CONTENTdm
Northwest bookshelf. Vol. XVIII
British Columbia Historical Books Collection
Ireland, Willard E.
Woldfenden, Madge
Provincial Archives of British Columbia
British Columbia Historical Association
"Supersedes the association's Annual report and proceedings. Table of contents, index in each volume. Indexed in Canadian index. Last number appeared in 1958."-- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 193. "Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. Superseded the Association's Annual report and proceedings. Table of contents and index in each volume. Also indexed in the Canadian Index. Publication suspended with vol.21, Jan., 1957-0ct., 1958, i.e. 1963. Includes many articles and reviews of publications on the precolonial period."-- Strathern, G. M., & Edwards, M. H. (1970). Navigations, traffiques & discoveries, 1774-1848: A guide to publications relating to the area now British Columbia. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 32.
282 pages : coat of arms, maps, tables, portraits, photograph ; 25 cm
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THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA LIBRARY From the library of Dr. C.E. Dolman THE BRITISH COLUMBIA | HISTORICAL 2 QUARTERLY VOLUME XVIH 1954 VICTORIA, B.C. Published by the Archives of British Colombia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association Willard E. Ireland, Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Madge Wolfenden, Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. ADVISORY BOARD J. C. Goodfellow, Princeton, B.C. W. N. Sage, Vancouver, B.C. Editorial communications should be addressed to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. CONTENTS OF VOLUME XVffl Articles: The Early Militia and Defence of British Columbia, 1871-1885. By Reginald H. Roy Pagb Post-Contact Culture Changes among the Lummi Indians. By Wayne Suttles Arthur Kennedy's Administration of the Colony of Western Australia Examined as a Background to the Initiation of the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition of 1864. By H. C. Gilliland ; The Naming of Holland Point. By Madge Wolfenden • John Tod: " Career of a Scotch Boy." Edited by Madge Wolfenden ! Rumours of Confederate Privateers Operating in Victoria, Vancouver Island. By Benjamin F. Gilbert 239 Notes and Comments The Northwest Bookshelf: Cumberland House Journals and Inland Journals, 1775-82. Series, 1779-82. By Willard E. Ireland „ . Canada's Tomorrow. By John Tupper Saywell— _123, 257 . 267 The North Peace River Parish. A Tree Grows in Vernon. Through the Years, 1904-1954. Our Goodly Heritage, 1904-1954. Pioneering God's Country. By Willard E. Ireland. History of Kaslo. The Story of Osoyoos. By A. F. Flucke Shorter Notices 272 . 274 Page 31, line 2: For lk'wani'nan read lk'wani'nan. Page 52, line 32: For e'le'bfi read ele'bn. Page 55, line 18: For Ellice read Elliot. BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY "Any country worthy of a future should be interested in its past." )L. XVIII Victoria, B.C., January-April, 1954 Nos. 1 aa CONTENTS Page The Early Militia and Defence of British Columbia, 1871-1885. By Reginald H. Roy 1 Post-Contact Culture Changes among the Lummi Indians. By Wayne Suttles 29 Arthur Kennedy's Administration of the Colony of Western Australia Examined as a Background to the Initiation of the Vancouver Island Exploration Expedition of 1864. By H. C. Gilliland 103 The Naming of Holland Point. By Madge Wolfenden 117 Notes and Comments: British Columbia Historical Association ! 123 Kamloops Museum Association . 130 New Westniinster Historic Centre 131 Boat Encampment Cairn _ 131 Contributors to This Issue 132 THE EARLY MILITIA AND DEFENCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1871-1885 When the Crown Colony .of British Columbia entered into confederation with the Dominion of Canada in 1871, the problem of its defence was automatically assumed by the Federal authorities. At that time there existed in British Columbia, at least in name, three militia units. In the Provincial capital was the Victoria Rifle Corps, a unit formed in the summer of 1864, consisting of two companies, each of which once had a peak strength of some forty-five men. On the Mainland, in New Westminster, were two militia companies. The New Westminster Volunteer Rifles had been formed in November, 1863. In its ranks were to be found many men who had served with the recently disbanded detachment of Royal Engineers.1 The Seymour Artillery Company, also of New Westminster, was organized in July, 1866, as a direct result of the Fenian scare in the East, but it was not until a year later that this company received its main armament—two 24-pounder bronze cannon. The artillery and infantry companies were, as their names suggest, composed entirely of volunteers. Then, as now, interest in the militia units was governed mainly by the imminence of internal or external danger to the colony. Thus, during the time of the Fenian scare in 1866, the militia ranks had been swelled to their greatest numbers. As fears of such a raid subsided, interest in the companies waned and their strength melted as a consequence. In many respects the attention paid the militia by the local government and the Colonial Office paralleled that in the colony itself. At the height of the Fenian scare the War Office shipped a supply of guns, rifles, ammunition, and equipment to the colony, most of which, when it arrived in 1867, was used to outfit the New Westminster companies. No comparable supply of warlike stores reached British Columbia again until six years later. The colonial government, whose past financial grants to the militia companies were both few and meagre, was delighted at the response to the threatened Fenian raid. Not only did the men enrol in the militia, but they pur- (1) The first detachment of Royal Engineers to be sent from England to British Columbia arrived in the colony in 1858. Of a total of 165 who came, about 130 decided to remain in the colony when their detachment was disbanded in 1863. F. W. Howay, The Work of the Royal Engineers in British Columbia, 1858 to 1863, Victoria, 1910, p. 11. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, VoL XVIII, Nos. 1 and 2. 1 Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. chased their own uniforms and contributed toward the maintenance of the companies. This spirit of sacrifice, applauded but unmatched by the colonial legislature, subsided into an apathy and neglect from 1867 onwards. By 1871, therefore, the militia in British Columbia was but a shadow of its former state. Armed with outmoded muzzle-loading rifles,2 ignored by the authorities in London, faced with indifference at home, the companies were weak in morale, strength, armament, and training. With no effective military force available, the defence of the Pacific Coast rested with such British naval vessels as were present at the Esqui- malt naval base. Here, too, the situation was not always satisfactory. The Pacific Squadron was responsible for the protection of British interests in a sea area covering many thousand square miles, and the troubled waters off South America frequently denuded the British Columbia coast of all but one or two gun-vessels. Indeed, such was the situation when, a few months after its confederation with Canada, an incident occurred which was to emphasize the defenceless state of British Columbia and which, ultimately, was to hasten the establishment of the first Canadian militia forces in the Province. On December 31, 1871, the Lieutenant-Governor of British Colum- \ bia, Joseph W. Trutch, received an anonymous letter which read as follows:— ,.. . . -d^ Victoria, B.C. To His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor .... 29th December, 1871 Sir: There are now in town a Company of Fenians who hold regular meetings and are well drilled. Take a warning—they are now in part of the Dominion and will have revenge yet from the Canadians. Several of the Government Rifles and . Bayonets are in their hands, also some of the ammunition for Long Enfield Rifles. This, Sir, is a warning. You may treat it as you think, but it is true nevertheless. [Signed] " From a Loyal Subject in Victoria "3 (2) In March, 1875, when the Provincial Government handed over its obsolete military stores to the Department of Militia and Defence, 496 Brunswick Short rifles and 289 Enfield Long rifles were included in the transfer. These weapons were far inferior to the breech-loading Snider-Enfield rifles provided the Canadian militia in 1867. Public Archives of Canada, Papers of the Deputy Minister of Militia and Defence, Letters Received, 1875, No. 01424. (Hereafter this source will be cited as DM. Papers.) (3) Ibid., No. 6278. This docket contains all the correspondence between Trutch and the Secretary of State for the Provinces, Joseph Howe, regarding the Fenian scare in Victoria, together with enclosures sent to Howe relating to Trutch's correspondence with Captain Cator and others. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia Upon receipt of this warning, and after a hurried meeting with his Executive Council, the Lieutenant-Governor took immediate steps to forestall any Fenian raid from within or without. On New Year's Day he sent a message to Captain R. P. Cator, R.N., then Senior Naval Officer at Esquimalt, advising him of the warning note he had received. In this message he stated he did not seriously apprehend any such attack to be impending, but, he added:— ... In view of the events which happened in 1870 in the Province of Quebec and still more recently in the Province of " Manitoba" and the known character and aims of the Fenian organization, I think it incumbent to take such steps as are in our power to prevent the perpetration of robbery and outrage in our neigh- borhood.4 Under the circumstances, therefore, Trutch requested Cator to station the gun-vessel H.M.S. Boxer5 in Victoria Harbour and to take any further steps he thought advisable after consulting with the Attorney- General, Honourable J. F. McCreight, the bearer of the message. Captain Cator's action was prompt. The Boxer was immediately sent to the harbour, but, after further consultation, a more elaborate scheme of defence was worked out. H.M.S. Sparrowhawk6 was directed to lay off the harbour-mouth to prevent the entry or exit of all boats and vessels to and from the harbour until satisfied they were engaged in lawful business. It would also render assistance should there be any attack on Victoria. The Sparrowhawk was also to keep a lookout for a signal made by those on shore should the Fenians attack from an unexpected quarter. In such a case, the Victoria Police were to fire a series of rockets from the Government Buildings. On seeing this signal, the Sparrowhawk would fire three guns in succession. This would both answer the signal on shore and at the same time alert the ships in Esquimalt. On hearing the signal guns H.M.S. Boxer was to get up steam immediately and call alongside the Scout1 and Sparrowhawk for the purpose of collecting a party of fifty Royal Marines. These men, under the command of Lieutenant Hume, R.M.L.I., would be rushed (4) hoc. cit. (5) H.M.S. Boxer, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander F. W. Egerton, was a composite-built screw gun-vessel mounting four guns. (6) H.M.S. Sparrowhawk, commanded by Commander H. W. Mist, was a somewhat heavier and more powerful gun-vessel than the Boxer but carried the same number of guns. (7) H.M.S. Scout, commanded by Captain R. P. Cator, was a screw-propelled corvette carrying seventeen guns. Its displacement (2,187 tons) and power (1,327 horse-power) were respectively more than triple and double that of the gun-vessels. Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. to Victoria and landed near the Government Buildings, while the Boxer would proceed up the harbour to act as the circumstances warranted.8 The plan of defence, awkward as it appears, was probably as effective a plan as was feasible at the time. In Victoria the government was unable to call upon the militia to render assistance,9 and the available handful of police was little more than a token force. Captain Cator had his own problems, too, since in case of a raid it would be his special duty to guard the Esquimalt naval base, and for that purpose he would require a large part of the naval force under his command. As he pointed out to Trutch:— . . . Without some more efficient force than now exists in Victoria it is evident that such outrages as are alleged to have been intended, may be organized with impunity in your midst, and I cannot but suggest that this force should be so increased and reorganized as to furnish a real protection to life and property, and so prevent the re-occurrence of such alarms as we have been subject to lately. I would also bring before your notice the very exposed position of British Columbia, with scattered towns which would be unable to afford each other assistance in consequence of their distance apart, and the whole appearing to me entirely dependent for protection in case of outbreak or raid on what little assistance that can be offered by Ships of War present at Esquimalt. This I atttribute to the entire absence of any Military force in the Province and would again suggest that Victoria should be made the depot of a well organized body of Militia and Police, not only for the protection of that town, but such as to be able to render assistance in case of emergency to other parts of the Colony [sic].™ These military facts of fife had already become glaringly apparent to Trutch and his Executive Council. On January 2, with the Sparrow- hawk patrolling the harbour-mouth and the Boxer, with steam up and guns ready for action, stationed inside the harbour, Trutch wrote Joseph Howe informing him of the steps he had taken.11 These measures seem to have been effective, for if there was any factual basis for the warning— (8) DM. Papers, No. 6278, Cator to Trutch, January 2, 1872; Trutch to Cator, January 3, 1872. (9) The Victoria Volunteer Rifle Corps was in no condition to act in this crisis. A local newspaper commented on the unit as follows: "It is problematical to what extent it would be safe to rely upon this force as a means of repelling a Fenian invasion. If we are correctly informed that it has lapsed into a torpid state, it would, perhaps, be wisest not to count upon it at all as a means of defence." Victoria Colonist, January 4, 1872. (10) DM. Papers, No. 6278, Cator to Trutch, January 7, 1872. (11) Ibid., Trutch to Howe, January 2, 1872. In this letter Trutch wrote that, aside from the warning letter he had received, "certain significant though inexplicit rumours ... of late reached us from San Francisco of some contemplated Fenian movement in this direction. . . ." 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia and certainly the Victoria Police could find none—the naval preparations would appear to have forestalled any proposed raid. Local interest in the scare quickly subsided, but although it was soon treated as a joke, newspaper comment expressed the hope that the Province might soon have better protection. Stronger defences were also uppermost in the minds of the Executive. At the meeting held on January 2 it was decided that in view of the inadequate state of the militia and the uncertainty of the naval protection afforded by the warships at Esquimalt, the Dominion Government should be urged to take the following steps. First, every effort should be made to induce the Imperial Government to make Esquimalt the permanent headquarters station of the British North Pacific Fleet, and to agree to keep, in addition to the gun-vessels detailed for service in British Columbia waters, at least one heavy frigate. Further, the Canadian militia system should be extended to the Province and a regular force of 100 men stationed there. Finally, the Executive asked for a reliable detective to keep watch on the Fenians and report their intentions or movements.12 In communicating these views to the Federal authorities, Trutch pointed out that British Columbia, and especially Victoria, was more exposed to a hit-and-run attack than perhaps any other portion of the Dominion. Not only would an attack by sea give all the advantages of concealment and surprise to the enemy, but the geographical remoteness of British Columbia from the rest of the Dominion made any hope of timely aid out of the question. Under such circumstances, and until an efficient militia force was organized, the Navy formed not only the first but the only line of defence. If the Province could rely upon the Navy having a minimum of two gun-vessels and a frigate present at Esquimalt, then, thought Trutch, it would be impracticable for any party of marauders to get away from the Island even if they should overpower those on shore. However, as matters stood, H.M.S. Scout was under orders to go to the Sandwich Islands in March, and the Admiralty had intimated a few months previously that it wanted the Sparrowhawk removed from the station.13 (12) Minute of the Executive Council of British Columbia, January 2, 1872, enclosed in ibid. (13) DM. Papers, No. 6278, Trutch to Howe, January 9, 1872. Four days before sending this message, Trutch had telegraphed Sir John A. Macdonald outlining the measures he had taken. The Prime Minister, in a personal letter to the Governor-General on January 18, suggested that the Fenian "scare" would be Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. Part of Trutch's fears, however, was soon dispelled. On January 20 word was received in Ottawa that the Admiralty had decided to leave the Sparrowhawk at Esquimalt for the present, and, further, that a vessel of similar tonnage and armament would replace her when that vessel was recalled.14 Meanwhile, the gun-vessel still remained on guard outside the harbour-mouth, waiting in vain for the Fenians. At the end of the month the Executive Council reconsidered the necessity of keeping the Sparrowhawk at its station. Trutch suggested to Cator that, in view of the severe weather, the ship might be anchored within the harbour itself, but Cator countered with the proposal that the vessel should be withdrawn altogether. Despite every appearance of continued peace and calm, Trutch remained cautious and tartly replied that he had not received any information ". . . as would warrant the conclusion that the special protection offered during the past month by the Naval Force under your command can be dispensed with, without risk of life and property in the city."15 A gun-vessel continued to guard Victoria until the end of February, but target practice provided the only break in the monotony for its officers and crew. In Ottawa, meanwhile, Trutch's correspondence and the obvious need of a system of defence in British Columbia had come to the attention of the Minister of Militia and Defence, Sir George E. Cartier. It was the opinion of the Adjutant-General of Militia, Colonel F. Robertson-Ross, that for the present time a quota of no more than 500 militiamen should be raised in Military District No. II.16 However, he suggested that for I prudential reasons " a depot consisting of sufficient arms, equipment, and ammunition for 1,000 men should be formed in Victoria sufficient grounds for repeating the request to the British Admiralty to retain the Sparrowhawk at Esquimalt for another season. Public Archives of Canada, G 20, Vol. 140, No. 2286, Macdonald to Lisgar, January 18, and enclosed telegram, Trutch to Macdonald, January 5, 1872. (14) Public Archives of Canada, G 1, Vol. 185, p. 32, Kimberley to Lisgar, January 4, 1872. These instructions reached Ottawa sixteen days later. On that day Trutch had written Macdonald: " I do trust you are intending to do something at once to put us in a more decent state of defence. . . . We ought to have not only a detachment of permanently embodied militia quartered here but a fort for the protection of the entrance to Esquimalt and Victoria Harbour garrisoned by a proper force of artillery." Public Archives of Canada, Macdonald Papers, Vol. 278, pp. 150-151. (15) DM. Papers, No. 6322, enclosures, Trutch to Cator, January 31, 1872. (16) British Columbia was designated Military District No. 11 on October 16, 1871. Militia General Orders, October 16, 1871. (Hereafter cited as M.G.O.) 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia immediately. This suggestion was acted upon, and on February 26 an order for arms and equipment was sent to England. Although no cannon were included in the purchase, the arms ordered were the latest type of breech-loading Snider rifles.17 The choice of a suitable commander for British Columbia fell ultimately on Charles F. Houghton. An Irishman by birth, Houghton had served as a commissioned officer in the 57th and 20th Regiments of Foot, both in England and abroad. In 1863, at the age of 25, he sold his commission and came to British Columbia, where he took up farming in the Okanagan Valley. In 1871 he was elected a member to the House of Commons, and it was in Ottawa that he heard the appointment of Deputy Adjutant-General for Military District No. 11 was to be filled.18 His application for the position was strongly supported by his fellow members of parliament from British Columbia, and at the end of the session, after talking to Cartier, Houghton returned home in June confident his appointment would take place immediately. The decision to appoint Houghton to the vacant post was delayed by the proposed visit of the Adjutant-General to British Columbia to survey the military situation there for himself. Robertson-Ross arrived in Victoria for a two-week visit on October 28, 1872. In his report he suggested the formation of two companies of militia at Victoria, one in Nanaimo, New Westminster, and Burrard's Inlet, and the reorganization of the almost defunct artillery company at New Westminster.19 The death of Cartier once more delayed Houghton's appointment, and consequently the implementation of the Adjutant-General's recommendations. It was not until March 21, 1873, that Houghton was given the (17) DM. Papers, No. 6279, Memorandum, Robertson-Ross to Cartier. These stores cost approximately $50,000. The arms, etc., were shipped direct from England to Victoria. (18) DM. Papers, No. 6521, Houghton to Cartier, April 22, 1872. Another applicant for the vacancy was Captain W. A. Delacombe, who at this time was in charge of the detachment of Royal Marines on San Juan Island. This officer's application was supported by the signatures of over 200 residents of Victoria. Houghton's political supporters, however, carried more weight and influence in Ottawa. See also ibid., Nos. 6708 and 7785. (19) Department of Militia and Defence, Report on the State of the Militia of the Dominion of Canada . . . 1872, Ottawa, 1873, p. cxxvi. (Hereafter cited as Militia Report with the appropriate year.) This inspection tour across Canada by Robertson-Ross was probably the most remarkable tour ever made by an Adjutant- General of the Canadian Forces. See R. H. Roy, "The Colonel Goes West," Canadian Army Journal, VJH (1954), pp. 76-81. Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. rank of lieutenant-colonel and designated the Deputy Adjutant-General of British Columbia.20 The arms and equipment from England did not reach Victoria until the summer of 1873, and since the town possessed neither magazine nor armoury, they were stored in private warehouses until that situation was remedied. In October, Houghton received authority to proceed with the raising of five companies of militia; the two in Victoria were limited to an enrolment of fifty other ranks, while a limit of forty militiamen was placed on the rifle companies in the other centres. These men were to be raised, drilled, and paid under the same militia system existing in the rest of the Dominion. To encourage the formation of the new corps, band instruments were purchased to help raise the martial spirit, and both a rifle range and drill-shed were promised, providing the land was donated by the several municipal authorities. The formation of the rifle companies at Victoria and New Westminster was completed with little difficulty. Nos. 1 and 2 Company of Rifles at Victoria came into existence on February 13, 1874. No. 1 Company of Rifles at New Westminster was posted in orders on the same day.21 The Company at Nanaimo was not formed until some months later. The method used by Houghton to raise this company was quite typical of the times. He journeyed to Nanaimo on April 14 and, he wrote:— On arrival ... I immediately posted notices and convened a public meeting at the Court House on the evening of the 16th. On which occasion, having explained the Militia Act and Regulations to them, I succeeded in enrolling seventeen volunteers. At a subsequent meeting held at the same place I enrolled nineteen more names, making a total in all of thirty-six, from which number I selected a Captain, Lieutenant and Ensign in whose hands I placed the roll for completion.22 A further problem Houghton had to deal with was the lack of a drill instructor for the Nanaimo company. For a short time a private from one of the Victoria companies, himself newly trained, drilled the volunteers, but it was feared, with good reason, that he was likely " to do as (20) M.G.O., No. 6, March 28, 1873. (21) M.G.O., No. 3, February 13; No. 8, April 11, 1874. (22) DM. Papers, No. 9937, enclosure, Houghton to Colonel Powell, May 4, 1874. Colonel Powell succeeded Robertson-Ross as the Adjutant-General of 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia much harm as good."23 Finally the services of a gunner's mate from H.M.S. Myrmidon, then stationed at Esquimalt, was acquired for six weeks, and No. 1 Company of Rifles at Nanaimo set to work with a will. The summer of 1874 also saw the formation of the Seymour Battery of Garrison Artillery in New Westminster.24 Although provided with new uniforms and rifles, the battery—actually a half-battery—had only the two outmoded 24-pounder howitzers for its main armament. Moreover, the field carriages on which these bronze cannon were mounted and the harness needed to pull the carriages were fast deteriorating through long neglect. Once the new militia was organized in British Columbia, the need for drill-halls, magazines, and rifle ranges in Victoria, New Westminster, and Nanaimo became pressing. By June, 1874, tenders for the construction of a drill-shed in Victoria had been received, and work on the building began in August. When completed in December it cost almost $4,500. Measuring 112 by 64 feet, it had a fairly large central hall with five rooms on either side containing offices and storerooms. At either end of the hall was a door, one acting as the front entrance, while the other led to a cleared plot of land at the rear which was used for drill purposes.25 A magazine for the storage of ammunition, powder, and explosives was built several years later. For some time the Hudson's Bay Company rented space on their powder-barge at Esquimalt for military stores, but by 1878, after paying well over $3,000 in rentals, the Government decided it would be cheaper to construct their own magazine. At first it was proposed to build one on Government land within the city, but the protests of the City Council, supported by the opinion of the Provincial Premier, who thought the new magazine would be much too close to the Parliament Buildings, resulted in a change of plans. Beacon Hill, a site situated on the outskirts of the city, was finally chosen, and construction of the $1,200 building began in February, 1879. When completed four months later, it was used to store artillery as well as small- arms ammunition.26 (23) Ibid., enclosure, Lieutenant Prior to Houghton, June 11, 1874. Prior was second in command of No. 1 Company of Rifles, Nanaimo, when it was posted in orders on September 11, 1874. (24) M.G.O., July 10, 1874. (25) DM. Papers, No. 0433,Building Agreement, Victoria Drill-shed. (26) Ibid., No. 02385. 10 Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. In Nanaimo the militia company waited in vain for its drill-shed. For several years the company used the small " Mechanic's Hall" as a poor substitute, and even this was denied them in 1878, when they were forced to use a sash and door factory for their drill. There is little doubt that this lack of proper facilities contributed in no small measure to the losing struggle for existence of this small company. The Nanaimo militiamen had built their own rifle range without government aid, but their enthusiasm waned as the years passed without any indication of Federal assistance.27 New Westminster was for a short time slightly better off than Victoria or Nanaimo. A drill-shed had been built there by the colonial government in 1866 for the volunteers. Moreover, the Royal Engineers had constructed a magazine in the town, a brick and stone building with copper doors. Both these buildings were taken over by the New Westminster units in 1873, and although their foundations were even then beginning to sag, they served their purpose for several years. During this time, and indeed for a number of years thereafter, there were no militia units in the Interior of the Province. When he made his western inspection tour in 1875, Major-General E. Selby Smyth, commander of the Canadian militia, was asked to establish some sort of a protective force at Kootenay Village and Joseph's Prairie. Kootenay lay west of the Rockies and was some 600 miles journey from the Provincial capital. In this position—| one of the most isolated portions of the British Empire," as the general aptly described it—a small white population of about 150 was surrounded by almost six times their number of Indians. Smyth recommended the establishment of a police force of fifty men in the area, but no further action was taken. He also thought it desirable to establish a small corps of mounted infantry or riflemen at Kamloops, and further suggested raising additional small corps at Clinton, Cache Creek, and Okanagan. These latter units, he said, could drill once a month independently, and once a year the whole could assemble at Kamloops and drill together with the mounted rifles.28 Although Smyth was thinking in terms of an available force to quell internal disturbances, another British officer looked on the lack of militia in the Interior as a dangerous gap in the southern defences of the Province. Colonel G. F. Blair, late Royal Artillery, had been sent to British (27) No. 1 Company of Rifles, Nanaimo, was finally disbanded on May 2, 1884. (28) Militia Report . . . 1875, Ottawa, 1876, pp. vi-viii. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia 11 Columbia to survey the sites for possible defensive works at Victoria and Esquimalt. At the request of the Federal authorities, he wrote what is possibly the first military intelligence report of British Columbia. The problem of defending the seaboard he thought beyond the resources of the Dominion, and felt it must be left in the hands of the Imperial Government. It was the southern frontier which demanded most attention from a strictly military point of view. If, through an unfortunate series of circumstances, relations with the United States deteriorated to the point of war, Blair wrote that:— ... in the present state of things a Regiment of United States Light Infantry, preceded by a Corps of Indian Guides and supported by a battery of light rifled mountain train guns, with a transport of Indian pack horses or mules marching by the Whatcom trail, could seize upon and paralyze the communications of the whole country, viz. the New Westminster and Hope wagon Road and the Lower or Navigable portions of the Fraser, i.e. all below Fort Hope.29 This would be but a prelude to the main action, which Colonel Blair envisaged as a sweep by a larger force cutting off and enveloping the more populous coastal towns from the east, while at the same time an American naval squadron would land troops on Vancouver Island to take Esquimalt, Victoria, and Nanaimo from the rear. The establishment of a corps of guides along the southern frontier, having a nucleus composed of the ex-Royal Engineers who had settled in the Sumas and Matsqui areas, was deemed essential by Blair, together with a survey of the frontier from a military point of view.30 Both Colonel Blair and General Smyth were unanimous in their recommendation that Victoria and Esquimalt should be protected by artillery, for in the absence of a ship-of-war at the naval base there was nothing to prevent an enemy cruiser from destroying either place with no fear of retaliation. While on his inspection tour, Smyth noted two 7-inch and four 40-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns at the naval dockyard about to be sent back to England as obsolete for naval service. He proposed, therefore, that they be transferred to the Dominion Gov- (29) DM. Papers, No. 02638, Colonel G. F. Blair, "Memorandum on the Defence of British Columbia." In 1875 the Intelligence Department of the British War Office asked for detailed reports from the colonies. In Canada the commander of each military district submitted a report, and Colonel Blair's served for British Columbia. Among other steps he suggested to place British Columbia in a proper state of defence, Blair recommended the purchase of Alaska "if possible," the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the establishment of a British garrison at Esquimalt. (30) Loc.cit. Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. eminent and be used to arm an earthwork battery he would have constructed at Macaulay's Point, a commanding promontory midway between Victoria and Esquimalt Harbours. Should such a battery be established, he reported, no vessel but an iron-clad would venture to run the gauntlet of its fire, and even such a ship would have its unarm- oured decks exposed to the plunging fire the battery would deliver. Despite the obvious need of establishing land batteries to defend the naval base and Provincial capital, no action was taken on the general's suggestion either by the Admiralty or the Dominion Government. Indeed, every effort was needed to keep the present militia companies in a proper state of efficiency. The financial depression of the seventies, combined with the steadily improving relations with the United States, reduced militia expenditure almost by half, and cut by more than a third the number of trained militia.31 In British Columbia, as elsewhere, the effect of such a parsimonious budget was evident in the ill-fitting and worn uniforms of the men, the reduced amount of ammunition allowed for annual target practice, and in other similar ways, which decided many men against re-enlisting when their three-year term of service was completed in 1876. Nevertheless, the companies continued to function as new volunteers stepped forward to fill the places of the disgruntled minority who left. Colonel Houghton even received applications requesting the formation of two additional militia companies on the mainland, but these had to be turned down, since there were scarcely sufficient funds to support existing companies.32 The threat of a Fenian raid had caused the Federal Government to hasten the formation of militia companies in British Columbia in 1872; five years later it was another threat of a raid—this time by Russian war vessels—that caused both the Dominion and British Governments to look on British Columbian defences with renewed interest. In Europe the long-smouldering Balkans had burst into flame when Russia declared war on Turkey in April, 1877. Britain's relations with Russia worsened steadily as Russian troops drove toward Constantinople and the Bosporus. To counter what was regarded as an intolerable threat to her Near Eastern possessions, Great Britain took strong military and naval measures which clearly indicated her determination to prevent Russia's domination of Turkey. (31) C. F. Hamilton, "The Canadian Militia: The Dead Period," Canadian Defence Quarterly, VII (1929), pp. 78-89. (32) Militia Report . . . 1877, Ottawa, 1878, p. 274. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia 13 The danger of war with Russia led Britain to review the defences of her empire as a strategic whole. It was very obvious that despite her immense naval power and resources, the Royal Navy and the widely scattered British garrisons would be unable to prevent damaging attacks on her possessions by enemy naval forces. In March, 1878, a secret circular dispatch was sent from the Colonial Office pointing out the necessity for the various colonies to be in readiness to protect themselves as far as possible in the event of the outbreak of hostilities. Should war ensue, the dispatch warned:— The danger against which it would be more immediately necessary to provide would be an unexpected attack by a small squadron or even a single unarmoured cruiser, with the object of destroying public or private property . . . rather than any serious attempt at the conquest or permanent occupation of any portion of the colony.88 The danger of a hit-and-run attack by Russian naval forces had been brought quite forcibly to the attention of British Columbia a month before1 this dispatch was sent. On February 9 the newspapers reported the arrival in San Francisco of a Russian naval squadron.34 This, combined with reports of increasing tension in Europe, created considerable apprehension in Victoria, especially as the major portion of the Esqui- malt-based squadron was cruising in South American waters. In view of these circumstances, a special meeting was held by the Premier of British Columbia with the senior naval and militia officers, at which it was decided to organize a corps of volunteer artillery. Captain F. C. B. Robinson, R.N., then Senior Naval Officer at Esquimalt, promised to supply guns, which would be placed at selected points covering likely approaches to the harbours, and also agreed to loan the services of a naval artillery instructor to train the corps. Volunteers for the new corps quickly filled its ranks, and within a few days the artillery unit started holding regular drill parades.35 While these pro tern, arrangements were being made on the Pacific Coast, the arrival of the Russian steamer Cimbria at Ellsworth, Maine, caused considerable apprehension in Ottawa. According to the Commander of the Militia, Major-General E. Selby Smyth, the Cimbria, manned by 60 officers and 600 seamen, had on board a cargo of guns (33) DM. Papers, No. 04375, enclosure, Colonial Office, Secret Circular Dispatch, March 11, 1878. In Canada the warning was probably more applicable to Victoria and Esquimalt than to other Canadian ports. (34) Victoria Colonist, February 9, 1878. (35) Ibid., February 17 and 20, 1878. Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. and warlike stores which were to be used to arm fast steamers purchased in the United States which, in the event of war, would be used against British shipping in the Atlantic. While warning that the Atlantic ports must be put in a proper state of defence, Smyth did not forget the vulnerable Pacific Coast. In this respect he added:— I have so frequently brought to notice the totally unprotected state of the harbour of Victoria and the entrance to Esquimalt in Vancouver Island as well as the immensely important coal mines of Nanaimo that I need only once more very earnestly urge that guns now lying in Esquimalt Dockyard . . . may at length be handed over and mounted on Macaulay's Point to command the entrance to both harbours.36 Smyth's long battle to have the spare cannon at Esquimalt released for land defence had been won even as he wrote the above. A study of the defensive needs of Vancouver Island had been undertaken by a Colonial Defence Committee in Great Britain earlier in the year. Spurred . by the danger of war with Russia and appreciating the remoteness of the Pacific ports and the time lapse before its recommendations could be put into effect, the Committee made a special early report on Victoria and Esquimalt. In view of the fact that Esquimalt was " the only refitting station in British territory on the western coast of America," the Committee recommended that some eighteen medium and heavy guns should be sent out from England for the protection of the two ports. Since this would take considerable time, the Committee suggested that the Admiralty should loan such available armament at Esquimalt to the Dominion as could be spared. The guns were to be loaned only until they could be replaced by those sent from England or until required for use by Her Majesty's ships. The letter from the Colonial Secretary accompanying the Committee's report informed the Dominion Government that the Admiralty had agreed to the loan, and that " the whole armament in store at Victoria and Esquimalt, whether belonging to the War Office or the Admiralty, will be at the disposal of the Dominion Government for the defence of these points."37 (36) DM. Papers, No. 04441, confidential, Smyth to the Honourable A. G. Jones, Minister of Militia and Defence, May 3, 1878. For further details of the Cimbria affair see L. I. Strakhovsky, " Russia's Privateering Projects of 1878," The Journal of Modern History, VII (1935), pp. 22-40. (37) Public Archives of Canada, G 21, No. 165, Vol. 3, secret, Hicks-Beach to Dufferin, May 11, 1878, and the enclosed Colonial Office print, secret and confidential, I Report of a Colonial Defence Committee on the Temporary Defences of the Naval Station of Esquimalt and the Important Commercial Town and Harbour of Victoria," April, 1878. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia 15 The Admiralty's decision, cabled to Ottawa, permitted Major-General Smyth to take the first concrete steps toward setting up a system of land defences for Victoria and Esquimalt. On May 11 he ordered Lieutenant- Colonel D. T. Irwin, Inspector of Artillery, to proceed immediately to British Columbia to supervise the construction of the proposed coastal batteries. Irwin arrived in Victoria on May 27, and on the same evening attended the first regular enrolment of the volunteer artillery company. About thirty men enlisted that night, and within a few weeks the new corps was up to its establishment of fifty all ranks. Although it had been training for several months, the new corps, officially styled the Victoria Battery of Garrison Artillery, did not receive official authorization until July 19.38 Upon his arrival in Victoria, Irwin met with the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Squadron, Rear-Admiral A. F. R. de Horsey, who appointed a small group of Royal Navy and Royal Marine Artillery officers to co-operate with Irwin on the siting of the batteries. These officers went over the ground quite thoroughly in the following weeks, and although the naval and military views on defence sometimes differed, there was a much greater area of agreement. Before leaving Ottawa, Irwin had been given the plans for a proposed system of defence drawn up by Lieutenant-Colonel Blair three years previously. Blair had envisaged one battery at Victoria Point (at the base of Beacon Hill) commanding the approach to Victoria Harbour; one at Macaulay Point, which would cover the entrance to both harbours; and one on Fisgard Island, a small rocky isle at the mouth of Esquimalt Harbour. Of these three positions, the Macaulay Point battery was felt to be the most important.39 Work had started on this latter site even before Irwin arrived in Victoria. However, for some time work on the battery had been held up by the owners of the site, the Puget Sound Company, who demanded $2,000 for the 1% acres needed for the battery. In June, Irwin was ordered to take possession of the land and construction of the battery continued.40 While waiting for permission to continue work at Macaulay Point, Irwin received authority to begin construction of a battery at Victoria (38) M.G.O., My 19, 1878. (39) DM. Papers, No. 04470, Smyth to Irwin, May 11, 1878. (40) Ibid., Smyth to Scott, June 29, 1878. The Honourable R. W. Scott was Acting Minister of Militia and Defence at this time. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia 17 Point. For various reasons two 2-gun batteries were constructed at the sea base of Beacon Hill—one to command Ross Bay on the east, the other to guard Victoria Harbour on the west. Irwin had wanted to place one of these batteries on Holland Point, where the guns would have a greater arc of fire. However, it would have cost $400 to purchase the necessary land, whereas the positions at Finlayson and Victoria Point at the sea base of Beacon Hill were owned by the Government.41 The naval view of the proper location of the various batteries differed in several respects. Although he did not deny the potential usefulness of the batteries under construction for the defence of Victoria, Admiral de Horsey pointed out that owing to the shallowness of the harbour no enemy ship of any size could enter it. Further, he added:— In the absence of defensive works of any extent not now contemplated, that city is not defensible except by sufficient land forces to meet an enemy in the field. ... It will be seen how easily it can be taken in the rear by an enemy landing in Cadboro Bay, Cormorant Bay or indeed anywhere along a coastline of some 13 miles or more extent, and yet with a march of only 3 to 5 miles of that city.42 Moreover, the admiral was interested in having the batteries arranged so as to be able to bring their fire to cover the approaches to Esquimalt Harbour and the harbour itself. The final result was that the proposed battery on Fisgard Island was dropped, since the rocky nature of that island would make the construction of a battery there extremely expensive. Brother's Island, also located at the mouth of Esquimalt Harbour, was chosen as an alternative site. By the end of August, after three months of steady labour, the batteries were completed. The two strongest were those on Brother's Island and Macaulay Point. The former held one 8-inch 9-ton and two 64- pounder R.M.L. (rifled muzzle-loading) guns, while the latter had three 7-inch 6V£-ton R.M.L. guns. The two batteries at the base of Beacon Hill each had two 64-pounder R.M.L. guns. All the guns were mounted en barbette behind earthen breastworks, and each battery had a small expense magazine and an additional wooden building to hold various small stores needed to work the guns. The four largest guns were enclosed in weather-proof wooden sheds, triangular in section, to protect the guns, slides, and carriages from the elements.43 (41) Ibid., same to same, June 29 and July 20, 1878. (42) Public Archives of Canada, MG13, A 6, Vol. 4, 285a-287, de Horsey to the Secretary of the Admiralty, July 28, 1878. (43) Militia Report . . . 1878, Ottawa, 1879, pp. 306-312. For an appreciation of Lieutenant-Colonel Irwin's work in Victoria see J. F. Cummins, "Colonel Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. Even as the batteries were being built, it was obvious that the problem of manning the guns was not solved with the enrolment of fifty volunteer artillerymen. Irwin had warned his naval associates that with this number he could barely man five guns, and these would naturally be, as all the men were enrolled and drilled in Victoria, the batteries at Beacon Hill and Macaulay Point.44 The question of getting sufficient trained men to serve the batteries was to be raised time and again for the next decade. There had been little trouble in emolling men to volunteer for the new artillery unit when it was first formed, but the militia rifle companies had suffered as a consequence. Houghton reported at the time that artillery drill and practice was much more to the taste of the young men of Victoria, and this, together with the attractive blue tunics worn by the gunners, made it the popular corps with recruits. Even men who had put in their three years with one of the rifle companies had joined the artillery.45 Enthusiasm alone, however, could not make up for the lack of numbers, despite the fact that the unit was filled to its authorized strength. Moreover, the militia commander had grave doubts as to whether they could be properly trained to man the guns and maintain an effective fire against armed ships in motion. The naval commander had further objections. In a letter to the Admiralty he wrote:— . . . Esquimalt should be defended by Imperial resources and under naval control. The Dockyard is Imperial property and bears the same relative position to our Squadron in the Pacific as Halifax does to the Squadron in the North Atlantic, but with three-fold force as there is no Bermuda or Jamaica in these waters, no British possession within possible reach for supplies and repairs. It is lamentable to think that in the present defenceless condition of this harbour and viewing the trifling number of Volunteer Militia, any fairly organized enemy's expedition should suffice to destroy the dockyard and be master of the position until again ejected by hard fighting.46 For their separate reasons, therefore, both the militia and naval commanders recommended that a force of 100 marine artillerymen should D. T. Irwin, a Distinguished Artillery Officer," Canadian Defence Quarterly, V (1928), pp. 137-141. (44) Public Archives of Canada, MG13, A 6, Vol. 4, 288-296. Bedford to de Horsey, June 27, 1878. Captain F. D. G. Bedford, R.N., was chairman of the board of officers appointed by Admiral de Horsey to co-operate with Lieutenant- Colonel Irwin. (45) Militia Report . . . 1878, Ottawa, 1879, p. 214. (46) Public Archives of Canada, MG 13, A 6, Vol. 4, 286-287, de Horsey to the Secretary of the Admiralty, July 28, 1878. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia 19 be stationed at Esquimalt to take charge of the coastal batteries. Their recommendation to establish a permanent artillery corps came at a poor moment. In Europe the Congress of Berlin had restored at least a temporary calm in the Balkans as Briton and Russian faced each other across a conference table instead of a battle-field. As tension eased, less attention was paid to the need of a permanent artillery corps for Esquimalt. The only result was that permission was given the Victoria Battery of Garrison Artillery to increase its establishment to five officers and eighty-five other ranks.47 During the latter part of 1878 Great Britain tried to interest Canada in sharing the expense of erecting permanent works for the defence of Esquimalt and Victoria, and suggested an Imperial and a Canadian officer should jointly examine and report on the defensive needs of British Columbia. The Dominion Government stated that it was unable to take upon itself a share in the cost of erecting permanent defences, but agreed to co-operate in a military survey of the Pacific Coast. The British representative selected was Colonel J. W. Loveil, R.E., then stationed at Halifax, while the Senior Inspector of Artillery, Lieutenant- Colonel T. B. Strange, R.A., represented Canada. Colonel Loveil made a very thorough inspection of the defences of British Columbia in 1879, and in his report made recommendations which, if carried out, would have made Esquimalt a second Halifax. Of the temporary batteries he wrote: "As neither the excavations for the batteries nor the material of which they are constructed could be utilized in permanent works, and the sites do not seem adapted for such works, I would recommend that the batteries should be left as they are in charge of the Dominion Government. . . ."48 The sites he selected for locating permanent batteries were, with one exception, chosen to provide for the defence of Esquimalt rather than Victoria. At Sangster's Knoll and Cape Saxe, both close to Esquimalt, he would have a battery of six 10-inch guns, on Rodd Hill six 7-inch guns, and on Signal Hill, a feature commanding Esquimalt Harbour and the land approaches to the peninsula where the naval base was located, he suggested placing two 10-inch guns. All these formidable batteries commanded the sea approaches to Esquimalt and Esquimalt itself. For Victoria, Colonel Loveil proposed a battery of six 10-inch guns atop Beacon Hill. (47) M.G.O., August 1, 1878. (48) Public Archives of Canada, Colonel J. W. Loveil, " Report on the Defences of Esquimalt and Victoria, December, 1879," in " Correspondence of the Committee on the Defences of Canada, 1886." Vol. VI, p. 437. 20 Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. Nor was this all. To defend the Esquimalt base against an attack by land, Loveil suggested that twelve field guns—40- or 20-pounder Armstrong guns—should be accessible to the garrison. In addition, he thought one or two armour-plated gun-boats stationed permanently at the naval base would help to prevent an enemy landing, and, further, that the mouth of Esquimalt Harbour should be protected by a system of torpedo defence in time of war. Finally, the British representative recommended the establishment of a means of telegraphic communication from Victoria and Esquimalt to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and around the coast to the north of the Saanich Peninsula. To man these defences, Colonel Loveil believed there ought to be a minimum garrison of 1,138 Imperial regular soldiers in the Province. Of this number, 120 would be Royal Engineers, 20 of whom would be specially trained as submarine miners to take care of the torpedo (or mine) defence. He felt, too, that 900 Imperial infantrymen were needed to repulse an attack by land, and that at least 118 Royal Artillery men were needed to man the batteries. Both latter corps would be assisted in their duties by the militia. For example, 500 militia infantrymen would be raised locally to co-operate with the Imperial force. As for the artillery, Loveil thought each battery should be served by a force which would be one-third regular and the remainder militia artillerymen, with an additional reserve of militia totalling one-third of the entire force also drawn from the local populace. Thus, in addition to the 1,138 Imperial troops, Loveil would have Victoria provide an additional force of 854 militiamen! On the special request of the British Government, Colonel Loveil went on to visit Nanaimo, New Westminster, and Burrard Inlet (Vancouver) . For Nanaimo he proposed another permanent Imperial garrison to man from six to nine heavy guns which he felt were necessary for the defence of that important coal-mining town. As an alternative, he suggested placing eight 40-pounder Armstrong guns there, which, evidently, he would have manned by the militia. He thought a few field guns and water obstructions would be sufficient to protect New Westminster from an attack by gun-boats coming up the Fraser River; and for Burrard Inlet, he believed the harbour entrance could be well protected by a battery on the high ground on each side of the First Narrows, together with additional batteries on Points Grey and Atkinson to cover English Bay. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia 21 In summing up his report, Colonel Loveil stated bluntly that the Pacific Province could not be protected from an invasion from the south, as indeed it could not. He added, too, that the greatest need for the defence of British Columbia was the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway and an all-Canadian telegraphic route.49 The report by Lieutenant-Colonel Strange on the defensive needs of British Columbia was, in many respects, similar to that made by Colonel Loveil.50 Strange, too, believed it essential to establish a system of telegraphic communication around the southern tip of Vancouver Island to warn of an enemy's approach. Further, he saw the need of some sort of torpedo defence for Esquimalt Harbour. He felt, however, that four rather than twelve field guns in the hands of the militia artillerymen would suffice to meet and defeat an assault from the sea. Strange also advocated the construction of batteries on Signal Hill and Rodd Point, but he would make the Brother's Island battery permanent. To give Victoria further protection, he recommended the construction of a battery on Holland Point. A type of keep or blockhouse on Belmont and Beacon hills—both high features a few hundred yards behind the Rodd Point and the Victoria batteries respectively—would, Strange reported, secure the rear of these batteries from attack. To man these and the existing batteries, Strange thought it necessary to have 200 marine artillerymen at Esquimalt working under naval control, and an additional permanent garrison of 100 men at Victoria to man the batteries there. To increase the number of militia artillerymen and to better their instruction and training, Strange proposed that a four-battery brigade of garrison artillery should be formed. The existing battery in Victoria would be complemented by changing No. 1 Company of Rifles, Victoria, into a second battery. A strengthened Seymour Battery would make a third, and a new battery to be raised at Nanaimo would make a fourth. Of all the recommendations made by both officers, a variation of Strange's last proposal was the only one acted upon in the next four years. Although the pressing need of a permanent garrison of artillerymen continued to be brought before the Dominion Government in the following years, the more immediate problem of providing sufficient militia gunners to man the temporary batteries was foremost in Lieutenant- (49) Ibid., pp. 440-446. (50) Lieutenant-Colonel T. B. Strange, "Report on the Defences of British Columbia, November, 1879," in ibid., Vol. VI, pp. 416-425. Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. Colonel Houghton's mind. To furnish these men, he endorsed the Artillery Inspector's plan to convert the riflemen to gunners. At the annual muster in 1879, although each rifle company had an authorized strength of two officers and forty other ranks, both companies could parade no more than a total of thirty-one all ranks. The Victoria Rifles, Houghton wrote, were being " annihilated by absorption," and the only remedy was to convert them into artillery batteries of fifty or sixty men each, thus forming a three-battery Brigade of Garrison Artillery in Victoria.51 The attempt to strengthen the gun crews by increasing the authorized strength of the existing battery from fifty to eighty-five was found to be unsatisfactory. From the beginning the battery commander, Captain Dupont, felt that since his was the most popular corps, he could be selective. Thus, when he was authorized to raise an additional thirty-five men for his corps, he made little attempt to do so until he received sufficient uniforms to clothe the recruits properly. Also, until 1881 he insisted that the recruits must be of the regulation height for the artillery. His attempt to enrol only permanent residents of Victoria, and so avoid the expense and waste of training men who would soon move on to greener fields, was another factor that tended to keep the battery from reaching its full strength. Nevertheless, the battery continued to be one of the best units in British Columbia during its existence, and the enthusiasm of the men for their corps was remarkable. In 1880, for example:— They . . . established a school of arms in the battery and rented a building for this purpose, where lessons in broad sword, single stick, fencing and boxing are given one night in each week during the winter season. The necessary material for the school was imported from England, and the expense of the purchase, as well as rent, fuel, and pay of instructors, etc., was provided by members of the Battery by general subscription.52 The reorganization of the British Columbia artillery did not take place for several years owing mainly to a change in staff officers. In October, 1880, Lieutenant-Colonel Houghton was transferred to Military District No. 10, with headquarters in Winnipeg, where, ultimately, he later played an important part in the Riel Rebellion.53 For over two (51) Militia Report . . . 1879, Ottawa, 1880, pp. 214-218. (52) Militia Report . . . 1880, Ottawa, 1881, p. 67. (53) M.G.O., No. 20, October 15, 1880. Colonel J. W. Laurie was appointed to replace Houghton, but he was on an extended leave and retired from the militia in 1882 without taking over the post. Ibid., No. 2, February 3, 1882. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia 23 years British Columoia lacked a permanent Deputy Adjutant-General. Captain Dupont attempted to carry on the duties of Deputy Adjutant- General, but during the absence of a permanent officer in that post the British Columbia militia did little more than hold its own against indifference in Ottawa and apathy at home. More serious than the modest turnout for drill and annual training was the deterioration of the military equipment and facilities. Both the drill halls in Victoria and New Westminster were now inadequate and in serious need of repair. Indeed, the latter was only kept in a useable state by the support of the population of the town, who held their public meetings in it. The guns used by the Seymour Battery were in such bad shape that the battery commander feared for the gunners' safety if the guns were fired. Even the coastal batteries around Victoria suffered from neglect. As Captain Dupont wrote in 1881: " There are no fences around the batteries and cattle range over the parapets and tramp them down, mischievous persons take out and throw away the quoins and tampions and fill the guns with sticks and stones, hence everything movable is taken away and kept under key. . . ."54 A change for the better in British Columbian military affairs came with the appointment of Captain (Brevet Major) J. G. Holmes, "A" Battery, Royal School of Gunnery, to the position of Acting Deputy Adjutant-General of British Columbia in 1883.55 Holmes arrived in Victoria on May 1, and immediately set to work to bring a greater degree of military efficiency to his new command. He visited the militia companies, talked with their commanders, reviewed the recommendations made by Loveil and Strange, and made a report to Ottawa on his findings. Holmes's first major success came late in 1883, when he succeeded in having the authorities in Ottawa order the establishment of the British Columbia Provisional Regiment of Garrison Artillery.56 This regiment was to consist of four batteries: No. 1 Battery was formed from the old Seymour Battery; Nos. 2 and 3 were created by dividing and strengthening the existing garrison artillery in Victoria; and No. 4 was formed from No. 1 Company of Rifles, Victoria. The establishment of this militia artillery regiment came hard on the heels of another important event in British Columbia's military affairs, (54) Militia Report . . . 1881, Ottawa, 1882, pp. 62-63. (55) M.G.O., No. 7, April 13, 1883. (56) Ibid., No. 22, October 12, 1883. 24 Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. for two months previously the first Canadian Permanent Force militia unit to be stationed in the Province was authorized to be raised in Victoria. This new artillery unit, together with other infantry and cavalry units, was authorized by the Militia Act of 1883, an Act necessitated by the obvious need for additional Permanent Force militiamen to provide the long-neglected caretaker and instructional service given by Imperial regular troops up to their withdrawal in 1871. Prior to the passing of this Act, there existed only two Permanent Force artillery batteries in Canada, "A" and "B" Batteries, stationed at Quebec and Kingston. The formation of a third, or "C" Battery, which with the others would form the first Regiment of Canadian Artillery, was discussed as part of the Militia Act in the House of Commons in April. The establishment of the new battery was urged on the grounds that it would serve as a needed additional school of gunnery instruction rather than as a military necessity for British Columbia. " C " Battery, Regiment of Canadian Artillery, was authorized to be organized at Victoria on August 10,1883.57 Captain Holmes was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and was given the command of the battery while continuing to act as Deputy Adjutant-General. It would appear that, with the authorization of " C " Battery, those responsible for militia affairs in Ottawa believed a major gap in the defence of British Columbia had been filled. However, a new problem arose which was to hamper the actual formation of "C" Battery for another four years—the problem of recruiting sufficient men in Victoria to serve in the permanent militia. At the time recruiting for the new battery commenced, British Columbia was in the midst of a railway boom which provided good wages and steady employment for its relatively scanty population. Thus only a handful of men were interested in enlisting in the artillery unit at a time when much higher wages could be gained in private employment. As the months went by with no change in the situation, the Minister of Militia and Defence, the Honourable A. P. C. Caron, seized upon an idea presented to him by Captain J. R. East, R.N. This officer had accompanied the Marquis of Lome to British Columbia when the latter visited Victoria in 1882, and he had discussed the matter of Pacific defences with Lome when they met in London in the summer of 1884. In a letter to Caron, East suggested that the Canadian Government should enlist pensioners from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines to fill (57) Ibid., No. 18, August 10, 1883. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia 25 the ranks of "C" Battery. These men, all having artillery training, should be induced to settle in Vancouver Island and other special points in British Columbia, and thus, wrote East, the Dominion would have available on the Pacific Coast a body of trained gunners already accustomed to discipline. Moreover, such men, drawing a life pension of from £30 to £50 per annum, would not risk losing their pension by deserting or by moving to the United States.58 This novel scheme was adopted by Caron as one which would provide a permanent, well-trained force to man the guns at Esquimalt and Victoria and, at the same time, would make available a cadre of instructors which otherwise would be most difficult to find in Canada. The British Government was sounded out and favoured the proposal. The Admiralty, however, while waiving any objections to the pensioners retaining their pension while serving in the Canadian militia, refused to accede to Caron's request that, pending completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, British war vessels transport the men to British Columbia. The Admiralty was then asked if they would transport the men to Halifax in the spring of 1886, an alternative which the Admiralty favoured provided the Canadian Government would bear a share of the cost, estimated at £300. Canada in turn suggested that Britain should transport the pensioners to Halifax free of charge since the Canadian Government would bear the greater expense of taking them to Victoria via the Canadian Pacific Railway.59 While this haggling over the transportation question was going on, Caron visited England and in July, 1886, went to see Lord George Hamilton, the First Lord of the Admiralty, on the subject. Agreement as to the principle of recruiting British pensioners for British Columbia was again confirmed, but there was a mass of detail which remained to be cleared up after Caron's departure. It was not until July of the following year that recruiting posters for " C " Battery were put up in England, and then it was found that on the posters someone had made the mistake of asking for unmarried pensioners. Since most of the pensioners were married, it was scarcely remarkable that the recruiting (58) Public Archives of Canada, East to Caron, July 8, 1884, in " Correspondence of the Committee on the Defences of Canada, 1886," Vol. VI, pp. 851-855. At a later date, pensioners from the Royal Artillery were included in the proposal. (59) "Correspondence with Imperial Authorities Respecting the Enlistment of Pensioners from Royal Navy and Marines for Service ... in British Columbia, 1884-1885," in ibid., Vol. VI, pp. 849-917. This correspondence, covering the period from 1885 to 1887, is continued in DM. Papers, No. A3167. 26 Reginald H. Roy Jan.-Apr. campaign was a dismal failure. As a result, Caron informed the British authorities to take no further steps in the matter, and eventually he secured recruits for " C " Battery from the permanent artillery batteries stationed in Quebec and Kingston.60 In the four years between the authorization and actual organization of " C " Battery, Lieutenant-Colonel Holmes had been partially successful in his efforts to strengthen the efficiency of British Columbia's defences. During this period various additional recommendations were made by naval and military officials regarding the number and siting of the coastal batteries defending Victoria and Esquimalt. None of these was acted upon by the Canadian Government. Holmes, meanwhile, concerned himself mainly with the condition of the existing batteries, all of which were in need of repair. The carriages, slides, and platforms of several of the heavier guns were becoming unserviceable from decay. Moreover, he warned, the militia was dependent on the naval magazine at Esquimalt for ammunition to serve the batteries. " We have less than 100 rounds per gun for the 7-inch and 8-inch guns," he reported, " and hardly any for the 64-pounders. At least 400 rounds per gun should be always in reserve for these guns."61 To add to his difficulties, the Royal Navy was in the process of adopting a new pattern of gun, and thus even the small quantity of available ammunition was liable to depletion without replacement. For somewhat the same reason, Holmes recommended that the British Columbia militia should be issued with Martini-Henry rifles. The Royal Navy and Marines now used these new weapons, and consequently the largest amount of rifle ammunition on the Pacific Coast—that held in the naval magazine—was of the Martini-Henry pattern. The problem of defending Victoria from the rear led Holmes to suggest that his command be supplied with fouf field guns, a recommendation made several years previously by Colonels Loveil and Strange. One of these guns Holmes would issue to the Seymour Battery, while the others he would hold in Victoria.62 For several years Holmes was unable to secure either the new guns he wanted or repairs to the existing batteries. Nor was he able to accept the services of interested groups of men in Nanaimo, Burrard (60) Ibid., Caron to Tupper, September 23, 1887; M.G.O., No. 16, October 6, 1887. (61) Militia Report . . . 1885, Ottawa, 1886, p. 56. (62) Militia Report . . . 1883, Ottawa, 1884, pp. 51-54. The Seymour Battery was to remain without new armament for a number of years. Of this battery, Holmes wrote: "How the officers and men manage to maintain interest in their work, with their present obsolete weapons, mounted on rotten carriages, I can hardly imagine." Militia Report . . . 1885, Ottawa, 1886, p. 56. 