Twenty years on the Saskatchewan, N.W. Canada

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CANON NEWTON.

ON THE

SASKATCHEWAN,

N. W. CANADA.

BY THE

REV. WILLIAM NEWTON,

HON. CANON OF SASKATCHEWAN.

LONDON :
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.

1897-

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PREFACE.

THIS book contains a narrative of the life
and : thoughts of a simple missionary during
twenty years spent in North-Western Canada. It is
dedicated, with much respect, to those dear friends
on both sides of the sea who have so often cheered
this missionary with their help and sympathy.

To make the experience of the missionary appear
real to other people, it has been necessary to speak
of many personal and local matters ; but the general
subjects that are mentioned will have their interest
for readers whose thoughts may be turning some-
times to North-Western Canada, and especially to
the Edmonton district of Alberta, as this has been
the centre of the missionary work that is narrated,
and the standpoint of the observations that are
made on the history, races, and customs of the
people brought under review.

The references that are made to the origin of our
Indian tribes, and their intimate relationship with
Eastern Asia, only represent a small part of the
results of the missionary's reading and reflection
on the whole problem of ancient America. Of the

vi PREFACE

correctness of the views that are given as to the
substantial identity of the languages and peoples of
America and Asia, there is little room for doubt.
To those learned authors who take a different view
of the origin of the North American Indians, I can
only plead, that circumstances have helped me to a
conclusion which I might never have reached, had
I not lived so long on the border-lands of the far
West. But before residing here I had given some
attention to the customs, ideas, and languages of the
far East.

It also gives me great pleasure to note that the
public at home are turning their attention to this
part of the world as one of its ancient centres, where
events are transpiring that are likely to affect the
destiny of England and the British Empire.

The present writer may live to visit Europe by
travelling over the Siberian Railway, the opening of
which will be a new epoch in the world's history.
Japan may checkmate Russia in the North Pacific.
And if Japan or Russia should marshal the yellow
races, what will come after to Europe, and even to
America ? Solitary students even in the far-off
wildernesses are dreaming of these things, and their
anxious hope is that England will be prepared for
the changes which are even now at hand.

I have only to add that a portion of the chapter
which gives an account of the Right Reverend John
McLean, the first Bishop of Saskatchewan, was
written by his widow, and it will, no doubt, be read
with the respect which it deserves.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE FAR NORTH-WEST - - I

II. WINNIPEG AND THE PRAIRIES - - 6

III. EARLY DIFFICULTIES - l6

IV. DOG-TRAIN EXPERIENCES - 22

V. RIVER AND OTHER PERILS - 28

VI. SECURING A DWELLING-PLACE - - 32

VII. HALF-BREED RACES - 38

VIII. INDIAN DIALECTS - - 46

IX. INDIAN RELIGION AND PARLIAMENT - 51

X. BUILDING THE FIRST CHURCH - 6 1

XI. THE FIRST BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN - - 68

XII. RIEL'S REBELLION - - 83

XIII. THE CAUSES OF THE REBELLION - - 93

XIV. TRUE AND FALSE BRAVERY - 98
XV. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDIANS — MR. EVANS :

HIS WORK, MISTAKE, AND PERSECUTION - IO2

XVI. LAND RIGHTS OF FIRST SETTLERS - 118

XVII. DIFFICULTIES OF CHURCH WORK - - 130

XVIII. MISSIONS AMONG SETTLERS - 139

XIX. CRITICISM OF CHURCH METHODS - 154

XX. THE SASKATCHEWAN COUNTRY - 163

XXI. EMIGRANTS AND EMIGRATION - - 171

XXII. THE FUTURE OF NORTH-WEST CANADA - - 180

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

CANON NEWTON Frontispiece

VIEW OF EDMONTON - Page 1 7

A DOG-TRAIN - ... „ 23

DR. MCLEAN, FIRST BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN - „ 69

EMMANUEL COLLEGE, PRINCE ALBERT, NORTH-
WEST TERRITORIES - „ 77

ST. MARY'S PRO-CATHEDRAL, PRINCE ALBERT,

NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES - - To face page 130

CHAPTER I.

THE FAR NORTH-WEST.

IN the spring of 1875 I left my parish in the
Toronto diocese to become a missionary in
'the far North -West.' Little at that time was
known of this great district by the people of Canada,
and my undertaking was a sufficiently serious one,
in consideration of the means that were placed at
my disposal. In the summer of 1874 the first
Bishop of Saskatchewan had been consecrated at
Lambeth. On his return to his diocese he had met
the provincial synod of the Church of England in
session at Montreal, and had appealed for two
clergymen to serve as missionaries. As a result of
his appeal, it was arranged that I should go to
Edmonton as the missionary supported by the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

During the winter before my journey, I had time
to look about me, and to make inquiries concern-
ing the countries which I purposed to visit, and con-
cerning the best means of getting to them. A
Methodist missionary from the Saskatchewan visited

2 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Ontario during that winter, and made speeches which
were reported in the newspapers ; but I could gather
very little from them that was of practical service to
me. A large map, which had been published by
the General Government of Canada gave me some
idea of the Hudson Bay trading-posts, and of the
vast distances between them ; but, evidently to cover
ignorance, the intervening spaces were dotted with
the names of Indian tribes who did — or at least
were supposed to — roam somewhere between those
posts.

It looked a very serious business to get to Edmon-
ton and the mountain district around it, without any
well-defined means of transit. I should have to
journey through a region where there were no public
boats, no bridges crossing the rivers, no guides whom
I could hire, and no means of protection either from
rude white men or from savage Indians. So matters
seemed to a simple clergyman, who had undertaken
the work of the Church, in obedience to the call of
Divine Providence. The way was by no means plain,
but it was the way of faith, and with God for Guide
and Protector, surely even more uncertain and
perilous journeys might be hopefully undertaken.

On arriving at Collingwood, on the south point of
the Georgian Bay, with a favourite horse, a light
buckboard, and an English orphan boy as my servant
and companion, I found the ice was still in the bay,
but the vessel ready to proceed as soon as practic-
able up the Great Lakes. I had a day or two of
pleasant waiting at the hospitable Rectory, and then

THE FAR NORTH-WEST 3

the generous Rector, Dr. Lett, did me a last kind-
ness, and gave me his last farewell.

The way up the Great JLakes, even in those days,
was a well-travelled route as far as Prince Arthur's
Landing. This place was named after one of the
Queen's sons, who had gone up as far as this, in his
Canadian travels, in order to see something of the
fine scenery of the lakes. At the time of the Prince's
visit the place was a mere cedar swamp, at one
corner of a noble bay of water, near to Fort William ;
but now it is a splendid town, and of great promise
for the future.

The boat by which we travelled arrived at Prince
Arthur's Landing late on the Saturday night, or,
rather, early on the Sunday morning, and, as it was
the first boat of the season, all the people from far
and near gathered together to meet her, and the
little place was crowded with quite a mass of people.
No place — not even a bed on the floor — could be
obtained at any hotel ; and though we searched
every where, we could hear of no shelter in any build-
ing. So, although it was the Sunday morning, we
had to purchase a tent, and pitch it on the shore of
the bay, to buy food for the horse, and to make our-
selves as comfortable as we could under the circum-
stances. At eleven o'clock we went to the little
church, and assisted the clergyman in reading
prayers. At the evening service we were invited to
preach the sermon.

Now commenced the rough part of our journey.
It had been represented to us in Ontario that we

I — 2

4 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

should find the new Dawson Route a very con-
venient and expeditious road ; and as it was de-
clared to be the direct route, and also under Govern-
ment management, we were very hopeful of good
experiences. Several times, however, the road swas
stated to be ready for us, and then, on presenting
ourselves to begin our journey, we were requested to
delay for a day, and then <for the next day. The
truth was that the road was not ready, and when we
did proceed we found confusion everywhere : there
was no expedition in the transit boats on the in-
numerable lakes ; servants were rough and unfitted
for their duties ; paths or roads were ill-made, or else
not made at all, and over these we had to pass with
our goods as best we could. Everything we had,
even the buckboard. had to be taken to pieces and
put together again several times each day. Our
goods were so carelessly thrown into the light boats
that we wondered to find that our losses were so
few, and our consequent discomfort so small. Most
of our fellow-passengers were Canadian backwoods-
men, who were proceeding to Manitoba with their
teams of horses or oxen, to try their fortune on the
prairies.

Just then several parties of Government surveyors
were going out into these wilds to follow their pro-
fession, and I found them very courteous and help-
ful, and on several occasions I should have been in
perilous straits but for their kindly assistance. One
gentleman from Ottawa, a great big-hearted fellow,
perhaps to tease me as much as anything else,

THE FAR NORTH-WEST 5

pretended to be an outrageous sceptic. Yet he
willingly allowed daily prayers in his tent, helped
to get me a room for Sunday service whenever it
was practicable, and generally acted so much like a
good Samaritan to the missionary, that the impres-
sion still remains with me that such a man could
not be far from the kingdom of God.

This Dawson Route was a long one, and the
journey through it was a wearisome business ; yet,
like all disagreeable experiences, it came to an end
at last. After the boating was done we put our
buckboard together, and tried to push on ahead of
the other passengers, who were more heavily laden.
We had covered about thirty miles, and had arrived
near a place called Oak Point, when, while we were
drinking our tea, we missed our horse, and found
he had been so tormented by the flies that he
had broken his line and gone back again. We
passed a weary and anxious night in our tent, as
we were quite unable to help ourselves ; but next
day our fellow-passengers brought the horse along
with them, and then we pressed on for Winnipeg.

On bidding farewell to this Dawson Route — up
which General Wolseley came with has troops to
quell the Red River rebellion — we may observe that
the scenery was often very fine, and sometimes even
splendid. The Nepigon and Rainey Rivers greatly
impressed us with their scenes of exquisite beauty,
and the passage of the falls on the latter river was
an experience that would be well worth recording.

CHAPTER II.
WINNIPEG AND THE PRAIRIES.

AT the end of the month of May the prairies
around Winnipeg are a sight to see. The
earth is a carpet of living green, sweetly woven
with golden and other colours. Nature does not
appear in a gaudy dress ; the fashion she wears is
that of chaste simplicity, as if she did not need too
much adornment. The sky overhead speaks of
distance — of expansiveness ; and when the true poet
of the prairies shall appear, the clear blue skies of
Manitoba will furnish him with many symbols of
beautiful thoughts and truths.

Our first impressions of Winnipeg were not de-
lightful ones. It was the time of the locust plague.
The chief street seemed to have its -full share of
grog-shops. Some of the traders evidently thought
the new-comers were very green, and several of the
most prominent citizens proved 'quite smart' in
their business transactions. Two horses which I
purchased for my distant journey proved to be
utterly useless creatures, and they had to be

WINNIPEG AND THE PRAIRIES 7

abandoned on the plains when it was very difficult
to manage without them. Till I could start on my
journey, of nearly a thousand miles, I lived in my
tent near the old Hudson Bay Fort Garry, and I
bought my experience dearly. My own idea was to
start for Edmonton with two horses, and provisions
enough to keep me from post to post as I went
along. I proposed to travel some forty or fifty miles
each day. This, however, was not considered to be
the right course for me to pursue. Besides the
buckboard, it was thought necessary for me to have
a Red River cart and abundance of provisions, for I
was told that I might not be able to procure any
when I arrived at Edmonton, and the winter would
be at hand. At last, in the week succeeding the
sixth Sunday after Trinity, I resumed my journey
from Winnipeg to Edmonton, finding the trails as I
could, and meeting with all kinds of mishaps from
day to day. Sometimes the horses strayed, or the
Red River cart, which was built all of wood, would
break down, or from careless driving or restive
horses would be upset. Now and then the hills
were too steep for our horses to draw up the loads,
and we had to wait for assistance from some chance
passers-by, who would sometimes tie the load to the
horse's tail, without any harness, and so pull the
load up the hill in the most absurd, yet most
effective, manner.

This slow "travelling on the plains becomes in time
rather wearisome. You rise with the sun, take your
breakfast, collect the horses, pack your tent, bedding,

8 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

and camp utensils, and start off for a ten miles
' spell.' You have no idea of what may be before
you — what creeks, or small rivers, or boggy places
you may have to encounter. All you know is, that
somehow you must be prepared to meet any diffi-
culty and to overcome it. The worse the trouble,
the greater is the need of calm self-possession in
order that you may be able to devise some proper
expedients for meeting the new difficulty. A
freighter of course knows the road, and is accus-
tomed to his business, and he secures the necessary
assistance ; but the inexperienced clergyman has no
advantages, and finds it ' a hard road to travel ' on
his own account.

The first spell of the day done, the horses are
unharnessed and let loose to graze, wood is
collected, the kettle is boiled, the tea is made, and
the cloth is laid for dinner. An hour passes,, and
then the journey is resumed as before until the
setting of the sun tells you that it is time to camp
for the night. Then you look out for good grass for
the horses, and for good wood and water. You pitch
your tent, provide your supper, and eat it heartily ;
put the logs on the camp-fire, either to bake your
bread for the morrow, or to drive away the mosqui-
toes, or to scare the wolves from the provisions.
In the deep silence the sound of the horses' bells is
very welcome, for you know the horses have found
their pasture-ground for the night, and that they will
be easily captured in the morning. If the night is
stormy, you secure your tent-pegs and ropes ; or if

WINNIPEG AND THE PRAIRIES 9

the evening is calm and fine, you open the folds of
the tent, and watch thp changing shadows of the
firelight, or you turn your eyes to the heavens, which
are aglow with brilliant stars, and in the silence and
the" solitude you think and feel as you cannot do
amid the smoke and din of great cities. To the
mere traveller all this is a pleasant experience, for
he knows that it is but for a little while, and he hopes
to see the face of friends again, and enjoy the
pleasures of reunion. But the missionary who faces
the silence and the solitude knows riot how long a
time his separation may last ; his worldly hopes are
but few ; he has no lust of gold like the miner ; he
is not in quest of new discoveries, as is the scientific
traveller, nor is commerce his aim, in common with
the trader or the merchant. His hope in his exile is
to be able to build folds for the Good Shepherd, and
to gather souls therein who have been redeemed,
and need to be prepared for everlasting blessedness.
In new lands the missionary desires to plant those
seeds of Christian civilization which will grow up to
regenerate the nations when he is dead and gone.
Bright are the visions of usefulness which God
permits the missionary to see in his times of solitude
and exile. The Christian missionary asks for no
pity ; for if the Christian religion be true, his is the
most noble work on which the sun looks down.

Before we reached Fort Carlton we met with an
accident which might have had serious results. A
mare which we had been obliged to purchase on the
road was really too young for her work of drawing

io TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

the Red River cart, and I had often asked the man
whom I engaged to drive her to get down and walk
up the hills, to make her load more easy, and to give
her a fair chance of getting safely to Edmonton.
The man was often too indolent to do this, and on
coming to steep places he would sit upright, and
allow himself to be drawn with great dignity up the
hills. He was an old Scotch soldier, and had
several medals for brave deeds done in the Indian
Mutiny, and he served us out of pure condescension.
Thinking it as well to let this gentleman use the
buckboard, and for me, as the master, to take a
humble place, I gave up the buckboard to him, and
mounted the Red River cart, intending to teach him,
by my example, how to walk up hills and lighten the
mare's burden. On coming to the hills I did this
once or twice successfully, but the Red River cart
is an awkward vehicle to get up on and down from,
and some tent-poles with long spikes projected close
by the shaft near which I had to descend to the
ground. As fate would have it, on coming to the
next hill, when alighting I in some way frightened
the mare, so that she began to kick, and then gallop
at a furious rate. I was all the while sitting on the
shaft of the cart, and expecting every moment that
the heels of the mare would dash my head on to the
spikes of the tent-poles close by me. Looking back
in my danger, I could see the man of many medals
as calm as usual, and much too full of dignity to
exercise the courage and quick-wittedness which
may have won him distinction on the far plains of

WINNIPEG AND THE PRAIRIES n

India. Of course the events in India were great
ones, and he was equal. to such occasions; but this
Red River cart business was beneath contempt, and
not at all worth the risk of personal harm, when no
distinction could possibly be won from an admiring
country. What, then, was I to do ? for the danger
seemed to be imminent, and there was no time to be
lost. My feet were hanging from the shaft, and I
could only spring from the elbows, and I could not
hope to do that far enough to avoid the risk of breaking
both my legs by the passage over them of the eight
or nine hundred pounds weight of goods which the
cart contained. Instead, therefore, of springing too
far, I quietly dropped under the wheel just where
the weight would pass over the strong thigh-bones
with the chance of not breaking them. The plan
answered very well, but of course the shock was
great to the whole system, so that I swooned away.
Recovering consciousness, I was placed in the buck-
board, and then tried to travel on a few miles ; but
the pain compelled me to have the tent pitched, and
as the next day was the Sunday, we rested in a most
desolate place, but I was quietly grateful that, in
God's mercy, things had turned out no worse.

At Fort Carlton we remained for three weeks,
and received many kindnesses from the gentlemen
in charge. Up to this time we had met very few
Indians, and they had not molested us in any way.
Now and then a brave had ridden up to us with
his gun cocked, half begging and half demanding
tobacc5, but that was all the annoyance we had

12 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

suffered ; as we proceeded, however, we found the
Indians discontented and restless, and adverse to
the passage of white men through their territories.
Before we reached the farther plains we learned
that a party of surveyors had been forced to return,
and that the Indians had proclaimed their intention
of stopping all strangers. In our little party at this
time we had a trader going west, and two Chippewa
Indians with their families. The presence of these
Indians was a source of danger to us, for the
Chippewas were hunters, and as these men had
killed some buffaloes during their journey they were
sure to be discovered. The Crees considered that
no strangers ought to kill their game, especially as
it was exceedingly scarce, and their families were
often in want. We were not surprised, therefore,
when, one Saturday evening, just south of Fort Pitt,
in the delta of the Saskatchewans, an Indian and a
boy presented themselves in our encampment, and,
after observing everything, told us that they had
been sent by their band to learn who wre were, and
to order us to return eastward, for they were
determined not to allow us to proceed through their
country. On receiving this message, we invited the
two Indians to share our supper, and requested
them to wait while I prepared a communication
which they could deliver to their chief and people.
In this letter I told the chief, in very respectful
language, who we were, and that the great chiefs of
the English Church had sent me to teach the people
around Edmonton the way of the true Christian

WINNIPEG AND THE PRAIRIES 13

religion, and that of course I must go on my journey,
and do the work which. I had been .sent to do. I
said I hoped that I should be able to see him and
his people on Monday, and that so we might become
friends and brothers together, which would give me
great satisfaction.

During the Sunday, and on the Monday morning,
I noticed the people in our encampment were often
in conference together, and that they were anxious
about the state of matters ; and when we started
on the trail I observed that they soon left it, and
did not return to it. When I inquired the reason
of their leaving the trail, they answered that they
wished to find a good crossing of the Battle River,
as the usual crossing was a difficult one. How-
ever, no crossing could be found, and, on turning
a bend in the stream, behold the whole plain was
covered with tents, and there were the very Indians
that our people had secretly desired to avoid. The
trader and the Chippewas looked confounded, and
would have escaped if they could have done so. They
would thus have brought themselves into danger, for
on the plains the Indians seem to observe every-
thing, and fear and flight will never secure protection
from them. However, all this turned out well in
the end, for the Indians were invited to hold a
conference, and when they were seated in circles
around the spot reserved for the missionary, he
appeared in a formal manner, arrayed in all possible
finery, and first gravely distributed plugs of tobacco
to all who were seated in the nearest circles.

14 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Then, inquiring whether they were all ready for the
conference, he wished to know whether they had
received the letter which he had sent. They had,
they said. Then he explained again who he was,
and what he was sent to do, and asked whether
the message to order such a man to go back was
reasonable. They answered that it was not. Then,
should we be friends and brothers, and would they
assist me on the journey, for I was a stranger in
their land ? They would give me all the help and
furtherance they were able, they replied. So with
many expressions of good feeling we departed, and
for two hundred miles we found the Indians friendly
everywhere. This good feeling has been maintained
during the vicissitudes of twenty long years.

A short time after this another Cree appeared,
and this also was on a Saturday evening. He
inquired whether I would go twenty miles to his
encampment, and hold a service with his people.
If so, he would take me there, and send me back
to the trail after the service. Who he was I knew
not, nor where he wished to take me. However, I
went, and found perhaps twenty tents beside a small
lake, and saw for the first and last time a great
herd of buffaloes close by the encampment. This
man proved to be the chief of the White Fish
Lake Indians, and one of Nature's noblemen.

Our trail ran nearly west from Carlton to the
Battle River ; then, turning northward, we made for
Buffalo Lake, and for the trail which leads from
the Bow River to Edmonton. The scenery about

WINNIPEG AND THE PRAIRIES 15

here was charming, and I never conceived it to be
possible for so many fowls to be collected together
as I saw around Buffalo Lake in that September.
Water and air seemed alive with them, and you
could not fire a gun without bringing down several
with every shot. The fecundity of Nature, when
she is left alone in these regions, is marvellous.

Fort Edmonton came in sight on September 28,
1875. The journey from Ontario took five months.
Now, in the year 1896, it is possible in that period
to visit the British Isles from Edmonton several
times with far less toil and inconvenience than I
had to endure in that single journey twenty years
ago.

CHAPTER III.
EARLY DIFFICULTIES.

EDMONTON, Alberta, North-West Canada, is
at the head of navigation on the North Sas-
katchewan River, which flows through Lake Winni-
peg into Hudson Bay. Twenty years ago it was
simply a fort, where hunters brought their furs,
and received goods in exchange. On my arrival I
found very few residents, and these were nearly all
servants of the Hudson Bay Company. Nine miles
from the fort were the headquarters of the Roman
Catholic Church, and the Catholics had, at that
time, a church inside the fort itself. Within sight
of the fort were also a Methodist chapel and a
parsonage. The leading people at the fort were
Methodists, and very zealous Methodists too. They
did not often attend our services, nor did they
encourage their servants to attend. At first, on
looking around me, I asked myself what I was to
do. I was far from civilization, and with only one
or two posts in the year to bring me letters. I had
at hand a tent, a surplice, a Prayer-Book, and a

EARLY DIFFICULTIES 17

Bible. There was no parsonage, no church, nor
any means for building either. I had been sent as
a missionary to settlers. But where were they ? I
could not find such persons as we usually designate
settlers. Beyond the mission-stations even a potato-
patch was seldom to be seen, and a farm never.

VIEW OF EDMONTON.

Three or four persons had, in years gone by, been
confirmed in the church at Manitoba, but these had
become attendants on Methodist ministrations. It
seemed as if I had come to upset Methodism, and
to introduce religious strife into a distant, and not
very devout, community. I would gladly have re-

£8 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

turned to other fields of labour, could I have been
so directed, or had circumstances permitted. Then
as to my means of subsistence. Two hundred pounds
a year in Edmonton was equal to about fifty pounds
a year in Ontario or in England. The usual price
of flour was twenty-five dollars a bag, or five pounds
sterling the hundredweight. Fifty cents, or two
shillings, bought a pound of sugar or of salt. During
the first two winters I bought barley for my mare,
and it cost me one pound sterling for two bushels
If the mare strayed away — and this she often did—
then to fetch her from the plains cost me five dollars
a day, or part of a day, as the case might be ; but if
the business took two days, a man expected two
sovereigns as his pay. All my expenses were in the
same proportion.

For a few days I received kindly hospitality at the
fort, and then I removed into a log building, which
was partly finished, and available by a mere acci-
dent. I used this both as a residence and as the
church. As the winter was at hand, it was necessary
for me to put this house into some sort of repair,
and the difficulty I had was to secure both lumber
and a carpenter. After some inquiry, I found a man
who had recently arrived from Manitoba with his
family, and I learned that he might be induced to
do the job for me. The man was sent for.

' Can you do this job ?' I asked.

' Well, I might,' he replied, * if the pay is all
right.'

' What do you want a day for this work ?' I said.

EARLY DIFFICULTIES 19

' Well, I'll ax around, and see ; it may be five
dollars a day might pay me,' was the answer.

The man did not look a very active carpenter, but
the work had to be done, and so I said :

' All right, you shall have five dollars a day ; come
to-morrow/

Days passed, however, and no carpenter appeared.
After awhile a large tent was pitched at a little
distance from the house, and it was crowded with
boys and girls of all ages ; there were ten of them,
and the carpenter was among them. Thinking, and
hoping, that he had come to begin the work at last,
I approached him with the question :

' Have you come to fix the house ?'

' No,' he said, ' I think not ; the pay is not enough.'

'What do you want, then ?' was the answer.

'Oh, food for my family, and five dollars a day.'

' What ! food for all these ?'

' Yes.'

' How much will the food cost ?'

' I do not know, but I must have food for my
family.'

' Well, then, buy it out of the five dollars.'

' No, I can't ; they want that in other ways.'

I need hardly say that this carpenter was not
engaged on these impossible conditions.

The first winter I spent at Edmonton was a very
cold and severe one, the frost often registering forty,
and even fifty, degrees below zero. I was fortunate
enough to obtain a small cooking stove at the fort,
which, with the pipes, cost one hundred dollars, or

2 2

20 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

twenty pounds sterling. This stove was not sufficient
to warm the room, and it needed perpetual attention
night and day, with the slight wood of the country,
to keep us from freezing in our badly-built house.
Often I tried to write, and placed the ink on the
front of the stove in order that it might thaw ; but
before the pen could touch the paper and write a
word the ink in the pen would be frozen, and writing
exceedingly difficult. At this time my books had not
arrived, and there was very little literature to be
obtained. The days were short and the nights were
long, so if there had been at command a large
library, the books would have been of no practical
use, for, besides the cold, we had no light, and could
not procure any. Neither coal nor oil could be
bought, and tallow for making candles cost fifty cents
a pound, and only about two pounds could be pur-
chased during the winter even at this price. To
help in bearing the cold, I ordered a jacket of moose-
skin and a pair of trousers. The charge was fifty
dollars, and I actually paid forty-five. Some of these
charges I have since compared with the charges
made by traders for the necessaries of life up among
the great newly-discovered lakes in Central Africa,
such as Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza,
and it is a positive fact that we, in North- West
America, then paid more for common goods than
the missionaries did in the far African regions.

