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Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection","@language":"en"}],"Creator":[{"@value":"Moberly, Walter, 1832-1915","@language":"en"}],"DateAvailable":[{"@value":"2017-08-31","@language":"en"}],"DateIssued":[{"@value":"[1909?]","@language":"en"}],"DigitalResourceOriginalRecord":[{"@value":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/collections\/chungpub\/items\/1.0355290\/source.json","@language":"en"}],"Extent":[{"@value":"15 pages : portrait ; 22 cm","@language":"en"}],"FileFormat":[{"@value":"application\/pdf","@language":"en"}],"FullText":[{"@value":" Early History of\nC.P.R* Road .. ..\nBY\nWALTER\nMOBERLY,\nC.E.\n \"\n:\u25a0:\u25a0:,%\u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0   \u2022      \u25a0       -  .    : .   '\n.'\u25a0 ' '.'\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0   \u25a0\u2022  '    :    :\u25a0\u25a0.  '\u2022 ,      ' \"\n073\nGXP\nN THE brief early history of Canada's first transcontinental railway\nwhich I am about to outline, and\nto accomplish the ultimate construction of which I took the first\nactive steps, the important objects I had in view were as follows:\n1. To discover that a practicable line\ncould be obtained through the mountains of\nBritish   Columbia.\n2. To be certain that it was the best obtainable  line.\n3. To find where the best, western terminal  point   on   the  Pacific   Coast  would be.\n4. To build up a large commercial city\nat   such   western   terminus.\nTo accomplish the above objects I had\nfor many years a long, very difficult and\noften most disheartening road to travel, but\nby sticking tenaciously to my purpose I\nfound:\n1. The way for the railway.\n2. The  best   commercial  line  to  adopt.\nThe   western   terminal  point   I   selected\nO.        X IIC        WC5SlrCJ.il\nwas  Burrard  Inlet.\n4. The large commercial city I had in\nview is noAV the City of Vancouver, and the\ntranscontinental railway I proposed is the\nCanadian   Pacific   Railway.\nYears spent in making careful and very\nextensive explorations through the western\nportion of Canada, especially through British\nColumbia, convinced me that the latent natural resources of the country were illimitable, and that railway facilities were needed\nto develop them and change a great, inhospitable and rugged wilderness into a large,.\nflourishing  and  prosperous  community.\nThe accomplishment and success of the-\nforegoing   important   works   now   speak   for\nthemselves.\nAs it will doubtless be more satisfactory\nto you to learn from one who actually and\npersonally first promoted, and whose exertions insured the accomplishment of the-\nabove undertakings, and the important results that have followed, than to form\nopinions from writers whose ideas and statements were, or are, founded upon hearsay,,\nand in many cases inaccurate or prejudiced\ndata, I will now proceed to relate tne part I\ntook before either the Canadian Pacific Railway or the City of Vancouver were heard\nof, to bring such important institutions into\nexistence, and insure their prosperity, as\nwell  as  that  of  the   country  at  large.\nIn an address to the Canadian Club of\nthis City, which I gave on the 13th of\nMarch, 1907, on the subject of \"Early Path-\nFinding in the Mountains of British Columbia, or the Discovery of the 'North-West\nPassage by Land,' \" and also in a subsequent one I delivered to the members of the\nArt, Historical & Scientific Association of\nthis City, I mentioned many matters and\nevents that were necessarily connected with,\nand form a part of, the subject of this paper, and as everything relating to the many\nimportant events that transpired as. years\npassed   on   from   the   time   when   that   great, EARLY  HISTORY  OF  C.P.R,   ROAD\nnoble and adventurous Frenchman\nSAMUEL DE   CHAMPLAJN\nfirst launched his canoe at the mouth of\nFrench River, on the beautiful waters of Lake\nHuron, to gradually bring about and ultimately form and consolidate the scattered\nand disconnected portions of British North\nAmerica into a great nation, having an incomparable future before it, must be of\ngreat interest to all Canadians, it was suggested to me by Mr. F. C. Wade, president\nof the Art, Historical & Scientific Association of Voncouver, that I should give an\noutline history of the first explorations\nactually undertaken and made with the object in view of discovering a practicable line\nfor a transcontinental railway through British North America, or, to speak more correctly, through that portion of the west of\nLake Simcoe, for the railway system of Canada was then insured as far west as that\nlake, and to the present town of Collingwood, on Lake Huron. I went through the\npreparatory grades of my profession as a\ncivil engineer, from an axeman upwards, on\nthe first surveys made for this railway between Toronto and Lake Huron.\nThe history of Canada from the time the\nFrench first settled in various places in its\neastern and central portions, and made\nheroic explorations westerly until they saw\nthe great snow-capped range of the Rocky\nMountains like a wall rising somewhat\nabruptly from the prairie country, and which\nlatter country was, in my younger days, generally known as the Nor'-West, until the surrender of Quebec, embraces what constitutes\nthe first or strictly French period.\nShortly after the fall of Quebec, France\nceded her right of sovereignty to Great\nBritain, since which time, with the exception of some matters not fully provided for\nin the treaty between the Powers, the two\nraces have dwelt together in peace and\namity, and no portion of the population of\nCanada have been more loyal than the\nFrench-Canadians in their efforts to assist,\ntogether with other British subjects, in\nbuilding up the great Canadian nation which,\nextends from the* Atlantic Ocean to the\nPacific Ocean, and from the United States\nto '\u25a0\u2022the Frozen Ocean\" which washes the\nnorthern shores of British North America.\nAs years passed by, and the country east\nof Lake Huron became populous and prosperous, it was found necessary to build\nrailways to facilitate transportation, and to\nunite the different portions of the country\nby constructing a great highway through\nUpper and Lower Canada and the easterly\nMaritime Provinces, and for that purpose\nthe Grand Trunk Railway was built, which,\ntogether with other important railways then\nalso being built, gave an immense impetus\nto the settlement and development of the\nportion of Canada east of Lake Huron.\nUntil the early fifties of the nineteenth\ncentury very little was known of the country\nwest of Lake Huron, and it was generally\nsupposed to be a rugged, cold, barren and\ninhospitable country, more suitable for wild\nanimals and savage Indians than for civilised settlement and commercial development.\nIt was in the year 1850, when I was\nemerging from boyhood, that I met in Barrie\nan English gentleman from Kent, England,\nand we arranged to undertake a trip from\nBarrie to Sault Ste. Marie for the purpose\nof exploring the north shore of Lake Huron,\nand also for shooting and fishing, and to be\npresent at the town of Manitowaning, on\nthe great Manitoulin Island, in order to see\nthe annual distribution of the presents that\nthe government in those days gave to the\nIndians that then inhabited the country\naround Lakes Huron and Superior.\nWe purchased a small bark canoe, which\nwe transported by the old military road from\nBarrie to the Willow River, down which we\npaddled to the Nottawasaga River, and thence\ndown it to Lake Huron, and then coasted\nalong the shore of Lake Huron to Penetang-\nnishene  where  we   outfitted.\nAfter a delightful trip, during which we\nsaw a great deal of the country bordering\nthe north shore of Lake Huron, we went to\nsee the distribution of the presents to the\nIndians.     There were\nSEVERAL  THOUSAND  INDIANS\ncongregated,   and   many   of   the   Indian   war-   i\nriors   were   very   fine     looking   men.     War\ndances  were   innumerable,   and  a   canoe  race |\nwas   got   up,   in   which   there   were   upwards   \\\nof   four   hundred   birch     bark   canoes.     We   ;\nvisited the Wallace copper mine on the White-   !\nfish River,   as well  as the Bruce mines.  We\nthen returned to the site of an old saw-mill,\nabout   five   miles   from   the   village   of   Manitowaning,    where   raspberries   grew   in   profusion,   and  wild  pigeons  were\" innumerable.\nHaving  shot  a  great  number  of  these   birds\nwe  embarked  on  the  old  steamer  Gore,   and ]\nproceeded   to   Sturgeon   Bay,   and   thence   in\nour canoe to the Coldwater River, where we\nput our canoe on a wagon and transported it\nto Orillia,  and then,  launching our cano'e on\nLake  Couchiching,  we paddled back to Barrie.     It  was  during this  trip  that I noticed\nthe  large  forests  of white  nine  that  existed\nthroughout  the  country we  had visited.\nIn the year 1854 I secured the most\navailable of the above timber by taking up\nsome fifteen hundred square miles of timber\nlimits, and I spent a large portion of the\nyears 1855-1857 exploring through the country north of Lakes Huron and Superior, and\nbetween Lake Simcoe and the Michipicoten\nRiver, which discharges its water into Lake\nSuperior.\nIt   was    when   exploring   this   portion   o\nCanada that the idea of getting an extension\nof  the  railway  system  that  centred  in   Toronto   first   occurred     to   me,    and   which   I ,\nthought   might   in   due   time   be   extended   to I\nthe   Red   River   in   the   present   Province   of J\nManitoba.\nOn my return to Toronto, at the end ofj\nthe year 1857, I learnt that the Imperial!\nGovernment had sent out an expedition, un |\nder the command of Captain Palliser, to explore British territory \"between Lake Superior and the Pacific Coast, and at the same\ntime I heard that rich deposits of gold had\nbeen discovered in the valley of the Fraser\nRiver in British Columbia. It then struck\nme that it might be possible to extend the\nrailway I had projected from Toronto to the\nRed River all the way across the continent,\nentirely through British territory, to the\nPacific Coast.\nI EARLY HISTORY  OF  C.P.R.   ROAD\nDuring' several years previous to the year\n185S I was intimately acquainted with the\ncelebrated Canadian artist, Mr. Paul Kane,\nof Toronto, and during the Winters of the\nyears I spent exploring in the Summer\nmonths, north of the Great Lakes, I obtained much and very valuable information from\nMr. Kane regarding the country west from\nLake Superior to Victoria. V. I.