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The Men of The
Hudson's Bay Company

MAY 2nd,
1670

By N. M. W. J. McKENZIE

MAY 2nd,
1920

The Author and Mrs. McKenzie (standing)
His eldest sister, Mrs. Wright (sitting)
Photographed in Stromness, Orkney, April 1914

The Men
ofthe
Hudson's Bay
Company

1670 A.D. - 1920 A.D.

By N. M. W. J. McKENZIE
FORT WILLIAM
ONTARIO

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Copyright, 1921
By N. M. W. J. McKENZIE

Ca^f.^7

TIMES JOURNAL PRESSES, FORT WILLIAM, ONT.. 1921

PREFACE
My father was Alexander McKenzie and my mother'.?
maiden name was Elizabeth Campbell. We were a family of
nine, four boys and five girls.. I was the fourth boy and the
sixth child of my parents, and was born on a farm in Cairston,
near Stromness, Orkney, on the 5th day of December, 1856,
and spent my early childhood on the farm along with my
other brothers and sisters. "We were brought up first as Re
formed Presbyterians, and later belonged to the Free Church,
and were strictly raised in the elementary rudiments of the
Christian Religion with family worship in the home. I was
educated at Hourston's school in Stromness, and was ap
prenticed to John Wishart as a joiner or carpenter in my six
teenth year, and with him served my time learning the trade.
N. M. W. J. McKENZIE.
May 2nd, 1920.

INTRODUCTION
A great deal — and rightly so— has been written about the
Honorable Hudson's Bay Company, their Governors, Deputy
Governors, and Committee, also of the Gentlemen Adventurers
of England trading into Hudson's Bay; their Chief Factors,
Factors and Commissioned Officers generally. But very few
of the writers have given much attention to the actual labour
ers, working men, voyageurs, half-breeds, and Indians of the
service, who have made possible and practical the celebration
of the 250th Anniversary "in this year of Grace on May 2nd,
1920," of the longest lived commercial company in history.
After all said and done, those MEN were the bees that
made the honey; and in the following pages of this work I
have given special attention to the MEN to whom this book
is dedicated. I hope the reading of these pages will be in
teresting to many of my contemporaries as well as others who
may recall many incidents and pleasant memories of those true
friends of ours, who may have passed to the ' ' Great Beyond, ' '
those companions and comrades in the "MEN'S HOUSES,"
on the Prairies, Rivers, Lakes,, and Solitudes which resounded
the echo of the joy and sorrow, mirth and laughter, and
brotherly affection of the MEN of the Hudson 's Bay Company.
Fort William, Ont., N. M. W. J. McKENZIE.
May 2nd, 1920.

The Men of The Hudson's Bay
Company

CHAPTER I.

From my earliest boyhood recollections the annual arrival
of the Hudson's Bay Company's ships, at Stromness, in the
Orkney Islands, and the lammas market were the great events
of every year. The ships, three of them full rigged sailing
ships, had kept this annual visit up since 1670. Generally
they came direct from London laden for Hudson Bay, and
usually stayed for a couple of weeks in order to pick up all
the young men who had been engaged under five year con
tracts, for service in North America, all of whom were collected
here prior to the arrival of the ships. These men came from
the Highlands of Scotland and the Orkney, Shetland, and
Lewis Islands. One ship would be bound for Labrador, one for
York factory, and one for Moose Factory, each ship taking its
own quota for its own port of destination. The Company
always secured their men from these Islands as thej had proved
to be the best for the service in North America. However,
each man had to pass a very high medical examination before
he was engaged, and only those found physically fit under
severe tests were accepted. They had to be between the ages
of eighteen and twenty-five years, and were classified as clerks,
carpenters, boatbuilders, blacksmiths, coopers, tinsmiths, sloop-
ers, and labourers. All had a chance of promotion in the
service in accordance with their demonstrated capacity and
ability in the service.
All of the ships took on some cargo here, also any parcels
or boxes from the parents or friends of any of the men who had
gone out in the service in previous years. The captains and
officers held high carnival during their stay, having dinner

8 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
parties on board and ashore, and dancing every night. And
yet, despite all this gaiety and cheer there were many salt
tears shed by fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and sweet
hearts, when the hour of parting came, as many of them knew
they were parting forever. There was always a salute fired
from our battery of 32 pounders on the point of Ness, for each
ship, on their arrival and departure, and of course the ships
responded. They sailed out Hoy Sound with the ebb tide and
passed within seventy-five yards of the battery, the whole
population assembled and cheering as only Islanders can cheer.
My turn came in 1876 but I did not come out by the Com
pany's ship. Before the ships arrived at Stromness, a telegram
was received by the Company's agent to forward three car
penters and the same number of blacksmiths by express to
Quebec ; so the agent picked six of us who were all full-fledged
journeymen and came to Glasgow with us where we just made
connection with an Allan Line steamer called ' ' The Parisian. ' '
We had a pretty rough trip part of the way and it took twelve
days to land us at Point Levis. The Company's agent there
informed us that we had to report for duty at Fort Garry, and
shipped us up to Montreal on a fast river boat. Montreal being
the Company's Headquarters in Canada at that time we were
outfitted with blankets and other necessary articles for our
inland journey. The officer in charge gave us some letters
for Fort Garry, supplied us with sufficient transportation
funds, saw us to the station and on the right train, and we
were off for the West. Crossing the St. Clair river at Sarnia
we passed through the States by several lines of transport un
til we reached the Red River somewhere in Minnesota, where
we took passage on a disreputable looking barge, loaded with
goods to full capacity, and floated down the river until we
finally arrived at Fort Garry gate, twenty-two days after
leaving Quebec, where we were met by Chief Factor McTavish.
I handed him our Montreal letters. He gave a grunt and said
that he had been expecting us for several days. Then, turning

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 9
to one of his clerks, he said, "John, take these men to the
men's quarters and give instructions that they be comfortably
looked after." Then turning to us he said: "John will take
you to the men's quarters and you will all report in the morn
ing at my office, at 9 o'clock sharp — when I will give you fur
ther instructions."
We were the first batch of men to come through by this
route to Fort Garry from the old country and were conse
quently the centre of interest. We did not get much sleep
that night as the men we met at the quarters, about thirty of
them, were all from the old country, and anxious to hear the
news from their native land. They also swapped yarns with us
on their experiences enroute from York Factory by York boats
to Fort Garry. Of course we were "greenhorns," a name ap
plied to all men in their first year in the service, and they filled
us up with weird stories about Indians, scalps, and all kinds
of thrilling adventures. Of course, the Rebellion of 1870 was
still fresh in their memories and we got the whole story that
night of all the murders, shooting and hair-breadth escapes
which they had come through, all told for our special benefit.
This was our initiation ceremony on our first night at Fort
Garry. They also informed us that the barge on which we had
arrived belonged to Jim Hill and that the cargo all belonged
to the H. B. C.
You have all heard of Jim Hill. He was a Canadian and
was at that time building the Northern Pacific. He went to
the States when a boy and made his start with an old scow,
freighting coal. Transportation was his hobby. Donald A.
Smith, then chief commissioner of the H. B. Co., and Hill were
very great friends, and through their efforts this new route
for transportation to Fort Garry was accomplished. You may
noli all know that the Hudson Bay Company's main forts such
as Fort Garry, Portage La Prairie, Fort Ellice, Fort Pelly,
Edmonton, Prince Albert, were built on the main rivers and
waterways, all of which emptied into Hudson's Bay, and only

10 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
McKenzie River into the Arctic Ocean. These forts were all
supplied from York Factory by brigades of York boats, from
these several points — which in their turn supplied the inland
posts within their own district — using carts and oxen, wagons,
pack horses, boats and canoes, dogs and every available form
of transportation imaginable. A complete chain of moving
freight from York Factory to MacKenzie River, Fort Garry and
all other points. The system was perfect — although in many
cases very prmitive. The goods did not reach some of the in
land depots until two or three years after they had left York
Factory, so that there was always two years' supplies in the
country in case anything should happen to the ships coming into
the Bay. All these goods were moving in the summer time, but
those which did not reach their destination were taken on in
ventory as wintering en route. All these outfits were kept
distinctly apart in the annual accounts under the heading of
advance outfits. They were warehoused at the various depots
intact — were never opened or touched unless in cases of em
ergency, but were moved on to their destination in the year
they had to be disposed of according to mark and number.
The same routine of transportation was carried on from
Moose Factory for the southern department — and they were
also allowed two years' supplies in the country. The goods
were all called pieces, each piece weighed 80 lbs., and each
man had to carry two pieces across the portage and make
a good many trips before they got their cargoes over. It
took all hands to bring the York boats over, running them over
on rollers and skids which were left there for that purpose
from year to year. This work was being done on all the
rivers and lakes all summer at the same time, hundreds of men
employed — principally half-breeds and Indians — who got fat
on the job.
Such was the wonderful system of transportation for the
interior of the great Northwest Territories for over 200 years,
and which was practically all abandoned in 1880, railways

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 11
taking the place of the York and Moose boat brigades, except
around Hudson's Bay and the far Northern posts, which still
look for the arrival of the ship as the great annual event.
They still carry two years' supplies for their own districts at
Moose and York Factory, although the ship has never missed
her annual visit in two hundred and fifty years. The great
councils of the Company in the early years were held at York
Factory and Rupert's House. They were presided over by the
Resident Governor and consisted of all Factors and Chief Fac
tors who were then called the wintering partners. They al
ways legislated for the following year. In subsequent years
the great councils or courts were held at Michipicoton and
Fort William for the Southern Department, and at Norway
House and Fort Carlton for the Northern Department.
The last great council was held in Winnipeg in the Queen's
Hotel in 1887, and was presided over by Chief Commissioner
Wrigley. Fort Garry, instead of being an inland post, became in
1878 the Headquarters of the Company in the Dominion of
Canada. I had almost forgotten that the six greenhorns that ar
rived yesterday are still in the Men's House at Fort Garry.
Sharp at nine a. m. did we enter the Chief Factor 's office, caps
in hand and heads erect. ' ' Good morning, boys, ' ' said he, in
affable tones ; and then without further parley went on, ' ' Two
of you will remain here for duty, the other four will proceed
to Fort Ellice along with the Cart Brigades that are now-
loaded, and will start this afternoon. Murdoch McDonald,
who is in charge of the Brigade, will now take charge of you
and will take you to the store where you can get anything you
may require for your personal use for the trip, and which will
be charged to your private accounts. ' '
I was one of the four who had to hit the pike. The Factor
seemed to be very busy or ardently wished to be rid of us as
he lost no time in shaking hands with, and bidding us good-

12 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
bye. He said he hoped we would like the country, and become
good and faithful servants of the company. We saw no more of
him. Hundreds of Red River carts and oxen were starting
that day all loaded with from eight to ten hundred pounds of
general merchandise, some Brigades for Fort Ellice, others for
Fort Pelly, Qu'Appelle, Edmonton and Prince Albert. This
was the opening of the new inland freight route. It was rain
ing; and talk about mud! You never saw anything like it.
The cart trail led straight down the present Main Street of
Winnipeg, and we could see oxen mired carts sunk down to the
axles, and men hip-deep in the mire, trying to get them out.
It sure was a mess and the whoops and yells of the drivers,
and the whole scene was something new for us. We rather
enjoyed it.
Our brigade started about 4 p. m. We got as far as where
the City Hall now stands and there camped for the night, and
some of our oxen's horns could just be seen sticking above tho
mud. Murdock was directing his men and swearing at them
in Gaelic and every other tongue that we did not understand —
all of them plastered with mud from head to foot.
, When things were pretty well straightened out we asked
Murdoch where we were going to sleep. I shall never forget
the look of disdain he gave us as he said: "You will sleep or
lie awake, whichever you please, under that tam cart ; and an
other thing, you'll not get any supper tonight whatever, so
you can go to bed now as we will be starting out of this tam
hole about daylight, and we'll have our breakfast after we
cross Colony Creek."
This being all Greek to us we said nothing but, after it
got dark we hiked for the men's house which was only a couple
of hundred yards away, and got something to eat from our
friends of the night before.
Our brave Murdoch was before us, and was playing the
bagpipes for the boys, to beat four of a kind. They had given
him a few drinks and he was as happy as Souter Johnnie or

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 13
Tam O'Shanter and "didna care a whistle." He had been
ten years in the country at that time and was used to all phases
of the game. He was very good to us all the way up to Fort
Ellice and did not ask us to do any work on the trip except
to get wood, make a fire and boil the kettle while he and his
men were looking after the oxen and saddle horses.
We were now in the Indian country and there were lots
of them about. One of the blacksmiths and myself were held at
Fort Ellice, and our two companions were sent forward to
MacKenzie River. They got only as far as Carlton that fall and
had to winter there.
The headquarters of Swan River District, which was
Pelly, was transferred to Fort Ellice in 1874 in order to accom
modate the new transport route with better facilities for inland
distribution. Many new buildings and warehouses were re
quired — Chief Factor Archie McDonald was in charge of the
District and I served under him for over thirty years. The
men 's houses were one-story log buildings with thatched roofs.
There were about thirty-five white servants at the post at that
time, all laborers except the officers and clerks. The black
smith and I had a house for ourselves. A big two-and-a-half-
storey house in the centre of the fort was occupied by the of
ficers and clerks. A sixteen foot stockade with bastions and
cannon mounted on each corner enclosed about five acres, but
was seldom used.
I built a great many warehouses and stores as well as
dwelling houses at the different posts in the District during my
first five years' service, and put traffic bridges over many of
the rivers. Two deserters from the United States Army turned
up one day in rags, and hungry. They did not know or care
where they were going — they wanted a job. It was Sunday
and the Union Jack was flying — it had the letters H. B. C. on
it. One of them looked up and said, "Say pard, what do
those letters stand for?" The other one said, "I guess that
means half-breed company." But his companion shook his

14 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
head, "No," he says, "I guess that ain't right, pard. It seems
to me by the look of things 'round here that those 'ere letters
stand for something like this, "Here before Christ." They
were both hired and made good men for the Company — one
of them died in the service ; I lost track of the other.
I was on a trip with one of these men some years later
in the winter. We each had a train of dogs going from
Qu'Appelle to Wood Mountain, and were caught in a blizzard
at the "Pile o' Bones," near where Regina now stands. A
great many Indians died from smallpox that year, and after
struggling through the blinding snow we came finally to a
place where several of them had been deserted and had died
after they had contracted the disease. We could go no further
and there was no shelter, so we made a stockade, out of about
a dozen of the corpses and had a good windbreak for ourselves
and our dogs for the night, as the snow soon drifted over us.
Next morning, the storm having abated, you may rest as
sured we lost no time in getting away from our gruesome camp
bright and early.
Horse stealing used to be a favorite past-time among a
certain class of the men, and those caught were generally forced
to pay the penalty.
On one occasion I saw three horse thieves who had been
strung up the day before and riddled with bullets, in Moose
Mountain. That's what we called dancing the Red River Jig
in mid-air. We passed on and left them hanging.
There were always little Indian wars cropping up — once
a band of the Fort Ellice Indians went out to the Moose Moun
tain to hunt. They got too close to the line and a party of
American Indians stole their horses and all their young girls.
They got after the offenders and caught them, and although a
number of our Indians were killed in the fight, they brought
back all their young women and their horses with a few added
— together with fifteen scalps of the gros ventres, or big bellies
as they were called. Buffalo were plentiful in my first year's

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 15
service and I have seen thousands of them. Many of the old
freighters have told me often when the buffalo were traveling
south that they had found it necessary to halt their Brigades
of carts and camp for one or two days until the herd had
passed. Of course they would pick out the choicest ones or
as many as they required for grub on the trip.
I saw where buffalo in the fall tried to cross the Saskatche
wan River. They went through the ice, but the ones behind
forced the others on, tramping them to death until the dead
bodies of the animals completely bridged the river, and on
these the balance of the herd passed over. Buffalo follow the
leader like sheep, but the millions that used to be all disap
peared in a few years. There is a herd of about 250 still in
the MacKenzie River Valley, and another bunch in the. Gov
ernment Park at Wainwright, Sask. They call them Wood
Buffalo. They have not increased in MacKenzie River at ail
as the Siberian wolves get among them and destroy the calves.
After the buffalo had disappeared the plain Indians, who
numbered many thousands at that time, were reduced to star
vation. Many of them died, and the Government of the day
had to gather them all into Reservations all over the country
and ration them. Living in small log houses containing but
one room was a great change from their roaming open air life
om the plains and they became the victims of all kinds of dis
eases, consumption being their greatest enemy. Better houses,
industrial schools and more sanitary conditions stamped out
the disease to a great extent, and today many of the Reserves
are in a prosperous condition. The Indians have been educated
in the growing of grain and raising of cattle and horses — many
of them being wealthy, industrious, and good loyal Canadian
citizens today, competing successfully with the white man at
many of the industrial fall fairs in the four Western Provinces,
and carrying away many of the red tickets from many of the
fair grounds.

16 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
The number of horses an Indian had determined his
wealth, some of them having as many as three or four hundred
and quite a number of these in the Buffalo runner class, which
were the top notchers of the plains. A horse in that class was
never put to any other work. He had to be extra long winded,
tough as steel, and swift and able to stay right along side of
a stampeding herd until his rider had shot down ten oif fifteen
animals with a single barrel muzzle-loading flint lock shot gun,
using No. 28 ball instead of shot. The rider also had to be
some artist in quickness at re-loading. As a rule these horses
stood about fourteen and a half hands, and weighed eight to
ten hundred ; their sires were all imported thoroughbreds. Thd
most of that breed have gone to the Happy Hunting grounds,
where the Indian says the Buffalo have gone.
The great disturbing events among the Canadian Indians
during my time were the Riel Rebellion of 1869-70 ; the Custer
Massacre by the Sitting Bull Sioux hordes in 1876; thei disap
pearing of the buffalo followed by the placing of the Indians
on reservations and the second rebellion of 1885 by Louis Riel
who was later hanged in Regina. The Indians had nothing to
do with the first or second rebellion. Western Canada has
been settled without any serious Indian trouble or bloodshed ;
she has treated her Indians always fairly and honestly, never
breaking faith with them. Much credit is due the Hudson's
Bayi Company and their officers in this connection, as through
their efforts the Indians were partially civilized and allies of
Great Britain long before settlement began to pour in. There
is no longer any danger of any half-breed or Indian uprising
in Canada. The C. P. Railway entering the country greatly facilitated
our transportation in the Interior and over the vast plains of
the now western provinces. I had many narrow escapes on
the lakes and rivers through storms and blizzards on the great
plains during my many inspection trips and voyages through
out the length and breadth of the Dominion. My work in re-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 17
cent years took me several times well within the arctic circle
and up to within eleven or twelve degrees of the Magnetic
North Pole.
Dear Reader, in my introductory preface and all through
this chapter I have given you glimpses of what you may expect
to find as you read on. I hope you have found my company and
story interesting so far, although I am leaving you now to
go ahead with my main story and blaze the trail. I hope that
your interest will increase as we journey along through the
many scenes which I will faithfully endeavour to portray of
actual things that have taken place and people with whom we
have lived and personally known all through life whose true
brotherhood and friendships are stronger than death, and will
never cease to exist. I am sure the whole book will amuse and
greatly interest you and may possibly bring forth a word of
commendation for the now aged author.

18 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER H.
In the summer of 1876 I arrived at Fort Ellice, direct
from Stromness, in the "Pomona" of the Orkney Islands, in
the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, in the capacity of
carpenter, at the rate of forty pounds sterling per annum and
two pounds extra as a gratuity for the purchase of tea and
sugar. Otherwise I was supposed to receive board and lodging
such as obtained, and was the usual custom of the country
in the Company's service. Labourers at that time received
twenty pounds and two pounds gratuity and had the same
accommodation as the mechanics in the shape of housing and
cooking utensils. We were allowed a Buffalo robe, otherwise
we all had to buy our own blankets and such other bedding
as we thought we required, and were able to procure. The
above, in short, is a synopsis of the contracts of all mechanics
and labourers, duly signed, sealed and delivered in the Lewis
and Orkney Islands, and you had to work your passage from
the place of embarkation to the point of temporary destina
tion, and afterwards follow up your luck in propelling yourself
in an armstrong or legstrong vehicle from Fort to Fort in con
junction with other servants of the Company, whose instruc
tions and duties might point in the same direction. The term
of service as per original contract, was for five years. So John
Morrison, blacksmith, and myself, turned up at Fort Ellice,
tired and homesick, having walked all the way from Fort
Garry, a distance of 250 miles, trying always, though foot-sore
and weary, to keep in touch with the Brigade of ox carts,
loaded with food, to which we were attached for the trip, so
that they might guide and feed us until they handed us over
to the officer in charge of the post. Were the worst of our trials
over or only just commencing? We did not know nor very
much care. We were homesick good and plenty. Of course
we were Mooniassacks or greenhorns, as all the first year men
were nicknamed, and did not know the ways and customs of

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 19
the country, or its inhabitants, if any such things existed.
But in a very few months we found out there were WAYS
and CUSTOMS, and then some. Homesickness had to be cast
aside and abandoned : we were under contract— -a most solemn
engagement to our young minds — for five years ; and no matter
what the circumstances had been or would be, or what condi
tions might arise, we would stick together and face it like men.
So John the blacksmith and I spread one Buffalo robe on the
rough slab floor of the men's house, lay down on it, and pulling
the other robe over us, said good night to each other. But
neither of us went to sleep until well on in the night, and our
thoughts were in Stornoway and Stromness, and I have no
apology to offer, as any of my readers who have had such ex
periences as I have already related, now going on forty-five
years ago, will understand the feeling and emotion whieh filled
our hearts and souls on that memorable night-sunder) the pro
tection of an old Buffalo robe.
The Boss, Chief Factor Archie McDonald, was not at the
Fort on our arrival, being away on an inspection trip through
his district, and was at that time making his round somewhere
in the vicinity of Fort Pelly. His second in command, David
Armit, was the only white man we saw. (By the way he hap
pened to be an Orkney man, and had then been eight years
in the service.) I was as glad to meet him as if I had found a
shilling. He was also glad to see some one from! the homeland
and I was able to give him some fresh Orkney news, especially
as I knew all his people and he knew all my people, so we
had a real talk to each other in the old Orkney dialect, which
made me feel altogether different in my new surroundings.
Among other things he told us that all the white men were
down the valley about six miles making hay, and would not
be back to the Fort before Saturday night. He told me that
there was also a few Orkney and Lewis men among them who
would be glad to see us, as some of them had not heard from
home for a long time.

20 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Fort! Ellice at this time was considered to be a very much
Inland Post. Only recently had it been able to receive any
communication from the outside world, except by way of York
Factory, and then only once a year. My fellow countryman
took us through the blacksmith and carpenter shops and told
us to look around and familiarize ourselves generally. He ad
vised that we rest up and enjoy ourselves as best we could,
and make ourselves at home as he would not start us to work
for a day or two. He then left us, as he said he1 had to unload
and re-load some of the carts in the Brigade with which we
arrived. He was, he said, starting them all off to Fort Pelly
that afternoon with the new outfit of goods for that Post.
John and I watched and helped in the loading of the
carts and saw them all pull out for another 120 mile dash to
Fort Pelly. We bade all our tripping companions (with whom
we had become well acquainted, since leaving Fort Garry)
good-bye, and listened to the weird squealing of the Red River
carts, long after they had disappeared from view. This being
Thursday we were again left to the solitude of our own re
flections until the other men returned from the hayfields. As
there were but few Indians around these men felt quite dis
posed to converse with us. But we could not understand them,
so I got John to break forth in a Gaelic dialogue with them,
and brought forth great bursts of laughter from the youngsters
who were listening. The nature of the discourse has never
been interpreted, neither did I understand any Gaelic at that
time. Fort Ellice was built on the south bank of the valley of
the Assiniboine River. It was a beautiful location with charm
ing and lovely scenery, and rested about three miles down from
where the Qu-Appelle River emptied into the Assiniboine and
about a mile from where the Beaver Creek flowed round the
back of the Fort into the same river. The banks of the Beaver
Creek Valley were of equal height to those of the Assiniboine
Valley, and those were from 150 to 200 feet high. The Assini-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 21
boine Valley was about two miles wide and that of the Beaver
Creek about 1000 yards. So the Fort was built on the top level
between the two, on a beautiful plain dotted with little poplar
bluffs, high and dry, with numerous springs of beautiful cold
water gushing up at the top of the level in the face of the
banks. The river in the center of the valley winding its
crooked way in snake like twists to empty itself later on into
the Red River, thence to Lake Winnipeg, thence to Hudson's
Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, was all the way from 200 to 500
feet wide, having good high banks of itsl own. But very often
in the spring freshets it overflowed its banks and spread over
the entire valley, making a very formidable looking river
indeed. At such times it did a lot of good in the way of ir
rigation. We were always; sure of a good hay crop when the
river overflowed in the spring.
The Fort was built in a large square, the big front gates
being about thirty yards from the brow of the bank which
was very precipitous at this point, and well wooded with small
trees, ferns of all kinds, and saskatoon bushes. Raspberries
and other berries were also numerous along the banks, and in
the valley, when in season. On one side of the square was a
long row of one-storey log buidings, with thatched roofs ali
joining each other. The carpenters shop was at one end of
this row and blacksmiths' shop at the other. The doors or
entrances all facing to the Fort. There was the men's house,
the mechanics' house, the native servants and dog drivers'
houses, also the married servants' houses, each of which as I
have mentioned consisted of one large room in size suitable for
the number of servants supposed to occupy any one of them.
A door opened into each from the outside and there was no
other means of entrance to any of the other houses in that long
row of buildings, except by its own door or down the chimney.
Two tiers of rough bunks round the walls were the sleeping
accommodations, while a large mud chimney, open fire place,
provided ventilation. We also did all our cooking at the open

22 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
fireside. On the other side of the square, in an equally long
row, built in the same style, were warehouses, ration houses,
dry meat and pemmican house, flour, pork and beef house,
and a well appointed dairy, with a good cellar and lots of ice.
These buildings were one-and-a-half storeys high and were
without chimneys or fireplaces.
On one side of the big gate in front was the trading store
and district office, and on the other side the fur store and
reserve stock warehouse, each of these buildings were very
long and substantial, fully one-and-a-half storeys high, and
had been shingled the previous year, the shingles being manu
factured by Indians and half-breeds in the carpenter shop
the previous winter, with the aid of axes and draw knives.
They could make the shingles very quickly — I was quite sur
prised to see the finished article. I must say the shingles were
well made and lasted for years, giving a perfectly tight roof.
The main building in the Fort was the Boss's or the "big
house," as it was called, being the quarters of the Officers
and clerks. It stood well back in the square, its front being
in line with the end of the long rows of buildings on either
side, so that every house in the Fort could be seen from its
front windows. It was a two-and-a-half-storey, 60x40 feet
building, with a large kitchen behind, built from the same plan
as the officers' dwellings in Fort Garry, and known as a Red
River frame building. It was made of 8 inch logs, 10 feet
long, set in a frame. It had a nice balcony and verandah, the
main entrance being in the center of the building, and opening
into a large recreation and council hall. The boss's private
office was to the right, and the parlour or sitting room to the
left. Large mess room, dining room, and private bedrooms
were in the rear. Upstairs was a large hall and reading room,
and bed rooms for the clerks. The upstairs was heated with
large Carron stoves, as well as the hall downstairs, and the
trading shop and district office. The same mud chimneys — two
of them — only more elaborate and massive than those belong-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 23
ing to the other buildings were in the big house. There were
four fire places on the ground floor, and another in the kitchen,
as well as a large cooking range. A splendid mud oven stood
outside for baking bread and cooking extra large roasts. There
was also a fine well close at hand with the proverbial oaken
bucket attached to a rope and chain. The big house and
kitchen were thatched, and all the houses were mudded and
white washed with lime, altogether they presented a good ap
pearance from a distance. A four foot side walk ran all around
the square, and another one from the front gate to the front
door of the big house. There was a nice vegetable, flower
and kitchen garden of about an acre behind the house. The
flagstaff stood at the front gate, and the Belfrey stood out
side the Boss' private office. A high stockade enclosed the
whole square, so that when the big; gates were locked at night
there was no danger of losing any scalps before morning.
It was not my intention to give such a lengthy and de
tailed description of the fort, but those were the sights that
John and I took in at intervals while we were expectantly wait
ing the return of the men from the Snake Creek hayfields on
Saturday night : and we were now standing on the bank gazing
down the valley, and saw a band of horsemen riding toward
the fort. Mr. Armit and Henry McKay, a clerk in the store,
came out and joined us. They told us that the men approach
ing were from the hay grounds and were coming up for their
rations. It was only a short time till they were with us. Dis
mounting, they removed saddles and bridles from theirl horses,
hobbled them and turned them out to graze.
Mr. Armit said: "Boys, you have to make a good smudge
tonight fori the horses and cattle, as the mosquitoes have been
pretty bad for the last few nights. ' '
"Surely," says Little Donald the blacksmith, who was
the boss of the haymakers, "Antoine and Baptiste, you will
see to have the smudges going before sundown, in fact, you

24 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
better start them up at once so that our horses will not wander
away too far."
Then John and I were introduced to the bunch in the usual
short order style, and we were henceforth part of them. "How
did you get along this week?" asked Mr. Armit. "First class,
sir," replied Donald, "I think next week will finish all the
cutting, and cocking, we have quite a stack already built, and
the new byres are all wall high, ready for the roofing, and
the cattleman's house for wintering in is all ready for mud-
ding. And how are, your Indians doing out at the muskeg?"
"They are about half through, and we have quite a few
loads in at the byres. There are four hay frames hauling ia
from there, and we are having splendid haying weather, but it
looks a little cloudy tonight, and the flies have been so bad
lately that we may be delayed soon by rain. However," he
added, "it may blow over."
Then, as if by some impulse, we all began to move towards
the men's quarters. As Mr. Armit turned to the left towards
his office Donald wheeled round and called, "Oh, I say, Mr.
Armit, old Borresseau will be here in about half an hour with
a horse and cart to take down next week's rations for the
camp, and I wish you would start him back right away and
give him rations for three extra Indians who are starting in
to work on Monday."
"All right, Donald," returned Mr. Armit, "I'll see that
the old man is fixed up as soon as he gets in and return him
to camp tonight."
"Antoine and Baptiste want to ride over to the Mission
tonight," said Donald. "They'll stay with some of their
friends tomorrow as they expect Father De 'Corby to arrive
from Qu'Appelle tonight, then they'll go down on the other
side of the river tomorrow afternoon, and pick up the three In
dians who are starting to work with us on Monday."
By this time the rest of us had reached the Men's house —
some having gone in and started a fire in the open chimney

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 25
preparatory for supper. That supper consisted of tea, sugar,
bannock, pemmican, and dried meat, to which John and myself
were invited to sit in with the others and have a cup of tea.
After supper, all the Lewis and Orkney news having been gone
over many times, some one proposed that John Ferguson sing a
song. He consented and it certainly was some song, evidently
one of their favourite ditties, as every one in the room except
myself joined in the chorus. My friend John the blacksmith
giving full vent to his pent up Gaelic with the utmost joy. They
were all good singers and sang a number of good old Gaelic
songs that night. There were also a number of good Scotch and
English songs sung, and everyone of us seemed to enjoy the
evening and the re-union of song and story. Some one had
just finished reciting Tam O'Shanter when one of the loudest
claps of thunder I ever heard in my life seemed to burst right
over the house. The storm that was looming up in the after
noon and evening had come with terrific force. We could see
the flashes of lightning quite plainly coming down the chimney.
The roar of thunder was almost continuous, and in five min
utes the rain came down in torrents. The boys said it was a
cloud burst and that we had not got the worst of it.
Fort Ellice was said to be the worst place in the country
for thunder storms, standing as it did on the nose of the hill
between two deep valleys, but they all said it was the heaviest
storm they had seen for years, and more than likely something
was. struck near the Fort. And sure enough the morning dis
closed one of the largest trees near the Fort splintered from
top to bottom. Two horses and one of the work oxen were
also victims of the storm's violence. It only lasted about an
hour but I never saw or heard anything like it before or since.
The old hands who had seen many storms in the country ad
mitted it was a bad one, but said that it would clear the air
and tomorrow would be a fine day, and all hands agreed to
turn in for the night. So, bidding them all good night, Little
Donald, John, and myself moved out and passed in through the
next door into our own quarters, and cuddled up in our Buffalo
robes into the arms of Morpheus.

26 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER III.
All hands were up and about next morning in their Sunday
duds, and out on the bank which seemed to be the favourite
place to forgather to smoke a pipe and view the scenery in
the valley below.
"Let's all go for a walk round the nose of the hill," says
Jamie Stewart, and the whole fifteen of us started for the
proposed stroll. This seemed td be a favourite promenade for
everybody, judging from the appearance of the well-worn foot
path along the edge of the bank. We passed through a nice
little poplar bluff, and by the byres, where the perfume of
the new-mown hay which had been recently hauled in from
the muskeg was most refreshing and pleasant to sniff in the
early morning. We were walking Indian file, some talking,
some whistling, and some humming some lines of the ditties of
the previous night, when we suddenly emerged from the bluff
and were\ on a beautiful little plain as flat as a billiard table.
We were right at the nose of the hill, or the hog's back as
they called it, and a more perfect view of the valleys beneath
would be difficult to imagine. We were, here, at the same time,
on the banks of the Beaver Creek and Assiniboine River. The
view gave me at least a thrilling feeling of ecstacy and delight,
which fairly made me yell, "Oh, how beautiful!" I was at
the same spot hundreds of times after that, but never felt again
as I did on my first view of the wonderful picture' that Sunday
morning. We all sat down and lolled around on the brow of
the hill for an hour or so and then turned our way homewards
again, up the banks of the Beaver Creek as far as the site of
the old Fort, where there was a beautiful spring from which
we all enjoyed a refreshing drink. The Fort was moved from
this site a few years previous, to where Fort Ellice then stood,
and the original name of the Fort was Beaver Creek Post. We
came down the trail back to the starting point, having gone
completely round the Fort, and had walked a distance of about

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 27
four miles and enjoyed every foot of it. Now we were all ready
for our midday meal, which the boys soon had on the table.
In the course of conversation during the afternoon I found that
the contracts of several of the men in the district expired that
summer. Some of them would be leaving for the Old Country
that fall, and one of them was Donald McLeod, the Fort Ellice
blacksmith, while others would settle down in the country
round the different posts as freemen on their own hook — for
better or for worse. They would in any case remain under the
Union Jack, which was floating proudly in a light breeze at
the top of the flagstaff in the square, with the large letters
"H. B. C." in white against its background of red, white and
blue on the bunting, whereupon the boys all sang in good
English, "Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue," this
being about all the English some of them could give utterance
to. God bless them all, for they were certainly loyal to the
company, and to their, at that time, queen and country. Those
were the sentiments and class of men that made friends and
allies of the Indians, and held Rupert's Land and the Great
North West Territories for the British crown. Again I repeat
that the men of the H. B. C. and their connecting affinity with.
the Indians made the peaceful settlement of the North West
Terriories possible and aptly practicable. Many people in the
country today do not know nor realize how much they are in
debted to the sagacity, honesty, faithfulness and bravery of
the men of the H. B. C. throughout the whole territory for the
peace and comfort they enjoy today.
After supper the hay-makers started back again on horse
back to their camp, all wishing John and I the best of luck
till we met again, saying they were all glad to have met the
both of us, also glad that we were to be stationed at Fort Ellice
for' a time at least. Mr. Armit told John and I, after the men
had gone, that we better start work in the morning. There
were several horses to be shod, some guns and steel traps to

28 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
be repaired, which John would turn his skill and attention to,
and I would start making some window sashes to take the place
of several parchments that served as windows in several of
the buildings. There were also a lot of broken panes of glass,
which he would like me to replace with new glass, in all the
windows of the Fort, where they were required. There were
also floors and shelving and counters required in some of the
stores, which he would show me the following day.
He also said that he would supply me with two or three
Indians who always worked around the fort, and were very
handy at rough carpenter work — and if John would require
any assistance he would be able to give him the help of a handy
mari also. We were both very glad to start work and went to
it the following morning at our respective workshops. My
three Indians turned up all right, at least I thought they were
Indians, they were three husky fellows, and could speak a
little English with a strong Scotch accent. They were told to
come and work with me, and that was what they had come
for. They said they were some of the pit-saw men that had
pit-sawed most of the boards that I saw piled around, and
that they had also worked with Jacob Beads when he was build
ing the Boss ' house. They could, they told me, hew logs, build
York boats, scows, Red River carts, make snow shoes, dog sleds
and many other accomplishments in the wood working line,
"because Jacob learned us since we were boys." There was,
it appeared, nobody could beat Jacob because he knew every
thing. I found out afterwards that this Jacob was the great
authority on the various lines mentioned by them, also a first-
class workman. I afterwards saw many samples of his handi
work which was both mechanical and substantial, so my new
friends and fellow workmen were not talking through their
hats. Jacob was an old man. He had made many trips with
the Swan River Brigades to York Factory. He was a half-
breed, and a highly respected servant of the Company. I

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 29
never met him, he died at Fort Pelly, but his name was not
allowed to die for many years afterwards. He was one of the
landmarks that served the Company well.
I sent two of the lads to glaze up all the broken windows.
The other one and I started to straighten up the workshop, as
it was very untidy, not having been used for its own purpose
for some months.
There was a splendid workbench fully equipped, and my
companion remarked after looking silently at the bench for
some time, "Jacob made that with his own hands. " And many
other things in the shop which we were arranging brought
back memories of Jacob, in fact "J. B." was stamped on many
of the tools in the shop that was now the property of the
Company, but had formerly been the private property of
Jacob. We ground up and sharpened tools all forenoon, on a very
excellent grindstone that had also been used by Jacob. John
was pounding away on the anvil. Horses were being brought
to and taken away from the forge by John's helper. Every
thing was getting familiar, and I started my man with the rip
hand saw on the wood for the window sashes, having previously
taken the measurements. That evening we reported good prog
ress all round, having sorted out the lumber required for the
flooring and shelving already referred to. We played quoits
in the evening with horse shoes. John and I both being beaten,
and to console us by rubbing it in, one of the glazier com
petitors told us that Jacob could beat any of them easily as
he nearly always made a ringer, he was such a sure shot.
John and I used to practice behind the bluff after that and
soon were able to take our place against any of them. John
later on in his spare time made a standard set of quoits with
which we could put up a better game, as they did not have
the habit of rolling all over like the shoes. Many tight com
petitions and good shots, interspersed with ringers were re
corded. There seemed to be a lot of Indians arriving and pitch-

30 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
ing their tents on a small plain some distance behind the Fort,
and the clerks seemed to be very busy around the trading
store, this being the first large number of Indians, squaws,
youngsters, dogs, horses, travois, carts and other equipment
that I had seen. But my duties at the moment prevented me
from anything but a casual glance as they were coming and
going to and from the trading store. My man, ' ' Savage, ' ' said
it was Chiefs White Bear and Way-Way-se-cappow with their
respective bandstand they had to come in from the plains to
trade as well as to pay the Fort a friendly visit, and to have a
Council meeting with the Boss.
In the evening we went out to see the camp. The tents
of each band were pitched clear and distinct from each other,
but quite close together. The tents were made of dressed
Buffalo leather, and the principal ones were painted on the
outside with all manner of Indian men on horseback and all
kinds of totems of the band. They were going to have a dog
feast that night; the kettles were all boiling and steaming,
hanging on tripods over the fires. Outside where the feast
was to take place the tom-toms, or drums and rattles that were
to provide the music, were already beginning to make them^
selves heard, and the dogs; were howling in chorus. All being
ready, the Indians seated themselves in a large circle on the
grass, around the fires where the feast was in preparation.
Everyone brought his or her own cup and plate, and set it in
front of where they were sitting, ready to receive his portion
of the dog meat, tea and bannock, as soon as the Master of
Ceremonies instructed his assistants, who were all inside the
-ircle, around the fires and kettles going through all kinds of
ceremonies before the serving process began — which was also
the sign for the musicians to get into action.
It did not take long for the contents of the kettles to be
demolished, and amid grunts of satisfaction all round the circle,
some warrior would get up, walk into the circle, and give a
great oration on his deeds of valor; how many of the enemy

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 31
scalps he had taken, the number of horses he had stolen, and
the number of young girls he had stolen and carried away,
during many of his adventurous trips on the warpath among
the enemy tribes, the valourous deeds of whom were as chaff
compared to his own great feats of daring, etc., etc.
The speakers were not limited to time, nor questioned as
to the truthfulness of their harangue; but each one was sup
posed to outdo the previous speakers and the imagination was
drawn upon in most cases to its very depths. The chief pur
pose was to be entertaining and none of their statements were
ever challenged or questioned. There was generally a smatter
ing of truth, to give it colour. Each speaker got a great ova
tion from the circle when he finished speaking, dogs and drums
joining in the applause. Anyone was privileged to get up io
his place and dance, not moving his feat, but with up and
downward motions of the body, and swaying to the rythm
of the drums and reed whistles. Sometimes the whole circle
would rise at one time and go through these various motions,
and the Indians' yells of hilarity, which you could only ap
preciate if you heard them, were almost continuous.
And thus went on the merry dance, feast and pipe of
peace, during the entire night, and until sunrise next morning.
Following the feast silence reigned in the camp for a number
of hours. Everyone was happy and content: the dog feast
had been a success. This particular feast appears to have been
a farewell party as the two bands of Indians parted company
a few days afterwards. Way-way-se-cappow and his band,
pitching off, went North to the Lizard Point and Shell River
country, while White Bear and his band went South to the
Moose Mountain country, all being equipped at the Fort for
the Fall hunting of large and small game and fur bearing
animals. On the evening following the feast we were all sit
ting on the bank as was the usual custom of the men, officers,
and clerks, when a few minutes after sundown I heard the first
whip-poor-will song, in its flight up and down the valley. The

32 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
word "whip-poor-will" was as clear and distinct as if spoken
or sung by the most musical human voice. I was told that this
bird had never as yet been heard farther West than Fort Ellice
Afterwards I often stood on the bank in the evenings and lis
tened to the ever fascinating call of this shy night bird. I
heard him in later years in the Qu'Appelle Valley, where the
echo of his song could be distinctly heard, which made it all
the more interesting and thrilling. I never heard the whip-
poor-will in any other part of the country, and I do not know
if the species is extinct or not, and further I cannot say I
ever saw the bird save as he flew up and down the valley,
thrilling his most wonderful song.
There were thousands of wild pigeons in the vicinity of
the valley and bluffs at this time, and pigeon pie was a favour
ite dish with us, especially on Sundays when we had lots of
time to prepare and cook it. In a few years these splendid
birds, had disappeared altogether from the country, and I un
derstand are now entirely extinct. Years ago they were there
in millions. The main posts in Swan River District in 1876 were, Fort
Ellice, Fort Qu'Appelle, Fort Pelly, Touchwood Hills Post,
Egg Lake Post, Shell River Post, and Riding Mountain House
Post. The Red River Riel Rebellion of 1869-70 had caused a
good deal of unrest among many of the interior Indians, but
treaties had been made with most of them, by the officials of
the Dominion Government, many of whom were ex-officers of
the Company. Things had become fairly normal again, and
had so remained until the eventful summer of 1876, when Gen
eral Custer and his whole army were massacred by the Sioux
Indians under Sitting Bull and his confreres. This was en
tirely a United States affair, but the terrible and sometimes
exaggerated news had a visible effect on the Canadian Indians,
which took some time to allay, as the Sioux were at that time
the sworn enemies of many tribes and bands of the Canadian
Indians, and were continually at war with the United States

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 33
soldiers, culminating with this terrible General Custer affair,
after which they came over the line into Canada and received
the protection of the Canadian Government.
So long as they behaved themselves and obeyed the laws
of the country they received reservations of land for those who
wished to settle in the country as British subjects, otherwise
there was no formal treaty made with them as was with our-
own Canadian Indians. The Sioux Chief, Standing Buffalo, on
the reserve at Fort Qu'Appelle, who was a savage pagan and
barbarian in 1876, is now, in 1920, a paid up life member of the
Red Cross Society, and has always been a good H. B. C. man
during his residence in Canada. What do you, gentle reader,
know about that ?
The Boss, Chief Factor Archibald MacDonald, drove into
the Fort with his buckboard and team, a bunch of loose horses
being driven by the two horsemen which accompanied him dur
ing his inspection trip. The horses were warm and steaming,
showing that they had all come at a good pace. Johnnie Brass
and Joseph Boyer, both half-breeds, also Company's servants,
both good horsemen and lariat throwers, and expert dog
drivers, after unhitching the team and putting the horses away
in the stables, came into the house and introduced themselves.
They said they had a pretty hard trip. The flies were bad, and
they had to be up so much at nights to keep the smudges going
for the horses. They were very tired, so after drinking a cup
of tea, they both retired to sleep.
We did not see anything more of the Boss that evening,
as I suppose he was also tired, and Mr. Armit was also in con
ference with him in his private office, until a late hour.