The reader may well imagine that life under such
conditions of exile and solitude would not be con-
sidered a delightful state of human existence any-

EARLY DIFFICULTIES 21

where ; and yet even here the dark cloud had its
silver lining. From the first a few persons at-
tended the services. Officials in the Hudson Bay
Company's service were glad to renew old church
associations as they passed to other forts. Camps
of surveyors sought a little Sunday rest, and
change from the monotony of their life on the
prairies, in public worship after the manner of their
fathers. Mounted police, who had just come into
the country, and were located some eighteen or
twenty miles away, were offered frequent services.
Children were collected for instruction ; the Indian
tents were visited ; and the banner of the Church
was unfurled over a new, and vast, and hitherto un-
occupied region.

Such occupations and thoughts made ' life worth
living,' and I am thankful that the honour fell on me
of being the pioneer missionary of what is now an
extensive diocese.

CHAPTER IV.
DOG-TRAIN EXPERIENCES. •

DURING the winter of 1875, and the summer
of 1876, the monotony of the missionary's
life was broken by the occurrence of a few incidents.
In such circumstances as I was then placed in, small
things may seem to become very large. Few events
can happen in so isolated a place as Edmonton then
was, and when incidents do occur, they are sure to
get fixed on the memory. The Chief Factor of the
Hudson Bay Fort spent this particular winter in the
district. He would often pay me a visit, and even
sometimes would come to dinner. Our usual food
was pemmican, but on these special occasions we
managed a little soup, or even went to the luxury of
a pudding. The ingredients of these luxuries were
of various kinds, and the cooking results were not
always the same. But we expected little, and were
more than satisfied if the dinner proved to be pre-
sentable. After dinner would come such conversa-
tions and confidences as can only be born out of the
intimacies of times of solitude.

24 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

This winter, too, the surveyors were at work
surveying for the Canada Pacific Railway through
the passes of the Rocky Mountains, and they made
their head-quarters at Edmonton. Now and then
they came in, with their dog-trains, to do business,
and then would take me back with them twenty,
thirty, forty, and sometimes even fifty, miles on the
survey line. On these occasions I was glad to hold
services with the men ; or on a week-night, after
they had returned from their work, and finished
their supper, to give them a lecture on some subject
in which they were likely to be interested. These
visits were often very pleasant to me, and I hope
they were also helpful to the men who were in the
camps that I visited.

At these camps there would be perhaps fifty
persons, forming a company of the most varied kind,
gathered from every part of the Dominion and of
the British Isles. Their work was much the same
from day to day, whether it was cold or warm, or
whether it was wet or dry, and they found it exceed-
ingly monotonous. Hence, a fresh face and a voice
of kindness were always very welcome in the camp,
and served to remind them of the world they had
left so far away.

The gentlemen who led these camps were often
very clever in their profession, and their manners
were agreeable and refined, entitling them to much
respect. When railroads are finished, and travellers
are using them for comfortable and expeditious
journeys, how little men think of the labour, and

DOG-TRAIN EXPERIENCES 25

enterprise, and endurance of some of the best sons
of Canada in doing the necessary pioneer work !

It was at this time that I had my first experience
of travelling by a dog-train. You are wrapped up
like a mummy, and placed in the cariole ; a man
stands or runs behind you and drives the dogs ; you
are perfectly quiet, and have nothing to do, either
uphill, downhill, or on level ground, except to observe
the dogs, the driver, and the scenery, and you are
taken out at sunset, after having done your fifty
or sixty miles, with very little either of discomfort
or of weariness.

At the time I am writing there are very few dog-
trains seen in this district ; they have had their day,
and are passing away, leaving the wise man to think
of the compensations that attend upon all changed
earthly conditions.

About this time I paid my first visit to the St.
Albert Roman Catholic Mission, which was nine
miles from the fort. It had been intimated to me
that the Bishop's nephew was to be received into the
priesthood, and that, if I would go and see the func-
tion, and take luncheon with the Bishop, it would be
received as an act of politeness, and I could make
acquaintance with the Roman clergy who would be
gathered together on this occasion. I found a con-
venient church for such a far-off mission, and the
service was rendered as in the front parts of Canada.
There were perhaps twenty priests present, as well
as many lay brothers and gray nuns, who were all
actively employed in their several locations. It was

26 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

a sight well worth seeing, but I could not help pain-
fully realizing the fact that I, a solitary clergyman
of the Church of England, had to do my best, with
little support and no personal help, amid a half-
breed and Indian population, which was surrounded
by Catholic influences. On that and every occasion
when I have met the Roman Catholic Bishop and
his people, I am bound to say that I have received
most graceful and kindly attentions.

Near by the house which I occupied, and used for
the services, was the Methodist chapel, with the
parsonage attached. On my arrival the minister
had been removed to Victoria, seventy miles down
the Saskatchewan River, and another minister was
expected, along with the chairman of the district.
In due time these gentlemen appeared. The chair-
man was invited to call on the clergyman, but no visit
was paid in response to the invitation, and in due
time a report was sent to the Conference people in
Ontario, to the effect that this gentleman had seen
the sad sight, in the far North-West, of clergymen of
the Church of England, both at Prince Albert and
at Edmonton, ' working day and night, not so much
to call sinners to repentance, as to make Ritualists
of Presbyterians and Methodists.' By these people
our work was looked upon as an interference with
their rights, and our presence was simply shocking.
We were regarded as poachers who plunder the
preserves of respectable families in well-regulated
communities. The spirit of Dissent seems to be the
same all the world over. It cries out for liberty,

DOG-TRAIN EXPERIENCES 27

and shouts persecution,. whenever it has a chance in
England ; and in the colonies, if it have in any
respect the advantage of the Mother Church, it can
put on the air of upstarts, and ape the manners
which these, in popular estimation, are supposed to
wear.

During this winter a most sad event occurred
to Mr. McDougall, the chief Methodist missionary.
He and his son were on the plains hunting buffaloes
for their supply of meat. Towards the evening he
left his son to seek the camp, that he might prepare
supper. When his son arrived at the camp and
called his father, he was not there. The night
passed, and several days, and at last the body of the
good missionary was found frozen, with the hands
folded on the breast, and a calm smile upon the face,
as if he had composed himself to rest. For his zeal
in his work, and the manner of his death, the Metho-
dists of Canada justly hold his memory in much
respect and reverence.

CHAPTER V.
RIVER AND OTHER PERILS.

BY the summer of 1876 it had become evident
that the neighbourhood of Fort Edmonton,
on account of certain local circumstances and the
paucity of the population, could not occupy the
whole time of the missionary. He therefore en-
larged his work, and visited all the Indian bands
that he could find on the prairies. Some of the
Indians told him that they had roamed for years
without seeing the face of a missionary. If they
came to Edmonton Fort to sell their furs, they
might receive some religious attention, but such
casual work could help them very little. These
Indians had been morally influenced by a Mr.
Wolesey, who had for years lived amongst them,
and been as one of themselves. They had not at
that time been gathered on reservations, but went
where hunting was to be found. Often they asked
me for teachers for their children, and for mis-
sionaries who would live among them ; and their
wishes were duly transmitted to the Church autho-
rities, but with little immediate result.

RIVER AND OTHER PERILS 29

Once, by special appeals to the venerable Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel, I was able to get
a missionary placed at Saddle Lake, more than a
hundred miles from Edmonton, and thirty miles
from any other mission-station, and at first the new
mission seemed to be unusually promising ; but the
Methodist missionary, who had never held service
there before, thought it becoming to visit the station
regularly, and thus to sow contention, which resulted
in the discouragement of our missionary and the
final abandonment of the mission. Now, the Roman
Catholics and the Methodists both have a station
there, but the English Church has no representative
in all that large district of country.

Also at this time I began my visits to Victoria,
seventy miles away, by the invitation of the people
there. These people had been brought up at our
missions around the old Red River Settlement,
Manitoba, and they had wandered eight hundred
miles to find new homes. They were very poor, and
not a thriving people, but some of them were very
loyal to the Church of England, and wished the
privilege of her services. I went frequently, until
the cost of travelling and broken health rendered it
impossible for me to undertake the long rough
journeys. Many years have passed, and yet we
have no missionary at Victoria.

On this journey I once nearly lost my life. Thirty
miles from Edmonton is the Sturgeon River, on the
old trail, and in the spring-time, after the melting of
the snow, the river is deep and the current strong.

30 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

On one occasion, expecting difficulty in crossing this
stream, I took two men with me, and on arriving
there we found the river flooded. In one way and
another the baggage was passed across, and also the
horses and carts, and nothing was left but my light
buckboard, in which I was' to follow. I shouted for
one of the men to return through the river, that he
might drive me across, and by his weight in the
vehicle help to balance it in the stream ; but he was
positive there was no danger, and that I might
expect to reach the other side safely. However, in
coming to the centre of the river, the strong stream
sent the buckboard rolling over and over again. The
men were frightened, and rushed in to bring the
mare and buckboard ashore, while I went floating
down the stream. The men cried out, ' The mare is
drowned !' but I exclaimed, ' Lug her to the shore,
and quickly come to my assistance !' They did so,
and with a long stick helped me to land. Not far off
was the great Saskatchewan in full flood, against
which I could have made no resistance.

On this road to Victoria, from Edmonton, were
several streams almost as difficult to cross while in
flood as this one, and, as I said, the journey there
was expensive, and sometimes dangerous.

It may be interesting for clergymen ' at home,'
who can travel by express trains, to know that on
these journeys it is necessary to take most of our food
with us, and many other things that we may require.
A cart has to be loaded with a tent, bedding, sauce-
pans, tin cups, plates, flour, tea, and whatever is

RIVER AND OTHER PERILS 31

required. In fine weather, if there are no mosqui-
toes, the journey is pleasant enough ; but if it rains,
and the unmade roads are knee-deep in mud, this
kind of travelling will try a man's mettle. Nor
does the trouble rest with the difficulties of the
journey ; after it the missionary is likely to find that
the seeds of rheumatism and dyspepsia have been
sown by the exposure and the badly-prepared food,
so that his constitution needs to be unusually strong
if he is to bear this kind of labour during many
years. Yet it is, I suppose, by the same kind of
experiences, and the same thankless toil, that the
Christian civilization of our colonies is everywhere
built up. Which will prove in the end to be the
greater work — the heathen work or the colonial — we
are not able to determine. They will both have
vast issues in the Divine overruling ; but when our
colonies shall have blossomed into great nations,
the work of the pioneer Church will fully justify
itself, and receive its crown of honour and recog-
nition.

CHAPTER VI.

SECURING A DWELLING-PLACE.

TO one coming from Ontario in these days it
seems difficult to realize the fact that this
North-West is not more modern than other parts of
Canada. Excepting Quebec, the far North- West
might be called the oldest part of Canada. Travel-
lers reached these countries from Hudson Bay by
the great rivers and lakes ; and very early in the
eighteenth century the French Canadians, bent on
discovery or trade, had visited the most distant
places. For a hundred years Edmonton has been
the centre of a large fur trade, where Crees and
Blackfoot traded. Hundreds of miles were of no
account to the natives, who travelled in large bands
as convenience dictated. All places were the same
to them if the hunt was prosperous, and they had
ammunition and a few necessaries. Hence at the
forts few Indians were seen, except at certain times,
when they gathered from the plains, and pitched
their tents and did their business, exchanging their
furs for the things they required. Then they would
disappear again for months.

SECURING A DWELLING-PLACE 33

As a rule, our food was very bad in those days ;
pemmican or buffalo meat, mixed with fat, was the
great luxury. Our bread was made with soda in-
stead of yeast ; the commonest food was often unat-
tainable. One day a man, four miles away, promised
me a quart of milk if I would send for it. I was
really yearning for milk, and was ill for the want of
it. As soon as the boy was gone the eight miles for
the milk, I placed myself at the window overlooking
the road to watch his coming back, and as soon as
he returned I divided it, and drank my share with
the utmost greediness, as if my life depended on
it. Such luxury was felicity.

A few months sufficed to reveal the real difficulties
of my position as an isolated missionary. I had
gone into a partly - finished log house, which I
obtained by a mere accident ; two hundred dollars
of my own money had been spent in making the
house at all habitable. We used the whole of the
upper part for a chapel, and in fine weather it was
very suitable, and looked very well ; but in snowy
weather the storms gave us great trouble. Often
on Sunday mornings we had to use shovels to throw
the snow out of the window ; then, when the fire
had melted the snow on the open rafters, the wet
came down on our heads, and caused discomfort at
the services. I could find no accommodation in the
small log cottages close by. These generally con-
sisted of two rooms, and were occupied by large
families. In these there was little method of house-
keeping, and no privacy. If I was to remain in

3

34 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Edmonton, it seemed difficult to know what to do,
for my house was held in a very precarious manner.
One morning a neighbour, who was a trader, pre-
sented himself, and offered to sell me his house and
land for a thousand dollars, as he badly wanted
money. This seemed to be a Providential offer, for
the house alone had cost that amount. On sending
to the Church authorities, however, I could only
learn that there were no funds available for such a
purpose, and my affairs continued as unsettled as
ever.

Since then the land alone has been sold for many
thousands of dollars for building purposes, and funds
have been secured for the building of a fine church,
and the provision of an endowment for the minister
in the town of Edmonton.

A little time after this a communication came to
me from the owner of the house in which I lived,
telling me that the use of the house was immediately
required, and that he wished to have possession by
ten o'clock the next morning. Of course I was a
little surprised, as the house belonged to the chief
trader, who was expecting to leave the Hudson Bay
service. He had claimed three settlers' lots for him-
self and his brothers, but held them in a precarious
manner ; for the Canadian Government, in buying
the Hudson Bay Company's interests in the North-
West, had, in their bargain, included all Hudson
Bay officers ; and as these already had their share
of the spoil, they were prevented from becoming
settlers on their own separate account. These

SECURING A DWELLING-PLACE 35

three lots led up to the Methodist mission property,
and comprise a large 'part of the new town of
Edmonton. It is a curious part of the local history
which records that these lots were conveyed to
other persons, and helped to make the fortunes, in
one case, of two persons. If history, in small and
large matters, were truly written, without gloss, and
just as the facts occurred, what a commotion would
be created, and how many would want it sup-
pressed !

However, as I could not purchase a piece of land
to build a cottage where Edmonton now is, I had
looked about me for a ' location,' and I chose the
Hermitage, where I now live, and I took possession
of it a few days after receiving the notice above men-
tioned. It was in the middle of December, 1876, that
I took up my permanent residence. A part of the
summer had been occupied in clearing the spot of
willows, and in building a small log house, for when
I took shelter there — as Paddy says — there was no
roof over my head, and no floor for my feet. It
was with the greatest difficulty that I obtained
lumber and shingles at heavy expense, and then I
had to fetch them almost entirely by myself from a
great distance, and to spend two nights in the snow
in doing this team-work. Let those who suppose
colonial pioneer missionary work is easy and
luxurious, try it under such circumstances, and they
will soon be converted to a more reasonable mind.

The Hermitage is situated on the North Sas-
katchewan river, about seven miles from Edmonton ;

3—2

36 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

it would in most countries be considered a pleasant
locality. Around it are hills and valleys, trees and
water. From it for twenty years missionary journeys
have been made to settlements, and Indian tents,
over a space of two hundred miles, and it hasi
been the centre of all the work which one solitary
missionary has been able to accomplish.

As this district is now well settled, it may interest
readers to know one of my experiences on the first
morning that I spent at the Hermitage in clearing the
ground. We had pitched our tent in a valley by the
brook, and early in the morning the boy came to
the tent door shouting, ' Sir ! sir ! there is a man
coming with cows.' The answer was, ' That is not
possible, for where can he be coming from, and
where can he be going to ?' Around us there were no
paths or roads of any kind, and the matter was dis-
missed from my mind. Soon, however, the voice
exclaimed again, ' It is not a man; it is bears !' On
looking from the tent, surely enough there were five
bears — a large bruin, a black bear, and three cubs
— quite near to us. Quickly I got a revolver and
sharp knives, and, placing the boy behind me in the
tent, I told him not to be frightened, but to do
whatever he was told to do. The bears looked
around unconcernedly for perhaps ten minutes, until
the bruin led the way up a hillside, and they all
disappeared. We never had visitors of any kind
that we were more pleased to see quietly go about
their business, as any accident might have brought
fatal consequences.

SECURING A DWELLING-PLACE 37

Shortly after we took up our residence at the
Hermitage, several events occurred indicative of the
crude state of our civilization, and the lawlessness
of the district. On my land I had a beautiful grove
of spruce firs, and being fond of trees, I spent time
and money in clearing the grove. Once, on return-
ing home, I found persons had in my absence
taken down the fence, cut down some of the trees,
scattered the waste around, and carried the timber
away. Presently I found the man who had done
this wrong, and told him not to come on such
business again. Instead of being ashamed, he told
me he should do as he pleased with the grove, and
that he should not hesitate to take it all away.
When I complained to the only civil authorities we
had, they replied that they had no instructions about
Crown lands and timber limits, and so refused to
give protection. Soon others came and did the
same, and gave me to understand that they had the
sanction of the local men, who did not recognise the
right of anyone to a piece of land, or of what was
on it. Out of this folly and injustice arose lots of
trouble to the Canadian Government by ' claim-
jumping,' which, as a piece of local history, may be
mentioned in its place.

Just then there was a small band of American
outlaws, and others, who stole horses and cattle, from
whom I suffered, and could get no protection. Civil
government could hardly have been more hopelessly
inefficient in any part of her Majesty's Empire.

CHAPTER VII.
HALF-BREED RACES.

IT is now time to speak of the natives of the
country among whom my lot was cast. These
are locally known as half-breeds and Indians. Of
the Indians some account will be given in a later
chapter.

Our half-races are divided into English and
French, chiefly because of their languages. Probably
the French are the older people, for the French from
Quebec found their way in early days up the Sas-
katchewan. These are Roman Catholics, and they
chiefly live around the Catholic mission-stations.
To see them turn out on some holiday occasion, one
could fancy one's self in a French provincial town.
Their manners are very French, and by no means
ungraceful. Their French is that of the eighteenth
century — country French with a mixture of the
modern Parisian accent. All this is accounted for,
partly by their French ancestors of Quebec, and
partly by their education in connection with St.
Albert's Mission. The women especially have

HALF-BREED RACES 39

often very modest and pretty manners, and can
carry themselves with feminine dignity and pro-
priety. From early life they are cared for and
trained by the Grey Sisters, and, being naturally
imitative, they catch and retain nice modes of be-
haviour, which are quite a contrast to the surly
independent style sometimes observed in America,
the continent of liberty.

As a rule, the French half-races are not thought
to be thrifty. This arises partly from their circum-
stances. When they could freely go on to the plains,
and at any time get what meat they required, there
was little need for them to plan in order to secure the
necessaries of life. Now, however, they will have
the opportunity of developing the careful qualities of
their French ancestors, and we hope to see them a
prosperous people among the new communities of
this promising North-West. Undoubtedly they
need wise and disinterested guidance, and the con-
trol of an authoritative religion ; for the physical
life in the French half-race is very strong, and, like
all human qualities, can be rightly used or badly
abused. Their friends hope to see them take an
honourable place among the many and diverse races
who are now pouring into the pleasant Saskatchewan
country. The other half-breeds are called English
half-breeds, because they speak the English language,
or else are, in religion, separate from Roman
Catholicism. In fact, they are generally the descen-
dants of Scotchmen or Orkney men who were in
the Hudson Bay service, and who consorted with

40 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Cree women, sometimes giving them marriage and
sometimes not. These matters will not bear close
examination ; but if facts could stand out clearly to
human view, as they are in the sight of God, it
might amuse some ethnologists, and shock others,
to find the descendants of great names scattered
abroad on these vast prairies, and sometimes called
Indians, and sometimes half-breeds. I know half-
breeds whom I respect very much, whose fathers
went to Eastern Canada, or to England, and lived
in respectable comfort with their newly-wedded
wives, who never communicated with their children
or recognised them in any way. Some time ago,
on my way to Red Deer, I met a blind man led by
his wife, and I was greatly struck with his fine ap-
pearance and dignified and graceful manners, of
which, being blind, he seemed quite unconscious.
On inquiry, I found him to be the son of a man
bearing a well-known name in the North-West.
He was begging for his living, and soon died in
great destitution and misery.

My strong impression is that, for a hundred miles
around these forts, the half-breeds are less Indian
than they are generally supposed to be. Years ago
the first mother would be Indian, then the next
generation and the next would intermarry among
themselves, and from these the Orkney men would
take their wives, until the predominant quality
would be Scotch. Somehow the Cree language has
a charm for these people, and as the Cree is freely
used with the English, the real ancestry of the

HALF-BREED RACES 41

people may be readily observed. Often when I
visited Saddle Lake, more than a hundred miles
away, an old man stayed with me who spoke only
Cree ; if I had met him in an English village, I
should not have questioned his nationality, even if
he had used the English language as though it were
his native tongue. One of the well-known Indian
chiefs is undoubtedly of English blood ; another
prominent man is the son of a Dane. Another of
my friends interested me much. When I went into
his tent, he was as polite as the patriarch Abraham
could have been. He arranged the cushions care-
fully, and placed himself in an attitude of self-
respect, yet of reverence, towards his visitor. With
his observations he shrugged his shoulders, and
spoke his Cree with a slight nasal intonation. His
manner was that of a diplomatist, and I wondered
where I had seen his face before, and the character-
istic curl on his forehead, and then I thought of
Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield). This man's father
was a French Jew, who was trading in these
parts.

Hence it is not easy to classify the half-races in
our North-West. An Indian now is a man who
takes the treaty with the Government at Ottawa,
and lives on a reservation. If he should neglect to
do this he is a half-breed ; or if, having taken the
treaty, he arranges to retire from it, he is ' half-race,'
which in any case is probably his proper designation.
Hence the relationship of these people to the Hudson
Bay Company officials is a very close one. Many

42 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

of them are their children ; they have been their
hunters or their freighters. It was the interest, and
even the necessity, of both parties that they should
stand well together. It would have been better if
this relationship had been more remembered by the
Hudson Bay Company when they transferred their
real or supposed rights to the Canadian Govern-
ment, by the permission of the English Parliament.
No notice was taken of half-breed rights, French or
English ; they were all designated as Indian, a
designation not true to the facts of the case, although
convenient for Hudson Bay purposes.

Sometimes I see statements about the benevolent
relationships existing between the Hudson Bay forts
and the natives which surprise me ; and I ask myself,
What natives do they mean ? Do they speak of their
own kindred around the forts, or the hunters who
are in many ways closely related to them ? It would
be strange if they were not humane to their own ;
but why should men of any class take credit for
that ? The fact is, the Hudson Bay Company was
a trading corporation which existed for gain, and
made it at any cost. They were no better and no
worse than such corporations have always been,
and are, in every part of the world. Their policy
was not benevolence, but wealth ; and the moral
condition of the forts, and the character of the
relationship between them and the natives of every
kind, depended greatly on the individual men in
charge of the forts, and their influence for good and
evil. Visitors from a distance did not see every-

HALF-BREED RACES 43

thing — only the things that were not objectionable,
and such as they might report at home. To read,
for example, in the report of a lecture before the
Colonial Institute in London, that intoxicating
liquor was not even kept for private use in the
interior Hudson Bay forts, for the sake of example
to the natives, and that a challenge might be made
to the world to show such high principle in a corpo-
ration, is simply preposterous nonsense. I have
myself seen, in the Mountain Fort, a curious
arrangement for serving out rum in trade with the
Blackfeet, and near Edmonton Fort is ' Drunken
Lake,' keeping up the tradition of Hudson Bay's
most unholy rites — a tradition not likely to be soon
extinguished.

Many of the most ancient Indian customs are
still retained by the half-races, both French and
English. Women prepare the food, and spread it
before the men ; when all is ready they retire, and
leave the feast for the lords of creation, and then
afterwards eat what may be left. At first the visitor
from a distance is not pleased with this custom, and
seeks to change it ; but he finds it is of no use to
interfere, and he soon quietly acquiesces.

The custom twenty years ago, even in the houses,
was to spread the food on the floor, and to sit a la
Turk— crossed-legged. Tables and chairs seemed
unnecessary encumbrances.

Moss bags were in universal use for infants and
small children, and the Egyptian mummy dress was
exactly reproduced in the Far West. They also love

44 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

horses, and dislike walking, except in hunting. Half-
race people will walk miles to hunt their horses on
the prairie, rather than go a small distance on foot
to church. To ride to worship on Sundays seems
to be a matter of dignity with them, and they attend
to appearances. When they are in settlements that
are isolated from the outer world, they practise
the rites of religion. However, immigration soon
changes their customs, and they quickly learn the
ways of civilized white people. I know among them
some of the most honourable men; and I have found
some of them base and unprincipled beyond any
power of description. If a half-race man is good,
he is very good ; if he is bad, he can be utterly de-
praved. In any case, he claims our pitiful interest,
for if he be not enrolled as an Indian to live on a
reservation, and so to receive the care of the Govern-
ment and the benevolence of the Churches, he is
left to fight his own way into a higher civilization,
without settled habits to guide and support him, or
the means of fulfilling the duties of the independent
position after which he aspires. Hence he farms a
little, and hunts a little, and freights a little, and
manages something from day to day, and is so con-
tinually on the borders of starvation that, when an
evil day comes, he falls into helpless suffering, to be
caught by some disease which will soon take him off.
Then, when a few years are passed, men ask where
are the half-races gone ? And how is it they dis-
appear ? Alas ! it is as true here as everywhere — by
cruelty and vice, or even by the well-meant benevo-

HALF-BREED RACES 45

lence of ' the higher race,' the natives of new lands
are ' improved ' off the face of the earth. It is a
sad and mysterious story. All new creations seem
to come into being through scenes of loss and pain,
as the human race fulfils its destiny.

