read one of the two papers, write a report and answer questions

PURPOSEFUL READING (3-2-1) REPORT Version 2.0

Lightly Adapted from a template by Geraldine Van Gyn.

Question 1:
In your own words
, what are the 3 most important concepts, ideas or issues in the reading? Briefly explain why you chose them.

Concept 1 (In your own words) (2 marks)

Concept 2 (In your own words) (2 marks)

Concept 3 (In your own words) (2 marks)

Question 2: What are 2 concepts, ideas or issues in the article that you had difficulty understanding, or that are missing but should have been included?
In your own words
, briefly explain what you did to correct the situation (e.g. looked up an unfamiliar word or a missing fact), and the result. Cite any sites or sources used in APA format.

Issue 1 (In your own words) (1 mark)

Citation 1 (in APA format) (1 mark)

Issue 2 (In your own words) (1 mark)

Citation 2 (in APA format) (1 mark)

Question 3: What is the main economic story of the reading? (Economics studies the allocation of scarce resources.)

Story (In your own words) (2 marks)

1

WORLD WAR I AND WOMEN BANK CLERKS IN CANADA

World War I lasted from 1914 to 1918. The following articles discuss the employment

of women by Canadian banks before, during and after the war.

1913 – Before the Great War

Macmurchy, M. (1913, March 15). Occupations for Women – Women in Canadian

Banks. The Regina Leader, p. 37.

By Lady Marjory Jardine Ramsay MacMurchy Willison (1869 – 1938).

The expansion of the Canadian banking system is so great and has been so

rapid that banks have found it impossible to obtain men clerks and assistants in

sufficient numbers and of a suitable class. This has led to a very considerable demand

for women to enter the employ of Canadian banks, both as stenographers and bank

clerks. In one banking office alone there are sixty women clerks and stenographers.

A number of questions suggest themselves at once. What class of woman employee do

banks prefer? What opportunities and disadvantages are connected with banking as

an occupation for women? These questions were answered by a banker of

international fame, and by a woman who has been known for some years as one of

the ablest and most competent women employed by a bank in Canada.

WHY THERE IS DEMAND FOR WOMEN WORKERS

First of all, then, as the banker explained, there is a considerable demand for

women in Canadian banks, both as clerks and stenographers. This demand is likely

to increase, rather than diminish, for the simple reason that every man in Canada is

needed for work that only a man can do. When women can do any particular work,

employment will be offered them not only in this year but in the years to come. The

class of woman employee that Canadian banks are looking for is a woman of

refinement and education. It is almost safe to make the statement that, given

refinement and education, the bank prefers that its women employees should not be

in their first youth. The bank wants dependable service from women whose minds

are occupied with their work. No bank wants to train an employee, and then lose the

trained employee because she marries. Not that the bank as an institution

discourages women from marrying. Quite the contrary. Banks are notably generous

to their women employees when they marry. Still, the woman employee of between

twenty-eight and forty is likely to give the bank better and more continuous service

than the young stenographer of eighteen or twenty.

Since the bank requires education, refinement, and particularly good service

from its women employees, it follows as a matter of

course that women clerks and

stenographers in banks are paid at a somewhat higher rate than the general run of

stenographers. Actual figures will have to be modified in different parts of Canada,

but generally speaking, the woman stenographer in a bank begins at about ten dollars

a week. Bank employees are given bonuses, which help out wonderfully when it comes

2

to reckoning up the woman’s salary. The banks also very generally provide luncheon

for their employees. This, also, is a considerable item when the entire income is

computed. Besides this, the hot luncheon of good food has a great deal to do with

maintaining the standard of health among the bank’s women employees. One of the

last advantages mentioned by the banker, who is an acknowledged leader in finance,

is that in banks women employees are treated as ladies. From all this, it will be seen

that for a large class of Canadian women – educated, gently bred women whose

sensibilities would suffer from the untampered rush of the world – employment in a

bank is a desirable occupati

on.

THE CASE OF THE CLEVER WOMAN

The great banker said many significant things; one of them, however, has

remained more significant than any of the others. He was speaking of the special gifts

which women have for employment in a bank. “The able woman,” he said, “who is

employed as a stenographer in a bank is so much more able than the clever man who

is employed as a stenographer.”

This strikes straight at the root of one aspect of banking as an employment for

women. Suppose “a very able woman” – in the words of the banker – goes into

business. The world is before her to conquer. […] An able woman who goes into a

bank cannot look forward to a remarkable success of this kind. She may become of

great value to the bank. She may have an intensely interesting, useful occupation,

and is likely to be happy in her work. She can study and understand Canadian

finance, and finance is a great subject which informs the mind and gives the woman

insight into the history of the world as it is today. But the highest positions in

banking, and the big salaries, are not for women employees. This is not so true in the

United States.

Now, remember what the great banker said: “The able woman who is employed

in a bank as a stenographer is so much more able than the c lever man who is

employed as a stenographer.” The meaning of this, put in other words, is as follows.

A man of ability equal to that of the clever woman employee will not take a position

as a stenographer, or if he does, he remains in it only a short time. The able woman

in banking is compelled to remain in such a position, because no better position is

open for her. The conclusion of which is, perhaps, that if a woman has remarkable

ability and is very ambitious, she had better choose some other occupation rather

than employment in a Canadian bank, unless she is willing to take less money and

have less authority in her employment than she might in a few other occupations.

But these employments are, after all, very few.

The demand for women employees in banks began from eight to ten years ago

in Canada, and has increased steadily. This is a well-paid occupation for Canadian

women, and the probabilities are that gradually banking will offer more attractions

to the able woman, as well as to the well-educated woman of refinement and a good

average of ability.

To the average woman of refinement, who has good ability and is well

educated, employment in a Canadian bank may be heartily recommended. She will

receive a good salary, as salaries are reckoned for women in Canada. She will be

3

treated with consideration. Her surroundings are pleasant. These considerations

count for a great deal with women. Much of the work of a bank is particularly suited

to women. They are so careful, accurate, painstaking and faithful, when they are good

employees. Even if a woman has no training as a stenographer or book keeper, the

demand for good service and for suitable employees is so keen, that a bank is

sometimes willing to take an untrained woman and teach her how to be useful to the

bank, as, for instance, in filing documents, or in other work of a similar character. All

of which means that there is plenty of work for women in Canada who seriously want

work.

1917 – During World War I

MANY WOMEN ENGAGED IN VANCOUVER BANKS AND NUMBERS

GROWING. (1917, January 19). The Vancouver Sun, p. 10.

Not only are women being employed in Vancouver as munitions workers, but

the number of positions they are holding in other occupations here is rapidly

increasing. It was stated by a local banker yesterday that fifty per cent. of the bank

clerks in the city are women, and the proportion is increasing.

This situation is, of course, general throughout Canada. A large number of the

male employees of the banks have enlisted, and they are replaced by women. In fact,

it is estimated that there are nearly 4,000 women bank clerks in Canada now.

Their positions range from junior clerkships to posts as ledger keepers and

tellers. So far, Vancouver has no women tellers, but several of the banks already

possess women ledger-keepers. The employment of women in this way is increasing

and being developed, more responsible positions being given to them as time goes on.

It is the opinion of bank officials that most of these women intend to remain in

the banks. The supply, too, seems to be practically unlimited, so that those who leave

can be readily replaced.

There are, of course, two great obstacles in the way. The chief is matrimony,

which, however, is a danger that lies before women in all forms of employment. School

teaching and other professions in which there are large numbers of women are

constantly suffering in this way from the depredations of men.

In this way, it is not likely that matrimony will be any worse obstacle to the

employment of women bank clerks than to their use in other forms of earning. There

is, however, another inconvenience in bank work; clerks are often transferred from

one office to another.

There can be no doubt that it is not as easy for a woman to move to a strange

city as it is for a man to strike camp. There may be more consideration for the women

in that particular than for the men, as bank officials seem to think that most of the

women want to stay if they are not moved from one part of the country to another.

Kells, E. (1917, November 9). Bankers Recognize Worth of Women Bank Clerks; Are

in the Business to Stay. The Edmonton Journal, p. 11.

4

Written by Edna Kells (1880 – 1947). She was an editor at the Edmonton Journal

from 1910 to 1933.

Women workers have been taken on the local bank staffs in comparatively

large numbers. They have made good, generally speaking, and are in the business to

stay, considering, of course, the possible return of bank clerks who have enlisted, and

whose positions are held open for them. This is the consensus of opinion expressed by

Edmonton bank managers, with other considerations of the question which I shall

take up in detail.

THE DEMON CURIOSITY

Curiosity is a hard task master. At least, that is as I found it when the little

demon was aroused in my mind by various items appearing from time to time in the

social columns of newspapers to the effect that “Miss Brown of the Bank of —– staff

is spending her holidays… etc.” This was something entirely new. I was quite

accustomed to reading that Mr. Brown of the bank of —– staff was holidaying at the

lake, but somehow the Mr. Browns from the bank staffs did not appear to be so

numerous as the Miss Browns. On top of this, I read a statement by Sir Edmund

Walker, president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, to the effect that as a result

of the war and the consequent exodus of men from the ranks of bank clerks to the

ranks of the army, over one thousand women were employed in the different branches

of that institution.

“How about Edmonton?” I wondered. “And how are the women employees

working out?” was the second thought, which followed quickly on the first. “Better

find out,” suggested the little demon Curiosity.

My own opinion at the conclusion of my quest was that if the workers did not

make good, then they did not appreciate the managers under whom they worked.

Even in the busiest hour of the busiest day in the month, I found them in every

instance most courteous and interested in their employés and my mission. Speaking

from experience, I can say it means a great deal to be courteous in the busiest hour

of the busiest day of the month.

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE INEXPERIENCED

“Working out splendidly,” was the opinion expressed by one manager. “As

conditions are now, we could not carry on the work of the bank without the assistance

of women.” Banking affords an opportunity for the girls or women with no special

training or experience to work into business, this manager continued. A fair

education, a desire to learn, and an interest in her work are the main qualifications.

The girls are started at the beginning, but have the same chance to work up as the

men. Consideration for the health and comfort of the girl workers was expressed, and

a regret that bank buildings have not been built with a view to supplying residence

for the girls. This, however, was a condition bound to be remedied in time. Another

rather usual consideration expressed, was that which recognized the value of time’s

influence on character. A woman of twenty-five, for instance, was naturally more

responsible than a girl of eighteen, and could not be started to work on the same basis.

5

The women workers were found to be more dependable, as a class, than boys. This

was not said by way of criticism, the manager showing a sympathetic understanding

of the out of door attractions which appeal more to boys than to girls.

AFTERNOON TEA MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN LEDGER

Spice of variety was provided in the next interview, which was with the

inspector of that particular bank which appears to have experienced the difficulties

of handling the irresponsible ones. That they were working out fairly satisfactorily,

or would when the poorer ones were weeded out, was the highest praise the

conscience of this inspector would permit him to say. Women workers, he claimed,

lack a sense of responsibility, concentration, and a proper interest in the business in

which they engage. Social life attracts them and makes them careless about their

work. In fact, they do not care whether the ledger balances or not, provided they g et

out to afternoon tea. Furthermore, they are too fond of chattering in the back of the

office, which every one knows is poor policy for the girl who is anxious to make good.

In this bank, the men have frequently to work overtime to keep the work up to the

necessary mark. This is due to the incompetency of the girls. There was no bitterness

or undue desire to “knock” apparent in the criticism. A frank statement was asked

for, and was given, with the parting suggestion that I advise the girl workers in banks

to cultivate concentration, a sense of responsibility, and an interest in the business.

SOME GOOD, SOME POOR

“On the whole, the girl workers check up as well as the men,” was the opinion

of another manager. There are some good, and some poor, but as in the case of men,

the poor ones are gradually weeded out. This manager was not only highly pleased

with the manner in which the girl workers had taken up the work, but greatly

surprised that they had done so well. They are started at the beginning and work up.

At the present time, some are occupying responsible positions of different kinds on

the books, and as tellers in some departments.

MATRIMONY A DRAWBACK

“To lay it down as a principal, banking institutions would sooner have boys on

the staff than girls, when boys are available,” stated another manager, who further

claimed that while many girls work out well, a larger proportion of boys make good.

Matrimony is a barrier to a woman’s success in the profession. It frequently happens

that just when a girl becomes familiar with the work, and generally useful to the

bank, she gets married. With a man, the situation is different. Matrimony, for him,

means a stricter attention to

business.

MUST BE EXPERIENCED

Inexperienced girls are not considered in another bank. They must have some

experience in the business before they are put on the books. This has been managed

by promoting stenographers to the accounting department, and the experiment has

worked out satisfactorily. The manager of this bank also expressed the belief that

there would be more and more women workers in the banking business as time goes

on.

GENERALLY SATISFACTORY

6

“Generally satisfactory,” were the words in which another manager summed

up the result of the experiment. Still another bank had not found it necessary to take

on women workers except stenographers, so could not express an opinion from

personal experience. This manager, however, said that in other branches of the bank,

it had worked out very well, and he expects that if war continues any length of time,

it will be necessary for him to take on girl clerks. A third bank had little experience,

but that little [was] satisfactory.

GIRLS NOT NATURALLY BANKERS

“A good girl is better than a poor man, but girls are not naturally bankers,”

was the opinion of the next manager interviewed, who further stated he would never

take girls if men were procurable. Girls, he said, are not in the business for the sake

of making good; their idea of business is to draw a salary. They have no sense of

responsibility, and do not take their work seriously. They do not care what is left

undone when they want to get away from the office. In meeting the public, they are

too trusting. “Girls trust men until they find them dishonest; I distrust everybody

until I find them honest,” he said. While the girls are strictly honest as far as handling

cash is concerned, he continued, they are too talkative, and apt to give away business

secrets. Matrimony, too, is a serious handicap, though a natural phase of a woman’s

career. Until they marry, girls might better stay at home and help their mothers,

devoting spare time to opportunities for cheering the lonely, than to rush into

business.

MORE DEPENDABLE THAN MEN

“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” appeared to be the opinion of

another manager. The prospect of matrimony interfering with his staff appeared to

be the least of his troubles, and whatever his troubles may be, they seemed to have

no connection with the women members of his staff. The inspector of his bank, he

said, had just concluded a fortnight’s inspection of the business, and had

congratulated him on the splendid staff of girls working in the various departments.

He had found them entirely dependable; more so than men. They were anxious to

make good, and never allowed private life to interfere with business. Business sense

and a desire to make good were the necessary qualifications, while a few months’

experience in other offices helped. Women clerks were accurate and faithful, sure of

promotion, and in the business to stay; that is, if matrimony did not step in and

snatch them from the ledgers. This manager further did not look upon possible

matrimony as a reason for debarring the women from equal consideration with men

in the matter of promotion.

DRAWBACKS OF A LIMITED VOCABLULARY

In some phases of banking, it would seem, such as in the handling of delinquent

debtors, an extensive vocabulary of “strong” language, whose use is unhampered by

any conscientious scruples, helps some. In fact, it is almost nece ssary. That this is

the only place where the girl bank clerks are apt to fail, appeared to be the opinion of

a manager who stated that he was well satisfied with the result of the experiment.

Girls, he said, work out as well as men; are quick to adapt themselves, and appear

anxious to familiarize themselves with the work. Women clerks did not so readily

7

adapt themselves to meeting the public in a business way, as did men, but this was

the natural result of centuries of home life. It would take a decade to o vercome this

difficulty. One large bank, which employs many more girls than this branch, reports

than since the introduction of girl clerks the efficiency of the bank has increased, this

manager

said.

PERSONALITY AN ASSET

Personality counts greatly in the matter of success in banking, said another

manager who had tried girl clerks out and found them generally satisfactory. As yet,

however, the employment of girls was in the nature of an experiment. Some are poor,

and some good. He had not found that social affairs interfered with business life; that

is entirely a matter of personality. Matrimony has a tendency to interfere with

women’s success in their profession.

LOSE THEIR HEADS

That the women employés are working out very well, but cannot be placed in

all departments, was the opinion of another manager. They can handle the books all

right, but cannot be placed as tellers, since they feel their responsibility too keenly,

and in the rush hours are apt to lose their heads, a serious matter when it comes to

handling money. In the matter of promotion, this bank considers men first, on account

of the possibility of matrimony interfering with their continuance in the work. Every

bank, he said, must have three senior men, at least. Girls can do the other work. It

would not be possible to keep the country branches open were it not for the girl clerks

coming to the rescue.

“Too much experience,” smilingly said another manager, when questioned as

to whether he had had any experience in employing girl clerks. Some girls had been

found wanting, while others had worked out well; on the whole they had worked out

as well as the boys. “You cannot talk to girls the same as to boys; but they need less

talking to,” he said. No trouble had been experienced with girls discussing the bank’s

business, and he was satisfied they were in the banks to stay. Further, that as time

goes on the banks will make openings for them. There is one drawback, however.

Girls cannot stand the strain of long hours which the work sometimes demands, he

said, and there seems to be a tendency on the part of girls, starting in, to consider

that the work is light and the hours short. A knowledge of mathematics, an ability to

make legible figures and write plainly are necessary qualifications. All inexperie nced

girls must start at the beginning. Women clerks take all the interest in the bank

necessary; all that is called for is an interest in their individual work. This they do

take. There was no reason why they should not work up in the profession. In many

cases, this manager had found that communications coming in from other banks were

signed by women clerks for the managers.

Such is the opinion of the Edmonton bank managers, as to the introduction of

women bank clerks brought about as a result of the war.

8

1921 – After the War

WOMEN BANK CLERKS TO BE ELIMINATED. (1921, June 24). The Financial
Post, p. 12.

Making way for male employees, the Financial Post understands the tendency

will be to eliminate the women bank clerks, and that as governing the immediate

future, girl employees will not be favored in the service of Canadian banking

institutions. The woman banker, while accepted as a success up to a certain position

under the Canadian system of branch banking, after a six year test, has proved to be

a serious stumbling block to the promotion system. Probably ninety per cent. of the

women clerks will not accept transfers from branch to branch. As a result, the

promotion system, as evolved out of a period of many years’ Canadian banking

practice, is said recently to have seriously broken down.

Among all the changes which business conditions of recent years brought about

in Canadian banks, undeniably the most outstanding was the throwing open of new

positions to women. Prior to the war, girls were not employed in Canadian banks in

a clerking capacity. The depletion of staffs when the men went to the front first

opened the way for women. The tremendous business expansion immediately

following the cessation of war continued the need of retaining female workers to

supplement [the male].

Complete figures have never been available [that] fully indicate the strength

of women bankers in the Dominion, but that the ratio is considerable is indicated in

the announcements of two of the larger banking institutions, one of which recently

reported that of a staff of 2,300, more than 700 were women, and the other that of a

staff of 1,300, some 400 were women.

Staffing of our banks was an acute problem in the first days of the

reconstruction era. The overwhelming expansion of the branch system made serious

inroads into the staffs. For this reason, the temporary staff engaged during the war

period, in the full expectation of being released when the war stopped, was retained.

The girls, however, remained upon the temporary staffs and for this reason may the

more readily be released at this time.

BUSINESS HAS CONTRACTED

It is no secret that the volume of business passing through all Canadian banks,

tremendously extended a year ago, has declined very appreciably. For many months

now, too, the tendency has been to reduce rather than extend the number of operating

branches. These very potent reasons, coupled, of course, with the situation generally

as concerning employment, has virtually forced upon bank executives the necessity

of reducing staffs or keeping them at a minimum.

Canadian bankers in the past have been prone to retain as complete staffs as

possible, in spite of periods of depression. Once a man entered the service of a

Canadian bank, it came to be accepted that he would not be “let out” except for very

urgent cause, or except at his own desire. For this reason, in adopting a general policy

that has for its main decision the weeding out of the women employees, it is not

9

believed our bankers will put drastic orders into effect. A well informed bank

executive assured the Financial Post this week that the process of elimination was

not designed to work a hardship upon any girl employee. It is readily conceded that

many girls still in the banks were originally impelled to work from patriotic motives.

Not actually in need of the income except for personal account, these young women

will be quickly “weeded out.” There will be the natural elimination of those girls who

are about to marry, and who will no longer be retained in positions once they are

wedded, as has been the case up to the present time. Gradually, all those young

women not actually requiring employment will be released.

“Why look beyond this point?” questioned our banker-informant. “For by then,

we very much hope, Canada will be harvesting a bumper crop which will react upon

our banks in requiring every person with banking knowledge in Canada to be

strenuously at work.”

Women Bank Clerks Give Place to Men. (1921, September 26). The Vancouver Daily
World, p. 7.

Owing to the fact that there are now plenty of men available for bank clerk

positions, Vancouver girl clerks who came to the fore during the war are beginning

noticeably to disappear. It is true that marriage has carried off some of them, but

others are obliged to give way to the returned men.

Only recently, two of the highest paid women bank clerks in Vancouver

received their congé1, and their places will be filled by men.

Vancouver bank managers recently admitted that eventually the woman bank

clerk would have to go, though girls who had rendered satisfactory service during the

war and were dependent on their earnings, would probably be retained. Local women

bank clerks generally, however, are not feeling very secure in their positions, it is

said.

Heads of banks in Eastern Canada have intimated that they will not engage

any more women to fill positions in their institutions, except as stenographers. This

policy, it is announced, is not due to any deficiency on the part of women, who, the

bankers point out, made good during the war, but is owing to the fact that young men

are now available in large numbers. The young women who have rendered

satisfactory service, however, will be retained as long as they desire to remain.

1 That is, they were laid off. From the French word for ‘time off’, which is also used in the context of

giving notice of the end of employment – “donner sa congé à”.

10

WOMEN BANK CLERKS GET WALKING TICKET. (1921, November 12). The
Ottawa Journal, p. 26.

WINNIPEG, Nov. 11. – In accordance with the general plans adopted by

Canadian banks to return to pre-war basis, as it was declared women clerks held up

the promotion system, ten women employés of a local bank this week received notice

that their services would not be required after two weeks. It was stated that several

of the girls were not depending upon their salaries for a livelihood and that more girls

in a similar position would be let out soon.

1

ECON 321 SPRING 2020 – INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 8
TO BE SUBMITTED VIA COURSESPACES BY 11:59 PM on April 14th, 2020

Name (First, Family)

Last 3 digits of SID

TO SPEED UP MARKING, PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN THE FORMS AND SPACES
PROVIDED. THE T.A. RESERVES THE RIGHT TO NOT MARK ANY QUESTIONS THAT ARE NOT
ANSWERED IN THE EXPECTED LOCATIONS.

By submitting this assignment you agree to the following honor code, and understand that any
violation of the honor code may lead to penalties including but not limited to a non-negotiable
mark of zero on the assignment:

Honor Code: I guarantee that all the answers in this assignment are my own work. I have cited
any outside sources that I used to create these answers in correct APA style.

Marking scheme – Make sure you answer all the questions before handing this in!

Question Marks

1 a 1

2

2

a 1

b

2

c

3

Total 18

2

There are TWO questions in this assignment, but there are two versions of each question, to
allow you to focus on either Banking or Women & Paid work.

1. Read ONE, and only one, of the following two articles:

i. [Banking]

Bordo, M.D., Rockoff, H. & Redish, A. (1996). A Comparison of the stability and efficiency of the
Canadian and American banking systems, 1870 – 1925. Financial History Review, 3, pp. 49-68.
Retrieved from https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1017/S0968565000000494

ii. [Women and Paid Work]

Lowe, G. S. (1980). Women, Work and the Office: The Feminization of Clerical Occupations in
Canada, 1901-1931. The Canadian Journal of Sociology, 5(4), pp. 361-381. Retrieved from
https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/stable/3340370

a. (12 marks) Write a 3-2-1 report in the usual manner, using the form provided on Coursespaces.
Make sure to specify which article you chose.

https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1017/S0968565000000494

https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/stable/3340370

3

2. Answer the question below that matches the article you chose (Banking or Women & Paid
Work). Only answer EITHER the [Banking] question OR the [Women and Paid Work] question,
and for obvious reasons (once you read the questions), you must choose the question that
matches the paper you wrote a 3-2-1 report on.

i. [Banking]

• In the textbook, read XII.17 The Powers and Business of Canadian Banks (1910), pp. 800-
809. You may also find it useful to read XII.13 What Farmers Should Know About the Bank
Act (1910), pp. 785-792, but this is not required.

Based on this reading, the Lowe article, and what you have learned in the course (and from other
parts of the course textbook), which of the following contributed MOST to the stability of
Canada’s banking system from 1901 to 1930?

• The branch banking system

• The ability of Canadian banks to issue bank notes

• The Canadian Bankers’ Association

a. (1 mark) Which contributed most?

b. (2 marks) Example of exactly how it contributed to stability (be specific):

4

c. (3 marks) An explanation of why it contributed MORE than the other two factors.

5

ii. [Women and Paid Work]

• Read the material on World War I and Women Bank Clerks in Canada (10 pages) provided
as an additional file with this assignment.

Based on this reading, the Lowe article, and what you have learned in the course (and from the
course textbook), if you had to pick one, and only one of the theoretical perspectives mentioned
in the Lowe paper to explain the feminization of Bank Clerks in the time period from a decade
before to a decade after World War I (from 1904 to 1928), which would it be? Back up your choice
with an example from the reading in the assignment appendix, the lecture notes or the textbook,
and briefly explain your reasoning behind choosing that model.

The options are: The consumer choice model, The reserve army of labor model, The demand
model and the segmentation model.

a. (1 mark) Model Chosen:

b. (2 marks) Example:

6

c. (3 marks) Reasoning:

Women, Work and the Office: The Feminization of Clerical Occupations in Canada, 1901 –
1931
Author(s):

Graham S. Lowe

Source: The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, Vol. 5, No. 4
(Autumn, 1980), pp. 361-381
Published by: Canadian Journal of Sociology
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Women, work and the office: the

feminization of clerical occupations

in Canada, 1901 – 1931*

Graham S. Lowe

Department of Sociology
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2H4

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to offer an explanation of the origins and early development of

the feminization process in clerical occupations. The central argument is that the administrative revo-

lution which swept major Canadian offices between the turn of the century and the depression precip-
itated a shift in the sex ratio of clerical occupations. First, the main contours in the historical develop-
ment of the female clerical labor market are traced using census data. Second, four theoretical

models-the consumer choice model, the reserve army of labor model, the demand model, and the
segmentation model-are critically evaluated. Third, a structural explanation of clerical feminiza-

tion is presented. Drawing on the concepts of job sex labelling and labor market segmentation, this
perspective shows how the changing structure of the office and the clerical labor process during the
administrative revolution underlay the feminization of clerical jobs. Supporting evidence is provided
by three case studies: the development of a female labor market for bank clerks during the First
World War; the recruitment of women into the lower administrative levels of the federal civil service;

and the mechanization of major offices during the 1901-1931 period.

Resume. L’objet de cette dissertation est d’offrir une explication des origines et du d6veloppement

hatif du processus de la f6minisation des occupations clericales. L’argument central est que la
revolution administrative qui envahissa les offices majeurs du Canada entre le nouveau siecle et la
depression precipita un changement dans le rapport des sexes dans les occupations clericales.
Premierement, les contours principaux dans le d6veloppement historique du march6 de travail

clerical femelle sont traces a l’aide de donn6es de recensements. Deuxiemement, quatre modeles
th6oriques le modele du choix du consommateur, le modele de reserve d’arm6e de travail, le modele
de demande, et le modele de segmentation-sont 6valu6s d’une maniere critique. En troisieme lieu,
une explication structurale de la f6minisation clericale est pr6sent6e. Tirant sur les concepts de

l’6tiquetage du sexe d’un ouvrage et la segmentation du march6 de travail, en perspective ceci
demontre comment et le changement structural du bureau et le processus du travail clerical pendant

la revolution administrative soutiennent la f6minisation d’emplois clericaux. La preuve d’appui est
fournie par trois &tudes de cas: le d6veloppement d’un march6 de travail femelle pour les commis de
banques pendant la premiere guerre mondiale; le recrutement de femmes dans les niveaux

administratifs peu elev6s des emplois civils federaux; et la m6canisation des bureaux majeurs pendant
la p6riode de 1901-1931.

* This is a revised version of a paper presented to the Political Economy Section of the Canadian
Political Science Association Annual Meetings, June 1979, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I would
like to thank Dennis Magill, Noah Meltz, Lorna Marsden, Rosalind Sydie, as well as three anony-
mous CJS reviewers, for helpful comments on an earlier draft. I would also like to acknowledge
the Canada Council’s financial support of the research.

Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers canadiens de sociologie 5(4)1980 361

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The spectacular growth of white-collar occupations in Canada since the turn of
the century has fundamentally altered the nature of the labor force. One of the
most striking features of the burgeoning white-collar sector has been the shift in
the sex ratio of many jobs accompanying the rise in female labor force partici-
pation rates. Nowhere has this feminization trend been more pronounced than
in clerical occupations. At the turn of the century the office was largely a male
preserve. Yet by 1971, 30.5 percent of the entire female labor force was en-
gaged in clerical work. And with about 70 percent of all clerical jobs held by

women, the contemporary office is the prototypical female job ghetto
(Armstrong and Armstrong, 1978; Braverman, 1974; Kanter, 1977; Lowe,
1979).’ Much can be learned about the emergence and maintenance of female
job ghettos by examining how the feminization of clerical work occurred.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how women came to predominate
numerically in the office. A main theme of the paper is that the feminization
process was central to the administrative revolution which occurred in major
Canadian offices during the first three decades of the twentieth century. The
administrative revolution accompanied, and indeed facilitated, the transition
from small-scale entrepreneurial capitalism to modern corporate capitalism.2
The hallmark of this revolution was the rise of large, centralized office bureauc-
racies and the growing importance of administration in regulating economic

activity (see Braverman, 1974; Mills, 1956; Lockwood, 1966; Lowe, 1979). The
nature of clerical work was dramatically altered: clerical ranks expanded
tremendously between 1901 and 1931; the relative socio-economic position of
the clerk was eroded;3 and office organization and the clerical labor process
were rationalized.

The feminization process is fundamental to all of these changes. For exam-
ple, the influx of women into the office largely accounted for the growth of cler-
ical occupations. This in turn undermined the socio-economic position of the
clerical group, as women were paid less than men. And scientifically-oriented
managers, seeking greater administrative efficiency and more direct control
over the office, created a new stratum of routine clerical jobs into which women
were channelled. Thus, by the start of the depression, the old-style male book-
keeper had been replaced by an army of subordinate female clerks. As any
observer of the contemporary office is quick to recognize, the legacy of this
feminization process is still vital.

1. See Table 1 for exact figures. It should be noted that clerical employment data from the censuses

used in this paper are reclassified to conform with the 1951 Census definition of clerk. This allows

for accurate inter-censal comparisons. However, these adjustments mean that employment data
in Tables I and 2 for 1971 are slightly below those found in the actual census.

2. The concepts of corporate capitalism and entrepreneurial capitalism have been drawn from
Clement (1975:71-80).

3. Between 1901 and 1921. the average clerical salary rose from 116 to 1 25 percent of the average
wage for the total Canadian labor force. Yet after 1921, clerical earnings entered a steady decline,
cutting below the labor force average in 1951. In 1971, the average clerical salary was only 77 per-
cent of the labor force average (Lowe, 1979:224). Research by Lockwood (1966) in Britain and
Burns (1954) and Braverman (1974) in the United States also documents how the explosion of
white-collar occupations since the turn of the century has been accompanied by a relative decline
in clerical w ages.

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Four major questions will guide our analysis. First, how did clerical jobs
come to be defined as “women’s work?” Second, what factors motivated

employers to shift their source of labor supply in this manner? Third, to what
extent do the characteristics of female clerks (relatively low wages, low skill
levels, lack of opportunities, powerlessness, lower aspirations and tenuous at-
tachment to the labor force) reflect the nature of the jobs into which they have
traditionally been channelled? And fourth, did women displace men in existing
clerical jobs or replace them in qualitatively different kinds of work? Our inves-
tigation of these issues will proceed as follows: The first section of the paper will
use census data to trace the major contours in the historical evolution of the fe-
male clerical labor force in Canada. The second section will evaluate various

theoretical perspectives on female labor force participation in light of our
research concerns. Emphasis will be placed on developing a historical analysis
which relates changing labor force characteristics to transformations in the
workplace. The third section will document how the female clerical labor mar-
ket has its roots in the administrative revolution by examining three case studies
of how changes occurred in the clerical labor process and office organization.

The feminization of clerical work: historical trends

The entry of women into the office can be traced back to the closing decades of
the nineteenth century. In the post-Confederation period women were usually
relegated to servile domestic chores. In 1868, for example, the federal civil
service employed only one woman, a housekeeper (Dawson, 1929:190). This
situation began to change, and by 1885 there were twenty female clerks work-
ing in the federal government (Payne, 1907:511).4 Yet many of today’s major
offices were slow to hire women. Sun Life Assurance Company in Montreal, for
example, did not appoint its first female clerk until 1894 (Sunshine, November
1911:142). Attitudes towards the employment of women in offices were becom-
ing more tolerant. Jean Scott (1889:24) was thus able to observe in 1889 that
“women seem as fitted for (office) work as men, and have proved as competent
where the work was not too severe.”

The small number of women found in Canadian offices prior to 1900 re-
flected generally low female labor force participation rates. The 1891 Dominion
Census, the earliest to break down occupational data by sex, shows that 11.4
percent of the female population over the age of ten were gainfully employed,
comprising only 12.6 percent of the entire labor force (Canada, DBS, 1939:4).
After the turn of the century, however, powerful new economic forces began
restructuring the division of labor in industry. By the end of the First World
War, the foundation for a modern industrial capitalist economy had been laid
(Firestone, 1953:152). A number of other factors-the development of the
modern joint stock corporation and the public bureaucracy; changing attitudes

4. In 1881, the Civil Service Commissioners argued that if more female clerks were hired, “it would
be necessary that they should be placed in rooms by themselves, and that they should be under the
immediate supervision of a person of their own sex, but we doubt very much if sufficient work of
similar character can be found in any one Department to furnish occupation for any considerable
number of female clerks, and it would certainly be inadvisable to place them in small numbers
throughout the Departments” (Canada, First Report of the Civil Service Commission, 1881:26).

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Table 1. Total labor force, clerical workers and female clerical workers, Canada, 1891-1971*

Clerical workers as a

Total labor Total percentage of total
force clerical labor force

1891 1,659,335 33,017 2.0

1901 1,782,832 57,231 3.2

1911 2,723,634 103,543 3.8

1921 3,164,348 216,691 6.8
1931 3,917,612 260,674 6.7
1941 4,195,951 303,655 7.2
1951 5,214,913 563,083 10.8
1961 6,342,289 818,912 12.9

1971 8,626,930 1,310,910 15.2

Sources:

1. Canada D.B.S., Census Branch, Occupational Trends in Canada, 1891-1931 (Ottawa, 1939), Table 5.
2. Meltz, Manpower in Canada (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1969), Section 1, Tables A-1, A-2 and A-3.
3. 1971 Census of Canada, Volume 3, Part 2, Table 2.

* Data adjusted to 1951 Census occupation classification.

towards the employment of women; labor shortages during World War I; and
the growing importance of more efficient forms of administration-combined
with industrialization to shape the pattern of clerical feminization.
Tables 1 and 2 indicate that women made significant advances in

clerical

employment after 1901. There were relatively few clerks in the labor force in
1891, the vast majority being male (Table 1). The number of female clerks in-
creased from 4,710 to 12,660 between 1891 and 1901. While this represents a
relative growth rate of 168.8 percent (Table 2), almost ten times that for the
total female labor force, the female share of clerical jobs only increased from
14.3 percent to 22.1 percent (Table 1). But this marked the emergence of a
trend which, by 1971, had resulted in the concentration of 30.5 percent of all fe-
male workers in clerical occupations (Table 1).
The segregation of women into specific industries and occupations has

remained surprisingly stable since 1900 (Armstrong and Armstrong, 1978:20).
This is especially true in the case of clerical work. From 1901 to 1971, the share
of clerical jobs held by females jumped from 22.1 percent to 68.9 percent.
Segregation was even more pronounced within particular office jobs. In steno-
graphy and typing, for example, the “female” label became firmly affixed as
the proportion of jobs held by women increased from 80 percent to 95 percent
between 1901 and 1931.5 Furthermore, changes in the industrial concentration
of clerical employment between 1911 and 1931 set the course of future develop-
ments (Lowe, 1979:187). By 1931, manufacturing, finance and trade each
accounted for over 20 percent of all female clerical employment (Lowe,

5. In 1971, 96.8 percent of all stenographers and typists were women (Canada, 1971 Census,
Vol. Ill, Part 2, Table 2).

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Females

as a percentage

of total clerical

14.3

22.1

32.6

41.8

45.1

50.1

56.7

61.5

68.9

Female clerks as a

percentage of total
female labor force

2.3

5.3

9.1

18.5

17.7

18.3

27.4

28.6

30.5

Table 2. Percentage increases, female labor force and female clerical workers, Canada, 1891-1971 *

Female labor force

17.7

53.3

34.0

36.0

27.1

39.7

51.3

68.2

Female clerical workers

168.8

166.4

168.6

29.9

29.4

109.7

57.8

79.4

Sources:

1. Canada D.B.S., Census Branch, Occupational Trends in Canada, 1891-1931 (Ottawa, 1939), Table 5.
2. Meltz, Manpower in Canada (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1969), Section I, Tables A- 1, A-2 and A-3.
3. 1971 Census of Canada, Volume 3, Part 2, Table 2.

* Based on data adjusted to 1951 Census occupation classification.

1979:189).6 These industries were at the forefront of corporate capitalism and
their development required the rapid expansion of administration.

The growth of administration is evident in Table 2. From 1891 to 1921, the
inter-censal decade growth rate for female clerks exceeded 166 percent, far
outstripping increases in the total female labor force. In other words, clerical

6. Over the 1901-31 decades, women increased their share of clerical jobs in manufacturing from
16.5 percent to 40.7 percent; 22.7 percent to 52.9 percent in trade; 0.8 percent to 49.6 percent in
finance; and 5.5 percent to 37.6 percent in government (Lowe, 1979:184). For an interesting dis-
cussion of the impact of changing industrial structure on female employment, see Singelmann and
Tienda (1979).

365

Female

clerical

4,710
12,660

33,723

90,577
117,637

152,216

319,183
503,660
903,395

1891-1901

1901-1911

1911-1921

1921-1931

1931-1941

1941-1951

1951-1961

1961-1971

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feminization originated during the 1890s and accelerated dramatically between
1901 and 1921. Indeed, the 1911-21 decade was pivotal to the development of
the modern office, containing the greatest surge in clerical employment of the
century. Clerical growth tapered off somewhat during the 1920s, but changes in
the nature of clerical work make this a decisive period for the creation of a fe-
male job ghetto in the office. Women were well on their way to predominating
in the office by 1931, holding 45.1 percent of all clerical jobs (Table 1).

Chart 1 compares the actual number of male and female clerks in 1971 with
what these numbers would have been had the occupational structure and sex
composition of the labor force remained constant since 1901. The chart con-
firms that the clerical sector was a major source of new employment during this
century. Furthermore, it illustrates the importance of female employment to the
overall growth of clerical occupations.

We have traced the institutionalization of women as the major source of
labor for modern clerical work. This underscores a central theme of the paper:
that the entry of women into the office coincided with the proliferation of many
new fragmented, routine jobs in the lower reaches of administrative hierarchies.
Truncated employment opportunities for women and deeply engrained sex-
based wage differentials resulted. We thus find that in 1901, female clerks
earned 53 percent of the average male clerical salary, inching up only slightly to
58 percent by 1971 (Lowe, 1979:223).7

Chart 1. Changes in the clerical sector of the Canadian labor force, by sex, 1901-1971*

Total e
clerical |

M a le :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

clerical

Female :::::
clerical l

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1,0001,1001,2001,300
Thousands of workers in 1971.

E:: Number of clerks in 1971 if
occupational structure were
identical to that of 1901.

D Actual number of clerks in 1971.

* Comparison between actual distribution in 1971 and distribution calculated on basis of 1901 occupational structure, standardized
to 1951 base.

7. This is consistent with the broad labor force trend. In 1971 the average income for women doing

paid work was about half that of men (Armstrong and Armstrong, 1975:371). Yet within the fe-
male labor force, clerks were quite well off. For example, a 1921 survey (Canada Year Book,
1928:779) indicated that female office clerks earned more than twenty-two other female occupa-
tions. Only telegraph operators in Montreal and tailoresses, teachers as well as telegraph opera-
tors in Toronto earned more. In 1901, female clerks earned 45 percent more than the average fe-

male wage. This fluctuated over the next several decades, rising to a high of 49 percent in 1941.
This advantage gradually diminished, with female clerks only making 6 percent more than the fe-
male labor force average by 1971 (Lowe, 1979:224).

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The working conditions faced by female clerks have created a vicious circle.
Low wages tend to produce the kind of work patterns-high turnover, short-
term labor force attachment and low aspirations-which reinforce employers’
discriminatory attitudes and trap women in a relatively small number of
female-dominated jobs. The underlying causes of these employment patterns
deserve careful theoretical consideration.

Theoretical perspectives
Why, then, did women become concentrated into a handful of lower level occu-
pations as growing numbers of them entered the work force after 1900? Expla-
nations of this can be classified into four basic models: the consumer choice

model, the reserve army of labor model, the demand model and the
segmentation model. In considering each of these theoretical perspectives be-
low, we will assess its ability to account for the changing sex ratio of clerical
jobs during the early twentieth century in Canada.

The consumer choice model

The consumer choice model, a common explanation of changing female work
rates, is based on the concept of rational economic choice. The model is princip-
ally concerned with how married women decide to allocate their time between
work within the home, work outside the home and leisure. A central assumption
is that employment decisions are rooted in the family context. For example, a
wife may decide to work for pay outside the home because of a family consensus
that the husband’s income should be supplemented. Variables such as the wife’s
age, education, fertility and potential earning power; stage in the family life-
cycle; and husband’s income, education and occupation are also deemed
important in the decisions regarding work (see Ostry, 1967).

The social, economic and demographic variables included in the model may
merely reflect rather than affect work rates (Madden, 1973:9). The assumption
that a woman’s choice of whether or not to work is based on factors over which
she has control tends to obscure the influence of social and economic structures
(Connelly, 1978:6; Armstrong and Armstrong, 1975). Furthermore, the model’s
emphasis on how family expectations shape a woman’s work decision suggests
that subjective processes ultimately determine behavior. Consequently, insuffi-
cient attention is given to the limitations placed on female work rates by struc-

tural factors outside the home, such as the type of job opportunities and earn-
ings available to women and the family’s class position. Moreover, the model
tends to discount the importance of interaction between the supply of women
workers and the type of employer demand for their labor. Why, for example,
did employers begin to hire increasing numbers of women for specific clerical
jobs after 1900 and how was this shift in demand linked to changing office or-
ganization?

The reserve army of labor model
Some analysts (Armstrong and Armstrong, 1978; Braverman, 1974; Connelly,
1978) have used Marx’s concept of a reserve army of labor to explain the posi-
tion of women in the labor force. The model examines how capitalists create a
fluid supply of cheap labor, capable of employment or deployment in response
to changing industrial requirements (see Braverman, 1974:386-388). Because

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of their availability and cheapness (see Connelly, 1978:21), women increasingly
have been drawn into the reserve army for the expanding clerical, sales and
service sectors. According to Braverman (1974:385), “women form the ideal
reservoir of labor for the new mass occupations. The barrier which confined
women to much lower pay scales is reinforced by the vast numbers in which
they are available to capital.”

Yet to classify women who are trapped in unrewarding jobs as part of a
reserve army tells us little about how this condition developed. Assuming that
capitalism requires a permanent reserve army of labor, what would lead capital-
ists to distinguish between men and women workers when delimiting this
reserve for certain occupations? Would it not be more accurate to refer to

women in female job ghettos, such as the office, as part of the active labor
force? Our concern is with how sex-based inequalities were built into the labor
market as changes occurred in office organization and the clerical labor pro-
cess. Yet the reserve army thesis is of little value in this respect because it falls
short of providing a more precise analysis of (a) why women at a certain point
in time became incorporated into the active labor supply for specific occupa-
tions; (b) the extent to which women are segregated from men in “female” oc-
cupations; and (c) how their inferior position within job hierarchies has been
maintained over time.

The demand model

Best exemplified in the work of Oppenheimer (1970) and Madden (1973), this
model examines how employers segregate women into specific occupations by

manipulating job requirements. Oppenheimer, rejecting the supply-based con-
sumer choice model, argues that the growing demand for women in certain oc-

cupations and industries has brought increased supply and higher labor force
participation (1970:160). Madden (1973:52, 58-60), on the other hand, demon-
strates that the imperfect competition which pervades the labor market facili-
tates discrimination by employers who possess excessive market power. Both of
these arguments use two concepts-labor market segregation and sex labelling
-to explain sex-based employment differences. Because men and women tend
to be segregated into separate, noncompetitive labor markets, one may there-
fore talk about a demand specifically for female workers (Oppenheimer, 1970).
In other words, a demand for female labor results from the general demand for
workers in nursing, elementary school teaching, clerical and sales work and
other jobs which are predominately female.

The restriction of female workers to a small number of female-dominated

occupations is reinforced by the process of sex labelling. By manipulating de-
mand characteristics of a job-such as skill and educational requirements,
working conditions and salary levels-employers can tailor the labor supply.
Thus, job requirements such as physical exertion, geographic mobility, or an
unbroken career path are barriers to women. On the other hand, stereotypes of
women as more manually dexterous and patient but less effective at supervision
than men and as secondary wage earners channel females into jobs at the lower
end of the occupational spectrum (Oppenheimer, 1970:115). These stereotypes
furnish the rationale for discrimination against women in terms of remunera-
tion and opportunities for upward mobility. Madden (1973:78) explains that “if
job requirements are structured so as to preclude part-time work, to require

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peak effort between the ages of twenty and thirty-five, or to require career con-

tinuity with one employer, that job will never be a female occupation.” Strong
norms develop to exclude women from those occupations defined as male.
Moreover, once women are established in an occupation, their lower wage rates
give employers little incentive to revert to higher-priced male labor. Discrimi-
nation tends to be cumulative, reproducing in the female labor market charac-
teristics defined as unacceptable for more rewarding jobs.

Clerical work is an outstanding example of how sex-related job require-
ments limit female employment opportunities (see Oppenheimer, 1970:115).
Once a clerical job acquired a “female only” label, future demand was not just
for cheap labor but for cheap female labor. But the demand model does not ad-
dress how changing job characteristics motivated employers to hire women in
the first place. In some cases (Stevenson, 1975; Prather, 1971), it is merely
suggested that a high degree of occupational segregation is itself responsible for
the inferior economic position of women. Yet the sexual division of labor is un-
doubtedly one of the strongest bases for balkanizing the labor market into un-
equal segments (Kessler-Harris, 1975:217). What we need, though, is an expla-
nation of how sex-based discrimination became incorporated into both the
institutionalized processes of the labor market and the organization of the
workplace.

The segmentation model
A number of useful concepts, notably sex labelling and labor market segmen-
tation, can be drawn from our discussion of the three models. More generally,
the deficiencies of the models underline the need for a historical analysis of the
origins of female job ghettos and, further, a thorough examination of the rela-
tionship between transformations in the work context and changing labor force
characteristics. A more structural perspective would help us to trace the femi-
nization of clerical occupations back to its origins. A strong connection un-
doubtedly exists between changes in the organization of office work and the
characteristics of the office work force. As Kanter (1977:18) suggests:

… managerial and clerical jobs are the major sex-segregated, white-collar occupations, brought into
being by the development of the large corporation and its administrative apparatus. A sex-linked

ethos became identified with each of the occupational groupings. Ideologies surrounding the pursuit
of these occupations and justifying their position in the organization came to define both the labor

pool from which these occupations drew and ideal images of the attributes of the people in that pool.

It is therefore essential that we examine the sex-based dimensions of power
and inequality inherent in the office, as well as the influence of broad economic
and organizational forces on occupational characteristics. Recent work on labor
market segmentation is instructive in this respect (see Gordon, 1972; Edwards
et al., 1975; Freedman, 1976; Edwards, 1979). Prominent in this literature is
the hypothesis that the development of corporate capitalism has fragmented a
once homogeneous working class by segmenting the labor process within firms
and, as a consequence, within the labor market (Gordon, 1972:43; Edwards et
al., 1975:xi).8 Segmentation occurs when changes in the productive process cre-

8. The term labor process refers to the way in which labor power is organized and regulated in the
activity of production. The term labor market refers to those institutions which influence, directly
or indirectly, the purchase and sale of labor power (Edwards et al., 1975:xi).

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ate submarkets based on different occupational characteristics, behavioral rules
and working conditions. By linking changes in labor market sectors to the
transformation of the work place under corporate capitalism, segmentation the-
ory indicates that sex is not the key to explaining male-female occupational dif-
ferences. The segmentation of the labor market into non-competing male and
female components results not from changes in the market itself, but rather
from the way labor power is utilized and organized hierarchically by employers.
The fragmentation of the labor process over the course of this century, especi-
ally within large corporations, has led employers to clearly distinguish between

types of jobs and therefore types of workers required. The main criterion shap-
ing job requirements is the degree of stability the organization requires from the
job holder (Gordon, 1972:71). Methods of ensuring various degrees of stability
are anchored in different systems of control in the workplace. Employers in-
creasingly separated jobs requiring stability from those which did not, recogniz-
ing that devices for maintaining stability within, for example, professional,
technical and middle level administrative positions were too expensive and elab-
orate to apply to the lower strata of clerical and menial labor.

Edwards (1979) argues that variations in labor market behavior can be ex-
plained in terms of the systems of control employers have instituted in the
workplace.9 For instance, given the interchangeability of workers in routine
clerical jobs there is no reason for employers to offer high rewards in terms of
pay, good working conditions and career prospects. Hence, the creation of a
“secondary” labor market characterized by truncated career paths, part-time or
short-term employment, relatively low salaries, subordination and powerless-
ness. This connection between labor market subgroups and different job control
systems lends support to our suggestion that the administrative revolution in
Canadian offices brought about changes in clerical occupations. Segmentation
theory shows that sex discrimination has become imbedded over time into the
very structure of work. This structural perspective is lacking in one respect,
however. It does not directly address how changing entrance requirements for
certain jobs created a decisive, and permanent, shift from male to female
workers. This deficiency can be remedied by combining the structural orienta-
tion of segmentation theory with the concept of sex labelling. This will equip us
to analyze the origins of the persistent dichotomy of the female clerk and the
male office manager to which Kanter (1977) refers above.

A structural explanation of clerical feminization: selected historical evidence
In this section of the paper, we will document how major structural changes in
office organization and the clerical labor process underlay the shift in demand
from male to female clerical workers. Three case studies will be presented. The
first will focus on the rise of a female labor market for bank clerks during the

9. Edwards (1979) has advanced segmentation theory furthest by proposing three market segments,
each defined in terms of a different form of job control found in the workplace. In other words, dif-

ferences among jobs explain basic differences among workers (166). A thorough evaluation of
Edwards’ work is beyond the scope of the present paper. However, we should note that his model
does not appear to have solved the problem of accounting for clerical occupations as more than
just a “deviant case” within the major labor submarkets (see Piore, 1975:130).

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First World War. The second examines the clustering of female clerks in the
lowest strata of the federal civil service. And the third outlines the mechaniza-

tion of clerical work in major offices, arguing that this aspect of work rational-
ization was fundamental to the feminization process. All three cases highlight
the connection between the administrative revolution and changing occupa-
tional characteristics. The emphasis will be on how the dynamics of labor mar-
ket segmentation and sex labelling were borne out in the office.

Before considering the historical evidence, a brief outline of the structural
basis of clerical feminization is in order. The rise of corporate capitalism in
Canada after 1900 precipitated a revolution in the means of administration.
Two trends converged, transforming the nature of clerical work. First, the flood
of paperwork generated by the expanding economy required growing numbers
of clerks. Second, managers came to rely on the office as the nerve centre of ad-
ministration. As organizations expanded, managers replaced traditional,
unsystematic methods of administration with “scientific” programs founded on
the rational concepts of efficiency in organizational operations and control over
the labor process. By the end of the First World War, these trends had greatly
magnified the scope and complexity of office procedures. But the burgeoning
layers of administration became a source of inefficiency, threatening to under-
mine the managerial powers vested in the office. This sparked a surge of ration-
alization in major Canadian offices, particularly during the twenties. By the
end of the decade, the typical large central office exhibited certain factory-like
features. Work had become fragmented and standardized; hierarchy and regi-
mentation prevailed.

Task specialization was fundamental to this revolution in the means of ad-
ministration. As the burden of office work increased, managers found that
clerks performing simple tasks in rapid succession were cheaper to employ, pro-
duced more and were more easily regulated. The new jobs created in this man-
ner lacked the skill components found in the craft-like work of the bookkeeper.
Consequently, they were unattractive to middle class male clerks expecting
upward mobility and comfortable salaries. Employers were pragmatic enough
to recognize the clear advantages of women’s higher average education, tradi-
tionally lower pay and greater availability for menial tasks. A permanent
secondary labor market of female clerks thus developed. Its emergence was
buttressed by a number of socio-economic factors, such as the rise of mass pub-
lic education, male labor shortages during the First World War, the gradual
loosening of social norms regarding women’s employment, and the fact that fe-
male wages were generally better in offices than in domestic or sales work. In
short, a hallmark of the modern office is the replacement of the general male
bookkeeper by an army of female workers. As women flooded into these
subordinate positions which employers had defined as “female,” they became
entrenched as the modern clerical corp.

The impact of World War I on women in banking
Severe labor force disruptions during both world wars directly influenced the
sex ratio of many occupations. It has been argued that far from transforming
the economic role of Canadian women, World War I merely accelerated an
earlier trend by creating a temporary influx of women into the world of men’s
work (Ramkhalawansingh, 1974:261). This generalization underestimates how

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the war precipitated lasting shifts in the balance of the sexes in the office.?0 The
more enduring effects of the war on clerical occupations resulted from the de-
velopment of shortages of male clerks at a time when major structural readjust-
ments were occurring in the office. The fact that the war coincided with the ad-
ministrative revolution helped to break down traditional barriers to female em-
ployment in some industries.” In banking, for example, the war was instrumen-
tal in establishing women as the most economical source of labor for routine
clerical jobs.

Banks traditionally considered the ideal clerk to be a young “gentleman”
from a solid middle class background. When there was an under-supply of
Canadians of this description, the banks recruited in Britain. But acute
shortages of male bank clerks during the war forced a reconsideration of
staffing policies. We find, for instance, that the proportion of female clerks in
the Bank of Nova Scotia’s Ontario region rocketed from 8.5 percent in 1911 to
40.7 percent in 1916 (Lowe, 1979:204). The war had shattered old restrictions,
and even with postwar readjustments women still held over 30 percent of these
positions in 1931.

Women were a rarity in turn-of-the-century banks. One of the largest banks
in the Dominion employed only five women in 1901 (Journal of the Canadian
Banker’s Association, July 1916:316). A major stumbling block was that
bankers considered women unable to create the public confidence necessary for
a successful branch operation. One branch manager, when faced with his first
female employee in 1901, “discussed with the head office in all seriousness the
advisability of having a screen-a good high one, too-placed around her to
shut her off completely from the observation of the public” (Journal of the
Canadian Banker’s Association, July 1916:316).

Prior to the war, women tended to fill jobs requiring no public contact, such
as stenographic and secretarial positions and menial head office jobs. One bank,
for example, employed 350 female stenographers and 273 female general clerks
in 1916. These jobs were mainly at head office; only seven women held teller
positions in branches. As the war escalated, bank officials had little choice but
to deploy females to the branches as vacancies created by enlisting male clerks’2
combined with the general expansion of banking to precipitate a labor supply
crisis. A female employee described the resulting diffusion of women through-
out the bank’s clerical hierarchies in these terms:

10. The tremendous expansion of the clerical sector during the war decade further segmented the
labor market. For example, clerical jobs increased their share of the total female work force from

9.1 percent in 1911 to 18.5 percent in 1921. Fully 50.2 percent of the growth in office occupations
over the decade was accounted for by women flooding into offices. In fact, 69,165 more clerical
jobs were created during the 1911-21 decade than during the twenties. This works out to approx-
imately four times more jobs, and therefore about four times more women entering the office.

11. The impact of the war on clerical employment opportunities for women was not even across all
industries. In Montreal, for example, munitions plants hired women clerks to help administer war
production as well as regular business (Price, 1919:26). On the other hand, Montreal’s post offices
employed mainly female clerks in 1914 and the war brought about little change (Price, 1919:60).
Similarly, in the Manufacturers Life Assurance Company the war merely tilted the balance in
favor of women, something which would have happened anyway (Lowe, 1979).

12. By early 1919, a total of 9,069 male bank clerks had enlisted in Canada (Lowe, 1979:284).

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The posts open to women in a bank are, of course, both stenographic and clerical, and on the former it

is unnecessary to touch. In the head offices until quite recently the proportion of clerical openings was
small, but it is rapidly increasing and affording, as the business of each bank expands, opportunities in

the way of special openings calling for special ability. In addition to the ordinary run of clerical posi-

tions, women have been employed for the past few years in the branches of at least some of our leading
banks in collection departments and on the ledgers; yes, on the ledgers…. Since the outbreak of the
war, women have been filling positions both as clerks and as heads of departments which were for-

merly held by men…. In fact, the only two posts which are not at present occupied by women in a

greater or lesser proportion are those of accountant and manager. (Journal of the Canadian Banker’s
Association, July 1916:314-15)

Bank management reluctantly adjusted to the realities of the wartime labor
market. In 1916, the Bank of Nova Scotia officially directed its branch man-
agers to replace enlisted male clerks with women. Recognizing that the scarcity
of male clerks would likely continue, bankers considered the possibility of plac-
ing women into previously male dominated jobs: “we might just as well realize
at once that the services of young women will have to be utilized for ledger-
keepers, and at the smaller branches for tellers, so that attention should be paid
to their training with this kind of service in mind.”‘3 While a good number of
branch managers were unwaivering in their conviction that the male clerk was
indispensible for business,’4 some were acknowledging the merits of female
clerks. But this was tempered by the assumption that after the war most would
return to the higher callings of homemaking and motherhood.

The economic necessities of the war clashed with the traditional social
norms governing female conduct. Women were thus confronted with a dilem-
ma. Many of the newly recruited female clerks proclaimed their intention to re-
main employed “not merely as the assistants of men but as their equals in
service and remuneration” (Journal of the Canadian Banker’s Association,
July 1917:316-17). Yet numerous other women demured in the face of this

challenge, thereby fulfilling the prophecy that “with the return of peace scores
of girls will joyfully lay down their pens and return to their homes” (Monetary
Times, 8 August 1919:10).

The immediate postwar boom carried wartime feminization into the
twenties. The Monetary Times (8 August 1919:10) reported that “Canadian
banks are busier than ever before, and by their policy of opening many new
branches at the present time they are able to absorb their returning employees
and still retain some of the temporary (female) help.” The expansion of bank
hierarchies channelled numerous former male clerks into supervisory positions.
The recession in the early twenties resulted in many branch closures, curbing
the hiring of women for a time. But when the economy picked up later in the
decade, banks actively recruited women into their lower clerical ranks.

Changes in the clerical labor process, especially in large branches and head
offices, tended to make the banks’ time-tested recruitment and training proce-
dures obsolete. Curiously, some bankers considered male juniors cheaper to hire

13. “Circular No. 1,699 from the General Manager, 6 April 1916,” Bank of Nova Scotia Archives,
Toronto.

14. When conscription was imposed, the banks lobbied the government to exempt their male clerks,
arguing that these employees possessed special qualifications and performed a vital role in the
economy (Monetary Times, 29 March 1918:22).

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than women. The Monetary Times (20 May 1927:11) offered this explanation:
Women do not cultivate ‘mobility’ which is such a characteristic part of Canadian banking. Again,
they are not suitable for very small branches, where the employees act to a certain degree as protec-

tors. Moreover, they do not respond to opportunities for promotion as readily as men, who are in the

business as a life work. They have not so large a capacity for work as the average male, and conse-

quently more clerks are necessary.

In other words, men were an investment, contributing considerably more to the
bank in the long run by working their way up to responsible positions.

Even before the war, however, growing task specialization had increased the
number of routine clerical jobs at the expense of the general clerkships which
served as the training ground for aspiring males. As the banks modernized their
administrative structures, there arose a “good deal of discontent among the
younger men who … enter the banking service at low salaries with the expecta-
tion of rising to more responsible and highly paid positions” (Journal of the
Canadian Banker’s Association, January 1911:11). In sum, the wartime labor
crisis exacerbated organizational changes in the banks to bring about a demand
shift in the lower clerical echelons.

In order for women to become a permanent labor source by the end of the
1920s, the banks’ occupational structure had to be segmented along sex lines. It
was this segmentation which facilitated the creation of a secondary female
labor market. At the root of occupational and wage discrimination in the office
was the nineteenth century attitude that while women were handicapped in pur-
suing “male” occupations because of inherent disadvantages, they nevertheless
possessed certain qualities useful in a limited range of subordinate jobs. Scott
(1889:25) explains:
Woman has manifestly been designed by nature as a complement, not as a substitute for man. If soci-

ety has put her under certain political disabilities, her creator has put her under certain physical disa-

bilities. Even independently of the curse of Eve, the average women cannot calculate on her ability to
work continuously with as well-grounded confidence as the average man, while in bodily strength she

cannot compare with him. On the other hand, she excels him in delicacy of touch, in lightness of step,
in softness of voice.

Because their natural calling was thought to be in the home, women were
relegated to part-time, temporary employment. Strong social sanctions
prohibited the employment of married women.’5 Women tended to internalize
these prevailing norms, making it that much easier for employers to build
sex-based inequities into the division of labor. A vicious circle developed. Tasks
defined as suitable for women were typically monotonous and unrewarding.
This helped to turn the assumptions underlying occupational discrimination-
the female’s tentative labor force attachment, her primary vocation of home-
maker and mother, her lower aspirations-into self-fulfilling prophecies,

manifested in a lack of job interest and high quit rates. The way women reacted
to their relatively disadvantaged working conditions provided employers with
supporting evidence for the negative stereotypes which justified their recruit-
ment into routine jobs.’6

15. In the early twentieth century, approximately 90 percent of women in the Canadian labor force

were single (Vipond, 1977:117).

16. Ironically, women who entered the labor force typically were somewhat better educated than
men. This was an added bonus for employers, but how was the discrepancy between occupational

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Labor market segmentation and job sex labelling in the federal civil service
The treatment of women in the federal civil service is a classic example of the
use of legislation and formal hiring policies to severely restrict female employ-
ment opportunities. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, the flow of women
into the lower ranks of the Ottawa “inside service” steadily mounted. The
relatively high government salaries and the introduction of merit-based en-
trance examinations in 1908 attracted many women into the swelling bureauc-
racy. This leads Archibald (1970:16) to conclude that the “generally low labor
force participation rates of women in the early part of this century were more a
result of restricted opportunities than of female lack of interest in working.”
Women initially entered the civil service in response to a general demand for
clerical labor. But the Civil Service Commission resorted to rules, regulations
and legislation to segment the supply of clerical workers into male and female
groups, confining the demand for female labor to menial jobs in the lowest
reaches of the clerical hierarchy.

The inequality of opportunity built into the civil service bureaucracy early
in the century helped create a cheap female labor pool (Hodgetts et al.,
1972:483). But other factors also contributed to the discrimination against
women in the service. Closer examination of employment practices reveals di-
rect links between the processes of segmentation and sex labelling, traditional
attitudes regarding woman’s role and the growth and rationalization of govern-
ment offices.

By 1891, women had been accepted as a permanent part of the service and
were considered as efficient as male clerks (Dawson, 1929:191). Their numbers
steadily increased, and in 1908, 700 of the 3,000 inside jobs were occupied by
women (Hodgetts et al., 1972:483). The Civil Service Commission, however,
reacted with alarm, predicting administrative chaos were the trend to continue.
The Commission was even more concerned that the preponderance of women in
the lower echelons of the service would eliminate these positions as a training
ground for male officials. The Commission’s solution was simple: restrict
women to certain routine clerical jobs. In 1910 it limited appointments in the
first and second division to men, leaving only the third division open to women.
And blatant sex labelling was used to prevent women from monopolizing the
third division:
In the first place, there is certain work incidental to clerical duties, as in the handling of large regis-

ters, carrying of files and books up and down ladders, etc., which on physical grounds is not suitable
for women. There are other positions in which, from time to time, the clerk may be called upon to
travel considerable distances from Ottawa, alone or in the capacity as secretary of assistant. For obvi-

ous reasons, male clerks are required in positions involving such duties. (Canada, Civil Service
Commission Annual Report, 1910:17)

status and education rationalized? Part of the answer is found in the ideology surrounding

woman’s social role. The “cult of domesticity” required that women, as the transmitters of culture
to children, should have an adequate base of knowledge from which to work (Brownlee and
Brownlee, 1976:18). The growing number of women who entered the clerical labor market had to
balance the contradictory demands of the world of work with those of home and family. Encour-
aged to gain specialized clerical skills by enrolling in one of the plethora of business colleges, yet
all the while knowing her destiny was in the home, the young woman of the 1920s faced a basic

quandry (see Vipond, 1977:120).

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The new rules forced women who passed the qualifying exam for the second
division to take a position in the third. Temporary clerks had to pass typing or
stenography tests, skills rare among males. Occupational segmentation was
furthered by allowing department heads to label jobs “male” or “female.”
Women therefore became stenographers and typists; men became general
clerks (Archibald, 1970:14). These measures had the desired effect. Yet the
Commission did not consider the problem solved until the 1918 Civil Service

Act limited job competitions on the basis of sex and a 1921 ruling barred most
women from permanent posts (Archibald, 1970:16).17

It is significant that during the same period the civil service job classifi-
cation system was being overhauled by a team of Chicago efficiency experts
(see Lowe, 1979:312-18). The “scientific” reforms increased the specialization
and standardization of clerical procedures. The administrative division of labor
advanced, adding to the pool of female jobs a growing array of routine tasks.
Inequalities in the opportunity structure were becoming more rigid. Even
though they constituted a stable supply of clerical workers, the status of the fe-
male civil servant can be best described as marginal. This sometimes had rather
severe ramifications. For example, when the job market was tight, women were
considered to have less right to employment than men (Hodgetts et al.,
1972:487). In sum, the experience of the female civil service clerk supports
Oppenheimer’s (1970) contention that the effects of sex labelling are self-
perpetuating. Early discriminatory policies have thus left an indelible mark on
the present occupational structure of the federal civil service (Archibald,
1970:19).

The female office machine operator
Mechanization had a disintegrating effect on traditional clerical occupations. It
simplified tasks, reduced skill levels, standardized procedures and intensified
the pace of work and the level of supervision. The women who now operate
modern office machines are considered the most “proletarianized” sector of the
white-collar work force (Work in America, 1973:38; Rinehart, 1975:92; Glenn
and Feldberg, 1977). Mechanized clerical jobs were a byproduct of the progres-
sive rationalization of the office. Women did not displace men, for a female
label was always attached to this kind of work. Because office mechanization is
so closely interconnected with feminization, it provides clear evidence of how
structural changes in the office underlay the shifting ratio of clerical jobs.

Stenography became the first female office occupation for a unique combi-
nation of reasons. Because of the arduous nature of the work, the special
training required and the lack of obvious social or economic advantages, male
clerks did not find stenography very attractive. Young women were being
trained in typing in the early 1880s, at least a decade before the typewriter was
modified into a practical office appliance. Typewriters thus helped create a new
subgroup outside the male dominated, mainstream clerical occupations. By

17. The 1921 regulation made exceptions for married women who were self-supporting or if other
suitable candidates could not be found. Married women in the service were forced to resign and
reapply as temporary workers at the minimum salary.

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1900, any remaining doubts about women’s ability to operate the new office
machines had been supplanted. Prevailing social norms sanctioned these devel-
opments, provided women did not pose a competitive threat to the male clerk.

A woman is to be preferred for the secretarial position for she is not averse to doing minor tasks, work

involving the handling of petty details, which would irk and irritate ambitious young men, who usu-
ally feel that the work they are doing is of no importance if it can be performed by some person with a

lower salary. Most such men are also anxious to get ahead and to be promoted from position to posi-
tion, and consequently if there is much work of a detail (sic) character to be done, and they are ex-

pected to perform it, they will not remain satisfied and will probably seek a position elsewhere.

(Leffingwell, 1925:621)

Stenography presents somewhat of a paradox in terms of the position of
women in the office. On one hand, we have shown that women were shunted
into the bottom layers of administrative structures. Yet on the other hand,
mechanization afforded considerable socio-economic status and craft-like work

to a select group of female clerks. Early stenographers closely approximated the
ideal of craft work, as evident in the range of their skills and their greater mas-
tery and control over the work process. These conditions were significantly bet-
ter than those in other clerical jobs, so much so that stenographers became
career-oriented and tended to develop a strong occupational identification. This
accounts for their longer years of service and greater earning potential. Conse-
quently, we find that from 1911 to 1926 stenographers were the highest paid
group of either sex in the Bank of Nova Scotia, with starting wages consistently
higher than those for general clerks (Lowe, 1979:231).

The privileged position of the stenographer was undermined, however, by
the advance of rationalization. By the start of the First World War, the two

central elements of the job, dictation and typing, were being separated. The in-
troduction of dictation machines facilitated the organization of central typing
pools. Furthermore, there was a great surge of women into the occupation in
search of high wages and steady employment (Labour Gazette, 1913:passim).
In 1915, Toronto had twenty-eight business schools turning out stenographers
and typists (Ontario, Report of the Commission on Unemployment, 1916:
182).18 The market became glutted. Unemployment among stenographers

reached 25 percent in Toronto that year (Labour Gazette, February 1915:924)
and only the most experienced operators could command top wages.

Management viewed the typing pool as more efficient, cheaper and easier to
control than individual stenographers scattered throughout the office. Typing
pools combined technical and organizational changes, giving rise to the “office-
machine age” (Mills, 1956:195) which has culminated in the “word processing
systems” and “administrative support centres” of today. By the mid-twenties,
many large Canadian offices had central typing pools (Lowe, 1979:363-67).
These paper-generating assembly lines obtained optimal efficiency from
typewriters by keeping them in continuous use. Employees viewed the pool

18. Another contributing factor on the supply side was the attempt by typewriter companies to regu-

late the labor market for stenographers and typists through employment agencies (see Ontario,
Report of the Commission on Unemployment, 1916:182). The business schools and private em-
ployment agencies helped create a huge secondary labor pool of semi-skilled women, which
employers drew on to fill routine typing jobs.

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concept with suspicion. One insurance company reported that:

Most stenographers who had seen or heard of transcribing machines were very much prejudiced

against them, and the belief was almost generally entertained that the machine would ultimately

force all stenographers to abandon their careers in favour of the much lower priced transcribing ma-

chine operators…. There was also a natural prejudice … against working in a Stenographic Depart-
ment as compared with the more intimate contacts surrounding positions where they were required to

take the work of only one or two dictators. (Life Office Management Association, Proceedings,
1926:82)

Without downplaying the impact of the typewriter on the feminization pro-
cess, it is accurate to say that the Hollerith machine fully launched the mechan-
ical transformation of the clerical work process. The Hollerith punch card sys-
tem was the most dramatic innovation in office technology prior to computers.
International Business Machines was the main supplier, and by the early 1930s
it had 105 major Canadian offices among its Hollerith customers (Lowe,
1979:377-78). The job title of “office machine operator” first appeared in the
1921 Census, signalling that a minor revolution in office technology was well
underway.

The impact of the Hollerith machine was heightened by increasing
bureaucratization and the introduction of scientific office management during
the twenties. The women operators no doubt found that the machines tended to

fragment and deskill work. As Shepard (1971:63) puts it, such devices “greatly
accelerated the trend toward functional specialization. Many more special
purpose machine-operating jobs evolved, placing employees filling these jobs in
a relationship to technology similar to the mass-production factory worker.
Work in these jobs is repetitive, mechanically paced, and minutely
sub-divided.” In short, the female office machine operator had become a stand-
ard feature of the large bureaucratic office by the late 1920s. These women
constituted what in Marxist terms might be called the “machine minders” of
the modern office.

Conclusion

This paper has attempted to develop a new perspective on the feminization pro-
cess. By incorporating features of existing models into a structural explanation,
we have been able to trace the origins of a secondary female clerical labor mar-
ket back to transformations in the means of administration. The historical evi-

dence presented supports Meissner’s (1977:162) contention that “the structure
of functional distinctions and social inequalities becomes visible in job assign-
ments, wage differences, and job classifications.” The evolution of modern ad-
ministration during the first three decades of this century in Canada created a
new stratum of clerical jobs. As the number of these routine jobs grew, they be-
came increasingly rationalized. Employers shifted their demand for clerks from
men to women mainly because the requirements of the new administrative tasks
were inconsistent with the established occupational characteristics of male
clerks. Feminization was not simply a case of women displacing men. Rather,
women became an administrative underclass because the division of labor had

advanced to the point where male clerks were unsuited and unwilling, for a
variety of social and economic reasons, to perform the new menial tasks.
Segmentation resulted; men became office managers and technical or profes-
sional personnel and women occupied the subordinate clerical jobs.

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The paper raises a number of issues worthy of further investigation, but two
in particular stand out. The first has to do with the relationship between sex
segregation in clerical jobs and the hierarchical organization of the office
(Stevenson, 1975:251, 253). Specifically, how has the concentration of women
workers in the lower reaches of administration helped maintain the hierarchical
arrangement of control in the modern office? The second question links the
workplace to the larger society. We have argued that in order to understand
labor market processes, it is imperative to examine the social relations of pro-
duction in the office. But to what extent are the social relations of office work

reflected in the class structure? Davis (1975:279) claims that lower level clerks
form an integral part of the working class. Certainly our research suggests that
office working conditions became “proletarianized” during the administrative
revolution, at least to the extent that they became more factory-like. But does
this mean that the women recruited into clerical jobs comprise a segment of the
working class? Both of these questions present intriguing theoretical possibili-
ties and will hopefully spark future research.

Let us conclude with a comment on the present situation. Clerical occupa-
tions now contain the greatest concentration of women in the labor force. The
thrust of sex labelling and segmentation, when combined with the progressive
rationalization of the office, have increasingly locked women into subordinate
clerical jobs. Presumably, attitudes towards women’s position in society have
liberalized considerably since the 1920s. But sex-based inequalities and discrim-
ination are so deeply embedded in the structure of the contemporary office that
only the utmost tenacity on the part of women’s groups and unions holds pros-
pects for greater equality.

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• Contents

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• Issue Table of Contents

Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, Vol. 5, No. 4, Autumn, 1980
Front Matter [pp. i – x]
Nomos-Building on the Prairies: Construction of Indian, Hutterite, and Jewish Sacred Canopies [pp. 341 – 356]
The Gap between Male and Female Income in Canada [pp. 357 – 360]
Women, Work and the Office: The Feminization of Clerical Occupations in Canada, 1901 – 1931 [pp. 361 – 381]
Une loi de distribution des fréquences des visites aux omnipraticiens: la binomiale négative [pp. 383 – 398]
“Effect Equations” or “Effect Coefficients”: A Note on the Visual and Verbal Presentation of Multiple Regression Interactions [pp. 399 – 404]
Karl Mannheim’s Sociological Theory of Culture [pp. 405 – 411]
On the Sociological Determination of Methodology [pp. 413 – 432]
Book Reviews/Comptes Rendu
untitled [pp. 433 – 434]
untitled [pp. 434 – 436]
untitled [pp. 436 – 437]
untitled [pp. 437 – 440]
untitled [pp. 440 – 442]
untitled [pp. 442 – 444]
untitled [pp. 444 – 446]
untitled [pp. 446 – 449]
untitled [pp. 449 – 450]
untitled [pp. 450 – 452]
untitled [pp. 452 – 453]
untitled [pp. 453 – 455]
Books Received/Livres Reçus [pp. 457 – 460]
Back Matter

Financial History Review 3 (1996), pp.

49

-68. Cambridge University Press.

A comparison of the stability and efficiency
of the Canadian and American banking

systems, 1870-19251

MICHAEL D. B O R D O , HUGH ROCKOFF
Rutgers University and the NBER

and ANGELA REDISH
University of British Columbia

During the middle of the nineteenth century the United States and

Canada

embarked on two very different roads toward the goal of stable banking. The
United States set up the national banking system (1863 and 1864), an attempt to
achieve stability through imposing high capital requirements, a bond backing system
for note issues, reserve requirements on deposits and other constraints. The idea of
permitting branch banking and allowing market forces to operate was rejected.
Canada, following Confederation, followed a very different path. Relatively few
regulatory restrictions were imposed; instead Canada relied on the formation of
large banks with interprovincial networks of branches to provide stability.

A financial economist from today transported to the mid-nineteenth century
would expect the Canadian approach to be more appropriate. And in the end it
was. The Canadian system survived the Great Depression undamaged, while the
American system collapsed; and there have been no major bank failures in Canada
since 1923. (There have been a substantial number of failures among trust compa-
nies, especially since 1983.)2 In a previous paper3 we showed that this experience
contrasts vividly even with that of the United States national banks (the strongest
sector within the United States banking system) and, moreover, was not bought at
the expense of the consumers of Canadian bank services.

1 A draft of this paper was given at the Colloquium ‘Financial Institutions and Financial Markets in
Twentieth Century Europe’, Zurich, 27-28 May 1993, organised by the European Association for
Banking History and the Verein fur Bankgeschichte (Schweiz und Fiirstentum Liechtenstein). For
helpful comments on an earlier draft we wish to thank especially Neil Quigley and Ellis Tallman and
an anonymous referee of this journal.

2 J. L. Carr, F. Mathewson and N . C. Quigley, Ensuring Failure: Financial System Stability and Deposit
Insurance in Canada (Ottawa, 1994), pp. 1-4.

3 M. D. Bordo, A. Redish and H. Rockoff, ‘The U.S. banking system from a northern exposure:
stability versus efficiency’, JoHma/ of Economic History, 54 (1994).

49

50 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

But our time-travelling economist would be disappointed if he or she expected
the race to be decided quickly. For long periods before 1925, it could well be
argued that the United States national banking system exhibited greater stability. It
was only after the merger movement in Canadian banking (1900-25) reduced the
number of banks and created a system characterised by a small number of large
banks with thick interprovincial branch networks that the race was clearly won.
Before the merger movement, freedom to branch allowed banks in Canada to
become bigger relative to the Canadian banking system as a whole than could
American banks relative to the American banking system. This created banks that
could absorb substantial shocks, but it also created banks that could make major
mistakes. Section I compares the stability of the two systems between 1870 and 1925
in terms of bank failures and system-wide disorders. Section II explains the differ-
ences in stability over time in terms of branch banking and the shocks faced by the
banking systems. Section III examines the effectiveness of the lender of last resort in
both systems, while section IV takes a closer look at the merger movement and its
effects on the stability of the system. Section V explores some additional evidence
derived from bank portfolios and rates of return, and section VI reviews the main
findings and discusses their implications for policy.

I

Two aspects of stability will be considered separately here: year to year variations in
bank failures measured by the losses experienced by depositors and note holders;
and the susceptibility of each system to liquidity crises.

With respect to losses on deposits and notes, Figure 1 shows deposit losses as a
fraction of all deposits from 1870 to 1925 for national banks in the United States
and for all banks in Canada. This is the appropriate comparison, at least to start with,
because the national bank sector was stronger and weighted more heavily toward
large money-centre banks. Loss rates were defined simply as total losses ultimately
experienced by depositors of the banks that failed in a given year divided by total
deposits in that year, expressed as a percentage. The number of years it took to
collect on the assets, and to raise the additional amounts due from shareholders
under the double indemnity rule that held in both countries, varied from bank to
bank. Better measures, but not available, would be the present value at the time of
failure of the losses actually experienced, or the difference between the nominal
value of deposits and their market value at the time of failure.

Losses for Canada are from Beckhart,4 and total deposits are from Historical
Statistics of Canada5 (series H20). Losses on United States national banks deposits are
from the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Annual Report 1934.

4 B. H. Beckhart, ‘The banking system of Canada’, in H. P. Willis and B. H. Beckhart (eds), Foreign
Banking Systems (London, 1929).

5 M. C. Urquhart and K. A. H. Buckley (eds), Historical Statistics of Canada (Toronto, 1965).

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN BANKING

1070 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920

Canada US nationals

Figure 1. Deposit losses, i8?o-ig25 (percentage of total deposits; Canada and
US nationals)

For the years 1870 to 1920 we simply divided the ‘amount of losses’ of’National
Banks which did not reopen’6 by ‘average of deposits reported on call dates’.7 This
calculation omits some losses incurred by depositors in national banks that reopened.
A feature of some reopenings was an agreement by depositors to waive some of
their deposits, but the error from this source is likely to be small in the years
covered. For the period 1921 to 1925 we took deposits of ‘suspended’ national
banks, from which deposits of banks that reopened were subtracted,8 to obtain
deposits of failed national banks. An obvious problem arises from a national bank
that was temporarily closed, but reopened in a subsequent year. This should be less
of a data difficulty before the 1930s, and should even up over time — the overestimate
in one year will be offset by an underestimate the following year. To obtain deposit
losses our estimate of deposits in banks that did not reopen was multiplied by 0.319,
which is based on a sample of 267 ‘national banks which suspended during

6 United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [hereafter FDIC], Annual Report 1934,
PP- 92-3-

7 ibid., p. 89.
8 ibid., p. 94.

52 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

1921-1930 and did not reopen’.9 As for the period 1870 to 1920 the divisor is the
‘average of deposits reported on call dates’.10

As can be seen in Figure 1, there were some losses for United States national
banks in virtually every year, while in Canada there were long periods when there
were no losses. But when failures did occur in Canada, they involved, on some
occasions, much larger fractions of total deposits than was the case in the United
States.11 A particularly striking example occurs during the 1890s, when the United
States banking system experienced severe difficulties. Losses of national banks
peaked at 0.27 per cent of total deposits in 1893, and gold payments were suspended
for two months. No banks failed in Canada in 1893, and Canada avoided suspen-
sion. But in 1895 the failure of one bank in Canada – the Banque du Peuple in
Montreal — created losses equalling 0.86 per cent of deposits.

In the United States losses on notes (issued only by national banks) appear to
have been negligible owing to the bond security provision of the National Banking
Act. In most years the Comptroller12 shows sufficient cash deposited to redeem the
outstanding notes of all failed banks. In a few years, however, there are small
deficiencies and some notes may have gone unredeemed. In Canada noteholders
lost in the long run in only two bank failures: the Mechanics Bank of Montreal in
1879 and the Bank of Prince Edward Island in 1881. But on those occasions the
losses were sizeable compared with annual losses on deposits in both countries; the
losses in 1879 amounted to about 0.32 per cent and in 1881 to about 0.33 per cent
of total circulation in Canada. The bond security system in the United States,
moreover, meant that noteholders were paid off quickly when a bank failed — as
soon as the Comptroller of the Currency could realise the highly liquid bonds
he held.

