CHAPTER XI.

NORTHERN ALBERTA.

Agriculture and Arable Land in the Western Section or “Peace River

Region.”

Where Wheat Has Been Grown with Remarkable Success for Many Years.

—Scientific Explorers Early Recognized this as a Wheat Growing

Country.—A Head of Cabbage Fifty-three and a half inches in

Circumference.—Livestock Lives Out of Doors in Winter.—

According to a Church of England Missionary, Peace river Enjoys

the Finest Climate in the World.

The more westerly (or Peace river) section of northern Alberta is

attracting much attention on account of its remarkable agricultural

possibilities; and the numerous settlements which have, during the past

few years, been established, have practically demonstrated that the

glowing accounts which have from time to time reached the outside world

as to the fertility of Peace river country, have not been exaggerated.

Peace river, which has lent its name to the country along its banks,

whether in British Columbia or in northern Alberta, is formed by the

junction of Finlay and Parsnip rivers, two transmontane streams, and is

the largest and longest of the tributaries of the Mackenzie. It rises in

and drains a large district west of Rocky mountains, and then continuing

eastwards, intersects the axis of that range and drains the country

lying along its eastern slopes, through four degrees of latitude. Its

length, from the confluence of Finlay and Parnsip rivers, to the point

at which it unites with the waters flowing from Lake Athabaska to form

Slave river, is seven hundred and fifty-seven miles, but measuring from

Summit lake, the source of its principal branch, it is approximately

nine hundred and five miles.

From the confluence of the Finlay and the Parsnip, the Peace flows in a

general easterly direction for some three hundred miles to its junction

with the Smoky, falling in this distance a little less than eight

hundred feet. The country through which it flows may be considered as a

plateau in which it has excavated

A RATHER DEEP VALLEY.

A number of streams, Pine river from the south being one of the largest,

discharge their waters into it. Back from the river the country is

mainly level or rolling, and is thinly wooded. Smoky river is the

largest tributary of the Peace. Its principal branches rise on the

eastern slope of Rocky mountains, and it drains a large extent of thinly

wooded and prairie country. Below the mouth of the Smoky, the Peace

turns and pursues a winding though general northerly course nearly to

Fort Vermilion. It is bordered at first by steep sandstone cliffs, but

its valley gradually becomes wider and shallower. Extensive plains

comparatively level and clothed with grass or a sparse growth of

poplars, border it on both sides. North of Fort Vermilion this character

of country is said to extend to the valleys on Hay and Buffalo rivers.

The country between Peace river and Great Slave lake, however, is very

imperfectly known.

One of the first records we have of successful agriculture in Peace

river country is in the famous diary of Daniel Williams Harmon of the

Northwest Company’s service, who spent several years there. He speaks

favourably of the situation of Dunvegan (north latitude 56°, west

longtitude 119°), where he found himself located in October, 1808. He

goes on to say in his diary:—“Our principal food will be the flesh of

the buffalo, moose, red deer, and bear. We have a tolerably good kitchen

garden, and we are in no fear that we shall want the means of a

comfortable subsistence.”

In an entry in his diary dated May 6, the following spring, Harmon

states:—“We have planted our potatoes, and sowed most of our garden

seeds.” Under date June 2, the same year, we find the entry:—“The seeds

which we sowed in the garden, have sprung up, and grow remarkably well.

The present prospect is, that strawberries, red raspberries,

shad-berries, cherries, etc., will be abundant this season.”

July 21 Harmon writes:—“We have cut down our barley and I

THINK IT IS THE FINEST

that I have ever seen in any country. The soil on the points of land

along this river is excellent.”

Under the date of September 1, the same year, Harmon noted the

commencement of the annual migration of wild fowl southward, and on

Friday, October 6th, he wrote in his diary:—“As the weather begins to

be cold, we have taken our vegetables out of the ground, which we find

to have been very productive.”

In his diary for the following year, Harmon records a summer frost on

June 23, writing:—“The last night was so cold, that the tops of our

potatoes were frozen.” The frost in question does not seem to have

damaged the crops, for on Wednesday the 3rd of the following October

this observant diarist wrote:—“We have taken our potatoes out of the

ground, and find that nine bushels, which we planted May 10 last, have

produced a little more than one hundred and fifty bushels. The other

vegetables in our garden have yielded an increase, much in the same

proportion, which is sufficient proof that the soil of the points of

land along the river is good. Indeed, I am of the opinion, that wheat,

rye, barley, oats, peas, etc., would grow well in the plains around us.”

It is very evident that all of the officials of the fur trading

companies who were on duty in Peace river country did not devote the

same intelligent attention to agriculture that Harmon and his colleagues

did.

When Charles Horetzky, C.E., was at Dunvegan in 1873 (See p. 17) there

was no bread used, and the only vegetables served at meals were some

“very diminutive potatoes.” Mr. Horetzky comments as follows on this

subject:—“Owing to the fact that the Company’s agents are liable to be

suddenly removed from one post to another, those people are, not

unnaturally, averse to the expenditure of time and labour necessary for

farming experiments; hence the absence of farm produce at these posts.

But the natural advantages of excellent soil of unlimited extent, and

the proverbially early disappearance of the snow in spring, would lead

one to believe that good crops of barley, potatoes, and fall wheat might

be successfully raised in this part of the Northwest.”

One of the strongest arguments advanced by Mr. Horetzky in his advocacy

of Peace river pass route for the Canadian Pacific Railway was that a

line built via this route would open up

A VAST FERTILE REGION

situated to the south of Peace river—“a region probably comprising an

area equal in extent to Manitoba, well wooded with abundance of fresh

water, of excellent soil, and in all probability possessing unlimited

quantities of good coal. The climate is most salubrious, and, by all

accounts, as mild as, if not milder than, that of Red river. On the

extensive plains bordering upon Peace river, both north and south of it,

snow rarely exceeds two feet in depth, and never packs.”

The travellers and traders who have been in Peace river country are as

enthusiastic about its picturesque appearance as about its apparent

fertility.

Mr. Horetzky reached Peace river a few miles above the mouth of the

Smoky September 30, 1873, and thus describes the scene:—“We feasted our

eyes on the glorious landscape now mapped out before us. A strong

westerly gale was blowing, but the air was so warm and balmy, that to

recline on the beautiful grassy sward, full face to the blast, was

positively delicious. For several miles, to the southwest, the noble

river, flowing eight hundred feet below us, on its silent course to

Arctic ocean, could be distinctly traced as it meandered through its

mighty valley. Several large and wooded islands dotted its surface here

and there, causing eddies and whirlpools, which in their turn made long

and faint streaks of foam, barely visible in the distance. From our

position, and embracing an angle of fully one hundred and thirty

degrees, or, in other words, from the northwest round to south, a

boundless and nearly level expanse of country could be taken in at a

glance, the only breaks being the great valleys of Peace and Smoky

rivers, than which nothing we had ever seen could be more beautiful, the

former especially, in its magnitude and depth, surpassing all we had

anticipated.”

The pioneer missionaries attached to the Church of England and Roman

Catholic missions appear to have done more towards demonstrating the

agricultural possibilities of Peace river country, and the whole

Mackenzie basin, than the fur traders.

In the “Mission Field” of January 2, 1882 (a London monthly publication

of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel), the Right Reverend

Bompas, Bishop of the Church of England in Athabaska and Mackenzie

districts (his diocese comprising the centre Arctic watershed of British

America), published the following:—“The excellence of the land in Peace

river country for farming purposes is well known; the

SOIL IS RICH AND PRODUCTIVE,

and the climate most salubrious. A mission station is established at

Fort Vermilion under the charge of the Reverend Arthur Garrioch, and a

church is fast approaching completion. Other mission stations have been

started at different parts of the river, and in 1878 a mission farm was

begun which the bishop hopes will in time obviate the necessity of

procuring all the supplies of flour, etc., from Red river, the expense

of which, from heavy freights, is so great that every bag of flour by

the time it reaches the missionaries north of Athabaska costs upwards of

£5.”

It was as superintendent of the mission farms that the head of the

Lawrence family, the originators of farming on an extensive scale and by

scientific methods in Peace river country, was attracted there.

Besides the satisfactory pioneer attempts at tilling the soil of Peace

river country, the raising of live stock was many years ago demonstrated

to be successful. As early as 1823 there was an infant ranching industry

there, Sir George Simpson’s party having noted a small band of half a

dozen horses when approaching Dunvegan.

In the reports of the government explorers a great deal of interesting

information will be found as to the soil, climate, and agricultural

possibilities of Peace river country.

Professor John Macoun was the first scientific explorer to draw

attention to the agricultural possibilities of Peace river country,

after making a thorough examination of the natural flora, the soil,

climatic conditions, etc. Mr. Macoun had accompanied the first Canadian

Pacific Railway survey expedition, and had subsequently been botanist to

the geological survey party appointed to investigate this very country.

There was much information as to the agricultural possibilities of the

country in Professor Macoun’s official reports, and he summarized his

conclusions in his book “Manitoba and the Great Northwest,” published in

1882. He defines a tract lying between the upper reaches of Athabaska

river and the fifty-seventh parallel of latitude, in Peace river basin,

which he considers “may be classed as fertile,” and estimates its area

as about thirty-one thousand five hundred and fifty square miles.

Speaking of this tract, he states:—“Its average elevation may be stated

as little over two thousand feet, and this is maintained with

considerable uniformity, for though the general surface slopes slightly

from the north and south toward Peace river, the region as a whole may

be considered as a plateau through which the great gorge-like valley of

the Peace has been excavated.