1954 The Early Militia in British Columbia 27 Inlet, and several towns in the Interior of the Province who offered to raise artillery and mounted rifle companies to be incorporated in the militia. These offers, recommended by Holmes, had to be turned down owing to the parsimonious budget allowed the Militia Department.63 It was not until the spring of 1885, following yet another scare of a war between Russia and Great Britain—this time over Afghanistan— that Ottawa was willing to spend additional money on British Columbia defences. In Victoria the war scare created the usual alarm over the defenceless state of the Province. One gentleman, a retired naval officer, advocated the formation of one or two companies of mounted volunteers, armed with field-pieces or Gatling machine-guns, to protect the city from an attack in the rear.64 The Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Station, Rear-Admiral J. K. E. Baird, was moved to review the defences of Esquimalt and made several recommendations regarding necessary additional coastal and field guns.65 Various public meetings were held in Victoria which, together with newspaper editorials, expressed concern over the exposed position of the Provincial capital, and both the Victoria Municipal Council and the British Columbia Executive Council asked the Dominion Government to strengthen British Columbia defences. However, as Holmes pointedly reported, very few persons came forward to assist themselves by joining the men already enrolled in the Active Militia. The Federal Government took the minimum precautionary measures possible to combat any attack. Sufficient funds were advanced for the repair of the coastal batteries, but that was all. The ammunition problem remained a matter of grave concern to the artillery commander, who realized that, should an actual attack be made, all the available (63) Public Archives of Canada, Adjutant-General's Correspondence, Letters Received, Nos. 04710, A449, and A488; Militia Report . . . 1885, Ottawa, 1886, pp. 54-57. (64) DM. Papers, No. A1518, Baker to Caron, May 2, 1885; Victoria Weekly British Colonist, April 17, 1885. (65) Public Archives of Canada, Adjutant-General's Correspondence, Letters Received, No. 09577, Baird to Holmes, April 4, 1885. Among other measures, Baird recommended the construction of a telephone-line between the batteries. Holmes asked for and received permission to construct such a line, but was told by the Adjutant-General: "Of course this expenditure [$1,000] will not be made unless war is actually declared." Ibid., Letters Sent, Vol. 46, p. 683, Powell to Holmes, May 5, 1885. A good idea of the condition of the Canadian militia after ten years of such penurious restrictions may be gained from G. F. G. Stanley, Canada's Soldiers, 1604-1954, Toronto, 1954, pp. 263-264. 28 Reginald H. Roy ammunition would be expended in a matter of a few hours. No action was taken to implement the recommendations made by Holmes and other senior militia officers regarding additional arms' and equipment necessary for the proper defence of the Pacific Coast. Indeed, probably the only important result of this war scare for British Columbia was that it renewed Imperial interest in the defence of Esquimalt and focused attention on the necessity of a firm British-Canadian plan of defence for the naval base. The greatest and most significant addition to the real and potential strength of the defences of the Province came with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in November, 1885. The rapid transportation of militia and supplies from the Eastern Provinces to crush the Riel Rebellion had already demonstrated the strategic importance of the railway to the nation. When completed in the latter part of the year, it assumed an important place in Imperial strategic planning as well. For those charged directly with the task of defending British Columbia, the termination of the all-Canadian transportation and communication route brought additional responsibilities as well as additional strength. The story of how these new responsibilities were met is beyond the scope of this paper. It must suffice to note that then, as now, the militia continued to look to the sea-coast rather than the border for the approach of a potential enemy. Reginald H. Roy. Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. POST-CONTACT CULTURE CHANGE AMONG THE LUMMI INDIANS INTRODUCTION The Coast Salish peoples of the inland waterways of Southern British Columbia and Western Washington seem to have formed a cultural and social continuum that extended from the northern end of Georgia Strait to the southern end of Puget Sound or beyond. However, in that aspect of culture that Europeans habitually look to as a basis for classifying people, political organization, the continuum had no unity at all, and no discernible units. Political organization as Europeans understand it was lacking. Here were only autonomous households. These, singly or in small groups, formed recognizable villages, and groups of these villages formed recognizable units that we now call "tribes," but neither village nor tribe had any formally separate machinery of government. Kinship, community of interests resulting from common residence, community of habitual act, and speech were the bases of recognized units. But weaker ties of the same sorts united tribe with tribe. While members of a village might make war upon more distant villages, they obtained wives from and held potlatches for villages immediately around them. Thus a network of marriage relationships and potlatch obligations overlay the whole area. Culture differed gradually in content and in emphasis from one end of the area to the other, but the underlying pattern was the same. Within this area, linguistic and cultural divisions larger than the tribe were also distinguishable. Such a group of tribes is one that I have called the " Straits " division of the Coast Salish. It can be set off from its neighbours on the basis of two items—its speech and its most important subsistence activity. To this division belong the tribes Sooke, Songish, and Saanich of South-eastern Vancouver Island, and the Semi- ahmoo, Lummi, and Samish of the Washington mainland to the east. The territories of all but the Sooke met in the Gulf and San Juan Islands, so that they occupied a continuous area that lies right across the present International Boundary. These tribes spoke only slightly differing dialects of the same Coast Salish language; a more divergent dialect was British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVin, Nos. 1 and 2. 29 Jan.-Apr. 1954 The Lummi Indians 31 spoken by the Klallam on the Olympic Peninsula. This language,1 called lk'w9ni'no?? by its speakers, was unintelligible to speakers of neighbouring languages, that is to say, to persons who spoke only one of the neighbouring languages; bilingual and even trilingual persons were fairly common throughout the whole area. These tribes built their yearly round of subsistence activities around the yearly runs of salmon, the most important of which was the sockeye run to the Fraser. They took this fish in reef-nets set in salt-water channels off the southern shore of Vancouver Island and in the Gulf and San Juan Islands. This fishing technique contrasts with those used by neighbours both to the north and to the south, fishing in streams with smaller mobile nets or with weirs and traps. Associated with reef-netting were several unique ritual practices and a great stress on the private ownership of the fishing locations. In other respects the Straits tribes differed slightly from one another and perhaps only slightly more from their most immediate neighbours to the north and south. In their earliest contacts with Europeans the Straits tribes also shared in the same experiences. Their territories were all seen by the first explorers in the 1790's, though contact was nowhere very great. They were all able to trade with the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Langley after its establishment in 1827 and at Victoria after 1843. By 1850 they had all been converted to Roman Catholicism, and by 1875 all had felt the impact of settlement among them of English-speaking Canadians and Americans. Before the middle of the nineteenth century, what white control there was over them was largely in the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company. But since 1855 the Lummi, the Samish, and a part of the Semiahmoo have been under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, while the Sooke, Songish, Saanich, and the rest of the Semiahmoo have since come under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada. I shall now give a brief sketch of the native culture of the Straits peoples and of their earliest contacts with Europeans; then I shall devote the remainder of this paper to the post-white history of one of them, the Lummi of Washington.2 (1) Native terms are transcribed with the phonetic symbols currently used for linguistic work in this area. See Duff (1952), p. 132. For detailed bibliographic reference to source material, see the appendix accompanying this article. (2) The Straits peoples have received a rather uneven treatment in the literature. Two early papers appeared on the Songish by Boas (1890) and Hill-Tout (1907); Curtis (1913) touched upon all but gave more attention to the Lummi; 32 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. THE NATIVE CULTURE The aboriginal culture of the Coast Salish of this region was vastly different from that of the Europeans who met them. It lacked many features that have been basic in Old World civilization for several thousand years—agriculture, animal husbandry, metallurgy, a system of writing, hereditary tribal rulers, elected tribal councils, an organized priesthood, a belief in an omnipotent deity. It lacked many of the features that Europeans had already encountered in the cultures of natives elsewhere in the New World—the corn and squash and matri- lineal clans of the Iroquois, the tepees and feather bonnets and warrior chiefs of the Plains tribes. The words "chief" and "tribe" themselves cannot be understood in the same sense as they are used for Indians east of the Rockies. What are called " chiefs " were leaders with prestige but without clearly defined political power; what are called "tribes" are groups of people forming linguistic and cultural, but not political, units. Coast Salish technology was basically simple. Knowing how to work stone enabled men to produce cutting-blades; knowing how to twist or spin vegetable fibres enabled them to make a variety of cordage. With these they made woodworking tools, and with woodworking tools they made the great cedar-plank houses they lived in and the great cedar dugout canoes they travelled in. With cutting-blades and cordage they made the great variety of spears, arrows, harpoons, hooks, and nets that they used in taking fish and game. And the Northwest Coast was so rich Barnett covered the Saanich in his paper (1938) and element list (1939); but only one ethnography exists for any Straits group, that of Stern (1934) on the Lummi. In addition to these works, I have had access to a manuscript by Diamond Jenness on the Saanich. In 1946 I began what developed into a comparative ethnographic study of the Straits tribes, centring about economic life (Suttles, 1952, MS.). This work was supported by the Department of Anthropology of the University of Washington and by a Wenner-Gren Foundation Pre- doctoral Fellowship. The results will appear as a separate monograph. The present paper began simply as a by-product of the main study, which was on aboriginal culture. It began when I went systematically through the early Indian Agents' reports on the Lummi and their neighbours, and added to these notes data and impressions gathered from Lummi informants. To this I have added material obtained from further work in the field, this time supported by the Carnegie Grant to Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. I am indebted to Mr. H. E. Buswell of Marietta, Washington, for many helpful suggestions and data on local history. My Indian informants, to whom I am most greatly indebted, are too numerous to list here; moreover, they are not responsible for my interpretation of their culture and history. 1954 The Lummi Indians 33 in fish and game, and methods of fishing and hunting were so efficient, that this area not only supported as large a population as has lived anywhere without domesticated food plants and animals, but also gave them the leisure to develop art and ceremony. Coast Salish society was divided into politically and economically independent households. Each great cedar house held several families, as we would understand the term, united by bonds of kinship—usually their heads were brothers or male cousins. Men usually took wives from outside the household, so each of these households was united by bonds of marriage. These bonds required the exchange of food and wealth and some ceremonial co-operation. In addition to this division into local units, each unit was stratified. Society here was not at all equalitarian: there were slave and and there were free, and among the free there were high and low, noble and commoner. But there was no formal political organization. Each house was led by its highest-ranking member or members. A wealthy and strong- minded house-leader might impose his leadership upon other households, but through ties of kinship and marriage and the obligations that followed, not through institutions that we would call political. Early whites saw leaders and called them "chiefs," saw aggregates of people and called them " tribes," but neither word then meant the same thing here that it meant in Eastern North America. A few old Indians can still tell you there were no chiefs until they were appointed by the missionaries and the Indian Agents. The kernel of beliefs that may be called religion seems to have been something like this: In the beginning the world was quite different from what it is to-day. The First People lived then. They looked like us but were called Deer, Raven, Mink, Wolf, and such names, and they also could use the forms that we now associate with those names. There were also then many dangerous beings. Then a powerful being came through the world and transformed things. He transformed the dangerous beings into rocks and other natural features, and he transformed Deer, Raven, and the others into their present forms—to be food for or to help the Second People. The Second People appeared. They were the Indians. To them the Transformer taught the essential arts of life, to a few of the First Men of these Second People he taught secret words and songs giving supernatural power, and to all he taught that power might be obtained from nature—from animals, plants, and natural objects—by bathing, fasting, and removing from oneself all human taint. The Transformer then went away and came back no more. Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. The function and the status of the individual in Coast Salish culture seems to have depended upon what he owned. Material possessions— food and wealth in blankets, canoes and slaves—were important. But they were acquired only to share. It was the mark of a great man that he had plenty and that he was liberal with it. A man ought to have food to share with the members of his own household. He ought to have wealth to give to his wife's people and other guests at intertribal feasts. The height of liberality was displayed in the feast well known by its Chinook jargon name "potlatch." But the essential feature of this giving was that it validated the status of the giver or some member of his family and demonstrated the ownership of some non-material possession. Material wealth itself was an indication that a man had non-material possessions. It was the non-material things that brought him the wealth. How could he better demonstrate his ownership of non-material things than by liberality with their products, material wealth? By giving away material wealth he established good relations with others for his family and household, while at the same time he was able thereby to preserve and cherish those non-material possessions that caused him to be wealthy. Non-material possessions, then, were what Coast Salish stressed. These were of three sorts: First, there were rights that one inherited from his ancestors; second, there was instruction, private knowledge, that one obtained from his fellow man—possibly from an older member of the family but not necessarily, since it might be purchased or even stolen; and, third, there was supernatural power acquired directly by the individual by fasting and bathing and seeking it in nature. Inherited rights included names, rights to fishing locations, clam and bulb beds, and rights to certain songs, dances, and other performances. Inherited names were necessary to upper-class status and participation in ceremonial life. Fishing locations, clam-beds, etc., clearly were sources of wealth. Inherited songs, dances, and other performances were often regarded as being used for individual purification or for the well- being of the community, but, in fact, their main function seems to have been to display and to validate status. Knowledge acquired from others included knowledge of the uses of plants for herbal remedies, which might lead to professional status as a healer. It included knowledge of spells and incantations, some of which might be used in hunting or fishing, some in crafts, some in sports, and some to separate or reunite sweethearts or husbands and wives. Knowl- 1954 The Lummi Indians 35 edge of such spells and incantations led to specialization as a ritualist. Private knowledge also included something called "advice." Some families were said to have advice to give their children; others had none. This advice consisted of rules of conduct, some ordinary enough, but some depending on knowledge of forms of behaviour which served to set off upper-class people from lower-class people. It also included knowledge of one's own genealogy and great past and of one's rivals' family skeletons-in-the-closet. Advice was essential for upper-class status. Possessions acquired directly from the supernatural included guardian spirits and the songs and dances given by guardian spirits. Spirit power conferred a variety of abilities that led to professional status. That is to say, the warrior was believed to owe his ability to his possessing a warrior's guardian spirit. Similarly, an " Indian doctor" could find lost human souls and cure illness through his doctor's guardian spirit. A seeress could see into the distance through her guardian spirit. Expert hunters and craftsmen owed their abilities to special spirits. The acquisition, transfer, and function of these possessions is a constant theme in the life-cycle of the individual. The infant at birth consisted of nothing more than a body, which was subject to physical ills and contaminations, a " person," which was easily displaced or stolen and the loss of which meant another sort of illness, and the " life," the animating entity the loss of which meant death. This was the bare individual who ought to be adorned with the incorporeal possessions—the inherited rights, the knowledge, and the spiritual power—that were necessary to completeness. This individual was a new stone in a mosaic of family and community relationships; all his life he would be a part of this mosaic, his value to it depending upon the colour and brilliance of his possessions. At his birth the infant and his mother were aided by a midwife, probably a kinswoman, who owed jher professional status to her possession of private knowledge, either of herbs or of spells. After the birth, its contaminating effect on both the parents made it necessary for them to cease ordinary activities, which they resumed after being treated by a person having the knowledge of the proper spells and ritual acts needed to purify them. The infant received a cradle and its accoutrements from kinsmen of his grandparents' generation. In his cradle, if he were not a slave child, he would be bound about the forehead to produce the flattened head that was the mark of a free man. Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. As a child, the individual was cared for by older siblings, uncles and aunts, grandparents, and great uncles and aunts, as well as parents. Persons of the grandparents' generation were particularly important; publicly an old man might lecture the children on their behaviour and make them bathe on winter mornings to toughen them; privately among upper-class families an old person might instruct a child in its family history, in upper-class values and etiquette, and in methods of obtaining guardian-spirit visions. In this way the upper-class child got the " advice " necessary for upper-class status. For all children of both sexes the toughening led to deliberate guardian-spirit quests with fasting, bathing, and scrubbing the body with conifer boughs. The vision sought at this time might come then or might come unsought later in life. The child of an upper-class family also received his first inherited name, at a gathering that had other functions as well, through the expenditure of some wealth. At puberty, girls and boys as well were given special treatment. In the case of a girl the danger of contamination from the first menses was great, and so this was an occasion for purification by a ritualist possessing the proper formulas and for the display of the family's inherited rights. For the adolescent there was little freedom in the selection of a mate. A boy's family chose his future wife from a family with which they wanted an alliance, and carried out most of the negotiations. The wedding itself was an occasion for the exchange of wealth and privileges; the groom's family brought a bride-price of wealth in blankets and other goods; the bride's family nearly matched the wealth for a dowry and perhaps added to it an inherited name or other privilege to be used by the as yet unborn son of the couple. Later exchanges of food and wealth might be carried on for years. Some time between puberty and middle age most persons became " new dancers "; that is to say, they began to sing during the winter dancing season songs acquired from their guardian spirits. The spirit song seems to have been regarded as an entity separate from the spirit seen in the vision. In the winter, songs came to their owners and caused an illness that was relieved only by singing and dancing. During the winter dance season, individuals or households sponsored feasts at which all persons who had spirit songs became possessed, and one at a time sang and danced. Some songs came unsought to persons in middle age, especially after a tragedy; singing them gave their owners a feeling of well-being only. Others were the means whereby a person tapped the 1954 The Lummi Indians 37 power of the spirit who had bestowed the song. Some of these gave powers of divination, clairvoyance, and communication with the dead. On Vancouver Island one kind of song could be induced by older dancers into a young person who had not yet had a vision. The acquisition of a song, especially of this last sort, and the first singing of it, comprised an occasion comparable to any other life crisis, an occasion that might require purification by a ritualist, the display of an inherited privilege, and the expenditure of wealth. Only the shaman did not use his shaman- istic spirit song as a winter dance song; he used it only to bring into him the power to handle the souls and guardian spirits of others, enabling him to treat the sick. When a person became ill, the family made a preliminary diagnosis and, depending on it, called in a shaman, ritualist, or person with one of the more specialized spirit powers. At his death, persons of other professions were called—an undertaker to care for the body, a woodworker to make a coffin, a medium or a ritualist to burn the personal effects of the deceased and to purify his house and kinsmen; each of these persons owed his profession to the possession of special knowledge or spirit power. It was expected that the non-material possessions of the deceased would be inactive for a time but might be used by his descendants later. His name was taboo until given to a descendant. His more material privileges went, ideally though not always, to his eldest child. His guardian spirit and song might be obtained again by anyone, but close relatives were more likely to get them. His " person " or soul became a ghost and was for a time close to this world; it was believed possible for it to be born again into a descendant. Some time after a man's death, his family found the occasion to pay the persons who assisted them at the time of the death and possibly to display some memento of him. This display required the expenditure of wealth, and at the same time probably better established their claim to what he had left them. THE EARLY CONTACT PERIOD I. Early Maritime Contacts: 1790 and After The first recorded European contact with any Coast Salish was in 1790, when the Spanish Quimper expedition explored both shores of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the country of the Sooke, the Songish, and the Klallam. In 1791 the Eliza expedition explored further; the Spanish passed through Padilla Bay and Bellingham Bay into the southern end of Georgia Strait at least as far as Point Roberts and returned southward Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. evidently by way of Haro Strait, thus seeing the country of the other Straits peoples. In 1792 the Spanish continued their exploration while the British Vancouver expedition completed the task. Vancouver explored both Puget Sound and the rest of Georgia Strait and established the fact that the island named after him is indeed an island. Members of both Spanish and British expeditions left some record of observations of the native peoples; none of their observations on native culture reveal anything startlingly different from what might be expected from work with the traditions of living Indians. But both Spanish and British accounts indicate that the native peoples already had at least indirect contacts with European culture. In 1790 Quimper observed the Klallam at Dungeness using as ear ornaments pieces of copper, beads, and English, Portuguese, and Chinese coins; he believed they had obtained these in trade with the people at the entrance of the strait, that is, the Makah.3 The following year, 1791, at Point Roberts, the Spanish encountered many Indians fishing for salmon, probably the Saanich and Semiahmoo at their reef-net locations. Here they were told, or believed that they were being told, that larger vessels had been in Georgia Strait before, and from them the Indians had obtained engraved brass bracelets, which the Indians showed them. They also learned that these Indians traded with others who came on horseback through a flat country " on the north," probably meaning up the Fraser.4 Vancouver found the natives of Queen Charlotte Strait already armed with muskets.5 Whether anyone preceded these explorers or not, British and American trading-ships undoubtedly followed them. But during the period of maritime trade that brought the Spanish and British explorers into the Strait of Juan du Fuca, the interest of the traders was primarily in obtaining sea-otter furs, which they took to China. As the Spanish observed, the natives inside the strait had few sea-otter pelts, so it is probable that fewer trading-ships appeared inside the strait than visited the Nootka and others to the north. II. The Fur-traders: 1827 and After However, early in the nineteenth century, fur-traders began reaching toward the coast from the landward side; this time the interest was primarily in beaver. In 1808 Simon Fraser, of the North West Company, (3) Wagner (1933), p. 109. (4) Ibid., p. 187. (5) Newcombe (1923), p. 80. 1954 The Lummi Indians 39 descended the river named for him, looked briefly at the gulf, heard from the Musqueams that he should beware of the Cowichans, and returned. This expedition was followed by a period of little or no contact between the fur-traders and the people of the strait and the gulf. Meanwhile the Hudson's Bay Company, the North West Company, and the Astorians were estabhshing posts on the Columbia from its mouth to its headwaters, and on the Upper Fraser. Then the North West Company absorbed the Astorians and the Hudson's Bay Company absorbed the North West Company, acquiring a monopoly over the fur trade of the entire area. Finally in 1824 McMillan and Work came north from the Lower Columbia to reconnoitre the Lower Fraser; in 1827 McMillan returned to establish Fort Langley. The following year Simpson made what was only the second trip down the Fraser made by a European. Fort Langley, from its founding until 1843, was the centre of trade for tribes throughout Georgia Strait and up Puget Sound at least as far as Port Madison. The Fort Langley Journal, kept during the fort's first three years, gives an impressive picture of the goings and comings of numerous peoples on the Lower Fraser.6 After 1843 Fort Langley took second place to Victoria, for the Straits people at least, as the centre of trade. Victoria also became a trading centre for native tribes far up the coast. The aim of the fur-traders was not to revolutionize native culture. The fur-traders wanted only a re-emphasis; primarily they wanted the natives to spend more time hunting fur-bearing animals and less time quarrelling among themselves. They also needed the natives to some extent as a source of labour and of food—fish, meat, and potatoes. The additions that they made to native culture were mainly in material culture rather than in social organization or religion. III. Early Missionary Contacts: 1841-1857 It is quite likely that the Coast Salish learned something of Christianity from the fur-traders or even from other Indians before they had direct contact with missionaries. The tradition that there was something like the Prophet Dance of the Plateau suggests this. However, the first recorded contact with missionaries was in the late 1830's. Occasional contact continued through the 1840's, but steady contact between missionaries and natives probably did not exist until the 1850's. In 1837 two Roman Catholic priests, Blanchet and Demers, arrived on the Lower Columbia and established a mission on the Cowlitz River (6) The originals of these Journals are in the Archives of B.C. See also Duff (1952), pp. 25-26. 40 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. in Coast Salish territory. In 1839 they were visited by several Puget Sound Indians; between that year and 1843, Demers, Blanchet, and Bolduc preached to Indians at Nisqually, Whidbey Island, Fort Langley, and Victoria. Probably the first priest that Straits people saw was Demers in 1841. The priest baptized children, taught prayers and hymns in Chinook jargon, and distributed and explained the j Catholic Ladder," a piece of wood with groups of notches and symbols carved on it to represent the passage of time and the principal events since Creation. The first response of the natives was one of apparent enthusiasm; native leaders gathered their followers for worship and enforced obedience of some of the rules. But this initial enthusiasm waned and plans to establish a mission on Whidbey Island did not materialize. There was apparently little contact between the Straits people and the missionaries again until the early 1850's. In 1847 Demers was appointed Bishop of Vancouver Island, but he was not able to reach Victoria until 1851, when he discovered to his dismay that an inexperienced priest had just preceded him and had baptized and married many Indians without having given them proper instruction in Catholic doctrine, thus making future work more difficult. This priest, whose name is not recorded, may have been the first to visit the Saanich and Cow- ichan, although many from these tribes may have seen Demers earlier on the Fraser. Regular contact with priests began only after the arrival of the Oblate Fathers, who established their headquarters at Esquimalt in 1857. The most influential of these men on the American side of the boundary was Father Casimir Chirouse, who established a mission at Tulalip on the Snohomish Reservation in the same year, 1857. During the next few years, chapels were built for most of the tribes in the Straits area. Chirouse was especially active among the Northern Puget Sound and Straits tribes.7 Protestant influence was later and less successful. In time a few tribes—the Klallam, the Twana, and the Nooksack, to name three—were converted to Protestant denominations, and Protestant minorities in time came to exist elsewhere; but this was part of a later phase of history. The missionaries aimed at a much more profound change in native culture than did the fur-traders. While the fur-traders seem to have sought to influence the native culture only in a few of its aspects to suit their own needs, the missionaries obviously sought to revolutionize native culture. Whether they were conscious of it or not, they were making a (7) For early missionary work in this area, see Morice (1910), Vol. II, part 6. 1954 The Lummi Indians 41 direct attack on native social organization as well as on native religion when they struck at the crisis rites, the guardian spirits, and shamanism. TV. White Settlers Arrive and Lands Are Ceded: 1849-1859 Probably the first independent white man to settle in Straits territory was W. C. Grant, who purchased land from the Hudson's Bay Company on Sooke Harbour in 1849. In the next decade, settlers established themselves near enough to most Straits villages for rather constant contact. In 1850 and 1852 Governor James Douglas negotiated a series of treaties with the Straits tribes of Vancouver Island by which they ceded all of their lands except their accustomed village, camp, and fishing sites; most of these sites later became reserves. In 1855 Governor Stevens of the Territory of Washington persuaded the tribes of Western Washington to sign treaties ceding their lands except for certain areas to remain as reservations, each for several tribes; in addition, fishing and hunting rights elsewhere were guaranteed. Of the Straits tribes in Washington, Klallam and Lummi representatives clearly signed; Samish and Semiahmoo perhaps did not, but later interpretation made them subordinate to the Lummi and obliged to settle on the Lummi Reservation. The Klallam were supposed to go with the Twana on the reservation at Skokomish. In actuality those tribes who were assigned to reservations that were in the territories of other tribes generally did not move. The result was that those without reservations were usually left without legal protection from white settlers, who often appropriated their village-sites and drove them off. After the discovery of gold on the Fraser in 1858, white settlers were perhaps a minor nuisance to some of the Straits tribes compared to the stream of transients bound for the goldfields. In 1859 ten or twelve thousand came to Victoria and crossed through the Gulf Islands or San Juans to the river. Others landed on the Mainland at what became Bel- lingham and Blaine, to go overland or up the Nooksack River from there. Probably of the Straits tribes the Songish, the Lummi, and the Semiahmoo felt most the impact of the gold-rush. But the heavier settlement left by the gold-rush marks the beginning of constant white contact for all. EFFECTS OF EARLY CONTACT I. Population The presence of Europeans on the North American Continent had its effect on Coast Salish population even before the first recorded con- Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. tact. Mooney calculates that North-western North America experienced its first smallpox epidemic about 1782, nearly a decade before the Spanish sailed into the strait, and that losses everywhere were heavy. Native traditions corroborate the pre-contact date and indicate that several villages were completely wiped out, while all suffered losses. Later epidemics came in 1852 and 1862, but probably with less severity. Another factor contributing to a decline in population was the increase in raids from northern Indians, especially the southernmost Kwakiutl group, known locally as Yukulta. The Yukulta evidently received firearms a few years earlier than the Salish; they already had muskets in 1792. This advantage, perhaps added to a culture that already valued aggression, enabled the Yukulta to expand from their original homes on Johnstone Strait down Discovery Passage to Campbell River and Cape Mudge, where they replaced the Salish-speaking Comox. From here they raided the Coast Salish, going as far south as Puget Sound, and even ascending the Fraser River a short way. They killed, looted, and carried off women and children as slaves. These activities persisted until the 1850's or even later. The Straits tribes themselves seem to have been expanding their territory just before discovery; the Lummi and possibly the Samish had only recently reached the Mainland from the San Juan Islands. Then, when the smallpox wiped out a small tribe on Boundary Bay, the Semiahmoo took over their territory. After the introduction of firearms there seems to have been some fighting at the western end of Straits territory; according to one account, the Sooke employed the Makah to wipe out another small tribe on Sooke Bay so that they could expand westward. But the combination of epidemics and raids from the north produced some empty pockets in the centre of Straits territory. The Gulf and San Juan Islands were particularly vulnerable to attack from the north, and probably for this reason the Saanich villages at Active Pass and elsewhere in the Gulf Islands moved to the Saanich Peninsula. In the San Juan Islands two or three Lummi villages and one or two Samish villages were nearly wiped out by smallpox, and the survivors moved to Mainland villages. These tribes still used the islands seasonally, but no longer built their winter villages there; that is, they no longer made them their bases of operation. Epidemics left another gap on the south shore of Vancouver Island, between the Sooke and the Songish. A part of this was filled, just after Victoria was established, by Klallam from across the strait. 1954 The Lummi Indians 43 For 1780 Mooney estimates the population of the three Vancouver Island tribes—Sooke, Songish, and Saanich—as totalling 2,700; on the Mainland he puts the Semiahmoo at 300 and the Lummi and Samish together with the Nooksack at 1,000.8 Kroeber9 points out that Mooney's figures seem generally a little high for the Coast Salish of British Columbia and a little low for those of Washington. As a matter of fact, Gibbs10 gives the following figures for 1854: Semiahmoo, 250; Lummi, 450; Samish, 150; Nooksack, 450; totalling 1,300, the same as Mooney's total for these four tribes for 1780. It is my feeling that Mooney's 1780 figure for the Vancouver Island tribes comes closer to being correct, but that the figure for the Mainland Straits tribes (that is, the Semiahmoo, Lummi, and Samish, excluding the Nooksack) should nearly equal it. This would mean a pre-smallpox total of nearly 5,000 for all six tribes, which is more in line with Mooney's estimate of 5,500 for the Island Halkomelem and 2,000 for the Klallam. II. Material Culture The changes in Straits Salish material culture that occurred during the early contact period were mainly additions and substitutions of relatively isolated elements that did not disturb underlying complexes. The Straits tribes evidently obtained metals from other natives before they had direct contact with whites. Iron or steel was substituted rather rapidly for stone as the material for blades of woodworking tools— knives and adzes. To the native inventory, traders added steel axes. The increased efficiency of the new tools may have stimulated a little more carving than had existed previously, but there was no development of this art comparable to what seems to have occurred on the coast to the north. This in part reflects a difference in the interests of the two cultures. But the new tools did help to satisfy an increased need for fortifications and for house posts and planks to replace those destroyed by enemy raids. Metals also replaced stone for the points of game and war arrows and replaced shell or bone for the points and blades of harpoons. Bone continued to be used for other arrow-points, and antler for harpoon spurs. Traders introduced large iron cooking-pots; these replaced to some extent the boxes and baskets used for stone-boiling and, (8) Mooney (1928), p. 15, has figures for Washington and for British Columbia on page 26. (9) Kroeber (1939), p. 133. (10) Gibbs (1855), p. 435. 44 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. since cooks were now able to boil directly over a fire, probably made stews more popular. Potatoes were probably introduced by the Fort Langley traders soon after 1827; they were also spread from tribe to tribe, some receiving them before they had direct contact with the whites. Potatoes were generally planted and dug up by women with digging sticks; their cultivation and use fitted rather easily into native gathering practices.11 Firearms were also introduced by traders probably early in the last century. The gun came to replace the bow and arrow for single hunters hunting larger land game, but the deer drive with the net may have been used longer. Sea hunters came to use guns for killing sea-mammals and harpoons for retrieving them. The native methods of taking waterfowl, with nets and spears, were used until much later, probably being the most productive while waterfowl were still plentiful. The gun also replaced the bow and arrow as the weapon of defence, but the club may have continued as the weapon of offence in the surprise night attack. In pre-contact times, trapping was probably not a very important activity; a deadfall was used for bears and the smaller fur-bearing animals; beaver were possibly harpooned; the furs were perhaps of not much more importance than the flesh. The market for furs that the traders provided undoubtedly increased trapping, and perhaps the native deadfall was used more than previously, even after the introduction of the steel trap. Some practices associated with hunting and with skin-dressing may have been introduced by Hudson's Bay Company employees—the use of the snowshoe, for example, and the use of smoke in tanning. Skin garments became more widely used; in this, local Indians were probably copying the dress of Hudson's Bay Company employees. Blankets made on the roller loom from mountain-goat wool, dog- wool, and other native materials were probably important items of wealth in pre-contact times. After the arrival of the Hudson's Bay Company, these were supplemented by the blankets that the company paid out for furs, local foodstuffs, and labour. The Hudson's Bay blankets became the most important item of wealth, not the most valuable, but almost a unit of value by which the more valuable items, such as canoes, guns, fine skin garments, slaves, and native blankets, could be measured. The increase in raids from the north, its effect on population, and the increased need for defence have already been mentioned. By the (11) See Suttles (1951) for discussion of the problem. 1954 The Lummi Indians 45 1840's nearly all of the larger villages on the strait and on Northern Puget Sound had stockades for refuge in time of danger. Informants' descriptions include such items as trenches with sharpened stakes, poisoned stakes, tunnels to loopholes in hillsides, and pitch flares that could be hoisted to the tops of poles. Accounts of Samish, Lummi, Semiahmoo, and Saanich forts indicate that they were probably built in the 1820's or '30's. They may have been inspired by the forts built by the whites, but this cannot be said with certainty. I believe that smoking was introduced by the whites. It is clear that the natives smoked kinnikinic, madrona (arbutus) leaves, and yew leaves, and in stone pipes. But anecdotes describe how surprised the natives were when they first saw whites with smoke issuing from their mouths. One informant who related such an incident suggested that the native leaves were first used to adulterate the traders' tobacco because it was too strong to take straight. Alcohol was, of course, introduced by whites, but I do not believe any method of manufacture was ever introduced or has ever been used; the Straits people have always obtained alcohol from the whites. One informant's account, which may refer to this period, tells how a trading- ship gave the Lummi a keg of rum; the Lummi poured it over a great feast-dish filled with salmonberri.es and ate the rum-soaked berries with their spoons. But probably alcohol was not obtained very often before the 1850's. m. Social Organization Native social organization was undoubtedly disturbed by three factors—the decline in population, the increase in total wealth, and the broadening of contacts among native groups.12 The decline in population, which evidently began with the devastating epidemics of 1782 or thereabouts, probably had the effect of shifting persons into positions they would not otherwise have occupied. One of the requisites for upper-class status was family continuity maintained by tradition; lower-class people, in the words of one informant, were people who had " lost their history." Very likely children orphaned by epidemics or raids from the north " lost their histories" and were added to the ranks of the lower class. Some of the separate villages in serf-like status may have been created by the loss of all adult upper-class persons. In other villages, persons remotely related to wiped-out upper-class (12) The first two factors in the historic social organization of the Northwest Coast as a whole have been discussed by Drucker (1939) and others. 46 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. families may have assumed their privileges with an imperfect knowledge of the associated traditions. In a society where private knowledge is valued as highly as it was and is in Straits Salish society, a sudden loss of a part of its personnel could mean actual cultural loss. The new wealth, trade blankets, guns, and other goods, and the new methods of gaining wealth, through the sale of furs and labour, were probably the basis of an increase in social mobility. Hill-Tout writes of a class of nouveaux riches among the Songish; my data would not permit me to speak of such a j class," but I am certain that individuals raised their status by gaining wealth from the whites. For example, the granddaughter of Kwetiseleq, the Semiahmoo "chief" of the 1850's, said that her grandfather had become rich by selling furs at Fort Langley and had bought slaves with what he had earned.13 A broadening of contacts among native tribes began during the early contact period and has persisted to the present. It appears that in pre-contact times there was occasional fighting among rather close neighbours. This was discouraged by the traders and later by the missionaries and government agents. The Salish tribes themselves may have felt the need in time to maintain peace while dealing with the whites, but also they felt a growing need for co-operation among themselves against the Kwakiutl. According to accounts, some of them published,14 the Salish finally retaliated by sending against the Kwakiutl one or two expeditions that involved the co-operation of parties from several tribes. (Evidently tribes from the Nanaimo to the Suquamish and the Skagit participated; the degree of co-operation and basis of organization, in what appears to be a rather loosely organized society, presents an interesting problem which has yet to be solved.) This need for co-operation, together with the increased amount of wealth available, may have speeded up the process of substituting the potlatch for war, a process that has been described for the Kwakiutl,15 and which seems to have occurred among the Salish as well. Another factor, but probably of minor importance, in the increase in contacts among natives, was Chinook jargon. Chinook jargon, a sort of pidgin Chinook, evidently grew up on the Lower Columbia in the early maritime trading period and was spread northward by the Hud- (13) Collins (1950) has discussed the development of greater class differences among the Upper Skagit which resulted from the increase in wealth at this time. (14) Boas (1889); Curtis (1913), p. 32. (15) Codere (1950). 1954 The Lummi Indians 47 son's Bay Company, missionaries, and settlers. It may not have reached Puget Sound until around 1850; Swinomish informants have stated that the Indian who interpreted at the Treaty of Point Elliot in 1855 was the first man to learn Chinook in this area. It was a useful though limited means of communication between Indians and whites, and probably also among Indians who could not communicate otherwise.16 Another practice by which the natives both widened their social relationships and gained economically was that of supplying the whites with women. Many native women were taken as wives in permanent marriages, many were taken as temporary wives, and many merely used for the moment. In the native culture a marriage was regarded as a bond between families and was generally arranged by the families rather than by the couple. Usually the family of the prospective groom began negotiations with a gift of food. If this was accepted, the groom himself might appear, to wait at the prospective bride's door until he was accepted; the bride's family signalled acceptance by offering food to him. Then his family brought an agreed amount of wealth to give as a bride- price and received with the bride a dowry of nearly the same value. Further exchanges of property occurred later. If both families regarded the bond between them politically and economically useful, they sought to make the marriage a stable one. To a Salish leader a white trader offering blankets for his daughter probably appeared as a good prospective son-in-law and potential ally. To the trader, unaware of the obligations a native marriage involved, it may have seemed more like buying a chattel. On the other hand, it was also possible for the trader to buy a woman as a chattel if he chose to buy a female slave. Prostitution is not universal and was probably lacking in aboriginal Straits culture. Where it exists, it is culturally defined; from the viewpoint of European culture it is difficult to draw the line between prostitution and marriage by purchase. From the Salish view-point even a marriage of short duration was still a marriage if some formal exchange of property had taken place and the intent to establish a bond had been announced. If it did not last, it was merely a poor marriage. In time some Salish slave-owners learned to prostitute their slaves to the whites, and some free women undoubtedly entered the profession themselves, (16) Howay (1942) clearly disposes of the notion that the Chinook jargon was widespread in pre-contact times. However, Jacobs (1932) describes a form of the jargon spoken on the Lower Columbia that is so much more complex than that used elsewhere that it can only be a native development; it may be that in a small area it was pre-white. 48 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. but I am inclined to believe the Salish when they deny that men consciously prostituted their daughters as the northern people did so systematically for many years. The northern peoples' willingness to prostitute kinswomen may in part be due to a kinship system that readily substitutes one member of a kin group for another, so that in the native society a man's brother and nephews might legitimately have sexual relations with his wife; adultery was defined as relations with someone of another group.17 Among the Salish the principle of equivalence of kinsmen was not carried to this extent, and adultery appears to have been defined about the same as among Europeans. IV. Religion Both the pre-missionary cult and Christianity differed from the native religion in the kind of participation they offered the members of a native community. Native religion was centred around the individual. Basic to it was the notion that the individual human being can exert an influence on his environment through his possessing the ability to manipulate several sorts of supernatural entities or the knowledge of magical spells and other formula? which tapped the power inherent in natural phenomena. The expert in handling supernatural entities, spirits, souls, etc., was the shaman; the expert with spells and other ritual acts was the ritualist. Basic also was the notion that at certain times during his fife the individual is particularly susceptible to the influence of the supernatural, at which time he must receive care by one of these experts in dealing with it. Most, perhaps all, activities that might be called religious rites or ceremonies had individuals as foci. They were either purely demonstrations of an individual's control of supernatural entities, as in spirit dancing, or were the occasions for treatment of an individual in danger by another individual with supernatural power, as when a shaman treated a sick person or a ritualist treated a person at a life crisis. Dozens of people might participate in such a ceremony but as participant-spectators, helping the chief participant, he hoped, through their own power or simply their good will; but the mere presence of a man in such an audience did not mean that he was helping, for he might even be working against the chief participant with his own power. Several hundred people might be present at a session of spirit dancing and dozens of persons might dance, but individually, one at a time, with the others only helping to provide the proper musical and emotional back- (17) See Murdock (1934) for example. 1954 The Lummi Indians 49 ground. Indirectly each person's demonstration of power or safe passage through a crisis helped the group, since it eliminated potential dangers to others. But the only occasions that I know of when a ritual act was directly for the benefit of a group were the first-salmon rite and the purification of a house and all its members after a death. But the purification may have had the deceased individual still in an important role, and the first-salmon rite, elsewhere often a tribal affair, among the Straits people was closely associated with the individually owned reef- net locations where the first salmon were taken. Both the purification of mourners and the first-salmon rite were conducted by persons who did so because they possessed the knowledge of the ritual words and acts, that is, ritualists rather than shamans. Pre-missionary Christian influences brought a rite with another sort of group participation. Information about this rite is poor (I shall give the evidence elsewhere), but accounts given by informants from several tribes suggest that it rather closely paralleled the " Christianized Prophet Dance " of the Plateau identified by Spier,18 and that it flourished at about the same time, probably during the 1830's. Its important features were community participation in prayer to a Supreme Being, identified by some with the Transformer of aboriginal mythology, and in a circular dance during which persons could choose marriage partners and be immediately married. The rite was performed under the direction of a leader, who may also have prophesied changes in the world. According to one account, the rite came from Eastern Washington via the Skagit River, was spread to a number of tribes from Southern Puget Sound to Georgia Strait, and then was rejected when it was demonstrated that lower-class men could obtain upper-class wives through it. This account may be correct; the freedom of choice given by the rite certainly conflicted with the family-arranged marriages preferred by the upper class. However, it is likely that other new elements introduced by the rite had functions that the Coast Salish later found in Christianity. The rite may also have failed because Christianity came too closely behind it. As Spier indicates, the Prophet Dance of the Plateau may have had an aboriginal basis that was later modified by knowledge of Christianity; the typical Plateau prophet was a man who had come back from the dead to prophesy a return of the Transformer and to urge his followers to institute moral reforms or new practices; after a knowledge of Christianity reached the Plateau, the prophets incorporated Christian practices (18) Spier (1935). 50 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. into their teachings. One of the non-Christian elements of the Plateau Prophet Dance was the circle marriage dance. The importance of the circle marriage dance in the Coast Salish complex seems sufficient to identify it as the Plateau Prophet Dance, whether it came to the Coast by way of the Skagit, the Fraser, or even the Columbia. The circle marriage dance was clearly an element that was not native to the Coast and that could not be integrated into Coast culture. The character of the prophet, identified by Spier as aboriginal in the Plateau, may also have been aboriginal on the Coast, but not enough on the leadership of the Coast Prophet Dance is available. The only leader identified among the Straits tribes was the one at Lummi, a man who was later known as David Crockett and who became a leader in the Catholic Church. Several stories exist of men who died and returned from the dead; some of these stories may have been associated with the leaders of the Prophet Dance, but at least one is of a much more recent time. The founder of the later Shaker Church was, of course, a successor of the same line. Probably the most significant features of the Prophet Dance were the community participation and the concept of a Supreme Being. As I have indicated, it was a rare occasion in pre-contact times when all persons present dealt with the supernatural jointly for the common good. On those few occasions when this might have occurred, the chief participant was probably a ritualist using his knowledge to tap the power inherent in natural phenomena. In the Prophet Dance the leader was a person who, like a spirit dancer or shaman, claimed to have established a relationship with a specific supernatural being. But unlike the ordinary possessor of a guardian spirit, he claimed for this being enormous power, perhaps identifying him with a Creator or Transformer of myth age, and he claimed that others could approach him, too, for the common good. I suspect that this concept was startlingly new. Though the Prophet Dance was probably short-lived, it must have prepared the way for the missionaries who followed. Collins19 and Duff20 describe prophets among the Upper Skagit and the Upper Stalo. Duff regards the Upper Stalo prophets as probably Christian-influenced; Collins says the Upper Skagit prophets had actually had first-hand contact with missionaries elsewhere and had returned to work out the amalgam. Neither mentions the circle marriage dance (19) Collins (1950), p. 340. (20) Duff (1952), pp. 119-120. 1954 The Lummi Indians 51 as a part of the complex, so these occurrences may not have been of the same source or contemporary with the Straits complex, though they are certainly of the same genus. Collins also points out how the leaders of these cults were able to use them to institute a stronger sort of authority than had hitherto existed in native society. I believe that this was equally true of the leader at Lummi. Like others elsewhere, this man evidently derived authority first from his leadership in a cult and later from his position as a strong convert to the new church; his activities extended over two periods in native history. THE LUMMI Up to 1852 According to their traditions, the Lummi are the descendants of people who once lived only in the San Juan Islands. One tradition tells that the First Man dropped from the sky at the north-eastern end of San Juan Island and became the ancestor of the Klalakamish people.21 Another tells that when the Klalakamish had become nearly extinct, the last man of them gave his house to a man that owned a house that stood on Flat Point on Lopez Island; the latter, now having two houses but not enough space to line them up, put the new one at a right angle to the old one to make an L-shaped structure. This L-shaped house was called xwlabm3s (facing each other), and from this name comes the name x'la'mi (Lummi). This house was later moved to Gooseberry Point on what is now the reservation.22 A third tradition tells how a man of the Swallah (swe^fex) people on East Sound on Orcas Island, to avenge the murder of his brother, sought and obtained a spirit power that enabled him to kill all but a few of the Skalakhan (sk'gle'xgn) tribe, who lived at the mouths of the Nooksack River. The surviving Skalakhan gave to the hero and his descendants the river to use for a salmon-weir, whereupon the people of the islands established themselves on what is now the Lummi Reservation. This last is by far the best known of these traditions. It has been published at least three times,23 and I have obtained several versions. Curtis, on the basis of genealogies, calculates that the event took place about 1725. I am less certain of the date, but (21) Stern (1934), p. 107, and my own informants' versions. (22) Stern (1934), pp. 107-108, gives this tradition and the first as one; some of my informants knew the first, but none gave the second. (23) Curtis (1913), pp. 25-30; Roth (1926), pp. 964-965; Stern (1934), pp. 115-120. Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. I believe that the fact that the Lummi have come from the islands to the Mainland is supported by other bits of evidence. Place-names on the Mainland shore, for example, frequently have forms that are of some other Salish language, while in the islands they are clearly of the Straits language. Whatever the truth of the traditions, other data given by informants on former land use, knowledge of its resources, and transmission of inherited rights, all indicate that before white settlement Lummi territory consisted of about half the San Juan Islands and a few miles of Mainland shore to the east. Informants from other tribes define it about as Lummi informants do. In the islands, Lummi territory included all of Orcas and the smaller islands around it, Shaw, the north-western half of Lopez, and the north-eastern half of San Juan Island. On the Mainland it included the shore from Point Whitehorn to Chuckanut Bay and extended inland as far as Lake Terrell and the site of the present Fern- dale. The immediate salt-water neighbours of the Lummi were other Straits-speaking tribes—the Semiahmoo to the north, the Samish to the south, and the Saanich and Songish to the west. Their inland neighbours were the linguistically isolated Nooksack in the Nooksack Valley above Ferndale and the Puget Sound-speaking Nuwhaha in the Samish Valley. On Lake Whatcom were the " Lake People," a mixed Nooksack- Nuwhaha group. The Lummi seem to have shared the shore from Whatcom Creek to Chuckanut Bay with the Nuwhaha, and possibly with the Nooksack as well. Straits, Nooksack, and Puget Sound are mutually unintelligible Salish languages. Originally the principal villages in the islands were on the northwestern end of San Juan Island, on West Sound and East Sound on Orcas Island, and on the north-western end of Lopez Island. The principal villages established on the Mainland were at Gooseberry Point and at The Portage of what is now the reservation. The people of San Juan were called Klalakamish (fole'qamgs); those of West Sound, Ala- leng (e'le^bn) people; those of East Sound, Swallah (swe'?bx) people. The last two names are evidently primarily place-names; the last is the name for Mount Constitution. These names applied perhaps to clusters of villages. I have recorded no similar name for the people of Northwestern Lopez; it may be that the term " Lummi " was originally used for these people only, co-ordinate with Klalakamish, etc. And then perhaps when this group moved to the Mainland the name went with them, and as other groups joined them and the islands became depopu- 1954 The Lummi Indians 53 lated, the meaning was enlarged to include all. On the other hand, the recent use of the term " Lummi" to include the people of the whole territory just outlined may still be an early usage. By the middle of the last century the islands were becoming depopulated; that is, winter villages were disappearing, though they were still being used seasonally by people from the Mainland. Some of the island villages had been wiped out, or nearly so, by the first smallpox epidemic in the 1780's. Raids from the north undoubtedly also struck the island villages, possibly more often than those on the Mainland. By 1850 the most important villages were those at Gooseberry Point and The Portage on the Mainland. The important leaders of the 1850's were from these villages and, so far as I know, from no others. About 1850 the leaders of the Lummi were Chowitsut (cawicut) and his brother George Celic (c'ilfkw), Washington (xaceusgm), Jefferson (xwlafeqw), Bainbridge (sie'neltxw), David Crockett (xwaile,naxw), and a few others. Perhaps all had plank houses at Gooseberry Point, where there was in addition a stockade that seems to have belonged to the group. But Chowitsut also had a large " potlatch house " at The Portage, where there were some other smaller houses. At these two villages the Lummi passed the winter. In the spring they ordinarily left the Mainland to go out into the islands to dig camas, troll for spring salmon, fish for halibut, dig clams, and hunt deer. During this season they might move about as individual families or in small groups. Then by July the owners of reef-net locations would have chosen their crews, made their nets, and set up their gears in their places. Celic, Bainbridge, and several others had locations off Village Point on Lummi Island, where several gears could be set in a row; Washington and Jefferson had locations off Fisherman's Bay on Lopez Island. A few others had locations off Shaw or Orcas; some may have had locations on the reef at Point Roberts. Some had none and perhaps could not easily get a position on another's gear. After a month or two of reef-netting, most of the Lummi returned to the Mainland to use a weir that was built on the main mouth of the Nooksack River, then the west mouth, the present Lummi or Red River, just below its forks. According to one informant, the weir was built under the direction of Washington and his brothers, but the fish were evidently communally taken and shared. Three plank houses stood by the weir—one owned by Washington and his brothers, one by Chowitsut, and another smaller one, the owner of which is forgotten. Here the whole tribe caught and smoked the fall run of salmon. 54 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. From here they returned to their winter quarters on the salt water for the winter spirit dance season. Potlatches, when they were given, came usually in the fall. Chowitsut was evidently the wealthiest of the Lummi leaders and the chief sponsor of a series of potlatches. 1852-1862 The ten years from 1852 to 1862 were probably the most significant ones in Lummi history. During this decade white settlement remade the native economy, white government imposed new authority to replace in part the older system of controls, and white religion made a headlong, though not wholly successful, attack on native religion and indirectly on the whole structure of native society. I. White Settlement In 1852 two white men established a mill at the falls just above the mouth of Whatcom Creek. This became the nucleus of the present city of Bellingham. Shortly afterwards coal was discovered on Bellingham Bay and mines were established. To protect themselves against possible attack from northern Indians, the settlers built a stockade in the winter of 1855-56. The following year the U.S. Army established Fort Bellingham and stationed a company of troops there. The year that brought the first whites to Bellingham Bay also brought an epidemic of smallpox among the Lummi.24 At the same time, danger of raids from the north was mounting, and their consequences were worse for the natives than for the whites. Thus weakened by disease and attacks, some must have seen the white settlement as offering protection, and a few families moved across the bay to establish settlements at the mouth of Squalicum Creek and one or two other places near the mines. The prospects of trade and of jobs must have been as inviting as the prospect of protection. For a quarter of a century before this the Lummi had been trading with the Hudson's Bay Company, exchanging furs and possibly potatoes for metal tools, firearms, blankets, and clothing. This trade was evidently continued with the whites on Bellingham Bay. The agent Fitzhugh reported in 1857 that the Lummi were disposing of a great many surplus potatoes to the whites, by this means getting the (24) Mooney (1928). 1954 The Lummi Indians 55 greater part of their clothing.25 Work at the coal mines attracted members of other tribes as well as Lummi. The settlement of Sehome was named after a Klallam who settled among the Samish and gave his daughter in marriage to Fitzhugh, who was operating the coal mine there. In 1858 the Lummi were enabled to sell more than potatoes to the whites, with dire consequences. The agent reported:— The discovery of gold on Fraser and Thompson rivers has caused an immense concourse of people to gather at this station [Bellingham Bay], it being the starting point to the mines. The Indians have sold all their canoes, being tempted by the large prices, and are now destitute of the means of fishing. The money they have received is worse than nothing; it has been the means of their getting quantities of rum.26 The agent was unable to control this trade and predicted the speedy extinction of the natives. But the boom did not last, and the Lummi became again a somewhat prosperous though certainly changed people. n. White Government One of the major agencies of change was the white government. In 1855 the territorial governor met at Point Ellice (Mukilteo) with representatives from most of the tribes north of Seattle and persuaded the Lummi " chief " and his " sub-chiefs " to sign away all but the peninsula upon which their villages stood. From 1857 on they were under the supervision of an Indian Agent, who himself stood on the bottom rung of a bureaucratic ladder which led to Washington, D.C. Thirteen important Lummis signed the Treaty of 1855. At their head was Chowitsut, whom the whites credited with control over all the tribes between the Swinomish and the border. According to the treaty, the island made by the mouths of the Nooksack River was to be the Lummi Reservation. Despite the fact that no Samish, Semiahmoo, or Nooksack names appear on the treaty, these tribes were to occupy the reservation with the Lummi. This arrangement did not work out well. Members of other tribes came for the annuity goods which the Government passed out yearly at Lummi, but it is doubtful if many tried to settle on the reservation. Those who did became discouraged at the Government's negligence in surveying the reservation and giving out individual allotments, and most of them eventually drifted away. Also, (25) Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior, Washington, D.C, 1857, p. 326. Hereafter cited as CIA-AR with year of report. (26) CIA-AR, 1858, p. 230. 