For twenty years I have laboured for the welfare
of the half- races of the Canadian North- West, and
it would have given me real joy to predict for them
a splendid future. This is, however, quite impos-
sible. In another twenty years their name may be
only a memory.

Still, in the racial life of Canada, and all over the
continent of America, their qualities will remain,
and work to form the nations which will make the
history of this ' New World.'

CHAPTER VIII.
INDIAN DIALECTS.

THOUGH original Indian types are not now
abundant in the Canadian North-West, and
students of ethnology should be careful as to the
types of men chosen to represent the true ' red man '
of America, enough of them remain to convey a
distinct impression of their origin and history. Cir-
cumstances have given me fair opportunities of
observing them.

In my old Muskoka mission I often visited the
camps of Ojibwa Indians, and afterwards I saw a
little of the Mohawks near Rice Lake, Ontario.
Then, in my travels over the Great Lakes and by
the Dawson Route, I fell in with Ojibwa, Iroquois,
Swampy Crees, Plain Crees, Wood Crees, and
Blackfoot. Natives also have come down to
Edmonton from Athabasca, Peace River, and
McKenzie districts, with whom I have lived in free
communication ; and on comparing their types,
customs, dialects, as far as I was able, I cannot doubt
the general identity of these people with one another,

INDIAN DIALECTS 47

however mixed with the white race they may have
become.

A careful scholar will find the logical form of the
dialects the same, in their syntax, in the form of the
verbs, and in their wonderful conjugations, which
have an illimitable power of description, painting at
once to the ear, noun, adjective, verb, adverb, time,
place, and quality, even as the artist Turner threw
his landscape on canvas to the eye, and as effectively
describing the thing that is dealt with. Even now,
after centuries have passed, there is a clearly per-
ceptible connection between the sound of words.
Should the student use his comparative philology in
collating the dialects, he would see the dialects of
England transfused ; or he would notice how the
German and English become allied in the transmis-
sion of certain letters and their sounds ; or he would
recognise the laws of speech which divide, or unite,
on a larger scale, the Indo-Germanic languages.
Thus the d is often exchanged for the t, the s for
the sh, etc.

The other letters, depending on mental laws which
form sounds and arrange them into sentences, are
transmitted and retransmitted, until from surface
sound alone the dialects appear entirely different
languages, though they are the same, or very nearly
related, in the great groups of human speech. When
the time comes for a great philologist — if it be not
too late already — to collate the dialects of the
American Continent, he is likely to see the identity
of these, and to trace them to their source, viz., the

48 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

uplands of Asia. Allowance must also be made for
words retained or omitted — old forms and new forms
— as in all dialects and languages.

Missionaries of repute do not always take this view
of the Indian dialects. Archbishop Tache says :

' Each tribe talks a different language from any
European ; different — with the exception of Esqui-
maux, perhaps — from Asiatic or African idiom ; dif-
ferent even from the language talked by other
American tribes. Each of the races, even each of
the tribes of Indians in the Northern department,
uses a distinct dialect, as distinct the one from the
other as French is from Chinese, or English from
Hindustani.'

This is a specimen of the manner which is too
often employed in these matters by persons of posi-
tion, whose looseness of thought causes surprise,
and even astonishment The terms ' languages,'
' dialects,' ' idioms,' are all mixed up as if they meant
the same thing.

Now, whatever may be the differences of French
and Chinese, or of English and Hindustani, they
are not dialects, but great languages, belonging to
types of human speech that have little in common
in their formation. French is a dialect formed by
Indo-Germanic idioms, and Hindustani and English
belong to the same great stem of languages, and
they are all more or less allied. The Chinese
language is not placed in this great class by any
comparison at all. The Mongolian type of languages
holds together by its similarity of arrangement, mode

INDIAN DIALECTS 49

of formation, and methods of expressing sounds in
speech after its own manner. It is my belief that
learned research will prove that the Indian dialects
are merely the dialects of Eastern Asia, transplanted
to the American continent, and that the changes
have been often less than is generally supposed, even
in certain words which may be traceable to Mon-
golian roots.

Of these, almost daily I come across instances
which cannot be accounted for by accident, such as
the roots of words signifying common things— e. g.,
water, river, fire, the names of objects connected
with religion, and the names of places that are
similar in Asia and America. Thus, the root Ne, or
Cree for water (Nepe), forms the root of words in
the bays of Japan. Sepe, or Sebe, is the root for
the name of Siberia, or the land of rivers. The
Calmucs and Cossacks gave the designation to that
land of flowing streams, and the Calmucs and
Cossacks and Red Indians have much in common
in their language, physical aspects, customs, and
religion. In the Cree and in the Mongolian dia-
lects the letters b, p, and d, and k, ch, and s, z,
are perpetually interchanged ; hence the city of
Sebastopol, Sepastibol, or Sevastopol, in the Crimea,
connects the far East with the far West. Man-
churia Maniteau. Also the sameness of the terms
Manichou, Maintoo, Muanedoo, Manadeo, and
Mandu, in Asia and America, signifying the same
things, and connected with the same religious rites,
cannot be overlooked. Likewise the names of

4

So TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

certain places on the two continents have a curious
similarity, notwithstanding the blunders that are
made in describing them on the maps that are now
in use, viz. :

Jenissei, in Southern Siberia; Genisee, N.Y.,

U.S.A.

Geniseik, Siberia ; Tennessee, U.S.
Moscow, Russia ; Muskoka, Canada.
Sarces, Blackfoot Indians ; Sarcis, South Russia.
Mississippi, river in U.S.A. ; a bay in Japan.
Pe-chille Bay in China ; Chili on the west coast of

America.

Kichi Kulmagur, Indian and Mongolian for High
or True Calmucs.

CHAPTER IX.
INDIAN RELIGION AND PARLIAMENT.

HERE are not existing now, among the North-
JL West Indians, traditions respecting religion
that are much worth attention. Paganism remains
to some extent among tribes that are nominally
Christian, but its rites are practised secretly. When
hunters go on their solitary expeditions, they contrive
to make some offering to the spirit which incarnates
itself in the scenes about them, or in the objects of
their pursuit ; and they try to be on fair terms with
the great evil spirit as a matter of policy ; for the
great good spirit is good anyhow, and won't harm
anyone, while there is no accounting for Matchi-
Manitou, who might be spiteful, and cause trouble
and loss.

Here we have the remains of the old Shamaism of
Asia, before Buddhism became mixed up with it or
supplanted it. The ancient religion was clearly the
ideal pantheism of the East, where all nature was
poetized, and filled with a living, quickening, and
ever-present spirit, representing the mental state of

4—2

52 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

the worshipper. Was he intelligent and pure-
minded, then the conception and worship of the
Great Spirit would be elevated, and orderly, and
sustained by suitable rites. Was he passionate and
of sensual life, he would cringe and bow to the evil
spirit, and in worshipping become more debased
through his superstition. The same things occur
everywhere : in ancient India and Babylon, in
Western Europe and America. Man, in forming
his own religion, sees himself represented, and
worships his own creations, which ever tend to be-
come more and more like himself. It has been left
to modern times and our advanced century to formu-
late this worship into a creed, a rite, and a religion,
and to designate it, in pompous style, the worship
or religion of humanity.

As yet no ruins of temples have been found in all
this great region, nor is there any tradition of such
buildings among any of the tribes that are now exist-
ing. The medicine-man of the conjuring type is all
that is left of past times. This is what might have
been expected from the circumstances of the people,
if they came in isolated bands over Behring's
Straits. Such expeditions were likely to be self-
contained, whether they were voluntary or involun-
tary. The name Calmucs signifies a homeless
people, wanderers, dwellers in tents, or roamers.
Therefore they would not build towns or temples,
even if the climate encouraged them. Agriculture
is necessary before these things can be done. Towns
depend upon agriculture, and temples follow estab-

INDIAN RELIGION AND PARLIAMENT 53

lished rites of religion and an organized priesthood.
Hence we need not be surprised to find everywhere,
on the northern parts of the continent, only bury-
ing-places, and places for defence and war. As
tribes grew, and pressed on one another, conflict
would be inevitable, and thus the wandering life
would be perpetuated.

On our North-West plains there are still to be
traced three types of the Mongolian race : the dis-
tinctly Tartar or Calmuc, comprising the Toou-
Gooses, or Cossack type ; next the Chinese type ;
and then the Japanese type. We have already
mentioned the first, which on all sides forced itself
on our attention. The second came almost as a
surprise. In our second autumn here, the Indians
met at Victoria, seventy miles north of Edmonton,
and, to make the acquaintance of the whole band, I
determined to be present when they received their
treaty payments from the Canadian Government.
Sitting in my buckboard to survey the scene more
conveniently, and forgetting myself for the moment,
I exclaimed to a friend : ' Did you see that China-
man who has just passed ?' He lifted his finger,
asking silence — for an Indian does not like to be
observed ; but, sure enough, there he was : the eyes,
face, tawny skin, and braided hair hanging down his
back, instead of pigtail — all proclaimed the China-
man. Further observation confirmed the presence
of this type among the Crees of the North-West.

The Japanese type is found more frequently in
the mountains, and up the Peace River Country*

54 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

though it is represented here. A family near me,
who spoke Cree, out of charity took into their home
an Indian child. She grew up, and I married her
to a half-race man. She was a perfect Jap in height,
with the characteristic dark tawny skin, oblique dark
eyes, and Japanese nose and forehead. Her appear-
ance was bright and intelligent, as if she had just
come from Yokohama. ^ HHer brother was a Japanese
student in University College, London. Corean
faces as they are represented in pictures might well
pass for Indian faces. There is little difference.
The hammocks swung in a Siberian house, as
cradles for children, are in no way different from
those in Indian tents. Hudson Bay stockades and
buildings are quite Siberian, and the Turkish bath
may be seen any day in use on our prairies.

Undoubtedly there has been a great mingling of
races in all parts of this great continent of America,
although the type is mainly Mongolian from the
North Pole to Patagonia. To one who has travelled,
the difficulties of dispersion are not felt to be so very
great. In all probability the Mongolian, under various
designations, in ancient times wandered everywhere.
From the uplands of Asia he filled China, and
pressed into India, ancient Persia, Egypt, and Rome,
both old and new. Probably the saying, ' Scratch
a Russian, and you find the Tartar,' is true ethno-
logical science.

The Mongolian could have got to America from
the North-East or by Behring Sea. The Pacific
Gulf stream could have borne him from Japan, or

INDIAN RELIGION AND. PARLIAMENT 55

from the coasts of China ; or, for that matter, mixed
with the Malay element in the course of centuries,
the isles of the Pacific might have been his highway.
The Mongolian race had the compass ; they were
expert in boat-building; they understood astronomy;
and as we become more fully acquainted with their
arts, it is seen that in many ways they were a wise
people. Great things were done in olden times by
simple means which we think to have been impos-
sible under then existing conditions. If men could
build as they then did, and collect and polish precious
stones, and design ornaments, such as modern skill
cannot surpass or even equal, it is not unreason-
able to expect that they were also acquainted with
the earth and the sea.

Suppose we had consulted the Arabs who travelled
up the Nile, and traded among the people of the
great lakes of Africa, would Europe have been so
long ignorant of those regions ? And if China
claims to have sent her colonies to America in the
fifth, or even in preceding centuries, and to have
called the continent Fusang, why should we consider
the claim impossible or improbable ? The Chinese
profess to have a history of those events. Japan has
ancient maps on which a part of America is certainly
delineated ; and the Phoenicians, the ancient mariners,
have left their impress on every isle and continent
beneath the skies. When the temples and tombs of
Central America are carefully explored by scientific
men who are students of the arts, science, and
religion of the ancient nations, the unity of the race

56 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

of man is likely to become apparent, and disclosures
will be made which will be of surpassing interest to
those who are students of the earlier ages.

Tyre and Carthage and the Druids might well
have planted Mexico, China, Chili, Sumatra, and
Peru. The Siberians could have established
Shamaism and Buddhism, by organized emigrations
on the west coast of America. West of Selenginst
is the seat of Kahma Lama, the rival of the Tibe-
tan' Lama, the old seat of mixed Shamaism and
Buddhism — the typical religion of ancient America.

Emigrants from parts of Austria and the Crimea,
and people from the Scotch Highlands who are
familiar with the Gaelic, often remark on the simi-
larity of the sound of Cree to their own languages ;
and it certainly has an affinity with Turkish and
Hungarian ; many of its root words are European,
while the verb forms are a good deal like the
Hebrew. Certain people look to America for the
lost tribes of Israel ; it is not impossible that some
Jews may have found their way to it in the time
of their world-wide dispersion, although there is no
evidence of their presence. The religious rites and
customs, especially of circumcision and blood feud,
first-offerings and yearly festivals, were not peculiar
to the Hebrews ; they were customs very common
in the East, especially in the first periods of human
history, and were well known to, and practised
by, the inhabitants of Mid-Asia. Likewise the
tradition respecting a migration of Welshmen to
America may have truth in it, especially if they took

INDIAN RELIGION AND PARLIAMENT 57

their Druids with them, when the Romans were
hunting them out of existence in Great Britain.
They, with the Phoenician Baal-worshippers — who
were of the same priesthood — might have built the
temples and cities of Yucatan. The Welsh words
in Indian dialects may, however, take us far back in
the history of ancient languages.

Among Indian customs which are still retained,
although robbed of much of the ancient glory, is the
council Teppe, where the chief men assemble, and
confer on matters of importance to their people.
The Indian who is notified quietly attends his
parliament, and seats himself in silence. The chief
takes his position at the head of the assembly, which
is arranged 'in a circle, as if they were a band of
brothers. The speaker and medicine-man are on
his right hand. The pipe of peace is gravely filled
and lighted, and the chief passes it round, while all
is still in silence. This rite over, without hurry or
compromise of dignity, the speaker rises, and
narrates his description of the matter in hand, the
chiefs and his own view of it ; for in this theocracy
king and priest agree before matters are formally de-
bated in council. Should the matter set forth be of
much interest, exclamations of agreement are heard ;
if the council be not all of one mind, it is silent
until another brave arises, and carefully unfolds his
view, approaching the subject with delicacy, and
presenting it in another aspect, without any asperity,
or rudeness, or gross personalities.

When all have spoken, or signified their assent by

58 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

' Aha ! aha !' the assembly disperses as quietly as it
came together ; no formal vote is required, only the
chief keeps a hieroglyphical record, if it may seem
necessary. Changes are not hastily made, and only
when the agreement is general is any action taken.
If any differ from the general sentiment or opinion,
there is no brawling ; they quietly retire, and leave
all action to those immediately concerned, or even
drop off from the band and form relationships with
another band of Indians. Indians have not as yet
become civilized enough to enact the scenes which
we sometimes read of in the big pow-wows of
America and Europe.

Should any English Radical wish to study the
elements of the Russian Mir, by way of introducing
it into the social life of England, he may see it here
in its different degrees of ' evolution.' The land is
held in common by the tribe. At first they hunted
on it in common ; then, when they used any part of
it for cultivation, the tribe owned the cultivated
land ; cultivation gave no individual right of posses-
sion ; what was grown was usually shared among
members of the tribe, as they often worked together
or in bands. When cultivation increased, each
person would take the piece of ground allotted to
him by the Indian council, and gradually the sense
of right grew up, and every man who worked on
land, and fenced it and improved it, was regarded
as having a certain claim on it, which did not belong
to others who preferred fishing, hunting, or conjuring;
yet the tribe as a tribe were still masters of the

INDIAN RELIGION AND PARLIAMENT 59

whole, and the land could not be sold to, or used by,
strangers without the solemn consent of the whole
community. Were there a higher authority, as in
Russia or the United States, the tribe as a whole
would be responsible for its members, and the tribes
would have in fact double laws and customs — those
which existed in the tribe and bound the members
together, and the laws that were enforced on them
from without. These double laws and customs
have, in America, been the cause of much mis-
understanding and disputing, and often also the
excuse for much cruelty and injustice, and the
occasion of a bitter sense of wrong on the part of
the Indian race. The East and West have met
face to face, and the white man had no reverence or
sympathy for what he saw ; conflict was inevitable,
and the conquest of the red man was certain. Still,
the idea of the sacredness of close human relation-
ship which the Indian had, certainly as a sentiment,
was true to human nature as a whole ; and the rest-
lessness which is evident to-day among civilized
people is caused by the absence of this sense, in their
institutions, of the unity of tribes and nations, and
the brotherhood of men in the same circumstances.
' Advanced ' statesmanship can now show its superior
wisdom, by introducing laws and customs that will
cover the whole life of a nation, as the Indian laws
and customs united a tribe. But Europe cannot
adopt the Russian Mir system ; the Indians them-
selves grow out of it as their social life advances.
The Christian Mir is the true ideal for the happi-

60 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

ness and perfection of national life ; it is brother-
hood in Christ, and the rule that all men should be
members one of another.

In connection with this question — of the close
connection of Asia and America — it may not be
generally known that beyond the memory of man
the people of Siberia and North-West America have
traded together and been in free communication.
The island Imaklitt, one of the group of the Diomede,
was the centre of this trade, and thus Russia be-
came the possessor of the great Alaska region,
which was afterwards transferred to the United
States.

CHAPTER X.
BUILDING THE FIRST CHURCH.

WE now resume the narrative of other events
in our history. Our friend, the Chief
Factor, was retiring from the Hudson Bay service,
after many years of exile in these solitudes. He
was not, as he told me, in sympathy with the pro-
minent rulers of the company who were just then in
power at Fort Garry, and he therefore sought retire-
ment. Knowing the utter lawlessness of the country,
and the general condition of affairs, he urged me
to return with him, at least as far as Manitoba,
until more settled times came and more favourable
circumstances arose. This, however, could not be,
and, bidding me farewell, he said with tears in his
eyes :

' I do not like the idea of leaving you alone up
here ; it is not safe as things are.'

From the banks of the river I saw the boats which
conveyed him and his luggage float down the stream
with much regret, and I realized how lonely and
utterly unprotected I was among strangers who

62 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

were not in much sympathy with my work, or with
the Church which I served. On arriving at Fort
Garry, my friend found his wife in distress from the
roughness of the persons who were then in power,
and who had refused house accommodation to the
Chief Factor's family until his arrival there. A be-
loved child had died, as he conceived, through causes
connected with this harsh treatment. Surely this
was not an ideal retirement after thirty-five years of
solitary life, and often of separation from his family,
to whom he was greatly attached. The Chief Factor
was a man of noble presence, who wore the title
* Honourable,' as a gentleman should. His life was
clouded by the dishonesty of a Canadian lawyer and
M.P. This relative, and supposed friend, dissipated
the earnings of his many solitary years.

During the years 1876 and 1877 a small church
became absolutely necessary near the fort at
Edmonton. We had held services in whatever
houses could be obtained ; but sometimes the people
were away on the plains freighting, or there would
be sickness in the family, and the rooms could not
be used for Sunday gatherings. But how were we
to build, and where was the money to come from
for building ? Ours was not an Indian mission, but
a mission to settlers, and our people were very poor,
and there was absolutely no money current in the
country ; everything was done by barter, or in trade,
as it was called. The only standard of value was
skins — mostly beaver-skins — and it became a pro-
blem how to manage the finances of church-building

BUILDING THE FIRST CHURCH 63

when there were no finances, and no skins to barter
for labour, or the means of labour. And where were
the materials for buildings to be obtained ? or how
was even the ground to be secured on which a build-
ing could be safely erected? The question as to
who owned any land was a difficult one in those
days. The Hudson Bay Company were relinquishing
their rights — real and supposed — to the General
Government of Canada. That Government was
far off, and did not seem to know that it had any
responsibilities, or that people situated as we were
could possibly suffer any inconveniences. Surveys
were not made for several years, and no one knew
where his homestead was, or what land would be
allowed him when the surveys were made.

First we applied to a Hudson Bay officer, who
claimed lots, to give or to sell us a site for a church
and burial-ground, but we were refused ; then we
sent our request to the gentleman who is now
Sir Donald Smith, who replied most courteously
that the company were then in treaty with the
Government of Canada for the transfer of all their
lands in the North-West, and that it was not in
his power to grant any land for public purposes.
However, a settler, a mile from Fort Edmonton,
very kindly allowed us from his claim five acres, for
which I gave him five dollars, as the only way of
defining the bargain, and securing the rights of both
parties (these five acres afterwards became nine,
when the surveys took place). I made an endeavour
also to secure a lot of a hundred and sixty acres for

64 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Church property, but there were none at the time
available for our purpose. The ground being secured,
the next thing was to obtain building materials.

In the winter of 1876 the Bishop of the diocese
for the first time visited the Edmonton district, and
encouraged the idea of church - building. A com-
mittee of local men was consequently formed. The
Bishop went away, but before he was out of sight,
and even while the jingling of the dog-bells could
be heard, the supposed chairman turned to me and
exclaimed :

* Don't you suppose that I am going to act as
chairman to a committee to build a church in such
a country as this, and without means that can be
depended upon. Who is to pay for it ?'

I pleaded with him that he ought to have told the
Bishop that, and that his refusal to act now was not
fair either to the Bishop or to me. However, the
committee met once, and decided on the size of the
building, and that it was to be of lumber. Months
passed, and nothing more was done. Every now
and then I saw reports in the newspapers of the
influential committee which had been organized for
church - building purposes at Fort Edmonton, and
the reports sounded very grandly, so that I had to
shield my eyes that I might not be mentally blinded
by the glitter. As a matter of fact, the whole com-
mittee subscribed about thirty dollars towards the
two thousand dollars which the little church cost.
The business was abandoned as, under the circum-
stances, impracticable ; and there being no regular

BUILDING THE FIRST CHURCH 65

postal communications with my Bishop, I gave
orders to have the frame erected for the sum of
two hundred and fifty dollars ; the man allowed ten
dollars discount, and I myself paid two hundred and
forty dollars, as a first personal subscription, hoping
thereby to stir up the public generosity. Again the
building was at a standstill, until the Church autho-
rities sent the sum of five hundred dollars. Then,
under the direction of the chief trader, men were
provisioned and sent into the woods to cut lumber ;
and as flour was twenty-five dollars, or five pounds
sterling, per hundredweight ; sugar fifty cents, or
two shillings, a pound ; and nails fifty cents per
pound, the five hundred dollars were soon spent.
The shell of the church was nearly completed, the
inner roof was bare, and there was no chancel end.
The wages of the only man who would undertake
the work ran up frightfully. Just then a Govern-
ment saw-mill was being closed sixty miles above
the fort. I bought a part of their lumber, enough to
complete the building, and again this was my own
personal subscription. By the earnest appeals of
the Bishop of Saskatchewan, the Society for Pro-
moting Christian Knowledge sent another sum of
five hundred dollars, which the Bishop paid directly
to the chief trader, and without any handling of
mine. At the Bishop's request I afterwards handed
to him, as the trustee of the diocese, the whole
business. I was glad enough to be rid of the worry
of debt, and of the hindrance which it had become
to me in my work.

5

66 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

These matters require to be stated if the circum-
stances of a pioneer colonial missionary are to be
correctly narrated, or his work is to be understood
by persons at a distance. I have not pictured the
weary nights I spent in writing letters of appeal for
subscriptions to the leading people of the North-
West, with very little result ; nor can I describe
the sacrifice of common comforts, and even of the
necessaries of life, which had to be made while these
burdens lasted. I had faith and hope enough to
bear them once ; if I were called upon to pass
through the discipline a second time, I am afraid I
should lack the courage to make the attempt in
similar circumstances.

When any human work has to be done, in the
Church or out of it, the first thing necessary is to
comprehend the circumstances, and then to adapt
the means that are suitable in order to secure the
end that is in view. In most parts of the world,
that are in similar circumstances to Edmonton, a
mission would be first directed to the needs of the
natives, and then it would be purely a benevolent
enterprise. Such a mission is usually well sup-
ported ; a house is erected for the missionary and
his assistants, and funds are sent for church-build-
ing ; goods are supplied to him at the current rates,
and his way is cleared from embarrassments. After-
wards settlements grow up around the mission, and
after a varying number of years it will develop
into a self-sustaining mission. But if the Church
authorities begin missions to settlers before the time

BUILDING THE FIRST CHURCH 67

for so doing is fairly ripe, and then try to throw upon
them the difficulties of self-support, the attempt is
sure to fail, and clergyman after clergyman will have
to retire discouraged, perhaps with damaged reputa-
tions for zeal and energy, because they cannot do
what is impossible under the circumstances, and
what wisdom and good statesmanship would not
have asked them to attempt.

At Edmonton, in 1875, the sparse population
consisted of a few Hudson Bay employes, changing
mounted police, roaming miners, and people who
spoke the Cree language, and were half their time
freighting on the plains. Real settlers only arrived
years afterwards. Changes came, and then these
matters fell into other hands. This church was
subsequently sold by auction for fifty dollars, and
used for a stable. It ought to have remained where
it was built, and the ground around the church
would have made an excellent Church of England
cemetery.

5—2

CHAPTER XL
THE FIRST BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN.

IN memory of those early years of my work at
Edmonton, I wish to make a kindly record of
several persons whom I then knew, who are now
dead. The first is Colonel James Stewart, who was
formerly well known in Manitoba. His decease
took place at the Hermitage. He was originally a
native of Quebec, and his father was a judge there.
In early life he entered the Hudson Bay service, and
travelled over the most northern districts. He also
joined the search expedition under Dr. Rae to dis-
cover relics of Sir J. Franklin. He was a brave and
kindly man, and the true friend of every one.

Also I remember, very tenderly, William Lenny, the
blacksmith, a man of just mind and of a beautiful
spirit, who was once my churchwarden. He made,
and presented to the church, our first stove, with
the necessary pipes, and placed them in position — a
gift of love which I valued highly. He was born
in the Orkney Isles, and I buried his body at
Edmonton. But the most notable person I knew
in my work was the Right Reverend John McLean,

.DR. MCLEAN, FIRST BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN.

