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 WHAT SHALL WE BO 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 HUDSON'S BAY TERRITORY P 
 
 COLONIZE THE "FERTILE BELT," 
 
 WHICH CONTAINS 
 
 FORTY MILLIONS OF ACRES. 
 
 " I hear the tread of pioneers, of nations yet to be, 
 
 The first low wash of waves, where soon shall roll a hnnum sea." 
 
 Wbittiir. 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS RAWLINGS, F.R.G.S., 
 
 Author of "America, fr<m the Atlantio to the Pacific" 
 103, Obbsham House, E.G., London. 
 
 LONDON: 
 A. H. BAILY & CO., 3, ROYAL EXCHANGE BUILDINGS, 
 ■ V CORNHILL. 
 
 1866. ■ - ■ ^-'r-'': 
 
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 PREFACE. 
 
 .■■- J*. 
 
 w 
 
 It may, and no doubt will, be asked, why I should 
 trouble myself about the Hudson's Bay Territory, 
 and what I know about it? I shall anticipate the 
 putting of both questions by frankly answering 
 them. 
 
 I have lived nearly a quarter of a century in the 
 United States, and spent much of my time in the 
 neighbourhood of the Hudson's Bay Territory; I 
 have witnessed the teams, and sledges, and canoes, 
 on their way to or from Norway House and the 
 Saskatchewan ; the faces of those who have come 
 and gone are familiar to me, so equally are their 
 dress and habii&. Necessarily, one could not help 
 speaking and thinking of a district, or more pro- 
 perly speaking, a vast region, of which there were 
 every day reminders. The Hudson's Bay Territory 
 has been to me what Belgium has been and is to 
 Frenchmen, and what Constantinople has been and 
 is to Russians. It has been my next door neighbour, 
 and in some degree my pride and envy. I rather 
 liked the idea of tlie rigorous exclusion of the nine- 
 
 ^■;'.*.>-sr*iKy-'rta 
 
t 
 
 i 
 
 teenth century from so large a part of the earth's 
 habitable surface, by a handful of far off gentlemen, 
 who no doubt believed they were better informed 
 than others ; and I could not refrain from occasion- 
 ally fancying what the Territory might become, 
 were it once transferred to less informed and not so 
 well-to-do people. 
 
 These are my answers. I am well acquainted 
 with the condition and capabilities of the Hudson's 
 Bay Territory ; and it is generally supposed to be 
 an infirmity of human nature, for those possessed of 
 light to desire to show it to others, and not to keep 
 it beneath a bushel, especially when those others 
 are confessedly groping in the dark and knocking 
 their shins against objects which are hidden to 
 them. 
 
 What, then, have I got to say ? Not a great 
 deal, I confess, but the little I have will, I hope, be 
 to the point. I want to show two things : — 
 
 First, that the Hudson's Bay Territory is a 
 great and valuable possession ; and 
 
 Second, that it would be an absurdity to sell 
 or make it oyer to Canada, or to suffer 
 Canada to have anything to do with it. 
 
 The former of these propositions I support by 
 fact and by testimony of fact, and also by collateral 
 and consequential considerations, which will com- 
 mend themselves to the common sense of all patriotic 
 
Englishmen, It is, in my opinion, of great im- 
 portance to England to hold its own on the American 
 continent, for I have ever thought that the rivalry 
 flowing from the juxtaposition of the two great 
 members of the Anglo Saxon family is most benefi- 
 cial and conducive to the best interests of progress 
 throughout the world. Indeed, I have studied that 
 rivalry ; there was first the rivalry of ships on Lake 
 Ontario, then of steamboats on that lake and on 
 Lake Erie ; again, there was, on the American side, 
 the rivalry of canals, from the Hudson River to the 
 lakes, and from Lake Champlain to the St. Law- 
 rence, and on the Canadian side the rivalry of the 
 improvements of the St. Lawrence navigation and 
 of the Welland Canal, for avoiding the Niagara 
 Falls ; at another time, and in Canada, too, there 
 have been rival trade with China and Japan, with 
 England, ocean steamers to supplant those of Inman 
 and Cunard, agricultural and other exhibitions, and 
 the reciprocity treaty, under which the United 
 States tried its best to over-reach Canada, and 
 Canada tried its best to over-reach the United 
 States. Further west there have been rivalries, also, 
 but the sparseness of the population, and the com- 
 parative insignificance of the interests involved, 
 have not given to them great prominence. Lat- 
 terly, in the far west, the United States have taken 
 the lead, have, in fact, left British America behind 
 in the generous race that has been maintained ever 
 since the close of the war of 1812. Some Americans 
 
i' 
 
 6 
 
 are constructing the North Pacific Railroad from 
 St. Paul to the Columbia. The United States are 
 constructing the Union Pacific Railroad from Kan- 
 sas city to Sacramento city and San Francisco. 
 British America, recreant to its traditions, to its 
 character, its in', 'ests, and the interests of Great 
 Britain, is keeping quiet and cool. It has become 
 distrustful of its power and destiny; it has ceased 
 to be acted on by the example of its neighbour, and 
 by-and-bye, unless something is done, its neighbour 
 will cease to be acted upon by the wholesome stimu- 
 lus of spirited and intelligent competition. 
 
 The facilities and advantages of connecting 
 British Columbia with the head of Lake Superior 
 are infinitely greater than those presented to the 
 United States on either of their chosen routes ; the 
 United States routes are in the main across deserts, 
 while the only British American desert, in the way, 
 is that of the Canada shores north of Lake Superior, 
 which it is unnecessary to skirt, or cross, because, 
 in the summer, there is the water course of Rainy 
 Lake, and Lake Winipeg, and the Saskatchewan, 
 and all the year round, easy access across Min- 
 nesota by stage from Crow Wing to Pembina, and 
 the Red River settlements; and beyond many 
 hundred miles of the finest agricultural district in 
 the world. I want Englishmen to be put in pos^ 
 session of these facilities and advantages; I want 
 to see the ** fertile belt" peopled from the Red 
 River settlements to the base of the Rocky Moun- 
 
 k 
 
% 
 
 from 
 
 tains, that the advantages of untimbercd prairie 
 farming may, for the first time, be enjoyed under 
 British rule, to the blessing of the cultivators and 
 the benc^t of the world at large. The Hudson's 
 Bay Company have only to be aroused from the 
 deep sleep of ages and the thing is done ; forth- 
 with the Minnesota Stage Coach Company will 
 turn their cattle towards the Saskatchewan, and in 
 time the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad will follow 
 in the footsteps of the pioneers. I disavow anta- 
 gonism to the North PaciBc Railroad and to the 
 Union Pacific Railroad ; the period is not distant 
 when the continent of America will be crossed 
 throughout by a do^cn railroads. My approval 
 and preference for the Atlantic and Pacific Rail- 
 road rest on my acquaintance with the ground it 
 will traverse, my knowledge of the climate, and 
 my conviction that the fullest measure of prosperity 
 awaits the settlers at the Red River settlements, 
 and beyond. 
 
 The absurdity of making over or of selling to 
 Canada the '* fertile belt ** admits of demonstra- 
 tion. Take the map of the Hudson's Bay territory, 
 and Canada, and the distance between the head of 
 Lake Huron and Lake Winipeg, is the interval of 
 forbidding desert, separating Canada from the 
 " fertile belt." Aye, separating it for ages beyond 
 the power of capital or engineering skill; in the 
 same sense that the bed of the English Channel 
 defies tunnelling from Dover to Calais. The icy 
 
u 
 
 8 
 
 breath of James Bay steals along the Moose river 
 and vegetation is destroyed. Besides, upon the 
 granite rocks of Hudson's Bay there is no soil, 
 and therefore the hope of linking the " fertile 
 belt " to Canada by a route north of Lake Superior 
 is illusive and mistaken. Far easier and better for 
 Great Britian to bear rule over France, or for 
 France to bear rule over England, than for Canada 
 to attempt anything so utterly beyond its influence 
 and power. The " fertile belt " of Canada is the 
 knob of land which nestles among the lakes, hem- 
 med in by Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake 
 Ontario; the "fertile belt" of the Saskatchewan 
 is the ordained garden of western provinces of the 
 crown of England, of greater value than many 
 Canadas, for that " fertile belt " nestles among the 
 spurs and ridges of the Rocky Mountains, and 
 those mountains will yet prove possessed of the 
 richest veins of gold and silver which the enterprise 
 of the present century has discovered. Let Canada 
 make the most of the country it possesses, and let 
 public opinion rouse the slumbering Hudson's Bay 
 Company to the discharge of their public duty. 
 For two hundred years have the Hudson's Bay 
 Company caught vermin for their skins, and it 
 would be intolerable were they suflered to close a 
 huckster's bargain with Canada for £1,000,000, or 
 for any price, when the effect of handing over the 
 country to Canada would be to add to the dead 
 weight already borne by that province, and in 
 
9 
 
 effect to close the Hudson's Bay territory against 
 the world for probably two centuries to come. 
 
 I shall be glad to render my humble aid to any 
 enterprising members of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany who desire to infuse modern views into the 
 companies' affairs. 
 
 For a confirmation of my general opinions I beg 
 to refer the reader to several letters from well- 
 known and distinguished writers, which appear at 
 the end. 
 
 T. R. 
 
 103 and 104 Qbesham IIottsk, 
 London, March l^nd, 1866. 
 
!!! 
 
 f I 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE LATEST INTELLIGENCE. 
 
 The latest intelligence from the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory, or rather, to be strictly accurate, the last 
 we have heard of that part of the world, is from the 
 pen of the Hon. William Seward, Secretary of 
 State. The Secretary of State visited Canada the 
 other day, and Canada and the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory are as near neighbours as Middlesex and 
 Surrey. And what are his impressions? The 
 Toronto Globe, of the 17th February, 1866, in- 
 forms us, that before leaving, he wrote the follow- 
 ing words : — 
 
 " Hitherto, in common with most of my country- 
 men, as I suppose, I have thought Canada, or, to 
 speak more accurately, British America, a mere 
 strip lying north of the United States, easily 
 detachable from the parent state, but incapable of 
 sustaining itself, and therefore ultimately, nay right 
 soon, to be taken on by the Federal Union, without 
 materially changing or affecting its own condition 
 or development. I have dropped the opinion as a 
 national conceit. I see in British North America, 
 stretching as it does across the continent, from the 
 
11 
 
 shores of Labrador and Newfoundland to the 
 Pacific, and occupying a considerable belt of the 
 temperate zone, traversed equally with the United 
 States by the lakes, and enjoying the magnificent 
 shores of the St. Lawrence, with its thousands of 
 islands in the river and gulf, a region grand enough 
 for the seat of a great empire — in its wheat fields 
 in the west, its broad ranges of the chase at the 
 north, its inexhaustible lumber lands — the most 
 extensive now remaining on the globe — its invalu- 
 able fisheries, and its yet undisturbed mineral 
 wealth. I find its inhabitants vigorous, hardy, 
 energetic, perfected by the Protestant religion and 
 British constitutional liberty. I find them jealous 
 of the United States and of Great Britain, as they 
 ought to be ; and therefore, when I look at their 
 extent and resources, I know that they can neither 
 be conquered by the former, nor permanently held 
 by the latter. They will be independent, as they 
 are already self-maintaining. Having happily 
 escaped the curse of slavery, they will never submit 
 themselves to the dominion of slaveholders, which 
 prevails in, and determmes the character of the 
 United States. They will be a Russia in the 
 United States, which to them will be France and 
 England. But they will be a Russia civilised and 
 Protestant, and that wHl be a very different Russia 
 from that which fills all southern Europe with 
 terror, and, by reason of that superiority, they will 
 be the more terrible to the dwellers in the southern 
 
•1;^ 
 
 ; 
 
 '7^ 
 
 12 
 
 latitudes. The policy of the United States is to 
 propitiate and secure the alliance of Canada while 
 it is yet young and incurious of its future. But, 
 on the other hand, the policy which the United 
 States actually pursues is the infatuated one of 
 rejecting and spurning vigorous, perennial, and 
 ever-growing Canada, while seeking to establish 
 feeble states out of decaying Spanish provinces on 
 the coast, and in the islands of the Gulf of Mexico. 
 I shall not live to see it, but the man is already 
 born who will see the United States mourn over 
 this stupendous folly, which is only preparing the 
 way for ultimate danger and downfall. All 
 Southern political stars must set, though many 
 times they rise again with diminished splendour. 
 But those which illuminate the pole remain for 
 ever shining, for ever increasing in splendour." 
 
 No one acquainted with British America, and 
 especially with that part of it known as the Hud- 
 son's Bay Territory, will dispute the justice of the 
 parallel. Of the dignity, of the language, the 
 statesmanlike sentiment, or the profound philo- 
 sophy, we have not a word to say. When Mr. 
 Seward thinks deeply, ceases to be the politician, 
 and becomes the disinterested observer and reasoner, 
 he never fails in justice to his theme. Nay, more, 
 he exhibits those qualities of mind which have 
 deservedly raised him to the high position of Prime 
 Minister of the United States. It is odd that he 
 should not have visited British America until Feb- 
 
13 
 
 ruary of the present, year, and that, until the other 
 day, he entertained the common prejudices respect- 
 ing it. He thought it easily detachable, incapable 
 of sustaining itself, and the ready prey of the soar- 
 ing Eagle. He was mistaken, and now counts the 
 dark North at its true value. It is the Russia of 
 the new world, but a Russia civilized and Protest- 
 ant. It is to be a first class new world power, with 
 its Cossacks of the Mackenzie, its arsenals of 
 Greenland and the St. Lawrence, its Danube of the 
 Red River, and its Baltic and Black Sea of Lake 
 Winipeg and Lake Superior. The France and 
 England of the New World are to be in amity 
 with the Russia, and the Russia is to feed the 
 former in exchange for their manufactures. 
 
