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London : LONGMAN, GREEN, and CO. Paternoster Row. 
13 



CANADIAN RED RIVER 



ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN 



EXPEDITIONS 



VOL. II. 



LONDON 
PRINTED BY SI'OTT I S WOOD E AND CO. 

NEW-STKKET SQUARE 









*i' , 




jita by .-^ituswocde and uo.] [.igewsueet bquare, London 

AN O.IIBWAY SQUAW, WITH PAPOOSE. 



NARRATIVE 

OF 

THE CANADIAN RED RIVER 

EXPLORING EXPEDITION OF 1857 



AND OF THE 



AS8INNIB0INE AND SASKATCHEWAN 

EXPLORING EXPEDITION OF 1858 



HENRY YOULE HIND, M.A. ERG.S. 

PKOFESSOR OF CHEMISTHY AND GEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TRINITY COLLEGE, TOEONTO 

In Charge of tho Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Expedition 



In Two Volumes 
VOL. II. 



LONDON 
LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS 

I860 



The right of transhttion is reserved 






CONTENTS 



THE SECOND VOLUME. 



ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION 

of 1858 (continued). 
CHAPTER XXIII. 

LAKE WINNIPEG. RED RIVER TO THE LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN. 

Mouth of Red River. — Aurora. — "Weather Signs. — Channel at the Mouth of 
Red River. — Storm. — Character of the South Coast of Lake Winnipeg. — 
Fresh-water Shells. — New Land. — "West Coast. — Confervae. — The Willow 
Islands. — Clay Cliffs. — Good Land. — Drunken River. — Aurora. — Rock 
Exposure. — Deer Island. — Section on Deer Island. — Equivalent of the 
Chazy Formation. — Fishing Ground. — Miskena. — Grindstone Point. — 
Rev. Mr. Brooking. — Rocks at Grindstone Point. — The Little Grindstone 
Point. — East Coast of Lake Winnipeg. — Punk Island. — Yellow Ochre. — 
Coast near Dog's Head. — Limestone Cave Point. — Fissured Rocks. — Jack 
Fish River. — Fisher Bay. — The Cat Head. — Little Saskatchewan Bay. — 
East Coast of Lake "Winnipeg. — Dimensions of Lake "Winnipeg. — Eleva- 
tion and Distance of the Lake Superior Watershed. — Elevation of the 
Mississippi "Watershed Page 3 

CIIAP. XXIV. 

THE MOUTH OK THE LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN, OR DAUPHIN RIVER, TO THE 
SALT SPRINGS ON WIXNIPEGO-SIS LAKE. 

The Little Saskatchewan. — Height of Bank. — Country in Rear. — Tracking. 
— Swamps. — Banks of River. — Ojihway Camp. — "Whitefish. — Character 

a 3 



513861 



VI CONTEXTS OF 

of Country. — Canoe Fleet. — Spruce. — Boulders. — Marsh. — St. Martin 
Lake. — "Money." — Pounded Fish. — War-path River, — War Roads. — 
Ojibway, Sioux, Swampy, Cree, Blackfoot, and Crow. — Wavy.-.— Fine 
Land. — The Narrows. — Boulder Barriers. — Sugar Island.— Indians. — 
Grneissoid Islands. — St. Martin Rocks. — Beach Barriers. — Depth of St. 
Martin Lake. — Thunder Island. —Thunder-Storm. — Partridge Crop River. 
— Rushes. — Old Mission. — Low Country. — Indian Farmer. — Wide-spread 
Marsh.— Fairford.— The Character of the Country.— The Mission.— 
Evening Service.— Rev. Mr. Stagg. — The Farm.— Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany's Post. — Rum. — Lake Manitohah. — Progress of the Season. — Rocks. 
— Fossils.— The Coast. — Steep Rock Point. — Devonian Rocks. — Indian 
Superstition. — Water-hen River. — Eagles. — Character of Water-hen 
River. — Pelicans. — Indians. — Wood and Prairie Indians. — Barter. — 
Winnipego-sis Lake. — Ermine Point, — Elms. — Salt Spring. — Snake 
Islands. — Duck Mountain. — Snake Island Fossils. — Arrive at Salt Springs. 

Page 25 

CHAP. XXV. 

FROM WINNIPEGO-SIS LAKE TO THE SUMMIT OF THE RIDING MOUNTAIN, 
AND THE SUMMIT OF THE RIDING MOUNTAIN TO MANITOBAH HOUSE. 

Character of the Country. — The Duck Mountain. — The Salt Springs. — The 
Wells. — The Manufacture of Salt. — Salt Springs and Lagoons. — Moss 
River. — Rapids. — Character of River. — Valley or Dauphin River. — The 
Riding Mountain. — Lake Ridge. — Hay Ground. — Dauphin Lake. — Pike. — 
Snow Birds. — Journey to the Summit of the Riding Mountain. — Marshes. 
— Ridges. — Character of the Country. — Whiskey Jack. — Quaking Bog. — 
Pitching Track. — Rabbits. — Foot of Moimtain. — Cretaceous Rocks. — 
Terraces. — Conical Hills. — White Spruce. — Brown-nosed Bear. — Summit 
of the Riding Mountain. — Former Character of the Riding Mountain. — 
Denudation. — Table Land. — Snow Storm. — Source of the Rapid River. 
— Indian Superstition. — Descent of Riding Mountain. — Character of the 
Mountain. — Fish. — Sickness. — Cupping. — Ta-wa-pit, — Great Bones. — 
Grasshoppers. — Journey from Dauphin Lake to Lake Manitobah. — Cha- 
racter of the Country. — Bogs.— Aspen Ridges. — Ridge Pitching Track.— 
Ebb and Flow Lake. — Indian Tent — Interior of. — Supper. — Sleep. — 
Buffalo Runner. — Manitobah House 43 

CHAP. XXVI. 

MANITOBAH HOUSE. MANITOBAH ISLAND. OAK POINT. OAK POINT TO 

THE SETTLEMENTS ON RED RIVER. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie. — Manitobah House. — Messenger. — Missionary Pri- 
vations. — Want of Supplies. — Snow Storm. — Indian Summer. — Snow 
Birds. — Manitobah House. — Rock. — John Campbell. — Whitefisb. — Im- 



THE SECOND VOLUME. Vll 

portance of. — Aspect of Country. — The Narrows. — Manitobah Island. — 
J Hmensiona of. — Oak. — Rock Formation. — Fossils. — Indian Superstitions. 
Fairies. — Signals. — Arrival of Boat at Manitobah Island. — Coast of Lake 
Manitobah. — Old Mission Station. — Unfitness of this part of the Coast of 
the Lake for Settlement. — Indian Liberality. — Monkman's Point. — Cause 
of the Formation of Marshes. — II. P>. Co. Breeding- Establishment. — Oak 
Point. — Dimensions of Lake Manitobah. — Prairie bordering- the Lake. — 
Shoal Lake.— Character of the Country. — Big; Ridge. — Little Bidge. — 
Arrive at the Settlements Page 66 



CHAP. XXVII. 

W1NTEB JOURNEY WITH DOGS FROM FORT GARRY TO CROW WING. 

Arrival of Lord Richard Grosvenor, Lord Frederick Cavendish, Mr. Henry 
Danby Seymour, M.P., and the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, at Fort Garry. — 

Buffalo Hunting-. — Lord Grosvenor's Fxpedition to Fort Ellice.— Prepara- 
tions for a Winter's Journey. — John Monkman. — Cline. — Daily Allowance 
of Dogs. — A Winter Road. — A Cariole. — A Sledge. — The Driver. — 
Making the Poad. — Prospects of a Pace to Crow Wing. — The Start.— 
Fort Pembina. — Mr. Mackenzie. — The Woods and Prairies in the Winter 
Season. — Temperature at Pembina. — A Camp in the Snow. — Preparations 
for the Night. — Mocassins. — The Morning Start. — Making a Cache in Pine 
Diver. — Dogs watching the Operation. — They return at Night to break 
open the Cache. — Terrible Fate of Mr. Mackenzie in Dec, 1859, frozen to 
Death in attempting to reach Pembina from Pine Creek. — Running across 
a Prairie with the Thermometer at 20° below Zero. — Appearance of the 
Party after the " Rim." — Appearance of a Camp during the Night. — 
Watchfulness of the Dogs. — Catching and harnessing them in the Morn- 
ing. — Treatment of Dogs by the Half-breeds. — Overturning a Cariole. — 
Traveling in a Snow Storm.— Preparing to Camp in a Snow Storm. — 
Dogs "lying close'' after a Fall of Snow during the Night. — Sagacity of 
tin — - Animals. — Bed Lake.— News of Monkman's Party behind us. — The 
Roman Catholic Missionary frozen to Death two Days previous to our 
A nival at Red Lake Mission. — Indians reading the History of the Mis- 
sionary's Journey from his Tracks on the Ice. — Indians relating- the 
History of his Journey. — Savage Mimicry. — The Rev. Laurenz Lautiger, 
the Roman Catholic Missionary. — The Height of Laud. — ('a-- Lake. — 
Arrival of Monkman's Party at Midnight. — Leech Lake. — A Dance. — 
The last Night in the Woods. — The last Day's Dim. — Pine Woods. — 
Morning. — A twenty-mile Gallop. — Crow Wing 81 



a 4 



Mil CONTENTS OF 



CHAR XXVIII. 

INDIAN WEALTH. THE BUFFALO. THE HORSE AND THE DOG. 

The Bison or Buffalo.— Its Value.— Two kinds of Buffalo reported to exist by 
Half-breeds. — The Plain Buffalo and the Wood Buffalo. — The Lithu- 
anian Bison. — Characters of. — Former Range of the Buffalo. — Modem 
Range of.— The lied River Bands.— The Saskatchewan Bands.— Wintering 
Quarters of the north-western Bands of Buffalo. — Summer Ranges. — 
Systematic Migration of. — Buffalo Hunt. — Census of Red River Half- 
breed Hunt. — Blind Buffalo. — Crossing of Buffalo with domesticated 
Cattle. — Character of mixed Breeds. — The Horse.— Training of Horses. 
— Docility of.— Illustrations.— Attachment of Indians to their Horses. — 
Hopplings.— Smokes.— The Dog.— Its Uses.— The Midnight Howl.— Dog 
Feasts.— Dogs at the Hudson's Bay Posts.— Voracity of.— Cross with the 
Wolf.— Sacrifice of Dogs Page 103 



CHAP. XXIX. 

INDIAN CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 

Indian Antiquities.— Result of the Fur Trade.— Ojibways Invaders of the 
Prairies. — Scalp Dance. — Wood Indians. — Occupations of Indians. — Indian 
Cruelty.— Mis-tick-oos, Chief of the Crees of the Sandy Hills.— The Fox. 

Treatment of Prisoners. — Medicine Ceremonies. — Happy Hunting 

Grounds. — Indian "Medicine" Men and " Medicines."— Influence of Con- 
jurors. — Manitou Dwellings. — Manitobah Island. — The Rev. Mr. Cowley. 
'—Sacrifices. — Character of Indians. — Mis-tick-oos' best Wife.— Mis-tick- 
oos' Son's Wife.— Decorating the Skin.— Indian Pipes.— Ta-wa-pit's Pipe. 

Pipes pecidiar to Tribes. — Salutations among Indians. — Indians in the 

Prairie — Impounding the Buffalo. — In Sickness. — Idea of Lightning. 

120 

CHAP. XXX. 

INDIAN POPULATION OF BRITISH AMERICA. 

Origin of Indian Races.— Kindred and Relationship.— Iroquois Customs.— 
Iroquois Institutions.— Iroquois League.— Indian Population of Rupert's 
Land.— Probably over-estimated. — Number of Indians frequenting par- 
ticular Posts.— Prairie Indians. — Colonel Lefroy's Estimate. — The Sioux 
or Dakotah Indians.— Principal Bands.— Conj urors.— Months.— Language. 
—The Blackfeet.— Country occupied by the Blackfeet.— Blackfeet Tribes. 
—Indians near the Boundary Line.— Indians of British America.— Indians 
of the United States.— Early History of the Indians.— Mutability of Indian 
Nations.— The Hurons and Iroquois.— The Prairie Tribes.— The Remnant. 

145 



THE SECOND VOLUME. IX 

CHAP. XXXI. 

INDIAN TITLE TO RED RIVER. 

Indian Title in Canada. — Importance of the Question in Rupert's Land. — 
Cost of Indian Wars to the United States' Government. — Advance of Settle- 
ments towards the West. — Probability of a War with the Sioux. — Indian 
Laces occupying the Country available for present Settlement in Rupert's 
Land. — Restlessness of these People. — The Right Hon. E. Ellice, M.P., on 
Indian Title in Canada. — Proclamation of 1703. — Opinion of the Canadian 
Commissioners on Indian Affairs with respect to Indian Title in Canada. 
— Title to Red River. — Grant to Lord Selkirk. — Treaty between Lord 
Selkirk and the Crees and Saulteaux of Red River. — Peguis. — His 
Letter to the Aborigines' Protection Society. — His Address in 1859 to 
the " Great House." — 31. MacDermotf 8 Statement. — Meeting of the Half- 
Breeds of Red River. — Opinion respecting Indian Title. — Importance of 
the Question. — Treaty of the Americans with the Saulteaux for the 
northern part of 3Iinsesota on Red River .... Page 1G7 



CHAP. XXXII. 

MISSIONARY LABOUR AND ITS RESULTS. 

Indians in Canada. — Distinction between Indian Nations and Tribes. — The 
Ojibways and 3Iistassins. — Families, Nations, Tribes, and Bands. — 
Indian Families of Rupert's Land and Canada. — The Algonquins and 
Iroquois. — The Hurons or Wyandots. — Dispersion of the Hurons. — The 
Iroquois Confederation. — Statistics of Indians in Canada. — Canadian 
Special Commission. — The Indian Department. — Efforts to ameliorate 
the Condition of Indians. — The 3Ianitoulin Islands and the Mission at 
Manitouaning. — The Roman Catholic 3Iissions. — Their School and 
Village. — AVikwemikong. — Wesleyan Methodist Missions. — Indian 
Labour Schools. — Cause of the Failure. — Condition of some Indian 
Milages in Canada. — The Indians of the northern Coast of Lakes Huron 
and Superior. — Treaty with these Indians. — Distribution of Annuities. — ■ 
Hudson's Bay Company. — Sale of Birthrights. — Suggestion with Reference 
to a Permanent Fund for the Supervision and Instruction of Indians. — 
Lands surrendered by Indians in Canada. — Testimony of Missionaries and 
Agents in Relation to Indians. — Advantage of Settled Homes.- —Compact 
Reservations. — Indian Progress in Michigan. — At Red Lake. — At Red 
River. — Suggestions with regard to the Amelioration of the Condition 
of Indians generally. — Missionary Labour in Rupert's Land. — The 
School-House. — Suggestion for the Establishment of a General Store for 
Outposts. — Native Language. — The Bishop of Rupert's Land. — His 
Charge, January, 18G0. — The Earl of Soutkesk. — A Christian Assin- 
nibomes' Baud. — The Church in the Wilderness . . . .178 



X CONTENTS OF 

(HAP. XXXIII. 

the Hudson's bay company. 

Incorporation of the Hudson's Bay Company. — Profits of the Company. — 
The North-West Company of Montreal. — Union of the two Companies. 

— Profits of the Hudson's Bay Company after the Union. — Proprietors 
and Stock of the Company. — Administration of their Affairs. — Sir George 
Simpson. — The Council. — Departments, Districts, and Posts. — Extent 
of the Administration of the Company for the Prosecution of the Fur 
Trade Page 206 

CHAP, xxxrv. 

THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CANADA AND RED RIVER. 

The Winter Communication. — Character of the Country on the North 
Shores of Lakes Huron and Superior. — Probabilities of a Road being made. 
— Country north of Lake Huron. — Mr. Salter's Survey. — Mr. Murray's 

Survey. The Summer Communication. — Route proposed by Mr. 

Dawson. — The Pigeon River Route. — The Old North-West Company's 
Route. — Cost of improving and opening the Fort William and Arrow Lake 

Route. Communication viA the United States. — Arrangement of 

the Hudson's Bay Company. — Arrangement of Messrs. Burbank and Com- 
pany. — Captain Palliser's Opinion respecting the Canadian and Ameri- 
can Routes. — Objections to his View. — Advantages of the Pigeon River 
Route 212 

CHAP. XXXV. 

THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN RED RIVER AND THE PACIFIC. THE 

IMPORTANCE OF THE BASIN OF LAKE WINNIPEG. 

The Result of Captain Palliser's Expedition. — Valley of the Saskatchewan. 
— Character of the Valley. — The Rocky Mountain Passes. — Route across 
the Continent. — Lieutenant Palmer's Explorations in British Columbia. — 
Roads in British Columbia. — Lieutenant Richard Maine's Explorations 
in British Columbia. — Thompson River. — Present Position of British 
Columbia. — The Customs and Imports of the Colony. — The Gold-Fields. 

— Their Extent. — Captain Palliser's suggested Boundary of the New 
Colony in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — Objections to this Boundary. 

— Importance of the New Colony being conterminous with Canada on 
the East. — The Natural Boundary of the New Colony. — Importance 
of the East Coast of Lake Winnipeg. — Necessity for a natural Northern 
Boundary. — Suggested Boundary. — TnE Natural Advantages of the 



THE SECOND VOLUME. XI 

Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — The Great American Desert. — The Fertile 
Belt in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — Its Importance. — Its Natural 
Resources. — Conclusion Page 222 



GEOLOGY OF THE BASIN OF LAKE WINNIPEG. 

CHAP. XXXVI. 

SURFACE geology. 

Geographical Boundaries. — The Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — Limits. — 

Elevation of its Boundaries. — Outlet. — Area. — Character of its Rim. 

Surface Features. — Area of Low Lake Region. — Terraces of Pembina 
Mountain. — Escarpment of the Riding, Duck, &c. &c. Mountains. — Prairie 
Plateau of Rupert's Land. — Plains of the North-West. — Table of Ele- 
vations. — Detached Hills. — Country east of Lake Winnipeg. — Lakes. — 

Direction of elevating Forces. — Steps to the Height of Land. 

Grooved, Scratched, and Polished Rocks. — On Baril Portage. — On 

Winnepeg River. — On Limestones of Lake Manitobah. Drift. — Over 

the Country between Lake Superior and AVinnipeg. — Lacustrine Deposits. 
— Drift on the Souris. — On the South Branch. — Forced Arrangement of. 
— In Blue Clay at Toronto. — Description of this Arrangement. — Sorting 
of Materials. — Agency of Water and Ice. — Glacial Ice. — Tiers of Boulders 
on the South Branch. — Layers of Stratified Mud. Erratics.— Distri- 
bution of. — Effects of Ice on Lake AVinnipeg. — In Lake Manitobah. — On 

the Red River Prairies. Beaches and Terraces. — Great Dog 

Portage. — Section of. — Beaches on Lake Superior. — On Prairie Portage. 
— The Big Ridge. — White Mud River Ridge. — Dauphin Lake Ridge. — 
Prairie Ridges. — Pembina Mountain. — Ridge, Character of. — Riding and 
Duck Mountain Ridges. — Conical Hills. — Bear Hill. — Second Tier of 
Conical Hills. Sand Hills and Dunes. — Ranges. Circular De- 
pressions. — Character of. Denudation. — In the Basin of Lake AVin- 
nipeg. — Parallelism of bold Limits of Denudation. — Grand Coteau de 
Missouri. — Niagara Limestone Escarpment of New York and Canada. — 
Riding and Duck Mountains, &c. — Probable common Origin of. — Dislo- 
cations in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg 289 



XI 1 CONTENTS OF 

CHAP. XXXVII. 

THE LAURENTIAN AND HURONIAN SERIES. 

Distribution of Formations. — The Laurentides. The Laurentian 

System. — Description of Laurentian Rocks. — Lime and Soda Felspar. — 
Titanic Iron-ore. — Crystalline Limestones. — Mineral Species in the 
Limestones. — Intrusive Rocks. — Economic Materials. — Separation of 
Laurentian Rocks into two Groups. — Extent of the Limestones in this 
System. — Area of Laurentian Rocks in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — 
Intrusive Rocks. — Character of the Dividing Ridge. — From Milles Lacs 
to Rainy Lake. — From Rainy Lake to the Lake of the "Woods. — From 
the Lake of the Woods to the Winnipeg. — The Coast of Lake Winnipeg. 
— Fundamental Gneiss of Scotland, the Equivalent of the Laurentian 
Series in Canada. — Adoption of the name Laurentian in British Geology 
by Sir Roderick Murckison, to represent the Oldest or Fundamental 
Gneiss of Scotland. — The Huronian Series. — Description of Huronian 
Rocks Page 268 

CHAP. XXXVIII. 

THE SILURIAN AND DEVONIAN SERIES. 

Rim of the Silurian Series. — Distribution of Formations. — The Chazy 
Formation. — Fossils from the Chazy, llodiolopsis Parviiiscnla, Ortho- 
ceras Simfisoni. — Bird's-eye, and Trenton Formations. — Hudson River 
Formation. — The Devonian Series. — Salt Springs. — Salt Springs in 
Rupert's Land. — Manufacture of Salt. — Salt Trade of the United States. 
— Fossils from Devonian Rocks in the Winnipeg Basin . . 283 

CHAP. XXXIX. 

THE CARBONIFEROUS SERIES. JURASSIC FORMATION. 

Evidence of the Carboniferous Series. — " Productus." — Probability of the 
Carboniferous Series being represented on the Flanks of the Hiding 
Mountain. — Occurrence in Nebraska Territory. — In Kansas Territory. — In 
the North-West generally. — On the West Edge of the Fossiliferous Basin. 
— Ammonites from the McKenzie River, probably from Jurassic Rocks. 
— Ammonites Barnstoni. — Ammonites Billingsi .... 299 

CHAP. XL. 

THE CRETACEOUS SERIES. TERTIARY FORMATIONS. 

Distribution of the Cretaceous Series in Western North America. — The 
Nebraska Section. — Vertical Section in Nebraska and Rupert's Land. — 



THE SECOND VOLUME. Xlll 

Formation No. 1. — Formation No. 2. — Formation No. 3. — Formation No. 4. 
— Great Development of Formation No. 4 in Rupert's Land. — Fossils. — 
Steatitic Minerals. — Analysis of. — Anomia Flemingi. — Inosceramns Cana- 
densis. — Leda Hindi. — Scaphites Nodosns. — Clay Iron-stone. — Bands of 
this Formation. — Distribution of. — Richness of. — Analysis of. — Forma- 
tion No. 5 of the Nebraska Section. — Its Occurrence on the Flanks of 
Rocky Mountains. — Fossils of. — Avicula Lingureformis. — Avicula Ne- 

brascana. — Nautilus Dekayi. Tertiary Formations. — Lignite on the 

Riding and Duck Mountains. — Sand Dimes probably derived from Ter- 
tiary Rocks. — Tertiary Coal. — Lignite Basin of the Missouri. — Lignite on 
the North Saskatchewan. — On Red Deer River. — On the South Branch. 
— Lignites of Oregon and British Columbia . . . Page 318 



CLIMATE OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF RUPERT'S LAND. 

CHAP. XLI. 

Climate of the Laurentides and the Prairies. — Frozen Lakes. — Mean 
Annual Temperature. — Arid and Humid Region. — Sources of Humidity. 
— Aridity West of the 98th Meridian. — Mississippi Valley. — Arid Region 
of the United States. — Humid Region of the Valley of Lake Winnipeg. — 
Causes of. — Elevation of the Country. — Humid Pacific Winds. — North- 
easterly Current. — The Arid Region. — Prevailing Winds. — Source of the 
Humidity. — Rocky Mountain Plateau. — Depression in. — Table of Eleva- 
tion of Plateau and Passes. — Hail Storms. — Thunder Storms in 1858. — 
Progress of Dunes. — Summer Surface Wind. — Meteorology of Red River, 

— Winter Temperatures. — Winter Temperatures at Montreal. — Cold 
Terms. — Quebec Temperatures. — Climate of the South Branch of the 
Saskatchewan. — Limit of permanently frozen Soil. — Growth of Forests. 
Tail of the Prairies. — Prairies Converted into Forest Land in Missouri. 

— Character of the Great Plains in the United States. — Major Emory's 
Statement. — Auroras. — October 2nd. — October 27th. — The Twilight 
Bow. — Indian Summer ........ 353 

CHAP. XLII. 

THE LOCUSTS AND THE FLOODS. 

The Locusts. — General Distribution of the Insect. — Distinction between 
Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Locusts. — The Locust of the North-West. — 
AcrycUum Femur-rubrum, — Description of the Insect. — Male and Female. 



XIV CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 

— Accounts of the Appearance of Locusts in the United States and 
Rupert's Land. — Distribution in 1857 and 1858. — Limits of its Ravages. — 
Females engaged in laying Eggs. — Vitality of the Eggs. — Power of Flight 
of this Locust. — Elevation of its Flight above the Sea. — Food of the 
Insect. — Effect of the periodical Visitations in the Far West and in 
Rupert's Land.— The Floods.— Flood Years.— Effects of, in 1802.— The 
Bishop of Rupert's Land Description. — Speculations respecting the Cause 
ef the Floods. — Sudden Melting of an unusual Fall of Snow at the 
Opening of Spring Page 385 



Appendix 397 






LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

IN 

THE SECOND VOLUME. 



t * The following Illustrations are from Photographs taken by Mr. Humphrey 
Lloyd Hime, Photographer to the Assinnihoinc and Saskatchewan Expedi- 
tion, or from Sketches by Mr. John Fleming, Assistant Surveyor and 
Draughtsman. 



CHR0M0XYL0GRAPH3. 



Susan ..... 

"Wigwam .... 

Fort Garry .... 

An Ojibway Squaw with Papoose 
The Fox, Chief of the Plain Crees 
Indian Graves .... 



WOODCUTS. 

Freighter's Boat ........ 

Beach of Lake Winnipeg, near the Mouths of Red River 
Exposure on Deer Island, near Grindstone Point 

Grindstone Point 

Sugar Island 

Fairford, or Partridge Crop 

Skin Tents, Cree ; Birchbark Tents, Ojibway 

Snow Shoes 

Dog Carioles 

Pembina 

Sioux Dress and Mocassins 

Sioux Knife Sheath 

Indian Hunters' Tents in the rear of Fort Garry 

Sioux Scalp from the Graves at Red River . 

Cree Medicine Bap- ..... 



to face page 27 

52 

83 

123 

126 

166 



Page 

4 
7 

13 

15 

31 

36 

63 

85 

86 

88 

105 

119 

121 

124 

, 128 



XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

Medicine Eattle 132 

Tobacco Pipes of the Swampys of Lake Winnipeg . . . .139 

Tobacco Pipes of the Ojibways of Rainy Lake, &c 139 

Sioux Pipe 140 

Chipewyan (1 and 2), Plain Cree (3), and Blackfoot (4) Pipes . . 140 

Babeen Pipes 141 

Cree Fire Bags 143 

Bows and Arrows . . . . 144 

Indian Graves covered with Split Sticks ...... 164 

Profile of the Great Dog Mountain ....... 258 

Orthoceras Simpsoni. A fragment of the siphuncle of this species . 287 
Fossils from Snake Island ......... 297 

Productus from Bed River ......... 300 

Ammonites Barnstoni, side view, showing the deep umbilicus . . 312 

„ front view of the same specimen . . . 313 

Diagram of one of the Septa of Ammonites Barnstoni .... 314 

Ammonites Billingsi 315 

Curious spiral Fossil from the Two Creeks ...... 333 

Anomia Flemingi . . . . . . . . . . 334 

Inosceramus Canadensis, left valve . . . . . . . 336 

„ right valve 336 

Leda Hindi 337 

Scaphites Nodosus, side view 338 

„ front view ........ 339 

Avicula Lingupeformis ......... 342 

Avicula Nebrascana .......... 343 

Nautilus Dekayi, front view 343 

„ side view ......... 344 



MAPS AND PLANS. 

Map of the Country from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean, showing 
the Western Boundary of Canada and the Eastern Boundary of 
British Columbia, also the Fertile Belt stretching from the Lake 
of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains . . . to face page 223 

. 239 
. 267 
. 267 
. 267 
. 267 



Geological Map of a part of Rupert's Land . 
Profile of the Kaministiquia Route 

„ Pigeon River Route 

„ Qu'appelle Valley . 

„ Country across the line A B on geological map 



THE 



ASSINNIBOINE & SASKATCHEWAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION 

of 1858 



CONTINUED 



VOL. II. 



/» 



ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN 
EXPLORING EXPEDITION 

of 1858. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

LAKE WINNIPEG. RED RIVER TO THE LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN. 

Mouth of Red River. — Aurora. — Weather Signs. — Channel at the Mouth of 
Red River. — Storm. — Character of the South Coast of Lake Winnipeg. — 
Fresh-water Shells. — New Land. — West Coast. — Confervse. — The Willow 
Islands. — Clay Cliffs. — Good Land. — Drunken River. — Aurora. — Rock 
Exposure. — Deer Island. — Section on Deer Island. Equivalent of the 
Cliazy Formation. — Fishing Ground. — Miskena. — Grindstone Point. — Rev. 
Mr. Brooking. — Rocks at Grindstone Point. — The Little Grindstone Point. 
— East Coast of Lake Winnipeg. — Punk Island. — Yellow Ochre. — Coast 
near Dog's Head. — Limestone Cave Point. — Fissured Rocks. — Jack Fish 
River. — Fisher Bay. — The Cat Head. — Little Saskatchewan Bay. — East 
Coast of Lake Winnipeg. — Dimensions of Lake Winnipeg. — Elevation 
and Distance of the Lake Superior Watershed. — Elevation of the Mis- 
sissippi Watershed. 

The early period of the year during which the arrival 
of winter may be expected to close the navigation of the 
lakes and rivers of Rupert's Land, makes every autumnal 
day valuable for continuing an exploration in canoes or 
batteaux. A fortnight; however, after our return from 



4 ASS1XXIB0IXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

the prairies was necessarily occupied at what may be ap- 
propriately termed Selkirk Settlement, in writing reports 
and making preparations for a voyage through Lake 
Winnipeg, the Little Saskatchewan Paver, and Lake 
Manitobah to the Salt Region on the shores of Winni- 
pego-sis Lake. Mr. Dickinson prepared for an ex- 
ploration of the country between the Lake of the Woods 
and Pied River, and between the Asshmiboine and the 
49th parallel. Both parties were ready by the 18th, and 
at noon started on their respective routes. 




Freighter's Boat. 

In a Eed Paver freighter's boat of four tons' burden, 
with a crew of seven men, and accompanied by Mr. 
Fleming, I reached a point about seven miles below the 
Indian Settlement, being aided by a fair wind, and camped 
at dusk. On the following morning, the temperature of 
the air at sunrise was G3°, of the river, 59°. We arrived 
at the mouth of the river at 10 a.m., and hastened to avail 



WEATHER SIGNS. 5 

ourselves of a south-east wind just beginning to rise. Last 
night the aurora was very beautiful, and extended far 
beyond the zenith, leading the voyageurs to predict a 
windy day. The notion prevails with them that when 
the aurora is low, the following day will be calm ; when 
high, stormy. The temperature of the mouth of the 
river was 50°, and of the open lake, 1J mile from shore, 
58J,°. Rain commenced as soon as we were fairly in 
Lake Winnipeg *, the wind suddenly chopped round to 
the north, driving a dense fog before it, and in a few 
minutes enveloped us in a misty shower. The steersman 
instantly turned about and made for the mouth of the 
river, there bein» no harbour nearer than the Willow 
Islands, at least fifteen miles distant. The breeze rapidly 
increased to a gale as we regained calm water inside the 
bar at the mouth of Eed Eiver. 

The wind subsided about 2 p.m., and a shot heard from 
a direction due south of where we lay, induced some of 
the voyageurs to exclaim, that the wind would soon come 
from that direction, according to an impression common 
among these excellent observers and interpreters of 
" signs," that a shot heard against the wind is a good 
omen. But our steersman placed more faith in the aurora, 
and thought we had not " taken all the wind out of it 
yet." The sky having a threatening appearance, we de- 
termined to camp. 

There are six mouths to Eed Eiver, winding through 
extensive marshes ; the channel through which we passed 
was the main outlet ; its breadth varies from twenty to 
twenty-eight feet, and on either side shelves rapidly from 
four to eighteen feet of water. At 3 p.m., when just on 

* Winnipeg, from the Ojibway — We } dirty; andw<3pe, water. 
b3 



6 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

the point of starting, one of the voyageurs suggested that 
we should wait for a few minutes longer as he had ob- 
served the water of the lake coming in at the mouth of 
the river, and thought that the wind would soon blow 
strong from the north, although at the time the sky was 
clear and a calm prevailed. In less than half an hour a 
fresh northerly breeze sprang up, scud appeared drifting 
before it, and the waters of the lake flowed rapidly up 
the river into the vast marshes which extend for many 
miles inland at the southern extremity of Lake Winni- 
peg. The weather at this season of the year is very 
changeable, and renders boat navigation of the lake 
rather hazardous. In anticipation of a storm, we made 
ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit 
on a low spit of sand, with the lake before us, the river 
on our left hand, and interminable marshes east and south 
of us. 

Soon after sunset, the breeze from the north rose into 
a gale ; the water of the lake ran like a rapid up the 
river channel into the swamps, and a terrific swell soon 
set in from the lake, breaking upon the sandy beach with 
a stunning noise. The water rose to within six inches 
of the level of the spit on which our tent was pitched 
and threatened every instant to submerge it. At 10 p.m., 
the gale was at its height, and as we sat upon a stranded 
trunk of a tree, looking out upon the lake, a truly mag- 
nificent scene lay before us. Huge crested breakers 
covered the lake as far as we could see throuoh the 
gloom, lighting up the coast with long glistening streaks 
of white foam. The noise was so overpowering that we 
had great difficulty in hearing one another speak ; the 
waves broke over the narrow spit which formed the low 
bank of the river where our boat was moored and the 



SOUTH COAST OF LAKE WINNIPEG. 7 

tent pitched ; our cam]) ground was reduced to a strip of 
sand eight yards broad and seven inches above the river 
on one side, with overflowing swamps on the other ; if 
the storm had continued half an hour longer we should 
have been compelled to take to the boat and drift into 
the reeds, at the risk of being stranded when the gale 
subsided and the water retired from the marshes into the 
lake. 




i^^m"0t^n^^L. 



W?~x*%&&$* '' ^^S)^';.Mt£JJs 



Beach of Lake Winnipeg, near the Mouths of Red River. 



For many miles the south coast of Lake Winnipeg 
consists of alternate strips of sand sustaining willows, and 
narrow, reedy marshes running parallel to the coast line. 
Some of these sand strips show many years of duration 
when well protected by drift timber, others are of recent 
origin, clean and bare, enclosing ponds in which rushes 
are only just beginning to show themselves. They are the 
records of the progress made by new land in its invasion 

B 4 



8 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

of the lake at and near the months of Red Eiver. A 
northerly gale throws up a bar or beach about one 
hundred yards from the main shore ; on the new beach 
drifted timber accumulates, and in process of time be- 
comes consolidated by the gravel and sand which is 
washed between the logs. Willows soon grow on the 
new soil thus formed, and bind the whole into a firm 
beach with a marsh in the rear. A heavy gale may sweep 
the neAV land away or throw up another beach about one 
hundred yards in advance of it, on which the process of 
consolidation is renewed. For ages past this work of 
construction and destruction has been greatly in favour of 
the former. Hence it arises that, with the exception of 
the newly formed spit at the mouth of the river, there is 
no accessible camping ground for several miles up the 
stream ; marshes surround the spits or old beaches on 
which the willows grow, and extend in all directions as 
far as the eye can reach. 

The beach and marshes contain an infinite number of 
fresh-water shells belonging to the genera Helix, Bulimus, 
Succinea, Pupa, Planorbis, Lymneus, &c. &c. For many 
hundred yards together the beach is covered with perfect 
or disintegrated forms of these shells, thrown up by the 
waves upon the sand. 

We employed ourselves during our unexpected deten- 
tion in examining the coast, sounding the river, and in 
shooting and fishing. Our sporting brought us only six 
duck, three plover, and three large pike. The flesh of 
the pike was of a delicate salmon colour, more like that 
of the salmon trout of the Canadian lakes than of the 
common pike. 

Sept. 21st. — Rising at 4 a. m. in half an hour we were en 
route, the morning just beginning to dawn ; temperature 



THE WILLOW ISLANDS. 9 

of tlie air at sunrise, 51°, of lake 59°. The west coast 
for a few miles is elevated from five to six feet above the 
lake ; here and there a low beach of limestone gravel, 
sand, and a few granite boulders, is fringed with a belt of 
tall aspens which grow within twenty feet of the water's 
edge. Behind the belt of aspens is a marsh, then another 
belt of aspens also followed by a marsh. This succession 
continues for a distance of about three miles before good 
land supporting heavy aspens is to be found in large areas. 
Near to the spot where we breakfasted, an excellent illus- 
tration of the prevailing character of the west coast, thus 
far, occurs. A sandy beach covered with shingle had 
separated a former bay from the main body of the lake. 
On this beach, which was not twenty feet broad, or more 
than five above the lake level, willows, dogwood, and 
grasses were growing ; a large pond lay inside, fringed 
with rushes ; it was tenanted by hosts of duck. In the 
rear of this pond a narrow strip of land clothed with 
aspen, separated a marsh from it, which had doubtless 
once been a bay of the lake, then a pond, and finally a 
marsh. 

At 11 A. M., a vast quantity of conferva? appeared in 
clusters on the surface of the lake, resembling in every 
particular a similar organism noticed in extraordinary 
profusion on the Lake of the Woods in August, 1857. 
The sudden appearance of this " weed," indicated a calm, 
according to the experience of our voyageurs. A calm 
did occur for a short time, soon, however, followed by ram 
in the north, which fortunately did not reach us. 

Inland ponds cut off from the lake by low beaches 
appear as far as the Willow Islands, where we arrived in 
the afternoon. These islands were found to consist of a 
few small sandy areas and one long narrow strip of sand 



10 ASSIXNIBOINE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION" 

and gravel, stretching into the lake in an easterly direction, 
and separated from the shore by a narrow channel. They 
are fast wearing away, and in the memory of some of 
the voyagenrs, were covered ten years since with willows, 
poplar, and a few spruce. They have probably afforded 
much of the material for the formation of the beaches 
which have cut off portions of the lake on the south- 
west coast, the sand and shingle being drifted along the 
shore by the long waves which every breeze from the 
north or a northerly direction creates. The depth of 
water near the coast is very small ; soundings showed 
twenty-nine feet of water one mile north of Willow Island, 
the deepest part yet observed. Near Willow Island 
we met an Indian in a canoe with his wife and two 
children : he was going to Eed Eiver. I gave him some 
tobacco and his squaw a small quantity of tea ; in return 
he unrolled a piece of birch bark and handed me the 
moufle of a moose, at the same time remarking that he 
was a conjuror and would " make us a fair wind." The 
steersman replied that a fair wind for us would be adverse 
to him. " Ah," said the conjuror, " but I will make one 
for you and two for myself." 

In the afternoon I landed to examine some cliffs of 
clay which appear about twenty-three miles from the 
mouth of the river. They were sixteen feet in altitude, 
and exposed a clean surface of stratified marl, reposing 
on a brownish-black clay. The stratification was in thin 
horizontal layers, easily detached one from the other. 
The brownish-black clay showed a. very tenacious 
character, so much so, that it was very difficult to break 
off with the hand masses larger than ten or twelve cubic 
inches, in any other direction than that of the plane of 
stratification. It was worn by the action of the waves 



DONATI'S COMET — AN AURORA. 11 

into a great variety of forms, and on the beach lay large 
numbers of egg-shaped and spherical bodies, varying 
from one foot in length and three inches in diameter, to 
small round pellets of the size of peas. They were 
covered with minute pebbles, or with sand, and when 
broken, showed a nucleus of the tough clay which had 
assumed its regular form by constant rolling on the beach. 
No organic remains were found, and the impression con- 
veyed by the aspect of the clay and the marl by which it 
was capped, satisfied me that it was of the same age as 
the clay and marly substratum of the Red River and As- 
sinniboine Prairies. 

The timber in the forest consisted of aspens and birch, 
with a few oak, elm, and ash. Our steersman, who knew 
the country well, informed me that good land on which 
large timber grew, did not extend more than one mile 
from the lake. It is succeeded by spruce and tamarac 
(Larix Americana) marshes, the trees being of dwarfish 
dimensions. The afternoon was calm and warm, so far 
verifying the predictions of our voyageurs, which they 
had based on the sudden appearance of the " weed," in 
the morning. 

Sept 22nd. — Last night was cold, calm, and beautiful, 
the thermometer fell to 30° at 10 p.m., and to the freez- 
ing point before daybreak. Donati's comet shone a fine 
celestial object ; and notwithstanding the brightness of 
the moon, then nearly full, a splendid aurora was dis- 
tinctly visible, and the heavens presented a peculiarly 
beautiful spectacle. We camped near the mouth of 
Drunken River, a small stream which would make an 
excellent boat harbour, if widened at its outlet. The 
clay cliffs and marl disappeared before we arrived at our 
camping place ; the shore again consisting of a beach, with 



12 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

a swamp or marsh, fringed with small spruce and tamarac 
in the rear. I aroused the men at 4 a.m. The -aurora at 
that hour was a splendid object, and appeared in the form 
of sudden Hashes of low arcs of light, complete from east 
to west, rising in vast waves from one constant luminous 
base, a few degrees above the horizon. The undulations 
of pale light followed one another with great rapidity and 
regularity for many minutes together. 

A strong westerly breeze early this morning, soon 
enabled us to reach the Sandy Bar, fourteen miles from 
Drunken Eiver, and then the Grassy Narrows, a distance 
of seven miles. Both of these points are low, sandy, and 
gravelly peninsulas stretching out into the lake opposite 
to Big Black Island. The first exposure of limestone was 
seen on a small island opposite Big Black Island, which 
we named Guano Island. It dipped very slightly to the 
south-west ; a search for fossils was fruitless, but on Big 
Black Island, and those adjacent to it, near the Little 
Grindstone Point, limestone of Lower Silurian age ap- 
pears in the form of low mural cliffs on the west shores, 
which alone were seen. This limestone is a continuation 
of a fine exposure afterwards found on Deer Island, 
where we arrived at 1 p.m. 

The following section occurs on Deer Island : — 

Shingle Beach (Limestone) : 

No. 1. Four feet of dark green argillo-arenaceous shale, 
with thin layers of sandstone of uneven thickness — 
Fucoids very abundant in the sandstone. The weathered 
sandstone is reddish brown ; fresh surfaces are white or 
grey. White iron pyrites assimilating the forms of disks, 
spheroids, and shells occurs in the sandstone. 

No. 2. In many respects like the former ; the sandstone 
layers are from one to four inches in thickness and pre- 



DEER ISLAND, LAKE WINNIPEG. 



13 



dominate over the slialy portions. Its thickness is six 
feet. The character of these formations (1 and 2) is very 
variable ; the green argillaceous portion sometimes pre- 
dominates, and occasionally the sandstone. 

No. 3. Ten feet of sandstone with green bands of a 
soft argillaceous' rock, from one quarter to four inches in 
thickness. The sandstone often white, but generally red. 
A persistent green band, a few inches thick, filled with 




Exposure od Deer Island, near Grindstone Point. 

obscure forms resembling fucoids, is very characteristic. 
The red-coloured sandstone is often soft and friable, the 
white frequently embodied in the red. Both red and 
white contain obscure organic forms. The green patches 
which are found throughout the sandstone contain im- 
pressions of fucoids ; an Orthoceratite was found in the 
sandstone. In some parts of the exposure on Deer Island 
the sandstone layers are much harder, although partaking 
of the characters already described. When thus hard, 



14 ASSINN1B0INE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

the white portion is extremely brilliant, of a pure white, 
and very siliceous ; it would form an excellent material 
for the manufacture of glass. Forms, coloured brown, 
often pervade the white sandstone, and appear to re- 
semble fucoids and corals replaced by brown ochreous 
sand. 

No. 4. Eighteen feet of limestone, perfectly horizontal, 
very hard, and breaking off the cliff, where the soft sand- 
stone has been weathered away, in huge rhomboidal slabs, 
eight to twenty-five feet in diameter, and four to ten 
inches thick. 

The surface of the limestone shows silicified shells and 
corals: among the shells an Orthoceras nine inches in 
diameter was seen, with fossils belonging to the genera 
Rhynchonella and Tetradium. This formation is equiva- 
lent to the Chazy of New York and Canada, and con- 
sequently lies near the base of the Lower Silurian Series. 

In the shingle immediately below the cliff, many fine 
Orthoceratites were found, with a large Maclurea, and 
Catenipora escharoicles* 

Limestone forms the west coast for some miles south 
of Big Grindstone Point, where we arrived in the evening. 
This part of Lake Winnipeg is very beautiful, resembling, 
in many pleasing particulars, the scenery on the justly 
celebrated Lake Simcoe, Canada West, near the Narrows, 
where wooded islands rising from the lake in clusters and 
rows, are suggestive of tranquil summer retreats. Between 
Grindstone Point and Deer Island, the lead showed sixty 
feet of water. It is the great fishing-ground of some of 
the bands of Indians who make this part of the lake their 

* For the determination of the fossils from this and other localities in the 
region ahont Lake Winnipeg-, Manitobah, &c, I am indebted to E. Billings, 
Esq., F.G.S., Palaeontologist to the Canadian Geological Survey. 



THE REV. MR. BROOKING. 15 

wintering place. White fish are very abundant, and 
caught by the Indians in large numbers ; their flavour is 
not so fine as those of Lake Manitobah, or of the Qu'ap- 
pelle Lakes. Sturgeon are also numerous, and, according 
to the belief of the miserable natives who fish here during 
the winter, the deep part of the lake is their great place 
of resort at that period of the year, where they he with 
Mis-ke-?ia, " the chief of the fishes," in the southern por- 
tion of Lake Winnipeg. 

Longfellow alludes to the same superstition held by 
Lake Superior Indians, in the song of " Hiawatha," when 
he makes his hero go — 

" Forth upon the Getche Guinee, 
On the shining Big-Sea- Water, 
With his fishing-line of cedar — 
Of the twisted bark of cedar — 
Forth to catch the sturgeon Nahnia, 
Nishe-Nahma, King of Fishes, 
In his birch canoe exulting : 
All alone went Hiawatha." 

We approached Grindstone Point after dark, and ob- 
served a camp-fire on the beach, with a freighter's boat 
close in shore. It belonged to the Eev. Mr. Brooking 
and his family, who were returning to Eossville from Eed 
River. Mr. Brooking is a Wesleyan missionary, for some 
years a resident in Eupert's Land, and engaged in the 
unthankful labour of attempting to Christianize the In- 
dians. He had traveled from the head of Lake Winnipeg 
to Eed Eiver Settlement, to obtain medical advice for 
Mrs. Brooking, who was very unwell. Our interview 
was short, the voyageurs in Mr. Brooking's boat being 
anxious to take advantage of a fair wind which had just 
arisen. As soon as supper was ended they embarked 
and proceeded by moonlight on their lonely journey. He 
was twenty days in coming from Norway House to Bed 



16 



ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



River, having been kept back by contrary winds. His 
prospects of traversing the lake rapidly were now more 
favourable, as the south wind which prevailed would 
soon drive a freighter's boat to Norway House. 

Sept. 23r<r7. — The rocks at Grindstone Point, about six 
miles north of Deer Island, are similar to those already 
described in the previous section. Being further north, 
the exposure is higher, and the sandstone bands more 




Grindstone Point. 



fully shown. Beneath No. 1 of Deer Island, a hard, 
yellow, compact sandstone appears, and is exposed for a 
space of four feet above the level of the water. Strata 
No. 1 and No. 2 of Deer Island appear in a slightly dif- 
ferent form here : the sandstone bands are thicker ; the 
green shaly portion more distinct as a separate band, and 
two feet thick ; while above the hard yellow sandstone, 
the base of No. 1 appears in the form of a purple band 



PUNK ISLAND. — YELLOW OCHRE. 17 

of very soft sandstone, about one foot in thickness, con- 
taining a vast number of stains, which seem to have been 
occasioned by fucoids. 

At Little Grindstone Point, the limestone No. 4 of 
Deer Island comes to the water's edge. The sandstone 
No. 3 is just below its level. Little Grindstone Point is a 
little more than seven miles south-west of Big Grindstone 
Point^ and the altitude of the limestone, where it touches 
the sandstone at the last-named place, is about twenty-five 
feet, which would give an inclination of a sectional expo- 
sure in a south-westerly direction of about three feet in 
the mile. It appeared, however, to have a slight westerly 
dip, showing the true dip to be a few degrees more to 
the west than south-west, as was afterwards ascertained. 
In the limestone, turbinated shells are numerous, with 
Orthoceras of large dimensions. The scenery is attractive, 
and, in a geological point of view, eminently interesting. 
The opposite coast is formed of the unfossiliferous rocks 
belonging to the great Laurentian Series, which extends 
from Labrador to the Arctic Ocean. Within three miles 
of Grindstone Point, islands of this important formation 
occur a short distance in advance of the east coast, which 
is wholly composed of it. 

The depth of Lake Winnipeg immediately opposite 
Grindstone Point is forty-eight feet, A storm afforded us 
another opportunity of examining the fossiliferous rocks 
of this locality, for no sooner had we started in the direc- 
tion of the " Granite Islands," opposite the point, than 
the wind turned round to the north and compelled us to 
seek shelter in a, bay of Punk Island, three miles soutli- 
east of the Grindstone Point. 

On Punk Island, strata 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Deer Island 
were recognised in a bay, witli some lithological dif- 
ferences. In Nbs. 1 and 2 here, which could scarcely be 

VOL. II. c 



18 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

distinguished from one another, Modiolopis parviuscula 
(N.S.) *, is very numerous. 

On the north-east side of Punk Island, above the purple 
sandstone mentioned as occurring at Big Grindstone 
Point, a thin stratum of buff coloured limestone occurs, 
possessing some peculiarities. On raising slabs there is 
seen between each stratum a soft and very pure ochre 
of a beautiful yellow colour; it is found filling small 
depressions in the limestone, and in layers, from one- 
eighth to half an inch in thickness. The ochre, when 
moist and fresh, is easily worked by the fingers, quite 
destitute of gritty or hard particles, of an uniform pale 
yellow colour, and when burned, of a beautiful cin- 
nabar red. It is used by the Indians in both states as a 
pigment ; the limestone in which it occurs is extremely 
porous and often honey-combed. 

Sept. 2ith. — At half-past 2 a.m., the wind being fair, 
and the sky clear, we prepared to start. There was a 
sharp frost during the night, and the thermometer regis- 
tered 28°. We made the traverse of Great Washow Bay, 
thirteen miles across, and breakfasted at a point half-way 
between Bull's Head and Dog's Head. The limestone 
cliffs here were about thirty feet high, and occupy the 
coast from Bull's Head to Whiteway's Post, opposite the 
Dog's Head. Where seen at breakfast, the coast is 
fringed with broken masses, which lie piled one on the 
other in picturesque confusion. Ascending the cliff, I 
found large portions detached from the main body, form- 
ing deep clefts or cracks. Some of these fissures were 
twelve feet wide and twenty feet deep, others three feet 
wide and of greater depth. Sometimes the fissures were 
roofed with masses which had slipped forward, forming 

* See Chap, on the Silurian Series. 



LIMESTONE CAVE POINT. 19 

long narrow caves lined with moss. One cave was more 
than sixty feet long, and, with the exception of a small 
aperture, closed at one end and roofed throughout. We 
named the spot Limestone Cave Point. From the descrip- 
tion given by one of the voyageurs who had wintered 
near this place and knew the country well, the rock along 
the coast, from the Bull's Head to Pike Head, is fissured 
in the maimer described. Very roomy caverns can be 
found, which are easily converted into excellent wintering 
houses for trappers. The sides of the fissures are per- 
pendicular, and the fracture is so even as to form cham- 
bers of a rhomboidal shape. The passages between them 
are beautifully covered with moss, while, gracefully droop- 
ing overhead, the birch and white spruce obstruct the 
rays of the sun, giving to these lonely cells a gloomy and 
desolate aspect. The limestone is similar to that which 
has already been described as No. 4 of Deer Island. At 
the Narrows, or Dog's Head, the limestone and unfos- 
siliferous rocks are in close proximity; the east side of 
the strait being composed of the Laurentian Series, on the 
west side, of lower Silurian limestone. 

The wind being favourable we sailed during the whole 
day, and at -1 P.M. reached the mouth of Jack Fish Eiver, 
making a traverse across Fisher Bay, a very deep indenta- 
tion whose western limit could not be seen from the 
canoe. In Fisher Bay islands are numerous, and some of 
them of large area, such as Great Moose Island, in the 
mouth of the bay, and Juniper Island, four miles to the 
north. Due west of the Dog's Head, Black Bear Island 
contains an excellent boat harbour, a feature worthy of 
note, as it occurs near the beginning of the great traverse 
across Fisher Bay. Jack Fish Eiver issues from a marsh 
separated from the lake by a belt of sand and shingle 
about 100 yards broad. The river runs in a westerly 

c 2 



20 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

direction from a series of small lakes and swamps, through 
a level, low country abounding in fine spruce and tamarac 
forests, broken by gravelly ridges supporting poplar and 
birch. The breadth of the river at its mouth is thirty 
feet, but where it passes through the swamp it is broad 
and deep, and so continues for some distance into the 
country. Jack Fish Eiver is a favourite fishing station of 
a tribe of Swampys, and was once the seat of a missionary 
establishment. 

It has been mentioned in a subsequent chapter that 
this tribe were deterred during the winter of 1858 from 
wintering here, by a threat from a noted conjuror of 
the Grand Eapid, illustrating the abject position in which 
superstition frequently places these unfortunate people. 

Leaving Jack Fish Eiver, or the Pike Head, as it is also 
termed, from a promontory bearing that name near to 
the mouth of the stream, we coasted under sail past 
Wicked Point across the traverse of Kin wow Bay, rounded 
Macbeth Point, and camped at Point Turn-again, beyond 
the Cat Head. The coast at the Cat Head is very pre- 
cipitous ; the limestone cliffs rise about thirty-live feet 
from the water, without any intervening beach, so that 
boats cannot land, and must necessarily push on until a 
narrow beach is found a few miles beyond it. Limestone 
cliffs, similar in all respects to those of the Cave Point, 
occupy the coast at intervals as far as the Cat Head, and 
probably fringe the Mantagao-sebe Bay, as they are seen 
near the mouth of the Little Saskatchewan, and on the 
north point of the great bay which derives its name from 
that river. Taking advantage of a fair wind and fine 
night we carried on across Lynx Bay, and camped at 
half-past eleven, p. m. 

At half-past four on the following morning a westerly 



EAST COAST OF LAKE WINNIPEG. 21 

wind enabled us to pass the Bushkega and Sturgeon 
Islands, and make the traverse across the Little Saskat- 
chewan Bay to the mouth of the -river. In making the 
traverse we could not see the extremity of this deep 
indentation in a south-easterly direction, where the Man- 
tagao-sebe debouches. The greater portion of the bay 
was coasted by Mr. Fleming, during his voyage from the 
Grand Rapid to the mouth of Red Eiver. The tem- 
perature of the Little Saskatchewan was found to be 52V 5 , 
of Lake Winnipeg one degree higher. 

The description of the west coast of Lake Winnipeg 
from the mouth of the Little Saskatchewan to the Great 
Saskatchewan is given in Mr. Fleming's narrative, Chap. 
XXII., Vol. L In order to complete a description of the 
entire coast line of this lake, I append the following 
extract from Sir John Richardson's " Journal of a Boat 
Voyage through Rupert's Land and the Arctic Sea." 

" The eastern coast-line of Lake Winnipeg is, in ge- 
neral, swampy, with granite knolls rising through the 
soil, but not to such a height as to render the scenery 
hilly. The pine-forest skirts the shore at the distance of 
two or three miles, covering gently rising lands, and the 
breadth of continuous lake surface seems to be in process 
of diminution, in the following way. A bank of sand is 
first drifted up, in the line of a chain of rocks which may 
happen to he across the mouth of an inlet or deep bay. 
Carices, balsam-poplars, and willows speedily take root 
therein, and the basin which lies behind, cut off from the 
parent lake, is gradually converted into a marsh by the 
luxuriant growth of aquatic plants. The sweet gale next 
appears on its borders, and drift-wood, much of it rotten 
and comminuted, is tin-own up on the exterior bank, 
together with some roots and stems of larger trees. The 

c 3 



22 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

first spring storm covers these with sand, and in a few 
weeks the vigorous vegetation of a short but active 
summer binds the whole together by a network of the 
roots of bents and willows. Quantities of drift-sand pass 
before the high winds into the swamp behind, and, 
weighing down the flags and willow-branches, prepare a 
fit soil for succeeding crops. During the winter of this 
climate, all remains fixed as the summer left it ; and as 
the next season is far advanced before the bank thaws, 
little of it washes back into the water, but, on the con- 
trary, every gale blowing from the lake brings a fresh 
supply of sand from the shoals which are continually 
forming along the shore. The floods raised by melted 
snows cut narrow channels through the frozen beach, by 
which the ponds behind are drained of their superfluous 
waters. As the soil gradually acquires depth, the balsam- 
poplars and aspens overpower the willows, which, how- 
ever, continue to form a line of demarcation between the 
lake and the encroaching forest. 

