FROM TORONTO TO THE PACIFIC--JACK TREVOR, AN OLD CHUM, FOR
FELLOW-TRAVELLER--FROM COLLINGWOOD BY STEAMER--BIRCH-BARK CANOES--LAKE
SUPERIOR AND THUNDER BAY--FORT WILLIAM TO LAKE WINNIPEG--THE
KAMINISTIQUIA--SWIFTFOOT, OUR INDIAN GUIDE, AND HALF-CASTE CREW--A
PORTAGE--OUR CAMP AND PROGRESS--MISSIONARIES AND SETTLERS--FORT GARRY
AND SELKIRK SETTLEMENTS.
There is nothing that I need relate excepting that after my arrival at
Toronto I immediately set to work in right earnest about preparations
for a journey of fifteen hundred miles or so across the continent to the
Pacific. I had become intensely British during my stay in the States,
and resolved that my journey should he, if possible, entirely through
British territory, and remote as possible from the United States
boundary. Some of my friends advised me to go by railway to La Cross,
and from thence up the upper waters of the Mississippi to St. Paul, in
Minnesota, then, by a stage to Georgetown, on the Red River, down which
stream I could proceed by a steamer to the Selkirk Settlement, in the
centre of which Fort Garry is situated, at the point where the
Assiniboine and Red River meet.
When travelling I seldom fail to find a companion, and my disposition
being somewhat of a malleable nature, I generally manage so to work his
and mine together that we are able to rub on socially till called upon
to separate. In the present instance I was more fortunate than usual,
for, while I was in the midst of my preparations, who should turn up one
day--or rather roll into the office of my cousin, John Brown--but my old
school-fellow, and strong-fisted, stout-hearted friend, Jack Trevor,
brother of Lieutenant Trevor of the _Spitfire_! He was a capital shot,
could handle oar and scull right well, throw a fly skilfully, run like a
deer, walk thirty miles on a stretch without fatigue, and woe betide the
man who felt the strength of his arm! I told Jack what I was about to
undertake.
"Just suit me," he exclaimed. "I was wondering what I should do. I've
a year or so to spare, some cash to throw away, am in good training, and
should amazingly like to have a scamper after buffalo."
The ice of winter having sufficiently disappeared from the upper lakes
to render navigation possible we started by the northern railway,
passing Lake Simcoe to Collingwood, on the shores of the Georgian Bay,
and then embarked on board a steamer named after the same heroic
admiral. Paddling away north, we were soon out of sight of the
generally low shore, and then the wind began to blow and the waves to
roll furiously, making the big vessel tumble about in a most
uncomfortable manner, till I thought it more than possible that she
would go down then and there to the bottom of the lake. Peter looked at
me reproachfully, remarking--
"I thought when we got into this country we were to have no more tossing
about on the salt ocean?"
"Nor have we. This is but a pool, Peter; the water is fresh, and the
land is on every side of us, only we don't see it," I answered, but I
doubt if he was satisfied.
We managed, however, to tumble on till we got under the lee of a wooded
island, where we remained as quietly as in a mill-pond till the next
morning, when we continued our voyage between the Manitoulin islands and
the north shore of Lake Huron till we came to the Bruce mines.
Along this north shore a road has been surveyed and settlements laid
out. Proceeding up the St. Mary River, we reached the villages of that
name--one on the British, the other on the States' side. Between the
two Lake Superior sends its waters in a fierce rapid into the river on
their course to the ocean. We avoided them by stealing through a canal
on the American side. On our way we took on board two birch-bark canoes
which my indefatigable cousin, John Brown, had caused to be provided,
as, also, a supply of gum to stick over the seams, wattap, which is the
root of the tamarack, used to sew the pieces of birch-bark together,
cod-lines, and other indispensables for canoe navigation. Here, also,
an Indian guide and a crew joined us--dark-skinned individuals descended
from French Canadians and Indians, a class which is employed by the
Hudson's Bay Company--in their canoes. I will describe them as we go
on. We purposed picking up, afterwards, a few Indians to increase our
strength.
