Chapter I (8)

After making two portages, we arrived on the banks of Beaver river, which was here but a rivulet.[181] It is by this route that the canoes ordinarily pass to reach Little Slave lake and the Athabasca country, from the head of Lake Superior, via., _Cumberland House_, on _English river_. We were obliged by the shallowness of the stream, to drag along our canoes, walking on a bottom or beach of sand, where we began to feel the importunity of the mosquitoes. One of the hunters scoured the woods for game but without success. By-and-by we passed a small canoe {314} turned bottom up and covered with a blanket. Soon after we came to a cabin or lodge, where we found an old Canadian hunter named _Nadeau_. He was reduced to the last stage of weakness, having had nothing to eat for two days. Nevertheless, a young man who was married to one of his daughters, came in shortly after, with the good news that he had just killed a buffalo; a circumstance which determined us to encamp there for the night. We sent some of our men to get in the meat. Nadeau gave us half of it, and told us that we should find, thirty miles lower down, at the foot of a pine tree, a _cache_, where he had deposited ten swan-skins, and some of martin, with a net, which he prayed us to take to the next trading-post. We quitted this good fellow the next morning, and pursued our way. Arriving at the place indicated, we found the _cache_, and took the net, leaving the other articles. A short distance further, we came to Moose river, which we had to ascend, in order to reach the lake of that name. The water in this river was so low that we were {315} obliged entirely to unload the canoes, and to lash poles across them, as we had done before, that the men might carry them on their shoulders over the places where they could not be floated. Having distributed the baggage to the remainder of the hands, we pursued our way through the woods, under the guidance of Mr. Decoigne.

This gentleman, who had not passed here for nineteen years, soon lost his way, and we got separated into small parties, in the course of the afternoon, some going one way, and some another, in search of Moose lake. But as we had outstripped the men who carried the baggage and the small stock of provision that old Nadeau had given us, Mr. Wallace and I thought it prudent to retrace our steps and keep with the rear-guard. We soon met Mr. Pillet and one of the hunters. The latter, ferreting the woods on both sides of a trail that he had discovered, soon gave a whoop, to signify that we should stop. Presently emerging from the underwood, he showed us a horsewhip which he had found, and from which and from other unmistakeable signs, he was confident {316} the trail would lead either to the lake or a navigable part of the river. The men with the baggage then coming up, we entered the thicket single file, and were conducted by this path, in a very short time, to the river, on the banks of which were visible the traces of an old camping ground. The night was coming on; and soon after, the canoes arrived, to our great satisfaction; for we had begun to fear that they had already passed. The splashing of their paddles was a welcome sound, and we who had been wise enough to keep behind, all encamped together.

Very early on the 8th, I set out accompanied by one of the hunters, in quest of Messrs. D. Stuart, Clarke and Decoigne, who had gone on ahead, the night previous. I soon found MM. Clarke and M’Gillis encamped on the shore of the lake. The canoes presently arrived and we embarked; MM. Stuart and Decoigne rejoined us shortly after, and informed us that they had bivouacked on the shore of Lac _Puant_, or Stinking lake, a pond situated about twelve miles E. N. E. from the lake we were now entering. {317} Finding ourselves thus reunited, we traversed the latter, which is about eighteen miles in circuit, and has very pretty shores. We encamped, very early, on an island, in order to use old Nadeau’s fishing net. I visited it that evening and brought back three carp and two water-hens. We left it set all night, and the next morning found in it twenty white-fish. Leaving camp at an early hour, we gained the entrance of a small stream that descends between some hills of moderate elevation, and there stopped to breakfast. I found the white-fish more delicious in flavor, even than the salmon. We had again to foot it, following the bank of this little stream. It was a painful task, as we were obliged to open a path through thick underbrush, in the midst of a rain that lasted all day and kept us drenched. Two men being left in each canoe, conveyed them up the river about thirty miles, as far as Long lake--a narrow pond, on the margin of which we spent the night.

On the 10th, we got through this lakelet, and entered another small stream, which it was necessary {318} to navigate in the same manner as the preceding, and which conducted us to Bridge lake. The latter received its name from a sort of bridge or causeway, formed at its southern extremity, and which is nothing more than a huge beaver dam. We found here a lodge, where were a young man and two women, who had charge of some horses appertaining to one of the Hudson’s Bay trading houses. We borrowed of them half a dozen pack horses, and crossed the bridge with them. After surmounting a considerable hill, we reached an open, level, and dry prairie, which conducted us in about two hours to an ancient trading-post on the banks of the _Saskatchawine_. Knowing that we were near a factory, we made our toilets as well as we could, before arriving. Toward sundown, we reached Fort Vermilion, which is situated on the bank of a river, at the foot of a superb hill.

We found at this post some ninety persons, men, women, and children; these people depend for subsistence on the chase, and fishing with {319} hooks and lines, which is very precarious. Mr. Hallet, the clerk in charge was absent, and we were dismayed to hear that there were no provisions on the place: a very disagreeable piece of news for people famished as we were.[182] We had been led to suppose that if we could only reach the plains of the Saskatchawine, we should be in the land of plenty. Mr. Hallet, however, was not long in arriving: he had two quarters of buffalo meat brought out, which had been laid in ice, and prepared us supper. Mr. Hallet was a polite sociable man, loving his ease passably well, and desirous of living in these wild countries, as people do in civilized lands. Having testified to him our surprise at seeing in one of the buildings a large _cariole_, like those of Canada, he informed us that having horses, he had had this carriage made in order to enjoy a sleigh-ride; but that the workmen having forgot to take the measure of the doors of the building before constructing it, it was found when finished, much too large for them, and could never be got out of the room where it was; and it was like to {320} remain there a long time, as he was not disposed to demolish the house for the pleasure of using the cariole.

