Chapter I: Front Matter

[Frontispiece: "Here one of the bravest of our men was slain." (_Page 152._)]

PATHFINDING ON PLAIN
AND PRAIRIE:

STIRRING SCENES OF LIFE IN THE
CANADIAN NORTH-WEST.

BY

JOHN McDOUGALL,

Author of "Forest, Lake and Prairie," "Saddle, Sled and
Snowshoe," etc.

_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. E. LAUGHLIN._

TORONTO:
WILLIAM BRIGGS,
WESLEY BUILDINGS.
MONTREAL: C. W. COATES. HALIFAX: S. F. HUESTIS.
1898.

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, by WILLIAM BRIGGS, at the Department of Agriculture.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

"Thin leather homes"--Drudgery of the Indian women--Occupations of the men--Hunting parties and scalping forays--Triumphs of endurance

CHAPTER II.

Camping in the snow--Our costume--Brilliant sunrise effects--Maple and her pups found at last--Striking example of "dog sense"--The Fort Garry packet

CHAPTER III.

We visit Edmonton--Nature's grand cathedral--Adventure with a buffalo bull--A trip to Pigeon Lake--Racing with dog-teams--An infidel blacksmith--Old Joseph proves an unerring guide--Caching our provisions

CHAPTER IV.

Epidemic breaks out among the Indians--Snow-blindness--I take to me a wife--Our modest dowry--My father officiates as a Stationing Committee--Fearful mortality among the Indians--Our journey to Pigeon Lake--The epidemic attacks our camp--A rude hospital--An exciting buffalo hunt--Chased by a maddened bull--Narrow escape

CHAPTER V.

Our caravan moves on--Difficulties of packing--Oliver's adventures with a buffalo--Novel method of "blazing" a path--Arrival at Pigeon Lake--House-building--Abundance of fish--Indians camp about the Mission--I form many enduring friendships--Indians taught fishing with nets

CHAPTER VI.

We are visited by a band of Crees--Our guests steal away with a bunch of horses--Stonies set out in hot pursuit--Little William's strategy--Horses recaptured--We begin farming operations--Arrival of Mr. Steinhauer--Home to Victoria again--A memorable Sabbath--My gun bursts--Narrow escape--My mother's cares and anxieties--Home-made furniture

CHAPTER VII.

I travel with Maskepetoon's camp--Effects of environment on the Indians--Nature's grandeur and beauty--Degradation through paganism--The noble Chief Maskepetoon--Indian councils--On the fringe of the buffalo herds--Indian boy lost--A false conjurer--The lad recovered

CHAPTER VIII.

The "Thirst Dance"--"Tobacco messages"--The head conjurer--"Dancing lodges"--The rendezvous--The "idol tree"--Meeting of the head conjurer and the chief of the warriors--An anxious moment--Building the "temple"--Self-torture, dancing and sacrifices--The festival concluded--Romantic situation for our camp

CHAPTER IX.

Our great camp a study of native types--I attend a "wolf feast"--A disgusting orgie--Paul and I start for home--Our horses stampede--Difficult tracking--Enormous herd of buffalo--Home again and all well--Party of half-breeds from the Red River settlement visit our Mission--Father returns, bringing a brother and sister from Ontario

CHAPTER X.

We return to Pigeon Lake--"Scarred Thigh" exchanged for "Blackfoot"--Planting Gospel seed--We organize a buffalo hunt--A moose chase--The buffalo as a "path-finder"--We encounter a hostile camp--All night on guard--My friend Mark's daring exploit--Wood Stonies visit the Mission--Gambling, polygamy and superstition among the Indians

CHAPTER XI.

We return to Victoria--War parties abroad--Father's influence over the Indians--We organize a big fresh meat hunt--David's first buffalo hunt--Mark's adventure with a war party--Surrounded by wolves--Incidents of our journey--Preparing for the winter

CHAPTER XII.

A visit to Whitefish Lake--A devoted Indian missionary--Mark and I go out after buffalo--Mark proves himself a brilliant hunter--Our camp visited by wolves--Muddy Bull's generosity--We reach home with full loads of meat

CHAPTER XIII.

A run to Edmonton--Mr. Hardisty and other Hudson's Bay Company officers spend New Year's with us--Sports and amusements--Our party sets out for Mountain House--I experience a "scare"--Intense cold--A cunning dog--Mishaps to a cariole--In the foot-hills--My first view of the Rockies--Hearty reception at Mountain House--Back to Victoria

CHAPTER XIV.

Home occupations--A course of lectures--Mark and Jimmie as _raconteurs_--Mark's success as a deer-killer--A buffalo chase on a dog-sled--Our first child is born--Chickens at eight shillings apiece!

CHAPTER XV.

David and I visit Lac la Biche--High-priced seed wheat--Our party sets out for Pigeon Lake--Old Joseph--Paul Chian--Samson--Our larder depleted--We organize a bunt--Precarious living--Old Paul proves himself a skilful guide--Samson tells of a tragic murder by Blackfeet--We move cautiously--Broiled owlets as a delicacy--I shoot an elk--Little Paul's flint-lock hangs fire--Samson's brilliant hunting feats--Feasting on antlers

CHAPTER XVI.

