tr :ii!i;itr ;iigit ^iigiir^ii!i;iiiir ^iii||i«ir x^ jii|j|ir:)h!|,iiir-'iiy i; i^igz ^iiijujir w;;^ vf^si h^k ^i^iilF-:!ii|ljiF 'i%Wm and Exploration i m fi mm 4 i BY THE DI.^COVKRKR, ^ 4 ^ ROBERT CAMPBELL, F. R. G.S., i » r.atelv a Chief Factor in tl j Tliulson's Mav Conipanv. S s k^ « 4 .^r,jill!ifiir.,iiill!!k..^iill!!k,.iiii!i!kjii1ll!iiir..iiill!!k.'iil!l!li!t.™ 3iiilkjii!llikjM!l!l3r.jiilC!f!it: .i!!l!l!k.jiik..ii(llllk .illllkji S' % WINNIPEG: MANITOBA FKHK I'RESb PRINT, 1SV5. ^-7^0 .**• ."-■*"V" .:.: -fc ^:-v; --..w ,., .J/ « '.'--■" ! 't' ■-»•.- .«? SP-T *^i. . --H 'A ■•'= . .< :- ;:'■■■ -f TIEIE Discovery and Exploration OF THE II m\!i) m BY THE DISCOVERER. ROBERT CAMPBELL, F. R. G.S., Lately a Chief Factor in the Hudson's Bay Company. ♦ ♦ ♦ WINNIPEG: MANITOBA FREE I'RESS PRINT. 18S5. 'HE YOUCON is the largest river that flows from the American Continent in- to the Pacific Ocean. Rising as the Pelly in the Rockv Mountains, on the northern frontier of British Columbia, it maintains a westerly diiection for several hundred miles. It crosses the 141st meridian, which forms the Eastern boundary of Alaska, and holding a north-west course for more than 600 miles, it is joined by the Porcupine River from the north. Up to this point it is called the Pelly, but for the remaining 1,200 miles of its course to its em- bouchure in Behring Sea, it is known as the Youcon. In the following pages I shall briefly relate the events connected with the discovery and exploration of this river. After the failure of previous efforts to estab- lish a Hudson's Bay Company's trading post at Dease's Lake, I volunteered my services for that purpose; and in the spring of 18jf8, after /^J^ overcoming many difficulties, I succeeded in mv mission, and then crossed over the moun- tains to the west side, v.'here I struck the source of a rapid river, which T ascertained, from the hordes of Indians I met, to be the Stikene (afterwards the great liighway to the north gold fields of British Columbia"), a dis- covery which caused no small commotion and surprise at the time among Hudson's Bay men, esj3ecially from the fact that a young man with onl}' a half-breed and two Indian lads had ejected what had baffled well equipped parties under prominent and experienced Hud- son's Bay officers from both sides of the moun- tains. This led to part of the coast being leased by the Company from the Russian Gov- ernment. On returning to Dease's Lake, we passed a winter of constant danger from the savage Russian Indians and of much suffering from starvation. We were dependent for subsist- ence on what animals we could catch, and, failing that, on " tnpe de roche." We were at one time reduced to such dire straits that we were obliged to eat our parchment windows, and our last meal before abandoning Dease's Lake, on 8th May, 1839, consisted of the lac- in^r of our snow shoes. In the spring of 1840 I was appointed by Sir George Simpson to explore the north branch of the Liard River to its source, and to cross the Rocky Mountains and try to find any river flowing westward, especially the head- waters of the Colville, the mouth of which, in the Arctic Ocean, had been recently discovered by Messrs. Dease and Simpson. In pursuance of these instructions I left Fort Halkett in May with a canoe and seven men, among them my trusty Indians Lapie and Kitza, and the interpreter Hoole. After as- cending: the stream some hundreds of miles, far into the mountains, we entered a beautiful lake, which I named Frances Lake, in honor of Lady Simpson. The river thus far is rather serpentine, with a swift current, and is flanked on both sides by chains of mountains, which rise to a higher altitude in tiie background. The country is well wooded with poplar, spruce, pine, fir and birch. Game and fur- bearing animals are abundant, especially beaver, on the meat of which, with moose-deer, geese and ducks, we generally lived. The mountain trout are very fine and plentiful, and are easily taken witli a hook and any bait. About five 6 miles farther on, the lake divides into two branches round " Simpson's Tower." The south, which is the longer branch, extends forty miles. Leaving the canoe and part of the crew near the south-west extremity of this branch, I set out with three Indians and the interpreter. Shouldering our blankets and guns, we ascended the valley of a river which we traced to its source in a lake ten miles long, which, with the river, I