Produced by Bill Keir, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
A TRIP TO MANITOBA
BY
MARY FITZGIBBON.
"Manitoba, the great province which now forms part of the Canadian
Dominion"
The Rt. Hon. W. E. GLADSTONE, MP at West Calder.
DEDICATED TO LADY DUFFERIN.
PREFATORY NOTE.
The Canada Pacific Railway, so frequently referred to in the following
pages, is now almost an accomplished fact. It will, after traversing for
over a thousand miles the great prairies of the Swan River and
Saskatchewan territories, thread the Rocky Mountains and, running through
British Columbia to Vancouver's Island, unite the Pacific with the
Atlantic. Of the value of this line to the Dominion and the mother
country there cannot be two opinions. The system of granting plots of
land on each side of the railway to the Company, with power to re-sell or
give them to settlers, has been found most advantageous in, as it were,
feeding the line and creating populations along its route. The cars which
carry to distant markets the crops raised by the settlers, bring back to
them the necessaries of civilized life.
Readers who ask with the post-office authorities, "Where is Manitoba?"
[Footnote: Pages 58, 59] may be answered that Manitoba is a province in
the great north-west territory of the Canadian Dominion, lying within the
same parallels of latitude as London and Paris. It has one of the most
healthy climates in the world--the death-rate being lower than in any
other part of the globe,--and a soil of wondrous fertility, sometimes
yielding several crops in one year. Immense coal-fields exist within the
province; its mountains abound with ore; and its natural wealth is
enormous.
While the province of Manitoba formed part of the Hudson Bay Company's
territory, its resources were undeveloped. But in 1869 it was transferred
to the Dominion Government, and received a Lieutenant-Governor and the
privilege of sending representatives to the Parliament at Ottawa. Under
the new _régime_ enterprise and industry are amply encouraged.
The original population consisted chiefly of Indians and French
half-breeds; the abolition of the capitation tax on immigrants, however,
has resulted in a large immigration of Europeans, who, with health and
energy, cannot fail to prosper, especially as they are without European
facilities for squandering their money in luxury or intoxication. Of how
universally the Prohibitory Liquor Law prevails in Manitoba, and yet how
difficult it sometimes is to punish its infraction, an amusing instance
in given in Chapter XI. Mr. Alexander Rivington, in a valuable pamphlet
now out of print ("On the Track of our Emigrants"), says that when he
visited Canada it was rare to see such a thing as mendicity--too often
the result of intemperance; "the very climate itself, so fresh and
life-giving, supplies the place of strong drink. Public-houses, the curse
of our own country, have no existence. Pauperism and theft are scarcely
known there--income-tax is not yet dreamt of." Free grants of one hundred
acres of prairie and meadow land are still being made to immigrants, and
the population is rapidly increasing.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
The Grand Trunk Railway--Sarnia--"Confusion worse confounded"--A Churlish
Hostess--Fellow-Passengers on the _Manitoba_--"Off at
last!"--Musical Honours--Sunrise on Lake Huron--A Scramble for
Breakfast--An Impromptu Dance--The General Foe.
CHAPTER II.
Saulte Ste. Marie--Indian Embroidery--Lake Superior--Preaching, Singing,
and Card-playing--Silver Islet--Thunder Bay--The Dog River--Flowers at
Fort William--"Forty Miles of Ice"--Icebergs and Warm
Breezes--Duluth--Hotel Belles--Bump of Destructiveness in Porters.
CHAPTER III.
The Mississippi--The Rapids--Aerial Railway Bridges--Breakfast at
Braynor--Lynch Law--Card-sharpers--Crowding in the Cars--Woman's
Rights!--The Prairie--"A Sea of Fire"--Crookstown--Fisher's
Landing--Strange Quarters--"The Express-man's Bed"--Herding like
Sheep--On board the _Minnesota_.
CHAPTER IV.
