Moose are Still Plentiful
but are being killed in large numbers by the natives and the wolves. The same remark would apply to caribou of the woodland variety. The barren land caribou or reindeer come down as far as Cree lake (one hundred miles north of the Churchill) in numbers, and a few stray farther south. I shot one in the muskeg just north of Lac Ile à la Crosse.”
Landscape in Clearwater valley.
Mr. Crean states that an Indian living on Snake lake at the mouth of Sandy river killed eighteen moose during the autumn of 1908.
“Game, particularly moose,” according to Mr. Crean, “is plentiful in the Meadow lake district, and easily obtained. Beaver are plentiful in one or two districts, particularly along Clearwater valley and the rivers tributary to the Clearwater from the north. They are, of course, very easily killed, and consequently form a large portion of the fur in the north. When other fur is scarce, the Indian devotes his attention in particular to the killing of beaver. Muskrat were extremely numerous and were taken in very large numbers. Early in the fall, however, before the fur could possibly be of any use they were being killed in great numbers.”
THE ATHABASKA COUNTRY