 All very fine, remarks some one, but the Hud- 
 son's Bay Territory is as likely a place for feeding 
 people, as Jamaica is for cooling them. We are 
 happy to reply to this scepticism. It rests on the 
 hypothesis that a cold country is an unproductive 
 one ; that intense frost and lively and fecund vege- 
 tation are incompatible. Sheer delusion ; d priori 
 moonshine. Everybody has heard of New Bruns- 
 wick ; it is nearly as cold there as within the Arctic 
 Circle. The ex :remes of temperature are : — 
 
 1. At St. John on the Bay of Fundy, from 18 
 
 degrees below to 88 degrees above zero. 
 
 2. At Richibucto on the Gulf of the St. Law- 
 
 rence, from 20 degrees below to 90 degrees 
 above zero. 
 
14 
 
 1.- . 
 
 3. At Fredericton in the interior, from 24 de- 
 grees below to 95 degrees above zero. 
 
 And what says Professor Johnston of so in- 
 hospitable a climate ? He says, " the average 
 weights of a whole province, where the land is new 
 and manured only in rare instances, or at long 
 intervals, indicates a capacity in the soil and cli- 
 mate to produce grain for human food of a 
 superior quality. The returns are : — 
 
 Crop, 
 
 Wheat 
 
 Barley 
 
 Oats 
 
 Buckwheat 
 
 Rye 
 
 Indian Corn 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 Turnips 
 
 There are some Scotch and English counties the 
 returns from which would not compare favourably 
 with these. 
 
 New Brunswick is an instance negativing the 
 assumption that a cold country is a useless one, 
 because thought incapable of producing the neces- 
 saries of life in sufficient abundance for a moderately 
 dense population. True there are some parts of 
 Canada which for agricultural purposes are abso- 
 lutely worthless ; there are similar barren districts 
 among the New York and Vermont Mountains 
 where John Brown laid the train, which, when it 
 
 Per Acre, 
 
 Wheat per bushel. 
 
 20 bushels 
 
 60i-| lbs. 
 
 29 bushels 
 
 50 „ 
 
 34 bushels 
 
 38 „ 
 
 33| bushels 
 
 ^OTT )} 
 
 20^ bushels 
 
 52J „ 
 
 41 1 bushels 
 
 59i „ 
 
 226^ bushels 
 
 63 „ 
 
 456 bushels 
 
 66 „ 
 
 T-^-a^izt.^^^.ie 
 
15 
 
 exploded, led to the greatest war on record. But it 
 is not true that good soil, nay, that the best soil, may 
 not exist under the most unfavourable conditions of 
 climate. The climate of a country may be influ- 
 enced by the condition of the soil, by the state in 
 which the soil may be, but it is geologically true 
 and a physical fact besides, which there is no gain- 
 saying, that within the bounds of the Hudson's 
 Bay Territory there exists vast tracts of the very 
 best wheat-producing lands. Perhaps when those 
 lands are cultivated, as cultivated they one day will 
 and must be, the climate of the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory may become scarcely less genial than 
 our own. 
 
 That Canada will become the Russia of the New 
 World is not anticipated by Mr. Seward; in the 
 future he perceives an Anglo-Saxon Russia, and 
 abstains from special allusion to Canada. And 
 why? No one is more conversant with the past 
 history of Canada than Mr. Seward, and none can 
 have a clearer apprehension of its blunders, and of 
 the difficulties which at the present time surround 
 the province. Mr. Seward must know that if the 
 realisation is left to Canada it is remote, beyond the 
 lifetime of " the man who is already born." Nor 
 is this hardly a reproach to Canada. That noble 
 province has in some degree been the sport of pecu- 
 liar circumstances, not the least of which is the 
 diversity of race in the East and West. Upon the 
 energies, the enterprise and freedom of the West, 
 
 i 
 
16 
 
 the French of the East have been a cop'^^^ant drag, 
 not caring for expansion, not heeding coLinierce, but 
 resting contented with the yield of small farms and 
 lean herds; for what more could Canadian French- 
 men want, than bread to eat and winter fodder for 
 their cows and oxen? Unchecked by Eastern 
 Canada, Canada West would long since have been 
 incomparably more powerful and grasping than itis. 
 Restrained by Eastern Canada, Canada West has 
 before it a slow development, which, however, would 
 be hastened under the scheme of confederation it is 
 wisely anxious to promote. Without confederation 
 Canada West is always checkmated; with it, the 
 Frenchmen of the East would raise a feeble and 
 harmless voice, against the spirit of the time^:^ in 
 which we live. 
 
 That, from these truths, it may not be inferred, 
 the Confederation is on the whole the proper power 
 to deal with the Hudson's Bay Territory, we shall 
 merely add, that for some time to come the Con- 
 federation is likely to have schemes enough before 
 it, of a less extensive character, if it is to hold its own, 
 in commercial matters against its nearest neighbour. 
 The Confederation must deepen and widen the 
 water channels to the sea, it must infuse into the 
 minds of the people sound views of trade, and in 
 the end fit itself for taking up the gauntlet of free 
 intercourse, which the Protectionists of the United 
 States have thrown down, as the basis of a new 
 treaty of reciprocity. The United States Protec- 
 
 ■■& 
 
 
 
17 
 
 tionists are ready to concede the abolition of custom- 
 houses on the frontier, and to agree to tariffs which 
 in all particulars are identical, but Canada is, we 
 fear, unprepared for such a measure. The only 
 sacrifice of revenue to which Canada can as yet 
 assent, is that implied in the establishment of a 
 single free port, on the neck of land which divides 
 Lake Huron from Lake Superior. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Territory demands for its 
 development the same forces, which so far have and 
 are still developing the territories of the United 
 States. The development of those territories is not 
 undertaken by Massachusetts, nor New York, nor 
 Pennsylvania ; it proceeds independently. Men go 
 out from all the states, and from all parts of the 
 earth, perfectly well aware that they might find 
 nearer resting places. But they do not occupy 
 eastern lands ; they are westward bound. And the 
 United States says to them, when you number so 
 and so, a territorial government shall be established ; 
 and when you have increased to so and so, the terri- 
 tory shall be admitted into the Union as a Sovereign 
 State. To attach the Hudson's Bay Territory to 
 Canada is to reverse the order of progress, to render 
 impossible what otherwise is not merely possible but 
 highly practicable. When we have considered the 
 capabilities, and other matters relating to the 
 Hudson's Bay Territory, we shall be in a position 
 to develop with some minuteness the proper course 
 to be taken by those more immediately interested 
 in its affairs. C 
 
 o-ft 
 

 i. 
 
 4 
 
 18 
 
 Let US; meanwhile, not be misunderstood on the 
 subject of Confederation. That we approve, re- 
 commend, advocate. But the Hudson's Bay Terri- 
 tory may be brought to life without waiting for the 
 Confederation. Perhaps it would be no disadvan- 
 tage to the other provinces to hear the voice of the 
 Hudson's Bay Territory before they confederate. 
 That voice is, and must be, that being far removed 
 from the sea-board, the territory must strenuously 
 resist all obstacles, save that of distance, to which it 
 unavoidably must yield. The voice of the Hudson's 
 Bay Territory is for free and untrammelled inter- 
 course with all provinces and all nations. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE HUDSON S BAY TERRITORY. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Territory may be roughly re- 
 presented as occupying the whole area north of the 
 forty-eighth parallel. It is the New Britain of the 
 Compendium of the United States Census for 1850, 
 and measures 2,598,837 square miles. The magni- 
 tude of this area can only be judged by com- 
 parison. The official comparison is as follows: 
 
 Territorif. tq. miles, aq. milet. 
 
 f Now Britain .... 2,598,837 
 
 British Amoricu. J Upper and Lower Canada . . 346,860 
 
 ^Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, &c. 104,710 
 
 3,050,398 
 
 United States as ascertained by tTOographical bureau 2,936,166 
 
 Mexico / . . . . 1,038,834 
 
 Central America 203,551 
 
 Russian America 394,000 
 
 Dunish America (Greenland) 380,000 
 
 Total square miles . . 8,002,940 
 
 But the comparison should perhaps be made with 
 Europe. 
 
 The area of all Europe is in square miles .... 3,81] ,594 
 
 The area of Now Britain is in square miles .... 2,598,837 
 
 In round numbers the area of the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory is three fourths the area of all Europe, 
 
20 
 
 while Canada has only 8om« 60,000 sqnarc miles 
 more area than Sweden and Norway. Canada, 
 in siiperticial area, is an eighth of that of the 
 Hudson's Bay Territory. Tiiat th( j is much of 
 the Hudson's Bay "J'erritory uselesrt we shall not 
 dispute ; but let us hv.ar vvijat Professor Hind says 
 of the north-west portion of the territory. He 
 eays :— " Beyond the dividing ridge which sepa- 
 rates the waters flowing into Lake Superior, from 
 those which take a north-westerly diei tion towards 
 Hudson Bay, lies the great inland buai i of Lake 
 Winnipeg, occupying a very coiHin( rable extent of 
 the North American Continrat, and forming part 
 of the British possession, known as the North-West 
 Territory or Rupert's Land." 
 
 *' The basin of Lake Winnipeg extends from the 
 90th to the 118th meridian. Its most easterly 
 margin lies on the boundary of Canada, west of 
 Lake Superior, in long. 90 14, lat. 48 53, being 
 the head waters of Savanne River, a remote 
 tributary of the Winnipeg. The most westerly 
 limit of this vast basin is the Glacier, near Howse's 
 Pass, in long. 117 35, lat. 51 52, from which a 
 branch of the Saskatchewan takes its rise. The 
 southern extension of its boundary is Lake Tra- 
 verse, in Dakotah Territory, long. 96 43, lat. 
 45 58. It Fti\'tciiep north as far a? Frog Portage, 
 long. 103 30, lar V 26. iiiis basin consequently 
 extends ovei 28 degrees of longitude, and 10 de- 
 grees of latitude. The elevation of its eastern 
 
91 
 
 boundary is 1,485 feet above the ocean, and the 
 height of land, near the sources of the tributary 
 which rises farthest to the west, is (>,3s 7 feet above 
 the same level. Its northern boiin^lit i y is separated 
 From the valley of the Mississippi by a low portatje, 
 over which waters flow durinf^ floods, while to- 
 wards the South lake Tr; verse, wljich also sends 
 water into the Mississippi during- spr t^j freshets, 
 is only 820 feet abov(^ the sea. The ow ^jt of lake 
 Winnipeg is through the contrac <*<! aTxl rocky 
 channel of Nelson Kivcr, which flows vnto I ndson's 
 Bay. The mean brtadth of the ba i (. Lake 
 Winnipeg is about 380 Englifj , mil '^, ai d its 
 mean length 920 miles, hence its aresi i ap- 
 proximately 360,<^00 square miles, or . . as 
 large as the province of Canada." 
 
 "The great prairie plateau of Rupert's t.and is 
 bounded towards tlie south-west and wes )y the 
 Grand Coteau du Missouri, which forms th nr^th- 
 eastern limit of the plains of the north wesi The 
 area of the prairie plateau is about I '20,000 luare 
 miles; it possesses a uean elevation of l,li feet 
 above the sea, and consists of cretaceous rt 's, 
 overlaid in some part- witli tertiary formations. 
 The 'Fertile Belt' of the north-wtst consists of the 
 richest arable soil, partly in the form of open 
 prairie, partly covered with groves of aspen; it 
 stretches from the Lake of the Woods to the foot 
 of the Rocky Mountains, about 800 miles, and 
 averages from 80 to 100 miles in brcadih. The 
 
22 
 
 North Saskatchewan flows through the ' Fertile 
 Belt* in a valley varying from one-fourth of a 
 mile to one mile in breadth, and excavated to the 
 depth of 200 to 300 feet below the level of the 
 plains, or prairie through which it flows, until it 
 reaches the low country, some miles east of Fort 
 a la Come. The area of this remarkable strip of 
 rich soil and pasturage is about 40,000,000 acres. 
 It was formerly a wooded country, but by succes- 
 sive fires it has been partially cleaied of its forest 
 growth, but abounds with the most luxuriant herb- 
 age, and generally possesses a deep rich soil of 
 vegetable mould. The winter of this region is not 
 more severe than that of Lower Canada. The 
 snow is never very deep, and in the wildest tracts 
 the natural pasture is so abundant, that horses and 
 cattle may be left to obtain their own food during 
 the greater part of the winter. It is a broad agri- 
 cultural region, capable of sustaining many millions 
 of people, and abundantly supplied with iron ore, 
 and an inferior variety of coal, and as it spans the 
 800 miles which separate Lake Winnipeg from the 
 Rocky Mountains, it more than compensates for 
 the timbered desert between the Lake of the Woods 
 and Lake Superior. The whole of the * Fertile 
 Belt ' is well fitted for settlement and agricultural 
 colonization. All common cereals and green crops 
 have been grown successfully at the diflerent posts 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company within the district." 
 "Tiie gold discoveries in British Columbia have 
 
 wm 
 
•23 
 
 given extraordinary importance of the * Fertile 
 Belt ' in view of a high road across the continent. 
 Duiing the season of navigation the facilities for 
 reaching any part of Lake Superior are such that a 
 vessel from Liverpool, of a capacity fitted to go 
 through the locks of the Welland Canal, may dis- 
 charge her cargo at Fort William, or any post on 
 this vast inland sea, without breaking bulk. The 
 next step in an overland communication to British 
 Columbia is from Lake Superior to the settlement 
 on Red River. The water-parting is not more 
 than 890 feet above Lake Superior, and the country 
 is thickly wooded with valuable trees as far as Lake 
 of tlie Woods. There does not exist any difficulty 
 in the construction of a road between Thunder Bay 
 and the most eastern indent of Rainy Lake, a 
 distance of 200 miles." 
 