Away we steamed along the northern shore of Lake Superior, occasionally
sighting some lofty bluff, said to contain a vast supply of iron,
copper, and other mineral wealth, till we neared the fine headland of
Thunder Cape and found ourselves amid the magnificent scenery of Thunder
Bay. Here the steamer anchored; and we, launching our canoes, went on
shore at Fort William, an important port standing at the mouth of the
river Kaministiquia. We found that surveyors had already laid out a
settlement on the banks of this stream, which is navigable for large
vessels for a good many miles from its mouth.
While preparing for our long inland voyage of something not much under
five hundred miles to the Red River, we were entertained by the
surveyor, who showed us the plans proposed for opening up the country
for general traffic. Trevor had become very eager on the subject, and
declared that he should be ready to devote his life to the undertaking.
We therefore agreed to follow the same route. Sending our canoes with
the _voyageurs_ up the Kaministiquia River, we were to proceed north
along the shore of Thunder Bay till we reached a harbour abreast of Dog
Lake, where we were to land and push our way for twenty-eight miles
across the country, along the line where a good road was soon to be
formed to Dog Lake. Here we were to embark in our canoes, as we should
have a clear navigation of thirty-five miles across the lake and up Dog
River till it became shoal; then, landing, we were to ascend to the
height of land forming the boundary between Canada and the North West
Territory, and make a portage of five miles to the Savanna River. A
portage is literally a carrying. The canoes and cargo are carried on
men's shoulders over the land, either to avoid a rapid, or from one lake
or stream to another; thus, these intervening spaces of land come to be
called also portages. After launching our canoes in the Savanna River
we were to obtain a free navigation of sixty-five miles, the Lake des
Mille Lacs, and the river Seine to the Little Falls. We were, from this
place, to be prepared for numerous portages, amounting altogether to
seven miles, and fifty-nine and a half of navigation. After the last of
these portages we were to get a run of two hundred and eight miles down
the river Seine into Rainy Lake, and from thence into the Lake of the
Woods, which we were to cross at its western extremity either to a small
lake known as Lac Flat, ninety-one and a half miles across an easy
country to Fort Garry, or to descend the Winnipeg River into Lake
Winnipeg, and along its northern shore to the mouth of the Red River.
We decided on the latter route for ourselves, as we wished for our
canoes to navigate the lakes and rivers to the westward, and, not being
expected, we should have had no horses sent over by the Selkirk people
to meet us. It must be remembered that the Selkirk settlement and the
Red River settlement are different names for the same district, and that
Fort Garry is in the midst of it. Trevor, who had an especial taste for
engineering projects, was delighted with the account, and made out that
by means of good steamers, short railroads, or even roads for coaches,
and tramways over which loaded boats could be drawn, the distance
between Fort William and Fort Garry might be accomplished in six days.
"You see," he observed, "the greater portion of the distance would be
performed by steamers; though, on the sixty miles of broken navigation
on the river Seine, large boats to be dragged up inclined planes and
along tramways over the portages would be more suitable. Then the Red
River people would make the short road necessary between this place and
Lac Plat, and supply the conveyances, greatly to their profit. Why, the
whole route, if people had energy, might be open by next summer, and as
we all know that the distance between the Red River and the top of the
Rocky Mountains offers no impediments, if the inhabitants of British
Columbia would open up a communication on this side, we should, in a
year or two, be sending our letters across the continent from the
Atlantic to the Pacific in a couple of weeks or so; and fellows like you
or me, Harry, would be able to accomplish it by railway, steam-boat, and
on horseback, in about the same time."
Having sent the canoes on two days before, we supplied ourselves with
packs, blankets, and provisions for a couple of days, and engaged an
Indian guide, and landing at the mouth of Current River, on the northern
shore of Thunder Bay, we worked our way along the line of the proposed
road to Dog Lake. We just saved our daylight to the shore of the lake,
where we prepared to camp. Our guide first cut off a quantity of the
young shoots of the spruce-fir, which he strewed on a dry spot to form
our beds, while, at his suggestion, we collected a large supply of dry
wood for a fire. Our kettle for tea was soon boiling, and by the aid of
our frying-pan, the most useful of all cooking utensils, the dried
provisions we had brought with us were converted into a savoury stew,
seasoned with garlic, salt, and pepper, and thoroughly enjoyed by us.
