DOWN THE MACKENZIE
AND UP THE YUKON
IN 1906
[Illustration:
_Copyright Ernest Brown_
S.S. WRIGLEY AT THE JUNCTION OF THE MACKENZIE AND LIARD RIVERS]
DOWN THE MACKENZIE
AND UP THE YUKON
IN 1906
BY ELIHU STEWART
FORMERLY SUPERINTENDENT OF FORESTRY
FOR CANADA
WITH A MAP AND THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS
FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
LONDON : JOHN LANE : THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK : JOHN LANE COMPANY
TORONTO : BELL AND COCKBURN : MCMXIII
_SECOND EDITION_
THE BALLANTYNE PRESS TAVISTOCK STREET COVENT GARDEN LONDON
TO
THE RIGHT HONORABLE EARL GREY
FORMER GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA WHO DURING HIS TERM OF OFFICE
FOUND TIME TO ACQUAINT HIMSELF WITH MUCH OF OUR NORTHERN
WILDERNESS THESE PAGES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
ERRATUM
The Photograph entitled “A Moose and Indian Tepee,” reproduced to
face page 218 and on the wrapper, is the copyright of Ernest
Brown of Edmonton
PREFACE
The following narrative is based on a report which I made to the
Government of Canada, dated November 16, in the year 1906, shortly
after my return to Ottawa from the far North.
In writing this report I had to resist the temptation to give many
details which were present in my mind at the time but which would be
scarcely warranted in an official document. In the following pages
I have allowed myself more latitude and have also included several
illustrations, the greater number of them being photographs taken by
myself. Many of these were snapshots taken from the deck of one or
other of the steamers on which I was a passenger, and for that reason
are not as good as when time exposures were obtained.
I cannot allow this little narrative to pass out of my hands
without expressing heartfelt thanks for the unfailing kindness
and hospitality, as well as assistance, that I received from the
officials of the Hudson Bay Company, as well as from the agents of the
independent trading Companies, from the Missionaries, and also the
natives of the country.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
Mr. Elihu Stewart’s opening words are strangely significant. “Perhaps
no portion of America has received greater attention from the explorer
during the last three centuries than the sub-arctic regions of Canada,
and yet they remain practically unknown to the present day.” The author
relates his experiences in traversing what was practically virgin soil.
That he should have carried out his immense programme without fear or
accident is no mean feat, and this narrative should be found intensely
interesting by all who recognise the great commercial and historical
future in store for the vast Dominion, as well as those to whom the
adventurous side of life especially appeals.
Mr. Stewart is well competent to do more than furnish a superficial
travel book. As Managing Director of “Canada Timber and Lands,
Limited,” he is actively concerned in the possibilities of the timber
trade in Canada. There is no doubt that with the completion of the
Panama Canal in sight and with the rapid settlement of the prairies
and the increased railway facilities bound to eventuate, the superior
timber of British Columbia can be exploited as never before. No
other part of Canada produces timber in such abundance. Mr. Stewart
was formerly Superintendent of Forestry for Canada, and much of the
knowledge he thus acquired helps to form the present volume. Mr.
Stewart gives many charming pen-pictures to relieve the more material
side of “Down the Mackenzie and Up the Yukon,” and he shows a fine
feeling of atmosphere for lands “where it is always afternoon,” where
the late sun lingers in the quiet west; where the northern twilight
embraces reluctant day, amid the profound silence of the gradual
shadows. Only the cry of a loon or the hooting of an owl heard
somewhere in the forest pierces the mournful calm.
Mr. Stewart wisely makes frequent reference to the soil conditions
he has observed on his line of travel, and his impressions will be
found most valuable. He insists, too, that before any accurate report
can be given on the subject it will be most desirable--and indeed
necessary--for the Government to have an exploration survey made by men
competent to give an authoritative opinion. Canada is losing year after
year from lack of information concerning its unoccupied areas. The
difficulties of handling immense tracts of land are obvious, but not
more so than the lack of enterprise which stays the country and delays
its cultivation. In the present state of things the stray settler has
little or no chance. “What would be thought,” asks Mr. Stewart, “of
the settler who built his house and commenced to clear and till his
land on the front of his lot without ever taking the trouble to examine
the rest of his possessions? The chances are he would afterwards find
that much of his labour had been misdirected. In many parts of the
country land has been surveyed, and opened up for settlement, that was
unfit for agriculture and which should have been left for the growth
of timber for which it was well suited. Frequently this land looked
attractive to the inexperienced, and in many cases the settler spent
years of hard labour only to find at last that beneath the few inches
of humus there was nothing but barren sand.”
In a country like Canada with its vast areas of wonderfully fertile
land, it is unnecessary that any one should waste his labour on any
part that is unproductive.
