Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-08-06

Is ulduc ITOU, IL is d COlupd anu lueIelOfe
easily carried and full of strength After
leaving the timber behind and entering
the great barren waste forming the desert
to the derect north of Hudson's Bay, the
white hunter and his men found that cold
every day became moro intense. and the
wood that they had brought With them on
the sleds was hardly sutfi .ipnt to keep them
from freezing.
Not q living thing was to be met With
until the desert Was traversed, and the
ldrder was recruited entirely from the
stores Of pemmican. Not having d Their
mometer it was impossible to determine
| how cold il as in the land of the musk
OK, but the Victorians may we'll under
stand that there is every difference in the
world between the climate of the arctic
circle and that of the fovored capital of
British Columbia. Having killed a num-
Der of musk OK. one of which has been
mounted by Curator Fannin and now
adorns the Provincial museum, Mr. Pike
started southwark again. not having
even caught glimpse OF the E.quimaux,
of whom his guides were in great fear, as
war had been waged between the two
| tribes a good many years ago. All the
natives Of this part of the world are fine
| y,
full of bone and muscle, but also equally
full of superstition. To enable them to en-
dure the'severity of the climate, they wear,
except during the very brief summer, a
| curious costume of deer skin, with the
hair left on, which is air and water tight
| warm and convenient
This one northern trip occupied four
| months, on returning to the fort number
of smaller expeditions were planned and
carried out, the young Eng!ishman on
each being unaccompanied except by In
dlans. To the southwest of Slave Lake a
band Of eight wood butfaloes, differing
very slightly from the old monarchis of
the plain, were met with and one killed
for food. The entire band could have been
shot, bat it would have been a useless
slaughter, and so the rare animals we're
not molested. In this far-off corner of
the world the few survivors Of the old race
of prairie cattle are increasing and multi
plying, secure from the intrusions Of white
trophy hunters. The Indians, too, let
them alone, preferring to hunt the moose,
as the HudsoL's Bay people, to discourage
the slaughter of the buffaloes, have re-
fused to buy the robes
Down the Great Fish river, where Sir
John Franklin's party met an untimey
fate, the Victoria hunter had the pleasure
Of enjoying an arctic summer, which.
fieeting as a dream, is uncomfortable
warm both night and day for about two
months, when its life is over During its
brief existence all common flowers of more
southern latitudes bloom profuseiy, though
they are dwarfs generally.
In August last Mr. Pike determined to
come home, and left Fort Resolution in d
canoe, intending to 90 up the Peace river
and cross by Stuart's lake to Quesnelle.
Very little Roadway had been made with
the canoe, when a cold snap came on and
passed, leading to the supposition that
there would be clear water for the trip.
1t was again commenced, couple of Six
Foot Davis white men having volunteered
to act as guides until the Rockies were
crossed. but again the ice prevented TIE
progress! of the canoe. 1t was thereupon
abandoned, and the three white men start
ed ON foot for McLean's lake, about d
| 100 miles away. Provisions were carried
| for eigh hit days, in half of which time the
guides had promised that the lake would
| be reached.
Eight days passed, however, and still
the hungry and foot-sore travellers tramped
on. There the guides discovered that
| they had assembled the wrong river-mie-
taking the Nation for the McLean-and
were lost, with no supplies and bad
weather coming on. In this dilemma they
elected Mr.. Pike guide, and the march
back through the vast wilderness for 200
miles commenced. Twenty-four days
latter, thirty-two days from the time they
eft, the skeletons almost of the three white
men again reached the abandoned canoe.
They had saved their lives by thread,
having endured all the horrors of starva-
ton, and still walked on through the
snow. If the number of days when not a
morsel of food was procurable was record
ed it would not be believed, but the ex-
! tremity Of distress reached may be i'm
agined when it is known that even their
shoes were eaten by the starving men, and
had they had any dogs they would have
| followed the shoes without doubt 1t
was during this awful tramp that Mr..
Pike threw away his collections, journals,
everything; the one thing to be thought of
being the preservation of life.
| And yet the hero of the adventure looks
none the worse for it. One of the note
| worthy incidents of his long trip was the
crossing Of the Cooper mine at its head
| waters. LIE being the first white man to do
so. He reports Fort Resolution, the north
ernmost of the Hudson,s Bay forts, to be a
| thriving trading post. Even in that cold
country the people can successfully grow
potatoes, and they do, their blowing be-
ing almost altogether done with the ever
useful dogs.