The comparative safety of the United States national banks, and especially the
greater safety of national bank notes, was not lost on Canadian observers. During
the late 1870s some sentiment existed in Canada to adopt a bond-secured note issue.
However, various counter-arguments – perhaps the most persuasive being that a
bond secured note issue would lack ‘elasticity’ – carried the day.

The revisions introduced by the 1890 Bank Act (the Bank Act regulated behav-
iour of the chartered banks and was revised decennially), however, included a Bank
Circulation Redemption Fund. Each bank was required to pay in an amount equal
to five per cent of its average note circulation. Liquidators of an insolvent bank
could draw on this fund, if the bank assets were not realised within 60 days. When
assets were realised, reimbursement of the Fund was a first charge against the assets.
Additionally, the notes of any bank that suspended were to bear interest at

9 ibid., p. 100.
10 ibid., p. 89.
11 As E. P. Neufeld, The Financial System of Canada (Toronto, 1972), p. 81, points out, the record of

the chartered banks was also ‘more tarnished’ than that of other Canadian intermediaries.
12 Annual Report of the Comptroller of the Currency 1920, 2, Table 37, pp. 8 0 – 1 2 3 .

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN BANKING 53

six per cent per annum until redeemed.13 Notes were also given a senior lien (ahead
of deposits) on bank assets.14

Although Canadian banks had a higher loss ratio than the United States national
system, they had a lower loss ratio than United States non-national banks, and a
lower loss ratio than all United States banks. Loss data15 for non-national banks in
the United States are far less reliable than for the national banks. State banking
authorities did not always require detailed reports on bankruptcy proceedings, and
some private commercial banks were not under any obligation to report to a
government authority. The data plotted here are probably adequate for a broad
brush comparison with Canada, or with the United States national banks, but not
for more demanding uses. The data are based on surveys made by the United States
Comptroller of the Currency.

For the years 1870 to 1920 we began with the liabilities of the ‘state and private
banks which did not reopen’.16 We then multiplied by 0.90 to get an estimate of
the deposits – the figure the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation used17 – to
adjust for non-deposit liabilities such as bonded debt. Losses were obtained by then
multiplying the deposit estimates by loss factors based on samples, each of which
covered a group of banks failing over a number of years.18 To get the loss rate we
then divided by ‘estimated average deposits’ of commercial banks ‘other than
national’.19 These data are reported on a biannual basis. For a given year we used
the first of the pair of estimates that include data from that year. This decision may
impart a slight upward bias in our estimates, perhaps offsetting in some measure the
downward bias resulting from incomplete coverage.

For the years 1921 to 1925 we subtracted our estimate of losses on national bank
deposits from the estimate of losses borne by all depositors reported by Friedman
and Schwartz20 to get an estimate of losses at non-national banks. We then divided
by the ‘estimated average deposits of commercial banks other than national’21 to get
the loss rate.

Figure 2 contrasts the loss rates of United States national and non-national banks,
and Figure 3 contrasts loss rates of Canadian chartered banks and all United States
banks. Although a number of Canadian failures still stand out, the worst Canadian
years now have some rivals in the United States, particularly 1878, 1893 and 1907.

13 The Fund was held by the Minister of Finance and the banks received interest of three per cent per
annum on their contributions. R. C. Maclvor, Canadian Monetary, Banking and Fiscal Development
(Toronto, 1961), p. 77.

14 R. M. Breckenridge, The History of Banking in Canada (Washington, DC, 1910), p. 123.
15 Losses on United States non-national banks deposits are also from FDIC, Annual Report 1934.
16 ibid., pp. 92-3.
17 ibid., p. n o .
18 ibid., pp. 100-1.
19 ibid., p. 89.
2 0 M . F r i e d m a n a n d A . J . S c h w a r t z , A Monetary History of the United States ( P r i n c e t o n , N J , 1963),

p . 4 3 8 .
2 1 F D I C , Annual Report 1934, p . 89.

54 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920

US national US non-national

Figure 2. Deposit losses, 1870-1925 (percentage of total deposits: US national and
US non-national)

The high loss rate experienced by non-national banks in 1878 was surprising
because this year is not identified as a crisis year by leading financial histories of the
United States. Most financial histories appear to rely on Sprague’s chronology.22

Sprague, however, may have neglected 1878 because of his focus on the national
banking system. As shown in Figure 2, the difficulties in 1877 and 1878 were
confined almost entirely to non-national banks.23 This source reports the results of
the Comptroller’s survey of national bank examiners, and the data may vary from
state to state depending on the cooperation received by the examiners, how they
defined a bank and the effort they put forward. The Comptroller’s report, however,
does confirm the large number of failures and the substantial liabilities of the non-
national banks that failed in 1877 and 1878. It appears that failures were particularly
heavy among mutual savings banks. Indeed, the FDIC Report24 shows 1878 to be
the worst year for mutual savings banks in terms of loss rates between 1865 and
1934. The Boston mutual savings banks were especially hard hit in 1878. There
were runs on a number of them and the Massachusetts legislature responded by

22 O . M . W . S p r a g u e , History of Crises under the National Banking System ( W a s h i n g t o n , D C , 1910).
23 T h e F D I C Report for 1934, w h i c h w e relied o n t o c o m p u t e t h e estimates o f d e p o s i t losses, is b a s e d

o n t h e C o m p t r o l l e r o f t h e C u r r e n c y ‘ s Annual Report (1896), p p . 52—7, for i n f o r m a t i o n c o n c e r n i n g
n o n – n a t i o n a l b a n k losses.

24 F D I C , Annual Report 1934, p p . 1 1 2 – 1 3 .

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN BANKING 55

DO

C

1070 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920

Canada US all banks

Figure 3. Deposit losses, 1870-1925 (percentage of total deposits: Canada and US all
banks)

simplifying the procedure by which mutual savings banks could temporarily suspend
payments.25 In 1877 similar problems had afflicted savings banks in St Louis and
Chicago. But, although losses were concentrated in certain cities, there were at least
a few failures in a substantial number of states. The difficulties of the mutual savings
banks may have been associated with the decline in commodity prices and the
decline in railroad and utility stocks that occurred in 1877 and 1878. The entire
episode deserves further study.

Table 1, which makes use of data from the FDIC’s Annual Report for 1940, shows
averages for several segments of 1865-1920. The estimates reported in 1940 may
incorporate revisions of the estimates, particularly for non-national banks reported
in 1934, which underlay Figures 2 and 3. (Unfortunately, while the Annual Report
1934 reported annual estimates, the Annual Report 1940 reported only averages for
long periods.) The general picture, however, is similar. The Canadian system enjoys
an edge for the whole period, but 1881 -1900 is an exception. Loss rates for Canada
and for the United States banking system as a whole were similar over the period
1881-1900, but the loss rate for Canadian banks was higher than for United States
national banks. The most important conclusion to be drawn from these comparisons
is that losses on deposits and notes in Canada were on occasion quite large by
25 Bankers’ Magazine, 32 (1877-78), pp. 826-7.

56 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

Table i. Losses

Years

1865-1880
1881-1900
1901-1920

on deposits; percentage of total deposits

Canada

o.oi a

0.16

O.OI

United States: national banks

0.06
0.08

O.OI

United States: all banks

0.21
0.15
0.05

Notes: aThis figure is for 1867 (Confederation) to 1880. In 1866 there was a major failure:
the Bank of Upper Canada; if this failure were included, the Canadian average for 1865 to
1880 would be about 0.07. See R. M. Breckenridge, The History of Banking in Canada
(Washington, DC, 1910), pp. 79-80, for a discussion of this failure.

Sources: Canada and United States national banks, see text. All United States banks: United
States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Annual Report (1940), p. 69.

United States standards. This presents a sharp contrast with the stability observed
after 1925. W e turn now to a somewhat different aspect of stability: banking crises.

In the United States banking difficulties on five occasions (1873, 1884, 1890,
1893 and 1907 [Sprague dates]) led to severe stringencies in the money markets and
on three occasions (1873, 1893 and 1907) to restrictions on the convertibility of
deposits and notes with gold. These crises produced severe contractions in the stock
of money and reductions in the quality of the stock of money (the ability of various
components to perform as media of exchange) that in turn produced steep falls in
the price level and contractions in economic activity. Canada, however, avoided
this form of instability. Below we will consider the extent to which branch banking
deserves the credit for this difference in stability.

II

T h e role of branch banking in mitigating instability in the banking system can best
be understood by considering separately three classes of shocks: bank specific shocks,
regional shocks and system-wide shocks.

With regard to bank specific shocks, bad luck may lead to a large percentage of
assets of a single bank going bad at one time, and to the failure of the bank even as
its neighbours remain solvent. T h e rules normally followed by prudent bankers,
such as diversifying portfolios and demanding collateral for risky loans, are designed
to minimise the probability of this type of failure, so that most failures of this type
are likely to be the result of imprudent or fraudulent banking. Imprudent or
fraudulent bankers were probably not more plentiful in Canada than in the United
States. But the relative freedom of Canadian banks, compared with the United
States nationals, to invest in a wide range of assets and to grow quickly to a large
size by opening branches and acquiring other banks was hkely to make errors from
mismanagement or fraud more costly.

Indeed, most of the major Canadian failures have been traced to gross misman-

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN BANKING 57

agement or fraud.26 The failure of the Mechanics Bank of Montreal in 1879 was
attributed by Breckenridge27 to mismanagement and excessive note issue. This
authority related the failure of the Maritime Bank of Canada in 188728 to its being a
one-man bank that made excessive loans to a few favoured firms and that of the
Banque Ville Marie in 189529 to gross fraud. The collapse of the Home Bank in
1923 was considered by Jamieson30 to be partly due to bad loans to the bank’s
directors. The failures of the Sovereign Bank of Canada in 1908 and the Farmer’s
Bank in 1910 were attributed by Jamieson partly to the attempt to add branches and
attain an impressive size rapidly; a possibility, it is interesting to note, that was barred
to United States banks.

Granted, there is a tendency to make management the scapegoat when a bank
fails, and it is conceivable that in some cases managements of banks that failed did
not act very differently from banks that survived. But the specificity of the criticisms
suggests that in most cases management was to blame.

But why should the oligopoly of chartered banks that existed after the merger
movement be entirely free of failures due to gross mismanagement or fraud? In
other words, given that a fair number of Canadian banks failed before 1925 due to
these causes, why should we not expect at least one or two failures owing to
mismanagement or fraud after 1925? We suggest three possible answers.

First, the staff promotion pyramid within the large nationwide branch banks may
have been so difficult to scale that incompetent managers were weeded out before
they reached levels of management where their decisions could have endangered
the entire institution, and may have discouraged short-sighted entrepreneurs from
joining such banks in the first place. The large chartered banks, according to the
conventional wisdom, would take on young men after graduation from high school
and assign them to minor branches in remote areas of Canada. Those that did well
would be given larger branches to manage and, after a number of years, would be
brought back to the head office in Montreal or Toronto. After years of service they
would eventually be given heavy responsibilities. In this way the banks developed a
core of managers who felt they owed all of their success in life to their bank, and
who responded with wholehearted institutional loyalty.

Second, as described by Jamieson,31 the large chartered banks developed a very
sophisticated system, replete with fail-safe devices, to audit and control branches,
and to make it difficult for individuals to do much damage; and third, the large
chartered banks may have been lucky.

26 N e u f e l d , Financial System, p . 104, c o n c l u d e s t h a t ‘loss o f c o n f i d e n c e in b a n k s a l m o s t always r e s u l t e d
f r o m t h e i r h a v i n g m a d e i m p r u d e n t l o a n s a n d i n v e s t m e n t s o r f r o m suffering d e f a l c a t i o n s , a n d a l m o s t
n e v e r f r o m e x t e r n a l forces o v e r w h i c h t h e b a n k s h a d n o c o n t r o l ‘ .

27 B r e c k e n r i d g e , History of Banking in Canada, p . 116.
28 ibid., p . 127.
2 9 i b i d . , p . 168.
30 A . B . J a m i e s o n , Chartered Banking in Canada ( T o r o n t o , r e v . e d n , 1955), p . 4 3 .
31 ibid., p a r t 11, passim.

58 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

The great strength of the Canadian banks was their ability to absorb regional
shocks such as a decline in wheat prices that affected the western provinces, or the
western United States. The Canadian banks were able to offset losses in one region
with gains in another and to transfer reserves from head offices to the branches
facing losses. Breckenridge comments on how the Canadian system handled a
regional shock in 1882 in the following terms:

So serious were the losses there [Manitoba] … because of the thoroughness with which the
whole commercial community had been infected with the speculative virus, that three out
of the seven Winnipeg managers were dismissed. Bad debts which would have swamped
local banks, perhaps for all time, were taken care of by the Canadian banks which suffered
them without other outward sign than reductions of capital, smaller additions to rest
account, or lower dividends upon their stock.32

After 1900, even Canadian banks that did not possess nationwide branch networks
were protected in some degree from regional shocks by the market for banks that
existed in Canada. We discuss the legal change in 1900 that facilitated mergers in
section IV. Consider a bank with branches in only one province. A regional shock
would impose heavy short-term losses on the bank, and possibly alarm depositors.
But the bank could then seek a merger with a larger bank with branches throughout
the country. Although the larger bank would have to absorb some losses, it would
acquire the branches, the goodwill and the local knowledge of the smaller bank. As
Carr et al. show,33 this market worked extremely well in Canada and assured that
only banks that were thoroughly rotten would have to close.

As an example, consider the Union Bank of Canada, which was acquired by the
Royal Bank of Canada in 1925. The Union had 327 branches controlled from a
head office in Winnipeg. It had taken a leading role in the development of western
Canada, but had been struggling since 1923, when increases in its loan loss reserves
were announced (probably for the same reason many United States banks were
struggling — the postwar fall in world agricultural prices) and its management was
afraid that the announcement of a large cut in dividends that seemed imminent
might adversely affect the ‘general standing’ of the bank. Merger with a strong
eastern bank was a reasonable solution.34 This was one of a series of mergers during
a period marked by great uneasiness about the soundness of Canada’s banks, and
even runs, that might have degenerated into a panic.

In the United States, on the other hand, banking laws prevented the development
of an interregional, and in many cases even an intrastate, market for distressed banks.
A bank in Kansas suffering from loan losses and deposit withdrawals resulting from
a decline in wheat prices could not look for salvation to a white knight from
Chicago or New York.

By system-wide shocks, we mean an event that leads to currency withdrawals

32 B r e c k e n r i d g e , History of Banking in Canada, p p . 125—6.
33 C a r r et al., Ensuring Failure, p p . 27—36.
34 Jamieson, Chartered Banking, p. 68.

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN BANKING 59

throughout the banking system and may lead to a temporary suspension of con-
vertibility. The event that triggers such a drain may be ‘internal’ – a shock to the
domestic economy, such as the collapse of a major corporation, that damages the
balance sheets of many banks and leads in turn to a scramble by the pubhc to convert
deposits into currency. Or it might be ‘external’ – for example, a withdrawal of
capital inflows from England prompted by an increase in the Bank of England’s
discount rate. In either case, branch banking played a role in protecting the
Canadian system.

A major cause of banking crisis in the United States appears to have been the
so-called ‘pyramiding of reserves’ in New York City. Country banks in the western
and southern regions of the United States relied on correspondents in New York to
provide reserves during times of heavy withdrawals.35 Presumably branch offices in
western and eastern Canada relied upon head offices in Toronto and Montreal in
the same way. But the commitment of a New York bank to its independent
correspondents in the south and west was less strong and less visible to the depositor,
than the commitment of head offices in Canada to their western and eastern
branches. Moreover, on several such occasions the correspondents, having their
assets tied up in a collapsing stock market, were unable to deliver. The holder of
deposits in western and southern banks in the United States was therefore more
prone to run to cash at the first sign of trouble, than his opposite number in Canada.

Not all of the relative financial instability in the United States, however, can be
laid at the door of limited branching. One ongoing problem was the continuing
debate over cheap money, particularly silver. The threat that the silver forces would
gain the upper hand in the United States and force the United States off the gold
standard may have made the system-wide shock in 1893 more severe.

In any event, it does appear that the United States economy suffered severely on
the three occasions — 1873, 1893 and 1907 — when system-wide shocks produced a
restriction of convertibility. The basic data are given in Table 2. Real and nominal
GNP fell significantly with each crisis in the United States, and in each case the fall
was larger than the corresponding fall, if any, in Canada.36 Indeed, during the first
two episodes real GNP actually rose in Canada. Two factors seem to have been at
work during the United States financial crises. First, as argued by Friedman and

35 M. D. Bordo, P. Rappoport and A. J. Schwartz, ‘Money versus credit rationing: evidence for the
national banking era, 1880-1914’, in C. Goldin and H. Rockoff(eds), Strategic Factors in Nineteenth
Century American Economic History: a Volume to Honor Robert W. Fogel ( C h i c a g o , 1992).

36 We have relied on N. S. Balke and R. J. Gordon, ‘The estimation of pre-war gross national
product: methodology and new evidence’, Journal of Political Economy, 97 (1989) for estimates of
GNP, rather than C. Romer, ‘The pre-war business cycle reconsidered: new estimates of gross
national product, 1869-1908\ Journal of Political Economy, 97 (1989), because the former appear to
be closer methodologically to estimates of GNP for Canada in M. C. Urquhart, ‘New estimates of
gross national product, Canada, 1870-1926: some implications for Canadian development’, in S. L.
Engerman and R . E. Gallman (eds), Long-Term Factors in American Economic Growth, 51 (Chicago,
1986).

60 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

Table 2. The Canadian and United States economies during financial crises (percentage change)

1873-74 ^ 9 3 – 9 4 1907-08

Real GNP
United States
Canada
Nominal GNP
United States
Canada
Money (M2)
United States
Canada

-0.63
2.01

– 3 – 5 5
– 0 . 4 7

1.83
– 3 – 7 5

– 2 . 9 6

4-93

-8.42
-4.65

0.47

3-27

– 5 . 6 2
– 5 . 1 2

-7-77
– 4 . 4 1

– 1 – 3 9
13-97

Sources: United States: Real and Nominal GNP: N . S. Balke and R. J. Gordon, ‘The
estimation of prewar Gross National Product: methodology and new evidence’, Journal of
Political Economy, 97 (1989), p. 84; M2: M. Friedman and A. J. Schwartz, Monetary Trends in
the United States and the United Kingdom: Tlieir Relation to Income, Prices and Interest Rates,
1867-1975 (Chicago, 1982), p. 122.
Canada: Real and Nominal GNP: M. C. Urquhart, ‘New estimates of Gross National
Product, Canada, 1870-1926: some implications for Canadian development’, in S. L.
Engerman and R. E. Gallman (eds), Long-term Factors in American Economic Growth, 51,
Conference on Income and Wealth (Chicago, 1986), p. 30; M2: M. D. Bordo and L. Jonung,
The Long-run Behaviour of the Velocity of Circulation (Cambridge, 1987), pp. 154-5.

Schwartz,37 the banking difficulties produced a decline in the money multiplier
which reduced the growth rate of the money supply, and hence aggregate demand.
Second, as argued by Grossman,38 the financial crisis in the United States disrupted
the credit allocation mechanism.39

There are some anomalies in Table 2. The rise in Canadian real GNP between
1873 and 1874, despite the fall in the stock of money and despite the financial

37 F r i e d m a n a n d S c h w a r t z , Monetary History.
3 8 R. S. Grossman, ‘The macroeconomic consequences of bank failures under the national banking

s y s t e m ‘ , Explorations in Economic History, 3 0 ( 1 9 9 3 ) .
3 9 The implications of the differences in susceptibility to system-wide shocks for long-run macroecon-

omic stability, however, are unclear. On one hand G. Rich, Tlie Cross of Cold: Money and
the Canadian Business Cycle, 1867-1913 (Ottawa, 1988), p. 157, concluded that ‘Canadian GNP
fluctuated less than its U.S. counterpart’. On the other hand, S. D. Williamson, ‘Implications
on financial intermediaries and implications for aggregate fluctuations: Canada and the United
States 1870-1913’, in O. J. Blanchard and S. Fischer (eds), NBER Macroeconomics Annual, 1989
(Cambridge, Mass., 1989), p. 332, relying on more recent estimates of US GNP (due to Romer,
‘Prewar business cycle’ and Balke and Gordon, ‘Estimation of prewar Gross National Product’),
and a different method for detrending the data, found, depending on the measure of US GNP used,
that Canadian GNP was 11% or 56% more volatile than US GNP, and that the GNP deflator was
9% or 54% more volatile. Indeed, Williamson concludes that branch banking, the absence of reserve
requirements on deposits and bond backing requirements on notes in Canada produced greater
sensitivity to real shocks in Canada.

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN BANKING 6l

Table 3. Bank balance sheets, Canada and the United States, 1870-1919

Ratios 1870-79 1880-89 1890-99 1900-09 1910-19

Canada
Loan: asset 0.717 0.706 0.696 0.722 0.640
Security: asset 0.013 0.021 0.071 0.087 0.110
Debt: equity 1.458 1.914 2.796 4.232 6.876

United States
Loan: asset 0.487 0.563 0.589 0.546 0.567
Security: asset 0.253 0.169 0.117 0.164 0.168
Debt: equity 1.826 2.334 2.620 4.184 5-352

Sources: United States: United States Comptroller of the Currency, Annual Report;
Canada: C. A. Curtis, ‘Banking statistics in Canada’, in Statistical Contributions to
Canadian Economic History (Toronto, 1931).

distress to the south, is somewhat surprising. But note that over the whole cycle,
1873 to 1878, real GNP in Canada fell about four per cent. The very rapid growth
of money in Canada between 1907 and 1908 is also surprising, and can be accounted
for by the lender of last resort operations described in the next section, and to a large
gold inflow that produced an increase in high-powered money sufficient to more
than offset declines in the deposit-reserve ratio and the deposit-currency ratio.

The three episodes explored above are famous crises in the United States, but
they were also international in scope so they should have had some impact in
Canada. Nevertheless, it is fair to ask whether we would get similar results if we
began with periods of distress in Canadian banking. The failure of the Home Bank
in 1923 and the subsequent anxiety about the banking system comes closest to a
banking crisis in Canada. According to Jamieson:40 ‘This [anxiety about the safety
of the banks] was reflected in the dissemination of rumours, some of the wildest
nature, and sporadic “runs” by depositors, which only a few of the very strongest
banks escaped.’ Several mergers of weaker with stronger banks followed in the wake
of the failure of the Home Bank. But, while nominal GNP fell 1.19 per cent in
Canada between 1923 and 1924, real GNP rose, although by an admittedly anaemic
0.73 per cent, and the stock of money in Canada rose 3.77 per cent. In the United
States, by way of contrast, nominal GNP rose 2.64 per cent, real GNP rose 2.62 per
cent and the stock of money rose 5.27 per cent. Evidently this episode does not
compare in intensity with the more serious crises in the United States.

Overall, the conclusion that branch banking helped the Canadian banks cope
with system-wide shocks seems to be well established. This conclusion is supported,

Jamieson, Chartered Banking, p. 65.

62 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

moreover, by Calomiris41 whose broad international survey of evidence on the
relationship between branch banking and stability includes Canada. It is possible,
however, to imagine system-wide shocks that are too big to be absorbed even by a
system of large banks with nationwide branch networks. A lender of last resort,
which we discuss in the following section, may be needed.

I l l

The Canadian banking system developed a lender of last resort only slowly and by
the end of our period was still without either a central bank or deposit insurance.
Yet an institutional structure had evolved that contained many of the features of a
lender of last resort. This gradual evolution reflected the many protective barriers
that insulated the Canadian banking system from such shocks. First, Canada was a
small, open economy and the Canadian banks held deposits in New York as a form
of contingent reserves. In addition, the asset-backed note issue of the Canadian
banks created an elasticity of the Canadian currency which permitted an instan-
taneous switch between deposits and notes. The significance of this elasticity
became clearer when it was reduced in 1907.

The first occasion when the government acted as lender of last resort occurred in
1907. The ability of the government to do so rested on its issues of Dominion notes.
These notes were legal tender notes issued by the federal government. The govern-
ment was required to redeem them on demand and held 25 per cent reserves against
issues up to C$30 million and 100 per cent gold reserves against any issues in excess
of C$30 million.42 In 1907, at the instigation of the public (rather than the chartered
banks), the Canadian government made an emergency issue of Dominion notes
which it lent to the banks. The emergency issue reflected concern, primarily
amongst farmers, of an incipient credit squeeze. The traditional explanation for the
squeeze has been that the restriction of bank note issues to an amount less than paid
up capital had become binding – a story which is consistent with the passage of
legislation in 1908 that permitted the banks to increase their note issue to 115 per
cent of paid in capital during the crop-moving season. However, Rich43 has argued
that the crisis was brought about by the Canadian banks shifting funds to New York
to take advantage of the very high interest rates prevailing there during the autumn
of 1907, and restricting domestic credit to do so. In any case, the emergency
Dominion note issues of 1907 represented the first time that the Canadian govern-
ment had intervened to supply liquidity to the banking system. In 1914, at the onset
of the First World War, the government passed the Finance Act which created a

41 C. Calomiris, ‘Regulation, industrial structure, and instability in U.S. banking: an historical perspec-
tive’, in M. Klausner and L. J. White (eds), Structural Change in Banking (Homewood, 111., 1993),
pp. 33-8.

4 2 R . C . M a c l v o r , Canadian Monetary, Banking and Fiscal Development ( T o r o n t o , 1961), p . 6 5 .
4 3 G . R i c h , ‘ C a n a d i a n b a n k s , g o l d , a n d t h e crisis o f 1 9 0 7 ‘ , Explorations in Economic History, 26 ( 1 9 8 9 ) .

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN BANKING 63

discount window for banks. It is clear, then, that by 1907 the Canadian government
had begun to play a modest role of lender of last resort.

A more difficult question to answer is whether the Bank of Montreal, or ‘the
club’ of large Canadian Banks, had also begun to play this role. In 1906 the

assets

and liabilities of the Ontario Bank were assumed by the Bank of Montreal, with
other banks giving a guarantee, and in 1908 the assets and liabilities of the Sovereign
Bank were taken over by a group of 12 banks including the Bank of Montreal. In
testimony before the United States National Monetary Commission, Sir Edward
Clouston, General Manager of the Bank of Montreal, was willing to agree that his
bank had acted as a lender of last resort in these cases: ‘in the case of the Ontario
Bank and Sovereign Bank it was a very ticklish time, and if that run had been
allowed to continue it might have spread, and it was done partially in self defence’.44

Carr et al., however, stress that the take-overs helped smooth the ‘transfer of
business’ from the insolvent banks, although they also note the concern about
‘externalities’ associated with the closure of these banks.45 Ultimately, the point
may be that there was a recognition on the part of the Bank of Montreal and the
other large banks that they could be hurt by a general decline in confidence sparked
by a bank failure, but this consideration could never be divorced from an analysis of
the effect of a take-over on the profits of the banks.

The United States did not have a formal lender of last resort before the establish-
ment of the Federal Reserve in 1914. A set of market-driven and official arrange-
ments evolved to provide liquidity to the banking system in times of panic. These
arrangements proved successful in allaying panics on several occasions – in 1884,
1890 and 1900 – but not on others.

One such arrangement was the issue of clearinghouse loan certificates, whereby
the clearinghouses of New York, Chicago and other central reserve cities issued
emergency reserve currency in the form of clearinghouse loan certificates col-
lateralised by member bank assets, and even issued small denomination certificates
that circulated from hand to hand as currency.46 A second was operations by the
independent Treasury which on occasion conducted rudimentary monetary policy.
The Treasury in times of stringency would use its powers as depository of fiscal
revenues to transfer deposits to key commercial banks, speed up debt redemption
and to arrange syndicates of private investors to provide timely liquidity.47 Finally,
44 U n i t e d S t a t e s N a t i o n a l M o n e t a r y C o m m i s s i o n , Interviews on the Banking and Currency Systems of

Canada ( W a s h i n g t o n , D C , 1 9 1 0 ) , p . 1 8 1 .
45 C a r r e t al., Ensuring Failure, p p . 21—2.
46 R. C. Timberlake Jr, ‘The central banking role of clearinghouse associations’, Journal of Money,

Credit and Banking, 16 (1984); G. Gorton, ‘Clearinghouses and the origins of central banking in the
U.S.’, Journal of Economic History, 45 (1985); and G. Gorton and D. J. Mullineaux, ‘The joint
production of confidence: endogenous regulation and 19th century commercial bank clearing-
h o u s e s ‘ , Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 19 ( 1 9 8 7 ) .

47 R. C. Timberlake Jr, The Origins of Central Banking in the United States (Cambridge, 1987). Some
states developed early deposit insurance schemes, but none were successful in preventing major
panics; C. Calomiris, ‘Is deposit insurance necessary? A historical perspective’, Journal of Economic
History, 50 (1990).

64 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

Table 4.

1895
1900

1905
1910
1915
1920

1925
1927

Canadian bank concentration measures, 1895—1927

Percentage of total bank

Top 3 banks

34-19
37-8i

37-39
38.08
44.14

51-95
65.90

68.61

Top 5 banks

43-85
48.46

46.03
48.56

55-89
66.11
78.91

81.99

assets

Top 10 banks

64.07

69.08

68.64
69.70
78.86
86.51

98.31
99.78

Herfindahl index

0.0648 (15)

0.0754 (13)
0.0775 (n)
0.0786 (13)
0.0891 (11)
0.1128
0.1656

0.1793

Source: B. H. Beckhart, ‘The banking system of Canada’, in H. P. Willis and B. H. Beckhart
(eds), Foreign Banking Systems (London, 1929), pp. 330-3.

after the disastrous experience of the panic of 1907-08, the Aldrich-Vreeland Act
was passed in 1908, which allowed groups of national banks to form a National
Currency Association empowered to issue emergency currency based on members’
collateral of commercial paper. Although only invoked once, it was successful in
preventing panic at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.48

I

V

As we have had occasion to note above, the Canadian banking system was trans-
formed by mergers and acquisitions between 1910 and 1925, ushering in a period of
impressive stability. The causes of this consolidation are not completely understood,
but there is general agreement that the Bank Act revision of 1900, which permitted
a bank to acquire the assets of another bank without a special Act of Parliament,
was at least a proximate cause. Prior to 1900 a merger was a ‘time-consuming and
frequently cosdy affair’49 while after 1900 approval of the Minister of Finance was
sufficient to permit a merger.

Table 4 shows the percentage of total bank assets held by the top three banks, the
top five banks, and the top ten banks by quinquenia. It also shows the Herfindahl
index. The most dramatic change in the percentage of assets held by the largest
firms is in column three: the percentage of assets held by the top ten firms. This was
already high by American standards in 1895, 64 per cent, but by 1927 it was close to
100 per cent. The Herfindahl index is the sum of the squared shares, and handles
mergers particularly well. The number in parentheses is the inverse of the

4 8 F r i e d m a n a n d S c h w a r t z , Monetary History, p p . 1 7 0 – 2 .
49 D. Bond, The merger movement in Canadian banking 1890-1920, some preliminary findings,

University of British Columbia Discussion Paper, 21, p. 5.

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN BANKING 65

Herfindahl index to the nearest whole number. It is the number of equal size banks
that would yield the same Herfindahl index as the actual distribution. Between 1910
and 1925 the equal-bank-equivalent declined from 13 to six. By way of contrast,
consider the United States in 1920. The three largest banks were in New York City:
Chemical with 4.13 per cent of total national bank assets, National City Bank with
3.85 per cent and Chase with 2.41 per cent, for a total of 10.40 per cent of national
bank assets which amounted to about 5.09 per cent of all commercial bank assets –
a far cry from the 51.95 per cent of bank assets owned by the three largest Canadian
banks.50 The Canadian banking system had taken its modern form.

The last failure among Canada’s chartered banks was the failure of the Home
Bank in 1923. By 1925 all of the Canadian banks, except two based in Quebec, had
nationwide branch networks able to withstand the severe shocks that would hit the
system in the 1930s.

V

Although stability is important, it cannot be the sole basis for judging a banking
system. We also want to know how efficient the system is in providing loans and
other basic banking services. In our earlier paper focusing on the period 1920-80,
we measured efficiency by comparing for the two countries rates of interest charged
on loans and paid on deposits and received on securities, and the overall rate of
return on equity. For the earlier period now under review such comparable data for
the two countries are not available so we are forced to use cruder proxies.

Table 3 brings together decadal averages of some key ratios for the Canadian
chartered banks and the United States national banks.51 The loan: asset ratio during
this period, we would argue, measures the ability of the banking system to supply
loanable funds to the private sector. Evidently, the loan: asset ratio was consistently
higher in Canada, in part because the security: asset ratio was consistently lower,
although the differences narrowed somewhat during the decade of the First World
War. The United States ratio was lower primarily because of regulations that
allocated bank funds to the government or to suppliers of outside money in order
to increase the safety of the system. The security: asset ratio was higher in the
United States because of the bond security system instituted to protect national
bank notes, and because national banks were required to purchase government
bonds to secure their charters. The reserve ratio was also higher in the United States
because of the required reserve ratios instituted to protect deposits.

The last line of each panel of the table is the debt (primarily deposits): equity
ratios of the banking systems. In our previous paper we showed that the debt: equity
ratio was consistently higher in Canada. We interpreted this as a reflection, ulti-
mately, of the greater stability of the Canadian system: neither regulators nor

5 0 Annual Report of the Comptroller of the Currency 1920, 2 , p p . 156, 6 2 1 .
5 1 C a l o m i r i s , ‘ R e g u l a t i o n ‘ , p p . 5 8 – 6 2 , for a c o m p l e m e n t a r y d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e s e r atios.

66 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

1090 1900 1910

Canada —US nationals

Figure 4. Rates of return to equity (Canada and the United States, 1890—1913)

depositors showed much concern when Canadian banks raised their debt: equity
ratios. Between 1870 and 1919, interestingly, the situation was very different. In the
first two decades the debt: equity ratio was actually slighdy higher in the United
States, and a substantial difference in favour of Canada did not arise until the decade
of the First World War. This picture is consistent with our earlier argument, that
the Canadian system was not notably more stable than the United States national
system and was not permitted notably higher debt: equity ratios.

Figure 4 compares the rate of return on equity in Canada (defined as the ratio of
dividends and change in surplus to equity) with the rate of return on equity in the
United States (defined as the ratio of net profits to equity) between 1890 and 1913.
As is evident the two move on similar paths. This suggests that, despite the higher
proportion of their portfolio that Canadian banks were able to devote to lending,
the banking market was sufficiently competitive so that Canadian banks were unable
to earn greater profits. This result contrasts with our findings for the post-1929
period. For that period we found that the rate of return on equity was generally
higher in Canada. Admittedly, we used a different definition of rate of return on
equity for the latter period so our results are not stricdy comparable. But assuming
that the second period was different, the explanation would turn on the achieve-
ment of stability. Stable banking permitted Canadian banks to increase their lever-
age, which in turn produced high returns to equity after 1925.

In summary, a comparison of the balance sheets and earnings of the banking

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN BANKING 67

systems reinforces the basic picture: a Canadian system which was roughly on a par
with the United States system at the start, but gradually pulling ahead in terms of
safety and efficiency.

VI

Before 1925 the difference in stability between the Canadian and United States
banking systems was smaller than it would be afterwards. True, measured by suscep-
tibility to banking crises, the Canadian system was clearly stronger. But, measured
by losses experienced by depositors and noteholders, the difference becomes prob-
lematic; Canadian banks were more stable than United States non-national banks,
but less stable than United States national banks.

Depositors and noteholders in United States banks experienced some losses in
virtually every year between 1870 and 1925, while the Canadian system often
escaped unscathed. But when a Canadian bank failed, the resulting losses often
represented a relatively high percentage of total bank deposits. On two occasions,
moreover, noteholders were not paid in full and on others noteholders had to wait
an extended time to get their money. In the United States immediate redemption
at par was assured by the bond security system of the national banks.

The Canadian banks were never forced to restrict convertibility of notes or
deposits into high-powered money during international banking crises, while the
United States banking system was forced to do so in 1873, 1893 and 1907. It should
be noted, however, that it is not certain that the two systems faced system-wide
shocks of the same intensity. For example, in the 1890s the political success of the
free silver forces in the United States raised doubts about the commitment of the
United States to the gold standard, a difficulty that the Canadian system was not
forced to face.

The merger movement in Canada, however, radically altered the picture, by
creating a banking system characterised by a small number of large banks with thick
interprovincial networks of branches. From 1925 on, as we have shown in our
previous paper, the Canadian banking system exhibited remarkable efficiency as
well as stability. The key lesson from the present analysis is that the transition
process was protracted and there were times when losses from bank failures were
heavy. On some occasions imprudent entrepreneurs took advantage of the freedom
to branch and merge by expanding their institutions too rapidly. To judge from the
contrast between Canadian and United States banking in the period 1925 to 1980,
however, it would have been a mistake to cut short the evolutionary process by
imposing a system of highly restricted unit banks, such as the national banking
system, on Canada, a proposal strongly advanced at the time.

The Canadian banking experience suggests that once an equilibrium in this
industry was achieved, it enjoyed both stability and efficiency. However, the experi-
ence of the United Kingdom and possibly other countries suggests a different
outcome. In the United Kingdom case once the merger movement had largely

68 FINANCIAL HISTORY REVIEW

worked itself out by 1918, the resultant ‘big five’ banks formed a cartel, with the
government’s tacit assistance, which according to recent studies became very
inefficient.52 Protected by exchange and capital controls and legal restrictions on
potential competition by other financial intermediaries, it took a major change in
legislation in 1971 (Competition and Credit Control Act) and the removal of
external controls to rectify the situation. One can speculate that the Canadian
banking system did not go the British route because of less intrusive government
intervention; because of the proximity of the United States financial system; and
because of the absence of extensive controls on capital movements.

These historical comparisons, we believe, have important messages for contem-
porary policy-making. Currently, the United States is moving rapidly towards
removing the centuries-old barriers to interstate branching. Once the forces of
competition are unleashed, it is our belief that the United States banking system
will follow a route similar to that taken in Canada during the first decades of this
century, and in the United Kingdom somewhat earlier. Large banks will acquire
smaller banks across states and regions, creating a much more concentrated banking
system than now exists. In the process mistakes will be made, as happened in
Canada, and large institutions may become insolvent. It will then be the responsi-
bility of the monetary authorities to act to protect the payments system at large, but
not to cut short the evolutionary process with new restrictions. Also, provisions will
be required to protect small depositors from losses. Although the current system of
deposit insurance does accomplish this, other serious problems associated with it
suggest that other solutions may be required.

Our historical comparison of the two North American banking systems may also
have lessons for the newly emerging countries of the former Communist bloc and
for developing countries. It suggests that prohibitions against nationwide branch
banking for whatever reason is a mistake. The benefits of long-run stability and
efficiency outweigh the costs of concentrated economic power. The latter can be
dealt with by permitting competition from foreign banking systems and domestic
and foreign non-bank financial intermediaries. As in the Canadian case, it may take
time to develop extensive branch networks – to find and train trustworthy and
competent employees. In the interim, if unit banking is the prevailing norm,
existing institutions should be encouraged to develop correspondents and ultimately
branch networks.

52 F. Capie, ‘Prudent and stable (but inefficient?): commercial banks in Britain’, and L. Hannah,
‘Effects of banking cartels’, both in M. D. Bordo and R. Sylla (eds), Anglo-American Fitiaticial
Systems: Institutions and Markets in the Twentieth Century (New York, 1995).

1

Chris Willmore

2

A barn near St. Adolphe, Manitoba (ca. 1920). Original photograph in the Anthologist’s collection.

Cover Image: Dixon, S. J. (ca. 1890). Untitled (Toronto) [Photograph]. Anthologist’s collection.

3

STORIES

FROM CANADA’S

Economic History

Collected From
CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPERS

SECOND EDITION

“And let us, ciphers to this great accompt, / On your imaginary forces work.”
Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 1, Prologue

CURATED, EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY

Christopher Willmore
Victoria, B.C., 2019

4

All articles in this collection are in the public domain in Canada;
they were re–typed from their sources by Christopher Willmore.

Edited Text and Annotations © Christopher Willmore 2019

ISBN 978–1–9992295–3–5

A Skeride Publication

5

To

ELISHEA

For Her Patience

&

MY PARENTS

For Their Support

6
A QUICK NOTE

This work is not intended as a comprehensive textbook, but as an invitation to
explore. Don’t feel you have to read it cover–to–cover; feel free to flip through these
pages and start reading whatever catches your interest.

I find that part of the fun in reading from the past is seeing how language evolves.
To that end, I’ve left spelling and punctuation mostly as it was in the original
articles.

Since these stories are drawn from newspapers, which were often printed on a tight
deadline, there are more errors than usual in the source material. I have silently
corrected obvious typos, and sometimes changed spelling to be internally
consistent in each article. I have also added paragraph breaks for ease of reading,
and broken up some run–on sentences with commas.

All text in bold (save some article titles) is mine, as are all footnotes1 and [words in
square brackets]. I’ve made use of the following standard devices to comment on
the text:

[…] = “I’ve skipped some words here.”
[sic.] = “I know this looks like a typo, but it was written that way in the original.”
Ibid. = “Same source as the above.”

It was common in the past for Canadian newspapers to use words that are now
(and in many cases, were then) ethnic slurs, especially when writing about
Indigenous people. I believe it is important to acknowledge that these hurtful terms
were used, but I have no wish to either perpetuate them, or to introduce them to
new audiences. I have therefore replaced such words with their first letters
followed with several dashes, as in h––––– (referring to a person of mixed heritage),
s––––– (an Indigenous woman) and s–––––h (an Indigenous man).

That’s it! You’re all set – enjoy!

C. WILLMORE

1 Like this one.

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Table of Contents
A QUICK NOTE …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
I. Newfoundland ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..19
1. A Natural History of Newfoundland’s Fisheries (1859) ……………………………………………………….. 20
2. Among the Fishermen of Newfoundland (1884) ………………………………………………………………… 27
The Bait Act and its Aftermath …………………………………………………………………………………………… 31
3. No More Bait (1887) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 31
4. Concerns About the Bait Act (1889) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 33
5. Realities of Competition with the French (1890)…………………………………………………………………………… 34
6. Suspension of the Bait Act (1893) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 36
7. Waste of Herring Prior to the Bait Act (1896) ………………………………………………………………………………. 37
8. The Aftermath of the Bait Act (1896) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 38
Factors Influencing the Price of Cod ……………………………………………………………………………………. 39
9. Song of the Fisherman (1889) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 39
10. Fishermen, Prepare for War! (1894) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 39
11. A Cod Cartel (1894) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 41
12. The Codfish Cull (1894) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 43
13. Abuses of the Truck System (1894) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 45
14. Smelly and Hard to Prepare (1903) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 47
The Crash of 1894 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 48
15. No Calm Before the Storm (Early December, 1894) …………………………………………………………………….. 48
16. The Crash (December 10, 1894) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 50
17. The Aftermath (February, 1895) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 50
18. The Roots of All Trade (1894) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 51
19. A Run on Three Banks (May, 1895)…………………………………………………………………………………………… 52
20. Signs of Recovery (November, 1895) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 53
Our Staple Product: The Letters of James Murray …………………………………………………………………. 55
21. Relieving the Fish Market (July, 1897) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 55
22. Mr. Anderson Replies (July, 1897) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 56
23. The Price of Fish (July, 1897) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 57
24. Our Staple Product (July, 1897) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 59
25. On the Subject of Dry Codfish (July, 1897) …………………………………………………………………………………. 61
26. The Staple Industry (July, 1897) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 63
27. The Chief Consumers of Dried Codfish (July, 1897) ……………………………………………………………………… 64
28. The Final Letter (August, 1897) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 66
29. The Man Who Owned Half of Newfoundland (1898) ………………………………………………………… 68
30. The Reids and Labrador (1907) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 71
II. Fur ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….73
Beavers and their Fur ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 74
1. The Beaver (1887) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 74
2. One of the Romances of the French Regime (1918) ………………………………………………………………………. 77
3. The Beaver Club (1910) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 78
4. ‘Made Beaver’ as a Currency (1921) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 80
Fashion and the Beaver Hat ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 83

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5. “Many in Number and so Absolutely Unlike” (1909) ……………………………………………………………………… 85
6. “Becoming and Refined” (1911) ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 86
7. Mrs. Quain’s First Reception (1914) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 93
Edmonton and the Fur Trade ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 93
8. The Founding of Edmonton (1921) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 93
9. How the Trade is Handled (1899) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 104
10. Seasonal Shipments (1899) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 106
11. The Revillons (1906) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 109
12. Further History of the Revillons (1918) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 111
13. Competition and Indigenous Fur Traders (1922) ……………………………………………………………………….. 112
14. How Fur was Sold in London (1894) ……………………………………………………………………………… 113
Fur Farming …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 117
15. Capacity and Quality Constraints to Trapping (1926) …………………………………………………………………. 117
16. A Rapidly Developing Industry (1928) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 118
17. A Russian Prince and Canadian Muskrat Rancher (1929) ……………………………………………………………. 119
18. The Growth of Fur Farming (1935) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 120
19. A Demonstration of Dentistry (1934) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 120
20. A Mink Factory (1949)………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 121
Freight and Transportation ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 124
21. By Canoe (1920) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 124
22. By Dog Train (1897) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 127
23. By Cayoose (1883) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 131
24. By Steamboat (1921) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 133
Traders and Trappers ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 136
25. Silhouette of the Northern Fur Trapper (1909) …………………………………………………………………………. 136
26. Wending Home (1907) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 138
27. A Companionable Tobacco Pipe (1909) …………………………………………………………………………………… 140
28. Jack Norris, Pioneer (1916) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 143
29. Pa–Ta of the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg (1923) ……………………………………………………………………………… 152
30. The Tales of Johnny Berens (1923) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 154
31. A Unique Family Gathering (1906) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 161
32. Number Sixteen (1894) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 162
III. The Treaties, and After ………………………………………………………………………………………… 166
Starvation, the End of the Buffalo, and Sitting Bull………………………………………………………………. 167
1. Conditions Near Battleford (1879) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 167
2. The Indians in Manitoba (1879) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 168
3. Starvation and Cattle Ranching in Alberta (1912) ……………………………………………………………………….. 171
4. The Buffalo are Near Extinction (1882) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 172
Land and the Treaties ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 174
5. An Early Treaty Talk (1849) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 174
6. Treaties and the Mounted Police (1885) …………………………………………………………………………………… 177
7. An Account of a Signing of Treaty 6 (1918) ………………………………………………………………………………… 179
8. A Treaty 6 Payment (1884) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 182
9. Indian Department Oxen and Treaty 6 (1884) ……………………………………………………………………………. 184
10. Denied Rations (1885) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 186
11. Crowfoot’s Oration (1886) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 187
12. Hunger, Rations and Hayter Reed (1888)…………………………………………………………………………………. 189
13. The Signing of Treaty 8 (1899) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 191

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14. “Nothing to be gained by being Indians” (1882) ……………………………………………………………………….. 197
15. Speculation in Scrip (1911) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 198
16. Conflict Over Urban Land (1882) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 204
17. Minor Chiefs Swear Not to Sell Lands (1913) ……………………………………………………………………………. 206
18. The Life of Peter Hourie (1920) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 207
The Potlatch ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 214
19. A Songhees Potlatch (1874) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 214
20. ‘Evils’ of the Potlatch (1896) …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 215
21. “The Potlatch is Our Bank” (1896) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 216
22. The Potlatch Economy (1898) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 218
23. A Fort Rupert Potlatch (1899) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 220
24. Albert Edward Edenshaw, Chief of the Haidas (1897) ………………………………………………………………… 221
25. A Potlatch in Settlement of Debts (1900) ………………………………………………………………………………… 222
26. Collecting Debts for the Potlatch (1902) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 223
27. “The Last Great Potlatch” of the Songhees (1910) …………………………………………………………………….. 225
28. The Indian Act’s Potlatch Ban (1913) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 226
29. “The Last of its Kind” (1922) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 227
30. The Feast of the Bear (1900) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 229
31. Sacket of the Quatsino First Nation (1895) ……………………………………………………………………. 233
The Oolichan………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 235
32. Food and Light (1883) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 235
33. Use and Preparation of the Oolichan (1885) …………………………………………………………………………….. 235
34. Catching the Candle–Fish (1884) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 237
Settler Perceptions of Indigenous Women …………………………………………………………………………. 238
35. L. M. Montgomery on Saskatchewan (1891)…………………………………………………………………………….. 238
36. How a Woman Should Dress (1892) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 241
37. “Woman’s Position Among the Indians” (1887) ………………………………………………………………………… 241
38. “Infinite Patience” (1911) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 243
39. “The heavy end of the burden” (1911) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 244
40. The Green Corn Dance of the Onondaga (1896) ……………………………………………………………… 244
“Back and Forth from Time Immemorial” …………………………………………………………………………… 248
41. Mrs. White–Feather and Mrs. Full–Moon (1925) ………………………………………………………………………. 248
42. “Two Women Turned Back” (1925) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 249
43. A Right, Interrupted (1925) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 250
44. “With Bag and Baggage Galore” (1908) …………………………………………………………………………………… 251
45. “Tribes thus United” (1908) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 252
IV. Chinese Immigration …………………………………………………………………………………………… 255
Changing Perspectives on a Chinese Head Tax ……………………………………………………………………. 256
1. Mr. Bunster’s Argument (1871)……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 256
2. A Motion for a Head Tax (1875) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 259
The Head Tax of 1878 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 260
3. Difficulties Collecting the Tax (1878) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 260
4. ‘A Bathos of Meanness’ (1878) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 262
5. The Turning Point (1878) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 263
6. The Strike (1878) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 264
7. More ‘Inconvenience’ (1878) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 265

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8. Chinese Cooks are not Easily Replaced (1878) ……………………………………………………………………………. 265
9. Collection of the Tax Resumes (1878) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 265
10. Unconstitutional and Void (1878) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 265
11. An Anti–Chinese Meeting (1885) …………………………………………………………………………………. 266
12. A “Monster Public Meeting” (1886) ……………………………………………………………………………… 268
The Occupations …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 268
13. Statistics of Victoria’s Chinese Trade (1901) …………………………………………………………………………….. 269
14. Catching Fish (1861) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 269
15. A Chinese Restaurant (1883) …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 270
16. Hing, the Chinese Servant (1885) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 270
17. Hing Celebrates the Chinese New Year (1885) ………………………………………………………………………….. 272
18. Farmers and Sanitation Workers (1891) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 273
19. Sanitary Issues with Chinese Laundries (1908)………………………………………………………………………….. 274
20. Improved Sanitation in Chinese Laundries (1908) ……………………………………………………………………… 275
The Fall of Kwong Lee ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 275
21. A Meeting in Chinatown (1884)……………………………………………………………………………………………… 275
22. The Second Meeting (1884) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 276
23. An Auction of Goods (1885) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 276
Standard of Living and Way of Life ……………………………………………………………………………………. 277
24. A Chattel Mortgage (1900) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 277
25. What’s in a Name? (1908) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 278
26. Edmonton’s Chinese Community (1908) …………………………………………………………………………………. 279
27. An Edmontonian Aviator (1923) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 282
28. A Walk Through Victoria’s Chinatown (1886) …………………………………………………………………………… 283
29. A Prosperous Tailor’s Household (1902) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 287
30. Chinese New Year in Victoria (1903)……………………………………………………………………………………….. 290
Victoria: Opium Smuggling Central ……………………………………………………………………………………. 295
31. A ‘Lucrative Trade’ (1865) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 295
32. “The Use of the Deadly Drug in Victoria” (1881) ……………………………………………………………………….. 296
33. “Chinese and Opium Smuggling to the States” (1885) ……………………………………………………………….. 297
34. Canned Opium (1878) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 298
The Business of Opium ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 299
35. Dr. Helmcken’s License Fee (1865) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 299
36. Alcohol and Opium (1884) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 299
37. War and the Opium Trade (1894) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 300
The Beginning of the End for the Opium Industry………………………………………………………………… 301
38. Low Prices from a Rival (1889) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 301
39. A Falling Chinese Population (1890) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 302
40. Lower Taxes are Bad for Smugglers (1894) ………………………………………………………………………………. 303
41. The Wilson Bill (1894) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 304
42. A Celebration of the End (1894) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 305
Supply and Demand of Chinese Workers ……………………………………………………………………………. 306
43. “A Flood of Celestials” (1876)………………………………………………………………………………………………… 306
44. Where do they Come From? (1884) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 306
45. From China to Alberta (1911) ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 307
46. Across the Ocean to Red Deer (1925) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 309
47. “We mean to stay.” (1884) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 311

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48. After Working on the Railway (1885) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 312
49. The Impact of Layoffs (1900) …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 313
Chinese Participation in the Gold Rush ………………………………………………………………………………. 314
50. Early Arrivals (1860) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 314
51. Old Fields, Fresh Eyes and Fortune (1862) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 315
52. Claims in the Kootenays (1866) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 316
53. Later, in the Kootenays (1867) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 316
54. The Prettiest Nugget in British Columbia (1874) ……………………………………………………………………….. 317
V. Gold …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 318
1. A Song of the Cariboo Gold Rush (1864) …………………………………………………………………………. 319
The Gold Fields of British Columbia …………………………………………………………………………………… 320
2. Victoria and the Fraser River Gold Rush (1858) ………………………………………………………………………….. 320
3. Gearing Up for the Gold Rush (1860) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 323
4. The First Pioneer to East Kootenay (1902) …………………………………………………………………………………. 332
5. “We opened fire on them killing eleven” (1884) …………………………………………………………………………. 334
6. From Hill’s Bar to Big Bend (1886) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 336
7. Hydraulic Mining in the Cassiar (1917) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 345
8. Barkerville in Later Days (1912) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 348
The Rossland Mines ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 351
9. 480 Feet Under Ground (1896) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 351
10. A $60,000 Suit of Clothes (1910) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 354
11. The War Eagle Mine (1910) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 358
12. What is a Mine Worth? (1903) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 360
The Cariboo in ‘62 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 363
13. When Cariboo Was in Flower (1908) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 363
14. The town of Williams Creek (1862) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 366
15. Throwing Twenties Away (1861) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 366
16. “The Usurper Fantasy Dethroned” (1862) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 367
17. “Such is Life in Cariboo” (1862) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 370
18. “I have seen so much gold that I am sick.” (1862) ……………………………………………………………………… 371
19. Abbott and the Mirror (1903) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 373
Eliza Ord, Cariboo Entrepreneur ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 373
20. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks’s Saloon (1864)………………………………………………………………………………………. 374
21. Isaac Brooks runs low on money (1865) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 374
22. Tumultous Times (1866 – 1868) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 375
23. Courts and Contractors (June, 1872) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 376
24. The Breach of Promise Trial (June, 1872) …………………………………………………………………………………. 377
25. Eliza Ord’s Reply (June, 1872) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 380
26. An Unfortunate Case (October, 1889) …………………………………………………………………………………….. 381
Roads to Gold (or Lack Thereof) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 382
27. The Burden of a Road Tax (1860) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 382
28. The Road from Port Douglas (1860) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 384
29. Blazing the Dewdney Trail (1901) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 384
30. Unreasonable and Cranky Kickings (1890) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 388
The Klondike Rush ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 389
31. “The Most Remarkable Gold Country” (1897) ………………………………………………………………………….. 389
32. Tips for the Tenderfoot (1897) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 395

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33. How to Mine Gold in the Klondike (1897) ………………………………………………………………………………… 396
34. Home Life in Dawson City (1897) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 398
35. “It pays to be good looking” (1898) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 399
Gold on the Saskatchewan ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 403
36. With Pick and Shovel and Grizzly (1922) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 403
37. Gold Dredging on the Saskatchewan (1901) …………………………………………………………………………….. 404
38. From Fine Nothingness to Bright Nugget (1901) ……………………………………………………………………….. 406
39. The Autobiography of Tom Clover (1917) ………………………………………………………………………………… 408
Nellie Cashman ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 417
30. Death of an Explorer (1925) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 417
41. Tea in the Snow (1875) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 417
42. Miner, Leader and Entrepreneur (1889) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 418
43. Cassiar and the Klondike (1898) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 419
44. A Bold Impersonator (1898) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 419
45. At the Home of Kate Ryan (1924) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 421
Kate Ryan ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 422
46. “The far north is the only place to live” (1924) …………………………………………………………………………. 422
47. Running for Office (1920) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 423
48. A New Store (1921)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 423
49. “The Producers of the Real Money” (1921) ……………………………………………………………………………… 424
50. Death of a “Big Sister” (1932)………………………………………………………………………………………………… 425
VI. Railways ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 426
1. Waiting for the Railroad (1910) …………………………………………………………………………………….. 427
2. Ontario’s First Steam Railway (1914) ……………………………………………………………………………… 430
The Canadian Pacific Railway (C.P.R.) ………………………………………………………………………………… 433
3. “The Offspring of Two Great Ideas” (1886) ………………………………………………………………………………… 433
4. Tyrants of the Lunch Counter (1893) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 435
5. “Luxurious in Comparison” (1899)……………………………………………………………………………………………. 436
6. Supplying Food for the Railway (1913) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 437
7. How the Canadian Pacific Selects Cooks (1912) ………………………………………………………………………….. 439
8. “A Subtle Ingenuity in Advertising” (1914) ………………………………………………………………………………… 440
9. Adventures of a Dime Laundry Bill (1914) …………………………………………………………………………………. 441
Land Grants and the C.P.R. ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 441
10. The Pacific Swindle (1880) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 441
11. Land Grants, Schools and Taxes (1913) …………………………………………………………………………………… 443
12. A Closer Look (1896) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 444
13. The Owners of the Land (1884) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 448
14. Crowding by Colonization Companies? (1882) ………………………………………………………………………….. 450
15. “At Present Virtually Locked Up” (1882) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 452
Sir John Lister–Kaye and the C.P.R. Lands …………………………………………………………………………… 454
16. In the Beginning (December, 1886) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 454
17. An Incentive to Settlement (January, 1887) ……………………………………………………………………………… 454
18. A Great Canadian Farming Scheme (December, 1888) ……………………………………………………………….. 455
19. “Irrevocably Lost” (September, 1891) …………………………………………………………………………………….. 457
Manitoba vs. the Canadian Pacific Railway ………………………………………………………………………… 460
20. Fighting a Monopoly (1887) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 461
21. A Manitoban Protest Song (1887) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 462

13
22. How Manitoba Won (1911)…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 464
The Canadian Northern Railway (C.N.R.) ……………………………………………………………………………. 465
23. “A Record of Progress” (1914)……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 465
24. Donald D. Mann of the C.N.R. (1909) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 469
25. Financing the C.N.R. (1903) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 476
26. Land Grants and the Early C.N.R. (1914) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 479
27. Building Ahead of Demand (1913) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 480
28. The Development of Vegreville (1913) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 481
29. Education on Rails (1915)……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 482
30. The C.N.R. is Taken Over (1917) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 484
VII. The American ‘Invasion’ ……………………………………………………………………………………… 486
A Sudden, Massive Movement …………………………………………………………………………………………. 487
1. The Man Who Made the Valley (1910) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 487
2. The Magnetic Northwest (1906) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 490
3. Canada’s New Settlers (1902) …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 492
Personal Stories ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 497
4. Spurred by Faith and Hope (1910)……………………………………………………………………………………………. 497
5. The Grousers Return (1901) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 502
6. Settlers of Saskatoon (1908) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 503
“What classes does Western Canada welcome?” ………………………………………………………………… 509
7. The Speculator’s Point of View (1915) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 509
8. “Detrimental to the Country” (1915) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 512
9. Wheat and Empire (1909) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 514
10. “It has been good to me.” (1909) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 516
11. A Closer Look at Trego’s Farm (1909) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 518
VIII. Wheat and Farming ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 520
1. The First Grain in the West (1919) …………………………………………………………………………………. 521
Early Farming …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 522
2. An 18th–Century Wheat Farmer (1790) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 522
3. Starting a Farm in 19th–Century Ontario (1911) …………………………………………………………………………. 524
4. From New York to Ontario (1907) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 528
5. Wheat Farming in Edmonton in 1874 (1907) ……………………………………………………………………………… 533
6. Spring on an Alberta Farm (1929) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 536
Harvest Help ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 538
7. A Diminished Harvest Migration (1909)…………………………………………………………………………………….. 538
8. “The farmers will not give us work” (1923)………………………………………………………………………………… 541
9. A Portrait of the Harvest Hand (1927) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 542
10. Threshing Wheat in the Northwest (1891) ………………………………………………………………………………. 545
11. When Threshing Was Threshing (1947) …………………………………………………………………………………… 548
Technology and Farming ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 550
12. “A Wonderful Course of Improvement” (1892) ………………………………………………………………………… 550
13. A Brief History of the Massey–Harris Co. (1911) ……………………………………………………………………….. 554
14. A Combined Harvester and Thresher (1925) …………………………………………………………………………….. 558
15. An Inspiring Sight (1928) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 559
16. Combines and Prairie Wheat (1928) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 560
New Strains of Wheat ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 563

14
17. Red Fife and Marquis Wheat (1916) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 563
18. Alberta’s First Winter Wheat (1907) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 566
19. Alberta Red (1907)………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 567
From Farm to Market ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 570
20. The Canada Grain Act (1915)…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 570
21. How Wheat was Inspected and Graded (1904) …………………………………………………………………………. 571
22. The Transportation of Grain (1914) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 576
23. Marketing Canadian Wheat (1921) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 580
24. The World’s Wheat Markets (1910) ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 583
The Wheat Board of 1919 ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 589
25. Marketing the Post–War Harvest (August, 1919) ………………………………………………………………………. 589
26. Powers and their Limits (August, 1919) …………………………………………………………………………………… 590
27. Hauling Wheat Across the Border (November, 1919) ………………………………………………………………… 590
28. Equity and Justice (December, 1919) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 591
29. The Price of Bread (December, 1919) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 593
30. “The Farmer has Unquestionably Benefited” (January, 1920) ……………………………………………………… 593
31. Questioning the Benefit (January, 1920) …………………………………………………………………………………. 594
32. Whipsawing Producer and Consumer (January, 1920) ……………………………………………………………….. 596
33. What Was the Government Doing? (March, 1920) ……………………………………………………………………. 596
34. Free Trading in Wheat (July, 1920) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 598
35. A Return to Normal Methods (July, 1920) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 600
36. Who Will Pay the Debt? (August, 1920)…………………………………………………………………………………… 601
37. Price of Flour May Drop Soon (August, 1920) …………………………………………………………………………… 604
38. Better than the Open Market (October, 1920) …………………………………………………………………………. 604
39. Wheat Control (October, 1920) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 605
40. The Case of the Farmer (December, 1920) ………………………………………………………………………………. 605
41. A Second Opinion (January, 1921) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 608
42. The End of the Wheat Board (August, 1921)…………………………………………………………………………….. 611
Women and their Farms ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 611
43. Mrs. Foster’s Farm (1921) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 611
44. Ruth Hillman (1916) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 612
45. Other Successful Farmers (1907) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 613
46. Georgina Binney–Clark (1909) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 614
47. Hazlett’s Homestead (1921) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 615
Ready–Made Farms and the Woman Farmer ……………………………………………………………………… 617
48. Felix’s Failure (1894) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 617
49. The C.P.R.’s Ready–Made Farms in Western Canada (1915) ……………………………………………………….. 619
50. Why the Settlers are Content (1910) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 619
51. “A profitable field for the business woman” (1912) …………………………………………………………………… 623
52. “Jack” May’s Ready–Made Farm (1911) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 624
53. A New Neighbor (1911) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 624
54. “I love the freedom of the life” (1912)…………………………………………………………………………………….. 625
55. A Change in Policy (1915) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 626
IX. The Status of Prairie Women, 1912 – 1916 ……………………………………………………………… 627
The Country Homemakers ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 628
Guardianship of Children …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 628
1. The Law in British Columbia (1913) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 629
2. The Law in Manitoba (1913) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 630

15
Homesteads and Land …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 631
3. “A Defective Law” (1916) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 632
4. A Clarification of the Defective Law (1916) ………………………………………………………………………………… 632
5. Women and Homesteads (1916) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 633
6. “There are harder things than fighting” (1916) …………………………………………………………………………… 634
7. “A Colony of Women Farmers” (1916) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 635
8. A Woman Farmer with ‘No Occupation’ (1916) ………………………………………………………………………….. 636
9. First the Vote, Next the Land (1916)…………………………………………………………………………………………. 636
Financial Dependence ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 638
10. The Poor Wives of the Well–to–Do (1912) ………………………………………………………………………………. 638
11. Equal Rights in the Bank Account (1912) …………………………………………………………………………………. 640
12. Queens of the Household? (1913) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 642
13. A Tight–Wad’s Wife (1912) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 644
14. A Declaration of Independence (1912) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 645
X. Housework …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 647
1. A Woman’s Time (1911) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 648
The Nature of Rural Housework ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 649
2. “Mysterious Providence” (1866) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 649
3. Scientific Housekeeping (1897) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 650
4. “You Must Still Smile” (1911) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 652
5. Woman’s Life Should Vary (1915) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 654
6. “A Host of Children to Eat her Bread” (1921) ……………………………………………………………………………… 654
Housework in Verse ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 656
7. For the Sake of Being Supported (1896) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 656
8. Isn’t it enough? (1896) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 657
Housework and the Canadian Male …………………………………………………………………………………… 658
9. What the Boy can do at Home (1911) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 658
10. ‘Batching’ or, Life as a Bachelor (1898) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 659
11. Bachelor Bread (1907) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 663
12. “More Unhappy, More Unhealthy” (1893) ………………………………………………………………………………. 664
13. A Grass Widower’s Ranch Batching (1910) ………………………………………………………………………………. 665
Labour–Saving Innovations………………………………………………………………………………………………. 667
14. Making Woman’s Work Easier (1918) …………………………………………………………………………………….. 667
15. Five Valiant Servants Wanting Country Employ (1912) ………………………………………………………………. 668
16. “Her fairies do the housework” (1911) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 672
17. An Electrical Age (1930) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 673
Canned Food for Unexpected Guests…………………………………………………………………………………. 678
18. “Absolutely Nothing” in the House (1897) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 678
19. “I will be glad to have you any day” (1913) ………………………………………………………………………………. 680
The Changing Craft of Laundry………………………………………………………………………………………….. 683
20. June and the Laundry Woman (1892) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 683
21. “Blame it on the Soap Suds” (1909)………………………………………………………………………………………… 685
22. A Bachelor’s Laundry (1907) …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 685
23. Winnipeg’s Options for Urban Laundry (1911)………………………………………………………………………….. 688
XI. Women and Paid Work ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 697
On Women and Work ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 698

16
1. Woman’s Sphere (1887) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 698
2. All Honor to the Girl Who Works (1909) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 699
3. “The Bumps and Clicks of the Day’s Work” (1911) ………………………………………………………………………. 699
4. The Greatest Extravagance (1916) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 700
Conditions of Life and Work …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 701
5. “Here is a Working Girl” (1906) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 701
6. “Button Holes for Sale” (1901) ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 701
7. “Indifferent in the Matter of Food” (1912) ………………………………………………………………………………… 702
8. “The Girls do not Need to be Reformed” (1916) …………………………………………………………………………. 703
9. An Excellent Plan (1911) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 704
10. Women in Offices (1898) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 705
11. Typists Declare “Movies” Have Libelled Them (1913) ………………………………………………………………… 708
The Domestic Help Problem …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 711
12. “There is a reason” (1915) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 711
13. “Labor Must Expect to Produce” (1920) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 714
14. “No Future Before Her” (1913) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 715
15. The Mary Janes of Edmonton (1908) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 715
16. “There’s millions in it.” (1901) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 719
17. “Partiality for the Chinese.” (1900)…………………………………………………………………………………………. 719
18. If You Can’t Beat Them… (1897) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 720
19. “Women are a Decided Success” (1917) ……………………………………………………………………….. 720
20. Women and Paid Farm Work (1916) …………………………………………………………………………….. 722
Egg and Butter Money …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 724
21. A Complaint (1887) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 724
22. “Far from Pleasant” Hawking (1887) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 725
23. In Payment of Taxes (1889) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 727
24. “The Farmer’s Wife Still Comes to Town” (1915) ………………………………………………………………………. 727
25. Marketing Farm Produce (1917) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 729
How Some Women Earn Their Money ……………………………………………………………………………….. 733
26. “Male and Alien Hands” (1892) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 733
27. The Staff of Life (1894) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 734
28. Opportunities for Work (1913) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 735
29. “Profitable Fields of Undertaking” (1897) ………………………………………………………………………………… 736
A Living Wage for Women ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 739
30. “How Much do you Pay your Girls?” (1900) ……………………………………………………………………………… 739
31. “Women Regard Business as a Makeshift” (1913) …………………………………………………………………….. 740
32. The Girl’s Side of the Question (1913) …………………………………………………………………………………….. 742
33. “Do you Live at Home?” (1917) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 743
34. “There is another angle” (1921) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 744
35. “Why should she not have equal pay for equal work?” (1921) …………………………………………………….. 746
British Columbia’s First Minimum Wage …………………………………………………………………………….. 747
36. Women Approve Minimum Wage (November, 1918) ………………………………………………………………… 747
37. Laundry Workers to get Fair Wages (December, 1918) ………………………………………………………………. 749
38. Minimum Wage for House Workers (May, 1919)………………………………………………………………………. 752
39. A Working Girl’s Complaint (1922) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 754
40. The Minimum Wage Act and Wages (July, 1924) ………………………………………………………………………. 755
XII. Money and Banking …………………………………………………………………………………………… 756

17
When Halifax Ran on Doubloons (1820) …………………………………………………………………………….. 757
1. Senex’s First Letter (September 13) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 757
2. Senex’s Second Letter (September 22) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 759
3. A Replacement for Senex’s Third Letter (September 28) ………………………………………………………………. 762
4. Senex’s Fourth Letter (October 6) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 765
5. Senex’s Fifth and Final Letter (October 12) ………………………………………………………………………………… 768
6. A More Practical Complaint (October 19) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 771
7. A History of the Bank of Montreal (1917) ……………………………………………………………………….. 773
Banks and the Farmer ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 778
8. Why Farmers Borrow Money (1915) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 778
9. Promissory Notes as the Farmer’s Collateral (1915) ……………………………………………………………………. 778
10. Who Will Finance the Farmers? (1921)……………………………………………………………………………………. 780
11. Coupons for Money (1932) …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 782
12. Creditors, Debtors and the Ability to Pay (1894) ……………………………………………………………………….. 783
13. What Farmers Should Know About the Bank Act (1910) …………………………………………………………….. 785
14. How Banks Provide Currency for Crop Movement (1906) …………………………………………………………… 792
Canada’s Banking System ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 796
15. Branches and the Cost of Banking (1917) ………………………………………………………………………………… 796
16. “Grievances of Two or Three Classes” (1907) …………………………………………………………………………… 798
17. The Powers and Business of Canadian Banks (1910) ………………………………………………………………….. 800
XIII. Appendix …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 810
The Annual Hops–Picking Migration ………………………………………………………………………………….. 811
1. “Mostly done by Indians” (1884) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 811
2. “Sublime Effrontery” (1888)……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 811
3. “No More Prosperous Natives” (1889) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 812
4. Of Horses and Custom Houses (1890) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 813
5. “About 50 Canoes” (1891) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 813
6. A Smallpox Scare (1892) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 814
7. On Savary Island (1893) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 815
8. The Destruction of Nootka (1894) ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 815
9. “Color and General Picturesqueness” (1897) ……………………………………………………………………………… 816
10. “An Epidemic of Measles” (1898) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 816
11. New Metlakahtla (1899) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 817
12. Trade at the Turn of the Century (1900) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 817
13. “Indians Wanted” (1902) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 819
14. Playing Ball (1903) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 819
15. The Wreck of the Boscowitz (1904) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 819
16. The Nez Perce and ‘Poaching’ (1905) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 820
17. The E. Clemens Horst Hop Co. Camp (1906) …………………………………………………………………………….. 821
18. “Interesting and Picturesque” (1907) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 822
19. “A Poor Season” (1908) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 823
20. “Labor is Scarce” (1909) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 824
21. “An Interesting Sight” (1910) ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 825
22. Experimenting with Machinery (1911) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 825
23. A Strike (1912) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 826
24. How Hops Were Picked (1913) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 827
25. A Prelude to Wartime (1914) ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 829
26. The Agassiz Hop Fields (1915) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 829
27. “A Boon to Local Merchants” (1916) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 830

18
28. Reduced Operations (1917) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 831
29. Gatherings (1920) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 831
30. Conditions are Bad (1921) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 831
31. “Wishes to Employ All White Labor” (1926) …………………………………………………………………………….. 832
Settlers and the Songhees Nation ……………………………………………………………………………………… 833
32. The ‘Problem’ of the Songhees Reserve (1908) ………………………………………………………………………… 833
33. “After More than Fifty Years of Trying” (1910) …………………………………………………………………………. 840
The Evolution of Chop Suey in Canada to 1949 ……………………………………………………………………. 844
34. A Rare Banquet (1907) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 844
35. By Appointment to His Majesty the King (1936) ……………………………………………………………………….. 847
36. A ‘traditional’ recipe (1910) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 848
37. “This recipe is splendid” (1910) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 848
38. An Edmontonian Chop Suey (1923) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 849
39. Calgary–style Chop Suey (1929) …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 850
40. Canadian Chop Suey (1936) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 850
41. Name Brand Soda Wafers (1939) …………………………………………………………………………………………… 851
42. “Around a mound of Rice Krispies” (1940)……………………………………………………………………………….. 851
43. Chop Suey Moderne (1945) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 852
44. The Study of China (1948) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 853
45. Menu Suggestions (1949) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 853
46. How Brennan Got A Cook (1910) …………………………………………………………………………………. 854
Mother’s Hens (1915) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 859
47. CHAPTER I. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 859
48. CHAPTER II…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 863
49. CHAPTER III………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 866
50. CHAPTER IV. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 869
51. CHAPTER V. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 871
52. CHAPTER VI. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 873
53. CHAPTER VII. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 876
54. CHAPTER VIII. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 878
55. CHAPTER IX………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 880
Acknowledgments …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 883
Index of Named and Pseudonymous Authors ………………………………………………………………. 884

19

I. Newfoundland

20
1. A Natural History of Newfoundland’s Fisheries (1859)2

William Epps Cormack was a naturalist and early European explorer of the
interior of Newfoundland. In the following account he gives a useful
summary of the state of Newfoundland’s fisheries in the mid–nineteenth
century. Not only were codfish and seal exploited – there was also a brisk
trade in bait fish, such as capelin and squid. This would prove fateful after
the passing of the 1887 Bait Act.

Of the fishes of the British North American seas, the most abundant is, at the
same time, the most important to man. The cod (Gadus Morhua) here holds dominion
over all the habitable parts of the ocean, – from the outer edges of the great banks of
Newfoundland, which are more than 300 miles from land, and more than 100
fathoms3 deep, to the verge of every creek and cove of the bounding coasts: it even
ascends into the fresh water.
To support such a mass of living things, the ocean sends her periodical masses
of other living beings; and these in the economy of nature, are next in importance,
and, of necessity, in abundance in these seas. Nature furnishes two successive tribes
of animals as food for one tribe; and for the three together, this busiest of the oceans
seems to exist.
THE COD
The cod is accompanied at one season by shoals of myriads of the capelin
(Salmo arcticus4) and at another by equal hosts of that molluscous animal the cuttle–
fish (Sepia Loligo5), called in Newfoundland the Squid6. The three animals are

2 Originally published in five parts, in the British Colonist for July 20, 22, 25, 27 and 29, 1859. Written
by William Epps Cormack (1796 – 1868).
3 About 183 metres, or 600 feet.
4 This appears to be an error. The capelin’s Latin name is Mallotus villosus, while Salmo arcticus refers
to the Arctic Grayling. The capelin and arctic grayling are very different fish.
5 An obsolete term, though the one originally adopted by Carolus Linnaeus in the 1750s. Today, the
Sepia (cuttle–fish) and Loligo (squid) are separate branches of the ten arm cephalopod (Decabrachia)
family.
6 “The squid itself is one of the most curious inhabitants of the waters. It is a cephalopod, or that class
of molluscs whose heads are the organs of locomotion. The length of the soft cartilaginous body is seven
or eight inches. It has ten arms radiating from the central mass of the head, two of them being longer
than the other eight, and with discs or suckers. The mouth consists of a strong horny beak like that of
a parrot. The eyes are large, bright and staring. The arms serve for the capture of its prey, to which it
attaches itself by suckers. Another remarkable peculiarity of the squid is the ink bag for secreting a
fluid of intense blackness, which it can spout at will. This substance, frequently called “ink,” from the
use to which it was anciently applied, mixes freely with the water, diffusing an impenetrable obscurity
for some distance around, by which the animal often escapes from danger; thus, as Ray wittily
observed, “hiding itself like an obscure or prolix author, under its own ink.” It possesses the power of
swimming either backward or forward by means of a hydraulic apparatus by which it can eject the
water from a tube with considerable force and thus by the action of the surrounding medium, it can
dart back with amazing velocity. The tube can be turned in any direction so as to drive it either way,
and the fin–like expansion of its tail aids as rudder and propeller. A shoal of these squids is perceived
at a distance by the number of little drops of water, like rain drops, which each shoots into the air as

21
migratory; and man, who stations himself on the shores for their combined
destruction, conducts his movements according to their migrations. By art he
captures annually more than two hundred millions of the cod with the capelin, and
one hundred millions with the cuttle–fish. On the coast of Labrador, and in the north
part of Newfoundland, the cod is so abundant, that it is hauled on shore with seines7
in vast quantities. Thus, by these three means, and the use of herrings and shell–fish
for bait, along the southern shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, there are caught in
the British North American seas, upwards of four hundred millions of cod annually.
There appear to be four varieties or kinds of the cod in these seas; but their
history has not been sufficiently attended, to determine their relations to each other
as species or variety. The first is the bank–cod, found on the great bank8, many miles
from land; the second is the shore–cod, caught in the bays around the shores, and in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence; the third is the red–cod (Gadus callarias9), resembling the
rock–cod or red–ware codling of Scotland, caught near the shores; the fourth and most
remarkable, is what may be called the seal–headed cod10, from its head resembling
that of a seal or dog. The haddock (Gadus AEglefinus11), of a large size, is also met
with among the proper cod. All the kinds approach towards one size, and are caught
and dried promiscuously by the fishermen. The bank–cod differs from the other
varieties in his place of resort, which is almost always on the banks, at a distance
from land; he is also larger and stronger, with large scales and spots; his body is of a
lighter color throughout, with the spots more generally diffused, and more distinctly
marked; his flesh, too, is firmer. The shore–cod resembles most the cod in a healthy
state on the coasts of Britain, and is that of which the greatest quantity is caught,
owing to its being most conveniently taken: the back is of a dusky–brown color; the
belly, silvery or yellowish, and the spots in general not remarkably distinct. The red–
cod is probably larger than our rock–cod, and is not numerous. The seal–headed cod
is of the same color and size as the shore–cod, and its head is, in like manner covered
with skin; and it is comparatively rare. The young cod, tom–cod, or podley, swarms
in summer in all harbors and shallow waters.
There are some other differences in the cod, which may partly arise from
difference of latitude and of coasts or grounds, where they are found. Thus, the farther

it darts backward, near the surface of the sea.” OUR NEWFOUNDLAND LETTER. (1882, October 4).
The Montreal Gazette, p. 2.
7 A seine is a fishing net placed in the water vertically. For stability, weights are attached to its bottom
edge and buoys to its top edge.
8 The grand banks of Newfoundland are underwater plateaus. On these plateaus, the water is shallow
and rich in nutrients, making them very suitable for fishing.
9 This is the original name given to Baltic cod by Linnaeus. Today, it is called G. morhua callarias.
This appears to be another error by Cormack, since Baltic cod is a very specific, low–salinity type of
cod found only in Europe and the Baltic sea. The red cod is not a true cod, and bears the Latin name
Pseudophycis bachus.
10 Harvard University lists ‘seal headed cod’ as an alternate name for Atlantic cod, gadus morhua. The
distinct head shape appears to have been due to a rare mutation or deformity.
11 This is the haddock’s original designation. It is now no longer a Gadus, having been reclassified as
Melanogrammus aeglefinus.

22
north, the less oil is obtained from them, their livers being smaller; and the bank–cod
yields the least oil of any.
The cod is sometimes caught six feet in length, but there are accounts of its
having been larger. All the kinds of cod obey the same general laws of migration. They
shift according to the changes of temperature in their element, arising from the
seasons, and with the supplies of food which invariably accompany these changes.
The bank–cod seems to be the most stationary.
As we advance northward from the gulf of St. Lawrence, the migrations of the
cod assume a more decided character, and it strikes in greater abundance. This holds
as far north as fishing–posts have yet been established on the coast of Labrador. The
same applies to the migrations and abundance of the other fishes inhabiting these
seas, more especially of those connected with the cod, and they arise together from
the same general causes. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Lat, 45o48o, particularly along
the shores of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada, and the adjacent Islands, where
shell–fish are more abundant than farther to the north, and where perhaps, in
consequence, more other fishes remain in the winter, the herring arrives in Spring
about the same time that it arrives on the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, in
April and May, when the cod, in consequence becomes equally abundant at all places;
but afterwards, worlds of food arrive on the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador; at
first the capelin, over the shores of both these countries, and then again the cuttle–
fish12, around the shores of Newfoundland; they never failing to bring in with them
their hosts of cod, and to retain them at these shores during the summer. Neither the
capelin nor any equivalent, appears at the countries farther south, although the
cuttle–fish visits, and sometimes in considerable quantities, the coasts of Nova Scotia
and Cape Breton: Hence the pre–eminence of Newfoundland and Labrador as a
fishing station, over every other part of the northern hemisphere.
At Labrador, and in the north part of Newfoundland, where the length of the
summer is not more than six weeks or two months, the hook and line are often laid
aside for the seine; for it is necessary that enough of cod should be taken within the
first two or three weeks otherwise the remainder of the warm weather would not be
sufficient to dry it. Hence the cod–fishery, according to the present mode of curing,
which is, with the exception of a very trifling proportion, by drying the fish in the sun,
cannot be carried on further north than a certain latitude.
The fisher of Newfoundland commences in June, as soon as the capelin appears
on the coast, and ends about the beginning of September, when the cuttle–fish begins
to move off the shores. The capelin is the bait used during the first month or six weeks
and after that the cuttle–fish.
When bait is scarce, considerable numbers of cod are caught by jigging; the
jiggers being an artificial bait13, with hooks affixed.

