
 
 cart-ruts 
 jliagc; the 
 
 began to 
 
 almost avS 
 
 Is in our 
 
 and clear, 
 
 lossible for 
 
 it is neces- 
 
 1 least if it 
 
 EDMONTON TO IIATTLFFORD. 
 
 250 
 
 is to be done in any comfort, and so our average daily 
 drive was from thirty-five lo forty miles. 
 
 Two d"ys brought us to Victoria, seventy-three miles 
 from Edmonton, the trail throughout this distance leading 
 through a country of almost unvarying excellence. There 
 is A post of the II. B. Company at Victoria, connected with 
 that at Edmonton, and about a mile from it there is a 
 settlement composed almost exclusively of English half- 
 breeds, who came hc;"e some fifteen years ago, or, as they 
 themselves usually express it, five years before " the 
 transfer," dating this and other incidents from the trans- 
 fer of the Hudson's Bay Territory to the Canadian 
 government, in 1870. 
 
 Unlike the French half-breeds the Scotch and English 
 half-breeds take readilj' to farming. When the French 
 voyageurs, who came from Lower Canada in the old days 
 of the North-West Company-, intermarried with the 
 natives, the children seemed more Indian than French; 
 but, when the Scotch servants of the H. B. Company 
 married Indian women, the children showed few Indian 
 characteristics. If the Scotchman did not raise his wife 
 to his own level, he at least succeeded as a general rule 
 in uplifting his children, whereas the Frenchman seemed 
 almost at once to be drawn down to the level of the 
 Indian. The half-breeds, however, even at best are 
 inferior farmers, for, having sown their seed they spend 
 much of the summer in hunting or in freighting for the 
 
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 .i/nr.vr.iz.v ASD vumuje. 
 
 II. B. Company. At Victoria their farming is conducted 
 on a veiy small 8cale, but, as their land is a beautiful 
 black loam, which has yielded excellent returns of wheat 
 year after year without any manure since they have set- 
 tled upon it, they might evidently farm to great advan- 
 tage, or at least their lands might be cultivated to great 
 advantage if they were in the hands of cajiable farmers. 
 There is a grist-mill about a mile from the settlement, 
 and good prices can be secured for flour and grain as the 
 Government, the Company and the new settlers must all 
 be largo purchasers. The Government will, for several 
 years, require considerable quantities of flour for Indian 
 supplies. The Company purchase largely to ^npply their 
 own men, as they give scarcely any attention to farming. 
 Even at those posts, such as Edmonton, where farming 
 was attempted, it was often in an exj)ensive way with 
 hired labour and by men who were not practical farmers, 
 while the conduct of the Indians, who sometimes used 
 the fence-rails for camp-fires and let loose their horses in 
 a field of young grain, was adverse to the success of such 
 experiments. And new settlers coming, as they must 
 ere long do in large numbers, to the Edmonton discrict 
 will require both food and seed, so that the half-breeds 
 of Victoria will find ready market for their j^roduce. 
 Better farmers than the half-breeds, hovvever, are 
 required to disclose and to develop the wheat-growing 
 capabilities of the North-West. 
 
% 
 
 iH 
 
 onducted 
 beautiful 
 of wheat 
 have set- 
 at advan- 
 l to great 
 : farmers, 
 ttlement, 
 lin as the 
 ! must all 
 )r several 
 or Indian 
 iply their 
 < farming. 
 
 farming 
 vay with 
 [ farmers, 
 mes used 
 horses in 
 38 of such 
 ley must 
 n discrict 
 alf-breeds 
 
 produce. 
 
 lever, are 
 
 ;-growing 
 
 EDMOSTON TO BA TTLEFOUD. 
 
 261 
 
 Theic was a large Croc camp at Victoria not long ago, 
 and an important Mission, in connection witli the 
 Methodist Chui-ch, was established hei-e by the Kite Rev. 
 G Macdougall about the time that the half-breed settle- 
 ment was formed. At present there is no resident 
 missionary among them, but they receive an occasional 
 visit from the Anglican and Methodist clergymen at 
 Edmonton. On the Sunday that we spent in this neigh- 
 bourhood we had the p^iiasurc of uniting with them in 
 Divine Service. 
 
 Until recently the Christian Missions of the North- 
 West were necessarily confined to the native tribes, the 
 servants of the Company, and the French and English 
 half-breeds, for as yet " the settler " was unknown. The 
 first Christian Missions were those of the Eoman Catholic 
 Church. The early French explorers, such as M. de la 
 Verandaye, were usually accompanied by a priest, and as 
 trading-posts were planted Missions were established, 
 the first being in 1818 at St. Boniface where it has ever 
 since been vigorously maintained, and where now stands 
 an imposing range of ecclesiastical buildings familiar to 
 every visitor to Winnipeg. From that centre the work 
 was extended westwards, so that not only the early 
 French traders and the numerous French half-breeds, or 
 Metis, but also many of the Indian tribes adhered to tho 
 communion of the Eomish C urch, and now the diocese, 
 presided over by Archbishop Tache, includes Missions in 
 
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262 
 
 MOUXTATN Axn ruAjniE. 
 
 W f-l.! 
 
 
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 f ' 
 
 the ecclesiastical j)rovincc.s of St. Boniface, St. Albert 
 (on the Saslcatchewan), Atliabasca, Mackenzie and 
 British Columbia. 
 
 The first Protestant Mission was that of the Church of 
 England, which from a small beginning on the banks of 
 the Red River in 1820 has, under the fostering care of 
 the Church Missionary Society aided by private benefac- 
 tions, extended to Hudson's Bay, to the Mackenzie, and to 
 the far distant Yucon. In connection with this Mission 
 the North-West has been divided into four dioceses: — 
 Rupert's Land, with head-quarters at Winnipeg, 
 Moosinee, with head-quarters at York Factory on 
 Hudson's Bay, Saskatchewan, with its bishop's resid- 
 ence at Prince Albert, and Athabasca, where the 
 bishop travels far and wide among the Indians but 
 makes his homo at Fort Chipewyan. The Methodista 
 have also been very active in mission-work among the 
 Indians, their pioneer, the late Mr. Macdougall, one 
 of the most earnest and useful missionaries ever known 
 in the North-AYest, being distinguished for his influence 
 among the Indians from Winnij)eg to the Rocky Moun- 
 tains. They report six missionaries at present labouring 
 among the Indians, and twelve among the white settlers. 
 The Presbyterian Church, although later in commencing 
 mission-work among the Indians, has now thirty mission- 
 aries in the North-AYest, three of whom arc specially 
 designated to missions among the natives. 
 
 it- , 
 
VH 
 
 FD^^OXTON TO PATTLEFOIiD. 
 
 2C3 
 
 « i 
 
 . Albert 
 zie and 
 
 hiirch of 
 bunks of 
 [^ care of 
 benefac- 
 ie, and to 
 Mission 
 )ceses : — 
 Winnipeg, 
 'tory on 
 p's resid- 
 lere the 
 ians but 
 othodists 
 nong the 
 jail, one 
 )r known 
 influence 
 :y Moun- 
 abouring 
 settlers. 
 imcncing 
 ^ mission- 
 specially 
 
 Of recent years, however, Christian Missions in the 
 North-Wost have presented new features and have 
 assumed new j^roportions. A new element of jiopulation 
 has entered, one Avhich will ore long overshadow all pre- 
 vious tenants of the soil, the white settlers, who came not 
 to serve the fur-traders but to unfold the vast resources of 
 the land. It will tax the energies of the Canailian 
 Churches, even with such aid as they may rceoive from 
 the mother-country, to meet the demands laid on them 
 by this increase of their home-mission fields. 
 
 Having spent a Sunday at Victoria we left next morn- 
 ing, and on the following "Wednesday evening, 1st Octo- 
 ber, TC reached Fort Pitt, two hundred and five miles from 
 Edmonton. We were occasionally delayed at some of the 
 creeks or gullies, which, being too narrow and too deep 
 for fording, had been bridged, but the bridges had fallen 
 into decay. Apparently the process of decay goes on 
 until some freighters or other travellers find the bridge, 
 imx^assable and so repair it for their own and the public 
 good. All these creeks have Indian names, and many of 
 the names might as well be left untranslated b} our map- 
 makers. Nameepee, for instance, is a more musical 
 name for a stream than " Sucker," and Ahtimsegun is 
 decidedly better than its English equivalent " Dog's- 
 rump." The trail is good, the soil almost uniformly 
 excellent, the land well-watered by numerous streams 
 and generally well-wooded, chiefly with willow and 
 
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 f 
 
 >\l 
 
I' I.I ' 
 
 1 1 
 
 264 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 '> ! 
 
 14 
 
 H 
 
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 !: ' 
 
 poplar, though occasionally with small groves of pino. 
 Only in the neighbourhood of SaiUllc Lake and again in 
 the immediate neighbourliood of Fort Pitt did there seem 
 to bo any scarcity of wood. Near Saddle Lake, where 
 we camped on the first evening after leaving Victoria, 
 we had to continue driving after sunset on account of the 
 difiiculty of finding a combination of wood, water and 
 grass, the three requisites for a good camj)ing-ground. 
 Wo spent Tuesday night near Moose Creek, about forty 
 miles from Saddle Lake, at one of the best and most fre- 
 quented camping-grounds on the trail, where the numer- 
 ous lodge-poles and the ashes of old camp-fires gave 
 evidence of previous travellers. Next day the trail led by 
 numerous lakelets, some, such as Stone Lake and Simpson 
 Lake, being of large size and very beautiful, and all 
 abounding with duck. These, with the extent of timber 
 and the nun: jerof the streams in the vicinity, combined 
 with the general excellence of the soil, must in due time 
 render this district as attractive to the settler as it is 
 pleasing to the eye of the traveller. 
 
 The afternoon being wet and cold with threaten ings of 
 a stormy night, we pushed on towards Fort Pitt. About 
 sun-set we met the mail, the driver having already 
 camped lor the night. He drove a very humble, unpre- 
 tending conveyance, a common prairie cart, very unlike 
 the clashing mail-gig, or the imposing stage-coach, which 
 association connects with the words ''royal mail." How- 
 
 11 
 
» m 
 
 KDMOXTOX TO nATTI.F.VOlilK 
 
 265 
 
 OS of pine, 
 nd again in 
 there seem 
 ake, wliere 
 g Victoria, 
 ount of the 
 water and 
 ng-gi-oimd. 
 about forty 
 1 most fre- 
 the nuraer- 
 -fires gave 
 trail led by 
 d Simpson 
 ul, and all 
 t of timber 
 , combined 
 n due time 
 ler as it is 
 
 xtcnings of 
 tt. About 
 g already 
 ble, unpre- 
 3ry unlike 
 ^ch, which 
 ail." How- 
 
 ever, it is a stride forwards, as well as an indica'Jon of 
 general progress, to find the mail running every three 
 weeks between "W"inni2)eg and Edmonton, and kept \\\> 
 with remarkable regularity summer and winter. 
 
