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'riiK

GREAT NORTH-WEST

CANADA.

A Paper read at Conference, Indian and Colonial Exhibition,
London, June 8tii, 1886.

ALEXANDER BEGO

MAlUirio Ol l.nllN'K IN llll': CllAlK

LONDON :
H. miAOKLOCK & CO., T.'), FARUINODON KO.VD. H.C

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GREAT NOETH-WEST

CANADA.

A Paper read at Conference. Indian and Colonial Exhibition.
London, June 8th. 1886,

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ALEXANDER BEGG.

j;Ai:i^ri8 oi' lounk in thk cmaii;

L0N1)(1N:
II. HLACKLOCK & CO., 75. FARRINGDON KOAD. F..i\

THE GREAT NORTH-WEST

CANADA.

On the 20th April, 1534, Cartier sailed from the port of St. Malo, in
France, on an exploring expedition to the shores of the New World^ and
in the following August he discovered the river St. Lawrence, which ho
ascended as far as Hochelaga. In 1603, Champlain was dispatched by a
company of merchants in France to make a preliminary survey of the
St. Lawrence with the view of opening up a trade along its banks,
and to his energy and zeal Canada is indebted for its earliest
settlements. In those days, however, the course of development and
settlement wa's slow, and in 1634, over thirty years after Champlain's
first visit to the St. Lawrence, the whole white population from Gaspe
to Three Rivers was hardly one hundred and fifty souls. The interior
of the continent was yet to be explored. Champlain had previously
ascended the Ottawa, and stood upon the tihores of the Georgian Bay of
Lake Huron, and he had received from western Indians numerous
reports of distant inland regions, yet his knowledge of the great lakes
in 1634 was exceedingly limited. He resolved to extend his explorations
in the hope of establishing friendly relations with the powerful tribes
living, as ho was told, beyond the northei'n shores of Lake Huron. His
imagination also was fired with the idea that by means of the great
inland waters, of which he had but slight information, he might be able
to discover a new highway to the East.

The dream of Champlain has now, after a period of nearly three
centuries, become a reality, and the new highway to the East across the
North Antci'icau Continent is an accomplished fact. It is true that a

^nviit portion ol' ih<' i-o-it^ is ovcrlniid iiisfi'ad of Ixiincr iilf(\i>('tlior tlio
WiitiM'-wity Cliiitn[)l;iin (Ireumt of, jinl the iron liorso lornis a very
iiii()orhint fiirtoriii travorsiiif^ it, wliilc t!io ;L;;r('iitinlim(l lakes arc rolo^iited
to a si'condarv jjlaco. Yet. the dr/ain of a route to the East by
wav of the St. Lawrence, which fired tlie iniaiiination of tlio old French
navigator tlwee hundred years ago, is practically I'ullilh^d. The man
cliosen by Chaniplain to explore tlie ri'i;ion h(iyond Lake Huron was
John Nicolhit, who was tlio first wliitn man to visit Sault St. Mario and
who afterwards discovcM'ed Lake Michigan and ex[)lored the shores and
part of tlie interior of wliat is now known as the State of Wisconsin.
To the elf'ortsof tlie Jesuit missionaries, however, is due the early explora-
tion of Lake Superior, and tluur map of that greatest of inland lakes, in
1()71, is a monument of tli(>ir hardihood and enterprise. To Robert
Cavelier, better known by the designation of La Salle, who, like
Champlain, was inspired by the thought of discovering a new route to the
riches of China and Japan, is due the early exploration of a large portion of
the country lying west and south-west of Lake Michigan, and Father
Hennepin, his lieutenant, penetrated as far in a north-westerly direction
as the Fails of St. Anthony near the pr(»s(Mit site of Minneapolis. This
was in 1080, and about the same time another French explorer, named
Du Lhut, having reached the head of Lake Superior, continued his
exploration to the south-west of that point, and when near the Falls
of St. Anthony met Hennepin and joined his party in their return
JGurneys southward.

These explorations, of which I have given a brief outline, attracted
the attention of adventurous traders, who soon pushed their way beyond
the farthest point reached by the explorers, and in the year 1700 fur
traders from France are known to have penetrated as far as the
Assiniboine Valley in the prosecution of their calling. In 1766 many
traders from Montreal pushed their enterprises throughout the whole of
British America, even to the Pacific shores. In 1784 the North-West
Company of Montreal was formed, and carried on trade through
Canada via the lakes to the head of Lake Superior, and thence across
the continent to the Pacific Coast. Although the Prince Rupert Charter
was granted by King Charles II. in 1670, it was not till the beginning
of the eighteenth century that the Hudson's Bay Com|)any entered the
Saskatchewan and Assiniboine country to trade, and not till 18M did

tliey set up their claim of exclusive rights under their chiirter. Tlio
effect of this latter act, however, was to arouse the auiinosity and
resistance of rival fur companies, and it was not long ere the Hudson'n
Bay Company found themselves opposed hy powerful organisations, such
as the North-West and X. Y. Companies of Canada. So great then
became the competition, and so bitter the rivalry between the three fur
companies, that great loss of property and life ensued ; and finally there
was every prospect of ruin falling on them all. In 1820, however, a
union of the companies was effected, which resulted in their trading
together under the original charter of the Hudson's Bay Company. An
Act of Parliamcmt was passed in 1821, which gave the company, as
reconstructed, the exclusive fur trade for 21 years throughout the whole
British North- West territory clear through to the Pacific. In 1838 a
new arrangem.Mit was entered into by which the Canadian Companies,
whose interests had been before unitad, and the stockholders of the
Hudson's Hay Company, became entitled as nearly as possible to e(iu;il
shares. A renewal of the license granting the right of exclusive trudo
was then applied for and granted to the Company for a term of 21 years
from the 30th May, 1838.