By the side of the factory of the Northwest Company, is another belonging to the Company of Hudson’s Bay. In general these trading-houses are constructed thus, one close to the other, and surrounded with a common palisade, with a door of communication in the interior for mutual succor, in case of attack on the part of the Indians. The latter, in this region, particularly the Black-feet, _Gros-ventres_, and those of the Yellow river, are very ferocious:[183] they live by the chase, but bring few furs to the traders; and the latter maintain these posts principally to procure themselves provisions.

On the 11th, after breakfasting at Fort Vermilion, we resumed our journey, with six or seven pounds of tallow for our whole stock of food. This slender supply brought us through to the evening of the third day, when we had for supper two ounces of tallow each.

On the 14th, in the morning, we killed a wild {321} goose, and toward midday, collected some flag-root and _choux-gras_, a wild herb, which we boiled with the small game: we did not forget to throw into the pot the little tallow we had left, and made a delicious repast. Toward the decline of day, we had the good luck to kill a buffalo.

On the 15th, MM. Clarke and Decoigne having landed during our course, to hunt, returned presently with the agreeable intelligence that they had killed three buffaloes. We immediately encamped, and sent the greater part of the men to cut up the meat and jerk it. This operation lasted till the next evening, and we set forward again in the canoes on the 17th, with about six hundred pounds of meat half cured. The same evening we perceived from our camp several herds of buffaloes, but did not give chase, thinking we had enough meat to take us to the next post.

The river _Saskatchawine_ flows over a bed composed of sand and marl, which contributes not a little to diminish the purity and transparency {322} of its waters, which, like those of the Missouri, are turbid and whitish. Except for that it is one of the prettiest rivers in the world. The banks are perfectly charming, and offer in many places a scene the fairest, the most smiling, and the best diversified that can be seen or imagined: hills in varied forms, crowned with superb groves; valleys agreeably embrowned, at evening and morning, by the prolonged shadow of the hills, and of the woods which adorn them; herds of light-limbed antelopes, and heavy colossal buffalo--the former bounding along the slopes of the hills, the latter trampling under their heavy feet the verdure of the plains; all these champaign beauties reflected and doubled as it were, by the waters of the river; the melodious and varied song of a thousand birds, perched on the tree-tops; the refreshing breath of the zephyrs; the serenity of the sky; the purity and salubrity of the air; all, in a word, pours contentment and joy into the soul of the enchanted spectator. It is above all in the morning, when the sun is rising, and in the evening when he is {323} setting, that the spectacle is really ravishing. I could not detach my regards from that superb picture, till the nascent obscurity had obliterated its perfection. Then, to the sweet pleasure that I had tasted, succeeded a _triste_, not to say, a sombre, melancholy. How comes it to pass, I said to myself, that so beautiful a country is not inhabited by human creatures? The songs, the hymns, the prayers, of the laborer and the artisan, shall they never be heard in these fine plains? Wherefore, while in Europe, and above all in England, so many thousands of men do not possess as their own an inch of ground, and cultivate the soil of their country for proprietors who scarcely leave them whereon to support existence; --wherefore--do so many millions of acres of apparently fat and fertile land, remain uncultivated and absolutely useless? Or, at least, why do they support only herds of wild animals? Will men always love better to vegetate all their lives on an ungrateful soil, than to seek afar fertile regions, in order to pass in peace and plenty, at least the last portion of {324} their days? But I deceive myself; it is not so easy as one thinks, for the poor man to better his condition: he has not the means of transporting himself to distant countries, or he has not those of acquiring a property there; for these untilled lands, deserted, abandoned, do not appertain to whoever wishes to establish himself upon them and reduce them to culture; they have owners, and from these must be purchased the right of rendering them productive! Besides one ought not to give way to illusions: these countries, at times so delightful, do not enjoy a perpetual spring; they have their winter, and a rigorous one; a piercing cold is then spread through the atmosphere; deep snows cover the surface; the frozen rivers flow only for the fish; the trees are stripped of their leaves and hung with icicles; the verdure of the plains has disappeared; the hills and valleys offer but a uniform whiteness; Nature has lost all her beauty; and man has enough to do, to shelter himself from the injuries of the inclement season.

[180] Red Deer Lake is Lake La Biche, discharging
through La Biche River into the Athabasca. Henry
makes frequent mention in his journals of Antoine
Desjarlais, both as employé of the North West
Company, and as free trapper. See _Henry-Thompson
Journals_, index.--ED.

[181] By means of the two portages here mentioned, the
party crossed the watershed between the waters of
the Arctic Ocean and those of Hudson Bay. Beaver
River is a tributary of the Churchill; the overland
trail, however, followed it but a short distance,
passing to Moose River by means of a portage which
Franchère fails to note. The Moose is one of the
upper waters of the Saskatchewan.--ED.

[182] Fort Vermillion was situated on the north bank
of the Saskatchewan opposite to the mouth of
the Vermillion River, which debouches from the
southwest. Both the North West and Hudson’s Bay
companies had posts at this place, which was a
rendezvous for the Cree, Assiniboin, Blackfeet, and
Slave tribes. Alexander Henry had charge of the post
in 1808-10. Hallet had been a clerk there as early
as 1807.--ED.