 At first the winter mail was carried by dog-trains, but 
 now, in winter as in summer, it is run with horses. For 
 winter travel dogs have hitherto been largely used, 
 as with light loads they are much swifter than horses. 
 To drive a team of dogs it is said that one must be able 
 to swear in English, French, or Cree, while to be a first- 
 rate dog-driver requires a fluent command of jirofanity 
 in the three languages ; yet there are some excellent 
 dog-drivers in the North-West. Some years ago a well- 
 known Winnipeg ecclesiastic was making an extended 
 winter trip ; the dogs, though frequently whipped, made 
 little progress, so the bishop remonstrated with the 
 driver. That functionary replied that he could not make 
 them go unless he swore at them. Absolution was given 
 him for the trip, and the dogs, hearing the fiimiliar 
 expletives, trotted along gaily. Dog-driving, however, 
 is passing out of use in the North- West, as it is becoming 
 much more expensive to keep dogs than to keep horses. 
 While buffalo were abundant, and every post and wig- 
 wam could have unlimited pemmican, it was easy for any 
 man to keep a kennel, but as the buffalo are rapidly 
 disappearing, and as the horses can forage for themselves 
 at all seasons, whereas dogs must be fed throughout the 
 
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 jiorA-r.i/.v AND riiAiniE. 
 
 whole yaav in order to be on hand for their winter work, 
 horses are being used almost entirely on the prairies 
 except in the more northern districts, where game and 
 fish are still very abundant. 
 
 We reached Fort Pitt late in the evening, and the 
 storm which had already overtaken us made the com- 
 forts of this hosj)itable house all the more enjoyable. 
 Next morning, having inspected some wonderful wheat 
 and potatoes grown at the Fort, and having exjierienced 
 the proverbial difficulty in making an early start from a 
 post of the H. B. Company, we crossed the Saskatchewan 
 and took the trail for Battlcford. The Fort is a comfort- 
 able two-story dwelling, with the usual accompaniments 
 of store and outbuildings, partially surrounded by a low 
 jialisade. It stands about twenty feet above the river, 
 and has, like many othci's, a immber of Indian lodges, 
 or tepees, in the neighbourhood, at which, even when 
 most of the men with their families are off hunting, the 
 lame and the sick remain, expecting to be kojit in life 
 and in some measure of comfort by the officers of the 
 Company. 
 
 "VVe left the soutli })ank soon after mid-day, and, after 
 rising about fifty feet from the water's edge, we crossed 
 a plain of several miles, where the soil is light, but the 
 pasture excellent, and then passed over rolling prairie, 
 of good soil and rich grass, with clumiis of willow, 
 already brown and well-nigh leafless. "We found plenty 
 
EDMDSTOX TO nATTLFFOnn. 
 
 2(57 
 
 Lutei* work, 
 
 10 prairies 
 
 game and 
 
 ig, and the 
 lo the corn- 
 enjoyable, 
 jrful wheat 
 xj)erienced 
 tart from a 
 katchcwan 
 a comfort- 
 ipaniments 
 id by a low 
 ) the river, 
 lan lodges, 
 )ven when 
 inting, the 
 :cpt in life 
 ors of the 
 
 and, after 
 we crossed 
 ht, but the 
 ng prairie, 
 of willow, 
 ind i)lenty 
 
 of wood and water, and no scarcity of good camping- 
 grounds, but on account of our late start wo did not 
 make more than sixteen miles. Next day the solitude 
 of our journey was relieved by our meeting a clergyman, 
 who was on his way to Fort Pitt, expecting to reside 
 there as missionary among the Indians of this district. 
 
 The country traversed was roiling prairie and grassy 
 plain, partly good for the growth of grain, and partly for 
 pasturage, the soil being sometimes light, sometimes 
 rich loam, but generally lighter than that along the 
 north bank of the Saskatchewan. Hour after hour wore 
 on, and mile after mile was traversed, without our see- 
 ing any living creature except the ducks that still 
 lingered on the lakelets, an occasional gopher or prairie 
 squirrel, or a badger, popping up his grey heiui to watch us 
 as we passed the little mound which he had scooped out of 
 the earth, when making a holeforhimself and a small pit- 
 fall for the horses. At night the last sound heard in the 
 fitillness was the call of the wild geese winging their way 
 southward, the harsher cry of the land crane, or the 
 rustle of the aspen leaves, now dry and ready to drop. 
 
 On Salui'day we passed over rolling prairie country 
 generally of light soil, scantily wooded, and soon after mid- 
 day wo reached Battleford, ninety-three miles from Fort 
 Pitt. Wo had accomplished the first stage of the journey 
 from Edmonton to "\Vinnij)eg ; we liad traversed a country 
 of almost uniformly good soil, sometimes of surpassing 
 
 a 
 
 
 till 
 
■-t--^Hg*f'<ai' '-Wi i j 
 
 2G8 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRMIUE. 
 
 i. ;' 
 
 ' 
 
 i-ichiicss, and wore assured tliat wc ^vould have found it 
 Bimilar liad wc followed either of the main trails south 
 of the Saskatchewan. In a few places there is a great 
 scarcity of wood, a want that is felt in the vicinity of 
 Battleford, though not as severely as in some other parts 
 of the prairies. Before reaching Winnipeg, however, the 
 traveller from the west becomes sufficiently familiar with 
 treeless tracts. Probably on some of the plains no trees 
 have grown for many centuries, as no roots nor any ti-aco 
 of decayed trees can be detected in the soil. For tlio 
 most 2)art, however, they have manifestly been denuded 
 by fire, sometimes the result of accident but frequently 
 set by the Indians as their mode of signalling each other. 
 To quote Capt. Palliser: " The most trivial signal of one 
 Indian to another has often lost hundreds of acres of 
 forest trees which might have brought wealtli and com- 
 fort to the future settler, wliile it lias brought starvation 
 and misery to the Indian tribes themselves, by spoiling 
 their hunting-grounds. The Indians, however, never 
 taught by experience, still use 'signal-fires' to the same 
 extent as in former years." But, in xstice to the Indian, 
 ho adds, when nearer the mountains: " Here I observed 
 a very satisfactory proof that lightning in the mountains 
 must very frequently be the cause of fires, and that all 
 forests are not destroyed by the hand of man."* One 
 
 KxploratioUH of Brit. North Anu'ritn, p.p. 81), 93. 
 
ED.iro.VrO.V to n.lTTLEFORD. 
 
 269 
 
 vc found it 
 trails south 
 
 in a great 
 vicinity of 
 other parts 
 )wevcr, the 
 miliar with 
 ns no trees 
 r any ti'aco 
 1. For the 
 ;n denuded 
 frequently 
 each other, 
 i^nal of one 
 of acres of 
 h and com- 
 
 starvation 
 )y spoiling 
 vcr, never 
 
 the same 
 he Indian, 
 
 1 observed 
 mountains 
 lid that all 
 
 "* One 
 
 result of this destruction of trees, one which is quickly 
 and keenly felt, is the scarcity of firewood, for in cross- 
 ing the prairies one suffers more frequently from the 
 want of wood than from the want of water ; and fresh 
 water can usually bo found by digging for it. This 
 scarcity of wood can, of course, be remedied by 
 increased tree culture ; and the growth of trees would 
 also secure partial if not complete defence against the 
 ravages of the locust, from which for several years 
 Manitoba and the North-West suffered severely, and by 
 a recurrence of which lliey might again be seriously 
 injured. No barrier is so effectual against them as belts 
 and groves of trees. 
 
 But a result even more serious than the lack of fuel 
 or occasional ravages of grasshoppers, that may be attri- 
 buted to this widespread trcelcssness, is the gradual 
 reduction of the rainfall. It is known, from long-con- 
 tinued observations, that the moisture of the climate 
 has on the treeless j^ortions of the prairies been dimin- 
 ished, as is manifest, for instance, from the fact that 
 many of the lakelets are slowly drying up; so that, if 
 nothing were done to counteract this process, there 
 might, in a few generations, bo seen on our prairies 
 results similar to those already seen in Palestine and in 
 parts of Northern Africa, where from the destruction of 
 the woods and the consequent reduction of the rainfall, 
 lands that wore once fertile have become utterly unpro- 
 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 ! 
 
1 
 
 fi 
 
 1 
 
 
 ^!| 
 
 1 i 
 
 1 
 
 " 
 
 1 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 1 
 
 2;o 
 
 MOUXTATN AXD riiAnilE. 
 
 diictivc. And conversely, where groves and forests are 
 mnltiplied the moisture is increased, for not only do the 
 trees, by the shade which they afford prevent rapid 
 evaporation and so presci'vo the streams and rivulets, 
 but probably the foliage reduces the temperature near 
 the earth and so contributes to the formation of clouds. 
 Already in portions of the Western States the cultivation 
 of trees has had a marked effect upon the climate. 
 " When the Mormons first settled in Utah, they found 
 the district barren. Water had to be l)rought almost 
 incredible distances, in wooden pipes. Trees were care- 
 fully planted, and nourished with the water so brought, 
 and now the district may be termed the garden of the 
 world, and is not dependent on water brought from a 
 distance, but enjoys a steady rainfall."* Even in 1867 
 it was nottced that '* the settlement of the country and 
 the increase of the timber have already changed for the 
 bettor the climate of that portion of Nebraska lying 
 along the Missouri, so that within the last twelve or four- 
 teen years, the rain has gradually increased in quantity, 
 and is much more equally distributed throughout the 
 year." f And the work of tree-culture is neither slow 
 nor difficult; not difficult, for the chief requisite is to 
 break up the land, and to sow seeds or to plant cuttings ; 
 
 •Quoted 1>y Dr. Dawson, Gcol. of 4(ith Parullcl, p. 318. 
 
 t U. S. Geol. Surv. Territ. quoted by Dr. Dawson, op. cit., p. 318, 
 
EDMOXTON TO BA TTLEFOUD. 
 
 271 
 
 and not slow, for soft majilc will attain a height of fifteen 
 feet with diameter of seven inches in seven years, increas- 
 ing in three years more to ten inches, so that in ten or 
 fifteen years a plantation may bo raised even from the 
 seed, and much more speedily from cuttings. As long 
 as the supply of our woodland is adequate to the require- 
 ments of the country, and until the well-timbered tracts 
 of fertile soil are occupied, he need of tree-culture may 
 not be severely felt ; but oven for such general reasons as 
 providing barriers against the grasshoppers and for im- 
 provement of the climate, as well as for the increase of fuel 
 and of building material, the cultivation of trees should be 
 liberally encouraged by the Goverimient. Not i ..g ago 
 an excellent act was passed, entitling settlers to "trco- 
 claims" not exceeding 160 acres, for which patents 
 would bo issued at the end of eight years, provided that 
 a certain area had been planted in trees, tree-seeds or 
 cuttings, and that tliere were a certain number of living 
 and thrifty trees to each acre. One fjital restriction, 
 however, has been laid on this law. It does not apply • 
 to the railway belt, the belt of one hundred and ten miles 
 on each side of the located line of the Canadian Pacific 
 Eailway ; and, as the southern margiji of that belt ap- 
 proaches tho international })Oundary, while on the north 
 it includes large tracts of timber-land, tho law, in its 
 present form, is useless. 
 
 Battleford has for three years boon the capital of the 
 
 i' 
 
 si'l 
 
 If! 
 
 .«' 
 
 1 
 
 'fii 
 
 ♦ I 
 
 li 
 
 ^ 
 
272 
 
 mOUXTATN AND Pit A in JF.. 
 
