Roman Catholic Mission at Chipewyan.
Describing an ascent by him of Big Buffalo river, in 1909 Sergeant Mellor states:—“The cutbanks are riddled with sulphur springs (the odour of which overhangs the whole river), interspersed in peculiarly intimate proximity with streams of beautifully fresh water. The river was literally alive with ‘coneys,’ a species of fish somewhat resembling a salmon, and which attains a large size; the name is a corruption of the French name for the fish ‘poisson inconnu,’—‘the unknown fish.’ They were apparently ascending the river for spawning purposes; it was quite unnecessary to use a net or line to catch them, as it was a simple matter to throw them on land with a paddle or stick. For the next twenty miles the river, while still running with great velocity, has not so many rapids to encounter, and the going is considerably better. The banks are lower, and in many places were clothed in berry bushes of all kinds, and simply riddled with bear tracks. We did not have the good fortune to kill one of these latter, although we saw them several times.”
A Moose Country.
Sergeant R. W. Macleod, Royal Northwest Mounted Police, in a report of a patrol in 1909 from Fort Vermilion to Hay river, states that while descending Hay river on January 27 one of his men shot a two-year old bull moose about one hundred yards from the river bank. After the patrol got almost one hundred miles down the river from the Horse track they saw moose tracks all the way as far as within twenty miles of Great Slave lake, and they saw three moose, but did not shoot, as they did not need the meat. They did not see a snow-shoe track in the whole distance of two hundred and thirty-eight miles, which accounts for the moose being so plentiful. One fox track was all the indication of fur to be seen.
Between December 2 and 24, 1910, Sergeant Macleod made a patrol from Fort Vermilion across country to the post at the mouth of Hay river on Great Slave lake, a distance of five hundred miles. Sergeant Macleod took advantage of some Indians travelling through to make the trip, which was a very hard one, particularly on the dogs, as the snow was deep. No white man is known to have made this journey before, and it was twenty years since Indians had attempted it. The country is quite unexplored. The width of Cariboo mountains is about one hundred miles and the country is mainly moss-covered muskeg and lakes. Sergeant Macleod made enquiries regarding a large unmapped lake he saw the previous year and found that it is called Fish lake by the Indians. It is as large as Lesser Slave lake and is in Cariboo mountains. This is believed to be the lake which a Mr. Radford, an American naturalist, claimed he discovered and reported to the Department of the Interior as Lady Grey lake.
Sergeant Macleod reported that all the lakes he passed during this long trip seemed to be deep for their size, and in the sergeant’s opinion they no doubt contain whitefish and lake trout. In Fish lake there is good fishing. There were three half-breed families belonging to Fort Vermilion and two Chipewyan Indian families living on Deer Mountain creek four miles southeast of Buffalo lake, it being a good place for fall fishing. Caribou were plentiful on the mountain. Moose were plentiful on the north side, and there were considerable fur tracks on the north side of the mountain. Sergeant Macleod’s party “tracked” four wolves.
The latest data available as to fish and game in the region immediately under discussion appear in the annual report for 1911 of Superintendent G. E. Sanders, D.S.O., commanding “N” Division, Royal Northwest Mounted Police, with headquarters at Athabaska. In his report Superintendent Sanders writes:—“The fur catch during the past season has improved; lynx were plentiful in the far north; they have been very scarce for some years and are now reappearing with the rabbits. The value of the fur which passed through Athabaska this year on its way out of the country is estimated at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Moose were scarce in some parts where they are generally plentiful and appeared in large numbers at points where they are not usually seen; this is accounted for by the wolves moving them about. Wolves are reported thick in all directions and at Peace River Landing a small pack chased a moose through the settlement. Chicken and partridge are numerous in the southern portion of the district. This year the chief game guardian of the provincial government has notified that the close season for beaver will remain in force. Hitherto it has been the custom to open the season during the winter for a short time. The effort to preserve the beaver by having a close season in this country fails entirely, and I would repeat what I said last year in regard to this subject about which I made careful inquiries. ‘I am strongly of opinion there should be an open season for beaver. I found during my travels that Indians kill more beaver when there is no open season than when there is. When they do not kill for the fur, and there is no reason in their minds to preserve the animals, they exterminate whole families for food, whereas if they have an open season, and the fur is thereby more valuable, they are careful not to destroy certain colonies, but leave some to breed. They kill only when the fur is prime. The majority of the hunters and trappers whom I consulted agreed that between October 15 and December 15 would be the most suitable time for an open season.’ ”
Corporal S. G. Clay, Royal Northwest Mounted Police, made a patrol through Grande prairie country in August, 1911, and in his report states:—“Indians in this locality are in fairly good shape, moose and bear being plentiful, and consequently there has been practically no destitution amongst the Indians.”