IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V / o / V W- 'Q^ i< Va fA 1.0 I.I 1.25 :mm iiim 1.6 1.4 V] <^ /a 'el e. ^A VI o /y // / M Photographic Sciences Corpomtion f^ \ ^6X 30X J 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X ails du idifier une nage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library, Geological Survey of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grdce d la gdn6rosit6 de: Bibliothdque, Commission Giologique du P—iada Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire film^, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. 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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film^s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film^ d partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. irrata to pelure, n d n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ■ Canadian Roclaj Mountains. 285 feiTod without perceiving that the history of ocean and con- tinent \H an example of progressive design, quite as mach as that of living beings. Nor can we fail to see that, while in some important directions we have penetrated the great secret of nature, in reference to the general plan and struc- ture of the earth and its waters, and the changes through which they have passed, we have still very much to learn, and perhaps quite as much to unlearn, and that the future holds out to us and to our successors higher, grander, and clearer conceptions than those to which we have yet attained. The vastness and the might of ocean and the manner in which it cherishes the feeblest and most fragile beings, alike speak to us of Him who holds it in the hollow of His hand, and gave to it of old, its boundaries and its laws; but its teach- ing ascemls to a higlier tone when we consider its origin and history, and the manner in which it has been made to build up continents and mountain-chains, and, at the same time, to nourish and sustain the teeming life of sea and land. On the Canadian IIocky Mountains, with special REFERENCE TO THAT PaRT OF THE EaNGE BETWEEN THE FORTY-NINTH PARALLEL AND THE Head -WATERS OF THE Red Deer Eiver.^ By George M. Dawson, D.S., F.G.S., A.R.S.M., Assistant Director of the Geological Survey of Canada. The term Rocky Mountains is frequently applied in a loose way to the whole mountain region bordering the west coast of North America, which is more appropri- ately — in the absence of any other general name — denoted as the Cordillera belt, and includes a number of mountain systems and ranges which on the 40th parallel have an aggregate breadth of about one thousand miles. Nearly ' Read before Section C, British Association, Birmingham Meet- ing, 1886. ^««MV 286 Canadian Record of Science. ^i coincident, howevei', with the hititiide of the head-waters of the Missouri, a change occurs in tlio character of this Cordillera region. It hocoraes comparatively narrow, and runs to the 5<)th parallel or beyond, with an average width of about four hundred miles only. This narrower portion of the (Virdillera comprises the greater part of the Province of liritish Columbia, and consists of four main ranges, (n* more correctly speaking, systems of moun- tains, each composed of a number of constituent ranges. These mountain systems are, from east to west, (1) The Eocky Mountains proper. (2) Mountains which may be classed together as the Gold Eanges. (3) The system of Coast Ranges sometimes improperly regarded as a continu- ation of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington Territory. (4) A mountain system which in its un- submerged parts constitutes Vancouver and the Queen Charlotte Islands. This last is here actually the bordering range of the continent, as beyond it, after passing across a submarine plateau of inconsiderable width, the bottom shelves v'cry rapidly down to the abyssal depths of the Pacific. The Tertiary coast ranges of the south are here entirely wanting. Between the second and third of the above mountain systems is the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, with an average width of about one hundred miles, a mean elevation of about 8500 feet juvl peculiar character and climate. The present paper refers more particularly to a portion of the Rocky Mountains proper. This system of mountains has, between the 41Hh and HSrd parallels, a mean breadth of about fifty miles, which, in the vicinity of the Peace River, decreases to iovij miles, the general altitude of the i-ange, as well as that of its supporting plateau, at the same time becoming less. Beyond the Peace River region, these mountains are known only in the most general and unsatisfactory way. The portion of the Rocky Mountains which has been explored, is bordered to the eastward by the Great Plains, which break into a se- ries of foot-hills along its base, and to the westward by a remarkably straight and definite valley which is occupied Canadian Rocky Mountain. 