70 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

the first Bishop of Saskatchewan. Of this noble
and energetic Bishop, a well-informed correspondent
writes as follows :

' When the history of the Church of England in
Canada is written, it will have many a noble life to
record, many a deed of devotion, and many a life-
long self-sacrifice, worthy of Apostolic times. It is
impossible to over-estimate the permanent influence
of those who lay the foundation of Church work in
the various dependencies of the Colonial Empire, or
British Colonies. In the natural course of events
the men themselves pass away, but " their works
do follow them." The history of the Church in
Saskatchewan will ever be associated with the name
of Dr. John McLean, first Bishop of Saskatchewan,
who was born at Portsoy, Scotland, November 17,
1828. He graduated at the University of King's
College, Aberdeen ; was ordained deacon August i,
1858 ; priest, December 15, 1858, by Dr. Cronyn,
first Bishop of Huron. He became Archdeacon of
Assiniboia, 1866 ; was consecrated Bishop of Sas-
katchewan, May 3, 1874; and died November 7, 1886.

' Several eventful years have now rolled by since
Bishop McLean passed to his well-earned rest — a
man of noble devotion, ceaseless energy, and un-
tiring perseverance. It may perhaps be difficult to
find a Bishop so fitted in every way to guide and
build up the work of a Church, amid the ever-
changing scenes and peculiar requirements of
Western life ; a man of boundless enthusiasm, full
of hope for the future, well expressing the genius of

THE FIRST BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN 71

the " Western pioneer's faith " in the land of " illimit-
able possibilities." '

' At an early period in the history of North-West
Canada, the foundation and corner-stone of mis-
sionary work was laid in the Red River Settlement.
On St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24, 1865, Dr.
Machray was consecrated as the second Bishop of
Rupert's Land, the consecrators being Archbishop
Longley, of Canterbury ; Bishop Tait, of London ;
Bishop Harold Browne, of Ely ; Bishop Suther, of
Aberdeen; and Bishop Anderson, the first Bishop
of Rupert's Land. The diocese of Rupert's Land
then contained some two millions of square miles.
Beginning at the height near Port Arthur, it ex-
tended westward to the snow-capped summits of
the Rocky Mountains, southward to the boundary
line which divides the United States from Canada,
and northward without any defined limit. When
the Bishop of Rupert's Land reached the Red River
Settlement, after taking a survey of his work, he
determined to resuscitate the college begun by his
predecessor, and to establish a strong centre of
educational influence in connection with the church.
He offered the wardenship of his new college and
the archdeaconry of Assiniboia to his class-mate
and college companion, the Rev. John McLean, M.A.,
who was at that time connected with St. Paul's
Cathedral, London, Ontario, Canada West. The
Bishop of Rupert's Land, now Primate of Canada,
in his charge to the Synod in 1887, thus speaks of
his friend :

72 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

' " There is to myself personally, and I am sure to
the members of former Synods, one great blank on
this occasion. We miss the late able and energetic
Bishop of Saskatchewan. The friend of my youth,
whom I brought here to stand by my side, and with
whom I shared the cares of the early years of my
episcopate, he is naturally sorely missed by myself.
For his own diocese his labours were abundant.
The completed endowment of his see will ever
remain an enduring monument of his worth. But
such were his great and varied gifts, his readiness
of utterance, and his unceasing devotion, that his
death is a great loss to our province."

' The Rev. Mr. Wigram, the hon. secretary of the
great Church Missionary Society, spoke thus of him
in his sermon before the Synod :

' " When I left home last October, I looked forward
with keen pleasure to being welcomed in Saskatche-
wan by Bishop McLean, that man of force and
actibn who energized others by his own vigour, and
knew difficulties simply as things to be overcome."

' A year or two passed quietly away in college
work, and in the organization of the first parish in
the embryo city of Winnipeg, Holy Trinity, of
which the Archdeacon was Rector.

' It was in the last days of Hudson Bay rule, and
political and stirring changes were at hand ; the
North-West territories were transferred to Canada,
but Canadian rule was not established without
bloodshed and difficulty. Archdeacon McLean was
faithful at his post during these days of trouble and

THE FIRST BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN 73

political unrest ; we find him beside the prisoner,
and those who were condemned to death.

' Gunn's History states :

' " As soon as Major Boulton was safe within the
walls of Fort Garry, he was placed in irons, a court-
martial was held, he was found guilty of treason
against the Provisional Government, and sentenced
to be shot at noon the next day ; but at the inter-
cession of the Lord Bishop of Rupert's Land,
Archdeacon McLean, and, in short, of every
influential man among the English, and I have
been told also at the earnest -entreaty of the Catholic
clergy, the execution was delayed till midnight of
Saturday, the igth. Kiel, apparently, kept his deter-
mination to have Major Boulton shot up to ten
o'clock on Saturday night, two hours before the
execution was to have taken place, and Archdeacon
McLean had spent nearly twenty-four hours with
Major Boulton, administered the Sacrament to him,
and prepared him to meet his fate. At length Riel
yielded to the entreaties of Mr. Smith (now Sir
Donald Smith), and agreed to spare Boulton's life,
He immediately proceeded to the prison, and
intimated to Archdeacon McLean that he, Riel, had
been induced to spare Major Boulton's life, and had
further promised that, immediately on the meeting
of the Council, which was shortly to be elected, the
whole of the prisoners would be released, requesting
the Archdeacon at the same time to explain these
circumstances to Major Boulton and the other
prisoners."

74 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

' Major Boulton is now a distinguished member of
the Senate of Canada.

' Archdeacon McLean was requested, by the
Dominion Government, to take a tour through the
older provinces, and lecture on the North- West.
His glowing description of the Western prairies,
his enthusiastic faith in the future of North- West
Canada, was of great service in exciting an interest
in Manitoba and the North-West, and in directing
the attention of the Canadian public to the boundless
capabilities of this Western El Dorado.

' During this tour he collected a large sum of money
for St. John's College, Winnipeg. Manitoba and
the Territories now entered Confederation. The
prospects of settlement and development of the
North - West necessitated the reorganization of
Church work. The huge diocese of Rupert's Land
was divided. Bishop Horden was appointed to
Moosonee, Bishop Bompas to the Mackenzie River,
and Dr. McLean was consecrated by Royal mandate
at Lambeth, May 3, 1874, to the bishopric of
Saskatchewan.

' One might well have hesitated before undertaking
a work of such difficulty. In more modern times,
when a Bishop is appointed, he usually reaps the
benefit of the labour of his predecessor : he finds
endowment for his support secured, Church work
organized, and Church institutions established. But
such was not the case with Bishop McLean.
Everything had to be begun de novo. There was
no episcopal endowment. There were just two

THE FIRST BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN 75

missionaries in his vast jurisdiction, extending from
the Rocky Mountains to Lake Winnipeg. The year
after his consecration one of the two missionaries
died. There were other difficulties to contend with.
There were no railroads in those days. The Bishop
had to undertake the journey of five hundred miles
with dog-cariole in mid-winter in order to reach his
diocese, camping each night in the snow, with no
friendly shelter save the canopy of heaven. The
thought of one day reaching Saskatchewan in a
" Pulman " was not even within the reach of the
wildest flight of imagination. The very idea of a
sleeper, and the ubiquitous porter, would have
been considered the inauguration of an episcopal
millennium. In his first journey the Bishop travelled
two thousand miles with the thermometer often
registering 40° below zero.

' In 1878 the Bishop visited England with the
intention of raising further funds for the bishopric
endowment and for other objects. It may here be
stated that the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel most kindly and generously allowed the
Bishop two hundred pounds per annum, to enable
him to carry on his work, and they continued this
as long as the Bishop required it. Although many
tried to dissuade the Bishop from attempting to
collect funds, owing to the very great depression
prevalent at that time, he was not daunted, and the
enthusiasm of his words, and the single-heartedness
of his devotion, soon made him many friends and
supporters, and he returned to his diocese with a

76 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

considerable part of the necessary episcopal endow-
ment funds, for missionary and educational work,
and for building. He made his headquarters at
Prince Albert. Emmanuel College was built, and
opened in 1879, as the first institution for higher
education in the diocese. Several of the missionaries
of the North-West were trained there. The Bishop
took part in the college work as the Professor of
Divinity. The Bishop had an Act passed, by the
Dominion Parliament, for establishing a University
of Saskatchewan, and no doubt he would have
secured funds for endowing it had he lived. His
great desire was to have an educated clergy. In his
last address to the Synod, on August 4, 1886, he said :

' " I earnestly hope that the clergy will try to follow
the advice now given. I think it right to state that
I am so strongly impressed with the importance of
encouraging steady and systematic study in those
branches that tend to equip a clergyman for
thoroughly discharging the duties of his office, and
so convinced that those who are content with just
study enough to pass the examination for Holy
Orders cannot really fulfil their functions thoroughly,
that, while God spares me as Bishop, I shall make
this consideration a very influential one in deter-
mining questions of promotion, as far as these
questions lie within my influence."

' In the same address the Bishop thus spoke of
Emmanuel College :

' " The college is also becoming the mainstay of
the diocese for the supply of clergy for the settle-

a

78 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

ments. Already four out of the six most important
towns in the diocese have, as their clergymen, men
who received their training at the institution, and
these are working to my entire satisfaction, while
several less-prominent posts are most worthily filled
by its former students."

' It perhaps should be stated that the Bishop was
approached on the subject of accepting one of the
older dioceses of Eastern Canada ; but he was faith-
ful to his Western diocese.

'The Bishop was in the town of Prince Albert
during the rebellion of 1885. No one who was in
Prince Albert during those days of danger and
anxiety will ever forget the Bishop's sermon on the
Sunday after the Duck Lake fight. The North-
West Mounted Police and the local militia were
drawn up in the square. The Bishop took his stand
under the flagstaff in the centre, and, in words of
patriotic eloquence, spoke of the noble citizens of
Prince Albert who had fallen in the Duck Lake
field of battle, of the glorious traditions of British
law and justice, and of his faith in the permanent
stability of the Canadian Dominion.

' In the autumn after the rebellion the Synod met.
It was the Bishop's last Synod, and in his address
he said :

' " Since we last met I have been able to visit, and
hold Confirmation, in every mission in the diocese
but one, and this will be shortly visited. In the great
majority of cases I have made at least two visits to
each mission."

THE FIRST BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN 79

' After the Synod was over, although he was not
in good health, he started on a long visitation of the
diocese. In his diary he writes as follows :

' " Monday, August 16. — Left home with Hume."
' " Tuesday, 24th. — Reached Calgary."
' On the 2Qth he received a telegram telling of the
birth of his son, but sent word that he must push
on for Edmonton, as his work must not be neglected,
and he would return as soon as possible.

'" Sunday, September 5. — Confirmation in All Saints'
Church, Edmonton.

' " Monday, September 6. — I did not feel well to-day,
but started on our return journey. On going down
the hill near the fort we met a cart, and, there being
no room to pass, our waggon was upset, and we
were all thrown out. We, however, proceeded on
our journey soon after ; but I became seriously ill,
and after proceeding five miles we returned to
Edmonton, where I lay for three weeks at the Ross
Hotel under medical charge. I became very ill and
very weak ; I sent back our team to Calgary on the
second day. By the doctor's advice I had a large
skiff built by the Hudson Bay Company, with the
stern part covered with canvas like a tent. Two
men were engaged to conduct it to Prince Albert, a
distance of six hundred miles by water. We reached
Fort Pitt on Thursday, October 7, exactly eight
days from Edmonton, which we left on September 29.
Hume gave great help in working the skiff, and was
most kind and attentive to me, both at the hotel and
in the skiff. I continued very weak until we reached

So TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Fort Pitt. During the last two days I have been
feeling much better, and am now writing up this
note-book in the wood on the river bank, where we
have taken refuge from a cold head-wind. Our pro-
gress is slow ; we may have snow and ice in a day
or two. I think of going overland from Battleford."

' The Bishop was so ill when he reached Battleford
that he was obliged to remain in the skiff, and his
son Hume feared that he would not live until he
reached Prince Albert. The weather was bitterly
cold, ice having begun to form on the river ; how-
ever, the men worked very hard, assisted by Hume, a
lad of fifteen, who did all he could for his beloved
father, whom he described as so sweet and patient
in all his pain and weakness. He was constantly
singing to himself during the weary hours of night.
This dear son, Hume Blake, died at Athabasca
Landing, May 16, 1893, in his twenty-second year.

' After the Bishop's return home he rallied con-
siderably for a few days, but he was too much
weakened by the hardships of the journey. Fever
set in ; he was delirious at times, but even in his
wanderings his beloved diocese occupied his thoughts,
and at times he imagined himself conducting meet-
ings with his clergy.

' On Saturday afternoon, November 6, he spoke in
the most eloquent manner of the future of the
diocese ; then he kissed all his loved ones, and
shook hands with others who were with him. As
the sun was setting, he asked his daughter, Mrs.
Flett, to help him to sit up, and had the blinds

THE FIRST BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN 8r

drawn up so that he could see the sunset ; then he
said :

' " Do bring lights ; it is growing very dark."
•' From that time he spoke but little, but appeared
to be in a sort of stupor, from which he was roused
to take stimulants. About 5 a.m. on Sunday morn-
ing his wife was standing beside him, and he said
to her: " My lips are getting so stiff;" and then he
kissed her, with loving words of all they had been to
each other. He did not speak coherently after that,
but became unconscious, and remained so, sur-
rounded by all his family, until 12 a.m., when he
fell asleep like a little child.

' He is buried outside the chancel window in
St. Mary's Cemetery. His monument bears the
following inscription :

' " Entered into the rest of Paradise, November 7,
1886, John McLean, first Bishop of Saskatchewan,
in his 58th year.

' " I believe in the Communion of Saints."
' Bishop McLean did much for Prince Albert. In
addition to the fine buildings on the college property,
he raised money to maintain and carry on the work.
Then he lived in Prince Albert, and helped it in
every way that he could. Bishop McLean only
enjoyed the full interest of the Bishopric Endow-
ment Fund for a short time before his death. The
Bishop devoted an hour each day, when at home, to
reading the Service for Consecration of a Bishop,
and in seeking strength and help to live up to, and
in every way to be faithful to, the vows which

6

82 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

he had taken. He often said he felt appalled when
he thought of the immense responsibility of his
office.

' So lived, and so passed away, this great and good
man, who has been sorely missed by the Saskatche-
wan and Calgary dioceses, especially in their efforts
to overcome the financial difficulties that are incident
to all new Church work in countries where there are
no endowments for religion, and the people are too
poor to do much for Church support. Such dioceses
require exceptional men, and Bishop McLean was
an exceptional man. For his diocese of Saskatche-
wan the Bishop raised, clear of all expenses, the
following funds :

Dollars.

' Bishopric Endowment Fund 73,140.26

Divinity Chair, Emmanuel College ... 10,023.42

Louise Scholarship 340.00

W. McKay Scholarship 700.00

Clergy Endowment Fund :

(a) General 4,000.00

(b} Stanley Mission 260.00

(c) Devon Mission 884.22'

CHAPTER XII.
KIEL'S REBELLION.

IN the years preceding the rebellion of 1885, there
was much unrest in the Edmonton district ;
dissatisfaction with the Dominion Government was
nearly universal ; their agents were generally un-
popular; settlers could get no attention to their
complaints, and no one felt safe in any of his land
transactions. A case arose in which a settler tried
to defend some of his property from depredation,
and he was fined by the stipendiary magistrate for
attempting his own protection. There seemed no
recognised law, except the decision of a magistrate,
and no one could tell what this would be, or the
code that might rule him. There was, in fact, no
law, although there was supposed to be a Govern-
ment.

We were not in Ontario, or Quebec, or Manitoba;
we were in an undefined territory, subject to the
man who happened to be in office, and he was
a great distance from his superiors, and found no
difficulty in shielding himself behind his own reports.
If a man took a pair of stockings from the Hudson

6—2

84 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Bay store, he was quickly arrested and punished ;
but if he trespassed on land, and cut down timber of
great worth to the settler who had fenced it and pro-
tected it from prairie fires, the settler was informed
that he had no property in the soil or in the trees,
and that he had no protection for the labour or ex-
pense that were invested in his claim or real estate.
Blackstone teaches that men have natural rights to
the lands which they use, so long as their rights do
not infringe on the claims of others ; and surely
under the British flag these natural rights should be
allowed. Yet in the Edmonton district these were
denied, with the result that the lawless attempted to
'jump' the lands that were possessed by others —
that is, to publicly steal them. Exhibitions were
thus made of the greed of lawless human nature
that were sad indeed to behold.

Outside the circle of Government men, a Committee
of Public Safety was instituted, and it seemed neces-
sary, if the commonest order was to be observed.
Persons had become possessed of pieces of land
where the town of Edmonton now stands; some had
paid money for them, and others had put buildings
on them, and claimed the right to do so. But it
might be asked, Where were the Government during
all this time ? The answer is : At Ottawa, drawing
their salaries, amongst other things, for governing
the North- West. For a long time there were no
authorized surveys, and confusion was rampant.

One day a court was held in order to try certain
men, some of them being our most respected citizens.

KIEL'S REBELLION 85

A would-be thief of landed property had put a build-
ing on another man's lot, hoping thus to get posses-
sion of it for himself. The proper owner removed
the building, and placed it so near the high banks of
the Saskatchewan that it, by design or accident,
rolled over, and the man was put to great trouble in
recovering even a part of it. The lawless man sued
the removers, and got judgment so far that the
owner was fined for causing unnecessary damage in
the removal of the house ; the inference being that,
if he had removed it and no damage to it had
followed, the action would have been lawful. No
distinct instructions, however, were given from the
bench, and matters continued as unsettled as before.
The lawless saw that there was very little to restrain
them, and they acted accordingly.

But why was this allowed ? Possibly in order that
the Government men might have a free hand to do
what they liked in the issue of patents, claiming the
lands of the great North- West as purchased property,
through their transactions with the Hudson Bay
Company. According to their view, no one had any
rights. All conditions of men were in the same
position ; half-breeds, and settlers, and even Indians
who did not take the treaty, had no legal standing,
save as British subjects. England was a long way
off, and Canada lay between the two, and effectually
hindered the cry for justice reaching the mother-
land.

If an able Commissioner from England had been
sent to the Indians, half-races, and settlers of the

86 TWENTY YEARS ON THE ^SASKATCHEWAN

North-West during the three years preceding the
events of 1885, there would, in all probability, have
been no outbreak. Millions of dollars and many
valuable lives might have been saved. Order would
have been preserved, based on respect for Govern-
mental authority and its necessary institutions. The
authority of the Ottawa Government is not strong
enough in these territories, and it has not on all
occasions the will to enforce obedience to its own
orders. When, in 1891, it attempted to remove its
land office across the Saskatchewan to the railway
terminus, an armed crowd of men and boys success-
fully resisted .the order, and that in the open day-
light.

While these uncertainties were occurring, about
the land claims of natives and settlers in the
Edmonton district, land speculators were busy, and
very successful, in their greed for spoils. A company
was set going with a grand name, ostensibly
patronized by the Ottawa Government supporters.
It proposed to colonize, and bring both settlers and
capital into the country. Large tracts of fine land
were entrusted to the company, but they brought no
settlers, and to-day their buildings are in ruins, and
most of their lands are waste.

Meanwhile, honest settlers were compelled to go
far into the wilderness for homesteads, and business
and civilization were hindered in order that these
speculators might make money by the labour and
enterprise of neighbours who were cursed by their
presence. A poor man is sharply looked after if he

KIEL'S REBELLION 87

do not fulfil his engagements on his land claim, and
his titles are cancelled. How is it, then, that
fraudulent companies can hold their own, or, rather,
the lands that should belong to other people ?
Governments in these days are, in theory, govern-
ments for the people by the people. As population
increases here, some of these questions may receive
stern answers.

While these things were occurring among settlers
in every part of the North-West, the Indians also
were becoming very restive. Most of them had
their reservations, and the agents, as a rule, had
dealt fairly by them. Often, however, these agents
could not keep their word to the Indians, because of
the distances over which supplies had to travel, or
because of misunderstandings at Ottawa. Some of
the Indians also misunderstood their treaties, or, at
least, thought that they had been over-reached in
their bargains. Possibly their intercourse with a
low class of traders did not tend to increase their
contentment, and from causes of this kind the
rebellion of 1885 arose.

Unrest seemed to be in the air, as when a storm
is brewing, and the clouds are preparing for a furious
tempest, yet no one knew where the centre of the
storm would be, or when it would burst. Mysterious
rumours came to Edmonton of what would happen
when the grass was green — that is, when Indian
horses could travel and find pasture on the plains.
Then came the news of the massacre of the Roman
Catholic priests and Indian agents at Frog Lake.

88 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Then of the fight at Duck Lake, where the mounted
police and volunteers scarcely held their own.

Then Canada was aroused, and sent Middleton
and troops, and the news came of the battles of Cut-
knife Creek and Batoche on the South Saskatche-
wan. By this time the Indians were in a ferment
everywhere, and at Battleford they were committing
depredations which could not be resisted. Inspector
Dickens also had abandoned Fort Pitt, and plunder
was the order of the day. All over the plains the
strangest rumours flew with the speed of lightning ;
they came to Edmonton from east, west, north, and
south, and we could not tell what was about to
happen. In all directions were Indians enough, if
they were well led, to try the mettle of our sparse
and scattered settlements, and our people were
virtually without arms and ammunition. They were
almost entirely unprepared to fight for their own
lives, or for the honour of the Government. Centres
were formed at St. Albert's Roman Catholic
Mission, Fort Edmonton, and Fort Saskatchewan,
and most of the settlers left their homes and took
refuge in these places. They were prepared for
defence as efficiently as circumstances allowed.
Often, judging from rumours that arrived, our lives
and homes were in peril. Repeatedly it was rumoured
that bands of Indians, several hundreds strong, were
close at hand, and were* fording the river a few
miles up the stream, on their way to attack Fort
Edmonton.

The sudden rise and growth of rumours on these

KIEL'S REBELLION 89

plains is beyond belief, and every new story is some-
how or other believed, simply because there is no
evidence to the contrary. Thus, one Sunday, at All
Saints' Church, the story went round that the
Indians were crossing the river at the miners' flat,
seven miles off. When the service was ended, and
the people had gone to the fort for refuge, I went to
nay residence, seven miles off, to see if I could hide
some of my most valuable books before the Indians
could scatter themselves, and proceed to burn up
and destroy everything they came across. Two or
three miles out I met a scout from the prairies, who
confirmed the rumour, and said that the Indians
were now probably near the fort and preparing to
attack it. For a moment I thought of my books, but
then I thought of the women and little children to
whom I ministered, so I immediately returned, to
find that the excitement was still very great, and
that all things were in readiness for a flight to some
solitude in which the women and children might be
preserved. Happily, however, on this occasion the
Indians did not appear.

The truth is, that the rumour had some founda-
tion, for the Indians around had left their usual en-
campments, and had hidden themselves in places
where they could be found by messengers from a
distance, and they ,were undoubtedly only waiting
for a general rising, and many of them were certainly
ready enough to do any mischief that came in their
way. If Riel had been victorious at Carlton, very
few white men would have been left alive in the

90 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

distant settlements. The entire Indian population
would have been aflame with the passions of greed,
and lust, and murder.

How far the half-races, especially the French half-
breeds in the Edmonton district, were originally
mixed up with the early stages of the rebellion, is a
difficult and intricate question. Riel certainly had
the sympathy of many of them. Dumont himself
was from our neighbourhood, and had friends here.
The mistake which Riel made in his tactics was the
mistake of a man of very limited information and
of great self-esteem. He did not know the outside
world against which he arrayed himself; he did not
realize that behind Canada was England. He posed
as a liberator, as a kind of Garibaldi, or Arabian
Mahdi. He wanted to be a prophet, the founder of
a new religion — a Moses on a small scale, who
would lead his people into their own possession,
and drive out the nineteenth-century Canaanites.
He did not disclaim the murder of the priests at
Frog Lake, and he separated the men under his
influence, as much as he could, from the Roman
Catholic Church. By such a policy he could not
possibly succeed ; and he destroyed the sympathy
of a powerful organization which might have been
interested in any grievances which the Metis had,
and have given them a certain protection. More-
over, his folly alienated his cause from the French
province of Quebec, which could have afforded him
powerful support, and given great trouble to the
whole Dominion of Canada. As it was, the brave

KIEL'S REBELLION 91

and skilful defence which Dumont made with his
badly-armed band of five hundred undisciplined men
produced a great impression ; and it might easily
have grown into a war of races, which would have
challenged the sympathy and chivalrous feeling of
ancient France. A little spark sets the prairies
ablaze, and a few men speaking French, and con-
ducting themselves bravely, and struggling with a
real grievance against great odds, might have touched
the honour of France and brought her back to
America again. Kiel's ineptness crushed the Metis
and annihilated all external sympathy.

Thus, in the Edmonton district, while we had
rumours and anxiety, we had no actual difficulties.
Some Metis were sullen, and the Indians whom we
met scowled, but no shot was fired in anger. Pro-
bably the Indians' friends did not think themselves
strong enough to cope with the mounted police.
A home guard had been enrolled, but outside assis-
tance did not arrive until later. The citizens of
Edmonton cleared the brush and trees from their
streets, because an enemy could hide and fight in
ambush behind them, and, calling a meeting, they
sent a special messenger one hundred and ninety
miles to Calgary, where the Lieutenant-Governor
happened to be, urging immediate assistance before
it was too late. The messenger, who was a native
of the country, rode through the Indian reservations,
exposing himself to much danger, and attracting
attention by the speed at which he travelled. Some-
times he was followed, but, being well mounted, he

92 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

distanced his pursuers, and, scarcely resting or
changing horses, in less than two days he covered
the one hundred and ninety miles, and told the
story of the stern needs of Edmonton. Already Mr.
Dewdney, the Lieutenant-Governor, had arranged
with General Strange — a most capable officer who
had seen service in India — to proceed north to
Edmonton. The news of his coming kept the dis-
affected quiet, and probably saved the district from
an Indian war. His column was made up as
follows :

Strange's Rangers, 50 ; police, 67 ; 65th Battalion,
332 ; Winnipeg, 332 ; P. Battalion (92), 307.

