FISHING WITH A SIWASH
The next morning, with Mr. James, Jack and Hugh boarded the comfortable
steamer which was to take them up the Fraser to the town of Yale,
the head of navigation of the lower river. Mr. James was anxious to
have them see the end of the Canadian Pacific railroad, of which all
the residents of the Province were immensely proud at that time, for
it was the first railroad that had been built in British Columbia.
Incidentally they would view the scenery of the Fraser, and would see
many other interesting things.
Near its mouth the Fraser is very muddy, and Hugh and Jack spoke of
its resemblance in this respect to the Missouri, with which they were
so familiar. As the steamer ploughed its way up the river the water
became less and less turbid, until, when Yale was reached, though by no
means colorless, it had lost its muddy appearance and was beautifully
green. The current is everywhere rapid, and at certain points where
the channel is narrow the water rushes between the steep banks with
such violence that at times it seemed doubtful whether the vessel could
overcome its force. At such points Jack and Hugh were always interested
in watching the struggle, and noting by points on the bank the slow but
steady passage which the vessel made in overcoming the force of the
water. For some distance above New Westminster the river is broad and
flows through a wide alluvial bottom covered with a superb growth of
cotton-wood trees; but farther up the channel is narrow; and mountains
rise on either side, not very high but very steeply, and on them they
saw frequent evidences of landslips which had laid bare long stretches
of dark red rock, which contrasted beautifully with the green of the
forests.
As they passed along, Mr. James pointed out one mountain after another,
and told of the silver mines and the silver prospects that had been
found on each. In many places along the river were seen extensive
stretches of barren land covered with cobblestones and boulders which
to Jack seemed out of place in a region where vegetation was so
universal.
"Why is it, Mr. James," he asked, "that nothing seems to grow on these
great piles of pebbles and cobblestones?"
"Why," said Mr. James, "that is old mining ground. Many of these gravel
bars have been worked over by placer miners; and these piles of stones
were left after the soil and fine sand had been washed for the gold
which it contained. Many of these bars have been worked over a number
of times, and all of them, twice. Along this river it has been just as
it has been back in the States. After gold was discovered, the white
man first went over the ground and washed the gravel, getting most of
the gold; and then, after he got through, the Chinaman, slow, patient,
persistent, and able to subsist on little or nothing, went over the
ground again and found in the abandoned claims money enough to pay
what seemed to him good wages; in other words sufficient to give him a
living, and enable him to save up money enough to take him back to his
own country, where he lived comfortably for the rest of his life.
"I am no miner," Mr. James continued, "but you must talk with Hunter.
He is a civil engineer with a lot of experience, and I saw him on the
boat this morning. I understand that he has a mining scheme which is
big, though, of course, it is only a speculation as yet."
Mr. James stopped talking and looked about the deck, and then walked
over to a tall, thin man who was standing near the rail, smoking. After
speaking to him, the two came to where Jack and Hugh were sitting.
Introductions followed, and after a little time Mr. Hunter explained
what it was that he proposed to do.
"Quesnelle Lake," he said, "lies away north of Yale and east of the
river, in a country where some good prospects have been found. From
the Lake, Quesnelle River flows into the Fraser. The bed of Quesnelle
River is supposed to be very rich in gold. It is said that it is so
rich that the Chinamen anchor their boats in the river and dredge the
dirt from the bottom, take it ashore and wash it, and in this way make
good wages. I have received a Dominion grant to mine this river, or so
much of it as I can. Of course, as yet, this is a mere prospect, but
I am going up there now to find something definite about it. I shall
have to do some dredging to find out what there is in the bottom of the
river. If I find that the dirt there is rich enough, I shall build,
across the river near Quesnelle Lake, a dam strong enough to hold back
for three or six months of the year--during the dry season, in other
words--the water of the lake, so that the volume which passes through
the river channel will be greatly diminished. This will leave bare a
great portion of the river channel, which can then be mined by ordinary
hydraulic processes. As I say, there is as yet nothing certain about
the matter, but there seems sufficient prospect of profit in it to make
it worth while to attempt it."
"That seems a reasonable scheme," said Hugh, "though, of course, as yet
there are a number of 'ifs' to it."
"There are a good many," said Mr. Hunter; "but I believe that in the
course of the next three months I shall know much more about it than I
do now."
"I believe, Mr. Hunter," said Jack, "that you have travelled a great
deal over the Province, have you not?"
