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96 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN
At dinner Mr. Wilson told us of a very curious oirounv.
stance the previous fall, at the Loon River, some eighty miles
south of Vermilion— something, indeed, that very much
resembled volcanic action. Indians hunting there were surprised
by a great shower of ashes all over the country, thick
enough to track moose by, whilst others in canoes were bewildered
in dense clouds of smoke. Dr. Wade, a traveller who
had just come in from Loon River, said he had discovered
three orifices, or " wells," as he called them, out of which he
thought the ashes might have been ejected. As there were
no forest fires to account for the phenomena, they were rather
puzzling.
We had begun taking depositions almost as soon as we
arrived, and had a very busy time, working late and early in
order to get away by the first of August. There were some
interesting people here, " Old Lizotte " and his wife in par-ticular.
lie was another of the " Ancient Mariners" who
had left Lachine fifty- five years before with Governor Simpson—
a man still of unshaken nerve and muscles as hard as
iron. One by one these old voyageurs are passing away, and
with them and their immediate successors the tradition
perishes.
There was another character on the Vermilion stage,
namely, old King Beaulieu. His father was a half- breed who
had been brought up amongst the Dog Ribs and Copper
Indians, and some eighty years back had served as an
interpreter at Fort Chipewyan. It was he who at Fort
Wedderburne sketched for Franklin with charcoal on
the floor the route to the Coppermine River, the sketch
being completed to and along the coast by Black Meat,
an old Chipewyan Indian. King Beaulieu himself was War-burton
Pike's right- hand man in his trip to the Barren Lands.
He had his own story, of course, about the sportsman, which
we utterly discredited. He had joined the Indian Treaty
here, but repented, almost flinging his payment in our face,
and demanding scrip instead. One of his sons asked me if
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| Title | Page 109 |
| OCR | 96 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN At dinner Mr. Wilson told us of a very curious oirounv. stance the previous fall, at the Loon River, some eighty miles south of Vermilion— something, indeed, that very much resembled volcanic action. Indians hunting there were surprised by a great shower of ashes all over the country, thick enough to track moose by, whilst others in canoes were bewildered in dense clouds of smoke. Dr. Wade, a traveller who had just come in from Loon River, said he had discovered three orifices, or " wells," as he called them, out of which he thought the ashes might have been ejected. As there were no forest fires to account for the phenomena, they were rather puzzling. We had begun taking depositions almost as soon as we arrived, and had a very busy time, working late and early in order to get away by the first of August. There were some interesting people here, " Old Lizotte " and his wife in par-ticular. lie was another of the " Ancient Mariners" who had left Lachine fifty- five years before with Governor Simpson— a man still of unshaken nerve and muscles as hard as iron. One by one these old voyageurs are passing away, and with them and their immediate successors the tradition perishes. There was another character on the Vermilion stage, namely, old King Beaulieu. His father was a half- breed who had been brought up amongst the Dog Ribs and Copper Indians, and some eighty years back had served as an interpreter at Fort Chipewyan. It was he who at Fort Wedderburne sketched for Franklin with charcoal on the floor the route to the Coppermine River, the sketch being completed to and along the coast by Black Meat, an old Chipewyan Indian. King Beaulieu himself was War-burton Pike's right- hand man in his trip to the Barren Lands. He had his own story, of course, about the sportsman, which we utterly discredited. He had joined the Indian Treaty here, but repented, almost flinging his payment in our face, and demanding scrip instead. One of his sons asked me if |
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