View on Halfway river.
View on Halfway river.
Doctor Dawson pointed out that Mr. Horetzky had been told that the plains were often nearly bare up to the month of December, though the winter usually sets in with the month of November. Sir Alexander Mackenzie remarked the same absence of snow in the early winter months of 1792. It was entirely gone on April 5, 1793, and gnats and mosquitoes were troublesome on April 20. Horses almost invariably wintered out well without requiring to be fed. Hay should be provided for cattle, to ensure perfect safety, for a period of three or four months, though in some seasons it was necessary to feed the animals for a few weeks only. The Indians of ‘Cree Settlement’ on Sturgeon lake wintered their horses without any difficulty round the borders of a neighbouring lake, the shores of which were partly open. From Hudson Hope, the horses were sent southward to Moberly lake to winter, and according to Mr. Selwyn, did well there. Lesser Slave lake, with its wonderful natural meadows, has long been known as an excellent place for wintering stock, and was referred to as such by Sir J. Richardson.
From such comparison as could be made, according to Doctor Dawson, it would be premature to allow that the climate of Peace river was inferior to that of the region about Edmonton on the Saskatchewan. It was true, he admitted, that in both Saskatchewan and Peace river districts the season was none too long for the cultivation of wheat, but if the crop could be counted on as a sure one—and experience even then seemed to indicate that it might—the occurrence of early and late frosts might be
Regarded With Comparative Indifference.
The season was at least equally short throughout the whole fertile belt from Peace river to Manitoba, though early and late frosts were not so common in the low valley of Red river.
The almost simultaneous advance of spring along the whole line of this fertile belt, Doctor Dawson pointed out, was indicated by the dates of the flowering of the various plants, a point referred to by him in some detail elsewhere. It was further unquestionable that the winter was less severe, and not subject to the same extremes in Peace river and upper Saskatchewan regions as in Manitoba.
Scientists, Doctor Dawson remarked, had already found reason to believe that the early and late frosts, and not the absence of a sufficient aggregate amount of heat, constituted the limiting condition of wheat culture in the Northwest, but that neither Saskatchewan nor Peace river countries lay upon the actual verge of the profitable cultivation of wheat appeared to be proved by the fact that oats succeeded on the Saskatchewan, and also—in so far as one or two seasons could be accepted as evidence—on Peace river; while it was well known that this cereal is less tolerant of summer frost than wheat.
This, Doctor Dawson remarked, is further proved by the fact that at Fort Vermilion and Athabaska lake, one hundred and eighty and three hundred miles, respectively, northeast of Dunvegan, Professor Macoun had found wheat and barley ripening well, but in this instance the fact was complicated by the circumstance of the decreasing altitude of the country, which introduced a new condition.
Doctor Dawson’s Striking Illustration.
To give some idea of the value of a tract of generally fertile country, such as that described, Doctor Dawson remarked: “Let us assume, as above, that the area of actually cultivable land is twenty-three thousand five hundred square miles, or fifteen million one hundred and forty thousand acres. Let us suppose for simplicity of calculation, that the whole area were sown in wheat, the yield, at the rate of twenty bushels to the acre, would be three hundred million, eight hundred thousand bushels.”
The Reverend J. Gough Brick, for many years in charge of the Church of England mission at Dunvegan on upper Peace river, submitted some interesting evidence in writing to the committee. He stated that on his mission farm he had ploughed on April 8, and sown wheat on April 12, and that wheat was cut about August 20. Wheat was generally sown from April 12 to May 1, and harvested at the end of August. The barley was sown from May 10 to May 20, and harvested at the end of August. The time for sowing and reaping oats was the same as wheat. Potatoes were planted about May 16 and dug in September. Turnips planted at same date were gathered October 10. The Hudson’s Bay Company had done a little farming, in connection with other posts, at Dunvegan, Fort St. John, Hudson Hope and Fort Vermilion, for very many years. Witness supposed that at Dunvegan they had raised wheat, barley and potatoes for seventy-five to one hundred years, and seldom had the crops turnedout a total failure. In 1884, he went up on to the height of the prairie country, some thirty-six miles from Dunvegan, and broke up about three acres for an experiment. In 1885 the crop on the land, only once ploughed, was fairly good. In 1886 there was a magnificent crop of wheat, barley, peas, potatoes, turnips and all other vegetables. In 1887, he was sorry to say, the crop there was a total failure. A frost on July 26 killed out everything.