The attention of the Canadian Government was first attracte;! to the
countrv in 1816 bv the conflict of interests betw^een the Canadian Fur
(companies and the Hudson's Bay Company, but no decided action was
taken by Canada to acquire the North-West till 18(58, although previous
to that time negotiations on the subject had been going on between the
Canadian and Imperial authorities.

The iirst attempt at settlement in the North-West was In 1 S 1 1 , when
the Earl of Selkirk secured a tract of land from the Hudson's Bay
Company for the purpose of planting thereon a colony of Scotch settlers,
and in 1812 the first batch of these immigrants arrived in the country by
way of Hudson's Bay and York Factory. The Scotch colonists at first ujct
with manv vicissitudes and trials in their new home, and it was not till
1827 that their settlement on the banks of the Red River began Lj show
real signs of prosperity.

Lord Selkirk's colonisation scheme did not prove, so far as he was
concerned, a financial success, and in 1835 the executors of his estate
sold back the land to the Hudson's Bay Company for £84,111, although
it had cost his lordship in the first place nearly £200,001). The Scotch

setthirs nainiHl tlioir sottlfm Mit Kildonuii, and at tho timo when it passed
into tho hands of tho ilndson's Hay Company in 18.'J5, the population
is said to have nunihenHl ahout '>,000 sonls, since which time it has gone
on prospernig, and is to-ihiy one of the most flourishing districts in
the Province of Manitoba.

I must now deal with anotlier body of the early settlers, viz : — tho
Half-breeds. Of these there were two classes, the English and the
French — th(» former being the ott'springs of marriages contractiid by
Company oiticeri and servants with Indian women, tho latter being
descended from the pioneer traders and hunters who came from Lower
Canada. Tliese Half-breeds, accustomed to roving habits on the prairie
and in the woods, were not favourably disposed to the quiet life of a
settler, and therefore devoted themselves more to hunting and trading
than to tlie cultivation ot the soil. They were wont in those days to
assemble in large bands in tlie spring, and proceed in a great body to tho
hunt. To give an idea of the formation of these hunting bands, 1 may
quote the one which left the lied River Settlement for the liunting
grounds of the buffalo in 1H4(). The brigade consisted of 1,210 carts
and harness, 6,)^) cart horses, .')86 draught oxen, 403 horses used for
running, with saddles and bridles, and the number of persons in the band
amounted to l,(JoO souls — men, women and children. These bands
framed a code of laws for their guidance on tho plains, and were very
strict in their enforcement. The plain hunters generally returned to the
settlement in August, and bringing with them, as they did, an abun-
dance of provisi(ms, they were not apt to pay much attention to
gathering in the harvest.

The first missionaries to the North- West were the French Roman
Catholic priests, for we hear of Father Dalmas, about the year 1690,
engaged in the study of Indian languages +j enable him to ])reach the
Gospel to the savages of Hudson's Bay, and in 1736 Father Arnaud was
killed by the Sioux in tlie vicinity of the Lake of the Woods while on a
missionary tour. The conquest of Canada by England, however,
interrupted the Catholic missions in the North- West, and it was not
till 1818 that they were again resumed.

The Scotch settlers had their own Presbyterian missionaries from
the firsr, and in 1820 the first minister of tlie Church of England, Rev.
John West, arrived in the North-West. While noting the early progress

of 8<atl(Mnont it m!iy not ho. ainlss tor mo now to tf'wa some particulars

conccirriin^ the Indian tribes.

The ori^rinal \)u\u\n living ' ,tho Kustof tlio Hooky Mountains as far as

Lake Winnipcfriind ilud Kivor, within I^ritisli territory, wore as follows: —
Crt't, ShoiHliwap, Yellow Kiiifo,

Aomtiiboirie, MoiiMt.iiii, Do^ Hit),

Hlon-I, SiiiiUeaux, .Sironj? Bow,

Hltukfiet, Tukall, Iiilmd,

Ht'aver, Naliany, Copper,

Ciiriier, Chipewnn, Swuiiipy.

The popuhitlon of the above in 185') was, as near as it could he
estimated, 47,000. A lar<^e proportion of tJie above hands, however,
liavo become extinct sinijo tlien, or they have become mer^rod into
other tribes, and according to the last census there were only Hii,"J5y
Indians in the Nortli-West Territories.

It is notable that the Indians of the British North- West have ever
compared favoural)ly with those of the United States, and we have no
wliolesale massacres or prolonged Indian Mars to cln-onicle such as the
Americans have experienced at the hands of their Sava<5es. This is
owinj; to the iiood treatment ever extended to tlie Indians bvthe Hudson's
Bay Company, and to the i'aithi'ul performance of treaties and considerate
management of Indian affairs by the Canadian (Government.

In 1857 the Canadian Government fitted out an exploring expedi-
tion under the charge of S. J. Dawson ,Mid Henry Youle Hind, M.A.,
for the purpose of penetrating the North-AVest Territory and obtaining
some definit(^ information in regard to it. This step was probably taken
under tlie im])ression that some innni-diate action would be recommended
bv the Imperial Government to brino- about a transfer of the country to
Canada.

In 1858 an attempt was made to organise a mall service between
Canada and Red liiver Settlement, via Lake Superior, but in 1800 it
was abandoned, having proved a failure. The United States, however,
succeeded better, for in 1857 they establislied postal communication
with Pembina on tlie boundary line, and a carrier from the settlement
brought the mail from that place to Fort Garry.

