DISCOVERY OF THE COPPERMINE.
Samuel Hearne--"The Mungo Park of Canada"--Perouse
complains--The North-West Passage--Indian guides--Two
failures--Third journey successful--Smokes the calumet--Discovers
Arctic Ocean--Cruelty to the Eskimos--Error in latitude--Remarkable
Indian woman--Capture of Prince of Wales Fort--Criticism by
Umfreville.
Such an agitation as that so skilfully planned and shrewdly carried on
by Arthur Dobbs, Esq., could not but affect the action of the Hudson's
Bay Company. The most serious charge brought against the Company was
that, while having a monopoly of the trade on Hudson Bay, it had taken
no steps to penetrate the country and develop its resources. It is of
course evident that the Company itself could have no reason for refusing
to open up trade with the interior, for by this means it would be
expanding its operations and increasing its profits. The real reason
for its not doing so seems to have been the inertia, not to say fear,
of Hudson's Bay Company agents on the Bay who failed to mingle with the
bands of Indians in the interior.
Now the man was found who was to be equal to the occasion. This was
Samuel Hearne. Except occasional reference to him in the minutes of
the Company and works of the period, we know little of Samuel Hearne.
He was one of the class of men to which belonged Norton, Kelsey, and
others--men who had grown up in the service of the Company on the Bay,
and had become, in the course of years, accustomed to the climate,
condition of life, and haunts of the Indians, thus being fitted for
active work for the Company.
Samuel Hearne became so celebrated in his inland expeditions, that
the credit of the Hudson's Bay Company leaving the coast and venturing
into the interior has always been attached to his name. So greatly,
especially in the English mind, have his explorations bulked, that
the author of a book of travels in Canada about the beginning of this
century called him the "Mungo Park of Canada." In his "Journey," we
have an account of his earlier voyages to the interior in search of the
Coppermine River. This book has a somewhat notable history.
In the four-volume work of La Perouse, the French navigator, it is
stated that when he took Prince of Wales Fort on the Churchill River in
1782, Hearne, as governor of the fort, surrendered it to him, and that
the manuscript of his "Journey" was seized by the French commander. It
was returned to Hearne on condition that it should be published, but the
publication did not take place until thirteen years afterwards. It is
somewhat amusing to read in Perouse's preface (1791) the complaint that
Hearne had not kept faith with him in regard to publishing the journal,
and the hope is expressed that this public statement in reminding him of
his promise would have the desired effect of the journal being published.
Four years afterwards Hearne's "Journey" appeared. A reference to this
fine quarto work, which is well illustrated, brings us back in the
introduction to all the controversies embodied in the work of Dobbs,
Ellis, Robson, and the "American Traveller."
Hearne's orders were received from the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1769, to
go on a land expedition to the interior of the continent, from the mouth
of the Churchill as far as 70 deg. N. lat., to smoke the calumet of
peace with the Indians, to take accurate astronomical observations, to
go with guides to the Athabasca country, and thence northward to a river
abounding with copper ore and "animals of the fur kind," &c.
It is very noticeable, also, that his instructions distinctly tell him
"to clear up the point, if possible, in order to prevent further doubt
from arising hereafter respecting a passage out of Hudson Bay into
the Western Ocean, as hath lately been represented by the 'American
Traveller.'" The instructions made it plain that it was the agitation
still continuing from the days of Dobbs which led to the sending of
Hearne to the north country.
Hearne's first expedition was made during the last months of the year
1769. It is peculiarly instructive in the fact that it failed to
accomplish anything, as it gives us a glimpse of the difficulties which
no doubt so long prevented the movement to the interior. In the first
place, the bitterly severe months of November and December were badly
chosen for the time of the expedition. On the sixth day of the former
of these months Hearne left Prince of Wales Fort, taking leave of the
Governor, and being sent off with a salute of seven guns. His guide was
an Indian chief, Chawchinahaw. Hearne ascertained very soon, what others
have found among the Indians, that his guide was not to be trusted; he
"often painted the difficulties in the worst colours" and took every
method to dishearten the explorer. Three weeks after starting, a number
of the Indians deserted Hearne.
Shortly after this mishap, Chawchinahaw and his company ruthlessly
deserted the expedition, and two hundred miles from the fort set out
on another route, "making the woods ring with their laughter." Meeting
other Indians, Hearne purchased venison, but was cheated, while his
Indian guide was feasted. The explorer remarks:--"A sufficient proof
of the singular advantage which a native of this country has over an
Englishman, when at such a distance from the Company's factories as to
depend entirely on them for subsistence."
Hearne arrived at the fort after an absence of thirty-seven days, as
he says, "to my own mortification and the no small surprise of the
Governor." Hearne was simply illustrating what has been shown a hundred
times since, in all foreign regions, viz., native peoples are quick to
see the inexperience of men raw to the country, and will heartlessly
maltreat and deceive them. However, British officers and men in all
parts of the world become at length accustomed to dealing with savage
peoples, and after some experience, none have ever equalled British
agents and explorers in the management and direction of such peoples.