 Professor Hind also speaks of the eastern portion 
 of the Hudson Bay Territory. He says of it: — 
 " The area of the Labrador Peninsula is approxi- 
 mated 42,000 square miles, or equal to the British 
 Isles, France and Prussia combind ; and the greater 
 part of it lies between the same parallels of latitude 
 as Great Britain. The whole of this immense 
 country is uninhabited by civilized man, with the 
 exception of the few settlements on the St. Lawrence 
 and the Atlantic Coast, and some widely separated 
 posts of the Hudson's Bay Company." 
 
 Such is the disinterested testimony of one of the 
 ablest Canadian scholars, testimony, by the way, 
 
 lo.;^!;; 
 
24 
 
 f\ 
 
 confirmed by the observation of numerous travellers. 
 In the last work we issued in connection with this 
 subject the following reference was made to the 
 conduct of the Government of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company : — 
 
 " Gentlemen of the Hudson's Bay Company, you 
 have possessed for two centuries a splendid mono- 
 poly. We are not of those who wholly condemn 
 the manner in which you have administered the 
 power delegated to you ; on the contrary, a careful 
 knowledge of the history and results of your rule, 
 prove that your affairs have been administered with 
 much ability, discretion, and judgment. Your 
 labours have been prosperous to an unparalleled 
 degree, and the amicable manner in which you, and 
 those under your authority have conducted your 
 relations with the Indians, and to which they bear 
 testimony for so lengthened a period, certainly is in 
 the highest degree creditable to you, when con- 
 trasted with the exterminating warfare which has 
 characterised the relations of the United States' 
 Government with them. It cannot be expected 
 that a monopoly so entire should be carried on 
 without producing many animosities, and that acts 
 have not been committed which appear unwise, 
 impolitic, and arbitrary. It would be unreasonable 
 to suppose that you are so devoid of self-interest as 
 to be willing to give up a power so long possessed, 
 and providing such a splendid interest on the 
 capital employed, or that you are willing to forego 
 
 "^«SHf*->WiiK/.' 
 
25 
 
 any right you may possess for the general good. 
 When merchants place their surplus profits in a 
 joint stock company, they do so for the purpose of 
 securing continued and safe interest. Now, the 
 cry against the Hudson's Bay Company is, that 
 locked in the valleys of the Assiniboine and Sas- 
 katchewan, there is 65,000 square miles of cultivable 
 land, of which 27,000 square miles, or 17,000,000 
 acres, is at once available for the agriculturist ; and 
 this land is black with richness." 
 
 The part of country alluded to lies between 
 the Rocky Mountains, Lake Winnipeg, the Lake of 
 Woods, and the 49th parallel. It is a country 
 entirely distinct from the rest of Rupert's Land. 
 It is variously denominated, the "Valley of the 
 Saskatchewan," the " Basin of Lake Winnipeg,'* 
 and the "High Central Plai ts." From the Red 
 River Settlement, through this country, to the foot 
 of the Rocky Mountains, stretches the " fertile 
 belt." The belt is equal in richness and pro- 
 ductiveness to the prairies of Illinois, Iowa, and 
 Minnesota. The natural productions are : — 
 
 Minerals. — Gold has of late been discovered in 
 the banks of the river Saskatchewan, near the foot 
 of the Rocky Mountains. News received as late as 
 December, 1864, states, men are gathering as much 
 as £4 per day. Copper and malachite exist in the 
 region of Coppermine River ; plumbago, iron, and 
 mineral pitch have been foimd on Lake Athabasca ; 
 salt has been found in a very pure state near Great 
 
't\\ 
 
 26 
 
 r 
 
 I ' 
 
 . 
 
 III 
 
 
 Slave Lake, as well as salt springs, on the borders 
 of Lake Manitoba and Winnipegosis ; limestone 
 occurs at Red River and Lake Winnipeg ; granite 
 is found in inexhaustible quantities between Lake 
 Winnipeg, Lake Superior, and Hudson's Bay ; coal 
 has been discovered on the Assouri River, near 
 Fort Edmonton, and also on Red Deer River. 
 
 Vegetable Productions. — The principal trees 
 which abound are the balsam, the poplar, and the 
 aspen, and are the common trees of the plain coun- 
 try ; there is also, in limited quantities, the white 
 spruce, the American larch, the fir, bank pine, white 
 or bass wood, the sugar maple, spruce tree, the ash, 
 the oak, as far as Red River and Lake Manitobas. 
 But the Rocky Mountains are covered with a luxury 
 and splendour of timber growth sufficient to sup- 
 ply the wants of the valleys at her feet for centu- 
 ries. If the vast tracts of prairie land teem with 
 verdant grasses which preclude the forest's growth, 
 the water-courses can carry into all its river rami- 
 fications timber of every variety. 
 
 Grass. — Grass is everywhere, spreading in fields 
 of natural verdure that would gladden the eye of 
 any agriculturist. Wiien we think of the millions 
 of buffaloes that year after year find pasture suffi- 
 cient for their wants, we may imagine what herds 
 of cattle and horses could subsist upon the nutritious 
 grasses and vetches that abound on the plains and 
 the numerous swamps. 
 
 Berries and Hoots. — These are abundant and 
 
27 
 
 various, and include the cranberry, sasketooni, 
 penibina, currant (black and red), gooseberry, rasp- 
 berry, and strawberry. Wild rice is plentiful, the 
 prairie turnip peculiar to Hudson's Bay, besides 
 numerous roots used for medicinal and dyeing 
 jjurposes. 
 
 Animals. — The various fur-bearing animals we 
 have previously specified, and will therefore add 
 those which are used for purposes of food and use- 
 fulness. 
 
 The bear, reindeer, moose, musk rat, porcupine, 
 beaver, hare, musk ox, buffalo, antelope, big horn, 
 mountain goat, and the wapeti. 
 
 Fish. — The principal fish are the white fish (a 
 delicious fish, and found in all the lakes), the stur- 
 geon, pike, gold eyes, trout, cat fish, suckers, &c. 
 
 The Nor' -Wester y a newspaper published for the 
 first time at the Red River Settlement on the 28th 
 December, 1859, mentions Mr. Gowler's success as 
 an agriculturist in the following terms : — " He 
 sowed 63 bushels of wheat, 36 of barley, 24 of 
 oats, and 101 of potatoes, and from these he realised 
 700 of wheat, 350 of barley, 480 of oats, and 2,100 
 of potatoes. The cost of the seed was £50 ; in 
 preparing and tilling the soil about £25 more were 
 expended ; and the cost of gathering in and thresh- 
 ing the crops is set down at £100 — making a total 
 expenditure of £175. Place against that the sums 
 representing the sale of wheat at 6s., the barley at 
 3s. 9d., the oats at 2s. 6d., and the potatoes at 
 
'W 
 
 .11 
 
 t! 
 
 28 
 
 Is. 3d. per bushel (average price which the produce 
 will easily command), and an argument more strong 
 and convincing than could be wrought out by any 
 other process of reasoning, stands stubbornly forth 
 in favour of the claims of the settlement, as being 
 one of the best agricultural countries on the face of 
 the globe. It should be added, that Mr. Gowler's 
 profits have already enabled him to enlarge the 
 bounds of his estate to 600 acres, to stock it with a 
 noble herd of cattle and horses, and to make the 
 necessary preparations for erecting thereon, next 
 summer, a snug and comfortable mansion." 
 
 The farmers raise wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, 
 cattle, and sheep. Turnips, onions, peas, cabbage, 
 rhubarb, radishes, mangel, hops, pumpkins, and 
 melons grow in abundance. In 1856 there were 
 922 houses, 1,232 stables, 399 barns, 1,503 horses, 
 1,296 mares, 2,796 oxen, 290 bulls, 3,593 cows, 
 2,644 calves, 4,674 pigs, 2,429 sheep, 585 ploughs, 
 730 harrows, 2,045 carts, 522 canoes, 55 boats, 
 8,347 acres of cultivated land ; number of acres in 
 1864, 22,000. 
 
 Oxen are worth from 60 to 100 dollars a yoke, 
 cows from 15 to 20 dollars, a good cart-horse 80 
 dollars, and a horse trained to hunt buffalo will 
 bring 150 to 200 dollars. 
 
 Their wheat is equal to any in the world, weigh- 
 ing from 65 lbs. to 70 lbs. to the bushel ; barley 
 and oats are also heavy, and potatoes and all kinds 
 of garden vegetables grow luxuriantly. The land 
 
29 
 
 IS never manured. From 3^ to 4 feet of snow falls 
 in winter, and rain is unknown from November to 
 April. 
 
 Professor Hind says that he saw wheat that had 
 grown 56 bushels to the acre. Swedish turnips 
 were magnificent ; four of them weighed 70 lbs. — 
 two weighir^^ 39 lbs., and two others 31 lbs. I 
 counted thirteen, fourteen, and sixteen potatoes 
 averaging 3^ inches in diameter at each root 
 respectively. They were a round, white-skinned 
 variety, like those known in Canada as the 
 « Knglish White." 
 
 " It is a physical reality of the highest import- 
 ance to the interests of British North America^ 
 that this continuous belt can be settled and cultivated 
 from afeiu miles west of the Lake of the Woods to 
 the passes of the Rocky Mountains, and any line of 
 communication^ whether by waggon road or railroad, 
 passing through it will eventually enjoy the great 
 advantage of being fed by an agricultural popula- 
 tion from one extremity to the other,* 
 
 Father De Smet, a Jesuit missionary, thus sum- 
 marizes his reflections on the appearance of the 
 district. He says : — 
 
 *' The entire region in the vicinity of the eastern 
 chain of the Rocky Mountains, serving as their 
 base for thirty or sixty miles, is extremely fertile, 
 abounding in forests, plains, prairies, lakes, streams, 
 and mineral springs. The rivers and streams are 
 innumerable, and on every side offer situations 
 
/i 
 
 30 
 
 favourable tor the construction of mills. The 
 northern and southern branches of the Saskatche- 
 wan water the district I have traversed for a dis- 
 tance of about 300 miles. Forests of pine, cypress, 
 thorn, poplar, and aspen trees, as well as others of 
 diflPerent kinds, occupy a large portion of it, covering 
 the declivities of the mountains and banks of the 
 rivers. 
 
 " These originally take their rise in the highest 
 chains, whence they issue in every direction, like 
 so many veins. The beds and sides of these rivers 
 are pebbly, and their course rapid, but as they 
 recede from the mountains they widen, and the 
 currents lose something of their impetuosity. Their 
 waters are usually very clear. The country would 
 be capable of supporting a large population, and 
 the soil is favourable for the production of barley, 
 corn, potatoes, and beans, which grow here as well 
 as in the more southern countries. 
 
 "Are these vast and innumerable fields of hay 
 for ever destined to be consunoted by fire or perish 
 in the autumnal snows? How long shall these 
 superb forests be the haunts of wild beasts? And 
 these inexhaustible quarries — these abundant mines 
 of coal, lead, sulphur, iron, copper, and saltpetre — 
 can it be that they are doomed to remain for ever 
 inactive ? Not so. The day will come when some 
 labouring hand will give them value; a strong, 
 active, and enterprising people are destined to fill 
 this spacious void. The wild beasts will, ere long, 
 
31 
 
 give place to our domestic animals; flocks and 
 herds will graze irj the beautiful meadows that 
 border the numberless mountains, hills, valleys, 
 and plains of this extensi j region." 
 
 Such is the Hudson's Bay Territory. It is in 
 itself, so to speak, a continent. It is a second 
 Europe, and the proposition to hand it over to 
 Canada is much the same thing as a proposal 
 would be to hand over Europe to the United King- 
 dom. The Hudson's Bay Territory is of sufficient 
 area to provide homesteads for the surplus popula- 
 tion of the old world for several centuries. 
 

 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HUDSON'S BAY AND WESTERN PROGRESS. 
 
 Progress, alas ! is a term without meaning in con- 
 nection with the Hudson's Bay ; that it is other- 
 wise in reference to the Western States is well 
 known. In a drawing of the period, the Chicago 
 of 1820, presents an Indian foreground of canoes 
 and painted savag^^s, flanked by fewer than a dozen 
 frame cottages of no pretension, with a church and 
 fort, so called, in the rear, protected by a low stock- 
 ade. For some years afterwards the most sanguine 
 settler could not have ventured to foreshadow a tithe 
 the future greatness. From the repose of the 
 wildernt:? there has arisen, almost gourd-like, a 
 city of transcendant promise, a city of wealth and 
 luxury, of merchant palaces and equipages; the 
 first grain-market in the world and the first lumber- 
 of market in the world. The policy of attaching 
 Illinois to Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, or New 
 York, to be attended to only when a fitting time 
 arrived, would have been attended with very dif- 
 ferent results. The course pursued was to open 
 Illinois to the world, and the world has not been 
 backward in appreciating the advantages which 
 
were offered to it. uirty y irs ag- »ye ! t'veniy 
 years ago, one and all of the ;irg nts !i< ^ em- 
 ployed against the settlement of th. Hudsoi § Bay 
 Territory applied to Illinois with ten fold force. 
 " Why not first people the waste places of the older 
 states ?" " Why grow produce at so great a distance 
 from a market V* " Why encounter the hardships 
 of the open prairies, their indifferent water, their 
 tendency to ague and fever, and their exposure to 
 the cold blast of the antarctic circle during six 
 months of every year." Chicago is one of the 
 healthiest cities in the United States, its people 
 drink the pure water of Lake Michigan, and the 
 severer the winter proves, the more is it enjoyed. 
 
 The following statistics of the growth of Chicago 
 city will be read with interest: — 
 
 Population by Census. 
 
 
 1830 70 
 
 1846 14,169 1861 
 
 88,734 
 
 
 1840 4,470 
 
 1847 16,859 1853 
 
 60,625 
 
 
 1843 7,580 
 
 1848 20,023 1860 
 
 109,260 
 
 
 1844 10,864 
 
 1849 23,047 1862 
 
 188,835 
 
 
 1845 12,088 
 
 1850 29,639 1863 
 365 196,000 
 
 Grain Exports. 
 