56 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. they were probably unwilling to settle on the land of another tribe.27 Most of the Semiahmoo had settled just north of the border by the 1860's. The Samish remained on Samish Island till about 1875, when they moved to Guemes Island. The Nooksack, with few exceptions, remained in the upper valley. Some of the Nuwhaha, judging by early agents' reports, were to settle at Lummi, but they did not do so. A few Lummis also drifted back into 4he islands. According to the treaty the Government was to provide the signatory tribes with: (1) Twenty instalments of $150,000, to be expended under the direction of the President; (2) twenty instalments, for agricultural schools and teachers; (3) twenty instalments, for a smithy and carpenter shop and tools; (4) twenty instalments, for blacksmith, carpenter, farmer and physician.28 The Government established an agency at Tulalip, with sub-agencies at the other reservations, including Lummi. It supported a boarding- school established at Tulalip by Father Chirouse, and for a time a day- school at Lummi. The smithy and carpenter shop and much later the physician were at Tulalip, but at Lummi there was a resident farmer, sometimes in addition to, sometimes equivalent to, the sub-agent. Agents and sub-agents came and went, some with great rapidity. A few left the Indian service to settle down with Indian wives. Probably the most influential representative of the Government (not considering Father Chirouse as such) was C. C. Finkbonner, who came as resident farmer in 1862, and stayed as sub-agent at least until 1870, outlasting several administrations and equally praised by each. Finkbonner married a Lummi woman and has descendants on the reservation to-day. The annuity goods promised by the treaty were handed out annually, with perhaps a year or two skipped and a few double payments, from 1861 to 1879.29 The Government passed the payment out in the spring of the year at a clearing on what was then the east bank of the main mouth of the river. The Lummi remember it to have consisted of axes, hoes, mattocks, shovels, shoes, flour, sugar, coffee, rice, beans, and the like. These goods were probably received by a few members of the tribes said to be " subordinate " to the Lummi. (27) I am writing here of members of other tribes who were expected to come and settle as such. Later, when individual allotments were available, a number of persons whose primary identification had been with other groups came to receive allotments because of part Lummi ancestry. (28) CIA-AR, 1878, p. 194. (29) CIA-AR, 1861, p. 173; CIA-AR, 1878, p. 164. 1954 The Lummi Indians 57 Because of changes in the course of the river and of the fear of white encroachment, the northern boundary of the reservation was revised in 1878 to correspond with the section lines rather than less permanent natural features. But the Government did not give out allotments of land to individuals until 1884. To judge from agents' reports and from statements of informants, this move was earnestly desired by many Lummi. It was not, as has often been suggested,30 simply the expression of a naive view on the Government's side that private property would be an inducement to industry and self-support. Some saw it as applied anthropology, a blow for the conjugal family against tribal organization. III. Catholicism Like other tribes in the area, the Lummi experienced the passing of a Christianized Prophet Dance evidently just before the first direct contact with Christianity. Informants' statements suggest that this dance was later interpreted as an earlier, mistaken form of Christianity. The Lummis' first direct contact with the religion of the whites came probably around 1840, when the Catholic missionaries Demers and Blanchet preached at Nisqually, Whidbey Island, and on the Fraser. Their first steady contact could only have come after Father E. C. Chirouse, O.M.I., founded his mission at Tulalip in 1857.31 Even so, the influence of Catholicism must have been very strong in the late 1850's, and a major factor in the Lummis' relations with the whites. In 1859 David Crockett, who had been a leader in the prophet cult and was now a Catholic, became the new " chief," more through his piety than through inherited privilege or wealth. Father Chirouse had probably a stronger influence upon the Lummi, and upon all the northern sound tribes, than any other white man. He worked tirelessly for twenty-one years, preaching, teaching, building, not only in Washington, but in British Columbia as well. From 1857 to 1878 his was the only school for Indian children in the whole area. For part of this time he was also sub-agent for the Tulalip agency. He was praised by whites in and out of the Government, Catholic and non- Catholic. Father Chirouse's job was to convert the natives to Christianity and to Christian ways of fife. This meant, above all, replacing native religious concepts with those of Christianity. To do this he had to attack spirit (30) Underhill (1944), p. 219. (31) For information on Father Chirouse I have used Sullivan (1932). 58 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. singing and shamanism. It also meant replacing native observances at the life crises with the sacraments of the church. Occasions upon which he administered the sacraments—baptism, marriage, death—were the very occasions which were so significant in native life for the exchange of wealth, the transmission of privilege, and the establishment of the mutual obligations which made native society function. Here he was striking close to the roots of native society itself. Moreover, he attacked certain practices which he saw as inimical to Christianity, but which provided to the native eye symbols of inherited status or acquired power —slavery, head-flattening, gambling. And finally he attacked practices introduced by the whites themselves—drinking and prostitution. In most of this he had the close co-operation of the representatives of the Government. In spite of the Church's opposition to so much of what was basic to native culture, in a short time the majority of all of the salt-water tribes had apparently accepted the Catholic faith. In 1861 Father Chirouse built the chapel of St. Joachim on the west bank of the new mouth of the river. When Father Chirouse himself was not present, David Crockett led the Lummi in services. Around the chapel there grew up a settlement which became the centre of the Lummi community, " Old Lumpi Village." OLD LUMMI VILLAGE I. The River Besides sustaining a threefold attack from white culture, the Lummi suffered another calamity some time during the 1850's;32 the river struck out to the south from a point above the weir-site, swung west to pass close to the higher ground, and then turned east again to form a new mouth on Bellingham Bay at Marietta. Part or all of this new main channel was probably a former slough which had been a secondary mouth; now the former main channel became a slow-moving slough and the old weir-site was of little value. One man, Bainbridge, moved his house planks from the old weir-site up to a place above the new course of the river and re-established (32) The date of this change is not easy to determine, but I believe it occurred after 1853. In that year Winthrop made a trip from Victoria to Bellingham Bay, during which he visited the Lummi weir; but his account does not make his route clear. The simplest explanation seems to me to be that he went up the main mouth, then flowing into Lummi Bay, saw the weir, and then descended the slough to Bellingham Bay. Winthrop, 1913, pp. 264-266, 278-280. 1954 The Lummi Indians 59 himself. One reason for his choice of the place was its greater safety from attack, but perhaps primarily it was the fishing. With two sons-in- law from Fraser River he built a weir there for a time. The rest of the Lummi, however, appear to have given up weir fishing altogether. It was on the west bank of the new main course of the river that Father Chirouse built his chapel in 1861. Here also the resident farmer Finkbonner built his establishment. Around the chapel the Lummis began to gather, some in great old-fashioned plank houses and some in single-family white-style houses which Finkbonner helped them build. They were encouraged to build here by both the priest and the farmer— and perhaps also by the still-present threat of raids from the north. Old Lummi Village lasted as long as the river held its course. But beginning in 1888 the river shifted again. This time the main channel flowed straight south past Fish Point, by-passing Marietta. In the process of finding a new bed, the river washed out the greater part of Old Lummi Village. The church was moved to higher ground, and some of the buildings were moved to Fish Point, but by this time there was no longer the need for such a concentration. n. The Village In his report for 1865, Finkbonner recommended good houses as the best civilizing influence.33 In 1867 he reported:— The Indian town and agency home is built at the mouth of the main branch emptying into Bellingham Bay, and contains sixty good substantial board dwellings, with floors, windows, shingle roofs and chimneys, There is also one good church twenty-four by forty-five feet, besides a number of large Indian buildings made out of hewn and split cedar trees. Those are used by the old Indians, and for drying and smoking their salmon. All of these buildings have been put up with Indian labor, with my assistance.34 This settlement was not a town in the sense that the settlement of whites across the bay was; it was a later equivalent of the earlier winter village. The houses were occupied by some the year round, but by others only in the winter. Some of those who left seasonally went to the islands for fish and clams; others, persuaded by Finkbonner, established farms on the reservation and maintained native or white-style homes there as well. This pattern was established by 1871, when a visiting commissioner wrote:— (33) CIA-AR, 1865, p. 74. (34) CIA-AR, 1867, p. 58. 1954 The Lummi Indians 61 They dress as white men and live in wooden houses, which are scattered over the reservation on their small farms. They have also a village, where they chiefly congregate in the winter.35 Informants have described Old Lummi Village as it was perhaps in the late 1870's. It consisted of two parts with the church between them. Below the church were two rows of white-style houses, parallel to the river. Above the church were four big native-style houses in a row parallel to the river. They were owned by (coming down-stream) Jim Eldridge, General Harrison, Timothy Yellacamut, and Henry Kwina. They faced the river and a road passed in front of them. Between the first two was a store which had belonged to a white couple named JMc- Donough. McDonough came to the reservation in 1871; in 1879 he moved across to the far shore to found the town of Marietta,36 and when he left he sold the building to General Harrison. In front of the store was the ferry-landing. Kwina's and Yellacamut's big houses were all of hewn planks and had shed roofs. Kwina lived in a white-style house and used the big one only for feasts. Yellacamut usually had his house full. Harrison's house had plank walls but a gabled shake roof. With him lived his wife, stepson, and brother and family; others came to stay with him during fishing season. in. The Last Big House Jim Eldridge's house was the last big house to be lived in. By the middle or late 1880's the others were no longer occupied. Mrs. Julius Charles, the wife of one of my principal informants, was the grand-niece of Jim Eldridge and grew up in this house. She described it as it was in her childhood. It was not made of native materials; the walls were of milled lumber and the gabled roof of shakes. As in the other big houses, the floor was just the earth under it. The ridge-pole was held up by a post at each end with perhaps one in the centre. These and the posts along the walls were neither painted nor carved. Around the walls ran a bed-platform about the width of a modern double bed and at about the same height. Around the walls overhead ran a storage-shelf. Mats lined the walls, and mats could be used to construct partitions between family sections. (35) CIA-AR, 1871, p. 121. (36) Roth (1926), p. 854, and a personal communication from Mr. H. E. Buswell. 62 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. Seven families stayed in this house. Each had its own section and its own fire. Two square holes in the roof allowed the smoke to escape. Each family stacked its bedding on the bed-platform of its section, stored its fuel under the bed-platform, and stored its provisions, including bundles of dried fish, on the shelf above. The door was at the north end, and the corner to its left as you entered was Jim Eldridge's section. This was the section appropriate to the owner of a house. The family sections in such a house were designated as " first," " second," | third," etc., beginning with the section at the left of the door as one looks in and continuing around in a clockwise direction. This house had three sections on each side and one at the end opposite the door. The family heads were, by section: (1) Jim Eldridge, (2) George sweh'k'nan, (3) Polan cilxwa'm3tq9n with his nephew Mike xaikwi,maltxw, (4) Tom Squiqui, (5) Louie t'i'xwi9, (6) Frank Hillaire, (7) George tieli's. Each of these men had a wife, making a total of sixteen adults. Their children brought the house total up to forty or forty-five persons. Jim Eldridge was the owner of the house. He built it, or at least he had got the materials for it and supervised its building. Jim worked for a white man in Bellingham named Edward Eldridge and possibly got the lumber from him. This was not the first house Jim had owned here, for behind this one was an older house, all of hewn planks, with a shed roof, by then converted into a chicken-house. Jim also freighted groceries up the river to Ferndale and Lynden by canoe. This was fairly steady work and did not require any seasonal change in residence. He owned land down at Fish Point, but this was not far enough for a separate house until he grew old. Some of the other members of the house, however, left each spring for other quarters and returned in the fall. George tieli's, for example, had a farm on " Onion Bay," just inside Sandy Point. He and his large family left the big house in the spring to go there to plant his crops. They returned after harvest- time and when fall fishing started on the river. Jim Eldridge and George sweto'k'wt9n were Nooksack, married to Lummi women. (Few other Nooksack settled on the Lummi Reservation.) Tom Squiqui was a Skagit married to a Lummi woman; Frank Hillaire had been raised at Saanich, but his father had been Lummi. The others—Polan, Mike, Louie, and George tieli's'—were Lummi. At least the last three had non-Lummi wives. Of the sixteen adults, seven or eight (nine if Hillaire is included)—that is, about half—were Lummi. 1954 The Lummi Indians 63 All of the member-families of this house were related. George swek/k^tan was a relative of Jim Eldridge, and so was George tieli's, but the others were not related to him. All the member-families, however, were related to Mrs. Eldridge, their heads addressed by either one of two native kinship terms signifying " older sibling" and " deceased parent's sibling." TV. The New Pattern: Economy A new pattern of life flourished on the Lummi Reservation during the existence of Old Lummi Village. It was a pattern that combined elements of the old life with elements of white culture, though not always elements shared by white neighbours. It was also a pattern which differed somewhat from that of other Indian groups. And it was one which did not outlive Old Lummi Village. The economic life of the Lummi in the 1880's and '90's differed from that of pre-white times both in content and in form. Its content included both old activities and new ones. The old hunting, fishing, and gathering survived, but in truncated or modified form. After the coming of firearms there may have been some increase in individual hunting, but by this time game had certainly become more scarce and areas open to hunting fewer. Trapping, too, may have increased some during the earlier period of trade with the Hudson's Bay Company, but certainly it declined during this period; the agent reported $2,000 worth of furs taken in 1867, only $130 worth in 1884. The gathering of food persisted, especially clam-digging and berry- picking. Native wild roots found substitutes in cultivated roots, but native wild berries found a market among whites. Cranberries especially sold well. The gathering of this period had a different emphasis and to some extent a different motive. Fishing was still important, but not without changes. Old techniques were dropped and new ones added, and by the 1880's the motive was at least partly profit in sale to the whites. Families went out in late spring and summer to catch ling-cod, rock-fish, and halibut, and to troll for springs and silvers, using pre-white techniques but with white-made gear. Some of the halibut and salmon could be sold to whites. Reef-netting was very important until whites blocked the old locations with their traps in the mid-nineties. During the late eighties and early nineties a large part of the reef-net catch was sold to whites. The Lummi no longer built a weir, but used other techniques in its place in fall fishing. They continued to use harpoons and gaff-hooks 64 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. from the shore or from canoes. To these they added gill-nets and seines. The gill-net seems to have been a pre-white device which had fallen into disuse and was later revived with white materials. The Lummi in pre- white times caught flounders with a kind of seine, but not salmon as they did later. Finkbonner's report for 1867 lists a seine worth $400 as a part of the Government's property at Lummi; this may have been the first. Another item of increased importance was fish-oil, especially dogfish- oil, which went to logging companies for skid grease. In pre-white times, dogfish had not been used much, but now fishermen caught them with set-lines of many hooks. The Lummi also continued to take waterfowl by both old and new methods. These were useful as food both for the hunters and for whites, to whom they were sold. The feathers were no longer twisted into yarn by the hunters' wives, but they, too, could be sold to the whites. Such items as these could be sold off the reservation or could be sold to McDonough in Old Lummi Village. An observer wrote of Mc- Donough's store in June, 1875:— Indian trade at this store is considerable. It consists of fish oil, furs, hides, feathers, etc. The day we called the Indians brought in three hundred and twenty pounds of duck feathers which were caught in nets at the Portage, at Sandy Point and Birch Bay.3? One of the chief aims of the Indian service seems to have been to replace hunting, fishing, and gathering wholly with agriculture. The agents recognized that some fishing and clam-digging was essential to self-support and made an effort to defend the Indians' rights to fishing locations and beaches, but they tolerated these activities rather than encouraged them. To teach the Lummis farming, they stationed resident farmers on the reservation. The first farmer established himself on the reservation in 1859, helped clear some land, and in that year 35 to 40 acres were brought under cultivation, mostly in potatoes.38 Their only tools at this time were hoes. By 1867, 155 acres were under cultivation. The farmer had four ploughs and a team, and the Indians had a few head of horses and cattle and some pigs and chickens. Finkbonner describes the economy:— These Indians cultivate their lands in severality, i.e., each head of family clears off and cultivates from one to four acres, the principal crop raised being potatoes. There is planted in all this spring about 150 acres in potatoes and other vegetables, (37) Roth (1926), p. 175. (38) CIA-AR, 1859, pp. 338-340. 1954 The Lummi Indians 65 and five acres in wheat. These Indians raise all the potatoes and vegetables they can eat, and sell all they can find a market for, which enables them to buy their necessaries, such as flour, clothing, groceries, etc., etc. It is very difficult for me to approximate at anything near the amount of labor performed on a reservation. I will, however, give some of the principal labor performed: First, in clearing off land and planting their crops in the spring, and hoeing during the summer; second, in gathering berries, which grow in great abundance and variety. Those which prove the most profitable are the cranberry. From June to October salmon commence running, during which time all the Indians are engaged in taking, curing, and salting for winter use. During the winter months they are engaged in various occupations; some are employed by the whites; some are engaged in the chase and hunt, and others are at work on the reservation, making canoes, and improvements around home. They cut and put up from twenty-five to thirty tons of hay every year. The Indians also make all the shingles used on the reservation, cut roads, make repairs and other improvements for their comfort, etc., etc. I would, most respectfully, before I close, urge the necessity upon the department to furnish more lumber and building materials for the reservation. They only have dwellings for about one-half the Indians here, and they all want buildings; it conduces more to civilize Indians than any other class of property the department can furnish them. They take great pride in good dwellings and they try to excel each other in this respect, and in furnishing their houses with the comforts of chairs, tables, cooking stoves, window curtains, beds, etc.39 He gives an evaluation of Indian property on the reservation, which includes $1,300 worth of live stock, about $7,000 worth in canoes, and $2,500 in firearms. The Lummi took, he says, about $2,000 worth of furs and skins (referred to above) and.raised 10,000 bushels of potatoes, which were worth, at 75 cents a bushel, $7,500, 150 bushels of wheat worth $150, and $150 worth of other vegetables, and they cut 30 tons of hay. During the 1870's and '80's, agricultural production increased, herds of live stock increased, and some farmers began selling poultry and dairy products. Agents estimated the subsistence of the Lummi in the early 1880's as 75 per cent from " civilized pursuits "; YIV2 per cent from hunting, fishing, and gathering; and 12V& per cent from Government rations. They were, on the whole, very optimistic; in 1884 the agent Buckley at Tulalip wrote:— The Lummis number 275, are a proud people, being both industrious and intelligent; 75 of them have received their allotments in severality. They are a home- loving people, and give their attention entirely to farming. Many of them have excellent farms, good dwelling houses and barns, and every family has cattle, horses, hogs and poultry. They raise large quantities of grain, hay, and all the (39) CIA-AR, 1867, p. 54. Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. garden vegetables, and during the last year have made 1,200 pounds of good butter.40 Agriculture was not the only "civilized pursuit" of the Lummi. Since the first white settlement, some had worked as labourers for the whites, especially as loggers. This sort of labour often separated young men from their families, but the distance was usually not far. Some time in the 1880's another kind of labour came into being—hop-picking. This was a job that required travelling a greater distance, but it was a job the whole family could participate in. In this last respect it resembled some of the pre-white summer activities. The two-month outing to the hop-fields became the high point in the year's activities for many families from all over Western Washington and British Columbia. The hop- fields thus became an important point of contact between many Indian groups who otherwise saw little of one another. This activity was one of the causes which the agents cited as accounting for the decline of agriculture. There was some survival of native crafts in this period. Men no longer made house-planks, but some occasionally made house-posts and some still made dugout canoes. Some women still made mats and baskets and even blankets. The agent gives figures for production in native industries for 1881 (this is for the whole Tulalip agency, so Lummi is only a fraction of the total): " 4,985 yards matting, 322 canoes, 1,485 baskets, 40 Indian blankets." He adds, as products of hunting, fishing, and gathering, " 3,320 deer and other wild animals, 1,110,000 pounds of fish, and 2,638 bushels of berries."41 Silversmith- ing, so important among some American tribes, was practised by one Lummi, Jack Pierre, who learned the craft from a Makah and in turn taught it to a Samish. To summarize the yearly round of activities: people concentrated in fall and winter in the village; moved out in the spring to scattered farms to plant, or to camps in the islands to fish and to gather wild foods; fished intensively at reef-net locations in July and August and on the river in September and October, but with increasing numbers leaving for the hop-fields in August and September. A few engaged in year- round farming (dairymen, for example) and year-round work off the reservation (loggers, sawyers, etc.). (40) CIA-AR, 1884, p. 169. (41) CIA-AR, 1881, pp. 172-173. 1954 The Lummi Indians 67 V. White-imposed Institutions: Government 1. Chieftainship.—Whatever native government was, it was not a separate institution with a formal organization. Political influence depended upon social position. Social position came from the possession of incorporeal privileges and the wealth to display them. The wealth came from the possession of economic privileges or of supernatural power. Persons with rank of this kind were members of the upper class. I doubt if the pre-white " chief " was anything more than the ranking member of the upper class, probably the house-leader of the most influential household. I doubt if he had any formally recognized authority over anyone outside his own household or beyond his village. The last Lummi " chief" of the old sort was Chowitsut, who began as a shaman, accumulated wealth, got a wealth power, and gave a number of potlatches. What I have been able to learn about him suggests that his success was due far more to his personal abilities than to inherited position. But he had to have upper-class status in the first place, and he had to have the co-operation of the other upper-class men in order to potlatch. Because of his wealth and his leadership in pot- latching, he was the biggest of the big men at Lummi. "After the priest came," said one informant, " the chief was the man who could say his prayers best." David Crockett, who became chief about 1859, undoubtedly could say his prayers well; he led the Lummi in daily Catholic services morning and evening. But he was not otherwise a nobody. He had come from an upper-class family, and he had been the leader of the pre-Catholic cult. The majority of Lummis had accepted Catholicism as superior to the native system of beliefs, so perhaps it was perfectly natural for the man who controlled the new system best, the ranking Catholic, to become chief. About 1865 Crockett chose Henry Kwina as sub-chief, and when Crockett died in 1874, Kwina succeeded him as chief. Kwina probably had more claim to upper-class status than Crockett, being the nephew of Chowitsut. Kwina was chief for a little over half a century, from 1874 until his death in 1926. In pre-white times the functions of a chief were probably not much more than those of a house-head. His ranking position seems not to have been a permanent one, but one dependent on his continuing to display the proper qualities and one subject to constant reappraisal. Under white rule the functions of the chief were quite different. White rule has been both direct and indirect; in so far as it has been 68 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. indirect, the chieftainship has been one of its principal instruments. To the white government the chief was the leader of the whole tribe; his position was permanent, (short of impeachment) and he was partially responsible for the maintenance of law and order and for the administration of justice. The question of the existence in pre-white times of leaders of units larger than the village does not matter, since now the whole tribe was in fact a single village. But certainly the support of the agent (if the chief had it) must have given the chieftainship more stability than dependence upon popular goodwill alone had given. The law and order the chief was supposed to keep and the justice he was supposed to administer were formerly perhaps his concern only within his own household. The majority of offences were punishable by the household, not by any larger community. The house-head may have been judge within his own house and represented his house in friendly dealings with others, but in the case of an offence from a member of another house he seems to have temporarily given over his leadership to a warrior. Now the chief was expected to represent all households in dealing with offences against any and to suppress the exercising of private justice. To the Lummi their chief was their spokesman in their relations with the whites. Accounts of informants suggest that the chief was influential in getting allotments and in getting help from the agent. This patronage may have been analogous to that of the pre-white house-head. But it must have been difficult for members of other households, or after the break-up of the big households, of other family lines, to see the chief as equally responsible for and to all. 2. Police.—As an aid to administration, the agent appointed Indian policemen—a captain at Tulalip and two privates on each reservation. Their duties were to arrest persons breaking both laws applicable to all persons in the territory and also agents' rules applicable to Indians only— rules against drinking, spirit dancing, and shamanizing. I do not know what the position of the Indian policeman was in the community, but have some indication that he stood well with the local whites. Probably it was a position which gave enough prestige to satisfy native needs. One might expect a parallel to the pre-white warrior. 3. Courts.—Using the chiefs as judges obviously had its disadvantages, and apparently to remedy the situation the agent established a court system. The agent wrote in 1889:— Indian courts have been established with fair success on all the reservations belonging to the agency, but my main reliance has been upon the court located at agency headquarters (Tulalip), which is composed of the best material we have. 1954 The Lummi Indians 69 This court tries all cases of importance, and generally disposes of the most of them satisfactorily to all concerned. It has greatly assisted me in maintaining order on the reservation and the farmers in charge of the Swinomish and Lummi reservations say the court system is a great improvement on the old plan of governing by chiefs and head men.42 He adds that the courts would be unnecessary if whisky had been inaccessible to the Indians. In his 1891 report he gives the three judges at Tulalip as George Archille, whom he calls well educated, David Teuse, and Dick Shoemaker. Their decisions, he says, were fair and were taken as final. The prosecutor was Jim Thomas, who was also captain of police. The convictions for criminal offences during the year 1891 were two adultery, two assault, thirty-nine intoxication, one neglect of sick, five perjury, one " Ta-man-no-us " (Indian conjuring), two wife-beating; and forty- eight civil cases were tried.43 The sentences were, I believe, largely to labour on reservation roads; however, there was a jail at Lummi. The next year's report mentions two judges at Lummi.44 VI. The Church There seems to have been little open resistance to conversion to Catholicism. It may be that the new religion was reinterpreted to accord with native beliefs. The native may have seen Catholic worship as another means of making contact with supernatural beings in order to acquire power. He may have seen Catholic taboos as parallel to those sometimes imposed by native guardian spirits. The participation of the "Indian priest" in the services he may have seen as an exercise of a personal possession like the inherited privileges or the secret ritual knowledge of native society. It would be unfair to Catholicism, however, to suggest that it was a simple substitution; the Christian doctrine of sin and salvation and the God-given commandments surely had no close parallels. Native escha- tology and native ethics were two separate systems—one bound up with concepts of disease and psychology, the other with the organization of society. The more integrated system presented by the priest must have seemed clearly superior to many philosophical natives. The priest himself, too, was without a close native parallel. The native ritualist's (42) CIA-AR, 1889, p. 289. (43) CIA-AR, 1891, p. 459. cases settled at Lummi. (44) CIA-AR, 1892, p. 506. This was at Tulalip, so may not include Lummi 70 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. functions at crisis rites were similar to those of the priest, but the range of the ritualist's activities covered only a portion of that of the priest. Indians rightly identify the native shaman with the white doctor. But perhaps the principal reason why Catholicism was accepted was the one so often given to account for a primitive people's conversion: " The whites are more powerful, therefore it must be that their religion is more powerful. Let us accept their religion and gain their power." Trite as this is, it may be true. In the native system, success was usually interpreted as resulting from the possession of some sort of power. The whites were certainly more powerful, and the whites themselves argued that conversion was the first step in becoming like whites. It is even possible that the whites themselves were regarded as a source of power. An informant once remarked to me as we stood watching one of the more complex manifestations of white technology, I 'Ain't no person, white man,' the old people used to say. ' White man sXe'bqam.'" A sXe'bqem is a being with supernatural power. The real conflict was probably between the exclusiveness of Catholicism and native practices. If participation in Catholic ritual was taken as an exercise of privilege and thus a source of prestige, then its exclusiveness may have rankled. Catholicism was accepted, but not to the exclusion of native practices. Performances of spirit dances and sha- manistic curing continued in secret. It was secret at least on the reservation, of necessity since it was illegal; among those small groups living off the reservation, as among the Samish on Guemes Island, it was open and active. Both Lummi and non-Lummi say the Lummi were " strict" in their Catholicism. Informants who know the old culture best say too strict. One said that at first there were no pews in the church, and the people had to kneel the whole time; another said that persons caught drinking or spirit dancing were whipped; the crowning insult, in the view of a third, was the fact that Father Chirouse not only confiscated the spirit- dancing costumes, but dressed up his schoolboys in them to put on a show for whites in order to raise money. How much of this is true is hard to say. The fact remains it was the Lummi who were strict; the priest was present only part of the time, and the resident farmers were probably not Catholics. There were some who held out. One informant, whose family is entirely Catholic, said in their defence:— 1954 The Lummi Indians 71 Very few people didn't care to listen to the priest. People were told " don't make friends with them, they're devils." But at the same time those people they called devils know who made the world—they knew it was xe'els [the Transformer]. VII. The School The Indian Agents' reports praise the school as a great civilizing influence—an example of what Wissler identified as a basic theme of our culture, faith in the efficacy of education. Trying to discount our cultural bias, I think the agents may have been partly right. Only a fraction of the Lummi went to school, but those who did must have been the most important channel for the dissemination of white culture. At the same time, however, the school-children themselves were systematically uprooted from the native culture, so that the familiar drama of the returned student who finds his home no longer a home may have been re-enacted many times. Father Chirouse established his first school at Tulalip in 1857. He took students from all over the area of the Tulalip agency. In 1861 he had twenty boys and five girls.45 Some were no doubt from Lummi; yet in 1867 Finkbonner reported that, of 125 Lummi children of school age, only ten boys were at the Tulalip school.46 By 1880 there was a little day-school at Lummi with two teachers— one a half-breed and the other an Indian, both educated at Tulalip.47 But, according to informants, this school was moved back to Tulalip in 1884. The language of instruction at Tulalip was, of course, English, but Father Chirouse also used the Puget Sound language for hymns and prayers, so that pupils from Lummi learned another Salish language as well. The report of agent Patrick Buckley for 1884 includes data on the Tulalip school. It is referred to as an agricultural and industrial boarding-school. There were at that time fifty-five boys and forty-five girls and eight employees—two men and six Sisters of Charity. The instruction for boys consisted of (1) school exercises—prayer, reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, grammar, composition, history of the United States, book-keeping, and " familiar science "; and (2) manual labour— type-setting, attending to five stock, procuring and chopping fuel, gardening, fanning, and carpenter work. The instruction for girls consisted of the same school exercises and the following industries: General 181. (45) CIA-AR, 1861, pp. IS (46) CIA-AR, 1867, p. 58. (47) CIA-AR, 1880, pp. 165-166 72 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. housework, washing, ironing, mending clothes, cutting out and making garments, gardening, dairy work, crocheting, braiding, embroidering, and different kinds of fancy work. The hours of school instruction were 8 to 11.30 a.m. and 1 to 8 p.m. each day. The methods of instruction, says the agent, were the same as those of the leading schools of the territory, and the teachers were in every way competent. The good done the Indian people by this school is incalculably great . . . with the church, the school is the great civilizing element and those who have been brought up in both form the better class among our Indians. Their houses are neater and better furnished, their partners and their children are better dressed, their gardens better cultivated; they attend church regularly and are industrious and well behaved. He also mentions the fact that Father Boulet, who had replaced Chirouse in the late 1870's, was publishing— a neat little monthly paper, dedicated to the advancement of Indian youth; it contains much good advice and pleasant reading and is valued by the Indians. It has quite a large circulation, and as at least one Indian in every family can read, it accomplishes much good.48 The statement that at least one Indian in every family could read is disproved by the statistics for the year. The population at Lummi in 1884 was 275; of these, 50 persons spoke English, 40 could read, 60 families were engaged in agriculture, etc.49 From this it appears that literacy was actually a little less than 15 per cent; about one in seven could read, certainly less than one in every conjugal family. The agent was, I suspect, overly optimistic. Yet the school must certainly have made a difference. In 1892 a day-school reopened at Lummi, but the teacher was beset with difficulties, and the school did not receive much support from the people. I shall discuss possible reasons for this later. VIII. Persistence of Native Culture In spite of attacks by white culture and the acceptance of much of white culture by the Lummi, some native institutions persisted in the life of the people of Old Lummi Village. In some cases, survival was without conflict. The private ownership of reef-net locations, for example, fitted quite well into white theory; the Lummi later lost their locations simply because they could not legally defend them. Other native institutions survived under great pressure. Spirit- dancing and shamanistic curing went on in secret, but not in Old Lummi (48) CIA-AR, 1884, p. 170. (49) CIA-AR, 1884, pp. 288-289. 1954 The Lummi Indians 73 Village. Mrs. Charles, who was raised in Jim Eldridge's smoke-house there, said that she never saw spirit dancing when she was a child. This was in spite of the fact that several of the family-heads were, at that time or later, dancers, and one, Tom Squiqui, was a shaman. Some were exclusively " strong Catholics," however; Mrs. John Brown said that her father, George tieli's, did not believe in powers and would not accept one that he might have had. Those who still danced or cured did so in secret at some place away from the village or off the reservation entirely. Those who were caught dancing on the reservation were arrested and fined or sentenced to labour on the road. Off the reservation less secrecy was required; the Bellingham Bay Mail even describes a shamanistic performance held at the "rancheree" at Sehome on August 1, 1874, with the help of some visiting Semiahmoo. Slavery was, of course, forbidden and so was head-flattening, the older mark of status. And apparently there was some attempt to forget old class differences; Mrs. Brown says that her father never spoke of class differences, and that she did not know of such things until she married at Musqueam. At least one former slave married another, received an allotment, and raised a family. But Mrs. Brown's present strong class-consciousness as well as her spirit dancing suggest that some basis for them was built up in childhood, despite her father's professions. And none of the former slaves' children married Lummis, a fact supporting the likelihood of the persistence of class-consciousness. Gift-giving was also forbidden or at least discouraged by the priests and the agent, but it persisted even more openly than spirit dancing and shamanism. So far as I know, the Lummi have not had any fte'naq since Chowitsut's time. A fte'naq was a "real potlatch" given by several persons " going company " and inviting members of other tribes. The Bellingham Bay Mail reported "potlatches" in October of 1873 and December of 1875, but these were, I suspect, the " paying off of funeral expenses" or some other obligation of single individuals. In contrast, the Samish had several full-dress Xe'naq, the last in 1905. The persistence of gift-giving was in practices which were a blend of the old culture and the new. LX. Areas of Compromise and Emergence of New Forms It was in the observance of the life crises that native practices came the nearest to blending with white practices. Here people recognized 74 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. the necessity of the sacraments and the priest's jurisdiction over them, but since the life crises were vital to the native culture, they endeavoured to observe them in the old way as well. The fact that the priest was not always present made this fairly easy. So far as I know, recognition of birth and of puberty received little, if anything, from white culture, and native practices tended to dwindle. Catholic baptism came sooner after birth than did any naming ceremony in the old culture, where boys and girls were often simply called " boy " and "girl" until old enough to receive inherited names. Now they received Christian names first and native names later. The first converts received Christian names only, no surnames. A few of the first generation later used native names as surnames. Some received full European names from the whites, either for famous persons such as George Washington or for the settlers they worked for, like Jim Eldridge, who worked for the early settler Edward Eldridge. In some cases English nicknames stuck. But the majority of the first generation seem to have done without European surnames, and most of their children seem to have used their fathers' given names as surnames. In most cases the original given name became the surname of the third and following generations, but some tendency to repeat the first step in the process remains. Frank Hillaire's son by his first wife calls himself Edward Frank, but his children by his second wife are all Hillaires. The result of this practice is a population bearing names which to the outsider seem at first hopelessly indistinguishable—Joe Bill, Bill Joe, George Charles, Charles George, and even Joe Joe and George George, the last being called Double George. Most of the native names used as surnames appear to have been dropped, and some of the original baptismal names, being French, became unintelligible to English-speaking whites and therefore impractical; I did not recognize use'n as " Eugene " orpe'ttas as "Patrice." In addition to English given names and surnames, nearly everyone received a native name. This required some expense, since the name had to be given in the presence of others, who were paid to witness the event. Later in life if a man had an unused name in his genealogy and could afford it, he might take it, too. So far as I know, there has never been any attempt to use English names as inherited privileges; the two systems have existed simultaneously but separately. To identify a person completely requires getting his English given name, surname, and possibly nickname, and his native inherited name or names, and possibly native 1954 The Lummi Indians 75 nickname, since he may have been known by only one or two of these by different people at different places or times. While in native theory the inherited name, or perhaps the last inherited name used, was the person's real name, the English given name appears to be the most useful for any cataloguing purposes, since it usually endured the whole lifetime. A far greater blending of the old and the new was to be found in marriage and marriage relations and in practices associated with death. To judge from several accounts, among the better off at least, a marriage was arranged by the families of the couple. The family of the groom paid a bride-price in money and perhaps made a gift of food besides, which the family of the bride used for a feast. When this had been done, the priest was invited to unite the couple in a Catholic wedding. After the wedding the bride's family gave a feast, killing stock for the meal and putting down a temporary floor in the smoke-house and hiring a fiddler and caller for a square dance. The parents of the couple called each other sk'waTwas (co-parents-in-law), and engaged in later exchanges of food and wealth. For example, a man might bring a canoe-load of boxes of hard-tack or biscuits, a favourite article, to his son-in-law and the latter's father, at which time they in turn were obliged not only to pay for the food, but also to pay each of the men who helped to bring it. This kind of exchange perhaps received more emphasis when the marriage was between a Lummi and a non-Lummi. Occasionally it led to open rivalry between co-parents-in-law. This type of marriage was purely native in function for the families of the couple. From the native point of view the Catholic wedding service could have been merely a substitute for the earlier display of an inherited privilege on the occasion when the couple were brought together before representatives of the two families. The other foreign elements—the money, the slaughtered beef, the hard-tack—were only borrowed means to native ends. On the other hand, the Catholic wedding may well have been the more significant even for many of the young couples themselves, trained as they had been in the Catholic school, since some of these marriages lasted for life, a permanency that might not have been attained in pre-white times. A death meant considerable expense for the bereaved's family, if they could afford it. Burial was the rule, and a Catholic funeral service was required. But before the funeral the family had to hire two persons of the same sex as the deceased to bathe and dress the body, two more to keep a wake, two men to make a coffin, two to make the outer cover for it, two to dig the grave, and six to act as pallbearers. The bathing 76 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. of the corpse and the making of the coffin were professional tasks in pre-white times when the dead were put into raised canoes or grave- boxes, and those who performed the tasks did so because of their knowledge of the proper spells and ritual acts. The spells were still used at this time, and even though burial in the ground was a recent practice, there were spells for grave-digging, too. After the funeral the family of the deceased had to give a feast, at which they paid their " funeral debts"; that is, paid those who had performed the services just listed. At the same time, or later, they might display a memento or sing the spirit song of the deceased and pay those who witnessed. The payment of funeral debts was perhaps the public repayment of obligations that most nearly reached the proportions of the earlier potlatch, which had this as only one of several functions. THE 1890'S: THE END OF OLD LUMMI VILLAGE In spite of their earlier praise of the Lummi as successful farmers and optimism about their progress toward civilization, by 1890 the agents' reports were beginning to express some dissatisfaction with them. In 1889 the Lummi were merely not "holding their own";50 by 1891 the statistics themselves show a decline in agricultural production—350 acres cultivated as compared with 500 in 1884, 50 bushels of wheat and 60 of oats as compared with 450 and 2,000 bushels in 1884, 450 cattle as compared with 600 head, and so on.31 Figures for 1897, however, show a gain in production, but since they also show a gain in population, production per capita may not have improved. The agents' reports for the early 1890's also express a dissatisfaction with the Lummi over their day-school; the Lummi were unco-operative and failed to support the school. The agents seem to be expressing a feeling that the Lummi were undergoing a general cultural decline, or at least were losing interest in the things which had made the agents optimistic a decade or two earlier. There are several possible reasons for this decline; the first three of the following were suggested by the agents themselves:— (1) The isolation of the Lummi allowed them to slip out of the control of the agency. (2) The opposition of the old people undermined the agency's work. (50) CIA-AR, 1889, p. 288. (51) CIA-AR, 1884, pp. 298-299; 1891, p. 459. 1954 The Lummi Indians 77 (3) The attraction of other pursuits, particularly hop-picking, took people away from the reservations during the season when they should have been farming. The following quotations will illustrate some of these views:— One of the largest and naturally most fertile of the five reservations is the Lummi, but, being more remote and less accessible from the agency than are the other, the same discipline cannot easily be maintained with these Indians—exposed to the evil influence of whites and Canadian Indians—as with those on other reservations. They are more independent and show less inclination to cultivate their land than do the Indians of most of the reserves, though not a few of the younger men have industriously cultivated their several holdings and have comfortable farm-homes. For the most part, however, they engage in fishing, sealing and logging.52 And speaking of all Puget Sound Indians, not just the Lummi:— The Indians, as a rule, are not systematic farmers. Farming is with them the incident and not the business of everyday life. Some of them, the more thrifty and industrious, have well-cultivated farms and comfortable houses, and are anxious to have their children educated. They generally live like white people. Those, however, are the exception. A large majority spend most of their time in their canoes, fishing, especially during the salmon season. In the summer they are absent most of the time picking berries. In early fall, with few exceptions, all, little and big, young and old, go to the hop fields, where they meet old friends from all over the sound and east of the mountains. Here they drink, gamble, and, as they say, have a good time generally. This annual pilgrimage to the hop fields is very demoralizing and positively injurious; but as it has been their custom for many years, and always permitted by former agents, I did not feel justified in interfering with what they seem to regard as one of their vested rights. From close observation I am satisfied that the greatest obstacle to progress and to the advancement of the young Indian is the old Indian. He still clings to his old superstitions and cherishes secretly the old traditions and teaching of his savage ancestors. He is opposed to sending his children to school; creates all the dissatisfaction and distrust that he can secretly foment in the child's mind; interferes with the agency physician in the treatment of patients and does whatever he can in the two months of vacation to neutralize the good effect of the ten months' school session. With his disappearance from the scene of action, a more rapid and marked advance will take place among the younger Indians.53 (4) To the attraction of hop-picking I would add the attraction of reef-netting for sockeye. This activity became a source of cash as well as food about 1891, when the canneries began buying fish. And after the Lummi lost their locations, some went to work for the canneries. (5) A log-jam caused by a boom at the mouth of the Nooksack River made it necessary for people to go several miles up-stream before » (52) CIA-AR, 1891, p. 459. (53) CIA-AR, 1895, p. 319. 78 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. they could cross to go to market. This was not only a deterrent to intercourse between Lummi and the neighbouring white communities, but also resulted eventually in the destruction of Old Lummi Village. (6) A further factor in the decline in agricultural production may have been in the difficulties that were arising over the inheritance of allotments. These difficulties are mentioned in the reports of 1890 and 1891. Much later, in 1914, the agent Buchanan wrote that cases had been accumulating for years, and that land had lain idle because its ownership could not be determined.54 (7) A final factor in the decline of agriculture and what was perhaps a general cultural decline may have lain in the conflict that had arisen between the two controlling forces, church and state, and the effect this conflict must have had upon the Lummi. Whatever the truth of the following statement, it certainly indicates that there was such a conflict; this is from the school-teacher's report of 1902:— A serious obstacle to the intellectual progress is, I fear, the presence of the priest [Father Boulet] under whose teachings they [the Lummi] are. He is opposed to Government schools in general and does what he can to influence the Indians against them and to prevent their patronizing such schools.55 This conflict must surely have had an effect upon the Lummi. Since the first settlement no doubt their newly acquired values were under constant attack from what the agent Buchanan later called the " vicious and meddlesome white man " as well as from the most conservative of their own group. Now it appeared that the two chief white exponents of the new values—the agent and the priest—themselves disagreed. Why then, especially in the face of other difficulties, should one be a sober, pious, industrious, literate farmer? To make an even more generalized suggestion, it may be that the Lummi were, or at least appeared to be, sober, pious, and industrious in the 1870's and '80's because a new cultural pattern had developed which permitted it, but that this cultural pattern was one which could not survive in the face of changes going on around it. Probably the worst blows the Lummi have suffered since the 1850's were the effects of the log-jam at the mouth of the river and of the building of the fish-traps at Point Roberts and Village Point, Lummi Island. I have already indicated the damage done by the log-jam. The effect of the traps was to block all the principal reef-net locations so as to make them difficult or impossible to use. In 1895 the Government filed (54) Buchanan (1914), MS. (55) CIA-AR, 1902, p. 362. 1954 The Lummi Indians 79 suit for the Indians against the companies concerned. The agent reported the decision, which was reached two years later:— The suits instituted by direction of the honorable Attorney-General in the interest of these Indians, one for the obstruction of the Nooksack River for navigation purposes by the Fairhaven Lumber [Land?] Company, the other against the Alaska Packing Company [Alaska Packers Association?] for obstruction of the fishing privileges of Indians, have both been decided against the Indians in the United States district court for Washington. These cases are still pending an appeal to the United States circuit court. Meanwhile the navigation of the Nooksack River is practically closed by an immense accumulation of driftwood caused by the obstructions placed near the mouth of the river by the Fairhaven Lumber Company, the current of the river having been deflected from the east to the west bank thereof, expending its full force against and overflowing the lowlands of the Lummi Reservation upon which is located the government day school building and the Indian village; and the Alaska Packing Company and other cannery companies have practically appropriated all the best fishing grounds at Point Roberts and Village Point, where the Lummi Indians have been in the habit of fishing from time immemorial. The State legislature, at its last session, passed an act imposing a tax upon all persons fishing with nets in its waters, and at the same time prohibiting persons using nets from fishing within 240 feet of any fish trap. The average Indian regards the decisions of the courts and the recent legislation of the State as especially directed against him, and no amount of explanation on my part is sufficient to convince him to the contrary.56 SINCE 1900 During the years before the First World War the Lummi saw the school system pass completely out of the hands of the church (1901). The agency finally straightened out the tangled lines of heirship of a number of unused allotments, though more accumulated. Some Lummi found themselves able to lease their lands, and some were even declared competent to sell if they chose to. A couple of allotments were sold because of a lack of agreement among the heirs. Also some of the Lummis made successful stands against the Fish and Game Commission's attempt to apply its rules to the reservation. There also began an open conflict of religions. About 1910 the Shakers first made converts in the area; these were the followers of John Slocum, a Puget Sound prophet whose immediate disciples synthesized native and Christian practices.57 In 1912 spirit dancing took a first step toward becoming legal. From 1912tol917the Lummi held an annual " potlatch," a picnic and clambake. It was to commemorate the victory of the Lummi over (56) CIA-AR, 1897, pp. 296-297. (57) Gunther (1944). 80 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. the Yukulta at Gooseberry Point, in, according to William McCluskey's calculations, 1820, and presumably to make money on the crowds of whites who came from Bellingham to see the show. For the picnic some old dances and songs were revived and in some cases revised. Some features perhaps not originally Lummi, such as the sxwaixwei mask and dance, were added. Between the wars the Lummi Reservation saw a considerable increase in population, from 472 in 1921 to 632 in 1932. In 1930 a dyke was completed around most of the " flats," the delta land which is the best soil on the reservation. In the early 1930's State schools became open to Lummi children. And during the 1930's the Lummi rejected, while the Swinomish and Tulalip people accepted, the Indian Reorganization Act. After the river washed away Old Lummi Village in the 1890's, some of the people moved their buildings down to Fish Point. This did not last as a settlement, however, and for some years there was no village on the river. Then, I believe in the 1930's, fishermen began building shacks on the banks of the new river-course, now off the reservation. In time a strip of land on each side was bought as tribal property, some improvements were made, and this is the present " River Village." THE FREEING OF THE POWER SONGS In 1914 Dr. Charles Buchanan, the agent at Tulalip, wrote:— So far as is generally known the old Indian dances are obsolete. They are not generally seen so far as any public knowledge of them, at least, is concerned. They are of interest only as steps in the past history and evolution of the race (in which sense they may be considered, in a certain sense, as historic records). The children in the school are taught to regard these ancient dancing practices as stages and incidents of a barbarism that is past, though they are stages experienced by all primitive and uncivilized peoples. They are therefore indicative of lack of progress and lack of desire for progress and improvement. They are never seriously given or seriously seen any more. There has grown up at Tulalip a local Indian holiday, the anniversary of the treaty, January 22nd, which we term Treaty Day and, in a sense, Old Folks Day. That day is considered a page out of the history of the past, brought into the present for purposes of comparison and of historical comparison. Indian history is not written; therefore it can only be exemplified by oral tradition or by dramatization in the form of what is now popularly given under the designation of pageantry. In this spirit and with this in view, we often reproduce at Tulalip many of the old Indian customs, practices, games, etc., on Treaty Day as a portion of its pageantry, but in no more serious sense than this.58 (58) Buchanan (1914), MS., December 1, p. 17. 1954 The Lummi Indians 81 The old dances were, of course, not obsolete, but, as was probably generally known, had merely gone underground because of the Government's policy of suppression. According to several Lummi informants, Buchanan freed the power songs on Treaty Day only, for three years, then forbade them again. They were later freed as far as the Lummi were concerned through the efforts of John Alexis. At Tulalip Mrs. William Shelton described the events there as in part the result of her husband's diplomacy:— The Treaty Day celebration started because the agent Buchanan wanted to have a celebration of the anniversary of the signing of the treaty. The first time he tried it a number of people said that they were not going to celebrate the occasion upon which they lost their lands, etc., etc. Buchanan than asked William Shelton how he could manage to interest people in making it a holiday. William suggested that they give a show imitating the old skala'litut dances, and the agent agreed to let them do it. The first year they had it in the schoolhouse. They collected about fifty dollars to imitate a potlatch, and Johnny Fomsby sang and gave it away. A few others danced. They invited the Swinomish for this. Because this was in the school building the children were not fed enough [?], so William said that he would build an old-fashioned house for the following year. So Buchanan said he would permit it and provided the lumber. William made the posts and had two fellows build it. This time they invited the Lummi as well as the Swinomish. This was 1913 when the smokehouse was built, the second year that they had the dances on Treaty Day. The Swinomish built their smokehouse the same year and used it to practice in before the Treaty Day celebration. The Lummi built theirs just after William built his. The Lummi smokehouse was on Jack Pierre's place. Measles broke out about the time for the celebration and Buchanan stopped it for one year because he was afraid that the measles would spread among the children. So that year the Swinomish went to work and put it on. Since then they have done so. The old people here had died so William let the Swinomish go ahead and put it on. Mrs. Shelton's daughter, Mrs. Harriet Williams, added that her father had written to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and also, she thought, to the Secretary of the Interior asking that the Indians be given the right to perform their old dances. I do not know whether this was before the first Treaty Day show or after the subsequent prohibition; perhaps it was the latter. The Johnny Fomsby mentioned by Mrs. Shelton was the Upper Skagit shaman whose fife-history Collins recorded.59 She gives his version of what happened verbatim, and unfortunately, I think, without comment or analysis. The gist of it seems to be that it was Fornsby's (59) Collins (1949). 82 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. own skw3di'lic power that forced Buchanan to free the spirit dances. A man was lost in the woods in the winter-time at Tulalip. Fornsby's version holds that Buchanan said, " If John finds that man, I'll let them use all the power they want and have a time." Fornsby made skwadi'lic I boards " of cedar-bark, and they led him toward the man. He did not find him, but he gave up within 80 yards of where a logger found him in the spring. Then Buchanan gave the songs back. At the first performance, in the school-house, Fornsby started with heyida, a wealth power, followed by others, including John Skudab with q'wa'xq'9d. In the middle Fornsby sang skw9diTic with the boards. The school-teachers were frightened because the boards got rough to show their power. That is how we got Treaty Day. Dr. Buchanan didn't want the Indians to have the old time way. But that time they saw how the Indians fixed power. And he saw the guarding power [sk^adi'lic] shake right in the room, running around the school building. That is why those folks have a time now on Treaty Day.60 It is difficult to say, from the evidence at hand, just what Buchanan's motives were. Mrs. Williams believed that they were more or less those he expressed in the above quotation from him, to show the children what the old culture had to offer so that they might see better the contrast between it and what they were learning in school. The effect may not have been what he desired; Mrs. Williams was a school-child herself at the time and remarked on how thrilled the children were to hear the drums as they were marched over to where the show was put on. Mrs. John Brown at Lummi said merely that Buchanan " got inquisitive about the old potlatch " and asked to see what it was like. Buchanan certainly was interested in learning about the old culture, as his writings indicate, so this may have been a motive also. There is a third, though less likely, possibility. The Shakers had begun making gains at Tulalip not long before, and in the same 1914 report quoted above Buchanan roundly denounces Shakerism as a disguised form of the old " tamanumus " religion.61 Informants say that he even tried to suppress the Shakers for a few years. It is barely possible that he freed the spirit songs, hoping to fight fire with fire. It seems likely that the power songs would have come out into the open in time regardless of Buchanan. There were old people who had sung in secret or away from the reservation who needed support from younger people, and there were middle-aged people who had never sung (60) Ibid., pp. 323-324. (61) Buchanan (1914), MS. 1954 The Lummi Indians 83 but might have in the old life and felt they needed to now. But the Treaty Day shows may have given more impetus to the revival. Several of the people Wike62 worked with at Swinomish told her that they had first become aware of their powers while mimicking the old dancers for the first Treaty Day shows. Perhaps Mrs. John Brown expressed Buchanan's role accurately when she said, " Buchanan seemed to unwind the thing." At Lummi, perhaps until about 1920, it was evidently necessary to fight both Buchanan's restrictions and the opposition of the local priest. Here John Alexis was a man who needed to sing. His wife had died and he wandered around mourning her. He found in the Bible a passage, " They shall have dreams of dreams," so he wrote Washington saying that the power songs come from dreams and thus the Bible justifies them. He argued with the agent that not all the old dances consisted of cutting oneself with knives and drinking blood, and that these would be left in the past. He invited two priests and a Protestant minister to a feast for spirit dancing and convinced them that it was " just a social gathering." THE LUMMI IN 1953 The Lummi tribe exists at this time both as a separate social entity and as a separate political entity. Its separate existence as a social entity springs in part from the physical and cultural differences that exist between the Lummi Indians and their white neighbours, but perhaps also in part from their political separation. The separate existence of the Lummi as a political entity springs from the fact that their land, the Lummi Reservation, is in a special status, subject to restrictions not applicable to adjacent lands and not directly under the jurisdiction of local and State governments. The total area of the Lummi Reservation is 12,502 acres, of which (in 1950) 2,338 acres are held in fee patent and the rest restricted. The present population is 834. All persons born in the United States are citizens and have the right to vote, but those living on the reservation are subject to restrictions regarding liquor, and those on restricted land are subject to restrictions regarding the use and disposal of that land and enjoy freedom from paying taxes on that land. Membership in the tribe is determined by the tribe. The business of the tribe is conducted according to a written constitution by a tribal council. The tribal council consists of twelve mem- (62) Wike (1941). 