12 At the time, cuttle–fish and squid were often lumped together. Here and below, Cormack probably
refers to the northern shortfin squid (Ilex ilecebrosus, or as it would have been called at the time,
Loligo ilecebrosus), which is abundant in the waters around Newfoundland. Cod find them delicious,
and according to the FAO, northern shortfin squid are still in high demand as bait in the cod fishery.
13 A jig typically consists of a lead sinker attached to one or more hooks.

23
The process of curing the cod requires about a month in favorable weather.
Of the four–hundred millions and upwards of cod that are taken annually out
of the British North American Seas, about one hundred millions, or sixty thousand
tons, are exported in a dried state by the British, to the warm countries of Europe
and America: Of the remainder, a part equal to double that of the British is taken
away by the Americans, – a part by the French, – and a part is consumed in the
countries themselves.
It is from the livers of the cod–fish, that the cod–oil of commerce is made. These
are exposed in casks, and sometimes in vats, to the sun, and the heat in all these
countries is sufficient to render them into oil. There is a falling off, some years, in the
average quantity of oil obtained from the cod throughout the British fisheries; but the
French having the exclusive right of fishing at those parts of the island where the
different kinds of fish abound most14, it is probable that the quantity of oil in
proportion to the quantity of fish caught, including all the fisheries, in any one year
may not vary very much.
As the sun withdraws from the north, the temperature of the surface water
decreases; its vivifying principle vanishes, and it is no longer inviting to the free
inhabitants of the deep. The cuttle–fish begins to retire, and with it man ends his
warfare with the cod. All feel the warning, and begin to retire to the strongholds in
their respective elements, leaving the field of their industry and summer rejoicing,
where air, earth, and water had met in harmony together, soon to become the
conflicting scene of an arctic winter.
THE CAPELIN
The value of this delicate and interesting little fish may be estimated, when it
is known to constitute the bait with which more than half the cod caught in these
seas are taken. The capelin arrives on the coasts of these countries to spawn about
the end of June, and departs about the end of July and the beginning of August. It
arrives at Labrador about a month later, and remains from two to four weeks. Its
numbers are often truly wonderful. Immediately on its arrival, it pushes its dense
shoals into the small bays and creeks, as if to shun the jaws of millions of its
devouring enemies, the cod, and many other fishes which had followed it from the
deep, and which remain arrayed at a distance, impatient for its destruction. These
massive clouds of capelin are sometimes more than fifty miles long, and many miles
broad. Their spawn is sometimes thrown up along the beaches, forming masses of
considerable thickness, most of which is carried back into the sea by a succeeding tide
or two.
The capelin is six or seven inches in length; although the males sometimes
occur nearly twice the ordinary size. It is caught for bait, in nets constructed of
different forms for the purpose. It possesses some peculiar quality, which unfits it to
be cured for domestic use like the herring, and is, therefore, merely dried in the sun.
Whether the migration of the capelin is to and from the north sea, or limited to the
adjacent deep waters, does not appear to be as yet well ascertained, notwithstanding

14 It’s worth remembering that the French also fished Newfoundland’s waters, as this would later lead
to the passing of the Bait Act.

24
that its appearance and disappearance at all parts of these coasts are watched, as
important events, by every fisherman. On the great scale, it is as regular and certain
in its appearance and disappearance, as the herring is on the coasts of Europe. It
generally appears some days earlier at the south–east parts of Newfoundland, than
at the neighboring parts of the island farther to the north; and form its leading in the
bank–cod to these places, as in 1825, it would seem to have come in from the Great
Bank. There is little doubt that it is on the banks at certain seasons, as is shown not
merely by the circumstance of its appearing to have led in the cod from thence
towards the shores, but by the fact that, very early in the spring, and some weeks
before it appears every where at the shores, the cod on the banks take it very readily
as a bait salted, when, at the same time, the cod on the shore will not take in that
state. It is well known that the cod will take readily, as a bait, on the great scale, that
only which is its common food at the time; and, in the present case, when the capelin
arrives at the shores, the bank–cod, which we infer to have followed it from the banks,
not only continue to take it salted, but the shore cod, which refused it before, now
take it fresh and salted promiscuously.
The capelin are salted the preceding year purposely, to fish for the cod on the
banks earlier in the ensuing spring than the cod nearer the shore can be caught; that
is before the capelin has struck in.
The capelin is also sometimes taken in the month of April, by the sailing
vessels, among the ice on the banks, more than 200 miles from the land; and then it
is also found in the stomachs of the seals; – no doubt on its migration at that time
from the deeps over the banks towards the coast.
THE CUTTLE FISH
About the beginning of August15, the throngs of capelin which had enlivened
the shores, give way to the throngs of cuttle–fish. This animal seems to succeed the
other, as if to supply immediately provision to the cod. It is of equal importance in
Newfoundland as the capelin, as it is the bait with which the other half of the cod
here is caught.
The cuttle–fish does not appear at Labrador in quantities the same as at
Newfoundland; – from which it might be inferred that it migrates only to and from
the deep waters.
The common size of this animal is from 6 to 10 inches in length; but it has been
met with of colossal size16. During violent gales of wind, hundreds of tons of them are

15 “Our fishermen are just now in the “squid school” – the little fish called squids being at this time the
bait on which they are taking cod. The squids are the successors of the caplin, and appear about the
12th of August, and remain for six or eight weeks. They arrive in immense shoals in the bays, harbours
and coves, and are captured by the fishermen mostly by their “jiggers,” but also by seines, at times.”
OUR NEWFOUNDLAND LETTER. (1882, October 4). The Montreal Gazette, p. 2.
16 “It is curious that the huge “Devil–fish” is simply a gigantic species of squid and resembles in every
particular of its structure the little squid, seven or eight inches in length. The Devil–fish, which I have
frequently described, has a body from ten to fifteen feet in length, its long arms being over thirty feet
long and its shorter nine or ten. It is only occasionally that a specimen of it has been flung ashore here,
as the big squids keep out in deep water. It is remarkable that no perfect specimen has been taken
except on the shores of this island.” Ibid.

25
often thrown up together in beds on the flat beaches, the decay of which spreads an
intolerable effluvium around. It begins to retire from the coast in September. It is
made no use of except for bait; and as it maintains itself in deeper water than the
capelin, instead of nets being used to take it, it is jigged; a jigger being a number of
hooks radiating from a fixed centre, made for the purpose17. The cod is in best
condition after having fed on it.
When shoals of the cuttle–fish and of the capelin come in contact, the latter
always retreat, and from the wounds they carry with them, are sufferers in the
attack: These animals dart backwards and forwards, with a quickness which the
capelin cannot escape.
The cuttle–fish is supposed to impart the crimson color, which the sea exhibits
in various parts here, during the latter part of the summer. The water of the harbor
of St. John’s, two miles in extent, sometimes exhibits the phenomenon.
It may be unnecessary to say that the migrations of the cod, of the capelin, and
of the cuttle–fish, are only once a year.
THE SEAL
Newfoundland, owing to its projecting into the Atlantic eastward from
Labrador, intercepts many of the immense fields and islands of ice, which, in the
spring, move south from the artic sea. These fields of ice in their original formation,
present, at their edges, a sufficient barrier against the inroads of the ocean; and they
are so extensive, that their interior parts, with the openings or lakes interspersed,
notwithstanding the rage of elements around, remain serene and unbroken. Here are
the chosen transitory abodes of millions of seals, – here these animals enjoy months
of peace and security, to bring forth and nurture their young. Such fields collect on
the coast of Newfoundland, and, as it were, offer to the inhabitants the treasure they
bring. The island is periodically surrounded by them for many leagues in all direction,
– the inhabitants within the dazzling bulwark being as impotent towards the rest of
the world, as the rest of the world is towards them.
The all–efficient sun, gradually returning, liberates the fields of ice from the
shores to which they had for a time become attached, and enables man to expose
himself with impunity in his own element.
In the month of March, upwards of 300 vessels, fitted out for the seal fishery,
are extricated from the icy harbors on the east coast of Newfoundland; – the fields
are now all in motion, and the vessels plunge directly into the edges of such as appear
to have seals on them; – the crews armed with heavy fire–lock and bludgeons, they
land, and, in the course of a few weeks, destroy more than 300,000 of these animals

17 “The “jigger” is simply a plummet of lead armed with hooks, and drawn quickly, by means of a line,
up and down in the water, attracting the squids by its motion, and sticking them as they swim around
it. The squid grasps the jigger with its arms, and attaches itself, by means of its sucking discs, and is
then quickly drawn out of the water into the fisherman’s boat. In detaching it from the jigger, the
fisherman often receives a discharge of the inky substance in his face or chest – a most unpleasant
salutation and one that he has carefully to guard against. In a calm evening it is an interesting sight
now to watch in one of the coves a number of boats, locked together in a semi–circle, “jigging for squids.”
A stranger is puzzled to make out what they are doing, the boats being united together to intercept
the shoal of squids, and the men standing up and plying their jiggers with all their might.” Ibid.

26
for their fat and skins. The skins, with the fat, which surrounds the body, are taken
off together, and the scalped carcasses left on the ice. When the vessels are loaded
with those carcasses, or otherwise, when the ice is scattered and dissolved by the
advancing spring, which it always is, except the islands, before the middle of May,
they return to their respective ports; the fat is then separated from the skins, and
exposed in vats to the heat of the sun, where, in from three to five weeks, it is rendered
into the seal–oil18 of commerce. The field–ice extends, with interruptions, more than
200 miles off the land, but the vessels in general have not to go so far to look for the
seals: the fields are even met with at sea continuous in a northerly and southerly
direction for that extent, at that distance from land.
As these fields of ice are not formed at Newfoundland, and only partially at
Labrador, the herds of seals which are found on them, when they appear at those
places, must have come from the sea farther north were the main body of the ice is
formed. viz., from the Greenland sea, and that in the vicinity of Davis’ straits19. The
Greenland winter, it would appear, is too severe for these animals, and when it sets
in, they accompany the field–ice, which winds and currents carry southward and
remain on it until it is scattered and dissolved in the ensuring spring, in about Lat.
43oN., or about 200 miles south of Newfoundland. Old and young of these animals
being then deserted in the ocean by their birth–place, nature points out to them the
course to their favorite icy haunts, and thither their herds hurry over the deep to pass
an artic summer. Winter returns, and with it commences again their annual
migration from latitude to latitude.
There are five different kinds of seals found on the field–ice at Newfoundland,
all known in the Greenland seas. The three best known of which are, 1st, the Harp
(Phoca Groenlandica,) the one and two year old of which is called the Bedlimmer; 2d,
the Hood or Hooded Seal (Phoca leonina20) and, 3d, the Squarefipper21. The other two
kinds are the Blue Seal22, so called from its color, which is as large as the Hooded
Seal; and the Jar Seal23, so named from its resembling that of a jar, thick at the
shoulders and tapering off suddenly towards the tail; head small, body 4 or 5 feet
long, the fur spotted, and it keeps more in the water than the other ice–seals. These
all differ from the shore or harbor–seal (Phoca vitulina) of these coasts. The ice–seals
are alike migratory, and promiscuously gregarious; they differ much in size, and the
flesh of them all is very unapalateable, unless to an acquired taste, more particularly
that of the old ones, differing in this respect from the flesh of the shore–seal, some
parts of which are very good. It remains to be proved, that some of the alleged
differences in the ice–seals, do not arise from age. Although the ice–seals which are
sometimes met with in herds of many leagues in extent on the ice, seem to have no
ordinary means of subsistence, yet the hand of unerring Providence maintains both

18 Seal oil was used as cooking oil, a component in soap, lighting oil for use in lamps, and to treat
leather.
19 The Davis Strait is between Greenland and Nunavut.
20 Another error. Phoca leonine refers to the elephant seal. The hooded seal is Cystophora cristata.
21 The Bearded or square flipper seal (Erignathus barbatus).
22 Perhaps the Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus).
23 The Ringed seal (Phoca hispida).

27
old and young excessively fat. The seal–hunters often find fresh capelin and other
animal substances in their stomachs.
Notwithstanding the apparently immense annual destruction by man among
the cod in these seas for more than two centuries, it does not appear that their
numbers are at all diminished, or that their migrations are in any way affected: Nor
is it likely that they ever will be, if we may judge from the migratory fishes of Europe
that have been persecuted for many more centuries, between the North Cape and the
South of England.
It is not so, however, with those animals which man can pursue in his own
element; – thus the walrus and the penguin, once abundant, may be said now to have
entirely disappeared from the gulf of St. Laurence.
As the persecution of the seals in the field–ice increases, which it has, every
year since it commenced, it will be interesting to observe, at some future day not far
distant, the effect on their numbers. It is not much more than thirty years since any
vessels ventured out among the ice at sea, purposely equipped and manned for their
destruction.
The cod, the capelin, and the cuttle–fish, in their natural connection, and the
seal, constitute the commercial value of Newfoundland and Labrador, and render
these otherwise desolate and inhospitable regions the scene of rivalry of British,
French, and American national enterprise and industry.* The day is not far distant
when vessels will be fitted out direct from Britain for the seal–fishery at
Newfoundland.

* The herring, mackerel, and whale, are in abundance at Newfoundland, and
comparatively allowed to pass unmolested. The herring varies in size from small to
several pounds weight. The whale is of three or four kinds24, and the fishery of it is
persecuted only by one enterprising English mercantile house at the south part of the
island; the whales have been taken upwards of 70 feet in length, yielding from six to
eight tons of oil25. The salmon abounds in all the rivers, and is taken in large
quantities. The dog–fish26 sometimes occurs with the cod in great numbers.

2. Among the Fishermen of Newfoundland (1884)27

The following article provides an in–depth look at the situation of the
Newfoundland cod fishery in the mid–1880s, and ranges from the method by which
the fish are caught and cured, to how they are paid for.

24 Humpback, Minke and Finback whales are found in Newfoundland, as is the orca, called the killer
whale despite not being a true whale.
25 Whale oil, like seal oil, was used for lighting before the introduction of kerosene.
26 The dogfish (Squalus acanthias) is still found in areas where cod was formerly plentiful, and is
gradually making its way onto restaurant menus and into supermarkets.
27 From THE LAND OF THE CODFISH. (1884, September 8). The Montreal Daily Witness, p. 1.

28
There is something very philosophic in the countenance of a full–grown codfish,
as he lies before you, having ceased to struggle against the tide of ill fortune that has
swept him out of his native element to supply the boundless commodity that a good
cook can make palatable with white sauce. As he lies before you with his mouth
drawn down and his eyes turned up, he seems to say, “Well, do your worst, I am
ready!” there is an injured expression that touches your sympathies until you begin
to think how well he would bake or boil, as, poking his ribs, you find him plump and
solid, and judging by his bright red gills, fresh as a daisy, so without any
commiseration you sentence him to the oven or pot. It is, however, one thing for a
stranger to see fresh cod fish and another to eat it.
Reader, would you believe it, but if not it is nevertheless true, you will get more
fresh fish in Montreal than you will in St. John’s, Newfoundland, or the scores of
country villages into whose bosom the finny treasures of its bays are emptied. This
arises from two causes: 1st Fish is a commercial article that the Newfoundlander
regards as salable, it is his scaly cash with which he buys his flour, pork and potatoes,
and very little of the latter in many places.
On the shores of the Bay, one thing is evident that it is so arranged that the
people live to fish and fish to live. The credit system is the great commercial blight,
the merchant has great risks to run, and when he gives his pork and flour out, it is
for fish that are as yet uncaught, and if they fail to respond to the wiles of the
fisherman, the merchantman has to look for his pay. It is a bad way of doing business
this, taking pay in truck28, but it seems unavoidable.
The country people are a very bright, contented peasantry, but there is
underneath it all a volcanic spirit that will upset the calculations and schemes of
many. They are beginning to realize the advantages of education, and the leaders of
various sections are already writhing under the frauds and injustice heaped upon
their children who have no chance to learn in many instances, but in all
A CHANCE TO FISH.
Just how they fish may be of interest, the more as it is now done by traps and
seines. The “cod fish trap29” is just like a large box house with walls of net instead of
board, the roof, as it were, is trimmed with blocks of cork which float it. A line from
the shore holds the net in place and prevents it drifting out to sea. From the centre
of the front of the net runs a long strip of net called the leader, and thus a fence runs
up, as it were, between the double house and divides an open doorway in two. From
the outer sides of the doorway runs two long strips of net, that with the leader make
up the sides of what is called the pound.
After the net has been submerged for a certain time, it is raised and drawn in
when the fishy prisoners are found and transferred to the boat. There are besides
this the long codfish seines that stretching out for one thousand feet have the upper

28 Under the truck system, workers are paid in goods, or credit that can only be used at ‘company
stores’. In Newfoundland, the merchant advanced supplies at the start of the season, to be paid with
the sale of the catch at the end of the season. This gave a lot of power to the merchant, who could set
both the price paid for the fish and the price charged for the merchandise.
29 Invented in 1871 by William Henry Whitely (1834 – 1903), a Newfoundland merchant and politician.

29
edge sustained by floats, while the lower rests upon the bottom of the sea, and when
all are ready, rowers in boats, having anchored one end to the shore, drag the other
end round to meet it, thus capturing all within, as they cannot get away owing to the
net being weighted at the bottom.
It will doubtless be asked, why cannot the codfish escape from the trap by the
doors they came in on? So they could, but like many foolish people that get led into
bad places, they get flurried and do not know enough to get out before they are caught.
Did the codfish swim right round the sides of the trap net and keep his weather eye
open he would come to the door and could turn out to sea, but he swims at an angle
from side to side, avoiding corners, and thus fails to escape – the silly cod.
Once captured he is hurried on shore, when, flung out on a board, the body is
ripped open by one, the intestines taken out by another, the liver separated by a third,
the head cut off by a fourth, and then the fish washed free from blood and gurry30, is
ready for the salting process, which performed, the poor flattened out cod is spread
out to dry on a great stage called a flake, covered over with branches of the fir tree.
After a certain period of exposure the fish are piled up one on top of another, which
pile Is called a Fagot, in which condition the curing process goes rapidly forward.
Carefully guarded from rain, it is soon ready for the stomachs of those who like it,
but it is nothing like the fresh fish just out of the briny deep. Where it all goes to
when packed is a mystery. The Spaniards and Italians get the most of the small fish.
It
IS HARD TO GET CUSTOMERS
for them elsewhere although Brazil gets its share. We in Canada are taken by size
but the sweetest fish are the “mediums.”
This fishery business is of course the great industry on the Island everywhere.
In Newfoundland there are thousands of miles of shore line on which the sea surf
breaks, and all along its innumerable bays the fishermen have built their little
homes, here in dull monotony they spend their days if engaged in what is called “shore
fishing.” Tuesday like Monday, and so on, until weather beaten like a stranded hulk,
they rest until the spring tide of death lifts them off life’s beach and takes them out
upon the ocean of eternity.
For the young active fisherman that goes out upon the coast of Labrador, there
is excitement enough. For two months labor he comes back with often £40 and while
it lasts he is king. When working cheerily upon the northern shore, he dreams of the
return to home, and maybe as he whistles merrily at his work the visions of bright
eyes are haunting him and like his foolish father before him he falls in love, and,
doomed to everlasting poverty, settles down, and is soon surrounded by a lot of little
fishermen, and after a life of this character he goes the way of all flesh, and his foolish
widow moves heaven and earth to get her mourning, and has the haunting debt to
add to her real sorrow.

30 An old–fashioned term for ‘fish guts’.

30

31
The Bait Act and its Aftermath

By the late 1880s, Newfoundland’s cod fishery found itself in competition with the
French, who fished nearby waters. France paid a ‘bounty’, or subsidy, on cod
brought back to Europe. Many in Newfoundland saw this as unfair. Controlling
France’s access to fresh bait (capelin and squid) was seen as a way to even the
scales. The Bait Act of 1887 prohibited the sale of bait to the French. Enforcing it
proved costly and difficult, impoverished former bait fishers and encouraged
smuggling. It was finally suspended in 1893.

3. No More Bait (1887)31

This article, written just before the Bait Act went into effect, explains the reasoning
behind the act and what it was hoped it would accomplish.

The British Government have given notice to the French ambassador that the
Bait act, passed by our Legislature last session, will be enforced next season; so that
after the beginning of 1888 the supply of bait to the French fishermen at St. Pierre32
will be cut off. Information received from that quarter represents that the French feel
very sore on the subject and that much uneasiness is felt in regard to the results on
the early part of their fishing operations, from the want of their customary supplies
of fresh bait from Fortune and Placentia bays. Their only resource will be to use salted
bait which is not nearly so good as the fresh, as they cannot obtain what they require
from St. George’s bay in time for the early spring fishery, as that bay is usually closed
with ice at that time; and besides is at a great distance from St. Pierre. The result
will be a considerable curtailment of their catch, so that they will not have such a
surplus, as during the last few years, to send to foreign markets and drive down the
price of our fish below the cost of production, to the ruin of our fisheries. Our Bait act
is founded on the principle of self preservation. Hitherto we have been aiding them,
by supplies of fresh bait, to supplant us in foreign markets, which they were enabled
to do, because sustained by enormous bounties. We have now withdrawn that
assistance to their unfair competition, and if ever there was a justifiable act this was
such. In fact, to us it was
A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH.
We have no desire to injure the French, but we decline any longer to aid them
in ruining ourselves. We have this year a proof of what will be the result to us when
the French bank fishery is curtailed. Their catch this year was less by a third or half
than that of the previous year, so that they have no surplus, after supplying French
markets, to send to other countries to compete with our fishery products. The
consequence is that the price of our fish has risen from thirty to fifty per cent. over

31 From NO MORE BAIT. (1887, November 25). The Montreal Gazette, p. 2.
32 St. Pierre is a small island to the southwest of Newfoundland. It remains under French control to
the present day.

32
that of last year. Labrador fish was last year a drag in the markets at 10s and 12s; it
is now in brisk demand at 20s, or four dollars per quintal33, and shore and bank fish
sell at four dollars and eighty cents per quintal. At the same time, French fishermen
will not be seriously injured, as all their catch will be sold in France at a good price,
and all will be required there. We have no objection to their success in Bank fishery
provided their fishery products go to France and do not, by means of their bounties,
unfairly compete with us in European markets, and unduly lower the price of fish to
our undoing. The instance referred to is a proof of the wisdom of those who pressed
for the Imperial sanction of our Bait act. It will curtail French operations; French
capital will not be so freely invested in the Bank fishery as formerly, and there will
be a greatly lessened surplus in future for exportation after French markets are
supplied. The French have no right whatever to feel sore over our Bait act or to regard
it as unfriendly.
ENFORCEMENT OF THE ACT
Our Government are preparing to enforce the act vigorously next year. Not to
do so would be an act of imbecility. Steamers will be placed on the coast to prevent
smuggling of bait, and there will be strict regulations in the Customs. It is not
anticipated that there will be any difficulty in enforcing it. There will be, of course,
no interference with the exportation of frozen herring to the United States in
February, as these are not for bait, but for commercial purposes. There is a large
traffic in these frozen herring, but their exportation does not infringe the bait act,
which simply forbids the exportation or sale of fishes intended to be used as bait.
Hitherto the bait has been mainly supplied from Fortune bay. Vessels carried it to St.
Pierre, where it was sold. It frequently happened that the market was over–stocked,
prices fell, and there being no sale vast quantities of such a perishable article as fresh
bait were thrown overboard. This wasteful draft on our valuable bait fishes will now
be ended. The intelligent and respectable portion of the inhabitants of Fortune bay
are heartily glad that the catching and carrying of bait to the French is to be stopped.
While a number of persons earned a precarious and insufficient livelihood by it, and
a few vessel owners made money by it, the trade was injurious and demoralizing,
leading to an extensive system of smuggling spirits, wines, tobacco, sugar, tea, etc.,
from St. Pierre, injuring the morals of the people and interfering with the honest
trader, while the revenue suffered. Further, there is no bay so advantageously
situated as Fortune bay for the prosecution of the Bank fishery, but, owing to the
employment of the bulk of the people in bait exporting to the French, little was done
in Bank fishing. When the bait traffic is ended a great expression of the honest and
far more profitable occupation of Bank fishing will follow, and what will be an
immediate loss to some will be ultimately a great gain to the whole people of the bay.
Of course those who are engaged in bait exporting are indignant at this interference
with their gains.

33 One quintal is 112 pounds, or about 50.8 kilograms. Newfoundland used the quintal until 1956.

33
4. Concerns About the Bait Act (1889)34

Since the Newfoundland fishery competed not only with France, but also Norway,
Canada and the United States, it soon became clear the Bait Act would not be able
to achieve its goal of substantially reducing competition. The incentive for
smuggling and large expanse of water to cover also meant enforcing the Act would
be challenging and costly.

No consideration at all appears to have been given by the authors of the Bait
Act to the fact that the price of other articles of food is principally liable for the price
of fish. People will not buy fish, except to a limited extent, if it is beyond its value.
The avowed object of the Bait Act is to raise the price of fish; even if this were
accomplished to the full extent claimed by its advocates, it would not prove an
unalloyed benefit. Every advance, be it ever so small, tends to diminish consumption
and restrict trade. Merchants on Water Street admit that fish at 18s.35 to 20s. means
good times for Newfoundland. The country is never better off than when reasonable
prices prevail. Fish over 20s. means diminished consumption in proportion to the
advance in price. This year a merchant on Water Street is reported to have carried
over 20,000 quintals of old fish into the new season, all of which might have gone into
consumption with more moderate prices. The advanced prices turn a popular article
of food into a luxury; hence the loss to our merchants.
It is well to frankly recognize the fact that, while the Norwegians and Nova
Scotians are such large catchers of fish, it is absurd to try to regulate the price or
supply by any such nonsense as the Bait Act directed against the French.
The Mercury36 now proclaims that the Bait Act will be enforced against all
outsiders. Can its advocates thus prevent the competition of Norway? No. Can they
appreciably decrease the catch of Nova Scotia? No. Can they prevent Frenchmen,
Canadians or Yankees37 from bringing salt bait? They cannot. But this they can do,
namely: create a spirit of retaliation and animosity in the United States and Canada,
and thus be at a variance not only with the French, but every one else. More than
that, the French, Canadians and Yankees will form a brotherhood of sympathy, and
each one’s successful efforts to overcome the shortage of bait, will speedily become
the property of all three. I do not say that either of these objections is, of itself,
necessarily fatal to the proposed amended Bait Act of the Thorburn38 Government;

34 From Baccalieu. (1889, October 7). THE BAIT ACT. The Evening Telegram, p. 4.
35 ‘s.’ is the abbreviation for ‘shillings’. There were twenty shillings in an English pound.
36 Newspapers in Newfoundland were at this time strongly partisan. The Evening Mercury, published
from 1882 to 1890, was a Conservative newspaper. The Evening Telegram, from which this and other
articles are reproduced, was Liberal–leaning (and widely considered an ‘organ’ of the Whiteway
government).
37 A slang term for citizens of the United States.
38 Sir Robert Thorburn was Premier of Newfoundland from 1885 to 1889. His Reform party was anti–
railroad and pro–fishery, leading to its derisive nickname, the ‘fish–flake party’. (Cod were dried on
large wooden platforms called ‘flakes’.) This party’s concern for the fishery as an industry sometimes
seemed at odds with its disregard for fishery workers as individuals.

34
but I do say that they are worthy of our careful and anxious consideration, before
committing ourselves to steps which we may never be able to revoke. Such a Bait Act
can never be enforced. A dozen vessels like the Fiona39 could not prevent the half–
starved fishermen of the bait districts from getting away with loads of bait. Men with
starving families and empty stomachs know no law but that of necessity. All efforts
to enforce the law against the French alone, have thus far failed to prevent them
getting a supply of bait, a fair evidence of the utter uselessness of trying to force a
prohibitive act against the wishes of the people, and which will be rendered thrice
more difficult by including the Canadians and Yankees with the French. Half a
million dollars a year would not cover the cost of carrying out such an act, if indeed
it were possible to do so at all.
When we consider the large sums spent on this service, the deprivation
resulting to our fishermen, the loss of trade with the Canadians, French and Yankees,
and the ill–feeling and friction engendered, it seems doubtful if even the full amount
claimed by the advocates of the Bait Bill is nearly sufficient to counter–balance the
loss under these heads.

5. Realities of Competition with the French (1890)40

The competition of the French fishermen, and the injury which their system of
bounties inflicts upon us, are indubitable facts. On this point we are all agreed. But
there is much difference among the people as to the means by which that competition
may be neutralised. The merchants appear to attach little or no importance to the
cure of fish; and according to the Hon. M. Monroe41, it is the merchants who are to
blame for the imperfect cure of our fish at the present day.
Another means proposed is to exclude the French altogether from our supply
of bait fishes. This would, no doubt, be an excellent method, (1) if it were practicable,
and (2) if it were accompanied by some measure making compensation for those who
were deprived of means of living, or perhaps better still, fostering some new industry
for them.
However, it really seems that exclusion of the French from our bait fishes is
almost impossible, and could not be accomplished by any means in our power.
(1) The French are not altogether dependent upon our bait fishes. They may
obtain bait from the Magdalen Islands, from the “French” Shore42, on the coasts of St.
Pierre and Miquelon, and on the Grand Banks.

39 The Fiona was an expensive steamship bought by the Newfoundland government for the purpose of
enforcing the Act..
40 From THE BAIT QUESTION. (1890, May 20). The Evening Telegram, p. 4.
41 Moses Munroe (1842 – 1895) was municipal councilor of St. John’s from 1888 to 1892.
42 The Treaty of Versailles (1783) that formally ended the US revolutionary war also gave the French
the right to fish on the northwest shore of Newfoundland, from Cape St. John to Cape Ray. This
privilege was given up in 1904 as part of the ‘Entente Cordiale’, a formal attempt to improve relations
between Britain and France. (An earlier French Shore was established as part of the Treaty of Utrecht
(1713), and ran along the northeast coast of Newfoundland, from Cape Bonavista to Point Riche.)

35
(2) It must be remembered that bait has been exported to St. Pierre, not only
from Fortune Bay, Burin and Placentia Bays, but from St. Mary’s and Trepassey
Bays, from the “Southern Shore,” from Holyrood, and perhaps even from places
farther north. It is clear, therefore, that our whole coast, all around the island, would
need to be guarded; and could we possibly do that? When the Thorburn Party held
power, they, and their organ43, scouted the idea that bait could be exported to St.
Pierre. We have now a more efficient service than ever; the coast is more carefully
watched; justice has been strictly enforced, and yet the Thorburn Party fill their
organ daily with tales of vast quantities of bait smuggled into St. Pierre. If these tales
are true, what do they prove, but that which the TELEGRAM44 always asserted, that
it was impossible to prevent the smuggling of bait to St. Pierre?
(3) Much bait used to be exported to St. Pierre by American vessels, who
purchased it ostensibly for their own use. How can we shut the Americans out? The
country would lose much which they expend for bait and ice; but apart from that,
could we do it? We found three years ago, when negotiating a Treaty at Washington,
that the attempt to exclude them from all fishing privileges in British North
American waters brought us within measurable distance of war. […]
(4) The present Government have endeavored to select a path where all paths
are encumbered with difficulties. There is no doubt a small section of the population
wishes to export bait to St. Pierre and smuggle goods in return. Smuggling, of course,
could not be tolerated by any Government, because the people who have to pay taxes
will not tolerate that a few individuals in one quarter of the country should escape
without paying any taxes. Of course it is only fair to say that smuggling is carried on,
not only in Fortune Bay, but in St. John’s; and not only by poor fishermen, but by
wealthy and titled merchants. But, in all cases, it must be put down. However, apart
from those who wish to export bait to St. Pierre and to smuggle back spirits, sugar
&c., there is a large section of the population who wish that the French should come
into our harbors to buy bait and ice, as the Americans do. This section consists of the
people who have not large vessels or boats; who live partly by farming, and who find
that they can manage to live comfortably by attending to their farms or their punt–
fishery, when their little resources are eked out by money earned in supplying
American bankers with bait. If the French came into our harbors like the Americans,
these people would earn much more money. It is, therefore, their interest to force the
French to come in, and for this reason to watch all those who would export bait to St.
Pierre. Indeed, the man who carries bait to St. Pierre is taking the bread out of the
mouth of the poor man who can only sell bait to those who come into our harbors, and
deserves no consideration.
If we hold out sternly, we shall ultimately force the French to come in and buy
bait. For this purpose three things are necessary; (1) our people who sternly refuse to
export the bait to St. Pierre, should insist on the French coming into our ports to
purchase it; (2) those poor people who can only sell bait in the harbors where they
dwell should regard rich men, who export bait to St. Pierre, as their enemies, who are

43 The Evening Mercury, which changed its name to The Evening Herald in 1890.
44 The Evening Telegram, the Liberal newspaper, as opposed to an actual telegram.

36
taking the bread out of their mouth. Next, all American or Canadian vessels that
bring bait to St. Pierre, must be ruthlessly punished. Under the Thorburn
Government these got off scot–free.
What is really wanted to carry out the protection of the bait, the coast–guard,
and Custom House system is a number of vessels cruising around St. Pierre, and
watching both entrances. It would be well if these were armed with electric light, such
as men–of–war now carry; such streams of light, flashed out wherever a smuggler
was suspected, would deprive them of the cover of darkness and fog, which is their
chief opportunity.

6. Suspension of the Bait Act (1893)45

In March of 1893, the Bait Act was suspended. It would stay on the books, but it
would no longer be enforced. The idea behind keeping the Act was that the
thread of un–suspending it would prove a valuable bargaining chip when
Newfoundland negotiated with its competitors. Notably, the same legislative
session that suspended the Bait Act also re–introduced a tax on foreign fishing
ships.

Whereas, – The International and Intercolonial fishery questions, still pending
and unsettled between this colony and France and the United States, and between
this colony and the neighbouring colony of the Dominion of Canada, respectively,
render it expedient that the Bait Act (52 Vic. Cap. 6) should be retained on the Statute
Book, for effectual aid, that the powers of the said Act may give this colony in
negotiation for the settlement of the said out–standing fishery questions, between
this colony and the said foreign countries, and between the colony and the
neighbouring Dominion;
And Whereas, It is not desirable in the interests of this colony that the
provisions of the said Bait Act should now be enforced;
Resolved, – That an Address be presented to His Excellency the Governor
respectfully requesting that he will be pleased to suspend, by Proclamation, the
operation of the said Act in relation to all the Districts of this colony, and the coasts
thereof.
Resolved – That the Act 55 Vic., Cap X, entitled “An Act respecting foreign
fishing vessels,” be forthwith re enacted by this House, imposing a tonnage duty, not
exceeding $1 50 per ton, on all foreign fishing vessels coming into this colony and its
waters for the fishery purposes indicated in the said Act (not including the winter
herring fishery of Fortune, Placentia and St. Mary’s Bays, or any other Bays or
Harbors in the colony to which such vessels may resort during the winter season for
the purpose of purchasing winter herring).

45 From Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, quoted in ABOLITION OF THE BAIT ACT. (1893, March
23). The Evening Telegram, p. 4.

37
7. Waste of Herring Prior to the Bait Act (1896)46

DEAR SIR, – I cannot agree with your remarks in Saturday’s issue of your
paper on the herring fishery in Fortune Bay. You attribute the present scarcity of
herring to the Bait Act47. Nothing can be more unreasonable. Whatever may have
been the hardships on the fishermen under the act – and I know there were many –
it did not increase the wanton destruction of herrings, but, on the contrary, helped to
lessen such. Referring to the evidence taken on the operation of
THE WASHINGTON TREATY48,
it was given in sworn evidence of respectable planters49 and fishermen that one
thousand barrels were sometimes kept enclosed in large seines for from three to six
weeks, waiting purchasers and for an opportunity to sell at St. Pierre, the result being
that large proportions of the herrings perished. It was also stated that heaps of these
dried herrings had been measured by sinking a pole and were ascertained to
MEASURE FIFTEEN FEET.
The experienced men in Fortune Bay, at the same time referred to, gave it as their
opinion that such practices could not fail to drive the herrings from the bay. The
system complained about had not been pursued to anything like the same extent in
Placentia Bay, but no doubt will be adopted there and with the same results, if not
prevented by prompt action of the Legislature. You also state that previous to the
passing of the Bait Act French Fishermen went to Fortune Bay and purchased their
bait there. They did not need to do so, for our people stocked the market with a triple
supply of bait, every year
THROWING OVERBOARD MANY CARGOES
they could not sell. The average returns to the fishermen of Fortune Bay from the St.
Pierre bait–trade did not yield 10 cents a day per man; but it was attractive in its
speculative character, there being a few prizes to be drawn, and thus it enticed the
many away from their legitimate avocation – codfishing. Eventually, all the
appliances for the prosecution of this latter fishery were neglected, so that when the
Bait Act came into force comparatively few were equipped for the codfishery – the
very method of which many of them had forgotten, and thus the herring fishery was
ruined, which if properly worked, would assume a value closely approaching, if not
fully equal, to the codfishery.

46 From Observer. (1896, February 11). THE HERRING FISHERY. The Evening Telegram, p. 4.
47 “A THIRD correspondent thinks both fish and herring have been scared out of the Bay by “the
frolicsome conduct of the Fiona.” What with chasing the bait carriers about while the said Act was in
force, and hunting for smugglers more recently, she has terrorized the finny tribes and frightened
them away from their natural habitats.” EDITORIAL NOTES. (1896, February 8). The Evening
Telegram, p. 4.
48 The Treaty of Washington was signed in 1871. In exchange for a one–time payment of $5.5 million
and free access to the US market for Canadian fish, the US was allowed to make use of Canada’s
inshore fishery for 12 years.
49 A year–long resident of Newfoundland, as opposed to a migratory fisher. Planters often owned small
boats and hired fishing crews, if they did not fish themselves.

38
8. The Aftermath of the Bait Act (1896)50

By early 1896, French cod was already threatening to compete with
Newfoundland’s product in Europe. Of special concern was that the Portuguese
(Oporto) market was threatened. For over a century, Newfoundland engaged in a
profitable triangular trade brining goods from Britain to Newfoundland, dried cod
from Newfoundland to Portugal, and wine and dried cod from Portugal to Britain.

DEAR SIR, – I am pleased to note your correspondent’s (“Observer”) letter on
the Fortune Bay question, and your moderate editorial notes thereon. It certainly
looks as though the destructive method pursued in that bay had brought its inevitable
and, I had almost said, deserved result. Another matter is, however, touched on which
suggests these few observations. The French of Saint Pierre had
A GREAT BLOW DEALT THEM
by the Bait Act. There can hardly be a question about that. We have heard little of
their competition since that Act was put in force until very recently. They had a good
year in Saint Pierre in 1895. They have very largely added to their banking fleet, and
next Spring will show
A GREATLY INCREASED OUTFIT.
Their experience has shown that the bait preserved over the winter is of little value.
They believe that the Bait Act will not be enforced in 1896. They are relying
absolutely on Newfoundlanders for their first baiting. There is no preserved bait at
all now in St. Pierre. We have in our power the means of dealing them a great blow;
and forbearance on our part will but
WORK OUR OWN DESTRUCTION.
Letters from fish agents in Europe and London again begin ominously to mention
French fish. We hear that next Spring, with the aid of the drying process recently put
in operation in Saint Pierre, they are going to make an attempt to wrest the Oporto
market from us – a market in which we have never before had much competition from
them. We shall unquestionably meet their fish once more in Spain and Italy
WITH RUINOUS RESULTS.
What effect this sort of thing is likely to have on the value of Newfoundland
produce is not difficult to foresee. Nor is it difficult to judge of the effect that another
small cut in values is going to have on this colony. What a year would 1895 have been
for Newfoundland had fish been worth only another shilling. The colony cannot
complain of it, as it was, but one can only sigh when one thinks what it might have
been. The above are hard facts. The question is: What are we going to do about it?

50 From H. (1896, February 13). OUR GREAT STAPLE. The Evening Telegram, p. 4.

39
Factors Influencing the Price of Cod

Newfoundland’s dry cod was a differentiated, seasonal good. Newfoundland fish
merchants formed cartels (‘combines’), and fishers were often paid in advance, and
at least partly in kind (‘truck’).

9. Song of the Fisherman (1889)51

I’m one of the thousands who’re yearly fleeced
By bloated tyrannical knaves;
No more we’ll be goaded and used as the beast,
And crushed into premature graves.
We’re up in our manhood, resolved and alert,
The ballot to use for the true–
The Workingman’s Party its right to assert
And get the poor fisher his due.
Yes, get the poor fisher his due;
No more upon knees he will sue
At th’altar of greed,
For his children’s feed;
For, get will the fishers their due.

10. Fishermen, Prepare for War! (1894)52

In April of 1893, the Liberal government of William V. Whiteway stepped down due
to accusations of corruption. Fifteen Liberal Members of the House were put on
trial – including Whiteway, who was found guilty. The Governor of Newfoundland
requested that Augustus F. Goodridge, leader of the Tories (Conservatives), form
a minority government. This would not last long. In December of 1894, a financial
panic and subsequent bank run led to the permanent closure of two of
Newfoundland’s three banks. Goodridge’s government resigned on December
12th, 1894, as a result of the bank failures of December 10th.

The following article is notable for listing the different varieties of cod, and their
cost.

LIES and sophistries will not win. We put hard, plain facts before you. You
know the truth of what we write. Rise men, or be forever slaves. We give you the
prices paid for fish in 1893 and in 1894. The prices paid under the Whiteway
Government and the prices paid under the Goodridge or mercantile Tory
Government. This is no Herald lie. This is no Daily News lie. Those are September
prices in 1893 and 1894 :–

51 From SONG OF THE FISHERMAN. (1889, October 18). The Evening Telegram, p. 4.
52 From FISHERMEN, PREPARE FOR WAR! (1894, September 26). The Evening Telegram, p. 4.

40

Whiteway – 1893:
Labrador53 $ 2.80
Large Merchantable54 4.50
Large Madeira55 4.00
Large West Indies56 3.50
Small Merchantable 3.60
Small Madeira 3.20
Small West Indies 2.80
Cod Oil (the tun57) 76.00

Goodridge – 1894:
Labrador $ 2.50
Large Merchantable 4.00
Large Madeira 3.60
Large West Indies 3.20
Small Merchantable 3.40
Small Madeira 2.50
Small West Indies 2.60
Cod Oil (the tun) 68.00

We have given you the figures paid by the shippers to you for your local produce
in 1893 and 1894. Can any fisherman deny those figures? Are they not the prices paid
you last fall, and the prices paid you this year? […]
Fishermen are you aware that a “solid ring” has been entered into by the twelve
merchants who ship off every quintal caught in the colony? Are you aware that the
smaller fry of merchants, such as Monroe58 and Ayre59, who never ship a quintal
themselves, are into this “ring?” Are you aware that Monroe and Ayre and all the

53 Cod caught off the coast of Labrador (as opposed to Newfoundland) was considered of low quality.
54 ‘Merchantable’ cod, also known as ‘Bacalao Marcante’, was high–quality dried cod suitable for sale
in Spain or France.
55 Madeira cod was meant for the Portuguese market. Its name is a possible reference to the wine that
it was traded for in the BritainNewfoundlandPortugalBritain triangular trade.
56 Newfoundland cod was used to feed slaves and indentured servants on plantations in the West
Indies. This cod was often damaged, or in pieces. Even today, West Indian and Brazilian cod recipes
are mostly for croquettes (such as Brazil’s bolinhas de bacalao), which hide the poor state of the cod.
By contrast, European dry cod recipes such as bacalao a la Vizcaina showcase the appearance of the
reconstituted cod.
57 A tun is equal to about 980 litres, or six standard barrels.
58 Probably Moses Monroe (1842 – 1895). Starting in 1873, Monroe ran a dry goods and fishery supply
business. He had shares in many other Newfoundland companies, including lobster factories, and
would occasionally hire ships and their crews for the cod fishery. His Ropewalk twine and net factory
was a major employer.
59 Possibly John B. Ayre (1850 – 1915), merchant and politician. Ayre & Sons, the business founded by
his father, was mostly a chain of department stores.

41
smaller fry of the “ring” can get on an average, fifty cents or two shillings and sixpence
a qtl. More from the twelve shipping merchants, for the fish that you sell them, than
you can? We have indubitable testimony of two planters, who have been credited on
their accounts, with 20 cents a quintal more than the current price. The “ring” by its
own cupidity has been broken. They undertook too much and they failed. In secret
among their own planters, they are outbidding each other, and the shrewd planter
laughs in his sleeve at them and gets his “advance price or rise.”
Fishermen! there was never a time in the colony when fish stood as high in
foreign markets. We know of a cargo of fish shipped from Labrador at $2.50 a quintal,
sold for 22s. 6d. stg.60 In England, or, in other figures, $3.40. This happened quite
recently, too. Do you notice how eager they are this year to buy your fish? They say:
“It is only worth $3.40 talqual61; if you can get a better price, why, get it; but if not,
come back, and I’ll buy.” Monroe may say this to you. Take the fish off your cart or
out of your boat, walk down the street, sell it to Walter B. Grieve, the shipper, for $4.
This is what it is to be in the “ring.”
Fishermen! have we not placed facts before you in the above statements? You
will unhesitatingly answer, yes.
Do not the merchants control the Savings’ Bank, the Commercial Bank, the
Union Bank62, the produce and shipping of the colony, the price for fish, and the price
for labor? You answer, they do. Then will you, as freemen, place the making of the
laws of the land in their hands? Will you bow down in abject and complete slavery
before them; or will you, as freemen, through the secret ballot box, tell them that
tyrants shall not remain? We have given you facts plainly and bluntly. We cannot do
everything; you must take a hand in the fight yourselves. Each man must feel, in this
fight, that Newfoundland expects him to do his duty.

11. A Cod Cartel (1894)63

Perhaps no greater evidence of the selfishness and greed of the few Tory
merchants who are trying to govern this country with the lash can be given than the
manner in which they have combined in this and former years to keep down the price
of fish on those who toil to catch the staple produce. It is now a notorious fact that
every season about the month of July these Tory taskmasters meet

60 That is, 22 shillings, 6 pence. (The ‘d.’ is for ‘denarius’, the Roman penny.) There were 20 shillings
in a pound sterling, and 12 pence in a shilling. Today, we would write 22s. 6d. as £1.125, or
approximately £1.13.
61 From the Spanish ‘tal qual’ or ‘such as it is’. This means a price independent of quality. Part of the
reason Labrador fish was of poor quality was that it was priced talqual, so there was no incentive for
an individual fisher to cure the fish properly.
62 On the Savings Bank would survive the bank panics of December 10. As it was run by the
government, the Savings Bank had priority on all funds. Minutes after the bank runs started, the
Savings bank cashed a very large cheque at the Union bank. This allowed it to meet its obligations,
but put the Union Bank in a difficult position. The Commercial Bank and Union Bank closed within
hours of each other, never to re–open.
63 From “COMBINE” AMONGST MERCHANTS. (1894, October 15). The Evening Telegram, p. 4.

42
IN THE COMMERCIAL ROOMS
and agree amongst themselves what price they will pay the fisherman for his fish.
This agreement is usually reduced to writing, each merchant agreeing with the others
not to pay more than the price agreed upon. This is what is known in commercial
circles as a “combine.” No matter what the price of fish is in foreign markets – no
matter what the Halifax or other Canadian merchants pay for fish, our “local
Shylocks64”
COMBINE WITH EACH OTHER
not to pay their planters and fishermen anything more than the Commercial Room
Combine65 allows. This year the cruelty and oppression of this “combine” have been
felt more than usual. The demand for codfish in the foreign markets was never
brisker than at present. In the report of
THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
just issued, signed by Mr. Edgar Bowring66, as President of the Society, we find the
following:–“It is worthy of note, that whilst most articles of food, the exports of other
countries and the colonies, are abnormally low in price, the staple article of
Newfoundland has not appreciably declined in value.”
THE PRICE OF LABRADOR FISH
This is the language of those very gentlemen who met in July last, and settled the
price of Labrador and Shore fish in the Commercial Rooms. It must be remembered,
too, that the Labrador catch has never been so small for the past twenty–five years
as this year, and that in Bonavista Bay, Green Bay and Trinity Bay the catch of shore
fish is much below that of former years. Now, it is a notorious fact that when an
article of food is scarce the value of that article
INCREASES IN PRICE.
How, then, is it that, in the face of the short catch of both Labrador and shore and the
face that “the staple article of Newfoundland has not appreciably declined in value,”
the price of Labrador fish is this year
ONLY $2.50 A QUINTAL,
And large shore only $4.00 a quintal? The answer is plain. The merchants of
Newfoundland have “combined” amongst themselves not to pay the full value for
“staple article of Newfoundland.” Why is it that a better price for fish can be had in
Halifax than in St. John’s? The answer is, the “Mercantile Combine.” Who are those
men who have so ruthlessly and cruelly “combined” to
WRING FROM THE HARDY TOILERS
of the sea – the only tilers in this colony who produce the “staple article of
Newfoundland” – the result of their toil and sweat. Who compose this dishonest
“combine?” Listen, men, fishermen of Newfoundland, while we write with shame the
names of your Tory merchants who thus filch from you
YOUR HARD–EARNED WAGES

64 An anti–Semitic reference to Shylock, the merchant in Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’.
65 An old–fashioned term for a cartel.
66 Sir Edgar Rennie Bowring (1858 – 1943) founded the Bowring Brothers chain of retail stores, which
exist to this day. He had a successful career in politics and was knighted in 1915.

43
–who send you back to your loved ones in your northern or southern homes with
nothing for your summer’s hard work! Listen! Their names are:–
GOODRIDGE, JOB, MUNN, GRIEVE, MONROE, BOWRING, AYRE, DUDER,
GOODFELLOW, BAIRD67.
These are the men who ask the electors of Burin, Placentia, Green Bay and
Trinity Bay to forget all this, to bare their back to the lash, and to lick the hand that
SO CRUELLY SMITES THEM.
These are the men who impudently ask the fishermen to forget the wrongs of
themselves and their fathers – to forget that even they are human beings with
feelings and sensations – and vote for the Merchants of Newfoundland. Oh, God!
“That bread should be so dear, and flesh and blood so cheap.” How long, oh Lord, how
long will this species of serfdom remain! How long will the Grieves and the
Goodridges68 and the Jobs and the Monroes pile up riches on the
ILL–PAID EARNINGS OF THE HONEST TOILING MEN!
How long will men work and women weep and children go hungry, that the
Goodridges, the Jobs, the Grieves, the Bowrings, the Monroes, and others of the
“combine” may live in mansions, drive fashionable horses and carriages, fare
sumptuously, be clothed in purple and fine linen, and send
THEIR ILL–GOTTEN FORTUNES
to their relatives and partners in Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast or Grenock; and in the
letters containing their remittances, no doubt, they write these same partners and
relatives:–“Although we grind those fishermen until they have hardly enough to live
upon, and wring from them, by means of the “Combine” which Goodridge, Grieve,
Monroe and the rest of us make to keep down the price of fish, half the fruits of their
earnings, yet these poor devils, like the far–famed Newfoundland dog, lick our hands,
AND ACTUALLY VOTE TO PUT US IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, so that we
may use the little savings which a few of them have, by sleepless nights and weary
days on the ever–tossing wave, laid up in the Savings’ Bank against the future years
when they shall become too old to slave nay more for the Newfoundland Supplying
Merchant.” FISHERMEN OF NEWFOUNDLAND! WILL YOU VOTE FOR
GOODRIDGE, GRIEVE AND MONROE? WILL YOU VOTE FOR THE ST. JOHN’S
FISH “COMBINE?”

12. The Codfish Cull (1894)69

Cartels, like monopolists, raise prices by restricting output. It is possible the
merchant ‘Combine’ described in the previous article tried to use the traditional
cull for this purpose. When salt cod is ‘culled’, some of it is thrown away and will
not be bought by any fish merchant. This is understandable if the cod is of

67 Probably Augustus F. Goodridge, Walter B. Grieve, Moses Monroe, Edward Rennie Bowring,
Charles R. Ayre, Edwin Duder, James Goodfellow, James Baird. I’ve been unable to identify ‘Job’.
68 In addition to his political duties, Goodridge was a prominent fish merchant.
69 From THE CULLING OF CODFISH IN ST. JOHN’S. (1894, October 15). Evening Telegram, p. 4.

44
unacceptable quality, but the author of this article argues that high–quality cod was
also culled.

YEAR after year the complaint about the monstrously unjust manner in which
fish is culled on the merchants’ wharves in St. John’s has so increased that it is now
recognized as one of the greatest disgraces that a free British colony
HAS EVER PERMITTED TO EXIST.
In no other country in the world could such a system remain in existence for a year,
and the time has arrived when the matter should and will receive the attention of the
Legislature. In olden times this culling of fish used to be carried on with something
like fair play to the fishermen; but the greed and
SELFISHNESS OF THE TORY MERCHANT.
In St. John’s has “grown with his growth,” and to–day the system of culling in St.
John’s is nothing short of WHOLESALE ROBBERY. From every craft that arrives
the complaint comes that they are ruined and robbed by the disgraceful way in which
the merchant compels the culler to cull the fish. Men from Trinity and Placentia bay
this year have brought on cargoes of
WELL–CURED MERCHANTABLE70 FISH,
And out of 300 qtls. not fifteen quintals of merchantable fish has been left. The evil
has grown to such dimensions that it must be regulated, and we authoritatively
pronounce that Sir William Whiteway must make this question of the
FAIR AND REASONABLE CULL
of fish one of the principal planks in his platform of reform. No longer can the
fishermen of this country submit to the iniquitous manner in which they are daily
robbed at the merchants’ wharves by the system of culling, and the only remedy lies
in the enactment of such a wise law as will
COMPEL THE MERCHANT TO ACT FAIRLY
with those who risk their lives and by the sweat of their bodies reap the harvest of
the seas. The only hope of the fishermen in this direction is the return of Sir William
Whiteway to power, and we have no doubt that he and his patriotic lieutenant, Robert
Bond71, will see to the enacting of a measure that will meet
THE WISHES OF THE FISHERMEN
on this subject. The merchants now control the Banks – they dictate the price of
goods, they combine to make the price of fish, but some law must be found that will
control the present
DISHONEST CULLING OF THE FISHERMAN’S “STAPLE.”
Vote for Monroe, Grieve, Job, Bowring and the others of the combine and good–bye to
any hope in this direction. VOTE FOR THE PEOPLE’S LEADER, AND HE IS THE
ONLY MAN IN THE COLONY WHO CAN AND WILL REMEDY THE EVILS OF
THE PRESENT CULLING SYSTEM.

70 Of high enough quality to be sold. This may or may not refer specifically to the high–quality ‘bacalao
marcante’, which would make its way to tables in France and Spain.
71 Robert Bond (1857 – 1927) was the last Premier of Newfoundland before the colony achieved
Dominion status in 1907.

45

13. Abuses of the Truck System (1894)72

DEAR SIR, – Having copper–fastened the fact that the fishermen of this
country are defrauded to the extent of 66 cents on every quintal of Labrador fish they
sell in this market, and having driven the editor of the Herald to abandon the
discussion and descend to low, vulgar abuse, I now propose to show how the
fishermen, especially the Labrador fishermen, are
DEFRAUDED IN THE MATTER OF CHARGES.
I have obtained from a good, respectable planter, an account of goods taken up from
one of the Tory supplying merchants, St. John’s, for the past summer’s voyage on the
Labrador. Not to make this article too lengthy, I will only select a few of the items on
the account and compare the prices charged there with the ruling cash prices in St.
John’s in May last, the time
THE SUPPLIES WERE ISSUED.

Cash Price. Price Charged.
Flour, per barrel $ 3.50 $ 5.25
Oleo73 per lb 0.12 0.16
Molasses per gallon 0.38 0.50
Pork per barrel 16.00 24.00
Salt per hhd74 1.30 2.20
Codseine75 Twine per lb 0.21 0.35
Cod Netting per fathom76 0.42 0.70
Thread per lb 0.45 0.80
Calico77, per yard 0.06 0.14
3/4 Boots per pair 1.80 3.00
Beef per barrel 11.00 15.00
Tobacco per lb 0.35 0.50
Brown Sugar per lb 0.07 0.10
$ 35.66 $ 52.70

THE REAL CASH VALUE OF THESE GOODS.
The cash value of the above lot of goods is $35.66 and are charged $52.70 or
nearly 50 per cent above the price these articles could be obtained for cash in the
month of May last. Now then, take the 20 per cent. difference between the price given

72 From Truth. (1894, October 30). Tory Cupidity and Fraud. The Daily Telegram, p. 4.
73 Oil.
74 ‘Hogshead’. A measure of volume equal to about 240 litres.
75 ‘Cod seine twine’, that is, ‘rope to make cod fishing nets with’.
76 A fathom is a measure of length equal to six feet, or about 1.8 metres. It’s mostly used to measure
the depth of water. Here, it is used for netting since cod nets go vertically into the water.
77 A cheap cotton cloth, often printed with patterns. England was a famous manufacturer of calico.

46
for fish in Halifax and the price given in St. John’s and add it to the overcharge of 50
per cent. on the supplies, and it makes 70 per cent. of a loss to the fishermen, or in
other words, the fisherman gets only 30 cts. for every dollar he earned this summer,
the balance of 70 cents going into
THE POCKETS OF THE SUPPLYING MERCHANT.
Men! open your eyes!! Was Mr. M. Fenelon far out when he valued a man’s day’s work
at 30 cents? Is it not the commercial valuation as well as the government valuation?
DID NOT WHITEWAY GIVE THE WORKINGMEN ONE DOLLAR PER DAY
CASH? Does not the merchant, by cutting the price of fish 20 per cent and charging
the fishermen 40 per cent. over the ordinary cash price of the goods, cut down the
fisherman’s hard earned dollar to 30 cents? Mind you, the merchant makes a profit
of from 20 to 40 per cent on the cash prices of his goods, in addition to the
OVERCHARGE OF 50 PER CENT.
In other countries there exists a usury law which prevents money lenders and others
from taking advantage of the necessities of the people and charging exorbitant prices
for their advances78. Some such law will have to be made for this Island, to prevent
our supplying merchants from taking advantage of the
NECESSITIES OF THE PEOPLE,
and charging exorbitant prices for their advances. And who is to get that law made?
Is it the merchants, think you? Are you foolish enough to believe the merchants will
make no laws in their own interests? Not much! Sir W. V. Whiteway and his party
are
THE MEN WHO WILL DO THIS
for us. They are the only men who will stand between the working classes and this
unholy combination, and wring from them a fair and honest valuation of a man’s
labour and a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. And this selfsame
UNHOLY MERCANTILE COMBINATION
is before us to–day asking us to give them a further lease of power, and, with canting,
sniveling hypocrisy, they tell us: “We won’t reduce the price of labour; we won’t stop
the railway.” They tell us all they won’t do, and then we are told if we return them
they will give us “clean government,” or some such rot. Clean government, indeed! In
the first portion of this letter you have
A SAMPLE OF THEIR POWERS
of administration: 70 cents taken from every dollar earned by the fishermen this
summer and pocketed by the men who will give us “clean government!” A clean sweep
of the funds, would be more like what we would get if they are returned to power. If
the present Government get a firmer grip on the funds of this colony, good–bye to the
dollar–a–day. Fenelon’s 30–cent valuation of a man’s day’s work will be nearer the
mark.

78 Under the ‘truck’ system, fish merchants would advance the supplies that fisherfolk needed at the
start of the fishing season, to be paid from the sale of their catch. This gave a lot of power to the
merchant, who could set both the price paid for the fish, and the price charged for the goods. Many
fishing families were perpetually in debt.

47
14. Smelly and Hard to Prepare (1903)79

Salt cod was smelly and required careful preparation. This limited its appeal
outside of Catholic regions with no access to fresh fish during Lent.

DEAR SIR, – Those who work conscientiously and strenuously for the public
welfare are sure sometimes to make mistakes, but the good they will do will
eventually more than ten–fold compensate the public for what it may have to pay for
their mistakes. The effort made by Sir Robert Bond80 and the Hon. E. P. Morris for a
number of years to obtain a larger and more profitable market for our staple industry
is worthy of all praise. The Mackinson method of preparing salt cod for cooking is not
altogether unknown to quite a number of outport housekeepers; they have on
occasions for years past used a method
SOMEWHAT SIMILAR THERETO.
Mr. Henry LeMessurier Sr.81, has pointed to the real difficulty which lies in
the way of people in Great Britain ever becoming much greater consumers of our salt
cod than they are at present, when he alludes to the offensive smell that comes from
the raw article itself while in store or before watering, and says truly it ought to be
kept in an outhouse. Only the tolerably well to do and the wealthy people in Britain
can provide such a storeroom. Salt cod is by its strong smell shut out from the
ordinary storeroom, cellar, or pantry in private dwellings. Where there is no salt cod
where does the Mackinson process come in. Expedition in preparation is the principal
and most valuable feature in the Mackinson82 process. The expedition will
recommend it to our Yankee cousins who are fish eaters, while Englishmen, Irishmen
and Scotchmen are not. Indeed except at or near a few of the principal seaports, but
VERY LITTLE SALTED MEAT,
except what is canned, ever finds an entrance into three–fourths of British
households. Therefore they don’t understand the first thing about watering salt beef
or pork, not to speak of salt cod. No expeditious method of preparing cod for cooking
can in the result produced compare for excellence with the old plan properly carried
out. The old plan properly carried out, with of course well cured fish, produces no
more ill savour than that which comes while cod is undergoing the Mackinson
treatment. Carelessness on the part of the cook in not changing the water on the fish
often enough is responsible for the ill smell. To water fish properly it should be placed
in a covered vessel and well under water. The water should be strained off and fresh
supplied every eight hours and oftener in hot weather – you can’t change the water
too often. Under no circumstances should the fish, even in cold weather, remain

79 From Smith, W. R (1903, February 28). AN INTERESTING LETTER. The Evening Telegram, p. 3.
Reverend Walter Redfern Smith (1845 – 1921) is buried in Portugal Cove.
80 The same Robert Bond mentioned earlier in association with Sir William V. Whiteway. At this time
(1903) he was Premier of Newfoundland.
81 Henry William LeMessurier, his son, was a Newfoundland politician who is most famous in the
present day for having composed the folk song ‘The Ryans and the Pittmans’ (a.k.a. ‘We’ll Rant and
We’ll Roar’).
82 I’ve been unable to find anything about Mackinson (Makinson?), or his process.

48
longer than twelve hours in water. Say what you like about it, hot water tends to
harden the fibre of salt cod while cold softens it. The best watered salt cod I ever ate
was when a boy I ate in the houses of
THE OLD PLANTERS
who had watered it by placing it well secured at the mouth of a brook. The next best
I ever ate had been placed in netting and towed in the wake of a schooner under sail.
Perfectly sound, well cured and properly watered salt cod, boiled in skim milk, then
toasted and buttered, is a dish fit to set before the gods. The skimmed milk should be
fresh and sweet. Our naval reserve men must have both fresh and salt cod, if they
are to preserve their present character for intelligence. Even salted cod contains more
brain food by far than beef. Purveyors of provisions for our large lumber camps and
mining centres ought to pay more attention than they appear to do towards providing
our fishermen who have turned miners and lumbermen with, in season, both fresh
and salted cod, or the next generation will be mental and physical weaklings.

The Crash of 1894

In December of 1894, two of Newfoundland’s three banks suddenly closed their
doors.

15. No Calm Before the Storm (Early December, 1894)83

Newfoundland’s economy was in rough shape even before the banking crisis.

Newfoundland has always been a curious study, writes a correspondent. It
occupies, so to speak, a little eddy in the world’s commercial trade. There has been
much enterprise in its one or two important trading centres, and a good deal of wealth
accumulated. Once it bade fair to wrest the whaling trade away from the sailors of
the southern fishing ports. At another time the seals “came down,” as the expression
is, and fortune again seemed promising. Both these hopes ultimately vanished, and
the single codfishing industry was left.
The island is believed to abound in mineral wealth. […] Towards the west –
the unlucky “French coast,” which figures as an afterthought in half a dozen
European treaties – there are some fine fields of asbestos and strata of marble. But
the asbestos and marble cannot be mined, because the French treaty gives no harbor
privilege to the English and no interior privileges to the French. Newfoundland has
no manufactures, and could not mine and export its coal at a profit.
AS A LAST RESORT,
some years ago, homestead laws were passed, a railroad built, and every effort made
to attract agricultural settlers to the interior, where there is a really fertile soil. But
the settlers accepted their opportunity very charily – the session is too short for the
majority of grains – and there are not enough even of vegetable market–gardens in

83 From NEWFOUNDLAND AS IT IS. (1894, December 14). Moose Jaw Herald Times, p. 6.

49
the neighborhood of St. John’s to make possible the supplying of the city’s food
without heavy importations. In short, the whole community seems doomed to depend
upon a single industry. The coal, the marble, the asbestos – even the disputed lobster
fisheries of the French coast – are the good things of Tantalus. They are in full sight,
but Newfoundland cannot see them.
Two years ago last June St. John’s was almost destroyed by fire84. It was the
end of an exceptionally dry month, a violent south–west gale was blowing, half the
city’s buildings were wooden, and the fire having started in the western section, fully
three–fourths of the business part of the city was by morning reduced to ashes. This
disaster came after two seasons of poor luck at the fisheries, and at a time too when
emigration to Canada85 and the United States had become considerable; it seemed,
therefore, almost a finishing stroke. But the event was quite otherwise.
Newfoundland recovered quickly from the business destruction. The people are used
to poverty; what they have to sell is not dependent on buildings, machinery, or store–
houses; and as a matter of fact the first year or two after the fire was marked by a
seeming return of prosperity. A thousand persons, perhaps, out of St. John’s 25,000
inhabitants lived through an autumn and a winter in temporary huts in a public park,
and suffered much from the storms and cold. But when spring came, building
operations began perforce again; as the people say, “the insurance money was being
spent.” Employment for the poor was plentiful, and the season’s catch of cod was once
more abundant.
THIS FALLACIOUS PROSPERITY
has not even yet wholly vanished. It is fallacious, because the real losses to
investments in Newfoundland were heavy, and the blow to the permanent employing

84 The Great Fire of 1892, as it is now known, began on July 8th of that year.
85 “Mr. C. C. Carlyle, an immigration agent of this department [Canada’s Department of the Interior],
working in Newfoundland for the past six months, has furnished this department with a list of about
500 persons, some of whom will accompany him to the Canadian Northwest at an early date, and the
remainder intend emigrating to Canada as soon as possible. On this list appear the names of about
400 married men, who wish to obtain employment as farm laborers. These men, in every instance,
furnish trustworthy references of their good character, and they have all subscribed to the following
statement: “We, the undersigned, being desirous of emigrating to the Canadian Northwest, and being
unwilling to take the risk of looking for employment on our arrival, and being desirous of obtaining
work for at least the space of three years to enable us to obtain each a farm of our own, are desirous of
making a contract with some responsible farmer or tradesman for the said three years on the terms
hereunto appended in the form attached, and I will sign such contract on presentation.” The proposed
contract is in the following words: “This agreement […] witnesseth that the said _____ of
Newfoundland, agrees to go with all possible speed to the residence of _____ of Canada, and here serve
three years with him as a farmer’s apprentice, and faithfully discharge all duties encumbent on him.
Ten hours will be a day’s work, except in seed time and harvest, when 12 hours will be a day’s work.
And the said _____ of Canada, agrees to furnish the said _____ of Ne[w]foundland, a ticket to his
nearest railway station, and pay him, if between the ages of 16 and 20 years, the sum of $10 a month,
and if between the ages of 20 and 25 years, the sum of $12 dollars a month, with board and lodging.
One third of the same to be paid to the Canadian Railway on account of the said _____ of
Newfoundland, and the balance to be paid to him each month.” MIGRATION FROM
NEWFOUNDLAND. (1894, May 18). The Prince Albert Times, p. 1.

50
class more severe than people here seem to imagine. How little the situation is
understood may be judged from the action of the landlords. The water front – the
really valuable St. John’s property – is largely owned by absentee proprietors, and
the leases were generally voided by the fire. No sooner had this happened than the
land–holders, on the first application for rent renewals, raised their demands by all
sorts of gradations; adding in some cases, it is said, as much as 50 per cent. These
older leaseholders dated back, it is true, twenty–five years or more. But twenty–five
years ago was a time of far greater prosperity in Newfoundland than to–day. The
result of this unreasonable movement was curious, but quite logical. Some business
houses were forced to accept their landlords’ terms and rebuild. Many others were
not. As a result sites as to rent no agreement could be reached were left untouched.
Not even the ruined walls of the old buildings were removed. It is now two years and
two months since the fire; yet I counted the other day, within five blocks on the main
business street of St. John, no less than twenty–two ruined buildings, the ragged and
blackened walls of which were still left standing – often thirty or forty feet in height
– exactly as though the disaster were but of a week ago.

16. The Crash (December 10, 1894)86

The Commercial and Union banks would close their doors forever.

The Commercial bank suspended payment, liabilities unknown. A run on the
Union bank is now in progress. There is a financial panic here [St. John’s,
Newfoundland]. The Commercial bank has suspended payment temporarily and the
Union bank is paying out gold to satisfy the run. The calamity was caused by a change
in the firm of Browse, Hall & Morris, of England, who transact business for many
Newfoundland merchants. The change involved an immediate call on local men at a
season when assets are not realizable.

17. The Aftermath (February, 1895)87

One notable result of the crisis was a loss of faith in paper money.

A letter received […] from St. John’s, the very centre of the present sore
trouble, shows a very woeful state of affairs indeed.
“I got paid on Saturday evening, and the Commercial Bank never opened after
that, and so my money (bills) was a waste paper, and the bill that was worth five
dollars, is now only worth $1, or 20 cents on the dollar.”
When a man takes a V88 into a store he has to be content with trading the
depreciated value of it out, as the storekeeper will not give change, for the government
will not guarantee the 20 cent rate beyond two years. Indeed some storekeepers

86 From FINANCIAL PANIC. (1894, December 11). The Daily Colonist, p. 1.
87 From A Cry from Newfoundland. (1895, February 21). The Brandon Mail, p. 4.
88 This appears to be slang for a $5 note (‘V’ is ‘5’ in Roman numerals).

51
refuse to take them at that rate. He says the streets are traversed by poor hungry
emaciated beings, who have no means and no prospects of supplying sustenance to
the physical man.
Silver has been brought in very rapidly; one man was actually seen to pay a
$10 bill for a fifty cent piece of silver.

18. The Roots of All Trade (1894)89

This article was published two days after the start of the banking crisis.

It was a matter of comment yesterday why it was gold and silver – silver
especially – had become so scarce as a circulating medium compared with Bank notes.
In the early days of the Union Bank, in 1864 and succeeding years, before the
Commercial Bank was instituted, the sovereign and half–sovereign, the Mexican
dollar, the British crown and the
UNITED STATES HALF DOLLAR,
formed much the highest value in a deposit of cash in which the Bank’s one pound
and five pound notes were commingled. It was subsequent to that year that the
Colony’s own gold and silver currency took the place of the foreign coinage, the British
excepted. But, the last twenty years, hard money has been growing more and more
scarce, and the bulk of silver currency was
STILL FURTHER ENCROACHED UPON
five or six years ago by the issue of the two–dollar denomination of bank notes. This
initiative was taken by the Commercial Bank. Now, sire, there is no safer or more
convenient circulating medium for the working classes than the silver currency. Take
two representatives of that class: the outport fisherman who has made a good voyage,
and the St. John’s laborer – both, men of family. The former having paid for
ALL HIS WINTER SUPPLIES
of provisions, raiment, &c., and deposited his surplus in the Savings’ Bank, retains a
little reserve of cash, say ten pounds or forty dollars, to meet emergencies at home
during the winter. What more convenient all–round medium for the purpose than the
Newfoundland half–dollar? It does not make a bulky package, and if it does, can be
reduced with a few gold pieces and a few bank notes – the latter to maintenance of
that faith and trust in banking institutions, which is a characteristic of enterprising
business people everywhere, because faith and credit
ARE AT THE ROOTS OF ALL TRADE,
the development of countries and the advancement of their populations. The other
representative of the working classes – the St. John’s laborer – can have every
requirement of his life supplied most advantageously from the beginning of that life
to its close, through a silver currency; for his earnings yield him, as a rule, from three
to eight dollars, weekly, and a welcome wage to him

89 BI–METALLIST. (1894, December 12). SCARCITY OF GOLD AND SILVER. The Evening
Telegram, p. 4.

52
EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT
would be six dollars in silver coins. These two men form a class which may fairly be
said to comprise three–fourths of the colony’s population; and if their interests were
safeguarded by a silver currency their business transactions would be conducted on
a safe and fixed basis of value, with buoyant confidence and hope, year in and year
out. As to the liability of silver to depreciate by reason of the increased output of some
SILVER–MINING REGIONS,
we must remember the demand of the modern world, for articles of refinement, tends
to keep the value of silver up; that a decrease in the output enhances its value; and
that, at the worst, the possession of a silver dollar is more substantial fact to the
holder than a paper dollar when its inscription of a “promise to pay” assumes the
shape of a legend. Why, sir, how did our grandfathers and grandmothers manage to
conduct their business affairs
WHEN THERE WERE NO BANKS?
It does look indeed as if much of the Spartan virtue of those times were lost to the
“Boy of To–day,” as well as to the “Girl of To–day.” How often have we not heard them
recall their business experiences of the dim past, when the old trunks or flour–barrel
held its store of Mexican dollars, by means of which they conducted their barter and
sale! Then, if a business–house failed, though it produced loss to its dealers,
mechanics and laborers, by the termination of their industrial relations to each other,
and loss to those who left balances in its keep, yet it involved in its fall
NO MONETARY INSTITUTION
with widespread certificates of indebtedness, and involved no correspondingly
widespread loss. The reserve of silver which they held at home was ample to meet the
passing stringency, if any such arose; and the suspension of payments by a mercantile
firm was delimited in its disastrous consequences to those having direct dealings with
it – to the few not the many.

19. A Run on Three Banks (May, 1895)90

By spring of 1895, Canadian banks had set up shop in Newfoundland. The
possibility of joining Canada in Confederation was fiercely debated topic. Anti–
Confederation activists tried to bolster their argument by sabotaging the
Dominion’s financial institutions.

Some malicious person or persons started the report in St. John’s, Nfld., the
other evening that the Bank of Montreal, the Merchants Bank of Halifax and the
Bank of Nova Scotia were in a shaky condition. The origin of the report cannot be
traced. The following morning there was considerable run on the banks, but it was
not panicky. The bank managers are considerable annoyed, but smile at the absurdity
of the report and are paying out gold to all who ask for it. Many believe that some
over zealous anti confederates have started it in order to damage Canadian
institutions and raise a feeling against confederation.

90 From A RUN ON THREE BANKS. (1895, May 16). Qu’Appelle Progress, p. 3.

53
Another banking scare occurred at the same place on the same day. A story
was circulated that the Bank of Montreal had suspended. The rumor was traced to a
number of anti–confederate fanatics, who are constantly starting damaging reports.
But the public were so badly bitten in the late banking disasters that the rumor was
easily swallowed, and there was a run on every bank in the city, causing great
excitement. Crowds of people surrounded each banking institution, where the
officials were paying out large reserves of gold, as owing to the unsettled condition of
affairs during the past three months most of the people refuse to handle notes, but
convert them into gold immediately they are obtained. There is no apprehension of
danger to any of the banks. The managers all say that they have an abundance of
gold to meet any possible call, and it is expected that the panic will have soon
subsided.
The run was heaviest on the Government Savings Bank, which is supported by
the Bank of Montreal, though there was also a run on the Bank of Nova Scotia and
Merchants’ Bank. Each bank stood by the others, not hesitating to redeem the others’
notes, and by their air of confidence and liberal displays of heaps of gold coin, the
panic was allayed, so there was no crush about the teller’s windows when the banks
closed for the day. Business people took no part in the run; it was confined to the
poorer classes, who were most credulous.

20. Signs of Recovery (November, 1895)91

All the news that came from Newfoundland not long ago was of a discouraging
sort, dealing as it did with financial reverses of the Government banks and private
individuals and the prostration of the province’s trade. Now there is to be chronicled
another item of a very different nature, the unbounded success of the cod and lobster
hatchery in Trinity Bay, and with it a catch that promises to be a remarkably good
one.
Four years ago this hatchery was started at the instance of a merchant of St.
John’s, and carried on for a while at his own expense. Then the Government took it
up and made it a province affair, placing it on a most liberal basis and sparing no
expense in stocking the sea with fish.
Trinity Bay was chosen as the location of the hatchery on account of its
sheltered position and its many little inlets and shallow bays. As the fry are sent out
to shift for themselves a few weeks after they are hatched, shallow waters and
sheltered shores are by far the best places for them to thrive in (so the hatchery
managers argued), for there they run little risk of being devoured by larger fish, or of
being swept out into very dep water, and there also they have much less difficulty in
obtaining their daily supply of food.
ON DILDO ISLAND
the hatchery was placed and was put under the management of a Norwegian named
Nelson. The Government provided a yearly appropriation of some $16,000, and this

91 From LOBSTERS AND COD GALORE. (1895, November 29). Moose Jaw Herald Times, p. 6.

54
proved ample for every purpose. So well did Nelson manage the affairs of the hatchery
that when the scientists and men of affairs interested in fisheries met at the World’s
Fair in a sort of small convention, the hatchery at Newfoundland, it was greed by all,
had proved itself one of the best in the world. In lobsters actually hatched and sent
out the records showed that the most remarkable achievements in artificial hatching
anywhere in the world’s history had been performed; while in cod hardly less had
been accomplished.
In the four years since the establishment of the hatchery 2,500,000,000 young
lobsters have been hatched out and 65,000,000 young cod. The main result
accomplished has been to more than entirely nullify the reckless slaughter of cod with
spawn during recent years. This destruction was not wanton, but the fishermen were
driven to it through competition.
Last year just about this time, several months before the disclosure of financial
weakness, the Newfoundland Legislative Assembly then sitting had a hot debate over
the hatchery question, the point disputed being the annual appropriation. It had
resolved itself into a strictly political matter, the parties of the island being divided
upon the question strictly on party lines.
THE APPROPRIATION
was in doubt, when reports began to come in from Trinity Bay. It should be premised
that cod must be three years old to be worth the catching, and it was then just three
years from the time of the establishment of the hatchery.
The Trinity Bay reports were most favorable. In their detail they astounded
every member of the then sitting house, for they showed that the catch, in proportion
to that of former years in this bay, was of unprecedented size. The hatchery had
proved itself an unqualified success. Party lines were at once broken, and in a burst
of enthusiasm the appropriation bill for the further continuance of the hatchery was
carried.
This year there seems no doubt that the catch will be fully up to last year’s.
The lobster catch is particularly good, too, though the hatchery people have
experienced much difficulty in increasing the supply of them in the waters of
Newfoundland as fast as the number they have hatched would seem to warrant. For
the young lobsters are not only subject to all the dangers of the deep, but for a few
weeks after they are hatched fight villainously and kill each other by the hundreds
and devour one another cannibalistically at a great rate.
The fishermen are a very prosperous set of men. The fishing season for cod
begins in June and ends in October. All sorts of methods are practised in catching the
fish. Traps, nets and seines are used and there is also more or less hand–line fishing.
The fashion varies, and the fishermen constantly change their ways of securing their
game. Several years ago traps – set and baited very much as are lobster traps, and
similar in construction – were used. Now traps in most districts are considered a trifle
out of date and
NETS AND SEINES

55
are more in favor. Many of the nets are “set.” There is comparatively little fishing
nowadays by hand–line, except in the small boats manned by three or four men that
go out only a little distance from the shore.
Enormous are the catches made in a single day and by a single boat. Some of
the larger craft have no trouble at all in securing 200 quintals of fish for a single day’s
work. That is 20,000 pounds or 5,000 to 6,000 cod. One man often finds it possible to
pull in 400 to 500 cod a day.
Few fish are as prolific as the cod. A single female is said to contain 9,000,000
eggs. Comparatively few of these are ever hatched, of course, and the fry that actually
do appear are still further reduced in numbers by all sorts of contingencies. Very few
of them in proportion actually live to be three–year–old fish. Like the young lobsters,
the fry frequently eat each other, and besides they are, even in shallow waters,
constantly at the mercy of larger fish. Trinity Bay should be within a few years the
finest codfishing point on the northern coast.
The real idea of the hatchery, as it has been well put, is “to conserve rather
than to preserve.” That is, the project is to secure definitely for the Newfoundland
fisheries now and for all time a constantly increasing supply of cod and lobsters, for
it is almost solely upon these two things that the propensity of the island rests.

Our Staple Product: The Letters of James Murray

James Murray was a Newfoundland merchant who lost his business in the
aftermath of the Crisis of 1894. Three years later he would write a series of letters
to the Evening Telegram that shed light into the nature of the cod fishery in the
aftermath of the bank failures.

21. Relieving the Fish Market (July, 1897)92

DEAR SIR, – I attended a public meeting last evening convened for the
laudable purpose of endeavoring to “relieve the present congested condition of the
local fish market,”93 and the worthy promoter of this movement, Mr. John Anderson94,
told us this was to be done by means of a Joint Stock Company which would buy fish

92 From Murray, J (1897, July 3). Relieving the Fish Market. The Evening Telegram, p. 4. Written by
James Murray (1843 – 1900).
93 “To relieve the present congested condition of the export trade, particularly to the staple article, dry
codfish, the trade which has been for the most part, since the crash in December, 1894, conducted by
four or five firms in St. John’s, whose operations have frequently been confined to their own immediate
dealers or connections; thus leaving no local market for the disposal of a large portion of the staple
product of the country in the hands of independent fishermen and others who are unable or unwilling
to export it themselves, and are thus placed at a serious disadvantage in Disposing of Their Produce.”
Fish Exporting Company. (1897, July 3). The Evening Telegram, p. 4.
94 A Newfoundland dry goods merchant and politician best known today for helping pass the Daylight
Savings Act in 1917.