 'si\ 
 
 c ♦ 
 
 North-West Territories. It is situated on the south bank 
 of the Battle River, near its confluence with the Saskat- 
 chewan, and In addition to a number of good dwellings, 
 the chief of which is Government House, it boasts a 
 printing oifice, where the Sasliatchewan Herald is pub- 
 lished, an II. B. C. Post, a few .shops, etc., while at a 
 short distance, on the opposite side of Battle River, aro 
 the quarters of the North-West "Mounted Police, as a 
 detachment of the force is ahvays stationed here. 
 
 The present arrangements for the government of the 
 North- West are simple but seemingly effective, for law 
 and order are admirably maintained. For the adminis- 
 tration of justice the Territories are divided into three 
 Judicial Districtf, each largo enough for an empire. 
 The Saskatchewan District is bounded on the south hy 
 Red Deer River, the south branch of the Saskatchewan, 
 and the Saskatchewan River, on the west by British 
 Columbia, on the east by Keewatin, on the north by 
 the Arctic Sea. The remaming portion between the 
 Saskatchewan district and the U. S. Boundary line on 
 the north and south, and the Rocky Mountains and 
 ]\[anitoba on the west and east is divided into two dis- 
 tricts by the 108th meridian of west longitude, the 
 western one T)eing named the Bow River District, the 
 other the Qu'appelle District. In each of these three 
 districts justice is administered by a Stipendiary Magis- 
 trate, who seems to possess the power and to perform 
 
 ( 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
I i 
 
 EDMoyros TO ;;.i ttlefobd. 
 
 273 
 
 south bank 
 the Saskat- 
 1 dwellings, 
 it boasts a 
 raid is pub- 
 , while at a 
 River, aro 
 Police, as a 
 lerc. 
 
 nient of the 
 tivc, for law 
 the adminis- 
 }d into three 
 an empire, 
 he south hy 
 skatchewan, 
 
 by British 
 le north by 
 jctweon the 
 dary line on 
 iintains and 
 into two dis- 
 igitude, the 
 District, the 
 
 these three 
 liary Magis- 
 
 to perform 
 
 the functions of the combined courts of any of the 
 older Pro\ .nccs. 
 
 For the general affairs of government there is a 
 Council, of which the Stipendiary Magistrates are ex 
 officio members, j)resided over by the Lieutenant- 
 Governor. Every district, not exceeding 1,00^^ square 
 miles, that contains a pojDulation of not less than 1,000 
 adult inhabitants, exclusive of aliens or unenfranchised 
 Indians, may elect one member of Council. "When the 
 number of members increases to twenty-one, the Council 
 fchall cease, and a Legislative Assembly be formed, but, 
 meanwhile, the Council possesses powers similar to those 
 of the Legislative Assemblies of the other Provinces. 
 They have no direct control over Indian affairs, these 
 being administered through the Dejiartment of the 
 Interior and the Indian Commissioner, but the interests 
 of the Indians are often of necessity matters of consider- 
 ation foi ihe Council, just as the administration of justice 
 to the Indians as well as to the whites is a duty of the 
 Stipendiary Magistrates.* 
 
 The Government are enabled, through the North-West 
 Mounted Police, to enforce their laws promptly and 
 
 ♦ The North-West Council at present consists of Licut.-Governor 
 Laird ; Lieut. -Col. Richardson^ Stipendary Magistrate of the Sas- 
 katchewan District; M. Ryan, Esq.. Stipendiary Magistrate of the 
 Qu'Appelle District; Lieut. -Col. Macleod, ('.M.G., CoTiimissioncr t)f 
 N. W. M. Police, and Stipendiary Jlagistrate of the l>o\v River 
 
 District: and I-iscal Brdand, Ksq. 
 
 19 
 
 I 
 
 '•M 
 
 i 
 
i 
 
 Jl j ''• 
 
 \i 
 
 J 'I 
 
 rl 
 
 274 
 
 SrOUKTAiy AND riiAIRIE. 
 
 efficiently, the services of the police being specially 
 required in carrying out the i^rohibition of the liquor 
 traffic, in conveyance of certain criminalB to "Winnipeg, 
 as no penitentiary has yet been provided for the Terri- 
 tories, and in similar offices where the argument of 
 physical force is necessary. 
 
 The wisdom of selecting Battleford as the capital of 
 the North-West Territories has been as much questioned 
 as the propriety of making Ottawa the cajDital of the 
 Dominion. Its opponents say that there is no abundance 
 of good soil in the neighbourhood, that there is a great 
 scarcity of wood, that settlers are not being attracted 
 there, and that Prince Albert, near the junction of the 
 North and South Saskatchewan, would bo much more 
 suitable; while its advocates maintain that its situation 
 is central, that to move it eastward would bo a mistake 
 and an injustice to the western districts, all the more so 
 as the western limit of Manitoba may, if Manitobans get 
 what they want, be moved some distance westward. 
 The arguments on both sides arc good and true ; mean- 
 while, Battleford has possession of Government House, 
 and the argument of possession is a very strong one. 
 
 The season hero, as throughout a large portion of the 
 North-West Territories, is earlier than in the Eastern 
 Provinces. From records that have been kept at Battle- 
 ford, for instance, since its selection as the seat of Gov- 
 ernment, it is found that in 1878 ploughing commenced 
 
g specially 
 ■ the liquor 
 ) Winnipeg, 
 ir the Terri- 
 Tgument of 
 
 le capital of 
 I questioned 
 pital of the 
 D abundance 
 re is a great 
 Qg attracted 
 ction of the 
 much more 
 its situation 
 )e a mistake 
 the more so 
 [litobans get 
 westward, 
 rue ; mean- 
 lent House, 
 7ong one. 
 •tion of the 
 Ihe Eastern 
 )t at Battle- 
 seat of Gov- 
 commcnced 
 
 EDMONTOy TO BATTLEFORD. 
 
 2T5 
 
 on the 19th March, the soil being dry almost as soon as 
 the snow had disappeared. On account of frost in Api-il, 
 however, wheat was not sown that ^car until the 4th of 
 May. In 18T9 wheat was sown on the 12th April, 
 ploughing having been begun on the 10th April; pota- 
 toes were planted on the 12th April and used on the 
 1st July, while wheat was cut on the 11th August, the 
 crops being excellent. The end of May and the montli 
 of June are usually wet, but the remainder of the sum- 
 mer is almost invariably dry and warm, with only suffi- 
 cient rain to secure good harvests and with invariably 
 cool nights. 
 
 The Saskatchewan, at Battleford, opens about the 10th 
 April, and, although winter commences at the beginning 
 of November, nearly a month earlier than in Ontario, 
 yet spring opens about a month earlier. The average 
 temperature at Battleford, from April to August, — that 
 is during the wheat-growing months, — is higher than it 
 is at Toronto, so that even although the average for the 
 year is, on account of the colder winter, lower than in 
 "Western Ontario, yet the temperature is more favoui-- 
 able to the growth of grain. And the climate is much 
 the same all along the Yalley of the Saskatchewan. Fi-om 
 numerous observations, Dr. Dawson says: " P^iiough is 
 known to prove the remarkably uniform progress of the 
 spring along the so-called 'fertile belt,' which, passing 
 north-westward from the Red River Yalley, nearly fol- 
 
 '; i'rl 
 
 \'i i 
 
 H 
 
 ['!' 
 
 
 
 !,'. ( 
 
 il 
 
 >!' 
 
276 
 
 :\TOUNTATy ASD mAIRTE, 
 
 .M 
 
 In, 
 
 lows tlic Saskatohcwan to the Eocky Mountains, and will 
 bo the first region occiipiecl by the Hcttlcr. From tho 
 (lata now at command, I believe that the difference in 
 advance of the Bjiring between any of the above stations 
 (that is, Dufferin in Eed Eiver Yalley, Cumberland 
 House, Fort Carlton and Fort Edmonton) is not so great 
 as that obtaining at the same season between tho vicinity 
 of Montreal and that of Quebec."* 
 
 And while the climate is thus favourable, these south- 
 ern prairies even in the least attractive districts are 
 much more suitable for settlement than has till recently 
 been supposed. For years the wonderful fertility and 
 excellence of such districts as Edmonton, Prince Albert, 
 Touchwood Hills, Little Saskatchewan and others have 
 been familiar to many, but the country to the south 
 of Battleford from the Hand Hills to the valley of the 
 Qu'Appelle has hitherto been known as the Great Plain, 
 nnd has been regarded as sterile, barren and useless. 
 Last year, however, Professor Macoun traversed those 
 plains from east to west, and although he found some 
 parts unfit for settlement he found in many others rich 
 loamy soil and abundance of grass. In a region adjoining 
 Eed Deer Lake, where Palliser twenty-two years ago, 
 found numerous species of large animals and tho grass 
 eaten so low that he could jK^t got food for his horses, 
 
 * Geology of 49th Parallel, p. 283. 
 
 ! I 
 
■^, and will 
 From tho 
 fcrcnco in 
 '■e stations 
 imbcrland 
 >t so great 
 10 vicinity 
 
 eso south- 
 itricts aro 
 II recently 
 ■tility and 
 ice Albert, 
 thers have 
 the south 
 ley of the 
 
 eat Plain, 
 id useless, 
 
 sed those 
 und some 
 )thers rich 
 1 adjoining 
 ycnYH ago, 
 
 the grass 
 lis horses, 
 
 ; !* 
 
 EDMOXTON TO llA TTLEFORD. 
 
 277 
 
 Mr. Macoun found tho grass knee-high, the wild animals 
 all gone and the poor Indians perishing from famine.* 
 The close cropping of the grass by herds of bulla lo, 
 accompanied by the general treelessness caused by 
 fire, may in some measure account for the unfavourable 
 report hitherto given of those more southern prairies. 
 Summing uj) his experience of this district, Mr. Macoun 
 says: " After seeing the ' Great Plain,' T can state dis- 
 tinctly that tho I'ainfall tliroughout the whole region is 
 sufficHcnt for the growth of cereals, coming as it does, in 
 Juno and July, when the crops actually need it, and 
 ceasing when ripening commences. "Wherever the soil 
 was suitable for the growth of grasses, there they were." 
 And, after referring to the arid clays and uncultivable 
 parts, he adds : " A more minute examination of the 
 country' will locate these apjDarently unproductive soils, 
 and show that they are a very small percentage of 
 the whole. After seeing tho country at its worst, 
 when it was suffering from intense heat and dry winds, 
 I wrote : * Wherever there was drift without these 
 clays there was good grass, but wherever this soil pre- 
 vailed, aridity showed itself at once.' Many of the hill- 
 tops wore dry and burnt up, but, had they been ploughed 
 in the spring, would have yielded a good crop, as tho 
 summer rains, which undoubtedly fall over the whole 
 country, would have passed into tho soil, instead of run- 
 
 • Report of Engineer-in-chiof of Can. Pac. Uailwuy lorlSSO. p. 1!)7. 
 
 il 
 
 V. 
 
 ■ • 
 
 ill 
 
M 
 
 V'i 
 
 a 
 
 u 
 
 L,. 
 
 1;, 
 
 :| 
 
 
 i ' 
 
 ' i^ ' 
 
 
 5 f 
 
 <>: 
 
 . 
 
 i( 
 
 278" 
 
 MOUyXAIS AXD PUAiniE. 
 
 ning off or pfissing in a few hours into the air, as they 
 do under the present condition of things." * We may 
 reasonably suppose that a similarly favourable opinion 
 may yet be justified regarding much of the southern 
 plains that have hitherto been considered as unfit for 
 settlement. 
 