Samson and I go on a moose hunt--Samson's clever tracking--He comes up with the moose and tries a shot--No bullet in the gun--Two dejected hunters return to the camp--We have better luck next time--Roses make a thorny path--We disturb a band of wolves--Samson stampedes them with his riding-whip--"Firing Stony" and I go hunting--I bring down a noble elk--Novel method of fishing

CHAPTER XVII.

Our camp visited by a band of Mountain Stonies--My schooling in the university of frontier life--Back to our Mission again--Limited _cuisine_--Home-made agricultural implements--We visit Victoria--Off to Fort Carlton for Mission supplies--Inquisitive Chippewyans--My eldest sister married to Mr. Hardisty, of the Hudson's Bay Company--The honeymoon trip to Mountain House--Rival sportsmen--Charging a flock of wild geese at full gallop--Return to Pigeon Lake--Our work extending

CHAPTER XVIII.

Father visits our Mission--A dream that proved a portent--Drowning of Mr. Connor--"Straight fish" diet--We are visited by a war party of Crees--I am given a problem to solve--Francis and I set out to seek fresh provisions--Feasting on fat bear steaks--A lonely Christmas--Mr. Hardisty visits us--We in turn visit Mountain House--A hard winter in the Saskatchewan country--Rations on short allowance--A run to Victoria--David and I have a hard experience--Father and mother as "good Samaritans"

CHAPTER XIX.

We start out to hunt for buffalo--Fish and frozen turnips--A depleted larder--David's bag of barley meal--At the point of starvation--We strike Maskepetoon's camp--An Indian burial--Old Joseph dying--We leave the camp--Generous hospitality--A fortunate meeting--Frostbites--A bitterly cold night--Unexpected visitors--Striking instance of devotion--I suffer from snowshoe cramp--Arrival at Victoria--Old Joseph's burial--Back to Pigeon Lake

CHAPTER XX.

My brother a "ready-made pioneer"--Hunting rabbits--Two roasted rabbits per man for supper--I find my friend, Firing Stony, in a flourishing condition--Poisoning wolves--A good morning's sport--I secure a wolf, two foxes and a mink--Firing Stony poisons his best dog--I enjoy a meal of bear's ribs--I meet with a severe accident--Samson treats me to a memorable feast

CHAPTER XXI.

Alternate feasting and fasting--We start out on a buffalo hunt--Old Paul brings down a fine moose--Providential provision--Enoch Crawler kills another moose--Magnificent landscapes--Entering the great treeless plains---Wonderful mirages--We come upon the tracks of buffalo--Our men shoot a huge grizzly--Charging a bunch of cows--A lively chase--Samson's plucky plunge over a bank after the buffalo--I chase and kill a fine cow--The camp busy killing and making provisions--Guarding against hostile Indians

CHAPTER XXII.

A busy camp--Process of butchering and drying meat--How pemmican is made--Our camp in peril--Chasing a herd of buffalo up a steep bank--Mark scores a point on me--We encounter a war party of Blackfeet--A fortunate rain-storm--A mirage gives us a false alarm--Unwritten laws as to rights of hunters

CHAPTER XXIII.

Into the timber country again--Craving for vegetable food--Wild rhubarb a treat--I shoot a big beaver--My horse objects to carrying it--A race for the life of my child--Terrific fight between my dogs and a huge wolverine--Reach Pigeon Lake and find father there--Anxiety felt for our party--A meagre bill of fare--A visit to Victoria--I narrowly escape drowning--Father leaves for Ontario, taking with him my three sisters--Francis leaves us to return to Victoria--My varied offices among the Indians

CHAPTER XXIV.

Our first interment--Jacob's tragic death--Hostile Flatheads in quest of horses, scalps and glory--Stonies attacked by a party of Blackfeet--A hot fusilade--Mark's father is killed--Destitution prevalent--Hunting lynx--My dogs seized with distemper--All have to be shot--Another provision hunt organized--Among the buffalo--I narrowly escape being shot--Heterogeneous character of our camp--Mutual distrust and dislikes--United by fear of a common foe--The effects of Christianity

CHAPTER XXV.

Through new country--"Greater Canada"--Antelopes--Startling effects of mirage--War parties keep us on the alert--Remarkable speed of a plain Cree--A curious superstition--A Cree's gruesome story--Returning with carts fully loaded--Followed by hostile Indians--I sight and chase a "sitting" bull--My shot wounds him--Paul's son thrown under the brute's feet--Firing Stony's clever shot to the rescue--We arrive at the Mission--Road-making

CHAPTER XXVI.

Another visit to Victoria--Fall in with a war party of Kootenays and Flatheads--Samson and I go moose-hunting--A Sabbath afternoon experience--A band of moose enjoy Sabbath immunity--I start out to meet father returning from the East--The glorious Saskatchewan Valley--Call at Fort Pitt--Equinoctial storms--Entertained by a French half-breed family--Meet Mr. Hardisty and one of my sisters--Camp-fire chat--Meeting with father--Rev. Peter Campbell and others with his party--Father relates his experience in the East--Rev. Geo. Young sent to Red River Settlement and Rev. E. R. Young to Norway House