Trevor pronounced it jolly fun, and declared that he should never grow
tired of living as we then were doing. Never go across wild countries
without a portable frying-pan, you can boil water in it, cool, boil,
stew, fry, and even bake, without any other appliance than a frying-pan
and a little fire and water. Our Indian guide, whose name was
Swiftfoot, was so pleased with the way we treated him that he begged he
might accompany us, and as he bore a good character for honesty and good
temper and for being an expert and daring hunter and canoe paddler, we
accepted his services. As he understood English fairly, and had already
been a considerable distance up the Saskatchewan, we considered him a
valuable acquisition to our party.
The next morning the canoes appeared. Having camped at no great
distance from where we were, and having taken a hurried breakfast, we
embarked.
"Take care," cried Swiftfoot, as we stepped on board; and not without
reason, for though accustomed to University eight-oars, we as nearly as
possible pitched head foremost out on the other side of our frail barks,
to the great risk of capsizing them and spoiling our goods.
Trevor and Swiftfoot went in one canoe, I with Peter and Ready in the
other; and the crews, with stores and provisions, were evenly divided
between us. Away we paddled across the lake, our Indians striking up a
song of the character of "Row, brothers! row!" but not so melodious.
All day we paddled, and camped at night. When we came to a portage we
jumped out. Two men carried each canoe; the rest loaded themselves with
her cargo and bore it on their shoulders half a mile, or perhaps two or
three, or more, till smooth water was again reached.
On those occasions we sighed for tramways over which we could run
swiftly with cargo and canoes. Every portage has its name, and so,
indeed, has every point, stream, and isle, for ages the fur traders'
canoes have been traversing this country, and to these people every mile
is known. We indulged in small tents for sleeping; but our beds were
the hard rocks sprinkled with spruce-fir-tops and covered with rugs.
I have not described our canoes. They were formed of the bark of the
white birch-tree, peeled off in large sheets and bent over a slender
frame of cedar ribs confined by gunwales, which are kept apart by
slender bars of the same wood. A thread called called wattap, made out
of the flexible roots of the young larch-tree, is used to sew the sheets
of bark together and to secure them to the gunwales, which have thus the
appearance of an Indian basket. The joinings are made water-tight by a
coating of tamarack gum put on hot, or by the pitch of the yellow pine.
The seats are suspended from the gunwales so as not to press against the
sides. The stem and stern are alike, the sheets of bark being cut into
a graceful curve, and are frequently ornamented with beads or coloured
moose hair. Ours carried six men each, and our baggage and provisions,
and were so light that a couple of men lifted them out of the water and
ran along with them over the roughest ground with the greatest ease.
They are urged on by light paddles with broad blades, and are steered by
another of the same shape. For several days we paddled on--making no
great speed, however, for across lakes in calm weather we seldom did
more than four miles an hour--when Trevor used to sing out, "Oh, for an
eight-oar; oh, for an eight-oar! how we would make her spin along."
However, I persuaded him that we were better as we were--because, in
case of being snagged, not having a boat-builder at hand, we should have
been puzzled to repair her.
For several days we paddled on without meeting with any actual
adventure, although objects of interest were not wanting during every
hour of the day. We passed through the Lake of the Thousand Lakes and
camped on its shores before beginning our descent of the river Seine.
The night passed calmly. I awoke early: the stars were slightly paling,
a cold yellow light had begun to show itself in the east, on the lake
rested a screen of dense fog, through which a host of Indians bent on
our destruction might have been approaching without my being able to
discover them; landward was a forest equally impenetrable. Walking a
step or two from the camp I heard a sudden rush. I started, and cocked
my smooth-bore, but nothing appeared, and I guessed that it was a fox,
minx, or marten, prowling close by, attracted by the remains of last
night's supper. From the expiring camp-fires a thin volume of smoke
rose up above the trees and then spread lakewards, to join the damp
misty veil which hid the quiet waters from view. Round the fires were
the silent forms of the Indians lying motionless on their backs, wrapped
in their blankets, like shrouded corpses stretched at full length. Two
or three were under the canoes, and Swiftfoot had taken post in front of
Trevor's tent. As dawn advanced an Indian awoke, uncovered his face,
and sitting upon his haunches, looked round from beneath the folds of
his blanket, which he had drawn over his head. After a few minutes a
low "waugh" from his throat made some of the others unroll themselves
and begin blowing at the fire and adding fresh fuel. A few minutes were
spent by the French _voyageurs_ in prayer, and then the rest of the
party being roused, the tents were struck, and our early meal,
consisting of fried dampers and fish, biscuits, with hot coffee and tea,
sweetened, but without milk, enjoyed. The canoes were then launched.