 It may as yet be premature to attempt to estimate, 
 even approximately, the extent of cultivable land in 
 the North- West ; but, in the light of the most recent 
 information, and making large allowance for arid and 
 useless land, it has been set down at one hundred and 
 fifty millions of acres. IMr. Taylor, the U. S. Consul at 
 Winnipeg, ^' Saskatchewan Taylor," as ho was called 
 years ago from his familiarity with the country, con- 
 tends that " four-fifths of the wheat producing belt of 
 North America will be found north of the international 
 boundary." These estimates may be excessive, and yet 
 each year, with its ampler examination of the country by 
 surveyors and its increasing testimony from settlers, 
 tends rather to confirm than to refute these figures. This 
 vast area, the largest unoccupied tract of farm-lands in 
 the world, has been opened ft, jettlement on the most 
 liberal terms. The land is laid off into townships of six 
 miles square, each of the thirty-six square miles being 
 called a section. Within a belt of one hundred and ten 
 
 Report Engincer-iu-cliief, C.P.U. 1660, p. 200. 
 
ED:iIONTOy TO liA TTLEFORD. 
 
 27'.) 
 
 ir, as they 
 "We may 
 >le opinion 
 3 Bouthern 
 3 unfit for 
 
 estimate, 
 le land in 
 ost recent 
 V arid and 
 ndrcd and 
 . Consul at 
 was called 
 intry, con- 
 ng bolt of 
 ernational 
 ;^e, and yet 
 country by 
 n settlers, 
 iires. This 
 m-lands in 
 1 the most 
 hips of six 
 liles being 
 ed and ten 
 
 miles on each side of the proposed line of the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway every alternate section is reserved for 
 railway lands and is oScred for sale at prices varying 
 from one dollar to five dollars per acre, according to the 
 proximity of the land to the railway. The remaining 
 lands in this belt are open for homestead and pre-emption. 
 Any person who is the head of a family, or who has 
 attained the age of eighteen j'ears, is entitlal to be 
 entered on these unappropriated lands for a homestead 
 of a (j[uarter-8ection, that is one hundred and sixty acres, 
 and, on his compliance with certain requirements in the 
 way of settlement and cultivation of the soil, he receives, 
 at the end of three years, a Crown patent confirming him 
 in absolute proprietorship. In addition to this free 
 homestead the settler may acquire another block of one 
 hundred and sixty acres by pre-emption ; that is, he has 
 the right of purchasing the quarter-section adjoining his 
 homestead, so that he may thus become proprietor of a 
 farm of three hundred and twenty acres, the price of the 
 pre-emptetl land varying from one dollar to two dollars 
 and a half per acre, according to its proximity to the line 
 of railway. The value of this vast tract of unoccupied 
 land w^here a free homestead is offered to the settler, 
 come whence he may, is greatly enhanced by the ad- 
 mission, on the part of competent authorities in the 
 United States, that nearly all the free agricultural lands 
 in that country have been taken up, those that are not 
 
 I'l 
 
 ' 1 
 
 ■i 
 
'r'Swfe tnti) 5 .mm w^i m 
 
 280 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND rUAiniE. 
 
 held by Bottlers or speculators being to a great extent in 
 the hands of railway companies. 
 
 Already the current of immigration seems to have set 
 in towards those fertile prairies. Last year, 1870, the 
 Government lands sold in the North-West were consi- 
 derably more than those of 18V7 and 1878 combined, 
 amounting to 1,154,072 acres ; and the receijits (one- 
 tenth of the total value, since the price of these lands 
 is paid in ten equal annual instalments,) wqvq $218,409, 
 exclusive of $42,910 received for homestead and pre- 
 emption fees; and this notwithstanding the unfavour- 
 able land regulations then in force which restricted the 
 homestead claim to eighty acres. With the increased 
 homestead and pre-emption claims, with the favourable 
 reports of tenant-farmers and others who came last year 
 to spy out the land and to see the size of the grapes in 
 our Canadian Eshcol, with the recent unfavourable har- 
 vests in Britain that have led many to think of founding 
 new homes in this part of the empire, and witlj the 
 wider spread of information regarding the resources and 
 the attractions of the country, a large and increasing 
 influx ol population to the North-West may soon bo 
 expected. Tiie immigration already witnessed is only 
 
 " Tho first luw wash of waves, where soon 
 Shall roll a human sea." 
 
t extent in 
 
 to have set 
 ', 1870, the 
 vcvQ con si- 
 combined, 
 )ipts (onc- 
 :hese lands 
 a $218,409, 
 L and pre- 
 
 unfavour- 
 itricted the 
 » increased 
 favourable 
 e last year 
 ) grapes in 
 irable har- 
 f founding 
 
 with, the 
 ourccs and 
 increasing 
 y soon bo 
 
 is only 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Battleford to "Winnipeg. 
 
 Battleford to Carlton. — Duck Lake. — A blizzard. — Fellow-travel- 
 lets. — South Saskatchewan. — Delayed by snow. — Humboldt. — 
 Alkaline lakes. — Touchwooil Hills. — Indian farming. — Break- 
 downs. — Prairie-fires. — Qu'Appelle. — Fort EUiee. — Township 
 surveys. — Colonisation Companies. — Prohibitory Liquor Law. 
 — Shoal Lake. — Salt Tiak»\ — Little Saskatchewan. — Enter 
 Manitolia. — Joe'.s temj^tationR. — Heavy roads. — Portage La 
 Prairie. — Winnipeg. — Prospects of immigrants. 
 
 After sharing, as an old acijuaintance, the hospitality 
 which Governor Laird is ready to extend to State officials, 
 to familiar friends, to unknown travellers and to Indians, 
 I left Battleford at noon on Monday, Gth October, and 
 reached Fort Carlton, a hundre<^l and eleven miles distant, 
 on the Wednesday following, l)oing passed along through 
 the kindness of Major "Walker of the N. "W. Mounted 
 Police, who was sending one of his men with a double 
 buck-board to Duck Lake. The trail runs for the most 
 part near the south baidc of the Saskatchewan. The 
 country is very level, the soil being generally light, 
 but improving as you approach Carlton. With the 
 oxcoption of the river vallpy, it is almost destitute of 
 
: i 
 
 
 
 K 
 
 
 'I 
 
 282 
 
 JiforxVr.i/.v MJVD rnAiiiTE. 
 
 wood, and, at the time when I saw it, looked peculiarly 
 uninviting, having been desolated and blackened by 
 receut prairie-fires. Our first night was spent about 
 thirty miles from Battleford at ii place which my driver 
 assured me was ai excellent camping-ground, but as 
 dnrkness, accompanied by a storm of wind and rain, 
 had overtaken us before we reached it, so that it was 
 very difficult to pitch a tent and imj^ossiblo to make a 
 fire, I had to be satisfied with his assurance of its good 
 character. Next night we camped at the Elbow, (for 
 almost every river in the North-West has an " elbow,") 
 a favourite and excellent halting-place with delicious 
 water, supplied by springs in the river bank, and with 
 abundance of wood and grass. 
 
 Knowing that Carlton is one of the most important of 
 all the posts of the II. B. Company, I had hoped to pro- 
 cure horses there for my journey as far as Touchwood 
 Hills, but was disajij^ointed, as neither the Company nor 
 the " freemen," living neai* the Fort, could forward me. 
 I therefore drove on that same evening, fourteen miles 
 further, to Duck Lake, \, licre Stobart, Eden and Co., the 
 chief rivals of the II. B. Company in u.e fur-trade of the 
 North-West, have an extensive post ; and through the 
 kindness of their {.gent, Mj*. Hughes, I was supplied with 
 a light, strong prairie cart, two horses and a half-breed 
 driver. Next n^ovning, however, further progress was 
 entirely stoj-pod by a snow storm. I had boon told to 
 
. peculiarly 
 ickened by 
 pent about 
 I my driver 
 md, but as 
 i and rain, 
 that it was 
 to make a 
 of its good 
 Elbow, (for 
 " elbow,") 
 h delicious 
 :, and with 
 
 iiportarit of 
 ped to pro- 
 Fouchwood 
 rapany nor 
 )rward me. 
 rteon miles 
 nd Co., the 
 rado of the 
 irough the 
 )pliod with 
 half-breed 
 egress was 
 ion told to 
 
 BATTLEFOUn T< > wisxirr.G 
 
 283 
 
 :pcct 
 
 th( 
 
 •ly 
 
 snow in tne early part of October, and was most 
 fortunate and thankful that the storm had not overtaken 
 me on the open j^i'^'iii'le. Though the weather was not 
 cold, yet for a day the storm raged as wildly as any 
 winter " blizzard," meeting the requirements of the 
 stage-driver's description of a blizzard when he defined 
 it as " one o' them 'ere mountain storms as gets up on its 
 hind logs and howls." 
 
 A number of travellers were storm-stayetl at Duck 
 Lake ; among others Colonel Osborne Smith and Mr. 
 Acton Burrows, of "Winnipeg, who were travelling east- 
 ward together, equipped with two spring waggons, and 
 accompanied by a half-breed and an Indian. We joined 
 forces ; and as I had travelled for the most part alone 
 from Dunvegan, save only as attended by half-breeds or 
 Indians, it was most pleasant to have these gent lemon as 
 fellow-travellers from Duck Lake to "Winnipeg. 
 
 Colonel Smith had been organizing four companies of 
 militia, for the purpose of allaying any alarm that tho 
 settlers of this and tho neighbouring di-rricts might feel 
 on account of a recent influx of Sioux from the south. 
 These Sioux had come from Sitting Bull's camp, perhaps 
 in the hope of acquiring reserves, or else expecting to bo 
 bettor fed, either by tho Government or by the settlers, 
 than they could be if they remained with the rest of tho 
 tribe. They were almost invariably well-armed, and, 
 when they entered the homes of the settlers asking for 
 
 
 J!* 
 
 li 
 
 -i; 
 
 I; 
 I; 
 
 (» 
 
'I i 
 
 li 
 
 . 
 
 'r 
 
 ^■■| 
 
 ^\ 
 
 I". 
 
 284 
 
 MOVyTAJX AXD PUAIIilE. 
 
 food, their excelleut repeating rifles and tbeir belts avcU 
 filled with hall cartridge gave them such a persuasive 
 appearance that their request was usually as effective 
 as a royal command. Yet there was really little cause 
 for anxiety, for the Indian is nothing in his own eyes if 
 not armed ; his rifle is to him a badge of manhood 
 rather than a threat against the peace of the community, 
 and, so far as intent is concerned, inoffensive as a walk- 
 ing-stick. The enrolment of IGO militiamen had, how- 
 ever, the beneficial effect of allaying all trace of alarm. 
 
 The jw-storm prevented our seeing this part of the 
 countr\ lO advantage, but from Duck Lake to the junc- 
 tion of the north and south branches of the Saskatche- 
 wan, about fifty miles below this, the country is 
 peculiarly rich and fertile. Prince Albert Settlement, 
 which forms part of this district, is already well known 
 as one of the most prosperous and proj^Msing in the 
 North-West. With easy communication east and west by 
 the river, and with advantages of churches, schools, mills, 
 etc., its population is rapidly increasing ; its free home- 
 steads have all been taken up, and land is annually rising 
 in value. A little further down the Saskatchewan, near 
 the borders of the Carrot or Eoot River there is an 
 excellent tract of country which, during last summer, 
 was attracting a large number of settlei-s. 
 