“The northern banks of Peace river valley are also very generally open

grassed, and parts of the valley of the Smoky and other rivers have a

similar character. The total area of

PRAIRIE LAND, WEST OF SMOKY RIVER,

may be about three thousand square miles. The remainder of the surface

is generally occupied by second-growth forest, occasionally dense, but

more often open and composed of aspen, birch, and cottonwood, with a

greater or less proportion of coniferous trees. Some patches of the

original forest, however, remain, particularly in the river valleys, and

are composed of much larger trees, chiefly coniferous, among which the

black spruce is most abundant. Handsome groves of old and large

cottonwoods are also to be found in some of the valleys. Where the soil

becomes locally sandy and poor, and more particularly in some of the

more elevated parts of the ridges before described, a thick growth of

scrub pine and black spruce, in which the individual trees are small, is

found, and in swampy regions the taramack is not wanting, but grows

generally intermixed with the black spruce.

“Though the prairies are most immediately available from an agricultural

point of view, the regions now covered with second growth and forest,

where the soil itself, if not inferior, will eventually be equally

valuable. The largest tract of poor land is that bordering the valley of

the Athabaska on the north.”

Professor Macoun was examined before the Senate committee of 1888 and

gave a considerable amount of information, all valuable at the time, and

much of it still so, as to the character of Peace river country from

Macleod in latitude 55°, to Lake Athabaska, up the Athabaska to the

Clearwater, and up the Clearwater to its head.

Starting from the Parsnip and through Rocky mountains, the good country

for agriculture commences, according to Professor Macoun, at Rocky

mountains portage at Hudson Hope (in British Columbia) or The Hope of

Hudson, as Capt. Butler puts it. From that point down the country is

suitable for agricultural purposes, the whole distance; on the prairie,

not on the slopes of the river, but on the prairie above. The north bank

of the river, that is the one facing south, has hardly any wood, but is

covered with berries, and witness found the cactus growing there. The

other side of the river, facing the north, was covered largely with

spruce down to the river’s edge, the whole upward slope. It was only the

banks of the river that were wooded; above, all was prairie, with poplar

and willow in clumps. It was of the same character as the North

Saskatchewan, but with much taller grass.

Said Professor Macoun:—“While at Fort Vermilion, on Peace river, in

latitude 58° 24′, I was informed by old Mr. Shaw, who had charge of that

post for fifteen years, that

INDIAN CORN WOULD RIPEN

well every year there, and at Battle river corn ripened three years in

succession, and that frost never injured anything on this part of the

river. The whole country at Fort Vermilion is a plain, not elevated at

its highest point more than a hundred feet over the river, but the

greater part of it is less than fifty feet. The soil is wonderfully like

that of the second prairie steppe, in the prairie region, as the surface

is composed of black loam, mixed apparently with limestone gravel. From

Fort Vermilion, Caribou mountains are visible about forty miles off.

These may have the effect of keeping off the cold winds from Great Slave

lake, and hence the country is permanently warm. Both days and nights

have been warm down on this part of the river, whereas on the upper

parts, where high banks are, the cold was even felt at night in August.

“The grain at Fort Vermilion was sown on May 8 and 20, and was cut on

August 6. Wheat growing among the barley and by the fences was almost

ripe August 12, when I was there. At Rocky mountain portage (British

Columbia), where Peace river issues from Rocky mountains, latitude 56

degrees, we found a first rate garden with vegetables far advanced, July

21; new potatoes, onions, and carrots were part of our bill of fare.

That was in 1875. Five days later, at Fort St. John (B.C.) vegetation

was even further advanced, and all kinds of garden stuff were in the

greatest perfection. Nigger Dan’s barley was colouring on July 26, and

would be cut the first week in August. His potatoes were large, and

enough for fourteen men were dug on August 2.

“I may mention that strawberries were fully ripe on July 6, at Hudson

Hope (B.C.). At Dunvegan, barley was almost fit to cut August 4. Cabbage

in the priest’s garden were closing, and all his garden vegetables far

advanced.

“At Battle river pease were getting ripe August 8. At Fort Vermilion

potatoes were very large and many heads of barley contained sixty

grains, others many more. I never saw such fine barley before. Barley

was sown on May 8 and cut on August 6—that is at latitude 58° 24′. At

Red river (a small fort, fifty or sixty miles below Fort Vermilion),

they have no ploughs, and the ground was broken up with a spade or hoe.

The garden stuff

WAS WONDERFULLY LUXURIANT,

pease, Windsor beans and potatoes being far advanced; cucumbers started

and raised in the open air, a very large crop, and a number of them were

ripe on August 14.

“At Chipewyan mission, two miles from the fort, there were wheat, oats

and barley, a good crop as regards grain. Windsor beans were ripe and

pulled up on August 17. Wheat and barley were in stock August 26, and

specimens of these, which I brought to Ottawa, are here on the table.

“At Red river fort a Frenchman named St. Cyr had a garden, and he told

me he had a particular thing growing in the garden that he did not know

anything about. I went out to look at it, and there was a splendid patch

of cucumbers, many of them ripe. That was in August. I said: ‘These are

cucumbers; how did you start them?’ He said: ‘I got the seed from

England and put it in the ground, and that is what has come from it.’

“I passed down the Athabaska (from Chipewyan) to the Mission, and I

found growing on soil that would be of no value here whatever, sand and

muck, an old swamp where they had planted wheat on May 5, and I found it

in the stook on August 26, and brought away from it the grain that was

awarded the bronze medal at Philadelphia in 1876. It was forwarded to

me, but I said that it did not belong to me, but to the missionaries at

Athabaska. I exhibited this very lot of grain in Manitoba before Consul

Taylor and many other gentlemen, and the matter of the number of grains

in the fascicle was then discussed and made public. They took a quantity

of the wheat from me and shelled it, and Mr. Gouin, Inspector of Inland

Revenue, weighed it, and it showed a weight of sixty-eight pounds to the

bushel.[15]

“The wild pea or vetch grows all through Peace river valley, but was

particularly noticed on the plateau above Fort St. John (in British

Columbia) in latitude 56°. Here it was actually measured by myself and

was found to attain a height of eight feet, while the weeds, such as the

purple fire weed of the east (_Epilobium angustifolium_) attained a

height of seven feet. These are given in illustration of the wonderful

luxuriance of the commoner plants on that high plateau. The vegetation

throughout the whole Peace river valley is of the most luxuriant

character, and it seems

MORE LIKE THAT OF THE TROPICS

than a country drawing near the Arctic Circle.”

Professor Macoun explained that in Peace river country, the snow passes

off so easily that as soon as it is off the ground and a few inches of

the soil thawed, the ground is ready for seeding, because the soil is

friable and the snow of little depth. The character of the month of

September is almost identical with that of the very best Septembers in

Ottawa—a smoky atmosphere with occasional white frosts in the morning,

but generally a calm atmosphere. In October the frosts get more severe

towards the last of the month. About the 25th at Chipewyan ice begins to

form and the rivers and lakes soon close.

Professor Macoun furnished the committee with some data from notes kept

by Daniel Williams of Fort St. John, commonly known as “Nigger Dan.”

These notes showed that from 1872 to 1875 the date for planting potatoes

varied from April 25 to May 10, and for sowing barley and oats from

April 22 to May 7. After September 22, in 1874, Williams dug over one

hundred bushels of potatoes.

William Ogilvie, D.L.S. (See p. 18) in his report of 1884,

wrote:—“Opposite Fort Vermilion, on the north of the river, there is an

extensive tract of prairie and poplar bluff country, which extends from

the Peace to the watershed between Peace and Mackenzie rivers,

southwestward along the Peace for about forty miles or more, and

northeastward along the river a few miles, until it merges into the

country already described. This is said to be a first class country in

every way, well wooded and watered, with a rich, deep, black loamy clay

soil; and if the life of flowers and berries be any indication of

freedom from frost, this district is favoured in this respect, as the

berries ripen here when they are killed in the surrounding parts.

“The country southwestward from the end of this tract to Battle river is

described as woods and swamps, alternating with patches of prairie and

open woods, and from Battle river to the prairie near Dunvegan,

generally drier and with more prairie.

“It appears, therefore, that from Dunvegan, on the north side of Peace

river, down the river to Peace point, and thence to Salt river on the

Great Slave, there is a tract of country about six hundred miles in

length and forty miles wide, of which a large percentage is fit for

immediate settlement, and a great deal more could be very easily closed.

“Of the country southeast of the Peace, between it and the Athabaska,

very little is known. It was described by all whom I met, who had seen

any portion of it, as a rolling surface, the ridges heavily wooded with

fair timber, and many of the basins containing swamps and lakes of

considerable size. Out of one of the latter, Lake Wapisca, Loon river

flows into the Peace, and another stream called by the same name into

the Athabaska, at Grand rapids. Some of the ridges rise into high hills,

and in some of these, rock exposures are said to be visible.

“At Dunvegan, notwithstanding the severity of the frosts, the crops were

very good, both in quality and quantity. When I was there, the Roman

Catholic missionaries

HAD THRESHED THEIR GRAIN,

samples of which I brought back. The yield was as follows:—Fifty pounds

of wheat were sown on April 16 and reaped on August 20, and twenty-seven

bushels threshed of good clean grain; fifteen pounds of Egyptian barley

sown on April 18 and reaped August 20, and fifteen bushels threshed,

weighing fully sixty pounds to the bushel. The Hudson’s Bay Company and

the Church of England mission had not threshed, and could not give their

returns, but they were well satisfied with their crops of all kinds. The

Reverend Mr. Brick, of the Church of England mission, was already using

bread, when I was there, made from wheat of the present year’s growth.”