[183] For the Blackfeet Indians see Bradbury’s _Travels_,
vol. v of our series, note 120. The Grosventres here
mentioned are to be differentiated from the tribe of
that name commonly known as Minitaree (_op. cit._,
note 76). Those mentioned here are the Grosventres
of the Prairies (Indian name, Atsina), sometimes
known as the Falls or Rapids Indians, from having
first been met at the falls of the Saskatchewan.
They are a kindred tribe to the Blackfeet, and the
tribe most relentlessly hostile to the whites in
all the annals of Indian warfare. They attacked
and massacred the dwellers of a Hudson Bay post in
1794; and it was a party of these Indians with whom
Captain Lewis had an unfortunate encounter upon
Maria’s River in 1806. There are now a band of about
five hundred of them upon Fort Belknap Reservation,
Montana; and many are still wandering in the
northwest territories of Canada.--ED.

{325} CHAPTER XXVI

Fort Montée--Cumberland House--Lake Bourbon--Great Winipeg
Rapids--Lake Winipeg--Trading-House--Lake of the Woods--Rainy
Lake House, &c.

On the 18th of June (a day which its next anniversary was to render forever celebrated in the annals of the world),[184] we re-embarked at an early hour: and the wind rising, spread sail, a thing we had not done before, since we quitted the river Columbia. In the afternoon the clouds gathered thick and black, and we had a gust, accompanied with hail, but of short duration; the weather cleared up again, and about sundown we arrived at _Le Fort de la Montée_, so called, on account of its being a depôt, where the traders going south, leave their canoes and take pack-horses to reach their several posts.[185] We found here, as at Fort Vermilion, two trading-houses {326} joined together, to make common cause against the Indians; one belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company, the other to the company of the Northwest: the Hudson’s Bay house being then under the charge of a Mr. Prudent, and the N. W. Company’s under a Mr. John M’Lean. Mr. de Roche Blave, one of the partners of the last company having the superintendence of this district, where he had wintered, had gone to Lake Superior to attend the annual meeting of the partners.[186] There were cultivated fields around the house; the barley and peas appeared to promise an abundant harvest. Mr. M’Lean received us as well as circumstances permitted; but that gentleman having no food to give us, and our buffalo meat beginning to spoil, we set off the next morning, to reach Cumberland house as quick as possible. In the course of the day, we passed two old forts, one of which had been built by the French before the conquest of Canada. According to our guide, it was the most distant western post that the French traders ever had in the northwestern wilderness.[187] Toward evening we {327} shot a moose. The aspect of the country changes considerably since leaving _Montée_; the banks of the river rise more boldly, and the country is covered with forests.

On the 20th, we saw some elms--a tree that I had not seen hitherto, since my departure from Canada. We reached Fort Cumberland a little before the setting of the sun. This post, called in English _Cumberland House_, is situated at the outlet of the _Saskatchawine_, where it empties into _English lake_, between the 53d and 54th degrees of north latitude. It is a depot for those traders who are going to Slave lake or the Athabasca, or are returning thence, as well as for those destined for the Rocky mountains.[188] It was under the orders of Mr. J. D. Campbell, who having gone down to Fort William, however, had left it in charge of a Mr. Harrison.[189] There are two factories, as at Vermilion and la Montée. At this place the traders who resort every year to Fort William, leave their half-breed or Indian wives and families, as they can live here at little expense, the lake abounding in fish. Messrs. {328} Clarke and Stuart, who were behind, arrived on the 22d, and in the evening we had a dance. They gave us four sacks of pemican, and we set off again, on the 23d, at eight A. M. We crossed the lake, and entered a small river, and having made some eighty or ninety miles under sail, encamped on a low shore, where the mosquitoes tormented us horribly all night.

On the 24th, we passed _Muddy_ lake, and entered Lake _Bourbon_,[190] where we fell in with a canoe from _York_ factory, under the command of a Mr. Kennedy, clerk of the Hudson’s Bay Company.[191] We collected some dozens of gull’s eggs, on the rocky islands of the lake: and stopping on one of the last at night, having a little flour left, Mr. Decoigne and I amused ourselves in making fritters for the next day’s breakfast: an occupation, which despite the small amount of materials, employed us till we were surprised by the daybreak; the night being but brief at this season in that high latitude.

At sunrise on the 25th, we were again afloat, passed Lake _Travers_, or _Cross_ lake, which {329} empties into Lake Winipeg by a succession of rapids; shot down these cascades without accident, and arrived, toward noon, at the great rapid _Ouénipic_ or Winipeg, which is about four miles long. We disembarked here, and the men worked down the canoes.[192] At the foot of this rapid, which is the inlet of Winipeg, we found an old Canadian fisherman, who called himself _King of the lake_. He might fairly style himself king of the fish, which are abundant and which he alone enjoyed. Having made a boil, and regaled ourselves with excellent sturgeon, we left this old man, and entered the great lake Winipeg, which appeared to me like a sea of fresh water. This lake is now too well known to need a particular description: I will content myself with saying that it visibly yields in extent only to Lake Superior and Great Slave lake: it has for tributaries several large rivers, and among others the Saskatchawine, the Winipeg, in the east; and Red river in the south; and empties into Hudson’s bay by the _Nelson_, N. N. E., and the _Severn_, E. N. E. The shores which it bathes are {330} generally very low; it appears to have little depth, and is dotted with a vast number of islands, lying pretty close to land. We reached one called _Egg island_, whence it was necessary to cross to the south to reach the main; but the wind was so violent that it was only at decline of day that we could perform the passage. We profited by the calm, to coast along all day and a part of the night of the 26th; but to pay for it, remained in camp on the 27th, till evening: the wind not suffering us to proceed. The wind having appeared to abate somewhat after sunset, we embarked, but were soon forced to land again. On the 28th, we passed the openings of several deep bays, and the isles of _St. Martin_, and camped at the bottom of a little bay, where the mosquitoes did not suffer us to close our eyes all night. We were rejoiced when dawn appeared, and were eager to embark, to free ourselves from these inconvenient guests. A calm permitted us that day to make good progress with our oars, and we camped at _Buffalo Strait_. We saw that day two Indian wigwams.[193]