Afterwards the 65th regiment of Montreal, under
Colonel Oimet, was stationed at Edmonton, while
General Strange went east after Big Bear, who
made for Battleford, where General Middleton was,
and gave himself up. Thus Indian and half-breed
hopes of driving away the white man from the
North- West Territories, and possessing the country
for themselves, were crushed and destroyed for ever.
Kiel was hanged at Regina, N.W., on September 18,
1885.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE CAUSES OF THE REBELLION.

THOSE who would understand this so-called
' rebellion ' must have a distinct idea of the
circumstances that led up to it. It is not sufficient
to say that it was ' pure cussedness ' on the part of
the half-breed and Indian. In former pages I have
endeavoured to convey the impression that the con-
fusion was not all their fault, by pointing out the
genesis of the outbreak. History will, I believe,
assign the following causes : First, and chiefly, the
utter inattention of the Hudson Bay officials to the
interests of the half-races, when they negotiated for
the transfer of the territories to the Government of
Canada. In different parts of the North -West,
settlements had arisen around their forts, and many
half-breeds were scattered in all directions on the
plains, who were living an independent life as
hunters, trading with the forts, and exchanging their
buffalo meat and skins for the things they required.
How did this half-race spring into existence ? Surely
from the presence of Hudson Bay or North- West

94 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

traders. They were, in fact, the children and wards
of that great company, and they comprised a very
large part of the population of these territories in
later years. If this be correct, and I believe it is,
how could the Honourable Hudson Bay Company
fairly overlook the interests of this considerable
population, and make no provision in the transfer
for their legitimate claims ? Was it intended to
keep their claims in abeyance ? Or did it arise from
pure contempt of the half-races, who were their own
descendants? The half-race could not understand
its position ; it was in itself helpless ; it might send
its complaints and its petitions, but they would only
be treated with indifference and contempt. The
Hudson Bay Company had influence and wealth to
support its case both in England and in Ottawa ;
but what could the half-race do, who were so far off,
and neither had advocates to plead their case, nor
money to pay them for their labour and ability, if
they could have been found? The historian who
wishes to trace events to their true causes must hold
the official negotiators of this transfer greatly re-
sponsible for the unrest, the uncertainty, and the
waste of money and lives, which are associated with
the scenes of 1885.

Secondly, there was often a great want of tact and
prudence on the part of the Canadian gentlemen
who had, in different ways, to do business in these
parts, and more especially with the tribes on the
plains. Before any arrangements were made with
the Indian bands, surveyors were sent to survey

95

longitudes, etc., and these surveyors puzzled the
Indian. When he inquired the reason of their visit,
and asked whether the great Queen-mother had sent
them to do their magic in the country, he was
informed that the Canadian was master now. But
since the transfer has puzzled wise heads on both
sides of the Atlantic, there is little reason for
wondering that the Indian could not see through
the fog. Company power gone, Queen-mother
made light of, Canadian rule set up from beyond
the Great Lakes. What was about to happen now ?
Add this to the half-race grievance, and it is not
surprising that in time the fire should blaze on the
prairies until much was consumed. There was
altogether too much contempt for the Indian and
the half-breed, and too little attention given to their
customs and manners. The Indian is very formal,
and precise, and dignified, in his ways and ideas ;
he is easily pleased, but soon offended ; and what
may seem to be trifles will give great offence, which
will not soon be forgotten.

On several occasions I ventured to mention these
matters privately to gentlemen who I thought were
overlooking them in their transactions, and un-
necessarily producing discontent. But the answer
always was, ' What do I care ? I am not afraid of
an Indian !' Some of these gentlemen were pretty
well scared afterwards. But others had to meet the
expense, and to sacrifice their lives, and to bear the
penalty of their incompetence. On one occasion I
was present at an Indian treaty payment before the

96 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

outbreak. The rumour was that the Indians were
much dissatisfied with the way their treaty arrange-
ments were kept, and that they intended to express
this dissatisfaction before they took their money.
The scene itself was interesting to anyone who
sympathized with human life in any form. The
Government men, visitors, and traders took their
station on an elevated position ; far down in the
valley the Indians had arrayed themselves in all the
glory of their paint and feathers. On their approach
they danced their dances and fired their guns, by
way of salute and respect to the great man. Then
the colloquy began. ' Are you the great chief who
is able to attend to our wants and complaints ?'
The answer was, ' I am.' Then various matters
were discussed, and complaints were made. That
day the Indians would not receive their mcney.
Perhaps half an hour was taken up with a discussion
as to whether twenty pounds of tea should be
allowed them while in the summer they were
cutting their winter's hay, and this tea was not very
graciously refused. Suppose this gentleman had
known their temperaments, and had even, as a
personal gift, shown his interest in them by giving
them this small quantity of tea, their delight would
then have been unbounded. Afterwards, through
the private persuasion of wiser and more kindly
disposed persons who were not in office, the Indians
did, with reluctance, take their treaty money.

Thirdly, difficulties of all kinds on account of
distances were sure to arise, and these could scarcely

THE CAUSES OF THE REBELLION

be avoided in the transmission of ploughs and other
instruments of industry. The Indian, had been
promised these things, and oftentimes they did not
arrive. Patience was needed on both sides, but
especially wisdom on the part of the ' white man,'
if matters were to run smoothly. Manner here, as
in other lands, was often of supreme importance
to a good understanding. Contempt of persons
and races is never good policy, and it is to be hoped
that when the Athabasca, Peace River, and Mac-
kenzie River districts are opened up for settlement,
these lessons will be remembered, and all collisions
of races avoided in the future.

CHAPTER XIV.

TRUE AND FALSE BRAVERY.

IT is in scenes such as we have described that
human nature shows itself, and the qualities
of men are exhibited. Some in our small com-
munities at this time said but little, and were quiet
in their manner, but were men of real mettle.
Others primed themselves with whisky in order to
keep their courage up. When the danger was over,
it was surprising to discover how many brave men
we had amongst us, and what heroic deeds would
have been done if only opportunity had offered.
Perhaps it is as well that the heroism was not put
to the test by grim Indian warfare. The courage
thus saved may be retained for other occasions in
life's battle, where it can be used daily in all sorts
of ways, and to our life's end. Courage physical,
courage mental, courage moral — of each and all of
these we cannot have too much, in order to make
the truly noble character.

One Saturday, during the height of the excitement,
a secret message came to me from an Indian girl, to

TRUE AND FALSE BRAVERY 99

whom I had ministered in her illness, when her tent
was pitched near the fort Her people had taken
her with them to their hiding-place on the plains, but
she felt that she was dying, and longed to see a
clergyman. In her forlorn condition she begged me
to visit her, and prepare her for the end. It was
miles away, and I could not find the place alone, for
it was in the wild wilderness, which was without
roads, or, indeed, any marks that would guide me.
I spoke to several persons who professed to know
the place, and who said that they could conduct me.
I made an appointment with one of the bravest to
start with me immediately after the Sunday morning
service. The service over, and the horse harnessed,
I waited for my guide ; but I waited in vain : he did
not appear, nor could he be found anywhere. I sent
after one and another person, who the day before had
said that they knew the place well, and were not afraid
to go ; but it was always with the same result. These
brave men thought a stray bullet from an Indian
gun might find them, and they regarded discretion
as the better part of valour. The poor girl died in
her loneliness, and they made her a solitary grave
somewhere on the wide prairies, where she sleeps
unsanctified by Church rites or priestly prayers.
May the sweetest wild-flowers bloom around her !
May her soul rest in the perfect joy and peace of
heaven !

Though I sometimes saw a scowl on the face of the
Indians whom I met, and whom I had sought to
benefit before their evil passions had been aroused,

7—2

ioo TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

I was amused, and not displeased, by the following
story, which was told me afterwards by one of the
Crees.

Near my residence in those days was a very
retired place, where both water and facilities for
encampment are found. Without my knowing it, a
band of Indians had hidden themselves there, await-
ing the order for an outbreak. Day by day, from the
rising ground, they watched me in my garden, and
discussed what they should do with me when the
massacre began ; and it was kindly decided that
they would not meddle with the little white-robed
priest, for I had not been bad to the Indian ; but as
for my mare, they might take her if they should be
pressed for horses. At that time several Indian
dogs prowled around at night-time, and this caused
some remark. Excepting this sign, which was soon
forgotten, there was no evidence that an Indian en-
campment was so near. The Indian can be very
secret in his ways. As for the danger, I had, both
at the time and afterwards, many proofs that it was
very real; even the Indian children had decided
what particular plunder they intended to appro-
priate ; and they practised their bows and arrows
in order to join in the fray. It was settled what
families should be clubbed, in order to save the
expense of powder and shot ; and what women
should be taken captive, and whose particular tent
these fair ones were to adorn. I do not say that
there were no bands loyal to the Government ; but
there were certainly very few in which there was no

TRUE AND FALSE BRAVERY 101

disaffection, and a very great pressure was put upon
them all to throw off their allegiance. The chief
things that prevented the open revolt of all the
bands were the influence of the Churches and the
prompt action of the military authorities.

CHAPTER XV.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDIANS— MR. EVANS:
HIS WORK, MISTAKE, AND PERSECUTION.

IN addition to the foregoing observations respect,
ing the Indian character and the Indian ways.
a few facts may be acceptable. Here, as every-
where, we shall find a great variety of characters.
Some Indians are very degraded — equal in degrada-
tion to any human beings that can be found any-
where ; if, indeed, such Indians can be called human
beings at all. Soon after my settlement in the
North-West, a man was brought in from the Peace
River district, and tried at Fort Saskatchewan, who
was a most horrible cannibal. It was proved that
he had killed and eaten his wife, her mother, and
three of his children. He was hung at Fort Sas-
katchewan, but seemed altogether indifferent to his
fate. Another man, in the midst of the settlement,
deliberately stabbed his wife, and, having paid blood-
money to her relatives, considered that he had com-
mitted no crime. This Eastern idea is very common
among the Indians of North America. In certain
ways they were very honest. Years ago you might

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDIANS 103

travel anywhere on the plains, and your property
would be respected. Hudson Bay stores might be
safely left unlocked, and no one would steal from
them. If powder and shot were taken from a store
in the absence of a keeper, the full value of skins
would be left behind for payment, and at proper
times full explanations would be made. A written
communication was very sacred, and would be faith-
fully delivered at any distance. In some other
matters their ideas of right and wrong were very
peculiar, as I found in my business transactions with
them. When I built my first shanty, as it was a
very small place, and the winter was close at hand,
I bought twelve cowhides from a butcher, and sent
them to an Indian woman to be dressed. They had
cost me twelve dollars. I thought that, if they were
nailed to the log walls, they would help to keep the
frost out, and make the shanty comfortable. When
I supposed the hides were dressed, I went to the
tent door, and asked for them in my best Cree, ex-
pecting to receive them, when the woman coolly
told me I could not have them. On pressing for an
explanation, I was informed that the skins had been
dressed, but as she had no tea or tobacco, they had
been cut up into strips, and sold at the Hudson Bay
stores for shagganappi — no doubt to the amu se-
ment of the gentleman behind the counter, whose
idea of honesty could not have been very exalted.

Although the Indian is not cleanly in his personal
habits, the traveller may see everywhere that he has
had his Turkish bath. Willow sticks are bent into

the ground, and covered closely, and, by heated
stones, hot vapour is produced sufficient to cause
free perspiration. Then the bather takes a plunge
into the snow, or into very cold water, just as his
betters do in Europe, only in a more simple and
natural way. In some parts a dog-feast is a great
event, as it is also in China and among the
Mongolians.

It is well known that the Indian is a great ' swell,'
or ' dandy,' with his beadwork and paint. There
are learned men in Europe, and scientific ethnolo-
gists, who make the native American to be indi-
genous to the soil, and class him as a distinct type
of the human race, calling him the * red man.'
But, in twenty years' travel, I have never seen such
a man. When the ' Red Indian ' has his paint
washed off, and lives in a house, his colour is tawny,
and identical with the colour of the Mongolian.
Here, as in other matters, superficial observation
has led even educated men to form theories that can
be corrected only with difficulty, though they are
not based on well-attested facts.

I have often been surprised at the native intelli-
gence and refinement which are found on these
plains, among persons who are classed as Indians.
It was dny custom, during many years, to spend
weeks at a time at Saddle Lake, which was more
than a hundred miles from Edmonton Fort. In the
evening the chief called the people together into
his tent for prayers. When these were over, the
chief men would retire, at my invitation, to the

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDIANS 105

public lodge, and there, being seated in a circle,
with their pipes lighted, at the expense of the
missionary, who himself neither smoked nor used
tobacco, the work of the evening would begin, and
it would last far into the night, and even till the
early morning. The conversation would be some-
what as follows :

' Friends, I am glad to meet you again. You
remember what I have said before ; now ask me
frankly whatever is in your minds.'

Then there would be silence for a minute or two,
for it is part of the dignity of the Indian never to be
in a hurry. Then the reply would be made, amid
signs of general assent:

* We also are glad to meet you here ; it is very
good of you to come so far to teach us the things
of religion ; we are poor people, and very few care
about us.'

Then silence.

' As you are so kind, we would like to ask you
some questions. Please tell us what is the Christian
religion ?'

' It is the religion which Jesus Christ lived and
taught, in the Holy Land, eighteen hundred years
ago, of which the New Testament gives us an ac-
count. You can most of you read the New Testa-
ment in Cree.'

' Yes, but we want a wise teacher to explain
things to us. We are ignorant, and know nothing.'

' God, the Great Spirit, knows that, and it is to
such as you He sends His Word, or Gospel, and

His Church, in order to lead you in the heavenly
way.'

Sounds of assent.

'Pray tell us where the Christian religion came
from.'

Now the missionary must be very careful, so he
replies :

' This form of it which I bring to you comes from
England (not from Rome), and the wise men of the
Church teach, that the English Church is a branch of
the true Christian religion, which in very early times
was planted in England from Jerusalem, where the
religion first arose as the Mother Church.'

' Not from Rome, then ?'

* No, not from Rome at first, although the Roman
is a very ancient form of the Christian religion ; but
it got changed very much, and both became closely
connected in the Middle Ages, until the period of
the Great Reformation.'

Silence for several minutes, while more tobacco is
prepared for the pipes.

'Kindly tell us what a Christian man ought to
believe.'

' He must believe the Creeds, which we rehearse
every Sunday and whenever we worship, and this is
all explained more fully in the Bible, and in the
sermons preached by the clergymen.'

' What shall a Christian man do ?'

' A Christian man must keep the Commandments ;
he must love God and man, and learn to walk all
his days in the heavenly way. The Saviour estab-

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDIANS 107

lished in His Church certain rites and ordinances ;
through the observance of these we may receive
help and grace, so as to be enabled to do His will.'

' Some of us are not Christian Indians, and we do
not like to leave the way of our fathers. They were
often good men, and taught us to fear and serve the
good Spirit, and we do not like to leave the way
they taught us. The Christian religion, you say,
teaches us to honour our parents.'

' You do well to reverence your ancestors, and to
follow their ways in all that is good and true. But
you say that they were often wise, and lived accord-
ing to their light ; then, if a brighter light had come to
them, they would have received it, and tried to live
it ; so now, if they could speak, and their voices
could be heard in this tent, they would say, " This
word you hear is better light than we had, and if we
had heard it we would have believed. Children !
follow the highest wisdom, and this the Christian
religion teaches. We would embrace that religion
were we living in the world now."

In no part of the world could a teacher of religion
be more wisely questioned, or in so nice a way ; but
the fact must not be forgotten, that we were on the
prairies of North America, and in an Indian tent,
surrounded by uncivilized people who are conscious
of their ignorance. Many of these people read and
write the Cree character, as it is called, with much
ease. When the language is known, a few weeks'
practice suffices to make it familiar to the learner.
The Cree language is regular in its formations, and

io8 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

the form of writing it is stenographic. For some
time I wondered from whom it was derived, but no
one whom I knew could tell me. At last I dis-
covered that a Mr. Evans, a Wesleyan missionary
in these territories, was its originator. He had in
former days been a printer and reporter in England,
so he made blocks, and set up types, and with great
difficulty printed his little books for the Indians, and
taught them to read his method of writing Cree.
It was, in fact, the ordinary shorthand, a little
changed, which was in common use fifty years ago,
and it is admirably adapted for its purpose, with its
affixes, and suffixes, and stem-writing. Many men
have become notable for a less useful work than
this, and I cannot but hold Mr. Evans' name in
much honour. This good missionary is a type of
the devoted men who for many years have sacrificed
themselves on these plains, but who are scarcely
remembered by those who reap the harvest of their
toils. Mr. John McLean, in his ' Notes of a Twenty-
five Years' Service in the Hudson Bay Territory,'
says : ' The Rev. Mr. Evans, a man no less remark-
able for genuine piety than for energy and decision
of character, had been present at several of the
annual meetings of the Indians at Manitonlin Island,
and he felt his sympathy deeply awakened by the
sight of their degradation and spiritual destitution.
While thus affected he received an invitation from
the American Episcopal Methodists to go as a
missionary to the Indians resident in the Union.
Feeling, however, that his services were rather due

MR. EVANS 109

to his fellow-subjects, he resolved to devote his
labours and life to the tribes residing in the Hudson
Bay Territory. Having made known his intentions
to the Canada Conference, he, together with Messrs.
Thomas Hurlburt and Peter Jacobs, was by them
appointed a missionary, and at their charges sent
to that territory. No application was made to the
company, and neither encouragement nor support
was expected from them. Mr. Evans and his
brother missionaries began their operations by raising
with their own hands a house at the Pic, themselves
cutting and hauling the timber on the ice. They
obtained, indeed, a temporary lodging at Fort
Michipicoton ; and they not only found their own
provisions, but also materially increased the comforts
of the establishment by their success in fishing and
hunting. Late in the fall, accompanied by two
Indian boys in a small canoe, Mr. Evans made a
voyage to Sault St. Marie for provisions. On this
expedition, which was rendered doubly hazardous
by the lateness of the season and the inexperience
of his companions, he more than once narrowly
escaped being lost.

' Returning next season to Canada for his family,
he met Sir G. Simpson on Lake Superior. Having
learned that the mission was already established,
and likely to succeed, Sir George received him with
the utmost urbanity, treating him not only with
kindness, but even with distinction. He expressed
the highest satisfaction at the establishment of the
mission, promised him his utmost support, and at

no TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

length proposed an arrangement which, however
auspicious for the infant mission, was ultimately
found to be very prejudicial to it.

' The caution of Mr. Evans was completely lulled
asleep by the apparent kindness of the Governor,
and the hearty warmth with which he seemed to
enter into his views. Sir George proposed that
missionaries should hold the same rank, and receive
the same allowance, as the wintering partners or
commissioned officers, and that canoes and other
means of conveyance should be furnished to the
missionaries for their expeditions. It did not seem
unreasonable to stipulate that, in return for these
substantial benefits, they should do or say nothing
prejudicial to the company's interests, either among
the natives or in their reports to the Conference in
England, to whose jurisdiction the mission was
transferred. The great evil of this arrangement
was, that the missionaries, instead of being the
servants of God, and accountable to Him alone,
became the servants of the Hudson Bay Company,
and dependent on and amenable to them. The
committee were, of course, to be the sole judges of
what was or was not prejudicial to their interests.
Still, it is impossible to blame very severely either Mr.
Evans or the Conference for accepting offers which
were apparently so advantageous, or even for con-
senting to certain restrictions in publishing their
reports. With the assistance and co-operation of
the company, great good might be effected ; with the
hostility of a corporation which was all but omni-

MR. EVANS in

potent within its own domain and among the
Indians, the post might not be tenable.

' For some time matters went on smoothly. By
the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Evans and his
fellow-workers, aided also by Mrs. Evans, who
devoted much of her time and labour to the instruc-
tion of the females, a great reformation was effected
in the habits and morals of the Indians. But Mr.
Evans soon perceived that without books printed in
the Indian language little permanent good would be
realized ; he therefore wrote to the London Confer-
ence to send him a printing-press and types, with
characters of a simple phonetic kind, which he had
himself invented, and of which he gave them a
copy. The press was procured without delay, but
was detained in London by the Governor and com-
mittee ; and though they were again and again
petitioned to forward it, they flatly refused. Mr.
Evans, however, was not a man to be turned aside
from his purpose. With his characteristic energy,
he set to work, and, having invented an alphabet of
a more simple kind, he with his penknife cut the
types, and formed the letters from musket bullets ;
then he constructed a rude sort of press, and, aided
by Mrs. Evans as a compositor, he at length suc-
ceeded in printing prayers, and hymns, and passages
of Scripture for the use of the Indians. Finding
their object in detaining the press thus baffled, the
Governor and committee deemed it expedient to
forward it, but with the express stipulation that
everything printed should be sent to the commander

ii2 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

of the post as censor, before it was published among
the Indians. This was among the first causes of
distrust and dissatisfaction.

' Not long after, finding that the missions he had
hitherto superintended were in such a state of pro-
gress that he might safely leave them to the care of
his fellow-labourers, Mr. Evans resolved to proceed
to Athabasca, and establish a mission there. Having
gone, as usual, to the commander of the post to obtain
the necessary provision, and a canoe and boatmen,
he was received with unusual coldness. He asked for
provisions, none could be given ; he offered to pur-
chase them, the commander refused to sell him any;
he begged a canoe, it was denied him ; and finally,
when he entreated that, if he should be able to pro-
cure these necessaries elsewhere, he might at least
be allowed to take a couple of men to assist him on
the voyage, he was answered that none would be
allowed to go on that service. Deeply grieved, but
nothing daunted, Mr. Evans procured these neces-
saries from private resources, and proceeded on the
voyage. But a sad calamity put a stop to it. In
handing his gun to the interpreter, it accidentally
went off, and the charge lodging in the interpreter's
breast, it killed him instantaneously. Mr. Evans was
thus compelled to return, in a state of mind border-
ing on distraction. His zeal and piety promised the
best results to the spiritual and eternal interests of
his Indian brethren. His talents, energy, and fer-
tility of resource, which seemed to rise with every
obstacle, had the happiest effects on their temporal

MR. EVANS 113

well-being ; and his mild and winning manners en-
deared him to all the Indians. But his useful and
honourable career was now drawing to a close. The
mournful accident already alluded to had affected
his health, and he had received his death-blow.

' Yet, obnoxious as he had become to the com-
pany, and formidable to their interests as they
might deem one of his talents and indomitable
resolution to be, the final blow was not struck by
them. It was dealt by a false brother — by one who
had eaten of his bread, by a familiar friend with
whom he had taken swee-t counsel. Charges affect-
ing his character, both as a man and as a minister,
of the foulest and blackest kind, were transmitted to
the Conference by a brother missionary. To answer
these charges, which were as false as they were foul,
he was compelled to leave the churches which he
had planted and watered, to bid adieu to the people
whose salvation had been for years the sole object of
his life, and to undertake a voyage of five thousand
miles, in order to appear before his brethren as a
criminal.

' As a criminal, indeed, he was received ; yet, after
an investigation which was begun and carried on in
no very friendly spirit to him, the truth prevailed.
He was declared innocent, and the right hand of
fellowship was again extended to him. He made a
short tour through England, and was everywhere
received with respect, and affection, and sympathy.
But anxiety, and grief, and shame had done their
work. Scarcely three weeks had passed by, when

8

H4 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

one evening he was visiting, with Mrs. Evans, in
the family of a friend. He seemed to have recovered
much of his wonted cheerfulness, but late in the
evening Mrs. Evans, who had retired for a few
minutes, was suddenly summoned back to the room,
only to see her husband pass away into that land
where " the wicked cease from troubling." The
cause of his death was an affection of the heart.
And that man — the slanderer, the murderer of this
martyred missionary — what punishment was inflicted
on him ? He is to this day unpunished. He yet lives
in the Hudson Bay Territory, the disgrace and the
opprobrium of his profession and his Church.'

This story is given as related by another person,
because Mr. McLean was acquainted with the cir-
cumstances, and I was anxious to keep in the public
memory so remarkable a benefactor of the Indians
and half-races of the Hudson Bay Territory. His
experience may very possibly be repeated even in
these later times. It is a standing danger in the
way of even the noblest and bravest missionary.
The more conscientious and self-sacrificing he may
be, the greater is the danger of his being misunder-
stood, misrepresented, maligned, and persecuted.
A few years ago there was no baseness that would
fail to find its agents close at hand, and an apostle
of ancient days would easily have found his cross,
and a shameful martyrdom. I was especially in-
terested in reading this account of Mr. Evans,
inasmuch as, twenty-five years ago, before there was
much travel on the beautiful Muskoka Lakes, I fell

MR. EVANS 115

in with two fellow-travellers, in crossing a portage
between Rosseau Lake and Muskoka Lake, and one
of them was a well-dressed Indian, speaking correct
English ; but he was intoxicated, and was carrying
liquor with him. He could not have been more vile
in his behaviour, and he volunteered to tell us his
name and his former profession, and declared that,
on his visit to England, he had been introduced to
the Queen as an Indian missionary from the Hudson
Bay Territories. I shall never forget the disgust
which I felt and expressed, although we were in a
lonely region, and an accident of shooting or stab-
bing might easily have occurred. This creature was
the vile Judas who had been the agent of Mr.
Evans' martyrdom — but what an agent to be used
in such a business !

