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 TRANSACTION Na 46. 
 
 APRIL 6th. 1894. 
 
 lie Historical and Scientific Society 
 
 of Manitoba. 
 
 » ♦ * 
 
 The OLD CROW WING TRAIL •• 
 
 BV 
 
 HON. JOHN SCHULTZ. M.D,F.Imp.I. 
 
 Um7TBNANT.OOVBRNOR OP MANITOBA, 
 A UVB MSMBBR OV TBS SOCntTV. 
 
 «i' 
 
 / 
 
 WINNIPEQ : 
 
 MANITOBA mil PRIM PmtfT. 
 
 • "nimmm - 
 
4. 
 
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The Old Crow Wing Trail. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentltraen. 
 
 It has fallen to my lot to have seen ami traversed, with 
 the exception of part of one, all the summer and winter roads 
 which, many years ago. connected the Red River or Selkirk 
 settlement with the outer world, and they may be enumerat- 
 ed as follows : 
 
 1. The old North West Company's route, from the mouth 
 of the Kaministiquia through Shehandowan, Lac des Mille 
 Lacs, the beautiful lakes and streams of the height of land be- 
 tween Superior and Lake Winnipeg to Rainy Lake, the lovely 
 river which drains it into the Lake of the Woods, that lake 
 and the river which bears its waters to Lake Winnipeg, which 
 with its rapids, chutes and falls is, I think, unsurpassed in 
 beauty by any river of Laurentian Canada. 
 
 2. The Hudson's Bay York Factory route, too well known . 
 to need any description, and of which I have only seen a 
 part. 
 
 3. The Breckenridge Flats route, skirting the west bank 
 of the Red River to near where it receives the name at the 
 junction of the Sioux Wood and Ottertail rivers, -and crossing 
 the Red River at Georgetown or Abercrombie to traverse to 
 the Ottertail Ford the flats which gave the route its name, 
 and enter the rolling lake-dotted country which lay between 
 it and St. Cloud on the Mississippi, 80 miles above St. Paul. 
 
 4. The winter monthly mail carriers' dog train route of 
 the old dayt", which crossing the Red River at Fot Pembina, 
 .sought for shelter and night encampment the skirting of Min- 
 nesota woods at the sources of the eastern affluents of the Red 
 River, as far as Red Lake, crossing which on the ice it tra- 
 versed many of the small lakes which form the extreme head- 
 waters of the great Mississippi down to Leech Lake, and 
 thence southward, passing through mazes of small lakes and 
 through the hunting-grounds of the " Pillagers," to the junc- 
 tion of the (^row Wing with the Mississippi Rivet, an<l then 
 
 f 8465:2 
 
flown tilt' east bank of that stream to Fort Ripley, Sauk Ra- 
 pi<ls and St. Anthony, to St. Paul. 
 
 5. The military stage and early Red River steamer route, 
 which connected St. Paul with Fort Garry in 1860. 
 
 C. The Dawson route, which cut off the laborious naviga- 
 tion of the Kaministiquia River by a road to Lake Sheban- 
 davvan, using thence the old water route of the North West 
 Co., with dams on several streams, better landings and im- 
 proved portages to the Lake of the Woods and the North West 
 Angle, from which a road had been cut to St. Anne and St. 
 Boniface, thus saving the broken navigation of the Winnipeg 
 River, the crossing of the head of Lake Winnipeg, and the 
 ascent of the Red River. 
 
 7. The old Crow Wing Trail, opened in 1844 by a few 
 adventurous s[)irits under direction of William Hallett, who, 
 having been attacked by the Sioux on their way to St. Paul 
 by Lac Travels and St. Peter, sought safety in returning by 
 this route, many miles of which had to be cut through the 
 woods. 
 
 Of these seven routes of travel I have, Mr. President, 
 ladies and gentlemen, cho.sen the last-mentioned because, un- 
 like most of the others, it may not be traversed to-day. The 
 ploughshare of the Minnesota settler has oV>literated its once 
 deeply marked triple track, and even where, like the ol<l 
 buffalo paths of Southwestern Manitoba, these may in some 
 places be distinguished, the fence of the old and the new 
 settler bars the way. 
 
 Another reason may be found in the fact that over it 1 
 made my first prairie journey, that from one of its encamp- 
 ments 1 saw the last herd of buffalo ever seen east of the Red 
 River, and that though I am about to describe it as seen by 
 me in a peaceful journey late in the fall of 1860, I was to 
 traverse it again when comparatively disused during the year 
 of the Sioux massacre in Miime.sota, as the only hope of 
 reaching Foit Garry from St. Paul, where I then was, when 
 a camp tire was out of the question, each river-ford and bluff 
 
of timber to be avoided, and a stealthy Indian tread to bo 
 fancied in the rustle of every leaf. 
 
 Coming up from Kingston in the spring of 18(10 l>y way 
 of the lakes to Chicago, one railway only was then in exis- 
 tence in the direction I wished to travel, its termination being 
 Prairie-du-Chien, on the Mississippi. From this point the 
 only connection to St. Paul, then a large frontier town and 
 trading post, was by steamers built for the navigation of the 
 upper Mississippi, and well do I rememb. r my first look at 
 these extraordinary boats ; accustomed as I was to seeing the 
 vessels used on the great lakes, where strength and solidity is 
 required, they seemed frail to absurdity in contrast. The 
 supports of the upper decks, scarcel}' heavier than the trellis 
 work of grape vines, were called stanchions ; and I discovered 
 that two inch oak was considered heavy planking for these 
 extraordinary craft. The boiler was on deck, the four feet of 
 hold not of course having room for it, and the power was con- 
 veyed to an immense wheel at the stern, which, extraordinary 
 as it looked to one accustomed to the heavy side wheels and 
 screws of the steam craft on other waters, was yet found to 
 serve an a<lmirable purpose when approaching the shallows 
 and sand bars in the upper part of the river. 
 
 No ordinary rule of navigation seemed to be followed in 
 the running of these steamers ; and watching everything with 
 the curiosity and interest of nnieteen, I especially marked the 
 method in which the " heaving of the lead." which w as order- 
 ed from the wheel-house, as we approached some shallow 
 navigation, was carried out by the mate on the fore-deck. 
 That functionary first seated himself near the bow, with his 
 legs hanging over the unbulwarked deck, and in this position, 
 with a ten-foot pole, the lower four feet of which were paint- 
 ed alternately red and white, he plunged it into the water, 
 announcing as he drew it up " three feet full ;" plunged again, 
 he announced " three feet scant. ;" another effort brought " two- 
 and-a-half feet ; " then the bell nuig and the steamer's speed 
 was decreased, and when " only two feet " was announced, the 
 
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 order was given to " back her." Her bow was then turned 
 towards another part of the bar, and when "two feet full" was 
 announced as the result of the next eHbrt, the bell was rung 
 "go ahead," and the steamer " North Star " wriggled with an 
 eel-like motion, which set the glasses jingling in the cabin, and 
 made one feel as though riding an hippopotamus, over the 
 deepest part of the bar, when " two-and-a-half feet," "three 
 feet," "three-and-a-half feet," were aninounced in quick succes- 
 sion, followed by another dip of the pole which, passing be- 
 yond the four foot mark, brought the announcement from the 
 mate, who rose at that moment to put away his pine lead-lin€> 
 " no bottom." 
 
