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ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN
EXPEDITIONS
VOL. II.
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AN OJIBWAY SQUAW, WITH PAPOOSE.
NARRATIVE
OF
THE CANADIAN RED RIVER
EXPLORING EXPEDITION OF 1857
AND OF THE
ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN
EXPLORING EXPEDITION OF 1858
BY
HENRY YOULE HIND, M.A. FRG
PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TRINITY COLLEGE, TORONTO
In Charge of the Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Expedition
In Two Volumes
VOL. Il.
LONDON
LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS
1860
The right of translation is reserved
HoeXx
1860
Mick, €- : |
SENHER eS
OF
Pianos b.€-O N Di V O-L.U_M E.
THE
ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION
OF 1858 (CONTINUED).
CHAPTER XXIII.
LAKE WINNIPEG.—RED RIVER TO THE LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN.
Mouth of Red River.—Aurora.— Weather Signs.—Channel at the Mouth of
Red River.—Storm.—Character_of the South Coast of Lake Winnipeg.—
Fresh-water Shells —New Land. —West Coast. —Confervee.—The Willow
Islands.—Clay Cliffs—Good Land.— Drunken ‘River. —Aurora.— Rock
Exposure.—Deer Island.— Sectiqn. on. Deer. Island.— —Ikquivalent of the
Chazy Formation. —Fishing: -Ground:— Miskena.— Grindstone Point.—
Rev. Mr. Brooking. —Rocks at, Grindstone Poiat,—The Little Grindstone
Point.—East Coast of Lake Winnipeg.—Punk Island.— Yellow Ochre.—
Coast near Dog’s Head.—Limestone Cave Point.—Fissured Rocks.—Jack
Fish River.—Fisher Bay.—The Cat Head.—Little Saskatchewan Bay.—
East Coast of Lake Winnipeg.—Dimensions of Lake Winnipeg.—Eleva-
tion and Distance of the Lake Superior Watershed.—Elevation of the
Mississippi Watershed : ; - : ; Page 3
CHAP. XXIV.
THE MOUTH OF THE LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN, OR DAUPHIN RIVER, TO THE
SALT SPRINGS ON WINNIPEGO-SIS LAKE.
The Little Saskatchewan.—Height of Bank.—Country in Rear.—Tracking.
— Swamps.—Banks of River.— Ojibway Camp.—Whitefish.— Character
A 3
Vice CONTENTS OF
of Country.— Canoe Fleet.— Spruce.— Boulders.— Marsh.—St. Martin
Lake.—“ Money.”—Pounded Fish.—War-path River.—War Roads.—
Ojibway, Sioux, Swampy, Cree, Blackfoot, and Crow.—Wayvys.—Fine
Land.— The Narrows.— Boulder Barriers.— Sugar Island.— Indians.—
Gneissoid Islands.—St. Martin Rocks.—Beach Barriers.—Depth of St.
Martin Lake.—Thunder Island.—Thunder-Storm.—Partridge Crop River.
—Rushes.—Old Mission.—Low Country.—Indian Farmer.—Wide-spread
Marsh.— Fairford.—The Character of the Country.—The Mission.—
Hvening Service.—Rev. Mr. Stagg.—The Farm.—Hudson’s Bay Com-
pany’s Post.—Rum.—Lake Manitobah.—Progress of the Season.— Rocks.
—Fossils.—The Coast.—Steep Rock Point.— Devonian Rocks.— Indian
Superstition.— Water-hen River.— Hagles.— Character of Water-hen
River.— Pelicans. — Indians. — Wood and Prairie Indians. — Barter.—
Winnipego-sis Lake.— Ermine Point.— Elms.— Salt Spring. — Snake
Islands.—Duck Mountain.—Snake Island Fossils.—Azrive at Salt Springs.
Page 25
CHAP. XXV.,
FROM WINNIPEGO-SIS LAKE TO THE SUMMIT OF THE RIDING MOUNTAIN,
AND THE SUMMIT OF THE RIDING MOUNTAIN TO MANITOBAH HOUSE.
Character of the Country.—The Duck Mountain.—The Salt Springs.—The
Wells.—The Manufacture of Salt.—Salt Springs and Lagoons.—Moss
River.— Rapids.— Character of River.—Valley or Dauphin River.—The
Riding Mountain.—Lake Ridge.—Hay Ground.—Dauphin Lake.—Pike,—
Snow Birds.—Journey to the Summit of the Riding Mountain.—Marshes.
—Ridges.—Character of the Country.— Whiskey Jack.—Quaking Bog.—
Pitching Track.— Rabbits.— Foot of Mountain.— Cretaceous Rocks.—
Terraces.—Conical Hills.— White Spruce.—Brown-nosed Bear.—Summit
of the Riding Mountain.—Former Character of the Riding Mountain.—
Denudation.—Table Land.—Snow Storm.—Source of the Rapid River.
—Indian Superstition—Descent of Riding Mountain.—Character of the
Mountain. — Fish. — Sickness, — Cupping.— Ta-wa-pit.— Great Bones.—
Grasshoppers.—Journey from Dauphin Lake to Lake Manitobah.—Cha-
racter of the Country.—Bogs.—Aspen Ridges.—Ridge Pitching Track. —
Ebb and Flow Lake.— Indian Tent — intone: of, — oe — ne —
Buffalo Runner.— Manitobah House : : 43
CHAP. XXVI.
MANITOBAH HOUSE. — MANITOBAH ISLAND,— OAK POINT. — OAK POINT TO
THE SETTLEMENTS ON RED RIVER.
Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie.—Manitobah House.—Messenger.—Missionary Pri-
vations.— Want of Supplies.—Snow Storm.— Indian Summer.— Snow
Birds,— Manitobah House.— Rock.—John Campbell.—Whitefish._— Im-
THE SECOND VOLUME. Vil
portance of.—Aspect of Country.—The Narrows.—Manitobah Island.—
Dimensions of.—Oak.—Rock Formation.—Fossils.—Indian Superstitions.
Fairies.—Signals.—Arrival of Boat at Manitobah Island.—Coast of Lake
Manitobah.—Old Mission Station.—Unfitness of this part of the Coast of
the Lake for Settlement.—Indian Liberality—Monkman’s Point.—Cause
of the Formation of Marshes.—H. B. Co. Breeding Establishment.—Oak
Point.—Dimensions of Lake Manitobah. Prairie. bordering the Lake.—
Shoal Lake.—Character of the eos —Big Ridge.—Little Ridge.—
Arrive at the Settlements. . : : : Page 65
CHAP. XXVIII.
WINTER JOURNEY WITH DOGS FROM FORT GARRY TO CROW WING.
Arrival of Lord Richard Grosvenor, Lord Frederick Cavendish, Mr. Henry
Danby Seymour, M.P., and the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, at Fort Garry.—
Buffalo Hunting.—Lord Grosvenor’s Expedition to Fort Ellice.—Prepara-
tions for a Winter’s Journey.—John Monkman.—Cline.—Daily Allowance
of Dogs. — A Winter Road.— A Cariole.— A Sledge.— The Driver.—
Making the Road.—Prospects of a Race to Crow Wing.—The Start.—
Fort Pembina.—Mr. Mackenzie-—The Woods and Prairies in the Winter
Season.—Temperature at Pembina.—A Camp in the Snow.—Preparations
for the Night.—Mocassins.—The Morning Start.—Making a Cache in Pine
River.—Dogs watching the Operation.—They return at Night to break
open the Cache.—Terrible Fate of Mr. Mackenzie in Dec., 1859, frozen to
Death in attempting to reach Pembina from Pine Creek.—Running across
a Prairie with the Thermometer at 20° below Zero.—Appearance of the
Party after the “Run.”—Appearance of a Camp during the Night.—
Watchfulness of the Dogs.—Catching and harnessing them in the Morn-
ing.—Treatment of Dogs by the Half-breeds.—Overturning a Cariole.—
Traveling in a Snow Storm.—Preparing to Camp in a Snow Storm.—
Dogs ‘lying close” after a Fall of Snow during the Night.—Sagacity of
these Animals.—Red Lake. —News of Monleman s Party behind us.—The
Roman Catholic Missionary frozen to Death two Days previous to our
Arrival at Red Lake. Mission.—Indians reading the History of the Mis-
sionary’s Journey from his Tracks on the Ice.— Indians relating the
History of his Journey.—Savage Mimicry.—The Rey. Laurenz Lautiger,
the Roman Catholic Missionary.— The Height of Land.— Cass Lake.—
Arrival of Monkman’s Party at Midnight. — Leech Lake. — A Dance. —
The last Night in the Woods. — The last Day’s Run. — Pine Woods. —
Morning.—A twenty-mile Gallop.—Crow Wing. . 81
Vill CONTENTS OF
CHAP. XXVIII.
INDIAN WEALTH. — THE BUFFALO. — THE HORSE AND THE DOG.
The Bison or Buffalo.—Its Value.—T wo kinds of Buffalo reported to exist by
Half-breeds.— The Plain Buffalo and the Wood Buffalo. — The Lithu-
anian Bison. — Characters of. — Former Range of the Buffalo. — Modern
Range of.—The Red River Bands.—The Saskatchewan Bands.— Wintering
Quarters of the north-western Bands of Buffalo. — Summer Ranges. —
Systematic Migration of. — Buffalo Hunt. — Census of Red River Half-
breed Hunt. — Blind Buffalo. — Crossing of Buffalo with domesticated
Cattle. — Character of mixed Breeds. —'The Horse.—Training of Horses.
—Docility of.—TIlustrations. — Attachment of Indians to their Horses. —
Hopplings.—Smokes.—The Dog.—Its Uses.—The Midnight Hewl.— Dog
Feasts.—Dogs at the Hudson’s Bay Posts.—Voracity of.—Cross with the
Wolf.—Sacrifice of Dogs . 5 : : : Page 103
CHAP, XXIX,
INDIAN CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.
Indian Antiquities.—Result of the Fur Trade.—Ojibways Invaders of the
Prairies. —Scalp Dance.— Wood Indians.—Occupationsof Indians.—Indian
Cruelty.—Mis-tick-oos, Chief of the Crees of the Sandy Hills.—The Fox.
—Treatment of Prisoners. — Medicine Ceremonies. — Happy Hunting
Grounds.—Indian “Medicine” Men and ‘ Medicines.”’—Influence of Con-
jurors.—Manitou Dwellings.—Manitobah Island.—The Rey. Mr. Cowley.
—Sacrifices.—Character of Indians.—Mis-tick-oos’ best Wife.—Mis-tick-
oos’ Son’s Wife.—Decorating the Skin.—Indian Pipes.—Ta-wa-pit’s Pipe.
—Pipes peculiar to Tribes. — Salutations among Indians. — Indians in the
Prairie. — Impounding the Buffalo, — In Sickness. — Idea of Lightning.
120
CHAP. XXX,
INDIAN POPULATION OF BRITISH AMERICA.
Origin of Indian Races.— Kindred and Relationship.—Iroquois Customs. —
Troquois Institutions. — Iroquois League.—Indian Population of Rupert’s
Land.— Probably over-estimated.— Number of Indians frequenting par-
ticular Posts.—Prairie Indians.— Colonel Lefroy’s Listimate.—The Sioux
or Dakotah Indians.—Principal Bands.—Conjurors.—Menths.—Language.
—The Blackfeet.—Country occupied by the Blackfeet.—Blackfeet Tribes.
—Indians near the Boundary Line.—Indians of British America.—Indians
of the United States ——LHarly History of the Indians.—Mutability of Indian
Nations.—The Hurons and Iroquois.—The Prairie Tribes,—The Remnant.
145
THE SECOND VOLUME, _ 1X
CHAP. XXXI.
INDIAN TITLE TO RED RIVER.
Indian Title in Canada.—Importance of the Question in Rupert’s Land.—
Cost of Indian Wars to the United States’ Government.—Advance of Settle-
ments towards the West.—Probability of a War with the Sioux.—Iindian
Races occupying the Country available for present Settlement in Rupert’s
Land.—Restlessness of these People-—The Right Hon. HE. Ellice, M.P., on
Indian Title in Canada.—Proclamation of 1763.—Opinion of the Canadian
Commissioners on Indian Affairs with respect to Indian Title in Canada.
—Title to Red River.—Grant to Lord Selkirk.—Treaty between Lord
Selkirk and the Crees and Saulteaux of Red River. — Peguis. — His
Letter to the Aborigines’ Protection Society—His Address in 1859 to
the “‘ Great House.” —M. MacDermott’s Statement.—Meeting of the Half-
Breeds of Red River.— Opinion respecting Indian Title. — Importance of
the Question. — Treaty of the Americans with the Saulteaux for the
northern part of Minnesota on Red River . Page 167
CHAPS XGexXTT:
MISSIONARY LABOUR AND ITS RESULTS.
Indians in Canada.— Distinction between Indian Nations and Tribes. — The
Ojibways and Mistassins.— Families, Nations, Tribes, and Bands. —
Indian Families of Rupert’s Land and Canada. — The Algonquins and
Troquois.—The Hurons or Wyandots.— Dispersion of the Hurons.— The
Iroquois Confederation. — Statistics of Indians in Canada. — Canadian
Special Commission. — The Indian Department. — Efforts to ameliorate
the Condition of Indians. — The Manitoulin Islands and the Mission at
Manitouaning. — The Roman Catholic Missions. — Their School and
Village. — Wikwemikong. — Wesleyan Methodist Missions. — Indian
Labour Schools.— Cause of the Failure.— Condition of some Indian
Villages in Canada.— The Indians of the northern Coast of Lakes Huron
and Superior.— Treaty with these Indians.—Distribution of Annuities, —
Hudson’s Bay Company.—Sale of Birthrights.—Sugeestion with Reference
_to a Permanent Fund for the Supervision and Instruction of Indians, —
Lands surrendered by Indians in Canada.—Testimony of Missionaries and
Agents in Relation to Indians.—Advantage of Settled Homes. Compact
Reservations. — Indian Progress in Michigan.— At Red Lake.— At Red
River. — Suggestions with regard to the Amelioration of the Condition
of Indians generally. — Missionary Labour in Rupert’s Land. — The
School-House.—Suggestion for the Establishment of a General Store for
Outposts. — Native Language.—The Bishop of Rupert’s Land. — His
Charge, January, 1860.— The Earl of Southesk.— A Christian Assin-
-niboines’ Band, — The Church in the Wilderness . i ; e178
x CONTENTS OF
CHAP? XXeXTH:
THE HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY.
Incorporation of the Hudson’s Bay Company. — Profits of the Company. —
The North-West Company of Montreal.— Union of the two Companies.
— Profits of the Hudson’s Bay Company after the Union. — Proprietors
and Stock of the Company.—Administration of their Affairs.—Sir George
Simpson. — The Council. — Departments, Districts, and Posts. — Extent
of the Administration of the Company for the Prosecution of the Fur
Trade ; ' : ; : Page 206
CHAP, XXXIV.
THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CANADA AND- RED RIVER.
THE Winter Communication. — Character of the Country on the North
Shores of Lakes Huron and Superior.—Probabilitiés of a Road being made.
—Country north of Lake Huron. — Mr. Salter’s Survey. — Mr. Murray’s
Survey. THe SumMER Communication. — Route proposed by Mr.
Dawson. — The Pigeon River Route. — The Old North-West Company’s
Route.—Cost of improving and opening the Fort William and Arrow Lake
Route. COMMUNICATION VIA THE UNITED Srares.— Arrangement of
the Hudson’s Bay Company.—Arrangement of Messrs. Burbank and Com-
pany.— Captain Palliser’s Opinion respecting the Canadian and Ameri-
can Routes.—Objections to his View. — Advantages of the Pigeon River
Route. , : : : . : : ae lle
CHAP, XXXYV.
THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN RED RIVER AND THE PACIFIC. — THE
IMPORTANCE OF THE BASIN OF LAKE WINNIPEG.
The Result of Captain Palliser’s Expedition.—Valley of the Saskatchewan.
—Character of the Valley—The Rocky Mountain Passes. — Route across
the Continent.— Lieutenant Palmer’s Explerations in British Columbia, —
Roads in British Columbia. — Lieutenant Richard Maine’s Explorations
in British Columbia. —Thompson River. — Present Position of British
Columbia.—The Customs and Imports of the Colony.—The Gold-Fields.
— Their Extent. — Captain Palliser’s suggested Boundary of the New
Colony in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — Objections to this Boundary.
—TImportance of the New Colony being conterminous with Canada on
the East.— The Natural Boundary of the New Colony. — Importance
of the East Coast of Lake Winnipeg. — Necessity for a natural Northern
Boundary.— Suggested Boundary— THz NaruraL ADVANTAGES OF THE
THE SECOND VOLUME. X1
Bastn oF Lake Winnipec.—The Great American Desert.—The FErtine
- Brett in the Basin of Lake aN amp gs — Its Importance. — Its Natural
Resources. — Conclusion . : : 3 : ; : Page 222
GEOLOGY OF THE BASIN OF LAKE WINNIPEG,
CHAP. XXXVI.
SURFACE GEOLOGY.
GHOGRAPHICAL Bounparins. — The Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — Limits. —
Elevation of its Boundaries.— Outlet.— Area.— Character of its Rim.——
SurFace Fratures.—Area of Low Lake Region.—Terraces of Pembina
Mountain.—Escarpmeént of the Riding, Duck, &c. &c. Mountains.—Prairie
Plateau of Rupert’s Land. — Plains of the North-West. — Table of Ele-
vations.— Detached Hills.— Country east of Lake Winnipeg.— Lakes. —
Direction of elevating Forces.— Steps to the Height of Land. ——
GROOVED, SCRATCHED, AND PotisHED Rocxs.—On Baril Portage.— On
Winnepeg River.—On Limestones of Lake Manitobah. Drirr.—Over
the Country between Lake Superior and Winnipeg.—Lacustrine Deposits.
—Drift on the Souris. —On the South Branch.— Forced Arrangement of.
— In Blue Clay at Toronto. — Description of this Arrangement.— Sorting
of Materials.—Agency of Water and Ice.—Glacial Ice.—Tiers of Boulders
on the South Branch.— Layers of Stratified Mud. Erratios.— Distri-
bution of.—Effects of Ice on Lake Winnipeg.—In Lake Manitobah.—On
the Red River Prairies. BrEacHEs AND TERRACES. —Great Dog
Portage.—Section of.— Beaches on Lake Superior.—On Prairie Portage.
—The Big Ridge. — White Mud River Ridge.— Dauphin Lake Ridge.—
Prairie Ridges. — Pembina Mountain. — Ridge, Character of.—Riding and
Duck Mountain Ridges. — Conical Hills. — Bear Hill.— Second Tier of
Conical Hills. Sanp Hitis anp Dunes.—Ranges. CIRCULAR DE-
PRESSIONS.—Character of. ——DENupDatiIon.—In the Basin of Lake Win-
nipee. — Parallelism of bold Limits of Denudation.—Grand Coteau de
Missouri. — Niagara Limestone Escarpment of New York and Canada.
Riding and Duck Mountains, &c.— Probable common Origin of.— Dislo-
cations in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg : ' . 239
xis CONTENTS OF
CHAP. XXXVILI.
THE LAURENTIAN AND HURONIAN SERIES.
Distribution of Formations. —The Laurentides. —— THE LAURENTIAN
Systmm.— Description of Laurentian Rocks.—Lime and Soda Felspar.—
Titanic Iron-ore. — Crystalline Limestones. — Mineral Species in the
Limestones. — Intrusive Rocks. — Economic Materials. — Separation of
Laurentian Rocks into two Groups. — Extent of the Limestones in this
System.—Area of Laurentian Rocks in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg.—
Intrusive Rocks.— Character of the Dividing Ridge.—From Milles Lacs
to Rainy Lake.—From Rainy Lake to the Lake of the Woods.— From
the Lake of the Woods to the Winnipee.—The Coast of Lake Winnipeg.
—Fundamental Gneiss of Scotland, the Equivalent of the Laurentian
Series in Canada.— Adoption of the name Laurentian in British Geology -
by Sir Roderick Murchison, to represent the Oldest or Fundamental
Gneiss of Scotland.—The Huronian Series.— Description of Huronian
Rocks : Z : : : Page 268
CHAP. XXXVIII.
THE SILURIAN AND DEVONIAN SERIES.
Rim of the Silurian Series. — Distribution of Formations. —The Chazy
Formation. — Fossils from the Chazy, Modiolopsis Parviuscula, Ortho-
ceras Simpsont. — Bird’s-eye, and Trenton Formations. — Hudson River
Formation. — The Devonian Series. — Salt Springs. —Salt Springs in
Rupert’s Land.—Manufacture of Salt.—Salt Trade of the United States.
— Fossils from Devonian Rocks in the Winnipeg Basin : ee
CHAP, XXXIX,
THE CARBONIFEROUS SERIES. ——- JURASSIC FORMATION.
Evidence of the Carboniferous Series. — “ Productus.” — Probability of the
Carboniferous Series being represented on the Flanks of the Riding
Mountain.—Occurrence in Nebraska Territory.—In Kansas Territory.—In
the North-West generally.—On the West Edge of the Fossiliferous Basin.
— Ammonites from the McKenzie River, probably from Jurassic Rocks.
—Ammonites Barnstoni.—Ammonites Billingsi . : : . 299
CHAP. XI.
THE CRETACEOUS SERIES.—TERTIARY FORMATIONS.
Distribution of the Cretaceous Series in Western North America. — The
Nebraska Section. — Vertical Section in Nebraska and Rupert’s Land.—
THE SECOND VOLUME. Xl
Formation No. 1.—Formation No. 2.—Formation No. 3.—Formation No. 4.
—Great Development of Formation No. 4 in Rupert’s Land.— Fossils. —
Steatitic Minerals.—Analysis of.—Anomia Flemingi.—Inosceramus Cana-
densis.—Leda Hindi. —Scaphites Nodosus.— Clay Iron-stone.—Bands of
this Formation. — Distribution of. — Richness of.—Analysis of.—Forma-
tion No. 5 of the Nebraska Section. — Its Occurrence on the Flanks of
Rocky Mountains. — Fossils of. — Avicula Linguzeformis.— Avicula Ne-
brascana.—Nautilus Dekayi. TERTIARY ForMATIoNS.—Lignite on the
Riding and Duck Mountains. —Sand Dunes probably derived from Ter-
_tiary Rocks.—Tertiary Coal.—Lignite Basin of the Missouri.—Lignite on
the North Saskatchewan.—On Red Deer River.—On the South Branch.
— ignites of Oregon and British Columbia : Page 318
CLIMATE OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF RUPERT'S LAND.
CHAP, XLI.
Climate of the Laurentides and the Prairies. — Frozen Lakes. — Mean
Annual Temperature.—Arid and Humid Region.—Sources of Humidity.
—Aridity West of the 98th Meridian.—Mississippi Valley.—Arid Region
of the United States—Humid Region of the Valley of Lake Winnipeg.—
Causes of.— Elevation of the Country.— Humid Pacific Winds.— North-
easterly Current.—The Arid Region.—Prevailing Winds.—Source of the
Humidity.—Rocky Mountain Plateau.—Depression in.—Table of Eleva-
tion of Plateau and Passes.— Hail Storms.— Thunder Storms in 1858.—
Progress of Dunes.—Summer Surface Wind.—Meteorology of Red River,
— Winter Temperatures. — Winter Temperatures at Montreal.— Cold
Terms. — Quebec Temperatures. — Climate of the South Branch of the
Saskatchewan. — Limit of permanently frozen Soil.— Growth of Forests.
Tail of the Prairies. — Prairies Converted into Forest Land in Missouri.
— Character of the Great Plains in the United States. — Major Emory’s
Statement. — Auroras. — October 2nd. — October 27th. — The Twilight
Bow.— Indian Summer : : ; : : . 853
CHAP. XLII.
THE LOCUSTS AND THE FLOODS.
The Locusts.—General Distribution of the Insect.— Distinction between
Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Locusts.—The Locust of the North-West.—
Acrydium Femur-rubrum.—Description of the Insect.—Male and Female.
XIV. +. CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
— Accounts of the Appearance of Locusts in the United States and
Rupert’s Land.—Distribution in 1857 and 1858.—Limits of its Ravages.—
Females engaged in laying Kegs.—Vitality of the Egas.—Power of Flight
of this Locust.— Elevation of its Flight above the Sea.— Food of the
Insect. — Effect of the periodical Visitations in the Far West and in
Rupert’s Land.—Tur Frioops.—Flood Years.—Effects of, in 1802.—The
Bishop of Rupert’s Land Description.—Speculations respecting the Cause
ef the Floods. — Sudden Melting of an unusual Fall of Snow at the
Opening of Spring . : : ‘ Page 385
APPENDIX ; ; : : ; ; ; : ; 3 . 897
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
IN
THE SECOND VOLUME.
*,* The following Illustrations are from Photographs taken by Mr. Humpurny
Lioyp Himn, Photographer to the Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Expedi-
tion, or from Sketches by Mr. Joun Fremine, Assistant Surveyor and
Draughtsman.
CHROMOXYLOGRAPHS.
Susan
Wigwam
Fort Garry
An Ojibway Squaw at eee
The Fox, Chief of the Plain Crees
Indian Graves
WOODCUTS.
Freighter’s Boat
Beach of Lake Winnipeg, near the Mouths of Red rien
Exposure on Deer Island, near Grindstone Point .
Grindstone Point
Sugar Island
Fairford, or Partridge ak
Skin Tents, Cree; Birchbark Tents, eiihteay
Snow Shoes
Dog Carioles
Pembina
Sioux Dress and Meenas
Sioux Knife Sheath
Indian Hunters’ Tents in the rear of Fort Garry .
Sioux Scalp from the Graves at Red River .
‘Cree Medicine Bag
~
to face page 27
”
I)
. 105
oe eo)
pi A
. 124
mle
52
85
123
126
166
Vee LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Medicine Rattle es ae
Tobacco Pipes of the Sneninge of Tales Memmi ‘ : ; . 139°
Tobacco Pipes of the Ojibways of Rainy oe SCse tee Ses . Leo
Sioux Pipe : : . 140
Chipewyan (1 and 2), Plain Os @), wa Blackfoot ® Pipes ; . 140
Babeen Pipes : : ; : : barrel ae:
Cree Fire Bags. : : : : : : : : . 145
Bows and Arrows ; : : : ; . 144
Indian Graves covered with Split Sticks : : : : . 164
Profile of the Great Dog Mountain _.. i 5 : . 258
Orthoceras Simpsoni. A fragment of the Sheers of this species . 287
Fossils from Snake Island . ; : ioe com
Productus from Red River . : 5 : : . 300
Ammonites Barnstoni, side view, showing ie deep runbiltens : . 312
As front view of the same specimen : : . 313
Diagram of one of the Septa of Ammonites Barnstoni . : : . dl4
Ammonites Billingsi . . : : : : A . 315
Curious spiral Fossil from the Two Creeks . : : : » 393
Anomia Flemingi : : : : : ; : . O04
Tnosceramus Canadensis, left valve : ; : : : . 396
as right valve. : : 5 ; : . 306
Leda Hindi : Sie ; : ‘ : ; : : a stave
Scaphites Nodosus, side view j : : . 338
- front view. ; : . 339
Avicula Lingueeformis : : . 342
Avicula Nebrascana : : : : : : . 345
Nautilus Dekayi, front view : : ; : : : . 343
side view . : 5 : : 5 . o44
oP)
MAPS AND PLANS.
Map of the Country from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean, showing
the Western Boundary of Canada and the Hastern Boundary of
British Columbia, also the FERTILE Betr stretching from the Lake
of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. : . to face page 223
Geological Map of a part of Rupert’s Land . ; ; ; . 239
Profile of the Kaministiquia Route. : ; ; . 267
. Pigeon River Route. : : é . 267
5 Qu’appelle Valley . ; : : . 267
Country across the line A Be on seule map .« . 267
THE
ASSINNIBOINE & SASKATCHEWAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION
oF 1858
CONTINUED
VOL. I.
oo
THE
ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN
EXPLORING EXPEDITION
oF 1858.
CHAPTER XXIII.
LAKE WINNIPEG.—RED RIVER TO THE LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN.
Mouth of Red River.—Aurora.— W eather Signs.—Channel at the Mouth of
Red River.—Storm.—Character of the South Coast of Lake Winnipeg.—
Fresh-water Shells.—New Land.— West Coast.—Confervee.—The Willow
Tslands.—Clay Cliffs—Good Land.—Drunken River.—Aurora.—Rock
Exposure.—Deer Island.—Section on Deer Island. Equivalent of the
Chazy Formation.—Fishing Ground.—Miskena.—Grindstone Point.—Rey.
Mr. Brooking.—Rocks at Grindstone Point.—The Little Grindstone Point.
—East Coast of Lake Winnipege.—Punk Island.—Yellow Ochre.—Coast
near Dog’s Head.—Limestone Cave Point.—Fissured Rocks.—Jack Fish
River.—Fisher Bay.—The Cat Head.—Little Saskatchewan Bay.—East
Coast of Lake Winnipeg.—Dimensions of Lake Winnipeg.—Elevation
and Distance of the Lake Superior Watershed.—Elevation of the Mis-
sissippi Watershed.
Tue early period of the year during which the arrival
of winter may be expected to close the navigation of the
lakes and rivers of Rupert’s Land, makes every autumnal
day valuable for continuing an exploration in canoes or
batteaux.
DEATH OF THE REV. LAURENZ LAUTIGER. 95
concealment afforded by the snow, and, quite neglectful
of the whistles and shouts of their masters, “le close.”
We were detained for more than three hours on one
occasion after a heavy snow storm, by some of the dogs
preserving perfect silence and a motionless position under
their covering of snow, within thirty yards of our camp
fire. They were found by dint of walking systematically
round the camp fire in a continually enlarging circle, the
half-breeds being quite aware of the advantage which these
cunning animals would take of their accidental conceal-
ment. A loud shout every now and then announced that a
searcher had stumbled over a truant, whose depressed
mien and conscious look showed how well he knew that
he had been the cause of anxiety and trouble.
On the 8th of December we arrived at Red Lake, and
had a splendid gallop of twelve miles across the ice from
the mouth of Red Lake River to the Ojibway village and
Missionary station. An Indian from Pembina caught us
just as we were about to commence the traverse, and
brought the formation that Monkman’s party had left
Fort Garry on the day following our departure, and were
steadily pursuing the road we had made. The Indian
thought they would catch us in a day or two. Soon
after our arrival at the Red Lake Mission we learned
that the Roman Catholic Missionary had been frozen to
death two days previously, in an attempt to cross the ice
during a snow storm, from a promontory about two miles
away from the Mission. He had been visiting a camp of
Ojibways, who warned him of the perils of a return across
the ice during the storm, and invited him to pass the
night in their wigwams ; but the missionary thought that
‘he would not incur any danger of freezing during so
short a traverse, although the thermometer indicated a
temperature of 25° below zero, at the opposite station.
96 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
He was frozen within two hundred yards of the
Mission House, near to which were a number of log
houses, tenanted at the time by half-breeds and Indians,
When the body was found on the following morning, a
number of Indians set themselves to trace his steps from
the Ojibway camp across the ice, a difficult under-
taking, mm consequence of the high wind which was
blowing at the time having, to an inexperienced eye
obliterated all traces of his steps. With astonishing
accuracy these wild men read the brief history of his
journey, and related the incidents to me as we stood on
the banks of Red Lake, with the Ojibway village and the
course of the unfortunate missionary in view. “ There,”
said my dusky informant, pomting to the ice not more
than half a mile from the houses, ‘“‘ there he first turned
his back to the wind, and there he knelt to pray,” the
Indian suiting the action to the word, and kneeling in the
attitude which the track showed the missionary had
assumed. Now he faced the wind and ran against the
blinding snow and pitiless storm; here he turned his
back again; there his tracks showed how he slipped and
fell, and once again where he knelt to pray. The marks
of his fingers were seen on the crust of snow lymg in
frozen patches on the ice. Once more he fell, rose again,
knelt for a while, and made a last effort to push against
the storm. They came at length to where he had fallen for
the last time, and subsequently knelt with his hands on
the ice, his head touching the snow. He was found
with hands clasped in the attitude of prayer, his head
bent upon his breast. The barking dogs at the Mission
must have been aware that he was approaching, notwith-
standing the gloom of evening and the drifting snow, for
they bayed fiercely in the direction he was coming about
the time he was supposed to have fallen. The half-breeds
THE REV. LAURENZ LAUTIGER. 97
heard the dogs and looked out in expectation of seeing
the missionary approach, but as the dogs soon ceased to
bark they thought it was a false alarm, and did not go to
meet and assist him.
_ It was painfully interesting to watch the Indians relate
the narrative of this short but terrible journey from the
information they had gathered on the almost trackless ice
and snow. The imitation of the actions and motions of
the poor missionary, his attitude of prayer, his drooping
head touching the cold ice, his backward wanderings,
were all so faithfully represented, so true to nature, that
the reality seemed to be occurring before me, rather than
the solemn mimicry of a savage.
After the Indian, who was most active in impersonating
the missionary, had finished his mournful tale, he quietly
took a lighted pipe from one of his companions standing
by, and drawing his blanket over his head seated himself
upon the prostrate trunk of a tree, and without any ex-
pression of feeling covertly glanced in my face to see the
effect of his narrative; and when I asked him through
the half-breed interpreter where the body was lying, he
coldly pointed with one finger to a log-hut close by, with-
out withdrawing the pipe from his mouth or showing any
further interest in the matter.
The name of the missionary was Laurenz Lautiger,
from Krainburg in Carniola; he had been placed by the
half-breeds in a rough coffin made from half-a-dozen pine
boards, and, as he lay robed in his priestly vestments, calm,
and without any trace of suffering, it seemed almost im-
possible to realize that he had just met with death in such
a terrible form.
When we arrived at Crow Wing, a few days after this sad
occurrence, | went to see his brother missionary stationed
VOL. IL. H
98 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
there, and related to him all the known circumstances of
his death as I had received them from the half-breeds
and Indians of Red Lake, and then learned that the Rev.
Laurenz Lautiger was an Austrian, a man well skilled in
many languages, pious, devoted and most enthusiastic in
his endeavours to christianize the Ojibways of Red Lake.
He had not been long in the country or he would have
had the experience necessary to guide him on such a
night as that in which he met with his untimely fate. At
the hour of his death we must have been encamped on
Red Lake River, about fifty miles from the station, having
made an early camp in consequence of the piercing cold.
My thermometer in the woods showed twenty-two degrees
below zero just before I rolled myself in my buffalo robe
for the night; but as we had selected close woods for our
night’s resting-place, 1t is not improbable that the tempe-
rature on the exposed ice of Red Lake was as low as
thirty below zero.
Our course from Red Lake lay through the woods
bordermg Red Lake River. We traversed three very
picturesque sheets of frozen water, and then arrived at
Opashkwa Lake, which hes at the foot of the dividing
ridge constituting the height of land, the waters on one
side flowing into Hudson’s Bay, on the other into the
Gulf of Mexico. After passing this natural boundary we .
crossed Turtle Lake, and numerous dilatations of Turtle
River abounding in wild rice, and camped on the evening
of the 10th December close to the borders of Cass Lake,
and near a cluster of Indian wigwams. Shortly after
midnight our dogs began to bark furiously, and the
Indian camp seemed suddenly to receive an unusual in-
flux of visitors. Cline came to me and whispered, “Monk-
man’s come.” At daybreak on the following morning I
recognized Monkman’s dogs fraternizing with Cline’s, and
CASS LAKE.—A DANCE AT LEECH LAKE. 99
a short stroll to the Indian camp satisfied me that his
party had all arrived in good condition, and were dis-
tributed among the different wigwams. I found Lord
Cavendish and Mr. Ashley in one tent, and Mr. Seymour
in another, as comfortably “fixed” as it was possible to
expect or wish for under the circumstances incident to a
midnight journey from the summit of the Mississippi
slope, with the thermometer at zero.
A mission was established at Cass Lake in 1844, and
the condition of the Indians is reported to have been
much ameliorated by the exertions of the missionaries.
The Indian village is situated on both sides of Turtle River,
and contains several log cabins erected by the natives.
No spirituous liquor is permitted to be introduced into
this part of the Indian Reserves in Minnesota. The
prosperity of the Indians, and their gradual approach to
civilization, 1s probably largely due to this prohibition.
Starting several hours in advance of Monkman, we
arrived early in the afternoon at the Indian agency and
village on the south shore of Leech Lake, and were very
cordially received by the agent. The other travelers
came up with us before nightfall, and the half-breeds of
the united parties decided upon having a dance. Fiddles
were soon procured, a capacious store was cleared of goods
and packages, and the female population of the agency
and village, which included some very passable half-breed
girls and “ wives,” having promptly assembled, a series of
lively dances commenced, which were kept up until mid-
night.. In the absence of whisky, that curse of savage
and half-civilized life, strict propriety of demeanour was
maintained throughout, although there was no lack of
merriment, joke, and song. The scene was rendered
more striking and characteristic of the wild life of these
remote woods, by the presence of some Indians who were
n 2
100 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
attracted from a neighbouring camp by the unusual sounds
of music and dancing.
_ Monkman started a few minutes before us on the fol-
lowing morning, and we had the advantage of the road
he made, which, however, was not much gain, as a good
track had already been formed between Leech Lake and
Crow Wing. After a fair day’s journey through magni-
ficent pine forests, both parties camped close ee
about forty-four miles from our destination.
Cline began to pluck up his courage, which had re-
ceived a check when he found Monkman pushing on
until midnight in order to overtake us at Cass Lake. If
we had not been compelled to wait for the heavily laden
sledges we should have made much longer daily journeys,
aud no doubt Monkman would have traveled more
rapidly. Fifty miles a day with light carioles and good
dogs, would not have been out of the way. On the night
of the 12th we slept for the last time in the woods, and
both travelers and half-breeds looked forward with some
anxiety to the race onthe morrow. Monkman and Cline
had agreed that both parties should start together in the
order in which they camped, and our fire was made about
one hundred yards in advance of Monkman’s.
We rose at three and started at five; the thermometer
showed a few degrees below zero, but the air was still, and
the almost illimitable pine forest completely hushed, not
the shehtest breath disturbing the tall and light tops of
the trees. We ran on in silence for half an hour, the
hungry dogs themselves appeared to be sensible that their
long journey was drawing to a close, for scarcely a note
of encouragement or reproval was uttered by the half
breeds. My cariole led the way, the others of my party
following close in the rear. Some forty minutes after we
had started, the dogs being thoroughly warm at their
THE LAST DAY’S RUN. 101
work, we heard a yelp far behind us. Cline whispered
to me, “ Monkman’s passing them ;” and durmg each
succeeding five minutes yelp after yelp announced that
the other trains were being passed, until in little more
than an hour from our start I heard Monkman’s well-
known voice close behind me. Without speaking a word
he and the cariole he was driving passed mine. A thrill
of excitement ran through me when I felt the warm breath
of his powerful dogs beat upon my face, as the noble
creatures swiftly trotted past. Neither dogs nor men, nor
the muffled-up inmates of the carioles made any sign. One
after the other Mr. Seymour, Lord Cavendish, and Mr.
Ashley, flitted noiselessly by. Cline whispered again,
“They ll make a good road, my dogs will not be far behind.”
It is impossible to describe the feelings which this
rapid, silent, gliding through those vast pine forests in-
spired. Morning dawned slowly, but the gloom of the
forest seemed to grow more intense as I occasionally
caught glimpses of the brightening sky above. The sun
rose without a cloud, gilding the tops of tall trees with an
imdescribable lustre, beautifully reflected by the snow
wherever the golden light penetrated. After a run of
twenty-six miles Cline came up with Monkman a few
minutes after he had stopped for dinner. Mr. Dickinson
followed close behind me, and in another hour both
parties were together again. The next run was to bring
us to Crow Wing, between nineteen and twenty miles
distant. Startmg in the order in which we arrived at
the camping ground, we hurried at a rapid gallop down
the Mississippi slope; and here the race began in earnest.
The road was in excellent condition, the day bright and
cold, the dogs eager and hungry, and the men and tra-
velers in good condition and in excellent spirits. After
H 3
102 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
a splendid gallop of twenty miles we entered Crow Wing
in the following order and close together :—Lord Caven-
dish first, Mr. Seymour second, Mr. Hind third, Hon.
Mr. Ashley fourth, Mr. Dickinson fifth, Mr. Fleming sixth,
the rest nowhere.
103
CeO eeie.O.QYGUE
INDIAN WEHALTH.— THE BUFFALO.— THE HORSE AND THE
DOG.
The Bison or Buffalo.—Its Value.—Two kinds of Buffalo reported to exist by
Half-breeds.—The Plain Buffalo and the Wood Buffalo.—The Lithuanian
Bison.—Characters of.—Former range of the Buffalo.—Modern Range
of—The Red River Bands.—The Saskatchewan Bands.—Wintering
Quarters of the north-western Bands of Buffalo—Summer Ranges.—
Systematic Migration of.—Buffalo Hunt.—Census of Red River Half-
breed Hunt.—Blind Buffalo.—Crossing of Buffalo with domesticated
Cattle—Character of mixed Breeds.—The Horse.—Training of Horses.
—Docility of.—Illustrations.—Attachment of Indians-to their Horses.—
Hopplings.—Smokes.—The Dog.—Its Uses.—The Midnight Howl.—Dog
Feasts.—Dogs at the Hudson’s Bay Posts.—Voracity of—Cross with the
Wolf.—Sacrifice of Dogs.
Tue flesh of the bison or buffalo either in the form of
“ fresh meat,” “dried meat,” or “‘pemmican ” has been the
main stay of the fur trade in Rupert’s Land for more
than three quarters of a century. Without the buffalo
it would have been impossible to have supported the
large establishments on the Saskatchewan, or to have
made the long voyages from the Rocky Mountains to
Hudson’s Bay, much less to have carried on that vast
system of internal communication which employs up-
wards of two hundred boats, averaging four tons each,
and manned by more than one thousand two hundred
voyageurs.
It is, however, to the wandering and savage tribes of
the great prairies that the buffalo is all-important. This
huge and unwieldy animal, together with the horse and the
H 4
104 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
dog, occupy the same relation to Prairie Indians that do-
mesticated animals and the productions of the farm and
the forest bear to civilized races. During the greater part
the year the Prairie Indians follow the buffalo, and not
only subsist upon its flesh, but from its skin and sinews
they make their tents, clothing, saddles, bow-strings and
dog harness. The hide cut into strips serves them for
cordage, the sinews split into threads for twine. The
dried dung is often their only fuel for weeks together on
the treeless plains between the Assinniboine and the Grand
Coteau, and on the South Branch of the Saskatchewan.
Dried meat, pemmican, marrow, soft fat, simews; dressed
skins and robes, all from the buffalo, form their articles
of commerce, In exchange for which they demand tea,
which is now becoming a most coveted luxury, tobacco,
powder and shot, and if possible, rum. It may truly be
said that they exist on the buffalo, and their knowledge
of the habits of this animal is consequently essential to
their preservation.
The existence of two kinds of buffalo is firmly believed
by many hunters at Red River; they are stated to be
the prairie buffalo and the buffalo of the woods. Many
old hunters with whom I have conversed on this subject,
aver that the so-called wood buffalo is a distinct species,
and although they are not able to offer scientific proofs,
yet the difference im size, colour, hair, and horns, are
enumerated as the evidence upon which they base their
statement. Men from their youth familiar with these
animals in the Great Plains, and the varieties which are
frequently met with in large herds still cligg to this
opinion. ‘The buffalo of the plains are not always of the
dark and rich bright brown which forms their character-
istic colour. They are sometimes seen from white to
almost black, and a grey buffalo is not at all uncommon.
SIOUX DRESS AND MOCASSINS. 105
Buffalo emasculated by wolves, are often found in the
prairies, where they grow to an immense size; the skin
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Sioux Dress and Moceassins..
of the buffalo ox is recognized by the shortness of the wool
and by its large dimensions. The skin of the so-called
106 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
wood buffalo, is much larger than that of the common
animal, the hair is very short, mane or hair about the
neck, short and soft, and altogether destitute of curl,
which is the common feature in the hair or wool of the
prairie animal. Two skins of the so-called wood buffalo,
which I saw at Selkirk Settlement, bore a very close re-
semblance to the skin of the Lithuanian bison, judging
from the specimens of that species which I have since had
an opportunity of seeing in the British Museum.
The wood buffalo is stated to be very scarce, and only
found north of the Saskatchewan, and on the flanks of the
Rocky Mountains. It never ventures into the open plains ;
the prairie buffalo, on the contrary, generally avoids
the woods in summer and keeps to the open country ;
but in winter they are frequently found in the woods of
the Little Souris, the Saskatchewan, the Touchwood Hills,
and the aspen groves on the Qu’appelle. There is no
doubt that formerly the prairie buffalo ranged through
open woods almost as much as he now-does through the
prairies.
Great Slave Lake is the northern limit of the buffalo,
and the country between that large body of water and
the Saskatchewan is partially wooded. The buffalo are
now found in considerable numbers on the east flank of
the Rocky Mountains. The former limits of the wan- |
derings of these animals are carefully recorded in the
narrative of Major Long’s Expedition to the sources of
the St. Peter’s River. It appears that the buffalo was
formerly found throughout the whole territory of the
United States, with the exception of that part which lies
east of Hudson’s River and Lake Champlain, and of narrow
strips of coast on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
These were swampy, and had probably low thick woods.
That it did not exist on the Atlantic coast is rendered
a
THE RANGES OF THE BUFFALO. 107
probable from the circumstance that all the early writers
whom Mr. Colhoun the astronomer to Major Long’s Ex-
pedition consulted on the subject, do not mention the
buffalo as existing there, but further back. There can be
no doubt that the animal approached the Gulf of Mexico,
near the Bay of St. Bernard, for Alvar Nunez, about the
year 1535, saw them not far from the coast, and Jontel,
one hundred and fifty years afterwards, saw them at the
Bay of St. Bernard. It is probable that this bay is the
lowest point of latitude at which this animal has been
found east of the Rocky Mountains.
Its existence on the west side of the Rocky Mountains
is well ascertained, although it was not seen by the early
explorers of that region.
At present it is scarcely seen east of the Mississippi,
and south of the St. Lawrence. Governor Cass’s party
found, in 1819, buffaloes on the east side of the Missis-
sippl, above the falls of St. Anthony. Every year this
animal’s rovings are restricted. In 1822, the limit of its
wanderings down the St. Peter was Great Swan Lake.*
The ranges of the buffalo in the north-western prairies
are still maintained with great exactness, and old hunters,
if the plains have not been burnt, can generally tell the
direction in which herds will be found at certain seasons
of the year. If the plams have been extensively burnt
in the autumn, the search for the main herds during the
following spring must depend on the course the fires have
taken.
Red River hunters recognize two grand divisions of
buffalo, those of the Grand Coteau and Red River, and
those of the Saskatchewan. Other ranges of immense
herds exist beyond the Missouri towards the south, as far
* Major Long’s Expedition to the Sources of the St. Peter’s River.
108 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
as Texas and Mexico. The north-western buffalo ranges
are as follow. The bands belonging to the Red River Range
winter on the Little Souris, and south-easterly towards
and beyond Devil’s Lake, and thence on to Red River
and the Shayenne. Here too, they are found in the
spring. ‘Their course then lies west towards the Grand
Coteau de Missouri, until the month of June, when they _
turn north, and revisit the Little Souris from the west,
winding round the west flank of Turtle Mountain to Devil’s .
Lake, and by the main river (Red River), to the Shay-
enne again. In the memory of many Red River hunters,
the buffalo were accustomed to visit the prairies of the
Assinniboine as far north as Lake Manitobah, where in
fact their skulls and bones are now to be seen; their
skulls are also seen on the east side of the Red River of
the north, in Minnesota, but the living animal is very
rarely to be met with. A few years ago they were
accustomed to pass on the east side of Turtle Mountain
through the Blue Hills of the Souris, but of late years
their wanderings in this direction have ceased ; experi-
ence teaching them that their enemies, the half-breeds,
have approached too near their haunts in that direction.
The country about the west side of Turtle Mountain
in June 1858 was scored with their tracks at one of the
crossing places on the Little Souris, as if deep parallel
ruts had been artificially cut down the hill-sides. ‘These
ruts, often one foot deep and sixteen inches broad, would
converge from the prairie for many miles to a favourite
crossing .or drinking place; and they are often seen in
regions in which the buffalo is no longer a visitor.
The great western herds winter between the south and
the north branches of the Saskatchewan, south of the
Touchwood Hills, and beyond the north Saskatchewan
in the valley of the Athabaska ; they cross the South Branch
a, ——
RED RIVER AND SASKATCHEWAN BANDS OF BUFFALO. 109
in June and July, visit the prairies on the south side of the
Touchwood Hill range, and cross the Qu’appelle valley
anywhere between the Elbow of the South Branch and
a few miles west of Fort Ellice on the Assinniboine. They
then strike for the Grand Coteau de Missouri, and their
eastern flank often approaches the Red River herds coming
north from the Grand Coteau. They then proceed across
the Missouri up the Yellow Stone, and return to the Sas-
katchewan and Athabaska as winter approaches, by the
flanks of the Rocky Mountains. We saw many small herds,
belonging to the western bands, cross the Qu’appelle valley,
and proceed in single file towards the Grand Coteau in
July 1858. The eastern bands, which we had expected
to find on the Little Souris, were on the main river (Red
River is so termed by the half-breeds hunting in this
quarter). ‘They had proceeded early thither, far to the
south of their usual track, in consequence of the de-
vastating fires which swept the plains from the Rocky
Mountains to Red River in the autumn of 1857. We
met bulls all moving south, when approaching Fort
Ellice; they had come from their winter quarters near
the Touchwood Hill range. As a general rule the Sas-
katchewan bands of buffalo go north during the autumn,
and south during the summer. The Little Souris and
main river bands, go north-west in summer and south-east
in autumn. It is almost needless to remark again that
fires interfere with this systematic migration, but there
are no other impediments which will divert the buffalo
from their course. The half-breeds state that no slaughter
by large parties of hunters or Indians can turn large herds
from the general direction they have taken when on the
march; want of food is alone able to make them deviate
from the course they have taken. The approach of nu-
merous herds can be recognised by a low rumbling sound
110 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
they occasion, if the weather be calm, fully twenty miles
before they arrive, this warning is best perceived by ap-
plying the ear to a badger hole. During the rutting
season they can be heard bellowing for a great distance
on astill night. When we arrived at the Sandy Hills on
the South Branch, the Crees, on being asked if the buffalo
were numerous near at hand, answered, “ listen to-night
and you will hear them.”
The summer and fall buffalo hunts are the grand
events of the year to the Red River settlers, in fact the
chief dependence for a livelihood of the greater part of
the population. The start is usually made from the
settlements about the 15th of June for the summer hunt,
the hunters remaining in the prairie until the 20th August
or Ist of September. One division (the White Horse
Plain) goes by the Assinniboine River to the “rapids cross-
ing place,” and then proceed in a south-westerly direction.
The other, or Red River division, pass on to Pembina, and
then take a southerly direction. The two divisions some-
times meet, but not intentionally. Mr. Flett m 1849
took a census of the White Horse Plain division near the
Chiefs’ Mountain, not far from the Shayenne River, Daco-
tah Territory, and enumerated 603 carts, 700 half-breeds,
200 Indians, 600 horses, 200 oxen, 400 dogs and one cat.
Mr. Ross * gives the following census of the number of
carts assembled in camp for the buffalo hunt at five dif-
ferent periods :—
In 1820. Number of carts assembled for the first trip 540
In 1825 . # 680
In 1830 ‘ aa 4 820
In 1835 i . . 970
In 1840 cs : is 1210
* The Red River Settlement, its rise, progress, and present state. London.
1856.
THE BUFFALO HUNTERS IN THE FIELD. Lit
After the start from the settlement has been well made,
and all stragglers or tardy hunters have arrived, a great
council is held, and a president elected. A number of
captains are nominated by the president and people
jointly. The captains then proceed to appoint their own
policemen, the number assigned to each not exceeding
ten. Their duty is to see that the laws of the hunt are
strictly carried out. In 1849, if a man ran a buffalo
without permission before the general hunt began, his
saddle and bridle were cut to pieces, for the first offence ;
for the second offence of the same description his clothes
were cut off his back. At the present day these punish-
ments are changed to a fine of twenty shillings for the
first offence. No gun is permitted to be fired when in
the buffalo country before the “race” begins. A priest
sometimes goes with the hunt, and mass is then celebrated
in the open prairies. At night the carts are placed in
the form of a circle with the horses and cattle inside the
ring, and it is the duty of the captains and their police-
men to see that this is rightly done. All laws are pro-
claimed in camp, and relate to the hunt alone. All camp-
ing orders are given by signal, a flag bemeg carried by
the guides, who are appointed by election. Each guide
has his turn of one day, and no man can’pass a guide on
duty without subjecting himself to a fine of five shillings.
No hunter can leave the camp to return home without
permission, and no one is permitted to stir until any ani-
mal or property of value, supposed to be lost, is recovered.
The policemen, at the order of the captains, can seize any
cart at night-fall and place it where they choose for the
public safety, but on the following morning they are com-
pelled to bring it back to the spot from which they
moved it the evening previous. This power is very ne-
cessary in order that the horses may not be stampeded
112 ASSINNIBOINE- AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
by night attacks of the Sioux or other Indian tribes at
war with the half-breeds. A heavy fine is imposed in
case of neglect in extinguishing fires when the camp is
broken up in the morning. In sight of buffalo, all the
hunters are drawn up in line, the president, captains, and
police being a few yards in advance, restrainmg the im-
patient hunters. Not yet, not yet, is the subdued
whisper of the president; the approach to the herd is
cautiously made. Now! the president exclaims, and as
the word leaves his lips the charge is made, and in a few
minutes the excited half-breeds are among the bewildered
buffalo.
Blind buffalo are frequently found accompanying herds,
and sometimes they are met with alone. Their eyes have
been destroyed by prairie fires; but their quickened sense
of hearing and smell, and their increased alertness enable
them to guard against danger, and makes it more difficult
to approach them in quiet weather than those possessing
sight. The hunters think that blind buffalo frequently
ceive the alarm when they are stealthily approaching a
herd in an undulatmg country. When galloping over
stony ground blind buffalo frequently fall, but when quietly
feeding they avoid the stones and boulders with wonder-
ful skill. The domestication of the buffalo is a subject of
much interest to the future population of Red River, and
the following information on that subject may be im-
plicitly relied on.
Humboldt* says that Albert Gallatin, who, before he
appeared in Europe as a distinguished diplomatist, had
obtained by personal inspection great knowledge of the
uncultivated part of the United States, assures us that
“the mixed breed was quite common fifty years ago in
some of the north-western counties of Virginia; and the
* Aspects of Nature.
THE DOMESTICATED BUFFALO. 113
cows, the issue of that mixture, propagated lke all others.”
“The favourite food of the buffalo 1s Tripsacum dacty-
loides (buffalo grass) and an undescribed species of clover
nearly allied to Trifolium repens, and designated by
Barton as Trifolium bisonicum. According to the state-
ment of Gomara, there was still hving in the north-west
of Mexico, in latitude 40°, an Indian tribe whose prin-
cipal riches consisted in herds of tame bisons or buffalo.
But notwithstanding the possibility of taming the bison,
notwithstanding the quantity of milk it yields, and not-
withstanding the herds of lamas in the Cordilleras of
Peru, no pastoral life or pastoral people were found when
America was discovered, and there is no historical evi-
dence of this intermediate stage in the life of nations
ever having existed there.”
In a description of domesticated herds of buffalo, and
the results of crossing with the common cow, from the
Patent Office Reports, it is stated that the mixed breeds
are of various colours; striped with black on a grey
eround, like the zebra; some others brindled red ; some
pure red, with white faces: and others red, without any
markings of white. The mixed bloods have not only
produced from the tame and buffalo bull, but it is known
that the half-bloods reproduce, viz. those that were the
product of the common cow and wild buffalo bull. At
the first settlement of the country, cows that were con-
_sidered the best for milking were the half-blood down to
the quarter, and even eighth, of the buffalo blood. But
the writer’s experiments have not satisfied him that the
half buffalo bull will produce again. That the half-breed
heifer will be productive from either race, he has tested
beyond the possibility of doubt. :
“The domesticated buffalo retains the same haughty
bearing that distinguishes him in his natural state. He
VOL. II. I
114 ' ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
will, however, feed or fatten on whatever suits the tame
cow, and requires about the same amount of food. I
have never milked either the full-blood or mixed breed,
but have no doubt they might be made good milkers,
although their bags or udders are less than those of the
common cow; yet, from the strength of the calf, the
dam must yield as much, or even more milk, than the
common cow.’*
Next to the buffalo the horse is the mainstay of the
prairie Indians. Good horses are not very common
among the Crees; they are, however, very intelligent and
well tramed. A good buffalo runner is invaluable to
them, for although it does not require a fast horse to
catch a bull, the cows, possessing greater speed, often out-
strip them. A good Indian horse possesses some excellent
characteristics, the result of trainmg, which it may be
interesting to enumerate, for the purpose of exhibiting
how admirably this animal serves his rude and savage
masters. When galloping after a buffalo, an Indian horse
watches the animal as intently as his rider, always
swerving when he observes the buffalo’s tail begin to
vibrate, and breaking mto short gallop at his utmost
speed when he sees the tail erect, a sure indication of an
immediate charge. The rider may with safety entrust
himself to his horse if mounted on a trained buffalo run-
ner; he will be carried within three yards of the flanks
of the animal, and safely withdrawn when danger is
threatened. If the horse stumbles and throws his rider,
the sagacious animal stops instantly and waits for him to
mount again. A happy instance happened to myself
when riding a fiery grey mare an Ojibway Indian
lent me to- gallop from his tent to Manitobah House,
-a distance of ten miles. “She is my favourite buffalo
* U.S. Patent Office Report.
SAGACITY AND INTELLIGENCE OF INDIAN HORSES. 115
b)
runner, said the Indian, and will not need the thong.’
She ran away with me, however, as soon as we reached
a grassy opening about a mile across, and in the midst of
her gallop the belly band broke, and the little Indian
saddle slipping round, [ was thrown at once on the soft
turf. The mare stopped immediately, turned round and
stood by my side, waiting until I had risen and adjusted
the saddle. As soon as [ mounted she started off again,
as if my sudden and unexpected descent had been inten-
tional. At another time, when driving a small cariole
over the frozen waters of Red River, the horse, an Indian
one, not being roughshod, slipped and fell, but without
an effort to rise remaimed perfectly quiet until I had
loosened the harness, when he scrambled up, gained a
rough portion of ice, and quietly waited to be harnessed
afresh.
Indian horses are excellent watchers by night; our
half-breeds were accustomed to note with care the aspect
of the horses before retiring to rest; if they showed the
least signs of uneasiness, such as staring about them in-
stead of feeding quietly, or, when feeding with the “bite ”
in their mouth, stopping to listen, or snufling the air, or
approaching the fires when the flies where not trouble-
some, they would look for the cause and sometimes set
watchers. When during the night, however dark, the
horses suddenly approached the carts, the half-breeds
would go to them, caress them, and watch the direction
in which they fed or looked, knowing that their heads
would be turned towards the danger, whether of Indians,
or bears, or wolves.
One more instance will suffice to show the docility and
training of Indian horses. I was riding a small horse
which we had procured from the Crees on the Qu’appelle,
in company with a Blackfoot half-breed, some distance
1-2
116 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
before the carts, in the valley of Long Creek.* As we
ascended a low hill we saw a bear 250 yards before us.
My companion could speak but few words of English, so
with signs he motioned me to dismount, and, having
satisfied himself that the horses saw the bear, he led them
a few yards aside behind a clump of willows, and tying
their bridles together he patted them on the neck and
pointed to the bear, caressed them again, and afterwards
motioned me to follow him. ‘The horses, with pricked
ears, followed with their eyes every movement of the
bear now slowly moving from us, but occasionally stopping
to crop the twigs of willow. We crawled to leeward,
and got within seventy yards of the bear, he then per-
ceived us, I fired and sent a ball through his lungs. We
waited to see if he would rise again, but finding that he
lay struggling on his back, we approached and despatched
him. On looking round for the horses they were seen
standing in the same place intently watching us. My
companion called them, they came slowly up and stopped
within forty yards, eyeing the bear all the time. Finding
that we approached it and handled it, they began to feed,
evidently being satisfied that it was harmless.
Prairie Indians become very much attached to their
horses, if they succeed in getting possession of a valuable
animal. They often keep him in a tent when in the
neighbourhood of an enemy’s country or among noted
thieves of their own tribe. During the daytime, when
the camp is well supplied with meat and the buffalo are
near, they tether him in the prairie, and indolently
stretching themselves at full length on the grass, patiently
watch him feed, removing the stake to a fresh spot as
soon as he has cropped the best portion of the area
limited by his tether. At night, when it was not thought
necessary to tether our horses, we always hoppled them,
* Long Creek flows into the Main Saskatchewan, near Fort 4 la Corne.
HOPPLED HORSES. — INDIAN DOGS. 117
that is tied their fore-feet together with dressed buffalo
hide. Iron hopplings are in great request among half-
breeds on their hunting expeditions. They can then
more safely allow their horses to feed some distance from
the camp, but instances have been known of Indians who
have succeeded in approaching and catching a_ horse
furnished with iron hopplings, in revenge for their disap-
pomtment at not being able to gallop away with their
prize, sending an arrow through the animal or otherwise
seriously injuring him. During the fly season, smokes
are made every night for the horses, and if this precaution
is neglected they will remind their masters of their want
of care by surrounding the camp fire and standing with
their heads in the smoke. It is this habit of crowding
round the smoke of a fire to avoid the torment of flies
which makes Indian horses so difficult to drive from a
prairie on fire. Many are burned every year on account
of their being unable to comprehend the danger which
threatens them. The buffalo are more wary, the smell of
fire is often sufficient to drive them from pastures where
they have been quietly feeding.
Next to the horse, the dog is the Prairie Indian’s most
valuable friend. The dog is the great stand-by of the
squaws, who have to attend to all the duties of the camp,
the men employing themselves solely in hunting and fight-
ing. The dogs drag on poles the camp furniture, the
provisions, the little children, and all the valuables of the
family. It is a very amusing sight to witness several
hundred dogs solemnly engaged in moving a large camp.
They look wistfully at passers-by, and take advantage of
the least want of attention on the part of their mistresses
to le down, or snarl and snap at their companions in the
work, They nevertheless obey the word of command
with alacrity and willingness if not fatigued.
a3
118 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION,
The midnight howl of three or four hundred dogs is
an awful and appalling sound. It rises suddenly from a
low prolonged whine to a deep melancholy howl, caught
up again and again to the distraction of tired travelers
anxious to take rest in sleep. When any great event
takes place, a dog feast is proclaimed, and it is sufficiently
disgusting to see the men handle and feel the unfortunate
animals as if they were sheep, with a view to select the
fattest, so powerful are early habits and associations in
directing our feelings and tastes. Although some of the
Indian dogs we saw among the Crees of the Sandy Hills
are large and ferocious looking animals, we never found
them vicious or inclined to attack us; they were always
deterred from approaching by the sight of a stick or a
femt at picking up a stone.
Although I made many inquiries, the Indians could
give no information respecting the occurrence of hydro-
phobia among their dogs, and the same observation, as
far as I could discover, applies to the dogs so numerous
at Red River, and at the different Posts of the Hudson’s
Bay Company. Large numbers of dogs are kept at the
Company’s Posts to haul sledges durmg winter ; in summer
time they are fed on fish at fishing stations; in the
prairie they feed upon the offal of buffalo. Dogs will go
for a week without food, and yet get into condition for
traveling, if well fed, in a fortnight or eighteen days.
At Manitobah House I saw them devour large pike alive,
which were thrown to them as they were taken from the
nets. Indian dogs are terrible thieves, especially those
originating from a cross with the wolf. It was necessary
to place out of reach or under cover every article bearing
the least resemblance to leather when we were among
the Crees. A careless half-breed would wake in the
morning and find his harness eaten, or his whip devoured ;
and it sometimes happened that the long tether of buffalo
DOG FEASTS AND SACRIFICES. 119
hide would be found partly consumed by dogs if their
appetite had not been lately appeased. The wolves have
this trick also when food is scarce, especially when the
tether is allowed to trail loosely from the horse’s neck
without being attached to a stake, thus leaving him
at liberty to wander some distance from the camp during
the night. The intelligence of dogs when traveling
Sioux Knife Sheath.
during the winter is astonishing, several curious instances
occurred durmg our homeward journey, which will be
found in the narrative of the winter journey to Crow
Wing.
With Crees, Ojibways, Swampys, and Sioux, the dog is
supposed to be the most acceptable sacrifice to offended
deities, five dogs being the common number for a propi-
tiatory offering.
14
120 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
CHAP. XXIX.
INDIAN CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.
Indian Antiquities.—Result of the Fur Trade.—Ojibways Invaders of the
Prairies. —Scalp Dance.— Wood Indians.—Occupations of Indians.—Indian
Cruelty.—Mis-tick-oos, Chief of the Crees of the Sandy Hills.—The Fox.
— Treatment of Prisoners. — Medicine Ceremonies. — Happy Hunting
Grounds.—Indian “ Medicine ” Men and “ Medicines.” —Influence of Con-
jurors.—Manitou Dwellings.—Manitobah Island—The Rev. Mr. Cowley.
—Sacrifices.—Character of Indians.—Mis-tick-oos’ best Wife.—Mis-tick-
oos’ Son’s Wife.—Decorating the Skin.—Indian Pipes.—Ta-wa-pit’s Pipe.
—Pipes peculiarto Tribes.—Salutations among Indians.—Indians in the
Prairie—Impounding the Buffalo.—In Sickness.—Idea of Lightning.
INDIAN antiquities are rarely found in the valley of the
Saskatchewan south of the North Branch. The customs
of wandering tribes inhabiting a prairie country are
generally opposed to the rude arts which exist among
barbarous races preserving a fixed abode. Not even at
the fishing stations on the lakes and rivers, where different
tribes have congregated at certain seasons of the year,
probably for centuries, do we find any lasting memorials
of mdividual handicraft or combined labour.
Antiquities to be ascribed to different races than those
which now occupy the country exist here and there. Such
are the underground houses on Rainy River, the Mandan
houses with their intrenchments on the Little Souris ; but
with these exceptions no other ancient monuments were
seen during the explorations.
INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. —- INDIAN INTERMARRIAGES. 121
The rings of stones marking the site of Cree encamp-
ments on the Qu’appelle are of comparatively modern
date, and belong doubtless to the ancestors of the present
races now in possession of the country.
Rude pottery and arrow heads have been found at Red
River settlements, about two feet below the surface of
the soil. The fragments resemble those common in many
parts of. Canada, and from their numbers lead to the in-
ference that at a remote period the banks of this stream
Indian Hunters’ Tents in the rear of Fort Garry.
were peopled by races familiar with the art of making
vessels from clay. j
One result of the active pursuit of the fur trade for
upwards of a century in the valley of the Saskatchewan, is
seen in the blending of the different tribes by intermarriage.
The Crees of the Plains and the Ojibways and Swampys
of the Woods, although speaking different languages, are
often found hunting the buffalo in company, and not un-
frequently form family connections. The Oyibways of
Lake Winnipeg may now be discovered, summer and
winter, near the Grand Forks of the Saskatchewan,
122 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
having emigrated 400 miles west of Red River, where
they have permanently established themselves. All the
Ojibways now found west of the Lake of the Woods,
and the east coast of Lake Winnipeg are invaders
of the country. The real home of the Ojibway is the
region about the south, west, and north of Lake Superior ;
the habits of life of the emigrants or invaders have been
adapted to the character of the country they now occupy,
and being no longer dependent upon the forest for food and
clothing, many of them, on the banks of the Assinniboine,
Red River, Lake Manitobah, and Dauphin Lake, possess
horses, and jom the half-breeds in their annual spring and
fall hunts. Notwithstanding this intercourse and blending
of different nations, most of the superstitions and customs
peculiar to each are still maintained and practised.
Nearly one hundred years ago (1770), Mr. Hutchins,
of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s service, framed an
enumeration of the tribes between Lake Winnipeg, and
within one hundred miles of James’s Bay, speaking the —
Ojibway tongue. The tribes enumerated have evidently
derived their names in conformity with long established
usage, from their hunting and fishing stations.
It is often asked whether the thrilling descriptions of
savage life in Cooper’s delightful romances are imaginary
or real; and if real, whether they exist now among the
tribes which have long been familar with civilized man,
such as the Plain Crees, the Sioux, the Swampys, and the
Ojibways. It is enough to visit the secluded Ojibway
graves on the banks of Red River, and contemplate Sioux
scalps decorated with beads, bits of cloth, coloured rib-
bons, and strips of leather, suspended at the extremity of
a long slender stick near the head of the grave, to feel
satisfied that one barbarous custom still prevails. But to
be an eyewitness of a scalp dance, or a skull dance, is
SCALP DANCE. — SIOUX SCALP. 123
more than sufficient to press home the conviction that the
fiendish passions so faithfully described by Cooper, still
find expression in violent gesture, loud vociferation,
triumphant song and barbarous feasting, with undiminished
streneth and bitterness, even after a century’s intercourse
with civilized man.
Some of the incidents narrated in the following pages
will show how far old superstitions and customs prevail
among the Indians occupying the country between Red
River and the South Branch of the Saskatchewan.