"Yes," said Mr. Hunter, "a good deal. I have been over the whole length
of it and over much of its width, but I know little about its northwest
corner. There I never happened to be; but from the Fraser and Kootenay
rivers, down to the boundary line and all along the western part of the
Province, I have been."
"Is there any place near here," said Jack, "where one could go into
the mountains for say a week or ten days, with a prospect of getting
a little hunting? I don't mean for deer and goats, because I suppose
these are found almost everywhere, but with some prospect of finding
sheep, and perhaps elk? I believe that bears exist everywhere, and of
course the meeting with them is a matter of luck."
Mr. Hunter considered for a moment or two, and then said: "Do you want
to make a little hunting trip of this kind, and now?"
"Yes," said Jack, "Mr. Johnson, here, and I were thinking of doing
that."
"Well," said Mr. Hunter; "I believe I know just the place for you. It's
only a short distance from Hope, a town just below Yale, on the river,
and if you can get started at once, four or five days ought to take you
into a good sheep country, where there are also a few deer and goats.
You could have three or four days hunting there, and could get back to
take the steamer down the river and get to Westminster inside of two
weeks."
"That's a little bit more time than we have to give to the trip," said
Jack, "but perhaps we could do that, and perhaps we could gain a day
or two in the travelling."
"Perhaps you might," said Mr. Hunter, "those things depend largely upon
the outfit you have and chiefly on the energy of the man who runs your
outfit. If you get somebody who is a rustler, who will get you up every
morning before day and have the train on the march before the sun is
up, and travel all day, you can get along pretty rapidly."
"Well," said Hugh, "it seems to be a matter that depends largely upon
ourselves. Son and I are fair packers, and if we can get horses and a
man to wrangle them and somebody that knows the road, we ought to be
able to keep them moving."
"I'll tell you what I will do," said Mr. Hunter. "When we get to Yale
I will telegraph to an acquaintance of mine in Hope, and find out what
the prospect is of getting the outfit that you want."
Hugh and Jack both thanked Mr. Hunter, and after some inquiry about
the character of the country to be traversed, the talk turned to other
subjects. It was but a little later when the boat began to pass groups
of Indians camping along the shore; and near each camp were seen the
drying stages on which they were curing the fish that they took.
Horizontal poles were raised five or six feet above the ground and
these were thickly hung with the red flesh, making a band of bright
color which stood out in bold relief against the green of the trees and
the cold gray of the rocks.
Jack and Hugh looked at these camps with much interest.
"It looks some like a little camp on the plains when there has been a
killing and the meat is just hung up to dry, doesn't it, son?" remarked
Hugh.
"A little," said Jack, "but I cannot separate the camp from its
surroundings of mountains and timber and big water."
"No," said Hugh, "that is hard to do, but of course these people are
gathering their meat and drying it just as our Indians gather their
meat and dry it."
In front of the tents and shelters in which the Indians lived down
on the bank of the river, were scaffolds made of long poles thrust
into the rocks and resting on other rocks, projecting out well over
the water. On each one of these stood one or more Indians engaged in
fishing with a hand net which he swept through the water, just as had
been described the day before by Mr. McIntyre. To see it actually
done made the operation so much easier to understand than when it had
been simply described. The Indians swept their nets through the water
from up stream downward, and at almost every sweep the net brought up
a fish, which the man took from it with his left hand and threw to a
woman standing on the bank above the stream. They could be seen to
perform some operation on it, and sometimes a woman with an armful of
fish went up and hung them on the drying scaffold.
Mr. Hunter was standing by them, also observing the fishing, and Jack
said to him: "Mr. Hunter, I can't see clearly enough to understand just
what these nets are and how they are worked. Can you explain it to me?"
"Yes," said Mr. Hunter. "It's very simple, and when you go ashore at
Yale, you will be able to see the Indians catch fish in just this way,
and you can see for yourself just how it is done. You know what an
ordinary landing net is, don't you--a net such as we use for trout?"
"Yes, of course I do," said Jack, "it's pretty nearly what we call a
scap net along the salt water, except that it is not so large or so
coarse."
