Fort Edmonton.

August 11th. - It was yet early in the day when we found ourselves looking down on the broad stream of the Saskatchewan River, from the summit of a high steep bank directly opposite Fort Edmonton. My men advanced and saluted the Fort with a general volley from their guns and rifles, a summons promptly answered by the dispatch of a boat, which in a short while ferried us across to the northern shore. As we landed, Mr. Brazeau, the officer temporarily in charge, and the Rev. Mr. Woolsey, the Wesleyan missionary of the district, politely came forward to meet us and offer their friendly welcomes on our arrival.

The Fort, externally an oblong palisaded enclosure with flanking towers at the corners, struck me as being considerably larger than Fort Carlton, the buildings comprised within its limits being likewise more important both in size and character. Immediately in front of the principal gateway, the ground fell suddenly in a deep and almost steep descent to the river, which at this part seemed to carry a great body of water, with an apparent width of about 250 yards. Upstream the view was exceedingly pretty, for the elevated banks which confined the channel were picturesquely broken, and richly covered with an abundant growth of wood.

From each side of the enclosure there dropped a sudden slope to level plateaus near the riverside, the eastmost of which was under cultivation as an arable farm. They were cutting wheat at the time. It seemed a poorish crop, but I did not very closely examine it, and perhaps there was better grain elsewhere. A windmill placed upon the higher ground at the back of the Fort betokened a certain amount of agricultural business in the district.

August 12th. - This morning was occupied in consultation with McKay in regard to the things that were to be sent back to Carlton. Much had to be left behind, for our cart had now to be given up as utterly unsuitable for the rugged mountain paths we were so soon to follow; and travelling with pack-horses, which was now to be our plan, obliges a very strict limitation of the weight and quantity of one's baggage.

My journey, as roughly mapped out, was to be thus arranged: In the first instance, I meant to proceed straight to Jasper's House Fort, and thence southwards along the mountains by the Iroquois track as far as the Kootenai Plain, or farther if time permitted; after that, I intended to cross the plains to Fort Carlton, so as to, arrive there no later than the 1st of October.

Anxious as I was to set out before the best of the season slipped by, I found myself obliged to submit to a few days' delay: for pack saddles had to be made; horses to be bought, hired, or exchanged; provisions laid in; a hunter acquainted with the mountains engaged; and a guide procured who was known to the Blackfeet and able to interpret their language, for we were going into the country inhabited by that tribe and fully expected to meet them.

At this time Mr. Woolsey was a temporary inmate of the Fort. We were very frequently together and had many conversations on different subjects, amongst which I was particularly interested in those relating to his missionary labours, and to the Indians under his spiritual care. It was from him that I first heard some details about the characters that had been invented by one of the Protestant missionaries for the Cree's, which, though of rather recent introduction, had already got largely into use among them for writing as well as reading purposes.

Owing to the nature of the language, which, it seems, chiefly consists of a few simple syllables repeated in varying combinations, syllabic signs had been found more suitable than a strictly alphabetical plan; the new characters had therefore been arranged in groups of monosyllables, - every group containing the same set of vowels, but each having its prefix which regulated the general form of the group - character, while that, in turn, was systematically varied according to its accompanying vowel. For example, (A, E, 0, AH, being the standard set of vowels), "1, F, J, L, represent Ma, Me, Mo, Mah: q, p, d, b, represent Ka, Ke, Ko, Kah, - and so on. There are also a few terminals, such as n for S, and I for P, all the signs being of the simplest and plainest nature. To represent a word, the appropriate characters for its different syllables are placed together in their order, each succeeded by a terminal if necessary - thus P:= se, A = pe, in combination PA = se-pe (river, as perhaps in Mississippi); or J = mo, n =: s, ZO = to, n = s; in combination, J nDn, Mostos (Buffalo).

Besides showing me several books printed on this system, Mr. Woolsey was good enough to write out for my use a tabular list of characters and terminations; he also gave me a neat little Cree hymn book as a specimen of the new typography.*

He informs me that he has baptized several hundred Indians, in every case believing he had sufficient grounds for doing so.