\nMr. Kane had, under the auspices of the\nlate Sir George Simpson, then the governor\nof the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company, journeyed from Toronto via Lakes Huron, Superior and thence by the old Hudson's Bay\nroute via Lake Winnipeg, Fort Edmonton,\nthe Athabasca Pass, the I*oat Encampment\non the Columbia River, and thence to Fort\nColville, etc.. etc., to Victoria. Mr. Kane\nreturned generally following the same route,\nand had the opportunity of learning a great\ndeal about the enormous extent and possibilities of the country he had traversed. Mr.\nKane published a book entitled \"The Wanderings of an Artist,\" in which he gives a\nvery   interesting  account   of  his   travels.\nBefore I left Toronto, Mr. Kane introduced me to Sir George Simpson^ and when I\nexplained to the Governor the objects I had\nin view in going to British Columbia, he\nvery kindly gave me a letter of introduction\nto the late Sir James Douglas, who was\nthen at the head of the Hudson's Bay Company   affairs  west   of   the   Rocky  Mountains.\nAt that ime the Hudson's Bay Company\nwere lords of the vast territory west of\nLake Huron, and Sir George Simpson's letter was invaluable to me, for, on my presenting it to Sir James Douglas he not only\nreceived me most kindly, but offered me a\nposition in the Government service, which I\ndeclined, as it would interfere with the objects I had in view, and he gave me a letter\nthat would insure me a welcome and assistance at any of the Hudson's Bay forts I\nmight visit. Until the day of his death I\nalways found Sir James Douglas to be\nA KIND AND INVALUABLE FRIEND.\nTo accomplish such a grand object as\nrailway communication through British territory to the Pacific Coast, I decided to\ndevote my time, and as in those days there\nwere no rich railway corporations nor governments to apply to for financial assist-\n, ance to help me to carry out my proposed\nexplorations through the rugged and formidable western ranges of mountains that form\nthe topographical feature of British Columbia, I sold all my timber limits and what\nother little property I had to raise money,\nand early in the year 1858 I left Toronto\nfor New York, and thence, visiting Brazil,\nPatagonia, Chile, California, Astoria on the\nColumbia River and Puget Sound, I finally\nreached Victoria late in the year 1858.\nI thought I might meet Captain Palliser\nin Victoria and learn from him the result\nof his explorations, but on my arrival Governor Douglas informed me that Captain\nPalliser's party would not reach Victoria\nuntil the following Autumn, and I was unable to get the information I was so desirous   to   obtain.     I  left  Victoria   after   a  few\ndays' stay, and sailed for Fort Langley in\nthe H. B. Company's steamer Otter, and arrived the same day at the old and extensive\nFort Langley, where I received a hearty\nwelcome from the late Chief Factor, William\nYale, and other officers of the company who\nwere then stationed or visiting at that important  fort.\nI may now say that my explorations for a\nCanadian transcontinental railway through\nthe mountains of British Columbia fairly\ncommenced on the day I reached Fort Langley, in the year 1858, and in connection\nwith those I had previously made north of\nLakes Huron and Superior, the explorations\nfor Canada's first transcontinental railway\nmade by me really began in 1855, or sixteen\nyears before British Columbia was confederated with the provinces east of the Rocky\nMountains. Further on in this narrative it\nwill be seen that six years before British\nColumbia became a province of the Dominion\nI had made discoveries that insured to Canada a capital line for the present Canadian\nPacific Railway through the mountain region\nof  Canada principally  at my own  expense.\nThe Winter, cold, dreary and comfortless,\nhad now set in with much snow and rain\nfalling, which made things very discouraging. A large number of miners who had\nbeen mining in the neighborhood of Forts\nHope and Yale, and on the Lillooet River,\nwere living in shacks about half a mile below Fort Langley, and they gave very gloomy\naccounts regarding the portion of the country\nI proposed exploring, and dilated on the\nvery great difficulties that its extremely\nrugged nature presented, and also that there\nwas war between the miners and Indians going on in the canyons of the Fraser River,\nand that several minu^ci and a n umbel of\nIndians had been shot.\nAs there was a small stern-wheel steam-\ner, r.amed The Enterprise, owned and commanded by a most genial and kind-hearted\nAmerican\u2014Captain Tom Wright\u2014going up\nthe Fraser to Fort Yale, I proceeded up the\nriver in her. The Enterprise was the pioneer steamer to navigate the Fraser River\nto Fort Yale. Innumerable old pioneers of\nthe Fraser River experienced much kindness from Captain Wright when they were\nwithout means and starving, for he not only\ngave them free passages, but also fed them\nwhen on his steamer, and also at the same\ntime had such a pleasant way that he made\nthem feel that they were not under obligations to him, but that they were conferring\na favor on him by travelling in his steamer.\nCaptain Wright was a most amusing character, and would keep the passengers in\nroars of laughter by spinning yarns and\ntelling amusing  anecdotes.\nAt the mouth of the Harrison River, together with several others, I left the steamer. As rain, intermixed with snow, was falling in torrents, we pulled the goods the\nsteamer had left on the bank of the river\ninto a near-by large Indian house, called in\nthose   days\n\"A RANCHEREE,\"\nand we also found shelter in it, but the\nsmoke and stench in it were very disagreeable. EARLY HISTORY  OF C.P.R.   ROAD\nHaving on my way up from Fort Langley\narranged with a merchant who had a general\nstore at Port Douglas to take charge of a\ncanoe of his loaded with goods and liquors,\nI hastily collected a crew and late in the\nafternoon we started up the Harrison River.\nAt the rapids we all had to get into the icy\nwater and pull the canoe up the rapids, and\nat dark reached a large Indian house in\nwhich dwelt many Indian families, with whom\nwe stayed over night, and thawed our clothes\nand half frozen bodies.\nA few more days of misery, after being\nbuffeted by strong head winds accompanied\nwith heavy snowstorms, when travelling\nHarrison Lake, saw us in Port Douglas,\nwhich was a small village composed of rough\nshacks and a few better balloon buildings\nfor stores and liquor saloons. The place\nwas crammed with miners and packers\nand others. I hired an Indian to pack my\nblankets across the twenty-nine mile portage\nto Lillooet Lake, and next morning started\nalong a narrow trail through the deep snow\nthat penetrated a  dense  green fir  forest.\nAfter many days spent in walking through\nthe snow, and experiencing endless difficulties and hardships, and without a blanket\nto sleep in, for I had thrown away my blankets the day before I left Port Douglas, as\npacking them through the snow delayed me\nvery much, I managed to penetrate the country as far as Pavilion Mountain, some distance above the present turn of Lillooet, and\nhaving tried mining near \"The Fountain,\"\nwhich was not a success, and there not being any provisions obtainable, I was starved\nout and retraced my way back to Fort\nLangley.\nThis exploration convinced me this route\nwas not favorable for the construction of\nthe eastern section of my proposed transcontinental railway. I, however, ascertained\nthat there were no great difficulties to be\novercome in the construction of wagon roads\nacross the portage between Port Douglas\nand the present town of Lillooet and thence\nup the valley of the Fraser River to the\nPavilion   Mountain.\nOn my return to Fort Langley, Captain\nTom Wright and myself started in a canoe\nto explore up the Pitt River and lake to see\nif we could find a better way into the interior than that by the Harrison River and\nlake. A short exploration in this direction\nconvinced us of the impracticability of this\nroute.\nAfter making this exploration I returned\nto Victoria and gave the Governor an account of my explorations, and he decided to\nimprove the Harrison rapids in the way I\nsuggested, and also to construct wagon roads\nacross the portage, &c, 1 had examined between  Port  Douglas   and  Pavilion  Mountain.\nI now made an exploration through the\ncanyons of the Fraser River between Yale\nand Lytton, which presented great natural\ndifficulties, but in both direction and grades\na good line could be obtained for either a\nwagon road or railway, though the work of\nconstruction in either case would be very\ncostly.\nWhen I returned again to Victoria I met\nColonel Richard Clement Moody at the Governor's office, and arranged with him to\ntake charge of the first works required to\nbe done in founding the City of Queenbor-\nough \u2014 now New Westminster \u2014 and at\nonce returned to the Fraser River with\nColonel Moody and went to work with a\nnumber of men to clear the timber off the\ntownsite, erect some necessary public buildings, &c, and on completing the works entrusted to me I left the service of the Government in which Colonel Moody wished me\nto remain, and then in company with Mr.\nRobert Burnaby, who had been private secretary to Colonel Moody, we proceeded to\nBurrard Inlet with a few men to try and\nfind coal at Coal Harbor\u2014hence its name.\nWe explored the country all around Burrard Inlet, and then along the easterly shore\nof Howe Sound and up the. valleys of the\nSquamish and Cheakamis Rivers, and ascertained that a favorable line for a wagon road\nor railway could be obtained as far as we\nwent, but as it was not in the direction for\nthe western section of the transcontinental\nrailway I wanted to get a line for, I did not\nexplore up the Cheakamis River beyond the\n50th parallel  of latitude.\nAt the latter part of the year 1859 I returned to Victoria and met Captain Palliser,\nthe late Sir James Hector and the other\nmembers of the Imperial expedition before\nreferred to. I obtained a great deal of\nvaluable information from both Captain Palliser and Dr. Hector, but was inexpressibly\ndisappointed, as Captain Palliser reported\nthat   it   was\nNOT   POSSIBLE   TO   GET   A   PRACTICAL\nLINE.\nfor a railway through the mountains of British Columbia. I had now for a number of\nyears carried on explorations through the\nmost difficult portions of the Dominion west\nof Lake Simcoe to traverse at the time^ I\nmade them as there were no roads, and with\nthe exception of the trail across the Har-\nrison-Lillooet portages, no trails. All these\nexplorations, which cost a great deal of\nmoney, I had made entirely at my own expense and consequently I now found myself\n\"dead  broke.\"\nThe rough experiences I had up to this\ntime gone through when exploring in British Columbia's '' Sea of Mountains,'' led me\nto think that it was possible that Captain\nPalliser might be mistaken in reporting so\nunfavorably regarding a feasible line for a\nrailway, and therefore I applied to Governor Douglas to let me have money enough\nto defray the expenses I would have to incur to thoroughly explore the country west\nof the valley of the Fraser River to the\nRocky Mountains, and bounded by the 49th\nand   52nd   parallels   of   north   latitude.