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Sin;*i7fThe British Columbian.aVK\V WKSTttlXSTh'R, U’KDKICSDAV, OKU. 17.iK ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY OVERLAND FRO it CaNAIto British Columbia during tiir summer of 186EURRACfNO A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP THE COU TRY, TOO ETHER WITH THE VARIOUS INCIDENTS, D! rtCl'MURS AND DANGERS ENCOUNTERED ; Fl CIRCULATION IN THE HaSTERN BRITISH CoLONIEBy Mr. Thomas McMickino, of Queensto;Canada West.I Continued from our last.| Our road on Monday was very heavy, lyin I mostly through strips of deep yellow sand. J \ 10 o’clock we crossed the Points Creek, ‘11 miles from Port Garry. Shortly after leavinour camp on Tuesday morning the 10th, we can to a Beautiful creek, hut with soft marshy hank which detained us about two hours in crossinj The weather up to this time had been cxcect fngljr dry and warm, but n slight thunder shov er at I o’clock had the effect of materially lowe ing the temperature. We passed to-day throng what our guide called the mountains. The were nothing more however than would be cm 8idcred in Canada gently undulating lands. W camped this night on the margin of a beantifi little lake, with which this section of thccountr abounds. At 10 o'clock in the forenoon of th 11th we reached the Little Saskatchewan, branch of the Assiniboine. This is a Jine aLrean about forty feet wide, and from three to four fee deep at our fording place. Its bunks are abon two hundred feet high, and enclose a valley i unsurpassed beauty and fertility, stretching aura to the rigid ami left as far as the eye can set and clothed with a rich covering of grus.se; fresh and rank in all their native luxuriant The train occupied forty minutes in fording th stream, when we halted for dinner £|i the wes cm bank. A number of fishes were taken froi the river during the dinner hour. On Thurada the 12th we halted for dinner at a salt lake aIjou two miles long and one mile wide. Its Wuteiwere quite brackish, having a taste very macresembling that of Epsom salts. We were iiformed by our guide that there were salt spring a little to the north of this place from which con sidernhle quantities of salt had been manufac tured. The suit which we bought at Fort (jarrw %fur oar journey was made somewhere belwce this place and Lake Winnipeg, We camped fothe night at Slum! L ike, ft beautiful body u crystalline water, being fed by springs, arn abounding in fish. It is the * source ol a sinulstream which flows into the Assiniboine. Oi the 13th we passed througn a line country pleasantly diversified by hills and valleys, wool and prairie lands ; draped in a rich mantle o living green, thickly studded with little lakes and gaily decked mul enlivened by beds of flow its of almost , unlimited variety am) boumlles; extent. We dined this day on the Arrow lliver a small swift stream twelve to fifteen feet wide and camped for the night in the valley dll tin west side of the Birdtuil river. This in anotbei Brandi of the Assiniboine, about thirty feet wideand three or four feet deep where we crossed it It is one of the few streams in this section o: the country that llow over rocky beds. At It o’clock in the forenoon of Saturday tin* 14th wi readied the top of the hill overlooking the Assi niboine, at its confluence with the tiu'Appelli river and Beaver creek Here a most magnificent ami picturesque view was presented to us, Tin; bank upon which .we stood was about three hundred feet high ; directly opposite to us Beaver creek could lie seen emerging from between hills of equal altitude ; away to the right, from between like precipitous banks, the waters of tin;Qn’Appelle were comiugling with those of the “Stony River Fort Ellice, a lone habitation, crowned the summit of the hill on the opposite side of the river ; while at our leet the Assini-boinc, dwindled away in the distance to the proportions of a rivulet, was winding its tortuous course through the valley below. The descent to the river was very steep and rocky, but we managed to get down without mere serious accident than the upsetting of a cart or two. Part )f our company began crossing the river immediately upon our arrival; the rest set about preparing dinner. The crossing was effected by neatis of ft scow which was drawn backward md forward by a rawhide rope stretched across ,he stream and made fast at both ends, lhe cow, although suitable enough lor the purpose, vos a rude affair, the property ot the Hudson lay Company, and was only large enough to :arry a single ox ami cart at a time ; and as the lurrent ftt the ferry was very strong, and, consid-iring the great number of times the process had o be repeated, our crossing was a tedious andaborious operation. It was 4 o’clock by the me the last cart was over, when we ascendedic hill by a rough and rugged road and camped ; Fort Ellice. We found the fort, which is situ-• A v i V w v . — - W:cd upon Beaver creek, about a mile nm) a huif oin its junction with the Assiniboine, in a rather dflpidutcd condition, but timber was just being 'epared for the erection of new buildings on lother site considerably nearer the Assiniboine. ir. McKay, the master of the fort, is an oblig-g gentleman, and, in common with the rest of s countrymen, keeps a prudent eye to busi-)ss, and a sharp lookout after the bawbees, lie loth, being Sabbath, was spent in camp, c weather being cold with ft driving rain lrome south-east. Tne Rev. Mr. Settee, an Indianissionary of Fort Polly, preached in Mr. Me* ay’s house at 1 o’clock. The rain still prevail-z on Monday we remained at lSliiee until after Jtidu) ....... .iiner, and employed the forenoon in making miry repairs to carts, harness, o., and in inasmuch additional purchases for our outfit bn twoeks travel and experience had shown to beecssary. From Fort Garry to this point out urse was due west, A«i(i trom Port JfiHice on-•rd our general direction was north-west \ e t Fort Ellice at I o’clock p. tp. untl aitm* dnv-£a few miles reached the crossing oi the i'Appelle. Iu descending the hill, which was ry long and steep, several accidents occurred, a of which had well nigh proved fatal. The , belonging to Mr. Morrow, of Montreal, liuv-f become unmanageable, began running down bill, dragging Air. Morrow with him, and i road being very slippery with tho rain, lie I under the cart and one of the whoele passed
Newspaper Details
New Westminster British Columbian
New Westminster, British Columbia, CA
Wed, Dec 17, 1862
Page 3
Full Page
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Anonymous
CA 29 Jul 2020
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