'Speaking of the large contributions that are sent to the Wesleyan Missionary Fund, he told me a curious story about a subscription it had lately received, which, in round numbers, came to the extraordinary amount of £18,000. The anecdote is as follows:

'Mr. — — a poor man but ingenious, wished to take out a patent for a certain invention, but the means were wanting. He prayed much and earnestly on the subject, and at length one day a Quaker came to him and said, "Friend, I have an impression thou art in need of money." Mr. -- replied that it was so, and explained the case; upon which the Quaker said, "Thou canst have as much as thou wantest." The invention succeeded, and Mr. -- gave £100 to the Wesleyan Mission as a percentage on the profits. Next year, giving in the same proportion, he increased his subscription to £1 a day. Soon afterwards he bought an estate in Ireland, in which was a copper mine supposed to be exhausted; he found a fresh vein of ore, and money poured in. He then laid by for the mission £7 a day; and at length, his gains became so great that, with thanks to God for increasing his fortune sevenfold, he began to devote £49 a day, which by the end of the year had accumulated into the magnificent donation referred to above....'

On the subject of the Cree language, Mr. Woolsey said that when speaking of certain things, such as horses, dogs, etc., one must not put the pronoun "my" before the noun, but use an altogether different word; for otherwise, according to the idiom, you would be claiming identity with the object you merely meant to claim as your own. There was a certain missionary who wished to call some Indians to drive away one of his pigs, which was doing mischief. Being ignorant of the idiom, instead of expressing himself as he intended, he ran shouting about the place - " I am a pig, I am a pig," to the great delight of the natives.

'Mr. Woolsey has a high opinion of the Blackfeet. They are very fond of Englishmen, and call them Na-pi-quan, which means "white man," as a term of honour. The Yankees they dislike.

'One cold day a Blackfoot appeared with nothing on him but a single wretched blanket. To account for his miserable condition, he explained that one of his children having died, everybody, according to the custom of the tribe, had rushed into his tent and taken possession of all he had, not even sparing his clothes. The truth of this being ascertained, the Indian was presented with various things to help him in his need.'

'Mr. Brazeau, who is an American by birth, informs me that he lived for a great many years in the Missouri and Yellowstone countries. He confirms all of Catlin's statements about the Mandans, especially to their customs of cruel self-torture; he also affirms the truth and accuracy of Catlin's Indian portraits, which some shallow people have attempted to discredit.

'Were an angel to write his travels, the fiend would inspire some weak creature to pour doubts and sneers and small jokes over the book. Every man who has not spent his life in a London garret has seen and done some things on removed from commonplace experience, and therefore startling to many first hearing of them; but I hold that when a man of good reputation states a thing as a fact, it is as great a treason to honour to doubt him, as it would be to accuse him wantonly of forgery or theft. Indeed these town critics are apt to expose nothing but their ignorance in carping at books of foreign travel, - much as if a Blackfoot Indian were to argue with a cockney on questions of London life and manners. Hear them, for instance, on Gordon Gumming and his vast herds of antelopes - but satis !'

August 13th. - A number of dogs made a disturbance about midnight by howling and fighting in the passages outside my room. One white wolfish brute began to peer in at the windows, which happened to look into a verandah, then several others came crowding up, and they seemed half inclined to break through. I prevented all risk of that trespass by whipping them downstairs and shutting the outer door, which someone had carelessly left open an invitation not likely to be neglected by these greedy animals. No doubt they had supposed the house to be empty, none of the rooms but my being occupied at night, the others, such as the large dining room below, being only made use of in the day-time.

'There are more dogs here than at any place I know. They are mostly of the ordinary Indian kind, large and long-legged and wolfish, with sharp muzzles, pricked ears, and thick, straight, wiry hair. White is one of the most usual colours, but brown, blue-grey, red, yellow, and white marked with spots of black or of the other various hues, are also common. Some of them are black with white paws, others are covered with long rough hair like Russian setters. There are others of a light bluish-grey, with dark, almost black, spots spread over the whole body, a variety which is said to be frequent in the Blackfoot camps. Almost all of them have black noses, but with some of the lighter-coloured ones this part is red, brown, or pink, which has a very ugly effect.'

