Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1923-08-02

u. Hay of Arlington and a graduate
of the 1916 class of the Belt Valley
H. S. is home from a three years ex-
cursion into the far north. Edgar is
looking strong and well and talks in.
terestingly Of his experiences. A
clipping from the Edmonton Journal
Is reprinted:
Trader, hunter and explorer of the
wilderness, E. M. Hay is in the city
for the first time in three years. His
is story of great new lands where
the venturesome and hardy may find
good rewards for their toll, of the
loneliness of remote Businesses, with
a great deal of hardship and adven-
ture referred to as commonplace of
the life.
1t was in company with Hay that
Philip Atkinson, one of the best
known men in the north, and veteran
of the Riel rebellion, met his fate
two years ago. The two white men
and two Indians were shooting Grand
Rapids on the Athabasca in a scow
Atkinson was steering. They were in
the middle of the channel and all was
going well.
The passage of Grand Rapids,
however, is one Of the most danger
GUS in the north country, and the
strain was too much for Atkinson,
who was over seventy years of age.
and he suddenly dropped dead in
Hays arms. The latter had to do
some quick work in seizing the sweep
as the handle flew from the dead
mans hand to prevent disaster to the
scow.
Hay has spent some time around
Horn Mountains, in the north and
east sides, where few white men have
travelled These mountains are quite
large and from one of the peaks he
got a good view of the Mackenzie
His last trip was up the Horn river
to Mink lake and 100 miles or more
beyond.
The forty-two rapids of the Horn
river have hitherto deferred almost
all who reached it from proceeding
farther. Beyond the lake Hay passed
into country which even the Indians
seldom travel, and for six months in
his journeying never saw the faint
est trace of human life. Where his
little cabin stood no cabin had ever
been built before, and even the In
dian teepees were rarely to be seen.
Most of the country travelled by
Hay is heavily wooded, some of the
trees reaching a very fair size. 1t
abounds in game, but is so difficult |
to reach that there is small likelihood
that it will become a crowded hunt
ing ground for many years to come.
On his way north Hay was staying
at Providence for a few days shortly
after Christmas, when eight Indians
with dog teams came in from Fort
Rae travelling overland They report
ed that at the Fort the stock of pro-
visions had run short. Food and other
necessaries were almost exhausted and
they had come to Providence to prov
idence to procure supplies. At Provi
dence they loaded up, and Hay joined
them on the return journey. He speaks
of this trip as one of the best times
of his travels. The Indians were good
company, and after the days mushing
it was pleasant to build up great big
fire and sit around it for an evenings
chat.
On one of his ranmbles north of
Mink lake, Hay was nearly made a
prisoner, not by any human agency,
but on the most rigorous of terms.
nevertheless Having hunted all day,
and shot a moose just as darkness
was coming on when it was impossi-
Bile to reach his cabin, he resorted to
the only expedient possible to survive
the intense cold of the night. After
skinning the moose he relied himself
up in the hide.
In the morning he woke to find the
moose hide frozen to an iron hardness
arund him. and he was scarcely able
to bulge. However, he had pulled off
his thick wooden jacket to use as
piIliw, and this had kept the hide / |
spread at the end. leaving a small 1
opening barely large enough to enable
him to squirrn through. AS he had
taken his knife and other bulky be-
longings out of his pockets before |
rolling In. he might weIl have been {
unsble to break out. and been frozen
~<,l.~x In hls wvxst s-p~0on