 Fine weather, and the beautiful scenery along the banks 
 of the upper Mississippi, made the trip a pleasant one, and 
 brought us safely to St. Paul ; Minnehaha was visited, and the 
 Falls of St. Anthony, as well as the beautiful and historic 
 promontory, then crowned by Fort Snelling ; then came the 
 question of the remainder of the journey, over 650 miles, which 
 lay between that city and Fort Garry. 
 
 The first stage line had just been given the contract for 
 the carriage of the mails to the then remote military outpost 
 of Fort A-bercrombie, with a bonus large enough to induce the 
 contractors to agree to the stipulation demanded by the gov- 
 ernment, that the mails should be carried in " overland " 
 coaches with four horses ; and these military conditions facili- 
 tated my traversing that part of the journey. Shortly before 
 this Anson Northrup, a well known Upper river steamboat- 
 man, had brought a small steamer, named after himself, dur- 
 ing the spring flood up to near the head of the Mississippi River^ 
 and from there had portaged the machinery and the boat, in 
 sections, over to the head waters of the Red River, and the 
 boat, which had been rebuilt and christened the " Anson Nor- 
 thrup," was then lying at Georgetown, the Hudson's Bay 
 Company's temporary transportation |>ost, 45 miles north of 
 Abercrombie. 
 
 The journey on this stage was a pleasant one ; the beauti- 
 ful Minnesota lakes and rivers, on which temporary stage 
 
stationM had been built, lent a great charm to it, which all have 
 felt who have in summer traversed this route. At Georgetown, 
 so named after Sir George Simpson, I inspected the craft 
 which was to take us by the river about 500 miles to Fort 
 Garry. It was a miniature edition of the Mis. issippi steamer, 
 but there was an ominous look about the wheel-house, how- 
 ever, which was on all sides heavily protected by four inch 
 oak planks, which the captain did not allay by saying " Of 
 course you have your gun along with you." Further investi- 
 gation shewed an arrangement by which cord wood for fuel 
 could be so piled while the vessel was steaming on her course 
 as to protect the lower deck from buUet.s. The good-natiire<l 
 engineer also shewed me a contrivance by which, at a mo- 
 ment's notice, he could turn a stream of hot water and scald- 
 ing steam upon any body of Indians who might strive to take 
 possession of the boat in case it should accidentally strike the 
 bank, or land for additional fuel. All this was very new, very 
 strange and very attractive to a young fellow who had only 
 heard of such matters fiom incidental reading of Indian wars 
 and forays, and when further explained, it appeared that the 
 Red Lake Indians, after further thought, had become dissatis- 
 fied with the conditions of the treaty made with them by 
 Governor Ramsay, of the then Territory of Minnesota, and 
 proposed to prevent whites passing through or occupying their 
 country till a new arrangement had been made. 
 
 Near Abercrombie I met the noted frontiersman George 
 Northrup, in whose log cabin were a few books which show- 
 ed superior culture. He had made himself familiar with the 
 OJibway tongue, and his home was secured by the presence of 
 the forces at Fort Abercrombie ; he had run the gauntlet of 
 the forays between the Sioux and the Ojibways and yet re- 
 tained the scalp which, poor fellow, he was afterwards to lose 
 when acting as a scout for the General commanding the 
 column, which, after the Sioux ma'^sacre of 1862, followed the 
 Sioux to the crossing of the Missouri. He was to be one of 
 the defenders of the boat ; and his knowledge of their lang- 
 
 
 tjr. 
 
uage was to bt^ brouglit into i>lay in case of a parley with the 
 irate Indians. 
 
 A detention of two weeks at Geoiifetown waitiiii; for some 
 small portions of niachinery, however, saved us from difficulty 
 with the Indians, none of whom we saw on our jjuarded pas- 
 sage down the'iiver, they having probably gone back to their 
 hunting grounds near Red Lake. 
 
 Pembina was reached, then only half a dozen houses : the 
 boundary line was ciossetl, then Fort Pembina, (the Hudson's 
 Bay Company's wooden stockade) came in view. Thiity miles 
 below we reached the first of the Red River settlements, the 
 inhabitants congregating on the banks to see the strange 
 steame • passing ; anrl it was with intense interest that we 
 reached at last the ben<l of the i'iver which disclosed the twin- 
 towered cathedral of St. Honifact ; another bend, and Fort 
 Garry came in view ; a straight run along the present course 
 of the Winnipeg Rowing Club was traversed, when, turning 
 up the Assiniboine to land where Main Street biiilge now is, 
 the groves, church and tower of St. John's coidd be seen arross 
 the almost blank intervening .space ; and the steam whistle 
 once belonging to a very much larger steamer, which had been 
 blowing almost eontiiruously foi- tlu; previous half hour, 
 brnnght, [ tbinU. what must have bci'n very nearly every 
 living human being for two miles around to the sloping bank 
 wlier*' the steamer landed. Ascending this bank, Foit(»arry, 
 so often heard of, was inspeete<l : and even then time and an 
 imperfect foiintiation had left cracks in the stnue walls. It 
 seemed, however, a place whi<*h a very few men could hold 
 against a uundn'i- unprovided with artillery ; for the bnsMuiis 
 were pierced on all sides, not only for small arms, but carron- 
 aJts w«'re mounted at each iMnltrasure. The front gate was 
 massive, like tlu' front wall, which faced towaids the Assini- 
 lK)ine, and was entirely Hanked and protected by bastion pro- 
 jections, .so that there was no chaiiet; for any force unpiovided 
 with artillery 'o nuik*' m rush on the gateway. This gate, 
 however, was only open on s[)ecial occasions, the business gate 
 of the Fort being on its eastern side, and was simply a sally- 
 
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 port, where more than two men could not enter al)reast. 
 Passing down this side of the Fort was the Kino's liighway, 
 which led oft' in a northerly direction and was continued to 
 Lower Fort Garry, oi- the " Stone Fort," and thence to the 
 Peguis Reserve and the two Sugar Points. No biiildino what- 
 ever was built upon this road ; the houses of William Drever. 
 the two of Andrew McDerinott's, A. G. B. Bannatyne's, that 
 of the Ross', Logan's, Bouvette, Brown and Inkster, being, 
 where the land admitted of it, on the banks of the j-iver some 
 distance to the east. 
 
 I have .said that thf (cathedral of St. Boniface then 
 possessed two towers, which have lieen made familiar to the 
 whole of this contin<mt by the beaiitiful description of the 
 poet Whittier in the " Red River Voyageur."' The (^athedral 
 Church of St. John also possesse<l its tower, (a .scpiare and 
 very massive one), and my first Sunday in the settlement 
 found me one of its occupants during the morning ^eivice ; and 
 I noticed on the bordei-ed wainscoting which extended up some 
 height above the pews tlte plain evidence, on its paint work, 
 of the extreme hei<;ht, and of the yraduallv decreasiiij>- of the 
 waters of the tlood ^f 1<S52. Vvoxu near its gate could bi? seen 
 the residence of the Right Reverend Dr. Ariderson, then 
 Bishop of Ru])ert's Lan<l ; a building very little changed, 
 except outwardly, built solidly of logs, and now the residence 
 of His Grac(> the l^rimate of all Canada ; and between the 
 Chnr(;h and this house stood the then <'los(>d College of St. 
 John. 
 