" Considerable sheets of water are also cut off on the 
north-west side of the lake, where the bird's-eye limestone 
forms the whole of the coast. Very recently this corner 
was deeply indented by narrow, branching bays, whose 
outer points were limestone cliffs. Under the action of 
frost, the thin horizontal beds of this stone split up, cre- 
vices are formed perpendicularly, large blocks are de- 
tached, and the cliff is rapidly overthrown, soon becoming 
masked by its own ruins. In a season or two the slabs 
break into small fragments, which are tossed up by the 
waves across the neck of the bay into the form of narrow 
ridge-like beaches, from twenty to thirty feet high. Mud 
and vegetable matter gradually fill up the pieces of water 
thus secluded ; a willow swamp is formed ; and when 
the ground is somewhat consolidated, the willows are 



LEADING DIMENSIONS OF LAKE WINNIPEG. 23 

replaced by a grove of aspens.* Near the first and 
second Rocky Points f , the various stages of this process 
may be inspected, from the rich alluvial flat covered with 
trees and bounded by cliffs that once overhung the water, 
to the pond recently cut off by a naked barrier of lime- 
stone, pebbles, and slabs, discharging its spring floods 
into the lake by a narrow though rapid stream. In 
some exposed places the pressure of the ice, or power of 
the waves in heavy gales, has forced the limestone frag- 
ments into the woods, and heaped them round the stems 
of trees, some of which are dying a lingering death ; 
while others, that have been dead for many years, testify 
to their former vitality, and the mode in which they have 
perished, by their upright stems, crowned by the decorti- 
cated and lichen-covered branches which protrude from 
the stony bank. The analogy between the entombment 
of living trees, in their erect position, to the stems of 
Sigillarice, which rise through different layers in the coal- 
measures, is obvious." J 

The following are the approximate leading dimensions 
of Lake Winnipeg : 

Area of Lake 8500 square miles. 

Length, not including Play Green Lake 280 statute miles. 

Greatest breadth 57 „ „ 

Length, of coast line .... 930 „ „ 
Approximate height above the sea . . 628 feet. 

* The fact of the formation of these detached ponds, marshes, and alluvial 
flats, points either to a gradual elevation of the district, or to an enlarge- 
ment of the outlet of the lake, producing a subsidence of its waters. 

f The strata at these points contain many gigantic Orthoceratites, some of 
which have been described by Mr. Stokes in the Geological Transactions. 

X If one of the spruce firs included in the limestone debris, had its top 
broken off, and a layer of mud were deposited over all, we should have the 
counterpart of a sketch of Sir Henry de la Beche's Manual (p. 407). The 
thick and fleshy rhizomata of the Catta palustris, marked with the cicatrices 
of fallen leaves, and which are abundant in these waters, bear no very 
distant resemblance to stu/maruc. 

c 4 



24 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

This estimate of the altitude of Lake Winnipeg above 
the sea level, was deduced in 1857 from the levels taken 
across the portages along the line of the canoe communi 
cation between Fort William on Lake Superior, and Fort 
Alexander on Lake Winnipeg. The height of the dividing 
ridge which separates these lakes from one another, is 
1485 feet above the level of the sea ; and distant, by the 
canoe route, 104 miles from Fort William, and 510 miles 
from Fort Alexander. 

Major Long found the sources of the St. Peter and Eed 
Rivers to be 830 feet above the ocean, and Lake Winni- 
peg 630 feet above the same level — a difference of only 
two feet in excess of the estimate we made in 1857. 

When it is considered that the St. Peter Eiver is an 
affluent of the Mississippi flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, 
and that Eed Eiver communicates with Lake Winnipeg, 
which sends its surplus water to Hudson's Bay by Nelson 
Eiver, the extraordinary lowness of the southern water- 
shed becomes apparent. 

Lake Winnipeg freezes every whiter, ice frequently 
forming to the thickness of five feet, and sometimes not 
leaving the upper end of the lake before the 10th of 
June. 



25 



CHAP. XXIV. 

THE MOUTH OF THE LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN, OR DAUPHIN 
RIVER, TO THE SALT SPRINGS ON WINNIPEGO-SIS LAKE. 

The Little Saskatchewan. — Height of Bank. — Country in Rear. — Tracking. — 
Swamps. — Banks of River. — Ojihway Camp. — White-fish. — Character of 
Country. — Canoe Fleet. — Spruce. — Boulders. — Marsh. — St. Martin Lake. 
— '• Money." — Pounded Fish. — War-path River. — War Roads. — Ojihway, 
Sioux, Swampy, Cree, Blackfoot, and Crow. — Wavys. — Fine Land. — 
The Narrows. — Boulder Barriers. — Sugar Island. — Indians. — Gneissoid 
Islands. — St. Martin Rocks. — Beach Barriers. — Depth of St. Martin Lake. 
— Thunder Island. — Thunder-storm. — Partridge Crop River. — Rushes. — 
Old Mission. — Low Country. — Indian Fanner. — Wide-spread Marsh. — 
Fairford. — The Character of the Country. — The Mission. — Evening 
Service. — Rev. Mr. Stagg. — The Farm. — Hudson's Bay Company's Post. 
— Rum. — Lake Manitobah. — Progress of the Season. — Rocks. — Fossils. — 
The Coast. — Steep Rock Point. — Devonian Rocks. — Indian Superstition. 
— Water-hen River. — Eagles. — Character of AVater-hen River. — Pelicans. 
— Indians. — Wood and Prairie Indians.— Barter. — Winnipego-sis Lake. 
— Ermine Point. — Elms. — Salt Spring. — Snake Islands. — Duck Mountain. 
— Snake Island Fossils. — Arrive at Salt Springs. 

A few hundred yards above the mouth of the river, ho- 
rizontal Lower Silurian limestone shows itself on both 
sides, and it is through this rock that the Little Saskat- 
chewan has excavated its bed. The limestone contains 
fossils in abundance, but in very bad state of preservation 
in many of the layers. They are similar to those found 
on Lake Winnipeg at Cave Point, and in its lithologieal 
aspect there is no appreciable difference between the ex- 
posures in either locality. The Little Saskatchewan, as 
its name implies, has a very rapid current, varying from 
one to four miles an hour. The banks are not more than 



26 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

twenty to twenty-five feet above its level near the mouth, 
and diminish in altitude in ascending the stream. They 
are fringed with aspen, poplar, spruce and tamarac. In 
the rear, swamps occur, often covered with deep moss, 
and containing; islands of tamarac and a few balsam 
spruce of fair dimensions, but scarcely suitable for any 
other purposes than those which a limited settlement 
might occasion. 

The river proving too rapid for using the sweeps, we 
were compelled to track up, a difficult and tedious labour 
to the men, but offering an excellent opportunity for 
making traverses into the country, which, however, were 
never deep, the swamps soon arresting progress inland. 
The general aspect of the river for the first four miles is 
very attractive, resembling in many particulars Eainy 
River. About three miles from the lake the limestone 
disappears, being covered with drift or alluvial clay. The 
banks rise gently with the stream, which is rapid and 
shallow. The yellow autumnal foliage of the aspens 
contrasts beautifully at this season of the year with the 
spruce and tamarac, and gives a charming appearance to 
the river banks. Towards evening Ave arrived at a 
camp of Swampys, containing four tents. They had an 
abundance of w T hite-fish, and told me the river was " full 
of them." Anxious to test the statement I intimated a 
wish to purchase a score of fresh fish, and offered an 
Indian some tea and tobacco if he would catch them im- 
mediately. He accepted the offer, entered his canoe, and 
crossing over to a well-known eddy, in fifteen minutes 
brought back twenty white-fish, weighing on an average 
three pounds each. We camped close to the Swampys, 
on the edge of a cranberry marsh, as w T e knew that if we 
tracked a mile or so up the stream they would follow us, 
and our party might be increased by others in advance of 




SUSAN, A SWAMPY HALF-BHr.l'.D. 



DAUPHIN RIVER SWAMPYS. 27 

them. As it was, the guns they fired upon our arrival had 
been heard, so that at sunset several canoes came swiftly- 
down the stream, filled with men and women to " learn 
the news." The whole body camped close to us, and 
what with talking, shouting, screaming of children and 
howling of dogs, we enjoyed no rest until late in the 
night. 

Eising at day-break on the following morning, Sept, 
26th, a few hours were occupied in examining the country 
in the rear of the camp. The banks of the river are 
here about twenty feet above the present level of the 
river, but the country is very marshy, and clothed with 
tamarac and spruce behind the belt of aspens which 
fringe the river banks. After breakfast, the wind being 
fair, we hoisted sail, and in company with our Swampy 
friends proceeded up the river. A little fleet of twenty- 
three canoes, each with a birch bark sail, glided quickly 
ahead of us, but the breeze freshening, we soon caught 
and passed them one by one. About nine miles from the 
mouth, the banks of the river are not more than ten 
feet above its present level, but are rarely flooded. They 
consist of alluvial clay, and sustain many groves of fine 
spruce and aspen. At some of the bends there is a large 
accumulation of boulders, consisting chiefly of the un- 
fossiliferous rocks. The colouring of the trees, at this 
season of the year, was unusually delicate and beautiful, 
nearly all the aspens in front being yellow, while those 
in the rear, protected in some measure from the night 
frosts, still retained their green. 

About five miles from St. Martin Lake, a wide-spread- 
ing marsh begins, on the edge of which we camped, our 
Indian friends soon closing with us ; when the wind 
failed, the squaws towed their canoes with fines made of 
twisted cedar bark. Some of the old men were anxious 



28 ASSIXXIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXrEDITIOX. 

to show me some specimens of "Money" they had care- 
fully folded in bits of cloth or birch bark. The "Money," 
respecting which they have no distinct idea except that 
it is " white," according to information they have obtained 
from half-breeds, consisted of fragments of selenite, iron 
pyrites, and silver mica. They profess to know where 
a large quantity of this " Money " is to be found, and 
demand tea and tobacco for the intelligence. These 
Indians had been making their autumnal fishing hunt, 
and possessed large birch bark vessels filled with pounded 
white-fish, previously dried and smoked, a miserable sub- 
stitute for pemmican. They had also sturgeon bladders 
filled with white-fish oil. The pounded fish and the oil 
form part of their winter stores ; some samples which 
were submitted to me for inspection, with a view to barter, 
were the reverse of inviting. 

The chief pointed out a portage path between the 
Little Saskatchewan or Dauphin Eiver, and the War-path 
Eiver, which forms the war-road of the Ojibways and 
Swampys of Lake Winnipeg when they proceed on their 
periodical excursions against the Sioux. This war road 
was much used in the earlier history of the natives of the 
Low Country, but on account of the great diminution in 
their numbers, which has taken place during the present 
century, war is no longer a pursuit or pastime with them, 
as with the Lac la Pluie Ojibways and the Sioux. 

The selection of certain tracts of country for the 
" War-path " is probably determined by the facilities pre- 
sented for communication and concealment combined. 
The following are celebrated " war-paths," where hunt- 
ing is generally disallowed, although game from that 
circumstance is usually most abundant. 

1. "The War-path Eiver" and war road of the Lac 
la Pluie Ojibways, and the Sioux, from Eainy Eiver to 



WAR-ROADS AND WAR-PATH RIVERS. 29 

Bed Lake Elver, thence across the prairies in the Valley 
of Bed Lake River to Miniwaken or Devil's Lake, in Da- 
kotah Territory. 

2. " War-path Biver," from the south-west corner of 
the Lake of the Woods to Boseau Biver, thence to the 
prairies west of Bed Biver — the same tribes. 

3. " War-path Biver," from Lake Winnipeg to the Little 
Saskatchewan, thence to the prairies south of Manitobah 
Lake — the old war-path of the Swampy Crees, the As- 
sinniboines and Sioux, also of the Swampy Crees and the 
Lake Winnipeg Ojibways. 

4. The "War-road," near the Elbow of the South 
Branch of the Saskatchewan, on the flanks of the Grand 
Coteau, of the Blaekfeet and Plain Crees. 

5. The " War-road " of the Sioux, Blaekfeet and 
Crows, in the valley of the Yellowstone. 

September 21th. — A stormy uncomfortable night. 
Wavys, as the half-breeds term them, Wa-wa in Cree, 
[Anser hyperboreus), flying to the south early this morning 
in large flocks, were regarded as a sure sign of approaching 
winter. The Indians say there is some line land with 
large trees in the rear of this part of the river, but from 
our camp to St. Martin Lake, about thirteen miles in an 
air-line from Lake Winnipeg, the banks are low and marshy. 
St. Martin Lake once reached, small eminences, which 
in this flat country almost deserve the name of hills, 
appear on the south and north coasts, before entering 
the Narrows. In general the shores are very low, par- 
ticularly to the south-east. The Narrows are caused by a 
remarkable barrier of boulders, chiefly consisting of the 
untbssiliferous rocks, about six feet above the lake and 
twenty feet broad. On the west side of the barrier there 
is an extensive wide-spreading marsh, but the water of 
the lake is clear, as in most, limestone regions. 



30 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

We arrived at this isolated body of water, soon after 
noon, and camped on a beach or barrier thrown up in 
the form of semicircular ridges, about half a mile across 
the arc, and connected in the form of the letter S. In the 
formation of these ridges granite or gneissoid boulders 
are first pushed by ice upon a limestone gravel bar, 
aspens and willows grow on the ridges rapidly formed by 
sand and gravel washed up in the rear of the boidders, 
and the space partly enclosed or sheltered by the curve is 
soon filled with reeds, thus forming extensive marshes at 
the eastern extremity of St. Martin Lake. Near the 
channel which separates this maze from the mam body of 
the Lake, a new beach is now in process of formation, 
and consists at present of a long semicircular line of 
stranded boidders, over which the sea washes in easterly 
and westerly gales. Bound about the boulders, limestone 
gravel is accumulating, and thus, in this direction at least, 
the lake is slowly diminishing hi size, the materials being 
in great part supplied from the wearing away of islands, 
and the adjoining coast. 
' We succeeded in passing the Narrows before breakfast 
on the morning of the 28th, and made our way into the 
main lake through a channel varying from three to nine 
feet in depth, kept open no doubt by the Partridge Crop 
Biver, which takes the name of the Little Saskatchewan 
or Dauphin Biver, after it has passed through St. Martin 
Lake. Having landed on Sugar Island, we were followed 
by a little fleet of eighteen canoes, whose owners ap- 
peared determined to reach Fairford before us, if possible. 
The chief with some ostentation informed me that the 
island belonged to him, but he had no objection to my 
exploring it, He further stated, that as chief of the band 
he claimed the whole country from Fisher Biver, on Lake 
Winnipeg to the mouth of Partridge Crop Biver 



SUGAR ISLAND, ST. MARTIN LAKE. 



31 



Sugar Island is a favourite camping ground of the 
Dauphin River Swampys, who now occupy this part of 
the country. We found some graves near to a garden in 
which potatoes were planted. A few pieces of tobacco 
procured us a small supply of this vegetable, so rare and 
valuable in these regions. Sugar Island is so named from 
a grove of the ash-leaved maple, the trees of which bore 
old marks of tapping. 




Sugar Island. 

I found here what appeared to be partially meta- 
morphosed sandstone rock, tilted at an angle of 50°, with 
a S. 30° W. strike. At one extremity of the island it 
approached the character of gneiss, at the other extremity 
it presented the appearance of impure sandstone layers 
tilted at a high angle. Sugar Island is about a mile from 
the Narrows, and lies S. 75° E. from three small islands, 
which upon examination were found to consist of gneiss 



32 ASS1NNIB0INE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

intersected with quartz veins. The rock on Sugar Island 
is exposed on one side in the form of a precipitous cliff 
20 feet high. On the opposite side it slopes gradually to 
the water's edge. 

We went out of our course to visit the gneissoid islands 
before referred to. The first island bore nearly due east 
of Sugar Island. It consists of gneiss with rose coloured 
felspathic veins, pursuing a general direction of S. 40° E. 
The axis of the island is also S. 40° E., and the gneiss is 
intersected by fissures nearly at right angles to one 
another, one set bearing S. 20° — 40 E. The surface of 
the gneiss on the highest point, which may be 23 feet 
above the lake, is polished and furrowed in a direction 
S. 55° E. The south-east shore is precipitous, the oppo- 
site sloping. 

The second island consists of a dome-shaped mass of 
gneiss with large quartz veins meandering through it. 
The third island, within a few yards of the first and 
second, shows far less metamorphic action, and with a 
strike S. 15° W., has a dip 75° from the vertical. It is 
precipitous to the N.W. and slopes to the S.E. 

Proceeding along the south-west coast we found a 
barrier of beaches along the shore about 300 yards dis- 
tant from it, on which boulders of the partially meta- 
morphosed sandstone and gneiss were piled up, farther on 
were worn and large unworn fragments of a siliceous 
limestone, which, however, was nowhere found in posi- 
tion. The occurrence of these gneissoid islands in a flat 
limestone country is very interesting ; the metamorphosed 
sandstone shows that the epoch of their elevation must 
have been before the deposition of the limestone found 
on Thunder Island, to which we next proceeded, and 
after the deposition of the sandstone on Sugar Island. 
The three gneissoid islands, having no name, we called 



ST. MARTIN ROCKS— THUNDER ISLAND. 33 

St. Martin Eocks. It is not improbable that the epoch 
of their elevation was simultaneous with outbursts which 
have been observed in other parts of the continent. At 
noon we arrived at a semicircular island of beaches 
similar to those at the east end of the lake. They are 
due to the great shallowness of St. Martin Lake, which, 
with an area of over three hundred square miles, was in 
no part of our course found to be more than eighteen 
feet deep, and often only five and six feet, for long dis- 
tances. 

In the afternoon we landed on an island where 
stratified limestone, in horizontal layers, was exposed. 
The limestone possessed some singular peculiarities. 
Numerous cup-shaped forms, of very large dimensions, 
were visible in projecting masses over the whole of the 
surface exposed. Many of these cups were fully thirteen 
inches in diameter at the surface, and would hold at least 
one quart of water. They consisted of concentric rings, 
or cups, regularly arranged, and from ten to fifty or more 
in number. The thickness of each cup varied from one- 
tenth to one-quarter of an inch. A single specimen 
resembled a gigantic onion which had been cut in half, 
with a few of the inner layers extracted, leaving a cavity 
or depression. Many square yards of surface were varie- 
gated with this structure. The colour of the limestone 
is a buff-yellow, its fracture is uneven, and masses are 
difficult to separate, being extremely hard and siliceous. 
The height of the exposure is sixteen feet, and so nearly 
horizontal, that no inclination could be detected. The 
island having no name, and being remarkable for its rock 
formation, it was thought worthy of some designation : 
we therefore called it " Thunder Island," in memory of a 
storm of hail and rain, accompanied by lightning and 
thunder of more than ordinary violence, which made ns 

vol. ii. D 



31 ASSINXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

very uncomfortable for the rest of the clay and during the 
ensuing night. It was the last of twenty thunder storms 
which we had encountered since entering the prairies on 
the 14th of June, and was only second to one in violence 
and sublimity. 

Anxious to get on, we pulled at the sweeps until after 
dusk, having reached an island about four miles from 
Thunder Island. We found a sheltered cove, and all 
slept in the boat, there being no spot on the boulder- 
beach, or barrier, on which we coidd discover six feet of 
level ground. 

Sept. 29^/i. — When morning dawned, which it did in a 
drenching, cold rain, Ave found the boat attached to one 
of the stony barriers which protect certain aspects of the 
islands, or main shore. The ever-present marsh lay be- 
tween us and the timber we needed for fuel ; but the 
wind now rising to a gale, compelled us to remain satisfied 
with an exploration of our boulder barrier to its utmost 
limits. It was about one hundred yards broad, two to 
three miles long, and consisted of waterworn masses of 
limestone and gneiss, with limestone gravel between them. 
The marsh which separated it from the island was full of 
weeds, and harboured wild fowl, some of which we suc- 
ceeded in killing. 

The steersman found great difficulty in discovering the 
mouth of Partridge Crop Eiver, or St. Martin Eiver as it 
is also called. A maze of rushes extending inland, as far 
as the eye can see, hides it from view. Half a mile up 
the stream we saw the houses of the Mission, established 
but afterwards abandoned, by the Rev. Mr. Cowley. All 
the houses were in ruins, and tenantless. The whole 
country is very low, and liable to be flooded in the 
autumn and spring. There are not more than a few 
hundred acres of land, elevated four or five feet above the 



PARTRIDGE CROP — FAIRFORD. 35 

river, and fit for agricultural purposes. The spot was one, 
however, of great resort among the Indians of this part 
of the country, and hence the probable reason why a 
selection of this site was made for the establishment of a 
Mission. On landing, we found one Indian family who 
are determined to continue the cultivation of the little 
fields winch have been cleared and enclosed. They had 
accumulated three small stacks of hay, were possessed of 
a yoke of oxen, and were living in one of the least dila- 
pidated houses. 

We took to our boat at the beginning of Partridge Crop 
River, having secured a guide from the fleet of canoes in 
the rear, to take us through a narrow passage between 
beds of rushes which cover many square miles, and con- 
stitute the " Crop," so called by the Indians on account 
of the resemblance which the outline of this reedy ex- 
panse bears to the " crop " of a partridge. We threaded 
our way through the mazes of a marsh supporting rushes 
so tall that, without climbing the mast of the boat, it was 
impossible to see beyond the masses which enclosed us. 
The rushes measured from ten to twelve feet in length, 
and grew so thickly together that they formed a compact 
green wall, past which the current flowed as if they were 
formed of solid, stable materials. Through little open- 
ings, which were now and then disclosed, we saw tranquil 
ponds, with a scarcely perceptible stream. Here reveled 
hosts of ducks of many species. 

We arrived at Fairford at 3 p. M., having occupied about 
two hours in passing through the Crop. 

Fairford is very prettily situated on the banks of 
Partridge Crop Eiver (a continuation of the Little Sas- 
katchewan), about two miles from Lake Manitobah. The 
banks are here about twenty feet high, and show alluvial 
clay with boulders, but a short distance in the rear of 

d2 



3G 



ASSINN1B0INE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



the river the limestone approaches the surface, and is 
covered with eight to ten inches of vegetable mould. 
Although the appearance of the country is attractive, 
the shallowness of the soil will not permit of extensive 
„ agricultural operations. The dip of the rock is towards 
the south-west, but at so small an angle as to be almost 
imperceptible, except when a surface of several square 
yards is exposed. Fossils are few in number, and obscure : 




Fairford, or Partridge Crop. 

the limestone breaks up into thin slabs, being very com- 
pact and hard. 

We attended evening prayers in an excellent school- 
house, which serves the purpose of a chapel. There 
were forty persons present, consisting of Indians and Half- 
breeds. The service comprised a hymn and a chapter 
from the New Testament, respectively sung and read in 
the jib way language, an exposition of the chapter by 
means of an interpreter, and a concluding prayer. The 
Lord's Prayer w r as repeated aloud in Ojibway by the 
whole congregation. 



THE MISSION AT FAIRFORD. 37 

There are one hundred and twenty Christians, adults 
and children, at this Mission. The houses, fifteen in num- 
ber, are neat, comfortable, and in excellent order, and 
several new dwellings are in process of erection. The 
appearance of this Mission is very promising, and in every 
way most creditable to the unceasing labours of the 
zealous missionary, the Eev. Mr. Stagg. Miss Harriet 
Thompson, a young lady from my native place, Nottingham, 
England, is residing at the Mission, and devotes herself 
with exemplary industry, in connection with Mrs. Stagg, 
to the education and care of Indian and half-breed chil- 
dren. It was a very unexpected and pleasant incident in 
these remote wilds to meet a young lady so recently from 
England, acquainted with my relatives and friends, and 
engaged in a work involving so much strength of charac- 
ter, self-denial, and true Christian sympathy. Miss Harriet 
Thompson has devoted herself to her difficult task in the 
right way ; although only a few months at the Mission, 
she has made considerable progress in the language spoken 
by the Indians who visit Fairford, and I was much sur- 
prised and impressed when I heard her repeat aloud at 
evening service the Lord's prayer hi the Ojibway tongue, 
leading a score of dusky worshipers, who, in the absence 
of that commiseration which made this incident possible, 
would in all probability have still been worshipers of 
Manitou, and slaves to a degrading superstition, in place 
of possessing a growing faith in " Our Father, which art in 
heaven." Miss Thompson gave me a few numbers of the 
"Nottingham Journal," which subsequently served to 
while away most pleasantly several hours round the 
camp fires on Dauphin Lake and the summit of the 
Riding Mountain. The farm at the Mission is in capital 
order, and although the area adapted for cultivation is not 
likely to induce the establishment of a large settlement, 

D 3 



38 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

yet Fairford will become an important centre. We were 
supplied with potatoes, onions, turnips, fresh bread, and 
butter, and otherwise most hospitably entertained by Mr. 
and Mrs. Stagg. 

The Hon. Hudson's Bay Company have a post at this 
mission, but it is matter of deep regret that the heathen 
Indians who come to barter their furs here should be 
permitted to have access to rum. The little fleet of 
canoes before spoken of, arrived during the evening, and 
at nightfall the sounds of drunken revelry told how 
terribly the debasing influence of this traffic must operate 
agamst the Christian and humanizing influence of the 
missionary. The post had been but recently established, 
and the distribution of mtoxicating liquors to the Indians 
appeared to be a subject of deep anxiety and trouble to 
the Eev. Mr. Stagg. 

We reached the mouth of the river at noon on the last 
day of September, and entered Lake Manitobah with a 
head wind, which soon compelled a retreat to a low shel- 
tered beach. The exposed aspens were now quite yellow, 
but a tint of green still remained on groves at some 
distance from the lake shore. Large boulders are piled 
up high upon the beach, and behind them is the unfail- 
ing marsh. In shallow bays limestone gravel forms a 
sloping beach to the water's edge, but in the rear is a 
marsh. It is only at the headlands that rock in position, 
or firm soil, has been seen as yet. 

In the afternoon we set sail, and arrived at Flat Eock 
Bay, where limestone of Devonian age is seen on the 
south side. Some of the layers are highly fossiliferous, 
and hold numbers of Atrypa reticularis and A. aspera. 
The stems of crinoids are common, but the species are 
very few. The rock is nearly horizontal, and the general 
dip south-west, at a very small angle but many slight 



STEEP ROCK POINT. 39 

undulations occur, giving an inclination of equal extent 
in an opposite direction. The exposure in the bay is ten 
feet high, and is worn into caves. The colour is a pale-buff 
with some reddish-brown layers. Fucoids are abundant, 
and become, when weathered, yellowish-buff. Small oaks 
are scattered near the spot where we camped, interspersed 
with aspen. In the rear tamarac and spruce swamps 
prevented an examination of the country for more than 
a few hundred yards from the shore. Where rock in 
position does not limit the lake, the marginal barrier of 
boulders is generally found with a beach, a marsh, or a 
swamp in the rear. 

October 1st. — Collected fossils, breakfasted, and pulled 
to Steep Eock Point. Here the limestone (Devonian) is 
twenty feet high, quite abrupt, with six feet of water at 
the base of the cliff. The layers are more massive and 
compact than before noticed ; they occur from one to 
three feet in thickness, are very hard, and hold many 
organic forms replaced by crystalline carbonate of lime. 
Three and a half fathoms of water were found within one 
hundred yards of Steep Eock Point. A number of swans 
were seen sailing in a little bay to the south of this land- 
mark in Lake Manitobah, which, by the way, the Indians 
who hunt in this part of the country do not visit, being 
persuaded that " little men " live in the caves and holes 
into which the rock has been worn by the action of the 
waves. We ran on before the wind, past Cherry Islands 
and Point Pa-oo-nan, or the Waiting Place, until dark, 
and then made for the shore, soon finding a small 
sheltered bay in the inside of a boulder beach in process 
of formation, about two hundred yards from land. 'Tem- 
perature of the lake, 53 deg. ; greatest depth of water 
recorded, twenty- two feet. 

Unfortunately the beach consisted of water-worn peb- 

D 4 



40 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

bles strewed over a bank of sand : former experience had 
established the hopelessness of attempting to procure a 
night's rest in a bed made on the sand or on small 
boulders. Sleep may be obtained, but purchased at the 
price of weary and bruised limbs, and a painful feeling 
on rising that the night has been utterly thrown away. 
In preference to sleeping on the sand, we stretched out 
blankets on the bottom of the boat, and although rather 
crowded, having made no preparations for tins alter- 
native, we nevertheless slept soundly and enjoyed rest. 

A fair wind on the 2nd started us at dawn. We 
steered for the mouth of the Water-hen Eiver, leaving 
on our left Crane Eiver and Bay, where salt springs 
exist, and then passed through a narrow channel in a 
reef of boulders, which stretched from east to west, as 
far as we could see. The wind being fair, we pressed on, 
notwithstanding a heavy rain, and landed, rather late in 
the day for breakfast, on an island near the mouth of 
Water-hen Eiver, which connects Lake Manitobah with 
Water-hen and Winnipego-sis Lake. Here we found a 
pair of white-headed eagles engaged in fishing ; and as 
we came suddenly upon them after rounding a point, one 
of them dropped a fine white fish he had just caught, 
which was immediately seized and appropriated by our 
men for their own breakfast. 

We entered one of the many mouths of the river at 
2 p.m., and pulled up a broad channel through a vast 
marsh, whose limits are well defined by a belt of aspens 
on either hand. Having reached an attractive camping- 
place, where the woods came down to the edge of the 
river, we landed with a view to make a short traverse 
into the country. The river is swift, very broad, and 
prettily varied with well-wooded islands. At our camp 
the trees consisted of white spruce, 1 ft. 6 in. in diameter ; 



WATER-IIEN RIVER. 41 

poplar, aspen, birch, and tamarac. The land on the river 
is low, not ten feet above the water ; hi the rear we found 
a tamarac swamp, with belts of white spruce. The 
channel through which our course lay was about three 
hundred feet broad and three feet deep, with a flat lime- 
stone bottom. The water was clear and brilliant, fish 
very numerous, and water-fowl abundant. 

October 3rd. — En route at 9 a.m., — the early part 
of the morning being employed in drying clothes after 
the rain of yesterday. We commenced pulling up 
Water-hen Eiver, which here appears to contain many 
low islands, and its aggregate breadth must be several 
hundred yards near our camp. Signs of the approach of 
cold weather began to thicken around us ; a large flock 
of pelicans, wheeling in circles far above, suddenly formed 
into an arrow-headed figure, and struck straight to the 
south ; and yellow leaves drifted through the air before a 
cold north wind, promised us, as the half-breeds said, by 
the beautiful aurora of last night. Islands, low and reedy, 
continued to appear until we arrived at the Great Bend, 
where a band of Indians have their winter quarters. The 
Indians are Eoman Catholics, originally from Oxford 
House. I persuaded one of them to act as guide up 
Moss Eiver to Dauphin Lake, after we had visited the 
salt works. Their tents were dirty and excessively odo- 
rous. • In general, the Indiana of Lake Winnipeg and 
Manitobah, in point of cleanliness, cannot bear comparison 
with the Prairie Indians. 

We met here, also, a freighter's boat, in charge of a 
French half-breed, who, with his family, was returning 
from the Salt Springs to Oak Point, with about twelve 
bushels of salt. We exchanged a httle tea and tobacco 
for ducks and fish ; and on the following morning started 
by the Middle Branch of Water-hen Eiver for Winnipeg- 



42 ASSIXN1B0IXE AND SASKATCHEWAN" EXPEDITION. 

o-sis * Lake, leaving Water-hen Lake to the north. The 
river is very broad, shallow, and reedy ; low belts of 
aspens, on either side, indicate the only land visible. 

A fair wind drove ns swiftly on, and at noon we 
stopped at Ermine Point, on Winnipego-sis Lake. This 
is a low sandy beach, with a marsh behind, and re- 
markable for some fine old elms, crooked and gnarled, 
yet flourishing near to a salt spring. At 4 we reached 
Snake Island, where we camped early, for the purpose of 
examining an exposure of rock, and to collect the fossils 
which a glance showed it contained in abundance. The 
Duck Mountain loomed a grand object in the north-west. 

The rock exposures on Snake Island are very interest- 
ing, not only on account of the fossils they contain, but 
in consequence of the evidence they afford of a slight 
upheaval, so rare in the present disposition of the rocks 
of this remon. 

o 

The exposure at its highest point does not exceed 
twenty feet, but it is the centre of a low, narrow anti- 
clinal, running north and south nearly. The dip on the 
east side is S. 75, E. Z_ 18°; and on the west, W. 20, 
S. /_ 5°. The limestone is highly fossiliferous, beautifully 
stratified, very hard, and bituminous. It holds abundance 
of Atrypa reticularis, Tellina ovata ; with fossils belong- 
ing to the genera Favosites, Euomplialus, Productus, 
Gomphoceras, Orthoceras, Lituites ; together with Tri- 
lobites, Crinoids, &c. 

On the mornino- of the 4th of October we set sail from 
Snake Island, and arrived at the Salt Works and Springs 
at noon. 

* "Winnipego-sis, or Little Winnipeg' Lake. 



43 



CHAP. XXV. 

FROM WINNIPEGO-SIS LAKE TO THE SUMMIT OF THE RIDING 
MOUNTAIN, AND THE SUMMIT OF THE RIDING MOUNTAIN 
TO MANITOBAH HOUSE. 

Character of the Country.— The Duck Mountain.— The Salt Springs— The 
Wells. — The Manufacture of Salt. — Salt Springs and Lagoons. — Moss 
Hiver. — Rapids. — Character of River. — Valley or Dauphin River. — The 
Riding Mountain. — Lake Ridge. — Hay Ground. —Dauphin Lake. — Dike. — 
Snow Birds. — Journey to the Summit of the Riding Mountain. — Marshes. 
— Ridges. — Character of the Country. — Whisky Jack. — Quaking Bog. — 
Pitching Track. — Rabbits.— Foot of Mountain. — Cretaceous Rocks. — 
Ten-aces. — Conical Hills. — "White Spruce. — Brown-nosed Bear. — Summit 
of the Riding Mountain. — Former Character of the Riding Mountain. — 
Denudation.— Table Land.— Snow Storm.— Source of the Rapid River. 
— Indian Superstition. — Descent of Riding Mountain. — Character of the 
Moimtain. — Fish. — Sickness. — Cupping. — Ta-wa-pit. — Great Bones. — 
Grasshoppers. — Journey from Dauphin Lake to Lake Manitobah. — Cha- 
racter of the Country. — Bogs. — Aspen Ridges. — Ridge Pitching Track- 
Ebb and Flow Lake. — Indian Tent — Interior of. — Supper. — Sleep. — 
Buffalo Runner. — Manitobah House. 

The surface of the country where the Salt Springs are 
found is only a few feet above the level of Winnipego-sis 
Lake, and apparently nearly horizontal for many miles 
inland, on a north-west course. The barren area occupied 
by the springs and wells is about ten acres in extent, but 
the open country, with points of surrounding forest con- 
verging towards the springs, may include several hundred 
acres. The trees in the vicinity consist of spruce, aspen, 
willow, birch, and a few stunted oak. The wells are live 
feet deep, and the water in them was two feet five inches 
above the level of the lake on the 5th of October, as 



44 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

ascertained instrumentally. The wells are found upon a 
slight elevation, whieh gently inclines and blends with 
a vast marsh connected with Moss Eiver, in a south- 
erly direction. The woods fringing this marsh approach 
within a mile of the Springs, west and north-west. 

The level country extends across the peninsula from 
Red Deer's Point, about three miles in breadth, to a deep 
indentation of Lake Winnipego-sis, about five or six miles 
broad ; after which it continues low and marshy, with 
tamarac, aspen, and white spruce woods to the foot of the 
Duck Mountain, a distance of sixteen to eighteen miles. 
From Snake Island, and even from the level of Winnipego- 
sis Lake, a few miles from shore, the country between the 
foot of Duck Mountain and the Lake does not present a 
single eminence to break the level from which the Duck 
Mountain rises. It resembles, in every important physical 
feature, the level tract at the base of the Riding Moun- 
tain. These observations apply only to that part visible 
from Snake Island and the lower portion of Winnipego- 
sis Lake. 

The soil at the Salt Springs is a very retentive yellow- 
ish-white clay, containing small limestone boulders and 
pebbles, with boulders of the unfossiliferous rocks. The 
wells for obtaining a supply of brine, are sunk wherever 
a small bubbling spring is observed to issue from this 
retentive clay. The springs are constantly changing their 
position, and as the wells become exhausted from time to 
time, a fresh excavation is made where a new spring is 
observed to issue. No doubt boring, or deeper wells, 
would prevent these changes, and not only secure a larger 
flow of brine, but ensure its permanency. The wells at 
present are twenty-five in number ; but some of them 
appear to have been lately abandoned, and others have long 
since ceased to yield brine. They are situated four hundred 



THE SALT WOKKS. 45 

yards from the lake shore, and were first worked forty 
years since, by James Monkman. This enterprising indi- 
vidual struggled for many years against the importation of 
English salt, which was sold in the settlements at a cheaper 
rate than he could afford to manufacture salt on Lake 
Winnipego-sis. He has made salt at Swan Eiver and 
Duck Eiver. The manufacture is now carried on with 
profit for the Hudson's Bay Company at Swan Eiver, and 
at Winnipego-sis Lake by Monkman's sons. 

At the " Works " there are two small log-houses and 
three evaporating furnaces. The kettles, of English con- 
struction, are well-made rectangular vessels of iron, five 
feet long, two feet broad, and one foot deep. They are 
laid upon two rough stone walls, about twenty inches 
apart, which form the furnace. At one extremity is a 
low chimney. The whole construction is of the rudest 
description, and at the close of the season the kettles are 
removed, turned over, and the furnace permitted to go to 
ruin, to be rebuilt in the following spring. 

The process of making salt is as follows : When a 
spring is found, a well, five feet broad and five feet deep, 
is excavated, and near to it an evaporating furnace erected. 
The brine from the wells is ladled into the kettles, and 
the salt scooped out as it forms, and allowed to remain 
for a short time to drain, before it is packed in birch bark 
roggins for transportation to Eed Eiver, where it com- 
mands twelve shillings sterling a bushel, or one hundred 
weight of flour, or a corresponding quantity of fish, 
pemican, or buffalo meat, according to circumstances. 

The brine is very strong, — thirty gallons of brine pro- 
ducing one bushel of salt * ; and from one kettle two 
bushels of salt can be made in one day in dry weather. 
There are nine kettles at the " Works," seven being in 
constant use during the summer season. The Half-breeds 

* See Chapter on the Devonian Series. 



46 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

engaged in the manufacture complained of the want of 
fuel — in other words, of the labour and trouble of cutting 
down the spruce and poplar near at hand, and the diffi- 
culty of hauling it to the furnaces, — an objection of no 
moment, but characteristic of some of the people, who are 
generally unaccustomed to long-continued manual labour. 

It will be seen that the processes employed in the 
manufacture of salt are of the rudest description, so that 
without any outlay, beyond a few days' labour, the quan- 
tity might be largely increased. I spoke to John Monk- 
man, who now makes salt here, of pumps and solar 
evaporation. Of a pump he knew absolutely nothing. 
He had heard that such an apparatus had been contrived, 
but had never seen one. He readily comprehended the 
advantage to be derived from pumping the water into 
shallow troughs, dug in the retentive clay near the springs, 
and strengthening the brine by solar evaporation. An 
Indian guide, who accompanied us up the Moss Eiver, 
assured me that all along the west coast of Winnipego-sis 
and Manitobah Lakes, there are salt lagoons and springs. 
The Indians we met on the Dauphin Lake made the same 
acknowledgment, but declined to give precise information, 
alleging that the manufacture of salt drove away the game, 
and spoiled their hunting. 

The extent, character, and importance of the Salt 
Region in Eupert's Land will be discussed at length in 
another chapter. 

Oct 6th. — Left the Salt Springs, and sailed before a 
stiff breeze to the mouth of Moss Eiver. We found four 
feet of water on the bar, and nine feet at the mouth of 
the river. A low exposure of limestone occurs near the 
entrance, and another one mile and a half up the stream. 
The dip is very irregular. The fossils are few in number, 
and obscure. In its lithological aspect, it resembles the 



MOSS KIVER — SWAMPY IXDIAXS. 47 

exposure on Snake Island, seven miles distant, in a north- 
east direction. The rock is curved, and fractured in 
places, showing in an exposure 120 yards long and nine 
feet high, inclinations varying from 20° to 40° east, with 
short horizontal intervals. Some of the layers are ex- 
tremely hard, others fissile, others crystalline, with crystals 
of calc spar between the layers and in the fractures. 

Near the mouth of Moss Eiver we came suddenly upon 
a camp of Swampys or Muskaigoe * Indians. Several birch 
bark tents were placed round a small log hut, which these 
Indians have constructed for their permanent "winter quar- 
ters. This was the first attempt which had come under 
my notice of Indians constructing a log dwelling-house 
remote from the settlements, the II. B. Co.'s posts, or Mis- 
sionary stations. They followed us until we stopped to 
camp, and asked for a smoke. 

We arrived at the first rapids on Moss Paver during 
the afternoon. They have a fall of two feet, and consist 
of an accumulation of boulders resting on rock. The 
second rapids are formed by similar obstructions. The 
river is here 120 feet broad and very shallow. The bank, 
ten feet above the water, sustains fine aspens, with a 
very thick undergrowth ; the soil is a clay, and evidently 
fertile near the river, but in the rear the country passes 
into muskeg or swamp. In ascending the second rapids 
the boat had to be lightened, and hauled up by the men 
walking in the middle of the stream. The temperature 
for such work was not conducive to comfort or health, 
and two of the men caught severe colds, with cramps and 
pain in their limbs. 

Oct. 7th. — A sharp frost during the night. Ice formed 
on the oars in the morning. Temperature of air at 
8 a.m. 30° ; of the river, 42°. The thermometer, during 

* From "nraakeg," a swamp; sometimes spelled "muskaig." 



48 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

the night, fell to 26°. All the leaves are now fallen, and 
the country presents a very dreary appearance. The 
whole of the day was spent in rowing or tracking up 
Moss Eiver. The bank continues from twelve to fifteen 
feet high, and supports some fine aspens, one foot to fifteen 
inches in diameter, with a dense growth of young trees 
springing up in the place of a former fine aspen forest, of 
which the large trees are the remains. The river con- 
tinues very shallow, and contains many boulders of the 
unfossiliferous rocks. 

There is a large area of good land on the west bank, 
near to Dauphin Lake. This secluded sheet of water we 
entered at 4 p.m., and came at once in sight of the Kiding 
Mountain in front and the Duck Mountain on our right. 
Both are very imposing ranges from this point of view, 
yet presenting similar aspects ; both rising from a level 
country a few feet above Dauphin Lake ; and, as far as 
the eye could judge, both maintaining the same elevation, 
and showing abrupt wooded escarpments towards the 
east. They are separated by Valley River, and it is ap- 
parent that they were united at a remote epoch, and 
formed part of the great table-land which stretches south- 
west toward the Grand Coteau de Missouri. 

In the evening we passed the mouth of Valley Eiver, 
or Te-wa-te-now-seehe, literally, " the river which divides 
the hills," and camped on a beautiful beach, beneath some 
fine oaks growing upon a ridge close to the water's edge. 

On the following morning we started at daylight for a 
part of the coast nearest to the Riding Mountain. At a 
distance this magnificent range appears to be clothed 
with forest, and to rise from a level plain to the height 
of about 800 feet above the level of Dauphin Lake. 

As soon as we arrived opposite to what appeared to be 
the highest part of the range, we landed, and despatched 



DAUPHIN LAKE. 49 

an Indian to explore the country, and report on the 
nature of the swamps through which we should have to 
pass in attempting to reach the summit. During his 
absence we set nets, and leveled across the ridge which 
separates the lake from an extensive fertile meadow which 
lies between it and the mountain. The ridge is 8'96 feet 
above the present level of Dauphin Lake ; the meadow 
5*70 feet ; and so continues for a distance of one mile, 
with an almost imperceptible rise, until a second low 
ridge is reached. The meadow is covered with long, 
luxuriant grass ; a few clumps of poplar and thickets of 
willow vary its uniformity. There are, no doubt, many 
thousand -acres of excellent hay-ground on the banks of 
Dauphin Lake, but the breadth of the tract did not 
appear to exceed two miles. The oak on the ridges 
occurs in patches, and the trees are from twelve to fifteen 
inches in diameter. 

Dauphin Lake is twenty-one miles long, has a greatest 
breadth of twelve miles, and an area of 170 square miles. 
Its approximate elevation above the level of the sea is 
700 feet, or seventy-two feet above Lake Winnipeg. It 
is very shallow. 

Our nets produced five splendid pike, weighing about 
fifteen pounds each. 

At the close of the day the Indian returned. He had 
advanced to the first great ridge, about nine miles distant, 
and reported eighteen inches of water in the swamps, 
with ice a quarter of an inch thick. 

Snow bhds were seen for the first time during the 
afternoon. They came about our camp in large flocks, 
but they did not appear to have quite assumed their 
winter dress. The evening and part of the night were 
spent in making arrangements for an ascent of the Hiding 
Mountain. We took provisions for four days, a blanket 

vol. ii. e 



50 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

for each man, with a good supply of guns and ammu- 
nition. Three of the men were left in charge of the boat, 
with instructions to cure all the fish they could take, as 
the danger of being arrested by ice in Lake Manitobah 
was not improbable. That large body of Avater has been 
known to freeze as early as the 25th of October. 

At sunrise on the morning of the 9th of October we 
set out for the ascent of the Biding Mountain. Each 
man had a pack weighing about thirty pounds. My 
share consisted of a sledge-hammer for geological pur- 
poses, which proved to be an extremely inconvenient 
article to carry across swamps or through bushes. Once, 
indeed, when crossing a quaking bog with the hammer 
on my shoulder, I received a severe blow on the back of 
the head as I broke through the covering of moss over 
which we were pushing our steps, when endeavouring to 
fall flat on the springy surface. 

For the first mile and a half the country is quite level 
and dry, with the exception of three narrow and shallow 
marshes. The soil is excellent and hay abundant, but no 
doubt in spring this extensive flat must be very wet, and, 
probably, to a considerable extent under Avater. In its 
present condition the pasturage it affords is very abundant 
and luxuriant. We soon arrived at a low ridge which 
marks the limit of the good land, not averaging more 
than two miles from Dauphin Lake. To the ridge suc- 
ceeded marshes and willow brakes. These were bounded 
by low gravelly ridges clothed with aspen, which were 
again succeeded by marshes. 

Finding it quite impossible to outflank the marshes, 
which appeared to stretch from river to river descending 
from the mountains, and to be co-extensive with the 
shores of the lake, we determined to push through to the 
highest peak, which Avas in reality the nearest point of 



AX INDIAN "riTCIIING TRACK." 51 

the mountain to us, its greater altitude being only ap- 
parent on account of its proximity, as we afterwards 
ascertained. In an hour we arrived at a white spruce 
swamp, in which many fine trees, fully eighteen inches 
in diameter, were observed. Beyond the white spruce 
swamp we came to an old lake ridge, about fifteen feet 
above the general level, beautifully rounded, and com- 
posed of limestone gravel, with many boulders of the 
unfossiliferous rocks on the south or land side. 

This ridge resembled the Big Eidge of the Assinniboine 
in most particulars. Our Indian guide told us that it 
extended for many days' journey north and south of 
Dauphin Lake. It forms the Indian pitching track at 
the foot of the Riding Mountain. 

The term "pitching track" is applied to an Indian 
trail from one part of the country to another. West of 
Lake Manitobah, Dauphin Lake, and Winnipego-sis Lake, 
the "pitching track" follows the ridge described above. 
It is, in fact, the main and only dry road in this region. 
On the crest of the rid^e there is a narrow well-worn 
path, which, for many generations probably, has been the 
highway of the Indians passing from Lake Manitobah to 
the Assinniboine, through the valley of Te-ica-te-now-seebe, 
or " The Eiver that divides the hills." This pitching 
track is connected with " the Eidge pitching track," 
between Ebb and Flow Lake and Dauphin Lake. 

The Whisky Jack is numerous on the ridge, and in the 
spruce swamp were several ravens. Formidable marshes 
succeed the ridge ; we waded through them knee deep 
for a space of half a mile, and then rested a short time 
on a small island where stunted aspens grew. We con- 
tinued to pass through marshes, aspen islands, and over 
low ridges clothed with willow, until a bog of such a 
quaking character, and of such great breadth, presented 

E 2 



52 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

itself, that the men demanded a smoke before attempting 
to cross. Our Ojibway half-breed, Wigwam, insisted 
upon carrying the sledge hammer in addition to his pack, 
declaring that he was accustomed to quaking bogs, and 
we should have enough to do to get across without carry- 
ing anything that might impede our progress. The sur- 
face of the bog consisted of a thick elastic covering of 
moss, sufficiently tough to bear our weight when passing 
quickly over it, but if we stopped for more than half a 
minute the moss slowly sank and a pool of water collected 
around us. We marched, or rather trotted in single file, 
about ten yards apart. The Indian who took the lead 
passed nimbly over the surface, so also did the half- 
breeds ;' Mr. Fleming and I, however, two or three times 
broke through with one leg, but succeeded in withdraw- 
ing the unfortunate member without further damage than 
immersion in water and mud emitting a very unpleasant 
odour. Occasionally we rested on a narrow strip where 
the tangled roots of a few willows afforded a firm footing. 
The breadth of this bog was about one mile where we 
crossed ; it was succeeded by a belt of tall reeds growing 
in water one foot deep; plunging and wading through 
this, we arrived at a gently sloping ridge about eighteen 
feet in altitude. On the other side of this ridge a narrow 
deep swamp separated us from the foot of the mountain ; 
wading through it Ave ascended a hill about forty feet 
high, and found ourselves upon a dry terrace, on which 
we determined, to camp, having accomplished a distance 
of about eleven miles. The men soon dispersed to hunt 
rabbits ; a dozen were killed in a few minutes, skinned 
and placed on sticks before the fire to roast. 

In passing through the swamps, we saw many fresh 
moose tracks, — hunters' signs which aroused the Indian 
and half-breeds to a high pitch of excitement, and caused 




Pr - ~ X',^ 



WIGWAM," AN OJIBWAY HaLF-BREED. 



9&w 



HUNTERS' SIGNS. — NIGHT. 53 

them to steal swiftly on their wet and treacherous path 
with a speed which we found it very difficult to maintain, 
although they indulged no hope of coming within shot of 
such noble game, in consequence of. an unfavourable 
wind, even if we had been able to preserve the necessary 
silence in passing through the haunts of this wary animal. 

The timber on the hill at the foot of the mountain 
consists of aspen, with a few small oak. The soil on the 
plateau is of excellent quality and the underbrush very 
luxuriant. 

The night promising to be very cold, ice forming on 
the kettles within a few yards of the camp, we built two 
large fires and slept between them, having previously 
dried our wet clothes as far as circumstances would 
permit, At 8 P.M., the sky was quite free from clouds ; 
the comet shone with brilliant lustre, a flashing aurora 
gradually spread over the northern sky, the stars glittered 
like diamonds in the south, and the whole heavens 
assumed that aspect of silent beauty which renders night 
in the wilderness so impressive and sublime. 

October \tiih. — Soon after breakfast, w T e arrived at a 
steep embankment about seventy feet high, which formed 
the termination of a terrace about a mile broad, covered 
with small aspens, and threaded with moose paths. The 
terrace ascends very gradually and is abruptly bounded 
by a steep bank, from which a broken hilly tract rises 
towards the escarpment which forms the eastern limit of 
the Riding Mountain. This broken tract is covered with 
aspens and spruce of large size, especially in the hollows. 
We crossed the beds of two or three streams, which 
flowed through deep gullies to the plain below. Thus 
tar, the soil consisted of drift clay with many large 
boulders in the beds of the rivulets; but at an altitude 
of about 400 feet above Dauphin Lake we arrived at a 



5i ASSINXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

cliff-like exposure of Cretaceous rocks, through which a 
stream had cut a channel seventy to ninety feet deep. 
These rocks seemed to form the boundary of a third terrace 
on which were numerous conical hills consisting of gravel 
and boulders of the unfossiliferous rocks. The stratifi- 
cation appeared to be nearly horizontal, with a very 
slight dip to the south-west. Although a careful search 
was made for organic remains very few were discovered. 
These were identical with those found on the Little Souris, 
and in every particular, except the occurrence of bands 
holding Inoceramus, the rocks on the Eiding Mountain 
resembled the exposures on the Little Souris. The layers 
containing ferruginous concretions were found, as well as a 
soft thin band from which the Indians make their pipes. 
The total thickness of the exposure exceeded 100 feet. 

We now followed a moose path until we arrived at a 
high conical hill, which promised a fine view of the sur- 
rounding country. Having reached the summit, the 
relation of the conical hills and terraces became evident. 
A wide and deep valley separated us from the table-land 
of the Eiding Mountain, about one mile distant in an air 
line, and perhaps 200 feet above us. Three terraces were 
distinctly visible below us ; a range of conical hills, the 
result of atmospheric agencies, lay at the foot of the 
precipitous escarpment of the mountain, and followed its 
general direction. Limestone and unfossiliferous boulders 
were strewn on the summits and flanks of the weather- 
worn hills, while in the hollows between them, small 
lakes lay half concealed by a fine forest of white spruce 
and aspens. 

From the brow of the hill where we stopped to dine, 
the Indian shot a large brown-nosed bear, which suddenly 
appeared on the terrace below us about seventy yards 
from our camp lire. His skin was in good condition, 



THE SUMMIT OF THE RIDING MOUNTAIN. 55 

and remarkably handsome; the animal might weigh 
350 lbs., although not yet fat. Leaving three men to 
cut up and prepare the meat, we commenced the last 
ascent, and arrived at the summit of the Hiding Mountain 
at three m the afternoon. The last rise was very abrupt 
it consisted of a steep escarpment of drift clay with 
boulders, covered with a fine white-spruce, birch, and 
aspen forest. At the foot of the escarpment were ponds 
or small lakes, which fed the mountain streams we had 
crossed. 

The view from the summit was superb, enabling the 
eye to take in the whole of Dauphin Lake and the inter- 
vening country, together with part t of Winnipego-sis 
Lake. The outline of the Duck Mountain rose clear and 
blue in the north-east, and from our point of view the 
Riding and Duck Mountains appeared continuous, and 
preserved a uniform, bold, precipitous outline, rising 
abruptly from a level country lying from 800 to 1,000 
feet below them. The swamps through which we had 
passed, were mapped in narrow strips far below ; they 
showed by their connection with the ridges, and their 
parallelism to Dauphin Lake, that they had been formed 
by its retreating waters. The ancient beach before men- 
tioned as extending far to the north and south, could be 
traced with a glass by the trees it sustained, until lost in 
distance ; it followed the contour of the lake, whose form 
was again determined by the escarpment of the Biding 
Mountain. It required no effort of the imagination to 
recall the time when the whole of the flat country below 
as, towards the Laurentides on the east side of Lake 
Winnipeg, was occupied by the continuation of the Riding 
and Duck Mountains witli their associated ranges to the 
north, and when the Cretaceous series, superimposed in 
patches by Tertiary rocks, extended to the basin of Lake 

e4 



56 ASSINNIBOINE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

Winnipeg as it now is. The whole of this immense 
denuded tract of country is a splendid instance of the 
power of water and ice to remove many thousand cubic 
miles of rock. 

It is very probable that before the Boulder Drift period, 
the chain of mountains beginning with Turtle Mountain 
near the forty-ninth parallel, and terminating with the 
Porcupine and Pasquia Ranges, including the Biding, 
Duck, and Thunder Mountains, were part of a high table 
land, composed of Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks, which 
extended from the Grand Coteau de Missouri to the 
Laurentides. The areas most affected by denudation are 
now occupied by Lakes Winnipeg, Manitobah, Winnipe- 
go-sis, and the valleys of their tributaries. The precipitous 
eastern escarpment of the chain of mountains show the 
action of oceanic agencies to Avhich they would be directly 
exposed, if the country were submerged to more than 
1000 feet, and from the distribution of boulders, there 
can be no question that a submergence to a far greater 
extent has taken place since the Tertiary epoch. The 
connection of these ranges will be best seen by an in- 
spection of the map.* 

The summit of the Riding Mountains is a vast table 
land declining in steps to the Assinniboine. The forest 
which covers the upper plateau consists of very fine 
white spruce, birch, poplar, and aspen ; the circumferences 
of some of the trees about our camp, measured five feet 
from the ground, were as follow : — Aspen, 4 ft. 6 in., 
4 ft, in.," 4 ft. 1 in., 3 ft. 9 in., 5 ft. ; White Spruce, 
7 ft. 3 in., 5 ft. G in., 6 ft. 6 in., 6 ft. ; Birch, 3 ft. 6 in., 
3 ft. ; Poplar, 4 ft, 9 m., 4 ft. 6 in. These trees repre- 
sent, as far as my observations permitted me to judge, the 

* Vide Chapter on the surface geology of the valley of Lake Winnipeg. 



NIGHT ON THE RIDING MOUNTAIN'. 57 

general character of the forest on the summit plateau of 
the Riding Mountain. 

Soon after our arrival at the summit, clouds began to 
gather in from the north-west, and towards evening a 
snow-storm set in which continued during the greater 
portion of the night. Beneath the shelter of the over- 
hanging brandies of a spruce we made an excellent camp, 
and having built a roaring fire, were soon engaged in 
discussing bear steaks as we reclined on a couch of spruce 
boughs, under a roof constructed of the same excellent 
material and impenetrable to snow. 

October Wtlt. — When morning dawned we found the 
country covered with a mantle of snow, six inches deep. 
This did not prevent us from making a traverse in the 
direction of the lakes from which the Eapid Elver takes 
its rise. The course we had taken led us, as was after- 
wards ascertained, to within a few miles of the spot 
reached by Mr. Dickinson when he ascended the valley 
of Eapid Eiver a few weeks before. This was precisely 
the result I was anxious to attain. An inspection of the 
map will show that our explorations when combined, 
passed through a comparatively unknown country, nearly 
along the 100th degree of longitude west of Greenwich, 
and stretching from the 52nd to the 49th parallel of 
latitude, thus embracing part of Winnipego-sis Lake, 
Moss Eiver, Dauphin Lake, the Riding Mountain, the 
Little Saskatchewan or Rapid River, and the Little Souris, 
to the 49th parallel. 

Our progress to the south was soon arrested by a lake, 
and the lateness of the season made it advisable not to 
linger too long in this region, lest we should be arrested 
by ice forming in the great lakes below. Anxious to kill 
a moose, I endeavoured to persuade the Indian to follow 
a fresh track, but he declared that the mountain was full 



58 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

of devils, and that the grizzly bear was not nnfreqnently 
met with, so that no persuasion could induce him to 
follow the track unless a half-breed accompanied him. 
The sky and air became quite free from clouds and mist 
before 10 A. M., permitting us to take bearings of different 
prominent points. After measuring a number of trees in 
the neighbourhood of our camp, we commenced to re- 
trace our steps at noon. Our course was a little to the 
left of our track on the preceding day ; and the following- 
estimate of the ascents, descents, and distances were 
noted as carefully as circumstances would permit. 