{331} The 30th brought us to Winipeg river, which we began to ascend, and about noon reached Fort _Bas de la Rivière_. This trading post had more the air of a large and well-cultivated farm, than of a fur traders’ factory: a neat and elegant mansion, built on a slight eminence, and surrounded with barns, stables, storehouses, &c., and by fields of barley, peas, oats, and potatoes, reminded us of the civilized countries which we had left so long ago. Messrs. Crébassa and Kennedy, who had this post in charge, received us with all possible hospitality, and supplied us with all the political news which had been learned through the arrival of canoes from Canada.[194]

They also informed us that Messrs. M’Donald and de Rocheblave had passed, a few days before our arrival, having been obliged to go up Red river to stop the effusion of blood, which would probably have taken place but for their intervention, in the colony founded on that river by the earl of Selkirk.[195] Mr. Miles M’Donnell, the governor of that colony, or rather of the _Assiniboyne_ district,[196] had issued a proclamation {332} forbidding all persons whomsoever, to send provisions of any kind out of the district. The Hudson’s Bay traders had conformed to this proclamation, but those of the Northwest Company paid no attention to it, thinking it illegal, and had sent their servants, as usual to get provisions up the river. Mr. M’Donnell having heard that several hundred sacks of pemican[197] were laid up in a storehouse under the care of a Mr. Pritchard, sent to require their surrender:[198] Pritchard refused to deliver them, whereupon Mr. M’Donnell had them carried off by force. The traders who winter on Little Slave lake, English river, the Athabasca country, &c., learning this, and being aware that they would not {333} find their usual supply at _Bas de la Rivière_, resolved to go and recover the seized provisions by force, if they were not peaceably given up. Things were in this position when Messrs. de Rocheblave and M’Donald arrived. They found the Canadian _voyageurs_ in arms, and ready to give battle to the colonists, who persisted in their refusal to surrender the bags of pemican. The two peacemakers visited the governor, and having explained to him the situation in which the traders of the Northwest Company would find themselves, by the want of necessary provisions to enable them to transport their peltries to Fort William, and the exasperation of their men, who saw no other alternative for them, but to get possession of those provisions or to perish of hunger, requested him to surrender the same without delay. Mr. M’Donnell, on his part, pointed out the misery to which the colonists would be reduced by a failure in the supply of food. In consequence of these mutual representations, it was agreed that one half of the pemican should be restored, and the other half remain for the {334} use of the colonists. Thus was arranged, without bloodshed, the first difficulty which occurred between the rival companies of the Northwest, and of Hudson’s Bay.[199]

Having spent the 1st of July in repairing our canoes, we re-embarked on the 2d, and continued to ascend Winipeg river, called also _White river_, on account of the great number of its cascades, which being very near each other, offer to the sight an almost continuous foam.[200] We made that day twenty-seven portages, all very short. On the 3d, and 4th, we made nine more, and arrived on the 5th, at the _Lake of the Woods_.[201] This lake takes its name from the great number of woody islands with which it is dotted. Our guide pointed out to me one of these isles, telling me that a Jesuit father had said mass there, and that it was the most remote spot to which those missionaries had ever penetrated.[202] We encamped on one of the islands. The next day the wind did not allow us to make much progress. On the 7th, we gained the entrance of _Rainy Lake river_.[203] I do not remember ever to have seen {335} elsewhere so many mosquitoes as on the banks of this river. Having landed near a little rapid to lighten the canoes, we had the misfortune, in getting through the brush, to dislodge these insects from under the leaves where they had taken refuge from the rain of the night before; they attached themselves to us, followed us into the canoes, and tormented us all the remainder of the day.

On the 8th, at sunset, we reached _Rainy Lake House_. This fort is situated about a mile from a considerable rapid. We saw here cultivated fields and domestic animals, such as horses, oxen, cows, &c. The port is a depôt for the wintering parties of the Athabasca, and others still more remote, who bring to it their peltries and return from it with their outfits of merchandise. Mr. John Dease, to whose charge the place had been confided, received us in the most friendly manner possible; and after having made an excellent supper, we danced a part of the evening.[204]

We took leave of Mr. Dease on the 10th, well provided for the journey, and passing round {336} Rainy Lake falls, and then traversing the lake itself, which I estimated to be forty miles long, we encamped at the entrance of a small river. On the next day we pursued our way, now thridding streams impeded with wild rice, which rendered our progress difficult, now traversing little lakes, now passing straits where we scarcely found water to float our canoes.[205] On the 13th, we encamped near _Dog Portage_ (_Portage des chiens_), where, from not having followed the advice of Mr. Dease, who had counselled us to take along a bag of pemican, we found ourselves absolutely without food.

[184] Date of the Battle of Waterloo.--ED.

[185] Fort de la Montée was probably built in 1797, at
the point where the route ascending the North
Saskatchewan crossed that leading to the South
branch, or where the traders left their canoes and
mounted horses. It was at the site of the present
Fort Carlton, now a Hudson’s Bay post.--ED.