 During my .sununer's stay 1 had \isited the Peguis 
 Reserve, tiie King's Highway which led to the Sugar Points 
 of Ma|)leton, its s(»uthern border, e. -sing then as now the 
 Iiriage Plain : had seen the Kihhman Church, the Middle 
 Church and that of St. Andrew's, and visited the Stone Fort; 
 had seen St. James and Headingley Chnrches, crossed the 
 VVliite Horse Plains, wheii' 1 saw its tine church: traversed 
 " Le (irrand Marais " to Poplar Point with its church, High 
 Bluff and its |)lace of wor.ship, and that of the Portage, all 
 
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 monuments of tlie earnest zeal ami tireless efforts of Arch- 
 deacon Cochrane. I had seen the " Tepees " of far off tribes 
 who ha<l come to Fort Garry to trade, had lauijhed with our 
 own Crees and Ojibways, who stood on the bank, at the 
 unsuccessful attempt of two Plain Crees to (uoss the Red 
 River in a bark canoe, these children of the prairie, whose 
 home is on horseback, having no use for nor acquaintance 
 with the paddle : had seen tlie Plain hunters come back with 
 tlieir loads of ])emmican, dried meat, and tlu' tiesh of the 
 buffaloes last seen l>y the returning brigades; had eaten of 
 t'iC Mairowfat and Berry pemmican, and oh, greater gustatory 
 joy than all else, had partaken of the delicious hump, the 
 odor and taste of which are still fresh in my memory after 
 three and thirty years. The falling leaves and autumn tints 
 of October 18(10 reminded me, however, that 1 must leave for 
 the winter this land of plenty and promise; and as the 
 steamers had long since ceased to run, I began preparing for 
 the trip which I am about to describe. 
 
 This road or trail, callnd by tho.se at this end of it "The 
 Crow Wing Trail," and at the other "The Old Red River 
 Trail," was one which had been used for many yeais ; ami 
 while our Metis and Crees were at war with the Sioux, it was 
 considered both satV'i* and sh(»rter than the one on the west 
 side of the River, until Foit Aberei-oiid)ii> was built; and even 
 then was often used, as heing less o))en to prairie fires, with 
 Itetter wood for eneampmcnts and high gravelly lidges to 
 render part of it at least almost as good as a turnpike load 
 Its drawbacks were the many streams, eastein affluents of the 
 Red River, which had to l)e forded, some of them, like the 
 Red Lake River, being after heavy rains very formidal)le 
 obstacles to loa<led or even li<dit carts. It was a favoi'ite 
 land route with Sir (Jeorge Simpson, who died the year I first 
 ti'aver.se<l it; and James McKay, his trusty and tiusted voy- 
 ageur, known to the Knglish and French si-ttlers as "Jeemif," 
 and to the Siou.\ as ".limichi," who was to become a member 
 of the Leirislative Council of Manitoba on the reconnnendation 
 
 
 «*'t^Nf'''-"^''f.''" 
 
18 
 
 of Governor Archibald, was proud of the fact that always on 
 the tenth day of their start froni (Jrow Wing at the stroke of 
 noon from the Fort Garry bell he landed Sir George at the 
 steps of the Chief Factor's House. Relays of horses enabled 
 him to do this, rain or shine ; and the slightest stoppage in 
 muskeg or stream found McKay wading in to bring Sir 
 George on his broad shoulders to <lry land. 
 
 Fortunately for me, a more experience<l head than mine 
 had chosen the horses, .selected the cart and saddle, and sug- 
 gested the outtit for the journey ; and, though I found soon 
 after starting, that there were wrinkles in eanip and travel 
 that experience only can teach, still 1 acknowledge my in- 
 debtedness to my friend, and ])roceed to enumerate the outfit 
 which he deemed sufficient to land me and the Canadian 
 friend, who was to accompany me, safely at Crow Wing ; and 
 I give these in th«' order of their importance. 
 
 Two Red River ponies, who disdained oats and had never 
 eaten of aught save prairie gra.ss, dry or green, " Hlackie " and 
 " Bichon," both good types of their hardy class, .short barrels, 
 sturdy legs, long manes, and tads which touched their fet- 
 locks ; differing in disposition, however, Hlackie having a ba«l 
 eye and uncertain temper, with a disposition ta smash things 
 with his hind legs, which would have hcen fatal to a buggy, 
 but was energy thrown away on a cart, when one knew how 
 helpless he was with a clove hitch aroun<l the root of his tail 
 with one end of a short piece of .shaganap])i, the other end of 
 which was tied to the front cross bar of th(^ cart, the eight or 
 ten inches distance between the attache<l ends affording but 
 little scope for the exercise of powers such a.*- Blackie un- 
 doubtedly posses.sed. This peculiarity was not the only one of 
 Blackie'.s, which would have placed him second to Bichon in 
 tliis narrative, ha<l he not .some (pialities useful in«leed in time 
 of trouble. He had a practice of trying to bolt when his har- 
 ness was loosed, to escape the imvitable hobble without uhich 
 Blttckie, whos(! leadership Bichon. the tractable and gentle, 
 always followed, would have left us on the prairie to our own 
 
 
 .1. 
 
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14 
 
 devices more than once ; and even with these .shaganappi ob- 
 structions to his rapid locomotion he ma<le time fast enough 
 to make his capture, till his stomach was full, a very difficult 
 matter. Though bad in these respects, he was good in others 5 
 for the swamp must be deep that he could not pull a cart 
 through ; and the bank of a stream just forded must have 
 been steep and slippery indeed that Blackie's unshod feet 
 could not scramble up. Bichon, the patient, would do his best 
 and, failing, would lie down in the one or slide back to the 
 Vtottom of the other. So that as we are apt, after many yeais, 
 to remember the good and forget the bad, I have given the 
 first place in this, I fear, rambling narrative, to Blackie ; 
 though I acknowledge gratefully that it was on Bichon the 
 obedient's back that I explored the bog or essayed the river 
 crossing when the one was likely to be bad or the other deep. 
 So much for the horses. The saddle was simply a tree, strap- 
 ped on over a blanket, which was easier on the horses than 
 the Indian saddle; and the cart harness the dressed buffalo skin 
 one of the time, with the collar and hames in one piece, short 
 traces to iron pins in the shafts, to which also were attached 
 the hold backs, which were the broadest and heaviest part of 
 the harness. Shaganappi reins and a bridle with no blinkers 
 completed this simple but efficient equipment. 
 
 Items Nos. I, 2,ti and 4 being now described, I come to an 
 important one. No. 5, the cart, the jmpular impression of which 
 now is that it was a ramshackle, squeaky aft'uir, with wheels 
 five feet high, each one of which «lished outwardly, so that the 
 felloes looked as if about to part company with the spokes and 
 hub ; and those who have seen them as cuiiosities at an Ex- 
 hibition wonder if the wood had shrunk, which left a loose 
 opening where felloe joined felloe in the (|ueerly dished whet;!, 
 or whether in<lee<l the fellow who miulc these jt)ints had been 
 (juite himself when he completed this wooden monstrosity, 
 which had not a scrap of iron on or about it. Queer looking 
 they undoubtedly were, as compared with the present trim 
 buggy, though the sqtieak is a libel as applied to a lightly 
 loaded travelling cart, which has ix'cn fairly tieated by the 
 
16 
 
 application of the scrapinns of the fryinji^ pan to its axle ; yet 
 no vehicle, I verily believe, which has been used before or 
 since, was so suited for the traversing of a country where, in 
 one day, it might have to *^ "avel over, with its thiee-inch-wide 
 wooden tire, a shaking bog, a miry creek, a sandy shore, or a 
 boulder strewn path up steep hills. At a cost of two pounds 
 sterling, in the old days, one became the possessor of a vehi- 
 cle, the high wheels of which made it easy to draw, the great 
 dish of the wh(!els made it hard to upset, while the loose joint- 
 ed felhjes saved the wheel from wreck, by closing and yield- 
 ing when a rock was struck in a deep river crossing, oi the 
 hidden stump in a newly cut trail was encountered. A very 
 haven of rest wert thou, O cart, on the prairie, when, the 
 long day of travel ended, a large square of canvas thrown over 
 you made a tent before a camj) tire better than anv other, and 
 an aik of safety when the swollen river was too deep to ford ; 
 thy wheels off and under the l>ox, with the same square of 
 canvas about all, thou wast a boat made in ten mimites, in 
 which two travellers, with their lielongings, might paddle oi 
 pole from shore to shore in safety, leading the swimming 
 horses liehind. 
 