Mr. Ogilvie in his 1891 report wrote as follows:—

“For a distance of six or seven miles back from Peace river valley there

is much prairie and meadowland, with some woods and swamps scattered

over it. The soil is an excellent black clay loam as rich as any I ever

saw, and the growth of hay and grass bears testimony to this fact. The

dip of the valley from this plain is very sharp and the banks very

steep, falling about eight hundred feet in a mile.

“At Fort St. John the Hudson’s Bay Company have a small patch on which

they raise potatoes and garden stuff along with barley and oats. The

grain always ripens and the vegetables are as good as one would wish to

use. Mr. Gunn, the officer in charge here, has been in Peace river

district since 1883, and in the interval he has wandered around the

adjacent country a good deal.

“The Hudson’s Bay Company have several bands of horses in the vicinity

of Fort St. John, only a few of which have ever been broken. These

animals live on the prairie on the north side of the river, winter and

summer, and

VERY SELDOM ARE THERE ANY LOSSES,

except by wolves, or when the Indians are starving they may quietly

dispose of one or two and report them lost.

“At Dunvegan, the Company has grown wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and

garden stuff generally for many years with astonishing success. When I

was there in 1883-84, I saw grain and vegetables fully equal in quality

and quantity to any I have ever seen anywhere, the garden vegetables

being especially fine. Last year everything was harvested and stored

when I got there, but what I saw of the produce was excellent. I saw two

sunflowers which measured fourteen inches across the disc. With the

corolla attached, these flowers would have been nearly two feet in

diameter. The seeds of each weighed fourteen ounces and measured nearly

a quart. A head of cabbage was shown from which I stripped off all the

loose leaves leaving it fit for cooking and then measured and weighed

it. It measured fifty-three and one-half inches in circumference, and

weighed twenty-eight and one-half lbs. This was an exceptionally large

head, of course, but the general run of both cabbage and cauliflower was

large and would be considered so anywhere. Mr. Round, the officer in

charge of the post, told me he two years ago made a departure from the

old fashioned method of growing these plants, and instead of developing

them in hot beds, he simply planted the seed once for all in drills in

the garden, and when they arrived at the proper stage, pulled out the

superfluous ones. He found this method just as satisfactory and much

less troublesome. The other garden vegetables were just as large and

good as one would wish to see them. Mr. Round informed me he planted

fifteen bushels of potatoes last summer, and after using them freely for

the sustenance of his family (five members) and the servants, in all

eight or ten, from the time they were fit for use, until they were

harvested, he harvested upwards of two hundred bushels. He sowed about

four bushels of wheat, and though the dry season much affected the

result he would have about sixty bushels. This grain is used in various

ways, some of it being ground into flour by the aid of small hand mills.

He sowed four bushels of oats, and though part of the crop was destroyed

by a hail storm, one hundred bushels were threshed. In 1890 he planted

twenty-five bushels of potatoes, and though they were freely used from

the time they were fit for use until harvested, seven hundred and twelve

bushels were harvested. The Anglican and Roman Catholic missions here

also successfully raise both grain and vegetables, the latter depending

for much of their subsistence on the results of their agricultural

labours.

“This post has been in existence for the greater part of a century, and

more or less farming has always been done at it during that time.”

Mr. Ogilvie embodied in his report a number of extracts from the

Dunvegan post journal which are interesting as conveying an idea of the

CLIMATE AND THE GROWTH OF VEGETATION.

Some of these extracts are worth requoting here:—

“1829. Ice began to move in the river April 12. Sowed barley April 17;

planted potatoes April 30; cut barley August 10; cut wheat August 25;

harvested potatoes September 24; first snow October 21; first drift ice

October 24.

“1830. Ice broke up April 28; sowed thirty quarts of wheat May 3; sowed

garden seeds May 4; planted potatoes May 5; cut wheat September 14;

commenced digging potatoes September 27; first drift ice October 29; ice

set fast November 25.

“1886. Ice started to break up April 13; sowed barley May 12; planted

turnips May 13; planted potatoes May 17; began harvesting operations

August 20; cut buckwheat September 2; harvested potatoes September 23;

stored nine hundred and eighty-four bushels; slight snow October 12;

first ice drifting November 10; ice set fast November 30.

“1887. Ice started April 27; sowed oats April 29; sowed other seed May

2; commenced planting potatoes May 5; sowed garden seeds May 9; sowed

peas May 11; finished planting potatoes May 28; planted fifty bushels;

severe frost June 7, injuring young vegetables, etc., severe frost again

on June 25, cutting down everything to the ground, potatoes and all;

July 29 new potatoes for the first time; first snow fell on September

16; commenced taking up potatoes September 20; harvested six hundred and

eighteen bushels; took up turnips and carrots September 5; first drift

ice in river October 24, but it cleared out again and returned November

12; set fast November 29.

“1888. Ice moved May 1; began sowing barley May 9; began planting

potatoes May 10; sowed oats and wheat May 15; sowed garden seeds May 16;

sowed turnips May 28; slight frost August 1, injured garden stuff; cut

barley September 5; cut oats September 7; started taking up potatoes

September 27; finished October 3, five hundred and twenty-nine bushels;

took up turnips October 5; first snow October 15; first ice in river

October 27; ice set fast November 27.”

Mr. Ogilvie continues, in his report:—

“I would now call particular attention to the mention of frost in June,

1887, and to the fact that it cut down vegetables to the ground. Alone

there is nothing very wonderful about the statement, as it is just what

we would expect frost to do; but in conjunction with using new potatoes

for the first time on July 29, just one month after the frost, and the

further fact that

SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN BUSHELS WERE HARVESTED,

it is most astonishing. Mr. Round, the officer who made the entry, was a

witness of the event, and he is a gentleman whose sanity I would as soon

doubt as his word. I questioned him about it and he assured me

emphatically of its correctness. He can offer no explanations, if it is

not that a fog generally settles on the river valley after a frost and

shields plants from the direct rays of the sun a good part of the day;

but even that does not account for this case, as he assures me the

potatoes were cut down, black, to the ground.

“The Reverend J. G. Brick, Anglican missionary, who spent some time at

Dunvegan, combining farming with mission work, in 1886 started what

might be called a branch farm at Old Wives lake, about thirty-six miles

from Dunvegan, on the cart trail, between the latter place and Smoky

river crossing, on the plateau above the immediate valley of the river.

Reference will be made to this later.

“In 1889, he established himself in the valley of the river on the north

side, about five miles above the mouth of Smoky river. Here he has

established a mission and a school for the education of the young, on

which he bases all his hopes for the improvement of the natives. He

keeps this school open during the winter months, and as an inducement to

attend, he gives all the children who live at a distance their dinner.

“This gentleman took in with him a large outfit of farm implements and

stock. He has a small grist mill and threshing mill, with which he

threshes and grinds his grain. By grinding his wheat twice it makes a

fair article of flour, but his facilities for bolting it are not quite

up to the times, consequently his flour is not quite so white as our

high grade flour, but it makes good bread, nevertheless.

“He is well satisfied with his success agriculturally. He furnished me

with the following information relative to his doings in 1891:—

“Began ploughing April 11; sowed first wheat April 15; ice broke up

April 20; river cleared April 26; commenced harvesting August 20; cut

wheat August 27; about nineteen acres under grain, total yield six

hundred and ninety-eight bushels.

WHEAT TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUSHELS ON SIX ACRES;

oats two hundred bushels, barley two hundred and twenty-six bushels.

After all the grain was removed he raked the field and got twenty-two

bushels of grain from the rakings. He sowed two varieties of wheat,

Ladoga, and wheat he got in Manitoba, which he thinks is Red Fife, but

is not sure; both are beautiful specimens of grain. He has some

two-rowed barley which he procured while in England in 1888, when he

obtained one pound. The yield in 1891 was six hundred pounds of as fine,

clean, bright and plump grain as could be seen elsewhere.

“His Ladoga wheat was sown April 21 and harvested August 24, but he

allowed it to over-ripen, and thinks he lost at least four or five

bushels while harvesting. He sowed ninety pounds and threshed one

thousand five hundred. He obtained a sample of black Norway oats from

Webb and Company, England, which he sowed on five-eighths of an acre of

ground, last year. When harvesting it was all drawn off the field in one

wagon load, and when threshed it turned out sixty-four bushels of

first-class grain. Last year he tried Indian corn; it did not ripen, but

yielded excellent green corn; cucumbers were grown successfully, but did

not ripen. Yet I saw as good pumpkins fully developed both here and at

Dunvegan as one would wish for.

“Mr. Brick has about forty head of cattle, and several horses; last fall

on my arrival there he had about forty pigs, but killed some during my

stay, and only intended to winter about twenty-five. He employs a good

deal of local labour, and pays for it with food to a very large extent;

in fact it is the only way it could be paid for in the country. The hay

for wintering the cattle and horses is cut on the plateau about seven

miles from the farm. He generally allows his cattle to run out until

Christmas, the grass on the meadows being enough for them to feed on it

after the early snows have fallen. The horses not kept in for use are

wintered out. The Hudson’s Bay Company at Dunvegan have about one

hundred and fifty wild horses, and the Roman Catholic mission and the

Indians also have many which always winter out on the plains north of

the Post, which affords them both food and shelter, as the country

between Dunvegan and Smoky river, crossing on the north side, is

particularly park-like prairie to a distance of twelve to twenty miles

back from the river. The woods afford them shelter and on the prairies

the rich grasses grow. There are also large areas

WHERE EXCELLENT HAY GROWS.

[Illustration: Flour Mill at Fort Vermilion.]