\nCaptain Palliser's unfavorable report\ncaused Governor Douglas to refuse my request, and I was then unable to go on with\nmy explorations, but I was determined to\nresume them as soon as I had an opportunity to do so, for I may say that to find a\nline for my proposed railway had now become the ambition of my life, for I had\nnow   got   a   tolerably   good   idea   of   the   im- EARLY  HISTORY  OF  C.P.R.   ROAD\nmense value and importance, both commercially and politically, my proposed railway\nwould be to the British Empire, to\nthe Dominion of Canada and to British Columbia.\nIn the years 1860 and 1861 I was\nengaged in constructing a trail for pack\nanimals and a portion of a wagon road\nbetween Fort Hope and Princeton and availed myself of the opportunity of making explorations in that section of the country, and\nalso of making more extensive and accurate\nexplorations of the valleys of the Fraser\nand   Thompson   Rivers.\nAll the explorations I had now made\nconvinced me that the proper line to adopt\nfor a great trunk wagon road to ensure\nthe substantial development of British Columbia was by the valleys of the Fraser and\nThompson Rivers, &c, and that it was by\nthis route my proposed transcontinental railway should also be built, provided I could\nfind a practicable line from K\u00b0mloops to\nthe   valley   of   the   Columbia   River.\nAs I now saw there was no prospect ot*\nmy being able to get the money needed to\nmake an exploration of such a difficult\nand then practically unknown and inaccessible country as that east of Kamloops to\nthe Rocky Mountains was, I decided to defer my efforts in that direction to a more\nfavorable time, and in the meantime embark\nin the rather unpromising undertaking of\ngetting a wagon road built from Yale to\nCariboo. In an address to the Art, Historical and Scientific Association of Vancouver\nin March, 1907, I gave the History of the\nCariboo wagon road, and at the end of the\nyear 1864 I saw that the opportunity had\narrived that would enable me to get the\nmoney granted by the Government to continue my explorations east of a meridian\npassing   through  Kamloops.\nI was in Cariboo completing the wagon\nroad to the Cottonwood River, &c, &c, at\nthe latter end of the year 1864, and as two\nmembers were to be elected, one for Cariboo East and the other for Cariboo West, to\nrepresent those districts in the Legislative\nCouncil, I decided to contest the election for\nCariboo West and the evening before the\nnomination I forwarded to the Governor my\nresignation of the office I held, which was\nthat of Government Engineer in charge of\nall works, surveys, &c, going on in that\npart  of  the  colony.\nI was duly elected and as soon as I\nreached New Westminster I arranged with\nGovernor Seymour for the money to make\n\"the Columbia River Explorations,\" and at\nthe end of the session I resigned my seat,\nwas appointed Assistant Surveyor-General\nand resumed my explorations. Six weeks\nafter leaving New Westminster I reported\nthat  I had discovered\nTHE   \"EAGLE   PASS.\"\nthrough the Gold Range and the probability\nof a pass through the Selkirk Range by the\nvalley of the Hlecillewaet River. From the\nday that I finished my traverse through the\nEagle Pass up to the present time I never\nhad   the   slightest   doubt   where   the   line   for\nCanada's first and greatest transcontinental railway should be constructed west from\nRevelstoke to Coal Harbor, and that a large\nand beautiful commercial city would grow\nup on the shores of Burrard Inlet, and as\nthe City of Vancouver now fully confirms\nmy belief, formed at the time I discovered\nthat long wished for pass, I don't think I\nmade a very bad mistake and trust the\npeople of Vancouver will think I did them\nsome substantial benefit, and that Vancouver will become to them, as it has been to\nme,  more loved as longer known.\nFrom my own exploration of the valley\nof the Hlecillewaet River made in 1865, and\nof its southeasterly branch and Rogers Pass\nmade In the year of 1866 by one of my assistants, Mr. Albert Perry, nearly twenty\nyears before Major A. B. Rogers explored\nthat pass, it is my -opinion that the location\nof the Canadian Pacific Railway across the\nSelkirk Range of mountains is a very serious mistake. In fact I think the entire line\nof the Canadian Pacific Railway between\nRevelstoke and the northwest corner of the\nLake of the Woods is on a very inferior\nlocation to one that would have been obtained had it not been for the very peculiar\ncourse pursued by the engineer-in-charge,\nwho disregarded my recommendations relative to the location* of the railway through\nthe mountains and attempted to decide such\nan all-important matter as the location of\nthe Canadian Pacific Railway through the\n\"Sea of Mountains\" from his comfortable\noffice   in   Ottawa.\nAs soon as I found out the very objectionable features that a line across the Selkirk Range would have, for all time, to contend with, and which were steep grades,\nsharp curves, rock and snow slides which\nwould endanger life, delay traffic and necessitate high transportation charges, I decided to explore for a line by the valley of\nthe Columbia River from Revelstoke around\nthe \"Big Bend,\" passing the Boat Encampment, and thence to and through the Howse\nPass, and thus avoid the Selkirk Mountains altogether and cross the Rocky Mountains with a very much lighter grade than\ncould be obtained through the Kicking Horse\nPass.\nMy proposed line would have been favorably located for a branch line running\nnortherly through the valley of the Canoe\nRiver, and which branch might eventually\nbe extended to Dawson, and also for a\nsoutherly branch through the valley of the\nUpper Columbia River and lakes, a portion\nof the Kootenay River and ultimately connect\nwith American railways to Spokane Falls\nand other points in American territory that\nwere at that time being rapidly settled and\ndeveloped by the extension of the railway\nsystem  of  the  United   States.\nThe Winter coming on when I was exploring the headwaters of the Illicillewaet River,\nI was forced to discontinue my explorations\nfor that year and returned to New Westminster.\nEarly next Spring I again resumed my\nexplorations and on my way back to the\nColumbia River, on arriving at Shuswap\nLake,   found   it   covered   with   ice   and   the\nI EARLY   HISTORY OF  C.P.R    ROAD\nsnow deep on the trail I had opened the\nprevious year from Seymour to the Columbia\nRiver. I set a large party of men at work\nto cut away through the snow to enable the\nnumerous pack animals conveying supplies,\nand that were stopped by the snow, to get\nthrough to the Columbia River. I opened\na trail from La Porte, the head of steamboat navigation below the Dalles de Mort, into\nthe Valley of Gold River to enable pack\nanimals to reach McCulloch and French\nCreeks, two tributary streams to Gold River\nin the beds of which streams very rich deposits of coarse gold haa been found the\nprevious  Autumn.\nI now Avent down the Columbia River and\non my way sent one of my assistants, Mr\nAlbert Perry, as before mentioned, to explore the southeasterly fork of the Hlecillewaet River, &c, subsequently named by the\nRev.  Principal  George  M.   Grant,\n\"ROGERS   PASS.\"\nI think it should be named Perry's Pass, as\nhe was the first white man to traverse it.\n1 also sent my other assistant, Mr. James\nTurn bull, to try and find a pass from the\nnortherly portion of Kootenay Lake into\nthe valleys of either the Columbia or Kootenay  Rivers  east  of  Kootenay Lake.\nAs both my assistants were expert explorers, and thoroughly reliable men, I felt convinced that in connection with the exploration of the valley of the Kootenay River,\nbetween Wild Horse Creek and the Columbia Lakes, and the valley of the Columbia\nRiver around the Selkirk Range, and the\nvalleys of sundrjr tributary streams to those\nrivers, I was about to make myself, that\na thorough knowledge of the Selkirk Range,\nso far as any pass or passes through the\nrange were concerned would be definitely\nsettled.\nAt the completion of the Columbia River\nexplorations at the end of the year 1866, I\nwas fully convinced that a remarkably good\nline for a railwayy, considering the rugged\nnature of the country, could be obtained\nfrom Burrard Inlet via the Eagle Pass, the\nvalley of the Columbia River and the Howse\nPf.ss through the Reeky Mountains, to the\nprairie country cast of the Rocky Mountains, and that a railway built along this\nline, and extended easterly in an almost air\nline to Winnipeg, and thence to Rat Port;\nage, would be the best obtainable line for\nthe transcontinental railway I had now been\nso   many   years   hoping   to   promote.\nThe foregoing exploratory surveys, made\nlong before the Dominion of Canada came\npolitically into existence, gave me a personal knowledge of the western portion of\nBritish North America that no other person\nhad, and those explorations may, I think,\nfairly be considered as the history of the\nfirst active and substantial steps, undertaken\nand successfully carried through, in the face\nof almost insurmountable difficulties,\nwhich insured for the people of Canada, before most of those now living ever even\nknew of such a country as British Columbia,\na line for Canada's first and greatest transcontinental railway\u2014the Canadian Pacific\nRailway.\nOn my return to New Westminster at the\nend of the year 1866 I entertained high\nhopes that I would be able to induce the\nGovernor, on the opening of the following\nSpring, to authorise me to construct a wagon\nroad through the Eagle Pass, and open up\nthe Selkirk Range by constructing various\ntrails through the valleys south of the east\nend of the Eagle Pass, as I felt convinced\nthat portion of the colony was very rich in\nmineral wealth, and by making it accessible\nit would attract immigration to the colony\nfrom British territory east of the Rocky\nMountains, instead of relying upon drawing\nour future population from foreign countries\nwhose shores are washed by the waters of\nthe Pacific Ocean, and, consequently a large\nproportion of such immigrants would be very\nundesirable.\nI was much disappointed, for I found that\nthe Governor had decided to charter a steamer to ply between San Francisco and New\nWestminster and bring people into the colony\nthat way, and consequently I could not get\nany money for further explorations and\nworks in the Columbia River section, as the\nvery limited resources of the colony would\nbe expended in this useless endeavor to populate the country before it was rendered ac-\ncssible.