About tills time the traders had to cart their goods some six hundred
miles over the prairie from St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Hudson's Bay
Company, in addition to using this route for bringing in supplies, brought

a large portion of their English goods into the country via Hudson's
Bay and York Factory. In 1862 the Hudson's Bny Company placed a
steaiTicr, r-alled the " International," on the Red River, for the purpose
of bringing in supplies and taking out their furs, and after this the
steamboat gradually took the place of the Red River ox cart.

We now come to the time immediately preceding the transfer of
the North- West to Canada.

In 18G8, Sir George E. Cartier, and Honourable Wm. McDougall
were appointed a delegation to England to arrange the terms for the
acquisition of Rupert's Land by Canada. For some time previous to
Miis, negotiations for the opening up of the country to settlement had
been going on between the Canadian and Imperial authorities, and on the
16th August, 1865, Lord Monk forwarded copies of papers on the subject
to Right Hon. E. Cardwell, Secretary of State. While, however, Canada
was thus stirring herself in the matter, others were not asleep as to the im-
portance and value of the great North-West. In 1858 a plan was submitted
to Lord Stanley, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, for the purpose
of opening communication with the Red River, in which it was proposed
that a company should do the work with the aid of a land grant of forty
million of acres in the neighbourhood of the Saskatchewan River. It
Avould seem from this that thero were capitalists in those days who had
some faith in the future of the Norih-West. Then, again, in 1866, an
application was made to Sir Edmund Head by one Alex. McEwen, to
know whether the Hudson's Bav ('ompany were willing to dispose of its
cultivable territory to a party of Anglo-American capitalists, who would
settle and colonise the same, etc., etc. A favourable reply Avas given by
the Hudson's Bay Company to Mr. McKwen, but as the Canadian
Government and the Imperial authorities had hfild a conference in 1865
on the subject of transferring the North-West, nothing could be done with
Mr. McEwen's proposition pending further negotiations with Canada.

The mission of Sir George E. Cartier and Hon. William McDougall,
of 1868, was successful, and as the result of it the great North-West
became a part of the Dominion of Canada on the 15th July, 1870. The
Hudson's Bay Company surrendered their rights to the territory in con-
sideration of *the payment to them by Canada of £8()0,()()(), and a
reservation for the benefit of the company of a twentieth part of all kiids
net out for settlement within fifty years after the surrender.

The iransfer of the North-West to Canada was unhappily accom-
panied by an uprising of the French half-breeds, who felt that not only
had their interests been overlooked in the negotiations between Canada
and the Hud.*on's Bay Comjiany, but that in the proposals for the future
government of the country they were not likely to obtain just treatment
at the hands of Canadians. It is impossible within the compass of this
paper to deal with the causes which led to such a spirit of misapprehen-
sion on the part of the half-breeds. The result was a small rebellion, and
Hon. Wm. McDougall, the newly appointed Lieut.-Governor of the
North- West, was refused adtnission into the territory. For sever.il
months the country was in a state of turmoil, until finally the passing of
the Manitoba Act, and the evident desire on the ])art of the Canadian
Government to act fairly to all classes appeased the people. In tin?
meantime, however, Co\. G. J. Wolseley, now Lord Wolseley, had beeij
sent with an expedition composed of a detachm(Mit of the 60th Rifie;^,
and two regiments of Canadian volunteers to the North- West, by way of
Lake Superior, to be in readiness to quell the rebellion by forco if
necessary. The troops for several weeks had to contend against almo.<c
unsurmountable difficulties of nature between Lake Superior and the lieil
River, but finally, having overcome all obstacles, they entered Fuit
Garry on the 24th August, 1^70, and instead of resistance, they
received a warm welcome from all classes of the people. From that
time the rapid development of the North-West may be dated. Previous
to 1870 the country had been regarded as a land fit only for the hunter
and trapper ; and the fnr traders knowing that the advent of civilisation
meant the destruction of the fur trade, spared no pains to circulate the
idea that it was a cold, inhospitable, and barren country. This, combined
with the imperfect means of communication, was undoubtedly the cause
of i!^s remaining isolated and sparsely populated for so many years. In
lb70 there were about thirty buildings in the vicinity of Fort Garry,
where now stands the city of Winnipeg, with its population of thirty
thousand inhabitants. At that time there was no settler away from the
river. The line of settlement skirted the Red and Assiniboine rivers,
with liere and there a few tidy farm houses and small patches of
cultivated land adjoining, but the immense {)lains of fertile soil, covered
with verdant pasture, away to the west as far as the Rocky Mountains,
were lying idle, only awaiting the coming of the husbandman to turn

them into a very paradise of beauty, and a source of almost unlimited
wealth. The creation of the province of Manitoba, the establishment of
a responsible and representative form of government in the country, the
extinguishment of the Indian title to the land bv fair treaties
with the tribes, and the adoption of a system of survey to keep pace
with settlement, and allow immigrants to locate and secure claims, were
all preparjitory steps succeeding each other in quick succession, and paving
the way for the rapid development of the North- West which almost
immediately followed.

The year after the creation of the Province of Manitoba, the British
Columbia resolutions were moved in the Canadian House of Commons.
This occurred on 28th March, 1871, and on the following IGth May the
Pacific Province was incorpornted in the Dominion, thus extending
Canada's domain from Ocean to Ocean. The act providing for the
adnn'ssion of British Columbia into Confederation also provided for the
building of the Canadian Pacific llaihvay across the Continent, as it was
considered, especially by the British Columbians, that without that iron
band the union with Canada would never be complete. The first step
taken by the people of Manitoba, after its creation into a Province, was
to exercise their right of franchise, and the first general election of
members to sit in the Provincial Legislature took place on the 20th
December, 1870. The formation of a Cabinet followed the elections^
and this was the birth of representative institutions in the North-West.
The Province was soon afterwards divided into municipalities — school
districts were created, and the whole machinery of local self-government
became from year to year more and more perfect.