34 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER IV.
Early next morning the Union Jack was flying. The In
dian chiefs, their councillors, and several of the buck Indians
were in the Fort waiting to see the Boss. They had not long
to waiL as he was up and around early. He met them in the
square, shook hands all round, then invited them all into the
Council Chamber in the Big House, where they all remained the
greater part of the forenoon, among other things arranging
for their fall advances. Little Donald, the blacksmith, also
arrived from the hay camp about noon, to report progress, and
get some more grub for his crew. He was very anxious to start
for Scotland, but the other men from the various Posts who
were also going home, would not arrive for a week or ten
days yet, so Donald concluded to camp at the Post that night
as he wanted to see the Boss before he went down again. Hay
ing appeared to be progressing at all the posts, and the freight
was duly arriving at the different Posts in good condition.
There were brigades of carts passing East and West almost
daily, while survey parties were arriving and departing with
supplies, this being the headquarters for all kinds and condi
tions of people who were coming into the country at that time.
The men in the trading and other stores were all busy,
and there seemed to be a hum of commercial hfe and activity
all round the place. This continued for several years during
the summer time as everyone coming into the country at that
time were all moving westward ho, and had to pass Fort Ellice
en route, which made Ellice a very important point for general
as well as Indian business ; very often taxing men and supplies
to the limit and extent of fullest capacity to give service to
all passing customers. Mr. Armit came over one evening and
said the Boss wanted John, Donald and I to go over to his
office. So away we went, Mr. Armit introducing us. The
boss seemed to be all right and said he had been around in
specting the work that was done since our arrival and seemed

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 35
quite pleased with the quantity and quality of the work he had
already seen. He then said he intended to build a bridge over
the river this winter, at the same time drawing a plan from
his desk, he spread it out before us.
It showed three piers in the stream, and one in the face
of each bank — the total length of the bridge 326 feet, width
12 feet, specifications called for lots of bolts and iron. It
was in regard to the bolts and iron required that he wished to
see the blacksmith, so that he could get all bolts, etc., prepared
as quickly as possible ; thereby avoiding any delay when the
construction started after freeze up. The Boss told him he
would get the specifications from the office in the morning, so
John was disposed of. Then, turning to me, the boss explained
that all the heavy timber was on the ground, and he had en
gaged old Joseph Robilliard, a freeman and ex-servant, who
was a first class man at heavy work of this kind. Robilliard
would be foreman on the bridge construction, which would not
start until the river had frozen sufficiently to allow us to work
on the ice. "But," he says, "Donald here is going home, and I
want you in the meantime to take his place in charge of the
haymakers. Donald will go down with you in the morning
and stay with you a few days. The work is well advanced
now and it will not take very much longer to finish the hauling
and stacking. You will also take the three Indians who have
been working with you, as I want a few more buildings put up,
as we may have to winter more cattle here than I had pre
viously provided for. I will try and get down next week to
see how you get along, and you can come back with me, Don
ald, as the other men will probably be here about that time,
so that you can all start for the old country together."
Then turning to Donald, "Donald you had better get all
the rations put up tonight so that you can get an early start
in the morning. No time should be lost as it is already showing
signs of fall, and we may have an early winter." Thus we
were disposed of. We started early in the morning, leaving

36 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
the Fort at half past four, in lots of time to see the sunrise.
There were about thirty Indians and their families in the camp,
chiefly Sioux, a few Salteaux and the white men and half-breeds
who had paid us the visit at the Fort. They were just starting
work when we arrived. Donald put the three men who had
come down with us at work repairing some of the hay frames
whieh had become broken in places, so that they would be
ready for use when required. We then took an inventory of all
the property under his charge, which chiefly consisted of
scythes, wooden rakes, hayforks, handled axes, kettles, tin
cups, and other cooking utensils, and some tents, hay frames,
oxen, horses and harness, together with various hanks of
Babbiche and Shaganappi, without which no outfit was com
plete for repair work.
There was lots of hay on the flats still uncut, but seven
or eight men were swinging the scythes, others raking and
cocking, some hauling the hay to the yard, and a couple of
good sized stacks were already topped and made rain proof.
This was the daily routine, interspersed with meals and
smokes at stated intervals. There were sufficient small pop
lar logs on the ground with which to build the extra byres
(stables). By adding another handy Indian to the three we
had taken down with us, placing a man on each corner, we
were in about a couple of weeks or so, able to complete the
buildings ready for the winter. When the Boss came down
to see how we were getting along, he was well pleased with the
progress we had made. He galloped about on a fresh horse,
and inspected all the hay grounds up and down the valley with
in two or three miles of us. One of the old squaws had boiled
the kettle, and had a cup of tea ready for him when he got
back to camp, where Donald and I were busy putting the finish
ing touches to the top of the stack section that had been hauled
in that day. Donald went back to the Fort with him as some
of the men who were going home to the old country had arrived
the previous evening.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 37
So Donald bid us all good bye, and they both started back
at a hand gallop. Donald got to Stornoway all right, re-en
gaged the following year, and was sent out to MacKenzie River
District, where he did good service for several years. Thirty
years after that I met Donald at Prince Albert, a freeman
with a fine blacksmith shop of his own doing a good profitable
business, and was well entertained by Mrs. McLeod and him
self. They had quite a large family of boys and girls, most
of them grown up to manhood and womanhood. Neither of us
had forgotten the haymaking at Snake Creek.
The winter set in early in October but everything was in
ship-shape, lots of hay, ample stabling accommodation and
cattle sheds, houses all mudded and tightened up for the win
ter ; firewood hauling and cordwood cutting, feeding cattle and
horses, and many other duties giving ample employment to
the few men who were to winter at the Fort. Dog trains, dog
drivers, Indians, trading and bridge building gave occupation
to all and sundry for the following eight months. Hughie Mc-
Beath, Henry McKay, J. C. Audy and Angus McBeath were
among the best of the clerk dog-drivers; and among the
labourers were Gowdie Harper, and his brother, Allen Mclvor,
Jordan and several others — all white men. The regular men
for all winter were Johnnie Brass, Joseph Boyer, Charlie Favel,
Johnnie Beads, Johnnie Daniels, Sam Geddes, Henry Brass.
They were the best in the district at that time for long distance
and speed. Of course, before and since their day there were
others just as good, who could tell hair-raising stories of the
miles they had covered in a day, of the blizzards they were
caught in, of the cold they had withstood, of the hunger and
privation on some trips, of running behind their sleds in 40
below, clothed only in a thin pair of mocassins, pants, belt and
cotton yacht shirt, no underclothing, cap or mitts — while others
spoke of breaking the road on snowshoes in front of the dogs,
how dogs came to be your affectionate companions on such
trips, how they curled around you in camp, after you had

38 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
cleared a place to lie down on, using your snowshoe as a shovel;
the. many dog fights and the dog life generally, were the chief
topics of conversation during the winter season. Then coming
towards spring, the many degrees of snow blindness would be
freely discussed by all. They were all good men, and such
had proved themselves in many a tight place, and on many a
stormy trail, always trying their best to get there and back
again the quickest way they knew how, very often travelling
night and day to make their objective on time. Dog drivers
as a rule could not stand the strain many winters ; they soon
became subject to varicose veins in the legs from overstrain
and running, as also happened to many of the men who went
to York, from carrying excessive weight over the portages.
Very few of the old voyageurs and dog drivers escaped having
varicose veins. These were all good men of my time in the
Swan River District. Other districts had men of equal ability
and endurance. There were also many Indians who could make
a good showing, and if his dogs could not come through he
would run into camp himself, to show that it was his: dogs and
not himself that was played but.
Four dogs were the usual team on the prairies and 400
pounds was the regulation load for a freight trip, blanket and
feed for self and dogs extra.
The; greatest of all trips was the winter mail packet from
Montreal to the mouth of the MacKenzie River in the Arctic
Ocean, by dogs. The Packet had to go through on time at all
cost. Each Post had to rush it along td the next Post without
any delay, except taking his Post letters out, changing the
dog trains and flat sleds, lashing the loads and rations, etc.,
signing the way bill, then Marche. For instance, Fort Garry
would send it to Riding Mountain House, R.M.H. to Ellice, El
lice to Qu'Appelle, Qu'Appelle to Touchwood Hills, Touchwood
Hills to Carlton in Saskatchewan District, and so on. Three
men and two dog trains generally ran it through, the extra

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 39
man always ahead on snowshoes when the snow was either too
deep or too soft for the dogs to make time.
This was the trip that proved who the best man and the
best dogs were for that winter, and their fame would be all
over the country before next winter. So history was being
made and written down in the diary of every Post, recording
all these events, as they came on and retired from the stage,
record being kept of all the actors as the men passed along
with the years.
By the New Year the new bridge was well under construc
tion, all the piers were built and loaded with rocks and stones
of all dimensions. John, the blacksmith, had all the bolts and
iron work well advanced and Joseph Robilliard had all the
timber in shape and framed according to plan.
So the day before Xmas we had the structure all ready
to receive the stringers, which were1 14 inches by 14 inches by
40 feet long. There had been a bridge built here a couple of
years before, but the material in it had been too light and it
had not been built high enough. When the "break up" came
the ice and high water carried the whole thing away first shot.
We were not going to make any such mistake about this one.
All the material was of the best, and as strong and substantial
as wood and iron and human ingenuity could make it. We
had the bridge finished some time before the break up. It
stood the test of the heavy ice and swift current without a
quiver. All hands were down at the River watching the ice
breaking itself after it had run up the slope of the iron
sheathed piers, and then passed down the river.
The river rose many feet in an hour or so, but did not
reach the stringers, although some of the ice at the very highest
period of the water in rolling and tumbling hit the railing of
the bridge. But the men, using pike-poles, kept pushing it
under, so that there was practically no damage to the bridge
when the river was clear of ice. It was declared by the Boss
to be a substantial and safe structure for public traffic and he

40 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
formally declared it open for business by being the first one
to drive across it, with his buckboard and team.
The following winter we built a similar bridge over the
Qu-Appelle River about three miles! up stream from its mouth,
and the following winter another bridge about twenty miles
farther up the stream, opposite the mouth of the Scissors Creek.
We also built many small bridges over creeks and bogholes on
many parts of the new trails that were then opened up for the
transportation of freight to Posts inland from the rivers.
Christmas week was a regular holiday. No work was done
during the whole week except feeding and looking after the
animals. Everything else was subservient to festivities and
making merry.
Christmas was regularly observed in the Fort, but New
Year's Day was the great day for the Indians. The Boss was
a great disciplinarian, the service being at that time still semi-
military. As to rules and regulations, you might break all
the ten commandments in one clatter, but to' break any of
the rules or regulations of the service — that was quite another
thing. So it was quite understood from time immemorial that
those rules and regulations were never strictly enforced during
the Xmas holidays, and the whole staff and all the men re
spected the time-honoured concession and did not in many
cases take any extreme' advantages of the privileges accorded
us by custom at this festive season of the year.
The Boss and Mrs. McDonald always gave one dance in
the big house to all hands on Xmas night, with a big supper
and plenty of other refreshments. Then there was a dance
every night at one of the other houses in the Fort and plenty
of nice things to eat and drink, the bulk of which was con
tributed and sent over from the big house. Old Bill Moore,
an old English army soldier, was cook at the big house, and
produced all the fancy cakes and pies, also a lot of grumbling
about his extra work, while the men's quarters produced lots

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 41
of tea, sugar, and bannock for the feasts. Many life-long
friendships were made throughout the whole service during
Xmas; week, and all the time-honoured songs and dances were
annually revived, and it was customary at every Post on the
31st of December, as soon as the clock struck midnight, to
toast the New Year with highland honors and sing in chorus,
that favourite old song, "Where are the Boys of the Old
Brigade?" and
"Where is now that merry party
I remember long ago,
Sitting by the Christmas fire
Heated by its ruddy glow —
They have all dispersed, and wandered
Far away ! Far away ! ' ' (Repeat) .
Those two songs on New Year's often brought tears from
the stoutest hearts among us, perhaps the boys were arriving
at the sympathetic stage, which several passed through during
Xmas week, anyway the tears rolled and our good wishes had
flown away on their wireless errands of good luck, to the men
of other Posts and Districts, and we had done our duty and
kept up the ancient custom as it was entrusted to our care
by our predecessors.
The Boss, clerks, and men all mingled together that week.
The whole service was permeated with this friendliness or
rather a sort of Masonic Brotherhood, which held all H. B. C.
men bound to each other no matter what Post or District they
belonged to, so long as they were H. B. men they were re
ceived by other H. B. men with open arms, and the best they
had was none too good for them. It was a case of
"Shoo! Fly, don't bother me,
For I belong to the H. B.C."
We all had a good time. The week passed quickly and
the Rules and Regulations were again in force, and we were
all ready to resume our daily toil and do our duty, unflinching
ly in the interests of the H. B. C.

42 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
So started the Year of our Lord 1877, in Queen Victoria's
reign, and in the 207th year of the Company's age, the company
whom many of our forefathers had faithfully and honestly
served, and passed to the Great Beyond, having done their
duty. It had been a good winter for hunting all over the Dis
trict and the fur returns were fully up to the average. The
Spring rat hunt was very good and the health of the Indians
had been generally good.
Scows were built at Fort Pelly and batteaux at Fort
Qu'Appelle with which to bring all the returns of the District
down to Ellice. From here all the scows were loaded to capa
city and floated down to Fort Garry with all the District re
turns, one of the old York Factory guides being in charge of
the navigation, and a responsible clerk in charge of the cargoes.
The scows were abandoned at Fort Garry and the men
returned with the Swan River carts. This was the routine
for a few years until the steamboats began to come up the
Assiniboine River as far as Fort Ellice, and relieved us of
the summer freighting by ox carts from Fort Garry. Fort
Ellice then became the stamping ground of freighters for a
fgw years until the C. P. R. came through, when freight was
hauled from the nearest station to the Post it was consigned
to. When Red River carts and freighters disappeared from
their old routes and became a thing of the past as far as
freighting was concerned, wagons and teams being then ex
tensively in use for transportation of goods and supplies from
the railway stations, this was what was called the changing
conditions of the country which kept on changing all the time,
and was the source of much perplexity and loss to many of
the old timers who depended on freighting for a living.
Geese and ducks used to proclaim the arrival of Spring
anywhere from the 15th to the 21st of March. Five shillings
was the prize for the first goose brought into the store, and
one pound of tea for the first duck. The men generally got a

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 43
holiday for hunting in the Spring, and many fairly good bags
of ducks and geese were brought in and proved a real treat
after the long winter.
The thatched roof was taken off the big house that Spring
and replaced with a shingle roof; the house lathed and plas
tered with lime and sand, as well as several of the other stores,
so that the old system of mudding had not to be resorted to
every fall and men could be employed at more profitable work.
The stockade all round the Fort was also lowered about
three feet, the ends which were in the ground having become
more or less decayed, the very high stockade being no longer
necessary for protection against the Indians.
The whole Fort presented an altogether better appear
ance after all these repairs and improvements were completed.
The hay season was drawing nigh, and I was again detailed
to take charge of the haying outfits and the same thing also
fell to my lot in the following year. We had mowing ma
chines, hay rakes and wagons to go to work with then. It took
less time, fewer men and gave better results, and greater sat
isfaction than the scythes, and we could get the quantity of
hay required secured and put up in a great deal better condi
tion, fireguarded and safe, before there was danger of prairie
fires. Mr. Grahame was Chief Commissioner at that time, and
held an annual council with as many of the commissioned
officers as could attend at Carlton. Mr. McDonald went up
with him to Council every summer. The Chief Commissioner's
trip was the sensation of every summer. There was as great
a rush in his journey as there was in the winter packet, both
of them being of the highest importance. Horse relays were
stationed some days before at points along the trail, so that
whenever the drivers unhitched they had fresh horses to go
right along with. The discarded horses remained there under
the care of a keeper to take up duty again on the return trip.
It was very hard on some of the horses which were perman-

44 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
ently injured. This annual trip utilized the services of quite
a number of the engaged servants, the best and smartest fel
lows being always retained, half-breeds and white men who
could be thoroughly relied on to have all the stamina and grit
to do all the duties required of them either by night or by day,
during the entire trip. Few failed except through sickness or
accident, and then not often. John Ferguson made several
trips as cook, and they said he was a good one. Often he would
have the meals all prepared in the democrat while going full
speed, and the kettle was always kept boiling at the relay
stations so that tea was invariably ready on their arrival, and
John would have the spread all ready as soon as the horses
were unhitched.
All commissioned officers were promoted step by step, up
all the grades of the service, in most cases' according to merit.
Apprentice clerks being the first grade, that entitled them to
sit at the officers' mess. Donald A. Smith was chief commis
sioner for a short time before Mr. Grahame. Both of them en
tered the service as apprenticed clerks, the former reached
the high position of Governor in London of the whole service
and died in harness. Mr. Grahame retired.
At those great councils of commissioned officers, the pro
gramme and policy for each district for the following out
fit was discussed and determined. Rules and regulations were
amended or rescinded and a general working schedule adopted
and determined regarding supplies, transportation, staff, ser
vants' wages and welfare of Indians, hunters and trappers,
tariffs, freight rates — in fact everything that could be thought
of to enhance and advance the Company's interests.
They were all partners in the business and of course were
naturally very much interested in the proper conduct and most
economical adjustments that would meet the requirements of
the various Districts and Posts under consideration. Servants
and clerks were frequently transferred for duty from one Post
to another) and frequently from one District to another, some-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 45
times for their better training in some other branch of the
trade for which they might show signs of having special quali
fications, as well as to have a wider experience of the trade
before they were promoted or entrusted with greater respon
sibilities. The hope of becoming a commissioned officer was
the objective of every clerk and servant who had any ambition
and the requisite ability. This feeling among the servants was
the undoubted strength of the company and created that great
brotherhood that existed among all its servants, and which has
been so often commented upon and wondered at by outsiders.

46 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER V.
In 1878 or 79, after the Carlton council, Mr. David Armit
received his commission or parchment as it was generally
called, raising him to the first grade, above senior clerk, carry
ing with it the title of "Junior Chief Trader." This was the
last commission granted in Swan River District during my
time. Of course there were other promotions from time to
time, such as mechanics and labourers to Postmasters and
clerks, and senior clerks, each grade bearing a small advance
in salary, but none of them carrying the coveted parchment.
In 1887 the last great council of the commissioned officers was
held1 in the Queen's Hotel, Winnipeg, at which nearly all com
missioned officers of the service were present, and presided
over by Chief Commissioner Joseph Wrigley, when for the first
time it became officially known to the rank and file of ex
pectants for promotion, that no new commissions were to be
issued to any clerks or servants, who had entered the service
since the completion of the transfer of the country to the Can
adian Government, which took place in 1870. This very
startling information threw a wet blanket over the entire
service, and produced in many cases very unfavourable results
in the Company's interests. These I need not here rehearse,
further than to say that it always has been, and is today, con
ceded by all in the service who are in a position to know, that
it was one of the biggest mistakes the Company ever made
when they decided to cut out granting commissions. The only
interest the majority of their servants have had in the service
since then was their weekly, monthly, or annual salary. I have
been through it; from one end to the other I have seen it; I
know it to be so, and closing this subject, I will leave it at that.
I have landed you now, dear reader, about ten years
ahead of our story, and you will have to hark back again with
me to the good old days of the commissioned officers' regime,
and the loyal men of the service who were expecting commis-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 47
sions up to the time of the last great council already referred
to. David Armit was transferred to the charge of Riding Moun
tain House; J. C. Audy to Shell River Post; George Drever
from Fort Qu-Appelle to Fort Ellice; John Calder from Fort
Pelly to Fort Ellice ; Hugh McBeath from Fort ElUce to the
winter charge of Egg Lake Post; Henry McKay to Fort Qu'Ap
pelle. These were all clerks, labourers, and others, Donald
McKinnon and Murdoch McDonald from Fort Pelly to Fort
Ellice, and several other transfers throughout the District.
Similar transfers were also taking place in other Districts as
well. John Ferguson, Sandy McCauly, Norman McKenzie and
others had become freemen and settled on places of their own.
Murdoch McDonald had a fine set of bagpipes and played
them well. Donald McKinnon was in charge of the milk-cows,
oxen and young stock that were kept around the fort, and
had lots of trouble, during fly season in rounding them up at
milking time, and making smudges which sometimes had a
habit of becoming smokeless. At such times the cattle would
go helter skelter through the bush, and many mornings Donald
could not find them high or low. However, he seldom gave up
the search until he found his milkers.
Birthdays were always recognized at the Fort and some
kind of congratulory celebration indulged in- On this occasion
it was the Boss's birthday, and a handshake and best wishes
was in order all round; but having a piper on hand gave us
a better chance for a greater display of our loyalty, and Mur
doch was parading with the stately step of a piper up and
down the center sidewalk in front of the big house playing hk
best highland airs, the Boss with evident satisfaction on his
face enjoying the Strathspeys and reels that Murdoch was so
proudly producing. Murdoch's face and eyes were ablaze, his
steps were measured, slow and steady, and on his head the
McDonald Glengarry cap, set on one side. He screwed his pipes
and gar'ed them skirl till roof. and rafters a' did dirl.

48 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Donald had not been fortunate that morning in finding
his cows, so he came rushing into the Fort with his breath
on his lips and looking as excited as if a band of Indians were
after his scalp. "Well, Donald," said the Boss, "where are
the cows this morning?"
Donald, who was a big man, gave his arm a swing to the
westward and said, "Och, sir, they are off hellwards and may
the devil take them to hell if he should only make a mile a
day." "Tut! Tut! Donald," said the Boss, "why did you come
back without them?"
Donald gave him a look of utter astonishment, "My God
man!" he exclaimed, "did not I hear the pibroch sounding,
and this your own birthday ? How could I stay away and not
be wishing you many happy returns of the day, same as the
others?" The Boss took his outstretched hand, shook it heartily,
and said, "Thank you, Donald."
There was a little drop of mountain dew and when the cele
bration was over Murdoch got a little drop extra to put in
the chanter, as he said the reeds got very dry sometimes, when
the pipes were not frequently used, and a little spirits was the
only thing that would moisten and revive them, so that a Chief
Factor could listen to them with pleasure. The dinner bell
rang;1 and the serenade was over.
A short time after the transfer of the country to the Can
adian Government, proclamations were issued intimating the
fact, which began with the words, "Victoria by the Grace of
God, defender of the faith, etc., etc.," which were sent to every
H. B. Post in the country to be posted up. In Saskatchewan
District there were two posts which nearly equalled each other
in the volume of business and profits each year. Sometimes
one post was ahead and some years the other. The postman-
agers were continually striving to outdo each other, both posts
being in the Al class, each postmanager upholding his post

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 49
as the superior one. The name of the one post was Whitefish
Lake, and that of the other Victoria.
In due time the proclamations arrived ; the one for Victoria
Post was duly posted up in the office. When the other proclam
ation reached Whitefish Lake, the manager there became en
raged at the Victoria postmanager for his insulting imper
tinence in daring to take precedence over his post which had
succeeded in doing the best trade (that outfit), and immedi
ately erased the word "Victoria," in the proclamation and
printed in its place in red ink, "Whitefish Lake, by the Grace
of God, etc., etc. ' ' He had the proclamation framed and given
a prominent place in his office, Whitefish Lake and the H. B. C.
evidently being of far greater importance to him, than any
other names in Canada or the British Empire. He was a
half-breed, born in the vicinity of the Post and dearly loved
his birthplace, and the Company, and would acknowledge none
other save "Whitefish Lake, by the Grace of God."
The; annual treaty payments to the Indians were made at
the Posts for several years, and the summer trade at all the
Posts during the treaty time was lively and full .of enjoyment,
all the Indians assembling and indulging in all kinds of fes
tivities and feasts for a week or ten days, or until such time
as they had spent all their money, and gone through their Sun
and Medicine dances. In later years their payments were made
on their respective reservations. Many free-traders attended
the treaty payments and competition was always keen, the
Indians paying much less for their purchases during the treaty
than at other seasons of the year, and were able to start on
the fall hunt, fairly well equipped.
Quite a number of settlers were now coming into the coun
try. The buffalo were beginning to disappear from the plains,
many of the old hunters returning in the fall with only par
tially loaded carts of pemmican and dry meat, and some return
ing without having killed a single buffalo. The news from
the plains was not of a very encouraging nature, but it was

50 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
expected that things would be better the following year, and
there was always the treaty in the summer time to look forward
to, and plenty of fish in the rivers and lakes. Besides there were
plenty of moose and deer, and wild fowl in abundance, so
there did not appear to be any danger of a scarcity of food
for man or beast in the immediate future. Settlers were flock
ing into the country, following up the surveys, pushing west
ward looking for homesteads, passing for hundreds of miles
over the very best land, but expecting to find something better
farther west, many of them going ahead of the surveyors and
squatting on much inferior land, than what they had passed
over. This practice caused unnecessary isolation in many
cases, and later on privations which only the early pioneer
settlers can understand. The immense country swallowed them
all up, and being so scattered, it took some years to realize the
extent of immigration going on and scattered all over the
length and breadth of the country from Fort Garry to Edmon
ton, and beyond. It was only necessary to ask any stranger
one met whether he came from Huron or Bruce, and it was
invariably either one or the other.
We had a series of wet seasons from 1877 to 1881, rivers
and sloughs full and running over and teeming with all kinds
of wild fowl. From spring to fall there were all kinds of pea
vines, grass, hay, and an endless variety of flowers and from
the highest hill you could see no end of the immense size or
the country, North, South, East and West. It really sent some
of the settlers crazy, and I knew of several who had to be sent
out to an asylum, they could not stand the vision of the pros
perity and wealth that they were mapping out for themselves
and families. In many cases it never got beyond the vision.
After this there was a period of dry years which continued
until rivers, creeks, lakes and sloughs were all practically dry.
No water anywhere. If you were going on a trip over the
plains, you had to carry water and use it sparingly.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 51
A story is told of this period of drouth when a large camp
of Indians and half-breeds were crossing the plains accom
panied by an old and venerable Priest. ; They could find water
nowhere. Many of the children were dying of, thirst, in fact,
the whole camp was in a panic of despair. They knew of a
lake some distance ahead and they tried to reach it ; they could
not travel during the day on account of the excessive heat, so
they had to push forward as best they could in the night, the
Priest, an open bible in his hand and his head with its stream
ing white locks bared, leading them at a slow pace. About
daylight they reached the place where the lake had been, but
it was dry, nothing but great open cracks in the dry mud, show
ing that no water had been there for many days, and the foot
prints of the Buffalo which had been there also, in quest of
water while the mud had yet been soft.
The weaker ones of the camp did not arrive for some hours
later. For several hours the priest prayed and cried to God
for relief from the dreadful thirst that was consuming them
and the animals, when suddenly the hot scorching sun of the
morning went under a cloud, the whole sky became overcast,
and the heaviest rain any of them had ever seen began to fall.
They were saved, and the lake contained a foot of water inside
of an hour.
The great draw-back to the early settlers were their frozen
crops, and the dry seasons which put many of them out of
business altogether. They were forced to leave the country,
some of them selling their homesteads for enough provisions
to take themselves and their families out of the ' ' God Forsaken
Country," as they called it. Those were the days when you
would not give twenty-five cents for all the land you could
see across. It was simply of no value under the then existing
conditions, foi* three or four years in succession. It was lucky
that there were no more settlers in the country at that time to
enhance the hardships that many suffered in the early days of
settlement.

52 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
I have seen frost on the great wheat plains of Saskatche
wan at some period of every month of the year. These fields
rarely, if ever* know of any such thing as summer frosts now-
a-days. The climate has certainly changed for the better dur
ing the last forty years of my experience. There was little
attention paid to summer frosts prior to settlement and grain
growing times, as there was nothing to destroy except the wild
fruit blossoms in the early summer, which was a great loss to
the natives. The tradition then retained amongst the Indians
from time immemorial, were either extreme wealth, or extreme
poverty throughout the plains section of the immense territory.
There was no medium, and no sense of economy. They made
no provision for a rainy day, but lived as they listed from
generation to generation, and on the whole they seemed to
have less worry in this life than the civilized or semi-civilized
peoples. Outside of the general brotherhood and friendship that
existed and was taken for granted among all the Hudson's
Bay men wherever they met each other, there were men in
the service who formed and cemented lifelong friendships that
were as strong as death, and remained loyal to each other
no matter where they were stationed or what their positions.
Under all conditions and circumstances that friendship never
failed, and did not have to be called to attention either. It
was wonderful to know and to feel that you had such genuine
friends, that you could trust implicitly with anything. Such
friendship one knew by intuition. Words were not required
to declare it, and it was this kind of friendship which existed
between George Drever, John Calder, and myself, from the day
of our earliest acquaintance ; and all through life it never was
impaired. We three had many pleasant days and nights to
gether, at Fort Ellice and Fort Qu'Appelle, at our work and
at our play. All the same, this did not interfere in any way
with our comradeship and friendliness towards all the others
with whom we came in contact ; for instance, Murdoch, Donald,

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 53
John, Norman, Angus, William, James, and all the other boys.
We were all Jock Tamson's bairns, and each enjoyed the
other's company to the fullest extent, as comrades and fellow
H. B. men, if that will make the distinction which I am try
ing to explain more easily understood.
Drever was a baker by trade, but he came out in the
service as a labourer. He taught many of the boys how to
make bread' and cake when the material for their construction
was available. He had been promoted to postmaster,, and
again to clerk and interpreter, and was in charge of the sale-
shop and the Indian trading. He was recognized as the best
trader in the service, and he could speak the language
(Salteaux) perfectly, and would often puzzle an Indian in
his own tongue.
Calder came out as an apprentice clerk, and was in train
ing to be made accountant for the District, a position which
he afterwards filled with great credit to himself and profit
to the Company, both at Fort Ellice, and later at Fort Qu'Ap
pelle, when it was made the headquarters of the District, from
which Post he was transferred to Winnipeg, where he was
appointed the chief accountant of the whole service and still
holds that responsible position.
Drever retired from the service at the age of 60 years, in
1912, after a wonderful and successful career, which I will
have occasion to refer to many times before I finish this work.
He retired from Abitibi Post in Lake Huron District, and
went back to live at Fort Qu'Appelle, where he died at 5 p. m.
on July 11th, 1916. He was buried there in the cemetery on
the top of the south bank of the valley, on July 13th, 1916.
John Calder attended the funeral. I was unable to attend
on account of distance.
Murdoch gave us lots of music in the evenings, with his
bagpipes, when after supper we had all assembled on the bank
overlooking the picturesque country. The Indians would also
collect and take in the free open air concerts. John, the black-

54 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
smith, was becoming an expert on the chanter, but could not
handle the pipes. Nearly all the half-breed boys played the
fiddle, Calder played the piccolo, and Drever was a good
performer on the flute, so we were never stuck for dancing
music when that was required, which was sometimes pretty
often, as they all enjoyed dancing. The fiddle was always
taken along on a trip. I have seen some of the boys at noon
or in the evening, when on freighting trips, take the ta,il board
out of a Red River cart, throw it down on the prairie, and
step out the Red River jig with the greatest gusto to the
tune being played by one of the men sitting on a shaft of the
said Red River cart, just to keep themselves in practice for
the next dance on their arrival at the Post of destination, where
they would introduce some new steps and dances to the de
lighted damsels, whose affections were courted, and often se
cured by the most demonstrative performers on occasions of
this kind.
Anyone arriving on a trip from another Post or District,.
was always the signal for a dance, no other invitation being
necessary. Such was the custom of the country.' The people
you visited were always delighted to see you, and entertain
you somehow as long as you remained in sight — then "change
partners, and balance to the next."
In the meantime, and in connection with my other duties,
I had built two new dwelling houses, and converted the old
church into a boarding house, which was presided over by
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Warwick and her sister, Miss John
ston, for tha better convenience of the travelling public. The
Company's men also had their meals here after this, sleeping
at their own quarters. Mrs. Warwick ran the house for sev
eral years. Ben took up a homestead near the Fort and they
both made good money out of their venture, and did a big
business with incoming settlers and other travellers. I also
built two large warehouses at the foot of the hill, at the steam
boat landing, large quantities of freight coming up the river

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 55
at that time for surveyors and settlers as well as for the com
pany. A. H. Bastien was put in charge of the warehouses. It
kept him busy checking in and out, and during the time the
boat was unloading he had to be supplied with additional
help. Every old timer in the country has passed through Fort
Ellice, and in those days it certainly was a busy place, so
much so that the Company had a town site surveyed and town
lots were sold. The C. P. R. location line was located by Mar
cus Smith right up the valley, and Fort Ellice was to be nothing
less than thej Capital of the Great North West. But alas ! the
changing conditions of the country put its veto on that, and
the C. P. R. passed twenty-two miles to the south of us, leaving
Fort Ellice high and dry, as of yore, in its primitive greatness
for a few years longer.
The. settlers around Riding Mountain were raising good
crops of wheat about this time, but a large amount of it was
frozen every year. There was no market or any means of
transportation so the Company decided to erect a flour mill
and supply all the Posts with flour. The machinery was hauled
in and the stone mill erected. It bought and ground up the
wheat for a few1 seasons but only a very poor quality of flour
could be produced from the very best of the frozen wheat and
bannocks only could be made from it. Some of the wheat
was frozen so badly that it would run through the stones in
soft dough instead of flour, and clog everything up. However,
the mill persevered for a few years, when one day the boiler
blew up, and set the whole building on fire. Everything was
burned to the ground, and no one was sorry; it was the best
day's business the mill had ever done. That mill was one of
the white elephants that cost the Company a lot of money.
After that the seasons changed and frozen wheat was a thing of
the past. Increased acreage under cultivation seemed to put
the summer frosts out of commission all over the country, but
the early settlers knew what flour made out of frozen wheat
tasted and looked like, and had to depend on their mixed farm
ing for a living. Butter and eggs were the currency in those
days.

56 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER VI.
Many of the officers who were financially able sent their
children away to be educated. Some were sent to the old
country by the Company's ships, while a great majority were
educated at St. John's College, Winnipeg, which turned out
many scholars of prominence in many of the professions. Some
had governesses at the Forts, while those who were not able
to send their children away had to give them such education
themselves, locally, and in their own homes, missions, or tents,
as best they could, and in as far as the limited education of
many of the parents themselves would permit them to instil
the educational knowledge they were possessed of into their
offspring. Many of the children received a very fair education
in that way, and there were very few who could not sign their
own names and read and write sufficiently well to carry them
through the times and conditions then prevailing in the
country. On the other hand many were only able to make a mark
and have same witnessed, in the case of a hiring contract,
shipping bills or any other document to which it was necessary
to have a signature attached. The missionaries also gave
as much attention to the education of the children of the
country as circumstances would permit, owing to the ever
moving and roving disposition of the people; made necessary
by their hunting and trapping occupations, which also kept
the sky pilots busy, not giving them much time at any one
point to devote much of their attention to secular instruction.
In later years Industrial Boarding Schools and day schools
were established on the Reserves and the educational difficul
ties were to a great extent overcome. I will mention several
well known names of men born and educated in the country,
as well as some of the boys who were sent to the old country
to acquire their education, who were, and some of them still are
outstanding figures and leaders in their professions. Colin

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 57
Inkster, familiarly known as "The Sheriff," who has been
continuously Sheriff of Winnipeg for over forty years, also
having the distinction of being the Rector's warden in the
Anglican Church, St. John's Cathedral, for a term of over 49
years, in his own parish.
Bishop .Anderson, of the Diocese of Moosonee, was going
to school in Orkney when I entered the service of the H. B. C.
John Norquay, late premier of Manitoba, the Late Hon. James
McKay, of Silver Heights, Rev. George Flett, Rev. James Flett,
Rev. Charles Pratt, Rev. Gilbert Cook, Rev. Settee and many
others, men of high character, noble aims and ambitions, elo
quent, self-sacrificing, men of ability, endurance, patience, and
charitable to a fault.
There were also lawyers, doctors, bankers, civil engineers,
school teachers, etc., etc., who had all run Buffalo, baked a
bannock, eaten pemmican, drank lots of black tea out of a
tin cup, or the cover of a copper tea kettle, cooked and boiled
on a little fire of Buffalo chips on the banks of a small) creek,
or near the edge of a little slough, while their horses grazed
on the prairie! near the water.
There were many others born and educated in the country.
both men and women who attained great distinction and in
fluence, both in and out) of the Company's service, whose per
sonalities and achievements would fill many pages of history.
I will mention but one family which I cannot pass over, with
whom I have been intimately acquainted ever since I came into
the country, and whose many kindnesses and friendships are
ever dear to me and can never be forgotten. I mean Chief
Factor McDonald's family. Mrs. McDonald, before her mar
riage was Miss Ellen Inkster, and a sister of Colin Inkster.
"The Sheriff," a very estimable and highly educated lady, a
hospitable, kind, and affectionate mother, wrapped up in the
early training of her children, guiding, and forming their
characters with unfailing patience, perseverance and kindness,.