 During the enforced jjause at Duck Lalce we wore able 
 to make the necessary arrangements for the next stage 
 
ir belts AvcU 
 L persuasive 
 as effective 
 little cause 
 :)wn eyes if 
 ^f manhood 
 community, 
 ! as a walk- 
 n had, how- 
 of alarm. 
 2)art of the 
 to the junc- 
 ) Saskatche- 
 country is 
 Settlement, 
 well known 
 "ling in the 
 ind west by 
 hools, mills, 
 
 free bomo- 
 ually rising 
 lewan, near 
 
 here is an 
 st summer, 
 
 e were able 
 next stage 
 
 
 nATTLEFOlW TO WINXIPEG. 
 
 285. 
 
 of our journey, a hundred and tifty miles to the II. B. 
 Company's trading-post at Touchwood Hills. After a 
 day's detention we started, but the recent snow-fall had 
 made the roads so heavy that a day's travel brought us 
 only to the South Saskatchewan, twelve miles from 
 Duck Lake. We crossed the river at a point known as 
 Gabriel's Crossing, so called because the ferry is kept by 
 Gabriel Dumond. Another trail from Carlton to Touch- 
 wood, running a little north of the one we followed, 
 crosses the river five miles lower down., at Batosche's 
 Crossing. 
 
 Hitherto the South Branch of the Saskatchewan has 
 been navigated only by canoe ; yet the only part of it for 
 several hundred miles unsuited to large craft seems to be 
 a short reach near its junction with the Nortli Branch. 
 Mr Macoun who crossed it at the Elbow in July 1879, 
 says : " Shoals and sandbars were numerous, with 
 occasional islands, but nothing to indicate that the river 
 at this point was unsuited for navigation ;" and ho 
 adds : — " Why the South Branch should be thought 
 unfit for navigation, I cannot understand. Mr. Hind, 
 who 2^fissed down it in August, 1858, never speaks of its 
 dejith as being less than seven and a half feet, and the 
 current as never more than three miles an hour, except 
 when close to the North Branch. Palliser, who crossed 
 the river about twenty miles above me, on 28th Sep- 
 tember, 1857, states that the water in the middle of tho 
 
 ( 
 
 i 
 
 f ' ■ 
 I 
 
 •'if 
 'I 
 
 fli 
 
11 
 
 I 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 \:' 
 
 28G 
 
 3fOr.VTi4/y ^.VD PRAIRIE. 
 
 channel, where they lost their wagi^oii, was twenty feet 
 d'.cp. "While on the plains, I never heard of the river 
 b' ing fordable below the month of the Eed Deer Eiver. 
 Palliser crossed it on a raft, 22nd July, 1859, about sixty 
 miles above that point where the river was 250 yards 
 wide, and from five to eight feet deep. "When at the 
 Blackfoot Crossing of the Bow Eiver, a branch of the 
 South Saskatchewan, 27th August, 1879, I found that it 
 was with the utmost difficulty that horses could cross 
 without swimming. No person ever mentions a rapid 
 being anywhere in the river below this, so that I have 
 come to the conclusion that there is nothing to prevent 
 all the supplies wanted for the south-west being sent up 
 the South Saskatchewan. Coal is abundant in the river 
 banks at the Blacldbot Crossing, and farther eastward, so 
 that there will be no difficulty as to fuel for steamers. 
 Should an actempt be made to navigate the river, it will 
 be found to have better water for a longer period of the 
 year than the North Saskatchewan, as its head waters 
 drain a greater extent of the mountains,"* 
 
 Wo camped on the east bank, near Dumond's, a largo 
 number of freighters, some heavily-laden, others return- 
 ing eastward with empty carte, being camped near us. 
 Next morning, Saturday, we found the crust on the snow 
 80 strong that we could walk upon it, and although as 
 the day grew warmer we tried to proceed, our horses 
 
 • Ilcport ot'Eiigiiiccr-iii-Chicf ot'C. 1'. Kiiilway, lor ISJO, p. 106. 
 
 11 
 
Ml 
 
 twenty feet 
 f the river 
 Deer Eiver. 
 about sixty 
 
 250 yards 
 hen at the 
 nch of the 
 ind that it 
 could cross 
 )ns a rapid 
 hat I have 
 : to prevent 
 ing sent up 
 in the river 
 lastward, so 
 r steamers, 
 ver, it will 
 M'iod of the 
 
 ead waters 
 
 d's, a largo 
 ers return- 
 
 d near us. 
 n the snow 
 
 1 though as 
 our horses 
 
 BATTLEFORD TO WINNIPEG. 
 
 281 
 
 became so fagged after we had gone three miles that we 
 were forced to halt. On Sunday we remained in camp 
 all day, being unable to travel, had wo desired to do so, 
 our freighting neighbours being forced into similar 
 inactivity. That night there came a thaw, and with the 
 warmer weather the snow began to disappear, so that, 
 although for some distance the road continued heavy, we 
 were able to make from twenty to thirty miles a day. 
 
 We passed over undulating prairie, w led with 
 occasional aspen and willow copse, and well-watered. 
 The numerous badger-holes gave us easy opportunity 
 for examining the soil, which we found to bo in some parts 
 loamy and good, but generally light and sandy. This is 
 the prevailing characteristic of the country, as seen from 
 the trail, for the greater part of the distance from the 
 Saskatchewan to the Touchwood Hills ; but, though most 
 of it is seemingly poor wheat-land, it may be well suited 
 for grazing and stock-raising. Occasionally the trail 
 skirted small lakes, some of which were alkaline. In 
 the neighbourhood of the fresh water lakelets, and 
 especially near the picturesque Morris Lake, which is 
 thirty-five miles from the Saskatchewan, good camping- 
 ground may be found ; but a few miles east of Morris 
 Lake there is a treeless plain, in crossing which, late in 
 the day, as wo did, it is well to carry wood lest it ma;* 
 be necessary to pitch camp ere the plain be passed. 
 
 On "Wednesday morning wo halted for a little at the 
 
 Ml 
 
 ^!t 
 
 ■I 
 
 ■i 
 
 ii^l 
 
 \n 
 
 Mi 
 
 n 
 
 ;l 
 
if! 
 
 l! 
 
 \ 
 
 J 
 
 I' 
 
 I"! 
 
 iia. 
 
 fi! 
 
 '\\ 
 
 • I 
 
 !1 
 
 II' 
 
 288 
 
 ]\IOl'NTAI\ AM) PliAIIilE. 
 
 Humboldt Telegraph Statioji, Homc fifty-six miles from 
 the Saskatchewan. TVe found that the telegraj)h line 
 ..'Uy down, that it had been down for a fortnight, and so 
 here, as at Battleford, the only other station that we 
 passed between Edmonton and Winnipeg, we were 
 unable to send any messages eastward. Although a 
 subsidy of $12,000 a year is given by Government to the 
 contractors, communication is very frequently inter- 
 rupted ; and while there may be difficulty in keeping so 
 long a line in repair through such a sparsely peopled and 
 lightly wooded country, j-et in view of the subsidy, and 
 of the excessive rates charged by the contractors, bottur 
 provision for the transmission of messages might be ex- 
 pected. Leaving telegrams to be forwarded as soon as 
 the line would be in working order, we again took the 
 road. 
 
 Thirty miles from Humboldt we entered on a salt plain, 
 known as Quill Lake plain, named after the largest of the 
 salt lakes in the vicinity. The plain is about twenty-three 
 miles in width where crossed by the trail, and although 
 the grass looks rich, yet it is hard and wiry, and so 
 heavily impregnated with alkali that the horses do not 
 care for it. The shores of these alkaline lakes, as well as 
 the soil in their vicinity, when bare of herbage, are gener- 
 ally encrusted with a thin coating of salt. Sometimes 
 quite near them there are fresh-wati^r lakelets, but on 
 the salt plain there is a great scarcity of fresh water, as 
 
DATTLEFORD TO WINMPEG. 
 
 289 
 
 miles from 
 graph line 
 ght, and bO 
 >n that we 
 , we were 
 Uthough a 
 oaent to the 
 mtly inter- 
 keeping BO 
 peopled and 
 ubttidy, and 
 tors, better 
 
 light be ex- 
 
 as soon as 
 n took the 
 
 a salt plain, 
 
 gest of the 
 
 venty-three 
 
 id although 
 
 iry, and so 
 
 >r8es do not 
 
 , as well as 
 
 ), aj'o gener- 
 
 Sometimes 
 
 ets, but on 
 
 h water, as 
 
 as well as of wood, so that we were compelled to carry 
 both for some miles for cooking purposes. 
 
 The formation of these alkaline lakes has been a fre- 
 quent subject of speculation. It has been observed that 
 they have no visible outlet, and it is supposed that alkali, 
 left on the soil by the extensive prairie fires, is washed 
 by the rain into these alkaline basins. Other lakelets 
 may receive similar deposits, but, as they are em2:)tied 
 by running streams, the supply of alkali is carried off 
 and the water in them is thus kept fresh. It seems 
 probable that when, under careful administration, prairie 
 fires become less frc(^acnt, when tree-culture is practised 
 throughout a large portion of the North- West, and when 
 the present rapid e" aporation of the rainfall shall thus 
 be reduced, the alkali will disappear from these lakes, 
 and the soil in their neighbourhood, which in other 
 respects is generally of good quality, will be thoroughly 
 adapted for cultivation. 
 
 Very soon after crossing Quill Lake Plain we entered 
 the Touchwood Ilill district, one of the choice parts of 
 the North-West Territories. The country here is very 
 beautiful, more varied in scenery than any other which 
 we had passed, with excellent soil and abundance of 
 wood and water. This is the character of the country 
 for about sixty miles east and west as crossod by the 
 trail, and it is said to be similar for at least the same 
 extent north and south. Indeed, a province could be 
 
 20 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
290 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PUAIIilE. 
 
 i\ 
 
 foi'med out of this Touchwood Ilill country, most of 
 which would embrace hind of special excellence for farm- 
 ing, while outside of the arable lands excellent grazing 
 districts might be found. 
 
 For a time it was supposed that the whole of the so 
 called " fertile belt," that is, of the part of the North- 
 West Territories lying south of the North Branch of the 
 Saskatchewan, was suitable for cultivation. Then came 
 a reaction of sentiment, and it was supposed that very 
 little was cultivable, whereas the fertile tract was 
 thought to be further north. Fuller enquiry, however, 
 is shewing that the good land is in districts rather than 
 in one continuous belt, intersj)ersed with tracts of less 
 value. Only the advanced guard of immigration have as 
 yet reached the Touchwood Hills, although many have 
 settled further west at Prince Albert and Edmonton. 
 The chief disadvantage of the district, as compared with 
 those bordering the Saskatchewan, is that it is cut oif from 
 all communication by water east or west, and until the 
 C. P. Railway passes, as it is expected to do, within easy 
 access of it, it must be dependent for freight upon 
 prairie-carts or other wheeled conveyance. 
 
 The name Touchwood Hills conveys an exaggerated 
 idea of the character of the country. It is by no means 
 mountainous j it can hardly be called hilly ; it is simply 
 rolling country, well wooded, with numerous gently 
 swelling knolls, and dotted by many beautiful lakelets ; 
 
 I 
 
 'I 
 
BATTLEFORD TO WINNIPEG. 
 
