NORTHERN ALBERTA.
Agriculture and Arable Land in the Eastern Section or
“Athabaska Country.”
A Section of the West Where Officials of the Hudson’s Bay Company
Were Directed to Cultivate Gardens.—Some Points Where Wheat has
been grown, Including the Sample which took First Prize at the
Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.—Crude Indian Gardens at
Cowpar lake.—Livestock Grazing out in December and January.
A glance at the latest “Railway Map of the Dominion of Canada,”
published by the Department of the Interior, will show that the
surveyed, and consequently fully-explored, part of the province of
Alberta extends considerably farther north than do the lines which mark
the northernmost limit of the surveyed territory in Saskatchewan.
The areas of arable land in Northern Alberta are admittedly so extensive
and important, and there has been such a large accumulation of evidence
as to the latent agricultural wealth of the actual agricultural
experiments in this most promising region, that, with the object of
enabling the reader the more readily to follow the text, and to assist
him in locating the geographical points mentioned, it has been deemed
advisable to divide the material referring to arable lands and
agriculture in this territory into two separate chapters, corresponding
with two divisions of the area immediately under review. The country
readily lends itself to such a division; in fact, invites it.
The region west of the 114th meridian has long been known and designated
as “Peace river country,” and possesses characteristics, and to some
extent, a history quite its own. The remaining or eastern half of the
territory, at least as far north as the lower reach of Peace river, is
the main basin of the Athabaska and, as such, will be treated as a
distinct area in the present chapter, the one immediately following to
be devoted to the subject of the arable lands and agricultural
possibilities of Peace river country.
Athabaska river, which is the most southerly of the three great
tributaries of the Mackenzie, rises in Rocky mountains near Mount Brown,
at an altitude of about five thousand seven hundred feet, and pursues a
northeasterly and northerly course for nearly six hundred miles to
Athabaska lake, falling in this distance some five thousand feet, and
being interrupted by several series of rapids. In the first three
hundred miles of its course it falls about four thousand feet, and
receives in succession Baptiste river from the west, the Macleod and
Pembina from the south, and the Lesser Slave, draining the large lake of
that name, from the west. Below its confluence with the last named
stream, the Athabaska turns southeastward for some fifty miles and then
resumes its northerly course. In the course of the next one hundred and
fifty miles it receives, in succession, La Biche river from the east;
Quito or Calling river from the west; Big Mouth brook from the east;
Pelican river from the west; and House river from the east. Just below
the mouth of the last river the Athabaska strikes a range of low hills,
and in forcing a passage through them is deflected eastward, and for a
distance of about seventy-five miles contains many rapids, falling in
this distance some four hundred feet. At the lower end of this stretch
it receives the waters of Clearwater river, its principal tributary
below Lesser Slave river. The Clearwater rises on the height of land
between the Churchill and the Athabaska, and pursuing a nearly straight
easterly course for some one hundred and fifty miles, mingles its limpid
waters with the sediment-laden flood of the latter stream. In the lower
part of its course the Clearwater occupies a deep valley and is very
rapid. Thirty or forty miles above its mouth it is joined by the
Pembina, a stream of about equal volume. Below the mouth of the
Clearwater the Athabaska pursues a nearly direct course northward,
receiving Red, Moose, and Bar rivers from the west, and enters Athabaska
lake through a number of channels including alluvial islands.
Lake Athabaska was known to the pioneer fur-traders and explorers as
“Lake of the Hills,” and it is so described by Mackenzie and others.
The country drained by the Athabaska is
MAINLY A ROLLING PLAIN
and with the exception of a few areas of semi-prairie land, is well
wooded, with a forest composed mainly of spruce, fir, pine, tamarack,
poplar, birch and willow. A large part of its surface is occupied by
mossy swamps, called muskegs, and hundreds of ponds and lakes, of which
Lesser Slave, seventy miles in length, is by far the largest, occupy its
shallow valleys. Immense areas have been swept by fire, sometimes
repeatedly, and in some places the original forest covering has been
destroyed and small prairies have succeeded.
The first information we obtained as to the agricultural possibilities
of Athabaska basin came from explorers and travellers passing through
the most northern portion of it on their way to Peace river, Great Slave
lake and the Mackenzie via the old canoe route by Methye portage and the
Clearwater. In more recent years, particularly since the inauguration of
steamboat communication along the long navigable stretches of the
Athabaska and Mackenzie, the favourite route to the far northwest has
been down the Athabaska from Athabaska, and, as is only natural, our
knowledge of the resources of the country has increased greatly.
