William Ogilvie, D.L.S. (See p. 18) in his report of 1884, wrote:—“Opposite Fort Vermilion, on the north of the river, there is an extensive tract of prairie and poplar bluff country, which extends from the Peace to the watershed between Peace and Mackenzie rivers, southwestward along the Peace for about forty miles or more, and northeastward along the river a few miles, until it merges into the country already described. This is said to be a first class country in every way, well wooded and watered, with a rich, deep, black loamy clay soil; and if the life of flowers and berries be any indication of freedom from frost, this district is favoured in this respect, as the berries ripen here when they are killed in the surrounding parts. “The country southwestward from the end of this tract to Battle river is described as woods and swamps, alternating with patches of prairie and open woods, and from Battle river to the prairie near Dunvegan, generally drier and with more prairie. “It appears, therefore, that from Dunvegan, on the north side of Peace river, down the river to Peace point, and thence to Salt river on the Great Slave, there is a tract of country about six hundred miles in length and forty miles wide, of which a large percentage is fit for immediate settlement, and a great deal more could be very easily closed. “Of the country southeast of the Peace, between it and the Athabaska, very little is known. It was described by all whom I met, who had seen any portion of it, as a rolling surface, the ridges heavily wooded with fair timber, and many of the basins containing swamps and lakes of considerable size. Out of one of the latter, Lake Wapisca, Loon river flows into the Peace, and another stream called by the same name into the Athabaska, at Grand rapids. Some of the ridges rise into high hills, and in some of these, rock exposures are said to be visible. “At Dunvegan, notwithstanding the severity of the frosts, the crops were very good, both in quality and quantity. When I was there, the Roman Catholic missionaries HAD THRESHED THEIR GRAIN, samples of which I brought back. The yield was as follows:—Fifty pounds of wheat were sown on April 16 and reaped on August 20, and twenty-seven bushels threshed of good clean grain; fifteen pounds of Egyptian barley sown on April 18 and reaped August 20, and fifteen bushels threshed, weighing fully sixty pounds to the bushel. The Hudson’s Bay Company and the Church of England mission had not threshed, and could not give their returns, but they were well satisfied with their crops of all kinds. The Reverend Mr. Brick, of the Church of England mission, was already using bread, when I was there, made from wheat of the present year’s growth.” Mr. Ogilvie in his 1891 report wrote as follows:—