St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-04
CABIN IN The WOODS.
A Missionapy's Home in the
Wild Hudson Bay
Country.
indians and Wild AnimaS as
Companions for the
Whites.
a Girls Long and PePiious
Journey Back to Civil
liZation.
Something About a Country
Of Which Very Little
Is Known.

The home of a missionary, located
t.5OO miles from civilization, surrounded
b, Indians and wild animals; life in
!. : log cabin, shut out from all social
entoyments-this would not seem to
offer many attractions, nor would 1t
probably be very eagerly sought for, ex-
cept by few enthusiasts to whom
desire to carry the gospel into distant
fields was recompense for the prlya-
tions and hardships of such life, says
the Milwaukee Sentinel. Such, how
ever. is the home of E. j. Lawrence,
the father of Miss Susie Lawrence, who
is now the guest of her friend, Mrs.
Morgan, at 924 Superior street. Men
ton of her long ana perilOus journey
from way up North in the Hudson bay
country to Evanston. ILL.,. where she Is
attending the university, was made In
the Sentinel a week ago. Her descrip-
lion of that trip and the life OF her fam
Ily in that far-away country is of in
tense interest. Miss Lawrence is a
pretty girl, who, in the language of her
nntutored friends, the Indians, has seen
the snow of eighteen winters. Bright,
ViVacious ana intellectual, with grace
full carriage, she certainly does not Sug-
gest the idea that she has spent eleven
years of Ter young but eventful life ina
place not far from the northern frlgld
zone. where even fur Traders and the
employees of the Hudson Bay company
find themselves strangers. lie great
ambition of her father was To spend his
life in missionary work, and he was sent
In 1879 from Montreal, Canada, by the
Missionary Society of the Church OF
England TO his present home at Fort
VermiIion. 1t is situated about eco
miles west of Lake Athabasca, the most
southern of the great lakes OF the North,
and right on the banks of Peace or IN
jaga river, as it is called by the Indians.
Many years ago the various tribes who
lived i'm that district, after having been
at war for several generations, signed
treaty of peace near il, and hence the
name. The trip from Montreal to Yer
million was begun on April s, and, after
having travelled by way Of Winnipeg,
Mr.. Lawrence and his family came to
the end of their long journey late in
September of that year. Most of the
trip was made by boats and wagons.
There were trading posts all along the
way, separated by long distances, and
the brigade of boats with which they
travelled was run by the fur traders.
A Long Cold Winter.
The first winter Mr.. Lawrence and
his family passed in a little log house,
Dne story high, warmed TO a certain eX-
lent by two fireplaces; the roof was COW
cred with sheets of spruce bark, and the
ehinks between the logs plastered up
with clay. The coolest weather that
winter was AZ degrees below zero, but
bhere was so little wind, and the atmos-
phere was so dry and bracing, that the
children could be sent out every day.
Provisions at that time were very scarce.
so that although they never went hun |
CRY themselves, they had to be very |
careful about the amount they gave
away to the Indians. Many of the red
men were starving that winter, and
looked to the missionary for support.
Miss Lawrence spoke feelingly of the
day when they finally had to part with
their little pet dog, whose flesh was
eagerly devoured by the Indians. The
skin of the animal, she added, was still
treasured by her little sister at home.
The Indians around Nermillon belong
TO the Beaver and Cree tribes. OF
them the young lady says:
No Bad Indians.
1.-THE Indians in this whole Northern
country have long ago ceased to be war
like, either toward each other or to-
ward the whites. They have too great
a struggle for a bare existence, and in
times of scarcity they have depended
too much on the white people to keep
alive in their breasts any savage spirit.
The natives are very SupeTstitious and
cOWardly, and are as much afraid of the
bad Indians, as they call their more
warlike brethren further south, as any
paleface could possibly be. They have
never made a treaty with the govern
ment, so therefore never receive aid
from that quarter. The Indians all live
in their wigWams, and keep moving
about from place to place, summer and
winter, depending solely on their hunt
{ng and fishing for subsistence. The
men wear their hair short and dress
much like white people. A winter
outfit consists OF a cap, leather mittens,
shirt, trousers, blanket, overcoat, moe
casins, belt and leggins. The women
never wear anything like hat,
but tie gay-colored handkerchiefS
over their heads. They are hardly
ever seen without blanket
or shawl around them.
Their dresses are always in style, for
they are all made up with very full
skirts seWed on to snugly fitting waists,
and trimmed with braid, ribbon or
6ounces, or all three, according to the
taste of the dusky beauty. The Indians,
like all Others, are very childish and
tickle, and devOtedly attached to their
children. We have had great difficulty
In persuading the parents to leave their
children with US for any length of time.
They considered that they were doing
NC Ut
ought to pay them for the privilege. of
taking their children into our own
homes and caring for them as we would
for our own.
Rich and Fertile Soil.
''The mission school which my father
established has grown rapidly, and he
teaches the young people how to farm.
No one here has any idea how fertile
and rich our soil is. The reports to the
contrary emanated from the Hudson Bay
company, whose very existence depends
on keeping settlers and fur traders
away. The country is now open for
wide and large districts, prairie fires
having played havoc with the timber
which once covered it. After once pro-
curing seed. great quantities of barley,
potatoes, wheat, oats, rye and all the
common garden vegetables could be
raised lnerei GOTH, however, Will not
grow.
1.-The second year we were in the
country we sent out to a place several
hundred miles south of us where stock
could be bought and purchased several
head of cattle. We have now nice
little herd and good dairy from which
we make our own butter and cheese
and supply several missionaries much
further north than we, who have no
other means of procuring such Injuries,
rs they are deemed. The country is
good for stock raising. Horses can
take care of themselves out on the open
prairie all the year round. although
few here and there occasionally are
killed by wolves. We have from one to
two or three feet of snow, and very
often cattle as well as horses can feed
out greater part of the winter.
Peace river is one of the finest
streams on the continent, there being