58 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
so much desired but often lacking in some degree in the best
of well regulated families.
Misses Mary and Nora, John Archie, and Donald H., were
the four children when I first arrived at Fort Ellice. Edward
Ellice was born in October, 1876, and Harold, the youngest
was born in November of 1885, the year of the Riel rebellion.
As well as having tutors at home, they were all educated at
St. John's College, McGill and Harvard Universities. Miss
Mary graduated as a nurse at the General Hospital, Winnipeg.
Miss Nora became an artist, and has many fine paintings to
her credit. John Archie entered the service for a few years,
and was in charge of Nipigon and Chapleau Posts; retiring,
he gave his attention to cattle buying and ranching. He was
member for North Qu'Appelle in the Saskatchewan Legisla
ture, and is today engaged among his multitudinous enter
prises, in the growing of flax on the large estate of Lady
Strathcona 's at Silver Heights. He married Miss Nora Camp
bell, the only daughter of Chief Factor Campbell. They have
a nice family and own a beautiful home in the city of Win
nipeg. Donald- — or D. H, as we all call him — was also in the
service for a short time at Touchwood Hills. He retired and
established a private bank at Fort Qu'Appelle in 1887, and is
still, doing business there. He was also a member of the Ter
ritorial Legislature at Regina for North Qu'Appelle for a
number of years. He married a Miss Benson of Regina, and
they have a lovely little daughter, "Frances," who is her
mother's joy and her father's idol. He, as well as John Archie,
has made a great success in the commercial and business world.
Edward Ellice was born on a bitterly cold morning at Fort
Ellice, in October 1876. I remember the event quite well, as I
was mudding the building at the time, slashing it into the
cracks with my bare hands, to keep the wind and snow from
blowing and drifting into the room. He grew up with tender
eare, was educated at St. John's and graduated at McGill and

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 59
Harvard Universities as a doctor, went to New York, where
he took further honors, and became an expert and specialist in
many lines of his profession, lecturing before the aged pro
fessors, who in many instances awarded him the palm of vic
tory. He has written several works on surgery and medicine,
which are recognized as the highest authority for reference.
He stands at the head of his profession in New York and
other American cities as a specialist. He also owns gold mines,
and has large mining interests in Manitoba.
Harold was born in 1885 amongst the din of war and re
bellion. He was educated at home (Fort Qu'Appelle), and
Upper Canada College, and graduated at McGill University
as a civil Engineer and Surveyor and B. Sc, practised his
profession until the war broke out in 1914, when he went
overseas, returning to Canada after the Armistice was signed
in 1918, as Brigadier General, but minus his left arm, and with
many scars of battle on his body. He was mentioned many
times in despatches, and was the first Saskatchewan boy to
receive the D. S. 0. and C. M. G. I am glad to be able, in my
own way, to pay my little tribute to this distinguished family
with whom I have been associated so long, and whose friend
ship has been genuine and enduring through the long list of
years that has sped away since we) all first met. The bonds of
friendship in the early days were strong and sincere, and were
not made to be easily broken.

60 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER VII.
Under the MacKenzie Government the seat of Government
for the North-West Territories was at Battleford, and Hon.
David Laird was Lieut.-Governor, and was appointed later on
as Indian Commissioner under the Laurier Administration.
Several appointments of Indian agents, farm instructors,
and other Government officials, had been going on for a few
years, and a number of ex-officers and servants of the Company,
who held the friendship and good will of the Indians were be
ing appointed. The decrease of the buffalo was becoming a serious matter,
and the Indians were becoming gradually induced to come off
the plains and settle on the different Reserves that had already
been selected and surveyed and some of them were already en
gaged in a very small and primitive way to till the soil and
plant a few potatoes and other small seeds. But it was an
uphill job for many years, it being entirely foreign to their
former life on the plains, but in this way the government of
the Indians by the Company, to that of the Dominion Govern
ment, was to the Indians at least almost imperceptibly made
and effected without any friction, by the policy of the Govern
ment in making the above appointments, and the co-operation
and assistance of the Hudson's Bay Company's officials. It
was a very nice piece of diplomacy, carried out in the best in
terests of the Dominion, and all parties concerned.
The Company appointed many of the Indian chiefs, each
one receiving this distinction was decorated with a large silver
medal which proclaimed the fact. They were known as the
Company's chiefs. These chiefs negotiated and signed the
treaty on behalf of their respective bands, which was also wit
nessed by the H. B. Company's officials at the Fort where the
Treaty was made, and signed by the Government official for
the crown.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 61
All hunting, trapping and fishing rights, as heretofore, on
land and water belonging to the Government of Canada, out
side the Reserves, was guaranteed to them as long as the sun
shone, water ran, and grass grew.
As soon as the Treaty was signed, sealed and delivered, in
the presence of witnesses, the Indians became automatically
and officially the wards of the Canadian Government, which
relieved the Company of this great responsibility, which they
had always considered a sacred duty, and had done their part
towards the Indians with charitable justice, and parental
watchfulness for nearly two centuries.
At the time of the transfer of the country to the Canadian
Government, the Company also retained their trading and
other rights, which they had heretofore enjoyed, having been
granted to them under their charter from King Charles in 1670,
which still holds valid and constitutional.
Although treaties were being successfully made and con
cluded, with the various tribes all over the territory, yet, among
the Indians of the plains there was great danger of starvation.
Reports were becoming more frequent that only small strag
gling herds oi! buffalo were met with, and far apart, not suffi
cient for one-quarter of the Indians and hunters who were in
search of food.
One day late in the fall of 1879, a young Indian, White
Bear, rode into the Fort. He looked more like a skeleton than
an Indian. He was weak and starving and when he got off his
pony he fell down in a faint, being completely exhausted from
want of food.
When we had given him something warm to drink, and
a very small portion of food, he was somewhat revived, and
told his story. For the sake of others he had faced death to
try to reach the Fort. About fifty miles south, on the plains,
he had left in the face of a snow storm, fifteen families starving,
who were unable to come any farther. Some of the children
and very old men and women of the party had already died of

62 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
starvation, having in their extremity eaten up all their dogs
and horses, the horse the Indian was riding being the only
one left. His errand was to send out food, and bring those
who, still survived into the Fort.
No time was lost in sending out men, horses, rigs and suf
ficient grub to bring the whole party in. The Indian was
able tp go back in one of the rigs, and acted as guide. The
rescuers made a bee line and reached the camp before they
pulled up or unhitched, having taken the precaution also, of
taking enough firewood along with them in the rigs, as the
party of Indians were out on the bald headed prairie. They
found conditions worse than the Indian had reported, two
more of them had died during his absence, and the others were
in no condition to move until they had received nourishment,
which had to be given them in very small portions, at short
intervals. They were ravenous when they saw the food, but
in order to save their lives it had to be given them very sparing
ly. They were eventually, in the course of three or four days,
all gathered in to the vicinity of the Fort. Their tents were
pitched, and with careful nursing and feeding we had them
all able to walk about for a short distance in a week or ten
days. There was nothing to do but keep them at the Fort all
winter, so we had them pitch off down in the valley, on a flat
where there was a good sized bluff of dry wood, which also
provided good shelter for their tents. This we did in the hope
that they would be able to hunt rabbits and partridges, and
provide part of their own food, during the winter, which was
then showing many signs of being a severe one, and indeed
such it proved to be before spring. Lieut.-Col. McDonald, who
was then Indian agent for treaty No. 4, and his interpreter,
Peter Hourie, who was an ex-H. B. C. man, were about 70
miles west, up the Qu'Appelle Valley, at Crooked Lakes,
where they were trying to locate some of the sick and des
titute widows and orphans on the Reserve, where a few of the
Cree Plain Indians, had already been settled the previous

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 63
year. Of course they had all to receive a daily ration of such
food as could be procured, which at that time was not over
abundant, but there were plenty of whitefish and other kinds
in the lake, which was surely a Godsend for all those who
camped near the lake that winter. A letter was despatched
to Col. McDonald, advising him of the condition of the In
dians at Fort Ellice. He sent Peter Hourie down immediately
to look after them and do the best he could with them for the
winter. He purchased supplies from the Company on account
of the Indian Department— which he had the authority to do
— and by the new year had them in fairly good shape. He got
them to cut cordwood and dry firewood, whieh the Company
bought and took in exchange for necessary clothing for the
old women and children. But with all Peter Hourie 's atten
tion they did not seem to thrive. They knew nothing about
any kind of work, and were extremely lazy and dirty. We
had christened the camp Poverty Flat, and the spot retained
its name and traditions for many years afterwards. Towards
spring they all contracted some fatal disease, it looked like
small-pox, scarlet fever, and a very high fever all at once and
the same time. It carried them off in three or four days. The
lad who first brought in the news was the only one who sur
vived out of the whole lot, and Peter Hourie sent him up to
Crooked Lakes, where the other Indians were. The . ground
was too solidly frozen to bury the dead Indians decently, and
a great many of the bodies were simply buried in the snow.
The water was very high that Spring, the river overflowing
its banks, and the whole valley flooded. The ice swept all
these dead bodies before it down the river, and we never heard
anything more of them. When the water receded again Pov
erty Flat was clean, swept and garnished, and we escaped con
tracting the disease they all died of, whatever it may have
been. Two of the old original Swan River to York Factory York
boat brigade guides, Peter Brass and William Daniels, or

64 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Kitchie William, as he was always called, whose favourite tip
ple was Perry Davis Painkiller, both of them magnificent speci
mens of manhood, powerful and athletic, came down with
the scows from Fort Pelly that Spring, and reported having
come straight across some of the points, not having to navigate
the river at all in many places. They said that beaver and
bear were plentiful all along the valley. Daniels died a good
many years ago at File Hills ; Brass is still living with some
of his relatives at Lestock, in the Touchwood Hills, and is now
in his 103rd year. His aged wife died a few years ago; she
was over ninety.
It was only the Crees and Blackfeet who lived continu
ously on the great plains for generations and whose only occu
pation was hunting buffalo, who suffered most as the buffalo
became scarcer. The Northern Indians who lived more in the
bush country did not feel the passing of the buffalo to any
serious extent, as they were experts at fishing and trapping
smaller and more valuable furs, which were plentiful, as well
as moose and deer. Many of the bush Indians were driven
from the plains years and years before when the Crees and
Blackfeet were on the warpath. The Cypress Hills was neutral
ground for many years, neither of the many war parties caring
to investigate or make explorations through this large tract
of country. Those who did were seldom heard of again, and
their scalps were generally found with the enemy on the op
posite side of the hills. The enemy were always prowling round
both sides of the hills, where they could get cover, and make
an occasional dash for plunder and murder, so that hunting in
the Cypress Hills for many years was not only considered fool
hardy, but those who indulged in it were actually courting
the loss of their scalp locks. In consequence there were all
kinds of unmolested game and fur bearing animals in the
area which in later years yielded enormous quantities of fur
until it was also cleaned out.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 65
Although it had been a very severe winter on many of
the plain Indians, the bush Indians had all made very good
hunts throughout the bluffs and wooded country, very little
sickness or lack of provisions being reported from any of the
Posts. It was considered that a good profitable trade had
been made all over the District. We had a very good winter
at Fort Ellice. I had a partner in the workshop with me all
winter, Willie Sinclair, a Scotchman who was a boatbuilder
at York, and a good all round carpenter. Besides other new
and repair work we turned out a number of horse and dog
flat sleds for the Indian trade as well as for use in the District ;
also a couple of sets of bob sleighs for the wood-haulers, which
John the blacksmith shod and ironed up to the Queen's taste.
Trippers were back and forward to the different hunting
grounds visiting Indians, taking out trading supplies and
bringing back furs, as well as moose and deer meat. Every
thing went along with the usual harmony of a well regulated
Fort. Drever| and Calder generally joined us in the evenings,
when we would have a rubber at cribbage, whist, sometimes
it would be catch-the-ten, or a few games of checkers with
which we enlivened the evening. At other times we would
have regular concerts. Drever was a beautiful singer of Scotch
songs and Calder also sang well. Sometimes, especially on
Sunday night, we would all sing hymns. Calder knew all the
hymns that Moody and Sankey ever sang, as well as the other
sacred songs, so before the winter was over we all could handle
our parts like any choir. There was generally a dance once
a week, and oftener if some one could work up any plausible
excuse, so we were not at all handicapped for amusements
of all kinds. In the summer we practised as often as possible
all the Caledonian games, horse racing, rowing and the manly
art, and on the 24th of May we held our annual sports, to which
all the Indians assembled, many of them taking part, and in
some cases carrying away the first prizes. These athletic
games were conducted on the square ; the best performer won
and was awarded his prize to the entire satisfaction of himself
and everybody else.

66 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER VIII.
All the immediate requirements in carpenter work about
the Fort were in pretty good shape, and I was transferred to
Riding Mountain House to assist Mr. Armit, as he was short
handed that fall, a saw-mill having been added to the flour
mill. He had taken out a big drive of logs, whieh were all
in booms and pockets on the Little Saskatchewan, near the
mill. The superintending of a large gang of men keeping him
busy with the outside work, and giving him but little time to
give attention to the store or Indian trade. By this time I
had learned quite a bit of the Indian language. I knew the
name of everything in the store and could trade fairly well,
so Mr. Armit put me in charge of the store. Of course, when
a bunch of Indians would come round he would always come
and do the intricate parts of the trading himself, and help me
out as he could speak the language quite fluently.
There were two young fellows acting as assistants in
the store. We had also quite a number of white customers,
there being at this time a large settlement of farmers, so
we were all kept pretty busy. The men working in the flour
and saw mill always required something or other after six
o'clock. I soon got into the swing of the trade and progressed
nicely. Besides the mills, we had a large boarding house and bunk
house for the men, also carpenter and blacksmith shops in
connection with the mill. The store was a new, large, frame
building, built the previous year by the millwrights and saw
yers, and we carried a large stock, nearly everything from
a needle to an anchor, and a very good and profitable trade
was being done at that time in lumber to the settlers, and
trading butter and eggs to beat the band when there were
no Indians round with furs, moose skins, or rabbit skin robes,
to trade. There were few of the Company's regularly engaged
servants. They were all paid by the day, week, or month,

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 67
mostly lumberjacks, bushmen, river drivers, a few mechanics, .
all from Eastern Canada, who had been accustomed to this
class of work, and had come west to1 settle. The most of them
took up homesteads and made good settlers, while others, after
they had made a little money, drifted away td some other part
of the country looking for something better. These latter kept
on circulating, finally disappearing altogether, to be replaced
by new stragglers who were "broke" and looking for a job.
We had a large herd of black Berkshire pigs, in an en
closure near the river, which we were fattening up on the offal
from the mill, and any tough looking scout who came along
could always get a job on the pig ranch. However, none of
them seemed to stick it long, and as soon as they made enough
to carry them on for a few days, they would curse all the
pigs in creation and the ones they were looking after in par
ticular, and jump the job. However, we made a lot of money
out of the pig ranch although pork was only worth from 3c
to 5c per pound, dressed, at that time, there being lots of
cheap pig feed in the country. After spending about one year
and a half at Riding Mountain House, I was called back to
Fort Ellice again.
I liked the Riding Mountain Indians, they were good
hunters, and brought in nice well-stretched, prime and clean
fur. I did not like the other part of the trade, and I think
Mr. Armit was sorry that he ever recommended building a mill
and pig-ranch at Riding Mountain. Nevertheless, he stuck to
it, and made the Post pay as long as he remained in charge
of it, helping many of the early settlers and farmers round
that part of the country.
I found most of the boys I left at Fort Ellice still there
on my return, and I was glad to meet them all again. Every
thing was moving along, at, and around the Fort in much
the same way, only my old friend John Ferguson was very ill
in bed in the men's house. Since he had become a freeman
he had worked very hard freighting with a few carts, and

68 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
had gone through several prairie fires on his trips. Anxious
to get along, he had overtaxed his physical powers. The boys
had taken him up to the Fort from his ranch at Snake Creek
some weeks before, and were doing the best they knew how to
nurse him back to health and strength again, but he did not
seem tb pick up, and the worst part of it was he was losing
heart himself. The steamboat was up and we persuaded him
to go down to the hospital at Winnipeg. He was so weak
that we had to carry him on a stretcher from the Fort to
the boat. He arrived at the hospital in due season, but the
Doctors could do nothing for him, and a few days later he
passed peacefully away. Some of his own countrymen buried
him in Winnipeg, and his family in Lewis were duly notified
by the Company. Thus passed away one of my best friends
and comrades. Everybody liked John; he was white from
head to foot, ' ' all wool and two yards wide. ' ' Though he was
a freeman it made1 no difference to any of us. He always had
his place in the men's house the same as when he was a regular
servant and got his share of whatever was going, the same
as the rest of us. There was no man better loved or better
known in that part of the country than John Ferguson, and
we all sincerely mourned his having been cut down in the
prime and strength of his manhood. Everything had looked
so promising for his future welfare but he was taken away
in a moment, as it were, from the family circle of companions
and comrades, who were, practically shaking, all strangers in
a strange land. Honest tears of; strong *nen could not be held
back when the news reached us that John Ferguson was dead,
and I am not ashamed to herein record it. The Boss and his
whole family were just as fond of John as any of us, and
had done everything they could during his illness to nourish
and comfort him.
Mr. Calder was now full-fledged District Accountant and
was daily absorbed in books, figures and accounts. He had
laid away as curiosities the old grey goose quill pen, and had

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 69
adopted the Waverley and other makes of steel pens, to do
duty. A new era had dawned. There was also a new innova
tion of wrapping paper and bags foi} the store. The old style
was that when an Indian bought a pound of tea he had also
to buy a 25c handkerchief of Royal red to wrap it up in.
Now he could have his parcels neatly tied up in paper without
cost. So many white settlers were now customers at the store
this new method of wrapping purchased goods had become
an absolute necessity. Drever said the introduction of this
custom had spoiled the sale of many a good handkerchief.
The fiat, however, had gone forth, and paper bags and
wrapping paper and counter twine were henceforth part of
the equipment and stock in trade, and a supply was forwarded
to every trading store in the District, where its use was con
sidered necessary in the more modern conduct of the grocery
part of the business.
Indian Reserves were now surveyed at Moose Mountain,
Crooked Lakes, Fort Qu'Appelle, File Hills, and Touchwood
Hills, and farther west for the Blackfeet, Sarcees, and Peigans. '
The plain Indians, being gradually moved in by the Govern
ment agents, settled, rationed, and generally looked after by
the Indian Department at the various Reserves, assisted when
necessary by the North West Mounted Police patrols.
The men and staff of the Posts and Districts were re-ar
ranged with slight changes annually. Donald McKinnon was
now transferred to Riding Mountain. Murdoch McDonald
and his bagpipes (which we all missed) was transferred for
duty back again to Fort Pelly, and I was transferred to Fort
Qu'Appelle where a new saleshop, office, and clerks' quarters
had to be erected. It seemed to be a meeting and parting
with some of us air the time, but it was always giving us a
wider experience and knowledge with which to discharge our
duties in later years.
John Morrison had made up his mind to go home at the
expiration of his five-year contract, which would be in the

70 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
following spring. So I bade him good-bye for good, he being
the last one I shook hands with when starting out for Fort
Qu'Appelle, and we passed through the Crooked Lakes reserve
on our way to that place. This Reserve fronted on the Qu'Ap
pelle River, Crooked and Round Lakes, for a distance of 36
miles, and 12 miles back, being all in one block of 12 surveyed
' townships ; a most beautiful part of the country, right on the
Northern edge of the great plains, fine poplar bluffs, some small
lakes and the choicest of wheat land, an ideal location chosen
by the Indians themselves. This had aways been a great win
tering place for the Indians, there being plenty of fish in the
lakes. We camped here with John Setter, who was the son
of an old Hudson Bay man, and was born in Red River Settle
ment. He had been sent up here by the Indian Department to
establish a home farm on this Reserve and generally look
after the Indians as they were being brought in from the
plains. His home farm building and provision store and ra
tion house was about four miles back from the river, built on
the banks of a nice small, clear lake. Camped all about him
were destitute widows, orphans, old men and women and
children to whom he was giving daily rations.
This was what he called the home farm, although as yet
there did not appear to be any signs of farming operations
of any kind in the near vicinity, but he had a few grub hoes.
and spades, as well as a few sacks of seed potatoes and other
small seeds that he was going to start operations with in the
spring. They would all work together the first year, in the
same garden, results of production would be equally divided
among them. He said there were quite a number of Indians
already settled in the valley, along the river and lakes whieh
he visited every few days, having a horse and buckboard for
that purpose, and always carried a little tea and tobacco for
distribution to the old people who might be short.
Mr. Setter thought it would take a few years before
these people would become self-supporting, as they had ab-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 71
solutely no knowledge of farming, or stock raising, and were
not anxious to learn. But he was going to try his best to
encourage and help them to try to make a living for them
selves out of the soil, which seemed to the Indians at that
time to be the utmost folly. About thirty-two miles east of
the Fort we entered the Qu'Appelle Valley and crossed the
river at a point known as the Racette Crossing. The valley
from here to the Fort was dotted with houses its entire length,
this being an old wintering settlement of Scotch and French
half-breeds, whose fathers, grandfathers, or great grandfathers
had) all been men of the Hudson's Bay Company and had such
familiar names as Joe Racette, Donald Ross, Jamie Grant, Alex
Fisher, Dauphanais, La 'Roque, McKay, Simpson, Sansregret,
Antoine Hamelin, Alexis Labombard, and many others. They
were all plain hunters and freighters, in the spring put in small
crops of wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, turnips, onions, and
other vegetables, then went out on the plains in the summer
and made their pemmican and dry meat. They returned in the
fall, gathered up their harvest, which generally showed good
returns, fixed up their houses and had a good time during
the winter. They were fairly well to do as far as this world's
goods went in the shape of horses, carts, and large families.
which was the standard gauge of wealth in those days.
There was a nice Roman Catholic mission about four miles
below the Fort which looked after the spiritual welfare of
these people. Father De 'Corby visited them frequently and
had been in charge of the mission some years. At this time
Father Huggonard was one of the young priests in residence,
whose name in later years became a household word, not only
among Roman Catholics, but also among the Protestants.
The Fort was now in sight, beautifully situated on the
south bank of the river on a large flat between the two large
lakes. It was one of the most picturesque and beautiful loca
tions in all the North West.

72 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER IX.
This is the home of the Echo, hence its name Qu'Appelle or
"who calls?"
There were quite a number of half breeds and other cus
tomers round the Fort, and a number of tents pitched on the
flat, their owners waiting for the arrival of our brigade of carts
as we were loaded with considerable merchandise that had been
sold out at the Fort. On our arrival I handed my letter to
W. J. McLean, chief trader, who was the gentleman in charge
and whom I had previously met at Fort Ellice. Henry McKay
was in the store, and some other clerks whom I had not pre
viously met. We had made the trip in nine days (120 miles)
without any mishap, and our loads checked out 0. K. as per
our bills of lading.
Henry conducted me to the men's house, and as it was
now evening he sat and chatted with us a while, as he was
anxious to get the Fort Ellice news. John Ross, who had ar
rived from Touchwood Hills a few days before,, was busy get
ting supper at the same old open fireplace, assisted by the
yellow light of a tallow dip, stuck in its own grease on the end
of a billet of dry wood. He was watching the frying of a fine
buffalo steak that some of the hunters had brought in to the
Fort that day, and it was the last buffalo fresh meat I ever
had the pleasure of eating after that, although we had lots
of pemmican, dry meat and marrow fat bladders for several
years following.
Ducks and geese were plentiful on the river and lakes,
and especially at Simpson's point on the upper lake. Flight
shooting was excellent in the mornings and evenings both in
the spring and fall.
One fall Mr. McLean killed twelve large Mallard ducks
and drakes on the river just in front of the Fort with one
shot, at a distance of about thirty-five yards. This was the
record shot for Qu'Appelle, and he often told the story and

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 73
pointed out the spot on the river, and the exact place he stood
when he "opened up" on the ducks, killing every one in the
flock. His statement was duly vouched for by the cook, David
Chambers, who plucked, stuffed, and roasted them. Pot shoot
ing was not considered good sportsmanship, but I have often
seen from four to six ducks brought down with both barrels
in flight shooting, which will give you an idea of how numerous
the birds were during the evening flights. There were few
white servants at the Fort. Mostly half-breeds and Indians
were employed. Charlie Favel, Sam Geddes, old Geordie
Thorne, Antoine Sayr, Peter LaPierre, John Ross, Henry
McKay, the Boss, David Chambers, and myself, comprised all
the regular engaged servants for that winter. There were also
a few Indians for temporary odd jobs. I spent the winter
making doors and windows and other inside finishings neces
sary for the new store, office and clerks ' quarters, which I had
come to build, utilizing any of the men that I required to give
me assistance. The Mounted Police had their barracks on the other side
of the valley opposite the Fort. They were very friendly and
visited the Fort regularly spending many a social evening
with us. It was here I first met Sam Steele, Sam Donaldson,
M. P., Major Walsh, Major Walker, Captain Griesbach, Tom
Baker, Jack Leader, Capt. Jack French, and many others of
the Mounted Police officers and constables, all men of .sterling
worth, who had pioneered and protected the country since
1874. Many individual acts of bravery and courage were
then to the credit of the force at many of the outlying posts
and on their patrol routes. Too much praise cannot be handed
down in history to all the members of the N. W. M. P. force in
the early days of scattered settlements throughout the ter
ritory. They were the riders of the plains who never missed
the bringing to justice of the man or woman they went after.
very often single handed.

74 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
It was a great winter in the settlement; everybody had
lots of grub and dancing, which was the chief enjoyment, was
on nearly every night, at some house or other. The people had
nothing else to do but make merry during the week, go to
mass on Sunday, and observe the numerous church holidays. I
knew several of the men, having met them before on their
freighting trips to Fort Ellice, so I soon got acquainted all
round the settlement and along with the others took in many
of the dances. There was quite a lot of excitement during
the winter. A report had come through that the railway
was heading straight for the Fort, and that Fort Qu'Appelle
was to be made the capital. Real estate men began to arrive
from Winnipeg and Portage La Prairie by dog trains. They
were all very- mysterious. Everyone had something "up his
sleeve" so they would lead you to believe. General Rosser,
chief engineer of the C. P. R., also came through with two or
three dog trains, and that settled it, the railway was coming
here sure. Travelling in the engineer's wake eame all kinds
of land sharks, some with dog trains and some with horses
and flat sleds, and all kinds of conflicting stories got abroad.
These foxy newcomers lost no time in taking options on the
half-breed squatters' rights. Some squatted on homesteads.
and hiring men to build shacks and do other improvements, it
made no difference to them whether it was surveyed or not.
as they intended to sell to the next outfit that came through.
Every man could see a town site on his special location. Get
rich quick and get rich often was the password and watch
word. It created a lot of business round the Fort. They all had
to get supplies, guides, dogs, horses, or something, and the
bulk of them had letters of credit from Winnipeg, and these
went to it like so many madmen, as long as their letter of
credit lasted. It's true there had been a trial line run in to the
Fort by some of the C. P. R. location survey parties, but there
was nothing authentic about it at all, and the Railway con
struction was then only a little west of Brandon. But it was

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 75
a booming winter at Fort Qu'Appelle, and the whole thing
purely speculative. The snow was pretty deep, and many of
those who had come into our country had a pretty tough time
before they got back to their homes again.
It was a wonderful winter, and many of the natives and
half-breeds who had never seen or heard of a railway expected
to see this wonderful iron horse come snorting up the valley
into the Fort at any time, crushing everything that impeded
his progress in his headlong speed.
I started building the new store very early in the Spring
and before midsummer we had it completed and the new stock
moved in, with ample accommodation both in room and supplies
for the large increase in customers that had taken place during
the year. A very large business was being done. It kept four
clerks busy in the store all the time. Very few of the old plain
hunters went out after buffalo that spring although a few stray
herds were still reported farther west. Neither did the Com
pany send out any trading supplies to the plains, as was the
usual custom. A much larger quantity of freight than usual
had to come from Ellice to meet the increased business, so
many of the old hunters turned their attention to freighting.
They owned plenty of carts and horses and could make several
trips during the summer. They all made good money at it, and
brought up stacks of freight, some loaded for Touchwood
Hills, others for Carlton, Prince Albert, Edmonton and other
points farther north and west. They made a general clean-up
from Fort Ellice that year of all accumulated freight and sup
plies. Every frontier post and district had increased their
requisitions in anticipation of the increased business require
ments, and then some of them were short before the next outfit
came through. I started building the office, with clerks ' quar
ters upstairs, immediately after the new store was occupied.
and had it finished throughout, ready for occupation before
Christmas, so I had a fairly busy summer, and there was no
more new buildings to go up that year. Half of the freight

76 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
was generally advanced at Fort Ellice, the other half at Post
of destination, all in goods of course out of the store, this alone
kept the clerks pretty busy. The squatters and townsite specu
lators had also had a busy year, but I don't think many of them
had a very profitable one. Plenty of little shacks, built of
poles, dotted the plain for miles around the Fort to show where
men had taken up land and marked their claims. Some of them
only built two or three rounds of poles, just enough to mark the
spot where their fortune was to be made, then left for the south
in the fall, after having spent all their savings. A great many
of them never came back again, they had got cooled off and
no doubt were trying some easier marks in new and more
lucrative pastures, where the call of the North did not give
them so intense a passion to live close with nature, as it had
done a couple of years before.
Not having at the moment any pressing carpenter work
to do, Mr. McLean asked me to work in the store, as they
were shorthanded for the Christmas trade. This was then my
winter job, except when something turned up that required
my attention in the workshop, but the greater part of my time
was spent in the store, until the following Spring. The year
Which followed was a busy one at Fort Ellice and Qu'Appelle.
for both the officers and men. Chief Commisioner Graham
made a hurried trip to Qu'Appelle early in the Spring, no
doubt to size up the situation for himself, as Mr. Armit, the
secretary from London, was expected out before the 31st of
May. Later Mr. Armit and D. A. Smith arrived at Fort Qu'Ap
pelle, where they met Chief Factor McDonald, and were in
consultation with Mr. McLean for a day or so. I was detailed
by Mr. McLean to drive them all out to the end of the con
struction line, which was then somewhere in the vicinity of
Indian Head, where they had arranged to meet a construction
train at a certain time. We saw the train arrive about, fifteen
minutes ahead of us. Donald A. Smith said to me, "Well done
McKenzie. We have made the connection as near time as Sir

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 77
George Simpson could do with his canoes and Indian crews."
Mr. Armit handed me a five dollar gold piece. I saw them
safely aboard the caboose of the ballast train which had been
provided for them, and turned my team towards Fort Qu'Ap
pelle, quite satisfied with my luck.
I learned on the following day that the upshot of all these
hurried conferences had been that Fort Qu'Appelle had been
made the headquarters of the District; that Chief Factor
McDonald and his whole staff of clerks were coming up to as
sume charge, and that Mr. McLean was to be transferred to
the charge of Fort Ellice, all of which took place in due course
without any friction or loss of time.
Drever and Calder eame up with the Boss, and we were
all together again. My contract had expired, and my first
concern was to see the Boss as soon as I could after his ar
rival. He congratulated me on the work I had done in the Dis
trict, being perfectly satisfied with me, and said he would
grant me a new contract for three years, raise my salary to
sixty pounds, and promote me to the position of postmaster
in the service.
This position had nothing to do with the post office, but
simply established my status as being competent and capable
to take charge of aj post anywhere in the service; it also gave
me the right to all the privileges of the officers' mess. I
signed the contract which was dated back to the first of June,
1881. I was now a junior officer and had my first meal at the
officers' mess in the Big House with Drever and Calder as
my right and left hand supporters. The grub was the same
quality that I was used to in the men's house, only it was
cooked and served by David Chambers, whose pet name was
Cap. Fort Qu'Appelle became quite a village in a very short
time. It had several stores, blacksmith shop, flour mill and
doctors, a school, lawyers, splendid hotel, restaurants, and
everything else that goes to make up a well-appointed village.

78 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
It also possessed a town hall and many fine residences, but
it did not become the capital, and the railway passed about
twenty miles south of it.
General Rosser and Secretan had said they did not see
the utility of crossing rivers and running down into deep
valleys for the fun of pulling out of them again ; so they skirted
all rivers and valleys as much as they could, and kept to the
open prairies where construction was less expensive and
progress more rapid. This was the final and great reason that
the C. P. R. did not go to Fort Qu'Appelle, and also the reason
that Fort Qu'Appelle is not the capital of Saskatchewan today.
Hon. Edgar Dewdney, who was Lieut.-Governor and In
dian Commissioner at this time was looking up a site for a
capital and was strongly in favour of Fort Qu'Appelle. He
camped on the south bank of the valley behind the Fort for
several weeks with his staff. Everyone thought the selection
of a capital had been made when one day he moved camp and
pitched his tents on the banks of the Pile of Bones Creek,
where Regina is situated today. A more bleak or miserable
location as his new camping ground was at that time could
hardly be imagined as a site for the Capital. It was supposed
he had his instructions from the capital, Ottawa. There it is,
anyway. Business continued good as usual, increasing in volume
as new settlers arrived. Drever knew all the Indians and half:
breeds, so it was like home-coming to him to be back at Qu'
Appelle again. My duties lay now in and around the stores
and trading shop. Calder, when not too busy in his office,
would sometimes come in and give us a hand. The Boss him
self supervised everything generally, inside and outside of
the Fort. He had many deputations of Indians and half-breeds
to see him daily, discussing trade and other changing condi
tions, which were rapidly taking place all over the country,
conditions which the then old timers could not help but view
with some suspicion and alarm.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 79
So we all went merrily along, trading, freighting, driving,
riding and fishing, everyone carrying on after his own bent
and purpose. Business was good and everything looked rosy.
Old Geordie Thorne was born in the service and had been
around Qu'Appelle all his life. He was always at the beck
and call of everybody. He was a most trustworthy, faithful
and reliable servant, looking after the cows, hens and horses,
and doing general odd jobs. He considered everything around
the Fort his own private property, called them "my cows,"
"my horses," "my rigs," etc. He hac^ never learned to count
farther than ten; anything beyond that he described "Plenty,
many perhaps, two tree million by gosh." He was afraid of
the Priest, and never missed going to church every Sunday
morning. Anyone he did not know, he would describe as
"that d — d stupid English fellow." He was very much
troubled with toothache at this time as his ivories had been
reduced to roots and a few stumps. We induced him, one
day, to allow the doctor to extract them, and make him a
new set. The new set did not fit him very well, but he had
no more toothache. He used to hang his artificial teeth up
in the stable, when he was working around the cow's and
horses. One day he forgot them, and one of the cows got hold
of them, chewed them, and rendered them useless. In order
to punish the cow for her misdemeanour old Geordie did not
milk her for two days, and lectured her most severely in
French, English and Indian.
While he was making her do penance the cook slyly
milked the cow without the old man's knowlege. Geordie had
a daughter at Riding Mountain whom he had not seen for
years. One day he took a notion that he would like to visit
her, so the Boss arranged the trip for the old man. He arrived
at his daughter's place, and was about to return again to
Qu'Appelle when he took suddenly ill with acute indigestion.
He lived only a few hours, and was buried at Riding Mountain.
He was a most inoffensive, good-natured and good living old

80 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
man, a little weak in the intellect, but one of those noble char
acters of genuine simplicity and honesty, who lived and died
for the Company and Church, totally ignorant of what we
call education. His life often appealed to me, as he was with
out a worry or care in the world, and always happy. He knew
nothing except what he saw, but had an excellent memory.
We all missed old Geordie very much.
By now the Indians were getting pretty well settled on
the Reserves west of the Fort at the end of the upper lake,
PasqUa, Miscow-e-petung, and Piapot were the three chiefs.
The latter with his band was giving the Government officials
quite a lot of trouble, as they did not wish to settle on any
Reserve, preferring to wander all over the plains as was their
customary mode of living. They were eventually made to
understand that if they did not remain on the Reserve they
would not be helped as the other Indians were being helped
by the Government. The other reserves east of the Fort at
File Hills had chiefs Little Black Bear and Starblanket. They
all soon became accustomed to living and doing a little work
on the Reserves, under the guidance and supervision of the
various farm instructors, and Indian agents, who were being
appointed and placed among them to teach them the science
of agriculture, stock-raising, house-building, and sanitary con
ditions generally so as to enable them to be or become partially
self-supporting at some future period. There were plenty of
Indians around the store every day and horse racing was the
favourite pastime, many times from fifteen to twenty horses
running in a bunch and all out for blood. Many horses
changed hands in the betting on the winner.
The Treaty was paid about the middle of July, which
stimulated trade to its highest* notch for a week or ten days
The Indians were all good spenders, and held nothing back for
a rainy day. It also gave a fresh impetus to horse-racing and
gambling generally.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 81
Late in the fall, some Indians came up from Crooked Lakes
to trade some furs which they had secured. Nepapinace, an
ex-servant of the Company, was one of them. He was a splen
did looking man, over 6 feet, 3 inches, muscular and straight
as an arrow with a rather good face, which appeared to wear
a fixed smile, and a decided Roman nose. These Indians all
knew Mr. McDonald and Drever very well. They turned in
their furs, which I entered up in the day book. However, they
did not seem to be in any hurry to start trading. After they
had smoked some of the tobacco which the Boss had presented
to them, he took them all over to his office, and asked Drever
to go along to interpret.
The Indians of that day were peculiar characters. If
they wished to talk about the simplest thing, the first thing
they did was to light their pipes and start smoking and con
tinue smoking in silence for some time. Then the one who had
been chosen to speak would stand up and begin his oration,
about long ago and far away and gradually come to what he
intended to say. So you had to sit and listen in patience to
many a long-winded yarn that would invariably end up with
a request by the speaker to be advanced five dollars worth of
goods on account of his hunt or Treaty money. This was
what was called "taking debt." ' They were great thinkers
and good judges of human character, their bumps of observa
tion and caution being in most instances highly developed,
therefore they were careful not to spring any request until
they were almost sure it would be granted.
In this particular instance it was not debt they wanted
but a whole store of goods which they were aspiring to land
at Crooked Lakes. The upshot of the whole session was, that
they were sent up by other Indians to inform the Boss that
either Qu'Appelle or Fort Ellice was too far away, and they
wanted him to give them a store at Crooked Lakes, and a man
to look after it for the Company, and trade with them, they

82 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
on their part promising that they would not trade with anyone
else but the Company if he would/ do this.
The proposition looked feasible enough to Mr, MacDpna.ld,
as by this time quite a number of the best hunters were lpeated
on the Crooked Lakes Reserves, and there were several free
traders moving about the country in the vicinity of many of
the Reserves. So Mr. MacDonald arranged with them at a
certain time wheu most of the Indians would be back from
their foil hunt, he would send a man down with sufficient goods
tp supply them, and that Nepapinace would give up part pf
his house for the accommodation of the goods and man, and
would also asist the man in every way to look after the store
and help him with the trading. He would in any case keep the
store at his house until the Spring, which meant about the
end pf May, which was then the end of the financial year.
Nepapinace of course would be paid rent for his house,
and any other work he did or might be required of him, and
that as soon as they returned to their Reserve they would in
form the Indians of this arrangement1 and would all hold their
furs until the date set for the man and goods to arrive at
Nepapinace 's house. If no one arrived from the Fort at that
time then they could either come up tp the Fort to trade, or
otherwise dispose of their furs and the deal would be off. The
arrangement was quite satisfactory to Nepapinace or "Night
Bird" and his companions, and they agreed that as they had
spoken so would they act, and sealed the bargain with a hand
shake all round. It was all done verbally, and was as valid
and binding between the Company and Indians at all times
as any written bond could be. The Indians finished their
trading next day, and started back for Crooked Lakes iu
good spirits, having had greater success than tbey expected
and would not in future have so far to go to the stpre to trade
a few skins.
Another horse race was on for that day, but; they would
not stop over to take it in, their mission was at the moment

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO- 83
of much greater hnportance than any horse race. So they
galloped off to carry the good pews pf their new stpre to tbe
other Indians and their families at Crooked Lakes.
Hughie McBeath . had been transferred to the charge of
Egg Lake Post for the winter and several other transfers
throughput the District had been made some time agp, every
one supposed tp be .at their allotted Post wberg they were going
to, and long ago settled down for the wipt.er trade. Crooked
Lakes was altogether an unforeseen proposition.
The fishing at the Fort was exceptionally gopd that fall.
We had stacks of whitefish and the stages at the different' fish
ing stations were all pretty well loaded. The smallest mesh
used was 4% inches, so the fish caught were pretty nice lots.
M&W of the half-breeds smoked part of their catch for their
own use, and we very often had for breakfast smpked baked
whole whitefish, baked potatoes in their jackets, fresh made
butter, tea and toast. I just mention this to show that our
menu was all the best of country produce, except the tea.
It was drawing near to Christmas week again. A num
ber of hunters were turning up ; business was good and every
one busy. A couple of new clerks had arrived and old Peter
LaPierre had also turned in to lend a hand and do any extra
interpreting that might be wanted in the office. Sp we had
a full staff gping strong. A day or two before Christmas the
Boss told me the arrangement he had made with Nepapinace
and that he was going to send me down tp Crooked Lakes in
charge of the goods which were aU packed in small bales
and ready for shipment. I yeas to take two men and five horses
and flat sleds and leave the day after Xmas, as I had to
arrive at Nepapinace 's house pn New Year's Day, in the morn
ing. I was to stay there until Spring. He also gaye me de
tailed instructions regarding the business, but I was supposed
to use my own judgment in accordance with conditions and
circumstances which might arise that he had not instructed
me in. I was sorry to miss the Xmas week at the Fort, as

84 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
there were elaborate preparations for a good time that year.
but I was also willing to go and anxious to demonstrate my
ability to make good in the position I was promoted to as
Postmaster. Drever and Calder gave me good encouragement. They
said they knew the Boss had confidence in me, and that I
would come back with flying colours in the spring, this was
the chance of my life, etc., etc.
David Thorne, an Indian and myself started with five
loaded sleighs and ponies about noon the day after Xmas. We
followed the valley all the way down. After we got past the
settlement we had no trail, and the snow was fairly deep, so
we did not make very good time. The horses were not very
fat, and had to paw among the snow for their feed, so we
did not make many miles a day, as we had pretty heavy loads
on three of the sleds. I did not want to play the horses out as
they had to go right back to Qu'Appelle. There were lots of
tracks of deer and foxes, all the way down the valley after
we left the settlement and I was praying that the Indians
would have lots of fur to trade when we arrived. The weather
was nice and mild, and we were progressing fine. The snow
was loose and no crust. The distance from the Fort to Nepap
inace 's was about seventy miles. David Thorne had never
been down the valley beyond the settlement before, but the
Indian had, and knew all the twists and turns of it. It was
not all plain sailing, we had some pretty tough places for
the ponies to get over with their loads, through scrub and over
cut bank creeks. We could not follow the river for any dis
tance at a time, as it was very crooked. We travelled on the
river once for about two hours, and when we stopped we were
not thirty yards from where we had made our camp-fire at
dinner time. We eventually arrived at the west end of
Crooked Lake at noon, on the 31st day of December. The In
dian said we would have to go about halfway down the lake
to camp that night, and then by starting early the following

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 85
morning we would reach Nepapinace 's before noon. After
David interpreted all this to me, I felt good, and determined
to arrive good and early, and make the arrangement good
that Mr. MacDonald had made with them.
We came across lots of wolf, fox and deer tracks on the
lake, and a great many rabbit tracks in the bush along the
North Shore where we were travelling. We killed several that
afternoon and had a fine hot supper. We were able to make
a couple of miles farther down the lake before we camped than
we expected, and ran across some snowshoe tracks. We also
saw where a couple of dog trains had passed that day, all head
ing in the direction we were going, coming on to the lake
from the North side of the valley. So we decided to camp
for the night and make an early start in the morning.
The stars were still shining when we pulled out of camp,
the lead pony followed the dog sled track, the Indian said
the track was going straight towards Nepapinace 's. In about
an hour or so the ponies began to move along quite a bit brisker
and faster. They had caught the smell of the Indian camp
fires just as we were leaving the lake and daylight breaking,
this being the coldest time of the day, just before sunrise, and
it was pretty sharp that morning, our ponies were all grey with
frost on their long hair. They had also warmed up a little
in their excitement.