 My excuse for thus apostrophising my Ked River cart as 
 a s(!ntient heinu is tiiat, like Hlackie, it had tricks of its own 
 which pu/zled the uninitiated. Attempt to lide in it in any 
 way that one is wont to do in a civilized vehicle, and it soon 
 t'tittleif (if I may use a modern expression) its occu]mnt, who 
 found himself, to a musical accompaniment of frying pan and 
 tin kettles, trying alternately to preserve himself from being 
 pitched onto the pony, having his rigiit or left ribs cracked 
 auainst the side rail, or tuininy; a somersault over the tail- 
 hoard of the cart. No, there is only one way to ride in a cart 
 with ease and [)leasure, and that is stated in front on its Hooi', 
 with your legs hanging down near the hoiseV tail. If you 
 are luxurious, tie a broad piece of shaganappi from lail t(, 
 rail to support your back, put an extra folded blanket under 
 you, sway your luxly slightly with Pbckie or Bichon's jog- 
 trot, and you need not envy the occupa!)ts of a (Mtach an<i 
 
 i-; 
 
 
 *. 
 / 
 
 nmmrn 
 
 § 
 
__M^MMMilB 
 
 16 
 
 four. N. W., hotter known as " (\)ininodor(>," Kittson appre- 
 ciated this fact and never would in any of his later prairie 
 trips ride in an}'^ other way or in any other vehicle. 
 
 As there is only one way to ride in a cart, so there is only 
 one way of stowing its accessories ; the most important of 
 which is your half-sized axe. Put into the cart by a green 
 hand, this useful implement becc»mes an engine of destruction : 
 cuts into your packages of tea, etc., ruins your blankets and 
 jolts alonij till its lono- handle reaches far over the tail board, 
 and an extra junip tumbles it on to the trail, to delight the 
 heart of the first Indian who passes, but to cause you to be 
 extremely sorrowful when you have to make camp with a 
 jack-knife, or replace an old axle. No, the axe should take 
 no risks, and nmst have a leather socket for its head and a 
 strap for its handle, and both outside the cart on one of the 
 side boards. The gun is the next in importance ; and for 
 that, too, there is only one way, if you are not to lisk shooting 
 yourself or your companion. The butt must lest near your 
 seat on the left side, th«* barrels in a loop to the top rail at an 
 anyle of 45 dejjrees, this arrantjement, while making its 
 carriage (piite safe, enabling you to seize it quickly while 
 yet the prairie chicken or duck is passing. 
 
 Not so <langeious as the two former, but infinitely more 
 d'ffif.'ult to manage are the fVying-])an, with its long handle, and 
 the copper and tin kettles, to pnt the one loose into the cart 
 was to blacken and smeai" all its contents: while the kettles, 
 after a preliminary iow-de-<lovv. would speedily part with their 
 hak's and lids, batter themselves into uselessness against the 
 sides, and then jump out bodily on to the track. No, having 
 tried many ways with kettles, I have come to the conclusion 
 that only when inside one anothei" and lashed securely below 
 the centre of the axle, where they may jingle in peace, are th«'y 
 to b«' cii'cumvente As for the frying-pan, having been so 
 often entirely beaten in attempts to nmzzle ow. I have long 
 ago given up any thought of rendering innocuous that jing- 
 ling, hanging, cnjoked, perverse but indispensable adjunct to 
 prairie travel. 
 
ision 
 low 
 
 hey 
 I) so 
 
 
IN 
 
 The cart cover I have incidentally mentioned ; this niu«t be 
 lar^e and light, so as to completely envelope the cart, either 
 as a tent or boat, and is preferable to a tent for light travel- 
 ling, as it saves the carriage of pins and j)oles, may be used by 
 the tired traveller much sooner at night, and may be folded 
 in the grey dawn by the still half-asleej) voyageur without 
 trij)))ing over pegs or ropes. 
 
 As prairie chicken and duck were abundant, the substan- 
 tials for the trip were as follows :— Pemmican (marrowfat if 
 possible) 20 pounds, hard biscuit, 8() pounds, tea, sugar, but- 
 ter and salt ; a little flour, to make the " Rubbiboo " assume a 
 bulky appearance when Indians had to be breakfasted or dined, 
 their mid-day entertainment being generally avoided by givino- 
 them a biscuit each, and keeping on ourselves with a lunch 
 of pemmican " au naturel ;" a pair of blankets each, a couple 
 of bu tiki o robes, then costing 12 shillings sterling eaeli our 
 clothes in a couple of waterproof bagvs, and Lo I the expedition 
 was complete. 
 
 The voyage proper did not commeTice till Pembina was 
 reached, for the tiaveller who brought the latest news and 
 coidd speak a little French was always sure of the best they 
 had in the way of bed and board at any of the houses of the 
 Metis, whose settlement extended then half way to Pembina. 
 One's horses too were always included in the generous hos])i- 
 tality,and Blackie and Bichon ate of the sweetest of the r<;- 
 cently mown prairie grass. The second night was invariably 
 passed at Pembina jiost, where the H. B. officer in chaige (a 
 ])ie<lecessor of an esteemed membei- of our Society, (Miief Fac- 
 tor Clark), extended similai- hospitality on a better scale, and 
 saw you safe on to the ferry in the morning. We had arrived 
 at Pembina, had eaten butt'alo stt-ak for supper, had slept in a 
 civilized bed, had porridge for breakfast, followed by imtfalo 
 steaks again, the first helpings of which were taken from the 
 bottom of the liberal ])ile, to give point tt) the woithy master's 
 standing explanation, that the Company's cooks always put 
 the best at the bottom, I suj)i)ose for their own delectation 
 after their master's meal was over. Our worthy host's close 
 
I 
 
 •ly 
 
 19 
 scrutiny of our horscis and cqiiipuient seonierl to \ni satisfue- 
 tory save that ho insisted on his present of" a little (hied hut'- 
 t'aio meat, which he said went far when you met Indians, and 
 on learning that it was my first essay at prairie travel, in'^e<l 
 me to take a youui; Indian part of the way to put us on the 
 ri^ht track. This was a damper, tor the trail on the east hank 
 was in full view, jjoinijf up from the ferry landing, and the line 
 ot the Red River skirting woods, through which it had been 
 cut, could be distinctly seen, and so while middle age experi- 
 ence (m the bank expostulated and advised, youthful ignorance 
 and over-contidence at the horses' heads on the i'avry thanked 
 and assured, till the ferry touithed the opposite bank, up which 
 Hlackie quickly sprang, anxious to be away from his floating 
 footing, which yawed ami jerkeci in the passage across. Alas, 
 when was ever the confidence of tlie young justified as against 
 the expei'ience of their elders ? The tracks, triple marked, 
 were plain enough till the outer limit of the skirting woods was 
 reached, and then they began <liverging like the ribs of a fan, 
 but as they all led through a low savannah, ignorance, to wit, 
 myself, assumed that they would converge again on higher 
 •rround, and so the best marked of them was followed. 
 