 160,000 
 
 
 From Chicago, 
 
 From other From Chicago. 
 
 From other 
 
 
 bushels. 
 
 lake ports. bushels. 
 
 lake ports. 
 
 1858 
 
 20,000,000 
 
 7,000,000 1861 50,000,000 
 
 18,000,000 
 
 1859 
 
 16,000,000 
 
 9,000,000 1862 56,000,000 
 
 11,000,000 
 
 1860 
 
 31,000,000 
 
 12,000,800 1863 54,000,000 
 
 19,000,000 
 
 
 Total bushels in six years . 229,648,905 
 
 59, 791,041 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 Progression in the States more or less tributary 
 to Chicago, will be sufficiently shown in the sub- 
 joined figures, although Michigan, Dakotah, and 
 Nebraska are excluded. From, practically, uo 
 population and no improvements worth mentioning, 
 in 1820, this tributary district contained in IHGf), 
 6,000,000 inhabitants, who occupied the consider- 
 able number of 35,000,000 acres of improved lands. 
 
 Western PnoaiiEssiON. 
 
 Area in Acres. 
 
 Illinois 35,000,000. 
 
 Wisconsin 34,000,000. 
 
 Minnesota 53,100,000. 
 
 Iowa 35,000,000. 
 
 Kansas 50,000,000. 
 
 Improved Acres, Population. 
 
 1850. 1860. 1860. 18(50. 
 
 5,000,000. 13,000,000. 800,000. 1,700,000. 
 
 1,000,000. 3,700,000. 300,000. 700,000, 
 
 5,000. 600,000. 6,000. 172,000. 
 
 800,000. 3,700,000. 192,000. 671,000. 
 
 372,000. 107,000. 
 
 Missouri 43,000,000. 2,900,000. 6,000,000. 682,000. 4,182,000. 
 
 254,969,920. 17,853,186. 27,951,865. 2,037,196. 7,624,086. 
 
 But it may be said these are feather bed states, in 
 our day at least, and cannot, therefore, be put with 
 fairness in comparison with the territory of Hudson's 
 Bay. We shall meet this objection by adducing 
 the case of the more western territories, those for 
 removed on the plains, to which the present facili- 
 ties of the Hudson's Bay Territory are denied. Let 
 the reader take the map and cast his eye on the ex- 
 panse of country westward, from the Mississippi ,and 
 within the limits of the United States. For ex- 
 ample, trace the line from Mis.souri, across Kansas, 
 
35 
 
 Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, to California, Those 
 territories are not by nature well adapted for agri* 
 culture, and it is the absolute necessity for provid' 
 ing subsistence on the spot, which impels the settlers 
 to the task. Kansas has progressed as follows; — 
 
 Population. 
 
 1850 6,000. 
 
 1860 107,206. 
 
 1864 120,000. 
 
 1, 
 
 In 1864 Kansas produced nearly £705,000 v 
 of Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley, bucL « 
 tobacco, hay and [)otatoes. 
 
 Colorado, a territory bought recently from the 
 Indians, had, as early as 1860, a population of 
 34,231, and between 1860 and 1864 the population 
 nearly doubled, notwithstanding that in the 1864 
 message of the Hon. John Evans, Governor of the 
 territory, it is stated, not more than half the supplies 
 of provisions for the territory are yet produced from 
 the soil, and that the same relation of supply to de- 
 mand will be maintained for years to come. He 
 admits that " the arable land of Colorado, except 
 for purpcses of grazing, are limited exactly by the 
 quantity of water that may be found applicable for 
 purposes of irrigation." Professor Hodge, the geo- 
 logist of the Central Pacific Railroad, remarks — 
 " Even the agricultural resources of the prairies are 
 somewhat limited by the extreme dryness of the 
 
I ! 
 
 36 
 
 climate. Rain seldom falls, and were it not for the 
 never-failing supplies of water in the numerous 
 streams, running from the snowy range of the 
 Rocky Mountains, the country would be an unin- 
 habitable desert." Major-Geueral Warren, U.S A., 
 and also of the topographical engineers, surveyed 
 the district, under the orders of the United States 
 Government, and remarks — "the country never 
 can be agricultural." Still, Colorado is in a pros- 
 perous condition, increasing rapidly in wealth and 
 population. 
 
 Of Utah, it is stated in the report of the foreign 
 and domestic commerce of the United States for 
 1864, that "most of Utah is barren; perhaps one- 
 fiftieth of the surface, with the aid of irrigation, is 
 available for agriculture." The population, how- 
 ever, is increasing, and the Mormons generally are 
 well-to-do. The increase has been as follows: — 
 
 Population. 
 1850 .... 11,380 
 1860 .... 40,273 
 1864 .... 80,000 
 
 The population of Nevada in 1860 was 6,857, 
 and at the close of 1863 it had reached 60,000 In 
 waggon roads leading into and through the terri- 
 tory, £100,000 has been expended, and the return 
 from the outlay is at the rate of 80 per cent, per 
 annum. The tolls collected on the roads during 
 1863 reached no less than £40,000, and the money 
 paid on freight coming into the Territory from the 
 Pacific Coast, amounted to fully £600,000. About 
 
37 
 
 3,000 teams of various kinds are employed, besides 
 numerous pack-trains. As an evidence of the in- 
 creasing traffic, by this undesirable route to the 
 Pacific, we insert the following tables, from the 
 report of the Secretary of the Treasury of the 
 United States. 
 
 Table showing the amount of freight forwarded across the 
 plains from the various ports on the Missouri River 
 during thj gear 1860, with the required outfit. 
 
 Where fVum. 
 
 rounds. 
 
 Men 
 
 Horsea. 
 
 Mules. 
 
 Oxen. 
 
 Wagons. 
 
 Kansas City 
 
 Leavenworth 
 
 Atchison 
 
 16,439,134 
 5,656,082 
 6,097,943 
 1,672,000 
 5,496,000 
 713,000 
 
 7,084 
 
 1,216 
 
 1,591 
 
 490 
 
 696 
 
 324 
 
 464 
 377 
 
 6,149 
 206 
 472 
 520 
 113 
 114 
 
 27,920 
 
 110,925 
 
 3,640 
 
 3,980 
 
 11,118 
 
 340 
 
 3,033 
 1,003 
 1,280 
 
 St. Joseph 
 
 418 
 
 Nebraska City 
 
 Omaha City 
 
 916 
 272 
 
 Q-rand total 
 
 36,074,159 
 
 11,601 
 
 841 
 
 7,574 
 
 67,950 
 
 6,922 
 
 In 1863, a population of 60,000 in Nevada 
 employs for the transportation of machinery, mer- 
 chandise, provisions, &c., from the Pacific coast, a 
 number of men, animals, and wagons fully half as 
 great as the foregoing exhibit of overland transport* 
 ation west of Kansas and Nebraska. That this 
 table is inadequate to express the trafllic of 1864 
 may also be inferred, from the consideration of 
 the present population of the mountain Terri- 
 tories, viz. : — 
 New Mexico, (no increase) . . . 83,009 
 
 Colorado 60,000 
 
 Utah 80,000 
 
 Montana ...... 12,000 
 
 235,009 
 
38 
 
 It is not an excessive estimate, that the present 
 transportation is 50,000,000 pounds, employing 
 10,000 trains; and at a cost of 5,000,000 dollars 
 annually. In consequence of the war and other 
 causes, a considerable diversion of the traffic across 
 the plains has taken place, in favour of the northern 
 points of departure from the Missouri river, Kansas 
 city by no means leading in the degree indicated 
 in I860. Whether the traffic will resume its 
 former proportions, depends altogether upon the 
 railway construction of the next twelve months. 
 
 In continuation of this part of the subject, it may 
 be added, that Peter A. Dey, Esq., Engineer, of the 
 Union Pacific Railroad, wrote as follows from 
 Omaha, on May 17, 1864. He says:— "4,000 
 waggons and 6,000 tons of freight crossed the 
 Missouri at Omaha since April 1. There is now a 
 daily movement of 200 teams, and 300 tons of 
 freight and 1,000 persons. The teams are equally 
 divided into those drawn by four horses, and those 
 drawn by five yoke of cattle." 
 
 "The statistics of the spring emigration of 1864 
 on the basis of this statement are 75,000 men, 
 22,500 tons of freight, 30,000 horses and mules, 
 and 75,000 cattle*. It is probable that a similar 
 aggregate approximates to the extent of the move- 
 ment from other points on the Missouri River ; and 
 in that case 150,000 will be added to the population 
 of the mountains from the Mississippi States in 
 1864." 
 
39 
 
 Such are the facts in relation to the single line 
 along which the Union Pacific Railroad will be laid. 
 The United States are urging forward the com- 
 pletion with all possible despatch. 
 
 But there is another line of travel ; along the 
 latitude of 45 degs. north we have a second chain of 
 states and territories within the boundary of the 
 United States. We allude to the expanse of coun- 
 try which stretches westward from Minnesota to the 
 Pacific. It includes Dakota, Montana, Idaho, 
 Oregon, and Washington Territory. What is the 
 character of that country which is being rapidly 
 peopled, and through which tlie Americans propose 
 to construct a railroad. Quoting from the Report 
 of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United 
 States, it is said that — " Explorations by officers of 
 the general government and publications of their 
 reports have made the general features of the route 
 quite familiar. Fully nine- tenths of the area 
 between the 100th meridian of longitude and the 
 Cascade range of Oregon will never be available 
 for agriculture. The Great Plains are characterised 
 geologically by a development of the cretaceous 
 formation, which is observed over large Asiatic 
 areas, and concurring with aridity, constitutes the 
 American desert." And yet in 1863 Dakota had a 
 population of 10,000, Montana of 12,000, and 
 Idaho of 20,000. Oregon and Washington Terri- 
 tory have increased as follows : — 
 
40 
 
 Population. 
 
 Oregon. 
 1860. 13,294. 
 1860. 62,465. 
 
 Washington Territory. 
 1866. 18,000. 
 
 (Settled within eight years). 
 
 It is true that the gold mines have induced emi- 
 gration to the " American Desert ;" but gold mines 
 may exist, as in some parts of Hudson's Bay 
 Territory, without attracting emigration, and build- 
 ing up organized governments and states. What 
 stimulates emigration to the American Desert, and 
 keeps people there, is the privilege of self-govern- 
 ment and the prospect of speedy recognition as a 
 sovereign state. Without those privileges there 
 would be few western wanderers, and with it the 
 soil, the minerals, the water power, or some other 
 natural agents are found to provide for all needful 
 wants. In a word, the vast western domain of the 
 United States is being peopled everywhere, although 
 in some parts the prospect of sufficient subsistence 
 from the soil may sometimes appear unpromising, 
 if not hopeless. 
 
 It is otherwise in the Hudson's Bay Territory. 
 That territory is kept dormant and resolutely repels 
 settlement. Possessing the command of the great 
 watercourses of the north, which ensure cheap trans- 
 port, those great watercourses are unused, unim- 
 proved, undeveloped. Possessing the choicest farming 
 
41 
 
 lands, without the encumbrance of forest, and forest 
 also in profusion, on such soils as are so much 
 esteemed in Western Canada, forest and prairie stands 
 unbroken. At the American frontier of the Hudson 
 Bay Territory the immigrant is stopped ; he must 
 move elsewhere, anywhere he chooses, within the 
 American lines. Why should the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory be otherwise to-day than it was two 
 hundred years ago, or when the earth was given to 
 man by God his Maker? Why should not the 
 talent of the Hudson's Bay Territory be buried, 
 lest in its use it might be lost, and the servant 
 found in a position of inability to restore it to his 
 Master, when He appeared? Some of the old 
 Hudson Bay people will, perhaps, even go the 
 length of saying that England has as many sub- 
 jects as it cares for and can see to. Perhaps Eng- 
 land has. But of late years the colonial policy of 
 England has been such that were the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory to be settled self-government would follow, 
 as it has done in Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. 
 A stroke of the pen at the Colonial Office would 
 confer this self-gf vemment and raise up a power 
 which need not be England, but which Mr. Seward 
 says will be an Anglo-Saxon Protestant Russia. 
 Let the Hudson Bay barriers to settlement be 
 broken down — and, perhaps, the most formidable 
 of these now-a-days is the desire to incor- 
 porate the territory with Canada — and the future 
 
42 
 
 progress of the Hudson's Bay Territory will be 
 as marked and satisfactory, and as conducive to 
 the best interests of the human race, as is the 
 settlement of the western territories of the United 
 States. 
 
 \ V 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOPEFUL SIGNS. 
 
 There have been of late evidences of vitality with 
 reference to the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany. Many shareholders, and a numerous body 
 of the thinking part of the English community, are 
 beginning to comprehend that the Territory is not 
 rightly used as a hunting-ground. It is felt that 
 there are other interests, and that the more closely 
 we scrutinize the progress of the country, lying 
 south, the more does our responsibility appear. 
 Then, personal interests are, to some extent, 
 awakened, and take the form of asking whether 
 the present and future prosperity of the Company 
 should not be considered ? And to be just. English- 
 men are always patriotic; for it is thought the 
 power of Great Britain should be worthily sustained 
 above a certain parallel from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific Ocean. We early noticed the development 
 of these hopeful signs, and some three years since 
 began the discussion of the question. In March, 
 1863, we addressed a long letter to " The Times," 
 which that journal did us the honour to insert ; an 
 extract from which we may as well subjoin : — 
 
44 
 
 " The great object, as I understood, when at St. 
 Paul, is. to connect by railroad the navigation of the 
 Mississippi River and its tributaries at St. Paul, 
 near the Falls of St. Anthony, and at Stillwater, on 
 the river St. Croix, with the Red River of the 
 North, and other navigable streams of North- West 
 British America. Perhaps nowhere on the Ame- 
 rican continent will such important commercial 
 results follow as will be witnessed when 6,000 miles 
 of steamboat navigation on the Mississippi and St. 
 Lawrence rivers, and 3,000 miles of similar navi- 
 gation on the rivers of Central British America are 
 joined together mostly by the proposed routes of 
 the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. The freights, 
 &c., through Minnesota to the English settlement 
 of Selkirk and the Saskatchewan constitute an 
 equally important fact. 
 