[186] Pierre de Rocheblave was an important figure in
the fur-trade of the Northwest. He was a nephew of
Philippe de Rastel, Sieur de Rocheblave, who was
captured at Kaskaskia (1778) by George Rogers Clark
(see Chicago Historical Society _Collections_, vol.
iv, for his life and papers). The younger Rocheblave
entered the fur-trade in early life, and in 1801 was
a bourgeois in the X Y Company, and superintendent
of the Athabasca district. After the coalition of
the two companies (1804), Rocheblave became one of
the most influential members of the North West,
being agent in charge of Fort William in 1818. After
retiring from the trade, Rocheblave entered the
public service, acting as member of the legislature
and of the executive council for Lower Canada.
See Masson, _Bourgeois_, i, p. 120; and Wisconsin
Historical _Collections_, iii, p. 215; vii, p.
132.--ED.

[187] These were Forts Nippeween and à la Corne. The
former was situated just below the forks of the
Saskatchewan, the site of the present town of Prince
Albert. Henry the elder visited it in 1776 (see his
_Travels_, Bain ed., p. 275). This post seems to
have been abandoned in 1805. The old French post was
Fort à la Corne (also called St. Louis), founded by
St. Luc de la Corne in 1753. It was on the south
bank of the river, on the site where in 1858 the
Hudson’s Bay Company built a fort of the same name.
This was virtually the uppermost post of the French,
that built by De Niverville in 1751, at the foot of
the Rocky Mountains, and named La Jonquière, not
being a permanent post.--ED.

[188] Cumberland House was one of the most important
fur-trading stations of the Upper Country; being, as
Franchère says, at the point of divergence for the
Saskatchewan and Athabasca brigades. The Hudson’s
Bay post was founded by Samuel Hearne in 1774 on
the site of an earlier lodge of Samuel Frobisher.
The North West Company’s house, a few rods from the
other, was built about 1793. The factory stands some
two miles north of the Saskatchewan, on the south
shore of the lake known variously as Cumberland,
English, or Sturgeon. Three outlets form the
connection with the Saskatchewan River; these flow
in either direction, according to the height of the
waters. Sir John Franklin wintered here (1819-20);
and Ross here met one of his advance parties
(1825).--ED.

[189] John Duncan Campbell was a wintering partner of the
North West Company (1794) in the Rocky Mountain
department, and signed the Montreal agreement of
union, by attorney, in 1804. In 1819 he was captured
by the Hudson’s Bay agents along with Frobisher,
McTavish, and others. Edward Harrison was a clerk
who was in the service before 1797.--ED.

[190] Muddy Lake (Lac Vaseaux) is a small overflow sheet
at the discharge of the Saskatchewan into Bourbon
Lake. The latter takes its name from Fort Bourbon,
built by Vérendrye in 1749. The English generally
speak of this as Cedar Lake, from its Indian name.
The North West Company had a post thereon, abandoned
in 1802. The present Hudson’s Bay Cedar Lake House
was built in 1858.--ED.

[191] York Factory, at the southern end of Hudson Bay,
on the west bank of Hayes River, is chief post for
the company in the southern department. It is a
stockaded square of six acres, within which are the
agent’s large wooden buildings. As Fort Nelson,
this post has had a long and varied history. It was
built in 1682, the fourth point to be occupied. From
then until the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), the post
was alternately in the possession of English and
French, changing hands at least six times. After
d’Iberville’s expedition in 1697, the French had
possession for fifteen years. The post was captured
for the last time by La Pérouse’s expedition of
1782, but restored by the Treaty of Paris. It is
still maintained as a fur-trading station.--ED.

[192] Lac à Traverse, or Cross Lake, is so named because
the route leads directly across its narrowest width
of about three miles--the axis of length is about
fifteen miles. The rapids at the entrance, called
Grand Décharge or Cross Lake Rapids, may usually be
run by boats. The Grand Rapids of the Saskatchewan,
between Cross Lake and the entrance to Lake
Winnipeg, are for a long distance the only serious
obstruction in this river.--ED.

[193] The regular canoe route led along the west shore
of Lake Winnipeg, past Egg Island just south of
the Grand Detour or Long Point, among St. Martin’s
Islands at the mouth of Sturgeon Bay; then across
through the Narrows, and down the eastern shore of
the lower lake. Buffalo Strait is between Buffalo
Head on the east, and a group of islands on the
west, of which Black Island is the largest.--ED.

[194] Fort Bas de la Rivière, otherwise Fort Alexander,
is on the west bank of Winnipeg River, immediately
below its entrance to the lake. This was the site of
Vérendrye’s Fort Maurepas, built in 1734. It was an
important post on the main route to the fur-trading
country.

John Crébassa was a former X Y Company’s clerk, whom
Henry met in this region in 1801-02. He was upon
Red River in 1804 with the North West Company, and
as late as 1817 Cox found him in charge of Fort
Alexander.--ED.

[195] This was the well-known Red River Settlement.
As early as 1802 Lord Selkirk had endeavored to
interest the English government in sending to
British America colonies of Highland peasants, who
were in deep distress. Unable to influence the
government, he turned to the Hudson’s Bay Company,
and in 1811 obtained from them for colonization
a tract of land in the valleys of the Red and
Assiniboin rivers. The first band of settlers,
consisting of about seventy Highlanders from
Sunderlandshire and some twenty Irish, reached
Hudson Bay late in the fall of 1811. The next spring
they removed to Red River, where they found it
difficult to obtain sufficient food. The Indians
and French half-breeds, under the influence of the
North West Company, kept aloof and regarded them
with suspicion; but until the incident mentioned by
Franchère no important difficulty had arisen.--ED.