 It was noticed that the trail we had chosen was a circuit- 
 ous one, if we were to reach by it the first camping plac<; on 
 the bank of the " Two Rivers," but we supposed that to be 
 due to the necessity of reaching higher ground ; doubts, how- 
 ever, about it wert> set at rest after a couple of hours' travel, 
 by its ending abruptly at the hay stack behind a willow bluff 
 which had concealed it. There was nothing foi' it but to re- 
 turn and essay another track, which brought us to where hay 
 ha<l been cut and carted away ; a third venture having failed, 
 and thi <lay being far spent, we gladly availed ourselves of 
 the services of a Metis boy, who piloted us to where we could 
 see the aspen bluff near the ford of the first river we had to 
 cross. " Experientia docel" generally when too late; and the 
 day ended with tired horses, and only a short part of a day's 
 journey traversed. The two rivers, with their nmddy, miry 
 banks and bottoms, were ei'ossed at dusk, for it is a rule in 
 
 -■>!■ 
 
 - -^-v- - Vf^'Srtf^.f^W^'VW*, 
 
 k 
 
mmtm 
 
 mtm 
 
 20 
 praivie travel always to encamp at tho further side of the 
 stream, that the mornint^'s start may lienunle with dry clothes 
 and fresh horses: and while Bhickie and Biehon are recruit- 
 ini"' their enerijies on the rich jjiass of ungraded savannah 
 land, let nie give a brief account of the character of this old 
 trail from Pembina to Crow Wini;. The low savannah coun. 
 try dotted with willow Itlutt's, such as I have mentioned, and 
 which is drained by the two rivers, extends from Pembina to 
 the Taniarac River crossin<(, about thiity-five miles from Pem- 
 bina ; and the traveller, after fording this, the Middle and 
 Snake Hill rivers, all branches of one stream, enters upon a 
 country ot fine gravel ridges, running in the main north and 
 south, with a growth of aspen willow and bal>am poplar 
 tlanking them, the delicate catkins, bud-^ and leaves of which in 
 the early spring make them look like a long avenue where the 
 landscape gardener has been at work. This extends nearly all 
 the long way from the Snake Hill to the Sand Hill River, 
 where the old giavel ridges of fornier lakes trend off too much 
 to the east, and the trail crosses a high dry praii-ie which is 
 fairly good for travel, but yet is unlike the voyageur's para- 
 dise I have just described, and I m -y as well explain why. 
 The three essentials of prairie travel are wood, water and 
 grass ; and the swamp-Hanked, tree-bordered ridges I havede- 
 .scribed furnished these in their perfection. Ducks and prai- 
 rie chicken constantly Hying up, good encampments anywhere 
 to right oi" left of track, safety from prairie Hres, which can- 
 not run in such a country, and the best of pasturage till the 
 snow falls, for the ponies; while on the other hand the dry level 
 prairie attbrds no safety from the njad rush of the Herce fires 
 its now dried herbage, save the oV)jectionaltle one of starting 
 another to your leeward ; there are long stretches between 
 watering places, wood only on river banks, and no shelter 
 from any preliminary canter which old Boreas may choose to 
 take before he settles down to his winter's pace ; and as it 
 was the 18th of October before we started on our journey, the 
 beautiful Indian summer might or might not last us through 
 our trip. 
 
21 
 
 Level high treeless prairie was to he traversed thence to 
 the Red Lake River and far beyond it till the Wild Rice was 
 reached, and there the country chani^e*!, with heavy bonldeis 
 on the hills and multitudes of* small lakes fringed with sninll 
 oaks; this continued to Detroit Lake, a beautiful sheet of 
 water, n(>w, I believe, a pleasure and health resort, some of 
 its gravel hills being then distinguishable for miles by the 
 high stages bearing the bodies of the dead, from whicli flut- 
 tered piece.s of red and blue cloth ; and near them the remains 
 of food placed for the spirit's early journey to hunting- 
 grounds, which the Ojibways must have thought good indeed 
 if better than near this very spot, which afforded the best an 
 Indian could desire of all the deer and iowl of that beautiful 
 lake distiict ; where every stream teemed with fish, and 
 buffalo once were plentiful low down on the liver which bears 
 their name only three days jouiney away. The trail followed 
 at the edge of the water this beautiful lake foi- nearly two 
 miles and the ponies chose to walk in the shallow water to 
 cool their unshod feet, sorely tiled by our hasty crossing of 
 many leagues of burnt prairie to reach where grass could 
 again be had. We had reached this lake late at night, and 
 already Biackie and Bichon were eating, as if for a wager, of the 
 rushes and rich grass above the sand line on its shore ; when 
 a kettle of tea, a few biscuits and some dried meat being- 
 disposed of, weaiy limbs sought rest. Where should we 
 sleep? Why, what could be better than a bed on this clean 
 white sand, which the last high wind has piled up as if for 
 that special purpose i Hurriedly the cart was drawn over 
 tile highest, finest and softest ridge, and then a bUnket and 
 to sleep. How easily and softly the sand yielded till it made 
 a bed like a plaster cast ; no downy couch equalled it; and 
 yet when morning dawned it was another case of " experientia 
 docet." No, I have since that night slept on the axe-hewn 
 planks of a frontiers-man's floor, on the prairie, in a canoe, on 
 smooth Laurentian rocks, and I give each and all the prefer- 
 ence to soft white sand, no bed more unyielding when it has 
 you in its embrace ; and no wonder my friend and I woke 
 
 i 
 
 •i 
 
 
 ;*!•■ 
 
 'm 
 
 
 t 
 
22 
 
 with a feeling as thouoii we had been kicked all over hv 
 Blnt'kie, and resolved to sleep anywhtiie oi- to sit up all nio^ht, 
 rather than sleep in sand a^^ain. 
 