Early in the following year Hearne plucked up courage for another
expedition. On this occasion he determined to take no Europeans, but to
trust to Indians alone. On February 23rd, accompanied by five Indians,
Hearne started on his second journey. Following the advice of the
Governor, the party took no Indian women with them, though Hearne states
that this was a mistake, as they were "needed for hauling the baggage
as well as for dressing skins for clothing, pitching our tent, getting
firing, &c." During the first part of the journey deer were plentiful,
and the fish obtained by cutting holes in the ice of the lakes were
excellent.
Hearne spent the time of the necessary delays caused by the obtaining
of fish and game in taking observations, keeping his journal and
chart, and doing his share of trapping. Meeting, as soon as the spring
opened, bands of Indians going on various errands, the explorer started
overland. He carried sixty pounds of burden, consisting of quadrant,
books and papers, compass, wearing apparel, weapons and presents for the
natives. The traveller often made twenty miles a day over the rugged
country.
Meeting a chief of the Northern Indians going in July to Prince of Wales
Fort, Hearne sent by him for ammunition and supplies. A canoe being now
necessary, Hearne purchased this of the Indians. It was obtained by the
exchange of a single knife, the full value of which did not exceed a
penny. In the middle of this month the party saw bands of musk oxen.
A number of these were killed and their flesh made into pemmican for
future use. Finding it impossible to reach the Coppermine during the
season, Hearne determined to live with the Indians for the winter.
The explorer was a good deal disturbed by having to give presents to
Indians who met him. Some of them wanted guns, all wanted ammunition,
iron-work, and tobacco; many were solicitous for medicine; and others
pressed for different articles of clothing. He thought the Indians very
inconsiderate in their demands.
On August 11th the explorer had the misfortune to lose his quadrant
by its being blown open and broken by the wind. Shortly after this
disaster, Hearne was plundered by a number of Indians who joined him.
He determined to return to the fort. Suffering from the want of food
and clothing, Hearne was overtaken by a famous chief, Matonabbee, who
was going eastward to Prince of Wales Fort. The chief had lived several
years at the fort, and was one who knew the Coppermine. Matonabbee
discussed the reasons of Hearne's failure in his two expeditions. The
forest philosopher gave as the reason of these failures the misconduct
of the guides and the failure to take any women on the journey. After
maintaining that women were made for labour, and speaking of their
assistance, said Matonabbee, "women, though they do everything, are
maintained at a trifling expense, for as they always stand cook, the
very licking of their fingers in scarce times is sufficient for their
subsistence." Plainly, the northern chief had need of the ameliorating
influence of modern reformers. In company with the chief, Hearne
returned to the fort, reaching it after an absence of eight months and
twenty-two days, having, as he says, had "a fruitless or at least an
unsuccessful journey."
Hearne, though beaten twice, was determined to try a third time and win.
He recommended the employment of Matonabbee as a guide of intelligence
and experience. Governor Norton wished to send some of the coast Indians
with Hearne, but the latter refused them, and incurred the ill-will
of the Governor. Hearne's instructions on this third journey were "in
quest of a North-West Passage, copper-mines, or any other thing that may
be serviceable to the British nation in general, or the Hudson's Bay
Company in particular." The explorer was now furnished with an Elton's
quadrant.
This third journey was begun on December 7th, 1770. Travelling sometimes
for three or four days without food, they were annoyed, when supplies
were secured, by the chief Matonabbee taking so ill from over-eating
that he had to be drawn upon a sledge. Without more than the usual
incidents of Indian travelling, the party pushed on till a point some
19 deg. west of Churchill was reached, according to the calculations of
the explorer. It is to be noted, however, that Hearne's observations,
measurements, and maps, do not seem to be at all accurate.
Turning northward, as far as can be now made out, about the spot where
the North-West traders first appeared on their way to the Churchill
River, Hearne went north to his destination. His Indian guides now
formed a large war party from the resident Indians, to meet the Eskimos
of the river to which they were going and to conquer them.
The explorer announces that having left behind "all the women, children,
dogs, heavy baggage, and other encumbrances," on June 1st, 1771, they
pursued their journey northward with great speed. On June 21st the sun
did not set at all, which Hearne took to be proof that they had reached
the Arctic Circle. Next day they met the Copper Indians, who welcomed
them on hearing the object of their visit.
Hearne, according to orders, smoked the calumet of peace with the Copper
Indians. These Indians had never before seen a white man. Hearne was
considered a great curiosity. Pushing on upon their long journey, the
explorers reached the Coppermine River on July 13th. Hearne was the
witness of a cruel massacre of the Eskimos by his Indian allies, and the
seizure of their copper utensils and other provisions, and expresses
disgust at the enormity of the affair. The mouth of the river, which
flows into the Arctic Ocean, was soon reached on July 18th, and the tide
found to rise about fourteen feet.
Hearne seems in the narrative rather uncertain about the latitude of the
mouth of the Coppermine River, but states that after some consultation
with the Indians, he erected a mark, and took possession of the coast on
behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company.