Early in the spring of 1858 the warlike bands of
Ojibways called the Lac la Pluie Indians, were thrown
into a state of savage excitement by the arrival of mes-
sengers from their friends on Red River, with tidings that
two Sioux had been killed and scalped in the Plains. In
testimony of this triumph, they brought with them two
fingers severed from the hands of the unfortunate Sioux.
The announcement of the intelligence that the scalps
would be sent, after their Red River brethren had cele-
brated war dances over them, was received with wild
clamour and shouting. After the scalps had been carried
from hand to band and the victory that won them
triumphed over with dancing, singing, and feasting, they
would be returned to the warriors who took them, and
finally suspended over the graves of relatives or friends
mourning the loss of any of their kindred by the hands
of the Sioux.
The Crees, Ojibways, and Swampys, belonging to the
great body of Wood Indians, assemble in the spring of
the year to celebrate their medicine feasts and other cere-
monies, which are generally determined by the arrival of
migratory birds, or the time when the sturgeon begin to
ascend the rivers. ‘The day on which the annual goose
dance takes place is regularly entered im the journals of
124 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Fort & la Corne and other Posts of the Hudson’s Bay Com-
pany. In the woods on the main Saskatchewan behind
Fort & la Corne, as well as in several places on the banks
of the Little Saskatchewan, Winnipego-sis, and Dauphin
Lakes, we found the carved and painted posts which are
made to play an important part in these observances.
(Vol. I. p. 402.)
During the summer they separate into families or small.
My
ANY
\
iN
}
aay)
4
NV
Sioux Scalp from the Graves at Red River.
bands, and hunt, fish, or go to the Plains in search of
buffalo. At the approach of winter, they “take debt ”
or otherwise obtain supplies at the different Posts of the
Company, and retire to their winter quarters to trap the
fur-bearmg animals. The Plain or Prairie Indians follow
the buffalo, and vary the monotony of their existence by
forming war parties against their enemies, such as the
-/\eweail
CRUELTY OF THE BLACKFEET. 125
Plain Crees against the Sioux and the Blackfeet, the Ojib-
ways against the Sioux, and Assinniboines. _
In August 1858, when camped near the Elbow of the
South Branch of the Saskatchewan, we found the Plain
Crees hastening from the west to the east bank of the river,
with a strong war party of Blackfeet in pursuit. Scouts
were posted on some of the outlying sand hills on the
Qu’appelle west of Sand Hill Lake, where a large party of
Crees, under the direction of their chief, Mis-tick-oos*,
were impounding buffalo. Both by day and night a
strict watch was kept in order to guard against a surprise.
Mis-tick-oos poimted out some of his band who had
penetrated through the Blackfeet country to the Rocky
Mountains two years ago, and returned with several
scalps, grizzly bear-claw necklaces, pipes, and other
trophies of success. He also related with much feeling
how twenty-five young warriors had gone on a similar
excursion during the summer of 1856, but none had yet
returned.
About a month before we arrived at the Sandy Hills
on the Qu’appelle, a large body of the Plain Crees met a
portion of the Blackfeet tribe at the Eagle Hills, on the
North Branch of the Saskatchewan, to arrange terms of
peace. All matters went on smoothly, and the represen-
tatives of the two nations separated as friends. Some of
the Crees, however, incapable of resisting the opportunity,
stole some horses from the Blackfeet. They were pur-
sued, and three of them taken. One was killed instantly,
the others were led back in triumph to the camp of the
Blackfeet ; they were stripped, their hands were tied
behind their backs, a hole was bored through both wrists
and a stick passed through them and so tightly fastened
* Shortstick, or “the little tree.”’
126 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
that it could not be removed without assistance; the
captives were then separated and dismissed singly to find
their way to their friends. One only reached his tribe,
and was lying in a tent not far from the spot where we
were encamped. |
Mis-tick-oos, when relating these adventures, raised
the pipe he held in his hand and exclaimed, “ This is
what my Blackfoot friend gave me one day, the next he
killed my young men; he is now my enemy again.”
I expressed a wish to purchase the pipe; the chief’s
reply was “Take it,” handing it to me with a gloomy
frown, and silently extending his hand for the Wapekan-
cuspwiigdin, or clay pipe, which I was smoking at ite
time. ,
The great chief of the Plain Crees is styled “the Fox ;”
he is held in high estimation by all the Plain Indians with
whom he comes in contact, either in peace or war. He
is dreaded by the Sioux, the Blackfeet, the Bloodies, the
Fall Indians, the Assinniboines, and the tribes who oc-
casionally hunt on the Grand Coteau de Missouri and
the South Branch of the Sackatchewan.
The barbarous and cruel treatment of prisoners so
often described in narratives of Indian warfare, is common
even now in the prairies south of the Qu’appelle and the
Assinniboine. On that part of Red River which lies
in the State of Minnesota, Indian warfare, with all its
norrors, is constantly carried on between the Ojibways
and Sioux.
Not a year passes without the loss of several Red
River half-breeds by the scalping knife of the Sioux ;
and, as was the case in the autumn of 1858, quite close
to the settlement of St. Joseph, near the boundary
Ine, about thirty miles west of Red River. When a
prisoner is taken, the Sioux sometimes adopt a terrible
[New street Square, London
Printed by Spottiswoode and Co,)
“THE FOX'"—CHIEF OF THE PLAIN CREES.
Ps
a Tee Fettone ,
Lass es NT
i
;
imate eae ed ere
s
Pre FA ope atic
ames,
CONJURING OR ‘* MEDICINE”? CEREMONIES. 127
mode of death during the summer season. They have
been known to strip a half-breed, tie him to a stake on
the borders of a marsh in the prairie, and leave him ex-
posed to the attacks of millions of mosquitoes, without
being able to move any part of his body. When the
agony of fever and the torment of thirst come upon him,
they leave him to die a dreadful, Imgering death with
water at his feet, and buzzards hovermg and circling
around him in greedy expectation.
By way of illustrating the character of the medicine or
conjuring ceremonies which may be witnessed during all
seasons of the year when several families are encamped
together, I shall describe a scene of which I was an eye-
witness near the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Post at the
Touchwood Hills. The conversation was carried on in
Cree, but, I believe, faithfully interpreted to me by the
officer then in charge of the Post, who was present during
the incantations. The interpretation was pronounced
exact by one of the Cree half-breeds attached to my
party. |
At the time of my arrival at this Post, a conjuror of
some celebrity was endeavouring to cure a sickly woman
by the exercise of his cunning. The unfortunate invalid
was lying ina buffalo skin tent, while the conjuror, painted
and decorated, and wearing his medicine bag, employed
himself in beating a drum within a few feet of her, and
singing at intervals the followmg words, first uttered
slowly, with a pause between each word, then as in or-
dinary conversation, lastly, with energy and rapidity :—
“* Great—is—the—man—who—walks—
In—the—middle—of—the—earth,—
He—is—the—only—true—Lord.”
The word “ Lord” is not employed in the sense of
supreme master, but is rather intended to convey an idea
128 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
of independence and individual power, and is better ex-
pressed in English, as the half-breeds informed me, by the
word “ gentleman.”
The conjuror occasionally came out of the tent, and
whenever the supposed Manitou or Fairy who was the
alleged cause of the woman’s illness approached, a little
bell suspended from the poles supporting the tent tinkled,
and gave the alarm ; the conjuror immediately seized his
Cree Medicine Bag.
drum, commenced his song, and by his incantations,
succeeded in pacifying the Manitou. These proceedings
continued for two nights; at the close of the second
night, after a prolonged ringing of the little bell, violent
shaking of the tent-poles, loud beating of the drum, and
chanting of the words before quoted, the conjuror an-
nounced that he had discovered the reasons of the Mani-
tou’s anger, and the means to appease it.
CURING A SICK WOMAN. 129
You had a dream, said the conjuror, and when you
rose in the morning you promised to make an offering to
the Manitou; you have forgotten your pledge, and you
are suffermg in consequence of your neglect.
The woman demanded what she had dreamt, and what
she promised, avowing her ignorance of both dream and
promise. The conjuror told her that when the buffalo
were around her tent last winter and no fear of starvation
before her eyes, she had dreamed that the buffalo would
always surround her, that famine and sorrow were always
to be strangers to her, and, in gratitude, had vowed to
make a sacrifice of her best robe. The woman, wearied
no doubt with the conjuror’s unceasing drum and song,
probably, too, believing that a false confession was the
lesser evil, as it might bring the promised relief, acknow-
ledged that the conjuror was in the right. The penalty
she was told to pay consisted of the sacrifice of “ throwing
away” two robes, or double the amount of the promise
she had made ; after which her health was to be restored.
Scenes similar to the one just described may be wit-
nessed whenever several families are camping together ;
but the sacrifices required to be made depend upon the
ability of the deluded creatures to satisfy the demands of
the conjuror.
“The happy hunting-grounds,” the heaven of In-
dians, so often spoken of by writers of fiction, are an
actual reality in the imagination of Crees and Ojibways,
as well as of other north-western tribes. A Plain Cree
on the Qu’appelle gravely informed one of my men, that
he had once been dead and visited the spirit world. His
narrative was to the following effect :—‘“ I was sick and
fell asleep. I awoke on the bank of a deep river, whose
waters were flowing swiftly and black from a great mist
on the south to a great mist on the north. Many other
VOL.. IL. K
130 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Indians sat on the banks of the river gazing at its waters,
and on the gloomy shore which lay wrapped in mist on
the other side. Time after time the mist before us would
roll away and reveal the mouth of another great river
pouring its flood into the one on whose banks I was
sitting. The country to the south of this river was
bright and glorious, to the north, dark and gloomy. On
the one side were the happy hunting-grounds, on the
other the hunting-grounds of bad Indians. Time after
time my companions tried to cross the swift stream before
us, In order to reach the happy hunting-grounds ; some
arrived in safety, others reached the north bank, and
disappeared in the mist which overhung the bad country.
I tried at last, but the current was too strong for me, the
recollection of bad deeds prevented me from stemming
the current, and I was swept on to the riorth shore of the
opposite river. I scrambled up the bank, and spent
many moons in hunting in that dreary land; always on
the point of starving, or bemg hurt by enemies, or wet
and cold and miserable. At length I came upon a river
like the one I had crossed, with mists and the mouth of a
ereat stream opposite to me; breaking clouds soon re-
vealed happy hunting-grounds on one side, and» a more
gloomy and terrible country on the other. Many Indians
were there before me, looking at the river and trying to
cross; some succeeded, but a few were swept to the bad
country, these were very wicked Indians. I tried to
cross. I knew I had been a good Indian in this dreary
‘hunting-ground. I took courage, and swam strong against
the stream. I reached the happy hunting-grounds; all
my sorrow disappeared as I climbed to the top of the
bank and saw before me Indians numerous as grass leaves,
buffalo on the distant plains thick as raindrops in sum-
mer, a cloudless sky above, and a warm, fresh, scented,
-
“ THE HAPPY HUNTING-GROUNDS.” 131
happy breeze blowing in my face. I sank to sleep, and
woke alone in my tent in these prairies again.”
Whatever faith the Indian medicine men possess in the
efficacy of their charms, it is certain that they entertain
ereat respect for the white man’s medicine. A laughable
incident occurred at the Touchwood Hills. The conjuror,
of whom mention has just been made, entered a room
at this Post where [ was sitting with Mr. and Mrs. H.,
who were temporarily in charge. The Indian and a
companion seated themselves upon one of my boxes
which contained a small medicine chest. Mrs. H. asked
me to give her some sticking plaster. I crossed the room
to open the medicine chest, when Mrs. H. (a half-breed)
said to her husband, in the Cree language: “ Will his
medicines do me any harm if I stop here while he opens
them?” Mr. HH. answered jestingly, “Yes, you had
better go into the other room.” On motioning the
Indians to move, they rose, and I opened the chest. The
moment they saw the bottles, they hurried out of the
room, hastened to the summit of a neighbouring hill,
and, divesting themselves of every article of clothing,
shook their garments repeatedly, and after hanging them
on bushes in the sun, squatted on their haunches to await
the deodorizing influence of the breeze.
In the valley of the Qu’appelle River, we frequently
found offermgs to Manitou or Fairies suspended on
branches of trees; they consisted of fragments of cloth,
strings of beads, shreds of painted buffalo hide, bears’
teeth and claws, and other trifles. Our half-breeds
always regarded them with respect, and never molested
or lhked to see us molest these offermgs to Manitou.
This custom prevails everywhere in the valley of Lake
Winnipeg, and on the banks of the settled parts of Red
oS?
Kees
132 | ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
River, where the medicine drum and rattle may be
heard more frequently in some parishes than the sound
of church bells. 3
A conjuror celebrated for the potency of his charms
will often exercise a very injurious influence over an
entire band, consisting of ten or twelve families, in deter-
ring them from frequenting particular hunting or fishing-
grounds if they offend him. From numerous instances
of this dangerous influence, I select the following, which
occurred on the Little Saskatchewan, or as it 1s sometimes
called, Dauphin River. When ascending that stream, we
Medicine Rattle.
came upon a large camp of Swampys, who were on their
way to the Hudson’s Bay Company’s post at Fairford.
Their usual wintering-place was at the Pike’s Head near
the mouth of Jack-fish River, an excellent fishing station
on Lake Winnipeg, but they had abandoned the inten-
tion of wintering there, in consequence of a threat which
had been conveyed to them from a noted conjuror styled
“the Badger,” of the Grand Rapid of the Saskatchewan,
to the effect that “if the band ventured to winter at
the Pike’s Head, he would do something.” This am-
biguous threat was quite sufficient to deter them from
MANITOU OR FAIRY DWELLINGS. 133
visiting their old haunts, and would probably be instru-
mental in producing much suffering, if not actual want,
to many of the band.
There are many places on Lake Winnipeg and Mani-
tobah which the Indians who hunt and live on the shores
of those inland seas dare not visit. ‘There is scarcely a
cave or headland which has not some legend attached to
it, familiar to all the wanderers on these coasts.
On the west side of Lake Winnipeg, in the long, dark,
and gloomy chambers formed by fissures in the limestone,
bad spirits are supposed to dwell, according to the belief
of the Indians who hunt on the coast, and he would be a
powerful charmer who could induce a heathen Indian to
approach, much less enter§ the abodes of these imaginary
Manitous.
Near Limestone Cave Point, on Lake Winnipeg, are
several of these supposed fairy dwellings. When an Indian
approaches them in his canoe, he either lays an offering
on the beach or gives them as wide a berth as possible.
Steep Rock Point, on Lake Manitobah, is also a noted
dwelling-place for the “ Little Men.” Some of the tradi-
tions connected with these places are very absurd, and
appear to have little meaning to civilized men; neverthe-
less, among the barbarous tribes of those regions, they
are associated with their past history, or with the history
of the race that preceded them. Manitobah Lake, a
body of water of very imposing dimensions, having an
area of 1,900 square miles, derives its name from one of
these superstitions. I stayed for three days on Manitobah
island, where a Manitou dwells, but although Indians
passed and repassed, heard and answered our shots, yet
they could not be persuaded to land. The only evidence
of fairy presence which I met with, was the “ fairy-like
music” of the waves of Lake Manitobah, beating upon
K 3
134 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
the hard limestone shingle on the beach, and producing a
very beautiful and melancholy resemblance to distant
church-bells. All night long this ringing musical sound
was heard, and would, no doubt, in the active imagina-
tion of Indians, suggest the existence of those Manitou
with which they people the air, the water, the forests, and
the caves of the earth. :
The able and zealous missionary at the Indian Settlement,
Red River, the Rev. A. Cowley, has had sad experience of
the gross superstitions which darken the intellect of
the Ojibways of Lake Manitobah. In 1842 he pro-
ceeded to what appeared to be a promising station on
the shores of this lake, where he had an opportunity of
observing some remarkable instances of heathen faith in
dreams and charms. Mr. Cowley writes: “ One day I saw
something hanging on a tree and went to look at it. It
consisted of twenty small rods, peeled, and painted red
and black, and fastened together on a plane, with cords ‘
of bark. A piece of tobacco was placed between the
tenth and eleventh rods, and the whole was suspended
perpendicularly from a branch of the tree. It belonged
to the old chief, who told me that when he was a young
man he lay down to dream, and that in his dream, the
moon spoke to him, and told him to make this charm,
and to renew it every new moon, that he might have a
long life. He had regularly done so ever since, till the
preceding summer, when he almost forgot it, and was
taken so ill as to be near dying; but he remembered it,
his friends did it for him, and he recovered.” *
Sacrifices and offerings are of very frequent occurrence
among the Indians of the Saskatchewan Valley. The
customary offering consists of two, three, and sometimes
five dogs. At the mouth of the Qu’appelle River, an
* Quoted by 8. Tucker, in “The Rainbow of the North.”
DOG SACRIFICES.—RIDICULOUS INCIDENT. 135
Indian, in June 1858, set his net and caught a large fish
of a kind different to any with which he was familiar; he
immediately pronounced it to be a Manitou, and carefully
restoring it to the water again, at once sacrificed five
valuable dogs to appease the anger of the supposed fairy.
On approaching Long Lake, an arm of the Qu’appelle
River Valley, the Crees warned us not to visit the lake
by night, as it was full of devils. They told me very
extraordinary tales, which are too absurd to be worth
relating, of the dimensions and power of these devils, and
they appeared to live in awe and terror of them.
Like most heathen and barbarous races, Indians suffer
much from their superstitious fears. When the weather
is fine, and their tents are well suppled with provisions,
they are an independent and joyous people. Full of
frolic and fond of relating anecdotes, they laugh immode-
rately at any trifling aie or absurdity, and seem ites
roughly to enjoy existence.
A ridiculous incident occurred in the tent belonging to
the Cree chief, Mis-tick-oos, in which I played a more
prominent part than I should have selected had any
choice been offered me. I heard of this incident again
hundreds of miles from the spot where it occurred, as we
journeyed homewards from the Grand Forks.
It happened during a visit I paid to Mis-tick-oos (Vol. I.
p. 362), after a long and tedious talk, which lasted nearly
seven hours, relating to the object we had in view in visit-
ing the country.. Three of Mis-tick-oos’ wives were visible,
and with their children formed altogether a party of
eighteen or twenty. I rose from a buffalo robe where I
was seated by the side of Mis-tick-oos to examine some
arrows which one of his sons was making, and when my
curiosity was satisfied, I sat down on what I thought to
be a bundle of buffalo robes, close to the young Indian.
K 4
136 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
I was not a little astonished to feel the robes slowly move
and undulate beneath me, and before I could rise and
look into the cause, I found myself projected into the
middle of the tent among the embers, by means of some
violent spasmodic action from beneath the supposed pile
of robes. Mis-tick-oos and his three wives with the other
inmates, shriecked with laughter, vociferating some words
in Cree. Meanwhile, the buffalo robes were slowly thrown
on one side, and, to my astonishment, were revealed the
huge proportions of the chief’s fourth, youngest and best
wife. She shook a mass of hair from her head, and
joined in the laughter at my discomfiture. Other Indians
hearing the noise came in, and Mis-tick-oos, with tears in
his eyes, told his friends how “the white stranger had
sat upon his best wife, thinking she was a pile of robes,
and how she tossed him into the middle of the tent like a
buffalo bull pitching a colt.”
During our stay with the Crees of the Sandy Hills on
the South Branch, when passing the door of the tent
belonging to the chief’s eldest son, who was my com-
panion at the time, I observed a young squaw leaning
upon sticks, evidently im great trouble, and weeping
bitterly. The moment she saw us she hobbled into the
tent, with a low cry of pain, and closed the entrance. I
asked the interpreter what this meant. After some con-
versation with her husband, he said that the woman was
suffermg from a beating he had given her for a violation
of her faith during his absence in the spring on a war
excursion. ‘I would have killed her,” muttered the
husband, “but I thought it a pity to kill two at once.
She had her choice whether she would have her hair, her
nose, or her ear cut off, or whether she would have a
beating, She chose what she has got; but I would have
killed her had I not known I should regret having killed
CUSTOM OF PAINTING THE SKIN. 137
both.” It is needless to add that the woman soon ex-
pected to become a mother.
Smearing the skin with different coloured pigments is
a universal custom among the wood and _ prairie Indians.
Sometimes the operation is very tastefully performed.
Warriors on the “war-path” often paint the figure of the
hand over the mouth, as used in sounding the war-whoop;
this is a distinctive sign that the Indian so decorated has
been recently, or is still engaged in the pursuit of his
enemies. Vermilion is the most coveted colour; the
Ojibways particularly are very fond of decorating their
faces with this briliant pigment. The Plain Crees
are partial to white, green, and blue, and not only paint
the face, but also the chest and arms. They cut and
gash the skin and flesh on the arms, sides, chest, and legs,
as a token of grief for any deceased friend or relation.
My friend Mis-tick-oos’ body was dreadfully disfigured
by scars from wounds made by himself in manifestation
of his grief.
Ornamenting the skin of the arms and breast with the
figures of birds, quadrupeds, or symbols of different kinds,
is common among the Plain Crees. The operation is per-
formed with a needle, a thorn, the point of a knife, or the
edge of a flint. The surface of the skin is cut or pene-
trated with the instrument used, and the colour rubbed
in, as in the process often adopted on a small scale by
sailors. The effect is to produce a permanent represen-
tation of different objects on the skin, but it does not
resemble the ridges and furrows produced by the tattooing
process of the New Zealanders.
Nothing appears to contribute so largely to the comfort
and enjoyment of Indians, whether of the woods or the
prairies, as the pwahgan of the Ojibway, the uspwigan of
the Cree, or the pipe of the English.
138 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
When inhaling the fumes of tobacco, the bear-berry or
the inner bark of the red willow, the Indian relinquishes
himself to the narcotic influences of the “ weed,” a term
by the way applied to the bear-berry, and to the dry and
sravelly ridges where that pretty little creeping plant
flourishes; the local names, “ weed-ridge,” “ weed-hill,”
being not uncommon in Rupert’s Land. It has been well
said that “the tobacco pipe constitutes the pecuhar and
most characteristic symbol of America, intimately inter-
woven with the rites and superstitions and with the relics of
ancient customs and historical traditions of the aborigines
of the New World. If Europe borrowed from it the
first knowledge of its prized narcotic, the gift was received
unaccompanied by any of the sacred or peculiar virtues
which the Red Indian still attaches to it as the symbol of
hospitality and amicable intercourse, and Longfellow, ac-
cordingly, with no less poetic vigour than fitness, opens
his “Song of Hiawatha,’ with the institution of the
“ Peace-pipe” by the Great Spirit, the Master of Life.*
Pipe No. 1 was presented to me by Ta-w4-pit, an old
Indian of Dauphin Lake. He had another in his pouch
nearly completed, made from the soft shale which crops
out on the Ridmg Mountain. I asked Ta-wa-pit “ what
he would do for a smoke ” until he had finished the new
pipe? After the half-breed with me had made him un-
derstand my question, he rose to his feet, and walking to
the edge of a swamp close by, cut three or four reeds,
and joming some pieces together, after he had made a hole
through the joints, he gently pushed one extremity in a
slanting direction into the earth, which he had previously
made firm by pressure with his foot; he then cut out a
small hole in the clay above the extremity of the’ reed,
* “Narcotic Usages and Superstitions of the Old and New World,” by
Daniel Wilson, LL.D. Canadian Journal, new series, vol. ii.
TOBACCO PIPES OF DIFFERENT INDIAN TRIBES. 139
and moulding it with his fingers, laughingly said, “ Now
give me tobacco, and I will show you how to smoke
it.” He filled the hole with a mixture of tobacco and
the bear-berry, placed a live coal on the top, and stretching
Cc
att /
Xt
Tobacco Pipes of the Swampys of Lake Winnipeg. *
himself at full length on the ground, with his chin sup-
ported by both hands, he took the reed between his lips
and enjoyed a long smoke.
Different tribes of Indians affect peculiar shapes and
ornaments in the manufacture of their pipes. The Ojibways
a My i i |
Tobacco Pipes of the Ojibways of Rainy Lake, We.
of Rainy Lake and those of the same nation living on Lake
Winnipeg, have different patterns, but preserve a certain re-
semblance, which appears to be characteristic of this people.
140 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
The pipes manufactured by the Plain Crees and the Black-
feet are formed after the same model; those of the Sioux
approach more to the form almost universally adopted by
Sioux Pipe. *
the Ojibways ; while the beautiful and sometimes highly
ornamented pipes of the Chipewyans resemble more the
favourite models of the prairie tribes. These distinctions
will be seen at a glance in the accompanying drawings,
which are all reduced from pipes in my possession.
Saa3E0
Ne | Ril Tne
el en al MA
AI i |
TTT
Chipewyan (1 and 2), Plain Cree (3), and Blackfoot (4) Pipes.
The elaborate and sometimes beautiful pipes of the
Babeen Indians, while they exhibit a much higher degree
of art than we should expect to find among such a savage
race, are by no means illustrative of their superstitions
or customs, and can be received as illustrations only of
their imitative power and ingenious workmanship. The
orotesque devices with which their pipes are ornamented
can generally be traced to objects which they have seen
since they became familiar with the traders belonging to
the Hudson’s Bay Company on the north-west coast.
The customary salutation among the Ojibways who
have been brought in contact with the French Canadian
BABEEN PIPES.—SALUTATIONS AMONG THE INDIANS. 141
voyageurs of the old North-West Company 1s, “ boujou !
boujou!” from bon jour. Among the Plain Crees, with
Sten: SNE = E “he
ee
rcp ll
—
—————
in
ll
———— ==
cu
‘ ;
en ee St oe TT ae a Ay\ == Ss
a i at ee Ah oe TET NSS
4 °
g fell size,
Babeen Pipes.
whom the Scotch employés of the Hudson’s Bay Com-
pany early established communication, the first address
is generally “whacheer! whacheer !” Anglice, what cheer ?
142 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Shaking hands is customary both on meeting and
parting. The usual preliminary to a council or a series
of questions, is a smoke ; and nothing smoothes the way to
an affable arrangement in case of a difficulty so quickly as
a proposal to argue the point and arrange matters over a
pipe. A great pomt is gained if the traveler is able to
present the chief of the party with a plug or canister of
tobacco to replenish his pipe, and when he offers to return
it, a courteous intimation that he may keep the remainder
or hand it round to his young men, is often a very advanta-
geous stroke of policy.
In order to understand the character and nature of wild
prairie Indians, they must be seen in their tents when well
supplied with provisions, and disposed to be cheerful and
merry. In the prairies when on horseb&ck, they are
often quiet and watchful, always on the look out, and
when even twenty or thirty are in a band, they generally
manage to see a suspicious object in the distance at the
same moment, so that a simultaneous note of exclamation
is uttered by most or all of the party. In hunting the
buffalo they are wild with excitement, but no scene or
incident seems to have such a maddening effect upon
them as when the buffalo are successfully driven mto a
pound.* Until the herd is brought in by the skilled
hunters, the utmost silence is preserved around the fence of
the pound: men, women, and children, with pent-up feel-
ings, hold their robes so as to close every orifice through
which the terrified animals might endeavour to escape.
The herd once in the pound, a scene of diabolical but-
chery and excitement begins; men, women, and children
climb on the fence, and shoot arrows or thrust spears at
the bewildered buffalo, with shouts, screams, and yells
horrible to hear. But when the young men, and even
women jump into the arena amidst the dying and the
* The half-breeds call these enclosures “ ponds.”
pie a
CHARACTER OF THE PRAIRIE INDIANS. 143
dead, smear themselves with blood, thrust their arms up
to the shoulders into the reeking bodies of their victims,
the savage barbarity of the wild prairie Indian shows
itself in its true colours. Not even a scalp dance over
many fallen foes, affords such a terrible picture of de-
graded humanity as a large band of prairie Indians, some
hundreds in number, during and after the slaughter of
buffalo in the pound. | ,
The condition of the Indians of the Saskatchewan
* Valley at the present day is very different to what it
Cree Fire-bags.
was even half a century since. Not only have imported
diseases greatly diminished their numbers, but game of
different kinds has become so scarce that during some
seasons starvation is no fiction. In the northern parts of
Rupert’s Land a great mortality took place in 1816, 1817,
and 1818, from small-pox and measles. Vaccine inocu-
lation was then introduced by the Hudson’ Bay Company,
and small-pox has been unknown in the country since.*
* Sir George Simpson. Blue Book on the affairs of the Hudson’s Bay
Company.
144 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
The Sioux south of the boundary are said to be all vac-
cinated.
In sickness prairie Indians are much depressed, and
often seek consolation in the monotonous drum of the
medicine man and his heathenish incantations ; an inflic-
tion which the grossest and most debased superstition alone
Sioux Quiver, Bow, aud Arrows.
would tolerate; it is submitted to with confidence and
hope, however, by men who are anxious and timid during
the roll of thunder, invoking the Great Bird by whose
flapping wings they suppose it to be produced, or crouch-
ing from the blink of his all-penetrating eye, which they
allege is the lightning’s flash.
ae
CHAP. XXX.
INDIAN POPULATION OF BRITISH AMERICA.
Origin of Indian Races.—Kindred and Relationship.—Iroquois Customs.—
Iroquois Institutions.—Iroquois League.—Indian Population of Rupert’s
Land.—Probably over-estimated.—Number of Indians frequenting par-
ticular Posts.—Prairie Indians.—Colonel Lefroy’s Estimate.—The Sioux
or Dakotah Indians.—Principal Bands.—Conjurors.—Months.—Language.
—The Blackfeet.—Country occupied by the Blackfeet.—Blackfeet Tribes.
—Indians near the Boundary Line.—Indians of British America.—Indians
of the United States.—Harly History of the Indians.—Mutability of Indian
Nations,—The Hurons and Iroquois.—The Prairie Tribes.—The Remnant.
THE origin of the aborigines on this continent still
remains enveloped in thick darkness. Many of their
manners, superstitions, and customs correspond to those
of Orientals, and it is not improbable that modern ethno-
logists may be on the right track in their efforts to solve
this deeply interesting question.
The ties of kindred and relationship are of a very
complex character among the Ojibways; in more than
one instance a singular exemplification of cross-relation-
ship occurred during our voyage in 1858 on Lakes Win-
nipeg and Manitobah, which may serve to show the
permanency of ancient customs and traditions among
families now dwelling nearly a thousand miles west of the
hunting-grounds of their ancestors.
Near the mouth of the Little Saskatchewan, we met an
Indian family journeying in a small canoe towards the
VOL. I, L
146 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
mouth of Red River. The family consisted of a young
Indian, his wife, and two little children. The father was
born on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, and had never tra-
veled east of that lake. After a few words had passed
between him and a half-breed Ojibway from Lake Supe-
rior (Wigwam), they shook hands and proclaimed them-
selves related to one another. Each belonged, as I was
informed, to the tribe whose “ totem” or insignia was the
“Bear,” and having by some means, which Wigwam
could not or would not explain, ascertained this fact, they
spoke to one another as brothers. A similar relationship
was established between Wigwam and another Ojibway
on Moss River, solely, as he assured me, because he and his
newly found friend belonged to a tribe whose “ totem”
was the “ Bear.” The Cree half-breeds told me that in
their communication with the Ojibways of Lake Winni-
peg, and farther to the west, this recognition of relation-
ship not unfrequently took place between individuals who
met for the first time, and who were born and _ lived
in districts far apart. Im connection with this smgular
kind of consanguinity and the bearing it may possibly
have upon the origin of the Indian races, I append the
following extract from an ethnological paper, read at the
Montreal Meeting of the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science * :—
“Tt has occurred to me, after a careful examination of the system of con-
sanguinity and descent of the Iroquois, that we may yet be able, by means
of it, to solve the question whether our Indian races are of Asiatic origin.
Language changes its vocabulary not only, but also modifies its grammatical
structure in the progress of ages; thus eluding the inquiries which philo-
logists have pressed it to answer; but a system of consanguinity once
matured and brought into working operation is, in the nature of things,
more unchangeable than language;— not in the names employed as a vo-
cabulary of relationship, but in the ideas which underlie the system itself.
* By Lewis H. Morgan, Esq., of Rochester, N. Y.
——
THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE IROQUOIS. 147
The Indo-European nations have one system, identical in its principal features,
with an antiquity of thirty-five centuries, as a fact of actual record. That of
the Iroquois is original, clearly defined, and the reverse of the former. It is,
at least, to be presumed that it has an antiquity coeval with the race. That of
the Chippewa is the same as the Iroquois, with slight modifications; thus
establishing the fact of its existence in two of the principal generic stocks.
Besides this, there are traces of the same system among the Aztecs, Mohaves,
Creeks, Dacotahs, Delawares, Winnebagoes, and other races, all tending to
show that the system has been, and now is, universal upon this continent.
Should this last fact be established, the antiquity of the system as coeval
with the Indian race upon the continent, will also become established. Upon
the basis of these two facts, and assuming that these races are of Asiatic
origin, we may predict the existence of the same system in Asia, at the
present moment, among the descendants of their common ancestors, if any
remain.
“ A brief explanation of the principal features of the system of the Iroquois
is annexed, which will assist in working out every other, particularly if they
are founded upon the same ideas.
“The institutions of the Iroquois were founded upon the family relation-
ships; in fact, their celebrated league was but an elaboration of these re-
lationships into a complex system of civil polity. At the base of this were
their laws of descent. They were unlike both the civil and the canon laws,
_but yet were original and well defined. The chief differences were two: first
descent among the Iroquois followed the female line, or passed through the
mother ; while in each of the former systems it follows the male, or passes
through the father. In the second place the collateral lines, with the Iro-
quois, were finally brought into or merged in the lineal; while, in the other
cases, every remove from the common ancestor separated the collateral lines
from the lineal, until after a few generations actual relationship ceased among
collaterals.
“To bring out distinctly this code of descent, it will be necessary to give a
brief explanation of the division of the Iroquois into tribes, the union of
the several tribes into one nation, and of the several nations into one league.
Without a reference to their civil organization, it would be Tmposeilite to
present it in an understandable form.
“Tn each of the five nations who composed the original league there were
eight tribes, named : Wolf, Bear, Beaver, and Turtle; Deer, Snipe, Heron, and
Hawk. The Onondaga nation, therefore, was a counterpart of the Cayuga,
each having the same number of tribes, and of the same name; so also, in-
terchangeably, of the Oneida, the Mohawk, and the Seneca nations. In effect,
the Wolf tribe was divided into five parts, and one-fifth part of it placed
in each of the five nations. The remaining tribes were subjected to the
same division and distribution. Between the individual members of the
Wolf or other tribe thus divided, or, in other words, between the sepa-
rated parts of each tribe, there existed the tie of consanguinity. The
Ps Tee
148 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Mohawk of the Turtle tribe recognized the Seneca of the Turtle tribe as a
relative, and between them existed the bond of kindred blood. In like
manner the Oneida of the Hawk tribe received the Onondaga or the Cayuga
of the same tribe as a relative, not in an ideal or conventional sense, but as
actually connected with him by the ties of consanguinity. Herein we dis-
cover an element of union between the five nations, of remarkable vitality
and power. A cross-relationship existed between the several tribes of each
nation and the tribes of corresponding name in each of the other nations,
which bound them together in the league with indissoluble bonds. If
either of the nations had wished to cast off the alliance, it would have
broken this eight-fold bond of consanguinity. Had the nations fallen into
collision with each other, it would have brought Hawk tribe against Hawk
tribe —in a word, brother against brother. The history of the Iroquois ex-
hibits the wisdom of these organic provisions; for, during the long period
through which the league subsisted, they never fell into anarchy, nor even
approximated to a dissolution from internal disorders.
‘¢ At no time in the history of the Iroquois could a man marry a woman o
his own tribe, even in another nation, All the members of a tribe were
within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity ; and to this day, among the
descendants of the Iroquois, this law is religiously observed. Husband and
wife, therefore, were in every case of different tribes. The children were of
the tribe of the mother. Here, then, we discover, one of the central ideas of
their laws of descent: to place the father and mother in different tribes, and
to assign the children to the tribe of the mother. Several important results
followed, of which the most remarkable was, the perpetual disinheritance of
the male line. As all titles, as well as property, descended in the female
line, and were hereditary in the tribe, the son could never succeed to his
father’s title of sachem, nor inherit even his tomahawk.
“A tribe of the Iroquois, it thus appears, was not, like the Grecian and
Roman tribes, a circle or group of families, for two tribes were necessarily
represented in every family; neither, like the Jewish, was it constituted of
the lineal descendants of a common father; on the contrary, it involved the
idea of descent from a common mother; nor has it any resemblance to the
Scottish clan, or to the canton of the Switzer. It approaches, however,
nearer to the Jewish. Denying geographical boundaries, a tribe of the
Troquois was composed of a part of a multitude of families, as wide spread
as the territories of the race, but yet united together by a common tribal
bond. The mother, her children, and the descendants of her daughters, in
the female line, would, in perpetuity, be linked with the fortunes of her own
tribe ; while the father, his brothers and sisters, and the descendants in the
female line of his sisters would be united to another tribe, and held by its
affinities. No circumstances could work a translation from one tribe to
another, or even suspend the nationality of the individual, If a Cayuga
woman of the Hawk tribe married a Seneca, her children were of the Hawk
tribe and Cayugas, and her descendants in the female line, to the latest
ESTIMATE OF THE INDIAN POPULATION OF RUPERT'S LAND. 149
posterity, continued to be Cayugas and of the Hawk tribe, although they
resided with the Senecas, and by successive intermarriage with them had
lost nearly every particle of Cayuga blood. Neither could intermarriage
with one of a foreign nation confer the Iroquois nationality upon the wife or
children of the marriage, and the same wee versd. If a Mohawk married a
Delaware woman, she and her children were not only Delaware still, but
ever continued aliens, unless naturalized as Mohawks, with the forms and
ceremonies prescribed in case of adoption.”
The difficulty of obtaming relable information respect-
ing the Indian population has been acknowledged by all
who have given attention to this subject. I am con-
vinced that the number of Indians inhabiting Rupert’s
Land has been considerably overrated. The estimates
published in the Appendix to the Report from the Select
Committee on the Hudson’s Bay Company furnish the
following result :—
Thickwood Indians on the east side of the Rocky Mountains . 35,000
The*Plain Tribes (Blackfeet, &c.) . : : ; : . 25,000
60,000
The Indian population of Rupert’s Land is estimated at
49,870. Over the plain or prairie tribes the Hudson’s Bay
Company profess to have no control, and they are re-
turned as numbering 25,000 souls. Excellent authorities,
noticed in the following pages, do not assign more than
half that number to the most numerous tribes of Prairie
Indians who hunt on the Saskatchewan and Missouri and
their tributaries.
The Plain Crees and Thickwood Indians are under the
control of the Company, but I think that their numbers
are also over estimated, and. the grounds on which this
opinion is advanced are stated in the following para-
eraphs. |
The basis of the census for the Thickwood Indians and
the Plain Crees is the number frequenting the establish-
ments of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1856, and the
L 3
150 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
following enumeration at certain Posts chiefly visited by
the Plain Crees is given :—
Post. No. of Indians frequenting it.
Fort Ellice . : ; ‘ 4 ; : . 500
Qu’appelle Lakes . ; : : : E . 200
Touchwood Hills . es : ’ : ; . B00
Fort ila Corne . ; : : : ; . 3800
1,350 Indians.
Upon perusal of the foregoing table the reader would
infer that 1,350 Indians visited the Posts named. It
happens, however, that many Indians trade with two or
more Posts, although every effort is made to limit them
to one particular station. Their names appear on the
books at different establishments, and in the enume-
ration of the Indians inhabiting certain districts, some
of them are counted twice and even three times. I
ascertained beyond doubt, that this practice existed to an
extent which would affect the census in a marked degree.
The custom of giving credit to Indians encourages this
system, while a natural desire to attach additional hunters
to a Post on the part of the traders, induces less caution
than would otherwise be exercised. As the result of very
careful inquiries wherever opportunities offered, of ob-
taining exact information, I am inclined to think that the
estimate of 42,870 is about one-fourth too high.
The estimated number of Indians frequenting parti-
cular establishments of the Hudson’s Bay Company re-
ferred to in these volumes, during 1856, is given in
the following table :—
Locality. Number.
Fort William ER ee A et Sa
Pigeon River : ‘ ‘ : : ‘ Re 3)
Fort:Pranees (© 5-6) 6 eines oe Oe ee
Rat Portage . : ‘ ‘ ; : ; . 00
Lac de Bois Blane ; ; A : : . 200
NUMBER OF INDIANS VISITING DIFFERENT POSTS. 151
Locality. Number.
Shoal Lake . ; ; : : A : a OO
White Dog . ; : 2 on ; 2 OO
Fort Alexander . ; j ‘ : : . 300
Lac de Bonnet. : ’ : ; 5 ; 50
Fort ala Corne . : : z : : . * B00
Cumberland House ; d ‘ ; ‘ . 250
The Pas ; P ‘ é : ; F . 3800
Fort Pelly . . : : : : : . 800
Fort Ellice . ‘ : : ; : : . 600
Quwappelle Lakes . : : ; : : 22250
Shoal River . ; : 4 3 : , Ue ae
Touchwood Hills . : ; P , : . 800
Fige Lake . : » 5 - : : «| 200
Manitobah House . : : : ; ‘ ='=200
On the North Branch of the Saskatchewan, where the
Prairie Indians assemble, the followmg enumeration is
given in the Blue Book :—
Locality. No. of Indians.
Edmonton . : : ; ; : : . 7,500
Carlton . : : : : . ‘ : . 5,000
Fort Pitt. ~. : ‘ ‘ : , » 7,000
Rocky Mountain Howse : : : : . 6,000
This census may approximate to the actual number of
Indians visiting a particular Post, yet there is strong
reason to suppose that the same individuals are to a large
extent enumerated twice if not thrice.
The Plain or Prairie Indians belong to the following
principal tribes : —
°
Blackfeet, Crees,
Bloodies, Assinniboines,
Piegans, Sioux.
Fall Indians, or Gros Ventres,
The Wood Indians of the Saskatchewan Valley belong
to the great family of Crees and Ojibways. The Sioux,
Blackfeet, Bloodies, and Piegans are Dakotahs.
Mr. Harriet, a chief-factor of the Hudson’s Bay Com-
pany, who had passed his life among the Blackfeet, esti-
L 4
152 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION,
mated the six or seven tribes going by that general name
as mustering 1,600 to 1,700 tents, at eight per tent,
13,000.*
Mr. Rowand, one of the oldest resident traders, esti-
mates the Blackfeet tribes as follows : —
Blackfeet proper- 2°... 3
Piepans’. 80 ae ee er
Bloods . : 4 5 ; ‘ : ; . 250
Gros Ventres, or Fall Indians ; : : . 400
Circes . : : ; : : : ‘ . 45
Cotones ; ‘
ee obes } Mountain Tribes . : ; . 250
At 8 persons per tent, 13,100. 1,645 tents.
The Assinniboines are divided into Strongwood and
Plain Assinniboines, or Stonys.
Mr. Harriet, in 1842, estimated the
Strongwood Assinniboines . : ° . at 80tents= 640
Mr. Rowand, the Plain Assinniboines . . » 800 ,, = 2,400
380 tents = 3,020
The Strongwood Crees about Edmonton
Mr. Rowand estimated at. . 400 tents, at 10 per tent = 4,000
Crees of the Plains ; : ; 7 20015, fe po Sen
6,000
Colonel Lefroy states that the aggregate of the tribes
inhabiting the plains on British territory was estimated in
1843 at not more than 23,400. Since that period they
have diminished in numbers, and some of the Blackfeet
bands have stationed themselves permanently on the
Missouri. In succeeding pages, recent estimates of the
Blackfeet tribes, and the limits of their hunting-grounds
are given.
* Colonel Lefroy. ir |
+ “On the probable number of the native Indian population of British
America,” by Captain (now Colonel) J. HW. Lefroy, R.A. Canadian Journal,
vol. i, Old Series.
ae
THE DAKOTAH NATION. 153
The Sioux and the Blackfeet being the most warlike
tribes of the north-west, and retaining their ancient
customs to the fullest extent, the following brief notices
of these formidable native races are introduced. The
Plain and Wood Crees and the Ojibways are almost
altogether amenable to the influence of the Hudson’s Bay
Company, and are in fact the hunters upon whom they
rely for a considerable proportion of their furs, robes,
skins, and provisions.
THE SIOUX OR DAKOTAH INDIANS.
The nation of the Sioux Indians or Dakotahs * is
composed of seven principal bands. Their ageregate
number probably does not exceed twenty-five thousand.
Their hunting-grounds extend from the Mississippi River
to the Black Hills in Nebraska, and from the mouth of
the Big Sioux River to Devil’s Lake. Although the Sioux
have no dealings with the half-breeds of Red River, or
with the Hudson’s Bay Company, yet they often cross the
49th parallel in pursuit of the buffalo, and more fre-
quently in search of a scalp from their hereditary enemies,
the Ojibways and Crees. As the most dreaded invaders
of the prairies north of the boundary line, this powerful
nation deserves a special notice.
The name Dakotah signifies the “ Allied,” and they
speak of themselves as the “ Oceti sakowin” or “ Seven
Council Fires.” The following enumeration of the prin-
cipal bands which compose the nation, by the members of
the American Dakotah Mission, will be found at length in
the Grammar and Dictionary prepared with so much
care, labour, and zeal, under the editorial management of
* See Introduction to a Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakotah Language,
published by the Smithsonian Institution,
154 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
the Rev. 8. R. Riggs, A. M., Missionary of the American —
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
1. The Mdewakantonwans, Village of the Spirit Lake.
The name is derived from Mdewakan (Spirit or Sacred
Lake), Mille Lacs (Minnesota), in the country now claimed
by the Ojibways. ‘This band numbers about two thou-
sand.
2. The Wahpekutes, Leaf Shooters, five hundred.
8. The Wahpetonwans, Village in the Leaves, twelve
hundred.
4, The Sisitonwans, Village of the Marsh, two thou-
sand five hundred. Their hunting-ground is about the
Coteau des Prairies, and they subsist on the buffalo.
5. The Ihanktonwanna, the End Village Band, four
thousand. Their country is on the north-east of the
Missouri, as far as Devil’s Lake. These are the great
enemies of the Red River half-breeds.
6. The Ihanktonwans, the Village at the End, two
thousand four hundred. Their country is west of the
Missouri. They are frequently termed Yanctons.
7. The Titonwans, the Village of the Prairie, twelve
thousand five hundred. Their hunting-ground is west of
the Missouri. They are divided into seven bands: the
Sicaugu, Burnt-Thighs; the Itazipco, Bow-pith; the
Sihasapa, Blackfeet; the Minikanye wozupi, Those who
plant by the water; the Oohenoupa, Tiwo-boilings ; and
the Oglala and Hunkpapa.
The conjurors believe that their dreams are revelations
from the Spirit World, and they aver that their prophetic
visions are the mental revival of occurrences in a former
state of existence. Years with them are enumerated by
winters; a distance is estimated by the number of nights
aman will sleep on the way.- The Ojibways have the
same method of expressing time and distance. They —
THE COMMON AND SACRED LANGUAGE OF DAKOTAIIS. 155
divide the year into moons, but weeks are unknown to
them. The Dakotahs of the valley of the Minnesota
have the following months in the year * : —
1. Wi-tehi, J anuary ; the hard moon.
2. Wicata-wi, February ; the racoon moon.
3. Istawicayazan-wi, March; the sore (eye) moon.
4, Magaokada-wi, April; the moon in which the geese lay eggs.
5. Wozupi-wi, May; the planting moon. .
6. Wazustecasa-wi, June; the moon when the strawberries are red.
7. Canpasapa-wi, July ; the moon when the choke cherries are ripe.
8. Wasutou-wi, August ; the harvest moon.
9. Psinhnaketu-wi, September; the moon when rice is laid up to dry.
10. Wi-wazupi, October ; the drying rice moon.
11. Takiyuha-wi, November; the deer rutting moon.
12. Tahecapsun-wi, December ; the moon when the deer shed their horns.
The Dakotahs have a common and a sacred language.
The conjuror, the war prophet, and the dreamer employ
a language in which words are borrowed from other
Indian tongues and dialects; they make much use of de-
scriptive expressions, and use words apart from the ordi-
nary signification. The Ojibways abbreviate their sentences
and employ many elliptical forms of expression, so much
so that half-breeds, quite familar with the colloquial lan-
ouage, fail to comprehend a medicine man when in the
full flow of excited oratory.
The American missionaries, in their admirable written
Dakotah language, employ five vowels, and twenty-four
consonants, -among which are two c’s, two g’s, two h’s,
two k’s, two n’s, two s’s, two @’s, and two 2’s. The repe-
tition of the same letter is used to denote a guttural, an
aspirate, an emphatic, or a nasal sound. Thus, ¢ is both
an aspirate and an emphatic letter; g like the English g
and guttural; 4 hke the English / and guttural; & as in
Enelish and emphatic; m as in English and nasal; p as
in English and emphatic; sas in English and aspirate ;
* See Grammar and Dictionary before referred to.
136" ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
¢ as in English and emphatic; z as in English and
aspirate. |
All syllables are enunciated plainly and fully, but
accentuation often determines the meahing of a word.
There are three numbers: singular, dual, and plural ;
the dual including the person speaking and the person
spoken to. The proper names of the Dakotahs are
words, simple and compounded, which are in common
use in the language. ‘The son of a chief when he suc-
ceeds his father usually takes the name of his father or
erandfather. As with the Ojibways and Swampys, their
proper names consist of a single noun or a noun and
adjective. The Ojibways have, however, distinct family or
“totem” names which they employ when speaking of their
ancestors; as I am of the family of the Bear, the Eagle,
the Thunder-cloud, &c. The Dakotahs have no surnames,
the children of a family have particular names which be-
long to them in the order of their birth up to the fifth
child. In counting they use their fingers, bending them
as they enumerate until they reach ten. ‘They then bend
down a little finger to record one ten and begin again;
when the second ten is counted they put down a second
finger, and so on.
Dakotah verbs have only two forms of tense, the inde-
finite and the future; the other tenses are expressed by
the help of adverbs, and the context. Words in a sen-
tence are thus placed, first the noun, second the adjective,
third the verb, thus: —
Ateunyanpi mahpiya ekta nanke chin
Father-we-have heaven in thou-art the;
Nichaze kin wakandapi kte ;
Thy-name the holy-regarded shall ;
Nitokichonze kin u kte ;
Thy-kingdom the come shall.*
* See a Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakotah Language, published by
the Smithsonian Institution.
—
iad
DIVISIONS OF THE BLACKFEET. 157
THE BLACKFERT.
Mr. James Doty, who resided for many years in the
country of the Blackfeet, and who is acquainted with a
large portion of that nation, gave the following boun-
daries of their country and estimate of the numbers of
the people to Governor Stevens in 1853.* The country
in which they reside and hunt is bounded as follows:
“By a line beginning on the north, where the 50th
parallel crosses the Rocky Mountains, thence east on said
parallel to the 106th meridian, thence south to the head-
waters of the Milk River, down said river to the Missouri,
up the Missouri to the mouth of the Judith, thence up the
Judith to its source in the Rocky Mountains, and north
along their base to the place of beginning.”
The country between the Missouri and the headwaters
of the Yellowstone is unoccupied. It is the war road
of the Blackfeet to and from the Crows, Flatheads, and
Snakes. It may also be considered as a transient hunt-
ing-eround of the Flatheads, who hunt buffalo there fora
time in the fall. |
The Blackfeet nation is divided into four distinct tribes
or bands, whose names, numbers, and localities are as
follows : —
Bi Lodges. Population. Warriors.
The Blackfeet . ; 200 1750 625
The Blood f ‘ , ~» 350 2450 875
The Piegans é ( » 000 2450 875
The Gros Ventres ; ~. OO 2520 900
Total"? : . 1310 9170 © 3275
* Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad Route from the Mississippi to
the Pacific, p. 443.
+ The country occupied by these tribes is evidently more extensive than
supposed by Mr. Doty; their permanent lodges are found far beyond the
limits given in the text.
{ Called by the half-breeds “ Bloodies.”
158 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
The Bloods and Blackfeet occupy the country between
Milk and Marias Rivers, to the 50th parallel of latitude.
The Piegans occupy the country between the Milk
and Marias Rivers, and between the Teton and the
Missouri.
The Gros Ventres occupy the country bordering upon
Milk River from its mouth to the territory of the Piegans.
The Bloods, Piegans, and Blackfeet speak the same lan-
| bem
guage, the Gros Ventres the Arapahoe language; they
were adopted by the Blackfeet about thirty years since,
having seceded from their own nation. On the Upper
Missouri, near the great bend, the Gros Ventres have a
large village of mud houses. Some of the lodges are
capable of supporting 100 persons; one part is appropri-
ated to their horses, dogs, cattle, and chickens, another to
their sleeping apartments; the lodges are built entirely
by women. The Gros Ventres formerly hunted on the
Assiniboine. Mr. J. M. Stanley, the artist of Governor
Stevens’ Exploration, states that the Blackfeet proper are
divided into three distinct bands: the Blood band, 400
lodges ; the Piegan band, 430 lodges; and the Blackfeet
band, 500 lodges, averaging ten to a lodge, and amount-
ing in all to 13,300 souls. ‘The Piegans and Bloods hunt,
trade, and winter on American soil, while the Blackfeet
extend their hunt as far north as the Saskatchewan, and
trade as frequently with the British as with the American
Posts.*
The following census of the Indian tribes of the United
States, inhabiting the states and territories adjoming the
49th parallel, is abstracted from the statistics of the tribes
as reported to the Bureau of Indian Affairs + : —
* Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad to the Pacific, p. 449.
+ See the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian tribes of the
United States, by H. R. Schoolcraft, LL.D.
INDIAN POPULATION OF BRITISH AMERICA. 159
Name of tribe. Numbers.
Assinniboine . . : . 8900 Extending from the Missouri into
Rupert’s Land.
Blackfeet . : F : . 9530 Nebraska.
Bloods. : . . . 1612 Upper Missouri.
Crees : : - 800 Upper Missouri.
Sioux fenitonwanna)- . 4000 Dakotah territory.
Gros Ventres . ; é . 2500 Between the Missouri and the
Saskatchewan.
The subjomed enumeration of Indian tribes inhabiting
British North America, is from a paper “On the probable
number of the Native Indian Population of British
America,” by Colonel Lefroy, referred to on page 152 :—
Chipewyan tribes —namely: Chipewyans proper, Dogribs,
Hare or Slave Indians, Yellow Knives, Beaver Indians,
Da-ha-dumies and Carriers . : ‘ ; ; » 1,575
Northern Indians of the Kutchin stock . . : + O,0e2
Indians of the Plains (Blackfeet, Assinniboines, &c.) . 23,400
Chipeways (Ojibways) and Crees, exclusive of the above. 8,675
Indians of the Seaboard and Islands of the Pacific . . 63,840
Indians of New Caledonia— Interior . : : . 2,000
Indians of Canada . ‘ : é : : . » 13,000
124,518
The number of Indians frequenting the establishments
of the Hudson’s: Bay Company, in 1856, are thus classified
in the Blue Book * : —
Thickwood Indians on the east side of the Rocky Mountains . 35,000
The Plain Tribes (Blackfeet, ee . . , . » 25,000
The Esquimaux . . ; ° , ° - 4,000
Indians settled in Gannds . : : : . « 3,000
Indians in British Oregon and on the note est coast . » 80,000
Total Indians . : . : : : . . 147,000
The census of the Indian tribes of the United States
with whom intercourse was kept up by agents in the year
* Report from the Select Committee on the Hudson’s Bay Company.
160 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
1855 is stated in the Annual Report of the Indian Bureau
of that year to include 314,622 souls.
An approximation to the total Indian population of the
United States and British America will be as follows : —
Indians of the United States . : - . _. 314,622
Indians of British America (Oolong! emo) ; . 124,518
Total . ; : : : : . : . 439,140
Or,
Indians of the United States . - : : . 314,622
Indians of British America, according to the census of the
Hudson’s Bay Company . . : : . 147,000
Total . . ; : : : . 461,622
The records of the se cee of the Indians who
formerly occupied Canada and the northern States of
the Union prove that their numbers, during the first half
of the seventeenth century, must have at least quadrupled
the entire aboriginal population now occupying the vast
territories under the control of the Hudson’s Bay Com-
pany.
The extraordinary mutability of nations in the savage
state, and the rapidity with which one race supplants
another over large areas, is thus noticed by a recent
writer on the early discoveries of the French in North
America * : —“ When Cartier arrived in the St. Lawrence,
he described large and permanent Indian villages at Sta-
dacona and Hochelaga; but little more than half a cen-
tury afterwards, when Champlain visited the same locali-
ties, he apparently found few Indians about Quebec, and
none permanently settled at Montreal. ‘There may have
been some exaggeration in Cartier’s account, but the main
fact remains, and it may probably be accounted for by
* “On the Early Discoveries of the French in North America,” by John
Langton, M.A., Auditor of Public Accounts, Canada. A paper read before
the Canadian Institute, and published in the “ Canadian Journal,” New
Series, No. 12.
THE MUTABILITY OF INDIAN RACES. ~ 161
the increasing power of the Iroquois, which made those
places dangerous abodes, and compelled the tribes which
formerly occupied them, to retreat into the interior. Again,
the country north of Lake Ontario is described by Cham-
plain as affording signs of having been formerly extensively
cultivated and thickly inhabited, but in his day it was
entirely deserted, and only used as a hunting ground by
the neighbouring tribes. But the country of the Ottawa,
and across to the northern shore of Lake Huron, as also
the Western Peninsula, is described as full of Hurons,
and of Algonquin, Ottawa, Nipissing, and other allied
tribes. Amongst the Hurons alone, in the limited area
between Matchedash Bay and Lake Simcoe, he reckons
eighteen walled villages, numbering 2,000 fighting men,
and Sagard puts the whole population down at 30,000 or
40,000 souls.* Yet, within thirty years from that time this
region was also a desert, and the remnants of the former in-
habitants had retreated to the Northern Lakes, and as far
west as the Sioux. The Hurons indeed were almost ex-
terminated, and the paltry remnant which had not been
either destroyed or incorporated with other tribes, were
collected and brought down to Quebec, where their de-
scendants still occupy the village of Lorette. All the
tribes of the Western Peninsula, and the Eries on the
south shore of that lake, seem also to have been utterly
exterminated, as well as the greater part of the Illinois,
* It would not appear that this estimate can have been very greatly ex-
aggerated, from the account given of the missionary establishments. They
numbered in their most flourishing period, about the year 1645, forty-two
missionaries besides their attendants. Of these two or three only remained
at the principal station of Ste. Marie, at the mouth of the Wye, five other
villages were called residences, where one or two missionaries remained per-
manently, and the rest moved from village to village often having as many
as ten under their charge. As several of these villages are mentioned ag
containing from 100 to 200 cabins, and four to five families residing in
each, the whole population cannot have fallen far short of 30,000.
VOL. II. M
162 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
and other western tribes; and the Iroquois were domi-
nant over all Upper Canada, and all the northern part of
New York and Ohio. All this occurred without the in-
tervention of the white man; and there has been no dis-
appearance of a savage race since, from the diseases and
vices which civilization brings in its train, which has sur-
passed, even if it has equalled in completeness and rapidity,
the desolation which the conquering Iroquois spread around
them. They, too, have now nearly vanished from the scene
of their former power under other influences, and may
soon, like the Eries and Hurons, be remembered only by
a name; but when we find such extraordinary vicissitudes
occurring durmg the brief space, of which we have any
certain record, we cease to be so much surprised at the
total disappearance of the mound builders and other pre-
historic races.”
The Mandans and Assinniboies who hunt on both
American and British soil, and who are essentially prairie
Indians, were estimated in 1783 to be capable of sending
into the field 25,000 and 40,000 fighting men respec-
tively. In 1786 the small-pox, coming north from the
Mexican provinces, almost depopulated the country. In
1838 the same disease swept off at least one half of the
prairie tribes. Five-and-twenty years ago, before this
epidemic, aided by constant wars, had reduced the Plain
Crees to one-sixth or eighth of their former numbers,
Fort Ellice was often the scene of exciting Indian display.
The officer in charge in July 1858, remembers the time
when the entire tribe who now hunt on the Qu’appelle
and South Branch would approach the Fort to receive their
supplies, preceded by 800 mounted warriors, singing their
war songs. Twenty-five years ago the tribe numbered
4000, in 500 tents; at the present day they do not ex-
ceed 120 tents, which represent a population of 960 or
1000 souls.
DESTRUCTION OF INDIANS BY DISEASE. 163
As stated in a preceding chapter, small-pox and measles
produced a great mortality among the Wood Indians
north of the Saskatchewan in 1816, 1817, and 1818. The
ravages of this scourge began to tell in a fearful manner
upon the native races in the valley of the St. Lawrence
as early as the latter part of the seventeenth century.
Charlevoix relates in 1670 that there were rarely less
than 1200 Indians to be seen encamped at Tadousac, the
entrepdt of the fur trade at that period during the trading
season. The small-pox put an end to the trade by almost
annihilating the Indians. Some tribes were quite exter-
minated, others amalgamated with surviving tribes, or
carried their furs to the English Fort on Hudson’s
Bay.
When the Iroquois, who formerly occupied permanent
villages’ on the south shore of Lake Ontario and the
south bank of the St. Lawrence, were first known to
Europeans, they alone were estimated by La Hontan at
70,000 souls. The numbers of the Indian population of
British North America, on the east side of the Rocky
Mountains, amounted to 67,000 in 1856, according to the
Hudson’s Bay Company. During that year the small-pox
again visited the plain tribes, coming up the Missouri River,
and destroying fully 3000 from among those who hunt
on the Upper Missouri and between both branches of
the Saskatchewan. In 1857 and 1858 it still lingered
near the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and despair was
stamped on the faces of the unhappy Mandans who were
visited by Lieut. Warren soon after the scourge appeared
amongst them. Wars, disease, and starvation have re-
duced to at least one-twentieth part of its former num-
bers an aboriginal population which two centuries ago
occupied this vast area. How long will the remnant be
preserved to minister to the cupidity of the white race
M 2
164 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
who now rule and sustain them only so far as they are
subservient to the objects of the fur trade?
Before the dispersion of the Hurons, about the year
1650, the customs observed by that people relative to the
dead were as follows. Under the impression that the
spirit, notwithstanding its separation from the body, did
not immediately take its departure, the women were ac-
customed to frequent the grave of the deceased with tears,
Indian Graves covered with Split Sticks.
moans, and other outward signs of grief. The corpse was
placed in a burying-ground called by the Hurons Oi-go-
sa-yée. If the death had been natural, each corpse was
encased separately in birch bark and elevated on four
poles. They remained there until the celebration of the
“ Feast of the Dead,’ which took place every eight or ten
years. At this period the inhabitants of a village taking
down each bier in their Oi-go-sa-yé, carefully removed the
dried flesh from the bones and wrapped the skeleton in
furs and skins. The bones of the dead having been thus
oll —
'THTE BURIAL-PLACES OF THE HURONS. 165
gathered from a wide extent of country * were placed with
much solemnity in a large excavation richly decorated
with furs. Valuables of different kinds were deposited
with the remains, under the belief that they would be
required by those to whom they belonged in another
world or state of existence.
When the death has been violent or unnatural, the corpse
was burned or buried immediately ; and should a Huron
have been frozen to death, the corpse would be carefully
dissected, and the skeleton buried, never to be exhumed.
The Hurons believed that the spirits of those who died
in war, or suffered a violent death in any other way, en-
joyed no communion in a future life with those who died
in the ordinary course of nature.
An ancient ossuary of the Hurons was opened near
Penetanguishene in 1846. Its appearance externally was
that of a mound about twenty-eight feet in diameter,
covered with large trees which had grown upon it after
its construction. An immense shroud of beaver skin
enveloped the sacred deposit. Twenty-six copper kettles,
hatchets, marine shells, bracelets or belts of wampum,
&c., were placed near to the bones.
The Jesuit Missionary, P. de Brebeaf, who assisted at
one of the “ Feasts of the Dead” at the village of Ossos-
sane before the dispersion of the Hurons, relates that the
ceremony took place in the presence of 2000 Indians,
who offered 1200 presents at the common tomb in testi-
mony of their grief. The people belonging to five large
villages deposited the bones of their dead in a gigantic
shroud, composed of forty-eight robes, each robe being
made of ten beaver skins. After being carefully wrapped
in this rich shroud, they were placed between moss and
* Compare the description of ossuaries in Western Canada, Vol. I. p. 90.
+ Relations Abrégées.
M3
166 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
bark. A wall of stones was built round this vast ossuary
to preserve it from profanation. Before covering the
bones with earth, a few grains of Indian corn were thrown
by the women upon the sacred relics.
According to the superstitious belief of the Hurons the
souls of the dead remain near the bodies until the “ Feast
of the Dead ;” after which ceremony they become free,
and can at once depart for the Land of Spirits, which
they believe to be situated in the regions of the setting
sun. *
* Relations Abrégées.
SHAVUD NVIGNI
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SSS a ———— ————— SS Ea ane
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167
CREAT. XXX:
INDIAN TITLE TO RED RIVER.
Indian Title in Canada.—Importance of the Question in Rupert's Land. —
Cost of Indian Wars to the United States’ Government.—Advance of Settle-
ments towards the West.—Probability of a War with the Sioux.—Indian
Races occupying the Country available for present Settlement in Rupert’s
Land.—Restlessness of these People.—The Right Hon. E. Ellice, M.P., on
Indian Title in Canada.—Proclamation of 1763.—Opinion of the Canadian
Commissioners on Indian Affairs with Respect to Indian Title in Canada.
—Title to Red River.—Grant to Lord Selkirk.— Treaty between Lord
Selkirk and the Crees and Saulteaux of Red River.—Peguis.—His
Letter to the Aborigines’ Protection Society—His Address in 1859 to
the “ Great House.””—M. MacDermott’s Statement.—Meeting of the Half-
Breeds of Red River.—Opinion respecting Indian Title.—Importance of
the Question.— Treaty of the Americans with the Saulteaux for the
northern part of Minnesota on Red. River.
THE question of Indian title is one of very great in-
terest and importance in regard to the future peace of the
colony, and as much misapprehension appears to exist
respecting the territorial rights of different tribes of
Indians, and their title to the land they now claim, the
present condition of the question may be noticed here,
as far as the slender and unconnected evidence at com-
mand admits. In Canada much trouble, great expense,
and endless inquiry have been created by Indian claims,
which even now remain in part unsettled, and are a
source of many incidental expenses to the Government,
which might have been avoided if proper arrangements
had been made at the right season. In Rupert’s Land,
M 4
186 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
where disaffected Indians can influence the savage prairie
tribes and arouse them to hostility, the subject is one of
ereat magnitude; open war with Sioux, Assinniboines,
Plain Crees or Blackfeet, might render a vast area of
prairie country unapproachable for many years, and
expose the settlers to constant alarms and depredations.
The Indian wars undertaken by the United States
Government during the last half century, have cost infi-
nitely more than the most liberal annuities or compre-
hensive efforts for the amelioration of the condition of
the aborigines would have done; and in relation to the
northern prairie tribes, war is always to be expected at a
day’s notice.
The encroachments of western settlers upon Indian lands
are constant and increasing in the United States, and
there is no reason to suppose that these encroachments
will diminish for many years to come. Already the Red
River south of the boundary line, as well as its south-
western tributaries, are invaded from the valley of the
Mississippi, and as the territory of Dakotah has not yet
been ceded to the United States Government, the prospect
of a war with the Sioux, whose hunting grounds embrace
it, becomes daily more imminent. Lieutenant Warren,
who has conducted several United States’ exploring expedi-
tions in Dakotah and Nebraska territories, remarks: ‘“* The
advance of the settlements is universally acknowledged
to be a necessity of our national development, and is
justifiable in displacing the native races on that ground
alone. But the government, instead of being so consti-
tuted as to prepare the way for settlement by wise and just
treaties of purchase from the present owners, and proper
protection and support for the indigent race so dispossessed,
is sometimes behind its obligations in these respects; and
in some instances Congress refuses or delays to ratify the
ENCROACHMENTS ON INDIAN LANDS. 169
treaties made by the duly authorized agents of the govern-
ment. The result is, that the settler and pioneer are pre-
cipitated mto the Indian’s country, without the Indian
having received the first consideration promised him ; and
he often, in a manner that enlists the sympathies of all
mankind, takes up the tomahawk in defence of his right
and perishes in the attempt.” * The same officer states
that there are so many inevitable causes at work to pro-
duce a war with the Dakotahs (Sioux) before many years,
that he regards the greatest fruit of his explorations to be
the knowledge of the proper routes by which to invade
their country and conquer them, but at the same time he
thinks that many of the causes of war with them might
be removed by timely action in relation to the treaties
made with them.
The country of the Dakotahs borders on British terri-
tory, some of the tribes (the Ihanktonwanna, par. 5, p. 154,
Vol. IT.) are the confirmed enemies of the half-breeds and
Ojibways of Red River; peace has often been made, but
as often broken again upon trivial and even accidental
erounds.
The frontier tribes can muster at least two thousand
warriors by uniting with several of their more southern
allies. Being the most warlike and numerous Indians in
the United States territories, and their hunting grounds
interlocking with those of the Crees in British America,
they will probably yet play an important and active part
in the future of the colony and the new adjoining territory
of Chippewa.f
* Preliminary Report of Explorations in Nebraska and Dakotah in the
years 1855-6 and 1857, by Lieut. G. K. Warren, Top. Eng. U.S. army.