86 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER X.
About a couple of hours after sunrise we arrived at Nepap
inace 's place in a nice little bluff on the banks of the Qu'Ap
pelle river, New Year's morning, 1883. There were about
twenty tents in the camp; altogether eighty-seven souls. Some'
of them had arrived three days ago and some the previous
night, whose tracks we had been following. After unhitching
our ponies and throwing some hay over the fence to them;
we' hung up our harness on the trees to keep it frbm the dogs
that sdemed to be around in hundreds, all more or less useful,
bdt the brefed was simply Indian cur, snarling; snapping, poor
and; hungry. Some of the hunters had been out early and al
ready killed three or four black tail or jumping deer, which
were then being brought in.
Nepapinace met us with his great' big smile, and gave us a
hearty welcome, and told David Thorne to tell me that the1
Indians had a large quantity of fur to trade. Ha appeared to
be more than glad that we had arrived. Everybody knew that
it was New Year's day; and that this was the day that th<.
gtore was going to arrive, and here it was, oh timd.
Shakhi£ hands all around was of course the first act, theti
giVihg everybody some tea, sugar, and tobacco, and hoisting
the Union Jack on a fairly long flag pole that Nepapinace had
placed for that purpose some time before. These were not the
Indians that I had supposed were being taken in from the
plains, but a band of Saulteaux who had always hunted up
and down the valley and to the North, very seldom having
hunted on the great plains. They had their wintering quarters
for years somewhere in the vicinity of where I now found
them camped. I knew several of them, having met them often
at Fort Ellice. They were known as Sakimays (Mosquito)
band, and were a dandy lot of strong hunters, and very peace
loving Indians, always keeping away from the more war-like
and restless Indians.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 37
I Was known to them all as Me-tik-o-nappie (carpenter),
I could now hear my name all over the camp. They all recog
nized me at once, and hefe I was among many of my old Ellice
friends. Nepapinace 's house was not very large, only one room
about 18 x 20 feet, flat sod roof, but they had two large buffald
skin tents pitched outside, where they and the family gen
erally slept. The house was as clean as a new pin. Mrs.
Nepapinace, who Was also a very pleasant and kind woman,
had in the meantime boiled the kettle^ giving us some nice
venison that had been killed Some days before, with bannock
and tea. Everyone in the camp was now busy drinking tea,
snlPking and eating, so David Thorne, our Indian and myself
piled into our New Year's dinner, such as it was, and we
were glad to have it; We had unlashed our sleighs, spread
the wrappers on the floor of the house, opened up all our
goods, and arranged them on pole shelves at One end of the
room. After dinner we began trading, I first took in all their
furs, entered them in my day book, and opened accounts with
everyone Who had furs. I had a big pile of furs When I got
through this operation. Then David and Nepapinace started
handing out the goods that each one wanted, while I did the
charging up to each account as they Were supplied. There was
no twine or Wrapping paper Wasted, each man's purchases Were
just thrown in a pile on the floor, When his credit was done he
simply gathered his stuff up in his arms and hiked it away to
his tent, where he and his family (if he had any) could do
the admiring act, and divide the spoil.
When we had finished paying them all, we. had very little
goods left over, just some tea and tobacco and a few odds and
ends. I had a big bunch of first class assorted furs. It was
the first big trade that 1 had ever conducted, and I had the
feeling that I had been eminently successful, and the Indians
were more than pleased. The whole trade only lasted three
or four hours, and I had spent all the supplies that was sup-

88 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
posed to have lasted me until Spring, but I had the full value
of them in furs, and that was what the Company wanted.
Nepapinace was tickled to death. He laughed and clapped
his hands when the last Indian had finished trading, "Good,
good," he said, " O-nish-e-shin-boy, McDonnan, she be glad
for dat plenty fur, O-nish-e-shin. " I started to check
and sort over the fur pile at once, and started David and the
Indian to bale them up ready to ship to the Fort. They were
chiefly red fox, lynx, wolves, mink, rats, fisher marten, wol
verine and a few dressed moose and red deer skins. The In
dians were having a merry New Year feast, the beating of
drums and singing continued far into the night in most of the
tents. By midnight we had everything baled up and ready
for shipping, next day. It took me well on towards daylight
before I had finished all the papers and reports and requisi
tions that I had to send back with the shipment, as I had made
up my mind to send to the Fort at once for another outfit, at
least twice as large as the one I had just disposed of. My let
ters to the Boss giving him reasons and full information of the
whole transaction, and the arrangements I had made with the
Indians to meet them again in the Spring, giving full details of
all my future intentions up to Spring and asking for his ap
proval. The following day I started David and the Indian
with two of the best ponies and sleds back to the Fort, loaded
with fur. I had sold the other ponies and sleds to the Indians,
hitched up as they stood. The Indians had high hopes of a
much larger hunt before they returned again in the Spring,
and that band pitched off on the North side of the valley, over
the Pheasant Plains towards the Beaver Hills, where furs of
all kinds were very plentiful that winter. I heard nothing
from the Fort until about the middle of February when the
men arrived again with a big outfit for me. The letters from
the Boss were everything that could be desired. He was
more than pleased with the results of my expedition, and ap
proved of all the suggestions I had submitted him for further

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 89
operations. He gave me carteblanche to carry on the trade till
spring in the way that I proposed, as he considered it would
be in the best interests of the Indians as well as the Company,
and wished me the best of luck. I need not say how pleased
I was to getj those letters and to know that so far 1 had given
him entire satisfaction. I also saw that he was putting greater
responsibility upon me, and it was up to me to make good.
A few days after the Indians had pitched off, John Setter
turned up from the Home Farm, where he was still looking
after the widows and orphans and other destitutes on this
36 x 12 block of reservations. I was very glad to meet
him again, although I had learned quite a number of Indiau
words and names, yet I was unable to carry on any kind of
an intelligent conversation, although I was studying hard and
could already spring a few sentences, even if I sometimes had
to quit cold. Before spring, however, I could hold my own,
and did not need an interpreter any more in either Salteaux,
Cree or French. I had to work hard day and night to get
this part of my education which was most necessary for
me if I wished to succeed. Mr. Setter spent a few hours
with me, and among other things told me that there were
now nearly four hundred plain Indians wintering and camping
on the different reserves, which comprised this block of land.
Some of them were very destitute and it kept him busy travel
ling all the time among them from one reserve to another.
He had come around that way to see if I could give him
some tea and tobacco, as he was short of both at the home
farm. As luck would have it, tea and tobacco was about all
my stock in trade, but I was able to satisfy his requirements.
He said he would visit me often as the Farm House was only
five or six miles back on the hill, and asked me to go and
visit him. He was, he told me, sure only of being at home.
on Saturdays or Sundays, as on those days he gave out rations
at the farm. Nearly all the rest of the time he was travelling
from one camp to another. I saw a good deal of him for the

90 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
balance of the winter, and made many trips with him when
he was making his founds, and thus got well acquainted with
all the Indians, which was of great value to me during the
folldwing year; as I made it my business to know every one
of them personally, and consequently got all the trade that
any of them had to offer. There was always something to
trade amongst the poorest of them, and as long as I lived
on those reserves they always gave me the first chance, and
as I was there for the purpose of securing their good-will
and trade for the H. B. C. I left no stones unturned to gain
that end, by dealing fairly and squarely with them all.
Nepapinace wanted to build a new house, and thought
While he had a carpenter staying with him that the time Was
ripe. I offered to give him every assistance and Work at it
along With him until We had it finished. So I drew up an
estimate Of the number Of logfe, sleepers, and roof poleS it
would require. To build a house at that time required ohly
the labour as all the raw material was in the bush right along
side of us. I drew a rough plan of a one-and-a-half storey
building with two large bedrooms Upstairs. We all went at
it; and had all the material ready in a short time. We fin
ished the house and the owner was living in it before I left
them in May. He niade lots oi: money out of the house later
on as a Stopping place for settlers going north from Broad
view to the settlements nOrth of the valley. He also put up
good stables and became prosperous.
In due season my new outfit of goods arrived. The packers
had a pretty hard trip as it was pretty cold and the snow
had got deep; but, as David said, they had got through at
lohg last, and had brought me lots Of nice English goods this
time. Mr. McDonald sent me a young half-breed boy, Sam Sayi-;
who would stay with me till spring as he would be useful
and handy for me in many ways. I knew Sam. He was one
of the servant's sons at the Fort. He was a good boy and

MEN Otf ttiE HUDSON *S BAY CO; Si
Served me very well. I wa& to return David Thorne and
the dthfers and I OOUld keep as many of thfe horses and sleds
as I might require. This w&k all 0. K. as I wahted mofe horses
and sleds for the Indies.
After they had rested & left days, and visited around, I
sent David and the two Indians back with one horse and sled
and a small pack of fUfS that I had collected. All the" other
horses and sleds I kept, I opened up only Suck goods as I
reqhired to pay for the few skins which were beginning to
eoine in from the scattered plain Indians. I had found but
what the Indians did not see, they did not desire and besides
I wanted to keep a good outfit fOr the Indians 1 was sure
would bring in a big hunt, arid I could hot now; on account
Of the deep snow, get any more supplies from Qu'Appelle and
had to make what gOods I had spin out until I had completed
the spring trade.
I Was making good progress in learning the language,
at least I Was trying to speak it all the tiine, and would say
anything Whether it was fight or wrbrig, and many a good
laugh Nepapinace and his wife and children had at my ex
pense. To Show how hard I was Studying it, I would often
dfeanl in Indian and carry tm a conversation which I could
not then do ih my waking moments. MfS. Nepapinace, after
giving me a long lesson, one day said: "Ih ahothef mbnth
you will speak Indian as gbod as I can." I quite understood
what she had said, and I replied in as good Indian as I ever
spoke afterwards, "If that is true, I Will give you the best
shawl in th<3 stole."
John Setter; who was there, said something to her in Cfee
which I did not quite Catch, ahd they laughed ahd laughed.
Nepapinace came in and they told him the whole story ovei.
again, and then they laughed again. Setter would not be
lieve his ears that I cOuld speak Indian like that so quickly,
and Said to me in English, ''Give hef the shawl how, you will
never speak better Indian than you have juSt now." He was

92 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
quite satisfied with my proficiency, he taught me a few sentences
when we were traveling together among the destitute Indians.
Mrs. Nepapinace had been teaching me this special sentence
at intervals for several days and I had it down pat, and was
anxious to show off before Mr. Setter. My teacher did not
give it away either that she had been teaching me this special
sentence, which was one of her jokes on me that time. I made
her choose the best shawl in the store, and that was all my
Indian education ever cost me. Mr. Setter used to say to
me, "Dear me, what a fun we had about that shawl." The
joke was on me that time.
¦ Since the horses and sleds had come down Sam Sayr and
I had travelled a good deal, and visited all the Indians several
times, as well as dropping in on Mr. Setter on Saturdays
when he was feeding his flock as he used to call the old
widows. We would play a game of euchre with him, and have
a cup of tea, and exchange news about the conditions of things
at the different camps we had visited during the week.
Early in March one of the Sakimay Indians arrived on
snowshoes. He told us that they had good luck but were
short of some things; they had a lot of fur, also venison.
They were about fifteen miles out, and wanted me to go out
to see them and bring a few commodities which they re
quired, and to bring back their fur and as much venison as I
desired. They also asked that I bring them two horses and
two sleds.
This was good news and I agreed to start back with the
Indian in the morning. We took three sleds and the Indian,
Sam Sayr and myself started in the morning, arriving at their
camp before nooh. Everything was as the Indian had told
tne. They all had lots of stuff and were afraid that the fur
might get wet coming on towards spring. I fixed up every
thing with them, and was going to return that night, but
one sled would not bring back all the stuff I had got from them,
so I had to borrow the two sleds I had just sold them, and

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 93
they gave me two fresh horses and another Indian to go
with us and bring the two horses and sleds back to the camp
the following day. So back we started with three loaded
sleighs. I had made a big trade again, and had told each one
of the Indians how his account stood. A final settlement
and square-up would of course be made when they came back
in the spring, the hunting season over. I felt quite tickled
over the success of my trip. It was late before we got back,
but the whole transaction had taken place within the twenty-
four hours. Nepapinace and his wife were just as pleased as I
was. They were certainly as much interested in the welfare
of the Company's business as if it was their own goods and
chattels, and looked upon me as some swift trader, as I never
went out on a trip anywhere lately but I brought lots back
with me for the Company. Mrs. Nepapinace would always
wind up by saying in Indian, " I 'm so glad that it was me that
taught you to speak the language so that you can now trade
properly with any of the Indians."
There was no shawl business in this speech, as I could
now hold my own with any of them, but nevertheless I handed
her over for a treat all round, two quarters of the fresh killed
venison we had just brought home, and the kettle was put
on to boil, a thing that happened very often in an Indian
camp. The spring opened up very quickly after this, and in
a week or ten days the snow had all gone. I travelled a good
deal on horse back now, up, down and across the reserves
everywhere. I visited all the Indians at their camps many
times and soon knew everyone of them personally and got to
be very much interested in all of them.
From reading some magazines that Mr. Setter had kindly
given me, I saw that senega or snake root was in great demand
in the States. It seemed to, be the chief composition in nearly
all patent medicines and we had many acres of it growing all
over the reserve; in fact there was an abundance of it all

94 MEN QF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
oyer the country. I lpiew the root well, as the Indians alway«
used it for their own medicinal preparations. I saw a good
chance here for the Indians to earn something out pf the
ground, especially the plain Crees, as they could n°t hunt
small furs with any degree of success, and here was a job that
thpy could work at all summer. The root was easy to dig,
being only about three inches long. All the diggers had to do
was to get a stick about two inches in diaineter, sharpen the
end of it to a point, then push it down alongside of the root
an(J turn the root out of the ground. The roots had to be
washed clean, spread out on a blanket and dried in the sun.
Sepega root was worth all the way from 25c to .85c per ppund.
I eyentually got all the women and children at this work and
sowe °f them made as much as $5 a day when they worked
aU day. Snake root digging soon became a great industry all
over the country where there were any Indians or half-breeds,
and in subsequent years many ,of the foreigners and white set
tlers were successful at it, for several years later when I would
be travelling ]>y rail, at any of the little stations from which
butter and eggs were shipped, you would always see a few
S,aeks of snake root in the shipment.
I think I was the first to start this snake root industry
jn Saskatchewan, and I bought and shipped many tons of it
to the United States from Crooked Lakes during the years
1884 tp 1888. The Indians did not require to be short of any
thing, aU they had to do was to go outside pf their tent and
dig snake root, yet it was surprising how many Jazy ones
were among them and these could not be induced to make
a living in this way- Work of any kind w,as beneath their
dignity ; they would not hesitate to crib a few pounds of what
sojoos old cripple woman had dug, washed, dried and prepared •
if tbey saw a favourable opportunity. I have seen things lik§
tMs happen many a time, duriug my life, and not always among
Indians either (neither is it always a matter of snake root,
perhaps it is a foiling that has, apd still exists among some of

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO- 95
the dignified personages pf importance that still prey uppn
the property pf others).
The grass was now beginning tp grow, and crocuses were in
gr§at profusion all over. The Indians were niovnig their tents
pn to pice clean patches pf prairie, also a few parties had ar
rived from the plains tp take up residence op the reserve,
after having spent a hard winter in their fruitless search for
bpffalp, although ducks and geese were plentiful.
They aU had a few skins to trade such as skunk, badger,
musquash, and some deer skins;, although individually they
did not have much to trade, yet being the only trader my col
lection of furs and curios were perceptibly increasing and I
kept moving from one camp to another gathering up, so that
I would be ready tP start back tp Fort Qu'Appelle as soon as
my otljer Indians wpuld' arrive after their spring hunt.
One day they all arrived early in the afternpon. Every
one pf them had made a splendid hunt. They were aU well,
paying had no sickness pr deaths; there were qnit-e a number
of births. They had made a considerable quantity of staple
sugar, the spring being exceptionally favourable. My first
duty was tp shake hands all round with big and small, then
give them some tea and tobacco and other provisions enough
fpr a meal all round ; then they opened their packs and handed
me pver all their furs to check up so that they could start
trading as soon as they had something to eat.
I was more than pleased with the quantity. It was far
igpre than I expected and in quality it was all first class stuff.
I fixed up all their agcpunts and Nepapinace and Sam Sayr
were busy opening UP the gopdp that I had reserved for them.
When everything was ready to start trading I called them
ip from thejr tents, when Nepapinace and Mrs. Nepapinace,
Sam Sayr and myself had a few busy hours. The Indians
were talking, laughing, trading, and telling their winter and
gpfimg ne^s all at the same time. Blankets, prints, shirts,
handkerchiefs, vermillion, looking glasses, tea, tobacco, shot

96 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
powder, gun caps, guns, and a hundred and one other things
were all going like wild fire as quick as we could hand them
out. You will perhaps wonder how I could keep tab in such
a rush? It is quite easy when you know how to do it, and
the harder you rush the easier it is. It takes practice to become
a good Indian trader, some being more expert than others in
giving satisfaction. There is none quicker than an Indian to
detect an error, and you must learn to trade with them without
making any errors, as he checks up all his purchases many
times after he goes back to his tent. A mistake could scarcely
occur as the trading was nearly all done in even amounts of
dollars, pounds or shillings unless you were trading in the
made beaver or skin systems, whieh is much simpler and
easier understood by the old Indians, than the currency sys
tems. The main object in trading if you wish to gain and
retain the confidence of the Indian is to make no mistakes,
and always give him a square deal and honest weight, although
some times he may try to get the better of you, especially if
he owes you a debt.
A good trader will quite understand what I mean. Square
dealing does not always work both ways, but you must always
give a square deal. The big spring trade which I had so anx-
iouly looked forward to was all over, I had cleaned up and
paid for everything, had no goods left, having sold everything,
horses and sleds included. Sam and I had even to part with
all our bedding and blankets to complete the trade. All the
Indians on the reserve knew that as soon as this bunch came
in I would be starting back for the Fort, so a great number
of them arrived during the time that the trade was going
on, for the purpose of asking me to come back with a big store
at Treaty time as they wanted the store to be on the reserve
all the time; this was also the unanimous wish of all the
Indians. I told them that I would tell the Boss as soon as I arrived
at the Fort and most likely he would do as they wished and

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 97
I would send word back by the Indians that I had hired to
take me up to the Fort, whether a store would be sent down
again or not, but in the meantime let them keep on digging
snake root so that there would be something to trade if the
store did come soon. So on that understanding I parted with
them all. Everything packed in bales and loaded on the carts,
we started for Qu'Appelle. I was feeling good. I had had
great luck, had done well, and was naturally anxious to see
the Boss, and hand him my reports, giving an account of my
stewardship. Nothing eventful happened on our trip. It took
us three days, and we arrived at the Fort on the 12th of May.
we were welcomed back by the Boss and the staff. I handed
the Boss my accounts and report, then unloaded the carts into
the fur store. George Drever checked them in from the bill
of lading, when he was through, he said, ' ' Where is the balance
of the goods?" "The goods are all inside those bales that
you have checked in," I answered.
"Well, Mack," he said, "by the look of that you certainly
have done well. Come on in to the quarters. Your share
of what was left at Xmas is still here waiting for you. Man,
I 'm glad to see you back with us again. Sit doon, sit doon, an
mak yersel at home. Hurry up, Calder, because I must be
off to the store."
"All right, all right," said Calder,, "She is here all safe,"
and in a twinkling I heard a pop as the cork parted from
the bottle, and the invitation to help yourself was there and
then taken advantage of by the three of us, with judicious
care, three fingers being the limit, and here's a ho and down
she goes !
Calder said, "The Boss is mighty well pleased and sayr.
you have made a rattling trade, which fully justifies your pro
motion to postmaster. I guess there is another rise in sight for
you. He just handed me your accounts and I will get your
balance sheet out in a few minutes, and then we will see exactly
how your trade has panned out. Your room is all right and

98 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
by the time you get fixed up a bit I will have the balance
sheet ready. By Jove! We are all glad to see you back
again. Have another before we go?"
"No, thanks, no more just now."
"All right then I'll go, we will have more time after
business and the Boss! will likely want to see you in his office,
as soon as convenient for you, but he will send you word. He
is engaged with some one at present. Sure you won't have
another? All right then so long for the present, I will send
Cap over to give you a hair cut and a shave. He'll be glad
to see you, and when he is finished you better give him a horn.
you'll find the bottle over there behind the wash stand, and
a nice jug of fresh water, but I suppose you had lots of water
at Crooked Lakes. Good-bye again." And he was off down
stairs to his office.
Cap arrived and I was all fixed up in regulation style in
a short time. I also invited him up to the wash stand and
refreshed the inner man. Cap had to hurry back to his kitchen,
to get the evening meal ready. He said that with an increase
in the family he would be fairly worked to death until he got
me fed up a little. "You fellows coming in in the spring are
always hungry, and cause me no end of work, although I am
always glad to see you all, but I will do my best," and he
gave a very meaning glance at the wash stand.
' ' Well, I don 't mind if I do. I 'm not used to it you know.
but I have a bad cold today, and they say this stuff is good
to break up a cold." The cold duly surrendered to the at
tack, and his good health was fully restored (wonderful cure).
Sam Sayr had gone to see his father and mother and sis
ters. I had given him a half holiday to visit his friends and
to come and see me if he wanted anything from the store. I
met him just as I was leaving the quarters. He said he wanted
to give his father, mother and sisters a little present, that he
did not want his blankets and other things that we had traded.
but would like to get the value of them in other things from

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 99
the store. I said, "All right, Sam, come on to the store," and
I fixed him up with all he wanted, and he still had a small
credit left on account of wages. He was very glad as I paid
him the full price that I had charged the Indians, and he
could get new blankets now for the price of his old ones.
They were busy in the store that afternoon. A detach
ment of Mounted Police had just arrived from Fort McLeod,
and there were quite a number of other customers who were
strangers to me. I was going back towards the quarters when
the Boss called me to his office. He had gone over all my
accounts and report, also the balance sheet which Mr. Calder
had prepared for him. He was very much satisfied with the
whole Crooked Lakes adventure. It had turned out much
better than he had anticipated ; of course, the whole adventure
and results of same would be assumed by Fort Qu'Appelle,
nevertheless a distinct statement of the whole transaction
would appear in the Qu'Appelle Annual Accounts and that
Crooked Lakes would be established as a distinct Post from
the 1st of June at the beginning of the new outfit. He said
I better go to the store and settle with the Indians who had
brought me, back, so that they could go away in the morning
and also tell them that he would send a big store down there
in plenty of time for the Treaty payments. I asked him if
he would not tell this good news to the Indians himself, and
they would go back better satisfied, to assure their friends
that he had told them so with his own mouth. "They are
outside now," I said, "and are most anxious to speak with
you on the store subject."
"Well," he said, "perhaps that would be the best way.
Call them in."
It was all over in a minute. He told them hi a few words
what the Company would do, and what he expected the Indians
at Crooked Lakes to do.
I went to the store and settled up with them. I also made
up a parcel for Mr. and Mrs. Nepapinace and their children,

100 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
who had been so good to me during the time I stayed with
them, and sent it by these Indians who would be back at
Crooked Lakes in two days carrying the good news from the
Boss' own lips, who also gave them some tobacco for the chiefs
and headmen, which would verify their story. I was very glad
that everything had turned out so far without any delay.
It was now near supper time, and Crooked Lakes did not
require any more attention for a day or two. There were
other Posts in the District that required his more immediate
attention, and that I could give Drever a hand around the
stores for the next few days, when he would again take up
the matter. We had a very memorable reunion in the quarters
after the; stores and offices were closed for the night. Calder
and Drever warmly congratulated me on the showing of my
trading account and balance sheet. Drever knew all the In
dians among whom I had been working as well as many of
the plain Indians, who were going on the Crooked Lakes re
serve, and was asking me all about them. He had some good
friends amongst them who had often asked after him, and
many of them sent messages to him by me. In turn he told
me of the Qu'Appelle Indians and half-breeds, and their hunt
ing exploits. Since I had left the Fort, Calder had got a new
assistant in the office, a Mr. George Shute, an Irishman, and
the store had an addition in Albert Iredale, both very nice
fellows and good company.
Several boys came to visit at the quarters, spend the evening
and have a sing song, as they had an organ now, and some
very good musical evenings were enjoyed and appreciated
by all. It was certainly a treat to me, after having spent the.
past few months among the Indians, although I had also
learned to appreciate the sound of the torn torn and hi-ya-ya,
that I could adapt myself to the camp or the quarters and en
joy one as well as the other, each having, after all, its own .pe
culiarities, both interesting, and you could indulge in degrees

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 101
of comparison as to which you preferred, circumstances and
location of course, always having a governing control; soci
ability, business, friendship and duty being prizes at most
social gatherings where the male sex predominates and as
semble together for mental recreation.

102 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER XI.
I had no information as to whether I would be sent back
to Crooked Lakes or not. I belonged to the Qu'Appelle staff,
and went about my regular duties as usual. I did not stick
at any particular kind or class of work, but tackled anything
that required to be done, whether outside or inside the stores
or offices, and put all the energy I had into the Company's
best interests whatever the job in hand might be.
Drever and I used to go for many a long walk in the
evenings. Sometimes Calder would join us in our strolls around
the village and valley and around by the creek at the back of
the Fort. May 31st was the close of the Company's financial
year and May was a busy month at every Post in the country,
everything had to be on the stock sheets by midnight on the
31st, so consequently there was considerable, preparation dur
ing the latter part of the month for this annual tale telling,
which would disclose the net income of the Lady of Lime Street
for the current outfit, as per Profit and Loss account.
We had the fur press all ready and in good order for
the annual fur packing which Drever and I had to do ; we, of
course, had several helpers. The sorting, checking, and pack
ing of the furs required experienced and responsible men who
would see that all the furs were in proper condition to be
packed, that the proper quantities of the various assortments
and grades were correct, that the packs were properly made,
tied, cross lashed and ready for shipment to London. Drever
and I did this work together for several years in the month
of May, and we always called it our holiday.
The inventories and returns from all the Posts in the Dis
trict were now in, and all the furs shipped. Mr. Calder had
just put the finishing touches on, and closed the District Books.
The Boss had just completed his annual report on the trade
and condition of things generally, throughout his district,
which completed and accompanied the annual accounts which

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 103
were then promptly despatched to the Head Office, Winnipeg.
Swan River District held the record for years against all other
Districts, in being first to have its annual accounts arrive at
Winnipeg, also in the correctness of its accountancy. This
was a big feather in Mr. Calder's cap, and he never failed to
keep it up as long as he was District Accountant.
The stage was all clear now for the work of the new outfit.
Every Post in the District had contributed its proper share,
and the District made a good showing, which gave encour
agement to everyone to try his best for the next outfit and if
possible make a better showing. This was the spirit that
predominated among all the officers and employes from year
to year, in the good old days when you and I were young.
The Treaty payments at the different Posts was the next
harvest to gather in. Payments generally began about the
middle of July. Parliament could not vote the money before
the 1st of July as the Dominion financial year at that time
ended on June 30.
The Boss had not yet received advice of payment dates at
the various Posts in his district. We were giving out treaty
advances to the Indians attached to Fort Qu'Appelle since
the beginning of the new outfit, Drever and I looking after
the Indians, and Albert and the other clerks looking after the
white and other English speaking customers. Each day's
routine was somewhat similar but never monotonous; always
something doing. Every mother's son of an Indian was happy
and willing to pay his debts in full when treaty day ar
rived. So it made pleasant relations all round. Everyone was
honest, but when honesty began to disappear in later years,
trading in futures became more precarious and greater caution
and discrimination had to be exercised, and a book of "Who's
Who?" kept.
The treaty means that the Government pays every Indian,
man, woman, and child, five dollars in cash each, per annum,
as long as the "sun shines, grass grows, and water runs."

104 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Each band is allowed one chief and four headmen or council
lors ; for his service the chief receives twenty dollars and each
headman ten dollars extra per annum. Of course there are
many other things that the Government has been obliged to
supply them with, such as clothing, provisions, schools, agri
cultural implements, cattle, and many other things in order to
try and make them self supporting ; but the five dollars cash,
annually was the basic principle, to extinguish the Indians'
right and title, and made them wards of the government.
When Mr. McDonald was at home he generally made a
round of the store and warehouses once or twice a day to see
that everything was properly functioning. But th© work
of the District kept him pretty busy in his office most of
the time when he was not on an inspection trip to one or other
of its Posts. Mr. Calder would also make us periodical visits
during business hours, to check over some invoices, or get
some particulars of shortages or some damaged goods for which
he was having claims made out. He also had something to say
about cost landed sale prices, railway and inland freights,
and a lot of general details in connection withj the working of
the business with which we were immediately concerned. No
advances were given out by us to anyone except an order
signed either by the Boss or the Accountant, and so business
went merrily on, everyone playing his own part in a united
and harmonious whole.
In my early years, the Annual Indent or Requisition on
London covered everything for the year, and that was all you
received. Then came additional requisitions on Winnipeg fol
lowed by monthly, weekly and daily requisitions. Next came
telegraphing requisitions to be sent by express, perhaps two
or three times a day, then wireless requisitions and other com
munications from remote and inland Posts. At the present
time the Governor and Committee are considering the advis
ability of an airship transport service for passengers and
freight, to the more remote and inland Posts and Districts,

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. .105
which no doubt will be an accomplished fact before what I am
writing reaches the Public, and this all within the past forty-
four years.
Things have been moving forward with speed and we have
all been playing our little part in some way or other, that
will yet accomplish far more wonderful achievements in the
exploration of what at present is unknown and unthinkable at
our present stage of civilization, which will yet reach far be
yond our present conception into the unlimited and infinite
spaces of eternity.
Dear Reader, having soared with you into the spaees of
eternity, I must now get. back to earth and proceed forthwith
to Crooked Lakes.
The Boss had appointed me to establish and take charge
of the new Post at Crooked Lakes. Mr. Calder had presented
me with a set of new books, monthly statement forms and
other office supplies. The goods had all been shipped by C.
P. R. prepaid from Winnipeg to Broadview, where I was to
receive them. I took two wagons with all necessary supplies
and equipment from Qu'Appelle, and Johnnie Brass, David
Thorne, and Sam Sayr went with me. They were to remain
until after treaty anyway, when other arrangements might be
made. Finally the Boss handed me a large blue linen lined
envelope, containing invoices, shipping bills, Rules and Regu
lations and instructions, to govern and guide me in the dis
charge of my new duties, all of which he had talked over with
me before, so that there could be no misunderstanding. He
had explained everything very minutely to me in all its various
details. The envelope was properly sealed with three large
seals bearing the impress "Pro pelle cutem" and addressed
to the Clerk in Charge at Crooked Lakes, which was now my
official address.
"All aboard, get up Dick! Get up Tom!" The wagons
moved, and we were on the trail for Crooked Lakes. I felt
quite proud as I had every reason to be, and firmly resolved

106 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
in my own mind that if attention to duty, energy and faith
fulness would gain me a Chief Factorship in the years to
come, it would be mine, and I set that, there and then, as the
objective that I would aspire to and work for. Many others
have done the same thing in other walks of life and also
reached their goal. It is good when you start in life to have
an object in view even though you may never reach it. You
will come somewhere near it, if you stick faithfully to it. It
requires a lot of sacrifice and self-denial, many times along
the trail, but ultimately you have that greatest of all satis
faction of knowing that you have at least done your duty, and
that is worth more in your old age than untold riches, other
wise obtained.
The little lake near the farm house on Chief Little Child's
Reserve was about one-and-a-half miles long, had an average
width of about fifty yards and a depth of from four to ten
feet with partly gravelly bottom. The beach was sandy, and
the lake fed mostly by springs, beautiful, pure, clear water.
All about stretched the plain covered with all varieties of
wild flowers, little poplar bluffs all in full leaf, making a pic
turesque surrounding background. It was a most ideal loca
tion for a large encampment, lots of wood, water and feed
for the horses. It was here that we pitched our 24x24 foot
large store tent in the centre of a large circle of about three
hundred tents or lodges in five groups, each group being con
trolled by its own Chief and headmen, the whole camp being
controlled by a council of the five chiefs — Loud Voice, Cha-
Ka-Chas, Ka-Ke-Westahowe, Little Child, Yellow Calf or Sak-
imay. It had taken us some days to put. our store in ship shape,
and get all our new outfit of goods in from Broadview, among
which was one car load of flour1 and half car of bacon. In the
meantime Nepapinace and some of the Indians had brought a
splendid long flag staff which was rigged and raised about
fifteen yards from the front of the tent towards the lake. Ne-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 107
papinace handed me the flag which I had left with him. All
the Indians were about, so it was up to me to hoist the Union
Jack, with the big H. B. C. letters on it once more. You can
appreciate the effect that the hoisting of the flag in the centre
of the scene which I have just described would have, as all eyes
of the assembled crowd of natives looked upward, as I slowly
pulled the flag up to the mast head, and I was the only white
man present, who was also British born. There you are ! ! !
I considered that the greatest act of my life up to that time.
When I had made the halyard fast I asked the chiefs, who
were all standing around me, to wait a minute as I wished
to make them a present to be used by the whole camp, and I
called to my boys who were standing in front of the store to
bring me a chest of tea (60 pounds) half barrel lump sugar
(140 pounds), twenty pounds Nigger Head Tobacco, ten sacks
flour, and a sack of long clear bacon (200 pounds). When it
was all piled around the flagstaff I said : "I make you this pres
ent for the Company while we are standing underneath the
flag that you now see flying in the breeze. As you all know
it is the Great Mother's flag that flies everywhere to protect
her children in every land. The Company gives you this pres
ent to show you that her breasts are not yet dry. She is think
ing of you and has put her flag up to protect you in everything
that is right, but will punish anyone that does wrong. This
is part of the Treaty that she has caused to be made with you.
She is thinking of you and your children today. Take this
present and make a feast for the whole camp so1 that everyone
will get a share, and this will be a testimony that the Company
has kept her word, and sent you a big store to trade at. To
morrow I will be ready to trade the snake root that you have
been digging all summer, and anything else that any of you
may have to exchange for the goods that you see in the store. ' '
A chorus of "Ho, ho, ho," finished this ceremony, and
they and the grub disappeared to their tents. They were all
satisfied with the way I had spoken to them, and treated