Most of them are very wolfish in appearance, many being half or partly, or all but entirely, wolves in blood. One dark grey dog, indeed, was said to be almost a pure wolf and bore the appropriate name of Mihekan, the term for that beast in Cree.* 'Seeing him on the plains it would be impossible to distinguish him from a common wolf of the middle-sized variety, and his temper was spoken of as a match for his looks. To do him justice, he behaved in a very friendly way when his handsome appearance led me to notice him, coming obediently at my call and allowing me to pat him on the head. Had I been aware of his character I should probably have let him alone. Dr. Hector, to whom this dog belonged, afterwards told me that before harnessing or unharnessing they were obliged to stun it with a blow on the nose, on account of its savage nature. Some of the others, however, were nearly as bad and needed a taste of the same rough discipline.

Many of the male dogs of this wolfish sort had been emasculated, to tame their fierceness and spirit without spoiling them for work. Mihekan had been so treated, and poor good-natured Whisky was another example, though in his case it must certainly have been an act of supererogation.

In winter these dogs draw sleighs and do nearly all the work of the country; in other seasons they do nothing for man, but pass their time in war, love, robbery, and music. Spelling represents the pronunciation of the word as I heard it. Neglected as these noisy, dirty animals are in their months of idleness, unfed, kept in bare life by plunder, the mark for every passer's stick or stone, they are highly valued by their owners, and a team of fine, good, well-trained dogs will bring a handsome price, especially when the winter snows begin to come on.

'Read Lewis and Clarke's travels, finished Harmon's Journal, also read most of Father De Smet's missionary travels. The latter gives an interesting account of the conversion of many of the Kootenai and Flathead Indians. From the exaggerated, forcible-feeble style of the writer, I felt inclined to doubt if his success had equalled his belief in it; but Mr. Brazeau assured me that these Indians were now really good Christians, truthful, brave, moral, and so honest that if they find even the smallest thing, such as a pocket knife or a piece of tobacco, they will bring it to the camp of the probable loser and cry it up and down till he is discovered.

'Mr. Brazeau considers that, to the west of the mountains, the Roman Catholics have wrought a great work of reformation among the natives - God speed them, say I with all my heart. In this district, however, he considers that Protestant and Roman Catholic teachers alike have little influence for good. The Indians listen to them, pretend to believe and obey, and obtain baptism, but as soon as the missionary takes his leave they relapse into their former practices. All with whom I have conversed agree in thinking that little or nothing can be done to improve the adults of the Cree, Ojibway, Assiniboine, or Blackfoot tribes, and believe that the only hope lies in teaching and influencing the young before evil and reckless habits become a part of their nature.`

'It seems to me (and to my informants also) that the clergy of every sect make a great mistake in obliging converted Indians who have several wives to put away all but one. A Blackfoot chief lately spoke good sense on this subject. "Tell the priest," he said to Mr. Brazeau" that if he wishes to do anything with my people he must no longer order them to put away their wives. I have eight, all of whom I love, and who all have children by me - which am I to keep and which put away? Tell those who have only one wife not to take more, but do not talk about putting away wives already married."

'This chief, however, injured the moral force of his remarks by going on to say that his eight wives could dress a hundred and fifty skins in the year, whereas a single wife could only dress ten, supposing she was always well, and that such a loss of property was not to be thought of. He also told the priest not to object to rum drinking, as the love of it formed part of the very nature of his people. These evils, he said, time might cure, but they must not be too vehemently opposed at present.

'However plainly self-interest betrays itself in this speech, however impossible it would be to lower. Christianity by sanctioning drunkenness, some of the Indian's words appear to me not unworthy of attention. Let the injury done to the affections of husband and wives, and the cruelty of depriving so many women and children of their protectors, be weighed against the considerations that prevent polygamy among civilized people, and surely, in the absence of a direct divine command, the former will bear down the scale. There is no absolute commandment against polygamy, though its inexpediency might be inferred from Christ's reference to the original order of creation; but while things inexpedient may become things unlawful to the enlightened man, the case of the unenlightened is widely different; and the mere telling of truths to a savage no more amounts to the making him an enlightened man, than shooting a turnip from a cannon through the body of an ox would amount to feeding him for a year, and letting him gain fatness by processes neither you nor he could entirely explain.

