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O N T H E T R A I L T O P E A C E R I V E R 83
river, and decided to go on to Fort Dunvegan, and on our
return complete our scrip issue at the Landing; so, partly on
horseback and partly by waggon, we made our way to our
first camp. The trail lay along and up and down the
immense bank of the river, debouching at one place at the
site of old Fort MeLeod, and passing the fine St. Germain
farm, with as beautiful fields of yellowing wheat as one
would wish to see.
Here we got an abundant supply of vegetables, and in this
ride our first taste of the Peace River mosquito— or. rather,
that animal got its first taste of us. It is needless to dwell
upon this pest. Like the fleas in Italy, it has been overdone
i n description, and yet beggars it.
A l l along the trail were old buffalo paths and wallows.
Indeed, we saw them everywhere we went on land, showing
how numerous those animals were in times past. In 1703
S i r Alexander Mackenzie describes them as grazing i n great
numbers along these very banks, the calves frisking about
their dams, and moose and red deer were equally numerous.
I n 1828 S i r George Simpson made a canoe journey to the
Coast by way of this river, and they were s t i l l very numerous.
The existing tradition is that, some sixty years ago, a winter
occurred of unexampled severity and depth of snow, in
which nearly all the herds perished, and never recovered
their footing on the upper river. The wood buffalo still
exists on Great Slave River, but, where we were, the only
memorials of the animal were its paths and wallows, and its-bones
half- buried i n the fertile earth.
On the morning of the 17th we topped the crest of the
bank, and found ourselves at once in a magnificent prairie
country, which swept northward, varied by beautiful belts
of timber, as far as Bear Lake, to which we made a detour,
then westerly to O l d Wives Lake— Nootooquay Sakaigon—
and on to our night camp at Burnt River, twenty- two miles
from Dunvegan. The great prairie is as flat as a table, and
is the exact counterpart of Portage Plains, i n Manitoba, or
Object Description
Description
| Title | Page 95 |
| OCR | O N T H E T R A I L T O P E A C E R I V E R 83 river, and decided to go on to Fort Dunvegan, and on our return complete our scrip issue at the Landing; so, partly on horseback and partly by waggon, we made our way to our first camp. The trail lay along and up and down the immense bank of the river, debouching at one place at the site of old Fort MeLeod, and passing the fine St. Germain farm, with as beautiful fields of yellowing wheat as one would wish to see. Here we got an abundant supply of vegetables, and in this ride our first taste of the Peace River mosquito— or. rather, that animal got its first taste of us. It is needless to dwell upon this pest. Like the fleas in Italy, it has been overdone i n description, and yet beggars it. A l l along the trail were old buffalo paths and wallows. Indeed, we saw them everywhere we went on land, showing how numerous those animals were in times past. In 1703 S i r Alexander Mackenzie describes them as grazing i n great numbers along these very banks, the calves frisking about their dams, and moose and red deer were equally numerous. I n 1828 S i r George Simpson made a canoe journey to the Coast by way of this river, and they were s t i l l very numerous. The existing tradition is that, some sixty years ago, a winter occurred of unexampled severity and depth of snow, in which nearly all the herds perished, and never recovered their footing on the upper river. The wood buffalo still exists on Great Slave River, but, where we were, the only memorials of the animal were its paths and wallows, and its-bones half- buried i n the fertile earth. On the morning of the 17th we topped the crest of the bank, and found ourselves at once in a magnificent prairie country, which swept northward, varied by beautiful belts of timber, as far as Bear Lake, to which we made a detour, then westerly to O l d Wives Lake— Nootooquay Sakaigon— and on to our night camp at Burnt River, twenty- two miles from Dunvegan. The great prairie is as flat as a table, and is the exact counterpart of Portage Plains, i n Manitoba, or |
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