The ordinary prairie grasses, with wild vetches and pea-vine, were found in abundance, growing more or less all over the country. The soil was a black loam, a large percentage he considered fit for grain, the rest for pasturage. They had no insect pests in upper Peace country. The Indians were raising a considerable quantity of potatoes. A few were raising a little barley and wheat.
Mr. Brick informed the committee that he considered the climate of Peace river country as
The Finest in the World.
The usual snowfall in Peace river is from eighteen inches to three feet. Ice begins to run in Peace river about November 5, but some seasons remain open until December 20. It generally breaks up about April 10 to 15. The prevailing wind is from the southwest, and during the winter the Chinook winds prevail in upper Peace river country. The three growing months are very dry until about the middle of July; then some seasons they get considerable rain. There were summer frosts some seasons; but still they were not so destructive in Peace river country as farther south. These frosts were purely local, and witness thought that were the country settled they would be less likely to occur. The early part of the summer is generally dry, while the weather in September and October is very pleasant indeed.
Some interesting information was communicated to the committee by Mr. Frank Oliver, then editor of the Edmonton Bulletin and member of the old Northwest Council. Mr. Oliver explained that most of his information was acquired from Mr. Murdock McLeod formerly of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s service. Peace river country, according to this witness, was especially noted for its abundant supply of berries of excellent quality. Although berries of all kinds mentioned were plentiful in the upper Saskatchewan, Indians used formerly to travel to Peace river, some two hundred and fifty miles, to avail themselves of the supply there. Successive years of experiment had demonstrated the practicability of the growth of wheat, barley, oats and potatoes, at Dunvegan, Fort Vermilion and Chipewyan, the two latter in latitude 58½°.
There has been considerable exploitation of the agricultural possibilities of Peace country since 1888, and we now have data which tend to show that the faith of the pioneer farmers of the country was not misplaced. Much interesting information, as to more recent agricultural enterprise in the country drained by the Peace, was obtained from witnesses examined before the select committee of the Senate of Canada in 1907.
Fred Lawrence, F.R.G.S., Justice of the Peace, etc., of Fort Vermilion, gave some detailed and interesting evidence. Mr. Lawrence explained that his father went out to Peace river from Montreal in 1879, in the employ of theChurch of England missions, becoming at once interested in the problem of making the missions and Indian schools in Peace river, and the whole of the northern country, self-sustaining. The settlement of Fort Vermilion is in latitude 58·30°, almost as far north as the northern part of Labrador. The place in 1907 (it has since increased considerably) consisted of about five hundred people, white people, and English-speaking half-breeds. The total production of wheat there in 1906 would be twenty-five thousand bushels, the average being
About Twenty-one Bushels to the Acre.
Of oats and barley about ten thousand bushels, mostly barley, was raised. The wheat was ground and used to make bread for the people out there. The first market was at Fort Vermilion and the surrounding points, and whatever surplus there was was shipped down Peace river into Mackenzie river district.
Sheridan Lawrence’s Farm at Fort Vermilion.
Sheridan Lawrence’s Farm at Fort Vermilion.
Mr. Lawrence stated that in 1906 he had cut spring wheat, fully matured, in eighty-six days. The time of cutting was the end of July. Wheat grown at Fort Vermilion is harder than grain of the same variety grown in Ontario. He explained that the river bottom proper only consists of points or flats in the bottom of the bed of the river, which “bottom” is practically about two miles in width, whereas, what is properly called Peace river valley, is in reality a broad tract of country. When you once get on to the height of land, this so-called “valley” covers three hundred miles in width, and extends from Rocky mountains on to Lake Athabaska. Peace river makes great bends, and on alternate sides of the river you find wide flats, where there is probably the richest soil there is in that northern country, made up of alluvial deposits all of black soil. There are places on the lower part of these points which get flooded, perhaps once in seven or eight years. Nearlyall the points, however, are above the high water mark, and when these flats are cultivated the soil yields the heaviest of crops. On these flats cultivation of the soil was first undertaken in that part of the country, and it was supposed by many that they comprised the only part of Peace river country that was suitable for cultivation. People supposed that when they undertook the cultivation of grain on the height of land they would get into the muskeg and swamp that adjoined the river in many places, and grain could not be raised; but this has been proved to be a fallacy. The tableland is sometimes called “bench land,” and this bench land in some places is very wide. There are places in it, as at the south of Fort Vermilion, and to the north and west, where there is one hundred miles of this land on each side of the river.
