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P R E F A C E 7
that ostentatious and vulgar world i n which they longed to
play a part. It was this inroad which led to the entrance of
the authority of the Queen— the K i t c h i Okemasquay— not
so much to preserve order, where, without the law, the
natives had not unwisely governed themselves, as to prepare
them for the incoming world, and to protect them from a
new aggressor with whom their rude tribunals were incompetent
to deal. To this end the Expedition of 1899 was sent
by Government to treat for the transfer of their territorial
rights, to ascertain, as well, the numbers and holdings of
the few white or other settlers who had made a start at
farming or stock- raising w i t h i n its borders, and to clear the
way for the incoming tide of settlement when the time
became ripe for its extension to the North. This time is
rapidly approaching, and when it comes the primitive life
and methods of travel depicted w i l l pass away forever. It
is important, therefore, that as many descriptive records as
possible, and at first- hand, should be preserved. Though
the following account is but one of many experiences in
remote Athabasca, it may claim some special value as a
record of the Great Treaty by which that vast territory was
ceded to the Crown; a territory equal i n area to a group of
European kingdoms or of American states, and whose
resources, as yet comparatively unknown, are arousing eager
surmise and conjecture i n a l l directions.
Whilst putting on record the methods and hardships of
travel during a singularly adverse season, the negotiations
with the Indians and half- breeds, and the superficial features
of the country passed through, the writer was also aware of
the fact that much information of great scientific value
regarding the fauna of the North, collected by his friend,
Roderick MacFarlane, Esq., for many years a chief- factor
of the Hudson's B a y Company, had been hitherto withheld
from the general public. This keen observer's " Notes on
Mammals, with Remarks on Explorers and Explorations of
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| Title | Page 9 |
| OCR | P R E F A C E 7 that ostentatious and vulgar world i n which they longed to play a part. It was this inroad which led to the entrance of the authority of the Queen— the K i t c h i Okemasquay— not so much to preserve order, where, without the law, the natives had not unwisely governed themselves, as to prepare them for the incoming world, and to protect them from a new aggressor with whom their rude tribunals were incompetent to deal. To this end the Expedition of 1899 was sent by Government to treat for the transfer of their territorial rights, to ascertain, as well, the numbers and holdings of the few white or other settlers who had made a start at farming or stock- raising w i t h i n its borders, and to clear the way for the incoming tide of settlement when the time became ripe for its extension to the North. This time is rapidly approaching, and when it comes the primitive life and methods of travel depicted w i l l pass away forever. It is important, therefore, that as many descriptive records as possible, and at first- hand, should be preserved. Though the following account is but one of many experiences in remote Athabasca, it may claim some special value as a record of the Great Treaty by which that vast territory was ceded to the Crown; a territory equal i n area to a group of European kingdoms or of American states, and whose resources, as yet comparatively unknown, are arousing eager surmise and conjecture i n a l l directions. Whilst putting on record the methods and hardships of travel during a singularly adverse season, the negotiations with the Indians and half- breeds, and the superficial features of the country passed through, the writer was also aware of the fact that much information of great scientific value regarding the fauna of the North, collected by his friend, Roderick MacFarlane, Esq., for many years a chief- factor of the Hudson's B a y Company, had been hitherto withheld from the general public. This keen observer's " Notes on Mammals, with Remarks on Explorers and Explorations of |
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