Red Lake River--Grand Forks--The Ferry--Custom-house Officers at
Pembina--Mud and Misery--Winnipeg at last--A Walk through the
Town--A Hospitable Welcome--Macadam wanted--Holy Trinity Church--A
Picturesque Population--Indians shopping--An "All-sorts" Store--St.
Boniface and its Bells--An Evening Scene.
CHAPTER V.
Summer Days--The English Cathedral--Icelandic
Emigrants--_Tableaux_--In chase of our Dinner--The Indian
Summer--Blocked up--Gigantic Vegetables--Fruitfulness of the
Country--Iceland Maidens--Rates of Wages--Society at
Winnipeg--Half-castes--Magic of the Red River Water--A Happy
Hunting-ground--Where is Manitoba?
CHAPTER VI.
Winter Amusements--A Winnipeg Ball--Forty Degrees below Zero--New Year's
Day--"Saskatchewan Taylor"--Indian Compliments--A Dog-train--Lost in the
Snow--Amateur Theatricals--Sir Walter Raleigh's Hat--A Race with the
Freshets--The Ice moves!--The First Steamer of the Season--Good-bye to
Winnipeg.
CHAPTER VII.
A Manitoban Travelling-carriage--The Perils of Short Cuts--The Slough of
Despond--Paddy to the Rescue!--"Stick-in-the-Mud" and his
Troubles--McQuade's--An Irish Welcome--Wretched Wanderers.
CHAPTER VIII.
Faithless Jehu--The "Blarney Stone"--Mennonites in search of
News--"Water, Water everywhere"--A Herd of Buffaloes--A Mud
Village--Pointe du Chêne and Old Nile--At Dawson Route--A Cheerful
Party--_Toujours perdrix_--The "Best Room"--A Government Shanty--Cats
and Dogs--Birch River--Mushroom-picking--The Mosquito Plague--A Corduroy
Road--The Cariboo Muskeg.
CHAPTER IX.
The "Nor'-west Angle"--The Company's House--Triumph of
"Stick-in-the-Mud"--On the Lake of the Woods--A Gallant Cook--Buns
_à l'imprevu_--A Man overboard!--Camping out--Clear Water Bay--Our
First Portage--A Noble Savage--How Lake Rice and Lake Deception won
their Names--At our Journey's End.
CHAPTER X.
Making a New Home--Carrière's Kitchen--The Navvies' _Salle-à-Manger_--A
Curious Milking Custom--Insect Plagues--Peterboro' Canoes--Fishing
Trips--Mail-day--Indian dread of drowning--The Indian Mail-carrier and
his Partner--Talking by Telegraph--Prairie Fires.
CHAPTER XI.
Irish Wit--Bears?--Death on the Red Pine Lake--A Grave in the Catholic
Cemetery--The First Dog train--A Christmas Fête--Compulsory
Temperance--Contraband Goods--The Prisoner wins the Day--Whisky on the
Island--The Smuggler turned Detective--A Fatal Frolic--"Mr. K----'s Legs".
CHAPTER XII.
Birds of Passage--An Independent Swede--By Sleigh to Ostersund--A Son of
the Forest--Burnt out--A Brave Canadian Girl--Roughing it in the
Shanty--The Kitchen-tent--Blasting the Rock--The Perils of
Nitro-glycerine--Bitter Jests.
CHAPTER XIII.
We lose our Cows--Cahill promoted--Gardening on a New Principle--Onions
in Hot-houses--Cahill is hoaxed--Martin the Builder--How the Navvies
lived--Sunday in Camp--The Cook's Leap--That "Beautiful Skunk!"--Wild
Fruits--Parting.
CHAPTER XIV.
For Ostersund--Lake Lulu--Giant Rocks and Pigmy Mortals--The Island
Garden--Heaven's Artillery--Strange Casualty at the Ravine--My Luggage
nearly blown up--The Driver's Presence of Mind--How to carry a
Canoe--Darlington Bay--An Invisible Lake--Lord and Lady Dufferin--A
Paddle to the Lakes--The Captain's Tug--Monopoly of
Water-carriage--Indian Legends--The Abode of Snakes.
