Page 131 |
Previous | 131 of 520 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
|
This page
All
|
FORT C H I P E W Y A N TO FORT M ' M U R R A Y 115
crossed the Methy portage on the 13th, and, amidst a chaos
of vast ravines and the wildest of scenery, descended the
next day to the Clearwater River. Thence they followed the
Indian trail on the north bank, passing a noted scene, " a
romantic defile of limestone rocks like Gothic rains," and,
crossing a small stream, fonnd pure sulphur deposited by
springs and smelling very strongly. On the 17th they got to
the junction of the Clearwater with the Athabasca, where
Fort McMurray now stands, and next day reached the Pierre
au Calumet post, in charge of a Mr. Stewart, who had twice
crossed the mountains to the Pacific coast. The place got its
name from a soft stone found there, of which the Indians
made their pipes.
Franklin notes the " sulphurous springs " and " bituminous
salt " in this region, also the statement of Mr. Stewart,
who had a good thermometer, " that the lowest temperature
he had ever witnessed in many years, either at the Athabasca
or Great Slave Lake, was 45 degrees below zero," a
statement worth recording here.
On the 26th of March the party arrived at Fort Chipewyan,
the distance travelled from Cumberland House being 857
miles. He notes that at the time of his arrival the fort
was very bare of both buffalo and moose meat, owing, it was
said, to the trade rivalry, and that where some eight, hundred
packs of fur used to be shipped from that point, only
one- half of that number was now sent. Liquor was largely
used by both companies in trade, and scenes of riot and
violence ensued upon the arrival of the Indians at the fort
in spring, and whom he describes otherwise as " reserved
and selfish, unhospitable and beggars, but honest and affectionate
to children." They painted round the eyes, the
cheek- bones and the forehead, and all the race, except the
Dog Ribs and the Beavers, believed that their forefathers
came from the East. The Northern Indians, Franklin says,
suppose that they originally sprang from a dog, and about
A. D. - 1815 they destroyed all their dogs, and compelled their
Object Description
Description
| Title | Page 131 |
| OCR | FORT C H I P E W Y A N TO FORT M ' M U R R A Y 115 crossed the Methy portage on the 13th, and, amidst a chaos of vast ravines and the wildest of scenery, descended the next day to the Clearwater River. Thence they followed the Indian trail on the north bank, passing a noted scene, " a romantic defile of limestone rocks like Gothic rains," and, crossing a small stream, fonnd pure sulphur deposited by springs and smelling very strongly. On the 17th they got to the junction of the Clearwater with the Athabasca, where Fort McMurray now stands, and next day reached the Pierre au Calumet post, in charge of a Mr. Stewart, who had twice crossed the mountains to the Pacific coast. The place got its name from a soft stone found there, of which the Indians made their pipes. Franklin notes the " sulphurous springs " and " bituminous salt " in this region, also the statement of Mr. Stewart, who had a good thermometer, " that the lowest temperature he had ever witnessed in many years, either at the Athabasca or Great Slave Lake, was 45 degrees below zero," a statement worth recording here. On the 26th of March the party arrived at Fort Chipewyan, the distance travelled from Cumberland House being 857 miles. He notes that at the time of his arrival the fort was very bare of both buffalo and moose meat, owing, it was said, to the trade rivalry, and that where some eight, hundred packs of fur used to be shipped from that point, only one- half of that number was now sent. Liquor was largely used by both companies in trade, and scenes of riot and violence ensued upon the arrival of the Indians at the fort in spring, and whom he describes otherwise as " reserved and selfish, unhospitable and beggars, but honest and affectionate to children." They painted round the eyes, the cheek- bones and the forehead, and all the race, except the Dog Ribs and the Beavers, believed that their forefathers came from the East. The Northern Indians, Franklin says, suppose that they originally sprang from a dog, and about A. D. - 1815 they destroyed all their dogs, and compelled their |
Tags
Comments
Post a Comment for Page 131