\nThe   Governor's   decision   caused\nSERIOUS    DIFFERENCES\nbetween us, and I left the service, and as\nI foresaw that the development of British\nColumbia would be retarded for some years\nI left the country with the intention of exploring through American territory and getting a personal knowledge of the great\nStates of the American Union west of the\nRocky Mountains, and of the projected Central and Union Pacific Railways, and of the\nprobable line of a railway that might be\nbuilt near the southern boundary of British\nColumbia, and that is now traversed by Mr.\nJ. J. Hill's Great Northern Railway. I wished\nto ascertain the probable effect the building\nof this latter railway would have in drawing\naway Canadian trade into American channels, in order that my proposed Canadian\nrailway should be prepared to meet such an\nemergency by branch lines properly located\nfor   that  purpose.\nThus ended the first episode in the early\nhistory  of  the  Canadian  Pacific Railway.\nI spent upwards of four years in United\nStates territory, and during that time traversed a good -deal of California, Nevada,\nUtah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, waiting\nanxiously to hear that the confederation of\nthe different portions of British North\nAmerica was accomplished, and as I kept up\na correspondence with the late Sir Joseph\nWilliam Trutch, who Was Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, etc., in 1865 and\n1866, when I was Assistant Surveyor-General and made the Columbia River explorations, T was kept posted upon what terms\nBritish Columbia would agree to join the\nconfederation.\nI had. strongly urged Mr. Trutch to insist\nthat the construction of a transcontinental\nrailway  should  be   imperative,   as  it was  the EARLY  HISTORY  OF C.P.R.   ROAD\nonly way I could see of having my proposed Canadian transcontinental railway constructed, and Mr. Trutch and his colleagues\nhad the construction of such a railway\nmade a binding condition in the terms\nagreed upon when British Columbia entered the Confederation. They were generally\nknown as the \"Cast Iron Terms,'' and fortunately for British Columbia they were\nmade  so  stringent.\nShortly after the terms of confederation\nhad been arranged I met Mr. Trutch by appointment, at Elko, in Nevada, when he\ngave me full information regarding the\nterms agreed upon, particularly those^ about\nthe railway, and he then told me that as I\nwas the only person living who had a personal knowledge of the interior of British\nColumbia and where the transcontinental railway should be located, he had recommended\nSir John A. Macdonald, then Premier of\nthe Dominion, to engage my services, in order to make certain that no mistake should\nbe made in the location of this all-important\nrailway. Mr. Trutch met me at Elko in\n1870. I shortly afterwards went to San\nFrancisco   for   the   Winter.\nIn the early part of the year 1871 I went\nto Utah, and about the beginning of June\nin that year I received a telegram requesting me to go to Ottawa to give information,\netc., et<'^., regarding the country and the\nproposed exploratory surveys about to be\nundertaken by the Dominion Government for\nthe Canadian Pacific Railway. I immediately\nrepaired to Ottawa, and gave Sir John A.\nMacdonald and the engineer-in-chief of the\nCanadian Pacific Railway the needed information, and- having recommended the line\nfrom Burrard Inlet through the Eagle and\nHowse Passes to be adopted, I hurried back\nto British Columbia and succeeded in landing the first survey parties to commence the\nsurveys for the Canadian Pacific Railway, on\nthe day British Columbia entered the Con-\n1859, when I was employed by the late.\nMajor-General Richard. Clement Moody, of\nthe Royal Engineers.\nI sent one of my survey parties from\nFort Hope under the command of Mr. D.\nC. Gillette, an able American engineer whom\nI had known for many years, and who had\na large experience in locating railways and\nother works in the United States, with instructions to proceed to the westerly end\nof the Howse Pass and make an exploratory\nsurvey  through  it.\nMy other survey party, under the command of Mr. Edward Mohun, a civil engineer\nlong and favorably known in British Columbia, I sent via Kamloops to the west end\nof the Eagle Pass to survey a line through\nit and winter in the neighborhood of the\npresent town of Revelstoke, where I promised to visit them during the Winter on my\nway back from the Howse Pass to Victoria.\nMr. Roderick McLennan, an engineer from\nthe Intercolonial Railway, had been appointed to take charge of the surveys of a line\nvia the North Thompson and Alfreda Rivers,\nand through the Yellowhead Pass, and Mr.\nJohn Trutch. C.E., of Victoria, was oppoint-\ned to take charge of the surveys between\nBurrard  Inlet  and  Kamloops.\nAt Kamloops I parted with my survey\nparty under Mr. Mohun, and also with Mr.\nMcLennan's  party,   and  that  of\nTHE  LATE  DR.  A.  R.  C.   SELWYN,\nthe Director of the Geological Survey of\nfederation of the Dominion, at the City of\nNew Westminster, which I had founded in\nCanada, who accompanied Mr. McLennan to\nthe   Yellowhead   Pass.\nI now proceeded with a few horses and\nthree Indians on my way to Howse Pass. I\nwent by the trail via Osoyoos Lake to Col-\nville, where I chartered the old steamer\n\"Forty-Nine.\" and loaded her with supplies which I purchased, and sent up to\n\"The Big Eddy,\" at the east end of the\nEagle Pass, where I had instructed Mr. McLennan to winter, and then proceeded on\nmy way via the trail to Wild Horse Creek,\nthe valleys of the Kootenay and Columbia\nRivers, to Kinbaskit's Landing, where 1\novertook   Mr.   Gillett's  party.\nI sent a few horses through tne woods,\nalong the east bank of the river, to the\nmouth of the Blueberry River, which has\nits source near the summit of the Howse\nPass, and then embarking my party and\nsupplies on board a flotilla composed of\nsome half-rotten and leaky boats, old log\ncanoes and a few Indian bark canoes, we\nfloated down to a point a short distance\nsouth of the mouth of the Blueberry River,\nwhere I at once set some men at work to\nbuild log huts to winter in, and the survey\nparty running a preliminary survey up the\nvalley of the Blueberry River, and then,\ntaking some horses and three Indians, 1\nstarted to cross the Rocky Mountains to\ntheir easterly foothills, where I expected\nto meet a party near Mount Murchison, under the command of my brother Frank, who\nhad charge of the exploratory surveys between Red River and the easterly foothills of\nthe Rocky Mountains.\nFrom the summit down the easterly slope\nof the Rocky Mountains the descent was\nvery gentle, and I anticipated there would\nnot be any difficulty in getting a line easterly by the valley' of the Red Deer or\nSaskatchewan Rivers, but that probably the\nbetter line to adopt would be an air line\nnear Mount Murchieson, passing through\nWinnipeg and reaching the north-west corner\nof the Lake of the Woods. I now knew that\non the whole of my proposed line from Vancouver to Winnipeg the only really difficult\npoint to settle was the descent from the\nsummit of Howse Pass to the Columbia\nRiver, as the descent from the summit for\nthree   or   four   miles   was   very   steep.\nEverything now indicated a very heavy\nfall of snow, and as I knew from experience,,\nwhat that meant at such a high elevation as\nthe summit of the Howse Pass is, I retraced my way to the survey party and found\nthat they had the trial line partly up the\nsteep grade, and I caused it to be pushed on\nwith the utmost despatch to the summit,\nand then commenced to make a trial location\ndown the side of the mountain, but just as\nwe began this survey the snow began to fall\nso  heavily  that  we  could not  see  through  it EARLY\" HISTORY OF C.P.R.   ROAD\nwith our instruments, nor could we retain\nour footing on the steep and slippery side\nfo the mountain, and as the snow continued\nto fall all day I saw that I could not get\nthis all-important portion of the line properly surveyed, and that to remain any longer on the mountain would cause the death\nof all our animals, I reluctantly ordered the\nparty to proceed to the depot until better\nweather set in.\nI remained a few days at the depot waiting for the Columbia River to freeze in order that the ice would be strong enough to\ntravel on, and, having got snowshoes made,\nand men set at work to build boats that I\nproposed to use in connection with the surveys I intended to make the following year\naround the Big Bend, I instructed Mr. Gillette as soon as the weather permitted to\npush forward the survey of the line down\nfrom the summit of the pass to the bank of\nthe Columbia River. The next Summer when\nI reached the Howse Pass, on my way to\nthe Yellowhead Pass, Mr. Gillette informed\nme that the result of the surveys he had\nmade satisfied him that a good line could\nbe obtained through the Howse Pass, and he\nwas of the same opinion as myself, that a\ngreat mistake was made by the engineer-in-\nchief in abandoning that line in favor of the\nYellowhead Pass.\nAccompanied by my ever-faithful Indians\nand the late Hon. Mr'. Todd, I started for a\nlong snowshoe walk to New Westminster,\nand proceeded down the Columbia River to\nthe latitude of Gold River, in order to see if\nI could get a line through the Selkirks by\na high pass between the headwaters of Gold\nRiver and those of Gold Creek, or if it\nwould be nossible to connect those valleys\nby a tunnel. If I could get a line this way\nit would very materially shorten the distance between Revelstoke and the Howse\nPass.\nAfter a very fatiguing journey through\nthe Selkirk Mountains by this high pass, in\nwhich we were very nearly buried beneath\nan immense avalanche that came roaring\ndown the steep mountain side when we were\nnear the summit, we reached the almost deserted mining town on French Creek that I\nhad before visited in the year 1866, when I\nconstructed a trail between it and the Sey-\nmoru Arm of Lake Shuswap.\nI here met\nSEVERAL OLD ACQUAINTANCES,\nand the following afternoon went on to Mc-\nCulloch's Creek, which was entirely deserted, and the remains of the few buildings\nstill standing were in a very dilapidated\ncondition. Two more days' travel against a\nstrong head wind, which was excessively cold,\nbrought us to Mr. Mohun's winter quarters\nat The Big Eddy, just before Christmas Day.\nI spent a few days with Mr. Mohun's\nparty waiting for the plan and profile of the\nline surveyed through the Eagle Pass,\nwhich I found showed that a very good location could be obtained, and then having\narranged with Mr. Mohun to push forward\nthe survey through the Selkirk range by the\nvalley of the Illicillewaet River, and the\npass by its south-easterly fork, which was\ndiscovered,   as   before   mentioned,   by  my   as\nsistant, Mr. Albert Perry, in 1866, and was\nsubsequently very improperly named Rogers\nPass, I resumed my way westerly through\nthe Eagle Pass to the Great Shuswap Lake.