56
for cash in this market95. Such a movement and such a proposed mode of
accomplishing it are worthy of all praise and of every encouragement from the public
at large. There was one statement made by Mr. Anderson that needs some
explanation, and my object in writing this is to obtain the same. Mr. A. (if I heard
him rightly) said it was not the intention of the proposed company to raise the price
of fish, or words to that effect. Now, if it is not the intention of this company to raise
the price of fish, in what way can it help or benefit the producer or seller of fish in the
local market? At present the price of dry codfish is down to the ruinously low point of
from $2.00 to $2.60 in this market, and that, too, for new winter and spring–caught
fish – a price never before heard of in this country within the memory of man. I should
imagine that the first, prime and PRINCIPAL object of this company would be to try
and raise that price, anyhow; for, if such cannot be done, it will be a black lookout for
the fishermen this fall, and the simple result will be that thousands of our people will
be cast upon the care of the Government for their support during the coming winter.
I have no doubt Mr. Anderson is prepared to rectify or amend his statement to the
above effect, and as my ardent wish is for the prosperity and success of the proposed
company, or any movement that will help the great natural business of this country
(for which at no time in its history was there a greater need than at present) I write
these few lines for the purpose of assisting him to do so.
Yours, &c., JAMES MURRAY.
St. John’s, July 3rd, 1897.
P.S. – Let me add for general information that the present price of fish for the
local market means a loss of ONE MILLION DOLLARS on this year’s catch, as
compared with last year. This is equal to a deduction of FIFTEEN PER CENT from
the earnings of every man, woman and child in Newfoundland. J. M.

22. Mr. Anderson Replies (July, 1897)96

DEAR SIR, – A letter from Mr. James Murray in reference to the proposed Fish
Exporting Company in your issue of Saturday, calls for a reply and a word of
explanation. I am glad of this opportunity of referring to a matter which has been
somewhat overlooked in the press notices regarding this proposed company, and that
is, the great advantages the fishermen themselves will gain by it. The “first, prime
and principal” object would be to compel the fishermen and curers to produce a
perfectly–cured, clean and marketable fish, and for that, and that alone, the company

95 “With John Munn & Co. out of business, and a large portion of the mercantile premises of St. John’s
unoccupied, it is evident the increased volume of trade diverted to St. John’s cannot be conducted in a
satisfactory manner Under Present Conditions, and the consequence is that fishermen, shopkeepers,
tradesmen, and, indeed, the whole community, are suffering more or less by the condition of affairs
above referred to. The presence of a well–conducted export company would tend to relieve the
congested state of trade, without any detriment to those already in the business, and more likely to
their advantage, and undoubtedly to the manifest advantage of all who depend on a healthy circulation
of money, at the present time so badly wanted.” Ibid.
96 From Anderson, J. (1897, July 6). Letter from Mr. Anderson. The Evening Telegram, p. 4. Written
by John Anderson (1855 – 1930).

57
would pay the highest market price in cash here in St. John’s. The company will have
no object to gain in keeping the price of fish down, but rather in raising it. And it
would be the best possible thing if every fisherman could hold, at least, one share in
the concern. Mr. Murray misunderstands my meaning if he inferred that the proposed
company was to be a money–making concern at the expense of the fishermen or
labour–producing classes, other than in expecting a fair return for invested capital.
In our opinion, a great factor in the difficulty of selling our fish in foreign
markets for a good price has been the careless and insufficient way in which the fish
has been cured. This has largely been the cause of bringing the fish down to the
ruinously low price of which Mr. Murray speaks. Our exporting merchants cannot
sell bad fish at a good price, and sometimes cannot sell it at any price. To put the
matter concisely (and I hope that all fishermen and those interested in any way in
this our staple article of exportation and that is nearly the whole of our population,
will read this), matters have come to such a pass now, that some effort must be made
to save the country from financial ruin. By working unitedly, fishermen and merchant
together, we may set the wheels of commerce in motion once more, and so secure the
welfare of the whole colony. By starting a Fish Exporting Company, in which the
fishermen as well as the merchant would have an interest, by being themselves
shareholders, the fisherman to do his part by perfectly curing the fish, the Company
theirs by paying a good price in cash for a well–cured article, and that only; by
securing good markets abroad through their own travelers instead of by agents, and
by uniting together for the welfare of the country at large, and not for personal
interests alone, the colony may regain its lost prestige in the commercial world; and
much of the old, pernicious credit system may be done away with. All classes of the
community will be benefited directly or indirectly, and the fisherman’s best friend is
the one who helps him to do his work conscientiously and well; so that in the end he
may reap the benefit. “United we stand, divided we fall,” and the crisis in our colonial
history, as far as commerce is concerned (and with that almost every other interest)
calls for immediate, unselfish, and united effort. The importance of the subject must
be my excuse, Mr. Editor, for trespassing so largely on your valuable space. We would
invite more able men than ourselves to give us the benefit of their wisdom and
experience through the public press, as this matter cannot be too widely ventilated.
Yours faithfully,
JOHN ANDERSON.
St. John’s, July 5th, 1897.

23. The Price of Fish (July, 1897)97

DEAR SIR, – I have to thank Mr. Anderson for his prompt and copious reply
to my enquiry respecting the intention of the proposed Fish Exporting Company with
regard to the price of fish. From it I gather that the Company will buy good fish at
the current market rates, but will not originate a price for fish – this being the

97 From Murray, J (1897, July 8). The Price of Fish, &c. The Evening Telegram, p. 4. Written by James
Murray (1843 – 1900).

58
conclusion I arrived at from hearing Mr. Anderson’s remarks before the meeting on
last Friday evening. Mr. Anderson’s letter is mainly occupied with observations about
the cure of fish, a subject I may have a word or two to say about later on. At present
the point of enquiry with me is the current price or prices for dry codfish, which I
maintain are inordinately low. Last year our fish exporting merchants were paying
$4 to $4.20 per quintal talqual at this time for new fish, and so eager were they to get
it that they actually sent special agents and messengers all round the coast to buy up
the fish at those prices. This year the prices for the same fish range from $2 to $2 80
per quintal, and nobody wants to buy it, even when it is exposed to the strict and
unmerciful “cull” for which St. John’s enjoys such an unenviable notoriety – a “cull”
which divides the fish into ten or twelve different qualities, and that is made under
the ex parte98 authority, without appeal, of the purchaser. Moreover, I am told, on
what appears to be good authority, that even at these low prices, and under these
hard and unjust conditions, the unfortunate seller, contrary to the statute made and
provided, is actually compelled to take up half the payment of the fish in goods or
“truck.” Now, Mr. Editor, why I asked Mr. Anderson whether it was the intention of
the new company to undertake an initiative of this matter of the price (and “cull,” for
the latter is part of the former) was and is because I was and am aware of this unjust
“Combine” on the part of a few fish–exporting merchants to depreciate the whole
fishery product of this country, and I wished (and still wish) Mr. Anderson and his
new friends, to repudiate all connection with it, if they can truthfully do so, as I
assume they can. Never before in the history of this colony, so far as I know, was such
a NEFARIOUS attempt made to confiscate – yes, I repeat the word, CONFISCATE –
the industries of a whole people – to cause them to relinquish their labors for a mere
song! I call upon all your readers to witness that in writing this letter and the former
one I have indulged in no claptrap language, and I wish here to add that I have no
political or class motive whatever for discussing this matter. I assume that we are all
animated now by a harmonious and bona fide desire to grapple with this fish
question, to try and find a solution of it. Many sharp corners we have been called
upon to turn, and heavy difficulties have all had to face, during the last few years.
But I deliberately say that not one of them singly, or all of them combined, is
comparable for a single moment with the gravity of the present situation. What! Dry
codfish TWO DOLLARS per quintal, payable half in truck!!! Heaven help us, that we
should have sunk to so low a depth of degradation as that!
Yours truly,
JAMES MURRAY.
St. John’s, July 8th, 1897.
P.S. – I am still in hopes of hearing from Mr. Anderson on the subject of my
text. Come, Mr. A., let us hear you speak out in trumpet tones along these lines. What
is life without liberty?

98 A legal term meaning ‘on behalf of’. Its use here implies a one–sided offer.

59
24. Our Staple Product (July, 1897)99

DEAR SIR, – In the absence of any further reply from Mr. Anderson I am
reduced to the necessity of continuing my observations on the present state of the
local fish market without that advantage. In my last two letters I stated that the price
of new dried codfish had been reduced to the low average valuation of TWO
DOLLARS per quintal in the local market; that a “combine” exists to maintain this
low valuation; and that this combine has gone to the extreme limit of compelling the
seller, wherever he can do so, to take payment for his fish in whole or in part, in goods
or “truck.” None of these statements have been denied or confirmed for the simple
reason that they are facts, and cannot be disputed, and any attempt to dispute them
would only throw up the facts into greater prominence.
As a positive illustration of the truth of these statements I am able to cite a
case which came under my observation since this correspondence began. A planter
named Mr. Thomas Garland, of Pushthrough, Hermitage Bay, brought on part of his
collection of winter and spring caught fish for sale in the Saint John’s market last
week, the cargo consisting of about 650 quintals. To prove that the fish was good fish
it need only be said that after having been subjected to the severe “cull” already
referred to by me as the unenviably notorious St. John’s “cull,” there were less than
thirty qtls. thrown out of the parcel as West India. After going around town seeking
for a purchaser for his fish at reasonable prices, during which time Mr. Garland was
quoted the same prices by each fish exporting firm, he was obliged to sell his fish on
the terms offered to him, and when the account was made up, as interpreted by the
cull, he found that his fish realized exactly TWO DOLLARS and two cents per quintal.
This same class of fish is now being delivered on the Western Shore at $3.15 per
quintal, talqual; so that Garland loses one dollar and thirteen cents by bringing it on
to St. John’s for sale, and of course, under the terms of this ruinous loss he will take
the rest of his fish to Halifax, thus depriving this port of all it might otherwise gain
by having that amount of trade brought here. No doubt the purchaser of this fish
acted within his strict legal rights – to get it as cheaply as he could – but, without
reflecting upon anyone in particular, I cannot help thinking that, in the sight of God
and man, it was and is a SHAMEFUL SACRIFICE. If such a policy continues may
we not reasonably expect to find that St. John’s will soon be what it is rapidly
becoming already – a waste howling wilderness?
In my last letter I stated that this time last year the price of new winter and
spring fish on the West Coast was $4.20 to 4.30, talqual. Some people maintain that
this price was inordinately high, though I remember several years ago when 29s. 6d.
was given for Merchantable fish, 27s. for Madeira, and 23s. for West India; and
merchants whose solvency could not be questioned were fighting to get it. But suppose
last year’s prices were too high, who made these prices? I should like to know. Was it
not these same present fish–exporting merchants, in the exercise of “their sole
discretion,” and without either outside or inside pressure from anyone? If their

99 From Murray, J (1897, July 15). OUR STAPLE PRODUCT. The Evening Telegram, p. 4. Written by
James Murray (1843 – 1900).

60
argument is good that $4 per quintal was too high for fish, why did they make that
price? What was the consequence of their having made it? This – that every local
outport planter and collector of fish throughout Newfoundland had to give that price
and base his operations upon it. Then, when these poor angashores100 subsequently
came on to St. John’s to market their fish, they had to face a ruinous loss of over a
dollar per quintal on their entire collection! This year, on the other hand, we rush to
the opposite extreme, and with equally fatal results to all the interests concerned, not
even excepting those of the would–be monopolists themselves. That is to say, if FOUR
DOLLAR fish was too high (a theorem that has yet to be proved), then “Two Dollar”
Fish is, and must be, as much too low. Why? Because, if it were not, what necessity
is there of a combine to keep it down to that rate?
Now, what is the consequence of this last stupid proceeding? Just this, that our
foreign purchasers and fish–dealers, being apprised by their local agents here, as they
always promptly are, of the prices being paid in this market, base their prices and
offers on this local valuation. In other words, they say, We will take your
Newfoundland dry codfish at your own valuation. You say two dollar fish :– We say
two dollar fish. If two dollars is good enough for your fishermen, two dollars is good
enough for you. If Newfoundland were a country of multiplied industries, the wide–
spread effects of this wholesale depreciation of the colony’s main resource might be
looked upon by the political economist with comparative equanimity. Men – even fish
merchants – might be allowed to play “ducks and drakes” with their own interests,
or even with those of the special classes which might be, unfortunately, dependent
upon them. But a man or class of men might as well debase the currency of a country
as unduly depress and depreciate the value of its natural industry, for that is, to all
intents and purposes, the currency of a country, and every man, however humble his
position in life, has some share in it. Here we have a class of men, according to their
own showing, with the whole control of a strictly–preserved monopoly in their own
hands (also according to their own showing) because they gave a dollar per quintal
too much for fish in 1896, much to the loss and grief of many people, therefore – I say,
therefore – they must now reduce the price of the same article to $1 per quintal below
its market value, to make up for their losses! It is said that the Newfoundland trade
lost $300,000 on their fish realisations last year, and if this be so I am very sorry for
it. No honest man likes to hear of another’s losses; and if the Newfoundland merchant
loses money in the first instance, the Newfoundland fisherman and all others may be
weakened by his losses later on. At the same time, it is possible that these losses may
be due to the maintenance of unjust and unwholesome MONOPOLIES, which, in
working out their bainful effects, stop not to ask what individuals they injure or how
widely their devastations extend. Yes, it may be so, commercially as well as socially,
that a community may become such a congenital conglomeration as to die of blood–
poisoning!
Yours, etc.,
JAMES MURRAY.
St. John’s, July 12, 1897.

100 People who like to complain. From the Gaelic ainniseoir.

61

25. On the Subject of Dry Codfish (July, 1897)101

DEAR SIR, – The subject of dry codfish is not an imposing one, and it is only
as it touches deeper and broader issues that it can be made of interest to the general
public. It is said that Charles Lamb could pleasingly discourse about “roast pig.” 102
But I am not a Lamb, nor am I gifted with that seductive smile which “Plays round
the head, but comes not to the heart”103 of my friend, Mr. George Hayward, when he
talks so captivatingly about the beauties of Mess Pork. One of the speakers at the
meeting on Thursday week hit the right nail on the head when he said that most of
our disasters in the
NEWFOUNDLAND FISH TRADE
Proceeded from ourselves, from our own internal divisions, from our want of cohesion
and unity of purpose. Like a house divided against itself, we fail because we are all
pulling in opposite directions. The ‘dealer’ believes that the supplying merchant is
taking an unfair advantage of him and the merchant mistrusts the ‘dealer.’ The large
merchant pulls against the trader and planter and the middle–class or intermediaries
protect themselves against the wholesale merchant the best they can. Instead of
there being co–operation and a unified interest, there is discord and division.
“DIVIDED WE FALL.”
The same fact holds good when we come to the work of distributing the fish in
the foreign markets. Every shipper wants to supplant his neighbor – to participate,
to over–reach him. If a new exporter appears there is a temporary unity of purpose,
but as it is directed entirely to ‘wolf’ him, its effect is necessarily not to improve the
foreign markets or the general interest. Everything of common value or general
interest is sacrificed to feed our internal disputes and jealousies, and it is hard even
to expect that any more prosperous result crown our efforts. Year after year we see
that the number of fish exporting houses becomes less: the trade falls into fewer
hands, and the more contracted it becomes the lower
FALLS THE PRICE OF FISH.
There is not one atom of consolation in this declining state of affairs for anyone.
Usually in the case where a fall in the value of merchandise involves loss to one party
it means a proportionate gain to some other party. But such is not the fact in regard
to the losses of our Newfoundland fish trade. The latter do not benefit anyone, while
they tend to impoverish this colony and every man, woman and child in it. Let us see
HOW THIS OPERATES.

101 Murray, J (1897, July 19). Subject of Dry Codfish. The Evening Telegram, p. 4. Written by Written
by James Murray (1843 – 1900).
102 Charles Lamb (1775 – 1833), an English writer, famously wrote ‘A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig’.
The essay is filled with intentionally purple prose such as “I speak not of your grown porkers—things
between pig and pork—those hobbydehoys—but a young and tender suckling—under a moon old—
guiltless as yet of the sty—with no original speck of the amor immunditiæ, the hereditary failing of
the first parent, yet manifest—his voice as yet not broken, but something between a childish treble
and a grumble—the mild forerunner, or præludium, of a grunt.”
103 A quotation from Chapter 5, Epistle IV of Alexander Pope’s ‘An Essay on Man’.

62
A foreign fish dealer or middleman, say in Oporto, contemplates buying a cargo of
Newfoundland codfish, or a part of it, for the supply of his retail or consuming
customers: he does so. We will say that this man is animated by a fair desire to give
a reasonable price for the fish. Before he has time to distribute his purchase, along
comes another large cargo of codfish, or perhaps two or three which are tumbled into
the market all at once and sold at whatever price they may fetch to the highest bidder.
The ‘middleman’ in Oporto who has already bought to supply the legitimate wants of
his trade is ‘wolfed’ and
SUFFERS A HEAVY LOSS.
Next time he looks askance at Newfoundland codfish, and so does every other body
on whom we have to depend in Oporto to keep up the price of our fish. The warfare
proceeds from this end of the line, and we have nothing to blame it on except our
narrow, petty, local rivalries, in connection with an uneven and unsystematic mode
of foreign distribution. It is either a feast or a famine. The famine feeds upon the
feast, and then the feast
FEEDS UPON THE FAMINE.
Now it is to be sadly observed that with all the fluctuations that have affected
the fish trade here at home in Newfoundland we have not improved one iota as
regards this matter of foreign distribution. The same fatal policy that would sooner
cut the throat of a rival than share in common profit, and the same ‘happy go lucky’
mode collectively, of trusting to chance for a bare market or a ‘glutted’ one, afflicts us
still. How can we hope to prosper while
THIS STATE OF THING CONTINUES.
So far in its history this country is not like an ordinary country in this
particular, that it has an ordinary or well–assorted population. The great mass of
the population are dependent upon a few, and these few undertake (as their
mercantile rulers) to manage their foreign affairs for them as regards the handling of
their fish. The time has no most obviously come, however, when some other authority
must intervene, and come to our help, or else the whole industrial structure on which
this colony depends must cease to be. With fish down to $2 per quntal and constantly
tending downwards, it is obvious that ruin stares us in the face. Our merchants say
THEY CANNOT HELP US,
that they are losing money and cannot give more for the fish. Very well, then, let it
be so. Is it because of this unfortunate fact that a whole industry must perish, and a
whole population – once thriving, happy and prosperous – must die? Must we not try,
by wise counsels and mutual assistance, to rescue the perishing, ere it be too late?
and WHAT TIME WAS URGENCY MORE CLEARLY INDICATED IN THE MOST
SOLEMN TONES THAN IT IS AT PRESENT? Yours truly,
JAMES MURRAY.
St. John’s, July 15th, 1897.

63
26. The Staple Industry (July, 1897)104

DEAR SIR, – I am of the opinion that the fisheries of Newfoundland will always
be conducted by means of the supplying or limited credit system, as they are at
present. Some persons are under the impression that that mode of conducting the
fisheries has been altered since the Bank crash of 1894, but such is not the case. The
supplying system conducts the fisheries of Newfoundland to–day as it always did,
and it is safe to say that, whilever these fisheries exist, they will be conducted in the
same way, and no other. Our fisheries and our supply system are interchangeable
terms – when the one goes the other will not long survive.
The proof of this is found in the very nature of the case. No man remains an
operative fisherman after he becomes independent, or can gain a living by any other
avocation. Were we to emancipate the entire body of fishermen to–morrow, the fish
would cease to be caught. Suppose we take any operative fisherman, and place him
in possession of $500, what will he do? He may supply some other man to go fishing
for him – in which case he becomes a “supplier” – but I am certain he will not continue
to catch fish himself. How necessary it is, therefore, that the condition of the
fishermen should be made as tenable and comfortable as possible! If this country
depends upon its fishermen and their industrial products – if the merchants, the
mechanic, the parson, the doctor, the politician and the lawyer, – all subsist upon the
fisherman, how necessary it is that we should all study his comfort, as a class, and
make the foundation on which his existence rests the subject of our most anxious
solicitude.
Now, what do we find in this Diamond Jubilee105 year of Her Majesty’s long
and glorious reign (God bless her!) that we have all been just so loyally celebrating?
Why, if my statements are correct, we find this, that in the evolution of Newfoundland
dry codfish, the staple, and beyond all comparison, the most important natural
production of this colony, we have developed from a $4 per quintal to a $2 per quintal
article, payable in truck, as the local commercial valuation of that article, and we
have consequently developed the average Newfoundland fisherman from a FOUR
dollar fisherman (which he was) to a TWO dollar fisherman, which he is at present.
Whether the rest of us in this colony who are not fishermen – whether the 150,000 of
us who are at present trying to live upon the fifty thousand fishermen who farm the
seas – whether we, as a colony, can continue to subsist as well upon a TWO DOLLAR
fisherman as upon a FOUR DOLLAR fisherman, I leave it for wiser heads than mine
to determine; but if, in the light of our past experience, we can do so, then certainly,
the four dollar fisherman must have lived in vain. With regard to the valuation of
Newfoundland dried codfish as compared with, or as affected by, other articles of
human food, I am also of the opinion that its valuation is not materially affected by
the value, or by the fluctuations in value, of any article of human food except itself.
In that fact resides the incomparable value of the fisheries of this country, as

104 From Murray, J. (1897, July 23). THE STAPLE INDUSTRY. The Evening Telegram, p. 4. Written
by James Murray (1843 – 1900).
105 60th anniversary.

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contrasted with all other fisheries and all other industries. Nature has placed in our
hands the exclusive possession of an article of human food, the value of which we
have tried in vain, for at least fifty years, to destroy, with greater ingenuity than if
we had directed our BRAINS to that special object, and with almost as much success
as if we had any brains to direct.
The one thing we seem to have been unchallengeably proficient in (as was aptly
observed by a certain speaker at the public meeting of Thursday week) is in ruining
the fishermen, ruining the fish markets, and ruining one another. And the practical
product is incontestably seen to–day in the evolution of a two dollar fisherman,
payable in truck. Then take the matter of cure – the patent panacea for all fishery
ills whenever we are at a loss to account for them otherwise. I haven’t one word to
say in extenuation of badly–cured fish when such is deliberately brought about by the
action of the fishermen themselves. But have we not the remedy for that evil in our
own hands? Does any one really believe that operative fishermen deliberately set to
work to “cure” their fish badly? And if they do, in any instance, bring bad fish to
market, has not every fish exporting merchant the power to refuse taking it? Could
not badly–cured fish be legislated out of existence within two fishery seasons, at the
outside, if the exporting merchants refused to buy it? Some do refuse to buy it, and
these men can consistently warn their fishermen and dealers against “making” – that
is, bringing to market – bad or insufficiently cured codfish, and they have done so,
and I have nothing to say against such an act. But it is almost enough to make a horse
laugh (and some horses do laugh at it) to hear people who send down their vessels to
the Labrador, and lift their fish on board them in baskets, because it is too limp and
wet to be handled in any other way, pull long faces on themselves, and account for
Labrador fish being down to $1.50 per quintal, because it has been badly cured in the
past!
Yours, &c.,
JAMES MURRAY.
St. John’s, July 17th, 1897.

27. The Chief Consumers of Dried Codfish (July, 1897)106

DEAR SIR, – The chief consumers of our dried codfish at present are the
countries of South America, of Southern Europe and of the West Indies. It is rather a
singular circumstance that a fish that is the exclusive product of cold and northern
waters should be so extensively used as an article of diet in tropical countries. This is
not entirely due to the fact that these countries are Catholic countries, where the
habits of the people and the religious usages require them to consume a fish–diet on
certain days, although this is responsible for a very large consumption. Besides that,
there is a natural craving for some sort of salt or salted food in warm climates, and
normal food does not fulfil that craving. Animal food, in warm climates, is heating
and nauseating. Salt fish, on the other hand, supplies a condiment as well as a

106 From Murray, J. (1897, July 31). ANOTHER LETTER. The Evening Telegram, p. 3. Written by
James Murray (1843 – 1900).

65
nutriment, excites appetite, and, in combination with other articles of food, provides
just such an alternative, in the matter of diet, as the system in a sub–tropical climate
instinctively desires. Moreover it is a fact that our Newfoundland codfish enjoys a
position, as compared with other products of that kind, that puts all rivals at defiance.
It has a distinctive flavor that neither Norway codfish nor French–cured
Newfoundland codfish can supply; and hence, although in certain cases the latter
may be accepted as substitutes for the Newfoundland article, they can never
supercede or take its place. I anticipate that the time will come when this feature of
our staple production, namely, its superior flavor, will assume a position of much
more marked prominence than it occupies at the present time, and when not only the
flavor of Newfoundland codfish, but even that of codfish cured in different parts or
bays of this island, will be sought after in a distinctive way. I believe that the time
will come when we shall look back upon the crude and brutal modes of putting our
fish upon the foreign markets now universally present as the characteristics of a rude
and barbarous age – when men were ignorant and knew nothing – not even the fact
that they knew nothing. In the matter of the treatment of our fish, in preparing it for
the consuming markets, as well as in the matter of depreciating its value in our own
local markets, we are, and have proved ourselves to be a community of conspicuous
donkeys.
It is to be sadly noted that nearly all the foreign countries that consume our
fish are, at the present time, in a state of commercial depression. Italy, Greece, Spain,
Portugal, Brazil and the West Indies, are almost without an exception crippled and
empoverished. Their people are broken down, either by bad government, by internal
dissentions, by exhausted treasuries or by excessive taxation. Consequence is they
can no longer afford themselves those luxuries of diet they could indulge in in happier
days. And when I say “luxury” it must be remembered that when our dried codfish
gets into the heat of Italy or Greece and the heavy import duty in addition to freight
and other charges is paid upon it, the price of that article to the retail consumer is
something like TEN CENTS a pound! So that, although the poor Newfoundland
fisherman who produces is paid, perhaps, only TWO CENTS per lb. or less for his fish
here, the equally poor foreign laborer or artisan in Greece or Italy, who eats his fish,
has to pay about $10 per quintal for it! Now, while we hear a good deal of “highfalutin”
rubbish in these days about Imperial Federation and such like gammon, would it not
be better for us Newfoundlanders – living as we do in a practically FREE TRADE
country – would it not be better for us, I say, to keep our hands free so that we could
make an advantageous or reciprocal agreement with any or all of these foreign
countries, should we at any time have an opportunity to do so. Fortunately, we have
not now to do with a narrow–minded TUPPER107, at the head of Canadian affairs;
but with a large–hearted and statesmanlike LAURIER108 – a man, God bless him!
And one who won’t “cut off his nose to spite his face,” or keep down into the dirt a
poor little struggling colony like Newfoundland. At present the poor countries I have

107 Sir Charles Tupper (1821 – 1915), Prime Minister of Canada from May to July of 1896.
108 Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (1841 – 1919), Prime Minister of Canada from July 1896 to
October 1911.

66
named buy from us nearly all our codfish, and pay us in cash, we taking from them
little or nothing in return. Why not we trade with them, and help them to live as well
as ourselves? Why not we buy their sugar, their fruit, and even many of their articles
of food and manufacture, if it suits us to do so, bringing back the same as return cargo
in the lines of steamers referred to in my last letter? That will be one of the NEW
METHODS of getting our dried codfish – our bread and butter – into increased
consumption, and God will bless us if we try to help our assisting neighbours. As for
such rose–colored chimeras as Imperial Federation; but those peoples dream such
dreams as are wealthy and able to “bestow estates.” WE ARE FIGHTING FOR OUR
LIFE NOW, and have no pocket money.
Yours, etc.,
JAMES MURRAY.
St. John’s, July 29th, 1897.

28. The Final Letter (August, 1897)109

DEAR SIR, – Some persons affect to believe that my object in writing these
letters is that they may be used for political purposes, or to set class against class, or
for some other sinister and hidden motive of that description. I beg to assure such
persons that they are entirely mistaken. I shall never use the facts and arguments
hereinbefore set forth for any purpose of personal, or party, or political advancement.
This discussion relates to the domain of political economy, and has to do with our
common inheritance, which must and will remain, no matter how political parties
may fluctuate or fade. I am opposed, and have always been opposed, to making
political capital out of such subjects, believing as I do that such a practice is the
evidence of a narrow mind and an unprincipled disposition. As for setting class
against class, my sincere desire is to break down all causes of difference between
merchant and fisherman from a conviction that such differences and discord lie at
the root of three–fourths of all our losses in the fish trade. But this is not to be
accomplished by keeping our mouths shut like dumb dogs and letting things drift
along from bad to worse until we find ourselves within the inner whirl of a maelstrom.
If any man has a word to say in the present crisis it is his duty to speak out like a
man, for we are just on the verge of another crisis, that, if not averted, will be far
more wide–reaching in its calamitous effects than any we have yet passed through.
There are men in our leading outports at the present moment who look forward
with dread to the possibilities of the coming winter, knowing, as they do, from bitter
experience, what it means to have shore fish down to $2 per quintal and Labrador
fish down to $1.50 per qtl. According to present indications we shall have an over–
flowing fishery this year, larger than that of either of the last two years, 1895–6.
What is to be done with this fish? We made our brags in the years named, that this
trade (the Newfoundland trade) could take care of all the fish that came into this
market. We are now within three months of the time when the great bulk of the

109 From Murray, J. (1897, August 7). ANOTHER LETTER. The Evening Telegram, p. 3. Written by
James Murray (1843 – 1900)

67
annual crop will be thrown upon this market by an automatical movement that
cannot be averted. What prospects can the local trade hold out for dealing with this
demand upon it? Our merchants cannot even guarantee the miserably low prices they
now offer for dried codfish! They cannot undertake to buy any specified quantity of
the article after it comes to hand. The only satisfaction they can give to anxious
enquiries on this most vital of all subjects is that “the price of fish must be according
to the markets.” This being the reason given for their having reduced the price to its
present basis, what assurance have we that the price will not go still lower – in fact,
go out of sight altogether? The dealers in the foreign article know that they cannot
compete with Newfoundland codfish at even prices in the European markets, and
hence they undersell us all the time.
Hearing the other day that we had cut our local prices down as near to the
vanishing point as possible, what did they? Why, they god alarmed – they got so
alarmed that they or their agents rushed into the ordinary markets in Southern
Europe and offered to contract for the supply of their wretched foreign fish at very
low prices right up to the end of December, a thing they had never done before within
the memory of man. And why did they do this? To my mind they were impelled to do
this wholly and solely by our stupid, suicidal policy of putting down our prices into
the dirt. Now WHERE IS THIS THING GOING TO END? If the inexorable law of
supply and demand – that is the law of telegraphic up–to–date competition – is going
to be untemperedly applied to our local fish trade, it must be evident to every man
who has an eye in his head or a sane brain behind it, that it is going to end in nothing
more nor less than UNIVERSAL BANKRUPTCY. And why? Because no man has or
will have any security or protection for his property, or for his labor, when these
consist of, or are applied to, the national industry of the country. All sorts and
conditions of men are protected here except the fisherman and his industry. In other
words, that base on which the whole superstructure of our industrial existence is not
only not strengthened but is ‘wolfed’ and weakened all the time. Every man has a
pick at it. Every class of us shrives and shears it. And yet when the man who toils for
all, and comes in with his crop in the autumn, hoping to receive a fair price for it,
what do we say to him? “Go sell it where you can, or give it to us on our own price and
terms, and with the dead certainty that, if you don’t, it will be worthless to–morrow!!!”
Now, in all earnestness and good faith, I would humbly suggest, whether, in the
common interest – in the interest of our fish merchants themselves – it would not be
better to keep up the tone of the local market by giving such reasonable prices for the
fish, and by holding out to the fishermen such reasonable expectations as to future
prices, as will give them a motive for honest and persevering exertion. We have to
look at this thing in the light of more than one year’s trade. Some of us have made a
profitable living out of in the past – to put it on no higher level than that. Hundreds
of us must expect to deal with these fishermen and profit by their trials in future
years. Let us be a little sympathetic and considerate with them now, in their time of
trouble and straits. Let us show that sympathy; and when Peter says, as, poor fellow!
He cannot help saying, “I go a–fishing,” let us say, in spirit and truth, “We also go
with thee.”

68
Yours etc.,
JAMES MURRAY.
St. John’s, August 2nd, 1897.

29. The Man Who Owned Half of Newfoundland (1898)110

Standing sheer at the mouth of the River St. Lawrence, is an island which in
other respects, besides its bulk, is one of the most remarkable in the world. Though
for centuries neglected, ignored and uninhabited, it yet enclosed within its territory
countless lakes swarming with finny tribes, upon whose banks grazed innumerable
deer, its hills and valleys beneath their forests teemed with mineral wealth, and yet
in all this expanse one single human being – a hermit farmer – subsisted.
Newfoundland only yesterday was a coast line. Its interior was deserted: it was
invested with fable, men fled at the mention of its name. He would not be too bold
who should prophesy that in a few years’ time the fate of this strange island will be
preferred by children to the tales of Aladdin and his Arabian compeers; how from a
mighty wilderness were resolved, like magic, busy towns and cities, how factories and
schools and mansions sprang up, how children who had never in their lives seen a
railway, a brick house or a lamp–post, suddenly found themselves, without moving a
mile, in the midst of theatres, of libraries, of churches and street railways.
And the curiously fascinating part of all would be that one man had done it all.
This man began, a poor Scotch boy, without money or influence; to–day he is
the greatest private land–owner on earth; and yet not one reader in ten thousand has
ever heard the name of Robert Gillespie Reid111.
Mr. Reid was a Montreal railway contractor. In his office in the Canadian
metropolis he had been seated one day with a map of North America hung before him
on the wall. Already he had amassed a large fortune and could look back upon a
protracted and adventurous career. A penniless lad, he had departed from his native
heath and gone to better himself in Australia. There his native ability and
shrewdness pushed him along, and prosperity came to him wherever he went. After
a time he migrated to Canada, and in the capacity of contractor built large portions
of the Canadian Pacific Railway, whose ever–moving shuttle of trains weaves the
commercial fabric which binds the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Although wealthy, and by no means young, he was not content to rest, and
already sought for new fields of endeavor. As he contemplated the map on this
occasion, he was suddenly struck by the geographical situation of Newfoundland. It
was a thousand miles nearer Europe than New York; why had it been so long
neglected? Was it barren? Was it useless? Was it empty? He recalled vague reports
he had heard of the presence of minerals in the island, and he ended a brown study
by rising and marking an X in blue pencil on the map.
“That,” he remarked quietly to his son, “will be a great country some day.”

110 From B.W. (1898, November 19). The Largest Land–Owner on Earth. The Metropolitan, p. 3.
111 Sir Robert Gillespie Reid (1842 – 1908).

69
The X on that map still remains to mark the birth of one of the most splendid
conceptions of modern times. Newfoundland is a sixth bigger than Ireland – Robert
Gillespie Reid owns half of it in fee simple; and yet that is only the beginning and
basis of his power and influence. Two hundred thousand souls regard him with the
same feelings as the commonality regarded a feudal baron – they call him “Czar” Reid
– they look to him to exploit their country before the world.
The successive governments of Newfoundland had long been agitating for a
railway, and at last, in 1893, they advertised for tenders. In the tender he despatched
to the government Mr. Reid offered to build a road for them at a charge of $15,000 a
mile. The offer was accepted and before the honest fisherman quite realized the
situation, the enterprising contractor got to work. He decided that it would be quite
practicable for the fishermen to build their own railway. Whereupon several
hundreds of the rough, uncouth, but honest and kind–hearted Newfoundlanders, who
had never done anything in their lives but catch codfish, were marshalled together to
work, digging, cutting timber for sleepers, laying rails, erecting telegraph poles and
in fact performing all the various labors incidental to the railway construction.
Thus was the great Newfoundland railway built. But a railway is a useless
concern if it be unoperated, if no cars run over it, if there are no engines or rolling–
stock, no station buildings or equipments. And as the government was just then in
financial difficulty, it could not easily operate the new road. Mr. Reid offered, then,
to operate the new railway. The cost he estimated at $100,000 a year, so the
government of Newfoundland agreed to grant “in fee simple to the contractor 5,000
acres of land for each one mile of main line or branch railway throughout the entire
length of line to be operated,” for a period of ten years. In addition, there was to be a
payment of $60,000 annually as mail subsidy.
Most Newfoundlanders doubted very much if the contractor would accept these
terms. Land seemed to them so useless and valueless a commodity that they could
not understand any man in his senses wanting to possess it. Land was going for 30
cents an acre in Newfoundland. Mr. Reid soon had two and a half million acres112 of
it.
Some of the better class believed that the contractor had been swindled, and
he was for a short time the recipient of numerous condolences. To these Mr. Reid
responded by an inscrutable smile; he is still smiling. Broken in health, a confirmed
invalid, and advancing in years, that inscrutable smile still steals over his features
whenever a visitor speculates on the ultimate results of his speculation.
From the moment the first sod was cut, the Reids, father and sons, became
Newfoundlanders. They did not delegate their work to others, but went at it, with

112 “Under the 1898 arrangement Mr. Reid became entitled to 3,135,000 acres of land, and he had not
then completed his selections under the 1893 contract. On March 5, 1900, just before they went out of
power, the late Winter Government issued to Mr. Reid grants in fee simple for 3,317,241 acres of land.
These grants included whole settlements in some instances, and confiscated the holdings of settlers or
squatters without legal titles. Some 50,756 acres of homestead lands were thus deeded away, and the
settlers subject to eviction at Mr. Reid’s pleasure. […] These grants gave Mr. Reid 494 miles of coast–
line, while he had applications in for 635 more.” THE END. (1901, September 11). The Evening
Telegram, p. 3.

70
their own hands, toiling with the men, sharing their hardships and even their risks.
A disfigured eye stands testimony to the intrepidity of Mr. William Reid113, the eldest
son. A blasting charge had failed to explode; a sufficient time was allowed to elapse;
it became necessary for someone to enter the mine to discover the cause. Young Reid
went himself, although there were a dozen men at hand. A moment later a detonation
rent the air and Reid staggered out with his face terribly torn and bleeding. What he
had then done his father had done before him. They came of sturdy, rugged stock –
the Reids.
But Mr. Reid was not content – he sought new concessions. He offered to
operate the road free, at the expiration of the ten years, if at the end of forty additional
years the road should be his114. He also stipulated for further grants of land, for the
railway and telegraph monopolies of the island. The government agreed to the terms
– and then a great outcry arose. The people said the island was being handed over to
Reid. The Legislature was petitioned! The Governor refused his assent to the new
contract; for a time the whole colony was in a ferment of excitement over what was
known as the Reid contract. But wiser counsels prevailed; it was seen that the
opposition had been sedulously fostered by politicians out of office. Mr. Chamberlain,
the Secretary for the Colonies, brought his influence to bear upon the Governor. The
eyes of the people became opened to the advantages of having a millionaire so vitally
interested in the fortunes of the island, and the contract became law115.
Perhaps a hard–headed Scotsman like Mr. Reid does not dream of the
possibility of his unique position. When the late Mr. Harden Hickey became owner of
the small island of Trinidad he immediately announced himself in public and on his
cards as Roi de Trinidad. Afterwards he toned it down to baron. Probably the idea of
erecting a baronial castle on his estate and inviting over heatherland potentates to a
house–party has never entered the head of the largest private land–owner on earth.
While his surveyors are at present laying off the iron, coal, oil and copper
territory, his prospectors and mining experts are busily employed developing it.
Several mines are in operation – together with two pulp mills, each of which is
producing two hundred tons of wood pulp weekly.

113 William Duff Reid (1867 – 1924).
114 This right was later rescinded. In 1901, Reid signed “a new contract to work the railway for 50 years
from August 1, 1901, the colony entering into possession on the expiry of that period. […] The recovery
of the right of ownership in the railway was the issue upon which the people most vigorously insisted,
and it has been recovered by repaying the contractor his purchase money with interest.” THE END.
(1901, September 11). The Evening Telegram, p. 3.
115 Not without controversy. “As to the Legislative Council: […] The chief work of the session was THE
SALE OF THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE TO R. G. REID, for which he regaled them at the close
on Wednesday night with champagne to such an extent that The Orgies Were Prolonged until after
midnight. THE COUNTRY IS GONE. The people are degraded, and there was no discussion. No man
thought it worth his while to analyze one of the most INFAMOUS CONTRACTS THAT EVER
DISGRACED THE RECORDS OF A COUNTRY. Loose in all its details – not one safeguard. The whole
handed over to a man and his sons of whom we know nothing, but that he possesses wealth; that he is
always ready to Throw a Sprat to Catch a Whale. He has […] succeeded in grasping Newfoundland
and its people.” DESPAIR. (1898, April 1). DEGRADATION. The Evening Telegram, p. 1.

71
Before long towns and villages will spring up in the wilderness, built by the
Reids and owned by them as absolutely as Mr. Pullman owned his town of Pullman,
Illinois.
No man – no Czar even – ever held the destiny of a country more closely in his
fingers than Mr. Reid does with his island. Seven thousand square miles are his. Over
this vast territory the once penniless Scotch boy is absolute lord and master. What
will he do with it?116

30. The Reids and Labrador (1907)117

With the pangs of starvation to stare them in the face, because, unlike the
Klondike, there is one company holding monopoly of passenger steamship–service to
that coast, and that company with but one boat for the service, with the dangers of
an unknown country, the trouble with the insects that infest the bogs in–shore and
the fact that transportation will have to be made with the voracious Eskimo dogs –
they have been stealthily opening up another Klondike, far up in the frozen north, on
the Labrador. Of course the Reids were behind it. Stronger than the government of
Newfoundland, which governs Labrador, the Reids, who have taken possession of the
island, sent their engineer up the coast this summer to look for gold. When he
came back, it was to board the steamer from a little sailboat on the open ocean, so
that no one knew just where he had gone “in” and what he had done. Suffice it,
however, that he brought aboard two heavy sacks of ore.
The story of the gold on the Labrador, as yet, is one filled with romance. Indians
come down to barter furs or bring the salmon to the lone Hudson Bay posts, had
particles of gold in their possession. Where they got it they would not tell, but wily
spies traced the r—skins up beyond the granite formation. There, then, strangely
enough, too, in a latitude not so very out of the way of that of the Klondike – the rock
formation is much the same as in the Alaskan Eldorado. That, however, is one side
of the story.
If the gold rush comes to Labrador, there will be a repetition of the horrors of
the Chilkoot Pass – only a thousand times worse, for Alaska is far more accessible
than is the Labrador. The nearest Canadian city of any importance for the voyager
will be North Sydney. North Sydney is a sleepy little town on the shore, not much of
an outfitting place, surely. Thence, the quickest route is across Cabot Strait, ninety
miles to Newfoundland.
Only one boat makes this passage regularly, and what its service is may be
surmised when it is stated that you go aboard her at seven at night, and are not
landed on the island before season for late breakfast. Again, then, there is a

116 Reid sold much of his land back to the government as a condition of the renegotiated contract of
1901. “The Government felt that, no matter what the cost, they could not permit this coast–line to be
in the possession of a private individual. They, therefore, undertook to buy back at a cost of $850,000,
or 27 ¼ c. an acre, the total of 3,135,000 acres which passed to Mr. Reid under the 1858 contract.” Ibid.
117 From TERRORS OF ANOTHER KLONDIKE. (1907, December 8). The Gazette Times Illustrated
Sunday Magazine, p. 17.

72
wearisome interruption. Small as Newfoundland appears on the map, there is a long
railway ride across it. All that day, that night, the next morning, you travel – you are
not in St. John’s until dinner–time. On that “overland route” there is no stop for
meals, one must eat on the cars, and pay at whatever rate they pleased. All manner
of extortions are practised on this railway. Bread and butter, for example, are charged
for whether one order or no. The climate is notoriously cold and damp, yet the cars
are not heated. The construction is bad, the rolling stock poor, and trains will often
have to go back many a mile to gain impetus enough to carry them up the slightest
elevation.
Come to St. John’s, again there is trouble ahead for the gold–seeker. St. John’s
boasts but one hotel worth the name, and its condition may be hinted at when it is
stated that there are not even keys in the doors. Again and again some man will walk
into one’s chamber in the wee small hours under pretense of error, and if he come in
the time when the men’s pockets are loaded with gold–dust, it is quite probable that
he will be coming with a six–shooter in hand and a hold–up on the brain.
St. John’s, however, will doubtless be the great point of departure for the
Labrador gold fields. Having influenced the Parliament, we are told, it was the easiest
thing in the world for the transportation company to have given it an absolute
monopoly of passenger steamship travel to the Labrador. So they run one boat, a
sealer for passengers. The larger part of these commuters are fishermen, afflicted,
one and all, with consumption. People are huddled, four to eight in a narrow cabin,
and owing to the cold, it is impossible to leave portholes open. Blankets are necessary
and these when furnished by the steamer, seem not to have been washed from year’s
end to year’s end. Again and again a consumptive sleeps over you, under you,
hawking, spitting all the night, and if you complain they will tell you, you can get off
and walk. In fact, on that steamship line indignities are permitted that we have not
come across even in the heart of the Ottoman Empire.
The company sells you tickets to a given point, assures you that the boat goes
there. Then, once they have you aboard and put to sea, they blandly let you know
they have no intention of making that port.
Sue? There is not an attorney in all the British possession of Newfoundland
probably but will tell you it is useless to sue. The courts stand too greatly in awe of
the defendant. These, then, are a few of the troubles that await the gold–seeker on
the Labrador.

73

II. Fur

74
Beavers and their Fur

Canada’s fur trade was originally built on beaver pelts. Stiff, wide–brimmed felt
hats were fashionable in Europe, and beaver fur was one of the few materials from
which such felt could be made. Eventually, processes such as ‘carroting’ and silk
napping allowed cheaper materials to substitute for beaver fur, and the once
unique material had to join the rest of Canada’s animal furs in the ‘fancy fur’ market
(where furs are used to make coats and other garments).

1. The Beaver (1887)118

Ever since Canada was Canada its trade in beaver skins has been an important
part of its commerce. The country form west to east was the natural home of the
animal which has for centuries supplied the world with the most useful and one of
the most beautiful and expensive furs. Beaver was valuable and was traded in
immense quantities when most of the other furs which today find favor would not pay
to pack out of the country. The supply for ages seemed inexhaustible even in the face
of an insatiable and ever increasing demand. […]
The beaver is a quick breeding, long lived animal, not subject to disease,
scarcity of food or to destruction by any animal except man. It feeds chiefly on the
bark of poplar and birch, and sometimes on the roots of plants which grow on the
bottoms of lakes. It builds a comfortable house, so substantial as to be difficult for
any wild animal to break into in the summer time and impossible in the winter, with
an only entrance under deep water so that in case the house is attacked by land the
beaver finds refuge in the water if retreat is necessary, while its size, strength and
fighting ability protect it amply from all the amphibious animals. During the winter
part of the year it is perfectly safe from intrusion by any of the lower animals and
lives in peace, ease and plenty. Its food is always abundant and its industry and
sagacity cause it to make ample provision for contingencies. The young appear in the
spring just before the ice goes, from two to five in a litter, are full grown at four years,
and live from fifteen to twenty years. They always live in villages, and when the
increase of population becomes too great for the resources of the locality to support
conveniently the younger adults are sent out to found a new village.
Many of the fur bearing animals increase or decrease from causes mainly or
altogether beyond human control. The beaver’s only danger is from human agency.
Were there other sources of destruction, or were it not very prolific, from the ardor
with which it has been hunted it would have become extinct long ago. Having only
the one danger it has retired very slowly before civilization. Although timid, if not
molested, mere settlement does not frighten it away, and it is even capable of being
domesticated. Of late years causes have been at work in this part of the country and
the vast region to the north – as well no doubt as elsewhere throughout Canada –
which bid fair to clean the beaver out as completely as the buffalo have been and with

118 From THE BEAVER. (1887, July 23). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 3.

75
greater loss to the country. For although the beaver trade is not as valuable as that
of the buffalo in its best days, the buffalo country can be turned to other and more
valuable account, while a great part of the country which now yields hundreds of
thousands of dollars’ worth of beaver annually would if that product were exhausted
yield next to nothing.
The immediate vicinity of Edmonton was many years ago a famous beaver
country, but of course settlement and frequent hunting killed them off here long ago.
There are still many in the surrounding districts, while the Athabasca, Peace and
Liard river regions to the north, empires in extent, have always been above all else
beaver countries. During the past ten years a competent authority estimates that the
supply of beaver in the Upper Saskatchewan, already greatly reduced, has been still
further reduced one half, and in the northern districts mentioned where the fur was
very plentiful ten years ago by fully three fourths. At the same time the continual
rise in price, from four dollars per skin then to ten dollars now has kept the total
value of the trade the same. The value of the beaver trade annually in the district
which includes the Upper Saskatchewan and Mackenzie river basins is estimated at
half a million dollars, and fully 60 per cent. of the total fur trade. At the present rate
of decrease, no matter how high the price may rise, in ten years this trade will be
extinct – indeed the inevitable rise in price will in all probability produce its more
speedy extinction by causing the hunt to be prosecuted with ever increasing eagerness
and in localities at present inaccessible.
The two main causes of the present rapid decrease are, 1st, the high and rising
price of fur which through trading competition is felt strongly on the upper
Saskatchewan, Upper Athabasca and the Peace, less so on lake Athabasca and still
less on the Liard and Mackenzie rivers and, 2nd, the increasing scarcity of deer
throughout the country, causing the Indians to kill beaver for the meat even when
the skin is not prime. A large beaver will yield forty or fifty pounds of good meat, a
very important item to a hungry Indian family, and the skin although unprimed,
unlike other fur, is worth about half as much as when in prime condition. An
unprimed skin is worth as much now as a prime one was ten years ago, while its
purchasing power in trader’s goods, as far north as Great Slave lake, is vastly greater.
The natural consequence is that not only near civilization but in the remote interior,
the beaver is hunted ruthlessly as it never was before. The very source of supply is
being killed out.
In the old days when the Indians were hostile to each other, and every band
kept its own country, when prices were low and there was little or no trading
competition the Indians were careful of the beaver, never killing them in the summer
when the fur was worthless, never killing the young ones, seldom breaking into their
houses, or if they did always leaving enough adults to start a new village, depending
chiefly on the trap and gun, and using the latter as seldom as possible to avoid
frightening them. Now the Indians are at peace, and members of one tribe go freely
into the country of the other. These have no interest in preserving the beaver. Their
only interest is to kill as many as possible. If the skin is not worth ten dollars it may
be worth five, or two, or one as the case may be. Only the summer kills are of no value

76
and even their skins are brought in and offered to trade, the meat of all sizes being
considered choice food.
Now the favorite method of killing is to break into the houses and kill young
and old. Besides the houses the beavers have holes, or washes as they are called,
scooped in the bank of the stream or dam. These are first located. Then the house is
broken and such of the animals as escape the first assault take refuge in the washes.
The outlets of these are closed by stakes driven in the ground, and the beaver dug out
from the land side and killed. Under these circumstances very few escape. The house
breaking is generally done during the months of October, November and December,
and the season for building dams or collecting food having then gone by, what beavers
do escape the hunters generally perish during the winter. So that when a house is
broken a clean sweep is made. In spring they are generally shot while swimming
about gathering food or searching out new locations for houses. Traps are used in the
neighborhood of the dams. A break is made in the dam, or a hole made in the ice and
the trap set. The beaver comes to repair the damage or see what is the matter and is
caught. So that even without breaking the houses the animal is not hard to get.
The fur is prime from October 1st to May 15th, giving a sufficiently long season
in which to carry on a legitimate hunt. The plea of need for the meat as food is not
good. During the summer months in the beaver country there is always an ample
supply of fowl and fish, and deer in the fall. During the starving season from New
Year until spring opens the beaver is safe from anything but dynamite, which has not
yet been introduced in beaver hunting. The fact is the Indian has a natural craving
for a strong meat diet. If he cannot get deer or bear, beaver is the next best thing.
Fowl or fish are not rich enough for his blood. The beaver is a table luxury. If he
preserves it, it will only be for another hunter of another tribe. If he kills it he will
have meat for the present and a good trade when he reaches the store, therefore he
kills all he can, in season and out of season.
The history of the disappearance of the buffalo is being repeated. The rising
price induced determined indiscriminate slaughter. Improved means of destruction
and new hunting grounds kept up the supply of robes, until the trade worth millions
a year, disappeared as suddenly as if by magic and as completely as if it had never
been. To prevent a like result in the case of the beaver some effort is necessary and
should be made. It is desirable if possible to prevent the killing of beaver in the
summer season and also the breaking up of the houses. If this were done the beaver
would increase instead of decreasing and a vast extent of otherwise, at present,
useless country would yield a valuable and profitable trade.
The difficulties in the way of enforcing any measures looking to the protection
of the beaver are very great if not insurmountable. The immense area of the far north
country, its inaccessibility, its widely scattered population, and the fact that they are
unused to any legal control, would in all probability make any regulation to prevent
the breaking of beaver houses either of non effect or an instrument of tyranny or
spite. The only way in which the matter can be dealt with – and perhaps not even
that way – is through the trader. If adequate means were taken to secure the
detection and punishment of every trader who accepted unprimed beaver on any

77
consideration, one great inducement to their unseasonable slaughter by the Indians
would be destroyed, and as the Indian – unlike the white sportsman – does not kill
for the mere sake of killing, the inducement being withdrawn the number killed
would be materially lessened. Of course if such a regulation were made it would have
to be enforced thoroughly and impartially to be a benefit. If that cannot be done it is
better to leave the matter severely alone, and let the beaver and the beaver trade,
follow the buffalo and the buffalo trade quietly out of existence.

2. One of the Romances of the French Regime (1918)119

A unique addition to the food supplies of the country will be the flesh of 600
beavers, which the provincial authorities will slaughter in Algonquin Park. The
protection afforded them in this forest reserve has arrested their rapid extinction,
caused by the destruction of beaver dams by lumbering operations and the opening
up of the north country. The killing of beavers primarily for their flesh instead of their
fur will be a novelty. The fact that this distinctively Canadian rodent – Castor
Canadensis – has become plentiful again, at least in one district of the country, recalls
the great part which it played in early Canadian history. The story is one of the
romances of the French regime. In the absence of coin, beaver skins served as
currency; in fact, the economic life of the struggling colony depended upon the beaver
from the beginning of French rule. In the middle of the seventeenth century, Iroquois
raids paralyzed the country by a stoppage of the fur trade. Parkman120, who devotes
many pages of his glowing narrative to this traffic, so rich in picturesque qualities,
thus describes the relief of the colonists when peace was declared in 1653:
“The fur trade was restored again, with promise of plenty; for the beaver,
profiting by the quarrels of their human foes, had of late greatly multiplied. It was a
change from death to life; for Canada lived on the beaver, and robbed of this, her only
sustenance, had been dying slowly since the strife began.”
It was the practice of the king of France to give a monopoly of the fur trade to
the farmers of the Canadian revenue. In 1674 it was in the hands of one Oudiette and
his associates, to whom merchants were required to sell all their furs. Oudiette was
seen burdened with such a mass of beaver skins that the market was completely
glutted and he found himself bankrupt, as the French hatters would only take a part.
Another company which took over the business was compelled by Royal edict to pay
a fixed price for all the skins offered. “All Canada,” says Parkman, “thinking itself
sure of its price, rushed into the beaver trade, and the accumulation of unsalable furs
became suffocating.” The principal merchants of the colony, under pressures from the
king, then organized to handle the traffic, and acquired from their predecessors at
half price 600,000 beaver skins, of which they burned three–quarters, after vainly
imploring the king to order French hatters to put three ounces of beaver fur into every

119 From EDMONTON FUR MARKET. (1918, March 23). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 5.
120 Probably Francis Parkman Jr. (1823 – 1893), author of the popular and monumental France and
England in North America.

78
hat they made. Despite these periodical calamities, the beaver trade continued to be
the chief enterprise of the country. Of a later era Parkman wrote:
“In the eighteenth century Canada exported a moderate quantity of timber,
wheat, the herb called ginseng, and a few other commodities, but from first to last
she lived on beaver skins.”
“Beaver skins,” he adds, “had produced an effect akin to that of gold in our own
day.” It was a huge evil, baneful to the growth and morals of Canada. Many of the
most active and vigorous men in the colony took to the woods to follow the trade
illicitly. These lawless adventurers, known as coureurs de bois, became scarcely
distinguishable from the natives in their modes of life, and were the plague of the
Crown and the sorrow of the church; but they were the inevitable result of the system
which sought to monopolize the riches of the country for the king and his favorites.
The romance of the beaver trade has gone forever, like the romance of the ages
in which it played so great a role, but every Canadian who has read the history of his
country must have a sentimental interest in the beaver, and will rejoice that it is
again finding a habitat in which it can increase and multiply.

3. The Beaver Club (1910)121

A wealth of romances and historical association is clustered around the first
Social Club of Canada, for it was founded by the pioneers of the fur trade in 1785 at
Montreal, the headquarters of the Northwest Fur Co. It was called the Beaver Club.
Just where this club was situated is hard to say, although searched for diligently.
Many of the writers on the history of the Northwest Fur Co. mention the club, but all
omit to say where it was.
The club was practically the outcome of the newly organized Northwest Fur
Co., which had been started in 1783, for after the Conquest the fur trade fell into the
hands of British subjects, and many small companies, as well as private enterprises,
were formed. This, of course, led to a number of abuses. To remedy these, several of
the principal merchants of Montreal formed themselves into a joint–stock company
under the name of the Northwest Fur Co., and entered the field against a formidable
foe, the Hudson Bay Co., which had obtained its charter in the year 1670 from King
Charles.
The partners of this new company felt the need during the long winter months
of having a club where they could meet each other and talk over their experiences in
the north, and so the Beaver Club was inaugurated by them. It opened with nineteen
members, all belonging to the Northwest Fur Co., which had been organized two
years previous. The motto of the club was “Fortitude in Difficulties.” What better!
Had they not passed through perils of rushing rapids? Had they not often in a
blinding snowstorm lost their way and all but perished? Famine they had known,
battles with Indians or some rival company, and in summer had often fled from forest
fires.

121 From CANADA’S FIRST CLUB. (1910, August 3). The Cayley Hustler, p. 3.

79
At the grand annual meeting of the partners at Grand Portage, they arranged
the number of wintering partners to go to Montreal, but the number was never to
exceed five. Those who spent the winter in the woods were known as the “winterers,”
while those who only made the trip from Montreal to the outlying depots and return
were called “pork eaters,” because their pampered appetites demanded peas and
pork, rather than hulled corn and tallow.
The rules of the club were such as to keep it exclusive, for no one was admitted
as a member of this unique club who had not made a journey to the Northwest, and
passed a winter there; nor was this in itself sufficient: the would–be members must
also have the unanimous vote of the members belonging to the club. Later, new
members were only admitted if they had passed through the various positions in the
company, such as apprentice–clerk, clerk, winter partner, and a certain number were
admitted as honorary members. One of the rules was that the members who were in
town must be present at the inaugural dinner, which was held on the first Wednesday
in December. The members met fortnightly until April, and every member was
obliged to be present, unless ill, at each meeting, and no entertainments were
permitted at any of their houses on club nights. There were five club toasts which
were compulsory; after these were drunk members were at liberty to leave if they
wished to.
Seldom did the members meet without entertaining some of the many
distinguished travelers who at this time were coming to Canada. Probably it was the
first time these guests were offered such entertainment. Their feasts, for the table
was literally laden with such good things as haunches of venison and bear, beaver’s
tails, pemmican, buffalo’s tongues, imitated as far as possible the fashion of their
annual great gatherings at Fort William on Lake Superior. After dinner, the
calumet122 was passed, and then began the evening’s merriment.
One of the members, who had previously been appointed, spoke of some of the
many incidents which had happened to them in the far north. Then, as the evening
grew, the songs of the Voyageurs, those gay lilting French songs, would ring out,
“Malbrouk s’en va–t–en guerre,”123 or “A la Claire Fontaine”.124
Remember, five toasts – and others – had been drunk when they were prepared
to make “the grand voyage”. This “grand voyage” was to remind them of their former
experience, and to show the guest how it was accomplished. “Partners, factors and
traders, in the sight of all the servants or voyageurs who happened to gain
admittance, engaged in the ‘grand voyage,’ which consisted in all seating themselves
in a row, on the plush carpet, each armed with tongs, poker, sword, or walking stick
to serve as a paddle,” which they used vigorously to the accompaniment of a voyageur
song.

122 An Indigenous ceremonial tobacco pipe.
123 A French folk song about the rumored death of John Churchill (1650 – 1722), Duke of Marlborough
(‘Malbrouk’). One version opens: “Marlborough s’en va–t–en guerre, / mironton, mironton, mirontaine
/ Marlborough s’en va–t en guerre, / Ne sait quand reviendra.” The song was at the peak of its
popularity in the late 1700s.
124 A French folk song. It opens: “À la claire fontaine m’en allant promener / J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle
que je m’y suis baignée. / Il y a longtemps que je t’aime, jamais je ne t’oublierai”.

80
4. ‘Made Beaver’ as a Currency (1921)125

Currency was unknown in the fur districts of the far north until within the
past twenty years. From earliest times the principal medium of exchange in Canada
has been the “made–beaver” system introduced by the Hudson’s Bay Company, soon
after commencing its trading operations in the North American wilds.
For the purpose of bartering furs and the purchase of all supplies, the Indians
became accustomed to the unit of value known as “1 made–beaver” or “1 skin”, and
these were synonymous. The system of measuring values by “skins” was a natural
substitute for the currency of civilized countries. The company instituted the “skin”
as a monetary unit because of its simplicity and fairness, and because it provided the
only basis upon which intelligent trading might be carried on with the natives126.
The general public is not aware of the true significance of the terms “made–
beaver” or “skins”. Misconceptions have been fostered concerning the value of these
units and in regard to the media of exchange employed during the early history of the
fur trade.
For example, one great canard which has gained general circulation from time
to time, and which is generally related as a fact, relates to the story of the long
barrelled rifle and the pile of furs.
It has been represented that the old time “trade gun” (which came to be a
primary item in an Indian trapper’s equipment) was stood on end at the fur post while
the native piled up pelts to reach the muzzle of the rifle, whereupon the Indian took
the gun and the company retained the furs.
FURS PILED UP TO RIFLE MUZZLE A FABLE
Regarding this story, I have diligently made enquiries over a period of five
years among men who served for fifty years before me at York Factory, in Labrador,

125 Harding, C. (1921, June 20). Monetary System of the Far Fur Country Was First Established By
Hudson’s Bay Company. The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 5. Written by Christy Harding (1872 – 1943).
Harding was born in London, England, and served the Hudson’s’ Bay Company at various posts and
positions from 1896 until his retirement in 1931. At the time this article was published, he was District
Manager for York Factory.
126 “Skin currency, or made beaver currency, which was the Hudson’s Bay Co. term, was invented by
the Company for the convenience of trading with the Indians. A prime beaver was the standard, and
rated as a skin. Then ten muskrats were one skin, a red fox one skin, a cross fox from two to five skins
or more, a bear from five to ten skins and so on. Then all articles in the trading store were priced in
skins, always bearing in mind one of the strict rules of the Company, that essential articles such as
blankets, ammunition, clothing, etc., etc., were moderate in price, while beads, fancy shawls and belts,
colored silks, were high in price. Generally when an unsophisticated Indian came in with some furs,
these were counted and valued by the clerk. We will say they came to forty skins, then forty goose–
quills were handed the Indian. He would think some time, then divide them up, such as five quills
(representing five skins) for a blanket, four for ammunition, and so on. If you hurried him probably
the whole business would have to be gone over again, as some important items would have been
forgotten. So much for the skin way of trading, very dear to the heart of the older Indians, for it was
an invariable rule, that both before and after trading a small gratuity, generally of tea and tobacco,
was handed to him. With the introduction of the present currency system, or money way as it is styled
in the north, all gratuities were cut out and the Indians resented this extremely.” Beatty, R. (1921,
February 3). A Winter’s Trapping. Blairmore Enterprise, p. 3.

81
and in the Athabasca–Mackenzie. I have enquired of many H.B.C. fur trade officers
and of the older men among the natives of all the Indian countries from the Arctic
circle to Winnipeg, and there is not even a legend in support of this story.
A search of the ancient records and post accounts of the Company at Hudson’s
Bay House, London, does not reveal that any such system was ever used by the
company in trading127. The only explanation seems to be that competitors of the
company originated and disseminated this and other fabrications as a vent for malice.
Divers tokens were in use at different times and in various districts, each token
representing a “skin” or a fraction of a multiple thereof. Objects such as ivory discs,
quills, smooth round pegs or sticks, lead shot and brass coins represented “made–
beavers” or “skins”. In some districts the company issued coinage in brass with
denominations of 1–8, 1–4, 1–2 and 1 “Made–beaver”, and such coins were in general
use on the east coast of the Hudson’s Bay and in British Columbia until within the
past ten years.
During the nineteenth century the company circulated a paper currency in the
shape of 1 shilling, 5 shilling, 15 shilling, and 1 pound notes128 which were quite
generally used in the more southerly departments of the fur trade amongst the
traders, but not with the Indians.
BEAVER SKIN WAS FIRST “COINAGE”
When the vanguard of the “Adventurers” came to Hudson’s Bay in 1670 the
first returns of trade consisted almost exclusively of beaver pelts. The earliest
measure of value became “one large beaver skin, prime”; so it was natural that when
other kinds of fur came into demand they should be valued in terms of “beavers.” But
there was a variation in size and condition; there was also the necessity of providing
“small change” in the form of tokens or values in fractions of the actual worth of a
standard beaver skin.
Thus it was established to “make a beaver” or establish a small unit and call it
a beaver. The “made beaver” monetary system, therefore, was a natural outgrowth of
the conditions of the time and the region in which it developed.
According to a former H.B.C. district manager in the Mackenzie river, one scale
of prices paid by the company during the closing years of the last century were:

127 One account is as follows: “An old gentleman (one of the most celebrated, historically, of all the
heroes of the fur trade, now deceased) told me that, when he established Fort Dunvegan on Peace
River, near the Rocky Mountains, the regular price of a trade musket was Rocky Mountain sables piled
up on each side of it until they were level with the muzzle. The sables were worth in England at least
£3 apiece, and the musket cost in all not over £1. The price of a six–shilling blanket was, in like
manner, thirteen beavers of the best qualities and twenty of a less excellent description. At that time
beaver was worth 32s. per lb. and a good beaver would weigh from 1 lb to 1 ¾ lb. Gradually the Indians
began to know better the price of a musket and of their furs, and to object most decidedly to the one
being piled along the sides of the other, which report saith was lengthened every year by two inches
until the barrel reached dimensions.” Brown, R. (1877, May 2). The Profits of the Hudson Bay
Company. Daily British Colonist, p. 1. I suspect the story is apocryphal. Clues in this passage imply
the old gentleman is Archibald Norman McLeod, who founded the first trading post at Dunvegan for
the North West Company in 1805. This is unlikely, however, as McLeod was dead by 1845, and Robert
Brown was born in 1842.
128 Under the traditional British system, there were 20 shillings to a pound, and 12 pence to a shilling.

82

“Made–beaver”
tokens
Beaver … … … 12
Bear … … … 20
Ermine … … … ½
Fisher … … … 30
Fox (red) … … … 10
Fox (silver) … … … 150
Lynx … … … 10
Marten … … … 10
Mink … … … 5
Musquash Rat … … … ¼
Otter … … … 25

It will be seen that a beaver skin itself was valued at 12 “skins” or “made–
beaver”; the company gave the Indian 12 tokens called “skins” or “made–beaver” for
his one large beaver skin. The native then turned to the dry goods counter and, for
example, exchanged his 12 “made–beaver” tokens for three yards of white duffle129 –
which was priced in the H.B.C. post store at 4 “skins” or “made–beavers” a yard. At
the “book–value” of fifty cents per “skin” or “made–beaver” token, the value of the
goods purchased was $2.00 a yard or $6.00 total. A four–point H.B.C. blanket was
held at 10 skins in those days. A heavy wool shawl cost 20 “made–beaver”. A tweed
suit (that smacks of Scotland) brought 30 skins.
FANCY GOODS CAME HIGH
All staple goods – necessities of the north – were sold by the H.B.C. at “cost
landed” or at a price very close to the actual cost of the merchandise, including
transport. Variations in the number of skins asked for staple articles of merchandise
were therefore in accordance with the location of the district and the difficulties of
the freighting. Fancy lines such as jewelry and silk handkerchiefs were sold by the
company at 50 per cent above the “cost landed.”
In general the H.B.C. system of trading with the Indians by means of the crude
currency of the hinterland was most rigidly straightforward and fair, to all connected
with the transactions. The Indian got his gun or his tobacco which had been brought
to him at great labor and expense over thousands of miles of wilderness. The Indian
was satisfied and happy to hand over his furs (for which he had no other market), but
the H.B.C. was under the necessity of transporting those furs across a continent and
over an ocean before the capital invested in the particular transaction and in the
posts, men and equipment was “turned over” and a profit realized. Two or three years
passed before that gun or tobacco realized its small markup.

129 Also known as duffel, this thick woolen fabric is named after the Belgian town in which it was first
made.

83
It has been represented in some quarters that the value of “1 made–beaver”
was more or less an imaginary value and that individual traders were permitted to
manipulate the value of the tokens or coins to suit their profit opportunities.
Sufficient refutation of this claim is found in the facts that for two hundred years the
value of “1 made–beaver” was from 30 to 50 cents and that from the very outset of
the fur trade in North America, the H.B.C. issued “purchasing tariffs” at London,
copies of which were sent to every officer and trader, giving them a regular schedule
of rates of exchange between the furs and the staple commodities. One of the first
purchasing tariffs issued by the company instructed traders to give the following
exchange:
Beaver–skins
1 Gun … … … 12
1 pound Powder … … … 2
4 pounds Shot … … … 1
1 Hatchet … … … 1/2
1 Knife … … … 1–8
1 Red Coat … … … 5
1 pound Tobacco … … … 1

INDIANS UNDERSTOOD VALUES
It must be remembered that the money value of one “skin” (approximately 50
cents) was for book–keeping purposes only. The Indian had no ideas of money values
as we know it. But the Indian possessed a very accurate knowledge of the value of a
“skin.” This unit was just as intelligible to him as 50 cents to us. The Indian knew
that, for example, the value of a skin was equal to the value of half a pound of powder.
For “1 skin” token he expected to get a pound of tea or two small hatchets, or a kettle,
or eight small knives. The Indians have always trusted implicitly the fairness of the
H.B.C. trading tariffs. They became very keen bargainers when dealing in “made–
beaver” currency and very intelligent in judging the value of their own catch of fur on
the basis of that medium of exchange.

Fashion and the Beaver Hat

The introduction of carroting, which allowed the production of high–quality felt
from rabbit fur, was the beginning of the end for the beaver felt hat. For a while,
beaver fur was still used as a finishing touch130 in the shiny outermost layer, or

130 “Hats with a nap composed of the fur of the beaver are now but little worn; as the silk hat, although
of the same objectionable shape, and exerting even greater pressure on the forehead, is cheaper and
far neater in appearance. The body of the beaver hat is formed of lamb’s–wool and rabbit’s fur, that
are first bowed or mixed together, and then felted by damping the material and working them together
with the hands. […] To form the glossy nap of the hat, a little beaver fur, which has been shorn from
the skin by a machine, is partially felted together and spread over the surface of the body, the two

84
‘napping’131, of the hat. The development of silk napping sealed the fate of beaver
felt, but as late as 1856 the Encyclopedia Britannica could write that the “beaver
hat, with the body of rabbit’s fur and a beaver nap, may be regarded as the highest
achievement of the hatter”132.

The impact of silk napping on the demand for beaver fur was such that by 1914 a
renowned naturalist believed that “had it not been for the fortunate invention of a
silk nap suitable for making men’s hats, and the consequent going out of fashion
of the beaver hat of fifty years ago, it is doubtful whether any of the animals would
have survived to be protected.” 133

Other factors that affected demand for beaver fur included changing fashions, a
preference for hats and gowns of matching materials, the introduction of
fashionable substitutes such as velvet, and the ability to mix materials without
lowering an item’s aesthetic appeal.

Beaver Hats at an Early 20th Century Wedding (ca. 1914)134

substances being united by the felting process, which causes the ends of the beaver fur to enter and
adhere to the foundation of fur and lamb’s–wool. Some beaver fur is also felted round the edge of the
interior of the cone, in order to form the under part of the brim. Hat Manufacture. (1870). In Beeton’s
Dictionary of Universal Information. London: Wyman and Sons.
131 The nap is the raised, fuzzy, shiny surface seen on velvet, moleskin or beaver felt.
132 From Hat–making. (1865). In The Encyclopaedia Britannica (8th ed.). Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black.
133 From Ingersoll, E. (1914, January 25). The Beaver and Its Ways. The Daily Colonist, p. 25. Ernest
Ingersoll (1852 – 1946) was an American naturalist and explorer best known for his work on shellfish.
134 From a photograph in the anthologist’s collection.

85

5. “Many in Number and so Absolutely Unlike” (1909)135

A great deal is said and written of the responsibilities, the cares and
perplexities which the rich man of today has to contend with, but it may be questioned
if he has any more nerve racking, puzzling problems to face than the rich woman of
today, who realizes to the uttermost how essential it is to be smartly gowned after
fashion’s latest edict. One reason for the strain being so wearying, so incessant, is the
constant changing of the styles and the consequent terrible uncertainty as to whether
the expensive hat purchased on Monday is in fashion the following Saturday, with
such lightning rapidity do all fashions change at present, especially the fashions in
millinery. Enormous picture hats are replaced in favor by the most minute close
fitting toques, turbans, and let it be said with bated breath, by bonnets, for every sign
and indication is pointing the way to the return of the loose fitting bonnet.
Wide brims that stand out at the back, mushroom shapes, both tabooed months
ago, are now triumphantly displayed as among the newest models. Crowns vary from
the exaggerated large, soft ones to the hard, stiff, comparatively small, and are
entirely lost to view under the shaped fold of whatever material the hat may be
composed. And the materials are so many in number and so absolutely unlike. Satin,
hatters’ plush, velvet, plain or mirror beaver and felt all are in fashion, and often one
or two of these fabrics are combined. […] Tulle and maline net136 are not materials
generally associated with winter, but tulle combined with velvet or fur is immensely
smart at this moment, and so are velvet and beaver, satin and beaver, and so on
indefinitely through a series of combinations never before attempted. […]
Prettiest and most becoming of all the many and varied styles this season are
the fascinatingly becoming fur hats which are of so many different models. Made
entirely of fur, of velvet or beaver with fur, in soft turban shape or in stiff three
cornered style, there is an endless and most attractive variety to choose from. Much
depends upon the furs with which is worn the hat, for this season everything must
match. Two kinds of fur may be combined in the hat, but hat, stole or coat and muff
must be the same. The woman who can afford to wear chinchilla – and this means
that it must be becoming – can have a most fascinating turban or toque with crown
of gray, cerise or blue velvet and brim of chinchilla. If the gray of the fur is becoming
the velvet crown of the same color is the smartest, but if the touch of contrast is best,
then it should be chosen instead. The band of skunk around the crown of a smooth
beaver hat in the three corner shape is effective, and two stiff feathers of cerise or
bright scarlet make the model most becoming. A dull gold ornament and a tuft of
marabou137 feathers in a colored velvet turban, trimmed with a band of sable, is
another popular fashion; but the plainer, more severe styles still win the greatest
amount of approval. As a rule, the fur hats are small, but there are one or two styles

135 From DAME FASHION’S DECREES. (1909, December 31). The Crossfield Chronicle, p. 5.
136 A stiff hexagonal net used in dress–making.
137 An African stork.

86
that are quite large and are made in sealskin or baby lamb, trimmed with a band of
skunk, lynx or fox.
The large Cossack shape turban, with a broad band of fur around the brim and
the entire crown made of roses or orchids, is another of this season’s models that is
decidedly new. Although at first glance it may seem like the same old turban lines
that have been known for so many, many years, it is quite different, larger in head
size, so that it comes more over the face and with higher inside crown; and while it
looks as if it were round, it is shaped larger in front and back than at the sides. The
short haired furs, sealskin and baby lamb, are not so effective in this style of hat and
are oftener used in the crown with the brim of chinchilla, skunk or sable, but there
are one or two models that are charming, made of the shorter furs, so soft and pliable
that they are treated as if they were velvet or beaver felt. These are best in a rather
different shaped turban, higher in the crown and most effective with a high cockade
of tulle or net bows.

6. “Becoming and Refined” (1911)138

Rough beaver hats of all kinds are extremely smart this season, and the useful
soft black beaver is very popular. Worn as a knockabout, useful piece of headgear it
is most satisfactory. Trimmed with anything, even a black or white cockade or
fantasy, it is smart. There is another shape, something the same in effect, but not so
soft and shapeless. This can be trimmed effectively with colored stiff feathers; one
style has the feathers placed toward the back; another has the feathers, either two
stiff ones or three soft ostrich tips, at the left side. Then there are the beaver hats
trimmed with only a velvet bow across the front or at one side; the velvet, put through
a piece of the material, is in two loops, with no ends, and lies flat against the hat. The
beaver has quite a long nap and is becoming in any shade. There are more effective
shapes in white with a black velvet bow, but the white is not so practical as color, and
is most suitable for the girl who does not have to count the pennies she spends on her
clothes and consequently can buy any number of hats. There are shades of light tan
in this shape that are more practical and look well with fur coats. A bit of fur is
sometimes substituted for the velvet bow, but it is not so smart, for the great charm
of this model is its simplicity.
Conservative minded women are rejoicing in the return of the always becoming
and refined style of hat, velvet or beaver felt, of medium size, with brim turned up at
the left side, and trimmed with a feather around the crown – one long, beautiful
ostrich plume. If height be needed, two or three small ostrich tips arranged like a
pompom or an aigrette pompom at the left side of the crown are all that is necessary.
Nothing original, it is true, but there is a charm and elegance about such a hat that
is easily recognizable, and when the color is the same as the costume it is most
attractive.

138 From FASHIONS AND FANCIES. (1911, February 9). Enderby Press and Walker’s Weekly, p. 3.
and FASHIONS AND FANCIES. (1911, April 14). The Raymond Rustler, p. 3. Image from MODE
BEAVER HAT. (1906, November 15). The San Jose Evening News, p. 2. :

87

Wide Brims and Mushroom Shapes (c. 1909)139

139 From an anonymous photograph in the anthologist’s collection.

88

Wide Brims, Stiff Crowns and Decorative Ribbons140

140 From a photograph in the anthologist’s collection. Early 20th century.

89

“Conservative Minded Women are Rejoicing”141

141 From a photograph in the anthologist’s collection. Early 20th century.

90

“The Materials are so Many in Number” (ca. 1910)142

142 From a photograph in the anthologist’s collection.

91

Fur Fashion in 1913143

143 Rhea + Friend. Detroit [Photograph]. (1913) From the Anthologist’s collection.

92

Fur Fashion in 1921144

144 Meugens, A. L. (1921). Dear Peggy Louce [Photograph]. Anthologist’s collection. The image is of
Peggy Lewis (or Louce), an entertainer who performed at Vancouver Island’s Gorge Park in 1921:
“Miss Peggy Lewis, the popular leader of this clever troupe of pierrots, is making a special feature of
her performance this week for the children.” PEGGY’S PIERROTS ARE STILL AT THE GORGE.
(1921, June 28). The British Colonist, p. 13.

93
7. Mrs. Quain’s First Reception (1914)145

This short social notice shows the context in which beaver hats would have been
worn shortly before the Great War.

Mrs. Maurice Quain146 received on Thursday afternoon for the first time since
her marriage. She charmingly received her callers in a shell pink satin with an
overdress of cream shadow lace. Mrs. J. H. King, who helped her receive, was
becomingly gowned in dove grey satin, with a black hat trimmed with rose plumes.
Mrs. A. C. Bowness poured tea. She wore light grey satin with a vest of small
pink and shadow lace and a large pink beaver hat trimmed with plumes. Mrs. G. R.
Leask poured coffee and looked quite charming in a delf blue satin and velvet dress
with large black hat trimmed with plumes.
Miss Mae Whitehead and Miss Jessie Murgatroyd assisted in serving. Both
young ladies looked quite fetching. Miss Whitehead in pale blue mull trimmed
shadow lace, black lace hat, tiny pink roses and streamers of black velvet. Miss
Murgatroyd in cream satin trimmed with shadow lace and overdress of tan ninon147,
black beaver hat trimmed with clusters of yellow flowers.
Lady Ethel Atchinson attended the door and looked quite sweet dressed all in
white with under dress of pink.
The parlor was nicely decorated with red carnations and smilax, while the
dining room decorations were chiefly pink carnations, smilax and pink tulle, with a
large table centre of pink and white hyacinths.
In future, Mrs. Quain will receive every second Thursday.

Edmonton and the Fur Trade

8. The Founding of Edmonton (1921)148

Edmonton was named in 1795 when the first Hudson’s Bay Co.’s post was
established on the site now occupied by the city power plant. But that was not by any
means the beginning of what is now the City of Edmonton as a point of trade and
influence. Before the Hudson’s Bay Co. had reached Edmonton from London, by way
of York Factory on Hudson’s Bay, the Nor’–West Company trading from Montreal by
way of Ft. William and Lake Winnipeg had already in 1778 established Fort des
Prairies at a point on the river bank just west of the westerly limit of what is now the
Victoria golf links. The cellar excavations could still be traced in the 80’s, but may
now be obliterated.

145 From Mrs. Quain’s First Reception. (1914, March 5). Cranbrook Herald, p. 5.
146 Ella Gladys Cocker married Maurice Quain, an electrician, on June 25, 1913, in Victoria, British
Columbia. Maurice worked as an electrician for the Vancouver Harbour Board and died in January of
1960.
147 A delicate sheer fabric that was at this time made of silk.
148 From The Founding of Edmonton. (1921, September 17). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 6.

94
There is a tradition that the X. Y. Company, a Montreal rival of the Nor’–West
Company also had a post at this point. But the X. Y. Company was absorbed by the
Nor’–West just as in 1821 the Nor’–West was absorbed by or amalgamated with the
Hudson’s Bay. When the several amalgamations took place, the records of the
companies absorbed naturally were lost sight of, so that there is very little authentic
information available regarding them.
The Nor’–West and X. Y. companies followed in the footsteps of the traders of
the French regime. When Canada was ceded to Britain about 1763, the great western
fur trade that had been carried on from France through Montreal, automatically
ceased. But it was a very profitable trade; and British enterprise lost no time in taking
up what French enterprise had, under the fortunes of war, been compelled to lay
down. Individual initiative soon took corporate form as the Nor’–West Company.
Many of the great family fortunes of Montreal had their rise in the operations of that
enterprising organization. The active spirits of the company were chiefly Scotchmen.
Their working force of voyageurs was almost entirely French Canadians.
IN THE BEGINNING
La Verandrye149 is reputed to have been the first white man to sight the Rocky
Mountains in what is now Canada. There is no doubt that his route of travel was by
way of the North Saskatchewan river and therefore of Edmonton. The fur trade was
at the time the reason for the existence of Canada as a dependency of France. Of all
the furs produced by Canada the beaver was most in demand. La Verandrye’s
explorations beyond doubt had for their chief object the extension of the fur trade,
which meant the trade in beaver skins. In the course of his long and tedious canoe
trip up the Saskatchewan no doubt to the junction of the Clearwater, where Rocky
Mountain House150 was afterwards established, it could not have escaped his
attention that beaver were particularly abundant in the region of which the City of
Edmonton is the immediate centre. The low wooded hills lying to the east of the river
were called the Beaver Hills by the Indians, because of the abundance of beaver found
in them, while the country both north and south of the river was a net work of beaver
dams; many of which remain, though in damaged condition to this day. To the
eastward, the Saskatchewan flowed through prairies where buffalo were plentiful but
beaver were scarce. To the southwestward, the river came from a heavily timbered
region where conditions were not especially favorable for beaver. But in the level park
region extending in all directions from what is now Edmonton, every condition suited
to beaver life and activity prevailed, in larger proportion than anywhere else in the

149 Probably Louis–Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye (1717 – 1761) and one of his brothers. They are
believed to have reached the Big Horn Mountains in 1742, but details of their voyage are scant.
150 “North West Co. post on North Saskatchewan river, 1 ¼ miles above mouth of Clearwater river.
[…] It stood on high bank, well adapted for defense as block–houses commanded the fort. Of
exceptional strength being in territory of Blackfeet Indians. Hence it was sometimes called “Blackfeet
Post”. Built by John McDonald of Garth in 1802, although the first structure was erected in 1799. […]
After union of the two companies it was occupied by the Hudson’s Bay Co. for many years and finally
discontinued in 1875.” Voorhis, E. (1930). Historic Forts and Trading Posts of the French Regime and
of the English Fur Trading Companies. Ottawa: Department of the Interior. Written by Ernest Voorhis
(1859 – 1933).