 " Selkirk settlement is a community of over 
 10,000 souls, and which it is expected will soon 
 be the seat of Government for a new colony of 
 England, extending between Canada and British 
 Columbia. 
 
 " For the present, Fort Garry, in this settlement, 
 is the North American head-quarters of the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company. The posts of this Company, 
 more than fifty in number, occupy a very com- 
 manding situation over the immense area bounded 
 by Hudson's Bay and Lake Superior on the east, 
 t^ie Rocky Mountains on the west, and the Arctic 
 Ocean on the north. The fur trade of this im- 
 
45 
 
 :ial 
 
 mense territory concentrates its annual product on 
 the Red River of the North at Fort Garry, from 
 which point, by the annual voyages of brigades of 
 bateaux, merchandise and supplies are distributed 
 to the most distant posts. Prior to 1858 the im- 
 ports and exports of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 were principally transported by the difficult and 
 dangerous route of Hudson's Bay and Nelson's 
 River, or over the numerous obstacles intervening 
 from Lake Superior to Red River, on the British 
 side of the international line. In 1858, however, 
 materials were transported to construct a steamer 
 on the Red River, and in 1862 two such vessels 
 navigated that stream. This was done by enter- 
 prising citizens of Minnesota. The trade previously 
 existing between St. Paul and Selkirk has been 
 greatly increased in consequence. 
 
 " When it is considered, what no intelligent man 
 now denies, that, north-west of Minnesota, the 
 country reaching from the Selkirk settlements to 
 the Rocky Mountains, and from latitudes 49 degs. 
 to 55 degs., is as favourable to grain and animal 
 production as any of the Northern States ; that the 
 mean temperature for spring, summer, and autumn 
 observed on the 42nd and 43rd parallel, in New 
 York, Ohio, and Michigan, has been accurately 
 traced, through Fort Snelling and the valley of 
 Saskatchewan, to latitude 55 degs. on the Pacific 
 Coast; and that from the north-west boundary of 
 Minnesota this whole district of British America is 
 
46 
 
 threaded in all directions by the navigable water- 
 lines which converge from the south and west to 
 Lake Winnipeg; no reasonable doubt can remain 
 that the colonisation of the continent, even in its 
 ordinary progress of agricultural settlement, will 
 extend over the region now delineated." 
 
 Following up the subject, in February 1864, we 
 published a pamphlet of 24 pages for gratuitous 
 circulation. Again, in 1865, we published a 
 volume of 244 pages, with a large map and illus- 
 tration, entitled ** America from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific." A second edition of this work was called 
 for by the public, and the occasion was improved 
 by the presentation of copies to the Members of 
 the House of Lords and Commons. 
 
 Others have since taken part in the discussion, 
 and the most recent has been the author o^ "A 
 Million— Shall We Take It?" That publication, 
 however, is a mere compilation without acknow- 
 ledgment from our labours. 
 
 But the most hopeful signs are the agitated Con- 
 federation of the existing provinces, and the inevit- 
 able complement of a railway from Halifax, and 
 Quebec, and Montreal, to the remotest west. Tiie 
 Confederation scheme may be regarded as the 
 comer stone, or the foundation of future building 
 up and consolidation. It is to supply to British 
 America that which it has not had, and does not 
 now possess, namely, the American power of spread- 
 out. When the American Union was first formed 
 
47 
 
 the right was assumed of admitting new states to 
 like privileges with the old. Hence the impetus 
 to colonization, by the removal of all doubt, as to 
 the future of new communities. The Western 
 States, and some new Southern States, were ad- 
 mitted to the rights and immunities of the older 
 States. British America has had no such prin- 
 ciple of increase ; it has had no Confederation, and 
 without Confederation its expansive tendencies are 
 restrained. With Confederation there may be one 
 or more provinces of Labrador, and one or more 
 provinces of Rupert's Land, without any legisla- 
 tive aid, beyond the mere privilege of forming 
 governments, and in time those would take the 
 same stand as Eastern or Western Canada, or New 
 Brunswick, or Newfoundland. The Confederation 
 has merely to say, we shall admit new territorial 
 governments to the same measure of independence 
 as is enjoyed by ourselves, and leave the rest to the 
 future settlers. 
 
 Having in our previous publications entered at 
 length into the advantages of the Atlantic and 
 Pacific Railroad, the reader may here be referred 
 to them for details. We shall dwell only on the 
 facilities which exist for access to the lands of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, and the most sceptical 
 cannot possibly examine them without confessing 
 that they are most assuring — that they are in a fit 
 state for immediate action on the part of the stock- 
 
48 
 
 holders of the Hudson's Bay Company. But let 
 us proceed with tlie statement. 
 
 Most people are aware that the average distance 
 across the Atlantic is about 2,400 miles, and that 
 there is considerable variation from particular points. 
 The distances may be summarised as follows: — 
 
 Londonderry to Bellisle . . . 2,260 miles 
 
 Galwayto „ . . . . 2,280 
 
 Galway to Quebec .... 2,280 
 
 Cork to „ 2,340 
 
 Galway to Portland .... 2,628 
 
 Cork to „ 2,460 
 
 Londonderry to Portland . . . 2,525 
 
 Liverpool to „ . , . . 2,750 
 
 Londonderry to Boston . . . 2,565 
 
 Cork to „ . . . . 2,508 
 
 Galway to „ . . . . 2,565 
 
 Cork to New York .... 2,698 
 
 Galwayto „ .... 2,768 
 
 Liverpool to „ .... 2,980 
 
 There are numerous steam ship companies which 
 carry emigrants from port to port, and the rate of 
 passage is from five to seven guineas. First class 
 sailing ships proceed from nearly all the principal 
 English ports to nearly all the principal American 
 ports. There are also admirable steam and sailing 
 vessels from the various German and French ports 
 to New York. 
 
 From Quebec the Grand Trunk Railroad passes 
 to the extremity of the Canadas, a distance of 67 1 
 miles. From Sarnia there is the choice of a lake 
 
 i> 
 
 )) 
 
 f) 
 
 it 
 
 » 
 
 }) 
 
 }> 
 
 }> 
 
 >} 
 
 }) 
 
 )> 
 
49 
 
 voyage onwards, or of the Grand Trunk Railroad 
 to Detroit, whence the American railroads carry 
 passengers to Milwaukee and La Crosse, on the 
 Mississippi. From La Crosse to St. Paul there is 
 the choice of stage or steamboat, and the entire 
 distance of 1,565 miles from Quebec is accom- 
 plished in three days, at a charge to the emigrant 
 of the very moderate sum of £3 3s. sterling. 
 The Grand Trunk Railroad also carries passengers 
 from Portland in the State of Maine, to its main 
 line at Montreal, whence the emigrant proceeds as 
 before to St. Paul at the same charge. 
 
 From Boston and New York there are several 
 lines of travel to Chicago, the chief centre for all 
 movement, south or west. There is a line vid 
 Worcester, from Boston to Chicago by the New 
 York Central, the Great Western of Canada, and 
 the Michigan Central; distance 1,010 miles, and 
 emigrant fare £2 sterling. From New York there 
 are the Hudson River route and the New York and 
 Erie route, with emigrant fare as before. 
 
 I'rom Chicago to St. Paul there are the Chicago 
 and Milwaukee Railroad to La Crosse, and the 
 Chicago and North Western Railroad to Prairie du 
 Chien. — , 
 
 Arrived at St. Paul we find that the railroad to 
 Pembina is in progress — a distance of 424 miles — 
 and that fifty miles are now open, and thirty more 
 miles graded. We also find that at St. Paul the 
 railroad is believed to be the great civiliser, the 
 
 E 
 
 4 
 
u 
 
 ':>' 
 
 ! i 
 
 60 , 
 
 pioneer of emigration, just as a metropolitan rail- 
 road builds up the surrounding districts. From St. 
 Paul to Red River Settlement the communication 
 is by coach and omnibus, by the conveyances of 
 the Minnesota Stage Company. The Company 
 run the following stages : — 
 
 1st. From Elk river the present terminus of the 
 St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, two daily lines of 
 four horse coaches, one on each side of the river, to 
 St. Cloud, a distance of 74j miles from St. Paul's. 
 From St. Cloud a four horse coach runs up the east 
 side of the Mississippi to Fort Ripley and Crow 
 Wing, and another md Sauk Centre to Fort Abef- 
 crombie, D. T., a distance of 252 miles from St. 
 Paul. Beyond this point they forward the mail 
 to Red River Settlement (Pembina and Fort Garry) 
 twice a week by day trains. By the mail road the 
 emigrant trains proceed, and the Stage Company 
 are prepared to forward emigrants with all possible 
 dispatch by contract. 
 
 2nd. From Shakopee, the terminus of the Minne- 
 sota Valley Road, they run two daily four-horse 
 coach lines to Mankato, passing through all the 
 towns in the Minnesota Valley. ^ ' 
 
 From Mankato they have also two daily lines vid 
 Owatonna to Kasson, the terminus of the Winona 
 and St. Peter Railroad. 
 
 Their principal La Crosse line this winter is run 
 in connexion with the Minnesota Central and 
 Winona and St. Paul Railroads. Between St. 
 
/ 
 
 51 
 
 1 rail- 
 om St. 
 ication 
 ces of 
 npany 
 
 of the 
 aes of 
 er, to 
 aul's. 
 e east 
 Crow 
 Aber- 
 m St. 
 I mail 
 I'drry) 
 d the 
 ipany 
 ssible 
 
 inne- 
 horse 
 1 the 
 
 ^s vid 
 nona 
 
 run 
 and 
 
 St. 
 
 Paul and Mendota six daily stages are run, and 
 from Faribault to Kasson five daily stages each way. 
 From Winona to La Crosse eight daily stages are 
 run each way. This shows the amount of winter 
 travel over that route. 
 
 They also run two daily stages each way to La 
 Crosse on the old river route, through Hastings, 
 Red Wing, Lake City, Wabashaw, and Minneiska. 
 This line connects with the Winona and St. Paul 
 Railroad for points in the interior of the State. 
 
 Their line to Superior City, vid Sunrise, Ih run 
 three times per week at present. In the spring, 
 should the travel seem to justify it, the service will 
 be increased to daily trips, and the line be extended 
 to the Vermillion Lake Gold Mines. 
 
 In addition to these principal lines, the Company 
 also run a daily line from St. Paul to Stillwater, 
 and from Hastings to Northfield. Also from Fari- 
 bault to Owatoima, connecting there with a line for 
 Austin, Osage, and the McGregor Railroad to 
 Prairie du Chien. 
 
 Altogether, the Company are running four horse 
 stages daily over 1,440 miles, and carrying the United 
 States mail over 1,714 miles. To do this, the 
 Company employ the services of 260 men and 800 
 horses, with rolling stock in proportion. The entire 
 amount of capital invested in the stock and property 
 of this Company is 200,000 dollars. Some idea of 
 the magnitude of their business may be gathered 
 from the amount of revenue taxes paid the Govern- 
 
X 
 
 ment, which, during the past year, have amounted 
 to 12,140.34 dollars. 
 
 Besides the railroad and stage coach routes, there 
 is the water transit from the St. Lawrence westward. 
 Of the state of the water communication, from the 
 sea to Lake Superior, a practical account is fur- 
 nished in a pamphlet published by Mr. P. Barry in 
 Chicago;* the gentleman who was interested in 
 several vessels to succeed the " Dean Richmond " 
 from Chicago to Liverpool. Mr. P. Barry says : — 
 
 " I now turn to the obstacles to the prosecution 
 of this trade. And what are they ? The one on 
 which most stress is laid is the want of water on 
 the flats and elsewhere. To the passage of such 
 ships as Train's and Guion's, this circnmstance 
 forms a decided barrier; but then the , ; ition 
 occurs, whether the employment of that class of 
 vessels is indispensable. It would be an advantage 
 certainly if German and Irish emigrants could 
 come by the St. Lawrence and be landed here, and 
 an advantage also if the ships bringing them could 
 compete for freight ; but still, with things as they 
 are, may not the trade be set agoing ? What are 
 the facts? Vessels of 145 feet keel and 26 feet 
 beam can pass through the locks, and there is at 
 least one vessel that carries 18,000 bushels of wheat 
 from Chicago to Montreal. Now the majority of 
 the vessels employed in the Brazils, the Baltic, and 
 
 * "Direct Western Transatlantic Trade." By P. fiarry. Chicago 
 P. L. and J. H. WeUs. 1857. 
 
 MjmAi^;,. 
 
53 
 
 the Danube are not over half these dimensions and 
 half that capacity, and yet a voyage from England 
 to Bahia, Pernambuco, the Plate, or the Danube, is 
 not less distant than to Chicago ; and, until recently, 
 there were not more than nine feet of water on the 
 Sulina bar. But other than ten feet draft of water 
 ships need not by any means be precluded from 
 participating in the Chicago trade. Vessels draw- 
 ing more can light in at Montreal, or complete 
 outward loading at that city, or by taking in both 
 Chicago and Montreal freight, lighterage may be 
 dispensed with; and this plan is contemplated in 
 the case of the "Andrew Stevens," which is an 
 eleven feet ship. If her spring cargo is wheat, she 
 will take in 16,000 bushels here l 1 2,000 bushels 
 at Montreal. Although, therefore the *' Persia ** 
 or the "Adriatic" cannot carry freight from Lake 
 Michigan to Mersey, the trade nevertheless may 
 be carried on." 
 