CHAPTER XV.
Clear Water Bay transformed--Cahill's Farewell--Ptarmigan Bay--A Night
under Canvas--"No more Collars or Neckties!"--Companions in
Misfortune--Cedar Lake--"Lop-sticks"--An Indian Village--Shashegheesh's
Two Wives--Buying Potatoes--_Seniores Priores_--Excellent
Carrots!--Frank's Flirtations with the Squaws--The Dogs eat Carrière's
Toboggan.
CHAPTER XVI.
Falcon River--An Unlucky Supper--The Fate of our Fried Pork--A Weary
Paddle--A Sundial in the Wilderness--A Gipsy Picnic--"Floating away"--The
Dried Musk-rats--Falcon Lake--How can we land?--Mr. M---- "in
again"--Surprised by Indians--How we dried our Clothes--The Last Night in
Camp.
CHAPTER XVII.
Indian Loyalty--A Nap on Falcon Lake--A False Alarm--The Power of
Whisky--"Magnificent Water Stretches"--A Striking Contrast--Picnic
Lake--How we crossed Hawk Lake--Long Pine Lake--Bachelors' Quarters at
Ingolf--We dress for Dinner--Our Last Portage--A Rash Choice--"Grasp
your Nettle"--Mr. F----'s Gallantry--Cross Lake--Denmark's Ranche--A
Tramp through the Mire.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Tilford--Pedestrians under Difficulties--The Railway at last--Not exactly
a First-class Carriage--The Jules Muskeg--Whitemouth and Broken-Head
Rivers--Vagaries of the Engine-Driver--The Hotel at St. Boniface--Red
River Ferry--Winnipeg--"A Vagabond Heroine"--The Terrier at fault.
CHAPTER XIX.
The _Minnesota_ again--Souvenirs of Lord and Lady Dufferin--From
Winnipeg by Red River--_Compagnons du Voyage_--A Model
Farm--"Bees"--Manitoba a good Field for Emigrants--Changes at Fisher's
Landing--A Mild Excitement for Sundays--Racing with Prairie
Fires--Glyndon--Humours of a Pullman Sleeping Car--Lichfield.
CHAPTER XX.
Lakes Smith and Howard--Lovely Lake Scenery--Long Lake--The Little
American--"Wait till you see our Minnetaunka!"--Minneanopolis--Villa
Hotels--A Holiday Town--The Great Flour-mills--St. Paul's--Our American
Cousins--The French Canadian's Story--Kind-hearted Fellow-passengers--A
New Way of Travelling together--The Mississippi--Milwaukee, the Prettiest
Town in Michigan--School-houses--A Peep at Chicago--Market
Prices--Pigs!--The Fairy Tales of Progress--Scotch Incredulity--Detroit
Ferry--Hamilton--Good-bye to my Readers.
CHAPTER I.
The Grand Trunk Railway--Sarnia--"Confusion worse confounded"--A Churlish
Hostess--Fellow-Passengers on the _Manitoba_--"Off at
last!"--Musical Honours--Sunrise on Lake Huron--A Scramble for
Breakfast--An Impromptu Dance--The General Foe.
After a long day's journey on the Grand Trunk Railway, without even the
eccentricities of fellow-passengers in our Pullman car to amuse us, we
were all glad to reach Sarnia. The monotony of the scenery through which
we passed had been unbroken, except by a prettily situated cemetery, and
the tasteful architecture of a hillside church, surrounded by trees just
putting on their spring foliage.