+ The new territory of Dakotah is to be composed of a part of the present
territory of that name and a portion of Nebraska, and bounded as follows :—
The forty-sixth meridian of north latitude on the north, Minnesota and
170 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Thickwood Crees, Swampy Crees, Plain Crees, and Ojib-
ways are the Indian nations who now occupy that part of
Rupert’s Land where settlements would first be made.
These nations are friendly to one another and hostile to
the Sioux. They are, in fact, the hunters of the Hudson’s
Bay Company, and consequently friendly with that body,
who have never sought to extend the settlements of the
white race in Rupert’s Land ; but of late years since the
questions relating to title to lands, annuities, and com-
pensation have been raised, they are becoming dissatisfied,
suspicious, and untrustworthy.
The Right Honourable Edward Ellice, M.P., in reply to
a question put by Mr. Christie during his examination be-
fore the Select: Committee on the Hudson’s Bay, respecting
the extinction of the Indian title in Rupert’s Land, stated
that “the English Government never extinguished the
Indian title in Canada when they took possession ; the
Americans, while they have been extending their posses-
sions, have extinguished the Indian title, but in Canada
there has never been any treaty with the Indians to ex-
tinguish the title, the Crown, retaining certain reserves
for the Indians, has always insisted upon the right to
Towa to the mouth of the Big Sioux on the east, on the south following
the Missouri river from the mouth of the Big Sioux to the mouth of the
Nebraska, and along the Niobarah to the one hundred and second meridian
of west longitude, along the hundred and second meridian to the forty-third
parallel north latitude, thence along the forty-third parallel to the crest
of the Rocky Mountains, and on the west by Washington Territory. This
territory will consist of about one hundred and thirty-five thousand square
miles. This does not include or interfere with any of the settled portions of
Nebraska.
Chippewa is an entirely new territory, and is composed of the northern
part of Dacotah and Nebraska, bounded as follows:—The British Pos-
sessions on the north, Minnesota on the east, the forty-sixth parallel of
north latitude on the south, and Washington on the west. This will make
an area of about one hundred and thirty thousand square miles.
THE RT. HON. EDWARD ELLICE, M.P., ON INDIAN TITLE. 171
occupy the lands, and to grant the lands.”* This reply to
a question now about to assume an importance in regard
to the Red River Settlement of the greatest magnitude, is
lable to produce a very erroneous impression respecting
the Indian title in Canada, and the respect which has been
paid toit during the history of that country. Itis desirable
that this point should be clearly stated, and with this object
the proclamation of 1763 as far as it relates to the Indians
in Canada is appended.
“ And we do further declare it to be our royal will and
pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under
our sovereignty, protection, and dominion, for the use of
the said Indians, all the lands and territories not included
within the limits granted to the Hudson’s Bay Company ;
as also the lands and territories lying to the westward of
the sources of the rivers which fall into the sea, from the
west and north-west as aforesaid. And we do hereby
strictly forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all our loving
subjects from making any purchases or settlements what-
ever, or taking possession of the lands above reserved
without our special leave and license for that purpose.”
The report of the commissioners appointed to investi-
gate the Indian affairs in Canada in 1847, thus state their
views on the question of title to lands :—
“ Although the Crown claims the territorial estate and
eminent dominion in Canada, as in other of the older
eolonies ; it has, ever since its possession of the province,
conceded to the Indians the right of occupancy upon
their old hunting grounds, and their claim to compensation
for its surrender, reserving to itself the exclusive privilege
of treating with them for the surrender or purchase of
any portions of the land. This is distimetly laid down in
* Question 6001, Blue Book.
172 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
the proclamation of 1763, and the principle has since
been generally acknowledged and rarely infrmged upon by °
the Government. The same rule has been followed by
the Government of the United States, who pay annuities
for the surrender of Indian lands to the extent of about
140,000/. a-year.” *
Great and apparently reasonable doubt exists respecting
the Indian title to that part of the valley of Red River
and the Assinniboine now occupied by the settlements.
The royal charter for incorporating the Hudson’s Bay
Company, granted by Charles IIL, a.p. 1670, trans-
ferred to the Company the trade, lands, mines, minerals,
fisheries, &c., of Rupert’s Land. The territory to be
reckoned one of his Majesty’s plantations or colonies in
America, and the Governor and Company to be the
Lords Proprietors of the same for ever.
On the 12th June 1811 the Hudson’s Bay Company
made a grant of lands to Lord Selkirk included within
the following boundaries :-—“ All that tract of land or
territory bounded by an imaginary line running as fol-
lows, that is to say, beginning on the western shores of
the Lake Winnipeg at a point in 52° 30’ north latitude,
and thence running due west to the Lake Winnepego-sis,
then in a southerly direction through the said lake so as
to strike its western shore in latitude 52°, then due west
to the place where the 52° intersects the western branch
of Red River, the Assinniboine River, then due south from
that point of intersection to the height of land, which sepa-
rates the waters running into Hudson’s Bay from those of
the Missouri and Mississippi, then in an easterly direction
* « Report on the Affairs of the Indians in Canada.” Legislative Council,
Sessional Papers, Appendix T, 1847.
+ See the Royal Charter of Incorporation, page 409 of the aie from
the Select Committee on the Hudson’s Bay Company.
ih es
GRANT TO LORD SELKIRK. — PEGUIS. 173
along the said height of land to the source of the Winni-
peg River (meaning by such last-named river the principal
branch of the waters which unite in Lake Seiganagah),
thence along the main stream of these waters, and the
middle of the several lakes through which they flow, to
the mouth of the Winnipeg River, and thence in a
northerly direction through the middle of Lake Winnipeg
to the place of beginning.” *
Ross, in his “ Red River Settlement, its Rise, Progress,
and Present State,’ mtroduces a treaty made between
Lord Selkirk and certain Indian chiefs, Crees and Saul-
teaux (or Ojibways), on the 18th July, 1817, i which the
chiefs agree to give unto the king, for the use of the Earl
of Selkirk, a considerable tract of land on the Assinni-
bome and Red Rivers for the quit-rent of 100 lbs. of
tobacco, to be paid annually to the chiefs and warriors
of the Cree and Saulteaux tribes then occupying the
country.f
In 1857 Peguis, an immigrant from Pigeon River, Lake
Superior, at Red River, sent a letter to the Aborigines’ Pro-
tection Society, London, complaining of the non-fulfilment
of this treaty. The following extract from the letter sent
by Peguis is published in the Blue Book £:—
“ Many winters ago, in 1812, the lands along the Red
River, in the Assinniboine country on which I and the
* Part of this deed is published in the narrative of Major Long’s Expe-
dition to the Source of St. Peter’s River, 1824. The above extract is from
the Blue Book. Major Long’s quotation varies in the spelling of a few
names of places, and concludes with the words, “which territory is called
Ossiniboia.”’
+ This treaty is signed by Lord Selkirk and the following chiefs :—
Moche W. Keocab (Le sonent). Ouekidvat (Grande oreilles).
Mechudewikonaie (La robe noir). Kayajiekebinoa (L’ homme noir).
Pegowis.
{ Page 445, Report from the Select Committee on the Hudson’s Bay
Company.
174 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
tribe of Indians of whom I am chief then lived, were
taken possession of, without permission of myself or my
tribe, by a body of white settlers. For the sake of peace,
I, as the representative of my tribe, allowed them to re-
main on our lands on their promising that we should be
well paid for them by a great chief, who was to follow
them. This great chief, whom we call the Silver Chief
(the Earl of Selkirk), arrived in the spring after the war
between the North-west and Hudson’s Bay Companies
(1817). He told us he wanted land for some of his
countrymen, who were very poor in their own country ;
and I consented, on the condition that he paid well for
my tribe’s land, he could have from the confluence of the
Assinniboine to near Maple Sugar Point on the Red River
(a distance of twenty to twenty-four miles), following the
course of the river, and as far back on each side of the
river as a horse could be seen under (easily distinguished).
The Silver Chief told us he had little with which to pay
us for our lands when he made this arrangement, in con-
sequence of the troubles of the North-west Company.
He, however, asked us what we most required for the
present, and we told him we would be content till the
following year, when he promised again to return, to take
only ammunition and tobacco. ‘The Silver Chief never
returned, and either his son or the Hudson’s Bay Company
have ever since paid us annually for our lands only the
small quantity of ammunition and tobacco which in the
first instance we took as a preliminary to a final bargain
about our lands.” saRe
In March, 1859, Peguis dictated another letter on the
subject of the title of his tribe to a portion of the lands
on Red River. This singular communication, as published
in the “ Aborigines’ Friend and Colonial Intelligencer,” is
as follows :—
LETTER FROM PEGUIS ON THE TITLE OF HIS TRIBE. 175
“JT Peguis, x (his mark), Salteaux Chief of the Indian Settlement at
Red River, wish to make my statement to the Great House across the great
waters.
“JT and my people have our minds much disturbed by the Hudson’s Bay
Company, because the said Company have never arranged with me for our
lands. We never sold our lands to the said Company, nor to the Earl of
Selkirk; and yet the said Company mark out and sell our lands without
our permission. Is this right? I and my people do not take their property
from them, without giving them great value for it, as furs and other things,
and is it right that the said Company should take our landed property from
us without our permission, and without our receiving payment for the same ?
I have asked the said Company for payment, through their agents, and I
asked Mr. Mactavish for the same thing, last spring, but I got nothing for
my lands. :
“Tf I were nearer the Great House, I would speak much and loud. I
and my people are disturbed, and will the Great House approve of another
Fur Company being chartered from Canada? Will there be another Com-
pany for the North, and another for the South? Will the Great House
sanction more hostilities as before, when there were two Fur Companies
trading in our country? And will another Company take in land for five
miles on each side of the great road to be made between this place and
Canada, without consulting me and my brother chiefs? I speak loud:
listen! We have had enough of all Fur Companies. Please send us out
rather mechanics and implements to help our families in forming settle-
ments, and to secure as reserves, &c.
“T, Peguis, x (his mark), moreover, hereby agree with the letters which
my brother chiefs, Makasis, Kes-kisimakurs and Wa-was-ka-sis, sent across
the great waters to Mr. Isbister, and to the Aborigines’ Protection Society
last spring about our lands, and pray the great Mother to take us all under
her own protection, and to rule the country for us herself.
“PEGUIS, x (his mark).
“ Given under my hand this 21st day of March, 1859.
“Sioned by Peguis, Saulteaux Chief of the Indian Settlement, in the
presence of the undersigned,
“ JosePpH MonxKMAN,
“Joun Horr.”
In reply to this “statement to the Great House,” Mr.
Andrew McDermott, a well-known, influential, and wealthy
Red River trader, who has been in the country since
1812, refers to the treaty with Lord Selkirk, stating that
since the date of the treaty,the Indians, or their descendants
named therein, have received an annual payment of 8/.
176 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
sterling from the Hudson’s Bay Company*, and alls
attention to the notice conspicuously posted by order of
the chiefs in various parts of the settlement in 1858,
warning the settlers that if they cut hay beyond the two-
mile boundary referred to m their treaty with Lord Sel-
kirk, their stacks would be destroyed. The letter called
forth a strong expression of opinion from a large meeting
of half-breeds convened for the purpose on the 7th Mareh,
1860, when the following resolutions were adopted :—
“Ist. That the Cree chief, Senna, who has the best claim to this country,
never disposed of it to the Karl of Selkirk or the Hudson’s Bay Company.
“2nd. That the Hudson’s Bay Company do not, as is alleged, pay 8.
sterling per annum to each of the five chiefs mentioned in Mr. McDermott’s
letter.
“3rd. That the paltry presents given to some or all of these chiefs for
many years after 1816, were not given in the way of payment for lands;
but merely to keep them friendly towards the Company. The friendship of
these chiefs was important, not only because their hostility might have
been dangerous, but because they could, by using their influence with their
people, bring a large quantity of furs to the Company.
‘Ath. That presents similar to those given after the year 1816, were
given for thirty or forty years before that date, for the purpose of ‘ keeping
in” with the Indians; and given not only to the chiefs of this district, but
to every influential Indian throughout the country.
“5th. That as no proper arrangement has been made with the native
tribes regarding their lands, the ‘ half-breeds’ who are now on the soil,
and who, besides being natives, are the immediate representatives of these
tribes, ought to use every legitimate means to urge their claims to con-
sideration in any arrangement which the Imperial Government may see fit
to make.
“With these points agreed upon, it was resolved to adjourn the meeting
until the month of May or June, when the various chiefs referred to would
be in the settlement, and when certain persons who were now out winter-
ing, would also be here to corroborate the above facts.”
It would be altogether premature to discuss the claims
presented by different nations and chiefs to the Red River
* This statement is not substantiated by the evidence of Sir George
Simpson, Blue Book, Question 109.
INDIAN TREATY WITH THE AMERICANS. 177
country; but it is clearly evident that the subject will
require close investigation and prompt action in order to
avoid troublesome disputes. It is also apparent that the
calls of humanity, the interests of the new colony, and
the claims of the Indians, imperatively demand that the
natives should be paid for their lands in such a manner
that the future to them may not possess the sad and hope-
less aspect which has too long met the gaze of the Indian
race in Canada, whose hunting-grounds have been pur-
chased with much apparent commiseration for their con-
dition, but with tardy and inadequate attempts to arrest
the fate which, under such neglect, inevitably awaits them.
The Americans have secured a tract of country thirty
miles deep on either side of Red River, extending from
the boundary Ime to Buffalo River on the east bank, and
Goose River on the west bank. The area of this tract
is between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 acres, and the sum
paid for it was $30,000 cash, and $10,000 per annum for
twenty years, 82000 of this annuity being reserved by
the President, and applied to the improvement of the
Indians. The date of this treaty is 1851.
Ross says* that the Assinniboines, Plain Crees, and the
Ojibways (Saulteaux) all laid claim to the land, but the
title of Ojibways has always been most disputed, they
being invaders of the country; yet, bemg found by the
Americans on the spot, they were recognized as the lords
paramount of the soil. Their principal chiefs, however,
absented themselves, being distrustful, lukewarm, and un-
willing to sell their lands; and the treaty was ratified
with those of secondary rank who attended the meeting,
summoned by the Governor of Minnesota.
* Appendix to the Red River Settlement, &c.
VORL.. II. N
178 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
CHAP XXxXIT
MISSIONARY LABOUR AND ITS RESULTS.
Indians in Canada.— Distinction between Indian Nations and Tribes.—The
Ojibways and Mistassins— Families, Nations, Tribes, and Bands.—
Indian Families of Rupert’s Land and Canada.— The Algonquins and
Troquois.—The Hurons or Wyandots.— Dispersion of the Hurons.— The
Iroquois Confederation.— Statistics of Indians in Canada.—Canadian
Special Commission.—The Indian Department.— Efforts to ameliorate
the Condition of Indians.— The Manitoulin Islands and the Mission at
Manitouaning.—The Roman Catholic Missions.—Their School and
Village. — Wikwemikong. — Wesleyan Methodist Missions. — Indian
Labour Schools.— Cause of the Failure-—Condition of some Indian
_ Villages in Canada.— The Indians of the Northern Coast of Lakes Huron
and Superior.— Treaty with these Indians.—Distribution of Annuities.—
Hudson’s Bay Company.—Sale of Birthrights.—Suggestion with Reference
to a Permanent Fund for the Supervision and Instruction of Indians.—
Lands surrendered by Indians in Canada.—Testimony of Missionaries and
Agents in Relation to Indians.—- Advantage of Settled Homes.— Compact
Reservations.— Indian Progress in Michigan.—At Red Lake.—At Red
River.— Suggestions with regard to the Amelioration of the Condition
of Indians generally.— Missionary Labour in Rupert’s Land. — The
School-house.—Suggestion for the Establishment of a General Store for
Outposts. — Native Language.—The Bishop of Rupert’s Land. — His
Charge, January, 1860.— The Karl of Southesk— A Christian Assin-
niboines’ Band.—The Church in the Wilderness.
THE prospective condition of the Indian race in Rupert’s
Land will be greatly dependent upon the steps which
may be taken by the future government of the country,
to provide for their instruction in the Christian religion ;
their assumption of a settled mode of life, and their con-
sequent advancement in civilization.
The experience of a century in Canada cannot be
DISTINCTION BETWEEN INDIAN NATIONS. 179
overlooked in any discussion of. the measures which
appear to commend themselves for encouragement or
adoption, in order to secure the amelioration of the con-
dition of this people, whose claims upon the sympathy
and protection of the civilized invaders of their hunting-
erounds no humane man can dispute.
eee
Vai). es The Assimih
RESULTS OF CAPTAIN PALLISER’S EXPEDITION. 223
westward, still north of the 49th parallel, until he arrived
at the camp of the United States Boundary Commissioners
in longitude 119° 30’ west.
Captain Palliser describes the Be drained by the
Saskatchewan in the following words*
“The extent of surface drained by ne Saskatchewan,
and other tributaries to Lake Winnipeg, which we had an
opportunity of examining, amounts in round numbers to
150,000 square miles. This region is bounded to the
north by what is known as the ‘strong woods,’ or the
southern limit of the great circum-arctic zone of forest,
which occupies these latitudes in the northern hemi-
sphere. ‘This line, which is mdicated in the map, sweeps
to the north-west from the shore of Lake Winnipeg, and
reaches its most northerly limit about 54° 30’ N., and longi-
tude 119° W., from where it again passes to south-west,
meeting the Rocky Mountains in latitude 51° N., longitude
115° W. Between this line of the ‘ strong woods’ and the
northern limit of the true prairie country there is a belt
of land varying in width, which at one period must have
been covered by an extension of the northern forests,
but which has been gradually cleared by successive fires.
“Tt is now a partially wooded country, abounding in
lakes and rich natural pasturage, in some parts rivaling
the finest park scenery of our own country. Throughout
this region of country the climate seems to preserve the
same character, although it passes through very different
latitudes, its form being doubtless determined by the
curves of the isothermal line. Its superficial extent
embraces about 65,000 square miles, of which more than
one-third may be considered as at once available for the
purposes of the agriculturist. Its elevation increases
* Papers relative to the Exploration of British North America, Aug. 18th,
1860, page 21,
224 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
from 700 to 4000 feet as we approach the Rocky Moun-
tains, consequently it 1s not equally adapted throughout
to the cultivation of any one crop, nevertheless at Fort
Edmonton, which has an altitude of 3000 feet, even
wheat is sometimes cultivated with success.
“The least valuable portion of the prairie country has
an extent of about 80,000 square miles, and is that
lying along the southern branch of the Saskatchewan,
and southward from thence to the boundary line, while
its northern limit is known in the Indian languages as
‘the edge of the woods,’ the original line of the woods
before invaded by fire.
“On the western side of the Rocky Mountains, in the
country which we examined, there were but few spots at
all fitted for the agriculturist, and these form isolated
patches in valleys separated by mountain ranges.
“ As the next result of our explorations, I shall briefly
mention the different passes through the Rocky Mountains
which we explored, alluding to the chief advantages and
disadvantages of each.
“The Kananaskis Pass and the British Kootanie Pass
were examined by myself. Of these I consider the
Kananaskis Pass the preferable one, both on account of
its direct course through the mountains and its easier
ascent.
“The ascent to the height of land from the east is
through a wide gently sloping valley, and the immediate
watershed is formed by a narrow ridge, which, if pierced
by a short tunnel, would reduce the summit level to
about 4600 feet above the sea. The descent to the
west, into which Kananaskis Pass opens, 1s comparatively
easy.
“The British Kootanie Pass also opens out mto the
Kootanie River valley, but the altitude here to be over-
ROUTE ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 225
come is much greater, amounting to 6000 feet. There
are likewise two ridges to be passed, which fact would
form a very strong objection to this pass.
“The Vermilion Pass, which was traversed by Dr.
Hector, presents on a whole the greatest natural facilities
for crossing the mountains without the aid of engineering
work, as the rise to the height of land is gradual from
both sides, a feature which seems to be peculiar to this
pass. It would thus be impossible to diminish its summit
level (which is less than 5000 feet), as is proposed in the
case of Kananaskis Pass, but on the other hand it would
be the most suitable for the construction of an easy
waggon road.
“This, ike the other two passes I have mentioned,
also strikes the Kootanie River close to its source; but
last summer Dr. Hector crossed the mountains by another
pass from the head of the north branch of the Saskatche-
wan, directly to the Columbia River, in the vicinity of
the boat encampment.
* * * * * *
“ Although I consider this fact established, viz., that a
Ime for a route has been discovered from Red River
Settlement to the west coast of the continent, and that
line moreover entirely within British territory, yet I
wish distinctly to be understood that I think it far from
being the best that could be discovered. Time did
not admit of a series of attempts in a more northerly
direction.
“ Dr. Hector’s explorations, when within sixty miles of
his exit on Thompson’s River, were prematurely closed by
the advance of winter and the absence of provisions,
while forcing his way through timber so thick that he
could not penetrate faster than from three to four miles a
VOL, 1. Q
226 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
day, and for a more detailed account of which I refer
you to his report accompanying this letter.” *
Lieutenant Palmer, R.E., explored the country he
tween Fort Hope on the Fraser and Fort Colville on the
Columbia River.f His report is not favourable for a
road, although the physical impediments are not such as
to be insurmountable.
Lieutenant Palmer states that “ westward from the Simil-
kameen valley{, and nearlyto the coast, extends a mountain
region, so rugged and bleak, and so inaccessible and de-
void of roads of communication, that this valley is the
first. point east of the Sumas to which attention need be
cirected.
“Tt and the Okanagan valley are the main thoroughfares
to British Columbia from Washington territory, and indeed
east of them, as far as Fort Shepherd, the country affords
no known practicable means of ingress. ,
The main route from Washington territory passes up
the valley of the Okanagan River from its junction with
the Columbia and forks at the mouth of the Similkameen
whence branch the two routes already described.
* * * * *
“ A creat question now presents itself as to the means of
communication between this district and the interior por-
tions of British Columbia.
“Even if it be practicable at an enormous expense to
construct a tolerable waggon road across Manson Moun-
tain, or even should a better route be found by following
round the valley of the Coquahalla, there still remains the
* Papers relative to the Exploration of British North America, Aug. 1860,
p. 17.
+ Papers relating to British Columbia, August, 1860.
t The Pamilnncen rises a few miles north of the boundary-line, in long.
120° 40’; it flows into the Okanagan in long. 119° 30’, lat. 48° 56°,
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 227
dividing ridge of the Cascades, and the route would any
way be impracticable for at least seven months in the year.
Through Lytton, therefore, or the Kayoosh district, by
the valleys of the Thompson and Bonaparte River to Ni-
colas Lake and Fort Kamloops, and thence to the border,
all supplies must eventually pass, and hence the necessity
of establishing good means of communication with these
points from either the Fraser River or the sea.”
“All the practicable means of access to British Co-
lumbia, except from the sea, strike the Fraser north of
Fort Hope.”
“Tn connexion with this subject it remains but for me
to remark, that, from my own observation, and from in-
formation afforded me by Mr. M‘Donald, I know a frontier
road north of the 49th parallel to be practicable from the
Similkameen, eastward to the N. Saa-app Lake in the N.
Whoyalpitkwu Valley; and further that Captain Palliser’s
explorations have determined the possibility of extending
such a road from that poimt to Fort Shepherd, though
his report on the intervening tract cannot be pronounced
as favourable as might be wished.”
The communication through British territory between
the Atlantic and Pacific has not been lost sight of by
Governor Douglas.
His Excellency says, in the Blue Book before referred
to (No. 26, Part. ITI.), “'The great object of opening roads
from the sea coast into the interior of the country, and
from New Westminster to Burrard’s Inlet and Pitt River,
continues to claim a large share of my attention. The
labour involved by these works is enormous; but so
essential are they as a means of settling and developing
the resources of the country, that their importance can
hardly be overrated ; and I therefore feel it incumbent on
QqQ 2
228 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
me to strain every nerve in forwarding the progress of
undertakings so manifestly conducive to the prosperity
of the colony, and which at the same time cannot
fail ere long to produce a large increase in the public
revenue.” \
“We hope to complete the last section of a pack-road
leading by the left bank of the Fraser, from Derby (Fort
Langley) to Lytton, a distance of 170 miles, on or before
the Ist day of February next. From Lytton a natural
road now exists leading to Red River settlement, by the
Coutannais Pass, through the Rocky Mountains, and from
thence following the valley of the Saskatchewan, chiefly
over an open prairie country of great beauty, and replete
with objects of interest to the tourist and the sportsman ;
a settler may then take his departure from Red River in
spring with his cattle and stock, and reach British Co-
lumbia by that road in course of the autumn following.
This is no mere theory, the experiment having been re-
peatedly made by parties of Red River people traveling
to Colville, from whence there is a good road to Lytton ;
so much so, indeed, that one of those persons assured me
that the whole distance from Lytton to Red River, with
the exception of the Coutannais Pass, which is thickly
wooded, may be safely travelled with carts. If the Ca-
nadian Government would undertake to open a road from
Red River to the borders of Lake Superior, which really
presents no very formidable difficulties, the connexion
between British Columbia and Canada would be complete,
and the whole distance might I think, be traveled on
British soil.”
The town of Lytton and the valley of Thompson River
appear to be points of the greatest importance in British
Columbia.
Lieutenant Richard Mayne conducted an exploration of
the districts bordering on the Thompson, Fraser, and Har-
THOMPSON'S RIVER.-—BRITISH COLUMBIA. 229
rison Rivers.* Lytton is at the Forks of the Thompson and
Fraser Rivers, and contains eight or ten stores and a Go-
vernment House. The Thompson River is about 150 yards
wide at its mouth and there is a horse ferry established
across it. Fort Kamloops is an important Post situated on
the Forks of the Thompson and North Rivers ; the Thomp-
son 1s here 300 yards wide and the North River 320 yards.
The head waters of the Thompson are about twenty-two
miles east of these Forks and Dr. Hector advanced in
1859 from the east side of the Rocky Mountains within
sixty miles of the source of the Thompson. He says that
it was his wish “to follow the Columbia River down
to its great bend at the boat encampment, and thence
following up the valley of Canoe River endeavour to pass
to the head waters of the Thompson River and so reach
British Columbia.” Want of provisions, the approach of
winter, and the extraordinary thickness of the forest pre-
_ vented Dr. Hector from accomplishing this very interest-
ing link between the trails east of the Rocky Mountains
and the head waters of the Thompson River; from which
point a pack-road already exists to the Pacific consider-
ably to the north of the Boundary Line.
The more or less speedy opening of a line of communi-
cation from the Atlantic to the Pacific through British
territory, will be very largely dependent upon the pro-
gress of British Columbia. Enough is known respecting
the prospects of that distant colony, to warrant the
assumption that it will soon become a very wealthy and
important British dependency. In the official documents
recently published relative to the affairs of British Co-
lumbiayf, a considerable amount of valuable information
* Papers relative to British Columbia, Part III., Aug. 1860, p. 33.
+ Further papers relative to the affairs of British Columbia, Part III.
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty,
August, 1860.
a3
230 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
is contained, bearing upon the present prosperous state of
the colony, the distribution of gold, and the existence of
large areas of fertile soil fitted for cultivation.
From the return of the value of imports and customs
receipts at New Westminster for the twelve months
ending 31st December, 1859, it appears that the imports
amounted to 177,219. 7s. 5d., and the customs to 18,464.
The entire white population of British Columbia does not
exceed 5000 men (Oct. 1859) with very few women and
children. The value of the present export of gold (Oct.
1859) is estimated at 14,000/. a month or 168,000. per
annum.
The existence of gold in great abundance and over
very wide areas in British Columbia, from the Rocky
Mountains to the Pacific, and from the head waters of
Fraser River to the Boundary Line, is well established ;
and “means of communication” embrace all that is required
to make this distant colony one of the most important
appendages of the British crown. |
The second query submitted to Capt. Palliser by the
Colonial Office elicited a reply which appears to be open
to two serious objections.
“ What should be the dimensions and the boundary
Ime of such colony, and whether it would be advisable
to include the Saskatchewan District in it, so as to establish
one great border line from the new colony of British
Columbia up to the Red River Settlement, under a sway
and jurisdiction distinct from the Hudson’s Bay Company’s
authority?” Capt. Palliser states in relation to the
boundaries of the new colony :—
“Tf then the united territories of Red River, Swan
River, and Saskatchewan, were adopted by Her Majesty’s
Government, I would suggest the following boundaries:—
“The southern boundary of the colony should be the
PROPOSED BOUNDARY OF THE NEW COLONY. 231
A9th parallel of north latitude, commencing on east shore
of the Lake of the Woods, to where it meets the crest of
the Rocky Mountains in long. 115° W. The eastern
boundary of the colony should be defined by a line com-
mencing at the 49th parallel on the western shore of the
Lake of the Woods, and following the western margin of
that lake to the watercourse which unites the Lake of
the Woods with Lake Winnipeg, from thence extending
around the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg, and following
the watercourse of that lake to the 54th parallel of N.
lat. i long. 98° W. The northern boundary of the
colony might run from the above poimt of intersection
along the parallel of 54° of N. lat. to the point where it
intersects the crest of the Rocky Mountains in 118° of
W. long. The whole would thus include a territory of
240,000 square miles.”
The adoption of the eastern boundary described in the
foregoing paragraph, would effectually isolate the colony
from Canada, and interpose between the boundary of the
two countries, a territory in the occupation of the Hudson’s
Bay Company, subject to their jurisdiction, and com-
prehending the narrow, but fertile valley of Rainy River,
and the only practicable route known in British territory
between Lake Superior and Red River. The boundary of
Upper Canada is the height of land west of Lake Superior.
The country drained by those rivers which flow into
the St. Lawrence valley belongs to Canada; the country
drained by those rivers which flow into Hudson’s Bay,
constitutes Rupert’s Land, and is at present the hunting-
ground of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Captain Palliser’s
suggested boundary would leave the entire region between
the height of land west of Lake Superior, and the western
shore of the Lake of the Woods, nearly five degrees of
Q 4
232 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
longitude, in the occupation of the Company. ‘The con-
tinuation of the eastern boundary from the outlet of Lake
of the Woods, 1s proposed to be carried down the Winni-
peg and along the east shore of that lake to the 54th
parallel, in long. 98° W. By thus limiting the colony in
an easterly direction, the valuable pme, spruce, minerals,
and water-power of the east coast of Lake Winnipeg and
of the Winnipeg River, would be legally cut off from the
new colony, whose chief want will be timber for building
purposes, and water-power to manufacture it on the spot.
The jurisdiction of the new colony should manifestly
extend over those parts of the country which, from their
natural resources, will first attract a certain class of
settlers. The lumberers on Lake Winnipeg will one day
become relatively as important a body as the lumberers
now are, on the Ottawa and the tributaries, to the St.
Lawrence in Canada.
In order to secure to the new colony a route to the
borders of Canada, and the valuable timber of the east
coast of Lake Winnipeg and the affluents of the Winnipeg
River, the eastern boundary line ought to be contermimous
with that of Canada, as far as the north west corner of
that province at the head waters of Neepigon and Fire-
steel Rivers, in long. 90° 25’, lat. 49° 15’ (approx.) ;
and from this point it should follow the height of land
between the Winnipeg Basin and Hudson’s Bay, as far as
the 54th parallel. The natural boundaries of the new
colony might be very simply defined as, “the Basin of
Lake Winnipeg north of the 49th parallel of latitude.”
This determinatien would give the following limits :—on
the south, the 49th parallel from British Columbia to
the Lake of the Woods, thence to Canada by the boundary
line surveyed according to the treaty of Ghent. The west
boundary of Canada stretches from the dividing ridge
ADVANTAGES OF THE BASIN OF LAKE WINNIPEG. 233
between South Lake and Gun Flint Lake, to the head
waters of Neepigon and Fire-steel Rivers. This would
form the eastern boundary of the new colony. From the
head water of Fire-steel River, the north-east boundary
might follow the dividing ridge between the Basin of
Lake Winnipeg and Hudson’s Bay, as far as Jack River,
down which it should run to Play Green Lake. From
this pomt the northern boundary would be very con-
veniently and naturally described as passing through, by
the shortest course, the head waters of all the rivers
flowing into Lake Winnipeg, the main Saskatchewan, and
the North Branch of the Saskatchewan.
It is of great importance in an Indian and fur-trading
country to possess a natural boundary. Indians and
voyageurs can always understand the flow of waters and
the term “ dividing ridge,” but of parallels of latitude they
know absolutely nothing. ‘The injunction not to hunt or
trap beyond the dividing ridge would be understood by
all, but an arbitrary boundary such as a parallel of lati-
tude, might give rise to many disputes in the prosecution
of the fur trade, which for some years to come will con-
stitute the most important source of commerce and in-
dustry north of the basin of Lake Winnipeg.
THE NATURAL ADVANTAGES OF THE BASIN OF LAKE WIN-
NIPEG FOR A ROUTE ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
It is impossible to examine a correct map of the North
American continent without being impressed with the re-
markable influence which the Great American Desert
must exercise upon the future of the United States and
British North America. The general character of this
desert south of the 49th parallel is described elsewhere
(Ch. XLI. p. 853; Appendix Vol. II. No. VIL), and the
234 #ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
important fact has been noticed, that any railroad con-
structed within the limits of the United States must pass,
for a distance of twelve hundred miles west of the Mis-
sissippi, through uncultivable land, or, in other words, a
comparative desert. Along the 32nd parallel the breadth
of this desert is least, and the detached areas of fertile soil
greatest In quantity, but the aggregate number of square
miles of cultivable land amounts only to 2300 in a dis-
tance of 1210 miles (Appendix No. VIL). ‘The northern
limit of the Great American Desert is an imaginary line
drawn from the Touchwood Hills to the Moose Woods on
the South Branch, then south of Battle River as far as long.
112°, when turning south it sweeps along the flanks of the
Rocky Mountains in long. 115°. North of this limit of the
Great American Desert there is a broad strip of fertile
country, rich mm water, woods, and pasturage, drained by
the North Saskatchewan and some of its affluents, and
being a continuation of the fertile prairies of Red River,
the eastern water shed of the Assinniboine and Red Deer
River, with the outlying patches called the Touchwood
Hills, File Hill, &e.
IT IS A PHYSICAL REALITY OF THE HIGHEST IMPORTANCE TO
THE INTERESTS OF British Nortu AMERICA THAT THIS CON-
TINUOUS BELT CAN BE SETTLED AND CULTIVATED FROM A FEW
MILES WEST OF THE LAke of THE WOODS TO THE PASSES OF
THE Rocky MounTAINS, AND ANY LINE OF COMMUNICATION,
WHETHER BY WAGGON ROAD OR RAILROAD, PASSING THROUGH
IT, WILL EVENTUALLY ENJOY THE GREAT ADVANTAGE OF BEING
FED BY AN AGRICULTURAL POPULATION FROM ONE EXTREMITY
TO THE OTHER.
No other part of the American Continent possesses an
approach even to this singularly favourable disposition of
soil and climate, which last feature, notwithstanding its
rigour during the winter season, confers, on account of its
THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE FERTILE BELT. 235
humidity, inestimable value on British America south of
the 54th parallel.
The natural resources lying within the limits of the
Fertile Belt, or on its eastern borders, are themselves of
great value as local elements of future wealth and pros-
perity ; but in view of a communication across the con-
tinent they acquire paramount importance.
Timber available for fuel and building purposes ; lig-
nite coal, though not equal to true coal, nevertheless suit-
able for many of the different ~objects to which true
coal is applied; iron-ore widely distributed, of great
purity and in considerable abundance; salt in quantity
sufficient for a dense population. All these crude ele-
ments of wealth lie within the limits or on the borders
of a region of great fertility, and draimed by a river of the
first class, navigable by steamer during several months of
the year for five hundred miles of its course, and by
batteaux for nearly double that distance.
The position which the colony occupying the basin of
Lake Winnipeg may assume at the close of the next
decade, few will be prepared to define. Bounded on
the west by British Columbia, whose gold-wealth will
ensure her a marvellously rapid progress, and on the east
by the powerful, energetic, and loyal colony of Canada,
which now, in conjunction with the sister provinces, con-
tains a population exceeding by ONE MILLION that of the
thirteen United States during the revolutionary war, is it
likely that British enterprise and patriotism will permit the
intervening country to remain a wilderness, or pass into
the hands of a foreign government ?
It is to be earnestly hoped that the attention of far-
seeing, thoughtful, and loyal men will be directed to the
present relations of the new colony, its possible future, and
the opportunity it presents to plant British institutions and
236 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
civilization across the North American Continent; thus
linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans together with a
chain of British dependencies, distinguished alike by a
“SPIRIT OF LOYALTY, OF ORDER, AND OF OBEDIENCE TO THE
LAW. *
The occupation and government of the basin of Lake
Winnipeg has already become a serious question, and
even before the rising generation succeed to the responsi-
bilities of those who now rule the destinies of this great
empire, they may have occasion to lament a lost opportu-
nity of inestimable worth, or rejoice in the extension of
British dominion over loyal populations, extending in
an unbroken series from the eastern to the western
hemisphere.
* “Ver Majesty has observed with deep satisfaction the spirit of loyalty,
of order, and obedience to the law, which prevails among her subjects, both
in the United Kingdom and in her dominions beyond the sea; and her
Majesty has witnessed with heartfelt pleasure the warm and affectionate
reception given to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales by her North
American subjects.”—Her Majesty’s Speech, Aug. 28th, 1860.
- GEOLOGY
OF THE
BASIN OF LAKE WINNIPEG
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239
CHAP. XXXVI.
SURFACE GEOLOGY.
GEOGRAPHICAL BounDARIES. — The Basin of Lake Winnipeg. — Limits. —
Hlevation of its Boundaries.—Outlet.—Area.—Character of its Rim,.——-
SurFace Freatures.—Area of Low Lake Region.—Terraces of Pembina
Mountain.—Hsearpment of the Riding, Duck, &c. &c. Mountains.—Prairie
Plateau of Rupert’s Land. — Plains of the North-West. — Table of Kle-
vations. — Detached Hills. —Country east of Lake Winnipeg.—Lakes, —
Direction of Elevating Forces.—Steps to the Height of Land.
GROOVED, SCRATCHED, AND PotisHED Rocks. — On Baril Portage. — On
Winnipeg River.—On Limestones of Lake Manitobah. Drirt.—Over
the Country between Lake Superior and Winnipeg.—Lacustrine Deposits.
—Drift on the Souris.—On the South Branch.—Forced Arrangement of.
—In Blue Clay at Toronto.—Description of this Arrangement.—Sorting
of Materials.—Agency of Water and Ice.—Glacial Ice.—Tiers of Boulders
on the South Branch.—Layers of Stratified Mud. ERratics.— Distri-
bution of.—Effects of Ice on Lake Winnipeg.—In Lake Manitobah.—On
the Red River Prairies. BeacHes AND TERRACES. — Great Dog
_ Portage.—Section of.—Beaches on Lake Superior.—On Prairie Portage.
—The Big Ridge-—White Mud River Ridge.—Dauphin Lake Ridge.—
Prairie Ridges.—Pembina Mountain.—Ridge, character of.—Riding and
Duck Mountain Ridges.—Conical Hills. — Bear Hill.— Second Tier of
Conical Hills.——Sanp Hitis anp Dunes.—Ranges.——CircuLar Dz-
PRESSIONS.—Character of. ——DxEnvpation.—In the Basin of Lake Win-
nipeg. — Parallelism of bold Limits of Denudation.— Grand Coteau de
Missouri.—Niagara Limestone Escarpment of New York and Canada.—
Riding and Duck Mountains, &e.— Probable common Origin of.— Dislo-
cations in the Basin of Lake Winnipeg.
GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES.
Tue Basin of Lake Winnipeg, including under this
general term the country dramed by the rivers flowing
into it, extends from the 90th to the 118th meridian.
240 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Its most easterly pomt being the lake and swamps
from which the Savanne River takes its rise, in lon-
gitude 90° 14’, latitude 48° 53’, and the most westerly
limit from which it draws contributions is probably the
Glacier, near Howse Pass, in longitude 117° 35’, latitude
ol 825"
The southern extension of its boundary is at Lake
Traverse in Dakotah territory, longitude 96° 45’, latitude
45° 58’.- It stretches north as ue as Frog Poutanes
longitude 103° 30’, latitude 55° 26’.
This basin consequently extends over twenty-eight
degrees of longitude and ten degrees of latitude.
The elevation of its eastern boundary is 1485 feet
above the ocean, and the height of land near the sources.
of the tributary, which rises farthest to the west, is 6347
feet above the same level.)
Its northern boundary is separated from the valley of
the Missinnippi by a low portage, over which waters flow
during floods||; while towards the south Lake Traverse,
which also sends water into the Mississippi during spring
freshets, is only 820 feet above the sea.4
The outlet of Lake Winnipeg is through the contracted
and rocky channel of Nelson River, which flows into
Hudson’s Bay.
The mean breadth of this great mland basin is about
380 English miles, and its mean length 920 miles, hence
its area is approximately 360,000 square miles. Its shape
assimilates to that of a truncated section of a circle, lying
* See Captain Palliser’s Map in the Blue Book, 1860.
+ Military Map of Nebraska and Dakotah, by Lieutenant G. K. Warren,
U.S. Top. Eng.
+ Sir John Richardson, Arctic Searching Expedition.
_ § Dr. Hector, Blue Book. Captain Palliser’s Explorations.
|| Sir John Richardson.
4] Major Long.
BOUNDARIES OF THE LAKE WINNIPEG BASIN. 241
in a position the reverse of that produced by the meri-
dians and parallels distinguishing its boundary.
The eastern rim of the basin of Lake Winnipeg is
formed by part of the Laurentide range of mountains,
which consist of gneiss * interstratified in some localities
with bands of crystalline limestone, and much embossed by
domes of intrusive granite, syenite, and occasionally with
elevations of trap. ‘The highest summit of the Laurentide
Mountains, as far as known in this part of their develop-
ment, does not exceed 1950 feet above the sea, or 1350
feet above Lake Superior.
Striking off in a south-westerly direction from the
Savanne Lake, the Height of Land extends to Lake
Traverse and is composed of drift hills covering Lauren-
tian, Silurian, and Devonian rocks, with low granitic
ranges and exposures of trap. From the Dividing Ridge,
at the source of the Pigeon River, south-westerly to
Vermilion Lake, the Height of Land Ridge is called by
the Indians Mis-sabe Wa-chu ; in its continuation to the
low water-shed between Rainy River and the Mississippi
it has the name of [sh-ko-na-bi Wa-chu. Continued south-
westerly from the Falls of Pokegama, this ridge would
pass south of Leech Lake and strike the Red River of
the north near the Great Bend, at which point Dr. Owen
found Silurian rocks in 1848.+
From this pomt on Red River the rim of the basin
assumes a north-westerly direction as far as the Elbow
of the South Branch of the Saskatchewan, along the de-
nuded flanks of the Grand Coteau de Missouri. From the
Elbow it turns south-west as far as Chief’s Mountain Lake,
under the 114th meridian{, latitude 49°, where it meets
* Under the general term “ gneiss,” micaceous, hornblendic, and chloritic
schists are included.
+ Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.
t Map of the Territory of the United States, by Lieutenant G. K.
VOL. II. R
242 $ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
with the flanks of the Rocky Mountains, trending first
north and then north-westerly. The North Branch and
the main Saskatchewan indicate approximately its low
northern boundary.
SURFACE FEATURES.
Lake Winnipeg, at an altitude of 628 feet above
the sea, occupies the lowest depression of this great
central basin, covering, with its associated Lakes Mani-
tobah, Winnepego-sis, Dauphin, and St. Martin, an area
slightly exceeding 13,000 square miles, or nearly half as
great an extent of the earth’s surface as is occupied by
Treland.
The country possessing a mean elevation of one hundred
feet above Lake Winnipeg is very closely represented by
the outline of Pembina Mountain, forming part of the -
eastern limit of the Cretaceous Series in the north-west
of America, as represented on the geological map.
The area occupied by this low country, which includes
a large part of the valley of Red River, the Assinniboine,
and the main Saskatchewan, may be estimated at 70,000
square miles, of which nine-tenths are lake, marsh, or
surface rock of Silurian or Devonian age, and generally so
thinly covered with soil as to be unfit for cultivation,
except in small isolated areas.
Succeeding this low region there are the narrow ter-
races of the Pembina Mountain, which rise in abrupt steps,
except in the valleys of the Assinniboine, Valley River,
Swan River, and Red Deer’s River, to the level of a
higher plateau, whose eastern limit is formed by the
Warren, Top. Eng., ordered by the Honourable Jefferson Davis, Secretary
of War, to accompany the Reports of the Explorations for a Railroad
Route to the Pacific.
THE PRAIRIE PLATEAU OF RUPERT’S LAND. 243
precipitous escarpments of the Riding, Duck, and Por-
cupine Mountains, with the detached outliers, Turtle,
Thunder, and Pasquia Mountains. This is the great
PRAIRIE PLATEAU of Rupert’s Land; it is bounded towards
the south-west and west, by the Grand Coteau de Mis-
souri, which forms the north-eastern limit of the PLains*
of the north-west. The area of the Prairie Plateau, in
the basin of Lake Winnipeg, is about 120,000 square
miles ; it possesses a mean elevation of 1100 feet above
the sea, and is approximately represented on the geolo-
gical map by the Cretaceous Series, coloured green, north-
east of the Grand Coteau. The following table shows the
relation of these successive levels :—
Mean Elevation Approximate Area
above the Ocean. in Square Miles.
Low Country (1st Plateau) ‘ 7 100 : . 70,000
Terraces of Pembina Mountain . . 900—1100 . 1,500
Great Prairie Plateau (2nd Plateau) . 1100 . » 120,000
Great Plain Plateau (8rd Plateau) . 1600 | eemee es
The Riding and Duck Mountains, with their southern
and northern prolongations, probably once formed part
of an unbroken level to the Grand Coteau; the in-
tervening depression having been the result of denu-
dation. The isolated ranges of hills, such as the Touch-
wood Hills, the File Hill, the Pheasant Hill, the Birch
Hills, the Lumpy Hill, &c, are parts of this former
elevated table-land, and would assume the character of
islands in a sea washing the base of the Grand Coteau de
Missouri.
On the east side of Lake Winnipeg the primary un-
fossiliferous rocks along the canoe routes present a broken
and extremely irregular surface to the mouth of Rainy
River, where the fossiliferous formations are touched.
From Rainy Lake to Superior the routes pass through a |
* The difference between “ Prairies” and “ Plains” is stated in Chap. XVI.
R 2
244 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
water communication, possessing many singular geogra-
phical outlines, arising from the geological features of the
country.
Both Lake Superior and Lake Winnipeg belong to the
same geological basin, and are excavated in its rim, the
low Laurentide Mountains separating the great northern
basin of fossiliferous rocks from it.
The canoe routes between Lake Superior and Lake
Winnipeg form, therefore, two chords on the edge of the
oneissoid and granitic boundary dividing these geological
basins, and while the general trend of this part of the
Laurentide Mountains is geographically north-west, the
direction of the undulations, by which it is intersected,
is generally north-east and south-west, or at right angles
to the former. This disposition is best developed east
of Ramy Lake, and on the Pigeon River route, where
the agency of the elevating force appears to have acted
with greater constancy and uniformity than on the more
northern canoe route. The outbursts on the southern
route, as well as on the south shore of Lake Superior,
are also considerably higher, and the lakes and lake straits
more symmetrically arranged.
An inspection of the geographical map will show that
the longest axis of nearly all the smaller lakes in the
region under review is from N.E. to 8.W.
A range of greenstone ridges, forming an anticlinal axis,
begins at the Great Bend of the St. Louis River, and runs
in a direction N. 30° E. towards the sources of Arrow
River and Mountain Lake. The systems of valleys and
ridges, resulting from the direction in which the elevating
forces have acted in the region about the western ex-
tremity of Lake Superior, have been ably discussed by
Dr. Norwood.*
* Owen’s Report of a Geological Survey of Wisconsin, &e.
ICE FURROWS ON THE LAURENTIDES. 245
GROOVED, SCRATCHED, AND POLISHED ROCKS.
Instances of the action of ice in abrading and _ polish-
ing extensive surfaces of rock are very numerous on the
Laurentides between Lake Superior and Lake Winnipeg.
The first wide expanse observed on the west side of the
water-shed is at Baril Portage, 143 miles from Lake
Superior, and 1500 feet above the sea. Where an arm
of Mille Lacs approaches this portage, gneissoid hills
and islands about 100 feet high show a well defined
stratification dipping north, at an angle of about 15°, and
on that side smooth, and sometimes roughly polished; on
the south side they are precipitous and abrupt. The
same character is observed on the portage itself; the north-
eastern exposures of the rocks there are smooth and
striated, the southern rugged and often precipitous.
On Sturgeon Lake 208 miles from Lake Superior and
1156 feet above the sea, the north-eastern extremities of
hill ranges slope to the water’s edge, and when bare are
always found to be evenly smoothed and ground down.
The aspect of the south and south-western exposures is
that of precipitous escarpments.
On a small island about twenty-five miles north of Garden
Island, Lake of the Woods, there is a remarkable exposure
of greenstone conglomerate, nearly on a level with the
water of the lake. The surface-of the rock is almost °
horizontal, beautifully polished, and strongly marked with
glacial furrows and scratches. The direction of the furrows
is N. 25° E., they are all parallel to one another, some of
them half an inch in depth, and nearly double that measure
in width. They pursue a uniform direction for many
yards until concealed by the bushes which fringe the
bare rock some forty or fifty feet from the water’s edge.
R 3
246 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
The conglomerate presents the appearance of an immense
table of mosaic work. The pebbles and small boulders
enclosed in the matrix have been apparently water worn,
some of them, however, showed no lateral abrasion, pre-
serving their angles sharp, and well defined. They were
all ground down to one uniform polished surface.
The imbedded boulders and pebbles varied from half an
inch to eighteen inches in diameter, and appeared generally
to lie with their flat side facing the south-west. The
colour of the matrix was a pale green, and of the im-
bedded pebbles grey, with a tint of green. A vertical
section of the rock exhibited the pebbles and boulders,
as if resting upon the extremity of the longest axis, with
a slight inclination to the east.
From the summit of an abraded granite hill about 250
feet high, on the Winnipeg west of “the Dalles,” a very
extensive view of the surrounding country is obtained.
The broad river, with its numerous deep bays, may be
seen stretching far to the north, and all around smooth
dome-shaped hills show their bare and scantily wooded
summits in every direction. ‘The general surface is either
bare and so smooth and polished as to make walking dan-
gerous, or else thickly covered with cariboo moss and
tripe de roche. |
This general description apples to a vast area drained
by the Winnipeg, and on the smoothed and polished rocks
olacial grooves may be_easily traced for long distances ;
sometimes also boulders are found resting upon the
polished surfaces. On one occasion an attempt to ascend
a round dome-shaped mound forming the summit of a
granite hill was frustrated by its beautifully polished sur-
face preventing a footing from being obtained. The action
of atmospheric agents had only succeeded in dimming its
beauty, but had not destroyed its smoothness.
DRIFT ON THE LAURENTIDES. 247
Grooves and scratches occur on the limestones of Lakes
Winnipeg and Manitobah, where the surface has been
preserved from atmospheric agencies, but whether they
are of recent origin or connected with the drift, is not
certain.
DRIFT.
The distribution of drift throughout the region lying
between Lake Superior and Winnipeg is limited to a few
detached areas. ‘The most important of these east of the
Height of Land is at the Great Dog Portage, where it
occurs in the form of beaches and terraces, which will be
described further on. The terraced drift in the valley of
the Kaministiquia, below the Kakabeka Falls, is evidently
of lacustrine origin. The Height of Land is covered with
true boulder drift, having an elevation of about 1500 feet
above the present level of the ocean; but on the Height
of Land at the sources of the Pigeon River, boulder drift
occurs at a considerably higher level.
small areas of drift may be found at the different
portages, and on the islands in Mille Lacs, but in no
instance east of Rainy River, were they seen of stflicient
extent as to warrant especial notice. In the valley of
Raimy River buff-coloured unstratified clay, containing
magnesian limestone boulders, and superimposed by strati-
fied clay, occupies both banks for some distance along the
river. On the Winnipeg, patches of drift begin at the
Islington Mission, and, though far apart from one another,
increase in area as the country sinks, until, at the Manitou
Rapids, drift clay forms the banks of the river and con-
tinues to its mouth.
In the lower part of the Valley of Red River un-
stratified clay, with boulders from Laurentian rocks and
limestone, rises from the water’s edge to within four
feet of the surface, after which its colour changes, it
R 4
248 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
shows stratification, and is evidently lacustrine. The
unstratified clay contains a large per centage of magnesia
derived from the underlying rocks.
At Lane’s Post on the Assinniboine, the quaternary
lacustrine deposit, eight feet below the surface, pre-
sents the appearance of irregularly stratified bands
of extremely fine material deposited in quiet waters.
Upon close examination the bands are found to consist
of a series, In which hight ash-coloured and dark brown
layers alternate, about to =4 of an inch in thickness.
In the leght-coloured bands minute crystals of sulphate
of magnesia and common salt are common. The clay
is characterized by its extreme fineness, the marked
absence of silicious particles in the form of sand, and the
presence of carbonates of ime and magnesia in variable
quantities. In certain localities carbonate of lime exists
in proportions sufficient to constitute a marl.
The following section is exposed at Lane’s Post : —
Vegetable prairie mould {0 07" >.) a eee
Unstratified alluvial clay . : 5
Stratified dark-coloured clay with fa Aan Batrnk ed aes 12
Total , : : : 5 ; : 18
The subsoil on Red River, near the middle settlement,
four feet below the surface, is much darker coloured,
not so distinctly stratified, and contains abundance of
mica in very fine brilliant plates. ‘The particles of the
subsoil on either river are extremely minute, and difficult
to separate by washing.
The drift on the Blue Hills of the Souris is chiefly of
local origin, and consists almost exclusively of the shales
which form the outcrop of the Cretaceous-rocks whose
limit is defined by the Pembina Mountain. Its age is
DRIFT ON THE PRAIRIES. 249
consequently posterior to that of the true Boulder drift,
which is generally distributed over the high prairies to
the west, and will be described further on in connection
with beaches and conical hills.
On parts of the Little Souris River the drift is very
shallow, indeed it is doubtful whether true Boulder drift
is present, the character of the surface material leading
to the supposition that it is derived almost exclusively
from the subjacent rocks.
The drift on the South Branch of the Saskatchewan,
below the Moose Woods, is distinguished by a remarkable
peculiarity in the arrangement of the slabs of limestone
and boulders of the unfossiliferous rocks distributed
through the clay, which do not occupy the position they
would assume if dropped from floatmg ice into soft
mud.
livery fact relating to the drift possesses some degree
of interest, and may assist in the elucidation of that
stupendous phenomenon and its subsequent changes, as
well as tend to remove difficulties with which the whole
phenomena of the drift are still invested.*
In the blue clay at Toronto, the capital of Western
Canada, an arrangement similar to that which exists
among the coarser materials of the drift on the South
Branch is remarkably well preserved.
During the construction of the esplanade at Toronto, the
plan pursued of removing the blue clay was well adapted
* The forced arrangement of blocks of limestone, slabs of shale and un-
fossiliferous boulders in the blue clay of Toronto, formed the subject of a
paper which I read before the Canadian Institute some years ago. As the
opportunities for making observations upon this peculiar arrangement were
very favourable at that time, I shall here introduce an abstract of the paper,
with a view to explain the manner in which slabs and boulders are found
arranged in the Drift on the South Branch. (See Report on the Assin-
niboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition, p. 120.)
250 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
to show a perfect sectional view of its components, with-
out the risk of changing in the least degree their relative
positions. The clay was cut away until a perpendicular
wall was left, varying from ten to twenty feet in height,
according to the locality. Wedges were then inserted at
the top of the artificial cliff, about two feet from its edge,
and driven into the clay until a mass, frequently two feet
broad, fifteen or twenty feet long, and twelve or eighteen
feet deep, separated and fell. The fresh surface thus ex-
posed was necessarily quite natural in every respect, not
having been touched by the tool of the workman or
changed by exposure to the weather, and during the years
1855 and 1856, a large area of sectional surface was laid
open to view. Two varieties of blue clay exist in the
neighbourhood of Toronto, forming deposits quite distinct
from one another. The deposit in question overlies rocks
of Silurian age, which are exposed in many localities
on the lake shore and on the banks of the rivers near
the city; it rests upon a blue argillaceous shale, easily
recognized as constituting in fragments of different
sizes, a large proporton of the substance of the blue
clay.
The thickness of this deposit of blue clay varies from
ten to twenty-five feet ; its upper surface is irregular and
undulating, and upon it reposes, in some places, stratified
sand and yellow clay, in others, unstratified yellow clay.
Resting on the sand or yellow clay, another kind of blue
clay occurs, differmg, however, essentially from the blue
clay which lies at the base of the whole. The lower or
inferior blue clay contains quartz sand and small rolled
pebbles of granitic rocks, a considerable proportion of
blue shale containing fossils belonging to the Silurian
shales upon which it rests, and frequently large fragments
DRIFT IN CANADA. 251
of the last-named rock, together with more or less rolled
or worn masses of granite, gneiss, &c.
The fragments from the Silurian shales often possess
sharp and well-defined edges, showing that they have not
been water worn or removed far from the rock from
which they originated. ‘They are found not only a few
inches from the surface of the parent rock, but in nume-
rous instances from fifteen to twenty feet above it, im-
bedded in a peculiar manner in the blue clay. Some of
the larger fragments are scratched and grooved.
A cursory inspection of the artificial cliffs, as they ex-
isted during the construction of the esplanade, was
sufficient to show that a considerable number of the
pebbles and imbedded masses of rock did not occupy the
position they would assume if they had not been sub-
jected to some other force besides that of gravity or
water in motion. The inclination of the subjacent rock
is so slight (thirty feet in the mile) that for all purposes
of the present inquiry it may be considered horizontal ;
and it may be further remarked, that there is no reason
to suppose that any material change in position has oc-
curred since or during the accumulation of the blue clay.
A large number of the fragments of rock seen in the blue
clay are symmetrically inclined at an angle of 60°, 70°,
and 80° to the horizon, and frequently lean towards the
east and north-east.
What force has thus symmetrically arranged these frag-
ments of shale, &c.? That they now preserve the po-
sition into which they were forced by pressure, or that
they were brought from a distance and left in that position,
is sufficiently evident, as we cannot entertain the opinion
that the rock on which the boulder drift rests has materi-
ally changed its inclination since or during the Drift epoch.
252 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
There can be no doubt that a very large portion of the
drift of Canada has been rearranged since it was first de-
posited. The inferior layer of blue clay is, however,
essentially different from the upper layer which is fre-
quently separated from it by a few feet of sand, and in
some instances may even directly overlie it and consist of
a rearrangement of its materials. The superior blue clay,
together with the sand and yellow clay, frequently give
evidence of stratification, and thus explain at once the
nature of the force to which they have been subjected.
The position of the rock fragments in the mferior blue
clay, proves that it cannot have been exposed to the
action of water, otherwise they would not preserve the
forced arrangement which distinguishes them. Frag-
ments of shale, if submitted to gravity alone, would not
have assumed the position in which they were found, had
they dropped through water in motion or water at rest,
into soft mud. It is well known that shingle, sand,
sravel, and clay, either separately er combined, when
thrown down an incline, as in the construction of a rail-
way embankment or as in a land slip, will assume a po-
sition upon the surface of the embankment, which, if
composed of sand, is generally inclined about 45°; if
of harder or coarser materials, at a higher angle. If the
embankment or incline be formed under water, like the
deltas at the mouths of rivers, this inclination is much
less, and is dependent upon the specific gravity of the
materials, but under no circumstances is it so high as 45°.
If the existence of a current of water sufficiently powerful
to move masses of shale and boulders of the unfossili-
ferous rocks, it cannot be supposed that they would
be found deposited upon the slope of a bank at so
high an angle as the shale and boulders in the blue
ACTION OF CURRENTS ON DRIFT. 253
elay of Toronto, or the drift on the South Branch of
the Saskatchewan, neither is it in the least degree prob-
able that the current which could transport such heavy
materials would admit of a mixture of clay, sand, shale,
and boulders. The materials would be sorted by the
current and deposited in the order of their specific gravity.
The sorting of materials is one of the most positive proofs
of the action of currents; and where no trace of sorting
can be discovered, when fine sand, coarse sand, pebbles,
and boulders are present, we may reasonably infer that
no current assisted in distributing them.
Among the foreign materials entering into the com-
position of the blue clay, we find granitic masses which
have been brought from the outskirts of the fossiliferous
rocks in Canada, a distance of at least 100 miles from
their present position, and throughout the blue clay we
discover also the magnetic oxide of iron.
The materials of local origin exist in great abundance
in the form of fragments and masses of shale, limestone,
and clay derived from the underlying shales, &c. The
nature of the agent which transported the foreign ma-
terials from so great a distance is almost universally ac-
knowledged to have been water and floating ice. The
finer materials may have been conveyed by water, the
coarser drift and erratics would requtire floating or moving
ice. There can be little doubt that both water and float-
ing ice (icebergs and floes) have been instrumental in
bearing from northern fossiliferous and unfossiliferous
rocks a considerable proportion of the numberless erratics
strewn over the surface of a large part of this continent,
as well as much of the clayey deposits so plentifully dis-
tributed north of the 40th parallel. But the symmetrical
arrangement of some of the slabs, pebbles, and boulders
254 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
in the blue clay at Toronto, in the clay cliffs of the South
Branch of the Saskatchewan, and in other localities where
the same disposition may be witnessed, points also to the
action of glacial or stranded ice. The phenomena may
be explained by coast ice, or the dirt bands of glacial ice,
but the entire absence of a sorting of fine and coarse
materials, seems to destroy the hypothesis which intro-
duces the agency of currents of water, as the forced but
symmetrical arrangement does that of floating ice.
The wide-spread phenomena exhibiting the greater or
less action of ice, such as grooved, polished, and embossed
rocks, the excavation of the deep lakes of the St. Law-
rence basin, the forced arrangement of drift, the plough-
ing up of large areas, and the extraordinary amount of
the denudation at different levels without the evidence of
beaches, all point to the action of glacial ice previous to
the operations of floating ice in the grand phenomena of
the Drift.
The long lines of boulders exposed in two parallel
horizontal rows, about twenty feet apart, im the drift of
the South Branch, are the records of former shallow
lakes or seas in that region. They may represent a coast
line, but more probably low ridges formed under water,
upon which the boulders were stranded. In the shallow
lakes of the Winnipeg basin, the boulders brought year
by year by ice from the neighbourmg shore accumulate
upon long, narrow spits, and ultimately form breakwaters
or islands. The same process may have occurred with
the boulders on the South Branch. The fine layers of
stratified mud, easily split into thin leaves, which he just
above them, show conclusively that they were deposited
in quiet water; their horizontality proves that they occu-
pied an ancient coast, floor or ridge below the compara-
DISTRIBUTION OF DRIFT ON THE SOUTH BRANCH. 255
tively tranquil water of a shallow lake. The vast ac-
cumulations of sand and clay above them establish the
antiquity of the arrangement, and the occurrence of two
such layers parallel to one another, and separated by
a considerable accumulation of clay and sand, leads to
the inference that the conditions which established the
existence of one layer also prevailed during the arrange-
‘ment of the other. These boulders may be distributed
over the level floor of a former lake or sea, and cover a
vast area; if this be the case it only proves that the
agents which brought them operated a second time, after
a long intervening period, and with similar results. The
fine mud has been submitted to careful microscopical
investigation, without establishing the presence of dia-
tomacese, or any organic forms from which conclusions
might be drawn respecting its origin.
ERRATICS.
The distribution of boulders or erratics in the area
explored, may be traced as in Canada to at least two
epochs; the Drift and Boulder period, during which by
far the larger number were torn from the parent rock
and carried by ice to their present resting-places, and the
Recent period, including the rearrangement of ancient
drift and the distribution of fresh supplies by the
action of ice.* The largest boulder was seen in the
valley of the Qu’appelle. The circumference of this
enormous erratic 1s seventy-eight feet, and it exposes a
* Where erratics are distributed in large quantities, the locality is indi-
cated on the map accompanying the Reports ou the Assinniboine and Saskat-
chewan Exploring Expedition.
256 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
portion above ground at least fourteen feet im altitude.
The next largest, one of limestone, was seen on the
prairies below the Moose Woods ; it is about sixteen feet
high, and at least sixty in circumference, is very jagged,
and consists of immense slabs, whose edges project two
and three feet.* Near it are many others of the same
kind, but of smaller dimensions. Near Little Cut Arm
Creek, an affluent of the Qu’appelle, large unfossiliferous
boulders are very numerous. North of the Assinniboine,
near the Big Ridge, boulders are also abundant, and
when magnified by refraction look like tents on the level
prairies. ,
The ice on Lake Winnipeg carries off, every spring,
fragments of rock belonging to the Laurentian Series
which form its eastern shores. Many of these are dis-
tributed over the shallows and on the beaches of the
western side of the lake; these phenomena resemble
in miniature the stupendous operations described by
travelers as continually occurrmg on the shores of the
Arctic Ocean.
In Lake Manitobah long lines of boulders are accumu-
lating in shallows and forming extensive reefs; the same
operation is going on in all the lakes of this region, and is
instrumental in diminishing the area of the lake in one
direction, which is probably compensated by a wearing
away of the coast in other places. SéVeral of these
modern accumulations formed by a re-arrangement of the
boulders of the older drift are noticed in preceding chap-
ters. Taken as a whole, and in connection with the
destruction of the coasts, they afford a striking illustration
* This erratic was probably one of the series traced by Dr. Hector, from
‘the Thickwood Hills, in a southerly direction towards the Moose Hills on
the South Branch.”— Papers relative to the Exploration of British North
America, 1859.
ANCIENT BEACHES ON THE GREAT DOG. 257
of the changes now taking place in the relations of land
and water throughout the Lake Region.
The boulders and slabs of limestone on the low prairies
of Red River and the Assinniboine resting upon lacustrine
deposits, were probably brought by ice at a period pos-
terior to the Boulder Drift. They are illustrations of the
operations of ice at higher lake levels, similar to those
occurring at the present time.
BEACHES AND TERRACES.
The most remarkable beach and terrace between Lake
Superior and Lake Winnipeg, showing an ancient coast
line, is undoubtedly that which separates Great Dog from
Little Dog Lake on the Kaministiquia canoe route.
The Great Dog Portage, fifty-five miles from Lake
Superior by the canoe route, rises 490 feet above the
level of the Little Dog Lake, and the greatest elevation
of the ridge cannot be less than 500 feet above it. The
difference between the levels of Little and Great Dog
Lakes is 347-81 feet, and the length of the portage
between them, one mile and fifty-three chains.
It is stated in Chapter II. that the base of the Great
Dog Mountain consists of a gneissoid rock supporting
numerous boulders and fragments of the same material.
A level plateau of clay then occurs for about a quarter of
a mile, at an altitude of 283 feet above Little Dog Lake,
from which rises, at a very acute angle, an immense
bank or ridge of stratified sand, holding small water-worn
pebbles. The bank of sand continues to the summit of
the portage, or 185 feet above the clay plateau. The
portage path does not pass over the highest part of the
sand ridge; east of the path it is probable that its summit
is 500 feet above the Little Dog Lake.
VOL. II. S
258 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Holept in pepe Margin of Beaches.
ft. ft.
16355 1000 | Beginning of Ist plateau.
215-00 1450 | Termination of do.
251:°74 1650 | Beginning of 2nd _ do.
283°78 | 2550 | End of 2nd plateau, and commencement of sand bank.
468°19 3300 | Commencement of 3rd plateau.
472°60 5920 | End of 3rd plateau.
490:00 | 6180 | Summit of level and commencement of 4th plateau.
474-00 | 7400 | End of 4th plateau, and commencement of descent to
edge of cliff
395:00 | 8640 | End of descent.
348:00 | 8712 | Bottom of cliff, and level of Great Dog Lake.
i Littte Dog LAKE,
i}
Profile of the Great Dog Mountain.*
Here then we have a terrace 490 feet above Little Dog
Lake, or 853 feet above Lake Superior, or 1453 feet
above the sea, and furnishing an admirable proof of the
value of Dr. Hitchcock’s expectation that higher beaches
than those measured by Sir Wiliam Logan on the shores
of Lake Superior would be found in that region. In his
Surface Geology, Dr. Hitchcock says, page 63 (Smith-
sonian Contributions), “I will only add, that if it be ad-
mitted that the facts adduced in this paper prove the
presence, since the Drift period, of the ocean at a height
of 2000 or even 1200 feet, above its present level, then it
must have extended over nearly all. of our western
* This section was kindly furnished me by Mr, Napier, the engineer to
the Red River Expedition, 1857.
a
ANCIENT BEACH AT PRAIRIE PORTAGE. 259
country ; and unless Professor Agassiz says that he had
his eye upon this matter along the shores of Superior, I
cannot avoid entertaining the expectation, that what I
call beaches will yet be found at a much higher level
there, than the 331 feet terrace, measured by Mr. (now
sir William) Logan.”