The first descent from the summit is about 250 feet 
deep, and very precipitous ; where the snow had not 
lodged, boulders were seen reposing on unstratified clay 
and gravel. A narrow gully is then crossed, and an ascent 
of forty feet made to a terrace sloping towards the east ; 
on this terrace are the conical hills before alluded to. 
The descent continues for a further depth of 150 feet in 
a distance of half a mile ; this brought us to the ed«;e of 
a ravine seventy feet deep. At the bottom flows a small 
stream over gravel and boulders. A rise of thirty feet 
led us to the top of the opposite bank, along which we 
traveled until we came to its termination at the beginning 
of a second terrace about eighty feet below us. This 
narrow table land is consequently about 480 feet below 
the summit, and on it we found the second range of conical 
hills. A gradual descent for a quarter of a mile lowered 
us thirty feet ; we then ascended a bank about twenty 
feet high, and found ourselves on the edge of a precipitous 
descent, 150 feet deep, which brought us to the third 
terrace, and to the edge of a ravine seventy feet deep. 
On the sides of the ravine, and far above it, exposures of 
Cretaceous rocks were seen ; the highest spot where the 
rock was observed in position, is probably between 400 



TA-WA-riT AND HIS FAMILY. 59 

and 500 feet below the summit, or about 500 above 
Dauphin Lake. A sudden descent of 120 feet thru 
occurring, brought us to a fourth terrace, bounded by a 
steep bank, to which succeeded a narrow step, and then 
the low ridge where we had formed our camp on the 
ninth. We arrived there thoroughly wet and uncom- 
fortable ; the temperature, however, was much higher 
than on the mountain, and the snow of the previous night 
had entirely disappeared as we descended, but a drench- 
ing rain instead promised a very disagreeable night, as 
we could find no friendly spruce near at hand to afford 
protection. 

October 12th. — The greater part of this day was spent in 
retracing our steps to Dauphin Lake. The walk through 
the marshes and bogs was found to be more fatiguing 
than during our ascent, on account of the ram and the 
cold water in the swamps. Two of the men complained 
of rheumatic pains, and were incapable of doing any work 
upon their arrival at the camp in the afternoon. During 
our absence the men left at Dauphin Lake had set nets, 
and caught some fine pike. The precipitation which had 
occurred on the Riding Mountain in the form of snow, was 
here a drkzline rain, which again commenced soon after 
our arrival, and continued throughout the night. On the 
following morning one of our best half-breeds was seriously 
ill; he complained of excruciating pains in the head and 
limbs, and experienced great relief from cupping, which 
the Indian performed with a flint and bowl of a tobacco 
pipe. At noon we started in the boat for an Indian en- 
campment at the west end of the lake, about six miles 
distant. Here we found Ta-wa-pit, an old Ojibway, with 
two sons, and their wives and children. Having made 
arrangements with Ta-wa-pit for the hire of two horses 
and a guide to cross the country to Manitoba!! House, 



GO ASSIXXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

Mr. Fleming took charge of the boat, to return by Moss 
River, while I remained with one half-breed with the 
intention of making a land journey round the south side 
of Dauphin Lake to the Company's post on Lake Mani- 
tobah, which was to be our rendezvous. 

October 14:th. — Ta-wa-pit stayed during the greater part 
of the night by our camp-fire, talking with the half-breed, 
smoking and drinking tea. He pointed out the spot near 
to us, where he was accustomed to take salt from the 
edges of a spring during the summer months. He de- 
scribed also at length the appearance and virtues of some 
gigantic bones exposed in the bank of Valley River near 
where it cuts through the old Lake Ridge. Ta-wa-pit 
calls these bones a great medicine, and, contrary to the 
usual custom of the Indians, he now and then takes small 
fragments, bruises them to powder, and uses them as a 
medicinal preparation. From his description I infer that 
the bones are those of a mammoth ; his rough drawing 
of the ribs and teeth in the sand corresponded, in point of 
dimensions, with those of that gigantic animal. 

Ta-wa-pit and family live a very retired life on the 
shores of Dauphin Lake. The old man is evidently 
of a misanthropic turn of mind ; he does not associate 
with other Indians who hunt and live on Moss River, and 
the northern part of the lake. His potatoes, of which he 
planted a small patch in the spring, were completely 
destroyed by grasshoppers ; affording another proof of 
the immense range and devastating progress of these 
insects in Rupert's Land, during the past two or three 
years. Ta-wa-pit showed me a knife he had made out of 
an old file, and some pipes he was making from a soft 
shale, procured in the Riding Mountain some miles south- 
west of his tent. The shale was similar in all respects to 
a band I had noticed on the Little Souris, also a few days 



SWAMPS, EI DOES, AND BOGS. 61 

before, in the exposure described as occurring on the flank 
of the mountain, and from which the half-breeds had 
taken small blocks to make pipes. A couple of pounds 
of buck shot which I divided among the old man and his 
sons, delighted them beyond measure, and in return, Ta- 
wa-pit presented me with a new pipe, and the moufle of a 
moose. 

The hop grows in great luxuriance and abundance at 
the south end of Dauphin Lake ; there is fine pasturage as 
far as the old lake ridge, but the narrow strips of marsh and 
quaking bog almost on a level with the dry portion show 
that these extensive flats are liable to be submerged in 
the spring. Starting at dawn, our course followed for a 
few miles the shore of Dauphin Lake until we came to 
Turtle River, which having crossed in a small canoe, Ave 
soon after took an easterly direction and entered a region 
of swamp, ridge, and quaking bog of very formidable 
character. During the whole of the afternoon our course 
lay through marshes and bogs, separated by low ridges 
covered with aspen. The horses were quite useless, and 
frequently stuck fast ; when this occurred we were com- 
pelled to carry the bedding and provisions to the nearest 
ridge and help the wretched animals through the deep 
bogs into which they sank at every step, breaking through 
the elastic covering of moss which was generally of suffi- 
cient strength to support a man running lightly over it, 
but not tenacious enough to bear the weight of a horse. 
Just as night closed in we arrived at a dry gravelly ridge 
where there was a plentiful supply of dead aspen, from 
which we made a roaring fire and soon dried our w r et 
clothes and blankets. The night was bitterly cold and 
the exertion of wading for many hours together through 
ice-cold water caused every limb to ache ; the Indian 
•guide thought nothing of it, and immediately after supper 



G2 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

he lay down before the fire and was soon sound asleep. T\v< i 
or three times in the night I rose to replenish the fire, and 
found the Indian without any covering but the wet skin 
clothes he had worn during the day, curled up on the 
bare ground and enjoying profound slumber. 

Early on the following morning we arrived at the 
Eidge Pitching tract, along which we continued for a 
few miles, and then again descended into a region of 
swamps and quaking bogs. In no respect does the Eidge 
Pitching track between Dauphin Lake and Ebb and Flow 
Lake differ from the Big Eidge of the Assinniboine except 
in altitude. It is about one hundred yards across, evenly 
rounded, composed of gravel, and covered to a great 
extent with the bearberry. On either side are small oaks 
and aspens, succeeded by marshes. Its altitude above the 
marsh is about fifteen feet. The guide said it formed an 
extension of the ridge on White Mud Eiver described in 
Chapter XX., and if this be the case no better means of 
communication by land with this part of the country 
could be found than the Eidge Pitching track. 

Soon after leaving this excellent road we stuck fast in a 
quaking bog about one mile broad. The horses were mired, 
and it was only by dint of the greatest exertion and much 
cruel beating that the Indian and half-breed succeeded in 
getting them on to dry land. In the afternoon we arrived 
at Crow Creek, and the country becoming drier we were 
enabled to make better progress. After passing Sucker 
Creek, which, with the streamlet before named, flows 
sluggishly in a trench about ten feet deep, we arrived at a 
fine open prairie surrounded by tall aspen woods and 
covered with a splendid crop of wild hay. Here we met 
an Indian who was setting traps, the hunting season 
having already commenced. He invited us to his tent 
which was placed on the shores of Ebb and Flow Lake, 



INTERIOR OF AN INDIAN TENT. 



63 



not more than twelve or fourteen miles from Manitobah 
House. It turned out that the half-breed with me knew 
the Indian well by reputation ; he is one of the most suc- 
cessful and industrious hunters in this part of the lake 
region; his tent was well supplied with Indian luxuries, 
such as tea, tobacco, and coarse clothing. In the small 
prairies near us were several line buffalo runners, and if 
Indian habits and customs would permit of the accumula- 
tion of wealth, our host might soon become a rich man. 
His birch-bark tent was roomy and clean. Thirteen 




Skin Tents, Crec; Birchbark Tents, Ojibway. 



persons including children squatted round the fire in the 
centre. On the floor some excellent matting was laid 
upon spruce boughs for the strangers ; the squaws 
squatted on the bare ground, the father of the family on 
an old buffalo robe. Attached to the poles of the tent 
were a gun, bows and arrows, a spear, and some mink 
skins. Suspended on cross pieces over the fire were fish- 
ing nets and floats, clothes, and a bunch of the bearberry 
to mix with tobacco for the manufacture of kinni-kinnik. 



G4 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION". 

Soon after we entered the squaw began to prepare 
supper, tli is was done by boiling white-fish and potatoes 
together ; when cooked the whole was poured into a large 
tin dish and handed to me, together with a cup of tea. 
Helping myself I passed the dish to the Indian, but he 
laid it at his feet ; as soon as I had finished my supper, 
the Indian helped himself and the half-breed, and then 
passed the dish to his squaw, who divided the remainder 
anions: the other inmates of the tent. These consisted 
of an old watchful and restless Indian woman, the 
mother of the mistress of the tent ; a newly married 
couple related to our host ; the Indian guide from Dauphin 
Lake, and five children. After supper I spread my 
blanket and lay down, quite overcome with the long con- 
tinued exertion of Wading through swamps and quaking 
bogs, but too tired to sleep. The half-breed and Indians 
sat talking for many hours before they turned their feet 
to the fire, rolled themselves up in a blanket and seem- 
ingly at once " found sleep." 

On the following morning I rose with a few aches and 
pains, which the succeeding events of the morning rapidly 
dispelled. After breakfast my Indian host offered me a 
favourite buffalo runner to ride to Manitobah House. 
The exertion required to manage this animal soon re- 
moved all unpleasant rheumatic symptoms. Her extra- 
ordinary sagacity is related in a subsequent chapter, but 
her mouth was evidently formed of sole leather and not 
amenable to persuasions administered through an Indian 
bridle. The country on the shore of Ebb and Flow Lake 
is low but well fitted for a limited settlement. There is 
an abundant supply of aspen timber interspersed with 
small strips and groves of oak and birch. I arrived at 
Manitobah House soon after noon, and was cordially re- 
ceived and hospitably entertained by Mr. Mackenzie the 
gentleman in charge. 



65 



CHAP. XXVI. 

MAXITOBAII HOUSE — MANITOBAH ISLAND — OAK POINT 

OAK POINT TO THE SETTLEMENTS ON RED RIVER. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie. — Manitobah House. — Messenger. — Missionary Pri- 
vations. — Want of Supplies. — Snow Storm. — Indian Summer. — Snow 
Bbris.— Minitobah House. — Rock. — Jobn Campbell.— Whitefisb. — Im- 
portance of.— Aspect of Country. — Tbe Narrows. — Manitobab Island. — 
Dimensions of. — Oak. — Rock Formation. — Fossils. — Indian Superstitions. 
Fairies.— Signals. — Arrival of Boat at Manitobab Island.— Coast of Lake 
Manitobab.— Old Mission Station.— Unfitness of tbis part of the Coast of 
tbe Lake for Settlement. — Indian Liberality. — Monkman's Point. — Cause 
of tbe Formation of Marshes.— H. B. Co. Breeding Establishment.— Oak 
Point. — Dimensions of Lake Manitobab. — Prairie bordering the Lake. — 
Shoal Lake.— Character of the Country.— Big Ridge.— Little Ridge.— 
Arrive at the Settlements. 

I remained one week at Manitobah House, waiting for 
Mr . Fleming, who was detained by contrary winds. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie I am indebted for much gene- 
rous hospitality, and have great pleasure in possessing this 
opportunity of acknowledging then kindness and the 
endeavour they made to give me all the assistance and 
information in then' power. Manitobah House is in a 
very dilapidated condition, but Mr. Mackenzie has erected 
another dwelling, which was nearly completed dining my 
stay. A Roman Catholic Mission formerly existed here, 
but having been abandoned, the buildings were sold to 
the Hudson's Bay Company, and in the year following the 
transfer, they were accidentally destroyed by fire. 

On Saturday, the 16th October, a messenger arrive! 
from Fairford, on his way to Oak Point, whither lie was 

VOL. 11. f 



GG ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

journeying for the supplies of the Mission in charge of 
the Eev. Mr. Stage. 

This excellent Missionary has suffered much incon- 
venience from being disappointed in obtaining supplies of 
clothing and other indispensable articles for the children 
and adults, now Christian members of his Mission, and 
the messenger who arrived at Manitobah House was 
despatched at his expense to bring the necessaries which 
had been brought from York Factory to Red Eiver, but 
not forwarded to the Mission at the usual time by the 
Hudson's Bay Company's brigade. 

In the afternoon of this day a snow storm commenced 
which continued all night, and covered the ground with 
nine inches of snow. The thermometer was at the 
freezing point, but Mr. Mackenzie stated his conviction 
that the " Indian Summer " not having yet occurred, the 
snow would soon disappear and we might have fine 
weather for ten days or a fortnight ; a prediction borne 
out by the rapid disappearance of the snow on the follow- 
ing day, and the occurrence of beautiful weather with 
frosty nights to near the end of October. 

On Monday, the 18th, snow birds were flying about 
the Post in large flocks ; ducks wending their way to the 
south, and all appearances and signs of approaching winter 
rapidly following one another. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were occupied in writing 
letters and making up my journal. On Thursday, the 
21st, the boat not having arrived, I proceeded to examine 
the surrounding country. The day was warm and fine, 
with much smoke from the south-west, coming no doubt 
from the burning prairies. 

Manitobah House is very prettily situated near the 
Narrows of the lake. Immediately before it is a cluster 
of low islands on which some fine ash-leaved maple and 



MANITOBAH HOUSE. G7 

elm grow ; they are the favourite camping grounds of the 
Indians who limit and fish in the country about Lake 
Manitobah. The land in the rear of the House is stony, 
but good, and there is an area of many thousand acres 
in extent, well adapted for a settlement. The timber 
consisting almost altogether of aspen on the mainland, 
is of fan* dimensions, trees from twelve inches to fifteen 
inches in diameter being common. Near the Post, but 
on the opposite side of the lake, there is a considerable 
quantity of balsam-spruce and tamarac. There are no 
rock exposures visible near the Post, but in making an 
excavation for a cellar under the new house, the work- 
men came upon limestone rock, four feet below the sur- 
face. It was apparently horizontal, but in the fragments 
procured no organic remains were visible ; its lithological 
aspect was similar to the rock on Manitobah Island, to be 
hereafter described. When the surface of the exposed 
rock was cleaned with a bucket or two of water, well 
preserved ice groves were visible ; their direction was N. 
10° W.— S. 10° E. 

I visited the house of a freeman named John Camp- 
bell a few hundred yards south of the Post, and found 
there two comfortable log shanties, a potato field, two 
or three haystacks and some cattle. Campbell's son in- 
formed me that it was much easier to live here than at 
the Settlements. He stated as a proof of the abundance 
of natural pasture in the swamps that he allowed some of 
his cattle to remain in the woods and swamps all winter, 
but they became very poor towards spring. White-fish * 
are abundant and of excellent quality ; they are the main- 
stay of the people attached to the Post, who cure them 
for whiter consumption by the simple process of drying 
in the sim. The fishing season had already commenced 

* Corei/onus albi(<. 
f2 



68 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

and Campbell had caught 500 white-fish, but he wanted 
4000 for his winter supply. As soon as the fish are 
caught in the gill nets, and brought to shore, a slit is 
made above the tail, through which a pointed stick is 
pushed. Ten fish are placed on each stick, and the sticks 
are staged in the open air about nine feet from the ground, 
beyond the reach of dogs. No curing, cleaning, or any 
preservative process is employed ; the dry air and frost 
preserve them until they are needed. The importance 
of the white-fish in this region may be imagined when it 
is known that not only does it form the chief food of the 
Indians in the lake region for a great portion of the year, 
but three ivhite-ftsh per diem constitute the sole daily 
allowance of the half-breeds attached to this Post ; abso- 
lutely nothing more. Flour, tea, sugar, &c, are luxuries, 
which, if they wish to indulge in, must be purchased at 
high prices ; nevertheless, they are healthy, happy, and 
according to their notions comfortable. 

The white-fish I saw staged at Campbell's might aver- 
age three to four pounds each. They are considered to 
be superior to those caught in Lake Winnipeg. This 
important source of food in these regions is well named 
At-ik-um-aig, or the Keindeer of the Waters, by the Ojib- 
ways. It forms a principal article of diet during a large 
portion of the year, not only of the Indians, but also of 
the settlers at Eed Eiver. The price the frozen fish fetch 
in the settlement is five for a shilling, or 100 for a pound 
sterling. During our winter journey to Canada, we pur- 
chased them at Eed Lake, in Minnesota State, at the rate 
of #6 (£1 9s.) per hundred, to feed the dogs ; each dog 
was allowed one w r hite-fish, and a morsel of pemmican, as 
long as the pemmican lasted. 

Indian summer began on the 21st. The weather was 
warm, " smoky," and very delightful. No boat being yet 



MAXITOBAII ISLAXD. G9 

within sight, I visited the islands opposite Manitoba!] 
House, the marshes at the mouth of Ebb and Flow Lake, 
and the country in the rear of the Post. Its extraordinary 
flatness is shown by the great expanse of marsh about the 
islands, and along the coast north of the Hudson's Bay 
Company's Post. The level of the lake was three feet 
below high water mark, and about two feet above the 
lowest point to which it has been known to fall for many 
years. 

The boat not arriving on the evening of the 22nd, I 
determined to take a small supply of provisions and go 
with Whiteway the half-breed, who had accompanied me 
from Dauphin Lake, as far as Manitobah Island, about 
twelve miles in a direction due north, and there await its 
arrival. This part of Lake Manitobah is not more than 
from three to four miles across, studded with low islands, 
and on the east side the coast is indented with deep bays. 
The strait is shallow, twenty-one feet of water close to 
the Narrows being the greatest depth recorded. 

Manitobah Island, from which the lake derives its name, 
is about GOO yards long, and 200 yards broad ; on its 
north side there is a perpendicular limestone cliff fifteen 
feet high ; a few yards from its edge, a well defined 
ancient lake beach crosses the island, resembling in most 
particulars the Eidge Pitching track, or the Big Eidge of 
the Assinniboine. The part that remains in a good state 
of preservation is not more than 150 yards long, the 
breadth of the island being here about 220 yards. From 
this ancient beach, the land slopes gradually in a southerly 
direction to the present beach, with its fringe of rushes at 
the south extremity of the island. The timber consists of 
oak and birch ; many of the first named tree have been 
cut by the people of Fairford and Manitobah House. 

The native carpenter employed to build Mr. Mac- 

f3 



70 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

kenzie's new residence accompanied us to the island, and 
although very anxious to make the traverse across the 
lake after passing the Narrows, he remained for a few 
hours to cut a couple of oak logs which he proposed to 
take with him to Fairford, to mend the old freighter's 
boat which had formed his pay for six weeks' labour. 
He embraced this opportunity, on account of the difficulty 
of procuring oak timber near the Mission. Although oak 
was seen several times on the shores of Lake Manitobah, 
north of the Narrows, yet nowhere was it found of such 
serviceable thickness (fifteen inches) and length as on 
Manitobah Island. In the rear of the marshes which 
border the lake it is known to exist in small quantities. 

Among the Devonian fossils procured on the island 
were Atrypa reticularis, Atrypa aspera, two species of 
Chonetes, a small Productus, an Orthoceras, and fragments 
of a large fish. 

I remained on this island with Whiteway for three 
days ; we shot a mink, a few duck, and saw a red fox, 
but although the island was so small, we found it impos- 
sible to kill him. Indians appeared occasionally in their 
canoes on the north-east coast of the lake, but although 
they heard our guns and fired in return, yet- they would 
not venture near us. They have all a great aversion to 
caves and overhanging rocks, conceiving that such places 
are the abode of fairies, or Manitou. The origin of this 
superstition in relation to Manitobah Island is due to the 
sounds produced by the waves as they beat upon the 
beach at the foot of the cliffs near its northern extremity. 
During the night time, when a gentle breeze is blowing 
from the north, the various sounds heard on the island 
are quite sufficient to strike awe into the minds of the 
superstitious Indians. These sounds frequently resemble 
the ringing of distant church bells ; so close, indeed, is 



ARRIVAL OF THE BOAT. 71 

this resemblance, that several times during the night I 
woke with the impression that I was listening to chimes. 
When the breeze subsided, and the waves played gently 
on the beach, a low wailing sound would be heard from 
our camping place, about 300 yards from the cliffs where 
the noise was produced. At night it was peculiarly im- 
pressive, and as we lay on the moss-covered rock, it was 
very easy to comprehend the objection which uneducated 
Indians, naturally of a fanciful and superstitious turn of 
mind, should have to land or remain on tins " fairy " 
island. 

On the night of Monday, the 25th October, we built as 
usual a large fire on the beach to serve as a beacon light 
to Mr. Fleming, and at nine lay down to sleep. White- 
way was telling me about the adventure of Sho-Shons, 
(Long-ears), whose tent was within a few miles of us, and 
who was tossed by a buflalo bull when hunting in the 
prairies during the past summer, when at 10 p. m. three 
shots were heard, apparently about three miles north of 
the island. We sprang up and replied with three shots, 
and proceeded at once to supply the beacon fire with dry 
wood. Whiteway put his ear to the water's edge, and 
after a short pause declared that he heard oars. After a 
few minutes we fired three more shots, and waited the 
result ; in half an hour's time the boat loomed through 
the gloom, and before eleven o'clock Mr. Fleming and the 
crew were onManitobah Island. 

They had been detained by contrary winds, but were 
successful in killing prairie hen *, duck and plover in 
the upper part of the lake, near Crow Bay. At sunset 
Mr. Fleming had touched a low point a few miles to the 
north-east of our island, where Indians were encamped ; 

* The Prairie Hen or Pinnated Grouse, Tetrao c>tpi<l<>, is not often found 
so far north as lat. 52° in the wooded country. 

f 4 



72 ASSIXNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

they told him that they had repeatedly heard shots from 
the Narrows, but did not care to know who had fired 
them in that quarter. A quiet admission that the terrors 
of Manitobah Island were sufficient to check the curiosity 
even of an Ojibway Indian. 

It was past noon on the morning of the 26th when we 
reached Manitobah House ; we remained there for an 
hour to partake of the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Mack- 
enzie, and procure a supply of white-fish and potatoes. 
In the afternoon we pulled towards McKay's Point, passed 
between Sugar Island and Birch Island, both low and 
marshy areas, and camped at sunset on Pelican Island, a 
circular sandy beach enclosing an extensive marsh, in 
which duck still remained in considerable numbers. The 
lake near the coast is shallow, the greatest depth recorded 
beino; thirteen feet. 

The whole of the coast as far as Swan Creek is very 
low, and bordered by beaches enclosing marshes. Here 
and there wooded points ten to twelve feet above the 
lake level separate the marshes from one another ; on one 
of these points we observed some very fine elm, but the 
prevailing timber consists of aspen. A mission was es- 
tablished some years since at Elm Point, by the Eev. 
Mr. Cowley, but abandoned soon after. An attempt was 
made to open a cart track from this Mission to the prairies 
near Oak Point, but it was thought that the Indians who 
professed to guide Mr. Cowley through the driest part of 
the country, took him through the most swampy portion. 
The Indians now say that dry ridges exist, with inter- 
vening marshes, over and through which a cart track 
could be established without difficulty ; but it is evident 
that the character of the country on this part of Lake 
Manitobah is not fitted for farming purposes. Isolated 
areas like Elm Point are doubtless to be found, but not 



INDIAN GENEROSITY. 73 

sufficiently extensive to give to this region any value in 
an agricultural point of view. 

We met an Indian in a canoe near Elm Point, and 
Whiteway, at my request, told him we were starving. 
I wished to ascertain the truth of the statement so often 
made respecting the liberality of these Indians in cases of 
necessity. The answer was a happy one ; approaching 
our boat in his canoe, the Indian said, " Look, if you see 
anything to eat, take it." In his canoe were sixty fine 
white-fish and a few pike. I gave him some potatoes, 
tobacco, and tea, and accepted a dozen white-fish which 
he pressed us to take. 

The shore continues low as far as Sandy Point ; it is 
bounded by beaches fringed with fine aspen forests in the 
rear of marshes filled with rushes, which occupy part of 
every sheltered cove and bay open to the lake. We 
camped at Monkman's Point, where one of the family has 
a fishing station. They were catching their winter supply 
of white-fish.. Monkman * pointed out a marsh in the 
rear of our camp, which he said was once diy ground, 
and afforded splendid pasturage for horses. This probably 
occurred during a period of low water. The marsh is 
separated from the lake by a gravelly beach ; and a fall 
in the level of the lake, to the extent of two feet, would not 
only drain and dry this marsh, but many hundred square 
miles of marshy areas formed under similar circumstances 
and at the same period. Mr. Mackenzie, of Manitobah 
House, told me that former residents at that Post had 
seen the lake for a long period of time two feet lower 
than at present. In fact, before the floods of 1852 the 
lake was at its lowest level, and the swamps and marshes 

* The brother of John Monkman, of Oak Point, a celebrated character at 
Selkirk Settlement. More will be said of this individual in a future 

chapter. 



74 ASSIXXIBOIXE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

fringing its low north-eastern coast were then dry areas 
covered with rank grass. In the course of a few years 
this will again take place, and for a long period, perhaps, 
settlers may enjoy fine pasture lands, destined again to 
revert to an intermittent condition of swamp or marsh. 
Monkman informed me that many years since the Hudson's 
Bay Company had a breeding establishment near this 
Point, and he remembered the time when 120 horses 
were pastured in the neighbourhood of Swan Creek, about 
twelve miles from Oak Point. 

On the 28th we passed through an immense expanse of 
reeds called Marshy Point, threading our way through 
an intricate channel in which large numbers of duck 
still lingered. About one o'clock we arrived at Oak 
Point, where we found John Monkman and a number of 
settlers from Eed Eiver catching them whiter supply of 
white-fish in gill nets. 

Lake Manitobah is 120 miles long by 24 broad in 
its widest part, from headland to headland ; but if esti- 
mated from Oak Point to the mouth of White Mud Eiver, 
on the west side, the breadth does not fall far short of 
thirty miles. The area of the lake is about 1900 square 
miles, and its approximate altitude above the sea 670 feet, 
or forty-two feet above Lake Winnipeg. It is remark- 
ably shallow, so that in the parts sounded, which were 
sometimes twelve to fifteen miles broad, the depth never 
exceeded twenty-three feet ; this occurred half way be- 
tween Cherry Island and Sandy Point in the upper portion 
of the lake. In the two traverses between Manitobah 
Island and Cherry Island not more than twenty-one feet 
was recorded, while within four miles of the coast in the 
southern or larger portion of the lake, eighteen feet was 
the greatest depth found. 

The effects of winds on the large surfaces of water ex- 



EFFECT OF WIND OX THE LAKES. 75 

posed by the great lakes of the Winnipeg Basin, is very 
well seen at the Narrows near Manitobah Island, the 
Dog's Head (Lake Winnipeg), Waterhen Paver, and the 
mouths of the Winnipeg and Eed Eivers. The currents 
produced by the pressure of the wind changing the levels 
of the lakes lias probably exercised an important influence 
in connecting different parts of the same lake basins. 

At the Narrows, Lake Manitobah, a northerly wind 
will cause a strong current to flow through the straits into 
the lower or southern half of the lake ; while a south 
wind produces a corresponding effect in the northern 
portion, and perceptibly increases the volume of water in 
the Little Saskatchewan. At the Dog's Head the current 
sometimes approaches the force of a rapid when the wind 
blows from the north ; the great depth of Lake Winnipeg 
at this point, which, I was assured by half-breeds and 
Indians who fish there during the winter, exceeds one 
hundred and twenty feet, is doubtless the result. 

At first sight it appears strange that the limestone cliffs 
should not have been gradually broken away, and the 
communication between the upper and lower portion of 
Lake Winnipeg enlarged. But running water exercises 
comparatively little effect in excavating a dee]) channel 
through a rocky barrier, or in widening a water-course ; 
ice, beyond all question, is the main instrument in abrad- 
ing, denuding, and excavating. At the Dog's Head the 
ice has little force on account of the proximity of islands, 
either when acting with a thrust or bearing away masses 
of rock frozen to its substance. By far the greater por- 
tion of the ice formed on this part of the coast is so 
protected by the islands as to melt before it can be 
moved by winds with its rocky burdens to distant parts 
of the lake. 

At Manitobah House I observed the water rise fully 



76 ASSINXIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

eighteen inches before a storm. Canoes left in calm 
weather on a beach high and dry are not unfrequently 
washed away when a strong south or north wind sets in, 
and it often happens that, even before the approach of a 
change in the direction of the wind is indicated by 
clouds, the water of the lakes show by rising the opera- 
tion of a distant pressure which has not yet manifested 
itself at the point of observation. The Indians and half- 
breeds in the fall of the year, when winds are variable, 
frequently notice the mouths of streams or rude registers, 
such as a stone set up by themselves on the beach, to see 
if any indications are afforded of a change in the wind, 
not appreciable by any other means. 

In 1823 Mr. Keating, in his narrative of Major Long's 
Expedition to the sources of St. Peter's Eiver, described 
the effects of winds on the waters of Lake Winnipeg 
taking place at the mouth of the Winnipeg Eiver, as 
follows : — " A question which has been much discussed 
by travellers, is that of the supposed periodical rises in 
the lakes ; we do not propose to take part in the discus- 
sion at present, but we may state that we observed at 
Fort Alexander an appearance, such as has probably more 
than once been mistaken for the effect of a tide. 

" On our arrival we pitched our tents upon a sort of 
wharf projecting into the river, and elevated about two 
feet above the level of the water. In the afternoon a 
very high wind blew from the lake and accumidated the 
waters in the bay, so as to cause them to overflow the 
wharf and oblige us to remove our tents. The next 
morning the waters had subsided to their former level." 

The splendid prairies bordering on the southern shores 
of Lake Manitobah may be said to begin at Oak Point. 
Their boundary is an imaginary line extending south- 
easterly towards the Indian Settlement on Red Eiver on 



OAK POINT. 77 

the one hand, and to the old lake Eidge, where it is cut 
by White Mud River on the other ; a distance in an air 
line of one hundred and ten miles. North of this line 
the country is in general marshy, full of reticulating lakes 
and low aspen-covered ridges. 

The settlement at Oak Point contains about a dozen 
houses ; their appearance does not give a stranger a favour- 
able impression of the industry and energy of them occu- 
pants. No advantage appears to be taken of the splendid 
country by which they are surrounded ; and with the ex- 
ception of John Monkman, who at times is a marvel of 
energy injudiciously directed, they do not seem to have 
made any progress in improving their dwellings, or in 
enclosing a farm, since they first established themselves at 
Lake Manitobah. About ten miles in a south-westerly 
direction from Oak Point a number of French half-breeds 
have formed a settlement on the shores of the lake. They 
enjoy the advantage of having a resident Missionary 
(E. C.) among them. 

On the 29th we made preparations for a journey on 
horseback to the Settlements, striking diagonally across 
the prairie region just described. The country in the 
neighbourhood of Oak Point is very attractive ; its general 
level is about ten feet above the lake ; it resembles in 
every respect the region about White Mud Eiver. Our 
road, for a few miles, lay across a very rich and fertile 
tract, until an almost imperceptible ascent introduced us 
to a low gravelly ridge, upon which aspen woods grow in 
narrow strips ; the forest preserves a uniform outline as 
far as the eye can reach, in a direction corresponding to 
the present form of Lake Manitobah, indicating, without 
glancing at the soil, the direction and extent of the sub- 
aqueous ridges, afterwards a low coast line, which were 
formed over the floor of Lake Manitobah at a higher 



78 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION". 

level. Succeeding this low flat ridge is a broad plateau 
slightly undulating and studded with straggling clumps of 
young poplar and small oak, with willows in the shallow 
depressions. The soil becomes rich in vegetable mould 
again as we approach Shoal Lake, an extensive sheet of 
water, shallow, reedy, connected with numerous lakes 
lying to the north, and a favourite haunt of aquatic 
birds. 

The south shore of Shoal Lake is particularly attractive. 
Eidges supporting heavy oak fringe the shore, and beau- 
tiful meadows, bordered with aspen and oak woods, reveal 
themselves in making a short traverse to the south. Al- 
though the shores of the lake are marshy, yet the oak 
ridges some few hundred yards south of it are high and 
dry. For a grazing establishment on the largest scale 
Shoal Lake is admirably fitted. Wild hay in any desirable 
quantity exists around its marshy shores, and in the beau- 
tiful prairies lying south of it timber of excellent quality 
for building purposes and fuel may be procured in abund- 
ance ; in the spring and autumn the lake is covered with 
wild fowl of every variety. Shoal Lake is a favourite 
sporting ground of the gentlemen of Fort Garry and the 
half-breeds of the settlement. It is on the mam road to 
Lake Manitobah, and is probably destined to become a 
place of some note as a grazing station in the course of 

time. 

On the 30th October I set out with Whiteway in 
advance of the carts, in the hope of being able to reach 
the settlements before nightfall. We passed through an 
excellent prairie country studded with aspen groves, and 
occasionally relieved by a broad shallow ridge, probably 
of subaqueous origin, like those already described. The 
Big Ridge of the Assinniboine is not well defined where 



THE BIG KIDGE. — STONY MOUNTAIN. 79 

we descended it, about eight miles west of Stony Moun- 
tain. It appears to be divided into two portions, part 
expanding into an undulating tract of country a few hun- 
dred yards broad, the other preserving the outline and 
character of the Big Eidge, but named in consequence of 
its diminished altitude the Little Eidge. The level coun- 
try at the base of either is everywhere beautiful, fertile, 
and admirably adapted for settlement. We descended the 
Little Eidge, a step of the Big Eidge, at about four in the 
afternoon, and in the distance could see the twin steeples 
of St. Boniface with their tinned roofs glancing brilliantly 
in the south-east about fifteen miles off. We then passed 
through the magnificent prairies lying between Stony 
Mountain and Eed Eiver, reaching the edge of the Big 
Swamp just before sunset, and arrived at our temporary 
quarters in the settlement half an hour after dark. ■ 

The country between Oak Point and Stony Mountain 
is not much inferior in point of fertility and fitness for 
settlement to the prairies of Eed Eiver and the Assiimi- 
boine bounded by the Big Eidge. In many parts no 
difference in the rank luxuriance of the grass on these 
prairies and those south of the Big Eidge could be dis- 
tinguished, but the area of fight or gravelly soil covered 
with short stunted grass is far greater, and thus diminishes 
the available extent of soil adapted for agriculture. It 
is doubtful whether this drawback is not counterbalanced 
by the proximity of the country north of the Big Eidge 
to the forest-covered tract between the great lakes, and 
to the haunts of vast numbers of wild fowl which breed 
on the borders of the small sheets of water so numerous 
in this region. This tract, south of the probable limit of 
the forest, may be regarded as well adapted for agricul- 
ture, the groves and strips of aspen and oak on the dry 



80 ASSINNIEOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

gravelly areas only serving to break a vast level expanse 
into a series of very attractive plains, apparently bounded 
by forests, which are found as the traveller penetrates 
them to be but narrow belts separating one beautiful 
prairie from another. 



M 



CHAP. XXVII. 

WINTER JOURNEY WITH DOGS FROM FORT GARRY TO CROW 

WING. 

Arrival of Lord Richard Grosvenor, Lord Frederick Cavendish, Mr. Henry 
Danby Seymour, M.P., and the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, at Fort Garry. — 
Buffalo Hunting. — Lord Grosvenor' s Expedition to Fort Ellice. — Prepa- 
rations for a Winter's Journey. — John Monkman. — Cline. — Daily Allow- 
ance of Dogs. — A "Winter Road. — A Cariole. — A Sledge. — The Driver. — 
Making the Road. — Prospects of a Race to Crow "Wing. — The Start. — 
Fort Pembina. — Mi'. Mackenzie. — The "Woods and Prairies in the Winter 
Season. — Temperature at Pembina. — A Camp in the Snow. — Preparations 
for the Night. — Mocassins. — The Morning Start. — Making a Cache in Pine; 
River. — Dogs watching the Operation.— They return at Night to break 
open the Cache. — Terrible Fate of Mr. Mackenzie in Dec, 1859, frozen to 
Death in attempting to reach Pembina from Pine Creek. — Running across 
a Prairie with the Thermometer at 20° below Zero. — Appearance of the 
Party after the " Rim." — Appearance of a Camp during the Night. — 
Watchfulness of the Dogs. — Catching and harnessing them in the Morning. 
— Treatment of Dogs by the Half-breeds. — Overturning a Cariole. — 
Traveling in a Snow Storm. — Preparing to Camp in a Snow Storm. — Dogs 
" lying close" after a Fall of Snow during the Night. — Sagacity of these 
Animals. — Ped Lake. — News of Monkman's Party behind us. — The Roman 
Catholic Missionary frozen to Death two Days previous to our Arrival at 
Red Lake Mission. — Indians reading the History of the Missionary's 
Journey from his Tracks on the Ice. — Indians relating the History of his 
Journey. — Savage Mimicry. — The Rev. Laurenz Lautiger, the Roman 
Catholic Missionary. — The Height of Land. — Cass Lake. — Arrival of 
Monkman's Party at Midnight. — Leech Lake. — A Dance. — The last Night 
in the Woods. — The last Day's Run. — Pine Woods. — Morning. — A 
twenty-mile Gallop. — Crow Wing. 

Upon our arrival at Selkirk Settlement subsequently to 
the exploration of Lakes Winnipeg and Manitobah, we 
beard that a party of English noblemen and gentlemen had 
reached Fort Garry, and were then preparing for a short 

VOL. II. g 



82 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

trip into the prairies in search of buffalo. The aristo- 
cratic hunters consisted of Lord Richard Grosvenor, Lord 
Frederick Cavendish, Henry Dauby Seymour, Esq., 
M.P., and the Honourable Evelyn Ashley. They were 
successful in meeting with and killing buffalo a short 
distance south of the boundary line, in the direction of 
Devil's Lake, and returned from their expedition in the 
middle of November. 

The hardships and privations inseparable from prairie 
adventure at this late season of the year, with the ther- 
mometer sometimes as low as zero, were not sufficient to 
deter Lord Grosvenor from undertaking a much longer 
expedition to the west, after his return from hunting 
buffalo. He started on the 22nd November in company 
with James Mackay, one of the most distinguished and 
enterprising natives of Selkirk Settlement, for Fort Ellice, 
proposing subsequently to visit the Plain Crees on the 
Qu'appelle. 

This adventurous journey on horseback at so late a 
period of the year, considering the slender outfit of clothing 
and provisions which Lord Grosvenor took with him, 
showed no ordinary courage and confidence in the pos- 
session of great physical endurance. A journey in dog 
carioles over the snow is comfort itself compared with 
riding in the face of a cutting wind when the thermometer 
is not far removed from zero. 

Lord Cavendish, Mr. Seymour, and Mr. Ashley engaged 
John Monkman of Oak Point, Lake Manitobah, to or- 
ganize their dog trains and make arrangements for their 
journey to Crow Wing on the Mississippi, proposing to 
return to civilized life as soon as sufficient snow fell to 
make the country passable for dog trains. John Monk- 
man is the most noted runner in Selkirk Settlement ; 
with his magnificent train of dogs, possibly the best in 



PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. 83 

Rupert's Land, lie has accomplished the journey between 
Pembina and Fort Garry, a distance of sixty-eight miles, 
in seven hours and a half. The men Monkman engaged, 
six in number, were generally excellent runners, and pro- 
vided with good dogs. 

The preparations for the winter journey of both parties 
to St. Paul were rather of a formidable character even at 
Eed Eiver, requiring not less than sixteen carioles and 
sledges drawn by fifty dogs in all. 

It being necessary that I should take with me a number 
of geological specimens, field apparatus, books, &c. &c, 
my party required nine carioles and sledges, and a corre- 
sponding number of men ; each sledge or cariole on a 
long winter's journey requiring one man to manage it, 
although the same individual, with well-trained dogs, is 
competent to conduct two sledges on good roads and for 
short journeys, when time is not an object and food easily 
accessible. 

I engaged a half-breed of the name of Cline, an excel- 
lent runner and a very willing attendant, to organize my 
trains. 

The distance between Fort Garry and Crow Wing is 
about 400 miles by the winter road, and the only places 
where supplies can be obtained are at Pembina, lied 
Lake, and Cass Lake. The chief objection to travel 
with a large number of dogs is the difficulty of supply- 
ing them with food, nor can the several stations be always 
relied on to furnish the requisite quantity for an unex- 
pected intrusion of many of these hungry animals. Each 
dog requires daily about two pounds of pemmican or three 
pounds of white-fish, so that the provisions for a tram 
of carioles employing thirty dogs would involve the 
carriage of GOO lbs. of pemmican or 900 lbs. of white- 
fish for a ten days' journey. A train of three dogs 

G 2 



84 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCIIEWEN EXPEDITION. 

will draw 300 lbs. forty miles a day for ten or twelve 
days in succession if well fed, and the road is tolerably 
good, over a level country. A winter road, it may be here 
remarked, is nothing more than a cariole or sledge track 
caused by the passage of this primitive kind of vehicle 
over the snow, and is liable to be obliterated by every 
fresh fall. A cariole is constructed of a very thin board, 
ten feet long and twelve or fourteen inches broad, turned 
up at one end in the form of half a circle, like the bow 
of an Ojibway canoe. To this board a high cradle, like 
the body of a small carriage, is attached, abont eighteen 
inches from the end of the board or floor. The frame- 
work is covered with buffalo skin parchment, and painted 
or decorated according to taste. The inside is lined with 
a blanket or buffalo robe, and when the traveller is seated 
in his cariole, with outstretched legs, he is only separated 
from the snow by the thin plank which forms the floor. 
A sledge is nothing more than a thin board ten or twelve 
feet long, twelve niches broad, and turned up at one end. 
The baggage is attached to it by means of buffalo thongs, 
and two or three dogs are harnessed to this simple vehicle 
with the same materials. The dogs attached to a 
cariole are generally decorated with collars, from which 
beadwork and tassels are suspended together with a string 
of small bells. When a train is in motion the driver runs 
behind the cariole or sledge, guiding it by means of a 
loop fastened to each corner of the floor ; when tired or 
anxious to ride he sits on the small box containing the 
traveler's baggage, which is fastened to the projecting 
floor in rear of the cariole, or else he stands on it if no 
box is attached. A winter road is uniformly of the 
breadth of the floor of the cariole, rarely exceeding fifteen 
inches, and of a depth proportioned to the quantity of 
snow which has fallen. In making a new road where 



DOG CARIOLES. — A WINTER ROAD. 85 

the snow is deep, a half-breed walks on snow shoes some 
distance in front of the dogs, which follow his track with 
the utmost precision through all its windings ; after 
four or five trains have passed, the road is generally con- 
sidered to be sufficiently hard pressed to admit of the 
easy passage of the succeeding trains ; hence, a great 
point is gained in dog traveling if a new road has re- 
cently been made by a party in advance. To make the 
road is regarded, indeed, as the chief difficulty in journey- 
ing with dogs. 



From the hour it was known in Selkirk Settlement that 
the two partieswould probablystart nearly at the same time, 
and great feeling existing among the half-breeds respecting 
their endurance and the ease and speed with which their 
dogs could accomplish a long journey, a warm spirit of 
emulation arose between the men attached to each party, 
which rapidly communicated itself to their wives and 
friends. Cline told me he had heard confidentially that 
Monkman's plan was to give us the start for two days, and 
then, taking advantage of the road Ave should make 
through the untrodden wilderness, pass us triumphantly a 
day or two before we arrived at Crow Wing. It gra- 
dually became evident that the idea of a race from Fort 
Garry to Crow Wing communicated itself to the gentlemen 

a 3 



86 



ASSIXXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



of both parties, and indeed stimulated more or less all who 
were to make the journey. Cline and his men appeared 
extremely anxious that they should not be far behind 
their competitors, and even indulged the hope that if we 
got a fair start we might not be overtaken. When the 
subject of a race was first mooted to me by Cline, I re- 
garded our chances as almost hopeless, considering the 



baggage with which we were encumbered. 



Afterwards it 








mm 



Dog Carioles. 

occurred to me that one chance lay in the greater ease with 
which ni} T party, long inured to exposure and fatigue, 
would be able to sustain prolonged physical exertion ; 
an hallucination, however, which subsequent experience 
of the physical capabilities of Lord Cavendish, Mr. Sey- 
mour, and Mr. Ashley, during their stay at Eed Eiver, 
served to dispel. 

All my trains being ready, we started on Tuesday, 



THE WOODS AND PRAIRIES IX WINTER. 87 

November 30th, at an early hour from Fort Garry, and 
took the east bank of Red River through the French 
settlements. Monkman'a party expected to follow in the 
afternoon or early on the following morning. On Wed- 
nesday we reached Fort Pembina, and stayed the night 
with Mi\ Mackenzie, the officer in charge of the Post, 
whose sad fate last December (described further on) is a 
melancholy proof of the danger attending traveling alone 
during the winters of this climate. The woods and 
prairies are then perfect deserts, Indians being at their 
winter quarters, birds far in the sunny south, and wild 
animals hybernating, or seeking food and shelter in the 
thickest parts of the swamps and forests. So complete is 
this desolation in the interior of many parts of Eupert's 
Land during the winter, that Mr. Christie, chief factor of 
the Hudson's Bay Company, when traveling from Atha- 
basca to Eed Piiver in December 1859, did not meet with 
a single Indian throughout a long and dreary journey of 
1400 miles.* 

The thermometer at Pembina Fort indicated 22° below 
zero on the morning of December 2nd, when Ave left the 
Post. Having procured another train of two dogs at the 
small village of Pembina, two miles from the Hudson's Bay 
Post of that name, we struck across the prairie to the "first 
of the Two Creeks," where we camped. A camp is always 
made in " woods," if possible, for the sake of fuel and 
shelter. The first operation is to sweep the snow from 
the ground, and prepare a place for the fire and blankets. 
This is easily accomphshed with snow shoes; and as soon 
as an area proportioned to the size of the party is exposed, 
a fire is made sufficiently long to admit of each man 
lying for the night with his feet towards it. No tent or 

* Nor'-Wester, Fort Gany, Feb. I860. 

G 4 



88 



ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



covering of any description beyond a blanket stretched 
on poles is admissible, as it would scarcely be possible to 
fold canvass in the morning, and time does not generally 
allow of the erection of a hut, nor are the materials always 
at hand. When pine or spruce is accessible, a very com- 
fortable floor can be made from the boughs, but in the 
prairie country or on its borders these useful trees are 
rarely to be seen. 

As soon as the fire is made and supper in course of 
preparation, the dogs are fed. After eating their allow- 




Pcmbina. 



ance for the twenty-four hours, the dogs seek for warm 
spots for themselves as near the fire as possible, or if the 
night be very cold, and any wind stirring, they partially 
bury themselves in the snow. As soon as supper is dis- 
cussed, which with the half-breeds almost uniformly con- 
sisted of cold pemmican and tea, mocassins are taken off, 
dried if damp, and put on again ; the fire is replenished, 
and one by one each man or two together cover them- 
selves completely with their blankets or robes, and go to 
sleep. Mocassins are necessary in making a winter jour- 



CAMP IN THE SNOW. — A CACHE. 89 

ney, leather boots or shoes would be too cold and pro- 
bably become hard, neither do they admit of that freedom 
of circulation which makes a soft and pliable mocassin of 
dressed buffalo or moose skin so warm and comfortable. 
The feet rarely get wet in traveling in these regions ; the 
intense cold preserves the snow perfectly dry, and it is 
only near a fire that moisture penetrates a mocassin 
during cold weather. Dining a thaw, a mocassin is 
wet through immediately, and the discomfort must be 
endured from camp to camp, but colds are unknown 
from this cause if exercise be persevered in. Under the 
mocassin, the half-breeds wear a square piece of flannel 
or blanket wrapped round the feet, to serve as a stocking. 
The gentlemen wore one pair of worsted stockings, a half 
boot of duffel, and buffalo skin mocassins, and no one 
complained of cold feet at any time. 

The first thing on waking in the morning is to make 
up the fire and prepare for breakfast. We generally rose 
at five, and were ready to start by daylight ; breakfast, re- 
packing the bedding, catching and harnessing the dogs 
usually occupying two hours and a half. 

On the following day we arrived at Pine Eiver, where 
Cline made a cache of pemmican in the river, some dis- 
tance from our track, to be taken up on his return. A 
hole was cut through the ice, then about fifteen inches 
thick, and a buffalo hide thong having been tied round 
the bag, and fastened to a stick, it was let down into the 
water, just below the ice, the stick being stretched across 
the orifice. Lumps of ice were then piled on the bag of 
pemmican, and water poured on them. The temperature 
of the air being at the time considerably below zero, the 
water froze the instant it touched the ice, and bound the 
masses together in one block. Fresh ice being added, and 



90 ASSINNIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

water poured on it, the hole soon became filled with a 
solid mass ; the operation was continued until a mound 
one foot above the frozen surface of the river was accu- 
mulated over the cache. As I was returning with Cline to 
the place where we had left the carioles and dogs, we 
observed two of these sagacious animals who had been 
unharnessed by mistake, the driver supposing we were 
going to camp, quietly watching our proceedings from 
the bank of the river. Cline, with an exclamation of 
anger and surprise, remarked, " Now, if we don't take 
care those sacres chiens will try to get at the pemmican to- 
night, and the rascals will tell the others ; I know them of 
old, they served me that trick before ; we'll tie them to 
night." The conscious dogs, with tails depressed, started 
at a gallop back to the carioles, when they saw Cline's 
threatening mien. 

In order to avoid the breaking open of the cache by 
the dogs, which might be the source of great incon- 
venience, and perhaps suffering to the men on their re- 
turn, we pushed on for several miles before we camped. 
Cline counted the dogs after supper, but neglected to tie 
the spies, having found that none had strayed, he thought 
they might be trusted, and, wrapping himself in his 
blanket, he soon went to sleep. Rising long before day- 
light, according to our custom, several dogs were soon 
ascertained to be missing, and not being found after 
a rapid search in the neighbourhood, Cline instructed 
two of the men to make a circle round the camp, 
and examine all tracks by torch-light. In a very short 
time one of them came back, stating that fresh dog 
tracks pointed in the direction of Pine River, where 
we had cached the pemmican. Three or four men in- 
stantly started back and found the missing dogs busily 
engaged in scratching at the cache. It was so thoroughly 



SAGACITY OF THE DOGS. — A TRAVELER FROZEN TO DEATH. 91 

frozen and compactly made, that they had produced 
little impression on the small mound of ice, but no doubt 
time and perseverance would have enabled them to reach 
the supplies beneath. 

Pine Eiver crossing is the spot from which Mr. Mac- 
kenzie, who had so hospitably treated us at Fort Pem- 
bina, started on the morning of the 29th December 1859, 
on his ill-fated journey in search of assistance. He and 
some companions were escorting an engineer from George 
Town to Fort Garry, who was traveling thither to make 
alterations and repairs in the steamer Anson Northrup, 
then laid up for the winter near the Indian settlement. 
The party fell short of provisions, and Mr. Mackenzie 
pushed on in the hope of being able to send supplies from 
Pembina. After leaving his companions, he appears to 
have followed the trail for some distance, and at the ap- 
proach of night to have lost Ms way. His beaten track 
showed that in order to keep himself from freezing, he 
had spent the night in rmming round in a circle. At the 
break of day he started again across the trackless waste, 
but in a direction considerably to the eastward of his 
proper course. A second day of fruitless wandering was 
followed by a night more dreary than the first. The 
third day's journey brought him near to Eoseau Lake, 
far to the east of his destination ; here his strength ap- 
pears to have failed him, for having hung some shreds 
of his coat on a tree, to mark Iris last resting-place, he 
lay down beneath it, where his frozen body was found, 
with one hand on his heart and the other grasping a 
compass.* 

On the day succeeding our camp near Pine Eiver, we 
crossed a very bleak and desolate prairie about eight miles 

* An account of this melancholy journey is given in the lied River Nbr'- 
Wester, for January 14, 1860. 



92 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

broad. Fortunately the wind was blowing at our backs, 
otherwise it woidd have been insupportable, the tem- 
perature of the air having fallen to 20° below zero. As 
it was almost impossible to endure the inaction involved 
by being tightly packed in a small cariole, notwithstand- 
ing a liberal supply of blankets and robes, we preferred 
to run after the dogs across that inhospitable prairie which, 
however beautiful it may be in summer, is an exposed 
and desolate wild in December. Mutual astonishment 
was expressed at the appearance presented by each in- 
dividual after this long run. Our eyebrows, beards, 
moustaches, hair, and eyelashes were uniformly frosted ; 
the moisture from the breath had formed icicles down 
our beards, which were firmly frozen to the hoods of our 
blanket coats ; patches of frost-bites on our cheeks, nose, 
or ears demanded instant friction with snow ; and the 
outside of the coat of each man, from the nape of the 
neck to the loins, was covered with a narrow sheet of 
hoar-frost, formed by the solidification of the insensible 
perspiration the moment it reached the outer air. 

The appearance of a winter camp during the night, when 
men and dogs are buried in profound slumber, is very wild 
and savage. Throwing a few dry sticks into the fire to 
light up the scene, the silent, slumbering forms of the 
travelers are seen stretched in two parallel rows with their 
feet to the fire ; between the men one, two, and sometimes 
three huge dogs have crept ; some are lying on the legs of 
the half-breeds for the sake of warmth, others have found a 
snug berth close to the fire but in imminent danger of 
burning their fur, a few lie coiled outside of the circle 
half buried hi the snow. The cold is so intense that their 
faces are white with frozen breath, and scarcely distin- 
guishable. The fire, even when in full glow, has not 
power to melt the snow more than a few inches from it, 



APPEARANCE OF A CAMP AT NIGHT.- -DOG TERRORS. 93 

without it is exposed to direct and prolonged radiation. 
Now and then a watchful dog raises his head, probably 
disturbed by some slight movement of the sleepers ; he 
looks once round and buries his face again. Sometimes 
a dog will utter a low warning growl, when three or four 
other dogs, probably old stagers, will rouse themselves 
for an instant, listen and growl, generally all looking in 
one direction and snuffing the air. A half-breed sits up, 
looks at the dogs, observes their mien and actions, and 
after a moment's pause, uttering the word " wolves," he 
quickly coils himself under his blanket again. 

The most disagreeable part of the daily routine of a 
long winter's journey is the catching and harnessing of 
the dogs. Some of these animals at the beginning of 
winter, when fresh at their work for the season, are ex- 
ceedingly restive under coercion of any description, and 
not unfrequently snap at their masters, who invariably arm 
themselves with very strong mittens of buffalo or deer hide 
when harnessing a savage and powerful animal. They 
require long-continued and most severe punishment to 
make them obedient to the word of command. The 
treatment to which many of the poor beasts are sub- 
jected would give them a fair claim to the protection of 
a law against cruelty to animals. The faces of some of 
our dogs were dreadfully disfigured by the blows which 
their unfeeling and thoughtless masters inflicted on them. 
An Esquimaux whip is the instrument which every driver 
should be compelled to use, but the half-breeds trust to 
sticks and stones, or any object within reach on the road, 
which is picked up as they pass and thrown at the dogs. 
It is painful to witness the sudden start of terror with 
which each animal, looking over his shoulder as he trots 
along, watches the mien and motions of the driver as he 
poises the stick, which he knows how to throw with 



94 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

certain dexterity at the terrified animals. All the dogs 
give a simultaneous jump on one side as the missile flies 
past them, when directed at the leader of the train ; and 
not unfreqnentlv would the cariole be overturned if it 
were not for the strength and skill of the driver in holding 
the loop with which he steers it. When this occurrence 
takes place and the dogs are at full speed, the only plan 
left for the helpless traveller is to draw his arms close to 
his sides, and wait until the cariole is righted by the driver; 
but any attempt to right the cariole by putting out an 
arm is ' a dangerous operation, which might occasion a 
broken limb. In descending steep hills, it is always 
advisable to walk or run, which all would prefer for the 
sake of exercise, except when the road is very good, and 
the trams can proceed for many miles at a gallop without 
fatigue. 

A heavy snow storm is a serious matter in the prairie. 
It is then absolutely necessary for all the trams to keep 
close together; the drifting snow soon obliterates the 
road ; and, although the dogs, by means of their sensitive 
noses, will follow the tracks of the leading cariole even 
when completely hidden from view by a light fall, yet 
when drifts accumulate they are at fault. 

Preparing to camp in a snow storm is not an agreeable 
operation, or suggestive of that comfort and safety which 
a camp almost always presents. When the fire is well 
lighted, supper cooked and eaten, and the party " turned 
in," then it does not matter much how heavily it snows, 
the trouble being reserved for the following day. After 
a heavy fall during the night, men, dogs, carioles and 
sledges are all covered with a thick mantle of pure white ; 
a sudden shout from the guide enlivens many of the ap- 
parently lifeless forms, recognized only by then outline ; 
but some of the sagacious doses take advantage of the 



DEATH OF THE REV. LAURENZ LAUTIGER. 95 

concealment afforded by the snow, and, quite neglectful 
of the whistles and shouts of their masters, " lie close." 
We were detained for more than three hours on one 
occasion after a heavy snow storm, by some of the dogs 
preserving perfect silence and a motionless position under 
their covermg of snow, within thirty yards of our camp 
fire. They were found by dint of walking systematically 
round the camp fire hi a continually enlarging circle, the 
half-breeds being quite aware of the advantage which these 
cunning animals would take of their accidental conceal- 
ment. A loud shout every now and then announced that a 
searcher had stumbled over a truant, whose depressed 
mien and conscious look showed how well he knew that 
he had been the cause of anxiety and trouble. 