\nThe weather had now turned quite warm\nwhich caused the ice on the Eagle River to\nbe unsafe in places, but as travelling through\nthe thick underbrush, etc., covered with\ndeep soft snow, was very fatiguing and disagreeable, we preferred risking the way by\nthe ice, and consequently all the party, at\ndifferent times, exprienced the discomfort of\none  or more  cold baths.\nWhen we reached the Sicamous Narrows\nwe found there was no ice, and crossed the\nnarrows in a log canoe, and then resumed\nour way along the south shore of the Salmon\nArm.\nI was anxious to examine a gap in the low\nrange of hills between the Salmon Arm and\nthe main or easterly arm of Shuswap Lake\nthat I had noticed when first exploring\nthrough that lake in the year 1865. This\ngap, now known as Notch Hill, would, if\npracticable for railway construction, much\nlessen the distance that a line for a railway\nwould otherwise have to take to reach Shuswap Lake.\nDirecting the members of my party to remain on the shore, while I tried to cross Salmon Arm on the rather rotten ice to see if it\nwas strong enough for them with their\npacks, which contained . all the plans, profiles, field books, etc., etc., connected with\nthe exploratory surveys so far made by me,\nand the loss of which would have been a\nserious calamity, I started on my adventurous\ntrip.\nWhen about half way across the Arm I\nfell through the ice, and, being encumbered\nwith rather heavy clothing, I' had a long\nand hard struggle to save my. life. When\nnearly exhausted and benumbed by the ice-\ncold water, by spreading my snowshoes under my body in order to cover as large an\narea of the rotten ice as possible, and thus\nprevent its breaking under the weight of\nmy body, I managed at last to scramble out\nand reach the shore, where my Indians were\nin a half-frozen and miserable plight.\nWe pursued our Avay along the south shore,\nand when we were at a point opposite Notch\nHill we found the arm clear of ice, and\nmade a raft and crossed to the southerly end\nof the Notch. The next day we walked\nthrough the Notch, when I found it would\nbe the best route for the railway, and in\ndue time reached Cache Creek, from which\nplace there was telegraphic communication\nwith Ottawa, and I sent a telegram to the\nengineer-in-chief to the effect that a good\npracticable route for the Canadian Pacific\nRailway was a certainty from Burrard Inlet\nto the prairies east of the Rocky Mountains,\nand that the surveys had progressed in a\nsatisfactory manner.\nI was now perfectly certain, within a possible deviation of a few hundred feet, or a\nshortening of the line by a tunnel through\nthe Selkirk Mountains, between the valleys\nof Gold River and Gold Creek, where the\nlocation of the Canadian Pacific Railway\nshould be from Vancouver through the\nmountain region of  Canada,  for I had exam- EARLY HISTORY OF C.P.R.  ROAD\nined every part of it myself. The objectionable pass, now known as Rogers Pass, I\nhad not been through, but formed my opinion about it from Mr. A. Perry's report made\nto me  in  1866.\nIn due course I reached Victoria, after a\nlong and tedious journey, that had consumed much time, and as I knew there was a\ngreat deal of extremely difficult work, of\nthe very greatest importance, for me to do\nthe next season, and for which I had to\nmake various extensive preparations, that\nwould require my personal supervision in\nmany different places scattered throughout\nan immense territory, where travelling and\ntransportation had to be done almost entirely on the backs of animals, I did not go\nto Ottawa, as it would be only a useless\nwaste   of  time.     The\nIMPORTANT   SURVEYS\nI proposed making during the year 1872\nwere  as follows:\n1. A careful location survey from the\nColumbia River through the Howse Pass.\n2. A trial survey through the Selkirk Range\nby the valley of the Hlecillewaet River and\nRogers Pass.\n3. A trial survey across the Selkirk Range\nby the valleys of Gold River and Gold\nCreek to ascertain what length of tunnelling\nwould be required to connect those valleys.\n4. A survey from Revelstoke around the\nbend of the Columbia River to connect with\nthe survey via Gold River and Gold Creek,\nand with the  survey through Howse Pass.\nAt this time I was so confident where\nthe best line for the Canadian Pacific Railway ought to be located that I had decided\nto go on with the location surveys after\nmaking the above surveys and getting the\napproval of the engineer-in-chief, which I\nnever doubted for a. moment would be given,\nand had I been allowed to carry out the\nabove work, which Mr. Gillette's report to\nme about a line through the Howse Pass\nfully justified and endorsed, millions of\ndollars would have been saved to the country, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company would have had a far better, less expensive and safer line to operate than the\npresent line through the Rogers and Kicking Horse Passes, and make better time over\nit, and consequently be enabled to have their\ntransportation charges lower than the heavy\noperating expenses of the present line\nthrough the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains,\ncompels them to make, and the people of the\ncduntry to pay.\nSoon after I reached Victoria I forwarded\nmy reports, etc., to Ottawa, and requested\nthe engineer-in-chief to allow me to increase\nmy engineering staff. I shortly afterwards\nreceived a telegram from the engineer-in-\nchief informing me that a trial location\nthrough the Howse Pass was considered most\nimportant. This telegram led me to infer\nthat the line I had taken so many years to\nexplore and discover, and which I was quite\nconfident would be the best to adopt for the\nproposed Canadian transcontinental railway,\nwould be adopted.\nI at once let contracts for large quantities\nof supplies to be forwarded at once, and\ndelivered to me at Kinbaskit's Landing, at\nthe upper Columbia River, to which point\nboats I had instructed the engineer at Howse\nPass to have built and sent, to convey the\nsupplies to the various points along the\nColumbia River where they would be required.\n1 now engaged the additional engineers\nand men required to carry out the extensive\nsurveys I proposed to make during the Summer of the year 1872, and, having equipped\nthem and closed all business affairs in Victoria, I embarked the _ party on board a\nsteamer that was to sail for Olympia at 3\no'clock on the following morning, and 1\nproposed  to  accompany the  party.\nAt 11 o'clock that night I received a\nmessage from Lieutenant-Governor the late\nSir Joseph W. Trutch, requesting me to see\nhim at once at Government House, and on\nmy arrival here he handed me a telegram\nhe had received from the engineer-in-chief,\ndesiring him to inform me that the Yellowhead\nPass had been adopted for the Canadian\nPacific Railway and that I was to take\ncharge of and make the survey through it,\nand convey my survey parties and supplies to it by way of the Athabasca Pass.\nThese instructions completely staggered\nme. I knew that there was not a person\nliving at that time who had such a knowledge of the country, its great possibilities\nand requirements, as myself, and I could\nforesee the future inevitable consequences\nthat would follow by locating the Canadian\nPacific Railway on a line far distant from\nthe southern boundary of the Dominion, and\nthus leave the future trade and commerce of\nthe immense belt of the richest and most\nimportant portion of the country, extending\nfrom the Pacific Coast to the Red River,\nand from the 49th parallel of latitude to a\ngreat distance north of it, to be tapped and\ndrawn away into United States channels by\nAmerican Railways. It was very disappointing\nto one after all the years and money I had\nspent to prevent the possibility of such an\neventuality, and at the same time to obtain\nthe best commercial hne for the Canadian\nPacific  Railway.\nIt is almost needless to say that I was\nthoroughly disgusted at the unpatriotic action of the engineer-in-chief in causing the\nabandonment of the line I proposed for the\nCanadian Pacific Railway west of the Lake\nof the Woods, before I was allowed to complete the surveys I intended to make as before mentioned in a thorough and satisfactory\nmanner.\nI did not feel the interest in the surveys\nI had to make from then onward, for 1\nwas  certain  that\nI   WAS   DOING   WORK  AT   GREAT   COST\nto, and against the interests of the people of\nthe whole Dominion, and particularly against\nthose of British Columbia, and they were\nthen all paying liberally and most generously\nto have work performed in the most efficient\nmanner to promote their interests, when\nreally what was being  done  by  the  surveys 10\nEARLY HISTORY OF C.P.R.   ROAD\nthen   being   made   west   of   the   Lake   of   the\nWoods  was  directly  against  their interests.\nI was now in a very false position, for\nI had let the contracts for the large quantities of supplies needed for the surveys I\nproposed, and knew ought to be made, and\nthe supplies were already well on their way\nwhen I received the order to abandon the\nsurveys   for   which   they  were   intended.\nI left Victoria for Portland to meet the\ncontriactor who had undertaken to furnish\nthe supplies at Kinbaskit's Landing, and at\nMarcus, near Colville, and tried to get out\nof the contract by offering him a large sum\nof money. Pie showed me the contracts he\nhad entered into with the packers who owned\nthe pack animals then transporting the supplies, and also stated that the supplies\nwould be useless to him at Kinbaskit's\nLanding, which I was well aware would be\nthe case. He, however, agreed to take back\nthe supplies that were to be sent up the\nColumbia River to the mouth of the Illicelli-\nwaet River for the survey of the line\nthrough the valley of that river and Rogers\nPass, etc. Unfortunately I was not able to\nget a quantity of hardware I had agreed to\ntake, and which was then not far from the\nColumbia Lakes. It was intended to be used\nin the construction of boats and engineers'\nhouses, etc., that would be needed during\nthe location and construction of the railway\nthrough the district in  my charge.\nThese supplies were rendered superfluous\nby the abandonment of my line, and I was\ncensured by the engineer-in-chief and subsequently by the members of the Royal Commission that was appointed to investigate\nthe expenditures incurred in connection with\nthe exploratory surveys made for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Both the engineer-\nin-chief and the commissioners being quite\nignorant of the country, etc., where and for\nwhat purposes those supplies were to be used,\nI think a sufficient answer to their faultfinding with me is that when the Canadian\nPacific Railway took the railway out of the\nhands of the Government, and got its location from Vancouver to Revelstoke back to\nmy line, and then got entangled in the Rog\ners and Kicking Horse Passes, they used\nduring its location and construction, through\nonly a portion of my former district, a very\nmuch   larger   quantity   of   similar   supplies.