I am inclined to think that another beach and_ ter-
race can be recognised at Prairie Portage, one hundred
and four miles by the canoe route from Lake Superior ;
its altitude would exceed that on the Great Dog, being
1485 feet above the ocean. Prairie Portage passes over
the height of land, but not the highest land on the route,
and its course lies first, south-west up a steep wooded hill,
without rock exposure, but composed of drift clays, sand,
and numerous boulders ; it then enters a narrow valley,
which terminates in a small lake, about five acres in area
and 20 feet deep, occupying a hollow among the hills on
the height of land. The portage path continues on in the
same direction until the Height of Land Lake is reached,
a small sheet of water, about a square mile in area, and
157 feet above Cold Water Lake. The utmost elevation
reached on the Prairie Portage is probably 190 feet
above Cold Water Lake or nearly 900 feet above Lake
Superior. Portage du Milieu, one hundred and five miles
from Lake Superior passes over a low sandy ridge. It is
869 feet above Lake Superior, or 1469 feet above the
sea; this ridge may have been contemporaneous with
beaches on the summit of the Great Dog. _
In the valley of Lake Winnipeg the first prominent
ancient beach is the Big Ridge.
Commencing east of Red River, a few miles from Lake
Winnipeg, this ridge pursues a south-westerly course until
it approaches Red River, within four miles of the Middle
Settlement, here it was ascertained by leveling to be
s 2
260 ’ ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
674 feet above the prairie. On the opposite side of
the river, a beach on Stony Mountain corresponds with
the Big Ridge, and three or four miles further west it is
observed marking the limit of a former extension of the
valley of Lake Winnipeg. On the east side of Red River
the Big Ridge is traced nearly due south from the Middle
Settlement to where it crosses the Roseau, forty-six miles
from the mouth of that stream, and on or near the 49th
parallel. It is next met with at Pine or Tamarac Creek,
in the State of Minnesota, and from this point it may
be said to form a continuous and horizontal gravel road,
beautifully arched, and about one hundred feet broad,
the whole distance to the shores of Lake Winnipeg, or
more than 120 miles.
On the west side of Red River, and north of the
Assinniboine, I traced the Big Ridge from a point about
three miles west of Stony Mountain to near Prairie
Portage. Here it appears to have been removed by the
agency of the Prairie Portage River and the waters of
the Assinniboine, which are said to pass from the valley
of that river into Lake Manitobah during very high
floods.
Another and higher ridge was observed on White Mud
River, about twenty miles west of Lake Manitobah. It
resembled in every particular the ridge on the east side of
Red River, being about 100 to 120 feet broad, and about
twenty-five feet above the level of the prairie. It was
again noticed in the rear of Manitobah House, where the
same characteristics were preserved. It probably crosses
the Assinniboine three or four miles west of Prairie
Portage, and is perhaps identical with the lowest ridge or
step of the Pembina Mountain.
In the rear of Dauphin Lake, the next wide mm the
ascending series occurs, it forms an excellent pitching
QUATERNARY BEACHES IN RED RIVER VALLEY. 261
track for Indians on the east flank of the Riding Mountain.
Probably these ridges are found close together, at the foot
of the Pembina Mountain, where no less than four dis-
tinct steps occur close together near the sources of
Scratching River.* The summit of these steps may be
the plateau whose altitude was ascertamed by Dr. Owen
to be 210 feet above the prairie level, and the first steps
may be continuous with the Bie Ridge, limiting the level
prairies of Red River and the Assinniboine.
The prairies enclosed by the Big Ridge are every-
where intersected by small subordinate ridges, which
often die out, and are evidently the remains of shoals
formed in the shallow bed of Lake Winnipeg when its
waters were limited by the Big Ridge. Many opportu-
nities for observing the present formation of similar shoals
occurred in Lake Manitobah, St. Martin’s Lake, Lake
Winnipeg and Dauphin Lake. These, when the lakes
become drained, will have the form of ridges in the level
country then exposed. Indeed it may be said that the
region between Dauphin Mountain and Lake Manitobah
in the direction of Ebb and Flow Lake and south of that
body of water, is but recently drained, or still in process
of draining, being removed from the surface of Ebb and
Flow Lake, by a very few feet and covered with water to
a large extent in the spring. At present it consists of
marsh, bog and ridge, in continued succession. When
completely drained, the country will resemble the present
prairies of the Assinniboine, with the gentle rich depres-
sions, and the low dry gravelly ridges.
The Pembina Mountain is par excellence the ancient
beach in the valley of Lake Winnipeg. Dr. Owen thus
* The steps are shown on Sheet 2 of the large map accompanying the
Reports on the Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition.
3 3
262 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
described it as it presents itself a few miles south of the
49th parallel: “ After a hot and fatiguing ride over the
plains, we arrived an hour after sunset at the foot of the
Pembina Mountain. In the twilight as we stood at our
encampment on the plain, it looked as if it might be three
hundred feet or more in height; but in the morning, by
broad daylight, it seemed less. When I came to measure
it, 1 was somewhat surprised that it did not exceed 210
feet. I observed on this as on many other occasions that
a hill rising out of a level plain, appears higher than it
really is, especially when, as in this case, the trees on its
flank and summit are of small growth. Pembina Moun-
tain is in fact, no mountain at all, nor yet a hill. It is a
terrace of table-land, the ancient shore of a great body of
water, that once filled the whole of the Red River valley.
On its summit it 1s quite level and extends so, for about
five miles westward, to another terrace, the summit of
which I was told is level with the great Buffalo Plains,
that stretch away towards the Missouri, the hunting
erounds of the Sioux and the half-breed population of
Red River.
Instead of bemg composed of ledges of rock, as I was
led to suppose, it 1s a mass of incoherent sand, gravel, and
shingle so entirely destitute of cement, that with the hand
alone a hole several feet deep may be excavated in a few
minutes. The Pembina River has cut through this
material a deep, narrow valley, but little elevated -above
the adjacent plain. Along its banks are precipices of
sand, surmounted by gravel and a few boulders. I was
told that it was impossible to ascend these banks. So
loose is the deposit, that, no sooner is an ascent attempted,
than the stones fifty or a hundred feet above, are detached,
and come tumbling down at such an alarming rate that
the climber is glad to make his escape.” *
CONTOUR OF THE PEMBINA MOUNTAIN. 263
An inspection of the map will show the contour of the
Pembina Mountain as far as ascertained; where Mr.
Dickinson ascended it, fifteen miles north of the 49th
parallel. it occurs in four distinct terraces. It crosses
the Assinniboine near the Bad Woods, blends with
the Riding and Duck Mountains, and probably appears
again on the main Saskatchewan, twenty-two miles from
the Grand Forks. The elevation of the entire country
east of this long ancient coast line is about 700 feet above
the level of the ocean, and it forms the boundary of a
distinct tract of lowland, in part surpassingly rich, as
over the Red River and Assinniboine prairies, and the
region on the main Saskatchewan slightly elevated above
the area subjected to annual overflow ; part covered with
swamp, marsh, or level limestone rock, on which a few
inches of soil affords nourishment to small spruce, tamarac,
and aspen; and finally, by a shallow water area extending
over 13,100 square miles, and embracing lakes which
rank with the first class in pomt of superficies on this
continent.
High above the Pembina Mountain the steps and ter-
races of the Riding and Duck Mountains arise in well-
defined succession. On the southern and south-western
slopes of these ranges the terraces are distinctly exposed
to view; on their north-east and north sides, the Riding
and Duck Mountains present a precipitous escarpment
which is elevated fully 1000 feet above Lake Winnipeg,
or more than 1600 feet above the sea.
Standing on the edge of the escarpment of the Riding
Mountain and looking in the direction of Dauphin Lake,
a gulf, some twc hundred and fifty feet deep, is seen to
be succeeded by two ranges of cone-shaped hills covered
* Geological Survey of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, p. 179.
s 4
264 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
with boulders, one lower than the other. The hills are
parallel to the general trend of the escarpment, and
stand out as bold eminences, showing the extent of the —
denudation which gave rise to them. These ranges of
conical hills correspond with terraces on the west side of
the mountain. They are the result of the same denuding
forces which have left their impress upon the west flank,
and were formed by the unequal wearing away of the
more exposed eastern flank, at the time when the ter-
races on the opposite and sheltered side were in process
of arrangement.
I estimated the summit of Bear Hill, one of the most
prominent of the conical hills separated from the edge of
the escarpment by a deep valley, at 800 feet above Lake
Winnipeg ; if to this altitude we add 628 feet, the height
of Lake Winnipeg above the sea, the elevation of the
first terrace below the summit of the mountain, will be
about 1,428 feet. This altitude corresponds in a re-
markable manner with the sand bank on the Great Dog
Portage, 500 miles distant in an air line from Bear Hill.
The second tier of conical hills stands upon the second
terrace from the summit, and is probably continuous
with the Pembina Mountain.
SAND HILLS AND DUNES.
The most extensive of these unstable ranges are de-
scribed in the narrative.
It is needless to remark that the region they occupy is
almost absolutely barren. Many of the hills and dunes
are continually exposing fresh surfaces, sometimes beauti-
fully ripple marked. The probability of their being the
remains of tertiary deposits, is noticed in a subsequent
chapter. The following are the most extensive ranges: —
1. Sand hills and dunes of the Assinniboine, extending
DUNES AND DEPRESSIONS. 265
from the Bad Woods to a short distance beyond Pine
Creek, forty miles.
2. Sand hills of the Souris. |
3. Sand hills and dunes of the Qu’appelle.
4, Sand hills and dunes of the South Branch.
5. Sand and gravel ridges north-west of the Touchwood
Hills.
CIRCULAR DEPRESSIONS.
This curious disposition of the drift, probably due to a
re-arrangement of its materials, is of not uncommon oc-
currence south-east of the Touchwood Hills. Circular
depressions varying from 100 yards to half a mile in
diameter, appear in the prairies, generally surrounded by
a ridge of sand or gravel. Many of them are quite dry,
others hold water, which is generally brackish. The
deepest and largest depression noticed was about 600
yards across and 40 feet below the general level.
DENUDATION.
An adequate conception of the effects of denudation
in the basin of Lake Winnipeg can be best attained if we
revert to the period when the Cretaceous shales now
forming the summit and flanks of the Turtle, Riding,
Duck, Porcupine, and Pasquia Mountains, occupied the
basins of Lakes Manitobah and Winnipeg, and found their
eastern limits near the present outcrop of the Laurentian
Series. In order to complete our view of the extent of
this great physical movement, we must conceive the same
shales and sandstones, (in part overlaid by Tertiaries fill-
ing the depressions or valleys in the Cretaceous rocks,
the result of previous denudation) forming an unbroken
table-land to the Grand Coteau de Missouri. These
relations become more evident. upon an inspection of the
sections.
266 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
LIMITS OF DENUDATION.
A curious and very interesting example of parallelism
in bold limits of denudation, can be traced in the basins
of Lake Winnipeg and the St. Lawrence. The abrupt
escarpment of the Grand Coteau de Missouri preserves a
direction throughout the greater portion of its denuded
face, parallel to the escarpment of the Niagara lmestone
which enters Canada from the State of New York at
Lewiston, on the Niagara river, and sweeping round the
head of Lake Ontario passes up the Indian Peninsula and
thence to the Grand Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron.
The denuded flanks of the Riding and Duck Mountains
with their northern and southern prolongations also pre-
serve the same general direction. Lines drawn on a map
of North America to show these well-marked lmits of
denudation at different periods, will at once suggest the
existence of a uniformly acting force operating under
similar physical conditions. Like beaches or ridges formed
at different sea-levels they have probably a common origin,
which the supposition of their being ancient coast-lines is
not sufficient to explain, neither do their geographical
relations appear to be altogether dependent upon their
geological structure. ‘They seem to point to the action of
currents, of which the Gulf stream and the compensating
Arctic currents are modern illustrations.
DISLOCATIONS.
The basin of Lake Winnipeg from the Laurentides to
the Rocky Mountains, has been subjected to a series of
dislocations, which have acted very uniformly over areas
far apart. The courses of rivers show the general direc-
tion of these gradual disturbances, which may have given
rise to the numerous “ Elbows” which form such a
marked feature in the water channels, and consequently
_—
ns hs
nor
HAS) PO
278 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
of description and reference, into six distmet parts, each
having its own geological characteristic. The west shore
of the lake is mainly occupied by granite, which at the
northern portion is finely granular, and porphyritic im
equal quantities. On the east coast of its north-westerly ex-
tension, are chloritic and greenstone slates; on the eastern
arm of Ramy Lake, pale red granite is the prevailing
rock, and near the northern extremity of this arm, naked
ridges, white as porcelain, and 500 feet high, occur.
In the Lake of the Woods the Laurentian series is
separated into two parts by a range of intrusive granite
running in an E.S.E. direction from the north-west
corner of the lake, as far east as Ramy Lake. The in-
clined metamorphosed strata on-the north side of this
eranitic anticlnal dip W.N.W.; on the south side to the
8.8. W. a direction resulting from the form and position
of the intrusive rock.*
The country between the sources of the Winnipeg,
and a few miles south of Islington Mission, a distance of
nearly thirty miles, appears to be largely occupied by a
vast range of intrusive granite and syenite, m the form of
dome-shaped hills, varying from 150 to 200 feet high.
A view from the summit of one of the highest of these,
about fifteen miles due north from Rat Portage presented
an unvarying succession of their rounded summits as far
as the eye could reach in a westerly direction. The
canoe route pursued in 1851 was a short Indian path
from Rat Portage to the Great Winnipeg, in a nearly
straight north-westerly direction. The country traversed
was characterized by great sterility, and an unusual pro-
portion of bare rock. High precipitous mural cliffs,
without a trace of stratification observable in them, often
* See Dr. Bigsby, “On the Geology of the Lake of the Woods,” before
referred to.
SIR R. I. MURCHISON ON THE GNEISS OF SCOTLAND. 279
formed the boundaries of this branch of the Great Win-
nipeg. - 2
The series composing the country east of Rainy Lake
towards the Height of Land are again reproduced after
passing the large area of intrusive granite on the Win-
nipeg, and continue with some considerable variations of
strike and dip occasioned by intrusions, as far as the first
falls below the Bonnet Portage, where drift clays conceal
the rocks on the banks of the river to its mouth, ex-
posures occurring only at the different falls and portages.
The Laurentian rocks which form the whole of the
low east coast of Lake Winnipeg strike off at its north-
east corner, and passing to the north of Moose Lake, go
on to Beaver Lake.*
The only exposure of Laurentian rocks seen within
the area explored west of Lake Winnipeg were observed
in St. Martin Lake; they have been described in Chap-
ter XXVI.
In the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society for
August, 1860, Sir Roderick I. Murchison made the follow-
ing interesting and important announcement respecting the
age of the Fundamental Gneiss of Scotland, and conferred
an appropriate acknowledgment of the services rendered
to geology by the distinguished director of the Survey in
Canada, by adopting a Canadian geological name for the
British rocks of the same age as those which Sir William
Logan has named the Laurentian System.
“The changes which are involved in the adoption of
my views of the order of succession are, it will be ad-
mitted, considerable. In the first place, by showing that
mountain masses of sandstone and conglomerate lie un-
conformably beneath quartzose and calcareous rocks with
* Sir John Richardson’s Journal of a Boat Voyage, &c., p. 49. Am. Ed.
T4
280 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION,
true Lower Silurian fossils, we know that the former must
be of Cambrian age. We further learn that the old or
fundamental gneiss, which lies beneath such Cambrian
sandstone, and is entirely unconformable to, and indepen-
dent of it, is a lower stratified rock than any hitherto re-
cognized in the British Isles. The beginning of the geo-
logical alphabet, as applied in the Maps of the Geological
Survey to the Cambrian rocks of England, Wales, and
Ireland, must therefore be preceded in Scotland by the
first letter of some alphabet earlier than the Roman, show-
ing a still lower deep in the north-west of Scotland (as
in North America) than exists in England, Wales, or
Treland.
“Tf this most ancient gneiss required a British name, it
might indeed with propriety be termed the ‘ Lewisian
System,’ seeing that the large island of the Lewis is es-
sentially composed of it, capped here and there by de-
rivative masses of Cambrian conglomerate ; but the term
‘Laurentian’ having been already applied to rocks of
this age in North America by our distinguished associate
Sir W. Logan, I adhere to that name, the more so as it is
derived from a very extensive region of a great British
colony.”
THE HURONIAN SERIES.
The Huronian series has not been recognized in the
basin of Lake Winnipeg, but as it rests unconformably
on the Laurentian rocks for a distance of nearly 500
miles on the shores of Lakes Superior and Huron, occur-
ring both on the north and south shores of the first-
named lake, it 1s not improbable that it will be found to
exist in the Winnipeg Basin. In Canada it contains
very important metalliferous veins, particularly of native
sania eal
THE HURONIAN SERIES. . 281
copper. The following description of the Huronian or
Cambrian system is from the little work before re-
ferred to.* |
“The shores of Lakes Huron and Superior offer a
series of schists, sandstones, limestones, and conglomerates
interstratified with heavy beds of greenstone, and resting
unconformably upon the Laurentian formation. As these
rocks underlie those of the Silurian system, and have not
as yet afforded any fossils, they may probably be referred
to the Cambrian system (lower.Cambrian of Sedgewick).
the schists of this system upon Lake Superior are bluish
in colour, and contain beds of cherty silex, marked by
calcareous bands, and holding anthracite in its fissures.
“These are covered by a considerable thickness of
trap, upon which repose massive beds of red and white
sandstone which sometimes becomes conglomerate and
contains pebbles of quartz and jasper. Beds of a red-
dish argillaceous hmestone are often interstratified with
these sandstones, which are intersected and overlaid by a
second eruption of greenstone of great thickness and
columnar inits structure. This formation, which, accord-
ing to the observations of Sir William Logan, has, on
Lake Superior a total thickness of about 12,000 feet,
is traversed by a vast number of trappean dykes.
“In the corresponding formation on the north shore of
Lake Huron, the sandstones are more vitreous and the
conglomerates more abundant than on Lake Superior ;
they are, however, associated with conglomerates and
schists similar to those we have just described, and the
formation offers great intercalated masses of greenstone.
A band of limestone, fifty feet in thickness, forms a part of
this series, to which Sir William Logan assigns a thickness
* A Sketch of the Geology of Canada, &c., by Sir William Logan and
Mr. Hunt.
* 282 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
of about 10,000 feet. He has shown the occurrence,
after the irruption of the interstratified greenstones, of
two systems of trap dykes, and a third of granite, inter-
mediate in time between the two irruptions of trap. The
formation of the metalliferous veins is still more recent.
The principal mineral species of these veins are native
copper, quartz, calc-spar, dolomite, fluor, and sulphate of
baryta, with several zeolites, of which laumonite is the
most common, heulandite, stilbite, thompsonite, apophyllite
and analcime are also met with, as well as prehnite and
dathohte. These veins are only metalliferous where they
traverse the beds of greenstones.”
283
CHAP, XXXVI
THE SILURIAN AND DEVONIAN SERIES.
Rim of the Silurian Series.—Distribution of Formations.—The Chazy
Formation. —Fossils from the Chazy, Modiolopsis Parviuscula, Ortho-
ceras Simpsoni. — Bird’s-eye, and Trenton Formations. — Hudson River
Formation.—The Devonian Series. —Salt Springs.—Salt Springs in
Rupert’s Land.—Manufacture of Salt.—Salt Trade of the United States.
—Fossils from Devonian Rocks in the Winnipeg Basin.
THE SILURIAN SERIES.
THE rim of the great southern fossiliferous basin in North
America touches Fond du Lac, the western extremity of
Lake Superior.* From this pomt it makes a bend to the
south, and then turning north-westerly comes upon the
Mississippi river near its source. The prolongation of the
oreat granitic axis separating the waters flowing into Lake
Superior, from those tributary to Lake Winnipeg, pene-
trates for a considerable distance into the fossiliferous basin,
in the northern part of the State of Minnesota, but although
the subjacent rock is concealed by drift, the general charac-
ter of the country, as far as Red Lake, leads to the in-
ference that it is underlaid by the Silurian series. From
Red Lake the rim pursues a northerly course to the
mouth of Rainy River; it underlies the valley of Rainy
River, as far as Rainy Lake, in the form of a narrow and
* Sandstones belonging to the Potsdam and Chazy formations, the lowest
members of the fossiliferous rocks in America, are in great force on the
south shore of Lake Superior. The basin of the lake is chiefly excavated
in the Potsdam sandstone.
284 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
very elongated bay.* Sweeping round the south and
part of the west coast of the Lake of the Woods, it leaves
that body of water and comes on the Winnipeg, above
Fort Alexander. The south and west coasts of Lake Win-
nipeg, and as far as its north-east corner mark the easterly
boundary of this basin ; it then passes north of Moose Lake,
to Beaver Lake, and thence in a north-westerly direc-
tion towards and beyond Methy Portage. The Silurian
rocks of Great Slave Lake and River present forms chiefly
belonging to the upper division of the series. The occur-
rence of brine springs in that region poimts also to the
proximity of Devonian rocks, which are particularly cha-
racterized by brine springs in the basin of Lake Winnipeg.
The upper Silurian rocks of the Arctic Archipelago rest
everywhere on granitoid rocks with a remarkable red
sandstone passing into’ coarse grit for their base.
Limestones, sandstones, and shales of Silurian age are
exposed from the Grand Rapid of the Saskatchewan to
Big Black Island, near the south extremity of Lake Win-
nipee. From Big Black Island to the rapids on Red
River the formations are concealed by quaternary de-
posits. On the south-east coast limestone 1s occasionally
seen in position, but its junction with the Laurentian series
near the mouth of the Winnipeg is concealed by drift.
The formations which have been recognized on Lake
Winnipeg, and in the valley of Red River, are
1. The Chazy Formation.
2. The Bird's-eye ,,
3. The Trenton GI
4, The Hudson River Group.
* See “Geology of the Lake of the Woods.”—Dr. Bigsby, Quart. Journ.
Geo. Soc. vol. vill. p. 406.
+ Rey. Samuel Haughton, F.R.S., Appendix to Capt. M‘Clintock’s Nar-
rative. :
FOSSILS FROM LAKE WINNIPEG. 285
CHAZY FORMATION.
Fine exposures of the Chazy formation occur on Deer
Island, Punk Island, and along the west coast of the
lake north of Big Grindstone Point as far as the Cat
Head. They appear in the form of cliffs, varying
from twenty-five to forty-five feet in altitude at nearly
all pomts and promontories. The character of the
rock is described in Chapter XXIII. At the Narrows the
three limestone promontories, the Bull’s Head, Limestone
Cave Point, and Whiteway’s Point, approach within a few
miles of the Laurentian series on the east coast. The
strait from Whiteway’s Point to the Dog’s Head 1s not
more than three miles across. Before this narrow channel .
was excavated, Lake Winnipeg must have been divided
into two parts, ike Lakes Manitobah and Winnipego-sis,
and it is not improbable that near the Dog’s Head a rapid
river or falls formerly existed. The relation of the two
lakes would then resemble the present relation of Lake
Manitobah, the Little Saskatchewan and Lake Winnipeg.
The followmg enumeration and description (between
brackets) of fossils forming part of my collection from the
Silurian and Devonian rocks of this region, are from the
pen of Mr. EH. Billings, F.G.8., Paleeontologist to the
Canadian Geological Survey.
Plante.
[Two species of Fucoids from Punk Island in Lake
Winnipeg, resembling forms which occur in the Chazy
sandstone.
ZLoophyta. ,
The only coral is a species allied to Columnaria alveo-
lata. It is from Grindstone Point, Lake Winnipeg.
286 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Echinodermata.
Columns of a large Glyptocrinus allied to G. ramulosus
occur at Punk Island and Grindstone Point; and besides
these, at the latter locality were found several plates of a
Glyptocystites closely allied to G. multiporus.
Brachiopoda.
T'wo specimens of a plaited Rhynconella a little smaller
than £. plena were found at Punk Island.
Lamellibranchiata.
MODIOLOPSIS PARVIUSCULA. (N. 8.)
This species closely resembles JZ modiolaris (Conrad)
but is always much smaller. It is transversely elongate,
anterior extremity small, rounded half the width of the
posterior ; the latter obliquely truncated and somewhat
straight from the end of the hinge line for rather more
than half the width, then rounded at the lower posterior
angle. Hinge line straight or a little arched, full three-
fourths the whole length of the shell. The umbones are
less than one-fifth the length from the anterior extremity.
The valves are moderately convex, obscurely and obliquely
carinate from the umbones towards the lower posterior
angle. In many specimens the ventral margin is concave .
near the anterior extremity, as if for the purpose of a
byssus. Surface with obscure concentric undulations of
growth. Length of large specimen, one and a half inch.
In general they are a good deal smaller. |
This shell so much resembles AZ, modiolaris that I have
long hesitated as to the propriety of giving it a separate
name. It is very widely distributed, since we have speci-
mens from Lake Winnipeg at Punk Island, from the
Pallideau Islands in Lake Huron, where it occurs in strata —
SILURIAN FOSSILS.
which hold fossils of the Chazy, Black
River and Trenton limestones, and
from near Cornwall and the Island
of Montreal in the Chazy.
Besides the above there are several
small nearly circular fossils from Punk
Island, which appear to be casts of
some lamellibranchiate shell.
Gasteropoda.
Trochonema umbilicata (Hall, Sp.)
This species occurs at Lake Winnipeg
and at the Little Saskatchewan in
considerable numbers. A species
allied to Pleurotomaria rotuloides
(Hall) is common at Punk Island,
and a Maclurea allied to M. Logane
(Salter), but with more slender whorls
was found at Punk Island and the
Little Saskatchewan. One of the
specimens has the operculum in place,
but is destitute of the shell and some-
what distorted. None of the Gaster-
opoda have the shell preserved. .
Cephalopoda.
ORTHOCERAS SIMPSONI. (N. 8.)
The specimen is a portion of the
siphuncle, nine inches and one-fourth
in length, eleven lines in diameter
at the larger extremity, and ten at
the smaller. It is nearly cylin-
287
OrtHocrras Srmpsont.
A fragment of the siphuncle of
this species.
288 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
drical with a broad, shallow constriction above and
below each of the narrow annulations which mark the
attachment of the septa. ‘There are eight of those septal
rings at the following distances from each other, com- |
mencing at the smaller extremity :—-Between the Ist and
2nd, fourteen lines; 2nd and 3rd, twelve lines; 3rd and
Ath, ten and a half lines; 4th and 5th, thirteen and a
half lines; 5th and 6th, fifteen lines; 6th and 7th, thir-
teen and a half lines; 7th and 8th, twelve and a half
lines. The annulations are nearly at right angles to the
length, and we must infer from this fact either that the
septa are scarcely at all concave, or that the siphuncle
must be central, or very nearly so. If in an orthoceratite
the septa are flat, then no matter whether the siphuncle
be central or not, the septal annulations must be at right
angles, but if the septa are concave then the annulations
will be oblique if the siphuncle be at all removed from
the centre. My impression is, that this is a large ortho-
ceratite with distant septa and a nearly central siphuncle
since the annulations have a scarcely perceptible obl-
quity.
It is oné of those species in which the siphuncle became
oradually filled with a solid calcareous animal secretion,
with the exception of a narrow cylindrical channel along
the centre. This central canal is clearly indicated in the
specimen, and has a diameter of nearly two lines. |
Dedicated to Sir George Simpson, Governor of the
Hudson’s Bay Company.
Locality and formation.—Cat Head, Lake Winnipeg,
supposed to be Silurian. . 2
A small serpulite appears to be common at Punk
Island ; it much resembles the large species of the Chazy
limestone. ?
The occurrence of JZ parviuscula, H. umbilicata, the
LOWER SILURIAN FORMATIONS. 289
Maclurea, and Glyptocystites are quite sufficient to show
that the localities where they have been collected are
Lower Silurian, and most probably about the age of the
Black River and Chazy limestones. |
THE BIRD’S-EYE AND TRENTON FORMATIONS.
The whole of the coast on the north-west side of Lake
Winnipeg is represented by Sir John Richardson to be
occupied by the Bird’s-eye Limestone.* Near the first and
second Rocky Points the strata contain many gigantic
orthoceratites which have been described by Mr. Stokes
in the Geological Transactions.
In Pine Island Lake, there are exposures thirty feet in
altitude, containing Orthocerata and Receptaculites Nep-
tuni.~ ‘The strike is south-west by west, being at right
angles to the general direction of the Laurentides.
THE HUDSON RIVER FORMATION.
This formation appears in cliffs five-and-twenty feet
high at the Stone Fort, Red River. It is also exposed
near the rapids. Most of the forts and churches in the
settlements are constructed of stone from this rock. The
* “As bearing on the resemblance of these (Silurian) quartzose and
calcareous rocks to their equivalents in America, I may mention that a
recent comparison of several of the American so-called fucoids has enabled
Mr. Salter satisfactorily to refer them in many cases to the vertical tubes,
or rather filled-up burrows, of large marine worms. He particularly cites
the Phytopsis tubulosus of the ‘Calciferous Sand-rock’ of the American
geologists; the celebrated ‘Birds’ Eyes’ (Phytopsis cellulosus) of- the
‘Birds’-eye Limestone,’ and the Buthotrephis succulens of the Trenton
group, as being of this nature. The part played by annelides in the older
paleeozoic epoch was, we thus know, very conspicuous.” — Si FR. 1, Murchi-
son, Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc., Aug. 1860.
Tt Journal of a Boat Voyage through Rupert’s Land.
{ Ibid.
VOU. Il. U
290 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
colour of its weathered surface is a pale yellowish grey,
but of fresh surfaces, a white gray. Dr. Owen, who
visited the Red River Settlements in 1848, enumerates
the fossils he found near the Stone Fort in his Report
published in 1852. He says :—
“ About twenty miles below the mouth of the Assinni-
boine, near lower Fort Garry, solid ledges of limestone
are exposed of a lieht buff colour, sometimes mottled,
spotted, or banded with hght brown. Immediately oppo-
site the Fort, a considerable amount of rock has been
quarried, and used in the construction of the building.
In these beds, I succeeded in finding several well-defined
and characteristic fossils, sufficient to establish, without
the least doubt, the age of the Red River limestones.
They are: Favosites basaltica ; Coscinopora Sulcata ; he-
mispherical masses of Syringopora; Cheetetes Lycoperdon ;
a Conularia ; a small, beautiful undetermined species
of Pleurorhynchus ; Ormoceros Brongniarti ; Pleuroto-
maria lenticularis (?); Leptena alternata; Leptena
plano-conveca (?); Calymene senaria; and several speci-
mens of the shield of /llanus crassicauda.
Many of these are identically the same fossils which
occur in the lower part of F. 3, in Wisconsin and Lowa,
in the blue limestones of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and
Tennessee, and also in the lower Silurian of Europe.
The Coscinopora is precisely the same as the coral,
which is particularly characteristic of the lower beds of
the upper magnesian limestone of Wisconsin. The speci-
mens of favosites basaltica cannot be distinguished from
those which abound in the upper magnesian limestones of
Wisconsin and Iowa, and the lower coralline beds of the
Falls of the Ohio. It is also worthy of note that these
limestones of Red River, like their equivalents in Iowa
and Wisconsin, are highly magnesian, containing from
THE DEVONIAN SERIES. 291
seventeen to forty per cent. of the carbonate of that
alkaline earth.”
* * x % % * *%
“On the south shore of that lake (Winnipeg), however,
T again had an opportunity of inspecting fossilferous lime-
stones in situ. At the two localities where I succeeded
in obtaining a view of them, they were much disturbed,
dipping either at a high angle, or standing vertically. On
Poplar Point, they are quite thin-bedded, and contain, be-
sides small /’ntrochites, large varieties of Endoceras. Ina
small bay, near Big Swamp Point, the limestone is seen
jutting out beneath heavy, loose masses of crystalline
rocks, some of which weigh hundreds of tons. The
surfaces of many of the limestone slabs at this locality are
crowded with well-preserved specimens of the character-
istic fossil Leptena alternata.”
THE DEVONIAN SERIES.
In consequence of the extreme flatness of the country
the junction of the Silurian and Devonian Series has been
only approximately determined, chiefly by the occur-
rence of the saline springs which distinguish the Devonian
Series in this region. In all cases where saline springs
were seen issuing from rock im position, Devonian forma-
tions were recognized by characteristic fossils. The
parallelism between the courses of Moss River, Waterhen
River, Partridge Crop River, and Dauphin River, suggests
at once the line of junction or a dislocation ; if the former,
their courses probably indicate the junction of different
Devonian or Silurian formations, but in no instance the
limits of either series, as was ascertained by the charac-
teristic fossils found at different localities on those rivers.
u 2
292 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
In 1823, Mr. Keating* noticed the salt springs in Min-
nesota State and Dakotah Territory, far south of the
boundary line. Even at that early period in the history
of the settlements on Red River, 500 dollars were
earned by one individual during one winter from
the sale of the salt he had manufactured from springs
near Pembina. The price of salt in the settlement was
then six dollars per barrel weighing eighty pounds. At a
spring on Saline River, south of the boundary line, Major
Long’s party found the Salicornia herbacea growing very
abundantly around it. “Mr. Schweinitz states, on the
authority of Mr. Nuttall, that this is the only mland
locality of this plant, besides the Onondaga Salt springs
in the State of New York.” The bottom of shallow
lagoons containing brine on Winnipego-sis Lake were
thickly covered with a soft and wavy carpet of a species
of Navus. :
In the valley of La Riviere Sale, salt springs are very
numerous, and the ground in their vicinity is frequently
covered with a thick incrustation. Many years since the
half-breeds of the settlement used to collect salt from this
valley for domestic purposes. ‘The names Saline Creek
and Salt Pomt on Red River, north of the 49th parallel,
were given in consequence of springs strongly impreg-
nated with salt occurring there, but south and west of
Stony Mountain no rocks in position have been observed
east of Pembina Mountain. The whole country is nearly
horizontal, having a mean elevation of about 100 feet
above Lake Winnipeg.
Subjoined is a table showing the localities, north of the
49th parallel, where salt springs occur, distinguishing
between springs from which salt has been and has not
* Major Long’s Expedition to the Sources of St. Peter’s River.
LOCALITIES OF SALT SPRINGS. 293
been manufactured or collected as a crust on the surface
of the ground: .
1. Salt Brook . : i : . Red River.
2. Salt Point . | : 4s
3. La Riviére Sale . : ‘ . Collected from incrustations
by the sides of springs.
These incrustations are often
two inches in thickness.
A, Salt: Point : ‘ ‘ . Winnipego-sis Lake.
5. Turtle River : : : . Dauphin Lake—collected by
Indians.
6. Crane River : : , . Manitobah Lake — collected
by Indians.
7. Monkman’s Salt Works.* . . Winnipego-sis Lake—manu-
factured by John Monkman.
8. Swan River ; Manufactured for H. B. Co.
9. West Coast of Winnipego-sis
Lake in many places.
10. West Coast of Lake Manitobah
in many places.
12, The Pas Mountain.
It has been already stated that the processes employed
in the manufacture of salt in Rupert’s Land are of the
rudest description. By the employment of simple artifices
the yield might be greatly increased, and its market value
reduced to one-fourth the price it brings at the settlements.
In the valley of La Riviere Sale, about twenty-six miles
from Fort Garry, springs issue from the sides of the hills
in positions very favourable for the employment of solar
evaporation in shallow basins, which might be excavated
at a lower level than the spring, and salt extracted
without the employment of artificial heat ; an immense
* The bottom of the evaporating pans at Monkman’s Works contained
athin stratum of an extremely hard substance, which subsequent examina-
tion showed to consist of silica, a little sulphate of lime, and a very
considerable quantity of bromides.
u 3
294 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
advantage in a country where fuel is scarce and labour
dear.
In the State of New York between 500,000 and 600,000
bushels of salt are now made annually by solar evapora-
tion. Wooden vats are employed, with movable roofs, so
that the brine may be protected at the approach of
unfavourable weather. The average daily supply of brine
at these works during six months of the year is 2,000,000
gallons, and the cost per barrel of 300 lbs. is one dollar.
Salt made by the boiling process weighs 56 pounds to the
bushel, solar (that made by evaporation) salt 75 pounds.
By the boiling process at Onondaga the cast iron kettles,
holding from 50 to 70 gallons each, are disposed in double
rows above suitable furnaces technically called: “ blocks.”
Each block contains from 50 to 70 kettles, and manu-
factures during eight months of the year from 20,000 to
25,000 bushels of salt.
In 1800 the number of bushels of salt made at the
Onondaga Salt Works was 50,000; in 1810, 450,000
bushels; in 1830, 1,435,446 bushels; in 1840, 2,622,305
bushels; in 1850, 4,268,919 bushels; in 1857, 4,300,000
bushels; and in 1859, within a fraction of 7,000,000
bushels.
The strength of the brine is measured by ‘a “Salo-
meter,” whose zero is distilled water, and maximum, water
saturated with common salt, which is represented by 100.
The brines of Onondaga vary from 76° to 44°. Wells
which do not furnish brine above 50° are not considered
worth working.
The sea-water at Nantucket gives a bushel of salt to
every 380 gallons; at the salt springs of Zanesville, Ohio,
95 gallons furnish the same quantity of salt, while the old
wells of Onondaga yield one bushel from 40 to 45 gallons,
and the new wells at Syracuse the same quantity from 30
STRENGTH OF THE SALT SPRINGS. » 295
to 35 gallons of brine.* Mr. Donald Gunn, of Red River
Settlement, says that in the dry season 24 gallons of brine
from the Winnipego-sis springs will produce one bushel
of salt.
The value of the salt trade in the United States may be
inferred from the following statistics :—
Bushels.
In 1840 the quantity of foreign salt imported was. . 8,188,208
In 1850 is ” ; . 11,224,185
In 1857 2 Fy : . 17,165,704
The value of the foreign salt consumed in 1857
amounted to nearly 2,000,000 dollars, and the value of
foreign and domestic salt exported from the States during
the same year was 230,000 dollars.
The most eastern exposure of the Devonian Series,
recognized by fossils of that age, occurs on Thunder
Island, St. Martin Lake; the most westerly exposure is
seen on Moss River, and it is between these two points
that, as far as known, brine springs are most numerous.
Barren areas surrounding brine springs are of frequent
occurrence at the foot of the range of hills from the
Riding Mountain to the Pas. In a country nearly hori-
zontal, where the attitude of the rocks conforms to the
general surface, it will be at all times very difficult to
determine the precise line of junction between succeeding
series, and fortunately in the present instance the brine
springs, which undoubtedly have their source in Devonian
rocks, afford an excellent guide in determining the out-
crop and extent of the series.
As far as my observations enabled me to judge there is
no difference in the general aspect of the country occupied
* The History, Commerce, Sources, Manufacture, and economical Value
of Salt consumed in and exported from the United States; by William C.
Dennis, of Key West, Florida. Patent Office Report, 1857,
u 4
296 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
by the Silurian and Devonian Series in this region. The
rock of either age almost everywhere approaches the sur-
face and is covered with a few inches of vegetable mould.
Where fires have occurred the soil is burned away and the
bare surface exposed. Very few areas of drift were seen,
the most imposing being some low hills on St. Martin
Lake. Denuding forces appear to have cut down the
surface of the country to one nearly uniform level from
the Riding Mountain ranges to the Laurentides. The
upper extremity only of this excavated valley being
covered many feet deep with quaternary deposits through
which Red River, the Assinniboine and White Mud River
have cut their channels.
The uninterrupted continuity of the rim of the Devonian
rocks through the United States, Canada, Rupert’s Land
and the valley of Mackenzie River can scarcely be doubted.
Its outcrop from the Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean
would extend over sixty degrees of longitude and thirty
degrees of latitude. The Devonian rocks in the valley of
the Mackenzie River have many characteristics in common
with those of Lake Winnipeg.
[The following are the fossils from Snake Island in Lake
Winnipego-sis.
Atrypa reticularis (Linne) in abundance, both the com-
mon form with moderately coarse ribs and the more finely
striated varieties, Atrypa aspera (Schlotheim). The speci-
mens very closely resemble those figured by Professor
Hall, in his new work, the “ Geology of Iowa,” plate vi.
fies. 8, a, b, c, d, but area little more pointed in front. A
fine Orthis agrees well with the figures and descriptions
of O. Iowensis, (Hall,) Geology of Iowa, plate ii. fig. 4;
but is alittle longer. The proportions are the same, but
the length, breadth and depth are each two lines greater
than the figures. Besides these there are fragments of
FOSSILS OF DEVONIAN ROCKS. 297
several other Brachiopods, among which are two small
species of Productus.
Fossils from Snake Island.
a, Orthis Iowensis (Hall) side view. -
b, Lucina occidentalis ( Billings).
C, do. do. Outlines of same, side view.
d, Lucina elliptica (Conrad).
e, Loronema nexilis ?
The Lamellibranchiate shells are Lucina elliptica (Con-
rad) a species of the Corniferous limestone and Hamilton
sroups of Canada and New York, and a new species of
the same genus, which I propose to call L. occidentalis.
Of Gasteropoda there are two species of L'uomphalus,
and a fragment of a Lowonema, most probably L. newilis.
The Cephalopoda consist of fragments of Orthoceras,
Gomphoceras and a species of Nautilus or Gyroceras.
Although we have none of the characteristic spirifers,
corals, or trilobites to guide us, yet I think that upon the
evidence of the above fossils we can safely say that this
locality is Devonian, and most probably about the age of
the Hamilton group.
The fossils from Manitobah Island are mostly the
same as those of Snake Island, with the addition of two
298 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
species of Chonetes and fragments of a large fish. There
is also here a large Stromatopora, probably S. concentrica.
At Thunder Island, 8t. Martin Lake, the Stromatopora
occurs, with abundance of a small Strophomena and some
corals, not determinable.
Lucina Occidentalis. (N. 8.)
Oval, length about one-ninth greater than the width,
hinge line greatly convex, cardinal extremities obtusely
rounded, anterior and posterior margins gently convex,
sub-parallel ventral margin rounded or a little pomted in
the centre ; beaks central, small, pomted, incurved, nearly
in contact with each other, and turned a little towards the
anterior extremity; both valves moderately convex and
marked with concentric undulations of growth.
Length of specimen, nine lines, width eight lines, depth
of both valves, five lines. The greatest width is at about
one-fourth the length below the beaks, from which level
the margins converge but little, until within two-fifths of
the length of the front, when they become more strongly
curved.
Locality and Formation, Snake Island, Lake Winnipego-
sis. Devonian. |
299
Crear. xXx.
THE CARBONIFEROUS SERIES. —- JURASSIC FORMATION.
Evidence of the Carboniferous Series. —‘ Productus.’—Probability of the
Carboniferous Series being represented on the Flanks of the Riding
Mountain.—Occurrence in Nebraska Territory.—In Kansas Territory.—In
the North-West generally.—On the West Edge of the Fossiliferous Basin.
— Ammonites from the McKenzie River, probably from Jurassic Rocks.
—Ammonites Barnstoni.—Ammonites Billingsi.
THE CARBONIFEROUS SERIES.
Tue western limits of the Devonian Series are shown
on the map to follow the boundary of the Great Creta-
ceous table-land so well defined by Pembina Mountain,
Riding Mountain, Duck Mountain, Porcupine Hill, the
Pas Mountain, and the high plateau similar to Pembina
Mountain which stretches from the Pas to the Main Sas-
katchewan, near and below Fort ala Corne. ‘The country
at the base of this continuous boundary is uniformly hori-
zontal, and while Devonian rocks in position were seen
within thirty miles, and brine springs within ten miles of
Cretaceous shales on the precipitous flanks of the Riding
Hill Range, yet no evidence of any intermediate formation
was visible.
During the ascent of the Riding Mountain, a very
careful search was made for traces in the drift of the
higher series, in the hope of obtaining evidence of the
existence of Carboniferous rocks, but without success.
The boulders, so numerous on the ridges and the suc-
cessive terraces, were carefully examined, but they were
found to be derived altogether from the Laurentian Series,
300 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION,
the limestones of Lake Winnipeg or the superior Cre-
taceous shales.
The importance of any evidence of the Carboniferous
Series in the Valley of Lake Winnipeg cannot be too highly
estimated. A productus was given to me by a half-breed at
Red River Settlement, who declared he procured it from
“ solid rock,” which is known to occur in two places only
in the valley of Red River, at the Stone Fort, and above,
at and below the rapids, from which places both Dr.
Owen and I obtained Lower Silurian fossils from rock in
position. It is probable that the specimen figured below,
was procured from a boulder; but boulders are brought
Productus ?
SUPPOSED TO BE FROM CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONE.
Fig. 2. Fig, 3.
Fig. 1, Productus from Red River,
Fig. 2, a Side view.
Fig. 3, a Rostral extremity.
north each year from Minnesota by the ice of Red River;
it is therefore quite possible that the specimen was
brought by ice from the south. Under any circumstances,
its presence within thirty miles of the mouth of Red
River is an important fact, and affords good ground for
hope, that if the Carboniferous Series are not represented
on the flanks of the Riding, Duck, and Porcupine Moun-
tains, they will be found in the State of Minnesota, or
CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS IN RUPERT’S LAND. 301 ©
Dacotah, on the north side of the Height of Land, and
in the valley of Red River.
[There is some evidence of the existence of at least a
portion of the Carboniferous system in this region. The
fossil procured from the half-breed, who said he collected
it from “the solid” rock, at some place on the Red
River, is a Productus of the group Semreticulati, all of
which appear to be confined to the Carboniferous Series.
The specimen is not worn and presents all the appearance
of having been freshly broken from the rock. | *
The presence of fragments of any particular rock in
the drift of Canada and elsewhere, affords presumptive
evidence of the existence of the parent rock in position
some distance to the north of the place where the detri-
tus 1s found, but where the erratics occur in the bed of a
river flowing to the north, i which ice of great thickness
accumulates, and which moreover is subject to annual
overflows, the evidence, under other circumstances,
strongly presumptive, must in this case be received with
great caution, and regarded rather as an encouragement
to continue the search for the Carboniferous Series in both
directions from which the boulder might have been
carried.
If rocks occupying a position between the Devonian
and Cretaceous Series exist on the flanks of the Riding
Mountain, it is probable that traces would have been dis-
covered in the drift. The space in which members of the
Carboniferous Series or superior formations might occur,
is narrowed down to a strip ten miles in breadth between
the salt springs south of Dauphin Lake and the outcrop
of the Cretaceous shales on the flanks of the mountain.
* The following label was attached to this specimen, “ Given to me by a
half-breed, who declared he picked it from ‘solid rock’ in Red River.”
(Doubtful. ) a VST
302 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
At least seven miles of this distance is so nearly hori-
zontal that it does not rise twenty feet above Dauphin
Lake, and the dip of the Devonian strata is uniformly at a
very small angle to the south-west, where exposures were
seen on Manitobah Lake. (Small local deviations from a
uniform dip on Snake Island and Moss River are noticed
in Chapters XXIV. and XXV.) The Cretaceous shales
were found exposed on the flanks of the mountain, about
400 feet above Dauphin Lake, and the rise from the level
country at the foot of the mountain to that altitude is
embraced within two and a half or three miles; yet
within this narrow limit the drift on the slopes between
each terrace, on the terraces themselves, or in the bottom
of gulhes excavated by mountain streams, gave no evi-
dence of other rocks than those already named. It must
be admitted that the time I could devote to an examina-
tion of the boulders was short, and a more minute search
might give other results.
With this negative evidence in view, it appears pro-
bable that the Carboniferous Series 1s not represented in
the only locality where it may be looked for with much
chance of success. Nevertheless, between the Devonian
and Cretaceous Series in the basin of Lake Winnipeg
there is still a vertical section fully 400 feet in altitude,
which is concealed by drift on the flanks of the Riding
Mountain, covering a horizontal area two and a half to
three miles broad. It is possible that within this narrow
limit, or further to the north where the area may be much
broader, rocks of Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, or Ju-
rassic age, may yet be found. With a view to show the re-
lation which the Cretaceous and Carboniferous Series have
to one another in lower latitudes, the following brief notice
of their occurrence in Nebraska and Kansas is introduced.
In Nebraska the Carboniferous Series, or the coal
sess) amie
aaa
ROCKS SOUTH OF THE FORTY-NINTH PARALLEL. 303
measures, are exposed at the mouth of the Platte *, and
extend up the river about fifty miles, when they dip be-
neath the water level of the Missouri. They are overlaid
by No. 1 of the Nebraska section of the Cretaceous Series
in lat. 41°:5, long. 96°. Cretaceous and Tertiary for-
mations then occupy the valley of the Missouri as far as
Fort Benton, lat. 47°°54, long. 110°, and extend into
British America. Hence it appears that, ten degrees of
latitude south of the Riding Mountain, the Cretaceous
Series repose on the Carboniferous without the inter-
vention of Permian, Triassic, or Jurassic rocks.
In Kansas territory, on the Kansas and Smoky Hill
Rivers, an elaborate section has been made by Messrs. F.
B. Meek and F. V. Hayden +, commencing with the Cre-
taceous sandstones on the summit of the Smoky Hills,
lat. 38° 30’ N., long., 98° W., and descending through
the various intermediate formations seen along the Smoky
Hills and Kansas River to the mouth of the Big Blue
River on the Kansas. ‘This section, over 1000 feet
vertically, passes from the Cretaceous to the upper coal
measures, and includes rocks of Permian age. Messrs.
Meek and Hayden remark, in relation to this section, “ It
will be observed we have in this general section, without
attempting to draw lines between the systems or great
primary divisions, presented in regular succession the
various beds with the fossils found in each, from the Cre-
taceous sandstone on the summits of the Smoky Hills,
down through several hundred feet of intermediate doubt-
ful strata, so as to include the beds containing Permian
* Notes explanatory of a Map and Section illustrating the Geological
Structure of the Country bordering on the Missouri ‘River, &c., by F. V.
Hayden, M.D.
+ Geological Explorations in Kansas Territory, by F. B. Meek and F. V.
Hayden, published in the Rroceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences at
Philadelphia.
304 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
types of fossils, and a considerable thickness of rocks, in
which we find great numbers of upper coal measure
forms. We have preferred to give the section in this
form, because, in the first place, the upper coal measures
of this region pass by such imperceptible gradations into
the Permian above, that it is very difficult to determine,
with our present information, at what particular horizon
we should draw the line between them, while on the
other hand it is equally difficult to define the limits be-
tween the Permian and beds above, in which we found no
hossilss. =
Jurassic or Triassic formations may occur above the
Permian in the section just referred to. Messrs. Meek
and Hayden state that “between No. 5 (of the Section)
and the Cretaceous above, there is still a rather extensive
series of beds in which we found no organic remains ;
these may be Jurassic or Triassic or both, though as we
have elsewhere suggested, we rather incline to the opinion
that they may prove to belong to the former.” f
Formation No. 1 of the Nebraska Series of the Creta-
ceous rocks has not yet been recognized in Rupert’s Land.
This formation reposes on Jurassic rocks in Nebraska
territory at the Black Hills.f It rests, as before stated,
upon the limestones of the coal measures on the Mis-
sourl, near the 42nd parallel.
“There is at the base of the Cretaceous system, at
distantly separated localities in Nebraska, Kansas, 'Ar-
kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Alabama, and New Jersey,
if not indeed everywhere in North America where that
system is well developed, (at any rate east of the Rocky
* Page 19, Geological Explorations in Kansas.
t+ Page 21, ibid.
t On the Lower Cretaceous Beds of Kansas and Nebraska, by F. B. Meek
and F. V. Hayden.— Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil, Dec. 1858,
published in Am. Jour. Sci. page 219, 1859.
CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS IN RUPERT'S LAND. 305
Mountains,) a series of various coloured clays and sand-
stones, and beds of sand, often of great thickness. In
this series organic remains, excepting leaves of apparently
dicotyledonous plants, fossil wood, and obscure casts of
shells, are very rarely found, but it everywhere preserves
a uniformity of lithological and other characters, point-
ing unmistakably to a similarity of physical conditions
during their deposition, over immense areas.
“ Although the weight of evidence thus far favours the
conclusion that this lower series is of the age of the
Lower Green Sand, or Neocomien, of the old world, we
yet want positive evidence that portions of it may not be
older than any part of the Cretaceous system.”
Judging therefore, solely from the relation which the
Cretaceous series bears to formations beneath them in
their development through Rupert’s Land, Nebraska, and
Kansas, we might expect to find on the Riding Mountain
in the vertical section concealed by drift, beneath forma-
tion No. 4, either formation No. 1, 2, and 3 of the
Nebraska section, or members of the Jurassic and Per-
mian as well as the Carboniferous series.
In the Report on the Geological Survey of the State of
Towa, published in 1858, the State geologist, James Hall,
advances a highly important view of the relation of the
Cretaceous formations to the Carboniferous Series. “ To-
wards the Rocky Mountains, the paleozoic rocks are
overlaid by the Cretaceous formation, which, in its lower
arenaceous members, stretches from the northern lmits
of the United States territories to the Gulf of Mexico,
and throughout a great part of this extent rests uncon-
formably upon the coal measures.
“The line of junction of these two formations is
obscured by the denudation of the higher one, and its
finely comminuted materials are widely spread over the
VOL. IL. ms
306 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
lower strata, forming with other materials the broad ex-
panse of prairie deposit of the west.” *
It is very gratifying to know that on the western side
of the great basin between the Laurentides and the
Rocky Mountains, and within the limit of the Saskat-
chewan valley, the Carboniferous series are represented.
Sir Roderick I. Murchison, in his address at the Anniversary
Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, in referring
to the splendid results of the Palliser Expedition, says,
“Thus in addition to the determination of latitude, longi-
tude, and the altitude of the mountains and two of their
passes, Dr. Hector presents us with a sketch of the
physical and geological structure of the chain, with its
axis of slaty sub-crystalline rocks, overlaid by limestones
of Devonian and Carboniferous age, and flanked on the
eastern face by Carboniferous sandstone, representing,
probably, our own coal fields, the whole followed by those
Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits which constitute the sub-
soil of the vast and rich prairies watered by the North
and South Saskatchewan, and their affluents.” F
Ammonites.
FROM M°KENZIE’S RIVER, PROBABLY FROM JURASSIC ROCKS.
[The two Ammonites from McKenzie’s River, are not
alone sufficient to determine the age of the rock from
which they were obtained; the larger one bears consi-
derable resemblance in form and general appearance to
several Jurassic species though they may belong to the
Cretaceous epoch. It is very desirable that a good
series of specimens should be obtained from this remote
* Remarks on the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations of Nebraska, &c.
&e., by F. B. Meek and F. V. Hayden, M.D. .
t Page 318, Proceedings of the Royal Geological Society, vol. iii. No. 4.
JURASSIC ROCKS OF M‘KENZIE RIVER. 307
northern locality, not only for the purpose of determining
the age of the formation, but for the light they might
throw upon far more interesting questions respecting the
probable climatic conditions in these high northern lati-
tudes during the secondary period. |
After the above paragraph was published in my report
on the expedition, page 182, Mr. Meek has written to me
to say: “Since writing the paper on these fossils for your
report, [ have seen some figures of Jurassic species from
the Aleutian Islands as high north as about the 58th
parallel. Amongst these there is an Ammonite (A. Wos-
nesseuskt, Grewingk. — Trans. Mineralogical Society of
St. Petersburgh, 1848-9, Pl. IV.) resembling one of those
I have described in your report (A. Barnstonz) so nearly
in some of its characters, as to strengthen my suspicions
that the rock from which these fossils were obtained on
McKenzie’s River may prove to be of Jurassic age. In
the peculiar deep conical characters of the umbilicus of
A. Wosnesseuskt, it is very similar to A. Barnstona but it
is a more compressed shell, with straighter and more
simple coste ; while its septa, if accurately drawn differ
from those of .A. Barnstoni, 1 am rather inclined to the
opinion that these rocks on McKenzie’s River will prove
Jurassic, but we must wait for additional evidence before
any positive opimion can be given.”
The Rey. Samuel Haughton, F.R.S8., discusses the ques-
tion of climate in the Arctic regions in relation to the
Liassic fossils found in szdz on Prince Patrick Island and
elsewhere north of the 75th parallel, in the geological
account of the Arctic Archipelago, published in the Appen-
dix to Captain McClintock’s Narrative. Professor Haugh-
ton says, “ But what are we to say as to the question of
temperature? It was certainly necessary for an Am-
monite to have a sea free from ice, on which to float and
x 2
308 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
bask in the pale rays of the Arctic sun; and therefore I
claim a temperature for those seas, at least similar to that
which now prevails in the British Islands ; and I may add
that the Ammonite, from its habits, was essentially depen-
dent on the temperature of the air as well as on that of
the water.” |
“There is at present a difference of 49° 5’ between the
mean annual temperature of Pomt Wilkie and Dublin;
and if this change of temperature be supposed to be
caused by a change of the relative positions of land and
water, the temperature of Dublin, or of some place on
the same parallel of latitude, must be supposed to be
raised to 99° 5’, while the temperature of the thermal
equator will exceed 124°,—a temperature only a few de-
grees below that requisite to boil an ege. I reject,
without scruple, a theory that requires such a result,
which must be considered as a minimum, as it is probable
that the Ammonite required a finer climate than that of
Britain for the full enjoyment of its existence.
“The theory of central heat, also, appears to me to be
open to the same objection, as a mode of explaining this
remarkable geological fact; for it will simply add a
constant to our present climates, leaving the difference to
remain, as at present, to be accounted for by latitude and
distribution of land and water.
“The astronomical theory of Herschel, also, which
would account for former changes of climate by changes
in the radiating power of the sun, would only increase
the temperature at each latitude, leaving the differences
as at present.
“The only speculation with which I am acquainted
which is capable of solving this opprobrium geologicorum,
is the hypothesis of a change in the axis of rotation of
the earth, the admission of which, as a geological possi-
GEOLOGICAL PROBLEM. 309
bility, is mathematically demonstrable, and which has
recently had some singular evidence in its favour ad-
vanced by geologists. In 1851 I brought forward, at
the Geological Society of Dublin, a case of augular frag-
ments of granite, occurring in the carboniferous limestone
of the county Dublin, and explained the phenomena by
the supposition of the transporting power of ice. In
1855 Professor Ramsay laid before the Geological Society
of London a full and detailed theory of glaciers and ice
as agents concerned in the formation of a remarkable
breccia, of Permian age, occurring in the central counties
of England; and still more recently the same agent has
been employed by the geological surveyors of India to
account for the transport of materials at geological
periods long antecedent to those in which ice transport is
commonly supposed to have commenced. The motion
of the earth’s axis would reconcile all the facts known,
and it must be regarded as a geological desideratum to
determine its amount and direction, and to assign the
cause of such a movement. ‘The solution of this problem
I regard as quite possible.” *
This very interesting question has already been solved
by the distinguished French mathematician, M. Leverrier.
At p. 163 of tome iu. of the Annales de 0 Observatoire
Impérial de Paris, M. Leverrier gives 4° 51’ 42” as THE
SUPERIOR LIMIT OF THE INCLINATION OF THE EARTH’S ORBIT
UPON THE ECLIPTIC OF 1800, subject, however, to small
corrections depending on any possible inaccuracies in the
values of the planetary masses employed in his researches.
Mr. J. R. Hind, Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac,
to whom I am indebted for the subjomed table, states
that the amount of correction cannot well exceed 8’, and
* Appendix to a Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John
Franklin and his Companions, by Captain McClintock, R.N., p. 395.
x3
310 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
probably is much less. The elements of the earth’s
orbit for periods of 10,000 years, reckoning backwards
from A.D. 1800, are subjoined, from which it will be seen
that the axis of rotation of the earth oscillates between
certain small limits (4° 51’ 42”), not sufficient to account
for the change in the climate of the Arctic regions which
the presence of the fossils there appears to involve.
Probably the influence of currents, similar to the Gulf
stream of the present epoch, may have been instrumental
in elevating the temperature of those regions, and pro-
ducing a climate which would admit of the existence
of Ammonites and plants, which can only flourish in a
temperate zone.
ELEMENTS OF THE EARTH’S ORBIT, ACCORDING TO M. LEVERRIER.
Longitude .
pigs ; - 5 fore Excentricity. - ofthe Inclination. 4 a pat eg
erihelion.
‘ ° / On aaah fe) /
— 100,000 0:0478 316 18 8 45 31 96 34
— 90,000 0:0452 340 2 2 42 19 16.17
— 80,000 0:0898 413 Il 1858 73 47
— 70,000 0°0816 VM ay a4 T-13 5S 136 8
— 60,000 0:0218 46 8 2 36-42 136.29
— 50,000 0:01381 Oa a 40 LG 9
— 40,000 00-0109 28 36 Acoma 91 59
— 80,000 O-0151 25 50 o 4he5i 66 49
— 20,000 0:0188 44 0 2 44 12 41 34
— 190,000 0:0187 78 28 | 24 Sam 16 39
0 0:0168 99.530 0: Oreo 0 O
* * The longitudes are referred to the Ecliptic and Equinox of 1800.
Mr. James Hall*, the present State Geologist of Iowa,
considers that the great development of the lower mem-
* Mr. James Hall, the author of that magnificent work, the Paleontology
cf the State of New York, &c. &e.
AMMONITES BARNSTONI. 311
ber of the Cretaceous formations in Western lowa and the
adjoining territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and its
extension below the line where any well-marked Creta-
ceous species have been found, “ suggests very strongly
that we shall yet find lower geological formations, or
those of the age of the Jura, or Oolite of Kurope.”*
The discovery of Oolitic or Liassic rocks in Exmouth
Island by Captain Belcher ; of Ammonites, Spirifer, Pec-
ten, &c. by Captain McClintock in Prince Patrick Island,
lat. 76° 30’, long. 117° W. in localities corresponding to
the northerly trend of the Carboniferous limestone of the
Rocky Mountain region, and the great thickness of the
rocks on an outher of the Llana Estacado below any well
marked Cretaceous fossils, indicate, Mr. Hall thinks, “ the
probable occurrence of lower fossiliferous rocks, or those
of Jurassic age, along the whole length of the Rocky
Mountains, and probably coextensive with the lower
members of the Cretaceous Series.”
Ammonites Barnstont. (N. 8S.)
[Shell compressed, subglobose, broadly rounded on the
dorsum, and prominent or subangular around the um-
bilicus which is deep, conical, and nearly as broad as the
outer whorl. Volutions having thei greater diameter at
right angles to that of the shell; each of the inner ones
about three-fourths hidden in the profound ventral groove
of the succeeding turn. Surface ornamented by distinct
recular costee, which are sharply elevated around the um-
bilicus, into small elongated subnodose prominences ; and
at less than half the distance across the sides of the whorl,
their number is increased nearly threefold by division and
* Geological Survey of Iowa, page 144.
x 4
312 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
implantation ; after which they become of uniform size,
and arch gently forward in passing over the dorsum.
The septa are deeply divided into five principal lobes
and six saddles, which are crowded together, and va-
riously branched and subdivided. The dorsal lobe is a
\
\
\\ ts
tlt:
\
OZ
AZZAA
SS WA
——S
=
=e
———
————
LSS
SS
S==
SS
——
AmMoNITE Barnstont. Side view, showing the deep umbilicus.
little longer than wide, and has three branches on each
side, the two terminals of which are nearly straight and
parallel; the first two lateral branches above these, are
nearly of the same size, but more diverging ; while the
third pair are much smaller—and all sharply digitate,
and more or less subdivided. ‘The dorsal saddle is longer
than wide, contracted in the middle, and irregularly di-
vided into four unequal branches, the two terminals of
which are subdivided into two branchlets each, and all
obtusely digitate, and variously sinuous in the margins.
ha
SEPTA OF AMMONITES BARNSTONI. 313
The superior lateral lobe is longer than the dorsal lobe,
but very irregularly branched, and, like it, provided with
—S = =
——- Ss ; =
sh A = 3
=
Front view of the same specimen.
numerous sharp digitations on all its divisions; at the
extremity it has three very unequal branches, the middle
one of which 1s much longer than the others, and very
slender; the other two are small, unequal, opposite, and
diverging ;—that on the right being subdivided nearly to
its base: above these there are several other unequal
alternating lateral branches, one of which on the right
side is much larger than the others. The lateral saddle
is rather smaller than the dorsal, and divided at the ex-
tremity into two very unequal branches, of which the
314 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
one on the left is larger than the other, and again deeply
divided into two bifid and deeply sinuous branchlets.
The inferior lateral lobe is much smaller than the superior,
and very irregularly divided into two or three alternating
By
Diagram of one of the septa of Ammonrres BarnsTont.
unequal lateral branches on each side, and one terminal
branch, with numerous sinuosities. The ventral lobe is
very small, and simply digitate.
This species bears considerable resemblance in form,
and in the size and character of its umbilicus, to the
Jurassic species A. irens, D’Orbigny (Pal. Franc., tome 1.
p. 562, pl. 222), but differs in having the costee pinched
up into little subnodose prominences around the umbilicus,
and bifurcating on the sides; they are also much more
arched in passing over the dorsum. TJt is quite different
ee | aan th
AMMONITES BILLINGSI. 315
from any of the described species from the Nebraska
rocks, though I think I have seen some fragments of it in
Lieut. Warren’s collections from No. 4 of the Nebraska
cretaceous subdivisions.
The specific name is given in honour of Mr. George
-Barnston, chief factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company,
who discovered it in the valley of Mackenzie’s River. It
is probably a Cretaceous species, but may be of Jurassic
age. |
Ammonites Ballingsi.
Fig.l. Fig. 2. Fig. 3.
os
NOS
Fig. 1.—Side view. Fig. 2.—One of the septa enlarged.
Fig. 3.—Front view of same specimen.
[Shell moderately compressed, or subdiscoidal ; dorsum
rounded ; umbilicus very small; volutions having their
ereater breadth at right angles to the shorter diameter of
the shell, increasing rather rapidly m size, or more than
doubling their diameter each turn; inner ones entirely
embraced, and hidden in the ventral groove of the last
turn : surface apparently smooth, but showing very faint
traces of radiating coste, which arch a little in crossing
the dorsum.
Dorsal lobe longer than wide, provided with three
branches on each side, the two terminal of which are
much longer than the others, and each subdivided,—the
subdivisions being short, and each having two or three
316 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
small digitations ; the first two lateral branches above
these are small, opposite, very diverging, and bifid or
digitate; and the third pair very small, and apparently
simple. The dorsal saddle is as long as the dorsal lobe,
but narrower, and has three or four short obtusely
rounded branches on each side. The superior lateral
lobe is nearly as large as the dorsal saddle, and has three
subequal branches at the extremity,—that on the dorsal
side being bifurcate, with digitate divisions; and the
middle, and other lateral divisions, are provided with three
or more small digitations each. The mferior lateral lobe
is much smaller than the superior lateral, and has much
the same form, excepting that its terminal division is
proportionally larger, and the principal lateral division on
the dorsal side is not so deeply divided. The ventral lobe
is a little smaller, but in other respects very similar to the
inferior lateral lobe ; between it and the umbilicus there
appears to be one or two smaller auxiliary ventral lobes,
which seem to show a tendency to branch in the same way
as the principal ventral lobe.
The specimen from which the foregoing description was
made out, is evidently a young shell ; consequently, adult
individuals of the same species may be expected to possess
much more distinct coste. The lobes and saddles of the
septa, in old shells, will also be found much more deeply
divided and more complex, but the mode of branching
probably remains the same from the time the ee
divisions are formed.
As the specimen described was found in the matrix
filling the umbilicus of A. Barnstoni (being only 0°67 inch
in its greatest diameter), it might be supposed by those who
know how widely the Ammonites sometimes vary at dif-
ferent ages, that it may be the young of that species. It
presents fundamental differences, however, in the mode of
AMMONITES BILLINGSI. 317
branching of the lobes and saddles of its septa, that can-
not be due to different stages of development. In addi-
tion to this, I found along with ita much smaller specimen,
evidently the young of A. Barnstoni, which shows that
the young of that species did not vary in form materially
from the adult, and is quite different from the species now
under consideration.
Tt has much the form of A. Hall, Meek and Hayden
meroceed. Acad. Nat. Sci, Phil., vol. vin. p. 70), and
there are no differences in the structure of the dorsal
lobes of the two, that might not be due to different degrees
of development. Their superior lateral lobes and dorsal
saddles, however, present radical differences, such as we
never see in the same species, however widely they may
differ im size or age.
I have named this species in honour of Mr. E. Billings,
the accomplished Palontologist of the Canadian Geolo-
gical Survey. |
318 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
CE AE x,
THE CRETACEOUS SERIES.— TERTIARY FORMATIONS.
Distribution of the Cretaceous Series in Western North America.—The
Nebraska Section.—Vertical Section in Nebraska and Rupert’s Land.—
Formation No. 1.—Formation No. 2.—Formation No. 3.—Formation No. 4.
— Great Development of Formation No, 4 in Rupert’s Land.—Fossils, —
Steatitic Minerals.—Analysis of.—Anomia Flemingi.—Inosceramus Cana-
densis.—Leda Hindi.—Scaphites Nodosus.—Clay Iron-stone.—Bands of
this Formation.—Distribution of—Richness of.—Analysis of.—Forma-
tion No. 5 of the Nebraska Section. —Its Occurrence on the Flanks of
Rocky Mountains.—Fossils of—Avicula Lingueeformis.—Avicula Ne-
brascana.—Nautilus Dekayi. TERTIARY Formations.—Lignite on the
Riding and Duck Mountains.—Sand Dunes probably derived from Ter-
tiary Rocks.—Tertiary Coal.—Lignite Basin of the Missouri.—Lignite on
the North Saskatchewan.—On Red. Deer River.—On the South Branch.
—Lignites of Oregon and British Columbia.
Tue Cretaceous Series are more extensively distributed in
Rupert’s Land, than any other fossilferous formations.
