Pathfinding on Plain and Prairie: Stirring Scenes of Life in the Canadian North-westMcDougall, John
History
Pathfinding on Plain and Prairie: Stirring Scenes of Life in the Canadian North-west
McDougall, John
Frontier and pioneer life -- Northwest, Canadian; McDougall, John, 1842-1917; Northwest, Canadian -- Description and travel
Throwing the fox over my shoulder, I struck out straight for home.
The sharp chase in the keen air had given me a rousing appetite, but
before getting my dinner I thought I would bring in some fish to
thaw, in order to have them ready to feed my dogs when I brought them
home. As I entered the fish-house I heard something stir, and giving
the pile of frozen fish a shake, saw a mink rush out of the pile and
make for a small hole in the roof. Hurriedly grasping a fish-stick,
I ran to meet him, and as he jumped from the roof I caught him and
killed him. Thus I had as the result of one morning's sport a big
wolf, a red fox, a cross fox, and a mink, which as things went in
those days was a straight run of good luck.
One evening Mr. Firing Stony came to me and said, "I wish you would
give me a bait or two and let me try my luck with them. My snares
and traps are of no use." I answered, "You are too careless; you
would poison somebody." But he pressed for them, so I gave him three
baits and he went away happy. But as soon as he saw the sparks
flying out of my chimney the next morning, which was long before
daylight, he came in laughing and said, "You knew better than I, for,
just as you told me, I have poisoned my best dog. There she was,
lying stiff dead when I made the fire just now." "Well," I said, "I
did not want to give you those baits." "I know," he answered, "and I
was careful, but that dog was a notorious thief."
Not long after this Firing Stony invited me to his tent, and as I
approached the spot I became aware through my olfactory nerves that
he had made a successful hunt at last, for certainly something that
smelled good was boiling in that kettle. Before I really knew what
it was, a thrill of joy went through my whole being. Right here I
want the reader to know that I am not more epicurean than most
humanity; but when you are always hungry for change of fare, or for
food itself, you become very susceptible to the smell of good food
cooking. "You are welcome," said mine host, and I answered, "What
strange thing have you been about?" His wife answered, "He has gone
and found a bear." Sure enough, presently there were dished up to me
some delicious bear ribs. I ate what I could and took the rest home
with me, as this was an Indian custom and exceedingly convenient at
times. I will never in this life while memory lasts forget how
delicious that fat bear-meat was.
It came out that my friend was tracking a moose, and in doing so came
upon a bear's den and succeeded in killing the old one and two cubs.
Next morning, taking my dogs, we went and brought in the rest of the
meat, I getting half of it as my share, and the following day started
early to intercept and follow up if possible the trail of the moose.
But after hours of heavy snowshoeing and wading and crawling, we
found that some wolves had run the moose away from us. Tired and
disappointed, we reached home late that night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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