The North- West was up to 1870 but little known and still less
understood by the general public of Canada, owing in a large degree
to the imperfect means of communication then existing between it
and the outside world. Its productiveness and adaptability to settle-
ment only began to dawn upon the minds of people after it became
a recognised porj;ion of the Dominion. The Canadian Volunteers,
then serving in the country with the Wolseley Expedition, wrote home
glowing accounts of it to their friends in the Eastern Provinces —
the ]*ress sent correspondents to spy out the land — information
regarding it was collected and published, both by the Government
and private individuals, and all at once the Dominion of Canada

us
ca

ited
lit of

, the
aties
pace

foimd that in the Great North-West they had secured an estate
of inestimable value, the development of which would bring about an
expansion of the resources of the whole Dominion such as had never
been dreamt of by even the most sanguine, when Confederation
was first comtemplated. From 1870 settlers began to pour into
the country ; some came overland in wagons, via the United
States, while others floated down the Red River in flat boats, the
railway having then only reached St. Cloud, a short distance beyond
St. Paul, Minnesota. Communication with the outside world was kept
up by means of an irregular line of stage coaches until the 29th April,
1871, when the first regular passenger steamer on the Red River arrived
at Winnipeg. The 20th November of the same year saw the telegraph
system of the United States extended to Winnipeg, and on that day the
first message — one of congratulation — flashed across the wires from
the Lieut.-Governor of Manitoba (the Hon. Adams G. Archibald) to the
Governor-General of Canada (Lord Lisgar).

The sudden influx of settlers, to which I have already alluded,
naturally gave an impetus to trade in the country, but the difficulty
in those days was how to supply the wants of the incomers. The
farmers of the country were unprepared for so sudden a demand
on their resources, for up to that time they had given little, if
any, attention to extending the area of cultivation beyond their actual
needs, simply because there was no market for surplus products, because
of the absence of an outlet by which to dispose of them. The result of
this state of affairs proved a great boon to the merchants in St. Paul,
Minneapolis, and other trade centres in the State of Minnesota. Large
quantities of flour, meat, butter, cheese, hams, bacon, and merchandise
of every descri[)tion were sent into Manitoba by our enterprising
American brethren. The means of transport chiefly used consisted of
flat boats, and during the summer the banks of the ' iver at Winnipeg
usually presented a lively ap[)earance, as the numerous flat boat men
carried on their trade with the inhabitants. Lideed the river opposite
the city at that time had a very Celestial sort of appearance, from the
number of floating stores which, Chinese-like, did business on the Levee.
As settlers arrived in the country, this trade with the United States
assumed large proportions owing to the lack of direct communication
with the Eastern provinces of Canada, and the result was that the

flat boats were soon superseded by a large fleet of steamers on the lied
Hiver, plying between Winnipeg and points south of the American
boundary line. The large trade carried on by these steamers resulted in
the extension of the United States railway system to Manitoba, and
on the 3rd December, 1878, the last spike was driven which connected
the cities of St. Paul and Winnipeg by rail. I may here remark that
it was chiefly through the entcu'prise, energy, and perseverance of Sir
(xeorge Stephen and Sir Donald A. Smith, to whom Canada has since
been so much indebted for their untiring efforts in the great work of the
Canadian Pacific Railway, that the inhabitants of the North-West were
then provided with this, their first railway connection.

In February, 1874, Winnipeg, which then contained nearly 1,000
buildings and an estimated population of about 5,000 inhabitants, was
incorporated as a city, and in proportion as the chief trade centre of
Manitoba showed signs of progress so did the area of settlement through-
c'lt the province increase in every direction. While the North-AVest
was thus budding into prominence and progressing slowly but surely,
the great question of a transcontinental railway to bind together all
parts of the Dominion was not being lost sight of. Sir John A.
Macdonald had almost concluded arrangements with a body of capitalists
in 1871 to build the road, when his Government was defeated and
Hon. Alex. McKenzie succeeded to power. An attempt was then made
to carry on the work as a Government undertaking. Extensive surveys
were made, portions of the railway were built and other parts placed
under contract, but at the end of over six years' trial (that is in 1878)
the actual completion of the road did not seem to the public of Canada
to be within measurable distance. It was then that Sir John A.
Macdonald returned to power, and it was not long ere he determined
upon following out his policy of 1871, namely, to place the construction
of the Pacific Railway in the hands of competent capitalists instead of
continuing it as a Government work.

The importance of opening up and developing the resources of the
North-West had become one of the burning questions in the minds of
most Canadians, and the speedy construction of the Great National
Highway an acknowledged necessity. Perhaps the most powerful
factor in bringing about this state of feeling in the public mind was the
visit of Lord Dufferin to Manitoba in 1877.

Red
lean
(1 in
and

icted
that
Sir

snice
the

were

was

The then Governor-General met with a most cordial reception from
the people of Winnipeg and surrounding country, and at a farewell
dejeuner given in his honour in that city on the 2t)th September, the
following remarkable passage formed part of the speech delivered by him
on that occasion : —

"From its geogrnphical position, and its peculiar characteristics, Manitoba may
" be regariied as the keystone of that miglity arch of sister provinces which spans
" the Continent from the Athintic to tlie Pacitic. It was here that Canada, eineriyting
*' from her woods and foiests, first giized upon hor rolling prairies and unexplored
" North- West, and learnt, as by an unexpected revelation, that her historical
" territories of the Canadas, her eastern seaboards of New Brunswick, Labrador,
" and Nova Scotia, her Laurentian lakes and valleys, corn lands and pastures, though
" themselves more extensive than half-a-dozen European kingdoms, were but the
" vestibules and antechambers to that, till then, undreamt of Dominion whose
" illimitable dimensions alike confound the arithmetic of the surveyor and the
" verification of the explorer.