It is well that Mr. Stewart should express himself forcibly, without
circumlocution, and his grave warning may perhaps act as a deterrent
to the unwary and inexperienced, while bringing home to the Government
the necessity not only of bringing agricultural immigrants into the
country, but of directing them to fields where there is a known and
excellent chance of labour and concentrated industry meeting with
adequate reward.
Mr. Stewart pleads very earnestly for the establishment of a hospital
somewhere in that vast region of the Mackenzie watershed. “Between
Edmonton,” says Mr. Stewart, “and the Arctic Sea we pass over sixteen
degrees of latitude, while the distance by the travelled route is over
two thousand miles. Again, from the Rocky Mountains on the West to
the Hudson Bay on the East the distance is almost equally as great.
At Athabaska Landing and at Peace River in the Southern fringe of
this great wilderness a few physicians have established themselves,
but beyond these places the only medical aid available is from an
occasional visit of the Government physician and what the missionaries
are able to furnish. At practically every fort and Indian village on
our way we were besieged for medicine by the afflicted.”
Probably most of the illnesses would have been relieved, if not
actually cured, by proper surgical treatment. It is curious to note
that the Indians of these regions are as susceptible to appendicitis
as Europeans. Mr. Stewart goes on to suggest that if such a hospital
at Fort Simpson or at some point on Great Slave Lake were established
it could be reached by canoes in summer from points all along the
Mackenzie, and it would be possible to ameliorate the sufferings of
many whose only hope is death. If this little volume may serve even
as a faint plea for the assistance of those who dwell at present so
far beyond reach of some of civilisation’s essential requirements, Mr.
Stewart will have performed a profound service.
CONTENTS
PART I
pp.
CHAPTER I
Historical: Early History of the Sub-Arctic Regions of
Canada : Formation of the Hudson Bay Company : Rise of the
North-West Company 23–27
CHAPTER II
Plan of the Journey : Early Stages : At Edmonton : A
Peculiarity of Northern Rivers 29–39
CHAPTER III
From Athabaska Landing to Great Rapids : The _Midnight Sun_
and its Voyage 41–46
CHAPTER IV
A Burial in the Wilderness : From Grand Rapids to Fort
McMurray : Tar Sands 47–57
CHAPTER V
Fort McMurray to Smith’s Landing on the Slave River : The
_Grahame_ : Beauty of Northern Twilights : Fort
Chippewyan : The Slave River : The Peace River Basin 59–72
CHAPTER VI
More about the Slave River : On Steamer _Wrigley_ : Fine
Gardens at Resolution : A Nasty Experience : Bishop Reeves
Comes Aboard for a Round Trip : Miss Wilgriss Leaves : Hay
River : Fort Providence : The Little Lake : Fort Simpson :
A Pathetic Incident : An Imaginary Cabinet : We Reach Fort
Wrigley 73–97
CHAPTER VII
Leaving Fort Norman : A Sad Case : In Arctic Regions :
Arrival at Fort McPherson 99–110
CHAPTER VIII
Ice Conditions of the Summer of 1905 111–114
CHAPTER IX
From Fort McPherson to Rampart House : Crossing the Peel
River : An Attempt at Intimidation : The Summit of the
Rocky Mountains : In Pacific Waters : The Porcupine : John
Quatlot Departs 115–150
CHAPTER X
From Rampart House to Fort Yukon : In Alaska : With Dan
Cadzow’s Party 151–157
CHAPTER XI
The Ramparts of the Porcupine : An Unoccupied House : A
Girl’s Unhappiness : Awaiting an Up-going Steamer : From
Fort Yukon to Dawson City 159–168
CHAPTER XII
Dawson City : In Civilisation Once More : High Prices : To
Whitehorse on the _Dawson_: Gamblers’ Tricks 169–175
CHAPTER XIII
From Skagway to Vancouver : On the _Princess May_ : Fort
Simpson : Prince Rupert : End of the Journey 177–185
PART II
SECT. PAGE
FOREWORD 189
I. CLIMATE 191
II. SOIL 201
III. MINERALS 205
IV. PLACER GOLD 209
V. TIMBER 211
VI. ANIMALS 217
VII. FISH 221
VIII. WILD FOWL 223
IX. INHABITANTS 229
X. HALF BREEDS 247
XI. THE TRADERS 253
XII. MISSIONARIES 261
CONCLUSION: AN APPEAL 267
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
_To face page_
S.S. _Wrigley_ at the junction of the Mackenzie and Liard
Rivers _Frontispiece_
Tracking on Athabaska River 36
Grand Rapids on Athabaska River 44
Lunch time on the Athabaska River 46
Funeral of Herbert Bray on the Athabaska 48
Stones on the Athabaska 50
Fort Chippewyan on Athabaska Lake 62
Spruce Timber on the Slave River 64
Rapids on the Slave River at the Second Portage 68
Smith’s Landing on Slave River 70
Steamer _Grahame_ at Smith’s Landing 72
Leaving Fort Smith on the Slave River 74
Fort Resolution on Great Slave Lake 76
Dog-ribbed Indians on Great Slave Lake 78
Fort Providence on the Mackenzie River 82
Bishop Reeve, Stefansson, and Resident Clergyman at Simpson 90
The Ramparts, Mackenzie River 100
The Midnight Sun 106
At McPherson: Indians, Half-breeds, and Esquimaux in Foreground 108
Fort McPherson 114
Rampart, House on the Porcupine River 148
Yukon River at Fort Yukon 156
Fort Yukon in Alaska 160
Dawson City 170
Indian Children at Fort Simpson 178
Totum Poles at Alert Bay on Vancouver Island 184
Esquimaux on their Kyaks 192
A Moose and Indian Tepee 218
Coming in from the North 230
Trading with the Esquimaux 254
PART I
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Historical : Early History of the Sub-Arctic Regions of
Canada : Formation of the Hudson Bay Company : Rise of the
North-West Company.