84 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. bers, one of which, the chief, is a fife member and the rest of which are elected to three-year terms. The terms are so arranged that two or three expire annually. Elections are by secret ballot; all adult members of the tribe may vote. However, either the Lummi are well satisfied with the council or else interest in tribal politics may not run very high; it is said that at the last election only forty or fifty persons voted, and the same persons have been in office for some time. Since the death of his father-in-law, Chief Kwina, in 1926, August Martin has been the chief of the Lummi tribe. He is now advanced in years and does not participate much in tribal business; his main function seems to be that of tribal historian and genealogist. If any question of membership in the tribe comes up, it is submitted to his judgment, and his truly remarkable memory for family relationships usually settles it. After each election the council members elect their officers. At present they are: Norbert James, chairman; Earl Thomas, vice-chairman; Joseph Hillaire, secretary; and Victor Jones, treasurer. The council also appoints committees; there are standing committees on health and education, and others appointed to handle specific matters to be discussed with agencies of the county or state governments. The tribal council also handles tribal property and funds. In addition to the tribal council, there are four other public officials—a judge and a policeman, nominated by the council and commissioned by the Indian Bureau, and a road supervisor and a dyke supervisor, hired by the Indian Bureau. All of the dry land on the reservation was allotted, so that the only lands remaining as tribal property are the tide-lands around the reservation. These afford some income for the tribe; areas are leased as booming-grounds, oyster-beds, and resort beaches in front of some of the allotments that have been sold to non-Indians. Additional income is derived from the sale to non-Indians of permits to hunt on the reservation, and the sale to members of the tribe of permits to fish in the tribally owned waters of Bellingham Bay and the mouth of the Nooksack River. The tribal income is used for the maintenance of the tribal cemetery and for the salary of the policeman. Fines levied by the judge in cases tried on the reservation also go into the tribal fund. The Federal Government, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is ultimately responsible for the use and disposition of land on the reservation, for the maintenance of law and order, and for health and education among its people. However, the Bureau has been gradually withdrawing from direct contact and delegating several of its responsibilities to 1954 The Lummi Indians 85 State and local bodies. It delegates law and order in part to the Indians themselves. For education it has a contract with the State, which in turn deals with the school district, and for health it has a contract with the county. The Lummi have, therefore, a broad range of relationships with government; they have to deal with the Government of the United States, the Government of the State of Washington, Whatcom County, and the local school district of Ferndale. At one time a sub-agent resided at Lummi, responsible to the agent at Tulalip. At present the various agencies of the western part of the State have been combined to form a Western Washington Agency, with offices at Everett. The Agency still has a small lot between the school and the church, but the house where the sub-agent lived is rented to the road supervisor. A small office also stands on the lot and is used by a representative of the Bureau who comes to deal with land questions. The inheritance, lease, or sale of restricted land must be approved by the Bureau. Inheritance follows the laws of the State of Washington, which specify which kinsman inherits the property of a deceased person, but there is still a great backlog of cases where the kin are too numerous for easy settlement. In such cases the land may be leased and the rent divided among the heirs, but sometimes there are scores of heirs, so that each receives only a few cents a year. The clerical work required of the Bureau for this is, of course, enormous, while the benefit to the Indians is slight. A few allotments have had a number of heirs who could agree to a sale, so that these have been sold and are no longer owned by Indians. However, two pieces of property that have become valuable as resort areas have been separated in this manner; their sale was perhaps the best solution to the heirship problem at the time, but some regret is felt to-day over the loss. About 1907 the Indian Bureau acquired the site of the present school and built on it. The present plant was built between 1929 and 1936. It includes a five-room school building and a gymnasium and cafeteria. For a time the reservation was a school district by itself with its own school board, but in 1941 it was consolidated with the Ferndale School District. At present most children go through grade school at the Lummi school and those who go on to high school go to Ferndale. Two school buses run through the reservation. In the fall of 1952 there were 110 pupils and five teachers in the Lummi grade school; ninety- three pupils finished the year. About thirty were attending junior high or high school at Ferndale. A few go to the Assumption School (Catho- Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. he) in Bellingham, and a few, mainly those without parental care, go to the Indian boarding-school at Chemawa. Like all public schools, the Ferndale schools are supported by taxes. To compensate for the absence of tax money from Indian property, the Federal Government allocates funds to the State Governments, which in turn apportion them out to the school districts, depending on the number of children of Indians on tax-free land attending. The Ferndale School District therefore receives money from Olympia for the Lummi children. In addition, the Indian Bureau hires a full-time caretaker, Aloysius Charles, for the school plant on the reservation. One Lummi, Earl Thomas, is a member of the Ferndale District School Board. According to 1950 figures, sixty-five Lummi were high-school graduates. The figure is no doubt higher now. At least one Lummi has a university degree, in mechanical engineering, and several have graduated from business colleges. Whatcom County maintains the main roads on the reservation, and the tribe, helped by the Indian Bureau, maintains the others. The road supervisor hired by the Bureau grades the tribal roads with the Bureau's road-grader; the same man also grades on the Tulalip Reservation. The county is also responsible for health and sanitation on the reservation, as elsewhere in the county. The county health nurse makes regular calls, but in addition the Bureau pays a doctor from Bellingham to make weekly calls. Lummi patients can be admitted to the county hospital as well as to the Bureau's Cushman Hospital at Tacoma. The county administers social security, so old-age pensioners deal with the office in Bellingham. All citizens of the State over 65 are eligible for an old-age pension; Indians are not excepted. A series of lawsuits during the first quarter of the century helped to define the rights of Indians in the matter of fishing and hunting. After the trap-men took the reef-net locations off the reservation, the Fish and Game Department attempted to enforce its regulations on the reservation in the interest of conservation. However, the Indians won the right to regulate hunting and fishing on the reservation and in the adjacent waters. The present situation seems to be that Indians have no rights beyond those of other citizens in the matter of fishing and hunting off the reservations, with the exception that they do not have to buy licences; instead, they are provided by the Indian Bureau with cards identifying them as Indians. On the reservation they are not subject to State game regulations, but the Lummi tribal council attempts 1954 The Lummi Indians 87 to enforce its own regulations, keeping them in accord with those of the State. But it is my impression that neither party is wholly satisfied with this arrangement. The present policeman on the reservation is Joseph Washington. He is on duty at dances, at the annual carnival, and such occasions. He is paid by the hour by the tribal council out of tribal funds. According to the present judge, Aloysius Charles, the great majority of offences are " drunk and disorderly." His records were not available, but it is his impression that offenders are more often middle aged than young persons. Liquor, and more often beer, is easily obtained from legitimate dealers; "the bootleggers that used to be in Marietta must have all gone to the old folks' home." When a case comes up before Mr. Charles, he gives the accused his choice of trial on the reservation, in the County Court in Bellingham, or in the Federal Court in Seattle. Actually the County Court probably has no legal jurisdiction. Most minor offenders are evidently satisfied with local justice; any more serious offence would be sent on anyway. There are only two recent thefts on record; one is being investigated by the F.B.I. The only case of the use of narcotics known was the occurrence of a couple of marihuana parties, which were blamed on a Mexican migrant labourer. In the only recent murder on the reservation, both parties were Indians but not Lummi; the reservation policeman made the arrest and called the County Sheriff to take the prisoner to the county jail, from which he was taken to Seattle for trial. According to figures made available by the Western Washington Agency, the Lummi number at present 834, some fifty of whom live off the reservation. The population on the reservation is scattered over the whole area but with a concentration at the River Village. Probably most of those listed as off the reservation are living in the adjacent town of Marietta. Farming is no longer an important activity of the Lummi. Almost the only land now cultivated on the reservation is that under the Lummi dyke, and of this perhaps three-fourths is leased to white farmers. On the higher land of the peninsula, allotments that were good farms fifty years ago are now covered with second growth. Beef cattle and sheep run free on the peninsula, but stock that requires more constant attention is rare. Undoubtedly the major activity of the Lummi to-day is fishing. Most important are purse-seining and gill-netting. There are from 88 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. twenty-five to thirty purse-seine boats owned by Lummi fishermen, each manned by a crew of about seven, hired from the reservation. These boats operate during the fishing season out in the near-by channels and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the southern end of Georgia Strait; their owners moor them at the Bellingham boat havens. There are many more gill-net boats, each operated by one or two men in Bellingham Bay or the Nooksack River. One man, who is perhaps the most prosperous on the reservation, owns three purse-seiners, a fleet of gill-netters, and also acts as fish-buyer in the River Village. Three or four men have traps in the tide-flats, now illegal off the reservation, but each of these is probably no more productive than a gill-net. A few men troll in the winter with outboard motors, but not commercially. Reef-netting, once the principal fishing method of the Lummi, is now almost entirely in the hands of whites. Reef-netting declined after the traps were built by whites on the reef-net locations in the 1890's and then made a come-back after the traps were outlawed in the 1930's. Now the waters of Legoe Bay off Lummi Island are covered with reef- nets during the sockeye season. Both gear-owners and hired fishermen are organized, and the use of locations is regulated by the gear-owners' association. There are no Lummi gear-owners, but a few Lummi work on the gears of others. Industrial work off the reservation probably ranks second to fishing. During the fishing season many women work at the canneries in Bellingham while their menfolk are out on the purse-seiners. Besides this a few men work in lumbering and a few as carpenters for contractors. A weaving establishment on the reservation operated by a white couple hires several young Lummi women. Several young women have also been employed at secretarial work. There has been no noticeable seasonal migration to the berry and hop fields from the Lummi Reservation since the 1930's. Native crafts have hardly survived. Only two or three women are now able to make baskets, and even they do not regularly do so. One man has attempted to carve for sale, but his style, while in better taste than that of many commercial carvings seen elsewhere, is still more original than aboriginal. The Catholic church still stands where it was moved after the disintegration of the Old Lummi Village. Father Conger, of Ferndale, celebrates mass here, at Ferndale, and at Blaine every Sunday, alternating the hours. The majority of Lummi probably regard themselves as 1954 The Lummi Indians Catholic, although many do not attend church regularly. There is also a small Shaker church, which is not used regularly, and a Church of the Nazarene, which was built about 1951 and is rather active. A few people belong to a Pentecostal church in Bellingham. Although the old smoke-house fell down about 1951, spirit dancing is carried on in private homes, and there has been some talk of building a new smokehouse. Perhaps half a dozen Lummi served in the United States armed forces during the First World War. During the Second World War there were between twenty and thirty. Six were killed in the Second World War and one in the Korean conflict. After the Second World War an American Legion post was organized on the reservation and named for John Kittles, one of the casualties. Its first commander was a veteran of the First World War. The combined membership of the post and its auxiliary is eighty-two. The post is attempting to raise money for a hall by sponsoring an annual carnival. In the meantime it meets in the school gymnasium, where it also gives dances (of the customary white ballroom type). In addition to the American Legion, there are several other associations—the Altar Society, a Catholic women's organization of fifty-five members that attends to the needs of the church; the Helping Hand, a mothers' club of twenty-six that does welfare work; a Boy Scout troop of thirty; and a Parent-Teacher Association. During the winter of 1952-53 an unemployed group was organized with about seventy-five members; this may only reflect seasonal unemployment. Strictly speaking, there are no longer any tribally sponsored events. In the first decade of the century the Lummi still had an annual clean-up of the cemetery, to which everyone came with picnic lunches; to-day a committee hires men to do the work at an hourly wage. The annual spirit-dance gatherings at the smoke-house, which began officially in the teens and lasted until the smoke-house fell down, were tribally sponsored events in that nearly everyone came, most families brought food for a meal for the guests, and guests from other tribes were formally invited and sometimes their transportation was provided. At one time several families pooled their food for each of the tables for the guests; more recently all the families that brought food put it together in the kitchen for equal distribution to all tables. To-day extra-tribal guests are invited, but to smaller gatherings at private homes. The annual picnic in June at Gooseberry Point is the old carnival held in the teens revived in 1946 by the American Legion post. It is 90 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. a three-day affair called the " Stommish Water Carnival"; the name is the native word for "warrior," the choice probably being based on the fact that it is held on what is believed to be the anniversary of a battle with the Yukulta. The greater part of the grounds is occupied by carnival concessions run by whites. The Indian contribution is threefold: Lummi women have a salmon-bake; there are canoe races between local canoes and outsiders invited from both sides of the International Boundary; and there are performances by an Indian dance troupe, " The Children of the Setting Sun," organized by Joseph Hillaire. While the songs and dances of this group are of local origin and are often well performed, their costumes are almost entirely in Plains style, and behind the dance platform stands a canvas tepee painted with figures of equally exotic totem- poles. These touches are presumably concessions to the picture most whites and even many young Indians have of what "real Indians" look like. Two features of the Stommish Water Carnival suggest that it has some of the functions of a community or tribal endeavour; first, all of the Lummi labour is donated freely regardless of membership in the Legion; second, the guest canoe crews are fed during their stay and given money for gasoline to bring them to the grounds, even though this expense has cut down the profits to the extent that the Legion still has only a foundation for its projected hall. Perhaps we have here two of the functions of the old potlatch in maintaining the group's unity and maintaining its status vis-a-vis other groups. These were undoubtedly functions of the tribally sponsored spirit-dance gatherings in the smoke-house, and if a new smoke-house is built, it will be to carry on these functions as much as religious ones. In material surroundings the Lummi are nearly identical with their white neighbours. Their dress is the same. Their houses are similar, though probably a greater number are unpainted and without modern conveniences. Most houses are near enough to the highway to have electricity, but far fewer have running water in the house, and inside plumbing is rare. Most families have automobiles and radios, a few have refrigerators, and in the summer of 1953 at least two had television sets. A few have telephones. Many, perhaps most, subscribe to the Bellingham newspaper. As among their white neighbours, the houses that the more prosperous are building to-day are smaller than those built by their more prosperous grandparents, but, unlike their white neighbours, they show little corresponding tendency toward smaller families. Families tend to 1954 The Lummi Indians 91 be large and the houses crowded by white standards. Like their white neighbours, they live in conjugal family units, and consequently mothers have less help with the children from grandparents, uncles, and aunts than their grandparents had. But among the Lummi, relatives are usually close at hand, older children are taught to look after younger children, and all are taught self-reliance. Lummi mothers to-day have their babies at the hospital. There are no survivals of native observances surrounding birth. Lummi parents care for their children about as their white neighbours care for theirs, except perhaps that Lummi parents appear, to the whites at least, to treat their children more casually. English is the language of most homes, especially those without old people. Most children probably learn something of the native language through association with persons of their grandparents' generation and by being present at gatherings where speeches in the native language are made. Nothing appears to correspond to the old ttaining and questing for spirit power. Nothing appears to correspond to the old puberty rite. Marriages to-day are entirely based on the choice of the couple themselves. Dating, dancing, and driving about in old jalopies are probably as much a part of courtship here as among local whites. Weddings have neither the exchange of bride-price and dowry of the aboriginal culture nor the feast with fiddling and square dancing of sixty years ago. However, as one informant pointed out, the shower for the bride has become an important occasion for gift-giving; it may be held in the gym, and several cars may be required to take home the presents. Also, Lummi parents are perhaps more inclined to give property to the young couple to start them off with than are white parents in this area. It is my impression that the white attitude toward little children is "nothing is too good for them," but toward the marriage of a grown child, " Well, if you think you're old enough to get married, go ahead, but don't expect any help from us; you're on your own." But the Lummi attitude may rather be, toward little children, "Let big sister take care of little brother, and don't worry about big sister; she can take care of herself," and toward the marriage of a grown child, " We'd better give them part of the place or a new car; what will people think of us if our children are poor? " The difference, if this impression is correct, is probably one of identification of parents and children; white parents may feel that they are judged by their small children, but after these have reached maturity they can no longer be held responsible for them, while 92 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. Lummi parents may feel that small children are not yet important enough to add anything to the family prestige but that grown children are. One gets the impression that marriages among the Lummi are less stable than among their white neighbours. While there are a number of couples who have spent their entire adult lives together, there are also many persons, both old and young, who have been married several times. One informant attributed the frequency of divorce among the younger people to the unwillingness of both young men and women to make concessions in trying to adjust to one another. Marriages seem to have been not very stable in pre-white times as well, but probably more were broken because of conflicts in family loyalties than because of individual stubbornness. While the Catholic Church may well take credit for many of the stable marriages, its intolerance of divorce has meant that those who marry for the first time marry in the church but must, if they cannot make it last, marry outside the church, so that second and third marriages are often simply common-law marriages. Native personal names are still used on formal occasions, though not everyone has one. Recently a young man was given his great-grandfather's inherited name by his grandmother. The grandmother invited about thirty persons to dinner and after the dinner asked the chief to explain the young man's right to the name; that is, to give his genealogy back to the earliest known bearer of the name. This the chief did, going back six generations to the great-grandfather of the young man's greatgrandfather, who had first borne the name. After this demonstration of the inherited right, the grandmother gave out 50 cents each to the guests, for their having witnessed the taking of the name, and a little more to the chief. While children have not been sent on spirit quests for many years, there are one or two new dancers at Lummi each year. Some are persons in middle age and some are young persons; the two young men who were new dancers in the winter of 1952-53 are said to know very little of the native language. The songs that possess the modern dancers are believed to have come unsought as a result of grief or perhaps just chance contact; some are the songs of deceased relatives. New dancers—that is, those dancing their first year—wear a mountain-goat wool head-dress over ordinary clothes and carry a decorated staff. After the first year, costumes differ; those with warrior songs may have hair head-dresses and shirts resembling those of the aboriginal warrior, while those with 1954 The Lummi Indians 93 other songs may simply add a little red or black face paint to their ordinary dress. In their reaction to death the Lummi preserve a good deal of native culture. Since the 1930's they have been required by law to hire licensed undertakers. This has meant that native " undertakers," really a class of ritualists, no longer care for the body, and that native-made coffins are no longer used. It also means that more money is spent but less remains within the community. Wakes are, of course, still held before the funeral, and the majority of funerals are Catholic; even if the deceased has not attended church in years, the Altar Society tries to see that he gets a Catholic burial. Immediately after the funeral, relatives and friends come to the house of the family of the deceased, many bringing food or money. The family then makes a meal for the guests with the food and then or later pays those who helped with the funeral. The family may also repay those who brought contributions to the feast. The clothes and personal effects of the deceased are burned, perhaps before the funeral, except for a few things saved to give to relatives as keepsakes. Some families also burn food for the ghost of the deceased either before or after the funeral and again at later intervals. The name of the deceased should not be uttered in the presence of near kin. I believe the feeling for this avoidance is strong; I once observed a Lummi woman whose father had died the week before deliberately and with obvious emotion pick up an envelope with his name written on it and replace it on the table upside down. This woman also put away all pictures of her father and said that she would not take them out until she could afford to display one publicly at a winter spirit-dance gathering and pay the guests to look at it. This last custom is more frequently followed on Vancouver Island and on the Fraser River and may have been suggested by her Fraser River husband. The custom is probably an old one, with the modern photograph as substitute for a wooden effigy, used in the last century on Vancouver Island; the effigy may have been a post-Christian substitute for the body itself, which was in pre- white times taken out of the grave-box for rewrapping. I have, however, seen the spirit-dance costume of a man dead a number of years displayed in the Lummi smoke-house at a spirit-dance gathering; at the same time his spirit song was sung by members of his family. Missing, I believe, from the modern Lummi practice is any kind of purification of the mourners; it may be that the Catholic funeral service has made this unnecessary, but the offering of food to the dead is certainly 94 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. not entirely in keeping with Christian notions regarding the destiny of the human soul. Another expense required by a modern funeral is for the headstone. Though some stones in the Lummi cemetery are rather large, they are simple in design and in as good taste as those seen in white cemeteries. There seems to be some tendency to use tombstones as a means of exhibiting one's family's status. Recently several stones have been erected for important ancestors dead seventy-five years or more, in one or two instances with purely hypothetical dates on them. Also, several stones for relatives of the last chief bear statements of the relationships though they are not those that ordinarily appear on the tombstones of whites. In their attitudes toward sickness and death, some of the older Lummi, if not most of them, differ from their white neighbours. Some informants, at least, have been very quick to attribute both illnesses and deaths to supernatural causes, or to natural causes resulting from someone's hostility. Supernatural causes include deliberate attack with shaman's power or ritualist's spells, accidental loss or displacement of the soul, accidental loss or displacement of the guardian spirit. I do not know of any active shamans or ritualists at Lummi at the present moment, but shamans were active until very recently and are believed to be active still in other communities. There are a number of spirit dancers, all of whom have some power. Chronic illness, especially in the winter, may be attributed to possession by a spirit that desires the sick person to become a new dancer and sing its song. Soul loss may result from accidental contact with a spirit dancer or from theft by ghosts. According to one informant, the Shakers have inflicted injuries especially on shamans by capturing their powers and damaging them. One recent death, which according to hospital records was caused by pneumonia, was believed by the relatives of the deceased to have been caused by his having been poisoned by his common-law wife. These attitudes may not be found among the younger Lummi, but their existence among the older people suggests as much as anything that a good deal of the native world-view has survived. To-day Lummi are in direct contact with whites on many jobs, in schools above grade school, and in some churches. This contact is without hostility. It is true that many whites in the area regard Indians as socially inferior, but overt discrimination seems to be rare. There are no strong barriers to casual social contact. White girls have occa- 1954 The Lummi Indians 95 sionally come with Lummi girl friends to the American Legion dances. There have been a few mixed marriages in every generation, both of Lummi women to white men and of Lummi men to white women. Two or three of the leading Lummi men have white wives, and two or three Lummi women have white husbands living on the reservation. COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS The purpose of this paper has been to present some of the main trends in the culture changes that have taken place among the Coast Salish and particularly among the Lummi since the arrival of the whites. This is in a sense both an acculturation and a community study, though not a full or detailed one. It attempts an historical survey of a sort perhaps basic to any investigation of the processes involved in cultural change. A total approach ought to include a considerable body of quantitative data both on economics and family structure and on opinions and attitudes. It ought also to include the kinds of generalizations of character that can be made on the basis of numerous life- histories. Yet I feel that such a study must hava the kind of material that I have presented here as a basis; to understand where a people is to-day, one must know something of whence they came and by what route. Moreover, I feel that the material presented here ought itself to be set alongside comparable material from other Coast Salish tribes. In the preceding pages I have dealt with a number of aspects of Lummi culture, subsistence, government, religion, marriage, etc. In several of these aspects of culture rather clear sequences of forms are distinguishable. Let me briefly summarize some of them. In subsistence activities we have seen farming adopted shortly after the beginning of intensive contact and make, to judge from both the agents' reports and the informants' accounts, a spectacular rise and almost as spectacular a fall. The reasons for the fall have been discussed, but in retrospect I must also add that there has probably been a shift away from farming, at least subsistence farming, among local whites as well; farming is becoming a business in which many persons, including Indians, no longer wish to compete. Fishing, on the other hand, has persisted in one form or another, the sequence of reef-netting to gill-netting to gill-netting plus purse-seining being determined mainly by changes in white laws and the development of new techniques. Throughout, the Lummi have shown a tendency to divide the year among seasonal pursuits; perhaps fishing, or rather the habits of the salmon, Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. is still the principal determining factor. Seasonal berry and hop picking became popular for a time, but declined probably because of the greater attraction of fishing. The sequence might be summarized as (1) hunting, fishing, and gathering; (2) farming and fishing; (3) fishing, farming, and migratory labour; (4) fishing and semi-skilled labour. In political institutions the sequence has been (1) social control by other than separate political organs; (2) the appointed chief as an instrument of the agent, possibly plus the priest as a political power; (3) an elected council dealing with various levels of outside government. Non- political instruments of social control—that is, " public opinion," kinship bonds, etc.—have continued to exist, of course, modified by cultural change themselves. One might point out, along with changes in government, the sequence in public buildings—(1) smoke-house, (2) church and smoke-house, (3) gymnasium. In religion the sequence has been (1) native-belief system centring about the guardian-spirit concept; (2) the native system plus a Prophet Dance with a Supreme Being and greater group participation; (3) Catholicism with the native system underground; (4) diversification, with Catholicism as the orthodoxy, in competition with a revived spirit dancing, Shakerism as a compromise, and several revivalist Protestant sects. Individualism, implicit in the native system, may be the persistent feature here, yet diversity, like individualism, is typical of modern white society. In marriage the sequence has been (1) family-arranged alliance with exchange of bride-price and dowry and display of inherited privilege equivalent to wedding, later exchanges of food and wealth; (2) family- arranged alliances with bride-price and dowry, Catholic wedding, feast with square dancing, later exchanges of food and wealth; (3) free choice of mates, free choice of kind of wedding. Instability of marriages may be a persistent feature of native culture or may be simply a feature of rapid culture change. In death the sequence has been (1)) handling of corpse by ritualists, disposal in canoe or raised box, purification of mourners by ritualists, later display and rewrapping of remains, all services requiring public repayment; (2) handling by ritualists, Catholic service and burial, post- funeral feast, offerings for dead, later display of memento and payment of funeral debts; (3) handling of corpse by white undertaker, otherwise as in (2). A comparative study including several tribes would undoubtedly reveal similar sequences of forms in the various aspects of culture. It 1954 The Lummi Indians 97 might also show something of their interrelationships. Are any of the sequences inherent in the elements of culture involved, or have they been largely the result of chance factors on the local scene or historic events on a broader scale? Certainly each of the Coast Salish tribes has had its own post-white history. Let me indicate briefly what some of the differences have been. The nearest neighbours of the Lummi to the south were the Samish, who, like the Lummi, spoke the Straits language. According to the treaty the Samish were to have come on to the Lummi Reservation, but very few chose to do so. Instead they maintained themselves in an independent village on Samish Island until about 1875, when they were forced to move to Guemes Island. On Guemes they built a great native- style house divided into three segments, which held as permanent residents more than fifty people. Here the Samish held several potlatches and carried on spirit dancing and other native practices with little interference from whites. They were probably much more dependent on native subsistence techniques during this period than were the Lummi and upon seasonal employment with whites; I do not believe that they did any farming at all. About 1905 the Guemes village was abandoned, partly because the big house was falling down and the younger people preferred to live in small white-style houses, and probably partly because it was becoming more difficult to make a living there. Many of the Samish had ties with the Swinomish, so most of them moved on to the Swinomish Reservation. While they were not numerous, the Samish were probably influential in maintaining native culture in this area; two of the recent leaders in spirit-dancing on the Swinomish Reservation, Charley Edwards and Tommy Bobb, have been Samish. The post-white history of the Samish obviously presents a rather sharp contrast to that of the Lummi. South of the Samish are the Puget Sound-speaking Swinomish. Their territory became the reservation designated not only for themselves, but also for the Skagit and several up-river groups. In time many Indians from these other groups as well as from the Samish have come on to the Swinomish Reservation, where they have often continued to think of themselves as Skagit, Samish, or whatever. The Swinomish did not take to farming as readily as did the Lummi, and evidently did not experience any period of prosperity as the Lummi seem to have experienced in the latter part of the last century. In 1867, when the farmer Finkbonner wrote in praise of the Lummi as farmers and mentioned " friendly rela- Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. tions " with the whites, the agent McKenny, discouraged with the Swinomish, wrote of them:— The Indians of this island are without an employe [of the Indian Service], few in number, lazy and shiftless, and much degraded. Many whites have located near them, and all their vices are imitated without any of their virtues, if indeed they have any.63 Recent Swinomish history has also been different from that of the Lummi. In the 1930's the Swinomish Tribal Community was organized, establishing a tribally owned fish-trap, sawmill, and other enterprises.64 The people of the Swinomish Reservation have to-day considerably more communal property than do the Lummi; possibly because of this, possibly because of their diverse tribal origins, there also seems to be much more factionalism at Swinomish tfyan at Lummi. East of the Lummi in the Nooksack Valley are the Nooksack. They were expected to move on to the Lummi Reservation, but, like the Samish, they refused to do so and instead homesteaded land on the river in their aboriginal territory. Much of this land originally homesteaded has become public land allotments, tax-free but restricted. The Nooksack had a brief contact with Father Chirouse, but rejected him and later became Protestants. For a time they maintained their own Protestant school. While living off a reservation on Guemes Island meant relative isolation and retention of native culture for the Samish, it is my impression that living off the reservation has meant greater contact with whites and more rapid acculturation for the Nooksack. Whites have lived around them and among them, and early relations were evidently fairly good. Being an up-river people, they have been less able to continue with fishing as a major activity. But they have also had many contacts with Fraser River Indians, and what of the native speech that is still spoken among them is Fraser River Halkomelem rather than the original Nooksack language. On Vancouver Island the Sooke, Songish, and Saanich speak the same language as the Lummi and Samish, had the most similar native culture, and had roughly the same early relations with the whites. Since white settlement, however, they have been under a different administration. One of the most striking differences has been in the establishment of Indian reserves. In British Columbia the reserves are considerably smaller than the reservations in Washington, but far more numerous. (63) CIA-AR, 1867, p. 33. (64) Upchurch (1936) describes their reorganization. 1954 The Lummi Indians 99 Nearly every village-site, fishing location, and even camas-bed of any importance was made a reserve. Most native communities in British Columbia therefore escaped the forced removals that many Washington communities experienced. They were also undoubtedly able to maintain native subsistence methods for a longer period and perhaps to shift more gradually to white methods. But this policy in establishing reserves has also meant that no groups were left on the outside, in a more independent situation, like the Samish in Washington. The Songish, living within the City of Victoria, evidently became rather badly demoralized during the latter part of the last century. However, despite predictions of speedy extinction, they have survived, and both spirit dancing and the secret society are still important native complexes in their culture. The Saanich, being a larger group and living farther from the city, were probably subjected to fewer factors, other than those resulting from different administrations, as compared with the Lummi. A comparison of the post-white history of the Saanich and Lummi might be most rewarding in examining the results of these different policies. North of the Saanich were the Cowichan of the Cowichan Valley and several closely related communities on Kuper Island, at Westholme, and on Kulleet Bay. These communities are relatively populous, and among them spirit dancing and other elements of the native religion are undoubtedly more active than among any other Coast Salish group. These activities of the Cowichan may well have exerted a powerful influence on tribes as far south as the Swinomish in keeping spirit dancing alive. Like the Lummi, the Cowichan are said to have gone through a period of successful farming. Whether they have largely given up farming for similar reasons and whether or not they can make as successful a readaptation to fishing are questions that require further investigation. These few examples should indicate something of the variety of experiences that the Straits tribes and their immediate neighbours have undergone. Obviously valid generalizations cannot be made on the basis of the post-contact history of one tribe alone. It is in the hope that this description of the post-contact history of the Lummi can be used in comparative studies that this paper is offered. Wayne Suttles. Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. 100 Wayne Suttles Jan.-Apr. APPENDIX Bibliography of Source Material Used Barnett, H. G. 1938. "The Coast Salish of Canada," American Anthropologist, XL (1938), pp. 118-141. 1939. | Culture Element Distribution: LX, Gulf of Georgia Salish," University of Califoria, Anthropological Records, Vol. I, No. 5. Boas, Franz. 1889. I Notes on the Snanaimuq," American Anthropologist, 11(1889), pp. 321-328. 1890. "Second General Report on the Indians of British Columbia. I. The LkungEn," British Association for the Advancement of Science. Buchanan, Charles M. 1914. '"Annual Report, 1914, Tulalip Agency," MS., in the possession of Mr. Leon Stock, Marysville, Wash. Codere, Helen. 1950. Fighting with Property, New York, 1950, Monographs of the American Ethnological Society, XVIII. Collins, June McCormick. 1949. "John Fornsby: The Personal Document of a Coast Salish Indian," in Marian W. Smith (ed.), Indians in the Urban Northwest, New York, 1949, pp. 287-341. 1950. "The Growth of Class Distinctions and Political Authority among the Skagit Indians during the Contact Period," American Anthropologist, LII (1950), pp. 331-342. Curtis, Edward S. 1913. The North American Indian, Vol. LX, Coast Salish, Norwood, Mass., 1913. Drucker, Philip. 1939. " Rank, Wealth, and Kinship in Northwest Coast Society," American Anthropologist, XLI (1939), pp. 55-66. Duff, Wilson. 1952. The Upper Stalo Indians, Anthropology in British Columbia, Memoir No. 1, British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria, 1952. Gibbs, George. 1855. " Report on the Indian Tribes of the Territory of Washington," Pacific Railroad Report, Washington, D.C, 1855, Vol. I, pp. 402-436. Gunther, Erna. 1949. | The Shaker Religion of the Northwest," in Marian W. Smith (ed.), op. cit., pp. 37-76. 1954 The Lummi Indians 101 Hill-Tout, Charles. 1907. " Report on the Ethnography of the Southeastern Tribes of Vancouver Island, B.C.," Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, XXXVII (1907), pp. 306-374. Howay, F. W. 1942. " The Origin of the Chinook Jargon," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, VI (1942), pp. 225-250. Jacobs, Melville. 1932. " Notes on the Structure of Chinook Jargon," Language, VIII (1932), pp. 27-50. Jenness, Diamond. " The Saanich Indians of Vancouver Island," MS., in the possession of the National Museum of Canada. Kroeber, A. L. 1939. Cultural and Natural Areas of Native North America, University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, Berkeley, Calif., 1939, Vol. 38. Mooney, James. 1928. The Aboriginal Population of America North of Mexico, Washington, D.C, 1928. Smithsonian Institution Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 80, No. 7. Morice, O.M.I., Rev. A. G. 1910. The History of the Catholic Church in Western Canada, Toronto, 1910. Murdock, G. P. 1934. " Kinship and Social Behavior among the Haida," American Anthropologist, XXXVI (1934), pp. 355-385. Newcombe, C. F. 1923. Menzies' Journal of Vancouver's Voyage, April to October, 1792, Archives of British Columbia, Memoir V, Victoria, 1923. Roth, Lottie Roeder. 1926. History of Whatcom County, Chicago, 1926. Spier, Leslie. 1935. The Prophet Dance of the Northwest and Its Derivatives; the Source of the Ghost Dance, General Series in Anthropology No. 1, Menasha, 1935. Stern, Bernard J. 1934. The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington, Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology, Vol. 17, New York, 1934. Sullivan, Nellie. 1932. " Eugene Casimir Chirouse, O.M.I., and the Indians of Washington," MS., M.A. thesis, University of Washington Library, Seattle, Wash. RAR 102 Wayne Suttles Suttles, Wayne. 1951. " The Early Diffusion of the Potato among the Coast Salish," Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, VII (1951), pp. 272-288. 1951. " The Economic Life of the Coast Salish of Haro and Rosario Straits," MS., Ph.D. thesis, University of Washington Library, Seattle, Wash. Underbill, Ruth. 1944. Indians of the Pacific Northwest, Indian Life and Customs, No. 5, Education Division of the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C, 1944. Upchurch, O. C 1936. "The Swinomish People and Their State," Pacific Northwest Quarterly, XXVII (1936), pp. 283-310. Wagner, Henry E. 1933. Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Santa Ana, 1933. Wike, Joyce Annabel. 1941. I Modern Spirit Dancing of Northern Puget Sound," MS., in the University of Washington Library, Seattle, Wash. Winthrop, Theodore. 1913. The Canoe and the Saddle, or Klallam and Klickatat, Tacoma, 1913. (J. H. Williams, ed.) ARTHUR KENNEDY'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA EXAMINED AS A BACKGROUND TO THE INITIATION OF THE VANCOUVER ISLAND EXPLORATION EXPEDITION OF 1864.* The Vancouver Island Exploration Expedition of 1864 was a vigorous measure to bring a colony on the brink of depression back to economic health. When Captain Arthur Kennedy arrived in Victoria in March, 1864, to assume the government of the Colony of Vancouver Island, he found it in a political strife that was rooted in a condition of economic insecurity not then fully apparent to anyone. After the first overconfidence of the gold-rush six years earlier, Vancouver Island had remained in a dormant financial position until the Cariboo discoveries of 1861. These discoveries were followed by an optimistic overextension of credit to Cariboo miners by Victoria merchants and bankers. Thus the island colony was happily existing on the precarious financial base of complete dependence on one economic resource, and that not its own—the gold of another colony. As we shall quickly see, the seeming security of that inverted economic cone was fictitious. Yet the optimism engendered in Victoria by the riches of the Cariboo in the early 1860's had been communicated to London. The home authorities had likewise realized that the equally optimistic people of British Columbia were determined to have a government separate from that of the Island. These factors had moved the British Colonial Office, against its own better judgment, to provide for an entirely separate machinery of government for each of the two adjacent colonies, which up to that time had in reality been sharing one. As a result of this ill- founded optimism, it was decreed that the government of each colony was to be supported by a large civil list. In return for the guarantee of that civil list, the Island legislature was to have control of its Crown lands. Two new Governors were also appointed and sent out. Unwarned of any basic change in the economic situation, the home government was * The presidential address delivered before the annual meeting of the British Columbia Historical Association held in the Provincial Library, Victoria, B.C., January 15,1954. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 1 and 2. 103 104 H. C. Gilliland Jan.-Apr. satisfied that a completely new system of government was safely in effect in these colonies. However, by the beginning of 1864 there was premonition of coming depression in Victoria. It had now become evident that the Cariboo was not suitable for miners without capital. Some Victoria merchants were beginning to become uneasy concerning the large credits they had so eagerly extended to Cariboo miners. Moreover, there had never been any very robust faith in the natural resources of the Island itself, or of its agricultural capacity, or of its ability to maintain a large population by its own resources. In short, the Island did not want to be forced to stand alone, even though it was beginning to sense the danger of its complete dependence on the gold of British Columbia. In February, 1864, the Island legislature therefore refused to accept the responsibility of guaranteeing to pay the salaries proposed for its officials. By this rejection of the civil list, the legislature let go the proffered opportunity to control the resources of the Crown lands. In essence it had repudiated the new system of government. Therefore, when Captain Kennedy arrived in Victoria in the next month, March, 1864, he was like a chess player who takes over a game partly played by others—a game in which many of his most important pieces have already been taken. The probability of checkmate was already on the board. For he had arrived to take over a colony whose legislature he now found to be firmly committed to a dispute with the home government (and with him as its representative), a colony bereft of faith in its own resources, a colony living on a faulty economic basis, a colony actually and inescapably on the verge of a severe financial depression. However, Arthur Kennedy was f amiliar with the problem of bringing a colony out of economic insolvency into prosperity. He had just completed a similar task in Western Australia. That unhappy colony— Cinderella of the Empire—had been in a state of continual depression from its founding in 1829, through six successive governorships, until Kennedy took over in 1855. Since his experience in Western Australia was a vital factor in the initiation and conduct of the Vancouver Island Exploration Expeditions of 1864 and 1865 and since a proper judgment of Kennedy's government of Vancouver Island can only be made in the light of his experience in the colony " down under," it is desirable that attention now be given to his regime in Western Australia. It will be interesting to take note of the remarkable parallel between the situation 1954 Governor Kennedy in Western Australia 105 of Western Australia when Kennedy took over its management in 1855 and that of Vancouver Island when he arrived here in the spring of 1864.1 The causes of Western Australia's failure were many. An original prodigality of land grants to early proprietors and officials had forced dispersion of settlement and had made road-building prohibitively expert sive.2 This initial handicap constituted the main continuing hindrance to progress. The home government made affairs worse by introducing the Wakefield principle of the sale of Crown lands at a relatively high price3—an unimaginative application of the wrong remedy too late. During the next decade, the 1840's, the colony's only hopeful export, wool, was met with rock-bottom world prices.4 To add to the despair of the colonists, the home government showed a plain determination to, cut down financial aid to the colony. By mid-century Western Australia was faced with complete failure. Confronted with steadfast depression and mounting deficits, the colonists in despair turned to a desperate remedy. They asked the home government to send them convicts. At a time when other Australian colonies were vigorously fighting to be freed of the transportation system, Western Australia asked for its initiation mainly because heavy expenditures would be made in the colony by the imperial government for the upkeep of the convicts.5 In 1850 the home government started shipment of convicts.6 To mitigate the evil, it also sent a good many free settlers.7 But the people of the colony accepted the flow of imperial expenditures in easy-going contentment. They refrained from expanding agricultural production lest the high prices they were receiving for produce should fall. Production dragged, prices spiralled upward, and imports rose out of all proportion to exports. The flow of imperial moneys was diverted outside the (1) A fuUer study of the career of Governor Kennedy is to be found in the writer's thesis, entitled The Early Life and Early Governorships of Sir Arthur Edward Kennedy, submitted at the University of British Columbia in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master of Arts degree. (2) T. A. Coghlan and T. T. Ewing, The Progress of Australasia in the Nineteenth Century, London, 1902, pp. 254-256. (3) W. P. Reeves, State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand, London, 1902, Vol. I, p. 206. (4) T. A. Coghlan, Labour and Industry in Australia, London, 1918, Vol. I, p. 504. (5) Ibid., Vol. I, p. 556. (6) Ibid., Vol. I, p. 557. (7) Ibid., Vol. II, pp. 640-641. 106 H. C. Gilliland Jan.-Apr. colony to pay for these imports. In the absence of increased production, assisted free immigration could not be absorbed. Local funds were used unproductively in doles to maintain them in idleness.8 Stationary local revenues could not stand the strain. The treasury was emptied. Western Australia had placed its entire reliance for its economic welfare on one resource, namely, imperial expenditures. They had forgotten that pump- priming is of little value to the economy of a country if no one works on the pump-handle. The great outpouring of imperial expenditures on convicts had not brought strength to the colony, but weakness. By 1855, when Kennedy arrived, the colony had fallen into the deepest depression of its unhappy existence. Moreover, the colonists were locked in a struggle with the home authorities over their arbitrary system of government and the question of a civil list. The imperial government was willing to institute a partial system of responsible government and to give the colonial legislature control over the Crown resources only if the colony would take over the cost of its own government.9 But to guarantee a civil fist was the last thing the colonists wanted to do. Thus a surly antagonism against an authoritarian system of government was accompanied by a frustrated unwillingness to pay the cost of a freer one. In these circumstances the home government announced that it was going to cut down the amount of its grants-in-aid.10 The financial situation was made worse by the fact that the retiring Governor, Captain Charles Fitzgerald, R.N., in keeping with all his predecessors, had little clear idea of how much the actual debt of the colony was. Moreover, the treasury was operating on a deficit. When Captain Kennedy arrived in July, 1855, there was no money to pay the July salaries.11 Now Kennedy in Western Australia was the head and master of an arbitrary system of government. His legislature was appointive—its members holding office during pleasure. The energetic Governor was therefore able to have his way in everything. Having made temporary provision for payment of July salaries, he set the whole administration to face realities by ferreting out a clear accounting of the colony's actual financial standing. Western Australia now received its first efficient accounting system—the basis of all its future records. A large debt (8) Ibid., Vol. II, pp. 760-761. (9) R. M. Martin, The British Colonies, London, n.d., Vol. Ill, p. 556. (10) J. S. Battye, Western Australia, Oxford, 1924, p. 225. (11) Ibid., p. 228. 1954 Governor Kennedy in Western Australia 107 having been disclosed, Kennedy ruthlessly applied the pruning-knife to public expenditures with such force as to mark him at once as a fit object for public disfavour.12 He next turned his attention to stop the drain on public revenue caused by the unemployment dole. Reaching back into his experience as a Poor Law Inspector in Ireland, he instituted the policy of requiring hard work on useful public projects in return for relief. There followed a speedy reduction in the number of claimants for the dole.13 Regardless of the surly public temper, Kennedy now forced his Legislative Council to introduce new taxes. The first measure he instituted was a great increase in the cost of liquor licences. The bill to institute these charges and to reform the sale of liquor contained one thoroughly arbitrary and heartily disliked clause which forbade conditionally pardoned convicts to hold liquor licences. The ruthless Governor then introduced severe increases in import duties. This was a rude blow to a people that was fulfilling so large a percentage of its needs by importation; and they quickly recognized the new duties as a tax that they disliked. Now, indeed, was Governor Kennedy at the very outset of his regime marked for an unpopularity that was to follow him throughout his career in Western Australia. Within a year of his arrival the citizens joined in a monster mass meeting, the largest ever held in the colony, to express their strong condemnation of the administration. This evidence of public discontent was accompanied by resignation of one of the leading members of the Legislative Council and was followed soon by another.14 Nevertheless, Kennedy's rigorous fiscal reforms were already bringing about a marked improvement in the financial health of his colony. Having stopped the drain on the colony's revenue, he now set about energetically to seek out positive means of establishing prosperity. Optimistically he secured the resumption of free immigration into Western Australia, successfully urging upon the home government that this supply of labour should be spaced and controlled by his statement of need.15 The vigour of the Governor next made itself felt in the initiation of extensive exploration. Its object was to discover good pastoral land in (12) Loc. cit. (13) T. A. Coghlan, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 761. (14) J. S. Battye, op. cit., pp. 228-299. (15) T. A. Coghlan, op. cit., Vol. H, p. 643. 108 H. C. Gilliland Jan.-Apr. large blocks. With the experienced and efficient assistance of Surveyor- General J. S. Roe, Kennedy inaugurated a systematic exploration programme. The man placed in charge was Assistant Surveyor Frank T. Gregory—a splendid choice. In 1857 Gregory was sent to complete the exploration of the Murchison Valley.16 In 1858 he moved 100 miles north to explore the Gascoyne Valley. Here Gregory named the first large mountain range "Kennedy Range."17 This expedition was rewarded with the discovery of some good pastoral lands which gave an immediate impetus to settlement.18 Meanwhile, Kennedy was pushing to successful completion a new land policy — the first good land policy this colony had ever known. The spirit of confidence consequent upon the success of the Governor's policies now exploded into a great search for new lands. Not only did his government continue its steady northward search, but privately supported exploration began to push into the interior to seek new lands. This type of enterprise was one that Kennedy liked greatly because he was always an earnest advocate of self-help. One such private expedition, which set out with his hearty approval, was that of B. Clarkson, C. E. and A. Dempster, and C. Harper. From the main area of settlement they went eastward into supposedly barren interior. After penetrating the discouraging belt of dense scrub, they came into a country of good soil and rich grass—a region dominated by a mountain which they called "Mount Kennedy." The farthest limit of their exploration was a fine of hills which they named " Georgina's Range " in honour of Mrs. Kennedy.19 In later years the Governor was proudly to report in person to a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in London. At that time, not failing to mention Mount Kennedy, he said concerning this expedition: "That [exploration] was carried out by a very enterprising band of young settlers, and they found a very fair country in that direction." 20 In the meantime, with the whole country at last in the midst of its first wave of justifiable optimism, the government was preparing for its most ambitious exploring expedition, that into the region back of the III (16) Coghlan and Ewing, op. cit., p. 294. (17) Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol, (1858-59), pp. 34-54. (18) Coghlan and Ewing, op. cit., p. 294. (19) Ibid., p. 296. See also Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. VI (1861-62), pp. 11, 12. (20) Ibid., Vol. VH (1862-63), p. 16. 1954 Governor Kennedy in Western Australia 109 north-west coast. This great effort was to unite the forces of the colonial government, the imperial government, the Royal Geographical Society of London, and the public in the Colony of Western Australia. In 1859 Surveyor-General Roe and Assistant Surveyor Frank Gregory were sent to Great Britain to enlist support. In 1860 they were both in London seeking the backing of the Royal Geographical Society.21 That powerful body secured the consent of the home government to a grant of £2,000 on the promise that the remainder of the money needed would be raised locally.22 On receipt of this news the Legislative Council voted £1,350, and the remainder was quickly subscribed by the general public in the colony.23 The expedition was now assured. However, when Frank Gregory returned from England, his plans for the expedition completed with the assistance of the Royal Geographical Society and approved by the imperial government, he was faced with a discouraging set-back. These proposed plans were not satisfactory to the local government. Such is the cautious wording of the accounts given before the Royal Geographical Society.24 But we can readily interpret. The local government was Kennedy. And, in fact, the expedition did not leave until its plans were reshaped to meet his approval. While this delay was frustrating to the expedition's able leader and made impossible the fulfilment of his desire to go farther afield to link up his explorations with those of his famous brother away over in Northern Australia, the new plans were more fitted to the Governor's purposes, namely, the search for pastoral lands in regions readily accessible to the settled parts of Western Australia. When the expedition finally got away, its organization was rigorously checked in every aspect and tightly competent. Working from a secure base at Nickol Bay, Frank Gregory led his men with great skill. Difficulties, hardships, and dangers were overcome with steadfast courage. Finally the coastal desert was defeated and the fertile upper valleys of three great rivers disclosed. These rivers Gregory named the "Ash- burton," the "Fortescue," and the "De Grey." Here in these pleasant upper valleys lay the valuable pastoral acres that were to complement Kennedy's splendid new land regulations.25 Within four years some (21) Ibid., Vol. V (1860-61), pp. 2-4. (22) Ibid., Vol. V (1860-61), p. 121. (23) J. S. Battye, op. cit., p. 258. (24) Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. V (1860- 61), p. 121. (25) Coghlan and Ewing, op. cit., p. 295. 110 H. C. Gilliland Jan.-Apr. 3,000,000 acres were under lease in the north-western area, and another three years saw double that number of acres carrying 40,000 head of stock.26 Nor was the accomplishment of its original object the sole reward of this well-organized expedition. Valuable pearl-shells were discovered in the vicinity of Nickol Bay. Here was the beginning of a pearling industry which brought substantial yearly accessions of wealth to the colony from that time onward.27 While Kennedy's encouragement of exploration was primarily directed to the discovery of pastoral lands to round out and make effective his truly great revision of the land laws, he did not neglect the possibility that Western Australia might prove to be as rich in gold as its eastern sisters. His government, therefore, employed E. H. Hargraves, discoverer of gold in the Colony of New South Wales, to come to Western Australia to look for gold.28 Since Hargraves could not come at once, the vigorous Governor sent out Inspector Panter to search the district around Northam. At the end of 1861 Panter brought back good specimens of gold.29 On the strength of this find, Kennedy offered a reward of £5,000 to the discoverer of a paying gold-field within 150 miles of Perth—this gold-field to have produced 5,000 ounces of gold before the first of July in 1863. That offer appeared in the Western Australia Government Gazette on February 11, 1862,30 six days before Kennedy's government closed. Thus, from the outset of his regime to its very close, Kennedy encouraged and directed an active, well-organized search for natural resources. That policy was an outstanding credit to his governorship. Moreover, it was crowned with brilliant success in the disclosure and opening-up of those rich resources of good land which, in conjunction with his truly great land policy, were to form the basis of an agricultural and pastoral industry that brought prosperity to Western Australia. While Kennedy's exploration policies were important and truly successful, it was his land policy that was the brightest aspect of his administration. Bad land policy had been the main cause of the previous failure (26) A. G. Price, "Experiments in Colonization," in J. H. Rose, et al. (ed.), The Cambridge History of the British Empire, Cambridge, 1933, Vol. VII, Part 1, p. 230. (27) T. A. Coghlan, op. cit., Vol. II, pp. 1080-1082. (28) M. A. C. Fraser, Western Australian Year-book for 1902-04, Perth, 1906, p. 827. (29) J. S. Battye, op. cit., p. 274. (30) Loc.cit. 1954 Governor Kennedy in Western Australia 111 of Western Australia. More in protest against their own lack of power than in realization of the Governor's abilities in organization, the Legislative Council had referred the whole land problem to the executive early in Kennedy's regime. Under the Governor's careful guidance the Executive Council set about to solve the problem. The work was typical of Kennedy's ability at its best. It was based on comprehensive information secured by research and by public questionnaires. The work was divided among sub-committees of officials directly under the Governor's control. The plan was buttressed on all sides against any miscarriage of its intention.31 Governor Kennedy first proclaimed that part of his plan which related to pastoral lands. It was coldly efficient rather than indulgent. There was no reduction in the cost of leasing. In order to force a proper stocking of the land, the amount available for pastoral leasing was cut sharply in half. Areas close to settlement could be leased for pasture for only one year at a time. But the lessee of more distant areas was guaranteed that his possession would not be disturbed for eight years. After that time, pastoral leases might be reclassified as agricultural lands and sold to small settlers. Thus, while an adequate guarantee was given to the pastoralist, the real intention of the new scheme was safeguarded, namely, the gradual settlement of incoming population in productive agriculture. These rigorous provisions relating to pastoral leases nevertheless met with immediate success. There was a new wind of confidence blowing in Western Australia—confidence in the hard integrity and driving force of a competent, if unloved, Governor—confidence that the colony was at last under full sail to prosperity. Within two months some 2,000,000 acres were taken. Moreover, three-quarters of this amount was in areas close to settlement, and it was taken in the main by persons of small means.32 In no modest jubilation at the success of his lands policy, which had now doubled the amount of land under lease from the Crown, Kennedy proclaimed the agricultural part of his scheme. It drove right at the heart of the colony's problem with intention to place the settler of moderate means on a medium-sized farm and to prevent the further locking-up of land in large estates. Provision was made whereby the small settler was guided to the purchase of a farm within his means, yet large enough to encourage healthy diversity of production. The price of land was cut in (31) J. S. Battye, op. cit., pp. 230-232, 243. (32) T. A. Coghlan, op. cit., Vol. U, pp. 667-668. 112 H. C. Gilliland Jan.-Apr. half. Several years were permitted in which to pay. A bonus of added acres was given at the end of the first year of settlement. Title was withheld until the end of the third year of occupation. Thus the small settler was forced to persevere through initial discouragements. By this prevention of early sale the unproductive tying-up of lands by speculators was forestalled. It speaks wondrously well of Kennedy's powers of persuasion that he was able to secure approval for such a scheme from a home government still under the influence of Wakefield theories. This agricultural phase of the scheme met with a success even more pleasing than the first part had earned. Within two months 10,000 acres were sold, most of it in minimum-sized blocks of 40 acres to men of the working class.33 The total of lands purchased from the Crown in the first year of the plan was an eightfold increase over the year preceding the new regulations. In succeeding years this healthy process continued unabated. With justifiable pride, Kennedy was to say on his return to England:— If you look to the number of acres of land which have been purchased in fee simple within the last three years, it is something very remarkable that the greater number of those acres have been purchased in small blocks by bona fide labouring men.34 The success of Kennedy's policies in bringing about greatly increased and productive occupation of the land was directly responsible for the colony's first period of prosperity. In a letter to the London Times, the Venerable James Brown, Archdeacon of Western Australia, had this to say about Kennedy's administration: " The progress of the colony . . . has been more rapid . . . than at any former period in its history."35 Kennedy must, indeed, be given credit for a great prosperity that came to Western Australia under his guidance. He found the country in poverty with an empty treasury and a debt of unknown amount, its finances in an inefficient snarl. He brought order out of this chaos, laid foundations for sound financing in an accurate system of accounting, made provision for retirement of debt, and reduced expenditures to the colony's capacity to pay. Then, during the first five years of his administration, he adopted wise measures that increased general revenue by 40 per cent, customs revenue by 58 per cent, and land revenues by 100 per (33) Ibid., Vol. II, p. 668. (34) Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into.the operation of the acts relating to transportation and penal servitude (British Parliamentary Papers, 1863, Vol. XXI), London, 1863, Vol. II, item 2545. (35) London Times, October 24, 1861, p. 7. 