Sir Alexander Mackenzie, as far back as 1787, saw at a trading station
of Peter Pond, on Elk or Athabaska river, “as fine a kitchen garden as
he ever saw in Canada.”
It might be explained here, that in the spring of 1778, a number of the
Saskatchewan traders put their goods into a common stock, and placed Mr.
Peter Pond in charge of them, directing him to proceed to the Athabaska
and trade with the Indians. He took the present Hudson’s Bay Company’s
route, by Cumberland House, Frog portage, Ile à la Crosse, and on to
Methye portage and down Clearwater river to the forks of the Athabaska.
Here he built a house, and in the spring of 1779 planted garden seeds.
As a general thing, at the early trading posts, agriculture of any kind,
even the making of gardens, was neglected, and, rightly or wrongly, the
officials of the Hudson’s Bay Company got the credit of discouraging
such ventures. If this had ever actually been the settled policy of the
company, it was officially abandoned some time previous to the year
1826, for, writing in the year mentioned at Chipewyan (north latitude
58° 40′) of improvements in the country, the
RESULT OF JUDICIOUS ARRANGEMENTS
then recently effected by the directors of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Sir
John Franklin writes:—“They (the directors) have also directed, where
the soil will allow, a portion of the ground to be cultivated for the
growth of culinary vegetables at each of their establishments, and I
witnessed the good effect of this order, even at this advanced post,
where the ground is rocky; the tables of the officers being supplied
daily, and those of the men frequently, with potatoes and barley. Such
luxuries were very rarely found beyond Cumberland House on the route
that we travelled during my former journey.”
Sir John Franklin also mentioned a phenomenon which has a considerable
bearing upon the agricultural possibilities of this country, namely the
quick change from winter to summer and the rapid growth of vegetation.
He wrote of the advent of spring at Chipewyan in 1827:—
“There can scarcely be a higher gratification than that which is enjoyed
in this country in witnessing the rapid change which takes place in the
course of a few days in the spring. Scarcely does the snow disappear
from the ground before the trees are clothed with thick foliage, the
shrubs open their leaves, and put forth their variegated flowers, and
the
WHOLE PROSPECT BECOMES ANIMATING.”
Sir John also mentioned that the first flight of swans northward was
noticed at Chipewyan on April 15, the first geese on April 20, the first
robins on May 7, and the first house martins on May 12. Barley was sown
at Chipewyan on May 15, potatoes on May 21 and garden seeds on May 22,
and it was expected that all would be ready for use by the close of the
following September.
Sir George Simpson’s party were regaled with “new, but very small
potatoes,” on August 11, 1828.
Sir J. Richardson, before the British parliamentary select committee of
1857, asked to state to the committee any general opinion which he had
formed of the capabilities of any considerable portion of the country
which he had traversed, for the purpose of settlement and colonization,
replied:—“With regard to the production of cereals, wheat may be grown
up to the 58th parallel of latitude (same latitude as Fort Vermilion) in
favourable places, but only in parts.”
The report of the Dominion Government’s survey parties sent out in
advance of the Canadian Pacific contain important references to
agriculture in the country. In the report for 1877-78 (p. 332) appears
the following reference to Chipewyan (latitude 58·7°):—“Professor
Macoun there obtained in 1876, fine samples of wheat and barley—the
former sixty-eight pounds to the bushel and the latter fifty-eight
pounds. At the French mission, two miles above the fort, oats, wheat and
barley were all cut by August 26.” In 1880 report it is stated (p. 102),
“Reverend Gordon said in 1880 that wheat and barley raised at Chipewyan
received a medal at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876.”
In the report of 1877-78 (p. 326) there is this reference to McMurray
(latitude 56·7°):—“Professor Macoun on September 8, 1875, found
tomatoes, cucumbers, wheat and barley, under cultivation together with
all vegetables found in kitchen gardens in Ontario. He spent ten days
there and obtained specimens of wheat and barley which
HAVE ASTONISHED EVERYONE
to whom they were exhibited; many of the ears contained one hundred
grains and the weight of both wheat and barley was nearly ten pounds
above the ordinary weight per bushel. These grains had been raised on
soil comparatively poor—very poor for the district—and lying only a
few feet above the level of Lake Athabaska.”