287 by portions of the Coluiubia, Kootanio and other ri\ ^rs, and is known to preserve its general direction and char- acter for over six hundi-ed miles. Since the caily j)art of the century, the trade of the great fur companies has crossed the EocUy ^Jountains chietiy by the Athabasca and Peace Kiver Passes, the tirst complete traverse of the continent having, in fact, been accomplished by the latter route by that most adventurous of travellers Sir Alexander MacKenzie, thirteen yeai's before the same feat was performed further south by the much advertised Lewis and Clark expedition. Posts once established to the west, these routes became familiar to the traders and voyageurs of the Com])anies, who in their modest records speak with as much inditlerence of starting fiom the mouth of the Columbia or Vancouver Island for Montreal — a Journey occui)3'ing, under the mostfavoui-able circumstances, almost an entire season — as might (he modern ti-aveller who makes the traverse by rail in a few days. With the exception, however, of the geogra})lior David Thompson, these adventurers gave little or no information as to the geogi'aphy of the mountains, which were mapped for them only in days' JourneyH, and till the date of the exploitations carried out under Captain Palliser in this region in 1858 and 1859, nothing was known in detail of the features of the Kocky .Mountain Eange within the British Possessions. At the inception of explorations for the (-anadian Pacitic Ilailw.ay, Palliser's map was still the only one on which any reliance could be placed, and it applied merely to that portion of the range south of the Athabasca Pass. During the progress of the railway explorations a number of passes were examined niore oi- less in detail, including in fact all those which appeared likely to be of service, between the International lioundary on the 4nth and the Peace River Pass on the SiJth degree of latitude, and the general fact was developed that the gaps became lower towai-d the north, the Pence Eiver, where it breaks across the range, being, in fact, 2000 feet only above the sea-level. Directness of I'oute and other considerations, however, led finally to the adoption of the Kickii.g Horse Pass, by which the 288 Canadian Record of Science. wutorshed Ih croMsied at an elevation of 5300 feet. Had it been anticipated by J)r-. lloctoi', who when attached to Palliser'ssexpedition discovered and named this pasH, that it would have been ti-avei-Hod b}'' a railway, he might pos- sibly have endeavored to bestow on it some more eupho- nious name. In 1874, I examined the South Kootanie Pass in con- nection with H. M. North American Boundary Commission, and in ISS,} and 1884 that portion of the Eocky Mountains between the pai'allels of 49° and 51° 30', was explored and mapped in some detail by myself and assistants, in connec- tion with the work of the Canadian Geological Survey. Access to this, the southern portion of the Rocky Moun- tains in Canadian teri-itory, being now rendered easy by the completion of the railway, its mineral and other resources are receiving attention, and the magnificent alpine scenery which it presents is attracting the notice of tourists and travellers generally. This portion of the mountains, including a length of about one hundred and seventy-five miles, measured along the axis of the range, may be taken as a type of that which is not yet so well known, and some of the main results of the reconnaissance work so far accomplished are here presented. With certain local exceptions, the geological structure of these mountains is as yet very imperfectly known. In a report of the Geological Survey, shortly to be issued, it is intended to publish such detail as has been worked out. It will here be necessary only to give the main facts, which form the structural basis of the actual surface features. The old crystalline rocks form no part of the Rocky Moun- tains, either in the district here specially mentioned or northward as far as the Peace River. The lowest rocks here represented are quartzites, slates and shales more or less indurated, with occasionally true schists of a subcrystal- line character, forming a series several thousand feet in thickness and referable, so far as the scanty fossil evidence shows, to the Cambrian. Overlying these, with no very marked unconformity, is a great limestone series of Devon- ian and Carboniferous age, which occasionally holds massive Canadian Rorhj Mountain!^. 