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• 86 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN
Near the fort a raft was moored, on which had descended
a party of four Americans. They were from the State of
Wyoming, and had made their way the previous summer, by
way of St. John and the Pine River, to the Nelson, a tributary
of the Liard. They had had poor luck, in fact no luck
at all; and this was the story of every returning party we
met which had been prospecting on the various tributaries of
the Peace and Liard towards the mountains. The cost of
supplies, the varying and uncertain yield, but, above all, the
brief season in which it is possible to work— barely six weeks
— had dissipated by sad experience the bright dreams of
wealth which had lured them from comfortable homes.
Between seven and eight hundred people had gone up to
those regions via Edmonton, bound for the Yukon, many of
whom, after a tale of suffering which might have filled its
boomsters' souls with remorse, had found solitary graves, and
the remainder were slowly toiling out of the country, having
sunk what means they possessed in the vain pursuit of gold.
They brought a rumour with them that some whites who had
robbed the Indians on the Upper Liard had been murdered.
It was not known what white men had penetrated to that
desolate region, and the rumour was discredited; at all
events, it was never verified.
The treaty had been effected at Dunvegan, on the 6th, with
a few Beaver Indians, who still lingered by their tepees,
pitched to the west on the opposite shore. The half- breeds
had camped near the fort pending our arrival, and we found
them a very intelligent people, indeed, with some interesting
relics of the old regime still amongst them. One, in particular,
had canoed from Lachine with Simpson sixty years
before. He was still lively and active, and a patriarch of
the half- breed community. Large families we found to be
the rule here, some parents boasting of twelve or thirteen
children under age. This, and their healthy looks, spoke
well for the climate, and their condition otherwise was promising,
being comfortably clad, all speaking more or less
English or French, whilst many could read and write.
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| Title | Page 98 |
| OCR | • 86 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN Near the fort a raft was moored, on which had descended a party of four Americans. They were from the State of Wyoming, and had made their way the previous summer, by way of St. John and the Pine River, to the Nelson, a tributary of the Liard. They had had poor luck, in fact no luck at all; and this was the story of every returning party we met which had been prospecting on the various tributaries of the Peace and Liard towards the mountains. The cost of supplies, the varying and uncertain yield, but, above all, the brief season in which it is possible to work— barely six weeks — had dissipated by sad experience the bright dreams of wealth which had lured them from comfortable homes. Between seven and eight hundred people had gone up to those regions via Edmonton, bound for the Yukon, many of whom, after a tale of suffering which might have filled its boomsters' souls with remorse, had found solitary graves, and the remainder were slowly toiling out of the country, having sunk what means they possessed in the vain pursuit of gold. They brought a rumour with them that some whites who had robbed the Indians on the Upper Liard had been murdered. It was not known what white men had penetrated to that desolate region, and the rumour was discredited; at all events, it was never verified. The treaty had been effected at Dunvegan, on the 6th, with a few Beaver Indians, who still lingered by their tepees, pitched to the west on the opposite shore. The half- breeds had camped near the fort pending our arrival, and we found them a very intelligent people, indeed, with some interesting relics of the old regime still amongst them. One, in particular, had canoed from Lachine with Simpson sixty years before. He was still lively and active, and a patriarch of the half- breed community. Large families we found to be the rule here, some parents boasting of twelve or thirteen children under age. This, and their healthy looks, spoke well for the climate, and their condition otherwise was promising, being comfortably clad, all speaking more or less English or French, whilst many could read and write. |
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