"Yes," said Mr. Hunter. "You know that a landing net has a handle, a
hoop, to which the net is attached, and a large net hanging down below
the hoop. Now if you imagine a landing net four or five times as big
as any you ever saw, you will have an idea of the general appearance
of one of these purse nets when spread. The hoop of the purse net is
oval and made of a round stick, the branch of a tree bent so that the
hoop is about four feet long by three feet broad. This hoop is attached
to a long handle. Running on the stick, which forms the hoop, are a
number of wooden rings, large enough to run freely. The net is attached
to these small wooden rings, and if the handle is held vertically the
weight of the net and rings will bring all the rings together at the
bottom of the hoop, so that the net is a closed bag. Now from the
end of the handle of the purse net a string runs to the hoop and is
attached to the wooden rings that run on it in such a way that if you
pull on the string the little wooden rings spread themselves out at
equal distances all around the hoop, and the net becomes open, just as
an ordinary landing net is when open. As the Indian is about to sweep
the net to try to catch a fish, he pulls the string which spreads the
net, and the net is then swept through the water with a slow motion.
The string which holds it open passes around the little finger of one
hand; and if the fisherman feels anything strike against the net,
the string is loosened, the rings run together, and the net becomes
a closed bag which securely holds the object within it. The salmon,
swimming against the current, pass along close to the steep bank where
the force of the water is least, and the eddies help them. The Indians
know where the salmon pass, and sweep their nets along there to meet
them; and, as you see, catch lots of fish."
"That makes it just as clear as anything," said Jack, "and I am very
much obliged to you for telling me about it. I want to understand these
things that I see, and sometimes it is pretty hard to do so without
an explanation. Now, if you will let me, there is another question I
would like to ask you. What do the women do in preparing the salmon for
drying? I can see that they are using knives. Do they just cut off the
head, or do they take out the backbone?"
"I am glad you asked me this question," said Mr. Hunter, "because
there's a difference in the way the Indians save the fish. The coast
Indians just cut off the head and remove the entrails, but these
Indians up here are more dainty; I suppose, as a matter of fact, they
are more primitive, and do not understand the importance of collecting
all the food they can, although they ought to understand that, for they
have certainly starved many times when the salmon run has been a poor
one. Up here, the Indians only save the belly of the fish. By a single
slash of her knife, the woman cuts away the whole belly from the throat
back to a point behind the anal fins, and extending up on the sides
to where the solid flesh begins. This portion is retained and hung up
to dry. The whole shoulders, back and tail are thrown into the water
again. There is another thing that I believe will interest you. You see
these stages from which they are fishing? Well, you might think that
anybody might come along and build a stage and go to fishing, or that
whoever came first in the summer to one of these stages might occupy
it, and use it during the season, but that isn't the fact. These stages
are private property, or rather family property, and the right to
occupy and use each point descends from the father to the oldest son of
the family."
"Well," said Jack, "that's new to me. I never heard of anything like
it. Did you, Hugh?"
"No," said Hugh, "it's one ahead of me."
"Well," said Mr. Hunter, "you will find quite a lot of customs of that
kind along this coast. Certain tribes and certain families have the
right to hunt or fish in certain localities and it's a right that is
universally respected among the Indians. A man would no more think of
interfering with another family's fishing stage or trespassing on his
hunting ground than he would think of disturbing a cache of food that
did not belong to him."
"That's another thing I had not heard of, Mr. Hunter," said Jack; "the
fact that the Indians have separate special places where they have the
right to hunt and where other people have not that right."
"Yes," said Hugh, "that's new to me, and would seem quite queer to
anybody in our country."
"What is your country, if I may ask?" said Mr. Hunter, courteously.
"Why," said Hugh, "son and I have been for the last three or four years
on the plains and in the mountains back in the States."
"Oh, in the Rocky Mountains?" said Mr. Hunter.
"Yes," said Hugh.
"There, of course, your game is chiefly buffalo, I suppose, and they
wander a good deal, do they not?"
"Yes," said Hugh, "they wander some, but not so much as most people
think. A great many people say that in summer the buffalo all go
north and in winter they all go down south, but that's not so. There
are movements of the herds with the seasons, but they are not very
extensive."
"Mr. Hunter," said Jack, taking advantage of a moment's pause, "I have
heard something about the caches that the Indians make of their food,
but I have never seen one in this country. Will you tell me how they
arrange them?"