 In another of Mr. P. Barry's works,* he speaks 
 of several projected schemes for enabling ships of 
 large ocean tonnage to ascend the upper lakes from 
 the sea without breaking bulk. He says: — 
 " One of these — the one put up by Toronto interests 
 — recommends a cutting from Nottawasaga, at the 
 foot of the Georgian Bay, to Lake Simcoe, thence 
 by cuttings along water-courses to the mouth of the 
 
 • " The International Trade of the United States and England, and of 
 the United States and Canada." By P. Barry. Chicago : D. B. Cooke 
 and Co. 1868. 
 
' 64 
 
 Humber, a few miles distant from Toronto. The 
 estimated cost of this work is 25,000,000 dollars, 
 but it is doubtful whethex it could be completed for 
 that sum. Another route, said to be a cheap one 
 and the best, is by the river Trent and Peterborough 
 across the country to Sturgeon Lake, thence across 
 the country to Lake Simcoe, and thence into Geor- 
 gian Bay at Victoria Harbour. TJie third and only 
 other route proposed, is that by Lake Nipissing to 
 the Ottawa River, and that unqi estionably is the 
 most practicable and direct, and probably the least 
 expensive of the three. French River connects Lake 
 Nipissing and the Georgian Bay, and at a trifling 
 cost can be adapted to the passage of the largest 
 vessels ever likely to be put upon the lakes. From 
 Lake Nipissing to the Ottawa there is only a 
 narrow neck of land, and the channel of the river 
 can be adapted readily to the requirements of any 
 trade." Thus, not merely is there at present water 
 communication from the sea to Lake Superior for 
 ships of between 300 and 400 tons ; but it is in 
 contemplation to adapt the navigation to the 
 requirements of vessels of not less than 1,000, or 
 even of 1,600 tons 
 
 The head of Lake Superior gained, the mpp will 
 show a chain of lakes and rivers stretching to the 
 Red River Settlement, and beyond it, to the Rocky 
 Mountains. Thus, once more, there is not merely 
 railroad communication to the best part of the 
 Hudson's Bay Territory ; but there is also water 
 
55 
 
 ^he 
 
 communication. That this should be the case 
 proves that the time has come when the share- 
 holders of the Hudson's Bay Company should be 
 up and doing. The land of their promise is readily 
 accessible, and invites them to dress it and to keep it. 
 
 * ..; 
 
 I 
 
/ 
 
 ll 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WHAT MUST NOW BE tDNE. 
 
 The question of what should be- done will be best 
 answered after a brief notice of the manner in which 
 the Illiuois Central Railroad was established. The 
 following are the particulars : — 
 
 The grant embraces 4055 square miles, or 
 
 The grant thus bestowed was 
 
 Of which there have been 
 appropriated to secure the 
 payment of 17,000,000 dol- 
 lars of construction bonds 
 
 To secure the payment of in- 
 terest on said Bonds . 
 
 To secure the payment of 
 3,000,000 dollars of Free- 
 land Bonds 
 
 ACRES. 
 
 • • 
 
 ACRES. 
 
 2,595,000 
 
 2,000,000 
 250,000 
 
 345,000 
 
 2,595,000 
 
 Hence, the Company's lends are respectively de- 
 signated as Construction Free Lands, and Inte- 
 rest Lands. 
 
 i^ 
 
67 
 
 The Indenture with the Trustees prescribes that 
 there shall be set apart — 
 
 DOLS. D0L8. 
 
 10,000 at 20 per acre until there be realised 1,000,000 
 
 350,000 at 15 „ „ „ 5,200,000 
 
 1,300,000 at 8 „ „ „ 10,400,000 
 
 300,000 at 5 „ „ „ 1,500,000 
 
 The Company have already sold about 1,200,000 
 acres of land, comprised in this grant, for the sum 
 of 15,600,000 dollars ; this is less than one-half of 
 the grant, and the unsold portion will undoubtedly 
 bring a sum equal to that of the portion sold. 
 
 During the last two years upwards of 6000 buyers 
 have taken an average of less than 60 acres, and 
 therefore owe less than 1000 dollars each. With 
 one or two good harvests many of them will repay 
 this small amount, which meantime is running at 
 6 per cent, interest. There are still 1,282,626 acres 
 of land for sale Of the Company's lands 1,312,373 
 acres have been sold; 6,749,814 dollars 88 cents, 
 have been collected from these sales in cash, leaving 
 9,914,008 dollars 56 cents, balance due on contracts 
 in hand, which relate to 928,429 acres ; the pay- 
 ments in full have been made on 383,944 acres 
 only. Thus the sales embrace — 
 
 ACRES. 
 
 383,944. 59 
 928,429. 17 
 
 OOLS. 
 
 Cash . . 6,749,814.88 
 Contracts . 9,914,008. 56 
 
 1,312,373. 76 
 
 16,663,823. 44 
 
r 
 
 58 
 
 The cost of the Illinois Central Railroad, in- 
 cluding everything connected with it, has been 
 28,610.225 dollars, and the sale of lands will yield 
 35,000.000 dollars, or £7,000,000. In the last 
 report, signed by President W. H. Osborn, we find 
 the following passage — and be it remembered that 
 fifteen years since, the lands would not have real- 
 ised four shillings an acre : — 
 
 " I am pleased to report the promising condition 
 of the Land oflSce. There has been a very active 
 demand for land, — 3,501 purchasers for 264,432.05 
 p.cres, averaging 10.96 dollars per acre, for 
 2,898,x980.19 dollars. These sales are widely dis- 
 tributed, and in small tracts. On the majority of 
 them one-fourth of the purchase is paid in cash, 
 and the balance payable in one, two, and three 
 years, with six per cent, interest payable annually 
 in advance. A very thorough examination and 
 adjustment of the sales made in previous years has 
 been carried out. The arrears of interest have been 
 generally paid. The policy of the Department has 
 been liberal to the party actually settled upon and 
 working the land. Great care has been taken not 
 to dispossess any man making an honest effort to 
 work his farm, and this course has established con- 
 fidence in the Company. 
 
 At the close of the year there were upwards of 
 15,000 individual accounts on the books of the 
 oflSce, and no suit or claim pending in the courts 
 in relation to any one of them ; — the balance of 
 
69 
 
 tiotes and contracts on hand is 9,357,692.56 dollars. 
 There are still 1,110,553.51 acres of land for sale. 
 The collections were double those of any pre- 
 vious year — 2,575,928.46 dollars; of this sum 
 1,440,090.56 was paid for 1,200,000 construction 
 bonds, which have been cancelled." 
 
 Let us also speak of Minnesota. That State was 
 organised as a territory in 1849, and admitted as a 
 State in 1859; yet, during the war, it sent 15,000 
 soldiers to the field, and in 1864 its war-tax levy 
 amounted to £8,000,000. For educational pur- 
 poses, the State has given land, and the Governor 
 in his message for 1866 supplies the following 
 figures : — 
 
 School Lands. 
 
 I also present a statement, showing the result of 
 the sales of School Lands, and the condition of the 
 Permanent School Fund, on the 30th of Novem- 
 ber, 1865. 
 
 
 Dots. 
 
 
 Amount pur- 
 
 Year. No. acres sold. 
 
 chase money. 
 
 1862 . . . 38,147.13 
 
 242,531 60 
 
 1863 . . . 62,293.01 
 
 309,777 46 
 
 1864 . . . 41,476.26 
 
 287,264 74 
 
 1865 . . . 24,131.77 
 
 143,955 05 
 
 Total 156,048 17 
 
 983,528 85 
 
 '^.'otal cash receipts from lands. 
 
 
 including stumpage 
 
 314,872 85 
 
 wim 
 
/ 
 
 60 
 
 The average price of the land sold is 6.30 dollars 
 per acre, or £1 5s. 3d. And this at the very door 
 of the Hudson's Bay Territory 1 
 
 There is now presented to the British public the 
 St. Paul and Pacific Railroad bonds, brought out 
 under the auspices of Messrs. Robert Benson & Co. 
 Financial men have of course perused the pro- 
 spectus, and observed that the contractors are able 
 to build the road on the guarantee of the pro- 
 visional grant of land by the IT^nited States 
 Government. The Hudson's Bay Company have 
 40,000,000 acres of land of the same quality, and 
 under similar conditions of climate and transit. 
 
 Surely these facts supply the answer to — What 
 must be done? The answer is, the Hudson's Bay 
 Company should do likewise. They should not 
 accept £1,000,000 nor £5,000,000 in purchase. 
 They should survey their possessions; form the 
 40,000,000 acres of the " fertile belt" into a terri- 
 tory, on the United States pattern ; and choose a 
 name for it. Those entrusted with the survey 
 should provide lands for present and prospective 
 railroads, and anticipate the maintenance of educa- 
 tion with a liberal hand. What lands remain 
 should be assigned for settlement and towns. It 
 would be a very low valuation, to place the pro- 
 spective value of the remaining lands at £5,000,000. 
 And there would soon be found additional new 
 territories, after the first was settled. There would 
 in fact spring into being a pathway of peopled 
 
61 
 
 territories, to the very base of the Rocky Moun* 
 tains; the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad keeping 
 open their communications with the Atlantic and 
 Pacific worlds, at an average speed of thirty miles 
 an hour; while canals, lakes, and rivers bore on 
 their sluggish bosoms the produce of their mines 
 and fields, and carried back the textile fabrics of 
 English, French, German, and American looms. 
 We, for our part, see before the Hudson's Bay 
 Company the most brilliant future, were only the 
 shareholders and the directors to look narrowly into 
 their own interests. We especially perceive in the 
 gold products of the Rocky Mountains, acquired in 
 a comparatively easy manner, a solution of the 
 problem, why the agriculturalist on the "fertile 
 belt " may compete advantageously in the markets 
 of London and Liverpool with the Kent and Essex 
 farmer ; aye, and with the prairie farmer of Illinois 
 too. But we shall not discuss this point just now. 
 It will be said, the isolation of the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory must tell against it, were the "Fertile 
 Belt" to be placed on the market even by business 
 men. We cannot think so. We can forcbee nothing 
 that plodding industry would find insuperable. 
 The world would require to know that a change 
 had taken place, that something higher and holier 
 was now thought of than the skins of vermin and 
 wild animals. The world would have to be told 
 that 40,000,000 acres of the finest land in the new 
 world or the old might at last be bought, and 
 
 I 
 
 OB 
 
»l 
 
 i i 
 
 G'2 
 
 bouglit on such easy terma as any man niiglit 
 
 purchase. In Illinois the custom is to sell land on 
 
 four years' credit, a fourth of the cash dov.n, and 
 
 the balance in three equal annual payments. In 
 
 some districts there is another custom, that of an 
 
 eighth or a tenth down, and the balance in eight 
 
 or ten equal annual payments. So, were the 
 
 "Fertile Belt" offered in the United Kingdom, 
 
 and in Germany, at say to begin with 6s. an acre, 
 
 an intending emigrant might beforehand invest his 
 
 savings annually, and, when he desired, proceed to 
 
 possess his purchase and take rank among the lords 
 
 of the soil. But let us put the matter in plain 
 
 figures. The purchase would, we shall say, be 500 
 
 acres, the price 5s. an acre, and the terms ten years 
 
 for payment. The tenth of £125 is £12 lOs., and 
 
 the interest to add on the unpaid balance. Many 
 
 an Englishman and many a German would gladly 
 
 make the purchase were the chance afforded. That 
 
 is one means of action. Reflection will suggest 
 
 others. But we have no hesitation in affirming 
 
 that the best customers for the lands of the " Fertile 
 
 Belt" would be found among those nearest them. 
 
 There would be buyers from the British Provinces, 
 
 and buyers from Minnesota, and the neighbouring 
 
 States. The danger would not lie in the absence 
 
 of buyers, but in the forestalling by speculators, 
 
 which is so difficult to prevent, in the putting on 
 
 the market of a new country. 
 
 Let us hope that something will be done, and 
 
f;:j 
 
 
 (lone at once. Let us trust that the words of one 
 well qualified to speak of the great North-West, 
 of one some years resident in Chicago, and who, 
 during that residence, acquired a reputation as a 
 writer on financial and commercial questions, which 
 has followed him elsewhere — be taken as fore- 
 shadowing the immediate future. Mr. P. Barry, 
 in one of his works fr^m which we have already 
 quoted, thus sums up ti <:, question of "The North- 
 West and its Outlets to the Ocean." He says, — 
 "If we i;ake tlie map of North America and follow 
 the course of the xVlississippi some 1,300 miles 
 from the Gulf of Mexico we find the broad outline 
 of a navigable river, inding round the extreme 
 southern point of the 6tate of Illinois, and forming 
 the line of se),iia tion between Kentucky and that 
 State. If we trace that river to its source we find 
 it skirting Indiana and Ohio, and separating these 
 States from Kentucky and Virginia, and ultimately 
 mingling its waters with Lake Erie. Along its 
 course we find the names of cities familiar as 
 household words, throughout the length and breadth 
 of the United States, whose products are to be met 
 witii .'r every market of the world. These cities 
 may send their products to the Mississippi or into 
 the Atlantic by the chain of lakes, or they may 
 choose a market east over one or other of the 
 numerous railroads. The agriculturist inhabiting 
 that other 1,300 miles of navigable canal and river 
 country has the same choice of markets presented 
 
 ]\ 
 
 i 
 
 SB 
 
 ttm 
 
. 64 
 
 to him, and, as a consequence, receives the highest 
 price for every article of food that he brings to 
 market. These advantages have long since told 
 upon the district, and the agricultural development 
 of some parts of Ohio is not behind the most 
 advanced in Europe, and its farmers' cows yield 
 almost twice the milk and butter that farmers* 
 cows do in the British Provinces Every year adds 
 to the population, to the extension of agriculture, 
 and to the accumulation of useful products." 
 