280 «f ' qunrtziteg, and may provo, in tho western part of the range, to pass clown into Silurian or Camhro-Silurian. Triasnic or Permo-Triassic renrtionor the Ibldod moun- tain I'Ogion, it has charattcrs of its own. Tliis (lislrict presents lon;^ i'iia-Koolanic Valle}' is about 2450 feet. It is in conse([uence of this dilferonce that tho protilos of the various passes show sudden, stce]) descents to the west, and tho streams flowing westward are also, as a rule, more actively engaged in erosion. Tho abrupt dip from the watershed, on the west side, was the greatest obstacle in the selection of a pi*acticablo railway route, and '-onstituted the most formidable engineering difficulty in the pass actually adopted. The general trend of this poi'tion of the mountains has already been given as N. N. W. — S. S. E., but when more closely examined it is found actually to inciudo three subor- dinate directions. That portion of tho range which ex- tends on the east side from the forty-ninth parallel, to the South Fork of the Old Man Jliver, has a general bearing of N. 35° W. Thence northward to the Highw^ood River, the general trend is about N.12° \Y., after which, tho bear- ing again becomes about N. 85° W., and so continues to beyond the lied Deer River. Tho portion of the range which I'uns nearly north and south, is consider-ably wider than the rest ( l)eing about sixty miles in width ) and includes a remark-able scries of infolds of Cretaceous rocks. The constituent ranges and I'idges of both tho mountains anil foot-hills conform throughout very markedly, to tho directions above given ; and while tho three trends are most clearly shown by the outer, eastern range, they ai-o scared} less evident on the westoi-n itordor. The least regular, and most tumultuous portion of this mountain region is that in the vicinity of the forty-ninth ])arallel. In common with most mountain ranges (and here specially marked, in conse([uenco of the regular parallel folding of the rocks) the ruling features are pai-allel ridges and valleys, crossed nearly at right angles by a 83'stem of transverse breaks. The causd of those cross valleys is not J i 2!^"2 Canadian Record of Science. veiy apparent from a cross valleys, and it is possihle that they constituted an ori^dnal drainage system for the axis of elevation of the mountains, at a time anteriorto that at which the longitudinal valleys liccame deeply excavated, and that sonieof them, hydrawingto themselves the waters of a numher of the longitudinal streams, liave s "cceedod in maintaining their position as main waterway's to the pi-csent time. The great permanence of these main, transverse drainage valleys is shown by the fact that the heights of land between them, in the mountains, are often equal in altitude to that of the main watershed. In no case, however, in the region now described, does such a crt)ss valley preserve its characters so definitely across the entii-e range as to form throughout a direct pass, or practicable I'oute oi' travel, though a near a])proach to this occurs in theNorth-Kootaiue Pass. The routes offering the greatest facility for crossing the mountains, generally follow zig-zag courses, partly along the longitudinal valleys, and seeking the lowest points at which to cross the intervening mountain ridges. In conse- quence of this, the lengths of the various transverse passes are often considerably greater than the actual width of the mountains. The tullowing list enumerates the passes known in this part of the range, with the length of each along the direction of the trail, from tbe eastern to the western base of the mountains. The altitude of each at the watershed oi- main summit is given in the second column. Miles. Elevation of watershed. 1. South Kootanio or Boundary Pass, (J(» 7,100 2. North Kootanic Pa.ss, 48 (1,750 3. Crow Nest Pass 56 4,830 4. North Pork Pass (1) 46 6,773 t i' - *i '( Camuliaa Rocky Mouutains. 208 Mile«. ••'l«vation of T). Kaiiiiiiaskis I'ass S5 (about) (). 2(10 (1. While Mau'H Pass (2) 7<» or roui^ii for liorses. Most of the passes above enumerated cross subsidiary sun\]nits of some heigat west of tlie nuiin watershed. The South and Xorth ivootanie Passes have long been in re<:;u- lar use by the [ndians, and both these, after descending into the Flathead N'alley, in the centre of the mountain region, cross a second high "'divide" between this river and the Kootanie Valley. The Crow Nest Pass was little used by the Indians cnving to the thick forest ])revailing along ])arts of it, but was some years ago choj)ped out, and rough bridges thrown across a couple of streams, to pro- vide a route foi' taking horses and cattle eastward across the range. The North Fork Pass was not kr- \vn, except b}' Indians, till crossed by m\self in ISS-I. The Kananaskis Pass was traversed by Captain i'alliscr in LSrjS, and has been much used by the Indians. The Wiiite Man's J'a.ss is probably that taken by a party ot" emigrants, spoki'ii of by Sir George Simpson, in I8il. Sir (ieoi-ge Simpson him- self, in the same year, crossed the mountains by the pass to which bis name is now attached. The Vermilion I'ass 1. Measured from the Elk Kivor ("rdssint; in ii stniiirht line to the Kootanie VtiUey ; the western continuation of this [uiss not having been explored, '1. Measured up the J?ow Iviver valley on the east, :ind to the west crossing the Brisco Kange by Sinclair I'ass. 3. ]\b^asured uj) the liow Valley on the east and across the Brisco Kange in a direct line by a reported pass. 4. The eastern and western