 291 
 
 it ia hilly only in comparison with the deud-lovel 
 prairie. Soon after we had entered this fertile dintrict, 
 we crossed one of the Indian reserves, passing by the farm 
 of Mr. Scott, the Indian farm-instructor. A number of 
 tLa Indians were busily engaged in farm labour, while 
 others, under Mr. Scott's directions, were building 
 barns. As the chief, Day-Star by name, seems fully 
 determined to adopt a settled life, and gives promise of 
 becoming a tolerable farmer, his band will probably 
 follow his example ; and as the soil on their reserve is 
 excellent they will have little difficulty in raising all 
 necessary su2)plics. 
 
 On Friday, the llth, we reached the II. B. Company's 
 trading-post at Touchwood Hills, eighty-one miles from 
 Humboldt, one hundred and sixty-three miles from Fort 
 Carlton, having, through actual stoppage and short 
 days' travelling, lost about four days by the sturm. 
 This post, which is one of several stations connected 
 with Fort EUice, is in the very heart of the Touchwood 
 Ilill country, and cannot fail to become ere long the 
 centre of a rich farming district. They had only a little 
 snow here on the day of our snow-storm at Duck Lake, 
 and before noon next day it had entirely disappeared. 
 In the immediate neighbourhood of the II. B. Company's 
 post we found many straw' erry blossoms, the wild vinos 
 having already yielded a large sup2)ly of berries, and 
 now blossoming a second time. 
 
 ■ 
 
 
,/ •■■ 
 
 i . 
 
 r- 
 
 
 i 
 
 [\\ 
 
 
 \ 
 
 f; 
 
 292 
 
 3/0 l-yiTA I.\ A ND rUA in IE. 
 
 Here we required to procure fresh horses, and I had 
 to provide myself witli a substitute for the cart that had 
 come from Duck Lake, my felk)W-travellers having 
 brought tlieir waggons from AVinnipeg. The H. B. 
 Comjiany's agent furnished us with horses, and secured 
 for me a spring cart from one of the settlers, and the 
 services of an Indian driver. I was imj)rudcnt enough 
 to advance the Indian a large part of his wages in the 
 form of a blanket ; and after he had been with me a day 
 he feigned sickness so successfully that I was forced to 
 allow him return. The spring-cart was as great a failure 
 as the Indian. After driving twenty miles the axle 
 broke beyond repair, and my only resource was to buy a 
 j)rairie cart from a passing freighterj who fortunately 
 was able to spare one. When the last and only cart 
 breaks down the usual resource is to make a " travail." 
 Two poleSj longer than ordinary shafts, are fastened like 
 shafts to the horse, while the ends trail on the ground a 
 few feet behind him, kept apart by several cross-bars on 
 wliich the load is bound. Those who are much accus- 
 tomed to j)rairie life soon become experienced carriage- 
 menders. A half-breed, Joe Bourrassa, who had 
 accompanied Colonel Smith from AVinnipeg, was 
 invaluable in this as well as in many other respects. 
 When a break-down occurred, whether from a lost bolt, 
 a broken whipj)le-tree, or other cause, Joe would have 
 the necessary repairs completed before an ordinary car- 
 
BATTLEFORD TO WISSIPEG, 
 
 203 
 
 and I had 
 t that had 
 rs having 
 he H. B. 
 id secured 
 }, and the 
 nt enough 
 ^es in the 
 me a day 
 1 forced to 
 it a failure 
 J the axle 
 [IS to buy a 
 brtunately 
 only cai't 
 " travail." 
 3tened like 
 ground a 
 )ss-bars on 
 iich accus- 
 carriage- 
 who had 
 ipeg, was 
 respects. 
 I lost bolt, 
 ould have 
 linary car- 
 
 riage-maker could have decided what shoukl be done. 
 Ho aj^pcared to have an inexhaustible reserve of expe- 
 dients; failing one, he would try another; and his ready 
 resources were frequently cf great service to us. By 
 the time that our journey was over we thought, as no 
 doubt many others do after similar experience, that wo 
 could have planned the best kind of conveyance for 
 crossing the prairies, but our new and impi-oved buck- 
 board is still a thing of the future. 
 
 For about fift^'-five miles from the 11. B. Company's 
 Post at Touchwood Hills the country is pleasingly varied 
 with rich soil, luxuriant herbage, and abundance of water 
 and of wood, the poplars here being sometimes eighteen 
 inches in diameter. East of this, there is a treeless plain 
 or "traverse," as buch tracts are called, j^robably because 
 when once entered they must be crossed ere good camp- 
 ir.g-gronnd can be reached. It is not always easy, how- 
 ever, to measure your distance and to time your day's 
 journey so closely as to cross a traverse without camping, 
 esi:)ecially in such a case as this where it was thirty miles 
 in width. Being forced to spend a night upon it we had 
 to carry wood several miles for our camp-fire. 
 
 For three or four days the weather was veiy beautiful, 
 realizing the promise held out by many regarding the 
 Indian summer that would follow the first snow-fall. 
 Even mosquitos appeared, although their hum had lost 
 the business-like tone of July. Prairie fires were visible 
 
 
 1 
 
294 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PR A TRIE. 
 
 ■i I 
 
 ! 1 
 
 for several nifijhts in succession; and a large expanse of 
 country traversed by us bad already been burnt over, 
 while day after day the smoke hung heavily along the 
 horizon. One favourable result produced by the sur- 
 rounding fires was that a great abundance of game, — 
 chiefly prairie-chicken, — was driven in upon the unburnt 
 portion ot the prairie over which we passed. 
 
 The distance from the trading-post at Touchwood Hills 
 to Fort Ellice is one hundred and fifty-two miles, and al- 
 though the soil in many parts after leaving the fertile 
 district seemed light and poor, and had been rendered 
 less attractive by the prevailing fires, yet some jk tions 
 appeared rich and cultivable. We did not reach Ellice 
 until mid-day on the 23rd. The Indian summer had 
 passed ; the nights had become cold, the thermometer 
 one morning indicating seventeen degrees of frost; and 
 the raw keen winds made us anxious to roach Winnipeg. 
 
 Early on the 23rd wo crossed the sandy valley of the 
 Qu'Appelle, the main tributary of the Assineboine. The 
 river probably derives its name from the very distinct 
 echo that is heai'd at several places along the valley. 
 Voyageurs, finding that sounds came to them from the 
 banks, might often have asked " Qu'appelle ?" " Who 
 calls?" and henco the name; although some, as might 
 bo expected, attribute it to a haunting spirit that 
 occasionally disturbs the solitude and silence, loading the 
 traveller to ask, in some anxiety, " Who calls?" 
 
BATTLEFOBD TO WIXXirEG. 
 
 295 
 
 xpanse of 
 unit over, 
 along the 
 y the sur- 
 f game, — 
 10 unburnt 
 
 tvood Hills 
 es, and al- 
 tho fertile 
 i rendered 
 le jx tions 
 ach Ellico 
 tnmer had 
 jrmometer 
 frost ; and 
 Winnipeg. 
 ley of the 
 Dine. The 
 y distinct 
 ho valley. 
 
 from the 
 ?" "Who 
 
 as might 
 pirit that 
 Dading the 
 ?" 
 
 The valley of the Qu'Appello is said to be well suited 
 for sheep-farming, being better fitted for grazing than for 
 grain-growing. It has evidently l^een at one time the 
 bed of a much larger stream than that which now flows 
 through it; and it has been generally supposed that the 
 South Saskatchewan, instead of turning northward at 
 the Elbow to join the North Branch near Prince Albert, 
 formerly flowed eastward along the valley of the 
 Qu'Appclle and of the Assineboino to join the Red River 
 at Winnipeg. Mr. Macoun, however, has recently 
 weakened the plausibility of this theory. He says:* 
 '* It having been supposed, and even stated as a fact 
 during my stay in Winnipeg, that the waters of the 
 South Saskatchewan could be easily let into the 
 Qu'Appclle River, I considered it of so much importance 
 to ascertain the correctness of this, that my assistant, an 
 engineer, levelled back fifteen miles from the Elbow, and 
 found that at that point the water surface of the 
 Qu'Appello was seventy-throe feet higher than the 
 Saskatchewan, on July 16th, 18T9." 
 
 Soon after crossing the Qu'Appello Valley we reached 
 Fort Ellico, the central II. B. Company's depot of an 
 extensive district. The division of the country adopted 
 by the II. B, Company in the formation of their districts 
 suggests itself as a possible one for the formation of 
 future provinces. Thus we might have the proviticos of 
 
 • Keport of Euglnoer-iu-Chief, C. T. Uailwiij , for 1880, i). 19G. 
 
 I 
 
 T 
 
,1 ' 
 
 ' ' 1 
 
 
 '^1 
 
 t '■: 
 
 i 
 
 
 ■I 
 
 'If 
 "!' 
 
 "i 
 
 296 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIHIE. 
 
 Ellice, Carlton, Edmonton, Athal)asca, Dunvegan (or 
 Unchagah), Mackenzie, etc., each with territorial limits 
 larger than some of our organised Provinces, while such 
 a one as that which mighc be formed out of the Edmon- 
 ton district, if it were settled according to its resources, 
 would probably be not inferior to any province of the 
 Dominion. 
 
 Fort Ellice stands near the confluence of Beaver Creek, 
 the Qu'Appelle and the Assineboine, with a commanding 
 view of the broad and fertile valley of the Assineboine, 
 through which the river flows in serpentine windings at 
 a level of about two hundred feet below the Fort. An 
 older fort at one time stood some distance above Ellice on 
 the banks of Beaver Creek, and the present one used to be 
 surrounded by a palisade in the days when traffic with 
 the Indians was conducted through port-holes, and when 
 they had to give up their knives before receiving their 
 rum. The soil around the Fort is too sandy and gravelly 
 to be fit for cultivation, but the valley of the Assineboine 
 is exceedingly rich and admirably suited for the growth 
 of wheat, while it is largo enough to aflbrd farms for many 
 thousands, and the neighbouring prainc to the north 
 is an excellent grazing country. The river is navigable 
 for steamers from Winnipeg to Ellice. We had to pro- 
 cure a fresh relay of horses at Ellice, as well as some 
 fresh supplies, our next stage being from this to Portage 
 La Prairie. Ah the corral was eighteen miles distant, 
 
 I t 
 
 
r.XTTLEFORD TO WIXNIPEG. 
 
 207 
 
 vegan (or 
 •rial limits 
 while such 
 he Edmon- 
 resources, 
 nee of the 
 
 iver Creek, 
 
 mmandiug 
 
 ssineboinc, 
 
 bindings at 
 
 Fort. An 
 
 'e Ellice on 
 
 J used to be 
 
 raffic with 
 
 and when 
 
 ving their 
 
 id gravelly 
 
 LHsineboino 
 
 ho growth 
 
 Ls for many 
 
 the north 
 
 navigable 
 
 lad to pro- 
 
 1 as Bomo 
 
 to Portage 
 
 es distant, 
 
 there was a day's delay in fetching tlie hori^es. Having 
 completed our prei^arations, we left on Friday tlio 24th, 
 and after crossing the valley of the Assineboine wo 
 followed the trail eastward, reaching Slioal Lake that 
 evening, a distance of thirty-three miles. 
 