This land is not all suitable for cultivation. It has its swamps and its muskeg, and its
Low Patches of Land,
that are found in almost any country where there is a large growth of scrub timber; but the larger part of this land, as Mr. Lawrence had found by travelling over the country away from the river, is suitable for settlement.
Mr. Lawrence drew the attention of the committee to the fact that some years ago, Doctor Dawson, after going through Peace river country, reported that a large part of it was covered with muskeg and would be permanently unsuited for agriculture. In 1903 he took a trip from Fort Vermilion through Lesser Slave lake, through an unknown country two hundred and fifty miles. Later than that he travelled away from Peace river about fifty or sixty miles, and saw something that gave him an idea of these muskegs. The muskegs had covered some large patches of that country, and the moss was about three feet in thickness. There had been large tracts of this moss burnt out. Forest fires had been running through there, and Mr. Lawrence supposed that the fire burnt thousands of acres that had formerly been muskeg, as shown by these large patches of moss, sometimes a few feet across and sometimes larger, which were left standing, where the muskeg had been. On this burnt area he saw grass from four to five feet in height. There were thousands of acres of it covered with the red-top grass, which is the standard grass of the west. The reason these muskegs had been there for so many years was that the moss formed a great sponge and retained the moisture. But when all that land is drained and the moss removed, it will certainly raise good crops of grass, and where grass can be grown, grain can be raised.
Mr. Lawrence stated that he would say that about one-tenth of the district to the north is covered with moss. To the south of Grande prairie there is a large proportion covered with moss, and Doctor Dawson may have intended to refer particularly to that district. Mr. Lawrence produced photographs of the grain raised on the soil that was formerly covered by timber—low land and timber. He explained that he had farmed at Vermilion for over twenty years, and had
Never Had a Failure in Wheat
during that time, although he had as low as five and one-half bushels to the acre. There was one very dry season which reduced the average, but there wasalways a certain amount of grain raised there that was good for seed and grinding purposes. There has never been a complete failure from frost or any other cause. They have no rust on the wheat up there. He had raised as much as sixty-six bushels of wheat to the acre. That was the biggest yield, and accomplished without any fertilizer whatever. The heads of wheat at Fort Vermilion often would grow to the length of six inches, and at times he had counted sixty-five kernels in one head of wheat. Barley sown after the middle of May is usually ripe in the last week of July. The continuous daylight with about eighteen hours of sunlight accounts for the rapid growth of all vegetables in these parts.
During the month of July, Mr. Lawrence stated, they have at Fort Vermilion an occasional frost that sometimes cuts the potato vines down, but never puts them back seriously—just enough to show the effect of the frost on some of the top leaves. The potato vines, however, often show no sign of frost until they are ripe, and the potatoes obtain their full size and are matured. They had never had July frost severe enough to ruin the potato crops. These frosts are very slight. In 1906 he planted his garden during the week following May 24, and he planted tomatoes, cucumbers, peas and other vegetables. In the fall, during harvesting, his family had squash pie that was made from squash ripened in their own garden. The squash were raised just the same as the peas and other vegetables and took their chances, no hotbed and no special care, and he also raised cucumbers and tomatoes. The tomatoes did not ripen, but before they had a chance to freeze they were taken up. He thought that with care such as is given to these things in Manitoba and other parts of the Northwest, planting these tender vegetables early in hotbeds, and giving them care, the same success could be had in raising tomatoes, squash or other things of that kind as is had in Manitoba and other districts. At Peace River Landing tomatoes were ripened in 1906 in the open garden. Other garden vegetables, such as cabbages, and so on, grow very well. He had raised cabbages at Fort Vermilion eighteen and one-half pounds in weight, and swede turnips are raised in the open field. Out of a three-acre patch
He Had Selected Turnips,
and a great many of them weighed from eighteen to twenty-five pounds. They were of the purple-top variety. They had no special attention or care, and they were good sound turnips.