No other attention is, or has been, given to these animals than to

occasionally send a man out to hunt them up and count them. This is not

so difficult a task as it would seem, as they run in bands; each band

consists of mares and a stallion, who will give fight to the death for

his mares. Each band is known by the name of its stallion, and as each

keeps pretty well in the one locality, it is not so difficult to keep

track of them as it would appear. I saw several bands on my way from

Dunvegan and all were very fat, notwithstanding that the cold winter

weather had set in a month before, and the snow had been a foot deep for

ten or twelve days. ‘Chinook’ winds occasionally visit this part of the

country and carry the snow off; here also they blow from the southwest.

The approach of one is known some little time before it arrives by the

roar it makes. Many people in the country call them the ‘high-winds’

they blow so strongly. They often visit Lesser Slave lake.”

Mr. R. G. McConnell of the Geological Survey, in the report of his visit

to the country, wrote in 1888:—“Vegetables of various kinds are grown

yearly without difficulty, at Fort Vermilion, Lesser Slave lake,

Whitefish lake and Trout lake, while potatoes are grown by the Indians

even on the summit of Birch mountain, at a height of two thousand three

hundred feet above the sea. Wheat and other cereals have been fairly

successful at Lesser Slave lake and at Fort Vermilion, the only places

where they have been tried. The prairie country round Fort Vermilion

equals in fertility the famous Edmonton district and appears to enjoy an

equally good climate, its higher latitude being compensated for by its

more western situation and by its lower elevation. This district is

about one thousand feet above the sea. In the interior, narrow strips of

aspen-covered, but excellent land, are usually found along the main

rivers, and surrounding many of the lakes, and numerous areas, often

EQUAL IN SIZE TO EASTERN COUNTIES,

might be selected, which appear well adapted for cultivation, but the

numerous swamps, muskegs and marshes which separate these areas detract

greatly from their value. The western, and especially the northwestern,

portion of this district contains the most promising agricultural

lands.”

Mr. McConnell, before the Senate committee of 1907, explained that his

exploratory work in Peace river country had been mostly along the

streams. He had, however, been over quite a bit of the tableland. He had

nearly always gone back from the river quite a bit, twenty or thirty and

forty miles in places. From Lesser Slave lake he started on foot with a

couple of men packing, and went through all the country between Lesser

Slave lake and Big Knife lake, a distance of about one hundred and fifty

miles. His mission was specially to look for minerals, but, of course,

he was supposed to keep his eyes open for anything. As to the extent of

land suitable for cultivation in Peace river country, Mr. McConnell said

there are aspen ridges all through that country which may be good, but

they are separated by muskegs everywhere, except on the table prairie.

These muskegs occur with solid ground in between them, and in those

places aspens grow, and where those poplars are found the land is nearly

always good. But the poplars do not grow to any size. The aspen is not

on the prairie; it is on the wooded country, in between the muskegs.

Besides there are occasional patches of prairie at Fort Vermilion,

following Peace river down, and also Grande prairie. There is no large

continuous prairie thirty miles from Edmonton towards the north. There

are occasional patches of prairie tableland with only small areas of

bottom land. The tableland decreases in height as going northward.

Farther down the Vermilion the prairie begins again. At Fort Vermilion

the country is not so much subject to frost as in the higher land. Wheat

has been grown there a great number of years. In the valley of the river

the low land on each side is fertile. There is no great quantity of it

on either bank. There are just these flats. Taking the aggregate it is a

large quantity because it is a tremendously long river. The valley is

probably a mile wide on both sides of the river.

Grande prairie, in upper Peace country, which is

ABOUT SEVENTY-FIVE MILES ACROSS,

is probably the largest area of open country, and there is a prairie

following Peace river about twenty-five miles. That disappears going

down Peace river, and the country is wooded and partly muskeg as far as

Fort Vermilion. Then there is another small prairie area. Taking the

upper stretches of the country, northward forty miles from the river,

the country is partly muskeg. Travelling across it with horses, one

would run into a muskeg every couple of miles, and there are ridges only

a few feet higher than the muskegs, and they are nearly always covered

with poplar, and those ridges seem to be fairly good agricultural land.

But they are always separated by these muskeg lands. This muskeg is very

deep. Mr. McConnell had had horses go down in it. Along all the streams

there is a certain amount of good land. There are a great many streams

in that country, and in the aggregate the amount of water is large.

As to Grande prairie, or north Peace river country, the soil is very

good there. There is a subsoil. It is a good wheat country, and in June

and July it is looked upon as the best wheat country in the world. He

had noticed the pea vine growing in that section, and so far as he could

judge from going over it, the country is a good agricultural one, except

for frosts. There happened to be some frosts both times he was there,

but apart from that the country is certainly good. There is swamp grass

growing about the margins of the small lakes. It was after the middle of

the month of August that he experienced frost there. He did not know

much about the growing of vegetables in Peace river country.

Mr. McConnell considered that at that date the value of Peace river

country as a whole as far as wheat-growing was concerned, was entirely

problematical. If one went there in June or July he would come to the

conclusion that it is the finest country in the whole wide world, but he

himself had been there twice in August and found a heavy frost on each

occasion. Things changed very rapidly about the end of August. He did

not know if there would be frost about the same time around Edmonton,

but the two years he happened to be in Peace river district there would

be about fifteen degrees of frost at night. That was in the elevated,

cattle country, which is considered higher than the surface of Peace

river. There were no crops there at that time. The soil in that district

is splendid. It is precisely the same as the country around Edmonton. It

might be good for the growing of hay, or in fact anything. There is no

question that the soil is good, and in June and July it is a

MOST ATTRACTIVE COUNTRY.

He went down Loon river, and found much of the country in there partly

muskeg; in fact, the greater part of it is muskeg; but there are patches

of country covered with aspen, which is probably good for agriculture.

He went all the way down Loon river and Red river, which flows into

Peace river, and another unnamed stream, and found it was a prairie

country down there. There is a grist mill at Vermilion, and a large

quantity of wheat is sent there. The wheat is all grown in that

vicinity. That country is too good a country to be wasted. The valleys

are protected from the wind, and the theory is that it is less liable to

frost on account of the wind being kept away. There is a magnificent

growth of grass on the plateau, and there is hay in the marshes. It is

very much the same country as that around Edmonton. It is a good place

for raising cattle, but they probably would have to feed them in the

winter time, as they do at Edmonton. Sheep ought to do well. They

appeared to have a fair rainfall. He thought that as far as the country

is concerned it is very much the same as Edmonton. It is well watered.

Mr. McConnell concluded that a farmer might succeed there even if he

could not grow wheat, if he could get a market. That was the only thing

that would prevent him from succeeding, he thought.

Much evidence as to the agricultural possibilities and climate of the

Peace country was taken by the Senate committee of 1888 (See p. 28).

Hon. William Christie, formerly Inspecting Chief Factor of the Hudson’s

Bay Company, in his examination before the committee, expressed himself

sanguine about the agricultural possibilities of Peace river country,

which he considered “is one of the finest countries that you would wish

to see. Upper Peace river country is as fine a country as I ever saw.”

He did not think Peace river country subject to droughts at all, but the

winter snow disappeared much more rapidly than it did in Manitoba. The

vegetation in Peace river country is very luxuriant; the grass is more

like that of Manitoba than that of Saskatchewan. He thought the wheat

crop would be as certain in upper Peace river district as in the

Saskatchewan district. Farther down, at Lac la Biche, they never have

wheat frozen; that may be affected by the temperature of the lake water.

On upper Peace river they are less subject to frost. He had always

understood that wheat grew well at Dunvegan.

At Fort Vermilion there was a splendid country. He once rode with

Governor Dallas sixty miles through a most magnificent country. The soil

was a beautiful dark loam, as they could see by the mole hills, and they

were struck with the charming appearance of the country. There were more

bluffs than were found on the Saskatchewan, and it was a beautiful

country all the way up to Dunvegan. Where the country was open, the

grass was higher than on the Saskatchewan. It was not very long—about

the same as in Manitoba. As to the testing of the capacity of the

country for agriculture, he explained that a good deal had depended upon

the characters of the officers in charge of the various forts whether

the capacity of the country in the vicinity for agriculture was tested.

In the journals of long ago he found that they used to raise splendid

wheat crops at Dunvegan, and cattle. Another officer, without any taste

for agriculture, going in there might find it very difficult to live. If

he had no taste for gardening or agriculture, nothing would be raised. A

great deal depended on the officer of the post whether he lived well or

not. If he was active and energetic he would always live very well.

Witness agreed with the remark that there is enough good land in Peace

river country

TO MAKE A NEW PROVINCE.

G. M. Dawson, M.D., LL.D., at the time Assistant Director of the

Geological Survey of Canada, was examined by the committee and explained

that he had personal acquaintance with the Athabaska from Athabaska to

Baptiste river; with Peace river valley from Smoky river to the

headwaters; and with the country between the above designated portions

of rivers.

Quoting from a report he had prepared in 1879-80, on the extent of

arable and pastoral lands in the region of Peace and Athabaska rivers,

Doctor Dawson showed that Peace river basin comprised an area of about

thirty-one thousand five hundred and fifty square miles. Its average

elevation may be stated as a little over two thousand feet, and this is

maintained with considerable uniformity, for though the general surface

slopes slightly from the north and south towards Peace river, the region

as a whole may be considered as a plateau, through which the great

gorge-like valley of the Peace has been excavated. This valley has in

general a depth of six hundred to eight hundred feet below that part of

the plateau bordering it, with a width of two or three miles from rim to

rim. Its tributary streams, at first nearly on the plateau level, flow

in valleys of continually increasing depth as they approach that of

Peace river. Those from the southeastern portion of the region rise

either in Rocky mountains or near the Athabaska, the tributaries

received by the latter stream, in this part of its course, from the

north and northwest being—with the exception of the Baptiste—quite

inconsiderable.