\nTo have these large quantities of supplies\navailable for the surveys through the Yellowhead Pass, and to transport my engineers\nand men and their outfits from the Columbia to the Athabasca River, it was imperatively necessary that I should obtain possession of the pack animals then conveying\nthe supplies to Kinbaskit's Landing before\nthe packers who owned the animals knew of\nthe change that had been made in the surveys by the adoption of the Yellowhead\nPass, and of the \"fix\" I was in for pack\nanimals to convey the supplies from the\nColumbia River to the Yellowhead Pass, for\nthere were no other pack animals nor packers available, and if the packers knew how\nI was then placed they would have either extorted very high transporation charges or\nhave  done  the  same  for  their  animals.\nI hurried on from Portland to Wallula by\nsteamer, thence via Walla Walla to Colville,\nwhere I engaged Captain A. T. Pingston and\na party of boat men to navigate the boats\nI had ordered to be built during the past\nWinter at the depot at Howse Pass, and had\ninstructed Mr. Gillette to have them sent\nup to Kinbaskit's Landing. 1 then went on,\ntravelling on horseback to Wild Horse Creek,\nthe Columbia Lakes, etc., to Kinbaskit's\nLanding, where I found the boats awaiting\nme.\nOn my way up I overtook the different\ntrains of pack animals, which I purchased,\nand engaged all the packers, thereby getting\npossession of upwards of four hundred pack\nanimals, all in splendid condition, with their\nrigging complete, and experienced packers to\nhandle them. I thus got out of the serious\n\"fix\"  I was in regarding transportation.\nMy next and most serious difficulty was\nto open a pack trail along the right or easterly bank of the Columbia River, where the\nnavigation was too dangerous to convey the\nsupplies in boats.\nThe country through which the trail had\nto be constructed was rough and heavily\ntimbered, which made the work of opening\nit tedious and expensive, and as the misbehavior of the men obliged me to dismiss\nthem, my working party was very small, and\nthe construction of the trail proceeded with\nexasperating  slowness.\nWhen the trail was opened to Kinbaskit\nLake I was sorry to lose the services of Mr.\nGillette. Mr. Ashdown Green took his position as engineer in v.narge of the party.\nI now left with three Indians for the Yellowhead Pass, as I expected to meet the engineer-in-chief, who had informed me that\nhe proposed, during the Autumn, to journey\nthrough the Yellowhead Pass. A description\nof his journey was written by the Rev.\nGeorge M. Grant, Principal of Queen's University, Kingston, and entitled \"Ocean to\nOcean.''\nPrevious to my leaving Victoria I had engaged and instructed Mr. William Cameron\nMcCord, an able, trusty and experienced\nmountaineer; miner and frontiersman, to\nequip a party of axemen ond a pack train,\nand open a pack trail by the valleys of the\nNorth Thompson and Abreda Rivers to and\nthrough the Yellowhead Pass, where I promised to meet him as soon as I could get\naway from the Columbia River.\nOn leaving Kinbasket Lake with my Indians, who carried very light packs containing only a pair of blankets each, a little tea,\nsalt and flour, we ascended and crossed over\nthe high mountain spur that rises to a great\nelevation between the waters of the Columbia and those of the Wood or Portage River,\nand made in as direct a line as possible for\nthe Athabasca Pass, between Mounts Brown\nand Hooker. This line of travel we took\nin order to avoid the long way by the valley\nof the Columbia to the boat encampment,\nand thence by the old trail of the Northwest\nFur Company of Montreal by the valley of\nthe Wood River to the foot of Mount Brown,\netc. EARLY  HISTORY  OF  C.P.R.   ROAD\n11\nThe steep ascent of this mountain side\nfrom Kinbaskit Lake was extremely toilsome,\nand we suffered dreadfully for want of water.\nThe exposed, scantily timbered, rocky face\nof the mountain, with the sun beating down\non us and making the rocks hot, combined\nwith myriads of black flies, rendered this\nclimb  trying in the extreme.\nWhen we got high up the mountain, and\njust before entering a very elevated pass,\nwe had a magnificent view over the northerly\nportion of the Selkirk range, and also of the\neasterly side of the Gold, and the westerly\nside of the Rocky Mountains, and as the sun\nwas shining brightly, the sky blue and the\natmosphere clear, the innumerable peaks and\nsea of mountains visible, covered with snow\nand glaciers glittering in places, together\nwith the deep green forests which clothed\nthe lower portions of the mountain ranges,\nand the Columbia River, like a silver ribbon,\nwending its way through the deep, narrow\ngorge far below us, impressed me with what\nstupendous grandeur primeval Nature is endowed.\nI have read descriptions of the\nMOUNTAINS   OF   BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nas given by different \"globe trotters,\" who\nrush through the country at the bottoms of\nsome of the valleys traversed by the railways, which although affording truly grand\nand striking scenery, are not to be compared with those that can be obtained from\nhigher altitudes. I would recommend those\nglobe trotters to climb up above the timber\nline and then expand their gushings in describing unexplored and more inaccessible\nplaces that can, and. are, being seen by great\nnumbers of those who travel by rail through\nthe  mountains.\nWe camped on the bank of a lovely stream\nflowing through a park-like valley, or rather\nopening through the mountain spur, at an\nelevation above the sea of probably six\nthousand feet. The following morning we\npursued our way for some distance through\nthis valley, and then reached the northerly\nsteep declivity of the mountain, down which\nwe went, following the dry bed of a watercourse which had been cut by the water\nfrom the melting snows during the early\npart   of   countless   Summers.\nOn reaching the bottom of the valley of\nthe Wood River we had to wade for some\ndistance through the stagnant water containing some reddish-brown substance\u2014probably decomposed iron ore\u2014of a disagreeable\nnature, and shortly after reached the Wood\nRiver, into which we plunged to free ourselves of as much as possible of the nauseous\nsubstance which painted us. We followed\nalong the south bank of the river for some\ndistance and then constructed a raft and\ncrossed to the north bank, which we followed\nuntil we reached the foot of Mount Brown\nand found the trail of the old fur traders\ngoing up the steep mountain, and then we\ncamped and cooked a porcupine which we\nfound at this place.\nThe next forenoon, when we had nearly\ngained the summit of the pass, in the vicinity\nof\n\"THE    COMMITTEE'S    PUNCH    BOWL,\"\nwe shot two Tine cariboo. As our footgear\nwas in a sadly dilapidated condition, and\nour feet very sore, we decided to camp and\nmake mocassins out of the green hides, and\ndry and smoke the cariboo meat to provision\nus for the rest of the journey, and cache\na quantity of the meat on a platform we\nconstructed at the top of three trees, which\nwe stripped of their bark and branches to\nkeep it out of reach of those thieves of\nthe forest\u2014the wolverines\u2014and to supply\nus  with  meat' on  our return journey.\nWe now travelled along the easterly side\nof Mount Brown, and leaving the Athabasca\nPass, crossed a high ridge and then following a well-beaten Cariboo trail, descended a 9\nsteep declivity on the north side of the\nridge, over a large deposit of perpetual snow,\nin which we saw some recent tracks of cariboo, and arrived in a beautiful valley surrounded with grand and magnificent scenery. Here wTe camped at a small spring that\nis the true source of the Fraser River.\nShortly after we camped one of my Indians\nshot two cariboo and I shot one.\nFor some considerable distance next day\nthe travelling was fairly good, but in the\nafternoon we got into thick timber and the\nvalley became narrow, down which the river,\nwhich had rapidly increased in volume,\ndashed and roared through canyons at a\ngreat rate.\nShortly before we camped we noticed a\nbush fire, which was, so my Indians informed\nme, in the neighborhood of Yellowhead Lake,\nand was a certain indication that white men\nwere in that neighborhood, for the Indian is\ncareful not to burn the forest which the\nwhite man so recklessly and wantonly destroys.\nAt the break of day the fire, fanned by a\nwind from the north, had approached rapidly\nin our direction, and the valley was filled\nwith smoke. To remain in the thick timber\nmeant being burnt to death, so we made a\nhurried detour by a bare place on the side\nof an adjoining mountain which enabled us\nto get behind the blazing and roaring fire.\nAfter travelling some distance along the side\nof the mountain we descended to the valley\nto  resume  our way through the\nBLACKENED    AND     SMOULDERING    REMAINS\nof what had been, a few hours before, a\ndense,   beautiful   green   forest.\nMy feet had not recovered from the chafing they got when we were accomplishing\nthe first portion of this journey, and as we\nproceeded through the smouldering remains\nof the forest they became very sore and\npainful. In the afternoon we reached a\nsmaller stream than the one we had been following, and which flowed from the eastward,\nand I knew it must be the Fraser River.\nWe all plunged into it to wash off the\nashes and other filth with which we were\ncovered and begrimed, and to relieve our\nsore  and blistered  feet.\nShortly after reaching the bank of the\nFraser  River  I  heard  the  tinkling of  a bell a 2\nEARLY  HISTORY  OF  C.P.R.  ROAD\nwhich I knew must be attached to a mare,\nknown as the bell-mare, that always leads\nthe mule trains, for the mules will always\nfollow the l>ell-mare when travelling, and\nwhen turned out to grass will not stray\n\u25a0  away   from   her.\nWe waded across the Fraser River and\nmet the pack train, which I found was conveying supplies to Mr. McCord's camp of\ntrailmakers then on the shore of the Yellowhead Lake, a short distance east of us. I\nasked the man who was in charge of the\ntrain\u2014the Cargadore as they are designated\u2014what his name was, when he informed\nme that it was MacBrown. I told him that\nI had met many different Macs in my life,\nbut it had never been my luck to meet a\n\u2022MacBrown before. He gave me the following\nexplanation how he had obtained his uncommon name. When Mr. Roderick McLennan, who was the previous year in charge\nof the exploratory party, was up the North\nThompson River and the Yellowhead Pass,\nhe was engaging men, and Mr. Brown, who\nwas an American, from the State of Maine,\nand wished to obtain employment, observed\nthat Mr. McLennan appeared to have a\nstrong feeling in favor of men who had the\nprefix of Mac to their names, and Mr.