 From Ellice to Winnipeg we saw every day the houses 
 of new settlers, the country to this extent having al- 
 ready been surveyed into townships ; but as yet the 
 township surveys have not been completed west of this, 
 except at some special localities. The township is six 
 miles square, and each of the thirty-six square miles 
 constitutes a section. Two sections in each township are 
 reserved for the Hudson's Bay Comjiany, and two others 
 for the benefit of public schools. Of the remaining tliirty- 
 two, sixteen are reserved for railway lands, eight f jr 
 free homesteads, and eight for pre-emption. The sj'stem 
 is simple, its chief drawback being that the settlers are 
 necessarily so widely separated from each othci'. Each 
 settler, it may be sujiposed, will endeavour to secure at 
 least half a section, IGO acres of free homestead, and IGO 
 acres by pre-emption. Let an entire township bu settled 
 at this rate, and even if the railway lands be occupied, 
 there will only bo sixty-four families in the township of 
 thirty-six square miles, while the number may be much 
 smaller, and these so scattered as to be of little mutual 
 service in the support of Churches, schools, etc. The 
 Mennonites, who have received special j)ermis8ion from 
 
 I! 
 
 t 
 
298 
 
 ]iTOrNTAr AND PliAIRIE. 
 
 i 
 
 the Government to settle their townships according to 
 their own plan, form a "dorf " or village in the centre, and, 
 while thuH living ncp.r each other for mutual benefit, they 
 cultivate their separate farms ir different parts of the 
 township. Our Anglo-Saxon settlers, however, even 
 were liberty given them by the Government, would 
 probably decline to adopt the Mennonite system; yet 
 until poj)ulation becomes numerous, sections become 
 t<ub-divided, and villages spring uj) in each township, 
 they cannot take much concerted action in matters of 
 religion, of education, or of other general interest. 
 
 Twelve miles from Ell ice wo crossed Bii-d-Tail Creek, 
 on which, at some distance north of the trail, a tract of 
 two townships has been secured by the Hamilton Col- 
 onisation Company, with a view to settlement. Coloni- 
 sation Companies may serve for the North-West the 
 same j^urjiose, as immigration agents, that has been 
 served by Eailway Companies in the "Western States. 
 Such companies, sjiurred into activity by the prospect of 
 profitable land sales, will probably bo more zealous than 
 Government immigration agents, and will naturally 
 strive to secure the speedy settlement of at least a 
 portion of their lands. At any rate they may be useful 
 fellow-labourers with the Government in promoting 
 immigration 
 
 At Shoal Lake there is a station of the N. W. Mounted 
 Police, and an it is the first station west of Manitoba, and 
 
I 
 
 BATTLEFORD TO WINNIPEG. 
 
 299 
 
 cording to 
 jontre, and, 
 snefit, they 
 arts of the 
 )ver, even 
 3nt, would 
 stem ; yet 
 ns become 
 
 township, 
 matters of 
 rest. 
 
 fuil Creek, 
 1, a tract of 
 nilton Col- 
 it. Coloni- 
 i-West the 
 has been 
 crn States, 
 prospect of 
 )alous than 
 naturally 
 
 at least a 
 Y bo useful 
 
 promoting 
 
 T. Mounted 
 nitoba, and 
 
 on the grept highway of jn'airie traffic, all freighters and 
 other travellers westward l)Ound are examined here, and 
 are compelled to give up all spirituous liquors, unless 
 they carry them by special permit of the Lieut.-Govenior, 
 as the prohibitory liquor law of the Territories is rigidly 
 enforced. 
 
 Ten miles from Shoal Lake we passed Salt Lake, so 
 called from the character of the water, Mhich is so 
 impregnated with alkali that cattle will not drink it; 
 indeed, for some distance in the neighbourhood of Salt 
 Lake the soil appears to be largely affected by alkali. 
 But, although it looked unfavouroble for settk'ment, as 
 seen from the trail, two days after we had passed it we 
 overtook some Ontario farmers, who had been "land- 
 hunting " and had selected homesteads a little north of 
 Salt Lake. The land soon from the trail must frequently 
 be poorer than that a little distance off, as ridges and 
 gravelly soil, wherever such can be found, have naturally 
 been selected for the trail, on the principle that good 
 soil makes bad roads. 
 
 Nine miles from Salt Lake the trail forks into two, 
 one of which crosses the Little Saskatchewan at Rapid 
 City, the other, a little farther north, crossing it at Prairie 
 City. Taking the latter, which passes by Badger Hill, 
 wo travelled for many miles through a beautiful cotintry, 
 well watered, with excellent soil, and crossed, near sun- 
 set, the fertile valley of the Little Saskatchewan, seven- 
 
 ll 
 
 !!■ 
 
300 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 ..fisi 
 
 ! I 
 
 ty-two miles from Fort Ellice. This valley, like many of 
 those which we had crossed before, seems very largo in 
 proportion to the size of the stream that flows through 
 it, but the absence of rock has allowed these creeks and 
 rivers, as they coursed through the rich prairie soil, to 
 carve out large channels for themselves. These valleys, 
 or couUes as they are sometimes called, form the chief 
 engineering difficulty in railway construction acrosf:^ the 
 prairies. 
 
 Here, as at Shoal Lake and elsewhere, speculation was 
 rife regarding the probable location of the C. P. Eailway. 
 All seemed glad that the line by the Narrows of Lake 
 Manitoba had been abandoned for the more southern 
 route, and settlers were anxious to ascertain where the 
 Little Saskatchewan would be crossed and what route 
 would be adopted further west. 
 
 This little Saskatchewan district is already well-known 
 and justly esteemed both for its beauty and for its fertil- 
 ity ; almost every part of it is fit for settlement, and the 
 lands that are unsuited for wheat are admirably adapted 
 for grazing. Encamped one evening near its banks we 
 were visited by two Scotchmen, recent arrivals, one of 
 whom had lived for some years in Ontario. After dis- 
 cussing the present and prospective merits of the 
 country, I asked him how long it was since he had loft 
 Scotland. " IIoo did ye ken that I cam' frao Scotland ?" 
 he replied in the broadest Doric, imagining that he had 
 
 t j 
 
liATTLEFOnD TO WTXyriPEG. 
 
 301 
 
 lost his Scottish accent in Ontario ; but the Scotclinian 
 is becoming ubiquitous in the North- West Like other 
 settlers with whom we conversed, these men gave us 
 glowing reports of the soil, crops and prospects of the 
 country. Much of the land in their neighbourhood had 
 already been taken up, some of it in much larger blocks 
 than the ordinary homestead. We were told, for instance, 
 that Lord Elphinstone, has secured 12,000 acres of arable 
 and grazing land, which he evidoT>tly intends to settle 
 and cultivate. 
 
 Continuing our course eastward, we passed over 
 similar country, rich and attractive, waiting to be tilled, 
 and already in many parts taken up. Having crossed 
 Snake Creek, about twenty-two miles from the Little 
 Saskatchewan, we traversed the Beautiful Plain, as it is 
 called, a stretch of the most luxuriant pasture-Umd wo 
 had ever seen, and, about forty miles east of Prairie City, 
 we entered the Province of Manitoba. The country 
 continued as fertile as any that we had come over, 
 perhaps more so, but Manitoba is so very flat as com- 
 pared with such districts as Little Saskatchewan, Touch- 
 wood Hills, or Edmonton, that it aj)peared somewhat 
 monotonous. A level sameness of extremely rich furnv 
 land, however, affords rather a pleasing monoton}'. 
 Only to the traveller in search of the pictures([uo does 
 the country seem uninviting, many k^agues being so 
 level that a wheat-stack may be seen for miles, while a 
 
 
 r; 
 
I'fi 
 
 \V,i\ 
 
 V\ 
 
 ii 
 
 fi 
 
 hi 
 
 302 
 
 MOUNT A ly AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 farm-steading is as distinct an object on the horizon as a 
 hill is in Scotland. 
 
 Having entered Manitoba, and having crossed and 
 re-crossed the White Mud Eiver, first at Gladstone, a 
 thriving border village, then at "Woodside, and again at 
 Westbourne, we camped near "Westbourne. That first 
 night in Manitoba was rather serious in its eflfects upon 
 our half-breed driver, Joe !Jourrassa, as he was once 
 again within reach of liquor. For several weeks he had 
 been practising enforced abstinence, but at last, like a 
 sailor after a long voyage, he threw off the unwelcome 
 restraint. Next morning poor Joe was rather unfit for 
 his work. On each subsequent occasion on which we came 
 within range of a public-house, it was necessary to watch 
 him very closely, and as we approached Winnipeg, or 
 " Garry," as all the half-breeds call it from the old Fort 
 around which the city has clustered, his face beamed 
 with delight at the vision of unrestricted whiskey. 
 Within twc» hours after our arrival, Joe, dull of eye and 
 incoherent of speech, came to ask for his wages, and on 
 being told that he could only get them when he became 
 sober, he begged for one dollar " to finish drunk." 
 
 Soon after leaving Westbourne we found the roads 
 heavy through recent rain, and we were able in some 
 measure to appreciate the difficulties of immigrants 
 arriving in the wet season of early summer, and travers- 
 ing Manitoba in May and early June. The roads through 
 
 . : r 
 
I 
 
 • .1 
 
 BATTLEFORD TO WINNIPECr 
 
 303 
 
 borizon as a 
 
 these extremely rich wheat-lands become almost impas- 
 sable for some weeks after heavy rain, while walking 
 is carried on under such conditions as to make every 
 pedestrian appreciate the oft-repeated joke that "if 
 you don't stick to the land, the land will stick to you." 
 So far as travellers going west of Manitoba are concerned, 
 this and kindred difficulties will be overcome or the 
 completion, diu'ing the present year, of the firwt hundred 
 r^iles of railway now in course of construction west of 
 Winnipeg, but until that section is comjjleted, we can- 
 not expect a large influx of immigrants into the North- 
 West. Although they may be told that our wheat-lands 
 yield on an average from fifty to a hundred per cent 
 more that the bet wheat-lands of the United States, a 
 larger yield per acre, of better quality, and of greater 
 weight per bushel, although they may be familiar with 
 reports of settlers, of British deputations, of immigration 
 agents, and of Cabinet ministers, and although they may 
 know that a free homestead can be had north of the 
 international boundary line while farms worth having 
 in Dakotah or Minnesota will cost at least from $2.50 to 
 $6.00 per acre, yet the facilities of access and of traflSc 
 furnished by the railway system of the United States 
 must induce many to remain south of the boundary till 
 at least a portion of our Pacific road went of W'nnipeg 
 be completed. 
 At noon, on Tuesday the 28th, we reached Portage 
 
304 
 
 MOUNTAIJ^ AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 )■ •;, 
 
 ■I 
 
 ti, .) 
 
 t ^1 
 
 Hi 
 
 La Prairie, more commonly called " the Portage," the 
 largest prairie tc'T'^n west of Winnipeg. Situated on 
 the banks of the Absineboine, with steam communication 
 by river to "Winnipeg, and with a tri-weekly stage, that 
 will soon give place to several daily railway trains, in the 
 centre of a magnificent farming district, this border town 
 is rapidly becoming a place of considerable importance. 
 The road to "Winnipeg, about sixty-two miles, traverses 
 a very level country of the richest soil, nearly all of 
 which is under cultivation. As we passed, the farmers 
 were threshing their wheat, and, being unable to use up 
 their wheat straw, were in many instances burning it, 
 simply to put it out of the way. Surely some means 
 can be devised by which they may utilize their straw as 
 fuel ; if so, it would be a great saving to Manitoba 
 farmers, for firewood generally is scarce and dear. 
 