 " Further up the river we reach St. Louis, a well 
 established city, with a name inferior to none in 
 the United States, and a class of business men 
 ready and able to further any enterprise. St. Louis 
 has wisely guarded against the indiscretions of 
 many western cities, and instead of her people 
 devoting themselves and their means to mere specu- 
 lative operations in real estate and other things, 
 they have settled down to legitimate manufacturing 
 and trading operations. Almost every branch of 
 industry is largely represented in St. Louis, and 
 solid progress is being made in the accumulation 
 of substantial wealth. If a less proportion of the 
 people had devoted themselves to manufacturing, 
 and more had settled down to agriculture, the 
 increase of wealth would have been greater than it 
 is; but in a free country it is for every man to 
 determine for himself the way in which he shall 
 earn his living, and it is creditable to all concerned 
 that the capital of the city, if not wholly ugricul- 
 
65 
 
 tural, is at least something better and more pro- 
 ductive than endless streets of unoccupied palaces 
 of brick, or stone or marble." 
 
 "Above St. Louis the Missouri forms a junction 
 with the Mississippi, after 3000 miles meandering 
 from its sources beyond the Rocky Mountains, and 
 opens to uninterrupted navigation 2 500 miles of 
 fertile country. Tributaries of the Missouri are 
 also navigable for untold miles, and into these dis- 
 tant regions the tide of emigration has poured 
 steadily for several years, and receipts from the 
 Missouri figure prominently in the statistics of the 
 St. Louis Board of Trade. Still the country is un- 
 settled and beyond the " Bluffs" the elk and buffalo 
 and the mountain sheep graze on the primeval grassy 
 plains, unmolested by the approach of man. No- 
 thing breaks the vast solitude of the boundless prai- 
 rie, and its thin sod has but to be turned over and 
 the seed scattered on its surface in the rudest man- 
 ner and a bounteous harvest will be reaped. Where 
 is labour so fully recompensed as in the cultivation 
 of the western prairie, and in what way can a nation 
 so cheaply earn a command over every other pro- 
 duct." 
 
 " Beyond the junction of the Illinois with the 
 Mississippi we have Iowa, Minnesota and Wiscon- 
 sin, all of which are rapidly filling up and having 
 lands entered and brought into cultivation. For 
 the produce of these states there are the Mississippi 
 route to St. Louis and the railway routes to the 
 
 F 
 
 mm 
 
 mtummmummm 
 
 ^KSSSwSiiS. 
 
66 
 
 lakes. From that section of the country the exports 
 are large, and will be a largely increasing quantity 
 every year. In very young communities two 
 classes only are supported ; the hard working and 
 the speculative, and generally the former are by far 
 the more numerous body. Tbes-^^ practical hard 
 working men go into a state or territory to take 
 hold of what pays best, and, as a matter of course, 
 take to land, and the competition and iips and 
 downs in the value of that commodity find employ- 
 ment for the other class. As a consequence, agri- 
 culture will be much extended in the remote sections 
 of the north-west, and every year will add largely 
 to the supply of all cereal products. It is conceiv- 
 able that at no remote period the increased pro- 
 duction of wheat on the north-west prairies will 
 exercise permanent influence on the value of the 
 staff of life, inasmuch that at a low price as com- 
 pared with a high price, not much more is eaten, 
 and if production is increased in a greater ratio than 
 consumption, the larger quantity always on the 
 market will determine prices in favour of the 
 buver." 
 
 '• Passing from the Upper Mississippi, which pre- 
 sents an uninterrupted navigable channel of 4000 
 miles to the Gulf of Mexico we return to Chicago, 
 the present head of the navigation of the St. Law- 
 rence route to the sea-board." 
 
 Our limited space will not admit of our following 
 all Mr. P. Barry's description of the lakes and the 
 
67 
 
 1 
 
 St. Lawrence. Suffice it to state that the Hudson*s 
 Bay Territory, and especially the region of the 
 " Fertile Belt," and the Atlantic and Pacific Rail- 
 road, is drained on the right by the upper lakes and 
 on the left by the tributaries of the Mississippi. 
 Their produce may, therefore, seek the outlet of the 
 St. Lawrence at Montreal, or of the Mississippi at 
 New Orleans. What is said of St. Louis is an apt 
 illustration of the existence of a great manufacturing 
 centre in the interior of the United States. There 
 may be more than one St. Louis on the ** Fertile 
 Belt," and between the Red River Setijlement and 
 the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 That we may not be misunderstood, in our valu- 
 ation of the " fertile belt," let us add, that we 
 suggest the low price of 5s. an acre as a beginning, 
 and not as a continuing price. There is no reason 
 why the market price in Minnesota should not be 
 realised — now, or eventually — but we recommend 
 eventually, and not now. 
 
 ii; 
 
 I 
 
 .i>;::-: 
 
 Mii 
 
 11 
 
 Ii 
 
 MB 
 
 i^ 
 
/ 
 
 / 
 
 CHAPTEH VI. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 To the Directors and Stockholders of the Com- 
 pany we would say, a policy evincmg vacillation or 
 timidity at this moment, will be fruitful of results 
 that future efforts will fail to remedy or repair. 
 The continued agitation in reference to the affairs 
 of the Company which has been manifested of late, 
 conclusively proves that there is dissatisfaction 
 somewhere, and that there is need of a new system 
 of action, and a better plan of management. If 
 you do not give heed to the portentous signs that 
 the public at large too clearly discern, you will be 
 derelict in duty to yourselves, and all those whose 
 interests you represent. To place the lands of the 
 '* Fertile Belt" before the people, to survey them, 
 to divide them and subdivide them, to reserve cer- 
 tain portions for future necessities, to invite emigra- 
 tion to people them — these are duties involving but 
 a slight expenditure, and certain to command a fa- 
 vourable return. There is, there can be, no specu- 
 lation in this. The emigrant is even now thundering 
 at your doors ; he demands a passage ; he asks by 
 what rigiit you exclude him ? Why have you not 
 
 ^.miuL^k 
 
uu 
 
 / 
 
 borrowed a lesson from the progress of the country 
 adjoining? Are you blind to your own interests, 
 mulishly stubborn as regards your responsibility, or 
 simply wilful ? Are you tempting the wolf by con- 
 tinually exposing the lamb ? for if you continne to 
 pursue your present policy you assuredly will be. 
 Brother Jonathan possesses a capacious maw ; he 
 perceives the uncultivability of the Great Plain, and 
 he is snuffing the savoury morsel of the " Fertile 
 Belt." But once let him get a few " Squatters' 
 Rights," and there will soon be no necessity for any 
 action on the part of the Board of Governors ; their 
 power will have slipped ^rom their grasp, and the 
 road to the Pacific be shut out to us for ever. To 
 the public we would say, this is not a mere question 
 of the Companies' interests, it is one concerning the 
 interests of the whole people. We must not, we 
 cannot permit this suicidal lethargy to continue ; 
 we should appeal to the country, to the parliament, 
 to the government. Agitate ! agitate ! agitate ! as 
 the supporters of reform are dorag, and you will 
 compel action. Can the great commercial world 
 look on in silence, when they see this continued dila- 
 toriness ? We answer emplibitically, no ! Beyond lies 
 the Pacific, with all its auriferous wealth ; are we 
 to lose the chance of an overland connection with 
 it ? Is America to possess our splendid trade with 
 India, China, Japan, Australia, Victoria, and British 
 Columbia ? Are we to have no share in it ; are 
 we with our eyes open to the consequences, with 
 
 ■HBM 
 
 a mmmmmmmm amiummmm 
 
H 
 
 "^ 
 
 
 - ^ 70 * 
 
 our mental vision clearly defining the breadth, 
 extent, and full meaning of this great exclusion, to 
 stand mute, dumb, unimpassioned, and silently cold 
 as statuesque marble ? Surely this is not, nor ever 
 has been, the character of our people; we have 
 always believed vje were p)'0!.i::ressive, alive to the 
 action of the times, p^ad;"^ to s. ^^.e upon opportuni- 
 ties, and to create occasions. Have we changed ? 
 Art we satisfied with floating a^ong with the current 
 of fortune, whichever way it "hooses to drift us, 
 instead of heading the str.;am, guiding the advance 
 column, or opeuiijig I e way for humanity and 
 commerce to follow ? In the words of Southey : — 
 
 Let U8 depart ! the universEi sun 
 Confines not to one land his blessed beams ; 
 Nor is man rooted, like a tree, whose seed 
 The ivinds on some ungonial soil liave cast 
 G?here, where it cannot prosper. 
 
 Emigration is casting its thousands week after 
 week from our shores to the other side of the 
 Atlantic, why not point out to them the wealth of 
 Hudson's Bay Territory ; invite them to a home, 
 make clear its superior advantages, and in a few 
 years at the least, the return current will bring back 
 an echo of gratified success. In a solemn spirit of 
 interest for our race, for our present and future 
 national greatness, we appeal to the government 
 and parliament of Great Britain in reference to 
 this subject : we call their attention to the reports 
 of the authorised agents sent to explore and report 
 
II 
 
 71 
 
 on these lands; we call their attention to the letters 
 in this pamphlet from men whose opinion is founded 
 on practical observation and experience; and we 
 ask them, considering it in a national point of view, 
 whether it is not the duty of the government to 
 adopt some means of opening* up this country. 
 Over Two million pounds sterling have been spent 
 in fruitless attempts to discover a north-west pas- 
 sage by sea, and yet, with all the testimony before 
 them, wir.h the knowledge in their possession that 
 the route to the Pacific Ocean through British ter- 
 ritory is not only possible, but in every respect the 
 best, no single member steps forward to suggest a 
 movement for a wagon road, the pioneer of the iron 
 rail path. We warn all interested, that unless 
 something is done, and done soon, the connection 
 between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in English 
 interests is irretrievably severed, and the supremacy 
 of British power in North America will be greatly 
 endangered. But carry out some scheme of emi- 
 gration, act as if there was a determination to con- 
 nect the sea-ports by a railroad, and you at once 
 ally all interests. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, 
 Prince Edward's Island, the Canadas, Upper and 
 Lower, would then perceive that a confederation 
 meant safety, a glorious future, a mighty power ; 
 and that British Columbia would soon be linked to 
 them, and the 4,000,000 of people would thus be- 
 come the nucleus of a nation which would absorb 
 that ever- moving current of humanity that takco its 
 
 ■IMMla 
 
 
■ ) 
 
 n 
 
 flight westward. There is the high road to India ; 
 t^JTough that isothermal pathway, lies the route by 
 which a world of wealth may pass from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific Ocean. Accomplish this scheme, 
 the fellow of which the Americans are prosecuting 
 with so much energy and determined will, and you 
 will have achieved a success that will result in 
 greater benefits to mankind, and lend more honour 
 to £nglish fame than all the blood-stained victories 
 of war. 
 
 w 
 
73 
 
 151^ 
 
 Wentworth Woodhouse, 
 rutherham, 
 
 July Zlth, 1866. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I consider the route you name the best and easiest 
 to make either a road or railroad, and have mentioned 
 several different points in the North American British 
 Possessions through which I should strongly recommend 
 any road of the sort to be taken, in Dr. Cheadles and my 
 joint -work, (the North West Passage by Land) . The way 
 we crossed the Mountains and descended the Thompson 
 River would be very easy if there was a road cleared and 
 three or four posts established where you could obtain pro- 
 visions. I am inclined to believe that a railroad might be 
 made from Red River Settlement to Kamloaps, without 
 any really long tunnels or serious engineering difficulties, 
 but, of course, this is only my private opinion, as I had no 
 means of taking accurate observations. The only real 
 difficulty at present in going through the country I am 
 speaking of, is the great distance you have to travel at 
 once, without being able to obtain provisions, and the 
 limited means at your disposal for conveying them, for if 
 you increase the number of your horses you must increase 
 the number of your men. With many thanks for your 
 kind note, 
 
 I remain, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 MILTON. 
 Thomas Rawlings, Esq., 
 
 Greaham House. In haste. 
 
v« 
 
 / 
 
 74 
 
 8, Cavendish Sirekt, W., 
 
 October '30th, 18G6. 
 My Dkar Sir, 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to have an opportunity 
 of helping forward in any way the project of opening out 
 the magnificent territory of the North West, and connect- 
 ing all the different English colonies in North America by 
 means of an Intercolonial Railway, which shall eventually 
 run from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I have read your 
 book, as well as the several articles in the press, with 
 great interest, and entirely agree with you that the question 
 is one of the most immediate importance. The advantage 
 to British Columbia would be immense, as she would then 
 be able to draw from the Fertile Belt those supplies of cattle 
 and grain which she is unfitted by nature to furnish from 
 her own land in sufficient quantities, and which she now 
 obtains from California. The advantage to Canada would 
 be equally great. The acquisition of the North West 
 Territory and the opening of the communication by road 
 and railway, is, in my belief, the grand thing wanting to 
 enable the English colony to compete with the United 
 States in their marvellous rapidity of development. For 
 I apprehend that the preference shown by emigrants for 
 the Western States, and their greater progress and success 
 there, arise, not so much from their admiration of the 
 American constitution, or the greater liberality shown by 
 the United States Government in granting lands to settlers 
 and improvers, as from the nature of the lands oflfered to 
 the new comers. Canada, as you know, is a land of 
 forests, and a dense growth of timber covers the ground 
 the settler is called upon to till. The soil is probably rich 
 enough^ but the labour and expense of clearing is consider- 
 able, and the delay a great drawback, for it may be years 
 
by 
 crs 
 to 
 of 
 nd 
 ch 
 r- 
 Hi's 
 
 70 
 
 porliaps before he will be able to plough fields clear from 
 roots and stumps, or create any extent of pasturage for 
 cattle. Everything has to be prepared under difficulties 
 — arable land and pasture. In the Western States it is 
 far otherwise. Broad prairies waving with the most nutri- 
 tious grasses, and diversified by woodlands and hills, lakes 
 and streams. Minnesota, for example, the most northernly 
 and the richest of them all, is like one great park. Farms 
 am almost ready made to the settler's hand. He builds 
 his house and fences his fields with timber from one of the 
 neighbouring woods. The deep and fertile soil of the 
 prarie lies xcady for the plough without obstruction ; a 
 portion of this he prepares without difficulty for his grain 
 and root crops, and the rest affords an inexhaustible ex- 
 tent of pasture for his flocks and herds, which grow fat on 
 the herbage in which myriads of buffalo grazed in times 
 gone by. But the magnificent farming lands of the 
 Western States do not extend westward much beyond the 
 Red River. The fertile country, of which Minnesota is 
 the type, turns northward here, and is continued in British 
 territory along the Asseniboine and Saskatchewan Rivers. 
 The Fertile Belt, south of the 49th paralell (the boundary 
 line), the country becomes bare of wood — often destitute 
 of fresh water — the soil poor and stony, — so that it has 
 been called the Great American Desert. But north of 
 this we find another Minnesota. If Canada could only 
 possess this she would be rich. It has the same mixed or 
 park-like cV .uacter — prairies and lakes, woods and streams. 
 This extends irom the Red River Settlement almost to the 
 base of the i.iocky Mountains, or nearly 1000 miles in 
 length. The breadth of the Belt is almost 100 miles. 
 North of this lies the Great Forest, south the arid plains 
 of the Missouri. The natural highway across the conti- 
 nent lies, therefore, within the British lines. The high 
 
