The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1909-08-30
TWENTY-FIVE
YEARS IN THE
WILDERNESS
Father Jossard Visited a Town
for the First Time Last
Week.
TELLS ABOUT CONDITIONS
IN THE FAR N0RTHLAnO
Farming and Stock Raising Are TAX.
ing the Place of Trapping and the
Fish Industry is Becoming an I'm.
portant One.

Winnipeg, Aug. 2s.-Twenty-nine
years is a large gap in human life,
to realize such is not easy of grasp,
more especially when this array of
years are spent away. from civiliza-
tion, where pleasures we realize here
are as unknown quantities. A few
days ago there stepped from a train
at the Canadian Northern depot man
who. during this long time, has dwelt
In the wilds of the northland, who un-
til last Thursday had never set his
foot In any town. hts life for twenty
nine years devoted to the work his
church is undertaking In Athabaskan
territory. A sacrificial life, heroic,
beset with untold hardships fraught
with danger, yet summers heat and
wintry SHOWS know no cessation to
his exertions. This is Bishop JOS
sard. whose arrival was noted in the
dispatches few days ago. There Is
a lull in his career for a short sea-
son, he is resting awhile at st. Boni-
face. en- route to Quebec, a short stay
there, then back to his far away do
cese. the outside world may never be
visited by him again.
In August, 1880, Father Jossard, now
assistant bishop Of Athabaska, arriv-
ed In Winnipeg en- route to his labors,
for seventy-two days he traversed the
wild western prairie to Lake Biche,
where embarkation took place in a
birch bark canoe for a sixteen day
voyage to Fort Athabaska. The coun-
try was untramelled by the influx of
/ ynH HfNyN S,n
small number of white men dwelt at
the fort and mission, with, at an out
side estimate. five hundred Indian
population. Fishing occupied the
summer days, fur hunting accounted
for the dreary months of winter. A
lack of provisions was not unusual in
those days. neither did it create much
CONSERVATION when perhaps shooting
some rapid on the turbulent river the
worldly possessions of man became
frretrievably lost. In 1880, at the
fort, some sisters of the church had
gagged in the erection of an edifice for
Bishop Grouard had planted the flag
of his faith eighteen years prior to
this date.
Changed Conditions.
|
that lonely place there is a convent Of
one hundred children, under the
charge of twelve sisters of Providence,
whilst four priests of the oblate or
der, with five lay brothers, are ac-
lively engaged in mission work. A
large church eighty feet in length and
two stories high is being constructed
at Vermillion. There are likewise
centers of mission work located at
little Red river, Wolverine point, Air
river, Smoky and Spirit rivers, Grand
Prairie, Larder, Sturgeon, Walaska,
and Whitefish lake, and the two In
dian reserves, with very important
mission at Fond du lac. On Slave riv-
er, one hundred and fifty miles from
Forth Athabaska, Bishop Bravon is
|.conducting a cattle ranch of gigantic
proportions. Up to the present time
wheat and barley have not been given
any cultivation.
Attention has been called in recent
years to the country in the Peace riv-
er, Bishop Jossard cannot allude too
strongly to its characteristics and ul-
timate success. At Athabaska lake
the splendid land adapted to agricul-
tural pursuits may be said to COM
mence, at Little Red river, and 24O
miles from this lake the soil cannot
be equaled in any portion of the
globe. Surveyors now upon Grand
Trunk construction were at the time
of Bishop Jossard's departure in July
busily laying out the railway route to
Wabaska. The main line will be con-
structed forty miles from Little Red
river, en- route to the Peace river
country. The day previous to his de-
parture the chief official of the sur
vey party. arrived at Vernlillion and
gave his opinion Of the country in
laudatory terms. He had traversed
a great stretch of territory in this re-
gion, and stated that this area could
not possibly be surpassed for the pur-
pose of agriculture.
Fur Trade Falls OF.
Abiding to the fur trade, Bishop
Jossard regretted to state that for the
past two seasons 1t had decreased. The
rabbits had disappeared and poor
fur catch inevitably followed. Last
winter slight improvement was
shown over the previous year, yet 1t
was not as 1t should be. Still he
looked for vast fur seasons in the fu-
ture. Moose were prevalent in large
herds. furnishing staple food. and
the waters Of Lesser Slake lake pro-
vided great fishing industry. At the
present time but two firms of traders
operated in the Peace river district,
the Hudson's Bay company and Re-
villon Bros, of Montreal, the majority
of the freighting is accomplished in
the winter months. consequential tn