1954 Governor Kennedy in Western Australia 113 cent.36 Once he had placed finances on a sound basis, he was as bold in his use of money as he had formerly been cautious. Yet the income was now on such a flourishing basis that the country could take in its stride the heavy public works expenditures in the later part of his government and pay with ease for its bold continuance.37 He took over a colony with a paltry few miles of roads38—a colony held back by an unimaginative works policy. He left it with a grand new Government House under construction,39 with great areas of swamp drained and made useful, with over 1,000 miles of cleared roads in good repair and well supplied with culverts and bridges, and with a further bold programme of road-building, swamp-draining, and land-clearing well under way.40 He found hundreds of people on the dole and all immigration weakly brought to a halt. He speedily got people into productive employment and brought about an orderly resumption of free immigration. During his administration between 1855 and 1862 the population of Western Australia was increased by 42 per cent.41 He discovered that exploration had languished in dull discouragement for half a dozen years prior to his arrival. He pushed forward a systematic, unremitting, and successful search for new resources—a search that was one of the great achievements of his regime—a great successful scheme that for him was really only in mid-stride when his term of office was completed. He inherited an unworkable land policy that had been a source of discouragement and embitterment since the inception of this colony. His was the brilliant genius for organization that guided the formation of a well-integrated scheme of productive close settlement. Inner areas were soon dotted with small farms and sheep stations. Sheep-raising, which was to be the basis of an increasing prosperity, was steadily pushed northward and eastward into new blocks of land disclosed by his vigorous and systematic exploration. Within his period the amount of land held under pastoral lease was doubled. The annual sale of land was increased (36) Statistical Register of the Colony of Western Australia for 1897 and previous years, Perth, 1899, Part 12, p. 5. (37) Loc. cit. (38) Report of the Commissioners . . . relating to transportation and penal servitude, Vol. I, para. 73, pp. 59-60. (39) M. A. C. Fraser, op. cit., p. 38. (40) Statistical Register . . . , Part 12, p. 5. (41) Loc. cit. 114 H. C. Gilliland Jan.-Apr. tenfold! By far the larger part of this land was taken in small holdings by persons of moderate means. During his administration both the amount of stock and the land under cultivation were doubled, and within three more years they were tripled.42 He found a country where imports far outweighed exports because the settlers had not addressed themselves to meet the market provided by convict establishments and assisted free immigration. His administration caused trade to take on a healthier colour through a rapidly diminishing preponderance of imports. In 1855 the value of exports was only 43 per cent of the value of imports. By 1862 it had climbed to 63 per cent, and within three years the exports had passed the imports in value.43 In every material aspect Governor Kennedy's administration had been good for this people and for this colony. His financial policy was sound—cautious at the outset when conditions were bad, bold when a foundation for boldness had been laid. His programme of public works was effective. His policy of immigration was controlled but optimistic. His direction of exploration was vigorous, systematic, and highly successful. His guidance of land settlement was the only successful one this colony had ever known. At the opening of his regime, everything was black. At his departure, Western Australia was well on the road to prosperity. This was the man who came in March, 1864, to take over the government of Vancouver Island—a colony locked in dispute with the imperial government—a colony displaying surly antagonism because it had not control of its own resources, yet unwilling to pay the price for them—a colony that had neglected any large development of agriculture and mainly depended for its needs on importation—a colony that, lacking faith in its own resources, had never made any systematic and well- organized exploration to test them—a colony that had placed all its economic reliance on one resource not under its own control—a colony whose merchants and bankers had allowed a faulty optimism to lead them into a wild overextension of credit—a colony, in fact, that was tottering on the brink of its severest financial depression. This was the man who was still in the grip of, an exultant successful management of just such a problem. This was the man who was still in mid-stride of a successful campaign of exploration—a man who had (42) Loc. cit. (43) Loc. cit. 1954 Governor Kennedy in Western Australia 115 made the discovery of good pastoral and agricultural lands the basis for a new prosperity—a man who had just started a search for gold and had not been able to stay to push it forward to a triumphant conclusion. This was the man who, within a month after his arrival in Victoria, made the offer that if the public would subscribe funds for an expedition to explore the Island in search for gold and agricultural resources, he would provide two dollars from government funds for every one put up by the public. In this fashion Governor Arthur Kennedy initiated the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition of 1864. H. C. Gilliland. Victoria, B.C. THE NAMING OF HOLLAND POINT Holland Point lies off the Dallas Road in Victoria, about midway between Ogden and Finlayson Points, but, unlike these, being some distance from the roadway, it is quite apt to be overlooked by the general public. Except to the residents of the immediate neighbourhood, who enjoy the open spaces of the large common which terminates in the point of land so named, it is probably unknown to the average citizen of Victoria. Moreover, even if they could locate the spot, few would be able to explain the significance of the name. Does this place-name derive from the country or from some person or other now lost in the dim recesses of British Columbia history? From time to time this question has been asked, and until recently no satisfactory answer was forthcoming. Presumably Captain J. T. Walbran, although he must often have looked upon Holland Point from his house on Dallas Road, was not aware of the origin of the name, for he made no reference to it in his well-known British Columbia Coast Names. The majority of the geographical features of the southern portion of Vancouver Island are named in association with early residents of the area, of which Macaulay, Finlayson, and McNeill are outstanding examples. Farther back on the landscape, as seen from a vessel approaching Victoria Harbour, are the mountains named after Douglas and Tolmie, neither of which require much explanation. In the year 1837 Captain W. H. McNeill, in the steamer Beaver, made a reconnaissance of the southern area of Vancouver Island for the Hudson's Bay Company with a view to establishing a trading-post thereon. Captain McNeill was acting under instructions from Chief Factor John McLoughlin, at that time Superintendent of the Western or Columbia Department of the Company. McLoughlin himself looked over the site late in 1839.1 Holland Point made its first appearance on Captain Henry Kellett's chart of Victoria Harbour, published as chart number 1897 by the Admiralty Office in London in 1848. This chart was the result of surveys conducted by Captain Kellett in H.M.S. Herald during the season (1) E. E. Rich (ed.), The Letters of John McLoughlin from Fort Vancouver to the Governor and Committee, Second Series, 1839-44, London, 1941, p. 231. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 1 and 2. 117 118 Madge Wolfenden Jan.-Apr. of 1846. Previous to this, however, in order that the harbour might be used by vessels of the Hudson's Bay Company, a minimum of surveying was done by the officers of the Company's ships, one of whom was Captain James Scarborough of the brigantine Cadboro. Scarborough prepared a chart from his survey of July, 1843, which was sent to the Hudson's Bay Company's London headquarters. This chart bears a note: " The names are all of Mr. Scarborough's own selection except Clover Point—James Douglas." Holland Point, however, does not appear named as such on this chart.2 Since a copy of the chart was made available to the Admiralty in 1844 by the Hudson's Bay Company, it would appear probable that when Captain Kellett undertook his official survey in 1846, the Scarborough chart was known to him and that he incorporated many of the names which Scarborough had applied. A study of Kellett's charts of Victoria and Esquimalt Harbours reveals that a definite plan of naming had been followed, in that the names in and about Victoria distinctly pertain to the Hudson's Bay Company and that those of Esquimalt derive from Navy personnel. It would seem reasonable to assume, therefore, that Kellett, in applying the name " Holland " to the point, was referring to an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company. It is now for the first time possible definitely to identify this mysterious Holland who through the years so successfully eluded historical searchers. When the famous steamer Beaver made her maiden voyage to the Northwest Coast in 1835-36, there was on board an able-bodied seaman by the name of George Holland.3 Little is known of his early life except that he came from the parish of St. Pancras, London, and had entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1835 as a seaman at a wage of £24 per annum.4 It would appear that he had received rather more education than the average seaman of his day, for, after (2) Letter from the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty to Mr. W. H. Warren, Park Administrator, Victoria, B.C., February 27, 1953. Copy in Archives of B.C. (3) W. K. Lamb, "The Advent of the Beaver," British Columbia Historical Quarterly,!! (1938), p. 169. (4) Hudson's Bay Company Archives, A. 32/33. (Hereafter cited as H.B.C. Archives.) The writer wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the Hudson's Bay Company in searching their Archives in London for information on Holland and for the kind permission of the Governor and Committee to make quotations from the material supplied. 1954 The Naming of Holland Point 119 serving in the Beaver and in the Cadboro, in 1839 he became a schoolmaster at Fort Vancouver, after the departure of Rev. Herbert Beaver. From his record of service with the Company it is noted that he received " £6 Gratuity for Services as Schoolmaster " in addition to his wage as a seaman and later as a " middleman." This position Holland held until he was appointed to Fort Langley as postmaster in 1843. There he remained until 1846, when he was transferred to Fort Victoria.5 As a postmaster his salary was £40 per annum, and the position was looked upon as involving a fair degree of responsibility. Postmasters were men, who, though barred by lack of education from further promotion, had the confidence of their superiors, and were entrusted with such duties as the keeping of accounts at minor posts or even temporary management of posts in the absence of their principals. Their salaries went as high as £40 a year, and they were nearly in the ranks of gentlemen.6 The Fort Victoria journal contains scattered references to George Holland, beginning on May 9, 1846, and ending with the entry for November 10,1847: " . . .the Bqe. Columbia, towed by the Steamer, left the harbour, homeward bound. Captain Cooper, Messrs. Holland & Lambert passengers. . . . "7 In a letter dated at Fort Victoria, November 6, 1847, the Board of Management of the Western Department informed the Company in London that Holland had " obtained (5) The following record of service has been compiled from his listings in the Northern Department District Statements, HJB.C. Archives, B. 239/1/7-18:— Outfit Location Duties 1836-1837—Steam Vessel Beaver. Seaman. 1837-1838—Fort Vancouver General Charges Seaman. 1838-1839—Schooner Cadboro Seaman. 1839-1840—Fort Vancouver General Charges Schoolmaster. 1840-1841—Columbia Charges Middleman and Schoolmaster. 1841-1842—Columbia Charges.— . -Middleman and Schoolmaster. 1842-1843—Columbia Charges Schoolmaster. 1843-1844—Fort Langley Postmaster. 1844-1845—Fort Langley_~_™_ Postmaster. 1845-1846—Fort Langley. Postmaster. 1846-1847—Fort Victoria Postmaster. 1847-1848—Fort Victoria, Postmaster. The last entry had the notation of £17 15s. 7d. for salary for the period June 1 to November 10, 1847, when Holland returned to England on the barque Columbia. (6) Frederick Merk, Fur Trade and Empire, Cambridge, Mass., 1931, p. xvi. (7) H.B.C. Archives, B. 226/a/l. 120 Madge Wolfenden Jan.-Apr. permission to retire from the service as the climate does not agree with him," and added further that he had served the Company for twelve years "with an unblemished character and now leaves the service at his own express desire."8 The Columbia arrived in London in May, 1848,9 and Holland evidently set about to improve his status by securing his master mariner's certificate, for in September he applied to the Company for reappointment in their marine service. Being desirous of obtaining an appointment as Master in your Naval Service, I have been examined by the Board of the Honble. Corporation of the Trinity House and have obtained their certificate of competency and therefore being duly qualified as Master Mariner I beg to offer my services in that capacity. ... I entered your service in the year 1835 and went out in the Beaver Steam Vessel under Captn. Home where I filled a variety of offices of Trust both in the land and sea service, at Fort Vancouver, Fort Langley, Victoria, and elsewhere. . . .10 At that time he was informed that " there is not at present, nor is there likely to be soon any vacancy in the marine department of the Company,"11 but the following year, at a meeting of the Governor and Committee on May 2,1849, it was ordered: | that D D Wishart be appointed Commander of the Norman Morison—that Geo Holland be appointed Chief and Wm. Inglis second mates on the usual terms of the Co's Officers."12 Thus it came about that Holland returned to the Pacific Northwest on the maiden voyage of still another Company vessel. The Norman Morison left Gravesend on October 20, 1849, carrying in her the first considerable party of immigrants to come to Vancouver Island. She reached Fort Victoria on March 24, 1850, and before returning to England made a coasting trip to Fort Simpson and Sitka in Russian America. The return voyage was commenced on September 23, 1850, and Gravesend was reached on February 20, 1851.13 One of the passengers on the outward bound voyage was Dr. J. S. Helmcken, (8) Board of Management, Western Department, to Governor and Committee, November 6, 1847, H.B.C. Archives, A. 11/72. (9) H.B.C. Archives, C. 1/252. (10) George Holland to the Governor and Committee, September, 1848, H.B.C. Archives, A. 10/25. This letter was addressed from 11 John Street, Adelphi, London. (11) Archibald Barclay to George Holland, 1848, H.B.C. Archives, A. 5/16. (12) H.B.C. Archives, A. 1/66, p. 48. (13) For related information concerning the voyages of the Norman Morison, see A. N. Mouat, " Notes on the Norman Morison," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, UI (1939), pp. 203-214. 1954 The Naming of Holland Point 121 and many years later, when writing his Reminiscences, he remembered George Holland and had this to say of him: " Holland was not much of a sailor or anything else,—he and the Captain being so different did not get on well together."14 The disagreement between Captain Wishart and Holland was such that on April 2, 1851, the latter wrote to the Governor and Committee:— On the 2nd of May, 1849, you honored me with an appointment as chief officer of your Ship Norman Morison under the command of Captn. Wishart a period of nearly two years, having elapsed since that time and finding myself unable to agree with Captn. Wishart, I therefore most humbly beg leave to resign my situation in the Norman Morison and pray you will be pleased to appoint me to a birth [sic] in some other of your ships or employment. . . .15 Holland's resignation was accepted by the Company at a meeting of the Governor and Committee held on April 2, 1851,16 but no orders were given that he should be readmitted to the service. Holland, however, must have liked Victoria, for even before the Norman Morison sailed on her second voyage to Vancouver Island he again wrote to the Company applying for " an appointment in your land service at Fort Victoria or elsewhere."17 At that time he referred to his previous service with the Company, particularly under the immediate orders of James Douglas, " to whose letters I can with confidence refer you for propriety of conduct and unremiting [sic] zeal in the discharge of my duties." The Company, however, did not re-employ him, and he was informed that his services were not required.18 Nothing further is known about the later career of Holland. Perhaps it is slightly ironical that the memory of another Hudson's Bay Company servant who spent part of his youthful days on the high seas and at the post of the Company in and about Victoria should be perpetuated even though he was not " much of a sailor or anything else." Madge Wolfenden. Victoria, B.C. (14) J. S. Helmcken, Reminiscences, written in 1892, MS., Archives of B.C., Vol. II, pp. 71-72. (15) George Holland to the Governor and Committee, April 2, 1851, H.B.C. Archives, A. 10/30. This letter was addressed from Forster's Railway Tavern, Fenchurch Street, London, (16) H.B.C. Archives, A. 1/67, p. 77. (17) George Holland to the Governor and Committee, May 14, 1851, H.B.C. Archives, A. 10/30. (18) H.B.C. Archives, A. 1/67, p. 99. NOTES AND COMMENTS BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION The annual meeting of the British Columbia Historical Association was held in the Provincial Library, Victoria, B.C., on Friday evening, January 15, with the President, Mr. H. C. Gilliland, in the chair. After welcoming the members the President called on representatives of the various sections to present reports. The activities of the Victoria Section were outlined by its Chairman, Miss Madge Wolfenden, and Dr. Margaret A. Ormsby reported for the Vancouver Section, and a written report was read from Mr. J. H. Armstrong, Chairman of the West Kootenay Section, by the Secretary and also one from Mr. Burt R. Campbell, President of the Kamloops Museum Association. The outstanding feature of the President's report was the extension of the work of the Association throughout the Province by the organization of three new sections — West Kootenay, Nanaimo, and Fort St. James and Central British Columbia—and a fourth in the Boundary country, which was in the final stages of organization and would commence in 1954. The President also had had occasion to visit affiliated societies in Kamloops and the Okanagan Valley. The Treasurer's report indicated that the finances were in a flourishing condition. While the bank balance reported was $1,243.74, it was pointed out that the major expense for the year—namely, Quarterly assessments—had yet to be deducted. Membership during the year had risen appreciably not only as a result of the formation of new sections, but also in the strengthening of the older sections. At the closing of the books, membership stood at 435, of which 137 were affiliated through the Victoria Section, 144 through the Vancouver Section, 16 through West Kootenay Section, 18 through Nanaimo Section, and 120 members at large. The Editor of the Quarterly admitted the delay in publication of the official organ had affected membership but indicated that within the year publication would be back on schedule. Major F. V. Longstaff presented the thirty-first report of the Marine Committee. Life memberships in the Association were presented to Miss Madge Wolfenden, recently retired as Assistant Provincial Archivist, and to Dr. W. N. Sage, recently retired from the headship of the Department of History at the University of British Columbia. The President paid a warm tribute to their work in the preservation of historical source materials and in the writing of the history of the Province. Numerous items of business were discussed, including the condition of the Leechtown Monument, the formation of a British Columbia Historic Sites and Monuments Board, and the advisability of beginning preliminary plans for the suitable commemoration of the centennial of the Fraser River gold-rush of 1858. In his presidential address entitled The Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition of 1864-65, published in this Quarterly, Mr. Gilliland outlined the events which led up to the inception of this expedition by tracing Governor Arthur E. Kennedy's experience in Western Australia, where he was Governor prior to coming to Van- British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 1 and 2. 123 124 Notes and Comments Jan.-Apr. couver Island. There Kennedy had directed a vigorous search for natural resources, the success of which had encouraged him to try a similar policy in Vancouver Island. The report of the scrutineers was then presented. A total of 156 valid ballots had been cast. The new Council met immediately following the adjournment of the annual meeting, when it transacted a heavy agenda of business, during which the following officers were elected:— Honorary President President - First Vice-President - Second Vice-President Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer Members of the Council— Miss Helen R. Boutilier. Dr. J. C. Goodfellow. Mrs. R. B. White. Councillors ex officio— Mr. H. C. Gilliland, Past President. Miss Madge Wolfenden, Chairman, Victoria Section. Dr. Margaret A. Ormsby, Chairman, Vancouver Section. Mr. James Armstrong, Chairman, West Kootenay Section. Mr. J. McGregor, Chairman, Nanaimo Section. Mrs. David Hoy, Chairman, Fort St. James Section. Mrs. Jessie Woodward, Chairman, Boundary Section. Mr. Willard E. Ireland, Editor, Quarterly. Hon. Robert Bonner, Q.C. Captain Charles W. Cates. Mrs. A. D. Turnbull. Mr. James K. Nesbitt. Mrs. Kenneth Drury. Miss Patricia Johnson. Dr. F. H. Johnson. Dr. W. N. Sage. Victoria Section A regular meeting of the Section was held in the Provincial Library on Monday evening, November 30, with Mrs. J. E. Godman presiding. On that occasion Mrs. Gwen Downes read a paper prepared by Mrs. Lloyd Morgan on The Story of Julie Apnaut. Mrs. Apnaut died in Victoria on November 6, 1952, at the age of 91. Her story began with the arrival at Fort Langley of Ovid Allard and his marriage to an Indian woman, Justine. One of the children of this marriage was Mary, more popularly known as Sennie, who was Julia's mother. Mrs. Morgan had gathered together many interesting stories of Julia's life, out on the West Coast with Captain McKay, at school at St. Ann's Convent, Victoria, and her subsequent marriage, and had woven them into an interesting narrative. At the conclusion of the paper three recordings made by Mrs. Apnaut some years before her death were played, mainly of Indian folk-songs. The meeting held in the Provincial Library on Thursday evening, December 17, constituted the annual meeting and was presided over by Mrs. J. E. Godman. The annual report of the Honorary Treasurer, Miss Madge Wolfenden, indicated that the finances of the Section were in a satisfactory position, the membership having risen during the year. The Chairman's address, Jade: the Stone of Immortality, discussed the existence of jade in its various forms in British Columbia and the 1954 Notes and Comments 125 uses to which it had been put by the native Indians. In addition, interesting parallels were drawn with jade and its uses by peoples elsewhere in China, the Pacific Islands, and the Antipodes. Interesting examples of jade implements and costume jewellery were used to illustrate the lecture. The report of the scrutineers was received, and at the conclusion of the meeting elections for the following year were held. Mr. Russel E. Potter took the opportunity of proposing a warm vote of appreciation to the retiring Assistant Provincial Archivist, Miss Madge Wolfenden, which was heartily endorsed by all the members present. Officers for 1954 are as follows:— Chairman Miss Madge Wolfenden. Vice-Chairman Mr. Russel E. Potter Honorary Secretary .... Mrs. Kenneth Drury. Honorary Treasurer Mr. A. F. Flucke. Members of the Council— Miss Kathleen Agnew. Mr. E. S. Hart. Mr. Wilson Duff. Dr. F. H. Johnson. Mr. H. C. Gilliland. Mr. G. H. Stevens. The first regular meeting of the new year was held on Thursday evening, February 18, no meeting having been held in January in view of the annual meeting of the Provincial body having convened in Victoria. Tribute was paid by the Chairman, Miss Madge Wolfenden, to the late Senator G. H. Barnard and the late Captain R. P. Bishop, who had died since the last meeting of the Section. The speaker on this occasion was Mr. I. D. Bonney, a member of the staff of the Provincial Archives, who had chosen as his subject The Central Coast. The area under review included such interesting communities as Rivers Inlet, Ocean Falls, Bella Bella, and Bella Coola. It is a rugged country, dotted with islands and generally alpine in its aspect, rich in scenery but relatively poor in arable land. Its face is vast and formidable, and in much the same condition as when Captain George Vancouver saw it first 160 years ago. In the course of his paper Mr. Bonney dealt with the beginnings of the fish-canning industry in the 1880's and later timber and pulp and paper industries. Attention was also paid to the Norwegian settlement at Bella Coola. A fine series of pictures illustrative of the region was displayed. A meeting of the Section was held on Thursday evening, March 25, at the Tango Club, when the speaker was Mrs. Rupert W. Haggen and her subject The Boundary Country. Mrs. Haggen, the wife of the sitting member in the Legislature for Grand Forks, has been a moving spirit in the organization of the Boundary Section of the British Columbia Historical Association and is its Honorary Secretary. The Boundary country occupies that narrow strip from Osoyoos to Ross- land, within a maximum of 70 miles of the American border. It is a country rich in historical lore dating back to the gold discoveries at Rock Creek in 1858 and reaching its hey-day in the base-metal boom at the turn of the century. Mrs. Haggen recounted much of the early history of many of its thriving communities of to-day and its ghost towns of yesterday. The regular meeting held in the Provincial Library on Thursday evening, April 29, was addressed by Professor Sydney G. Pettit, Associate Professor of History at 126 Notes and Comments Jan.-Apr. Victoria College, on the subject Law and Order in British Columbia. Mr. Pettit is well known for his study of the career of Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie, which provided an ample background for his subject. His thesis was that personalities in history should be placed on the continental stage with a wide historical background, and he developed it expertly. He began by considering the westward movement in history in the seventeenth century and the establishment of colonies from east to west in a huge political and economic arc. He pointed out that the French had attempted to hold too much with too few, and that the British followed in the same error, and as a result the Americans, because of autonomous tendencies, became a real threat and by 1850 had outstripped the others. The fact that only a few fur-traders held the territory west of the Great Lakes looked bad to officials in London, hence the decision to establish colonies first on Vancouver Island in 1849 and subsequently in 1858 on the Mainland. Until then the authority of the Crown had never been established, and thereafter Americans would be obliged to recognize the authority of a Crown colony jurisdiction. A policy of containment was embarked upon and put to the test in 1858, when large numbers of Americans flooded British Columbia as a consequence of the Fraser River gold-rush. Among them were the bad element who brought the prejudice and anarchy which had prevailed in California. There were three principal dangers—an Indian uprising, anarchy in the gold mines, the autonomous tendencies of the Americans. Each could have culminated in American intervention, and the danger was real. Douglas went up the Fraser to quell an Indian uprising, and he intervened again when he found the Americans establishing a government at Yale. The urgency of the situation can be sensed in Douglas's dispatches to the Colonial Office, and it was fortunate that at the time it was presided over by someone of the calibre of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, who appreciated the local circumstances. With imagination he set to work to find men to send to the colony—men whom he felt could stand up to the American pressure group. One such man was Matthew Baillie Begbie, sent out as Judge. From the beginning he sought to demonstrate that British law did not rest on force, but upon the dignity and respect for law and order. Suffering great hardship, he carried the Queen's law throughout the colony and earned for himself a reputation for incorruptibility and well-doing. Vancouver Section A regular meeting of the Section was held in the Grosvenor Hotel on Tuesday evening, November 10, with Mr. D. A. McGregor in the chair. The speaker on this occasion was Colonel J. W. Nichols, who had chosen as his subject The Story of Prince Rupert. Colonel Nichols was an early resident of the city and well qualified to recount its history. The development of Prince Rupert is closely connected with railway-building in Northern British Columbia, in particular the extension of the Grand Trunk Railway to the Pacific. In 1903 the Canadian Government entered into a contract which provided for the construction of a line from Winnipeg to the Pacific Coast to be known as the Grand Trunk Pacific. Location engineers examined the coastal area for a seaport terminus, and eventually narrowed the choice to three possible sites—Kitimat, Port Simpson, and Kaien Island—and the latter was finally selected. In 1907 the townsite was cleared and 1954 Notes and Comments a few buildings erected. The first train arrived in 1914, but the official first did not arrive until September 6, 1915, the railway having by that time been approved by the Railway Commission. After the First World War, when several railways encountered financial difficulties, the Government took them over and created the Canadian National Railways. During its early years the main source of revenue of the city residents was the fisheries, the halibut fishery being the most important until overfishing began to deplete the resources. In 1910 steamboat service with the northern city was instituted. The annual meeting of the Section was held in the Grosvenor Hotel on Tuesday evening, December 8. Reports of the various officers were received and gave evidence of a successful year. The speaker at this meeting was Mrs. Emilie B. Campbell, who discussed the reasons for the selection of the site for New Westminster and then added some personal reminiscences of earlier days in the Province. The elections for Council for 1954 were conducted and resulted as follows:— Chairman - Vice-Chairman Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer Members of the Council— Mrs. W. E. Blackburn. Miss H. R. Boutilier. Mr. Donald Buchanan. Mr. J. A. Byron. Captain C. W. Cates. Miss Margaret Cowie. Mr. J. E. Gibbard. Dr. Dr. Margaret A. Ormsby. Mr. W. E. Blackburn Mr. Bruce Ramsay. Mr. T. H. S. Goodlake. Mr. Norman Hacking. Mr. R. A. Hood. Mr. D. A. McGregor. Dr. D. L. McLaurin. Miss E. Mercer. Mr. Noel Robinson. Rev. F. G. St. Denis. Gilbert Tucker. The first meeting in the new year was held on Friday evening, January 22, in the Grosvenor Hotel, when the speaker was the immediate Past President of the Provincial body, Mr. H. C. Gilliland, who chose as his subject The Wreck of the Forerunner. Mr. Gilliland has made a careful study of the career of Governor Arthur Edward Kennedy, and this incident, which was recounted in vivid fashion, throws much light on the character of Governor Kennedy. Arctic Exploration was the subject of the address by Dr. J. Lewis Robinson, Chairman of the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia, at the meeting of the Section held in the Grosvenor Hotel, Friday evening, February 9. A veteran of four expeditions to the Arctic, Dr. Robinson ranged from the earliest exploration to the present time. Early explorers were concerned with finding the Northwest Passage and usually arrived in northern waters in June. Unfortunately this brought them right into the face of the outgoing ice-floes, making navigation practically impossible. Had they waited until mid-August conditions would have been much easier. Great praise should be paid to the hardy whaling captains for their daring, for the speaker was constantly amazed when reading in the early journals of Arctic expeditions to find whaling-boats suddenly putting in an appearance in what was believed to be unknown territory. Another topic discussed was the shifting position of the North Magnetic Pole. In 1829 the 128 Notes and Comments Jan.-Apr. expedition headed by Sir James Clark Ross located it on the southern portion of Boothia Peninsula; many years later Amundsen found it farther north on the same peninsula; and in 1947 it had shifted to the northern extremity of Prince of Wales Island. At the meeting held in the Grosvenor Hotel on Tuesday, March 9, the speaker was Dr. Charles E. Borden, of the Department of Anthropology of the University of British Columbia. Speaking on the subject Aluminum and Archceology, Dr. Borden dealt with the archaeological researches undertaken in the Tweedsmuir Park area prior to the flooding caused by the building of Kenney Dam on the Nechako River in connection with the development project undertaken by the Aluminum Company of Canada. The lecture was illustrated with beautiful coloured slides. Through the co-operation of Superintendent G. J. Archer, officer commanding, Vancouver Subdivision of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the films descriptive of the epic voyage of the patrol vessel St. Roche through the Northwest Passage in 1946 were made available to the Section for its regular meeting held in the Grosvenor Hotel on Tuesday evening, April 13. Also shown was " The Loon's Necklace," a dramatization of a Nicola Valley Indian legend, which involved the use of Indian masks. Special appreciation was tendered to Constable W. Steen, who acted as projectionist. Nanaimo Section The December meeting of the Section took the form of a series of short reports on early Nanaimo history by several of the members of the Section. Mr. W. E. Bray reported on the geographical location of the city, and this was followed by an excellent report by Mrs. A. Yates on early transportation by water, which included a list of the names of many of the early vessels entering Nanaimo Harbour. At a meeting held on January 12, Mr. James Borserio gave an account of the first thirty-eight inhabitants of Nanaimo as recorded in a letter by James Douglas. The names had been investigated and occupations found, providing, in effect, Nanaimo's first unofficial census. The second paper, Electrification in Nanaimo, was presented by Mr. W. Barraclough. Drawing from the early files of the Nanaimo Free Press, the records of the British Columbia Power Commission, and the personal recollections of several early employees of electrical companies, such as James Cowie and William Lewis, a very detailed history of this utility was worked out. The meeting of the Section held on March 9 received an interim report on The History of Nanaimo Schools by Mr. J. B. Parker. Much of the early history was obtained from the diary of Mr. Cornelius Bryant, a pioneer teacher, whose granddaughter made it available. Members contributed many details about later teachers, in recalling their own earlier school days. Plans were laid to prepare records of contemporary events which might be of interest years hence. The election of officers for the year resulted as follows:— Chairman Mr. J. C. McGregor. Honorary Secretary - - - Miss Patricia Johnson. Honorary Treasurer - - - Ven. Archdeacon A. E. Hendy. 1954 Notes and Comments 129 A meeting of the Section was held on April 13, when the Chairman, J. C. McGregor, read a paper on Nanaimo's Early Jails. Plans were also discussed for the suitable commemoration on November 27 of the centenary of the arrival of the pioneers who came out in the Princess Royal. West Kootenay Section The annual meeting of the Section was held on December 7, 1953, when the following officers were elected:— Chairman Mr. J. H. Armstrong. Honorary Secretary-Treasurer - - Mrs. A. D. Turnbull. Councillors— Mrs. J. H. Armstrong. Mr. G. T. German. Mr. F. M. Etheridge. Mr. A. C. Jenkins. The first general meeting of the new year was held in the City Hall Chambers on March 3, when Alderman F. Sindell showed the films taken during the celebration of the golden jubilee of the incorporation of Trail held in June, 1951. Of particular interest was the displaying of the minutes of the first Council meeting. Boundary Section On January 29, 1953, a meeting was held in the Sunday School room of the United Church in Grand Forks to discuss the advisability of forming an historical society in the Boundary District. Because of the inclement weather only a few persons were in attendance, but a resolution was adopted authorizing the formation of " an Historical Society to be known as the Boundary Historical Society " and that it affiliate with the British Columbia Historical Association. Mr. John Hutton was chosen as Chairman and Mrs. R. W. Haggen as Secretary, pro tern. Work at recruiting members proceeded, and on October 25 a meeting was held in the Province Hotel, Grand Forks, and the decision to organize as a section of the British Columbia Historical Association was reached. A petition to this effect was submitted and approved by the Provincial Association. Officers elected in October, 1953, were to act until the end of the 1954 season, and were as follows:— Mr. John Hutton, Grand Forks. Mrs. Jessie Woodward, Grand Forks. Mr. Leo Mader. Mrs. R. W. Haggen, Grand Forks. Mr. Frank McDonald. Mrs. James Lindsay. Mrs. J. C. Roylande. Mr. R. Sandner. Mr. Howard Pannell. Mr. Bayard Bubar. Mr. Arthur Mellor. In attendance at this inaugural meeting was Mrs. R. B. White, of Penticton, an active member of the British Columbia Historical Association and also of the Okanagan Historical Society. Plans were laid to hold four meetings a year in different parts of the district. Honorary Chairman Chairman - - - - Vice-Chairman Honorary Secretary-Treasurer Phoenix Representative - Rock Creek Representative - Greenwood Representative Christina Lake Representative Midway Representative - Beaverdell Representative Westbridge Representative Notes and Comments Jan.-Apr. East Kootenay Section A meeting was held on Saturday, January 2, in the Mount Baker High School, Cranbrook, for the purpose of establishing an historical society. Mr. W. A. Burton was elected Chairman, pro tern., and Mr. J. F. Huchcroft, Secretary, pro tern. The society had for its objective the preservation of historic objects and sites in the Kootenay District and the collection of material for the writing of the history of the region. A second meeting was held in the Mount Baker High School on February 17, and the decision reached to seek affiliation as a section of the British Columbia Historical Association. Mr. J. W. Awmack was elected Honorary Treasurer, and the following honorary officers were elected:— Honorary Chairmen - Senator J. H. King. Mr. James A. Byrne, M.P. Honorary Vice-Chairmen - Mrs. F. W. Green. Mr. W. D. Black, M.L.A. Mr. Leo Nimsick, M.L.A. Mr. Thomas Uphill, M.LA. At a meeting held on March 24 the petition to the British Columbia Historical Association was signed and in due course presented and approval given for the establishment of the East Kootenay Section. KAMLOOPS MUSEUM ASSOCIATION The annual meeting of this Association was held in the City Hall Committee Room on Friday evening, January 29, with Mr. Burt R. Campbell presiding. The various reports presented showed that while membership was small—only twenty- four members—much valuable work had been accomplished. The diamond Jubilee of the incorporation of the city had had the full support of the Association, which had assumed responsibility for a portion of the festivities. In conjunction with this function a plaque to the memory of Chief Factor Samuel Black had been dedicated. The Museum had been kept open for regular hours, and over 2,550 persons registered during the year. A number of improvements had been made to the building—a new stove, a four-drawer filing-cabinet for the safe-keeping of valuable papers, a show-case, and a typewriter were added to the equipment—and improved signs directing people to the Museum had been erected. The photographic collection continued to grow, with many new accessions reported during the year. High tribute was paid to the President, Burt R. Campbell, for his unwavering enthusiasm and the many hours he had devoted to the work of the Association. During the past few years failing eyesight has been a serious handicap, and in consequence he was led to announce his retirement from the presidency. The members immediately elected him to the newly created position of Honorary President. Other officers of the Association for the ensuing year are as follows:— Honorary President Mr. Burt R. Campbell. President Mr. J. J. Morse. Vice-President Mrs. A. J. Millward. Secretary-Treasurer .... Mrs. D. A. Arnott. 1954 Notes and Comments 131 House Convener Natural History Convener Historical Convener - Mr. R. B. A. Cragg. Mr. D. A. Arnott. Alderman T. J. O'Neill. NEW WESTMINSTER HISTORIC CENTRE The members of the board of directors responsible for the administration of the Irving House, New Westminster's beautiful historic centre, for the year 1954 were Alderman J. A. Courtney and Mr. H. Norman Lidster, representing the City of New Westminster; Miss Janet Gilley and Mrs. Stephen Young, representing Post No. 4, Native Daughters of British Columbia; and Mr. L. Pumphrey and Mr. L. Higham, representing Post No. 4, Native Sons of British Columbia. The officers for the year were as follows:— President Miss Janet Gilley. Vice-President Mr. H. Norman Lidster. Secretary-Treasurer Mrs. Stephen Young. Curator Mr. Stephen Young. The Buildings and Grounds Committee was composed of Miss Janet Gilley and Messrs. L. Pumphrey, H. Norman Lidster, and S. Young. BOAT ENCAMPMENT CAIRN On Sunday, September 6, 1953, a field-stone cairn with attached bronze plaque erected by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada was unveiled by Mr. Thomas King, Golden, for many years the representative of the district in the Provincial Legislative Assembly. Boat Encampment was an important point of transhipment in the fur-trade days. For almost half a century after first being used by David Thompson in 1811 it served as a meeting-place for the fur brigades of the North West Company and after 1821 of the Hudson's Bay Company. By-passed by the railroad, it was not again made accessible to visitors until the completion of the Big Bend Highway in June, 1940. The cairn has been placed some 2 miles from the original site to make it more readily accessible to the general public and is located where the highway crosses the Columbia River about 2 miles from the junction of the Canoe with the Columbia River. The ceremony was arranged by the Board of Trade of Golden and was presided over by Mr. Albert Abrahamson, secretary of the Revelstoke Board of Trade. The invocation was given by Rev. Father Harrison, who recalled that not all who dared the dangers of the mountains were motivated by the desire for material gain, since many priests and missionaries passed over the route. The first sacrifice of the Holy Mass in the Interior of British Columbia was celebrated at Boat Encampment. Included among the platform guests were Mr. James Byrne, M.P.; Mr. Louis Berger, owner and manager of Boat Encampment Lodge, who donated the site for the cairn; and Mr. R. J. J. Steve, Superintendent of Yoho, Glacier, and Mount Revelstoke National Parks, who had supervised the erection of the cairn. Dr. W. N. Sage, British Columbia and Yukon representative on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, was present to give an address entitled David Thompson and Boat Encampment, in which he traced the origin and early develop- 132 Notes and Comments ment of this particular fur-trade centre. The inscription on the plaque is as follows:— Boat Encampment A point of transhipment in fur-trading days. Here boats from Fort Vancouver (now Vancouver, Washington), on the lower Columbia, waited for pack trains coming over the mountains from Jasper House. David Thompson after his discovery of Atha- baska Pass arrived here in January, 1811. For almost half a century this route was used by the fur brigades of the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies. By-passed by the railways, this historic spot was made available to tourists by the completion of the Big Bend Highway in June, 1940. CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Reginald H. Roy, M.A., is a member of the staff of the Provincial Archives, having formerly been on the staff of the Public Archives of Canada. For some S years he served with the Historical Section, Canadian Army Headquarters, Ottawa. Wayne Suttles, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. H. C. Gilliland, M.A., is the Past President of the British Columbia Historical Association and Acting Principal of the Provincial Normal School, Victoria, B.C. Madge Wolfenden, recently retired as Assistant Provincial Archivist, is a Past President of the British Columbia Historical Association and a well-known student of British Columbia history. victoria, B.C. Printed by Don McDiarmid, Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty 1955 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Organized October 31st, 1922 PATRON His Honour Clarence Wallace, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. OFFICERS, 1954 Hon. Robert Bonner, Q.C. Captain Charles W. Cates - H. C. Gbxiland .... Mrs. A. D. Turnbull - J. K. Nesbitt Mrs. Kenneth Drury - Miss Patricia Johnson Honorary President. President. Past President. 1st Vice-President. 2nd Vice-President, Honorary Secretary. Honorary Treasurer. MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL Miss Helen R. Boutilier. Dr. W. N. Sage Miss Madge Wolfenden (Victoria Section). James McGregor (Nanaimo Section). Rev. J. C. Goodfellow, D.D. Dr. F. H. Johnson. Mrs. R. B. White. Dr. Margaret Ormsby James Armstrong (Vancouver Section). (West Kootenay Section). Mrs. David Hoy Mrs. Jessie Woodward (Fort St. James Section). (Boundary Section). Willard E. Ireland (Editor, Quarterly). OBJECTS To encourage historical research and stimulate public interest in history; to promote the preservation and marking of historic sites, buildings, relics, natural features, and other objects and places of historical interest, and to publish historical sketches, studies, and documents. MEMBERSHIP Ordinary members pay a fee of $2 annually in advance. The fiscal year commences on the first day of January. All members in good standing receive the British Columbia Historical Quarterly without further charge. Correspondence and fees may be addressed to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY JULY-OCTOBER, 1954 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. EDITOR Willard E. Ireland, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Madge Wolfenden, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ADVISORY BOARD J. C Goodfellow, Princeton. W. N. Sage, Vancouver. Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor. Subscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 50tf the copy, or $2 the year. Members of the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the Quarterly without further charge. Neither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical Association assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. 7& BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY "Any country worthy of a future should be interested in its past." l. XVIII Victoria, B.C., July-October, 1954 Nos. 3 an< CONTENTS John Tod: " Career of a Scotch Boy." Edited, with an introduction and notes, by Madge Wolfenden 133 Rumours of Confederate Privateers Operating in Victoria, Vancouver Island. By Benjamin F. Gilbert 239 Notes and Comments: British Columbia Historical Association- 257 Okanagan Historical Society 261 Rossland Historical Museum 263 Plaque Commemorating Fort Langley Pioneer Cemetery 264 Midway Historical Marker 265 John S. Ewart Memorial Fund 265 Contributors to This Issue 266 The Northwest Bookshelf: Cumberland House Journals and Inland Journals, 1775-82. Second Series, 1779-82. By Willard E. Ireland 267 Canada's Tomorrow: Papers and Discussions, Canada's Tomorrow Conference. By John Tupper Saywell The North Peace River Parish, Diocese of Caledonia: A Brief History. Sovereign: A Tree Grows in Vernon. Cousins: Through the Years, 1904-1954. Davies: Our Goodly Heritage, 1904-1954. Jessett: Pioneering God's Country. By Willard E. Ireland The Northwest Bookshelf—Continued History of Kaslo. Fraser: The Story of Osoyoos. By A. F. Flucke . 272 Shorter Notices: Brown: Admirals, Adventurers and Able Seamen. Ramsey: Historic Yale, British Columbia. Timberlake: The Bishop of Broadway: David Belasco, His Life and Work. Knaplund: James Stephen and the British Colonial System, 1813-1847. By Willard E. Ireland 274 John Tod as a young man. (From an original water-colour in the Archives of B.C.) JOHN TOD: "CAREER OF A SCOTCH BOY" In view of the fact that the following account of life in the fur trade during the nineteenth century is a particularly interesting one, and that John Tod's part in it is relatively unknown, it has been deemed appropriate that the Career of a Scotch Boy should be reprinted. The original version appeared in the Victoria Daily Times in 1905, covering issues from September 30 to December 23,1 under the editorship of Gilbert Malcolm Sproat, well known to older British Columbians. According to Sproat's account, the subject-matter was gathered from John Tod by G. H. Wilson-Brown and himself during numerous visits to the Tod house at Oak Bay. As John Tod died in 1882,2 it seems strange that the material was not published until 1905. Wilson-Brown was a journalist and reporter and probably wrote shorthand. He died in Victoria in June, 1904.3 It must be remembered that Sproat was possessed of a distinctive literary style and, therefore, although the stories are Tod's, the expression thereof is Sproat's. Knowing the Tod house with its large open fireplaces and its romantic setting on the shores of Oak Bay (at that time virtually uninhabited), it is not difficult to visualize the scenes during the preparation of the story. The three would, no doubt, be gathered round the fireplace, pipes would be lighted, possibly glasses of grog placed beside them, Wilson-Brown with his note-book, and the stage would be set. Tod loved to tell of his experiences, and Sproat would be one who could draw out from him by questions the more interesting of his achievements. An effort has been made to identify the various persons and places mentioned by Tod throughout the narrative, and for help in this connection sincere thanks are due to the Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company for their researches into their Archives in London.4 During the preparation of the Career of a Scotch Boy for republication, various biographical details have come to light, about which a certain amount of doubt and uncertainty has hitherto prevailed. In order not to overload the narrative, it has been decided to compile these family details into an appendix. Victoria, B.C. MaDGE WOLFENDEN. (1) Victoria Daily Times. September 30; October 7, 14, 21, 28; November 8, 11, 18, 25; December 2, 9, 16, 23, 1905. (2) Victoria Colonist, September 1 and 5, 1882. (3) Ibid., June 15, 1904. (4) Material from this source is published by the kind permission of the Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVIH, Nos. 3 and 4. 133 m 134 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. CAREER OF A SCOTCH BOY WHO BECAME HON. JOHN TOD An Unfashionable True Story By Gilbert Malcolm Sproat John Tod, the subject of Mr. Sproat's brochure, was, as the title implies, a Scotch lad who rose through successive steps to the highest positions in the gift of the Hudson's Bay Company. He was the contemporary, and peer in many respects, of Douglas and McLoughlin. He was one of the most remarkable characters in the employ of even the great company. In his declining days Mr. Tod lived at Oak Bay, Victoria, and his house was a house of call for many horsemen who revelled in their favorite sport before the days of fences and enclosures. It was after long conversations on such occasions that Mr. Sproat made the notes which form the basis of this series of articles, which take the form of a self-memoir of Mr. Tod. The writer, Gilbert Malcolm Sproat, is known in literature as the author of several works: Select Odes of Horace in English Lyrics; Scenes and Studies of Savage Life; On the Poetry of Sir Walter Scott; Physical Politics; The True Macbeth; The Education of the Rural Poor in England; The British Opium Policy in India and China, etc., etc. The last mentioned was the first prize essay in a competition open to the world, and the award of $1,000 was given by the Indian Viceroy and the Governors of Bombay and Madras. Mr. Sproat came to Victoria in 1860, and was a friend of the " Scotch Boy "—the Honorable John Tod—whose career he depicts.—Ed. Preface One of the notables in North-west American history is the late Honorable John Tod, who, after retiring from the Hudson's Bay Company, with the rank of chief trader, became a member of the council of government, of the Vancouver Island colony, in 1851. Mr. Tod, perhaps, was more remarkable for what he was, personally, than for what he did, in the service of the company or government, though his services were meritorious, and specially so in Indian diplomacy and management, as the following pages may illustrate. To me, as a youth, knowing him particularly well, Mr. Tod always seemed to be somewhat separated from his environment, at any rate not half attached to it. Standing thus, stoutly in its place, his personality suggested, and, indeed, more or less exhibited, that reserved force of character which acts directly by presence and without means. He was a refreshing unconven- tionalist, who did not deal with facts at second hand, but through his own insight, [was] guided by natural probity. A reference to standards of truth and justice, as he conceived them, was the habit of his mind. This, naturally, 1954 John Tod 135 drew some criticism on the part of those who can only appreciate a principle when it is lodged in a person. To the last, not far short of 90 years of age, notwithstanding his hard, narrow fortune until middle life, Mr. Tod's intellect was as fresh and inquisitive as that of a promising college lad, ever seeking to realize and illuminate the untried and unknown. Books, music, conversation, in these he delighted, and, strangely enough in one of his speculative genius, he excelled all men I have listened to, in unaffected, graphic narration, without scene-painting or counterfeit. You saw, vividly and exactly, what he recalled and himself saw—" figure, proportion, color," back in its focus, and the whole placed at a focal distance within the actual horizon of human life. The following pages, in the guise of a self-memoir of this remarkable personage, comprise actual experiences related by him purposely, in conversations with me, or with the late Mr. G. H. Wilson-Brown, and recorded by us respectively, at the time, or, immediately afterwards. For the particular form of the memoir, and the adaptation of spoken to written language, I must accept the responsibility, as well as for the application of Lowell's aphorism, that " knowing what to leave in the inkpot is the wisdom of writing." A few personal names are omitted or veiled, in deference to an expressed sentiment on the part of relatives or friends. I do not know if it would be presumptuous, on my part, to express the hope that this publication may interest some readers as a personal record, and, perhaps, as a little contribution to the history of the places and times referred to. The mere diary of a traveller, in distant lands, rather repels the reader, and on the other hand the book " written for boys " of an age when imagination lends its color to everything, is apt to mislead. It was Washington Irving's "Astoria" that long ago suggested to me this present attempt. That charming work of a great writer by which he now is best known—at any rate in the middle and western parts of America—is, as he admitted, " of a rambling and disjointed nature."1 He knew well the value of unity in impressing the historical facts of any period upon the human mind, but failed to achieve it in the work mentioned, through having essayed too much. It might have been better, I have thought, had he adopted in the bulk some such plan as I here, in a single sample, rather diffidently attempt. The necessary unity and human interest, perhaps, might have been secured by a series of selected autobiographic presentations, and by weaving into the enterprise and errantry of each adventurer's life whatever of a climatic, topographical, zoological or social nature, seemed, properly to belong to it. True, such a method would have required some knowledge of the actors. This Mr. Irving lacked, and, moreover, had no personal experiences of western life. It is a tribute to his fame, as a writer, that a faultily constructed book should be read, still, with zest. Gilbert Malcolm Sproat. (1) ". . . of a rambling and somewhat disjointed nature." Washington Irving, Astoria, London, 1836, Vol. I, p. vii. 136 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. Chapter I I was born in 1794, two years before the death of Burns, in a cottage by the shore of Loch Lomond—the eldest in a family of eleven—but during most of my boyhood we lived in another dwelling not far away, on the bank of the river Leven, my father having changed his residence. He was head clerk in a "print-fields," or small factory in which cloth was printed with blocks, and earned enough to keep his large family in reasonable comfort. Both father and mother were Presbyterians, and very fixed in their opinions and conduct, but I was a rebel against conventionality from my earliest years, though with no lack of feeling, or duty, as a son. My mother I once overheard saying of me to a neighbor: " That boy has been different from all the others since the hour he was born, and I know not what will become of him. I fear little good. You mind the big storm when the earth shook, and we put the blankets over our heads—the bairn then was all the time outside on the rocks clapping his hands at the Ughtning." During several more or less uncomfortable years at the parish school I listened to what the " dominie " had to teach, but could not agree with much of it. He persisted in cramming me with the grammar of Latin and with memorised extracts from the Bible, when my bent was towards arithmetic, the English language and natural history. The result was that, practically, having to teach myself, further attendance at the school seemed to me to be a waste of time. When getting on for 17, and, then a tall, strong lad, my father sent me to a cotton-yard warehouse in Glasgow, where I acted as under clerk in the office, and lived with my grandparents. After about two years in this employment, the porter having fallen sick, I volunteered to do his work as well as my own, but as my employers insisted on my continuing this double service without adding to my pay, I accepted dismissal, and wended my way back to the home on the Leven. The news had reached there, and my mother, a good woman, but not demonstratively affectionate, having many cares and a sharp tongue, met me at the door with warning finger, saying I So, the ne'er-dae well is back." Big as I was, and ashamed of such emotion, this made me go, in tears, to my father at the "print-fields," and he said: "Dinna tak on, laddie! Dinna tak on; it'll be a'richt as lang as your feyther's kale-pot stands." By and by, having endured, for a couple of months the scoff of my own family and the neighbors, a letter 1954 John Tod 137 came from my uncle in Glasgow stating that a Mr. McDonald2 was engaging young men to go out to the Hudson's Bay Company's land. My father gave me a little money, together with three books, namely, the Bible, Burns' Works and Buchan's Medicine,3 and away I went back to Glasgow, and on seeing Mr. McDonald, whom I knew a little, he said that as I was young, he could not give me the wages of older men. " Never mind, sir," said I, " I will try to do my duty," whereupon he engaged me for four years at £20 a year, with a yearly increase of £5. Then on inquiring what the work would be Mr. McDonald replied that he couldn't tell me—I migftt have to hunt and kill bears. Next, as my knowledge of the Hudson's Bay Company's territory was small, I asked whither I might have to go—not that I was caring much about that, for my only anxiety was to get away from home. He replied that I would know soon enough; it was over there in America. This was in March, 1813,4 and I embarked in June, one of a party of sixteen men destined for the settlement then being formed at Red River by Lord Selkirk, under some arrangement with the Hudson's Bay Company. The passengers included 40 or 50 laborers for the general service of that company. I had been aboard a ship once at Greenock, but never at sea in one before. The vessel was in size about 80 tons, chartered to take us to Stornoway, where the regular Hudson's Bay ship from London, about five times as big, would call to convey the party to Hudson's Bay. The weather was fine, and the food of fair quality, but too much oatmeal porridge. A few days' easy sail took us to Stornoway in the outer Hebridean isle of Lewis, where we were lodged in different parts of the town, the people being very kind. It was in this town that I first heard the name of the " Northwest Company," the Hudson's Bay Company's rival in trade. The people spoke of what agents of the former company had done in Norway, to dissuade Hudson's Bay Company men from proceeding to America. Six weeks passed before the arrival of the ship that was to take us over sea. Upon her arrival we were immediately (2) Miles Macdonell was sent by Lord Selkirk to the British Isles in 1811 to recruit labourers for the Red River Settlement. A. S. Morton, A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71, London, [1939], pp. 539-541. (3) WMiam Buchan, Domestic Medicine, Edinburgh, 1769. Robert Burns, 1759-96, the famous Scottish poet, is obviously the one to whom reference is made. (4) This should be 1811. Tod sailed to Hudson Bay in the Edward and Ann. R. H. Fleming (ed.), Minutes of Council Northern Department of Rupert Land, 1821-31, London, 1940, pp. 459-460. See also R. A. Reynolds, Secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company, to W. E. Ireland, August 23, 1950, MS., Archives of B.C. 138 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. ordered aboard. The captain was sick and the mate, who acted as skipper in his place, himself being a qualified master, was known as " Old Davis,"5 long a servant of the Hudson's Bay Company. The anchor was still down after three days, and no food on the table but porridge. This caused dissatisfaction, and one of the laboring class of passengers, a young man from Glasgow named Hamilton, who represented the general feeling, walked up to the acting skipper on the deck and told him, quietly, that the passengers would not live any longer on such food. " Damn my buttons," exclaimed Old Davis, " if you don't like the food you may jump overboard." Hamilton accepted the unmeant alternative, doffed bonnet, coat and boots, and slipped into the sea, followed by five others, and they all swam for the shore, distant about one and a half miles. The ship's boats were lowered to overtake the swimmers, and some of the shore people witnessing a commotion, and fearsome that their friends had got among Irish, rowed also to the scene. The two flotillas reached the fugitives about the same time, and after a struggle, in which, amusingly, the shoulders and feet of some of the swimmers were pulled in different directions by the contesting rescuers, the town party won and proceeded to the shore with their willing captives. That was the last we saw of them, because a few hours afterwards Old Davis, fearing a further loss of men who, in this voyage, were of a class less docile than the Orkney men, whom he usually had as passengers, weighed anchor, and started for York Factory in Hudson's Bay. The fare was improved, and "burgoo,"6 or oatmeal porridge without milk or any substitute was almost banished from the tables. I had no idea till I tried it, and saw the effect upon others, how distasteful oatmeal by itself soon becomes, excepting always cakes fried on the griddle. The voyage was uneventful, and, though sea life was a new experience to me, and I had oft boated on the Lomond, strangely, I took no interest in the working of the ship. I saw my first iceberg in Hudson's Strait, where the floating ice in the narrow channels detained our vessel for two days. A few of us landed with guns, but got no game. I fired at a large white bird, which the mate said was an Arctic falcon, which was seen rarely (5) The skipper of the Edward and Ann was Thomas Gull. John Davison is listed as supercargo. H.B.C. Archives, C. 1/323. In 1812 Davison was skipper of the Robert Taylor. E. E. Rich (ed.), Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, September, 1817 to September, 1822, London, 1939, p. 225. (6) A now obsolete term formerly in use in the counties of Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire. Joseph Wright, English Dialect Dictionary, London, n.d., Vol. I, p. 450. 1954 John Tod 139 out of Arctic latitudes. Passing numerous islands and entering Hudson's Bay, as I was told, though it looked like the open sea, we sailed 600 miles across it, southwesterly to York Factory, which we reached after an eight weeks' passage from Stornoway.7 The "factory," a name continued from the seventeenth century appellation for important oversea trading stations, was near the mouth of Hayes river, which enters the southwestern part of Hudson's Bay immediately east of Nelson river. The first forts of the company in the bay, as a friendly doctor at the factory, or fort, afterwards told me, were at Rupert, Albany, Churchill and Hayes rivers, and some of these forts had been taken and temporarily held by the French in 1782. He said further that the company, for a long time, rather waited than sought for trade. A century after its formation it had only four or five forts, or factories, on the coast of Hudson's Bay, and not over 120 regular servants. York Factory, where we disembarked, was a large collection of buildings, some in disrepair owing to the swampiness of the locality, which indeed characterizes the whole coast. The factory was built partly on piles. It was within a large, oblong enclosure, walled by a timber stockade, with galleries to walk on, inside and out—a tower at each corner and a high " lookout" tower near the end of the main building. This latter was very large, containing a general room 300 feet long with officers' and servants' rooms entered from it. Fur sheds, shipping warehouses, offices, stores, magazines, boat house and dwellings for the servants made thirty or forty buildings within the enclosure. There were cannons in the bastions, and facing the main entrance, chiefly now I was told, for defence against a possible raid by the rival Northwest Company. The 16 of us, bound, as I have said, for Red River were on landing introduced to the officer in charge, an Englishman called Cookson,8 and to Mr. Jameson,9 a Scotchman, and local head man of that district, neither of whom, though civil enough, gave us any hearty welcome. It was stated to me, later on, that the conduct of a previous party arriving (7) The Edward and Ann reached York Factory on September 24,1811. A. S. Morton, op. cit., p. 542. (8) William Hemmings Cook, a native of London who had entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1786. In 1809 he took over the management of York Factory, remaining there until 1815. See Fleming, Minutes of Council, pp. 432-433. (9) Tod's memory appears to be at fault, unless he is referring to William Auld, a Scot, who had been appointed superintendent of the northern factories in 1810, and who spent the trading season of 1811-12 partly at York Factory and partly at Churchill. Rich, Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, pp. 203-205. 140 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. there on the way to Red River, had not pleased the authorities. For our part I remember that we resented an order to mess by ourselves in the kitchen and were transferred to the general room. There was a good deal of rather coarse banter at the table. Mr. Jameson repeated an old joke as to the company's method of capturing Scotchmen in the hills by the recruiter carrying a bag of oatmeal in one hand and box of snuff in the other, and there was other talk of that sort. Next day the whole party except myself and another,10 started for Red River in boats that had been waiting for the ship. A brass 3-pound cannon, destined for Red River, was sent with them, and the story went, as we heard it afterward, that, whether from the effect of fatigue or bad leading, some of the party became so insubordinate on the journey that the officer in command had to load the cannon with grape to overawe them. This was not a very likely story, for such a threat, probably, would have been seriously resented if deemed worth noticing at all. The reason that I and another of the party of sixteen, were not sent with the party to Red River was that we were considered to be too young for the journey. We were ordered instead to enter the fur trade of the company as "apprentice clerks"—a disposing power which it appears the local authorities at York Factory possessed with respect to men sent out for Lord Selkirk's settlements under his arrangement with the company. Though only £20 a year lads, pretty much at beck and call, we were thus in company parlance just within the class of " gentlemen " in the service, that is to say, that class eligible, in theory, and as a rule actually, for commissives [commissions] in the higher grades. The first training of my companion and myself was to be in " camp life." For this purpose we were sent a short distance up the river to live in a " lodge." This is a conical structure, supported by slender long poles, usually covered with birch bark, where that tree grows, but ours was a leather lodge—the base about 15 feet wide, fireplace in the middle, a small doorway and an opening at the tip, pine or cedar branches on the floor on which to lay bear skin and blankets. We had to kill game for our table—an easy task there, for game was abundant, the ptarmigan being so numerous and unwary that we could catch them in nets. A Dr. Calder,11 one of the staff at the fort, the (10) This is presumably John McLeod of Ross. See his Notes on Service, 1811-1816, Transcript, Archives of B.C. (11) John Calder was surgeon at York Factory during the outfit 1810-11. Although he sailed from York Factory in the Eddy stone (Captain Thomas Rainsey) on October 5, 1811 [Log of the Eddystone, H.B.C. Archives], Tod would just have had time to make his acquaintance. 