It was eight o'clock when we got to the wharf, and the steamer
_Manitoba_ only waited for our arrival to cast loose her moorings
and enter the dark blue waters of Lake Huron. "Haste" will not express
the excitement of the scene. Men, rushing hither and thither in search of
friends, traps, and luggage, were goaded to fury by the calmness of the
officials and their determination not to be hurried. Hearing there was no
chance of having tea on board that night, and discovering near the wharf
a signboard announcing that meals could be obtained at all hours (except,
as we were told, that particular one), we with difficulty persuaded the
proprietress to let us have something to eat. Amidst muttered grumblings
that she was "slaved to death," that "her life was not worth a rap," and
so on, every remark being emphasized with a plate or dish, we were at
last supplied with bread, cheese, and beef-steak, for which we were
kindly allowed to pay fifty cents (2s. 6d.) each.
The scene on board the boat beggars description. The other steamers being
still ice-bound on Lake Superior, the _Manitoba_ was obliged to take
as much freight and as many passengers as she could carry, many of the
latter having been waiting in Sarnia upwards of ten days for her
departure. Surveying parties, immigrants of almost every nation on their
way to make homes in the great North West, crowded the decks and
gangways. The confusion of tongues, the shrill cries of the frightened
and tired children, the oaths of excited men, and the trundling and
thumping of the baggage, mingled with the shrieks of adjacent engines
"made night hideous." Porters and cabmen jostled women laden with baskets
of linen, brought on board at the last minute, when the poor tired
stewardess had no time to administer the well-merited reprimand;
passengers rushed about in search of the purser, anxious to secure their
state-rooms before they were usurped by some one else.
It was midnight when the commotion had subsided, and quarters were
assigned to all but a stray man or two wandering about in search of some
Mr. Brown or Mr. Jones, whose room he was to share. Climbing into my
berth, I soon fell asleep; but only for a few moments. The shrill
whistle, the vehement ringing of the captain's bell, the heavy beat of
the paddles, roused me; and as we left the wharf and steamed out from
among the ships and small craft dotting the water on every side, "Off at
last!" was shouted from the crowded decks. Then the opening bars of "God
save the Queen" were sung heartily and not inharmoniously, followed by
three cheers for her Majesty, three for her Imperial Highness, three for
her popular representative Lord Dufferin, and so on, till the enthusiasm
culminated in "He's a jolly good fellow;" the monotony of which sent me
to sleep again.
At four o'clock next morning I scrambled out of my berth at the imminent
risk of broken bones, wondering why the inventive powers of our Yankee
neighbours had not hit upon some arrangement to facilitate the descent;
dressed, and went in search of fresh air. Picking my steps quietly
between sleeping forms--for men in almost every attitude, some with
blankets or great-coats rolled round them, were lying on the floor and
lounges in the saloon--I reached the deck just as the sun rose above the
broad blue waters, brightening every moment the band of gold where sky
and water met. Clouds of ink-black smoke floated from our funnel, tinged
by the rising sun with every shade of yellow, red, and brown. Mirrored in
the calm water below, lay the silent steamer--silent, save for the
ceaseless revolution of her paddles, whose monotonous throb seemed like
the beating of a great heart.
For an hour or more I revelled in the beauty of water and sky, and ceased
to wonder why people born on the coast love the sea so dearly, and pine
for the sight of its waves. When the men came to wash the decks, a
pleasant, brawny fellow told me we were likely to have a good run up the
lakes. The storms of the last few days having broken up the ice, and
driven it into the open, there was hope both of the ice-locked steamers
getting out, and of our getting into Duluth without much trouble--"unless
the wind changes, which is more than possible," he added abruptly; and
walked off, as if fearful of my believing his sanguine predictions too
implicitly.
Later the passengers appeared, grumbling at the cold, and at being
obliged to turn out so early, and wishing breakfast were ready. Of this
wished-for meal the clatter of dishes in the saloon soon gave welcome
warning. Dickens says that when, before taking his first meal on board an
American steamer, "he tore after the rushing crowd to see what was wrong,
dreadful visions of fire, in its most aggravated form, floated through
his mind; but it was only _dinner_ that the hungry public were
rushing to devour." We were nearly as bad on the _Manitoba_, the
friendly steward warning most of us to secure our seats without delay,
the cabin-walls being gradually lined with people on either side, each
behind a chair. One of the "boys" strode ostentatiously down the long
saloon, ringing a great hand-bell, which summoned a mixed multitude
pell-mell to the scene of action, only to retreat in disappointment at
finding the field already occupied.