In Hearne's map, dated July, 1771, and purporting to be a plan of the
Coppermine, the mouth of the river is about 71 deg. 54´ N. This was a
great mistake, as the mouth of the river is somewhere near 68 deg. N.
So great a mistake was certainly unpardonable. Hearne's apology was
that after the breaking of his quadrant on the second expedition, the
instrument which he used was an old Elton's quadrant, which had been
knocking about the Prince of Wales Fort for nearly thirty years.
Having examined the resources of the river and heard of the mines from
which the Copper Indians obtained all the metal for the manufacture of
hatchets, chisels, knives, &c., Hearne started southward on his return
journey on July 18th. Instead of coming by the direct route, he went
with the Indians of his party to the north side of Lake Athabasca on
December 24th. Having crossed the lake, as illustrating the loneliness
of the region, the party found a woman who had escaped from an Indian
band which had taken her prisoner, and who had not seen a human face
for seven months, and had lived by snaring partridges, rabbits, and
squirrels. Her skill in maintaining herself in lonely wilds was truly
wonderful. She became the wife of one of the Indians of Hearne's party.
In the middle of March, 1772, Hearne was delivered a letter, brought to
him from Prince of Wales Fort and dated in the preceding June. Pushing
eastward, after a number of adventures, Hearne reached Prince of Wales
Fort on June 30th, 1772, having been absent on his third voyage eighteen
months and twenty-three days. Hearne rejoices that he had at length put
an end to the disputes concerning a North-West Passage through Hudson
Bay. The fact, however, that during the nineteenth century this became
again a living question shows that in this he was mistaken.
The perseverance and pluck of Hearne have impressed all those who have
read his narrative. He was plainly one of the men possessing the subtle
power of impressing the Indian mind. His disasters would have deterred
many men from following up so difficult and extensive a route. To him
the Hudson's Bay Company owes a debt of gratitude. That debt consists
not in the discovery of the Coppermine, but in the attitude presented to
the Northern Indians from the Bay all the way to Lake Athabasca. Hearne
does not mention the Montreal fur traders, who, in the very year of his
return, reached the Saskatchewan and were stationed at the Churchill
River down which he passed.
First of white men to reach Athapuscow, now thought to have been Great
Slave Lake, Samuel Hearne claimed for his Company priority of trade,
and answered the calumnies that his Company was lacking in energy
and enterprise. He took what may be called "seizen" of the soil for
the English traders. We shall speak again of his part in leading the
movement inland to oppose the Nor'-Westers in the interior. His services
to the Hudson's Bay Company received recognition in his promotion,
three years after his return home from his third voyage, to the
governorship of the Prince of Wales Fort. To Hearne has been largely
given the credit of the new and adventurous policy of the Hudson's Bay
Company.
Hearne does not, however, disappear from public notice on his promotion
to the command of Prince of Wales Fort. When war broke out a few years
later between England and France, the latter country, remembering her
old successes under D'Iberville on Hudson Bay, sent a naval expedition
to attack the forts on the Bay. Umfreville gives an account of the
attack on Prince of Wales Fort on August 8th and 9th, 1772. Admiral
de la Perouse was in command of these war vessels, his flagship being
_Le Sceptre_, of seventy-four guns. The garrison was thought to be
well provided for a siege, and La Perouse evidently expected to have a
severe contest. However, as he approached the fort, there seemed to be
no preparations made for defence, and, on the summons to surrender, the
gates were immediately thrown open.
[Illustration: PRINCE OF WALES FORT.]
Umfreville, who was in the garrison and was taken prisoner on this
occasion, speaks of the conduct of the Governor as being very
reprehensible, but severely criticizes the Company for its neglect. He
says:--"The strength of the fort itself was such as would have resisted
the attack of a more considerable force; it was built of the strongest
materials, the walls were of great thickness and very durable (it was
planned by the ingenious Mr. Robson, who went out in 1742 for that
purpose), it having been forty years in building and attended with
great expense to the Company. In short, it was the opinion of every
intelligent person that it might have made an obstinate resistance when
attacked, had it been as well provided in other respects; but through
the impolitic conduct of the Company, every courageous exertion of their
servants must have been considered as imprudent temerity; for this
place, which would have required four hundred men for its defence, the
Company, in its consummate wisdom, had garrisoned with only thirty-nine."
In this matter, Umfreville very plainly shows his animus to the Company,
but incidentally he exonerates Hearne from the charge of cowardice,
inasmuch as it would have been madness to make defence against so large
a body of men. As has been before pointed out, we can hardly charge
with cowardice the man who had shown his courage and determination in
the three toilsome and dangerous journeys spoken of; rather would we
see in this a proof of his wisdom under unfortunate circumstances. The
surrender of York Factory to La Perouse twelve days afterwards, without
resistance, was an event of an equally discouraging kind. The Company
suffered great loss by the surrender of these forts, which had been
unmolested since the Treaty of Utrecht.