In a report of his then recent trip through this country written by
William Oglivie, D.L.S., in 1884, he writes:—“A great deal of the soil
along the bank of the Athabaska was of very fair quality. At McMurray,
where there are a couple of small prairies or meadows, the soil is good,
and the root crops and garden produce raised there are generally very
good. The Hudson’s Bay Company have a garden at McMurray of upwards of
an acre in extent, and the Episcopal mission one of smaller area, but
the soil is very sandy. The Roman Catholic mission have a garden also,
most of which they obtained by draining a bog into the lake. In the
season of 1883 (which was a pretty favourable one in that district,
being free from summer frosts) the Hudson’s Bay Company raised about
four hundred bushels of potatoes, the Episcopal mission thirty bushels
on a small patch, and the Roman Catholic mission about five hundred
bushels. Many of the retired Hudson’s Bay Company’s servants also have
small patches which they cultivate, potatoes and fish being the
principal articles of food used during the winter.”
Doctor Robert Bell, before the Senate committee of 1887, testified that
they grew cucumbers and melons as far north as Lac la Biche. He had seen
them there himself, and he was not sure but that they grew pumpkins,
too. He pointed out that where cucumbers and melons grow pumpkins will
grow also. It is hard, Doctor Bell pointed out in the course of his
evidence upon this occasion, to induce the Indians to grow anything.
Even potatoes, which they all know to be a safe crop, they will not grow
unless encouraged by supplying them. If supplied with seed in the autumn
they will not preserve any over the winter. They would not take the
trouble to dig a pit or build a cellar in which to preserve the seed,
but in the spring, when the time comes for planting, if anyone were to
give them the seed they would plant it. Artichokes would be very
suitable to introduce amongst the Indians, because they are very hardy
and productive; the seed remains in the ground and the Indians could not
destroy it all.
Mr. Alfred von Hamerstein, who has lived in Athabaska district since
1897, trading and prospecting, was examined before the select committee
of the Senate of Canada in 1907.
[Illustration: S. S. Grahame at McMurray.]
The agricultural resources of the Athabaska district, as far as this
witness could understand, were indicated by the farming that was then
actually being conducted
WITH FAIRLY GOOD SUCCESS
at Athabaska. At Baptiste lake there was, when the witness first went
there, no agriculture attempted. He was the first man to introduce
farming there. He kept a trading store, and the natives insisted on
having different kinds of seeds. Amongst others he got some flower
seeds, and some lovely flowers were raised. The people raise some crops
there now. It is a very good ranching country—first-class. Several
people went up there with cattle. A man named Mailloux took one hundred
and twenty head of cattle, and they were in good shape. The kind of
grass there is a red top, a very big grass. The country has all been
burnt over and the timber has fallen, so the grass cannot be cut with a
mowing machine, but in some places they have cleared away the fallen
timber and can use machinery now. Vetches and wild pea vines grow all
over that country, but there is no bunch grass to be found; it is mostly
red top. How far north it grows witness could not say. He had traced it
up in very large quantities on Slave river. About a hundred or two
hundred yards from the river there is a big slough, and this grass grows
all along there very luxuriantly. There is no place along the northern
shores of Lake Athabaska where grass can be grown. It is mostly rock and
muskeg.
At McMurray, according to Mr. von Hamerstein, the land is good, and
between the junction of the Clearwater and the Athabaska there is a flat
of land about three miles long, and from a quarter of a mile to a mile
and a half or two miles wide, which is very fine soil; but the rest of
it is all hills covered by an inch and a half of moss, under the moss
being the limestone rock. They raise good garden stuff at McMurray. A
party there had good crops for three years.
Where there is soil to be found it is very good, mostly old river beds
or where eddies have accumulated soil; but the rest is sand and muskeg.
East of McMurray there are several lakes, the centre of what is
described as fine hay country. The natives there have from sixty to
eighty horses, and there are reported to be
GOOD GRAZING PATCHES
round the lakes. It is probably a better ranching country than an
agricultural one. To the northwest of this district are some muskeg
lakes, where the natives have quite a few horses and cut considerable
hay.
From Fort Smith, going in a southerly direction to a place called Salt
river they have a very fine large prairie, and it extends right through
to Peace point. The people there are not given to farming. It is against
their interests, because they could make a living much more easily by
hunting. People often ask why they do not farm, but it must be
remembered that in order to raise a crop of potatoes they would have to
stay by it the whole season; and there is more variety in hunting. But
some of them do farm and raise a few cattle. The country is difficult of
access; they do not get any new stock, and it has become badly inbred.