On the 8th of December we arrived at Eed Lake, and 
had a splendid gallop of twelve miles across the ice from 
the mouth of Eed Lake Eiver to the Ojibway village and 
Missionary station. An Indian from Pembina caught us 
just as we were about to commence the traverse, and 
brought the information that Monkman's party had left 
Fort Garry on the day following our departure, and were 
steadily pursuing the road we had made. The Indian 
thought they would catch us in a day or two. Soon 
after our arrival at the Eed Lake Mission we learned 
that the Roman Catholic Missionary had been frozen to 
death two days previously, in an attempt to cross the ice 
during a snow storm, from a promontory about two miles 
away from the Mission. He had been visiting a camp of 
Ojibways, who warned him of the perils of a return across 
the ice during the storm, and invited him to pass the 
night in their wigwams ; but the missionary thought that 
he would not incur any danger of freezing during so 
short a traverse, although the thermometer indicated a 
temperature of 25° below zero, at the opposite station. 



96 ASSIXXIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

He was frozen within two hundred yards of the 
Mission House, near to which were a number of log- 
houses, tenanted at the time by half-breeds and Indians, 
When the body was found on the following morning, a 
number of Indians set themselves to trace his steps from 
the Ojibway camp across the ice, a difficult under- 
taking, in consequence of the high wind which was 
blowing at the time having, to an inexperienced eye 
obliterated all traces of his steps. With astonishing 
accuracy these wild men read the brief history of his 
journey, and related the incidents to me as we stood on 
the banks of Eed Lake, with the Ojibway village and the 
course of the unfortunate missionary in view. " There," 
said my dusky informant, pointing to the ice not more 
than half a mile from the houses, " there he first turned 
his back to the wind, and there he knelt to pray," the 
Indian suiting the action to the word, and kneeling in the 
attitude which the track showed the missionary had 
assumed. Now he faced the wind and ran against the 
blinding snow and pitiless storm ; here he turned his 
back again ; there his tracks showed how he slipped and 
fell, and once again where he knelt to pray. The marks 
of his fingers were seen on the crust of snow lying in 
frozen patches on the ice. Once more he fell, rose again, 
knelt for a while, and made a last effort to push against 
the storm. They came at length to where he had fallen for 
the last time, and subsequently knelt with his hands on 
the ice, his head touching the snow. He was found 
with hands clasped in the attitude of prayer, his head 
bent upon his breast. The barking dogs at the Mission 
must have been aware that he was approaching, notwith- 
standing the gloom of evening and the drifting snow, for 
they bayed fiercely in the direction he was coining about 
the time he was supposed to have fallen. The half-breeds 



THE REV. LAURENZ LAUTIGER. 97 

heard the dogs and looked out in expectation of seeing 
the missionary approach, but as the dogs soon ceased to 
bark they thought it was a false alarm, and did not go to 
meet and assist him. 

It was painfully interesting to watch the Indians relate 
the narrative of this short but terrible journey from the 
information they had gathered on the almost trackless ice 
and snow. The imitation of the actions and motions of 
the poor missionary, his attitude of prayer, his drooping 
head touching the cold ice, his backward wanderings, 
were all so faithfully represented, so true to nature, that 
the reality seemed to be occurring before me, rather than 
the solemn mimicry of a savage. 

After the Indian, who was most active in impersonating 
the missionary, had finished his mournful tale, he quietly 
took a lighted pipe from one of his companions standing 
by, and drawing his blanket over his head seated himself 
upon the prostrate trunk of a tree, and without any ex- 
pression of feeling covertly glanced in my face to see the 
effect of his narrative ; and when I asked him through 
the half-breed interpreter where the body was lying, lie 
coldly pointed with one finger to a log-hut close by, with- 
out withdrawing the pipe from his mouth or showing any 
further interest in the matter. 

The name of the missionary was Laurenz Lautiger, 
from Krainburg in Carniola ; he had been placed by the 
half-breeds in a rough coffin made from half-a-dozen pine 
boards, and, as he lay robed in his priestly vestments, calm, 
and without any trace of suffering, it seemed almost im- 
possible to realize that he had just met with death in such 
a terrible form. 

When we arrived at Crow Wing, a few days after this sad 
occurrence, I went to see his brother missionary stationed 

VOL. II. II 



<J8 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

there, and related to him all the known circumstances of 
his death as I had received them from the half-breeds 
and Indians of Eed Lake, and then learned that the Eev. 
Laurenz Lautiger was an Austrian, a man well skilled in 
many languages, pious, devoted and most enthusiastic in 
his endeavours to christianize the Ojibways of Eed Lake. 
He had not been long in the country or he would have 
had the experience necessary to guide him on such a 
night as that in which he met with his untimely fate. At 
the hour of his death we must have been encamped on 
Eed Lake Eiver, about fifty miles from the station, having 
made an early camp in consequence of the piercing cold. 
My thermometer in the woods showed twenty-two degrees 
below zero just before I rolled myself in my buffalo robe 
for the night ; but as we had selected close woods for our 
night's resting-place, it is not improbable that the tempe- 
rature on the exposed ice of Eed Lake was as low as 
thirty below zero. 

Our course from Eed Lake lay through the woods 
bordering Eed Lake Eiver. We traversed three very 
picturesque sheets of frozen water, and then arrived at 
Opashkwa Lake, which lies at the foot of the dividing 
ridge constituting the height of land, the waters on one 
side flowing into Hudson's Bay, on the other into the 
Gulf of Mexico. After passing this natural boundary we 
crossed Turtle Lake, and numerous dilatations of Turtle 
Eiver abounding in wild rice, and camped on the evening 
of the 10th December close to the borders of Cass Lake, 
and near a cluster of Indian wigwams. Shortly after 
midnight our dogs began to, bark furiously, and the 
Indian camp seemed suddenly to receive an unusual in- 
flux of visitors. Cline came to me and whispered, "Monk- 
man's come." At daybreak on the following morning I 
recognized Monkman's dogs fraternizing with Cline's, and 



CASS LAKE. — A DANCE AT LEECH LAKE. 99 

a short stroll to the Indian camp satisfied me that his 
party had all arrived in good condition, and were dis- 
tributed among the different wigwams. I found Lord 
Cavendish and Mr. Ashley in one tent, and Mr. Seymour 
in another, as comfortably " fixed " as it was possible to 
expect or wish for under the circumstances incident to a 
midnight journey from the summit of the Mississippi 
slope, with the thermometer at zero. 

A mission was established at Cass Lake in 1844, and 
the condition of the Indians is reported to have been 
much ameliorated by the exertions of the missionaries. 
The Indian village is situated on both sides of Turtle Eiver, 
and contains several log cabins erected by the natives. 
No spirituous liquor is permitted to be introduced into 
this part of the Indian Reserves in Minnesota. The 
prosperity of the Indians, and their gradual approach to 
civilization, is probably largely due to this prohibition. 

Starting several hours in advance of Monkman, we 
arrived early in the afternoon at the Indian agency and 
village on the south shore of Leech Lake, and were very 
cordially received by the agent. The other travelers 
came up with us before nightfall, and the half-breeds of 
the united parties decided upon having a dance. Fiddles 
were soon procured, a capacious store was cleared of goods 
and packages, and the female population of the agency 
and village, which included some very passable half-breed 
girls and "wives," having promptly assembled, a series of 
lively dances commenced, which were kept up until mid- 
night. In the absence of whisky, that curse of savage 
and half-civilized life, strict propriety of demeanour was 
maintained throughout, although there was no lack of 
merriment, joke, and song. The scene was rendered 
more striking and characteristic of the wild life of these 
remote woods, by the presence of some Indians who were 



100 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

attracted from a neighbouring camp by the unusual sounds 
of music and dancing. 

Monkman started a few minutes before us on the fol- 
lowing morning, and we had the advantage of the road 
he made, which, however, was not much gain, as a good 
track had already been formed between Leech Lake and 
Crow Wing. After a fair day's journey through magni- 
ficent pine forests, both parties camped close together, 
about forty-four miles from our destination. 

Cline began to pluck up his courage, which had re- 
ceived a check when he found Monkman pushing on 
until midnight in order to overtake us at Cass Lake. If 
we had not been compelled to wait for the heavily laden 
sledges we should have made much longer daily journeys, 
and no doubt Monkman would have traveled more 
rapidly. Fifty miles a day with light carioles and good 
dogs, would not have been out of the way. On the night 
of the 12th we slept for the last time in the woods, and 
both travelers and half-breeds looked forward with some 
anxiety to the race on the morrow. Monkman and Cline 
had agreed that both parties should start together in the 
order in which they camped, and our fire was made about 
one hundred yards in advance of Monkman's. 

We rose at three and started at five ; the thermometer 
showed a few degrees below zero, but the air was still, and 
the almost illimitable pine forest completely hushed, not 
the slightest breath disturbing the tall and light tops of 
the trees. We ran on in silence for half an hour, the 
hungry dogs themselves appeared to be sensible that their 
long journey was drawing to a close, for scarcely a note 
of encouragement or reproval was uttered by the half- 
breeds. My cariole led the way, the others of my party 
following close in the rear. Some forty minutes after we 
had started, the dogs being thoroughly warm at their 



THE LAST DAY'S RUN. 101 

work, we heard a yelp far behind us. Cline whispered 
to me, "Monkman's passing them;" and during each 
succeeding five minutes yelp after yelp announced that 
the other trains were being passed, until in little more 
than an hour from our start I heard Monkman's well- 
known voice close behind me. Without speaking a word 
he and the cariole he was driving passed mine. A thrill 
of excitement ran through me when I felt the warm breath 
of his powerful dogs beat upon my face, as the noble 
creatures swiftly trotted past. Neither dogs nor men, nor 
the mutlled-up inmates of the carioles made any sign. One 
after the other Mr. Seymour, Lord Cavendish, and Mr. 
Ashley, flitted noiselessly by. Cline whispered again, 
"They'll make a good road, my dogs will not be far behind." 
It is impossible to describe the feelings which this 
rapid, silent, ghding through those vast pine forests in- 
spired. Morning dawned slowly, but the gloom of the 
forest seemed to grow more intense as I occasionally 
caught glimpses of the brightening sky above. The sun 
rose without a cloud, gilding the tops of tall trees with an 
indescribable lustre, beautifully reflected by the snow 
wherever the golden light penetrated. After a run of 
twenty-six miles Cline came up with Monkman a few 
minutes after he had stopped for dinner. Mr. Dickinson 
followed close behind me, and in another hour both 
parties were together again. The next run was to bring 
us to Crow Wing, between nineteen and twenty miles 
distant. Starting in the order in which we arrived at 
the camping ground, we hurried at a rapid gallop down 
the Mississippi slope ; and here the race began in earnest. 
The road was in excellent condition, the day bright and 
cold, the dogs eager and hungry, and the men and tra- 
velers in good condition and in excellent spirits. After 

ii 3 



102 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

a splendid gallop of twenty miles we entered Crow Wing 
in the following order and close together : — Lord Caven- 
dish first, Mr. Seymour second, Mr. Hind third, Hon. 
Mr. Ashley fourth, Mr. Dickinson fifth, Mr. Fleming sixth, 
the rest nowhere. 



10? 



CHAP. XXVIII. 

INDIAN WEALTH. THE BUFFALO. THE HORSE AND THE 

DOG. 

The Bison or Buffalo. — Its Value.— Two kinds of Buffalo reported to exist by 
Half-breeds.— The Plain Buffalo and the Wood Buffalo.— The Lithuanian 
Bison. — Characters of. — Former range of the Buffalo. — Modern Range 
of.— The Bed River Bands.— The Saskatchewan Bands.— Wintering- 
Quarters of the north-western Bands of Buffalo. — Summer Banges. — 
Systematic Migration of.— Buffalo Hunt.— Census of Bed Eiver Half- 
breed Hunt, — Blind Buffalo.— Crossing of Buffalo with domesticated 
Cattle. — Character of mixed Breeds. — The Horse. — Training of Horses. 
— Docility of. — Illustrations.— Attachment of Indians to their Horses. — 
Hopplings.— Smokes.— The Dog.— Its Uses.— The Midnight Howl.— Dog 
Feasts. — Dogs at the Hudson's Bay Posts. — Voracity of. — Cross with the 
"Wolf. — Sacrifice of Dogs. 

The flesh of the bison or buffalo either in the form of 
" fresh meat," " dried meat," or " pemmican " has been the 
main stay of the fur trade in Rupert's Land for more 
than three quarters of a century. Without the buffalo 
it would have been impossible to have supported the 
large establishments on the Saskatchewan, or to have 
made the long voyages from the Rocky Mountains to 
Hudson's Bay, much less to have carried on that vast 
system of internal communication which employs up- 
wards of two hundred boats averaging four tons each, 
and maimed by more than one thousand two hundred 
voyageurs. 

It is, however, to the wandering and savage tribes of 
the great prairies that the buffalo is all-important. This 
huge and unwieldy animal, together with the horse and the 

n4 



104 ASSINXIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

dog, occupy the same relation to Prairie Indians that do- 
mesticated animals and the productions of the farm and 
the forest bear to civilized races. During the greater part 
the year the Prairie Indians follow the buffalo, and not 
only subsist upon its flesh, but from its skin and sinews 
they make their tents, clothing, saddles, bow-strings and 
dog harness. The hide cut into strips serves them for 
cordage, the sinews split into threads for twine. The 
dried dung is often their only fuel for weeks together on 
the treeless plains between the Assinniboine and the Grand 
Coteau, and on the South Branch of the Saskatchewan. 
Dried meat, pemmican, marrow, soft fat, sinews, dressed 
skins and robes, all from the buffalo, form their articles 
of commerce, in exchange for which they demand tea, 
which is now becoming a most coveted luxury, tobacco, 
powder and shot, and if possible, rum. It may truly be 
said that they exist on the buffalo, and their knowledge 
of the habits of this animal is consequently essential to 
their preservation. 

The existence of two kinds of buffalo is firmly believed 
by many hunters at Eed Eiver ; they are stated to be 
the prairie buffalo and the buffalo of the woods. Many 
old hunters with whom I have conversed on this subject, 
aver that the so-called wood buffalo is a distinct species, 
and although they are not able to offer scientific proofs, 
yet the difference in size, colour, hair, and horns, are 
enumerated as the evidence upon which they base their 
statement. Men from their youth familiar with these 
animals in the Great Plains, and the varieties which are 
frequently met with in large herds still cling to this 
opinion. The buffalo of the plains are not always of the 
dark and rich bright brown which forms their character- 
istic colour. They are sometimes seen from white to 
almost black, and a grey buffalo is not at all uncommon. 



SIOUX DRESS AND MOCASSINS. 



105 



Buffalo emasculated by wolves, are often found in the 
prairies, where they grow to an immense size ; the skin 




Sioux Dress and Mocassins.. 



of the buffalo ox is recognized by the shortness of the wool 
and by its large dimensions. The skin of the so-called 



ICG ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

wood buffalo, is much larger than that of the common 
animal, the hair is very short, mane or hair about the 
neck, short and soft, and altogether destitute of curl, 
which is the common feature in the hair or wool of the 
prairie animal. Two skins of the so-called wood buffalo, 
which I saw at Selkirk Settlement, bore a very close re- 
semblance to the skin of the Lithuanian bison, judging 
from the specimens of that species which I have since had 
an opportunity of seeing in the British Museum. 

The wood buffalo is stated to be very scarce, and only 
found north of the Saskatchewan, and on the flanks of the 
Eocky Mountains. It never ventures into the open plains ; 
the prairie buffalo, on the contrary, generally avoids 
the woods in summer and keeps to the open country ; 
but in winter they are frequently found in the woods of 
the Little Souris, the Saskatchewan, the Touchwood Hills, 
and the aspen groves on the Qu'appelle. There is no 
doubt that formerly the prairie buffalo ranged through 
open woods almost as much as he now does through the 
prairies. 

Great Slave Lake is the northern limit of the buffalo, 
and the country between that large body of water and 
the Saskatchewan is partially wooded. The buffalo are 
now found in considerable numbers on the east flank of 
the Eocky Mountains. The former limits of the wan- 
derings of these animals are carefully recorded in the 
narrative of Major Long's Expedition to the sources of 
the St. Peter's Eiver. It appears that the buffalo was 
formerly found throughout the whole territory of the 
United States, with the exception of that part which lies 
east of Hudson's Eiver and Lake Champlain, and of narrow 
strips of coast on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. 
These were swampy, and had probably low thick woods. 
That it did not exist on the Atlantic coast is rendered 



THE RANGES OF THE BUFFALO. 107 

probable from the circumstance that all the early writers 
whom Mr. Colhomi the astronomer to Major Long's Ex- 
pedition consulted on the subject, do not mention the 
buffalo as existing there, but further back. There can be 
no doubt that the animal approached the Gulf of Mexico, 
near the Bay of St. Bernard, for Alvar Nunez, about the 
year 1535, saw them not far from the coast; and Jontel, 
one hundred and fifty years afterwards, saw them at the 
Bay of St. Bernard. It is probable that this bay is the 
lowest point of latitude at which this animal has been 
found east of the Rocky Mountains. 

Its existence on the west side of the Rocky Mountains 
is well ascertained, although it was not seen by the early 
explorers of that region. 

At present it is scarcely seen east of the Mississippi, 
and south of the St. Lawrence. Governor Cass's party 
found, in 1819, buffaloes on the east side of the Missis- 
sippi, above the falls of St. Anthony. Every year this 
animal's rovings are restricted. In 1822, the limit of its 
wanderings down the St. Peter was Great Swan Lake.* 

The ranges of the buffalo in the north-western prairies 
are still maintained with great exactness, and old hunters, 
if the plains have not been burnt, can generally tell the 
direction in which herds will be found at certain seasons 
of the year. If the plains have been extensively burnt 
in the autumn, the search for the main herds during the 
following spring must depend on the course the fires have 
taken. 

Red River hunters recognize two grand divisions of 
buffalo, those of the Grand Coteau and Red River, and 
those of the Saskatchewan. Other ranges of immense 
herds exist beyond the Missouri towards the south, as far 

* Major Long's Expedition to the Sources of the St. Peter's River. 



108 ASSIXNIBOIXU AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

as Texas and Mexico. The north-western buffalo ranees 
are as follow. The bands belonging to the Red River Range 
winter on the Little Souris, and south-easterly towards 
and beyond Devil's Lake, and thence on to Red River 
and the Shayenne. Here too, they are found in the 
spring. Their course then lies west towards the Grand 
Coteau de Missouri, until the month of June, when they 
turn north, and revisit the Little Souris from the west, 
winding round the west flank of Turtle Mountain to Devil's 
Lake, and by the main river (Red River), to the Shay- 
enne again. In the memory of many Red River hunters, 
the buffalo were accustomed to visit the prairies of the 
Assinniboine as far north as Lake Manitobah, where in 
faet their skulls and bones are now to be seen ; their 
skulls are also seen on the east side of the Red River of 
the north, in Minnesota, but the living animal is very 
rarely to be met with. A few years ago they were 
accustomed to pass on the east side of Turtle Mountain 
through the Blue Hills of the Souris, but of late years 
their wanderings in this direction have ceased ; experi- 
ence teaching them that their enemies, the half-breeds, 
have approached too near their haunts in that direction. 

The country about the west side of Turtle Mountain 
in June 1858 was scored with their tracks at one of the 
crossing places on the Little Souris, as if deep parallel 
ruts had been artificially cut down the hill-sides. These 
ruts, often one foot deep and sixteen inches broad, would 
converge from the prairie for many miles to a favourite 
crossing or chinking place ; and they are often seen in 
regions in which the buffalo is no longer a visitor. 

The great western herds winter between the south and 
the north branches of the Saskatchewan, south of the 
Touchwood Hills, and beyond the north Saskatchewan 
in the valley of the Athabaska ; they cross the South Branch 



EED EIVER AND SASKATCHEWAN BAXDS OF BUFFALO. 109 

in June and July, visit the prairies on the south side of the 
Touchwood Hill range, and cross the Qu'appelle valley 
anywhere between the Elbow of the South Branch and 
a few miles west of Fort Ellice on the Assinniboine. They 
then strike for the Grand Coteau de Missouri, and their 
eastern flank often approaches the Eed Eiver herds coming 
north from the Grand Coteau. They then proceed across 
the Missouri up the Yellow Stone, and return to the Sas- 
katchewan and Athabaska as winter approaches, by the 
flanks of the Eocky Mountains. We saw many small herds, 
belonging to the western bands, cross the Qu'appelle valley, 
and proceed in single file towards the Grand Coteau in 
July 1858. The eastern bands, which we had expected 
to find on the Little Souris, were on the main river (Eed 
Eiver is so termed by the half-breeds hunting in this 
quarter). They had proceeded early thither, far to the 
south of their usual track, in consequence of the de- 
vastating fires which swept the plains from the Eocky 
Mountains to Eed Eiver in the autumn of 1857. We 
met bulls all moving south, when approaching Fort 
Ellice ; they had come from their winter quarters near 
the Touchwood Hill range. As a general rule the Sas- 
katchewan bands of buffalo go north during the autumn, 
and south during the summer. The Little Souris and 
main river bands, go north-west in summer and south-east 
in autumn. It is almost needless to remark again that 
fires interfere with this systematic migration, but there 
are no other impediments which will divert the buffalo 
from their course. The half-breeds state that no slaughter 
by large parties of hunters or Indians can turn large herds 
from the general direction they have taken when on the 
march ; want of food is alone able to make them deviate 
from the course they have taken. The approach of nu- 
merous herds can be recognised by a low rumbling sound 



110 ASSIXXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

they occasion, if the weather be calm, fully twenty miles 
before they arrive, this warning is best perceived by ap- 
plying the ear to a badger hole. During the rutting 
season they can be heard bellowing for a great distance 
on a still night. When we arrived at the Sandy Hills on 
the South Branch, the Crees, on being asked if the buffalo 
were numerous near at hand, answered, " listen to-night 
and you will hear them." 

The summer and fall buffalo hunts are the grand 
events of the year to the Eed River settlers, in fact the 
chief dependence for a livelihood of the greater part of 
the population. The start is usually made from the 
settlements about the 15th of June for the summer hunt, 
the hunters remaining in the prairie until the 20th August 
or 1st of September. One division (the White Horse 
Plain) goes by the Assinniboine River to the "rapids cross- 
ing place," and then proceed in a south-westerly direction. 
The other, or Red River division, pass on to Pembina, and 
then take a southerly direction. The two divisions some- 
times meet, but not intentionally. Mr. Flett in 1849 
took a census of the White Horse Plain division near the 
Chiefs' Mountain, not far from the Shayenne River, Daco- 
tah Territory, and enumerated 603 carts, 700 half-breeds, 
200 Indians, GOO horses, 200 oxen, 400 dogs and one cat. 

Mr. Ross * gives the following census of the number of 
carts assembled in camp for the buffalo hunt at five dif- 
ferent periods : — 

In 1820. Number of carts assembled for the first trip 540 

In 1825 „ „ „ 080 

In 1830 „ „ „ 820 

In 1835 „ „ „ 070 

In 1840 „ „. „ 1210 



The lied River Settlement, its rise, progress, and present state. London. 



185G. 



THE BUFFALO HUNTERS IN THE FIELD. Ill 

After the start from the settlement has been well made, 
and all stragglers or tardy hunters have arrived, a great 
council is held, and a president elected. A number of 
captains are nominated by the president and people 
jointly. The captains then proceed to appoint them own 
policemen, the number assigned to each not exceeding- 
ten. Their duty is to see that the laws of the hunt are 
strictly carried out. In 1849, if a man ran a buffalo 
without permission before the general hunt began, his 
saddle and bridle were cut to pieces, for the first offence ; 
for the second offence of the same description his clothes 
were cut off his back. At the present day these punish- 
ments are changed to a fine of twenty shillings for the 
first offence. No gun is permitted to be fired when in 
the buffalo country before the " race " begins. A priest 
sometimes goes with the hunt, and mass is then celebrated 
in the open prairies. At night the carts are placed in 
the form of a circle with the horses and cattle inside the 
ring, and it is the duty of the captains and their police- 
men to see that this is rightly done. All laws are pro- 
claimed in camp, and relate to the hunt alone. All camp- 
ing orders are given by signal, a flag being carried by 
the guides, who are appointed by election. Each guide 
has his turn of one day, and no man can pass a guide on 
duty without subjecting himself to a fine of five shillings. 
No hunter can leave the camp to return home without 
permission, and no one is permitted to stir until any ani- 
mal or property of value, supposed to be lost, is recovered. 
The policemen, at the order of the captains, can seize any 
cart at night-fall and place it where they choose for the 
public safety, but on the following morning they are com- 
pelled to bring it back to the spot from which they 
moved it the evening previous. This power is very ne- 
cessary in order that the horses may not be stampeded 



11-2 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

by night attacks of the Sioux or other Indian tribes at 
war with the half-breeds. A heavy fine is imposed in 
case of neglect in extinguishing fires when the camp is 
broken up in the morning. In sight of buffalo, all the 
hunters are drawn up in line, the president, captains, and 
police being a few yards in advance, restraining the im- 
patient hunters. Not yet, not yet, is the subdued 
whisper of the president ; the approach to the herd is 
cautiously made. Now ! the president exclaims, and as 
the word leaves his lips the charge is made, and in a few 
minutes the excited half-breeds are among the bewildered 
buffalo. 

Blind buffalo are frequently found accompanying herds, 
and sometimes they are met with alone. Their eyes have 
been destroyed by prairie fires ; but their quickened sense 
of hearing and smell, and their increased alertness enable 
them to guard against danger, and makes it more difficult 
to approach them in quiet weather than those possessing 
sight. The hunters think that blind buffalo frequently 
give the alarm when they are stealthily approaching a 
herd in an undulating country. When galloping over 
stony ground blind buffalo frequently fall, but when quietly 
feeding they avoid the stones and boulders with wonder- 
ful skill. The domestication of the buffalo is a subject of 
much interest to the future population of Eed Eiver, and 
the following information on that subject may be im- 
plicitly relied on. 

Humboldt* says that Albert Gallatin, who, before he 
appeared in Europe as a distinguished diplomatist, had 
obtained by personal inspection great knowledge of the 
uncultivated part of the United States, assures us that 
" the mixed breed was quite common fifty years ago in 
some of the north-western counties of Virginia ; and the 

* Aspects of Nature. 



THE DOMESTICATED BUFFALO. 113 

cows, the issue of that mixture, propagated like all others." 
"The favourite food of the buffalo is Tripsacum dacty- 
loides (buffalo grass) and an uudescribed species of clover 
nearly allied to Trifolium repens, and designated by 
Barton as Trifolium bisonicum. According to the state- 
ment of Gomara, there was still living in the north-west 
of Mexico, in latitude 40°, an Indian tribe whose prin- 
cipal riches consisted in herds of tame bisons or buffalo. 
But notwithstanding the possibility of taming the bison, 
notwithstanding the quantity of milk it yields, and not- 
withstanding the herds of lamas in the Cordilleras of 
Peru, no pastoral life or pastoral people were found when 
America was discovered, and there is no historical evi- 
dence of this intermediate stage in the life of nations 
ever having existed there." 

In a description of domesticated herds of buffalo, and 
the results of crossing with the common cow, from the 
Patent Office Reports, it is stated that the mixed breeds 
are of various colours ; striped with black on a grey 
ground, like the zebra ; some others brindled red ; some 
pure red, with white faces : and others red, without any 
markings of white. The mixed bloods have not only 
produced from the tame and buffalo bull, but it is known 
that the half-bloods reproduce, viz. those that were the 
product of the common cow and wild buffalo bull. At 
the first settlement of the country, cows that were con- 
sidered the best for milking were the half-blood down to 
the quarter, and even eighth, of the buffalo blood. But 
the writer's experiments have not satisfied him that the 
half buffalo bull will produce again. That the half-breed 
heifer will be productive from either race, he has tested 
beyond the possibility of doubt. 

" The domesticated buffalo retains the same haughty 
bearing that distinguishes him in his natural state. lie 

VOL. II. i 



114 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

will, however, feed or fatten on whatever suits the tame 
cow, and requires about the same amount of food. I 
have never milked either the full-blood or mixed breed, 
but have no doubt they might be made good milkers, 
although their bags or udders are less than those of the 
common cow ; yet, from the strength of the calf, the 
dam must yield as much, or even more milk, than the 
common cow."* 

Next to the buffalo the horse is the mainstay of the 
prairie Indians. Good horses are not very common 
among the Crees ; they are, however, very intelligent and 
well trained. A good buffalo runner is invaluable to 
them, for although it does not require a fast horse to 
catch a bull, the cows, possessing greater speed, often out- 
strip them. A good Indian horse possesses some excellent 
characteristics, the result of training, which it may be 
interesting to enumerate, for the purpose of exhibiting 
how admirably this animal serves his rude and savage 
masters. When galloping after a buffalo, an Indian horse 
watches the animal as intently as his rider, always 
swerving when he observes the buffalo's tail begin to 
vibrate, and breaking into short gallop at his utmost 
speed when he sees the tail erect, a sure indication of an 
immediate charge. The rider may with safety entrust 
himself to his horse if mounted on a trained buffalo run- 
ner ; he will be carried within three yards of the flanks 
of the animal, and safely withdrawn when danger is 
threatened. If the horse stumbles and throws his rider, 
the sagacious animal stops instantly and waits for him to 
mount again. A happy instance happened to myself 
when riding a fiery grey mare an Ojibway Indian 
lent me to gallop from his tent to Manitobah House, 
a distance of ten miles. " She is my favourite buffalo 

* U. S. Patent Office Report. 



SAGACITY AND INTELLIGENCE OF INDIAN IIOESES. 115 

runner, said the Indian, and will not need the thong." 
She ran away with me, however, as soon as we reached 
a grassy opening about a niile across, and in the midst of 
her gallop the belly band broke, and the little Indian 
saddle slipping round, I was thrown at once on the soft 
turf. The mare stopped immediately, turned round and 
stood by my side, waiting until I had risen and adjusted 
the saddle. As soon as I mounted she started off again, 
as if my sudden and unexpected descent had been inten- 
tional. At another time, when driving a small cariole 
over the frozen waters of Red River, the horse, an Indian 
one, not being roughshod, slipped and fell, but without 
an effort to rise remained perfectly quiet until I had 
loosened the harness, when he scrambled up, gained a 
rough portion of ice, and quietly waited to be harnessed 
afresh. 

Indian horses are excellent watchers by night; our 
half-breeds were accustomed to note with care the aspect 
of the horses before retiring to rest ; if they showed the 
least signs of uneasiness, such as staring about them in- 
stead of feeding quietly, or, when feeding with the " bite " 
in their mouth, stopping to listen, or snuffing the air, or 
approaching the fires when the flies where not trouble- 
some, they would look for the cause and sometimes set 
watchers. When during the night, however dark, the 
horses suddenly approached the carts, the half-breeds 
would go to them, caress them, and watch the direction 
in which they fed or looked, knowing that their heads 
would be turned towards the danger, whether of Indians, 
or bears, or wolves. 

One more instance will suffice to show the docility and 
training of Indian horses. I was riding a small horse 
which w^e had procured from the Crees on the Qu'appelle, 
in company with a Blackfoot half-breed, some distance 

i 2 



11G ASSIXXIBOIXE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

before the carts, in the valley of Long Creek.* As we 
ascended a low hill we saw a bear 250 yards before ns. 
My companion could speak but few words of English, so 
with signs he motioned me to dismount, and, having 
satisfied himself that the horses saw the bear, he led them 
a few yards aside behind a clump of willows, and tying 
their bridles together he patted them on the neck and 
pointed to the bear, caressed them again, and afterwards 
motioned me to follow him. The horses, with pricked 
ears, followed with their eyes every movement of the 
bear now slowly moving from us, but occasionally stopping 
to crop the twigs of willow. We crawled to leeward, 
and got within seventy yards of the bear, he then per- 
ceived us, I fired and sent a ball through his lungs. We 
waited to see if he would rise again, but finding that he 
lay struggling on his back, we approached and despatched 
him. On looking round for the horses they were seen 
standing in the same place intently watching us. My 
companion called them, they came slowly up and stopped 
within forty yards, eyeing the bear all the time. Finding 
that we approached it and handled it, they began to feed, 
evidently being satisfied that it was harmless. 

Prairie Indians become very much attached to their 
horses, if they succeed in getting possession of a valuable 
animal. They often keep him in a tent when in the 
neighbourhood of an enemy's country or among noted 
thieves of their own tribe. Dming the daytime, wdien 
the camp is well supplied with meat and the buffalo are 
near, they tether him in the prairie, and indolently 
stretching themselves at full length on the grass, patiently 
watch him feed, removing the stake to a fresh spot as 
soon as he has cropped the best portion of the area 
limited by his tether. At night, when it was not thought 
necessary to tether our horses, we always hoppled them. 

Lung Creek flows into the Main Saskatchewan, near Fort a la Corne. 



IIOFFLED HORSES. INDIAX DOGS. 117 

that is tied their fore-feet together with dressed buffalo 
hide. Iron hopplings are in great request among half- 
breeds on their hunting expeditions. They can then 
more safely allow their horses to feed some distance from 
the camp, but instances have been known of Indians who 
have succeeded in approaching and catching a horse 
furnished with iron hopplings, in revenge for their disap- 
pointment at not being able to gallop away with their 
prize, sending an arrow through the animal or otherwise 
seriously injuring him. During the fly season, smokes 
are made every night for the horses, and if this precaution 
is neglected they will remind their masters of their want 
of care by surrounding the camp lire and standing with 
their heads in the smoke. It is this habit of crowding 
round the smoke of a fire to avoid the torment of iiies 
which makes Indian horses so difficult to drive from a 
prairie on fire. Many are burned every year on account 
of their being unable to comprehend the danger which 
threatens them. The buffalo are more wary, the smell of 
fire is often sufficient to drive them from pastures where 
they have been quietly feeding. 

Next to the horse, the dog is the Prairie Indian's most 
valuable friend. The dog is the great stand-by of the 
squaws, who have to attend to all the duties of the camp, 
the men employing themselves solely in hunting and fight- 
ing. The dogs drag on poles the camp furniture, the. 
provisions, the little children, and all the valuables of the 
family. It is a very amusing sight to witness several 
hundred dogs solemnly engaged in moving a large camp. 
They look wistfully at passers-by, and take advantage of 
the least want of attention on the part of their mistresses 
to lie down, or snarl and snap at their companions in the 
work. They nevertheless obey the word of command 
with alacrity and willingness if not fatigued. 

i 3 



118 ASSINNIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

The midnight howl of three or four hundred dogs is 
an awful and appalling sound. It rises suddenly from a 
low prolonged whine to a deep melancholy howl, caught 
up again and again to the distraction of tired travelers 
anxious to take rest in sleep. When any great event 
takes place, a dog feast is proclaimed, and it is sufficiently 
disgusting to see the men handle and feel the unfortunate 
animals as if they were sheep, with a view to select the 
fattest, so powerful are early habits and associations in 
directing our feelings and tastes. Although some of the 
Indian dogs we saw among the Crees of the Sandy Hills 
are large and ferocious looking animals, we never found 
them vicious or inclined to attack us ; they were always 
deterred from approaching by the sight of a stick or a 
feint at picking up a stone. 

Although I made many inquiries, the Indians could 
give no information respecting the occurrence of hydro- 
phobia among their dogs, and the same observation, as 
far as I could discover, applies to the dogs so numerous 
at Eed River, and at the different Posts of the Hudson's 
Bay Company. Large numbers of dogs are kept at the 
Company's Posts to haul sledges during winter ; in summer 
time they are fed on fish at fishing stations ; in the 
prairie they feed upon the offal of buffalo. Dogs will go 
for a week without food, and yet get into condition for 
traveling, if well fed, in a fortnight or eighteen days. 
At Manitobah House I saw them devour large pike alive, 
which were thrown to them as they were taken from the 
nets. Indian dogs are terrible thieves, especially those 
originating from a cross with the wolf. It was necessary 
to place out of reach or under cover, every article bearing 
the least resemblance to leather when we were among 
the Crees. A careless half-breed would wake in the 
morning and find his harness eaten, or his whip devoured ; 
and it sometimes happened that the long tether of buffalo 



DOG FEASTS AXD SACRIFICES. 



119 



bide would be found partly consumed by dogs if their 
appetite had not been lately appeased. The wolves have 
this trick also when food is scarce, especially when the 
tether is allowed to trail loosely from the horse's neck 
without being attached to a stake, thus leaving him 
at liberty to wander some distance from the camp during 
the night. The intelligence of dogs when traveling 




Sioux Knife Sheath. 

during the winter is astonishing, several curious instances 
occurred during our homeward journey, which will be 
found in the narrative of the winter journey to Crow 
Wing. 

With Crees, Ojibways, Swampys, and Sioux, the dog is 
supposed to be the most acceptable sacrifice to offended 
deities, five dogs being the common number for a propi- 
tiatory offering. 

i 4 



120 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



CHAP. XXIX. 

INDIAN CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 

Indian Antiquities. — Result of the Fur Trade. — Ojibways Invaders of the 
Prairies. — Scalp Dance. — Wood Indians. — Occupations of Indians. — Indian 
Cruelty. — Mis-tick-oos, Chief of the Crees of the Sandy Hills. — The Fox. 
— Treatment of Prisoners. — Medicine Ceremonies. ■ — Happy Hunting 
Grounds. — Indian " Medicine " Men and " Medicines." — Influence of Con- 
jurors. — Manitou Dwellings. — Manitohah Island. — The Rev. Mr. Cowley. 
— Sacrifices. — Character of Indians. — Mis-tick-oos' best Wife. — Mis-tick- 
oos' Son's Wife. — Decorating the Skin. — Indian Pipes. — Ta-wa-pit's Pipe. 
— Pipes peculiar to Tribes.— Salutations among Indians. — Indians in the 
Prairie. — Impounding the Buffalo. — In Sickness. — Idea of Lightning. 

Indian antiquities are rarely found in the valley of the 
Saskatchewan south of the North Branch. The customs 
of wandering tribes inhabiting a prairie country are 
generally opposed to the rude arts which exist among 
barbarous races preserving a fixed abode. Not even at 
the fishing stations on the lakes and rivers, where different 
tribes have congregated at certain seasons of the year, 
probably for centuries, do we find any lasting memorials 
of individual handicraft or combined labour. 

Antiquities to be ascribed to different races than those 
which now occupy the country exist here and there. Such 
are the underground houses on Eainy Eiver, the Mandan 
houses with their intrenchments on the Little Souris ; but 
with these exceptions no other ancient monuments were 
seen during the explorations. 



INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. INDIAN INTERMARRIAGES. 121 

The rings of stones marking the site of Cree encamp- 
ments on the Qn'appelle are of comparatively modern 
date, and belong doubtless to the ancestors of the present 
races now in possession of the country. 

Eude pottery and arrow heads have been found at Eed 
Eiver settlements, about two feet below the surface of 
the soil. The fragments resemble those common in many 
parts of Canada, and from their numbers lead to the in- 
ference that at a remote period the banks of this stream 




Indian Hunters' Tents in the rear of Fort Garry. 

were peopled by races familiar with the art of making 
vessels from clay. 

One result of the active pursuit of the fur trade for 
upwards of a century in the valley of the Saskatchewan, is 
seen in the blending of the different tribes by intermarriage 
The Crees of the Plains and the Ojibways and Swampys 
of the Woods, although speaking different languages, are 
often found hunting the buffalo in company, and not un- 
frequently form family connections. The Ojibways of 
Lake Winnipeg may now be discovered, summer and 
winter, near the Grand Forks of the Saskatchewan, 



122 ASSINXIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

having emigrated 400 miles west of Bed Biver, where 
they have permanently established themselves. All the 
Ojibways now found west of the Lake of the Woods, 
and the east coast of Lake Winnipeg are invaders 
of the country. The real home of the Ojibway is the 
region about the south, west, and north of Lake Superior ; 
the habits of life of the emigrants or invaders have been 
adapted to the character of the country they now occupy, 
and being no longer dependent upon the forest for food and 
clothing, many of them, on the banks of the Assinniboine, 
Eed Biver, Lake Manitobah, and Dauphin Lake, possess 
horses, and join the half-breeds in their annual spring and 
fall hunts. Notwithstanding this intercourse and blending 
of different nations, most of the superstitions and customs 
peculiar to each are still maintained and practised. 

Nearly one hundred years ago (1770), Mr. Hutchins, 
of the Hudson's Bay Company's service, framed an 
enumeration of the tribes between Lake Winnipeg, and 
within one hundred miles of James's Bay, speaking the 
Ojibway tongue. The tribes enumerated have evidently 
derived their names in conformity with long established 
usage, from their hunting and fishing stations. 

It is often asked whether the thrilling descriptions of 
savage life in Cooper's delightful romances are imaginary 
or real ; and if real, whether they exist now among the 
tribes which have long been familiar with civilized man, 
such as the Blain Crees, the Sioux, the Swampys, and the 
Ojibways. It is enough to visit the secluded Ojibway 
graves on the banks of Bed Biver, and contemplate Sioux 
scalps decorated with beads, bits of cloth, coloured rib- 
bons, and strips of leather, suspended at the extremity of 
a long slender stick near the head of the grave, to feel 
satislied that one barbarous custom still prevails. But to 
be an eyewitness of a scalp dance, or a skull dance, is 



SCALP DANCE. SIOUX SCALP. 123 

more than sufficient to press home the conviction that the 
fiendish passions so faithfully described by Cooper, still 
find expression in violent gesture, loud vociferation, 
triumphant song and barbarous feasting, with undiminished 
strength and bitterness, even after a century's intercourse 
with civilized man. 

Some of the incidents narrated in the following pages 
will show how far old superstitions and customs prevail 
among the Indians occupying the country between lied 
River and the South Branch of the Saskatchewan. 

Early in the spring of 1858 the warlike bands of 
Ojibways called the Lac la Pluie Indians, were thrown 
into a state of savage excitement by the arrival of mes- 
sengers from their friends on Red River, with tidings that 
two Sioux had been killed and scalped in the Plains. In 
testimony of this triumph, they brought with them two 
fingers severed from the hands of the unfortunate Sioux. 
The announcement of the intelligence that the scalps 
would be sent, after their Red River brethren had cele- 
brated war dances over them, was received with wild 
clamour and shouting. After the scalps had been carried 
from hand to hand and the victory that won them 
triumphed over with dancing, singing, and feasting, they 
would be returned to the warriors who took them, and 
finally suspended over the graves of relatives or friends 
mourning the loss of any of their kindred by the hands 
of the Sioux. 

The Crees, Ojibways, and Swampys, belonging to the 
great body of Wood Indians, assemble in the spring of 
the year to celebrate their medicine feasts and other cere- 
monies which are generally determined by the arrival of 
migratory birds, or the time when the sturgeon begin t<» 
ascend the rivers. The day on which the annual goose 
dance takes place is regularly entered in the journals of 



124 



ASSINXIBOINE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



Fort a la Corne and other Posts of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. In the woods on the main Saskatchewan behind 
Fort a la Corne, as well as in several places on the banks 
of the Little Saskatchewan, Winnipego-sis, and Dauphin 
Lakes, we found the carved and painted posts which are 
made to play an important part in these observances. 
(Vol. I. p. 402.) 

During the summer they separate into families or small 




Sioiix Scalp from the Graves at Red River. 



bands, and hunt, fish, or go to the Plains in search of 
buffalo. At the approach of winter, they " take debt " 
or otherwise obtain supplies at the different Posts of the 
Company, and retire to their winter quarters to trap the 
fur-bearing animals. The Plain or Prairie Indians follow 
the buffalo, and vary the monotony of their existence by 
forming. war parties against their enemies, such as the 



CRUELTY OF THE BLACKFEET. 125 

Plain Crees against the Sioux and the Blackfeet, the Ojib- 
ways against the Sioux, and Assinniboines. 

In August 1858, when camped near the Elbow of the 
South Branch of the Saskatchewan, we found the Plain 
Crees hastening from the west to the east bank of the river, 
with a strong war party of Blackfeet in pursuit. Scouts 
were posted on some of the outlying sand hills on the 
Qu'appelle west of Sand Hill Lake, where a large party of 
Crees, under the direction of their chief, Mis-tick-oos*, 
were impounding buffalo. Both by day and night a 
strict watch was kept in order to guard against a surprise. 
Mis-tick-oos pointed out some of his band who had 
penetrated through the Blackfeet country to the Eocky 
Mountains two years ago, and returned with several 
scalps, grizzly bear-claw necklaces, pipes, and other 
trophies of success. He also related with much feeling 
how twenty-five young warriors had gone on a similar 
excursion during the summer of 1850, but none had yet 
returned. 

About a month before we arrived at the Sandy Hills 
on the Qu'appelle, a large body of the Plain Crees met a 
portion of the Blackfeet tribe at the Eagle Hills, on the 
North Branch of the Saskatchewan, to arrange terms of 
peace. All matters went on smoothly, and the represen- 
tatives of the two nations separated as friends. Some of 
the Crees, however, incapable of resisting the opportunity, 
stole some horses from the Blackfeet. They were pur- 
sued, and three of them taken. One was killed instantly, 
the others were led back in triumph to the camp of the 
Blackfeet ; they were stripped, their hands were tied 
behind their backs, a hole was bored through both wrists 
and a stick passed through them and so tightly fastened 

* Shortetick, or "the little tree." 



126 ASSIXX1B0IXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

that it could not be removed without assistance ; the 
captives were then separated and dismissed singly to find 
their way to their friends. One only reached his tribe, 
and was lying in a tent not far from the spot where we 
were encamped. 

Mis-tick-oos, when relating these adventures, raised 
the pipe he held in his hand and exclaimed, " This is 
what my Blackfoot friend gave me one day, the next he 
killed my young men ; he is now my enemy again." 
I expressed a wish to purchase the pipe ; the chief's 
reply was " Take it," handing it to me with a gloomy 
frown, and silently extending his hand for the Wapekan- 
cuspwagan, or clay pipe, which I was smoking at the 
time. 

The great chief of the Plain Crees is styled " the Fox ;" 
he is held in high estimation by all the Plain Indians with 
whom he comes in contact, either in peace or war. He 
is dreaded by the Sioux, the Blackfeet, the Bloodies, the 
Fall Indians, the Assinniboines, and the tribes who oc- 
casionally hunt on the Grand Coteau de Missouri and 
the South Branch of the Sackatchewan. 

The barbarous and cruel treatment of prisoners so 
often described in narratives of Indian warfare, is common 
even now in the prairies south of the Qu'appelle and the 
Assinniboine. On that part of Eed Eiver which lies 
in the State of Minnesota, Indian warfare, with all its 
horrors, is constantly carried on between the Ojibways 
and Sioux. 

Not a year passes without the loss of several Eed 
Eiver half-breeds by the scalping knife of the Sioux ; 
and, as was the case in the autumn of 1858, quite close 
to the settlement of St. Joseph, near the boundary 
line, about thirty miles west of Eed Eiver. When a 
prisoner is taken, the Sioux sometimes adopt a terrible 




[N- w su-eet Square, London 
THE FOX;"— CHIEF 01 THE PLAIN CREES. 



ill 

J; 



CONJURING OR "MEDICINE" CEREMONIES. 127 

mode of death during the summer season. They have 
been known to strip a half-breed, tie him to a stake on 
the borders of a marsh in the prairie, and leave him ex- 
posed to the attacks of millions of mosquitoes, without 
being able to move any part of his body. When the 
agony of fever and the torment of thirst come upon him, 
they leave him to die a dreadful, lingering death with 
water at his feet, and buzzards hovering and circling 
around him in greedy expectation. 

By way of illustrating the character of the medicine or 
conjuring ceremonies which may be witnessed during all 
seasons of the year when several families are encamped 
together, I shall describe a scene of which I was an eye- 
witness near the Hudson's Bay Company's Post at the 
Touchwood Hills. The conversation was carried on in 
Cree, but, I believe, faithfully interpreted to me by the 
officer then in charge of the Post, who was present during 
the incantations. The interpretation was pronounced 
exact by one of the Cree half-breeds attached to my 
party. 

At the time of my arrival at this Post, a conjuror of 
some celebrity was endeavouring to cure a sickly woman 
by the exercise of his cunning. The unfortunate invalid 
was lying in a buffalo skin tent, while the conjuror, painted 
and decorated, and wearing his medicine bag, employed 
himself in beating a drum within a few feet of her, and 
singing at intervals the following words, first uttered 
slowly, with a pause between each word, then as in or- 
dinary conversation, lastly, with energy and rapidity: — 

"Great — is — the — man — who — walks — 
In — the — middle — of — the — earth, — 
He — is — the — only — true — Lord." 

The word ''Lord" is not employed in the sense of 
Bupreme master, but is rather intended to convey an idea 



128 



ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



of independence and individual power, and is better ex- 
pressed in English, as the half-breeds informed me, by the 
word " gentleman." 

The conjuror occasionally came out of the tent, and 
whenever the supposed Manitou or Fairy who was the 
alleged cause of the woman's illness approached, a little 
bell suspended from the poles supporting the tent tinkled, 
and gave the alarm ; the conjuror immediately seized his 




Crce Medicine Ban,. 



drum, commenced his song, and by his incantations, 
succeeded in pacifying the Manitou. These proceedings 
continued for two nights ; at the close of the second 
night, after a prolonged ringing of the little bell, violent 
shaking of the tent-poles, loud beating of the drum, and 
chanting of the words before quoted, the conjuror an- 
nounced that he had discovered the reasons of the Mani- 
tou's anger, and the means to appease it. 



CUEING A SICK WOMAN". 129 

You had a dream, said the conjuror, and when you 
rose in the morning you promised to make an offering to 
the Manitou ; you have forgotten your pledge, and you 
are suffering in consequence of your neglect. 

The woman demanded what she had dreamt, and what 
she promised, avowing her ignorance of both dream and 
promise. The conjuror told her that when the buffalo 
were around her tent last Avinter and no fear of starvation 
before her eyes, she had dreamed that the buffalo would 
always surround her, that famine and sorrow were always 
to be strangers to her, and, in gratitude, had vowed to 
make a sacrifice of her best robe. The woman, wearied 
no doubt with the conjuror's unceasing drum and song, 
probably, too, believing that a false confession was the 
lesser evil, as it might bring the promised relief, acknow- 
ledged that the conjuror was in the right. The penalty 
she was told to pay consisted of the sacrifice of " throwing 
away " two robes, or double the amount of the promise 
she had made ; after which her health was to be restored. 

Scenes similar to the one just described may be wit- 
nessed whenever several families are camping together ; 
but the sacrifices required to be made depend upon the 
ability of the deluded creatures to satisfy the demands of 
the conjuror. 

" The happy hunting-grounds," the heaven of In- 
dians, so often spoken of by writers of fiction, are an 
actual reality in the imagination of Crees and Ojibways, 
as well as of other north-western tribes. A Plain Cree 
on the Qu'appelle gravely informed one of my men, that 
he had once been dead and visited the spirit world. His 
narrative was to the following effect : — "I was sick and 
fell asleep. I awoke on the bank of a deep river, whose 
waters were flowing swiftly and black from a great mist 
on the south to a great mist on the north. Many other 

VOL. II. Iv 



1.30 ASSINXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

Indians sat on the banks of the river gazing at its waters, 
and on the gloomy shore which lay wrapped in mist on 
the other side. Time after time the mist before us would 
roll away and reveal the mouth of another great river 
pouring its flood into the one on whose banks I was 
sitting. The country to the south of this river was 
bright and glorious, to the north, dark and gloomy. On 
the one side were the happy hunting-grounds, on the 
other the hunting-grounds of bad Indians. Time after 
time my companions tried to cross the swift stream before 
us, in order to reach the happy hunting-grounds ; some 
arrived in safety, others reached the north bank, and 
disappeared in the mist which overhung the bad country. 
I tried at last, but the current was too strong for me, the 
recollection of bad deeds prevented me from stemming 
the current, and I was swept on to the north shore of the 
opposite river. I scrambled up the bank, and spent 
many moons in hunting in that dreary land ; always on 
the point of starving, or being hurt by enemies, or wet 
and cold and miserable. At length I came upon a river 
like the one I had crossed, with mists and the mouth of a 
great stream opposite to me ; breaking clouds soon re- 
vealed happy hunting-grounds on one side, and a more 
gloomy and terrible country on the other. Many Indians 
were there before me, looking at the river and trying to 
cross ; some succeeded, but a few were swept to the bad 
country, these were very wicked Indians. I tried to 
cross. I knew I had been a good Indian in this dreary 
hunting-around. I took courage, and swam strong against 
the stream. I reached the happy hunting-grounds ; all 
my sorrow disappeared as I climbed to the top of the 
bank and saw before me Indians numerous as grass leaves, 
buffalo on the distant plains thick as raindrops in sum- 
mer, a cloudless sky above, and a warm, fresh, scented, 



" THE HAPPY IIUXTIXG-GROUNDS. - 131 

happy breeze blowing in my face. I sank to sleep, and 
woke alone in my tent in these prairies again." 

Whatever faith the Indian medicine men possess in the 
efficacy of their charms, it is certain that they entertain 
great respect for the white man's medicine. A laughable 
incident occurred at the Touchwood Hills. The conjuror, 
of whom mention has just been made, entered a room 
at this Post where I was sitting with Mr. and Mrs. II., 
who were temporarily in charge. The Indian and a 
companion seated themselves upon one of my boxes 
which contained a small medicine chest. Mrs. H. asked 
me to give her some sticking plaster. I crossed the room 
to open the medicine chest, when Mrs. II. (a half-breed) 
said to her husband, in the Cree language: "Will his 
medicines do me any harm it' I stop here while he opens 
them?" Mr. H. answered jestingly, "Yes, you had 
better go into the other room." On motioning the 
Indians to move, they rose, and I opened the chest. The 
moment they saw the bottles, they hurried out of the 
room, hastened to the summit of a neighbouring hill, 
and, divesting themselves of every article of clothing, 
shook their garments repeatedly, and after hanging them 
on bushes in the sun, squatted on their haunches to await 
the deodorizing influence of the breeze. 

In the valley of the Qu'appclle River, we frequently 
found offerings to Manitou or Fairies suspended on 
branches of trees ; they consisted of fragments of cloth, 
strings of beads, shreds of painted buffalo hide, bears' 
teeth and claws, and other trifles. Our half-breeds 
always regarded them with respect, and never molested 
or liked to see us molest these offerings to Manitou. 
This custom prevails everywhere in the valley of Lake 
Winnipeg, and on the banks of the settled parts of Red 

K 2 



132 ASSINN1B0INE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

River, where the medicine drum and rattle may be 
heard more frequently in some parishes than the sound 
of church bells. 

A conjuror celebrated for the potency of his charms 
will often exercise a very injurious influence over an 
entire band, consisting of ten or twelve families, in deter- 
ring them from frequenting particular hunting or fishing- 
grounds if they offend him. From numerous instances 
of this dangerous influence, I select the following, which 
occurred on the Little Saskatchewan, or as it is sometimes 
called, Dauphin Biver. When ascending that stream, we 




Medicine Eattle. 

came upon a large camp of Swampys, who were on their 
way to the Hudson's Bay Company's post at Fairford. 
Their usual wintering-place was at the Pike's Head near 
the mouth of Jack-fish Eiver, an excellent fishing station 
on Lake Winnipeg, but they had abandoned the inten- 
ti< in of wintering there, in consequence of a threat which 
had been conveyed to them from a noted conjuror styled 
" the Badger," of the Grand Eapid of the Saskatchewan, 
to the effect that " if the band ventured to winter at 
the Pike's Head, he would do something." This am- 
biguous threat was quite sufficient to deter them from 



MAXITOU OR FAIRY DWELLINGS. 133 

visiting their old haunts, and would probably be instru- 
mental in producing much suffering, if not actual want, 
to many of the band. 

There are many places on Lake Winnipeg and Mani- 
tobah which the Indians who hunt and live on the shores 
of those inland seas dare not visit. There is scarcely a 
cave or headland which has not some legend attached to 
it, familiar to all the wanderers on these coasts. 

On the west side of Lake Winnipeg, in the long, dark, 
and gloomy chambers formed by fissures in the limestone, 
bad spirits are supposed to dwell, according to the belief 
of the Indians who hunt on the coast, and he would be a 
powerful charmer who could induce a heathen Indian to 
approach, much less enter, the abodes of these imaginary 
Manitous. 

Near Limestone Cave Point, on Lake Winnipeg, are 
several of these supposed fairy dAvellings. When an Indian 
approaches them in his canoe, he either lays an offering 
on the beach or gives them as wide a berth as possible. 

Steep Eock Point, on Lake Manitobah, is also a noted 
dwelling-place for the " Little Men." Some of the tradi- 
tions connected with these places are very absurd, and 
appear to have little meaning to civilized men ; neverthe- 
less, among the barbarous tribes of those regions, they 
are associated with their past history, or with the Li.-tory 
of the race that preceded them. Manitobah Lake, a 
body of water of very imposing dimensions, having an 
area of 1,900 square miles, derives its name from one of 
these superstitions. I stayed for three days on Manitobah 
island, where a Manitou dwells, but although Indians 
passed and repassed, heard and answered our shots, yet 
they could not be persuaded to land. The only evidence 
of fairy presence which I met with, was the "fairy-like 
music " of the waves of Lake Manitobah, beating upon 

K 3 



134 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

the hard limestone shingle on the beach, and producing a 
very beautiful and melancholy resemblance to distant 
church-bells. All night long this ringing musical sound 
was heard, and would, no doubt, in the active imagina- 
tion of Indians, suggest the existence of those Manitou 
with which they people the air, the water, the forests, and 
the caves of the earth. 