1954 John Tod doctor above referred to, a pleasant, but not a visiting man, lived in a lodge not very far away from ours. Taking him some birds one day I expressed surprise that he liked to live alone without a companion. " Why," said he, " I have a companion who comes a[t] meal times. You stay for dinner, and I will introduce you." The lodge furniture consisted mainly of a square log on each of two sides of the fire, serving for a seat and table respectively for two occupants. Sitting on my log and the host on his, with tea and sugar beside him, I began to wonder where the expected " companion " would find room, when suddenly down the pole of the tent came a mouse, which, going straight to the sugar basin on my host's log picked up a piece of sugar and away with it up the pole to its own quarters. The sojourn in the lodge broke us into camp life in about a month, and we were then recalled for a long tramp to an old established fort—Fort Severn, at the mouth of a river of that name, which flows into Hudson's Bay about 200 miles east from York Factory.12 It was now winter, which, in that region, comes suddenly with intense frost, sometimes 60 degrees below zero with drifting and misty snow. This caused my introduction to the regulation dress of the company, and also to the use of snowshoes, as another stage of my training. Light blue was the company's color in attire, and I donned a coat of that color, worn in this time of winter over a leather, flannel-lined doublet, worsted scarlet waist belt, smoked buckskin breeches, blue cloth leggings up to the knee, under which were three rolls of blanket socks, encased in moose moccasins. This soft and yielding, though tough footgear, by not impeding the circulation, lessened the risk of freezing which the use of hard leather boots would have caused. Hanging my buckskin mittens to a cord from my neck to prevent them being lost and throwing a familiar Scotch plaid on my shoulder I was ready for the journey, barring the snowshoes. The men below my grade wore much the same dress, only more ornamented, and even the Indian servants of the company had a general uniform dress though the coat was not always blue. The " fire bag " with flint and steel, and usually a pipe and space for tobacco, was indispensable to every one, as life might depend on ability to start a fire. We were allowed two guides on this trip. One was an old hand—an Orkney man, the other was an English sailor. The company, when I think of it, had a considerable number of sailor (12) Tod and John Brackenridge were the two apprentices sent on this expedition. H.B.C. Archives, B. 198/d/88 fo. 45, B. 220/d/2, B. 239/b/82 fo. 9d-10. 142 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. men in its service. This one, Joe Hall, was his name, thought it fun to go ahead out of sight when I tripped and fell into the drift, and of course his tracks were instantly closed. The torture of the snowshoes to an inexperienced walker, is, in some states of the weather and [in] the snow very great. Indian children begin to wear this foot-gear when only five or six years old. For my part I could not have conceived what I had to suffer from it on this first trip, but we trudged along doggedly and in fifteen days reached the fort, Fort Severn, a nice collection of buildings with a staff of about ten men. There we were very well received, but two pitiful incidents followed our arrival, which made me think I was gaining experience since leaving Loch Lomond. The officer in charge was a Mr. Santley,13 who had an Indian wife and large family. A Mr. Waring14 acted as steward and assistant trader. There, also, was a Captain Taylor,15 skipper of a small schooner trading with York Factory. Preparations were in progress for a trip over 200 miles up the river or its tributaries to another trading station at Trout lake. And on the night before the day fixed for leaving, Mr. Santley rose from bed and went to the store to add something to the supplies which he had forgotten. In ascending the steps to the top story he stumbled and fell back on the edge of an open barrel, injuring his head so that for days he was unconscious. His son, a well grown lad, and I had to keep watches in Mr. Santley's bedroom by turns. One night the trader, Mr. Waring, entered during my watch and looked long and sadly at the sufferer in the bed, and then quietly retired without a word having been uttered. Presently there was the report of a gun, but I thought nothing of that, as many guns were set in the neighborhood for wolves, etc. But in the early morning the man who had to go to the cow house to milk the cow came and told me that the door of the trading shed was open. This being unusual, I went there and found Mr. Waring lying (13) James Swain, Sr., was in charge of Severn House, 1811-12. E. E. Rich (ed.), Journal of Occurrences in the Athabasca Department by George Simpson, 1820 and 1821, and Report, London, 1938, p. 470. See also John Tod, History of New Caledonia and the North West Coast, Photostat, Archives of B.C., p. 42. (14) This is James Wilson, a native of Kirkwall, assistant trader at Severn, 1811-12, according to James Swain's report of April 23, 1812, H.B.C. Archives, B. 198M/88 fo. 45. (15) George Taylor was the father of Simpson's "country wife," Margaret. A. S. Morton, Sir George Simpson, Portland, 1944, p. 159. 1954 John Tod 143 dead inside with indications that he had shot himself.16 He was a quiet, sober, steady man. Mr. Santley did not recover from the effects of his accident until the spring, and for a long time afterward was very weak. I had never seen a corpse before that of Mr. Waring, nor had my comrade, and the schooner-captain, by this time had sailed away to escape being shut in by the ice. The ground was frozen hard, and it was difficult to make a grave—thaw in summer seldom goes deeper than four inches—but we at last succeeded in giving the poor fellow a decent burial. Our guides had gone back to York Factory, and the men at Fort Severn—mostly French-Canadian half-breeds—could give no assistance owing to their superstitious dread on account of the suicide— an inherited feeling perhaps, through their Indian blood. For a considerable time, brave as they were said to be against any living thing, these men seemed to fear their own shadows, and would not venture alone outside the door of their house at night, even if the moon shone brightly. Chapter II We remained at Fort Severn to assist Mr. Santley during the winter —my first winter in America. It lasted from the latter part of September to the middle of June. The temperature never was higher than 40 degrees below zero, and often much lower. My duties, owing to the ill-health of the officer in charge, were of a general nature, and included less of Indian trading than account work, for which latter my Glasgow experience had, in some degree, prepared me. I have mentioned the presence of a cow at the fort. Wild hay had been gathered for it, and the animal seemed to thrive pretty well and afforded palatable milk for the officer's family. There also were an immense boar, and an English horse of some breeding. The latter had arrived too late to be sent forward to its destination at Red river. The boar and this horse became companions, and, as we had no regular food for them, foraged on willow branches, or whatever of an edible nature they could find. The horse must have been sorry that he left England. The two animals ran to the fort on hearing the bell for meals, and devoured the goose-bones and other refuse thrown out, contending for the bits in their peculiar ways—the boar usually prevailing. This seemed to me a strange comradeship, but I have since read of a rabbit hunting comradeship in Ireland between a pointer dog and a pig. Frozen fish, chopped small, (16) According to James Swain's report of April 23, 1812, Wilson shot himself on January 27. H.B.C. Archives, B. 239/b/82 fo. 33. 144 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. were served frequently to the cow, and, occasionally, to the horse. Necessarily in preparing small fish for winter food, they were frozen without the entrails or scales being removed. They were then strung in batches of about 20, heads down, on twisted willow branches or other sticks. Venison and flesh-meat in general required different treatment. The pieces were at once dipped into water, and, on the water freezing around them, were redipped and so till the ice-coat was thick enough. Meat exposed to the frost without a coating so formed would not keep. To show how cold the weather was, I may mention that a piece of new calico dipped in water and hung over a line would be totally consumed soon by the action of the frost. The large fish, such as the salmon and the gray and speckled trout were dried and smoked in the usual manner, when time permitted, but were not obtainable without undue effort in quantities to form a staple food. The salmon began to come into the rivers from the salt water of Hudson's Bay as soon as the ice moved and the waters cleared. They spawned about the end of August. The coast Indians caught them, but used more blubber than salmon for food. South from Hudson's Bay, however, in the interior, the Indians had salmon and dried or frozen wild geese as staple articles of diet. The main reliance for winter food at the company's stations was cured or frozen fish and salted geese. On hearing first of this I remembered my father having told me that in his grandfather's time the Scotch largely lived on salted geese. The bird mostly used by us in the Hudson's Bay region was the white goose, the migratory habits of which are regular. The gray goose, in its different varieties being more erratic, could not be depended on for winter supplies. The former, appearing from the south southwest in numbers probably from the region of the Mississippi river early in May, flew along the coast of Hudson's Bay to a certain promontory, and thence streamed seaward, always, I was told, from the same place and in the same direction. That was the direct line towards Hudson's Strait, on the innumerable rocks and islets of which they incubated. No one could tell me what food the birds lived on there. They began to return to the southward in September. The flight of the white geese lasted for three days. They passed over us at a height, I should guess, of 1,200 to 1,500 feet. We hid in snow shelters on the coast marsh and made decoys of snow at a convenient distance. Towards these latter the great successive flocks, from curiosity, lowered before passing, but never alighted. They had not the generalship to send out scouts; the whole flock flew lower to examine the snow John Tod in later life. Eliza.Waugh, wife of John Tod. (From an original miniature in the Archives of B.C.) Mrs. William H. Newton (nee Emmeline Jane Tod). John Tod residence, Heron Street, Oak Bay, as it stands to-day. 1954 John Tod 145 decoys, and thus we were able to shoot many of them, each gunner within the shelter having several Indians to reload the guns and pick up the dead birds before the next flock came. This work on our part— it was not sport—continued, with intervals for our meals and to clean the guns, until from 10,000 to 20,000 birds were obtained for salting— an infinitesmal [sic] percentage of the millions that flew over us. Mr. Macdonald,17 who engaged me in Glasgow, having, as I have said, told me I might have to hunt bears in my new habitat, that animal always had more or less interest for me, but of polar bears I cannot say very much, and do not know if what were called " polar " bears in southern Hudson Bay were of the genuine polar species. When in that region I usually was too busy to hunt those bears, though noticing some of their ways as occasion offered. Other bears I shall mention as my narrative proceeds. The polar bears and the seals do not devour their fish in water, but must get upon a rock or the ice for that purpose. These bears venture far out to sea in the summer time on floating ice, but approach the coast towards winter, not, however, to hibernate in the full manner of the black and other bears. The female goes ashore and " caves," so to speak, in the deep snow, or where the snow drifts will soon cover her, and there she lies without food till she has young. The male animal, shut from the water by ice, roams the coast and sea surface for food, as does also the female after cub birth, subject to her maternal duties. A valued prey of theirs is the seal, which always keeps an ice hole open through which it may reach the ice, used as a table for its fish meal. The bear knows these holes and crouches like a cat to seize the seal when it appears. Usually he carries it some distance from the hole before eating it. He always is followed by a pack of white foxes, which, during his watch, strive to be quiet, grinning merely, and turning their heads from one side to the other, but once the fatal spring is made they trot about expectantly, grinning, whisking their tails, chattering, and here and there indulging in a fight, until the bear is satisfied with his repast and permits them to eat the leavings. But enough at present, as to some effects of the cold weather on the animals. Chapter III The most striking difference next to the uniform low terrain— between the land I was now in and the hilly Scotch countryside which (17) V. supra, foot-note (2). 146 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. I had lately left, was in the sudden coming and the coldness and length of winter. "Nine months' frost and snow, and three months' bad weather" was the usual description by residents of a year's climate in the York Factory region. Another saying was that there were in four months three seasons—in June, spring—in July and August, summer—in September, autumn—but liable to be cut short. It was this hard climatic condition, together with the attention necessary to appreciate at least some ordinary phases of the Indian's character and to master the rules and details of trading with them that caused many young men at the stage I now had reached to retire from a service which they had entered with hope. That was the case of the companion I have referred to. The life, indeed, was free from certain conventions, but not as free, otherwise as a novice might have prefigured in his mind. Discipline and supervision were enforced almost with military rigor, though with less formality in the social intercourse of the commissioned ranks that probably exists in the army. A man might be ordered to go elsewhere on duty at any time, the change perhaps involving 1,000 miles of travel, and he might be sent suddenly from a comfortable to an inhospitable station. These were incidents of the service. As a rule in such changes the company's interests were solely regarded, but not invariably so, for the superiors were but men with human likes and dislikes. The governing body was well constituted of experienced officers, but in all such councils one or two men have sway, either directly or indirectly. Promotions were made by the company on the nomination of the chief factors in council, but this rule was not always adhered to. Perhaps the weak point after the " coalition " of 1821 with the rival Northwest Co. was the long tenure of office by the " governor in chief," which tended to make him practically autocratic. The first governor of the coalesced concern in America held office for 37 years.18 He might, and should, have been sooner retired by the company, but the ungraciousness of the case of an officer of distinction and long service seemed to have withheld the exercise of that power by the governing body in London.19 (18) Sir George Simpson actually was governor for thirty-nine years, from 1821 until his death in 1860. See Morton, Sir George Simpson, p. 283. (19) The type-setters seem to have garbled this sentence. Presumably it should have read: " But the ungracious governing body in London seems to have withheld the exercise of that power in the case of an officer of distinction and long service." 1954 John Tod 147 The winter with which I was familiar as a youth in Scotland was gloomy enough, but nature there did not seem to die as it did in winter where I now was. The opening of spring at Hudson's Bay gave the idea of a sort of rising from death to us who had dwelt so long in frozen-up quarters. Suddenly everywhere were evidences of a new, more genial condition, an animation that gave delight to our hearts. The quickening of the twigs caused a slight smell in the terminal buds. Pieces of ice from the broken fishing holes showed on their underside signs of a wear or honey-combing by warmer water, though how heat could reach water fended from the sun was not apparent. The grey and white headed eagle (the latter cowardly and thievish bird strangely chosen as the American emblem), these heralds of the spring came early to seek their prey. The squirrel stretched on a slender branch looked as if he were " dowsing " for the sweetish sap he likes to suck. Beavers and also muskrats, more [soon?] appeared on the roofs of their respective houses or enjoyed a little frisk near them. The young pet beaver that lived in our house at the fort was down oftener to the river-side seeking water to wash his eyes. Time for us soon to clean, repair and put away winter appliances and belongings. Ducks, by the by, whirred through the air, and geese by the million in ploughshare formation. The release of the frogs from their icebound prison was followed soon by their amorous lays. Let me say here about the frogs that in the mossy swamps, in the mud of which they spend the winter, I have found them frozen hard as a stone, yet these when put near a fire revived and croaked, but upon a second freezing nothing would resuscitate them. Yet pleasant as the change from winter was to one first experiencing the climate in this part of the continent, I found afterwards that the winter was the least disagreeable season. The region, as to two- thirds of it, is composed of water, and what are really marshy islands, with innumerable muddy lakes and portages. It also is treeless, except along some of the large streams and a few pines and swamp willows in the open. The travel thus was most laborious to all, and the plague of stinging flies maddening to a newcomer until he became immune to the pain, if not to the worry, of their attacks. My stay at Fort Severn came to an end as soon as the river opened, for then the officer in charge of the post at Trout lake, already mentioned, over 200 miles (as was said) up the river Severn, arrived thence with bis " brigade " of boats laden with furs and to take back supplies. 148 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. Long previously the Indians, owing to the prestige of the Hudson's Bay Co., sold the worst of their peltries to the rival Northwest Co., and took its best to York Factory, but in the pressure of competition the Hudson's Bay Co. later established forts such as at Trout lake, which I am now speaking of, to secure trade that might not be offered at York Factory. The company had built a fort at Osnaburg lake20 as early as 1786, and later proceeded farther still to Red river. The Trout lake officer's name was Marshall21—an old sailor, very skilful in trade. He ordered me to go from Fort Severn to Trout lake with him, and we reached that place against the current broken by rapids in fifteen days— my first real experience in up river, hard canoe travel. It was now about a year since I left Scotland, and I had learned something in my new life, but not much yet about actual Indian trading away from the main station of a district. I had now special opportunities of doing this at Trout lake, for Mr. Marshall sent me with a guide to many more or less distant Indian camps, and I thus became familiar with the trade rules and practice. I learned, too, the Cree language, or a branch of it at this fort. Mr. Marshall's wife was of that people, and he always spoke in Cree in the family circle, and, moreover, one of the daughters, a fine girl, nearly grown up, seemed to have more tact in teaching me language than had the old dominie at the Leven. But the details of that tuition, and my bartering for furs, as a novice, would less interest the reader, perhaps, than some account of a friend of mine—the young beaver above referred to—saved by an Indian hunter, and presented by him to me for a pet. He was as black as a crow, and soon grew large and strong. He became attached to Mr. Marshall's children, and used to sleep with them. If confined in another room he would bite through the door to get to them. The children were quarter-breeds, but the beaver did not detect their strain. Had he done so, nothing could have induced him to be their playmate. When the next winter came the behaviour of this animal was curious in the following respect. His instinctive hatred of Indians was such that when temporarily blind from some failure to supply him with water to wash his eyes, he became uneasy on scenting the presence of an Indian in (20) Osnaburgh House, built in 1786, was located at the east end of Lake St. Joseph, Ontario. Ernest Voorhis (comp.), Historic Forts and Trading Posts of the French Regime and of the English Fur Trading Companies, Ottawa, 1930, p. 133. (21) It has not been possible to identify this individual. 1954 John Tod 149 the room. Open-eyed this dislike was manifested by conduct which had a tincture of what seemed human, but possibly would have been seriously aggressive but for some dread of the consequences of misbehaving in the presence of his " white friends." The Indians often were invited to enter the general room, and in their fashion squatted with their backs against the wall, and laid— it might be—a skin, a pipe or a knife on the floor beside them. Cir- cuitously and gradually getting nearer to the Indians, their heavy-tailed enemy seized one of these articles, and in his beaver fashion carried it on his paws and under his chin outside the house, then giving it a parting whack with his tail he returned for another article. Lastly, he would seize an Indian by the thigh and take his legs under his jaws, but the human " article " being too heavy to carry, the beaver could only push the Indian round—nevertheless, in the absence of opposition —(for the Indian in this case humored his enemy), the beaver working with great energy and excitement, but not attempting to bite, forced the intruder, by gyrations to the door. On one occasion this same beaver carried out an Indian child, which, incautiously, had been left alone in the room, and gave it a whack with his tail after he got it outside the house. Attracted by the child's screams, I beat the beaver so severely that he left Indian children alone ever afterwards, but still showed his hatred of the Indian men and women. I have had other beaver pets, but none acted entirely in the way here described, though, possibly, they all had it in them to so act. I suppose that an inherited instinct marked the Indians as enemies of the beaver race, but had not, as yet, placed the white man—really worse racial enemies—in the same category. The Cree Indians, above mentioned, though only numbering 5,000 to 6,000 were the most numerous then of the Northwest tribes the company had to do with. There were two branches of them—those who lived along the southwestern and south coast of Hudson's Bay, and for a considerable distance thence inland, known as the " Swampy " Crees from the moist surface of the country they occupied. Another division sometimes regarded as the Crees proper, roamed over a large territory in the Northwest, from Assiniboine to Athabasca in the basin of the Mackenzie, and in another direction to He a la Crosse, which is situated on the farthest north important water system that finds its exit in Hudson's Bay. 150 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. The language which I learned was the " Swampy " Cree tongue. It was sufficiently like the regular Cree—and indeed the Chipewayan— to be useful to a trader as far as the Rocky mountains. I found my knowledge of it occasionally serviceable in New Caledonia. Chapter IV Mr. Marshall some eighteen months after my arrival to work under him at the Trout lake post, was transferred to Red river, and was succeeded by a Mr. Snooks.22 The latter was directed, in the winter of 1815 and 1816, to ascertain trading possibilities at a large lake in his district known as "Pent"23 lake, said to be in latitude 54, where no white man had been. The Indians there were called the "Cranes,"24 a wild, ferocious tribe. Something prevented Mr. Snooks from himself going, and I was selected for this expedition, and, nominally commanded it, but in view of my inexperience and youth, being then hardly of age, I was instructed not to undertake anything of importance without consulting an old Orkneyman, "Archie," who was assigned to the party as interpreter and boat foreman. The general guide was an Indian, who, alone in the party, knew the country. I had three other Orkneymen and two medium sized canoes—the Indian guide occupying a bark canoe by himself. We started in the beginning of October, and did not return until the ice disappeared in the following summer. Our experience was very hard, and the business result of the expedition, apart from topographical information, rather unsatisfactory, as the Cranes were at war with another tribe and indisposed to communicate with us; nevertheless, the proceeds of the hunt more than paid expenses. It took us seven days to reach what we deemed to be the lake sought, the last day being on a considerable river, which we came to after making a portage, but as our guide had deserted, we were at a loss to know where to encamp. The spot, with winter impending, had to be where (22) Presumably this is Adam Snodie, who was in charge of Trout Lake, 1813-15. See Rich, Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, p. 242. (23) Presumably Paint Lake. See Fleming, Minutes of Council, p. 459. Tod in his Reminiscences, Photostat, Archives of B.C., makes reference to a "Spent Lake." (24) "There are two powerful families that frequent the country situated between Osnaburg and Trout Lake called the Cranes and tinpots, who have long been notorious for their depredations." Sir George Simpson to Donald Ross, December 8,1834, MS., Archives of B.C. 1954 John Tod 151 fishing under the ice was good. As strangers we could not know in advance, such a place, and, now, with the winter on us, could not easily search for a suitable place. Thus, after erecting a log house for quarters we were confronted by the question of food. Our supplies of flour, etc., for the actual travel were soon exhausted. The rule of the company, as to such expeditions, was not to cumber a party with more supplies than might be needed to reach a certain destination. It had been proved to the company, by experience, that no matter what supplies were issued to a party a surplus was never brought back. The above rule presupposed that traders should be able to live where Indians were able to five. Unfortunately, however, where we were, edible game was scarce. We killed minks, martens, foxes, wolverines and others, saving their skins and eating some of their flesh, when forced to do so. Usually the otters were shot and the others trapped. As to the fishing, ice had formed on the lake, immediately upon our arrival, in fact, our fisherman had just experimentally set his nets the day before winter came, and had to break the ice to get them out. He then made, and kept open, a large ice hole through which to lower the net at a newly chosen place, and with the aid of poles he passed the net to successive holes in a straight line as far as the length of the net—the " setting " being across a current. The rope attached to the net being drawn through the last hole, and a long line tied to it, the net was hauled, daily, to the main opening for examination, and afterwards was hauled back to its place by the rope. We never caught more than half a dozen small carp, about one and a half pounds each—not much for a hungry crew of men to live upon. I noticed, first, on this expedition, what many after experiences confirmed, namely, that half starved men bemoan their expected fate, but brace up when there is nothing whatever to eat in the camp. The ordinary man, too, if he can get fish for food is indisposed to undertake the ordeal of the hunt. The pride of youth, commanding the party, kept me from expressed complaint, though suffering greatly from hunger, which, I must say, broiled " beast-of-prey "—did not much alleviate. Cleaning my gun and its flint lock occupied much of my time. The three books my father had given me, and which I never travelled without, prevented utter lonesome- ness. Solomon's prayer, in the Bible, for wisdom, which seemed to have been successful, so attracted my attention that I followed his example, with little intermission, daily, during six weeks, but without any result that I could appreciate. 152 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. I sought in every direction for a moose camp without success. The habit of that animal is to spend most of the winter season in a particular selected spot, where its food of branches is plentiful. As strangers, such spots were unknown to us. There may have been no moose in the district. Roaming one bright day in April, when the sun had just softened the upper skin of the snow, and with nothing from the traps but a lean mink in my shoulder-sack, my delighted eye caught the footprints of a band of caribou, the flesh of which is excellent. (The New Caledonia caribou, I found afterwards, was a finer animal than the caribou here, and, as food, perhaps even better.) The impression of the feet in the snow, when a sample was lifted in a lump, was soft, not frozen, showing that the band had passed lately. I felt akin to Solomon, and examined carefully my gun, flint and pan.25 Moving with the utmost caution for many miles, I followed the track, or rather its general direction, as these animals ere they rest, make a circuit to command the approach of followers on their track, but I never saw these caribou, and it was too soon in the season for the ducks and geese. This passage of the caribou I did not mention to my doleful comrades in the lonely shieling. But enough—I have said that we got back to the fort at Trout Lake. Chapter V Some time after returning from this expedition I was promoted to a I clerkship," and transferred from service at Trout lake to the charge of the already mentioned Fort Severn, where I remained for more than two years. Then having acted for a spell as clerk to the managing factor at York factory, I was made superintendent of the fur shed at the latter place. These facts, without the presentation of wearisome details, raise the presumption that I had mastered my business, and the reader, if he pleases, may now perhaps form some idea of me as a full-fledged officer 27 years old—a tall, strong man, with long brown hair, and a hard, large featured face, unconventional, I fear, in everything, and with an unconscious, habitual gesture of enforcing utterances by striking my left palm with the other fist, to the alarm of some of my superiors whom I might be addressing. That was the year of the coalition of the Hudson's Bay Company, or "English" company as some called it, dating from 1670, whose (25) The part of the lock that held the priming in obsolete types of guns, according to The Concise Oxford Dictionary, Oxford, 1912. 1954 John Tod 153 servant I was, with its famous rival, the " Northwest Company," dating actually from 1784—though its former(?) [formal] partnership agreement is dated 1795.26 The latter was largely composed of Scotch Mon- trealers, but the coalition mentioned being a matter of general history need not be here further referred to—at least not the events that led to it. A Northwest Company partner, Mr. Benjamin Frobisher,27 imprisoned at the factory, had escaped in September, 1819, and died of privation in November, trying to reach the Northwest Company's post at Moose lake in the district of Mr. Connolly,28 afterwards in charge of New Caledonia. My appointment to the fur shed at York Factory was made soon after the coalition, and I was present at the formal banquet given there by the authorities to the nominally united members of the former separate companies. York Factory was considered to be a suitable place for the function, as it was the chief depot of the northern department, whence all the furs—some brought from great distances—were repacked for shipment to London, and where most of the supplies and passengers from London were landed. The place retained its importance, after the coalition—in fact, one result of the coalition was that the trade of the Northwest with Canada declined, and that with London, via York and Moose Factories, largely increased. This first social meeting of the superior officers of the coalesced concerns—73 men were present—in the great mess hall of the factory or fort, 300 feet in length with its two long narrow tables, had some peculiar features, owing to the bitter feelings of the guests who had for many years been keen trade competitors, and sometimes personal antagonists in willing combat. The "proud Northwest bucks"—mostly Highland men—had been stalking about the old fort, as haughtily as had been their wont at their own former headquarters for the interior, namely, Fort William, Lake Superior, not trying to converse with the Hudson's Bay- ites. It was "dollars to doughnuts"—as the saying is—whether the (26) Tod's dates seem to be in error. It is difficult to state when the North West Company was first formed, references to it occurring as early as 1776. In 1779 a sixteen-share concern was formed, and a new agreement was reached in 1783, from which date the company is usually considered as having begun. In 1787 it absorbed the Gregory, McLeod, and Company and the XY Company in 1804. G. C. Davidson, The North West Company, Berkeley, 1918, passim. (27) Ibid., pp. 159, 166. See also Rich, Simpson's Athabasca Journal, pp. 438-439. (28) William Connolly, whose daughter, Amelia, married James Douglas in 1826. 154 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. entertainment would be a " feed " or a " fight." Fortunately the governor in chief, Mr. (afterwards Sir George) Simpson, who, acting with Mr. Edward Ellice,29 afterwards an M.P. in England, had been instrumental in effecting the coalition, was present, endeavouring by courtesy and tact to complete his work. He had succeeded in an enlarged official function Mr. Williams,30 who had been head of the Hudson's Bay Company since the killing of Mr. Semple31 at Red river in 1816. Williams once had commended a ship in the East Indian Company's service—a dictatorial narrow man, prone to the use of force, but brave personally, if you like, as his sword blade. The two sections of the guests, at summons of the bell, entered the great hall in silence, and kept wholly apart until the new governor moving in the throng with bows, smiles and introduction, brought about some conversation or hand-shaking between individuals, and ended by pointing at, politely, where he invited the guests to sit. It was hardly possible, in the circumstances, and owing to the number of guests, to avoid mistakes in this matter of seating, and in fact several unfortunate mistakes occurred. Watching the banquet from a corner of the great hall, the scene was like some of those described in the " Legend of Montrose," a book I afterwards read. Men found themselves vis a vis, across the narrow table, who had lately slashed each other with swords, and bore marks of the combat. I noticed one Highlander so placed whose nostrils seemed to expand as he glared at his mortal foe, and who snorted, squirmed and spat, not on the table, but between his legs—he and his enemy opposite being as restless as if each were sitting on a hillock of ants. Their hate was real, yet as a spectator assisting in the ceremonies, I could not but feel a little tickle of the ludicrous.32 Another couple of good haters—a mobile-featured, black-eyed man of sinister aspect (under a suspicion of (29) Edward Ellice the elder, 1781-1863, became associated with the fur trade in 1803, and was Deputy Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1858-1863. See Beckles Wilson, The Great Company, Toronto, 1899, p. 532. (30) William Williams was appointed Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1818. See Rich, Simpson's Athabasca Journal, pp. xxxvii, 473. (31) Robert Semple was killed at Fort Garry in 1816. For a biographical sketch see Rich, Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, p. 241. (32) According to Tod's Reminiscences of 1821, Photostat, Archives of B.C., these two were Allan Macdonell and Alexander Kennedy. For biographical data on Kennedy see Rich, Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, p. 224; and on Macdonnell see W. S. Wallace (ed.), Documents relating to the North West Company, Toronto, 1934, p. 465. 1954 John Tod 155 poisoning), and a pompous fellow, with neckerchief and collar, up to his ears, had lately fought a pistol duel across a camp-fire after night fall.33 Another was expected to take wine with his jailor opposite, who a few months before had imprisoned him, as a captive Northwester, in a dark cellar, where he had to inhale the premonitory fumes of brimstone34— and so on. The dresses were of all sorts, between that of a Cree " brave " in time of peace and the conventional attire of a London diner out—the Hudson's Bay Company's blue color being common. One man33 noted for braggart talk yet ready " derring do," had three long-haired prime winter marten furs on the collar of his coat, and the same costly material in the cuffs and other parts of his dress. The situation was saved by the demonstrative—if not very sincere— comradeship of the several superior officers of the two sections, whose example others followed, though some continued to glare with fierce eyes at their former personal and official enemies. I feel bound to add, comparing small things with great, that the good effects of the fine wine used lavishly on this particular occasion, cannot be denied. Its action in helping to overcome rigorous discontent, reminded me of the effect of the spreading warmth of the summer season of this region in mitigating the winter harshness. I may add here to show the turn of events, that in addition to the unfortunate Mr. Frobisher36 above mentioned, whom I had nothing to do with, the then governor of the Hudson's Bay Company37 (not the one at the banquet) had captured at Grand Portage,38 at the mouth of the Saskatchewan river, two Northwest Company partners,39 and I had charge of these persons at the Hudson's Bay Company's station at Rock (33) From Tod's Reminiscences of 1821 these two appear to be William Mcintosh and John Clarke. For biographical details of the former see Wallace, op. cit., pp. 472-473, and of the latter, ibid., pp. 432-433. (34) This is one of the brothers McVicar, probably Robert. See Tod's Reminiscences of 1821 and Rich, Simpson's Athabasca Journal, p. 457. (35) According to Tod's Reminiscences of 1821 this was Colin Robertson. See also Rich, Simpson's Athabasca Journal, pp. 461-463. (36) Benjamin Frobisher, 1782-1819; see Wallace, op. cit., p. 446. (37) William Williams. (38) This should be the Grand Rapid. See Rich, Simpson's Athabasca Journal, p. xxxviii. In all, eleven prisoners were taken. (39) John Duncan Campbell, J. G. McTavish, and Angus Shaw were amongst the partners arrested. Ibid., p. xxxix. 156 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. depot40 and at York Factory. About the end of August, 1819, Lieut. Franklin (afterwards Sir John) arrived with others from England on their way to the Arctic Ocean, and seemed to know something of these prisoners. A month later the governor required each prisoner to enter into a recognisance, under a penalty of £3,000, to keep the peace and appear in a court in England or Canada on some charge not specified.41 The prisoners were sent to England in the end of September, 1819, in the Hudson's Bay Company's ship " Prince of Wales" as steerage passengers, and the proceedings in their cases were dropped. One of them42 prominently supported the coalition that was concluded in 1821, and soon afterwards as a chief factor, was appointed to York Factory—his former place of destination, and I, who had been practically his jailor, became for some time his clerk there. Chapter VI It was my lot or fate, no long time after these last described events, to be transferred from the Hudson's Bay region to New Caledonia not, I beg the reader to observe, the French penal settlement of that name, in an island lying eastward of Queensland—but to another part of North America. New Caledonia43 was a name given by the Highlanders of the Northwest Company to the east-central portion of the present province of British Columbia, comprising Fraser, McLeod, Stuart lakes, etc. It lay between the Rocky mountain and coast ranges from about 53 degrees to 57 degrees north latitude, but was the name given usually to the north interior section of the company's "Western department," which latter included all the territory between the watershed of the Rocky mountains and the Pacific Ocean, bounded on the north by the Russian territory and by the company's " Northern " department, and on the south by the territory of the Mexican Republic.44 This vast department was not within the old charter of the Hudson's Bay Company, dated in 1670, and the United States considered they (40) Rock House was situated on the bank of the Hayes River 120 miles above York Factory. Ibid., p. 423. (41) J. G. McTavish was later liberated for want of a prosecutor. Ibid., p. 457. (42) Presumably this refers to J. G. McTavish. (43) Simon Fraser is credited with naming New Caledonia; see E. O. S. Scholefield and F. W. Howay, British Columbia from the Earliest Times to the Present, Vancouver, 1914, Vol. I, p. 250. (44) Tod seems quite to have forgotten the Oregon Territory. 1954 John Tod 157 had a preferable right to it up to the Russian territory, but, meanwhile, the trade of the company, in which the Northwest Company was now merged, went on as usual, and was extended.45 No Hudson's Bay man had ever been stationed in New Caledonia, and the Northwesters gave such a poor account of the country, that, after the coalition, Hudson's Bay men, employed in the better known localities, lived in fear of being transferred thither. My belief is that I was disengaged from the flesh pots of York Factory, and sent to this supposed inhospitable district of New Caledonia, because the Hudson's Bay Company's governor—Sir George Simpson as I may call him, though he was not knighted until later on—nearly tumbled over a stool, in circumstances which I shall relate. On the other hand, the apointment, nominally, was promotion—for, though still a " clerk " I should be doing a full trader's work—and friends of mine suggested that the country in question might be less inhospitable than described, that I could not find a worse climate than I had been living in, and that, as New Caledonia had been a Northwest Company's preserve, it was natural that Sir George and the council should assign an experienced trader of the Hudson's Bay Company to an important post in that region, so that his work might be compared with that of former officers of the other company. The " stool" incident occurred at York Factory, as follows, in 1823. Each chief factor and trader was allowed a servant, and the servants, after the officers had messed in the great hall, took their own meals in an adjoining room, Sir George's own personal attendant was the head of the servile staff. The impertinence of the fellow, who was known as the " governor's Tom,"46 displeased every one except his master, whose foot he had measured. Called out early one morning to receive a " brigade " of boats—brigade meaning any regular party in charge of supplies or peltries—the officer in charge of it, upon finishing his business with me, asked if he could have his breakfast. " Certainly," said I, " I have not had my own." Proceeding to the mess hall, where the tables had been cleared, I entered the servant's room, and directed the steward to bring breakfast for two. He drew himself up and replied, sneeringly: " You have been keeping your bed this morning," where- (45) Great Britain and the United States arranged "joint occupancy" of the territory west of the Rocky Mountains from 1818 until 1846. (46) Tom Taylor, son of George Taylor, to whom reference is made in footnote (15) supra. 158 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. upon I seized him by the throat and struck him a severe blow, saying that if he added a word I would cut his tongue out. The breakfast was soon brought for myself, and the fatigued and hungry boat-officer, but later, Sir George Simpson came with the offending servant behind him, and asked me: " Did you strike my servant? " " Yes, sir," said I. " Did you threaten to cut his tongue out? " " Certainly, sir," I replied— raising my voice and approaching the interrogator, as was my wont in colloquy, bringing down my fist on my left palm—he retreating, with some alarm on his features, into the embraces of one unperceived stool, over which he would have fallen had I not grabbed him—another act of mine which he seemed to regard as not auxiliary, for he went off fuming, with his man behind him, looking round to exclaim: " You shall hear from me, sir." This threat, however, was not in terms carried out, on the contrary, Sir George became profusely civil to me—probably having learned the facts of the case from officers of the council who knew them, and, may be, had overheard the steward's offensive remark, for they had rooms opened into from the great hall. A month later Sir George received me blandly in his office, touched lightly on the incident of the stool, apologizing in a manner for his servant's conduct, and then added that the council had decided to give me a new appointment. " Indeed, Sir George, where is it? " J Why, New Caledonia,"47 was the reply. " Good! " exclaimed I, with a double hand clasp, " the very place I wish to go to. I thought of asking for an appointment out there." My unexpected thanks and the suspicion that he was being placed, with myself, on a common plane of insincerity, seemed to disconcert the governor, but he dismissed me, civilly, and I retired with his heart laid bare in my appreciation. On reflection, I regretted my own insincere speech, but, as my father often said," it taks a lang spune, laddie, to sup wi' the deil." The governor remained hostile to me, more, I imagine, because he knew that I knew him, than from distaste on account of my independent spirit and rough manners. This personage had great ability in business, and also tact in managing men, but was not mentally inquisitive or cultivated, seldom speaking of anything beyond the routine of the company's affairs. He had a great (47) "New Caledonia . . . was regarded as the Siberia of the fur traders." George Bryce, Mackenzie, Selkirk, Simpson, Toronto, 1905, p. 268. 1954 John Tod 159 career in the country, but was not equal to his fortune. His reputation which he won, and in a high degree deserved, became less as time passed, and as an imperfect sense of justice, undue favoritism in some cases, and official pressure in others (not always from pure motive), together with implacableness concealed under smiles, became more or less apparent in his general conduct.48 As for me, in the situation I now found myself, barring the good food, or certainty of food, and the chance of reading books at York Factory, there were trammels in the life there, moreover, I was going to a region where new conditions of trade and of hunting and fishing existed, and, after all the region might not be as bad as it was called. The main disadvantage, added to the enmity of the governor in chief, was that, in New Caledonia, I must, necessarily be under the orders, locally, of former Northwest Company officers, for they alone knew the trade there, and some of these officers had, as already hinted, a rather contemptuous feeling towards all Hudson's Bay Company's men, notwithstanding the recent coalition. But I had no homesickness, and though going to work westward of the great mountains was like beginning my American career again, and though it turned out I was half starved there, and almost forgot my mother's tongue, I cannot honestly say, looking back, now, from my age of over four score years, that the ultimate outcome has been unsatisfactory. I may here acquaint the reader, by anticipation, that, after my first long spell in New Caledonia, I was back in the Hudson's Bay region for a short time, and thence paid visits twice to the Old Country. These visits to be described in what will follow, perhaps, may be to the untrav- (48) A tinge of jealousy is evident here. Tod's relations with Simpson were never happy. Tod's opinions of Simpson are similar to those expressed by John McLean: " Making every allowance for Sir George's abilities, he is evidently one of those men whom the blind goddess' delighteth to honour.' ... Sir George's administration . . . has been a successful one; yet his own friends will admit that much of his success must be ascribed to his good fortune rather than to his talents. . . . His caprice, his favouritism, his disregard of merit in granting promotion, it will be allowed, could not have a favourable effect on the Company's interests." W. S. Wallace (ed.), John McLean's Notes of a Twenty-five Years' Service in the Hudson's Bay Territory, Toronto, 1932, pp. 384-389. Simpson evidently had no good opinion of Tod, for writing to Hargrave in 1836 Simpson stated: " John Tod has been a most useless and troublesome man of late ... he requires more luxury and attention . . . than any governor of Rupert's Land ... let him have all that is fit and proper but not an iota more." Quoted in Bryce, op. cit., pp. 268-269. 160 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. elled reader more or less amusing interludes in the dull stage-play of frontier life which my story presents. Chapter VII The exact day of our leaving York Factory I forget; it was early in June, 1823—the 10th of June I think.49 Old John Stewart,50 a partner of the former Northwest Company, and now a chief factor of the new company, commanded the party, of which I was the youngest, and he also was to be in charge of the whole district of New Caledonia. He was not the Stuart of Stuarts lake, where is Fort St. James, the first post established in that region by the Northwest Company, though some say that a station at " Kwa "51 or Frazer's lake preceded it a little, in time, say—1806. There were in the canoe—a large Northwest canoe—two other officers of the company (one of whom had been in the battle of Waterloo) and eight French-Canadian boatmen and laborers—a dozen men altogether. An ordinary Northwest canoe, manned by five men, carries about 3,000 pounds, and seldom draws, when laden, more than 18 inches of water. Its average speed with the paddles—painted scarlet (they were of old)—in normal circumstances is about five miles an hour. A " portage " as the word implies, is a neck of land or other obstruction across which the canoe and goods have to be carried, usually by men, but, sometimes, horses are available. The bowman, on reaching a portage, (49) According to the York Factory Journal, [H.B.C. Archives, B. 239/a/131], Tod started out with the Athabasca boats on July 19; the rest of the party, consisting of Chief Factor John Stuart, Donald McKenzie, Jr., and Samuel Black, followed four days later. When they overtook Tod, Black was to exchange places with him and Tod was to accompany Stuart to New Caledonia. McKenzie (born about 1787) entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1818 and served at various posts in the Northern Department until his retirement in 1850. According to records in the H.B.C. Archives A. 34/1 and A. 34/2, McKenzie was a lieutenant in the army before joining the Company's service. (50) This should be John Stuart, who accompanied Simon Fraser on his famous descent of the Fraser River in 1808. Tod is slightly in error here because Stuart Lake was named after Fraser's companion and Fort St. James was established there in 1806. Fort McLeod, on the lake of the same name, was built the previous year. For biographical information on Stuart see Rich, Simpson's Athabasca Journal, p. 469. (51) According to Simon Fraser the Indian name for Fraser Lake was Natleh and the well-known Indian chief at Fort St. James was Qua (spelled variously). Scholefield and Howay, op. cit., pp. 251-254. 1954 John Tod 161 leaps into the water to prevent the canoe from grating. Instantly then, slings are tied to the packages (" pieces ") in the canoe, and the men walk off with their loads, and return for fresh ones. The usual weight of a " piece " is 84 pounds, and the strap which keeps it in place, is broad in the middle and fits the forehead of the carrier. The bowman and steersman usually carry or superintend the carrying of the canoe. A partial lightening managed in the same way, sometimes takes place at " rapids " as the guide may determine. When an adverse current is very strong the crew, except the steersman, land, and from the shore, or wading, drag the canoe with a line. Canoes being easily damaged, a good foreman is a valuable servant. The hardest work is at muddy portages, and in getting through muddy lakes, where the water is low, and the bottom too soft for " poling." Hudson's Bay men, colloquially also, apply the term " portage," in a larger sense, to the higher land between water systems, though it may be 100 miles broad, and the transport effected by dog sleighs in winter. Some peculiar expressions used by the French-Canadians also have vogue in the service—" to march " for instance, generally, is applied to any progression—including canoe or boat travel. After, I suppose, nearly 2,000 miles of journeying, via Ue-a-la-Crosse, Athabasca and Peace river (the first named an Indian resort for the favourite " hurdle " game), we reached Fort McLeod at the north end of McLeod's lake in New Caledonia, on the 10th of October. We had come the whole way through the wild country, by water, except at portages. The voyage was dreary and monotonous. Sitting in a canoe during four months tires one, particularly if like me, long-legged. The eye wearies of the endless succession of lakes, rivers, rolling plains, forests and mountain scenes, many of them beautiful and impressive, which no doubt some day may attract the artist. What struck me most was the " cut" of the Peace river through the Rocky mountains, which, as to its main range, narrows in that quarter. The river, flowing gently in an east direction 600 to 1,000 feet wide has, on either side of the " cut," as I call it, steep, perfectly smooth walls, 500 or 600 feet high, retreating above, still cfiff-like, but less regular in surface, to an immense elevation. On many parts of these smooth lower walls, easily visible from a canoe moving like a tiny feather on the river, are the remains of small marine animals so perfect that you may almost believe they were petrified in the act of preying on one another, or playing in the water. The main range, though itself com- 162 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. paratively narrow, however, is flanked closely on its eastern side by more or less parallel, generally irregular mountain masses.52 The river in its passage through the most easterly and lowest of these narrows from a width of half a mile to a few hundred feet—the rocky walls being waterworn, so as to overhang. It boils, foams and roars among rocks and boulders for about 15 miles in which distance the fall is over 50 feet. Navigation, of course, is barred, and a long portage necessary, which is called the " Rocky mountain portage." This is the only absolute obstruction to canoe or boats in the Peace river from its far western rise in the Stickeen country for 1,000 miles except a short rapid and little fall about 250 miles from its entrance into Athabasca lake. The Rocky mountain portage, in addition to its length has the disadvantage on the trail of a steepish 1,000-foot hill, and many swampy patches. A small crew of men finds here the transportation of large canoes, or heavy baggage, very difficult. To the traveller, particularly from the plain country lying eastward, the wild mountain scenery to the north and south, and also to the west, where that prospect is open, is very striking, but, as I have said, the above " cut" through the main range by the river flowing from the west, fixed my attention most— perhaps in part from the suggestiveness of the ancient life-records on the rocks amid the surrounding, silent desolation. Others seemed to have been impressed as I was. Ten years later when I revisited York Factory, the governor, Sir G. Simpson, above referred to—a most unlikely man, as I have said, to mention anything outside of the company's concerns—rushed toward me as I landed, and asked, excitedly if I had observed the walls of the above first mentioned " cut" or pass. While " nooning " or resting for lunch in our approach to this portage, at a spot whence across the roughened river a remarkable detached conical hill several thousand feet high, compelled our gaze, an Indian messenger reached us from Mr. Yale,53 the officer in charge of Fort George on the Fraser river in New Caledonia, about 54 degrees north latitude, with the information that two of his men had been murdered.54 (52) W. N. Sage (ed.), "Coal-seekers on Peace River, 1903," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, XIV (1950), pp. 96-100, passim. (53) James Murray Yale, 17967-1871. For a biography of Yale see Rich, Simpson's Athabasca Journal, pp. 473-474. (54) Joseph Bagnoit and Belone Duplante; see E. E. Rich (ed.), Part of Dispatch from George Simpson Esqr Governor of Ruperts Land to the Governor & Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company March 1, 1829 . . . , London, 1947, 1954 John Tod 163 This was the first item of news from the country I was going to. Toward the lower end of the portage, about 3,000 Indians of different tribes were encamped, who had come in friendliness, to meet us, and perhaps help carry our belongings, for a consideration, across the portage. After supper, and the usual pipe-smoking and fireside colloquy with the chiefs and heads of families, we repaired to our own camp, which had been sent on towards the upper end of the portage, and on awaking next morning, found that one of our men had deserted. Any loss of white men was serious, for, in managing the company's stations, casualties were not presumed, and of course in New Caledonia, recruiting was impossible. The Indian camp had not been moved, and I volunteered to go and seek the man there, but our commander, Mr. Stewart, said: " What do you know," and he rather sneered at me as a Hudson's Bay man. He then sent the other Northwest Company's officer (not the " Waterloo " man), in the party to find and bring the deserter in, but the Northwester failed to do so, whereupon a renewed offer from me for the service was uncivilly accepted. I found the deserter among the Indians, after an hour of hide-and-seek, they fearing that the man would be killed, which would have slurred their hospitality, in receiving him, but this fear, on their part, I relieved by assurances, and taking the man by the shoulder told him to come along, which he did. There were Crees in the Indian camp whose language I could speak. On bringing the man to Mr. Stewart, he said: " What Indian caught him? " I told him he had better go back himself to the Indian camp and inquire. This little incident shows the friction between members of the two companies notwithstanding the late coalition. Three days more boating to the junction of the Peace and Parsnip rivers, and up the latter took us from the Rocky mountain portage to McLeod's lake post, constructed by the Northwest Company long previously.55 I was soon sent thence (in the company of Mr. McDougal,56 lately appointed to Fort Alexandria) to Fort George, another three days' p. 24n. Further details concerning this incident are to be found in Fleming, Minutes of Council, p. 107n. (55) Fort McLeod, established by the North West Company in 1805. (56) George McDougal was in New Caledonia from 1821 to 1830. See Rich, Simpson's Athabasca Journal, p. 450. 164 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. travel, to assist the officer there, Mr. Yale, on account of the murder of two of his men, as above mentioned. They were French-Canadians, and had been constructing a large additional building. Two young Indians from a nearby camp, had been hired to help them, everything going well, so far as Mr. Yale knew, until he left, on a to and fro five days' trip to borrow a cross-cut saw from the post at Fraser lake. The young Indians, in his absence, arose one night and cut off the heads of the French-Canadians with their axes, leaving the corpses and bloody weapons on the floor, and so far as could be ascertained, stealing nothing from the store when they departed. It appeared to be an individual, not a tribal matter. The neighboring Indian chief—of the murderers' tribe—during Mr. Yale's absence, occupied the store with a number of Indians, and himself afterwards went to meet him on his homeward journey with the sad news. The bodies were left lying for Mr. Yale to see; it was freezing hard, and they did not decompose. As said above, nothing in the store was touched, and the Indian guard did not take anything even for their food—a fact which the chief asked Mr. Yale to assure himself of and then departed.57 The practice of the company in such cases was to outlaw the murderer and kill him when caught—it might be years afterwards. They were supposed to take such offenders for trial to Canada, but practically had to disregard that prescription, owing to the intervening physical obstacles. Chapter VIII The Indians, I may remark, would try to hide an Indian accused of killing a white man, but would not resist his capture. If, however, he were captured in the camp of another tribe than his own, it was an offence against traditional Indian law for white men to kill him without having prearranged with the harboring tribe, for the payment of what the man's Indian relatives would be entitled to claim from it for delivering to death one who had shared its hospitality. I will illustrate this by an incident connected with the above murder, and as the Indian law referred to was exemplified, thereby, in the person of no less a personage than the late Sir James Douglas, K.C.B., who became a colonial governor. A very strong, stately and dauntless man, whom it is difficult to think of lying on his own table, enraged and (57) For an account of this incident, see B. A. McKelvie, Tales of Conflict, Vancouver, 1949, pp. 26-31. 1954 John Tod 165 trussed with ropes. One of the murderers of Mr. Yale's men, above mentioned, fled across the Rocky mountains, and it was reported met his death there from hostile Indians. Of the other, we could hear nothing, and the years passed with various changes in the Fort staffs, but with no change in the company's adjudgment of the escaped murderer. In the spring of 1825, Mr. Stewart already mentioned, was replaced by Mr. Connolly58 as head officer of New Caledonia, who brought Mr. Douglas, then about 22 years of age with him, and both lived at Stuart's lake post,59 Mr. Douglas being the post officer. A great gathering of Indians took place near the post in 182660 in memory of some departed chieftain. That was the year in which Mr. Guy Hughes, and six of his men61 were murdered at a post near Rocky Mountain Portage, and as there were many strange Indians in the throng, it was deemed prudent to have night guards round the picketed buildings. One night, an Indian woman, from the scene of revelry on a promontory a mile and a half distant, approached, asking to see Mr. Douglas, who was in bed. After some parley with the guard Mr. Douglas was apprised, and on reaching the outer fence, the woman confided to him that one of the murderers of Mr. Yale's men three years ago was among the revellers. Early next day, in consequence, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Douglas and the whole force at the post, including a man who knew the murderer's person, proceeded to the Indian camp, whence, already, as it happened all the chiefs and young men had gone on a hunt, leaving only old men and the women and children. In one tent were many bundles, and a woman busy packing, or pretending to pack, them. The search failed, but as the party retraced their steps through the camp, Mr. Douglas suggested a re-visit to the tent of this woman, and on turning over the packages therein, a man was found who, not waiting to be identified as the person sought—which he soon, however, was—made a thrust with an arrow at Mr. Douglas's head. The latter and the others shot at the man, but all missed him, whereupon one of the party, not Mr. Douglas, struck the murderer on the head with the barrel of his gun and killed him.62 (58) William Connolly, 1787-1849, was transferred to New Caledonia in 1824 and from 1825-1831 was in charge of the district. See Rich, Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, p. 209. (59) Fort St. James, established 1806. (60) This should be 1828; see McKelvie, op. cit., p. 27. (61) Tod has confused his dates. Guy Hughes and four men were murdered at Fort St. John, November 2-3, 1823. See Fleming, Minutes of Council, p. 9n. (62) McKelvie, op. cit., pp. 27-31. 166 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. Justice thus being vindicated, the party returned to the fort and thought no more of the matter, not even closing the gates in the day time. This was rather strange in the circumstances, as Mr. Douglas, even in youth, was inquisitive respecting Indian laws and customs. Perhaps the fort officers thought that the Indians were intimidated. Three days later, however, a number of them arrayed in warlike fashion, rushed into the building, tied and threw all the men into a heap, and then in spite of his desperate resistance, overpowered Mr. Douglas, and binding him hand and foot, deposited him writhing and shouting on the table of the mess hall. The chief, by name, "Kwa,"63 (Fraser lake in some old maps is "Kwa" lake)—a chief usually friendly to the whites, and the head chief of the whole gathering, directed the Indians to sit in silence on the benches round the room, and upon a lull in his victim's expostulations, said to him, that when he was perfectly quiet he would talk with him and explain. " Leave only my hands free," shouted Mr. Douglas, " and I will let you see." "Ah, well!" responded his captor, " we are in no hurry, and can wait." Finally, on a more promising lull, Kwa approached the table, and Mr. Douglas said: "Well! what would'st thou? " The explanation was a reference to the Indian custom above mentioned. " The man deserved to die, but why was he killed in my camp? You should have applied to me for him; now, his friends are here for his death, and I am accountable to them and must pay for the body. We keep your law, and you should keep ours." " Kwa," replied Mr. Douglas, "you shall not have the least thing." "Ah! well then be seated again friends, the day is young, and we can wait." By and by, of course, the " man who tied Douglas," but never dreamt of bragging of his feat, returned to his camp with his followers, carrying gun and coat for father, a piece of cloth for mother, and ammunition, etc., for his brothers.64 Perhaps he adjusted matters with the relatives of the deceased, but of that I know nothing. The incident was soon forgotten by us in the district, and by none more willingly than by the future Knight Commander of the Bath, whose just mind, I daresay, notwithstanding the ever present feeling of the " ropes," appreciated Kwa's position in the premises. They are all gone, these men, and I am left in my age to narrate things that seemed important to all of us at the time, but, from my present outlook are har[d]ly worth recording. Yet I am told, and, indeed, see in the libraries that (63) Father A. G. Morice used the spelling Kwah in his History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Toronto, 1904. (64) McKelvie, op. dr., pp. 27-31. 1954 John Tod 167 literature, not related to any human facts, is read, enjoyingly by many people nowadays, but it is not for me to judge of these predilections. New men come as the summers pass, and new minds and new feelings. Chapter LX It was a pretty hard time of it I had in New Caledonia, the Northwesters' account of the country, given to us at York Factory, proving to be not far from the truth. Some part of the company's profits, certainly was wrung from the sufferings of its servants, but on the other hand, if these servants were able to reach certain positions on the staff, they shared in the profits. My present position was that of a $500 a year " clerk " in charge of a station of some importance—one of several stations in the district of New Caledonia, which district, as above said, was included in the western department of the company. The next highest grade was that of a chief trader. These two latter officers constituted the class known as " wintering partners," with functions and partnership interests which I will describe later in the narrative. The next grade in the service, lower than " clerk " was " postmaster "—a class of non-commissioned officers, usually from the rank and file, who, having shown good quality as interpreters and traders, were placed in charge of certain fixed, or " flying " posts. The postmaster seldom rose to higher rank. Between him and the common laborer were interpreters, guides, mechanics, steersmen, canoe bowmen and middlemen and others, all in a well understood and valued gradation not in its way unlike that of military service. To a man from the Hudson's Bay region almost everything in New Caledonia to the westward of the Rocky mountains was new. The summer temperature is higher and more varied—ranging, I imagine, from about 60 degrees to near 100 degrees, and liable to drop a half for a day or two each month. The rainfall for the whole year is small, probably under 10 inches. November usually brings the snow. After January no large quantity falls, though light occasional falls may continue to early April. The shelter of the mountains prevents strong winds. The regular water freshets occur between the end of April and the end of June and, occasionally in autumn. The freshets interfere with the catching of fish. The seasons do not come or go as suddenly as in the Hudson's Bay region, and the winter is less cold. A winter temperature of 20 to 30 degrees below zero is occasionally experienced, but usually after a few days milder weather comes and ranges between zero and freezing point, until possibly another very cold spell is experienced. 