'We must remember that polygamy was allowed to the Jews, and in certain cases even commanded, and it upsets all ideas of right and wrong to assert that the Almighty would in. any case command what is evil in its very essence; - to love God would be impossible for an upright mind were such a procedure fully apprehended as conceivable. In his Epistle to Timothy, St. Paul decrees that a bishop must be the "husband of one wife," thus plainly declaring that persons differently circumstanced were to be found within the Christian pale; if this be admitted, we obtain a guiding star to follow if we choose.

'Dr. Livingstone, in dealing with the African savages, allowed them full liberty with regard to their supernumerary wives, merely recommending separation if practicable, and forbidding polygamy in future. The result was that his sincerer converts in the course of time endeavoured to follow his advice, from anxiety to reach the utmost heights of Christian excellence, instead of, like too many American Indians, humouring the missionary and obtaining baptism by feigned compliance offered from interested motives and evaded at the first opportunity.

'I was amused in Father De Smet's letters to read the following remarks on the fasting of the Indian warriors:

- "Before setting out for war they observe a strict fast for four days. During this interval their imagination is excited to madness, and either from the effect of weakness or the - warlike projects which fill their minds, they pretend that they have extraordinary visions. "For "warlike projects" substitute "religious fervours", and strike out "pretend" as uncharitable, and the Reverend Father has philosophically accounted for various miracles believed in by the more ignorant of his church! '[So far good, but - to my former self I say it - There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.]

This afternoon a man brought for my inspection a fine-looking red-dun horse, which he wished to exchange for Cendre It was branded on the shoulder with an open hand, and on the quarter with a figure very like a gallows though meant to represent a man, - marks signifying that some former Indian owner had killed an enemy off this horse's back. Its age seemed about the same as Cendre's, but it was in better travelling condition. The man declared that he wanted my horse because having bred it he felt an affection for the animal, and regretted that it should go to certain death on a journey so much beyond its powers. Believing this to be partly a bonfide reason, I consented to try the red horse on the following Monday, with some idea of agreeing to the bargain if I found him suit. Wawpoose being unfit for farther travels, I gave him in exchange for a very pretty young cream-coloured pony. My men had plenty of work in shoeing the horses. Old Wawbee, in particular, showed great vice and had to be cast and fastened before anything could be done with him.

August 14th. - 'After breakfast we had service in the large dining room, at which a number of the men and one or two women were present. Mr. Woolsey read the liturgy without the litany and afterwards preached a sermon.

'We had another service in the evening. A converted Indian officiated as clerk and led the singing, and but for some trifling mispronunciations one could hardly have known him from an Englishman acting in the same capacities. While we sat in solemn silence just before prayers began, a little boy ran down the passage outside and suddenly struck up an Indian war song - "Hi, hi, - ah, he, - ah" - or some such sounds, in the shrillest of tones, half yelp, half howl, with an inconceivably ridiculous effect. There was a momentary struggle, then one universal roar of laughter.

'In all Indian music that I have heard there is a remarkable likeness to the howling of wolves, mingled with the droning growl of a bear. The Blackfeet, however, is said not only to excel all other tribes in music but to have really fine voices.'

August 15th. - After arranging an exchange of Nez-blanc and Gris for two sound useful animals, I rode with Mr. Brazeau to the haymakers' tents, taking the opportunity of trying the red-dun horse that had Blackfoot hieroglyphics on his skin. He carried me pleasantly and well, but I observed a suspicious lump on one of his forelegs near the fetlock, which decided me to keep my good horse, though he was in such poor condition. It would have been a mistake to do otherwise, for, besides his inferiority to my Cendre, the dun, as I afterwards discovered, had a trick of turning lame after a few days of steady hard work.

Again I had cause to admire the fine riding of the boys. Little fellows ten or twelve years old would jump on the back of any horse they could lay hands on, and gallop him about the place, with no saddle at all, and with no better bridle than a cord round his lower jaw. They were perfectly fearless and sat their horses with a firmness, spirit, and grace very beautiful to see, guiding them at their will by movements scarcely discernible.

I now succeeded in engaging a guide for the mountains, an oldish French half-breed, named Antoine Blandione, an experienced hunter, and well-acquainted with most of the country we intended to visit. He was to have the same pay as some of my other men, viz. £5 a month, - his pay to continue till his return to Edmonton.