[196] Miles McDonell was born in Inverness, Scotland,
in 1767. His father came to America in 1773 and
settled at Caughnawaga on the Mohawk River, but when
the Revolutionary War broke out removed to Canada.
Miles was an ensign in the King’s royal regiment of
New York, and in 1796 became captain in the Royal
Canadian Volunteers. When on a visit to London he
was appointed by the Hudson’s Bay Company governor
of Assiniboia. He left for the Red River settlements
in 1811 and remained there until their destruction
in 1816. His last years were spent on his farm at
Osnaburg, Upper Canada. He died in 1828.--ED.

[197] _Pemican_, of which I have already spoken several
times, is the Indian name for the dried and pounded
meat which the natives sell to the traders. About
fifty pounds of this meat is placed in a trough (_un
grand vaisseau fait d’un tronc d’arbre_), and about
an equal quantity of tallow is melted and poured
over it; it is thoroughly mixed into one mass, and
when cold, is put up in bags made of undressed
buffalo hide, with the hair outside and sewed up
as tightly as possible. The meat thus impregnated
with tallow, hardens, and will keep for years. It is
eaten without any other preparation; but sometimes
wild pears or dried berries are added, which render
the flavor more agreeable.--FRANCHÈRE.

[198] John Pritchard was born (1777) in Shropshire,
England. He emigrated to Montreal early in the
nineteenth century, and entered the service of the
North West Company, being stationed on Red River
at the time of the arrival of Selkirk’s colony. In
1815 he left the company and cast in his lot with
the settlers. He won the favor of Lord Selkirk,
and was employed by him on a mission to England.
He died at Kildonan in 1856. See Bryce, “Worthies
of Old Red River,” in Manitoba Historical Society
_Transactions_, No. 48.--ED.

[199] This was but the beginning of the trouble. The
North West traders determined to get rid of the
colony. By holding out promises of better land
in Canada, and free transportation thither, they
induced about three-fourths of the people to leave
(June, 1815). The remainder they drove off by force,
and set fire to their buildings. The unfortunate
settlers had gone but a short way, however, when
they met a new band of immigrants, and encouraged
by them, all returned to Red River. The next year
a more determined effort was made to destroy the
settlements. An armed party of Nor’Westers and
Indians attacked the colony and Fort Douglas.
Governor Semple and about twenty followers who rode
out to meet them, were surrounded and killed, and
for a second time the Highlanders were driven from
Red River. Lord Selkirk was on Lake Superior upon
his way to the settlement when he learned of its
destruction. He captured Fort William and proceeded
to the Red River, protected by a troop of disbanded
soldiers whom he had hired at Montreal. The colony
was reinstated, lands were assigned, and the name
Kildonan formally given to it (August, 1817). From
this time forward, the controversy between Lord
Selkirk and the North West Company was carried on in
the courts, and the people on Red River were left
in peace. It was not until 1826, however, that they
were able to raise sufficient grain for support
throughout the winter. For further details see
Bryce, _Manitoba_ (London, 1882).--ED.

[200] From Fort Bas de la Rivière to Fort William,
Franchère passed over the most famous canoe-route
in the Northwest--one which had been known and
traversed since early in the eighteenth century.
Franchère mentions the important links in this chain
of waterways, over six hundred miles in length. The
French, under the leadership of Vérendrye, were the
first to explore and penetrate this region to Lake
Winnipeg and beyond (see notes 187 and 190, _ante_).
After the English occupation, Alexander Henry’s
journey by this route made it known to the early
Scotch traders (see Alexander Henry’s _Travels_,
Bain ed., Boston, 1901, for excellent notes on
the route). The classic description is that of
Mackenzie, _Travels_, pp. xlvi-lxi. The annotations
of Coues in the _Henry-Thompson Journals_ omit
little in the way of details. For other references
see Bigsby, _Shoe and Canoe_ (London, 1850); Hind,
_Canada Exploring Expedition_ (Toronto, 1859;
London, 1860); Dawson, _Report on Exploration
of Country between Lake Superior and Red River
Settlement_ (Toronto, 1859); Butler, _Great Lone
Land_ (London, 1875).

Winnipeg River flows from the Lake of the Woods into
Lake Winnipeg, a course of about one hundred and
sixty miles. It is swift, and much obstructed by
rapids and cascades. The name is from a Cree term
signifying “turbid water.” The variants of this
name are many; for different forms, see Bell,
“Some Historical Names and Places of the Canadian
North-West,” Manitoba Historical and Scientific
Society _Transactions_, 1884-85. Vérendrye named the
stream Rivière Maurepas, for the French minister
of the marine. The name White River is applied
only to a portion by Mackenzie, who says it is “so
called from its being, for a considerable length,
a succession of falls and cataracts.” The Canadian
Pacific Railway crosses this stream at Rat Portage,
where it flows from the Lake of the Woods.--ED.

[201] Lake of the Woods is a translation of the French
designation Lac des Bois; they also termed it Lac
des Isles, because of its numerous woody islets. The
Indian name was Minnititi. The canoe-route across it
from northwest to southeast is about seventy-five
miles in length. The lake has played a prominent
part in the history of the Northwest. Vérendrye’s
Fort St. Charles was built upon its western bank in
1732. At the Peace of Paris (1783) the northwest
corner of the Lake of the Woods (which was then
supposed to be in latitude 49°), was made the
boundary between the United States and Canada. This
point being 39′ north of the supposed latitude, a
long controversy ensued, which was finally settled
by a joint commission in 1876. See Campbell and
Twining, _Reports upon Survey of Boundaries between
territory of the United States and possessions
of Great Britain from the Lake of the Woods to
the Summit of the Rocky Mountains_ (Washington,
1878).--ED.