The able and zealous missionary at the Indian Settlement, 
Eed Eiver, the Eev. A. Cowley, has had sad experience of 
the gross superstitions which darken the intellect of 
the Ojibways of Lake Manitobah. In 1842 he pro- 
ceeded to what appeared to be a promising station on 
the shores of this lake, where he had an opportunity of 
observing some remarkable instances of heathen faith in 

o 

dreams and charms. Mr. Cowley writes : " One day I saw 
something hanging on a tree and went to look at it. It 
consisted of twenty small rods, peeled, and painted red 
and black, and fastened together on a plane, with cords 
of bark. A piece of tobacco was placed between the 
tenth and eleventh rods, and the whole was suspended 
perpendicularly from a branch of the tree. It belonged* 
to the old chief, who told me that when he was a young 
man he lay down to dream, and that in his dream, the 
moon spoke to him, and told him to make this charm, 
and to renew it every new moon, that he might have a 
long life. He had regularly done so ever since, till the 
preceding summer, when he almost forgot it, and was 
taken so ill as to be near dying ; but he remembered it, 
his friends did it for him, and he recovered."* 

Sacrifices and offerings are of very frequent occurrence 
among the Indians of the Saskatchewan Valley. The 
customary offering consists of two, three, and sometimes 
five dogs. At the mouth of the Qu'appelle Eiver, an 

* Quoted by S. Tucker, in "The Rainbow of the North." 



DOG SACRIFICES. — RIDICULOUS INCIDENT. 135 

Indian, in June 1858, set his net and caught a large fish 
of a kind different to any with which he was familiar ; he 
immediately pronounced it to be a Maniton, and carefully 
restofing it to the water again, at once sacrificed five 
valuable dogs to appease the anger of the supposed fairy. 
On approaching Long Lake, an arm of the Qu'appelle 
River Valley, the Crees warned ns not to visit the lake 
by night, as it Avas full of devils. They told me very 
extraordinary tales, which are too absurd to be worth 
relating, of the dimensions and power of these devils, and 
they appeared to live in awe and terror of them. 

Like most heathen and barbarous races, Indians suffer 
much from their superstitious fears. When the weather 
is fine, and their tents are well supplied with provisions, 
they are an independent and joyous people. Full of 
frolic and fond of relating anecdotes, they laugh immode- 
rately at any trifling joke or absurdity, and seem tho- 
roughly to enjoy existence. 

A ridiculous incident occurred in the tent belonging to 
the Cree chief, Mis-tick-oos, in which I played a more 
prominent part than I should have selected had any 
choice been offered me. I heard of this incident again 
hundreds of miles from the spot where it occurred, as we 
journeyed homewards from the Grand Forks. 

It happened during a visit I paid to Mis-tick-oos (Vol. I. 
p. 362), after a long and tedious talk, which lasted nearly 
seven hours, relating to the object we had in view in visit- 
ing the country. Three of Mis-tick-oos' wives were visible, 
and with their children formed altogether a party of 
eighteen or twenty. I rose from a buffalo robe where I 
was seated by the side of Mis-tick-oos to examine some 
arrows which one of his sons was making, and when my 
curiosity was satisfied, I sat down on what I thought to 
be a bundle of buffalo robes, close to the young Indian. 

K 4 



13f> ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

I was not a little astonished to feel the robes slowly move 
and undulate beneath me, and before I could rise and 
look into the cause, I found myself projected into the 
middle of the tent among the embers, by means of -some 
violent spasmodic action from beneath the supposed pile 
of robes. Mis-tick-oos and his three wives with the other 
inmates, shrieked with laughter, vociferating some words 
in Cree. Meanwhile, the buffalo robes were slowly thrown 
on one side, and, to my astonishment, were revealed the 
huge proportions of the chief's fourth, youngest and best 
wife. She shook a mass of hair from her head, and 
joined in the laughter at my discomfiture. Other Indians 
hearing the noise came in, and Mis-tick-oos, with tears in 
his eyes, told his friends how " the white stranger had 
sat upon his best wife, thinking she was a pile of robes, 
and how she tossed him into the middle of the tent like a 
buffalo bull pitching a colt." 

During our stay with the Crees of the Sandy Hills on 
the South Branch, when passing the door of the tent 
belonging to the chiefs eldest son, who was my com- 
panion at the time, I observed a young squaw leaning 
upon sticks, evidently in great trouble, and weeping 
bitterly. The moment she saw us she hobbled into the 
tent, with a low cry of pain, and closed the entrance. I 
asked the interpreter what this meant. After some con- 
versation with her husband, he said that the woman was 
suffering from a beating he had given her for a violation 
of her faith during his absence in the spring on a Avar 
excursion. " I would have killed her," muttered the 
husband, " but I thought it a pity to kill two at once. 
She had her choice whether she would have her hair, her 
nose, or her ear cut off, or whether she would have a 
beating. She chose what she has got; but I would have 
killed her had I not known I should regret having killed 



CUSTOM OF PAINTING THE SKIN. 137 

both." It is needless to add that the woman soon ex- 
pected to become a mother. 

Smearing the skin with different coloured pigments is 
a universal custom among the wood and prairie Indians. 
Sometimes the operation is very tastefully performed. 
Warriors on the " war-path " often paint the figure of the 
hand over the mouth, as used in sounding the war-whoop ; 
this is a distinctive sign that the Indian so decorated has 
been recently, or is still engaged in the pursuit of his 
enemies. Vermilion is the most coveted colour ; the 
Ojibways particularly are very fond of decorating their 
faces with this brilliant pigment. The Plain Crees 
are partial to white, green, and blue, and not only paint 
the face, but also the chest and arms. They cut and 
gash the skin and flesh on the arms, sides, chest, and legs, 
as a token of grief for any deceased friend or relation. 
My friend Mis-tick-oos' body was dreadfully disfigured 
by scars from wounds made by himself in manifestation 
of his grief. 

Ornamenting the skin of the arms and breast with the 
figures of birds, quadrupeds, or symbols of different kinds, 
is common among the Plain Crees. The operation is per- 
formed with a needle, a thorn, the point of a knife, or the 
edge of a flint. The surface of the skin is cut or pene- 
trated with the instrument used, and the colour rubbed 
in, as in the process often adopted on a small scale by 
sailors. The effect is to produce a permanent represen- 
tation of different objects on the skin, but it does not 
resemble the ridges and furrows produced by the tattooing 
process of the New Zealanders. 

Nothing appears to contribute so largely to the comfort 
and enjoyment of Indians, whether of the woods or the 
prairies, as the pwahgan of the Ojibway, the uspwiigan of 
the Cree, or the pipe of the English. 



138 ASSINNIBOINE AM) SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

When inhaling the fumes of tobacco, the bear-berry or 
the inner bark of the red willow, the Indian relinquishes 
himself to the narcotic influences of the " weed," a term 
by the way applied to the bear-berry, and to the dry and 
gravelly ridges where that pretty little creeping plant 
flourishes ; the local names, " weed-ridge," " weed-hill," 
being not uncommon in Eupert's Land. It has been well 
said that " the tobacco pipe constitutes the peculiar and 
most characteristic symbol of America, intimately inter- 
woven with the rites and superstitions and with the relics of 
ancient customs and historical traditions of the aborigines 
of the New "World. If Europe borrowed from it the 
first knowledge of its prized narcotic, the gift was received 
unaccompanied by any of the sacred or peculiar virtues 
which the Eed Indian still attaches to it as the symbol of 
hospitality and amicable intercourse, and Longfellow, ac- 
cordingly, with no less poetic vigour than fitness, opens 
his " Song of Hiawatha," with the institution of the 
" Peace-pipe" by the Great Spirit, the Master of Life.* 

Pipe No. 1 was presented to me by Ta-wa-pit, an old 
Indian of Dauphin Lake. He had another in his pouch 
nearly completed, made from the soft shale which crops 
out on the Biding Mountain. I asked Ta-wa-pit " what 
he would do for a smoke " until he had finished the new 
pipe ? After the half-breed with me had made him un- 
derstand my question, he rose to his feet, and walking to 
the edge of a swamp close by, cut three or four reeds, 
and joining some pieces together, after he had made a hole 
through the joints, he gently pushed one extremity in a 
slanting direction into the earth, which he had previously 
made firm by pressure with his foot ; he then cut out a 
small hole in the clay above the extremity of the reed, 

* " Narcotic Usages and Superstitions of the Old and New World," by 
Daniel Wilson, LL.U. Canadian Journal, new series, vol. ii. 



TOBACCO PIPES OF DIFFERENT INDIAN TRIBES. 



139 



and moulding it with his fingers, laughingly said, " Now 
give me tobacco, and I will show you how to smoke 
it," He filled the hole with a mixture of tobacco and 
the bear-berry, placed a live coal on the top, and stretching 




Tobacco Pipes of the Swampys of Lake Winnipeg. 

himself at full length on the ground, with his chin sup- 
ported by both hands, he took the reed between his lips 
and enjoyed a long smoke. 

Different tribes of Indians affect peculiar shapes and 
ornaments in the manufacture of their pipes. The Ojibways 




Tobacco Pipes of the Ojibways of Rainy Lake, &c. 

of Rainy Lake and those of the same nation living on Lake 
Winnipeg, have different patterns, but preserve a certain re- 
semblance, which appears to be characteristic of this people. 



140 



ASSINNIBOINB AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



The pipes manufactured by the Plain Crees and the Black- 
feet are formed after the same model ; those of the Sioux 
approach more to the form almost universally adopted by 




Sioux Pipe. 



the Qjibways ; while the beautiful and sometimes highly 
ornamented pipes of the Chipewyans resemble more the 
favourite models of the prairie tribes. These distinctions 
will be seen at a glance in the accompanying drawings, 
which are all reduced from pipes in my possession. 




Chipewyan (1 and 2), Plain Cree (3), and Blaekfoot (4) Pipes. 

The elaborate and sometimes beautiful pipes of the 
Babeen Indians, while they exhibit a much higher degree 
of art than we should expect to find among such a savage 
race, are by no means illustrative of their superstitions 
or customs, and can be received as illustrations only of 
their imitative power and ingenious workmanship. The 
grotesque devices with which their pipes are ornamented 
can generally be traced to objects which they have seen 
since they became familiar with the traders belonging to 
the Hudson's Bay Company on the north-west coast. 

The customary salutation among the Ojibways who 
have been brought in contact with the French Canadian 



BABEEN PIPES. — SALUTATIONS AMONG THE INDIANS. 141 



voyageurs of the old North-West Company is, " boujou ! 
boujou ! " from bon jour. Among the Plain Crees, with 



Sic, 





*••-■•» [ i^aa^^i^^^^^^^iOEjiT: 




ifaU si 



Sirfe 




Babeen Pipes. 



whom the Scotch employes of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany early established communication, the first address 
is generally "whacheer! whacheer !" Anglice, what cheer? 



142 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

Shaking hands is customary both on meeting and 
parting. The usual preliminary to a council or a series 
of questions, is a smoke ; and nothing smoothes the way to 
an affable arrangement in case of a difficulty so quickly as 
a proposal to argue the point and arrange matters over a 
pipe. A great point is gained if the traveler is able to 
present the chief of the party with a plug or canister of 
tobacco to replenish his pipe, and when he offers to return 
it, a courteous intimation that he may keep the remainder 
or hand it round to his young men, is often a very advanta- 
geous stroke of policy. 

In order to understand the character and nature of wild 
prairie Indians, they must be seen in their tents when well 
supplied with provisions, and disposed to be cheerful and 
merry. In the prairies when on horseback, they are 
often quiet and watchful, always on the look out, and 
when even twenty or thirty are in a band, they generally 
manage to see a suspicious object in the distance at the 
same moment, so that a simultaneous note of exclamation 
is uttered by most or all of the party. In hunting the 
buffalo they are wild with excitement, but no scene or 
incident seems to have such a maddening effect upon 
them as when the buffalo are successfully driven into a 
pound.* Until the herd is brought in by the skilled 
hunters, the utmost silence is preserved around the fence of 
the pound : men, women, and children, with pent-up feel- 
ings, hold their robes so as to close every orifice through 
which the terrified animals might endeavour to escape. 
The herd once in the pound, a scene of diabolical but- 
chery and excitement begins ; men, women, and children 
climb on the fence, and shoot arrows or thrust spears at 
the bewildered buffalo, with shouts, screams, and yells 
horrible to hear. But when the young men, and even 
women jump into the arena amidst the dying and the 

* The half-breeds call these enclosures "ponds. ' 



CIIAEACTER OF THE PRAIRIE INDIANS. 



143 



dead, smear themselves with blood, thrust their arms up 
to the shoulders into the reeking bodies of their victims, 
the savage barbarity of the wild prairie Indian shows 
itself in its true colours. Not even a scalp dance over 
many fallen foes, affords such a terrible picture of de- 
graded humanity as a large band of prairie Indians, some 
hundreds in number, during and after the slaughter of 
buffalo in the pound. 

The condition of the Indians of the Saskatchewan 
Valley at the present day is very different to what it 




1 e Fire-bags. 

was even half a century since. Not only have imported 
diseases greatly diminished their numbers, but game of 
different kinds has become so scarce that dming some 
seasons starvation is no fiction. In the northern parts of 
Rupert's Land a great mortality took place in 1816, 1817, 
and 1818, from small-pox and measles. Vaccine inocu- 
lation was then introduced by the Hudson' Bay Company, 
and small-pox has been unknown in the country since.* 

* Sir George Simpson. Blue I b on the affaire of the Hudson's Baj 

Company 



144 



ASSINX1B0IXE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



The Sioux south of the boundary are said to be all vac- 
cinated. 

In sickness prairie Indians are much depressed, and 
often seek consolation in the monotonous drum of the 
medicine man and his heathenish incantations ; an inflic- 
tion which the grossest and most debased superstition alone 




Sioiix Quiver, Bow, aud Arrows. 



would tolerate; it is submitted to with confidence and 
hope, however, by men who are anxious and timid during 
the roll of thunder, invoking the Great Bird by whose 
flapping wings they suppose it to be produced, or crouch- 
ing from the blink of his all-penetrating eye, which they 
allege is the lightning's flash. 



145 



CHAR XXX. 

INDIAN TOPULATION OF BRITISH AMERICA. 

( toigin of Indian Races. — Kindred and Relation ship. — Iroquois Customs. — 
Iroquois Institutions. — Iroquois League. — Indian Population of Rupert's 
Land. — Probably over-estimated. — Number of Indians frequenting par- 
ticular Posts. — Prairie Indians. — Colonel Lefroy's Estimate. — The Sioux 
or Dakotah Indians. — Principal Bands. — Conjurors. — Months. — Language. 
■ — The Blackfeet. — Country occupied by the Blackfeet. — Blackfeet Tribes. 
— Indians near the Boundary Line. — Indians of British America. — Indians 
of the United States. — Early History of the Indians. — Mutability of Indian 
Nations. — The Hurons and Iroquois. — The Prairie Tribes. — The Remnant. 

The origin of the aborigines on this continent still 
remains enveloped in thick darkness. Many of their 
manners, superstitions, and customs correspond to those 
of Orientals, and it is not improbable that modern ethno- 
logists may be on the right track in their efforts to solve 
this deeply interesting question. 

The ties of kindred and relationship are of a very 
complex character among the Ojibways ; in more than 
one instance a singular exemplification of cross-relation- 
ship occurred during our voyage in 1858 on Lakes Win- 
nipeg and Manitobah, which may serve to show the 
permanency of ancient customs and traditions among 
families now dwelling nearly a thousand miles west of the 
hunting-grounds of their ancestors. 

Near the mouth of the Little Saskatchewan, we met an 
Indian family journeying in a small canoe towards the 

VOL. II. U 



146 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

mouth of Red River. The family consisted of a young 
Indian, his wife, and two little children. The father was 
born on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, and had never tra- 
veled east of that lake. After a few words had passed 
between him and a half-breed Ojibway from Lake Supe- 
rior (Wigwam), they shook hands and proclaimed them- 
selves related to one another. Each belonged, as I was 
informed, to the tribe whose " totem " or insignia was the 
"Bear," and having by some means, which Wigwam 
could not or would not explain, ascertained this fact, they 
spoke to one another as brothers. A similar relationship 
was established between Wigwam and another Ojibway 
on Moss River, solely, as he assured me, because he and his 
newly found friend belonged to a tribe whose " totem " 
was the " Bear." The Cree half-breeds told me that in 
their communication with the Ojibways of Lake Winni- 
peg, and farther to the west, this recognition of relation- 
ship not unfrequently took place between individuals who 
met for the first time, and who were born and lived 
in districts far apart. In connection with this singular 
kind of consanguinity and the bearing it may possibly 
have upon the origin of the Indian races, I append the 
following extract from an ethnological paper, read at the 
Montreal Meeting of the American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science * : — 

" It has occurred to me, after a careful examination of the system of con- 
sanguinity and descent of the Iroquois, that we may yet he ahle, hy means 
of it, to solve the question whether our Indian races are of Asiatic origin. 
Language changes its vocabulary not only, but also modifies its grammatical 
structure in the progress of ages ; thus eluding the inquiries which philo- 
logists have pressed it to answer ; but a system of consanguinity once 
matured and brought into working operation is, in the nature of things, 
more unchangeable than language ; — not in the names employed as a vo- 
cabulary of relationship, but in the ideas which underlie the system itself. 

* By Lewis II. Morgan, Esq., of Rochester, N. Y. 



THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE IEOQUOIS. 147 

The Indo-European nations have one system, identical in its principal features, 
with an antiquity of thirty-five centuries, as a fact of actual record. That of 
the Iroquois is original, clearly defined, aud the reverse of the former. It is, 
at least, to be presumed that it has an antiquity coeval with the race. That of 
the Chippewa is the same as the Iroquois, with slight modifications ; thus 
establishing the fact of its existence in two of the principal generic stocks. 
Besides this, there are traces of the same system among the Aztecs, Mohaves, 
Creeks, Dacotahs, Delawares, Winnebagoes, and other races, all tending to 
show that the system has been, and now is, universal upon this continent. 
Should this last fact be established, the antiquity of the system as coeval 
with the Indian race upon the continent, will also become established. Upon 
the basis of these two facts, and assuming that these races are of Asiatic 
origin, we may predict the existence of the same system in Asia, at the 
present moment, among the descendants of their common ancestors, if any 
remain. 

" A brief explanation of the principal features of the system of the Iroquois 
is annexed, which will assist in working out every other, particularly if they 
are founded upon the same ideas. 

a The institutions of the Iroquois were founded upon the family relation- 
ships ; in fact, their celebrated league was but an elaboration of these re- 
lationships into a complex system of civil polity. At the base of this were 
their laws of descent. They were unlike both the civil and the canon laws, 
but yet were original and well defined. The chief differences were two : first 
descent among the Iroquois followed the female line, or passed through the 
mother; while in each of the former systems it follows the male, or passes 
through the father. In the second place the collateral lines, with the Iro- 
quois, were finally brought into or merged in the lineal ; while, in the other 
cases, every remove from the common ancestor separated the collateral lines 
from the lineal, until after a few generations actual relationship ceased among 
collaterals. 

" To bring out distinctly this code of descent, it will be necessary to give a 
brief explanation of the division of the Iroquois into tribes, the union of 
the several tribes into one nation, and of the several nations into one league. 
Without a reference to their civil organization, it would be impossible to 
present it in an understandable form. 

" In each of the five nations who composed the original league there were 
eight tribes, named : Wolf, Bear, Beaver, and Turtle ; J )eer, Snipe, Heron, and 
Hawk. The Onondaga nation, therefore, was a counterpart of the Cayuga, 
each having the same number of tribes, and of the same name ; so also, in- 
terchangeably, of the Oneida, the Mohawk, and the Seneca nations. In effect, 
the Wolf tribe was divided into five parts, and one-fifth part of it placed 
in each of the five nations. The remaining tribes were subjected to the 
same division and distribution. Between the individual members of the 
Wolf or other tribe thus divided, or, in other words, between the sepa- 
rated parts of each tribe, there existed the tie of consanguinity. The 



148 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

Mohawk of the Turtle trihe recognized the Seneca of the Turtle trihe as a 
relative, and between them existed the bond of kindred blood. In like 
manner the Oneida of the Hawk tribe received the Onondaga or the Cayuga 
of the same tribe as a relative, not in an ideal or conventional sense, but as 
actually connected with him by the ties of consanguinity. Herein we dis- 
cover an element of union between the five nations, of remarkable vitality 
and power. A cross-relationship existed between the several tribes of each 
nation and the tribes of corresponding name in each of the other nations, 
which bound them together in the league with indissoluble bonds. If 
either of the nations had wished to cast off the alliance, it would have 
broken this eight-fold bond of consanguinity. Had the nations fallen into 
collision with each other, it would have brought Hawk tribe against Hawk 
t r ibe — in a word, brother against brother. The history of the Iroquois ex- 
hibits the wisdom of these organic provisions; for, during the long period 
through which the league subsisted, they never fell into anarchy, nor even 
approximated to a dissolution from internal disorders. 

" At no time in the history of the Iroquois could a man marry a woman o 
his own tribe, even in another nation. All the members of a tribe were 
within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity ; and to this day, among the 
descendants of the Iroquois, this law is religiously observed. Husband and 
wife, therefore, were in every case of different tribes. The children were of 
the tribe of the mother. Here, then, we discover, one of the central ideas of 
their laws of descent : to place the father and mother in different tribes, and 
to assign the children to the tribe of the mother. Several important results 
followed, of which the most remarkable was, the perpetual disinheritance of 
the male line. As all titles, as well as property, descended in the female 
line, and were hereditary in the tribe, the son could never succeed to his 
father's title of sachem, nor inherit even his tomahawk. 

" A tribe of the Iroquois, it thus appears, was not, like the Grecian and 
Roman tribes, a circle or group of families, for two tribes were necessarily 
represented in every family ; neither, like the Jewish, was it constituted of 
the lineal descendants of a common father ; on the contrary, it involved the 
idea of descent from a common mother ; nor has it any resemblance to the 
Scottish clan, or to the canton of the Switzer. It approaches, however, 
nearer to the Jewish. Denying geographical boundaries, a tribe of the 
Iroquois was composed of a part of a multitude of families, as wide spread 
as the territories of the race, but yet united together by a common tribal 
bond. The mother, her children, and the descendants of her daughters, in 
the female line, woidd, in perpetuity, be linked with the fortunes of her own 
tribe ; while the father, his brothers and sisters, and the descendants in the 
female line of his sisters would be united to another tribe, and held by its 
affinities. No circumstances coidd work a translation from one tribe to 
another, or even suspend the nationality of the individual. If a Cayuga 
woman of the Hawk tribe married a Seneca, her children were of the Hawk 
tribe and Cavugas, and her descendants in the female line, to the latest 



ESTIMATE OF THE INDIAN rOl'ULATIOX OF RUPERT S LAND. 149 

posterity, continued to be Cayugas and of the Hawk tribe, although they 
resided with the Senecas, and by successive intermarriage with them had 
lost nearly every particle of Cayuga blood. Neither could intermarriage 
with one of a foreign nation confer the Iroquois nationality upon the wife or 
children of the marriage, and the same vice versd. If a Mohawk married a 
Delaware woman, she and her children were not only Delaware still, but 
ever continued aliens, unless naturalized as Mohawks, with the forms and 
ceremonies prescribed in case of adoption." 

The difficulty of obtaining reliable information respect- 
ing the Indian population has been acknowledged by all 
who have given attention to this subject. I am con- 
vinced that the number of Indians inhabiting Rupert's 
Land has been considerably overrated. The estimates 
published in the Appendix to the Report from the Select 
Committee on the Hudson's Bay Company furnish the 
following result : — 

Thickwood Indians on the east side of the IJoeky Mountains . 0-j,000 
The Dlain Tribes (Blackfeet, &c.) . . . . . 25,000 



00,000 



The Indian population of Rupert's Land is estimated at 
42,870. Over the plain or prairie tribes the Hudson's Bay 
Company profess to have no control, and they arc re- 
turned as numbering 25,000 souls. Excellent authorities, 
noticed in the following pages, do not assign more than 
half that number to the most numerous tribes of Prairie 
Indians who hunt on the Saskatchewan and Missouri and 
their tributaries. 

The Plain Crees and Thickwood Indians are under the 
control of the Company, but I think that their numbers 
are also over estimated, and the grounds on which this 
opinion is advanced are stated in the following para- 
graphs. 

The basis of the census for the Thickwood Indians and 
the Plain Crees is the number frequenting the establish- 
ments of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1856, and the 

i. 3 



150 ASSIXXIBOIXE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

following enumeration at certain Posts chiefly visited by 
the Plain Crees is given : — 

Post No. of Indians frequenting it. 

Fort Slice 500 

Qu'appelle Lakes 250 

Touchwood Hills 300 

Fort a la Come 300 

1,350 Indians. 

Upon perusal of the foregoing table the reader would 
infer that 1,350 Indians visited the Posts named. It 
happens, however, that many Indians trade with two or 
more Posts, although every effort is made to limit them 
to one particular station. Their names appear on the 
books at different establishments, and in the enume- 
ration of the Indians inhabiting certain districts, some 
of them are counted twice and even three times. I 
ascertained beyond doubt, that this practice existed to an 
extent which would affect the census hi a marked degree. 
The custom of giving credit to Indians encourages this 
system, while a natural desire to attach additional hunters 
to a Post on the part of the traders, induces less caution 
than would otherwise be exercised. As the result of very 
careful inquiries wherever opportunities offered, of ob- 
taining exact information, I am inclined to think that the 
estimate of 42,870 is about one-fourth too high. 

The estimated number of Indians frequenting parti- 
cular establishments of the Hudson's Bay Company re- 
ferred to in these volumes, during 185G, is given in 
the following table : — 

Locality. Number. 

Fort William 350 

Pigeon River ....... 50 

Fort Frances 1,500 

Eat Portage 500 

Lac de Bois Blanc 200 



DUMBER OF INDIANS VISITING DIFFERENT POSTS. 151 



Locality. 

Shoal Lake . 
White Dog . 
Fort Alexander 
Lac de Bonnet 
Fort a la Corne 
Cumberland House 
The Pas 
Fort Pelly . 
Fort Ellice . 
Qu'appelle Lakes 
Shoal River . 
Touchwood Hills) 
Egg Lake 
Mauitobah House 



Number. 

200 
100 
300 
50 
300 
250 
300 
800 
500 
250 
150 
300 
200 
200 



On the North Branch of the Saskatchewan, where the 
Prairie Indians assemble, the following enumeration is 
given in the Blue Book : — 

Locality. No. of Indians. 

Edmonton ........ 7,500 

Carlton. . 5,000 

Fort Pitt 7,000 

Rocky Mountain House ..... 6,000 

This census may approximate to the actual number of 
Indians visiting a particular Post, yet there is strong 
reason to suppose that the same individuals are to a large 
extent enumerated twice if not thrice. 

The Plain or Prairie Indians belong to the following 



princip 


al tribes : — 






Blackfeet, 

Bloodies, 
Piegaus, 
Fall Indians, or Gros Ventres, 


Crees, 

Assinniboincs, 

Sioux. 



The Wood Indians of the Saskatchewan Valley belong 
to the great family of Crees and Ojibways. The Sioux, 
Blackfeet, Bloodies, and Regans are Dakotahs. 

Mr. Harriet, a chief-factor of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, who had passed his life among the Blackfeet, esti- 

L 4 



152 ASSIXXIBOIN'E AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

mated the six or seven tribes going by that general name 
as mustering 1,600 to 1,700 tents, at eight per tent, 
13,000.* 

Mr. Eowand, one of the oldest resident traders, esti- 
mates the Blackfeet tribes as follows : — 

Blackfeet proper 300 

Piegans 400 

Bloods • .250 

Gros Ventres, or Fall Indians .... 400 
Circes 45 

Q 0t Ti i, T Mountain Tribes . . . .250 
Small Robes J 

At 8 persons per tent, 13,100. 1,045 tents. 

The Assinniboines are divided into Strongwood and 
Plain Assinniboines, or Stonys. 

Mr. Harriet, hi 1842, estimated the 

Strongwood Assinniboines . . . . at 80 tents = 640 
Mr . Eowand, tbe Plain Assinniboines . . „ 300 „ = 2,400 

380 tents = 3,020 
The Strongwood Crees about Edmonton 

Mr. Rowand estimated at . . 400 tents, at 10 per tent = 4,000 
Crees of the Plains . . . . 200 „ „ „ = 2,000 

6,000 

Colonel Lefroy f states that the aggregate of the tribes 
inhabiting the plains on British territory was estimated in 
1813 at not more than 23,400. Since that period they 
have diminished in numbers, and some of the Blackfeet 
bands have stationed themselves permanently on the 
Missouri In succeeding pages, recent estimates of the 
Blackfeet tribes, and the limits of their hunting-grounds 
are given. 

* Colonel Lefroy. 

f " On the probable number of the native Indian population of British 
America," by Captain (now Colonel) J. II. Lefroy, R.A. Canadian Journal, 
vol. i. Old Series. 



THE DAKOTAII NATION. 153 

The Sioux and the Blaekfeet being the most warlike 
tribes of the north-west, and retaining their ancient 
customs to the fullest extent, the following brief notices 
of these formidable native races are introduced. The 
Plain and Wood Crees and the Ojibways are almost 
altogether amenable to the influence of the Hudson's Bay- 
Company, and are in fact the hunters upon whom they 
rely for a considerable proportion of their furs, robes, 
skins, and provisions. 

THE SIOUX OR DAKOTAII INDIANS. 

The nation of the Sioux Indians or Dakotahs * is 
composed of seven principal bands. Their aggregate 
number probably does not exceed twenty-five thousand. 
Their hunting-grounds extend from the Mississippi River 
to the Black Hills in Nebraska, and from the mouth of 
the Big Sioux Eiver to Devil's Lake. Although the Sioux 
have no dealings with the half-breeds of Eed Eiver, or 
with the Hudson's Bay Company, yet they often cross the 
49th parallel in pursuit of the buffalo, and more fre- 
quently in search of a scalp from their hereditary enemies, 
the Ojibways and Crees. As the most dreaded invaders 
of the prairies north of the boundary line, this powerful 
nation deserves a special notice. 

The name Dakotah signifies the " Allied," and they 
speak of themselves as the " Oceti sakowin " or " Seven 
Council Fires." The following enumeration of the prin- 
cipal bands which compose the nation, by the members of 
the American Dakotah Mission, will be found at length in 
the Grammar and Dictionary prepared with so much 
care, labour, and zeal, under the editorial management of 

* See Introduction to a Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakotah Language, 
published by the Smithsonian Institution. 



154 ASSIXXIBOIXE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

the Rev. S. E. Eiggs, A. M., Missionary of the American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 

1. The Mdewakantonwans, Village of the Spirit Lake. 
The name is derived from Mdewakan (Spirit or Sacred 
Lake), Mille Lacs (Minnesota), in the country now claimed 
by the Ojibways. This band numbers about two thou- 
sand. 

2. The Wahpekutes, Leaf Shooters, five hundred. 

3. The Wahpetonwans, Village in the Leaves, twelve 
hundred. 

4. The Sisitonwans, Village of the Marsh, two thou- 
sand five hundred. Their hunting-ground is about the 
Coteau des Prairies, and they subsist on the buffalo. 

5. The Ih ankton wanna, the End Village Band, four 
thousand. Then country is on the north-east of the 
Missouri, as far as Devil's Lake. These are the great 
enemies of the Eed Eiver half-breeds. 

6. The Ihanktonwans, the Village at the End, two 
thousand four hundred. Their country is west of the 
Missouri. They are frequently termed Yanctons. 

7. The Titonwans, the Village of the Prairie, twelve 
thousand five hundred. Then huntmg-ground is west of 
the Missouri. They are divided into seven bands : the 
Sieaugu, Burnt-Thighs ; the Itazipco, Bow-pith ; the 
Sihasapa, Blaclfeet; the Minikanye wozupi, Those who 
plant by the water; the Oohenoupa, Two-boilings ; and 
the Oglala and Hunkpapa. 

The conjurors believe that their dreams are revelations 
from the Spirit World, and they aver that their prophetic 
visions are the mental revival of occurrences in a former 
state of existence. Years with them are enumerated by 
winters ; a distance is estimated by the number of nights 
a man will sleep on the way. The Ojibways have the 
same method of expressing time and distance. They 



THE COMMON AND SACRED LANGUAGE OF DAKOTAI1S. 155 

divide the year into moons, but weeks are unknown to 
them. The Dakotahs of the valley of the Minnesota 
have the following months in the year * : — 

1. Wi-tehi, January ; the hard moon. 

2. "Wicata-wi, February ; the racoon moon. 

3. Istawicayazan-wi, March ; the sore (eye) moon. 

4. Magaokada-wi, April ; the moon in which the geese lay eggs. 

5. Wozupi-wij May ; the planting moon. 

G. Wazustecasa-wi, June ; the moon when the strawberries are red. 

7. Canpasapa-wi, July ; the moon when the choke cherries are ripe. 

8. TVasutou-wi, August ; the harvest moon. 

9. Psiuknaketu-wi, September ; the moon when rice is laid up to dry. 

10. Wi-wazupi, October ; the drying rice moon. 

11. Takiyuha-wi, November; the deer rutting moon. 

12. Tahecapsun-wi, December ; the moon when the deer shed their horns. 

The Dakotahs have a common and a sacred language. 
The conjuror, the Avar prophet, and the dreamer employ 
a language in which words are borrowed from other 
Indian tongues and dialects ; they make much use of de- 
scriptive expressions, and use words apart from the ordi- 
nary signification. The Ojibways abbreviate their sentences 
and employ many elliptical forms of expression, so much 
so that half-breeds, quite familiar with the colloquial lan- 
guage, fail to comprehend a medicine man when in the 
full flow of excited oratory. 

The American missionaries, in their admirable written 
Dakotah language, employ five vowels, and twenty-four 
consonants, among which are two c's, two g's, two /i's, 
two k\ two ra's, two s's, two fs, and two #'s. The repe- 
tition of the same letter is used to denote a guttural, an 
aspirate, an emphatic, or a nasal sound. Thus, c is both 
an aspirate and an emphatic letter ; g like the English g 
and guttural ; h like the English h and guttural ; k as in 
English and emphatic ; n as in English and nasal ; p as 
in English and emphatic ; s as in English and aspirate ; 

* See Grammar and Dictionary before referred to. 



15G • ASSIXXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

t as in English and emphatic ; z as in English and 
aspirate. 

All syllables are enunciated plainly and fully, but 
accentuation often determines the meaning of a word. 
There are three numbers : singular, dual, and plural ; 
the dual including the person speaking and the person 
spoken to. The proper names of the Dakotahs are 
words, simple and compounded, which are in common 
use in the language. The son of a chief when he suc- 
ceeds his father usually takes the name of his father or 
grandfather. As with the Ojibways and Swampys, -their 
proper names consist of a single noun or a noun and 
adjective. The Ojibways have, however, distinct family or 
"totem " names which they employ when speaking of their 
ancestors ; as I am of the family of the Bear, the Eagle, 
the Thunder-cloud, &c. The Dakotahs have no surnames, 
the children of a family have particular names which be- 
long to them in the order of their birth up to the fifth 
child. In counting they use their fingers, bending them 
as they enumerate until they reach ten. They then bend 
down a little finger to record one ten and begin again ; 
when the second ten is counted they put down a second 
finger, and so on. 

Dakotah verbs have only two forms of tense, the inde- 
finite and the future ; the other tenses are expressed by 
the help of adverbs, and the context. Words in a sen- 
tence are thus placed, first the noun, second the adjective, 
third the verb, thus: — 

Ateunyanpi mahpiya ekta nanke chin 
Father- we-have heaven in thou-art the ; 
Nichaze kin wakandapi kte ; 
Thy-name the holy-regarded shall ; 
Nitokickonze kin u kte ; 

Tky-kingdom the come shall.* 

* See a Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakotah Language, published by 
the Smithsonian Institution. 



DIVISIONS OF THE BLACKFEET. 157 



THE BLACKFEET. 

Mr. James Doty, who resided for many years in the 
country of the Blackfeet, and who is acquainted with a 
large portion of that nation, gave the following boun- 
daries of their country and estimate of the numbers of 
the people to Governor Stevens in 1853.* The country 
in which they reside and hunt is bounded as follows : 
" By a line beginning on the north, where the 50th 
parallel crosses the Boeky Mountains, thence east on said 
parallel to the lOGth meridian, thence south to the head- 
waters of the Milk Paver, down said river to the Missouri, 
up the Missouri to the mouth of the Judith, thence up the 
Judith to its source in the Boeky Mountains, and north 
along their base to the place of beginning." 

The country between the Missouri and the headwaters 
of the Yellowstone is unoccupied. It is the war road 
of the Blackfeet to and from the Crows, Flatheads, and 
Snakes. It may also be considered as a transient hunt- 
ing-ground of the .Flatheads, who hunt buffalo there for a 
time in the fall. 

The Blackfeet nation is divided into four distinct tribes 
or bands, whose names, numbers, and localities f are as 
follows : — 

I.O(if.'OS. 

The Blackfeet . . . 250 

The Blood X 850 

The Piegans . . . 350 

The Gros Ventres . . 360 

Total . . . 1310 9170 3275 

* Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad Itouto from the Mississippi to 
the Pacific, p. 443. 

t The country occupied by these tribes is evidently more extensive than 
supposed by Mr. Doty; their permanent lodges are found far beyond the 
limits given in the text. 

] ( 'ailed by the half-breeds " Bloodh s." 



Population. 


Warriors 


1750 


G25 


2450 


875 


2450 


875 


2520 


900 



158 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

The Bloods and Blackfeet occupy the country between 
Milk and Marias Eivers, to the 50 th parallel of latitude. 

The Regans occupy the country between the Milk 
and Marias Eivers, and between the Teton and the 
Missouri. 

The Gros Ventres occupy the country bordering upon 
Milk Biver from its mouth to the territory of the Piegans. 
The Bloods, Piegans, and Blackfeet speak the same lan- 
guage, the Gros Ventres the Arapahoe language ; they 
were adopted by' the Blackfeet about thirty years since, 
having seceded from their own nation. On the Upper 
Missouri, near the great bend, the Gros Ventres have a 
large village of mud houses. Some of the lodges are 
capable of supporting 100 persons ; one part is appropri- 
ated to their horses, dogs, cattle, and chickens, another to 
their sleeping apartments ; the lodges are built entirely 
by women. The Gros Ventres formerly hunted on the 
Assinniboine. Mr. J. M. Stanley, the artist of Governor 
Stevens' Exploration, states that the Blackfeet proper are 
divided into three distinct bands : the Blood band, 400 
lodges ; the Piegan band, 430 lodges ; and the Blackfeet 
band, 500 lodges, averaging ten to a lodge, and amount- 
ing in all to 13,300 souls. The Piegans and Bloods hunt, 
trade, and winter on American soil, while the Blackfeet 
extend then hunt as far north as the Saskatchewan, and 
trade as frequently with the British as with the American 
Posts.* 

The following census of the Indian tribes of the United 
States, inhabiting the states and territories adjoining the 
49th parallel, is abstracted from the statistics of the tribes 
as reported to the Bureau of Indian Affairs f : — 

* Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad to the Pacific, p. 449. 
t See the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian tribes of the 
United State?, by II. R. Schoolcraft, LL.D. 



INDIAN POPULATION OF BRITISH AMERICA. 1.59 

Name of tribe. Numbers. 

Assinniboino .... 8900 Extending from the Missouri into 

Rupert's Laud. 

. 9530 Nebraska. 

. 1G12 Upper Missouri. 

. 800 L T pper Missouri. 

. 4000 Dakotah territory. 

. 2500 Betweeu the Missouri and the 
Saskatchewan. 



Blackfeet . 

Bloods 

Crees 

Sioux (Thauktonwanna) 

Gros Ventres 



The subjoined enumeration of Indian tribes inhabiting 
British North America, is from a paper " On the probable 
number of the Native Indian Population of British 
America," by Colonel Lefroy, referred to on page 152 : — 

Chipewyan tribes — namely: Ohipewyans proper, Pop-ribs, 
Hare or Slave Indiaus, Yellow Knives, Beaver Indians, 

Da-ha-dumies and Carriers 7,575 

Northern Indians of the Kutchin stock .... 0,082 

Indians of the Plains (Blackfeet, Assinniboines, &c.) . 23,400 

Chipeways (Ojibways) and Crees, exclusive of the above . 8,<'>75 

Indians of the Seaboard aud Islands of the Pacific . . 03,840 

Indians of New Caledonia — Interior .... 2,000 

Indians of Canada . . . . . . . . 13,000 



124,518 



The number of Indians frequenting the establishments 
of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 185G, are thus classified 
in the Blue Book * : — 

Thickwood Indians on the east side of the Pocky Mountains . 35,000 

The Plain Tribes (Blackfeet, &c.) . . . " . . . 25,000 

The Esquimaux 4,000 

Indiaus settled in Canada 3,000 

Indians in British Oregon and on the north-west coast . . 80,000 



Total Indians 147,000 

The census of the Indian tribes of the United States 
with whom intercourse was kept up by agents in the year 

Report from the Select Committee on the Hudson's Bay Company. 



ICO ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

1855 is stated in the Annual Report of the Indian Bureau 
of that year to include 314,622 souls. 

An approximation to the total Indian population of the 
United States and British America will be as follows : — 

Indians of the United States 314,022 

Indians of British America (Colonel Lefroy) . . . 124,518 



Or, 



Total 439,140 

Indians of the United States 314,022 

Indians of British America, according to the census of the 

Hudson's Bay Company . ... 147,000 



Total 401,022 

The records of the early history of the Indians who 
formerly occupied Canada and the northern States of 
the Union prove that their numbers, during the first half 
of the seventeenth century, must have at least quadrupled 
the entire aboriginal population now occupying the vast 
territories under the control of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. 

The extraordinary mutability of nations in the savage 
state, and the rapidity with which one race supplants 
another over large areas, is thus noticed by a recent 
writer on the early discoveries of the French in North 
America * : — " When Cartier arrived in the St. Lawrence, 
he described large and permanent Indian villages at Sta- 
dacona and Hochelaga ; but little more than half a cen- 
tury afterwards, when Champlain visited the same locali- 
ties, he apparently found few Indians about Quebec, and 
none permanently settled at Montreal. There may have 
been some exasperation in Cartier's account, but the main 
fact remains, and it may probably be accounted for by 

* u On the Early Discoveries of the French in North America," by John 
Langton, M.A., Auditor of Public Accounts, Canada. A paper read before 
the Canadian Institute, and published in tho " Canadian Journal," New 
Series, No. 12. 



THE MUTABILITY OF INDIAN RACES. 161 

the increasing power of the Iroquois, which made those 
places dangerous abodes, and compelled the tribes which 
formerly occupied them, to retreat into the interior. Again, 
the country north of Lake Ontario is described by Chain- 
plain as affording signs of having been formerly extensively 
cultivated and thickly inhabited, but in his day it was 
entirely deserted, and only used as a hunting ground by 
the neighbouring tribes. But the country of the Ottawa, 
and across to the northern shore of Lake Huron, as also 
the Western Peninsula, is described as full of Hurons, 
and of Algonquin, Ottawa, Nipissing, and other allied 
tribes. Amongst the Hurons alone, in the limited area 
between Matchedash Bay and Lake Simcoe, he reckons 
eighteen walled villages, numbering 2,000 lighting men, 
and Sagard puts the whole population down at 30,000 or 
40,000 souls.* Yet, within thirty years from that time this 
region was also a desert, and the remnants of the former in- 
habitants had retreated to the Northern Lakes, and as far 
west as the Sioux. The Hurons indeed were almost ex- 
terminated, and the paltry remnant which had not been 
either destroyed or incorporated with other tribes, were 
collected and brought down to Quebec, where their de- 
scendants still occupy the village of Lorette. All the 
tribes of the Western Peninsula, and the Eries on the 
south shore of that lake, seem also to have been utterly 
exterminated, as well as the greater part of the Illinois, 

* It would not appear that this estimate can have been very greatly ex- 
aggerated, from the account given of the missionary establishments. Thev 
numbered in their most flourishing period, about the year 1045, forty-two 
missionaries besides their attendants. ( )f these two or three only remained 
at the principal station of Ste. Marie, at the mouth of the Wye, live other 
villages were called residences, where one or two missionaries remained per- 
manently, and the rest moved from village to village often having as many 
as ten under their charge. As several of these villages are mentioned as 
containing from 100 to 200 cabins, and four to five families residing in 
each, the whole population cannot have fallen far short of 30,000. 

VOL. II. M 



162 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

and other Avestcrn tribes ; and the Iroquois were domi- 
nant over all Upper Canada, and all the northern part of 
New York and Ohio. All this occurred without the in- 
tervention of the white man ; and there has been no dis- 
appearance of a savage race since, from the diseases and 
vices which civilization brings in its train, which has sur- 
passed, even if it has equalled in completeness and rapidity, 
the desolation which the conquering Iroquois spread around 
them. They, too, have now nearly vanished from the scene 
of their former power under other influences, and may 
soon, like the Eries and Hurons, be remembered only by 
a name ; but when we find such extraordinary vicissitudes 
occurring during the brief space, of which we have any 
certain record, we cease to be so much surprised at the 
total disappearance of the mound builders and other pre- 
historic races." 

The Mandans and Assinniboines who hunt on both 
American and British soil, and who are essentially prairie 
Indians, were estimated in 1783 to be capable of sending 
into the field 25,000 and 40,000 fighting men respec- 
tively. In 1786 the small-pox, coining north from the 
Mexican provinces, almost depopulated the country. In 
1838 the same disease swept off at least one half of the 
prairie tribes. Five-and-twenty years ago, before this 
epidemic, aided by constant wars, had reduced the Plain 
Crees to one-sixth or eighth of their former numbers, 
Fort Ellice was often the scene of exciting Indian display. 
The officer in charge in July 1858, remembers the time 
when the entire tribe who now hunt on the Qu'appelle 
and South Branch would approach the Fort to receive their 
supplies, preceded by 800 mounted warriors, singing their 
war songs. Twenty-five years ago the tribe numbered 
4000, in 500 tents ; at the present day they do not ex- 
ceed 120 tents, which represent a population of 960 or 
1000 souls. 



DESTRUCTION OF INDIANS BY DISEASE. 163 

As stated in a preceding chapter, small-pox and measles 

produced a great mortality among the Wood Indians 
north of the Saskatchewan in 1816, 1817, and 1818. The 
ravages of this scourge began to tell in a fearful manner 
upon the native races in the valley of the St. Lawrence 
as early as the latter part of the seventeenth century. 
Charlevoix relates in 1670 that there were rarely less 
than 1200 Indians to be seen encamped at Tadousac, the 
entrepot of the fur trade at that period during the trading 
season. The small-pox put an end to the trade by almost 
annihilating the Indians. Some tribes were quite exter- 
minated, others amalgamated with surviving tribes, or 
carried their furs to the English Fort on Hudson's 
Bay. 

When the Iroquois, who formerly occupied permanent 
villages on the south shore of Lake Ontario and the 
south bank of the St. Lawrence, were first known to 
Europeans, they algne were estimated by La Hontan at 
70,000 souls. The numbers of the Indian population of 
British North America, on the east side of the Eocky 
Mountains, amounted to 67,000 in 1856, according to the 
Hudson's Bay Company. During that year the small-pox 
again visited the plain tribes, coming up the Missouri Elver, 
and destroying fully 3000 from among those who hunt 
on the Upper Missouri and between both brandies of 
the Saskatchewan. In 1857 and 1858 it still lingered 
near the foot of the Eocky Mountains, and despair was 
stamped on the faces of the unhappy Mandans who were 
visited by Lieut, Warren soon after the scourge appeared 
amongst them. Wars disease, and starvation have re- 
duced to at least one-twentieth part of its former i lum- 
bers an aboriginal population which two centuries ago 
occupied this vast area. How long will the remnant be 
preserved to minister to the cupidity of the white race 

M 2 



164 



ASSI.VXIBOIXE AXD SASKATCIIEWAX EXPEDITION. 



who now rule and sustain them only so far as they are 
subservient to the objects of the fur trade ? 

Before the dispersion of the Hurons, about the year 
1650, the customs observed by that people relative to the 
dead were as follows. Under the impression that the 
spirit, notwithstanding its separation from the body, did 
not immediately take its departure, the women were ac- 
customed to frequent the grave of the deceased with tears, 




Indian Graves covered with Split Sticks 



moans, and other outward signs of grief. The corpse was 
placed in a burying-ground called b) T the Hurons Oi-go- 
sa-ye. If the death had been natural, each corpse was 
encased separately in birch bark and elevated on four 
poles. They remained there until the celebration of the 
" Feast of the Dead," which took place every eight or ten 
years. At this period the inhabitants of a village taking 
down each bier in their Oi-go-sa-ye, carefully removed the 
dried flesh from the bones and wrapped the skeleton in 
furs and skins. The bones of the dead having been thus 



THE BURIAL-PLACES OF THE HURONS. 16.5 

gathered from a \\ Lde extenl of country* were placed with 
much solemnity in a large excavation richly decorated 
with furs. Valuables of different kinds were deposited 
with the remains, under the belief that they would be 
required by those to whom they belonged in another 
world or state of existence. 

When the death has been violent or unnatural, the corpse 
was burned or buried immediately; and should a Huron 
have been frozen to death, the corpse would be carefully 
dissected, and the skeleton buried, never to be exhumed. 
The Hurons believed that the spirits of those who died 
in war, or suffered a violent death in any other way, en- 
joyed no communion in a future life with those who died 
in the ordinary course of nature.f 

An ancient ossuary of the Hurons was opened near 
Penetanguishene in 1846. Its appearance externally was 
that of a mound about twenty-eight feet in diameter, 
covered with large trees which had grown upon it after 
its construction. An immense shroud of beaver skin 
enveloped the sacred deposit. Twenty-six copper kettles, 
hatchets, marine shells, bracelets or belts of wampum, 
&c, were placed near to the bones. 

The Jesuit Missionary, P. de Brebeaf, who assisted at 
one of the " Feasts of the Dead " at the village of Ossos- 
sane before the dispersion of the Hurons, relates that the 
ceremony took place in the presence of 2000 Indians, 
who offered 1200 presents at the common tomb in testi- 
mony of their grief. The people belonging to five large 
villages deposited the bones of their dead in a gigantic 
shroud, composed of forty-eight robes, each robe being 
made of ten beaver skins. After being carefully wrapped 
in this rich shroud, they were placed between moss and 

* Compare the description of ossuaries iu Western Canada, Vol. J. j>. HO. 
t Relations Abrege'es, 

M 3 



166 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

bark. A wall of stones was built round this vast ossuary 
to preserve it. from profanation. Before covering the 
bones with earth, a few grains of Indian corn were thrown 
by the women upon the sacred relics. 

According to the superstitious belief of the Hnrons the 
souls of the dead remain near the bodies until the " Feast 
of the Dead ; " after which ceremony they become free, 
and can at once depart for the Land of Spirits, which 
they believe to be situated in the regions of the setting 
sun.* 

* Relations Abr£g£es. 



1G7 



CHAP. XXXI. 



INDIAN TITLE TO RED RIVER. 



Indian Title in Canada.— Importance of the Question in Rupert's Land. — 
( lost of Indian Wars to the United States' Government.— Advance of Settle- 
ments towards the West. — Probability of a War with the Sioux. — Indian 
Races occupying the Country available for present Settlement in Rupert's 
Land. - Restlessness of these People.— The Right Hon. E. Elliee,M.l\, on 
Indian Title in Canada.— Proclamation of 1763.— Opinion of the I ianadian 
Commissioners on Indian A Hairs with Respect to Indian Title in Canada. 
— Title to Red River. — Grant to Lord Selkirk. — Treaty between Lord 
Selkirk and the Crees and Saulteaux of Red River. — Peguis. — His 
Letter to the Aborigines' Protection Society. — His Address in 1859 to 
the " Great House." — M. MacDermott's Statement. — Meeting of the Ilalf- 
Breeds of Red River. — Opinion respecting Indian Title. — Importance of 
the Question. — Treaty of the Americans with the Saulteaux for the 
northern part of Minnesota on Red River. 

The question of Indian title is one of very great in- 
terest and importance in regard to the future peace of the 
colony, and as much misapprehension appears to exist 
respecting the territorial rights of different tribes of 
Indians, and their title to the land they now claim, the 
present condition of the question may be noticed here, 
as far as the slender and unconnected evidence at com- 
mand admits. In Canada much trouble, great expense, 
and endless inquiry have been created by Indian claims, 
which even now remain in part unsettled, and are a 
source of many incidental expenses to the Government, 
which might have been avoided if proper arrangements 
had been made at the right season. In Rupert's Land, 

H 4 



186 ASSIXXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

where disaffected Indians can influence the savage prairie 
tribes and arouse them to hostility, the subject is one of 
great magnitude ; open war with Sioux, Assinniboines, 
Plain Crees or Blackfeet, might render a vast area of 
prairie country unapproachable for many years, and 
expose the settlers to constant alarms and depredations. 
The Indian wars undertaken by the United States 
Government during the last half century, have cost infi- 
nitely more than the most liberal annuities or compre- 
hensive efforts for the amelioration of the condition of 
the aborigines would have done ; and in relation to the 
northern prairie tribes, war is always to be expected at a 
day's notice. 

The encroachments of western settlers upon Indian lands 
are constant and increasing in the United States, and 
there is no reason to suppose that these encroachments 
will diminish for many years to come. Already the Bed 
River south of the boundary line, as well as its south- 
western tributaries, are invaded from the valley of the 
Mississippi, and as the territory of Dakotah has not yet 
been ceded to the United States Government, the prospect 
of a Avar with the Sioux, whose hunting grounds embrace 
it, becomes daily more imminent. Lieutenant Warren, 
who has conducted several United States' exploring expedi- 
tions in Dakotah and Nebraska territories, remarks : "The 
advance of the settlements is universally acknowledged 
to be a necessity of our national development, and is 
justifiable in displacing the native races on that ground 
alone. But the government, instead of being so consti- 
tuted as to prepare the way for settlement by wise and just 
treaties of purchase from the present owners, and proper 
protection and support for the indigent race so dispossessed, 
is sometimes behind its obligations in these respects ; and 
in some instances Congress refuses or delays to ratify the 



ENCROACHMENTS ON INDIAN LANDS. 1G9 

treaties made by the duly authorized agents of the govern- 
ment. The result is, that the settler and pioneer are pre- 
cipitated into the Indian's country, without the Indian 
having received the first consideration promised him ; and 
he often, in a manner that enlists the sympathies of all 
mankind, takes up the tomahawk in defence of his right 
and perishes in the attempt." * The same officer states 
that there are so many inevitable causes at work to pro- 
duce a war with the Dakotahs (Sioux) before many years, 
that he regards the greatest fruit of his explorations to be 
the knowledge of the proper routes by which to invade 
their country and conquer them, but at the same time he 
thinks that many of the causes of war with them might 
be removed by timely action in relation to the treaties 
made with them. 

The country of the Dakotahs borders on British terri- 
tory, some of the tribes (the Lhanktonwanna, par. 5, p. 154, 
Vol. II.) are the confirmed enemies of the half-breeds and 
Ojibways of Eed Eiver ; peace has often been made, but 
as often broken again upon trivial and even accidental 
grounds. 

The frontier tribes can muster at least two thousand 
warriors by uniting with several of their more southern 
allies. Being the most warlike and numerous Indians in 
the United States territories, and their hunting grounds 
interlocking with those of the Crees in British America, 
they will probably yet play an important and active part 
in the future of the colony and the new adjoining territory 
of Chippewa.f 



* Preliminary Report of Explorations in Nebraska and Dakotah in the 
years 1855-G and 1857, by Lieut. Q-. K. Warren, Top. Eng. U.S. army. 

f The new territory of Dakotah is to be composed of a part of the present 
territory of that name and a portion of Nebraska, and bounded as follows : — 
The forty-sixth meridian of north latitude on the north, Minnesota and 



170 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

Thickwood Crees, Swampy Crees, Plain Crees, and Ojib- 
ways are the Indian nations who now occupy that part of 
Rupert's Land, where settlements would first be made. 
These nations are friendly to one another and hostile to 
the Sioux. They are, in fact, the hunters of the Hudson's 
Bay Company, and consequently friendly with that body, 
who have never sought to extend the settlements of the 
white race in Rupert's Land ; but of late years since the 
questions relating to title to lands, annuities, and com- 
pensation have been raised, they are becoming dissatisfied, 
suspicious, and untrustworthy. 

The Eight Honourable Edward Ellice, M.P., in reply to 
a question put by Mr. Christie during his examination be- 
fore the Select Committee on the Hudson's Bay, respecting 
the extinction of the Indian title in Rupert's Land, stated 
that " the English Government never extinguished the 
Indian title in Canada when they took possession ; the 
Americans, while they have been extending their posses- 
sions, have extinguished the Indian title, but in Canada 
there has never been any treaty with the Indians to ex- 
tinguish the title, the Crown, retaining; certain reserves 
for the Indians, has always insisted upon the right to 



Iowa to the mouth of the Big Sioux on the east, on the south following 
the Missouri river from the mouth of the Big Sioux to the mouth of the 
Nebraska, and along the Niobarah to the one hundred and second meridian 
of west longitude, along the hundred and second meridian to the forty-third 
parallel north latitude, thence along the forty-third parallel to the crest 
of the Rocky Mountains, and on the west by Washington Territory. This 
territory will consist of about one hundred and thirty-five thousand square 
miles. This does not include or interfere with any of the settled portions of 
Nebraska. 

Cbippewa is an entirely new territory, and is composed of the northern 
part of Dacotah and Nebraska, bounded as follows : — The British Pos- 
sessions on the north, Minnesota on the east, the forty-sixth parallel of 
north latitude on the south, and Washington on the west. This will make 
an area of about one hundred and thirty thousand square miles. 



THE RT. HON. EDWARD ELLICE, M.P., OX INDIAN TITLE. 171 

occupy the lands, and to grant the lands." * This reply to 
a question now about to assume an importance in regard 
to the Bed River Settlement of the greatest magnitude, is 
liable to produce a very erroneous impression respecting 
the Indian title in Canada, and the respect which has been 
paid to it during the history of that country. It is desirable 
that this point should be clearly stated, and with this object 
the proclamation of 1763 as far as it relates to the Indians 
in Canada is appended. 

