The Minute Man on the FrontierPuddefoot, William George
History
The Minute Man on the Frontier
Puddefoot, William George
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Missions -- West (U.S.)
One Scotchman, who lived there thirty years, had never seen a
locomotive or been on board of a steamboat, although numbers of the
latter might be seen daily passing his house all summer long,--little
tugs drawing logs, and the great steamers of the Canadian Pacific
Railway, with their powerful engines, and lighted by electricity. He
came by way of Hudson's Bay, which accounts for his never having seen
a locomotive; and he rather prided himself on never having been on
board a steamboat. Like many of the trappers of an early day, he
married an Indian woman. Quite a number of the descendants of these
old pioneers live on the island. Some of them formed part of Brother
Scurr's membership and congregation; one of them was a deacon, and a
good one too.
But now for our journey. It was eight miles to our first appointment,
and we went by water. Mrs. Scurr and the two children, with a little
maid, made up our company, so that our boat was well filled. My hands,
not used to rowing, soon gave out, and Brother Scurr had to do nearly
all of that work. It was a hot, bright morning in the latter part of
June--a lovely day--and we soon passed down the river into Lake
George, and after two hours' steady pulling, made a landing opposite a
log house just vacated by the settlers for one more convenient.
This was our sanctuary for the morning. Here we found a mixed
company--settlers from Canada, "the States," Chippewas, etc., men,
women, and children. Some of them came four, five, and eight miles;
some in boats, some on foot. One old Indian was there who did not know
a word of English, but sat listening as intently as if he took it all
in.
After the sermon, nearly all present partook of the Lord's Supper.
There were not so many there as usual; for one of the friends had just
lost a little child by diphtheria, and two more lay sick; and such is
the difficulty of communication that it was buried before Brother
Scurr had heard of its death. This kept many away.
We now took to our boat again, and, after rowing three miles, thought
we espied a beautiful place to dine; but we had reckoned without our
host. Mosquitoes and their cousins, the black flies, were holding
their annual camp-meeting, and about the time we landed were in the
midst of a praise service. It was at once broken up on our arrival;
and, without even waiting for an invitation, they joined in our
repast. This was considerably shortened, under the circumstances, and
we were glad to take to the water again. A word about the insect world
in this region. They are very different from those farther south,
being as active in the daytime as in the night. Perhaps, because of
shorter seasons, they have to be at it all the time to get in their
work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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