[202] Franchère here refers to the Jesuit missionary,
Father Aulneau (or Auneau), who came to Canada in
1734, accompanied Vérendrye to Fort St. Charles the
following year, and was massacred by the Sioux on an
island in Lake of the Woods (June, 1736), upon his
return journey to Mackinac. See _Jesuit Relations_
(Thwaites ed., Cleveland, 1896-1901), lxviii and
lxxi; also Burpee, “The Lake of the Woods Tragedy,”
in Royal Society of Canada _Transactions_ (Ottawa,
1904), 2nd series, section ii, vol. ix.--ED.

[203] This is now Rainy River, outlet of the lake of the
same name, which is derived from the mist occasioned
by the Chaudière (or Kettle) Falls, at the outlet of
the lake. The river forms part of the international
boundary between Minnesota and Ontario. Mackenzie
thus describes it: “This is one of the finest rivers
in the North-West, and runs a course West and East
one hundred and twenty computed miles; but in
taking its course and distance minutely I make it
only eighty. Its banks are covered with a rich soil
particularly to the North.... Its waters abound in
fish, particularly the sturgeon which the natives
both spear and take with drag-nets.”--ED.

[204] Rainy Lake House was a North West establishment upon
a high bank on the north side of the river, just
above the falls. There had from early times been
a post at this place. Sieur de la Noue built one
in 1717, which was known as Tekamamaouen; it was
superseded (1731) by Vérendrye’s Fort St. Pierre.
The Hudson’s Bay house stood just below the falls,
and was named Fort Frances for Sir George Simpson’s
wife. Early in the nineteenth century the American
Fur Company had a post on the south bank of the
river. Fort Frances is the present station on the
Canadian Pacific Railway. John Warren Dease was a
North West Company clerk who was in charge of Rainy
Lake House in 1817, when it was captured by Lord
Selkirk, after the taking of Fort William.--ED.

[205] From Rainy Lake to Lake Superior there were
two prominent trade routes--that known as the
Grand Portage or Pigeon River route, following
the chain of waterways through which now runs
the international boundary; and that of the
Kaministiquia River, ending at Fort William. The
latter path was the earliest used by the French,
but later, they found shorter and more available
the Grand Portage route which was followed by
the early British traders. See descriptions of
Alexander Henry the elder, and Mackenzie. About
1802 it was discovered that the depot of the North
West Company at the commencement of Grand Portage
was upon American soil, whereupon removal to the
northern station was begun, and consummated upon
the completion of Fort William. The Kaministiquia
route had been re-discovered and re-opened by
Roderick McKenzie in 1797. His path united with the
Grand Portage route at Lac la Croix. Dawson (1857)
explored another route into Rainy Lake along the
Seine River, corresponding nearly to the present
line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Franchère took
the regular Nor’Westers route through Namakam Lake
and River, across Lac la Croix, up the Maligne or
Sturgeon River, through Lake Windigoostigwan, to Lac
des Mille Lacs.

Wild rice (_zizania aquatica_) is an important staple
of Indian food. See Jenks, “Wild Rice Gatherers of
the Upper Lakes,” in American Bureau of Ethnology
_Report_, 1897-98.--ED.

{337} CHAPTER XXVII

Arrival at Fort William--Description of the Fort--News from the
River Columbia

Starving men are early-risers. We set out on the 14th before day, and effected the portage, which is long and difficult. At the foot of the rapid we found a sort of _restaurant_ or _cabaret_, kept by a man named _Boucher_.[206] We treated the men to a little _eau de vie_, and breakfasted on some detestable sausages, poisoned with salt.

After this wretched repast, we set out again, and passed toward noon, the _Mountain Portage_. Here the river _Kaministiquia_ flings itself over a rock of immense height, and forms a fall scarcely less curious to see than that of Niagara. Below, the succession of falls and rapids is constant, so that we made no fewer than thirty-six portages {338} in the course of the day.[207] Nevertheless we pursued our laborious way with good cheer, and without a murmur from our Canadian boatmen, who kept their spirits up by singing their _voyageur_ songs. At last, at about nine o’clock in the evening, we arrived at Fort William.

Fort William is situated on Lake Superior, at the mouth of the _Kaministiquia_ river, about forty-five miles north of old _Grand Portage_. It was built in 1805, when the two rival Canadian companies were united, and was named in honor of Mr. (now the Honorable) William M’Gillivray, principal agent of the Northwest Company.[208] The proprietors, perceiving that the old fort of _Grand Portage_ was on the territory claimed by the American government, resolved to demolish it and build another on the British territory. No site appeared more advantageous than the present for the purposes intended; the river is deep, of easy access, and offers a safe harbor for shipping. It is true they had to contend with all the difficulties consequent on a low and swampy soil; but by incredible labor and {339} perseverance, they succeeded in draining the marshes and reducing the loose and yielding soil to solidity.