"Certainly," said Mr. Hunter. "These Indians, here, after their fish
have dried, pack them together; and in a tree, far above the reach of
animals or insects, they build something that you might call a little
house or a big box, in which they store the food and leave it there
against a time of need. The house or box, whichever you choose to call
it, is built of shakes, that is, of thin planks split from the cedar,
is fairly well jointed, and has a tight and slightly sloping roof so
that the moisture cannot get into it. Usually they are seen along the
streams or near favorite camping grounds, and I should not be at all
surprised if we saw one before reaching Yale. They are quite commonly
seen."
"And you say," said Jack, "that they are never disturbed?"
"Absolutely never," said Mr. Hunter. "Indians would suffer great
privations before taking food belonging to other people, because they
know to take away this food might mean starvation to the owners. Of
course if an absolutely starving outfit of Indians found a cache they
might take from it a little food, perhaps enough to carry them on for
a day or two along their road; but if they did, they would leave some
sign at the cache to say who had taken the food, and they would feel
bound, at some later day, whenever it were possible, to return what
they had taken with good interest."
By this time the day was well advanced, and a little later Mr. Hunter
pointed to a few dilapidated buildings standing near the river and
said: "There is all that's left of the town of Hope. The situation
is a beautiful one, in a wide bottom; but there is no life in the
settlement. It is from this point on the river that the trail starts
for Kootenay about five hundred miles distant, and all the mail and
express matters used to leave from here. The town was founded in the
early days of the mining excitement, when it was thought that the
diggings of the Fraser were inexhaustible. People used to think that
this would be a great town, and there was an active speculation in
building lots, but as the washing on the lower river ceased to pay,
the tide of emigration passed on. Hope was left behind, and the owners
of town lots will have to wait a long time for their money. At the same
time, when the railroad is finished it will of course pass through Hope
or near it, and there may be a future for the place; but that will
depend upon agriculture and not on mining."
A little later in the day the steamer tied up to the bank at Yale. It
was quite a large town, spread out at the foot of a great mountain, and
it seemed to have the characteristics of all western railroad towns.
It was from here that the Canadian Pacific Railroad was being built
eastward, and Yale was thus the supply point and the locality where all
the laborers employed on the road congregated during holidays. To Jack
the place seemed as cosmopolitan almost as San Francisco. He recognized
English, Scotch, and French; and noticed some Germans, Swedes, and
some Americans; Indians and Chinese were numerous, and negroes jostled
Mexican packers and muleteers; while there were many mixed bloods whose
parentage could hardly be determined from their countenances.
Jack learned that a stage ran from Yale to Lytton, where the river is
again practicable for steamers, and that this was the route taken by
persons going to the mines at Cariboo.
Mr. Hunter, knowing Jack's interest in birds, took him to see a
taxidermist who had a considerable collection of bird skins brought
together from the immediate neighborhood. Here he saw many eastern and
western birds, the most interesting of which were the evening grosbeak,
the pine grosbeak, and a species of gray crowned finch. By the time the
birds had been inspected the sun had set and they returned to their
quarters at the hotel.
Immediately after breakfast next morning, Jack, Hugh, and Mr. James
walked along the railroad two or three miles up the river and into
the cañon. The scenery was very beautiful. The walls of the cañon
were nearly vertical, the stream tearing along between them at a high
rate of speed. Just at the entrance of the cañon stands a high rock
or island, which divides the current into two streams of nearly equal
size. On a flat rock they all sat down, and while the two older men
filled their pipes and smoked Mr. James told Jack the story of this
rock.
"Of course you understand," he said, "that the salmon has always been
the most important food of the year to the Fraser River Indians. It
supplies them with their winter food, and indeed with provisions for
almost the entire year. To them, as to almost all the Indians along
this coast, the salmon is the staple food, just as back on the plains
the buffalo is what the Indians there depend upon. Just as back in that
country the buffalo is somewhat a sacred animal, so here the salmon are
in a degree sacred; and just as back there the Indians perform certain
ceremonies when they are going out to make a big hunt, so here the
capture of the first salmon is celebrated with religious ceremony."
Hugh nodded and said, "I guess Indians are alike the whole continent
over."
"Well," said Mr. James, "each summer the first fish that came up the
river and was taken, was regarded not as belonging to the person who
took it but to the Good Spirit; I suppose that means the chief god.