A great deal has been said about the trading of
missionaries in these territories, and their traffic in
furs in the days when fur was abundant ; much of
what was said arose from jealousy, lest the trade
should be diverted from the hands that held it...
The reports were rather preventive than real, and
any apparent liberality of a fur company might thus
be accounted for. Long ago a missionary had no
means of sending any fur out of the country, and
every skin he possessed would be well known at
the forts. The missionary simply could not trade
until most of the fur was exhausted and the country
was opened up to the ' free traders,' whose advent
was of quite a late date — say about 1870. If a
missionary visited an encampment at a distance

8—2

n6 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

from his residence, and took any provisions with
him for personal use, such as flour, tea, or sugar,
the Indians would think him very mean if he refused
to part with a portion to women or sick people
who required their use, and were far from the forts,
where they could be obtained and exchanged for
furs ; and yet if the missionary, with his limited
means, had done what the traders did, and given
kind for kind, he would have been branded as a
trader who, while professing to be seeking the
spiritual good of the Indians, was making himself
rich at the expense of his position. Missionary
societies would have heard the garbled story, and
most likely would have recalled him as unworthy
of his profession. Flour worth five pounds a bag,
and tea five shillings a pound, must be given away,
and the skins must be left behind for the fur trader,
who made it his business to collect furs, and who
had no religious profession to hinder his making a
large profit. During a course of twenty years I
have not even received a rabbit-skin from an Indian,
to say nothing of more valuable furs. Two buffalo
robes were presented to me, one by a gentleman of
the Mounted Police Force, and another as the
Christmas-gift of my people at All Saints', Edmonton.
When I wanted fur robes for my journeys, I went
to the fort, and paid Montreal prices for buffalo
robes of second and third-rate quality, which were
the only ones procurable. Every valuable robe
was precious, and sent away to Montreal to
enhance the reputation of the local agent for in-

MR. EVANS 117

dustry in forwarding the best skins to the front
markets.

Criticism on missionaries has often been unfair,
and utterly unworthy of generous minds, who might
look with kindly eye upon even the most crack-
brained enthusiasts, in consideration of good inten-
tion, and the life of self-sacrifice which their work
requires.

CHAPTER XVI.

LAND RIGHTS OF FIRST SETTLERS.

TO one who was accustomed in early life to the
quiet orderliness and the almost cast-iron
customs and habits of English life, the changes
which I have observed here in Edmonton during
the last twenty years are very interesting. Not far
away from me now the Indians are just leaving off
making flints for their arrow-heads, and bushels of
these flints may be picked up on the old camping-
grounds. When I began my work, the soil of my
garden had never before been cultivated ; it was
virgin soil, fresh from the hands of the Creator.
Through long centuries the same grass had flowered
and cast its seed ; and the wild-roses summer by
summer had bloomed, and thrown around their
fragrance. The willow - bushes had waved their
branches, unmolested by the hand of man, for thou-
sands of years. But now the land has been broken
up, and the spade, the hoe, and the plough are in
use. Fresh seeds are sown, both for use and for
ornament, and trees are brought from afar which
revive old memories, the planter hoping they will

LAND RIGHTS OF FIRST SETTLERS 119

take kindly to the new soil and thrive in the new
surroundings ; and this they sometimes, but not
always, do.

It seems as if no one country could be altogether
like another ; even in aspect it must vary, and show
certain differences. The sentiments and the thoughts
of human beings are influenced and moulded by
fresh conditions, and consequently much of the old
remains, while the new is not quite new. Old and
new commingle so as to produce fresh forms of civil-
ization, even when new lands are inhabited by ancient
or imported races. The freshness there is in the
commonest things fills the mind with uncertainty,
and yet with an unlimited hopefulness. We do not
know what is about to happen when we sow the
seed or plant the trees ; but we feel that anything
is possible in new lands, and that any day great dis-
coveries may be. made which may prove of the highest
importance to the world. We bore for oil, we search
for gold, we open coal-mines, full of expectation,
and such enterprises consciously or unconsciously
mould our inner thought and feeling. We have
nothing old to fall back upon ; we must make all
things new, since the old will not fit the new circum-
stances.

At first, even if we had an abundance of money,
it would be out of place to build palaces ; log-houses
fit the passing conditions, and we build and plant
for awhile, living as close as possible to Nature.
By-and-by we decide to erect permanent dwellings,
when Nature is fairly conquered and life humanized ;

120 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

but everything must come in its proper place and
time. Our politic relations grow in a similar way.
First we have the district meeting, which is to
arrange about our roads, and our schools, and the
other primitive wants of the neighbourhood. Then
we take in the township, the county, and the pro-
vince. These are joined to an older or larger pro-
vince, and then these provinces unite to send
representatives to a general Parliament, which
reacts on us by ensuring social order, and making
laws which will supplement our local institutions,
and weld us together as one responsible people.

A careful observer is struck with the naturalness
of these arrangements. They are the working out
of conditions which require little statesmanship,
only the most plodding common-sense. Confedera-
tion is the simple hanging together of a chain of
provinces which are similar in climate and circum-
stances, without the inward union out of which real
nationalities grow. To make a people one, some great
common idea and sentiment must be cherished,
which will give them a common life, that is sure to
demand organization.

At present the question arises, as we think of the
future of Canada, Where is the uniting principle
that will make us a real nation ? Is it to be found
in religion ? That is the first bond of nations. Alas !
we are divided into a hundred jarring sects, and
these conflict in every settlement, and village, and
city throughout the land. Is the union one of poli-
tics ? All the provinces fight for their own hand, in

LAND RIGHTS OF FIRST SETTLERS 121

order to get their own men into power ; and the
chief object, apart from personal ambition, is to
obtain grants of money from the general funds for
the local advantage of the districts. Is the uniting
principle loyalty to Great Britain ? If England
would let the provinces do what they wish, and the
mother-country would bear the expense of empire
uncomplainingly, the feeling of loyalty to the Queen
might, in time of strain, hold the provinces together.
But distance from the centre of empire, differences
in circumstances which may easily occasion misunder-
standing, and the self-sufficiency which is character-
istic of young nations, will greatly try this loyalty to
England, as the basis and inspiration of Canadian
national unity.

The Divine Providence alone knows what will
make a nation of us ; but we are now a people
full of confusion, and without either conscious aims
or a manifest destiny. Then, the changes that are
passing around us speak loudly of the first principles
of law and order. Here we have, for example, the
land question, which Nature herself is teaching us
and solving for us. Land is abundant, and it is of
no use or worth until it is occupied and cultivated —
until a man puts his labour into it, and lives a hard
life while he is preparing it for a crop. It is his
honest toil which makes the land his own. Even
the Indians are growing out of associated labour,
and taking up homesteads of their own. In a
neighbourly way one settler helps another, and
receives the labour back again. Men see plainly

122 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

enough that holding land in association, and working
it together, would not be a just mode, or one that
could be successful in husbandry. The growth of
the Socialistic spirit in our new conditions of life is
never even thought of as possible. The universal
feeling is, that if a man wants land he must go on
a piece set apart for him, and improve it by his
own labour, and make an estate for himself and
his family, on which he may live an independent
life, and so form a part of a general voluntary
society.

Socialism in land may be the dream of congested
cities, and of mechanics in towns who toil hard for
daily bread ; but it will not lift its head in such
countries as North- West Canada, where land is
abundant, and the toil of cultivating it is great.
Why does not the Socialist take up his common
right with us ? We will not hinder him ; but if
after ten years' experience he remains Socialist, and
wishes to put his theory on land into practice, he
will find himself the butt of universal laughter, and
simple common-sense will cover him with ridicule.

The notions which cause so much commotion in
Europe, if they were tested in our new conditions,
where they would have fair play, and could be tried
even by those who believe in them, would soon
demonstrate themselves, and show their inutility for
the production of human prosperity and happiness.
Honest labour alone will make true wealth, and land
is yet abundant in God's great world, where all could
be fed and clothed if the Divine laws were but

LAND RIGHTS OF FIRST SETTLERS 123

efficiently carried out. Crude notions and intellec-
tual dreams cannot cheat Nature. She placidly lets
her children try their whims, but behind her hand is
surely hid her rod for punishment, when those whims
are false, however decorated they may be with the
names of wisdom and philosophy.

What can be a greater folly in these new countries
than the idea of placing the chief national taxation
on the land, in order that it may bear the chief
burden of the State ? We are in the process of
beginning to exist ; our wealth has to be made. Our
anxiety at first is how to live at all. To take up
land, and to work it, is to begin the fight for bread,
and very often it is a life-and-death struggle for
many long years. Is it fair, or right, or even
prudent, to ' kill the goose that lays the golden
egg'? What are manufactures, and merchants,
and professions, without agriculture as a thriving
industry ? Absolutely nothing. The land is the
mother who feeds them all. Who turned our
prairies into farms, and gave them value ? The
men who rescued the soil and made it useful. No
Government did it ; no merchant or manufacturer
did it. Who, then, can ever claim, on any ground
of justice, the right to oppress this interest ? or, even
on State-social theories, to take the land from its
owners for some supposed national good ? The land
is, with us, pre-eminently real estate, and it is given,
at first hand, by Heaven to the first cultivator, who
has a title which is as ancient as the title to the
Garden of Eden. For ' the Lord God took the man,

124 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

and put him into the Garden of Eden, to dress it
and to keep it.'

This reasoning does not apply to the land which
is given away, and held, by the favour of men in
power, for mere speculative purposes. Such land is
to be sold again when the labour of the husbandman
has made it valuable in the market. This misuse of
land, this stealing of God's domain from the poor
and the landless, is a grievous sin and iniquity,
which will cry to heaven for vengeance on the guilty
and those who rob God. Such speculation in public
lands anywhere is the seed of revolutions that almost
justify the basest passions and the most universal
anarchy. No crime has been more common than
this among public men throughout the American
Continent. Extreme Socialists and Nihilists fasten
their eyes on riches gathered in such ways, and they
forget the self-sacrifice and toil of the many in their
disgust at the riches of the few and the unscrupulous.
They are not in the mood to remember the wisdom
of the householder, who said of the wheat and the
tares, ' Let both grow together until the harvest, and
in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,
Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them
in bundles to burn them ; but gather the wheat
into my barn.'

Among other changes taking place, there is the
growth of villages and towns. But yesterday the
land was all solitude, and now on all sides arise
centres of business which, to avoid offence, must be
gravely designated cities. Some enterprising persons

LAND RIGHTS OF FIRST SETTLERS 125

get land surveyed into small lots ; advertise the
place as the centre of everything and everywhere ; a
store is set up, a hotel, a room for a meeting-place,
a blacksmith's shop, and a church for every de-
nomination ; and if fortune favour the audacity, the
place grows for a time, lots are bought and sold,
until a rush takes place to see what can be ' made,'
and then all sorts of people congregate, and en-
deavour to outwit one another. Often, in these
incipient towns, it is as well not to inquire particu-
larly what the idea and practice of the moralities
are. It is not long ago since it was considered a
witticism worthy of laughter to exclaim : ' The
Almighty has not got so far as this yet ' — a saying
that is suggestive to a wise and thoughtful man of
the condition of things if all churches and religious
institutions were absent, or if the culture of the
sense of God in the human soul were neglected as a
basis of civilization. The missionary comes face to
face, in a very vivid manner, with the fact that
without religion civilization could not exist. Man-
kind, especially the so-called civilized humanity,
would quickly degenerate into mere animal life, and
the dwelling-places of men would become dens of
misery by reason of the lawlessness of their greed,
and of their other base passions. By-and-by this
rowdyism gives way to a better condition of things,
as people of more settled habits find their way into
a new district ; but it is always a long time before
the intense restlessness of these populations is
conquered, and that spirit of reverence and repose

126 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

comes which alone forms a proper basis for the
higher intellectual and religious life. It is true that
we have a certain surface intelligence and sharpness
in our new communities, but learning, in any real
sense, is seldom met with. We cannot appreciate it,
and it is generally looked upon as a useless incum-
brance. The question is often asked, What use is
it ? will it bring money ? Education comprises
simply arithmetic, writing a fair hand, the elements
of grammar, and a smattering of history, compiled
by almost anybody who can get his books introduced
into the public schools ; but the idea of correct
thinking, the discipline of mind, or body, or spirit,
in order that the purposes of life may be wisely
fulfilled, is almost nowhere found ; the one idea is to
get on, to make an appearance, to have a good time
— in a word, to enjoy the physical life to its utmost.
In our state of society a man who reads, and thinks,
and lives a life of contemplation, who has an ideal of
any kind that he wishes to realize, is likely to be
regarded as a crank, or a very peculiar person ; and
however gentle in manner he may be, he is almost
always disliked, and if he should have the slightest in-
dependence of spirit, he will soon be even hated. Such
men sometimes come and look on things for awhile,
but then quickly fly away to other climes where they
may be at rest. Yet these are the men we so greatly
need, as an influence to quicken us to higher things,
and to show us what civilization really is. Men may
be contented with themselves, because they know no
better, or they may have lost their sense of the value

LAND RIGHTS OF FIRST SETTLERS 127

of deep thought and feeling, and then the scholar,
the poet, the artist, the cultivated teacher of religion,
are necessary, and all the more necessary in that at
first they are so little valued and welcomed.

It is not long since I was on a visit to a distant
part of my mission, and was receiving the hospi-
tality of a retired trader. He was an old man, and
had lived for years in the Mackenzie River district,
seeing little of human life, and only reading of it in
books and newspapers. He had, however, thought
a good deal, and the desire possessed him to settle
where there were more people, so that in his old
age he might gather around him a few rays of
civilization, and some of the blessings it should
bring. Looking earnestly in my face, he said :
' May I ask you a question ? Is that civilization

which I see when I go into ?' He had not

realized his ideal ; he was simply shocked to find
' white men ' contented with a condition of morals
and manners that was in no way better than could
be found around mission-stations in the most distant
settlements. It is this kind of civilization which
does such great harm in these districts among the
natives of the country. They first look on with
surprise and revulsion, then they imitate, and
quickly and wildly rush on to their own utter
extinction.

For sixteen years, in a country as large as
England, while these changes were taking place, I
was the only clergyman of the Church of England.
I had to cover this ground, and to travel everywhere

128 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

alone, as I could not afford a servant. Alone I
crossed the rivers, slept at night wherever I could,
and often simply under the trees, and miles away
from any human being. Alone I attended to my
horse, and prepared my meals. If people were sick
they sent for me. If children were to be baptized,
or parties wanted to be married, I had to go any-
where for the service. Now, in 1895, in a few chief
centres, there are other clergymen carrying on the
work, and doing their best to grapple with the
difficulties of a large and very mixed immigration. I
am supposed to be retired, after twenty years of this
real missionary work, to a parish eight miles square,
where I can do the duties of a country priest, and
comfort myself with the thought that I belong to
the class of country clergymen who, like Herbert
and Keble, are the glory of the Church of England.
Once I broke down when on a journey by a lonely
road. I was trying to repair a broken screw of my
conveyance, when there came along four persons.
One was an American, travelling to view the
country ; the others knew me well, and with great
readiness gave me their assistance in repairing the
accident. The American, observing the manner of
my native friends, came up to me, and in his
friendly fashion said : ' Sir, may I ask who you are,
and what is your station in the Church ? Are you
Archdeacon, Bishop, or what ?' Not expecting
these questions, I could only reply : ' No ; I am none
of these, and I have no ambition for such offices. I
have only wished for many years to be the good

LAND RIGHTS OF FIRST SETTLERS 129

Samaritan of this whole country-side.' With a
bright light in his eyes the American answered :
' Thank you, sir, that will do,' and went on his way.
This reply of mine was quite unpremeditated, but
on full reflection I am quite contented with it. Still,
as ever, the lowliest service is the highest in the
Church of Him who came ' not to be ministered unto
but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for
many.'

CHAPTER XVII.
DIFFICULTIES OF CHURCH WORK.

MISSIONARY work in this far North-West
has three branches. There is the Indian
work, the town work, and the work of the travelling
missionary among the settlers. As we are situated
now, the Indian work is the easiest, and the most
independent and agreeable. In this case the mis-
sionary has his work close at hand ; the Government
and the missionary societies help him, and benevo-
lent persons of various kinds render him assistance.
There need be no travelling, nor much wear and
tear either of body or of mind. A missionary at an
Indian mission station now is not much to be pitied ;
his accommodation is excellent, his living is good,
he has his services close at hand, his work claims
sympathy and attention, and these to a great extent
he gains. I would sooner be engaged in this work,
in the Saskatchewan and Alberta districts, than in
any other kind of work, had I my choice and did
circumstances allow me to choose. As I view it,
the Indian work includes the mission to the half-
race, which cannot now be wisely separated from it.

DIFFICULTIES OF CHURCH WORK 131

While I write, an eminent Roman Catholic mis-
sionary of this country is endeavouring to induce
the Canadian Government to give reserves of land
for the accommodation of the Indians. I do not
anticipate much good result from such an arrange-
ment. Already they have received ' scrip ' for special
lands, but these have at last fallen into the hands of
traders. The half-race and the Indian are so mixed
that no one can separate them ; and the majority
on the reserves and in the schools are half-race
rather than Indian. Now that they are all learning
to speak English, some will rise in the social scale,
and the others will quickly pass away. Neither the
half-race question nor the Indian question can be
dealt with in any permanent way. From a variety of
causes these questions are fast solving themselves,
and they had better work out their manifest destiny,
Real kindness would help these people to cheap
schools, and to secure fitting stipends for their clergy
— for the half-breeds usually gather themselves into
communities. In other ways they could be en-
couraged to independence and self-help, and this
would be far better than plunging them into full
pauperism.

Our next missionary work is the work of the
Church in the towns. There are no villages here ;
they are all either towns or cities. Probably our
town work is like that which has to be done in all
our colonies where the circumstances are similar.
This work is as much Congregationalism as it can
be under a bishopric. The people who form the

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132 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

congregations are new to one another. They man-
age their affairs by committees ; and, as they provide
the minister's stipend, they are the masters of the
situation, and they virtually control both the priest
and the bishop. The Australian colonist farmer
said to his bishop, ' Yes, you may send the minister;
but if we don't like un we won't pay un.' Consider-
ing the various tastes and opinions of these new
communities whose members are gathered from
everywhere, it would be a miracle if any clergyman
suited them all equally well.

In large cities, here as elsewhere, congregations
are formed of separate classes, to suit the views of
the classes ; but it cannot be so in the small towns.
They all must meet in one church-building, and there
are sure to be differences of opinion amongst them.
The Church work of the small towns is, therefore, a
very difficult matter, whether the clergyman be what
is known as high, or low, or broad Church, or
whether he is no Churchman at all. He may be
ever so sincere and prudent, and yet he may give
offence if he turn to the east in the Creed, or if he
does not turn ; if the altar have a cross, or if a cross
be absent ; if he wear coloured stoles, or only a
black one. He will be too poetical in his preaching
for one person, and too dry for another ; too doctrinal
for some folk, and not doctrinal enough for other
folk. As a rule, he must not be more than thirty-five
years of age, or he is likely to be ' an old man '; and
then, whatever may be the value of his services, ' he
ought to be superannuated ' — of course, at somebody

DIFFICULTIES OF CHURCH WORK 133

else's expense. The younger he is, the better for
him ; the more handsome he is, the more charming,
especially as a large portion of his stipend is usually
raised by ' The Ladies' Aid Society.' It is always
best to keep popular with them, as otherwise the
necessary amount may not be forthcoming. This
' Ladies' Aid Society ' can often ' wag the dog,'
priest, bishop, and all, except the business men to
whom the clergyman may be indebted.

Experience goes for very little; modesty wins no
laurels, and it is not usually classed with learning and
ability. Besides, the people composing these small
town congregations are often roamers ; they seldom
stay long in one place, and a year or two provides
quite another set of worshippers, and all the work
has to be begun again. Generally, too, assistance is
difficult to get in carrying on the Sunday-schools and
other enterprises, except those which cater for the
popular amusement. Helpers for these are usually
ready, if an appeal be duly made to their self-esteem.

In raising funds for Church work, what strange
schemes are set on foot ! Dances, concerts, bazaars,
meals sold on racecourses ; these things would
astonish the old saints and martyrs, who planted
the Cross in altogether different ways in those
ignorant times and dark ages — the times 'before
our modern enlightenment.' They gave their lives,
and all they had, in a holy sacrifice, as history tells ;
but we offer our amusements, and call these our
self-sacrifice. In true self-sacrifice our people are
apt to be very deficient ; they are not often willing

134 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

givers, either of time or money, for their church, so
that a very heavy burden is laid upon the minister
in carrying on the services, and the affairs of the
congregation, in these small places. The secret of
this want of zeal arises from deficient Churchman-
ship. It seems almost impossible for Church ideas
to take root and thrive in our new colonies. The
people have no historic sense. There is nothing in
which it can grow. Their notions are of to-day, or
at most of yesterday ; their hope and thought are in
the future ; their dreams are of coming times. So
the Church of England is at a disadvantage. Her
ideas and methods are not new ; they are ancient :
what, therefore, have they to do with young America ?
True, this may be a passing phase of human feeling, but
it applies to our new towns, and it is of these that we
are now speaking. There is need of patient sowing
and planting, but such quiet forms of work are at a
discount. No one in these places is likely to believe
in any work which does not advertise itself by noise
and blare of trumpets ; and without these ' whoever
hears of the minister?' — ' he is nowhere,' 'the Church
and the clergyman are failures,' and subscriptions
are not paid. Faithful spiritual work may be readily
trampled down by the destructive feet of a thought-
less multitude.

The Church in new settlements may also suffer
from the looseness of her membership. Her spirit is
not exclusive, and she admits all comers into her
fold ; but this weakens the Church in her special
character and work. If people are nominal Church-

DIFFICULTIES OF CHURCH WORK 135

men, without Church ideas and convictions, they are
simply captured by the more earnest spirit that is in
the sects around them, and the ' liberality ' of these
nominal Churchmen is so great, that they will give
money and help to other bodies, for the sake of their
business connections and social influence, and fail
adequately to support their own Church. Especially
are they deficient in the moral courage that is neces-
sary in order to defend their Church from the attacks
and misrepresentations of the sects around them ;
and of these, in our state of society, there is always
an abundance. In a Church, as in an army, it is
not the numbers but the discipline of the men that
makes a general successful. Insubordination, re-
fractoriness, want of sympathy with the objects of
the war, will cause the failure of the best general,
because, in that case, he has to fight his army as
well as his enemy.

Writing as a clergyman who has watched the
state of the Church of England in Canada, and in
the new towns that are springing up in the North-
West territories, I cannot but express my conviction
that this is a chief cause of the general unrest of our
clergy. They are, as a rule, inadequately supported
by their people, not only in money, but in that
spiritual and intellectual sympathy which so materi-
ally helps to produce and to sustain a strong and
successful ministry.

At one time I experienced something of this
crooked spirit in one of the towns in which I had
planted the Church. I had great trouble at first in

136 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

laying the foundation, and then in building on it ;
but I took special care of the young people. Local
circumstances were not favourable, and local in-
fluences were against us if we persisted in building
on Church lines. Year by year, on the evening of
Christmas Day, I gathered the children into the
church, which was our only place of meeting. The
children and the visitors crammed the church, and
we had a splendid festival, and all seemed to be
delighted with it. The other denomination had
their festival on the same night, and came to me to
ask me to change my evening, as the meetings would
clash, and many of my people had promised to give
them their assistance. They all knew that for
several years previously I had held my festival on
this particular evening, and wanted for it the help
of the Churchpeople as a matter of course. I an-
nounced the festival as usual, and it succeeded,
while the other failed ; and then minister, wife,
and others came to see what we were doing, but as
the building was packed, and I had to manage every-
thing, I could not receive visitors 'or pay any persons
special attention. Besides this, in honour of the
occasion, and to show respect to the children, who,
although they were natives of the country, were
nicely dressed, and on their best behaviour, I put
on a special vestment, and wore a little cross, which
I have often found helpful among the Indians
on the plains when we were strangers. The busi-
ness over, the ladies wished me good-night, and
hoped that I would always use my gown, even in

DIFFICULTIES OF CHURCH WORK 137

the ordinary Church services. I went to my Her-
mitage very weary, but very contented with the
festival. A few days passed, and then I had to
start on a journey of a hundred and twenty miles,
in bitterly cold weather, to perform a marriage cere-
mony. On my way I called at the post-office, and
there received the following communication :

' REV. AND DEAR SlR,

' From the friendship that has existed between

us since I came to , I think it my duty to

make you acquainted with the impression which
your conduct lately, especially on Christmas even-
ing, has made on your members and others.
Several of them have spoken to me on the subject,
and expressed themselves simply disgusted with

your treatment of the Rev. Mr. H and his wife,

who attended your festival ; and with your wearing
conspicuously on a black gown a white cross.
' I fear your influence here is gone.
' Believe me, my dear sir,

' Yours truly,

' A. B .

1 P.S. — I have learned that a petition to the Bishop
is being got up for your removal.

' To REV. DR. NEWTON.'

To this the following reply was sent :

' All Saints, January.

1 MY DEAR SIR,

'Your letter of the gth instant has just been
received by me. I thank you for any kind expres-

138 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

sions the letter contains : any other matters will be
referred " home," with such explanations as circum-
stances may make necessary.

' Certainly no one desired to be rude to Mr. and

Mrs. H , nor do I think any rudeness was shown

them by anybody at our Christmas festival.
' With kind regards, I am, as ever,

' Sincerely yours,

*WM. NEWTON.

' To A. B , Esq.'

The petition was prepared, sent round, and signed
by a few persons ; but I heard nothing of it until a
Roman Catholic gentleman asked me if I knew
what became of it, and I said that I did not. He
replied that the petition had been sent both to
Methodists and Catholics to sign. He further said,
' It came to me, but I took care to place it where it
will give no more trouble to anybody.'

Years afterwards, when changes had taken place,
the writer of the foregoing letter took himself off to
the Baptist congregation, where he doubtless felt
more at home than in regulating the amount of
ritual to be observed in the services of the Church
of England.