As I was smoking at the gate of the Fort, Lapataque - the principal Cree chief, though for many years he had hunted for the Company - happened to be standing near me. Wishing to light my pipe, I brought out some ordinary fuzees, which seemed to be so much of a novelty to Lapataque that I gave him two or three from my box as specimens. I was afterwards surprised to hear that he had been highly pleased with this trivial present, going to one of his friends expressly to show him the matches and tell him that they had been given him by the "chief" himself. 'This shows how far very small kindnesses will go with an Indian of the right sort.'

'Mr. Brazeau was smoking in my room after supper and gave me a great deal of interesting information. He again vouched for the truth of Catlin's book, and further mentioned to me that he had signed one of the letters, in the first volume of that work, which testified to its perfect accuracy.*
* Catlin, North American Indians, vol. i. pp. 11 -13. 160
'He told me that at the American forts, the British flag is treated with the greatest respect, and in proof mentioned that a young man at one of these forts having taken a Union Jack from the hands of an Indian who had come to trade, and kicked it about, the superintendent lectured him publicly, and made him pay the Indian a very heavy fine. On other occasions, Indians have received presents at the American forts for the special reason that they were wearing British medals. At our forts, the American flags, which the Blackfeet often bring with them, are treated with corresponding respect, and are spoken of to the Indians as "good" flags.'

In an answer to some remark of mine about Pe-toh-pee-kiss (The Eagle-ribs), a Blackfoot, whose portrait is in Catlin's work, Mr. Brazeau assured me that that Indian was great warrior indeed, and a very noble fellow. No less than eleven white men, chiefly free trappers, had met their death at his hands. In most cases, however, they had brought this fate upon themselves, for Pe-toh-pee-kiss had slain them in self-defense against treacherous attacks made on him during his different attempts to arrange a truce.

On one occasion he had charge of letters for a Mr. Vanderbirt, but that gentleman being at the head of a large party it was not safe to approach him rashly, so Eagle-ribs and his people halted in concealment a little way off, to paint themselves and prepare for a formal advance. Meanwhile, however, Mr. Vanderbirt and three of his men went forward to reconnoiter, the discovery of newly killed buffalo having raised the suspicions of the party, though their leader himself would not believe that any Indians were near.

These reconnoiters unluckily rode straight into the middle of the concealed Blackfeet, who quietly formed a circle around them, then suddenly sprang up and attempted to seize them,- with no bad intention, but merely to secure hostages for their safety when approaching the white men's camp. Mr. Vanderbirt, however, at once fired at the nearest Indian, killing him on the spot, and then rode for his life, but ere he had well started his horse was shot, and in falling pinned his leg to the ground.

He rose on one knee, drew a pistol, and drove the muzzle into the face of an Indian who was rushing upon him, pulling the trigger at the same time; but he had not observed that the cock was bolted, there was no discharge, and he only succeeded in gashing his opponent's cheek by the force of his blow. The other Indians immediately took their knives and cut Mr. Vanderbirt in pieces.

Pe-toh-pee-kiss soon afterwards came to Mr. Brazeau and explained the occurrence. He brought with him the unfortunate man's pistols - which were subsequently sent to his relations, - the rifle he could not bring, for it had been buried beside the warrior it had slain.

'A short while after this event, Pe-toh-pee-kiss went towards an American party and attempted to treat for peace. A few Americans rode to meet him, headed by a man named Bridger. This villain, desiring revenge on the Blackfoot, treacherously concealed his rifle between his leg and the saddle, and, when stooping down to shake hands with Eagle-ribs, he secretly pushed the weapon forward and fired. Happily, the Indian saw the trick in time to save himself, though the bullet cut away the powder horn that hung on his chest. Upon this the Blackfeet fired at Bridger slightly wounding him, and as he galloped off lodged several arrows in the lower part of his back. Seeing his condition, a man who was on baddish terms with him, Black Harris by name, mockingly cried out - " Hulloa! Bridger, what's the matter now? " "Only some feathers in my ---," answered Bridger, who was a coarse fellow. His conduct was much blamed by his companions.