108 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
them. I had paid my initiation fee and the store was estab
lished in their midst for better or for worse. In a short while
there was a curl of smoke coming from the top of each tent,
and bannock baking was in full swing, while a good many dogs
were also slaughtered to give savory meat for the feast, which
was going to begin at sundown.
The flag was taken down at sundown, and run up again
at sunrise, this routine with the flag was faithfully attended
to every morning and evening during the balance of the sum
mer, and until the camp broke up and they moved into winter
quarters on the various reserves or started away on the fall
hunt. The Indians enjoyed their tea party and kept it up
most of the night, until they had finished most of the grub.
What they could not eat, they carried home to their tents for
future reference. Some of them were sick next day, and no
wonder, from over-indulgence.
They had a large quantity of snake root in the camp, dry
and well cured, and I hustled them all up to continue digging.
I had a good market for all I could ship and we were doing a
good profitable business in snake root up to late autumn.
The Indian Agent, Col. McDonald, did not arrive to pay
treaty until early in September. He could not get finished wich
the Western Indians any sooner. He was trying to do two or
three men's work. This was rectified in following years when
Indian Agents were appointed to superintend and reside on
the various reservations such as Touchwood Hills, Qu'Appelle,
File Hills, Crooked Lakes, Fort Pelly, and Birtle, when all
treaty payments could begin almost simultaneously all over
the country early in July and they were all kept on their own
reserves and thus prevented from wandering all over the
country, following up| from one treaty payment to another all
summer and neglecting whatever work they had to do on
their own Reserves. If any of them were not present on their
own reserves on treaty day, they did not receive their money
until the following year. This had the desired effect and

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 109
was a great factor in their permanent settlement on their own
reserves. I just mention this to show the amount of work and
travelling that Col. McDonald had to do in the early days in
connection with Treaty No. 4, the gathering in of the Indians
from the plains, paying out the treaty money, and settling
them on the various reservations, the chief ones being at the
points above mentioned.
The Indians as a whole were very improvident in the mat
ter of food. They had no sense of economy. They simply
lived from day to day, had no idea of saving anything for a
rainy day, and no matter how much they had they would
spend it all. They were always short of something, and this
was the most distressing feature in dealing with them. You
had to guide them in their purchases and see that they had a
little of all that was necessary for the day, or you would have
to give them credit, which often they could not conveni
ently pay, and led many of them to be crooked, and tried to
get credit at several places, so that at last they were hopelessly
in debt all round and would repudiate the whole thing from
utter inability to pay. A great many of the Free Traders lost
heavily in this way, as well as the Hudson's Bay Company.
When an Indian died his debts all died with him. It required
a great deal of caution and discernment to handle your In
dians and Post, especially where pedlars and free traders were
popping up now and again, and there were always a number
of the Jew element around after their money about treaty
time. So you see that trading with some classes of Indians
was not as rosy as some people thought for. Many of the free
traders and Jew pedlars went broke year after year, but there
were always a new crop of them turned up to go through the
same experience. This was the hardest kind of opposition we
had to contend with, as they very often carried ilegitimate
goods, which were very injurious to the Indians in many ways.
A great many of the Indians were not at the making of the
first treaty, and in consequence would only receive their first

110 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
payment this year. In such cases they were paid for two
years each year until they caught up, that is, they were paid
for the current year, and one back year until they were paid
from the time the treaty was first made up to date, and then
only for the current year afterwards. The head of each family
drew the money for the whole family; say a family of eight
souls, the head would draw forty dollars, and if he had any
back payment for the same number* he would draw altogether
eighty dollars, and so on through each band and family.
The agent being later in coming than was expected, and
the bulk of their snake root being expended, they wanted
to start to take advances on their treaty money. I agreed,
and accordingly arranged with Chiefs and headmen how we
were to proceed, and how payments were to be made. We came
to a hard and fast agreement, and after each Chief had con
sulted with his band the whole camp signified their willing
ness to carry out the agreement to the letter. There was,
as usual, a whole lot of talk until it was thoroughly understood
by every one in the camp — and the store was opened up for
treaty advances. There were no lack of customers from then
until treaty day. Of course it entailed a great deal of extra
work, as I had to limit them to a certain amount each day in
order to make it spin out, otherwise they would draw the whole
thing in one day. I kept them at the snake root as well, and
only gave treaty advances when it was absolutely necessary,
or when the snake root would not cover some certain articles
of clothing or food that they wished to procure. I also had to
keep them in good humour, same as children. I gave out ad
vances until the day the agent arrived, and had all their ac
counts made up to date.
The Boss came down the day before the treaty on one of
his inspection trips, and brought Drever with him to give
me a hand during the treaty week. Their treaty at Qu'Appelle
and the other Northern and Western reserves was all over.
The agent was going to start paying in the morning, and I was

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. Ill
pretty busy getting everything into ship shape as I had to
do all the collecting myself. The Boss and Drever looked
over all the accounts and advances. They said nothing, but
looked at each other, as much as to say, "Has this fellow gone
mad, to give out so much advances ? ' ' The Boss said : " I think
you have your work cut out for the next few days. I see a
lot of free traders on. the ground. I 'm afraid you will have
great difficulty in collecting all these accounts. I will stay
through the payments and see how you come out. You have
advanced far too much. Your Indians are all well dressed and
look as if; they had already received their treaty money."
Drever said, ' ' Well I guess Mack and I will pretty nearly
sweep the board, anyhow we will hit her a lick in the morn
ing, and by tomorrow night we will be able to tell more about
it." I had told Drever the arrangement I had made with the
Indians, and he was quite satisfied that it would pan out all
right. Loud Voice's band were the first paid. They all sat
around the agent's tent, until the last member of the band
was paid, then old Loud Voice got up and marched his whok
band right over to the store, and made them all sit down in
a circle (about three hundred of them). Drever and the rest
of my men were all standing outside of the store to see what
was going to happen. Loud Voice got up and shook hands
with me, and made a short speech to his band. He said : ' ' My
grandchild was with us last winter. He has been, with us this
summer and has been good to us till this day. We made a bar
gain. with him. He has done his part, we now must do our
part. Our money is in our hands, he has already bought most
of it, and now it is our turn to keep our promise and hand
him all the money we have just received from the agent, and
I will be the first one to fulfil my promise," and he handed
me over his pile of bills, crisp and new without a crease in
them. I counted the money, marked it down on my list, and

112 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
gave him an I. 0. U. on the store for the balance that was
coming to him. He stood beside me and calkd up every
one of his band as fast as I could make the entries and write
the I. 0. U.'s, which they took into the store, and trading
began with Drever at the head of it. When the last one of
the band handed me his money, I had every dollar that the
agent had given them. The Boss was thunderstruck. I said,
"Mr. McDonald, I promised that you would give them a small
present of tea and tobacco as soon as I told you that they had
all paid me." He gladly made the present, and I went into
the store to help trading out the I. 0. U.'s which I had given
them. It was an all night job now, as the next band would be
on deck in the morning. Drever said to me, ' ' God ! Mack, you
have got them well trained. But how about the other bands ? ' '
I said, "Every band will do just the same as you have seen
done today." And so they did. Each band came up as they
were paid by the Agent, and did exactly the same. We had
three days of it in the store night and day. The third day the
Boss took off his coat and went at the trading with the rest
of us. , Five hours after the agent had finished paying, my
cash balanced exactly with the amount the agent had paid
out. We had made a clean sweep, and the treaty payments
at Crooked Lakes were over for that year.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 113
CHAPTER XII.
The Boss had a long talk with all the Indians. He told
them that the store would winter at Crooked Lakes, and that
I would be in charge of it. Drever and the other lads had
taken stock and packed up the few remaining goods that we
had on hand. I had made out a large requisition on Winnipeg
for supplies whieh I Avould require for the winter trade, to
be shipped forthwith to Broadview, freight prepaid. We
selected a site where I would pitch the tent for the winter,
about one hundred yards from the Indian farm house and ware
house, on the south side of a nice poplar bluff, which would
provide good shelter from storms. The Agent and his staff
had gone. The Indians having had their fling were pitching
off to their respective reserves where they would have better
hunting. There was nothing to hunt around the big camp any
more, only a few scattered tents remained, and they were
pitching on to clean prairie among the scattered bluffs and
sloughs, where they could get a pot shot at ducks and prairie
chickens, which were plentiful.
Brass and the other two lads would stay with me until
we got the tent and everything fixed up, when they would
return to Qu'Appelle. The Boss and Drever were ready to
go back. The. former had got the cash and all the documents
and statements in connection with the business at Crooked
Lakes up to date, and everything checked over. He was well
satisfied with his inspection and especially so with the way
the treaty part of it was conducted and the results obtained.
Wishing us all good-bye and good luck they started to
gether early in the morning of a very beautiful day, with a
first class team and buckboard. That same evening they in
tended reaching Qu'Appelle, eighty miles away.
I had procured just enough lumber and scantling for the
floor and walls of the tent. As soon as we had the floor laid
and the frame up wei pitched the big tent over it. David and

114 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Sam banked it up all around the foundation, while Johnnie and
I put in the shelves and counter, and there was my store and
wintering quarters all complete and ready for occupation. I
gave the boys a couple of holidays now to visit and ride around
the reserves and incidentally hunt some ducks and chickens
for our own use. I had received the invoices of the new outfit
and expected it to arrive at Broadview at any time, when wo
would freight it in with our own teams, after which the boys
would all return to Qu'Appelle for the winter. Billy Long
Claws, an Indian boy whom I knew at Fort Ellice, arrived
one day to visit me, coming all the way from Fort Ellice. We
had always been good friends. He said he liked me, and mad*;
no bones about it. I felt quite flattered and said: "I like you,
Billy, and always thought a lot of you. ' '
' ' I want to stay and work for you all winter, ' ' he replied.
I wanted a couple of smart young fellows for the winter, so
I hired him, and Billy stayed and worked for me for three
years. I never had a better man. He was clean, active, per
fectly honest and trustworthy, and willing to do anything. In
a short time he could trade in the store as good as myself.
Very often I left him in charge of everything when I had
to go away for a few days after some Indians. He fell in love
with one of Necan-e-quanape 's daughters, a very nice, quiet
Indian girl of eighteen years, married her, and wanted to take
her back to his reserve at Fort Ellice.
I was never so sorry to part with any man as I was with
Billy. He was a genuine, good and true young man. I gave
his wife a present of a horse and a covered Red River cart,
and Billy rode ahead and she followed on the trail to Fort El
lice, where he made a good living on the reserve raising cattle
and grain. They were both happy and raised a nice little fam
ily af young Indians, all of whom were educated at the Indus
trial School and duly baptized by Father DeCorby. Billy was
a good man for the Company, and turned out to be a good man
for himself.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 115
My boys have all gone back to Qu'Appelle with the two
teams we brought down, and Billy and I are holding the Fort,
Hilton Keith, a clerk of the Indian Department, has been put
in charge of the home farm and Government Supplies, and a
system of issuing rations weekly to the poor and destitute
widows and orphans has been inaugurated. He has to travel
around with the supplies, to any that are not able to come after
them. Keith and I chum it, and get along well together. He
visits frequently at the store, and I go over some evenings
and have a few games of cribbage. It has been a long fall,
splendid fori those who are away hunting. Red foxes are said
to be very plentiful, and other furs up to the average, good
prospects as far as fur is concerned. The ground froze up
rather early although we have had no snow. The freeze up,
however, has put a kink in the supply of snake root, and there
will be no more till next spring, which will put the old people
short on tea and tobacco, and other necessaries, that they have
been able to purchase with its aid.
New Year had brought all my hunters of last winter back
with big hunts again. This winter many of the others who
tried to hunt have killed little or nothing, and are going to be
very hard up before spring as there are no rabbits at all and
the snow is now very deep, and the weather very cold. Keith
has written to the Indian Commissioner at Regina for instruc
tions to assist some of the families that have returned without
any hunt, and have no means of support for themselves and
children. All these newcomers had been receiving a fairly
adequate ration, and with what they were able to hunt was
sufficient to keep them going, but this being a very hard win
ter, and no rabbits or anything else which they could secure
for food, put them on the verge of starvation, at least they were
very hungry. When Keith 's instructions came from the Assist
ant Indian Commissioner they were not to increase, but rather
reduce the amount of rations he was issuing. There had been
grumbling all through January. Now it was well on into

116 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
February. The Indians were making stiffer demands on
Keith every ration day for more grub. Keith told me what
his instructions! were, and that he intended to carry them out.
I said: "Keith, for God's sake, do not reduce their rations any
lower, or there certainly will be trouble. ' ' He carried out the
Assistant Commissioner's instructions. A few of the Indians
died. The others came time and again asked for more grub
which they were denied. Finally they broke into the Govern
ment storehouse, threw out as much flour and bacon as they
wanted, and threw Keith out on the top of it.
I ran up from the store in time to save Keith's life, took
him away from them, and told him what a foolish mistake he
had made. Before I got him to my store he took one of the
fits which he was subject to and remained unconscious for
fully an hour.
In the meantime the Indians were loading up their jumpers
with flour and bacon, and making a general distribution to
those present and sending flour and bacon on to those who
were too feeble to come after it. It was very cold that morn
ing, about thirty degrees below zero. After the Indians had
divided up the flour and bacon they came to the store, and of
course, were very excited, but they offered me no violence, only
some of my best friends among them said in a jocular way that
they had come in to clean out my store also, as they wanted
tea, tobacco, sugar, rice and currants so that they might havo
one good feed before they all died of starvation.
I told them not to touch anything, that I had been helping
many of them a good deal all winter, and was very sorry for
what they had done in a moment of excitement, through the
foolhardiness of one of the young men, for which all the In
dians would now be held responsible by the Government.
I gave them what they wanted, and they all went their
way to prepare the feast, having plenty of grub for the time
being for themselves and families.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 117
What they had done called for quick action on the part
of the Government, and a detachment of Mounted Police were
sent down from Regina. Things did not look at all healthy
for a day or two. Excitement ran high all over the Reserve.
The young warriors repaired to a building in the valley, all
fully armed and in their war-paint. They barricaded the build
ing and resisted arrest. Three of the ringleaders were ultim
ately persuaded to give themselves up and go to Regina for
trial. At the trial they argued that the Assistant Indian Com
missioner had cut down their rations in a manner which con
stituted a breach of faith and that they helped themselves to
the flour and bacon because they were hungry. They were
given suspended sentence and discharged, it being fully ex
plained to them what that meant. It was very lucky for the
Mounted. Police that the Indians had had a good feed, so that
their tempers were somewhat cooled off by their stomachs be
ing full, or none of them would have come out of that valley
alive, hampered as they were with buffalo coats, deep snow, and
had only side arms. I shudder yet when I think of what might
have occurred had a shot been fired even by accident. "There
is many a slip betwixt the cup and the lip," and anyway that
great tragedy was averted by a bloodless battle.
I reported all the details of the affair to the Company at
the time and received their thanks for the manner in which J.
handled the Indians, and prevented them from looting our
stores. The rations were increased after that, but it took some
time for the excitement of the whole episode to die out. There
were over one thousand Indians who might have been impli
cated, which might well have been a most serious thing for
the Government as well as the Indians, and was only averted
by almost superhuman diplomacy.
None of my real hunters were mixed up in this, as they
were all away at their hunting grounds, having left after New
Year as soon as they had finished their big trade.

118 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
We had passed through a very cold and stormy winter
on the reserve, but now the ducks and geese were with us
again, and things were improving fast, especially in the grub
line. Hilton Keith was called in to the Regina office and my
old friend Peter Hourie was sent to take charge of the Home
Farm, and all the interests of the Indian Department and In
dians at Crooked Lakes. Had this been done the previous fall
there would have been po trouble, and much less actual ex
pense. The number of good hunters who were out were more than
double those of the previous winter. I had heard from some
of them. They had all made good hunts since New Year, and
would be back somewhat earlier than they were the previous
spring. Peter Hourie had got a farm instructor and teams, all busy
in the large field and was going to raise all kinds of vegetables,
roots, and grain that year, and start educating some of the
more willing ones to see the advantages that lay in farming.
The hunters were now beginnig to turn up from all sides,
and Billy and I were kept on the jump at the store. The trade
more than doubled that of last spring and the end of my first
complete outfit was most satisfactory to myself and the Com
pany. My new outfit was on the shelves and snake root was
operating again. The Treaty was going to be paid first at
Crooked Lakes this year. They were going to have a Sun dance
or Thirsty dance. This lasts for three days and three nights,
during which time none of the participants either eat or drink.
This was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, ceremonials
that the Indians indulged in, and many strange Indians from
all over the country were arriving to take part in it, among
them many Medicine men, medicine bags, and totems, and a
most elaborate display of scanty costumes. It was the real
circus of the year, and while somewhat of a religious ceremony,
you could not have called it Christianity. It was the Indians'
system of worship, sacrifice, and thanksgiving to the great

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 119
spirit and ruler of the happy hunting grounds. Some of the
ceremonies in connection with it were very strange and cruel
to those who voluntarily surrendered themselves to the tor
tures which were inflicted on many of the candidates in order
to try and prove their fortitude and endurance in the fulfilment
of the vows which they had taken upon themselves to perform
before all the people, and thus appeal to the Great Spirit for
protection from thunder and lightning, hunger, sickness, and
death, and the reverse to all their enemies.
After a few years the government prohibited the practice
of this Thirsty dance in all parts of the Indian country on hu
manitarian grounds, and it passed into the discard many years
ago, as well as many other primitive absurdities and wonder
fully venerable superstitions which were believed in and prac
tised by many ancient savage branches of the human race, from
which the most civilized are not yet very far removed, when
the veneer is worn off and the civilized control temporarily
abandoned.

120 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER XIII. *
The Thirsty dance was over, the treaty had been paid. The
Boss, Drever, and another young clerk came down this year
again to assist me at the payments, and together with my own
two men I had a large enough staff to handle the crowd. Many
of the visitors to the Thirsty dance tarried until after the
treaty before returning to their own reservations. There were
also a goodly number added to the pay roll who were not here
last year, so that the amount paid out was considerably in ex
cess of the previous treaty.
I followed the same system of collecting as last year, and
the result was practically the same, only the total was a good.
deal larger. The early payment in July was much more satis
factory all round. Next year agency buildings were to be built
and the agent would reside permanently on the reserve. Farm
instructors were to placed on each reserve, where buildings
would also be erected for their accommodation, oxen, farm im
plements, seed and young cattle .were also to be issued to the
Indians on loan, and general farming and stock raising would
henceforward be the recognized industry. Of course, all these
buildings and chattels would continue to be the property of
the department, and could not be disposed of without the
authority of the agent, and then especially in the ease of live
stock, had to be replaced so that the increase would not dim
inish. Everything except their personal property, hunts, and
ponies, would be under the control and supervision of tho
government through the Indian Commissioner and agents. This
was the proposed policy and system that was being inaugurated
at every group of reserves throughout the territories in order
to try to make all the Indians self supporting in the matter
of food, which was the all absorbing question at that time, as
rationing all the Indians could not continue indefinitely.
Day schools and industrial boarding schools were also
being established at different points, supervised and regularly

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 121
inspected by the government. Everything was> going forward
with as rapid despatch as circumstances and conditions would
permit for the advancement, betterment and education of the
Indians, although progress in many cases was exceedingly slow
and very discouraging to many of those who were trying to put
the scheme into practical operation, yet it was a big move by
the government in the right direction, and proved in a few
years to be well worth the expenditure it entailed and became
advantageous to the Indian, the government and the country.
The fall hunt was over. It had turned out very good. All
the Indians arrived at the usual time, about New Year, and did
their usual amount of trading, but did not seem willing to start
out hunting again as quickly as they had done the previous
year. We had all kinds of Indian rumors during the fall and
winter of 1884, mysterious Indian and half-breed strangers
appeared among the Indians on the reserves from time to time,
and disappeared again as mysteriously, but there was always
undue excitement among the Indians after these periodical
visits. Most of the half-breeds who were living with Indian
women on the reserve had moved away in the fall, the excuse
they gave their women being that they were going to visit some
of their relations at Battleford or some other far distant point
and would possibly not return till spring,
I thought that the hunters had heard some news whieh was
keeping them hanging round. One day they all moved away,
and as I thought had gone back to their hunting grounds.
About the end of January Peter Hourie came in to the
store and said: "Some more of those strange Indians from
Saskatchewan are prowling round the reserves again. We must
keep a strict watch because they are exciting the Indians about
something that they are not telling us. They left again this
morning and nobody seems to know which way they have gone.
There is something in the wind that is not good, and we must
find it out, and besides your hunters have not gone back to their

122 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
hunting and are all still on the reserve. I saw some of them
yesterday, but' did not speak to any of them. But some of the
other Indians tell me that they had not gone away yet, there
may be more truth in what we have been hearing all winter
about another Riel rebellion in Saskatchewan, than we have
given attention to. Anyway we better keej) our eyes and ears
open, and try to find out what it is- all about, because there is
no reason, locally, why they should be so excited. ' '
Rumours were, however, becoming more persistent that the
French half-breeds, with Riel at their head, were geing to
start a rebellion to obtain their rights from the government,
and that there would be great doings before the grass was
green again. The young braves on the reserve were holding
secret councils. This was a very uncommon proceeding and
most unusual in the winter season. I found out from some of
the women what it was all about. Those strangers who had
been paying apparently friendly visits were under the instruc
tions of Riel, and their business and message was to excite and
rouse up the Indians to go on the war path ; to be on their guard,
and prepare themselves for anything; to plunder, rob, and
kill as soon as they got the signal ; that Riel was going to bring
back the buffalo again. The whole country would be theirs and
they would have plenty to eat only they must be ready to do
Riel's bidding at any moment, and to make them doubly sure
of his great power, that on a certain day he would cause the
sun to be darkened at noon in a clear sky, so that they would
all see his sign of power and might in the heavens. (There was
a total eclipse of the sun about that time).
A whole lot of stuff of this nature had been talked into
them by these runners. No wonder these superstitious, half
barbarian savages were excited and thirsting for blood, and
conditions were beginning to have a very serious aspect. Al
though we were far away and many of the wild rumors were
utterly false and became greatly exaggerated as they passed

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 123
from mouth to mouth, yet there was enough truth in them to
realize that there was imminent trouble and danger brewing in
Saskatchewan. It was no Indian affair. It was entirely a matter between
the government, the French half-breeds and Riel, but there was
great danger that the Indians would be drawn into it, and for
this purpose Riel had these runners all over the country among
the Indians to excite and claim their assistance. If it should
come to open rebellion, he wanted them as his allies.
On the 26th of March, 1885, at Duck Lake, the first shot
was fired, where several volunteer citizens of Prince Albert,
North West Mounted Policemen, and a number of the half-
breed rebels were either killed or wounded. The long talked
of rebellion had broken out. The news spread like wild-fire
throughout the Dominion. Troops were rushed from the east
under command of General Middleton. The sound of war was
in the air.
As soon as General Middleton arrived Peter Hourie was
appointed official interpreter for the general and his staff, and
was hurried away to Qu'Appelle station to join him there.
Hon. Edgar Dewdney was then Lieut. -Governor of the North
West Territories, and he arranged with Joseph Wrigley, Chiei
Commissioner of the Hudson's Bay Company, that I would take
full charge of all the government supplies and provisions at
Crooked Lakes, in addition to my Hudson's Bay duties. My
instructions were to keep the Indians on the reserve at all costs
and use my own discretion as to ways, means and expenditures.
I got busy and called a meeting of all the chiefs and old men
to come to the store. I gave them a cup of tea, and a smoke,
then I told them that I knew everything that was going on at
their council meetings, although they had been trying to hide
it from me. How mad and foolish they were to listen to all the
stories which were being carried about the reserves, by men
who did not care for them, only to the extent that they could
use them for their diabolical purposes, and certainly not for

124 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
the good of the Indians. No matter what Riel was doing it was
no concern of theirs. The government had made a treaty with
them, and they would also look after Riel and punish him if he
was doing anything wrong. ' ' Why do you not call me to your
councils lately, as you used to?" I asked them. "Have I not
always told you the truth and helped you all, many times?
And now you are listening to men with forked tongues, who
will bring much trouble upon you if you believe their lies. The
Company never told you anything but what was good, and 1
am speaking now what the Company has asked me to tell yon,
and for this purpose I have asked you to come here in daylight,
as I had nothing but truth to tell you and all the other Indians
who are here listening to me.
"I ask you all to listen, and to stop your secret councils,
and let the young men listen to what you say. This is the news
which brought you together here to learn, and I want you to
.tell it to all the young men and the old men on the reserves so
that they will know later that I have spoken the truth, and will
always tell you what is right, so that you will not get into any
trouble again like what happened last spring. I have finished,
and if any one of you wishes to speak I will now listen. ' '
After a long pause old Ka-kay-she-way, the Company's old
chief, got up and shook hands with me. That was the custom
ary way to begin a speech.
He always called me his grandchild. The English of his
name is "Loud Voice." He was an old man then, of Over
ninety years, a big man, straight as an arrow, with a strong
faee, and long grey hair. He began :
"My grandchild! We have listened to your words. They
are the words of the Company. My grandchild has made us
ashamed. He has lived with us and helped us many moons.
Look at my medal. The Company gave me this, because they
found me true and faithful. If I did not intend to listen to your
words now, I would throw it at you; but your words make me
to love it better than ever, and I will wear it closer to my breast,

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 125
and you will all know that I have listened to the words of my
grandchild, which we all find good, and will tell them to all our
Indians, so that my grandchild will not have reason to speak
words to us again that we will be ashamed to answer. My
grandchild, I have answered you on behalf of all the old men
present who have listened to your words this day. I have
spoken. ' '
Another handshake and the meeting was over and we all
understood each other from that day. The old Chief Loud
Voice died shortly after this. He was the greatest of all the
plain Cree chiefs. He was a great ventriloquist, and a long
distance conjuror. You could hear him from a long distance,
quite distinctly in the early mornings calling up his tribe from
their slumbers, and the echo was often heard, .when he raised
his voice in measured tones, in the Qu'Appelle valley.
He gave his medal to his old wife, and told her always to
do what the Company told her, and listen to their officers after
he was dead and gone and it would be well with her. This
identical medal had a very interesting subsequent history, dur
ing the lifetime of the old queen, as we used to call her, and
played its part in the making of history. It is now in the pos
session of D. H. McDonald, of Fort Qu'Appelle, with its com
plete history attached.

126 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER XIV.
The Rebellion had now broken out and here I was all
alone. Indian signal fires, and signal smokes could be seen
all about. Indian runners carrying rumours were everywhere.
Most of these rumours false, but nevertheless causing great
excitement. One of the most persistent that the plains were
all being covered over with buffalo again.
The white settlers were in dread and fear of a general
Indian uprising. Engines were kept continually hitched up
to coaches at Broadview to take women and children away
at the first signs of uprising. Volunteer scouts were watching
between Broadview and the reserve, a distance of only twelve
or fifteen miles from where the bulk of the Indians were.
These scouts came to me on two occasions and begged me
to go away with them as I was the only white man on the
Reserve and was only remaining there to be scalped. I told
them they had better all go, as no one could say what would
happen any day, that all reports were very startling, and a
great many of them were false, yet I thought the women and
children should be moved away from Broadview without any
delay, as there was great danger of the Indians from Moose
Mountain coming in that way. I said "I think I have the
confidence of the Indians even if they are on the war path.
I will not go with you, I have a duty to perform. I will stay
here among the Indians and try my best to hold them on the
Reserve, and should I be the first victim to lose my scalp
they will have to do some climbing to get it. I thank you
ever so much, as" well as the citizens of Broadview for your
kind offer and intentions on my behalf, but I cannot and will
not leave my Post alive."
They saw that I meant what I said, and this being the
second time they had come out for me they started back for
Broadview, and I did not see any of them again, until after
Batoche was taken and the Rebellion at an end.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 127
I sure was alone now, as far as white people were con
cerned, yet I had what I considered many good friends among
the Indians, with whom I had grown up and known for the
past nine years. I did not feel or realize that I was in any
personal danger, and had no fear whatever for my own safety
during the whole period of the disturbance. However, I was
at my wits' end as to what to do next to prevent the Indians
from leaving the Reserves and going on the warpath. In spite
of all I could do there was a turbulent element among the
young braves who were all painted and tatooed, holding
nightly councils and ready to go while the old men's councils
in a separate lodge were making use of all their restraining
influence and power to prevent them, which caused a regular
deadlock for several days.
I was by this time fully conversant with their plan of
action. They intended to move West on the North side of the
Valley, cross the Pheasant plains where there was a number
of white settlers, and of course plunder as they went, and
join the File Hill Indians ; they then intended to capture Fort
Qu'Appelle, and remain there until they were joined by the
Moose Mountain Indians from the South, who would come in
by way of Indian Head. After that, whatever circumstances
might develop or require. Such was the program that they
had been promulgating day and night for a week, while I
was gorging them on flour, bacon, and tea and plugging the
old men to put greater vim and exertion in their persuasions
to hold the young men on the Reserve.
I could see that the old men were weakening as the Re
bellion was progressing. There had been Duck Lake, Fish
Creek, Cut-Knife Creek, and now they were at Batoche. This
was my most critical period, and I had to do something des
perate or they were gone, so I forced my way into their
council one night about midnight, and harangued them for
over two hours. I said:

128 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
"You have broken faith with your dead Chief. You are
not doing what he taught you. You are like drunken men.
Your words are not good, your plans are bad. I have lived
among you as a brother, I am forced to speak my mind, I
know you all and you all know me; stop your madness. This
fight has nothing to do with you, it is not an Indian quarrel,
you have nothing to gain. Are you not well off here? Am I
not giving you plenty to eat? Plenty tea and sugar to drink?
Plenty of tobacco to smoke? Is it because you are all so well
off that you want to do all this evil that you are planning
and proposing? Do you think that it will help you? This
is not your affair, you have nothing to do with it. You have
been listening to lies and liars and you have excited yourselves
so much that you think all these liars are telling the truth.
They are liars everyone and you have not heard any truth.
Listen ! Has any one of you ever known me to tell you a lie ?
Look to the East. Daylight is coming. Your minds are also
opening to see. Listen! I will tell you the truth once more
before the Sun rises.
"The Government is strong. The Company is strong.
Are you as strong as they are? They are feeding you and
your wives and little children. Is that the reason you want
to fight and kill them, because they are good to you and taking
eare of you? If you leave here on the errand you have been
planning you will have to leave your wives and children
here. You will all be shot or hanged and will never come
back to see your children again. Your wives and children
will starve to death here and you will be their murderers.
Listen! The sun is just rising. Stop here on the Reserve
where you are. I have spoken and told you the truth. It is
for you now, old men, young men and women who have heard
my words to make your decision before it is too late."
No one spoke, but I was given to understand that I would
receive a message at the store before noon. I had done all 1
could whatever would be the result, had played mj last card

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 129
and was very much exhausted. I slept for a couple of hours
fully dressed as I had done for several weeks. About ten
o'clock in the morning, three or four of the Headmen came
to the store and made all kinds of demands on me for grub.
They were going to make a big feast, and going to have a big
talk. I saw the situation at once. I had hit them some place,
and could divert their attention from the everlasting council
meetings that were in constant session for days and days. I
knew they were only trying me, as it took no small amount
of grub to make a general feast. They did not expect me to
agree to their demand at all, and then would have something
to grumble at. I said, "Yes, sure I will give you all the grub
you want for a big feast, and call all the Indians to eat and
we will all have a good time."
I had them faded, and shot the grub out to them, telling
them, if that was not enough, I would give them some more.
It was only a matter of some extra flour, bacon and tea. The
stuff was handed over to the women, who began to prepare
it for the feast, and word was sent to every one to come and
eat and bring their own cup with them.
The feast lasted all that night and the following day, and
they displayed some wonderful appetites during that time. I
had them where the hair was short, and I knew it.
Dear reader, if ever you have anything to do with wild,
unruly Indians, kindness, firmness, truthfulness, not too much
familiarity, lots of grub, tea, and tobacco will overcome nearly
every difficulty, and leave you master of the situation. I
proved it, to my own satisfaction before this occasion, and
many times afterwards. Properly applied at the right time,
I have never known it to be a failure, and it certainly had its
charm at the critical period of which I write, and saved many
citizens of the Dominion of Canada in 1885.
The transportation of troops and war supplies was the
salvation of all the settlers in the country at that time. Every
one who could raise a team of horses or a yoke of oxen, were

130 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
on the job at ten dollars per day. It paid better than any
crop they could raise. The climatic conditions improved and
fhe country started a new era and a prosperous career.
A few days after the feast, news arrived that Batoche
was taken, the rebels defeated and Riel taken prisoner, and
that the war was over. It was only then that I realized the
imminent danger that I had successfully passed through, and
the bottom was completely knocked out of every Indian on
the Reserve and I could lead them with a silk thread after
that. I also did not fail to "rub it in" good and plenty, to
many of the know-alls and hot heads who were so brave a
short time before. They were completely subdued and quite
tractable ever after, there being no more trouble with any of
them during my sojourn among them.
Riel was captured by Thomas Hourie near Batoche,
brought to Regina and handed over to the R. N. W. M. Police
by Capt. George Young, of the Winnipeg Field Batteries. He
was confined to jail May 23rd, 1885. He was sentenced to be
hanged for treason at Regina on Sept. 18th, 1885. The case
was appealed to the court of appeal in Manitoba, and also to
the Privy Council, but the judgment was affirmed by both
Courts, and he was hanged at Regina on November 16th, 1885,
at 8 o'clock a. m. and his body was buried at St. Boniface in
the French cemetery across the Red River from Winnipeg.
There is very little more to be said by me except that I
received through the Company the thanks of the Lieutenant-
Governor, accompanied by an official cheque, which precluded
me from making any future claim against the Canadian Gov
ernment for services rendered. I also received the thanks of
the Hudson's Bay Company for the very able and successful
way in which I had handled the Indians under my charge and
kept them on their Reserves.
It may be interesting to go back some years, to find the
cause and chain of circumstances which led up to, and cul
minated in, this ever to be deplored 26th of March, 1885. I

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 131
will be as brief as possible, and will at once say that the
Rebellion of 1869-70 and the Rebellion of 1885, was caused
by ambitious and malicious aspirations of the wily Riel, hav
ing at the bottom of it all selfish aggrandizement at the
expense of a few half-breeds, whom he was using as tools in
trying to extort more money from the Government for his
own private use. Then he would leave them in the lurch, as
he had done after the 1870 affair, when he pocketed the
money that was paid him to leave the country for the time
being and took up his residence in the United States, being
at that time a fugitive from justice.
Louis Riel was a naturalized citizen of the United States.
He was teaching school in Montana in 1884, when he was
invited by some influential half-breeds in Saskatchewan to
come to Canada and assist them in impressing their wishes
upon the Government at Ottawa, to grant them scrip to ex
tinguish their rights, as was being done with the Indians by
treaty. Riel saw a chance here to make another claim for indem
nity on the Government, if he would again leave the country,
and he claimed $100,000, but said he would take $35,000, in
cash, and go at once. That was in December, 1884.
He claimed that the Canadian Government owed him
about $100,000, and that he was practically the half-breed
question. "If I am satisfied, the half-breeds will be," he
said. The half-breeds began to smell a rat now, and said if
the Federal Government should grant him this the half-breed
question would still remain the same, and Riel would be the.
only one to profit, at their expense.
Louis Riel was educated for the Priesthood. He was
extremely visionary and dangerously imaginary. He had
two special strings to his bow at this time. He wanted to
form and create a Republic with himself as President. He
had offered all kinds of appointments to his Lieutenants and
followers, coupled with untold wealth; or he would take

132 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
$100,000 for his share, and leave the country. The former
his objective, the latter his alternative. He did not attain
either, but paid the supreme price of his ambition, treachery
and greed, at Regina, on November 16, 1885, after having
been given a fair and just trial.
Following the Rebellion there were very hard times all
over the country for a few years, among the white settlers
as well as the half-breeds, on account of the great drought
which prevailed, as well as gophers and early frosts.
Many of the settlers were leaving the country financially
broke and disheartened, and had no interest, neither did
they care whether the half-breeds got scrip or not. They
could have the whole country to themselves as far as those
leaving were concerned. Others were unable to leave, and
had to struggle- on as best they could. Many of the settlers
sold their homesteads (160 acres) for a mere pittance, in order
to get enough grub to take them out of the dried up and
frozen country as quickly as posible. The outlook was cer
tainly bleak at that time.
The half-breeds were not in any better position. Many
of them moving west towards Battleford and Prince Albert,
.where they thought they might be able to make some kind
of a living. As it turned out afterwards, they had an
inkling of what might take place, as they expected that they
would get the much talked of scrip that they were to get
from the Government; at least it was then being urgently
applied for by the Saskatchewan half-breeds.
The hunters not having gone out after New Year, the
total fur returns for the outfit ending May 31, 1885, was
much reduced in volume, yet the total business from other
sources exceeded that of the previous year, and Billy and I
were very pleased to find ourselves alive, and ready to start
another Outfit with more peaceful prospects ahead. We had
had a ripping, stirring spring time which I had no desire to
see repeated. Twice through that kind of game is enough,

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 133
and we settled down to treaty advances again. The Indians
were all hard up, not having had any spring hunt worth
speaking of. During the year the anticipated building of
agencies and farm instructors' houses on the various reserves
were much delayed, and in many cases were postponed for
another year, until the mists of rebellion had cleared away.
The Government busied itself in issuing the long deferred
scrip to the half-breeds, and things became gradually normal
again. The value of the scrip issued were either $160 cash or 160
acres of land to each individual half-breed, whichever
they preferred. Land was not very valuable at that time,
and many of them took the $160 cash scrip, and disposed
of them as quickly as the Indians did with their treaty money.
In a very short time they were as poor as they were before
and in an even worse condition, as they had no further rights
to extinguish. The following year the Agency buildings were completed,
and Col. McDonald was appointed to be the resident agent,
and had taken up residence with his family and staff of clerks.
An instructor is also in each reserve in very comfortable
quarters, and the whole 36 x 12 miles reserve represents a
huge farm, with stock, grain, hay, wood, and water in suf
ficient quantities all within the area, and a few scattered
small patches of cultivation were in evidence here and there
all over. It was a beginning towards self support, which was the
main object in view by the Government. The area under
cultivation increased from year to year, so much that the
second year they had to get a traction steam threshing outfit,
and in a few years many of them were self supporting and
comfortably well-to-do, while many others were hopelessly
useless as farmers or stock raisers, especially the old people.
These, however, gradually passed away to the happy hunting
grounds, to join the buffalo again.

134 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Here was a transformation scene that had taken place in
a very few years before my very eyes, and in which I played
a very prominent part from its first inception, and although
only a drop in the bucket in a very small area of the Terri
tories, yet the progress and advancement of civilization had
been moved onward and upward even though it was only a
wee, wee little notch. The thin end of the wedge had been
inserted, so to speak, and all it required now was for those
who arrived on the scene later, to drive it surely and steadily
home for greater results.
Major McGibbon was Inspector of Agencies and paid us
an annual visit. C. W. H. Saunders was head clerk at the
Agency, and I completed many business transactions with
him, as I now carried many Indian accounts on my books,
which were entirely under the Agency jurisdiction.
Jim Sutherland and his asistant, Jim Pollock, did all the
blacksmithing and engineering for the reserves, as well as
the farm instructing on Little Child's reserve. Edward
McNeil, John Nicol, and Jack Coburn were the other farm
instructors, all good practical fellows. Sam Geddes, one of
our old Qu'Appelle dog drivers, was the Agency interpreter
and travelled round with the Agent when visiting the Indians
and farm instructors in the different reserves. A great many
of the hunters used to go away in the winter as usual, leaving
their wives and families at home, to look after any live stock,
pigs, or chickens which they might have. All had little houses
now for wintering in, but they dearly loved to get out in
their tents when the Spring came. My business had increased
so appreciably I had to build a new warehouse to give more
storage room. I also built myself a little house, office, and
kitchen, and had a good cook by the name of David McDonald,
an old H. B. C. man, so at last everything was very comfortable
and business very good.
One summer, the Governor General, Lord Stanley, and his
party visited us. They had a large escort of Mounted Police,

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 135
Governor Dewdney was also down to meet the Governor, as
Indian Commissioner, and personally thanked me again for
the good work which I had done for the Government at
Crooked Lakes. Mr. McDonald had also come down from
Qu'Appelle to meet the Governor General, and many other
prominent men from the surrounding country and district.
All the Indians were assembled at the Agency to meet him
and greet him as the representative of their great mother,
the Queen. He made a long address- to them and all others who were
there assembled, from the verandah of the Agency, and made
a great and favourable impression on his hearers. Of course
the inevitable grub present had to be given to the Indians.
Governor Dewdney asked me to see to it, and the Indian
Department would pay the shot. The party and escort left
for their train at Grenfel in the evening, after receiving three
rousing cheers and a tiger from the biggest crowd that had
ever gathered round the Agency up to that time.
That visit was a land mark for the Indians from which
all other events dated either before or after, as so many years
from the time that the Kitehie-okimah (Big Governor) visited
us. They had all seen him and were full of joy and gladness.
A couple of years later the reserves presented a very
favourable appearance in the progress of agriculture and stock
raising. "There was also a marked improvement in the dress
of the Indians. Many of the children were attending school.
Rev. Hugh McKay was doing very valuable work with his
Industrial Boarding School at Round Lake; there were also
a number of Indian children being sent to the Industrial
School and Mission at Lebret, and everything was going fine.
Many of the Indians had taken wheat to the mill, and brought
back their own winter flour, others of them raising their own
pork and beef, and making their own butter.