Another of the witnesses examined before the same committee of the Senate was Mr. W. F. Bredin, member of the Alberta legislative assembly for the district. Mr. Bredin, in his evidence, stated that as regards Peace river valley, he would judge that from the mountains to Peace point, a distance of between seven and eight hundred miles, following the winding of the river, there is an average of seventy-five miles in width on each side of Peace river that is equal to the soil on any similar length of the Saskatchewan. That would make Peace river country about one hundred and fifty miles in width, and extending from the mountains to Peace point, a distance of seven or eight hundred miles, which is all equally good for agricultural purposes with the Saskatchewan valley. That would extend considerably beyond thebottom lands of the river, including also the table land back of the river. A great deal of it is clean prairie, on the north especially. There is more of it covered with scrub and small timber than there is clean prairie, but the soil is equally good where the timber grows. Mr. Bredin stated that he had a ranch at Grande prairie for six years, and raised oats and vegetables every year there. He had cattle there for five winters, and the average length of feeding them during those five years was six weeks of each winter. That is south of Peace river, but within this belt of one hundred and fifty miles. In that Spirit river country he knew there were some white settlers, as well as half-breeds, who were making their living by
Raising Stock and Farming.
That seven hundred or eight hundred miles of good country, of which he spoke, would extend right to the foot of the Rockies. As to the question of the uniformity of the quality of the soil, he had only been down to what they call Wolverine point, near Fort Vermilion. He would say the country is uniformly good from Rocky mountains to that point. At Wolverine point the valley is much lower and perhaps the soil may be blacker, and the black soil may be deeper on the lower stretches of the Peace. All of that country would be good for stock. Both slough and upland hay is abundant. The pea vine and all the small fruits that grow anywhere else in the northwest grow up there, and all the wild flowers that he knew of in the northwest grow there. This area in Peace river country would compare on the whole with any part of Canada.
In reply to a question, Mr. Bredin stated that after his ten years’ experience of the country north of Edmonton he would consider that to be quite as good a place for a man to settle in as the Saskatchewan valley was twenty-five years previously. During the debate on the capital question in the Alberta legislative assembly at Edmonton, Mr. Bredin remarked, he had made an estimate of the good land north of Edmonton in Alberta, and it figured up more than the good land south of that city. If you were to add all the good land north of the Alberta boundary to Alberta, you would have about twice as much good land in the province north of Edmonton as there is south of that city.
One Hundred Million Acres of Good Land.
Mr. Bredin submitted what he said he considered a careful estimate of all the good land north of Edmonton, east of Rocky mountains. He stated:—“My estimate of the area of the agricultural lands that will be available in northern Alberta—say north of the 55th parallel of latitude—and in the unorganized district of Mackenzie, is not less than one hundred millions of acres.”
Mr. Bredin informed the committee that one spring, when he left Fort St. John on the upper Peace, the grain there was up six or seven inches. He must have been at least a month going to Edmonton, and when he got there the grain there was just in the same stage of growth as the grain had been when he left Fort St. John; so the season must be earlier at the latter place. They very often sowedseed at Fort St. John in March, and invariably no later than April. In 1906 they began cutting the wheat at Peace River Landing on the last day of July, and the wheat was ready to cut five or six days earlier than that. As a matter of fact, Mr. Brick, the member for Peace river district in the Alberta legislature, started to cut on the last day of July, and he told Mr. Bredin that the grain was ready to cut a week earlier. Mr. Brick cultivated there, that year, three hundred acres of land in wheat, oats and barley.
Vegetable Garden 15 miles west of Fort St. John.
Vegetable Garden 15 miles west of Fort St. John.
Stockmen west of Peace River Landing would have to feed their cattle, taking one year with another, an average of seven weeks, and east of that probably more.