 M 
 
 *t 
 
 
7G 
 
 
 value of the Fertile ^^'^Ir,, for agricultural purposes, is at- 
 tested by able and 'ifJ.ntC'eflted observers, Palisser, Hind, 
 Hector, Dlakiston, iiourjean, all agree. Even some mem 
 bcrs of the Hudson's Bay Company acknowledge the fer- 
 tility of the soil, as Sir George Stephenson, Mr. Dallas, 
 and Dr. Rae. My testimony, in addition, would seem 
 needless, but I will add one or two facts in proof of the 
 almost inexhaustible richness of the soil, and the nutri- 
 tiousness of the prairie grasses. During my stay at Fort 
 Garry, an old French Canadian farmer showed me a 
 magnificent field of wheat, remarking,— *' It's not so good 
 as it used to be, though we've grown wheat on this piece 
 twelve years in succession, but somehow or other it has 
 fallen of in these last two or three years." Manure is 
 never used in Red River Settlement, or very rarely — 
 indeed, it is not needed. Wheat grows at Fort Garry, at 
 the eastern extremity of the Belt, and at Edmonton, 
 800 miles distant, near the western extremity, grows with 
 equal luxuriance, and yields 30 to 50 to the acre, in some 
 instances even more. Maize ripens at Red River and 
 Fort Ellice, and doubtless at Carlton and Edmonton, but I 
 have no actual knowledge that it has been tried there. 
 The root crops I have never seen equalled in this country. 
 Potatoes get to an immense size, and yield enormously. 
 Turnips often attain a weight of 161bs. or ITlbs. a-piecc. 
 Flax, hemp, tobacco, all grow well ; all the cereals appear 
 to flourish equally well. Fruit trees do not seem to have 
 been introduced into the settlement, but as plums, straw- 
 berries, raspberries and gooseberries grow wild, I imagine 
 all the hardier English fruits would grow there. 
 
 The herbage of the prairie is so feeding that corn is 
 rarely given to horses or cattle. They do their hard work, 
 subsist entirely on grass, and are most astonishingly fat. 
 The draught oxen resemble prize animals at a cattle show. 
 
77 
 
 The horses wc took with us wc turned adrift at the he- 
 ginning of the winter, when snow had already fallen ; 
 they had been overworked, and were jaded and thin. In 
 the spring we hunted them up, and found them in the 
 finest condition — or rather too fat. The soil on the La Belle 
 Prairie, where we built our hut for the winter, was four 
 feet deep, and free from rocks or gravel — the finest loiim. 
 
 The climate is that of Canada, or, perhaps, rather 
 milder. The summer is long and warm, the weather uni- 
 formly bright and fine, with the exception of occasional 
 showers. A wet day is almost unknown. The winter is 
 severe and unbroken by thaw, but pleasant enough to 
 those able to house and clothe themselves warmly. 
 
 These few facts hastily put together, will, I hope, serve 
 your purpose. I have, I am afraid, written rather gene- 
 rally on the question, instead of confining myself more 
 particularly to the point named in your letter. But you 
 are quite at liberty to use all or only a part of this letter 
 in any way you may think proper. Should there be any 
 further information which it is in my power to give, I 
 shall be only too happy to afiford it. In conclusion, I wish 
 you every success in the cause you and others have so ably 
 
 advocated. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 W. B. CHEADLE. 
 
 Thomas Rawlings, Esq., F.R.G.S., 
 
 Gresham House. 
 
 19, Grosvenor Square, 
 
 I5th Nov. 1865. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I am glad to have an opportunity of bearing testi- 
 mony to the value of the North West Territory. 
 
 4- 
 
IB 
 
 As an agricultural country, its advantages can hardly 
 be over rated. The climate is milder than that of the same 
 portion of Canada, which lies within the same latitudes, 
 while the soil is at least equal, if not of greater fertility. 
 
 Indeed, I may safely say that the North West Territory 
 will bear close comparison to the State of Minnesota^ 
 which is well known to be the richest of the Western 
 States of America. It is unencumbered with that vast 
 growth of timber which is such a serious obstacle to the 
 settler in Canada, and yet there is amply sufficient for the 
 purposes of building, fuel, and fencing. 
 
 Coal, of good sound quality, is abundant on the Saskat- 
 chewan, Battle, Pembina, and other rivers. In some 
 places the beds are of enormous thickness, and may be 
 worked without sinking, as it often crops out along the 
 river banks. 
 
 Cereals of almost every description flourish even under 
 the very rude cultivation of the half-breeds. The same 
 may be said of all the root crops which are ordinarily 
 grown in this country, Canada, or the Northern States of 
 America. 
 
 I cannot too highly commend to your consideration that 
 the first and most important step towards the civilization 
 an«^ development of this neglected country consists in the 
 est;i blishment of free communication from the Atlantic to 
 the Pacific through British America. 
 
 In conclusion, let me wish you every success in the 
 magnificent project which you are so ably and zealously 
 endeavouring to carry out. 
 
 I remain. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 MILTON. 
 Thomas Bawlings, Esq., F.R.G.S. 
 
 Gresham House, Old Broad Street. 
 
the 
 lusly 
 
 71) 
 
 18, Abingdon Street, 
 Westminster, 4th January, 1866. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I have read with great profit and interest your 
 work on the British American Colonies, with more direct 
 reference to the project of the Atlantic and Pacific Railway 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 I have derived much information from your pamphlet, 
 especially in the recent statistics as to the far- west Ame- 
 rican States, and our Canadian and Atlantic Colonies, 
 which could not be got elsewhere without immense trouble 
 and labour. ^ •}«• -Jf ^«- -jf 
 
 Many of my fellow shareholders feel a deep interest in 
 the whole subject, but there is a want of definite and 
 recent information, and without clear and correct know- 
 ledge, no practical measures can be taken. I am doing 
 everything to acquire that information, only to dififuse it 
 amongst the shareholders, and I hope that fruit may arise 
 in the policy of the Company becoming more imbued with 
 the duty of settlingf up the territory, and lending their 
 great influence, and probably material assistance, to open- 
 ing up that grand route which you so ably advocate. 
 
 I trust my motives and objects, which harmonise so 
 much with those which you have yourself so vigorously 
 expounded, will plead my excuse with you for this act of 
 intrusion, and I remain, Sir, 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 JAMES DODDS. 
 Thomas Rawlings, Esq., 
 
 Gresham House, Old Broad Street. 
 
 'H: 
 
 * 1 
 
 li 
 
 f 
 
 ;\ t 
 
 1, 
 
 )N. 
 
 MMM'.aiiaaUlliM 
 
V ♦-. 
 
 80 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 6, Albert Villas, Cuftow Road, 
 
 South Norwood, 
 March, 5, 1866. 
 
 r*iti. 
 
 My DEAR Sir, ^i. \ 
 
 I have read with some interest the book you kindly 
 forwarded me, entitled " America from the Atlantic to 
 the Pacific," and carefully studied the views set forth 
 therein by you on that portion referring to the Hudson's 
 Bay Territory, which is of most interest to me, as I have 
 passed some time in that region amongst the fur traders, 
 while in command of the boat expedition, which left 
 H. M. S. Plover in July, 1849, off Wainwright Inlet, in 
 search of the gallant Franklin and his devoted band. 
 
 The course I pursued after rounding the N.W. point 
 of America was along the Arctic Coast, towards the River 
 Mackenzie, which I ascended, and reaching Fort Simpson 
 easily in October, wintered there with Dr. Rae, who was 
 in charge of the district. The next year, on return from 
 a second search of the coast, eastward of the Mackenzie, 
 spent another winter at the same post, chief trader Bell 
 then in charge. And on the following year, 1851, ac- 
 companied the fur traders to York Factory, thus passing 
 through America from the Arctic Sea, at entrance of 
 Mackenzie to the above post, at mouth of the Nelson 
 River, in Hudson's Bay, for passage to England. 
 
 And during this journey, although the view I got of 
 the " Fertile Belt " was very limited, our route leading 
 rather to the northward, through Cumberland Lake to 
 Lake Winipeg, and thence to Hudson's Bay, I saw many 
 proofs of the fertility of the soil, and its productiveness, 
 particularly at the neat Indian village, a missionary 
 
■'# 
 
 81 
 
 1 
 
 station on the Pass, near Cumberland House, besides the 
 gardens at many of the posts, that comparing with other 
 countries I have been in, viz., Australia, America, north 
 and south, India, &c,, that I have no hesitation in 
 agreeing with Father de Smet, Mons. Borgeau, Blakis- 
 ton, yourself, and many others, that there is a most exten- 
 sive portion of that part of British America, so long 
 governed by the Hudson's Bay Company, ready and 
 offering a good field for colonization. 
 
 Again, a good deal of information beside was gained 
 from those with whom I had so long jojounied, all agree- 
 ing that the region about the Saskatchewan and Hed 
 River settlement, Rupert's Land was admirably adapted 
 for emigration, in fertility of soil, abundance of water, as 
 well as wood, for all purposes; but the only drawback 
 seemed to be the means of getting the produce to a 
 market, which now in these railway times can be ob- 
 viated. 
 
 And having seen in the papers propositions for dis- 
 posing of this territory to the United States, or some 
 foreign Company, I have been the more induced to pen 
 these few lines, and say, that if such is permitted to be 
 carried om by the Hudson's Bay Company, we may as 
 well give up at once all political power in North America. 
 
 The idea sugfjcsts itself, that the Imperial Government 
 should be the purchasers, and if not of the whole, all that 
 part called the " Fertile Belt," extending to the shores of 
 the Pacific, leaving the northern pvTtion to the fur 
 traders, although even there I have seen specimens of 
 vegetables not to be despised ; for instance, at Fort Simp- 
 son potatoes had been grown for ten consecutive years in 
 the same j)iecc of ground without manure, and the last 
 crops I saw in 1J450 were very large. Then a scheme of 
 i.xteusive colonization migl«t be established by the (jovern- 
 
 G 
 

 82 
 
 ment, and >hey would also assist with their powerful aid 
 in opening up a route to the Prcific, 
 
 I am, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 W. J. S. PULLEN, R.N. 
 Thos. Rawlings, Esq., 
 
 Gresham House, 
 London. 
 
 Office of the TRiiiUNi?, 
 
 New York, Nov. I3th, 1865. 
 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 You ask me for a few words about Minnesota, and 
 I proceed to give them. 
 
 Minnesota is at present the most north-westerly State 
 of our Union, save Oregon, on the Pacitic, whence it is 
 separated by 1,500 miles of wilderness on either side of 
 the Rocky Mountains ; it embosoms the sources of the 
 Mississippi Booper, as also of the Red River of the North, 
 and one or two other rivers which make their way north- 
 ward through British territory. * * * * 
 
 Yours, 
 
 HORACE GREELY. 
 Thomas Rawlings, Esq. 
 
 Gresham House, London. 
 
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 State of Minnesota, 
 
 Executive Depahtment, 
 
 St. Paul, Nov. ^4t/i, \^Cy\^.^ 
 Deae Sir, 
 
 Your letter of the 29th ultimo, asking for sucli in- 
 formation as may interest that portion of citizens who pro- 
 pose removin;,',' from Europe to the United States, is just 
 received. 
 
 The past season has been one of unusual prosperity. 
 The profits of thousands of our farmers for this single 
 year, hns more than paid the price of their lands and all 
 their improvements. 
 
 Forty and even fifty bushels of wheat have been grown 
 to the acre, and the average yield, for the entire State, will 
 be at least thirty bushels, and all other cereols and vege- 
 tables have done equally well. Wheat readily commands 
 one dollar per bushel in our market towns. 
 
 Wo have more miles of water navigation than any other 
 State in the Union, and eight railroads are in rapid pro- 
 cess of construction, two hundred miles of which arc com- 
 pleted, and the cars running thereon. 
 
 Our population, on the 1st June last, was 250,000, 
 Mdiich I am sure will more than double by 1870. 
 
 Our climate is extremely healthy; during the winter 
 the atmosphere is cold and d\-y, but the winters are not 
 so long as is generally supposed, up to this date the 
 weather is us warm and cheerful as May. 
 
 I shall be gratified to receive a copy of your Avork. 
 Very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 STEPHEN MILLER, 
 
 Governor of Minnesota. 
 Thomas Ilawlings, Esq., 
 
 London, England. 
 
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