The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-07-13

walking along its banks and towing
on long rope as horses pull canal
boat.
The Porcupine is a large stream,
larger than the Hudson, more than
half a mile from bank to bank and
with very swift current. We rugged
up a sort of big harness on the end of
800 foot rope and for IL long days
worked like pillow horses, sometimes
crawling over fallen timber, or floun-
dering through mud and guicksand,
or sometimes wading waist deep. All
of the time there was a cold north
wind accompanied by rain. For Is
days and nights we were drenched to
the skin without opportunity to dry
our clothes, and had to sleep i'm that
condition. The weather became rap
idly colder and three days before
reaching our destination the river be-
gan freezing. Think of wading in
such water. On the evening of Sept.
%, we reached Rampant House just in
the niche of time, as the next day the
river was full of ice and the long 8
months winter had fairly begun.
AT Rampant House L found num-
Der of Indians and one white man,
MIR. Totty Church of England Mis-
sionary about my age who came here
during the previous summer. Until
last spring this place was q Hudson
Bay company's fur trading post but
was abandoned ON account of the
great cost of transporting goods such
a long distance. The trader left his
house, log cabin, which contained a
very small cooking stove and a couple
of pine tables. 1t is a good sized
house with several rooms, but have
all can do to keep one room warm
and this one serves as parlOr, bed
room and kitchen. and in this little
room lived. doing my own cooking.
The snow became deeper and deeper
and the weather much colder as the
season advanced. The days also be-
came rapidly shorter the sun being
a bove the horizon Orffy couple of
hours each day and finally disappear
ing altogether. Sometimes we saw
great numbers of Caribou or wild
reindeer and the Indians killed a
good many SO that / have had all the
fresh yenlsOn l could use. Sometimes
1 would go over and have talk with
Mr.. Totty, and sometimes he came
over to see me but the time passed
very slowly and 1 was glad of the op-
portunity to take this trip. Mr.. Totty
was going to send some Indians with
dog sleds to carry some goods to the
English Missionary at TT. Mcpherson
two hundred miles to the eastward,
and determined to come with them.
We left Rampant House on Nov. IL, 8
sleds each, heavily loaded and drawn
by four dogs and four Indians and
myself. The snow was very deep
and the sleds heavily loaded, so that
we could not ride but tramped the en-
tire two hundred miles on snow shoes.
We took no tent but when night came
piled some brush down OH the snow
and lay down ON it, covered up with
robes and got what sleep we could.
One night when we slept out this way
it was AZ below zero, We lived on
dried venison, tallow and tea. We
start on our return 10 Rampant
House on Dec l. At this place, FIT.
Mcpherson, there is Hudson Bay
Company's- trading post, a trader, MIR.
Fired, an English Missionary, two
Catholic missionaries and a French
man, i'm all five white men and q con-
siderable number of Indians. L am
staying with the trader. AS 1 said
we shall start back i'm two days and
expect to make the return in eight
DAYS. l shall then remain at RAM
part House until some time i'm March,
when | shall start on another trip,
this time to the Arctic ocean. We
have heard from natives that six
whaling ships from San Francisco are
blocked in the ice OH the sea coast at
Herschel Island about two hundred
miles northeast of Rampant House and
1 intend to visit them. l shall be
gone on that trip about a month. By
May 20, the snow will be gone and
month later | shall start down the
Porcupine and Yukon rivers to st.
Nichols on my way home. 1t must
be a long time before this letter
reaches you. There is no mail route
in the country, but in few days
tram of dog sleds will start south
with the years output of furs collect
ed at this place. So my letter will
come to you through Canada, after
more than 1000 miles OH
dog sled. 1t ought to reach you by
May. l am in fairly good health but
to brag of.