Mr. Elihu Stewart, of the city of Ottawa, at the time Superintendent of Forestry for the Dominion Government, since retired from the public service to engage in private business, was one of the most important witnesses examined before the committee. He explained that his knowledge of the country beyond the Saskatchewan has principally been derived from two trips that he made, one in 1902 to Peace river, and one during the season of 1906 down the Athabaska, down Slave river, and down the Mackenzie to the delta, and thence across to the Yukon, and back by the way of Dawson. Mr. Stewart produced before the committee samples of some of the grains that are grown at the end of Lesser Slave lake. One was a sample of hulled barley, grown for the use of the mission schools; another, wheat from Lesser Slave lake; a third, another quality of wheat from the Roman Catholic mission at the end of Lesser Slave lake, grown that year (1902). These exhibits were principally from the farm at the end of Lesser Slave lake. The Roman Catholic mission there has
A Very Large Farm and Stock,
and grain is grown there by others as well. Mr. Stewart said he had noticed in discussions on Peace river that there was not enough distinction made between the valley of Peace river and the tableland above. There is a high level country, and all at once it drops down some six hundred feet to a valley. He thought the difference between the height of the banks and the water at Peace River Landing is something like six hundred feet. In that valley there is no question at all about the wheat ripening. He produced some specimens of grain grown in the valley near Peace River Landing, also some tobacco grown there. The width of Peace river valley is very narrow, not over two miles at the crossing. The soil is good, perhaps a little heavy, with the exception of a few miles which is light and covered with jackpine. The rest is good agricultural land. There would not be a great quantity of it in the valley of the river at that part. The altitude is pretty high, but down the river towards Fort Vermilion it lowers, and probably the elevation of the upland there would not be greater than the level of the water at Peace River Landing. The grain-growing capabilities of that plateau all depend on the elevation. Peace river district is an immense country extending some six hundred miles from the mountains to the lake. Down at Fort Vermilion crossing they raise large quantities of wheat. Of course, at a very high altitude the same result cannot be expected, but wheat he saw on the plateau above Peace river was uninjured on September 20. But there was frost that night. He did not know whether it was enough to kill the grain. However, if they had no frost up to September 20, there should be
No Trouble Ripening Grain There,
because it ought to be fit for harvesting before the end of August. The wheat in question was sown by an Indian and put in very late. Wheat grown at Fort Vermilion took the first prize as the best wheat shown at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, in 1876.
Mr. Henry A. Conroy, Inspector for the Indian Department under Treaty No. 8, gave some very interesting evidence as to the agricultural resources of Peace river country before the committee. Mr. Conroy stated that he had been annually travelling through this northern country for about eight or nine years. He starts in along Athabaska river, from Athabaska, which is about one hundred miles from Edmonton and goes up the river to the junction of Little Slave river, thence visiting all the Indian reserves in the treaty district.
When Peace river district is reached via the route taken by Mr. Conroy, the altitude is very high. It is certainly over one thousand feet from the top of the bank down to the bottom of the river—tremendous banks. The country, as he understood it, is very fine. Bunch grass grows all along the north side extending through to Hay river. He had information as to this country from Indians and half-breeds, and they say bunch grass grows all along the way. Shortly after striking the Peace, Dunvegan is reached. The country north of Dunvegan; all along the river is, in the opinion of Mr. Conroy, fit for agriculture on both sides and for anydistance back. Of course one would have to go up to the top of the banks to get the land. Fine buffalo grass grows in the district north of Dunvegan up to Peace River Landing. As to the country running across from Dunvegan to Fort St. John, it would not take a man very long to cross it if he had a road.
A Startling Comparison.
View of the Pouce Coupé Prairie.
View of the Pouce Coupé Prairie.
Mr. Conroy stated emphatically that he was of opinion there is a large area of valuable agricultural land on Peace river. Taking the whole country there as far as he knew, there is as much agricultural land to be settled as there is settled at present west of Winnipeg.
Mr. Conroy uttered a word of warning against some of the settlers (old-timers). He remarked:—“Old-timers in there do not want anybody to come in, and they tell people the country is no good. They have the whole country to themselves. One man grows two thousand or three thousand bushels of wheat every year and gets for it from one dollar to one dollar and seventy-five cents a bushel from the Hudson’s Bay Company, and he does not want anybody else to come in and compete with him.”
Continuing his evidence, Mr. Conroy explained that from Fort Vermilion northeasterly the limit of the agricultural country is reached, but below that it could be made an agricultural country. There were no settlers there at all then (1907). At Fort Vermilion there had been a settlement for many years. Mr. Conroy said he had been there many times, and knew all the settlers in that section. Some of the finest wheat he ever saw, he saw growing in that settlement. He saw it only after it was harvested; it was threshed. They had a roller mill there, an up-to-datemill. The Hudson’s Bay Company manufactured flour at Fort Vermilion to send north.
While at Peace River Landing with the Indian Treaty Expedition in 1899, Mr. Charles Mair (“Through the Mackenzie Basin,” p. 89) made enquiries as to the fertile areas of the upper Peace from the Indians, half-breed hunters, and the few prosperous farmers and stockmen of the district. The nearest farmer and rancher to Dunvegan, at that date, Mr. C. Brymner, who had lived for ten years on Spirit river, told Mr. Mair that during seven of these, though frost had touched his grain, particularly in June, it had done little serious harm. Mr. Brymner informed Mr. Mair that it was a fine hay country, even the ridge hay being good. Mr. Brymner, himself, had at the time over a hundred head of cattle, which, thanks to the Chinook winds, fed out late in the autumn and early in the spring. Mr. Mair states that southeast of Fort St. John there is a considerable area known as Pouce Coupé prairie, which was well spoken of. The “Grande prairie,” to the southwest of Peace River Landing, which connects with Spirit river country and is drained by Smoky river and its branches, is a much more extensive open country. This is an extensive district suitable for immediate cultivation, and containing valuable timber for lumber, fencing and building.