This remark, indeed, is susceptible of extension to the
continent of North America, where the extraordinary
development ef this series may be inferred from the fact,
that they have been traced continuously from beyond the
North _ Branch gf the Saskatchewan to the Gulf of
Mexico, and under the 52nd parallel, nearly across
the fossiliferous basin, or over 12° of longitude. Its
eastern boundary in Rupert’s Land is shown approxi-
mately by the Pembina Mountain, and the continuation of
that ancient sea coast, to the main Saskatchewan below
sats | tanta iil
THE NEBRASKA VERTICAL SECTION. 319
Fort a la Corne, thence north-westerly. Cretaceous
rocks were recognized by Dr. Hector* at the Snake
Portage, in lat. 54° long. 111° 30’; also on Little Red
Deer River, at the base of the Rocky Mountains, in lone.
114°.
This important series, as it occurs in Nebraska, has
been carefully studied by Messrs. Meek and Hayden. In
the notes explanatory of a map and section illustrating
the geological structure of the country bordering on the
Missour1 River, Dr. Hayden has described the rocks of
Nebraska Territory +, where the Cretaceous Series is best
developed; and as this division, styled the NeBRAsKA SEc-
TION, forms the standard to which the Cretaceous rocks of
the north-west are referred on the American Continent,
the following division of the series in Rupert’s Land is
based upon the Nebraska Section.
The vertical section of the geological formations of
Nebraska Territory, with their extension into Rupert’s
Land, as far as determined, is given on pp. 320, 321.
FORMATION NO. 1, OF VERTICAL SECTION.
The following excellent descriptions, enclosed in
brackets, of the formations constitutmg the Nebraska
Section, are from the clear and concise “ Notes Explana-
tory of a Map,’ &c., by F. B. Meek and F. V. Hayden,
M.D. They are introduced here for the purpose of com-
parison with the development of the same formations in
Rupert’s Land.
* Papers relative to the Exploration of British North America. Blue
Book, 1859. .
+ Notes explanatory of a Map and Section illustrating the Geological
Structure of the Country on the Missouri River from the Mouth of the Platte
River to Fort Benton, in lat. 47° 30’ N., long. 110° 30’ W., by F. V.
Hayden, M.D. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., May, 1857.
EXPEDITION.
SASKATCHEWAN
ASSINNIBOINE AND
320
‘snsopou saguydnoy ‘pzuaonjd saqvuowupy
“SULT DPIT URMOTOJBYSBG 9} Jo Youvsrg
Ynog—"sagruowmmp . : , , , ; . . 14:45
CaO ‘ : : : ; ; . Sees
MgO . ; : ‘ ’ 4 ;~ 25
FeO : ; 2 ; ‘ «S685
KO : ; : , . i> O42
HO : : : ; : : . 24°36
99:97
On the Quwappelle River this rock is again seen below
the Big Cut-arm Creek, and near the Scissors Creek, also
at White Sand River near Fort Pelly, and on Birdstail
Creek east of the Assinnibome. Although no distinc-
tive organic forms were procured, yet the lithological
aspect of the rock is the same as on the Little Souris.
This remark apples also to the outcrop on the Riding
Mountain.
An exposure, a few miles below the mouth of the
“River that Turns” on the South Branch of the Saskat-
chewan, contains at its base a hard calcareous sandstone,
containing Avicula lingueformis; below it is a soft
sandstone destitute of fossils. It 1s not improbable that
the strata above the second concretionary layer pass into
Formation 5 of the Nebraska section, and represent the
upper Cretaceous series in this region.
Formation No. 4, as developed on the Little Souris
* This analysis was kindly furnished me by H. H. Croft, D.C.L.,
Professor of Chemistry in University College, Toronto.
CLAY IRON-STONE ON THE SOURIS. 329
River, is distinguished by nodular masses of clay iron-
stone of great richness and in extraordinary profusion.
The locality where the clay iron-stone was first re-
marked occurs fifteen miles from the pomt where the
Little Souris debouches into the Assinniboine. Here the
rock consists of a dark-blue argillaceous shale with clay
iron-stone layers. The nodular masses vary from eighteen
inches to three inches in diameter. They are generally
of a compressed elliptical form, and vary from two to
nineteen inches in thickness. They form horizontal tiers
in the rock, and are often separated by steel-grey and
light ash-grey argillaceous bands, which also contain thin
seams of clay iron-stone of irregular thickness, and not
continuous for many yards.
Where the river has excavated a passage through the
Blue Hills of the Souris, the nodules of clay iron-stone
are seen disposed in regular layers, jutting out of the
cliff and presenting different colours, varying from steel-
grey to reddish-brown and light buff-brown, according to
the length of time they have been exposed to the action
of the atmosphere and the freedom of the ore from
mechanical admixtures, such as clay, lime, and magnesia.
A few miles west of the Blue Hills of the Souris, near
Plum Creek, the nodular masses of clay lron-stone were
everywhere distributed in the river and on the beach.
They formed, in fact, the chief constituents of the bottom
of the river, and it may be said to flow in this locality
over coarse clay iron-stone gravel. The section at the
spot referred to, was seventy feet thick, exposed in the form
of a nearly perpendicular cliff’ The whole of the layers
were either tinged with peroxide of iron or of a purple
hue, according to the degree of humidity to which they
had been exposed by deine from the prairie or springs.
Where the clay iron-stone bands were first observed
330 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
the river was flowing in a 8.W. by 8. direction; this
course it maintained for about thirteen miles; and then
suddenly turning at right angles, the valley pursues a
N.W. by W. course for twenty-six miles, it then turns to
the SW. again. For thirteen miles along the south-
westerly course, and twenty-three miles along the north-
westerly, course the iron-stone bands were seen whenever
the river was approached, and throughout the greater
portion of the distance the opposite bank and the rocks
' composing it were clearly visible, always preserving the
same aspect, and showing numerous clay iron-stone bands.
Hence we may infer that over this part of the country
drained by the Souris, the clay iron-stone is an integral
and important part of Formation No. 4, occurrmg in the
form of a series of bands of nodules or as thin sheets
of the ore, sometimes possessing thickness sufficient to
sive them great economic value, at other times thinning
out altogether.
On the flanks of the Riding Mountam, about ninety
miles N. from the great bend of the Little Souris, For-
mation No. 4 was recognized, and although in the valley
of Ochre River nodular masses of clay iron-stone were
seen, yet the layers were not observed forming a pro-
minent feature in the exposure on the flanks of the
precipitous and elevated N.E. escarpment of the Riding
Mountain. But no search was made for them during the
ascent, and snow covered the ground when we returned.
From the circumstance that the nodular masses of ore
were seen in the bed of Ochre River, it is not mmprob-
able that the iron bearing layers extend as far N. as
the Riding Mountain. Associated with the clay iron-
stone beds on the Souris is a very persistent band of the
steatitic mineral already noticed (p. 328), pale greenish-
yellow in colour, very unctuous and soft, and easily
CLAY IRON-STONE ON THE SOURIS. 331
‘moulded into forms by the hand. One bank on the
Little Souris is four inches thick. Others above and
below it vary from half an mech, and of irregular thick-
ness, to three inches. The soap-stone bands were noticed
on a,small tributary of the Little Saskatchewan, itself an
affluent of the Assinniboine, where Formation No. 4 crops
out. half way between the great bend of the Souris and
the Riding Mountain.
It is not improbable that the clay iron-stone bands
extend without interruption from the Little Souris to the
Riding Mountain. They would be deeply covered with
drift or the superior formations between the summit of
the Riding Mountain and the Assinniboine, hence, as
sources of iron-ore, not available under the present cir-
cumstances of the country.
On the Little Souris the drift is very shallow, sometimes
composed almost altogether of the ruins of the formation
itself, hence, over wide areas in its valley the ore is easily
accessible, and many thousand tons of nodules could be
picked from the exposed rock or from the bed of the
river, to be annually renewed by the wearing away of
the surface of the cliffs. A very rapid survey showed
that this annual renewal might be expected to take place,
to a certain extent, for a distance of thirty-six miles on
each side of the river, over an exposed surface of seventy-
two miles in all, without reckoning the vast accumulations
which must occupy the bends of the river where spits or
beaches are formed.
It has been stated at the beginning of this chapter that
the Cretaceous rocks extend from the North Branch of
the Saskatchewan to the frontier of Mexico, in part
flanking the Rocky Mountains. In Nebraska and Kansas
their physical and geological characteristics have been
more or less studied, and it would be interesting to know
332 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
whether the clay iron-stone forms there a constituent of
Formation No. 4.
Mr. Meek informs me that clay lron-stone concretions
occur at many places in the fourth division of the Creta-
ceous rock in Nebraska, but he has no knowledge of its
occurrence there in quantities tel to be considered
of much value.
The Quartzose sand, highly fenaeinias throughout
New Jersey, is one of the representatives of Formations
4 and 5 of the Nebraska Section, probably of No. 4.
The richness of the clay iron-stones of the Little Souris
may be inferred from the following comparison : —
The principal ore from which iron is smelted in
England and Scotland is the carbonate of iron of the
coal measures. It occurs chiefly in the form of nodular
masses associated with the strata of coal. This ore yields
from 50 to 40 per cent. iron of good quality.
The iron-ore of the Little Souris varies in quality,
many nodular masses appearing to consist nearly alto-
gether of carbonate of iron, and possess a semi-crystalline
arrangement like the sparry iron of the unfossiliferous
rocks. An approximate analysis of several specimens
gave 75 to 85 per cent. of proto-carbonate of iron, which
would answer to 34 per cent. and 41 per cent. of pure
iron respectively.
I am indebted to Professor Croft for an exact analysis
of a fragment of a nodule which he took, without making
any particular selection, from my specimens.
He found 82°720 per cent. of proto-carbonate of iron,
which is equal to 39:930 per cent. of iron, or very eens
40 per cent.
_ The richest specimen selected by Dr. Colquhoun, from
the sparry iron-ores of the Glasgow coal-field, gave
41:25 per cent. of pure iron. This differs by 1320 per
Apoke
RICHNESS OF THE IRON-ORE ON THE SOURIS. 323
cent. from the specimen analyzed by Professor Croft, and
I am convinced that a little care in selection would
establish the fact that the iron-ores of the Souris would
take a very high rank in point of richness in metal
among the most celebrated English and Scotch clay iron-
stone ores.
Subjoimed is Professor Croft’s analysis : —
Clay iron-stone from the Little Souris.
Bee CON. : : par ew eA0
CaO; “CO, . 3 662/05
MeO, CO,. . : : : : . trace
Insoluble residue : : : ‘a yolel
Phosphoric acid and loss. ‘ . 2°394
100-000
The following specimens are from Formation No. 4 of
the vertical section in Rupert’s Land.
Curious Spiral Fossil from the Two Creeks.
[Several impressions, apparently of the stems of marine
plants, occur in the specimens from the locality on the
Assinniboine, near the mouth of the Two Creeks.
Along with the above there are also specimens of a
very curious spiral body, differing from any fossil I ever
before met with. It is a long, slender, slightly flattened,
or sub-cylindrical body, measuring in every part of its
length about 0:18 inch in its greatest diameter, and very
regularly coiled into a spiral form, the turns being widely
334 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
disconnected, like those of a cork-screw. Each turn
measures about 0°58 inch across, and there are five turns
in a length of 2°15 inches. It is smooth, and shows no
organic structure under a common pocket lens, the organic
matter having been replaced by the fine sediment of
which the matrix is composed. Unless these are the
tendrils or root-like appendages by which some floating
plant clung to marine bodies, I can form no conjecture in
regard to their nature. (See p. 333.)]
Anomia Flemingi. (N. 8.)
Two different specimens of this species. The fine concentric lines representing
shading.
[Shell oval or sub-circular, compressed plano-convex,
extremely thin and fragile. Lower valve flat and ap-
parently more nearly circular than the ether. Upper
valve depressed, convex, rounded in front, and more
broadly and less regularly rounded on the ventral side ;
posterior margin obliquely subtruncate from the dorsal
side, rather abruptly rounded, and waved so-as to form a
broad very obscure fold at 1ts connexion with the ventral
margin; beak small, compressed, located near the middle
of the cardinal edge, but not projecting beyond it. Sur-
face marked by small obscure lines of growth. Length
1:10 inches; breadth from beak to opposite side, 1
inch. ;
INOCERAMUS CANADENSIS. 335
In Formation No. 4 of the Cretaceous beds in Nebraska
there is a species something like this, which Dr. Hayden
and I have described (but not yet published) under the
name of A. subtrigonalis. The species now before me,
however, is much more compressed, and more rounded
in outline. It differs from A. tellinoides of Morton
(Synop. Org. Rem., p. 61, pl. v. fig. 11), in being
straighter on the cardinal side, and in having the umbo
of the upper valve much less prominent and gibbous.
Named after Mr. John Fleming, one of the gentlemen
connected with the Saskatchewan expedition.
Locality and position.—Little Souris River, in soft lead-
srey argillaceous rock, or indurated clay, probably of
the age of the fourth division of the Cretaceous Series in -
Nebraska. |
Inoceramus Canadensis. (N. S.)
[Shell broad, oblong-oval, compressed, apparently very
nearly equi-valve ; anterior side rounded; posterior side
longer and more broadly rounded or sub-truncate ; base
forming a semi-oval curve; hinge straight, of medium
length ; beaks small, compressed, scarcely rising above
the hinge line, located near the anterior side, not very
oblique ; surface ornamented by small, obscure, irregular
concentric undulations, and fine closely arranged rather
indistinct lines of growth, which are generally only seen
on the outer fibrous layer. Length of largest specimen
about 3°35 inches; height near 2°80 inches.
The specimens of this species in the collection are im-
perfect, but retain enough of its characters to show it is
distinct from any of the known species in the Nebraska
formations. It resembles somewhat J. Sagensis, Owen,
(Report, Wisconsin, lowa, and Minnesota, tab. vii. fig. 3,)
336 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
but is much more compressed, and longer in proportion
to its height.
SSS Zi,
InockRAMUS CANADENSIS.—Left valve.
It also bears some resemblance to I. regularis, D’Orbigny,
eer
The finer concentric lines represent shading. The small figure x 4
f the shell, magnified four
Right valve.
shows the fine striz seen on the outer fibrous layer o
times.
FOSSILS FROM THE SOURIS. 337
(Pal. France, T. HI. pl. 410,) but is not near so deeply
rounded on the ventral border, and is more compressed.
Locality and position.—Same as last. |
Leda. Hindi. (N. 8.)
Natural size. The same enlarged.
[Shell small, sub-ovate, compressed; anterior side nar-
rowly rounded ; pallial border forming a broad semi-oval
or semi-ovate curve, not crenulate within; posterior side
a little longer than the other, much compressed, distinctly
sinuous below, and provided with a narrow, short, ob-
tusely pointed rostriform extension above ; umbones de-
pressed, located a little in. advance of the middle; hinge
having about twelve teeth in front of the beaks, and pro-
bably more behind ; surface ornamented by distinct, re-
cularly arranged, rather strong concentric lines. Length
0-35 inch ; height 0-18 inch.
This is a very neat little shell, which will be readily
distinguished from any of the species yet known in the
Nebraska Cretaceous rocks by the distinct sinus in its
postero-ventral margin. Even where the border is broken
away, the curve of the concentric lines will always show
that the sinus did exist in its margin.
The specimen does not show the pallial ine, but in form
and general appearance the shell is more like Leda than
Nucula; it may, however, possibly belong to the latter genus.
The specific name is given in honour of Professor
Henry Y. Hind, of Trinity College, Toronto, in charge of
the Assinniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition,
to whose zeal and industry we are indebted for much
interesting information respecting the geology and topo-
graphy of the country explored.
VOL. II. Z
338 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Locality and position. — Little Souris River, from an
equivalent to No. 4 of the Nebraska section. |
Scaphites Nodosus [?| Var.
Scaputtes Noposus.—Side view.
[Scaphites nodosus [?]—Owen, 1852. Rept. Iowa,
Wisconsin, and Minnesota. 3 :
Locality. —South Branch of the Saskatchewan, from
an equivalent of Formation No. 4 of Nebraska Section. |
Ammonites. — Sp. undt. (fragments).
[Locality and position.—Two Creeks, Eq. No. 4 of the
Nebraska Cretaceous series. |
Natica Obliquata.
[ Natica obliquata.—Hall and Meek, Mem. Acad. Arts
and Sci, Boston, vol. v. n. 8. p. 384, pl. iu. fig. 1.
Locality and position. —Two Creeks, on the Assinni-
AVELLANA CONCINNA. , 339
boine; in bed representing Formation No. 4 of the
Nebraska Cretaceous series. |
Front view of Scaphites Nodosus. The fine lines represent shading.
The specimen figured shows the remains of two rows of tubercles on the dorsum
—one on each side. They are much worn, and have been unfortunately omitted
altogether by the artist.
Avellana Concinna.
[ Acton concinna.— Hall and Meek, Mem. Am. Acad.
Arts and Sci., Boston, vol. v. N. 8. p. 388, pl. 11. fig. 6.
The specimen of this species, first figured in the paper
above cited, is either a young individual, or the outer lip
was broken away; for that now before me, which is
evidently the same species, has a strong thickened outer
lip; consequently, it cannot be a true Actwon, but agrees
more nearly with the characters of the genus Avellana.
Locality and position.—Same as last. |
Z 2
340 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Ammonites Placenta.
[Ammonites placenta. —Dekay, N. Y. Lyc. Nat. Hist.,
vol. u. pl. v, fig. 2; Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., vol. vi.
p: 88, &c. ; Morton, Synop, Ore, fem... p. 36, ph a figs.
1 and 2.
Locality and position.—South Branch of the Saskat-
chewan, from an equivalent of Formation No. 4 of the
Nebraska Cretaceous series. |
FORMATION NO. 5 OF VERTICAL SECTION.
This very interesting bed, though differing lithologically
from the preceding one, contains many of the same
species of fossils. It is worthy, however, of a distinct
position in the series, not only from its extent, thickness,
and difference of composition, but also from the more
favourable influence that it exerts upon the country un-
derlaid by it. In ascending the Missouri River it first
makes its appearance near the mouth of Grand River,
about 150 miles above Fort Pierre. Near Butte aux Greés
it becomes quite conspicuous, acquiring a thickness of
eighty or one hundred feet, and containing great quan-
tities of organic remains. Here it forms an extension of
what is called Fox Ridge, a series of high hills having a
north-west and south-east course, crossmg the Missouri
River into Minnesota at this pomt. Its north-eastern
limits I have not ascertamed. In its south-western ex-
tension it continues for a considerable distance nearly
parallel with the Missouri, crosses the Moreau River
about thirty miles above its mouth, then forms a high
dividing ridge between the Moreau and Sheyenne Rivers,
at which locality it first took its name. Continuing thence
its south-westerly course, it crosses the Sheyenne, and is
seen again In its full thickness at the heads of Opening
GENERAL CHARACTER OF FORMATIONS. 341
Creek and Teton River, forming a high ridge from which
tributaries of the Sheyenne and Teton take their rise.
The little streams flowing into the Sheyenne have a north-
westerly course, while those emptying into the Teton take
a south-easterly direction. We thus find that this bed
underlies an area of about 200 miles in length and fifty
miles in breadth, or about 10,000 square miles.
The general character of Formation No. 5 is a yellow
arenaceous and argillaceous grit, containing much ferru-
ginous matter, and in localities a profusion of molluscous
fossils. It forms a much more fertile soil, more hearty and
luxuriant vegetation, sustains a finer growth of timber than
Formation No. 4, and abounds in springs of good water.
Like No. 4, this bed yields a great abundance of quite
perfect and well-preserved organic remains. Many of
the species approximate so closely to Tertiary forms, that
did we not find them everywhere associated with Ammo-
nites, Scaphites and other genera which are not known to
have existed later than the Cretaceous epoch, we should
at once pronounce the formation in which they occur,
Tertiary. The whole thickness of this bed is estimated
at 100 to 150 feet. |
The rocks at. La Roche Percée near the boundary line
(long. 103° 59’), with their associated coal beds,*described
by Dr. Hector, are probably of the age of No. 5, as well
as those seen by the same gentleman on the west side of
the outer range of hills close to the main chain of the
Rocky Mountains.
An exposure of this formation occurs on the Eyebrow
Hill stream, where it joins the Qu’appelle Valley. A fer-
ruginous clay in yellow and red layers reposes on a hard
sreenish-coloured sandstone, seamed with veins of selenite,
and containing huge coneretions. No fossils were found
in the rock.
Z3
342 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
The upper part of the section on the South Branch, con-
taining concretions full of Avicula Nebrascana, is doubt--
less the representative of No. 5 in this region.
[Several of the specimens obtained near Sand Hill Lake
on Qu’appelle River, and the South Branch of the Sas-
katchewan, are from a green sandstone, which is more
indurated, but in other respects more like the green sands
of New Jersey, than any I have before seen from north-
western localities. In some of these, there are great
numbers of Avicula lingueformis and A. Nebrascana,
the first of which occurs in both Nos. 4 and 5 of the
Nebraska section, but is more abundant in the latter ; and
the other is nearly or quite restricted to No. 5, where the
two formations are not blended as is sometimes the case.
As this rock differs entirely in its lithological characters
from Formation No. 4,—while No. 5 is often highly
arenaceous, and sometimes assumes a slight greenish tinge,
at the higher northern localities in the Upper Missouri
country,—the probability is that 1t represents No. 5, or
the most recent member of the Cretaceous Series of the
north-west. |
Among the specimens procured from the South Branch
were Scaphites Conradi, Nautilus Dekayi, Avicula lin-
guefornis, Avicula Nebrascana, Rostellaria Americana.
Avicula Lingueformis.
An imperfect specimen of this species. The lines represent shading.
[Avicula lingueformis, Evans and Shumard, Proceed.
Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. vii. p. 163.
resfla
ee ao er eee
AVICULA NEBRASCANA.—NAUTILUS DEKAYI. 343
Locality and position —Sandy Hills; South Branch of
the Saskatchewan. Height of Land in the Quwappelle
Valley, near the Elbow of South Branch of the Saskatche-
wan.—Upper Cretaceous. |
Avicula Nebrascana.
Two specimens of this species.
[Avicula Nebrascana, Hivans and Shumard, Trans. Acad.
Sci. St. Louis, vol. 1. p. 38.
Locality and position.—sSouth Branch of the Saskatche-
wan.—Upper Cretaceous. |
Nautilus Dekayt.
Front view.
z4
344 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Nautilus Dekayt.—Morton, 1834. Synop. Org. Rem.,
pl. vin. fig. 4, and pl. xii. fig. 4.
AY
Xfi \
\ \
\
INA
| (\
ii
i)
a
1 WS
( hf
arth Va
(iq! Nea '{(i
( Al i,
= AR
ay } HT] ai
at
YY
Dine
Al WN"
cr
Side view of Nautilus Dekayi.
Locality and position.—South Branch of the Saskatche-
wan.—Upper Cretaceous. 7
Rostellaria Americana.
Rostellaria Americana.—Evans and Shumard, Trans.
St. Louis Acad. Sci., vol. 1. p. 42. - ;
Locality and position.—South Branch of the Saskatche-
wan,—Upper Cretaceous.
Scaphites Conradt.
Ammonites Conradi.— Morton, 1834. Synop. Ore.
Rem., p. 39, pl. xix. fig. 4.
TERTIARY FORMATIONS. 345
Scaphites Conradi.—D’Orbigny, 1850. Prodromus, p.
(214.
Ammonites Nebrascensis, jc. —Owen, 1852. Rep.
Iowa, &c. 7
Scaphites Conradi.—Meek and Hayden, 1856. Acad.
Matvocw Phila. px 28).
Locality and position.—South Branch of the Saskatche- _
wan.—No. 5, Nebraska Section, or most recent Cretaceous.
TERTIARY FORMATIONS.
No evidence of Tertiary rocks in position east of the
South Branch of the Saskatchewan was obtained during
the exploration.
On the crest and abrupt sides of the Riding, Porcupine,
and Thunder Mountains, the Indians affirm that beds of
Lignite exist, a statement rendered probable by the occur-
rence of worn fragments in the drift of the valleys of the
rivers flowing from those eminences.
But this does not establish the existence of Tertiary
rocks on these elevations or their flanks, for Dr. Hector
found at La Roche Percée, near the flanks of the Grand
Coteau, Lignite bands in a formation which much re-
sembles Formation No. 5 of the Nebraska section, and
from the occurrence of the underlying formation on
the Riding Mountain, itis not improbable that Formation
No. 5 is found in position there with associated beds of
Lignite.
The sand dunes, which form so distinguishing a feature
near the Elbow of the South Branch, may have been
derived from Tertiary sandstones formerly overlying the
upper Cretaceous rocks in that vicinity. In a foot-note
on page 139 of the Geology and Paleontology of the
Mexican Boundary Line, Prof. James Hall says that
346 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
the drifting sands of the south-west, like those of the north,
appear to be ‘derived from the sandstones of the Tertiary
period. |
In the Upper Saskatchewan, Tertiaries containing Coal
or Lignite are well developed; also on the flanks of the
Rocky Mountains. They are mentioned in the following
notices of the Lignites of the north-west.
TERTIARY COAL, OR LIGNITE.
Although the Lignites are not generally available for
economic purposes, yet some seams sufficiently pure for
use are known to exist in the great Lignite basin of the
Upper Missouri and Saskatchewan.
THE TERTIARY COAL OF THE NORTH-WEST. 347
extensive formation vary in thickness as well as in purity
at different localities. On the Yellowstone they are
found seven feet in thickness. At Fort Berthold on the
Missour1 a two-foot bed is pure enough to be used as
tuel.*
Governor Stevens states, in his Report of the Exploration
of a route for the Pacific Railway, that Lignite has been
traced from the Coulées of the Mouse (Little Souris)
River to the head waters of Milk River, a distance of
500 miles, apparently underlying the whole of that
extensive district of country, with a thickness of bed
varying from a few inches to six feet; he regards it as a
source of fuel not to be overlooked.
The Coal or Lignite at Edmonton occurs in three or four
beds, the principal of which is from four to six feet thick.
Dr. Hector says that it is of very inferior quality, burns
with no flame, but rather smoulders away, leaving a plen-
tiful ash. It is used in the forge at the Fort, and found
to answer tolerably well. At Rocky Mountain House,
Dr. Hector found the beds containing Tertiary coal
exposed on the banks of the Saskatchewan, but no bed
exceeded two feet in thickness. The coal-bearing strata
are exhibited more or less all the way from Rocky Moun-
tain House to Fort Edmonton, 211 mules by the river.
Four miles below this place the coal was seen by Dr.
Hector for the last time im descending the river on the ice,
and eighty miles below the Fort the associated beds disap-
pear, and upper Cretaceous rocks come to the surface
conformably.t
* Page 9. Remarks on the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations of
Nebraska, &c.. by F. B. Meek and F. V. Hayden, M.D.
+ Pacific Railway Reports, vol. i. p. 95.
t Blue Book.
348 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
An extensive deposit of Tertiary coal was found by the
same gentleman on Red Deer River, in lat. 52° 12’ N,
long. 113° W. associated with the same sands and clays as
at Edmonton. One group of three beds measured twenty
feet in thickness, of which twelve feet was pure coal, the
remainder being carbonaceous clays. This deposit on Red
Deer River extends over fourteen miles.
On the South Branch they are said to exist, by Sir
Alexander Mackenzie, in long. 116° W.; but as the
country between the Elbow and the mouth of Bow
River is still im part a terra imcognita, 1t is not improb--
able that important Lignite beds may be found much
‘further east than the longitude specified by that illustrious
traveler.*
At Nanino, Vancouver’s Island, lignite beds, long con-
jectured to be of Tertiary age, but now known to be
Cretaceous (Dr. Hector), have been worked to some extent
for the San Francisco market, and to supply steamers
which touch there.
Some years since Dr. Evans, U.S. Geo., described the
coal of Oregon and British Columbia. He says, “ These
coals do not belong to the true coal measures but to the
Tertiary period; they have, however, been altered by
voleanic action. _The Bellmgham Bay coal particularly,
in consequence, is of a remarkable crystalline structure,
and presents under the magnifier a very singular and
beautiful appearance. It will produce excellent coke,
and is well-suited to manufacturme and domestic pur-
poses. It burns freely and although rather light for long
sea voyages, unless the construction of furnaces should be
* Foot note, page 110, Am. Ed. Sir John Richardson’s Arctic Searching
Expedition.
+ Pacific Railway Report, vol. vi., Geological Report.
LIGNITES OF RUPERT’S LAND. 349 ©
changed, lessening the draft, is suitable for river naviga-
tion. The coal crops out at various points from the
British line to near Port Oxford in Oregon, and is acces-
sible to sail and steam navigation, and almost mexhaustible
in quantity. These coals with imperfect machines and
facilities for mining can be delivered ready for shipment
at from 28 to 38 per ton.”
Beds of Lignite are found at many places in Texas. A
bed four feet thick occurs on the Colorado, near Bastrop,
beneath a layer of Hocene fossils. This mineral is also
found on the Brazos*, and exists in abundance on the
Rio del Norte, the river formmg part of the boundary
line between the United States and» Mexico. Some
specimens in the last-named locality are so bituminous as
to be of no use in the blacksmith’s forge, where it runs
together and becomes baked mto a solid mass. Seams of
Lignite three to four feet thick are exposed on Elm Creek,
a tributary of the Del Norte, and have been used and
found valuable in a blacksmith’s forge. This Lignite
occurs in Cretaceous formations.
The occurrence of extensive Lignite beds in the valley
of the Mackenzie is well-known, and from the foregoing
enumeration of their distribution in Tertiary and Creta-
ceous formations, it is evident that more or less continuous
areas of this important mineral are to be found, along
the flanks of the Rocky Mountains, from Mexico to the
Arctic Sea.
In Europe it is well-known that Tertiary Lignite deposits
possess considerable economic value. They are worked
in France, Germany, and Switzerland. In England, the
Lignites of Devonshire, associated with beds of clay, are
* Blake, Pacific Railway Reports, vol. ii.
350 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
about seventy feet thick. The strata of Lignite coal near
the surface vary from eighteen inches to four feet in
thickness, separated by beds: of brownish-clay of about
the same dimensions. The lowermost stratum of Lignite
coal is sixteen feet thick.* |
* Phillips.
CLIMATE
OF THE
CHAP. XLI.
Climate of the Laurentides and the Prairies. — Frozen Lakes. — Mean
Annual Temperature.—Arid and Humid Region.—Sources of Humidity.
—Aridity West of the 98th Meridian.—Mississippi Valley. —Arid Region
of the United States—Humid Region of the Valley of Lake Winnipeg.—
Causes of.—Hlevation of the Country.—Humid Pacific Winds.—North-
easterly Current.—The Arid Region.—Prevailing Winds.—Source of the
Humidity.—Rocky Mountain Plateau.—Depression in.—Table of Eleva-
tion of Plateau and Passes.—Hail Storms.—Thunder Sterms in 1858.—
Progress of Dunes.—Summer Surface Wind.—Meteorology of Red River.
—Winter Temperatures. — Winter Temperatures at Montreal. — Cold
Terms.—Quebec Temperatures.—Climate of the South Branch of the
Saskatchewan.—Limit of permanently frozen Soil.—Growth of Forests.
—Tail of the Prairies.—Prairies Converted into Forest Land in Missouri.
—Character of the Great Plains in the United States—Major Emory’s
Statement. — Auroras. — October 2nd.— October 27th.— The Twilight
Bow.—Indian Summer.
THE climates of Canada and Rupert’s Land under the
same parallels of latitude, vary to a considerable extent
with the rock formations of the country. Throughout
the undulating region of the Laurentides, between Lake
Superior and Lake Winnipeg, the proportion of water to
dry land is about one to two, not collected into one large
water area, but distributed over the surface of the country
in the form of countless thousands of lakes, ponds, and
marshes. The intense cold of winter is sufficient to
solidify the deepest lakes for a depth of several feet, and
the thawing of so much ice in spring has the effect of
absorbing and rendering latent the heat which would be
VOL. IL. AA
354 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
otherwise expended in warming the soil and advancing
vegetation.
Lakes Winnipeg, Manitobah, and Winnipego-sis, to-
gether with the smaller lakes belonging to the Winnipeg
basin, are deeply frozen every winter ; ice often remains
in their northern extremities until the beginning of June
and greatly retards the progress of vegetation on their
immediate shores. The country is clothed with forests
giving rise to swamps where water accumulates. The
prairies are fully exposed to solar radiation and soon part
with their superabundant humidity. Hence one reason
that, north of the 47th or 48th parallel, the mildness of
the seasons increases rapidly as we advance towards the
west, after leaving Red River. The improvement arises
not only from greater longitude, but is influenced by the
character of the rock formations by which the country is
underlaid and surrounded. ‘The soil of the prairies is in
general dry and is rapidly warmed by the rays of the
sun in spring. The prairies enjoy too, north of the 58th
parallel, the genial, warm and comparatively humid winds
from the Pacific, which are felt as far north as the lati-
tude of Fort Simpson.*
The mean annual temperature of 40°, as determined
by the Smithsonian Institution, passes through Canada
and Lake Superior, curves northward and leaves the
United States for British America at about the 103rd
meridian, crossing the South Branch of the Saskatchewan
north of the Elbow.
The country embraced within the limits of our ex-
plorations may be divided into two regions in relation to
climate; the arid and the humid region. The vast tree-
less prairie west of the Little Souris lies within that part
of the area which receives comparatively a small annual
* Colonel Lefroy; Meteorological observations at Lake Athabasca and
Fort Simpson, p. 139, .
ARID REGION OF THE UNITED STATES. 355
rain-fall, Its northern limit is roughly shown by the
Qu’appelle Valley, or more accurately by an imaginary
line drawn from the fishing lakes to the Moose Woods.
North and east of this area the precipitation is consider-
ably greater, and supplies the valley of the main Saskat-
chewan, the Touchwood Hill Range, and the Valley of
the Assinniboine with an abundance of moisture, which
is protected and treasured by forests.
The valley of Red River east of the Little Souris, or
the 10lst degree of longitude, recetves much humidity
from the moist winds coming from the Gulf of Mexico
up the Valley of the Mississippi, and over the low height
of land which separates the waters of Red River from
those of the St. Peter.
The Touchwood Hill Range and the country generally
north of the Qu’appelle Valley, and in an easterly direction
towards and beyond Lake Winnipeg, are made humid by
the south-west Pacific wind, in concurrence with the pre-
vailig east wind of this region. These phenomena are
referred to in detail in succeeding paragraphs.
The cause of the aridity and unfitness for settlement of
fully one-third of the United States, has been ably dis-
cussed by distinguished meteorologists. This remarkable
feature, extending over a portion of the American con-
tinent within the limits of the United States, of more
than 1,000,000 square miles in area, is highly important
in relation to the valley of the South Branch of the Sas-
katchewan, to a large part of which the same peculiarity
belongs. The physical geography of the arid region in
the United States has been very admirably described by
Dr. Joseph Henry.*
“The general character of the soil between the Missis-
* Meteorology in its Connexion with Agriculture, by Professor Joseph
Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
AA 2
356 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
sippi River and the Atlantic is that of great fertility, and
as a whole, in its natural condition, with some exceptions
at the west, is well supplied with timber. The portion
also on the western side of the Mississippi, as far as the
98th meridian, including the States of Texas, Louisiana,
Arkansas, Missouri, lowa, and Minnesota, and portions of
the territory of Kansas and Nebraska, are fertile, though
abounding in prairies and subject occasionally to droughts.
But the whole space to the west, between the 98th
meridian and the Rocky Mountains, denominated the
Great American Plains, is a barren waste, over which the
eye may roam to the extent of the visible horizon with
scarcely an object to break the monotony.
“From the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, with the
exception of the rich but narrow belt along the ocean,
the country may also be considered, in comparison with
other portions of the United States, a wilderness unfitted
for the uses of the husbandman; although in some of the
mountain valleys, as at Salt Lake, by means of irrigation,
a precarious supply of food may be obtained sufficient to
sustain a considerable population, provided they can be
induced to submit to privations from which American
citizens generally would shrink. The portions of the
mountain system further south are equally inhospitable,
though they have been represented to be of a different
character. In traversing this region, whole days are fre-
quently passed without meeting a rivulet or spring of
water to slake the thirst of the weary traveler.
“We have stated that the entire region west of the
98th degree of west longitude, with the exception of a
small portion of western Texas and the narrow border
along the Pacific, is a country of comparatively little value
to the agriculturist ; and, perhaps, it will astonish the
reader if we direct his attention to the fact that this line,
HUMID REGION OF THE VALLEY OF LAKE WINNIPEG. 357
which passes southward from Lake Winnipeg to the Gulf
of Mexico, will divide the whole surface of the United
States into two nearly equal parts. This statement, when
fully appreciated, will serve to dissipate some of the
dreams which have been considered as realities as to the
destiny of the western part of the North American con-
tinent. Truth, however, transcends even the laudable
feelings of pride of country ; and, in order properly to
- direct the policy of this great confederacy, it 1s necessary
to be well acquainted with the theatre on which its future
history is to be enacted and by whose character it will
mainly be shaped.”
HUMID REGION OF THE VALLEY OF LAKE WINNIPEG.
Prominent among the causes which tend to give humi-
dity, together with an elevated spring and summer
temperature, to a part of the valley of Lake Winnipeg,
there may be noticed: — First, the comparatively low
elevation of the country above the sea level. The prairies
of Red River within British territory are not more than
730 feet above the ocean. Those on the South Branch
of the Saskatchewan, at the Elbow, do not exceed 1600
feet, and the mean elevation of the country between the
South Branch and the Riding Mountain is only 1200 feet
above the same level. The influence of the south winds
from the Gulf of Mexico on the Red River valley has
already been noticed.
Second, the influence of the warm westerly winds from
the Pacific Ocean in connexion with the prevailing
north-east wind, which is one of the established physical
phenomena of this part of British America. It would
appear, at first sight, that the snow-capped ridges of the
Cascade, Blue, and Rocky Mountains would abstract so
AA3
308 : ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
much heat from the warm westerly winds coming from
the Pacific Ocean, as to neutralize their mfluence upon
the winter and spring temperature of a large part of the
country drained by the Saskatchewan. Such, however,
is not the case; and happily for the purpose of practically
substantiating this apparent anomaly, we have indisput-
able testimony.
In the magnetical and meteorological observations at
Lake Athabasca and Fort Simpson, by Colonel Lefroy,
R. A., we find the followmg important observation, in
relation to the phenomena of Pacific winds affecting the
climate of the northern regions :—
“ A local phenomenon of interest was observed several
times at Fort Simpson (lat. 61° 51’ 7” N., long. 15°
5’ 40” W.), 460 miles from Sitka (1800 geo. miles from
Toronto), in the rapid rise of the temperature of the air,
when the wind changed to the south-west from an easterly
direction. It appeared as if the warmer air of the Pa-
cific Ocean were transferred across the neighbouring
ridges of the Rocky Mountains with little loss of its tem-
perature.”
Much of the precipitation in the humid region is due
to the Pacific winds, which are not so completely de-
prived of their moisture in traversmg the Rocky Moun-
tain Ranges as in lower latitudes, where the average
altitude of these ranges is much higher, and the eastern
slope of the mountain of a far greater mean annual tem-
perature.
The prevalent winds at Toronto and Lake Athabasca
belong, as shown by Colonel Lefroy *, to different and
nearly opposite systems. A north-westerly current pre-
ponderates in the lower latitudes (43° 39’), a north-easterly
current, inclined at an angle of about 117° prevails
* Magnetical and Meteorological Observations at Lake Athabasca.
| vaespsasaai
THE ARID REGION. 359
in the higher one (58° 45’). Between these latitudes
is a region of calm or of variable winds; and there can
be no doubt that the north-easterly current materially
affects the humidity of the climate of Rupert’s Land north
of the 50th parallel. The prevalence of north and north-
easterly winds during the winter months occasions a great
precipitation of snow throughout the humid region. In
the Touchwood Hill range, snow not unfrequently accu-
mulates’in the woods, where it is undisturbed by winds,
to the depth of two feet ; on the Riding and Duck Moun-
tain the precipitation is also large, and throughout the
humid region very much in excess of the precipitation in
lower latitudes.*
Forty-eight inches of rain and thirty-nine inches of
snow were registered by Mr. Gunn near the Stone
Fort, Red River, between June Ist, 1855, and May 31st,
1856. The precipitation at Toronto during the same
period was thirty inches of rain and seventy-two of snow,
giving an excess of humidity to the climate of the Red
River Settlements, when compared with Toronto, which is
represented by fourteen inches, a quantity exceeding the
annual precipitation over the greater portion of the eastern
flank of the Rocky Mountains south of the great Missouri
bend.
The arid region, or Great Plains, west of the 101st
degree of longitude, receive a very small amount of pre-
cipitation from the humid south winds coming up the
Valley of the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico. It is
too far south to be much affected by north-east winds, or
the westerly winds from the Pacific. This vast treeless
prairie forms, in fact, the northern limit of the great arid
region of the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains; but
* Compare Lorin Blodget’s Rain Charts,
AA4
360 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
still its humidity is greater than that of the plains south
of the Missouri, im consequence of its high northern
latitude.
All the thunder-storms we encountered in 1858 in the
valley of Lake Winnipeg, came from the west, south-west,
or north-west, with one exception. I do not find a single
record of thunder-storms with heavy rain coming from
the south. This may have been an exceptional year, but
the warmth and dryness, often oppressive, of the south
wind, west of the 100th degree of longitude, contrasted
strongly with the humidity and coolness of winds from
the west. This phenomenon is directly opposed to those
which prevail in lower latitudes, and may probably be
explained as follows : —
Warm air from the Pacific, loaded with moisture,
passes at certain periods of the year over the whole range
of the Rocky Mountains in British America and in the
United States. These Pacific winds occasion but a very
small precipitation of rain or snow on the eastern flank
of the Rocky Mountains, south of the great Missouri
Bend. Similar winds from the Pacific do occasion a con-
siderable precipitation in the northern part of the Saskat-
chewan Valley. Whence, then, this apparent anomaly ?
It probably arises from the difference in the temperature
of the two regions, the direction of the prevailing winds,
and the lowness and comparatively small breadth of the
Rocky Mountain ranges in that latitude. In spring and
summer, warm westerly winds laden with moisture, in
passing over the mountain range south of, say the 46th
parallel, are cooled to a certain temperature, and pre-
cipitate the greater portion of their moisture in the form
of rain or show upon the mountain ridges. On arriving
at the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains, their tem-
perature rises to that of the region over which they pass,
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PLATEAU. 361
being elevated by the deposition of their moisture and
continually increasing density as they descend; but the
capacity of air for moisture is well known to be de-
pendent upon its temperature within certain limits ; hence
the westerly Pacific winds become more warm and more
dry as they descend the Eastern Rocky Mountain slope,
until they meet the moist winds from the Gulf of Mexico,
passing up the Valley of the Mississippi, towards and
through the region of the great Canadian Lakes, and over
the low height of land separating the waters flowing into
Lake Winnipeg from the Mississippi Valley.*
In the latitude of the Valley of the Saskatchewan, how-
ever, the moist south-west winds from the Pacific find a de-
pression in the Rocky Mountain range and a low con-
tracted plateau ; they lose less humidity than winds passing
over the higher and broader ranges to the south, and
meet with a prevailing north-easterly wind as they begin
to descend their eastern flanks; their temperature is
consequently lessened instead of being elevated, and their
capacity for moisture diminished ; hence, precipitation in
the form of rain and hail takes place in descending the
slope towards Lake Winnipeg.
There is no doubt that the south-west Pacific winds,
passing through the depression in the Rocky Mountains
near the 49th parallel, and over the narrow plateau on
which they rest, without losing the whole of their mois-
ture, give humidity to the large portion of Rupert’s Land
they traverse.
The great plateau on which the Rocky Mountain ranges
rest, has an average elevation of 4000 feet near the 32nd
parallel of latitude, the lowest pass in the most easterly
range being there 5717 feet above the ocean. Along the
* Meteorology in its Connexion with Agriculture, by Professor Joseph
Henry.
362 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
35th parallel the vertical section across the mountain
system is of greater width and elevation. The mean
height above the ocean is about 5500 feet, and the lowest
pass 7750 feet. Between the 38th and 40th parallel the
section has an elevation of 7500 feet, and the lowest pass
is 10,032 feet above the level of the sea. Beneath the
parallel of 47° the base of the plateau is narrow, and has
an average altitude of 2500 feet, the lowest pass beimg
6044 feet above the ocean.* Within British territory
north of the 49th parallel the passes in the eastern range
are still lower. The recent measurements by Captain
Palliser’s Expedition show that the height of the Kutanie
Pass in latitude 49° 30’ is nearly 6000 feet above the sea
level; the Kananaski Pass 5985 feet, and the Vermilion
Pass, traversed by Dr. Hector, in latitude 51° 10’, only
4944 feet above the ocean.
The following table exhibits the elevation of the Rocky
Mountain plateau, and the height of the lowest Passes
above the ocean : —
Table showing the elevation and breadth of the Plateau on which the Rocky
Mountain ranges rest, and the height above the Ocean of the lowest Passes,
From the 32nd parallel to the 51st parallel, North Latitude.
Breadth and Elevation of Plateau between the 32nd and 49th
arajlels.
3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000
and and and and and and and
4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10,000
feet. feet. feet. feet. ‘feet. feet. feet.
|
miles. miles. miles. miles. miles. miles. miles.
32nd parallel =. | 170 | 508
35th 185 160 303 235 95
38th and 39th parallel. 143 725 284 110 155 80 20
Alstand 42nd _ 160 580 285 270 107 20
A7th and 49thy . .| 130 97 28
ee
* Dr, J. Henry, “Meteorology in its Connexion with Agriculture.”
+ Pacific Railroad Explorations.
HAIL-STORMS.—-PROGRESS OF DUNES. 363
Sumnut of the lowest passes above the Ocean from the 32nd to the 5lst
parallel, North Latitude.
. Feet.
32nd Parallel é , ‘ go OYE RT.
Soth ,, ‘ : : 7,472
38th and 39th Parallel ; . 10,032
4lstand 42nd __s,, : . "8872
47th and 49th _—sC, : » 6,044
Kutanie Pass, lat. 49° 30’ . - 6,000 5, ( Passes discovered by
Kananaskis Pass, north of 49th par. 5,985 3 { Captain Palliser’s
Vermilion Pass, lat. 51° 10’ . 4,944 4 Expedition. *
Not only has the depression in the Rocky Mountain
range, north of the 47th parallel of latitude, a remarkable
effect upon the climate of the Valley of the North Saskat-
chewan, but its bearing upon means of communication
between the Atlantic and Pacific slopes of the Rocky
Mountain ranges, is of the greatest importance.
Hail-storms are not unfrequent durmg the summer
months in Rupert’s Land, and the prairies sometimes
retain the records of their occurrence for many weeks.
On the Grand Coteau de Missouri, hail-storms are so
violent that the stones have been known to penetrate the
buffalo-skin tents of the Indians who hunt on that elevated
plateau. The thunder-storms of 1858 are given in the
annexed table.
The progress of dunes affords a very excellent indi-
cation of the direction and force of prevailing winds.
The Devil’s Hills and the sand dunes surrounding that
dreary waste on the Assinniboine, in long. 99° 40’ W.,
showed a bare advancing surface towards the north-east,
being pushed in that direction by the prevailing south-
west wind. The sand dunes at the Height of Land in
the Qu’appelle Valley, in long. 107° W., lat. 51° N , were
advancing in an easterly direction; their clean surfaces
were facing the east.. Had they progressed under a pre-
vailing south-west wind, they would long since have
* Proc. Roy. Geog, Soc. vol. iti, No, 5,
364
ASSINNIBOINE AND
SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Table showing the number of days on which rain fell, with the character of the
Thunder-storms, during the Summer of 1858, in the Valley of the Assinni-
bone and Saskatchewan.
18 2-4 p.m
19 6 am
20 Sunset.
21 11 a.m.
1 p.m.
Al 6 p.m.
22 3.45 p.m.
6 p.m.
25 8-10 p.m.
26-27 Night.
29-30 Night.
30 6 a.m.
July
4 11 a.m.
5 10 p.m.
9 9 a.m.
ia 3 p.m.
13 7 p.m.
10 p.m.
14 2.30 p.m.
to 4.30
14s Night.
15 : ;
18 Tels sp a:
19 4 p.m.
22 Noon.
28 1 p.m.
August
2 4 p.m.
4 |4,380 p.m.
5 : E
11 6 p.m.
18 6 p.m.
25 Noon.
Character of Storm.
Heavy rain, thunder
Slight rain
A. terrific thunderstorm, heavy
rain, high wind
Tremendous thunderstorm, hail-
stones 1-14 in. in diameter
Thunderstorm, heavy rain .
Terrific thunderstorm, continued
roar of thunder without inter-
mission for 14 hours
Violent thunderstor m, heavy rain
Thunder and rain :
Thunder and rain.
Heavy rain with rolling thunder, ;
without intermission for 1 hour
Rain
Lightning in the east, no , rain,
thermometer in shade 92° at
noon
Rain .
Thunderstorm, hail, and heavy
rain :
Thunderstorm of unusual violence
and sublimity—see narrative .
Thunder and rain
Rain all last night .
Rain North of Ow appelle temp.
at 6 a.m. 45° .
Heavy rain and thunder
Rain North of Qu’appelle Valley
Violent thunderstorm with heavy
rain and hail .
Rain in torrents
Heavy thunderstorm with rain .
Thunderstorm, heavy rain .
Heavy rain .
Violent thunderstorm ;
Thunderstorm, rain and wee
wind p
Violent thunder aloreie anal rain
Locality.
Prairie Portage.
Do. do.
Bad Woods.
Bear’s Head Hill.
Da, do.
Sandy Hills.
Little Souris.
Do. do.
Do. do.
Do. do.
Great Prairie,
Do. do.
Assinniboine.
Fort Ellice.
Qu’appelle Valley.
Do. do.
Do. do.
Qu’appelle.
Do.
Do.
South Branch.
Do. do.
Do. do.
Long Creek & Main
Saskatchewan.
Main Saskatchewan.
Do. do.
ee
CLIMATE OF THE VALLEY OF RED RIVER. 365
invaded and filled up the Valley of the Qu’appelle.
These existing records of prevailing winds during the
period when the dunes are not frozen, show that while
the south-west is the most effective as a summer surface
wind in Rupert’s Land under the 99th meridian, on the
South Branch of the Saskatchewan, eight degrees further
west, westerly winds prevail.
THE CLIMATE OF THE VALLEY OF THE RED RIVER.
The climate of the Valley of Red River exhibits the
extremes of many characteristics which belong to the
interior of continents in corresponding latitudes. High
summer temperatures, with winter cold of extraordinary
severity appear to prevail in the district called Assinniboia,
as in the interior of North-Eastern Europe and Asia. It
cannot fail to be noticed, however, that the general
absence of late spring and early autumn frosts, with an
abundant fall of rain during the agricultural months, are
its distinguishing features in relation to husbandry. The
melon, growing in the open air and arriving at perfect
maturity in August and September, Indian corn succeed-
ing invariably when due precautions are used to ensure
ripening before the middle of September, are strong
proofs of the almost uniform absence of summer frosts.
A comparison with the climate of Toronto * for
corresponding months of the years 1855 and 1856,
reveals, some very curious and interesting facts, which
may possess importance. Limiting our attention at pre-
sent to the summer months we find from inspection of the
following table of comparison, that the summer of Red
River during the year of comparison was more than
* This comparison, given on the next page but one, was made by Mr.
James Waker, assistant at the Observatory, Toronto,
366 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
three degrees warmer than the summer at Toronto,
and with this excess of temperature there occurred the
unexpected difference of 21°74 inches of rain in favour of
Red River during that year.
It must be borne in mind, however, that the results of
one year’s comparison are not of much value in estimating
the relative chmatic adaptation of regions far apart; nor
do they afford sufficient data for a fair estimate of the
climate of the locality where the observations were made.
The small difference between the temperature of the
spring at Toronto and Red River is an interesting fact.
While the summer shows an excess of 3°, the spring
gives a deficiency of 2°, so that the mean of the spring
and summer months at Red River was nearly one de-
sree higher than the corresponding months at Toronto.
No feature in the meteorology of this distant region is
likely to excite so much interest as the extraordinary fall
of rain during the agricultural months. It is well known
that the cause of the sterility of a vast region on the east
of the Rocky Mountains, within the limits of the United
States, is traced to extreme aridity. The great American
desert, which places so vast a barrier between the Missis-
sipp1 Valley and the west flank of the Rocky Mountains,
derives its barrenness from the absence of rain during the
summer months. A fall of thirty mches in the Valley of
Red River during the summer of 1855, with a corre-
sponding fall of 8°76 at Toronto, shows a remarkable
difference in the humidity of the two places, and one
which report states is generally maintained in other years.
The following comparisons refer to corresponding
months of the same years, and are of course lable to
those annual fluctuations to which the climatic elements
of all countries are subject. It is very probable that
more extended observations will reduce the extremes.
TABLE OF COMPARISON. 367
Comparison of the meteorology of Red River Settlement with Toronto, Canada
West, with reference to mean temperature, depth of rain and snow, from
corresponding observations at both stations, from June, 1855, to May, 1856,
mmcelusive.
Mean Rain Snow
Temperature. in inches. in inches. Temperature: Rain
and Snow
Month. at Red River
+ or — of Toronto.
Red R. | Toronto.| Red R. |Toronto.| Red R. |Toronto.
1855. iy . 2 : = a SUMMER.
June . | 69:10} 59:93} 6-0 | 4:07 0:0 0-0 | Temp. + 3-78
July eee 6 |. 67:95)! 12-0" | 3:24 0:0 0-0 | Rain + 21-74 ins.
August . | 63:03} 64:06] 12-5 | 1:45 0-0 0-0 | Snow 0-0.
Summer . | 67:76/} 63:98} 30:5 | 8°76 0:0 0:0
AUTUMN.
September | 59:26) 59:49; 5-0 | 5:59 0:0 0:0 Temp. — 6°94.
October . | 42°20! 45:39; 0-0 | 2-48 2-0 08 | Rain — 5:16 ins.
November | 21:19) 38:58} 2:5 | 4:59 7:0 3°0 | Snow + 5-2 ins.
Autumn , | 40°88) 47:82| 7:5 |12°66 9:0 38
1856. WINTER.
December. | —8°31 | 26:99} 0:0 | 1°85 8:0 | 295 | Temp. — 26-42.
January . |-10-55| 16:02) 0-0 | 0-00 5:0 | 13-6 | Rain—1-85 ins.
February . | -1°71| 15°69} 0-0 | 0:00 6:0 97 | Snow — 38°8 ins.
Winter . | -6:85| 19°57} 0-0 | 1:85 | 19:0 | 52:8
SPRING.
March : 9:09 93°06 0:0 0:00 6:5 16:2 Temp. ae 9-33,
April | 39-83 | 42°27 |; 6-5. | 2°78 3:0 Ol | Rain + 3-14 ins.
May _ | 58-46] 50°52} 4:0 | 4:58 2:0 | Inap. | Snow — 4:8 ins.
Spring . | 35-79; 38:°62/ 105 | 7:36 | 115 | 63
Annual . | 34:38! 42°50| 48:5 |80°63 | 39:5 | 72:9
ANNUAL.
Colder mean temperature ; : : ; i 8 12
More rain . 17:87 inches
‘Less snow . : : 2 : ; ; 33:4 o
More moisture and most probably less evaporation . 14:53
At Quebec the difference between the mean tempera-
ture of summer and winter is 53°93; at Fort Snelling
56°81 ; and at Red River Settlement 74°61 in 1855.
368 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
The summer temperature of Red River, and the ab-
sence of frosts durmg that season, determine its fitness
for agricultural purposes. The following table exhibits
a comparison, based upon one year’s observation only,
between the summer temperature of the Settlement and
various other well known places in Canada :—
Summer temperature at Red River Settlement . G76
Montreal, Canada. . : . ‘ ‘ . 66°62
Quebec : ; ‘ ‘ 5 ‘ : ; . 62°91
Toronto. : 63-98
Assuming that the annual mean of 34°38 deduced from
the following tables is within two or three degrees of what
would be the results of several years’ observation, we find
upon inspection of Dove Tables, that there is not one
locality within the limits of the United States where so
low an annual mean occurs. At Kasan (Russia) lat.
55°48, long. 49°7, the mean of ten years was 35°45, and
the difference between the hottest and coldest months
61°33, while at Red River the difference was 82°15 in 1855.
The difference between summer and winter at Kasan was
56°00; at Red River 74°61. At Orenburg, lat. 50°46,
or in nearly the same latitude as that part of Red River
Settlement where these observations were made, and in
long. 55°6, the annual mean is 35°6; the difference be-
tween the hottest and coldest month 66°38, and the
difference between winter and summer 59°66. The fol-
lowing table will exhibit this relation at a glance :—
Difference Difference
between between
Latitude. Longitude. Annual Hottest and Summer
Mean. Coldest and
Months. Winter.
Red River Set-} 50°15’ 97°W. 34°38 82°15 74:61
tlement (1855) :
Kasan, Russia 5548 49°7 Is. 30°45 61:33 56:00
Orenburg . .{ 50-46 55°6 E. 35:06 66°38 59-66
WINTER TEMPERATURES. 369
SEASONS OF THE VALLEY OF LAKE WINNIPEG.
The natural division of the seasons in the Lake Winni-
peg Valley is as follows :—
Spring — April and May.
Summer — June, July, August and part of September.
Autumn — Part of September and October.
Winter — November, December, January, February
and March.
The natural division of the seasons is strikingly repre-
sented by the early and rapid advance of temperature in
May in the valley and prairies of the Saskatchewan; and
it is also indicated in a very marked degree by the ex-
tension northwards to the same valley, between the 95°
and 105° of longitude, of numerous plants, whose geo-
eraphical distribution, east and west of those limits, has
a much more southern climatic boundary. The limits of
trees rise with the isothermal lines, and these attain a
much higher elevation in the interior of British America
than on the Atlantic coast.*
In relation to agriculture, the mtensity of winter cold
is of comparatively little moment. The elevated spring
and summer temperature, combined with the humidity of
the region in the Valley of Lake Winnipeg, enable Indian
corn and the melon to ripen, if ordinary care is taken
in selecting soil and in planting seed.
The extraordinary cold of the winter of 1855 and
1856 at Red River, is shown by the tables for December,
January, and February, (Mr. Gunn’s observations,) which
- give a mean of — 6°85 for the temperature of that season ;
but if we turn to the records for 1857 and 1858 + we
find the mean temperature of the winter to have been
* Gray.
+ Meteorological tables recorded by Mr, Dawson’s party.
wom. IT. BB
*
370 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
2°87, showing a difference of eight degrees in favour of
the winter of 1857-58. The temperatures recorded
were as follows : —
1855-56. 1857-58.
December . : , . —831 5 . Oat
January : : : » —10°55 ; . —6:2
February. : : . —l71 ; . —6:68
Winter Mean . : . —6:85 ‘ . —2°87
The thermometers supplied to the Red River Expedition
in 1857, were made by Negretti and Zambra, and were
of the best construction.* They had been compared with
a standard at the Provincial Observatory, and their errors
recorded, but it does not appear that the proper correc-
tions were made after each observation. Mr. Gunn’s
thermometer was an ordinary instrument, and, like many
of its class, liable to errors at low temperatures. It is,
therefore, probable that his winter temperatures are too
low, and that the true mean of the winter months at Red
River, and consequently the annual mean, may be con-
siderably higher than it appears from his observations.
The cold of February 1858 was exceptional. At
Montreal it was the coldest February on record, being
14°:05 below the mean temperature of February, 1857.+
But it cannot be denied that the winter cold of Red
River is excessive, and the temperature sometimes falls so.
low as to freeze mercury in a few minutes.
The meteorological register kept at the Stone Fort,
* These thermometers, together with other meteorological apparatus,
were furnished to the different members of the Red River Expedition in
1857, by the permission of the Rev. Dr. Ryerson, Chief Superintendent of
Schools, from the stock of instruments provided by the Chief Superintendent
for observatories attached to the Grammar Schools throughout the Pro-
vince. The thermometers were compared and their errors determined and
tabulated at the Provincial Observatory. A table of errors was attached to
each instrument.
+ Records of St. Martin’s Observatory, Isle Jesus.
WINTER TEMPERATURES AT MONTREAL. 371
Lower Settlement, in 1847, under the superintendence of
Captain Moody *, from which extracts were permitted to
- be made by Dr. Owen, furnish trustworthy evidence re-
specting the severity of the climate in winter.
The mean temperature for January 1847, was — 12°°5.
Observations being taken at 9 am. 3 p.m, and 9 P.M.
During twenty-two consecutive days of this period, from
the 5th to the 26th inclusive, the thermometer never once
rose to zero. The lowest temperature reached was — 48°,
the highest 30°, giving a range of 78°. On the coldest
day, the 20th, when the thermometer showed — 48° at
the Stone Fort, and — 47° at Fort Garry, mercury froze
in fifteen to twenty minutes when exposed in_ bullet
moulds.
Although there is no record of cold terms in Canada
approaching the extreme low temperature and extending
over so long a period as those instanced above, yet cold
terms of great intensity are not uncommon in Lower
Canada. In the excellent observatory of Dr. Smallwood’s
at Isle Jesus, nine miles west of Montreal, the folowing
records of cold terms have been preserved + :—
Low Temperatures at Isle Jesus, Nine Miles west of Montreal. C.L.
On the 22nd and 23rd Dec., 1854.
~ 22nd,—8 a.m., 31°6 below zero. 12 p.m., 34:8 3
Se eal - 23rd, —-6 A.M., 36:2 .
1 ee Yr C4, B00 .
Pee, he S ¥ 8, 3843 ry
i), 16:6 > 1): 5, . 241 P
1 Pa, 12°1 3 12° gi: dor 4s
se LES os 2P.M., 12°6 5
3 yy 8-1 ” a; 91 ”
7 » 234 ” 6, B26 ”
Sy, . 20°9 a Ons ono 7
10 ,, 28:2 below zero.
* See Dr. Owen’s Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota,
page 181.
+ Canadian Journal for 1855, and The Canadian Naturalist for April,
1859,
B B 2
372 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
On the 9th, 10th and 11th Jan., 1859.
9th.—6 a.m., 29:9 below zero. 2 p.m., 14:3 below zero.
yy 29°0 ” 9 5, 288 ”
» 28-4 ” 10 ,, 29:2 ”
12 gs ae ts 2) eleo 5
2 P.M., 21°5 4 lith—6 a.m., 37:1 4
9, 339 ” 7 369 ”
1O 0 B42 . 12 2 2a 7
12 36'0 2 p.M., 19:9 ss
10th.—6 a. M., 45°6 it 9 4g. 20 A
1 ty) took ze 10 5, 2h 35
9_.,, -416 on 12 «5 5 Sek *
2 o
In January, 1859, the thermometer did not rise above
zero during a period of 124 hours 30 minutes, or
more than five days. Mercury froze in the openair. The
mean temperature on the 9th was — 27°°8; 10th, —29°-0;
11th,—28°:2. Dr. Smallwood says that this cold term
was felt generally throughout Canada and the Hastern
States, and seems to have traveled from the west.
The folowing minimum temperatures were observed
at different places :—
Rochester : 5 ‘ : » 10-0 below zero.
Brooklyn, (New York) Spee 5 , oO 2
Boston . : : : . 140 on
Toronto . ‘ , 5 ° : . 26°5 Bs
Quebec. a ; : : : » 40-1 5
Huntingdon ; ; : : : . 440 os
For the purpose of comparing the monthly mean at
Quebec (lat. 46° 49" 2”, long. 71° 16’) with those of Red
River, the table on the opposite page is inserted.*
In the absence of instrumental observations, the pro-
gress of vegetation affords the best indication of climate,
apart from latitude and elevation above the sea. It has
been observed elsewhere that there exists an extraordinary
* See Canadian Journal—Old Series, i
QUEBEC TEMPERATURES. 373
Months. Mean. Maximum. Minimum.
1854.
October . : ‘ : : 46:05 64:7 +316
November. é : F 31°83 59°8 +10:0
December é ; ; ; 13:08 36°6 - 19-2
1855.
January . - : : 16°70 46:0 - 14:0
February : 3 ; : 10°55 36°8 ~ 29°5
March . : ; : , 21:06 Ais 2:4
april ~ . i ‘ : : 34:14 59:8 59
May ; : : ; ‘ 49-03 83-0 32:0
June. ; ‘ ; ; 58°34 88-0 43-2
July. . ; ‘ 68:86 90°5 51:9
August . ‘ ; ; ; 61:54 85:0 38'3
September. ; : : 55°15 81:3 34:7
October . ‘ . ; : 45:43 60-4 . 28-4
November. : ‘ : 28°75 34:3 21°81
December : , a : 18-09 40:1 — 19-2
1856.
January . : 8:19 27:0 - 165
February ; , : . 11:99 31:9 - 18:0
March . : 4 : ; 17:60 39:0 —11:0
April . ‘ , : f. 36°90 55:3 6-4.
difference between the characteristic fruit tree of the
South Branch, the Misaskatomina (Amelanchier Canaden-
sis), and the same tree on the North Branch of the Sas-
katchewan. On the South Branch at the Elbow, and for
forty miles down the river, this shrub attains an altitude
of twenty feet, with a stem fully three or three and a
half inches through; the fruit is large and very juicy;
the size of the berry there is equal to the largest black
currant, resembling a small grape more than any other
fruit.
The period of flowerimg and fruiting is about three
weeks earlier in latitude 51° than between 53rd and 54th
parallels west of the 100° of longitude. The prairies
of the Assinniboine, of the Qu’appelle, and of the South
Branch of the Elbow, are decorated with brilliant spring
flowers, and covered with luxuriant herbage, at a time
when ice still lingers at the head of Lake Winnipeg,
BB3
374 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
or chills the air and arrests vegetation in Cedar and Cross
Lakes on the Main Saskatchewan. Two and a half
degrees north of Cumberland, the soil is permanently
frozen three feet below the surface. Sir John Richard-
son relates that in 1851 he did not disengage his canoes
from the ice at the upper end of Lake Winnipeg until
the 9th of June. At the Touchwood Hills, horses are
allowed to remain in the open air all the winter, finding
sufficient pasture under the snow to keep them in good
condition. .
The vegetable in the gardens attached to Fort a la
Corne, with a brief notice of the periods of planting and
gathering, will show that the climatic adaptation of the
North Branch near the Grand Forks is not of a character
unfavourable to agricultural operations. As this subject
is one of great importance I have introduced some ex-
tracts from the journal of the Fort, which are both inter-.
esting and valuable. More extended extracts from this
journal will be found in the Appendix.
On the 7th August, in the garden attached to Fort a la
Corne (about 18 miles below the Grand Forks), potatoes
were in flower, and the tubers of early varieties of the
size of hens’ eggs. Cabbages were well formed ; beet-
roots and carrots quite ready for the kitchen; Indian
corn in silk, from seed which was grown in the garden
last year, and peas ready for gathering.
No disease has yet been noticed in the potatoes; and
the grasshoppers, that scourge of the country south of the
Touchwood Hills, have not made their appearance at Fort
4 la Corne. =
{n the garden attached to the Nepowewin Mission,
under the charge of the Rev. Henry Budd (a zealous mis-
slonary of native origin), all the vegetables gave promise
of fair and remunerative crops. The potatoes were
CLIMATE OF THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THE SASKATCITEWAN. 3875
superb; turnips, both Swedes and white, remarkably
fine ; Indian corn, from seed grown on the spot last year,
in silk ; wheat rather too rank in the stalk —it measured
five feet three inches in length to the ear, which was well
formed but green, and it seemed doubtful whether it
would ripen. Mr. Budd speaks very favourably of the
soul, climate, and extent of land available for agricultural
purposes. Both the mission and the fort are situated
within the excavated Valley of the Saskatchewan, and are
not so favourably placed for farming purposes as they
might be in the Valley of Long Creek. The river, how-
ever, Is the great highway, and, during the summer season,
affords an abundant supply of sturgeon.
Extracts from the Journal at Fort a la Corne, Saskatchewan River.
Lat, 53°27 ; long. 104°°30 W.