" And we do further declare it to be our royal will and 
pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under 
our sovereignty, protection, and dominion, for the use of 
the said Indians, all the lands and territories not included 
within the limits granted to the Hudson's Bay Company ; 
as also the lands and territories lying to the westward of 
the sources of the rivers which fall into the sea, from the 
west and north-west as aforesaid. And we do hereby 
strictly forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all our loving- 
subjects from making any purchases or settlements what- 
ever, or taking possession of the lands above reserved 
without our special leave and license for that purpose." 

The report of the commissioners appointed to investi- 
gate the Indian affairs in Canada in 1847, thus state their 
views on the question of title to lands : — 

" Although the Crown claims the territorial estate and 
eminent dominion in Canada, as in other of the older 
colonics ; it has, ever since its possession of the province, 
conceded to the Indians the right of occupancy upon 
their old hunting grounds, and their claim to compensation 
for its surrender, reserving to itself the exclusive privilege ■ 
of treating with them for the surrender or purchase of 
any portions of the land. This is distinctly laid down in 

* Question 6001, Blue Book. 



172 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

the proclamation of 17G3, and the principle has since 
been generally acknowledged and rarely infringed upon by 
the Government. The same rule has been followed by 
the Government of the United States, who pay annuities 
for the surrender of Indian lands to the extent of about 
140,000/. a-year."* 

Great and apparently reasonable doubt exists respecting 
the Indian title to that part of the valley of Eed River 
and the Assinniboine now occupied by the settlements. 
The royal charter for incorporating the Hudson's Bay 
Company, granted by Charles II., a.d. 1670, trans- 
ferred to the Company the trade, lands, mines, minerals, 
fisheries, &c, of Rupert's Land. The territory to be 
reckoned one of his Majesty's plantations or colonies hi 
America, and the Governor and Company to be the 
Lords Proprietors of the same for ever.f 

On the 12th June 1811 the Hudson's Bay Company 
made a grant of lands to Lord Selkirk included within 
the following boundaries: — "All that tract of land or 
territory bounded by an imaginary hue running as fol- 
lows, that is to say, beginning on the western shores of 
the Lake Winnipeg at a point in 52° 30' north latitude, 
and thence running due west to the Lake Winnepego-sis, 
then in a southerly direction through the said lake so as 
to strike its western shore in latitude 52°, then due west 
to the place where the 52° intersects the western branch 
of Eed River, the Assinniboine River, then due south from 
that point of intersection to the height of land, which sepa- 
rates the waters running into Hudson's Bay from those of 
the Missouri and Mississippi, then in an easterly direction 

* " Report on the Affairs of the Indians in Canada." Legislative Council, 
Sessional Papers, Appendix T, ls47. 

f See the Royal Charter of Incorporation, page 409 of the Report from 
the Select Committee on the Hudson's Bay Company. 



GRANT TO LORD SELKIRK. — PEGUIS. 173 

along the said height of land to the source of the Winni- 
peg River (meaning by such last-named river the principal 
branch of the waters which unite in Lake Seiganagah), 
thence along the main stream of these waters, and the 
middle of the several lakes through which they flow, to 
the mouth of the Winnipeg River, and thence in a 
northerly direction through the middle of Lake Winnipeg 
to the place of beginning."* 

Ross, in his " Red River Settlement, its Rise, Pr< >gress, 
and Present State," introduces a treaty made between 
Lord Selkirk and certain Indian chiefs, Crees and Sanl- 
teaux (or Ojibways), on the 18th July, 1817, in which the 
chiefs agree to give unto the king, for the use of the Earl 
of Selkirk, a considerable tract of land on the Assinni- 
boine and Red Rivers for the quit-rent of 100 lbs. of 
tobacco, to be paid annually to the chiefs and warriors 
of the Crce and Saulteaux tribes then occupying the 
country.f 

In 1857 Peguis, an immigrant from Pigeon River, Lake 
Superior, at Red River, sent a letter to the Aborigines' Pro- 
tection Society, London, complaining of the non-fulfilment 
of this treaty. The following extract from the letter sent 
by Peguis is published in the Blue Book J: — 

"Many winters ago, in 1812, the lands along the Red 
River, in the Assinniboine country on which I and the 

" Part of this deed is published in the narrative of Major Long's Expe- 
dition to the Source of St. Peter's River, 1824 The above extract is from 
the Blue Book. Major Long's quotation varies in the spelling of a few 
names of places, and concludes with the words, " which territory is called 
Ossiniboia." 

t This treaty is signed by Lord Selkirk and the following chiefs: — 



i luekidvat (Grande oreilles). 
Kayajiekebinoa (L'homme noir). 



Moche W. Keocab (Le sonent). 
Mechudewikonaie (La robe noir). 

Pegowis. 

t Page 445, Report from the Select Committi n the Hudson's Bay 

( iompany. 



174 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

tribe of Indians of whom I am chief then lived, were 
taken possession of, without permission of myself or my 
tribe, by a body of white settlers. For the sake of peace, 
I, as the representative of my tribe, allowed them to re- 
main on our lands on their promising that we should be 
well paid for them by a great chief, who was to follow 
them. This great chief, whom we call the Silver Chief 
(the Earl of Selkirk), arrived in the spring after the war 
between the North-west and Hudson's Bay Companies 
(1817). He told us he wanted land for some of his 
countrymen, who were very poor in their own country ; 
and I consented, on the condition that he paid well for 
my tribe's land, he could have from the confluence of the 
Assinniboine to near Maple Sugar Point on the Eed Eiver 
(a distance of twenty to twenty-four miles), following the 
course of the river, and as far back on each side of the 
river as a horse could be seen under (easily distinguished). 
The Silver Chief told us he had little with which to pay 
us for our lands when he made this arrangement, in con- 
sequence of the troubles of the North-west Company. 
He, however, asked us what we most required for the 
present, and we told him we would be content till the 
following year, when he promised again to return, to take 
only ammunition and tobacco. The Silver Chief never 
returned, and either his son or the Hudson's Bay Company 
have ever since paid us annually for our lands only the 
small quantity of ammunition and tobacco which in the 
first instance we took as a preliminary to a final bargain 
about our lands." .... 

In March, 1859, Peguis dictated another letter on the 
subject of the title of his tribe to a portion of the lands 
on Eed Eiver. This singular communication, as published 
in the " Aborigines' Friend and Colonial Intelligencer," is 
as follows : — 



LETTER FROM PEGUIS OX THE TITLE OF HIS TRIBE. 175 

u I Peguis, x (his mark), Salteaux Chief of the Indian Settlement at 
Eed Hirer, wish to make my statement to the Great House across the great 
waters. 

" I and my people have our minds much disturbed by the Hudson's Bay 
Company, because the said Company have never arranged with me for our 
lands. We never sold our lands to the said Company, nor to the Earl of 
Selkirk; and yet the said Company mark out and sell our lauds without 
our permission. Is this right ? I and my people do not take their property 
from them, without giving them great value for it, as furs and other things, 
and is it right that the said Company should take our landed property from 
US without our permission, and without our receiving payment for the same? 
I have asked the said Company for payment, through their agents, and I 
asked Mr. Mactavish for the same thing, last spring, but I got nothing for 
my lands. 

" If I were nearer the Great House, I would speak much and IqikI. I 
and my people are disturbed, and will the Great House approve of another 
Fur Company being chartered from Canada ? Will there be another Com- 
pany for the North, and another for the South? Will the Great House 
sanction more hostilities as before, when there were two Fur Companies 
trading in our country? And will another Company take in land for five 
miles on each side of the great road to be made between this place and 
Canada, without consulting me and my brother chiefs ? I speak loud : 
listen ! We have had enough of all Fur Companies. Please send us out 
rather mechanics and implements to help our families in forming settle- 
ments, and to secure as reserves, &c. 

" I, Peguis, X (his mark), moreover, hereby agree with the letters which 
my brother chiefs, Makasis, Kes-kisimakurs and YVa-was-ka-sis, sent across 
the great waters to Mr. Isbister, and to the Aborigines' Protection Society 
last spring about our lands, and pray the great Mother to take us all under 
her own protection, and to rule the country for us herself. 

« PEGUIS, x (his mark). 

"Given under my hand this 1'lst day of March, 1859. 

" Signed by Peguis, Saulteaux Chief of the Indian Settlement, in the 
presence of the undersigned, 

''Joseph Moxkman, 
"Jonx Hope." 

In reply to this "statement to the Great House," Mr. 
Andrew McDermott, a well-known, influential, and wealthy 
lied Paver trader, who has been in the country since 
1812, refers to the treaty with Lord Selkirk, stating that 
since the date of the treaty, the Indians, or their descendants 
named therein, have received an annual payment of 81. 



176 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

sterling from the Hudson's Bay Company*, and calls 
attention to the notice conspicuously posted by order of 
the chiefs in various parts of the settlement in 1858, 
warning the settlers that if they cut hay beyond the two- 
mile boundary referred to in their treaty with Lord Sel- 
kirk, their stacks would be destroyed. The letter called 
forth a strong expression of opinion from a large meeting 
of half-breeds convened for the purpose on the 7th March, 
1860, when the following resolutions were adopted : — 

" 1st. That the Cree chief, Senna, who has the best claim to this country, 
never disposed of it to the Earl of Selkirk or the Hudson's Bay Company. 

" 2nd. That the Hudson's Bay Company do not, as is alleged, pay 81. 
sterling per annum to each of the five chiefs mentioned in Mr. McDermott's 
letter. 

" 3rd. That the paltry presents given to some or all of these chiefs for 
many years after 1816, were not given in the way of payment for lands ; 
but merely to keep them friendly towards the Company. The friendship of 
these chiefs was important, not only because their hostility might have 
been dangerous, but because they could, by using their influence with their 
people, bring a large quantity of furs to the Company. 

" 4th. That presents similar to those given after the year 1816, were 
given for thirty or forty years before that date, for the purpose of " keeping 
in" with the Indians; and given not only to the chiefs of this district, but 
to every influential Indian throughout the country. 

" 5th. That as no proper arrangement has been made with the native 
tribes regarding their lands, the ' half-breeds ' who are now on the soil, 
and who, besides being natives, are the immediate representatives of these 
tribes, ought to use every legitimate means to urge their claims to con- 
sideration in any arrangement which the Imperial Government may see fit 
to make. 

"With these points agreed upon, it was resolved to adjourn the meeting 
until the month of May or June, when the various chiefs referred to would 
be in the settlement, aud when certain persons who were now out winter- 
ing, would also be here to corroborate the above facts." 

It would be altogether premature to discuss the claims 
presented by different nations and chiefs to the Eed Eiver 



* This statement is not substantiated by the evidence of Sir George 
Simpson, Blue Book, Question 109. 



INDIAN TREATY WITH THE AMERICANS. 177 

country; but it is clearly evident that the subject will 
require close investigation and prompt action in order to 
avoid troublesome disputes. It is also apparent that the 
calls of humanity, the interests of the new colony, and 
the claims of the Indians, imperatively demand that the 
natives should be paid for their lands in such a manner 
that the future to them may not possess the sad and hope- 
less aspect which has too long met the gaze of the Indian 
race in Canada, whose hunting-grounds have been pur- 
chased witli much apparent commiseration for then" con- 
dition, but with tardy and inadequate attempts to arrest 
the late which, under such neglect, inevitably awaits them. 

The Americans have secured a tract of country thirty 
miles deep on either side of Eed Eiver, extending from 
the boundary line to Buffalo Eiver on the east bank, and 
Goose Eiver on the west bank. The area of this tract 
is betAveen 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 acres, and the sum 
paid for it was #30,000 cash, and #10,000 per annum for 
twenty years, #2000 of this annuity being reserved by 
the President, and applied to the improvement of the 
Indians. The date of this treaty is 1851. 

Eoss says* that the Assinniboines, Plain Crees, and the 
Ojibways (Saulteaux) all laid claim to the land, but the 
title of Ojibways has always been most disputed, they 
being invaders of the country; yet, being found by the 
Americans on the spot, they were recognized as the lords 
paramount of the soil. Their principal chiefs, however, 
absented themselves, being distrustful, lukewarm, and un- 
willing to sell their lands ; and the treaty was ratified 
with those, of secondary rank who attended the meeting, 
summoned by the Governor of Minnesota. 

* Appendix to the Red River Settlement, &c. 



VOL. II. 



178 ASSINNIEOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



CHAP. XXXII. 

MISSIONARY LABOUR AND ITS RESULTS. 

Indians in Canada. — Distinction between Indian Nations and Tribes. — The 
Ojibways and Mistassins. — Families, Nations, Tribes, and Bands. — 
Indian Families of Rupert's Land and Canada. — The Algonquins and 
Iroquois. — The Hurons or Wyandots. — Dispersion of the Hurons. — The 
Iroquois Confederation. — Statistics of Indians in Canada. — Canadian 
Special Commission. — The Indian Department. — Efforts to ameliorate 
the Condition of Indians. — The Manitoulin Islands and the Mission at 
Manitouaning. — The Roman Catholic Missions. — Their School and 
Village. — Wikwemikong. — Wesleyan Methodist Missions. — Indian 
Labour Schools. — Cause of the Failure. — Condition of some Indian 
Villages in Canada. — The Indians of the Northern Coast of Lakes Huron 
and Superior. — Treaty with these Indians. — Distribution of Annuities. — 
Hudson's Bay Company. — Sale of Birthrights. — Suggestion with Reference 
to a Permanent Fund for the Supervision and Instruction of Indians. — 
Lauds surrendered by Indians in Canada. — Testimony of Missionaries and 
Agents in Relation to Indians. — Advantage of Settled Homes. — Compact 
Reservations. — Indian Progress in Michigan. — At Red Lake. — At Red 
Ri ver# — Suggestions with regard to the Amelioration of the Condition 
of Indians generally. — Missionary Labour in Rupert's Land. — The 
School-house. — Suggestion for the Establishment of a General Store for 
Outposts. — Native Language. — The Bishop of Rupert's Land. — His 
Charge, January, 18G0. — The Earl of Southesk. — A Christian Assin- 
niboines' Band. — The Church in the Wilderness. 

The prospective condition of the Indian race in Paipert's 
Land will be greatly dependent upon the steps which 
may be taken by the future government of the country, 
to provide for their instruction in the Christian religion ; 
their assumption of a settled mode of life, and their con- 
sequent advancement in civilization. 

The experience of a century in Canada cannot be 



DISTINCTION BETWEEN INDIAN NATIONS. 179 

overlooked in any discussion of the measures which 
appear to commend themselves for encouragement or 
adoption, hi order to secure the amelioration of the con- 
dition of this people, whose claims upon the sympathy 
and protection of the civilized invaders of their hunting- 
grounds no humane man can dispute. A partial fore- 
knowledge of their destiny, under providence, may be 
gleaned from an examination of the condition of Indians 
living in the midst or on the borders of civilized com- 
munities, where experiments for their benefit have long 
been tried, and where the results are perfectly well but 
not widely known. 

It must be borne in mind that there is as broad a dis- 
tinction between Indian nations and even the tribal bands 
of the same nation, as between Europeans or Asiatics of 
separate origin or nationality. The stately and intelli- 
gent Ojibways, who formerly occupied the country about 
Lake Superior and the north shore of Lake Huron, and 
are now scattered from Lake Ontario to the Grand Forks 
of the Saskatchewan, ought not to be brought into com- 
parison and classed with the barbarous Mistassins, who 
hunt and fish on the lower St. Lawrence, although both 
nations belong to the same great family, and speak 
dialects of a common language. 

Even among different tribes of the same nation, great 
distinctions are found to prevail, which may be generally 
traced to the physical characters of the country they 
inhabit. The Swampy Crees of Lake Winnipeg are far 
inferior to their brethren of the prairies, and the Ojibways 
of Tecamamionen or Rainy Lake, are superior to other 
tribes of the same nation who hunt on the north shores of 
Lakes Huron and Superior. The same remark applies 
to " Bands" belonging to different tribes. The Berens 
River Band, and the Bloody River Band on Lake Winni- 

M 2 



180 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

peg are low in the scale when compared with the 
Dauphin Elver Band, and those who hunt on Lake 
Manitobah. These minor points arise into importance 
in reviewing the progress made by different bands, when 
subjected to missionary influence. 

Much misapprehension and perplexity have arisen from 
the different application by writers of the terms " Family," 
"Nation," " Tribe," and "Band" in describing the peculiari- 
ties of the Indian race. A few words on this subject 
may not be out of place. At the present day five great 
Indian "Families," as distinguished by languages of a 
radically distinct character, occupy the northern portion 
of the North American continent east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. 

They are as follows : — 

I. Esquimaux. 

II. Chipewyans. 
III. Algonquins. 
TV. Dakotahs. 

V. Iroquois. 

The Esquimaux occupy the Arctic coast, and are 
essentially a maritime people. 

The Chipewyans, the region south of the country of 
the Esquimaux, and live in the woods north of the 55th 
parallel. 

The Algonquins are in possession of the valley of the 
St. Lawrence, and of the country north of a line drawn 
from the head waters of the Mississippi, to the north 
branch of the Saskatchewan ; they are part prairie and 
part wood Indians. 

The Dakotahs occupy the valley of the Missouri, and a 
considerable portion of the upper Mississippi. They also 
extend their hunting expeditions to the North Branch of 



THE 1XDIAN FAMILIES OF BRITISH AMERICA. 181 

the Saskatchewan, confining themselves throughout this 
vast region to the prairies and plains. The Iroquois 
must be regarded as a family nearly extinct, they are 
half civilized, and from intermixture with the whites, fast 
losing in many of their settlements, all trace of pure 
Indian blood. 

When the Jesuit missionaries penetrated into Canada 
about the year 1615*, they found the country in pos- 
session of two only of these families, the Algonquins and 
the Iroquois. 

The great Algonquin family, whose hunting-grounds 
then extended from the north west side of the valley of 
the St. Lawrence to Hudson's Bay, is composed of 
numerous nations speaking a common language, but em- 
bracing many dialects. Among these are included the 
Ojibways, the Crees, the Potawatamies, the Shawnees, the 
Lenni-Lenape, the Delawares, the Ottawas, the Nippis- 
sings, the Abenakis, the Amalacites, the Montagnais, the 
Sokasis, the Mistassins, and the Mohegans. 

The Algonquins f are generally wanderers, without 
settled place of abode, living in the woods and subsisting 
upon wild animals, fish, fruits, roots, and herbs. 

The Iroquois family embraced the Hurons, Eries, and 
Mingoes or Iroquois. The Hurons or Wyandots speak a 
language not understood by the Algonquin nations, but 
allied to that of the Iroquois. They lived formerly in 
stationary villages, and cultivated the soil, growing Indian 
com, pumpkins, &c The country of the Hurons is now the 



* Le Pere Pecollet Joseph Lo Caron, in lOlo, ascended from Quebec lo the 
country of the Hurons. — Relations de quelques Missions des Peres de la 
Compagniede Jesus dans la Nouvelle France. 

f Algonquins, or Algoume'quins, a word derived from Adirondack, or 
Leaf-eaters, derisively applied to a tribe- by the Iroquois, and corrupted by 
the early French settlers into Algonquins. — Ibid. 

n3 



182 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

county of Simcoe in Western Canada, and the once cele- 
brated missions of St. Ignace, St. Louis and Ste. Marie were 
respectively situated at, or near the extremities of, Sturgeon, 
Hog, and Gloucester Bays of Lake Huron. The Hurons oc- 
cupied this limited area with a population of about 30,000 
souls, living in eighteen walled villages, until the year 
1650, when they were destroyed or dispersed by the 
murderous Iroquois. When the remnant fled from their 
enemies, they separated into five divisions ; the first band 
retired to the Manitoulin Islands, but eventually joined 
another part of the fugitives who had fled to Quebec, 
where their descendants occupy the village of La Jeune 
Lorctte. They number now 282 souls, but by intermix- 
ture with the whites, they have so lost the original purity 
of their race, that they scarcely deserve the appellation of 
Indians. Their agricultural progress may be inferred 
from the fact, that although they possess 1657 acres, very 
little is cultivated, and the present farming stock of the 
tribe amounts to fourteen cows, five horses, and nine pigs. 
They produced in 1857, 310 bushels of grain, and four- 
teen tons of hay. They possess one harrow and 63 
hoes or spades. Such is their progress after two centuries 
of instruction and guidance under the Jesuits. 

The second band applied to be received into the 
families of their conquerors, and they were incorporated 
with the Tsounontonans of the five nations of the Iroquois. 
The third band found a temporary asylum in the island 
of Michillimakinac at the upper extremity of Lake Huron, 
but being followed by the Iroquois, they retreated to the 
Mississippi, where they encountered the Sioux, who at this 
time were engaged in extending their territory towards the 
east, like the Iroquois in the contrary direction. The un- 
fortunate Hurons retired to the shores of Lake Superior, 
but were followed by the Sioux, and ultimately compelled 



THE HURONS. — THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERATION. 183 

to retrace their steps to Michillimakinac about the year 
1670, where the remnant now dwells. The fourth and 
most ill-fated of the Huron bands sought refuge among 
the Fries, who occupied the country on the north shores 
of Lake Erie. They spoke the same language as the 
Hurons and Iroquois, and lived in permanent villages. 
The presence of the Hurons among them soon excited the 
jealousy of the Iroquois, so that after a very short period 
had elapsed, both the Eries and the greater part of their 
Huron allies were cut off by the savage, envious, and 
relentless Iroquois. 

The fifth band retired to the new French colony in the 
lower St. Lawrence, where they were joined by the first 
band as already stated. 

According to the narrative of Sagard, the first historian 
of the Hurons, they occupied a distinguished position 
among savage nations. The Hurons represented the 
nobility of the country, some of the Algonquin nations 
represented the citizens, and the-Montagnais, an Algonquin 
nation, the poor.* 

The Iroquois Confederation consisted originally of a 
union of five nations, named respectively the Mohawks f, 
the One Idas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas and the 
Senecas. 

They invaded the country of the Hurons about 1650, 
and were in turn driven back by the Algonquins, into 
whose hunting-grounds north and north-east of Lake 
Huron, they appear to have penetrated. After their 
retreat the Ojibways, and particularly the Missassaguas, 
the "eagle" tribe of the Ojibways, following them, occu- 



* Relation Abregees, &c. Sec. 

t The Mohawks, Onondagas, and Cayugas are the oldest members of the 
Confederacy. Their union precedes tradition. 

n 4 • 



184 



ASSIXXIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



pied permanently the central • portion of the peninsula 
of Western Canada. 

In 1712 the Tnscaroras of North Carolina, subsequently 
to their defeat by the English, united with the Iroquois 
and formed with them the confederary of the Six 
Nations. 

At the time of the first discovery of Canada, the Iro- 
quois occupied the south-east valley of the St. Lawrence, 
especially the south shore of Lake Ontario and the region 
about the small lakes which still bear the names of the 
different nations. At the close of the war of independence, 
being firm allies of the British, they migrated into Canada, 
and in 1784 a part were established on the Grand Eiver 
on a tract comprising about 700,000 acres, which was 
confirmed to them in 1739 by letters patent. In 1845, 
there remained in the hands of these Indians 52,133 
acres, the other portion having been surrendered at dif- 
ferent times. This part of the remnant of the famous 
Six Nations, now numbers on the Grand Eiver 2550, of 
which between five and six hundred are still pagans. 
The Canadian Iroquois did not exceed 5000 in 1857. 

The following table shows the total number of Indians 
in Canada at different periods from 1827 to 1857 : — 



UPPER CANADA. 



1838 
1844 
184G 
1847 
1857 



6,643 

6,874 
8,756 
8,862 
9,094 



LOWER 


CANADA 


•t 


1827 . . 




3,649 


1837 












3,575 


1844 












3,727 


1852 












4,058 


1857 












4,396 



* Not including the Indians of the north shore of Lakes Huron and 
Superior, which number respectively, from the Sault Ste. Marie to Pigeon 
Eiver, six hands, containing 1240 Indians, and from the Sault Ste. Marie to 
French River, seventeen bands, containing 1422 souls. 

f The Indians in the Lower St. Lawrence are not included. They are 



CANADIAN INDIANS. 185 

In 1857 the Indian census, including settled and mi- 
gratory tribes, and tribes not within reach of the Mission- 
aries, gave the following numbers of this people : — 

Settled Indians in Upper Canada . 0,09-4* 

„ Lower Canada 4,326 

Nomadic tribes visiting the north shore of Lake Huron . 1,422 

n „ „ Lake Superior 1,240 

Nomadic tribes of the Lower St. Lawrence . . . 2,500 

„ not within the reach of missionaries or 

agents (estimated) 1,000 

Grand Total 19,652 

The Indians within the reach of government in the 
year 1818 were estimated at 18,000, but since that 
period immigration and the extension of the influence of 
the government will probably account for the apparent 
increase observed since 1818. 

In 1850 the Canadian Government appointed a special 
Commission to " inquire into and report upon the best 
means of securing the progress and civilization of the 
Indian tribes in Canada, and on the best mode of so ma- 
naging the Indian property, as to secure its full benefit 
to the Indians, without impeding the settlement of the 
country, "f 

The Indian Department takes cognizance of everything 
relating to Indians in Canada, and in order to carry out 
the business belonging to it, the province is divided into 
five districts, each under the charge of a local superin- 
tendent. 

chiefly Montagnais tribes. The Mistassins and Nashapees number about 2500, 
of whom 1500 are still pagans, sacrificing to the Deity, who they say 
inhabits the sun and the moon, a portion of everything they kill. 

* Compare these numbers, from official returns, with the estimate by the 
Hudson's Bay Company of Indians settled in Canada (8000), p. 159. 

t In the subsequent notice of the Indians in Canada, much of the infor- 
mation is obtained from the Report of the Canadian Commissioners, 
appointed in 1842 and 1856. 



186 ASSINXIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

The first district embraces the whole of Eastern Canada, 
and a small part of the Upper Province. The second 
stretches from the western limits of the first to the head of 
Lake Ontario, comprising also the Saugeen Peninsula, and 
some of the islands in Lake Huron. The affairs of the 
six nations, or Iroquois, on Grand Eiver, and those of the 
Mississaguas in the township of Tuscarora, occupy the 
exclusive attention of a third superintendent. The tribes 
resident throughout the western peninsula of Canada are 
under the charge of a fourth, and the bands in the occupa- 
tion of the Manitoulin Islands, together with the tribes on 
Lakes Huron and Superior, form the limits under the fifth 
superintendent. 

No opportunity has been lost, and no pains have been 
spared, since Western Canada became a province, in 
planning, suggesting, and advocating schemes for the 
amelioration of the present and the brightening of the 
prospective state of Indians in Canada, Secretaries of 
State, Governors of provinces, and special Commissioners 
have all interested themselves in the condition of the 
Indians, and suggested measures for their benefit ; but as 
the Canadian Commissioners say : " With the fatality 
which seems to have attended this unfortunate race, 
various obstacles appear to have arisen which prevented 
these benevolent and judicious projects from being carried 
out." " We are still groping in the dark, the time for 
experiments is fast passing away, if it has not already 
expired." The Commissioners see, however, no reason 
why the Indian race should not in time take their place 
among the rest of the population of Canada. A study of 
their history shows that they have all a greater or less 
appreciation of the blessings of civilization, and desire 
their children to be educated like the white man. 

The theory of the steady decline of their number is post- 



THE MANITOULIN ISLANDS. 187 

Hvely controverted by experience, when they are established 

in villages and properly superintended. There is no inhe- 
rent defect in the organization of the Indians which disqua- 
lifies them from being reclaimed from their savage state. 
Their general amelioration or marked advance towards 
civilization, must be the result of long and patient labour, 
and the development of many years. The absence of 
action in carrying out the several plans suggested has been 
most prejudicial to the Indians, yet among the experi- 
ments which have been tried, the results in some in- 
stances have shown how much can be accomplished for 
this interesting people when zealous and painstaking 
officers are intrusted with their superintendence and 
guidance. 

Perhaps no better illustration of the results attending 
the isolation of Indians, and their instruction in the arts 
of civilization, can be afforded than that offered by the 
Manitoulin Islands.* 

In 1836 Lieutenant-Governor Sir Francis Head, pro- 
posed to collect on Manitoulin, not only the wandering 
bands on the north shore of Lake Huron, but also the 
tribes settled in all parts of Upper Canada.f 

The scheme was a failure, the only Indians availing 

* The Great Manitoulin Island at the head of Lake Huron is 135 miles 
long, and from 20 to 26 miles broad. The shores of the island are hilly, and 
clothed with cedar, pine, and birch. The soil of the hills is stony and 
barren. In the interior of the island are about 20 lakes, some fully 16 to 
18 miles long, and from 8 to 10 miles wide, and from 3 to 20 fathoms deep. 
They abound with trout, pike, white fish, &c. The extent of arable land on 
the island is about one-third of its area. The trees on tho arable land arc 
elm, maple, birch, cherry, and a few oak and beech. The climate is 
remarkably health}'. — Description of the Great Manitoulin by the Roman 
( 'atholic Missionaries. 

t See Report of tho Special Commissioners, appointed on the 8th Sep- 
tember, 1850, to investigate Indian affairs in Canada. Printed by order of 
the Legislative Assembly, 1858. 



188 ASSINXIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

themselves of the offer being some from the United 
States, and from the shores of Lake Superior and Huron. 
The village of Manitouaning was built by the Canadian 
Government, and placed under the management of a 
resident superintendent, assisted by a clergyman, a surgeon, 
and a schoolmaster. Artisans were induced to go there 
and take charge of workshops, in which Indians were to 
be taught useful mechanical trades. Contributions from 
private parties to aid in the work were obtained through 
the exertions of the missionary and others. The popula- 
tion in 1843 was estimated at 90 individuals. The only 
other village on the island at that time was Wikwemikons;, 
founded previous to 1836 by Ottawa Indians from Mi- 
chigan, who had long been converted from heathenism by 
Soman Catholic missionaries and possessed some know- 
ledge of agriculture before their arrival on the island. In 
1813, this village contained 73 Indian houses and was 
estimated to comprise 376 individuals. There were also 
a church, a school-house and a saw-mill, together with a 
house for the missionary and one for the schoolmaster. 

In 1857 the total Indian population of the island was 
1290, being composed of 977 Catholics, 104 Protestants*, 
and 145 Pagans, occupying 13 stationary villages and 
60 birch-bark tents. With respect to the Protestant 
village of Manitouaning the Commissioners said in 1857 : 
"Many of the buildings are deserted and ruinous — the 
school-house is dilapidated and untenable, and the work- 
shops from which the mechanics are withdrawn, are des- 
titute of tools, deserted by the Indians who formerly 
worked there, and in an utter state of decay. The church 
is in tolerable repair, but we found no Indian attending 
the services.'" 

* The Protestant missionaries claim 117 converts on the island. 



CONDITION OF THE MISSIONS OX THE MAXITOULIN. 189 

"The school returns show twenty children as receiving 
instruction ; but the greatest number of days during the 
last quarter, on which any one child attended the school, 
was fourteen, and ten of the children do not appear to have 
been present for a single day."' The Eev. Mr. Jacobs 
stated in 1857, that the number of Indians at his station 
belonging to his congregation was forty-two. 

The Commissioners report his settlement to be " in a 
much more prosperous condition than Manitouaning, both 
houses and forms being tidy and kept in better order." 

The Roman Catholic Mission is next described by the 
Commissioners.* Wikwemikong contains a population of 
580 all belonging to the Eoman Catholic Church. " Al- 
though not so well situated as Manitouaning, prosperity 
smiles upon the settlement. 

" The Indians appear respectable in their dress, indus- 
trious in their habits, healthy and contented ; the services 
of the church are reported to be numerously attended ; 
the schools were crowded with clean, healthy, intelligent 
children of both sexes, numbering 125 in the school 
register. We satisfied ourselves by examination, that 
the average attendance has been of late for the boys 
45 days in the quarter and 56 days for the girls. 

* It will be a subject of deep regret to members of the Church of Eng- 
land tbat the Canadian Commissioners felt it their duty to recommend that 
a year's gratuity sboidd be given to the resident Protestant missionary at 
Manitouaning, and that he should be placed on the retired list; also, that the 
Protestant English school should be abandoned as "practically useless," 
and simultaneously with this negative evidence of inefficiency and failure, 
they shoidd feel themselves com pilled to recommend that a schoolmaster 
should be appointed in the Roman Catholic Mission at Wikwemikong. No 
doubt the recommendation was just, aud conveyed an appropriate acknow- 
ledgment of the untiring zeal, and unfailing energies of the Roman 
Catholic Missionaries. With respect to the other villages on the Manitoulin 
Island, the Commissioners say: — "Notwithstanding that Christianity is 
making slow and painful progress among them, they must still be consid< !• d 
as almost at the bottom of the scale of civilization." 



ISO ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

" The village, which lias been erected entirely by the 
Indians themselves, contains a spacious church, substan- 
tially built of stone, plainly finished, and decorated inside 
in Indian style. The missionaries' house, which has been 
built for them by their congregation, is also of stone." 

In 1848 a manual labour school was built at Alderville 
in the county of Northumberland, Upper Canada, at a cost 
of $6,328, and a further sum of $515 has since been laid 
out in repairs. Another school at Muncey Town was 
finished in 1851, the amount expended on it being 
$5,500. In 1856 it was found necessary to enlarge this 
school, involving an additional outlay of $3,660, and in 
1857 repairs to the amount of $640 raised the total sum 
expended to $9,800. These schools are appropriated to 
Ojibways and Missassaguas. The management was en- 
trusted to the Wesleyan Methodist Society. The Indian 
Department pays the Society for the board, clothing, and 
education of each child from a fund derived from the 
annuities of the tribes benefited by the schools. The 
average annual cost of each child has been $64 per head. 
The Wesleyan Methodist Society engaged to supply fur- 
niture, books, stationery, stock and farming implements, as 
well as to pay the superintendent and teachers, and to 
provide such assistance as would be necessary to efficiently 
conduct the institution. The average attendance at these 
schools has been, at Alnwick, twenty-three boys and six- 
teen girls ; at Muncey Town (Mount Elgin), twenty boys 
and twenty-one girls. The management has been good, 
but the results have not answered the expectations of the 
projectors and sustainers. 

In 1857 each farm attached to the different schools 
had about seventy acres under crop, but the amount ex- 
pended by the Society in addition to the sum paid by the 
Indian Department was $2,200. The impression pro- 



FAILURE OF THE MANUAL LABOUR SCHOOLS. 191 

duced. 011 the children is very transient. " They do not 
seem to carry back with them to their homes any desire 
to spread among their people the instruction which they 
have received. They are contented as before to live in 
the same slovenly manner, the girls make no effort to im- 
prove the condition of their houses, nor do the boys 
attempt to assist them parents steadily on the farm." 

The Commissioners think that the following obstacles 
have impeded the success of the experiment : — 

First, the children are too old when they are received 
into the institution. 

Secondly, they remain too short a time at these 
establishments. 

Thirdly, the system docs not make any provision for 
the settlement in life of those who complete their edu- 
cation. 

Fourthly, neither the funds at the disposal of the In- 
dian Department, nor those furnished by the Society have 
been sufficient to enable them to extend the system of 
practical education so as to include any of the mechanical 
arts. After seven years' experience of the effects of those 
schools, the Commissioners recommended the withdrawal 
of the annual portion of the funds furnished by the Indian 
Department from Indian revenues, which, it was suggested, 
should revert to their original object at the commencement 
of the next financial year. 

Such is the cheerless conclusion of an experiment as far 
as the Indian Department was concerned, where the re- 
sult might have been very different if one establishment 
had been assisted with the -funds applied to both. One 
hundred and thirty dollars per annum for each child does 
not appear too large a sum in order that so important an 
experiment, promising such excellent results if efficiently 
carried out, should be thoroughly tested. 



192 ASSINNIBOINE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

The present condition of the several villages which have 
been built by Government for the Indians in different 
parts of Canada, reveals a deplorable condition of decay 
into which long continued neglect has brought them. 
" The Indian is content to inhabit a hovel so dilapidated 
as to be hardly tenantable, without exerting himself to put 
it into repair." This lamentable state of affairs appears to 
occur only in the absence of strict supervision. 

The northern coasts of Lakes Huron and Superior re- 
mained in the occupancy of nomadic bands of Ojibway 
Indians until the year 1850, when the whole of this vast 
extent of country with the exception of certain reserves 
was surrendered to the Canadian Government for the sum 
of #16,640 paid down and '$4,400 in perpetual annuity, 
of which #2,400 is payable to the tribes on Lake Huron 
and $2,000 is divided among those inhabiting the shores- 
of Lake Superior. 

The number of Indians inhabiting the northern shores 
of Lake Huron in 1850 was only 1,422 and of Lake 
Superior 1,240, making a total Indian population of 2,662 
souls over an extent of country exceeding England in area, 
and not yet approached by civilization except at the Hud- 
son's Bay Company's posts, and at a few mining locations. 
Of the 1,422 Indians on the north shore of Lake Huron 
317 are Christians, divided as follows: — Catholics 294, 
Wesleyans 20, Church of England three. Many of these 
Indians, it may be with propriety mentioned here, visit 
Manitouamng, on Manitoulin Island.* 



* The Commissioners state that " These tribes live for the most part by 
hunting, and on the produce of their fisheries, although they do raise a few 
potatoes, and a little Indian corn ; and they find a market for disposing of 
their peltries and supplying themselves with necessaries at the posts of the 
Hudson's Bay Company. They are quite nomadic in their habits ; seldom 
living or remaining long in one spot, and contented with the shelter afforded 



INDIANS OF LAKES HURON AND SUPEEIOR. 193 

Iii commenting upon the treaty which surrendered to 
the Canadian Government a territory as large as England, 
rich in minerals, fisheries, and forests, and tenanted by 
2662 Indians, part of the remnant of that great Algon- 
quin confederacy, which two hundred years ago drove the 
Iroquois to the south shore of Lake Ontario, the Commis- 
sioners say, " if we considered that it came properly within 
our province, we should not hesitate to express our decided 
regret, that a treaty, shackled by such stipulations, whereby 
a vast extent of country has been wrung from the Indians 
for a comparatively nominal sum, should have received 
the sanction of the Government." 

The distribution of the annuities to the Lake Superior 
Indians is made through the agents of the Hudson's Bay 
Company, who have "voluntarily assumed " and faithfully 
discharged this task. It will not escape notice that the 
voluntarily assumed distribution tends to secure the 
services of the Indians as permanent hunters to the dif- 
ferent fur-trading posts, where they assemble to receive 
their miserable pay for the vast extent of country 
surrendered. Many will be disposed to ask why no 
portion of the annuities or of unclaimed arrears should 
have been reserved for evangelizing, educating, and esta- 
blishing in permanent villages, these wandering savages, in 
the hope of reclaiming a few of their number from bar- 
barism. If the poor remains of once numerous and power- 
ful tribes are encouraged to continue their nomadic habits 
of life, they will perish one by one from the face of the 
earth, leaving no records behind them but " treaties " to 



by a bark wigwam or a hut of reeds. It is only during the spring and autumn, 
when they come down from the high grounds to the border of the lake, that 
tin v are accessible to those who woidd urge on them the necessity of 
Christianity and civilization. There is no difficulty, therefore, in accounting 
for the small apparent results of the labours of the missionaries." 
VOL. II. O 



194 



ASSINNIBOINB AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



show with what utter absence of reflection and fore- 
thought they sacrificed their country and the rights of 
their children. This almost wanton indifference to the 
future shows that they possess an irresistible claim to the 
care and sympathy of a powerful Christian government. 
When many thousand pounds yearly are solicited and 
willingly contributed by the great charities of England to 
the spread of the Gospel among Indians who still claim 
and possess the soil, it would surely be true charity, as 
far as Rupert's Land is concerned, to urge the importance 
of establishing a fund from the proceeds of the sale of 
lands, after the Indian title is extinguished as a preliminary 
to settlement, to be devoted exclusively to the instruction 
and supervision of those who so recklessly part with their 
birthright An addition of one penny per acre to the 
sum paid to Indians in Canada for the lands they have 
surrendered, would have produced an annual sum sufficient 
to afford a permanent maintenance to two hundred minis- 
ters, teachers, or superintendents. 

The following table shows the aggregate quantity of land 
surrendered at different times by the Indians of Canada, 
and the price which has been paid to them per acre : — 



Name of Tribe. 



Number of Acres sur- 
rendered. 



Ojibways 

Missassagas 

Ottawas, Pottawatamies, Chip- \ 



pewas, and Huxons 
Delaware.? . 
Sangeen Indians. 
Ojibways of Lake Superior 
„ „ Huron 

Total . 



J 



7,373,000 
6,737,750 

2,001,078 

1,500,000 
Not known. 



500/. 
G00/. 



16,137,835 acres. 



Average Price paid 
per Acre. 



2U 

■J of a penny. 

3 
16 )) 

2s. 

3if/. 



lid. 



The complete isolation of Indians, in order to shield 



INDIAN SURRENDERS. — SANITARY CONDITION. 105 

them from the contaminating influence of the whites, in- 
volves the necessity of stringent police regulations pro- 
hibiting the sale of spirits, otherwise the system becomes 
a failure.* It appears to be an established fact that the 
health of settled tribes is much better than that of others 
hovering on the borders of civilization. "Epidemics are 
less fatal, while the diminished exposure checks the ravages 
of consumption and of febrile attacks consequent on the 
hardships inseparable from the precariousness of a hunter's 
life. The more regular supply of wholesome food is an- 
other cause of the improved sanitary condition of the 
settled tribes, "f 

The scarcity of the larger animals diminishing their 
supply of suitable food, and the general adoption of manu- 
factured articles of clothing, such as blankets and cloth, 
in place of the prepared skins of animals, in which they 
formerly clothed themselves, have been largely instru- 
mental in making the present nomadic tribes more sus- 
ceptible of disease than their ancestors. 

The testimony of missionaries and agents, embodied in 
their reports to the head of the Indian Department of the 
United States, is unanimous in deprecating the system of 
frequent removal, as practised in the western territories. 

Instances are not wanting, either in Canada or the United 
States, to show that compact reservations surrounded by 
the whites are a state favourable to the civilization and 
progress of the Indian. In Michigan, the franchise, and 
all other lights of citizenship, are exercised by the Indians. 
They there form an integral part of the population of the 
state, on the same footing as their white neighbours. 

* In Canada the whites follow the Indians with spirits into the bush, and 
obtain, at a nominal rate, the fruits of months of toil. The same occurs in 
Rupert's Land. 

t Report of the Commissioners. 

O 2 



196 ASSINNIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

The Mission established in 1843 at Eed Lake for the 
Ojibways who hunt south of the boundary line, may be 
instanced as offering a successful illustration of the force 
of example and the benefit of instruction. The Indians 
cultivate fields of Indian corn and potatoes. The houses 
of the missionaries are good and comfortable, and their 
farm is kept in as good order, and is as well cultivated as 
any farm in the States. It is really what is intended to 
be, a " model farm," and the happy results of them example 
are seen all around them in the well-cultivated fields of 
the Indians, and the excellent cabins of many of them.* 

The Indian settlement at Eed River, already described 
(Vol. I. p. 201), is another happy instance of the excellent 
results attending zealous missionary labour and supervision. 
The Canadian Commissioners notice a curious feature 
connected with the advance of civilization among the 
aboriginal population, namely, the taste for agricultural 
improvement by no means keeps pace with their progress 
in point of mental cultivation. By giving them a direct 
interest in the land itself, by securing a fixed location 
to each family, it is predicted that their attention will 
be turned to the improvement of it. Hitherto each tribe 
or band settled within the limits of the province has held 
the reserves apportioned to them in common, and are 
by law exempt from taxes and assessments. 

The conclusions at which the Canadian Commissioners 
have arrived, after a very patient and protracted investi- 
gation of the condition of Indians in Canada, may be thus 
briefly expressed f: — 

1. In all cases in Western Canada where a final loca- 
tion of a band shall be determined upon, the head of each 

* Owen's Geological Report of Wisconsin, Iowa, &c, p. S27. 
t Report of the Canadian Commissioners, Blue Book. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THE CIVILIZATION OF INDIANS. 197 

family shall be allotted a farm not exceeding twenty-five 
acres in extent, including an allowance of woodland, 
where they may obtain fuel ; that for such farm he shall 
receive a licence giving exclusive occupation of the same 
to him and his heirs for ever, on condition of bringing 
into cultivation a certain number of acres in a given time. 

2. When bunds have been located, and houses built for 
them by Government, a -mall portion of their annuities 
derived from the original sale of their lands should be re- 
served as a fund to meet the necessary expenses attending 
repairs. 

3. The establishment of industrial schools and model 
farms should be encouraged and promoted. The reports 
from the United States Commissioners show the most 
gratifying results to have arisen from this system. 

4. The attendance of children at school should be en- 
forced by fine, or a deduction of a portion of the annuities 
due to the parents. 

5. The appointment of local agents, who should be 
compelled to reside among the Indians. 

6. The establishment of Government stores, with a view 
to supply the Indians with goods at fixed rates, and to 
purchase their produce ; also the establishment of suitable 
stores under licence. 

7. The disuse of Indian dialects, and instruction in the 
English language (French in Lower Canada). 

8. The gradual extinction of tribal organization. 

9. The absolute prohibition of intoxicating liquors.* 
The impressions produced, upon a mental review of the 

condition and progress of the missionary stations between 
Lake Superior and the Grand Forks of the Saskatchewan, 

* All experience tends to show that intemperance ia the worst em my of 
the Indian race. 

o 3 



198 ASSIXXIBOIXE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

nearly all of which I have visited*, have assumed the form 
of convictions, which I briefly introduce here merely as a 
traveler's record. 

While it is evident that the progress of evangelizing 
the heathen Indians is decidedly encouraging on the whole, 
much, very much, under Providence, depends upon the 
personal character and individual exertions of the mis- 
sionary. Failure, or rather the want of that degree of 
success which circumstances have appeared to promise, 
may generally be traced to an injudicious selection of the 
site for a missionary station, whence arose insuperable 
difficulties in providing the Indians with fixed abodes, 
and the ultimate prospect of maintaining themselves by 
cultivating the soil. The Bishop of Rupert's Land refers 
pointedly to the problem which Rupert's Land now pre- 
sents, in his journal of 1859.f " Difficulties at the two 
stations remain, nor would I conceal them ; but they are 
the universal Indian difficulties — the want of food, and 
the consequent inability to maintain the families around a 
central point. This is the Indian problem, the same through- 
out the land, which has still to be worked out, and re- 
quires much patient thought." 

Disappointment in receiving the necessary supplies for 
keeping up the station, and the competitive opposition of 
the fur-trade, are formidable difficulties of constant occur- 
rence. Most of all, however, is the absence of success due 
to a natural incapacity or indisposition to fulfil the duties 

* The Roman Catholic Mission of the Immaculate Conception, on the 
Kaministicmia, Lake Superior ; the Church of England Mission at Isling- 
ton, Winnipeg River ; the Indian Missionary Village at Led River ; Prairie 
Portage on the Assinniboine ; the Qu'appelle Lake Mission; the Xepowe- 
win on the Main Saskatchewan ; Fairford on Partridge Crop River ; the 
churches at Selkirk Settlement, St. John's, St. Paul's, St. Andrew's, the 
Roman Catholic Cathedral, the Pesbyterian Mission, and the Roman 
Catholic Red Lake Mission. 

t The Church Missionary Record, March, 1860. 



MISSIONARY QUALIFICATIONS. 199 

imposed by the position in which the missionary is placed. 
These imperatively demand rare qualities, which in com- 
mon life it is difficult to find united in one man ; patient 
endurance, much long-suffering, deep heartfelt sympathy 
for the objects of his care, a warm interest in his work, and 
unflinching readiness to encounter difficulties, whether they 
be those of language and superstition, or mere physical 
hardship and privation. 

The school-house appears to be beyond all compari- 
son, the main hope of missionary success. In order to 
christianize the rising generation, they must be induced 
to relinquish their wandering habits of life, and settle 
down in permanent villages. Nomadic Christian Indians 
are subjected to extraordinary trials, which do not readily 
occur to one not familiar with their character and man- 
ner of living. Indians are extremely susceptible of ri- 
dicule, and possess a great degree of family pride ; they 
are consequently often unable to resist the jeers and 
scoffs of the conjurors, or rise superior to the taunts of 
those who upbraid them for forsaking the gods of their 
fathers. 

It is very desirable that a missionary station should 
not be situated near a fur-trading post ; a settled life is 
diametrically opposed to the fur trade, whose stability 
rests upon the hunters and trappers in its employ. It has 
happened in Rupert's Land, that when a missionary has 
succeeded, after years of anxiety and toil, in establishing 
a station, and gathered round him a little band of Indians 
who have embraced Christianity, a fur-trading post has 
been established close by, tending to unsettle and de- 
moralize those who would otherwise have remained 
quiet and stationary Christians. 

In such districts as Mackenzie's River, the missionary 
is absolutely dependent upon the Hudson's Bay Company, 

o 4 



20D ASSIXXIBOIXE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXrEDITIOX. 

and indeed up to the present year, they have been more 
or less dependent upon the Company for supplies of every 
description ; now, however, that goods can be conveyed 
very cheaply by the American steamers on Red River 
from Minnesota, the time appears to have arrived when 
the stations south of the Saskatchewan should be no 
longer dependent upon the Company. The establishment 
of a general store at Eed River under the supervision of 
the Bishop for the exclusive use of non-resident mission- 
aries south of the Saskatchewan, would be of immense 
assistance. The store should be placed under the charge 
of an experienced business man, and be limited in its 
operation to the outposts, or to- missions having an ex- 
clusive Indian population. An annual sum should also 
be at the disposal of the Bishop, to enable him to obtain 
at all times the means of sending supplies to distant 
stations. 

The want of a general familiarity with the native lan- 
guage is severely felt ; interpreters are dangerous, nor 
do they always rightly understand or render the words of 
the missionary. The present time is eminently favour- 
able for the selection of permanent village sites, sur- 
rounded by a sufficient area of arable and pasture land to 
provide for the future independence of the Indians who 
may be induced to settle, hi the organization of a new 
colony, the native races will doubtless not be forgotten. 
The examples furnished by Canada show how much may 
be done under judicious management if an early beginning 
is made, and how much may be lost to these thoughtless 
people if they are not placed under proper supervision 
and protected by special laws. 

In different parts of the narrative I have adverted to 
the character of missionary labour in the wilderness, as 
exemplified by the patient, self-denying constancy of the 



THE EISIIOP OF RUPERT'S LAND AT RED RIVER. 201 

Pere Chone of the mission of the Immaculate Conception 
on the Kaministiquia, Lake Superior, by the unceasing 
attention and devotion at all times and seasons of theKev« 
A. Cowley at the Indian settlement, Eed Eiver, by the 
undaunted energy of the Eev. Archdeacon Cochrane of 
Prairie Portage, the exemplary perseverance of the Rev. 
Mr. Stage* of Fairford, and the talented labours of the 

no 

Rev. Archdeacon Hunter of St. Andrew's, recently re- 
turned from the far-off wilds of Mackenzie's River ; and 
I shall now venture to introduce one suggestive feature 
in the labours of his lordship the Bishop of Rupert's 
Land. 

Before leaving the settlement I went to pay his lord- 
ship a parting visit, and not finding him at his residence, 
I proceeded, as directed, to the school-house, where he 
might probably be found, although it was after school 
hours. On entering the room I found the Bishop seated 
between two young Cree half-breeds, teaching them 
quadratic equations. His lordship told me that the 
two lads showed a remarkable talent for mathematics, and 
for the sake of encouragement, he made a point of giving 
them instruction in algebra after the daily routine of the 
school was over, so that this extra tuition should in no 
way interfere with .the more necessary requirements 

* "It is always a pleasure to mark Mr. Stagg's earnest and warm-hearted 
piety : lie lias always bis one great object before bim — to win souls to the 
Saviour, and gain some orphans for his Home. His warmth and affectionate- 
of manner are very contagious, and he is a great favourite wherever be 
goes. He wauled to obtain twenty hundred weights of flour in the Red 
River, of which I gave him but little hope ; but, through his persuasion 
and popularity, he gained his desire, and succeeded in getting the full 
supply when most others would have failed. He had with him his faithful 
catechist, Luke Caldwell, and a crew from his own people at Fairford. He 
is happy with them, and they with him ; and I was glad to meet them all, 
and spend with them a portion of a day." — Journal Letter from the Bishop 
of Rupert's Land, Church Missionary Record, Feb. 1860. 



202 ASSINNIBOINE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

for their future station in life. This little incident 
forcibly impressed me with a sense of the daily duties 
and responsibilities which a true missionary may create 
for himself in remote and barbarous Eupert's Land, even 
though he occupy the distinguished position of a Bishop 
in the Anglican Church. In a charge delivered to the 
clergy of the diocese of Eupert's Land at St. John's, Eed 
Eiver, on January Gth, 1860, his lordship thus sums up 
the present condition of his diocese :— 

" With this measure of apparent outward strength there 
are some causes and hindrances which, I think you will 
agree with me, tend to cripple and retard our work. 

" There is the very migratory character of our most 
settled population. This may, in the good providence of 
God, carry onward the tide of population and scatter it 
over the wilderness. It may thus ultimately answer a good 
purpose ; but its tendency at the time is felt by most of us 
very painfully. It weakens parishes and very materially 
checks education, rendering it more expensive and diffi- 
cult to be extended to all. It keeps the mass in a state 
of greater poverty, and prevents their growth and rise. 
It lessens the amount of public spirit and local attachment, 
and perpetuates many of the habits of Indian life. It parts 
and separates, where, if united, all would be combination 
and strength. 

" There is, too, the want of a deeper religious life, even 
amongst the more advanced Christians. Here there is 
stagnation instead of movement. The Word is heard with 
joy and received with readiness ; but it is the develop- 
ment of the rich fruit which the minister looks for, and 
looks too often in vain. Measuring themselves rather by 
that from which God hath saved them — the condition of 
the heathen who know not God — than by the standard of 
by-gone generations and of other countries, they are satis- 



CHARGE OF THE BISHOP OF RUPERTS LAND. 203 

fied with smaller attainments ; they rest contented with a. 
lower level, and do not press forward to the measure of 
the stature of a perfect man. Their condition is a matter 
of rejoicing to the minister of God at first, as they are 
eager to hear. It is in their after-course that he suffers 
disappointment. The building stops before he is pre- 
pared ; the growth terminates suddenly, after advancing 
for a time with rapidity, and there is not the higher 
experience of the divine life. 

" There is, morever, an additional check in the Indian 
work. It is a transition period ; change is anticipated. 
An excitement has seized the Indian mind, and he is little 
inclined to give a calm and patient attention to the claims 
of the Gospel. A wider competition is afloat, and baits 
are held out by the unscrupulous which the poor Indian 
is too weak to resist. A greater difficulty has thus been 
found in selecting and planting new stations, while at the 
old-established missions the steadfastness of the convert 
has been very sorely tried, if not, in some cases, too suc- 
cessfully shaken. Direct conversions have in consequence 
been less numerous during the last two years, and I much 
fear that the next two or three may continue to tell the 
same tale. At all events, the Indian is less hopeful, and 
more difficult to act upon, than he was found to be five 
years ago. 

" With these and other causes impeding the progress 
of our work, and materially affecting its character, the 
testimony of all of us would, if I mistake not, be some- 
what similar to-day ; our common acknowledgment would 
be, that the interval since we last met has not been marked 
with such distinct success as previous periods ; that 
some of our more sanguine expectations have only been 
faintly realized. Now, if such be your feelings, brethren, 
is there no deeper agency to which we may trace this ? 



204 ASSIXXIB0IXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

Is the condition peculiar to ourselves, or may we throw 
it under a wider classification, and identify it with what 
we notice elsewhere on a wider scale ? The answer to 
my own mind is sufficiently clear ; the explanation which 
alone appears to me to account for it, is a greater measure 
of power put forth by Satan in the days in which we live, 
not only here but over the whole earth. Can we, then, 
substantiate this in the world, so as to prove it more than 
an idle dream?" 

The Fort Garry Nor'-wester of January 14th, 1860, in 
a report of a meeting held at St. John's school-house, 
Eed Eiver, states that the Earl of Southesk, who had just 
returned from a hunting expedition to the Eocky Moun- 
tains, informed the meeting that when in the immediate 
neighbourhood of that distant mountain region, he fell in 
with about twelve families of Assinniboine Indians who 
professed Christianity, and, so far as he could judge, were 
acting up to their profession. These families were remote 
from any missionary station, and had not even seen a 
missionary for many years. Still they showed consider- 
able acquaintance with the Scriptures, and were regular 
in their morning and evening devotions. A little bell was 
always rung as their signal for assembling to worship, and 
the singing of hymns formed part of their religious exer- 
cises. At their earnest request Ms lordship wrote out for 
them several passages of Scripture. Their knowledge of 
religion is supposed to have been imparted to them by 
Eev. Mr. Randall, a Wesleyan Missionary, who went to 
Fort Edmonton in 1839, and left the country in 1847, on 
account of ill-health. They have, however, a regular 
teacher in one of themselves, who has been set apart by 
them for that purpose. 

This is truly the " Church in the wilderness," not 
unfrcquently represented, however humbly, in the prairies 



A PLAIN CREE'S MODE OF REMEMBERING SUNDAY. 205 

of the far West or the illimitable wastes of Rupert's 
Land, where Christian Indian hunters, when they meet 
together, often celebrate divine service after their own 
fashion, meekly repeating the prayers and hymns they 
have learned from the missionaries. A Plain Cree on 
the Qnappelle once astonished me by producing a 
short notched stick, and after regarding it for a while, 
he turned to one of my half-breeds and asked if the day 
was not Sunday. The seed which has been sown, often 
starts into life after lying dormant for years, and produces 
a great variety of fruit. It is " bread cast upon the waters, 
which will be found after many days." 



20G ASSINN1B01NE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



CHAP. XXXIII. 

THE HUDSON'S BAY GOMPAKY. 