Mr. Mair states that Rev. Father Busson told him in 1899 that at the Dunvegan and St. Augustine mission farms White Russian and Red Fife wheat had been raised since 1881, and during all these years it had never been seriously injured whilst the yield had reached as high as thirty-five bushels to the acre. Seeding began about the middle of April and harvesting about the middle of August.
Present Conditions and Settlement.
In his annual report (see annual report Royal Northwest Mounted Police, 1908), dated Athabaska, October 8, 1909, Inspector D. M. Howard of “N” Division of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police gives much interesting information regarding conditions at that recent date in Peace river region. It will be observed that some of the Inspector’s references are to districts immediately north and east of that directly under review in this chapter, but they are none the less instructive here on account of the similarity of climate and other conditions.
Those portions of the report referring directly to the districts treated of in this volume are extremely interesting. The principal settlements in the district at that date were stated to be as follows:—
“Lesser Slave lake, known as Grouard, so called after the Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese, a well known pioneer of the country, is situated six miles from the west end of Lesser Slave lake and has a population of twenty-five whites, and one hundred and twenty-five half-breeds, who make their living by hunting, fishing, and freighting in the winter time. Most of them have a few head of cattle and horses, and small gardens where they raise vegetables for their own use. The Roman Catholic mission has a school, hospital and convent. The Church of England also has a mission school for the Indian and half-breed children.
“Salt Prairie and Heart River (settlement) has a population of twenty whites and one hundred and seventy-five half-breeds.
“Prairie River (settlement) is considered one of the best settlements in the district, the land being very good. It has a population of eighty-five whites (Canadians, Americans and Swedes) and twenty-three half-breeds.
“Sturgeon Lake (settlement) has a population of nine whites and two hundred and ninety half-breeds and Indians.
“In Peace River Landing district there are six actual settlements:—Peace River Landing, Shaftesbury, Silver Springs, Cold Springs, Bear Lake and Little Prairie.”
The inspector proceeds to give some particulars about these pioneer settlements.
Silver Springs (settlement) is situated about five miles from the farm of T. A. Brick, on a high bench at the head of a spring named by the settlers, Silver Springs.
Bear Lake (settlement) is used only as a winter camp, and for haying in the summer. The lake from which it is named is about twelve miles long by eight wide. It is very shallow and muddy, although the land about it is very good and will make a good grain country, but as yet no one has done anything in that line. There are no fish in this lake.
Little Prairie (settlement) is about twenty-two miles out from Peace River Landing on the way to Lesser Slave lake. This prairie is about ten miles long and one wide, but can be extended in all directions by clearing the bush. The land is very good, and the little grain sown has done very well this year. Two white men and a number of half-breeds are the only settlers at present.
Peace River Landing (settlement) is what is known as round the crossing of Peace river, extending about ten miles up on the north side of the river, taking in the Roman Catholic mission, known as Smoky River mission on account of its being opposite Smoky river where it joins the Peace; this part is all surveyed with free grant lots to both whites and half-breeds who had settled there before the treaty known as No. 8 was made with the Indians.
Shaftesbury is the name given to the upper part of Peace River Landing settlement, round the English Church mission, extending some sixteen miles up the river, and comprising the balance of Peace River Landing settlement.
The Post Office for this District
is situated at Peace River Landing, and serves for all these settlements.
Cold Springs (settlement) is located on high land about thirty miles from Peace River Landing, near Old Wives Lake Indian reserve; several settlers have taken up land there this year, and grain of all kinds has done well.
Peace River Landing settlement, including Shaftesbury, Bear Lake and Silver Springs settlements, has a population of about two hundred and forty; twenty-nine French-Canadians, thirty Canadians and English, forty Indians and one hundred and fifty half-breeds. Little Heart River has a population of forty half-breeds and two whites (Americans).