1851, October 25th, ice made its appearance in the river. 1852, April
8th, ice solid for the season of the year; 12th, ice started; 15th, ice drifting
and lodging on the banks; 21st, ice drifting and disappearing along the
banks; 22nd, garden operations commenced. May J4th, first sturgeon
caught; 24th, planted potatoes; October 11th, finished taking up potatoes ;
25th, fishing season ended; 26th, snow. November 3rd, ice floating in the
river. 1854, April 14th, river broke up; on the 15th nearly clear of ice ;
28th, garden operations commenced. May Ist, first sturgeon caught; 8th,
preparing potato fields; 13th, potato planting. October 2nd, gathered
turnips; 3rd, taking up carrots; LOth, commenced taking up potatoes at the
mission (190 kegs), turnips, carrots, cabbages— large and good; 11th, cab-
bages taken up. 1855, May 24th, turnips sown. September 12th, hard
frost over night; 27th, took up potatoes—poor crop, much destroyed by
grubs; 29th, hard frost ; a little ice seen at the gates. October 1st, women
digging potatoes; 2nd, ditto; 3rd, taking up turnips; 22nd, ice on the
edges of river. 1856, April 2nd, hard frost last night; 4th, water making
its appearance on the edges of the river; 7th, froze hard last night; 9th, ice
made a start; 17th ice drifting; 23rd, fall of snow during the night: 23rd,
nets set, one sturgeon caught; 25th, hard frost. May 2nd, garden opera-
tions commenced; 10th, storm of snow; 12th, planted potatoes ; 14th, sowed
Swedes. September 16th, slight frost last night. October 2nd, commenced
taking up potatoes; 22nd, hard frost during the night; 23rd, severe frost
during night; 86th, snow in night. November 11th, river full of ice. 1857,
April 9th, water appearing on the edges of the river: snow shoes required
everywhere; 16th, ice started to-day ; 24th, snowed without intermission
BB4
376 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
the whole day. May 3rd, ice drifting all last night; 5th, river full of ice;
12th, planted potatoes and onions; 20th, planting potatoes; three sturgeons
caught. June 2nd, hard frost last night; 30th, starvation is staring the
people in the face. Have caught no sturgeon for some time back.* 1858,
April 21st, ice drifting ; large quantities of ice on the banks. May Ist,
clearing up of north garden; 7th, preparing potato ground; first sturgeon
caught; 12th, planted potatoes; 17th, slight fall of snow; 18th, wind from
N. and cold. Think we are going to have a second winter.
The growth of forests is very intimately connected with
the climate of a large extent of country. That forests
once covered a vast area in Rupert’s Land there is no
reason to doubt. Not only do the traditions of the natives
refer to former forests, but the remains of many still exist
as detached groves in secluded valleys, also on the crests
of hills, or in the form of blackened prostrated trunks
covered with rich grass, and sometimes with vegetable
mould or drifted sand. The agent, which has caused the
destruction of the forests that once covered many parts
of the prairies is undoubtedly fire, and the same swift and
effectual destroyer prevents the new growth from acquiring
.dimensions which would enable it to check their annual
progress. Nearly everywhere, with the exception of the
treeless, arid prairie west of the Souris, and west of Long
Lake on the north side of the Qu’appelle, young willows
and aspens were showing themselves in 1858, where fire
had not been on the previous year. South of the Assin-
niboine and Qu’appelle few plains had escaped the confla-
eration in 1857, and the blackened shoots of willow were
visible as bushes, clumps, or wide-spreading thickets where
the fire had passed.
The end or tail of the prairies is at Fort Liard, a short
distance to the south of Fort Simpson (latitude 61° 51
7’ N.). There is a long high belt of prairie land which
* A common record in the journals at the different posts in Rupert’s Land.
The cause must be referred to the habits of the people, their occupation, &c.,
and not to the capabilities of the country.—H. Y. H.
jiuicneaaaes Sal
CHARACTER OF THE GREAT PLAINS IN THE U. STATES. 377
runs as far as the neighbourhood of that locality, at the
foot of the Rocky Mountains.
In the State of Missouri, forests have sprung up.with
wonderful rapidity on the prairies, as the country becomes
settled, so as to resist and subdue the encroachment of the
annual fires from the west. Missouri hes within the limit
of the humid south-west wind coming up the Valley of
the Mississippi, and enjoys a greater rainfall than the
region west of the 100° of longitude.
GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE REGION WEST OF THE 98TH
MERIDIAN IN THE UNITED STATES.
Very great misapprehension has prevailed with regard
to the region west of the Mississippi, as well as of the
valley drained by the Saskatchewan. Sanguine enthu-
slasts have laid out new states and territories on the broad
map of the Federation, and peopled them in imagination
with bustling, industrious, and wealthy communities.
Other visionaries have converted the 400,000 square
miles drained by the Saskatchewan into a region of
unbounded fertility and inexhaustible resources. Whereas
a proper appreciation and use of facts will convince the
most sanguine, that the larger portion of this area, is,
in its present state, unfit for the permanent habitation
of man both on account of climate, soil *, and absence
of fuel.
The candid opinion of Professor Joseph Henry regard-
ing the adaptation of a large portion of the United States
for settlement has been already given; it is confirmed and
strengthened by the following excellent summary, from
the pen of Major Emory of the United States and Mexi-
ean Boundary Commission. It will at once occur to the
* See “ Cretaceous Series,” Vol. II,
378 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
reader that a knowledge of these facts gives great additional
value to the truly fertile valleys of Red River, the Assin-
niboine, part of the Qu’appelle, and portions of the South
and North Branch of the Saskatchewan. It determines
also the direction in which efforts should be made to
people this great wilderness, and guide the progress of
settlement in such a manner as will render the country
available for that grand desideratum, a route across the
continent :—
“Tn the fanciful and exaggerated description given by
many of the character of the western half of the con-
tinent, some have no doubt been influenced by a desire
to favour particular routes of travel for the emigrants to
follow ; others by a desire to commend themselves to the
political favour of those interested in the settlement and
sale of the lands; but much the greater portion by esti-
mating the soil alone, which is generally good, without
giving due weight to the infrequency of rains, or the
absence of the necessary humidity in the atmosphere, to
produce a profitable vegetation. But be the motive what
it may, the influence has been equally unfortunate by
directing legislation and the military occupation of the
country, as if it were susceptible of continuous settlement
from the peaks of the Alleghanies to the shores of the
Pacific.”
“ Hypothetical geography has proceeded far enough in
the United States. In no country has it been carried to
such an extent, or been attended with more disastrous
consequences. ‘This pernicious system was commenced
under the eminent auspices of Baron Humboldt, who
from a few excursions into Mexico, attempted to figure
the whole North American continent. It has been fol-
lowed by individuals to carry out objects of their own.
In this way it has come to pass, that, with no other
ee
MAJOR EMORY’S STATEMENT. 379
evidence than that furnished by a party of persons travel-
ing on mule back, at the top of their speed, across the
continent, the opinion of the country has been held in
suspense upon the subject of the proper route for a rail-
way, and even a preference created in the public mind in
favour of a route which actual survey has demonstrated
to be the most impracticable of all the routes between the
49th and 32nd parallels of latitude. On the same kind
of unsubstantial information maps of the whole continent
have been produced and engraved in the highest style of
art, and sent forth to receive the patronage of Congress,
and the applause of geographical societies at home and
abroad, while the substantial contributors to accurate
geography have seen their works pilfered and distorted,
and themselves overlooked and forgotten.” * - ca
“'The plains or basins which I have described as occur-
ring in the mountain system are not the great plains of
North America which are referred to so often in the
newspaper literature of the day, in the expressions,
‘News from the Plains,’ ‘Indian Depredations on the
Plains, &c.
“'Phe term ‘ plains,’ is applied to the extensive inclined
surface reaching from the base of the Rocky Mountains
to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and the valley of the
Mississippi, and form a feature im the geography of the
western country as notable as any other. Except on the
borders of the streams which traverse the plains in their
course to the Valley of the Mississippi, scarcely anything
exists deserving the name of vegetation. The soil is
composed of disintegrated rocks, covered by a loam an
inch or two in thickness, which is composed of the
exuvie of animals and decayed vegetable matter.
“The growth on them is principally a short but nutri-
380 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
tious grass, called buffalo grass (Sysleria dyctaloides).
A narrow strip of alluvial soil, supporting a coarse grass
and a few cotton-wood trees, marks the line of the water-
courses, which are themselves sufficiently few and far
between.
“Whatever may be said to the contrary, these plains
west of the 100th meridian are wholly unsusceptible
of sustaining an agricultural population, until you reach
sufficiently far south to encounter the rains from the
tropics.
“The precise limits of these rains 1 am not prepared
to give, but think the Red River (of Louisiana) is, perhaps,
as far north as they extend. South of that river the
plains are covered with grass of larger and more vigour-
ous growth. That which is most widely spread over the
face of the country is the grama or mezquite grass, of
which there are many varieties. This is incomparably
the most nutritious grass known.”*
AURORAS.
On the night of October 2nd, when camped on Water-
hen River, an Aurora of unusual briliancy and character,
even in these regions, surprised us with the varied mag-
nificence of its display of ight and colour. A broad ring
of strong auroral light nearly encircled the Pole Star. It
possessed an undulatory motion, and continually shot
forth, towards and beyond the zenith, vast waves of faint
light. They followed one another like huge pulsations—
wave after wave — expanding towards the south with un-
diminished strength, and continuing many minutes at a
* Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, made
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, by William H. Emory,
Major First Cavalry and United States Commissioner. Washington, 1846,
pp. 43-47.
METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 381
time. Suddenly the waves ceased, the luminous belt or
ring increased in brillancy, lost its regular form, and here
and there broke into faint streamers, of a pale yellow
colour. The streamers, rapidly increasing, soon reached
the zenith, and finally meeting beyond it, shot forth from
the luminous are with swift motion and in rapid succes-
sion. Their colour varied from straw to pink. The
display of streamers is quite common in this part of the
continent. The waves are also not unfrequently seen ;
but none of the half-breeds or the Indians, whom we saw
a few days afterwards, had ever witnessed such a brillant
spectacle as the heavens presented during the early part
of the night, when the immense pulsations, 14° to 20° in
breadth, and expanding in their apparent ascent from east
to west, rolled in tranquil, noiseless beauty, through the
heavens overhead.
At 10 p.m, on the 27th of October, when camped on
the shores of Lake Manitobah, near Oak Point, a half-
breed awoke me to witness a crimson Aurora of surprising
magnificence. Unfortunately a few clouds were flitting
athwart the sky, which prevented the centre are from
being visible, but perhaps they increased the depth of the
colour. The light was generally steady at the edges of
the clouds. The appearance of streamers was recognized
only in the clear portions of the sky and above the clouds,
where the rose or crimson tints were much fainter. It
reminded me of the reflection of a vast prairie on fire ;
the deep rose and crimson tints lasted for half an hour ;
then gave way to white and straw-coloured streamers,
occasionally tinged with pale emerald green.
Coloured Auroras are not unfrequently seen during the
summer months, but they rarely possess the extraordi-
nary beauty of those which have just been described.
These beautiful “ dancing spirits of the dead” impart a
382 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
solemnity and charm to the still night, which must
ever remain one of its most delightful characteristics in
these regions.
THE TWILIGHT BOW.
One of the most beautiful celestial phenomena visible
after sunset and before sunrise from the north-western
prairies is the Twilight Bow. The extraordinary clear-
ness of the nights durmg summer in this region offers a
very favourable opportunity for witnessing the delicate
colouring which is communicated to the lower atmosphere
by the reflected ight from the upper illuminated portions.
As the appearance of the Twilight Bow is dependent upon
the serenity of the atmosphere to a great degree, its oc-
currence is not frequently observed or recorded in this
country.
The Twilight Bow, and the causes which produce it, are
thus described by M. Bravais *:—“ Immediately after the
setting of the sun, the curve which forms the separation
between the atmospheric zone directly illuminated by the
sun, and that which is only illuminated secondarily, or by
reflection, receives the name of the Crepuscular curve or
Twilight Bow. Some time after sunset, this bow, in tra-
versing the heavens from east to west, passes the zenith ;
this epoch forms the end of civil twilight, and is the
moment when planets and stars of the first magnitude
begin to be visible. The eastern half of the heavens
bemg then removed beyond solar illumination, night
commences to all persons in apartments whose windows
open to the east. Still later the Twilight Bow itself dis-
* Annuaire Metéorologique de la France for 1850; quoted by L, W
Meek in the Smithsonian Report for 1856, _
INDIAN SUMMER. 383
appears in the western horizon; it is then the end of the
astronomic twilight ; itis closed night. We may estimate
that civil twilight ends when the sun has declined 6°
below the horizon, and that a decline of 16° is necessary
to terminate the astronomic twilight.”
I often observed the Twilight Bow to be tinged with
a delicate rose colour, passing into straw colour, and then
into faint emerald green. ‘The line of demarcation be-
tween the bow and the illuminated portion of the at-
mosphere was often very well defined, quite as clearly as
in a secondary rainbow. It appeared most brilliant at an
altitude of 60° or 70° above the horizon. It descended
slowly towards the boundless level, preserving apparently
with considerable exactness the form of a parabola. When
the Twilight Bow is best developed, the aspect of the
prairie is very singular. Towards the east it is cold,
cheerless, and gloomy ; towards the west it 1s warm, in-
spiriting, and suggestive of pleasant thoughts and cheerful
anticipations. No wonder the prairie Indians associate
delightful dreams of happy hunting-grounds with the
setting sun and the beautiful west. They delight to sit
silent and thoughtful “in the glory of the sunset,” and
allow themselves to be transported in imagination
“ To the Islands of the Blessed,
To the Kingdom of Ponemah,
To the Land of the hereafter.”
INDIAN SUMMER.
Indian summer is a phenomenon of constant yearly
occurrence and marked characteristics in the north-west.
The following table, kindly furnished from the private
memoranda of Mr. James Walker, Assistant at the Pro-
vincial Observatory, establishes the fact that the hazy,
384
ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
warm, mellow weather we term Indian summer is a
periodical phenomenon in Canada, but the cause does not
appear to be quite understood.
The characters of Indian
summer are more decided in the north-west than in the
neighbourhood of Lake Ontario.
audible at great distances ; objects are difficult to discern
unless close at hand; the weather is warm and oppressive,
the atmosphere hazy and calm, and every object appears
to wear a tranquil and drowsy aspect.
Sounds are distinctly
Indian Summer at Toronto.—1840 to 1859 inclusive [20 years. |
SS ee a oe
Mean
result.
lst November .
29th October
28th October
23rd October
22nd October
24th October
4th November
28th October
20th November.
13th November.
7th November .
6th October
16th November.
12th October
24th October
16th October
19th October
5th October
18th October
2nd November .
27th October
5th November .
2nd November .
4th November .
25th October
26th October’ .
29th October
7th November .
31st October
23rd November.
18th November.
13th November.
11th October
21st November .
20th October
28th October
26th October
22nd October
12th October
28th October
8th November .
2nd November .
OO OV Or
—
—
NIH OR HH O1O QON GBPS & Od O1co
oe
a
or
mR
Remarks.
And: Qnddowin
Nov. (6 days.)
Well marked.
Not well marked.
Not well marked.
Very dense fog.
And 2nd to 8th
Nov. (7 days.)
Well marked.
J. W.
385
CEUEAP > Xai
THE LOCUSTS AND THE FLOODS.
The Locusts.—General Distribution of the Insect.—Distinctions between
Crickets, Grasshoppers and Locusts.—The Locust of the North-West.—
Acrydium Femur-rubrum.—Description of the Insect.—Male and Female.
—Accounts of the Appearance of Locusts in the United States and
Rupert’s Land.—Distribution in 1857 and 1858,.—Limits of its Ravages.—
Females engaged in laying Eggs.—Vitality of the Eges.—Power of Flight
of this Locust.—Elevation of its Flight above the Sea.—Food of the
Insect.—Effect of the periodical Visitations in the Far West and in
Rupert’s Land.—THE FLoops.—Flood Years.—Effects of, in 1802.—The
Bishop of Rupert’s Land Description.—Speculations respecting the Cause
of the Floods.—Sudden Melting of an unusual Fall of Snow at the Open-
ing of Spring,
THE LOCUSTS.
THe English name grasshopper is almost universally
applied to the imsect which forms the subject of the pre-
sent notice. Its general distribution in the United States,
and the dreadful ravages which have been produced at
different times by innumerable hosts of these insects in the
north-western and north-eastern states of the Union, have
led to many accounts of its ravages in the newspapers of
the day, in all of which it 1s described under that name.
As the insect is not a grasshopper, but a locust, the fol-
lowing description of the difference between grasshoppers,
crickets, and locusts, abbreviated from the excellent and
most attractive treatise by Dr. Harris on “ Insects injurious
VOL. II. CC
386 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
to Vegetation,” is here introduced, with the object of
describing to the general reader the true character of
this destroyer.
The abundant and prolific jumping orthopterous insects
included by Linnzus in his great genus Gryllus, and
known by the Knglish names of crickets, grasshoppers, and
locusts, may thus be distinguished from one another * :—
“1. Crickets (Achetade); wing covers, horizontal; antennse, long and
tapering; two tapering, downy bristles at the end of the body, between
which, in most of the females there is a long spear-pointed piercer.
“2. Grasshoppers (Gryllidee) ; wing covers, sloping ; antennze, long and
tapering ; feet, with four joints; end of the body in the females provided
with a projecting sword or sabre-shaped piercer.
“3. Locusts (Locustade) ; wing covers, roofed ; antenne, rather short and
in general not tapering to the end; feet, with three joints; females, without
a projecting piercer.
“The various insects included under the name of
locusts nearly all agree in having their wing-covers rather
long and narrow, and placed obliquely along the sides of
the body, meeting and even overlapping for a_ short
distance at their upper edges, which together form a ridge
on the back like a sloping roof. Their antenne are much
shorter than those of most grasshoppers, and do not taper
towards the end, but are nearly of equal thickness at both
extremities; their feet have only three joints, but as the
under side of the first jomt is marked by one or two cross
Imes, the feet, when seen only from below, seem to be
four or five jomted. The females have not a long pro-
jecting piercer like the crickets and grasshoppers, but the
extremity of the body is provided with four short, wedge-
like pieces, placed in pairs above and below, and opening
and shutting opposite to each other, thus forming an in-
strument lke a pair of nippers, only with four short
* A Treatise on some of the Insects of New England, which are injurious
to vegetation, by Thaddeus William Harris, M.D., Boston, 1852.
| —
THE LOCUST OF THE NORTH-WEST. 387
blades instead of two. When one of these insects is about
to lay her eggs, she drives these little wedges into the
earth; these being opened and withdrawn, enlarge the
orifice, upon which the insect inserts them again, and
drives them down deeper than before, and repeats the
operation above described, until she has formed a perfora-
tion large and deep enough to admit nearly the whole of
her abdomen.”
The locust of the north-west (Acrydium femur-rubrum)
has been long noticed in the United States, and particu-
larly in New England. In the State of Maine they ap-
peared in such numbers during the years 1743, 1749,
1754, and 1756 that days of fasting and prayer were
appointed on account of the threatened calamity.* In
Massachusetts and Vermont they showed themselves in
1797 and 1798. In 1838 they appeared in the vicinity
of Baltimore in immense numbers.
The following description is from the pen of Dr.
Harris :-—
Acrydium femur-rubrum — RED-LEGGED Locwst.
Grizzled with dirty olive and brown; a black spot
extending from the eyes along the sides of the thorax ;
an oblique yellow line on each side of the body beneath
the wings; a row of dusky brown spots along the middle
of the wing covers, and the hindmost shanks and feet
blood red, with black spines. The wings are transparent,
with avery pale greenish-yellow tint, next to the body,
and are ruled with brown lines. The hindmost thighs
have two large spots on the upper side, and the extremity
black, but are red below, and yellow on the inside. The
appendages at the tip of the body in the male, are of a
long triangular form. Length from 3 to 1 inch, expanded
14 to 12 inch.
* Williamson’s History of Maine, quoted by Dr. Harris.
cc2
388 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
The red-legged locust was first described by De Geer,
from specimens sent to him from Pennsylvania, and I
have retained the scientific name which he gave to it.
It is the Gryllus (Locusta) erythropus of Gmelin, and the
Acrydium jfemorale of Olivier. It appears to be very
generally diffused throughout the United States, and
sometimes so greatly abounds in certain places, as to be
productive of great injury to vegetation.
The following description was taken down in the
prairies west of the Souris, where this insect surrounded
us in countless millions, and the air from nine until four
was filled with them as with flakes of snow.
Dimensions of the Male Insect.— Length of body, 1
inch; with wings closed 13 inch; length of wing cases,
thirteen lines ; of wings, 124 lines.
Colour.— Of head, bluish-green; of thorax, bluish-
green, with two lateral black lines, parallel to the sides of
the thorax, and half a lne apart; intersected at an acute
angle by two short black lines, half a line apart. These
marks on the female are more distinct.
Abdomen.— Colour of segments pale bluish-green, with
whitish-blue margin; upper portion of each segment
dark brown, especially the superior segments ; wing cases
ash-coloured, with brown spots.
Legs.— Upper surface of posterior legs, brownish-white,
with two dark brown spots; outside of the lee red, in-
side, ight red.
Tibia.— Rose-coloured and fringed with two rows of
spines. Fore legs yellowish-brown.
Female, differs from the male in the colour of the
cheeks, thorax, and upper portion of the abdomen, these
parts being of a brighter green. Legs deeper rose-colour ;
under-side of abdomen yellowish-white. Length of the
insect, thirteen lines.
The first authentic account of the appearance of extra-
DISTRIBUTION IN 1857 AND 1858. 389
ordmary swarms of locusts in Rupert’s Land that I have
met with, assigns the last week of July, 1818, to this
event.*. Every green herb in the settlements at Red
River is stated to have been destroyed by these destruc-
tive invaders. In 1819 the young brood hatched from
the eggs deposited in the preceding year appeared in the
spring and consumed the growing wheat crops. “ Every
vegetable substance was either eaten up or stripped to the
bare stalk; the leaves of bushes and the bark of trees
shared the same fate; the grain vanished as fast as it
appeared above ground leaving no hope either of ‘Seed
to the sower or bread to the eater.’” +
Karly in 1819 this pestilence disappeared, but in what
manner is not stated.
In 1857 the locusts appeared in countless swarms over
a large part of North America. They destroyed nearly
all the vegetables cultivated at Fort Randall, long. 98° 35’,
lat. 43° 4’, and extended their ravages east as far as the
state of Iowa.f During the same year they devoured
the crops in part of Minnesota and advanced as far to the
north-east as the Lake of the Woods, where I saw them
on Garden Island in August. During the autumn of the
same year they appeared on the White Horse plains
north of the Assinniboine, where they deposited their
egos. The swarms of this insect must have extended as
far west as the South Branch of the Saskatchewan and
covered the country in a greater or less degree between
the Lake of the Woods and the South Branch, a distance
in an air line of 560 miles; the perfect insect in 1857, or
the young brood in 1858 having been observed nearly
continuously over that wide extent of country.
* Alexander Ross.—“ The Red River Settlement,” &c., 1856.
+ Ibid.
¢ Lieutenant Warren.
390 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
In a northerly direction they were seen near the
Lumpy Hill within sixty miles of the North Branch, also
at Dauphin Lake where they had destroyed the crops of
Tawapit ; they had devoured all the crops with the ex-
ception of the potato at Fort Pelly before the Ist of
August.
The ascertained limits of this mighty army of insects in
1857 extended from the 94th to the 112th meridian, and
from the 41st to the 53rd parallel; from the settlements
in Utah territory to near the Valley of the North Saskat-
chewan, and from the Lake of the Woods to the foot of
the Rocky Mountains.
The brood from eggs deposited in 1857 at the Touch-
wood Hills, rose from the ground and took their flight on
the 28th July, after destroying every green leaf in the
garden of the Post, and leaving sad traces of their ra-
vages in the prairies lying to the south-east. At the time
of my visit not one was to be seen, so general had been
their departure.
During the month of September, 1857, I saw the
females engaged in laymg their eggs. They did not
limit themselves to the prairie soil in forming a nest,
but riddled the decayed trunks of trees, the thatch of
houses and barns, the wood of which they were built,
everything, indeed, which they could penetrate with the
little blades provided for that purpose. ‘The appearance
presented by bare patches of soil, such as the road near
the settlements, suggested the idea that a vast number of
worms had risen to the surface and then retired agai
alter loosely closing the aperture they had made. When
in the act of preparing a nest for her eggs, the female
was observed to introduce her abdomen into the soil by
repeated thrusts to its full length, and then slowly with-
drawing it, eject her eggs to the number of ten or twelve
VITALITY OF EGGS.— POWER OF FLIGHT. 391
in the form of a half cylinder, loosely covering the orifice
after the operation was completed.
In the spring of 1858 the young brood were seen at
Prairie Portage, hopping over the newly-fallen snow at
the latter end of April. It was thought by the settlers
that the cold weather which followed the warm days in
the early part of the month when the egos were hatched,
would have destroyed the young brood, but it did not
appear to have created any sensible diminution in their
numbers.
_ The extraordinary vitality of the eggs of insects is
well-known, but when we reflect that the eggs of the
red-legged locust are exposed in Rupert’s Land to a
temperature lower than that at which mercury freezes or
more than 40° below zero, as well as to constant alterna-
tions of temperature from the freezing point to below
zero in the early sprmg months, their capacity to resist
these influences cannot fail to be regarded as one of the
most wonderful features in the life of this insect.
Their power of sustaiing long flights is also very
remarkable. As stated in the narrative they generally
rose from the prairie about nine in the morning and
alighted about four in the afternoon. During the in-
termediate hours I do not recollect one instance in
which they were observed to alight, except in antici-
pation of a thunder-storm, when they would descend
perpendicularly from a great altitude. Assuming their
speed to have been twenty miles an hour, the dis-.
tance they would fly m one day probably amounted to
one hundred and twenty miles. They have been seen
hurrying swiftly to the north at an elevation of 14,500
to 15,000 feet above the sea™, thus manifesting extra-
* Lieutenant Warren,
cc 4
592 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
ordinary capabilities to sustain low temperatures, which
would doubtless obtain at that elevation in a region of
eternal snows.
Their principal food is the prairie grass and the leaves
of shrubs, but they will attack any substances presented
to them, even such indigestible articles as leather, travel-
ing bags, woollen garments, saddle girths, and harness.
In a few minutes they ate the varnish from the leather
case of a telescope I left on the ground in 1858, and so
disfigured a valise that the owner who had seen it sound
and untouched a few minutes before we stopped to camp,
could not recognize it after it had lain ten minutes on the
grass. Blankets became instantly covered with them and
eaten into holes, the only article of clothing which did
not suffer from their voracity was the caoutchouc or gutta
percha cloaks and coverings.
The periodical visitations of these locusts have been
enumerated among the objectionable features of parts of
the Far West, and as some of the obstacles to the settle-
ment of Nebraska.* That they will also exercise an
important influence upon the future of the southern part
of Rupert’s Land, there is but too great reason to fear ;
already they have twice destroyed the crops in different
parts of the Settlements, and in the state of Minnesota in
the region about Crow Wing they rendered husbandry
hopeless for two years, producing great distress in that
newly settled country.
THE. FLOODS. |
Spring freshets in the valley of Red River sometimes
assume the form of wide-spreading devastating floods.
The alluvial character of the prairies through which Red
* Explorations in Nebraska and Dakotah, by Lieutenant Warren, U.S.
Top. Eng.
THE FLOODS. 393
River and the Assinniboine flow is quite sufficient to
show that extensive inundations have occurred from time
to time during many ages. The accumulations of strati-
fied mud containing the buried trunks and branches of
trees are the records of overflows similar to those which
caused such distress and consternation in 1826 and 1852.
There is good ground for belief that floods have
occurred in the district of Assinniboia during the follow-
ing years : —
1776. On the authority of Mr. Nolin.*
1790. Indian Tradition.t
1809. Indians living in the Settlement when Ross wrote, 1856.
1826.{ Missionary Register, December, 1826.
1852. Notes on the Flood,” by the Bishop of Rupert’s Land.
From the level character of the country of the waters’
overflow, the deep trench in which Red River glides
towards Lake Winnipeg, a shallow wide-spreading lake
soon forms. In 1852 the Bishop of Rupert’s Land esti-
mated the breadth of the inundated country to be about
twelve miles a short distance below Fort Garry. Although
the flood of 1852 was not so high as that of 1826, yet
its effects were very severely felt in St. John’s and St.
Paul’s parish and about Fort Garry, but in the parish of
St. James, St. Andrew, and the Indian Settlement were
almost untouched.) Houses and barns were swept away
in the inundated parishes, and the country for miles on
either side assumed the appearance of a lake. Some
of the settlers took refuge on the Lake Ridge near St.
James’s Church, which by leveling we ascertained in
1858 to be eleven feet above the gate of Fort Garry ;
* Mentioned by Ross, in the Red River Settlement, its Rise, Progress,
and Present State.
t Ibid.
t Ibid.
§ Notes on the Flood at Red River.
394 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
others encamped on Stony Mountain, and others again on
Bird’s Hill opposite Stony Mountain on the east side of
the river. These localities and their altitudes above the
level of the prairie have already been described.
The Bishop of Rupert’s Land thus describes the scene
on the 24th May, when the flood was at its height :—
“My sister and I started for the Stone Fort at 6 a.m.
It was necessary to see the Governor and Mrs. Mills on
business connected with the continuance of the schools.
Breakfasted with Major Caldwell in passing. Changed
for a larger canoe at the Upper Fort, and proceeded on-
wards. Called at my own house, from which we were
three canoes in convoy. As it turned out, ours was the
only one which escaped damage from the current. The
day was very fine, nearly as warm as the preceding. It
was like delicious lake scenery at home, but for the want
of background. What we here call hills, the Little and
Stony Mountains, are but very gentle eminences of a few
hundred feet, scarcely visible as heights, though all felt
their value on this occasion. Strange sights met our eyes
as we proceeded. Some of the bridges we saw four miles
below their former locality, and on the opposite side of
the river. The railing round some of the graves of the
upper church had also been carried down as far. A barn
had been tied to a strong tree to secure it, but it even-
tually floated off. The houses, many of them standing
up to the eaves in water, showed less the destructive
effects of the water upon them than some weeks after,
when the waters had retired. At all the poimts where
the trees had caught the drift wood, it was collected in
oreat quantities, and upon it was a motley assemblage of
wheels, hay-carts, tables, doors, chairs, &c. |
“The delight was great to reach the first spot where
the banks were visible, at Park’s Creek, half way between
SPECULATIONS ON THE CAUSES OF THE FLOODS. 395
the middle church and the Rapids. Here the current
from being confined within narrower limits, became more
impetuous, and we had been strongly advised to proceed
by land; but not bemg timid on the water, and having
confidence in the skill of our three men, we preferred
going on to the Rapids, merely stopping to pay one sad
vasit'to the widow .of our poor servant. . . . . At
St. Andrew’s we called to see Mr. and Mrs: Hunter, and
from that drove our own horse down to the Lower Fort.
This was the first drive we had had since the carioles
‘were in use over the ice. Here we found a changed
pectic) |. . . Its chief recommendation (1e. the
Fort) in our eyes, under the circumstances was, that it
still stood on a bigh bank, thirty feet above the river.”
Various speculations have been advanced respecting
the cause of the periodical floods of Red River. The
backing up of the waters during a freshet in consequence
of the ice on Lake Winnipeg remaining solid, is suffi-
ciently disproved by the rapidity of current at the Lower
or Stone Fort, which the Bishop states was “running at
the rate of eight or ten miles an hour,” thirty feet below
the level of the prairie. The passage of the waters of
the Missouri down the Valley of the Little Souris into the
Assinniboine, has been a favourite theory among the half-
breeds, one however which is not tenable, as the Little
Souris does not approach the Missouri nearer than forty
miles and no valley or coulée exists between them which
would admit of the waters of the Missouri flowing across
the Grand Coteau. It is probable that these periodical
floods are caused by the sudden melting of an unusual
fall of snow in the wooded areas on the east bank of
Red River and throughout the large expanse of level open
country, drained by Red River and the Assinniboine.
The chief source of supply appears to be the valley of
396 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION.
Red River; the Assinniboine does not contribute largely
to the flooding of the country ; its waters indeed, are said
to find their way to Lake Manitobah, down the valley of
Rat Rivulet, during freshets, and the prairies at Pembina
show, from the trunks of large trees scattered over them,
that they were covered with water in 1852. Hence it
appears that there is no possibility of guarding against
these inundations, and that part of Red River Settlement
above the Watermill Creek, subject to them, will always
suffer from the disadvantages inseparable from such de-
vastating occurrences.
if,
*
Table showing the lengths, distances from Lake Superior, heights,
elevation above Lake Superior, and the number of the Portages on the
Kaministiquia route.
II. A Statistical Account of Red River Colony, taken on the 20th to the 24th
jE GS
IV.
AN
VI.
VIL.
VIII.
IX
x
XIT
XITl.
XI.
May 1856, compared with the Censuses of 1856 and 1843.
A Statistical View of the Church Missionary Society’s Missions in North-
Western America, May 1859.
Stations of Missionaries in the Church Missionary Society’s North-West
American Missions, May 1859.
The Roman Catholic Missions west of Red River.
The Wesleyan Missions.
The Far West in the United States.
Season at Red River.
Extract from a Journal kept at Fort a la Corne, on the main Saskatchewan,
lat. 55°30, long. 104°25.
Prices of Furs at Fort Garry in January 1860.
Additional Remarks on the Pigeon River Route, with an estimate of the
cost of opening the Communication wié@ Fort William, Arrow Lake, Gun-
flint Lake, Rainy Lake, and the North-West Corner of the Lake of the
Woods to Fort Garry.
Table of the Portages, Décharges, Rapids, Lakes, Lake Straits, and Navi-
gable Channels on the Pigeon River Route (the old North-West Com-
pany’s route) from Lake Superior to Rainy Lake, showing their lengths
and distances from Lake Superior.
List of Photographs of Red River; the Churches of Selkirk Settlement; the
Houses and Stores of the Settlers; Indian Tents and Graves; the Prairie;
the Forts and Stores of the Hon. Hudson’s Bay Company; the Native
Races, and of the Expedition returning to Crow Wing in Dog Carioles.
These Photographs can be procured from Mr, J. Hogarth, No. 5, Hay-
market, London.
Een:
APP EON DIX,
I.
TABLE showing the lengths, distances from Lake Superior, heights,
elevation above Lake Superior, and the number of the Portages on
the Kaministiquia route.
Distances Bleween S g a
Names. Lengths. } from Lake | Heights. bakers of &
Superior. perior Ao 2
Kaministiquia River. Mls. Chs.| Mls. Chs.} Feet. | Feet.
Mouth (Fort Se 5 -— — — — —
Fort William 0 40 040} — — =
Pointe des Meurons 940; 10 O| 4:49 4°49 | —
Rapids and Current 12 0} 22 0} 80°00 | 34:49 | —
Décharges des Paresseux 014}; 22 14] 5:08 | 39°57 uh
Rapids and Current . Hee Nae29et8 16°63. | 562014)
Mountain etieee (Kakabeka
falls) 062}. 30 O /119°05 | 175-26 | 2
River . 020}; 38020); — 175°25 | —
Rocky Portage (or 3 Ecarté
Portage) . 0 37 | 380 57 | 62°65 | 237:90 | 3
River . : ; 260 | 33 27 | 0°50 | 238-40 | —
Nicolet Portage . 0 6 33 43 6°50 | 244-90 4
Rapids and Current 1 37 |. 385 0O| 5°75.) 250°65 | —
Portage 0 3 385 3 | 12°62 | 263°27 5
River . 037 | 8540; — 263°27 | —
Pot Holes Portage Ou13 | 3d. O3 | - 679051, 270717 1: 6
River 022) 85 75 | — 27017 | —
Couteau Portage | Oo; O32 seoG, - O) 19°25"), 289°40) |) = 7
Trois Décharges . ; : 0 35 | 386 36 | 10°00 | 299:42 | 8
River . Ir20 37 36 0:20 | 299°62 | —
Poplar Décharge O15 57) de 40.) 7.3700' | 302:62-1 9
River 0 40 39 «(0 0°50 | 303-12 | —
Décharge ., O° 9 a0. 9 3°00 | 806712 | 10
Rapids and Current 9 ol | | 48°60: | 35°00 | 341-12 |} —
Portage des Maitres Oo) 4861)" 3°00; | 844-02) 17
River . 0 60 49 41 1-00.) 3457127), ——
Little Dog Portage 0 3] 49 44 | 14°94 | 360-:06 | 12
Rapids and Current 260 | 52 24 | 3:00 | 363:06 | —
Little Dog Lake . 120} 53 44); — 363°06 | —
Great Dog Portage 152 55 16 |3847°81 | 710°87 | 13
Great Dog Lake. 10 60 | 65 76 | — 710°87 | —
Dog fiver.
Mouth : : : -— 65 76 | — 710°87 | —
River . . : : 30 0 95 76 3°00 | 713°87 | —
Barriere Portage ; : Oe Sonia) 3:60 717-37. | 14
400 APPENDIX.
Table showing the lengths and distances from Lake Superior, §c.
(continued. )
Distances Hipveuen S & re
Names. Lengths. |from Lake | Heights. take GH: si FS
Superior. x zo 3
perlor. fab fe
Dog Be ee Mls. Chs.| Mis. Chs. | Feet. Feet.
River : 220} 98 17 | 0:20} 717-57 | — /
Jourdain Portage : : 0.6 | 98°23 |; 8°60 |. (26a yas
River ie Chgset 0.40 | 98 63 |. =| 72ohia
Prairie River.
Mouth : : : : — OR! | a 725°17 | —
River : 3° 0} 101 63 | 6005) (27-67
Cold Water Portage 0 6] 101 69 | 0°76 | 728-43 | 16
Cold Water Lake 0 14 19102 43 — (28:43-)
Prairie Portage 2 50 | 104 53 |157:12 | 885-55 | 17
Height of Land Lake G15) L027 le 885°55 | —
De Milieu Portage 0 38 | 105 29 | 16°39 | 869-16 | 18
Savanne Lake 1740 4 OG G69 sae 869-16 -| .—
Great Savanne Portage 1 41 | 108 30 | 31°69 | 837°47 | 19
Savanne. River.
Mouth . : : 3 — 108 30 837°47 | —
River 5 ; 13 20 |} 121 50 4°79) 832-68") ==
Thousand Lakes . 21 60 | 143 30 1+ — 832°68 | —
Baril Portage 4 0 17 | 148 47 1°86 | 834°54 | 20
Baril Lake . ; 5 8 0 | .do1 47. | 834:54 | —
Brulé Portage . 0 21 | 151 68 | 47°02 | 787-62 | 21
Upper Brulé Lake (or Can-
nibals Lake) ; 8 0 | 159 68 | 1:50.) 78602.) -=
Semi-Décharge 0 3] 159 70 | 2°50 | 783-52 | 22
Lower Brulé Lake 4 20 | 164 10 | 1°25 | 782-27 | —
Great French Portage . 1 60 | 165 70 | 99°71 | 682°56 | 23
French Portage Lake 140) 16730 — «| 682756. 4==
Pickerel River 2 40 | 169 70 1°25.) 6803ie |=
Pickerel Lake 13 0 | 182 70 —— “1 4G Gillean te
Pickerel Portage . 0 26 | 183 16} 6°90 | 674:41 | 24
Doré Lake % 1 60 | 184 76 — 67441 |e
Deux Riviéres Portage 0 382 | 185 28 |117°22 | 557:19 | 25
Sturgeon Lake 23 20 | 208 48 | 1:00 | 556-19 | —
Sturgeon River.
Mouth. j — 208 48 — “|-0063900) ==
Semi-Décharge, ist Sturgeon
Rapids 0 11 | 208 59 4°51 | 551°68 | 26
River . 0,20 1.208 79.):.0°26 | 561-43. R=
Portage, ond Sturgeon Rapids 0 38] 209. 2 | 6-21 | 545:2001<07
Rapids and Current 7. 8 j 216-10 |-10°00 | 435227).
Semi-Décharge, MinnisRapids 0 5} 216 15 | 4°50 | 530-72 | 28
Current ; 5 0 | 221 15 1:26 | O29
Island Portage 0 3 | 221 18 | 10°06 | 519°41 | 29
River . 4 0 | 225 18 2°00 | 517°41 | —
Nequawquon Lake ice Lac la
Croix) 8 0 | 233 18 — | 617-41 | —
Nameukan River.
Mouth. ; : 5 : — 233 18 — | 517-41 | —
Current : : 4 ; 2 0 | 235 18 5°00 | 512°41 | —
APPENDIX... 401
Table showing the lengths and distances from Lake Superior, &c.
(continued).
é Elevation | a % M
Names. Lengths. pron bake Heights. ae eaters y zg 5
Superior. Wine Z6 ©
perior. < S
Nameaukan River—(continued). |Mis. Chs.| Mis. Chs. | Feet. Feet.
Rattlesnake Portage . ; 0 5 | 235 23 + 12-14 | 500-27. | 30
Current : : : : o 2h | 238! 50 1:75 | 498°52 | —
Crow Portage 0 8 | 288 58 | 9°88 | 488-64 | 31
Rapids and Current 6 40 | 245 18 | 7:00 | 481°64 | —
Grand Falls eo 0 6 | 245 24 | 16°08 | 465°56 | 32
Current : OF 31-248; 24 3°00 | 462°56 | —
Grand Rapids 0 40 | 248 64 } 16°00 | 446°56. | —
River . 2240: |}-251 24 2°00 | 444°56 | —
Lake Neerecaiean 6 40 | 257 64 — 444°56 | —
Nu Portage. 0°. 6 | 267 70 8:55 | 486°01-| 33
Lakelet 0 20 | 258 16 — 436°01 | —
Portage 0 11 | 258 27 | 0°21 | 435°80 | 34
River . 5 0 263 27 0°50 | 485°30 | —
_ Rainy Lake . 388 0 | 301 27 |} — 435°30. | —
Rainy River.
Mouth. i : , — 301 27 — 435°30 | —
Rapids 0 40 | 301 67 3:00 | 482°30 | —
Currents : ‘ : 1-40: |-303. 27 0°50 | 481°80 | —
Fort Francis Portage 0 8 | 303 385 | 22°88 | 408°92 | 36
River . é ‘ a2, 60° 3386515 | 10°00 | 398792, |, —
Manitou Rapids 0 15 | 336 30 | 2°50 | 896-42 | —
River . 6.40'| 342 70 } 3°50 | 392°92 | —
Long Rapids 0 20 | 343 10 | 3°00 | 389°92 | —
River . : oo 0 7.381, 10 | 12:10 |.377-82 | —
Lake of the Woods 3 72 0 | 468 10; — 314 82) | ==
Winnipeg River.
Rat Portage 0 18 | 453 23 | 15°98 | 361°84 | 36
River . 8 7 | 461 30 1:00 | 360°84 | —
Les Dalles Rapids 0 20 | 461 50 |. 3:00 | 357°84 | —
River . : 25 0 | 486 50 2°00 | 355°84 | —
Grand Décharge F 0 20 | 486 70 | 6:00 | 349-84 | 37
River . 2 0.1 488 70 2°25 | 847°69 | —
Terre Jaune Portage 0 5 | 488 75 | 22°02 | 325°57 | 38
River . 0 55 | 489 50 0°75 | 324°82 | —
Charette Décharge 0 2] 489 52 |. 3°50 | 321°32 | 39
River . 0 78 | 490 50 | 1:00 | 320°32 | —
Terre Blanche Portage. 0 10 | 490 60 | 8-24 | 312°08 | 40
River . 5 ‘ 0 28 | 491 8 0°15 | 311°93 | —
Cave Rapids 0 2 | 491 10}. 2°60 | 309-43 | —
River . : 19 0 |} 510 10 4°50 | 304°93 | —
De V'Isle Portage . 0 2] 510 12] 3°40 | 301-53 | 41
River . 22 78 | 5383 10 4:00 | 297-53 | —
Chute a Jaques Portage 0 3] 583 13 | 12°97 | 284°56 | 42
River . 9 57 | 542 70 1°60 | 282°96 | —
Point des Bois Portage 0 13 | 548 3 | 10°50 | 272°46 | 43
River . OF i) 043,10 | 0°26 |) 272-21 ) —
Point aux Chénes ‘Portage 0 5 | 543 15 | 19°92 | 252°29 | 44
River . : 0 75 | 544 10 | 1:00 | 251°29 | —
Roche Brulé Portage 0 3 | 544 13 | 7:80 | 243-49 | 45
WOL, LI. DD
402 ~ APPENDIX.
Table showing the lengths and distances from Lake Superior, ce.
(continued).
: Elevation] . ¢ aa
Names. Lengths. a ‘Lake Heights. eee : Ef a
Superior. perior. ze 3
Winnipeg sete ia ae Mls. Chs.| Mls. Chs.| Feet. | Feet.
River . 4 37 | 548 50 1-7) | Q47
Slave Falls Portage 0 30 | 549 0 | 19°80 | 221-94 | 46
River . : . 6 10 | 555 10 2°25 | 219°69 | —
Barrier Falls Portage ; O 2 | 555 12 |. 4°97 | 214-72 | 47
River . ; : : 4 78 |}.560 10 |. 2°00 |:212-79) ==
Otter Falls . 0 1 | 560 11 3°00 | 209°72 | —
Current 5 79 | 566 10 8°00 | 201°72 | —
Ist O 4 566 14 | 10°23 | 191-49 | 48
Current 0 16 | 566 30 1:00 | 190-49 | —
a 2nd. 0 3 | 566 33 8°47 | 182-02 | 49
& | Current 0 37 | 566 70 | 2:00 | 180°02 | —
£ | 8rd 0 5 | 566 75] 560 | 174-42] 50
oc Current 1 15°). 568 10,): 2:26))\Pae aa
.q 4 4th 0 3 | 568 13 7°68 | 164:49 | 61
4 Current 0 37 | 568 50 1:25 | 163-24 | —
D Fe 0 2 | 568 52 2°90 | 160°34 | 52
iS Current 0 38'| 569 10 |" 2:00, \ts8-345)=—
EH 6th 0 3 | 569 18 8°13 | 15O:21 ae
Current 0 7 | 569 20 1:25 | 148-96 | —
7th 0 3 | 569 23 4°75 | 144°21 | 54
River 4 11 37 | 580 60 3°00 | 144:21 | —
Bonnet Lake 4 40 | 585 20 — 144:21 | —
Bonnet Portage 0 1} 585 21.|° 7-31 | Fea-90 | 65
River . 0 59 | 586 0 |* 2:00 | T3i-90)) ==
Cap de Bonnet Portage 0 41} 586 4; 5:00 |} 126°90 | 56
River . 3 16 | 589 20 |° 38°25 | 123°65 | ——
Big Bonnet Portage 0 50 | 589 70 | 34:23 | 89°42 | 57
River . 0 30 | 590 20 1°00 88°42 | —
Petit Roche Portage 0 13 | 590 33 | 825} 80-17 | 58
River .. 3 27.4 593 60'|, 3°50.) 76670he——
White Mud Portage 0 15 | 598 75 | 18°05 63°62 | 59
River . : 3 40 | 597 40 1°80 61°82 | —
Silver Lsbeses, Os 7 a1 OOF. 47 6°06 50°76 | 60
Falls [Eee 0-3 | 2597.50), 025. | goats
Portage | 2nd , 0 13 | 597 63 | 15°59 39°95 | 61
River . : : : A 5 47 | 603° 30 |, 140 | 3854) =
Pine Portage 0 12 | 603 42 | 8:03 | 30°20 | 62
River . : 11 .0 | 614 42 2°00 28:20 | —
Fort Alexander 0 0} 614 42}. — 28°20 | —
Mouth of River 160: |) 616) 22°) - == 28°20 | —
Winnipeg Lake 41 0} 657 22 | — 28°20 | —
403
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APPENDIX.
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APPENDIX.
IV.
STATIONS OF MISSIONARIES IN THE CHURCH
MISSION SOCIETY.
NORTH-WEST AMERICA MISSION. — May 1859.
St. Andrew’s .
La Prairie
RED RIVER.
. Ven. Archd. James Hunter, M.A., 1844.
Rev.
Rev.
William West Kirkby, 1852.
Edwin A. Watkins, 1852.
Mr. Caleb Mayhew, 1856.
1 European Schoolmaster.
. Ven.
Archd. W. Cockran, 1825.
Indian Settlement Rev. Abraham Cowley, 1841.
Islington
Fairford
Fort Pelly
Cumberland .
Moose Lake
Nepowewin
English River
York Factory .
Moose Fort
. Rev.
- Rev. Robert M‘Donald, Country-born.
MANITOBA.
William Stagg, 1853.
Rev. James Settee, Native.
. Rev.
. 1 Native Catechist.
. Rev.
. Rev.
. Rev.
. Rev.
Rev.
. 1 Native Teacher.
CUMBERLAND.
Henry George, 1854.
Henry Budd, Native.
ENGLISH RIVER.
Robert Hunt, 1849.
YORK FACTORY.
Joseph Phelps Gardiner, 1857.
JAMES’ BAY. ,
John Horden, 1851.
Thomas H. Fleming, 1857.
APPENDIX. 407
PACIFIC.
Fort Simpson . Mr. William Duncan, 1856.
21 Country-born and Native Teachers in addition to the above-
mentioned.
At Home . . . Rev. William Mason, 1840.
Vv.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS WEST OF
RED RIVER.
In 1830, Bishop Provencher went to Canada, with a view to
induce his church to commence missionary operations in Rupert’s
Land, west of Red River, and returned the following year with
his first missionary, Mr. G. Belcourt. This gentleman at once
set himself to acquire the Salteaux dialect, as he was to begin
with that tribe, being nearest at hand. He mastered the lan-
guage thoroughly, and commenced operations above Lane’s Fort,
at a point which still bears his name. He baptized a number,
and the mission got a good start under his management. Others
followed him and laboured in hope, but after years of anxious
care and toil, the results were not satisfactory. The death of
Mr. Darveau, who succeeded Mr. Belcourt, and the better dis-
position of the Indians elsewhere, induced Bishop Provencher
reluctantly to abandon that mission. At present there are no Ca-
tholic missions in, or immediately around the settlement: they
are all in the interior. It is the universal experience of the
missionaries, that the Indians in the immediate neighbourhood
of white settlements are much more degraded and less disposed
to spiritual matters, than those far from the whites. In 1842 the
Roman Catholic missions fairly began. In that year M. Thibeault
was sent forth, and was followed in 1844 by Messrs. Lafleche
Dp4
408 APPENDIX.
and Bourassa. And so they have increased until now they num-
ber sixteen or seventeen, and have five missionary stations.
Laxe St. ANNE Misston.—This place is known among voy-
ageurs by the name of “ Devil’s Lake,” which is a translation of
the Indian name usually given in maps, Manitou Lake. It is
nearly fifty miles west of Fort Edmonton, the head quarters of
the Saskatchewan district. It was first visited by M. Thibeault
in 1843, but was formally taken possession of only in the follow-
ing year by Messrs. Lafleche and Bourassa. There are about
forty houses, occupied partly by half-breeds, partly by Crees,
Assinniboines, and Blackfeet. The present missionaries are—Rev.
Fathers Lacombe, Remas, and Train. Making the St. Anne a
sort of rendezvous, they have been through the whole Saskat-
chewan Valley, and have gone to the source of the Athabasca, to
the Rocky Mountains, Red Deer Lake, and Ile-a-la-Crosse. The
mission is provided with a chapel (now too small), a good house
for the missionaries, a school, and a convent; which last, sisters
of Charity will occupy this summer (1860).
Mission oF Norre-Dame pes Victotres.—The Red Deer Lake,
on the border of which is this mission, is in the Saskatchewan
district. There are some half-breeds at this mission, besides
Crees and Chipewyans from Athabasca and Ile-a-la-Crosse. M.
Thibeault visited it in 1845 and subsequently. Rev. Father
Remas settled there in 1853. Its present missionaries are Rev.
Fathers Maisonneuve and Vissot. The soil and climate permit
the cultivation of wheat at this station. The missionaries go at
times to Fort Pitt, but find little encouragement, as drunkenness
prevails to a shameful extent, both among the Company’s servants
and the Indians.
Sr. Joun THE Baptist Mission.—-This is at Ile-a-la-Crosse, in -
the English River district. M. Thibeault first visited the spot
in 1845, then in 1846; and in the fall of this year it was for-
mally occupied by Rev. Father Tache and M. Lafleche. Mon-
seigneur Grandin, coadjutor-elect of St. Boniface, and Rev. Father
Vegreville, labour there at present among Crees and Chipewyans
and the employés of the Company. They annually visit Lac
APPENDIX. 409
Vert and Portage 4 la Loche. There is a handsome church, a
substantial house for the missionaries, and one ready for Sisters
of Charity.
Mission or THe Nativity.—The Rev. Father Alex. Tache was
the first missionary that visited Lake Athabasca, at the end of
which this mission is situated. He went first in 1847, then in
1848. In the following year Father Faraud was permanently
settled there. He understands the Cree and Chipewyan dialects
perfectly, and is now assisted by Rev. Father Clut.
Mission oF St. Josepu.— It is on the Great Slave Lake. Rev.
Father Faraud visited the place first in 1852, and subsequently
in 1856; but it was permanently occupied only in 1858, when
Rev. Fathers Grollier and Eynard took a position alongside of
Fort Resolution. This is the furthest north of all the Roman
Catholic missions. In 1858 Rev. Father Grollier went as far as
Fort Simpson, the head quarters of the Mackenzie’s River district.
The number of baptisms by the missionaries from the year
1842 to 1856 amounted to 5137. Since 1856 there have been
no statistics received ; they are furnished only at stated intervals.
The revenue of the diocese of St. Boniface is not much over
20001.—Abbreviated from the Nor-Wester. May 14th, 1860.
VE
®
WESLEYAN METHODIST MISSIONS.*
NORWAY HOUSE.
Rev. Robert Brooking, of Rossville.
Number of Members, 164 in 1859.
“Our population is still rapidly on the increase, , Since my last
report was written there have been thirty baptisms and only five
deaths, so that there has been an increase, by births over deaths,
of twenty-five; and there has also been an addition by families
coming in from other places. During the two years of my resi-
* Thirty-fourth Annual Report of the Missionary Society of the Wesleyan
Church in Canada, in connexion with the English Conference, Toronto, 1859.
410 APPENDIX.
dence here the population has increased from all sources fully 100.
Five marriages have been solemnized during the past year.
«‘ Several new houses were finished last fall, and there are six
more now in frame, and the material got out for three or four
others, which are to be raised when the boating is over. A larger
quantity of ground is fenced in and under cultivation than has
ever been before; so that if their prosperity does not keep pace
with our wishes, yet we have every reason to thank God and take
courage. In fact, there seems a general desire among our Pte
to improve their circumstances.”
OXFORD HOUSE.
Rev. Charles Stringfellow, of Jackson’s Bay.
«As to the numbers in our Church there is a decrease of six-
teen, being last year ninety-nine, the present year they number
eighty-three. There are eighteen persons on trial for member-
ship in addition to the eighty-three members. Of this decrease
ten have removed to hunting-grounds contiguous to Rossville
Mission, and therefore will augment by ten the numbers there
in society. Five other persons, four male and one female, have
died during the year.”
EDMONTON AND ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
Rey. Thos. Wolsey.
VIt.
THE FAR WEST IN THE UNITED STATES.
From its mouth to the Great Bend, the Missouri admits
of almost continuous settlement on its wmnmediate banks;
thence, to Fort Union, only about one-fourth could be culti-
vated; and above Fort Union many extensive but detached
bottoms show their adaptation for small independent agricul-
tural areas.
The general westward progress of sce a few miles
west of the Upper Missouri River, is rendered impossible by
APPENDIX. 411
the conditions of climate and soil which prevail there. The
progress of settlement must necessarily be up the Valley of
the Mississippi, on the immediate banks of the Missouri, and
through the Valley of the Red River of the north, to the
cultivable areas in the basin of Lake Winnipeg. The explora-
tion for the Pacific Railroad and the meteorological investi-
gations carried on under the direction of the Surgeon-General
of the U. S. army, show conclusively that no settlement of
any importance can be established over a vast extent of country,
many hundred miles broad, on the eastern flank of the Rocky
Mountains, and south of the Great Bend of the Missouri.
Owing to the absence of rain, the apparently great rivers, the
Platte, the Canadian, the Arkansas, &c., are often converted
into long detached reaches or ponds during the summer months,
and forbid extensive settlements even on their immediate banks.
This great and important physical fact is contrary to popular
opinion, which is mainly based upon an inspection of a map,
and guided by the glowing but utterly erroneotis descriptions
which are periodically circulated respecting the wonderful fer-
tility of the Far West, and its capability of sustaining a dense
population.
The arid districts of the Upper Missouri are barren tracts,
wholly uncultivable, from various causes.* The arid plains
between the Platte and Canadian rivers are in great part
sand-deserts. The “Sage-plains,” or dry districts, with little
vegetable growth except varieties of Artemisia, begin on the
western border of the plains of the eastern Rocky Mountain
slope, and cover much the larger portion of the whole country
westward.f The sterile region on the eastern slope of the
Rocky Mountains begins about 500 or 600 miles west of the
Mississippi, and its breadth varies from 200 to 400 miles;
and it is then succeeded by the Rocky Mountain range, which,
rising from an altitude of 5200 in feet lat. 32°, reaches 10,000
feet in lat. 38°, and declines to 7490 feet in lat. 42° 24’, and
* Page 684, Army Meteorological Register, U. 8.
4 Tid.
412 APPENDIX.
about 6000 in lat. 47°. Along this range isolated peaks and
ridges rise into the limits of perpetual snow, in some instances
attaining an elevation of 17,000 feet. The breadth of the
Rocky Mountain range varies from 500 to 900 miles. The
soil of the greater part of the sterile region is necessarily so
from its composition, and where well constituted for fertility,
from the absence of rain at certain seasons. The general cha-
racter of extreme sterility likewise belongs to the country
embraced in the mountain region.* The table subjoined is
capable of conveying a very good idea of the great barrier to
the westward progress of settlement, which lies between the
Mississippi Valley and the Pacific slope of the Rocky Moun-
tains. It is extracted from a table showing the lengths, sums
of ascents and descents, &c. &c., of the several routes surveyed
for a railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific, and published
in the “‘ Exploration and Surveys,” before quoted.
No. of miles of
No. of
miles of| route through
Length Rone lands generally
of Rail- uncultivable,
No. of sq. miles
of sums of areas
of largest bodies
way | ‘arable | arable soil being] th cuttivable re-
land. anode gions.
Miles.
Route near 47th & 49th parallel . | 1864 | 374 1490 1000
>) om Alst & 42nd 1 bi203a4 630 1400 1100
> » 38th & 39th 9» «| 2080))" 620 1460 1100
5 5, odth jp: te | hOO2? SLE 1476 2300
op », o2nd i + | LOls 1 408 1210 . 2300
This table shows that the least distance of uncultivable land
through which a railway from the Mississippi to the Pacific
must pass, in the United States territory, exceeds 1200 miles
in length,—a barrier sufficient to arrest the general progress
of settlement, for very many years to come, in a course due
west of the Mississippi.
The only direction which remains for extensive free soil
settlement in and near the United States is northwards, partially
along the immediate banks of the Missouri, about the head-
* Exploration and Surveys for a Railroad Route from the Mississippi River to the
Pacific Ocean, page 40.
APPENDIX. 413
waters of the Mississippi, and towards the valleys of the Red
River and the Assinniboine and the main Saskatchewan. The
popular impression that immense areas of land, available for the
purposes of agriculture, he between the Missouri and the Rocky
Mountain chain, has, as before stated, been completely refuted
by the explorations and surveys for the Pacific Railroad. The
now well ascertained aridity of climate and its natural conse-
quence, sterility of soil, both combine to confirm the title of
“The Great American Desert,” given by the early explorers
of the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains to that extensive
region of country. This important fact cannot fail to exercise
a powerful influence upon the occupation of British territory
north of the 49th parallel of latitude, and on the sources from
which that occupation will flow. [From a paper by the author
on the Great North-West, published in 1858.] _
VIII.
SEASONS AT RED RIVER.
ON THE PROGRESS OF THE SEASONS AND STATE OF THE WEATHER
AT RED RIVER SETTLEMENT, FROM 1ST JUNE, 1855, TO 31ST
MAY, 1856.
1855. June 5th was the coldest day in the month. Ther-
mometer, 7 a.m., 58; 2 p.m., 63; 9 p.m., 56. The 14th was
the hottest day. Thermometer, 7 a.m., 72; 2 p.m., 88; 9 p.m.,
71. Three inches of rain fell on the 17th, one on the 19th and
six on the 25th.
July 2nd was the coldest. Thermometer, 7 a.m., 56; 2 p.m.,
78; 9p.m., 68; light rain. The 25th was the hottest day.
7am., 87; 2 p.m., 92; 9 p.m., 82. 7th, rain 33 inches; 10th,
rain # inches. Thunderstorm on the 17th, rain 3 inches. 26th,
1 inch rain; 29th, 3 inches rain; 30th, 2 inches; total 144
inches. Wheat out of the ear. On the 12th hay-cutting com-
menced. Tabani and mosquitoes very numerous and trouble-
some.
414 APPENDIX.
August : — Coldest day, 29th. Thermometer, 7 a.m., 44;
1 p.m., 68; 9p.m., 56. The hottest day was the 5th. 7a.m.,
67372 pym.,' 865-9 p.m, "76. On the 8th, 5 inches of rain fell;
11th, 54 inches fell; 14th, 2 inches; 27th, 4 inch: total, 123
inches. Barley harvest commenced about the Ist; wheat har-
vest on the 15th. Slight frost on the 30th.
September :—The coldest day was the 30th. Thermometer
average +48. The hottest day was the 5th; thermometer,
7a.1o., 70; 2p.m., 80; 9 p.m., 70. Total of rain during the
month, 64 inches. Finished storing wheat on the 8th.
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Ti.
VOL.
434 APPENDIX.
XIV.
List of Photographs, of Red River; the Ohurches of Selkirk
Settlement ; the Houses and Stores of the Settlers; Indian
Tents and Graves; the Prairie; the Forts and Stores of the
Hon. Hudsows Bay Company ; the Native Races; and the.
Expedition returning to Crow Wing in Dog Carioles.*
THE RED RIVER.
View of Red River, from the Stone Fort.
View of Red River, from St. Andrew’s Church, four miles
above the Stone Fort.
Red River ; Middle Settlement, eight miles below Fort Garry.
Freighter’s Boat on the banks of Red River, seven miles below
Fort Garry.
Bishop’s Court (the residence of the Bishop of Rupert’s Bua,
on the banks of Red River.
(These Photographs exhibit the general character of the river.)
CHURCHES OF SELKIRK SETTLEMENT.
Cathedral of St. Boniface (Roman Catholic) and Nunnery, on
the banks of Red River, opposite Fort Garry.
St. John’s Church, two miles below Fort Garry. (Ch. of
Eng.)
Presbyterian Church and Parsonage, seven miles below Fort
Garry.
St. Paul’s Church, Parsonage, and School House, eight and a
half miles below Fort Garry. (Ch. of Eng.)
St. Andrew’s Church (Rapids a sixteen | below
Fort Garry. (Ch. of Eng.) .
St. Andrew’s Parsonage.
* These Photographs can be procured from Mr. J. Hogarth, No. 5, Haymarket,
London. Price two guineas.
APPENDIX. 435
HOUSES AND STORES OF THE SETTLERS.
Residence of Mr. Bannatyne, near Fort Garry.
Mr. McDermot’s Store, near Fort Garry.
Farm-houses and Windmills, Middle Settlement.
INDIAN TENTS AND GRAVES.
Ojibway Tents, on the banks of Red River, near the Middle
Settlement.
Birch-bark Tents, west bank of Red River, Middle Settle-
ment.
Indian Graves, covered with split sticks.
Indian Graves, covered with birch bark.
THE PRAIRIE.
The Prairie, on the banks of Red River, looking south.
FORTS AND STORES OF THE HONOURABLE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
Fort Garry ; at the confluence of Red River and the Assinni-
boine.
Hon. Hudson’s Bay Company’s Officers’ Quarters: Lower or
Stone Fort.
Fur Store: interior of Lower or Stone Fort.
NATIVE RACES.
John McKay: a Cree half- breed.
Letitia: a Cree half-breed.
Susan: a Swampy-Cree half-breed.
Wigwam: an Ojibway half-breed, Lake Superior.
An Ojibway Squaw with Papoose.
Red River Freighter’s Boat.
436 APPENDIX.
Dog Carioles; Expedition returning to Crow Wing, by the
winter road.
A Blackfoot Warrior’s Robe, containing a history of his wars,
&c., Buffalo hunts, and showing the number of scalps he has
taken from his enemies.
INDEX.
Agate Islands, agates of the, i. 13.
Agriculture, apathy of the people of Red
River settlements in relation to, i.
223%
results of this apathy, i. 224,
causes of the absence of progress, i.
225.
cultivated crops at Red River, i. 225.
- Agricultural implements of Red River set-
tlements, i. 229.
Air, fetid, from the marshes near the Qu’-
appelle River, i. 331.
Alexander, Fort, on the Winnipeg River,
eae
Alluvial flats, Saskatchewan River, 1. 445,
formation of, i, 457.
Alonquins, territory inhabited by the, i.
180, 181.
Ammonites, from M‘Kenzie River, 11, 306,
from the Souris, ii. $38.
—— Ammonites Barnstoni, il. 307, 311.
Billingsil, ii. 315.
placenta, ii. 340,
Animal life, scarcity of, on the route, i, 55.
on the Winnipeg River, i. 115.
near the Souris Lakes, i. 300.
on the south branch of the Saskatche-
wan, i. 388, 893.
causes of the absence of animal life in
the prairies, 1. 424, 425,
Anomia Flemingi, ii. 334.
Anser hyperboreus, flocks of, on the Little
Saskatchewan River, ii. 29.
Antelope, prong-horned ( Antilocapra Ame-
ricana), on the Souris Lakes, i. 300.
herds of, in the prairie west of the
Little Souris River, i. 306.
on the borders of the Qu’appelle
valley, 1. 318.
Ant-hills, gigantic, on the Winnipeg River,
fe 115.
Antiquities, Indian, rarely found in the
valley of the Saskatchewan, ii, 120,
at Red River, i. 121.
Appendix, ii. 399, et seq.
MOL, II. G
—— S
Arable land on the Red Assinniboine and
Saskatchewan Rivers, 1. 250.
Areas fit for settlement in the valley of the
Assinniboine, 1. 246, 250.
—— in the valley of the Saskatchewan, i.
249.
east of the Riding and Duck Moun-
tains, i. 250,
Arrow Lake, 1. 76.
Ashes’ Lake, 1. 411.
Ashley, Hon. Evelyn, his trip into the
prairies, li. 82.
Aspen forests on the south branch of the
Saskatchewan, 1. 386.
former, on the south branch of the
Saskatchewan, i. $391.
and on the main Saskatchewan, 1.
404,
increase of, at Spy Hill, i. 425.
near Dauphin Lake, i, 61.
Assinniboia, 1, 127.
governor and council of, i. 183.
-—— administration of justice at, i. 183.
—— quarterly courts, i. 184.
lower district court, 1. 185.
Assinniboine River, i. 127.
etymology of the name, i. 127 note.
its junction with the Red River, i.
132,
its character and course, 1. 136.
its width, depth, and rate of current,
i, 136.
volume of water in the, i. 137.
effect of evaporation on its volume of
water, 1. 137.
its affluents, i. 138.
its course, i. 139.
its physical features, i. 139.
sand and mud flats in the river at
Prairie Portage, i, 141.
timber on its banks, i. 141, 142.
scarcity of fuel in the valley of, i.
144,
confluence of the Assinniboine and
Red River, i. 153.
oe
.
438
Assinniboine country lying between the As-
sinniboine and La Riviére Sale, i.
15)
extensive and valuable forests in the,
i, 244,
areas fit for settlement in the valley
of the, 1. 246.
—— width and rate of current at Lane’s
iPosts1-- 2814
fertility ofthe prairie of the Assinni-
boine at Prairie Portage, 1. 282.
-—— dimensions of the valley of the Assinni-
boine, 1, 285.
measurement of a section of the, i. 287.
breadth, depth, and current of the, i.
288, 430.
— arrival of the expedition at the, near
Two Creeks, 1. 308,
—— approach to the river, 1. 309.
former condition of the Assinniboine
valley, i. 309.
ponds feeding the, at Sandy Hills, i.
352, 355.
rivers and creeks flowing into the,
from the west, i. 431.
—— Big Ridge of the, ii, 78.
—- Little Ridge of the, ii. 79,
fertility of the soil on the east bank of
the, 1. 435.
valley, leading dimensions of the, i. 430.
—— Indians, celebrated war-paths of the,
ii, 29.
—— Christians in the Rocky Mountains, ii,
204.
Atmospheric phenomenon at the Height of
Land, i. 54.
Audubon quoted, ii. 160.
Aurora borealis on Lake Winnipeg, i. 477.
on Red River, i. 5.
— on Lake Winnipeg, ii. 12.
—— seen from the Riding Mountain, i1.
Oo.
account of several seen in Rupert’s
Land, ii. 380.
Avellana Coneinna, ii. 339.
Avicula lingueformis, ii. 342.
Nebrascana, 11. 342, 343.
Babeen Indians, their elaborate tobacco
pipes, 11. 141.
Back-fat Creek, i. 243.
Back-fat Rivulet, i. 290,
Back-fat Lakes, i. 291.
Bad Woods, 1. 283, 285.
—— origin of the name, 1. 284.
hunter’s road in the, 1. 284.
caterpillars in the, i. 285.
Balsam spruce on the south branch of the
Saskatchewan, i. 391.
Baril or Keg Portage, i. 61.
INDEX.
Baril, grooved, scratched, and polished rocks
at, 11. 245.
Baril Lake, i. 63.
vegetation of the banks of, i. 68
Barley, cultivation of, at Red River settle-
ments, 1. 227, -
Barriére Portage, i. 50,
Barriére Falls of the Winnipeg River, i.
116.
Basquia River, 1. 452.
Battle River, -i. 351,
Bay, Thunder, scenery of, i. 13.
colour of the waters of, i, 14,
description of, i, 24.
Seine, i. 62,
—— Monument, 1. 103,
Bayfield, Captain, his estimate of the alti-
tude of Lake Superior, i. 17.