named Fin lay- son's Lake and River. The lake is situated so near the water-shed, that, in high iioods, its waters flow from both ends down both sides of the mountains, towards the Artie on the one hand and the Pacific on the other. From this point we descended the west slope of the Rocky Mountains, and on the second day from Finlayson's Lake, we had the satisfaction of seeing from a high bank a splen- did river in the distance. I named the bank from which we caught the first glimpse of the river " Pelly Banks," and the river " Pelly River," after our home governor. Sir H. Pelly. I ujay mention, in passing, that Sir George Simpson in a kind letter called them both ifter me, " Campbell's Banks and River," but in my reply I disclaimed all knowledge of any 5uch places. After reaching the actual bank >f the river we constructed a raft, on which ^e embarked, and drifted down a few miles on ihe bosom of the stream, and at parting we jast in a sealed tin can, with memoranda of )ur discovery, the date, etc. Highly delighted with our success, we re- :raced our steps to Frances Lake, where we [rejoined the rest of our party, who, during pur absence,, had built a house on the point at the forks of the lake which we called " Glen- lyon Houfe." Returning, we reached Fort Halkett [on Liard River] about the 10th of September, and forwarded the report of our trip by the party who brought up our outfit. The Company now resolved to follow up these discoveries, and with this view I was ordered in 1841 to establish a trading-post on Frances Lake so as to be ready for future operations westward. In 1842, birch bark for the construction of a large canoe to be used in exploring the Pelly was brought up from Fort de Liard with the outfit, and during the win- 8 ter was sent over the mountains by dog- sleighs to Pelly Banks, where the necessary buildings were put up, and the canoe was built in the spring of 1843. Early in June 1 d*t Frances Lake with some of the men. We walked over the mountains to Pelly Banks, and shortly alter I started down stream in the canoe with the interpreter Hoole, two French Canadians, and three Indians. As we advanced, the river increased in size, and the scenery formed a suc- cession of picturesque landscapes. About twenty-five miles from Pelly Banks we en- countered a bad rapid, — " Hoole's " — where we were forced to disembark everything ; but elsewhere we had a nice flowing current. Ranges of mountains flanked us on both sides : on the right hand the mountains were gen- erally covered with wood ; the left range was more open, witli patches of poplar run- ning up the valleys and hurnsideti, reminding one of the green brae-face of the Highland glens. We frequently saw moose-deer and bears as we passed along ; and at points where the precipice rose abrupt from the water's edge, the wild sheep, — " big horn," — were often seen 9 on the shelving rocks. They are very keen- sighted, and when once alarmed they file swiftly and gracefully over the mountain. When we chanced to get one, we found it splendid eating — delicate enough for an epi- cure. In this manner we travelled on for several days. We saw onl}^ one family of Indians, — " Knife " Indians. — till we reached the junc- tion of the Pelly with a tributary which I named the Lewis. Here we found a large camp of Indians, — the 'Wood" Indians We took them b37^ no ordinary surprise, as they had never seen a white man before, and they looked upon us and everything about us with some awe as well as curiosity. Two of their chiefs, father and son, were very tall, stout, handsome men. We smoked the pipe of peace together, and I distributed some presents. They spoke in loud tones as do all Indians in their na- tural state, but they seemed kind and peace- able. When we explained to them as best we could that we were going down stream, they all raised their voices against it. Among other dangers, they indicated that, inhabiting the 10 lower river, were many tribes of "bad" In- dians, — "numerous as the sand," — "who would not only kill us, but eat us ;" we should never get back alive, and friends coming to look after us would unjustly blame them for our death. All this frightened our men to such a degree that I had reluctantly to con- sent to our return, which, under the circum- stances, was the only alternative. I learned afterwards that it would have been madness in us to have made any further advance, un- prepared as were for such