" It was hence that, counting her piist achievements as but the preface and
" prelude to her future exertions and expanding destinies, she took a fresh
" departure, received the afflatus of a more imperial inspiration, and felt herself no
" longer a mere settler along the banks of a single river, but the owner of half a
" continent, and in the magnitude of her possessions, in the wealth of her resources,
" in the sinews of her material might, the peer of any power on earth."

There is no doubt that the speeches of Lord Dufferin, and the
favourable opinions expressed by him, formed the keynote to the
outspoken enthusiasm shown by the Canadian people, immediately after
his memorable visit to the countrv, in regard to their North-Western
possessions.

In sympathy with this state of public opinion, Sir John A.
Macdonald persevered in his fiTorts to secure a speedy completion of the
railway which was to be the means of opening up that great country,
and developing the vast resources so ably referred to by Lord Dufferin.

In December, 1880, Sir Charles Tupper, the then Minister of
Railways and Canals, presented to the Parliament of the Dominion the
text of the Agreement between the Government and Mr. (now Sir)
George Stephen and his colleagues for the construction of the Canadian
Pa(!ific liaihvay. The agreement was carried through the House, and
ultimately ratified by Act of Parliament, which received the Royal
assent on February 16th, 1881. To the eloquence, power and untiring
energy of our present High Connnissioner in London, Sir Charles
Tupper, to whom is also so greatly due the success of Canada in

our great Colonial Exhibition this year, Canada is mainly indebted
for the successful carrying through of that great measure. In the spring
of 1881 the Canadian Pacific Railway Company began work in earnest,
and in the autumn of that year an event took place which not only gave a
markeu impetus to the undertaking itself, but inspired confidence
throughout the world in the vast resources of the country. I refer
now to the visit of the Marquis of Lome, at that time Governor-General
of Canada.

Lord Lome arrived in Winnipeg on the 30th July, 1881, and met with
a most enthusiastic reception from the inhabitants living in and around
the city.' The people of Manitoba recognised and appreciated the im-
portance of his visit, and the high and generous motives that inspired it.
Lord Dufferin had stood upon the threshold of the great prairies and
spoken of the wonders beyond as they had been described to him ; Lord
Lome threw open the portals and entered to see for himself the
wonderful land.

When Lord Lome returned to Winnipeg in the following October,
he was able to speak as one having authority for what he said. He spoke
not of hearsay, he spoke of what he had himself seen, and his utterances
brought conviction to all who heard or read them. Lord Dufferin's
words M'ere as a tonic to whet the appetite. Lord Lome was enabled to
furnish the repast to satisfy the hunger thus created.

The journey of the Marquis of Lome on that occasion occupied
from the 4th July to the 15th October, and on his return to Ottawa it
was found that during that time he had travelled 5,561 miles by rail,
1,366 miles overland, and 1,127 miles by water, or a total of 8,054 miles
altogether.

On the 10th October, at a banquet given by the people of Winnipeg
in his honour on his return from the West, Lord Lome delivered a
speech full of eloquent descriptions of the vast country through which
he had just passed. That speech may be said to have gone from one end
of the world to the other, and did more to establish confidence in
the North- West, and promote the settlement of the country, than the
volumes which had been written upon the subject. Even at this time,
five years after the delivery of that speech, I have frequent inquiries
for copies of it. At its close occurred the following passage which
will commend itself to every patriotic Canadian ; —

• I-

(

" The country 3'oii call Canada, and whicliyour sons and your children's children
" will be proud to know by that name, is a land which will be a land of power among
" the nations. Mistress of a zonp of territory favourable for the maintenance of a
" numerous and homogeneous white' population, Canada must, to judge from tiie
" increase in her strength duiing the past, and from the many and vast opportunities
" for the growth of that strength in her new Provinces in the future, be great and
" worthy her position on the earth. Affording the best and safest highway betwt en
" Asia and Europe, she will see traffic from both dir-jcted to her coasts. With a
" hand upon either ocean she will gather from each for the benefit of her hardy
" millions a large share of the commerce of the world. To the east and to the west
" she will pour forth of her abundance, her treasures of food and the riches of her
" mines and of her forests, demanded of her by the lens fortunate of mankind."

The Marquis of Lome, in his journey westward from Winnipeg, was
able to travel about 65 miles by rail to Portage la Prairie, the Canadian
Pacific Railway being then built to that point, and by the close of 1881
the Company had completed altogether 165 miles to the westward of the
Red River.

In 1882 the Company completed a further distance of 419 miles ; and
in December, 1883, the railway was finished to Calgary, a distance of
839 miles from Winnipeg. In the following May, 1884, it was finished
to Stephen, the summit of the Rockies, being, altogether, a total of 961
miles, constructed in three years' time. The Government had under-
taken, by the terms of their agreement with the company, to transfer,
when finished, the railway already under construction and that already
built, in all some 710 miles ; and while the road westward from
Winnipeg was being built, the line eastward to Port Arthur was
completed in May, 18!:<3, and handed over to the company to operate.
The railway was therefore open from Port Arthur, on Lake Superior, to
Stephen, the summit of the Rockies, in the month of May, 1884.