As soon as caught, therefore, it was to be taken to the chief of the
tribe, and delivered into his keeping. A young girl was then chosen
and after having been purified, she was stripped naked and all over
her body were marked crossed lines in red paint, which represented the
meshes of the net. She was then taken to the water's edge and with
solemn ceremonies the net marks were washed off. This was supposed
to make the people's nets fortunate. Prayers were made to the Good
Spirit and the salmon was then cut up into small pieces, a portion was
sacrificed, and the remainder was divided into still smaller pieces,
one of which was given to each individual of those present. This,
Squawitch tells me, was the regular annual custom. Now, about this
rock. One season the people had eaten all their food and had gathered
here at the river for the fishing, but as yet no fish had been caught,
and they were starving. It happened that the first salmon caught was
taken by a woman, and she being very hungry, said nothing about its
capture but at once devoured it. This was a crime and for it she was
changed by the Good Spirit into this rock, which was thrown into the
river where we see it now, to remain there forever as a memorial of her
offence, and a warning to others."
"My, that's a good story, Mr. James," said Jack.
"Yes," said Hugh, "that's a sure enough Indian story."
The pipes being knocked out they started on up the river. Just above
the first tunnel Jack saw on a stage down near the water's edge, an
old Indian fishing with a purse net, and as it seemed, catching a
salmon at every sweep he made. This was too much for Jack to resist,
so he clambered down the rocks to the Indian's stage. After watching
him for a little while, and noticing closely how he handled the net,
Jack took from his pocket a quarter and held it out to the Indian, at
the same time reaching out his hand for the net. The Indian gave it to
him readily enough, and began to dress the fish he had already caught,
while Jack stepping out on the stage over the water, began to sweep the
net through the current just as the Indian had done. At the first sweep
he felt something strike the net and loosened the string. He raised
the net and--with some difficulty, for it was big--brought up to the
stage a great ten pound salmon. He reached the net back to the Indian
to take the fish from it; and, then spreading it again, he repeated
the operation. In ten minutes he had caught nearly as many salmon, all
of which were about the same size. No doubt the Indian would have been
willing to have him fish all day for him, but his two companions, on
the railroad track above, were getting impatient and called to him.
Jack gave back the net to the Indian, climbed up the bank and overtook
his companions, all three then going on up the track. It was an
interesting experience, and one that not many people have enjoyed.
On their return to town Hugh asked Mr. James if there was any one in
the town, so far as he knew, that had ever crossed the mountains to the
head of the Peace River, and followed that stream down to the eastward.
Mr. James thought for a moment or two, and then said: "Why, of course.
I know just the man, and I can take you to him. It's old man McClellan.
He used to be an old Hudson Bay man, and has travelled all over the
country. I am very sure that I have heard him tell about making that
trip across the mountains."
A little inquiry brought them to Mr. McClellan's store. They found him
a hardy old Scotchman who seemed glad to give them such information as
he could. He told them about the streams that they must go up to reach
the head of the Peace River, and that there was a two days' portage
between the two waters, those flowing east into the Hudson Bay, and
those west into the Pacific.
"The distance is not so great," he said, "but it's a rough country and
ye'll have to go slowly, but it is a fine country to travel through;
lots of game, moose, caribou, and mountain goats, and plenty of fish.
Ye'll never have to starve there."
"Well," said Hugh, "I don't know as we'll ever be able to make that
trip, but I've often thought about it and wanted to. One time, a good
many years ago, I got hold of the travels of Alexander McKenzie, the
man who found the frozen ocean, and he crossed the mountains from
Hudson Bay to the Pacific Ocean, and I have always thought that I would
like to make that trip myself, but I am getting old now for trips. I
can't get around as easy as I could twenty years ago."
"Pshaw, man," said the old Hudson Bay voyager, "never talk like that!
You're good for many years of travel yet. Faith, I'd like to take that
trip with you, if you don't put it off too long. It's a fine country,
and I'd like to go through it again."
That evening at the hotel they saw Mr. Hunter, who told them that he
had communicated with the people at Hope, and had found that it would
be easy for them to get a packer and an Indian guide and horses to go
off on the hunting trip if they wished to. The outfit could be ready
to start to-morrow morning if they felt like it. Jack and Hugh thought
this would be a good thing to do, and got from Mr. Hunter the name
of the man at Hope who could give them the desired information and
assistance. They asked Mr. James if he would not join them on the hunt,
but his business required him to return to New Westminster at once.
It was determined, then, that all should start on the boat at three
o'clock the next morning, Jack and Hugh getting off at Hope and trying
to make a start for the sheep country that same morning.