The Great Lone Land: A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of AmericaButler, William Francis, Sir
History
The Great Lone Land: A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of America
Butler, William Francis, Sir
Northwest, Canadian -- Description and travel
Starting from Fort Garry on the 25th October, I reached Fort Ellice at
junction of Qu'Appelle and Assineboine Rivers on the 30th of the same
month. On the following day I continued my journey towards Carlton, which
place was reached on the 9th November, a detention of two days having
occurred upon the banks of the South Saskatchewan River, the waters of
which were only partially frozen. After a delay of five days in Carlton,
the North Branch of the Saskatchewan was reported fit for the passage of
horses, and on the morning of the 14th November I proceeded on my western
journey towards Edmonton. By this time snow had fallen to the depth of
about six inches over the country, which rendered it necessary to
abandon the use of wheels for the transport of baggage, substituting a
light sled in place of the cart which had hitherto been used, although I
still retained the same mode of conveyance, namely the saddle, for
personal use. Passing the Hudson Bay Company Posts of Battle River, Fort
Pitt and Victoria, I reached Edmonton on the night of the 26th November.
For the last 200 miles the country had become clear of snow, and the
frosts, notwithstanding the high altitude of the region, had decreased in
severity. Starting again on the afternoon of the 1st December, I
recrossed the Saskatchewan River below Edmonton and continued in a
south-westerly direction towards the Rocky Mountain House, passing
through a country which, even at that advanced period of the year, still
retained many traces of its summer beauty. At midday on the 4th December,
having passed the gorges of the Three Medicine Hills, I came in sight of
the Rocky Mountains, which rose from the western extremity of an immense
plain and stretched their great snow-clad peaks far away to the northern
and southern horizons.
Finding it impossible to procure guides for the prosecution of my journey
south to Montana, I left the Rocky Mountain House on the 12th December
and commenced my return travels to Red River along the valley of the
Saskatchewan. Snow had now fallen to the depth of about a foot, and the
cold had of late begun to show symptoms of its winter intensity. Thus on
the morning of the 5th December my thermometer indicated 22 degrees below
zero, and again on the 13th 16 below zero, a degree of cold which in itself
was not remarkable, but which had the effect of rendering the saddle by no
means a comfortable mode of transport.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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