an enteiprise. Much depressed, we that afternoon retraced our course up stream ; but before doing so, I launched on the river a sealed can containing memoranda of our trip, etc. I was so dejected at the unexpected turn of affairs that I was perfectly heedless of what was passing ; but on the third day of our upward progress, I noticed, on both sides of the river, fires burn- ing on the hill-tops far and near. This awoke me to a sense cf our situation. I conjectured that, as in Scotland in the olden time, these were signal-fires and that they summoned the Indians to surround and intercept us. Thus 11 aroused we made the bevst use of paddle and '* tracking line " to get up stream and ahead of the Indian signals. On the fourth morning, we came to a party of Indians on the further bank of the river. They made signs to us to cross over, which we did. They were very hos- tile, watching us with bows bent and arrows in hand, and would not come down from the top of the high bank to the water's edge to meet us. I sent up a man with some tobacco, — the em- blem of peace, — to reassure them ; but at first they would hardly remove their hands from their bows to receive it. We ascended the bank to them, and had a most friendly inter- view, earned on by words and signs. It re- quired, however, some finesse and adroitness to get away from them. Once in the canoe we quickly pushed out and struck obliquely for the opposite bank, so as to be out of range of their arrows, and I faced about gun in hand to observe their actions. The river was there too broad either for ball or arrow. We worked hard during the rest of the day and until late. The men were tired out, and I made them all sleep in my tent while I kept watch. At that 12 season the night is so clear that one can read, write or work throughout. Our camp lay on the bank of the river at the base of a steep de- clivity which had large trees here and there up its grassy slope. In the branches of one of tliese trees I passed the greater part of this anxious night, reading Hervey's Meditations and keeping a vigilant look-out. Occasionally I descended and walked to the river bank, but all was still. Two years afterwards, when friendly relations had been established with the Indians in this district, I learned to my no small astonishment that the hostile tribe encountered down the river had dogged us all day, and when we halted for. the night, had encamped behind the crest of the hill, and from this retreat had watched my every movement. With the exactitude of detail characteristic of Indians, they described me sitting in the tree, holding " something white " (the book) in my hand, and often raising my eyes to make a survey of the neighborhood ; then, descending to the river bank, taking my horn cup from my belt, and even while I drank glancing up and down the river and towards the hill. They 13 confessed that, had I knelt down to drink they would have rushed upon me and drowned ine in the swift current and after thus despatching me, would have massacreed the sleeping in- mates of my tent. How often, without know- ing it are we protected from danger by the merciful hand of Providence? Next morning we were early in motion, and were glad to ob- serve that we had outwitted the Indians and outstripped their signal- fires. After this we travelled more at leisure, hunting as we ad- vanced, and in due time reached Frances Lake. For a few years after this we confined our operations to trading, etc., between Frances Lake and Pelly Banks ; but during the sum- mer we sent hunting parties down to Pelly to collect provisions for our establishments ; and by this means we obtained accurate informa- tion respecting the Pelly River, its resources, Indian tribes, etc. In the winter of 1847-8, we built boats at Pelly Banks and, sending off our returns to Fort Simpson, we started off early in June, 1848, to establish a post at the forks of Pelly and Lewis Rivers which I named Fort Selkirk. 