As a result he had seen cattle there having the head of a bull and the
body of a calf. There are not very many cattle in there; only certain
natives have them, and a man with four or five head of cattle is a very
rich man. Some patches of land are very good.
Mr. Elihu Stewart, who had travelled over the northwest while
Superintendent of Forestry, stated before the Senate committee of 1907
that along the Athabaska the country is composed of a succession of
rolling hills, and there is a good deal of light soil. The valleys are
very good, and Mr. Stewart understood that the country through by Lake
Waubascow, all the way to Lesser Slave lake, is through a good district
of country. Through this district there is good land—perhaps not all
the way through. Along the Athabaska the country is light, second-class
land, but Mr. Stewart found at Calling river, some sixty miles below
Athabaska, a man
RAISING WHEAT THERE.
He says he raises as good wheat as can be grown, but Mr. Stewart would
not consider from the appearance along the banks that there were the
same alluvial deposits that are found farther north.
Mr. H. A. Conroy of the Indian Department informed the Senate committee
in 1907 that the Indians and half-breeds told him that the country
between Great Slave river and Hay river is covered with buffalo grass,
excepting a little timber that grows in a fringe around Great Slave
lake. He had information from Indians living in that country that it is
an open country covered with prairie grass.
Mr. J. Burr Tyrrell, in his evidence before the Senate committee of
1907, remarked as to the country immediately north of Lake Athabaska
that it could not be considered as being within the arable area. The
arable belt, however, as one goes west from Hudson bay to Athabaska
river, widens enormously. He spoke generally of the vast country west of
Athabaska river to Peace river country, and said there is certainly a
large tract of agricultural land there. However, one or another may
differ about the value of any particular part of that country. In the
country, going west into Peace river region, there is certainly a large
area of good land that Mr. Tyrrell would not attempt to confine inside
of such a belt as he had been speaking of.
W. F. Bredin, M.L.A., in his evidence before the Senate committee of
1907, said that descending Athabaska river from McMurray, where
Clearwater river goes into the Athabaska, the elevation of the plateau
above the river is very much less than it is on the upper river. It
looks like a great alluvial plain, from the river all along from
McMurray to Lake Athabaska, two hundred miles. That country is more or
less timbered, and the soil is excellent. Going down Slave river to
Great Slave lake, for a distance of three hundred miles, on the east of
Slave river, it is all rocks; while west of the river the country is all
alluvial, and the soil is generally very good, right down to Great Slave
lake.
At Chipewyan on Athabaska lake the Roman Catholic priests have a farm
which was originally a muskeg, right amongst the Laurentian rocks, and
they grow wheat there that was awarded a
MEDAL AT THE CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION.
The muskeg between the Athabaska and the Peace can all be drained and
cultivated. These muskegs are from a foot to three feet deep until you
strike hardpan. The moss keeps the heat of the sun out. In fact there is
ice in some of those muskegs all the year round, covered with moss.
Mr. Frank Crean, in his 1909 report, gives the following information
regarding the country west of Methye and Buffalo lakes and south of
Clearwater river:—“Along Pembina river there are fine hay meadows which
should enable anybody who desired to keep cattle to procure ample feed
for the winter. To the west of Cowpar lake there is a large prairie
which would certainly afford magnificent summer range, though I am
informed that in winter the snow is too deep for cattle to range out.”
Northwest of Cowpar lake Mr. Crean saw some horses grazing in December.
Their owner had made no arrangement to winter them, and Mr. Crean was
told that the horses thrived.
Cowpar lake lies just south of latitude 56°. It is a small lake, and of
itself of no great importance. The surrounding country, however, is
exceptionally good farming land, and to the east and south at about ten
miles distance is found the commencement of a large prairie about forty
miles long and varying from twelve to fifteen miles in width. This
prairie is in its present state fitted for agriculture. The Indians from
Cowpar lake go there in the spring and plant gardens, leaving them until
the fall when they bring the produce to their homes at Cowpar lake.
Mr. Crean continues:—“Pembina river flows through the south end of this
prairie, and several small lakes touch it. The prairie is watered by
small creeks draining into these lakes, and altogether it is
AN IDEAL SPOT FOR THE PIONEER,
as hay, water, wood and fish are to be found in abundance throughout its
extent. The land adjoining Cowpar lake on the east and south is all
arable, being open and rolling. To the northeast, towards Whitefish
lake, the land is also good. It is easy to predict that Cowpar lake will
some day be a centre of a considerable settlement, although at present
the only occupants are about four families of Chipewyans.”