"No frying-pans, hatchets, or other valuables left behind?" sang out
Trevor, who acted as commander-in-chief.
Each man examined the property committed to his charge, and all being
found right, we paddled down the stream as usual.
Here let me advise those engaged in similar expeditions to be careful
about such trifles, for a party may be brought to a standstill, and
lives endangered, by the loss of articles which may appear, at the
moment, of little value.
Now and then we came to rapids which it was deemed tolerably safe to
shoot. We had performed this feat twice when we came to another. We
had got through the greater part when, as we were dashing on amid the
foam, the stern swiftly turning round, we grazed a rock.
"A narrow shave!" I exclaimed, thinking we were safe, but Peter's cry
of--
"Oh, sir! oh, sir! the water is a running in, and we shall all be
drowned!"
"Stick your thumb into it," cried Trevor, from the other canoe, which
was just ahead, and had escaped all danger. This the lad did literally,
but the water spouted up all round his arm.
"Never mind," exclaimed "Longshot," the chief of my canoe, "we shall go
on till the next portage."
But the water kept rising and rising till we had three inches of it
inside the canoe. This was more than I bargained for, and as the cargo
would be injured even if we did not sink, I insisted on landing. The
chief trouble was unlading the canoe; for a piece of bark sewed on with
wattap, and covered over with gum melted with a burning stick, soon
repaired the damage.
Thus we made good three hundred and eighty-one miles, counting the
sinuosities of the course, and found ourselves encamped on the
north-west corner of the beautiful Lake of the Woods. I say beautiful,
for no part of North America presents more lovely and picturesque lake
scenery--here bare precipitous rocks, there abrupt timbered hills of
every form, and gentle wooded slopes and open grassy areas, while
islands of every variety of form and size dot the blue expanse.
There was the usual fog resting on the surface of the lake as I turned
out in the morning before the rest of the party, whom I was about to
rouse up, when my ear caught the sound of paddles approaching the camp.
That they were Indians there could be no doubt, and I thought that they
were probably on a journey and would pass by without observing us.
Swiftfoot had not given the Wood Indians of this district the best of
characters, yet, as they had always shown a friendly disposition towards
the English, we heard, we had no cause to apprehend danger from them.
Still, I knew that it was necessary when travelling in those regions to
be on our guard, and I therefore stood still, expecting to hear the
sound of the paddles gradually decrease as they passed by. Suddenly,
however, a light puff of wind lifted the veil of mist, and exposed to
view nearly a dozen large canoes filled with painted and
feather-bedecked Indians, evidently a war-party, and coming directly for
our camp.
"Indians! Quick, to your feet!" I shouted out, having no fancy to be
murdered through too much ceremony, or by putting over-confidence in a
band of savages.
In an instant Trevor stood with his revolver in one hand and his
fowling-piece in the other, ready to do battle. Peter, with his fists
doubled, and the rest with their different weapons prepared for use,
while Ready showed his teeth and barked furiously to make amends for his
previous carelessness.
On seeing our preparations a young chief stood up in the bow of the
leading canoe, and waving his hand, stated that he was coming on a
peaceable errand.
"My father, the chief, will be here anon--he sent me on to announce his
coming."
Finding that resistance would be almost hopeless if they meant evil,
putting the best face we could on matters, we begged the young chief to
land and sit down and smoke the calumet of peace, or, as Trevor
expressed it, "take his pipe and make himself at home." He was a
talkative youngster, and seemed very proud of having killed two or three
men in a war expedition against the Sioux, from which he had just
returned, exhibiting to our unpleased eyes the fresh scalps he had
taken. We found that he had brought them all down at long shots.
Indeed, Red-men, notwithstanding all that has been said in their praise
by novel writers, have a very unheroic notion of fighting. Trevor
called it an "unsportsmanlike way of bagging their game."