95
west. Beyond doubt the French traders did not overlook these conditions; and
although there is no record to show what the French traders actually did, it may be
taken for granted that when the Nor’–West Company entered the field and
established a post here, they took advantage of the previous occupation by the French.
Edmonton, therefore, did not begin in 1795. The establishment of the Hudson’s Bay
post was merely an incident, although an important incident, in its development.
AN ANCIENT TRADE CENTRE
No doubt the beaver in the immediate vicinity were soon killed off; but other
reasons developed which gave Edmonton an important strategic position in relation
to the early trade of the country. It was a point at which three mutually unfriendly
nations of Indians found it convenient to trade. It was situated in the territory of the
Crees. Those who occupied the country on both sides of the river, form the Beaver
Hills westward, and all the country north of the river were called Wood Crees151. They
were fur hunters and fishers, making occasional excursions to the plains for buffalo
meat.
THE PLAIN CREES
The Plain Crees152 occupied the country eastward from the Beaver Hills and
south from the Saskatchewan river to the Battle. Beyond the Battle the country on
both sides of the Red Deer was common hunting and fighting ground between Plain
Crees and Blackfeet153. The Plain Crees lived chiefly on the buffalo. As they killed the
buffalo in the summer they dried the meat and made quantities of pemmican. In the
winter they usually withdrew from the plains to comfortable winter quarters, only
making occasional excursions to the plains for fresh meat with which to vary their
diet and for robes to trade. The Wood Crees and Plain Crees only differed in their
method of living. Both agreed amicably with the whites and both were hostile to the
Blackfeet, but the occasion for hostility was much greater in the case of the Plain
than of the Wood Crees, owing to continual friction of the Plain Crees with the
Blackfeet in regard to their respective hunting grounds. Owing to their different ways
of life, the trade of the two branches of the Cree nation differed, and Edmonton was
a point of trade common to both.
THE BLACKFEET
South of the Red Deer was the country of the Blackfeet nation. They disputed
the sovereignty of the region between the Red Deer and Battle with the Plain Crees.
Sometimes they came north of the Battle. They were almost always at war with the
Crees. When they wished to trade at Edmonton they came north in strong force. They
crossed the Battle near its most northerly bend at Duhamel, and came in by the Hay
Lakes Trail, now the route of the C.N.R.154 between Edmonton and Camrose. When
in strong force they felt themselves safe on the plains which extended north almost
to Hay Lakes. From Hay Lakes they had only 35 miles to make through the woods

151 Cree (Néhinaw) who speak the Woods Cree dialect of the Cree language.
152 Members of the Iron Confederacy (Nēhiyaw–Pwat, or ᓀᓀᓀᓀᓀ ᓀᓀᓀ) and speakers of their own
dialect of Cree, also called Plains Cree (nēhiyawēwin, or ᓀᓀᓀᓀᓀᓀᓀ).
153 Members of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Niitsitapi , or ᓀᓀᓀᓀᓀᓀ).
154 Canadian Northern Railway.

96
(the enemy’s country) to Edmonton. Being buffalo hunters the Blackfeet always
travelled in large bands. They were generally able to get through their trade at
Edmonton before the Crees could rally a sufficient force to seriously interfere with
them on their homeward journey to the Battle River. Sometimes there were
“regrettable incidents” connected with these trading visits; and sometimes, during a
truce, or because the Crees were busy elsewhere, they passed off quietly. The fact
that Edmonton and the trail to Hay Lakes were in the territory of the Wood rather
than of the Plain Crees was a feature of the case very favorable to the Blackfeet. Of
course the Hudson’s Bay Company always used their influence for peace, but not
always with effective result.
THE MOUNTAIN STONEYS
The third Indian nation that traded at Edmonton was the Mountain
Stoneys155. They are a branch of the great Sioux nation, speaking a dialect of the
Sioux language. They inhabited the foothill country of the Rocky Mountains. Where
or under what circumstances they became segregated from the great Sioux nation of
the Dakotas, no one knows. But they have occupied the foothills from the Bow River
to the Athabasca, as long as there are any records. They were always friendly to the
whites and to the Crees, but hostile to the Blackfeet. They were recognized as dead
shots and good fighters and were always ready to take part in the festivities if they
happened to be on hand when any Cree–Blackfeet scrap started in the neighborhood
of the Fort. They were small in numbers but their trade was chiefly in fine furs and
was therefore especially valuable. When they came to trade at Edmonton they usually
camped in the piece of open country which lies some miles west of the city and which
from that circumstance was called “The Stoney Plain” not because there are stones
on the plain – for there are none – but because it was camping ground of the Stoney
Indians.
RAILWAYS FOLLOW INDIAN TRAILS
The trade of these three Indian nations centering at Edmonton constituted it
an important post. The Blackfeet brought buffalo robes, the Plain Crees, robes, fresh
meat, dried meat and pemmican, the Wood Crees and Stoneys brought beaver,
muskrate, and all the other fine furs of the country. The trails made by these Indian
tribes are now the routes of railways. The G.T.P.156 and C.N.R. follow the trails of the
Mountain Stoneys from Edmonton to and through the Jasper Pass; the C.N.R. to
Calgary follows the Blackfeet trail, from the Great Plains to Edmonton; the C.P.R. 157
Winnipeg line, and the G.T.P. and C.N.R. main lines to Winnipeg, traverse the
country of the Plain Crees; while the St. Paul branch of the C.N., the Waterways line
to Lac la Biche; the C.N. to Athabasca, the Dunvegan to Peace River and Grande
Prairie, and the Whitecourt branch of the C.N. traverse the country of the Wood
Crees, and in large amount follow their trails to Edmonton. The railways which
centre in Edmonton in 1921 are only following the lines of traffic laid down by traders
and Indians more than 150 years ago.

155 Members of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation (Iyarhe Nakoda), also called Assiniboine.
156 Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.
157 Canadian Pacific Railway.

97

“A Chief of the Stoney Tribe” (1929)158

158 Folkard Company of Canada Limited. (1929). CANADIAN INDIAN [Postcard]. Montreal.

98

A STRANGE MIGRATION
In addition to the Indian nations already mentioned as occupying the territory
from which Edmonton now draws trade, there is another, small in numbers and yet
because of special circumstances well worthy of note, namely the Iroquois159 of Jasper
House160. The Iroquois originally inhabited New York state. Although generally at
bitter war with the French, by some strange chance settlements of Iroquois friendly
to the French were established at Caughnawaga, at Lachine and at Oka, all near
Montreal. These Iroquois were recognized as the most expert of canoe men. They were
also most expert fur hunters. It was one of the enterprises of the enterprising Nor’–
West Company to bring a colony of Iroquois to Edmonton to be employed as voyageurs
and fur hunters in this district, where canoe work and the trapping of fine fur were
not a specialty of the native Indians. Details of the Iroquois immigration or its date,
are lost, but the fact remains that for at least a century there has been a band of
Indians known as Iroquois, making their headquarters in the mountains in the
vicinity of Jasper. At this date they have become largely inter–married with Crees,
h–––––s161 and whites; but a considerable number of families still hold themselves to
be Iroquois and therefore a separate people. Although their advent was due to the
Big Business of that day, they have been inclined to live more to themselves, at least
in recent years, than the members of the native Indian races.
THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL TRADE ROUTE
What gave Edmonton its greatest importance in its earlier days was the fact
that it was the breaking point on a route of transcontinental traffic, established
during the early part of the last century. The trade route was established by the Nor’–
West Company and was maintained by the Hudson’s Bay Co. until its value was
destroyed by the establishment of trade with the West Coast “around the Horn.”
Goods were conveyed up the Saskatchewan from Montreal or York Factory by canoe
or boat to Edmonton. Pack horses took them from Edmonton across the mountains to
Boat Encampment at the Big Bend of the Columbia; and canoes took them down the
Columbia to Ft. Vancouver162, in what is now the State of Washington and not far
from the present city of Portland. The return route was by canoe up the Columbia to

159 Members of the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee).
160 “Jasper House is a neat white building, surrounded by a low palisade, standing in a perfect garden
of wild flowers, which form a rich sheet of varied and brilliant colours, backed by dark green pines
which clustered thickly round the base of the hills.” Milton, W. F. & Cheadle, W. B. (1901). The North–
West Passage By Land (9th edition). London: Cassell and Company, Limited.
161 An offensive term for people of mixed heritage.
162 “Built in 1824–25. […] Occupied as being on British Territory until the treaty of 1846. The fort was
maintained by the Company for several years after the treaty, until dispossessed by U.S. military
authority in 1860. […] The fort was of large size, enclosed by a stockade 750 x 600 feet and had attached
a 1500 acre farm. The enclosure contained the fort with dwelling houses, store–houses, servants’
quarters, shops, barns & c. On the appertaining land were barns, stables and farm buildings near the
main fort. Cultivated fields, pasturage, extended along the Columbia river bank for 25 miles and 10
miles back from the river.” Voorhis, E. (1930). Historic Forts and Trading Posts of the French Regime
and of the English Fur Trading Companies. Ottawa: Department of the Interior.

99
Boat Encampment and by pack horses to Henry House163 on the Athabasca, a few
miles below the present Jasper. From Henry House the packs of fur were sometimes
taken down the Athabasca by boat or raft to Ft. Assiniboine, while the horses
travelled light through the difficult country between the Mountains and Edmonton.
From Ft. Assiniboine the furs were packed by horses to Edmonton.
The boats that transported the goods from York Factory to Edmonton were
built at Edmonton. The horses that packed across the mountains and to and from Ft.
Assiniboine were wintered at Edmonton. This necessitated keeping a large force of
men here. It made Edmonton capable of defence and made necessary that it should
be defended. Food conditions were favorable for the support of a large force because
the buffalo were plentiful on the plains and fish were plentiful in the lakes to the
west, north and northwest. A farm which grew potatoes and barley was carried on,
on the flat south and west of the Fort. Later on land was farmed about where the
C.N.R. tracks and yards now are. Cattle, pigs and fowls were kept and garden
vegetables were raised.
AN OUTPOST OF CIVILIZATION AND STRONGHOLD OF EMPIRE
To meet the conditions Ft. Edmonton during the years from 1830 to 1870 was
to all intent and purposes a walled city. The fort, which had been removed from the
first site about 1830, occupied the bench just below that on which the Legislative
buildings now stand. It was enclosed by palisades eighteen feet high, with four
blockhouses on the corners. A narrow platform ran around the palisade on the inside
at about 12 feet from the ground. The main gate fronted towards the steep bank of
the river about 60 feet from the break of the bank. There was a small wicket gate in
the palisade not far from the main gate; which led to the Indian trading house. When
the Blackfeet arrived in force, or if trouble impended, all gates were closed and trade
was carried on over the top of the palisade. On other occasions of course, the gates
were open during the day. Within the fort was, of course, the trading store and
warehouses, but there was also a flour mill operated by horse power. Carpenter, boat
building, blacksmith and harness shops. The buildings were much crowded there
being only narrow alleyways between.
The armament comprised two small brass cannon, with muskets and
blunderbusses. It will be understood that when the fort was built, modern weapons
had not been invented, and when new arms of destruction were invented, the need of
them had already passed so far as the Hudson’s Bay Company’s fort was concerned.
When trading vessels began to come “around the Horn” to the West Coast, that
killed the transcontinental trade route of the Hudson Bay Co. and the glory of
Edmonton departed for a time. American traders pushing up the Missouri by steamer
to Benton drew away the Blackfeet trade; and the Plain Crees traded their robes at
Carlton or Winnipeg, so that the importance of Edmonton had seriously declined at
the time of the transfer of Rupert’s Land to Canada in 1870, from what it had been
during the period from say 1810 to 1860.
THE NEW NATIVE POPULATION

163 Built in 1812, it “was used as an outpost of Jasper House and was deserted about 1861.” Ibid.

100
The continuous residence at Edmonton during such a long period of such a
large number of white men inevitably resulted in many marriages between employees
of the Trading Companies and native women. And there grew up a comparatively
large h–––––population. The establishment of the first Nor’–West Company’s post at
Edmonton in 1778 and the continued expansion and the importance of the place
under that company until it was merged with the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821,
over 40 years, caused the maintenance at Edmonton of a large number of Nor’–West
Company employees during that time. As already stated, the Nor’–West Company
drew most of its voyageurs and other employees from the French Canadian
population resident in the vicinity of Montreal. These employees were encouraged to
marry and remain in the country. On the other hand the Hudson’s Bay Company
drew the bulk of their men from the Orkneys, the Shetlands and the Hebrides. They
were under contract to return them to their homes at the expiration of their term of
service. Until the merging of the companies, the interests of the Nor’–West at
Edmonton, were much more important than those of the Hudson’s Bay. Even after
the merging of the companies and during the period of transcontinental trade, it was
the policy of the Hudson’s Bay Co. to retain, with as little changes as possible, the
staff and employees they had acquired from the Nor’–West Co. at this point. Until
sometime in the 40’s the language of the Fort was French, as it had been under the
Nor’–West Company; with an ex–Nor’–West officer, Chief Factor Rowand164 in
charge. Under the circumstances the h––––– population that grew up around
Edmonton largely claimed French descent on the father’s side. These men were expert
in the ways of the country. Some took regular employment with the Hudson’s Bay
Co., many more worked intermittently for the company at freighting, voyaging,
trading, or whatever other form of employment might be available. While the buffalo
remained they hunted the buffalo, or caught fish or trapped fur, or sometimes traded
and sometimes farmed in a small way. They constituted the permanent population of
the country. They were in close touch with both Indians and whites and able to take
part in the work of either or both. Although racially alike, they were a very different
people from those of the Red River Settlement; the result of different conditions and
environment.
EARLY SETTLEMENT
Settlements were established at Lac Ste. Anne and Lac la Biche; partly because
of abundance of white fish being available at these lakes. Partly also because being
in the woods they were safe from Blackfeet raids, while near enough the plains to
permit of excursions being made in both winter and summer after buffalo meat. As
the h––––– population increased the St. Albert Settlement was established. It lacked
the fish of St. Anne, but it had beautiful farming land on which potatoes and barley
could be easily grown. It was much nearer and more convenient to the plains and the
buffalo than St. Anne. The settlers were numerous enough to defy the Blackfeet. In
the late 70’s the St. Albert Settlement had grown to be the largest in the
Saskatchewan country and numbered 800 people.

164 John Rowand Jr. (1812 – 1865). Apart from a brief diversion to Cumberland in 1843, he was the
clerk or Chief Trader in charge of Fort Pitt from 1842 to 1855.

101
At the Blackfeet trade turned southward to Benton instead of northward to
Edmonton, there was less and less danger of clashes with the Blackfeet in the
territory north of the Red Deer. The transfer to Canada in 1870 had a further quieting
effect which was clenched by the advent of the Mounted Police in 1874. As the great
plains became safe, the buffalo were still plentiful and robes were a good price, there
was a general tendency on the part of the Edmonton h–––––s to take advantage of
the new conditions. Many of them struck out from the safety and shelter of Ste. Anne,
St. Albert and Lac la Biche to seek their fortunes in the wider fields of the south.
They had busy and prosperous years while the buffalo lasted. Since then they have
scattered everywhere. The foregoing are the reasons why the h––––– population of
Edmonton country is now not larger than it is. But a census of the prairie west would
show that a very large proportion of the total h––––– population date their ancestry
from Edmonton and vicinity.
THE SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC
One of the most tragic chapters in the early history of Edmonton was the
smallpox epidemic of the winter of 69–70. The disease entered the country by way of
Montana. The Blackfeet were attacked in the fall and early winter and died by
thousands. The Crees caught the disease from the Blackfeet and passed it on to the
h–––––s of Edmonton and surrounding settlements. It is estimated that the visitation
cut the Indian and h––––– population of what is now Alberta in half during the
winter. The whites did not suffer so seriously, but there were some deaths. The
horrors of the visitation were such that for years the native population dated
everything from the year of the smallpox.
GOLD ON THE SASKATCHEWAN
The discovery of gold in the Saskatchewan in the early 60’s was the beginning
of modern conditions in Edmonton. A party of Canadians had gone to Cariboo by way
of Edmonton in the days of the first rush there. It is believed that some members of
the party panned gold from the Saskatchewan. They did not find the return attractive
enough to hinder them from going on to Cariboo. But after the cream had been
skimmed from Cariboo, the news of gold on the Saskatchewan was confirmed – no
doubt much exaggerated – and there was quite a rush of gold miners from across the
mountains. The first man to mine gold on the river was named Tom Clover165. He
worked on the bar in the river near where the G.T.P. bridge crosses. The bar was
called “Clover’s Bar” and gave its name to the splendid farming settlement which lies
in the south side of the river in rear of the bear. It is said that at one time 50 miners
were working on the river. While at first the yield was good, the season of working
was too short to make gold mining profitable. The bars were only workable during
low water in spring and fall. Most of the miners who drifted in drifted out again, as
the bars were worked out; but others who had had their fill of rainbow chasing were
attracted by the agricultural possibilities of the district and decided to remain. Some
became farmers, others took up other lines of activity. Whatever they did they were
strong men and good citizens, looking to the up–building of the country. Of these men

165 Thomas H. Clover (1829 – 1920).

102
James Gibbons166 is probably the only one still living. He was hale and hearty at last
accounts.
THE SETTLEMENT OF EDMONTON CITY
From time to time minor officers and employees of the Hudson’s Bay Co. left
the service and settled in the country. They added to the permanently resident
population and mostly took up land as farmers. The settlement of Edmonton was
comprised almost entirely of this class of people. It is not too much to say that the
establishment of Edmonton, aside from the Hudson’s Bay Company was due to the
foresight and energy of the Rev. Geo. McDougall167. Mr. McDougall was in charge of
the Methodist mission of Pakan (then Victoria) when Rupert’s Land was transferred
to Canada. He saw that the Victoria Mission was not in line to benefit by future
development. In 1871 he came to Edmonton and established a Methodist mission on
the site of the present McDougall Methodist church. He claimed land for the mission
including land for a parsonage that would have been a credit to any community of
that date. […] Following his example, claims were taken easterly along the river. […]
EDMONTON SOUTH
It should not be forgotten that between 1871 and 1874 a water mill was
established on what is now Gallagher Flats on the South Side. The name of the miller
was William Bird. The mill was a perfectly good mill for the country at the time. Its
only drawback was that there was seldom water enough to make it run. […]
ADVENT OF THE MOUNTED POLICE
Although Canada assumed jurisdiction over the Hudson’s Bay territories,
known more specifically as Rupert’s Land, in 1870, the arrival of the Mounted Police
in 1874 was the first visible and definite assertion of Canadian authority. It marked
the division between the old and the new. While the change was not made without
friction in the Red River country in 69–70, in the region of the Saskatchewan in 1874,
the new order of things was welcomed by all sections of the community, Indian, h––
––– and white. Edmonton was to be a police headquarters. A division of 50 men
arrived from Macleod in the fall of 1874, under command of Col. Jarvis168, and
wintered in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s fort. Col. Jarvis was given authority to
locate a permanent post; necessarily with wide discretion, as conditions were
unknown by the authorities at Ottawa. The limitations were that the police post must
be located on the south side of the river and within twenty miles of Edmonton. Col.
Jarvis selected the site of Ft. Saskatchewan, just within the twenty–mile limit. There
were traditions that the location of Ft. Saskatchewan at such a distance from
Edmonton was a manifestation of personal pique against the officers of the Hudson’s
Bay Co. on the part of Col. Jarvis. But it is made rather with a view to future railway
development. The Beaver Hills lie squarely across the direct route of any railway from

166 James Gibbons (1837 – 1933), prospector and fur trader known for his invention of the ‘grizzly’, a
device used by gold prospectors working in the clay–rich soil of the Saskatchewan.
167 George Millward McDougall (1821 – 1876), a Methodist missionary known for his involvement in
Treaty negotiations.
168 William Dummer Jarvis (1834 – 1914), a veteran of the Kaffir War in South Africa, and the first
person to be appointed an inspector in the North–West Mounted Police.

103
Winnipeg to Edmonton. To avoid the hills – then thought to be impassable for railway
construction – the main line of C.P.R. through the Jasper Pass was projected by the
Canadian government to run south of the Beaver Hills. When the survey was made
the line passed through what is now Leduc, twenty miles south of Edmonton. Col.
Jarvis saw that a slight detour would carry a railway coming from Winnipeg and
heading for Jasper around the north end of the Beaver Hills to the point at which he
located Fort Saskatchewan and where all conditions were most favorable for a
railway crossing of the river. At that time all signs pointed to early railway
construction through the fertile belt, as the country between Edmonton and Winnipeg
was known at that date. But every condition seemed unfavorable to Edmonton being
on the main line of the railway. The construction of the C. N. R. justified Col. Jarvis’s
judgment, but it meant waiting for thirty years.
FT. SASKATCHEWAN SETTLEMENT
On the north side of the Saskatchewan river, opposite Ft. Saskatchewan is a
beautiful and fertile flat, which had attracted the attention of settlers about the time
of the advent of the Mounted Police. […] During the boom times of 81–82 P. Heiminck,
now of Edmonton, acquired the Halpenny property169, laid it out as a townsite and
sold some of the lots, in the expectation of the early construction of the Northern West
Central railway then projected. But the collapse of the boom and the diversion of the
C.P.R. from the Jasper to the Kicking Horse Pass left the Edmonton country in a state
of stagnation that lasted until the Klondike rush of 1898.
FIRST EDMONTON TOWN LOT PURCHASED IN 1878
From the transfer to Canada in 1870, with the advent of the police in 1874 and
the C.P.R. surveys carried on during the period from 1874 to 1878, conditions were
progressive and the outlook hopeful for the Edmonton district until the culmination
of the boom of 1881–1882. In 1878 the first purchase of a town lot in Edmonton was
made by the writer of this article170. It was purchased from Colin Fraser, original
owner of River Lot Ten. The property was that now occupied by the Bulletin office.
The building erected in 1878 was at first used as a store. In October 1880 the first
issue of the Bulletin was printed. From October 1881 until the present date The
Bulletin has been printed on the original property purchased in 1878 for the sum of
$25.
WAITING FOR THE RAILWAY
The collapse of the boom in the spring of 1882, followed by the decision to
change the route of the C.P.R. from the Jasper to the Kicking Horse Pass, put the
Edmonton country, not on the side track, but 200 miles from the track of progress,
until the C. & E. railway was constructed nine years later in 1891. These were years

169 Not without trouble. “There is a dispute between J. Halpenny and P. Heiminck about the ownership
of the claim at Ft. Saskatchewan, purchased some time ago by Heiminck from Halpenny. It seems that
Heiminck agreed to make the full payment for the place on the first of April. This he failed to do, so
Mr. Halpenny proposes to retain possession, although Heiminck now offers to make the payment.”
LOCAL. (1882, April 15). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 1. About a week later, Halpenny accepted
payment and renounced the claim.
170 Despite inquiries to the Edmonton Archives and the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, I have been
unable to identify the writer from this clue.

104
of weary waiting. While the people of Edmonton firmly believed that “everything
comes to him who waits,” they also believed just as firmly that it comes much more
quickly to him who “hustles while he waits.” It was during these years that the Great
North, the Mackenzie River Basin, was annexed to the trade territory of Edmonton.
The former trade route to the Mackenzie was by way of Ft. Carlton171 on the
Saskatchewan, north of Saskatoon. The h––––– and Indian rebellion of 1885 broke
the monotony of waiting in rather startling manner. But the rebellion which broke
out at Batoche, south of Prince Albert, did not spread to Edmonton in its acute form.
The nearest killing was the massacre at Frog Lake, 150 miles down the river. There
was some pillaging of outlying stores at nearer points. A great many people were
frightened though few were hurt in this vicinity. But at best it was an experience that
few would care to repeat.
The construction of the C. & E. railway in 1891 did not relieve the condition of
stagnation, which at the time extended to all parts of Canada. Indeed the rivalry
between the new railway town south of the river and the old trading town on the
north side tended to destroy the good results that should have followed railway
construction.
DREAMS OF THE PIONEERS REALIZED AT LAST
In 1902 the river had been bridged and railway connection was made with the
town on the north side. In 1905 the dreams of the pioneers of Edmonton were realized
by the arrival of a train direct from Winnipeg at the 101st street station over C.N.R.
rails all the way; and by the establishment of Edmonton as the capital of the newly
established Province of Alberta.
THE NEW ERA BEGINS
The occurrence at the same time of these two events seems to mark the
beginning of the modern era for Edmonton. Up to that point the struggle was that of
the pioneers to establish the position of the city. Since 1905 the vocation of the pioneer
has given place to that of kings, captains and princes of modern finance, industry and
trade, of whose army of peace the commercial travelers are at once the scouts,
intelligence service and advance guard.

9. How the Trade is Handled (1899)172

The fur trade has always been an important part of the business of Edmonton
and instead of decreasing as other trade increases, which might be expected, it has

171 “Hudson’s Bay Co. fort on North Saskatchewan river. […] It was considered half–way to Edmonton.
Built 1787 on south side river. It was a substantial fort, surrounded by high palisades with a gallery
and armed with wall pieces surrounding the whole square and having square towers at each corner.
[…] During the rebellion of 1885 it was raided and apparently was discontinued soon after. It was
principally a provision station supplying 300 bags of pemmican per annum. It was an important
transportation centre in the days of the Red River cart. Goods for the north were brought here from
Winnipeg and forwarded to Green lake and thence by water route north and west.” Voorhis, E. (1930).
Historic Forts and Trading Posts of the French Regime and of the English Fur Trading Companies.
Ottawa: Department of the Interior.
172 FUR TRADE. (1899, August 28). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 6.

105
shown a steady growth. This has resulted from the fact that as the general business
of the place increased the fur trade at Edmonton became the centre of an ever
widening circle. All the furs traded on the waters of the Peace river east of the
Mountains and on the waters of the Athabasca as far north as Fort Rae173 on Great
Slave lake, (except those handled by the Hudson’s Bay Company), are bought and
sold at Edmonton, and as well the supplies for which they are traded. The furs traded
by the Hudson’s Bay Co. on all the waters of the Athabasca and Mackenzie down to
the Arctic sea, and the goods for which they are traded are also handled at Edmonton.
Northeasterly Edmonton’s fur trade extends to Isle la Crosse, and to the south
Edmonton fur buyers compete for furs all along the line of the Calgary & Edmonton
railway and the main line of the C. P. R. westward to Kamloops.
The trade is handled in several different ways: The H. B. Co., which of course
have the most widespread organization, supply their own goods to their own posts
and sell their own furs at their own great London sales. The profit to the town and
district in their trade lies in their large employment of freighters and boatmen and
the general business which this creates. The H. B. Co. employ two steamers of their
own on the waters of the Mackenzie, one above and one below the rapids at Fort
Smith, and have another for use on the Athabasca between the mouth of Lesser Slave
river and Grand rapids. Their line of steam navigation reaches from Athabasca
Landing to the Arctic ocean. Other firms competing in somewhat the same way are:
McDougall & Secord174, Ross Bros., and Larue & Picard, all of whom have an interest
in certain outposts in the north. The first mentioned firm have recently purchased
the steamer Sparrow, which they will run from the rapids at Smith to Great Slave
lake and down the Mackenzie to the Arctic ocean. A very large part of the trade,
however, is carried on by independent traders, who having more or less capital
purchase their goods at wholesale prices from the merchants here, transport them at
their own cost to their trading posts, and on their return sell the furs that they bring
back in open competition for cash. This is the branch of the trade that is of most
general public interest. Under this system the trader gets the last cent of value that
is in his fur, and having the cash is able to purchase his fresh supply of goods at the
closest margin. It is the keen competition in supplying the goods that makes the
Edmonton market so attractive to outside traders and that draws them here from
greater distances each year. […]
The principal furs traded at Edmonton are marten, bear, lynx, beaver, red fox,
mink, wolf, musk rat and skunk.

173 A Hudson’s Bay Company fort located on an island in Marian lake.
174 “J. A. McDougall, mayor elect of Edmonton for 1897, has been one of the most prominent figures in
the commercial and social life of this place since his first arrival in the fall of 1876. […] About 1890 he
formed a business connection with R. Secord who had begun to push trade down the Athabasca, and
this business has since expanded to such an extent that for the past two years, McDougall & Secord,
who since that time have been partners, have handled over $200,000 a year in fur and goods. Their
trading connections now cover a great part of the Mackenzie basin. […] Besides outfitting traders
throught the north, this firm also buys fur for cash in Edmonton, for shipment to the London sales of
Lampson & Co., and are probably the largest purchasers at Edmonton.” MAYOR McDOUGALL. (1896,
December 14). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 4.

106
There is a run on marten, now, principally for ladies neck wear. This is the
cause of the high price. Marten varies in color from pale brown to black. The darker
the color the more valuable the skin. Black marten is better known as sable.
Bear, if the fur is short, is used principally for robes, and if the fur is long for
military purposes. The rich soft fur of cubs is used chiefly for trimmings.
Lynx is seldom used in its natural color except for trimmings. Formerly it was
dyed and made into an imitation of seal skin.
Red fox skins go chiefly to China and Japan. Silver and cross foxes go to Russia.
Fisher goes chiefly to Germany, where it is used in trimmings and capes.
Otter is used for caps, muffs, etc.
Mink is used chiefly for coat linings.
Wolf is used principally for robes.
Musk rat is used chiefly for coat linings.
Skunk is used for trimmings in imitation of sable. The white stripe of the fur
has no value.

10. Seasonal Shipments (1899)175

That there is no other town in British North America, where so large an
amount of raw furs, direct from first hands, finds a market as in Edmonton, has been
an acknowledged fact for some years past. That this fur does find its market here, is
because there is no other place where the trader, white trapper or Indian can dispose
of this trade or hunt to better advantage. No place where he can find stores so well
equipped with just the articles he requires, or merchants who understand so well the
trade he is engaged in. It is not, however, only the traders and trappers of the north
who have found Edmonton a good market for their furs. Dealers in furs along the
lines of the C. P. railway through the Rockies and at many points in British Columbia
have found it to their advantage to ship their furs to Edmonton. Buyers from
Edmonton also visit these points and ship their purchases here.
All fur traded in the Peace, Athabasca and Mackenzie districts must of
necessity come to Edmonton for sale or shipment east. At Lac la Biche, 160 miles
northeast of Edmonton are several traders, who have outposts at Portage la Loche
and draw in considerable fur from that section of country, which is all sold in
Edmonton. The past season a conservative estimate of the fur sales of Edmonton
would not be less than $200,000. Besides all the furs traded by the H. B. Co. at their
posts in Edmonton district, as well as all from their posts in the Peace, Athabasca
and Mackenzie river districts are brought here for shipment to London.
Large as is the present amount of fur brought in from all parts of the country,
it is quite possible and probable that it will be exceeded in the future. At present the
Indians are obliged to hunt where they can kill moose, cariboo or fish. With improved
and cheaper transport to the north, flour and bacon will be cheaper, and enable an
Indian to be more independent of the game and fish than at present, and to hunt

175 From EDMONTON’S FUR TRADE. (1899, December 11). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 5.

107
parts of the country where at present no one hunts. White trappers who can live on a
small stock of provisions, (as compared with an Indian with a large family and a big
band of dogs), will establish themselves throughout the country, and as some few are
doing at present, earn good wages by killing fur. The north country is not by any
means over trapped as yet, it is a big country with very few people in it. The Indians
of the north do not at present kill half the fur they might do if they devoted all their
time to it. The greater part of the winter they are busy hunting for something to eat,
in the coldest weather they keep in camp if they can, and it is only towards spring
that they give their attention in earnest to the killing of fur. Where traders are
numerous and competition keen, the Indian hunts more, goods are brought to his
camp all through the winter and he is induced to work harder, than those Indians
who only come into a trading post twice a year.
Until the past two years the northern posts of the Hudson’s Bay Co., on the
Mackenzie, have not been tapped by the traders, but now that Messrs. Nagle &
Hislop, traders at Great Slave lake, have a good steamer on the Mackenzie, and Wm.
Connor another, we may expect a much larger output of fur from that part of the
country, as the Indians seeing more goods will kill fur to buy them. Up to the present
date the supply of goods was scarcely sufficient to pay for the fur they did kill.
Beaver can be killed out of a country in a short time, as has been done in Peace
River, but with other fur it is different. If fires are kept down and not allowed to run
the north will furnish furs for many a year to come. One fire will destroy more fur–
bearing animals in the country than a good sized tribe of Indians would kill in years.
The furs brought into Edmonton are badger, black, brown, and grizzley bear,
beaver, and castoreum, ermine, fisher cross, red, silver, black, white and kitt foxes,
lynx, marten, muskrat, otter, skunk, wolverine, timber, barren ground, brush and
prairie wolf, weenusks176 and musk ox. The last named come principally from Fort
Resolution on Great Slave lake. Messrs. McDougall & Secord, who handle all that
come to Edmonton have generally a nice assortment of these robes on hand.
The fur season opens the fifteenth October when muskrat and skunk begin to
come in, but furs in general are not killed before 1st November. Traders from outside
points come in about Xmas and New Years, and from then all through the winter
there is fur coming in. The real fur season, the time when the town is given up to the
fur traders and their men, when every one in town from the ferryman, who crosses
you on the scow on your way over from the station, to the girl who brings you your
porridge at the breakfast table the next morning at the hotel, talks of furs and of the
fur traders. When the man who does not know an ermine skin from a China goat will
buttonhole you and ask you whether in your opinion a certain black fox brought in by
some trader is not a little doggy on the back. This season opens about the 1st of June,
and lasts pretty well all through August. During that time there are but few days
when some lot of fur is not put up for sale.
A trader when he gets in with his packs of fur secures some wareroom where
he can open them and calls in all the fur buyers in town to examine his furs. Each
buyer makes his assortment and values the lot. When all have looked over the lot

176 Cree for “ground hog”.

108
they meet together, each buyer makes out his bid on a piece of paper and hands it to
the owner of the fur who opens the bids, calling out the name of each buyer and the
amount of his bid, and the fur goes to the highest offer. The lucky man smiles and
hunts for a drayman, while the disappointed ones retire trying to look cheerful, and
console themselves by making calculations as to the amount of money the man who
bought the fur stands to lose. Lots run from a few dollars to as high as $20,000, and
as a rule the bids are very close, sometimes a tie occurs, when a quarter is tossed to
decide the matter.
As soon as a trader gets the buyers at work he proceeds to pay off his men, who
after a trip are badly in want of a new rigout, and this they get as soon as possible
before taking in the sights of the town. First and foremost and absolutely
indispensable article in their outfit is a cowboy hat. No cheap imitation, but a genuine
Stetson costing from $6 to $8. Next will come a white shirt and a fancy tie, a black
cloth coat and vest and a pair of shepherd’s plaid trousers. A white pocket
handkerchief and a pair of boots, completes the outfit, if the boots squeak loudly the
northern Indian tripman is quite happy. An old resident has only to catch sight of one
of these men in his new clothes to know that the traders have arrived.
There is probably no harder way by which to earn a living, no more killing
heart–rending work, than tracking a heavily laden boat up a swift river. Yet these
northern tripmen, h–––––s, Indians and some white men accustomed to the work
arrive from a long trip looking the picture of health, and forgetting the hardships they
have gone through to earn it proceed to get rid of their money, as quickly as they can,
and have a jolly time while it lasts. It is to the credit of these men that amongst
themselves they rarely quarrel, either on the trip or after they are paid off.
Many people have an idea that Indians part with their furs principally for
trinkets and beads. A visit to some of the stores in Edmonton when the northern
traders outfits are being packed up would soon dispel that idea as far as the Indians
of the north are concerned. A string of beads and a red umbrella may satisfy the
longings of a Zulu or a South Sea Islander, but our northern Indians want something
better than that. The very best white wool blankets, 12 lbs. to the pair, fine striped
wool rugs, black broadcloth coats, French merinos, heavy tartan wool shawls, heavy
flannels & c., are what they want. In the fall of the year an Indian will not as a rule
buy light fancy goods, he dreads the cold and protects himself as well as he is able
against it. In the spring when he comes in with his winter hunt he will indulge himself
in finery, and will then buy fancy handkerchiefs, &c., but there are very few cheap
trinkets sold in the north.
The season of 1899–1900 does not promise to be a very good one for furs at
least in the immediate vicinity of Edmonton. Indians require snow to pitch off into
the woods, as a flat sleigh can pass pretty well anywhere. Many h–––––s expecting
scrip to be issued to them will not pitch off and hunt as usual, and besides all these
reasons it would seem as though it were going to be one of those off years which occur
now and again when no kind of fur is very plentiful. The lynx have migrated out of
the country and it will be about three years before we may expect them to be
numerous again.

109
Foxes are seemingly scarce and so are wolves. What the catch may be in the
north it is hard to say. The issue of scrip and payment of treaty money to Indians and
h–––––s of Lesser Slave lake, Peace River and Athabasca will have considerable effect
on the fur trade, many will be pretty well equipped for the first part of the winter and
may not care to exert themselves hunting before necessity obliges them to make a
move. On the other hand more goods than ever before have been sent north and there
will be a greater extent of country covered, so that perhaps when the end of the season
comes the total amount of fur marketed at Edmonton will not be found much below
the average of recent years.

11. The Revillons (1906)177

The Revillons are fit competitors of the Hudson’s Bay company. They have been
engaged in wholesale and retail fur trading for 175 years, and they are now carrying
on their business with a capital of 70,000,000 francs, or about $14,000,000. They have
already established posts all over the Northwest and they are gradually building up
a line of stations throughout the lands which the Hudson’s Bay people have always
considered their own. They have a central station at Edmonton, another at Prince
Albert and a third at Labrador, with two or three hundred branch posts in active
operation. They are buying fur all along the Mackenzie river, up and down the shores
of the Arctic ocean, along Hudson bay and in different parts of Labrador; and they
are, I am told, getting a fair share of the best skins of the continent.
In addition to this they have, with the opening up of the wheat belt, established
a wholesale and retail department store here and are doing business with the new
settlers.
The head of the fur establishment and the department store is a young
Frenchman, Mr. Revillon. He is only about 26 years of age, but he has already built
up this business and has the sole charge of it. It was while dining with him the other
night that we talked about the fur trade and the wonderful growth going on here.
During our conversation I asked Mr. Revillon to tell me how fur trading is
carried on in this part of the world. He replied:
“Nearly all the furs sold are brought in by the Indians, and we buy or trade
direct with them. We know the goods they most prize and ship them in wagons to
Athabasca Landing where they go by different waterways to our various posts. The
Indians bring the skins to the posts and exchange them for the goods. It is all a matter
of barter. No money passes and each fur is valued at so many skins. The standard of
value used to be a beaver, every fur being worth so many beavers. This value was
created by the Hudson’s Bay Company, and it is said that they sometimes got
extravagant prices for their goods through the ignorance of the Indians. That kind of
trading has all passed away, and the Indians now get a fair value for their furs. The
skin which now forms the unit is worth from 35 to 50 cents, according to the distance
of the trading posts from Edmonton, the rate increasing on account of the freight.”

177 From Carpenter, F. G. (1906, May 21). The Fur Trade of the North. The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 5.
Written by Frank G. Carpenter (1855 – 1924).

110
“But does the s–––––h understand the value of his furs?”
“Yes, indeed, and he understands how to get it. He is not an easy man to deal
with, and he must be handled in his own peculiar way. Some of our traders visit the
Indian camps carrying boxes of goods with them. At such times they never mention
trading upon their arrival. The white trader tells his Indian friends that he has come
out to make a friendly call. He asks after the health of the tribe and of each man’s
wife and family. He smokes with them and talks about the weather and other things
for hours and hours. Indeed a night often passes before any business is mentioned.
The next day the trader may ask one of the Indians if his luck has been good, and if
he says yes, it is the sign that he has furs and is willing to trade. If he says no, the
white man goes on smoking. After a time the Indian may thaw out and pull a mink
skin from inside his coat and ask the trader what he will give for it. If the price is
right, he will sell it, but if not, he will bring forth no more skins and the business
dealings are ended for that visit. If he is satisfied he may pull out another mink
gradually giving up all he has for sale. He has to be treated diplomatically; he is
sensitive and suspicious and it takes skill to handle him.
“Do the Indians make much money in that way?”
“Yes; I have known braves who made two or three thousand dollars a year. The
average Indian does well, however, if he nets three or four hundred. But much or
little, it is all the same. These Indians do not know how to keep money. They never
consider the future. They barter their furs for goods as soon as they have them, and
eat up their supplies as fast as they can. They buy the most extravagant things. I
know an Indian for instance, who received $1,900 for some furs. The first thing he
did was to send to Quebec for a piano, which cost him all told, a thousand dollars
before it was delivered. He did not know how to play it, and after a few days he tore
it apart to see how it worked.“
“What are the most expensive furs caught here?”
“I should say the silver foxes. The black ones are worth most, and a fine skin
may bring twelve hundred dollars or more.”
In talking with Mr. Secord of the important fur buying company of McDougall
and Secord I was told that the fur business is now as good as it has ever been and
that it will be a long time before men will freeze for lack of fur coats and women
become pillars of ice because they have not fur sacques. The skins may continue
costly, but there are plenty of animals left, and it will be long before the supply gives
out.
Mr. Secord tells me that furs are largely affected by fashion, and also by the
supply. In some years the Indians bring in many more of certain kinds of furs than
in other years, and, strange to say the supply of some species rises and falls with the
rabbit crop. Some varieties of fur bearing animals live largely on rabbits, which breed
so rapidly that the animals cannot keep them down. At intervals of every four or five
years a disease breaks out which kills the rabbits off by the thousand, and following
such years come the lean fur years.

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12. Further History of the Revillons (1918)178

The Revillons, whose name in connection with the fur trade is known and
famous all over the world, is one of the great institutions of the Northland and a rival
over a century of the great Hudson’s Bay company in the fur business. The original
Revillon Freres was a French company, whose interests were first confined to Europe.
About 1814 they established themselves in Canada, with headquarters in Montreal,
and proceeded to dispute with the Hudson’s Bay company its hitherto unrivalled pre–
eminence in this line in the great Northern lands.
POST AT EDMONTON
Posts were established at strategic points throughout the century, one at
Edmonton which eventually developed into the most important of them all. There
was keen rivalry between the two great companies for the acquisition of the valuable
furs caught by the Indians and white trappers, and many bitter clashes took place
between them.
The Revillons found it to be a profitable business. Indeed, they made it
profitable by their methods. Their practice has always been to sell their furs directly
to the customer, thus establishing a close personal relationship and enabling them to
do away with the middleman and to make sure that furs of the best quality reached
the purchaser. The Hudson’s Bay company sells its furs at auction in London, at
stated intervals, after which the company, of course, ceases to have any further
responsibility. Revillons, on the contrary, disposes of its goods direct to the ultimate
purchaser so that the chain of responsibility is complete.
Trading post after trading post was established throughout the Northwest
until the whole country is dotted with them. There are hundreds of stores and
outworks of business scattered far and wide under the Arctic circle.
At a later date the firm established its trading business in other articles than
furs, and the stores where clothing and supplies were sold followed the posts where
the fur trader was the pioneer. It is Revillon Freres who are exclusively identified
with the fur dealing end of the business. It is Revillon Wholesale which takes care of
the trading and runs the scores of stores, big and little, which are found in all the
large centres and many of the small ones of the Northwest.
DISTRIBUTING CENTRE
Paris, London, New York and Edmonton are bracketed in the firm’s
advertising, and it is recognized that this city has become the principal distributing
centre of the enormous business which has been built up in Northwestern Canada.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of food, clothing, tools, weapons, traps,
furniture, boots and shoes, tents, fishing tackle, supplies of every kind, go through
here, and by steamer and railway, by canoe and pack train, are distributed to the
distant stores, far on the edge of the retreating frontier, for the settlers and the
Indians.

178 From Revillon Company Has Operated for Over a Century Now in the Canadian Northwest. (1918,
September 9). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 1.

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13. Competition and Indigenous Fur Traders (1922)179

This article contains valuable information, but was written from a prejudiced point
of view. It is important to keep its negative bias in mind when reading the account.

Conditions for the Chipewyan180 Indians have greatly changed within the past
few weeks, say travellers from the north; up to quite recently the Indian was
accustomed to do what he was told by the white overlords, but now he sits in his tee–
pee, masticates juicy beefsteaks, and is waited on by the superior race. It is an
entirely novel situation for the native son, and he is said to be deriving considerable
pleasure from the process.
All this is due to the rivalry of the fur traders who make their headquarters at
Fort Chipewyan, on Lake Athabasca; formerly there were three firms dealing in
peltries with the Indians, and now there are twenty–eight. From time immemorial it
has been the custom of the natives to bring their furs to the post for barter. Now, due
to the keen trading, the merchants do not wait for this, but hitching up their dog
teams follow the Indians on their hunting trails, and with their dog sleighs loaded
with trade goods, barter with the native sons in their lodges in the woods and on the
Barren Lands. […]
Each of the twenty–eight firms at Chipewyan have a number of dog teams and
visitors from the north state that on every trail mushers are to be met, with the result
that the Indian sits back, demands a higher price for his furs than the market
warrants, and gets it. Due to the poor communication between the Athabasca lake
posts and the “outside,” the traders in the north are not aware of the trend of the fur
market; prices have been dropping, but up north the fur men have been paying more
and more, and as a result of this competition it is likely that a number will shortly be
declared officially “broke.”
The Indians have plenty of money as a consequence of the present condition of
affairs, and instead of a steady diet of rabbit this season are luxuriating in beefsteaks
– something entirely new to the north. Prior to the freeze–up two parties freighted
down scow loads of cattle to the Athabasca delta; one man has twenty steers and the
other sixteen. These are being slaughtered daily and are retailing at fifty cents per
pound, the Indians travelling from all over the northern hinterland to become
possessed of the new delicacy.
Last season at Jackfish lake (mouth of the Athabasca river), there was one lone
trader, while this year there are eight, and between Fort Mackay and the mouth of
the river there are ten new and independent merchants, all anxious to do business
with the Indians. Some of these men serve meals to travelers on the river ice, while
the dog mushers can now put up in some cabin along the river every night, and do
not require to camp under a spruce tree, which is a decided novelty and heralds the
advance of civilization.

179 From Lo! The Poor Indian Squats in His Teepee Waited on by Whites. (1922, December 21). The
Edmonton Bulletin, p. 5.
180 Also known as the Ojibwe.

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Trappers are also far more numerous than in years past, there are now forty
between Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan, and some of those men are causing the
police considerable anxiety as the Indians state they are infringing on their right and
something in nature of a small war is looked for before the ice goes out of the rivers
again. Ryan Brothers have completed arrangements for the operation of a horse–
sleigh service between Fort McMurray and Fitzgerald, and now have caches of horse
feed placed at intervals along the route. Each horse is to pull a flat sleigh (similar to
the dog sleighs), while a train of six will travel together. This mode of transportation
is new to the north, as hitherto nothing but dogs have been used, but the Ryans have
the reputation of “getting there” and are expected to make the new venture a success.
“COALS TO NEWCASTLE”
Another innovation in the north is the shipping in of frozen fish from the
“outside.” There is a great shortage of fish for dog feed at Chipewyan, and two tons
have been shipped in from Conklin, on the A. & G. W.181 railway via Waterways and
the Athabasca river. At the present time any kind of a fish is worth from 25c to 30c
each at Chipewyan. At McMurray a northman named McIver has put up a fish
market for supplying the dogs of the trappers and traders with food, this enterprise
being stated to supply a long felt want, being especially agreeable to the Indians who
dislike fishing or any other form of toil.

14. How Fur was Sold in London (1894)182

More than three millions of the skins of fur–bearing animals were last week
sold in four days by public auction from the stores of Sir Charles Lampson183, at
College Hill, in the city of London. English, German, Russians, Austrians, Poles,
Canadians, and Americans were there to buy, and the skins were sold, paid for, and
on their way to half the countries and capitals of Europe before the week was ended.
1,528,000 skins of the musquash184 were sold on Friday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.,
and the day’s work concluded with a competition for “sundries,” comprising hides of
tigers, lions, lynxes, and many of the rarest creatures to be seen at the Zoological
Gardens’ menagerie.
At the risk of swamping the sense of proportion by figures, we give the names
and numbers of some of the skins, which, through all changes of fashion, have been
prized since man first turned hunter, and are now on their way to the furriers from
this one gigantic store :–6,550 bears’ skins, black, brown and grizzly; 20 Polar bears’;
1,460 beavers’ skins; 2,647 Russian sables of the most costly kind; half–a–million

181 The Alberta and Great Waterways Railway. In 1910, it was the focus of a scandal involving the
granting of generous public loan guarantees to private individuals.
182 From GREAT FUR SALES. (1894, March 6). Victoria Daily Colonist, p. 7.
183 Possibly a relation (but not a known son) of Curtis Lampson. This venue was world–famous. From
1899: “[I]t is to London that the greater part of the catch in North America, Alaska, Siberia, and
Australia is brought and dispersed over every country in the world in the sales of Sir Charles Lampson
and the Hudson Bay Company.” LI HUNG CHANG’S FURS. (1899, January 20). The Sydney Morning
Herald, p. 3.
184 A more delicate name for the muskrat.

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Australian and 120,000 American opossum–skins, and twice that number of skunks’
and raccoons’; 36,000 marten or American sables; 150,000 minks’; 3,000 wolf–skins,
and some 20,000 coats of red, white, Asiatic, and even of the tiny “Kitt” foxes185, does
not exhaust the list. Wallaby186, kangaroo, chinchilla, hair–seal, monkey, lamb, and
wolf skins swell the total in tens of thousands.
The Hudson’s Bay Company hold a rival of equal calibre; and in March, the
winter catch, of greater quantity and finer quality, will be gathered and dispersed in
the city with the same rapidity, and with more eager competition by the fur–loving
Russians and Poles. Viewed only as an example of commercial organization, these
seals are a credit to the city. Those who have spent a lifetime in their purchase and
preparation, find an endless interest in the furs themselves. You can smell them a
street off – an odour of camphor loaded with a faint, heavy savour – like the fat of a
sacrifice; for the lofty warehouse is packed on every story, from floor to ceiling, with
the undressed skins. The myriad hides of the smaller animals, the musks and
musquash, beavers and sables, opossums and martens, are simply stripped from the
body of the animal and turned inside out, – drawn off like a glove, and so lie flat,
except the sables, which are fastened in bundles by a strip of raw reindeer hide passed
through the muzzles. Stacked in iron racks from floor to ceiling, and divided by
partitions, each “lot” is numbered and scheduled in the sale–catalogue according to
its quality and condition, and sample bundles, duly marked, hang in rows at a
convenient height for the inspection of the buyers. In the catalogue of sale, a volume
of narrow folio of two hundred pages, the quality of each “lot” is marked with
scrupulous care, with notes, where needed, stating that the skins are damaged by
shot, unusually large or small, dark or pale, woolly or rough, or “cubs,” in the case of
bears, dyed or stained, choice, poor, middling, or specimen skins. It is the fairest sale
in the world, a model of lucid order. It seems at first that no one looks at the skins at
all except the porters, who are packing and pressing them into bales.
Men come staggering down the stairs under shaggy piles of wolf–skins, with
the grinning beads clustered around their ears, or stamp on piles of bear hides
between upright columns of steel; but no one scans the shelves where the furs lie
double–stacked, like books in a warehoused library. Then, of all incongruous jumbles
of thought, the mind travels back to Lord’s Cricket ground187. Figures in long white
linen coats, and tall silk hats, the traditional costume of the umpire, are standing at
tables piled with furs, but instead of the batsman’s “blazer” under their arms are
tucked bundles of sable, marten, and beaver. They are buyers and merchants,
inspecting samples, and guarding their broadcloth in white smocks. Judgment is
passed, not only by the quality of the fur, to which the catalogue is almost a sufficient
guide, but by the soundness and texture of the skin itself; and the dry, yet still oily
skins, hide outwards, are fingered, scanned, and criticized with the deftness and
certainty born of long experience. These raw skins often bear curious marks from the

185 Kit foxes are native to North America. They weigh less than 3 kg and are about half a meter long.
186 An Australian animal similar to a kangaroo.
187 A famous Cricket venue built in 1814, and still in use today. Cricket is an English sport that
requires white outfits, bats, balls and a perfectly flat lawn.

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hands that first stripped from the mink or musquash in the fur countries. Laconic188
Indian letters are found scratched or painted on the skins, sometimes in picture–
writing, like the Indian letter transcribed by Marryat189 in his “Settlers in Canada;”
more often the Indian message is written in Roman characters; and occasionally
words of Old French, the legacy of the days of Montcalm190, are recognized among the
greetings sent by the Indian hunter to the trader or the tribe.
The bundles of sables are examined skin by skin. But these are worth £5 to £40
apiece, and can hardly be judged by sample. The very finest and choicest sables have
a natural bloom and lustre incomparable among furs, and need neither pressing nor
art to enhance their beauty. At the rooms of the International fur stores in Regent
street, £500 is asked for a bundle of ten incomparable sable skins, which are neither
tanned nor dressed, but merely strapped together by the reindeer thong, as they left
the hands of the merchant at Nijni Novgorod191. Seal, beaver, and musquash skins in
the rough state are very different from the finished fur. All that is visible is the raw
hide flattened, and an inner lining of fur at the extremities; even this is not like the
glossy lining or trimming of a coat or jacket, but covered with long dull hair, which
must be plucked off by the furrier. Opossum, fox, and raccoon skins need little but
the currier’s192 process to be fit for wearing. The half–million of opossum–skins in the
stores showed only a glimpse of the grey soft fur within; they are mere dry hides with
an almost invisible fur lining. From the picturesque point of view, the fox–skins are
pre–eminent in the warehouses. Whole groves of the soft and deep furs of the red fox
– not the English brown–red reynard, but a beautiful warm–tinted mass – hang from
the ceilings of the passages. Myriads of white and grey fox–skins with blackish tips
are piled around the walls, and thousands of pendent “brushes,” in diminishing
perspective, are seen down the vista of the galleries. Bear–skins, except the rare and
much coveted pelts of the great Polar species, are a purely commercial article.
Yet the sight of rooms full of the skins of brown and black bears, dry, dusty,
and dishevelled, need not suggest contempt for a fur which, properly dressed and
taken in good condition, makes the warmest wrapping known, except the malodorous
sheepskin. Among the few dressed furs on sale were half–a–dozen exquisite coats of

188 Using as few words as possible.
189 “The Settlers in Canada” is a children’s novel by Frederick Marryat, published in 1844. It tells the
story of a pioneer family settling near Lake Ontario in the 1790s.
190 Probably Louis–Joseph de Montcalm–Gozon (1712 – 1759), commander of the French forces during
the French and Indian War of 1754 – 1763.
191 A city in Russia, famous as the birthplace of novelist Maxim Gorky.
192 A currier is a specialist in leather processing. A later article in this chapter goes into more detail
about the currier’s process.

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the skin of the Thibetan lamb193, dressed in China194, pure silky–white without, soft
within as chamois leather, and white as parchment. The Chinese tiger must be a far
commoner and much larger animal than is generally supposed. Fourteen of these
skins hung in an upper room, splendid in color, and of the deepest and richest fur.
One of the finest skins of the Northern tiger ever seen in this country now hangs in
the International fur stores in Regent street. In its present condition, stretched and
dressed, it measures fourteen feet from the nose to the tip of the tail, and the coat is
almost as woolly as a bear’s. In the March sales of last year, 250 tiger skins were sold.
Lions’ skins are scarce. It is said that the Chicago exhibition195 caused a “boom” in
lion hides, and sent them up to fancy prices. Among the uncatalogued curiosities were
a pair of splendid python skins, and several species of an unnamed, but beautiful,
grey fur, with a rich patch of chestnut in the centre, which a visit to the Zoo identifies
as those of the rare Diana monkey.
Not a fur finds its way into the saleroom. The semicircle of buyers who throng
the desks, with the bulky catalogues before them, might be listening to a scientific
lecture, or assisting at some religious function, conducted in musical monotony by the
auctioneer. The bids are made by nods, or waves of the pen, and two pairs of practised
eyes, on either side of the seller, ceaselessly scan their allotted section of the benches,
and repeat the bids, which are caught and mechanically reproduced by the broker.
The business is too rapid and too serious to allow of talk. But much exchange of news,
views and furs takes place later; and the chat after the January and March sales in
London will find an echo in the lodges of the Indians and Esquimaux from Vancouver
to Hudson’s Bay, and among the Tartar youarts196 and reindeer sledges from the Ural
to Kamchatka. “The mystery of the fur trade,” writes the manager of the great Regent
street firm, in his admirable pamphlet on the uses of furs, “has disappeared before
the development of commerce. The trappers and hunters are no longer ignorant

193 The so–called Tibetan lamb (actually native to China) is famous for its white fur. Its natural
waviness makes it popular for use as doll hair. From 1899: “Thibetan lamb–skin, after it has passed
through the hands of Chinese curriers, becomes a thing of beauty and intrinsic excellence hardly
exceeded by the rarer furs. The leather is soft as kid and white as milk, and the fleece attached to it
takes the texture and gloss of white floss–silk.” LI HUNG CHANG’S FURS. (1899, January 20). The
Sydney Morning Herald, p. 3.
194 China was a new exporter at this time. From 1899: “It has long been known that the Chinese
furriers were the best in the world; and that except in the dyeing of sealskins, their treatment of the
fur itself, especially in improving its tint and lustre, was unrivaled. […] It remains to be seen whether
the attraction of London will not draw from Pekin at least a share of its immense [fur] stock. It is
believed that this will take place, and that the furs will be exported in the finished state, and present
to the West a luxury almost as new as the original export of Chinese silks or Chinese porcelains. There
is almost as much difference between the finished furs from Pekin, more beautiful than Nature made
them, and the “raw furs” in the Hudson’s Bay sales, in the same condition as they were stripped from
the dead animal, as there is between spun silk and the same substance in the cocoon.” Ibid.
195 The 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. I’ve found no mention of living lions being
exhibited, but artist Edward Kerneys sculpted a pair of lions to flank the entrances of two pavilions at
the exposition. These lions remain outside the Art Institute of Chicago and are an iconic feature of
that city.
196 Possibly a mis–spelling of ‘yurts’. Yurts are round, portable tents used traditionally by nomads in
Central Asia.

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savages, ready to sell the skins, which they have obtained with toil and peril, for
beads or blankets or tobacco, at only a fraction of the true value. They no longer barter
on the principle that a musket is worth as many skins as will, when piled close, be
the height of the weapon from stock to muzzle; and the days are past when
enormously long–barreled pieces were therefore manufactured expressly for the
North American market.”

Fur Farming

15. Capacity and Quality Constraints to Trapping (1926)197

Despite the fact that trappers and traders have taken freely of the fur
resources of Canada, our fur trade now employs198 more capital, engages a larger
number of employees, and serves a greater number of people, than at any previous
time. The world demand for furs has increased so greatly that the fur industry is
confronted with new problems, among the most important of which is an assured
supply of good raw quality product such as Canada is able to furnish.
The limited supply of high quality furs in comparison to the demand, has forced
the industry to use pelts formerly considered of little value, many of which are
imported from foreign countries. The public is deceived as to the extent of this practice
by a variety of trade names as applied to certain furs among which the fur of the
rabbit is perhaps outstanding.
This form of selling has received considerable condemnation from an
influential body of the fur retailers and certain principles in this regard have been
agreed upon. The fur industry will undoubtedly not be content with the continued
substitution of these low grade pelts and other means of increasing the supply of
better grade furs will be eagerly welcomed.
Fox farming has already become a well established industry and the farming
of wild fur–bearers on privately owned lands and the utilization of waste lands and
water areas is advanced as a suggestion which may provide a solution at least in part
of an adequate fur supply. Already a number of experiments in Canada along these
lines have met with considerable success. “Dry farming” or the raising of such fur–
bearers as the muckrat, in pens apart from their natural habitat, is also an important
departure of intense interest which is being developed. If successful, this practice will
materially add to the supply of raw pelts of high grade.

197 From Utilization of Waste Lands for Development of Fur Farming to Meet The Demand For Pelts.
(1926, November 18). Mirror Mail, p. 3.
198 According to a statement by the Natural Resources Intelligence Service of the Department of the
Interior at Ottawa.

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16. A Rapidly Developing Industry (1928)199

Many branches of fur farming have become established in Western Canada to
the extent they have got past the stage of foundation, and are exporting live animals
abroad. One of the branches which has received relatively little attention, but which
is promised a meteoric development, is that of muskrat and beaver farming, in
particular the former. From a position of virtual insignificance in the fur trade this
little animal has attained a place of outstanding importance by reason of his pelt’s
multiplicity of uses. The security of the future of the muskrat industry is held to be
the readiness with which the pelt of this little animal can be adapted to imitate the
rarer and more valuable peltry. His position is secure as far as can be seen into the
future. And while this industry is established in other parts of the Dominion it
promises to be one which Western Canada is going to make peculiarly its own.
According to all reports a veritable army of men in the Prairie provinces has
been awaiting the completion of arrangements for the transfer of the marshlands and
other suitable tracts from the Federal Government to the provinces. There are stated
to be 800 applicants waiting in Alberta and hundreds in Saskatchewan and
Manitoba. According to announcements these lands are to be leased for fur–farming
purposes at 25 cents per acre for three years and $1 per acre for each successive year.
There is every indication of wholesale establishment to take place as soon as filing is
open.
British Columbia is not lagging behind her prairie sisters, having long since
securely established this industry, which is thriving in several suitable sections, and
in which is to be found the world’s largest establishment of this nature. The
Columbia–Kootenay Valley has come particularly to the fore in this regard and many
individuals from adjoining States of the Union have in the past few years moved up
to follow the pursuit there. A further addition to such ranches was recently made
when a group of Kelowna businessmen secured a large holding of bottom land from
the Columbia Valley Ranches Limited, on the Kootenay Central Branch of the
Canadian Pacific Railway, for the purpose of entering upon beaver and muskrat
ranching on a large scale. This follows upon three similar fur–farming enterprises to
establish in this section.
The industry is one which appeals from many points of view. The land so
utilized is largely waste, and unproductive. Operation is economical and to achieve
success does not necessitate any great experience or amount of technical knowledge.
The increasing demand for muskrat has elevated prices considerably. These are now
fairly stabilized, in the opinion of authorities, who are confident of the industry’s
ability to produce in the future. The average value of all muskrat sold in Canada at
the time of the Government’s last fur return was $1.54, while at recent Montreal sales
as high as $2.70 per pelt has been secured. Ranch–bred pelts naturally bring higher
prices, and since large–scale operation is the essence of the muskrat industry it is not
difficult to realize the profit which can be made.

199 From Fur Farming Very Soon To Be A Recognized And Established Western Canadian Industry.
(1928, August 15). Oyen News, p. 5.

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Muskrat farming is to become an additional source of revenue in Western
Canada from its pursuit as a sole occupation or as a phase of mixed farming. The
acquisition of furs in Western Canada has always proved a welcome and convenient
means of adding to the year’s profits, and this continues even in long settled and
established districts, since certain valued fur–bearers tend to increase with
settlement. A new industry conferring a double benefit came into existence in
Western Canada when it was found that owing to newly discovered tanning processes
the native rabbit, which exists there in thousands, could be profitably disposed of. In
the past winter one Winnipeg firm alone handled more than 1,500,000 wild rabbit
skins, paying for them an average of 10 cents apiece. Fur taken in Western Canada
today have an annual value of between $6,000,000 and $7,000,000 and the attention
being paid to fur farming should have the effect of augmenting this figure.

17. A Russian Prince and Canadian Muskrat Rancher (1929)200

Alberta has added one more to her list of titled ranchers. This time it is a
Russian prince, remotely related to the defunct royal family through an alliance in
the days of Peter the Great201, but of recent years more or less a wanderer on the face
of the earth in a search for a happy home where Bolsheviks cease from troubling and
princelings are at rest.
Prince Leo Galitzine202, twenty–five years old and married just about a year,
is this latest royal rancher. He has bought over 400 acres of land on the McLeod River,
five miles south of Edson, right in the heart of the big game country, and there he is
going to raise – muskrats!
On the land there is a lake which covers 150 acres, and this is to be the habitat
of the colony of muskrats the prince plans to develop. There are already a few hundred
furry rodents on the place, but a much larger number will have to be introduced to
make the ranch a paying proposition. The lake is to be enclosed with three miles of
wire fencing at a cost of $2,000.
Much of the farm work is to be done by the prince himself, though he will have
a manager and a few helpers. He has studied fur farming intensively and has a
number of theories that he intends to put to the test of practice, these having been
endorsed by the professors of agriculture of Louvain University203 where he studied
for some years. It is not expected, however, that the rat ranch will pay dividends until
about 1932.

200 From Another Titled Rancher. (1929, October 9). Oyen News, p. 5.
201 Tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1725.
202 Leo Galitzine gave a lecture on “Interpetative Dancing and Gesture” at Edmonton’s Little Theatre
on February 5, 1934.
203 The Catholic University of Leuven, a Belgian university founded in 1425.

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18. The Growth of Fur Farming (1935)204

Not all furs which Canadian fur companies turn into wearing apparel come
from animals which roam the northwoods of the Dominion. Many205 of the animals
which carry the most valuable fur coats have never seen the northwoods. Neither
they nor their parents and in many cases their grandparents have ever seen or known
of the freedom of the bush. They were born and raised on farms devoted entirely to
the raising of a fur crop. Government figures show that there are at least 6,473 fur
farms in Canada and that their annual “output” of furs is valued at $3,712,443.
The idea of fur farming came from the habit of trappers to capture alive young
foxes and keep them near their cabin till the animals’ fur coats were in their prime.
So fur farms were started and fox became the main fur–bearing animal kept on these
farms. Silver fox was the animal most sought by the fur farmers and so valuable did
their pelts become in the early days of fur farming that a pair of silver foxes for
breeding purposes cost as high as $35,000. To–day 93 per cent. of the crop of the fur
farms is silver fox. […]
While foxes are the main animals on the farms, other fur–bearers are also
being raised, including mink, raccoon, fisher and fitch. The mink in particular is
easily domesticated and there are now 577 mink farms in Canada. Muskrat farms
are rapidly multiplying and during the last three years more muskrat skins were
cured than any other kind. But the silver foxes still bring in the money, with $867 as
the high price last year for one silver fox skin.

19. A Demonstration of Dentistry (1934)206

While we were conversing with Mr. Frood207 at the hotel he invited us over to
his farm, where, he said, he had 1,300 mink and 57 foxes, adding that he would give
us a lesson in dentistry. Just what connection there was between mink, foxes and
dentistry we could not well make out. However, we accepted the kind invitation and
soon found out that dentistry plays a large part in successful fur farming.
The mink, kept in cages, were caught in a net attached to a handle.
When Mr. Frood had caught the first mink he observed: “Now you will see that
the mink knows just as much about this as I do. You will observe that it cooperates
beautifully.” A slight pressure on the hand was applied and the mink opened its

204 From Fur Farming In Canada Grows In Recent Years to Considerable Proportions. (1935, August
29). The Stony Plain Sun, p. 3.
205 From an article written three years later: “Fur farming now plays an important part in the fur
trade of Canada, supplying approximately forty per cent. of the total raw fur production of the
Dominion.” Canada’s Modern Fur Industry. (1938, May 5). The Crossfield Chronicle, p. 2.
206 From Tate, G. & Anonymous. (1934, August 30). Resented Undue Familiarity of a Pet Mink. Grande
Prairie Northern Tribune, p. 8. Written by George Tate (1877 – 1940), buried at Grande Prairie.
207 “N. A. Frood, owner of the Slave Lake Fur Farm, […] started his fur farm nine years ago this fall
with one pair of mink and has gradually worked up until today he has the largest fur farm in the
province and one of the largest in the Dominion.” Owner of Fur Farm at Slave Lake to Write For
Tribune. (1934, July 26). Grande Prairie Northern Tribune, p. 1.

121
mouth. The four small tusks were clipped off with a clipper resembling the
instrument used by medical men for clipping off pieces of bone. The whole operation
was done with such rapidity that it was all over before we really knew what it was
all about. As each operation was completed the mink was put into a box and the whole
lot later released in one of the large outdoor pens.
The reason for removing the tusks is to prevent the mink from tearing one
another, for they are vicious fighters. The mink to be pelted when their fur is prime
are kept in a separate yard.
I had the pleasure and interesting experience of helping to feed the mink, the
meal being fish. While these little animals are by nature timid, they lose all sense of
fear when the grub appears. They swarmed around us and we had to be careful less
we trampled on them.
After the meal was served I sat down on a log and tried to study the actions of
the little animals. One mink crawled up my leg and finally perched on one of my
shoulders and began nibbling on my ear. “He won’t bite you,” the owner said,
reassuringly. But I was taking no chances and pushed the mink off on the ground.
To tell the truth, I resented the undue familiarity.
I had counted the foxes and found the number 57 correct. “You say there are
thirteen hundred mink on the farm?” I remarked. “Yes,” replied Mr. Frood. “If you
don’t believe them, count them.” Right there I was buffaloed, for they were running
about like so many ferrets.
As I studied the animals I discovered they have a language and in the lot were
some expert crooners that would make Rudy Vallee208 sick with envy.
We were shown through the refrigeration plant, which is highly necessary, as
a surplus of food is always needed.
The visit was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. I have seen a
lot of fur in my time, and I want to say right here that Mr. Frood has some of the
finest mink and foxes I have ever seen.

20. A Mink Factory (1949)209

Fur farming has achieved a place of importance among the industries of the
West. The industry runs into millions of dollars. It is now common to see dotted across
the prairies ranches containing the finest herd of mink and fox, because it has been
the motto of owners and managers to improve the stock and conditions from year to
year. The motto of the Prairie Pride Mink Ranch located at Rouleau, Sask., can be
said to be “Push–Button Efficiency”. An efficient routine has been worked out by the
owner, Omar Crabb, and Wilfred Cook, who up till recently was manager, so that one
man is able to take care of 1,400 mink and keep the ranch an example of shining
cleanliness and sound production.

208 Hubert Prior Vallée (1901 – 1986) was an early teen pop idol. He is best known today for ‘As Time
Goes By’, a song used in the movie Casablanca (1942).
209 From Efficient Routine Enables One Man To Take Care of 1400 Mink. (1949, February 17). The
Chronicle, p. 5.

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The Prairie Pride Mink Ranch had its beginning in 1941, farther south in
Saskatchewan. Then Mr. Crabb located at Rouleau in 1943, and has been building up
steadily since that time.
The ranch is composed of four town lots, each 150×50 feet, separated from each
other by solid wooden guard fences. Across the road two more lots serve as space for
the swiss chard, spinach and lettuce grown for the mink menu.
A tall white fence with scarlet trim encloses the four lots, with the ranch name
in tall red letters, painted by Mrs. Crabb in a three–day session with the paint brush.
Lot 1 contains the breeder unit in eight long corridor sheds. Each numbered house
contains 50 pens. Lot 2 has another eight sheds, this time for the pelters. Cindered
paths lead down the centre of each house – limed weekly throughout the summer.
Cinders also form the floor of each compound. Floodlights are set up on a pole to shine
down into each of the four lots as a protection against thieves or pranksters.
Lot 3 is a sea of 800 small cottage roofs, each peaked over a single furring pen,
keeping off the sun and wind. As the wind sweeps through the area, a small tinkling
sound is made by the metal tags which give the genealogical history of the occupant
of each pen.
One of the labour–saving devices is the number of water outlets in every part
of the ranch. The furring pens have a tap and hose between every two rows. That
means at least 52 outlets on the ranch itself, to say nothing of the hot and cold water
inside the feed house. Waterpower washes out the drinking cups and refills them with
a minimum of effort. Water is supplied from the town of Rouleau, as is the electricity.
Feed goes onto little slanted metal racks in most cases, but in the newest pens
is placed on wire through a hole cut into the roof. It means less work and swifter
motions. Another time and labour saving device is the feed board. Instead of lifting
and carrying tubs or buckets of feed, they are merely shoved along ahead on these
wooden feed boards. Yep, boss’ idea!
Lot 4 is devoted to the feed house and wide lawns and flower beds. The
appearance of the place – lawns, flower beds and paint jobs – is looked after by the
owner and his wife.
Bar none, the feed house was the neatest I’ve ever stepped into. The mixer was
as shining as the china on your Sunday dinner table. The metal surfaced tables and
shelves gleamed. A little office occupies one end of the first room, and the mixer and
grinder the other. The latter part was covered with sawdust, clean and thick. Then
into the engine room where a machine roars, chilling the Frigidaire210 with its 100
tons of mink food.
Countless trips into a Frigidaire are not only chilling to the workman, but raise
the temperature of the room, thus wasting electricity. The frozen meat is shoved
through a hatch opening onto the metal surfaced sloping shelves. The frozen food
thaws out on the sloping shelves, the blood draining away into buckets. No food is
ever allowed to sit in its own blood, for fear of spoilage. Five large shelves were piled
with horseflesh on our visit. Scales stood ready to hand.

210 A refrigerator manufacturer. The word was often used to refer to refrigerators in general, much like
Kleenex is used today to refer to facial tissues.

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The walls throughout the ranch building are of glossy white, so that they can
be washed down as often as necessary. One item that seemed a stray from an old–
fashioned grocery store was a counter with many glass–fronted bins. This was put to
excellent use for small quantities of cereals and other materials.
Of the more than 1,400 mink on the ranch, most strains are represented.
Platinums (formerly Silverblus), Siler Sables (Blufrosts), Black Cross (Koh–i–nurs)
and Marten Mink (Pastels) were there, as well as standards of Gothier and Kokuk
strains, these being extra dark mink. Glacierblus and Imperial Platinums were also
there, and Aleuthian Blu were to be brought in last fall.
Plenty of bright ideas have been worked out around the ranch. For instance,
everything is removable and interchangeable. One shortcut is the detachable bottom
which goes underneath the nest boxes. According to these ranchers, it’s far ahead of
the “box–within–a–box” arrangement. Not only is the nest box attached by gate
hooks, but so is the bottom. To clean it off, you merely release one side and it swings
away by itself. These are left dangling during the summer when the nest boxes are
not in use. The detachable nest boxes also serve as viewing or catching boxes. […]
Feeding them well early in the game is the best way to get the big bouncing
animals. The way to get size is to have the feed for them at the right time. In order
to make food available to the young, save spilling and wasting, shallow cans are set
into a mould of concrete, which is impossible to tip. These are low enough for the kits
to reach easily.
The tops of the nest boxes are sloped so that it is easy to see into them, and
also easier for stuffing with hay, or cleaning out. The holes are larger than usual to
insure no chafing or rubbing. In between the pens are set “blinds” of wooden boards,
which prevents any mother mink from eyeing the neighbour’s children or getting into
a tizzy over them.
We noticed numbers marked on the feed boards alongside the breeder pens.
The numbers read 6, 7, 3, 8, 6,4, 6, and so forth.
“Oh those,” said Omar Crabb, “those are the number of kits in each litter. We
had good luck with this shed, all right. Had 1,061 kits from 224 females – litter
average of 4.9. The ranch average of course was lower, about 3.8, and I think that’s a
good ranch average – being entirely honest about the matter, I mean.”
But Mr. Crabb realizes that litter average, or ribbons won at shows, important
though they are, are not the last word. “The proof of the quality of a mink in the final
analysis is the pelt price” – a matter on which most ranchers agree.
Not that the Prairie Pride Mink ranch hasn’t lived up to its name. Ribbons
there were in plenty, climaxing into the Grand Championship of the 1946 Alberta
show, where a standard female kit topped the 1,068 entries.

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Freight and Transportation

21. By Canoe (1920)211

Reginald Beatty worked as a clerk for the Hudson’s Bay Company in the 1870s.
This autobiographical tale is based on entries from his diary.

After a hard winter at Sturgeon River, an outpost from Cumberland House, I
at last shipped the winter’s fur by York Boat to headquarters; and now for my holiday
as I had planned, a hunting trip up the Sturgeon. The party was to consist of an
Indian and his family in one large bark canoe and myself in a small bark just large
enough for one man and his outfit.
At last we were off, and I looked back at the log shacks we had wintered in
with delight at the thought of never seeing them again; for, gentle reader, it had been
a hard winter, the chief diet being fish for both men and dogs. We tracked or killed
no venison. One amusing incident helped to break the monotony. About the month of
February, if my memory is correct, a dog–train with two weather beaten travellers
arrived. One of these (Owen B. Hughes) was the first Sheriff of Prince Albert in later
days and his companion, a native named Kennedy. At that time Mr. Hughes was in
the employ of Stobart, Eden & Co., fur traders, and was travelling from Norway
House to Duck Lake. Their snowshoes were worn out and needed re–netting, so the
men’s wives were set to work at this and Mr. Hughes became my guest. That first
evening we had suckers, dried and smoked, nothing else but black tea with plenty of
sugar, and I am sure he polished off at least half a dozen. For breakfast appeared a
fine dish of plain boiled suckers, taken out of the nets that morning, for we kept five
nets under the ice all winter, catching, however, nothing but large red suckers, until
spring when sturgeon came in shoals. I could see Hughes casting hungry glances
round the table, but he was too well–bred a man to say anything. For dinner a huge
platter (of the old China Willow pattern) with at least twenty sucker heads on it,
these, by the way, being much the best part of that fish. Hughes glared at me, shoved
his chair back, used some strong western epithets as to the way the Hon. Co. fed their
clerks, then yelled, “John!” in stentorian tones. John duly appeared. “Go to our sleigh
and bring such and such articles of food.” My, but we did feast, and then I explained
the situation. Flour being short that winter, I was limited to a clerk’s allowance of
two hundred pounds. This I would not eat alone, so I just used bread on Sundays, my
two men and their families sharing it with me. In after years, meeting Hughes in
Prince Albert, we had many a good laugh over this experience.
Our commissariat for the trip was very limited; a small stock of maple syrup
which we had obtained by tapping the ash–maple trees in the vicinity, a bale of dried
fish, four pounds of tea, a little salt and sugar, with a few pounds of flour for making

211 From Beatty, R. (1920, November 10). From the Diary of A Hudson’s Bay Clerk in the Seventies.
Western Globe, p. 7. and Beatty, R. (1920, November 18). From the Diary of A Hudson’s Bay Clerk in
the Seventies. The Champion Chronicle, p. 3. Written by Reginald B. Beatty (1858 – 1928).