168 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. This capriciousness of the weather rather wearies a newcomer from a region with more fixed climatic conditions, but in the dullness of a narrow life he comes soon, I think, rather to like the uncertainty, though not ceasing to grumble at it. The above description applies generally to the long interior stretch of the country that became known to me west of the Rocky mountains down to Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia with less snowfall and other modifications as you go southward. No year's climate anywhere, however, is quite like that of another year. The snow in New Caledonia except in the northern parts may be anything from a foot to two feet in depth on the level, but, as a rule, in the southerly part of the district it does not fall or at any rate Me deep enough along the main streams to prevent winter travel with pack animals. These, here and there, find a coarse kind of bunch grass for pasture on wind-swept hill-faces or beneath the snow when they have learned to paw for it. The system of trade, too, was different in some respects from that in the Hudson's Bay region I had come from, and so was the food. There were two special seasons—the spring and the autumn—in which the trade was carried on—not much, comparatively, in the spring for the summer ways of the Indians were that each Indian had credit for what he wanted—the standard being six beaver skins for a gun, and four skins for a " two point" blanket, or six skins for a " three point" blanket. The skin as a unit of value was presumed to weigh a pound. The technical name for it was a " made beaver," of which aliquot parts also were considered. The merchandise in barter was regulated in value on the same principle—an article representing so many " made beavers " or fractions of the same. An individual's account had to be settled before fresh credit was given but sometimes this rule was relaxed when only a few skins were short, the shortage being added to the fresh indebtedness. As the Indians, in order to procure furs for their debts, went into winter quarters, perhaps several hundred miles distant that season, though, shorter and less cold than at Hudson Bay, was very dreary for the occupant or occupants of a trading post. The food as well as the trade system also differed in my new habitat. It was chiefly dried salmon straight along, and not always a certainty of that. At Fort McLeod we got our salmon from Stuart's lake, hauled across the portage 106 miles by dogs in winter. A young bear furnished a welcome change in the common fare, and a " giddee " (Indian dog) when nothing else 1954 John Tod 169 could be had. Dried salmon and an annual allowance of 50 pounds of flour for each man was the only food provided by the company. Any farther provision had to be sought, locally with gun, fish hooks or native nets, but we had no salt. Often craving for cereals, I thought of the " burgoo " in the transport ship at Stornoway. I had two guns of my own—a double barrel, serving for either shot or ball, and my favorite—a single barrel, which I always loaded with ball. Often I have been away hunting alone, during nine or ten days without even a dog, no companion but my book. My predecessor65 at McLeod's lake had a good library, which on being ordered elsewhere, he could not take with him, as no transportation had been provided, so that, to my joy, I had many books added to the three my father had given me. As time passed I got a fiddle with some music, and taught myself to play many simple airs, and the instrument still is my solace, next to books. I was close on nine years at the solitary McLeod lake post, without any special interpreter, or for most of the time any assistant. Such assistants as I occasionally had were French-Canadians, so that despite the good literature available I almost lost facility in conversational English, much to the amusement of my friends at York Factory when, in the course of time, I revisited that place. They likened my utterances to a linguistic "stew," made of bits of Scotch, French and Indian dialects, thickened with what seemed to be English. Chapter X A little story here now on the question of the Indians showing gratitude. There is an excellent food fish in the lakes of that region—the white fish66 ("titimeg" or "atikameg," as the Crees called it) which averages about Wi pounds in weight. It will not take bait, and is not easily caught. The scoop nets with which the larger white fish of Lake Superior are caught in the eddies around the rocks, failed us here. A particular tribe—the Tuckullies67—captured this fish by means of a pouch-basket ("vervoe")68 placed in the running stream such as was between the two lakes, McLeod and Lac d'Amour. One man alone— Cheway—in the tribe of Siccanies, the nearest to me, could make these (65) In his Reminiscences, p. 5, Tod says this was Peter Warren Dease. (66) Dr. G. Clifford Carl, Director of the Provincial Museum, suggests that this is probably the Rocky Mountain whitefish. (67) Takulli is the spelling generally accepted for these people. (68) For a description of this trap which Simpson called " vorveaux," see Rich, Simpson's 1828 Journey to the Columbia, Appendix A, p. 195. 170 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. baskets, and usually before going to his winter hunt, he caught a few titimegs for me, which, frozen, helped my larder a little. One fore-winter —I never knew why—Cheway left me without my usual supply of the prized titimegs. I said nothing of his failure, and gave him the usual credit for supplies, but his failure caused me still more to pursue my lonely hunts. To my dismay on one occasion—the countryside being temporarily vacant—my eye caught a distant curling smoke above some trees, which, as I neared it, now sank from sight, then hung as a floating cloud through which next a column rose, and what did I see there? Near the fire lay Cheway and his wife too weak almost to speak, and beside them their child dead. He had been trying, under some feeling of remorse for his conduct to me to return from distant hunting quarters. The party had eaten broiled leather for several days, but now had nothing. The woman was a little stronger than the man. " Let me die," said the latter, " I deserve it." Putting him on my back, however, with the aid of the woman, I carried him, as far as I could, in the direction of the fort, then buried the two weak folk in the snow, all but their mouths for breathing, and hurried homewards. A sleigh drawn by two dogs brought them in, and I kept them at the fort till the following month of May—Cheway saying on his departure: "I am your slave, and will do anything for you." He never left me again without my supply of titimegs, as long as I was in the district, and would not accept pay for the fish or permit his wife to accept pay. The Quelling of a Feud One means of ending a tribal feud is included in another of my experiences in this locality. It was perhaps due to my own Scotch Highland extraction that the Indian tribal system and the status in it of heads of families and chiefs, seemed, somehow, more or less familiar to me. Probably this helped me in various emergencies wherein my action procured me some credit, but I was praised, incorrectly, on the occasion now to be referred to for effecting what both in Old Caledonia and New Caledonia was deemed well nigh impossible (save by the method described in the " Fair Maid of Perth") namely, the ending of a tribal feud. I did end the feud, but was moved thereto really—at any rate, at the start—by intense indignation, that the "general room" at the fort was the scene of the disorder. The circumstances were as follows: The room was 40 feet by 20 feet, with a large fireplace. A band of Siccanies, who had come to trade, sat in it, by invitation, with their peltries along the wall. Etiquette 1954 John Tod 171 required the preliminary gift, to each Indian, of several inches of twist tobacco. I crossed the yard to get that article at the store, and was there detained opening a package. Meanwhile, unknown to me, another band—Beaver Indians—rounding a near point in the lake, had landed, and entered the room, from which a noise, as of dancing, reached my ears as I recrossed the yard. The two bands were deadly enemies, and were mingling in fight, when I entered. This fact and the going in of the second party without invitation, enraged me beyond control, and I hardly knew what I did, but it appears that, with shouts and mad effort, after seizing and throwing most of their weapons, bows, arrows and knives into the fire, a lane was made between the combatants. One of my hands was cut to the bone, through grasping, by the blade, a knife about to be plunged into the neck of an opponent. "Are there chiefs here? Stand forth if such'there be, that I may look at you—know you not more than children, the laws of trade and hospitality?—who invited you into this room? See your weapons burning there—every Indian and every white man will despise and spurn you— begone! and take your peltries with you." These and other words of scorn I uttered in a loud voice, walking to and fro among them, and they were silent, but I heard one chief whisper to another: " Shall he set aside our revenge? 'tis said he is invulnerable." " What," exclaimed I, catching this latter word, " you cowards, except in conduct I am the same as you—the same body and spirit; place me against yonder tree and fire at me," but this they only accepted as still greater proof that I could not taste death. Changing my tone then, as I was getting a little tired, and they, knowing their error (according to Indian laws), remaining silent, I asked why they imitated the beasts whose Kingdom was warfare, instead of living in peace, as befitted men, and thus so " improved the occasion," as the elders of the kirk at Loch Lomond used to say, that, on a common impulse, after colloquy with their respective tribesmen, the opposing chiefs shook hands, and on my supplying tobacco, the pipe of peace passed round, and the feud of these particular tribes, which had lasted for generations, was not renewed during my stay in the country. The Beaver Indians of Peace river hunted north and along Nelson River,69 and occasionally ascended the Peace to the west of the Rocky mountains. A branch, claiming descent from them, lived on Liard river. The Siccanies from the west of the mountains, claimed hunting rights, (69) Now known as the Fort Nelson River, a tributary of the Liard River. 172 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. also, in the Nelson River country, and local quarrels there, followed by bloodshed, had made them and the Beavers as above said, bitter enemies. The Beaver party on this occasion had ascended the Peace and Parsnip rivers to trade at Fort McLeod, and their presence in the country was unknown, both to the Siccanies and to me. Cremation The imminence of death in the above recital—an incident I was so constituted as never at anytime to dread—leads naturally to the mention here of the peculiar disposition of the corpse among some of these Indians. Usually the body was laid in a scaffold to prevent animals from devouring it. On this, several rows of wood were placed above and below the body. The most valuable part of his property formed a pillow, and, for several years the nearest of kin in passing left little articles on the bier. At intervals, also, the women sat near by uttering lamentations. The Tuckullies, however, and, less generally, the Siccanies, practised cremation.70 Whether this custom had been brought in by these particular tribes, or was a survival of a former common custom in the region, I could not discover. When the body of a man was being consumed on a wooden pyre, the wife, or woman who stood, in that relation to the deceased, had her hands tied behind her. A pole held at each end, by a blood-friend of the deceased husband, was placed across her back under her hands, and she was hoisted into the fire at its fiercest, and withdrawn, usually of course much burnt and disfigured. The husband's bones then were reduced to a powder, and placed in a bag decorated with quills and beads. This bag, finally, was tied round the widow's neck, and hung on her back for two years, during which period she was the slave of her late husband's nearest of kin. The Hindu "Sati,"71 and the early Aryan custom in Europe to kill the widow at her husband's funeral, come naturally to mind, in relation to this possibly, modified old practice in New Caledonia. (70) An excellent description of the Carrier Indians is to be found in the letter of Father Modeste Demers to the Bishop of Quebec, written at Fort Alexandria, December 20, 1842, in Rapport sur Les Missions de Diocese de Quibec, No. 6 (1845), pp. 13-20. A. G. Morice, op. cit., p. 6, states that "bodies . . . were . . . left uncared for among the Sekanais and some Nahanais." (71) Sati or suttee, the East Indian custom by which a widow threw herself on her husband's funeral pyre. 1954 John Tod 173 An officer of the company, who had an opportunity of knowing some of the Vancouver Island Indians, told me that cremation was practised formerly by a tribe dwelling near Cape Mudge, but the widow, voluntarily submitted herself to the partial action of the fire, and her relatives stood by to withdraw her before she had greatly suffered, though, in proportion to her suffering, was she afterwards praised among the people. Chapter XI The well-bred English horse detained at Fort Severn, as I have related, ran eagerly to the fort for his dinner of goose-bones, but I never knew him to dine off a coat, as a " giddee," or Indian dog did, at a way- camp of mine in 1824. This really was not an extraordinary proceeding as many a man in the fur trading regions has eaten broiled undressed animal skin as well as dressed skin, and, in fact, even parchment, with a bit of Iceland moss. The odd fact in the case I now refer to was that the dog ate the coat off his master's back while the latter slept. The master was an old French-Canadian who accompanied me on the journey, and, through carelessness left some of our provisions behind. I could not well chide him for this delinquency, because I myself should have examined the outfit. The deprivation, however, proved unfortunate. A pelting storm with bli[n]ding snow arose to delay our progress, and after two days (it was only a 4-days' trip) our supply of provisions ran out. The old man wore constantly, by day and night, a large elk skin coat that came down to his heels, and, of this coat, he was very proud. My dog at nightfall took up the usual position between my feet and the fire, and I noticed, as something curious, on lying down at night, that the Canadian's dog was stretched out near his master's back—both dogs, no doubt, hungrier than we were. Being the younger man I arose first in the morning, lighted a fire, and having waked my companion, sat down, breakfastless, to smoke. It was half dark, and as he moved querulously about, I asked what was the matter, to which he replied that he sought his coat, nothing of it being left but a strip round his neck, and a bit hanging down in front. The unusual rotundity of his dog, and a guilty expression on the canine visage, suggested the whereabouts of the missing garment, but beyond a few curses and futile kicks, nothing was done to the offender. It would have been imprudent to interfere with his digestive processes in view of our possibly having to eat him the next day, should not the storm abate. 174 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. Happily it did abate, enabling us to end our journey—two tired hungry men—one of them coatless. Whether the " giddee " ate the whole coat or hid part of it, I never knew, or, if my dog had joined him in the feast. This same Indian dog, however, we did eat, two months later, when on a bear hunting expedition, during which game was not procurable, and, owing to the occurrence of freshets, we could not catch fish. I weU remember that time for the following reason. My own trusty dog, Chiscot, a superior animal of bear-hunting fame, had conceived an affection for the Canadian's poor " giddee," perhaps because they were the only two dogs in the locality. It fell to the Canadian to kill his dog, for our food, with a blow of the axe, and, instantly my dog Chiscot seized the man's throat, threw him down, and would have killed him but for my intervention. Chiscot, being hungry, ate, I presume unknowingly, a broiled portion of his canine friend. Afterwards the Canadian could never appear in camp with an axe in his hand without Chiscot attacking him. A Bear Story During the expedition above referred to I killed a bear as I shall now relate, if only to show the vitality of the animal, besides, of course, the reader expects at least one " bear story." It was on the Parsnip river, parallel to, and nearly at the foot of the Rocky mountains, and a day to be remembered for its loveliness; but everything so lonesome. The gentle movement of the water, the blue- ness of the clear sky, the metallic hues of the rocks, the bright green mossy knolls, and the drapery of the silver lichens, made me almost forget that I was hunting, when—hist! from a bush of what they call " wild grape,"72 on the high bank of the river, at that spot, emerged the fore part of a large black bear. It was a long shot, but I fired, and the bear, evidently not perceiving where the shot came from descended the bank, and after staring at us, went up the bank again, getting as he ascended, and as we were nearer, some buckshot in his stern, from my double-barrelled gun. The other gun, unloaded, I took with me as I sprang ashore, and on seeing large blood marks on the trail of the bear, shouted to the canoe man, " bring the axe, quick "! " Oui! oui! monsieur "! and I went, (72) J. R. Anderson, Trees and Shrubs . . . , Victoria, 1925, pp. 62-63, refers to this plant as Berberis Aquifolium or Berberis nervosa. It is commonly known as Oregon grape. 1954 John Tod 175 following the footprints of the animal, my continued shouts for the axe being acknowledged by a distant tremulous " oui! oui"! The prints ended at a large flatfish rock amid the trees, and while wondering on which side of it the animal had gone, a deep groan assured me that he was mortally wounded. There was the bear, in truth, near by in a sitting posture, with his head on one side and his tongue out. Not waiting to reload my gun as might have been prudent, I hit the animal with a heavy picked up stick on the head, but he merely shook it, and the stick broke on a second stroke. The third stroke was with the back part of the axe, which the canoeman, at this juncture, handed to me from behind a thick brush, but this blow also had no effect. When, however, I clove the bear's skull with the sharp edge, he pressed towards me, the axe fixed in his head and I retreating, but still holding the handle, the animal, for its part, being too weak to claw me. I have killed very many bears, but this was the only time in which the killing, though unattended with special danger, gave me a feeling of faintness. I experienced, indeed, something like unconsciousness, for a few minutes, until the man brought me a drink of water. This may have been caused by the suddenness of the incident—the effect of running quickly up the high bank, and through brushwood and over fallen trees, and, possibly, in some degree, by the supersession of scenic dreaminess by close combat. It appeared, on examination that the only bullet fired, my first long shot, had gone through the heart of the bear. Other experiences I may add, have shown me that this animal's heart is not the best part to aim for. If you have courage to meet his charge, when the bear attacks on his hind legs, a shot in the neck drops him without a struggle, and so, if he should be in the water, I have found that a shot in the back of the neck is effective. Habits of Bears These bears, both black and brown—ascend trees, of any size, by using their claws, like the cat, in such ascent, but the grizzly bear has not this facility; he only climbs trees that he can hug. Neither will attack a man unless the animal is cornered or wounded. With respect to the common simile, in conversation, if not in literature, that so and so's action is like that of a bear " sucking its paws," the facts are, that when a bear first enters his winter den, he has hard pads on the soles of his feet. These, from non-use, tend to come off, and the process causes 176 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. itching, which the animal alleviates by licking, biting off, at the same time, the loosened parts. The pads, naturally, are tender on the bear's exit in spring, and, often, bleed in his passage over rocks. For a short while, in my noviciate, I regarded these bloodmarks as indications of wounding, and, consequently, of the presence of unknown hunters, and was surprised to find that some men, who had lived for a generation in the country could not otherwise explain them. As in civilized life, so in the wilds, many men observe nothing accurately—indeed, seem to lack inquisitiveness. I have known a few experienced, superior officers in the fur company's service, who could not describe the watersheds in their districts. Indians, as a rule, judge well of distances, and appreciate topography. I have had them, on the trail, trace a map in the thick dust on my horse's hindquarters, the women interposing with corrections. I must not extend this " bear " line of narrative, yet may add, here, that a doctor at York factory, who was said to read Greek, as I, formerly, was able to read Scotch, gave me the information that a naturalist of old Greece averred that kill a female bear when you may, you will never find her young inside her, and that some modern observers had confirmed the statement. The fact, at any rate, in the northern parts of North America, is that the female black or brown bear brings forth two cubs in January. These are contained in two hard balls, not in general, unlike the kidneys, and the balls are attached by a sinewy string. After parturition, the bear licks, presses, tumbles and seems to bite, these substances, until the form appears of young animals, which it would be difficult to assign to any animal-kind, but as time passes, it is seen that they are bear cubs. The mother having to attend to her offspring, is, in her den, less lethargic than the male, but unless in a very unusual season, she does not leave her den till winter disappears. The male and female have separate dens, not, always close to each other, but, usually, near. The den is chosen as the winter approaches, and, is put in repair, and closed in, gradually. When the cold increases, the bear ensconces himself inside the den, filling up all apertures with boughs, sticks, stones and mud, and closing the entrance. He then sits on his haunches, opposite to the portal, and, later, the head sinks in sleep, and the forelegs widen out to support the forepart of the body. Towards the end of winter, the head hangs very low, the snout almost touching the ground. Strange to say, though he has eaten nothing, the male bear at the end of six or even eight months (in the more northerly climates) will come out of his den in spring as fat as when he entered it, but, in a few days— 1954 John Tod 177 say a week or so—he becomes thin and ravenous. The hungry hunter, opening a den, towards the end of winter, finds the bear sitting in his unaltered position, and so lethargic, that, though, on the intrusion, he may move his head up a little, it immediately drops, and the fatal blow is given, with a heavy stick or stave—less force being required to kill the animal in his den than when he is out of it. A starving man may not be able to judge well of food-flesh, but my recollection is, that youngish bear meat from a den was not unpalatable— indeed good. It did not seem to have suffered in quality—at any rate up to the middle of winter—from the animal's incarceration. I never ate cubs from a female's den, and of course the mother-bear herself, in den, was not killed for food if it could, in any way, be avoided. Chapter XII An encounter with a knight equerry [sic, properly " errant"] on a matter of potatoes may seem in itself trivial and to come in here rather oddly, but in its way and degree it may not be without interest. I had occasion at McLeod's lake in 1828, though a peacable man, to thrash another of the attendants of the governor, Sir George Simpson— a different man from the one I had thrashed at York factory, by which I had incurred the governor's enmity, as already related. It might be wrongly supposed that, in this second case, I sought occasion to gratify some unworthy feeling on account of my treatment at York factory, already described, but on the other hand, the circumstances illustrate administrative defects in the management of the great company, or at any rate in the assumed, administration of justice, on its part. It was the governor, Sir G. Simpson's73 first visit to New Caledonia, though, three years before,74 crossing the Rocky mountains further south, he had visited Fort Vancouver on the Columbia river. On the occasion I am now speaking of, after passing my station at McLeod's lake he went or started, with three canoes from Stuart's lake to descend the Fraser (73) Details concerning this, the second of Simpson's transcontinental voyages, are to be found in Rich, Simpson's 1828 Journey to the Columbia. The account of this same voyage, written by one of his fellow-travellers, Chief Trader Archibald McDonald, was published by Malcolm McLeod, Peace River: A Canoe Voyage from Hudson's Bay to the Pacific by the late Sir George Simpson, Ottawa, 1872. (74) The journal of Simpson's first visit to the Columbia Department in 1824 is to be found in Frederick Merk, Fur Trade and Empire . . . , Cambridge, Mass., 1931. 178 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. river to assure himself as to its navigableness [sic] all the way to the sea, which he found was quite impracticable. He then proceeded to inspect further the western department before returning to the East. By bestowing presents as he journeyed, he created jealousies among the chieftains, and dissatisfaction in the minds of the Indians, who afterwards expected similar or proportionate largess from officers at posts. This was too common a practice among the company's superior officers in travelling. But to return to the particular incident above referred to. The governor's party, about 20 all told, mostly Iroquois canoemen, arrived from the East at my lonely station at McLeod's lake in two large canoes, and, of course, desired some change of food. I produced dried berries and a remnant of dog, with regrets that I had nothing better to offer. "What! no fish," said Sir George, "and a lake here—how is this?" "No one," I replied, "can take fish during the freshets. We would not eat dogs, were it possible to catch fish. I have a very few seed potatoes which the brigade brought to me two years ago, with strict instructions not to eat them, but to plant and replant them, and I have not eaten one of them."75 "That is right," said Sir George, and soon after this interview, though it was pleasant after five years more or less deprivation, to hear again the English speech, I bethought me of these same potatoes, and of the visitors moving around. Going towards the house wherein the tubers were kept, what happened but I should meet the principal guide of the party, carrying off the whole of them in a sack? Wrenching the stolen articles from the man, I knocked him down, and he ran off shouting that he would tell Sir George, which he did, though, had the thief escaped, Sir George's table would never have seen the potatoes. A court was held, and I was adjudged to pay the man five shillings in goods. This I refused to do unless furnished with a certified copy of the minute of proceedings, stating the circumstances and my defence, whereupon the matter was dropped, and, next day the party proceeded on its way, without having partaken of our dried berries or the remnant of dog. Poor success, I may add here, attended my farming experiment at Fort McLeod, which is in about 55 degrees north latitude, and close to the Rocky mountains. At Stuart's lake, about 100 miles south, and more westerly, potatoes ripened on the slopes, but in the hollows, or near the lake, were liable to frost bite. In the same direction, and about 40 miles more southerly, near latitude 54 degrees, at Fraser's lake, some (75) For Simpson's account of his visit to McLeod Lake, see Rich, Simpson's 1828 Journey to the Columbia, p. xxvii. 1954 John Tod 179 barley and vegetables grew for use. I saw patches of wheat that promised to ripen at Fort George, 80 or 90 miles to the east of Fraser lake, and in about the last-named latitude. These results of small experiments in New Caledonia indicate that the ordinary cereals and vegetables might be produced by skilful and careful agriculture. The climatic difficulty, probably, is not so much a question of northerly latitude as of the effect of the more or less mountainous surface. The soil in some parts, so far as I could judge, is fairly good—a sandy loam over clay—for instance at the junction of the Parsnip, with Peace river, where I often camped; but the frost there might be an obstacle. Generally, in relation to the extent of the region, the lands suitable for tillage are comparatively small in extent, though the valleys widen somewhat as you go southwesterly towards the coast range. The natural grasses on many of the lightly timbered uplands, and, on the stretches of meadow land in some of the river valleys in that direction (where the Indians capture many beavers) suggest rather a grazing than a tillage future for the country, should it ever be occupied by settlers. There is a quantity of large timber, spruce, birch and cottonwood, along parts of Peace river west of the mountains, and also on the Parsnip. The country between the latter and Stuart's lake is of a park-like character. There are whitefish, ling76 and varieties of trout in the waters, which we caught most readily—when the freshets did not interfere—in the connecting streams between lakes and at the mouths of tributaries of the Peace river. The dried salmon used at McLeod's lake was procured chiefly from the post at Stuart's lake. Moose, caribou and deer were obtainable by hunters who knew where to go for them, and the district yielded, for the company's special business, without on the whole, much diminution in my time, peltries and furs from the beaver, bear, marten, mink, fox, otter and wolves. The above agricultural experiments at the company's stations had no relation to general settlement, but were encouraged as a means of improving the dietary of its servants, and, if possible, that of the Indians, but as the latter, in order to meet their credit obligation, had to migrate to more or less distant hunting grounds in summer they could not attend to cultivation. The uncertain presence of the company's servants at some of the posts interfered, also, with the regular care of any larger crops than garden patches. (76) Ling (Lota lota), sometimes called Burbot, Losche and Lush. A. C. Anderson mentions the Loche (Gallus Barbatula) as a " fresh-water cod." The Dominion at the West, Victoria, 1872, p. 24. 180 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. Chapter XIII I have been forgetting the beaver, so valuable in trade. It is too interesting an animal to be dismissed with only the reference by me, made already, as to a pet beaver in the Hudson's Bay region. For this reason, on second thought, I will now devote a short chapter to I His Wiseness," as some of the Indians call him. The house of the beaver is of two stories, the lower one on the level of the water, and the upper a sleeping room, wherein they lie on their backs. The dam is regulated to keep the water always at the same height. Should a flood occur, the animals immediately open a sluice in the dam, and on the water falling they repair the break. During the summer months the beavers do not, as a rule, five in their houses. They repair them in autumn, when they may be seen carrying building materials between their forepaws and lower jaws. Should a house on one side of a river get out of repair, as it often does, particularly in summer when it is little used, and, consequently, neglected, the animals go up stream and cut down trees in such a manner that they fall in the easiest way for being rolled or pulled into the stream, down which, under guidance by pushing, etc., they are conveyed to the desired place. Trees are cut down, also, for present and future food. I have known the beavers to cut down poplar trees, some 18 to 20 inches in circumference, and more than 50 feet high, merely to get the tender branches at the top, which they remove and eat. About the beginning of August the beavers begin to collect their winter food supply. This consists, chiefly, of grey willows, which are cut into lengths and floated to near their houses. One end is stuck into the mud at the bottom of the stream, so that the food may be reached under the ice in winter, through a hole kept open near the house, or through holes in the bank, giving access to the water below the ice. Usually, in rivers or lakes completely frozen, the water tends to recede from the icy roof, leaving in severe winters a vacant space of as much as a foot, or a foot and a half between the ice and the water. Ground ice I have never seen in still clear water; it usually appears under roughish, shallow water. The above arrangement of apertures towards the water suggested to Buffon77 and other naturalists, that the beavers live on fish, and the occasional discovery of fish bones in or about their houses seemed to (77) George Louis LeClerc, comte de Buffon (1707-1788), the French naturalist who, with the assistance of Daubenton, produced Histoire Naturelle. 1954 John Tod 181 strengthen that supposition. I can say, however, of my own knowledge that otters frequently use beaver holes, and presumably, also, their houses, in which to devour fish food. When fishing in a part of a frozen river where there are no houses, the otter gnaws a hole through the ice near the shore, swims under the ice in search of fish, and returns to his hole with a captive or to breathe. With respect to the beaver's family, I have heard of ten young beavers in a litter, but, according to my own observation—and I exclude, throughout, all hearsay from this narrative—4 or 5 in a fitter is a fair average—say 4. The beavers, unlike in this, the minks, are of a social disposition. They keep within or near to their homes all winter, and in the family circle—so to speak—seem to make the best of that dull season. By and by, when spring has come, the head of the family proposes to the youngsters a trip up the river or to some agreeable spot, which the wife, feeling rather poorly, does not join in, but remains for a needed rest. After some 5 or 6 weeks, or maybe two months, the repeated juvenile appeal of " father come home " is effective, and he accompanies the youngsters toward their native dam, they making loud claps, leaping and smacking tails on the water, only to meet, at the portal, their half abashed mother, and a fresh batch of little brothers and sisters, who stare at the returned excursionists. A Beaver Story Ten or fifteen miles west of McLeod lake are two small lakes connected, at low water, by a short ligament of a stream. At high water they appear as one stretch of water, and from the north end of the northerly lake, a little river flows for 6 or 8 miles to near Fort McLeod. We called these lakes Perch lake. When canoeing in that locality I often saw beaver traces so large that I hardly could believe them to be made by that animal. A trap I did not at first care to set, owing to the shallowness of the water, and for other reasons. The Indians, moreover, said that I could not catch beavers at that place, as only two of these animals dwelt there, which their own grandfathers and great-grandfathers had tried in vain to catch, and how the beaver couple were too old for offspring. This put me on my mettle. Thinking anyway that I might shoot the animals when trapped, I set my trap, the usual double-springed steel trap with two smooth jaws and a plate. Next morning, a newly cut stick, half as thick as my wrist, stood upright in the spring trap, and the 182 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. same happened a few days later. I thought perhaps that the Indians were " playing " me, but became convinced they were not, and that, in a pitting of wits it was a case now of " Scotchman " versus " Beaver." On examining the whole neighborhood, I found after several days, a broad, beaten track leading from the edge of the river to a small lake or pond, and with beaver signs on it. The plan of capture then adopted was as follows: Choosing a spot on the trail near the river, I cut with my knife a piece of the surface as large as the trap, which piece, placing my paddle under it, I lifted as a cake and put aside. I then made the hole large enough for the trap. Similarly caring for the surface I next formed a passage for the chain and rope that led to a tree by the river. The pieces of surface being replaced neatly so that no sign of breakage, or cutting was visible. All this had to be done without touch by the naked hand. I did not use for the trap the common beaver scent;78 arguing that all known devices had already been tried in vain. A visit next morning showed the success of my device. The bushes and small trees were smashed or fetted as far as the trap chain would permit, and a monster beaver lay exhausted. His hind leg had been caught, and I killed him by strokes. He was as black as a crow, had long lost his two forefeet, and there was a curious mark on his side, free from hair. Strong as I was I could not lift the dead animal, but managed, after disembowellment, to drag him into the canoe. His skin was larger than a Hudson's Bay Company's 2Vi point blanket. What became of his ancient comrade or, perhaps his wife, was never known. This little hunting incident, of course, became a famous camp story among the Indians in the district, pleasanter with their embellishments and mystic allusions, I dare say, to listen to, than my bald, abridged narration of the capture may be to read. Poor old beaver! Why I should have killed him raises, in my mind, now reflecting, a larger question than I have room here to discuss. TheSiffleur An interesting small animal is one of the American badgers, the whistling badger, or " siffleur," as the French-Canadians call it. The " siffleur " is not the animal that makes the holes on the plains so dangerous to horsemen; it dwells in the Rocky mountains and does not visit the plains. The " siffleurs " live entirely on roots. A number of them (78) Castor. 1954 John Tod 183 congregated, reside at particular spots. The sentinel on a rock near the village, emits a warning cry, or whistle, proportioned in length— and some say in character—though this latter my ear failed to detect to the distance, or nearness of the approaching enemy. Among the Indians a quick succession of yells or whoops indicates the nearness of danger, and one prolonged whoop indicates that the enemy is in the neighborhood, but does not appear to meditate an immediate attack. The " siffleurs," in addition to their ability thus to judge of distance and, perhaps time, are clever haymakers. I often have watched them at this latter work. They cut down, by nibbling the long grass or hay, and lay it all one way till the upper part is dry, then they turn it over for the under part to dry, and finally carry the whole for bedding and cosiness to their respective rocky dens, which are kept particularly clean and free from all refuse. Chapter XIV This is a medical chapter, but containing only a notable personal experience and two cures that came under my own observation. The forts being provided by the company with medical books, simple medicines and instruments, little attention was given to the pharmacy of the Indians. The latter, moreover, made a mystery of their curative methods, as has been common among practitioners in all ages everywhere. I noticed when in London (see sequel) that almost everything got into the newspaper except medical information, perhaps the chief human concern. Nevertheless, from time to time, indirectly, I became aware of the nature of some of the simple remedies used by the Indians and applied them in doctoring the French-Canadians and other servants, who had more faith in these than in medicines from the medicine chest, though the latter, minus the effect of "faith," which is not to be despised—might have been equally efficacious. The Indians do not fight against sickness, as most white men do, instinctively, but resign to fate. As an unguent for scratches and sores, they know the value of a decoction of the gum-laden buds of the white- wood, or " Balm of Gilead poplar,"79 mixed with deer fat in proper proportion. For diarrhoea they used a strong tea made from the roots of the blackberry bush. A common febrifuge was a boiled infusion of what we called the " apple of the pine "—a drab coloured fungus of (79) Populus trichocarpa. See C. P. Lyons, Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers to Know in British Columbia, Toronto, 1952, p. 36. 184 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. a rude conical shape, half as big as your head, that clings to the bark high up the tree. To cure a cough they boiled down spruce bark and mixed the liquor with some other substance, which I forget, using often, also, bear's fat and a turpentiny smelling liquor. The latter may have been the melted blister-gum that is found under the smooth bark of the balsam. Some of the Indian medicines and medical applications, perhaps were introduced by the Northwest Company's French-Canadians, who had been in the country for a quarter of a century before my time. The native doctors, as I have said, being mysterious, I could not discover satisfactorily what the ancient native pharmacy had been. The bulk of it for aught I know may have been the result of the people's own experiences. Cure of Sciatica From much sitting with my long legs in a canoe, as some supposed, I was, in New Caledonia, a sufferer from sciatica during three years from about 1827. Nothing that I had in the medicine chest or could get, on a special requisition to doctors in Canada afforded me any relief, and I declined to become the patient of a famous Indian doctor who dwelt near me at Fort McLeod. Dr. John McLoughlin, a Canadian, who had been educated in Edinburgh, was at the time I speak of the company's head department officer, and the first it had in that position westward of the Rocky mountains. His medical aid in my misery I sought, proceeding with a " brigade "80 to his headquarters at Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia river, many hundred miles distant. He removed the painful sensation by blistering and other methods, and I returned to Fort McLeod with the brigade. The first part of the journey was in boats to Okanagan, in which I felt little pain, but I suffered terribly, as before, during the long horseback section of the route (nearly 500 miles by the trails) thence to Fort Alexandria, where we took boats again up the Fraser river, and so, home. " Not upright yet," said the Indian doctor; " I thought your great doctor was to cure you." " No, he has not," was my reply, " I will give myself to you to-morrow." " You come then." At the appointed time this native physician appeared with an old greasy leathern bag, containing many small packages wrapped in the bark and leaves of trees—the packages bound together with bird's (80) A brigade was a fleet of traders' boats or canoes, or, in land travel, a procession of traders on horseback or with carts. 1954 John Tod 185 claws in the form, of clasps or hooks and eyes. Each package bore a rude mark, probably to indicate the parent plant, or root of the contents. From these packages, after due examination of my hip, one was selected and put aside. A fire was then made in the yard of the fort, and a cauldron placed near it containing water, into which red-hot stones were thrown. I was placed over the pot, so that the steam suffused my hip. The doctor then proceeded to scarify that part of my body with a sharpened broken gun flint until the blood flowed, and next with his hand (which he had washed) he rubbed into the wounds a portion of the contents of the selected package above referred to. The pain was excruciating, but I had to bear it without flinching to keep my repute among the Indians, who condemn one who cannot endure bodily pain. Said the doctor, watching my face, "you have a great heart." This rubbing was repeated daily for more than a. week, when I found relief from the sciatic pain, and during fifty years, since, it has never troubled me. The substance which the doctor used was a bruised root,81 and one day he showed me that a split piece of this root held near a wound would draw forth blood and matter. He did not show me, or describe, the plant, and [in] our respective situations, I could not press for the information. I merely state the facts. The doctor retired with his greasy bag, and would not accept remuneration, nor did he in conversation with me, afterwards, ever refer to the incident. Possibly modern doctors in civilized life may surmise correctly what the root was, and may conclude that the Indian's treatment was simply a more vigorous and prolonged application of that which Dr. McLoughlin had begun. Be this as it may, many a time afterwards, in dancing the Highland Fling, or giving my men a " lift" at a muddy portage, I have thought of the old Indian practitioner, which shows that a white man may be grateful, though the Indian denies him the quality. Another remarkable case occurred at Fort Alexandria on the Fraser river when I was in charge there. Two Indians from a canoe that came up the river carried something ashore strapped to a board, which they left on the beach while they visited the store for ammunition and tobacco. It was a young Indian too weak to sit up, an emaciated wretch covered with sores, apparently in the last state of, as I judged, syphilitic disease, (81) Probably false Solomon's-seal (Smilacina racemosa). " The thicky fleshy root-stalk is grated and made into a poultice. According to my father, this was called by the French-Canadians ' les ecronelles ' or ' resinee.' " J. R. Anderson, op. cit., p. 139. 186 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. one of the most dreadful objects I have ever seen. His companions said they were taking him to a famous Indian doctor up the river, and away the party went. Some time later—say two months, or it may have been three— a single Indian, arriving in a canoe, leapt ashore at the same place and asked if I did not know him. It was the formerly sick man, now going down river to his home. His account of his case was that for some time the doctor had given him a preparation from the " soapberry,"82 next a decoction of the " Oregon grape,"83 and lastly he was made to swallow something which he was not to look at, which caused him to sleep for a long time. What this was, of course, the doctor could not be asked, and did not tell him, though he told him what the above preparations were. On awaking, said the patient, he was very weak, but the disease was defeated, and gradually he recovered strength, and now felt as well as he had ever been. I thought, at first, without expressing the suspicion, that by the substitution of individuals the incident might be a trick of the young Indians played on the " Old Fox " as they called me, but subsequent inquiries showed that the man really was the sick man I had seen, and that he had been cured as above stated. Surgery The Indians had some knowledge of surgery as well as of medicine. I was assured that some of their doctors practiced dissection, but cannot testify to the fact. As to surgery I remember that an Indian gambler at my station having lost every stake, including his wife and children, walked into the yard, and placing the muzzle of his gun in his mouth blew part of his skull off, and his eyes came out of the sockets. The Indian doctors, in this case, replaced the man's eyes and mended his skull. I knew the patient personally and can attest that he survived, at least for two years, because I was there for that time after the event, and often saw and talked with him. The only difference I noticed in him was that his utterance was less distinct than before he shot himself. These Indians had not the superstitious horror respecting suicide, which the reader may remember was evinced by the natives and French- Canadians on the occasion of the suicide of Mr. Waring at Fort Severn in the Hudson's Bay Region.84 I need not cumber these pages with (82) Shepherdia canadensis Nutt., sometimes called "Brue" by the French- Canadians. J. R. Anderson, Trees and Shrubs, Victoria, 1925, p. 131. (83) V. supra, foot-note (72). (84) V. supra, foot-notes (14) and (16). 1954 John Tod 187 further medical reminiscences. Later on I may refer to a case in which the use of blue vitriol defeated strychnine poisoning, but for the present will conclude with a general remark suggested by the context. The strain of the company's service at the numerous outer stations— the effects of isolation—constant closeness of death by murder or starvation—the monotonous food, and the hardships of necessary travel, was such that only hardy, careful-living men were able to meet the insidious attacks of disease or age with the normal power of resistance. Those possessing some mental resources had, I think, upon the whole, superior endurance. My old father had, in fact, some prescience in his parting gift to me of what I called my three " B's "—the Bible, Burns and Buchan books helpful in their ways to both mind and body, though, of course, the giver did not realize, particularly, the life that was before me. Nevertheless, in the frontier career, many aspects of which were sordid and disappointing, there must have been some goodly flavour, for I have heard not a few old men in the service say that they did not regret having entered it. The pitting of your wit against the savage, the retreat from conventions, the out-door life, the possibleness [sic] of adventure, even the danger in it all, together with the gratified instinct of the hunter and the naturalist, with, of course, the prospect of acquiring a modest competency in middle life—these perhaps, in some degree, account for the satisfaction thus expressed. Chapter XV Mr. Connolly,83 a former Northwester, was head officer in New Caledonia from 1825 to 1831. As I have said, he had succeeded Mr. Stewart,86 with whom I came to that region, and himself was succeeded by Mr. Dashwood.87 The following year, early in 1832,1 myself determined to quit New Caledonia, and perhaps the company's service. I had been about nine years there, almost the whole time at the solitary post of McLeod's lake, and my work, so far as I knew, was not appreciated, though, as it will appear, this was a misconception on my part. Strange! I may here interpolate; amid hardships, privation and disappointments, I never longed for the civilized city life of which I had as a youth some (85) V. supra, foot-note (58). (86) V. supra, foot-note (50). (87) Peter Warren Dease (1788-1863) was in charge of New Caledonia from 1831 to 1836. G. P. de T. Glazebrook, The Hargrave Correspondence, 1821-1843, Toronto, 1938, p. 92n. Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. experience in Glasgow. What I desired most was to hear daily the speech of my own land (including therein the English), and to share in intellectual colloquy, after the ministration of more acceptable and varied food. A murm[ur]ing voice, if not direct, beckoning, seemed to hold me to a mission in the wilds. Mr. Dashwood, a newcomer, naturally did not wish me to leave New Caledonia, but he was obliged, by the rules, to furnish me with the means of undertaking the long journey east to York Factory on Hudson's Bay. This he did with a bad grace, assigning to me only two men and an old interpreter. He probably thought that I could not proceed with such an insufficient party, but my mind was made up and I bade adieu to McLeod's lake on the 10th or 15th of May in 1832. My successor88 at the post was shot about two months after he had taken possession. The guide of my present party grumbled, saying that with so few hands we could not effect the transportation across the Rocky mountain portage (described in a former chapter), and that it was not the time of year to meet helpful Indians there. Secretly, I agreed with him, but took the chances, and, as luck would have it, on arriving at the portage and going alone to resurvey its roughness and length, I found, towards the lower side of it, the camp of a band of Beaver Indians, the very band that was charged with the murder of Mr. Guy Hughes and six of his men in 1826.89 To their questions I replied that I would tell them all by and by, and would camp with them and have a smoke if they would send some young men for my few things at the upper side of the portage. This arrangement pleased them, and as the detachment scampered off I called out, " You may as well bring my canoe." " Yes, yes," they bring it. Thus the time passed with friendly talk and stories on the part of the chiefs and myself, and not until the canoe was again in the water and my party in it and I had entered it, after bestowing a reasonable remuneration, did the Indians appear to realize that by diplomacy they had lost the opportunity of hard bargaining and exaction so dear to their minds. We had shared food, however, and smoked together, and nothing was left for them but with grave smiles to bid the " Old Fox " good-bye. The Indian does not resent being outwitted in his own game. The other "portages," on our long journey, we were able to cross with (88) Charles Ross succeeded Tod at Fort McLeod. See Ross to Hargrave, April, 1832, Glazebrook, op. cit., pp. 91-93. William McGillivray was drowned in the Fraser River, January 31, 1832. Ibid. (89) This should be 1823, v. supra, foot-note (61). 1954 John Tod 189 occasionally a little assistance, and so after about two and a half months of uneventful travel by way of Athabasca, lle-a-la-Crosse, English (Churchill) and North (Nelson) Rivers, I reached York factory. There immediately I was surrounded by old friends, who, in the long tale that had to be told, could not but laugh at my want of fluency in my own tongue, and, as I have already mentioned, the interlarding of strange dialects in my narrative and explanations. The sound of the English and the novel certainty of palatable, varied food, made the old factory seem a veritable haven. One has to go through experiences like mine to realize the joyousness and bond of a common, exclusive speech. By degrees, as the result of colloquy, I gained some control over my outlandish vocabulary, pondering, I remember, why one who was able, the while to enjoy good English books and could write the language fairly well for business purposes, should be unable to speak it with reasonable facility. The confusion, I fancy, is more in the ear than in the brain, and moreover, in no language, is the spoken and written use of it the same. An English botanist,90 about that time visiting the factory, said in a talk I had with him, that he could not speak, or understand spoken French, though he could translate, and appreciate the more difficult passages of obstruse French writers. For use in business, or social intercourse, or for information, as to what other people have thought, or are thinking upon various matters, some acquaintance with different languages may be profitable, but on the other hand, as all thought is wedded to language, and languages differ more or less in construction, is it not open to question whether, educationally, a man's thinking power is helped by his knowing more languages than one. But my immediate concern now was my own position in the world. After nearly 20 years in the company's service, with a fairly good record, I was still an uncommissioned subordinate. The case was without precedent, and it was felt by the council that if I should revisit Scotland, after my long service, without the usual promotion, the company might suffer in that favorite recruiting ground. This was a consideration which the personal enmity of the governor towards me could not safely cause him to disregard, particularly as his own assumed power, practically, had begun to wane, and, as in the council, I had several friends. But there being, as ill-luck would have it, no suitable vacancy of a more or less (90) Probably Richard King (18117-1876), the Arctic traveller and ethnologist, who was surgeon and naturalist to the expedition of Sir George Back to the Great Fish River, 1833-35. See Richard King, Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Ocean, London, 1836, Vol. II, p. 268. 190 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. permanent character available, I concluded, upon the advice of these friends, to accept the temporary service at various posts in the Hudson's Bay region, where, as already related, I had begun my North American career. Of this intermediate service it is unnecessary for me to trouble the reader with details, suffice it to relate that in the spring of 1834, on returning to York factory from special service at a post, the first person I met on landing was a friend, Mr. Finlayson,91 who, heartily shaking my hand, exclaimed: " It's all right, old boy, your commission has arrived," and so I became a chief trader, with an estimated partnership interest, worth, at that time, about £600 a year, and a present right to, at least, a year's leave of absence if the exigencies of the service should permit. My personal expenditure was almost nothing, and it gave pleasure to the " ne'er-dae-weel," now, to see his way to send a little something more to the old folks at home who still were fighting, successfully, the battle of life on the banks of the Leven. Chapter XVI There were at this time, in the North American organization of the Hudson's Bay Company, about 16 chief factors and about 20 or 25 chief traders, all of whom held commissions. The chief factors usually were at the departmental headquarters or governing important districts. The chief traders took charge of important stations, and, sometimes, of districts that were not governed by chief factors. A few acted as accountants at the depots or local headquarters. I have mentioned already the subordinate uncommissioned grades. The chief factors and chief traders, as I have said, were known as the " Wintering Partners " of the company. The profits of the fur trade were divided into 100 parts. Of these, 60 parts were appropriated to the stockholders and 40 to the J Wintering Partners." These last were divided into 85 shares, of which two were held by each chief factor and one by each chief trader. The " clerks," as I have said, were paid by salary. No other than a clerk could be promoted to a chief tradership (1 1-85 share), and only a chief trader to a chief factorship (2 1-85 shares). On retirement, an officer held his full interest for a year, and half his interest during the succeeding six years, under prescribed conditions relative to any disposal of his interest. I forget the proportion—it, of course, varied—but in the expanded service, following the coalition of 1821, necessarily, owing to the number of trading stations, the major- (91) Possibly Nicol Finlayson. See Fleming, Minutes of Council, pp. 438-440. 1954 John Tod 191 ity of these were in charge of salaried officers, namely, clerks or postmasters. At its best, probably there has not been any business organization so well devised as the company to earn profit for the stockholders and partners, provided subordinates could be found to endure such experiences as I describe, in a service employing several thousands. The recruiting grounds of Quebec and Scotland, and, as time passed, the increasing number of men of mixed blood in the Indian country, helped the fulfilment of this condition. Employment was scarce in these countries, and many of the people were adventurous. That accounts for the rank and file, but it is less easy to understand the uncommon proportion of ever available extraordinary men in the higher ranks of the service— a proportion not reached, as persons say who are better able than I am to judge of such a matter, in any modern industrial or commercial organization. No objection being offered to my leave of absence, I prepared, with trimmed locks and the best ready-made clothes procurable at York factory, to visit the Old Land. The head accountant, Mr. Miles,92 with whose family a Miss Wanklin93 had been staying, and who, periodically, went to England to give information to the directors as to the accounts, was bound on the same trip, and, as I may put it, was good enough to take charge of me. Miss Wanklin also was of the party. After a passage of 14 or 15 days from York,94 we landed at Portsmouth—my first step on English, as distinguished from Scottish, soil. It was the day of the coronation of William IV,93 at least something was going on which I understood to be that, though I may be wrong, as he began to reign in 1830. There were flags flying and a great " to do " any way, about the fortress and on the warships. A friend has since told me that the future Queen Victoria and her mother about that time visited Portsmouth harbor to view the shipping. Miss Wanklin went to friends, and Mr. Miles and I lost no time in proceeding to London. A spick and span coach, of a kind I had not seen in Scotland, was drawn up before the hotel door by four fine horses. It was somewhat like, but seemed smarter, than the Philadelphia stage-coach which I had seen, in passing through New York. We had secured two seats—one (92) Robert Seaborn Miles. See H.B.C. Archives, C. 1/925. (93) Eliza Waugh, ibid. (94) Obviously Tod means York Factory. He went ashore on October 10, 1834. Ibid. (95) Tod's memory is not accurate on this point, for William IV was crowned on September 8, 1831. 192 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. inside and one out—the latter, of course, being chosen by me. The noiseless celerity with which the coach started and went along the streets and roads, the appearance of men in knee breeches, and some with curious tasselled boots, the actual windmills, hitherto known to me only in pictures, and, almost every hour, things new and strange, yet everybody speaking the [sic] English—these drew from me expressions of wonder, though I had purposed, as far as possible, to conceal my being a visitor from the " outlands." The strangest thing to me of all was a puffing and laboring steam-moved carriage, which we overtook and passed. It was the last, so the coachman said, of several that had been on that road, frightening horses and not going as far [fast?] as a coach. My companion left me at the " Green Dragon " inn96 in the city of London, whence he went to deliver dispatches at the Hudson's Bay Company's office, and one of the trials of my life was in his absence, the approach of a waiter wishing to know what I would please to select for dinner from a bill-of-fare, to me a novel paper, as everything, so far, had been managed by Mr. Miles. Several years later, a friend of mine from the wilds, told me of a similar plight of his. Having asked a ship companion to dine with him at a London hotel, and not wishing to appear strange, he brushed the mysterious bill-of-fare with his hand, and returning it to the courteous waiter said: " I want a dinner for two in an hour, when we shall return—a dinner, you understand! " It was a very good dinner, with wines to suit, served in a private room, but it cost him several pounds, the inkeeper, probably having taken him for an English-speaking Cossack prince, and not wishing, in his turn, for the credit of England, to appear strange. Before going to bed that first night in the " Green Dragon," in the realm of England, I had pretty well concluded to accept the fact that a man's will cannot suddenly overcome the effect of his training and associations. Nevertheless, meeting from time to time, thereafter, with some kind friends, and receiving attentions from Mr. Smith,97 the secretary to the Hudson's Bay Company, I found myself gradually becoming familiar with my temporary new surroundings. I gained quickly a knowledge of a considerable part of the great city, assisted therein by maps delineating the course of the river, and the principal streets, parks and buildings. (96) A " galleried " inn, described as " a rendezvous for carriers," in Bishop- gate. A. E. Richardson and H. D. Eberlein, The English Inn, past and present, London, 1925, pp. 146, 160. (97) William Smith, served for many years as secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company until his retirement in 1843. 1954 John Tod 193 Usually I walked, and in sauntering, inspected the shop windows but, sometimes mounted to a seat on an omnibus next to the driver. This was a new vehicle introduced into London in 1829 by a Mr. Shillibeer,98 the fare for any distance being sixpence. However convenient for city traffic, the omnibus lacked the celerity, smartness and distinction of the stage coach. Thus my time passed, and, later on, it was brightened by a renewed acquaintance with my fellow passenger from York Factory, Miss Wanklin [Waugh], already mentioned, whom I married in London.99 All this time I had not been to see my folks in Scotland, though, of course, exchanging letters with them. In the circumstances mentioned I had delayed the visit till I could take my wife with me. I need not say how joyously we were received at the old home by my parents and the family, or how the weeks went in social intercourse with the neighbours, and in my own rambles, during which early associations were recalled. There was more sadness than pleasure in the latter, owing to so much being changed—I mean in things and feelings human—for the country was little changed. My intelligent father had managed to add a few of Scott's expensive books to his library, but did not seem to appreciate the scenic descriptions of his own district in them though pleased with the portrayal of some of the characters. His love for Burns, however, seemed to have grown. On the evening of my arrival I remember that he ordered punch in an old china bowl in which was a horn ladle with a whistle at the end of it. "Punch! " said I to myself, "what is punch? " I had forgotten the name and had not tasted whiskey since leaving Scotland. Hearing this, the old man exclaimed, " What sort of a country must it be for the folks to live in without whiskey? " That, I imagine, largely, is a question of climate, the effect of the liquor being milder in moist than in dry climates, though other elements may be influential. Men unable with impunity to drink whiskey, in London, told me they could drink it freely without ill effect, on the west coast of Scotland. The two rival fur companies in North America used ardent spirits—much diluted, of course, with water—in their trade with the Indians, for more than a score of years before their coalition in 1821, though at an earlier time, previously to the occurrence of the keen competition, the Hudson's Bay Company had not generally done so. The restrictions imposed, after that coalition, lessened the evil among (98) George Shillibeer (1797-1866) ran the first omnibus in London in 1829. (99) The exact date of this marriage has not been discovered. The records at Somerset House do not begin until 1837. 194 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. the Indians, but the drinking habit was too strong for some of the officers to resist. The Indians criticized adversely those who yielded to this indulgence, though they themselves gladly would have shared in it. As time passed, such cases among the officers of the company became markedly exceptional, and sobriety almost the universal rule—at any rate during service—and this, more, I think, from real indisposition to use liquor than owing to the difficulty of getting it at the remoter stations. After a happy time on the Leven, by and by my duty, and in part also my inclination, called me to re-cross the ocean. I sailed from Liverpool with my wife in what was called a " regular packet ship," for New York, landing there in January, 1836,100 after an agreeable passage. Having many friends in Montreal, we proceeded thither at once, and enjoyed ourselves during the winter there, varied by a trip to Quebec, the romantic. The kindness of the Quebec gentry and my own acquaintance, in the wilds, with the ways and manners of so many of another French class, made the old town almost seem like a second home. But time and the opening rivers would not wait for any fur trading man in the company's service. When navigation opened we left Montreal with a large party in the canoes for Norway House.101 This is in latitude 54, on the banks of a water stretch a little way north of Lake Winnipeg, and connected with that lake. It was the head place of meeting for the Hudson's Bay Company council. Such is the story, in outline, of my first visit home, and of my marriage, the latter, the greatest incident personally, in my fife, but with which the reader of this presentation of trivialities cannot be concerned. I was assigned soon afterwards as a commissioned officer to the charge of Oxford House,102 an important post on the regular route west, some 250 miles up the river, which, after being joined by another river, flows into Hudson Bay at York Factory. Oxford House is on the east side of Mid-Lake,103 so called from being about midway between (100) Tod is in error as to the date. According to William Smith, secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company, John and Eliza were booked to sail from Liverpool on February 24, 1835. H.B.C. Archives, A. 6/23, fo. 109. (101) Donald Ross was in charge of Norway House at this time. According to the Post Journal [ibid., B. 154/a/26], Tod reached that post on June 17, 1835. (102) Tod appears to have spent the season 1835-36 disposable in the Red River district and the season 1836-37 in charge of the Island Lake district at Island Lake House. See Fleming, Minutes of Council, p. 460. (103) Oxford House was situated at the north-east end of Oxford Lake on the Hayes River route from Norway House and Lake Winnipeg to York Factory. The first post was established there by William Sinclair in 1798 and the second by John McLeod in 1816. See Voorhis, op. cit., p. 134. 1954 John Tod 195 York Factory and Lake Winnipeg; midway in travel, if not geographically. The post has for me very sad associations, for my dear wife, during the first year of our occupying Oxford House, showed signs of an illness which necessitated her removal elsewhere, and finally caused her death. The company's council in these circumstances was good enough to grant me a fresh leave of absence, and having decided to take advantage of this liberality by revisiting London.104 I will now, without further allusion to the ever-present personal feelings that were my own concern and burden, mention some incidents of this second home visit. It took place in 1837, and I may here state, in anticipation, that, on my return to America all the remainder of my career in the company's service, and as a retired officer, was passed to the westward of the Rocky mountains, ultimately in Vancouver Island, the gem of the west. After my retirement from the company's service and upon that Island being made a colony, I became a member of the Colonial Legislative Council,105 but this is anticipating my story by about a decade and a half. Chapter XVII I referred to Vancouver Island at the close of the last chapter because, in the strange mtertwining of human events, the desire of the Hudson's Bay Company—nine years before the conclusion of the Oregon arrangement in the treaty of 1846—to possess or to control that Island,106 was remotely, but really, connected with, perhaps, the most notable incident to the general reader, in my second trip to the metropolis of the world, though related only to my caretaking of an Indian witness in a murder case. The better foresight and fore-action of British trading companies contrasted with the action of the British government in some over-sea matters, is noticeable, but, possibly, these companies have had in the (104) ". . . CT Jno Tod goes home with his unfortunate wife who is insane." R. S. Miles to John McLeod, October 2, 1837, MS., Archives of B.C. The entry from the log of the brig Eagle [H.B.C. Archives, C. 1/285] under date October 13, 1837, records the arrival of the ship at Shadwell Basin and that " John Tod Esqr. took his Lady & Daughter ashore." (105) Richard Blanshard, on his resignation as Governor of Vancouver Island in 1851, appointed a Legislative Council consisting of James Douglas, John Tod, and James Cooper. Blanshard to Grey, August 30, 1851, MS., Archives of B.C. (106) As early as 1837 the Hudson's Bay Company had sent an expedition to examine the southern end of Vancouver Island. See W. Kaye Lamb, " The Founding of Fort Victoria," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, VII (1943), pp. 75-76. 