 Leavino- this lake the country changes a.oain, with fre- 
 quently dense woods of small oaks, basswood nnd elm ; this 
 Ci'iitinues through the low-lving countrv, the Leaf MouTitains 
 lieing well to our left till we reach Hush Lake, the Ottertail 
 River and Ottertail Lake, from there down to the crossing of 
 the Crow Wing River the trail follows the Leaf River, which, 
 first a stream that one could jinnp across, carries waters which 
 reach the ocean at the (Julf of Mexico, a« the Ottertail car- 
 ries waters which reach Hudson's Bay. To call the apex a 
 height of land is a misnomer, for it is one of the softest and ap- 
 parently most low-lying parts of the route, and many a worn- 
 out axle and broken wheel attest the power of its stumps and 
 coulees to mak«' the spring and fall biigades of loaded carts look 
 well to their gearing before entering upon this most dithcult 
 part of the trail. 'J'he crossing of the < 'row Winn etfected, the 
 trail le<l down its easteiii l»ank, heavily wooded with Norwav 
 
 I. ftr 
 
 and White Pine, interspersed with tamarac swamps. Wlu'iv you 
 passed through the tiist of the.se, the roa<l was all that could 
 be desired, the straight stems of these northern palms looking 
 like stately colonna<les, through and l)etween which your 
 hor.ses" hoofs were nuitHed in the leaves (,f last year, but where 
 the tanujrac grows. look out foi trouble, for where unc(»rdu- 
 royed, it is treacherous indee<l. Newly corduroyed, however, 
 with the bark still on the tamarac poles, and these laid straight 
 and close, it is, though bumpy, a suie road for unshod hoofs, 
 an<l snfe enough for the cart, but when hundreds of horse and 
 ox-carts, the former with eight hundivil, the latter with (»ne 
 tlK)Usand ])ounds, have passed over it for some years, then this 
 tamarac highway shews what it can really do in the way of 
 smashing wiieels, tripping U]i beasts of Inu'deii, whetlu'r with 
 cloven o>' solid lio(»fs, and eausing nmcli questiohable language 
 to be used by the dliveivs thereof Replacing a broken pole 
 woidd l»e anywhere easy,l)Ut the dri\'er of llie lirstcart trusts 
 that this will be done b\- tin' next, ;ini| the next, bv the next, 
 
. ,i JiUJ,!l,JJB... 
 
 2:i 
 
 till all have jiassed, a!i(l then all join in the ho))e that the next 
 brigade will really take the matter ni hand. It was about at 
 its worst when we j)assed, but with my companion and myself 
 on opposite side.s to brace up Blackie when he slipped sideways, 
 leaving' the siii'etboted Bichon to pick his own way at a snail's 
 pace on the outer rim of this wretched causeway, we reached 
 the further end of the " lontf corduroy," at the middle of whose 
 three miles some wag had nailed a barrel stave to a tree, on 
 which was a notice written with a red lead pencil " No riding 
 or driving over this bridge faster than a walk. ' 
 
 Crow Wing, a frontier trading village, was reached at last, 
 fifteen days' joiu'iicy for the four hundred miles; and we fared 
 sum|>tuously on fried bacon junl many ti-iangular cuts of 
 apple pie. The remainder of the load, lieing ovi'.i- bridged 
 streams and fen'ics. neeils no spceial mention, Imt ("row Wing 
 warrants some slight notice, for iieai' it was the (Miipp<'wa In- 
 dian agency, and hard by the new residence of " lloh' in the 
 \)ay," then a noted Ojibway chief. This man, uho was the son 
 of a chief, po.ssessed great influence over the various bands of 
 that tribe, whose hunting grounds extcnde<l fur to the east, 
 west antl north, and it had been hard to con\ ince him that 
 thesi' bamls Wi le right in (lis|io.sing of their rich lacn.^trin<• ic- 
 uion where the wild rice iin-w evei-ywhci-e, fish throngrd 
 CN't-ry lake an<l stream, and of wild l»irtl and l»east there was 
 no stint; but when w<'re Indian treaties fair to Ixith contract- 
 ing parties i* lloh> in the Day nnist be cajoh-il; and accord- 
 ingly he hail been, a year ;tr two licfore, taken to Washnigton 
 to see his "(Jreat Father." The (Jreat Father promptly, niter 
 the first inter\iew. turned him over to the Indian Depai-tiueiif , 
 who made hi- slrai'dil athletic li^nre look ridicnloiis in a 
 black bioadcloth siut and tall black silk hat, and, thus array- 
 tid, showed him the circus, the tlu'atre, the dime and othei- 
 museums, the Navy Vaid. and finally seated him in the gal- 
 lery of the Talking Tepee, where, no doubt, he contrasted the 
 orator who was not heard, an<l the as.send)led wisdom wluMlid 
 not listen, with the stattdy dignity and <lecorum of an Imlian 
 Council Kducated half-Indian men, engaged by the (Jovern- 
 
 >^ 
 
24 
 
 ment, incessantly urged the advantage of a civilized occupa- 
 tion of his country, bought for him everything that caught 
 his fancy, heaped up presents for his wives, i)roniised that a 
 white man's house should be built for him and furnished ex- 
 actly as he liked, hinted darkly at the war power of the Great 
 White Chief, and said that while he lived the Great Father 
 would give to him many bags of Mexican dollars yearly : 
 Hole in the Day gave in, shook hands with the President, and 
 came back to persuade his bands that the white chief and he 
 were brothers, and that Red and White were to l)e one in 
 heart. 
 
 P>)i»r ' Hole in the Day "; the resi<lenee stipulation was 
 carried out, his wives living in the kitchen and he, the 
 brother of the Great White Chii'f. received visitors in the 
 large parlor, the walls u\' which were nearly covered by 
 uiirrors, tlu' Hoor furnituiv consisting prinei|ially, it is said, 
 of manv rockiny,' chairs. A few months later he was shot Vtv 
 an Indian of one of the treaty bands, nn whom the truth had 
 dawned that his tribe hud sold their heritage for less than 
 they could ha\e obtaimd by the tra})ping of its furs. 
 
 ('low Wing was the point t(» which from St. Paul the nias- 
 teis of brigades tre(|Uently teamed with wagons a portion 
 lit' their cartloads to save the heavy sand J'oatl down the 
 eastern liank of the Mississipj)i. At ('row Wing the carts 
 wi're finiilly loaded, it being a woi'k of tluaight and care to so 
 aj'|wirtion the eartdoads that one should not cany all the heavy 
 U'oods and another all the light; where, also, the cart coveis 
 of raw beef or bufl'alo hide securely fastened on and the long 
 slow journey connuenced, the money not spent at St. I'aul 
 was generally got ri I oF here in necessaries for the trip of 
 (»vei' a month, and in presents for the loved ones at homi'. 
 
 One ])art ot the c(|uipment of a ninnlu'i* of carts in u 
 brigade was a long an<l strong rope for river ciossings and soft 
 places which a light lia\cllini.'' cart traversed safely with an 
 e.\ti"a spurt on Hlackie or Hichon's jxirt, but which were for- 
 midabh,' obstacles for loaded carts, especially at the steep 
 bank of a slippery and muddy river crossing. In such places 
 
xui — tuii^s:... 
 
 Cl 
 
 25 
 
 the ox, strange to say, was better in the tniry hottoin and the 
 horse the better for the steep bank ; for the cloven hoof 
 parted in the mire, giving a better footing to aid his patient 
 and great strength : M'^hile the horse's hoofs gave him a better 
 hokl on the slippery bank ; both needed aid however when a 
 deep slough was reached or streams of the kind I have men- 
 tioned had to be crossed ; at such places, it not very bad, the 
 rope was attached to each cart as it came up and Kve or six 
 of the men at the further end aided the struggling ox or 
 horse just at the right moment; but when the bog or slough 
 was very bad indeed, then the animals were taken out to find 
 their own way over, while the whole force of bjigade men 
 pulled the loadecl cart through. 
 
 Many a thousand tons ot freight hav(: been carried over 
 this road, and a brigade freipiently meant hundre<ls of carts : 
 (►n the fall trip tliey generally went down light, the buffalo 
 robe catch having been carried in closely C(tmpressed bales of 
 ten robes each by the spring brigades, the arrival of whichNin 
 St. Paul was an event not only to the fur-buyers, but to the 
 people of the place, who lined the side- walks as tlje long train 
 of scjueaking, fui'-laden carts passed through, and Kn^lish 
 half-crowns and .sovereigns were to be had at almost any of 
 the shops, all of which eagerly sought the Mvd River trade. 
 