\nBrown thought his chance for obtaining employment would be greatly enhanced if he\nbecame a Mac, and, therefore, on his applying to Mr. McLennan he gave his name\nas   MacBrown   and   was   employed.\nTaking a riding horse out of the . train I\nsoon reached Mr. McCord's camp and heard\nthat Mr. Mohun had the line surveyed welt\nof the Tete Jaune Cache as far as Moose\nLake, and I at once sent a letter to him requesting him to meet me the following day\nat McCord's camp. I now found the En-\ngmeer-in-Chief had not yet passed through\nthe Yellowhead Pass on his way to the\nCoast.\nI remained the following day at Mr. McCord's camp to see Mr. Mohun, and to doctor my feet, and then, taking some of Mr.\nMcCord's horeses, I proceeded with my Indians along the - much-obstructed trail over\nthe summit and down the valley of the\nNuette and Athabasca Rivers to meet the\nengineer-in-chief, and to ascertain where the\nbest place would be to build a depot on the\nbanks of the Athabasca River to Winter my\nparties  in.\nWhen I reached a yoint a few miles west\nof Jasper House I came on fresh tracks of\nmen and horses, which convinced me and\nmy Indians that they were those of men\nfrom the East, or, as the Indians designated\nthem,  Moneasses,  a\nNOT ALTOGETHER COMPLIMENTARY\nTERM.\nI at once retraced my way and reached the\nSnaring River some time after dark, when\nI camped and sent on my Indian hunter with\na note to ascertain if the travellers were\nthose I was seeking. Late in the night the\nIndian returned and brought me a note from\nthe engineer-in-charge, which gave me the\ndesired information, and the following forenoon I overtook the party as they were entering  the  valley  of  the   Nuette  River.\nThe first person I overtook was that estimable gentleman, the late Dr. George M.\nGrant, whose writings are extensively known.\nThe doctor was on foot with a long stick\nin his hand driving some worn-out and very\ndilapidated pack-animals. The other members of the party were supposed to be ahad,\nso I pushed on to overtake them, but as\nthey had missed the trail they were in reality behind us. 1, however, went on for a\nlew miles, improving the trail as I progressed, and, coming to a meadow where there\nwas good grass for the animals. I awaited\nthe arrival of the party.\nAfter lunch I pushed on with my Indians,\nclearing the trail of fallen timber as I went,\nand stopped near a point at which we would\nhave to cross the river. The party did not\narrive for some time afterwards, and I sent\nan Indian back to ascertain what had caused\ntheir   delay.\nNext morning being Sunday, and the grass\nbeing very poor and scanty, I proposed that\nwe should go on to Mr. McCord's camp,\nwhere we could find plenty of food for man\nand beast, and generally be \"in clover.\" My\nsuggestion was acted upon, and we reached\nthe camp early in the day and had a good\nrest and I was enabled to give the engineer-\nin-chief an account of my proceedings since\nI left Victoria, and the difficulties I had\npassed through and was experiencing in, getting my parties and supplies out from the\nColumbia   River.\nFresh pack animals and riding horses\nand packers were now provided for the\nwhole party, and next morning we all started for Mr. Mohun's camp, which proved to\nbe farther away than I anticipated, and\nconsequently I did not reach the camp unit! some hours after dark and the rest of the\nparty kept dropping in at different times\nduring the succeeding three or four hours.\nThey were in an excessively had humor, and\nblamed me for not telling them how far\nthey had to go when I did not know myself,\nas they had heard at Mr. McCord's camp\nas   much   as   I   had   regarding   the   trail,   &c.\nI was now getting very anxious about my\nmen and animals, who were making their\nway through the rough and inhospitable\ncountry between Kinbaskit Lake and the\nYellowhead Pass, and explained to the\nengineer-in-chief the urgent necessity there\nwas for my immediate return to the Columbia River to look after them.e He expressed\nhimself as being much dissatisfied that I\nhad not got the survey farther advanced,\nand appeared to think I should have accomplished what was impossible to do, and even\nsaid I should not have attempted to take\nmy party and supplies through the Athabasca Pass, he himself had indicated, when I\nwas ordered to abandon the surveys on the\nEagle Pass line and take charge of the surveys of the Yellowhead line.\nI felt so disgusted with the engineer-in-\nchief for abandoning the line I knew was\nthe right one to adopt, and then at his finding fault with me for not pushing forward\nthe surveys of the Yellowhead line faster\nwhen   I   had   done   my   utmost   to   carry   out T\nEARLY HISTORY  OF  C.P.R.   ROAD\n13:\nhis   instructions,   that   I  was  on  the\nPOINT OF LEAVING THE SERVICE,\nwhich I should have done there and then\nhad I not known the very critical position\nmy men and animals were in on their way\nby the Athabasca Pass, and how much they\nrelied upon  me  to  see  them  safely  through.\nI now returned to Mr. McCord's camp,\nand the following day reached the Athabasca\nRiver near the site of the old Henry House\nThe weather had now become very cold and\neverything indicated a snow-storm. I hurried on through the valleys of the Athabasca\nand Whirlpool Rivers. I met a large herd of\ncariboo and a bear on my way through the\nvalley of the Whirlpool River, and, in the\nevening of the third day from McCord s\ncamp reached the place where we had killed\nthe cariboo and cached the meat to supply\nus with meat on our return journey. Grizzly\nbears had, however, eaten up all the meat\nand we had a very meagre  supper.\nBefore daylight the snow began to fall\nheavily, and I pushed on, expecting to meet\nmy party and pack animals at the foot of\nMount Brown, but they were not there. Being greatly disappointed at, to me, the unaccountably slow progress the whole outfit\nhad made since I left them at Kinbaskit\nLake, we travelled all day until we reached\na point not far from the Boat Encampment,\nand then endeavored to cross the mountain\nspur between the Wood and the Columbia\nRivers, in order to shorten the distance, but\nas night came on, and the underbrush was\ndense and the fallen timber very obstructive,\nwe were compelled to stop in the bush where\nour half-famished horses had nothing to eat.\nEarly next morning we heard the sound of\na mule bell, and by returning to and wading\ndown the river soon heard the sound of\nchopping, and on a high bank on the south\nside of the river found that Mr. Green and\nthe survey party he had charge of were at\nwork constructing buildings to Winter in,\nas he had concluded from my long absence\nthat they would have to pass the Winter on\nthe Columbia River.\nI knew now that it was touch and go if\nwe could go through the high Athabasca\npass, but I determined to take the risk and\nat once instructed Mr. Green with his_ survey party and the necessary pack animals\nto start at once for the Athabasca River and\nalso order all the packers in charge of the\nlarge trains of pack animals and supplies to\nget everything forwarded over the summit\nof the Athabasca Pass in order that they\ncould, during the Winter, be conveyed by\ndog-trains along the frozen Whirlpool and\nAthabasca Rivers to the depot I had instructed Mr. McCord to build about a mile\nand a half below where in by-gone years\nstood the old Henry House.\nWith Mr. Green's survey party and my\nlittle  outfit  of  Indians  ,1  started back\nFOR   THE   ATHABASCA   RIVER,\nand as I travelled much faster than he did,\nI pushed on ahead in order to get back and\nhave the survey of the line from the summit\nof   the   Yellowhead   Pass   made   by   Mr.   Mo\nhun's party before the snow fell. I arrived\nwhere Mr. McCord had commenced the construction of the buildings for the different\nparties to Winter in late in the night of the\nthird day after leaving Mr. Green's party. I\nwas astonished to learn from him that the\nsurvey party under Mr. Mohun had started\nen   their   return   to   Victoria.\nThis was to me at that time incomprehensible, as I had given the engineer in\ncharge of the party definite instructions\nabout the work I wished to have done during the Winter, bv nusiiin - forward tne\nsurveys in that inclement season of the year,\nand which I had promised the engineer-in-\nchief  that  I  would  have   carried  out.\nNext morning at the break of day, with\nmy two Indians and nearly worn out horses,\nI started to try and overtake and bring back\nthe party. On my way I met a messenger\nfrom the engineer-in-chief, telling me he had\nchanged his mind regarding the surveys of\nthe line through the Yellowhead Pass, and\ninstructing me to bring out my parties and\nmost of the pack animals and report at Kamloops, and place the supplies and some of\nthe pack animals in the hands of a man\nI had no connfidence in.\nThese peculiar orders it was simply impossible for me to carry out. The Winter\nhad set in with heavy falls of snow in the\nAthabasca Pass, through which my men and\nanimals were struggling to reach the Athabasca valley, where grass for the animals\ncould be obtained, and when they did reach\nit they were in a weakened condition. In\nthe valley of the North Thompson and Al-\u2022\nbreda Rivers and the Yellowhead Pass the\ngrasses would all be covered with snow except the lower portion of the valley of\nthe North Thompson River, and had I attempted to carry out the orders sent to me\nby the engineer-in-chief. I should certainly\nhave lost all my animals and, perhaps, the\nlives of some of the men, which were responsibilities I would not assume, and, therefore, was compelled to remain in the Yellow\nHead  Pass.\nIt is impossible for me to express how\nmuch I wished at this time to discontinue\nmy connection with the engineer-in-chief,\nand I should have done so if I did not think\nit would be unfair to all my employees, who\nhad served me so faithfully, and to the Dominion Government, whom I felt certain was\nbeing misled by the engineer-in-chief regarding the proposed location of the Canadian\nPacific   Railway.\nI subsequently learnt that it was owing\nto instructions direct from the engineer-in-\nchief to Mr. Mohun after I parted with the\nformer at Moose Lake that caused Mr. Mohun, on reaching the divide in the Yellow\nHead Pass to discontinue his survey and return to Victoria.     The\nABANDONMENT   OF   THE   LINE\nI had so strongly recommended for the Canadian Pacific Railway via the Eagle Pass\nand terminating in Vancouver, and the instructions and counter instructions I had\nreceived regarding a location survey through\nthe   Howse   Pass  and  the   same  peculiarities 14\nEARLY  HISTORY OF  C.P.R.   