Incorporation of the Hudson's Hay Company. — Profits of the Company. — 
The North-West Company of Montreal. — Union of the two Companies. 
— Profits of the Hudson's Bay Company after the Union. — Proprietors 
and Stock of the Company. — Administration of their Affairs. — Sir George 
Simpson. — The Council. — Departments, Districts, and Posts. — Extent 
of the Administration of the Company for the prosecution of the Fur 
Trade. 

The Hudson's Bay Company was incorporated in the year 
1G70, under a royal charter of Charles the Second, 
which granted them certain territories in North America, 
together with exclusive privileges of trade and other 
rights and advantages. During the first twenty years of 
their existence the profits of the Company were so great * 
that, notwithstanding considerable losses sustained by the 
capture of some of their establishments by the French, 
amounting in value to 118,014/., they were enabled to 
make a payment to the proprietors in 1684 of fifty per 
cent., another payment in 1688 of fifty per cent., and a 
farther payment in 1689 of twenty-five per cent. 

In 1690 the stock was trebled without any call being 
made, besides affording a payment to the proprietors of 
twenty-five per cent, on the increased or newly created 
stock ; from 1692 to 1697 the Company incurred loss 
and damage to the amount of 97,500/. sterling from the 

* See Letter from the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company to the 
Lords of the Committee of Privy Coimcil for Trade, Fehruary 7th, 1838. 



ORIGIN AND "WEALTH OF THE HUDSON S BAY COMPANY. 207 

French. In 1720 their circumstances were so far im- 
proved that they again trebled their capital stock, with 
only a call of ten per cent, from the proprietors, on 
which they paid dividends averaging nine per cent, for 
many years, showing profits on the originally subscribed 
capital stock actually paid up of between sixty and 
seventy per cent, per annum from the year 1690 to 1800, 
or during a period of 110 years. 

Up to this time the Hudson's Bay Company enjoyed a 
monopoly of the fur trade, and reaped a rich harvest of 
wealth and influence. 

In 1783 the North- West Company was formed, having 
its head-quarters at Montreal. The North- West Company 
soon rose to the position of a formidable rival to the 
Hudson's Bay Company, and the territory the two com- 
panies traded in became the scene of animosities, feuds, 
and bloodshed, involving the destruction of property, 
the demoralization of the Indians, and the ruin of the fur 
trade. Owing to this opposition, the interest of the 
Hudson's Bay Company suffered to such an extent, that 
between 1800 and 1821, a period of twenty-two years, 
their dividends were, for the first eight years, reduced to 
four per cent., during the next six years they could pay 
no dividend at all, and for the remaining eight years they 
could pay only four per cent. 

In the year 1821 a union between the North- West and 
Hudson's Bay Companies took place, under the title of the 
last named. The proprietary were called upon to pay 
100/. per cent, upon their capital, which, with the stock 
in trade of both parties in the country, formed a capital 
stock of 400,000/., on which four per cent, dividend was 
paid in the years 1821 to i824, and from that time half 
yearly dividends of five per cent, to 1828, from 1828 to 
1832 a dividend of five per cent., with a bonus of ten per 



208 ASSI.YX1BOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

cent, was paid, and from 1832 to 1837 a dividend of five 
per cent., with an average bonus of six per cent. The 
distribution of profits to the shareholders for the years 
1817 to 1856, both inclusive, was as follows : — 

1847 — 1819, ten per cent, per annum ; 1850, twenty- 
par cent, per annum, of which ten per cent, was added 
to stock ; 1851, ten per cent. ; 1852, fifteen per cent., of 
which five per cent, was added to stock ; 1853, 18/. 4s. 6c?., 
of which 8/. 4s. Qd. was added to stock ; 1854 to 1856, 
ten per cent, per annum dividend.* Of 268 proprietors 
in July 1856, 196 have purchased their stock at from 
220 to 240 per cent.f 

* Letter from R. G. Smith, Esq., Secretary to the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, to H. Merivale, Esq. — Appendix to Report from the Select Committee 
on the Hudson's Bay Company. 

t The capital employed hy the Hudson's Bay Company is as follows : — 

June 1st 1856. 

£ s. d. 

Amount of assets. , 1,468,301 16 3 

Amoimt of liabilities 203,233 16 11 



Capital 1,265,067 19 4 

Consisting of, £ s . & 

Stock, standing in the names of the proprietors . 500,000 
Valuation of the Company's lands and buildings, 

exclusive of Vancouver's Island and Oregon . 318,884 12 8 
Amount expended up to 16th September 1856, 

in sending miners and labourers to Van- 
couver's Island, in the coal mines, and other 

objects of colonization, exclusive of the trading 

establishments of the Company, and which 

amount will be repayable by Government if 

possession of the island is resumed . . 87,071 8 3 

Amount invested in Fort Victoria and other 

establishments and posts in Vancouver's Island, 

estimated at 75,000 

Amount paid to the Earl of Selkirk for Red 

River Settlement . . . ... . 84,111 18 5 



Carried forward . . 1,065,067 19 4 



COUNCIL AND OFFICERS OF THE II. B. COMPANY. 209 

The affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company are managed 
by a Governor-in-chief, sixteen chief factors, twenty-nine 
chief traders, five surgeons, eighty-seven clerks, sixty- 
seven postmasters, twelve hundred permanent servants, 
and five hundred voyageurs, besides temporary employes 
of different ranks, chiefly consisting of voyageurs and 
servants. The total number of persons in the employ of 
the Hudson's Bay Company is about 3000. 

Sir George Simpson has been Governor of the Hudson's 
Bay Company for forty years. He exercises a general 
supervision over the Company's affairs, presides at their 
councils in the country, and has the principal direction of 
the whole interior management in North America. The 
Governor is assisted by a council for each of the two 
departments into which the territory is divided. 

The seat of council for the northern department is at 
Norway House, on Lake Winnipeg ; for the southern de- 
partment at Michipicoten, Lake Superior, or Moose 
Factory, on James' Bay. 

The council consists of the chief officers of the Com- 
pany, the chief factors being ex-officio members of council. 
Their deliberations are conducted in private. The sixteen 
chief factors are in charge of different districts in the 
territory, and a certain number of them assemble every 
year at Norway House, for the northern department, 
generally about the middle of June, to meet the Governor 
and transact business. Seven chief factors, with the 

£ s. ,1. 

Brought forward 1,005,007 19 4 

Property and investments in the territory of 
Oregon, ceded to the United States by the 
treaty of 1846, and which are secured to the 
Company as possessory rights under that 
treaty— #1,000,000 sterling .... 200,000 

Total . £1,205,007 19 4 
VOL. II. P 



210 ASSIXNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



Governor, form a quorum, but if a sufficient number of 
the higher rank of officers are not present, a quorum is 
established by the admission of chief traders. 

The Hudson's Bay Company's operations extend not 
only over that part of North America called Rupert's 
Land and the Indian territory, but also over part of 
Canada, Newfoundland, Oregon, Russian America, and the 
Sandwich Isles. The following table exhibits the number 
of departments and district posts into which this immense 
territory is divided for the prosecution of the fur trade : — 



Country. 


Departments. Districts. 


No. of Posts . 






' Athabaska . 


4 






McKenzie River . 


11 








English River. 


5 








Saskatchewan 


9 


Part of Indian territory 






Cumberland . 


3 


and part of Rupert's 


Northern. 


< 


Swan River . 


G 


Land. 






Red River . 

Lac la Pluie . 

Norway House 
.York . 
' Albany 

Kmogumisse 

Lake Superior 


6 
7 
3 
5 
4 
2 
9 


Tart of Rupert's Land, 
and Canada. 


Southern. 


< 


Lake Huron . 

Saidt St. Marie 

Moose . 

East [Main . 

Rupert's River 
b Temiscamingue 
'Fort Coulonge 

Lac des Sables 


5 
1 
4 
3 

8 
6 

o 

2 


Newfoundland and part 


Montreal 


< 


Lacluire 

St. Maurice . 


1 
3 


of Rupert's Land. 






King's Posts 
Mingan 
.Esquimaux Bay . 


6 

Q 

' 4 


Part of Indian territory, 






'Columbia 

Colville 


8 


Wa shington territory, 


Oregon. 


\ 


5 


U.S. and Oregon, U.S. 




[_ Snake Country 


3 


Vancouver's Island, part 
of Indian territory and 
Russian America. 


Western 


f Vancouver's Island 
J North-West Coast 
| Thompson's River 
[_New Caledonia 


3 

1 
1 

8 


3 Independent Countries. 


5 Depmts. 


33 Districts. 


162 Posts. 



EXTENT OF THE II. B. COMPANY'S OPERATIONS. 211 

Irom the foregoing table it appears that the operations 

of the Hudson's Bay Company extend over territories 
whose inhabitants owe allegiance to three different and 
independent governments, British, Russian, and the United 
States. These immense territories, exceeding 4,500,000 
square miles in area, are divided, for the exclusive purposes 
of the fur trade, into four departments and thirty-three 
districts, in which are included one hundred and fifty-two 
posts, commanding the services of three thousand agents, 
traders, voyageurs, and servants, besides giving occasional 
or constant employment to about one hundred thousand 
savage Indian hunters. Armed vessels, both sailing and 
steam, are employed on the North-West Coast to carry on 
the fur trade with the warlike natives of that distant 
region. More than twenty years ago the trade of the 
North- West Coast gave employment to about one thousand 
men, occupying twenty-one permanent establishments, 
or engaged in navigating five armed Bailing vessels, and 
one armed steamer, varying from one hundred to three 
hundred tons in burden. History does not furnish 
another example of an association of private individuals 
exerting a powerful influence over so large an extent of 
the earth's surface, and administering their affairs with 
such consummate skill and unwavering devotion to the 
original objects of their incorporation. 



p 2 



212 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



CHAP. XXXIV. 

THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CANADA AND BED RIVER. 

Tin: Winter Communication. — Character of the Country on the North 
Shores of Lakes Huron and Superior. — Probabilities of a Road being made. 
Country north of Lake Huron. —Mr. Salter's Survey.— Mr. Murray's 

Survey. The Summer Communication. — Route proposed by Mr. 

Dawson. — The Pigeon River Route. — The Old North-West Company's 
Route. — Cost of improving and opening the Fort William and Arrow Lake 

Route. Communication via the United States. — Arrangement of 

the Hudson's Bay Company. — Arrangement of Messrs. Burbank and Com- 
pany. — Captain Palliser's Opinion respecting the Canadian and Ameri- 
can Routes. — Objections to his View. — Advantages of the Pigeon 
River Route. 

WINTER COMMUNICATION. 

A road between Canada and Eed River through British 
territory is at present impracticable for commercial pur- 
poses dining the winter season, that is, from November to 
April, both inclusive. A rocky wilderness, almost destitute 
of civilized inhabitants, and throughout a considerable 
part of its area not susceptible of cultivation, extends 
from the 79th to the 96th meridian. The shortest line of 
road from the limits of settlement in western Canada via 
the north shores of Lakes Huron and Superior, to the 
north corner of the Lake of the Woods exceeds 1000 
miles in length, and would traverse a region where the 
mean winter temperature does not rise higher than 
fifteen degrees above zero. When the mineral wealth 
of the northern shores of Lakes Huron and Superior 
forms the basis of specidative enterprize on an enlarged 
scale, a winter communication with those regions will 



THE INTERIOR, XOKTII OF LAKE HURON. -_>13 

become a necessity, and may ultimately extend westward 
to Red River. It is not improbable that circumstances 
now dimly foreseen may expedite the opening of this 
communication, and make it a matter not only of colonial 
but also of imperial interest. 

The first step towards bridging this wilderness was pro- 
posed hi 1856, when a bill passed the Canadian House of 
Assembly incorporating the "North Shore and Quebec 
Railway Compairy, and granting 4,000,000 acres of land to 
the company along the line of route. In May 1860 an 
act was passed incorporating the " Central Canada Railway 
Company," which included the North Shore and Quebec 
Railway within its provisions, no steps having been taken 
towards commencing that work. 

Since the time when the north shore of Lake Huron 
attracted public attention on account of its mineral 
wealth, it has been the general custom to draw con- 
clusions respecting the features of the country in the 
interior from the aspect of the coast, and to predicate a 
condition of soil and climate, wholly at variance with the 
facts which have been recently established. Not only 
did Mr. Salter, who was employed to survey the interior 
north and north-east of St. Mary's River, find very en- 
tensive areas of excellent land covered with a fine forest 
growth of hard wood trees, but Mr. Murray, of the 
Canadian Geological Survey, has drawn special attention 
to the geographical characteristics of a large area in the 
region indicated. Mr. Murray says*, "It has been re- 
marked in former reports that the north coast of Lake 
Huron, in many parts picturesque, appears too rocky near 
the margin to be suited for agricultural settlement, though 
likely in time to become of importance to the province 
by the development of the metalliferous ores which the 

( Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress for the Year 1858. 

r 3 



214 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

e;eolo<neal formation of the region is known to contain. 
But while this description is applicable to the coast line 
and the margin of some of the rivers and larger lakes of 
the interior, it is by no means so to the country in general. 
On the contrary, there are in many parts, especially in the 
valleys of the Thessalon and its tributaries, extensive 
tracts of the finest lands, covered with a luxuriant growth 
of hard wood interspersed with stately pine trees, pro- 
bably equal in average size to any of the same species 
known in the province." 

The interior of the country north of Lake Superior is 
now being surveyed for the purpose of laying off mining 
locations ; its extraordinary mineral wealth cannot fail to 
draw a large mining population, which will cause the agri- 
cultural lands 'in the valleys of the rivers to be sought 
after ; the fisheries are also of great importance. Under 
these favourable circumstances there is every probability 
that the country north of Lakes Huron and Superior will 
speedily grow in importance, and the clay is not far 
distant when uninterrupted communication with the 
north-western Eailroad termini in Canada will be es- 
tablished during the winter months. 



THE SUMMER COMMUNICATION". 

The opening of a summer communication between 
Lake Superior and Eed Eiver was one of the objects 
which the Canadian Government had hi view in explor- 
ing the route. The duty of continuing the examination 
of the country in 1858, and reporting on the best means 
of traversing it, was confided to Mr. Simon Dawson. 

The following extract from his report will explain the 
manner in which he proposes to open the communication 
by carts, boats, and steamers : — 



SUMMER COMMUNICATION WITII CANADA AND R, RIVER. 21S 

Land carriage Navigable 
miles. miles. 

"From Thunder Bay to Dog Lake . . . .28 

Through Dog Lake and River to the Prairie Portage 35 

Land road past Prairie and Savanna Portages to Sa- 
vanne Diver ........ 5 

Through Savanne River, Lac des Mille Lacs, and 

the River Seine to the Little Falls ... Co 

Broken navigation on River Seine .... 59£ 

Laud carriage past the twelve portages on River Seine 7 
From the Seine to the western extremity of Lac Plat, 

navigable with only one break at Fort Frances . 208 

Thence to Fort Garry by land 9l£ 

Total 13 U 367i 

" The foregoing does not represent the distance in a direct line, but the 
extent to be traveled, making allowance for the tortuosities of the route. 

" In regard to the means of transport which coidd be most economically 
and advantageously used : — 

" "Waggons or carts would be required on the road between Thunder Bay 
and Dog Lake. 

" On Do°- Lake and River boats, such as already referred to as being used 
by the Hudson's Bay Company, or even a steamer might be employed. 

" At the Prairie Portage, carts or waggons woidd be necessary. 

" On the Savanne River, Lac des Mille Lacs, and the River Seine, as far 
as the Little Falls, after the dam was constructed at the last-mentioned 
place, there wovdd be an unbroken reach of 05 miles, and on this section it 
would be advantageous to have a small steamer. 

" On the 59J miles of broken navigation, on the River Seine, between the 
Little Falls aud the twelve portages, boats, as already explained, shoidd be 
used, while at the land road past the twelve portages, carts or waggons, as 
on the other sections of road, would be necessary. 

" From the River Seine to Fort Frances, a steamer woidd have a clear 
run of 50 miles. 

" From Fort Frances to Lac Plat, steamers would have an uninterrupted 
run of 158 miles. 

" From the latter place to Fort Garry no provision would have to be 
made, as the means of transport are to be had in abundance at the Red 
River Settlement. 

" If the communication were opened in the manner above set forth, the 
journey from Lake Superior to Bed River might be performed in about 
three days, that is, allowing that steamers could be maintained at an aver- 
age speed of ten miles an hour on the navigable reaches, that the laud roads 
might be passed over at the rate of live miles an horn, and that the inter- 

p 4 



21G ASSIXXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

rupted navigation of the Seine could be accomplished at the rate of four 

miles an hour."* 

* ******* 

" According to a rough estimate which I have made, the total cost of 
opening the communication in the manner which I propose, woidd not ex- 
ceed 50,000/., but until the surveys now in progress are completed, and the 
necessary measurements taken, it is impossible for me to submit a very 
precise estimate in detail."! 

The " Pigeon Eiver route," commonly called the old 
North- West Company's route, along the Boundary Line, 
appears to possess many advantages over the Karninistiquia 
route, or that suggested by Mr. Dawson, via the river Seine. 
The objection to which it is supposed to be open in conse- 
quence of its lying along the course of the Boundary Line, 
applies with equal force to the other routes from Rainy 
Lake to the Lake of the Woods. As yet no route has been 
surveyed, or is known to exist within British territory, lying 
altogether north of the Boundary Line. A road fidnlling 
that condition would have to pass north of the deep 
indents of Bainy Lake, and cross the Winnipeg at Bat 
Portage, traversing a region of country through which 
there is no known water communication, and crossing the 
rivers, west of the most easterly northern prolongation of 
Bainy Lake, at right angles, or nearly so, to their direc- 
tions, and consequently to the ranges of granitic or gneis- 
soid hills which determine the river courses. 

* Mr. Dawson's estimate of the time required to make the journey from 
Lake Superior to Red River (three days) is evidently much too low ; since 
it would be impossible for steamers to travel 10 miles an hour at night on 
unlighted and often intricate waters. Three miles an horn- on such roads as 
could be constructed with a limited outlay in that broken country would be 
fully as much as could be accomplished. Mr. Dawson makes no allowance for 
steamers taking in a supply of fuel, or for the transhipment of cargo ; and 
no time is allowed for men or horses to take meals, or rest on the roads. 
The uninterrupted speed assumed involves numerous relays, and a system 
of organization which could not be maintained without enormous outlay. 

f Report on the exploration of the country between Lake Superior and 
the Red River Settlement, and between the latter place and the Assimii- 
boine and Saskatchewan, by S. J. Dawson, Esq., C.E. Toronto, 1859. 



COST OF OPENING F. WILLIAM AND ARROW LAKE ROUTE. 217 

The North-West Company cut out a cart road between 
Point cles Meurons, nine miles from Fort William, and 
Wliitefish Lake, lying to the north-east of Arrow Lake, 
from which it is separated by a portage. This road and 
all old portage paths require to be cleared, and tramways 
laid down, over which loaded boats may be hauled by 
appropriate tackle. The portages on this route are 
low and short, and might be rendered passable in the 
maimer suggested for a small outlay. The height of land, 
although more elevated than the Savanne Portage, is nearly 
one degree further south, and the country through which 
the route lies is well timbered. Whatever route may be 
ultimately adopted between Lake Superior and Rainy 
Lake, steamers must be placed on Eainy Eiver, and a 
road constructed through the swamps west of the Lake 
of the Woods to Red River. When these works are 
completed, the summer communication between Lake 
Superior and Red River, via Arrow Lake, will be ac- 
complished within six days, which will bring Fort Garry 
within twenty-two days of Liverpool. 

The cost of improving and opening what may be 
termed the Fort William and Arrow Lake route to fulfil 
these conditions, does not exceed 12,000/. ; the details of 
tins estimate are given in the Appendix. The proposed 
route involves the following modes of traveling : — 

1 . Fort William to Arrow Lake by waggon road. 

2. Arrow Lake to Rainy Lake by boat of five or six tons or more, cross- 

ing the portages on tramways without unloading. 

3. Eainy Lake to the Lake of the Woods by steamer with one tranship- 

ment at Fort Frances, until the construction of two locks of ten feet 
lift, and one guard lock, are made to overcome the Chaudiere Falls. 

4. The North-West comer of the Lake of the Woods to Fort Garry by 

road. 

The Canadian Government have placed the sum of 
#20,000 per annum, for five years, at the disposal of the 



•218 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

North- West Transit Company, on certain conditions, for 
the purpose of opening the communication between Lake 
Superior and Eed Biver. It is not yet determined 
whether the Company will adopt the route by Mille Lacs 
and the Seine or the Fort William and Arrow Lake route. 

COMMUNICATION WITH THE UNITED STATES. 

The summer and winter routes between Fort Garry 
and Crow Wing are described in preceding chapters. 
As the importance of this communication progresses the 
journey will be made with horses and stage coach 
throughout the winter months by the summer road. 
During the period of navigation the distance between St. 
Paul, the present head of navigation on the Mississippi, 
and Fort Garry, is accomplished in nine days ; six days 
being required to travel from St. Paul to Georgetown, on 
Eed Eiver, by stage coaches, and three days by steamer 
from Georgetown to Fort Garry. Mr. Burbank's com- 
plement of 100 waggons, in brigades of twenty-five each, 
are now running from St. Paul to Georgetown, conveying 
the freight of the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company, for which 
service Mr. Burbank has a contract for five years, whereby 
he is bound to carry 500 tons annually for that period. 
The Hudson's Bay Company have relinquished their 
northern route via Hudson's Bay, York Factory, and 
Lake Winnipeg, and adopted the route through the 
United States, via St. Paul and Georgetown on Eed Eiver 
to Fort Garry.* 

* " On the first clay of June next (1860) a new era will open for St. Paul and 
the north-west. On that day will commence the regular trips of Burbank 
and Co.'s express, coach, waggon, and steamboat lines between St. Paid and 
Fort Garry on the lied River of the north, in the Hudson's Bay territory, 
for the year 1860. 

" The first experiment in far north-western passenger and freight transpor- 
tation was made by Burbank and Co. last year, the result of which is, that 



CAPTAIN TALLISERS OPINIONS. 219 

Messrs. Burbank and Co. now undertake the transpor- 
tation of goods from England or Canada, in bond, col- 
lecting all charges on delivery of the goods at Fort 
Garry ; and persons desiring to order goods from Eng- 
land immediately, can have the same forwarded from 
Liverpool by Allan Brothers and Co., care of J. C. and H. 
C. Burbank (in bond), St. Paul. 

In July 1858, Capt. Palliser was requested by the 
Under Secretary for the Colonies to state his opinion on 
four points connected with the country he was engaged 
in exploring. These were — 

" 1st. Whether Red River Settlement possesses qualifications which would 
adapt it for an English colony. 

" 2nd. What should be the dimensions and the boundary line of such 
colony, and whether it woidd be advisable to include the Saskatchewan 
district in it, so as to establish one great border line from the new 
colony of British Columbia up to the Red River Settlement, under 



they have this year on the line from here to Selkirk settlement, appoint- 
ments sufficient to meet the demands of the Hudson's Bay territory and 
intermediate country. 

"On that portion of the line, from St. Cloud, seventy-five miles above this 
city, on the Mississippi, to Georgetown, three hundred miles further north- 
west, on Red River, they will have on and after the first of June, fifteen four 
horse Concord coaches, mailing, regularly, tri-weekly trips, and one hundred 
transportation waggons. The waggons are divided into four brigades of 
twenty-five each. The whole line will be organized and conducted with 
military precision. One brigade, commanded by a captain, will leave St. 
Cloud every week, and another returning, will leave Georgetown. From 
that point the steamer will connect with Fort Garry, in the Selkirk settle- 
ment of the Hudson's Bay territory." — St. Paul Pioneer, May 11th. 

" The Anson Northup returned to Fort Garry on Monday morning, 
having made the round trip between this and Georgetown in a little 
over seven days — the fastest time on record ! When she left George- 
town, on Saturday morning last, the heavy teams had not yet come up, the 
badness of the roads, owing to continuous rains, having kept them back 
beyond their usual time. Several teams with freight were, however, within 
a day's journey of Georgetown ; but the boat having to make good the time 
lost on the previous trip, at once returned. Her cargo consisted of 100 kegs 
of gunpowder, for the Hudson's Bay Company; 21 bales of clothing, for the 
Royal Canadian Rifles, &c."— Nor'- Wester, Fort Garry, June 20th, 1800. 



220 ASSINXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXrEDITIOX. 

a sway and jurisdiction distinct from the Hudson's Bay Company's 
authority. 

" 3rd. "What means of access exist for British emigrants to reach this 
settlement. 

"4th. Whether, judging from the explorations you have already made, 
the country presents such facilities for the construction of a railway 
as would at some period, though possibly a remote one, encourage 
her Majesty's Government in the belief that such an undertaking 
between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean could ever be ac- 
complished." 

In answer to the third query, viz. "What means of 
access exist for British immigrants to reach this settle- 
ment," Captain Palliser says, " I think there are no means 
of access to be recommended save those via the United 
States." 

" The direct route from England via York Factory, and 
also that from Canada via Lake Superior, are too tedious, 
difficult, and expensive -for the generality of settlers. The 
manner in which natural obstacles have isolated the coun- 
try from all other British possessions in the East is a 
matter of considerable weight ; indeed, it is the obstacle 
of the country, and one, I fear, almost beyond the remedies 
of art. The egress and ingress to the settlement from 
the East is obviously by the Eed Eiver Valley and through 
the States." 

Captain Palliser has not had the opportunity of ex- 
amining and reporting on the Fort William and Arrow 
Lake route from Lake Superior to Eed Eiver. Practical 
experience of the facilities offered by that route would, I 
venture to say, have greatly modified the sweeping con- 
demnation of existing and possible means of communica- 
tion comprehended in the foregoing brief reply to the 
important question proposed by the Colonial Office. It 
is a question of great moment to the future colony in the 
Basin of Lake Winnipeg, of vast importance to Canada, 
and in view of the extraordinary gold-wealth of British 



ADVANTAGES OF F. WILLIAM AXD ARROW LAKE ROUTE. 221 

Columbia, of paramount interest to the Imperial Govern- 
ment, if British laws, institutions, and civilization are to 
stretch across the American continent, and connect the 
eastern with the western hemisphere. As an emigrant 
route, the outlay of a few thousand pounds can make it 
available for summer communication. An emigrant could 
then start from Liverpool and proceed to Quebec by steam 
(eleven days), from Quebec to Collingwood, Lake Huron, 
by rail (two days), from Collingwood to Fort William 
by steamer (three days), and from Fort William to Fort 
Garry via Arrow Lake and the Boundary Line (six days), 
or twenty-two days in all from Liverpool to Selkirk 
Settlement. The route through the United States, via St. 
Paul, cannot offer greater advantages as a summer emi- 
grant route than those presented by the Chain of Lakes* 
along the Boundary Line to the north-west corner of the 
Lake of the Woods, if improved and served in accordance 
with the suggestions contained in the Appendix to this 
volume.f Cattle and live stock generally, will necessarily 
pass to and from the United States over the prairies of 
Eed Eiver, where food is abundant, and can be obtained 
without cost, but there is no reason why heavy goods 
should not in process of time be shipped at Liverpool and 
proceed direct to Fort William on Lake Superior without 
transhipment, passing through the magnificent chain of 
Canadian canals, enumerated on page 16 of the first 
volume, and thence to Eed Eiver, through British territory 
via Arrow Lake, Eainy Eiver, and the north-west corner 
of the Lake of the Woods. 

* See profile of the Chain of Lakes on the Old North- West Company's, 
or the Pigeon River route, according- to Mr. Dawson's survey ; also plan of 
the route published in the Blue Book, August, 18G0. 

t Remarks on the Pigeon River route, with an estimate of the cost of 
opening the communication from Fort William to Fort Garry. Appendix, 
Vol. II. No. 12. 



222 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



CHAP. XXXV. 

THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN EED RIVER AND THE PACIFIC. 
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BASIN OF LAKE WINNIPEG. 

The Result of Captain Palliser's Expedition. — Valley of the Saskatchewan. 
— Character of the Valley. — The Rocky Mountain Passes. — Route across 
the Continent. — Lieutenant Palmer's Explorations in British Columbia. — 
Roads in British Columbia. — Lieutenant Richard Mayne's Explorations 
in British Columbia. — Thompson River. — Present position of British 
Columbia. — The Customs and Imports of the Colony. — The Gold Fields. 
— Their extent. — Captain Palliser's suggested Boundary of the New 
Colony in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — Objections to this Boundary. 
— Lmportance of the New Colony being conterminous with Canada on 
the East. — The Natural Boundary of the New Colony. — Importance 
of the East Coast of Lake Winnipeg. — Necessity for a Natural Northern 
Boundary. — Suggested Boundary. — The Natural Advantages of the 
Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — The Great American Desert. — The Febtile 
Beet in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — Its Importance. — Its Natural 
Resources. — Conclusion. 

FORT GARRY, RED RIVER TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, 
THENCE TO THE PACIFIC. 

In the Blue Book recently published *, Capt. Palliser 
enumerates the result of the explorations of the expedition 
under his command across the continent, and states that 
his endeavours, in conjunction with Mr. Sullivan, "to find 
a route practicable for horses from Edmonton westward 
across the Eocky Mountains, as far as the longitude of 
Fort Colvile, and entirely within British territory, have 
been perfectly successful." In addition to this, Capt. 
Palliser pursued his way for more than fifty miles to the 

* Papers relative to the Exploration of British North America, August 
18th, 18G0. 



Map oi the ComrBj 



I..\KK SUPBRTOB to The PAcn-'Tl' OCEAN shw iii.- i/„ (lv,. /,/■// /;,./,//./. 



the Eastern Thundery at British Columbia, also the Fertile licit stretching from the lake affile Woods to the Rocky Wnuttains. 



5 I "' | 







■ ■ ■ ■ 
... 
■..'. 



RESULTS OF CAPTAIN FALLISERS EXPEDITION. 223 

westward, still north of the 49th parallel, until he arrived 
at the camp of the United States Boundary Commissioners 
in longitude 119° 30' west. 

Captain Palliser describes the region drained by the 
Saskatchewan in the following words* : — 

" The extent of surface drained by the Saskatchewan, 
and other tributaries to Lake Winnipeg, which we had an 
opportunity of examining, amounts in roimd numbers to 
150,000 square miles. This region is bounded to the 
north by what is known as the ' strong woods,' or the 
southern limit of the great circum-arctic zone of forest, 
which occupies these latitudes in the northern hemi- 
sphere. This line, which is indicated in the map, sweeps 
to the north-west from the shore of Lake Winnipeg, and 
reaches its most northerly limit about 54° 30' N., and longi- 
tude 119° W., from where' it again passes to south-west, 
meeting the Eocky Mountains in latitude 51° N., longitude 
115° W. Between this line of the ' strong woods' and the 
northern limit of the true prairie country there is a belt 
of land varying in width, which at one period must have 
been covered by an extension of the northern forests, 
but which has been gradually cleared by successive fires. 

" It is now a partially wooded country, abounding in 
lakes and rich natural pasturage, in some parts rivaling 
the finest park scenery of our own country. Throughout 
this region of country the climate seems to preserve the 
same character, although it passes through very different 
latitudes, its form being doubtless determined by the 
curves of the isothermal line. Its superficial extent 
embraces about 65,000 square miles, of which more than 
one-third may be considered as at once available for the 
purposes of the agriculturist. Its elevation increases 

* Papers relative to the Exploration of British North America, Aug. 18th, 
18G0, page 21. 



224 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

from 700 to 4000 feet as we approach the Kocky Moun- 
tains, consequently it is not equally adapted throughout 
to the cultivation of any one crop, nevertheless at Fort 
Edmonton, which has an altitude of 3000 feet, even 
wheat is sometimes cultivated with success. 

" The least valuable portion of the prairie country has 
an extent of about 80,000 square miles, and is that 
lying along the southern branch of the Saskatchewan, 
and southward from thence to the boundary line, while 
its northern limit is known in the Indian languages as 
' the edge of the woods,' the original line of the woods 
before invaded by fire. 

" On the western side of the Eocky Mountains, hi the 
country which we examined, there were but few spots at 
all fitted for the agriculturist, and these form isolated 
patches in valleys separated by mountain ranges. 

" As the next result of our explorations, I shall briefly 
mention the different passes through the Eocky Mountains 
which we explored, alluding to the chief advantages and 
disadvantages of each. 

" The Kananaskis Pass and the British Kootanie Pass 
were examined by myself. Of these I consider the 
Kananaskis Pass the preferable one, both on account of 
its direct course through the mountains and its easier 
ascent. 

" The ascent to the height of land from the east is 
through a wide gently sloping valley, and the immediate 
watershed is formed by a narrow ridge, which, if pierced 
by a short tunnel, would reduce the summit level to 
about 4600 feet above the sea. The descent to the 
west, into which Kananaskis Pass opens, is comparatively 
easy. 

"The British Kootanie Pass also opens out into the 
Kootanie Eiver valley, but the altitude here to be over- 



ROUTE ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 225 

come is much greater, amounting to 6000 feet. There 
are likewise two ridges to be passed, which fact would 
form a very strong objection to this pass. 

"The Vermilion Pass, which was traversed by Dr. 
Hector, presents on a whole the greatest natural facihties 
for crossing the mountains without the aid of engineering 
work, as the rise to the height of land is gradual from 
both sides, a feature which seems to be peculiar to this 
pass. It would thus be impossible to diminish its summit 
level (which is less than 5000 feet), as is proposed in the 
case of Kananaskis Pass, but on the other hand it would 
be the most suitable for the construction of an easy 
waggon road, 

" This, like the other two passes I have mentioned, 
also strikes the Kootanie River close to its source ; but 
last summer Dr. Hector crossed the mountains by another 
pass from the head of the north branch of the Saskatche- 
wan, directly to the Columbia Eiver, in the vicinity of 
the boat encampment. 



" Although I consider this fact established, viz., that a 
line for a route has been discovered from Eed Eiver 
Settlement to the west coast of the continent, and that 
line moreover entirely within British territory, yet I 
wish distinctly to be understood that I think it far from 
being the best that could be discovered. Time did 
not admit of a series of attempts in a more northerly 
direction. 

" Dr. Hector's explorations, when within sixty miles of 
his exit on Thompson's Eiver, were prematurely closed by 
the advance of winter and the absence of provisions," 
while forcing his way through timber so thick that he 
could not penetrate faster than from three to four miles w 

vol. II. Q 



226 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

day, and for a more detailed account of which I refer 
you to his report accompanying this letter." * 

Lieutenant Palmer, E.E., explored the country be- 
tween Fort Hope on the Fraser and Fort Colville on the 
Columbia Kiver.f His report is not favourable for a 
road, although the physical impediments are not such as 
to be insurmountable. 

Lieutenant Palmer states that " westward from the Simil- 
kameen valleyj, and nearly to the coast, extends a mountain 
region, so rugged and bleak, and so inaccessible and de- 
void of roads of communication, that this valley is the 
first point east of the Sumas to which attention need be 
directed. 

" It and the Okanagan valley are the main thoroughfares 
to British Columbia from Washington territory, and indeed 
east of them, as far as Fort Shepherd, the country affords 
no known practicable means of ingress. 

The main route from Washington territory passes up 
the valley of the Okanagan Eiver from its junction with 
the Columbia and forks at the mouth of the Similkameen 
whence branch the two routes already described. 
***** 

" A great question now presents itself as to the means of 
communication between this district and the interior por- 
tions of British Columbia. 

" Even if it be practicable at an enormous expense to 
construct a tolerable waggon road across Manson Moun- 
tain, or even should a better route be found by following 
round the valley of the Coquahalla, there still remains the 

* Papers relative to the Exploration of British North America, Aug. I860, 

P' 17 ' 

t Tapers relating to British Columbia, August, 1860. 

X The Similkameen rises a few miles north of the boundary-line, in long. 
120° 40' ; it flows into the Okanagan in long. 119° 30', lat, 48° 56*. 



MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 227 

dividing ridge of the Cascades, and the route would any 
way be impracticable for at least seven months hi the year. 
Through Lytton, therefore, or the Kayoosh district, by 
the valleys of the Thompson and Bonaparte River to Ni- 
colas Lake and Fort Kamloops, and thence to the border, 
all supplies must eventually pass, and hence the necessity 
of establishing good means of communication with these 
points from either the Fraser Kiver or the sea." 

"All the practicable means of access to British Co- 
lumbia, except from the sea, strike the Fraser north of 
Fort Hope." 

" In connexion with this subject it remains but for me 
to remark, that, from my own observation, and from in- 
formation afforded me by Mr. M'Donald, I know a frontier 
road north of the 49th parallel to be practicable from the 
Similkameen, eastward to the N. Saa-app Lake in the N. 
Whoyalpitkwu Valley ; and further that Captain Palliser's 
explorations have determined the possibility of extending 
such a road from that point to Fort Shepherd, though 
his report on the intervening tract cannot be pronounced 
as favourable as might be wished." 

The communication through British territory between 
the Atlantic and Pacific has not been lost sight of by 
Governor Douglas. 

His Excellency says, in the Blue Book before referred 
to (No. 26, Part, in.), " The great object of opening roads 
from the sea coast into the interior of the country, and 
from New Westminster to Burrard's Inlet and Pitt Kiver, 
continues to claim a large share of my attention. The 
labour involved by these works is enormous; but so 
essential are they as a means of settling and developing 
the resources of the country, that their importance can 
hardly be overrated ; and I therefore feel it incumbent on 

Q 2 



228 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

me to strain every nerve in forwarding the progress of 
undertakings so manifestly conducive to the prosperity 
of the colony, and which at the same time camiot 
fail ere long to produce a large increase in the public 
revenue." 

" We hope to complete the last section of a pack-road 
leading by the left bank of the Fraser, from Derby (Fort 
'Langley) to Lytton, a distance of 170 miles, on or before 
the 1st day of February next. From Lytton a natural 
road now exists leading to Eed Eiver settlement, by the 
Coutannais Pass, through the Eocky Mountains, and from 
thence following the valley of the Saskatchewan, chiefly 
over an open prairie country of great beauty, and replete 
with objects of interest to the tourist and the sportsman ; 
a settler may then take his departure from Eed Eiver hi 
spring with his cattle and stock, and reach British Co- 
lumbia by that road in course of the autumn following. 
Tins is no mere theory, the experiment having been re- 
peatedly made by parties of Eed Eiver people traveling 
to Colville, from whence there is a good road to Lytton ; 
so much so, indeed, that one of those persons assured me 
that the whole distance from Lytton to Eed Eiver, with 
the exception of the Coutannais Pass, which is thickly 
wooded, may be safely travelled with carts. If the Ca- 
nadian Government would undertake to open a road from 
Eed Eiver to the borders of Lake Superior, which really 
presents no very formidable difficulties, the connexion 
between British Columbia and Canada would be complete, 
and the whole distance might I think, be traveled on 
British soil." 

The town of Lytton and the valley of Thompson Eiver 
appear to be points of the greatest importance in British 
Columbia. 

Lieutenant Eichard Mayne conducted an exploration of 
the districts bordering on the Thompson, Fraser, and liar- 



THOMPSONS RIVER. — BRITISH COLUMBIA. 229 

risen Rivers. * Lytton is at the Forks of the Thompson and 
Fraser Rivers, and contains eight or ten stores and a Go- 
vernment House. The Thompson River is about 150 yards 
wide at its mouth and there is a horse ferry established 
across it. Fort Kamloops is an important Post situated on 
the Forks of the Thompson and North Rivers ; the Thomp- 
son is here 300 yards wide and the North River 320 yards. 
The head waters of the Thompson are about twenty-two 
miles east of these Forks and Dr. Hector advanced in 
1859 from the east side of the Rocky Mountains within 
sixty miles of the source of the Thompson. He sa} T sthat 
it was his wish "to follow the Columbia River down 
to its great bend at the boat encampment, and thence 
following up the valley of Canoe River endeavour to pass 
to the head waters of the Thompson River and so reach 
British Columbia." Want of provisions, the approach of 
winter, and the extraordinary thickness of the forest pre- 
vented Dr. Hector from accomplishing this very interest- 
ing link between the trails east of the Rocky Mountains 
and the head waters of the Thompson River ; from which 
point a pack-road already exists to the Pacific consider- 
ably to the north of the Boundary Lme. 

The more or less speedy opening of a line of communi- 
cation from the Atlantic to the Pacific through British 
territory, will be very largely dependent upon the pro- 
gress of British Columbia. Enough is known respecting 
the prospects of that distant colony, to warrant the 
assumption that it will soon become a very wealthy and 
important British dependency. In the official documents 
recently published relative to the affairs of British Co- 
lumbiaf, a considerable amount of valuable information 

* Papers relative to British Columbia, Part III., Aug. 1860, p. 33. 

t Further papers relative to the affairs of British Columbia, Tart III. 
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by coiumaud of Her Majesty, 
August, I860. 

Q 3 



230 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

is contained, bearing upon the present prosperous state of 
the colony, the distribution of gold, and the existence of 
large areas of fertile soil fitted for cultivation. 

From the return of the value of imports and customs 
receipts at New Westminster for the twelve months 
ending 31st December, 1859, it appears that the imports 
amounted to 177,219/. 7s. 5<#., and the customs to 18,464/. 
The entire white population of British Columbia does not 
exceed 5000 men (Oct. 1859) with very few women and 
children. The value of the present export of gold (Oct. 
1859) is estimated at 14,000/. a month or 108,000/. per 
annum. 

The existence of gold in great abundance and over 
very wide areas in British Columbia, from the Eocky 
Mountains to the Pacific, and from the head waters of 
Fraser Eiver to the Boundary Line, is well established ; 
and "means of communication" embrace all that is required 
to make this distant colony one of the most important 
appendages of the British crown. 

The second query submitted to Capt. Palliser by the 
Colonial Office elicited a reply which appears to be open 
to two serious objections. 

" What should be the dimensions and the boundary 
line of such colony, and whether it would be advisable 
to include the Saskatchewan District in it, so as to establish 
one great border line from the neAV colony of British 
Columbia up to the Eed Eiver Settlement, under a sway 
and jurisdiction distinct from the Hudson's Bay Company's 
authority ? " Capt. Palliser states in relation to the 
boundaries of the new colony : — 

" If then the united territories of Eed Eiver, Swan 
Eiver, and Saskatchewan, were adopted by Her Majesty's 
Government, I would surest the following boundaries : — 

' Do D 

" The southern boundary of the colony should be the 



TROrOSED BOUNDARY OF THE NEW COLONY. 231 

49tli parallel of north latitude, commencing on east shore 
of the Lake of the Woods, to where it meets the crest of 
the Rocky Mountains in long. 115° W. The eastern 
boundary of the colony should be defined by a line com- 
mencing at the 49th parallel on the western shore of the 
Lake of the Woods, and following the western margin of 
that lake to the watercourse which unites the Lake of 
the Woods with Lake Winnipeg, from thence extending 
around the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg, and following 
the watercourse of that lake to the 54th parallel of N. 
lat. in long. 98° W. The northern boundary of the 
colony might run from the above point of intersection 
along the parallel of 54° of N. lat. to the point where it 
intersects the crest of the Eocky Mountains in 118° of 
W. long. The whole would thus include a territory of 
240,000 square miles." 

The adoption of the eastern boundary described in the 
foregoing paragraph, would effectually isolate the colony 
from Canada, and interpose between the boundary of the 
two countries, a territory in the occupation of the Hudson's 
Bay Company, subject to their jurisdiction, and com- 
prehending the narrow, but fertile valley of Eainy Eiver, 
and the only practicable route known in British territory 
between Lake Superior and Eed Eiver. The boundary of 
Upper Canada is the height of land west of Lake Superior. 
The country drained by those rivers which flow into 
the St. Lawrence valley belongs to Canada ; the country 
drained by those rivers which flow into Hudson's Bay, 
constitutes Eupert's Land, and is at present the hunting- 
ground of the Hudson's Bay Company. Captain Palliser's 
suggested boundary would leave the entire region between 
the height of land west of Lake Superior, and the western 
shore of the Lake of the Woods, nearly five degrees of 

Q4 



232 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

longitude, in the occupation of the Company. The con- 
tinuation of the eastern boundary from the outlet of Lake 
of the Woods, is proposed to be carried down the Winni- 
peg and along the east shore of that lake to the 54th 
parallel, in long. 98° W. By thus limiting the colony in 
an easterly direction, the valuable pine, spruce, minerals, 
and water-power of the east coast of Lake Winnipeg and 
of the Winnipeg Eiver, would be legally cut off from the 
neAV colony, whose chief want will be timber for building 
purposes, and water-power to manufacture it on the spot. 
The jurisdiction of the new colony should manifestly 
extend over those parts of the country which, from their 
natural resources, will first attract a certain class of 
settlers. The lumberers on Lake Winnipeg will one day 
become relatively as important a body as the lumberers 
now are, on the Ottawa and the tributaries, to the St. 
Lawrence in Canada, 

In order to secure to the new colony a route to the 
borders of Canada, and the valuable timber of the east 
coast of Lake Winnipeg and the affluents of the Winnipeg 
Eiver, the eastern boundary line ought to be conterminous 
with that of Canada, as far as the north west corner of 
that province at the head waters of Neepigon and Fire- 
steel Eivers, in long. 90° 25', lat. 49° 15' (approx.) ; 
and from this point it should follow the height of land 
between the Winnipeg Basin and Hudson's Bay, as far as 
the 54th parallel. The natural boundaries of the new 
colony might be very simply defined as, " the Basm of 
Lake Winnipeg north of the 49th parallel of latitude." 
This determination would give the following limits : — on 
the south, the 49th parallel from British Columbia to 
the Lake of the Woods, thence to Canada by the boundary 
line surveyed according to the treaty of Ghent. The west 
boundary of Canada stretches from the dividing ridge 



ADVANTAGES OF THE BASIN OF LAKE WINNIPEG. 233 

between South Lake and Gun Flint Lake, to the head 
waters of Neepigon and Fire-steel Bivers. This would 
form the eastern boundary of the new colony. From the 
head water of Fire-steel Eiver, the north-east boundary 
might follow the dividing ridge between the Basin of 
Lake Winnipeg and Hudson's Bay, as far as Jack Eiver, 
down which it should run to Play Green Lake. From 
this point the northern boundary would be very con- 
veniently and naturally described as passing through, by 
the shortest course, the head waters of all the rivers 
flowing into Lake Winnipeg, the main Saskatchewan, and 
the North Branch of the Saskatchewan. 

It is of great importance in an Indian and fur-trading 
country to possess a natural boundary. Indians and 
voyageurs can always understand the How of waters and 
the term " dividing ridge," but of parallels of latitude they 
know absolutely nothing. The injunction not to hunt or 
trap beyond the dividing ridge would be understood by 
all, but an arbitrary boundary such as a parallel of lati- 
tude, might give rise to many disputes in the prosecution 
of the fur trade, which for some years to come will con- 
stitute the most important source of commerce and in- 
dustry north of the basin of Lake Winnipeg. 

Till': NATURAL ADVANTAGES OF THE BASIN OF LAKE WIN- 
NIPEG FOR A ROUTE ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

It is impossible to examine a correct map of the North 
American continent without being impressed with the re- 
markable influence which the Great American Desert 
must exercise upon the future of the United States and 
British North America. The general character of this 
desert south of the 40th parallel is described elsewhere 
(Ch. XII. p. 353 ; Appendix Vol. II. No. VII. ), and the 



234 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

important fact lias been noticed, that any railroad con- 
structed within the limits of the United States must pass, 
for a distance of twelve hundred miles west of the Mis- 
sissippi, through uncultivable land, or, in other words, a 
comparative desert. Along the 32nd parallel the breadth 
of this desert is least, and the detached areas of fertile soil 
greatest in quantity, but the aggregate number of square 
miles of cultivable land amounts only to 2300 in a dis- 
tance of 1210 miles (Appendix No. VII.). The northern 
limit of the Great American Desert is an imaginary line 
drawn from the Touchwood Hills to the Moose Woods on 
the South Branch, then south of Battle Eiver as far as long. 
112°, when turning south it sweeps along the flanks of the 
Kocky Mountains in long. 115°. North of this limit of the 
Great American Desert there is a broad strip of fertile 
country, rich in water, woods, and pasturage, drained by 
the North Saskatchewan and some of its affluents, and 
being a continuation of the fertile prairies of Bed Eiver, 
the eastern water shed of the Assinniboine and Bed Deer 
Eiver, with the outlying patches called the Touchwood 
Hills, File Hill, &c. * 

It is a physical reality of the highest importance to 
the interests of british north america that this con- 
tinuous belt can be settled and cultivated from a few 
miles west of the lake of the woods to the passes of 
the Bocky Mountains, and any line of communication, 
whether by waggon road or railroad, passing through 
it, will eventually enjoy the great advantage of being 
fed by an agricultural population from one extremity 
to the other. 

No other part of the American Continent possesses an 
approach even to this singularly favourable disposition of 
soil and climate, which last feature, notwithstanding its 
rigour during the winter season, confers, on account of its 



THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE FERTILE BELT. 235 

humidity, inestimable value on British America south of 
the 54th parallel. 

The natural resources lying within the limits of the 
Fertile Belt, or on its eastern borders, are themselves of 
great value as local elements of future wealth and pros- 
perity ; but in view of a communication across the con- 
tinent they acquire paramount importance. 

Timber available for fuel and building purposes ; lig- 
nite coal, though not equal to true coal, nevertheless suit- 
able for many of the different objects to which true 
coal is applied; iron-ore widely distributed, of great 
purity and hi considerable abundance ; salt in quantity 
sufficient for a dense population. All these crude ele- 
ments of wealth lie within the limits or on the borders 
of a region of great fertility, and drained by a river of the 
first class, navigable by steamer during several months of 
the year for five hundred miles of its course, and by 
batteaux for nearly double that distance. 

The position which the colony occupying the basin of 
Lake Winnipeg may assume at the close of the next 
decade, few will be prepared to define. Bounded on 
the west by British Columbia, whose gold-wealth will 
ensure her a marvellously rapid progress, and on the east 
by the powerful, energetic, and loyal colony of Canada, 
which now, in conjunction with the sister provinces, con- 
tains a population exceeding by one million that of the 
thirteen United States during the revolutionary war, is it 
likely that British enterprise and patriotism will permit the 
intervening country to remain a wilderness, or pass into 
the hands of a foreign government ? 

It is to be earnestly hoped that the attention of far- 
seeing, thoughtful, and loyal men will be directed to the 
present relations of the new colony, its possible future, and 
the opportunity it presents to plant British institutions and 



236 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

civilization across the North American Continent ; thus 
linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans together with a 
chain of British dependencies, distinguished alike by a 

" SPIRIT OF LOYALTY, OF ORDER, AND OF OBEDIENCE TO TIIE 
LAW."* 

The occupation and government of the basin of Lake 
Winnipeg has already become a serious question, and 
even before the rising generation succeed to the responsi- 
bilities of those who now rule the destinies of this great 
empire, they may have occasion to lament a lost opportu- 
nity of inestimable worth, or rejoice in the extension of 
British dominion over loyal populations, extending in 
an unbroken series from the eastern to the western 
hemisphere. 

* "Her Majesty lias observed with deep satisfaction the spirit of loyalty, 
of order, and obedience to the law, which prevails among her subjects, both 
in the United Kingdom and in her dominions beyond the sea; and her 
Majesty has witnessed with heartfelt pleasure the warm and affectionate 
reception given to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales by her North 
American subjects." — Iter Majesty's Speech, Aug. 28th, 1860. 



GEOLOGY 



BASIN OP LAKE WINNIPEG 



239 



CHAP. XXXVI. 

SURFACE GEOLOGY. 

Geographical Boundaries. — The Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — Limits. — 

Elevation of its Boundaries. — Outlet. — Area. — Character of its Rim. 

Surface Features. — Area of Low Lake Region. — Ten-aces of Pembina 
Mountain. — Escarpment of the Riding, Duck, &c. &c. Mountains. — Prairie 
Plateau of Rupert's Land. — Plains of the North- West. — Table of Ele- 
vations. — Detached Hills. — Country east of Lake Winnipeg. — Lakes. — 

Direction of Elevating Forces. — Steps to the Height of Land. 

Grooved, Scratched, and Polished Rocks. — On Baril Portage. — On 

Winnipeg River. — On Limestones of Lake Manitobah. Drift. — Over 

the Country between Lake Superior and Winnipeg. — Lacustrine Deposits. 
— Drift on the Souris.- — On the South Branch. — Forced Arrangement of. 
— La Blue Clay at Toronto. — Description of this Arrangement. — Sorting 
of Materials. — Agency of Water and Ice. — Glacial Ice. — Tiers of Boulders 
on the South Branch. — Layers of Stratified Mud. Erratics.— Distri- 
bution of. — Effects of Ice on Lake Winnipeg. — In Lake Manitobah. — On 

the Red River Prairies. Beaches and Terraces. — Great Dog 

Portage. — Section of. — Beaches on Lake Superior. — On Prairie Portage. 
— The Big Ridge. — White Mud River Ridge. — Dauphin Lake Ridge. — 
Prairie Ridges. — Pembina Mountain. — Ridge, character of. — Riding and 
Duck Moimtain Ridges. — Conical Hills. — Bear Hill. — Second Tier of 
Conical Hills. Sand Hills and Dunes. — Ranges. Circular De- 
pressions. — Character of. Denudation. — In the Basin of Lake Win- 
nipeg. — Parallelism of bold Limits of Denudation. — Grand Coteau de 
Missouri. — Niagara Limestone Escarpment of New York and Canada. — 
Riding and Duck Mountains, &C. — Probable common Origin of. — Dislo- 
cations in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg. 

GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES. 

The Basin of Lake Winnipeg, including under this 
general term the country drained by the rivers flowing 
into it, extends from the 90th to the 118th meridian. 



240 ASSIXXIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION". 

Its most easterly point being the lake and swamps 
from which the Savanne Eiver takes its rise, in lon- 
gitude 90° 14', latitude 48° 53', and the most westerly 
limit from which it draws contributions is probably the 
Glacier, near Howse Pass, in longitude 117° 35', latitude 
51° 52'.* 

The southern extension of its boundary is at Lake 
Traverse in Dakotah territory, longitude 96° 45', latitude 
45° 58'. f It stretches north as far as Frog Portage, 
longitude 103° 30', latitude 55° 26'.$ 

This basin consequently extends over twenty-eight 
degrees of longitude and ten degrees of latitude. 

The elevation of its eastern boundary is 1485 feet 
above the ocean, and the height of land near the sources 
of the tributary, which rises farthest to the west, is G347 
feet above the same level. § 

Its northern boundary is separated from the valley of 
the Misshmippi by a low portage, over which waters flow 
during floods II; while towards the south Lake Traverse, 

ON 7 ' 

which also sends water into the Mississippi during spring 
freshets, is only 820 feet above the sea.^f 

The outlet of Lake Winnipeg is through the contracted 
and rocky channel of Nelson Eiver, which flows into 
Hudson's Bay. 

The mean breadth of this great inland basin is about 
380 English miles, and its mean length 920 miles, hence 
its area is approximately 360,000 square miles. Its shape 
assimilates to that of a truncated section of a circle, lying 

* See Captain Palliser's Map in the Blue Book, 1860. 
t Military Map of Nebraska and Dakotah, by Lieutenant G. K. Warren, 
U.S. Top. Eng. 

\ Sir John Bichardson, Arctic Searching Expedition. 
§ Dr. Hector, Blue Book. Captain Palliser's Explorations. 
|| Sir John Richardson. 
U Major Long. 



BOUNDARIES OF THE LAKE WINNIPEG BASIN. 241 

in a position the reverse of that produced by the meri- 
dians and parallels distinguishing its boundary. 

The eastern rim of the basin of Lake Winnipeg is 
formed by part of the Laurentide range of mountains, 
which consist of gneiss * interstratined in some localities 
with bands of crystalline limestone, and much embossed by 
domes of intrusive granite 1 , syenite, and occasionally with 
elevations of trap. The highest summit of the Laurentide 
Mountains, as far as known in this part of their develop- 
ment, does not exceed 1950 feet above the sea, or 1350 
feet above Lake Superior. 

Striking off in a south-westerly direction from the 
Savanne Lake, the Height of Land extends to Lake 
Traverse and is composed of drift hills covering Lauren- 
tian, Silurian, and Devonian rocks, with low granitic 
ranges and exposures of trap. From the Dividing Ridge, 
at the source of the Pigeon River, south-westerly to 
Vermilion Lake, the Height of Land Ridge is called by 
the Indians Mis-sabe Wa-chu ; in its continuation to the 
low water-shed between Rainy River and the Mississippi 
it has the name of Ish-ko-na-bi Wa-chu. . Continued south- 
westerly from the Falls of Pokegama, this ridge would 
pa<s south of Leech Lake and strike the Red River of 
the north near the Great Bend, at which point Dr. Owen 
found Silurian rocks in 1848.f 

From this point on Red River the rim of the basin 
assumes a north-westerly direction as far as the Elbow 
of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan, along the de- 
nuded flanks of the Grand Coteau de Missouri. From the 
Elbow it turns south-west as far as Chief's Mountain Lake, 
under the 114th meridianj, latitude 49°, where it meets 

* Under the general term " gneiss," micaceous, homblendic, and chloritic 
schists are included. 

t Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. 

X Map of the Territory of the United States, by Lieutenant ('<. K. 

VOL. II. R 



242 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

with the flanks of the Eocky Mountains, trending first 
north and then north-westerly. The North Branch and 
the main Saskatchewan indicate approximately its low 
northern boundary. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

Lake Winnipeg, at an altitude of 628 feet above 
the sea, occupies the lowest depression of this great 
central basin, covering, with its associated Lakes Mani- 
tobah, Winnepego-sis, Dauphin, and St. Martin, an area 
slightly exceeding 13,000 square miles, or nearly half as 
great an extent of the earth's surface as is occupied by 
Ireland. 

The country possessing a mean elevation of one hundred 
feet above Lake Winnipeg is very closely represented by 
the outline of Pembina Mountain, forming part of the 
eastern limit of the Cretaceous Series in the north-west 
of America, as represented on the geological map. 