As to industries and transportation, Inspector Howard stated in his report:—“Steam sawmills are in operation at the following points in the district:—Athabaska, Lesser Slave lake, Peace River Landing, Prairie River, Fort Vermilion, Chipewyan and Fort Smith; one is also to be in operation at Saskatoon lake in theGrande prairie country this winter. The mill at this point does a good business, as a number of new houses have gone up in the village this year, and a considerable quantity of lumber is used annually in the building of the scows for the river transport; few of these scows are brought back up the river, but are broken up down below, and the lumber used for building purposes, scows being built new at this point every year. Grist mills are also in operation at Lesser Slave lake, Peace River Landing and Fort Vermilion. At Sawridge two lime kilns are in operation and a good quality of lime can be obtained at a reasonable price.
“The Northern Transportation Company has built a new steamer at this point (Athabaska) this summer for use on the run between here and Moose portage. This steamer is smaller than the ‘Northland Sun’ and of lighter draught and will enable the company to run much later than in former years. The river gets very low in the autumn before the freeze-up.
“Until the country has a railway affording the settlers entrance to the markets, the grain acreage will not increase beyond sufficient to supply the settlers’ own wants, and to meet local demands, but the advent of a railway will change all this.”[16]
Present Day Agriculture.
Inspector Howard gave the following information as to agriculture in his district:—
“The general state of the district is satisfactory, and most of the settlers, having had good crops, seem well pleased with their prospects in this new country. In some parts of Peace river country a few suffered loss from hail, and want of rain in other parts has affected the crops of a few injuriously, but on the whole the crops were a very fair average. In most cases threshing is not over, but in one case where the crop has been threshed a Mr. L. H. Adair, of Baptiste lake, about twelve miles west of Athabaska, really in the Athabaska country, threshed five thousand bushels of oats from one hundred and twenty acres of land. Nearly all the new settlers coming into the country this year have settled at Grande prairie, in Peace river country, where the land is very good. Most of these settlers were from Eastern Canada and the United States, and in nearly all cases were supplied with a fair amount of capital, stock and farm implements. Nearly all of them have put in gardens, and have vegetables enough for their use in the winter, and from reports I have received from the detachments, in no cases should there be any shortage amongst the new settlers during the coming winter.
“Mixed farming is chiefly carried on in this district, oats and barley being the chief grain grown. There is practically no market for wheat at present owing to the want of railway communication. Potatoes and all other kinds of vegetables are successfully grown, most of the farmers having small vegetable gardens for their own consumption, but practically none are grown for market.
“In Peace River district, Red Fife wheat was sown last spring from seed supplied by the government. The wheat principally sown in this district in formeryears was Ladoga, an early ripening grain, but the Red Fife appears to have done just as well this year. The amount of grain raised this year in Peace River Landing district is about:—Wheat, five thousand bushels; oats, four thousand bushels; barley, one thousand two hundred bushels. Threshing was not finished at the time this report was made, so the above is only an estimate.
“There are about three hundred head of horses of all kinds and three hundred and fifty head of cattle owned by settlers in Peace River settlement, practically
Every Farmer Owning a Few Head
of each. In Lesser Slave lake district there are approximately six hundred and one horses, seven hundred and fourteen cattle and one hundred and forty-five pigs; in addition to these there are the following registered stock: three stallions, five bulls, thirteen cows, four boars and six sows.
“The crops through Peace River Landing and Lesser Slave lake subdistricts have been a fair average. The grazing lands about Lesser Slave lake, Grande prairie, Peace River Landing, Fort Vermilion and other sections are very good, and hay is very plentiful and a supply for the winter can easily be put up.
“The acreage under crop in Lesser Slave lake sub-district is about seven hundred and thirteen acres of oats, three hundred and one acres of barley, twenty-three acres of spring wheat, nineteen acres of fall wheat, twelve acres of fall rye. One acre of sugar beets and mangolds were grown this year as an experiment and turned out very successfully.
“The crop all round was good; only one farmer suffered any loss, about twelve acres of his barley being damaged by hail.
“Next year there will be a much increased acreage under crop, a lot of breaking having been done this summer and autumn.”
A Pleasant Country to Live in.