 It is time howexir that T came back to our own ex)>ei- 
 iences of travel, some of which were amusing afterwards, but 
 very puzzling and annoying at the timr. One of the.se was 
 the crossing of th( lve»l Lake, the largest river on the route. 
 A winding track through large elm tnn's had brought us 
 down to its brink, and here we could see tlu' deejt tracks ol' 
 loaded carts stjaight over the gravel shore and into the water; 
 directly opposite were similar tracks on the other side. It 
 s(.'emed all right, though the ford was at a place where the 
 watei- ran very swiftly indeed. Pursuing our usual ))lan. 
 Iiich(»n with the saddle tried the ford, but the water whs soon 
 above his breast. He was brought back, and the tracks 
 troinir ill and connng out closelv inspected ai'ain to see if it 
 was straight across. Tried on foot with a long pole to keep 
 
 •.r 
 ♦7 
 
 Tr-i 
 
 ^ 
 
 U 
 
 
2« 
 
 Iroin IjL'iiig hwept oH* my feet in the rapid, the water was 
 soon breast high. What could be the matter ? Surely where 
 loaded carts could go so shortly ago we might easily pass ; 
 and there had beeu no late rains to swell the river. Search- 
 ing back to the top of the bank we could tind no diverging 
 track to another part of the river, and yet it was clearly a 
 case (»f swim to cross it here. Tired with the effort, the horses 
 were allowed to graze, and tea was made, after which the 
 essay was made to cross the river on f(jot at a point further 
 up, where broken water seemed to show shallowness, and it was 
 while essavin*; this that I found the secret of the ford. The 
 carts had indeed entered strai<;ht into the water at the foot of 
 the slt»j)ii)g bank we had descended, but, once in, they had 
 tiirnel up-stream to make the crossing in a horse shoe 
 fashion which biought them out directly on the opposite 
 side, where again a sloping bank foimed the best path for 
 ascent and descent. 
 
 Many ujinor difficulties at other places were the rewards 
 of inexperience, and, i»leusant is the trip had U^en, it was a 
 relief when it was over, the ponitis placed in careful hands 
 for the winter, the cart and harness stowed away, and St 
 Paul was reached, early in November, long after Dr. Anderson. 
 Bishop of Rupert's Land, had reached the City by the last 
 Red River boat and stage, and had met while there Governor, 
 then Senator, Seward, an interesting account of which meet- 
 ing WHS afterwards given by Honorable J. W. Taylor to the 
 St. Paul Pre.ss, as follows :— 
 
 " Allow me to present to the readers of the Press a relic 
 of Seward's visit to St. Paul in Sept., IHfU), which I have 
 fyled with the archives of the Hist*)rical Society. It is an 
 addn.'ss of David Anderson, Bishop of the Chuich of England, 
 Rupert's Land, to Wm. H. Seward, then Senator, and now 
 Secretary of State. The meetiiii; of the two men ha<l been 
 arranged by nnitual friends — it occnred at Pi o'clock m., of 
 September IS, 1800, in the loom of the Minnesota Historical 
 Society. The Bishop adopted the English custoni on such 
 occasions, and read his remarks from a manuscript; Seward's 
 
 Wtf"' 
 
 "^■w 
 
1 
 
 i.:< 
 
 a 
 
 is 
 
 27 
 response was less premeditated. I copy from the autograpli 
 address of his " Rever/end Lordship." 
 " Governor Seward : 
 
 It is with no little pleasure that I emhrace the opportunity 
 of being presented to you on this occasion. 
 
 From the position which I occupy in the Diocese of Rup- 
 ert's Land, I cannot but feel a deep and growing interest in 
 the welfare of the United States, and more especially in that 
 of Minnesota, which immediately adjoins our >wn territory. 
 Whatever tends to advance our prosperity will at the same 
 time, I am convinced, advance also your own, and I tru.st that 
 the bonds which unite us together will he drawn clo.sei' year 
 by year. 
 
 The vi.sit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to the 
 possessions of the British Crown on this continent, and his 
 approaching visit to the United States, may be hailed as an 
 event which is calculated to cement most happily the union 
 betwe«m the two countries. On the establishment and con- 
 tinuance of such peaceful relations the progress of civili- 
 zation throujjh the world and the extension of the Redeem- 
 er's kingdom would materially depend. 
 
 I would grutefully acknowledge the many great benefits 
 already received from your Government at our own distant 
 land. Much has been done (luring the past eleven years, of 
 which alone I can speak, to diminish the distance which .sepa- 
 rates us from the home of our fathers. On my first arrival 
 thrice only a year could we expect to hear from England. 
 We are now indebted to yourselves for a double mail each 
 month. For this, in the nauje of every member of our com- 
 numity, I would express our deep and lasting gratitude. 
 
 We would look Ix^yond this to the opening, at no very re- 
 mote period, of a highway towards the western .sea. I trust 
 that, both in your own possessions and in the British terri- 
 tory, a route towards the Pacific may ere long be completed 
 and a direct communication thus optaied from sea to sea. In 
 such eiitiM'prises 1 would at the present time ask you to use 
 whatever weight of infiuence you may possess in yonr own 
 
 
 m 
 
 './iiL, 
 
 « 
 
 
28 
 
 Legislature, and I would in return assure you that any such 
 efforts would meet with the earnest and hearty co-operation 
 of those over whom the Providence of God has placed me. 
 
 In conclusion, I would only pray that the spirit of har- 
 monj' an<l peace may ever exist between Britain and the 
 United States, and with tlio continuance of such peace I would 
 anticipate a bright and blessed spread of the Gospel of Peace 
 among the nations of the earth." 
 
 With the last sentence, uttered in the excellent prelate'r) 
 most impressive manner, all eyes turned upon the .statesman 
 of New York. His first words of response startled the ex- 
 pectant circle, 
 
 " Bishop," he said, " two hundred years ago there was an 
 irrepressible conflict in F^ngland. One party contended foi a 
 Church without a Bishop and a State without a King; anoth- 
 er party was certain that there could be no Church without a 
 Bishop, and no well ordered State without a King." 
 
 A pause. The Bishop of Rupert's Land was not comfort- 
 able. An uneasy suspense of breath ran around the room. 
 So did the grey eye of the speaker. He was evidently in the 
 humor which His Grace of Newcastle afterwards failed so sio- 
 nully to appreciate. We were soon relieved, however. The 
 Senator resumed : 
 
 "This conflict of opinion, with its immediate issues of civil 
 war, largely contributed to the emigration of Englishmen to 
 this continent, and the organization of diverse communities. 
 With successive generations, the bitterness of the seventeenth 
 century has been succeeded by new relations, by peace and 
 good will, until w^e have, on this occasion, an inter(»sting proof 
 that the remote settlements of Selkii'k and Rupert's Land res- 
 pond to the ' spirit of harmony ' which is alike the cause and 
 effect of modern civilization." 
 