Fort William has really the appearance of a fort, with its palisade fifteen feet high, and that of a pretty village, from the number of edifices it encloses. In the middle of a spacious square rises a large building elegantly constructed, though of wood, with a long piazza or portico, raised about five feet from the ground, and surmounted by a balcony, extending along the whole front. In the centre is a saloon or hall, sixty feet in length by thirty in width, decorated with several pieces of painting, and some portraits of the leading partners. It is in this hall that the agents, partners, clerks, interpreters, and guides, take their meals together, at different tables. At each extremity of the apartment are two rooms; two of these are destined for the two principal agents; the other two to the steward and his department. The kitchen and servants’ rooms are in the basement. On either side of this edifice, is another of the same extent, but of {340} less elevation; they are each divided by a corridor running through its length, and contain each, a dozen pretty bed-rooms. One is destined for the wintering partners, the other for the clerks. On the east of the square is another building similar to the last two, and intended for the same use, and a warehouse where the furs are inspected and repacked for shipment. In the rear of these, are the lodging-house of the guides, another fur-warehouse, and finally, a powder magazine. The last is of stone, and has a roof covered with tin. At the angle is a sort of bastion, or lookout place, commanding a view of the lake. On the west side is seen a range of buildings, some of which serve for stores, and others for workshops; there is one for the equipment of the men, another for the fitting out of the canoes, one for the retail of goods, another where they sell liquors, bread, pork, butter, &c., and where a treat is given to the travellers who arrive. This consists in a white loaf, half a pound of butter, and a gill of rum. The _voyageurs_ give this tavern the name of _Cantine_ {341} _salope_. Behind all this is another range, where we find the counting-house, a fine square building, and well-lighted; another storehouse of stone, tin-roofed; and a _jail_, not less necessary than the rest. The _voyageurs_ give it the name of _pot au beurre_, the butter-tub. Beyond these we discover the shops of the carpenter, the cooper, the tinsmith, the blacksmith, &c.; and spacious yards and sheds for the shelter, reparation, and construction of canoes. Near the gate of the fort, which is on the south, are the quarters of the physician, and those of the chief clerk. Over the gate is a guard-house.

As the river is deep at its entrance, the company has had a wharf constructed, extending the whole length of the fort, for the discharge of the vessels which it keeps on Lake Superior, whether to transport its furs from Fort William to the _Saut Ste. Marie_, or merchandise and provisions from _Saut Ste. Marie_ to Fort William. The land behind the fort and on both sides of it, is cleared and under tillage. We saw barley, peas, and oats, which had a very fine appearance. At {342} the end of the clearing is the burying-ground. There are also, on the opposite bank of the river, a certain number of log-houses, all inhabited by old Canadian _voyageurs_, worn out in the service of the company, without having enriched themselves. Married to women of the country, and incumbered with large families of half-breed children, these men prefer to cultivate a little Indian corn and potatoes, and to fish, for a subsistence, rather than return to their native districts, to give their relatives and former acquaintance certain proofs of their misconduct or their imprudence.

Fort William is the grand depôt of the Northwest Company for their interior posts, and the general _rendezvous_ of the partners. The agents from Montreal and the wintering partners assemble here every summer, to receive the returns of the respective outfits, prepare for the operations of the ensuing season, and discuss the general interests of their association. The greater part of them were assembled at the time of our arrival. The wintering hands who are to return {343} with their employers pass also a great part of the summer here; they form a great encampment on the west side of the fort, outside the palisades. Those who engage at Montreal to go no further than Fort William or _Rainy lake_, and who do not _winter_, occupy yet another space, on the east side. The _winterers_, or _hivernants_, give to these last the name of _mangeurs de lard_, or pork-eaters. They are also called _comers-and-goers_. One perceives an astonishing difference between these two camps, which are composed sometimes of three or four hundred men each; that of the pork-eaters is always dirty and disorderly, while that of the winterers is clean and neat.

To clear its land and improve its property, the company inserts a clause in the engagement of all who enter its service as canoe-men, that they shall work for a certain number of days during their stay at Fort William. It is thus that it has cleared and drained the environs of the fort, and has erected so many fine buildings. But when a hand has once worked the stipulated {344} number of days, he is for ever after exempt, even if he remain in the service twenty or thirty years, and should come down to the fort every summer.

They received us very courteously at Fort William, and I perceived by the reception given to myself in particular, that thanks to the Chinook dialect of which I was sufficiently master, they would not have asked better than to give me employment, on advantageous terms. But I felt a great deal more eagerness to arrive in Montreal, than desire to return to the River Columbia.

A few days after we reached Fort William, Mr. Keith made his appearance there from Fort George, or Astoria, with the news of the arrival of the “Isaac Todd” in the Columbia river. This vessel, which was a dull sailer, had been kept back a long time by contrary winds in doubling Cape Horn, and had never been able to rejoin the vessels-of-war, her consorts, from which she was then separated. When she reached the _rendezvous_ at the island of Juan Fernandez, finding that the three ships-of-war had sailed, {345} the captain and passengers, as they were short of provisions, determined to range the coast. Entering the harbor of _Monterey_,[209] on the coast of California, in order to obtain provisions, they learned that there was an English vessel-of-war in distress, in the bay of _San Francisco_.[210] They repaired thither accordingly, and found, to their great surprise, that it was the sloop _Raccoon_. This vessel, in getting out of the River Columbia, had touched on the bar, with such violence, that a part of her false keel was carried away; and she had with difficulty made San Francisco, with seven feet of water in the hold, although her crew had been constantly at the pumps. Captain Black, finding it impossible to repair his ship, had decided to abandon her, and to cross the continent to the Gulf of Mexico, thence to reach some of the British West India islands. However, on the arrival of the Isaac Todd, {346} means were found to careen the vessel and repair the damage. The Isaac Todd then pursued her voyage and entered the Columbia on the 17th of April, thirteen months after her departure from England.