“_The days were bright, and the morning light was sweet with jewelled song;
We poled and lined up nameless streams, portaged o’er hill and plain;
We guessed and groped, North ever North, with many a twist and turn
We saw ablaze in the deathless days, the splendid sunsets burn._”
SERVICE
Perhaps no portion of America has received greater attention from the
explorer during the last three centuries than the Sub-Arctic regions of
Canada, and yet they remain practically unknown to the present day.
As early as 1577, Martin Frobisher spent some time on the border of the
Arctic. The name Frobisher in English history carries us back to the
defeat of the Spanish Armada, in which he performed a distinguished
part and for which he was honoured by his Queen.
Later, in 1611, Henry Hudson after sailing up the great river of the
State of New York found a tragic death in that Canadian inland sea,
which, along with the above river, bears his name.
Samuel Herne went down the Coppermine to the Arctic Ocean and wintered
there in 1770 and 1771; and as a result of his travels wrote the first
account of the North American bison and Indian methods of hunting.
Later, in 1789, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, one of the boldest and most
resourceful explorers of modern times, made a journey in one short
summer from Lake Athabaska, then called the Lake of the Hills, down the
whole course of the Slave River, across Great Slave Lake and then all
the way down the great, but then unknown river, the Mackenzie, 1000
miles to the frozen Ocean, returning the same season to Fort Chippewyan.
In the autumn of 1792 he commenced another voyage from Chippewyan;
this time with the Pacific Ocean as his objective point going westward
up the Peace River; and succeeded before winter overtook him, in
reaching a point 600 miles up that stream near Dunvegan, where he
wintered.
The next season he continued the ascent of the Peace to its headwaters;
crossed the Rocky Mountains, and, after the greatest difficulties and
hardships, reached the Pacific, returning again by the same route to
his post at Chippewyan where he arrived on July 24, 1793.
Another name which stands high in the annals of Arctic exploration is
that of Sir John Franklin, who accompanied by Dr. Richardson, made
the journey down the Mackenzie to the sea and traversed part of the
Coast in 1825. Many others, whose names I need not recall, also imbued
with a spirit of adventure, have from time to time journeyed along the
icebound coast and through that subarctic wilderness, which to-day
forms part of the Dominion of Canada. And yet, except along a few water
routes, the country is still an almost unknown land--unknown to all
except the agents and employees of those pioneer trading Companies,
that have for centuries blazed the path through unfrequented regions
of vast extent. Any narrative concerning that portion of North America
would be incomplete that did not make frequent reference to at least
two of these Companies.
The first and oldest of them is the Hudson Bay Company, which under
Prince Rupert received a Royal Charter from Charles the Second in
1670. This Company of adventurers obtained great privileges over
the country surrounding Hudson Bay and the streams flowing into it.
In 1785 a great rival corporation was formed, viz., The North-West
Company. This organisation had its head-quarters in Montreal, and as
one stands to-day on Beaver Hall Hill in that City, where once stood
Beaver Hall--and the head-quarters of the Company--and looks down to
the river, it requires no great stretch of the imagination to behold a
vision of a century ago, with the hardy canoemen bearing on their backs
up to the warehouse the peltries brought from the remotest parts of
the far North-West and returning with merchandise to load again their
canoes for the dusky natives of the far away Saskatchewan, Peace and
Mackenzie.
This latter Company, not only established posts at various points
on the great lakes of the St. Lawrence basin, but extended them
into territory which the Hudson Bay Company regarded as belonging
exclusively to themselves on the Red River and the Saskatchewan. Not
only this, but they penetrated regions far beyond those into which
the emissaries of the older Company had ventured, even to the Pacific
Ocean on the one hand, and the Arctic on the other. It may be stated
here that Sir Alexander Mackenzie immortal in the annals of exploration
was himself an officer of the North-West Company. The presence of
the New Company in waters tributary to the Hudson Bay soon resulted
in conflicts sometimes sanguinary, between the employees of the two
corporations, and this state of affairs continued till they were
amalgamated in the year 1821.