'One of the party was a Spaniard, who was married to a Blackfoot woman. She had just then ridden over to the Indians to see her brothers, and to interpret between the two sides. As soon as the firing began the Indians seized her, but her horse escaped and came back to the Americans, with her baby hanging to the saddle in its upright cradle of boards. If parted from its mother the child was sure to die; so the poor father declared he would risk his own life for its sake, and he rode boldly with it to the Blackfeet. They received him kindly and gave the baby to its mother, but refused to let her go back. They invited her husband, instead, to join their tribe. He could not do so then, he told them, for he was under other engagements, but without fail he would come to them in a few months: they let him go, and he faithfully kept his word.'

'Pe-toh-pee-kiss (Petoch-pekiss, as Mr. Brazeau pronounces it) is a Blood Indian. There are three tribes of the great Blackfoot nation, - viz. the Blackfeet, the Blood Indians, and the Piegans, all of whom speak the same language and live in close alliance. [The Fall Indians, also, are of the same race.] It is easy, I am told, to distinguish them apart by differences of dialect and pronunciation, like those in the various districts of England or Scotland; besides, the Blood Indians dress more neatly and are finer and bolder looking men than the Blackfeet, who in turn surpass the Piegans in these respects.

'The Blood Indians have among them several comparatively fair men, with grey eyes, and hair both finer and lighter coloured than usual in the case of pure Indians. Pe-toh-pe-kiss is a man of this complexion. This tribe is supposed to bear its savage name, not from any peculiar cruelty of disposition, but because, unlike the other tribes, its warriors do not steal horses, but only seek the blood of their enemies, whom they generally overcome, for they are among the bravest of all the natives.

'The Blackfeet are a livelier race than the Crees. The latter are quarrelsome when in liquor, while the former show their jollity by dancing, singing, and laughing, and kissing and hugging one another with all sorts of absurd antics. Though so fond of rum the Blackfeet are not habitual drunkards. They get completely drunk once or twice a year, but at other times take nothing stronger than the coffee which the American Government sends them as part of an annual subsidy - for a great part of their territory lies south of the British frontier. They consider - and not without some reason - that their periodical excesses are good for them, curing the biliousness caused by their mode of living.

'In the British territory, most of the white men who have got Indian wives are married to Cree's, but some have allied themselves with the Blackfeet, and it is said that the women of that tribe never desert their husbands as the others sometimes do. On the American side, there are comparatively few half-breeds, and few or none of them are past middle age; while across the border, in the Company's domains, there are grandfathers of mixed blood whose own grandfathers were half-breeds.

'Mr. Brazeau tells me that the only Indians whose women are chaste are the Sioux, who are at least equal Europeans in this respect. The Mandan's and Crows, on the other hand, are particularly bad in their morals. The Sioux, of all Indians, are those who most keep to their old mode of dress; the Blackfeet and the rest are all rapidly adopting blankets and capots, and giving up the beautifully painted robes of their forefathers. The few painted robes that are now made are inferior in workmanship to those of days gone by.'

August 16th. - The rain had at last disappeared and bright sunshine came in its place; the weather looked inviting for a journey. Mr. Woolsey left the Fort that morning and set out on one of his missionary expeditions, and by the following day, I earnestly hoped to get away also. Nothing was wanting for my departure but the arrival of Piskan Munroe, a Scotch half-breed, whom it was important to engage as interpreter, for he not only knew the Blackfoot language but was on intimate terms with the tribe, being closely connected with it by blood. He was now daily expected.

I added another horse to my lot by exchanging the Colt's carbine for a useful sort of animal, receiving a trade gun as make-weight besides: I did not think it a very good bargain, but horses were a necessity, and I was glad to obtain them on any fairly reasonable terms.

Whilst staying at the Fort I bought from a half-breed a knife of what is called the "dag" pattern, a heavy, flat, double-edged blade about eight inches long, of triangular shape, tapering to a point from a width of some two and a half inches at the base. The Edmonton hunters always carry very strong and large knives, for the purpose of cutting through branches when traversing the dense fir woods that cover a great part of the country; some of them use extremely heavy ones, half knife half axe, - like a narrow sort of butcher's cleaver with a point instead of a squared-off end, or perhaps more resembling the peculiar oriental sword so often represented in old pictures and engravings. Indeed, I have been told that these demi-bills were originally copied from a weapon borne by one of the hill tribes in India.

My "dag" is mounted with a curious bone hilt made for it by its former owner, and fits into a moose leather sheath embroidered handsomely with bead-work in a simple but very rich and effective pattern.