The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1911-02-11

Pherson, on the Peel river, 1000 miles
north Of Edmonton, and approximately
$50 miles above the arctic circle.
Each company Of traders takes a
large supply Of provisions and goods
for barter, in addition to its own stock
of food, guns, etc, and the journey in
covering the 1000 miles to Fort Reso-
luton. or the greater distances to the
more remote posts, is one Of great diff
ficulty and hardship. The first 80
miles out Of Edmonton is overland to
Athabasca landing, on the Athabasca
river, where fiat boats and canoes are
! taken and the trip to the fur country
begins in earnest. The route lies
downstream all the way.
The traders come back to Edmon-
ton more heavily laden than when
they went away The pelts obtained
by barter direct from the trappers or
collected from distant posts are
packed in bales weighing about 100
pounds each and loaded on the canoes
and fiat boats. Then the fight against
the current all the way back to Atha-
basca landing is commenced.
Hard Work Of the Trapper.
But if the men who do this part OF
the work have hard task, the lot OF
the trapper is infinitely harder. He
must pursue the sources OF his live
lihood with the utmost cunning, vary
ing his methods, from lodging bull
let in the vitals of bear or oth> {,
large animal In such way as will
not injure the pelt, to setting the
subtlest Of snares for such wary ones
as the little ermine. only the jet-black
tail Of which Is visible as it whisks
across the binding snow. The ermine
Is very shy, and 1t must be specially
dealt with in order to avoid injury to
its delicate skin. Even the smallest
OF the steel traps are too heavy for
the best specimens, which the trap
per must catch in snares Of tender
boughs or in some such way.
The hunter or trapper must carry
traps and supplies into the remotest
regions, where even lumbermen are
unknown. He builds low, wide Sled
holding 300 pounds, and loads this
with pork, -four. underclothing and
steel traps And when the Ice on
streams and lakes will bear his weight
he starts into the wilderness, there to
lead hermit's life for seven months
Arrived at point many miles from
the nearest habitation, the trapper
tries to find two parallel streams run
ming near each other. Here he pitch
es his home-camp. setting traps along
both rivers. The work of taking game
from the traps is varied by catching
fish, sharing rabbits and capturing
muskrats for bait and food.
In this utter solitude lives the ad-
venturer, perhaps forgetting the day
of the week or the month of the year.
He fixes the date for breaking up
camp and turning back to civilization
by the condition Of the fur on the ami
mails he takes or by the effects Of
sunlight on the snow. Now and then
he will shoot a deer, or even a moose,
for the sake Of the raw-hide, meat and
fat. which latter keeps his traps from
rusting. A file serves him instead of q
erindstone to keep axes and knives
keen: and he washes his own clothes
through hole in the ice. drying them
by an open fire. The dazzling glare
of February often brings snow-blind-
ness: and a month or two later the
fast-thinning fur on his prey shows
that further work is improbable. He
then secretes his traps In hollow logs
ready for the next season. packs his
load of pelts on the wide sled and
trudges of through the forest to the
nearest post or settlement. On arr.
wing the trapper sells his furs.
So many are 80 engaged at the vo-
cation that the American fur trade Is
actually greater today than ever be.
fore, in spite Of the immense tracts of
wilderness formerly the home of game
animals which have been settled by
the white men. This Is because by the
present system the hunters and trap
pers secure much more In value for
their skins than in the past and have
time to cover q larger aoea Of the will.
derness. Some of the 0dians In the
more northerly sections. where the
furs are finest because Of the greater
cold, seldom or never see q white man
or any sign Of civilization.