 "We met train after train of prairie carts, which would 
 continue to move westward until the winter stopped the 
 season's trafiic. Already the roads were frozen hard, 
 and, having been much cut up during the autumn, were 
 now very rough. Following the main road we were fre- 
 quently within sight of the Assineboine, which, unlike 
 many of the rivers of the North "West, is wooded on both 
 sides, most of the streams being wooded chiefly upon the 
 southern banks, the northern banks being more exposed 
 to fires from the prairies, di'iven along by the prevailing 
 north-wcsterl}' winds. 
 
 ' ( 
 
 ::!i 
 
 )^ 
 
 f ■ 
 
 r\ 
 
 ^\ 
 
fi 
 If" 
 
 BATTLEFORD TO ]\'IXyiPEG. 
 
 ;jo5 
 
 )rtage," the 
 Situated on 
 imunication 
 '• stage, that 
 rains, in the 
 border town 
 importance. 
 8, traverses 
 early all of 
 the farmers 
 le to use up 
 burning it, 
 3ome means 
 3ir straw as 
 Manitoba 
 dear. 
 
 '■hich would 
 stopped the 
 L'ozen hard, 
 tumn, were 
 ve were fre- 
 hich, unlike 
 ded on both 
 y upon the 
 Die exposed 
 prevailing 
 
 We reached Winnipeg on the 29tli of October, ju.st 
 before the coid weather fell upon us, and found licr"', as 
 at every village nnd shanty that wo had passed since 
 leaving Edmonton, a pulse of life and hope. FiVory one 
 npi)oared to anticipate a briglit future for the country, 
 and an especially bright one for himself The city, 
 Avhich was a small hamlet seven years ago, now boasts a 
 population of about 10,000, and as it is the natural gate- 
 way of the North-West it must continue rapidly to 
 increase. 
 
 We had crossed the prairies; we had seen the country 
 in that uncultivated condition in which it is difliicult for 
 any but the experienced farmer to gauge its productive 
 powers ; we liad traversed it, for the most part, afici- the 
 flush and luxuriance of summer had jiassed, when the 
 leafless woods and the withered grass made much of it 
 aj^pcar uninviting, and when a still more desolate 
 appearance had been given to large tracts by recent 
 prairie-fires. We liad seen it thus with but scant ability 
 to estimate its resources, and under circumstances by no 
 means the most favourable, but day after day the impres- 
 sion of its wonderful fertility and of its vast and varied 
 attractions deepened upon us, while day after day the 
 vision of its future became more glowing, as we seemed to 
 hear the tread of advancing settlers and the blended 
 sounds of coming industries. 
 
 We had reached AYinnipeg from the west. How fares 
 
 21 
 
 - 't 
 
 '■■} 
 
 I j; 
 
 : -If 
 
 ii 
 
,1 
 
 'm 
 
 
 Mi 
 
 .[I 
 
 V i 
 
 ' !( 
 
 ^ t 
 
 V 
 
 (i t 
 
 i.ii 
 
 fl 
 
 t ■ 
 
 ( 
 
 ! W 
 
 in' 
 
 (,: I 
 
 a? 
 
 30G 
 
 MOUXTAry AM) PRAIRIE. 
 
 it witli the immigrant approaching it from the oast? 
 His pasHago from Liverpool, by way of Quebec, Sarnia, 
 and Duluth, has ta^.on about fifteen days, and has cost 
 him from £9 to £28 sterling, according to the accommo- 
 dation he has chosen by steamer and rail. From 
 previous information he knows where to settle, and at 
 once procures his " location " from the Dominion land 
 agent ; or, perhaps, he can afford a little time to look 
 about him. If he has arrived early enough in the year, 
 and has settled on land that yields a good return off tho 
 sod, he may be able to raise a crop his first season. If 
 not, he must content himself with breaking up his land, 
 to have it ready for the following spring, and with build- 
 ing his "shanty" and barn, providing himself with 
 stock, and laying in winter supplies. He has availed 
 himself of tho liberal homestead law, and has pre-empted 
 an adjoining quarter-section, so that he is now the 
 possessor of a farm of 320 acres, having brought out his 
 family, procured his land, and started witli sufficient 
 stock and implements for a new settler, at a total outlay 
 of less than a single year's rental for a wheat-farm of a 
 similar size in the mother-country. He will find an 
 abundant market for all that he can raise, whether it bo 
 stock or cereals. New settlers will require food and 
 seed ; and the Hudson's Bay Company and the Govern- 
 ment will probably be large purchasers, the former for 
 their widely scattered pot:ts, the latter on behalf of the 
 
BATILEFORD TO WINXIPEG. 
 
 307 
 
 the oast ? 
 )ec, Sarnia, 
 d has cost 
 ) accommo- 
 ail. Fi-om 
 i.tlc, and at 
 linion laud 
 no to look 
 a tho year, 
 urn off tlio 
 season. K 
 p his land, 
 with build- 
 msclf with 
 las availed 
 pre-empted 
 now the 
 gilt out his 
 1 sufficient 
 otal outlay 
 t-farm of a 
 ill find an 
 lether it be 
 ! food and 
 he Govern- 
 
 former for 
 half of the 
 
 Indians. Indeed, there is every i)rospect that, for 
 several years, the bulk of the grain raised in the North- 
 West will be required for local consumption ; and by the 
 time that settlers arc ready to cxjiort grain, tho means of 
 communication will be so much increased, and the cost 
 of freight so much reduced, that they will be able to 
 compote on most favoural>lo terms for the supply of tho 
 British market. Competent authorities estimate that 
 within two years, as soon as the railway is completed 
 from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay, on Lake Superior, grain 
 can bo taken from Manitoba to Liverpool at a total out- 
 side cost of 45 cents per bushel. Wheat is grown in 
 Manitoba at a cost that does not exceed, if it reaches, 40 
 cents per bushel ; so that it will be grown in Manitoba 
 and delivered in Liverpool at a cost to tho producer, 
 including all charges for transj)ort, of 85 cents (equal to 
 3s. 6d. sterling) per bushel, or $6.80 (equal to £1. 8s. 4d.) 
 per quarter. As the average price of wheat in England 
 for the thirty years, from 1849 to 1878, was $12.72 per 
 quarter — tho lowest in that period being, in 1851 $9.50 
 per quarter — a sufficiently broad margin is left for the 
 Canadian wheat-grower. * 
 
 And if such facilities for transport be not sufficient to 
 secure for our North-West, where land yields from 
 
 * These- figures are from a pamphlet entitled '• Manitoba and the 
 North-West," issued by C. J. Brydges Esq., Land Commissioner of 
 the n. B. Companj , 
 
 li 
 
 'i!|| 
 
308 
 
 niOUNTATN AXD PRAIRIE. 
 
 M 
 
 i-i 
 
 ♦ ^' ^; 
 
 . I) 
 
 !».': 
 
 .' • 
 
 twenty to sixty busliels of wheat per acre, the chief 
 supply of the British market , other and shorter lines of 
 transport may yet be opened. Already a new route is 
 projected, and a company is being formed to construct a 
 railway, about three hundred miles in length, from the 
 northern extremity of Lake Winnipeg down the valley of 
 the Nelson Eiver to Port Nelson on Hudson's Bay. This 
 port is twenty-one miles nearer Liverjiool than New 
 York is. It appears that the valley of the Nelson otfers 
 a practicable route for a railway, although the river is 
 too broken to be navigable, and the navigation of 
 Iludson's Bay and Hudson's Straits can be relied on for 
 at least three months in the year, probably for a longer 
 period. This would allow the shipment of a very large 
 amount of grain from the Canadian North-\V'est, and also 
 from the north-western portions of the United States by 
 this route. Even if the year's crop could not be shipped 
 during the same season that it was harvested, yot the 
 dilferonce in cost of transport would probably nuike it 
 worth while to hold much of it over until the following 
 summer rather than send it by the more expensive 
 southern routes. But whether the grain of our North- 
 West reaches the Atlantic by way of the St. Lawrence 
 or by way of Iludson's Straits, it seems almost inevitable 
 that it must in tlio course of time become a powerful, 
 and i)erhaps a controlling, factor in regulating the wheat 
 markets of the world. 
 
BATTLEFORT) TO WIS N I PEG. 
 
 300 
 
 the chief 
 ler lines of 
 w route is 
 construct a 
 , from the 
 10 valley of 
 Bay. This 
 than Xow 
 3lson offers 
 .he river is 
 :igati()ii of 
 ;lied on for 
 or a longer 
 very large 
 st, and also 
 I States by 
 1)0 shipped 
 d, yot the 
 y make it 
 L) following 
 oxponsivo 
 our North- 
 Lawrence 
 inevitahlo 
 powerful, 
 Iho wheat 
 
 "While those rich prairies, that must yet be carved into 
 a cluster of loyal provinces extending from Red Hiver 
 to the Eocky Mountains, offer homes to men of all 
 nationalities, they offer special attractions to immigrants 
 from the mother-country, for there the shield of the 
 Empire will still be around them, and one scarcely 
 knows how much he loves the old flag till ho sees it float 
 over some far-away trading-post in that lonely north-land. 
 There was a time when those coming from Britain to 
 Canada locjked on the national life at home as something 
 from which tliey had been severed, while their sorrow at 
 that separation seemed almost beyond tiio solace of song. 
 That time is gone ; Canada is now something more than 
 a Crown Colony; she must bo regarded as an integral 
 part of the Empire. No British statesman would now 
 say to Canada " Take up your freedom," nor would any 
 statesman of Canada counsel the Dominion to drift off 
 into independence. One chief argument for independ- 
 ence has been basetl on the analogy of the family, and it 
 has been urged that, as the children cannot always be 
 gathoreil under the old roof-tree but should be so 
 trained by their parents as in time to become solf- 
 sui)i)oi'ting, independent heads of families, so colonies 
 should bo fostered into ijidependent states. But the 
 analogy does not hold ; for, while ihero is a necessity for 
 the extension, continuance and independence of families, 
 Binco only in this way can the race survive the inroads 
 
,, . '. 
 
 Il 
 
 f\v 
 
 It t ! 
 
 Ui^i*! 
 
 iil 
 
 3i0 
 
 MOUNTAIN AND PRAIRIE. 
 
 (»f (loath, there is no nimilar necessity for a continuous 
 Nuccossion of nations. It does not seem requisite for the 
 world's welfare that the parts of a great empire should, 
 as their strength increases, be lopped off, and be left to 
 work out a separate life and destiny. We Canadians at 
 least need recognise for ourselves no such necessity. 
 We may regret the scant attention that colonial interests 
 have commonly received at the hands of British 
 statesmen ; we may regard our present relations with 
 the mother-country as capable of improvement ; wo may 
 discuss theories of Imperial Federation that shall admit 
 us to higher national duties and responsibilities as our 
 powers increase; but we shall proudly and hopefully 
 continue to share the life and destiny of the Empire. 
 
jontinuoua 
 itc for tho 
 iro should, 
 
 bo left to 
 tiadians at 
 
 noccs.sity. 
 il interests 
 of British 
 tions with 
 t ; wo may 
 shall admit 
 ties as our 
 
 hopefully 
 Impire. 
 
 A Catalogue of American and Foreign Books Published or 
 
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