In the meantime the progress of the country was remarkable ; new
settlements sprang into existence as if by magic. The opening of the
railway from St. Paul to Manitoba in 1878, gave a great impetus to the
tide of immigration, which, on reaching Winnipeg, seemed to spread
itself in every direction over the land. The plains back from the river
became studded with farm houses and fenced fields, and as a consequence,
land, which only a few years before was regarded as almost worthless,
owing to its distance from the river, became more and more valuable
as settlements increased. The population of Winnipeg had increased
to over 20,000, and from a hamlet of some 30 houses in 1870,

it became, in 1884, a city of well laid-out streets^ lit by electric
light, with handsome public and private buildings, street railways,
and all the principal characteristics of a metropolitan centre. To the
west, towns of from 2,000 to 5,000 inhabitants, the centres of prosperous
settlements, were to be found at intervals along the line of railway, and
away to the north, on the great Saskatchewan River, several prosperous
communities were esbiblished.

It used to be a theory in the old days that good water would be
difficult to find away from the river, and this gave rise to the opinion
that settlements could never extend over the prairies ; but the theory
did not happily hold good when put into practice, for it is now a well
established fact that water can be found almost anywhere by digging
wells from 10 to 40 feet deep.

Wood in some parts is plentiful, in others only sufficient for the
actual needs of the settlers, and in several parts of the North-West it is
wanting altogether. But a wise Providence has provided in the latt;<'r
case for the wants of the people — great coal beds having been discovered
in almost every direction. It is estimated that the coal area of the North-
West, between the 49th and 50th parallels of latitude, is, so far as
known, nearly 65,000 square miles. The coal found has proved to be
suitable, not only for domestic purposes, but also for use on locomotives,
and this must prove to be a very important factor in the successful and
profitable working of the Canadian Pacific Railway across the continent.
As settlement increased and the area of cultivation extended, the trade
in the importation c" food supplies from the United States became less
and less, until finally it ceased altogether, and Manitoba found itself in a
position to supply its own home demand. The continued influx of new
settlers for some years created so great demantl for farm produce of every
description, that it was not till 1885 there was any important surplus
of breadstuff's to export, and last year it is estimated that the surplus
of wheat alone was between three and four million bushels.

There is but one opinion about the soil of the North-West — that it
is good. In some parts of the country it is a deep black loam resting on a
clay subsoil — in other districts it is lighter in character but extremely
productive almost everywhere. The Canadian Pacific Railway passes
through no desert, but all along the line from the Red River to the
Rockies, a distance of over 900 miles, the country is more or less suitable

)

'ctric
vays,

(1 be

)

for successful settlement ; and when I make tliat statomeni, wliat does it
mean ? Nothing less than that over two million farms of 1(50 acres
each are there capable of sustaining a farming population of over ten
million souls, a\ 1 if devoted altogether to wheat growing of producing
about 800 million bushels, or sufficient to supply Great Britain and
Ireland four times over with all the bread they require. Such a
country is capable of sustaining fifty millions or more of an industrious
])opulation.

This immense territory is divided into the Province of Manitoba,
123,200 square miles in extent, and the following territories : —

Assiniboia ... ... ... 95,000 square miles

Saskatchewan ... ... 114,000

Alberta 100,000

Athabasca

122,000

431,000 „

or, including Manitoba, 554,000 square miles, equal to 354,5<)0,000
acres, the greater portion of which is good agricultural land.
The North-West Territories altogether extending away to the north
are estimated to contain 2,(505,252 square miles. These figures are
indeed almost bewildering in their immensity. And it must na-
turally occur to anyone studying them to enquire : Why has all
this vast extent of land remained idle and unproductive so long ?
Why is it, when we are so overcrowded on this side of the water,
that so much good land over there is going to waste ? The
answer is simple — you have only to refer to the past history of the
country — the isolated position it occupied for centuries, cut off almost
entirely from communication with the civilised world, and maligned
for years as to its climate and productiveness with the object of sus-
taining the lur trade, who can wonder that it remained for so long
practically an unknown land ? Look at its progress, however, during
the past fifteen years, from the day when the fur trade received its death-
l)low, and the country passed into the hands of a civilising power. Look
at the North-West as it was in 1870, and look at it now. Its railways
spreading out in every direction — its cities, towns, and villages — its
prosperous settlements — its coal mines — its cattle ranches — and its
rapidly increasing happy and contented population. The rapid develop-

ment of the Western States of America is the pride of the American
peoph), but the progress of tho Canadian North- West during the last
fifteen years is the marvel of the nineteenth century.

One of the chief arguments used by the fur traders of old against the
suitability of the North- West for settlement, was the severity of its climate.
The winters were represented to be long and intensely cold, the summers
short and extremely hot ; while the delightful spring and autumn seasonfi
were passed over and conveniently forgotten. Now what is the truth ?
The winter commences in November and ends in March ; the spring
months are April and May ; the summer June, July and August ; and
the autumn, September and October.

To better illustrate, however, the length of tho seasons, the following
table is given : —

YV IiilGF •■• t** ••• •*•

Spring

Sunnner

Autumn

4^ months.
2

The spring and autumn months are most enjoyable, the weather

being in the former bright and cheerful, and in the latter balmy and

pleasant. The summer is at times very hot and sultry, but the North-

West possesses one peculiarity which does not belong to the country

lying south of the American boundary line. No matter how hot the

weather may be in the day-time, at sun-down there invariably s[)rings

up a cool breeze, invigorating and refreshing to wearied mankind, and

at the same time beneficial to the growth of the plants of the earth.