ends of this pass are identical w ith the last. 5. By the railway line 111 miles. \ 204 Canadian Record of Science. has long hccii a inucli travclkHl Indian loiitt', ami lakes its name li'oni copious clialyln'aie sprinj^s, wliich deposit lar«:;c' (|uantities of ochre. The Kicking- Horse Pass was little known and scarcely used hy (he Indians, pi'ohahly on account of ihe thickness of I he wootls and rough charactei' of parts of tiic valley fui- horses. Aliout fifty miles north of the last nanictl ]»ass is the llow>c Pass, and thence to the Atl hasca Pass, a fui'ther distance of sixty-three miles, no practicahle route is known across tlic axis of the range. In IKS-l 1 K'arncd tVoni the Stoney Indians that a hunting party, having heard reports of ahundance of game in the region, had during the summei- trieil every valley hetwoen the Athahasca and Howse Passes, hut h;id heen unahle to get their hm-ses over, heing repulsed either by impassibli' rocky mountains or hy glaciers and snow-ficlds which tilled the intervening valleys. It is in this pai't of the range that Mounts Brown and Murchison occur, with i-eputed altitudes of 16,000 and l.'{,500 feet respectively, and Mount Hookci', also reported to be very lotty. This is pi'obahly the culminating i-egion of the i-ange, but as yet we have no accurate or detailed knowledge of it. In the region here particularly described, Mount Lefroy (of Hector), with an altitude of ll,(Jr)S feet above the sea, ap))ear to be the highest peak, but Assiniboine Mountain, the height of which, as seen from a considerable distance, I estimated at 11,500 feet, may prove to bo higher. A number of tlu^ mountains, however, are known to exceed 10,000 feet in elevation, and whole ranges and groups of peakn surpass 8000 feet. Considerable as such elevations arc, the height of the adjacent plains and the yet greater altitudes of the valleys within the lange, reduces the apparent dimensions of the mountains, which seldom rise much moi'o than about 5000 feet above the point of view. Though thus lacking in the impressive magnitude chai-acteristic of some other mountain ranges, the scenejy has a character of its own, and what it may want in actual size is compensated by its extreme rugged- ness and intinite variety, its massive, broken escarpments and bare clitls which rise often from valleys densely filled with primaeval forest. f » Canadian Rockij Mountains. 295 mm The contrasi in respect to form is veiy inarUed, us lietween tlie I^)cl:h not veiy lofty, limestone |)eaks — a char- acter which the o|)|)osil(^ ranges only begin to assume toward theii" axis, rising at tirst from the valley in long and rounded slopes thickly covered with forest. The Columliia-Kootanie Valley has already been referred to as an orographic teature of the tirst importance. Its general featui'i's are those of a strike-valley cut out along the outcropping edgi's of the massive eastward-dipping limestone formation. Its width, howevei", is much greater than that of other similaily situated valleys of the region, avei-aging about five miles ia the length of 1S5 miles between the forty-ninth parallel and mouth of the Kicking Jlorse Eiver. (Jircumstances, which need not here bo detailed, tend to show that the river which excavated this valley originally flowed southward, throughout its whole length, that during the glacial period it became dee])ly tilled with moraine matter and tei-raced drift, and that subsequently a southward-flowing rivi-r again occu])ievl it. At a still later period, iiowevei', partly as an etl'ect of the blocking of the valley by debris brought down by the Kootanie at the ])oint at wlii* h that river enters ii, but probably also in pai-t as a consequence of a relative decrease in elevation to the north, tlu> piesent remarkable watei-- parting was fortned. The ('olumbia now rises in two large lakes in this great valley, and flows northwai'd with a com- paratively sluggish current, while the Kootanie — already a large river — enters the valley at right angles, at a short distance from the head of the upper lake, from which it is separated by a narrow neck of gravelly terrace-flat, anil flows rapidly southward. On Wild llorse Creek, a tributaiy of the ivootanie, placer gold mining has been cai-ried on tor about twenty years and the camp is still a moderately [)rodui'tive one. Otlnu" streams ti-ibutary to th(^ Columbia-Kootanie Valley are known to I 206 Canadian Record of Science. yield alluvial .i^old, and additional disco vories are probable. No yold has yet been found on the eastern slopes of the lani^e, but here the infolded rocks of the Kootanie (Greta ceous) series contain numerous seams of coal, some of which are of excellent quality. The coal is generally bituminous, but in the (Cascade and Bow River basin becomes an an- thracite, and mining operations are here already in pi'O- gress on the line of the railway. Copper ores and galena are also known to occur in somewhat im]»ortant dc[)OsitM, and in lS8-i, we