136 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER XV.
In 1889 Donald A. Smith (Lord Strathcona and Mount
Royal), was appointed Governor of the Service. Chief Com
missioner Wrigley had resigned, and C. C. Chipman, who was
private secretary to Sir Charles Tupper when he was High
Commissioner for Canada in England, was appointed Chief
Commissioner in his stead. This was very disappointing to
many of the Chief Factors, who fully expected that one of
themselves would receive this appointment. Be that as it
may, Chief Commissioner Chipman 's appointment was eon-
firmed, and he held down the job for about nineteen years.
During, prior, and for a few years subsequent, a regular
re-organization was being inaugurated throughout the whole
service, which envolved the transferring of many of the men
and officers to other charges, as well as the enlarging of
Districts, by the merging of several small ones into one large
District under one management. , This was evidently neces
sary as there were no more Commissions being granted. Swan
River District was not immune, and also had its turn over
amongst the rest. Chief Factor William Clark was called in
to the head office, and Manitoba District was attached to
and came under the charge of Chief Factor Archibald Mc
Donald. His whole District now being known under the
name of "Manitoba District", this giving him an additional
charge of seven extra posts to supervise and look after.
Drever had put in a winter at Nut Lake, during the rebellion,
where there were another bunch of turbulent Indians, to be
held down, and had very much the same experience as I had
gone through. He was afterwards transferred to the charge
of Green Lake Post, in Saskatchewan District. Iredale, Poulin
and M. S. Beeston had each their turn in being in charge of
the Qu'Appelle saleshop, after Drever was transferred.
Adam McBeath retired from Fort Pelly and W. C. King,
from Athabasca, was appointed in his place. David Armit

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 137
was transferred from Riding Mountain to Shoal Lake and
shortly afterwards was again transferred to the charge of
Manitoba House, practically to supervise the seven added
Posts. M. S. Beeston was transferred to the charge of Shoal
Lake, and I was transferred to the charge of Russell. Mr.
Hart from the north, a brother of Professor Hart, being ap
pointed to the charge of Crooked Lakes. John Anderson,
whom I relieved at Russell, was apointed to the charge of the
Fort Qu'Appelle Saleshop. There were also several transfers
among the men in the Manitoba end of the District as well.
Mr. John Calder shortly after this was transferred to the
head office in Winnipeg, where he still remains as Chief
Accountant, having now given the Company forty-four years'
service, and still going strong.
Here was a great scatteration, a breaking up of family
ties so to speak, but new environment and greater responsi
bilities were a good antidote to spur us all on to greater exer
tions in the Company's intrests, and give us a wider and more
comprehensive view of the general trade and its many aspects.
Russell being the new name for the old "Shell River
Post", was now a village of about two hundred, in the centre
of a large farming district and fairly well settled all round.
The settlers were mostly from Huron and Bruce counties,
although there was a good percentage of English families
as well. Having taken over the charge of the Post from Mr.
Anderson, I was now at liberty to have a look about and see
where I was at. In the village there were two other general
stores, a blacksmith shop, wheel wright shop, hotel, two
churches, a school, an implement warehouse, and all the other
pedimenta that constituted the making of a village in the
early days. The place had not yet attained to the prominence
of any sidewalks, and was rather difficult to get about in
after a snow storm as the soil was a deep loam on a clay
subsoil and churned up most beautifully in wet weather as

138 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
the streets were plowed up and partly graded with a view
of topping off with gravel that summer.
The stores had a platform in front of each entrance,
which we linked up with some boards over the intervening
spaces. This was the beginning of the sidewalks in Russell;
the labour was all gratis.
The village had a weekly train service, a branch line
twelve miles long, from the main line of the Manitoba and
North-Western railway, starting from Binscarth, due south
of us. The original townsite belonged to Major Boulton of
the famous Boulton scouts of the '85 rebellion, but he had
disposed of the part of it to the Hudson's Bay Company, and
about the first business I did was to sell some town lots, as
the village anticipated a boom, as this was the best year the
farmers had seen for some years past. There had been hard
years all over this settlement, as well as other parts of the
country, occasioned by drought and summer frosts, the only
money in circulation being what was obtained by the sale of
three old steers every fall. Of these nearly every farmer had
a few to dispose of each year, the price being about forty
dollars each. The necessaries for the homes were produced
by bartering their butter and eggs in the village, and I must
in justice say, that the women folks were the great immediate
support of the family in those days, although the men worked
hard on the homesteads, trying to raise crops, but to little
purpose, the summer frosts beating them out, and in many
cases could not raise enough good wheat to keep the chickens
laying. There were also a number of Englishmen in the
settlement, who regularly received remittances from the old
country, and spent it freely, which- helped to circulate con
siderable wealth and assisted along wonderfully. So by one
means and another the people had lived and come through
the past unprofitable and very unproductive years, in which
they had almost given up trying to raise grain, and were
turning their attention more to stock raising, creamery and

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 139
butter factories, which started the prosperity of the settlement
and the village. In a few years summer frosts were very
uncommon and wheat growing was again in full swing, and
for a long period following farmers raised the best No. 1
Hard, and most of them became prosperous and wealthy. The
village likewise became an active trading and marketing place
with a very much increased urban and rural population of
contented well-to-do people.
The nearest Indian reserve was about thirty miles distant
at Lizard Point. Another reserve was on the Valley River,
and the Gamblers reserve lay near Fort Ellice. There were
only a few families on each reserve. I visited the reserves
with some goods generally at Treaty time, but their trade
did not amount to much. There were really no Indians at all
attached to the Russell Post. It was almost exclusively white
trade, for the most part old Hudson's Bay men, retired ser
vants, among whom was Allan Mclvor and his family, Edward
Field and his family, and some of more recent years, who (
had taken up homesteads.
Dr. Barnardo's Home for Boys was within three miles
of the village, under the very able management of E. A.
Struthers, who utilized a large tract of land for mixed farm
ing, and the training of these boys, who were sent out from
England by the Doctor, in annual bunches, to receive their
training and make Canadian citizens.
M. S. Beeston, who was in charge at Shoal Lake, used to
pay me a visit sometimes. Mr. Calder, who had been down
to Fort Ellice on Company's business, also took a drive over
to visit me. W. C. King had retired from Fort Pelly, and
Angus McBeath, from Touchwood Hills, was appointed in his
place, while B. F. Cooper was given charge of Touchwood
Hills, and M. S. Beeston was transferred to the charge of
Fort William Saleshop. George Drever was transferred to
Fort Chippewyan in Athabasca District.

140 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
I had been at Russell for six years and a great many
changes for the better had taken place in the settlement, as
well as in and around the village. We had now a daily train,
other things had also progressed in keeping and accordance
with other parts of the country. I had many personal friends,
both in the country and in the town, to which status and
standing our village had now arrived. There were many
social and dancing parties throughout the settlement as well
as in town. I attended many of these functions, at the same
time visiting and calling upon many of our customers whom
we were sure to meet at these festive gatherings. It was in
the Boulton' settlement that I found my future wife, Miss
Annie Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Smith, one
of the most highly respected families in the District, whom
I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with shortly after
my arrival in Russell.
Miss Smith had consented to change her name for mine,
we had the consent of her father and mother, and all others
concerned, and remained engaged for nearly a year before
we were married. I had also to get the consent of the Com
missioner and officer in charge of the District, which then
entitled her to the same privileges of the Officers' Mess as
I myself had. Without the consent of the Company I would
have to pay for her board. That consent was forthcoming
with congratulations and we were married in her parents'
home on the old homestead, on the 19th day of October, 1892,
and we have shared each other's joys and sorrows ever since.
She has been a real helpmate in deed as well as in word, a
noble woman, a loving and affectionate mother, my greatest
asset and best beloved. We have been happy with each other
through life and hope to be with each other and our family
of one son and four daughters for many years to come.
Two years after our wedding I was once more transferred
to the charge of Touchwood Hills Post, where we spent the
next thirteen years. My wife was indeed brave to leave father,

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 141
mother, sisters, and brothers, and girlhood friends, and strike
out west with me to a part of the country unknown to her
where return visits would be few and far between. But she
bravely brushed aside all other considerations and said where
I went she was ready and willing to go also. We had many
presents from all our friends, as well as a most elaborate
and illuminated address and banquet from the Masonic fra
ternity and St. Andrew society.

142 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER XVI.
Early in December, 1895, my wife and I and our baby
girl about a year old, boarded the train at Russell for Portage
La Prairie, thence to Broadview, where we drove out to the
Agency and paid a visit to Col. McDonald and his family,
Jim Sutherland, Mrs. Sutherland and their children, Duncan
and Mrs. Pierce, who were all glad to see us. We took train
at Broadview in the evening again for Qu'Appelle station,
thence mail stage to Fort Qu'Appelle, where we were well
received by the Boss and his family. Mr. McDonald had met
Mrs. McKenzie before when he was on one of his inspection
trips to Russell, and had been entertained at our Mess, so
we were now really at home again. We had a long journey.
Mrs. McKenzie and baby were both tired, so the Boss made
us rest for a day before proceeding fifty miles farther North
by democrat to Touchwood Hills ; besides, he had many things
to talk to me about in respect to the business.
John Archie wTas at home, and he said he would drive us
up to Touchwood Hills the following day or whenever we
were ready to start. The Boss had a splendid team, and a
swell rig which he placed at our disposal. Anything heavier
than our hand baggage would be forwarded with the freight
ers in a few days. We had a splendid trip, John Archie telling
us all the news. I had not seen him for over five years and
we really all enjoyed the drive very much, having our lunch
when about half way to our destination. We arrived shortly
after sundown and B. F. Cooper and his butler, Charlie Brown,
were there to receive us, and put away and look after the
team which had brought us through so comfortably. We were
in time to partake of a good hot roast of beef and vegetables,
and hot tea or coffee, to which we all did justice. We were
all tired after the long drive, the baby was a little irritable
in her new surroundings after being wrapped up in a bundle
all day, so we all retired thankful to b? at tho end of our

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 143
journey, and in such comfortable quarters where we would
be fully settled before Christmas.
I was not a stranger at Touchwood Hills House and Post,
as I had been up from Crooked Lakes once to assist Mr. Angus
McBeath with the Treaty payments, and had gone around all
the reserves with him, and had seen all, and knew quite a
number of the Indians as well as most of the half-breeds who
were settled in the Touchwood District, as well as some of
the white ranchers and farmers round Kutawa and the Round
Plain. I knew the geography of all that country well.
Mrs. McKenzie took over the charge of the house and
Mess with as much confidence and ability as if she was in
her father's and mother's house in the County of Boulton,
and ably and hospitably presided over it for the next thirteen
years at Touchwood Hills Post, the baby, now standing up
by a chair or rolling on the carpet amusing herself, when she
was not otherwise attracting the attention of either myself
or her mother.
John Archie, after spending a day with us, returned to
Fort Qu'Appelle. As we had to take Inventory before the
transfer was made, Mr. Cooper had to remain a few days
after, when he proceeded to Fort Qu'Appelle, thence to Fort
Alexander on Lake Winnipeg, where he was transferred.
The Post Office was in the store, where we received a
weekly mail by stage. My private office was in the dwelling
house. The store and warehouse was well equipped, most of
the supplies for the winter being then in stock and as yet
being unopened, pending my arrival, which made stock taking
much easier and quicker.
There were only a little over half the Indians here that
were at Crooked Lakes. The four reserves here are not in
one block, Miscowequan's and Day Bird's being in the Little
Touchwood Hills, and Poorman's and Day Star's in the Big
Touchwood. Miscowequan's was the nearest to the Post and
had the largest population of the four. The Indian Agency,

144 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
telegraph and post office was at Kutawa, six miles west of
us, and W. A. Heubach's store three miles farther up the
road. Joseph Hollis' ranch was six miles away in another
direction, so there was no danger of the neighbours quarrelling
from each other's door steps anyway. There were a few
half-breeds settled quite near the Post who themselves or
their fathers had been Company's servants, among these being
James Slater, Tom Folster, Peter Browh, Charlie McNab, and
many others, all fine people and good obliging neighbours.
There was a Roman Catholic Mission and Indian Board
ing School on Miscowequan's reserve, and English Mission
and Boarding School on Day Bird's reserve, and a day school
on Poorman's and Day Star's, all under Government super
vision. There was also a farm instructor on each reserve.
The system here was much the same as that at Crooked Lakes.
Cattle and grain raising were very well advanced and the
quahty of the cattle very much improved by the importation
of pure bred bulls. The majority of the Indians were doing
well, and a large number of steers were disposed of annually.
Quite a number of the Indians still continued hunting in the
winter, it being a good district for furs of all kinds, which
were still fairly plentiful, especially in the Spring. For sev
eral years muskrats were very1 numerous and their skins came
in very handy for the purchasing of supplies before farming
operations began.
There were always plenty of customers at the store, and
a good profitable business was being done. The settlers and
ranchers in the locality generally came in once a week for
their mail and gave us a busy day in the store, as well as in
the house, as many of them coming long distances stayed with
us for lunch and we were always glad to see them. Many
of them did not see a soul from one week's end to another,
except when they had a look at themselves in their mirror,
so we were never short of company of one kind or other at
the Post, and plenty of passers-by in the summer time, tra-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 145
veiling east and west, who invariably stopped at the store to
replenish their wants, and ask how far it was to the next
town. A great many of these were land seekers who had only
recently arrived in the country, and expected a town about
every ten miles or so. It was principally a half-breed settle
ment for many miles round interspersed with horse and cattle
ranches. It being a good hay country, many of the half-
breeds made a fairly good living out of their gardens and
wintering steers for outsiders at five dollars per head for the
winter. They also did quite a bit of freighting in the summer
time. They were all good sports and nearly every one had one
or two face horses. The 24th of May was a real holiday, and
the greater part of the Spring was spent in fitting up horses
for the races. There was a regular derby for three-year-olds
raised in the District, and there were some good ones. We
had for many years from eight to ten entries for this race
alone, which was always the principal race of the day. Some
of the other races were open to outsiders, and many good
Eastern and Western horses competed for prizes from year
to year on our race track. Nearly every one who had a horse
that could canter at all entered him in the local races. The
races were clean ; every horse ran for blood, and the best won.
It was good sport every year, and the Touchwood Hills races
were the most popular in the country. We always had a big
crowd. Some years nearly all the people from Fort Qu'Appelle
and Qu'Appelle station would come up, some from Regina,
Brandon, Winnipeg, together with the settlers from all the sur
rounding country. The Indians would be at the race track. It
was always a great time, and sometimes the day would run into
the greater part of a week. It was the great season of the year,
for young and old to renew acquaintanceship, and have a pool
on every race. It was the great meeting place fof many years
and many of the old-timers enjoyed it to the limit.

146 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
There were also foot races, Indian and Squaw races, and
many of the Caledonian games were also patronized. No one
failed to get to the Touchwood races who lived at all within
reasonable distance.
Sunday school picnics also once or twice during the sum
mer, provided lots of fun for the youngsters. Swings, foot
races, and dancing platforms were some of the attractions,
ahd the young good looking fellow, with a rubber tire covered
buggy was always sure of a passenger, while the democrat
would whirl along the smaller kids and the old folks, back
to the homestead to talk over their early picnic days in old
Ontario, or perhaps a romance among the Maples before the
days of rubber tire buggies. And some of the old country
people would whisper of spots in the old land where Cupid
had found an easy mark, which culminated in the grand prize
of their lives. Perhaps it was another scene of some old
bachelor homesteader mounting his old horse, and riding away
towards his old shack in lonely security, having taken in the
scene at the picnic, but yet unmoved. He had seen no Cupid,
and slowly went to slumber and started to snore. He was
also happy. An awful difference in some people, eh?
The whole picnic scene passed before him in his dreams,
he wakened up with a start, little Cupid had shot an arrow at
him. He was mortally wounded. He got up and dressed,
cooked another indigestible meal, looked at it, and then gave
it to the dog, cleared away his cup and plate to be washed
up at some future time, got his pen, ink and paper, and forth
with ordered a rubber tired, covered buggy from the manu
facturers. I had a splendid flower and vegetable garden at the Post
every year. We grew all our own vegetables and owned our
own cows, and driving horses. This was the best Post I ever
lived at or ever saw before or after in all my travels. Wild
ducks of all kinds and prairie chicken were plentiful. I was
very fond of shooting and kept our larder well stocked with

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 147
wild fowl all the time. Late in the fall I always put on an
extra spurt and put enough up to last us during the winter.
We also got some geese, swans, and sand hill cranes. We
killed our own winter beef which ran on the prairie all sum
mer, and was fattened up for this purpose. We always had a
good Mess. Living was cheap and of the very best quality.
It only required attention at the proper seasons of the year
to have everything necessary for comfort. Our nearest Doctor
was fifty miles away. He generally made a trip once a month
for the Indian Department to visit the Indians. If any one
wished to be sick they had to time themselves to fit in with
his visits, otherwise there was no Doctor except Epsom salts,
castor oil and senna leaves as remedies. A special trip of the
Doctor cost anywhere from fifty to a hundred dollars, and
many of the people who sometimes got sick were not able
to afford so much. Fortunately, however, sickness was the
exception save in natural cases which could be provided for
beforehand, but at the best the lack of a resident Doctor was
a serious handicap in many cases of critical emergency.
Old Pascal, an Indian Doctor, very often rendered valuable
service among the Indians, they preferring him to a whtie
doctor, whose medicine they would very often destroy. Old
Pascal was a great medicine man and got credit for having
made many wonderful cures. Later we had a resident Doctor
who did a good business, as people seemed to be more fre
quently sick than before. Such is the perversity of human
nature. The people as a whole attended their several denomi
national Missions and Churches with great regularity on Sun
days and Church holidays. There were also many gatherings
among the people, and dances were frequent and well attended,
especially during the winter months when sleighing was good.
You did not think twice about driving fifteen or twenty miles
to a dance with bells jingling and sleighs loaded with boys
and girls having a good time. The world was ahead of them,

148 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
as it had been with others before their time. It was a case of,
"On with the dance, let joy be unconfined."
James Slater was my chief assistant in the store and
Post Office, a first class Indian trader and a good, steady,
reliable man in every way. I knew that everything was all
right as long as he was in the store. I had to be outside a
good deal myself working up new business for the store, and
seeing to many other things. George W. Denholm was trans
ferred from Manitoba House to the charge of Nut Lake Post,
about one hundred miles north of us, and in the extreme
North-west end of the district. The Boss found that he could
not afford the time to give this Post the attention in the way
of inspections that it should have, his district being so large
it took up much of his time to visit all the Posts once or twice
a year, so he put Nut Lake under my supervision. This would
save him fully four hundred miles of travel annually. I gen
erally made two trips a year to it for several years. It was
a good fur post and well worth the extra trouble. Denholm
had Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Isbister as his housekeeper and gen
eral assistant. Denholm and I were great friends, and always
made a good trade at the Post, and he always said he liked
to work under my instructions as he could make things go on
so much better. He would come into Touchwood in the spring
with his accounts and returns, and then go to Qu'Appelle
for a couple of weeks or so, more as a holiday than anything
else, although he would always pick up a lot of new things
for the trade of his Post, outside of his regular outfit.
I would generally go out with him, to give him a hand
at Treaty time, and bring his cash back.
The Indian agent from Touchwood always paid the Fish
ing Lake and Nut Lake Indians their Treaty money sometime
after all the Touchwood payments were over, which made it
pretty late in the fall for the Nut Lakers, but was really the
best time to pay them, so that they could properly outfit them
selves, and then start immediately on their winter hunt, as

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 149
no attempt had yet been made to make farmers out of them.
They were still in their wild, primitive, savage condition, a
band of healthy stalwart Saulteaux who lived and hunted
chiefly in the bush and were a law unto themselves. Their
chief's name at that time was "Yellow Quill."
Denholm lived and traded among them for several years
with great success and made a very profitable trade for the
Company. He got tired at last, resigned, and took up a home
stead near the Touchwood Hills Post, where I saw a good
deal of him. He worked on his homestead for five or six years,
but being still a bachelor it was an uphill job. He eventually
sold his farm and went back to the Midlothians of Scotland
near Mussellborough to assist his youngest sister in the man
agement of the large farm on which he was born. He did
not return to Canada again, and last I heard from him he was
doing well.
The Boss used to make frequent trips to Touchwood. It
was only a fifty mile drive for him, and he could always count
on a couple of days' rest, a good bed, clean room, and a cup
of good strong tea before he got up in the morning. He knew
all the old Indians personally, having been in charge of the
Touchwood Post when he was a young clerk in the service.
The Post was located then about fifteen miles North-west at
the edge of the great salt plain as it was called, and now
the most productive wheat fields in the world. He liked to
talk with them about the times round Touchwood long ago.
There were also many old Hudson's Bay people who never
failed to come to the Post to pay their respects when they
heard he was there. Many of them had been to York on the
boat trips, when they were young men, freighted, canoed,
ran buffalo and had many narrow escapes on the rivers and
lakes. Indian tribal wars, and such like were always the
chief topics of conversation and of these they never tired.
Also many of the old ladies who no doubt were young girls
when he was clerk in charge would come and see him, having

150 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
their own little tales of long ago, and the dances they used
to have. Evidently the Boss used to be a great dancer in his
young days as well as the rest of them. They would talk of
the Jig, the Duckdance, the reel of eight, the Haymakers, the
Kissing dance, and many others, the names of which have no
significance to present day dances, but they still have a warm
corner in the hearts of the old timers who have long since
abandoned the modern dance hall.
One day in the store one of the Boss's old lady friends
said to him: "Mr. McDonald, I want you to .give me five
dollars." He said: "I have nothing but Hudson's Bay Company's
money. ' '
"Oh, dear me," she said, "have you no money of your
own? You surely have saved five dollars, you have been such
a long time in the service, I don't want to believe you at last,
you must have a little money of your own anyway, and I
want you to give it to me, as I want to make a dance for
you, before you go gack again to Kay-pell. I inight never
see you again. I'm getting ould, and yourself is ould too.
Come give me, you never used to be stingy with your own
money, and I will spend it right away so that the Company
will have all your money too ; they got mine long ago. ' '
The Boss had to dig down, and handed her a five dollar
bill which she immediately planked on the counter, and got
its value in tea, sugar, tobacco, raisins, currants and rice, and
some other things.
The old lady had won out, and started for her home with
a good supply of groceries. The Boss thought it was a good
joke on him, and told it to Mrs. McKenzie several times that
evening. It got to be a regular bye word, and we would fre
quently ask some of our friends, "If they really had no
money of their own?"
Mr. McDonald left for Qu'Appelle the following day,
having greatly enjoyed his official inspection visit, and I

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 151
heard nothing more of the dance that the old lady was going
to make for him, out of the proceeds of that money of his
own. The second and last issue of scrip was given out to the
Qu'Appelle and Touchwood half-breeds, to all those who had
not participated in the first issue, also their children who were
born prior to 1885. This was the complete ruination of most
of the half-breeds in that part of the country. They were
poor before, but within two years afterwards many of them
were in abject poverty. They seemed to have completely lost
their heads. They spent their money like water, and a great
deal of it went in fire water which completed the ruin. They
would listen to no one. They were bound to sell their own
as well as their children's scrip and blow in the proceeds as
quickly as possible. Money was as plentiful as hay for a
while, and then came the relapse, and nothing more in sight.
It was general among them all, drinking, dancing, dressing
in fine clothes, and hunting for more pleasure as long as they
had a dollar left. I remember one day, a man and his wife
drove up to the store in a brand new rubber tired buggy, with
a spanking team, and new silver mounted harness with whip
to match, both dressed to kill in silks and overcoats, embroid
ered lap rugs, gold chains and watches, hats and gloves of the
very latest style and best quality. I knew them very well,
and also what their circumstances were a few weeks before.
I expect I looked rather foolish at the unusual sight, anyway
they asked if there was any mail for them. I said no, so
they got out of the buggy, tied up the horses, walked into
the store. The rustle of the lady's new silk dress and under
skirts was most wonderful. It was in the days of wide
brimmed ladies' hats, and here was some wide brim. She
could scarcely get in the store door with it on. I went round
the counter to serve them myself, and they began to buy in
quantity all kinds of things that I knew was of no use to
them at all. I saw that both their heads were so swollen about

152 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
their own importance that I let them go to it. I could stand
it if they could. After they were through buying I was hav
ing a talk with them. They were both uneducated. I was
telling them it was very foolish for them to buy all this
stuff which they did not require. Their old buggy and har
ness was quite good enough for a year or two yet, and lots
of the other things that they had told me they had bought
at Qu'Appelle. I said, "You could have done very well
without, and put your money in the Bank, so that you could
use it when you really required something." I saw that the
woman did not like my line of argument or advice, and she
turned round on me in a rage, her eyes like balls of fire. They
had something in their grip that they had been tampering
with, which caused all the flushes and sparkles. She said,
"You white people don't know anything but put your money
in a bank, while hus, we use it, our money, we know what
we are doing, and have plenty to do it with." I said nothing
but wished them good-bye and raised my hat, as by that time
they were both in their swell buggy again, along with their
shopping parcels, and their team was headed for home again.
Two years later they had not a single thing; they had to
dispose of all this fine stuff at a sacrifice to get enough grub to
eat. That is one example of how they came to poverty.
Here is another example : The half-breed who was head
of the house died. He had been a very careful man, and with
the proceeds of his scrip had left his wife and family very
well to do. He left them seventy-eight head of cattle, eight
teams of horses, wagons and harness, and a complete buggy,
driving and saddle horses, a good house, and one quarter sec
tion of good land, together with all necessary furniture and
furnishings, etc. His widow got the spending bug and in two
years she did not have enough to clink on a tombstone. She
danced it away, made presents, made Indian feasts, and in
the end married the most miserable Indian on the reserves.
I said to her one day after she was down and out, "You are

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 153
happy now, are you not?" She said, "Oh dear, yes, I have
nothing now to bother my head to keep, and can go anywhere
1 like on foot, nothing to look after."
There were many other similar cases. They all seemed
to lose their heads, and that is the reason I have said that
the last scrip issued instead of being a benefit as the Govern
ment intended it to be, was the complete ruination of the
bulk of the half-breed population, both morally, financially,
and otherwise. So you cannot always, sometimes, tell what
is best to be done.

154 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER XVII.
One afternoon in the fall, of the year, the Boss and his
driver arrived at the Post. He was going to Fort Pelly by
way of Fi,shing Lake, and as he had not been at Nut Lake
for several years he thought he would go round that way, if
I could make it convenient to go out with him, and we could
discuss the different matters of recent correspondence which
had principally to do with Nut Lake Post affairs. The fol
lowing afternoon, we started, his man driving my team behind.
Everything was dry, and the roads were good. We camped
at Fishing Lake that night, and reached Nut Lake the fol
lowing evening about sundown. We had a very interesting
and valuable conversation on the trip, about Touchwood and
Nut Lake business, as well as other Posts in the District. He
told me that Mr. Armit was being transferred to the charge
of Fort Albany in James Bay, and that Angus McBeath was
retiring from the Service at Fort Pelly, in fact that was his
special business on this trip, to try to induce him to stay on
for another year, or until such time as a suitable successor
could be found. He said, "If your brother was not trading
in opposition to the Company at Pelly it would be just the
Post for you, but I would not think of asking you to go there
under those conditions, unless you wished to go yourself."
I said, "That is settled right here, Mr. McDonald, brother
or no brother, I'm not looking for Irish promotion and I would
not in any case take charge of Pelly. If there is nothing
better I'm quite satisfied to remain at Touchwood Hills as
you know it is the best paying Post in your District today,
and I have worked up enough Posts to a paying basis, during
my twenty-nine years' service, and besides, I will be eligible
for retirement on pension next year. So if there is nothing
better than Touchwood Hills to offer me, I don't want any
other Post, and I am very much obliged to you in not asking
me to go to Pelly, and your reasons for not doing so. ' '

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 155
We were speaking very friendly as man to man, although
I was then receiving two hundred pounds per annum, together
with board and lodging, in accordance with the custom of
the Company's service, for myself and family, yet I felt that
I was being held too long in the same District where there
was no chance of any further advancement or promotion. I
was the only man in his District now, who was of the old
time originals, but for some reason or other he did not want
to let me get out of his District. He told me I was too useful
a man in the District, and he did not want to part with me,
although the Commissioner had asked him to several times,
but he had never consented. He said, "I know it was selfish,
as many years ago you had nothing further to learn about
all the details of the Company's affairs from the bottom to
the top, and you have always made good in any position I
have placed you. I have the greatest confidence in you and
your ability, that is the only excuse I have for holding on
to you from year to year. You have served the Company
well, and besides you are a young man yet as far as your
age is concerned, and you are ripe in the all round knowledge
of the Company's business." He said, "Don't put in your
resignation. You are good for twelve or fifteen years' service
yet when you will get full pension, which the Board will not
allow you at your present age. I cannot offer you anything
better than you have at present, and changes may take place
in a year or two that are not apparent at present. You are
now the highest paid Post manager in the District."
I had never asked for an increase in salary during my
serviee, and as far as salary was concerned in those days, I
was getting a good salary, and held a good position, being
practically my own Boss and all the rest of it.
I told him I would continue to serve as usual for a time,
but. I positively objected, to taking charge of any other Post
in the District, so that part of our conversation was ended,
and neither he nor I referred to the subject again, but took

156 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
up other matters of business in connection with the trade
and winter equipment. He was quite pleased with the general
condition of Nut Lake, and noticed many changes and im
provements since he last visited the Post. I had some new
buildings put up during the past few years, and had also
changed the site of the Post to a more favourable location,
all of which he was, of course, conversant with through my
reports, but had not seen it before. In fact he was surprised
to see so much improvement at so little cost, as appeared in
the annual accounts. He also noticed along the trail two or
three bridges, that I had built over bad creeks, which made
travelling and freighting much easier. I built three bridges
myself, with the help of my freighters, and it really cost the
Company nothing. The timber was handy, and I had built
lots of bridges, in fact I never went over a bad creek twice
without putting a bridge across it, if it was in my line of
freighting travel. It paid. There were more goods damaged
in trying to ford creeks that were just a foot too deep, than
in any other way. The freighters used to say when I would
start out with them on a trip, "We sure will have to build a
bridge this trip, he is coming with us, so we better have
our axes sharp or there will be hell to pay. We have to
hurry up when he says, only stop to eat when the bridge is
finished and all the carts pass over it."
Well, anyway, I built lots of them, and built them in a
hurry, too, sometimes. They always served the purpose —
and we did not have wet or damaged goods when they
reached their destination, and that more than paid for the
time it took to slap a few sticks over a creek. I have always
found prevention to be better than cure, where at all prac
ticable. Returning from Nut Lake, we camped at Duck Hunting
Creek, about fifteen miles out. There was good feed and
water here for the horses, and we had shot some ducks and
prairie chickens, with which we made a fine supper and

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 157
breakfast next morning. The weather was superb. No flies
or mosquitoes, and we were enjoying the trip to the fullest.
There was nothing to worry about as far as I was concerned.
Everything at Touchwood and Nut Lake was in first class
shape, and in a prosperous condition, and there were the
very best of prospects for the coming winter trade. The Boss
was highly satisfied with both Posts, it was the first time I
ever knew him not to find fault with something or other. Of
course it was his business to find faults if there were any
lying round, and to have them rectified. He was very keen
on the thorough inspection of his posts, and he had the
peculiar habit of poking into every hole and corner. He had
been so long in charge of the District that every phase of the
game was as familiar to him as his own bedroom, and he
lid not go to tell someone else about your shortcomings. You
got it in the neck right there and then, red hot, and it was all
over. He always told a man or manager where he got off
at, and what he was expected to do, and yet with all this,
he was very kind hearted and would do anything in reason
to help a fellow along. I had served so long under him that
I knew every twist of his body and mind, and I suppose my
own character had become more or less moulded like his
through our long association in business. He very often asked
my advice on various business matters within the district,
things that I had spent years in learning, and given every
thought too in my own experience, and knew to a mathematical
demonstration, what results would necessarily follow doing
a thing in a certain way, at a certain time, and profitable
results were the thing the Company was looking for. To this
end I had spent my life so far in constant study for their
interests, not considering salary or time whether by day or
night if their interests demanded more energy or exertion
on my part to accomplish any legitimate purpose.
At the forks of the road near Fishing Lake we boiled
the kettle and had lunch. We parted here. I took my own

158 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
team and buggy and headed south for Touchwood, and he
and his man continued on east for Fort Pelly.
I had not driven many miles when all about me ashes
began to fall in flakes like a snow shower. The wind was
blowing hard, an undoubted sign that a big prairie fire was
in action. Coming on to a ridge I could see smoke in the
distance, in the direction of Touchwood. Prairie fires were
quite common in the fall, and as a rule we did not give them
any particular attention, but this fall everything was dried
up and the grass was unusually long everywhere on account
of the heavy rains in the early part of the season. As I
drove towards it I could see that the fire was very extensive,
the whole country seemed to be in flames, and the fire was
travelling with great rapidity with an increasing gale blow
ing. The heat was getting intense. The whole atmosphere
seemed to be on fire. Smoke had gotten so dense that the
sun was completely obscured. Bundles of grass all aflame
carried by the fierce wind were falling all around me, and
the wind was nearly as hot as a furnace blast. I came on to
another small ridge, driving as fast as the horses could go,
the poor beasts were now in a lather of foam and sweat. I
could see the flames and hear their roar. I was entirely sur
rounded by fire, and at very close quarters from this par
ticular one, right in front of me. The horses were frightened
and so was I, but there was no time to lose if I was to save
them and myself. The fire was travelling at the rate of fifteen
to twenty-five miles an hour and where the grass was very-
long in dry sloughs it was making much faster time. I
jumped out and set fire to the grass in my immediate vicinity
and got the team and myself on the burnt ground. By this
time the smoke was nearly suffocating us. I got in front of
my team, put my blanket over their heads, and got my own
head in with theirs and kept most of the smoke out of our
lungs, otherwise we should have perished. It was one of the
worst prairie fires, and the closest call I had ever experienced.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 159
That arm of the fire passed us with a roar, licking up every
thing in its path. There was no more danger of being burned
to death but the intense heat still in the air was hard to
endure, and the team was very restless when I took the
blanket off our heads. The smoke had partially gone to
leeward, and here the team and I stood alone on a ridge in
the midst of a black burned wilderness, that had been so
beautiful a few hours before, with the grasses and flowers
waving and rejoicing in their most beautiful autumn tints.
Water was what myself and the horses wanted now, but
I knew there was none within three or four miles of us, and
then it was only a small spring, which I might not be able
to find, as it was some distance off the trail, and the fire
had altered the appearance of the whole faee of the country.
The fire that I had just come through had started in the
great salt plain, between the big Touchwood and Humboldt,
sweeping right through the Quill plain over which I was then
travelling. There were numerous other fires to the east and
south of me as I could see by the smoke, and this section I
had still to pass through. I was also very anxious about my
family at the Post as I could see heavy smoke in that direc
tion and I was still about twenty-five miles from home.
All this had taken place in a much less time than it has
taken me to write it down, although it appeared hours to me
at the time.
Water was what we now wanted, and we wanted it badly.
The horses were quite badly singed about the head and breasts,
and I had parted with my own eyebrows and eyelashes, and
was blistered a little on the face and hands.
I pulled on to the trail again, the horses were not feeling
very gay so I let them walk along slowly for a mile or so,
and then started them on a slow trot, but gave them their
heads, did not tighten the reins at all, as I was in hopes they
would fork off, when we came near where the spring should

160 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
be, as I was sure it was still ahead of us. All land marks had
been obliterated by the fire.
We had gone quite a distance, but not nearly as far as
I had thought, and I was beginning to despair, when all at
once the team left the trail. I said nothing to them, but let
them go their own way. I knew there was a little clump of
bushes where the spring was, but I could see nothing as far
as I could look ahead but burnt prairie. However, I let
them go, as they seemed willing and were increasing their
pace in a straight bee line for some place. I looked back and
could see the buggy track as straight as a line behind us. In
a few minutes I saw a few red foxes ahead of us, and some
badgers and skunks, that had come through the fire; some
of them were pretty well scorched, in fact their pelts would
be useless for that season, and many of them would not live
through the winter. Foxes that were burned like these were
we called "Samsons", and were useless.
All this passed through my mind in an instant, when a
couple of black tail deer bounced past within twenty yards
of us. They had also been through the fire, and were badly
singed. They disappeared over a ridge a short distance ahead.
I was so thirsty by this time that I could only speak to my
team with difficulty. The team started to trot as the deer
passed us and just over the ridge lay the spring with a lot
of these crippled and burned wild animals standing and
lying near it. The poor things did not seem at all frightened
at our arrival and just watched us from a short distance.
We were all pilgrims in distress. I unhitched the team but
allowed them only a few mouthfuls of water and took very
little myself. After a little while I gave the horses all they
would drink and also drank as much as I wanted myself.
I hitched up again and started in a diagonal course until
I struck the trail. I saw several foxes and prairie wolves
heading for the spring. It seemed to be the only water in
that part of the country at that time, and was surely a

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 161
blessing to the wild animals in that vicinity. It was certainly
the most precious sight that I had seen in years. I took my
tea kettle full of it in the rig with me, and took a sip of it
now and again.
The wind had changed and the fires were now travelling
in all directions, but towards evening it was not blowing so
hard, though still very hot. The fire had crossed the trail
in many places, and I had to drive through it, both the horses
and myself being pretty well scorched several times. Towards
sundown my team got completely played out. They could
not even go at a slow walk. I unhitched them, took their
harness off and rubbed them all over. There was nothing
for them to eat, so we had to try it again after half an
hour's rest. I saw that the fire was in round the Post but
it was not the same fire that I had been in all day, it had come
upon them from the east. The fires all around looked much
worse as it began to get dark. I was about three miles from
the Post and had now to go through fire all the way. I was
sure from the look of things that the Post and everything
else was burned, as I could see nothing but fire in all the
bluffs round where the Post was. I don't know how the
horses or myself made the last mile and a half, but when I
got there the Post was still standing, although everything
was burned right up to the buildings.
My family were all safe and so was Jamie Slater. The
fire had jumped the fire guards round the Post many times,
but they had been able to combat it from the buildings and
stables. They had been fighting it from about noon. Mrs.
McKenzie had gathered all the Indians from the reserve who
could come to help, and they had certainly all worked like
niggers. The fire was still being watched, but all the burning
was going on outside the plowed fireguards now. They had
taken a lot of the furniture out of the house, and piled it up
in the garden, the youngest baby in the cradle among the
pile. Mrs. McKenzie was a sight to behold. She had been out

162 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
all day directing the Indians first at one point and then at
another whenever the fire would jump the guards. She was
certainly a tired woman, but had saved the Fort and her
children with the aid of Slater and the Indians.
The fire in the bluffs burned for several days, and in
many of the sloughs the earth was on fire and burned all
winter. Several people lost their lives in some parts. Cattle
and horses died from burns ; many hay stacks were destroyed.
Rabbits, prairie chicken and many of the smaller fur bearing
animals were burned. It was the most disastrous all over
prairie fire that had been in the country during my time.
The following winter was a hard long one, many ranchers
were put out of business, losing all their cattle for laek of
feed. Some others had lost all their stables and dwellings
through the fire and were penniless, having invested their
all in ranch and stock which had all gone up in smoke, or the
cattle starved to death before the following spring.
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was now under loca
tion, .and many parties of surveyors and engineers were tra
versing the District. The line was finally located and ran
about two miles south of the Post right through the Touch
wood Hills, entering them at the eastern end through
Miscowequan's Reserve.
I had a busy season at the Post supplying all these sur
veying parties, and their men, outside of all the regular trade
of the Post. It gave the business of the Post a large volume
of increase for the time. When the location of the line was
finally confirmed, construction, grading and track laying was
pushed forward with great rapidity. The Chief Engineer
pitched his headquarters about three hundred yards from
the Post in order to be central to all his resident engineers
east and west, as well as to be near his source of supply and
mail and telegraphic communication. The headquarters re
mained there until the road was completed, and passenger
trains passing daily. The Government telegraph line from

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 163
Qu'Appelle to Battleford passed in front of the store door
along the old trail, so all I had to do was to get permission
to tap the wire, get an operator and an instrument and I had
a telegraph office in operation in a day or two after the Engi
neer had decided to have his headquarters there during the
period of construction.
Nearly everyithing was done by wire until we got more
frequent mails. The operator was kept very busy, and the
office paid well. There were all kinds of contractors and
sub-contractors. Teams of mules and horses, scrapers, dump
carts, camping outfits, and hundreds of men getting on to
the work all the time. One gang being fired, another gang
being hired, and a third gang on the trail. This kept things
lively, and the time-keepers and paymasters had their usual
railroad work cut out for them. The labourers were nearly
all foreigners. The post office was also a busy spot. It took
up the whole time of one clerk, and very often the store was
open for business from 5 a% m. till after midnight and the
house full of engineers and travellers. We scarcely ever sat
down to a meal without three or four strangers being at table
with us. Of course the most of them were new customers,
giving me large orders for goods, and there was no other
place round at which they could get a meal.
Mrs. McKenzie and what help she could get were
worked off their feet, and very often she would give a hand
in the post office as well. We were doing a big business, and
I had a string of freighters continually on the road. It was
no trouble to order goods, as I had the wire right in the store
and during that two years I could sell the goods as fast as I
could get them in. I sold the men clothing, boots, shirts,
sox, etc., cheaper than the contractors would or could sell to
them, and better quality stuff. So I had the whole business
from postage stamps and cigarettes to anything that any man
required, or could get it within forty-eight hours. It was

164 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
all cash transactions except contract supplies or the Resident
Engineers. There were all kinds of bums trying to work the oracle,
but it was a poor country for their trade. I saw that as soon
as construction was over and the engineers' camps moved
away all the trade of the Post would go flat, at the present
site. The settlers would all go to do their business at the
different railway stations, so there was nothing for the Com
pany to do but either build a new place at one of the sta
tions, or close the Post up, and to make timely preparations
with that end in view, I reported in full on the matter on
all its bearings about six months before construction. was fin
ished, so that the Company would have ample time for con
sideration as to what would be done when the time arrived
for final decision.
The tracklayer made its appearance in the fall and winter
of 1907-8, and soon after it construction trains on skeleton
track, and so westward ho, they passed along to the terminus
at Prince Rupert. Settlers as usiffel kept following up, settling
here and there in groups, colonies, and isolated homesteads.
They were all kinds and conditions, mostly Europeans and
foreigners of all kinds settled round Touchwood, many of
them having worked on the railway during construction.
They did not look good to me as prospective customers, they
were hard to deal with and must have been cheated on every
hand in the countries from which they came.
I had no intention of trying to adapt myself to their ways
or catering for any trade they might have at a later date. I
would ten times sooner have my Indians (pure Canadians)
to deal with: they were Princes compared to the samples of
foreigners that were being pushed up our way, that could
be located at suitable points, where a good gerrymander
would elect the next member to the legislature, naturalize
them Yes, but to make Canadians out of them, Never. The
whole country was overloaded with this class, and has, and

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 165
still is paying the penalty. If we are going to continue to
make Canada a white man's country, then we have to cut
out at once and forever, the importation of the off scourings
of European and Asiatic nations, and each individual true
Canadian and British subject go to work and develop our
own nation with our own people, by our own people, for our
own people.
We had four children now, three girls and a boy. We
had decided to send the boy and one girl to school in Winni
peg, and had made all arrangements to get them in at the
beginning of the term after New Year. So I obtained a week's
leave of. absence for this purpose, and immediately after New
Year, 1909, Mrs. McKenzie, the two children, and myself,
boarded a caboose attached to a G. T. P. construction train
at the water tank, which was named Touchwood Station, and
started for Winnipeg, going a considerable distance on a
skeleton track. Without serious mishap, and many stops, we
arrived and placed the two children in school.
I called at the Chief Commissioner's office the following
forenoon just to pay my respects, as I was on leave of absence.
To my great surprise I was told by the secretary that Chief
Factor McDonald was in the office with Mr. Chipman, and
he was instructed to admit me at once. After the usual salu
tations and a hearty handshake with a pat on the shoulder,
I was invited to an armchair that stood vacant nearby. The
Commissioner then asked me when I was going back to Touch
wood. I told him we would start in a day or so after the
children had gotten used to their surroundings. Mr. McDonald
also asked very kindly after Mrs. McKenzie and the children,
also who I had left in charge at Touchwood, and after a little
further conversation the Commissioner said, "On your way
back, could you go out to Manitoba House for a week or ten
days? The gentleman in charge there is retiring, and his
successor who is coming from the East has not arrived yet,
and it is urgent that the other man gets away at once. Mr.