These cool nights are indeed a great blessing, and they make the

summer-time not only endurable, but even pleasant. Now for that

great bugbear, the winter. Travellers, authors, and artists have ever

delighted to picture Canada in wmter garb rather than depict the green

fields, beautiful forests, and wild blossoms of our bright, fair-faced

Dominion. Probably they thought their pen or brush pictures would

be too tame or too much like home if they depicted a farm, garden, or

forest scene. To suit their purpose--to stir the imag nation of their

})atrons, they must adopt something more striking. Hence we find our

ice carnivals, our sleighing parties, tobogganing, snowshoeing, skating.

and scenes of tlmt nature, doing duty here in England as tlie chief
cliaractoristics of our country. Go out into tlie Canadian (Jourt of this
Exhibition ; look at tho numerous speeinions of our agricultural products,
our excellent grains, of almost every variety ; our beautiful prairie
grasses, and oin* luscious fruits, and t(dl me if it is all winter with ns
in Canada. Yet, until re(!ently tho idea was very prevalent in this
enlightened country that Canada was but a second Siberia, only a
stepping-stone to the North Pole, and that our sunshine, wiien wo
enjoyed it, was but a passing ray. Time prevents my explaining the
scientific reasons why the winter cold of the North- West is not felt so
much as might be supposed from the readings of the thermometer. The
cause is attributed to the dryness of the atmosphere, and to the absence
of wind during the extreme frost. I can only give ni}' own experience
to illustrate this. I have had occasion to frequently camp out durin^r mid-
winter in the North-West, and never suffered any great inconvenience,
liardship, or suffering from so doing. 1 suffered more last winter from
the damp, raw cold in the city of London than I ever did in the North-
West during my long experience there. It is to be hoped that tliis (rreat
Colonial Exhibition will correct the false impressions retrardinf^ C.^inada.
even yet entertained in many (piarters throughout England, and that
instead of the country of snow and ice, as she has been represented
to be, her true characteristics, her resources, her productiveness,
and the beauties of lier climate will become better known.

The sta})le products of the great North-West will ever be wheat and
meat. As settlement si)reads the area of land under cultivation will, of
course, increase in proportion, and the increase in this respect has been
very remarkable during tlie past two or three years. It is estimated that
between 100,000 and 200,000 acres of fresli land have been sown this year.
Tliat mc^ans between 3 or 4 million bushels of grain to be added to the
figures of last season, and so the work will progress from year to year,
until the carrying capacity of the different outlets of the country will be
strained to their utmost to move the rapidly increasing surplus. I have
seen the question raised whether the Canadian North-West can indeed
ever become a great wheat-producing country, owing to early frosts and
the injury likely to be caused thereby to tli:> growing crops. I will only
say that my belief is that, in the first place, the extent of and injury done
by early frosts in the North-West have been very much exaggerated bv

jKirtlos, wlioso motivf^s I will not horo disciiss. In tlio noxt. |)la<'o, tlioao
froHtB siro of Ji locil ratlior than of a gononil character, and, lastly, that as
tho conntry bccoinos nioro wottlcd they will disappear alto/rether. I will
leave it to my fri(ind Profeasor A.'acoun, who has stndied tlu'se frosts
from a scientific and practical ]>oint of vic^w, to ex[)lain their nattiro and
extent, and I think the (!oncInsion that will bo arrived at aft(>r lu^arin^
him will l)(» tliat th(»y will never [)rove a serious drawback to the conntry.

The North-West has had several visitations which, according to the
wiseacres of the day, wore destined to make the county valueless, and
vet it lias survived and j)rospered. For instance!, tlu're were the floods
caused by tho overflow of tho river. The first flood took j)laco in 177(5,
the secouf' in 17110, tho third in 18U!J, tho fourth in 1820, and the
last in 1852, and since then tho nearest approach to a flood
has been the overflow of a i'ow acres of lovv-lving land here and there
close to the river bank. At no time were the prairies flooded for any
great distance from the river, yet in the old days the floods were fre(*ly
(pioted as one of the chief reasons why the country would never be fit
for settlement. I remember also, in the old days, we used to have
grasshopper visitations, and very destructive pests these were, but tluiy
also seem to disappo^ar with sc^ttlement ; and although I have heard them
in times past fnHjly (juoted as another reason why the country could
never be successfully settled, yet one never hears of grasshoppers now
in the North- West. Minnesota and Dakota suffered in their earlier
days in the same way from floods and grasshoppers ; but they too have
survived them. So will it be with early frosts ; as the country becomes
st'ttled we will hear less and less of this so-called drawback. One blessinir.
however, the Canadian North-West has evc^r enjoyed, and that is a
freedom from the hurricanes which so frequently devastate the western
and other parts of the United States. That this is a blessing which we
North-Western Canadians have reason to be thankful for may be
gathered from the sad stories of havoc and suffering of which we have
recently read as taking place in different parts of America.