125
soup. But our hearts were high and full and full of hope over the prospect of game,
beaver especially, for no one had been up the river for years.
We camped the first night about ten miles out, having started late in the day.
Fine paddling, smooth stretches of water with scarcely any current, then a small
rapid, generally shoal, up which my small canoe would shoot like a jackfish, while
Patrick often had to wade and lighten his heavily laden craft. Fish soup with a little
syrup for supper, and then to kill something edible next day.
We were up again at 2.30 and called all hands; a hasty snack and by noon we
had made twenty miles. Here we were lucky in capturing a large sturgeon who was
trying to ascend a very shallow rapid. Pushing my canoe I threw myself on the fish
and after an exciting struggle, landed him. Results – boiled sturgeon, very good for
dinner. Another hard paddle and we camped at a rapid where bears had been fishing
with much success, judging by the remains laying scattered about. The next day,
about 4 p.m., we passed the mouth of three small creeks and here Patrick found
beaver signs and our mouths watered at the prospect of fresh meat. Going about a
mile up the main river we pitched our tepee among some large birch trees, there being
no under–brush. This was a beautiful camping ground.
After helping to set the tent we returned to the little creeks to watch for beaver,
both going in the large canoe; and watch we did until too dark to see to shoot. Having
no luck we made for camp. A wireless system had been arranged between us – when
game was sighted the gunwale of the canoe was shaken. Presently I felt the canoe
shiver, and on looking closely at the bank which here somewhat overhung the water,
I could see the dim outline of an animal, so quickly fired. An amazing splash followed
and we were deluged with water. Hauling the bag on board, it turned out to be a large
black timber wolf, valuable for his pelt, but alas, not edible.
We here crossed the river and this time it was my occasion to give the signal,
as being in the bow gave me a better lookout. This time a strong wake was visible
going ahead of us, and I at once fired where I guessed the head was. A tremendous
splash followed and under the impression I had killed a beaver (who will never bite
unless you put your hand in his mouth), I grabbed the soft fur and with some effort
threw it into the canoe behind me. And then arose a battle din, for behold, it was a
large buck otter. It was only stunned by the bullet which glanced on his skull, and it
immediately attacked Patrick, who was in the stern. It was too close for him to shoot
it, and then he might have got me. After a combat lasting some minutes, he managed
to stun it with a large maul that we fortunately had in the canoe for landing sturgeon.
Pat was very mad and abused me in his best Cree, and it took us some time to soothe
his injured feelings. Finally, on reaching camp, we all had a hearty laugh over it. But
the good wife was by no means pleased, as hearing the two shots she had visions of a
nice beaver supper and here was only a wolf, which was bad eating, and otter which
was worse. Fortunately she or Job (the son) had snared a partridge and a rabbit, and
on these we fared frugally and then to bed with a deep vow that we would have
something better on the morrow.
Making an early start next morning and taking along Pat’s traps, we again
made for the creeks. We left our canoe at the mouth and struck up stream. An hour’s

126
steady tramping brought us to a beaver dam, only roughly constructed; a little further
up another dam slightly better made, and above these a splendid dam backing up
quite a lake of water. Evidently the first two dams were only intended to relieve the
pressure of high water on the principal one. At the far end of the lake were three large
beaver lodges, with hard beaten trails on all sides and trees fallen in every direction,
many of these being cut up in short lengths. There were piles of chips and every
evidence of busy industry. Patrick’s face was a sight, as he estimated there were from
forty to fifty or even more beavers resident, and as he had a big debt with the H. B.
Company, here was the means to pay it and also the choicest of food for the wife and
little ones.
Walking round the lake very quietly, we selected two good stands for watching
that evening, as beaver seldom come out before dusk. Then, after a hasty lunch we
went further up the stream setting traps in the most likely places. Returning to the
beaver village about sundown we very noiselessly took our places, and then followed
a long wait. We were both armed alike, double barreled guns of the usual H. B. style,
28 bore muzzle loaders with percussion locks, the barrels being extra heavy, making
them suitable for either ball or shot, and loaded at the present time with 3 1–2
drachms of powder, 1–2 oz. of shot, a tight fitting wad and a round bullet on top of
all. This combination was a very deadly one at close quarters. At last I noticed the
water heave close in front of my stand, and some ripples followed, again, and once
again. Then up burst the head of a large beaver, which I immediately shot behind the
ear and it at once sunk in some twelve feet of water. Stripping off my clothes and
standing like Don Cupid on the bank, I was about to dive after my game, when Patrick
appeared, smiling to see my unusual costume. On describing the facts, he told me to
dress, and cutting a long dry pole, screwed a gun–worm on the end of it (twisted wire
which we all carried for extracting wads), and after some prodding began to turn it
and then hauled in. Joy, here was a large fine beaver, and I commenced to dance with
delight as it was my first one. It was now quite dusk and we started for camp on the
jog, and hearty was the welcome we received on reaching here, and before long we
were enjoying a delicate dish from the choicest parts of the beaver, which, and I speak
from experience, is very excellent food indeed, something between young pork and
lamb.
Next day we were to visit the traps and repeat the watching in the evening.
The first trap was not disturbed, but in the second was a beaver, which we soon
despatched. This trap was set in a tiny affluent of the creek which was very shallow
with a stony bed, cut banks about four feet high, lovely soft moss on the bank, with
scattered spruce and birch. As Pat specially looked after the traps, they being his own
property, I lit my pipe and snuggled down in the moss for a quiet smoke, while he
arranged everything in order and re–set the big double spring No. 4 beaver trap (no
small task I can tell you). Nothing more to do now but destroy the traces of human
scent; so finally he filled his mouth with water to spurt on the willows by which he
was pulling himself up out of the creek. As he had a very hooked nose and round owl–
like eyes, the sight of this apparition ascending from the creek, with his cheeks
extended at their widest, was too much for my gravity, and I simply yelled with

127
laughter. This so startled Pat that he left to go the willows and dropped into his own
trap in the creek. Great was the splashing, and what sounded like Indian oaths filled
the air. Rendered too weak by laughter to be of much assistance, I crawled to the edge
of the bank and surveyed the scene. The chain to the trap allowed about two feet or
more play and the Indian was caught fairly by his bare haunch, his costume at the
time being breech–clout and leggings. He was in a most furious rage, and, finally
giving up all struggles, he sat in the water with a most sulky countenance. After a
number of ineffectual attempts, I at last succeeded in releasing him. His dignity was
badly hurt, and though two more beaver rewarded our efforts, he sulked all day.
When the story was repeated and acted in the lodge that night, his merry wife and
boy howled with laughter, while Patrick sat and smoked with a most injured air, and
for some days afterwards sat down very gingerly.
After spending several more successful and pleasant days, and securing
sixteen beaver for my share of the hunt, it became time for me to return to duty. The
hunting being still very good and pat doing so well with his traps, I decided to go
alone. So one fine morning, after loading my small craft with the fur we had killed,
also two beaver untouched for the Chief at Cumberland, I shook hands heartily with
my late companions who looked sad at the parting. Then stepping cautiously into the
canoe, away I went. On reaching the Saskatchewan I had to be extremely careful in
navigation as my canoe was loaded to a few inches of the water, also the mighty river
was full of drift–wood. I camped that night for the last time beside the mighty “Kisse–
setche–wan–Se–pe,” the big, swift flowing river, corrupted by the white man to
Saskatchewan.

22. By Dog Train (1897)212

Sir: Having received several inquiries from different parts of the country re dog
driving and winter travel in our Canadian North West, I desire through your columns
to give a description of such means of transport in order that any part or parties
contemplating a winter trip by dog train may have some idea of what they are about
to undertake. I do this because I know I am an expert in this matter, having been all
my life in touch with the frontier and all the various means of transport used therein.
Moreover, from 1860 to 1873 I was with the first snow of winter and until the ice
melted in the spring almost constantly on the trip with dog train, covering every
winter during those years several thousands of miles under all the conditions and
experiences of such work in a sparsely populated and entirely new country. During
this period I bred and trained dozens of dogs for the sled; therefore my readers must
conceive that I know what I am writing about.

212 From McDougall, J. (1897, October 7). BY DOG TRAIN. The Calgary Weekly Herald, p. 1. Written
by Rev. John Chantler McDougall (1842 – 1917), known for his missionary work with the Stoney tribe.
The Reverend favored run–on sentences, but I believe the first–hand information contained in this
letter is well worth the trouble of deciphering it. I have silently split the worst offenders into two
sentences and added a few commas and paragraph breaks for ease of reading.

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Suppose that myself and three others intend to start for the north land, say,
on the 1st of December next. We each secure four strong, well trained dogs from three
to four years old and harness for these. We also secure four toboggans or sleds – these
should be made of oak boards, good and clean timber – these boards to be 12 feet long,
eight inches wide and three–quarters of an inch thick; when the sled is made, the
head or turn will take about three and a half feet, leaving eight and a half feet for
load; the front of the sleigh should be the full width of the two boards, 16 inches, and
this width taper to about 12 inches at the rear end; four neat, strong bars should bind
and hold these bars together, and these should be fastened on with good rawhide
string, no screws or nails being allowed in the make up of these sleds; then all around
the edge of the sleds there should be strong loops of rawhide fastened to make what
is called the ground lashing.
Then each sled would want a wrapper of strong yet pliable canvass. (In early
days we used dressed and well smoked leather skins for this purpose). These canvas
wrappers should be 12 feet long and six feet wide. Then each sled will require two
evenly cut and strong, well tanned leather lines, say 30 feet long; these are for the
purpose of binding the load to the sled. We have now dogs, harness, sleds and the
necessary equipment for the sleds.
Let us now proceed to outfit ourselves with travelling costumes fitting for this
work. We want for each man two changes of light, soft, but warm underclothing, two
flannel shirts, also combining warmth with lightness, two pairs of pants made of
either well dressed and well smoked buckskin or good soft mole skin, four pairs of
socks, two pairs of duffles, six pairs of moccasins, one H. B. Co. blanket or cloth “capot
cloak,” and one broad long worsted belt. We do not want nor indeed can carry such
luxuries as suspenders, vests, or heavy fur or cloth coats – the only fur might be a
light fur cape. Then, as to bedding, each man should have a light, unlined robe and
one blanket, (failing the robe, then two blankets will have to be got): these should be
4–point, white H. B. blankets. We also want for the party of four two axes, two kettles,
(one smaller than the other), one frying pan, four tin cups, and four butcher knives,
(the latter to be carried in the belts); in addition each man would need a pair of well
made snowshoes.
We come now to the provisions for the party. For men I would provide
pemmican, flour, tea, sugar and some dried fruit. Good pemmican can be made from
beef, and in this way you get the essence of the meat, in smaller bulk. To give an idea,
in the olden days we made 100 lbs. of pemmican and 75 lbs. of dried meat from the
flesh and fat of two well conditioned buffalo cows. These cows would each dress at
least 800 lbs., so it was a case of making ten into one. The regular ration in the H. B.
Co.’s post per day to the man was four lbs. of pemmican or three lbs. of dried meat or
eight lbs. of fresh meat. I think that with some bread, and now and then some dried
fruit, and half a pound of pemmican per day a man would stand hard work for a long
time.
For the dogs, I would make a sort of hard–tack. This to consist of equal parts
of coarse flour, oatmeal and tallow. I think a pound of such cake per day with an
occasional feed of fish at a H. B. post or Indian camp, en route, would keep the dogs

129
in good trim. These dogs are fed but once in the 24 hours, and that is at night after
camping. Though I very often did give my dogs just the least bit at the noon camp,
and they did as good work as the best.
I have started on a six and eight days’ trip with a load lashed under the
wrapper of between 400 and 500 lbs., then on the top of this I had pemmican and the
dogs’ provisions and my store of camping utensils, either an axe, frying pan or kettle,
as also bedding and kit, and as we are off for a long journey we may venture to start
with say 600 lbs. on each sled. We will not allow any valises or trunks, but put our
change of clothes and extra moccasins, etc., into seamless sacks.
Over and above all this our party will want some dressed leather, an awl and
square needles, and either sinew or strong thread, wherewith to mend moccasins, and
some rawhide string with which to mend sleds.
Now then for the road, and to give the inexperienced an idea, I will describe
two days’ journey under different conditions.
The first day we have a track and the footing is good for both men and dogs.
We want to make 60 miles if possible, and accordingly we are stirring at two a.m.,
and while the forest trees are cracking all around us with intense frost, our big fire is
also cracking in front of us and the snow is melted and kettle boiled, breakfast
swallowed, dogs caught and harnessed and bedding and camp outfit and snowshoes
are securely made fast on to our loads and we are away by three a.m.
A quick walk up a hill, then off on a steady trot for both men and dogs for miles.
A side hill and we run to the lower side and keep our sled from upsetting, or if it does
upset we lift and strain and having turned it on to its bottom once more, start the
dogs and watch it across the uneven spot (and there are many such in the course of a
day’s run in this western land) then on we run; if we are ahead we must clear the
track; there is no riding, if we are behind we must keep up and there is no riding for
us. Then the monotonous trot is broken by a hill to descend, and we fling ourselves
astride of the load and, using both feet as breaks, we urge on the dogs to full speed,
and hold and guide the sled on down the narrow track. Sometimes, notwithstanding
all our skill and effort, the sled runs to the wrong side of a tree or stump, and some
of the harness is broken, and the dogs thrown into more than one kind of a snarl, but
if the others are ahead there is not even time to swear and we work back into the
road as quick as we can and on down to the level.
Now pushing, now holding and pulling the load, on we go and about 6.30 a.m.
stop beside some dry timber and while the axes are being worked vigorously by two
of the party, the other two kick away the snow and, breaking down willows or brush,
hastily floor the rough camp and start a fire which soon (for the axemen are now
bringing in the wood) is ablaze, and the kettle and frying pan are to the front, and
our 2nd breakfast is ready. When this is eaten and axes and kettle sand grub tied on
again it is now eight a.m. and colder than ever. The dogs have lain in their harness
just as they dropped when you said “whoa,” and are now chilled and shivering, but at
the word “Marse” we are away once more, and the experiences of the morning are
repeated except that now we have daylight coming apace.

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Sometimes, dogs must be punished, and the muscle of your arm as well as that
of a leg is brought into play. But all this time, your lungs are hard at work, for you
are moving quick; it is either a very fast walk or a constant run and by noon the
second 20 miles or more are covered, and now when you stop you unharness your dogs
and give them a chance to move around while you make a dinner camp and prepare
and eat your meal. If all do as I have done and would do again, we give our dogs a
small bite of food, say an ounce apiece, just as Josiah Allen’s wife says, to “chirk” them
up.
The only time you sit is while you eat and drink, then harness up once more
and tie kit, etc., and we are off again for the last 20 miles, more or less, before night,
and in these northern latitudes night comes quick. But at last we are at our objective
point for the day, and having picked the spot for a camp, we unharness the dogs and
every man goes to work as if he had not done anything before that day, and making
camp, cutting and packing in wood, are rushed for the next hour. To carry great
lengths of logs on your shoulder through snow from a foot to three feet deep, or to
attempt to do the same on snow shoes when the snow is crusted or drifted are very
difficult, yet necessary, items on such a trip. But by and bye the cold, cheerless,
wilderness spot is radiant with the glare of the large camp fire and is ringing with
the laughter, joke and fun of a small party of thoroughly optimistic and sanguine
men, for none other should be in such conditions, and indeed seldom are they.
The second day is in stormy weather, and there is no sign of a road, the clouds
are thick, the snow is deep and growing momentarily more so, it is very dark and
when you have shaken yourself from the snow and wriggled into your coat, which is
still damp from yesterday’s run and the consequent perspiration and frost, and when
you have made up a fire, how narrow the range of its glimmer. Not even a dog to be
seen; a huge blotter has been let down and the cheer of last evening with camp and
men and dogs all seem to be wiped out, but the hardy pioneer full of his healthy
optimism shouts in cheerful tones, “Hurrah, boys, it’s time to start,” and breakfast is
over, and dogs are resurrected from their white sepulchers and harnessed, and all the
kit tied on except the snow shoes. Now it is three a.m. and we are ready, and the best
guide putting on his snow shoes steps out ahead, and another doing likewise
alternating his step to that of the guide, thus both packing all the snow to the depth
of their weight and step and the other two teams and two loads to look after and also
with snow shoes on follow.
There is no merry sound of bells this time, the step and fast falling snow forbid
that, and in silence and in snow and in profound darkness the travelers wend their
way. In the course of three hours or so they have made from 10 to 12 miles; the work
has been heavy on both dogs and men, but there is no laying off for a day, time and
grub forbid that, and the evening is with them and they have done well if 50 miles
are now between them and last night’s camp. Now our party must, if the storm is
continuing, in addition to last night’s work make a “lean to” with poles, either using
part of the bedding or unloading two of the sleds for the canvas wrappers, thus
making a shelter from the blast. Still, if these men are true pioneers and real dog
drivers, their spirits are strong, some higher in this camp than in the former; there

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is no dampening of the feelings of such men. But I cannot describe the hardship and
difficulty, yet these must be felt to be known, and yet for two hundred years men for
the sake of pelf and pelts and men and grace have willingly undergone all this; and
now if the right kind of men want to go to the Clondike by dog train, they can do it.

23. By Cayoose (1883)213

Of late it has been fashionable, especially by many of his recent acquaintances,
to ridicule the cayoose214 – to poke fun at his pot belly, and otherwise to make
disparaging remarks about his personal appearance and his fitness for a useful life.
As has been hinted, it is usually those who know least about him who talk in this
way, and it only requires his side of the case to be stated to secure for him not only
the profuse apologies of his detractors, but the lasting gratitude of a country that he
has laid under weighty obligations. And to begin with an argument that is sure to
strike unexpected terror into the camp of his enemies–
The cayoose is descended from an honorable lineage. His family came over with
the conqueror. It is true that both in figure and carriage he is a good deal different
from the high stepping Spanish charger from which he claims descent. The family
portraits show his ancestor of the conqueror’s day to have had a grandly arched neck
which he owed to the bearing rein, and a finely carried tail which he owed to the
nicking knife. The descendant carries both his head and his tail in a more common
sense way, but none the less is he able to trace his descent by direct lineage to the
chargers of the Spanish invaders. His name, too, is fragrant with honor. The tribe of
Cayoose Indians, on the Columbia river, in Washington territory, was celebrated for
its fine horses, and although in this regard the connection between their horses and
their namesakes of to–day may not be apparent to the naked eye, it is none the less
beyond the shadow of a doubt that our ponies derive their name from this tribe of
Indians who were conspicuous both for the quantity and the quality of the horses they
owned.
But the strongest argument on behalf of the cayoose is not to be found in any
accidental circumstances like his name or his lineage, but in his actual usefulness. In
going over the requisites for a means of conveyance to carry both passengers and
freight over the plains of the North–West, it is found that he, and he alone, fills the
bill. The York boats on the river were all very well for going down stream, but it was
both tedious and man–killing to come up again with them. Steamboats have never
been a brilliant success, and at the best they are useful for only about four months in
the year. Dog trains were well enough in the winter when there was plenty of fish or
buffalo meat, but they were useless in the summer. Oxen would do for freight in the
summer, but they were of no account in the winter. Ordinary horses were not of
sufficient powers of endurance, and they required some kind of grain feed in order to
produce satisfactory results in the way of work, but the cayoose left nothing to be
desired. All the outfit he required was a shaganappi harness and a Red River cart for

213 From THE CAYOOSE. (1883, September 15). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 2.
214 A type of horse.

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the summer, or the simplest kind of a sled for the winter. The hide of one of his
brothers furnished the first, a neighboring bluff supplied the others. Thus equipped,
he proved himself able to draw a load of 800 or 900 pounds from Winnipeg to the
Rocky mountains. He was, moreover, so tractable and obedient that only one man
was required for the management of every four or five carts. When a river too deep to
be forded was encountered, the wheels with the cart cover underneath them were
improvised into a raft215 and he swam the stream with this load tied to his tail. In
return he asked for nothing. Some neighboring pond or creek would give him a drink;
the tall prairie grass with its vine and vetches was his fodder; and instead of
dreaming about a stable as a luxury it was a thing of no meaning to him, and when
one was at hand it was with difficulty that he could be induced to take advantage of
it.
In winter, the case was but little different. Nature provided him with a thicker
and rougher coat that made him independent of the blanket that his imported cousins
thought a necessity. It is true that he relied on his master to cut a hole in the ice to
let him get at the water, but for food he depended on himself; scraping away the snow
with a hoof that had never been weighted with a shoe, he made a meal for himself of
the naturally cured prairie hay and was ready for his next day’s work, and if, as
sometimes happened, he had to travel over bare plains where storms and thaw and
frost had hardened the surface of the snow into a crust that bore his weight and was
impossible to break to let him reach his hay, it seemed to make but little difference
to him – he did his next day’s work all the same, and never complained.
The story of the freighters who came in from Red Deer forks last February
shows how much these hardy little animals can endure. For several days at a time
the horses had next to nothing to eat, and when turned loose at night in the pitiless
storm, instead of going off to search for fodder they would huddle together in shelter
of the tents and behind one another, and shiver the whole night through. But the
worst came when the great plains were passed, and in the broken country that was
next encountered, the crust on the snow was not sufficiently strong to bear their
weight but still strong enough to tear the skin off their legs with its ragged edges as
they broke through. Then the raw bleeding surfaces froze, and in spite of the care

215 “It might be worth while to explain here how a boat is made out of such simple materials as four or
two cart wheels and a wagon cover, or four beef hides sewed together. To make a two wheel boat, which
is the size ordinarily used, a pair of wooden Red River cart wheels are taken off and laid close together
with the hubs on the ground and the rims dishing upwards. The greater the dish the better. Five poles
as straight as possible are then procured. Two of these are tied to the rims of the wheels, one on each
side, so as to keep the wheels together and form the sides of the boat. Two shorter poles are then tied
on to the rim of each wheel, the ends crossing and being tied to the ends of the pair of poles first put
on, the four poles thus making the four sides of a square or rather a parallelogram and forming the
gunwales of the boat. The wheels are then turned over, the dish side down and the fifth pole is tied
lengthwise on the two hubs and this forms the keel. The wagon cover, if there is one good enough, is
then laid over the boat as it lies bottom upwards. The boat is turned over and the sides of the wagon
cover are drawn over the sides and ends of the boat and securely fastened. It then receives a good coat
of tallow to make it waterproof, a few willows or some boards are laid on the spokes of the wheels
which form the bottom of the boat, to keep any part of the cargo from touching the cover, and all is
ready for business.” THE FREIGHTERS. (1882, November 25). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 3.

133
that was taken in wrapping their legs with bandages, several of the horses had to be
abandoned to die.
If instead of being engaged in freighting, it was passenger service on which he
was engaged, he adapted himself just as readily to the altered conditions. He was
required to draw a less load but must move at a greater rate of speed; so with a few
extra of horses to give him a rest now and then, he covered his fifty miles a day and
kept it up for weeks. If the traveller became tired of riding in the buckboard and
wished to ride on horseback, he was ready for that, too. His untiring “lope” was the
easiest gait for riding in the world, and the horse seemed to enjoy it as much as the
man. With a heavy load, hard driving and ill usage, his flanks would indeed get
thinner before the journey was over, but it was hard treatment indeed that forced
him to give up, and even then if turned out on the prairie to forage for himself, two
or three weeks sufficed to regain his flesh and spirits and get him ready for another
trip. If when his summer’s work was done, he was not needed for the winter, he was
let loose at once to care for himself. Perhaps he was not seen all winter long, but when
after a day or two’s search he was found in the spring, he appeared in better condition
than in the previous fall and started off with a free gait and a light heart on his 1,000
mile trip to Winnipeg.
The cayoose has deserved well of the country. His wants were few, and his
services many and various. If speed, sure–footedness and courage were required, he
filled the bill as a buffalo hunter; if strength and endurance were required, he was
the freighter’s stand–by. But the days of buffalo hunting are past, and the days of any
serious kind of freighting bid fair to follow them. Far be it from us to express any
regret at the change, but let us not forget the friend of our need. A few years ago, it
was at a good deal of risk that a Canadian horse was brought over the plains even
without a load. Now, however, thanks to the rapid and easy means of communication
with other places, they are becoming numerous. They are bigger and carry their
heads higher. Let us even go a step further and say they are prettier than the horses
we had before. But let it be remembered to the everlasting credit of our friend of
former days that “Handsome is as handsome does.”

24. By Steamboat (1921)216

The Hudson’s Bay Company had with much energy and considerable
expenditure placed two steamers on Lake Winnipeg and several boats on the river
above the Grand Rapids, and as this system was fairly successful for transportation
of freight, it gradually replaced the Red River cart transport. Occasionally one of the
river boats would reach Edmonton; twice I think in one season was the record of the
Nor–West, which, by the way, was the most successful craft of them all, carrying two
hundred tons on an exceedingly light draft of water.

216 From Beatty, R. (1921, September 1). Steamboating on Saskatchewan River in the Late Seventies.
Chinook Advance, p. 3 and Beatty, R. (1921, September 9). Steamboating on Saskatchewan River in
the Late Seventies. Bow Island Review, p. 3. Written by Reginald B. Beatty (1858 – 1928).

134
American captains and mates from the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers were
employed exclusively, but our own natives speedily took to piloting and some of them
became experts. The crews were all Indians, chiefly drawn from The Pas and Grand
Rapids, but a few plain Indians from above Prince Albert would occasionally engage
for a trip or two.
I was receiving and shipping freight in the summer of 1877 at Grand Rapids
(Mr. Alex Matheson, transport manager), and when loading the Nor–West on one
occasion I noted the big fat Yankee mate who was standing on the deck at the
gangway singing a rough chantee217 song to the Indians passing him heavily loaded;
from one to two hundred pounds a man being the general load. Occasionally, to hurry
matters, he would kick an Indian in the posterior while passing, and break forth into
“Come along! Come along! You sons of –––––. Come a running,” and so on. Amongst
the Indians was a wild–looking big chap who hailed from Fort Pitt, with a long plait
of jet black hair hanging to his waist, wearing a broad belt of parchment buffalo hide
studded with brass tacks, and a big scalping knife, the sheath of which was decorated
in the same way. His whole costume consisted of a cotton shirt, a pair of cloth leggings
and a breechclout. I saw this Indian’s eyes flash as the mate was doing his kicking
stunt, and though he looked dangerous, so walking down the gangway, I tapped Mr.
Mate on the shoulder and warned him that this was not a crew of southern n–––––
218, but r–– Indians, and dangerous men to monkey with. His reply was a stream of
profanity. Let me attend to the freight checking and he would hustle the ––––– and
so on. I returned to the warehouse and kept my eye on the mate. The big Pitt Indian
had a heavy load placed on his shoulders, and down the gangway he went with his
shirt fluttering in the breeze. He received a tremendous kick behind, and in an
instant Mr. Mate was on his back and the Indian furiously stabbing him. Several of
us rushed to the rescue, and it took us all our time to hold the savage, who was in a
mad fury, yelling that he had never been insulted before and only death would wipe
out the stain. We noted some blood on the knife and thought it was all up with the
mate, but fortunately he had managed to twist his body and dodge the knife and was
only bleeding from scratches. Never was a man so changed. He was too scared to go
back to his duty, as he felt certain either his opponent or the other Indians would
scalp him, and we finally had to ship him into Fort Garry by the lake boat. Gradually
the Yankee mates were done away with and our steady Scotchmen replaced htem.
These, though slower, had the faculty of getting on well with the native crews.
Indians dislike profanity, and the Crees, whose language is generally
understood throughout the north, have no swear words in their vocabulary. The
captain of the Northcote that summer was an artist in many and strange oaths, and
when these failed him in moments of emergency, down went his hat on the deck and
on it he jumped with both feet. His desperate language had made trouble on several
occasions, and he was warned to guard his speech. We had just loaded the Northcote
with 160 tons of freight for Prince Albert, working day and night; as usual at the
depot, especially as the water was steadily falling in the Upper River, and away she

217 Also called a ‘shanty’. From the French chantée, ‘sung’.
218 An offensive term for black people.

135
went. On the evening of next day arrived a canoe with a letter from the captain
stating he was tied up with a strike and all his crew on shore. The chief asked me to
go up at once and try and settle the difference (as I had managed to do on other
occasions), so within half an hour I was on my way up the river with an Indian and a
bark canoe, and a heavy paddle ahead of us. The scene of the strike was at
Chemahawin at the west end of Cedar Lake, and fortunately it being calm, we were
able to make the long traverse safely and finally reached the steamer.
Captain ––––– could hardly articulate for rage and every word was an oath.
The poor beggar did not seem able to help it. I noted the men all sitting and smoking
on the bank and grinning at the boss’s discomfiture. I coaxed him into the cabin and
told him the situation was a serious one and he was liable to lose his job if he did not
cool down. Well, he was helpless, so asked what I would advise and I gave him this
ultimatum.
He was to go into his cabin and remain there, [and] hand the boat over to me,
with authority. Failing him doing this, I would return and report. He at once marched
me round to the mate and steward and gave orders to this effect and disappeared. I
walked on shore very leisurely and busied myself shaking hands with the
malcontents. I told them the latest news and generally had a good gossip. Finally I
say: “Boys, it is dry talking, and I want a lunch.” So I yelled, “Steward,” at the top of
my voice. Then to him I said: “You see my friends here, we are hungry, get your
waiters busy and serve us up a first–class lunch, and do it quick!” This was done at
once and a merry scene followed. Jokes were made against the Big Knives (Yankees),
and broad witticisms of all kinds flew from mouth to mouth. One huge Indian called
“Sha–ke–mace” (Mosquito) was the strongest man on board, and evidently a
ringleader in the strike. We had all lit our pipes, when I issued a challenge to Sha–
ke–mace. We would divide the men, tossing up for first choice, and I bet him two
sacks of flour to one that my gang could outwork him in a given space of time. The
challenge was accepted, and though night had come, it made no difference, as there
were plenty of flares. Never was freight unloaded and the boat wooded in quicker
time. As all the dialogue had been carried on in Cree it was quite a mystery to the
officers of the steamer, but I passed the buck to the chief engineer to start at once. I
then visited the old man in the cabin and advised him to keep out of the way as much
as possible until the men’s anger had cooled down. So away they went, I returning to
the Rapids at a much more leisurely gait than when we came up.
Poor old Captain W–––––, an able steamboat man, but when trouble of any
kind arose he became wild with excitement and his language was unwritable. The
Northcote made the Forks of the Saskatchewan all right, but there was not water
enough to ascent the Cole’s Falls, so the freight was unloaded there and hauled up to
Prince Albert, a distance of about 50 miles. […]
Like the cart transport, steamboating on the Saskatchewan had its day, and
was gradually replaced by rail, the Canadian Pacific railway traversing the prairies
and the Qu’Appelle and Long Lake running up to Prince Albert.

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The Hudson’s Bay Company, with their far–seeing vision, had sold out part of
their interests in 1883 to a transportation company, retaining, however, the right of
first shipments over all comers.

Traders and Trappers

25. Silhouette of the Northern Fur Trapper (1909)219

To the student who would read first hand the Story of Fur, more interesting
than sea–otters, Russian sables, or silver fox, one form silhouettes on the white
canvas of the North – it is the figure of the trapper. He may be a white man, generally
he is an Indian or a h––––– or the mixed progeny of Gois Brules or h–––––s and the
logical outcome of the 239 years’ rule of “The Company.”
All through the Canadian north, the Yukon rush of ten years ago has left an
aftermath of derelicts, human boulder–drift from the world’s four corners, who,
sailing to find a fortune in gold, now thread the silent places seeking a bare living
from the trade in peltries. The Indian hunters belong to many tribes, Crees,
Chipewyans, Dog–Ribs220, Yellow–Knives221, Slaves222, Beavers223 and Loucheux224.
They all trap and trade.
In the ranks of the trappers one comes across strange workers. On the shores
of the Lesser Slave you stumble upon a London University graduate who finds the
search for fur more fascinating than the integral calculus or conic sections.
It is becoming usual among hunters and trappers to specialize, as doctors do,
and so one hunter, bear–wise, bends all his energies toward securing bearskins;
another studies foxes to their downfall; a third hunts moose alone, that big–nosed
Hebrew of the woods. Here as elsewhere the man who mixes brains with his bait and
makes a scientific art of a rude craft is the man who succeeds. His trapping is the
highest product of nemoral science and not the cometary career of luck of the old rule–
of–thumb trapper. It is a contrast of wits worthy the cleverest. The fur–bearers, as
the years pass, become more rather than less wary, and the days of the magenta
string tying a chunk of fat to a nice new shiny trap are long past. The man who used
to “make fur” in that way is, like Fenimore Cooper’s Indian, the extinct product of a
past race that never existed.
The Canadian trapper eats or dries every ounce of flesh he traps, from the
scant flesh–covering of the skull to the feet and the entrails. As soon as the skins of

219 From Cameron, A. D. (1909, August 27). SILHOUETTE OF THE NORTHERN TRAPPER. The
Edmonton Bulletin, p. 3. Written by Agnes Deans Cameron (1863 – 1912).
220 The Indigenous Tłı̨chǫ people of the Northwest Territories.
221 The T’atsaot’ine people, now part of the Akaitcho First Nations.
222 The Indigenous Dene people. They were called ‘Slave’ by the Cree, who in the past would capture
and enslave their members.
223 The Indigenous Dane–zaa people.
224 Members of the Gwich’in First Nation.

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beaver and musquash are removed, the bodies, like so many skinned cats, are
impaled on a stick of jack pine and set sizzling before the fire.
In the furland when the leaves fall, the beaver, giving over his daub–work and
wattles, sets the family to work storing up the winter groceries. There is the challenge
of frost in the air and the southward flight of birds. Some old primal instinct stirs the
blood of the trapper; he hears the North callin’, it is time to go. The Factor of the
Hudson’s Bay fort gaily farewells him glad to have him go; the priest, the old men of
the lodges and the blind “old wives,” little kiddies and lean, snapping dogs come out
to bid his Godspeed. The leaves will be budding on the birches when he returns. The
curtain of silence cuts him off from the fellowship of the fort for many moons, once he
lifts the curtain of that ghostly woodland. It is paddle and portage for days and weary
weeks, inland and ever inland, then the frost crisps into silence the running water
and the lake lip. The grind of forming ice warns our trapper it is time to change
birchbark for moccasin and snowshoe. The canoe is beached and the trail strikes into
the banksian pine and birch woods.
The door of the forest is lonely and eerie. It no longer seems incongruous that,
although Pierre wears a scapular on his burnt–umber breast and carries with him on
his journey the blessing f the good Father, he also murmurs the hunting incantation
of the Chipewyans and hangs the finest furs of his traps flapping in the tops of the
pines – a superstitious sop to the Cerberus of the woodland Wentigo.
If the trapper is married – and most of them are much–married – his spouse
and dusky brood accompany him into the wilds; and frozen winter sees nomad
families, each little group a vignette in the heart of the wilder panorama, flitting over
lake surfaces to their individual fur–preserves. In the woods, in tepee, tent, or rough
shack the family fires are lighted, and from this centre the trapper radiates. The
hunter traps for miles and days alone, and an accident on the woods means a death
as lonely and as agonizing as that of the animal he snares. Sometimes he goes insane
and then the Royal Northwest Mounted Policeman, another sentinel of silence,
handcuffs him, saves him from himself and takes him “outside.” Possibly the trapper
places 150 snares, and his line of traps may extend for 30 or 40 miles. Ere first snow
flies he has all his traps ready waiting for the tell–tale tracks in the snow which shall
point out to him each coign of vantage for the placing of a cunning lure.
With blanket, bait, and bacon, on a handsled, silently he trudges forward. The
northern lights come down o’ nights, and it is cold, but cold makes finer fur. Down far
trails in gloomy forests, across the breasts of silenced streams, he trudges from trap
to trap. If he finds $50 worth of fur along the whole line of traps he is content. It is
not this lonely man who gets the high price, madame, for your opera cloak of ermine.
When Pierre is not “making fur” or making love, he is eating. On the trail he
may go hungry for two days with no word of complaint, just a tightening of the lips
and the L’Assumption belt225 and a firm set to the jaw, but while the moose lasts, life
is one long supper.

225 These were typically between 4 to 6 inches wide and 8 to 10 feet long, and were commonly traded
to Indigenous peoples by fur traders. The style was named after L’Assomption, Quebec, where the best
of these belts were made. “I also speedily adopted the native dress which is infinitely the best for the

138
A jolly priest whispers of this confession from a son of the Church, a recent
brand from the burning:– “O, Father, I know that Christianity is true, the great, the
strong religion. When I was a heathen Dog–Rib and trapped with my mother’s tribe,
I ate ten rabbits a day. But now I am a Christian, a good Catholic, seven rabbits are
enough for me – I will not eat any more!”
Meat (pronounced throughout the north “mit”) is the great staple in the rich
land of fur. On the trail one finds one’s self assimilating astonishing helpings of “deer
mit,” and greedily gulping chunks of fat; the rations of the trapper would be the
despair of Dickens’ Miss Todgers, who could never bring the supply of gravy up to the
demand. In the old days the H. B. Company allowed its men en voyage, five pounds
of meat a day, while the kiddies were entitled to three pounds each from the
community larder. In British Columbia and the Yukon the allowance was one salmon;
on the Athabasca, one wild goose or three big whitefish; and up on the Arctic
foreshore, two fish and three pounds of reindeer meat. This was the scheduled fare,
but the grimness of the joke appears in the fact that the man had to run his breakfast
to earth before he had it.

26. Wending Home (1907)226

One by one, always one by one, the worn out trappers are trudging back to
civilization after their winter labors, tugging at their rude sleds, piled high with the
pelts for milady’s furs and milord’s coats. Every spring, when the thinning coats of
the fur bearing animals give the unmistakable signal that it is high time to get away,
that same dreary procession begins.
The collecting of valuable furs from the woods is a hazardous business, such as
nobody but men of tried courage and perfect constitution can well undertake. But as
the reward is seldom large; and oftener meager, those who follow the business are, as
a rule, ether past the prime of life or are maimed in a way to unfit them for earning
good wages at other occupations. Of the two or three score of men who went into the
woods last fall, with scanty provisions and all the traps they could haul, seventy–five
per cent. were past fifty years of age and more than fifty per cent. of mixed French
and Indian blood, the Indian element furnishing the woodcraft and the French giving
the necessary physical vigor and tenacity of purpose.
The one indispensable article in the trapper’s outfit is the long and high posted
frame sled, or “snow yacht,” as it is called. It is a light and loose jointed construction
of hard wood, having broad and thin runners of polished sapling beech. The sleds are

north. A dark blue 3 ½ ell blanket capot, unlined, which came about halfway to the knee, and strange
to say they were made without buttons but fastened with buckskin thongs and gartering. Then stroud
leggings coming halfway up the thigh, made loosely and always with a fringe on the outside seam,
white for every day and blue for festive occasions. These were always gartered firmly below the knee.
Then best of all, a full–sized la assomption belt of many colors which was girded above the hips and
formed a great support and also made the costume much warmer. A huge pair of fur or moose skin
mittens were always carried as a spare. These were fastened together by a thong long enough to go
over the belt.” Beatty, R. (1921, July 15). My First Dog Driving. Bow Island Review, p. 3.
226 From TRAPPERS WEND HOME. (1907, May 15). Red Deer News, p. 5.

139
wide enough to hold up a load of 600 pounds on soft snow, and can coast steep and
bushy hillsides with the speed of steel shod toboggans.
Going in, this sled is laden with Indian meal, prepared flour, molasses, black
tea, fat salt pork, a blanket, an extra pair of woolen socks and all the new traps that
a strong man can haul. Packed under the bag of meal and away from the wet is a
single shot rifle with a short barrel, and on top of the load and ready for use at short
notice is a light axe, with a short handle. A paper of salt, a box of matches, a strong
clasp knife, a small file for sharpening the axe and knife and a bountiful supply of
tobacco complete the outfit for a stay of four or five months.
Traps for mink are placed near shallow and muddy ponds, where the number
of conical houses made from flags and dead grasses indicates that muskrats abound.
Mink feed upon muskrats and the presence of the muskrat homes means good
trapping.
The stouter otter traps are set near open holes in the ice and close under sunny
clay banks, where the otters take winter exercise in sliding. For the taking of the
valuable fisher cats the traps are set among hummocks and seams in the ice, close
inshore, and are baited with fish on the trencher and lines of frozen minnows or
shiners strewn from open holes in the ice in the direction of the traps, to lead the wily
beasts to destruction.
A trapper must start early and work very hard to set out a fresh line of traps
for twenty miles along a stream in a day. At night he seeks out a thick clump of fir or
spruce on the southern slope of a steep hill, and, having shoveled away the snow with
his snowshoes and grubbed out the stumps, surrounds himself with three thick walls
and a roof of evergreen boughs. Filling the inside deeply with hemlock or fir brush for
a bed, he kindles a big fire in front of the southern opening or “door” and sleeps
soundly until the crimson bars above the eastern hills mark the coming day. Then,
putting his tin dipper over the coals to draw a strong brew of tea, and eating some
cold roasted muskrat from the pocket of his hunting coat, he takes his remaining
traps on the sled, crosses the divide to the parallel stream and returns to the home
camp, setting his traps on the way and reaching the starting point at nightfall.
The concentrated essence of joy in the trapper’s life is when, with traps oiled
and hidden away, with sled loaded with furs and belt buckled up tightly, he finds
himself facing south and east and feels the tug of the sled rope pulling from behind.
At times he travels more than one hundred miles over melting banks of snow that
clog his snowshoes and cause him to ache in every joint. Though the going may get so
bad that, except for a few hours after midnight, he can make no progress at all, he is
never depressed, for he knows that somewhere “away over there,” out and beyond the
interminable woods, outside the clustered mountains and hills that fence him in, is a
fur buyer who will pay him money for what he has earned so hardly, and after the
money come the bathroom, the barber shop, the clothing store and then – ah, then! a
warm and cosey seat in front of some bar, where the fluids he likes come to him at
the wave of his hand.

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27. A Companionable Tobacco Pipe (1909)227

The parting words of the Wise Person as we say good–bye to Edmonton, that
sturdy young city already so big and so proud of itself, are: “Verify things. Don’t
believe all that people tell you in the farthest west; verify things.”
It is excellent advice, but in a land so lone, wonderful, mysterious, one finds it
hard to act upon. The history of the place is in the legends told you. The story of the
opening up of the district, the blazing of trails, the establishing of posts, has the full
flavor of romance, and yet it is history. The story of how it came about that the
steamer “Midnight Sun” was built and put upon the Athabasca; the “Northland
Light” on Slave Lake; the “Peace River” on that beautiful stream for which it is
named, sounds like romance, and is romance, when the guide, a French h–––––228,
with gestures eloquent enough to make up for his broken English, tells it round the
camp fire.
It seems that years ago a lad called Cornall, “beeg, strong, good for see, walks
hundred miles wit–out sleep, and scare of not’ing under de sun,” started doing
business with the Indians. He bought their furs, he taught them something of the
value of labor, grew into their confidence and favor, became, as it were, adopted chief
of all the tribes, talked their different languages, learned their different ways. He
took of their strongest and trustiest enough to form a transportation company for the
carrying down of furs and the carrying up of the necessaries of life. It was canoe and
portage all the way from Athabasca Landing to the port farthest north. All went well.
The natives ceased to live, or starve, through the winter on frozen fish, they had
bannocks and bacon. But someone, “a h–––––, I t’inks, he is more mischief, knows
‘bout more t’ings dan injun maybe,” says the guide, with a shrug of his shoulder, “put
dem up dat dey not used right, dat too much white man gotting to de valley maybe,
or dey not getting de pay enough, somet’ing; anyway dey call de beeg meeting, and
dey go w’at you call on de strike, see?
“It was excite. Dey talk w’at dey won’t do and will do … an’ de young bucks
look fight, and put hands on de huntin’ knives maybe. Den de w’ite brother stan’ up
and tell t’ing or two ‘bout how he is made de market for de furs, brought de blankets
dat keep de cold out, de flour, and de ammunition. He is reason wit’ dem, but dey
won’t listen. Den he stan’ up like de beeg w’ite chief he was, not scare one bit, but
mad all t’rough, and he say if dey fail him now ‘en he needs dem most he will build
de boats dat go by steam, a’ de canoes can rot, de Injuns go back and live on frozen
fish as dey did before. Dey mak’ de mock den, dey laugh at de word steam, dey stay
w’at you call on de strike,” he pauses so long that someone asks with eagerness, “What
happened next?” The guide waves an arm toward a cloud of smoke showing above the
trees which fringe the river. “De botes happen next,” he says, with the smile of a man
who has told a story to his own satisfaction.

227 From Blewett, J. (1909, August 28). HOW STEAMERS CAME TO THE NORTH COUNTRY. The
Edmonton Bulletin, p. 5. Written by Jean Blewett (1862 – 1934), Canadian poet, novelist and
journalist.
228 An offensive term for people of mixed heritage.

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These must be comparatively recent happenings, for this same man still
looking a “beeg, fair lad, and scare of not’ings at all,” is “brother” to every Indian in
the Peace River district – which incidentally he represents229 in the provincial
parliament – knows where the crooked trails lead to and from, the names and
dimensions of every valley, stream and lake in this farthest west of ours. It is said of
the member for Peace River that he has a full knowledge of the lure and the lore of
the wild. He knows nature as few white men of today know her.
You sit with MacLennan230, of the H.B.C., in the doorway of his post, and he
gives you history, and when he has done you feel just as you did on reading
surreptitiously – in the far–off days – your first story of wild west adventure, only
more so.
I say “in the doorway” advisedly, for there you are at a meeting of the ways, so
to speak. On one hand the interior of the post, always dusky, always cool, with
merchandize of every sort spread about. The shelves are full, the counters have
overflown, and the floor is stacked high. Turn your head a little way and you see bear–
claw and beaver tooth, a jumble of primal colors, calicoes in red and blue, Gordon
plaids, blankets barried231 with rainbow hues. The skin of a black fox, soft and shiny,
swings from a peg in the rafter. Between the door and the wall are the furs, a big pile
of muskrat, a smaller one of beaver, a still smaller one of lynx, and spread out, in all
their beauty, a round dozen silver foxes. There is a smell of smoke, camp–fire smoke,
mingled with that of the pelts. The hunters brought it in when they brought their
packs, and left it in, and though you choke a little, you draw long breaths of it, for it
savors of the mystery of the north, of great spaces and heavy silences, of hunter’s
lodge and Indian’s tepee, of river, forest, valley, which up till now meant only the
queer Indian names you spelled out on the tattered map in the red school house in
the days which lie behind.
Now turn back to the warmth and light. Outside is wonderful, for the season
of golden glory is here. An ordinary August day, they tell you, but you know better, it
is the Golden Glory. It is heat, and the breath of grasses drying, and berries ripening,
cooking in the sun. The earth palpitates with it, the forest swelters in it, sweats out
rare balms and balsams, the biggest valley in the big new world is filled to the brim
with it. By–and–bye the grey days, long twilights, and longer nights, but now the
strip of shadow lying between midnight and three in the morning is not worth calling
a night. In the winter it is good to sleep much and forget the cold and dark, but this
is the time of golden glory, when to be alive is joy past telling.

229 This implies the guide is James Kennedy Cornwall (1869 – 1955), also called ‘Peace River Jim’, who
served on the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a member of the Peace River district from 1909 to
1913. “Mr. Cornwall is one of the most romantic and interesting figures of the West, beginning business
life as a newsboy in Buffalo, N.Y., and later earning the title of “Apostle of the North” by engaging in
every occupation the wild Northwest life of a few years ago provided.” LIEUTENANT–COLONEL
JAMES KENNEDY CORNWALL. (1916, June 7). Red Deer News, p. 1.
230 Possibly a pseudonym. There is no MacLennan listed in the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives’s
biographical sheets, and the only MacLennans listed in the H.B.C.’s servant contracts were not
employed at the time of this article’s publication.
231 Slang for ‘needlessly altered’.

142
“It is not good for man to dwell alone, so he takes a pipe into partnership,”
MacLennan says, as he proceeds to fill a briar root from a tobacco pipe, which is a bit
of finery in itself, being dotted here and there with beads as red as carbuncles. “A
little wedding gift,” he adds with a chuckle. “When a man’s been married a pipe for
fifty year he should no’ let the occasion pass ove’ oot some little token o’ appreciation,
I’m thinking.” He brushes the bowl with fingers which seem to caress it. “I call her
beauty,” in answer to your look of admiration, “but she’s touchy, touchy; she’s got old
and full o’ whims; betimes she’ll sulk on me. I’m aye humoring her.”
He put the pouch back in his pocket and takes a match. “Does she gie ye the
whustles?” he inquires, solicitously, as the smoke curls in rings about his grey head.
“No; I’m glad o’ that. I’ve had one or two folks that didn’t take kindly to er; thought
her a trifle wiuld in her flavor. Now a queer thing, I didn’t feel o’er friendly with them.
I thought it showed poor manners to turn their nose up at the only mate I had. ‘A
poor thing, but mine own,’ to quote from the immortal Wullie.”
It is worth while to sit and watch MacLennan smoke. The way he has of
covering “Beauty” quite from sight with one broad palm, as though emphasizing the
fact that she is his very own, of forgetting her for awhile as his talk grows more and
more interesting both to himself and listeners, then turning back to her in an access
of devotion which seems to say: “I didn’t mean it; come, come, Beauty, what do I care
for these strangers of a day! It is you and I for the long stretch; come along!” And
Beauty comes along as though she understood. Through the smoke MacLennan’s
white beard looms up like a cloud on a blue sky. He is telling about the day the trader
came through on his way to Lesser Slave Lake to meet the boat.
“His sweetheart was coming out to share the loneliness and hardship, and he
was as much a fool as though he’d been a lad instead o’ a man well on to forty. ‘Are
ye no afraid she’ll live o’it?’ I asked. ‘Mac,’ he says, with a great quiver in his voice.
‘I’m afraid o’ nothing this day.’ For a minute I was that envious of him I wanted to
hurt him. Gosh! What it would mean to have a slip of a woman with white skin and
nice, finicky ways going in and out of a man’s home, putting up a curtain to the
window, a cloth on the table, spreading out her pictures, nick nacks, a sewing basket,
and thimble, maybe! But the envy didn’t last. I’m an old man now – there, she’s in
the sulks!” breaking off to give his undivided attention to his pipe, “choked up with
temper. I’ll have to coax her back to good humor.” There is patting and poking and
drawing. “Oh, ye won’t go, will ye? Tantrums! Tantrums!” His blue eyes have a flash
of temper in them. “I’ll try ye once more, an if ye go on sulking I’ll not put match to
ye again today.” No result for a moment, then a blue line which marks Beauty’s
relenting, and by–and–bye she is working overtime in an excess of contrition over the
tantrums. MacLennan leans back against the door frame. “A pipe means more to the
man without kith and kin than it does to the other fellow,” he says; “it’s company
when he’s lonesome, comfort when he’s miserable; it clears out tangles and keeps him
mellowed up and human. I’d be down and out sometimes if I couldn’t get a smoke. I
am an old man now,” going back to where he was before the interruption, “and I can
tell you I’m glad I’ve lived the loneliness out by myself. A score of years ago this was
no land for a woman, it isn’t yet for the matter o’ that.

143
“It’s too big and empty. I remember the reply one of our chaps made when I
flung the word s–––––232 man at him. ‘Better a contented s––––– than a homesick
white woman,’ said he. No woman would come if she knew what it meant, and I’m too
decent to get one here under false pretensions.’ Different people have different ideas
of honor. Lots of men would allow some big–hearted girl to come out to them or with
them, and yet would draw the line at marrying a native woman. Oh, yes, they marry
them hard and fast. ‘The ancient and honorable Companie trading in Hudson’s Bay’
is a stern censor of morals. The s––––– man turns Injun nearly always, learns to
squat on the floor and eat out of his hands. I wouldn’t like to say there aren’t times
when he is sick of himself, his wife, and the whole thing. But for all that, he takes so
much pleasure out of his home, poor as it is, and his youngsters, that I only know one
case of desertion hereabouts.”
“The thing which puzzles me,” says the Wise Person, “is why men like yourself
deliberately choose to live your lives out in the wilds. The love of adventure, the desire
to make money, these bring men out, but why stay always?”
Beauty is showing her good–will in slow, deliberate puffs. MacLennan throws
up his grey beard, and makes answer in tones which carry conviction:
“Because it grows on him, because the bigness and solitude get a grip on ye in
time. They say give a woman youth and comeliness and she can make a man forget
the mother that bore him. It’s the same with the land, the freshness o’ her, the beauty
o’ her, the bigness o’ her, all fasten on him till he’d rather have her silences than the
gossiping tongues o’ his native town. It isn’t that he loves her, there is something
about her he almost hates betimes – it’s just another grip o’her, the freshness and
strength of her. He’s at home with her, and nowhere else in all God’s world is he at
home.”
Why stay? you ask – look yonder and get your answer.
What you see is the tree–crested valley with the blue smoke circling it, level
stretches, hills climbing skyward in wide, green terraces, a broad blue river singling
its way to the Arctic Sea through solitudes which ever seem to listen and wait for the
creak of the settler’s waggon, and the song of the woodman’s axe; and valley, forest,
river are soft with sunshine, warm with welcome.
You look at the man smoking in the door–way of the Post, and not
understandingly. “The freshness o’ her, the bigness o’ her get a grip on ye in time.”

28. Jack Norris, Pioneer (1916)233

In the elemental days of yore all travel and transport were performed in the
mode of primitive man, in moccasins and on snowshoes on land, and propelled by
strong arms on water. Horse and dog helped him in carrying burdens, or drawing
them by travois, sled or cart. He lived, from meal to meal, off the game of the country,

232 An offensive term for an Indigenous woman.
233 From Cowie, I. (1916, April 15). JACK NORRIS – An Edmonton Pioneer. The Edmonton Bulletin,
p. 13. Written by Isaac Cowie (1848 – 1917), a clerk and fur trader who served the Hudson’s Bay
Company from 1867 to 1890.

144
obtained by snare, net or gun. And in the estimation of that early community no one
who could not take his full part in every one of these activities was counted or entitled
to call himself “a man” – the highest title or honor in the wilds.
One who bore that proud distinction amongst the heroes of the Great Lone
Land prior to the middle of the last century has just been laid at rest in his last
campground. In fewer seconds than in the early days it took months for news to reach
Fort Garry from Edmonton House, the wire announced at Winnipeg that Jack Norris,
a pioneer of Rupert’s Land, had died at his residence on the St. Albert road, near
Edmonton, Alta., in the morning of March 15. The press dispatch briefly intimated
that his age was 87, and that he came from Scotland in the Hudson’s Bay service to
Edmonton 67 years ago, and has had his domicile there ever since. […]
JOHN NORRIS
John Norris234 was born near John O’ Groat’s House, the northern land’s end
of Britain. After, in early years, roaming with his g–––––235 relatives in the north of
Scotland, and acquiring their arts and crafts, his family found their way north to
Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands. There Jack shipped on whalers and made two
voyages to “Greenland’s icy mountains” before enlisting in the Hudson’s Bay
Company’s service, for five years at £20 a year, to serve them as a laborer “in North
America,’ and there defend their possessions “with courage and fidelity.” Probably
the call of the hunting wilderness appealed more to his g––––– blood than adventure
on the pathless deep, to which native Shetlanders are wedded.
In August, 1848, Norris landed at York Factory, where there were inland boats
belonging to the Saskatchewan District waiting, in which “the recruits from Europe,”
intended for service in that district and in the New Caledonia and Columbia
departments, across the Rocky Mountains, were to work their passage as far as
Edmonton that fall. Besides the boats, an experienced steersman and a bowman for
each craft were supplied by Saskatchewan. The boats took the annual mail coming
by the ship, a few packages of articles ordered by employees from Britain, and other
freight for Saskatchewan and New Caledonia.
TRIALS OF ‘PRENTICE HANDS
Old hands and veterans all the world over are wont to regard with contempt
the trials of ‘prentice hands. The native boatmen in charge of each end of the craft
were no exception to this common failing of mankind, but in their case it was
intensified by racial pride and prejudice most galling to any white man bearing
similar sentiments towards foreigners and men of color. While all Indians, of that day
and generation considered themselves as “the people,” they did not assert their inborn
sense of superiority over the “Moonyass” (green236 white man) in the offensive and
vain–glorious manner of the Metis.
MAN–KILLING SWEEPS

234 John Norris served the H.B.C. in Saskatchewan from 1849 to 1866. He was a labourer, transporter,
tinsmith and hunter.
235 A derogatory term for the Romani people.
236 Inexperienced.

145
It was under such “superior officers” that Norris and his mates commenced
their career as galley slaves in the Saskatchewan brigade. The inland or “York” boat
is admirably modelled for the different services it performs: but the infernal
instruments of torture and of least driving force for the greatest muscular exertion
euphemistically called “oars” are outrages on common sense and humanity. They are
immensely clumsy, heavy “sweeps,” not oars, and the unchangeable fashion of
handling them native fashion is a parody on rowing, requiring the greatest amount
of useless muscular exertion and producing the minimum of propulsion which the
perverted ingenuity of man could devise. The effect of this back–breaking circular
motion was that the blade entered the water obliquely, instead of perpendicularly,
and came out horizontally, with a boil and a sinking pressure on the gunwale. And
this description is necessary to show the stress and strain put on good oarsmen not
accustomed to “rowing” according to the fixed fashion of the country at the time.
The fashion also produced the greatest of all the great miseries the boatmen
underwent, in that the brutal oar soon produced blistered hands. It was considered
unmanly to quit for such a trifle, so the blisters broke and the rower went on with
raw bleeding palms till inflammation of the whole arm set in, and the galley slave
was only exempted honorably from duty when no longer fit to move. To anticipate,
only once in all his 15 subsequent voyages between Edmonton and York Factory was
Norris so rendered hors de combat237.
BLOODTHIRSTY FEMALE OF SPECIES
Although the height of the mosquitoe season, during which the boat route
between York Factory and Lake Winnipeg maintained a sanguinary fame second to
none in the vast wilderness, where she reigns forever the queen of torments, was on
the wane, there still remained swarms, as soon as the chill of night and early morn
had passed, to add their venomous stings to the other unwanted hardships which the
un–innoculated freshmen from Britain had to endure on the voyage upstream. Much
as these ubiquitous pests of the wilderness teased the habituated and immunized
natives, their sufferings were as nothing compared with the torments and
inflammations inflicted on the specially marked victims – the newly arrived
Europeans. Years of exposure and suffering on their part has to be undergone ere
they acquired anything like the comparative immunity which was the good fortune
of the native Indians. From the time the Hudson’s Bay men started all over the
country on their almost continuous travels throughout the summer season till the
cold weather in autumn, their bloodthirsty midget foes followed them and enveloped
them in buzzing swarms. They made hell of a land otherwise a paradise in summer,
and made men rejoice when winter blew his first blast and scattered those enemies.
Rude Boreas and Arctic cold came as welcome allies against the hated pests of the
summer time. After a long, toilsome day on snowshoes, in the open by the
smouldering camp fire, the voyageur enjoyed peaceful sleep, uninterrupted by the
irritating war song and the poisonous attack of the omnipresent hosts of these
enemies. They were the bane and blight of existence of every traveller in the wilds.
People, especially those enjoying the almost complete immunity of large towns, and

237 French for ‘out of the fight’.

146
even those where the drainage and cultivation in the country have destroyed the
breeding places of the pests, can form no conception of the misery and suffering
entailed on man and beast by these pets during the early pioneering stages of the
Great Mosquitoe Land.
“TRACKING” UPSTREAM
Now, let us turn from these hated pests to the initiation of Jack Norris as a
voyageur. The boats, if the wind was not far enough aft to permit of the use of the
single square sails, proceeded under their heavy sweeps till they reached the
“tracking ground.” Then half the crew landed with a line, attached abaft238 the bow,
and harnessing themselves at intervals thereto by their portage straps, commenced
to march along the beach, or in the water inshore if there were none, and draw the
boat along, while the steersman, occasionally assisted by the bowsman, on board
guided her course. The watch off duty immediately wound themselves in their
blankets (head and all, to keep off the flies) and coiled down on the cargo for a nap.
On a good beach the men went easily along at a fast walk – much faster than
one going “light,” usually. Where the beach ended and the water was anything from
ankle to waist deep, the trackers merrily plunged in and carried on. Then it often
occurred that the water was too deep and they had to tear their way up the bank
through brush and forest, which, catching the line often required the last man to
unharness himself and clear it. At other places the clay banks were high and steep
from deep water, and there the toilers had to plough through soft wet clay, and not
only plod ahead but also bend inwards and cling by hand to the yielding clay or chance
stone or tuft to prevent themselves from being dragged downhill and plunged into the
swirling stream. Even it was occasionally necessary for them to go short distances
breast high in the water; but such spots were generally avoided by either rowing past
them or crossing the stream to better going on the other side.
In spite of their objection to the abominable oars and their mode of use, already
recorded, the recruits were well able to hold their own with the natives in that
exercise; but in tracking it was different. The whole thing was a new exercise and
European boots were an impediment in it. The men had to wear moccasins of Indian
make or clumsy imitations of tanned leather called “beef leather shoes,” to which their
feet were unaccustomed and in which they got hurt.
PORTAGING
Before reaching the first portage, to be broken to harness with the pump–line,
the boats had to be pushed by poles up swift, shallow water, where neither oar nor
tow–line could be used. There was nothing out of the way in this, and the experienced
men at the bow and stern directed their efforts. And, after the crews of all the boats
doubling up on a whale line to warp each craft separately up a heavy fall, the brigade
reached the real testing ground of the green hands on the portages.
Many Canadian rivermen and sportsmen are well up in the mysteries of the
portage sling, and how to hang their packs from the broad band across the forehead,
Indian fashion, and then jog nimbly along laden at a trot. In the Old Country style, a
burden bearer carries a band round the shoulders and breast and plods along at a

238 Near the stern of the ship.

147
walk; so men, and women, too, in the north and fishing places of Scotland, bear great
burdens of fish and fuel in creels. But most of these apprentice voyageurs literally
“got it in the neck” before they mastered the knack of portaging according to the
custom of the country. A giant Orkneyman, new to the work, and of double the
strength of a skinny little native, might be seen plodding, with the gait of a clodhopper
over a portage path, under two heavy pieces slung on his back by a strap round the
shoulders; while a little native, equally laden, would be lightly tripping past him at a
jog trot. While one of the obstinate kind of Scotch–Orkneyman would refuse to learn
this foreign way of carrying, the adaptable kind of Scot from the Highlands, or
Norsemen from the Shetlands, would be eager to acquire the new and seemingly easy
art practiced by the natives. And Jack Norris, if anything, was adaptable, besides
being as strong, active and athletic as the best, and with a quick native intelligence,
unspoilt by the schoolroom which teaches children to see through the eyes of others
instead of using their own. So by the time the boats had made the 400 mile voyage
upstream and over portages to Norway House, he had the honor of being
recommended by the native guide to the commander there as one of the few green
hands, who, on their first voyage, wrung from those severe critics, the native
boatmen, the highest praise they could express in the words – “He is a good man, just
like a h–––––239, not like a Moonyass at all.”
PRESTIGE UPHELD BY FIST
The compliment was, however, not entirely intended to give Jack his due only;
but perhaps also by way of apology for a couple of black eyes which adorned the visage
of one of the biggest bowsmen, who was by habit and repute one of the noted bullies
of the Saskatchewan brigade, who had tried to impose on Jack, and met more than
his match in the young Moonyass. Jack was a genial fellow, not at all aggressive, but,
though only a medium–sized man, he never would stand bullying or insult from the
biggest bully on the plains, until finally, after many a rough and tumble fight and
wrestling match with native opponents, he established a reputation which later saved
him further trouble in that line.
In describing this phase of a newcomer’s experiences in the old territories of
the company, it is well worthy of remark that, apart from any superstitious fear which
the old–time natives entertained of the “medicine” and arts of the white man, they
did not generally make reprisals as a community on the company’s men for a
thrashing administered with the naked fist, to which these latter were strictly limited
by the policy and custom of the service. The employees, except in case of dire necessity
for self–protection, were absolutely forbidden to resort to other weapons, in the use
of which the natives, though inferior in boxing, were at least as expert as themselves;
and the consequence of which would have aroused a whole tribe to declare war. For
the purpose of administering corporal punishment when needed in the case of
individual Indians offending, as well as contumacious employees, a bourgeois often
had a special constable, called a “bullyar” in his fort or brigade, in the absence of
whom either the interpreter or others of the staff, or sometimes the boss himself,

239 An offensive term for someone of mixed heritage.

148
performed the duty of maintaining the prestige of the whites with the primitive fist,
or other blunt handy weapon. The company had no use for “gun–men.”
BLACKFEET AND BUFFALO BAR RIVER
After passing the portage over the Grand Rapids and other rapids near Lake
Winnipeg, the Saskatchewan was free from such interruption to Edmonton. The
lower river was ascended under oars, unless a favorable wind lent its aid to
navigation. As soon as high and dry banks and beaches were reached above The Pas,
the crews went out on the line ahead, with little break, to Edmonton.
While the difficulties of navigation, except when exceptionally high water
covered the “tracking grounds,” decreased above Carlton, the danger from frequent
war parties of Blackfeet increased until nearing Edmonton, where at their own post
of Rocky Mountain House only they were at peace with the company. Many an
attempt to capture the boats was made and avoided by the boats shoving off shore
just in time.
Another impediment, but of a nature to cause rejoicing, was the obstruction
offered by innumerable buffalo crossing the river, sometimes for days and affording
feasts of fat things ample to satisfy the ravenous appetite of the voyageurs, and to
gratify the craving of stomachs long accustomed to the dry provisions supplied as
rations for the voyage.
THE AXE AND SNOWSHOE
The next course in his education as a Hudson’s Bay man was in the handling
of the axe, an implement few but carpenters and foresters are accustomed to in the
Old Country. After mastering this without chopping off any toes, he was sent out with
carts of the fort hunters for the fall supply of buffalo meat, the staple food of more
than a hundred mouths of all sizes in the fort for the winter.
Then came the snow, and dog driving and showshoeing were the order of the
day in trips to the Indian camps for furs and buffalo robes. While the snow is not deep
snowshoes are not used, and men travel treading exactly in the footsteps of the one
ahead. As the gait is generally a jog trot and the stride of the native longer than the
European at first, and in–toed, too, it is not easy for a novice to gain the advantage of
using the footprints ahead. The trot, too, continued for miles, is a gait one requires
practise to attain in the perfection necessary to hold his own.
BLISTERS AND MAL DE RACQUETTE
Snow–shoeing is comparatively easy, but the tenderfoot is liable to blister, and,
there being no let–up, the blisters break and leave the raw bleeding parts to be
frightfully irritated by the continued operation of the first cause. If this were not
enough and to spare, le mal de racquette, snowshoe ache, attacks the muscles and
tendons of limbs unaccustomed to or too long subject to the peculiar stresses and
strains of walking on snowshoes, especially in deep snow and at a rapid rate. Under
the circumstances of a voyage limited in time by the slender stock of food carried for
man and dog, no stop for rest or repair, except at night is possible, and in spite of
excruciating agony at each step the victim must march or lay down and die. No
traveller, however hardened, ever becomes exempt from the complaint, when
circumstances favor its development.

149
SNOW BLINDNESS
Another of the hardships incident to travel in the snow is the dreadful
blindness to which all are liable when the sun gets strong towards spring. Although
provident men never start without tinted glass or wire eye–protectors at that time,
they are liable to be lost, but more frequently lent to another already afflicted to save
him from further suffering the effects of his improvidence or bravado. Misfortunes
never come alone, and many a poor traveller has had to keep on moving while
suffering the threefold agonies incident to such voyaging.
At last, sometimes, when human endurance could stand no more the victims
might be compelled to halt, camp and endure the pangs of starvation at rest rather
than the agonies of every motion. Possibly one of the party might be in better
condition and of higher courage than his fellows; and he would set out for the nearest
fort or camp to bring succor. In such a case Jack would have been the man after
becoming an experienced traveller.
SPRING WORK
In the last days of the spring, cordwood cutting was the task set the company’s
laborers and voyageurs. A cord a day was a short, easy task for all but the greenest
of greenhands, and the rest of the day was free. Then the business of the year was
completed by beating the dust from furs and buffalo robes and packing them into
convenient packages for transport, all in the open square of the fort.
BOAT BRIGADE FOR YORK
The new business year – “new outfit” in fur trade parlance – was commenced
on the departure of the Saskatchewan brigade of boats in early June for York factory.
Besides the ten boats intended to bring back the supplies for the year, ten other new
boats, built at Rocky Mountain House and Edmonton for other districts started, all
laden with buffalo provisions, pemmican, dried meat, cured tongues, tallow and
marrowfat, as well as leather, shaganappi240, rawhide cords, leather lodges and
unprimed robes for use in the country. The twenty boats went down with the crews;
ten boats and most of the buffalo products were left at Norway House for distribution,
and the ten other boats with full crews went on to York Factory with the fur trade
returns of the season.
Norris accompanied this annual boat brigade fifteen times to York Factory,
first as middleman, then as bowman and finally as steersman in charge of a boat.
HUNTING AND TRADING ON THE PLAINS
When the boats returned the servants were employed at cutting hay with the
scythe, curing it and hauling it to the fort farm. The grain and potato crops were then
harvested, and plastering the dwellings with clay, outside and in, for the winter
occupied those about the fort, while others were sent off to their outposts and to make
fall fisheries.
Besides the permanent outposts every fall parties were sent out, equipped to
trade and hunt, to build wintering shanties at some point in the woods near where
the buffalo and Indians were expected to be numerous during the winter. Nearly all
the men sent in charge of these parties were natives, speaking the languages; but

240 Cree for “thin cord”. Often refers to rawhide cords, which are next on this list.

150
frequently they were accompanied by one of the European servants as assistants,
upon whose steadiness and fidelity the company could rely. Norris was early engaged
in such expeditions, and proved a capable man, acquiring soon a working knowledge
of the Cree language, and displaying that business tact and judgment which he later
used in the big business of Norris and Carey241, the leading pioneer merchants of the
early town of Edmonton.
In the later years of his service with the company, Norris used to be sent out
to the buffalo plains in charge of such hunting and trading parties himself. On one of
these occasions the Blackfeet made a foray on hem, drove off their ponies and scared
away his native companions, who escaped to Fort Pitt, leaving Jack alone. He stayed
with the outfit and stood off the raiders for several days until relieved by a wandering
war party of Crees.
In those days horse–trading was a great feature, and no one knew a horse
better than Jack, or how to negotiate a trade. The Indians, especially when in liquor
supplied by opposition traders, were often troublesome and threatening, requiring
both tact and courage in handling them. As he possessed both, his services on these
occasions were valuable to the company. Nevertheless they were not appreciated
equivalently, and after fifteen years such service he quit their service and struck out
for himself.
HE ”GOES FREE”
By that time, 1863, the cream had been skimmed off the gold–bearing bars of
the river near Edmonton, but the plains still abounded with buffalo, and hunting
them was the main business and sport of the country. By this time Norris had taken
to wife Marie Peltier242, a Metis, and acquired a portion of the wealth and currency
of the plains in the shape of a band of hunting and hauling ponies. By these means
he secured ample provisions for sale and his own use, and in the intervals began to
freight for the company.
A GREAT FREIGHTER
More and more he undertook freighting contracts, summer and winter, until
one hundred of his carts were plying between Edmonton and Fort Garry every
summer. The old trail, principally in order to avoid the raiding grounds of the

241 An early ad reads: “Norris & Carey, General Merchants, have now on hand and will keep in stock
a complete assortment of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes. Hardware to arrive shortly. Having
traded in this country for many years, the firm feels confident that they can supply the goods the
people want, and will do so at the lowest, living profits. Horses and cattle bought, sold and exchanged.”
Norris & Carey. (1882, September 30). NORRIS & CAREY [Advertisement]. The Edmonton Bulletin,
p. 4.
242 Marie Norris was mentioned briefly in the Edmonton Bulletin when her daughter went missing:
“Mr. John Norris, of Athabasca Landing, who was in town yesterday received a telegram from Mrs.
Norris, informing him that their sixteen year old daughter had been missing since Sunday afternoon.
Mr. Norris accompanied by his son at once left for home on horseback, but when about halfway to the
Landing found the missing girl on the trail. She was completely lost and while coming toward town
declared that she she was going home. It appears she had lost her way late on Sunday while hunting
some cattle and had wandered until met by her father and brother on Tuesday evening. During the
time she had no food and travelled about 65 miles.” LOST TWO DAYS. (1906, June 6). The Edmonton
Bulletin, p. 8.

151
Blackfeet on the south of the river, ran along the north side of the Saskatchewan,
crossing at Carlton and the South branch about eighteen miles from that post.
As the end of the steel moved westwards, while the distance decreased the
demand for transportation increased, through the new needs created by the different
departments of the Dominion government and the change of the H.B. freight route to
the great north land from that by Portage la Loche to Athabasca Landing. These were
the prosperous days of the freighting community of the Edmonton district, before
their occupation went when the railway came.
A GENERAL PIONEER MERCHANT
Early in his career as a freighter Norris started a general store in connection,
which ultimately, under the firm of Norris and Carey, became a close rival to the
Hudson’s Bay establishment, and far surpassed the latter as a profitable business.
While this business was managed by his clever and respected partner, the late E. F.
Carey, and their popular manager, Tom Hourston243, Mr. Norris delighting in the
outdoor life, devoted most of his time to his horse and cattle ranches.
Naturally in the course of the class of business done with the natives and old
timers, much land was acquired by the firm and its individual members at low prices
when it was a drag on the market. Without estimating the value of such real property
in 1899, when the firm retired from business, both members were known to be the
wealthiest men in Edmonton. And after the rise in values which took place later their
previous wealth must have quadrupled. The sailor lad of twenty who came to the
Edmonton country sixty–seven years ago by industry and intelligence had made a
competence before the freaks of fortune and real estate promoters added thereto
values running into a fortune.
In the period of two–thirds of a century, during his residence Edmonton had
passed through all the stages of a fortified fur–trading post, occasionally surrounded
by towns of the moving tents of the Crees, from whose bastions were witnessed many
a fight between them and the Blackfeet; next a Methodist mission and a few general
stores and hotel outside the fort, and the terminus of the overland caravans freighting
from Fort Garry; followed by the transient stage of steamboating on the
Saskatchewan; and finally the railways which have confirmed its position as a central
city, destined to still greater prosperity.
Throughout all these changes and as wealth, that he did not know what to do
with, rolled in upon him, Norris remained the genial, kindly, charitable and
unaffected man, in fact the neighborly old timer, with native good manners and never
losing a musical trace of the Scottish accent of his youth. He leaves a big gap in the
society of the real old timers wont to foregather at Henry Fraser’s daily. The longest
living link with Edmonton’s past has been broken by his death.

243 Thomas Hourston (1855 – 1905). “Tom Hourston was one of the old–time settlers who was fortunate
enough in locating a homesteadclose in by the old Hudson Bay Fort. Twenty–five years ago, he located
a homestead and scripped more land to the extent of an entire section in all, just west of what are now
the western limits of the city. […] Besides owning his big farm, he clerked at first in one of the old–
time stores in the village, then he became a fur trader, and for some years carried on that business for
Ullman and Co., of St. Paul and Chicago. Then he retired to his farm.” EARLY SETTLER’S
HOMESTEAD IS NOW A RESIDENCE SUBURB. (1911, January 23). The Edmonton Capital, p. 1.

152

29. Pa–Ta of the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg (1923)244

When my party reached “The Pic”245 in February, 1879, on its way to the
district headquarters at Michipicoten, it was augmented by the clerk in charge of
that post and an Indian who was to be his personal attendant.
This Indian was Pa–ta. I objected to him from a general, a superficial, survey
of his person. He did not appear to me to be a man fit to follow a party on a two–
hundred–mile trip and keep up with the procession.
But his appearances are deceiving, and the saying is true that “a person cannot
sometimes always tell.” In stature the Indian was short, with a body abnormally long,
and legs not only short but bowed as well. To me his legs did not look capable of
“taking the stride.” But I was mistaken, for not only could he step into the track of
the man before him, but he could do it with ease and keep it up day after day.
His face, however, was the most comical part of his person. One could hardly
look at him and retain one’s gravity. The corner of his mouth was drawn up on the
left side to within an inch or so of his ear, and his right eye was a veritable cock–eye.
This eye, with its fixed upward expression, conveyed the impression that it was
always estimating the blue expanse above the tree tops. He had four strong incisors
half way up his mouth that would have been a credit to a beaver. Owing to the upward
trend of his lips, two of these teeth were always visible, adding much to his grotesque
approach.
Ironside246, the clerk, settled the objection I advanced by saying he knew the
man and his usefulness and capabilities on a trip. “I’m taking him and will be
responsible for him. I’ll see that he doesn’t keep the party back,” he promised.
That settled the matter and Pa–ta went. And a better man on a snowshoe
tramp I could not ask, nor would it be possible to find. Good qualities? Well, I should
say so! Besides carrying a pack all day as well as the best of us, he was indispensable
about camp for all those little niceties that go towards comfort. I never have had such
soft beds as we had on that down trip. There was no stint of brushwood and he had
the knack of planting each branch so nearly on end that the whole was as good as a
soft mattress.
Pa–ta had a hooked stick for lifting kettles from the fire, a wooden poker to
arrange the hot coals, and an abundance of birch bark and dry splints in case we
required a fire suddenly during the night. By mutual consent the other men left the
work of camp to Pa–ta, getting water, starting the fire, etc. And he did it well.
Like all deformed or peculiar people, he was the butt of the jokes of the other
men, but he took all they said in good sport. My own two men, who had accompanied

244 From MARTEN HUNTER. (1923, March 24). LEGENDS OF THE FUR COUNTRY. The Edmonton
Bulletin, p. 21.
245 Traditional territory of the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, also known as the Pic River First Nation.
246 James Symington Ironside (1835 – 1917) was born in what is now Essex County, Ontario. His son,
James Symington Wilcox Ironside, died while fighting in Belgium during World War I.

153
me down from the interior, were French h–––––s, particularly smart, bright fellows,
quick at repartee, with a flow of Ojibway or French on tap a la demande.
While crossing some expanse of ice I several times dropped back abreast of Pa–
ta to see how he took the step of the man before him. He would poise for an instant
on one foot, then the other leg would shoot out from his hip joint in a marvellous way,
and his snowshoe plant itself right in the track of the man ahead.
My fellows were not only perpetually cracking jokes on poor Pa–ta, but after
we had been out two or three days they began to impose on his good nature. Especially
did I notice this during the long cold nights when the fire in front of our lean–to began
to die down. I would hear one of the men from under his blanket say, “Pa–ta, put on
some wood!”
However, when this became apparent to me, I rounded up on my gentlemen. I
told them pretty plainly that they must all take turns and not leave it all to Pa–ta.
That settled the matter, and from then until the end of the trip they treated the poor
Indian with more fairness.
One of the accomplishments which Ironside claimed belonged to Pa–ta was a
stock of hunting stories and Indian folklore that he had hidden away in that funny
head of his. We found indeed that he was a born contour de contes. The first night in
camp, my men called on Pa–ta to “let himself out,” “cut loose,” “move his chin,” and
in several other ways expressed their desire to have a story.
Ironside, who had heard most of Pa–ta’s stories on previous trips, asked me if
I ever heard the Ojibway legends of Ne–na–bo–jo, who according to Indian tradition
was the first man created by the Great Spirit and who thus corresponded with our
Adam. I said I had never heard it. The outline of a man forming the top of Thunder
Cape, had been pointed out to me, and my Indian canoeman had said it was Ne–na–
bo–jo, who had offended the Great Manitou and had been stricken dead on the high
cape.
“Pa–ta,” said Ironside, “can tell stories of the great Ne–na–bo–jo indefinitely. I
have listened to him night after night on a long journey and the supply seemed
inexhaustible.” So it was decided that Ne–na–bo–jo would be the theme. Extra big
logs were thrown on the fire. The five of us, with the story teller in the place of honor,
squatted down in front of the cheerful blaze, ready to hear the opening instalment of
the legends at our first camp out from the Pic.
We camped eight nights on that two–hundred–mile trip, and each night Pa–ta
gave us an instalment. At the last noonday fire, the poor fellow accidentally cut his
leg while splitting some kindling. We had to leave him there with one of my men
while the others of the party went into headquarters and sent back men from the fort
with a flat sled to draw him in. When our stay at Michipicoten ended and the back
track had to be negotiated, our Indian entertainer had to be left behind. I never made
another trip with him. Having splintered a piece of shinbone, his leg was long in
healing, and it was only at the opening of navigation that he was able to return to his
own reserve at the Pic.

154
30. The Tales of Johnny Berens (1923)247

In all the far–flung north – from Fort McMurray to the Frozen Sea – the native
inhabitants possess a strong belief in the mystic power of Wisakedjak, the Spirit of
the North; his influence pervades every teepee in the wilderness and though he is
connected with this area by legends only, the present day residents of the fur country
have a very profound regard for his capacity for good or evil. Every incident in their
drab lives is influenced by Wisakedjak; his appearance is necessary for their birth
and when the r–––––248 men are ready to pass on to the Happy Hunting Grounds249
he convoys them there. In teepee, canoe and on the hunting trail Wisakedjak is
always present, and despite the doctrines of the missionaries, the Spirit of the North
is, and probably always be one of the prime deciding factors in the lives of the natives.
Legends galore surround the mystic personality of the spirit; the following
stories being detailed to the writer by John Berens, of Fort Smith, who has lived in
the north all his days, and has a thorough insight into the minds of the simple natives.
Since the year 1887 John Robert Berens, of Fort Smith, N.W.T., has been a
riverman on the streams which flow to the Arctic. As a trader for the Hudson’s Bay
company and a steamer pilot for the Northern Trading company he made countless
voyages and travelled many leagues. His is the vision of the native son; an outlook on
life novel to most, and a span of years crowded with many hikes to many strange
places, some of the incidents connected with his career being set down here and told
in the same simple manner as when detailed to the writer, on the steep bank of the
mighty Slave River, where boiling Rapids of the Drowned forever fill the river valley
with their clamor.
“MARTIN’S FEATHER”
Martin’s Feather was a mighty hunter who lived some years since in his tepee
on the banks of the beautiful Liard river at that point where the Nahanni bursts from
the mountains and joining its waters with that of the larger stream, unites with the
mighty Mackenzie. When Mr. Berens knew Martin’s Feather the latter was over sixty
years of age, but spry as a boy of sixteen, and of such toughness that even the stoical
Indians wondered at it. Added to his rightful name his native friends had bestowed
on him the added title of “The Crazy Man,” this referring largely to his mode of living,
but though perhaps a little off normal he was yet wise enough to insist that his s–––

247 From Weesakajack and Wendigo: Spirits of the Far Northland (Part One.) (1923, February 10). The
Edmonton Bulletin, p. 17. and Weesakajack and Wendigo: Spirits of the Far Northland (Part Two).
(1923, February 17). John ‘Johnny’ Berens (1871 – 1954) joined the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1885–
1886 as a carpenter’s helper, then cook, in the Mackenzie River District. From 1900 to 1947 he worked
as a Sternwheeler pilot on the Wrigley 2 in the Mackenzie River. Wisakedjak’s name was spelled in
numerous phonetic ways in the article, all different from modern standard spellings. For ease of
reading, I have replaced these with the commonly used form ‘Wisakedjak’, derived from the Algonquin
name.
248 A derogatory adjective applied to Indigenous people.
249 An afterlife, very roughly analogous to the Christian Heaven, that formed part of the spiritual
beliefs of some of the Indigenous peoples of the Plains.

