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278 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN
Governor, under which the extinction of the Indian title upon
liberal terms has invariably been recognized as a necessary preliminary
to the occupation of a single square yard of native
territory.
It is almost needless to mention that the presence and
work of both Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries
in Red River ( the former first appeared in 1818 and tljje
latter in 1820), and elsewhere, have also been very important
factors in the foregoing beneficial connection.
Gen. Sir William F. Butler, who had visited and sojourned
for a brief time at many of the Company's inland
posts, thus wrote in 1873:
Wild, desolate and remote are these isolated trading posts ot
the vast interior, yet it is difficult to describe the feeling with
which one beholds them across some icebound lake or silent riverv
as the dog- trains wind slowly amidst the snow. Coming in from
the wilderness, from the wrack of tempest and the bitter cold,
wearied with long marches, foot- sore or frozen, one looks upon
the wooden dwelling- house as some place of rest and contentment.
I doubt if it be possible to know more acute comfort, for. its measure
is exactly the measure of that other extremity of discomfort which
excessive cold and hardship have carried with them. Nor does
this feeling of home and contentment lose aught for want of a
welcome at the threshold of the lonely resting place. Nothing is
held too good for the wayfarer— the best bed and the best supper
are his. He has perhaps brought letters or messages from long
and absent friends, or he comes with news of the outside world;
but be he the bearer of such things or only the chance carrier of
his own fortunes, he is still a welcome visitor at the Hudson's
Bay post.
Sir William further writes that—
In early days Fort Chipewyan, on Lake Athabasca, was an
important centre of the fur trade, and in later times it has been
made the starting- point of many of the exploratory parties to the
northern coast. From old Fort Chipewyan Mackenzie set forth
to explore the great northern river, and to the same place he
returned when, first of all men north of the fortieth parallel, he
had crossed in the summers of 1792- 93 the American continent to
the Pacific Ocean. It was from new Fort Chipewyan that Simpson
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| Title | Page 302 |
| OCR | 278 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN Governor, under which the extinction of the Indian title upon liberal terms has invariably been recognized as a necessary preliminary to the occupation of a single square yard of native territory. It is almost needless to mention that the presence and work of both Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries in Red River ( the former first appeared in 1818 and tljje latter in 1820), and elsewhere, have also been very important factors in the foregoing beneficial connection. Gen. Sir William F. Butler, who had visited and sojourned for a brief time at many of the Company's inland posts, thus wrote in 1873: Wild, desolate and remote are these isolated trading posts ot the vast interior, yet it is difficult to describe the feeling with which one beholds them across some icebound lake or silent riverv as the dog- trains wind slowly amidst the snow. Coming in from the wilderness, from the wrack of tempest and the bitter cold, wearied with long marches, foot- sore or frozen, one looks upon the wooden dwelling- house as some place of rest and contentment. I doubt if it be possible to know more acute comfort, for. its measure is exactly the measure of that other extremity of discomfort which excessive cold and hardship have carried with them. Nor does this feeling of home and contentment lose aught for want of a welcome at the threshold of the lonely resting place. Nothing is held too good for the wayfarer— the best bed and the best supper are his. He has perhaps brought letters or messages from long and absent friends, or he comes with news of the outside world; but be he the bearer of such things or only the chance carrier of his own fortunes, he is still a welcome visitor at the Hudson's Bay post. Sir William further writes that— In early days Fort Chipewyan, on Lake Athabasca, was an important centre of the fur trade, and in later times it has been made the starting- point of many of the exploratory parties to the northern coast. From old Fort Chipewyan Mackenzie set forth to explore the great northern river, and to the same place he returned when, first of all men north of the fortieth parallel, he had crossed in the summers of 1792- 93 the American continent to the Pacific Ocean. It was from new Fort Chipewyan that Simpson |
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