The ridges and hills by which this region is occasionally diversified,

appear in all cases to be composed either of the generally soft rocks of

the cretaceous, or of arenaceous clays containing erratics and

representing the boulder clays of the glacial period. These elevations

are generally slight, and with exceedingly slight, and gradual slopes,

the scarped banks of the streams constituting much more important

irregularities. These ridges, however, often resemble detached portions

of a higher plateau, and spread widely enough to occupy in the aggregate

a considerable area, of which the soil is not so uniform in character as

elsewhere. With these exceptions, the soil of the district may be

described as a fine silt, resembling the

WHITE SILTS OF THE NECHACCO BASIN,

and not dissimilar from the loess-like material constituting the subsoil

of Red river valley in Manitoba. This silt at a short distance below the

surface, is greyish or brownish in colour, but becomes mixed

superficially with a proportion of vegetable matter to a varying depth.

It has evidently been deposited by a comparatively tranquil body of

water not loaded with ice, probably toward the close of the glacial

period, and has either never been laid down on the ridges and

undulations above referred to, or has been since removed from them by

processes of waste. As evidenced by the natural vegetation its fertility

is great.

West of Smoky river, both to the south and north of Peace river, there

are extensive areas of prairie country, either entirely open, and

covered with a more or less luxuriant growth of grass, or dotted with

patches of coppice and groves of trees. The northern banks of Peace

river valley are also very generally open and grassed, and parts of the

valley of the Smoky and other rivers have a similar character. The total

area of prairie land west of the Smoky may be about three thousand

square miles.

Though the prairies are most immediately available, from an agricultural

point of view, the regions now covered with second growth and forest,

where the soil itself is not inferior, will eventually be equally

valuable. The largest tract of poor land is that bordering the valley of

the Athabaska on the north. This rises to an elevation considerably

greater than most of the region to the north and west, and appears,

during the submergence to which the superficial deposits are due, to

have been exposed to stronger currents which have prevented the

deposition of fine silt, causing it to be replaced by a coarser silt

which passes in places into actual sand, and alternates with ridges of

boulder clay. This region is often swampy, and, for a width of twenty to

twenty-five miles on the trail from Sturgeon lake to Athabaska, is quite

unsuited for agriculture, though still in many places capable of

yielding good summer grazing when the forest has been completely removed

by fire. To the northward, more particularly to the east of Smoky river,

peaty and mossy swamps occupy part of the surface, and these may be

regarded as permanently unsuited to agriculture.

There is also a sandy tract, though of small width, along the lower part

of Wapiti river near its junction with the Smoky. Deducting as far as

possible all the areas known to be inferior or useless, with about

twenty per cent. for the portions of the region under consideration of

which less is known, the total area of land, with soil suited to

agriculture, may be estimated as

AT LEAST TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED SQUARE MILES.

In the absence of complete maps, such an estimate cannot be otherwise

than very rough, but may serve to give some idea of the fact.

Doctor Dawson expressed the opinion that “the truly wonderful luxuriance

of the natural vegetation in Peace valley prairies indicated, not alone

the fertility of the soil, but the occurrences of a sufficient

rainfall.”

He went on to explain that the summer season of 1879 was an unusual one,

characterized by excessively heavy rainfall, with cold raw weather in

the early summer months. These conditions did not extend to the west of

Rocky mountains, but appeared to have been felt over the entire area of

the plains to Red river valley. As a result of this, the crops generally

throughout the Northwest were later than usual, and the mean temperature

of even the latter part of the summer appears to be rather abnormally

low. Notwithstanding this, on Doctor Dawson’s arrival at Dunvegan, on

August 16, small patches of wheat and barley in the garden of the fort

presented a remarkably fine appearance and were beginning to turn

yellow. On his return to the fort on August 31, these were being

harvested, their complete ripening having been delayed by overcast and

chilly weather which prevailed between these dates. At the

first-mentioned date potatoes were quite ripe, with the balls formed on

the stalks, and the garden contained also fine cabbage, beets, carrots,

onions, lettuce and turnips. Dwarf beans, cucumbers and squashes were

also flourishing and, though these plants are particularly tender,

showed no signs of frost. The two last-named, having been sown in the

open ground, did not appear likely to perfect their fruit. A few stalks

of Indian corn were also growing, though it is improbable that this

cereal would ripen in this district. When this garden was again visited,

on the last day of August, the beans, cucumbers, and squashes had been

cut down by frost, but not completely killed. The potato tops were also

slightly nipped.

Rev. Mr. Tessier, who had been at Dunvegan as a missionary for some

years, had always been

ABLE TO RIPEN SMALL, BLACK BUTTER BEANS,

but in some seasons not without difficulty, owing to frosts. He had also

tried a few grains of oats, which he procured accidentally, and obtained

a return of astonishing abundance. About the date just referred to, the

potato plants of Smoky river post (The Forks) were badly cut down by

frost, the tubers being, however, quite ripe, fine and large.

[Illustration: View on Halfway river.]

Doctor Dawson pointed out that Mr. Horetzky had been told that the

plains were often nearly bare up to the month of December, though the

winter usually sets in with the month of November. Sir Alexander

Mackenzie remarked the same absence of snow in the early winter months

of 1792. It was entirely gone on April 5, 1793, and gnats and mosquitoes

were troublesome on April 20. Horses almost invariably wintered out well

without requiring to be fed. Hay should be provided for cattle, to

ensure perfect safety, for a period of three or four months, though in

some seasons it was necessary to feed the animals for a few weeks only.

The Indians of ‘Cree Settlement’ on Sturgeon lake wintered their horses

without any difficulty round the borders of a neighbouring lake, the

shores of which were partly open. From Hudson Hope, the horses were sent

southward to Moberly lake to winter, and according to Mr. Selwyn, did

well there. Lesser Slave lake, with its wonderful natural meadows, has

long been known as an excellent place for wintering stock, and was

referred to as such by Sir J. Richardson.

From such comparison as could be made, according to Doctor Dawson, it

would be premature to allow that the climate of Peace river was inferior

to that of the region about Edmonton on the Saskatchewan. It was true,

he admitted, that in both Saskatchewan and Peace river districts the

season was none too long for the cultivation of wheat, but if the crop

could be counted on as a sure one—and experience even then seemed to

indicate that it might—the occurrence of early and late frosts might be

REGARDED WITH COMPARATIVE INDIFFERENCE.

The season was at least equally short throughout the whole fertile belt

from Peace river to Manitoba, though early and late frosts were not so

common in the low valley of Red river.

The almost simultaneous advance of spring along the whole line of this

fertile belt, Doctor Dawson pointed out, was indicated by the dates of

the flowering of the various plants, a point referred to by him in some

detail elsewhere. It was further unquestionable that the winter was less

severe, and not subject to the same extremes in Peace river and upper

Saskatchewan regions as in Manitoba.

Scientists, Doctor Dawson remarked, had already found reason to believe

that the early and late frosts, and not the absence of a sufficient

aggregate amount of heat, constituted the limiting condition of wheat

culture in the Northwest, but that neither Saskatchewan nor Peace river

countries lay upon the actual verge of the profitable cultivation of

wheat appeared to be proved by the fact that oats succeeded on the

Saskatchewan, and also—in so far as one or two seasons could be

accepted as evidence—on Peace river; while it was well known that this

cereal is less tolerant of summer frost than wheat.

This, Doctor Dawson remarked, is further proved by the fact that at Fort

Vermilion and Athabaska lake, one hundred and eighty and three hundred

miles, respectively, northeast of Dunvegan, Professor Macoun had found

wheat and barley ripening well, but in this instance the fact was

complicated by the circumstance of the decreasing altitude of the

country, which introduced a new condition.

DOCTOR DAWSON’S STRIKING ILLUSTRATION.

To give some idea of the value of a tract of generally fertile country,

such as that described, Doctor Dawson remarked: “Let us assume, as

above, that the area of actually cultivable land is twenty-three

thousand five hundred square miles, or fifteen million one hundred and

forty thousand acres. Let us suppose for simplicity of calculation, that

the whole area were sown in wheat, the yield, at the rate of twenty

bushels to the acre, would be three hundred million, eight hundred

thousand bushels.”

The Reverend J. Gough Brick, for many years in charge of the Church of

England mission at Dunvegan on upper Peace river, submitted some

interesting evidence in writing to the committee. He stated that on his

mission farm he had ploughed on April 8, and sown wheat on April 12, and

that wheat was cut about August 20. Wheat was generally sown from April

12 to May 1, and harvested at the end of August. The barley was sown

from May 10 to May 20, and harvested at the end of August. The time for

sowing and reaping oats was the same as wheat. Potatoes were planted

about May 16 and dug in September. Turnips planted at same date were

gathered October 10. The Hudson’s Bay Company had done a little farming,

in connection with other posts, at Dunvegan, Fort St. John, Hudson Hope

and Fort Vermilion, for very many years. Witness supposed that at

Dunvegan they had raised wheat, barley and potatoes for seventy-five to

one hundred years, and seldom had the crops turned out a total failure.

In 1884, he went up on to the height of the prairie country, some

thirty-six miles from Dunvegan, and broke up about three acres for an

experiment. In 1885 the crop on the land, only once ploughed, was fairly

good. In 1886 there was a magnificent crop of wheat, barley, peas,

potatoes, turnips and all other vegetables. In 1887, he was sorry to

say, the crop there was a total failure. A frost on July 26 killed out

everything.

The ordinary prairie grasses, with wild vetches and pea-vine, were found

in abundance, growing more or less all over the country. The soil was a

black loam, a large percentage he considered fit for grain, the rest for

pasturage. They had no insect pests in upper Peace country. The Indians

were raising a considerable quantity of potatoes. A few were raising a

little barley and wheat.