Winefred lake, according to Mr. Crean, is a large body of water amply
stocked with fine whitefish, and Indians both from the south and north
come to Winefred lake to catch fish in the fall. The country surrounding
the lake is mostly swampy hay land, but might, he thought, be easily
drained. A good deal of muskeg is found in this vicinity, indeed, more
than anywhere else that Mr. Crean travelled on the watershed of the
Athabaska.
About Heart lake the land is all good though somewhat rolling and
inclined to be broken. There is no more obstacle to farming around this
lake than there is anywhere else between it and Edmonton. The country is
identical with that passed through en route to Edmonton. In fact the
country is almost prairie, some bluffs of poplar being the only pretence
of woods.
With reference to the northern portion of the area explored by him in
1909, Mr. Crean states:—“In the matter of attempts at agriculture the
fact that there is no demand for agricultural produce in the north
prevents people who live there from carrying on even experimental work.
Wheat has been grown successfully at McMurray, which was about the most
northerly point touched by me. Here, too, all the ordinary vegetables
grown in the more southerly portions of the province are grown with the
greatest success.” Mixed farming would appear to be an industry which
most readily adapts itself to northern conditions. Wheat can be grown in
almost any part of the north which I have explored. It is undeniable
that northern latitudes increase the likelihood of summer frosts. If,
however, live stock is kept, the larger yield of grain to the acre, even
if slightly frosted, will pay quite as well converted into beef or pork
as a smaller yield of the better quality grain in more southern
latitudes.”
The officers of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police have contributed
considerable valuable information regarding the northern section of the
country under review in this chapter.
In his 1909 report, Inspector D. M. Howard, of the Royal Northwest
Mounted Police, referring to the northern section, wrote:—“In the
northern part of the district, Chipewyan and Smith Landing, very little
grain is grown. The Roman Catholic mission at Fort Smith have put in a
small crop of about fifteen acres under oats and barley this year as an
experiment. There are about thirty-five head of cattle all told in
Chipewyan sub-district, but the stock is not very good, being too much
inbred. The Hudson’s Bay Company brought in ten head of horses this year
from Edmonton and the Roman Catholic mission brought four from
Vermilion; this, with the three police horses, makes a total of about
forty head.”
During the winter of 1909 Sergt. R. W. Macleod, of the Royal Northwest
Mounted Police, made a patrol across country from Fort Vermilion to the
mouth of Hay river on Great Slave lake. In his report (p. 178, Annual
Report of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police for 1909), he states that
from Fort Vermilion for about sixty miles the country is prairie with
small poplar bluffs scattered over it, and the next twenty-five miles is
mostly pine bush with here and there a small prairie, then on into Hay
river at Horse track is prairie with poplar bluffs and willow scrub, a
total distance of one hundred and ten miles from Fort Vermilion. In 1905
the government had a road cut out, corduroyed, and graded the entire
distance suitable for a wagon road. Previous to that time an Indian pack
trail was the only way to travel. The Hudson’s Bay Company and Revillon
Brothers each built a sales shop and residence at the end of the wagon
road on the south bank of Hay river, and have been doing business there
in the winter only, for fur. There are no white people in the country
closer than Fort Vermilion. The country between Hay river and Fort
Vermilion is nearly
ALL APPARENTLY SUITABLE FOR FARMING,
with a splendid supply of wood and water. Hay river is about one hundred
yards wide at the Horse trace (local name) and is fed by numerous
muskegs to the north of Dunvegan on Peace river, and the southeast slope
of the divide between Peace and Liard rivers.
When Sergeant Macleod and his patrol were at Alexandra falls on January
29, they found that three small bands of Indian horses were wintering
out on the portage, which is a prairie with poplar bluffs.
Corporal Mellor (of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police) in September of
the same year, made a patrol with horses into the buffalo country
southwest of Smith Landing. In his report the Corporal states that from
Salt river “we proceeded northwest through about eight miles of small
poplar, and then across a large stretch of prairie country. This is not
prairie country in the generally accepted term, but simply ground of a
marshy nature, perfectly flat, and covered with a luxuriant growth of
grass. This would doubtless afford splendid land were it not that the
water thereon is intensely salty and quite unfit for use. These prairies
are of large extent stretching from Peace river, in the south, I am
told, to Buffalo river, in the north, a distance of over one hundred
miles. They are dotted all over with thick clumps of willows, the only
trees growing thereon.”