1 need hardly refer to the different products of the. North-West. A
glance through the agricultural section of the Canadian Court will give
you a better idea of what they are, and the excellence of their quality,
thtui any description I can here give. That the wheat, oats and barley
are unsurpassed, the potatoes and roots unrivalled, are points notdisput"!,

•)i'

(', ihom
, that 118
I will
I' frosts
hiro and
licarin^
country,
to tho
CMS, and
1(1 floods
t iU,
and tilt)
a Hood
iid tli(M'(»
for any
rc! fr('(*ly
I'or h(^ Ht
to have
mt tlu^y
ird them
ry could
HM's now
r earlier
too have
becomes
blessing,
Kit is a
western
r'hich we
may be
we liave

"est. A
A'ill ffivo
quality,
1 barley
Iisput"i,

and th(f weahh ol' wild nutritious jfrasses indicates how j»eeuliarly suilabN*
is the country for stock purposes. Indeed, it is now a Hxed
principle in the North-West that a farmer to be successful ou;^ht to follow
miNcd farniin;;, and at the eastern base of the Hockics the; wonderful
success and increas(* of cattle ranclu>s proclaim without a doubt tint tho
future uu'at supply of Great Hritaiu will be furnished in a very
lar;i,<! measure by our Canadian North-^V(!st. So much for the products
and the productiveness of tlui country. That it is tilling up rapidly with
the best class of settlers is W(!ll known ; that there is plenty of room for
nu)re I have endeavoured to show, and that it is the duty of (Jreat
llrilain in her own inti^rests to send lier surplus population to fill up our
Canadian North- West will yet, 1 have no doubt, b(K!ome apparent to her
public men, who as yet do not, I fear, fully realize the fact.

On the 2nd of November, 1H»5, tho first throu<i;h train to the liocky
Mount^utis left tho city of Montr(NiI,an(l on the 7th of the same month,
in the same year, tho last spike to comj)leto the line from the Atlantic to
the Pacific was driven by Sir (tlusn the Hon.) Donald A. Smith, who
has been throu^rhout one of tho warmest and stron^^est supporters of
the ^reat -nterprise. The successful carrying out of this frreat enter-
prise, so far as its physical features are concerned, is (piitc; unj)arallcled
in railway construction. It is in magnitude and difKculty of execution
one of tho greatest, if not the greatest, achievement of human labour
that tho world has ever seen, and Sir George Stephen and his col-
leagues may justly congratulate themselves "n the successful issue
of their labours. I look U[ion tho completion of tho Canadian
Pacific llailway as the welding of the last link in tho chain of confed-
eration in Jiritish North America. Without that link the olomonts of
disunion would, I fear, have considerably developed. This is especially
the case in so far as the North-West Territories and British Columbia
are concerned, for without railway connection between the eastern and
western portions of the Dominion, tho latter would still occupy an
isolated position, such as could not last long without danger of a disrup-
tion of the union. The CanaiJian Pacific Railway not only strengthens
confederation, but will bo tho means of develo{)ing in a largo degree tho
resources of the Dominion, and with that development the railway itself
must become more and more important, and can hardly fail to attain a
success beycmd ev n the expectations of its warmest friends.

The eini<5rant leaving Livor[)Ool, we will say, can now, after reach-
ing Quebec, take there the through train of the Canadian Pacific
Itailway, and in less than a fortnight from the time he left the old
country find himself in his new home in the North- West. The Dominion
Government offers the liberal grant of 160 acres free to each settler over
18 years of age, and has provided competent agents throughout the
country to direct and assist the incomers to settle on these lands. As a
result of this wise and liberal policy the country is filling up rapidly,
and will continue to do so more and more as railway communication is
opened up throughout the land.

The Canadian Pacific Railway runs for a distance of nearly 900
miles across the great prairies of the North- West from Winnipeg to
Calgary at the base of the Rocky Mountains, a great plain of fertile land
destined to become, ere long, the home of thousands, aye millions, of
prosperous and contented settlers, then over the Rocky Mountains
and right down to the Pacific, throujih suberb scenery. But this I will
not attempt to describe, for at the close of my paper I intend to show
a series of views taken in the Mountains, which must give a very much
better idea of their beauty and grandeur than any description I could
offer. 1 have omitted any mention of the game of our great North-
West, of which an excellent idea may be formed by visiting the great
game trophy in the Canadian Court, because I am in hopes that my
friend Mr. Hubbard will favour us, ere long, with a paper on the
subject, one wich which I know no man living better able to deal
than he.

In conclusion, the mission on which I am engaged in this old mother-
country of ours, with its dreadful climate, away from the clear, bright
skies and bracing air of my native Canada, is one of which I am proud.
The Canadian Pacific Railway, with which I am connected, is, in my
humble opinion, the cord which is destined to bind together all the parts
of the British Empire. England values India highly, and justly so. She
is also beginning to see through her spectacles the importance
of gathering her colonies more under her wing. She has spent
millions towards acquiring an interest in a short route to India
and Australasia by way of the Suez Canal ; but a day may
come when an unfriendly power will effectually block the way,
and tlio importance of the Canadian Pacific Railway as a short and

seci
gi-ei
acc(
the;

It i

gua

wh<

the

def

and

3r reiich-
1 Pacific
; the old
)ominion
ttler over
hout the
Is. As a
) rapidly,
ication is

arly 900
mipeg to
rtile land
illions, of
[ountains
his I will
[ to show
Biy much
1 I could
it North-
the great
that my
r on the
) to deal

secure route to the East nnist then be realised. The character of our
wreat national work is Imperial as much as Canadian. It has been
accomplished by the energy, perseverance and enterprise of Canadians, and
they may well be proud of the part they have played in this great work.
It is an undertaking in which every Canadian has reason to take pride.
My humble work on this side of the Atlantic is to assist in placing a
guard of British subjects — of honest, sturdy settlers along that line,
who will protect it from end to end by the happy arts of peace, and keep
the way open for England should she ever find it necessary to use it in
defending her rich possessions in the East, or to preserve the integrity
of the Empire as a whole, and of this humble work, my lord, ladies,
and gentlemen, I am proud.

1 mother-

ar, bright

im proud.

is, in my

the parts

so. She

nportance

las spent

to India

iay may

the way,

short and

H. Bli.vCKLOCK & Co., Irinti'is, 7S, Fnrringdon RoatI, Loudon, K.C.