ROAD\nregarding the surveys through the Yellow\nHead Pass led me to think that the engineer-\nin-chief had no very friendly intentions re\ngarding me, and I fully determined to leave\nIds staff as soon as I could fairly do so,\nand then when I was clear of him endeavor\nro get a railway constructed by my line\nfrom Vancouver to Winnipeg and conecting\nwith the line proposed by the engineer-in-\nchief at Rat Portage or Selkirk.\nI kept my part}' at work until the end\nof December, when the snow had reached\nthe Fiddle River, and then went into Winter quarters at the depot, and had some\nlog huts built at Fiddle River for Mr. McCord's party to Winter in. I sent to Edmonton requesting Mr. Richard Hardisty,\nthe chief factor in the Hudson's Bay Company, then in charge, to send me dog sleighs\nto bring the supplies at the headwaters of\nthe Whirlpool River to the depot, all of\nwhich were done, and having completed the\nplotting of our season's work I sent the\nplans off to Edmonton with a letter to Mr.\nHardisty requesting him to have them for-\nwarded  to   Ottawa.\nAs soon as these documents were sent off\nI set the trail party at work, continuing the\nsurvey of the line in the direction of the\nlatter place, as I was led to believe from\na printed report of an explorer sent out\nin 1871 by the engineer-in-chief, and which\nhe had given me at Moose Lake the previous\nAutumn, that a \"level sandy plain extended\nfrom the Fiddle River to Lac St. Anne. I\nsoon found that the description given in\nthat report and the nature of the country\nbetween the Athabasca and the McLeod Rivers were very different, as there was a high\nridge\u2014a spur of the Rocky Mountains between those two rivers\u2014that made if difficult to get into the valley of the McLeod\nRiver. As the line had been gradually ascending this ridge, crossing several formidable ravines, I directed the engineer to\ngo 6n with the survey and. get into the valley of the McLeod River as soon as possible,\nand I would explore *he country ahead and\nto the eastward. I found a good line could\nbe. obtained by keeping much farther to the\neastward without any trouble, but decided\nto continue the line we were surveying to\nVictoria. When the line was within a short\ndistance of the McLeod River I was a short\ndistance ahead when a half-breed met me\nand handed me a letter from che en^in' ev-ir \u25a0\u2022\nchief. It informed me that he had received\nthe package forwarded by Mr. Hardisty, and\ndirected me to discontinue the survey easterly and to return to the Coast with my\nparty. It also informed me that Mr. Marcus\nSmith, C. E., had been appointed to take\ncharge of the exploratory surveys in British\nColumbia.     This was\nJOYFUL NEWS\nfor me, for I saw the way clear to get\nout of the  distasteful occupationn of making\nuseless  surveys.\nShortly after receiving the above despatches I received a letter from Mr. Marcus\nSmith, informing me of his appointment\nand requesting me to try and find a line\nfeasible   for   a   rt.away  west   from   the   Tete\nJaune Cache into the valley of the Horsefly\nRiver, or into the basin of the Quesnelle\nLake.\nWe all started on our return journey,\nand on our way back, when we got east\nof Moose Lake, I directed Mr. Green to\nmake a short survey along the south bank\nof the Fraser, whilst I went up to the head\nwaters of the canyon, and those of the North\nThompson Rivers to see if I could find a\npass  in  the  direction  Mr.   Smith  desired..\nTaking my three Indians with me, I proceeded to explore the country at the headwaters of the Canoe River, and very soon\nfound there was no pass in that direction. I\nthen went to the forks of the Albreda and\nNorth Thompson Rivers, and up the valley\nof the latter. I found the country densely\ntimbered and difficult to travel through until we reached a high elevation. I pursued\nmy way until, at a very high\" elevation, I\nwas surrounded by high snow-capped peaks\nand glaciers that presented an impenetrable\nwall of rock, snow and ice. I returned to\nthe forks of the Thompson and Albreda Rivers, where my Indians found an old log\ncanoe which they patched up and we decided\nto run down the North Thompson River in\npreference to walking to Kamloops, as we\nfound that Mr. Green and the survey party\nhad preceded us. The Indians were expert\ncanoe men but knew nothing about that\nriver, nor did I, excepting that the \"Black\nCanyon\" was considered a dangerous place\nfor boats or canoes. We swept down the\nriver in fine style and when we got into the\ncanyon the Indians handled the canoe to perfection. We pursued our way and soon\nafter dark came to the place where the party\nwere encamped on the  \"Blue Prairie.\"\nHere we left the canoe, and taking my\nhorses and Indians I pursued my way, in\nadvance of my party, through a lovely valley\nto the\nMOUTH OF THE NORTH THOMPSON\nRIVER,\nwhere I met my commissariat officer, Mr. A.\nG. Hall. I instructed him to hand over\nall the pack animals, &c, &c, to Mr. Marcus\nSmith's agent at Kamloops, and bring me\nduplicate receipts for the same, and to take\nall further orders from Mr. Smith. Thus\nended all my explorations and surveys for\nthe Canadian Pacific Railway through the\nmountain region of Canada, and the above\ninstructions were the last I gave in connection with that great national railway for\nwhich I had spent so many years of toil, of\nhardship, of privation and personal expense\nto secure the best route, and in my\nopinion, the route to adopt, as before remarked, the engineer-in-chief had advised\nto be abandoned.\nAs usual for many years I took up my\nquarters with my never-failing friends, the\nofficers of the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company,\nin Fort Kamloops, where I remained a short\ntime and on my telling the officer in charge\nof the fort for the reasons I have already related, namely that as soon as I\ncould close up all matters in connection with\nthe   exploratory   surveys   I   should  leave   the EARLY  HISTORY  OF  C.P.R.   ROAD\n15\nservice, as I entirely disagreed with the\ncourse the engineer-in-chief was following,\ninsisted on providing me with horses and\nIndians to take me down to Yale, as that\nwas probably the last opportunity the Hudson Bay Company would have, in British\nColumbia, of doing me a service and showing their appreciation of my long social intercourse and business transactions with the\ncompany since my arrival in British Columbia   in 'the   year   1858.\nOn arriving at Victoria I met, and soon\nformed a very friendly acquaintance with the\nlate Mr. Marcus Smith, which lasted until\nhis death. We shortly afterwards left Victoria for Ottawa and in due course arrived\nthere.     I was,   as  I  fully expected,\nVERY COLDLY RECEIVED\nby the engineer-in-chief. He unnecessarily\ncaused my detention in Ottawa after the\nauditor had passed my accounts in a manner satisfactory to me. He caused the accounts to be sent to another auditor to be\ngone over again and I had to wait because\n1 could not get my hard earned pay, and\nactually had to borrow money to pay for\nmy board and lodging.\nAfter several months the engineer-in-chief\nsent me a cheque for my pay to' the time of\nthe completion of the first auditing and\nwould not pay me anything for the time I\nwas compelled to wait, as I had no money\nto get away, and would not pay me any\nsalary for the time I had to wait for the\nsecond auditing, nor would he pay me anything for the expenses 1 had incurred during the whole time I had been in Ottawa. I\n\u25a0Wrotested at this unjust treatment, but without avail. The unjust treatment I received\nwas not in accordance with the written\nterms of mv engagement, made in 1871, and\nI was defrauded out of a large amount, which\nthe Dominion Government still owes me and\nought to pay. I consider that the engineer-\nin-chief acted both dishonorably and dishonestly   to   me.\nAfter getting entirely clear of the engineer-in-chief and of the useless and expensive surveys he continued to make for several years after I left the service, and the\ncountry tired of his theoretical vagaries and\ncaused his resignation, and I had gone to\nmake my headquarters in Winnipeg for the\npurpose of getting a personal knowledge of\nthe country west from Lake Superior to the\nRocky Mountains, which I obtained, and\nalso of the line the engineer-in-chief was\ntrying to have adopted via Selkirk, the Narrows of Lake Manitoba and thence northerly, I did my utmost, in various ways, to\nget the line adopted back to my line in order\nthat Winnipeg should be on the main line\nand the valley of the Columbia reached\nwhich would * necessitate the line passing\nthrough the Eagle Pass and thence to Vancouver.     My   exertions   finally   led   to   the\nADOPTION   OF   THE  PRESENT  LINE\nfrom Revelst( ke to Vancouver, wnere it terminates at the magnificent harbor of Burrard Inlet and has brought into existence the\nflourishing and beautiful City of Vancouver,\nwhich is destined to be the finest commercial and progressive city of the Dominion\nof Canada, and from which other important\nrailways will radiate\u2014the City whose site I\npre-empted in 1859 when I sunk shafts to\ntry  and  find  coal  in   \"Coal  Harbor.\"\nIt is very gratifying to me that my exertions, extending over a period of nearly a\nquarter of a century tended very materially\nto insure the welfare and prosperity of many\nthousands of people throughout British Columbia, as well as through the country extending from tho KocKy i\\a.iAi.jula.n& ...\nnipeg.\nBooks, China, &c Traced.\nR. JAMES\nP. O. Box 176, VANCOUVER, B. C ","@language":"en"}],"Genre":[{"@value":"Manuscripts","@language":"en"}],"Identifier":[{"@value":"HE2810_C26_M8_c3","@language":"en"}],"IsShownAt":[{"@value":"10.14288\/1.0355290","@language":"en"}],"Language":[{"@value":"English","@language":"en"}],"Provider":[{"@value":"Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library","@language":"en"}],"Publisher":[{"@value":"Vancouver : Art, Historical and Scientific Association","@language":"en"}],"RBSCLocation":[{"@value":"CC-EX-6.3","@language":"en"}],"Rights":[{"@value":"Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these images must be obtained from Rare Books and Special Collections: http:\/\/rbsc.library.ubc.ca\/","@language":"en"}],"SortDate":[{"@value":"1909-12-31 AD","@language":"en"},{"@value":"1909-12-31 AD","@language":"en"}],"Source":[{"@value":"Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. The Chung Collection. HE2810.C26 M8 c.3","@language":"en"}],"Subject":[{"@value":"Railroads--Canada--History","@language":"en"}],"Title":[{"@value":"Early history of Canadian Pacific Railway","@language":"en"}],"Type":[{"@value":"Text","@language":"en"}],"Translation":[{"@value":"","@language":"en"}],"@id":"doi:10.14288\/1.0355290"}