155
––250 did all the trading at the fur posts, and the twain, though oddly assorted, were
ideal partners.
When traveling, Martin’s Feather’s mode of retiring for the night was
simplicity itself, and no matter how far the mercury was below the zero line, after
supper and a smoke, he divested himself of his entire wardrobe, wrapped himself in
a single blanket, and then cast himself on a bed of spruce boughs under the nearest
tree. Thus bedded he claimed he was as comfortable as could be, and in the morning
he would arise, thaw out his shirt at the camp fire and promptly don this garment.
He died as a good hunter should on the trail; and was firm in the conviction that
Wisakedjak, the spirit of the north, would provide for each hunter a certain amount
of fur until the time came to head for the Happy Hunting Grounds.
H. B. MEAT HUNTERS
Many wonderful tales are told of the prowess of the Indians who supplied the
factors of the H. B. C. with moose and deer meat in the north some thirty years ago.
Three celebrated meat hunters resided at Fort Simpson, and one evening around the
big heater in the trade room the abilities of the various hunters were discussed. Each
after the Indian custom, boasted his own prowess, and as a test it was finally decided
that the hunter who could leave the fort, track a moose and while the animal slept,
make a mark on his hoofs with his hunting knife, was to be recognized as the peer of
hunters. Shortly after, the three, old Sincelle, old Pierre, and Athetze, accompanied
by a numerous retinue of tribesmen anxious to see the test, hitched their huskies,
and headed back to the moose country across the Mackenzie river.
After breaking camp in the morning Athetze tracked his moose to where he
was sleeping on a warm hillside in the noonday sun, and with the other natives
carefully observing from the shelter of the trees he crept up on the sleeping animal
and was seen to bend over his doubled–up legs, knife in hand. Shortly after he
retreated a dozen yards or more, and with the report of his muzzle loader, the moose
rose to its knees, made a frantic endeavor to rise, then fell back dead. “I have marked
and killed,” said Athetze, as the band from the timber line rushed up; and clearly
defined on the hoof of the dead animal could be seen a distinct cross.
Within several days Sincelle and Pierre each marked and killed their moose in
the same manner, but the other natives found that the three were gifted beyond their
powers, for as soon as they got almost within reach of the sleeping animal, it
blundered to its feet, and was soon lost in the undergrowth. “These three men are
mighty hunters – they are aided by Wisakedjak, the Spirit of the North,” said the
tribesmen as they returned empty handed to the fort.
Such was the skill of these three hunters, says Mr. Berens, that when
departing on a hunting expedition they would leave word at the fort that dog teams
were to meet them at a certain place at a certain time when loads of moose meat
would be ready, and the meat was always there. For killing a bull moose the hunters
were given $5 worth of trade goods, $2.50 for a cow and $1 for a yearling.
EARLY NAVIGATORS

250 An offensive term for an Indigenous woman.

156
The steamer “Wrigley” built at Fort Smith, N. W. T., in 1886, was the first
powered vessel to navigate the mighty Mackenzie, and on this boat John Berens was
a cook for twelve years. The cook’s job did not call for any great proficiency in the
culinary art, says the northman, as the food supplies were practically limited to what
the country produced, and in the main consisted of dried meat, fish and caribou
tongues. Very little flour or bacon was to be had in those days; canned goods were
absolutely unknown and one small bun per day was each man’s flour allotment.
Matches were also unknown and the flint and tinder were the universal means of
obtaining fire.
There was a king’s ransom in fur brought out each season by the lonely vessel
plying to the Arctic; each post supplied its quota of thirty or forty bales and by the
time the vessel reached Fort Smith, where the cargo had to be taken over the Slave
river portage to smooth water on the other side, the little vessel was literally loaded
down with the richest peltries of the fur country.
Fur was cheap to purchase. Here are some of the prices which prevailed at the
time mentioned: Marten, $1; large beaver, $1.50; small beaver, $1; silver fox, $7.50,
red fox, 50c; bear, $2; cross fox, $3. Muskrat and mink the natives would not deign to
trap, one being that the “trade price” for muskrats was sixteen for fifty cents.
In contrast, a muzzle loading trade gun was retailed at $12.50, and Mr. Berens
states that there are men still alive who will testify that they have seen a gun stood
upright and the skins piled to the muzzle before it became the property of the
“fortunate” Indian251. Scalping knives were in great demand for which the native
traded three marten, while the same equivalent purchased a pound of tea. This latter
was served from chests with a pint pot, and Mr. Berens records that the trader’s
thumb invariably occupied a considerable space in the said pot.
Beyond simple hunting instruments, flour and tea, very little in the way of
other goods were taken into the country with the exception of shirts and trousers of
good quality, which retailed for $2.50 and $6.00 respectively. Long after the era when
the first steamer arrived the Indians clung to their extremely suitable buckskin
clothing, the men wearing a shirt and trousers of dressed skins, while the women
substituted the lower garment for a deerskin skirt gaily ornamented with beads.
INDIAN BATTLEGROUNDS
Though never hostile to the whites, Mr. Berens states that in the early days
the Indians fought much amongst themselves, some of the tribes travelling vast
distances to engage in battle with other nations, and the writer’s informant has dug
up many stone axes, stone knives, arrow head and spear points from the shores of
Lake Beuvet, on the Liard river.
Of all the tribes the Chipewyans and the Nahannis were the most warlike and
fought one another for many years after the coming of the white men. The Slave
nation situated on the shores of the Great Slave lake, between these two warlike
peoples were peaceable; they were conquered by the Chipewyans (hence their name)
and were thereafter not molested by either of the other nations passing through their
territory while en route to slay one another.

251 This is a myth. See the article on ‘Made Beaver as a Currency’ earlier in this chapter.

157
It was no un–common thing for the Chipewyans from the delta of the
Athabasca country to spend an entire year travelling in their birch bark canoes to the
country of the Nahanni, on the upper waters of the Liard, for the purpose of an
edifying scrap, while the Nahanni also were wont to sally down out of their mountain
fastnesses for the same purpose. Deadman’s Island, close to Fort Resolution, on the
Great Slave Lake is so named from one combat between the two tribes who happened
to meet here when both parties were on a voyage to the other’s country.
When they discovered each other’s proximity a pitched battle ensued which
resulted in many casualties on both sides. At this period, there were between 7,000
and 10,000 Indians resident in the Mackenzie river country, but they have been
steadily losing ground since the introduction of houses modelled after the pattern of
the whiteman. Due to the desire for warmth large numbers of the natives huddle
together in hermetically sealed log cabins, absolutely without ventilation, with the
result that consumption yearly takes a terrible toll from the aborigines of the far
north country.
RIVAL FUR TRADERS
After the original Lords of the North – the Hudson’s Bay Company – the first
free traders to enter into competition with the ancient firm in the Mackenzie river
country was Elmore & Armstrong who sent a York boat load of goods to Fort Good
Hope in the year 1886, while a venturesome man also opened up a post at Fort Rae,
on the east arm of the Great Slave lake at the same period. News of the arrival of the
free traders spread from tribe to tribe like wildfire, the consensus of opinion being
that these men had no right to penetrate the reserves of the H. B. Co., and that the
latter would speedily eject them.
Nothing happened, however to the great wonderment of the natives, and in
1898 yet more traders commenced to arrive in the persons of Hislop & Nagle who sent
down one scow load of trade goods to Fort Resolution and another to Fort Rae. The
following years saw this firm installed at Fort Norman and in 1899 G. Slater opened
at Good Hope, Boniface Lafferty252 commencing business at Fort Nelson in 1891.
Eleven years ago the Northern Trading company purchased Hislop & Nagle’s
interests, since which time this firm has branched out with posts all over the Lone
Land; the company’s flag is to be seen on river craft all through the north, while the
familiar bale markings of “N.T.C.” are to be found in tee–pee and canoe wherever the
native son adjourns.
With the firmly entrenched Hudson Bay company to compete with the free
traders’ lot was by no means a bed of roses in those early days and the credibility of
the Indians was freely used by the factors of the ancient company to impress the
Indians with the worthlessness of the free traders. The natives always addressed the
H.B. Co. men as “Master,” and generally what “Master” said went, and the Indians
were very curious to know what the free traders meant to do in the territory of the
Lords of the North. The news of the strange white men speedily spread; a fleet of
canoes shortly appeared off Fort Resolution and when the Indians landed the free

252 Mrs. Boniface Lafferty, a Métis woman, is known for having introduced the hair tufting technique
for decorating hand–made gloves around 1915.

158
traders promptly started out to impress them. The tobacco sold by the H. B. C. was
the usual black twist, but the new arrivals had brought in a better quality, of a lighter
color, samples of which were handed out all around to the great satisfaction of the
natives, who were then regaled to a feed of bannock and tea, following which the chief
made an impassioned speech in which the virtues of the new comers were extolled,
and when the canoes departed the natives were firm friends of the free traders.
After the advent of the steamer “Wrigley” the first boat brought in to ply on
the northern rivers was the small steamer “Eva.” She was built at Athabasca Landing
by some of the men en route to the Klondyke, wrecked in the Grand Rapids of the
Athabasca in 1898, rebuilt and run through the white water by Louis Sholl and finally
put into commission by Hislop & Nagle to serve their north posts from Fort Smith.
BEAVER COMBUSTION
Close to Fort Norman, a seam of coal reaches down to the river; it has been
burning since the time Mackenzie’s canoe first cleaved the northland waters, and will
possibly burn for centuries still. It is quite visible from the decks of the river steamers,
and day and night a thin wisp of smoke curls upward; white traders of the hinterland
say that this seam extends right to the Arctic coast from the Mackenzie river, and
that further signs of the smouldering coal may be seen on the Great Slave lake. Who
first lit this underground conflagration with his tinder stick no one knows, but the
native stoutly affirms that Wisakedjak was responsible. Here is the story:
Two beavers, one large and one small were travelling down the Mackenzie
river, followed by Wisakedjak, who was extremely hungry. At what is now known as
Fort Norman the spirit put on a sprint, caught up with the smaller beaver and
prepared for a meal. He then made a fire on the bank of the river and held the beaver
over the blaze to roast. The beaver was of a great fatness: the grease from the animal
caught fire and the whole was consumed. Much chagrinned at losing his meal
Wisakedjak with suitable incantations pronounced “This fire shall burn until the end
of the world.” It is burning, and the Indians claim that it will continue to do so, Who
knows?
BEAVER ROCK
On the Carcajou river, below Fort Norman a large rock stands out from the
surrounding scenery, its shape much resembles that of a beaver. This was also due to
Wisakedjak’s agency, who having despatched the first beaver, followed the larger
animal down the river, only to discover that his quarry was himself hunting along
the Carcajou. Seeing Wisakedjak approaching, the beaver being alarmed clambered
up the rock at the mouth of the river, but the spirit disliking the climb formulated a
plan to “fix” Mr. Beaver without trouble to himself, so at long distance he addressed
the quarry saying, “You stay there until the end of the world” – and there he is still.
Then tiring of his efforts Wisakedjak went down stream a few hundred miles
and reaching the rock wall of the Ramparts, through which the mighty Mackenzie
rushes, he casually placed his head on one wall of rock and his feet on the other,
across the river, the marks of his couch still being plainly visible according to the
Indians. Next Wisakedjak took a trip to the Arctic coast, presumably to see how the
Eskimos were getting on, following which he returned north and proceeded up the

159
Liard river, where he indulged in another beaver hunt on the south Nahanni river,
tearing open the Nahanni Butte mountain, in order to get at his quarry, which had
buried itself in the bowels of the hill. From here he disappeared in the flesh, but the
Indians well know that he is still with them, and in many a tee–pee the conversation
at times is hushed as the wise men scent an impending visit of the spirit and the
awe–struck natives listen for his sleigh bells which though they never come are
stoutly believed in.
SUPERSTITIONS VARIOUS
Some years ago when trading for the H. B. Co. at Fort Liard, Mr. Berens was
standing at the post door watching the dog teams of the first arrivals coming down
the river, who once they had performed the usual hand shaking ceremony asked if
the trader had seen the people who arrived before them. Assured that they were the
first to come in for the season, the Indians stated that they had heard the sound of
many sleigh bells, and not being satisfied a thorough search was made of the
neighboring country which revealed no sign of other travellers but themselves. Round
the camp fires that night the matter was thoroughly discussed, it being finally settled
to their satisfaction by the tribal medicine man who announced “The traveller was
Wisakedjak; he must go through the country to let the people know he is in the world.”
GOOD MEDICINE
The Indians of the north were, and are still strong believers in “medicine;” an
insane person ca be cured by it, while “bad medicine” directed at a hunter will decide
the fate of his fur catch, and even in this enlightened age, if a native trapper is of the
opinion that someone has put “bad medicine” on him he would promptly give up his
trapping operations and wait for the end. The Cree Indians of the prairies are
supposed to be “very strong men,” and any of the northern natives fortunate to
possess Cree “medicine” are regarded in the light of supermen. What the “medicine”
consists of no one knows; it comes in the shape of colorless liquids in small bottles, in
addition to fragments of colored rags, herbs and leaves, and is guaranteed by the
manufacturers to be efficacious for all the ills of the flesh. In the old days the fur
brigades from the Mackenzie and the Athabasca met the other brigades from the
Hudson’s bay at La Loche portage, from which point both again turned back to their
respective countries, but before parting the simple natives of the far north had traded
all their earthly possessions to the Crees from the south country for useless geegak,
which though absolutely worthless, transformed the lucky owners into “very strong
men” once they had reached their home tee–pees on the Mackenzie.
COLD WATER CURE
Stomach ache is a prevalent trouble amongst the Indians, the reason being
that after a period of semi–starvation, the killing of a moose or caribou is a signal for
a feast which ceases only when the meat has disappeared. This is easily cured,
however, the method being to have the tribe foregather around the sufferer, who then
proceed to sing the evil of the stomach away. Should this method prove unavailing,
the medicine man takes a hand, and holding a cup of water he proceeds to make a
long speech, finally blowing on the water, with the comforting assurance that “Little
Brother the Great Spirit will make you well again in a few days.”

160
In the same manner evil is blown from a wound, while it is recorded that during
the measles epidemic at Fort Simpson, “Old Jock” the medicine man, was busy for
over two weeks going from camp to camp, curing the natives by singing for them. For
the period mentioned the old man was busy day and night, most of the patients
passing out of this vale of tears, but no statistics are available as to whether the
measles or the singing were responsible. Those who did recover are still firm in the
belief, however that this was accomplished through the agency of the old man’s
“medicine.”
“OLD JOCK’S” DEMISE
Strange though it may seem even medicine men themselves must die, and one
day the call came to “Old Jock” at Fort Simpson. Unable to help himself the old man
recognized that he was passing on, and the priest was sent for to administer the last
rites of the church, lifting the blankets off the old man’s face he asked “Do you know
me?” to which there was no reply. “He has joined his fathers” said the cleric, replacing
the blanket over the dead man’s face and departing.
Old Jock’s camp consisted of nothing more than a fire and the canopy of heaven
for a covering; the month was September and the weather was chilly. The old man’s
place of residence was close to the building occupied by Mr. Berens and his wife and
during the night they were not much surprised to hear faint singing from the
direction of the “corpse.” “He will be dead soon” said the trader, who at the break of
day went through the heavy ground frost to the old man’s habitation to find the corpse
sitting up and calmly puffing at his pipe, despite the fact that he had not touched food
for a week, had been without water three days and was more or less in a condition of
coma. “You have come to life again?” said the trader. “Yes,” replied the old man simply
“my father was dead for three days and revived again. I feel fine and should like some
fish;” This was provided, and having tucked away three pounds of raw trout the old
man announced that he would go hunting, and the next thing Mr. Berens saw was
the ancient one, calmly paddling his birchbark up against the current of the
Mackenzie. It was learned later that the old rogue had deliberately staged this
display for the edification of the natives, who ever after regarded his medicine as
belonging to an “XXX” species and as a consequence the whole settlement went in
fear of him, and for the remainder of his days he lived comfortably on the “presents”
of the tribe.
THE MAP MAKER
“Old Jock’s” father was a member of the Slave tribe who migrated to the Liard
river in the early days. In common with most of the Indians he could neither read nor
write, which adds point to the following story. It was the custom of the mountain
Indians at that time to care for their dead by placing them on platforms built in the
trees, and following the old man’s demise he was put on a rookery of this description,
but created a considerable commotion in the camp by later coming to life after a lapse
of three days.
Returning to earth he entered his tee–pee to the no small astonishment of the
family circle, but vouching no information save that he had come to life, demanded a
mooseskin parchment from one of the women and thereafter disappeared into the

161
bush daily where by the use of black and red pigments gleaned from the rocks, he
constructed an elaborate map of the roads to the Indian Heaven and hell – the picture
emphasizing the fact that the majority were taking the broad trail.
With his tribe gathered around wonderingly he explained that by use of the
map he had got to “Gold’s place,” but that the Deity had said “Your time is not yet –
go back.” Having imparted this information He stated that the mapmaker would
remain on the globe a few years and that his purpose should be to teach his people to
be good.
At this time the map drawer was a young man, he lived to a ripe old age, and
was naturally regarded by some of the natives as being a close associate of
Wisakedjak. The strange part of the whole thing is that prior to his “death” he was
totally uneducated, while the pictures on the map were beautifully drawn. It is still
kept in the archives of one of the Mackenzie river posts, but the story of its origin is
known to few but the Indians, who still talk over the tee–pee fires of “Old Jock” and
his father, quite expecting that they may once again take it into their heads to visit
the country of their birth from the realms beyond.

31. A Unique Family Gathering (1906)253

A year or so ago there appeared an advertisement in an Inverness newspaper
and an Edinburgh journal calling upon the heirs of a certain Donald Mc–––––254 of a
special parish in the Highlands to communicate with a firm of solicitors in Scotland
and they would hear something to their advantage.
As much by accident as by anything else a Winnipeg business man who was,
as was his father for two generations, a native of Manitoba, saw this advertisement,
and knowing almost all the native white families of the Red River, called somewhat
in the spirit of jest the attention of a fellow business man in Winnipeg to it.
“I believe that was the parish my great grandfather255 did come from,” was the
somewhat surprising answer. “I shall go down to the old homestead some of these
days and look up the old family papers.”
He did, and after over a year’s correspondence, advertisement and
investigation the affair culminated in one of the most unique family gatherings that
has ever been reported. […]
The reports of the inheritance, in the way of human nature, had been greatly
exaggerated, so inquiry as to possible heirs was facilitated and with Celtic and Indian
persistency, mental record of kindship extending over the years had been loosely
preserved.

253 From Shaw, C. L. (1909, January 16). A Unique Family Gathering. The Saturday News, p. 6.
Written by Charles Lewis Shaw (1863 – 1911).
254 A stain in my source covers most of this name. It may be legible in other copies.
255 A “wayward young son, who in the recklessness of youth had taken service of the Hudson’s Bay
Company nearly a century ago, and at middle age had settled down in one of the river parishes of the
Red River.” –C.L. Shaw

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When the gathering for the final settlement took place, among the heirs was a
white–faced, frock–coated Presbyterian minister, a long–haired Sioux Indian from a
Dakota reserve, a swampy Indian h–––––, a decorous clerkly looking Winnipeg
business man, a Prince Albert fur trader, an Edmonton rancher, a French h–––––
(the son of one of Riel’s lieutenants in the Red River rebellion), a doctor of medicine
from an Eastern city, a Western real estate dealer, two Indians of St. Peter’s Reserve,
a Hudson’s Bay packet runner, several ladies who might be called society leaders,
and others. Some were pure white, without the slightest drop of Indian blood in their
veins, while others were almost entirely of Indian blood.
The assets of the estate when divided, amounted to a comparative trifle to each
individual, and there were indications pending the settlement that questions might
be asked regarding the validity of Indian marriages, etc., until it was remarked by
the Winnipeg lawyer that a collateral branch of the family in Scotland, an hereditary
enemy of the clan, would in case of dispute among the heirs in this country, press its
claims vigorously and – a friendly settlement followed. The parson returned to his
manse, the doctor to his laboratory, the rancher to his farm, the Indians to the trails
of the yet lone land of the north to tell, it may be, of the young scapegrace Highlander
that enlisted in the Hudson’s Bay Company nearly a hundred years ago.

32. Number Sixteen (1894)256

A few evenings ago the writer and several friends were cozily nestled around
the fire. One of the company was a medical man who had spent twelve years or so in
the Canadian Northwest territories. Outside, the atmosphere was chilly, and the
indications favored colder weather.
“If you could be transported from St. John to the prairies on such a day as we
had to–day,” remarked the doctor, “and were ignorant of the changes that a few hours
bring in that climate, two surprises would greet you. To–day you would observe dotted
in countless numbers over the vast stretches of prairie sluices or small ponds, whose
placid waters would remind you of so many mirrors set in rustic frames.
“To–morrow morning, as you again looked over the prairies, the whole face of
the country would seem to be changed. Protruding from every sluice you would see
cones made of grass, &c. These are the winter houses of the muskrat – reared,
finished, and occupied in a single night; as if these fragrant little creatures possessed
the power of the Wizard Pancrates.
“That night the sluices would be sure to freeze, and the muskrats would live in
peace until the spring, when the Indians make their rounds, plunge a spear down
through the cones and thus capture numbers of the occupants. The rats are in prime
order in the spring after their long rest. The flesh is eaten and the skins are taken
care of by the s–––––s.
“Those skins, as well as all others, are a kind of legal tender, and it’s a common
occurrence for the Indian to visit a store, make his purchase, take a bundle of rat–
skins from under his arm, and count them out as five–cent pieces.

256 From NUMBER SIXTEEN. (1894, February 22). Qu’Appelle Progress, p. 2.

163
“The Indian Department displays much energy to suppress small–pox, which
often creates great havoc among the natives of the plains. Doctors are sent out
regularly to vaccinate the Indians. The Doctor makes his rounds with the agent who
pays the bounties. A large tent is pitched, and the tribe is requested to appear. The
stipulation is that all must be vaccinated before receiving the money.
“The Indians are distinguished by numbers as well as names, and, as they are
paid so much per head, every member of a family must be produced and pass through
the agent’s tent. Before being paid, those requiring it are vaccinated.
“One day,” said the doctor, “I was vaccinating a tribe of Crees, when a woman
approached with a couple of children. She had a rich, melodious voice, with a Scotch
accent. When she spoke, I stopped for a moment and told her to go into the next tent,
and I would attend to her in a few moments. I saw she was not a s–––––, and thought
she was the wife of a Hudson’s Bay Company employee who wanted to get vaccinated
at the expense of the Government.
“While I was speaking, the clerk shouted out: ‘No. 16.’ And the woman said in
a low voice: ‘I am No. 16.’ She bared her arm, and both she and the children were
attended to. She passed on, received her bounty, and then out among the herd of
Indians.
“The face and voice of that woman haunted me the rest of the day while I kept
scratching the arms of braves, s–––––s, and papooses.
“At last the day’s work was over and instruments laid aside. After supper, I set
about to satisfy my curiosity as to the history of No. 16. A few inquiries enabled me
to locate the shack where she put up, and thither I bent my way.
“The shack, I may say, is a small hut, built of clay or mud. A fire can be made
in the shack. The place is so constructed that the s––––– stands the sticks of wood on
their ends so that the fire is fed as if from a self–feeder. No. 16 related to me how and
why she occupied the shack. It was rather a romantic story, but yet one full of sadness
from beginning to end.
“’My father,’ said No. 16, in a voice full of pathos, ‘is a Scotchman257, and is
factor of Fort Pelley, belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company. Before the Northwest
territories were taken over he ruled the country for hundreds of miles around. He was
a magistrate, too, and of course administered the law.
“When No. 16 reached a certain age she was sent to Scotland in one of the
company’s ships, which leave for Fort Nelson a couple of times each year. This was
no easy trip in those days. For hundreds of miles she had to cross prairies and then
by canoe and other conveyances the great rivers were traversed until Hudson’s Bay
was reached, where embarkation took place. It took some months to do this.
“When Scotland was reached she entered a university and remained there
until she graduated. These were pleasant days for the young Western girl. She
became acquainted with an intelligent Scotchman, and the attachment became so
strong on both sides that before she left the land of heather for the wilds of Canada,
they had plighted vows.

257 Probably Robert Campbell (1808 – 1859), the Scottish–born Chief Factor for the Swan River district
from 1867 to 1870. He made his base at Fort Pelly.

164
“One of the company’s ships bore her away from her pleasant associations in
Scotland to the higher latitudes of Davis Straits and the Hudson’s Bay, where the
iceberg familiar in August, there again to rough it over fords and stretches of swamps,
up vast water courses, and along bewildering trails, in company with the trappers
and porters of the company for months, until Fort Pelley was again reached.
“The journey was made in safety. Of course it was understood that her young
Scotch lover would leave the land of cakes and follow her to the Northwest, where she
pictured to herself the kind reception he would receive from her parents, and where
the battle of life would be commenced in the married state. But this dream was never
to be realized. Aye, the golden wish was to be shattered before it was nearly
completed.
“After due time the father was informed of her attachment to the young man
in Scotland, to her intention to marry him, and how he was coming out for that
purpose. The father became angry and would not consent. He already had a husband
chosen for her. The person was an employee of the company, and was stationed at
Fort Garry.
“Here was an obstacle that she did not count upon. She debated the subject
with her father, and finally asserted her prerogative of accepting as her husband the
man she had chosen, while the father was just as determined that she should marry
the man he had chosen.
“Thus matters stood for a long time. It was impossible for her to let the young
man in Scotland know how matters were. In the mean time, however, he had
determined to reach the Northwest.
“He came out to Chicago, and from there made his way to Fort Garry, where
he joined a party who were going to Fort Pelley. The journey between the two forts –
some 300 or 400 miles – was made, but his reception at Fort Pelley was a cold one.
The father would not allow him to see his daughter. He was ordered to leave the
country at once. This order was supreme, and had to be obeyed.
“He could not reside in the country an hour without the factor’s knowledge.
Even if he could, there was no means for a young man like him to gain a livelihood.
The forts held all the necessaries of life, and none could be purchased elsewhere.
Then, again, there was the danger of being killed by straggling bands of Indians.
“With reluctance, he turned his back to Fort Pelley and all it contained that
was dear to him. He retraced his steps as best he could and reached the border of the
United States, where all trace of him was lost forever, so far as No. 16 was concerned.
“By some means she learned that her trans atlantic lover had been in the
country, the reception he had received, and how he had been banished by her father.
This, of course, caused her a good deal of grief, and consequently widened the breech
between herself and father.
“At this time Fort Pelley contained a large number of employees belonging to
the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the factor lived like a baron of feudal times. Meals
were served in a large hall, while butlers attended to the ordinary duties.
“One morning, after the factor and his retinue had taken their places at the
breakfast table, it was noticed that the daughter’s chair was vacant. The mother was

165
asked the reason, and she replied that the girl was ill and she was unable to leave
her room.
“The father, suspecting that she had heard of his actions toward the young
Scotchman, and that she was feigning sickness, determined to show her he was not
to be trifled with. The mother was requested to tell her to come down, and the
daughter obeyed the summons.
“When she entered the hall it was quite evident that she had recently been
weeping. The father, letting his passion get the better of decorum, up braided his
daughter before the employees, using the most harsh language toward the young
Scotchman.
“For a time the daughter listened to him meekly, but the climax was reached
where patience ceased to be a virtue. She arose, and, tossing back her loose hair, stood
before him in defiance. Looking straight at her father, she said with much bitterness
and determination: ‘Before forty–eight hours I will disgrace you.’ With that she
rushed from the dining hall. The meal proceeded, and afterward the employees went
about their usual vocations.
“The father thought the affair of the morning would soon quiet down as far as
his daughter was concerned, and eventually she would come around to his way of
thinking. But he was mistaken.
“The young woman left the fort. It was no use for her to try to leave the country,
for she was too far away from civilization, and she also knew that none of the
employees dare assist her. She therefore made her way to a tribe of Cree Indians. It
did not take her long to make up her mind what to do. It was a terrible sacrifice, but
she was determined to thwart her father’s plans, and in order to do this she became
the ‘pale–faced s–––––’ of a full–blooded Cree.
“Although, with her husband, she often encamped near the fort, her father
never noticed her afterward. Her mother used to send her articles from the fort, but
that was the only intercourse she had with her parents. In order to distinguish her
husband and family she had them assume the name of McLeod.
“The woman’s story affected me very much,” said the speaker, “and I was glad
when my work was over, but the sacrifice No. 16 made has never left my memory.”

166

III. The Treaties, and After

167
Starvation, the End of the Buffalo, and Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull was a Lakota Sioux Chief who led a resistance against the United States
government and its system of Indian reservations. In 1876, this culminated in the
battle of Little Big Horn. General Custer, leading the U.S. 7th Cavalry Division
against Sitting Bull’s Cheyenne and Lakota allies, died. Additional soldiers were
sent, and Sitting Bull and his followers were forced to cross the border into Canada
in 1877. They would stay in the Dominion for four years, until hunger forced them
back into the United States. Sitting Bull’s forces surrendered in 1881258.

1. Conditions Near Battleford (1879)259

The Black Feet260 and Sacs261, who it was supposed had gone home, have
returned to Battleford262, being unable to cross the Saskatchewan, owing to high
water. The condition of these Indians is terrible in the extreme; the rations of tea and
flour is but one remove from starvation, accustomed as they are to animal food. The
Indians are quite willing to work, and a farm has been opened up, on which a number
has been engaged. The Indians are living partially on wild turnips263 and wild
rhubarb264, without which their sufferings would be intensified. Meat is not to be had,
nor is any ordered by telegraph, the lines being down. About 1,000 Indians are at
Battleford, and while everything is pacific now, the Herald thinks serious

258 In broad outline, the resistance of Chief Mistahimaskwa (Big Bear) of the Plains Cree is very
similar. The Dominion negotiated and signed Treaty 6 in 1876, near Mistahimaskwa’s home, while he
was away. On his return, Big Bear refused to sign the treaty and began a resistance against the
Canadian government’s reserve policies. In 1879 he and his allies crossed the border into Montana,
where they stayed for three years until hunger forced them back into Canada. Mistahimaskwa signed
Treaty 6 in December of 1882. An additional clause was added to the treaty making his surrender
explicit, total and permanent: “NOW THIS INSTRUMENT WITNESSETH, that the said “Big Bear,”
for himself and on behalf of the Band which he represents, does transfer, surrender and relinquish to
Her Majesty the Queen, Her heirs and successors, to and for the use of Her Government of the
Dominion of Canada, all his right, title and interest whatsoever, which he has held or enjoyed, of, in
and to the territory described and fully set out in the said treaty; also all his right, title and interest
whatsoever to all other lands wherever situated, whether within the limits of any other treaty
heretofore made or hereafter to be made with Indians, or elsewhere in Her Majesty’s territories. To
have and to hold the same unto and for the use of Her Majesty the Queen, Her heirs and successors
forever.” Duhamel, R. (1964). Copy of Treaty No. 6 between Her Majesty the Queen and the Plain and
Wood Cree Indians and other Tribes of Indians at Fort Carlton, Fort Pitt and Battle River with
Adhesions. Ottawa: Queen’s Printer and Controller of Stationary.
259 From SUFFERING INDIANS. (1879, July 24). The Montreal Daily Witness, p. 2
260 The Blackfoot Confederacy (Niitsitapi) is a group of four Indigenous bands: the Siksika, Kainai,
Apa’tosee and Amskapi Piikani.
261 The French name for the oθaakiiwaki (‘yellow earth’), an Algonquin–speaking Indigenous nation
from the shores of Lake Michigan.
262 Battleford, Saskatchewan, was the capital of the Northwest Territories from 1877 to 1883. Its
importance waned and never recovered when the Canadian Pacific Railway passed it by.
263 Not the turnip found in supermarkets. This is the prairie turnip (Psoralea esculenta).
264 Not the rhubarb commonly used in pies. This is probably Tanner’s Dock (Rumex hymenosepalus),
so called because of its use as a source of tannin for leather tanning.

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complications may ensue, owing to the rumors of Sitting Bull’s intentions on the
boundary.

2. The Indians in Manitoba (1879)265

Great anxiety is everywhere felt regarding the Indians. It was reported some
time ago that vast herds of buffalo were moving north, but this was a mistake. The
buffalo was never so scarce. The best hunters have not thought it worth while to go
on the chase this season, and the Indians are suffering terribly, with the prospect of
utter starvation during the winter. Pemmican266, formerly sold at the Hudson Bay
posts for five cents a pound, is now quoted at twenty–five cents. At the Hudson Bay
stores at Fort Carleton267 where in years past pemmican was often thrown away,
being unsalable, not a single pound has been brought in this season, and even what
is known as berry pemmican cannot be procured. Pure pemmican is made of dried
buffalo meat pounded fine and boiled with the fat of the animal, the marrow from the
bones being used to flavor it. Berry pemmican is the pounded meat mixed with wild
cherries or blueberries, and in old times was regarded as food only fit for s––––s268
and children. Mr. Dewdney269, Chief Indian Commissioner of the North–West, has
ordered vast quantities of provisions from the Hudson Bay posts and private traders,
but the Indians, when impeded by bulky provision trains, cannot keep up with the
buffalo herds and insist on being supplied with pemmican.
The Canadian tribes, while suffering quite as severely as Sitting Bull’s people,
have thus far behaved well and are trying to kill enough cabri270 and other small
game to enable them to tide over the winter. The missionaries say that the distress
prevails throughout the territories as far west as the Rocky Mountains and
northward to the Athabasca district. The buffalo are all south of the boundary–line
and the Indians from the Canadian side have been prohibited from crossing in
pursuit. At Fort Carleton, Vital Cayotte271, a h–––––272 hunter of great note, reported
to Colonel Smith’s party that in August one hundred tents of h––––– hunters and
fifty tents of Sitting Bull’s Sioux crossed the line at the Wood Mountain in chase of a
herd which they overtook one hundred miles south of the boundary. There they were

265 From THE INDIANS IN MANITOBA. (1879, November 11).
266 Pemmican fueled the expansion of the fur trade and has an important history in Manitoba. At the
height of the fur trade, Métis hunters near Red River became famous for hunting buffalo on horseback
and selling the resulting pemmican to the North West Company.
267 A trading post about halfway between Saskatoon and Prince Albert. It was built in 1795 and burned
down in 1885 during a conflict between the Mounted Police and Métis forces.
268 The dashes mask an extremely offensive, racist and misogynist term for Indigenous women.
269 Edgar Dewdney (1835 – 1916). He was also Lieutenant–Governor of British Columbia from 1892 to
1897.
270 French for ‘young goat’.
271 Possibly the Cayotte mentioned in the following report from 1884: “At the leanings of Battle River,
“Cayotte,” Bobtail’s son, has a good field of barley and potatoes.” Dominion of Canada. (1885).
Dominion of Canada Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st
December, 1884. Ottawa: MacLean, Roger & Co.
272 An offensive term for people of mixed heritage, such as the Métis.

169
met by a large body of American troops and Crow273 Indians, taken prisoners and
escorted back across the line. Hitherto it has been the custom of the Canadian and
American hunters to hunt on both sides of the boundary indiscriminately, but owing
to the scarcity of buffalo the Americans, so Cayotte says, are no longer willing to allow
Canadians into their range.
Sitting Bull’s people are moving northward in large numbers, levying
blackmail on the Hudson Bay posts and white settlers on the line of march. They are
making for Prince Albert, where there is a settlement of the Minnesota Sioux. On the
10th October Colonel Smith’s party counted seventy tepis274 of American Sioux
between Stobart and Prince Albert, and scores of warriors were coming up on the
same trail.
At a public meeting to consider the means of defence, held at Prince Albert on
October 5, Bishop McLean275, the Anglican Bishop of the Saskatchewan Diocese, said
he feared that there would be bad work before the winter was over, and urged the
settlers to be prepared for the worst. Another speaker said he had reason to believe
that at least 1,500 of the American Sioux were on the march for the settlement. They
are well horsed and armed with Winchester rifles276. On Friday, the 3rd of October,
late in the afternoon, seventy of them, armed to the teeth and with their war paint
on, rode into Prince Albert and hailed opposite Charles Mair’s277 store, where they
dismounted and performed the begging dance278. The leader then entered the store
and demanded tobacco and provisions, which Mair handed over. They told him they
would not make another levy on him until they had raided the Hudson Bay stores in
the neighborhood. The settlers in the outlying districts are alarmed, many of them
having been plundered of their last mouthful by these wandering bands. The
Canadian Indians around Prince Albert279 are chiefly engaged in agriculture, and are
remarkably quiet and well–behaved, but they declare they will fight if Sitting Bull’s

273 The Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation’s modern territory is in Montana. Earlier, they were located in Ohio
south of Lake Winnipeg. They migrated west as a result of pressure from Cree and Assiniboine
migrations in the later years of the fur trade.
274 From the Lakota Sioux word thípi (dwelling place). A cone–shaped tent typical of Indigenous people
of the Plains.
275 John McLean (1828 – 1886) was the first Anglican Bishop of Saskatchewan.
276 The 1873 Winchester rifle, an early American repeating rifle, was very popular and is still known
in the United States as ‘The Gun that Won the West’.
277 Charles Mair (1838 – 1927). Poet, journalist and vocal opponent of Louis Riel. His best–known work
is Tecumseh, a drama in verse about the War of 1812.
278 “One of the most curious of all Indian dances, is called the “begging dance.” It is also least common,
for it requires the active participation of two tribes, which have become friendly after a period of
hostility. […] It is emphatically a dance of reconciliation. […] Every [one] embraced by a dancer is
required by Indian custom to make him a present […] A “begging dance” is almost as grave a calamity
to an Indian tribe as the raid of a hostile band. No one is killed or wounded, it is true, but the amount
of plunder carried off is such as to incommode, if not impoverish, the unfortunates subject to it.” Dodge,
Richard I. (1883). Our Wild Indians: Thirty–Three Years’ Personal Experience Among the R–– men of
the Great West. Hartford, Conn: A.D. Worthington and Company.
279 Today, the third–largest city in Saskatchewan. At the time it was written, it would have qualified
as a village or settlement at best. Prince Albert was designated a town in 1885, and incorporated as a
city in 1904.

170
men attempt to rob them. Captain Young280, formerly of the Fiftieth Regiment of the
line, and an officer who distinguished himself greatly during the Maori war281 in New
Zealand, has been placed in charge of the volunteer companies at Prince Albert, and
recruiting is going on with great spirit, his object being to form a strong battalion,
half infantry and half mounted rifles in that district. Beardy282, chief of the Cree
Indians in the Saskatchewan region, has been giving the authorities trouble, even
going so far as to defy Lieutenant Governor Laird283 and insult the Commissioners
sent to treat with him. He is friendly to the American Sioux, and has promised to help
them if they come into conflict with the white settlers. He is at the head of nearly one
thousand warriors and is reputed to be a brave and skillful fighter. While Colonel
Smith’s party was at Fort Carleton Beardy stole a horse from the Hudson Bay post.
The factor lodged an information against him, and Stipendiary Magistrate 284
Richardson285 issued a warrant for his arrest, and a squad of mounted police had gone
out in search of him. Cases of cannibalism among Canadian tribes have been reported
at Qu’Appelle, Edmonton and the Touchwood Hills. To the north, in the Athabasca
country, the distress is said to be frightful in the extreme. Several Hudson Bay posts
have been raided, but on their wants being supplied the savages apologized saying
that nothing but hunger and the desire to save their s––––s and children from dying
of starvation could induce them to break the law.
In the Saskatchewan district the instructors in agriculture appointed by the
Dominion Government had arrived286, but it was too late in the season for them to
begin operations. The Indians have taken the seed wheat and seed potatoes supplied
by the Department of the Interior, as well as the oxen. Flour at $10 per 100 pounds

280 Captain George Holmes Young (1851 – 1935). Not to be confused with his father, Rev. George
Young, who in 1897 published the now–famous Manitoba Memories: Leaves from my Life in the
Prairies Province. 1868 – 1884.
281 Now called the New Zealand wars, these were a series of conflicts between the British Empire and
the Māori Indigenous people that lasted from 1845 to 1872. It ended with the defeat of the Māori, the
New Zealand Settlement Act (1863) and the confiscation of millions of acres of Māori land.
282 Kamiscowesit, Chief of the Willow Cree until his death in 1889.
283 David Laird (1833 – 1914), Lieutenand Governor of the North–West Territories from 1876 to 1881.
284 A British lawyer who is paid a salary by the government (as opposed to being paid by his clients).
285 Hugh Richardson (1826 – 1913)
286 This was a new program. Though recommended by Indian Agent M. G. Dickieson as early as 1975,
it was not until the famines of 1878–79 that the Dominion Government was willing to spend money
on instructor salaries. “Unfortunately many of those assigned to the formidable task were ill suited
and unprepared. […] They were unfamiliar with conditions of life in the West and knew nothing of the
Indians, their languages, customs, or recent history. […] A rationale forwarded for not choosing local
people, familiar with the Indians and their territory, was that “strangers” were likely to carry out their
duties better than local people, as they would not have their favourites and would treat all fairly and
alike.” Carter, S. (1990). Lost Harvests: Prairie Indian Reserve Farmers and Government Policy.
Canada: McGill–Queen’s University Press.

171
and salted cabri meat fetches thirty cents a pound. The s––––s and papooses287 are
subsisting almost entirely on wild cherries288, blue berries and sweet roots289.

3. Starvation and Cattle Ranching in Alberta (1912)290

In 1874 the Northwest Mounted Police arrived in this country. On arriving at
the Cypress Hills, and from thence west, they were continually passing large herds
of buffalo. So numerous were these animals that they had much difficulty, especially
in the vicinity of water, to obtain grass for horses. To the inexperienced eye this grass
did not appear to possess much value, but on viewing the condition of the buffalo they
killed for food they had to alter their opinion.
While the bulk of the buffalo migrated south in the fall and early winter, many
remained and their condition in the spring proved that the grass was able to retain
its nutriment during the winter. This led them to believe that cattle might succeed
under the same circumstances, a belief that was strengthened by the fact that in
Montana, a similar country, ranching had made some progress, consequently some of
the first time–expired men of the police who had the means purchased small herds of
cattle in Montana and drove them into this country.
POLICE WERE PIONEER RANCHMEN
Their success for the first couple of years proved that this was an excellent
stock country, but they quickly learned that though cattle could winter on the prairie
grass, it did not pay for several reasons to depend entirely on it. They found the cattle,
if not occasionally fed during the winter, would wander off, and it paid to have the
cows close at home especially in the spring, during the calving time, so that they could
be placed under rough shelter during the spring storms. Neglect of this might mean
some years the loss of over fifty per cent of the calve drop, as well as a serious loss in
the cows also.
With this end in view, the early ranchers fenced and plowed the land they
required to grow feed, almost entirely oats. Some threshed and disposed of the grain
to the police and freighters, finding that straw alone was sufficient to winter stock.
The early rancher was essentially a mixed farmer, and those engaged in that
business, no matter how small their start, quickly achieved success and were looking
forward to become prosperous. Most of the police were saving their pay, intending to
engage in the business when their time expired. Some young men were induced to
come out from Ireland. They were more than pleased with their success. Some of them
visited that country and spread the good news, as they had perfect faith in the future
of this country.
INDIANS FACE STARVATION

287 Indigenous children. From the Algonquian word ‘papoos’, which means ‘child’.
288 Possibly the chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), a bitter edible berry that grows wild on the Plains.
289 These probably included Bugleweed (Lycopus spp.), two varieties of which grow wild in
Saskatchewan. Its edible roots are sweet and can be steamed, boiled or dried.
290 From A Brief History of Ranching in Southern Alberta. (1912, November 21). The Gleichen Call, p.
1.

172
The first setback came in 1879. Up to that period, there were sufficient buffalo
to provide the Indians with what meat they required, but there had been such
immense slaughtering of buffalo a few years previous for their hides in that year,
buffalo may be said to have disappeared from Canada. This meant absolute
starvation for the Indians. During the summer of that year they tried to exist on
gophers and badgers and such roots and berries as they could find, and for a time did
not molest the white man’s cattle, being buoyed by the hope held out to them by Mr.
Dewdney291, the Indian commissioner, that the government was taking steps to
provide food for them. They were also no doubt influenced by fear of the police, for
whom they had the greatest respect. But hunger at last drove them to killing cattle –
few at first. Complaints would be made to the police but they were helpless. They had
no means of detecting the culprits, and even if they had, it might have been unwise
to have taken any action, as there were several thousand Indians in the country, well
armed, and if driven to desperation the result might have been disastrous.
INDIANS SLAUGHTER CATTLE
As the Indians found they could kill cattle with impunity, their awe of the
police began to decrease and their depredations correspondingly increased. This
naturally alarmed the settlers, and a number of them interviewed Mr. Dewdney and
requested him to purchase sufficient of their cattle to feed the Indians until the
promised supplies arrived. This he refused to do, and his refusal probably changed
the history of Southern Alberta. The ranchers collected what cattle they had left, and
those who found they had sufficient to justify starting in another country drove them
to Montana and all, with the exception of Mr. Monsell, became permanent residents
of that country. On counting the cattle it was found that the Indians had killed over
fifty per cent in six weeks. This ended the first attempt to settle Southern Alberta,
and for at least two years no further effort was made.

4. The Buffalo are Near Extinction (1882)292

At the present time a few scattered bands in the neighborhood of Wood
mountains are all that remain of the vast herds of these wild cattle which once
covered the prairies from the Saskatchewan to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Red
and Mississippi rivers to the Rocky mountains. It is as hard to realize now that the
buffalo were once so plentiful as it would have been twenty years ago to believe that
in such a comparatively short space of time they would be almost extinct. Of course,
they were not equally numerous over the whole of this great territory. They seemed
to go on in vast herds, so that while millions of them might be in one particular
district, none would be found in others. As the herds were so large they were obliged
to keep moving continually, for if they stayed any length of time in one place the
ground would be stripped as bare as if a fire had run over it. In both summer and
winter the great, bare plains were their home. It is true that a few were sometimes

291 Edgar Dewdney (1835 – 1916), English–born surveyor and politician. He served as both
Lieutenant–Governor and Indian Commissioner for the North–West Territories in the 1880s.
292 From BUFFALO. (1882, March 18). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 4.

173
found in the woods bordering on the plains, but the main herds never left the open
country.
They were especially adapted for enduring the cold and storms of winter. While
the horse, the ox and all other animals turn their heads from the storm, the buffalo
faces it. His head and fore quarters, which form the largest part of him, are protected
by a heavy growth of shaggy hair or coarse wool, which, when turned towards the
wind, shields the rest and more lightly covered portions of his body. Although unable
to paw away the snow like the horse, the buffalo never fails to pick his own living in
the winter, for the snow is never very deep on the plains, and the crust is seldom so
hard that he cannot break it with his nose. Like the horse, but unlike other horned
cattle, he does not require water in winter, and even that of a poor quality, answers
his requirements in summer. It is a remarkable fact that on the plains, where alkali
lakes abound, in which the water is bad enough to poison an ordinary ox, more old
buffalo trails are found leading down to them than to adjacent fresh water ones.
That the buffalo is a valuable animal, the fact of its rapid extinction clearly
proves. The race has not perished from any lack of producing powers, or because their
pasture grounds were brought under cultivation, or from any disease, but simply
because they were so valuable and so easily slaughtered. The animal is as large as an
ordinary ox while the meat is superior to beef, and in the form of pemmican gives a
condensed food superior to any other article of condensed food known. The hide,
whether as robe or leather, also finds a ready market. The slaughtering outfit consists
merely of a smart saddle horse and a gun, an old fashioned double barreled flint lock
being nearly as useful as the latest improved 16–shooter.
As buffalo hunting was an occupation requiring very little capital to start in,
and one that combined sport and profit in a greater degree than perhaps any other,
each year more and more people engaged in it, and as cow beef was more valuable
than that of bulls, it was chiefly the cows that were slaughtered, and besides as the
cows could run the fastest it was considered more glory to kill them. The consequence
was that not only were the herds gradually lessened in numbers, but the reproductive
power was reduced in a much greater ratio. At the time the law was passed by the
North–West Council for the protection of the buffalo, too much damage in this way
had already been done even could the law have been enforced.
What the total yearly value of the trade in robes and pemmican was cannot
now be told, but those who have seen the army of traders camped near Winnipeg and
the train after train of carts that came there every summer loaded down with robes,
will have some idea of its vast proportions. In all probability the total trade in robes,
leather, pemmican and fresh meat in the North–West alone amounted to nearly
$2,000,000 annually, while now, although the country is still unoccupied, the trade is
simply nothing, and besides the Indians who caused the trade to be done and
supported themselves in the product of it are reduced to a condition of abject poverty
and have to be fed and clothed at the expense of the Government.

174
Land and the Treaties

5. An Early Treaty Talk (1849)293

Near a month ago, without any warning or notice given to the Indians, for the
purpose of collecting them, as is usual upon such occasions, two Commissioners
arrived at Sault Ste. Marie. Notice was given that upon the following day a Council
would be held at an Indian Village, some eight or ten miles distance; but upon the
next day, the Commissioners postponed it, and declared their intention of proceeding
up the Lake to Fort William, and thence to coast it down, holding Councils with the
different bands. They were told that it was too late in the season to meet bodies of
Indians, they having gone inland to their hunting. Nevertheless, the Commissioners
started, and it occurred just as had been anticipated, they met but very few Indians
along the coast. At Fort William they saw a few whom they collected at a moment’s
warning and proposed to them to sell their lands. But no treaty was made, in fact it
was not such a Council as could conclude a treaty. At another locality they met on
Indian family, at another two, and at another five or six Indians, and without waiting
to send word to Indians in the neighborhood, or endeavour to collect any, they pushed
on until they again arrived at the Sault Ste. Marie, upon the 16th day of October.
Within the vicinity of this place a number of Chiefs were anxiously expecting them,
and notice was given that upon the following day, a Council would be held at the
Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort. Accordingly about noon the Indian Chiefs and Indians
met at the place appointed, and Mr. Commissioner Vidal294, instead of opening the
Council by explaining to the Indians the object of his errand and for what purpose
the Council had been requested, as is usual upon all such occasions, he commenced
his proceedings by asking a series of most absurd and childish questions, to which
the Chiefs replied with a great deal of humour and much patience, at every question
expecting that the following one would tend to enlighten them as to what was the
actual object of the gentleman’s mission. At length came some two or three questions
which might be said to have some reference to their errand. One was, “did you ever
lease or lend to the Hudson’s Bay Company, any lands at this place.” The reply was,
“we did, and we will hold it good now; the Company shall have it.” Another was, “have
you leased or lent to Mr. MacDonell295, any lands upon the island of Michipicotton296.”
“We have done so, and that we will hold good also, he shall have it to work for us.”
Again, “have you leased or lent to the Rev. Mr. Anderson297, any land at your Village,
at Garden River.” “We have done so, and hold that good, we give it for a mission, he

293 From The Indians on Lakes Huron and Superior. (1849, November 16). The Halifax British
Colonist, p. 3.
294 Alexander Vidal (1819 – 1906). At the time, he was Deputy Provincial Surveyor, and had been in
charge of surveying the town plot of Sault Ste. Marie.
295 Allan Macdonell (1808 – 1888).
296 Now called Michipicoten Island.
297 Probably Gustavus Anderson, Anglican missionary at Garden River and son of the former
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Thomas Gummersall Anderson (1779 – 1875).

175
is a missionary among us.” To these replies Mr. Vidal responded, I am instructed by
the Government to inform you that it will not sanction such acts. Then came the
questions, “Will you sell your lands.” “Upon what terms.”
MR. VIDAL, “Will you sell your lands, yes or no.”
SHINGWAKONCE298. – We can not settle the question here whether we will
sell or not, we will take the rest of the day to consult among ourselves, on to–morrow
we will give you an answer at this place at ten o’clock. We are not unwilling to sell
some of our lands.” […]
The following day at the hour appointed, the Chiefs having taken their seats,
Mr. Vidal asked them their reply to the question of yesterday, namely, if they would
sell their lands &c. Shingwakonce then rose and said this is a question of vast
importance to ourselves and to our children’s children; four years have passed since
the miners first came among us, seizing our lands and possessing themselves of the
mineral which has been placed there for our use; when the time shall have arrived
that it would become necessary for our subsistence, that time has now arrived, we
have the example of our brethren upon the other side of the lake, to guide us in our
transactions, they have sold all their lands, and now they can only behold, but not
share in the wealth which their lands produce, they have either been unfortunate or
unwise. We do not wish to sell all our lands, we must keep some. When I saw our
lands occupied, without our consent, when I twice travelled to see our Great Father
at Montreal, and asked in vain for justice. We sought assistance from several whom
we hoped might aid us in our difficulties, at last we turned to one who had been among
the first to come upon our lands, but who always said “you must be paid for your
lands;” he became our friend, on him we place our reliance, and we can trust entirely
to him, he knows our wants and our wishes, and he has full power and authority from
us to act, and to conclude a bargain with you; our whole affairs are now in his hands,
he is a white man like yourselves, you can understand one another, you are sent by
the Government, he is sent by us; turning to Mr. Macdonell, he said my friend it is
for you to settle with them, I have done. To this all the Indians present signified their
approbation.
Mr. Macdonell then rose, when Mr. Vidal informed him that the
Commissioners were sent to treat with the Indians, and demanded of them if they
had more confidence in Mr. Macdonell than in the Government. All unanimously
replied, yes, we have more confidence in Mr. Macdonell than in the Government, he
alone shall act for us. Mr. Macdonell then addressed the Commissioners, saying that
he insisted upon the right of appearing there as an agent of these people, whose
determination had been expressed to him Mr. Vidal, by themselves; he said I am the
servant of those people, free to choose whom they may employ to negociate with you,
the servants of a party bidding, for their lands. Mr. Vidal in a most flurried and
nervous manner, interrupted Mr. Macdonell, saying that if he persisted, that the
Council should be broken up, and that there should be no treaty; – To which Mr.

298 Shingwaukonse, ‘Little Pine’ (1773 – 1884) was an Anishnaabe chief and founder of the Garden
River First Nation (Ketegaunseebe). Chief Shingwaukonse was a signatory to the Robinson Huron
Treaty of 1850.

176
Macdonell replied, I will maintain the position in which these people have placed me;
it would be base and dishonourable in me to desert it now, and as their agent I tell
you, then be the Council dissolved, and let there be no treaty, but upon your head rest
the blame.
Mr. Vidal then hastily gathered up his papers and rushed from the room. Mr.
Anderson remained, while Mr. Macdonell addressed the Indians through an
interpreter who repeated to the Indians sentence by sentence as Mr. Macdonell spoke
it; he said, my friends the course pursued by these Commissioners is of so
extraordinary a nature, that I cannot avoid making some observations relative to the
position which they have attempted to assume. If this assumption of power is in
accordance with their instructions, then any remarks which I make cannot be
applicable to them personally, but to the Government whose servants they are, and I
request that they may remain in this room in order that they may hear what I say.
Upon an occasion less important than this or on a matter of less grave consequences
to you, the power which they have attempted to assume might be treated as ridiculous
or contemptable, but in the present instance and under all the circumstances
attending it, I must view it in another light; I can only look upon it as a most arbitrary
and unjust attempt to compel a simple and unsuspecting people to accede their views,
to force you to accept such pittance for the surrender of your lands, which they may
think proper to dole out to you from the large sums which they have received for the
sale of those lands. To make such a treaty as shall suit their views, alike regardless
of your present welfare or your future fate. The Government has committed such
faults and errors, which renders it so necessary that it shall obtain your lands, that
it would rob you of them; else why the attempt to prevent one who has your
confidence, one who has been expressly employed by you to attend here and negociate
a treaty for you. These men, the servants of the Government, are sent here to ask you
if you will sell your lands. By what right, by what authority can they presume to
dictate to you whom you shall or shall not employ upon your part.
You all know that I come here authorized by you, to offer such a treaty as would
have been advantageous to the Government, whilst it would be beneficial to you. I
was prepared to offer to surrender to Government, from the Grand Buttline upwards,
a tract of land whereon is included the Bruce Mine, the Copper Bay &c. &c., also the
lands at the land laid out as a township, stipulating however, that you should make
a reservation from below Garden River to Point au Perdiex upon the St. Mary River,
and also that the Hudson’s Bay Company should be secured in the property formerly
assigned to them by your people, as well as every individual on such lands, as has
been heretofore held with your consent, some of whom have held and farmed them
for 40 years, and upwards, besides being of your own blood; and all this is but simple
justice, in consideration of which I only ask them to pay over to you the money in
their hands arising from the sale of your own lands, and pay the first instalment only
of but a very small portion of the lands, which would thus be ceded; besides an
annuity of £1250 per annum. The act of these men has this day refused our intended
offer, they made none themselves.

177
They talked of a treaty, have they any where attempted to make one, they have
not; and I here tell them to their face (Mr. Anderson is present), that they were not
authorised to offer one shilling of your lands, let them contradict me if I say that
which is not true. They have questioned much about our arrangements relative to the
island of Michipicatton. The land is yours, and the rightful title can only come from
you, when you shall have transferred that titled to the Government, then let them
talk of what they will sanction, or what they will not sanction. As it is, you can sell it,
you can keep it, or you can farm it in what manner you think proper. You have come
to the determination to reserve it for yourselves, and who shall say that you shall not.
You have thought proper to enter into arrangements with me, whereby I become your
servant, to farm or work it for you; and who dare say that you shall not employ me?
Will they tell you that you shall not employ a white man to plant or dig your potatoes?
They will not say so. Then how can they declare that you shall not employ me to farm
that which you know is far more valuable. Do not feel uneasy at the result of this day,
all these lands are still your own, and be yet assured that every justice must yet be
done you, if you be but true to yourselves. And it is fortunate for you that this
occurrence has happened, you can now perceive what was their object in seeking to
treat with parties here and there. You must combine from one end of the lake to the
other, be firm, be united, and you will be strong. Let all the Chiefs meet at a general
council, and there only receive proposals for a treaty. I will say no more at present,
because I shall have many opportunities more suitable than this. Mr. Macdonell then
left the room, followed by all the Chiefs and Indians present. And thus ended this
mockery of a treaty upon the part of the Government.

6. Treaties and the Mounted Police (1885)299

My first knowledge of the Northwest Indians was in 1874, the commencement
of the administration of the N. W. M. P. in the Territories. At that time none of the
Indians west of Manitoba had been treated with, and the whole territory properly
belonged to them. In their wild state and out of reach of the whiskey trade, a more
happy contented people could not be found. Most of them lived entirely by buffalo
hunting. The buffalo in those days roamed from the North Saskatchewan to the
Boundary Line, and from about the longitude of Regina to the Rocky mountains. The
Indians lived with them summer and winter. When the buffalo moved the Indians
moved also. When the Indians wanted luxuries such as tea, sugar and tobacco they
traded buffalo robes, pemican or horses for them. Their lives were a continual round
of hunting, horse racing, gambling, dancing and feasting, and their wants were few,
although even in those days they had times of starvation. The buffalo for some
unknown reason would leave our territory for a time, when the Indians were in want
and would eat their horses &c. Many of them were fed by the H. B. Company and
other traders, and numbers of them died of actual starvation on the plains.
TREATIES WERE MADE

299 From Walker, J. (1885, April 30). Our Indians. The Calgary Weekly Herald, p. 4. Written by James
Walker (1848 – 1936).

178
with all the Indians in the northwest in 1874 – 1877. When they were made the
buffalo, although rapidly diminishing in numbers, were still sufficient for the wants
of the Indians. In consequence they were more easily treated with than they would
have been a few years later. The treaty commissioners explained to the Indians that
the treaty would not interfere with their old ways of living. They could go where they
pleased over the territories and hunt, and when they wanted reserves, one mile
square would be given to each family of five. They were also to receive oxen, cows,
implements and an annual payment of money and ammunition. The Indians, in
return, were to give up all the rights they had to the lands outside the reserves. This
treaty, although a good one for the Indians at the time, was, if strictly adhered to by
the government, simply
STARVATION
to them when the buffalo disappeared, as they were not accustomed to tilling soil,
and it will be a work of many years to teach them to make sufficient by farming to
render them self supporting.
The advent of the fugitive Sioux in 1878 forever put an end to the buffalo in
these territories. The main herd of buffalo was south of the Boundary when the Sioux
crossed. These Indians had to live, so they scattered along the line, and wherever the
buffalo came close enough they would ride out and kill them by hundreds. They
herded them so closely, that very few got through, and the larger herds returned to
the valleys of the Missouri and Yellowstone where they were slaughtered wholesale
for their robes, by Indians and whites. The few buffalo that came north after 1878
were so scattered that they did our Indians little good. This was a revelation of hunger
and misery to the Indians.
I remember meeting about 600 of the Carlton and Duck Lake Indians
returning from an unsuccessful hunt. They had found very few buffalo, and had eaten
all the spare horses and dogs they had. When I met them they were scattered over
miles of country digging up a sort of wild turnip which had been their sole food for
days. They were reduced to living skeletons. Indians I had known well, I could
scarcely recognize. I gave them all the provisions I had, and made a few of them
happy.
There is a clause300 in the treaty with the
NORTH SASKATCHEWAN CREES
to the effect that in case of actual famine in the land, the Indians were to be fed by
the government. Some of the Indians of the Beardy stamp thought it was actual
famine when the buffalo disappeared, and all they had to do was to sit down on the
reserves and they would be fed for all time to come. Others however showed a
disposition to keep themselves. This important clause in the treaty has been the

300 “That in the event hereafter of the Indians comprised within this treaty being overtaken by any
pestilence, or by a general famine, the Queen, on being satisfied and certified thereof by her Indian
Agent or Agents, will grant to the Indians such assistance of such character and to such extent as Her
Chief Superintendent of Indian Affairs shall deem necessary and sufficient to relieve the Indians from
the calamity that shall have befallen them.” Government of Canada. (1964) Copy of Treaty No. 6
between Her Majesty the Queen and the Plain and Wood Cree Indians and other Tribes of Indians at
Fort Carlton, Fort Pitt and Battle River with Adhesions. Ottawa: Queen’s Printer.

179
means of a great deal of trouble between the Indians and the Indian Department
agents. The government set about teaching the Indians to support themselves by
farming, and it is to be regretted that farm instructors were chosen on account of the
political influence they possessed at Ottawa and not from any special capacity they
had for teaching Indians. Many of them were utterly unfitted for the work and have
been the means of creating hostility in the Indians towards the government and the
whites that never would have existed had the government put practical men on the
reserves. This evil, however, has now remedied itself, as there will not be so many
political adventurers hankering after appointments as farm instructors after the
experience of poor Payne and others.
Another source of trouble is dilatoriness on the part of the government in
carrying out promises to the Indians. When an Indian is promised anything, he wants
it at the appointed time, even if he has no use for it, and if disappointed, will never
forget it. To illustrate this, I will give an experience of my own while acting as Indian
agent up north. The Indians were all called to Carlton at a certain day to receive their
annual presents and money. I met them on the day appointed, but neither provisions
nor presents or money had arrived, nor could I hear anything of them. The Indians
had come expecting a feast and were hungry. From their actions I foresaw trouble at
once unless they were fed. To keep them quiet I bought provisions for them from the
H. B. store, and, before the government stores had arrived, I had run up a bill of over
$10,000, but I satisfied the Indians, and Lt. Governor Laird301, who was the Indian
Commissioner, and who was most particular to carry out every promise made to
Indians, approved of what I had done. I believe Lt. Governor Dewdney, Mr.
Vankoughnet302 and other Indian officials are sincere in their efforts to do the best
they can for the Indians but with political appointments forced on them, it is
impossible for them to have their wishes carried out.

7. An Account of a Signing of Treaty 6 (1918)303

Treaty 6 was signed by different Indigenous peoples at various times and places
from 1876 to 1879, and later in 1944 and 1950. This account, by a non–Indigenous
Albertan politician, is of the signing at Sound Lake in 1879.

In 1873, the North West Mounted Police force was organized for the purpose
of maintaining law and order throughout all this western country, and as far south

301 David Laird (1833 – 1914) served as Lieutenant Governor of the North–West Territories from 1876
to 1881.
302 Probably Lawrence Vankoughnet, an Indian agent who was in frequent conflict with Dewdney over
budget cuts. Vankoughnet wanted to cut staff and funding from the Department of Indian Affairs,
believing it to be corrupt. Dewdney objected to the cuts.
303 From McDougall, J. A. (1918, February 2). John A. McDougall Tells Story Of the Early History of
Edmonton Came Here in Late Summer of 1876. The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 6. Written by John
Alexander McDougall (1854 – 1928), Albertan politician and business owner. He was mayor of
Edmonton twice, MLA for Edmonton from 1909 to 1913, and co–founder (in 1896) of the general
merchant firm McDougall & Secord.

180
as the American boundary. One detachment of the force came here in 1874, but
definitely established themselves some miles down the river where they built a fort
known as Fort Saskatchewan.
Up to this time no settlement had been made with the Indians west of
Manitoba, and they strongly objected to the surveys that were being made and the
work that was being done, and to the white man coming in and taking possession of
their country. The justice of their claims was recognized by the Dominion
government, and treaties were made with all the different Indian tribes in what was
then known as the North West Territories.
AN INDIAN TREATY.
A short description of one of the largest of these Indian treaties might be
interesting. This was made at Sounding Lake in 1879. The Indians were notified by
messengers to assemble at this place on a certain date in the month of August. There
were 4,000 of them under a great many chiefs who did so. Big Bear, a noted Indian
chief of those days, was there with his band of Indians. Lieut.–Gov. Laird was sent
by the government to make the treaty. He was escorted by a detachment of Mounted
Police and they had about $250,000 or more which would be paid to the Indians if
they took treaty. Traders used to follow up all those treaties, and at this one there
must have been twenty different traders including several new ones from Winnipeg
and many of the western traders who were returning from Winnipeg with their fall
and winter outfits, also took it in. I. G. Baker & Company304, large traders from Fort
Benton in Montana, and of course the Hudson Bay Company, were there. Each of
those traders had a string of from 15 to 40 Red River carts, except I. G. Baker &
Company, who had their goods loaded into huge double wagons, one behind the other
and drawn by four or six teams of horses. It was a busy camp and a most picturesque
one with the hundreds of Indian teepees pitched around the many canvas tents of the
police and the government party; the hundreds of Indian ponies, the traders’ cart
horses and oxen, and the government horses, scattered over the hills in all directions,
quietly feeding as they were being guarded by the boys. The different traders had
their carts backed around as closely together as possible in a half circle. The making
of the treaty took up about ten days with one or two parleys each day. The traders
could do no business unless the treaty was made, but they expected it would be and
they all opened up and displayed their goods to the best advantage possible under the
circumstances.
The Indians and particularly the Indian women and children made it a point
to see everything that was exposed for sale, and their surprise and admiration as they
caught sight of many wonderful and fascinating things that met their gaze, was given
expression to by putting one hand over their mouths and uttering an exclamation of
Wah! Wah! as their eyes sparkled with pleasure. The traders were only too pleased
to show their goods, and they all tried to stand in well with the chiefs of various tribes
by making them presents, so that they would get their good will and custom when
business started after the treaty was made and when they received their money.

304 Founded in 1873. They opened Calgary’s first store in 1875.

181
Nights were made hideous by the uproar, dogs howling, children crying and the noise
of the countless tom–toms which could be heard in every direction.
INDIAN HOSPITALITY.
Every night there was an Indian dance and the traders often used to be invited
to those dances in return for and as a mark of gratitude for the presents which they
had received from them. There was always something to drink and smoke, and often
something to eat as well. Those dances were always in the chief’s tent, which was
larger than the ordinary ones. At the far end three or four big Indians would be
squatting on some buffalo robes with their tom–toms on their knees ready for the
dance. They had allowed their blankets to drop down, and they had nothing left on
but their breech cloths, leggings and moccasins. In the centre of the tent was a camp
fire over which was hanging and simmering a huge kettle of black tea in which was
put some […] tobacco, to add to the flavor and give it strength. This was sizzling away
over the fire as the smoke went up around it and out through the top where the tent
poles stuck out. The trader was given the seat of honor on a robe near the orchestra.
One side of the fire was a row of Indians and on the other side was a row of s–––––
s305. First of all, before the dance commenced the host dipped a cup of his tea and
passed it around. Everyone drank of it and when it was empty it was filled again, and
when it came to the guest, he had to drink too or pretend, as it would mortally offend
the chief and mean a loss of business if he refused to drink. After this the tom–toms
commenced their noise, and the dance began and was enlivened from time to time by
the Hi! Hi’s! of the drummers. This was kept up till a late hour; during the dance the
pipe of peace, friendship and good will would be passed around, and all were expected
to take a few draws from it. Those dances in the crowded tent lighted only by the dim
light of the camp fire sufficiently only to give an outline of the wild figures within,
were certainly weird and gruesome.
A PICTURESQUE INDIAN.
Big Bear was in an ugly mood and refused to take treaty or permit his tribe to
do so. He was to be seen every day riding around the camp on an Indian pony,
haughty, and defiant, his face and body adorned with eagle feathers, while he carried
a gaudy colored parasol on his head. He was the typical […] Indian in all his savage
glory, and was a striking figure with his big brown body well tanned by the sun,
exposed to view, as the weather was warm and he had allowed the blanket which was
always carried to fall down behind him on the horse. Buffalo were then plentiful, and
fresh buffalo meat was brought into camp every day.
The Treaty was finally made with all the Indians except Big Bear, and his
band. Then the money was paid out and business began. Everyone had money and
they would come to the traders and hand over five, ten or twenty dollars and pick out
what they wanted, and told the trader to let them know when they had enough. This
kept up for about a week. In the meantime the Governor and his escort of Mounted
Police had gone, and the traders were left alone with the Indians. There was no
whiskey, or rowdyism, no quarreling [and] no stealing during all this time. The

305 An offensive term for Indigenous women.

182
traders finally packed up what was left of their stock, and started across the plains
for their winter quarters.

8. A Treaty 6 Payment (1884)306

On the 6th of October Indian Agent Anderson unfurled the Union Jack in the
largest Indian camp ever assembled at Bears’ Hill, and unfolding his pay sheets
began the work of distributing annuities to some 700 Indians. It was indeed a
promiscuous crowd. There were the three head chiefs of the Bears’ Hill reserves with
their respective bands marshalled in groups. There was a small band of the “Plain
Crees,” principally belonging to Big Bear, under the triple tutelage of Woodpecker,
Going through the Ice, and Big Bear’s son307 and heir, which three pretenders to
authority are naturally jealous of one another. There were stragglers from Calgary
who had been absent for two, three, and four years. There was a small band of
Salteaux all the way from Qu’Appelle under the chieftainship of Thunder. There were
h–––––s from all directions, and there were twelve stores opened for the
accommodation of the Indians, by different parties whom the great magnetic power,
the almighty dollar, drew to the scene.
The payments were made with the best order and satisfaction, and in a couple
of days the Indians, before so ragged, had sacrificed their shabby garments to the
winds and donned apparel variegated by every shade of the rainbow, with which the
willing merchants had furnished them in exchange for the “somyaw”308. During the
performance, the greatest hilarity prevailed, and the “bands”, having put in such
large numbers with their stomachs comforted and their limbs protected, enjoyed
themselves in many ways after the “old style” reminiscences of bygone days. The new
comers, just fresh from their nomadic tour south, contributed not a little to revive old
habits momentarily amongst their more civilized and domestic brethren, such as
besmearing their faces with paint, gambling, tea dancing, and even stealing, etc. Such
is the influence of bad company even amongst Indians. During this important treaty
payment about 700 Indians received annuities, amounting to some $5,400.
But the great event which held this large camp together for several days after
the payments was the expected arrival of His Honor Lieut.–Governor Dewdney in his

306 From C.S. (1884, November 8). BEARS’ HILL. The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 3.
307 Little Bear (d. 1921), also known as Macquettoquet and Ayimâsis. “Little Bear is a son of the late
lamented Chief Big Bear […] who with a large number of Crees […] betook themselves to the United
States as a measure of personal precaution after the [1885] rebellion had been quelled. […] While in
Montana Little Bear was elected their chief. […] [T]hey were gathered up and deported to Canada.
[…] An amnesty had been granted in 1886. […] Little Bear went to Ottawa, and […] [i]t was settled
that these Indians numbering about 200 should be recognized as a band under the Chieftanship of
Little Bear, and should be given the reserve at one time occupied by Chief Bob Tail’s band on Battle
river, that band having given up their treaty rights and taken scrip. They are to be given a start with
stock and rations and to be treated in all respects as other Indians. The treaty money they would have
received had they been in Canada is forfeited by their absence.” LITTLE BEAR. (1897, March 16). The
Edmonton Bulletin, p. 2.
308 Cree for ‘silver’.

183
capacity of Indian Commissioner. Reports were rife amongst the Indians that he
would visit them and settle all their difficulties this fall. Whatever doubt remained
on this point was dissipated on the arrival of assistant commissioner Reed309 in camp,
who assured the Indians that his honor was already on his way from Regina for
Edmonton. Finally, on the 11th, the long looked for “Big Chief” rolled into camp, to
the great delight of all the Indians, young and old.
The 13th was the most important day for them since the conclusion of the
treaty in 1876. At an early hour the whole camp was astir, awakened by a fusillade
from several lodges of each band announcing the importance of the occasion. A shelter
had been erected by the Indians for the meeting. At 9 o’clock a.m. the chiefs
marshalled their “hundreds” in the centre of the camp, all dressed in their finest
regalia, with banners flying, painted faces, drums beating the “common time” of
thirds, fifths and octaves of the Indian “plain chant,” whilst with measured and
ostentatious step they wended their way to where His Honor was enthroned on a
buffalo robe, awaiting their pleasure. In this display, contrary to Indian customs, the
gun was left out, they having no ammunition to throw away.
Chief Samson310 opened the proceedings by an eloquent speech, recapitulating
the transactions of the first treaty; what the Indians had expected from that
important bargain between themselves and the government, and how they had been
disappointed. Each chief, minor chief, and other good speaker followed suit, each one
having something different to say, some fresh grievance to detail. The whole ground
of their situation, both collectively and individually, was gone over – nothing was
forgotten. Their letter to Ottawa was touched on, their difficulties with the agents
were freely discussed. Their hopes, their desires, their privations, everything
pertaining to their situation was lucidly exposed to the consideration of the one man
who could now heal all their old sores.
During all this talk, which lasted until 11 o’clock p.m., his honor took notes
and answered questions. It may be said that never in this part of the North West was
there such an important, and at the same time satisfactory meeting. The Indians
themselves were astonished by the patience and benignity with which the governor
listened to their importunities, and the more than generous way in which he met
their demands. His honor has left amongst those people an impression which it is to
be hoped nothing shall ever contribute to efface. He has given them now the means
of becoming in a short time self supporting, and it is certain that many of them will
take advantage of this.
One very important measure is that his honor has divided the agency into
three. Mr. Lucas is now agent at Bears’ Hill, independent of Edmonton, and, indeed,
according to the testimony of the Indians, he is worthy of the position. Another

309 Hayter Reed (1849 – 1936). As Deputy Superintendent General of Indian affairs, he would set back
Indigenous agriculture and commerce through his implementations of the Peasant Farming Policy and
the Pass system. For more on these under–reported aspects of Canadian history, see Carter, S. (1993).
Lost Harvests: Prairie Indian Reserve Farmers and Government Policy. Canada: McGill–Queen’s
University Press.
310 First Chief of the Samson Cree Nation.

184
division of the agency Is to be at Victoria, whilst the third division is Edmonton and
vicinity.
Some of the principal things accorded to the Indians of the Bears’ Hill reserve
by the lieutenant–governor are: To each of the three chiefs, Bob Tail311, Samson and
Ermineskin312, one pair of work oxen with harness, plow and harrow for his own
special use, as a reward for having remained steadily at work on the reserve. A few
pairs of work oxen to be given to the most worthy and best workers. Twenty head of
work oxen for general use, some cows, plows and harrows, etc. Also his honor returned
money retained from the Indians in 1883 for supplies received from the H. B. Co. All
these things, with an increase of the provision supply for the needy, more
ammunition, net twine, fish hooks, snaring wire, etc., have made the Indians feel
happy and grateful.

9. Indian Department Oxen and Treaty 6 (1884)313

The action of the Indian Department in purchasing such a large number of
cattle in this vicinity for use by the Indians of the agency, cannot be too highly
commended. Although not compelled by treaty to make this purchase, the making of
it is none the less politic. One great, or indeed chief, object of the department in
dealing with the Indians should be and is to induce them to become self–supporting.
That they can never become so without adequate means is apparent, and not less so,
that if they are ever to have those means they must be provided with them by the
government. An intelligent and energetic white man placed in their circumstances
would find it almost or altogether impossible to rise in life by his own exertions. How
then can the Indians, knowing nothing of the art of work, and sadly lacking in the
necessary energy, be expected to do so, especially when the number of mouths to be
filled are out of all proportion to the number of hands whose exertions should fill
them? Crop cannot be raised unless the land is broken, and the land cannot be broken
without oxen or other animals.
Under the former system, with only one or two yoke of cattle to each band of
200 souls or over, enough breaking could not be done to make it interesting or worth

311 Chief Bob Tail’s band is notable for having “given up their treaty rights and taken scrip” by 1886.
LITTLE BEAR. (1897, March 16). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 2. They occasionally engaged in
freighting: “A FEW of the Bear’s Hill Indians have been keeping body and soul together by hauling
freight required at that place. The Government officials held forth every inducement to them to do all
they could at freighting. Whether the government is sick of the thing, or thinks the Indian was doing
too well – it is hard to say, but Chief Bob Tail’s son who came in here some time ago with seven sleds,
managed to get loads for about four, burned up the rest, and went home disgusted with the whole
affair.” LOCAL. (1881, February 14). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 2.
312 First Chief of the Ermineskin Cree Nation. He died in 1921. “When the Riel rebellion broke out, it
was Chief Ermineskin who used his great power to prevent other strong tribes from entering the
conflict with the Canadian forces. When the act providing for the paying of treaty monies to the Indian
tribes came into force, Erminskin [sic.] was made the chief of the Cree tribe on the Hobbema reserve.
He continued to act as chief until his death.” “ERMINESKIN.” VETERAN INDIAN CHIEF, IS DEAD.
(1921, May 5). The Wetawiskin Times, p. 1.
313 From I. D. OXEN. (1884, December 13). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 2.

185
the while of Indians to stay away from their hunt. It must be remembered that even
Indians desire and require to eat and be clothed, in order to live, and even should the
government issue rations regularly, those rations, at best, are never more than
sufficient for a bare subsistence. Therefore there was always a tendency among the
better and more energetic class, who would make the best farm workers, to take to
the woods when opportunity offered, to the neglect of their farms, hoping to improve
their condition temporarily, at least, by making a good hunt. The case stood
somewhat in this wise: if they worked hard and the crop turned out well they would
not have nearly enough to live on, and would be hungry accordingly, and if it did not
turn out well they would only be hungry any way. Certainly the amount of
encouragement contained in this prospect was not dazzling. It is true that now the
opportunity is offered them to better their condition they may not improve it; but this,
experiment alone will tell. Giving them the opportunity, they may improve, while
without it they certainly could not and would not.
Besides the large increase in the number of the cattle, a portion of them at
least, are to be given outright to individual members of the band. Formerly the cattle
were only loaned and might be taken back by the department or transferred from one
band to another. It can be easily seen that this condition would furnish a first–class
excuse to any one who did not desire to take any trouble with the cattle, for not taking
care of them, and that the cattle would suffer in consequence, which, as a matter of
fact, they did. In the care of the band merely, and not belonging to it, what was every
body’s business nobody attended to. Now, if any ambition is left in the Indians at all,
the absolute ownership of the cattle will be an inducement to attend carefully to them.
Under the former method of purchasing it was too often the case that oxen
were sent the bands which they could do nothing with. This purchase, being made
with a man conversant both with cattle and Indians, and who will in all probability
have to initiate some of the Indians into the management of some of these particular
oxen, is a guarantee that at least this difficulty will not arise in the present case.
A feature not of the least importance is that, contrary also to former custom,
instead of the cattle being brought in from distant points, at heavy expense,
unacclimated and at risk of loss, they have all been purchased in the immediate
neighborhood of where they are required, are thoroughly acclimated and can be held
safely and at trifling expense until required for actual use, while the cash thus
expended goes to benefit the settlers of the country and the country itself, instead of
going to outsiders, who have no interest in it except to make money out of it. It is to
be hoped that the policy of purchasing oxen in the country will be followed out by the
purchase of all other supplies required, such as flour, beef and pork, that the district
affords, thereby materially benefitting the pioneers and doing no injustice to either
the department or the Indians.

186
10. Denied Rations (1885)314

Members of the Stoney Nakoda Nation were signatories to Treaties 6 and 7 in 1877.

F. S. Stimson315, manager for the Northwest Cattle Co., and Capt. Stewart316,
manager for the Stewart Ranche Co., both expressed to us the other night the regret
they felt that the government still saw fit to withhold rations from the tribe of Stony
Indians.
“The other day,” said Mr. Stimson, “twelve Stonies came to the ranche on High
River, and I tell you I never saw such a sight in my life. There were three b––––s317,
three s–––––s, and half a dozen children, and the whole of them were actually gaunt
with famine. One of the young b––––s, naturally a strong, hearty lad, had an arm no
thicker than my wrist. They told me they had not had anything to eat for five days,
with the exception of a little fish. If the poor devils depend on fish at this season for
food they have very little to depend on, for you know as well as I do there is no fish to
be got right now.
“Well, I gave them something to eat, not roasts especially, because they might
get too fat, but parts that white men don’t usually eat, and the Indians just warmed
the meat by the fire and bolted it whole. If Mr. Vankoughnet or Mr. Walsworth had
seen that night, I think the Stonies would get rations before long.”
Capt. Stewart told a similar story. “Down at Pincher Creek the other day,” he
said, “Col. MacLeod must have given very nearly a hundred dollars’ worth of food and
stuff to a small band of starving Stonies who were wandering down the creek in
search of fish or game. The fact is there is no game in their country now. Along the
base of the Rockies there used to be mountain sheep and goats, a few fool hens and
beaver, but there are none now.
“The search for food has been so intense that there is not even a beaver to be
found between Morley and Pincher Creek. The few deer have all been killed off, the
Indians having killed off the does last spring because there was nothing else to eat.
The Stonies are now eating coyotes wherever they can get them, and I tell you when
an Indian eats a coyote he is pretty hard up.”
“I don’t [approve of] their killing cattle,” said Mr. Stimson, “but I wouldn’t
blame them if they did. They happen to be the best Indians in the territories, or
ranchers would have no end of trouble with them. A year or two ago there used to be
plenty of deer in the district for them, but all this season I have not seen a single deer

314 From R–– Suffering. (1885, February 12). The Calgary Weekly Herald, p. 4.
315 Frederick Smith Stimson (1842 – 1912). He co–founded the North–West Cattle Company in 1881,
after retiring from the North–West Mounted Police.
316 “The history of cattle raising in the Canadian North West, on an extensive scale, dates back only to
the summer of 1881. The pioneers in the business were […] The North West Cattle Co’y, […] and a few
other smaller ranches. […] The mild winter of 1881–82 enabled them to carry on their stock with
almost no loss, and gave a stimulus to cattle ranching resulting in a number of others, Capt. Stewart,
[…], &c., establishing ranches, and placing herds of several thousands.” RANCHMAN. (1883, August
31). The Calgary Weekly Herald, p. 2.
317 An offensive term for young Indigenous males.

187
track south of High River. There were a dozen or fifteen antelope in Pine Tree coulee
a short time ago, but the h–––––s killed them off before the Stonies got at them. If
the Stonies were in a country where they could raise corn or wheat there might be
some policy in the government’s treatment of them, but better agriculturalists than
Indians would find it hard to raise crops on the Stony reserve, and I see nothing for
it but absolute starvation for the whole of the tribe.”
It is certain that the withholding of rations can only result in one of two things:
either serious trouble with the ranchers whose cattle graze upon the mountains, or
the total extinction of a tribe of Indians who have shown more docility and disposition
to pick up the ways of civilization than any in the Northwest. Either alternative is
unpleasant enough. The one on account of its possible consequences, and of the
crippling effect it would have on ranching enterprise; the other because it would be
an outrage. One can say that the tribe can always emigrate, but there is little sense
in sending them to another district to kill out the game because they have killed all
the game in this, and it is a doubtful civilization which contents itself with supposing
that a harmless and inferior people “can always emigrate,” and does not consider the
amount of suffering which generally precedes the “emigration” of any people, civilized
or savage.