But what a state of things is revealed in our
Church, when persons of such opinions and feelings
can have any influence in determining the methods
of a clergyman's work, and this chiefly because of
the necessity of considering the amount of their
subscriptions.

CHAPTER XVIII.

MISSIONS AMONG SETTLERS.

IT remains to mention the third kind of missionary
work in this far North-West, viz., mission work
among settlers. The Indian work is on reserves.
The town clergyman may or may not supply out-
stations, but he has his chief work near his home.
The mission to settlers is, in fact, a mission at large,
and may cover immense distances, and only occa-
sional services can be held in any one district. This
has been my principal work for twenty-five years ;
for five years in Muskoka, and for twenty years in
these North-West territories. It is a very difficult
and trying work; for the people to whom I ministered
are widely scattered, either singly or in small groups,
over an area of some two hundred miles. At first
there were no roads or bridges to help the traveller.
There were no inns, or stopping places, and it would
take a week, or even sometimes a month, to go the
rounds before the missionary could return to his
home again. On these rough roads fifty miles a day
would be no unusual journey, and it had to be

140 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

undertaken in any weather ; in summer surrounded
by mosquitoes and horse-flies ; in spring and autumn
wading through mud and pools of water ; and in the
winter in the bitter cold, with the thermometer
measuring 30, 40, and even more, degrees of frost.
The work to be done includes the usual services of
the church, the baptizing of children, the adminis-
tration of the sacraments, and the visitation of the
aged and the sick. When the night comes on, if
the missionary is fortunate, he may sit beside the
stove, either with the solitary settler or with an
isolated family, and converse with a sympathy and
confidence that are seldom known in the busier
world, on matters of interest and importance relating
both to this world and to the next.

The missionary meets with very various individuals
on his tours. Now, it is a wandering American
settler — a man who has roamed almost everywhere,
and seen the wildest forms of life, or, perhaps, has
been with General Custer in his last fight with the
Indians. Another is a miner, who may not have
been in a place of worship for twenty years. Another
is a native of the country, who has never seen the
sea, and thinks Winnipeg to be the centre of the
universe. Another sold out in Ontario, and wandered
here to begin life anew in this land of the setting sun.
Another is a young man of good birth and breeding,
who has been brought up at Eton or at Rugby, and
has taken an Oxford or Cambridge degree, who,
through some misfortune, or folly, has been cast
upon the wide world. Many are the confidences

MISSIONS AMONG SETTLERS 141

that I have heard from this class in the evening
twilight, or in the deeper silence of the night ; tales
as strange as any romance over which women weep
and grave men look sad. Or it may be that the hut
set up in the wilderness contains, on its rough walls,
the portraits of a father, and mother, and sisters, and
younger brothers, who are far away in some pictur-
esque rectory in England, or in the front parts of
Canada, whose anxious sympathies follow their son
or their brother in his struggles to make an inde-
pendent home in these vast solitudes.

While engaged in this work it has often seemed
to me to be equal in value to any that the Church
can undertake. Nothing can be more like the work
of Christ, ' who went about doing good,' and told us
of the shepherd, and of his wandering in order to
seek the one lost sheep, and of the angels rejoicing
over the one that was saved.

The true missionary cannot, in this section of the
mission-field, fully report his work : he can only
guess how many miles he has travelled ; no descrip-
tion can efficiently picture his risks in travelling, the
poor accommodation, the badly prepared food, the
seeds of ill-health sown, and the weariness of the
journeyings he has endured. Besides the general
services at certain centres, the spiritual work done
in silence is, in proportion to its effectiveness, that
of which neither he nor others can properly speak ;
it cannot be blazoned abroad ; it is often too sacred
even for the religious magazines.

In time, however, some of his work will become

I42 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

visible. In the most unlikely places villages spring
up and settlements are formed, a few earnest people
gather others together for worship, and the ' small
things not despised ' are the beginnings of Christian
institutions which will be sure to grow in usefulness
and influence with the centuries. To do this
settlers' work well, as it should be done, a clergyman
needs many qualities of a high order ; he should be
no make-shift man, no crude person who is fit for
no other work, and therefore put to this, for certainly
such agency will prove worse than useless, and will
only bring contempt on the Church, and this receives
fresh proof every day. A travelling missionary lives
in the full light, and is observed close ad hand. He
is surrounded by no enclosure of dignity, his every
action is noticed and spoken of freely ; the way he
sits at table ; the manner and the extent of his
eating and drinking; his most simple actions are
interpreted according to the feeling cherished
towards him, and the opinion that people have
formed of his character. If he be ignorant, it
cannot be hidden ; if selfish, his services will be
ineffective ; if proud, or vain, he is not in a city
where he may strut to his heart's content. Here,
as there are no places where comedy is enacted, they
will place the missionary on the stage of their social
life, and cover him with ridicule, and include in the
ridicule not the man only, but also the cause which
he represents.

To be efficient as a travelling missionary, a man
must be vigorous in body and in mind. He must,

MISSIONS AMONG SETTLERS 143

indeed, ' endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ.' He must be indifferent to luxury, or even
ordinary convenience, and he should be as simple
in his habits as the Spartans were. He must give
himself no airs, but be the gentleman always, in
feeling, in thought, and in action. Courtesy must
be as natural to him as breathing, and it must be
shown in his dealings with all, even the humblest.
It is well for him never to take offence, and never to
notice intentional or unintentional rudeness. His
work won't bear contention, and he is to be an
example of the Christian graces. His passions must
be kept under control, for never were there such
glass houses as are to be found in the wilderness.
Everything is known ; men seem to think almost
audibly, and impressions of conduct are most direct.
The missionary had better not use tobacco inordin-
ately, or take spirits with him ; and I have found it
best, even when very weary, not to accept them when
offered. As he for days must live in very simple
relationship with families, within very limited house
accommodations, he needs to be careful and modest
in his deportment, especially with womankind, and
to cultivate pure-heartedness. Besides this he must
be prudent in speech, careful not to repeat what he
sees or hears in the houses he visits, and never to
break any confidences that are reposed in him. In
a word, the travelling missionary must be really a
Christian man — devout, sympathetic, good — a lowly
image of the Master, who was the greatest of all
missionaries.

144 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Nor are the purely intellectual qualities to be
neglected. Such a missionary comes directly into
contact with individuals who have seen and read a
great deal, and the missionary must face all men
and be useful to them all. Tennyson's Northern
Farmer should never be able to say of him :

' An' I hallus corned to his chorch afore my Sally was dead,
An' eered un a bummin awaay loike a buzzard-clock ower my
yead.'

He has no opportunity for ' bumming away.'
Conversations of all kinds directly appeal to him on
level ground ; and he must wisely give and take ;
keep his mind clear, and see that his knowledge
ripens into wisdom. This will necessitate previous
culture, wide reading, observation of human life,
and habits of thoughtful meditation. How often on
my visits I have seen the face lighted with a smile,
as the solitary settler has filled his pipe, and pre-
pared to converse with his friend and clergyman,
who has put aside all formalities for the occasion.
The beginning is usually :

' Sir, if you will be so kind I should like to ask
you a question.'

' Yes ; what is it ?' is the reply.

The question may be on church history, or on
some passage of Holy Scripture ; or the man has
been reading Huxley or Emerson, or he requires
light on the relation of this life to the life beyond, or
a thousand other things. The missionary is there
in order that under the form of conversation he
might preach to this human soul, as Christ did to

MISSIONS AMONG SETTLERS 145

the woman of Samaria. The missionary may have
travelled fifty miles to get this opportunity, and
when he goes away in the morning he wants to
leave behind light and peace, as every one of God's
messengers should. Such work as this is not well
done by an apprentice hand in the ministry ; it
requires an experienced workman, and one that
' needeth not to be ashamed.'

Another most necessary quality of the travelling
missionary is the power to bear solitude and isola-
tion. He may have to ride fifty miles and not see a
soul, and even at night may have to ' camp ' under
the trees, all by himself, with his horse as his only
companion. All by himself he collects the wood
for the fire, gets water for the tea, lays his buffalo
robe under the shade of his buck-board, arid
through the night listens for his horse-bell ; no
human face near, and no human hand in any
emergency to give assistance. And when he
arrives back home, especially if there is no parsonage,
but only a small hut where his few books are
kept, — and these often disfigured and injured by
the mice which have taken possession during his
absence, — the missionary need be no coward. The
more apostolic faith he has, the more comfortable he
will be in his solitary surroundings. When we
realize these things, and the self-denial that is
necessary in order to continue such a life year by
year, is it any wonder that so few clergymen can
be found who will undertake it, and that those
who do soon find the life unbearable ? Not one

10

146 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

young man in a hundred is able to endure it long.
Often these men return to England from the
Colonies, to be looked upon as deserters from the
mission field ; but let those who blame them try
their experiment for a few years, and I venture to
affirm that the criticism will be much moderated,
and sympathy with this form of missionary enter-
prise will be more abundant.

In connection with this aspect of Colonial mis-
sionary work, I will tell a few simple stories of my
Muskoka experience. I began the Rosseau Mission,
and built the church there at the head of those
beautiful lakes. In the middle of the summer we
had crowds of visitors from all parts of Canada and
the States, and some even from Europe, who filled
the large hotel, and made good congregations on
the Sunday; but when they went away I had similar
work to that which I have pictured as being done
in the North- West. In those days few of the settlers
had accommodation for a horse, and therefore the
travelling had to be on foot. Sometimes the settlers
would be as much as twelve miles apart, and the
so-called roads were merely a blaze through the
woods. Therefore, to go from point to point on
foot in the short winter days was not always easy,
and if one got benighted he might suffer incon-
venience, and fail even to reach any covering. This
several times happened to me, and I had to spend
the night in the woods all alone. On one occasion
I had reached a distant lumber shanty on the
Friday evening, and purposed the next day to go to

MISSIONS AMONG SETTLERS 147

another shanty to hold services on the Sunday, at a
place where no service had previously been held ;
and I sent the people word beforehand to expect
me. The place was in the woods some twelve miles
off as the crow flies, and I hoped to find some mode
of communication between the shanties, and so to
be taken safely to my destination. However, on
that morning there was no connection, and the road
that was used was nineteen miles round ; but the
master of the shanty offered to go two or three
miles with me, and show me an abandoned trail, by
which I could reach the place of service in a
journey of only nine miles. I started in early
morning with my guide, and having left him, I
pressed on over fallen trees through the snow, quite
confident that I should accomplish the object of my
journey.

By-and-by I reached the ' Skid roads,' where logs
had been cut and piled, and the walking was very
easy and pleasant. Now I was elate, and expected
soon to hear human voices and to see human faces;
and going straight on, it seemed that I could not
miss my way, when lo ! at the end of the road there
were impenetrable woods.

Another road was tried, and at the end again the
woods appeared ; and still another, with the same
result. No men were about, and snow had fallen to
hide their tracks. The more I tried to find my way-
through these roads, which were so much alike, the
worse it seemed, and I failed altogether. But what
was I to do ? The sun had gone down, and the last

10 — 2

148 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

twilight was departing. Several times I had passed
a pile of logs, and noticed some in the centre were
shorter than the others, so that I could just get
inside and secure a little protection. On arriving
there, the thought came to me that I must break my
trail, as there were wolves in these woods; so, several
feet off, I threw my overcoat down and jumped on
it, and next my surplice, and then at the pile of logs,
pulled them all inside after me, and there I remained
during the long cold January night.

The snow glittered like silver in the moonlight, the
silence was intense ; now and then it was made more
evident by the cracking of the trees by the frost.
The call of the night owl made the scene weird and
almost unearthly, and about one o'clock in the morn-
ing I heard the pattering of many feet, which were
coming nearer and nearer to my shelter. It was a
pack of wood wolves, who were on my footsteps, and
hunted perhaps for an hour over the path where I
had walked. As they came near to the logs they
sniffed, and followed the trail again, going up and
down until they were tired, and then left me to soli-
tude, if not to peace. By the protection of God I
was saved from destruction that night, because I, by
what seemed an accident, broke the trail from the
scent of those hungry wolves.

In the morning I tried again to find the right road
through, but quite failed, and returned to the former
shanty late on the Sunday evening, wholly worn out,
but in time to hold service with a lot of wild rough
Irishmen and Roman Catholics, who in other cir-

MISSIONS AMONG SETTLERS 149

cumstances could not be gathered to join in the
services of our Church.

While the supper was being hastily prepared
these men put all sorts of questions to me as to how
I had spent the night, and whether I had been near
the wolves, of which they had a horror ; and when
they saw me quiet and in no way excited, and not
anxious to make a scene, the rough men appeared
to be quite touched and full of sympathy. Never
after that was any rudeness visible when I visited
that lumber shanty, although I was only 'a Protestant
minister.'

A few weeks after this event I found my way by
another route to the shanty I had intended to visit,
and fulfilled my promise. Then I learned that when
I did not turn up the people were anxious to hear of
my safety, for the region in those days was a very
wild one between the Maganetawan River and
Nipissing Lake, although now it is a well settled
country.

On calling at the Rosseau Hotel one day, I met a
gentlemanly man whom I had not seen before, and
as he looked at me with an evident desire to make
my acquaintance, I spoke to him, and found that he
had settled some nine or ten miles off, on the road
to the Maganetawan River. Our conversation ended
by his giving me a warm invitation to visit him when
I went that way, and to stay at his place whenever
it was convenient for me to do so.

After a time I called, and wished to arrange for a
service, as there were two or three families a mile or

ISO TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

two away who never had that privilege. As no one
was in sight, I called and called until the son
appeared, and he told me that they had no proper
accommodation for me, and asked me to go on to
the next place, as his father was not in. However,
as I was tired, I told him that his accommodation
would be quite sufficient for me, and I refused to go
any further that night.

After a time the father came in, and apologized
for his non-appearance, and offered me the best he
had. Father and son bestired themselves, and pre-
pared me a most comfortable bed. They cooked
deer meat and potatoes, and, with some bread, we
had a fine supper.

This visit was the first paid to a place which
afterwards became a town, and it turned out to be
in every way pleasant to those concerned. On my
taking farewell of my host on the Monday morning,
he confessed that he saw me coming on the Saturday
evening, and that he was so distressed at his want
of accommodation for me, he had hidden himself
among the turnips he was hoeing, and only appeared
when he found that I would not go away. He
promised, however, he would not do so again, and
for years he never failed to give me the kindest and
most hospitable welcome.

Yet another story of colonial missionary life.
Twenty miles beyond the house of my friend was a
small hut, perhaps twelve feet by twelve. On calling
there one day to tell them of the service to be held
at ' the Depot,' three or four miles off, the old lady,

MISSIONS AMONG SETTLERS 151

a daughter of Ireland, made me promise that the
next time I came that way I would return with them
and stay for the night ; ' for indeed the good Lord
would bless their shanty if a clergyman once stayed
with them.'

When the time came I left very comfortable
quarters, and walked several miles with the family,
in order to fulfil my promise. We had some tea,
without milk or sugar, some bread, and I think some
butter with it. After a time we had prayers, and, as
I saw no preparation for bed, I began to lay my
rough overcoat down on the floor, with my folded
surplice for a pillow. But this the old lady would
not allow. There were two beds in the small apart-
ment, and there were four persons present to occupy
them. I was appointed to share one of them. The
old lady, with a grown-up grandson, in the simplest
manner turned into the other bed, and presently the
son came to share mine.

An hour had passed, and a noise was heard out-
side which woke up the whole establishment.
Another son had arrived with his oxen from Rosseau,
where he had been on his errands for the family.
The first thing he did was to inquire whether the
minister had come. Then he expressed his satisfac-
tion, and came also into the bed, gently pressing his
brother lest he should inconvenience me ; but the
bed was not large enough for three, and the sides
were made of round poles, which were not flattened
in any way, but were just as they came from the
woods, and it was my fortune to be pushed on to the

152 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

round pole, with nothing between me and the wall.
That was the way in which I rested that night, the
people being quite unconscious of my position and
discomfort. In the morning my truthfulness was
sorely taxed when the anxious inquiry was made
whether I had passed a good night.

Once I went down the lakes from Rosseau to Port
Carling, to make a visit to the Musquosh, and found
it difficult to get across a part of Muskoka Lake ;
at last, in a shop, I found a Scotch Highlander who
offered to take me to his house for the night, and
on the morrow he would in his canoe land me where
I desired to be put ashore. The man had a little
daughter with him, and he was partly intoxicated ;
yet, as I had duties pressing, I thankfully accepted
his kindness. Our canoe was a very light one, and
the winds became rough and the lake boisterous ;
the night had fallen, and we could only see the
gleaming of the waters around the very top of the
canoe. If one of us had moved one inch it seemed
impossible that the boat could have lived in the
waters — she must have gone down. The man saw
the danger, and with skill broke the force of the
waves, only saying sometimes, * Steady, steady ;
don't move !' By a miracle we crossed safely the
three miles of lake. Seldom have I felt nearer the
other world than on that stormy night on Lake
Muskoka.

As I stayed a day or two longer than I expected,
on my return I found my friends at Rosseau organ-
izing a party to search for my body; for the report had

MISSIONS AMONG SETTLERS 153

gone up the lakes that we were all certainly drowned.
The work at Rosseau was much the same as the
work in the North-West, so far as it was a mission to
settlers ; and a narration of these occurrences may
show the real self-denying toil that is demanded of
the missionary in the first stages of colonial settle-
ment : it calls out a courage and endurance that are
equal to that demanded by any other work in the
world.

In this North-West only an Indian would be
allowed to travel alone. Hudson Bay employes
and mounted police go from station to station in
small parties. Dwelling-places are found for the
men, and some kind of rations are provided as a
matter of course ; but the missionary has to travel
alone, on the ground of expense ; he must find his
own ' shack,' and do innumerable things which other
men would regard as hardships. Whether this is
good policy or not I leave to the good sense of those
who have authority in the Church.

CHAPTER XIX.

CRITICISM OF CHURCH METHODS.

AT the present time the most important question
for the Canadian Church to settle is the best
method of work for this general mission to settlers.
The Church is undoubtedly very weak in all our
dioceses, even the oldest, in remote country dis-
tricts. Often for many miles our Church has no
stations, or, indeed, any existence whatever. Should
Church-people settle in such districts, they are
left to the various sects, who are more widespread
and zealous than ourselves. Hence thousands of
English Church-people are lost to our communion,
and their children know the Church as a mere tradi-
tion in which they have no interest. These things
are notorious in all our dioceses, and spasmodic
efforts are made to recover lost ground ; but why
should not the failure be allowed, and new means be
tried to meet the fresh conditions of our colonies in
these extensive countries ? For many years now
it has been evident that we have neither the men
nor the means to cope with the difficulties of large,

CRITICISM OF CHURCH METHODS 155

sparsely-settled districts. At present we shut our
eyes to the fact, by making a so-called ' mission '
cover fifty or a hundred or two hundred miles, and
supply it with a solitary priest, or deacon, or lay-
reader, and even such missions are often vacant, or
cannot be supplied continuously. The missioner's
health breaks down, or the solitude oppresses him,
or the apathy of the few who belong to the Church
discourages him, or the zealous sects around under-
mine his work, or his inexperience leads him into
difficulties which he is unable' to overcome, or his
sanguine hopefulness at starting leads him to make
glowing reports which cannot be sustained, and the
Church authorities are disappointed because he
cannot do impossibilities, and tell him so.

This is the usual course of such missions, and they
fail, as might be expected ; for how can any man
cover a hundred miles of country, where the people
live at least a mile apart, and because of their
excessive labour are often too tired to travel on the
Sunday, or too indifferent to make any effort to do
so ? How are families to be gathered, and children
to be instructed, in all weathers, when they are not
near the small centres, which are but few and far
between, and when these are already occupied by
innumerable sects ?

As one of the conditions of such work is that it
must be based on voluntary offerings, how are these
to be collected ? and who is to collect them, and
when ? People in such missions have but little
money, and this only at certain times. The

156 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

labour of collecting from them is often labour in
vain. And if the missionary would take gifts in
kind, what would he be able to do with them ? He
is supposed to be usually travelling about, and the
markets are afar off, even if there be any. Then,
what is to become of the studies of such a missionary ?
Where can he get books ? How can he use them to
advantage if he have them ? What is to become of
his own spiritual life ? and how is the spirit to be
replenished out of which he has to draw the living
waters of the Gospel for others ? He has no com-
panionship, no brotherly counsel, no church privi-
leges— only a monotony of life, which is repeated,
year in, year out, until brain and heart are weary,
and sometimes both moral and physical conse-
quences ensue which are sad to contemplate.

The question arises, Can this be the right system
for such work ? The plan is to take a young man,
either trained or untrained, perhaps before he is
even ordained, and to send him into a district,
promise him a certain stipend, which the people are
to supplement, and then he has to find his own way,
and to do the best he can. Any guidance given
him is usually of the slightest kind, and, by reason
of the distance from the source of authority, it may
mislead, rather than assist, the inexperienced mis-
sionary. There must be some better system than
this which would make our mission in sparse settle-
ments more generally successful. As usual, in this
as in other matters, it comes true that ' There is no
new thing under the sun.' England and the Conti-

CRITICISM OF CHURCH METHODS \tf

nent of Europe were evangelized by companies of
men who worked together, each man doing his own
special work for the good of the whole.

These men were called by different names, and
their methods of work were not always the same ;
but they managed to cover the countries which they
occupied with effective agencies, and with churches
for Christian worship. They founded and built up
the best civilizations that the world has ever seen.
Their system was both a human and a divine one,
and it had deep and wide foundations, and we shall
have to return to it if we would build up a national
faith in our colonies. Our present methods are in-
dividualistic, and rest too much on monetary con-
siderations, and the matters which hang around
them. We want men of genius, for originating
methods of work adapted to special circumstances
and places, as the Archbishop of Canterbury told
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at its
annual meeting two years ago. In such work hard
and fast lines cannot always be laid down and
followed everywhere, until they become common-
place and rigid customs, which are too antique, in a
bad sense, for the work.

The condition of the Algoma, and several other of
our dioceses where the work is ministering to settlers,
must be taken into account if we would question
the perfectibility of our present plans, and seek for
others that are more likely to succeed. It will take
generations to make the missions self-supporting,
and many never will be such without endowments,

158 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

or the provision of some extra means of support
when the present grants are withdrawn.

In the meantime, what will become of the most
devoted missionaries, who are broken down in
health and spirits, and who in most cases will have
nothing to retire upon, and for whom no other work
will be offering by which they can earn a living?
Their prospects are really gloomy indeed. Often I
have wished, when I have heard bishops and others
blaming the poor clergymen for not raising sufficient
funds under such conditions, that I had the power
to distribute more equally the funds of the dioceses
among the men who were bravely struggling with
these difficulties ; and I would leave dignitaries to
their own reward, and to the voluntary principle that
is so earnestly forced on others. I would first of all
see the distant settlements well supplied with men
and means, and so lay a foundation on which a
grand superstructure could be reared. Bishops and
other dignitaries are more like the angels, and nearer
to heaven, than the common clergy can expect to be,
and hence they are more fit — if that were necessary
— to live on manna than the poor missionaries who
are of coarser mould, and who require bread and
meat and warm clothing in the winter-time. I think
this would be the general sentiment of the English
people, who mostly send us their benevolences.
Let the lowliest be first served, for of such is the
kingdom of Heaven.

I wish we could return to the most ancient forms
of missionary enterprise, and let our dioceses be

CRITICISM OF CHURCH METHODS 159

smaller and more manageable. Let our bishops be
bishops, and not prelates. Let the dignity be in
the work, and not in the style of living. Simple
grace will adorn any sphere ; simple wisdom will
crown any work ; and the Master has shown how
beautiful the manger may become ; how sublime the
Cross ; how charming before the ages can be the
fishers' boat ; and the hillside where the Divine
Presence is. And, although wealth can be conse-
crated to God's glory, it may be ours, in our new
conditions, to tread in the footsteps of the Redeemer,
and take up our cross and deny ourselves for Him,
and by living in His spirit show our true apostolic
succession to the world in these modern days. If a
priest can live on a hundred pounds or a hundred
and fifty a year, collect part of it, and travel at his
own cost, let a bishop have his three hundred pounds
and be content, and keep strictly in his sphere, and
— at least, in the colonies — leave worldly dignity
alone. He will be more respected in his office if
he be fit for it, and he will be more in touch with
his people, who often care but little for old-world
dignities and titles.

With this simpler diocesan organization I would
seldom plant a single man down in his loneliness in
a wide district of country ; I would .have small com-
munities of clergy, under an experienced priest, who
should superintend the work of the whole district,
and be a father in God to the men who were around
him, giving them counsel, and encouragement, and
protection, and spiritual help, and intellectual

160 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

training. He would be a practical rural dean where
he is most wanted. In this way freshness and vigour
could be thrown into the work, and efficiency and
economy would be secured. This would be a real
missionary organization ; not necessarily interfering
with settled pastorates, but supplementing them in
some cases, and in others preparing for them when
the population became more dense.

Such spots might, as of old, become religious
houses and centres of light and blessing, where
prayer could be offered and work could be done for
the glory of God, until in many places of our vast
solitudes the wilderness would rejoice and blossom
as the rose. Closely connected with this subject of
the methods of work adapted to our colonial Church
conditions is that of the kind of bishops required,
and the manner of their appointment. What has a
little surprised me is the apparent want of delicacy
that I have seen in the newspapers as soon as a
vacancy has arisen in our North-West dioceses.
Name after name is mentioned, as if a clergyman
were a politician looking for office.

Considering the professed sanctity of the bishop's
office, ought not ambition here to be stilled, and
when the responsibility and the difficulties of the
position are realized, ought not the feeling to be,
' Who is sufficient for these things '? Remembering,
too, the mother Church at home, and our indebted-
ness to her in the past, and our dependence upon
her help in the future, it does seem out of place to
raise the question of our independence of the Church

CRITICISM OF CHURCH METHODS 161

authorities at home in the selection and appoint-
ment of bishops for our vacant dioceses, especially
in the far West. English Churchmen, above all
men, might well realize what is meant by their belief
in the communion of saints, and be thankful when
England, in our need, gives us of her best, not only
of her money, but of her cultivated sons, who are
incomparably the richest gifts she can offer to her
Colonies.