Our blood-thirsty young acquaintance smoked several pipes, drank a quart
of tea, and talked of affairs in general, but left us as much in the
dark as ever as to the reason of his coming, though he informed us that
our fire had been seen in the evening; but that, unwilling to disturb
us, he had postponed his visit till daylight. His followers had,
meantime, landed and squatted round us in the most amicable manner--my
dog Ready being the only one of the party who exhibited any hostile
feeling, and he was in no way satisfied with the appearance of the
ill-looking war-begrimed strangers. Our principal annoyance arose from
being unable to proceed, which we could not venture to do till the
appearance of the chief. At length his fleet of nearly twenty canoes
hove in sight, and he soon landed, and with all the pomp and dignity he
could assume, demanded the reason of our passing through his country.
We replied, through Swiftfoot, that we were on a journey of pleasure,
desiring to pass on to the big sea in the far-west, to hunt the buffalo,
and shoot a grizzly if we could; in fact, to inspect the country and
kill time.
After listening attentively, he gave a significant "ugh!" observing that
we might or might not be speaking the truth, but that certainly we were
more likely to meet pain than pleasure, that too many buffalo were
hunted already, but that was no business of his, and that as to
grizzlies, he knew nothing of them in his part of the country, nor of a
big lake in the far-west, and that we could kill time far better at
home; but there was one thing he did know, that the white people had
deceived the Red-men so often, and had occupied their lands, so that
with his will no one should pass through his country, which lay between
the Lake of the Woods and the Red River. We took a few minutes to
deliberate what to say, and then instructed Swiftfoot to inform the
chief that he was a very wise man, but that he was labouring under one
slight error, the fact being that the whole country belonged to the
Queen of England, that he and his people were her subjects, and that so
were we; that she desired all her subjects to be friendly to each other;
that she was very angry with those who were not, and made presents to
those who were; that we should set a good example by not passing through
the country he claimed, though we were afraid she might be very much
vexed at hearing of his want of courtesy, still to show him of our
friendly disposition we proposed presenting him with some tobacco,
hatchets, and blankets, although we had not come provided with presents.
He looked completely taken aback on hearing this, and ended by sending
two of his young men as guides down the Winnipeg River, the course we
had intended to pursue.
We visited an island in the lake, a large portion of which was
cultivated, and produced Indian corn, potatoes, squashes, and pumpkins;
pigeons and a variety of birds flew over our heads, and fish swarmed in
the lakes and streams we passed through. We stopped on our way at two
or three Hudson's Bay Company's trading-posts. They are generally
situated on commanding positions, surrounded by stockades which would
serve to keep out a predatory party of Indians. We also visited a
missionary station, that of Islington, established by an English lady,
Mrs Sandon, of Bath. The missionary, Mr Macdonald, has long laboured
among the Red-men, instructing them in the truths of the Gospel,
teaching them agriculture, and educating their children in his schools
with more success generally than the adults.
It took us nearly three weeks to voyage from Fort William to the mouth
of the Red River, which we reached by a traverse across Lake Winnipeg.
We ascended that river to a settlement of Christian Indians, presided
over by an English clergyman, where we left our canoes and boatmen till
we should again require them, and proceeded up, on horseback, to the
main settlements, some rapids impeding this part of the navigation of
the Red River.
In contrast to the wild scenery through which we had so long been
travelling, the Selkirk settlements presented an aspect of civilisation
and advancement which we had not expected. There were good roads,
houses, churches, schools, mills, stores, large farms and small farms,
and a cathedral and nunnery belonging to the Roman Catholics. There is
no town in the settlement, but there is a large, tolerably strong fort,
that of Fort Garry, on the point of land where the Assiniboine River
falls into the Red River, and for twenty miles or so, on the banks of
the two streams, the buildings I have described have been raised in
groups or knots, forming separate hamlets, with, in most instances, a
church and school-house for each. I might give a long and interesting
account of the settlement, but such is not my aim. I will merely remark
that the farms were well-stocked, and showed a variety and an abundance
of produce; that horses and cattle lived out and grew fat on the native
grasses throughout the winter, that so too did pigs in the woods on
acorns and roots; and that all the inhabitants required to become
wealthy and prosperous, was a regular market for their produce.