 His Lordships muscles relaxed. A half smile succeeded 
 among the auditors, the speaker alone I'etaining an imperturb- 
 able (expression of gi-avity. In a few words, fitly cliosen but 
 unluckily not presei-ved by a reporter, the Senator cordially 
 reciprocated the sentiments of Dr. Anderson, closing the for- 
 
*i 
 
 29 
 malities of the interview hy the Anglo-Saxon ceremony of 
 shaking hands. The proceed ngs were of " admirable length,'' 
 certainly not exceeding fifteen mmutes ; and yet, as 1 recall 
 them, I have seldom witnessed a more striking tableau vivant. 
 
 Two hours later, from the steps of the Capitol, Seward ad- 
 dressed the citizens of Minnesota in a speech which to this 
 day attracts more attention on both continents than any 
 single discourse of his life. How constantly in the London 
 press do we hear the changes rung on these memorable 
 sentiments ? 
 
 " I can stand here and look far into the North- West, and 
 see the Russian as he busily occupies himself in establishing 
 sea-ports and towns and fortifications, as outposts of the Em- 
 pire of St. Petersburg, and I can say " go on ; build up your 
 out-posts to the Arctic Ocean ; they will yet become the out- 
 posts of my own country, to extend the civilization of my 
 own country, to extend the civilization of the United States 
 in the North- West." So I look upon Prince Rupert's Land 
 and Canada, and see how an ingenious people and a capable 
 and enlightened government arc occupied with bridging rivers 
 and building railroads to develope, organize, create and pre- 
 serve the British Provinces of the North, by the (Ireat Lakes, 
 the St. Lawrence, and around the shores of Hudson's Bay • 
 and I am able to .say " it is very well ; you are building excel- 
 lent .states, to be hereafter admitted into the American 
 Union." 
 
 I was in Washington between the date of this and anothei- 
 .speech of his to which I shall presently refer, and while yet 
 Mr. Seward, then »Secretary of State, l)elieved in his pre- 
 diction of IS()(), and was honored by an introduction to the 
 great statesman, who was then busy with his scheme for the 
 purchase of Alaska. The angry looking scar of a dirk wound 
 he had received in the neck from a would-be assa.ssin was 
 still fre.sh ; but he had many (juestions to ask about this 
 country, and after shewing me an Alaskan kyack, spear, bone 
 implements, and many curiosities, recently sent to him, he 
 stood with me bef<)re a large map of the continent and said 
 
 li 
 
 
 I 
 
 § 
 
 -^■1 
 
30 
 
 pointing to Alaska : — " We are to make this {)art of the 
 United States ; and now, don't you think, my dear sir, that it 
 would be for the interest of all, if that which intervenes 
 should come in too V 
 
 He seemed disappointed at my answer ; for already the 
 resources of our great North- West were beginning to be 
 known to the statesmen at Washington ; and when, during 
 the same visit, I was asked to give some facts regarding it 
 before the standing (Committee on Railways, then discussing 
 the charter asked for the Northern Pacific line, I found a full 
 appreciation of the possible benefits to accrue from a trade 
 from here to different parts of the projected line. 
 
 Seward was no friend to England or to Canada ; but he 
 was truthful enough to declare his error in the forecast he 
 had made of our political future from the Capitol steps at 
 St. Paul in 18G0, in a memorable speech he afterwards made. 
 He had indeed obtained Alaska by purchase, but he had had 
 time to reflect on the bitter lessons of the v/ar for the Union 
 of North and South, the failure of which meant the disruption 
 of East and West as well ; and he frankly acknowledged 
 his early pro[)hetic error in these words : 
 
 " Hitherto, in common with most of my countrymen," he 
 said, " I have thought Canada a mere strip, lying north of the 
 United States, easily detachable frou) the parent state, but in- 
 capable of sustaining itself, and therefore ultimately, nay, 
 right soon, to be taken by the Federal Union, without materi- 
 ally changing or affecting its own condition or development. 
 I have dropped the opini()n as a nati(mal conceit. I see in 
 British North America, stretching as it does across the conti- 
 nent, from the shores of Labrador and Newfoundland to the 
 Pacific, and occupying a consider;\ble belt of the temperate 
 zone, traversed e(|ual]y 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 i^ulf, a retrion L'rand 
 enough for the seat of an Knipire. in its wheat fields in the 
 west, its broad ranges of cliase at the north, its itHJxhanstibie 
 lumber lands, the most extensive; now remaining on the globe ; 
 
it 
 
 its invaluable fisheries and its undisturl)etl mineral wealth. 
 I find its inhabitants vigorous, hardy, energetic, perfected by 
 religious and British constitutional liberty. I find them jea- 
 lous of the United States and uf Great Britain, as they ought 
 to be ; and therefore, when I look at their extent and resour- 
 ce's, I know they can neither be conquered by the former nor 
 permanently held by the latter. They will be indejiendent as 
 they are already self-maintaining. They v/ill be a Russia to 
 the United States, which to them will be France and Eng- 
 land." 
 
 Statesmen are but human ; and the great Secretary was 
 mistaken again. Year by year, it is true, we know more 
 and more of our almost inexhaust'l)le riches of river and lake, 
 forest and mine, and now that our neiy^hbor's auricultural 
 land (without irrigation) has been exhausted, we more and 
 more appreciate the fact that Canada, not the Unite* 1 States, 
 possesses the great cereal belt of the continent. We extol 
 his prescience as a political economist in the matter of the 
 develo])ment of our great re.souices, hut when we look about 
 for those who wish severance from Grt^at Britian and tind 
 them only in the ct)luunis of foreign newspapers, we ((uestion 
 his political prophecy, and iemend)ering the giant strides our 
 Confederation has nmde in nmterial progress, and the welfan^ 
 and happiness of our people, we tharik Cod that we aie Cana- 
 dians and citizens of an Empire ten times greater than that 
 which the mental vision of Seward saw from the steps of the 
 Minnesota eapitol in i860. His national end)lem is the Eagle 
 and its swift flight typifies their marvellous advanoeinent ; 
 ours, the Beaver, that wise, cautious buildei-, typifying our 
 slower, safer progiess ; and who shall say that ours is not the 
 better speed whicli stays to .solve problems, such as the Indian 
 one, the neglect of which has borne such bitter fruits to our 
 more speedy southern neighbors ^ And yet, have Canadians 
 any leason to be considered laggai'ds when they have, in a 
 little over a (juai'ter of a century of national life, linked Pro- 
 vince to Province, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with bands 
 of .steel, made the hea<l of Lak(» Superior a seaport, solved the 
 
 si:- 
 
32 , 
 
 aboriginal problem with a success that no nation of the Old 
 or New World has ever achieved, whitened every sea with 
 the sails of Canadian ships, linked Australia, the Indies and 
 the Empires of the East with our western harbors, as before 
 we had linked our eastern seaboard cities with western Europe, 
 created a trade almost double, in proportion to population, of 
 that of the United States, touched only as yet the southern , 
 border of our vast arable and pastoral reserve, content to move 
 slowly while we are perfecting the union of Provinces to each 
 other, and our joint position in the Empire, in a way anJ. with 
 a success that will enable the distinguished nobleman whom 
 the Queen has now chosen to represent her in her Canadian 
 Dominion to bear to her at the close of his term of office an 
 assurance similar to that given by a distinguished predeces- 
 sor. Lord Dufferin, who said, on leaving us : 
 
 " When I resign the temporary Vice-royalty with which I 
 have been invested, into the hands of my Sovereign, I shall be 
 able to assure her that not a leaf has fallen from her maple 
 chaplet, that the lustre of no jewel in her trans-atlantic dia- 
 dem has been dimmed." 
 
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