Mr. Brick informed the committee that he considered the climate of Peace

river country as

THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.

The usual snowfall in Peace river is from eighteen inches to three feet.

Ice begins to run in Peace river about November 5, but some seasons

remain open until December 20. It generally breaks up about April 10 to

15. The prevailing wind is from the southwest, and during the winter the

Chinook winds prevail in upper Peace river country. The three growing

months are very dry until about the middle of July; then some seasons

they get considerable rain. There were summer frosts some seasons; but

still they were not so destructive in Peace river country as farther

south. These frosts were purely local, and witness thought that were the

country settled they would be less likely to occur. The early part of

the summer is generally dry, while the weather in September and October

is very pleasant indeed.

Some interesting information was communicated to the committee by Mr.

Frank Oliver, then editor of the Edmonton Bulletin and member of the old

Northwest Council. Mr. Oliver explained that most of his information was

acquired from Mr. Murdock McLeod formerly of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s

service. Peace river country, according to this witness, was especially

noted for its abundant supply of berries of excellent quality. Although

berries of all kinds mentioned were plentiful in the upper Saskatchewan,

Indians used formerly to travel to Peace river, some two hundred and

fifty miles, to avail themselves of the supply there. Successive years

of experiment had demonstrated the practicability of the growth of

wheat, barley, oats and potatoes, at Dunvegan, Fort Vermilion and

Chipewyan, the two latter in latitude 58½°.

There has been considerable exploitation of the agricultural

possibilities of Peace country since 1888, and we now have data which

tend to show that the faith of the pioneer farmers of the country was

not misplaced. Much interesting information, as to more recent

agricultural enterprise in the country drained by the Peace, was

obtained from witnesses examined before the select committee of the

Senate of Canada in 1907.

Fred Lawrence, F.R.G.S., Justice of the Peace, etc., of Fort Vermilion,

gave some detailed and interesting evidence. Mr. Lawrence explained that

his father went out to Peace river from Montreal in 1879, in the employ

of the Church of England missions, becoming at once interested in the

problem of making the missions and Indian schools in Peace river, and

the whole of the northern country, self-sustaining. The settlement of

Fort Vermilion is in latitude 58·30°, almost as far north as the

northern part of Labrador. The place in 1907 (it has since increased

considerably) consisted of about five hundred people, white people, and

English-speaking half-breeds. The total production of wheat there in

1906 would be twenty-five thousand bushels, the average being

ABOUT TWENTY-ONE BUSHELS TO THE ACRE.

Of oats and barley about ten thousand bushels, mostly barley, was

raised. The wheat was ground and used to make bread for the people out

there. The first market was at Fort Vermilion and the surrounding

points, and whatever surplus there was was shipped down Peace river into

Mackenzie river district.

[Illustration: Sheridan Lawrence’s Farm at Fort Vermilion.]

Mr. Lawrence stated that in 1906 he had cut spring wheat, fully matured,

in eighty-six days. The time of cutting was the end of July. Wheat grown

at Fort Vermilion is harder than grain of the same variety grown in

Ontario. He explained that the river bottom proper only consists of

points or flats in the bottom of the bed of the river, which “bottom” is

practically about two miles in width, whereas, what is properly called

Peace river valley, is in reality a broad tract of country. When you

once get on to the height of land, this so-called “valley” covers three

hundred miles in width, and extends from Rocky mountains on to Lake

Athabaska. Peace river makes great bends, and on alternate sides of the

river you find wide flats, where there is probably the richest soil

there is in that northern country, made up of alluvial deposits all of

black soil. There are places on the lower part of these points which get

flooded, perhaps once in seven or eight years. Nearly all the points,

however, are above the high water mark, and when these flats are

cultivated the soil yields the heaviest of crops. On these flats

cultivation of the soil was first undertaken in that part of the

country, and it was supposed by many that they comprised the only part

of Peace river country that was suitable for cultivation. People

supposed that when they undertook the cultivation of grain on the height

of land they would get into the muskeg and swamp that adjoined the river

in many places, and grain could not be raised; but this has been proved

to be a fallacy. The tableland is sometimes called “bench land,” and

this bench land in some places is very wide. There are places in it, as

at the south of Fort Vermilion, and to the north and west, where there

is one hundred miles of this land on each side of the river.

This land is not all suitable for cultivation. It has its swamps and its

muskeg, and its

LOW PATCHES OF LAND,

that are found in almost any country where there is a large growth of

scrub timber; but the larger part of this land, as Mr. Lawrence had

found by travelling over the country away from the river, is suitable

for settlement.

Mr. Lawrence drew the attention of the committee to the fact that some

years ago, Doctor Dawson, after going through Peace river country,

reported that a large part of it was covered with muskeg and would be

permanently unsuited for agriculture. In 1903 he took a trip from Fort

Vermilion through Lesser Slave lake, through an unknown country two

hundred and fifty miles. Later than that he travelled away from Peace

river about fifty or sixty miles, and saw something that gave him an

idea of these muskegs. The muskegs had covered some large patches of

that country, and the moss was about three feet in thickness. There had

been large tracts of this moss burnt out. Forest fires had been running

through there, and Mr. Lawrence supposed that the fire burnt thousands

of acres that had formerly been muskeg, as shown by these large patches

of moss, sometimes a few feet across and sometimes larger, which were

left standing, where the muskeg had been. On this burnt area he saw

grass from four to five feet in height. There were thousands of acres of

it covered with the red-top grass, which is the standard grass of the

west. The reason these muskegs had been there for so many years was that

the moss formed a great sponge and retained the moisture. But when all

that land is drained and the moss removed, it will certainly raise good

crops of grass, and where grass can be grown, grain can be raised.

Mr. Lawrence stated that he would say that about one-tenth of the

district to the north is covered with moss. To the south of Grande

prairie there is a large proportion covered with moss, and Doctor Dawson

may have intended to refer particularly to that district. Mr. Lawrence

produced photographs of the grain raised on the soil that was formerly

covered by timber—low land and timber. He explained that he had farmed

at Vermilion for over twenty years, and had

NEVER HAD A FAILURE IN WHEAT

during that time, although he had as low as five and one-half bushels to

the acre. There was one very dry season which reduced the average, but

there was always a certain amount of grain raised there that was good

for seed and grinding purposes. There has never been a complete failure

from frost or any other cause. They have no rust on the wheat up there.

He had raised as much as sixty-six bushels of wheat to the acre. That

was the biggest yield, and accomplished without any fertilizer whatever.

The heads of wheat at Fort Vermilion often would grow to the length of

six inches, and at times he had counted sixty-five kernels in one head

of wheat. Barley sown after the middle of May is usually ripe in the

last week of July. The continuous daylight with about eighteen hours of

sunlight accounts for the rapid growth of all vegetables in these parts.

During the month of July, Mr. Lawrence stated, they have at Fort

Vermilion an occasional frost that sometimes cuts the potato vines down,

but never puts them back seriously—just enough to show the effect of

the frost on some of the top leaves. The potato vines, however, often

show no sign of frost until they are ripe, and the potatoes obtain their

full size and are matured. They had never had July frost severe enough

to ruin the potato crops. These frosts are very slight. In 1906 he

planted his garden during the week following May 24, and he planted

tomatoes, cucumbers, peas and other vegetables. In the fall, during

harvesting, his family had squash pie that was made from squash ripened

in their own garden. The squash were raised just the same as the peas

and other vegetables and took their chances, no hotbed and no special

care, and he also raised cucumbers and tomatoes. The tomatoes did not

ripen, but before they had a chance to freeze they were taken up. He

thought that with care such as is given to these things in Manitoba and

other parts of the Northwest, planting these tender vegetables early in

hotbeds, and giving them care, the same success could be had in raising

tomatoes, squash or other things of that kind as is had in Manitoba and

other districts. At Peace River Landing tomatoes were ripened in 1906 in

the open garden. Other garden vegetables, such as cabbages, and so on,

grow very well. He had raised cabbages at Fort Vermilion eighteen and

one-half pounds in weight, and swede turnips are raised in the open

field. Out of a three-acre patch

HE HAD SELECTED TURNIPS,

and a great many of them weighed from eighteen to twenty-five pounds.

They were of the purple-top variety. They had no special attention or

care, and they were good sound turnips.

Another of the witnesses examined before the same committee of the

Senate was Mr. W. F. Bredin, member of the Alberta legislative assembly

for the district. Mr. Bredin, in his evidence, stated that as regards

Peace river valley, he would judge that from the mountains to Peace

point, a distance of between seven and eight hundred miles, following

the winding of the river, there is an average of seventy-five miles in

width on each side of Peace river that is equal to the soil on any

similar length of the Saskatchewan. That would make Peace river country

about one hundred and fifty miles in width, and extending from the

mountains to Peace point, a distance of seven or eight hundred miles,

which is all equally good for agricultural purposes with the

Saskatchewan valley. That would extend considerably beyond the bottom

lands of the river, including also the table land back of the river. A

great deal of it is clean prairie, on the north especially. There is

more of it covered with scrub and small timber than there is clean

prairie, but the soil is equally good where the timber grows. Mr. Bredin

stated that he had a ranch at Grande prairie for six years, and raised

oats and vegetables every year there. He had cattle there for five

winters, and the average length of feeding them during those five years

was six weeks of each winter. That is south of Peace river, but within

this belt of one hundred and fifty miles. In that Spirit river country

he knew there were some white settlers, as well as half-breeds, who were

making their living by

RAISING STOCK AND FARMING.