Beaches and terraces between Lakes Su-
perior and Winnipeg, ii, 257.
at Great Dog Portage, ii. 257
—— section of, ii. 258.
—— on Lake Superior, ii. 258.
—— on Prairie Portage, ii, 259.
—— the Big Ridge, ii. 259.
—— White Mud River Ridge, ii. 260.
—— Dauphin Lake Ridge, ii. 260,
prairie ridges, ii, 261.
Pembina Mountain, ii. 261.
—— Riding and Duck Mountain ridges,
il, 263.
conical hills, i. 263.
Bear-berry, abundance of, at Weed Ridge,
1. SL.
Bear, grizzly, ongthe south branch of the
Saskatchewan, 1. 394.
visit from one, i. 394.
Hill, ii. 264.
altitude of the, ii. 264,
——- second tier of conical hills, ii. 264.
Bear, black, on the main Saskatchewan
River, i. 406.
Bear, brown-nosed, shot, ii. 54.
Bear steaks, ii. 57.
Beaver Creek, i. 138, 310.
character of the country, in the neigh-
bourhood of, i. 311.
Beaver Mountain, i. 422,
Beet cultivated at Red River settlement,
4, 227
Bell, Mr., and his daughter, i. 60.
Big Bend, Saskatchewan River, i. 452.
Big Hill, i. 410.
boulders on the, i, 410.
Big Ridge, birds of the, i. 279.
its elevation, i. 279.
—— view from its summit, i, 280,
—— pasturage of, i. 280,
ancient beach of, ii, 259.
Big Stone River, i. 448,
——
A
INDEX. 439
Birch-bark tents on the Red River, i. 200.
Birch Islands, the Big, Main Saskatchewan
River, i. 444.
Birch Hills, Main Saskatchewan River, i.
406, 408.
Birds of the Kaministiquia River, i. 55.
on the banks of Rainy River, i. 89.
of Garden Island, i. 101.
on the Winnipeg River, i. 115, 116.
on the Pennawa River, i. 118.
aquatic, on Lake Winnipeg, i. 123.
on Roseau Lake, i. 159.
near the height of land Hills,
i 261.
in the Touchwood Hills, 1.
394,
on Lake Manitobah, ii. 39.
of the Big Ridge, i. 279.
of the prairie west of the Little
Souris River, i. 306.
of the Qu’appelle Valley, i. 316,
330.
on the Qu’appelle Fishing Lakes, i.
328.
Pee ener Tele
of the Qu’appelle River, from the
Fishing Lakes to the Assinniboine,
WiDT Ge
—— seen near the
Saskatchewan, i. 393.
— on the Little Saskatchewan, i. 437.
—— on the marshes near Partridge Cross
River, ii. 35.
snow, on Dauphin Lake, ii. 49.
Bird’s-eye limestone, 11, 289.
Birdstail River, i. 138.
—— vegetation of the valley of, 1. 246,
Birdstail Creek, i. 436.
Bison, the. See Buffalo.
Black Bear Island, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 19.
Blackfeet, at war with the Plain Crees, i.
318.
war party of, near the Cree camp, in
the Qu’appelle Valley, i. 365.
celebrated war path of the, ii, 29,
- their cruelty, 1. 125.
boundary of their country and their
population, 13, | 57.
—— tribes into which the nation is divided,
ie h57.
Black Island, Great (Lake Winnipeg), i.
485; ii. 12.
Blood Indians, country of the, ii. 158.
Bloody Hills, Main Saskatchewan, i. 408.
Blue Hills of the Souris, i. 236, 243, 289,
425.
south of the Assinniboine, i. 236,
drift on the, ii, 248,
Bogs, quaking, near the Riding Mountain,
Bi 252:
near Dauphin Lake, i. 61, 62.
south branch of the
Bois de Vache (dried buffalo dung) on
the prairies of the Souris, i. 295.
geological formation of, 1. 296,
used as fuel, i. 343.
Bois, Portage du, falls of the, i. 116.
Boniface, Bishop of, his remarks on the
present agricultural condition of Red
River Settlement, 1. 224.
Bonnet Lake, i. 117,118.
Boss Hill, i. 307,
Boss Hill Creek, i. 307.
Boulders, near Barriére Portage, i. 50.
near Lake Winnipeg, i. 122.
——on the Assinniboine River, i, 141,
247, 309.
—— gnessoid and limestone on the banks of
the Little Souris River, i. 299.
—— in the old beds of brooks, in the prairie
north of Red Deer’s Head River, i.
305.
—— near Pipestone Creek, i. 307.
—— in drift, horizontal tiers on the sonth
branch of the Saskatchewan, 1. 309.
—-- vast accumulation of, in the valley of
the Qu’appelle, i. 343, 353.
— on the summit level of the Qu’appeile
River, i. 363.
—— view of ridges with boulders, on the
east and west side of the height of
landin the Qu’appelle Valley, i. 364.
in the Qu’appelle River, i. 375.
on the banks of the south branch of
the Saskatchewan, i. 389, 390.
in the Channel of the north branch
of the Saskatchewan, i. 396,
at Big Hill, i. 410.
east of Last Mountain Lake, 1. 421.
of limestone, near Cut-arm Creek, i,
423.
at Spy Hill, i. 425.
— on the banks of the Little Saskatche-
wan, il. 27.
barriers of, on the shores of St. Mar-
tin’s Lake, il. 80, 32, 34.
on the beach of Lake Manitobah, ii.
38.
tiers of, on the south branch of the
Saskatchewan, il. 254.
in the basin of Lake Winnipeg, ii.
255.
distribution of, 11. 255.
effects of ice on Lake Winnipeg, ii.
2506.
in Lake Manitobah, i1. 256,
——— onthe Red River prairies, ii. 257.
Bows and arrows of the Sioux, ii. 144.
Bressany, Rev. R. P. F. J., on wampum,
quoted, i, 418, note.
Brooking, Rev. Mr., Wesleyan Missionary
in Rupert’s Land, il. 15,
CGE
440 INDEX.
Brulé, or Side Hill Path, Portage, i. 63.
Brulé River, 1. 63.
Brulé Lake, i. 63,
cannibalism of the Ojibways on the,
i, 65.
Budd, Rev. Henry, of the Nepowewin
Mission, i. 399, 400.
—— his account of the medicine feasts of
the Crees quoted, i. 403.
Buffalo-hunts of the half-breeds, 1. 179.
Buffalo on the prairies of the Little Souris,
or Mouse Liver, i. 295.
on the Souris Lakes, i. 300.
vast herds of, on the Grand Coteau de
Missouri, 1. 306. -
formerly very numerous near the As-
sinniboine River, i. 308
one killed near the Assinniboine River,
i. 309.
mode of making pemmican and dried
meat of buffalo flesh, 1. 312.
tracks of, on the banks of the Qu’ap-
pelle River, 1. 331.
Indian mode of telegraphing the pre-
sence of, 1, 336.
rapidly diminishing in numbers, i.
So
at the Lake of the Sandy Hills, i.
342.
a bull attacked by a young Indian, i.
345.
on the Eyebrow Hill Range, i. 348.
“bringing in the buffalo,” i. 356.
a Cree buffalo pound described, i.
356.
Indian mode of taking buffalo, i. 358.
dead bodies of, in the South Branch
of the Saskatchewan, i. 388.
herds of, in winter, near Touchwood
Hills Fort, i. 415.
systematic migration of, ii. 109.
summer and autumn buffalo hunts,
i. 110:
census of Red River half-breed hunt,
ie LO:
laws of the buffalo-hunters in the
field, ii. 111.
blind buffalo, ii. 112.
remarks on crossing buffalo with do-
mesticated cattle, ii. 112.
favourite food of the buffalo, 11. 113.
character of mixed breeds, ii. 113.
considered as an Indian source of
wealth, ii. 103.
its value, ii. 103, 104.
the existence of two kinds of buffalo
reported by the half-breeds, ii. 104.
——— buffalo emasculated by wolves, ii. 105,
similarity of some skins to those of
the Lithuanian bison, ii. 106.
Bee at Leer
Buffalo, former and present range of the, il.
106.
—— Red River and Saskatchewan bands,
ii, 107.
—— wintering quarters of the north-west-
ern bands, ii, 108, 109.
—— summer ranges, 11. 109.
—— savage excitement of the Indians when
impounding buffalo, i1, 142.
Buffalo Pound Hill, i. 339.
——— appearance of the country at, 1. 339.
Buffalo Pound Hill Lake, 1. 339, 341.
Indian encampments on the, 1. 839,
340.
“ Buffalo Cart Plain,” i. 410.
“ Bull boats,” or “ parchment canoes,”
i, 442.
Bull’s Head, Lake Winnipeg, i. 18.
“ Bungays,” their interference with the ex-
pedition, i. 334,
Bushkega Islands (Lake Winnipeg), 1,
485 3 11. 21.
Cabri, or prong-horned antelope, at the
Town’s Lakes, 1. 300.
herds of, in the prairie west of the
Little Souris River, 1. 306.
on the borders of the Qu’appelle Val-
ley, i. 318.
Cache, an Indian, on the Pennawa River,
i, 120;
mode of making a, ii. 89.
Camp, always made in winter, in woods if
possible, ii, 87.
mode of, il. 87.
appearance of a winter, during the
night, i. 92.
preparing to camp in a snow-storm on
the prairie, li. 94.
Camping-grounds, ancient, of the Plain
Crees, 1. 338, 340.
Campbell, John, his farm near Lake Mani-
tobah, 11. 67.
Canada, journey to, via St. Paul, described,
Per tiule
communication between, and the New
River, wu. 292.
Indian title in. See Indian title.
Cavendish, Lord Frederick, his buffalo
hunting trip, ii. 81.
Caverns on the coast of Lake Winnipeg, ii.
19.
Canal, Sault Ste, Marie, account of the, i.
15.
Cannibalism of the Ojibways, i. 15.
Canoes, Indian skill in managing, i. 442. ~
birch canoes and “bull boats,” or
parchment canoes, 1. 442.
Carboniferous series in the basin of Lal
Winnipeg, ii. 299.
INDEX. 441
Carboniferous evidence of the carboniferous
series, il. 299.
— “productus,” ii. 300.
—— probability of the carboniferous series,
being represented on the flanks of
the Riding Mountain, ii. 300.
—— occurrence in Nebraska territory, i.
502.
—— in Kansas, 11, 303.
—— in the north-west generally, ii. 304.
on the west edge of the fossiliferous
basin, ii. 306.
Caribou Island (Lake Winnipeg), 1. 480.
Carioles described, ii, 84.
Carlton trail, i. 422.
Carrot River, or Root River, i. 407, 409.
Carry Wood Plain, i. 411.
Cass Lake, ii. 98.
account of the mission and Indian
village at, ii. 99.
Cat-birds on the Weed Ridge, Qu’appelle
Valley, i. 316.
Caterpillars, armies of, on the banks of
Rainy River, i. 93.
myriads of, in the Bad Woods, i. 285.
Cat Head (Lake Winnipeg), i. 488; 11. 20.
near the Little Saskatchewan, ii. 27.
origin of the name, i. 489.
Cedar Lake, i. 240, 456, 457.
—— its situation and dimensions, i. 458.
isthmus separating it from Lake Win-
nipego-sis, i. 459, -
Cedar Lake House, i. 460.
Chalk Hills near Qu’appelle Lakes, 1. 319.
Chaudiére Falls, i. 81.
Chazy formation, ii. 285,
fossils of the chazy, ii. 285.
near the Lake of the Woods, i. 95.
Chazy formation of New York and Canada,
equivalent of, on Lake Winnipeg, ii. 14.
Cherry Islands, Lake Manitobah, ii. 39,
Chipewyans, territory inhabited by the, ii.
180.
Choné, Rev. Jean Pierre, his mission, i. 27,
his kindness to the party, i. 27.
-~—— description of his house, i. 28,
—— mass at the mission, 1. 29.
his sermon, i. 30.
Chordelles Virginianus (night-hawk), eggs
of the, found en the sand, i. 295.
Christianity amongst the Indians, i. 114,
124, 200.
Clay Cliffs, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 10.
Cliff swallow (Hirundo fulva), on the
banks of the Assinniboine River, 1. 283.
Climate of Long Creek, Main Saskatche-
wan, i. 406.
of the Touchwood Hills, i. 416.
of Canada and Rupert’s Land, ii.
353.
Climate of the Laurentides and the prairies,
li, 353.
frozen lakes, 11. 354.
mean annual temperature, 11, 354.
the arid and the humid region, ii. 354.
sources of humidity, ii. 355.
aridity west of the 98th meridian, ii.
BD.
Mississippi valley, 11. 355.
arid region of the United States, ii.
BOD.
humid region of the valley of Lake
Winnipeg, ii. 357.
causes of, il. 357.
elevation of the country, ii. 357.
humid Pacifie winds, 11. 357, 358.
north-easterly currents, ii. 358.
the arid region, ii. 359.
prevailing winds, ii, 359.
source of the humidity, ii, 359.
thunder storms in 1858, ii. 360.
of the valley of Red River, il. 365.
seasons of the valley of Lake Win-
nipeg, il. 369.
winter temperatures, 11. 369,
cold terms, 11. 372.
Quebec temperatures, ii, 372.
of the south branch of the Saskatche-
wan, ii. 373.
growth of forests, 11. 376.
end or tail of the prairies, ii. 376.
general character of the region west
of the 98th meridian in the United
States, i. 377.
—— auroras, ii. 380.
—— twilight bow, ii. 382.
Indian summer, ii. 383.
Cline, the half-breed runner, engaged, ii. 83.
Clouston, Mr., of the Hudson’s Bay Com-
pany; 1,, b17.
Coal Falls, North Branch of the Saskatche
wan River, character of the, i. 396.
Cochrane, Archdeacon, his efforts to Chris-
tianise the Ojibways, i. 281.
Cold Water Lake, i. 51.
-—— source of, i, 52.
Collingwood steamer, engaged for the ex-
pedition, i. 9.
strikes on a rock in Lake Superior,
se
Columbia, British, Lieutenant Palmer’s
explorations in, il. 226.
roads in British Columbia, ti. 227.
Lieutenant Richard Mayne’s explora-
tions, il, 228.
—— Thompson River, ii. 229.
present position of British Columbia,
ii, 229, 230.
imposts and customs of the colony,
137 280;
fo
*
Pele HT Pabaeh Be RES aEs |
CeGia
Columbia, the gold-fields of, their extent, 1.
230.
—— lignite of, 11. 348,
Communication between Canada and Red
River, 11. 212,
—— winter communication, ii, 212.’
character of the country on the north
shores of Lake Huron and Lake
Superior, 11. 212,
—— probabilities of a road being made,
gL, koe
—— Mr. Salter’s survey, ii. 213.
—— Mr. Murray’s survey, il. 213.
-—— summer communication, li. 214.
-route proposed by Mr. Dawson, ii, 214.
——-- distance to be travelled, il. 215.
—— mode of transport, il. 215.
— the Pigeon River route, il. 216.
——- cost of opening and improving the
Fort William and Arrow Lake
route, 1i, 217.
—— communication with the United States,
ZS,
arrangements of Messrs, Burbank and
Co., 11. 216.
Captain Palliser’s opinions as to Red
River as an English colony, il. 219.
—— objections to his views as to the route
to Red River, ii. 220.
best route, ii. 221.
— between Red River and the Pacific,
li, 222:
Captain Palliser’s expedition, il. 223.
Passes of the Rocky Mountains, ii.
224.
—— Lieutenant Palmer’s explorations in
British Columbia, ii. 226.
—— and Lieutenant Mayne’s, ii. 228.
—— Captain Palliser’s proposed boundary
of the new colony, 11. 230,
objections to this boundary, ii. 231.
importance of the new colony being
conterminous with Canada on the
east, 11, 2316
—— natural boundary of the new colony,
ii, 232,283.
—— importance of the east coast of Lake
Winnipeg, ii. 233.
——— necessity for a natural northern boun-
dary, ii. 233.
—— natural advantages of the basin of
Lake Winnipeg for a route across
the Continent, ii. 233.
Confervee of the Lake of the Woods, 1. 95.
— - of the first fishing river of the Qu’ap-
pelle, i. 370.
on the surface of Lake Winnipeg,
1459,
Conjurors of the Sioux, ii. 154.
an Indian, 11. 127, 131, 132.
INDEX.
Conjurors, anecdote of one, ii. 132.
Corn Indian, kind grown near the Assinni-
boine River, 11. 145.
places in which it succeeds best, i.
148.
Corne, Fort a la, voyage from, down the
Saskatchewan, to the Grand Rapid
and Lake Winnipeg, i. 441.
breadth of the Saskatchewan at, i.
443,
Coteau, Grand, of the Missouri, i. 335.
dancing point of the Grand Coteau, i.
335.
description of the Grand Coteau, i.
S51,
——- region east of the, i. 351.
sterility of the Grand Coteau, i. 351.
Concretions on the South Branch of the
Saskatchewan, i. 381, 382.
Country west of Lake Superior, i. 21. e
through which the Red River flows, 1.
133%
—- about Little Dog River, i. 49.
~—— about Height of Land Lake, 1. 57.
—— near the Savanne River, i. 60.
——- about the Milles Laes, i. 61, 65.
—— about French and the Deux Riviéres
Portages, i. 67.
-—— lying between the Assinniboine River
and La Riviére Lake, i. 155.
— east of Red River, description of the,
i, 166.
—— west of Red River, sketch of the, i.
233.
—— drained by the Saskatchewan River,
1, 252.
about Pembina, its fertility, i. 255.
—— near Height of Land Hills, 1. 261.
at Bad Woods on the. Assinniboine,
i, 285.
west of the Souris River, i. 289.
barren, west of the Blue Hills of the
Souris, i. 293,
near the Souris at the Red Hills, i,
295.
between Boss Creek and the Assinni-
boine, change in the face of the, i.
308.
——— near Beaver Creek, 1, 311.
—— near the banks of the Qu’appelle
River, 1. 314.
——— between the Weed Ridge and the
Qu’appelle Valley, i. 316.
—— north of the Qu’appelle River, its fer-
tility, i. 317, 318.
—— north of the Indian Head Hills and
Chalk Hills, i. 319.
—— between the Grand Forks (Qu’appelle
River) and the Souris Forks, 1.
335.
INDEX.
Country, appearance of the, at Buffalo Pound
Hill, i. 339.
near the :
Crooked Lake, 1. 371.
fertility of the, on the South Branch
of the Saskatchewan, i. 391, 392.
near the banks of the Main Saskatche-
wan, i. 402.
beautiful, of the Touchwood Hills, i.
412,
east of Long Lake, i. 421.
at Leech Lake and White Sand River,
1. 432.
near Swan Lake, its beauty, 1. 434.
through which the Saskatchewan
flows well adapted for settlement, i.
444,
around Cumberland House, i. 448.
between Muddy Lake and Cedar Lake,
1. 457,
near Partridge Crop River, ii. 35.
between Dauphin Lake and the Rid-
ing Mountain, u. 51.
on the shore of Ebb and Flow Lake,
il. 64.
about Manitobah House, ii. 66, 67.
splendid, near the southern shores of
Shoal Lake, i. 78.
at the Big Ridge of the Assinniboine,
ii. 79.
between Oak Point and Stony Moun-
tain, 11. 79.
north of Lakes Huron and Superior,
ik, 212.
Crane River, Lake Manitobah, ii. 40.
Crane Bay, Lake Manitobah, ii. 40.
Crane, the white whooping (Grus Ameri-
cana), in the valley of the Qu’ap-
pelle, i. 316.
danger in attacking one, i. 316.
Cree Christians at Red River Settlements,
i. 201.
Crees, Plain, at war with the Blackfeet, i,
ois.
—— their message to the “ great praying
father,” i. 323.
their former strength and pomp, i.
O24.
—— their resolution respecting travellers
through their country, i. 334.
camping-grounds of the, i, 338, 339,
340, 341.
their hospitality, i. 341.
encampment of, onthe South Branch
of the Saskatchewan, i. 384.
—— description of them, i. 359.
their objections to the half-breeds, i.
360.
—— and to the Hudson’s Bay Company,
i, 360
eee
Qu’appelle River, below
Q
443
Crees, council of Plain, i. 360.
thickwood, described, i. 403.
not fishermen like the Ojibways, i.
415.
celebrated war-path of the, ii. 29.
their custom of painting the skin,
Was
Swampy, fishing-place of the, i. 457.
Swampy, encampment of, on the banks
of the Saskatchewan, i. 474.
Swampy, great moose-hunting grounds
of the, i. 484.
encampment of, on the Little Saska-
tchewan, 11. 26, 27.
celebrated war-path of the, 1. 29.
favourite camping-grounds of the, il.
ST.
encampment of, on Moss River, li. 47.
their tobacce pipes, il. 139.
Cretaceous rocks, ii. 318.
distribution of, in western
America, li. 318.
—— the Nebraska section, ii. 319.- |
vertical section in Nebraska and
Rupert’s Land, 1i. 320.
steatitic minerals, ii. 328.
clay iron-stone, ii, 329.
fossils from the Souris, il. 334.
and from Nebraska, il. 342.
rocks of the valley of the Little
Souris, or Mouse River, i. 290.
at the Two Creeks, Assinniboine
River, 1. 309,
of the Eyebrow Hill Range, i. 354.
at the summit level of the Qu’appelle
Valley, description of the, i, 365,
on the South Branch of the Saskat-
chewan, i, 380.
character of these rocks, i. 380.
on Birdstail Creek, i, 436.
on Riding Mountain, ii. 54, 58.
Crooked Lake (in Creek Kawawackamac),
1871.
—— its width, depth, and breadth, i.
Smee
Creps cultivated at Red River Settlements,
ioe:
Cross Lake Rapids, i. 240, 460.
Cross Lake, Saskatchewan River, i. 240, 461.
its dimensions and altitude, i. 463.
Cross Woods, on the Qu’appelle River, i.
314,
Crow Creek, il. 62.
Crow Indians, celebrated war path of the,
ii, 29,
Crow Portage, i. 72.
Crow Wing, town of, i. 263.
railways and road to, 1. 22, 23.
—— winter journey with dogs from Fort
Garry to. described, ii, 81.
ie eee
North
Par |
re
444
Crow Wing, distance from Fort Garry to
Ieoa.
Author arrives with his party at, i.
9G;
Crow Wing River, 261, 262.
Cumberland House, main Saskatchewan, i,
446, 449.
—— Mr. M‘Gillivray, 1. 446.
kindness of Mr. Stewart, chief trader,
i. 447,
—— description of the country rcund, i.
447, 448.
garden at, i, 448.
weather at, i. 449.
Cumberland, description of, 1. 447, 448.
Current River, described, i. 30.
falls of the, 1. 42.
—— fish and fruit of, i. 43, note.
Customs, Indian, ii, 120, et seq.
Cut-arm Creek, Little ( Kiskipittonawe
sepesis), 1. 376, 423.
— Big (or Kichekiskapettonano sepesis),
Qu’appelle River, 1. 377.
Dakotah, boundaries of the new territory
Of; 11, 169)
Dakotah Indians, See Sioux.
Dance of Indians of the Kaministiquia
Valley, i. 33.
in an Indian village on Leech Lake,
ii. 99.
Dancing Point of the Grand Coteau, i.
Sas
medicine ceremonies celebrated there,
1 goOs
Dauphin Lake, area of, i. 237, 2413 11. 49.
its elevation, il. 49.
-—— pike caught in the, ii. 49, 59.
journey from, to the Riding Mountain,
ii, 50,
- swamps, ridges, and bogs, near the
lake, ii. 61.
Dauphin Lake Ridge, ancient beach of, 1i.
260.
Dauphin, or Valley, River, i. 241; ii. 48.
Dawson, Mr. S., his report on the soil of
the banks of Rainy River quoted, i. 84.
his illness, 1. 115.
left at Islington Mission, i. 115.
—— his description of the valley of Swan
River, 1. 433.
route proposed by, from Canada to
Red River, ii. 214.
Décharges des Paresseux, 1. 34.
Deer, numbers of, on the banks of the
Souris River, 1. 290.
Deer Island, Lake Winnipeg, 1. 12
section of, il. 12, 13.
De Meurons, the, taken to Red River Settle-
ments, 1. 174.
INDEX.
Denudation of country about Riding Moun-
tain, i. 56.
effects of, in the basin of Lake Win-
nipeg, ii, 265.
parallelism of bold limits of donuda-
tion, li. 266, :
Grand Coteau de Missouri, li. 266.
—— Niagara limestone escarpment of New
York and Canada, ii. 266.
—— Riding and Duck Mountains, pro-
bable common origin of, li. 266.
Depressions, circular, in the basin of Lake
Winnipeg, ii. 265.
character of, li. 265.
Desert, the great American, ii. 233, 234.
Deux Riviéres, i. 256.
Portage des, i. 67.
Devil’s Hills, Accimnibbatse River, i. 287.
Devil’s Lake, i, 414.
Devonian series, in the basin of Lake |
Winnipeg, i i, 29%,
—— salt springs, ii, 291, 292.
——- salt springs in Bupens Land, ii. 293. _
— manufacture of salt, and salt trade of
the United States, ii. 293, 294.
fossils from Devonian rocks in the
Winnipeg basin, ii. 296.
on the shores of Lake Manito-
bah, 11. 38, 39.
found on Manitobah Island, 11.
70.
Dews in the country north of the Qu’ap-
pelle River, i, 517.
in the Touchwood Hills, i. 422.
Dickinson, Mr., his description of the
country east of Red River, 1.166,
—— his narrative, i. 368, et seq.
— his exploration of the country be-
tween the Lake of the Woods and
the Red River, ii. 4.
Dislocations, effects of, in the basin of Lake
Winnipeg, i. 266.
—— table of the probable effects produced
by some dislocations, ii. 267.
Dog, the, considered as a source of wealth
amongst the Indians, ii. 117.
their uses, 1i, 117.
—— their midnight howl, ii. 118.
dog feasts, 11. 118, 119.
— hydrophobia, i. 118.
dogs at the Hudson Bay Posts, ii. 118.
—— their ability to go without food for a
long period, ii. 118.
——- their voracity, il. 119.
—— sacrifices of some tribes, il. 119.
carioles, winter travelling with, de-
scribed, ii. 84.
daily allowance of the dogs, ii. 85.
—— difficulties of this mode of travelling,
li, 84.
INDEX. 445
Dog carioles, formation of winter roads over
the snow, il. 84.
prospects of a race to Crow Wing, ii.
85.
sketch of a dog cariole, ii. 86.
the start, 11. 86,
reach Fort Pembina, ii. 87.
camping ground in the woods, ii. 87.
supper for men dnd dogs, li. 88.
mocassins, li. 88.
dogs watching the progress of making
a pemmican cache, ii. 89.
their return at night to break open the
cache, ii. 89.
appearance of a winter camp during
the night, ii. 92.
watchfulness of the dogs, il. 92.
catching and harnessing them in the
morning, il. 93.
—— treatment of the dogs by their half-
breed masters, ii. 93,
overturning a cariole, il, 94.
travelling in a snow storm, il. 94.
—— preparing to camp in a snow storm, ii.
oF.
dogs “lying close” in the morning
after a fall of snow, il. 95.
——— arrival at Red Lake River, ii, 95.
— and at Turtle River, ii. 98.
Pr Tae
dance of the half: breeds at Leech Lake,
i, 99,
the last night in the woods, ii, 100.
—- the last day’s run, ii. 100.
— a twenty mile gallop, ii. 101.
arrival at Crow Wing, li. 101.
Dog’s Head Straits (Lake Winnipeg), 1.
485.
Dog’s Head, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 18.
Dog Lake, Little, i. 38.
Dog Lake, Great, i, 39, et seq.
winter road to, 1. 43.
height of, 1. 43.
means of communication between Great
Dog Lake and Thunder Bay, i. 43,
area of Great Dog Lake, i. 44, 46.
depth of, 1. 44.
as a centre of communication, 1. 46.
former height of, i. 48.
Dog Mountain, Great, timber of, i, 39.
geological formation of, i, 40.
Dog Portage, Great, i. 39.
drift beaches and terraces of, ii. 247.
Dog River, Little, i. 40.
great falls of, i, 41, 42.
—— sluggishness of the flow of, i. 47.
—— character of the soil on the banks of, 1.
AT.
former elevation of, i. 48,
width and depth of, i. 48,
description of the valley of, 1. 48, 49,
Dog River, Little, average height of the
banks of, i. 48.
boulders on the banks of, i. 50.
its course up to its feeding marsh, i. 51.
Donati’s comet seen from Lake Winnipeg,
serail le
seen from the Riding Mountain, ii. 53.
Doré Lake, i. 67.
Drift clay in the valley of the Qu’appelle,
Mn God.
Drift clay banks of the Saskatchewan River,
462.
Drift, distribution of, over the country
between Lakes Superior and Win-
nipeg, il, 247,
lacustrine deposits, ii, 247,
drift on the Souris, ii, 248,
on the South Branch of the Saskat-
chewan, il, 249. °
forced arrangement of, ii. 249.
—— in blue clay of Toronto, ii. 250,
—— description of this arrangement, ii, 250,
—— sorting of materials, ii, 253.
—— agency of water and ice, ii. 253,
—— glacial ice, ii. 254.
—— tiers of boulders on the South Branch,
i, 254.
layers of stratified mud, ii. 254.
near the Qu’appelle Valley, i. 383.
Driftwood on the Saskatchewan River, i,
386.
Drunken River, ii. 11.
Duck Mountain, i. 136, 233, 234, 241, 434,
435, 436.
—-— timber of the, i, 244.
region to the east of, considered as a
field for settlement, 1. 250.
——— view of the, from Moss River, ii. 48.
—— ancient beach ridges of, il. 263.
——- its probable common origin with Rid-
ing Mountain, il. 266.
Ducks, wild, on Oak Lake, 1. 294.
countless numbers of, at the mouth of
Red River, i. 493.
Dunes, sand, near the Lake of the Woods,
i, 94, 95.
Eagle shot on Lake Winnipeg, i. 489.
on the Qu’appelle Fishing Lakes, i.
22K
-—— fishing on Water-hen River, ii. 40.
Earth, hypothesis of the change in the axis
of rotation of the, ii. 208.
geological problem, ii. 309.
Ebb and Flow Lake, ii. 57, 62.
area of, 1. 237.
country on the shores of, il. 64.
Eddy, Big, of Red River, i. 130.
Education, condition of, at Red River Set-
tlement, 1. 214,
446 INDEX.
Elbow Bone Creek, Qu’appelle River, 1.
EGS:
Elbow Bone Creek (Souris Forks), country
between it and the Grand Forks, i. 335.
Elk on the Assinniboine River, 1. 285.
Ellice, Fort, Assinniboine River, 1, 137, 138.
view of, 1. 310.
account of, 1. $11.
— frequency of thunderstorms at, 1. 312.
scourge of grasshoppers at, 1. 312.
Elm trees near Lake Winnipego-sis, ii. 49,
Embarras River, i. 22.
Erie, Lake, variations in the lead of the wa-
ters of the, i, 18.
Ermine Point, Winnipego-sis Lake, ii. 42.
Erratics in the plateau of the Assinniboine
River, i. 309.
See Boulders.
Esquimaux, territory inhabited by the, ii,
180.
Eyebrow Hills, i. 238, 347, 348.
valleys, lakes, and ponds of the, 1. 238.
—— buffalo on the, i. 348.
—— streamlet from the, to the Qu’appelle
valley, 1. 352.
— section of the bank of this streamlet, i,
355:
cretaceous rocks of the, 1. 354,
— continuation of the, 1. 409.
Falls, Coal, North Branch of the Saskatche-
wan, i. 396.
Fairford, Partridge Crop River, i. 2413 ii.
35.
character of the country at, li. 36,
the mission at, 11. 36, 37.
Hudson’s Bay Company’s post at, ii.
38.
Falls, Ka-ka-beka, i. 30, 32, 35.
second, of the Kaministiquia, i. 38.
—- great, of Little Dog River, i. 41, 42.
—— of Current River, i. 42.
— of Seine River, i. 62.
— of Sturgeon Lake, i. 69.
— Chaudiére, i. 81.
at Rat Portage, i. 105.
James’s, 1. 115.
of the Portage du Bois, i. 116.
Point aux Chiens, i. 116.
Slave, 1. 116, 117.
Barriére, i. 116.
—— Otter, i, 117.
—— Silver, 1. 120.
Farm at the Indian Mission of Red River
Settlement described, i. 203.
File Hill, i. 421.
—-— aspen forests of the, i. 245,
soil of, 1. 421, 422,
Fire Steel River, i. 62.
lire in the prairies, grandeur of the, i. 336.
Fire, as an Indian sign, i, 336.
effects of, on the north bank of the
Quv’ appelle River, 1. 372.
effects of, i. 405.
Fish of the Current River, i, 43, note.
of the Kaministiquia River, i. 55.
of the Lake of the Woods, i. 96, 104,
of the Assinniboine River, i. 282.
of Lake Manitobah, 1. 282.
of the Qu’appelle Lakes, excellence of
the, 1. 321.
quantity and quality of, in the First
Fishing Lake of the Qu’appelle, i
370.
in the Lakes near the Touchwood Hills
Fort, i. 414.
in Long Lake, i. 415.
abundance of, in the Little Saskatche-
wan, i, 437, 484; ii. 26.
of Little White Mud River, i. 439.
in the Saskatchewan, i. 451.
Indian mode of catching, i. 484.
large numbers of, in Pike or Jack-
Fish River, i, 490.
of Lake Winnipeg, ii. 14.
pounded, as a substitute for pemmican,
li, 28.
caught in Dauphin Lake, ii. 49, 59.
of Manitobah Lake, ii. 67.
mode of curing, ii. 67.
importance of the white-fish fishery of
Lake Manitobah, i. 68.
Fisher Bay, Lake Winnipeg, i. 485; ii. 19.
Fisher Bay Islands, Lake Winnipeg, ae TS,
Fishing grounds on the Winnipeg River, i,
115.
——— of the Indians on Lake Winnipeg, ii.
A
-—— lakes of the Qu’appelle River, i. 321.
white fish of the, i. 321.
——— depth of the, i. 324, 327.
—— profusion of conferve in the, 1, 327.
vegetation on the banks of the, i. 327.
—— gulls on the, i. 327.
———— the lakes probably once united, 1.328.
geese and pelicans on the, i. 328.
Fishing Lake, Second, of the Qu’appelle
Valley, i. 368.
length, breadth, and depth of, i. 369.
firs or Pakitawiwin, i. 369.
Fishing- Weir Creek, Saskatchewan River,
i. 452,
Fishing weirs and traps of the Indians, i.
490, 491.
Flat Rock Bay, Lake Manitobah, ii. 38.
Flax, cultivation of,at Red River, i. 228.
Fett, Mr. George, his farm on the banks of
the Assiniboine River, i, 148.
Floods, in the basin of Lake Winnipeg, il.
392,
bid
bee
ae
INDEX. 447
Floods, flood years, ii. 393.
effects of, in 1852, 1.329; i. 393.
the Bishop of Rupert’s Land’s deserip-
tion, 11. 394.
speculations as to the causes of the
floods, ii, 395.
effects of, on the prairies near the
Little Souris River, i. 295.
Flowers, profusion of, at Long Creek, Main
Saskatchewan River, i. 406, 407.
and at the Touchwood Hills, i. 413.
Fog-bows on Lake Superior, i. 10,
Fogs on Lake Superior, i. 10.
Fond du Lage, i. 21, ©
Forests in the country west of Red River,
1. 244,
— between the Assinniboine River and
the Blue Hills, i. 284.
former, north of the Qu’appelle River,
reise
aspen, on the south branch of the
- Saskatchewan, i. 386.
old, near Long Creek, Main Saskatche-
wan River, i, 404.
destruction of forests by the Indians,
1. 405.
former, on the Touchwood Hills, i.
415.
covering the Riding Mountain, ii. 56.
growth of, intimately connected with
the climate of a large extent of coun-
iy, W376.
Fort William, i, 24, 25, 30.
de Meuron, ruins of the, i, 32.
—— Franegs, i. 81, 82.
description of, 1, 82,
sketch of, 1. 86.
—— Alexander, Winnipeg River, i. 121.
— Stone, or Lower, on Red River, 1. 124,
L327, VSS.
ees Garry, 1. 124, 127, 132.
Pelly, i. 137, 138.
a la Corne, i. 240, 397.
Clark, on the Missouri, Mandan vil-
lage at, 1. 299.
—— Ellice, Assinniboine River, 1.137,138,
310.
trail from the Touchwood Hills to the,
i. 420,
of the Hudson’s Bay Company at the
Grand Forks of the Saskatchewan, i.
397.
— Cumberland House, i, 446, 447.
Cedar Lake House, 1. 460.
—— Manitobah House, il. 64, et seg.
dogs of the posts, il, 118,
Pembina, i. 87, 88.
Forty-Fourth Lake, i. 261.
Fossils of the valley of the Little Souris, or
Mouse River, i. 289.
Fossils, found on the shores of Lake Win-
nipeg, ii. 14.
— of Snake Island, ii. 42,
—— of the shores of Lake Manitobah, ii.
Bos
—— of the chazy formation of Lake Win-
nipeg, ii, 285.
— from Devonian rocks in the Winnipeg
basin, 11. 296.
from the Souris, 11, 334.
“ Fox, the,” chief of the Plain Crees, ii. 126.
fear in which he is held, i. 126.
Francois Xavier, St., Roman Catholic mis-
sion of, on the Assinniboine River, 1.
148,
Franklin, Sir John, his residence at Cum-
berland House, i. 449.
voyage of Messrs, Stewart and An-
derson in search of, i. 450.
‘‘ Freemen’s” houses in the Qu’ appelle
valley, i. 332.
French Portage, i. 66.
Fruit of the valley of the Kaministiquia,
i. 30, 36.
of the valley of the Current River,
1. 43, note.
—— of the Red River settlements, i. 204.
Fuel, scarcity of, in the Valleys of the Red
and Assinniboine Rivers, i. 144.
—— question ofa supply of, at Red River
settlements, 1. 23.
searcity of, west of the Little Souris
Island, i. 246.
scarcity of, at Sand Hill Lake, and on
the south branch of the Assinni-
boine, i. 246.
scarcity of, through Indian waste, 1.
338.
bois de vache used as, i, 343.
Fur trade of British America, head quarters
of the, i. 127.
results of the, in the blending of the
various tribes of Indians, ii, 121.
extent of the administration of the
Hudson’s Bay Company for the pro-
secution of the, iil, 211.
Gambling, fondness of the Indians for, i.
282.
Game, on the banks of the Saskatchewan,
1. 393;
—-— scarcity of, in the prairies, li. 143.
Garden Island, 1. 96.
encampment on, 1. 97.
description of, i. 100.
-—— grasshoppers of, 1. 101.
Garden at the Qu’appelle Fishery, i. 322.
Garry, Fort, on the Red River, i. 124, 127,
132.
its extent, 1. 133.
448 INDEX.
Geological features of the banks of the
south branch of the Saskatchewan,
i, 381, 384.
of the north branch of the Saskatche-
wan, 1. 396.
~—- Great Dog Mountain, i. 40.
common to all the great lakes of the
St. Lawrence basin, i. 122,
banks of the Assinniboine River, 1.140,
—— of the valley of Lake Winnipeg, 1.
235.
—— formation near Milles Lacs, i. 62, 63.
of north bank of the Assinniboine
River, i. 287.
—— of the valley of the Souris River, i.
289.
— of the banks of the Souris, i. 274.
of bois de vache, or buffalo dung, 1.
296.
— of the banks of the Qu’appelle River,
i, 330.
— formation of coast of Lake Winnipeg,
at Grindstone Point, il. 17.
—— of the basin of Lake Winnipeg, ii.
239, 268.
— surface features, 11. 242.
—-—— the Laurentian and Huronian
series, ii, 268.
the Silurian and Devonian series,
il, 283.
——— the carboniferous series.—Juras-
sic formation, ii. 299.
the cretaceous series.— Tertiary
formations, 11, 318.
German Creek River, i. 127, 132, 168.
Mr. Dickinson’s exploration of, 1.166.
fertility of the soil at, i. 169.
timber at, 1. 169, 170.
Gladieux, Mr. Pierre, his politeness and
hospitality, 1. 164.
his farm on the banks of Red Liver,
1, 165;
Gnessoid boulders on the banks of the Little
Souris River, 1. 299.
islands, St. Martin’s Lake, i1. 32.
Gold Fields of British Columbia, ii. 230.
Goose dance of the Thick wood Cree Indians,
i, 403; ii. 123.
Gowler, Mr., his farm on the Assinniboine
River, 1. 149.
— his success, 1. 150, 152, 163.
— his views of the capabilities of the
Assinniboine prairies, i. 151.
Grand Falls Portage, i. 72.
Grand Forks, Qu’appelle River, i.
Dike
-—— country between it and the Souris
Forks, 1. 335.
Grand Forks of the Saskatchewan River, 1,
393, 395, 396.
—_——
——
238,
Grand Forks, remains of a post of the Hud-
son’s Bay Company at the, i. 397.
Grand Portage of Pigeon River, i. 74. —
Grain at Fort William, i. 31.
Granite Islands, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 17.
Grapes growing on the banks of the Assin-
niboine, 1. 142.
frosts on the banks of the Qu’appelle
Fishing Lakes, i. 327.
Grasses at the mouths of Red River, i. 123.
Grasshoppers on the Lake of the Woods, i.
96, 97.
at Garden Island, i. 101.
multitudes of, in the prairies on the
Assinniboine, i. 147, 152.
plague of, at Red River Settlements,
i. 227,
at Lane’s Post, i. 281.
at the plateau beyond Big Ridge, i.
284,
their mode of taking refuge from a
storm of hail or rain, i. 286.
on the banks of the Assinniboine, i.
286.
at the mouth of the Little Souris, i.
288.
swarms of, near the Red Deer’s Head
River, i. 296.
height of the flight of these insects,
1. 297.
appearance of the sky during a flight
of 1s 2o72
and of the prairie after the visits of, i.
228,
in the prairie west of the Little Souris
River, i. 306.
scourge of, at Fort Ellice, i. 312.
—— excellent prognosticators of a storm,
1. 314,
—— vast flights of, between Little and Big
Cut Arm Creeks, i. 377.
—-— on the Main Saskatchewan, i. 409.
—— devastations caused by the, i. 432.
—— devastations of, in Rupert’s Land, ii.
60.
—— See also Locusts.
Grassy Narrows (Lake Winnipeg), i. 485,
493; ii. 12,
Graves, Indian, i. 90.
—— on Shell River, i. 436.
of the Hurons, ii. 164.
Grazing land on the Red Assinniboine and
Saskatchewan Rivers, i. 250.
“ Grief offering” of Mis-tick-oos, chief of
the Crees, i. 363.
Grindstone Point, Big, ii. 14,
rocks at, ii. 16.
Grindstone Point, Little, Lake Winnipeg,
i, 492; il. 12, 13.
rocks at, ul. 17.
wee lca Si Aries 3
INDEX.
Grosvencr, Lord Richard, his trip into the
prairies in*search for buffalo, ii. 81.
——- his journey from Fort Garry to Fort
Ellice, ii. 82.
Gros Ventres Indians, country of the, ii,
158.
Guano Island, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 12.
Guelder roses in the valley of the Assitini-
boine River, i. 293.
Gulls on the Qu’appelle Fishing Lakes, i.
Bic
Gull Islands (Winnipeg Lake), i. 476, 477.
Gull Egg Rivers, or the Two Rivers, i. 483.
Gun Flint Lake, i. 76.
Hail-storms on the Winnipeg River, i.109.
on the Assinniboine River, i. 286.
-—— in summer, in Rupert’s Land, il. 363.
Half-breeds of the north-west, character of
the, 1. 179.
their summer buffalo hunts, i. 179.
their improvidence, i. 180.
aids to improvement, i. 180.
—-— their capabilities, i. 181—183.
Half-Way Bank, latitude of the, 1. 285.
Hauteur de Terre River, i. 261.
Hay, quantity and quality of, at Red River
Settlements, i. 227.
Hay ground on Long Creek, Main Saskat-
chewan, 1. 406.
on the banks of Dauphin Lake, ii. 49.
-—— wild hay, ii. 62.
Head, Sir Francis, his endeavour to amelio-
rate the condition of the Indians, ii, 187.
Heart Hill (or Ka-ou-ta-at-tiwark), de-
scribed, i. 413, 414.
lake at the foot of, 1, 414.
Height of Land, i. 52.
camp on the, i, 54.
—-— atmospheric phenomenon at the, i. 54.
Height of Land Lake, 1. 53.
description of, 1. 57.
Height of Land Portage, i. 76%
Height of Land Hills, i. 260, 261.
Hemp, cultivation of, at Red River, i. 228.
«* Hiawatha,” quoted, ii. 15.
Hops growing wild at Red River, i, 227.
Hop, wild, on the banks of the Qu’appelle
Fishing Lakes, i, 327,
luxuriance of the, near Dauphin Lake,
iW. GL:
Horse, an Indian buffalo runner, ii. 64.
—-- the horse considered as an Indian
source of wealth, ii. 114.
Indian training of horses, ii. 114.
Indian horses excellent watchers, ii.
] 15.
— their docility and training, 11. 115.
attachment of Indians to their horses,
ie 116:
449
Horse hopplings, ii. 116.
smokes, ii. 117.
Hudson’s Bay Company, objections of the
Plain Crees to the, i. 360.
history of the, ii, 206.
date of incorporation, il. 206.
profits of the Company, ii, 206.
the North-West Company, ii, 207. —
union of the two Companies, ii. 207.
profits after the union, ii. 207.
capital employed by the Company, ii.
209.
council and officers of the Company,
ii, 209.
departments, districts, and posts, ii.
210.
extent of the administration of the
Company for the prosecution of the
fur trade, il. 211.
Hudson River formation, ii. 289,
fossils found in the, ii. 290.
Humming-bird on the banks of the Assinni-
boine, 1. 284.
Hunter, Archdeacon, of Red River Scttle-
ment, 1. 131.
“Hunting grounds, happy,” of the Indians,
i. 129,
Huron Indians, former strength of the, ii.
161.
—— their present condition, ii. 161.
—— their customs relative to the dead, il.
164.
—— their former strength, ii, 181, 182.
their dispersion and present condition,
Ie LS2:
Huron Lake, character of the country north
Of; iin DUO.
Huronian series, 11. 280.
description of Huronian rocks, ii. 281,
Ice furrows of the Laurentides, 11. 245.
agency of, in the distribution of drift,
12253.
action of glacial ice, 11. 254.
effects of, in distributing boulders on
Lake Winnipeg, ii. 256.
and on the Red River prairies, ii. 257.
Iles des Bois, La Riviére des, i. 155.
Immaculate Conception, mission of the on
the Kaministiquia, i. 27.
Indian Reserve in the valley of the Kami-
nistiquia, i. 26.
— on the northern shore of Lake Su-
perior, i. 28.
—— treaty, between Canada and the Ojib-
ways, i. 28.
=-—— congregation at mass, 1. 29.
corn in the valley of the Kaministiquia,
ol.
kind of, grown on the Assinni-
boine River, i. 145,
450 INDEX.
Indian corn, places in which it best succeeds,
i, 148,
cultivated at Red River Settle-
ments, 1. 225.
Indian tribes of the Kaministiquia River, i.
33.
—— their wretchedness, i, 34.
—- fishing grounds, i, 81, 96.
encampments, i. 88.
— tumuli, i. 89.
graves, 1. 90, 436; ii. 122, 124, 164.
lodges, 1, 91.
council, i. 98, 99.
—— Christians, character of, generally, i.
114,
at Red River Settlements, i. 124.
— dexterity, 1. 119.-
—— mission, i. 127.
school, i. 128.
—— idea of money, i. 162, 163.
— settlement at Red River, i, 200.
——_—— Christian congregation at, i, 200.
their pastor, Mr. Cowley, i. 200,
201.
their novel night-bell, i. 201.
farm at Red River, i, 203.
—— difficulty of Christianizing the, i. 281.
signs, smell of fire, i. 302, 336.
monument near Pipestone Creek, i.
307.
corpse staged, near Brandon House,
i, 308.
method of making pemmican, i. 312.
Blackfeet and half-breeds, 1. 314.
substitutes for tobacco, i. 315.
turnip ( Psoralea esculenta), abundance
of, north of the Qu’appelle River,
oles
turnip on the Grand Coteau, i. 352.
adult Christian baptism of the, i. 322.
—— threats and Indian diplomacy, i. 334.
wasteful habits, 1. 337, 339, 340, 356,
357.
—— rapidly diminishing in numbers, i. 337.
mode of carrying provisions, 1, 339.
-——. encounter of a young Indian with a
buffalo bull, i. 345.
hospitality, 1. 374, 485.
hospitality of the Crees, 1. 341.
— — fondness for rum, i. 341.
precautions taken against Indian rob-
bers, 1. 342.
mode of “bringing in buffalo,” i.
356—3 59.
map, of the Qu’appelle Valley to the
Assiniboine River, 1. 370.
women bathing in the Qu’appelle, i.
3/3.
absence of, on the south branch of the
Saskatchewan, 1. 394.
————
—_
—
Sy
Indian idols on the banks of the Saskatche-
wan, i. 400, 402.
medicine feasts described, i. 403.
destruction of the forest by fire, i. 405.
metaphors, i. 419, 420, note.
—— hunters, their gains from the chase,
i, 425,
-——— onthe Saskatchewan River, i. 451.
—— encampment on the banks of the Sas-
katchewan, i. 473.
—— on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, i. 480.
failure of their summer fishery at the
Grand Rapid, i. 480, 481.
mode of catching fish, i. 484, 491.
— corjuror, ii. 10.
war roadsand war-path rivers, ii, 28, 29.
list of celebrated, 11. 28, 29.
farmer on Partridge Crop River, ii. 35.
—— debasing influence of rum, ii. 38.
——— race of Water-hen River, their dirty
habitations, 11. 41.
—— wood and prairie Indians compared,
il. 41.
—— “pitching tracks,” ii. 51.
—— hunter on the banks of Ebb and Flow
Lake, ii. 62.
interior of his tent, ii. 63.
“ Indian summer,” the, ii. 66, 68.
described, 1i, 383.
Indian wealth—the buffalo, the horse, and
the dog, ii. 103, et seq.
antiquities rarely found in the valley
of the Saskatchewan, ii. 120,
—— customs and superstitions, i. 1133 ii.
57, 58, 70, 120.
results of the fur trade in the blending
of the tribes, ii. 121.
—— Ojibway. invaders of Red River, ii.
L215 4223
Mr. Hutchin’s list of tribes, ii. 122.
scalp dance, il. 122, 123.
medicine feasts and other ceremonies
of the Wood Indians, ii, 123.
cruelty, il. 125, 126.
“the Fox.” i: i26:
treatment of prisoners, il. 126.
medicine feasts or conjuring ceremo-
nies, ii, 128.
“ the happy hunting grounds,” ii. 129.
Manitou dwellings, i. 131, 133.
medicine men or conjurors, li. 131,133.
—— offerings to the Manitou, 11. 133, 136.
—— sacrifices and offerings, ii. 134.
Petia lel]
sufferings from their superstitions, il.
135.
custom of painting the skin, ii. 137.
—— tobacco pipes, 11. 137.
—— salutations, ii. 140.
—— character and nature of wild Indians
in the prairie, ii, 142.
INDEX. 45]
Tndian condition of the, in the valley of
the Saskatchewan, ii. 143.
scarcity of game, 11, 143.
— small-pox, ii. 143, 162, 163.
sickness, 11. 144,
— Sioux bows and arrows, ii. 144.
——- idea of thunder and lightning, ii. 144.
population of British America, ii.
_ 145.
— origin of races, ii. 145.
—— kindred and relationship, 11. 145.
—— estimate of the Indian population of
Rupert’s Land, i. 149.
number of Indians frequenting dif-
ferent posts, il. 150.
—— the Sioux or Dakotahs, ii. 153.
— the Blackfeet, ii. 157.
Indians near boundary line, ii. 158.
census of the Indians of the United
States, in the territories adjoining
British America, 1. 159.
early history of the Indians who for-
merly occupied Canada and the
northern States of the Union, 1i.
160.
mutability of Indian nations, 11, 160.
the Hurons, Iroquois, and Prairie
Indians, ii. 162.
destruction of Indians by disease, 1i.
162.
See also Missionary Labour.
Indian title in Canada, ii. 167.
importance of the question in Ru-
pert’s Land, ii. 167, 177.
— cost of Indian wars to the United
States Government, i. 168.
—— advance of settlements towards the
west, ii. 168.
—- probability of a war with, between
the United States and the Sioux,
li. 168.
—— warriors of the frontier tribes, i1, 169.
—— remarks of the Right Hon. E. EI-
lice, on Indian title in Canada, ii,
LAqnay
— views of the Commissioners of 1847,
Hol Fl:
—— title to Red River, ii. 172.
grant to Lord Selkirk, Moglt2,
treaty between him and the Crees and
Salteaux of Red River, ii. 173.
—— Peguis: his letter, 11. 173, 175.
—- answer of Mr. McDermott, ii. 175.
—— meeting of the half-breeds of Red
River, ii. 176.
— opinion respecting Indian title, ii.
Tt i.
— treaty of the Americans
northern part of Minnesota on the
Red River, 11, 177,
with the
Indian Head Hills, i. 317.
lakes of the, i. 317.
view from the, i. 318.
Industry, remains of former, in the valley
of the Kaministiquia, i 132:
Inoceramus, gigantic fossil, found, i. 292.
Inoceramus Canadensis, ii. 335,
Iron ore, bog, deposit, at the Sand Hills of
the Tonril, i. 295.
Tron-stone, clay, on the Souris, ii. 329.
bands of this formation, ii. $30.
— distribution of, i. 331.
richness of, compared with that from
England and Scotland, ii. 332, 333.
Professor Croft’s analysis, 11, 333.
Iroquois Indians of the expedition, i. 33.
the family nearly extinct, ii. 181.
its former strength, il. 181.
Iroquois Confederation, ii. 181
history of them, il. 181.
engaged for the Assinniboine and Sas-
katchewan expedition, i. 274,
institutions of the, ii. 147
—— their former strength and present con-
dition, 11. 160.
Island, Big Black, ii. 12.
Big Birch, Saskatchewan River, i.
445,
— Bush Kega, i, 485.
—— Caribon (Lake Winnipeg), i. 480.
——.- Cherry, ii. 39.
—— Deer, Lake Winnipeg, 11, 12.
—— Fisher Bay, ii. 19.
Garden, 1. 96, 97, 100.
—— Granite, ii, 17.
—— Great Moose, ii. 19.
Great Black (Lake Winnipeg), i.
485.
—— Gnessoid, ii. 32.
—— Gull, 1. 477.
—— Juniper, ii, 19.
—— Keating, i. 95—97.
—— of Kash-ke-bu-jes-pu-qua-ne-shing, i.
457.
—— Manitoulin, ii. 187.
—— Manitobah, ii. 269.
--— Pie, i. 13, 24.
— Pine, i, 447, 448.
Portage, i. 68, 69.
Punky 1 172
— Welcome, i, 25.
Willow, ii. 9, 10,
Islands, Agate, i. 13.
Snake, 11. 42.
Sugar, ii. 30, 31.
of the Winnipeg River, i. 107, 116.
Islington Mission, i. 110.
—— fertility of, i. 110.
state of, 11. 111.
divine service at, i. 112.
452 "INDEX,
Islington Mission, farm at, i. 114.
the school-house the hope of the, 1.
114.
Isquanristequannak Laastaki, or Creek,
where the heads of the women lie, 1.
367.
Jack Fish River, Lake Winnipeg, ii, 19.
origin, course, and dimensions of, ii.
19, 20.
James’s Falls, on the Winnipeg River, i,
115, -
James’s River, course of, 1. 351, 352.
Joseph’s, St., at Turtle Mountain, Settle-
ment of, i. 176.
Joseph, St., village of, Dakotah territory,
1, 255.
Jourdain Portage, i. 50.
Jumping River, i. 483.
Juniper Island, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 19.
Jurassic rocks of M‘Kenzie River, i.
306.
ammonites from M‘Kenzie River, ii.
306.
ammonites Barnstoni, ii. 807, 311.
ammonites Billingsii, ii. 315.
Kahlawakalk River, i. 82.
Ka-ka-beka Falls, i. 30, 32.
described, 1. 35.
altitude of, i. 36.
scenery of, i. 36.
Kakmaskatawagan River, i. 82.
Kaministiquia River, mouths of the, i. 24.
shoals at the mouth of the, i. 25.
course of the, i. 26, 38.
period when it freezes, i, 30.
dance of the Indians of the, i. 33.
description of the valley of the, i.
37.
obstacles presented by this river to
communication with the interior, i,
42.
scarcity of animal life on the banks of
the, 1. 55.
Kananaskis Pass of the Rocky Mountain, ii.
224,
Kapowenekenow, or Winter Road River, i.
82.
Kash-ke-bu-jes-pu-qua-ne-shing Island, i.
457.
Kane, Mr. Paul, quoted, i. 93.
Kawawakissiweek River, i. 82.
Keating Island, i, 95—97.
Keg or Baril Portage, i. 61.
Kettle River, i, 22.
King’s Road, Red River Settlement, i.
133,
Kinni-kinnik, weed from which it is made’
is Sos
——- mode of making it, i. 315, 316.
Kinwow (Long) Bay, in Lake Winnipeg,
i. 489, 490; ii. 20.
Kiskaso, or Pine, River, i. 82.
Kitchi-nashi, Cape, or Big Point (Lake
Winnipeg), 1. 475, 476.
general description of, 482. *
Kootanie Pass, British, of the Rocky
Mountains, ii. 224,
Kurkby, Rev. Mr., of Red River Settle-
ment, i, 131.
Lac la Pluie Indians, their fishing-
grounds, i. 81.
great enemies to extended cultivation,
Ane oe
Lacustrine deposits, ii. 247.
Lake Arrow, i. 76.
Ashes, 1. 411.
Backfat, 1. 291.
Baril, 1. 63.
Bonnet, i. 117, 118,
Brulé, i. 63.
— Buffalo Pound Hill, 1. 339.
Cass, ii. 98.
Cedar, i. 240, 456, 457.
Cold Water, i. 51, 52.
Cross, i. 240.
Dauphin, i. 237, 241.
Devil’s, i. 414.
Doré, i. 67.
—— Ebb and Flow, i. 237; ii. 51, 62.
— Erie, variations in the Jevel of the
waters of the, i. 18.
—— First Fishing, i. 369.
Forty-Fourth, 261.
Great Dog, 1. 39, 43.
—— Gun Flint, i. 76.
— Height of Land, i. 53,57. °
— Leech, il. 99.
—— Little Dog, i. 38.
Long, or Last Mountain, 1. 335, 411,
413, 414.
Long, i. 415.
Long, i. 46.
—— Manitobah, i. 143, 235, 237, 241, 242,
439; 11, 38.
—— Marshy, i. 455.
—— Manitou, 1. 431.
—— Mountain, i. 237.
——. Moose, i. 76.
— Muddy, or Viscous, i, 51.
— Muddy, i. 436, 457.
—— Nequanquon, or Lac St. Croix, 1. 68,
70.
— Oar, i, 294.
Ontario, variations in the level of, i. 20.
INDEX.
Lake Opashkwa, ii, 98.
Ottertail, 1. 125, 261.
—— Pickerel, i. 66.
Pine Island, i. 238, 446.
—— Pine, i. 68, 69.
Rainy, i. 74, 79, et seq.
Red, i. 126; ii. 95, 98.
Rose, i. 76.
Roseau, 1. 158.
Round, Qu’appelle River, i. 375.
—— Sand Point, i. 77.
Sandy, 1, 22.
—— Savanne, i. 57.
Second Fishing, of the Qu’appelle Val-
ley, 1. 368.
—-~ Seiganagah, i. 77.
Little, 1. 77.
Shoal, i. 102, 103.
—— Simcoe, Canada West, scenery of, 11.
ae
Souris, 1. 299.
Sturgeon, i. 67, 68.
Superior, ii. 24.
Swan, 1. 433.
— St. Martin, i. 237, 241.
— Turtle, ii. 98.
—— Water-hen, i. 237; ii. 40.
— White Fish, i. 76, 93, 94.
—— Winnipeg, 1. 121, 237, 238, 251.
——- Winnipego-sis, 1. 172, 235, 237, 241 ;
ul. 40,
Lake Superior, squall on, i. 9.
fogs on, i. 10.
—— temperature of, i. 10.
dangers of the navigation of, i,
Bs
its present position in relation to
Montreal and the Atlantic seaboard,
to 14.
trade of the lake, 1. 15.
—— elevation of, i. 17.
—- occasional fluctuations on the level of
the waters of, 1.18.
—— obstacles to progress westland of, i. 21.
depth, area, and contents of, i, 2),
25.
— seldom frozen over, i. 21.
ridge separating Lake Superior from
the Valley of the Mississippi, i.
21.
Lake of the Woods, winter road to the, i. 85,
its distance from Lake Superior, i.
Of.
of the Sand Hills, i. 94.
of the Sandy Hills, i. 342, 382.
“ where the moose died,” i. 410.
Lakes, effects of wind in changing the levels
of the, 11. 75.
—— immense number of, near the Touch-
wood Hills Fort, 1, 413.
VOL. II. H
453
Lakes, near the Lumpy Hill of the Woods, i.
408.
of Indian Head Hills, i. 317.
— of Rupert’s Land frozen over, ii.
354.
—- Great Canadian, variations in the
levels of the waters of the, i. 18.
—— Major Lachlan’s Report on the, i,
19.
—— Qu’appelle, i, 237, 319, 320, 321, 366,
428,
Thousand, i. 46, 59—61.
Land, tenure of, at the Red River settle-
_ments, i, 189.
—— millions of acres of unoccupied land fit
for settlement, i, 191.
—— formation of new, at the mouth of
Red River, i. 7, 8.
—— formation of new, ii. 22.
Land, fine, near the Little Saskatchewan
River, li, 29.
Land, Moose, i. 455.
Lane, Mr., of the Hudson’s Bay Company,
1147.
his hospitality, i. 148,
Lane’s Post, Assinniboine River, i. 136.
; lacustrine deposits at, ii. 248.
Language of the Sioux Indians, ii, 155,
156:
Last Mountain, i. 413.
Laurentian series, ii. 269.
description of Laurentian rocks, ii.
269.
lime and soda felspar, ii. 270.
titanic iron ore, li. 271.
crystalline limestones, ii. 271.
mineral species in the limestones, it.
271.
intrusive rocks, ii, 272.
economic materials, ii. 272.
separation of the Laurentian rccks
into two groups, il. 272.
extent of the limestones in this system,
ii, 273, 274.
area of Laurentian rocks in the basin
of Lake Winnipeg, il. 275.
character of the intrusive rocks, i.
Zt O's
charaeter of the dividing ridge, ii. 273,
276.
from: Milles Lacs to Rainy Lake, ii.
276.
from Rainy Lake to the Lake of the
Woods, ii. 277.
from the Lake of the Woods to the
Winnipeg, ii. 278.
the coast of Lake Winnipeg, ii. 279.
fundamental gneiss of Scotland, the
equivalent of the Laurentian series
in Canada, 1). 279.
[DS er iaaieais
H
454
Laurentian series, adoption of the term Lau-
rentian ii. 280,
Laurentides, ice furrows of the, ii, 245.
Lautiger, Rev. Laurenz, frozen to death, ii.
95—97.
—- Indians reading the history of his
journey from his tracks on the ice,
il. 96.
account of him, ii. 97, 98.
Lawrence River, Great St., one of the
sources of, 1. 52.
Leaf City, i. 269.
Leaf River, 1. 262.
Leda Hindi from the Souris, ii. 337.
Leech Lake, i. 4313 ii. 99.
dance in the village on the south
shore of, il. 99.
character of the country at, i. 432.
Lignite at the Wood Hills, 1. 318.
Lightning in the prairies, i. 315.
reported to exist on the Assinniboine
River, i. 143.
— fibrous, thirty miles from the Qu’ap-
pelle River, 1. 384.
— on the banks of the north branch of
the Saskatchewan, 1. 396.
— existence of, on the Riding and Duck
Mountains, ii. 345.
— — in basin of the Missouri, 11. 346.
— on North Saskatchewan, ii. 347.
— on Red Deer River, ii. 348.
——- on the South Saskatchewan, il. 348.
—— in Oregon and British Columbia, i.
348.
Limestone near Fort William, i. 31.
at Stone Fort, i. 130.
—— boulders on the banks of the Little
Souris, 1. 299.
—— in the valley of the Qu’appelle, i.
332,
—— near Cut-arm Creek, i. 423.
—— fragments of, on the South Branch of
the Saskatchewan, 1. 387.
—— on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, i.
480.
—— exposure on Lake Winnipeg, ii. 12,
12:
—— stratified, exposures on an island in
St. Martin’s Lake, ii. 33.
—— on Snake Island, ii. 42.
— at Manitobah House, ii. 67.
— of Lakes Winnipeg and Manitobah,
grooves and scratches on the, il.
247,
Limestone Point (Lake*» Winnipeg), i.
480.
Limestone Cave Point, Lake Winnipeg, ii.
19.
Locusts, general distribution of the ii.
385.
INDEX.
Locusts, distinction between crickets, grass-
hoppers, and locusts, ii. 385.
—— the locust of the north-west (the
acrydium femur-rubrum), ii. 387.
accounts of the appearance of swarms
of locusts in 1857 and 1858, ii.
389.
—— limit of its ravages, ii, 390.
females engaged in laying eggs, ii.
390.
vitality of the eggs, 11. 391.
powers of flight, ii, 391.
elevation of fight above the sea, ii.
392.
food of the insect, ii, 392.
effect of periodical visitations, ii.
392.
Logan, Sir William, his estimate of the
altitude of Lake Superior, i. 17.
Long Rapids of the Rainy River, i. 82.
scenery at the, i. 89.
Long Lake, or Last Mountain Lake, i. 146,
535, 411, 414.4.
Long Creek, an affluent of the Qu’appelle
River, i. 330, 402, 406.
Main Saskatchewan River, its fertility,
i. 400.
—— old forest near, 1. 404.
———- its breadth and rate of current, i.
406.
fertility of the soil at, i, 406.
source of, 1. 406.
Longfellow’s “ Hiawatha ” quoted, ii. 15.
Loon’s Narrows, i. 77.
Straits (Lake Winnipeg), i. 493.
Lumpy Hill of the Woods, i. 238, 407,
408.
its fertility, i, 407.
view from the, i. 408.
soil south and east of the, i. 408.
Lynx Bay, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 20,
Mackay’s Mountains, height of, i. 14.
Macbeth’s Point, Lake Winnipeg, i. 489;
i. .DO:
Macdonald, Rev. Robert, of Islington Mis-
sion, 1. 111.
Mackenzie, Mr. and Mrs,, their hospitality,
16,3
Mr. Mackenzie, of Fort Pembina, frozen to
death, ii. 91.
Mackenzie River, lignite beds in the valley
of the, ii. 349,
Magpies on the Weed Ridge, Qu’appelle
Valley, i. 316.
Mail, mode of conveying the, between Crow
Wing and Red River Settlement, 1.
256.
Mammoths, bones of, at Shell Creek, i.
ol. é
INDEX. 455
Mammoth bones at Valley River, i. 313.
bones of a, on the banks of Valley
River, i. 60.
Mandan Indians, i. 299.
villages of the, 1. 299.
—— remains of, on the Yellowstone River,
i. 299.
‘Manitobah, Lake, i. 143, 235, 241.
area of, 1. 237.
richness of the prairies of, 1, 242,
fishing station on the, i. 439.
boulders, Devonian, rocks and fossils
on the shores of, il. 38, 39.
—— depth of, ii. 39.
‘ ——— wild swans on, ii. 39.
-—— entered from Partridge Crop River,
i, 38.
——— splendid prairies bordering on the
southern shores of, ii. 76.
distribution of boulders on, il. 256.
Manitobah House, arrival of the author, 1i.
64.
snow storm at, ll. 66.
situation of the Post, i. 66.
Manitobah Island, ii. 69.
extent of, ii. 69.
—— timber of, ii. 69.
—— Devonian fossils found on, ii. 70.
animals shot on, ii. 70.
Indian superstitions relating to, 11, 70.
Manitou Lake, i. 431.
origin of its name, i. 431.
Manitou Rapids, i. 82, 88.
Manitou dwellings, it. 131.
offerings to the Manitou, i. 138, 134.
Manitouaning, history of the village of, 1i.
187, 188.
Manitoulin islands, 11. 187, noée.
mission at the, ii. 187—189.
population in 1857, ii. 188.
Mantagao-sebe Bay, Lake Winnipeg, 1.
20.
Map, an Indian, of the Qu’appelle Valley
to the Assinniboine, i. 370.
Maple trees, i. 127, 128.
ash-leaved, at Red River, i. 228.
Maple Creek, Qu’appelle River, i. 331.
Marsh River, i. 260.
Marshy Lake, Saskatchewan River, i. 455.
Marshes on the Saskatchewan River, i, 456,
457.
on the Little Saskatchewan, i. 484,
at Partridge Crop River, ii. 34.
host of ducks on the, ii. 35.
near the Riding Mountain, ii. 51, 52.
Martin, Lake St., i. 237, 2413; ii. 27,
clear water of the, i. 29.
boulders on the shores of, ii. 32,
depth of, ii. 33.