The area occupied by this low country, which includes 
a large part of the valley of Eed Eiver, the Assinniboine, 
and the main Saskatchewan, may be estimated at 70,000 
square miles, of which nine-tenths are lake, marsh, or 
surface rock of Silurian or Devonian age, and generally so 
thinly covered with soil as to be unfit for cultivation, 
except in small isolated areas. 

Succeeding this low region there are the narrow ter- 
races of the Pembina Mountain, which rise in abrupt steps, 
except in the valleys of the Assinniboine, Valley Eiver, 
Swan Eiver, and Eed Deer's Eiver, to the level of a 
higher plateau, whose eastern limit is formed by the 

Warren, Top. Eng\, ordered by the Honourable Jefferson Davis, Secretary 
of War, to accompany the Reports of the Explorations for a Railroad 
Route to the Pacific. 



THE PRAIRIE PLATEAU OF RUPERT'S LAND. 243 

precipitous escarpments of the Biding, Duck, and Por- 
cupine Mountains, with the detached outliers, Turtle, 
Thunder, and Pasquia Mountains. This is the great 
Prairie Plateau of Rupert's Land ; it is bounded towards 
the south-west and west, by the Grand Coteau de Mis- 
souri, which forms the north-eastern limit of the Plains*" 
of the north-west. The area of the Prairie Plateau, in 
the basin of Lake Winnipeg, is about 120,000 square 
miles; it possesses a mean elevation of 1100 feet above 
the sea, and is approximately represented on the geolo- 
gical map by the Cretaceous Series, coloured green, north- 
east of the Grand Coteau. The following table shows the 
relation of these successive levels : — 

Mean Elevation Approximate Area 

above the Oeean. in Square Miles. 

Low Country (1st Plateau) . 700 . 70,000 

Terraces of Pembina Mountain . . 900 — 1100 . 1,500 

Great Prairie Plateau (2nd Plateau) .1100 . . 120,000 

Great Plain Plateau (3rd Plateau) . 1G00 

The Riding and Duck Mountains, with their southern 
and northern prolongations, probably once formed part 
of an unbroken level to the Grand Coteau; the in- 
tervening depression having been the result of denu- 
dation. The isolated ranges of hills, such as the Touch- 
wood Hills, the File Hill, the Pheasant Hill, the Birch 
Hills, the Lumpy Hill, &c, are parts of this former 
elevated table-land, and would assume the character of 
islands in a sea washing the base of the Grand Coteau de 
Missouri. 

On the east side of Lake Winnipeg the primary un- 
fossiliferous rocks along the canoe routes present a broken 
and extremely irregular surface to the mouth of Rainy 
River, where the fossiliferous formations are touched. 
From Rainy Lake to Superior the routes pass through a 

* The difference between " Prairies " and " Plains " is stated in Chap. XVI. 

r 2 



244 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

water communication, possessing many singular geogra- 
phical outlines, arising from the geological features of the 
country. 

Both Lake Superior and Lake Winnipeg belong to the 
same geological basin, and are excavated in its rim, the 
low Laurentide Mountains separating the great northern 
basin of fossiliferous rocks from it. 

The canoe routes between Lake Superior and Lake 
Winnipeg form, therefore, two chords on the edge of the 
gneissoid and granitic boundary dividing these geological 
basins, and while the general trend of this part of the 
Laurentide Mountains is geographically north-west, the 
direction of the undulations, by which it is intersected, 
is generally north-east and south-west, or at right angles 
to the former. This disposition is best developed east 
of Eainy Lake, and on the Pigeon Eiver route, where 
the agency of the elevating force appears to have acted 
with greater constancy and uniformity than on the more 
northern canoe route. The outbursts on the southern 
route, as well as on the south shore of Lake Superior, 
are also considerably higher, and the lakes and lake straits 
more symmetrically arranged. 

An inspection of the geographical map will show that 
the longest axis of nearly all the smaller lakes in the 
region under review is from N.E. to S.W. 

A range of greenstone ridges, forming an anticlinal axis, 
begins at the Great Bend of the St. Louis Eiver, and runs 
in a direction N. 30° E. towards the sources of Arrow 
Eiver and Mountain Lake. The systems of valleys and 
ridges, resulting from the direction in which the elevating 
forces have acted in the region about the western ex- 
tremity of Lake Superior, have been ably discussed by 
Dr. Norwood.* 

* Owen's Report of a Geological Survey of Wisconsin, &e. 



ICE FURROWS OX THE LAUREXTIDES. 245 



GROOVED, SCRATCHED, AND TOLISIIED ROCKS. 

Instances of the action of ice in abrading and polish- 
ing extensive surfaces of rock are very numerous on the 
Laurentides between Lake Superior and Lake Winnipeg. 
The first wide expanse observed on the west side of the 
water-shed is at Baril Portage, 143 miles from Lake 
Superior, and 1500 feet above the sea. Where an arm 
of Mille Lacs approaches -this portage, gneissoid hills 
and islands about 100 feet high show a well defined 
stratification dipping north, at an angle of about 1 5°, and 
on that side smooth, and sometimes roughly polished ; on 
the south side they are precipitous and abrupt. The 
same character is observed on the portage itself ; the north- 
eastern exposures of the rocks there are smooth and 
striated, the southern rugged and often precipitous. 

On Sturgeon Lake 208 miles from Lake Superior and 
1156 feet above the sea, the north-eastern extremities of 
hill ranges slope to the water's edge, and when bare are 
always found to be evenly smoothed and ground down. 
The aspect of the south and south-western exposures is 
that of precipitous escarpments. 

On a small island about twenty-five miles north of Garden 
Island, Lake of the Woods, there is a remarkable exposure 
of greenstone conglomerate, nearly on a level with the 
water of the lake. The surface of the rock is almost 
horizontal, beautifully polished, and strongly marked with 
glacial furrows and scratches. The direction of the furrows 
is N. 25° E., they are all parallel to one another, some of 
them half an inch in depth, and nearly double that measure 
m width. They pursue a uniform direction for many 
yards until concealed by the bushes which fringe the 
bare rock some forty or fifty feet from the water's edge. 

K 3 



246 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXrEDITION. 

The conglomerate presents the appearance of an immense 
table of mosaic work. The pebbles and small boulders 
enclosed in the matrix have been apparently water worn, 
some of them, however, showed no lateral abrasion, pre- 
serving their angles sharp, and well defined. They were 
all ground down to one uniform polished surface. 

The imbedded boulders and pebbles varied from half an 
inch to eighteen inches in diameter, and appeared generally 
to lie with their flat side facing the south-west. The 
colour of the matrix was a .pale green, and of the im- 
bedded pebbles grey, with a tint of green. A vertical 
section of the rock exhibited the pebbles and boulders, 
as if resting upon the extremity of the longest axis, with 
a slight inclination to the east. 

From the summit of an abraded granite hill about 250 
feet high, on the Winnipeg west of " the Dalles," a very 
extensive view of the surrounding country is obtained. 
The broad river, with its numerous deep bays, may be 
seen stretching far to the north, and all around smooth 
dome-shaped hills show their bare and scantily wooded 
summits in every direction. The general surface is either 
bare and so smooth and polished as to make walking dan- 
gerous, or else thickly covered with cariboo moss and 
tripe de roche. 

This general description applies to a vast area drained 
by the Winnipeg, and on the smoothed and polished rocks 
glacial grooves may be easily traced for long distances ; 
sometimes also boulders are found resting upon the 
polished surfaces. On one occasion an attempt to ascend 
a round dome-shaped mound forming the summit of a 
granite hill was frustrated by its beautifully polished sur- 
face preventing a footing from being obtained. The action 
of atmospheric agents had only succeeded in dimming its 
beauty, but had not destroyed its smoothness. 



DRIFT OX THE LAURENTIDES. 247 

Grooves and scratches occur on the limestones of Lakes 
Winnipeg and Manitobah, where the surface lias been 
preserved from atmospheric agencies, but whether they 
are of recent origin or connected with the drift, is not 
certain. 

DRIFT. 

The distribution of drift throughout the region lying 
between Lake Superior and Winnipeg is limited to a few 
detached ureas. The most important of these east of the 
Height of Land is at the Great Dog Portage, where it 
occurs in the form of beaches and terraces, which will be 
described further on. The terraced drift hi the valley of 
the Kaministiquia, below the Kakabeka Falls, is evidently 
of lacustrine origin. The Height of Land is covered with 
true boulder drift, having an elevation of about 1500 feet 
above the present level of the ocean ; but on the Height 
of Land at the sources of the Pigeon Eiver, boulder drift 
occurs at a considerably higher level. 

Small areas of drift may be found at the different 
portages, and on the islands in Mille Lacs, but in no 
instance east of Rainy Paver, were they seen of sufficient 
extent as to warrant especial notice. In the valley of 
Rainy Eiver buff-coloured unstratined clay, containing 
magnesian limestone boulders, and superimposed by strati- 
fied clay, occupies both banks for some distance along the 
river. On the Winnipeg, patches of drift begin at the 
Islington Mission, and, though far apart from one another, 
increase in area as the country sinks, until, at the Manitou 
Eapids, drift clay forms the banks of the river and con- 
tinues to its mouth. 

In the lower part of the Valley of Eed Eiver un- 
stratined clay, with boulders from Laureiitian rocks and 
limestone, rises from the water's edge to within four 
feet of the surface, after which its colour changes, it 

H 4 



248 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

shows stratification, and is evidently lacustrine. The 
unstratified clay contains a large per centage of magnesia 
derived from the underlying rocks. 

At Lane's Post on the Assinniboine, the quaternary 
lacustrine deposit, eight feet below the surface, pre- 
sents the appearance of irregularly stratified bands 
of extremely fine material deposited in quiet waters. 
Upon close examination the bands are found to consist 
of a series, in which light ash-coloured and dark brown 
layers alternate, about J to -^ of an inch in thickness. 
In the light-coloured bands minute crystals of sulphate 
of magnesia and common salt are common. The clay 
is characterized by its extreme fineness, the marked 
absence of silicious particles in the form of sand, and the 
presence of carbonates of lime and magnesia in variable 
quantities. In certain localities carbonate of liine exists 
in proportions sufficient to constitute a marl. 

The following section is exposed at Lane's Post : — 

Feet. 

Vegetable prairie mould 1 

Unstratified alluvial clay 5 

Stratified dark-coloured clay with light asli-coloured bands 12 

Total 18 

The subsoil on Eed Eiver, near the middle settlement, 
four feet below the surface, is much darker coloured, 
not so distinctly stratified, and contains abundance of 
mica in very fine brilliant plates. The particles of the 
subsoil on either river are extremely minute, and difficult 
to separate by washing. 

The drift on the Blue Hills of the Souris is chiefly of 
local origin, and consists almost exclusively of the shales 
which form the outcrop of the Cretaceous rocks whose 
limit is defined by the Pembina Mountain. Its age is 



DRIFT ON THE PRAIRIES. 249 

consequently posterior to that of the true Boulder drift, 
which is generally distributed over the high prairies to 
the west, and will be described further on in connection 
with beaches and conical hills. 

On parts of the Little Souris River the drift is very 
shallow, indeed it is doubtful whether true Boulder drift 
is present, the character of the surface material leading 
to the supposition that it is derived almost exclusively 
from the subjacent rocks. 

The drift on the South Branch of the Saskatchewan, 
below the Moose Woods, is distinguished by a remarkable 
peculiarity in the arrangement of the slabs of limestone 
and boulders of the unfossiliferous rocks distributed 
through the clay, which do not occupy the position they 
would assume if dropped from floating ice into soft 
mud. 

Every fact relating to the drift possesses some degree 
of interest, and may assist in the elucidation of that 
stupendous phenomenon and its subsequent changes, as 
well as tend to remove difficulties with which the whole 
phenomena of the drift are still invested.* 

In the blue clay at Toronto, the capital of Western 
Canada, an arrangement similar to that which exists 
among the coarser materials of the drift on the South 
Branch is remarkably well preserved. 

During the construction of the esplanade at Toronto, the 
plan pursued of removing the blue clay was well adapted 

* The forced arrangement of blocks of limestone, slabs of shale and un- 
fossiliferous boulders in the blue clay of Toronto, formed the subject of a 
paper which I read before the Canadian Institute some years ago. As the 
opportunities for making observations upon this peculiar arrangement were 
very favourable at that time, I shall here introduce an abstract of the paper, 
with a view to explain the manner in which slabs and boulders are found 
arranged in the Drift on the South Branch. (See Report on the Assin- 
niboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition, p. 120.) 



250 ASSINNIBOINB AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

to show a perfect sectional view of its components, with- 
out the risk of changing in the least degree their relative 
positions. The clay was cut away until a perpendicular 
wall was left, varying from ten to twenty feet in height, 
according to the locality. Wedges were then inserted at 
the top of the artificial cliff, about two feet from its edge, 
and driven into the clay until a mass, frequently two feet 
broad, fifteen or twenty feet long, and twelv%or eighteen 
feet deep, separated and fell. The fresh surface thus ex- 
posed was necessarily quite natural in every respect, not 
having been touched by the tool of the workman or 
changed by exposure to the weather, and during the years 
1855 and 1856, a large area of sectional surface was laid 
open to view. Two varieties of bine clay exist in the 
neighbourhood of Toronto, forming deposits quite distinct 
from one another. The deposit in question overlies rocks 
of Silurian age, which are exposed in many localities 
on the lake shore and on the banks of the rivers near 
the city ; it rests upon a blue argillaceous shale, easily 
recognized as constituting in fragments of different 
sizes, a large proporton of the substance of the blue 
clay. 

The thickness of this deposit of blue clay varies from 
ten to twenty -five feet ; its upper surface is irregular and 
undulating, and upon it reposes, in some places, stratified 
sand and yellow clay, in others, unstratified yellow clay. 
Besting on the sand or yellow clay, another kind of blue 
clay occurs, differing, however, essentially from the blue 
clay which lies at the base of the whole. The lower or 
inferior blue clay contains quartz sand and small rolled 
pebbles of granitic rocks, a considerable proportion of 
blue shale containing fossils belonging to the Silurian 
shales upon which it rests, and frequently large fragments 



DRIFT IN CANADA. 251 

of tlie last-named rock, together with more or less rolled 
or worn masses of granite, gneiss, &c. 

The fragments from the Silurian shales often possess 
sharp and well-defined edges, showing that they have not 
been water worn or removed far from the rock from 
which they originated. They are found not only a few 
inches from the surface of the parent rock, but in nume- 
rous instances from fifteen to twenty feet above it, im- 
bedded in a peculiar manner in the blue clay. Some of 
the larger fragments are scratched and grooved. 

A cursory inspection of the artificial cliffs, as they ex- 
isted during the construction of the esplanade, was 
sufficient to show that a considerable number of the 
pebbles and imbedded masses of rock did not occupy the 
position they would assume if they had not been sub- 
jected to some other force besides that of gravity or 
water in motion. The inclination of the subjacent rock 
is so slight (thirty feet in the mile) that for all purposes 
of the present inquiry it may be considered horizontal ; 
and it may be further remarked, that there is no reason 
to suppose that any material change in position has oc- 
curred since or during the accumulation of the blue clay. 
A large number of the fragments of rock seen in the blue 
clay are symmetrically inclined at an angle of 60°, 70°, 
and 80° to the horizon, and frequently lean towards the 
east and north-east. 

What force has thus symmetrically arranged these frag- 
ments of shale, &c. ? That they now preserve the po- 
sition into which they were forced by pressure, or that 
they were brought from a distance and left in tljat position, 
is sufficiently evident, as we cannot entertain the opinion 
that the rock on which the boulder drift rests has materi- 
ally changed its inclination since or during the Drift epoch. 



252 ASSIXXIBOIXE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

There can be no doubt that a very large portion of the 
drift of Canada has been rearranged since it was first de- 
posited. The inferior layer of blue clay is, however, 
essentially different from the upper layer which is fre- 
quently separated from it by a few feet of sand, and in 
some instances may even directly overlie it and consist of 
a rearrangement of its materials. The superior blue clay, 
together with the sand and yellow clay, frequently give 
evidence of stratification, and thus explain at once the 
nature of the force to which they have been subjected. 

The position of the rock fragments in the inferior blue 
clay, proves that it cannot have been exposed to the 
action of water, otherwise they would not preserve the 
forced arrangement which distinguishes them. Frag;- 
ments of shale, if submitted to gravity alone, would not 
have assumed the position in which they were found, had 
they dropped through water in motion or water at rest, 
into soft mud. It is well known that shingle, sand, 
gravel, and clay, either separately or combined, when 
thrown down an incline, as hi the construction of a rail- 
way embankment or as in a land slip, will assume a po- 
sition upon the surface of the embankment, which, if 
composed of sand, is generally inclined about 45° ; if 
of harder or coarser materials, at a higher angle. If the 
embankment or incline be formed under water, like the 
deltas at the mouths of rivers, this inclination is much 
less, and is dependent upon the specific gravity of the 
materials, but under no circumstances is it so high as 45°. 
If the existence of a current of water sufficiently powerful 
to move masses of shale and boulders of the imfossili- 
ferous rocks, it cannot be supposed that they would 
be found deposited upon the slope of a bank at so 
high an angle as the shale and boulders in the blue 



ACTION OF CUEEEXTS OX DEIFT. 253 

clay of Toronto, or the drift on the South Branch of 
the Saskatchewan, neither is it in the least degree prob- 
able that the current which could transport such heavy 
materials would admit of a mixture of clay, sand, shale, 
and boulders. The materials would be sorted by the 
current and deposited in the order of their specific gravity. 
The sorting of materials is one of the most positive proofs 
of the action of currents; and where no trace of. sorting 
can be discovered, when fine sand, coarse sand, pebbles, 
and boulders are present, we may reasonably infer that 
no current assisted in distributing them. 

Among the foreign materials entering into the com- 
position of the blue clay, we find granitic masses which 
have been brought from the outskirts of the fossiliferous 
rocks in Canada, a distance of at least 100 miles from 
their present position, and throughout the blue clay we 
discover also the magnetic oxide of iron. 

The materials of local origin exist in great abundance 
in the form of fragments and masses of shale, limestone, 
and clay derived from the underlying shales, &c. The 
nature of the agent which transported the foreign ma- 
terials from so great a distance is almost universally ac- 
knowledged to have been water and floating ice. The 
finer materials may have been conveyed by water, the 
coarser drift and erratics would require floating or moving 
ice. There can be little doubt that both water and float- 
ing ice (icebergs and floes) have been instrumental in 
bearing from northern fossiliferous and unfossiliferous 
rocks a considerable proportion of the numberless erratics 
strewn over the surface of a large part of this continent, 
as well as much of the clayey deposits so plentifully dis- 
tributed north of the 40th parallel. But the symmetrical 
arrangement of some of the slabs, pebbles, and boulders 



254 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

in the blue clay at Toronto, in the clay cliffs of the South 
Branch of the Saskatchewan, and in other localities where 
the same disposition may be witnessed, points also to the 
action of glacial or stranded ice. The phenomena may 
be explained by coast ice, or the dirt bands of glacial ice, 
but the entire absence of a sorting of fine and coarse 
materials, seems to destroy the hypothesis which intro- 
duces the agency of currents of water, as the forced but 
symmetrical arrangement does that of floating ice. 

The wide-spread phenomena exhibiting the greater or 
less action of ice, such as grooved, polished, and embossed 
rocks, the excavation of the deep lakes of the St. Law- 
rence basin, the forced arrangement of drift, the plough- 
ing up of large areas, and the extraordinary amount of 
the denudation at different levels without the evidence of 
beaches, all point to the action of glacial ice previous to 
the operations of floating ice in the grand phenomena of 
the Drift. 

The long lines of boulders exposed in two parallel 
horizontal rows, about twenty feet apart, in the drift of 
the South Branch, are the records of former shallow 
lakes or seas in that region. They may represent a coast 
line, but more probably low ridges formed under water, 
upon which the boulders were stranded. In the shallow 
lakes of the Winnipeg basin, the boulders brought year 
by year by ice from the neighbouring shore accumulate 
upon long, narrow spits, and ultimately form breakwaters 
or islands. The same process may have occurred with 
the boulders on the South Branch. Tl\e fine layers of 
stratified mud, easily split into thin leaves, which lie just 
above them, show conclusively that they were deposited 
in quiet water ; their horizontality proves that they occu- 
pied an ancient coast, floor or ridge below the compara- 



DISTRIBUTION OF DRIFT ON THE SOUTH BRANCH. -25-5 

tively tranquil water of a shallow lake. The vast ac- 
cumulations of sand and clay above them establish the 
antiquity of the arrangement, and the occurrence of two 
such layers parallel to one another, and separated by 
a considerable accumulation of clay and sand, leads to 
the inference that the conditions which established the 
existence of one layer also prevailed during the arrange- 
ment of the other. These boulders may be distributed 
over the level floor of a former lake or sea, and cover a 
vast area ; if this be the case it only proves that the 
agents which brought them operated a second time, after 
a long intervening period, and with similar results. The 
fine mud has been submitted to careful microscopical 
investigation, without establishing the presence of dia- 
tom acea3, or any organic forms from which conclusions 
might be drawn respecting its origin. 



ERRATICS. 

The distribution of boulders or erratics in the area 
explored, may be traced as in Canada to at least two 
epochs ; the Drift and Boulder period, during which by 
far the larger number were torn from the parent rock 
and carried by ice to their present resting-places, and the 
Recent period, including the rearrangement of ancient 
drift and the distribution of fresh supplies by the 
action of ice.* The largest boulder was seen in the 
valley of the Qu'appelle. The circumference of this 
enormous erratic is seventy-eight feet, and it exposes a 



* "Where erratics are distributed in large quantities, the locality is indi- 
cated on the map accompanying the Reports on the Assinniboine and Sa ikat 
chewan Exploring Expedition. 



256 ASSINXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

portion above ground at least fourteen feet in altitude. 
The next largest, one of limestone, was seen on the 
prairies below the Moose Woods ; it is about sixteen feet 
high, and at least sixty in circumference, is very jagged, 
and consists of immense slabs, whose edges project two 
and three feet.* Near it are many others of the same 
kind, but of smaller dimensions. Near Little Cut Arm 
Creek, an affluent of the Qu'appelle, large unfossiliferous 
boulders are very numerous. North of the Assinniboine, 
near the Big Eidge, boulders are also abundant, and 
when magnified by refraction look like tents on the level 
prairies. 

The ice on Lake Winnipeg carries off, every spring, 
fragments of rock belonging to the Laurentian Series 
which form its eastern shores. Many of these are dis- 
tributed over the shallows and on the beaches of the 
western side of the lake ; these phenomena resemble 
in miniature the stupendous operations described by 
travelers as continually occurring on the shores of the 
Arctic Ocean. 

In Lake Manitobah long lines of boulders are accumu- 
lating in shallows and forming extensive reefs ; the same 
operation is going on in all the lakes of this region, and is 
instrumental in diminishing the area of the lake in one 
direction, which is probably compensated by a wearing 
away of the coast in other places. Several of these 
modern accumulations formed by a re-arrangement of the 
boulders of the older drift are noticed in preceding chap- 
ters. Taken as a whole, and in connection with the 
destruction of the coasts, they afford a striking illustration 

* This erratic was probably one of the series traced by Dr. Hector, from 
" the Thickwood Hills, in a southerly direction towards the Moose Hills on 
tin; South Branch." — Paper* relative f<> the Exploration of British North 
America. 1859. 



ANCIENT BEACHES ON THE GREAT DOG. 257 

of the changes now taking place in the relations of land 
and water throughout the Lake Eegion. 

The boulders and slabs of limestone on the low prairies 
of Eed Eiver and the Assimiiboine resting upon lacustrine 
deposits, were probably brought by ice at a period pos- 
terior to the Boulder Drift. They are illustrations of the 
operations of ice at higher lake levels, similar to those 
occurring at the present time. 

BEACHES AND TERRACES. 

The most remarkable beach and terrace between Lake 
Superior and Lake Winnipeg, showing an ancient coast 
line, is undoubtedly that which separates Great Dog from 
Little Dog Lake on the Kaministiquia canoe route. 

The Great Dog Portage, fifty-five miles from Lake 
Superior by the canoe route, rises 490 feet above the 
level of the Little Dog Lake, and the greatest elevation 
of the ridge cannot be less than 500 feet above it. The 
difference between the levels of Little and Great Dog 
Lakes is 347-81 feet, and the length of the portage 
between them, one mile and fifty-three chains. 

It is stated in Chapter II. that the base of the Great 
Dog Mountain consists of a gneissoid rock supporting 
numerous boulders and fragments of the same material. 
A level plateau of clay then occurs for about a quarter of 
a mile, at an altitude of 283 feet above Little Dog Lake, 
from which rises, at a very acute angle, an immense 
bank or ridge of stratified .sand, holding small water- worn 
pebbles. The bank of sand continues to the summit of 
the portage, or 185 feet above the clay plateau. The 
portage path does not pass over the highest part of the 
sand ridge ; east of the path it is probable that its summit 
is 500 feet above the Little Dog Lake. 

vol. ii. a 



258 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



Height in 
Feet. 


Distance 
in Feet. 


Margin of Beaches. 


163-53 
215-00 
251-74 
283-78 
468-19 
472-60 
490-00 
474-00 

395-00 
348-00 


ft. 
1000 
1450 

1650 
2550 
3300 
5920 
6180 
7400 

8640 
8712 


Beginning of 1st plateau. 

Termination of do. 

Beginning of 2nd do. 

End of 2nd plateau, and commencement of sand bank. 

Commencement of 3rd plateau. 

End of 3rd plateau. 

Summit of level and commencement of 4th plateau. 

End of 4th plateau, and commencement of descent to 

edge of cliff. 
End of descent. 
Bottom of cliff, and level of Great Dog Lake. 




Profile of the Great Dog Mountain. 



Here then we have a terrace 490 feet above Little Dog 
Lake, or 853 feet above Lake Superior, or 1453 feet 
above the sea, and furnishing an admirable proof of the 
value of Dr. Hitchcock's expectation that higher beaches 
than those measured by Sir William Logan on the shores 
of Lake Superior would be found in that region. In his 
Surface Geology, Dr. Hitchcock says, page 63 (Smith- 
sonian Contributions), " I will only add, that if it be ad- 
mitted that the facts adduced in this paper prove the 
presence, since the Drift period, of the ocean at a height 
of 2000 or even 1200 feet, above its present level, then it 
must have extended over nearly all of our western 



' * This section was kindly furnished me by Mr. Napier, the engineer to 
the Red River Expedition, 1857. 



ANCIEXT BEACH AT PRAIRIE PORTAGE. 259 

country ; and unless Professor Agassiz says that he had 
his eye upon this matter along the shores of Superior, I 
cannot avoid entertaining the expectation, that what I 
call beaches will yet be found at a much higher level 
there, than the 331 feet terrace, measured by Mr. (now 
Sir William) Logan." 

I am inclined to think that another beach and ter- 
race can be recognised at Prairie Portage, one hundred 
and four miles by the canoe route from Lake Superior ; 
its altitude would exceed that on the Great Dog, being 
1485 feet above the ocean. Prairie Portage passes over 
the height of land, but not the highest land on the route, 
and its course lies first, south-west up a steep wooded hill, 
without rock exposure, but composed of drift clays, sand, 
and numerous boulders ; it then enters a narrow valley, 
which terminates in a small lake, about five acres in area 
and 20 feet deep, occupying a hollow among the hills on 
the height of land. The portage path continues on in the 
same direction until the Height of Land Lake is reached, 
a small sheet of water, about a square mile in area, and 
157 feet above Cold Water Lake. The utmost elevation 
peached on the Prairie Portage is probably 190 feet 
above Cold Water Lake or nearly 900 feet above Lake 
Superior. Portage du Milieu, one hundred and five miles 
from Lake Superior passes over a low sandy ridge. It is 
8G9 feet above Lake Superior, or 14G9 feet above the 
sea ; this ridge may have been contemporaneous with 
beaches on the summit of the Great Doer. 

In the valley of Lake Winnipeg the first prominent 
ancient beach is the Bio- Eido;e. 

Commencing east of Eed Eiver, a few miles from Lake 
Winnipeg, this ridge pursues a south-westerly course until 
it approaches Eed Eiver, within four miles of the Middle 
Settlement, here it was ascertained by leveling to be 

s 2 



260 ASSIXXIBOINE AXD SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

67 ^ feet above the prairie. On the opposite side of 
the river, a beach on Stony Mountain corresponds with 
the Big Eidge, and three or four miles further west it is 
observed marking the limit of a former extension of the 
valley of Lake Winnipeg. On the east side of Eed Eiver 
the Big Eidge is traced nearly due south from the Middle 
Settlement to where it crosses the Eoseau, forty-six miles 
from the mouth of that stream, and on or near the 49th 
parallel. It is next met with at Pine or Tamarac Creek, 
in the State of Minnesota, and from this point it may 
be said to form a continuous and horizontal gravel road, 
beautifully arched, and about one hundred feet broad, 
the whole distance to the shores of Lake Winnipeg, or 
more than 120 miles. 

On the west side of Eed Eiver, and north of the 
Assinniboine, I traced the Big Eidge from a point about 
three miles west of Stony Mountain to near Prairie 
Portage. Here it appears to have been removed by the 
agency of the Prairie Portage Eiver and the waters of 
the Assinniboine, which are said to pass from the valley 
of that river into Lake Manitobah during very high 
floods. 

Another and higher ridge was observed on White Mud 
Eiver, about twenty miles west of Lake Manitobah. It 
resembled in every particular the ridge on the east side of 
Eed Eiver, being about 100 to 120 feet broad, and about 
twenty-five feet above the level of the prairie. It was 
ao;ain noticed in the rear of Manitobah House, where the 
same characteristics were preserved. It probably crosses 
the Assinniboine three or four miles west of Prairie 
Portage, and is perhaps identical with the lowest ridge or 
step of the Pembina Mountain. 

In the rear of Dauphin Lake, the next ridge in the 
ascending series occurs, it forms an excellent pitching 



QUATERNAEY BEACHES IN RED RIVER VALLEY. 261 

track for Indians on the east flank of the Biding Mountain. 
Probably these ridges are found close together, at the foot 
of the Pembina Mountain, where no less than four dis- 
tinct steps occur close together near the sources of 
Scratching Biver.* The summit of these steps may be 
the plateau whose altitude was ascertained by Dr. Owen 
to be 210 feet above the prairie level, and the first steps 
may be continuous with the Big Bidge, limiting the level 
prairies of Bed Biver and the Assinniboine. 

The prairies enclosed by the Big Bidge are every- 
where intersected by small subordinate ridges, which 
often die out, and are evidently the remains of shoals 
formed in the shallow bed of Lake Winnipeg when its 
waters were limited by the Big Bidge. Many opportu- 
nities for observing the present formation of similar shoals 
occurred hi Lake Manitobah, St. Martin's Lake, Lake 
Winnipeg and Dauphin Lake. These, when the lakes 
become drained, will have the form of ridges in the level 
country then exposed. Indeed it may be said that the 
region between Dauphin Mountain and Lake Manitobah 
in the direction of Ebb and Flow Lake and south of that 
body of water, is but recently drained, or still in process 
of draining, being removed from the surface of Ebb and 
Flow Lake, by a very few feet and covered with water to 
a large extent in the spring. At present it consists of 
marsh, bog and ridge, in continued succession. When 
completely drained, the country will resemble the present 
prairies of the Assinniboine, with the gentle rich depres- 
sions, and the low dry gravelly ridges. 

The Pembina Mountain is par excellence the ancient 
beach in the valley of Lake Winnipeg. Dr. Owen thus 

* The steps are shown on Sheet 2 of the large map accompanying the 
Reports on the Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition. 



262 ASS1NNIB0INE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

described it as it presents itself a few miles south of the 
49th parallel : " After a hot and fatiguing ride over the 
plains, we arrived an hour after sunset at the foot of the 
Pembina Mountain. In the twilight as we stood at our 
encampment on the plain, it looked as if it might be three 
hundred feet or more in height ; but in the morning, by 
broad daylight, it seemed less. When I came to measure 
it, I was somewhat surprised that it did not exceed 210 
feet. I observed on this as on many other occasions that 
a hill rising out of a level plain, appears higher than it 
really is, especially when, as in this case, the trees on its 
flank and summit are of small growth. Pembina Moun- 
tain is in fact, no mountain at all, nor yet a hill. It is a 
terrace of table-land, the ancient shore of a great body of 
water, that once filled the whole of the Eed Eiver valley. 
On its summit it is quite level and extends so, for about 
five miles westward, to another terrace, the summit of 
wliich I was told is level with the great Buffalo Plains, 
that stretch away towards the Missouri, the hunting 
grounds of the Sioux and the half-breed population of 
Red River. 

Instead of being composed of ledges of rock, as I was 

led to suppose, it is a mass of incoherent sand, gravel, and 

shingle so entirely destitute of cement, that with the hand 

alone a hole several feet deep may be excavated in a few 

minutes. The Pembina River has cut through this 

material a deep, narrow valley, but little elevated above 

the adjacent plain. Along its banks are precipices of 

sand, surmounted by gravel and a few boulders. I was 

told that it was impossible to ascend these banks. So 

loose is the deposit, that, no sooner is an ascent attempted, 

than the stones fifty or a hundred feet above, are detached, 

and come tumbling down at such an alarming rate that 

the climber is glad to make his escape."* 



CONTOUR OF THE rEMBINA MOUNTAIN. 263 

An inspection of the map will show the contour of the 
Pembina Mountain as far as ascertained ; where Mr. 
Dickinson ascended it, fifteen miles north of the 49th 
parallel it occurs in four distinct terraces. It crosses 
the Assinniboine near the Bad Woods, blends with 
the Biding and Duck Mountains, and probably appears 
again on the main Saskatchewan, twenty-two miles from 
the Grand Forks. The elevation of the entire coimtry 
east of this long ancient coast line is about 700 feet above 
the level of the ocean, and it forms the boundary of a 
distinct tract of lowland, in part surpassingly rich, as 
over the Eed River and Assinniboine prairies, and the 
region on the main Saskatchewan slightly elevated above 
the area subjected to annual overflow ; part covered with 
swamp, marsh, or level limestone rock, on which a few 
inches of soil affords nourishment to small spruce, tamarac, 
and aspen ; and finally, by a shallow water area extending 
over 13,100 square miles, and embracing lakes which 
rank with the first class in pomt of superficies on this 
continent. 

High above the Pembina Mountain the steps and ter- 
races of the Biding and Duck Mountains arise in well- 
defined succession. On the southern and south-western 
slopes of these ranges the terraces are distinctly exposed 
to view ; on then north-east and north sides, the Biding 
and Duck Mountains present a precipitous escarpment 
which is elevated fully 1000 feet above Lake Winnipeg, 
or more than 1600 feet above the sea. 

Standing on the edge of the escarpment of the Biding 
Mountain and looking in the direction of Dauphin Lake, 
a gulf, some twc hundred and fifty feet deep, is seen to 
be succeeded by two ranges of cone-shaped hills covered 

* Geological Survey of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, p. 179, 

s 4 



2G-4 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

with boulders, one lower than the other. The hills are 
parallel to the general trend of the escarpment, and 
stand out as bold eminences, showing the extent of the 
denudation which gave rise to them. These ranges of 
conical hills correspond with terraces on the west side of 
the mountain. They are the result of the same denuding 
forces which have left their impress upon the west flank, 
and were formed by the unequal wearing away of the 
more exposed eastern flank, at the time when the ter- 
races on the opposite and sheltered side were in process 
of arrangement. 

I estimated the summit of Bear Hill, one of the most 
prominent of the conical hills separated from the edge of 
the escarpment by a deep valley, at 800 feet above Lake 
Winnipeg ; if to this altitude we add 628 feet, the height 
of Lake Winnipeg above the sea, the elevation of the 
first terrace below the summit of the mountain, will be 
about 1,428 feet. This altitude corresponds in a re- 
markable manner with the sand bank on the Great Dog 
Portage, 500 miles distant in an air line from Bear Hill. 
The second tier of conical hills stands upon the second 
terrace from the summit, and is probably continuous 
with the Pembina Mountain. 

SAND HILLS AND DUNES. 

The most extensive of these unstable ranges are de- 
scribed in the narrative. 

It is needless to remark that the region they occupy is 
almost absolutely barren. Many of the hills and dunes 
are continually exposing fresh surfaces, sometimes beauti- 
fully ripple marked. The probability of then being the 
remains of tertiary deposits, is noticed in a subsequent 
chapter. The following are the most extensive ranges : — 

1. Sand hills and dunes of the Assinniboine, extending 



DUNES AND DEPRESSIONS. 265 

from the Bad Woods to a short distance beyond Pine 
Creek, forty miles. 

2. Sand hills of the Sonris. 

3. Sand hills and dunes of the Qu'appelle. 

4. Sand hills and dimes of the South Branch. 

5. Sand and gravel ridges north-west of the Touchwood 
Hills. 

CIRCULAR DEPRESSIONS. 

This curious disposition of the drift, probably due to a 
re-arrancement of its materials, is of not uncommon oc- 
currence south-east of the Touchwood Hills. Circular 
depressions varying from 100 yards to half a mile hi 
diameter, appear in the prairies, generally surrounded by 
a ridge of sand or gravel. Many of them are quite dry, 
others hold water, which is generally brackish. The 
deepest and largest depression noticed was about 600 
yards across and 40 feet below the general level. 

DENUDATION. 

An adequate conception of the effects of denudation 
in the basin of Lake Winnipeg can be best attained if we 
revert to the period when the Cretaceous shales now 
forming the summit and flanks of the Turtle, Biding, 
Duck, Porcupine, and Pasquia Mountains, occupied the 
basins of Lakes Manitobah and Winnipeg, and found their 
eastern limits near the present outcrop of the Laurentian 
Series. In order to complete our view of the extent of 
this great physical movement, we must conceive the same 
shales and sandstones, (in part overlaid by Tertiaries fill- 
ing the depressions or valleys in the Cretaceous rocks, 
the result of previous denudation) forming an unbroken 
table-land to the Grand Coteau de Missouri. These 
relations become more evident upon an inspection of the 
sections. 



2G6 ASSINNIIiOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 
LIMITS OP DENUDATION. 

A curious and very interesting example of parallelism 
in bold limits of denudation, can be traced in the basins 
of Lake Winnipeg and the St. Lawrence. The abrupt 
escarpment of the Grand Coteau de Missouri preserves a 
direction throughout the greater portion of its denuded 
face, parallel to the escarpment of the Niagara limestone 
which enters Canada from the State of New York at 
Lewiston, on the Niagara river, and sweeping round the 
head of Lake Ontario passes up the Indian Peninsula and 
thence to the Grand Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. 
The denuded flanks of the Biding and Duck Mountains 
with their northern and southern prolongations also pre- 
serve the same general direction. Lines drawn on a map 
of North America to show these well-marked limits of 
denudation at different periods, will at once suggest the 
existence of a uniformly acting force operating under 
similar physical conditions. Like beaches or ridges formed 
at different sea-levels they have probably a common origin, 
which the supposition of their being ancient coast-lines is 
not sufficient to explain, neither do their geographical 
relations appear to be altogether dependent upon their 
geological structure. They seem to point to the action of 
currents, of which the Gulf stream and the compensating 
Arctic currents are modern illustrations. 

DISLOCATIONS. 

The basin of Lake Winnipeg from the Laurentides to 
the Bocky Mountains, has been subjected to a series of 
dislocations, which have acted very uniformly over areas 
far apart. The courses of rivers show the general direc- 
tion of these gradual disturbances, which may have given 
rise to the numerous " Elbows " which form such a 
marked feature in the water channels, and consequently 
















Ti'iililr m' lvaiiiimslj<]iii;i KmMr 






i i" 

« I 






Profile 01 i oiiiiii \ .i«i (/»• ,;,« 



Profile o1 Qn Appollc Vallej 















I igeon River Ron 



DISLOCATIONS. 267 

in the surface of the rocks of a large part of Eupert's 
Land. The following table shows the probable effect 
which lias been produced by some of these dislocations : — 

Name of Lake and Kiver. Change of course. 

1. St. Martin Lake and the Little 

Saskatchewan ... N. to S.E. 

2. Dauphin Lake, Moss Eiver and 

Waterhen Eiver . . . N.E. by E. to S.E. by S. 

3. South Branch of the Saskatche- 

wan (Elbow) . . . S.E. to N.E. 

4. North Branch of the Saskatche- 

wan S.E. to N.E. 

5. Battle Eiver (Elbow) . . S.E. to N.E. 

6. Bow Eiver (Junction with the 

South Branch) . . . S.E. to N.E. 



'268 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



CHAP. XXXVII. 

THE LAUEENTIAN AND HURONIAN SERIES. 

Distribution of Formations. — The Laurentides. The Laurentian 

System. — Description of Laurentian Rocks. — Lime and Soda Felspar. — 
Titanic Iron-ore. — Crystalline Limestones. — Mineral Species in the 
Limestones. — Intrusive Rocks. — Economic Materials. — Separation of 
Lam'entian Rocks into two Groups. — Extent of the Limestones in this 
System. — Area of Laurentian Rocks in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — 
Intrusive Rocks. — Character of the Dividing Ridge. — From Milles Lacs 
to Rainy Lake. — From Rainy Lake to the Lake of the Woods. — From 
the Lake of the Woods to the Winnipeg. — The Coast of Lake Winnipeg. 
— Fundamental Gneiss of Scotland, the Equivalent of the Laurentian 
Series in Canada. — Adoption of the name Laurentian in British Geology 
by Sir Roderick Murchison, to represent the Oldest or Fundamental 
Gneiss of Scotland. — The Huronian Series. — Description of Huronian 
Rocka. . 

DISTRIBUTION OF FORMATIONS. 

The distribution of series of formations in the order of 
their occurrence from east to west in the basin of Lake 
Winnipeg is as follows : — 

1. Laurentian Series. 

2. Silurian 

3. Devonian 

4. Carboniferous* 

5. Cretaceous 

6. Tertiary 

* Although this series has not been recognized on the east side of the 
fossiliferous rocks in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg, yet the occurrence of 
a Productua in a boulder in the bed of Red River affords presumptive evi- 
dence that the series is represented there. I have therefore placed it pro- 
visionally in the enumeration given above. 



THE LAUREXTIDE MOUNTAINS. 2G9 



THE LAURENTIAN SERIES. 

The origin of the name Lanrentian and the cha- 
racter of the rock series which compose this system is 
described by Sir William Logan and Mr. Hunt in the 
following extract from a " Sketch of the Geology of 
Canada." 

THE LAUREXTIDES.* 

"The province of Canada is traversed, through its 
whole length, by a mountainous region dividing it into 
two basins, winch may be distinguished as the northern 
and the southern basins. These mountains, which have 
been named the Laurentides, form the north shore of the 
St. Lawrence, from the gulf as far as Cape Tourmente, 
near Quebec ; from which point they leave the river, and 
while they follow its general direction become more and 
more remote, until near Montreal, they are at a distance 
of ten leagues from the St. Lawrence. Going further 
westward, this mountainous region follows the line of the 
Ottawa, and crosses this river near the Lac des Chats, 
fifty leagues from Montreal. Thence taking a southward 
direction, it reaches the St. Lawrence near the outlet of 
Lake Ontario, and from this point running north-west- 
ward, the southern limit of this formation, reaches the 
south-eastern extremity of Lake Huron, at Matchedash 
Bay, and forms the eastern shore of the lake as far as the 
47th degree of latitude, where quitting this lake, the for- 
mation gains Lake Superior, and extends in a north-west 
direction to the Arctic Sea. 

" To the south of the St. Lawrence, this same region 

* A Sketch of the Geology of Canada, serving to explain the Geological 
Map and Collection of Economic Materials sent to the Universal Exhibition 
at Paris, 1855, by W. E. Logan, F.R.S., and T. Sterry Hunt, A.M. 



270 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

covers a considerable space between the Lakes Ontario 
and Champlain, and constitutes the Adirondack Moun- 
tains. With this exception, and perhaps also a small 
exposure in Arkansas and another near the sources of the 
Mississippi, this formation is not found to the south of 
the St. Lawrence, and as it belongs especially to the valley 
of this river and constitutes the Laurentide Mountains, 
the Geological Commission of Canada has distinguished 
it by the name of the Laurentian system" 



THE LAURENTIAN SYSTEM. 

" The rocks of this system are, almost without excep- 
tion, ancient sedimentary strata, which have become 
highly crystalline. They have been very much disturbed 
and form ranges of hills, having a direction nearly north- 
east and south-west, rising to the height of 2,000 or 
3,000 feet and even higher. The rocks of this formation 
are the most ancient known on the American continent, 
and correspond probably to the oldest gneiss of Finland 
and Scandinavia and to some similar rocks in the North 
of Scotland. 

" The rocks of the Laurentian formation are in great 
part crystalline schists, for the most part gneissoid or 
hornblendic. Associated with these schists, are found 
large stratified masses of a crystalline rock, which is 
composed almost entirely of a lime and soda felspar. 
The rock is sometimes fine grained, but more often por- 
phyritic, and contains cleavable masses of felspar, some- 
times several inches in diameter ; these felspars are 
triclinic, and have ordinarily the composition of andesine, 
labradorite, anorthite, or of intermediate varieties. Their 
colours are various, but the cleavable felspars are gene- 
rally bluish or reddish, and often give coloured reflections. 



THE LAUEEXTIAN LIMESTONES. 271 

Hypersthene is very generally disseminated in these fel- 
spathic rocks, bnt always in small quantity. Titanic 
iron-ore is also found in them, in a great number of 
places, sometimes in small grains, but often in consider- 
able masses. 

" With schists and felspars are found strata of quartzite, 
associated with crystalline limestones, which occupy an 
important place in this formation. These limestones 
occur in beds of from a few feet to 300 feet in thickness, 
and often present a succession of thin beds intercalated 
with beds of gneiss or quartzite ; these latter are some- 
times quartzite conglomerates, and have in certain cases 
a base of dolomite. Associated with these limestones, 
are sometimes found beds composed hi great part of 
wollastonite and of pyroxene, species which evidently 
owe their origin to the metamorphism of siliceous lime- 
stones. Beds of dolomite and limestone more or less 
magnesian, are often interstratified with the pure lime- 
stones of this formation. 

"The limestones of this system are rarely compact, 
and most frequently are coarsely granulated. They are 
white or reddish, bluish or greyish, and these colours are 
often arranged in bands which coincide with the stratifi- 
cation. The principal mineral species met with in these 
limestones, are apatite, fluor, serpentine, phlogopite, sea- 
polite, orthoclase, pyroxene, hornblende, wollastonite, 
quartz, idocrase, garnet, brown tourmaline, chondrodite, 
spinel, corundum, zircon, sphene, magnetic and specular 
iron, and graphite. The chondrodite and graphite are 
often arranged in bands parallel with the stratification. 
Beds of a mixture of wollastonite and pyroxene are 
sometimes met with, which are very rich in zircon, 
sphene, garnet, and idocrase. The most crystalline varie- 
ties of these limestones often exhale a very fetid odour 



272 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

when bruised. The limestones of this formation do not 
yield everywhere well crystallized minerals ; near the 
Bay of Quinte there are beds met with which still pre- 
serve the sedimentary character, and show only the com- 
mencement of metamorphism. 

" The conditions in which they are sometimes found, 
indicate that the agents which have rendered these lime- 
stones crystalline, have been such as to render the 
carbonate of lime almost liquid, and that, while in that 
state, it has undergone great pressure. As evidence of 
this opinion, we find that the limestone often fills fissures in 
the adjacent siliceous strata, and envelopes the detached, 
and often folded fragments of these less fusible beds 
precisely like an igneous rock. 

" The crystalline schists, felspars, quartzites and lime- 
stones which we have described, make up the stratified 
portion of the Laurentian system, but there are besides, 
intrusive granites, syenites and diorites, which form im- 
portant masses ; the granites are sometimes albitic, and 
often contain black tourmaline mica in large plates, zircon, 
and sulphur et of molybdenum. 

" Among the economic minerals of this formation, the 
ores of iron are the most important, and are generally 
found associated with the limestones." 

In 1857 Sir William Logan read a paper before the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
in which he referred to a former indication of a " probable 
separation of the Laurentian rocks of Canada into two 
great groups : that characterized by the presence of much 
hme and that without ; " but from recent investigations 
(previous to August, 1857) it has appeared to him " al- 
most certain that the former of these two great groups 
will be capable of subdivision, and that some of- its bands 
of limestone, with their associate strata, are of a sufficient 



THICKNESS OF THE LAURENTIAN LIMESTONES. -273 

importance to be represented separately on the map."* 
At the meeting of the same body in 1859, Sir William 
Logan exhibited a map on which was delineated in detail 
the distribution of some of the bands of crystalline 
limestone interstratilied with the gneiss of the Laurentian 
rocks on the north side of the Ottawa river, about forty 
miles from Montreal, being a continuation of the work 
referred to at the Montreal Meeting in 1857. Two ad- 
ditional bands of limestone had been ascertained to 
underlie the lowest of those previously examined, the 
whole of the strata associated with these lower three, 
including the limestones, being supposed to be about 
15,000 feet thick. f 

* Canadian Journal, January, 1858. 

t Until lately the Potsdam sandstone has been supposed to represent the 
epoch when organic life was first introduced by the Creator on the surface of 
our globe. Recent discoveries tend to throw back the first peopling of the 
world into a past so indefinitely remote, that all preconceived ideas of 
organic history become unsettled and at fault. The following notice is from 
The Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, vol. iv. p. 300 : — 

" Although the Laurentian Series has hitherto been considered azoic, a 
search for fossils in them has not been neglected. Such search is naturally 
conducted with great difficulties. Any organic remains which may have 
been entombed in these limestones, would, if they retained their calcareous 
character be almost certainly obliterated by crystallization, and it would be 
only through their replacement by a different mineral substance that there 
would be a chance of some of the forma being preserved. No such instances 
had been observed on the investigation of the Ilouge and its vieinitv, but 
from another locality in the Laurentian formation, Mr. John McMullen, one 
of the explorers of the Geological Survey, had obtained specimens well 
worthy of attention. They consisted of parallel or apparently concentric 
layers resembling those of the coral Stromatocerium, except that they anas- 
tomose at various parts; these layers consist of crystalline pyroxene, while 
the interstices are filled with crystallized carbonate of lime. These specimens 
had recalled to recollection others which had been obtained from Dr. "Wilson 
of Perth some years ago, and had not then been regarded witli sufficient 
attention. In these similar forms are composed of green serpentine, concre- 
tionary, while the interstices are filled with white dolomite. If it be sup- 
posed thai both are the result of mere unaided mineral arrangement, it 
would seem strange thai identical forms should result from such different 

VOL. 11. T 



274 ASSINNIBOINB AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

The crystalline limestones in the Laurentian series 
are daily acquiring increased importance. In the Report 
for the year 1858, recently issued, Sir William Logan 
states that in the present state of the investigation there 
appears to be a sequence of four important bands of 
crystalline limestone in the Laurentian area examined ; 
but the wrinkled condition of the strata is such that in a 
space of not more than fifty miles by twenty, one of the 
bands exhibits an outcrop exceeding two hundred miles 
m length, which renders it very difficult to determine 
with precision the volume of rock in which the four cal- 
careous bands are enclosed. The following is Sir William 

minerals in places so far apart. If the specimens had been obtained from 
the altered rocks of the Lower Silurian series there would have been little 
hesitation in pronouncing them to be fossils. The resemblance of these 
forms to Stromatocerium from the Bird's-eye limestone, when the coral has 
been replaced by concretionary silica, is very striking. In the pyroxenic 
specimens, the pyroxene and the carbonate of lime being both white, the 
forms, although weathered into strong relief on the surface, are not percepti- 
ble in fresh fractures until the fragments are subjected to an acid, the appli- 
cation of which shows the structure running throughout the mass. Several 
specimens of these supposed fossils were exhibited to the section." 

The suppositions embodied in the foregoing extract do not coincide with 
the views relating to the origin of life expressed by Sir Roderick Mur- 
chison in the proceedings of the Geological Society for November, 1859, 
p. 219. The Cambrian rocks referred to, rest on the fundamental gneiss or 
Laurentian rocks of the North Highlands of Scotland : — 

" The phenomenon relating to these Cambrian sandstones which may well 
strike the geologist as he passes over the summits of Suilven and Queenaig, 
is that these very ancient rocks, on which unquestionably the Lower Silurian 
rocks repose, should be simply sandstones and grits, which have undergone 
much less change than the sandstone which lies upon them, — the latter 
having been metamorphosed into quartz-rock. However difficult it may be 
to account for this fact, it is at all events most instructive as regards the origin 
and succession of life in the crust of the 'earth, and sustains my view of 
a beginning. For here (and I have applied the same argument before to the 
Cambrian sandstones of the Longmynd, which certainly underlie the quartz- 
rock of the Stiper Stones) the older of the two rocks in Scotland has 
offered no trace of fossils, whilst the more crystallized structure above 
exhibits unmistakable signs of former living things." 



CONSTITUENTS OF THE LAURENTIAN SERIES. 



275 



Logan's approximate estimate of the thickness of the 
various constituent parts of the mass, arranged in as- 



cending order : — 






Feet. 


1. Gneiss 


5,000 


2. Crystalline Limestone .... 


1,500 


3. Gneiss 


4,000 


4. Crystalline Limestone .... 


2,500 


5. Gneiss ....... 


•V)00 


G. Crystalline Limestone .... 


750 


7. Gneiss ....... 


5,000 


8. Crystalline Limestone .... 


500 


Total 


22,750 



The area occupied by the Laurentian series in the 
Basin of Lake Winnipeg is indicated on the geological 
map. The country between Lake Superior and the Height 
of Land has been described by Mr. Alexander Murray, of 
the Canadian Geological Commission * ; the geology of 
Rainy Lake and of the Lake of the Woods by Dr. Bigsbyf ; 
the country on the Pigeon River route by Dr. Norwood J ; 
and a general view of the whole country between Lake 
Superior and Lake Winnipeg by Dr. Hector §, &c. 

The intrusive rocks, so numerous throughout the vast 
extent of this series in the region under review, consist of 
granites, syenites, greens! ones, trap, &c. In Great Dog 
Lake mica schist rests on each side of syenite outbursts, 
which have the form of promontories jutting into the 
lake on the west coast. The valley of Dog River is 
bounded by low granite ridges which acquire greater 

* Report of Progress, 1840. 

t "On the Geology of Rainy Lake, South Hudson's Bay," hy Dr. J. 
.1. I'igsby, F.G.S. &c. — Quarterly 'Journal of the Geological Society, 1854. 
Also " On the Geologj of the Lake of the Woods," hy the same author. — 
Quarterly Journal, L852. 

X Geological Survey of Wisconsin, &c. 

§ Papers Relative to the Exploration of British North America, hy 
Captain Palliser. — Blue Book, 1869 

t 2 



27G ASSINXIBOIXE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 

altitude and breadth at the Height of Land. A similar 
disposition obtains at Milles Lacs on the western slope, 
where the elongated dome-shaped intrusions are about 100 
feet high and flanked with schists. 

On the Pigeon Elver route the granite and syenite 
ranges acquire more imposing altitudes, sometimes attain- 
ing an elevation of nearly 1300 feet above Lake Superior, 
but the axis of each range preserves a general N.E. and 
S.W. direction parallel to the coast of the lake. This 
uniform disposition is maintained as far as Basswood 
Lake on the southern route. 

The mountain range constituting the Height of Land 
dies out in a great measure after crossing the St. Louis 
Eiver in its course south-west ; but granitic, metamorphic, 
and trap rocks are met with at various points along the hue 
of bearing as far as the Mississippi, and reappear again 
on the Minnesota river.* 

At Snake Falls, on the northern route, the river passes 
over a schist highly inclined to the N.E., and below them, 
many fine exposures of the same schist occur on islands, 
frequently projecting like the end of boards of unequal 
lengths leaning against one another, and varying in thick- 
ness from two to five inches. Three miles below Snake 
Falls, the rock passes into gneiss, and numerous veins and 
dykes of granite are seen to penetrate it nearly at right 
angles to the strike ; the dip is here N.W. Ten miles 
below Snake Falls, mica schist again comes into view, 
intersected with quartz and felspar bands from one to two 
inches thick. The strike is E. 5° 1ST., and the dip nearly 
vertical. At the Grand Falls of the Nameaukan, the 
schists are tilted by steps in the form of the segment of a 
circle. In Lac Nameaukan, dome-shaped granitic islands 
parallel to one another, and of oval form, present tliem- 

* Dr. Norwood. 



RAINY LAKE AND LAKE OF THE WOODS. 277 

selves not far from the entrance of Lac La Croix. The 
direction of the longest axis is JST. GO W. A line pro- 
longed through the granitic islands, in a N.W. direction, 
touches the schists about three hundred yards further on. 

Their apparent dip, as seen from the lake, was X.W., 
at an angle of about 45°. One island, wholly composed 
of schist, inclined at a high angle, is followed at a distance 
of about fifty yards by a long fiat gneissoid dome. About 
six hundred yards from the island, the schists dip lightly 
to the S.E. On the north side, the dip could not be seen ; 
l)ii t on the west side they were observed to bend round in 
a curved form, and from a N.W. dip towards the S.E. On 
the next island, the gneiss was intersected by numerous 
joints having a direction N. 70° E., and by quartz and fel- 
spathic veins, bearing N. 25° W., or nearly perpendicular 
to the former. Its surface towards the N.W. by W. was 
smooth, and inclined at an angle of about 10°. The rock 
of the Nu Portage is a granite containing mica in plates, 
and everywhere dotted with numerous beautiful specimens 
of plumose mica. 

Dr. Bigsby thus sums up the geological conditions of 
Rainy Lake where a change in the direction of the strike 
is very decided. 

" Chloritic and greenstone slates, gneiss and mica slate, 
in proportional quantities in the order here set down, 
seem once to have occupied the lake basin, with an 
E.N.E. strike, and a N.N.W. dip at a high angle usually; 
but subsequently a very extensive outburst of granite, 
with some syenite, has taken place to the great distur- 
bance of the stratified rocks, and penetrating them both 
in intercalations and crosswise; these intrusive rocks 
occupy a very large portion of the lake." 

lie div