That seven hundred or eight hundred miles of good country, of which he

spoke, would extend right to the foot of the Rockies. As to the question

of the uniformity of the quality of the soil, he had only been down to

what they call Wolverine point, near Fort Vermilion. He would say the

country is uniformly good from Rocky mountains to that point. At

Wolverine point the valley is much lower and perhaps the soil may be

blacker, and the black soil may be deeper on the lower stretches of the

Peace. All of that country would be good for stock. Both slough and

upland hay is abundant. The pea vine and all the small fruits that grow

anywhere else in the northwest grow up there, and all the wild flowers

that he knew of in the northwest grow there. This area in Peace river

country would compare on the whole with any part of Canada.

In reply to a question, Mr. Bredin stated that after his ten years’

experience of the country north of Edmonton he would consider that to be

quite as good a place for a man to settle in as the Saskatchewan valley

was twenty-five years previously. During the debate on the capital

question in the Alberta legislative assembly at Edmonton, Mr. Bredin

remarked, he had made an estimate of the good land north of Edmonton in

Alberta, and it figured up more than the good land south of that city.

If you were to add all the good land north of the Alberta boundary to

Alberta, you would have about twice as much good land in the province

north of Edmonton as there is south of that city.

ONE HUNDRED MILLION ACRES OF GOOD LAND.

Mr. Bredin submitted what he said he considered a careful estimate of

all the good land north of Edmonton, east of Rocky mountains. He

stated:—“My estimate of the area of the agricultural lands that will be

available in northern Alberta—say north of the 55th parallel of

latitude—and in the unorganized district of Mackenzie, is not less than

one hundred millions of acres.”

Mr. Bredin informed the committee that one spring, when he left Fort St.

John on the upper Peace, the grain there was up six or seven inches. He

must have been at least a month going to Edmonton, and when he got there

the grain there was just in the same stage of growth as the grain had

been when he left Fort St. John; so the season must be earlier at the

latter place. They very often sowed seed at Fort St. John in March, and

invariably no later than April. In 1906 they began cutting the wheat at

Peace River Landing on the last day of July, and the wheat was ready to

cut five or six days earlier than that. As a matter of fact, Mr. Brick,

the member for Peace river district in the Alberta legislature, started

to cut on the last day of July, and he told Mr. Bredin that the grain

was ready to cut a week earlier. Mr. Brick cultivated there, that year,

three hundred acres of land in wheat, oats and barley.

[Illustration: Vegetable Garden 15 miles west of Fort St. John.]

Stockmen west of Peace River Landing would have to feed their cattle,

taking one year with another, an average of seven weeks, and east of

that probably more.

Mr. Elihu Stewart, of the city of Ottawa, at the time Superintendent of

Forestry for the Dominion Government, since retired from the public

service to engage in private business, was one of the most important

witnesses examined before the committee. He explained that his knowledge

of the country beyond the Saskatchewan has principally been derived from

two trips that he made, one in 1902 to Peace river, and one during the

season of 1906 down the Athabaska, down Slave river, and down the

Mackenzie to the delta, and thence across to the Yukon, and back by the

way of Dawson. Mr. Stewart produced before the committee samples of some

of the grains that are grown at the end of Lesser Slave lake. One was a

sample of hulled barley, grown for the use of the mission schools;

another, wheat from Lesser Slave lake; a third, another quality of wheat

from the Roman Catholic mission at the end of Lesser Slave lake, grown

that year (1902). These exhibits were principally from the farm at the

end of Lesser Slave lake. The Roman Catholic mission there has

A VERY LARGE FARM AND STOCK,

and grain is grown there by others as well. Mr. Stewart said he had

noticed in discussions on Peace river that there was not enough

distinction made between the valley of Peace river and the tableland

above. There is a high level country, and all at once it drops down some

six hundred feet to a valley. He thought the difference between the

height of the banks and the water at Peace River Landing is something

like six hundred feet. In that valley there is no question at all about

the wheat ripening. He produced some specimens of grain grown in the

valley near Peace River Landing, also some tobacco grown there. The

width of Peace river valley is very narrow, not over two miles at the

crossing. The soil is good, perhaps a little heavy, with the exception

of a few miles which is light and covered with jackpine. The rest is

good agricultural land. There would not be a great quantity of it in the

valley of the river at that part. The altitude is pretty high, but down

the river towards Fort Vermilion it lowers, and probably the elevation

of the upland there would not be greater than the level of the water at

Peace River Landing. The grain-growing capabilities of that plateau all

depend on the elevation. Peace river district is an immense country

extending some six hundred miles from the mountains to the lake. Down at

Fort Vermilion crossing they raise large quantities of wheat. Of course,

at a very high altitude the same result cannot be expected, but wheat he

saw on the plateau above Peace river was uninjured on September 20. But

there was frost that night. He did not know whether it was enough to

kill the grain. However, if they had no frost up to September 20, there

should be

NO TROUBLE RIPENING GRAIN THERE,

because it ought to be fit for harvesting before the end of August. The

wheat in question was sown by an Indian and put in very late. Wheat

grown at Fort Vermilion took the first prize as the best wheat shown at

the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, in 1876.

Mr. Henry A. Conroy, Inspector for the Indian Department under Treaty

No. 8, gave some very interesting evidence as to the agricultural

resources of Peace river country before the committee. Mr. Conroy stated

that he had been annually travelling through this northern country for

about eight or nine years. He starts in along Athabaska river, from

Athabaska, which is about one hundred miles from Edmonton and goes up

the river to the junction of Little Slave river, thence visiting all the

Indian reserves in the treaty district.

When Peace river district is reached via the route taken by Mr. Conroy,

the altitude is very high. It is certainly over one thousand feet from

the top of the bank down to the bottom of the river—tremendous banks.

The country, as he understood it, is very fine. Bunch grass grows all

along the north side extending through to Hay river. He had information

as to this country from Indians and half-breeds, and they say bunch

grass grows all along the way. Shortly after striking the Peace,

Dunvegan is reached. The country north of Dunvegan; all along the river

is, in the opinion of Mr. Conroy, fit for agriculture on both sides and

for any distance back. Of course one would have to go up to the top of

the banks to get the land. Fine buffalo grass grows in the district

north of Dunvegan up to Peace River Landing. As to the country running

across from Dunvegan to Fort St. John, it would not take a man very long

to cross it if he had a road.

A STARTLING COMPARISON.

[Illustration: View of the Pouce Coupé Prairie.]

Mr. Conroy stated emphatically that he was of opinion there is a large

area of valuable agricultural land on Peace river. Taking the whole

country there as far as he knew, there is as much agricultural land to

be settled as there is settled at present west of Winnipeg.

Mr. Conroy uttered a word of warning against some of the settlers

(old-timers). He remarked:—“Old-timers in there do not want anybody to

come in, and they tell people the country is no good. They have the

whole country to themselves. One man grows two thousand or three

thousand bushels of wheat every year and gets for it from one dollar to

one dollar and seventy-five cents a bushel from the Hudson’s Bay

Company, and he does not want anybody else to come in and compete with

him.”

Continuing his evidence, Mr. Conroy explained that from Fort Vermilion

northeasterly the limit of the agricultural country is reached, but

below that it could be made an agricultural country. There were no

settlers there at all then (1907). At Fort Vermilion there had been a

settlement for many years. Mr. Conroy said he had been there many times,

and knew all the settlers in that section. Some of the finest wheat he

ever saw, he saw growing in that settlement. He saw it only after it was

harvested; it was threshed. They had a roller mill there, an up-to-date

mill. The Hudson’s Bay Company manufactured flour at Fort Vermilion to

send north.

While at Peace River Landing with the Indian Treaty Expedition in 1899,

Mr. Charles Mair (“Through the Mackenzie Basin,” p. 89) made enquiries

as to the fertile areas of the upper Peace from the Indians, half-breed

hunters, and the few prosperous farmers and stockmen of the district.

The nearest farmer and rancher to Dunvegan, at that date, Mr. C.

Brymner, who had lived for ten years on Spirit river, told Mr. Mair that

during seven of these, though frost had touched his grain, particularly

in June, it had done little serious harm. Mr. Brymner informed Mr. Mair

that it was a fine hay country, even the ridge hay being good. Mr.

Brymner, himself, had at the time over a hundred head of cattle, which,

thanks to the Chinook winds, fed out late in the autumn and early in the

spring. Mr. Mair states that southeast of Fort St. John there is a

considerable area known as Pouce Coupé prairie, which was well spoken

of. The “Grande prairie,” to the southwest of Peace River Landing, which

connects with Spirit river country and is drained by Smoky river and its

branches, is a much more extensive open country. This is an extensive

district suitable for immediate cultivation, and containing valuable

timber for lumber, fencing and building.

Mr. Mair states that Rev. Father Busson told him in 1899 that at the

Dunvegan and St. Augustine mission farms White Russian and Red Fife

wheat had been raised since 1881, and during all these years it had

never been seriously injured whilst the yield had reached as high as

thirty-five bushels to the acre. Seeding began about the middle of April

and harvesting about the middle of August.

PRESENT CONDITIONS AND SETTLEMENT.

In his annual report (see annual report Royal Northwest Mounted Police,

1908), dated Athabaska, October 8, 1909, Inspector D. M. Howard of “N”

Division of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police gives much interesting

information regarding conditions at that recent date in Peace river

region. It will be observed that some of the Inspector’s references are

to districts immediately north and east of that directly under review in

this chapter, but they are none the less instructive here on account of

the similarity of climate and other conditions.