Not only does the climate of the Peace country appear to be satisfactory from the view point of the farmer, but it is also described by travellers as exceptionally pleasant to live in. Mr. Warburton Pike, in his book (See p.19) refers enthusiastically to the beautiful autumn of the Peace country. He writes:—“We reached Fort Vermilion late in September, in the full glory of the autumn; the sharp morning frosts had coloured the poplar leaves with the brightest golden tints, and the blue haze of an Indian summer hung over prairie and wood. Away on Great Slave lake a half-breed had told me of the beauties of Fort Vermilion as a farming country, and had explained that all the good things of the world grew there freely, so that I was prepared for the sight of wheat and barley fields, which had this year produced a more abundant harvest than usual; potatoes and other vegetables were growing luxuriously; cattle and horses were fattening on the rich prairie grass, and it seemed that there was little to be gained by leaving such a fertile spot in the face of the winter that would soon be upon us.”
Speaking of his trip up the upper Peace between the date mentioned and the end of November, Mr. Pike wrote:—“I do not remember to have ever seen in anyother part of Canada such a fine autumn as we enjoyed between Vermilion and the Rockies. There was hardly a day’s rain the whole time, and, although a sharp white frost usually made a cold camp, the days were bright and at times almost too hot for tracking.”
That the climate of Peace river country is exceptionally healthy is declared by all the white people who have lived there, and their declaration appears to be borne out by the fact that a considerable portion of the inhabitants have attained a very old age. Mr. Charles Mair in his book “Through the Mackenzie Basin” mentions that when the Indian Treaty expedition was at Lesser Slave lake in 1899 his attention was drawn to the number of people of extreme old age among the inhabitants. He especially mentioned the case of an aged half-breed woman, Catherine Bisson, who was born on New Year’s day in the year 1793. She was blind at the time Mr. Mair saw her, and scarcely able to walk, but was able to talk, and even cracked jokes with those about her. In a footnote Mr. Mair states that this very old woman died in the spring of 1908 at the remarkable age of one hundred and fifteen years.
[15]It will be observed that this paragraph and other portions of this testimony really refer to the Athabaska country treated of in the preceding chapter, but to save an awkward dislocation of Professor Macoun’s testimony it has been kept intact. (E. J. C.)
[15]
It will be observed that this paragraph and other portions of this testimony really refer to the Athabaska country treated of in the preceding chapter, but to save an awkward dislocation of Professor Macoun’s testimony it has been kept intact. (E. J. C.)
[16]The railway is now being constructed, and there has been a remarkable development in this section since Inspector Howard penned this report.
[16]
The railway is now being constructed, and there has been a remarkable development in this section since Inspector Howard penned this report.
CHAPTER XII.
An Abundance of Timber in the Vicinity of Chipewyan.—Much of the Country Has Been Swept by Fires.—Most of the Timber is Along the Rivers.—Millions of Cords of Pulp Wood.—Spruce and Black Bark Poplar the Principal Varieties.—The Water Power Possibilities Described as Tremendous.
The timber resources of northern Alberta, according to the evidence in hand, are very considerable, a matter of not a little importance in a new country. We will deal first with the eastern, or Athabaska division of this section.
In his evidence before the Senate committee of 1888, Professor John Macoun, Botanist to the Geological Survey, said:—“There is an abundance of timber in the vicinity of Chipewyan on Lake Athabaska. There are as fine spruce in the Athabaska delta as are to be found in any part of the northwest. I have measured trees on the Embarass river that were two feet and a half in diameter and were very tall. On Peace river, likewise, especially on islands, there are many large groves of spruce and poplar, which attain extraordinary dimensions.”
Mr. Alfred von Hamerstein informed the Senate committee in 1907 that from McMurray up in a westerly direction, for about twenty miles, there is very good timber. He had seen trees that would make one thousand feet of lumber. From Athabaska to House river there is timber standing yet. There had been some fires raging, but they had not burned it yet. The timber consists of some patches of spruce of a fairly good size, and the rest is poplar. From House river to McMurray there is no timber left. It is all burned out. There are patches here and there along the river, a couple of trees left standing, and there is some very fine timber in that. There is some timber which Mr. von Hamerstein used for his oil well boring work, and he had taken out strips sixty-four feet long, out of which he had cut his walking beams. There are only patches of this timber; the rest had been burned. A little further east there is some fine timber at Chipewyan. From the mouth of Peace river to about Fort Vermilion there is some good timber. Timber of the same quality ranges north for a considerable distance. There will be a range of timber four or five miles long, and then muskeg. From the Vermilion down there is no timber left; it is all burned up. There is no young timber growing up to speak of—at least Mr. von Hamerstein did not see any, except in a few places where a little young timber is starting to grow. Indeed it is mostly poplar, with patches here and there of spruce, but mostly poplar.