11. Crowfoot’s Oration (1886)318

By eight o’clock from all points of the horizon Indians on ponies were seen
gathering to meet the Premier. Shortly after Crowfoot319 and Old Sun320 came into
the car and welcomed Sir John. Crowfoot, who is in mourning for Poundmaker321, was
clothed in his worst garments, which were considerably the worse for wear. After a
short interview Crowfoot went off to the prairie and ordered the crier of his camp to
announce that all were to assemble at the station to have a pow–wow with the Great
Chief. […] Everything being arranged, Bill Gladstone, an interpreter, was told by
Governor Dewdney to tell Crowfoot that Sir John was a great chief especially charged
with the interests of the Indians; that he had come to see them, also to see the
Canadian Pacific railway and to travel form salt water to salt water. While going
through he was anxious to see Crowfoot and the chiefs, whose great friend he was. If
they had anything to say, any complaints to make, he would be glad to hear them. At
this point Crowfoot took off his hat and took out his cigar and told the chiefs to pay
great attention so that they should remember all said, and also told the interpreter
to be sure and tell the truth, straight out from the shoulder.
CROWFOOT’S ORATION.

318 From THE POW–WOW AT GLEICHEN. (1886, August 5). The Brandon Mail, p. 2.
319 Issapóómahksika (1830 – 1890), Chief of the Siksika First Nation.
320 Natos–Api (1819 – 1897), medicine man and Blackfoot chief.
321 Pitikwahanapiwiyin (1842 – 1886), Cree chief and Crowfoot’s adopted son. Against his wishes, some
of his warriors joined Riel’s 1885 rebellion. This led Poundmaker to be tried for treason in 1885. He
died while visiting his adopted father at the Siksika Reserve, shortly after the conclusion of the trial.

188
Crowfoot then began his oration. He complained that the C. P. R. had caused
prairie fires on his reserve, and that they had paid no attention to his complaints. If
the white man down east had his grass burned by the fire wagon he could make a row
about it, and so he Crowfoot thought he ought to do the same. Some bad people spread
the report that the Blackfeet were going to give trouble, but he knew better, and he
was grieved to the inner heart to hear of these reports. He never believed bad reports
about white men, and thought the white men ought to be equally confiding. He
desired to be friends with the white man, and called upon his chiefs to express their
assent. This they did by calling out, “are kew,” that is “good.” He then told the chiefs
that Sir John was the biggest man they had among them for a long time. (Loud
applause.) turning to Sir John he said he and his chiefs feared for their children, that
food would not be given them, and he would like Sir John to help to banish these
fears. He said they could not work and could not contradict all what [journalists] said
in the newspapers about them and their wives and children, hence they got a bad
name they did not deserve. There was no truth in the statements referred to.
SIR JOHN’S REPLY.
Sir John said he for one never believed the bad reports about them. The
Governor General and himself had received good messages from Crowfoot and had
believed them, and found he was a man with a big heart, true to the Great Mother
and to treaties. He had [learned] with regret how the prairie fires had burned their
grass and injured them, and would do his best to have the grievance removed. He
advised the Indians to cultivate the land and [raise] stock and become like white men.
This being interpreted, Crowfoot said all very well, but when they raised more
potatoes than they wanted and tried to sell them they only got a little bit of money
the size of a finger nail for the whole sack. If they depended on the money from the
sale they would starve. He (Crowfoot) thought it took a long time for an answer to
come back from Ottawa to their complaints and he desired a change in this respect.
He wanted more rations. If Sir John had a large number of people with him and they
were not fed, Crowfoot would at once spring to his help, and he hoped Sir John would
take him for example.
Sir John replied he always knew Crowfoot had a big heart. Crowfoot would be
given rations, but it must be weighed out as to the police; that was the fairest way.
Crowfoot referred to his being in mourning for Poundmaker, which accounted
for the fact that he was not dressed well, and that no disrespect was meant.
Sir John was sorry to hear of his trouble and had brought him a consoler in the
shape of proper clothing for mourning, a present from himself which he hoped he
would wear. If there was anything else he hoped it would be told Governor Dewdney.
He himself was obliged to go further west and would return in three weeks, meantime
all complaints should be told Governor Dewdney.
Old Sun here held up two fingers to indicate he had two words to say. He
produced the first treaty made by Gov. Laird and wanted everything done according
to that. The interpreter was frequently interrupted while telling what Sir John said
[by calls of] “that is good.”

189
12. Hunger, Rations and Hayter Reed (1888)322

A public interview between the assistant Indian commissioner and the chiefs
Alexandre323 and Michel324, with their councilors, was held at the police barracks,
Edmonton, on Thursday afternoon. Major de Balinhard325, Indian agent, […] Rev.
Pere Blanchet, […] and others were present. John Rowland of St. Albert interpreted
for the Indians and Mr. Reed employed his own interpreter.
Mr. Reed said he had come in pursuance of his promise of the day before to
hear what the Indians had to say. Alexandre said he spoke as it might be for God and
for the government on behalf of the poor people who could not speak for themselves.
Alexandre – I don’t depend on what you are doing here – both of you (Messrs
Reed and de Balinhard). Everything has been going badly since you two came here.
We consider that you have acted against the law. It is you who have caused the
government cattle to be killed. You knew last fall that game and fish had failed in
this country. You have come from far and you have seen no track of anything to kill
and eat. You see how miserable the Indians are here, and when you go back you will
tell them all is well.
Mr. Reed – You told me all this when I saw you before, and I gave you answer
then. The government is pretty well aware of the facts of the case. My business here
is to report the facts to the government, which I will do.
Alexandre – What I say is truth, as everyone who is here knows. Because it is
true I sent the telegram to Sir John. I have waited for an answer, but have got none.
I am not as wise as you. I look like a dog before you, but I have a mind to think of
these things. I follow the track of the law and am not ashamed. White men would do
as we have done. We killed our cattle from hunger. Hunger might make us kill each
other. It is as you were pushing us to do evil. That we have eaten our horses and the
cattle that the government gave us should be blamed on you. What the poor people
are saying every day rings in my ears. We do not depend on you.
Mr. Reed – Does he mean that the promises I made him yesterday won’t be
kept?
Alexandre – I am talking not of what is ahead but of what is behind, since last
fall. It is since then we have eaten the cattle.
Michel – When we were forced with hunger we went to the agent here. He
spoke well to us but that did not fill us. When matters did not improve we said, ‘Let
us see how it is further away.’ We got no answer from the telegram we sent. We see
that nothing is going right from Regina. You knew that it was a hard year with us. If
you wanted to save us, why did you not send the food while the roads were good? The

322 From HUNGRY INDIANS. (1888, March 10). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 4.
323 The Alexander First Nation are signatories to Treaty 6.
324 The Michel Band signed Treaty 6 in 1876.
325 “The northern agency of Treaty 7 has been divided into two portions, Mr. Magnus Begg taking the
Blackfeet, and Major De Balinhard, late farm instructor on the Sarcee reserve, the Sarcees and
Stonies.” LOCAL. (1885, September 2). The Calgary Weekly Herald, p. 4.

190
Indians had asked for 500 sacks of flour this winter. He heard that only 300 sacks
had been sent. Perhaps Sir John does not know we are starving.
Replying to Mr. Reed, Michel said that before sending the telegram they had
gone to the agent and asked for food. They knew that next day was ration day, but
they did not wait to see what would be given them on that day.
Mr. Reed said that the total number of sacks of flour were 500, but the
department were using their judgment about the time for delivery.
Mr. de Balinhard said that was the trouble: 200 were not to be delivered till
June.
Mr. Reed – The object of the government in not sending the flour sooner was
to assist the farmers of the country by buying as much as possible from them. It was
not until late in the fall that the department found they could not get enough flour
here. It had to be brought all the way from Winnipeg. The contractor met with many
accidents and did not get in when agreed. The government would have delivered the
flour sooner if they could.
Replying to Mr. Reed, Michel said that he had two cattle of his own and had
five pigs, but they had starved to death. He had earned money by freighting but had
not yet received it. His son had earned some and had received it.
Rev. Father Blanchet, at Michel’s request, conversed with Mr. Reed in French.
Ma–me–na–wa–ta326, of Stoney Plain, said, “I have been called a coward for
not killing cattle. It is true. I am a coward and have killed none. I am glad to see you
here, and I am surprised that you have come now when everything is scarce. This one
and that one is naked. The wives are freezing for lack of clothing. Why is the clothing
now lying in the store on the reserve not distributed? When you go, those you leave
behind will not do as you promise. They seem to be above you. If your promises are
not carried out, after you leave I will kill cattle as others do. The only way to get
anything from the agent you sent us is to flatter him. I have always wanted you to
look favorably on me. You put an egg – the law – into my hand. I did not break it and
neither have these others. We are trying to gain what the Queen promised us. What
we gain we would like to have in our hands. We want these promises fulfilled now.”
Alexandre blamed the Regina officials and accused them of misusing the
money placed in their hands for the benefit of the Indians. He said, “You do not
expend as much this year as before. When we could help ourselves you helped us
more, this year we cannot help ourselves and you bring us less. Do you promise to
give us three meals a day until the ice is gone, or is this increase in food to be only for
one day? When we see that you will help us, we will thank you.”
Mr. Red – I am here on behalf of the government to see whether the Indians
are able to provide for themselves or not. After making enquiries I find that they
require more rations. Consequently I increased them, and will allow them a
reasonable quantity until such time as those who are able go off to hunt. The
government does not wish any one to suffer from lack of food. But though the
government aids the Indians, and in most cases very liberally, the Indians are

326 Probably Mahminahwatah (d. 1883), also known as Chief Tommy Lapotac, of the Enoch Cree
Nation.

191
expected to aid themselves by every means in their power. Some Indians receive a
great deal of provisions, others only a little and others none at all, according to
circumstances. As I told you, my promises are being kept, and both flour and meat
are being sent out to you so that you will not want. A few Indians are out hunting,
and are doing remarkably well. Alexandre himself has killed thirty deer this winter
and two others whom I met have killed 90. I know it is hard to get out and hunt, the
snow is so deep, but some can help themselves. Michel said a day or two ago on his
reserve, “If these promises are fulfilled we are happy.” They are being fulfilled.
Alexandre said he had killed thirty deer, but he was the best hunter in this
part of the country. Others could not do as he had done. There were not more than
twenty deer left in the vicinity. “You know it is deep snow and a hard season. You
knew these things before. If you had opened your eyes before, things would not be as
they are. But you did not want to see; you want to do nothing but gather money. Your
name is neither good with Indians or whites – neither of you.”
Mr. Reed – We know many things, but we did not know whether or not there
was going to be fish or game.
A young man said he had lost his wife and two children by hunger, and as he
was now alone he could manage to support himself.
Mr. Reed said if the government thought he could earn a living it would not
help him at all.
Alexander said he understood that the government said, if you help yourselves
we will help you; not, if you help yourselves we will leave you off.
Another councilor said, I am a coward, but when I hear my children cry from
hunger, I kill cattle. I think of you as the cold; you want to kill all on the reserves.
Alexandre – You were sent word last spring about sickness on the reserves. On
my own reserve many have died of sickness and hunger. Medicine is no use without
food. Thirty have died on my own reserve, and fifteen besides. Five of my own children
have died, most of them grown up. I sent word every day but you would do nothing
for me. You think what I say of the sickness is not true. I tell you in your ears you lie
when you say you take the part of the sick children.
Mr. Jim had been used to working for the whites. This winter he could get no
work. There was no game and no fish, and he had nearly starved to death depending
on the Indian department. He did not go to the whites to sell his country. They came
to him to buy it, and now they would not pay the price.
Mr. Reed ordered dinner to be provided for the Indians, and assured them that
they would receive the increase of rations promised.

13. The Signing of Treaty 8 (1899)327

On the following day the first meeting took place when nearly 500 Indians
responded to the appeal. Following is a verbatim report of Hon. Mr. Laird’s speech
before the chiefs, headmen and different bands of Indians:

327 From Treaty With the Indians. (1899, August 3). The Calgary Weekly Herald, p. 1.

192
“As we all come to a peaceful meeting, we will give to each one a piece of
tobacco, to have a friendly smoke. We have Mr. Tate as our interpreter, but in order
to satisfy you, we have engaged Mr. Cunningham, whom you all know well, to act as
your interpreter, so that one interpreter can watch the other. R–– brothers, we have
come here today, sent by the great mother to treat with you, and this is the paper she
has given to us, signed with the seal to show that we have the authority to treat with
you. The other commissioners, who are associated with me and who are sitting here,
are Mr. McKenna and Hon. Mr. Ross, and the Reverend Father Lacombe328, who is
with us to act as councillor and advisor. I have to say on behalf of the Queen and the
government of Canada that we have come to make you an offer. We have made
treaties in former years with all the Indians of the prairies and from there to Lake
Superior. As white people are coming into your country we have thought it well to tell
you what is required of you.
“The Queen wants all the whites, H–––––s and Indians to be at peace with one
another, and to shake hands when they meet. The Queen’s laws must be obeyed all
over the country, both by the whites and Indians. It is not alone that we wish to
prevent Indians from hunting or molesting the whites, it is also to prevent whites
from molesting or doing harm to the Indians. The Queen’s soldiers are just as much
for the protection of the Indians as the white man. The commissioners made an
appointment to meet you at a certain time, but on account of bad weather on the river
and lake we are late, which we are sorry for, but are glad to meet so many of you here
today.
“We understand stories have been told you that if you made a treaty with us,
you would become servants and slaves, but we wish you to understand that such is
not the case, but that you will be just as free after signing a treaty as you are now.
The treaty is a free offer; take it or not just as you please. If you refuse it, there is no
harm done. We will not be bad friends on that account. One thing the Indians must
understand, that if they do make a treaty they must obey the laws of the land, that
will be just the same whether you make a treaty or whether you do not, the laws must
be obeyed. The Queen’s government wish to give the Indians here just the same terms
as they have given the Indians all over the country from the prairies to Lake Superior.
Indians in other places who took treaty many years ago are now better off than they
were before. They grow grain and raise cattle. Like the white people their children
have learned to read and write.
“Now I will give you an outline of the terms we offer you. If you agree to take
treaty, everyone this year gets a present of $12. A family of five, man, wife and three
children, will get $60. A family of eight $96. After this year and for every year
afterwards, $5 for each person for ever. To such chiefs as you may select, and that the
government approves of, we will give $35 each year. The chiefs also get a silver medal,
and a flag such as you now see at our tents, right now as the treaty is signed. Next
year, as soon as we know how many chiefs there are and every three years thereafter,
each chief will get a new suit of clothes, and every councilor a suit, only not quite so
good as the chief’s. Then, as the white men are coming in and settling up the country,

328 Albert Lacombe (1872 – 1916)

193
and as the Queen wishes the Indians to have lands of their own, we will give one
square mile, or 640 acres, to each family of five, but there will be no compulsion to
force Indians to go into a reserve. Those not wishing to go into a band, can get 160
acres of land for himself, and some for each member of his family. These reserves or
holdings you can select when you please, subject to the approval of the government;
that is, you might select lands that might interfere with rights or lands of settlers.
The government must be sure the land you select is in the right place. Then again, as
some of you may want to sow grain or potatoes the government will give you ploughs
and harrows, hoes, etc., to enable you to do so, and every spring will furnish you with
provisions to enable you to work and put in your crop. Again, if you do not wish to
sow grain, or raise cattle, the government will furnish you with some ammunition to
hunt, and twine to catch fish. The government will also provide schools to teach your
children to read and write, and do other things like white men and their children.
Schools will be established when there is a sufficient number of children. The
government will give the chiefs axes and tools to make houses to live in and be
comfortable.
“Indians have been told that if they make a treaty they will not be allowed to
hunt or fish the same as they do now. This is not true. Indians who take treaty will
be just as free to hunt and fish all over as they now are, but they must not molest
settlers in so doing. In return for this the government expects that the Indians will
not interfere with or molest the miner, traveller or settler; we expect you to be good
friends with everyone and shake hands with all you meet. If any whites molest you
in any way, shoot your dogs or horses or do you any harm, you have only to report the
matter to the police and they will see that justice be done to you.
“There may be some things we have not mentioned, but these can be mentioned
later on. Two commissioners, Major Walker and J. A. Cote, are here for H–––––s and
their children and find out if they are entitled to scrip. The reason the government
does this is, the H–––––s have Indian blood and have claims on that account. The
government does not make treaty with them, as they live more as white men do, so
they give them scrip to settle their claims at once and forever. H–––––s living like
Indians have the chance to take treaty if they want to do so. They have their choice,
but only after treaty is signed. If there is no treaty made, neither can scrip be given.
After the treaty is signed the commissioners will take up H––––– claims. The first
thing they will do is: H––––– settlers living on land will be given 160 acres of land,
that is if there is room to do so. If several are settled closely together the land will be
divided between them as fairly as possible. All, whether settled or not, will be given
scrip for land to the value of $240, that is all born up to date of signing of treaty who
have not previously had scrip granted. They can sell that scrip, that is, all of age can
do so. They can take if they like instead of this, scrip for 240 acres of land to be taken
where they like. After they have located the land and got their title, they can live on
it or sell part or whole of it as they please, but cannot sell the scrip. They must locate
the land and get their title before selling. These are the principal points in the offer
we have to make you. The Queen owns the country, but is willing to acknowledge the
Indians’ claim, and offers these terms as an offset to all of them.

194
“We will be glad to answer any questions and make clear any points not
understood. We will meet you again tomorrow, after you have considered our offer,
say about 2 o’clock or later if you wish. We have other Indians to meet with at other
places, but do not wish to hurry you. After this meeting you can go to the Hudson’s
Bay fort, where our provisions are stored, and rations will be issued to you of flour,
bacon; also some tea and tobacco, so that you can have a good meal and a good time.
This is a free gift, given with good will and given to you whether you make a treaty
or not. It is a present the Queen is glad to make to you. I am now done and will be
glad to hear what anyone has to say.”
THE CHIEF SPEAKS
Keenooshayoo, “The Fish” was the first chief to reply. He said: “You say we are
brothers. I cannot understand how we are. I live differently than you. I can only
understand that Indians will benefit in a very small degree from your offer. You have
told us you come in the Queen’s name. We surely have also a right to say a little as
far as that goes. I do not understand what you mean about every third year.”
Mr. McKenna: “It was mentioned that the third year was only mentioned in
regard to supply of clothing.”
Keenooshayoo, “The Fish”: “Do you not allow the Indian to make his own
conditions, so that he can benefit as much as possible? Why I say this is that we today
make arrangements that are to last as long as the sun shines and water runs. Up to
the present I have earned my own living, and working in my own way for the Queen.
It is good. The Indian likes his way of living and free life. When I understand you
thoroughly, I will know better what I will do. Up to the present I have never seen the
time when I could not work for the Queen and make my own living. I will consider
carefully what you have said.”
Moostoos329, “The Bull,” brother of Keenooshayoo: “Often before now I have
said I would consider carefully what you might say. You have called us brothers. True,
I am the younger brother, you are the older brother. Being the younger, if the younger
asks the older for something, he will be able to grant his request, same as our mother
the Queen. I am glad to hear what you have to say. Our country is getting broken up.
I see the white man coming in, and I want to be friendly. I see what he does; it is just;
we should be friends. I will not speak any more; there are too many people here who
may wish to speak.”
Wappeehayo, “White Partridge:” “I stand behind this man’s back
(Keenooshayoo). I want to tell the commissioners there are two ways, the long and
the short. I want to take the way that will last longest.”
Chas. Neesmiasis, “The Twin:” “I follow those two brothers, Moostoos and
Keenooshayoo. When I understand better I will be able to say more.”
Felix Giroux spoke to the same effect as previous speakers.
Mr. Laird: “We should be glad to hear from some of the Sturgeon Lake people.”
“The Captain:” “I accept what you offer. I am old and miserable now. I have not
my family with me here, but I accept your offer.”

329 Mostos (1850 – 1918), also known as Louis Willier.

195
Mr. Laird: “You will get the money for all your children under age and not
married, just the same as if they were here.”
“The Captain:” “I speak for all those in my part of the country.”
Mr. Laird: “I am sorry the rest of your people are not here, but if here next
year, their claims will not be overlooked.”
“The Captain:” “I am old now. It is indirectly through the Queen we have lived.
She in a manner has supplied the sale shops through which we have lived. Others
may think I am foolish for speaking as I do. Let them think as they like. I accept.
When I was young I was an able man and made my living independently of any one,
but now I am old and feeble, and not able to do much.”
EXPLANATIONS BY MR. ROSS
Hon. Jas. Ross: “I will just answer a few questions that have been put.
Keenooshayoo has said he cannot see how it will benefit you to take treaty. As all the
rights you now have will not be interfered with, therefore everything you get in
addition must be a clear gain. The white man is bound to come in and open up the
country, and we came before him to explain the relations that must exist between you
and thus prevent any trouble arising. You say you have heard what the
commissioners have said and how you wish to live. We believe that men who have
lived without help heretofore, can do better when the country is opened up. Any fur
they catch is worth more, that comes about by competition. You will notice it takes
more boats to bring in goods to buy your furs than it did formerly. We think that as
the rivers and lakes of this country will be the principal highways, good boatmen like
yourselves cannot fail to make a good living and profit from the increased traffic. We
are much pleased to see you have some cattle. It will be the duty of the commissioners
to recommend the government through the superintendent general of Indian affairs
to give you cattle of a better breed. You say you have a right to say something about
the terms we offer you. We offer you certain terms, but you are not forced to take
them. You ask if Indians are not allowed to make a bargain. We are glad you
understand the treaty is for ever. If the Indians do as they are asked we shall
certainly keep all our promises. We shall be glad to know you have got on without
anyone’s help, but you must know times are harder, furs scarcer than they used to
be. Indians are proud of a free life and we do not wish to interfere with it. When
reserves are offered you, there is no intention to make you live on them if you do not
want to, but in years to come you may change and want these lands to live on. The
H–––––s of Athabasca are being more liberally dealt with than in any other part of
Canada. We hope you will discuss our offer and arrive at a decision as soon as
possible. We have delayed you, others are now waiting for our arrival, and you by
deciding quickly will assist us to get to them.”
Keenooshayoo: “Have you all heard. Do you accept. All who wish to accept
stand up.”
Wendige: “I have heard and accept with a glad heart all I have heard.”
Keenooshayoo: “Are the terms good forever, as long as the sun shines on us,
because there are orphans we must consider, so that there will be nothing thrown up
to us afterwards? We want a written treaty, one copy to be given us, so we can know

196
what we sign for. Are you willing to give means to instruct children as long as sun
shines and water flows, so that children will grow up in ever increasing knowledge?”
Moostoos: “I understand Keenooshayoo to accept, so do I. About schools, are
you or the Indians to choose instructors?”
Mr. Laird: “The government will choose teachers according to religion of the
band. If the band are pagans the government will appoint teachers who, if not
acceptable, will be replaced by others. About treaties lasting for ever, I will just say
that some Indians have got to live so like the whites that they have sold their lands
and divided the money, but this only happens when the Indians ask for it. Treaties
last for ever as signed, unless the Indians vote to make a change. I understand you
all agree to the terms of the treaty. Am I right? If so I will have treaty drawn up and
tomorrow we will sign it. Speak to all those who do not agree. Moostoos, Sacpee,
Keenooshayoo, my children, all who agree stand up.”
FATHER LACOMBE
Rev. Father Lacombe then spoke as follows: “My friends, I am very happy to
meet you here today, as you know I am an old friend of this country. The old people
remember yet that 30 years ago I came here as a missionary to baptize a great many
of you and teach you how to serve god. Today, being pretty old, I am coming again to
fulfill another duty. I come as a member of the royal commission to make treaty with
you. The government has been thinking that knowing you so well, your manners and
fashions and your way of living, also speaking your own language, I would be of some
use to their representatives amongst you. Therefore I was officially attached to the
commission to be their advisor, as the governor has just stated. My dear friends, today
is a great day for you – a day of long remembrance for those living now and the
surviving generations. Today a memorable event is taking place with you all. From
your lips the new ones will learn from the lips of their father what is taking place
today. Do not be astonished if I thought it was good for me and for you that I consented
to come and work in this way, because I thought it was a good thing for you to take
the treaty. If I had suspected that it would not have been in your interests I would
never have consented to take any part in such an affair. Long ago I have been
acquainted with the way the government was making treaties with the Indians.
When the government made treaties some years ago with the Saulteaux, of Manitoba,
with the Crees, of the Saskatchewan; with the Blackfoot, Bloods and the Peagans of
the plains I was there and advising these different tribes to accept the conditions of
the government. I do not think I ever gave you any advice to your disadvantage,
therefore today I take upon my own responsibility to advise and urge you to accept
the words of the big chief, who comes here in the name of the Queen. This gentleman
I have known for many years, and I can assure you that he is just, right and sincere
in the statements he has made to you today. Besides he is vested with all the
authority to deal with you. Your ways of living in the forests, on the lakes or the rivers
will not be changed by the treaty, besides the annuities which are to be granted to
you every year as long as the sun is shining upon you and the earth standing.
Therefore I finish my speaking in saying accept.”

197
The chiefs and councillors stood and requested all the Indians present to stand
up as a mark of acceptance of the government’s conditions to make a treaty. They
were glad to hear the remarks made by the Rev. Father Lacombe and thanked him
for having come so far away, although he is very old, to visit them and speak to them.
On the following day, the 21st instant, treaty No. 8, with the Cree, Beaver,
Chippewayas and other Indians, inhabitants of this district, was duly signed.

14. “Nothing to be gained by being Indians” (1882)330

So far, when a treaty was made with any band of Indians in the Saskatchewan,
many of the lower class of h–––––s in the vicinity, for the sake of the treaty money,
caused themselves to be enrolled as Indians, the Government allowing this to be done
as being an easy way of settling any claims these people might otherwise have put
forward as h–––––s. As a present expedient the plan was very good, but it seems
likely to cause a great deal of trouble now, with a prospect of more in the future. These
people, although they may live with the Indians and take the treaty money, and,
although they are not whites, have not the same nature as the true Indian, and join
the bands not because they do not know and cannot do any better, but because they
think they can live easier in that way than by working honestly for their livings as
they had always been obliged to do before.
To give these men treaty money is simply putting a premium on laziness. They
have, to a great extent, the grasping nature of a white man coupled with the indolence
of the Indian, and these two qualities combined generally produce, if not a thief at
least a dishonest man. To allow such men to join the bands gives them a chance to
exercise an influence over the real Indians which must of necessity be anything but
good. Instead of their superior intelligence being used to instruct and improve the
Indians – to make them more industrious and independent – it is used to make them
more dependent on the Government and more generally useless. These men are the
lawyers of the bands and put the rest up to new dodges by which to get greater
concessions from the Government. They joined the band to get out of working and
soon determined that neither they nor any of the others shall work if they can help
it. It is up hill work to instruct, improve and civilize pure Indians, who have neither
education nor religion, but it is far harder to deal with men who have both to a limited
extent, but do not wish to exercise either.
Of this class, principally, are the Edmonton and Lac Ste. Anne bands of alleged
Crees. Most members of the Edmonton band speak English and French as well as
Cree and previous to the treaty considered themselves h–––––s, and worked for their
living like other people, but when the treaty was made and they saw an opportunity
of getting a nice grant of valuable land and an annuity of $5 apiece, they took the
chance and since then have been a nuisance to both the Government officials and
settlers in the neighborhood.

330 From INDIANS? (1882, April 15). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 4.

198
At first they promised to take their reserve about ten miles away from the Fort
on the White Mud, which was a very good place, but soon changed their minds and
finding that all they had to do was to ask and they would receive, they concluded to
demand it on the south side of the river directly opposite the Fort, although the claims
along the river had been taken by other people for years. This was a little too much,
however, and they altered the demand to a line within three miles of the river. Even
inside of those limits some claims were taken, and the Indians ordered the people off.
A survey of the reserve in this location was finally commenced, but they did not think
it was going to be large enough and stopped the work. Since then, the land has been
idle, neither they nor any one else being in possession. Besides all this, they have
drawn Government rations on all occasions when they could get them.
The Lac Ste. Anne band, also mostly h–––––s, before the treaty were doing
pretty well, cultivating considerable patches of land near the lake and working when
they could get an opportunity, but since then they have quit farming and working
and gone into the business of starving and dunning the Government for grub,
occasionally making threats of violence, one of which they carried out lately by
shooting the farm instructor’s cow331.
It is high time this sort of work was put an end to. It is foolish to try to civilize
a man who makes himself a savage in order to receive the benefit of this attempt at
civilization. The fact of his doing so is proof positive that his intelligence is quite up
to the standard, but that his moral nature is too far down to ever be reached by any
argument short of main force. Let these people understand that there is nothing to
be gained by being Indians, and they will soon cease to claim to be such. Instead of
allowing them all they ask, so that they will not stir up ill feeling among the real
Indians, as has been the practice heretofore, a sharp distinction should be drawn
between those who don’t know how to work and can’t, and those who do know how to
work but won’t, and when they proceed to violence, as in this cow shooting case, they
should be made to feel, to its full extent, the heavy hand of the law, and when their
wishes are contrary to the public benefit, as in the case of the Edmonton reserve,
there is no reason why their rights as Indians – which they are not – should not be
overridden by the rights of other h–––––s or whites.

15. Speculation in Scrip (1911)332

331 “On Tuesday last sub–constables […] arrested John Felix Cellihou, who shot W. J. O’Donnell’s cow
about two weeks ago, at his home near the Indian Farm, Riviere Qu’Barre. The preliminary
examination was held at Edmonton. […] Two witnesses were brought in, Jean Baptiste and Michael
Cellihou, who had heard him threaten to shoot the first government animal he sawa, as he was hungry
and the agent had refused to give him any relief. They had not seen him do the shooting, but he had
brought part of the meat to Michael’s house to have it cooked. They would not allow it to be cooked
there, but had helped to eat it after he cooked it at his own house. [John Felix Cellihou] is about 26
years of age, and from his appearance and dress would pass rather for a white man than an Indian.
He speaks English, French and Cree.” LOCAL. (1882, April 15). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 3.
332 From Stead, H. (1911, January 20). The Story of H––––– Scrip. Raymond Rustler, p. 11. Written by
Hay Strafford Stead (1871 – 1924).

199
“Now, Sandy, listen to me. You know you promised me that scrip–“
“Promised nothing! You make me tired! You know, Sandy, that that promise
isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. It’s money that’s talking now.”
“But, Sandy, don’t listen to him for a minute. Last spring that scrip was worth
two hundred dollars only; you know a lot of them sold at that. But this year they’re
worth more, and although you promised to let us have it for two hundred, we’re not
holding you to that – we’re giving you four hundred–“
“He’s lying, Sandy. The truth isn’t in him. You know as well as I do that if I
wasn’t here bidding against him, you’d have got just two hundred and not a cent more.
He came up here last year and made himself out a big man and said he was going to
see that you got your scrip and that his influence would fix it for you and you couldn’t
get it without him. I tell you he hadn’t anything more to do with getting your scrip
for you than I had; and if you sell it to him for any less than I’ll give you for it, you’re
a fool and he’s a scoundrel. If he wants your scrip, let him bid for it, same as I’m doing;
and let the highest bidder take it. Come on, now. He says four hundred. I’ll give you
four–fifty to start it. Now, Mister, if you want his scrip, raise me.”
For nearly a couple of hours the altercation went on. One would have thought
Sandy had no say in the matter at all, he was so seldom consulted as to his wishes.
And yet Sandy had in his own right, and by right of being head of his family, the
disposal of three h––––– scrip certificates – his own, his wife’s, and his sister’s. Each
certificate entitled the owner to locate and file on two hundred and forty acres of the
best land they could find in the homestead and pre–emption area of Western Canada,
to become the owners of it by virtue of a Crown grant, absolutely free and without
price or penalty and without any settlement duties to perform. Such land sells, every
day in the week, over the counters of the land companies and in the land departments
of the railways, for as high as twelve and fifteen dollars an acre.
Sandy’s was a typical case. He had applied for scrip the year before. The buyer
who had been on the spot at the time had assisted him in the matter of obtaining
birth certificates and other red tape details necessary for establishing his claim to the
satisfaction of the department of the government which has such matters in hand.
Sandy, grateful for the assistance so generously rendered, had without hesitation
promised to turn over to his friend in need at the then current price, $250. Two
hundred and fifty dollars looked like a big sum to Sandy. He had probably never seen
so much money at once in his life. Besides, his friend was willing to advance him a
few dollars to help him through the winter, and Sandy was not blessed with overmuch
of this world’s goods; indeed, he was probably on the books of “The Company” for
goods already advanced, and his line of credit would thus be naturally somewhat
impaired.
So Sandy had promised; he had even gone so far as to put that promise in
writing, although, Sandy being an honest man, that was quite unnecessary.
Everything had occurred according to schedule. He had received one hundred dollars
or so from the buyer, on the strengths of his prospects. He had passed the winter in
comfort, and was correspondingly grateful. The commissioner had that day handed
him his scrip, and to his wife and sister also one certificate each.

200
And then the trouble had begun. Another buyer was on the scene, telling him
how little the first man had really done for him, and how he was being cheated out of
much wealth in carrying out his bargain to sell for such a small sum. The new buyer
was prepared to pay more – much more; how much Sandy could not exactly tell, but
certainly there was to be much more money for Sandy if he sold to the new man.
Sandy, in his dilemma, did as all his forbears had done before him – he went
to The Company. He gathered the two buyers together and marched them into the
Hudson’s Bay Company’s office at the Fort, and laid the matter before the factor. So
did the scrip buyers. They argued it pro and con, and the argument got warmer and
warmer as it proceeded. It finally resolved itself into an auction duel, and the price of
scrip that evening went up three hundred per cent. At nine hundred and fifty dollars
the bidding lagged somewhat, and the factor said:
“I was just t’ink, me,” Sandy replied, “de oder feller – mabbe she give me some
more money.”
He did. Sandy and his family went to bed that night with the satisfied feeling
natural to any h––––– that has just seen three thousand dollars in bankbills paid
over to the Hudson’s Bay Company to be placed to the credit of his account, and locked
up in the Company’s safe in the office before his eyes.
The issuing of h––––– scrip is a comparatively recent development. In 1870,
when the country now comprised of the three prairie provinces was taken over by the
Government of Canada from the Hudson’s Bay Company, it became necessary to
make some arrangements to purchase the rights of the Indians resident in the
country. This was done by means of a series of treaties, with the various bands which
occupied the territory covered by each session.
But at that time there was a considerable proportion of h––––– population.
Some of these lived like white men, engaged in business, or in farming. Others, on
the conclusion of the treaty with their relatives, chose to do as they had always done,
and live with the Indians as Indians, accepting treaty and residing on the reserve.
But there was a large section of h–––––s, who, while not allying themselves
completely with their darker brethren, still lived by hunting and trapping, and did
not adopt the white man’s life. These had just as much at stake in the country as the
Indians themselves, and considered that they should have been dealt with just as
generously by the Government. But no provision for them was made by treaty or in
any other way; and the dissatisfaction of the h–––––s at the neglect of the
Government to deal with their claims in this regard led directly to the h–––––
rebellion of 1885.
After the rebellion was quelled, the question of allaying in some manner the
discontent rife among the h–––––s was taken up by the Government. It was
impossible to deal with them as the Indians had been dealt with. Unlike the Indians
– whose cohesion in comparatively large bands made negotiations easy, and whose
mode of living invited terms totally unsuited to the h–––––s – the latter were
scattered all over the country, each for himself, and owning no master but their own
sweet wills.

201
It was finally decided that a grant of land to each individual h––––– would
meet the case, and the grant was fixed at the generous allowance of two hundred and
forty acres; which was considered a sufficiently large farm to support a man and his
family in comfort.
To each h–––––, then, who applied and proved his right to participate in the
issue, a certificate was given entitling him to two hundred and forty acres of land,
which he was allowed to select from all the available homestead land in the possession
of the Dominion Government, and for which a deed would be issued to him on
presenting his certificate, or scrip, at the office of the Dominion Lands for the district
in which his selected land was situated.
Few of the h–––––s took advantage of the opportunity afforded them to become
farmers. Farming was the last thing to which the average h––––– would turn his
thoughts. They were hunters and trappers, rovers by nature; and their scrip
certificates were to them merely an asset, to be disposed of for what they would fetch.
Land was cheap. Hundreds of thousands of acres could be purchased by anyone who
had a mind for that kind of foolishness for a dollar an acre and less. No h––––– with
any sense would take the trouble to locate and take a deed for unsaleable land which
he couldn’t farm (and wouldn’t if he could), when he could get cash, or some equally
desirable article, for his piece of paper with the writing on it, without any trouble or
difficulty.
Thus the h–––––s fell into the hands of the speculators. Scrip was sold for ten
dollars, five dollars, for a blanket, a bottle of whisky or a keg of beer; for any old thing,
in fact, which the speculators had come to offer and which the h–––––, for the
moment, wanted – or thought he wanted. Fortunes have been made, time without
number, by the purchase of h––––– scrip. There are to–day in Winnipeg, and
elsewhere in the West, men who are in the millionaire and near–millionaire classes,
who laid the foundations of their fortunes, and made the bulk of them, by their
dealings in scrip.
And by no means would all of these transactions bear close scrutiny. Measured
under the standard of commercial integrity, it would be found that wholesale fraud
was practiced, and that large numbers of h–––––s were cheated out of what even they
considered their due – and little enough it was. One method, easily accomplished, and
adopted only too frequently on account of its ease of accomplishment, was to ply the
h––––– with liquor until he was in a sufficiently besotted state to transfer his scrip
for a mere trifle – usually another bottle. That method ran its course, and died out as
the h–––––s grew wiser as to the value of their holding. Another favorite method of
the scrip dealer was to look up the record of a h–––––, secretly; and on obtaining the
necessary evidence that he was entitled to scrip, to take him aside, and whisper
gently to him that his benefactor was in a position to get him a certain sum of money.
All the h––––– had to do was to sign certain papers, and the machinery would be put
in motion. The h––––– argued that he had nothing to lose, and there was a chance of
gain. He usually signed – and when it was all over, he got his money, and the dealer
got his scrip.

202
In all these fraudulent dealings, there was one danger to the dealer on which
he had to take a chance, which he had no scruples in doing. In locating h––––– scrip,
it is necessary for the h––––– whose name is on the certificate to appear at the land
office for the district where the land is located, and to file his claim in person. But in
the old days this was rarely done. It was an expensive matter to transport whole
families of h–––––s to distant points to hand in their certificates, even if the
circumstances under which those certificates were obtained from them were such as
to make them willing to perform such a service. So here again fraud was introduced.
One h––––– would impersonate scores of men whom he had probably never heard of
before, swearing to a different name in each office he visited. It would probably be not
far from the truth to say that less than 50 per cent. of the h––––– claims for which
deeds have been granted in Western Canada have been located in person, as the law
demands, by the h–––––s to whom the scrip was issued.
Even to this day it would seem that this species of fraud is being practiced.
Only last year the charge was openly made by one dealer, that another had been
guilty of this very practice. With this exception, however, the days of open fraud in
scrip purchase are past for ever. To–day, the h––––– has a much better knowledge of
the value of his certificate, and a much wider appreciation of the ability of the law to
protect him in his business transactions.
Yet, even now, the h––––– does not by any means get the full value of his scrip.
Within the past two years, scrip has been purchased at the point of issue for from two
hundred to four hundred dollars, while worth at the time in Winnipeg from eighteen
hundred to two thousand dollars – the value of a certificate for two hundred and forty
acres at $7.50 to $8.50 per acre. The price asked in Winnipeg for scrip to–day is $9.50
per acre.
There are three kinds of scrip issued by the Dominion Government. The first
is comparatively rare, and unimportant. It is an undertaking on the part of the
Government to accept at its face value the certificate, which is given out, for services
rendered, by Government surveyors and other employees of the Dominion in remote
places where [illegible] cash scrip, and is issued in varying amounts to suit the service
for which it is remuneration.
The second, and by far the most desirable of all scrip, is that which is called
“red–back.” This is a land scrip, similar to the ordinary h––––– scrip, for two hundred
and forty acres; but it differs from the other and most prevalent form in that it does
not require personal application on the part of the person to whom the scrip is issued.
The possession of this kind of scrip thus does away with the trouble and expense of
transporting the original owner to the spot where the entry for the land is to be made.
Red–back scrip is the scrip which was issued to the h–––––s who were proved to be
entitled to its issue, but who had left the country – usually for the United States –
and for whom it would have entailed some hardship to have been compelled to make
the long journey back to Western Canada to enter in person for their land.
The third kind of scrip, in which there is most traffic, is that issued to h–––––
s resident in the country, with the condition that personal entry must be made when
the land is located.

203
The h–––––s who are entitled to scrip are not yet all settled with by any means.
Every new treaty made by the Dominion Government with the Indians of a hitherto
unceded portion of the Dominion, finds some few h–––––s resident in that particular
territory, with whom settlement must be made on the same terms as those granted
their brethren in the older portions of the West. These treaties are being made
annually; and every summer Inspector Semmens, who as the senior officer of the
Indian Department in the West holds the appointment of Commissioner to conclude
treaty with the Indians, adds a hundred thousand or so square miles to the area in
which the Indians have been brought by treaty under the care of the Indian
department.
H–––––s born in the ceded territory, and h–––––s resident therein who have
not previously been settled with, make their applications before the Commissioner.
Their parentage is traced back, the record of their residence in the country since birth
to the present time is recorded, birth certificates or baptismal certificates are
obtained, and the application, with its evidence of the h–––––’s claim on the face of
it, is forwarded to Ottawa. There the evidence is carefully scrutinized, and the
statements of the applicant are compared with the records in the department. If the
application is found to be satisfactory, a certificate is forwarded to Winnipeg in due
course, and delivered to the applicant in person by the Commissioner.
Frequently the applicant has only the vaguest notion of the information upon
which the form of application insists. An applicant will tell his age promptly, and
without any hesitation. When the question arises as to where he has lived since his
birth, he begins to flounder. By the time he has summed up the term of his residence
at various points, it will frequently appear that he has overlapped somewhere – that
the addition of these various terms makes him several years older – or younger – than
the age he has already given. Then the Commissioner, the applicant, the applicant’s
relatives, and any other Indians or h–––––s who happen to be handy (there is always
an interested audience at these sessions) dig in and endeavor to create order out of
the chaos of years and events. If the applicant is, or has been, an employee of the
Hudson’s Bay Company, it is a simple matter to obtain the necessary evidence; for
the company keeps a full and complete record of the service of all its employees, with
dates and place of residence, nature of employment, age, and character.
Another snag is the requirement of a baptismal certificate. Just what value is
to be derived by the department from the production of a baptismal certificate is
difficult to tell. In many cases, particularly among the old h–––––s, no baptism has
ever been performed. In many other cases, although baptized, no record of the fact is
to be found in the registers; which at the remoter places in the north, have often been
grossly neglected by the native missionaries in charge, themselves often able to read
little and write less. Again, baptism may have taken place at birth, or it may have
been performed at any age from birth to second childhood. In many of the older
registers, the age is absent from the record; or the applicant for admission to the
church has been labelled “infant” or “adult.” But whatever the value to the
department, this is one of the conditions of application; and it forms the most frequent
stumbling block to the seeker after scrip.

204
It sometimes happens that a man of undoubted and well authenticated h––––
– lineage will refuse to take scrip, and will insist on taking treaty with the band he
lives with. He is absolutely ignorant of the value of scrip, and totally indifferent to
the arguments of the scrip buyers who endeavor to show him the error of his ways.
One such h––––– refused scrip last year, and took treaty with the rest of the Indians.
This man had a family of four children. His record was well–known, and his claim
was perfect. It was put to him by the scrip buyers that by taking scrip he would come
into possession of a large sum of money. He got up at treaty time and made a little
speech in which he said that he had lived all his life with the Indians. They were his
people. If he took scrip, he and his children would have to live like the white man,
away from the [illegible] live and die with his people.
That man could have had for the asking five scrip certificates. These at the
current prices in the north, were worth a thousand dollars each. They could have been
sold in Winnipeg for ten thousand dollars for the five. The income of that at six per
cent. would have brought him in fifty dollars a month in perpetuity. He had probably
never earned a hundred dollars a year at any time in his life. Yet he put fortune aside
with a wave of the hand and sat back, content with five dollars per annum for himself
and each of his children, rather than leave the life he had been brought up to.
With childlike simplicity like that the lot of the scrip buyer must be a happy
one – providing he is unhampered by competition. To detach scrip certificates from
such specimens of unsophisticated guilelessness must be like taking candy from a
baby. And if the h––––– himself takes no thought for the morrow, such is far from
being the case with the scrip buyer.
This year treaty has been concluded at York Factory and Churchill. All last
winter, scrip buyers were on the ground, searching out likely applicants, and
persuading the backward ones to apply; making advances in cash or supplies where
they would do the most good; hunting up evidence that would probably have been
available anyway; and generally making themselves officiously useful – and in spite
of the fact that any sale of scrip before it is delivered to the owner is absolutely illegal,
doubtless wheedling out of the expectant beneficiaries a promise to deliver up the
scrip, when it is obtained, to the good Samaritan who has taken all the trouble and
been so kind and helpful.

16. Conflict Over Urban Land (1882)333

To the Editor of the Edmonton BULLETIN.
In your last issue, and even in several former numbers of the BULLETIN, you
strongly opposed the idea of having an Indian reserve on the south side of the
Saskatchewan, only three miles from Edmonton334. These Indians, you say, occupy

333 From CHRISTIAN. (1882, April 29). INDIAN RESERVES AGAIN. The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 3.
334 On example: “The band of Indians under chief Papastayow, which make Edmonton their
headquarters, wish to take their reserve on the south side of the Saskatchewan, the northern limit
being within three miles of Edmonton. […] It contains a large amount of fine farming land, and its
nearness to the town and river makes it especially valuable. There is no doubt that in the near future

205
some of the best lands in the neighborhood and cannot fail to be an obstacle to
colonization around Edmonton. Also that it will be necessary for the Government to
remove this obstacle sooner or later. We hope the settlers of the south side of
Edmonton will be more successful than those of St. Albert. Here, also, our colony is
improving and increasing very fast, and we were gladly contemplating the happy
event of a large immigration of friends and relations of ours coming to settle with us
and in our vicinity west of the mission. But two Indian bands have had their reserves
granted them and surveyed in such a way that some claims already occupied by our
people were taken from them without any compensation for their improvements, and
they were obliged to look elsewhere for homesteads. Some others were settlers just
on the limit of an Indian reserve. Their homesteads were already too far improved to
allow them to remove, and now, instead of getting friends or relations in their
neighborhood, they get a band of starving Indians.
Those Indians were formerly settled on the shores of Lake St. Anne and Lake
la Nonne. They had houses and fields, and succeeded pretty well. We are at a loss to
understand why they were allowed or induced by the government to abandon these
lakes, where they could find abundant fishing, that they might take reserves against
their wills – at least the Stonies – at Riviere Qui’Barre. Had our government or Indian
agents wished to oppose colonization and wrong the Indians, they could not have done
it otherwise so effectually. We opposed such a state of affairs and begged His
Lordship, the R. C. Bishop of St. Albert, to write on our behalf, and so he did, but
neither complaints nor petitions have been heard. We had no local newspaper at that
time to make known our grievances, or certainly we would have done it.
To please the agents, a great many Indians have abandoned their homes, their
small fields and their land, to settle on the west end of our colony. They received, they
say, good promise of help and assistance, and so they commenced again to build new
shanties and break new patches of land. The crops failed, and being severed from the
abundant fishery they used to have at Lake Ste. Anne and Lake la Nonne, they have
been, they are, and they will be starving.
We cannot approve, of course, of the killing of the Indian farmer’s cow by Jean
Felix Cellihou, but we can see there to how many troubles are exposed the settlers of
St. Albert West, on account of the vicinity of Indian reserves. Had those Indians
remained on their former places they would not have been a drawback to colonization
around here, they would not have been so much exposed to famine and starvation,
and they would have enjoyed the benefit of missions founded for them and at their
request, by the Bishop of St. Albert, who was himself very dissatisfied at being obliged
to build new churches and houses on account of this removal of the Indians, and that
at least of the Stonies – against their own will, desire and inclinations.
CHRISTIAN.
St. Albert, April 17th, 1882.

it will be found necessary to remove this reserve to another locality. […] It is well known that an Indian
reserve located near a town is a cause of trouble and general demoralization to both whites and
Indians.” INDIAN RESERVES. (1882, April 8). The Edmonton Bulletin, p. 4.

206
17. Minor Chiefs Swear Not to Sell Lands (1913)335

Minor chiefs of the Blood336 tribe, consisting of 1,200 members, ranged at the
deathbed of Chief Crop–Eared Wolf337, a brave of territorial days, raised their hands
in solemn pledge not to permit the sale of any Indian land on the reserve, in the
southern part of Alberta, until the rivers and lakes run dry and the grass and other
vegetation of the prairies shrivels and dies. This pledge was also given when the aged
chieftain’s body was lowered in the grave at the Stand–Off Mission cemetery near
Cardston338.
Crop–Eared Wolf, an adherent of the Roman Catholic Church, was ministered
by Father Bauax, a close friend of the chieftain. He died with a prayer on his lips and,
though he suffered untold pain during the last five months as the result of cancer of
the jaw, the end was peaceful. During his last conscious moments he announced to
his people that he was prepared to cross the Great Divide; they had made the passing
easy by again promising not to sell their rich lands to speculators or colonizers but
would cultivate it themselves.
The burial services in the little cemetery adjoining Stand–Off Mission were
simple. The priest chanted the services for the dead and spoke of the good qualities
of the chieftain, bringing out the fact that he was an advocate of peace, and while
stern with his own people he was kind to the white settlers so long as nothing was
said or done to interfere with the Indians or his rights. A band, consisting of fifteen
Indian boys, played “Nearer My God to Thee” over the grave and the services came
to an end. The chieftain’s shroud was a uniform of blue serge with brass buttons, such
as is supplied by the Indian Department to the heads of tribes.
Chief Wolf was a zealous guardian of the Indians’ rights. Years ago, when an
agitation was started among members of the tribe to sell a portion of the reserve at a
price that would make every Indian independent for life, he called his headmen
together in council and announced an edict that the land would not be sold to the
white men, insisting that the tribal treaty gave the Indians absolute possession of the
land as long as water flowed and grass grew, and from that position he could not be
moved by offers of money or promises. He was consistent to the end.
He was proud of the gold medal presented to him by H.R.H. the Duke of
Connaught339, Governor–General of Canada, who visited the reservation some time
ago, and wore it on all occasions. He also donned the modern uniform of a chief,
having discarded the blanket and feathered headgear years ago. He ruled his people
with a firm hand and assisted the government in bringing lawbreakers to book and

335 From MINOR CHIEFS SWEAR NOT TO SELL LANDS. (1913, May 8). The Daily Colonist, p. 17.
336 The Káínawa First Nation, or Blood Tribe, has a reserve in the Treaty 7 lands of southern Alberta.
Their name translates to ‘The people of many Chiefs’. Their language belongs to the Algonquin group.
337 Makoyi–Opistoki (c. 1845 – 1913). His parents died when he was a child, and he was adopted by his
sister’s husband – the famous Red Crow (Mékaisto).
338 Cardston, Alberta, was founded by Mormons in 1887.
339 Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850 – 1942), seventh child of Queen Victoria
and Prince Albert. He served as Governor–General from 1911 to 1916.

207
forbade his braves from engaging in the sun dance340, a pagan festival popular with
Bloods. Through his assistance, James Wilson, then Indian Agent stationed at
Macleod, was enabled to capture Charcoal341, a renegade Indian who paid the penalty
with his life for a series of atrocious murders.
Crop–Eared Wolf, who proved his bravery by every test known to his tribe
before being elected to the head of the tribe, had a greater sense of the fineness of
things than is usually found in an Indian. A missionary from one of the stations near
the reserve took an interpreter with him and called on the old chief for the purpose
of taking his picture. Wolf was indignant. He explained through the interpreter that
it would have been proper if he had invited the camera man to visit him for the
purpose set forth, but it was a violation of good taste for him to come unsolicited. The
photographer, the same as others before him, returned to his home without a single
snapshot.
WELL–FURNISHED HOME
Crop–Eared Wolf’s abode on the reserve was as well furnished as the average
home in most towns or cities. Carpets covered the floors. The wigwam with its open
fireplace was replaced with the kitchen with its modern range. Instead of sleeping on
a blanket on the ground, this Indian and his s––––s had comfortable quarters with
modern furniture. Lamps illuminated the house, blinds covered the windows, paint
kept the exterior from becoming weather–beaten, cooking utensils were in their
places and a table was set that was good enough for the Indian Agent, farm instructor
or anyone else.
While Crop–Eared Wolf was averse to selling any part of the Indian lands, he
was not in favor of allowing it to lie idle. When the Indian Department under R. N.
Wilson342, inaugurated a plan by which the Indians would work a portion of the land
the old chief was one of the first to fall heartily in line and work for the
accomplishment of the purpose. As a result of his efforts large tracts were broken in
different localities of the reserve and Indians are today cultivating the land and
producing profitable crops.

18. The Life of Peter Hourie (1920)343

Who was Peter Hourie? Many of your readers may know; but to many Peter
Hourie will be but a name. Let Peter Hourie speak for himself. In the summer of 1901

340 Very roughly, an important community–wide ceremony in which healing and renewal is sought
through overcoming pain. Widely considered the most important ceremony of the Indigenous peoples
of the Plains.
341 Si’K–Okskitsis, or ‘Black Wood Ashes’ (c. 1856 – 1897). In 1883, he spent a year in a North–West
Mounted Police jail for killing a rancher’s steer. In 1896, he discovered his wife was having an affair,
and killed her lover. After a chase lasting more than a month and involving over a hundred Mounted
Police and Indigenous scouts, Charcoal was tried and convicted in November 1896. He was hanged on
March 16th, 1897.
342 Indian Agent for the Blood Indian Agency from 1905 to 1911.
343 From J.H. (1920, December 22). The Personal Side. Didsbury Pioneer, p. 4. and J.H. (1921, January
5). The Personal Side. Didsbury Pioneer, p. 2.

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the great h––––– had been reduced to the rank of farm instructor on the Crooked
Lakes (Broadview) Reserve, a victim to the determination of Clifford Sifton to reduce
the expenses of the Indian Department at pretty nearly any cost. And he wrote to the
Hon. Edgar Dewdney, the old Superintendent of Indian Affairs, the subjoined letter.
It has never been published for the simple reason that the proud old man could not
bring himself to stoop to send it. Peter Hourie handed me the letter, and now thirty–
one years afterwards, when Peter and the man to whom it was written, have been for
some years in their graves, I give it to the public. It will be seen that Peter’s language
does not conform very well to the English standard, but I give the letter as he wrote
it, for it is better so.

Lake May Reserve, July 31, 1901
Dear Honourable Sir:–
I beg to you most humbly to ask of which you know I have I think some more
faithfully in all my undertakings as a faithful servant to the country, and the bringing
of peace and friendship with the white and r–– or Indian in peace and harmony with
each other.
My long service with the governing of the Indians of the country, I beg to ask
of your most kindness to intercede for me now in my time of life in serving the
government since 1880, besides years others before me in 1877 and ’78 up to the
present day. Has any one done for the government more than I have done. You know
that when any trouble was expected I was always ordered to the place and as good
luck would be have kept everyone in good faith towards the white. You know the year
the Marquis of Lorne passed through the country I was with the party, when the
Indian Commissioner sent me back with so many thousands (of dollar…) to
Qu’Appelle which I delivered344 to the Indian Agent, Colonel McDonald, and then was
sent to Fort Walsh to induce the Indians, who were belonging to several parts of the
country to return to their birthplaces. All this you know I accomplished in the years
of 1882 and 1883 as you may say with my life in my hand. All this I remind; they (the
Government) may have overlooked, as at the present time I should think the
Government would look into this, as now I am getting old being now in my 73rd year
of my age, and being troubled with rheumatism and other ailments! must say my
services are not as I would like to serve.
You know in the year of 1880 you could not get the Indian Chiefs to choose out
their reserves, and I was called upon from Prince Albert, Sask., to talk to these
Indians and got all of them to take up their reserves, and they are being living on
them ever since. Now after all my services for the good of the country is the
Government going to overlook all my good service and not allow me any recompense

344 “Mr. Dewdney had in his possession a box containing $110,000, which he desired taken from
Battlefort to Fort Qu’Appelle. With hardly any discussion the box was handed to Hourie, who for three
days travelled the dangerous trails to his destination, riding in an old buckboard and taking more than
ordinary precaution with his valuable trust. At night he slept in his tent and by day he journeyed on,
having with him no escort and thus disarming the suspicion of r—s and whites scattered over the
prairie.” DEATH OF VETERAN OF REBELLION. (1910, November 3). The Edmonton Capital, p. 5.

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for my past service. I must say the Government is giving me $40 a month as farm
instructor. I have acted as interpreter as well. This is a very small figure I think for
the good I have done for the country. I think that the Honourable Government could
give me more to live on and retire for the remainder of my days. Many men never has
done for the country as I have gets thousands for pension for life. I would like to serve
faithfully to the end. Hoping that you honourable gentleman will use your influence
and do some good for me.
I remain,
Your obedient servant,
PETER HOURIE.

HIS CLOSING YEARS
Let me tell you what I know of the closing years of the great h––––– peace
maker. I think it was in 1909 that I was Peter’s guest for three days on the Crooked
Lakes Reserve, where he ranked as farm instructor. He had lived for a while on the
high land where he could look out upon the prairie, but now he was located in the old
disused Indian grist mill, which was in an embayed hollow by the lake side and from
which there was no view. He was badly wanting to get back to the open where he
could look out. Peter was at this time over 80, and I found him suffering from
rheumatism. I state, for what it is worth, that when we got fairly down to talk I heard
no more complaints of rheumatism.
Mrs. Hourie was away visiting her children in Regina, and a grand–daughter,
about fourteen years of age, was keeping house. For three days Peter and I and the
little girl held the fort alone. An odd Indian dropped in, and an occasional h–––––,
but during the time I was there, no white visitor came. I have wondered since what
the little girl thought of me and her grandfather, for I don’t think two old men ever
roared and laughed so much since Adam.
Peter was certainly not without dignity, but he also had humour. The way of it
was that I would get Peter talking of his life and experiences, and when I thought he
had done enough I would take hold and trot him through London and other places
with the life of which he was not familiar. And so the talk oscillated between the old
and the new, between ultra–civilized things and things very close to nature indeed.
And I glimpsed a great soul; a great exemplar of all that was best in two great races
– in r–– and white. I was the better enabled to do this, because all Peter’s Indian
reserve melted away in those three days, and I think I saw him as he was. And truly,
he had nothing to conceal, for a more honourable man than Peter Hourie it has never
been my lot to meet.
THE HOURIE HOUSE IN REGINA
When Peter was chief interpreter to the Indian Department, which then had
its western headquarters in Regina, he bought a frame house on the west corner of
Albert and Dewdney, just a lot or wo back. It has been swept away for several years.
In the Klondike rush and excitement, the Indian department wanted pemmican made
for the Mounted Police and others on duty in the Yukon, and, as usual, turned to
Peter. Mrs. Hourie was a grand old princess of a woman, as noble in her way as Peter

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was in his. With the assistance of a s–––––, she made big store of pemmican at the
old Hourie house. It, of course, was made of beef, but the beef was treated in exactly
the same way as the Indians used to treat the buffalo, and the pemmican was of the
very best. When Peter could no longer do any kind of duty, he left the Crooked Lakes
Reserve and went up to his old home in Regina, to spend his last years; and it was
there he died.
A LAST MEETING WITH PETER
Peter had once lived for a considerable time in the Prince Albert country. I was
going into that district, and so I called on Peter to see if I could do anything for him
there. I found him lying on the outside of the bed, dressed, and apparently not
suffering. We had a great talk, and I promised him that I would call on my return,
and report progress from Prince Albert.
While away I visited Mrs. Kennedy’s farm, a few miles from Prince Albert. Mrs.
Kennedy was a leading woman of the mixed race, and a cousin, I think, of the Rev.
Canon Flett, who was at one time well–known in the Territories as a school inspector.
I found the Canon had taken up his residence there, and it was a great pleasure to
meet him, as I knew him extremely well – better than most. On the place was a log
building, and this was pointed out to me by the Canon, as the building in which Peter
Hourie had kept store for trading with the Indians and h–––––s, many long years
before. The building was in excellent preservation. This was in the summer.
On my return to Regina I started one evening to go up to Peter’s to report as
per promise. On my way I sat down to smoke and rest, on the wing of the Albert Street
subway, and when I got through it was dark, and I thought I would not make so late
a call after all. And in a day or so Peter Hourie was dead, and to my lasting regret, I
never made that report after all. Mr. Hourie was a Freemason and an Anglican. The
funeral service was from St. Paul’s Church. I was there. I remember that among those
present to pay a last tribute to the grand old man, was Jimmy Brown, who has since
passed away.
HIS FATHER’S SWORD
We have dealt with Mr. Hourie’s closing years first. We will now re–commence,
as it were, at the right end of life’s chapter.
Peter was born in 1827 in the Stone Fort country in the Selkirk settlement.
His father was a native of the Orkney Islands, a tall, big man who had been a soldier
in the British Army and who had fought as a cavalryman at the battle of Waterloo.
His father had the sword he used in that famous battle, and Peter told me that as a
boy he had often played with it. In the rebellion of 1869–70, his father lent the sword
to some loyal h–––––s and he never got it back. Peter remarked that he thought the
rebels must have got it somehow; and further told me that he had seen a scar on his
father’s side made by a sword.
Speaking of his family stock, Peter said, “The Hourie family, my father’s
family, came from Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. The graves of the Houries are in
the Kirkwall churchyard. A man who had been there told me they were all awful
lengths and that my ancestors must have been a race of giants. My father used to be
in charge of the fort at the forks of the Red Deer River and the Saskatchewan. He

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was then in the service of the Hudson’s Bay. He retired from the service, and had a
farm at Park’s Creek. The creek was named after a carpenter named Park, who came
from the old country. The farm was half way between two forts – Fort Garry and the
Stone Fort or Fort Selkirk.”
Peter’s mother was a Snake Indian. I asked him if she was a full–blooded
Indian, and he said she was, but she had been brought up by Chief Factor Bird, and
had white ways. Of this union there were seven sons, and no daughters. Mrs. Hourie
had been previously married to a settler named Corrigan, and by him she had one
son, James, who was eventually drowned in the Red River, near the old Hourie
homestead.
RELIGION: PRAYS IN THE OPEN
Peter’s life as a boy did not differ much, if any, from that of any other son of a
Selkirk settler. He was brought up as a member of the Anglican Church and during
the whole of his life he remained in communion with that church, and as we have
already seen, the last words said over his body was the Anglican ritual for the burial
of the dead. Although he made no pharisaical professions of piety, his religion was a
reality to him, and he was not ashamed of it.
An old timer in the north country named Miller, told me that he came across
Peter Hourie once, and they made camp together. Before they went to sleep, he said,
Peter knelt down and “put up a real fine prayer, right in the open.” Miller seemed to
think there was something remarkable about Peter doing it “in the open,” as if he
would have expected him to slink behind a tree or something of the sort. But that was
not Peter’s way.
WITH THE HUDSON’S BAY CO. […]
At 18 years of age Peter Hourie joined the Hudson’s Bay service. Lord
Strathcona, when 90 years of age, told use in the Regina City Hall, that he was never
happier than when in the Hudson’s Bay service, getting twenty pounds a year. Well,
twenty pounds a year, or say eight dollars a month, was what the stalwart young
settler started on with the Hudson’s Bay Company. He was with the Hudson’s Bay
for many long years before a railroad to this country was ever dreamed of, but he also
did some free trading.
Here is an extract from Peter’s conversation as I noted it:
“For 24 winters I had nothing over me, only the canopy of the blue sky. No
wonder I am crippled up with rheumatism. I was with the Company, but I also did
some free trading. I was at the crossing of the Pile o’ Bones. Formerly the Indians
used to run buffalo at the crossing of the Pile o’ Bones. They would make big corrals
and the walls of the enclosure would be perhaps four feet wide and ten high, so that
when the buffalo were driven into the enclosure they could not jump over or break
out. I took part in all that. I have stood on Pilot Butte and seen the prairie black with
buffalo. I was eight or nine years free trading. I was also farming in the Prince Albert
district.”
FIRST FLOUR MILL BUILT IN SASKATCHEWAN IN 1875
Peter said: “Myself and another man put up the first flour mill that was built
in Saskatchewan. The other man’s name was Beeds. It was a wind mill and it was

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put up on posts. The stones for grinding the flour were brought up from Winnipeg by
one George McKay. They were brought up in wagons, not Red River carts. That was
the first year wagons were brought into use. That was 1875. It was Geo. McKay’s
mill, but Beeds and I put it up.
FIRST MISSIONARY
“Mr. Nesbitt was the first white missionary that was there. He was there a
year or two before me. He had a school there for the Indians. He was a Presbyterian.
Then came Bishop McLean from Winnipeg. The settlers all drew together and built
the log church.
INDIAN SECRET SOCIETIES AND MEDICINES
“It was wonderful how the Indians got along in those early times. They had
secret societies something like Freemasons. To belong to one of those secret societies
and Indian had to have a good, strong mind, and be able to keep a secret. Then if you
wanted medicine, or anything else, you would get whatever you wanted. Nothing was
kept from you. If these Indian medicines were known they would be very valuable.”
BORN IN A BUCKBOARD
IN the course of conversation Mr. Hourie said, “One of my children was born
in a buckboard. That was in 1881. My wife was coming home from Fort Ellice to
Prince Albert. One of the boys was with her. She thought she would have time to get
home before it happened, but two miles and a half from home she was taken sick. She
told the boy to go into the bush, and she had a baby in the buckboard, and then went
on home. When she drove up one of the girls saw there was something strange, so she
said, “Mother, what’s the matter?” My wife said, “Oh, nothing,” and got out of the
buckboard and walked into the house with the baby. That was Harry.”
INDIAN PROPHESIES: STARVING INDIANS RELIEVED
Peter said: “The white people professed to have no faith in the prophesies of
the Indians, but they went by them all the same – by the prophecies of the medicine
man. The Indians believe in a bad herb, and a good herb. The Indians believe there
is an herb for every ill in the human body – that is for every ill, there is an herb that
will cure it. The medicine men are told sometimes by dreams what to use.”
Peter, in answer to a question whether he believed in Indian prophesies
himself, said he had to from his own experience. For instance, he said, “On one
occasion there was no buffalo or anything. The medicine man came to my tent. I had
one of those travelling tents. He said to me, “My brother, we are going to have some
meat today. I have seen our road. It is very clear for us. We shall go through, and get
to a hill and when we get over this hill our young men will kill a buffalo bull. That is
the first meat we shall have.”
“And,” said Hourie, “by George did it take place. We were going out to the
Elbow of the Saskatchewan. We travelled on, and every night he would do the same.”
THE LAST INDIAN SCALP
In March, 1898, Mr. Hayter Reed, ex–Indian Commissioner, wrote to Peter
from Eastern Canada and said a friend of his was very anxious to obtain a scalp if he
could possibly get one. He asked Peter to do the best he could.

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Peter said to me, “I got a scalp. It was the last one taken in this country. It was
taken on the banks of the South Saskatchewan close to the Vermillion Hills. The
Crees killed quite a number of Blackfeet at times.”
HOURIE’S OPINION OF PIAPOT
I asked Peter what he thought of Piapot, the noted and turbulent Indian chief.
Peter replied, “Piapot was certainly the bravest Indian that ever travelled these
plains. He proved it by his deeds, going to war and killing, and never running away
from it. All the Indians said he was as brave as a lion. There may be men who have
taken scalps, but not one who has been on the war path to go into the enemies’ country
and tackle the lion in his den the same as Piapot did.”
A BLACKFOOT RAID […]
We have seen that Mr. Hourie claimed that a certain medicine man prophesied
correctly concerning the finding of a buffalo bull. This was in the neighborhood of the
Elbow of the Saskatchewan. Continuing his story of the trip and of this same medicine
man, […] Mr. Hourie’s own words were something as follows:
“Speaking of the Blackfeet, the medicine man said, “Our namesakes, the
Blackfeet, have been coming into the Elbow. Our young men who are now out on scout
will bring us news that they have seen the Blackfeet coming.”
“And,” said Mr. Hourie, “sure enough it was as he said. When the scouts had
brought in the news the medicine man said, “Now, we shall have to take care of
ourselves. If we don’t keep quiet, and don’t look out for ourselves, we will either get
some of our horses stolen or be killed. From here we will go in such a direction, and
we are going to meet some more Indians – Qu’Appelle Indians. We shall not meet
them today, but tomorrow they will come to a camp and bring word of lots of buffalo.
The enemy will see us coming along. They will be afraid of us. Keep close together
and we shall get plenty of buffalo.”
“We met the Qu’Appelle Indians as the medicine man said we would, and next
morning we had a run of buffalo. “But,” said the Medicine Man, “our enemies are all
around, and even watching us very keenly from the sand hills.” That night, we
gathered our horses all in and tied them to the cart wheels. Through the night one of
our men said, “Do you hear that?” We were camped close to a spring. There was a
splash. “Of course,” he said, “there must be a wolf around.” They call their enemies
wolves. We got up in the morning. There had been no trouble in the night, but on
going to the spring there were the marks of a man’s bare feet. We kept watch again
all that day, but nothing bothered us. We went right on to the Touchwood Hills and
got back all safe.
“The Hudson’s Bay Factor wanted me to go back again. They wanted meat both
at the head depots at Fort Pelly and Fort Ellice, and other places, and I had to keep
busy after the buffalo. The next three days I spelled the horses; then I started off
again to get more buffalo meat. I was told when I started where the Indians would
be. The Indians were going to have a Sun Dance at a certain bluff; so I went and
camped there to meet their Sun Dance lodge. This was in the Swift Current country.
The second night of the Sun Dance lodge the Crees’ enemies, the Blackfeet, came

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upon them. In the fight the Crees got hold of one Blackfoot. They made short work of
him, and it was all through this Medicine Man’s prophesy.” […]
I have only touched the fringe of Mr. Hourie’s real career, but this will have to
suffice for the present, at any rate.

The Potlatch

The Potlatch is a gift–giving feast, traditionally of great importance to the social
and economic life of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. It was
formally banned under clause 149 of the Indian Act from 1885 to 1951. Participating
in a potlatch was punishable by two to six months’ imprisonment.

The official reasons for this ban were paternalistic: the government did not trust
Indigenous peoples, who were their wards, from acting in their own best interest.
They had to be protected from themselves, and from wasting time that was better
spent at residential schools or in paid employment.

The following articles are intended as an introduction to the meaning of the
potlatch, and the view taken by the Canadian government.

19. A Songhees Potlatch (1874)345

Our neighbours at the Songish village are having a hyas346 potlach. (Anglice347,
a great gift.) Tribes are gathered from all parts348 and nights are made hideous by
the orgies349. Amongst the ancient usages still observed by the natives of this coast is
that of gifts, which are made when building a new house, (sometimes thousands of
blankets are given away to those who assisted to raise it by the owner of the house
and his relations,) and when the chief or chiefs of a tribe acquire a certain amount of
property, all of which is given away to the neighbouring tribes, who are present by
invitation. Of the latter sort is the one now on hand. It commenced last Sunday and
will last all this week. An invitation has been sent to every tribe from Cape Beale to
Comox, on this island; in Washington Territory, from Cape Flattery up Puget Sound
as far as Nisqually; from Port Townsend, northwards by Semihamoo, up the Fraser
to New Westminster, thence along the coast by Burrard Inlet to Sheechell. The
number present exceeds 2,000. The supply of provisions will cost over $1,000.

345 From The Indian Potlatch. (1874, April 23). Daily British Colonist, p. 3.
346 Chinook for ‘great’ or ‘large’. Chinook was a popular trade language built from bits and pieces of
many Indigenous languages.
347 ‘In English’.
348 From a potlatch five years earlier: “The number of strangers already gathered in is about 700,
representing thirteen tribes, viz: the Cowichan, Tsauso, Saanich, Discovery Island, Nanaimo, Sooke,
Chemainus, Quamichan, Penalakites, Skadget, Nittinet, Clallm and Celemenalts. About 200 canoes
are hauled up on the beach, and a great many presents, such as blankets, guns and iktas, are stored
in the different lodges.” THE SONGISH VILLAGE. (1869, April 21). The British Colonist, p. 3.
349 In this case, ‘wild parties’, as opposed to the modern meaning.

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Already, as a bill of fare, there are, our informant tells us, four barrels of salt black
bear, an enormous quantity of fat porpoises, seals, halibut, fresh and dried; a great
many strings of dried clams; also hundreds of baskets full of mussels, oysters, clams,
sea snails, and skimmock350 (the last a sort of fish resembling tripe); any quantity of
crabs, salt and fresh salmon; also gallons of molasses, several sacks of potatoes and
flour, with loaf bread in the bargain; a large quantity of tea, four barrels of sugar, and
a great many other articles. Several parties are out trying to get deer meat. In order
to quench their thirst and for cooking purposes they are about to engage a water cart
to supply them. There will be given away one thousand blankets351 in the following
order: Three bales352 of white, three bales of fancy and a few bales of green, and so on
with the other sorts; in all, 20 bales. There will also be a gift of nine canoes, one of
which is worth $100. The bales will be opened on the roof of one of the lodges and the
blankets thrown down to the people below. The canoes will be given to the chiefs of
the various tribes present at the feast. While assembled the grievance of the
Cowichans will be discussed. The position of the Puget Sound Indians will also be
discussed, how they like the mode of treatment on their several reservations from the
United States Government, etc. It is to be hoped that the affair will go off quietly. It
would be advisable for Capt. Molit to see the chief and get him to tell the dissatisfied
ones that we wish to do justice to them, and as Dr. Powell353 will soon return with a
clearly defined policy, it is to be hoped that all troubles will be settled forever.

20. ‘Evils’ of the Potlatch (1896)354

The following letter, written by a missionary, summarizes religious and government
reasoning behind the potlatch ban. It took time away from wage work and the
‘civilizing’ influence of residential schools, and it was a gateway to ‘retrogression’
to traditional Indigenous cultural practices.

The efforts of the Indian department to educate the Indians are beyond all
praise. It is school versus potlach; both cannot flourish. Our hope is that the school
will undermine its opponent and that it will topple over. In this district there are two
schools and the Indians from these two villages have been absent to–day ten weeks
potlaching in two other villages. There are no signs of their speedy return and the

350 I’ve been unable to identify this fish.
351 The final count was higher: “Two thousand pairs of blankets, two crates of crockery, 100 full suits
of clothing, calico shirts, pieces of calico, specimens of beadwork, 100 boxes biscutis, several barrels
molasses and a washtubful of fifty–cent pieces were distributed by Chief Jim and his aides.” The
Potlatch. (1874, April 28). Daily British Colonist, p. 3.
352 Bundles.
353 Probably Dr. Israel Wood Powell (1836 – 1915). He was a Freemason, surgeon and superintendent
of Indian affairs (until 1889). In the latter position, it was his influence that led to the ban on potlatches
being included in an 1884 amendment of the Indian Act. In 1886 he was elected the first president of
the Medical Council of British Columbia, and in 1890 he became the first chancellor of the University
of British Columbia.
354 From Rev. Alfred J. Hall. (1896, March 15). EVILS OF THE POTLACH. Victoria Daily Colonist, p.
7. Reverend Alfred James Hall (1853 – 1918) published a grammar of the Kwagiutl language in 1889.

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deserted schools for a while, at least, are second best. So much for morals under the
potlatch. Now, how does this system affect the industry of the province in general and
the merchants of Victoria in particular.
There are, as I have stated, assembled to–day in two villages, 800 Indians
potlatching. There they have been nearly three months and may remain five. This is
the season to procure furs and oil. Have they (Say 200 able men among them) earned
or produced $2 per day, i.e. 1 cent per man during this stay? I believe not. Now there
are many tribes on the coast who have given up the potlatch, and from them I will
mention three totaling also about 800 – the Bella Bellas355, the Kitkalas356 and the
Kinoliths. Will anyone dare to say these non–potlatchers will not produce this season
ten times the value of furs produced by the 800 now potlatching? Probably fifty times
more would be nearer the truth. […]
It is in the interests of this province that we keep our Indians alive; they are
worth preserving. What they generally produce is in addition to what our settlers
produce. They occupy land the white man does not require. They love the white man,
and their ultimate future must be absorption and assimilation to the whites. […]
No one who really knows what the potlach is, and what it tends to, can wish to
uphold it, and at the same time love the Indians. Selfishness may and does uphold it,
but love, never.
ALFRED J. HALL.
Alert Bay, March 11, 1896.

21. “The Potlatch is Our Bank” (1896)357

We are fortunate that this explanation of the potlatch by a renowned Indigenous
leader has survived. It is presented in its entirety.

TO THE EDITOR :–My name is Maquinna! I am the chief of the Nootkas and
other tribes. My great grandfather was also called Maquinna358. He was the first chief
in the country who saw white men. That is more than one hundred years ago. He was
kind to the white men and gave them land to build and live on359. By and bye more
white men came and ill treated our people and kidnapped them and carried them
away on their vessels, and then the Nootkas became bad and retaliated and killed
some white people. But that is a long time ago. I have always been kind to white men.

355 The Heiltsuk people of Bella Bella Island.
356 The Gitxaala band of the Tsimshian First Nation of British Columbia. Their traditional territory is
Dolphin island.
357 Originally published as Maquinna. (1896, April 1). THE NOOTKA CHIEF SPEAKS. Victoria Daily
Colonist, p. 6. Written by Maquinna (d. 1901).
358 “The name continued for two centuries at Nootka, the Maquinna who died in 1901 being the last to
hold authority among the Indians of the locality.” NAMED AFTER COAST PRINCESS. (1912,
September 4). Victoria Daily Colonist, p. 15.
359 “It was from Maquinna that capt. John Meares, of the Felice, purchased in 1788 the little lot of land
in Friendly Cove, Nootka Sound, on which the British claim to a portion of the North Pacific against
the Spanish claim to the whole coast of Northwest America was founded.” Ibid.

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Dr. Powell knows it and Mr. Vowell and all the white men who come to my country.
And now I hear that the white chiefs want to persecute us and put us in jail and we
do not know why.
They say it is because we give feasts which the Chinook people call “Potlatch.”
That is not bad! That which we give away is our own! Dr. Powell, the Indian agent,
one day also made a potlatch to all the Indian chiefs, and gave them a coat, and
tobacco, and other things, and thereby we all knew that he was a chief; and so when
I give a potlatch, they all learn that I am a chief. To put in prison people who steal
and sell whiskey and cards to our young men; that is right. But do not put us in jail
as long as we have not stolen the things which we give away to our Indian friends.
Once I was in Victoria, and I saw a very large house; they told me it was a bank and
that the whitemen place their money there to take care of, and that by–and–by they
get it back, with interest. We are Indians, and we have no such bank; but when we
have plenty of money or blankets, we give them away to other chiefs and people, and
by–and–by they return them, with interest, and our heart feels good. Our potlatch is
our bank.
I have given many times a potlatch, and I have more than two thousand dollars
in the hands of Indian friends. They all will return it some time, and I will thus have
the means to live when I cannot work any more. My uncle is blind and cannot work,
and that is the way he now lives, and he buys food for his family when the Indians
make a potlatch. I feel alarmed! I must give up the potlatch or else be put in jail. Is
the Indian agent going to take care of me when I can no longer work? No, I know he
will not. He does not support the old and poor now. He gets plenty of money to support
his own family, but, although it is all our money, he gives nothing to our old people,
and so it will be with me when I get old and infirm. They say it is the will of the
Queen. That is not true. The Queen knows nothing about our potlatch feasts. She
must have been put up to make a law by people who know us. Why do they not kill
me? I would rather be killed now than starve to death when I am an old man. Very
well, Indian agents, collect the two thousand dollars I am out and I will save them
till I am old and give no more potlatch!
They say that sometimes we cover our hair with feathers and wear masks when
we dance. Yes, but a white man told me one day that the white people have also
sometimes masquerade balls and white women have feathers on their bonnets and
the white chiefs give prizes for those who imitate best, birds or animals. And this is
all good when white men do it but very bad when Indians do the same thing. The
white chiefs should leave us alone as long as we leave the white men alone, they have
their games and we have ours.
I am sorry to hear the news about the potlatch and that my friends of the North
were put in jail. I sympathise with them; and I asked a white man to write this in
order to ask all white men not to interfere with our customs as long as there is no sin
or crime in them. The potlatch is not a pagan rite; the first Christians used to have
their goods in common and as a consequence must have given “potlatches” and now I
am astonished that Christians persecute us and put us in jail for doing as the first
Christians.

218
MAQUINNA, X (his mark)
Chief of Nootka.

22. The Potlatch Economy (1898)360

Mrs. Harlan I. Smith361, a New York bride, who spent her honeymoon among
the British Columbia Indians thus relates her experiences: […]
As we were nearly six months in the Northwest, visiting a number of places, I
shall attempt to mention only a few of the most striking incidents that I witnessed at
Fort Rupert, where I spent the month of June. […]
The native homes are made very large, some of them being 70 feet wide and
120 feet long. They consist of a single room that is occupied by several related
families, in a communal sort of way. They squat around on the dirt floor, in the
respective corners which they have chosen, cooking over an open fire, the smoke from
which escapes through the cracks on the roof. Around the three sides of the house is
a platform, about four feet wide, and raised a short distance from the ground. Upon
these platforms they sleep, sometimes boxing in their beds like the berths on a
sleeping car. These are most important places, for when one of the Indians gets angry
it is to this place he retires until recovered. He sometimes takes to his bed when
feeling very sad over the death of a friend.
THE QUEER HOUSES.
The walls of the houses are built of plank, as is also the roof, but the planks of
the latter are hollowed out and laid like the Swiss tile roof. These planks are split out
of immense cedar trees by means of a wooden wedge driven with stone hammers.
They are often smoothed with adzes362, the blades of which were formerly made of
stone. Since the coming of the Hudson’s Bay company they have been able to get old
files and other bits of iron from which to make the blades, so that now stone is not
used.
In one of the houses I saw piled thousands of woolen blankets and several shied
[sic.] pieces of copper. I learned the blankets were being collected in order that the
owner could give a potlatch, which means that he would loan them out at interest.363

360 From Mrs. H. I. Smith. (1898, October 26). WITH COAST INDIANS. Victoria Daily Colonist, p. 8.
361 Helena Elizabeth Oakes Smith (1872 – 1947), wife of Harlan Ingersoll Smith (1872 – 1940), a noted
archaeologist. Harlan I. Smith is most famous for his work on the Jesup North Pacific expedition,
conducted in British Columbia and Washington State between 1897 and 1899.
362 A tool like a curved axe that is used in wood–working.
363 A second source disagrees: “The potlatch and the lending of property at interest are two entirely
distinct proceedings. Property distributed in a potlatch is freely given, bears no interest, cannot be
collected on demand, and need not be repaid at all if the one who received it does not for any reason
with to requite the gift. When the recipient holds a potlatch he may return an equal amount, or a
slightly larger amount, or a smaller amount wit