Martin’s Rocks, St., ii. 32,
Mayne, Lieut. R., his exploration in Bri-
tish Columbia, ii. 228.
McDermott, Mr., of Red River Settle-
ment, i, 136.
McKay’s Mountain, 1. 26.
timber of, i. 27.
Medicine man, incantations of a, 1. 417.
feasts of the Wood Indians, ii. 123.
or conjuring ceremonies of the Indians,
ria Lor
Mesaskatomina berry, the, i. 339, 382, 383,
386.
Meuron, Fort de, remains of the, 1. 32.
Michigan, Indian progress in, ii, 195,
Michipicoten island, i. 12, 13.
harbour, 1. 12.
Milieu, Portage de, i. 58.
Milles Laces, 1. 46, 59—61.
Minnesota, treaty of the Americans with
the Salteaux for the northern portion of,
Vie rire
Mirage, singular effects of, i. 13.
effects of, in the prairie, i. 305.
Miry Creek, Swan River, i. 435.
Mis-ke-na, “chief of the fishes,” Indian
superstition respecting the, 11. 15.
Missatchabe, or Big Fork River, i. 82.
Mission of the Immaculate Conception on
the Kaministiquia, i. 27, 29.
—— the Qu’appelle, 1. 921, 322.
—— difficulties arising from the prejudices
of the various Indian Tribes, i. 324.
Mission and Missionaries at Red River Set-
tlement, account of the, i, 194 et seq.
Missionaries, Indian objections to native, i.
324.
Missionary labour and its results among the
Indians, ii. 178.
Indians in Canada, ii. 178,
distinction between Indian nations, ii.
179,
families, nations, tribes, and bands, ii.
180.
—— Indian families of Rupert’s Land and
Canada, ii. 180.
statistics of Indians
184,
Canadian special commission, ii, 185.
—— efforts to ameliorate the condition of
the Indians, ii. 186.
—— the Manitoulin Islands and the mission
at Manitouaning, ii. 187.
—— Wesleyan Methodist Missions, 11. 190,
——- failure of the manual labour schools,
mee Oe
—— condition of some Indian villages in
Canada, ii. 192.
-—— the Indians of the northern coasts of
Lakes Huron and Superior, ii. 192.
treaty with these Indians, ii, 193,
in Canada, ii.
HH 2
456
Missionary labours: distribution of annuities
by the Hudson’s Bay Company, ii.
193.
suggestions as to a permanent fund for
the supervision and instruction of
the Indians, 11. 194.
-—— aggregate quantity of land snrrendered
by the Indians of Canada, il. 194,
——— circumstances favourable to the civilis-
ation and progress of the Indians, ii.
OF.
—— suggestions as to the amelioration of
the Indians generally, ii. 196.
— conclusions of the Canadian Commis-
sioners, ii. 196.
——- missionary labours in Rupert’s Land,
li. 198.
—— the schoolhouse the main hope, ii. 199.
—— suggestions for the establishment of a
general store for outposts, ii, 199.
want ofa general familiarity with the
native languages, 11. 200.
-—— the Bishop of Rupert’s Land and his
labours, 11. 201,
~——- his charge in January 1860, ii. 203.
—— the Earl of Southesk and the Assinni-
boine Indians, ii. 204.
the “ Church in the Wilderness,” il.
204.
a Plain Cree’s mode of remembering
Sunday, iil. 205.
Mississippi River, i, 21, 22.
ridge separating the valley of the, from
Lake Superior, 1. 21.
elevation of the watershed of, 11. 24.
Missouri,Grand Couteau de, i. 126, 128, 233.
vast herds of buffalo on the, i. 306.
—— River, number of miles at which it is
navigable, i, 251.
course of the, 1. 351.
prairies converted into forest land in,
ISG
Mis-tick-oos, or Shortstick, chief of the
Plain Crecs, i. 339.
visit to him, i. 354, 359.
description of him, i. 359.
—— “talk” with him and his people, 1.
360.
—— his wants, i. 361.
his tent, i. 362.
—— his wives, i. 362.
death of his son, i, 363.
his grief offering, i. 363.
second meeting with, ii. 125.
feud between his tribe and the Black-
feet, 11. 125.
ridiculous incident in his tent, 11. 135.
his son’s wife, il. 136,
Mocassins, value of, in winter travelling, ii,
88.
INDEX.
Moles, burrows of, on Long Creek, Main
Saskatchewan, i. 406.
“ Money,” Indian, ii. 28,
Montreal, Bishop of, quoted, i. 21.
winter temperature at, ii. 370.
Monument Bay, i. 103.
Moose Lake, 1. 76.
Moose Woods, i. 339.
—- forests of the, 1. 245.
— Head Mountain, 1. 289.
Jaws Forks River, i. 300, 428.
ancient Cree encampment at, i.
338.
— Mountain Creek, i. 306.
— Woods, character of the vegetation of
the, 1. 386, 387,
——- Lake, i. 455. .
Island, Great, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 19.
tracks of, near the Riding Mountain,
11 52,
Morning in the wilderness described, i. 70
ioe
Morts, Portage du, i. 66.
Mosquitoes, persecutions of the, on the
banks of the Assinniboine, 1, 286.
in the Qu’appelle valley, i. 329.
near the main Saskatchewan River,
i, 408, 445.
Moss River, Lake Winnipego-sis, 1. 241 ;
il. 46,
rapids of, ii. 47.
good land on the west bank of, 11,
48.
character of the river, ii. 48.
Mountain Beaver, i. 422.
Duck, 136, 233, 284, 241, 434, 436;
ii. 48.
— Great Dog, i. 39, 40.
Lake, area of, i. 237.
Last, 1. 413.
Mackay’s, i. 14, 26, 27.
— Moose Head, i, 289.
Pasquia, 1. 233, 236.
—-— Pembina, i. 156, 233, 438.
—— Pheasant, i, 245, 422.
—— Riding, i, 136, 233, 234, 241, 435,
436; ii. 48.
—— Stony, i. 278; 11. 79,
—— Thunder, i, 236, 434,
Touchwood, i. 333,
Turtle, i. 176, 236, 290, 299.
Mouse River, or Souris, description of the,
1, 243,
valley of the, i. 243.
Monkman, John, the noted runner, ii, $2.
engaged by Lord R. Grosvenor and
party, il, 82,
Muddy Lake, i. 51, 456, 457.
Mud and sand flats in the
River, i. 141,
—_—_——-
Assinniboine
rae
INDEX. 457
Mud flats in the South Branch of the Sas-
katchewan, i. 384, 392.
near Muddy Lake, i. 456,
layers of stratified, 11, 254,
Murray, Mr., of Pembina Fort, his hospi-
tality, i. 156.
-—— his survey of the north side of Lake
* Huron, ii. 213.
Muskeg River, 1. 85.
Muskeg Indians, or Swampy Crees, i. 112.
their superstitions, 1, 113.
Musk rats on the Winnipeg River, i. 118.
Muttontine, or River of the Rapids, i. 82.
Nameaukan River, i. 70.
vegetation on the shores of the, i. 73.
Nameaukan Rapids, i. 72.
narrow escape at the, i. 73.
Nameaukan Lake, i. 73.
area of, 1.73.
Narrows of the Little Saskatchewan, ii. 29,
30.
Nautilus Dekayi, 11. 343.
Nee-bing township, 1. 32.
Nelson River, falls and rapids of, i. 253.
Nepowewin Mission, main Saskatchewan
River, 1. 397, 399.
the Rev. Henry Budd, i. 399.
origin of the name, i. 399.
prospects of the mission, i, 400,
—w— limited area of fertile land at, i, 400.
Nequauquon Lake, or Lae St. Croix, i. 68,
70.
Netly Creek, Red River, i. 123.
Newspaper, the first published at Red River
Settlement, 1. 152.
Nine Mile Swamp, i. 164.
proposals for the drainage of, 1. 164.
“ Nor’- Wester,” a newspaper published at
Red River settlement, i. 152.
extract from the, i. 184.
North-west Company, history of the, ii, 207.
Nu Portage, i. 73.
Oak Creek, in La Riviére Seine, i. 168.
Oak Point Lake, Manitobah, i. 76.
settlement at, li. 77.
Oats, cultivation of, at Red River settle-
ments, i. 227.
Oar Lake, wildfowl on, i. 294.
Ochre, yellow, at Punk Island, Lake Win-
nipeg, ii. 18.
Ojibways, Canadian treaty with the, i. 28.
——- of the expedition, i. 33.
—— language, sermon in the, i. 30.
—— scene of a battle between them and
the Sioux, I. 41.
- their indifference and selfishness, 1.45.
cannibalism of the, in 1811, 1. 65.
on Sturgeon Lake, i. 69.
Ojibways, at Fort Frances, i. 83.
— their tumuli at Rainy River, i. 90.
—— their refusal at the Lake of the Woods
to allow the expedition to proceed,
i, 99.
-—— fishing ground on Roseau River, 1.
163. .
— Christians at Red River, i. 201.
—— tents on the banks of Red River, i.
202.
—— chief, Peguis, 1. 204.
——encampment at Prairie Portage, i.
281. :
—— unavailing efforts of Archdeacon Coch-
rane to Christianise them, 1. 281.
—— fish weir of, near Prairie Portage, i.
283.
—— a young hunter at Fort Ellice, i. 313.
good fishermen, i, 415.
— hunter, 1. 424.
—— of Rainy Lake, celebrated war path
of the, il. 28, 29.
— of Lake Winnipeg, celebrated war-
path of the, ii, 29.
—— congregation at Fairford, ii. 36.
—— their migration to Red River, ii. 122.
—~ their real- home, 11.122,
their graves on Red River, ii. 122.
—— progress of the, at Red Lake, ii. 196.
their mode of painting the skin, ii,
LS.
tobacco pipes, ii. 139,
—- ties of kindred and_ relationship
amongst the, ii, 145.
Ontario, Lake, variations in the level of, i.
20.
Opashkwa Lake, il. 98.
Oregon, lignite of, 11, 348.
Organic remains, absence of, on the banks
of the Souris, i. 295,
Otter Falls, on the Winnipeg River, 1. 117.
Otter Tail Lake, i. 125, 261,
Otter Tail River, 261. *
Otter Tail City, i. 262.
Owen, Dr., his description of Pembina
Mountain quoted, ii, 261, 262.
Pacific, routes from Red River to the, ii. 22,
et seq.
Pai-poonge township, 1. 32.
Pakitawiwin, or first Fishing Lake of the
Qu’appelle, i. 370.
its wonderful depth, 1. 370.
fish of, 1. 370.
conferve in, 1. 370.
Palliser, Captain, his opinion as to Red
River as an English colony, ii, 219.
results of his expedition, il. 222.
—— his description of the region drained
by the Saskatchewan, ti, 233.
HH 3
458 INDEX.
Palliser, Captain, his proposed boundary of
the new colony, ii, 230.
Palmer worm of the United States, 1. 93.
Palmer, Lieut., his explorations in British
Columbia, i. 226.
Pa-oo-nan, Point, or the Waiting Place, on
Lake Manitobah, 11. 39.
Partridge Crop River, il. 30, 34.
houses of aformer mission at, il. 34.
Indian resort, ii. 35.
birds in the marshes of, ii. 35.
Pas, or Cumberland Station, Saskatchewan
River, 1. 452.
church and school-house at, i. 453.
Pasquia Mountain, i. 233, 236.
Peguis, the great Ojibway chief, i. 204,
his letter, 11. 173.
his second letter, ii. 175.
Pekan, or Little Fork River, i, 82.
Pelicans on Oak Lake, i. 294.
Pelly, Fort, i. 137.
Pembina, town of, i. 157, 254, 255.
Pembina River, i. 244.
—— sources of the, 1. 290.
Pembina Mountain, 1. 156, 233, 438,
timber of, 1. 156.
character of the ancient beach ridge
of, 11, 261.
terraces of, il, 242.
—— Fort, 1.156; 11. 87, 88.
——- hospitality of Mr. Murray there, 1.
156.
—<-— temperature at, 11, 88.
Pemmican, mode of making, i. 312.
fish, of the Indians, i. 487.
Pemmican Portage, 1. 446.
cache, mode of making a, ii. 89,
Pennawa River, i. 117,118.
animals on the, 1 118, 119.
Peter, St., River, altitude of the sources of,
ii, 24.
Pheasants’ Creeks, first and second (in Cree,
Akiskoowi sepesas), 1. 371.
Pheasant Mountain, i. 422,
rich soil of, 1. 422.
aspen forests of the, i. 245.
Pickerel Lake, i. 66.
Pie Island, i. 13, 24.
Pigean Indians, country occupied by the,
il, 158.
Pigeon River, i. 22.
notes of the route by the, i. 74.
Pigeon traps, i. 277.
Pigeons, vast numbers of, near the Blue
Hills of the Souris, i. 292.
Pike Head (Lake Winnipeg), i. 490; ii.
19, 20.
Pike, or Jack-Fish, River, i, 490.
dimensions of, i. 491.
Pike caught in Dauphin Lake, ii, 49, 59,
Pine forest near Milles Lacs, remains of a,
i. 63, 64.
Pine Lake, i. 68, 69.
Pine Creek River, i, 138.
Pine Creek, luxuriant vegetation of, i. 246.
sand dunes at, i. 287.
Pine Island Lake, i. 238, 446.
Pine, or ‘Famarac River, character of “the
prairie of, i. 256; ii. 89.
Pine Island, i. 447, 448.
Pipestone Creek, 1. 307.
valley of, i. 307.
boulders near, i, 307.
Indian monument near, i. 307.
Pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), at
Height of Land Lake, i. 57.
“ Pitching tracks” of the Indians, ii, 51.
Plains and prairies, difference between, 1.
348, 349.
— limits of the plains of Rupert’s Land,
i. 350.
Plains of the north-western territories of the
United States and British America, i.
351.
Plain plateau of Rupert’s Land, ii, 243.
area of, 11, 243.
Plum, or Snake Creek, boulders of lignite
found near, 1. 293, 294.
Point aux Chiens Falls and Rapids, i. 116.
Pomme de Prairie, or Indian turnip, 1. 319.
Ponds, inland, near Lake Winnipeg, li. 9.
Population, Indian, of British America, ii.
145, et seq.
of Red River Settlements, i. 176.
Porcupine Hill, i. 236, 433, 434.
Portage, Décharges des Paresseux, 1. 34.
Barriére, 1. 50.
Brulé, or Side Hill Path, i. 63.
=~ (Crow, 1. 72.
de Milieu,i. 58.
des Deux Riviéres, i. 67.
du Bois, i. 116.
du Morts, i. 66.
French, 1. 66.
— Great Dog, i. 39; 11. 257, 258,
— Great Savanne, 1. 59.
— Grand Falls, i. 72.
—— Grand Portage of Pigeon River, 1, 74.
— Height of Land Portage, i. 76.
—- Island, 1..68, 69.
Jourdain, i. 50.
—— Keg, or Baril, i. 61.
— Nameaukan, 1, 72.
aa Np ae ros
—— Prairie, or Height of Land, i. 52.
—— Prairie, i. 139, 141, 143, 205, 283.
Rattlesnake, 1. 70.
Rat, i. 104, 107.
Roche Brulé, i, 116.
—— Turtle, i, 94.
"
3
|
INDEX. 459
Portage Bay (Lake Winnipeg), i. 480.
Portage River, dry bed of a tributary of, 1.
440.
Portages, table of, 11. 427.
Post office, Red River, notice of, i. 257,
note,
Posts, provision trading, of the Hudson’s
Bay Company, i. 311.
_ Prairie hen (Tetrao cupido), resort of the,
i, 160, 256.
battles of the males during pairing
season, i. 160.
Prairie Portage, i. 52.
vegetation on the banks of, 1. 53.
—— estimates of the heights of, i. 53.
height of the banks of the Assinniboine
at, 1. 139.
—-— sand and mud flats in the river at, i.
141,
— origin of the name, i. 143.
—— view of the village of, i. 145.
— settlement at, 1. 176.
—+- description of the mission at, i. 204.
—— Ojibway encampment at, i. 281.
fertility of the prairie at, i. 282.
beach and terrace at, ii. 259.
—— River, i. 50.
—— thick fringes of rushes of, i. 51.
source of, 1. 52.
Prairies of Red River, described, i. 134,
233, et seq. ;
of the Assinniboine River, i, 147.
——— grasshoppers on the, i. 147.
of the Assinniboine— Mr. Gowler’s
view of the capabilities of the, i.
LST.
of La Riviere Sale, i. 156.
richness of the, of Lake Manitobah, i.
244;
and wooded land west of Red River,
i, 224.
fires, 1. 256, 291.
—— description of one, i. 259.
——— ridges, ancient, i. 277,279, 280.
fertility of the, at Prairie Portage, i.
282.
—— vast, beyond the Blue Hills of the
Souris, i. 291,
—— appearance of a, after a visit froma
flight of grasshoppers, i. 398.
—— view from the prairie, i. 305.
—— effects of mirage on the, i. 305.
northern limit of the burnt prairie, i.
305.
— great prairie north of the Red Deer’s
Head River, i. 305.
wanderers in prairies, singular facility
of, for journeying direct to places at
great distances from each other, i.
309
Prairie, Great, between the 49th parallel and
the Qu’appelle River, its sterility, i.
317.
Prairies, grandeur of fires in the, i, 336.
limits of the prairie country of the
United States, i. 349.
—— and of Rupert’s Land, 1. 350.
origin of the groves scatiered over the
prairies, i, 350.
— and plains, difference between, 1. 348,
349,
— scene described, i. 375.
— treeless, on the South Branch of the
Saskatchewan, i. 384, 385, 387.
extension of the, from fires, i. 405.
salt, at the foot of the Touchwood
Hills, i. 412.
——. Marshy, of Pheasant Mountain and
File Hill, i. 422.
—— Willow, i. 423.
—— drained by Little White Mud River,
1. 438.
—— fertility of, 1. 438.
——- of the Assinniboine, i. 439.
splendid, bordering the southern shores
of Lake Manitobah, i. 76.
—— aspect of the, in the winter season, ii.
sities
—— travelling across a, at 20 degrees be-
low zero, ii. 92.
plateau of Rupert’s Land, ii. 248.
boundaries of, ii, 243.
area of, ii, 243.
effects of ice in distributing boulders
over the prairies of Red River, ii.
Bors
——— ancient beach ridges in the prairies, 1i.
261%
— end or tail of the prairies, ii, 376.
——- prairies converted into forest land in
Missouri, ii. 377.
Pratt, Charles, the half-breed catechist, 1.
Bill Fc
Presbyterian mission and congregation at
Red River Settlement, i. 196,
Church at Red River Settlement, i. 205.
school at Red River Settlement, i. 219.
Protestant missions in Red River Settle-
ments, i. 194, 195.
Protestant schools at Red River Settlement,
i, 214, :
subjects taught, i. 216.
distinguished scholars, i. 216, 217.
school attendance, i, 217, 218.
sources of income, i. 218.
Provisions for the Assinniboine and Sas-
katchewan expedition, 1. 276. |
Indian mode of carrying them, i, 339.
Psoralea esculenta (Indian turnip), abun-
dance of, i. 319.
|
Hu 4
460
Punk Island, ii. 17
yellow ochre at, ii. 17, 18.
Quadrupeds on the Kaministiquia River,
ond.
on the Winnipeg River, i. 115.
seen near the South Branch of the
Saskatchewan, 1. 393.
Qu’ appelle, or Calling River, i. 138.
description of the, i, 242.
valley of the, i. 237, et seq.
—— timber of the valley of the, i, 245.
country near the banks of the, 1. 314.
—_— birds of the, i. 316.
fertility of the country north of the,
decoy ,
sterility of the prairie between the 49th
parallel and the, i. 317.
expeditions formed for the descent and
ascent of the, i. 320.
tortuous course of the, 1. 329, 331.
section of the barks of the, 1. 330.
temperature of the, i. 331.
- ice-marks on the banks of the, 1. 331.
—— buffalo tracks on the, 1. 331.
frequent thunderstorms on the, 1. 333.
— the Grand Forks, 1. 334.
— one of the sources of the, 1. 347, 352.
origin of its name, i. 370.
its breadth below the First Fishing
River; 1.371.
—— affluents below the First Fishing River,
Tee oueli,
— effects of fires on the vegetation of the
north bank, i. 372.
—- granite boulders in the river at the
Stony Barrier, 1. 376.
—— dimensions of the river from Big Cut-
arm Creek to its mouth, i. 377.
timber and undergrowth for ten miles
above its mouth, i, 377.
Qu’appelle Valley, i. 237.
its importance, i. 320.
exploration of the, i. 320,
encampment in the, i. 323.
— birds of the, i. 330.
——-— aspect of the valley during the floods
* ofyi8 52, 1.329,
— hill sides of, 1. 329.
—— white cranes seen in the, i. 329.
— drift clay and limestone erratics in the,
1. 632.
——-— frequent thunderstorms in the, i. 333.
-——- dimensions of the, i. 335, 341, 343.
boulders on the Sandy Hills of the,
i. 353.
view of the, from the Sandy Hills,
i, 354.
transverse section of the, at the Height
of Land, 1. 355,
INDEX.
Qu’appelle Valley, cretaceous rock at the
summit level of the, 1. 363.
boulders on the, i. 363, 364.
depth of, at the First Fishing River,
iy B70;
flooding of the valley, i. 377.
—— its wonderful uniformity, 1, 378.
its length from the Second Fishing
Lake to its junction with the As-
sinniboine, i. 378.
——- its leading dimensions, i. 426, 429.
— character “of the great Picea it inter-
sects, 1. 427,
lakes in the valley, i. 428, 429.
their depth. 1. 428.
—— timber in the valley, i. 428.
floods in the, i. 428.
effects of a dam across the south branch
of the Saskatchewan, i. 428.
table of the length, breadth, and depth
of the Qu’appelle Valley at different
points, i, 429.
enormous boulder in the, ii. 255. «
Qu’appelle Lakes, i. 319, 428.
area of, i, 237.
described, 1. 320.
source of the, 1, S61.
their depth, 1. 428.
table showing the length, breadth, and
depth of the, 1. 430.
Qu’ appelle Mission, its beautiful situation,
i, G2).
garden at the, i. 322,
Quartz rocks near Milles Lacs, i. 62.
Quebec, temperature of, ii, 372.
Quills, goose, great numbers of, i, 412.
Quill Lake, 1. 412.
Rabbit Point, Cedar Lake, i. 458.
Rabbits, multitudes of, on the Winnipeg
River and Lake of the Woods, i. 169.
numerous, on the banks of the As-
sinniboine, i. 284
near the Riding Mountain, ii. 52.
Rainy Lake, i. 62, 74.
description of, i. 80,
when frozen, i. 81.
Rainy River, described, i, 81.
general course of, i. 81.
Indian fishing ground of, i. 81.
affluents of, i. 82.
soil on the banks of, i. 84.
general aspect of the banks and valley
of, i. 86,
alluvial terraces of, i. 91, 92.
Rapid River, or Little Saskatchewan, i,
138, 437.
source of, il. 257.
Rapid, the Grand, of the Saskatchewan, i t
467.
INDEX. 461
Rapid, portage, 1. 467.
—— running the Grand, i. 467.
—— its Biiensions, i 1. 468.
—— character of its excavated bed, i. 469.
magnificence of its upper portion, 1.
470.
—— mode of ascending it, i. 471.
—— remarks in relation to surmounting
this barrier, and making the Saskat-
chewan available for steam naviga-
tion, 1. 472.
Raspberries, wild, on the banks of the main
Saskatchewan, 1. 408,
Rat Portage, i. 104.
Falls at, i. 105.
— Hudson’s Bay Company’s post at, i.
VOR.
Rat River, Big, i. 163, 439.
importance of the valley of i. 440.
Little, 1. 164.
Rattlesnake Portage, i. 70.
Red River, ordinary canoe course to, i,
hes
mouths of, i. 123.
character and course of the Red River
of the north, i. 125,
—— its tributaries, i. 126.
the river within British territory, 1,126.
=—=— its amuents, 1; 126.
——— objects seen on ascending it, 1. 127.
—— its physical features, 1. 128,
grand rapids of, i. 128, 130.
limestone at Stone Hort: i: 130;
Big Eddy, i. 130.
description of the prairies of, i, 134,
scarcity of fuel in the valley of, i.
144,
confluence of the, and Assinniboine,
1-153.
soil of the country east of, i. 166.
account of the settlements on, i.
et seq.
route to, vid York Factory, i. 252.
route to, via St. Paul, i. 253.
Lake, whence Red River takes its
rise, 1. 261.
countless numbers of ducks at the
mouth of, i. 493.
temperature of, ii. 5.
six mouths of, i1. 5.
formation of new land at the mouths
of, 11°73 8.
altitude of the sources of, ii. 24,
bands of buffalo, 11. 107.
Indian title to, i. 172,
progress of the Indian settlement at,
ie 19654
—— communication between, and Canada,
Met 2.
and the United States, ii, 218,
dias
172,
a
—_——
Red River, Captain Palliser’s opinion as to,
as an English colony, il. 218.
communication between, and the Pa-
Cite, 11, 222"
climate of the valley of, ii. 365.
temperature of Red River Valley
compared with that of Toronto, ii.
365-367.
Red Fork River, i. 126.
Red Lake, i. 126; il. 95, 98.
Indian progress in, ii. 196.
Red Lake River, i. 258; ii. 95, 98.
timber of the valley of, i. 258.
war path of the Sioux and Ojibways
at, i, 258.
Red Rives Settlements, houses of the inha-
bitants of, i. 130.
—— Fort Garry and Stone Fort, i, 133.
—— King’s Road, 1. 133.
—— the prairie, i. 134.
——— a newspaper published at, 1. 152.
—— success of agricultural pursuits at, i.
152, 153.
—— history of the settlements, i. 172,
— Lord Selkirk and the Scottish emi-
grants, 1. 172.
—— Mr. West, the first missionary, i. 174.
—— population of the settlements, i 176.
—— administration of justice, i 183.
—— trades and occupations, i. 186.
— no division of labour, i. 186, 187.
——. mills, 1, 187.
— merchant shops and petty traders, 1.
188.
freighters, i. 189
tenure of land, 1. 189.
millions of acres of unoccupied land
fit for settlements, 1. 191.
revenue and expenditure, i. 191.
missions, i. 194.
religious denominations, i. 194
missionaries, stations, and congrega-
tions, 1 195, 196.
—— St John’s church, i. 196.
—— St Andrew’s parish and its history, i
Toe
—— St. Paul’s church, i. 199. »
— St James’ church, i 200.
- Indian settlement church and farm, i.
200.
—— Presbyterian church and congregation,
i. 205, 206.
— Roman Catholic churches and congre-
, gations, i. 206
—— condition of religion at Red River, i,
209
— extent of the charities of the home
missionary societies, 1. 209
—— apathy of the wealthy at Red River,
i, 209.
462
Red River Settlements, difficulties of mis-
sionary enterprise at present, i. 210.
privations and difficulties at remote
stations, 1.211.
communication between Fort Garry
and st, Paul, i. 2123913)
education in the settlements, i. 214.
statistics and enumeration of schools,
te Ae
condition of agricultural industry, i.
233)
apathy of the settlers, i, 223, 224.
cultivated crops, 1. 225.
live stock of the settlement, i. 228.
agricultural implements, i. 229.
facilities for raising stock, i. 230.
timber at Red River, i. 231.
sketch of the country west of Red
River, 1. 233.
wooded and prairie land, i. 244
notice of the Red River post-office, i,
257 note.
Red Deer River, i 242.
lignite on, 11 348.
Red Deer’s Head River, swarms of grass-
hoppers near the, i. 296,
scarcity of animal life at the mouth of
the, 1. 299, 300
watermarks on the banks of the, i.
305.
prairie north of the, i. 305,
Red Eye River, i. 261.
Reed River, i. 162.
Refraction, wonderful effect of, i, 97.
Rice, wild, of the marshes of the Lake of
the Woods, i. 96.
vast rice grounds of the Winnipeg
River, i. 116.
— — of the Pennawa River, i. 118.
failure of the crop, i. 118.
wild, of turtle River, ii, 98.
Richardson, Sir John, his estimate of the
altitude of Lake Superior, i. 17.
— his sun-dial at Cumberland House, i.
449.
— his description of the coast line of
Lake Winnipeg, quoted, ii. 21.
Ridge dividing the valley of the Mississippi,
and Lake Superior, i. 21,
-—— dividing lake between the Embarras
River and Lake Superior, i. 21.
—- the Big, of the prairie of the Assin-
niboine River, i. 146.
—— Pitching Track, near Dauphin Lake,
11.262.
Ridges of sand in Great Dog Lake, i. 46,
48.
ancient prairie, 1. 277.
Riding Mountain, i, 136, 233, 234, 241.
ieotabeedie es | ley
INDEX.
Riding Mountain, timber of the, i. 244,
247.
-—— region to the east of, an insignificant
field for settlements, i, 250.
ponds and lakes of the, i. 425.
view of the, from Moss River, ii. 48.
journey from Dauphin Lake to the
summit of, ii. 50.
——- rabbits and moose at the foot of the,
ls O22 Soe
—— character of the soil at the foot of the,
Vopeay
—— terraces, 11. 54.
— conical hills, i. 54.
——- view from the summit of, il. 55.
former character of, ul. 55.
denudation, 11. 56.
vast table land, i. 56.
forest covering, ii. 56.
—— snow-storm on, li. 57,
descent of, i. 58.
—— estimate of ascents and descents of, ii.
58.
—— ancient beach ridges of, ii. 263.
—— its probable common origin with Duck
Mountain, ii. 266.
River Assinniboine, i. 127, 132, 136, 246.
Basquia, 1. 452.
--— Battle, i. 357.
—— Beaver Creek, i. 138.
— Big-Stone, i. 448.
—— Birdstail, i. 138, 246.
Brulé, i, 63.
— Crane, ii. 40.
— Carrot, or Root, River, i. 407,
409.
Crow Wing, i. 261, 262.
Current, 1. 30, 42.
—— Dauphin, or Valley, ii. 48, 60.
des Isles des Bois, 1. 155.
— Drunken, ii. 11.
— Elbow Bone, i. 138.
-— Embarras, 1. 22
—— Fire Steel, i. 62.
—— German Creek, 1.127, 132, 166,
168.
—— Gull Egg, or the Two Rivers, i.
483.
—— Hauteur de Terre, i. 261.
Jack Fish, ii. 19.
James’s, 1.351, 352.
Jumping River, i. 483.
—— Kahlawakalk, i. 82.
— Kakmaskatawagan, i. 82.
— Kaministiquia, i. 22, et seq.
—— Kapowenekenow, i. 82.
Kawawakissinweek, i, 82.
— Kettle, i. 22.
—— Kiskarko, 1. 82.
INDEX. 463
River, Leaf, i. 262.
Little Dog, i. 40, 47.
—— Little Souris, or Mouse, i. 136,
138.
—— Little White Mud, i. 431, 438,
439.
— Marsh, i. 260.
——— Missatchabe, or Big Fork, i. 82.
—— Mississippi, i. 21, 22.
—— Missouri, i, 251, 357.
— Moose Jaws Forks, i. 300.
Moose Mountain Creek, i. 306.
—— Moss, i. 241; il. 46.
Muskeg, i 1.4 BD,
- Muttontine, or River of the Rapids,
1, 82.
—— Nameaukan, i. 70.
Nelson, i. 253,
— Otter Tail, i. 261. ;
Partridge Crop, or St. Martin, ii, 34.
Pekan, or Little Fork, i. 82.
Pembina, i. 244, 290,
Pennawa, i. 117, 118.
— Pigeon, i, 22.
— Pike or Jack-Fish, i. 490.
—— Pine, ii. 89.
— Pine Creek, i. 138
Prairie, 1. 50.
Qu’appelle, or Calling River, i. 138,
2492,
Rainy, 1. 81, et seq.
Rapid, 1, 138.
Rat, 1. 439.
— Rat, Big, i. 163.
Rat, Little, 1. 163.
Red, 1.. 123, et seq. 3 ii. 5.
Red Deer, i. 242.
Red Eye, i. 261.
Red Fork, 1. 126.
Red Lake, 1. 258; 11. 95, 98.
Reed, 1. 162.
*“¢ River that Turns,” i. 364.
Roseau, i. 127, 157.
Root River, i. 452.
Sale, 1. 133, 154.
Saskatchewan, i. 238 e¢ seq.
—— Saskatchewan, Little, i. 138.
TTT
Saskatchewan, Little, or Dauphin, i.
241.
—- Saskatchewan, Little, or Rapid, i.
437, 481.
Saskatchewan, Main, i. 397, e¢ seq.
— Saskatchewan, North Branch, i, 393.
—— Saskatchewan, South Branch, i, 380
et seq.
Savanne, i. 59.
Seine, i. 61.
Serpent or Snake, i. 257.
Scratching, i. 156,
River, Shayenne, i. 126, 352.
Shell, i. 138, 246, 436.
— Shoal, 1. 433,
Souris, Little, or Mouse, i, 138, 243,
288.
-—— Sturgeon, i. 67.
—— Sturgeon Creek, i. 139,
—— Swan, i. 242, 432, 433.
—— St. Croix, 1. 22.
St. Louis, 1, Oi 22.
Tabae, i. 156.
Tearing, | 1, 240, 448, 452.
Tee-wa-now-seebe, or “ River that di-
vides the hills,” ii. 51,
Two Creeks, 1, 138,
—— Turtle, ii. 61, 98.
—~- Valley, i. 231, 24],
Valley, or Dauphin, i il. 48, 60,
Vermilion, 1. 22,
-—— Water-hen, 11. 40.
—— War- Path, i. 479, 483; il. 28, 29.
—— White Sand, i. 138, 431.
—— Wild Rice, i. 260.
—— Winnipeg, i. 106, e¢ seq.
— Withahkepekas, i. 82.
White Mud, i. 242, 248.
Rivers, Indian mode of naming, i. 40.
in Rupert’s Land, records of former
physical structure of the, i. 309.
River that turns, i. 364, 365.
war party of Blackfeet prowling about
at the, i. 365.
Road between Superior
Wins; 1, 235
to White Fish Lake, i. 32.
between Great Dog Lake and Thun-
der Bay, i. 43.
—-— Winter road to the Lake of the
Woods, 1. 85.
at Prairie Portage, i. 146, 147.
Roche Brulé Portage, i. 116.
Rocks, horizontal, in the valley of the
Souris, i. 292.
being reconverted into mud, i. 377.
at Grindstone Point, i. 16.
——— fissured on the coast of Lake Win-
nipeg, 11, 18. 190.
— exposures, on Sugar Island, ii. 31,
32,
— on Snake Island, ii. 43. |
—— grooved, Beateheds and polished, in
the basin of Lake Winnipeg, ii.
ADs
on Baril Portage, ii. 245.
on Winnipeg River, ii. 246.
on limestones of Lake Manitobah, ii.
247,
Rocky Point, first and second, Lake Win.
nipeg, ii, 23.
me
City and Crow
|
464
Rocky Mountains, passes of the, ii. 224.
——— plateau, elevation of, ii. 362.
Kioman Catholic Missions, stations and con-
gregations in Red River Settle-
ments, 1. 194, 196.
churches in Red River, i. 206.
Zoot crops, cultivation of, at Red River
Settlements, 1. 228.
Rose Lake, i. 76.
Roseau River, i. 127, 157.
—— its course and physical features, i. 157,
158.
ancient lake ridge, i. 157.
Roseau Lake, i. 158.
route from, to the Lake of the Woods,
1159, LG:
Roses of the prairie, north of the Qu’appelle
River, 1. 331.
Rostellaria Ameficana, il. 344.
Round Lake ( Ka-wa-wi-ga- Kamag), Qu’-
appelle River, its dimensions, 1. 375.
Rum, debasing influence of, amongst the
heathen Indians, ii. 38.
—— Indian hankering after, 1. 322,
tupert’s Land, Bishop of, quotation from a
letter from, to the author, i. 215.
growth of timber in the river bottoms
in, i. 350.
—— limits of plains and prairies of, i.
350.
—— Bishop of, and his work, ii. 201.
—— his charge, January 1860, ii 203.
—— prairie plateau of, il, 243.
Sale, La Riviére, i. 133, 154
country lying between it and the As-
sinniboine, i. 154.
prairie of, 1 248.
Salt Springs on the Riviere Sale, i. 155
deposits near Stony Mountain, i 279,
281.
springs near Lake Winnipegosis, ii
aes
character of the country near the, 11
43.
description of the salt works, ji. 44, 45.
process of making the salt, 11. 45
— in Minnesota and Dakotah territo:ies,
il, 292
localities north of the 49th parallel in
which salt springs occur, 11. 293
manufacture of salt, 11. 293.
salt trade of the United States, 11. 294
Salter, Mr., his survey of the north shore of
Lake Huron, ii. 213.
Salutations amongst various tribes, ii. 140.
*¢ Sail Rock,” near Milles Laces, i 62.
Sand ridges in Great Dog Lake, i 46, 48.
and mud flats in the Assinniboine
River, i 141.
INDEX.
Sand dunes near the Lake of the Woods, i.
Oo.
dunes at Pine Creek, Assinniboine
River, i 287.
dunes near Plum Creek, Little Souris
River, i 293.
dunes on the Assiniboine River, 1. 285.
-_—- dunes probably derived from tertiary
rocks, ii. 345,
dunes, progress of dunes evidence cf
the force and direction of prevailing
winds, il. 363.
of the Souris, i. 294.
section of the banks of the Little
Souris, or Moose River, at the, 1.
294,
—— deposit of bog iron ore at the, i. 295.
—— of the Qu’appelle, i. 352.
—— ponds at the, feeding the South Branch
and the Assinniboine Rivers, i. 352,
S55:
——- description of the Sandy Hills, i. 353.
of the Qu’appelle, 1. 353, 354, 355.
view from the, i. 354.
on the Saskatchewan, 1. 387.
between Lakes Superior and Winni-
peg, li. 264.
ranges, li. 264.
Sandstone rocks at the summit level of the
Qu’appelle Valley, i. 363.
on the South Branch of the Saskat-
chewan, i. 384.
on Sugar Island, ii. 31.
Sandy Bar, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 12.
Sandy’ Hills, described, i. 285.
length and breadth ‘of the, i. 288.
Lake of the, 1. 94, 342, 352.
buffalo at the, i. 342.
camp at the, i. 344.
Sandy Lake, i. 22.
Saskatchewan River, etymology of the name,
1, 238.
course of the south branch, 1. 2338.
rate of current and depth of the south
branch, i. 239.
course of the main river, i. 239.
— width, depth, and rate of current, i.
239, 240,
—— its affluents, i. 241.
areas fit for settlement, in the valley
of the, i. 249.
area of country drained by the, 1. 252,
— drift on the, ii. 249.
tiers of boulders on the, li, 254.
—— ponds at the Sandy Hills feeding the,
1. 352, 355:
——- rocks on the, i. 380.
—— altitude of exposure, i. 380.
selenite on the, i. 381.
lignite and sandstone on the, i, 384.
INDEX. 465
Saskatchewan River, treeless prairie on the,
i, 384, 385.
encampment of Cree Indians on the,
1. 384,
mud flats, 1, 384, 392.
driftwood, i. 386.
aspen forests, 1. 386.
ripple marks, 1. 386.
dimensions of the South Branch, 1.
386, 387.
excellent district for the establishment
of a settlement, i. 386.
timber on the, i. 386.
sand dunes on the, i. 387.
altitude of the river banks at the
Moose Woods, i. 387.
absence of animal life, 1. 388, 393.
rate of current of the river, 1. 388, 389,
392, :
boulders in drift and boulder pave-
ments, on the, i. 389, 390.
temperature of the air and of the
river, i. 391, 393.
former aspen forest, i. 391.
colour and temperature of the South
and North Branches compared, i.
393.
_ —— absence of Indians on the, i. 394.
—— the camp visited bya grizzly bear on
the, i. 394,
—— small number of tributaries received
by the, 1. 395.
-—— aridity of the country through which
it flows, i. 395.
—— junction of the North and South
Branches, 1. 395, 396.
—— number of cubic feet of water passing
down the, per hour, i, 398.
—— elevation of the, 1. 427.
— effects of a dam across the, i. 428.
—-— lignite on the, 11, 548.
climate of the, 11. 373.
Saskatchewan, North Branch :
colour and temperature of North and
South Branches compared, i. 392.
junction of the North and South
Branches, i. 395, 396.
rapidity of the current of the North
Branch, i. 396.
dangerous navigation of the, i. 396.
number of cubic feet of water passing
down the, per hour, i, 398.
lignite on the, il. 348.
Saskatchewan, the Main, i. 397.
valley of the, i. 397.
—— its breadth, depth, and rate of current
at Fort a Ja Corne, i. 397.
estimate of the number of cubic feet of
water passing down the, per hour,
1, 398,
Pb cul
Saskatchewan, magnitude of the, Main, com-
pared with that of other rivers, i. 398.
periods of opening and closing of the
river at Fort a la Corne, i. 398.
Nepowewin Mission and its prospects,
i. 399,
fertility of Nepowewin and the Valley
of Long Creek, i. 400.
sandy strip of land on the banks of
the river, 1. 402.
Valley of Long Creek, i, 406, 407.
—— Bloody Hills, i. 408,
—— Weody Hills, i. 408.
——- Mosquitoes near the river, 1. 403.
general directory of the river from
Fort a la Corne to Cumberland
House, 1. 443.
velocity of the current, i. 443.
its breadth at Fort a Ja Corne, 1. 443,
Birch Islands, 1. 445.
tributary of the river, i. 446,
Pemmican Portage, i. 446.
affluents of the river, i. 448.
character and dimensions of the, at
Cumberland House, i. 450, 451.
sturgeon caught in the, i. 451.
Fishing Weir Creek, i, 452.
Big Bend, i. 452.
“ The Round Farm,” i. 452.
“The Pas,” or Cumberland Station, i.
452, 453.
mud flats, 1. 445-447.
difficulties of navigation, i. 461,
question of running steamers on the
river, 1. 462.
the river east of Cross Lake, i. 464.
approach to the Grand Rapid, i. 465.
—— drift clay banks, i. 465.
the Grand Rapid, i. 467.
bands of buffalo, ii. 108.
Captain Palliser’s description of the
region drained by the, i!. 223.
Saskatchewan River, Little, i. 138, 241,
437, 481; ii, 25.
vegetation of the valley of, i. 247.
fish in the, i. 437.
cretaceous shales on, 1. 437.
general character of the country, on
the, 1. 484,
height of the banks of, ii. 25.
country in the rear, li. 26.
tracking up the stream, li. 26.
general aspect of, il. 26,
narrows of, 11, 29, 30.
Sault Ste. Marie Canal, account of the, 1, 15.
Savanne Lake, i. 57,
vegetation of the banks of the, i, 57,
extent of, i. 58.
Portage, Great, i. 59.
—— River, i. 59.
PPE BCLS gL GB
elle IM
466 INDEX.
Savanne Lake, country about, i. 60.
character of the soilof the banks of the
1,60:
Scalp dance, an Indian, ii. 122.
Scaphites Conradi, ii. 344,
Scaphites Nodosus, 1i, $38.
Schools at Red River Settleme ntsestsi,atist
and enumeration of, i. 214.
— Protestant schools, 214.
Presbyterian school, 219.
Scissors Creek (Pesquanamawe sepesis), i
376.
Scratching River, i, 156.
Seasons of the valley of Lake Winnie, il.
369.
Section of the north bank of the Assinni-
boine river measured, 1. 287.
— of the bank of the Little Souris, or
Mouse River, at Plum Creek, i.
293, 294.
and at the Souris Sand Hills, i. 294.
—— of the banks of the Qu’appelle River,
11050:
— of the bank of the Eyebrow Hill
stream, 1. 353.
transverse, of the valley of the Qu’-
appelle at the height of land, i.
355.
on the south branch of the Saskat-
chewan, i. 381.
Seiganagah Lake, i. 77.
Little, 1.77%
Seine River, i. 61.
character of the, i. 62.
Seine Bay, i. 62.
Seine, La Riviére, or German Creek, i. 127,
132, 166, 168.
Selenite on the south branch of the Saskat-
chewan, i. 381.
Selkirk Settlement.
ment.
Selkirk, Lord, his enterprise in the valley of
the Kaministiquia, 1. 32.
founds the Red River Settlements, i
WZ.
grant of land to, ii. 172.
——— treaty between him and the Crees and
Salteaux of Red River, ii. 173.
Serpent or Snake River, i. 257.
Settee, Rev. James, of the Qu’appelle Mis-
sion, 1. 321.
Settlements, area fit for, in the valley of the
Assinniboine, i. 246.
in the valley of the Saskatchewan, i.
249,
east of the Ridings and Duck Moun-
tains, i. 250.
excellent district for the establishment
of a, near the South Branch of the
Saskatchewan, i. 386.
See Red River Settle-
Settlements, attractive and desirable place
for, 1. 432, 437.
Seymour, Mr. H. D., M. P., his trip into the
prairies in search of buffalo, ii. 81.
Shayenne River, i. 126, 352.
Shell River, i. 138, 436.
vegetation of the valley of, i. 246.
Shell Creek, bones of a mammoth at, i. 312.
Shells, fresh water, on tbe beach and marshes
of Lake Winnipeg, ii. 8.
Shoal Lake, 1. 102; ii. 78.
description of, i. 103.
splendid country, near the south shores
of, 13782
River, i. 433.
Silurian series in North America, ii. 283.
—— rim of the, 11. 283.
distribution of formations, ii, 284.
chazy formation, il. 285.
fossils of the chazy, ii. 285.
bird’s-eye and Trenton formations, ii.
289.
Hudson River formation, ii, 289.
Silver Falls of the Winnipeg River, their
magnificence, i. 20.
Simpson, Sir George, Governor of the Hud-
son’s Bay Company, il. 209.
Sioux, scene of a battle between them and
the Ojibways, 1. 41.
dress and mocassins, ii. 105.
predatory bands of, i. 144, 145.
watch kept for, 1. 289. ;
their hostility to the approach of civi-
lisation to their hunting grounds, 1.
295.
attempts of a band of, to surprise the
camp, i, 303.
celebrated war path of the, ii, 28, 29.
se from the graves on Red River,
. 124,
thedy cruelty, ii. 126.
tobacco pipes of the, ii. 140.
bows and arrows of the, il. 144.
principal bands of the nation, ii, 153.
their hunting grounds, 11. 153.
meaning of their name, ii. 153.
enumeration of the principal bands, il.
154.
—— their conjurors, ii. 154.
their mode of expressing time and
distance, ii. 154.
names of their months, i. 155.
their common and sacred language, ii.
155,
specimen of their language, ii. 156.
probability of a war between the
United States and the Sioux, ii.
168.
territory inhabited by the, ii. 180.
Six Nations, formation of the, ii, 134,
INDEX. 467
Skin, Indian custom of painting the, ii. 137.
Slave Falls of the Winnipeg River, i. 116.
Lees
story of the, i. 116.
Slave Lake, the northern limit of the buffalo,
1i. 106.
Sledges described, ii. 84.
Small-pox, great mortality of the Indians
from, il, 143, 162, 163.
vaccination, ii. 143.
Snake Hill, i. 243.
Snake Hills,i 294.
Snake Creek, i. 432, 433.
valley of, 1, 432.
excellent for a settlement, i. 432.
Snake Island, Lake Winnipego-sis, ii, 42.
fossils of, i1. 42.
Snow Birds, ii. 66.
seen at Dauphin Lake, ii. 49.
Snow-storm on the Riding Mountain, ii.
Dis
at Manitobah House, ii. 66.
on the prairie, ii. 94.
preparing to camp in a, li. 94.
dogs “lying close ” after a fall of snow
during the night, 1, 95.
Soil of the valley of the Kaministiquia, i. 26.
of the country between the Kaministi-
guia and Pigeon Rivers, i. 27.
of Great Dog Mountain, i. 40.
of the banks of the Savanne River, i.
60.
near Portage des Morts, i. 67.
on Rainy River, i. 84, 87, 92.
on the Pennawa River, i. 120.
of Lake Winnipeg, i, 121.
of White House Plain, i. 147.
of the country east of Red River,
166, 168.
—— of the valley of the Assinniboine, i.
247, 282.
—— of the valley of the Saskatchewan, 1,
249.
—— of the foot of the Riding Mountain, ii.
Ook
south and east of the Lumpy Hill of
the Woods, i. 408.
excellent, of the Touchwood Hills, i.
412.
= of File: Hill, 1..421.
~—— of the east bank of the Assinnikoine, i.
435.
of the prairies of Little White Mud
River, i. 438.
—— of the Saskatchewan River, i. 444,
445.
—— around Cumberland House, i. 448.
of the Little Saskatchewan, ii. 29,
Southesk, Earl of, and the Assinniboine
Indians, ii. 204.
me
°
Souris, Little, or Mouse River, i. 136, 138,
243.
description of the, 1. 243,
valley of the, i. 243.
timber of the valley of the, i, 245.
breadth, depth, and rate of current of
the, i. 288.
grasshoppers at the mouth of the, i,
288.
fish caught in the, i, 289.
view of the Valley of the, looking
towards the Blue Hills of the Souris,
12:90;
view of the Valley of the, opposite
the Valley of the Back-fat Lakes,
14291
section of the banks of the, showing
the ancient beaches with lignite
boulders, i. 293, 294.
height of the banks at the Souris
Sand Hills, i. 295.
description of the valley of the, i. 298.
lakes of the Souris at the Souris, at
the forty-ninth parallel, i. 300.
height of the banks of the, at Plum
Creek, i. 294.
section of the river’s bank at the
Souris Sand Hills, i. 294,
origin and course of the, i. 300, 301.
Souris Sand Hills, i. 294,
section of the banks of the Little
Souris River at the, i. 294,
deposit of bog iron ore at the, i, 295.
Souris Lakes, i. 299,
Souris Forks (Elbow Bone Creek), coun-
try between it and the Grand Forks, i.
Sra oy
Spence, John, the Cree Half-breed, i. 143.
his farm and crops, i. 145.
Spruce, valuable, of the Riding and Duck
Mountains, i. 241, 244.
Spy Hill (or Ka-pa-kam-a-ou), tragic occur-
rence at, i. 424,
boulders at, 1. 4235,
-—— increase of aspen groves at, i. 425.
Squaws engaged in Christian worship, i.
AN
Standing Stone Mountain, i. 307.
the Rey. John West’s account of the
“‘ Standing Stone,” i. 307.
Stagg, Rev. Mr., of Fairford Mission, ii.
Silke
St. Croix River, i. 22,
Steamers, proposed, on the Saskatehewan
River, i. 462.
Stewart, Mr. J. G., chief trader at Cumber-
land House, his kindness, i. 447.
Steatitic minerals in Rupert’s Land, ii, 332,
analysis of, ii. 328.
Steep Rock Point, Lake Manitobah, ii. 39.
468 INDEX.
Still Water Creek, 1. 163.
St. Louis River, i. 21, 22.
Stock, live, of Red River settlements, i.
228.
facilities for raising stock there, i. 230.
Stone or Lower Fort, on Red River, 1. 124,
Stony Mountain, i. 278; il. 79.
Stony Barrier ( Assinni-pichigakan), Qu’ap-
pelle River, i. 376.
Storm on Lake Superior, i. 9.
near the Kaministiquia River, i. 55.
—— on the Lake of the Woods, i. 105.
— on the Winnipeg River, i. 108.
—— on Lake Winnipeg, i. 123,
on the Assinniboine, i. 283.
— on Lake Winnipeg, i. 476, 481.
terrific, on Lake Winnipeg, ii. 6.
Sturgeon Creek, Assinniboine River, 1,139.
Sturgeon in the Saskatchewan, i. 451.
Indian superstition respecting the
winter haunts of the, 11. 15.
Sturgeon Island, Lake Winnipeg, ii, 21,
Sturgeon Lake, i. 67, 68.
scenery of, i. 68.
— Ojibways on, i. 69.
——- scratched and polished rocksat, ii, 245,
Sturgeon River, i. 67, 68.
Sucker Creek, il. 62.
Sugar Island, ii, 30, 31.
Sugar made by the Assinniboine Indians, i.
142.
manufacture of, at Red River settle-
ments, 1. 228.
Sugar Point on Red River, i. 127.
Summer Berry Creek (Nipomenan sepesis),
Qu’appelle River, i. 374.
Summer temperatures of the basin of Lake
Winnipeg, ii. 368,
Summer, the Indian, described, ii. 383.
Superior, Lake, squall on, i. 9.
fogs in, i. 10.
temperature of, i. 10.
dangers of the navigation of, i. 11.
—— its present position in relation to Mon-
treal and the Atlantic seaboard, i.
14,
-~——- trade of the Lake, 1. 15.
elevation of, 1. 17.
fluctuations in the level of the waters
of, i. 18.
obstacles to progress westward of, i.
21.
depth, area, and contents of, i. 21.
seldom frozen over, 1. 21.
ridge separating Lake Superior from
the valley of the Mississippi, i. 23.
—— elevation and distance of the watershed
of, 11. 24.
character of the country north of, ii.
Z12,
Superior, Lake, beaches and terraces of, ii.
258.
Superior City, roads to, i. 23.
Superstitions of the Indians, ii. 39; ii. 120
et seq.
Supper in an Indian tent, ii. 64.
Swamp or morass at Fort Franees, i. 83.
Swampy Crees, or Muskeg Indians, i, 112.
their superstitions, i. 113,
Swan Lake, i. 433.
Swan. River, 1. 242, 432. ;
its fertility and resources for a settle-
ment, i. 432.
country near, i. 433.
—— length, breadth, depth, and rate of eur-
rent of, i. 433.
—— height of banks of the, i. 433,
Tabac, La Riviére, valley of, i. 156.
Table Jand vast, of Riding Mountain, 11. 56.
Tamarac, or Pine River, character of the
prairie of, i, 256.
Ta-wa-pit, an Ojibway, near Dauphin Lake,
ii, 99,60.
his tobacco pipe, il. 139.
Tearing River, i. 240, 448.
Temple, Governor, his death, i. 174.
Tents of birch-bark on the Red River, i.
200. ;
——— birch-bark, of the Ojibways, 11. 63.
skin, of the Cree Indians, il. 63.
-—— of Indian hunters, in the rear of Fort
Garry, il. 121.
Tertiary coal, or lignite. See Lignite.
Tertiary formations in the basin of Lake
Winnipeg, 1. 345.
—— lignite on the Riding and Duck
Mountains, ii. 345.
sand dunes, probably derived from
Tertiary rocks, il, 345.
Tetrao cupido, or prairie hen, i, 160.
Te-wa-now-seebe, or “ River that divides
the Hills,” ii. 51.
Texas, lignite beds of, ii. 349.
Thompson, Miss Harriet, at Fairford Mis-
sion, 11, 37.
Thompson River, ii. 228, 229,
width at its mouth, 11. 229.
Thousand Lakes, i. 46, 59—61.
altitude of, 1. 46.
Thrush, cinnamon, at the Sandy Hills, i, 286.
Thunder, Cape, i. 13, 24.
Thunder Bay, scenery of, i. 13.
colour of the waters of, i. 14.
description of, i, 24.
its: means of communication with Great
Dog Lake, i. 43.
Thunder Island, St. Martin’s Lake, i. 32, 33.
singular rock exposures on, li, 33.
Thunder Mountain, i, 236, 434.
2
ke
INDEX. 469
Thunderstorm at Savanna River, 1. 59.
—-— on the Winnipeg River, 1.108.
on the Assinniboine River, i. 283, 285,
286.
on the Little Souris River, 1. 294.
at Fort Ellice, 3. 312.
on the prairies near Fort Ellice, i. 314,
SL.
of 1858, quarter whence they came,
li. 360.
table of storms in 1858, ii. 364.
on the Qu’appelle River, i. 374,
on the south branch of the Saskatche-
wan, i. 388.
on Lake Winnipeg, i. 477.
on St. Martin’s Lake, ii. 33.
Indian idea of, ii, 144,
Timber near M‘Kay’s Mountain, i. 27.
on the banks of the Kaministiquia, 1.
oS:
of Great Dog Mountain, i. 39.
near the Milles Laes, i, 61, 62.
near Baril Lake, i. 63.
of French Portage, or Pickere! Lake,
i. 66.
of Portage des Morts, i. 67.
of Rainy Lake, i. 80.
of Rainy River, i. 87.
of the Lake of the Woods, i. 94.
on the Winnipeg River, i. 115.
of the Red River, i. 128—130.
on the banks of the Assinniboine
River, i. 141, 142.
of La Riviére Sale, i. 155.
of Pembina Mountain, i. 156.
of Rosea River, i. 163.
of Red River, i. 231.
of Riding and Duck Mountains, i.
244,
of the valley of the Souris River, 1.
293.
absence of timber on the 47th parallel,
1, S01,
of the Qu’appelle River, i. 316, 321,
Srl.
want of timber near the Qu’appelle
Valley, i. 332.
growth of timber in the river bottoms
in the United States and Rupert’s
Land, i. 350.
of the Moose woods, i. 386.
on the south branch of the Saskatche-
wan, i. 391,
in the Qu’appelle Valley, i. 4°8.
of the west coast of Lake Winnipeg,
i 11.
at Ermine Point, Lake Winnipego-
sis, ii. 42.
at the foot of the Riding Mountain,
i 58.
VOL. II.
Cre |
be
ee
ei.
Timber of Riding Mountains, ii. 56.
of Manitobah Island, 11.69.
Tobacco, Indian, substitutes for, i. 315.
cultivation of, at Red River Settle-
ments, i. 227.
Tobacco pipes, Indian, ii. 137,
the pipe the most characteristic sym-
bol of the New World, ii. 138.
pipes of different tribes, ii. 138.
Touchwood Hills, i. 137, 138, 412.
description of the, i. 236.
aspen forests of the, 1, 245.
—— frequency of thunderstorms on the,
1333"
—— richness of the vegetation of the, i
333.
—— vast numbers of aquatic birds in the, i,
bag94)
—-~- saline lakes and marshes at the foot of
the, 1.412.
—— beautiful country and excellent soil of
the, 1.412.
—— extent of the plateau of the, i. 413.
former forests on the, i. 415.
climate of the, 1, 416.
trail from the, to Fort Ellice, i, 420. ’
dews in the, il. 422.
Touchwood Hills, Little, i, 413, 414, 420.
Touchwood Hills Fort, herds of buffalo in
winter near, i, 415.
visit to, i. 413.
garden of the Fort, i. 414.
Traverse Bay, Lake Winnipeg, i. 121.
Treaty between the Canadian government
and the Ojibways, i. 28.
Trenton formation of Lake Winnipeg, ii.
289.
Tumuli on the banks of Rainy River, i. 89.
origin of, i. 90.
Turkey buzzards (Cathartes aura), the val-
ley of the Souris, i, 300.
Turnagain Point, Lake Winnipeg, i. 20.
Turnip, Indian ( Psoralea esculenta), i. 319.
mode of gathering, drying, and cook-
ing the root, i. 319.
on the Grand Coteau, i. 352.
Turtle Portage, i. 94,
Mountain, 1. 176, 236, 290, 299.
Brook, i. 258.
—— River, ii. 61, 98.
wild rice of, ii. 98.
Lake, ii. 98.
Twilight bow, the, described, ii. 382.
Two Creeks River, i. 188, 309.
United States, limits of the prairie country
in the, i. 349.
growth of timber in the river bottoms
of the, i. 350,
plains of the, i. 351.
Il
470
United States, communication of the, with
Red River, ii. 218.
general character of the region west of
the 98th meridian in the, ii. 377.
Major Emory’s statement, il. 377.
Vaccination amongst the Indians, ii, 143,
144.
Valley River, i. 241,313; 11. 48.
bones of mammoths at, i. 313; 11. 6O.
Vegetables at Cumberland House, Main
Saskatchewan, i. 448.
Vegetation of the valley of the Kaministi-
quia, 1, 30, 36.
on Little Dog River, i. 41, 49.
of Prairie Portage, i. 53.
of Savanna River, i. 60.
of French Portage, 1. 66.
at Fort Frances, i. 84.
of Rainy River, i. 87, 89, 91, 92.
—— of Winnipeg River, i. 110.
of Red River, i. 129, 130.
—— of the Assinniboine River, i. 140.
of South Branch of the Saskatchewan,
i, 239.
of the valley of the Assinniboine, i.
246.
of the country north of the Qu’ap-
pelle River, i. 317.
of the Moose Woods, i. 386.
of the Touchwood Hills, 1. 415.
Vermilion River, i. 22.
Pass, Rocky Mountains, ii. 224,
Vines, wild, on the banks of the Assinni-
boine, i, 142.
Viscous or Muddy Lakes, i. 51.
Voyageurs, regularity of their paddling, and
number of strokes during the day, i. 45.
death of one, i. 67.
Wampum and wampum belts, i. 417.
references to, 1. 419.
War-Path River, 1. 479, 483.
leading features of the, i. 479.
War-paths, tracts of country selected as,
il, 28, 29.
War-path rivers of the Indians, ii. 28, 29.
War-roads of the Indians, ii. 28.
Washow Bay (Lake Winnipeg), i. 485.
Great, i. 493; 11. 18.
Watermarks, high, on the banks of the As-
sinniboine, i. 284.
Water-mill Creek, Red River, i. 131.
view, i. 134.
Water-hen Lake, area of, 1. 237.
Water-hen Lake, ii, 40.
River, Lake Manitobah, ii. 40.
character of the river, ii. 40—42.
Watkins, Rev. Mr., of Cumberland Mission,
Saskatchewan River, 1. 452—-454.
INDEX.
Wavys (Anser hyperboreus), flocks of, on the
Little Saskatchewan River, ii. 29.
Weather signs, ii. 5, 9, 41, 66.
Weed ridge, in the Qu appelle Valley, 1.
315.
covered with bean-ligiips Mveloe
birds on the, 1. 316.
Welcome Islands, i. 25.
Wesleyan Methodist missions in Canada,
il. 190,
West, Mr., first missionary to the Red River
settlements, 1, 174. i
Wheat, cultivation of, at Red River Settle-
ments, 1. 225.
want of a market for, 1. 226.
absence of wheat diseases and” insect
enemies, 1. 226.
Whirlpool Point, Red River, i. 130.
Whiskey Bay, shelter of, i. 10.
Whiskey Jack, near to the Riding Moun-
tain, 11. 51;
White Dog Mission, i 1 SACS
White-fish of Lake Manitobah, ii. 67, 68.
White Fish Lake, i, 76, 94,
White Horse Plain, prairie of, i. 147,
its rich soil, 1. 147.
—— plague of grasshoppers on the, i. 147.
White Mud River, i. 242.
description of, i, 248,
—— timber of the valley of the, i. 248.
—~— fisheries of the, 1. 248.
ancient beach on, ii. 260.
— Little, i. 431.
its origin, 1. 431,
————- timber on the banks of the, i. 438.
fishing station on the, 1. 439.
voyage down the, i. 439.
White Sand River, i. 138, 431, 432.
its origin, i, 431.
cause of its name, i. 432.
Whiteway’s Post, ii. 18.
Wicked Point (Lake Winnipeg), i. 490; ii.
20.
Wikwemikong, village of, ii. 188,
Wild Rice River, i. 260.
—— prairies of, i. 260.
William, Fort, i, 24, 25.
garden of, i. 30.
cultivation of grain at, i. 31.
limestone at, i. 31.
Willow Islands, Lake Winnipeg, ii. 9.
formation of, ii. 9, 10.
Willow Prairie, i. 423.
Win-de-go, or Cannibal Island, Lake, i 1, 69%
story of, 1. 65.
Wind, effects of, in changing the level of the
lakes, ii. 75, ;
— humid Pacific, ii. 357, 358.
north-easterly current, ii. 358.
prevailing winds, il. 359,
——
————
INDEX.
Winds, indications of the force and diree-
tion of prevailing winds, il. 363.
Winnipeg, River, character of the, i, 106.
thunder storm on the, i. 108.
view on the, i. 110.
cultivable areas on the, i. 111.
—— birds on the, i. 115, 116.
— scarcity of animal, life on the, 1,115.
James’s Falls, i. 115.
rice grounds of the, i.
famine on the, i. 119,
multitudes of rabbits on the, i. 119.
Winnipeg, Lake, i, 121.
soil of, at Traverse Bay, i. 121.
fishing stations on, i, 121.
—-— geological features of the banks of, i.
Wee
temperature of, 1, 122.
squall on, i. 122.
aquatic birds on, i. 123,
area of, 1. 237, 238.
rivers of the Winnipeg basin, i. 238.
isolation of the valley of, i, 251.
— bivouac on the shores of, i. 474.
storms on, i. 476.
character of the coast;
and swamps, 1. 478.
head wind and storm on the, i, 481.
general character of the coast between
the Main Saskatchewan and the
Little Saskatchewan, i. 482.
tributary streams, i. 483.
_ —— Indian chart of the Lake, i. 485.
inaccuracy of the maps of the Lake, i
485.
Cat Head, i. 488.
Macbeth’s Point, i. 489.
— Wicked Point, i. 490.
—— Pike Head, i, 490.
—— Grindstone Point, i, 492.
—— character of the east coast, i. 493.
—— temperature of, i. 5.
origin of the word, ii. 5.
terrific storm upon, ii. 6. .
beach of, at Red River, ii. 7.
character of the south coast of, ii. 7.
and of the west coast of, ii. 9.
conferve on the coast of, ii. 9.
timber of the forests of, ii. 1].
extent of good land on, ii. 11.
the beach, near Drunken River, ii.
WOOF
rock exposure on Guano Island, ii.
12, 14.
beauty of the scenery of the Lake at
Big Grindstone Point, ii. 14.
fishing ground of the Indians in, ii, 14,
15.
depth of, at Grindstone Point, ii. 17.
coast of, near Dog’s Head, ii. 18.
116, 118.
sand beaches
Peel |
471
Winnipeg Lake, precipitous coast at tbe Cat
Head, ii. 20.
Sir fiona Richardson’s decane of
the entire coast line of the Lake,
quoted, ii, 21
approximate leading dimensions of, ii.
23,
basin of, 11. 233.
—— natural advantages of the basin of,
for a route across the continent, ii.
233.
—— the fertile belt of land in the basin of,
ll. 234,
—— natural resources of this fertile belt, ii.
235.
—— elements of wealth in, ii. 225.
—- geology of the basin “of 3 li. 239.
—— its geographical boundaries, ii. 239.
limits, ii. 240.
elevation of its boundaries, ii, 240.
outlet, ii. 240.
area of the basin, ii. 240.
character of the river, 11. 241,
-—— surface features, il. 242.
area of low lake region, ii, 242.
terraces of Pembina Mountain, 11.
242,
escarpment of the Riding, Duck,
&e., Mountains, ii. 243
prairie plateau of Rupert’s Land,
ii. 243.
plains of the north-west, 11. 243.
table of elevations, 11. 243.
detached hills, ii. 243,
country east of Lake Winnipeg,
tl, 243,
lakes, ii. 244.
————- direction of elevating forces, ii.
244.
— steps to the height of ijand, u.
244,
grooved, scratched, and polished rocks,
lil. 245.
— distribution of drift, ii, 247.
—— distribution of boulders or erratics, ii.
2Zoo8
beaches and terraces, il. 257.
sand hills and dunes, 11. 264.
—— circular depressions, ii, 265.
denudation, ii. 265.
— dislocations, ii. 266.
—— Laurentian series, ii. 269.
— Huronian series, ii. 280.
—— Silurian series, i. 283.
—— Devonian series, il. 29].
—— Carboniferous series, 11. 299.
— Jurassic rocks of McKenzie River, ii.
306.
—— Ammonites, ii. 306.
-~—— Cretaceous series, 11.318.
472
Winnipeg Lake,
345. *
Winnipego-sis, Lake, 1. 172, 235, 241; i.
40, 42,
area of, i. 237.
rivers received by, 1. 242.
——— isthmus separating it from Cedar Lake,
i. 459.
—— rock exposures on Snake Island, ii.
42.
Winter, indications of approaching, in the
prairies, 1.260; ii. 41.
Winter travelling with dogs described, ii.
84,
dangers of, ii. 87, 91.
Winter temperatures of the basin of Lake
Winnipeg, l1. 369.
Wishahkepekas River, i. 82.
Wolf, the prairie (Togany), i. 378.
Wolverine Creek,i. 430, 431.
Women, Indian, bathing in the Qu’appelle,
Sis.
Wood, scarcity of, in the prairies, 1. 338.
Wood. Hills, lignite at the, i, 318.
Tertiary formations, 11.
THE
INDEX.
Wooded and prairie land, west of Red
River, i. 244. ;
‘“* Woods,” the, south branch of the Sas-
katchewan, 1. 388.
« Woods, belts of,’ between the Touchwood
Hills and Lumpy Hill,1.411.
Woods, Lake of the, i. 85, 93.
winter road to the, i. 85.
area and altitude of the, 1. 94.
scenery of the, 1. 94.
green weeds of the, i, 95.
temperature of the, i. 95.
grasshoppers on the, i. 96, 97, 101.
north-west corner of the, i. 103.
abundance of sturgeon in the, i. 104.
storm on the, i. 105.
multitudes of rabbits on the, i, 119.
route from, to Roseau Lake, i. 159,
161.
Woody Hills, Main Saskatchewan, i. 488.
Yellowstone River, remains of Mandan In-
dians on the, 1. 299,
York factory, 1. 252,
END.
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