Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-07-20
0Ile SIRE Dress.
FROM MANITOBA.
A Lumber Town on the Lake of the
Soods-A chippewa Camp -Winne-
nor md Real Estate speculation
The Manitoba Legislature.
RAT PoRTAGE, Manitoba,

TO the Editor of the Free Press and Times
II fix this place of euphonious name in
Manitoba, because the municipality twas
Organized under Manitoba charter. The
validity Of this charter has, however, been
disputed by the Province of Ontario and
within a day or two, the board of civil
authority has voted to hand over the town to
Ontario. At the time of the confederation
the eastern boundry of Manitoba was
DECLARED to be the western boundary of
Ontario and no account was taken of this
little district of Keewatin, which belonged to
the Hudson Bay Company and in which this
saw mill and mining town has recently
sprung up. So this is disputed territory
and kind of no mans land, where titles
are uncertain, and no law Of recognized
authority exists but the public consent that
an Indian who gets very drunk shall be
locked up, and any person committing high
crime shall be promptly hung to conVen,
lent tee. This kind of law works and
peace generally reigns, although | am in-
formed that it is Il city of refuge for
'rougls" who have fed from other juris-
dlctious. The town is a station oil the
Canada Pacific railroad upon the north
western extremity of the Lake of the woods
1t is 1856 miles distant from WinnepeS
Hall this dis ance we traversed through
swamps and the other half over hideous
rock, aud all thiny covered with a scrubby
growth of frs largely burnt over by forest
fires and animated by myrads of mosquitoes
AMI flies of the size and fcrocity Of royal
Bengal tigers. There is a fine waterfall at
the outlet of the lake. but the saw mills are
run by steam the water power being
apparently unavailable on account of the
rocky shores of the stream. Below the
falls there is fine fishing. Those who know
how take fine white fish with gull or spear
and large pike and pickeral in mary ways.
This | know 10 be true for | have seen
the white fish and sturgeon, and
we celebrated our nations birthday by
ourselves putting TO death large numbers of
Her llajes.y's walleyed pike and rock
pickerel.
While following tue trail to the fishing
grounds we ran upon young Indian brave
IN savage apparel feeding his Minnehaha
lunch from the paper picnic bag OF civiliZa-
ton. We met him later by the lake side
when about to launch his canoe for a home
ward trip to his wigwam on the opposite
side / invited myself to a ride in his
craft This he agreed to if l would wait till
he had padded home with madam, to
whom he failed to give me an Introduction.
squaw, wigwam, me, bon jour and the usual
Indian grunt, the translation of which
must be varied to accord with the inflexion
and the circumstances. With these elements
we conducted quite an animated CONVEX
sation, and he doubtless has the reputation
ario g his own people of an accomplished
lingust, if such reputation is as easily
acquired with them as with us. We visited
his camp, consisting of Il dozen families.
The wigwams were made with poles gath
cred to peak and covered with birch bark.
The children were dressed cheaply in red
shirts, dirt and heads of unkept black hair.
The ADULTS grow uupcturesque by contact
with the whites. The men generally wear
trousers and the women calico dresses. The
head and feet are the last to become wonted
to civilized covering. They wear moccasins
and decorate their braids OF hair with feath-
ers and trinkets.
The children of the woods were just finish
ing dinner which consisted of fish and
potatoes boiled together and eaten without
the incumbrancc of knives and forks. After
dinner the braves went to sleep and the
industries calculated TO make home happy
one to mend fish net, another TO tend baby,
another to dress d sturgeon, and another to
clean up the dishes. This last domestic duty
was accomplished with great simplicity and
despatch, the index finger performing the
chief service.
The tribe adheres to the primitive fashion
of caring for infants. The squaws lace up
the papoosc in bag or basket lined with
moss and strap him to wooden frame and
then rock him, stand him up against a tree
or tote him on their backs as occasion may
require. His head is the only member that
has freedom or movement and this freedom
he exercises in the livccst manner and
Crins pleasantly upon small provocation,
t.,,, sc
of red men is dying out One noticeable
advantage of the papoose over the white
baby, well illustrated here, is that, cOmpara-
lively speaking he does'nt show dirt.
The Chippewas are gathering TO this
region from along the streams and lakes to
receive their annual stipend from the
government, for the rights which they have
transferred to the stronger race. Having
been humanely treated by the British gov
eminent, they are friendly to the whites and
peaceable. Upon the annual pay day it has
been the fashion of the Indians to have
grand pow-wow, dog feast and war dance,
in which they get raving drunk. Now, the
government sends the paying agent from
station to station, 50 the grand convocation
is no longer held in large masses.
We were so fortunate as to fall into tine
hands OF Capt. Loony, special agent of the
U. 5. government TO look after timber
thieves who cut logs from government land
on the Amer can side and float them into
Canada. Capt. LoOny has been lumberman
and pilot on the Mississippi for thirty years
and is naturally a man OF character, nforma-
ton and grit, who is not likely to be scared
out of the woods by mosquitoes or those
lesser pests, the timber thieves Another
special agent Of the party was Washington
correspondent.and reporter, who was taking
lessons in wood craft and who Illuminated
with contempt Of the country, as do all
native or Irish-born Yankees whom met on
the line Of the Canadian Pacific.
winnipeg.
This city has about %, 900 inhabitants and
is substantially built, largely of yellow
brick. Some of the principal thoroughfares
are 100 feet wide, which give a rather mpos-
ingappearance to the place. The streets are
as yet unpaved. The road is now packed
down hard, but in the spring bottomlcss
black paste renders travel by wheeled
vehicles next to impossible. The city stands
at the confluence of the Assiniboine and
Red River of the North, and is the centre
of the Canada Pacific railway system.
Asa business point much may be expected
of II, for there is vast territory of fertile
land to the west which is being filed up by
immigrants Of good quality, whom cold
weather cannot kill. But in the winter of
1SS1-1SS2 the Winnepeggers went mad with
the speculative fever, and arc now suffering
from the inevitable collapse. The mania is
illustrated by sale of corner lot about
II hundred feet square, for Sl27 900, and in
spite of stagpation in business, land holders
largely discount the future in their asking
prices
Remains of the old Hudson Bay Company
civilization still linger about the place. A
Manitoba cart is often seen upon the streets,