14 Ever since our discovery of the Pelly in 1840, various conjectures were hazarded as to what river it really was, and where it entered the sea. Fort Youcon was, I think, est iblished in 1847, from Peel River near the mouth of the Mackenzie. From the first I expressed my belief, in which hardly any one concurred, that the Pelly and the Youcon were identical. In 1850, having obtained Sir George Simps(jn's permission, I explored the lower river, des- cending a distance of about 1,200 miles and b}^ reaching Fort Youcon, proved the correctness of my opinion. From Fort Youcon I directed my boat and party upwards into the Porcupine River. I was accompanied by Mr. Murray, who was conveying the returns, and whose duty it was to take back with him the Youcon outfit from La Pierre's House at the head of the Porcu- pine River, to which })oint supplies were transported over the mountains in winter by dog-sleighs from Peel River. La Pierre's House duly reached, we left our boat there and walked over the mountains to Peel River, about ninety miles ; thence by boat we as- 15 cended the Macken?:ie River to Fort Simpson. I thus performed a circuit of several thousand miles from my point of departure on the Liard River. Great astonishment was felt by all my friends and acquaintances when they saw me reach Fort Simpson by coming up ihe Mac- kenzie River instead of descending the Liard, for no one entertained a suspicion that the Pelly River had any connection with the Youcon or that the Pelly was linked with the Porcupine, Peel and Mackenzie Rivers. Thenceforward this new route, so unexpected- ly found out, was made the highway for the transport of outfits to, and results of trade from, the Pelly and all intermediate posts. When I visited England in 1853, this vast stretch of country, — until then a blank on the map, and untrodden and unknown of white men, — was under my direction, correctly de- lineated on his map of North America by the late J. Arrowsmith, the Hudson's Bay Com- Ipany's topographer ; and hence it happens that many of these rivers and places of note are named after my friends or after the rivers in niy native glens. 16 I may mention that in these explorations, which embraced a period of 15 years, we had to rely for the means of existence almost en- tirely on the natural resources of the scene of our operations, however dreary and barren a region it might be. We were once cut off' from all supplies and connection with our people, to the extreme peril of our lives, for over two years — from May, 1848, till Septem- ber, 1850 — during which time we received neither a letter nor supplies, and the opening up of communication with the outside world was ultimately brought about by our own un- aided and determined efforts in the face of appalling obstacles. The Pelly — You con - is a magnificent river, increasing in size as it is joined by the many affluents that swell its tide. It sweeps in a gentle, serpentine course, round tlie spurs of the double mountain range that general- ly skirts each side of the valley. Of these twin ranges the more distant is the loftier. Many of its summits are dotted with wreaths of snow, while others wear a perpetual mantle of white. At a distance of some! 17 forty-five miles from Fort Youcon, the moun- tains recede, the river widens and for miles wanders amoDg count] ess islands. Many of the Felly's tributaries are large streams — es- pecially the M'Millan, Lewis, White, and Stew- art Rivers. Four kinds of salmon ascend the river in great numbers in their season ; and then comes a busy harvest time for the Indi- ans, who assemble in large camps along the river, and handle their spears with great dex- terity. Large numbers of salmon are killed, some for present, and some for winter, use. This fish has been seen and killed above Pelly Banks, which is more than two thousand miles from the sea. Steamers from the Paci- fic have alreadv ascended to Fort Youcon (twelve hundred miles); and during the freshet they can ascend more than twelve hundred miles further (to Hoole's Rapid). The lakes all over the country abound in excellent white fish. The fauna of the country is abundant and varied. It includes moose and reindeer, Infers, I (lack and grizzly, wolves and wolverines, rats and hares, the fox, the lynx, the beaver, the 18 mink, and the marten. I saw the bones, heads and horns of buffaloes ; but this animal had become extinct before our visit, as had also some species of elephant, whose remains were found in various swamps. I forwarded an elephant's thigh-bone to the British Museum, where it may still be seen. The flora of the country is rich and diversi fied. I forwarded several specimens of the vegetation to the late Sir William J. Hooker, Director of the Kew Gardens. I also sent him specimens of all the rocks from Youeon to Pelly Banks. The climate is more pleasant and genial than in the same latitude on the east side of the mountains.