166 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
McDonald and I have talked the matter over, and both he
and I would very much prefer if you could possibly go out
there and take over the transfer of the Post and hand the
same over to the new man on his arrival. I am very sorry
to ask you to do this on a leave of absence trip, especially
as you have Mrs. McKenzie with you, but it is really neces
sary for a responsible man to go out as I am not at all pleased
with the monthly statements coming in from that Post."
I said, "Yes, I'll go, just as soon aS you have my letter
of instructions ready, but I must be back at Touchwood within
ten days." Next day I got off the train at Westbourne, got a team,
and made my way north up the lake, arriving at Manitoba
House the following day.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 167
CHAPTER XVIII.
Mrs. McKenzie went back to Touchwood by G. T. P. a
couple of days later. In a few days. Mr. Chesterfield and I
completed the Inventory, made out trading account and bal
ance sheet, and made the transfer in due form, both of us
signing up all the documents and certified correct, I sent a
team out to the railway with Mr. Chesterfield, Ms baggage,
and all the necessary papers, for the Commissioner as well as
for Mr. McDonald at Fort Qu'Appelle. Everything was ready
to be handed over to the incoming man, who would, I expected,
arrive back with the team, whose driver I had instructed to
wait until he got a reply to my telegram, whieh I instructed
Chesterfield to despatch to the Commissioner on his arrival at
the railway. On the tenth day the team arrived, but mo man to take
charge. The driver brought back a letter from the Commis
sioner, also one from Mr. McDonald from QuAppelle, both
of them informing me that the man from the East had taken
sick on his way west and had gone into hospital at Fort
William, and had died there. The letter informed me that
the only available man that could be sent had to come from
Cumberland House in Saskatchewan District, and every effort
was being made to get him and his family through to Manitoba
House as quickly as possible, in fact both letters said they
expected he would be then about Hudson Bay Junction, on
the C. N. R.
Here was a fine kettle of fish. My wife and two little
children were at Touchwood over four hundred miles away,
and expecting me back any day, and I knew that a man from
Cumberland House eould not reach me for many days. The
mail arrived but onee every two weeks, so I simply had to
handle the business of the Post and wait. Letters from Mr.
McDonald assured me that everything was going fine at
Touchwood, that he had been up to the Post and had found

168 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
my Indians were paying up their accounts well. He informed
me that Mrs. McKenzie and the children were well, and he
hoped that I would soon be back. He could not understand
why Mr. Taylor had not arrived before this.
There were quite a number of old H. B. C. servants,
settled round the lake raising a few head of cattle and horses.
and fishing. Some of them were fairly well to do, and others
seemed to have a hard scratch to get along. A number of
them after leaving the service and becoming freemen, had
taken life a little too easy, and did not always keep the lardei
full. Their rations did not come in the house the same as
they used to do, and they missed it many times during a
long hard winter, still each man was his own boss, and rabbits.
moose, and fish were fairly plentiful. Some of them came to
the store every day, and I visited at most of their places. I
knew a great many of them before, who had been at Fort
Ellice and Qu'Appelle during my time there and had lots of
stories to tell each other. They were all married and had
large families, and were nearly all related to each other by
marriage. They were contented and happy with life as it
was round Manitoba and Winnipegosis Lakes. They were
very anxious that I should stay in charge of the Post as they
had not had a right Boss since Angus Brabant and Mr. Armit
had left the Post.
Old Sandy McAuly, who used to be cattleman at Fort
Ellice, had retired years before, but I hired him to work
about the store. He lived* quite close to the Post and had a
family of over twenty to support, including his grandchildren
and adopted children. He was nearly in his dotage then, and
could hardly tell his own children from his grandchildren
sometimes. Some of the children could speak Gaelic as well
as Indian or French. They could all snare rabbits and catch
fish as soon aa they could walk.
Old Abraham Moar was postmaster. He was also the
grandfather or great grandfather of every one in the settle-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 169
ment. He was then over ninety years of age and died a few
years later.
Stagville was the name of the village, and Rev. Alfred Cook
was the curate of the English church and mission school. He
used to be at Touchwood, and had only been down here a few
years. He was well liked by his people, and was said to be
making converts. They were all great church goers, and he
always had a good sized congregation. He did not tire them
out with long sermons or useless advice. His services were
short and to the point, and he did not often bother about a
collection till the hunters came back.
I was at Manitoba House three months before Mr. Taylor
and his family arrived to take charge, the longest three months
I had ever put in in the service. The Commissioner 's letter had
never reached Cumberland until March. It had missed the
New Year mail, and there had been no travel between Hudson's
Bay junction and there in the meantime. The snow was very
deep, and were it not for the fact that they had to come out for
a doctor, I might still be at Manitoba House, as far as the Com
missioner's letter or telegram was concerned. At the end of
March Mr. Taylor arrived late one night with his family and
effects. I made the transfer of the post and put him in charge
of it that same night. I wished him the best of luck, and started
for Winnipeg next morning at daylight with one of the teams
that had brought him in.
I had made a good trade during the time I was at the post.
There was no one to blame particularly. Touchwood had not
suffered and I was suitably rewarded later on for my fidelity to
duty. Had the first man not taken sick and died things might
have turned out different and there would have been no Mani
toba House story of my three months sojourn there. I saw my
children in Winnipeg and was glad to find that they were all
right. I wired my wife at Touchwood then went to the Com
missioner 'a office to hand in my report and proceed to Touch
wood by first train.

170 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
The Commissioner said many nice things to me, among
others that the Company had decided not to build at Touch
wood at present,, and would close up the post on the 33st of May,
and that I must try to rediaee the stock as much as possible,
between now and then. Mr. McDonald would officially inform
me of all details as soon as I got home. He would write him at
once of the entire satisfaction I had given at Manitoba House
and that I had started back to Touchwood.
The G. T. P. train started in the morning with me aboard.
Arriving at Touchwood I found everything O.K., wife and
children well, and Jamie Slater in the midst of the spring trade,
whieh was good that year. Thousands of rat skins were piled
up everywhere, a good opportunity to reduce the stock whieh
was now pretty low except in the necessary spring trade
articles. There was every possibility of a good profitable clean
up before the end of the outfit. There seemed to be no end to
the work? and time was flying.
About the first of May we had cleaned up pretty well. The
Boss asked me to make a trip to Winnipegosis and take Mrs.
McKenzie and the children with me to see the post, as there was
a likelihood that I would be transferred there after I closed
out Touehwood. I had to go to Nut Lake first on an inspection trip. We had
a new man there by the name of Chartrand. I got ready, left
Slater in charge, and accompanied by my wife and the- two
little girls went to Wadena on the C. N. R., a drive of about
fifty milesu My wife and the children took the train down tc
Togo, where she would visit her sister until I returned from
Nut Lake. On my return from Nut Lake to Wadena I sent my
men back with the teams to Touchwood, took the train, picked
up my wife and children who had got a good rest by this time
at Togo, and went right through to Winnipegods. There I
found letters awaiting me from Qu'Appelle. Mr. George
Spence was in charge and was recently married. He was going
to be transferred to Fort Alexander on Lake Winnipeg after

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO- 171
the elose of the outfit. It was a nice post, a fine store and a
very comfortable dwelling house in quite a good sized village,
principally lumber and fishing, and some good farms. Mrs.
McKenzie did not like it, and I had no particular love for it
myself, only I had promised that I would come back and make
the transfer after I had closed out Touehwood.
We stayed there for a couple of days, and I instructed
Spence to start taking stock at once, telling him I would be
back again about the end of the month, when I would expect
that he would have all the annual accounts finished.
So we started back again round by Winnipeg and got back
to Touchwood in time for the celebration of the Queen 'si birth
day on May 24. I had everything closed out and satisfactorily
finished on the 31st of May, and Touchwood Hills Post and all
its former greatness had passed away.
We had made up our minds that I was not going to stay
long at Winnipegosis, so Mrs. McKenzie decided to stay on in
the Touchwood House for a time till I knew definitely what
was going to happen. All our furniture and everything was
there, and plenty of stuff to go on with for some time.
I started off for Winnipeg and got to Winnipegosis on the
2nd of June. George Spence had everything finished in first
class shape and he got away for Fort Alexander in a few days.
I had a nice young man in the store, a Mr. Harrison. Trade
was brisk, and new goods were coming in for the other posts
up the lake, and these I was forwarding as fast as our boats
could take them away. By the end of June, I had made a trip
to five of the seven posts, had forwarded all their freight and
made a report on each of them as well as a report on Nut Lake,
together with the monthly statements for June. I posted the
bunch off to Qu'Appelle on the 1st of July. The Boss arrived
on a vist on the 7th of July. After he had looked over the
stores and warehouse he asked me if all the freight had come in
yet for the posts up the lake. I said, "Yes, it's all in and all at

172 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
the posts. ' ' And pointing up the lake I said, ' ' There is our last
boat returning from Pine Creek, everything is delivered."
The boat coming in was a new one I had finished building
and put in commission. She carried twelve tons and looked
fine coming in full sail under ballast. He said, ' ' Mack you have
done a wonderful amount of good work for the Company dur
ing the short time you have been down here." He told me
before leaving that I would be relieved of the charge of Winni
pegosis in a few days and he would probably see me in
Winnipeg. On the 10th of July young Alex McDonald, a nephew of
the Boss.) arrived, and the letters that he handed me from the
Commissioner authorized me to transfer the charge of Winni
pegosis Post to Mr. Alex McDonald, and to report myself to
him at Winnipeg as soon as I could complete the usual transfer.
On the 12th of July, 1909, the Orangemen were parading
along the street as I boarded the train for Winnipeg — "Good
bye Winnipegosis. "
I met Mr. McDonald at the Empire Hotel, and the first
thing he asked me was, had I seen the Commissioner yet. I
said no. He said, "You better go over to his office and see
him at once, and I will remain here until you come back. ' '
The Commissioner was evidently expecting me. He said
he was glad to see me, and we had a short general conversation
about Winnipegosis and the transfer of young McDonald, etc.
He then told me that he had the authority to appoint me Fur
Trade Inspector forthwith, and he would also raise my salary
to three hundred pounds, and date my contract back fourteen
months. My previous contract had expired about fourteen
months before, and I had not signed any since. He told me that
in the meantime I better take a short holiday as they had kept
me pretty busy for the last few years. "The main thing is I
have got you in Winnipeg now," he said, "and you are no
longer attached to Manitoba district. The Chief Factor has
been persuaded to let you out of his district at last. I did not

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 173
wish to oppose him too much, as I knew as well as he did that
you were a very valuable man for the Company as well as him
self, as long as you remained in his district, but it has kept you
back several years from doing more important work for the
company, which I hope you will soon be able to start out on
now. ' '
He said, by way of ending the interview, "You need not
worry about anything, you can drop into the office at any
time, and should I wish to see you particularly I can always
phone the Empire and let you know. You are staying at the
Empire, are you not? And Winnipeg will take care of your
expenses for the present."
I pinched myself to see if I was awake or dreaming, but
I seemed to be all right, so I got up and thanked him very
kindly for everything he had said and done for me, and retired
a little confused by the sudden change of events in my already
eventful career. The thought struck me on my way back to
the hotel, "There you are now. You have attained and ob
tained your ideal position in the service after thirty-three
years hard struggle and devotion to duty." I thought I had
paid the price in full, but I was not sorry at that moment.
Mr. McDonald was still waiting for me. He knew what
was taking place, and he knew it the last time he was at Win
nipegosis, but he wished the Commissioner to give me the first
intimation of my new appointment himself.
He rushed up as soon as I entered the hotel and was the
first man, outside the Commissioner, to congratulate me and
wish me the best of luck. He left for Fort Qu'Appelle that
evening, and said he would likely see me again before I left
Winnipeg, as he would be down to attend the garden party,
that the Company were going to tender the Governor, Lord
Strathcona and Mount Royal, at the Lower Fort, on his arrival
in Winnipeg from England. The date of his arrival had not
yet been determined, but would be very soon.

174 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
After a few days I called at the Commissioner's office
again, and said, "Mr^ Chipman, I might as well go home to
Touchwood and see my family, and if you should wish to see
me you can wire me there and it will not take, me long to get
back to Winnipeg." He said, "Why yes. How stupid of us
not to think of that. Both your children went up about the
first of this month on their holidays. Yes, certainly go up and
visit with your wife and family, and I will not wire you unless
it is absolutely necessary for you to come down to Winnipeg.
Turn in your expenses to the office for the time you have been
in Winnipeg and include your railway fare to Touchwood —
good-bye, and I hope you will find your family all well, and be
able to spend a couple of weeks or so with them before you
have to go into active service again."
Mr. Calder was the next man to congratulate me, after
the Boss. He was as proud of my appointment as I was myself
and we wished that old George Drever was only down there
with us, but he was far away at Fort Chipewyan, so we did tho
next best thing and wished him, ourselves, and all the others of
that ilk, good luck, in a big bumper.
The garden party at the Lower Fort came on in due time,
Mrs. McKenzie and myself were among the invited guests who
were duly presented. All the Hudson Bay people and old
timers were there, a big crowd. I had a few words with his
Lordship. He said, "I hope you will succeed as well in your
new duties as you did in driving us from •Qu'Appelle to catch
the C. P. R. construction train, and I have no doubt but you
will." He also spoke very kindly to Mrs. McKenzie, and we
passed on to make room for the next.
He gave a return party the foUowing day at his own place
at Silver Heights, as he said himself one day was no use for a
reunion of old friends of such dimensions. The crowd was
even larger on the second day, and the weather was everything
that could be desired on both days. Everyone enjoyed them
selves to the fullest extent in friendly banter and recalling

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 175
many incidents of years gone past. It was a great gathering of
sisterhood and brotherhood without the usual strict formality.
Mr. and Mrs. Chipman were host and hosteiss at the Lower
Fort, and Lord Strathcona 's two grandchildren received wit:i
him at Silver Heights. Tears of joy were rolling down the
cheeks of many of the old timers, on those days, and many
of them met then for the last time in this world, still you could
not help but feel that it was good to be there, to see such a
display of loyalty and affection.
My next stamping grounds were Athabasca and Peace
River districts with headquarters at Edmonton, and Lesser
Slave Lake Post, the head post of Peace River, as my first post
to be inspected.

176 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER XIX.
On the 31st of August, 1909, Mr. C. C. Chipman handed
me my instructions in a sealed envelope together with a copy
of the Rules and Regulations of the service as amended October
18, 1887. I was to report to him direct, making out my various
reports at each post before proceeding to another post. I could
read my instructions when I arrived at Edmonton, and I would
find them all very familiar. They were only an outline of what
he wanted done, and in many eases I would have to use my own
judgment and discretion, according to circumstances and
location, or in other words to go ahead in my own way, giving
. a true and correct report of conditions as they existed, and to
rectify and investigate into all the details of each post and its
management, instructing and re-organizing on the spot, where
I considered it necessary or expedient in the Company's in
terests, and beneficial to local requirements.
After having been entertained to an elaborate and well
attended banquet, and receiving many other tokens of esteem
and affection from all our Touchwood Hills friends, the family
with all our belongings boarded a G. T. P. passenger train at
Punnichy station, on the 8th of September, 1909, and rolled
forward to Edmonton. We put up at the Hotel Cecil for a few
days until I found a suitable furnished house on 12th street,
which I rented under lease for a year, and moved the family
in. We were all very comfortable, and the two oldest children,
Annie and Burns, started going to school. I went to the dis
trict office, introduced myself to Chief Factor W. I. Livock,
who in turn introduced me to his accountant, Mr. McMahon,
and all the rest of the office staff of clerks and store men who
were then present.
Mr. Livock was a little flustered, but that was only natural.
He had received letters from Mr. Chipman that very day which
explained my being in his/ district at that time, I saw a storm
rising in his breast and eyes, so I said I would call again to-

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 177
morrow, after he had read his correspondence, and talk over
things, as I wished to start in as short time as possible for the
Lesser Slave Lake Post, and I would feel very much obliged
if in the meantime he would get someone to arrange transport
for me to that post. We then very kindly wished each other
good morning. I knew the saleshop manager, and dropped in
to see him, a Mr. Goldsmith, who used to be in charge of the
Whitewood saleshop in Manitoba district, also Geo. J. Kin-
naird, who used to be in charge of Fort Ellice, but now in
business for himself and doing well. Doctor McKay who had
recently retired from the charge of Peace River district, and
many other old H. B.. C. men and old timers, many of whom 3
had met years before — Edmonton was full of old acquaintances
so we were quite at home among old friends again, who were
glad to see us. Dr. McKay asked me to call again before I left
and he would be able to give me quite a lot of information
about Peace River district, that might' be of value to me when
I got out there. He also told me that his eldest daughter was
married to George Harvey, who was then in charge of Lesser
Slave Lake Post, and asked me if I would take out some letters
and some other small parcels that Mrs. McKay wished to send
out to their daughter : Of course I was only too glad to do this,
and he gave me a lot of information that I found very valuable
all through the district. He was a very staunch H. B. C. man,
sound and reliable with first class judgment and long exper-
ience in the management of districts and posts, as well as ac
counts and medicine. He was well up in years then, had a
large family, and was very comfortably off at Edmonton. He
died a few years later mourned by many and by all very much
regretted. When I went to see Mr. Livock again he had transport
arranged for me to Athabasca Landing, one hundred miles from
there. He said Mr. Leslie Wood who was in charge at the Land
ing would arrange my transport on to Lesser Slave Lake, and
he gave me a letter to him containing instructions to that effect.

178 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Mr. Livock was well up in years and had not been able to visit
the more distant posts in his district for some years, but had
sent out inspectors from his own office through the district
from time to time. Mr. McNabb was at present in the vicinity
of Lesser Slave Lake, and I might make connection with him
there. At Athabasca Landing there was a fine store well stock
ed with merchandise, and a number of large depots or ware
houses. It was here that all the freight was assembled during
the winter for transport to MacKenzie, Athabasca and Peace
River districts. The warehouses were all more or less empty
at this time, but the winter freight for up river was beginning to
come in from Edmonton.
Mr. and Mrs. Wood, both old timers, were very kind to me.
Mrs. Wood was a daughter of the Rev. John McDougall, and
a very hospitable lady she was. Mr. Wood gave me without
stint all the information at his disposal about the transporta
tion to and from the landing, up the river and down the river
to Fort McMurray, the number of teams, scows, men, wages.
cargoes, total quantities and time required for trips both up and
down the river, as well as inland transport to Lac La Biche
and Wabasca. He had everything at his finger ends, about re
ceiving and forwarding freight either by land or water; had
studied it for years, and was a first class man to be in charge at
that important point. Mrs. Wood would not allow me to get
anything out of the store, but made a special box of grub up
for me herself, all fresh and nice right out of the oven. She
said it was no trouble, that she knew what it was to go on long
trips herself. I enjoyed the kindnesses of both very much,
and I assure you I thought of them both many times before I
reached Lesser Slave Lake where the same class of hospitality
was extended to me.
George Harvey, as I soon learned, had gone to school witii
me in Stromness, and came out a few years after me in the
service. He) was the son of an old H. B. C. man who had sent
him home to Orkney to be educated. I gave Mrs. Harvey her

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 179
letters and other parcels from Edmonton with which she was
delighted. The doctor had evidently put in a good word in
his letter for me, at any rate hospitality was one of the great
traits in the characters of all the old time Hudson's Bay people
and my share was not stinted.
W. L. Thompson was the accountant for the post and
several outposts. McDermot was manager in the trading stora
and several other clerks. There were large warehouses here
also, all up river freight from Athabasca came here, and stored,
then forwarded from here to the respective surrounding posts.
It took me several days to make the inspection at this point.
Mr. Thompson had all his books balanced and in apple pie
order, but there were other details I had to secure from Sturg
eon Lake, Whitefish, and Peace River Landing. We sent out
a courier to the two posts asking each manager to come in and
bring all his books and accounts, and Mr. Harvey and myself
started for Peace River Crossing.
This is what they called the Portage It is one hundred
miles long. (Some portage !) It was over this portage that all
the freight from England to Lesser Slave Lake had to be haul
ed for the Upper and Lower Peace River posts. Hundreds of
tons of hay had to be put up, and about a hundred oxen had to
be wintered about the centre of this portage for that purpose.
The remains of some of the old stables and hay yards, and
dwelling houses are still there as land marks. That work is
done now, by railway and steamboats.
Some settlers were coming in to the grand prairie country ,
and a post was established for their convenience. The country
round the Peace River looked its best at this time there being
some most beautiful scenery and a fine climate.
The posts on the up river are Dunvegan, St. Johns, and
Hudson Hope, down, river, Vermillion, and Peace River Cross
ing Post, where the freight up and down the river was again
distributed to its final destination for the consumers. Some
distance from London, England,, to this point, in the old days,

180 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
via York Factory, in York boats, carrying straps, portages,
canoes, pack horses, oxen, and carts, dogs, snowshoes, and
every imaginable manner of transport, but it got there all the
same, annually to most northerly posts. We must lift our hats
to the men and women who accomplished these wonderful
physical feats of fortitude, peace and plenty for future gener
ations. The men of the Hudson's Bay Company were the ones who
did it, and many of their brave acts have never been recorded
nor preserved. It was along this trail that many of the gold
hunters going to the Yukon or Dawson City during the rush a
couple of years before this time, lost their lives. Many of
them never reached their point of objective and as many more
never returned. I saw the skeletons of a great number of their
horses bleaching in the sun. Some of these gold seekers had
built huts when they could go no farther, and their skeletons
were then lying on the rude bed of round poles that they had
erected. I, myself, saw two skeletons in one hovel or shack,
and many such cases were reported from far distant points
from time to time by the Beaver Indians. These prospectors
had all died either of exposure or fever, scurvy or starvation.
There were shacks all along the Athabasca) River, and if there
were any one living there at all they called their place a
boarding house or stopping place; but invariably they had
nothing to eat. Their partner, they would tell you, had gone
somewhere to get some grub, if you stopped there you had to
supply your own grub, and leave them enough to go on with
if you had any to spare.
I picked up one young Englishman in a starving condi
tion, and in a stage of high fever, on the River bank, a hun
dred miles from any one. He had had nothing to eat for sev
eral days but a little flour and water, and was half delirious.
I took him in our boat and kept him alive until we got to
Athabasca Landing, where the Sisters of Mercy took him into
their hospital, but when I called the following day he was

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 181
dead. He had been out from England a few months, and as
far as I could find out was of one of the best English families.
He was prospecting for gold along the river, but had got lost
and could not find his partner again, who he said was also
an Englishman and a cousin of his. Poor fellow ! His clothes
were in tatters, and his bare hands and feet were bleeding
when we found him, and would not have lived many hours. He
was in perfect agony with pain and thirst, and although he
was so near the river he could not reach it, even to get a drink
of water. I expect his cousin met the same fate, as there were
many similar cases at that time along the Athabasca, Slave
and Peace Rivers, of many foolhardy fellows who tried to go
through that country and were never heard of again.
I spent a couple of days at Athabasca Landing giving it
a thorough inspection, and then went on to Lac La Biche,
where Mr. Spencer was in charge. All his Indians were around
there, and I had to do a lot of talking to them. After inspect
ing his Post I proceeded to Lake St. Anne Post, but had to
pass through Edmonton, and stayed a few days with my family
and also to complete and clean up all my reports that had not
already been despatched toi Winnipeg. I also received several
letters from the Commissioner addressed to me here which
required attention. I met Peter Gunn, who was formerly in
charge of Lake St. Anne, but had resigned and was now
M. L. A. for the Lake St. Anne riding. He was an Orkney man,
and Mrs. Gunn was also an Orkney girl. One of their boys had
shot himself accidentally when duck shooting, the funeral
having taken place only a few days before my arrival. They
both felt very badly over it.
There was a large half-breed settlement around this Post.
Mr. Sibbald was in charge of the store. He was a first class
trader and a good all round Indian man.
From here I went to Onion Lake Post by way of Lloyd-
minster, and I visited the ruins of old Fort Pitt, which were
a few miles down the river from Onion Lake. It was at Fort

182 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Pitt where W. J. McLean and his family were taken prisoners
by Chief Big Bear and his band of Indians during the 1885
Rebellion, but were subsequently released from their dan
gerous guardians, nothing the worse for their forced stay
with the Indians. W. J. retired from the Company's service
shortly after that and has been in the employment of the In
dian Department ever since as one of their trustworthy offi
cials, and has paid treaty money to the Indians in Northern
Ontario and James Bay for several years. His headquarters
are in Winnipeg.
Charlie Garson, another Orkney man, was in charge of
Onion Lake. He had a fine store, quite a number of clerks,
and was doing a good general business. He also had one or
two outposts which were producing quite a large quantity of
good fur. It took me about four days to get through the In
spection of this Post. I had just finished and was ready to
leave when I received a telegram from the Commissioner to
go in to Winnipeg. He wanted to discuss with me some parts
of my reports which he had already received, before he trans
mitted them to the Board in London. I arrived back in Edmon
ton on the morning of the 1st January, 1910, in time to spend
the day and have New Year's dinner with my wife and chil
dren. I then spent over two weeks in Edmonton, under in
struction from the commissioner, attending the daily fur sales.
Edmonton was then the largest raw fur market in America
during the trapping season. On the 18th of January I started
for Wabasca. I could not get at that Post or its outposts until
after the freeze-up. I had to go back by way of Athabasca
landing again, and arrived at Wabasca Post about midnight
on the 24th. It was here I saw the famous Haley's comet. It
looked very fine among the Northern lights. Whoever the
comet belonged to, the Indians were very much sifraid of u.
The weather was very cold for several days, the thermometer
registering about 50 below zero. Mr. Griffiths was in charge
here, and had a very nice apprenticed clerk from Aberdeen ii.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 183
his office. The buildings were full and all in good repair,
and there was a nice comfortable dwelling house. Mr. Griffiths
was married to a daughter of, Sheriff Robertson of Edmonton,
and had three nice little children. I just inspected the Post,
then Mr. Griffiths and I started for his outposts, Trout Lake
and Chipewayan Lake. We took two trains of dogs and made
good time. I thought of going on to Fort Chipewyan to see
my old friend Geo. Drever, but I heard from the Indians that
he had been transferred to Abitibi Post in Lake Huron District,
Ontario, and had left some time before on the winter packet.
We did a lot of travelling and went to many Indian camps
between the outposts and beyond them. Here I secured two
jet black Siberian wolf skins which the Indians had killed a
few days before. This brand of wolf does not generally come
so far south, but several of them were killed that winter while
trailing a big herd of caribou. They were sleek and prime
skins. These wolves had eaten up many a poor caribou before
the Indians got them. The Siberian wolves are tall, swift
and vicious, and will tackle a man as quick as anything else.
We arrived back at Wabasca on the 3rd of February and
arrived at Edmonton on the 10th. I had completed all the in
spection of the District except the District office, and had
the last of my reports and expense accounts mailed to Win
nipeg on the 14th. The reports of this inspection are all in
Winnipeg and London, England. I hewed to the line and let
the chips fly where they liked. I read my report to each post
manager before I mailed it or left his post, so that he knew
exactly where he was at, and what he was up against. I gave
every one a square deal, and recorded nothing but hard facts.
Chief Factor W. T. Livock retired from the service at the
close of the outfit, on the 31st of May, 1910. I was again called
down to Winnipeg. Mr. Chipman was leaving for England
and would be gone about six weeks. He congratulated me on
the rapid and efficient Inspection of Athabasca and Peace
River Districts and told me that my reports were most satis-

184 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
factory. There were some Posts in Lake Superior District that
he would like me to do before I returned to Edmonton, and
before the spring break up took place, and he would probably
be back from England, about the time I was through with
them. I wrote Mrs. McKenzie and advised her of my where
abouts and the next order of business and then proceeded to
Fort William, it being the District Office of Lake Superior Dis
trict; R. D. Sutherland was in charge of the District and I
knew him very well. He was very glad that I had come to
inspect as much of the District as possible. J. D. Young was
District accountant, and Miss May Bilbe was the stenographer
I inspected the District Office the next day, then went to Lac
Seul, Nipigon, Nipigon House, and Montizambert, Missanabie,
and Dinorwic. The spring was open and the Commissioner
had returned from England. My reports were very much sim
ilar to those I had made on some of the Athabasca Posts, and
I had read them to each post manager before leaving his post ;
but in no ease did any one of them ask me to make any altera
tions. They all said: "Your report is quite correct, and I have
nothing to say. It is exactly as you have seen things and
as they are at present."
The Commissioner was very much satisfied and said:
"Your reports on Superior District carry a great many details
that I had no previous knowledge of, but will now give my
attention to." He then said: "I have the authority of the
Board to place you in immediate charge of Lake Huron Dis
trict. Your family are still very comfortable at Edmonton,
and after you have made the transfer of the charge of the
District to yourself, you will have time then to go up to Ed
monton, and bring your family down to the headquarters of
the District at North Bay. It is very important, when will
you be able to go?"
"By tonight's train," I answered.
"Oh," he said, "That's splendid. I will write all letters
in connection with it, and mail them to Mr. Sam King, and

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 185
also copies of them to your address at North Bay. I will also
wire Mr. King that you are leaving Winnipeg tonight for
North Bay. You will please send a report at once by wire
as soon as the transfer is effected."
At North Bay I made all the necessary transfers, advised
all the. Post Managers by letter of my appointment, said that
I would visit their posts soon, sent a wire to the Commissioner
to that effect, and it was all over.
Chief Factor Colin Rankin, who had retired a few years
before and had been in charge of the District for, many years
when the headquarters were at Mattawa and Temiskaming,
called on me the following day. A fine old gentleman, he was
then well on to eighty years of age, if not more. He gave me
very valuable information about many of the Posts, as well
as the men hi charge of them, and the Indians generally. I
told him I was leaving for Abitibi in a day of two, and would
visit all the Posts iu the District before I settled down in the
office. He was a great friend of mine all the time I was at
North Bay, and liked to hear about all the men at the Posts
every time I came back to the office from a trip. He and
Lord Strathcona were clerks together in the service, and he
often related many interesting stories of the early days in
the Southern Department.
J. T. Herbert was the District Accountant and Miss Ethel
Haire was stenographer.
I left them to carry on at the office as usual until I re
turned which would be some time towards the end of May,
before the close of the outfit. I advised the Commissioner
by letter what I intended doing. Here was now the oppor
tunity of my life to put in operation throughout a whole Dis
trict the system that I had practised with such certain results
at every Post I had been in charge of.
At Abitibi I found George Drever, David McKenzie, and
Willie Ritch (three Orkney men), and several other half-breeds
and native servants, all as busy as nailers. Canoes and Indians

186 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
were coming in all the time with their hunts, and some of them
had large quantities of the finest and choicest furs. The bulk
of them only arrived once a year, and then stayed around the
Post for a couple of months or so to have a genuine holiday
before they started out again early in the fall for their distant
hunting grounds. Many of them were fairly wealthy and
had good deposits to their credit in the Royal Trust Co. The
Priest used to come once a year to meet them, when he would
marry, baptize, give them communion, and fix them up gen
erally for another year in the Spiritual workshop. These
Indians all dressed in the very finest summer style when they
were around the Post. They had trunks in which they packed
their clothes, there being a warehouse for that special purpose
full of trunks which were all opened up as they arrived, and
closed up and stored away again when they departed. They
could not take these away with them in their canoes, and they
had practised leaving everything at the Post except the neces
sary hunting material, and their grub. There were thousands
of dollars' worth of stuff stored there in this way year after
year. There was no charge for storage, and it was at their
own risk in case of flood or fire, which up to then had never
done any damage, as far back as there were records.
The Indians just handed in their packs of furs, had them
checked over and credited to their accounts, found out how
much was coming to them, and then drew from day to day
against it until it was exhausted. They then took some more
debt again for the following year, and everybody was happy.
I had not met Drever for many years, and we had a great
many things to talk about, but chiefly Indians, furs and the
Company's business. His superannuation had already been
arranged for and he was retiring after the close of the outfit.
He recommended that David McKenzie be appointed to the
charge of Abitibi Post. I took a note of this and had the ap
pointment made, together with an increase in salary.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 187
Willie Ritch was too old to be of any further use in the
service, and I induced him to go back to Orkney among his
own people. I told Drever to bring him out to North Bay
when he came, and I would arrange for his passage home, and
also get the Company to grant him a life pension, which would
help to keep him more comfortable than he was out here with
out anyone to look after him. I had circulars with me for
each Post explaining in detail the system which I was going
to inaugurate in the District, my reasons for doing so, and
what I expected each post manager and servant to do. My
circular was very explicit and self explanatory, so I handed
one to each of the three of them to read. They contained
many paragraphs but were quite easily understood. Drever
saw the drift of the thing at once, and said: "That's the very
thing this and many other Districts want and want badly. It 's
the only way that you can make a Post or District pay, and
I'm right in line to start that today or at the beginning of
the outfit as your circular says, and give you all the co-opera
tion I can as long as I am here. I will put David here right
on to the thing so that he will be ready to take up the work
if he is appointed to the charge of this or any other Post.
David quite agreed and seemed to understand what I wanted
all right. I explained the circular then in detail until David
thoroughly understood every part of it.
At Barriere Post, Mr. Edwardson was in charge.
At Grand Lac Post, Mr. Christophersonj was in charge.
At Cochrane Post, Mr. Woodworth was in charge.
At Temagami Post, Mr. Woods was in charge.
At Elk Lake Post, Mr. Haigh was in charge.
At Matchewan Post, Mr. La 'African was in charge.
At Metogami Post,* Mr. Miller was in charge.
At Flying Post Mr. McLeod was in charge.
At Biscotasing Post, Mr. Train was in charge.
At Abitibi Post, Mr. Drever was in charge.

