St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-04

IN JNe greatest abundance. f6Ople
have often expressed surprise on being
told that strawberries, raspberries and
gooSeberries are found SO far north.
We have also service berries, high and
low cranberries, red and black currantS,
besides others less important.
Furs of All Kinds.
"The furs taken from our district are
the beaver. bear, wolf, marten, mink,
otter, fisher and wolverine. There are
several kinds of bearS-the grizzly. of
the mountain region, and the black,
brown and cinnamon. The game on
which the Indians mostly depend is the
moose deer, first and always. and the
rabbits in their season. These little an
imalS would oyerrun the country II they
were not almost destroyed by a strange
disease which attacks them every few
years. The Indians come in from all
the country round at certain intervals,
three or four times year, TO trade, and
these are the only opportunities the
missionaries have to teach them.
The First White Child.
1.-The only strangers whom we ever
see," continued Miss Lawrence, ''are
the traders who make their appearance
once in a great while. My sister Clara
has the proud distinction of being the
first white child born IN that section of
the country. There is also Roman
Catholic missionary post at Vermillion.
Outwardly the priests and our family
are on the very best of terms. | say
Outwardly, for on the quiet these priests
do all they can to fill the Indians minds
with distrust of us and our work. New
ertheless, father has had great success.
1.-The child-like nature of the Indians
was best shown few years ago, when
father had small, portable steam en-
CINE brought to Vermiion. How much
time the transport of it through the
wilderness occupied l really do not
know But when it came the curiosity
of the Indians was great. None OF its
parts had suffered damage while on the
way, and it was soon put together, l
shall never forget the sight which met
our eyes when the Shrill sound of the
whistle was heard for the first time.
There were about 200 Indians present,
men, women and children. The major
ity of them gave fearful yell. and
they nearly fell over themselves in their
anxiety to get away. SO badly frightened
were they. Some of them leaped over
fences and other distractions in their
way; others again jumped into the
river and swan across, eager to escape.
This engine does us good service now.
We utilize it in various ways. But the
redskins still look at it with supersti-
tiouS eyes. and for hundreds of miles
around it is known among them as the
great ''teakettle" of the white medi-
cine man. The confidence Of the In
dian is easily gained but very hard to
keep. The average child is fully as in
telligent as that of white parents. The
number OF half-breeds increases every
nd w
Hudson Bay company. This concern
does not now any more make as big
profits as of yore; the competition has
become too great, and in consequence it
is compelled to pay better prices for
the furS.
1--WE live as happily as is the lot of
any family on earth, | think. Two
years ago the question of my future
camp came up for discussion, and ii was
decided that should go to Evanston,
where a cousin of mine has also gradu-
ated. On May s. 1889, we started on our
trip. ] was accompanied by my father,
a young brother and male cousin We
loaded onr provisions, which had to last
US for three weeks, in canoe and then
began to make our trip UP on Peace
river. The leave-taking from mother
and the other friends and relatives at
the post was painful, and several days
passed before / forgot their tear-stained
faces. All four of us had to work hard
the current in the river being frequent
ly very swift and strong. AT night we
eamped ashore. We had no tent. For
fifteen days we proceeded in this man
ner. At point. called The Forks, we
left the river and stopped at trading
post, Here we waited three days, when
a troop of fur traders came along. We
hired two wagons from them and then
travelled through the wilderness. The
scenery was grand and picturesque.
When we came to the Lesser Slave lake
we left the wagons and were given the
the use of horses. In three days
we rode seventy-hve miles. My
cousin and brother had left US at
The Forks and returned home. While
on horseback had the comfort of see
ing another woman in the party. True,
she was but an Indian, the wife OF
half-breed, but she was woman. AT
the Lesser Slave lake we stopped and
found friendly treatment at mission
airy post. There we found many more
Indians than where we live. They
were mostly Crees. The lake we crossed
in boats, the property of the Hudson
company. Each boat was manned by
eight oarsmen and one steersman. 1t
is beautiful lake and full or gamy
fish. The lake empties into the Atha-
basca river. This we descended for
many miles until we came TO where the
company'S steamer waited for the
traders. Intended only for freighting
purposes, father and had to make the
best of the accommodations, such as we
found on the boat We finally reached
Athabasca lake and went to a place
called The Landing. Here we left the
steamer and again took to wagons, in
which we rode over barren country for
a number of days. Our provisions
which we had brought along from Yer
million had vanished long before then,
but we had found opportunity to re-
plenish them. We finally reached Ed
monitor, in the Alberta district, place
of 500 Inhabitants. which, however, is
considered very important point. Ih9
country around tits rich in minerals and
coal and only needed development.
The coal fields lie open. and no one need
pay for his fuel, as all he has to do IS to
90 and pick it up This is no eXaggera-
ton, but the Hudson company manages
to keep the wonderful resources of the
country a secret. If capital could be
attracted there the tide of immigration
would undoubtedly be large within
short time. All that is needed now is a
better and easier way of reaching Ed
monitor. And there, by the way, we
came tothe first postoffice. Beyond that
point all mail is delivered by the Hud-
SON company free of charge, but in re-
turn it requires the missionaries not to
interfere with its trading. If all the
connections are made regularly letter
from here will reach Vermilion IN about
seven or eight weeks. During the
winter the employees of the company
travel on snowshoes the whole distance.
But it is a rare occurrence that letter
does not reach its destination.
From Edmonton we rode in stage
to Calgary. a distance of 200 miles. Cal
gary lies at the foot of the Rockies, and
is a station of the Canadian Pacific road,
From Calgary we took the cars and
went to Winnipeg, a distance of eighty
miles, and thence came on to Chicago.
There it was that changed my dress
and became more civilized in my attire.