Those portions of the report referring directly to the districts treated

of in this volume are extremely interesting. The principal settlements

in the district at that date were stated to be as follows:—

“Lesser Slave lake, known as Grouard, so called after the Roman Catholic

bishop of the diocese, a well known pioneer of the country, is situated

six miles from the west end of Lesser Slave lake and has a population of

twenty-five whites, and one hundred and twenty-five half-breeds, who

make their living by hunting, fishing, and freighting in the winter

time. Most of them have a few head of cattle and horses, and small

gardens where they raise vegetables for their own use. The Roman

Catholic mission has a school, hospital and convent. The Church of

England also has a mission school for the Indian and half-breed

children.

“Salt Prairie and Heart River (settlement) has a population of twenty

whites and one hundred and seventy-five half-breeds.

“Prairie River (settlement) is considered one of the best settlements in

the district, the land being very good. It has a population of

eighty-five whites (Canadians, Americans and Swedes) and twenty-three

half-breeds.

“Sturgeon Lake (settlement) has a population of nine whites and two

hundred and ninety half-breeds and Indians.

“In Peace River Landing district there are six actual

settlements:—Peace River Landing, Shaftesbury, Silver Springs, Cold

Springs, Bear Lake and Little Prairie.”

The inspector proceeds to give some particulars about these pioneer

settlements.

Silver Springs (settlement) is situated about five miles from the farm

of T. A. Brick, on a high bench at the head of a spring named by the

settlers, Silver Springs.

Bear Lake (settlement) is used only as a winter camp, and for haying in

the summer. The lake from which it is named is about twelve miles long

by eight wide. It is very shallow and muddy, although the land about it

is very good and will make a good grain country, but as yet no one has

done anything in that line. There are no fish in this lake.

Little Prairie (settlement) is about twenty-two miles out from Peace

River Landing on the way to Lesser Slave lake. This prairie is about ten

miles long and one wide, but can be extended in all directions by

clearing the bush. The land is very good, and the little grain sown has

done very well this year. Two white men and a number of half-breeds are

the only settlers at present.

Peace River Landing (settlement) is what is known as round the crossing

of Peace river, extending about ten miles up on the north side of the

river, taking in the Roman Catholic mission, known as Smoky River

mission on account of its being opposite Smoky river where it joins the

Peace; this part is all surveyed with free grant lots to both whites and

half-breeds who had settled there before the treaty known as No. 8 was

made with the Indians.

Shaftesbury is the name given to the upper part of Peace River Landing

settlement, round the English Church mission, extending some sixteen

miles up the river, and comprising the balance of Peace River Landing

settlement.

THE POST OFFICE FOR THIS DISTRICT

is situated at Peace River Landing, and serves for all these

settlements.

Cold Springs (settlement) is located on high land about thirty miles

from Peace River Landing, near Old Wives Lake Indian reserve; several

settlers have taken up land there this year, and grain of all kinds has

done well.

Peace River Landing settlement, including Shaftesbury, Bear Lake and

Silver Springs settlements, has a population of about two hundred and

forty; twenty-nine French-Canadians, thirty Canadians and English, forty

Indians and one hundred and fifty half-breeds. Little Heart River has a

population of forty half-breeds and two whites (Americans).

As to industries and transportation, Inspector Howard stated in his

report:—“Steam sawmills are in operation at the following points in the

district:—Athabaska, Lesser Slave lake, Peace River Landing, Prairie

River, Fort Vermilion, Chipewyan and Fort Smith; one is also to be in

operation at Saskatoon lake in the Grande prairie country this winter.

The mill at this point does a good business, as a number of new houses

have gone up in the village this year, and a considerable quantity of

lumber is used annually in the building of the scows for the river

transport; few of these scows are brought back up the river, but are

broken up down below, and the lumber used for building purposes, scows

being built new at this point every year. Grist mills are also in

operation at Lesser Slave lake, Peace River Landing and Fort Vermilion.

At Sawridge two lime kilns are in operation and a good quality of lime

can be obtained at a reasonable price.

“The Northern Transportation Company has built a new steamer at this

point (Athabaska) this summer for use on the run between here and Moose

portage. This steamer is smaller than the ‘Northland Sun’ and of lighter

draught and will enable the company to run much later than in former

years. The river gets very low in the autumn before the freeze-up.

“Until the country has a railway affording the settlers entrance to the

markets, the grain acreage will not increase beyond sufficient to supply

the settlers’ own wants, and to meet local demands, but the advent of a

railway will change all this.”[16]

PRESENT DAY AGRICULTURE.

Inspector Howard gave the following information as to agriculture in his

district:—

“The general state of the district is satisfactory, and most of the

settlers, having had good crops, seem well pleased with their prospects

in this new country. In some parts of Peace river country a few suffered

loss from hail, and want of rain in other parts has affected the crops

of a few injuriously, but on the whole the crops were a very fair

average. In most cases threshing is not over, but in one case where the

crop has been threshed a Mr. L. H. Adair, of Baptiste lake, about twelve

miles west of Athabaska, really in the Athabaska country, threshed five

thousand bushels of oats from one hundred and twenty acres of land.

Nearly all the new settlers coming into the country this year have

settled at Grande prairie, in Peace river country, where the land is

very good. Most of these settlers were from Eastern Canada and the

United States, and in nearly all cases were supplied with a fair amount

of capital, stock and farm implements. Nearly all of them have put in

gardens, and have vegetables enough for their use in the winter, and

from reports I have received from the detachments, in no cases should

there be any shortage amongst the new settlers during the coming winter.

“Mixed farming is chiefly carried on in this district, oats and barley

being the chief grain grown. There is practically no market for wheat at

present owing to the want of railway communication. Potatoes and all

other kinds of vegetables are successfully grown, most of the farmers

having small vegetable gardens for their own consumption, but

practically none are grown for market.

“In Peace River district, Red Fife wheat was sown last spring from seed

supplied by the government. The wheat principally sown in this district

in former years was Ladoga, an early ripening grain, but the Red Fife

appears to have done just as well this year. The amount of grain raised

this year in Peace River Landing district is about:—Wheat, five

thousand bushels; oats, four thousand bushels; barley, one thousand two

hundred bushels. Threshing was not finished at the time this report was

made, so the above is only an estimate.

“There are about three hundred head of horses of all kinds and three

hundred and fifty head of cattle owned by settlers in Peace River

settlement, practically

EVERY FARMER OWNING A FEW HEAD

of each. In Lesser Slave lake district there are approximately six

hundred and one horses, seven hundred and fourteen cattle and one

hundred and forty-five pigs; in addition to these there are the

following registered stock: three stallions, five bulls, thirteen cows,

four boars and six sows.

“The crops through Peace River Landing and Lesser Slave lake

subdistricts have been a fair average. The grazing lands about Lesser

Slave lake, Grande prairie, Peace River Landing, Fort Vermilion and

other sections are very good, and hay is very plentiful and a supply for

the winter can easily be put up.

“The acreage under crop in Lesser Slave lake sub-district is about seven

hundred and thirteen acres of oats, three hundred and one acres of

barley, twenty-three acres of spring wheat, nineteen acres of fall

wheat, twelve acres of fall rye. One acre of sugar beets and mangolds

were grown this year as an experiment and turned out very successfully.

“The crop all round was good; only one farmer suffered any loss, about

twelve acres of his barley being damaged by hail.

“Next year there will be a much increased acreage under crop, a lot of

breaking having been done this summer and autumn.”

A PLEASANT COUNTRY TO LIVE IN.

Not only does the climate of the Peace country appear to be satisfactory

from the view point of the farmer, but it is also described by

travellers as exceptionally pleasant to live in. Mr. Warburton Pike, in

his book (See p. 19) refers enthusiastically to the beautiful autumn of

the Peace country. He writes:—“We reached Fort Vermilion late in

September, in the full glory of the autumn; the sharp morning frosts had

coloured the poplar leaves with the brightest golden tints, and the blue

haze of an Indian summer hung over prairie and wood. Away on Great Slave

lake a half-breed had told me of the beauties of Fort Vermilion as a

farming country, and had explained that all the good things of the world

grew there freely, so that I was prepared for the sight of wheat and

barley fields, which had this year produced a more abundant harvest than

usual; potatoes and other vegetables were growing luxuriously; cattle

and horses were fattening on the rich prairie grass, and it seemed that

there was little to be gained by leaving such a fertile spot in the face

of the winter that would soon be upon us.”

Speaking of his trip up the upper Peace between the date mentioned and

the end of November, Mr. Pike wrote:—“I do not remember to have ever

seen in any other part of Canada such a fine autumn as we enjoyed

between Vermilion and the Rockies. There was hardly a day’s rain the

whole time, and, although a sharp white frost usually made a cold camp,

the days were bright and at times almost too hot for tracking.”

That the climate of Peace river country is exceptionally healthy is

declared by all the white people who have lived there, and their

declaration appears to be borne out by the fact that a considerable

portion of the inhabitants have attained a very old age. Mr. Charles

Mair in his book “Through the Mackenzie Basin” mentions that when the

Indian Treaty expedition was at Lesser Slave lake in 1899 his attention

was drawn to the number of people of extreme old age among the

inhabitants. He especially mentioned the case of an aged half-breed

woman, Catherine Bisson, who was born on New Year’s day in the year

1793. She was blind at the time Mr. Mair saw her, and scarcely able to

walk, but was able to talk, and even cracked jokes with those about her.

In a footnote Mr. Mair states that this very old woman died in the

spring of 1908 at the remarkable age of one hundred and fifteen years.

-----

[15] It will be observed that this paragraph and other portions of this

testimony really refer to the Athabaska country treated of in the

preceding chapter, but to save an awkward dislocation of Professor

Macoun’s testimony it has been kept intact. (E. J. C.)

[16] The railway is now being constructed, and there has been a

remarkable development in this section since Inspector Howard penned

this report.