Men of the world know, without any dispute, the
advantages of a European education for prominent
offices anywhere ; and, while England is willing to
open the way to colonists of great ability at home,
so as practically to make the Empire one, and
England to be wherever the Union Jack waves, it is
surely ungracious to raise the question in the Church
— of Canada for the Canadians — when bishops are
required whose dioceses cannot exist without the
benevolences of the motherland. Surely the best
and most worthy men should be appointed as bishops
wherever they may be found. Hence I cannot
look with the highest satisfaction upon the changes
lately brought about in the Church of England
in Canada. Not that a general synod of the whole
Church can be greatly objected to, if it be required
— and Methodists and Presbyterian organizations
already have their general conferences and assemblies
—but the assumption of conferring new titles with-
out the formal sanction of ecclesiastical authorities
in England is surely not ancient, but very modern
Church order, and in history it will stand out as a

n

1 62 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

departure from old customs, which will not add
such dignity to the Archbishoprics of Canada as
they would have worn if, at the next assembly of
English Church Bishops gathered from all parts of
the world, His Grace of Canterbury conferred such
titles, with the sanction and authority of the whole
English Church.

CHAPTER XX.

THE SASKATCHEWAN COUNTRY.

THE Earl of Southesk, who travelled in the
North-West years ago, speaks of the country
as the ' pleasant Saskatchewan country.' No de-
scription could be more apt, until you arrive at
the mountains, when of course the scenery is
magnificent. From Winnipeg to Edmonton the
aspect of the country for hundreds of miles has a
great sameness ; it is gently undulating, and studded
with clumps of poplars and spruce firs, and gives
the impression of peacefulness and rest, with a
sense of neatness and cultivation, as if the traveller
were in the outlying parts of an old English park,
too far from the house to receive particular atten-
tion. All the scene gives a picture of pleasant
freedom. The calm blue sky overarching vast
distances in the daytime ; the sunrise, pompous and
glorious, with rich golden colours variously mingled
with the blue of the sky, gives an idea of sweet
majesty ; and in the eventide the sunsets are un-
surpassed for graceful splendour. In sky-scape, or

II — 2

1 64 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

the varied scenery of the heavens, few skies in the
world can surpass these, and, as nature is full of
harmony, not only to the ear but also to the eye, the
impression is unique and pleasant, and it is not to
be wondered at that the natives of the Saskatche-
wan love their land, and return to it from their
journeyings with gladness. Besides the vastness of
the scenes above and below, on the banks of
brooks and rivers, there are innumerable broken,
hilly spots, filled with vegetation, generally well
wooded, where poets might make homes of beauty
and rest. It is as if Nature had said : 'The plains
are made for agriculture, and the toil of brave hands;
but I have also made spots where the thinkers of a
nation may live to idealize the common life, and
thus make a perfect nation.'

On ascending to the mountains, the hills are
steeper, and the views are more extensive, but there
is much the same vegetation. Only in some places
do the Rockies show their full height, because of
the gradual ascent for hundreds of miles. Yet they
seldom disappoint the beholder. When the sun is
shining, and the mists are lifted to reveal God's
splendour, they entrance the attention, and charm
the mind to reflection on the awful silent forces
which of old placed them there, and now seem to
guard them continually, by night and day, by
summer and winter, through long ages as men
reckon time, saying to every mood of the human
spirit, ' One day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.' The name

THE SASKATCHEWAN COUNTRY 165

of the mountains rather jars upon the mind, and the
inexperienced traveller might expect to see a bare
and almost repulsive scene when he beholds them.
The ' Rockies,' however, are as beautiful as any
of the great mountain ranges which the world
possesses — certainly as seen from a distance. The
impression they make is that of graceful majesty.
I can imagine the mountains of India as being more
gorgeous in the lower scenery, but not as of a
majesty more graceful in the higher regions.

The far West country has hill and dale, gentle
brooks, flowing rivers, broad plains, and magnificent
mountains ; and these indicate great natural ad-
vantages, and almost illimitable possibilities for that
portion of mankind which may make it a home, and
help on the march of human history.

The geology of our country speaks of immense
changes which have been preparing an abode for
man, and is in itself a prophecy of certain fulfilment.
Our soil is of unexcelled richness ; beneath it are
almost boundless coal-beds ; gold is washed down
from the mountains in sufficient quantities to make
a paying industry. Our wheat is equal to any
grown in the world, when proper care is used in its
cultivation. Around us are lakes stocked with an
abundance of fish. There are indications of salt,
petroleum, and kindred substances, such as naphtha,
etc. Iron, probably in abundance, is evident over
large distances, as I have proved, from the Eagle
Hills to the Mountain Fort, and also in the Edmonton
district, over a country hundreds of miles in extent.

1 66 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

Then, as to home-life, and the possibilities of it in
the Saskatchewan, we have many advantages, with,
of course, our drawbacks. We have no ants or
insects which eat up our furniture and our books, as
there are in Africa ; no loathsome reptiles to destroy,
as in South America ; we have innocent pests in our
gardens and fields, such as the gopher and the mole,
but what are these in a new land which only con-
tained hunters for many ages ? The climate is
extreme in summer and winter; during the other
parts of the year it is healthy and very pleasant, and
fitted to produce and sustain a manly race. Our
seasons are much the same as in England, only we
are in extremes ; our latitude somewhat corresponds
with that of Great Britain, yet our seasons are later,
because we are far to the west. Our springs are
late in coming, because the nights are cold while
the days are warm ; when they do come it is with a
rush, as if Nature hastened to make up for lost time.
Then, at the end of May, and during June, the
roses bloom in wild luxuriance, and fill the air with
fragrance. The saskatoon and wild cherry-trees
are covered with their white blossoms, and charm
the sight on all sides ; then come on, in their course,
innumerable wild flowers — asters and others decking
the earth everywhere with graceful loveliness. Then
our autumns — who can picture them with their
gaudy colours, their dreaminess, as if they were
bestowing a benediction on the departing summer ;
their warm days, and cool evenings, and long nights;
after the work of the day the gentle firelight giving

167

invitation to gentle friendships, and the quietude of
family life ?

As yet the capabilities of our soil and climate have
not been properly tested, so as to show what fruits
and flowers and shrubs will thrive best in our
gardens ; for, as yet, out of the towns gardens are
seldom made around our dwellings : the farm reaches
up to the doorstep, and almost invades the house.
In the country we are at present a slovenly people,
and a taste for flowers is at a discount ; the work is
so hard and incessant for the men, and the women
are so occupied with their poultry, and their cows,
and their butter-making, and their housework, that
they are all too much engaged to work leisurely in a
garden, or even to enjoy the luxury of one. Hence,
our log-houses are bare places, and their surround-
ings are commonplace beyond description. But
although we may not manage orchards on a large
scale, there seems to be no reason why, in the
future, the hardy apples should not grow, as our
climate is not more severe than Quebec, where the
finest apples are grown with ordinary care. So with
plums and some kinds of pears ; probably, also, the
hardier grape-vines may ripen around our dwellings
in the days to come. Anything which grows in
Northern Russia ought to grow here, for the con-
ditions are much the same as those from St. Peters-
burg to the Sea of Okhotsk. We have many
delicious wild fruits which, with cultivation, serve
for summer and winter use. Preserves are made
of our wild cranberries, strawberries, gooseberries,

1 68 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

black and red currants. The wild raspberry especi-
ally is a fine fruit, useful both in summer and in
winter-time. The saskatoon is a delicious berry for
summer use, and, when served with cream and
sugar, makes a dessert fit for a queen. These fruits
may all be had in most years for the picking, so
kind is Nature to our first necessities.

Some of the people have grown the cultivated
strawberry. In my garden the rhubarb plant comes
to perfection, and the different red currants live, and
often bear enormous crops. Potatoes, peas, beans,
asparagus, cabbages, etc., and the small salads grow
here as well as in any country, and the simplest
home need not be without an abundance of them.
A little care will grow the herbs of Europe, such
as mint and thyme, but parsley must be sown year
by year. Simple annual flowers remind us of the
sweet cottage gardens at home, the sweet-williams
flourish, and sow their seed as they have oppor-
tunity, and the pinks and carnations thrive with a
little trouble. There is a hardy candytuft, with an
exquisite white blossom, which is not willing to
leave our gardens when we have once placed it
there ; the English marigolds willingly sow them-
selves without any protection ; and the pansies
come up and flower early in the springtime, and all
through the summer.

Our many shrubs, when in flower, would grace a
lawn in England, and, if trained, they would rival
the hawthorn, which we have wild here, or the
laurel. For years the common lilac has blossomed

THE SASKATCHEWAN COUNTRY 169

with me, and once or twice the white lilac, but the
latter is always sickly, and comes to very little,
perhaps because the moles eat the roots. As for
roses, I have tried to grow them until I became very
discouraged, and I fear the labour will be in vain
unless they are newly planted year by )^ear.

In many cases I do not blame the climate so much
as the insects and vermin for the failure in my
experiments. I planted the Canadian sugar-maple
seed, with many other tree seeds, and the maple
seed grew ; but the saccharine matter attracted one
insect after another, and they ate the leaves as fast
as they could grow. I raised some fine Austrian fir-
trees from seed, and brought them on splendidly
through two winters, but in the third winter the
wild rabbits ate them all up in one night, and thus
my hopes of rearing this beautiful tree, as a magnifi-
cent ornament to our North-West, were destroyed.
In a catalogue issued by a Toronto firm of experi-
enced nurserymen they say, in speaking of hardy
shrubs for hedges : ' The Osage orange would make
an excellent hedge, but it is too tender for the
climate around Toronto.' But I have reared here,
and still have, the Osage orange thriving as if it
were native to the soil, and it has never had protec-
tion, nor does it in the least require it. When
hedges are wanted in the North-West, this will
prove the tree for that purpose, being quick of
growth, prickly, dense ; and it can be pruned to any
extent ; it is also very handsome in its foliage.
Besides the above, I expect, from present appear-

i;o TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

ances, to cultivate as shrubs the syringa, the privet,
and the guelder rose.

As for the common clovers, they are not likely to
be used much in the North- West for hay ; they flower
in the garden, but are of slender growth, and soon
die out ; however, the timothy, in low rich situations,
makes good crops and seldom fails. With me the
Bokhara clover has lived for years, and sown itself;
it is able to survive our winters, and it would yield
large crops several times in the summer. Farmers
should give it their attention, for seedsmen recom-
mend it, and it is certainly adapted to our North-
West. It is, I have observed, also excellent for
bees, which delight in its white flowdrs, and would
make exquisite honey from them.

Some of these matters may prove useful and
interesting to a large class of immigrants, and those
contemplating emigration, who have the home
feeling, and who, in going to another land, wish to
make homes and enjoy them. With many this is a
great motive in crossing the sea, and beginning life
afresh ; they wish to keep their children around
them, and to take with them some of the graces and
refinements of civilization, and I hope I have made
it evident that this, however difficult, is certainly
possible.

CHAPTER XXI.

EMIGRANTS AND EMIGRATION.

FROM my experience in Muskoka, and for many
years in Edmonton, I must have had the
matter of emigration constantly before my mind ;
and yet I find it difficult to say anything ex cathedra
on such a subject ; the longer I am behind the
scenes, the less positive can I be concerning the
classes who should emigrate to our colonies, or, in-
deed, to any particular part of Canada. Our towns
and cities often have openings for enterprising young
men who cannot find proper employment in Eng-
land. When these openings occur through the
help of friends, a young and steady man should not
throw away his opportunities, for new countries are
not so crowded as the old ones are ; but let it be
remembered that, in emigrating, a man needs all
the qualities by which success is won anywhere.
Here the temptations are not less — perhaps they are
intensified. The young man must have ability, and
know how to use it ; he must have a character and
value it ; he must choose his companions with care,

172 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

and follow in all things the way that conscience
dictates. Canada is no home for the indolent, the
faithless, or the vicious ; such persons will soon
reach the lowest depths of degradation, and wish
that they had stayed in England. Again, our trades
are filled with men who are accustomed to the ways
and ideas of a new country, and who do not follow
old methods of work. If an artizan would work as
hard at home as he must do out here, he might find
life easier and more pleasant. What we chiefly
need are men who like a country life, and are accus-
tomed to it, and who have fair means to settle on
land, and turn our rich prairies to advantage. These
are welcomed, and are likely to be successful
wherever they may settle. This applies to our
North-West especially. Here, also, occur oppor-
tunities for the use of money, in good investments
in land, and in general business, and the opening up
of industries that may be lucrative to the investor,
and advantageous to the country as a whole ; yet
these matters require great experience and caution,
if speculations are not to end in disaster. In think-
ing of emigration, a benevolent person is concerned
chiefly with the innumerable poor who, in old lands,
struggle for existence, and find it difficult to live,
save in a state of semi-starvation. Many of these
are attached to a country life, and do not mind work
when they have a motive for it ; they are men with
brave hearts, but they are wanting opportunities to
attain a noble independence. If such men once
get on their feet in the North-West, they can make

EMIGRANTS AND EMIGRATION 173

homes, feed themselves and their families, and live
comparatively free from carking care, and the
misery of town life and its uncertainties. I have
known many persons who have, from the most un-
promising conditions, by the possession of such
moral qualities as perseverance, honesty, and good
sense, attained to comfortable positions. Our
settler's life is a very simple one, and he can learn
by degrees how to turn his land to account.

His first wants are a simple log-house, with only
necessary furniture. Often his gun will help his
larder. He gets a few acres ploughed, and a small
garden planted ; a cow for milk is a luxury, and is
soon obtained ; if he should live by a lake, or river,
he manages some fish, and if he have a trade, he
would find it useful, either to bring in money, or as
an exchange for work on his place. His necessities
press him, and keep him up to the mark. He will
have great difficulties, but they will lessen year by
year until they disappear altogether. Such a settler,
even from the towns of England, will awaken our
interest, and for a time our pity, but his case would
be the same in his struggles at home, and then it
would be without the chances that his toils would
end in success and comfort, as they may do here.
Hence, when I have observed the trials and diffi-
culties of the poor settlers who, it may be, have
come from cities, and knew nothing previously of
country life, I have tried to compare their present
trials with those of their friends whom they have
left behind, and I have hoped that the illusions by

174 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

which they were led to cross the sea, and plant
themselves and their children in a new land, and in
new circumstances, would ultimately issue to their
great advantage. Here are certainly pure air,
pure water, some wild game, land to till, wood and
coal to burn, and gold to mine on the Saskatchewan,
all free to the most miserable of mankind. I am
thinking now of the lowest class of emigrants, who
are often discouraged, and for whom one would not
care to be responsible. And yet it seems so im-
portant in the present age to discourage the rush to
towns and cities, and to bring men into natural
relations with the land, that almost any incon-
venience might be endured, by any class of people
in this generation, so that the great end of the
natural life might be attained in the years which
are to come in the evolution of mankind.

As for making money and growing rich by the
cultivation of land in the North- West, or in any
other country, this motive cannot truthfully be pre-
sented to intending emigrants. Agriculture is the
natural life for man, and by it men may supply their
necessities and build up healthy homes. Wealth is
not necessary for man, and it can be done without.
The greatest nations have been greatest when their
lives were simplest, and agriculture was their chief
occupation. Let men emigrate, and settle on land
in order to make homes, and to live healthy and
natural lives, without greed, or restlessness, or in-
sane egotisms, and then human misery can be
lessened, and the world's happiness and peace may

EMIGRANTS AND EMIGRATION 175

be increasingly secured. The age is pessimistic be-
cause its life is so unreal, and its aims are so illusory,
and altogether so out of harmony with nature and
with religion. It asks, ' Is life worth living?' The
answer is, for the most part, ' Your life is not worth
living. Return to the simple natural life of labour, •
and ennoble that life by industry, virtue, and intel-
ligence, and then the world may yet be a good place
for God's human children.' To any men with this
view of things the North-West will give a welcome,
and bestow an inheritance that is not to be had in
crowded Europe, an inheritance which shall be to
them and to their children's children.

Still, the class of emigrants most desirable is the
farming class, who have large or small means, and
who will be prudent, industrious, and persevering.
The Edmonton district is equal to any other for
ranching, or mixed farming, and, with the moral
qualities which have been indicated above, this class
is sure to prosper in our North- West.

It remains for me to mention another class of
great importance who come to our North-West, viz ,
the sons of gentlemen, and a great many of these
are the sons of clergymen and ministers of religion.
During twenty years I have met with a great many
of this class, until I have ceased to wonder at the
numbers of young men, of good education and
position, who are unable to find lucrative occupa-
tions in England. I have observed how difficult
their position often is, and how seldom they answer
the hopes of the friends who send them out.

176 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

It is supposed that if a young man finds his way
to Canada and our North-West, he will soon obtain
occupation, and become independent in life. This
is a great mistake ; the trades are filled, the pro-
fessions are crowded, and, as a rule, the farmers
'themselves do all the work they can in order to save
wages. At busy seasons handy men can get employ-
ment for a time ; then, when work slackens and the
winter is at hand, hired men generally are dismissed,
and they have to find any accommodation that offers ;
their wages are soon used up, and if they board at
hotels their surroundings are full of temptations
which imperil their moral characters, and hinder
their success in life. Thus the men may become
restless ; having tired the patience of their relatives,
and used up their means, and having formed bad
habits, they become useless wanderers, and lose
their way in life almost beyond redemption. I do
not say this of all gentlemen's sons, but it is true
that very many of them become the victims of such
circumstances. Suppose any of this class find em-
ployment on farms, the work is hard, the living is
poor, little self-respect can be cultivated. Generally
speaking, these men are in a false position, and,
although they bear it bravely for a time, they
become disgusted with their life and with Canada,
and the best of them return home disappointed,
and ready to blame the country which would gladly
have adopted them permanently had their circum-
stances been more favourable.

When families emigrate together, the father and

EMIGRANTS AND EMIGRATION 177

mother can look after their sons, and give them
direction and society; when this cannot be done,
friends and relatives may be engaged for these
duties. Failing all these, it would be a boon worth
any reasonable expense to place young men under
responsible people, who will fairly teach the methods
of farming which the country requires, give the
young men pleasant society, keep them in contact
with their friends and relatives, and when the time
comes, help them to choose land for themselves, and
encourage them to settle down in the best neighbour-
hoods available. In this way young men might have
fair chances of pleasant settlement, and hundreds
guided and helped in such ways would become suc-
cessful and prosperous, who otherwise must prove
utter failures. How is it to be expected that youth
and inexperience should make their way in new and
most difficult circumstances, when even at home,
surrounded by old customs and influences, these
very men need such special and watchful care ?

Objections are sometimes raised to this useful,
and often necessary, protection for young men in
our Colonies, on the ground of the abuse to which
such a system for the protection of young men is
liable. I venture to affirm that the misuse of any
system is no valid reason against its right use.
There must be many respectable men, well versed
in colonial life, and well known to the clergy of our
Church, who, for small compensation, would act as
fathers and protectors to young men, and in that
way all concerned would be benefited : the country

12

i?8 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

in which such men would settle, the men who would
look after them, the Church with which these young
men are mostly connected, and the parents and
guardians in England, who are often disappointed
at the venture they have made in sending their in-
experienced boys to difficulties, privations, and
temptations, before which it would only be reason-
able to expect them to fail.

In full view of all the drawbacks in the life of the
emigrant, remembering the intense struggle for
existence in the Old World, and in the cities of the
civilized world everywhere, I should never discourage
the immigration here of the right sort of men, espe-
cially those with families, who are naturally anxious
for the settlement of their sons where costly pro-
fessions are not required, and mere learning, except
for personal cultivation, would be almost useless. A
farmer's life can be very independent, healthy, and
peaceful, and, where the family affections are strong,
a noble human existence is possible; and as for
refinement, there can soon be realized the amount
of it the family bring with them in themselves ; and
with a little music and books, and a few well-known
flowers, plain food, and sound rest at night, many a
family would have no desire to return to the worry
and care of city life, even if that were possible. It is
true that one of the luxuries of the immigrant is the
regretting of old scenes and times, when the dis-
comfort of their former state has receded into a
distant memory. The remembrance of former times
at least reveals what the life might have become if

EMIGRANTS AND EMIGRATION 179

the ideal of the past had been fully realized ; but this
is seldom the case with any of us. Our wishes are
in extremes : when we might enjoy something that
we have we yearn for the opposite, which perhaps
before we were tired of and sought eagerly to change.
Hence the murmuring of educated settlers amounts
to little ; it is a requiem of regret and affection to
the old days, however sad and troubled they really
were, which are now no more ; and any expression
of such regret should be appraised at its proper
value.

12 — 2

CHAPTER XXII.
THE FUTURE OF NORTH-WEST CANADA.

OUR Eastern Indians, and certain people in
Europe, have spoken of our Saskatchewan
and Western Countries as the ' Land of the Setting
Sun/ It is an indefinite description, but not more in-
definite than is the country itself. A few years ago
these new lands were known to only a few persons,
and if they returned to Europe, or the eastern parts
of Canada, they were regarded as great travellers ;
but now that the Canadian Pacific Railway so quickly
carries its human freight, these regions are found to
be the world's great natural highway to the East.
This has been the instinct of travellers for three
hundred years.

Columbus conceived that he, on coming West,
had reached the East ; hence his mistake as to the
size of the world helped his enterprise, and gave the
name of Indians to the natives, who might well have
been called Asiatics.

So with later travellers : they have sought per-
sistently for a north-west passage to Asia from

THE FUTURE OF NORTH-WEST CANADA 181

Europe, and they have found that passage by the
railway which has opened up these regions, and
closely connected them with the far East. We
are now at the doors of ancient and vast empires,
such as China and Japan, and these nations must
influence greatly our destiny in these border
countries. Nature seems to have made our exten-
sive plains, and our coal-fields, and our splendid
soil, to be the stay of great peoples, who in the
future will traffic with the East, giving it their pro-
duce, and receiving theirs in return.

Placing us thus on one of the world's central
highways necessarily involves additions to our popu-
lation, and to our wealth, which will surprise the
future generations. The twentieth century may see
these North-West regions the very centre of the
world, with cities on the Columbian coast as great
and magnificent as old Tyre and Carthage were, and
inland towns as great and prosperous as Birming-
ham or Manchester.

North- West Canada has all these promises if the
old British stock, and the old British virtue, rule in
the land. Our climate will rear the highest possible
race of mankind physically, if the mental, moral, and
spiritual qualities are carefully cultivated with the
physical, in order to make a well-balanced and
perfect nation. Humanity here may be worthy of
the past ages, and the great inheritances of which
we take possession.

Rumours are rife already of railways connecting
Northern British Columbia with Hudson Bay,

182 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

thereby shortening by a thousand miles the route
to Great Britain, and thus opening up for the Sas-
katchewan country the world's markets, both in
Europe and Asia.

Also it has been found practicable, by Behring's

I

Straits, to connect us with the great Siberian and
Russian railways, and this will work wonders on our
position in relation to the world, and will cause
changes too boundless for the imagination to ade-
quately picture. Twenty-five years more will turn
some of these possibilities into facts.

Does Canada realize the vast import of these im-
pending events, on which her very life and destiny
hang ? What does it mean ? Russia, the most
ambitious of the nations, will be close at our doors,
and able at her will to pour her disciplined hordes —
the very hordes, as I believe, that troubled and over-
ran the Old World for centuries, and nearly conquered
Europe — those hordes of Mongols and Tartars,
scientifically trained, and relying on the tremendous
forces which science has in late years placed at the
disposal of great armies. She will be on the North
Pacific, as she is on the North Sea in Europe, ready
for attack on civilization, but defended herself by her
impregnable barriers of snow and ice — in days to
come the pirate of the nations, and the enemy of
freedom everywhere.

Yes, Canada ! This ambitious and perfidious
Russia will soon be at our gates with her millions of
bayonets, her tremendous forces, her innumerable
Cossacks and Tartars, led by the most unprincipled

THE FUTURE OF NORTH-WEST CANADA 183

and astute intellects the world has seen. These will
find us open to attack, as soon as our prosperity
lures their greed, their lust, and their ambition.
Why has Russia impoverished her finances to build
her railroads, and why does she keep a vast and
powerful fleet in the North Pacific ? Only for pur-
poses of conquest, and in order that her ambition
may have free play, and that she may use her oppor-
tunities. Do Canadians who talk of independence
fully consider what they do ? And do they know
how helpless they are apart from the mother country
if great emergencies should arise ? These emer-
gencies may seem yet a long way off, but in the life
of nations they really are close at hand.

How fortunate for Canada is the fact that Alaska
belongs to the United States, and not to ourselves !
The United States, whose sympathy with Russia
has been often manifest, may in a century, or even
less, be glad to enter into an alliance with Canada,
and the common motherland, when Russia is pre-
dominant in the North Pacific, for the protection of
our freedom, our honour, our civilization, and our
very existence as independent nations.

Besides events connected with Russia, we people
of North- West America, as a part of the British
Empire, may be greatly influenced by the England
of the East — viz., the new Japanese power. Perhaps
Russia may be checkmated in her designs in the far
East, and find a foe close at hand equal to her
diplomacy and her ambition ; but even then Canada,
and especially North-West Canada, will be surely

1 84 TWENTY YEARS ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

drawn into the maelstrom — she cannot be indifferent.
Supposing that Japan brilliantly builds and manages
her fleet, and conquers China with her armies, and
marshals the whole yellow race by sea and land, what
would Canada — yes, what would all America — say
and do? The world's greatest events in the impend-
ing years for Canada, and even for Europe, may
transpire, not in Europe, or on the borders of India,
but in the new, yet ancient, Pacific Seas.

THE END.

Elliot Stock, Paternoster Row, London.

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