[Illustration: Indian Camp near Fort Smith.]
In the last annual report of Superintendent G. E. Sanders, D.S.O.,
commanding “N” Division at Athabaska, and dated October 1, 1911, that
officer describes the area from Athabaska river to Great Slave lake and
west to the Rockies as an agricultural country. He states:—“The general
state of the district from an agricultural and business point of view is
one of great development and progress. The stream of settlement into the
country round about Athabaska and to upper Peace river and Grande
prairie has continued to a much larger extent during the year. With the
influx of settlement traders have followed and a general
AIR OF PROSPERITY PREVAILS,
with very optimistic hopes for the future. The homestead entries at
Athabaska for the first three months of this year exceeded the entire
number for 1909, and for the past months the entries are upwards of one
hundred and seventy-five in excess of those received during the whole of
1910. The homestead entries at Lesser Slave lake and Grande prairie have
increased at an even greater rate. At the latter place, the first day
the Land Office opened there, seventy-five entries were received.”
“It was generally expected that the railway would reach Athabaska in
November, but the contractors have met with so many set-backs, due to
the weather, shortage of labour and, lately, sickness amongst their
horses, that it is extremely doubtful when the work will be completed.
“As a consequence of the coming of the railway the town of Athabaska has
experienced quite a boom in real estate, and the prices for lots in the
townsite and for land adjoining have become very high, lots that sold
for three hundred dollars last year are now exchanging hands at three
thousand dollars, and land within a mile has been sold for one hundred
and seventy-five dollars per acre. A great deal of building is going on
and every one predicts an important future for the place on account of
its many natural advantages, and its situation making it the
distribution point for the vast country to the north.”
In an interview, Hon. F. Oliver, ex-Minister of the Interior, stated,
after his long trip in 1910 (See p. 27) that along the rivers passed
through proceeding from Edmonton to the delta of the Mackenzie where the
banks are high the soil and climate conditions are perfectly good for
agriculture. So far as McMurray, conditions are entirely good for
agriculture, judging from what he saw himself and from what people told
him.
The minister explained this statement by pointing out that the
difference in latitude is neutralized by the great drop in altitude and
the
INFLUENCE OF THE WARM CHINOOK WIND.
[Illustration: Indian Family arriving at McMurray for Treaty.]
McMurray, while two hundred miles farther north than Edmonton, is but
eight hundred and fifty feet above sea level, while Edmonton had an
altitude of two thousand two hundred feet.
Mr. Oliver here made reference to conditions which are to-day recognized
by men of science.
According to Mr. E. A. Preble, of the U.S. Biological Survey (See p.
22), “The climatic conditions of the various parts of Athabaska valley
vary considerably, according to location. The more open portions of the
upper part of the valley, though lying at a considerable altitude, enjoy
the ‘Chinook’ winds, which so temper the climate that it compares
favourably with more easterly regions lying much farther south. Lack of
detailed data precludes the possibility of comparing absolutely the
climatic conditions of the upper and the lower Athabaska; but the
effects of the ‘Chinook’ winds are felt to some extent throughout the
course of the river.”
According to the same authority—“The climate of Athabaska lake is not
radically different from that of other parts of the Mackenzie region
which are practically removed from the influence of the warm Pacific
winds. Though it lies at a low altitude, the proximity of the lake to
the “Barren Ground,” from which winds are frequent, keeps its average
temperature rather low. An occasional warm west wind slightly tempers
the winter climate. The Peace and the Athabaska break up at their mouths
about May 1, but the neighbouring part of the lake usually does not open
until about the middle of May, and the eastern part probably not before
June. The lake usually closes at Chipewyan some time in November.”
Mr. H. A. Conroy informed the Senate committee of 1907 that he had
travelled through Athabaska-Peace river country once when for twenty-one
days in January he did not need his coat in the middle of the day. The
cattle were all out in the pasture fields. He had been going in there
every year for eight years, and had been there for five winters. Mr.
Conroy stated that he never saw a very deep snowfall in that country. He
felt pretty sure that the ‘Chinook’ winds go through to Athabaska lake.
He remarked that in that country in the winter he did not suffer as much
from cold as he had suffered in Ottawa, and he slept out every night,
sometimes under a tent and sometimes in the open. He travelled once with
a dog train and afterwards with ponies, and got along very well with
them.
[Illustration: THE PEACE RIVER COUNTRY]