discovered, on a tril)Utary of the Ikniverfbot, in veins in an extensive intrusion of nepheline-syenitc, a very beautiful blue sodalite which may prove of value for ornamental purposes. Throughout the whole of this portion of the Eocky Moun- tains, large patches of perennial snow are frecpiently met with at elevations sui-passing 0000 feet, and in sheltered localities, even at lesser heights. In the high mountains near the i'orty-ninth parallel, masses of hard snow and ice exist which appear to have a certain amount of proper motion and might be denominated glaciers, but further north, true glaciers, with all the well known characters of those of the Alps and other high mountain regions, occur. Such glaciers may be seen on the North Branch of the Kicking Jlorsc, at the head-waters of the Rod Deer, and elsewhere, and these are fed by snow-tields, the areas of which, though not accurately known, must be, in a num- l)er of cases, very considerable. Above a height of 0000 feet, snow falls more or less frequently 'n every month in the year, and about the iirst of Octoboi-, it may be expected to occur even in the lower valleys within the mountain region. Jn respect to the total amount of ])recij)itation, the cir- cumstances Jitler remarkably in the diiferent portions of tliis comparatively limited tract of mountains, being quite small in the '^•^lumbia-Kootanie Valley, heavy on the adja- cent western slopes of the range, and again inconsiderable on the eastern slopes. The position of the Columbia- ivootanie Valley, with reference to the prevailing westerly air currents, in the lee of the Selkirk and PurcoU Ranges, ^» I " *!• k Canadian Rocki/ Mountains. 291 *(* ox])liiin8 its dry climate. Meeting the western slopes of tlie Rocky Mountains, the air is still Hufficiontly moist to afford the relatively abundant precipitation of that region; but on passing still further eastward, across the summit elevations, the conditions are unfavourable to farther rain- fall. Superimposed, however, on these main features, is a tendency to greater rainfall toward the north, which is specially noticeable — whether from a lessened elevation in the mountain barriers to the west, or other causes — in com- paring the conditions in d liferent parts of the Columbia- Jvootanie Valley. The total amount of j)recipitation is evidently least in that part of this valley near the forty- ninth parallel, which is known as the Tobacco Plains. .Much of the surface is there open, covered with bunch- grass and dotted with open groves of yellow pine {Pinus 2)onderosa), interspersed with the western larch {Larix occi- dentalis) and Douglas fir (Fseudot.^iiga Dowj/asii), while the herbaceous plants are of a drought-loving character. North- Avard in the valley those gradually disappear, the yellow pine and western larch cease abruptly at the head of the Upper (*olumbia Lake, and the black pii.o (Pinus Mur- rayana) and Engelmann's Spi'uce (Picea Engelmanni) form the chief part of the forest, which becomes relatively dense. Such small efforts at cultivation as have been made, prove that irrigation is necessary for the successful growth of crops in all the southern part of this valley. In the lower parts of the eastern foot-hills and the larger valleys in the castei-n part of the range, the djy conditions of the Columbia-Kootanio Valley are again to some extent repeated; and even within the range, rather extensive patches of dry prairie and slopes clothed with bunch-grass are found in the mouths of the depressions leading to the passes. The open, })rairie character of the southern foot-hills has already been alluded to. Neither the western larch nor the yellow pine recur on the eastern slopes of the mountains, and the Douglas fir, though abundant in the foot-hills, does not extend within the mountains beyond the larger valleys. The tri'e most characteristic of the valleys of the western 20 298 Canadian Record of iScimce. woll-watered slopes, though not abundant in this part of the Columbia-Kootanio Valley, is the western "cedai*" or arbor-vitie {Thwja cjiganiea). Its absence in the eastern valleys is probably due to the want of a sufficiently moist atmosphere rather than to the somewhai more rigorous climate. Lyall's laich ^Larix Lyallii) forms an open fringe along the upper limit of forest growth in these moun- tains, or at about 7000 feet, above which arboreal vege- tation is scarcely observed. When the leaves of this little larch become yellow, in September, its zone of growth may often be traced, from a distance, with the regularity of a contour-line. Leaving out of consideration the arbor-vitae, which, as before stated, at!'ects a peculiar station, together with other trees of rarer occurrence, the common conifers may be arranged in a regular series from those tolerant of the most alpine conditions to those which re<|uireahigh degree of summer heat combined with a dry atmosphere, as follows : — Larix Lyallii. Strictly alpine. Abies mbalpina. Alpine and