188 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Those were the Posts in Lake Huron District at that time,
part of them in the province of Quebec and the balance in
Ontario. I was back at the District Office at North Bay, early in
June, the Annual Inventories from the Posts were also just be
ginning to come in.
I did not like the conditions or methods that were in.
vogue at several of the Posts ; in fact I would not stand for il
at all, and told them so in pretty plain English. I warned them
that I would soon be around again and if certain things were
not rectified and instructions carried out to the letter, they
would have to abide by the consequences. You may think
that this was a strange way for a stranger to try and gam
the confidence of the post managers in a District. It looks like
that, does it not ? But it put me in charge of the District once
and for all, and I did not have a District Manager in charge
of each Post after that. It was sudden and decisive and we
all knew where we were at. I gained their confidence and we
worked together like brothers, and some of my best friends
are in that District today, and may perchance read this and
think of our first meeting, and then think of two years later
when I left the District, how the seene was changed, and we
were all good) friends, many of them telling me that they had
learned more about fur trade since I came to the District than
they had learned in thirty years before, and were able to take
responsible positions ha any District. That change was worth
more to them and me than all the little trouble I had. My
most pleasant thoughts today are memories of Lake Huron
District where the boys wheeled into line like good fellows,
and together we put in a system that enhanced the value of
the men and the District. The system we then inaugurated
in Lake Huron District is now installed in every District in the
country, and has worked out with mathematical accuracy and
convenience, and has given results that no other system has
ever given in the fur trade. And I started it in Nepapinace 's

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 189
house at Crooked Lakes and it took thirty years to get it
recognized. It has saved and made hundreds of thousands of
dollars for the Company and the Lake Huron boys were the
first to get it in circular form. I have no apology to offer
for this lengthy screed on my pet hobby, it did not cost me
the confidence of my Lake* Huron boys, but it bound us closer
together, and made more useful men of us all, and I don't say
I did it, but I say WE did it, and several of you are District
managers today, and good ones at that, through that system,
whieh you learned and is now in your blood.
I started for Edmonton in June to bring my wife and
family down, leaving Mr. Herbert in charge, closing the annual
District accounts for Winnipeg. I received a letter from him
every day during my absence, keeping me posted on everything
that was taking place in the District. I left my wife and family
at Fort Pelly on our way east, to spend a holiday with my
brother and his family, and they joined me later in North Bay.
The following outfit the District showed much better results.
It was; spinning like a top, every post doing its share, and all
working together towards a common centre. There was also a
shake up among Commissioners during this outfit. The Board
had decided that the increased business of the Company was
too much for one Chief Commissioner to give proper attention
to, and created three Departments of Fur Trade, Saleshops, and
Land Department. The last of the Chief Factors in active
service, Mr. R. H. Hall, was appointed Fur Trade Commission
er. Mr. Burbidge of London, England, Saleshops Commission
er, and Mr. C. C. Chipman was retained as Land Commissioner,
but retired the following year. Chief Factor Archibald Mc
Donald also retired, having spent fifty-seven years in the
service.

190 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER XX.
We were duly advised of Mr. Hall's appointment and were
now under his instructions in the Fur Trade. He visited my
District during his first year as Commissioner. He was a
thorough Fur Trade man, and conversation with him on Dis
trict and Posts was easy. He thoroughly approved of the sys
tem I had inaugurated at North Bay and sent young men from
Montreal and other Districts to learn it at my office, and care
fully read all my circulars to my Post Managers on the subject.
My contract was again out. I signed another at four hundred
pounds this time. I also received a bonus of $500 this outfit
on top of it, all the Post managers in my District received
bonuses that outfit also, in recognition of the good services
they had rendered the Company under my guidance. The
Commissioner was very well pleased with the results of the
District that outfit, as compared with results of previous out
fits, and said he would always give credit where credit was due
as long as he was Fur Trade; Commissioner, and would always
reward merit.
My next outfit was splendid. There were good returns at
every Post. The system was working like a charm. The
Post Managers were all feeling good, old stock was all cleared
out, nothing but clean stocks at every Post, and capital in
vested reduced to a minimum. The business could not be in
better shape, and everyone was doing their part, and knew
how to do it. We all got a bonus again. Mine was $500.
I was now transferred to the charge of Lake Superior Dis
trict, and when I got there I learned that none of the servants
in that District had received any bonus, and I did not wonder
at it. The Commissioner had positively refused to give them
any bonus on account of the very poor showing that the Dis
trict had made for the outfit. They were a lot of sore post
managers, and the District did not look good to me, but I
was there for the purpose of more hard wcTk, and I was there

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 191
to tackle it, so my first crack was round the District to see all
the Posts. I knew most of the men from the last inspection I
had in the District. They had all heard how well things had
gone in Huron District since I had been there, and everyone
of them was willing to buckle to, and pull this District in the
same shape if I would lead and show them how. The Commis
sioner had given me carte blanche, and had said: "My only
instructions to you are to put Lake Superior District in shape
if you can, and the man or men who do it will get the credit
for it." I went to it exactly in the same way as I did in Huron.
The men came into line quickly, and at the close of the first
outfit the District showed up with the best of them, and every
one got a bonus, in fact, Lake Superior has never gone shy a
bonus since, and is today, if not the best, at least one of the
best Districts in the country.
One of my Post Managers, J. D. MacKenzie, became my
assistant District Manager and became District Manager when
I left. A. W. Patterson of the Lac Seul Post, was transferred
to the charge of Nelson River District and J. J. Barker ot
Nipigon transferred to the District management of Saskatche
wan District. Mr. Christopherson of Grand Lake Post to the
charge of Lake Huron District.
Harry Woods of Temagami is now assistant district man
ager in Lake Superior District. Other Post managers have
been promoted within the District. These are all first class
men, were all Post managers; under me either in Huron or Su
perior, all learned from me the system of how to make Posts and
Districts pay, and are now making their own Districts and
Posts pay. It's as easy as rolling off a log when you know
how. Any of them who read this will be able to tell you how
it is done. The fact remains that it was done to the King's
taste, and as I said in Huron District I will now say to you.
We, the boys of the Hudson's Bay Company, did it, and are

192 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
keeping on doing it. The records of both districts are kept,
and these statements can all be verified.
On the 31st of May, 1913, Fur Trade Commissioner R. H.
Hall retired and N. H. Bacon from London, England, was ap
pointed Fur Trade Commisioner in his stead, and took charge
of the Fur Trade office in Winnipeg on June 1st, 1913. It was
also at this time that I signed my last three year contract, at six
hundred pounds per annum, with expenses, same as usual, rec
ommended by the outgoing and signed by the incoming Com
missioner for the Hudson's Bay Company. Mr. Bacon was the
sixth Commissioner whom I had worked under during my time
in the service which had been spent entirely in the Fur Trade.
Mr. J. T. Herbert who had been transferred at my request
from North Bay to be District Accountant of Lake Superior
District, also signed a three year contract at this time, with a
good increase of salary which was satisfactory to him. I also
got an increase of salary for Miss Ethel Haire, our stenographer
at North Bay, which I had promised her before I left Huron
District. She well deserved it. She worked very hard in
the office during my term, was always willing, most obliging,
most capable in every way, and quick and neat in her work.
Lake Superior District was now in a very flourishing, pay
ing, and profitable condition. We had larger fur returns
this year than ever was recorded in the District before. Our
transport service had also been greatly improved from Hudson
to Fort' Hope under the capable management of A. W. Patter
son, Post Manager of Lac Seul, and his able assistant and
accountant, Frank Aldous.
I had been to every Post in the District and to some of
them several times. To show the interest that many of them
took in their work, some of them could repeat all my circulars
from memory, and give the date and number of any of them
without any hesitation, and they got them at every Post at
an average of one a week. Mr. Patterson used to say that he
would sooner look over my circulars at night than read the

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 193
best novel he ever saw. When he was starting to take charge
of Nelson River District he asked my, permission to take them
all with him, and when I went to York Factory the following
year, he had made good use of them, and had every Post iu
his District working under the same system. He said: "They
are just cracker jacks and are as good as a dictionary."
Whenever he did not know exactly what to do about some
Post or other, he would just turn up his circular fyle, and he
could always get the solution in some one of them, from clean
ing stove pipes to taking off a trial balance.
1 cannot pass over Mr. Herbert ; he is a first class District
accountant, and gave me great support and assitance in many
ways in the District office, as was also Miss May Bilbe, who
was always ready and willing to do some work if she thought
I wanted it done, even if it was after office hours. We had a
very busy time, and we did not look at the clock very often
until the work in hand for each day was completed, and in
the Post Office box. I owe them all many thanks for what they
did for the Company.
In the fall of 1913, after all the transport and freighting
was done, the District set for the business of the following
winter and every one at their posts. I applied for and got a
few weeks' leave of absence to go out west to recuperate a bit
after all my very strenuous exertions of the past few years. I
stayed in Winnipeg a few days looking up old friends, then
went to Fort Qu'Appelle and spent a week with Mr. McDonald,
who was now a feeble, retired old gentleman, living in his
splendid residence, with his daughter, Miss Nora, and a grand
child, a daughter of Mrs. Williams.
Sheriff and Mrs. Inkster from Winnipeg called for a few
days to visit him while I was there. They all gave me a great
reception and we talked over old times from morning till
night, and he was so glad that I was doing so well, and was
still most interested in all the news about the Hudson's Bay
men and their families and affairs generally. I spent a very

194 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
pleasant week with them indeed. I then went to Loon Creek
to visit Drever and his family on their farm. He was like a
fish out of water on the farm. We had a splendid time together
for a few days. His girls could sing and play beautifully,
and Drever was a great singer himself. I told him all the
Lake Huron news. He was greatly pleased, and said: "I told
you so, when you were at Abitibi. It could not eome out other
wise according to your plan, all it wanted was stern deter
mination, and God knows you have enough of that. ' '
I next went to Prince Albert, and visited Mr. Hall for
a few days. He had hardly gotten used to being retired yet,
and was as active as ever. He showed me all around the city
and was most kind to me during my stay. I started east then
and came down to Boulton and stayed with Mrs. McKenzie 's
sisters and brothers on the farm for a few days, and had a
good time. I also visited in Russell. Some of my old friends
were still there, but there were many new faces. I then came
down to Elphinston and visited David and Mrs. Armit, and
Donald McKinnon on their respective farms, which were near
each other. I later headed for Winnipeg and Fort William,
where I found my own family all well. I was feeling much
better for my trip, and had enjoyed myself all the way round,
and was glad to get back to work again in the District Office.
There were good reports coming in from all the Posts on
the prospects of a good fur season. We had to make a special
shipment every January fori the London March Fur sales, and
every Post Manager had his instructions as to grading, date
of shipping, and all other particulars in connection with their
individual routes and shipments. I also purchased large quan
tities of fur every winter at the District office, where I graded
every skin before shipping, sending a grade sheet with every
shipment to be checked and compared with their grading in
London and returned. Of course, grade sheets were also sent
from all the Posts along with their shipments and copies ol
their grade sheets sent to me along with the other papers in

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 195
connection with their shipments. Grading of furs and Fur
Tariffs had been an annual bone of contention between London
and the Commissioner for many years, and it came nearer a
solution during the time R. H. Hall was Commissioner than ever
it had before. I had given great attention to fur grading for
many years, testing the grades in every possible way, both in
Canada and the United States fur markets, and values as
against and in accordance with grades. Our contention was
that they were grading our furs too high in London, as com
pared with other London fur houses, and in consequence, our ,
valuation tariff was too low, which in turn reduced the appa
rent net gain of Posts and Districts. For instance what I would
grade a No. 1 they would invariably grade a No. 2. ' I was
going into it more minutely this year than ever before, and I
was having larger shipments than usual from all the Posts,
all graded by each Post Manager and en route for the London
Sales by express. I had copies of all the grade sheets, which
looked to me that more than an average quality bunch of fur
had gone forward from Lake Superior District. After all the
shipments from the District had gone forward, I was called
to London, England, to attend the Company's March Sales
as an expert grader and sorter of all classes of Canadian Furs.
and to compare our Canadian grading with that of our London
House, as well as other fur establishments in London.
Early in February Mrs. McKenzie and I started for Lon
don. I took all the necessary documents with me that I would
require at the sales. We met Mr, and Mrs. French, District
Manager from B. C, who was over in London for the same
purpose. We all stayed at the same hotel. We were about
three weeks ahead of the sales, and had lots of time to go over
all the furs and show rooms in the city before the sales began.
Lampson 's and Nesbit 's sales were coming on immediately af
ter the Company's, and we had access to all their fur rooms
as well as that of the Company's. Mr. N. H. Bacon, the Fur
Trade Commissioner, also came over in time for the sales. Mr.

196 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
French and I spent about three weeks before the sales examin
ing, comparing, grading and taking careful notes of the quality
of the grades in the different houses, and comparing them with
our Canadian grading. Mr. Rendall and Mr. Forbes, the Com
pany 's brokers and graders, were in the fur rooms all the time,
grading and making up the lots for the sales. There was a
large staff, as it was a big job, and we had ample opportunity
to examine and compare all classes of furs and skins.
My shipments from Lake Superior were in and opened up.
French and I satisfied ourselves as to their quality and grade in
comparison with all the grades of the other houses, and pointed
out many cases to the Company's brokers which they could
not refute on a basis of quality. Mr. French and I were prac
tically of the same mind although we had never met before,
or discussed this very important question of grades and tariffs,
in which we were both vitally interested for the Company. He
was an expert judge of furs and grades.
We had finished everything that we could do, and made
our report to the Commissioner. We could only now wait and
see what the extra No. l's, 2's, 3's and 4's, and 5 as graded
by the various houses would produce at the sales, if a No. 2
at our house, graded as a No. 1 or No. 1 extra at another house,
and sold for the same price as our No. 1 London grades ? This
was the point we wished to make, and that was exactly what
happened when the sales took place. Our trip was very valu
able to the Company in many ways, and the flat average tariff
for valuation in the country has not been used since. Each
Post and District gets valuation for the quality and grade
of the furs they produce, and the Canadian grading is prac
tically accepted by our London House now. It is a higher
grade than any of the London large fur houses that we visited
were using as their standard grade at that time.
Mr. Bacon showed us around London and gave us a good
time. Mr. Jennings also was very kind, and met us at the
station on our arrival and welcomed us to London on behalf

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 197
of the Hudson's Bay Company. Mr. Ingrams, the secretary,
treated us with great consideration, as also did the Governor,
Deputy Governor, and Committee. I met all the members of
the Board and was at one Board meeting. Mr. Ingrams told
me that my work in Athabasca, Peace River, Huron, and Lake
Superior Districts was absolutely satisfactory, and favourably
commented on by the Board. We got well acquainted round
No. 1 Lime Street, and many other parts of London, where
we met many of the best and nicest people in the world.
Mrs. McKenzie and I called upon Mr. C. C. Chipman, who
was then resident in London. He was delighted to see us, and
asked me about all the H. B. people, and our own welfare. I
told him how I had progressed in the service since he retired.
He was glad to. hear all the news and said: "Well, Mr. Mc
Kenzie, you are one that not only knew your work, but did
it as well."
"I said: "Thank you, Mr. Chipman, but you never told
me that when you were Commissioner."
"Well, he said, "It's a great mistake that many of us
make, in not giving credit to a man on the spot, who has won
it and deserves it."
We spent a very pleasant half hour* with him. We also
had many nice visits with our nephew and niece and baby,
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Jeffry Wright, who lived in their own
house called "the Orkneys" at Harrow-on-the-Hill. Mr. and
Mrs. French had gone for a visit to Ireland, and we did not
meet them again, as we went for a visit through Scotland,
and on to Stromness, Orkney, where I still have one sister
living, and had a good time all round. We returned to Lon
don again as per arrangement to see the Board before sailing
for Canada. We returned to Canada in May, 1914. I was now
General Manager of the Eastern Districts, St. Lawrence, Lab
rador, Hudson's Straits, Ungava, Nelson River, and James
Bay Districts, with instructions from the Governor, Deputy
Governor, and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company to

198 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
proceed to Labrador, the Straits and Hudson's Bay, and make
a thorough inspection of all the Company's Posts and estab
lishments, together with all valuable information that I could
obtain regarding the country generally through which I Would
travel, especially the transportation conditions, facilities, and
possibilities, also the ice conditions in the Straits and Bay,
together with the general charaCeristic formations of terra
firma at the various points of my inspection, as well as the
physical conditions of the natives, and their families, ' ' Indians
or Eskimos, ' ' that I would meet and have friendly conversation
with, regarding their welfare, also obtaining a clear and dis
tinct knowledge of their requirements, that would enable them
to prosecute their fishing and hunting avocations with success
and profit to as great a degree as possibly could be done under
the handicap of Northern climatic conditions, which prevailed,
dominated and circumscribed the activities of the natives in
their igloos and other habitations in which available circum
stances of long standing had placed them.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 199
CHAPTER XXI.
I started on my trip from Fort William in July, taking
my son, K. N. Burns McKenzie with me as private secretary,
duly under signed and sealed contract, for the period and dura
tion of the time required for the outward and homeward voy
ages. We started by C. P. R. and made our first stop at North
Bay where I inspected the District office of Lake Huron
District. Our next stop was at Montreal, this being the Head Office
of St. Maurice, St. Lawrence, and the Gulf Posts. The in
spection here covered purchasing of goods, packing, shipping,
warehouses, office staffs and accounts for over twenty posts.
My work beginning to be interesting to others as well as my
self. I knew where to put my hand on sore spots, if any existed.
After finishing my work there, we left for North Sydney on
our way to St. Johns, Newfoundland.
Our purchasing agents and shippers in St. Johns were
very glad to meet us, and gave us a good time for a few days,
giving me every assistance, and information that I required in
connection with the Company 's business in that city and Port,
The Company's S. S. Nascopie, a large modern ice breaker
had just arrived from Spain with a cargo of salt, for the New
foundland Fisheries, and was then in dry dock, being cleaned
and overhauled generally for her northern trip. She was a
powerful and strong ship, 265 feet long and 42% feet beam, one
of the staunchest class of ice breakers and cargo ships that
has ever entered the Bay. She was requisitioned for duty in
the White Sea, and Archangel, on her return that fall, where
she did some splendid work. Being fully armed, she also had
a crack at a submarine on her way. Captain Mack, her com
mander, told me that he got the submarine first shot as she
was coming round the end of a large iceberg. He saw some
of the crew in the water, and said they may be swimming yet
for all he knows, as he hove away and left them to their fate.

200 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
I inspected the Nascopie in dry dock, and saw her
launched, as she had to go up to Montreal for her cargo for
the North. I wanted to get to Cartwright on the Labrador
coast before any of the Company's ships would arrive there,
so Burns and I took passage for Cartwright on one of the Reid,
Newfoundland mail, passenger, and freight boats, and sailed
north at the same time the Nascopie headed for Montreal. We
had a very uneventful and nice cruise, along the coast of New
foundland, calling at all the bays and villages with mail and
provisions for the fishermen who dot the entire coast from St.
Johns to Belle Isle. We had on board a number of nurses and
young students who were going to do voluntary work at Dr.
Grenf ell's floating hospitals among the deep sea fishermen.
They all eame from the States, being the sons and daughters
of wealthy people, and were really most interesting and good
company, out for a holiday.
We had beautiful weather and only an occasional iceberg
in sight until we reached Belle Isle, when we met pretty heavy
ice and several icebergs quite close to us late in the after
noon, and things began to look interesting, as our boat could
not face very heavy ice with any degree of safety, so the en
gines were stopped, and we retreated all that night. A strong
off-shore wind, however, got up during the night, which drifted
the large ice field out to sea and we were able to wind our way
close to the shore, having fairly good open water until we
reached Sandwich Bay, and here was Cartwright, the Head
Post of Labrador District.
We were not long in getting ashore. The district manager
Mr. Swaffield and his amiable wife and children, together with
his staff of clerks met us at the dock, where we all shook hands
like long lost brothers and sisters. Our welcome was honest
and sincere. We hastened to the dwelling house where all was
warm and comfortable and had a drink of hot rum all round,
and felt ourselves to be really at home.
Mr. Swaffield and his clerks got their long looked for

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 201
mail, but they did not open their letters until they received all
the freight from the ship that was consigned to the Post. Then
everything gave way to the reading of the letters from home.
The boat we eame in on should have discharged all her
cargo here and returned to St. Johns, but we heard of shortage
of provisions and some actual starvation farther up the coast,
so the Captain decided that he would try to push farther up the
coast with the balance of his cargo if possible to relieve the
immediate hunger and distress of part of the population.
He steamed out of the bay with all our good wishes for
his success, but never reached his destination. He got into
heavy ice a short distance out, and was forced on the rocks.
His steamer was a total wreck and the cargo a total loss. How
ever, no lives were lost and the next boat from St. Johns went
up and rescued the crew, which by this time were at the point
of starvation. We knew nothing of this disaster until word
was brought us by the rescuing steamboat. Such is life along
the barren and inhospitable coast of Labrador. The Natives
of Labrador are principally Eskimeaux. Farther inland they
are long bearded Indians called Mountaignais. They come to
the coast only every second year. They are not very friendly
and keep farther south, where the climate is not so rigorous,
the country being fairly well wooded down towards the for
ests of Quebec. They sometimes cross the country to the Hud
son s Bay, at other times go to the Seven Islands in the St.
Lawrence to do their trading, and very often to one of our Posts
called North West River, well into the interior, up Hamilton
Inlet. This is the Post where Lord Strathcona put in his early
life in the H. B. service. The Company's house in whieh he
lived is still standing and isT>eing preserved and kept in com
plete repair. It is no mansion, but it is there if any of you
would like to walk over and see it. His bed constructed of
round poles is there also so you can have a good rest if you
prefer sleeping on that kind of a bed on your arrival there.
The latch string is always hanging on the outside of the door.

202 v MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
The other natives which are principally settled near Cartwright
arel descendants of a large English colony from Bristol, about
the year 1766, by Capt Geo. Cartwright, backed by the wealthy
merchants of Bristol with the view of creating a large planta
tion also for hunting, fishing and trapping.
They call themselves planters to this day. Cartwright
made many voyages between England and Labrador transport
ing his colony across the ocean. His first retinue consisted
of Mrs. Selby his housekeeper, two English men servants,
eight or ten fishermen and trappers, and a number of dogs of
various sporting breeds. Many more joined him in subsequent
voyages with their families and they were called Labourers, by
the natives, hence the name of the country, Labrador.
On the 12th of August the S. S. Nascopie arrived from
Montreal with her full cargo. The S. S. Pelican arrived from
England the following morning. It is at this point where the
cargoes of all our ships are re-arranged for distribution. The
ships part Company here, each one being alloted a certain
number of Posts at which to call, and their respective cargoes
arranged accordingly. The custom duties on goods from Eng
land, Canada or the States are collected here by Newfoundland,
which has jurisdiction over the whole coast of Labrador from
Belle Isle to Cape Chidley.
After you enter the Hudson Strait the custom duties
belong to the Dominion Government and are appraised at York
Factory for Manitoba and at Moose Factory for the Province
of Ontario. The custom duties of the Company amount to a
tidy sum annually on the quantity and class of goods shipped
to Labrador and through the Hudson Straits into Hudson's
Bay. The Chief Industry of Labrador is hunting and fishing.
The finest salmon in the world are caught along this coast.
Some years the catch is abnormal, and there are also lean
years. It is a continual struggle for existence 365 days in
the year, and the survival of the fittest is personified.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 203
I chose the S. S. Nascopie for my flagship and steamed
slowly out of the Bay amidst the general salutation of can
non, and cheers from the crowd assembled at the Fort and
along the shore. I fprgot to say that there is a good English
church and clergyman here, also a Public School, both having
a fair attendance. The people are truthful, honest, simple
minded and industrious, in their fishing and hunting avoca
tions. It was on getting in touch with the wireless that we get
the first news of the war, which said that there had been u
naval engagement and that Britain had lost more than one
half her navy. That was all the news we got, and would re
ceive no more news good or bad, until we got in touch with
the wireless at Port Nelson.
We now crossed the mouth of Davis Strait which showed
nothing but fields of ice in all directions, dotted all over with
huge icebergs. There were very few patches of open water.
I spent much of my time on the bridge with the captain, watch
ing him manoeuvering his ship through this tremendous ice
field, the Nascopie climbing and smashing her way through
ice all the way from six to twenty feet thick. Eventually we
entered the Hudson Strait between Resolution Island and Cape
Chidley. We were now directly on the anticipated grain route
from Port Nelson to Liverpool. The straits looked even worde
than what we had already come through, so the Captain said:
"We will tie up for the night. No ice can get out of Hudson
Straits until the Davis Strait ice clears away, and it has to
move a long way East and South before the Hudson Strait
and Ungava Bay can offer safe navigation. ' '
Our objective for first discharge of cargo was Wilson
holme, at the entrance to Hudson's Bay. The Pelican had to
do all the other Posts along Labrador, Ungava, and both sides
of the straits, all of which Posts I visited and inspected the
following year, and went up Fox Channel to within ten degrees
of the pole and down to Fort Chimo at the south end of Ungava

204 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
Bay in the Province of Quebec. There is plenty of timber,
largei rivers, and water powers in plenty going to waste since
creation first began. A rough country, and I would say highly
mineralized, with all kinds of minerals.
North of the Straits in Baffin Land there is no timber, very-
rough surface, a large inland lake, lots of minerals, iron,
graphite, mica, the whole country is full of it, and it will likely
remain there for many years to come. At Lake Harbour in Baf
fin Land, north of Hudson's Straits, the tides rise over forty
feet against perpendicular rocks and cliffs which are said by
geologists to be the oldest formation of rock in the world.
Davis Strait is over four hundred miles wide, between
Greenland and Baffin land. Hudson Strait is approximately
one hundred miles wide and over four hundred miles long.
It is very deep, and there is no obstruction to navigation ex
cept the ice and fog, which is sometimes very dense over the
Bay and straits at certain times of the year. Esquimeaux
inhabit both sides of the Straits and the entire Baffin Land;
but as a rule they do not go far from the coast. Whales used
to abound in Davis Straits, but very few have been caught in
late years.
Besides the showing of minerals, wolves, white and blue
foxes, white bears, musk ox, caribou, walrus, seal and oil are
obtained and gathered in, jn the annual hunt. Man-eating Es
kimos live far inland — away beyond Coronation Bay. The
Eskimos who roam the coast have all kinds of traditions about
them and their exploits in the long ago. There are mission
aries principally Church of England, C. M. S., Roman Catholic
and Moravian Missions, at or near all the Posts, and no doubt
are doing their share according to their lights in the process
and progress of civilization. We had to icebreak all the way
through the Straits until we got to the entrance of the Bay,
when there was open water all the way to Port Nelson, the
ice having left the Bay over six weeks before our arrival at
its entrance.

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 205
We discharged cargo at Churchill for the Posts in that
District, some Indians now and only a few Eskimos. Work
was in full swing on the Nelson Harbour, all the previous
year's construction having been washed out in the Spring. We
landed the Nelson Ditrict Outfit at York Factory, but we went
on to Charlton Island in James Bay, and landed the balance
of the cargo in the Company's large distributing warehouse.
After which the ship headed again for home, with a very valu
able cargo, arriving at St. Johns about the end of October.
They found no ice in the straits on their homeward voyage,
but encountered very rough weather as soon as they left the
Bay. The S. S. Pelican also returned safely to London after
making a safe and prosperous voyage, on the route allotted
to her charge.

206 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
CHAPTER XXII.
I did not return with the ship as I wished to visit several
Posts in James Bay District, and could not delay the ship or
she might be compelled to winter in the Bay as the freeze-up
sometimes comes down from the North with startling sudden
ness. I stayed at Moose Factory and visited and inspected
Fort Albany, Donald Gillis in charge, and Rupert's House, A,
Nicolson in charge, using the S. S. Ininew tug. Captain Red-
fern, who was ditributing supplies to the Posts after the Nas
copie had discharged cargo at Charlton Island in the Com
pany's large distributing depot, Mr. Gillis was retiring that
year and went out on the Nascopie accompanied by his wife
and children, and Mr. Mowat was transferred to the charge of
Fort Albany in his stead.
Mr. and Mrs. Nicolson were very kind to me at Rupert's
House, as were also Mr. and Mrs. Mowat at Fort Albany. Mr.
F. Wilson was District Manager, and Mr. Camsel was District
Accountant, and several clerks and other servants were all
busy at their various duties. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and their
daughter, Miss Nettie, made our stay with them at Moose very
pleasant. Mrs. Wilson was a daughter of the late Chief Factor
Lawrence Clark of Carlton, in Saskatchewan, and Mr. Wilson
had been transferred from the charge of Vermillion in Peace
River District to the District Manager of James Bay District,
having headquarters at Moose Factory, where he was giving
splendid satisfaction to the Company.
I also spent good and profitable time in Nelson River Dis
trict at York Factory, with Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Patterson,
who was District Manager, but had been previously' one of my
Post managers at Lac Seul in Superior District, and was
making a capital and satisfctory showing at all the Posts in
his District. I saw many of the old servants at York as well as at Moose,
and if I did not know all of them personally, I knew some of

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 207
their relations somewhere in the country and had some news
for every one, either births or deaths or marriages or perhaps
a young couple had eloped in a birch bark canoe, or perhaps
some one had run away with another man's wife, and many
other incidents of domestic, bush and Indian life at the posts
and outposts were related by old and young, clerks, and post
managers, with detailed accuracy and completeness of descrip
tion. Many of the older retired servants had made long and
hazardous trips, on the Bay and on the Lakes and Rivers, and
were true and loyal to the Company, trustworthy, faithful
and honest. They were all Company's men whether they had
retired or not. They had spent their lives in the service, and
were more or less happy in their old age, with the knowledge
that they had done their best as long as they were able to
work. Those are the kind of men and women that made the
H. B. Co. — and they were still the MEN of the Hudson's Bay
Company. I remained at Moose until it was almost too late to come
overland, but Burns and I made the grade, with two canoes
and two first class Indian crews up the Moose and Abitibi
Rivers to Cochrane, and then by rail to North Bay, thence C.
P. R. to Fort William again, in November, having made the
complete round satisfactorily and completing what I started
out to do.
The annual accounts of Lake Superior District were all
completed and waiting my return, and as soon as I signed them
and made out my annual report on the District they were all
transmitted to the Winnipeg office, and my District Assistant
John Duncan MacKenzie 's appointment to the charge of Lake
Superior District was confirmed, and the post managers all
advised accordingly.
I had finished all the reports on my Northern trip, and
forwarded them to the Commissioner at Winnipeg for trans
mission to the Board in London. I spent nearly all that winter

208 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
in the Winnipeg office. The war was now absorbing all other
topics, and enlisting and training was going on with all the
haste that was possible. My son Burns enlisted among all the
other boys from the Fort William Collegiate Institute, and
took his officer's training in Winnipeg, got his appointment
and went overseas with the 52nd battalion. He went through
all the horrors of war, was gassed and slightly wounded, but
recovered sufficiently to carry on again, and was appointed
in London on the staff of the Canadian Expeditionary Force,
later sent to Siberia. He was in Vladivostok until after the
Armistice was signed, where he gained the rank of Captain,
and returned to Canada again when they were demobilized.
There were many of the Hudson's Bay boys who also en
listed from every District. Fine specimens of young manhood
physically fit in every way. Many of them never returned
to us again, but fought and died like heroes and are lying
in Flanders fields today. Many returned with promotions and
decorations, while others were practically disabled for life. I
will only mention the anxiety and fear that was in every one 's
breast, as we eagerly scanned the daily casualty lists in the
Press. Everyone knows the feelings of emotion that passed
through the minds of all, especially those who had dear ones
or friends at the front during those horrible years, when civil
ization hung in the balance and very nearly established the
German theory that MIGHT was RIGHT.
The Deputy Governor, Mr. Cunliff, came to Winnipeg in
the Spring of 1915 to consult with the Canadian Board and
the Commissioner on the Company's business and policy to be
adopted during the war. He made but a short stay and re
turned again to England. I was again deputed to make my
second trip to the Bay. We sailed from Montreal this time,
down the St. Lawrence to Belle Isle, Mr. Wilmot was super
cargo on this occasion and is now District Accountant for Lake
Superior District office, at Fort William. We had two brides
aboard to be married at York Factory to Messrs. Cummings

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 209
and Neale, the District Accountant and store manager re
spectively. I gave the both of them away to their respective
husbands, and they were duly married in the Company's
church, in York Factory, by Rev. Ferris, and were ever after
happy. James Watt and his new bride were also aboard. He was
going out to take charge of Ungava District, with headquarters
at Fort Chimo. We took them the round trip up the Bay when
he rendered most valuable service at all the Posts in the matter
of towing and lightering with his gasoline boat, known by the
name of "Prickly-Heat."
I installed him at Fort Chimo, in charge of Ungava on
our return trip, and took home Mr. Hooker and his family,
who had been in charge. He is now in charge of Osnaburgh
Post in Lake Superior District. They are both first class men
and have given the Company good faithful and profitable
service. The Nascopie was the only Company's ship that went into
the Bay posts that year, the ice and other conditions were
much the same as the previous season. We had to visit every
post and had a very full and heavy cargo, a most dangerous
adventure for some of the posts if anything happened to the
vessel, as we had all our eggs in one basket. We were, how
ever, very successful and delivered the goods to every post
on the Bay and in Baffin Land.
Mr. Ralph Parsons was in charge of the Hudson's Strait
District, his head post, Lake Harbour, on the North side of
the Straits. Mr. Parson's brother was in charge of the po.st
opposite on the south side. Mr. Stewart at Cape Dorset Post,
Mr. Cantly in charge of Wilsonholme Post, and H. R. Hall
in charge at Chesterfield Inlet. He was a son of the late
ex-Commissioner Hall, and a first class man who will yet give
a good account of himself in the service, and is now in charge
of the Western Arctic and McKenzie River delta, at the mouth
of the McKenzie River, out in the Arctic Ocean.

210 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
We returned to St. Johns, Newfoundland, after a very
rough passage most of the way back. A wire from the Com
missioner called me directly toj New York, where he than had
his office, and was purchasing war supplies for the French
Government, which kept him between Montreal and New York
all the time, having a large staff in each city.
Chief Factor Archibald McDonald, did not enjoy his super
annuation very long.. He died the previous winter at Fort Qu'
Appelle in the District; he was appointed to as a young clerk,
and in which he had gained all his promotions. He never
served or was in charge of another District. He was buried in
St. Johns Cemetery, Winnipeg. His pallbearers were W. J.
McLean, John McDougall, Sam Steele, James Thomson, John
Calder and myself, and we laid him to rest beside his wife, in
the full hope of a glorious resurrection at the last day.
After returning from New York, I spent some time at the
Montreal office, then returned to the Winnipeg office again,
after spending a few days with my family at Fort William en
route. I had been to the Bay and Baffin Land Posts, some of them
twice, had done the work required of me to the satisfaction
of the Company. I had attained several years before this,
the ideal position that I had laid out for myself to reach in
the service, and was now, as far as my official position was
concerned, only second to the Fur Trade Commissioner, and
had gained my promotion from the bottom, by merit alone.
I had arranged while in London that I would be allowed
to retire when I reached sixty years of age. I sent in my resig
nation in accordance with this; arrangement. It was accepted
and I was allowed to retire on the maximum pension, on the
31st of May, 1916, after having served the Company forty
years. It was not all plain sailing during these forty years,
for any of us who wished to get ahead to more responsible
positions. There were many sacrifices to be made, many dif
ficulties to be overcome, many dangers to go through, many

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 211
temptations to overcome, many long years to wait, that without
a fixed purpose in life would surely drive you to despair and
failure. Many young fellows of my own age made a good start,
but from one cause or another dropped by the wayside, not
for want of ability, but for lack of will power and determina
tion to continue and carry on. This is the moral of my whole
story to every young man and young woman starting in life,
no matter what line of business you intend to follow, first be
sure that you choose a line that you are suited for, then set
up an ideal as high or higher than ever you may reasonably
expect to reach, use every legitimate means to make yourself
an expert in your work, to master it and make it work for you,
and stick to it. Don't be afraid to work and turn your hands
to anything that is required to be done; don't be continually
watching the clock. Pursue your ideal squarely and fairly, if
you do not ultimately reach it you will not be very far away
from it. Money is not everything, pleasure is not everything,
but the knowledge of work faithfully and well done will gain
you both.
Take my tip, young people, try it, and you will not be
sorry. Now, my dear reader, friends, comrades, companions, of
ficers, and Men, my book is finished and I hand it to you and
posterity for what it is worth. I consider it the crowning work
of my life. I have tried to faithfully tell my own story, which
I hope you will find as interesting as I have done, when calling
up to memory many of the incidents whieh will remind you of
many things that I have, omitted. But I cannot omit express
ing my greatest appreciation at the numerous tokens of re
gard, esteem and affection that myself and family, have, on
many historic and social occasions, been presented with, and
received from, the hearts and hands of The Men and Women
of the Hudson's Bay Company. The End.

212 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
" Pageant "
1670— May 2nd.— 1920
The 250th Anniversary of the Hudson's Bay Company in
Winnipeg. This celebration was one of the most historical and suc
cessful events that has ever taken place in Canada in con
nection with the Hudson's Bay Company, whose Governor, Sir
Robert Molesworth Kindersley, G. B. E., received a warm wel
come, and ceaseless ovations from all peoples, kindreds and
tongues, as well as the most influential, financial and business
men of the city and country, who assembled to greet and wel
come him to the Capital City of Manitoba, the great rendezvous
of the old timers, who all vied with each other to do him hon
our, including Lady Kindersley and their son and daughter,
who accompanied Sir Robert and shared in all the festivities
with great interest and expressed pleasure and enjoyment.
Sir Robert is not only the Governor; and head of the Hudson's
Bay Company but is a man of great financial affairs and recog
nized premier ability in England and throughout the financial
world. He is also one of the Governors of the Bank of Eng
land and President of many financial enterprises and institu
tions in London, England. He has a great and noble person
ality, firm but kind, painstaking and just, affable, and courteous
iqi a marked degree.
At the staff dinner in the Fort Garry Hotel he was cheered
to the echo by over one thousand employees, to whom he spoke
very encouragingly and as one of themselves, commending
them for their loyalty and faithfulness to the Company, also
paid a high tribute to the boys of the service who went over
seas, and expressed sincere sympathy with the friends and re
lations of the boys who did not return again, but gave up
their noble lives on Flanders fields, He announced that each
employee of all the Hudson's Bay Company's saleshops in

MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. 213
Canada would receive one month's salary to commemorate
the celebration of the 250th anniversary. He also intimated
that a new pension scheme was being worked out for the Fur
Trade, which would put those entitled to pension in a better
position than they were at present financially. He also deco
rated all those present in active service, who had fifteen years'
service or over, with gold and silver medals and bars according
to seniority. A modern up-to-date store is also to be erected on Portage
Avenue, the building to at least cost five million dollars.
The Pageant on the Red River down to the Lower Fort was
something to dream about, and not likely to be ever seen again.
Indians from all over the Dominion, in their birch bark canoes
and York boats, dressed in materials of all shades and colours,
eagles' feathers and paint, representing all tribes and customs
for the past two hundred and fifty years. The banks of the
Red River were lined for miles with thousands of admiring
and wondering spectators, men, women and children. The
landing at the Lower Fort, where thousands had congregated
was made amidst the booming of cannon in the good old ortho
dox Hudson's Bay style. The Governor smoked the pipe of
peace, which was presented to him, as was also many other
beautiful presents of Indian work and marten skins of furs,
after which he decorated the most deserving Indians with
medals, and presents of pipes and tobacco, and told them
this was the happiest day of his life, and he would never forget
it or them, also sent kind messages back with them to all the
Indians, who had not been able to come so far as some of them
had come to meet him. All the Indians and the thousands of
others gave him three cheers and a tiger and then some
more cheers. His reception by the Indians, the people and the
Press was all that a prince of the blood could desire.
The following day he spoke at a Canadian Club luncheon
at the Royal Alexander Hotel to over twelve hundred business
men and bankers of the city, his subject being the financial

214 MEN OF THE HUDSON'S BAY CO.
burden of the Empire, and claimed the close attention of every
one present, a very able address and very favourably received
by those who claim to understand deep financial problems. In
the evening he was the guest of honour at the ' ' Old Timers ' Ban
quet" in the Arena of the Board of Trade Building where he
again made a great impression on between one and two thou
sand guests and old timers and received numerous ovations
during his most interesting speech. The Lieut. Governor, Pre
mier of the Province, mayor of the city and many prominent
officials were his right and left hand supporters, nearly all old
timers. After dinner and the speeches were over, the Red
River jig and many other old time dances were indulged in,
some verging on one hundred years of age participating in
the dances of the early settlers. During all the celebrations
everything was conducted with the greatest informality and
true friendship, many old timers having come a long way to
meet the Governor and their friends and relations, many of
them realizing that they were meeting and parting for the last
time on this earth.
The Governor and his family left at midnight on the 4th
inst. (May, 1920) to catch their train for Edmonton to con
tinue the celebrations and pageants at various pre-arranged
cities right through to Victoria in British Columbia.
N. M. W. J. McKENZIE.

YALE UNIVERSITY

3 9002 00650 7553