It was amusing to watch the different expressions on the faces down the
lines while waiting for breakfast. Men, chiefly surveyors, who during
their annual trips to and from work had got used to "that sort of thing,"
took it coolly; judiciously choosing a seat directly opposite their
state-room door, or standing in the background, but near enough to expel
any intruder. New men, looking as uncomfortable as if they had been
caught in petty larceny, twisted their youthful moustaches, put their
hands in their pockets, or leant against the wall, trying to look
perfectly indifferent as to the event; some of their neighbours smiling
satirically at their folly. Old farmer-looking bodies, grumbling at the
crush, mingled with Yankees, toothpick in hand, ready for business;
sturdy Englishmen whom one knew appreciated creature comforts; and dapper
little Frenchmen, hungry yet polite. Here stood a bright-looking
Irishwoman, who vainly tried to restrain the impatience of five or six
children, whose faces still shone from the friction of their morning
ablutions; there, an old woman, well-nigh double with age, who, rather
than be separated from the two stalwart sons by her side, was going to
end her days in a strange land. Here was a group of bright, chatty little
French Canadians, with the usual superabundance of earrings and gay
ribbons decorating their persons; there, a great raw-boned Scotchwoman,
inwardly lamenting the porridge of her native land, frowned upon the
company.
The bell ceased, and--"Presto!" all were seated, and turning over their
plates as if for a wager. Then came a confused jumble of tongues, all
talking at once; the rattle of dishes, the clatter of knives and forks,
and the rushing about of the boy-waiters. It required quick wit to choose
a breakfast dish, from the "White-fish--finanhaddy--beefsteak--cold
roastbeef--muttonchop--bacon--potatoes--toast--roll--brown-bread-or-
white--tea-or-coffee," shouted breathlessly by a youth on one side, while
his comrade screamed the same, in a shrill falsetto, to one's neighbour
on the other; their not starting simultaneously making the confusion
worse confounded. Such was the economical mode of setting forth the bill
of fare on the _Manitoba_. There were three hundred and fifty people
on hoard; more than one-third of whom were cabin, or would-be cabin,
passengers. The accommodation being insufficient, some were camping on
the upper deck, some in the saloon, many on the stairs, and others
wherever elbow-room could be found. Breakfast began at half-past seven,
and at half-past nine the late risers were still at it; and it was not
long before the same thing (only more so!), in the shape of dinner, had
to be gone through.
As Lake Huron was calm and our boat steady, we had more "God save the
Queen" after dinner, besides "Rule, Britannia" and other patriotic songs,
several of the passengers playing the piano very well. Some one also
played a violin, and the men, clearing the saloon of sofas and
superfluous chairs, danced a double set of quadrilles, after having tried
in vain to persuade some of the emigrant girls to become their partners.
They were an amusing group--from the grinning steward, who, cap on head,
figured away through all the steps he could recollect or invent (some of
them marvels of skill and agility in their way), to the solemn young man,
only anxious to do his duty creditably. But alas for the short-lived
joviality of the multitude! After touching at Southampton the boat
altered her course, and the effect of her occasional rolls in the trough
of the waves soon became manifest.
One by one the less courageous of the crowd crept away. Every face soon
blanched with terror at the common enemy. Wretched women feebly tried to
help crying children, though too ill to move themselves; others threw
them down anywhere, to be able to escape in time for the threatened
paroxysm; all were groaning, wan and miserable, railing at the poor,
wearied stewardess, calling her here, there, and everywhere at the same
time, and threatening her as if she were the sole cause of their woe.
About midnight, our course being altered, "Richard was himself again."