sub-alpine and extending to high and cool valleys on both slopes. Picea Engelmanii. Sub-alpine and extending downward wherever the soil is sutficiently moist, on both slopes. Pseudotsuga Douglasii. Lower valleys on both slopes. Larix occidentalis. Base of Mountains on west slope only. Pinus ponder osa. Base of mountains on west slope only. Pj'of Macoun has made extensive collections of plants in the mountains Jidjacent to the railway line, and it may be of interest from a botanical point of view to note his observation that a number of mountain plants obtained by myself in the southern part of the region, appear to reach their northern limit there, and do not recur even in the high mountains in the vicinity of the Bow and Kicking Horse valleys. This circumstance is doubtless in connection with the partial break in the continuity of the higher ranges about the head-waters of the Old Man Elver, and the species wanting arc probably those which requii-e relatively dry as well as alpine conditions. tUtmmlKr Canadian Rocky Mountains 299 Tho Indians luinting on the wostorn slopes of this part of the mountains are the Kootanies, (^Kootcnuha or upper Kootanies) with their lieach^uartoi-s in the valley of the same name, together with a small colony of the Shuswap Indians of tlie Selish stock, with a villai^e near tho Coli'.'nbia Lakes and regarded as intrudei's by the Ko<»tanios, The Jvootanies ehiim, in tlieory, all the mountains west of the watershed, as their peculiar hunting-grounds, ami in foi'mer da^'s made annual excursions for the purpose of hunting the Burtalo, across the range to the Great Plains, whore they came into frequent collision with the Blackfoot ti-ibes. The latter in turn occasionally carrieil retaliatory laids across the moun- tains to the Kootanie Valley, for the [)urpoi- > of stealing horses, and uany are the tales still told among them of these forays. The eastern slopes of the range and adjacent foot- hills are now hunted over by tho Mountain Stoneys, a branch of the Assiniboines. These [>eople are comparatively recent immigrants, dating their connection wath the district about forty years back only. They intermarried with a tribe of Itocky Mountain Crees, who formerly maintained them- selves here, but have since lost their identity among the Stoneys, though both languages are still commonly spoken. The extraordinary paucity of local ruiraes, whether Crce or Assiniboino — even in tho case of important streams and mountains — in this part of the region, loads me to believe that the Crees themselves had not veiy long possessed these mountains, which, it seems liighly probable, at no very dis- tant date, were frequented only by the Kootanies. The Blackfoot tribes, being essentially plain Indians, can scarcely be supposed to have inhabited this wild, and to their ideas, naturally repulsive mountain country. The Crees may probably have penetrated to it about the date when they were first supplied with fire-arms by the Hudson's Bay Company, when they are known to have been very formida- ble and aggressive. In addition to the buffalo, the foot-hills formerly abounded in other game, particularly tho mule deer, wapiti and white- tailed oi- jumping deer. With the exception of the buffalo, all these animals are still to be found, but in much diminished I 1 ."^l 300 Cauandia Record of IScicnce. numbers. The mountains themselves yet afford suHtenance to the Indian hunter, the Rocky Muuntaiii »heepor highorn and the mountain goat liciiii, luodoratoly abundant, Bhick and grizzly boars are also tre({uontly mcit with, and the puma or mountain lion — held in great dread by the Indians — is occasionally found. The moose is sometimes shot by the Indians, but the cariboo is scarcely, if at all, found within the district here described, requiring more extensive alpine plateaus than those aftbrded by this part of the mountains. Smaller fur-bearing animals are numerous where they have not been too assiduously trapped. Trout are abundant and large in most of the streams, and the white-fish and lake- trout, are procured from the larger lakes. No insuperable obstacles to travel exist in these moun. tains. Many of the passes and trails are open and easily traversed, and the field for mountain climbing and exi)lora- tion is unlimited, few of the higher peaks having yet been scaled. Starting from the lino of railway, or from the vicinity of Fort MacLeod, with a few pack-animals and a small camping outfit, much may now bo accomplished in a comparatively short time, the months of July or August being the best, on account of the lowness of the rivers and mountain torrents, which at othoi' seasons constitute formida- able barriers. If fine scenery, combined with adventure of the less hazardous kind, and the pleasure of exploring tracts which yet appear as blanks on the map, will compensate for the minor discomforts attending such an expedition, I can promise that the enterprising traveller will not be dis- appointed. 'r 9 'r ..