196 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. nature of their powers and in the circumstances a freer hand than as a rule the government possessed. Be that as it may, the policy of the latter company in the thirties of the nineteenth century was so to impress the home government with the necessity and advantage of giving Pacific coast dominion to the company that its proposal for, among other things, a grant on Vancouver Island, would be facilitated. The old charter of the company was being assailed. Where the boundary between the British and American territory west of the Rocky mountains would be drawn was doubtful. The company wanted Vancouver Island but the time to ask, directly, for it had not yet come. An object lesson of the inconvenience to the home government of the unorganized condition in Northwest America might be useful. In the present case I rather think that the manoeuvre of the indefatigable company failed to impress British opinion, but what I have said may suggest to the reader the circumstances of my acting as the " bear leader " of a worthy Indian who is now to figure in my story. Whether my fresh leave of absence was, by the company, in any way connected with my availableness as a "bear leader" of the Indian in question I did not inquire. I accepted the furlough as an act of kindness, suggested by my distress. The motives of human action, usually, are viewed, and the decisive [decisions?] are not, in all cases, easily appreciated by an observer. In killing Indian murderers summarily in the way I have described, useful as that enforcement of justice was, and approved by many of the Indian tribes, I knew that it was illegal, strictly, for I had seen at York Factory the British Parliament Acts of the 43rd [reign] by George the Third (1803) amended by the 1st and 2nd George the Fourth (1821-2)107 with their regulations as to the committal and trial of offenders, and in consequence, though willing to risk my life to capture animals [Indians?], I never shared in their actual killing, deeming such to be on my part unwarranted. These parliament acts, so far as I am able to judge, were ill- considered and practically useless in relation to crimes committed in the wild western territory. No attempt was made to apply their provisions when the parties were Indians. Murder is almost the only crime which the Indian public specially notices, and redress or revenge is usually left (107) This Act came to be known as the "Canada Act." For Lord Selkirk's opinion on its interpretation, see E. H. Oliver (ed.), Canadian North-west: its early development and legislative records . . . , Ottawa, 1914, Vol. I, pp. 178— 183. 1954 John Tod 197 to the nearest relatives of the victim. The immense distances of the Canadian courts and the physical obstructions to reach them, prevented recourse; also in a case of an Indian killing a white man. To some extent, as between white men, during the never ending conflicts of the two rival fur companies, the jurisdiction of the Canadian courts were [sic] sought, but, speaking generally of the whole country, there was no regular administration of prescribed law—no more probably than in the Scottish Highlands in the 17th century. When about to start on this, my second trip to England, the governor asked me to take charge of Le Grace,108 an Indian witness in a murder case, which had occurred at Hay River, some 1,500 miles away. The company—perhaps for some such reason as above suggested—had decided to send the case to England. The governor himself was going thither, and proposed taking the accused with him by way of Canada, but deemed it advisable that the chief witness should go separately, and by another route.109 Though disliking the function, I accepted it on the distinct understanding however that the company should relieve me of the man immediately on our arrival in England. Just before leaving a friendly brother officer of the company, who himself had recently returned from furlough, pushed ten guineas into my hand with his last handshake, saying he had no use for the money and I was going where it would be useful to me. The Indian Le Grace was a fine, tall, indeed, very handsome, man, and of a mild, inoffensive disposition. He wore his every day native dress, collar of wild beast claws, dressed deer skin shirt ornamented with designs and fringed with porcupine quills, antelope hide leggings, with gay lashings and prettily beaded moc[c]assins. The only change I insisted on was that his hair, in peaceful fashion, should hang down his back. These Indians, with hair tied up, were half way to a fight. (108) "One of the murderers in the McKenzie River affair goes home from YF. to be sent to Canada for trial and the two others are taken down by the Governor one of whom is allowed to turn King's evidence." [R. S. Miles to John McLeod, October 2, 1837, MS., Archives of B.C.] Tod has here evidently confused the murderer with the witness. The liberty allowed the Indian in Tod's account would certainly give the impression that Le Grace was harmless and guiltless. Murdoch McPherson, who was in charge of the Mackenzie District at this time, wrote to James Hargrave of this incident, which occurred on December 26, 1835, near Fort Norman. [H.B.C. Archives, A. 1/60, fos. 87d-88; see also Glazebrook, op. cit., pp. 232-233.] Cadieu or Cadien was accused with Creole Lagrasse or La Graisse. (109) Tod, in his History of New Caledonia and the North West Coast, p. 41, says that the murderer had escaped and that Le Grace was subsequently brought back to Canada. 198 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. On entering the English channel many ships were seen, and one day the sea being covered in every direction with apparently windbound ships, Le Grace asked if they all belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company. The wind's impeding progress and my orders being to get to London quickly, the skipper, on my consulting him, recommended me to land at Brighton. Upon this the pilot took me and my supposed servant ashore at that place, in consideration of ten guineas, which exhausted the opportune gift of my friend at Norway House. Our passage from America to London had been prepaid by the company. Once in London, of course, I could get what money I might require. Proceeding to the Sea House inn at Brighton,110 the appearance of Le Grace attracted much attention both in the streets and the hostelry. It was the evening time when we landed, and he and I, having dined well on shipboard, soon retired to our separate bedrooms to rest, but he not to sleep. Having left the house during the night for a short time, it appears that, on his return, the number marks on the door meaning nothing to him, and the doors seeming all alike, Le Grace went in and out of several occupied bedrooms in the quest for his own, to the great alarm of the occupants. The description by several of these guests, overheard by me next morning in the reading room, their incomprehension and also the terror caused by the demon visitor were so amusing to me, knowing Le Grace's harmless nature, that I had to conceal my smiles behind the newspaper. To the landlord, however, the incident was serious. " I had so many complaints, sir," said he, " that I was up half the night and expostulated with your servant, who simply looked at me; no other but myself would approach the man, and I feared to lock his door lest he should break it." I Could you manage, sir, to patronize another inn? I am sorry, but some of my guests will leave if your servant stays another night," and so on. " Trouble not," I replied, " We propose to leave after breakfast"; then reflecting that I had no money I desired him to lend me enough to pay my bill and the coach fare to London. This seemed to surprise the landlord, who began to recount his past losses by such loans, but added, (110) There is some confusion here. Tod's two narratives, the History of New Caledonia . . . , and the foregoing relate that he and Le Grace landed at Brighton, whereas the log of the brig Eagle, on the other hand, indicates that he took his wife and daughter ashore at Shadwell basin, London. [V. supra, foot-note (104).] Possibly Tod may have landed at Brighton with his Indian, taken him to London by stage-coach, and then have met the Eagle in London and joined Eliza and Emmeline. 1954 John Tod 199 finally, that he judged a good deal by a man's face, and, what amount might you require, sir?" "Amount! how do I know? I am going to London, you know my needs better than I do." In the end he lent me enough for the two coach fares and an additional £5. Pending the arrival of the coach after breakfast Le Grace, in the hall of the inn, submitted with good temper, but with not a smile on his grave face, to the fingering of his hair and ornamented dress by a curious crowd of both sexes and of all ages. The coachman, after driving up, held reins and whip immovable on his box the picture of a self-contained, somewhat disdainful, if not stolid Englishman of his class. The mirth he heard, but would not notice it by any inquiry as to the cause. It was not kind on my part, perhaps, but seeing the seat next the coachman vacant I could not refrain from giving La Grace instructions how to reach it, quietly, so as not, I said, to alarm the horses—instructions which innocently he followed, with the result that on his climbing to his seat and putting his face against that of the Jehu, dreaming, perhaps, of his evening pot and pipe, the latter emitted a yell, let go reins and whip, and fell, like a bag of sand, to the ground amid the roars of the crowd which by this time had assembled in the street. Driving northward with not a very friendly coachman till I " tipped " him out of my £5 on the principle of a yard of twist tobacco to a saturnine Indian chief, we struck, I think, the same road that, on my former visit had taken me from Portsmouth, and so, within five hours reached London. The country seemed delightful, but now, of course, was not absolutely unfamiliar as on my previous trip. I was glad that the waiter at the Green Dragon remembered me. He hesitatingly took charge of Le Grace while I went to the company's office, only to find it closed for the day. The housekeeper, however, having told me the secretary's address, Mr. Smith's,111 at Hackney, I went there in a coach and delivered my dispatches, begging him to relieve me at once of Le Grace, as he was unused to hotels and a cause of much trouble. Mr. Smith came, accordingly, for the Indian next morning to the Green Dragon, in a carriage, with another man who turned out to be a lawyer. They wore buttoned frock coats with heavy collars, abundant neck cloths out of which rose high, pointed shirt collars, and their lofty hats, widening towards the top, had curled brims. Being struck with Le Grace's appearance, they inquired if he were dangerous, and finally asked me to go with them in the carriage. (Ill) William Smith, the secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company. 200 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. Reaching a place—afterwards known to me as Clerkenwell112— " Excuse me," said Mr. [S]mith, " we have a little business here," and out both went; then, after a time a portly person appeared and, standing by the carriage door, read aloud, mumblingly a paper in which my name was mentioned, and he said I was wanted inside the building. It turned out to be a court of justice—a shabby room, and the lawyers disfigured by dirty white wigs—some bigger than others—a headgear known to me only in pictures. Le Grace looked curiously at these wigs with perhaps some thought of certain head coverings at his own home. As for me, I resented my friend, Mr. Smith's, want of candor in luring me to the place. After some talk in the room, no court, as to jurisdiction, I was conveyed to a box, and the judge said, " You will take an oath to duly interpret," to which my reply was, " No, I will not," then noticing the astonishment around I explained that I would not take an oath for any living soul, and, as to interpreting, though I could speak the Indian's tongue something might be said to or by the court which his language would not admit of being interpreted. The end of it was that, as the accused had not arrived, Le Grace, the witness, was imprisoned till further orders, though, to an Indian, confinement is torture. The newspapers, next day, and afterwards, criticized the company's action severely for bringing such a case to England, and some of the writers questioned the jurisdiction of the court in the matter. Dismissing the subject, I never asked the outcome.113 " Bear hunting " I knew, but " bear leading " I did not appreciate. Chapter XVIII It is easy to understand that men, from remote parts, may meet acquaintances in the principal thoroughfares of a great city, the Strand for instance, or Rotten Row, in London. Apart from that, nevertheless, it is odd how sometimes accidental clues bring men together. On this my second visit home the latter fact was curiously exemplified by experiences during a comparatively short time. These may be in themselves trivial, yet, perhaps, worth a page or two in my narrative, if only for their oddness. (112) Clerkenwell is a northern parish in the borough of Finsbury, London. (113) Tod, in his History of New Caledonia . . . , p. 41, says that he I subsequently assented " to interpret. 1954 John Tod 201 A Modern Touchwood114 in Rotten Row A favorite haunt of mine was the " Row " in Hyde Park, where I soon saw that the plump Englishman, of the comic cartoons, with cheeks like a trumpeter, was not the true type. The equipages, I could not judge of, having, within my knowledge, nothing of the kind for comparison, but I never saw finer men or horses anywhere—tallish, thin flanked, long thighed, strong, erect men, in figure and horsemanship, reminding me of the Nez Perces Indians of Oregon, and the old looked as well as the young. There on a seat, one day, a middle aged gentleman passed his snuff box to me, and opened talk. He was the very moral [model?] of the travelled Touchwood in " St. Ronan's Well," somewhat modernized in dress—figure stout, yet active, grey hair, nose upturned, brick red complexion, wrinkled face and high, short manner. Finding I had come from the Northwest wilds, he asked if I knew so and so there, and on my saying that I did and inquiring how he himself came to know him, his rejoinder was that he had last seen him in the Sandwich Islands, where his friend was giving a dinner to the King and his court, and he much desired to renew acquaintances. "You will find your friend with another man at the George and Vulture,"115 said I, whereupon he exclaimed, " The George and Vulture! Wherever is that? " Being, as it turned out, a personage of the West part of the city, little acquainted with its more' easterly part. However, he seemed pleased, and said he would call on his friend, and, giving me his own card, took leave with a hope that we might meet again. When I mentioned this little incident to my friends at the George and Vulture, and produced the card, one of them who had been agent of the Hudson's Bay Company at the Sandwich Islands,116 exclaimed, " Why! I have been looking everywhere for that man; I have a letter for him from which the particular address has been omitted." (114) Peregrine Touchwood, a touchy old East Indian in Sir Walter Scott's St. Ronan's Well. (115) The George and Vulture was a favourite haunt of Hudson's Bay Company men. See Margaret MacLeod, " Fur Traders' Inn," Beaver, December, 1947, and March, 1948. (116) Possibly Richard Charlton, British Consul at Honolulu, who acted as agent for the Hudson's Bay Company until the appointment of George Pelly to that office in 1833. See W. P. St. Clair, Jr., " Beaver in Hawaii," Beaver, September, 1941, pp. 40-42. 202 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. This led, among us, to some pleasant social intercourse, as the owner of the card called the next afternoon at the George and Vulture. This gentleman had a symbol on his letter paper which became a subject of conversation between us. He said it was part of a mark of distinction to which he had a right by birth, and on my remarking that I thought there was something of the kind among the Indians, he took me to an office where there was full information on the subject, but only as to the civilized practice. The § bear," I was told, had been the symbol of the old Gothic kingdom, but had not been so popular generally as the " Lion." Fur was commonly used in this heraldry as furred skins, in old times, had covered the shields of soldiers, but chiefly now, only the ermine appeared. Naturally, owing to my avocation, I should like to have had an opportunity of studying this subject more. An Isle of Skye Sabreur Another day, on entering an eating house in the city, not at a busy time of day, a man of dashing appearance occupied the whole hearth and had his legs up while he read a newspaper. Upon a small table drawn near him was a bottle of wine. There was something—I know not what—" Highland " about this personage, and, anyway, it was clear, he had not lived all his time in the Old Country. No answer was given to my initiatory climatic remark, but on my inquiry along the same line, " if it always rained here," he dropped his legs, and, wheeling round, exclaimed, after a penetrating, but not uncivil glance, " Where the devil are you from? " " Northwest America! " " The deuce you are. Do you know so and so, and so and so. Draw up to the table, man." After an hour's talk, during which I had mentioned my own friends in town, he invited me to dine with him, the next day at an eating house or club in the West End, and, said he, " bring the George and Vulture with you." He then drove off in a stylish " tandem " that had waited at the door. He was an Isle of Skye Highlandman formerly in the British army, and had fought since in the Mexican revolutions, and bore the scars of sabre cuts. To us this gentleman was very kind, and through him we enlarged our already considerable social intercourse, which was so welcome, in my case, in relieving the depression in my spirits. But I refer to him chiefly to show how strangely we ran against an old tutor of his, whom we afterwards had to meet at dinner at this new friend's house. We Hudson's Bay men went one evening to a place of entertainment called 1954 John Tod 203 | The Shades,"117 where it was the privilege of a visitor, on a certain payment, to " call the band "—the only place of the kind I have been in or ever heard described, though in similar resorts in London it was common enough for any visitor who thought he could entertain the company to volunteer a song. The audience at the " Shades " was motley, and so was the music. I sat beside one of my companions—a brother Scot and trader among the Cree Indians—the others were elsewhere, and I had exchanged a few remarks with a fat German behind who spoke English fluently. Of a sudden, during the playing of Old Scotia airs at our call, as it happened, the German ceased to speak English and answered me in German, but both my companion and I heard him say in English to someone near, " What rubbish! Who can bear to listen to such music as that? " Nettled by this remark, we both sprang up and pointing to the amazed critic, then withdrawing our hands for other gestures, and again pointing at him, we both together poured forth such a flood of objurgation in the language of the Crees and in the manner of excited orators of that people, that the sweet, plaintive music being played by the band was interrupted, and the German fled, incontinently, thinking perhaps that we were lunatics, speaking a strange tongue. It might have been almost any tongue in that room, for all nationalities seemed to visit the place, but it is unlikely that the Cree tongue had been heard there [be]fore, or the animated methods of the Cree orators exemplified. It turned out that the obese critic was the old tutor of our acquaintance last above mentioned, and was trying to find his former pupil. Something in our conversation at the Shades before the embroiling incident—the mention of the map and a club I think—assisted the German in his search, and, as above said, we met him afterwards at dinner with our friend, but nothing was said of the incident at the Shades. He may not have recognized us in our evening dress. The Germans are musical, but this critic forgot that, with most men, one great charm of music is in its expressive associations. We love to the last the tunes our nurses crooned, or our folks ever had joy in. There is such a thing, I imagine, as educating a human being out of humanity. In a family I knew, long after this time, were two sisters, one, an accomplished (117) The Shades, originally a name for wine and beer vaults with a drinking- bar, either underground or sheltered from the sun by an arcade, originated at Brighton. [Murray's New Oxford Dictionary.] Probably the forerunner of the modern night club. 204 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. trained musician, made so at large expense, whose performance, doubtless, educated cities would have commended, but when the comparatively rough hand of her younger sister, on whom not a penny for music had been spent, touched the notes of the piano, you could not sit in your seat, but sprang to make your foot-action as it were the echo of the music. Lodgings in Islington Another curious instance of running accidentally across the trail of a known man in the midst of a vast population may close my remarks under this head. Without bearing resentment, for I had to go to him for money, I was not pleased with the lack of candor on the part of the Hudson's Bay Company's secretary in the " Le Grace " matter, and, moreover, he seemed fond of practical jokes, and disposed to make the most of my social and other blunders, so I determined to lessen the propinquity of my residence to the Hudson's Bay Company's office, which propinquity was the real cause of so many company men taking up their quarters in the Green Dragon, George and Vulture and other city inns. " You had better not move," said the secretary, " for John Pelly and Mr. Colville,118 the directors, I know, wish to converse with you." 11 will leave my address," said I, " and attend when they desire an interview." So I went to Islington—"merry Islington" as it was called when formerly a suburban resort, now neither suburban nor merry. I should have premised that my friends at the George and Vulture and I, had agreed in our social movements to avoid a particular Hudson's Bay man119 also in London on furlough, of whom I shall only say that his company was to us uncongenial. In a clean, nice locality in Islington aforesaid, I found a couple of suitable rooms in the house of a tall, middle-aged angular lady, dressed [in] black, whose brown hair was streaked with grey and the ten commandments imprinted on her visage. Having named the Hudson's Bay Company as my reference, she said, " I am sorry, but after a late experience of mine, I have vowed never again to accept any lodger so vouched." On farther conversation it appeared that our " uncongenial" (118) Sir John Pelly [see Reginald Saw, "Sir John H. Pelly, Bart., Governor, Hudson's Bay Company, 1822-1852," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, XJH (1949), pp. 23-32] and Andrew Colvile, Deputy Governor of the Company, 1839- 1852. (119) It has not been possible to identify this reference. 1954 John Tod 205 friend, whose society we were shirking, had been in these very lodgings —one chance in a million that I should so cross his track. Yet the landlady took me for a week on trial and I never changed my lodgings while in London. Settled comfortably there and choosing my own associates, I enjoyed the opportunity during several months of seeing as much as possible of the great metropolis. To one in my circumstances, as of the Indian country, so of London, it is not easy for me to know what will interest readers. In a camp-fire story the response of the faces that are not in the shade gives some kind of assurance, but what to me seems noteworthy in a book presentation, may not have that character to the reader, but be, in his judgment, trivial, and perhaps ridiculous. This is why I dwell not long on anything but pass from one incident to another. Public Opinion About Queen Victoria The third sovereign I already had lived under, namely, William IV, (though I was little over 40 years of age), died in London when I was there towards the end of June,120 and his niece, the present Queen, succeeded to the throne, but was not crowned for a year later, in 1838. The talk at the inns sometimes called at was much about the new Queen, of whom very little seemed to be known, but many were pleased with the advent of a woman-sovereign, as the late men-sovereigns had not enhanced the credit or dignity of their office. It was new to me to hear the free conversation on this subject, and that if the occupants were respectable, personally, it mattered little to the nation who the sovereign was. There seemed decidedly to be some unrest as to public matters generally in the minds of those I conversed with, or to whom I listened, and it was without the reticence of disaffected Indians, among whom my experience had lain. Emigration of My Family What concerned me more, however, at this time was the carrying out of a project which I had long entertained, and was at last able to assist, namely, the emigration of our whole family to Canada. I visited Scotland to see them on this subject. My father pleaded that for him and mother it was too great a wrench, yet, as they could not bear the severance from the children, my proposal finally was accepted. I accord- (120) There is another discrepancy here, for William IV died on June 20, 1837, and Tod did not reach England until October 13. 206 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. in[g]Iy proceeded to Canada via New York, sooner than I had intended, in order to buy a tract of land and make other preparations. The upper Canada rebellion had not been entirely repressed on my arrival in January, 1838, at St. Thomas, where I proposed to spend the winter with an esteemed friend and correspondent of mine,121 who resided there. The rebellion, from my point of view, however, not seeming to be of much importance, I bought 600 acres of land in the district, where I had taken up my winter quarters, and sent for my family to use the land, but as ill-luck would have it, duty called me westward on the opening of navigation, before they arrived, so I could not welcome them to their new home. I have not been there since, though hearing often from or of them, and now, in old age, feel pleasure in knowing that some of them still reside there and own the land which I purchased for their forbears. Back again now, westerly over the Rocky Mountain barriers, into the land against which the North Pacific ocean leans, where I have remained. Chapter XIX The western department of the Hudson's Bay Company, as I have said, lay between the Rocky Mountains and the shore of the Pacific Ocean. There were, I think, about the time I speak of, 22 forts or trading stations in it, including those in the country that is now American, in which latter section of the western department several migratory trapping and trading parties, also, were employed by the company. The headquarters had been, since 1824,122 at Fort Vancouver, on the right bank of the Columbia river, about 90 miles from its mouth, and the first chief departmental officer who held office till 1846, when Mr. James Douglas succeeded him, was as I have said, Dr. John McLoughlin, who tried to cure me of sciatica. Dr. McLoughlin was a very handsome, courteous and kindly man. After retiring from the company's service he remained on the American side, and was one of the founders of Oregon City, some 12 miles from the present city of Portland. By (121) Edward Ermatinger (1797-1876), who had retired from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1828 and settled at St. Thomas, Upper Canada, in 1830. See Rich, Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, pp. 211-212. Tod's friendship with Ermatinger dated back to 1818, when they were both at Island Lake. (122) The headquarters of the Columbia Department was transferred from Fort George (Astoria) to Fort Vancouver, which was christened on March 19, 1825. See E. E. Rich (ed.), The Letters of John McLoughlin . . . First Series, London, 1941, p. xxix. 1954 John Tod 207 some over there he has been described as the " Father of Oregon," from his activity in its early history, and in memory also of his kindness as head of the Hudson's Bay Company in befriending pioneers, a kindness which, it is said, the company itself did not appreciate.123 Fort Vancouver was the company's chief collecting, distributing and shipping place for the western department. The moderate-sized seagoing vessels of that time could reach the place—as Captain Vancouver in his ship had done124—from the ocean. The fort was a stockaded enclosure, 600 feet by 200 feet,125 with an armed bastion at one corner, and two 18-pound and two swivel guns in front of the Chief Factor's house, and commanding the principal entrance. Within the enclosure were the officers' dwellings and the magazines, stores and other buildings, about 30 altogether. The hospital, stables and servants' houses formed a little village outside. Near by was the company's farm, 1,200 acres in cultivation, good dairy, also 1,500 sheep, 400 or 500 head of cattle, a band of horses, pigs, poultry, etc. Four miles distant were a flour mill and a sawmill, belonging to the company. The products of the above were used by the company, and sold locally, and also were in part exported, together with prepared fish, to the Sandwich Islands, or elsewhere. The last decade or so of my life in the company's service as I have said, was passed at different posts in the above western department. I went no more either to Canada or the Old Country. There was unrest in the company's western councils during that period, and officers were moved hither and thither more than had been usual. By the Ashburton Treaty of 1842, the northeastern boundary question between England and America had been settled, and the governments now were trying to adjust in the northwest of the continent the question of disputed right to the Oregon territory—the Americans claiming the whole region lying on the Pacific west of the Rocky Mountains, (123) E. E. Rich (ed.), The Letters of John McLoughlin . . . Third Series, London, 1944, p. lii. (124) Tod is in error here. Lieutenant W. R. Broughton, who surveyed the Columbia River as far as Multnomah Falls, left the Chatham at anchor in Gray's Bay, about 7 miles inside the mouth of the river. The exploration was carried on by means of one of the small boats. George Vancouver, A Voyage of Discovery, London, 1778, Vol. II, p. 56. (125) According to Warre and Vavasour the stockade would have measured 320 by 690 feet. See L. R. Caywood, "Excavating Fort Vancouver," Beaver, March, 1948, p. 5. 208 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. between 42° and 54° 40' of north latitude. Settlers were coming into Oregon, and the Hudson's Bay Company began to fear that their head shipping place, Fort Vancouver, above referred to, and their other Oregon stations, might in certain eventualities have to be abandoned. Their desire to possess Vancouver Island and to substitute a shipping station there in place of Fort Vancouver, consequently grew, and in 1843 they began to build " Fort Albert,"126 or as it was renamed " Fort Victoria," to serve such purpose. But I am concerned here only with my personal narrative, not with general history. The reader probably knows that the result of the compromise in the treaty of 1846 between the above two governments established the 49th parallel as the international boundary, and gave Vancouver Island to Britain. Meantime, like others, I was moved about in the long strip of territory extending from New Caledonia to Fort Vancouver—half trader, half farmer or stockman—and had various new experiences, some of which I shall relate without describing my movements with a particularity that might be wearisome both to the reader and myself. Appointed to Columbia District—The Dalles Disaster My first appointment on returning, as stated, from my second and last trip to England, was to the district of Columbia, in the western department. In journeying thither, as ill-luck would have it, from Norway House (the general headquarters of the company west of the great lakes), which I left in July, 1838,1 had to take charge of a party of 60 individuals, chiefly employed men, but including several passengers and also women and children. Among the passengers were Bishop Blanchard, of the Roman Catholic church, and Father Meyers,127 who afterwards reached the like rank. The usual route with northwest canoes, via Saskatchewan, Fort Assiniboine and Athabasca river, took us to the source of the latter, where is Jasper House (so named from Jasper Hawse, a northwest company's clerk in the early part of the century). This crossing of the Rocky Mountains, usually called the "Athabasca Portage," is about 300 miles farther south than the crossing at Peace river, mentioned in my former transmontane journeys. The mountain range, or thrust- (126) See W. K. Lamb, "The Founding of Fort Victoria," loc. cit., pp. 88-89. (127) These were Francois Norbert Blanchet (1795-1883), later to become Archbishop of Oregon and Modeste Demers (1809-1871), first Roman Catholic Bishop of Vancouver Island. 1954 John Tod 209 together ranges, are much wider here. Traversing the icy, almost treeless passage, you come to a little bowl of a lake, called in fact " Punch Bowl," guarded by mountain giants, with ever white foreheads. This little lake or bowl is so balanced on its own table land that one part of its comparatively tiny outflow seeks the Ar[c]tic ocean by the Mackenzie river, and another part yields similar tribute to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Columbia river. To my dismay no means of transport awaited us at the above Athabasca portage to enable the party to reach the Columbia river at the "Boat Encampment" on the sharp bend of the river, where Canoe river, from the north, joins it a short way above 52 degrees N.L. We had in our further progress to reach and descend the Columbia, and the Columbia was distant several days rough travel by land. Each year invariably a company's party from the east came at the time we did, but now my party was unusually large, and encumbered with women and children. Of our five and forty horses, only two or three were broken in. Fortunately, we had two men very smart with the lasso. A " corral," or enclosure, accordingly was constructed, with an entrance narrowing gradually inward. Into this, after great difficulty, the horses were driven one by one, the baggage tied on firmly after throwing them down and hobbling them, then with a halter, Mexican fashion, on their heads, the animals were turned out of the " corral" to run kicking and rearing, helter [haltered?], though they were; however, none would go far away alone, and there was no concert among them. The few broken-in horses ultimately became a sort of rallying point and the whole band was under fair control within about three days. We then succeeded in transporting the large party with its impediments to the Boat Encampment, above mentioned. A fresh difficulty now presented itself, which, as I shall relate, had lamentable consequences. The western authorities, not knowing, as above said, the unusual number of my party had caused only two boats to be left there. A division thus was necessary to ensure safety in further progress. The two boats would not carry all without danger of overcrowding on the rapid river. Dividing the party I proceeded in the larger of the boats, with most of the women and children, 1,250 miles down the river to Fort Colvile,128 having strictly enjoined those left behind, as the weather was good and supplies sufficient, not to attempt to follow in an overcrowded boat, but to await the arrival of (128) Fort Colvile had been established in 1825 by the Hudson's Bay Company at Kettle Falls on the Columbia River. 210 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. the one which I was going in for the purpose of ensuring that it would immediately return with myself to take command of the second party proceeding down the river. Nevertheless, impatience overcoming caution, those left behind followed prematurely. At the little Dalles the boat was upset, and six of the passengers who had stayed in it, when running the rapids, were drowned, including two young botanists, Messrs. Wallace and Banks,129 who, as I understood, had been sent out on the recommendation, or, with the assistance of Mr. (afterwards Sir) Joseph Paxton,130 also a gentleman named White,131 stepfather of a child132 in the boat, who being rescued, many years later married Captain Dodd, well known in Vancouver Island. From Fort Colvile, with the reunited party, we proceeded to our destination at Fort Vancouver with heavy hearts, where I reported the circumstances of our journey. I was not popular with this mixed party that had been under my charge, owing to the discipline enforced, for reasons which I could not well tell them, for instance danger from prowling Blackfeet, but my action was approved by the authorities. The local governor, Dr. John McLoughlin, being absent, his assistant, Mr. James Douglas, was in temporary charge. Other officers of the company, whom I then first saw, Dr. William Fraser Tolmie,133 and Mr. Rae134 (a brother of Dr. John Rae,135 the Ar[c]tic traveller), who (129) Robert Wallace and Peter Banks; see Rich, Letters of John McLoughlin . . . First Series, p. 293. For another account of this episode see J. A. Stevenson, "Disaster in the Dalles," Beaver, September, 1942, pp. 19-21. (130) Sir Joseph Paxton (1801-1865) was a prominent British botanist who became superintendent of the gardens at Chatsworth, seat of the Duke of Devonshire, a president of the Royal Horticultural Society. (131) This would be Pierre Le Blanc who had married the ci-devant country- wife of J. G. McTavish, Nancy Mackenzie. [See Margaret MacLeod (ed.), The Letters of Letitia Hargrave, Toronto, 1947, pp. 34-35.] Nancy Le Blanc died in Victoria and was buried on July 26, 1851. Fort Victoria, Register of Burials, Photostat, Archives of B.C. (132) Grace McTavish, daughter of Chief Factor J. G. McTavish and Nancy Mackenzie, married Captain Charles Dodd. They were at a later date residents of Victoria, where Captain Dodd died on June 2, 1860 [Victoria Colonist, June 5, I860.] (133) See Simon Fraser Tolmie, " My Father: William Fraser Tolmie, 1812- 1886," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, I (1937), pp. 227-240. (134) William Glen Rae married Eloise, daughter of Dr. John McLoughlin. Rae afterwards committed suicide at the California post, and his widow subsequently, 1845, married Daniel Harvey. See B. B. Barker (ed.), Letters of Dr. John McLoughlin, Portland, Ore., 1948, p. 38. (135) For a biographical sketch of Sir John Rae, see E. E. Rich (ed.), John Rae's Correspondence with the Hudson's Bay Company on Arctic Exploration, 1844-1855, London, 1953, pp. xiv-cv. 1954 John Tod 211 was about to take charge of the Hudson's Bay post at Yerba Buena (San Francisco), assisted in making my stay at Fort Vancouver very pleasant. At Yerba Buena, I was told, apart from the company's station, there were only eight or nine houses (a later story about Yerba Buena is that, not long before the California gold discovery, the company sold 1,000 acres there for £1,000, owing to a dispute between two chief factors as to the disposition of the land136). Farming at Cowlitz137 On the governor's return to Fort Vancouver138 it was decided that I should have my headquarters at a farming station belonging to the company, some 50 miles northerly from Fort Vancouver, situated about 15 miles from the mouth of the latter. I had there a large number of men employed in caring for the numerous horses, chiefly brood mares, and cattle. We had 1,000 acres ploughed, also a fine horse park and large dairy. The crop the first year was about 8,000 bushels of wheat, half that quantity of oats and also barley and potatoes. The adjacent Catholic mission had 160 acres ploughed. We sold farm products to the Russians from the north, and also to incoming settlers. It was rather a new experience for me, and agreeable for a time, but devoid of incidents, with any personal bearing. My notes kept at the farm, possibly, might be acceptable in a journal devoted to agriculture or the rearing of stock. Occasionally some of the numerous visitors to Fort Vancouver came to the Cowlitz for a little sport, and to see the horses. Among the latter was a fine animal belonging to Mr. Rae, which its master only, could ride. Said to me one day, a lieutenant from a British surveying ship,139 who had been visiting (136) For the story of the Hudson's Bay Company in California, see Anson S. Blake, "The Hudson's Bay Company in San Francisco," California Historical Society Quarterly, XXVUI (1949), pp. 97-112, 243-258. (137) The Company's farm of 1,200 acres in the fertile valley of the Cowlitz River, a tributary of the Columbia, was established in 1838. Upon the formation of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, both the Cowlitz and Nisqually farms were operated by the subsidiary concern. (138) Dr. John McLoughlin visited England and the continent of Europe during the summer of 1838 and resumed command of Fort Vancouver in October, 1839. See Rich, Fort Vancouver Letters . . . Second Series, London, 1943, p. xi. (139) H.M. surveying ships Sulphur and Starling were in the Columbia River from July 16 to September 12, 1839. See F. V. Longstaff and W. Kaye Lamb, "The Royal Navy on the Northwest Coast, 1813-1850," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, IX (1945), p. 15. 212 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. Fort Vancouver, where two American survey vessels140 then were, " that seems a tidy good 'un, give me a mount, old fellow." I tried to dissuade him, not associating naval men with riding other than the waves, and not remembering, indeed, not then realizing that the scions of English county families often know the stable before entering the gun room, but all to no purpose, and away he went full tilt across the prairies—- the horse, apparently, as happy as the rider, judging by his bounds and his settling down to great speed, which soon took both out of sight. After a while, being uneasy, I kept a lookout, and to my joy the horse returned at a furious pace with the rider still on, sitting at ease and his longish black hair streaming from under his cap. I How did you lose your stirrups," said I, when he pulled up. I Eh! what! They're here all right, old boy. I triced them up in front"—and so he had. Chapter XX After over two years of this, chiefly bucolic, experience in the Columbia district, I was appointed as officer in charge of Fort Alexandria,141 on Fraser river, five or six hundred miles (longer by the trail) northwest, in the direction of my old habitat of New Caledonia. The "fort" was a stockaded enclosure with a block house and the usual buildings. It was close to the bank amid dark forests. The road thither, after about 300 miles, led past the important Hudson's Bay Co.'s station at the junction of the north and south branches of Thompson's river, so named from Mr. David Thompson,142 a Hudson's Bay man, who, while (140) The American surveying vessels mentioned by Tod have not been identified. The U.S. exploring expedition under Commander Charles Wilkes did not reach the Columbia River until 1841, by which time Tod had been transferred to New Caledonia. (141) Fort Alexandria, on the left bank of the Fraser River, was built by the North West Company just prior to the coalition in the summer of 1821. It was intended as a transfer point between land and water travel for the convenience of the New Caledonia brigades and to be used to supply the New Caledonia posts from the coast instead of from York Factory. This post was at the point where Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1793 retraced his steps northward to the Blackwater River before proceeding westward to the Pacific Ocean. See Fleming, Minutes of Council, p. xvii. (142) David Thompson was a North West Company employee. His name was bestowed upon the river by Simon Fraser during his epic journey of 1808. For biographical data on Thompson, see M. Catherine White, David Thompson's Journals Relating to Montana and Adjacent Regions, 1808-1812, Missoula, 1950. 1954 John Tod 213 in the service of the Northwest Company, spent most of the time between 1808 and 1812, as a trader and explorer west of the Rocky Mountains, discovering in 1811 the northern head waters of the Columbia, which river he followed to the ocean. The Indians called the place I Kahm-o- loops," meaning the "meeting of the waters," and we, less poetically, called it the " Forks " of the Thompson. The fort was on the right bank of the North Thompson at its mouth, opposite the modern village, or town, of Kamloops. The surrounding country, in its general character, presents south of the river a rolling, open surface, the valleys clear, save for aspen poplars along the streams, and the uplands sparsely timbered, chief[lyl with "red" or "bull" pines. It is more a pastoral than an agricultural district, irrigation being necessary in most parts for cultivation. The officer in charge of the fort, Mr. Black,143 a chief trader, gave me a hearty welcome during the day of my stay there. Some calamitous presage, which I never could account for, affected me on bidding him good-bye next morning, but passed away as we proceeded on our journey. Murder of Mr. Black at Kamloops A few weeks later, being at Alexandria on a dark night in February, a French-Canadian showing the traces of a hard journey entered the fort and said, "Mr. Black is murdered, and all the men at Kamloops fort have fled in different directions." I may anticipate a little by stating here the facts of this tragic occurrence, as these have been wrongly described in the book of his journey round the world in 1841-2, by the Governor, Sir George Simpson,144 who was at Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia river, in the middle of 1841, several months after it happened, and also described wrongly by other writers. A chief called Tranquille, of an Indian tribe near the fort, had died lately, and the widow, in her grief and concern for the departed, told her (143) Samuel Black, a native of Aberdeen, joined the North West Company in 1804. After the amalgamation of the companies in 1821 he joined the Hudson's Bay Company as a clerk in 1823, being promoted to chief trader the following year. During the summer of 1824 he was employed exploring the Finlay River and in 1825 was given charge of Fort Nez Perces, where he remained until 1830, when he was transferred to Kamloops. He secured his chief factorship in 1837 and met an untimely death at the hands of one of his Indians on the night of February 9, 1841. (144) Sir George Simpson, Narrative of a Journey round the World, during the years 1841 and 1842, London, 1847, 2 vols. 214 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. son, a fine youth of eighteen, well disposed and quiet, that the father's spirit should not be left to go alone, but should be accompanied by the spirit of some chief of equal rank. This was urged daily, until the youth, worn by importunity and a supposed sense of duty to his deceased father, seized his gun and sat himself down moodily in the hall of the Kamloops fort. Something in his appearance caused a servant to remark to Mr. Black that the Indian looked dangerous, but the latter said that, probably, the boy was ailing. Soon afterwards, on Mr. Black crossing the hall from one room towards another, the Indian suddenly rose and fired at his back, and the bullet passed through the victim's heart and body and lodged in the wall. But to return. On hearing the French-Canadian's report, I directed him and two other men to start with me at dawn on horseback, with relays, from Alexandria for Kamloops. There were two feet of snow on the ground during the first part of our trip of 270 miles, and after a long week of almost incessant travel, or " march " as the word was, we reached our destination to find Fort Kamloops abandoned save for the widow and children still weeping over Mr. Black's frozen body, lying where it fell. An Indian named Lolo,145 but, as a "mission" Indian who preached about St. Paul, commonly called "Paul," who had been occasionally employed at the fort, appeared soon, to sympathize with us, and, possibly, to report proceedings to the Indians, whose neighboring camp was silent. After examining as far as might be the course of the bullet, we buried the body, ascertained the murderer's name from Lolo, and then began to make an inventory of the goods at the fort. These seemed to be intact. Several days were thus occupied during which an armed Hudson's Bay Company party arrived from Fort Colvile, and later another armed party from Fort Vancouver (to which southern place some of the men fleeing from the fort had gone), the expectation being that the Indians would be found in possession of the Kamloops fort. As my own station at Alexandria demanded my care, I returned thither at once in these circumstances, but the end was not yet. The party from headquarters at Fort Vancouver began to terrorize the Indians within reach of Kamloops as a means of enforcing delivery of the murderer. Horses were seized, property destroyed, and, prac- (145) Jean Baptiste Lolo St. Paul. See G. D. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb, "Captain St. Paul of Kamloops," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, JJI (1939), pp. 115-127; and G. D. Brown, Jr., "A Further Note on Captain St. Paul," ibid., pp. 223-224. 1954 John Tod 215 tically, short of killing men, war against the people was undertaken. The result of this ill-judged action, of course, was nil, except in causing bitterness, and, after a time, the company's forces were recalled to Fort Vancouver and Colvile. A council held at the former fort, at which as I said, the Governor-in-Chief was present,146 then decided on the policy to be adopted. Obviously with hostile Indians intervening, the year's pack of furs from the interior and New Caledonia which required a cavalcade of 400 laden horses, could not reach the shipping depot at Fort Vancouver, nor could the posts receive thence their goods for next year's trade. Accordingly a temporizing policy was approved. I was transferred from Alexandria to succeed Mr. Black at Kamloops,147 with instructions to try to continue trading and the business of the district as usual, and with an intimation that towards the end of the year a well armed force would be sent to aid me in "prosecuting hostilities." The Policy Adopted by Me As the above policy of the authorities seemed to me unnecessary and also dangerously provocative, in view of the number and boldness of the Indians, though not all of them had guns or much ammunition, or the wherewithal to purchase warlike equipment, I asked for, and was given rather grudgingly, more or less of a free hand in the circumstances, and I shall now relate what took place, not for self-praise, but to illustrate how not to make an Indian war. Despatching Lolo, the Indian already mentioned (he was a man of birth and undoubted courage, but I never fully trusted him), to the different camps and tribes, I ascertained what horses had been taken from each and what property had been destroyed by the punitive expeditions, and I returned the horses from the bands at the fort and paid for the property, in every case that was substantiated. Then (146) Sir George Simpson arrived at Fort Vancouver, August 24, 1841. [See Rich, McLoughlin's Fort Vancouver Letters . . . Second Series, p. 40.] As Tod had set out for Kamloops immediately after hearing of Black's death in February, 1841, returning thence to his duties at Alexandria, it is obvious that all the arrangements concerning Kamloops had been undertaken by John McLoughlin and Archibald McDonald, the latter sending Donald McLean and John McPherson from Fort Colvile. [Ibid., pp. 248-249.] For another version of this sad event, see Tod, History of New Caledonia . . . , pp. 10-19. (147) Tod returned to Kamloops on August 3, 1841; see Thompson's River Journal, 1841-43, MS., Archives of B.C. 216 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. I offered a bale of " goods " to anyone who would show me or my agents where the murderer was; I desired no other help. On the third night after this notification an Indian called me up to say that his friends had decided to permit him to act as a guide, but he was to take no pay, in goods or otherwise. The murderer was far away in a valley covered with prickly pears, encamped there near a stream and guarded by twelve warriors. His information proved to be correct, for on my sending, with a guide, a small party of three men (advisedly small in pursuance of my own policy of regarding the matter as individual and not tribal) the place was reached, but, though the guards and the murderer's wife and his two child girls were there, he himself, unwitting of the present pursuit, had visited the Fraser river to buy salmon. Indiscreetly, as I considered, the party seized one of the children and brought her back to the Kamloops fort, whither they returned for supplies and further orders. I caused the child to be dressed prettily from goods in the store, supplied with a bag of toys, and immediately conveyed back to her mother by a special messenger on horseback. The latter remained a day at the camp (to which the murderer had not returned), and, before departing homeward, was told by the 1 guards" that they would protect the man no longer, but would go home. Thus the youth became an outcast among his own people, with his doom fixed and the avengers on his track, but it was not until four or five months after this that he was run down and killed, as I shall now relate. Pursuit of the Murderer The pursuers, guided by the informant, came to the crest of a hill and looked down on a small encampment on the opposite side of a river in the valley. The guide said: " There is his place and the ford is in front of the camp." Accordingly, when night fell, creeping to the river side, they crossed, the guide a little ahead, until he stopped to whisper, " Hush! they are talking in the lodge—two men's voices—one man, the man we want, is telling of his dream that the white men were hanging him." In the rush one inmate of the lodge was seized by the throat, the other inmate dashed through the doorway, escaping the clutch of the foreman of the pursuers on his hair, as it had been cut short, but the foreman, a swift Scotchman, overtook and knocked him down with the butt of a gun. This fugitive was the murderer. 1954 John Tod 217 Quickly he was taken across the ford in the river, tied securely on a horse, and the party travelled homeward on their four days' march, and finally reached a ferry on the Thompson river, which would save a round of several miles. A pipe was there smoked, and the foreman pondered on the risk of putting the prisoner in a canoe—finally, he sent an armed man to the other side, and placed in the canoe one paddler in the stern, another in the bow, and the prisoner in the middle, not tying the hands of the latter. About the middle of the stream the prisoner upset the canoe, and, after diving, swam to the opposite side. The guard there, with levelled gun, ordered him to go back. "Let me land," pleaded the murderer, " if they had killed me at the time of the deed it would have been well, now, I wish to live," whereupon the guard fired, wounding him in the hand. He wailed and turned into the water, and the current took him down stream within short gun range of the foreman and another man at a point, or spit, of gravel, from which they shot and killed him—he crying out before he sank that he did not wish his death avenged. Chapter XXI The illustration of the Indian character and manners, and of animal or bird life, does not fall within the scope of a narrative merely personal to the writer, yet cannot but form some part of it in these pages, owing to the nature of my occupation, not to say predilections. I could not, for instance, in the foregoing resist altogether a little mention of his lordship the bear, and his wiseness the beaver, and now, perhaps, in the following anecdotes, the seeming self-praise of my own methods of managing the Indians will be excused on account of the intertwined testimony as to their own ways. Many wars between whites and Indians, and, I daresay, between civilized people, have had their origin in misconceptions—in not understanding the opponents' view of the case, in servitude to shabby points of honor, or in human proneness to use force. Keep Your Tobacco! Whoo-oop! Whoop!! The Indian, like ourselves, is acquisitive—at any rate in requiring recompense for his work, but I recall an instance of pride over-ruling acquisitiveness. Our party was to blame, but I was second in command and had no control in the matter. It was a large party, heavily laden, and, in the absence of help, the portage work at the Dalles of the Columbia river would have taken a 218 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. long time. Big boats, as well as heavy packs, had to be taken across. A band of the proud Nez Perces, or Sah-haptin,148 Indians, whose country is between that of the Walla Wallas and the Rocky Mountains, and who seemed to live on horseback (the reader may remember they came to my mind sitting in Hyde Park, London), happened to be near, and they, without bargaining, took the heavy boats and cargo across the portage on rollers in good fashion. My superior officer149 hummed and hawed about paying them, or rather paying them quickly, for he had read in Irving's "Astoria "150 of a dispute which had arisen from paying the Indians too soon. I could not understand his reasoning, or his action, but finally, when we were ready to start he cast from a bag leaf tobacco in handfuls, on the rocks below, where the Indians were, they looking disdainfully at his unceremonious proceeding from their horses; then, on a common impulse, with a loud whoo-oop! whoop! they wheeled and dashed away in grand style, evidently much offended. Said I to myself, this comes of Mr. Irving, in his retreat on the banks of the river Hudson at New York, writing a book about Indians without personally knowing them, lumping together, so to speak, Tom, Dick and Harry— and I said other things about my own superior on this trip, but only in my mind. After the pierced nosed Indians151 had galloped off, the fish eating Indians152 of the neighborhood crept out of caverns in the rocks near by and gathered up eagerly the rejected tobacco. Some later party of white men, I feared, that might seek the aid of Nez Perces Indians would have reason to say that their great reputation was undeserved, and that, really, they were Indians of the common low class type, and the other " do nothing " Indians who had secured the tobacco would agree with the verdict—thus history is foiled, and as a rule I give limited regard to it. What I do see is that European diplomacy, so strange to the common folk, only differs in degree from Indian diplomacy out here—the needful, (148) The Nez Perces or Sahaptin Indians occupied Western Idaho, Northeastern Oregon, and South-eastern Washington living on the Lower Snake River and its tributaries. (149) This would be William Connolly. For another account of this incident see Tod's History of New Caledonia . . . , pp. 64-66. (150) Washington Irving, Astoria: or Anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains, Philadelphia, 1836, 2 vols. (151) The Nez Perces, from their habit of piercing the nose and inserting an ornament of dentalium. (152) Possibly Tod refers to the Coast Indians, whose staple diet was salmon. 1954 John Tod 219 intellectual and moral equipment in the two cases respectively being similar. Baffling Horse Thieves It was found convenient to take the annual produce of the trade of New Caledonia and the districts immediately south of it, on pack horses, southerly to the shipping place at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia river. This was the cheapest, indeed, the only, method. The country, for the most part, was easily traversed and furnished grass for pasture. The long journeying of this noble cavalcade of 400 or 500 horses, with their numerous attendants, drafted from various stations, took place annually at a stated time, 200 horses were kept at Fort Alexandria for the transport—and I was always ready to join forces with my large contingent when the cavalcade reached Kamloops. Each officer, however, retained control of his own horses. A " brigade " as applied in this organization consisted of 16 horses in charge of two men. The horses so banded kept together and each had its name. The load for each horse was two " pieces" of 84 pounds each, and the horse was supposed to convey this about 20 miles a day, but, in fact, the distances between camping places varied. I remember on one of the above periodical journeys a little incident which shows the importance of conciliating and trusting the Indians. It was customary for a number of these people to meet this regular cavalcade at the forks of Okanagan river, not so much for trade as to exchange civilities. Jogging along towards that place three Indians, dressed in their best, accosted me with an invitation to camp near their party, but added that they thought it right to inform me that several notorious Indian horse thieves had come among them, over whom they had not the same power as over their own people. My reply being that I would camp in the midst, they went off well pleased. On my telling this arrangement to my co-officer of the calvalcade he became angry, drew out his own horses from it, and went to seek an encampment that would not be, as he said, " among a lot of horse thieves." About 1,000 Indians were present at the Forks, and the evening scene was picturesque. To my fire a number of chiefs came, and there were many stories and abundant mirthfulness; finally, before retiring, and after a distribution of tobacco, I made a speech in the manner they like, and wound up by stating that my men had for two nights lost their rest, and we now were going to have a good sleep, leaving horses and everything in the Indians' care. They sent the horses to some good pasture, and next morning, 220 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. though I had some misgivings during the night, every horse was brought to the camp. Dispatching the loaded train, and having had the usual half hour's chat with the chiefs before starting, I cantered along and came up to my co-officer, who seemed in an excited state—the stem of his big pipe in his hand and the bowl swinging by the string, as he strode, bridle over arm, gesticulating and swearing. " Hello!" said I, " what's up?" I Those cursed horse thieves," was the gruff reply, " have taken three of my horses, and they took two of them off last night before they were unladen. How many have you lost? " " Not a one," said I. In stating that it may be prudent to repose trust, occasionally, in the Indians, I am far from meaning that, as a rule, they may be trusted. The moral[i]ty of both civilized and uncivilized men, largely, is that of their parents and their own community. For this reason, it may have been observed, that, in recording little successes of my own in dealing with difficult Indian situations, my appeal always was to a general rather than to an individual, sentiment. The worst result, often may follow from unduly trusting Indian individuals who have been unable to assimilate even the general tribal sentiment and suddenly evince an actuation by devilish impulse, more noticeable in them than among civilized men. On a lower plane than the latter, the Indian, however, is a like creature of light and shade—good qualities and corresponding defects—vices and compensating virtues. To say, as my above co-officer of the annual cavalcade, who lost his three horses, was wont to say that all the Indians are " damned scoundrels," is, I think, an over statement. A Supplementary Medical Experience With Myself as the Doctor The unrest of the Hudson's Bay Company on account of the doubtful, yet in a degree, anticipated, result of the diplomatic discussions respecting the international boundary caused the transfer of a number of horses, and also cattle from districts south of the 49th parallel to the Kamloops station, where bunch grass pasture was plentiful. Some of these came from my old farming station on the Cowlitz, and I amused myself with the pretence that they recognized me. Two hundred brood mares were included in the great band thus sent to Kamloops, and in the spring, foals began to appear. Unfortunately, also, there soon appeared an addition to the bands of wolves in the locality, as if these beasts of prey had been following the progress of the diplomatic negotiations. Vigilance was useless, but having heard of strychnine, and wishing to try it on the wolves, I sent Indian 1954 John Tod 221 messengers, southerly, 300 miles to Walla Walla for a supply of that potent drug. They returned with many companions and delivered the packet to me at the fort gates, the leader remarking: " We do not believe in your poison." " No," said I, " bring me a dog," and they having done so, I sprinkled some of the powder on a bit of horse flesh, and the dog ate it and soon died, whereupon the Indians, who all have a horror of poisons, ran away howling. It happened that about this time I had three parties out, in different places squaring logs to make new buildings, and to these I gave horse flesh and portions of the poison, for wolf baits, enjoining them, strictly to take the baits up every morning. A man, Camille, from one of these wood camps, on his way to the fort for a supply of provisions, placed, foolishly, a remnant of salt salmon he had with him on one of these wolf baits, as he passed it, which bait had not been removed. Later on, a hungry Indian, seeing the morsel, kindled a fire and ate, not only the salmon, but the horse flesh wolf bait (which perhaps I should have marked), and, when Camille, on returning that way, noticed the head of the Indian rising and falling in the long grass, he bethought him of the poison, and galloping back to the fort to tell me what he had seen. Seldom had I been in such a difficulty as then. What to do I knew not, but, running to the medicine chest, I took out some blue vitriol, and we hastened to the scene. The Indian's teeth were set, but, by forcing his jaws open a little, I poured the vitriol down his throat. This, almost immediately caused violent vomiting, and he survived, but was an invalid for a considerable time. The Indians generally, meanwhile, had been talking about the poison; and this mishap to one of their number, added much to their uneasiness. Several hundreds in a state of excitement and alarm, but not in war dress, appeared at the fort to demand explanations. Speech after speech was made by chiefs—the fear, evidently, being entertained, that I meditated poisoning the people. " What," said I in reply, " what do you suppose I am living among you for? Is it not to obtain furs and to trade? How could I get the furs if you were poisoned? Had I desired to poison you, I could have done it long ago. You know that I sent for the poison to kill the wolves that were killing the foals—your foals as well as mine." Then, perceiving the entry into the hall, of the man who had taken the poison, I seized him, and, dragging him forward, said: " Here is the cause of your trouble—this thief who steals the white man's provisions— such a hungry thief that he will eat what is meant to kill wolves." 222 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. This diversion and attack saved the situation, for the poor wretch technically, had committed two offences condemned by tribal sentiment—he had robbed from a white man, and he had robbed what was akin to a " trap," and, moreover, he had stirred others against me who had saved his own life lately by the exercise of wonderful medical skill, though I had burned his gullet in the process. I was not pleased with my own argument, but it served the purpose. The location of poison baits I marked afterwards in a particular way, and the Indians of the neighborhood recognized them. Chapter XXII Barrel of Powder Incident As the "barrel of powder incident" at this Kamloops fort, in 1867,153 has been variously described in common talk, I here mention the facts, promising that in this quarter of the Hudson's Bay Company field of trade operations, the Indians naturally had less reverence for the company than in the region around Hudson Bay, where the feeling was hereditary. The changes, and rumors of changes, also, in the company's business in the western department consequent upon the Oregon Treaty of 1846, tended to disturb the Indian mind as to the future, though these changes, practically, did not affect the natives I am speaking of. A band of Indians, trading usually at the fort, but which did not affiliate with the Indians of any " nation," was permitted by me to encamp in the neighborhood, while waiting to proceed to a distant hunting ground on a further opening of the spring season. The news spread widely, even so far as Okanagan Forks (over 200 miles distant, south) and caused excitement, unknown to me. Nicola, a very great chieftain and a bold man, for he had 17 wives, ruled the Indians there, and claimed lordship over a territory as big as half of Scotland, stretching far into the present British Columbia, an administrative district which [now] bears his name. The band I had permitted to encamp was, unfortunately, the hereditary enemy of Nicola's people. The old chief sat for two days pondering, then jumped up and spoke to his warriors of the misdeeds of the encamping tribe which had ventured into land under his own (claimed) jurisdiction, and he urged them, if they had the hearts of men and not of women, to wipe out those people. (153) This should be 1847. For another account of this episode see H. H. Bancroft, History of British Columbia, San Francisco, 1887, pp. 152-158. 1954 John Tod 223 " Let us march! " exclaimed the young men. " Nay, not yet! " interposed Nicola, " for we lack ammunition." My first hint of impending mischief was the desire of an Indian for a gun and a quantity of ammunition as the price of ten skins, instead of, as usual, taking blankets and cloth as part of the barter. " We are going to the Black Feet country," said he. Next week another came with the same story, but by that time I had heard of Nicola's speech, and said I had no ammunition to spare, whereupon, leaving his bundle of furs in the store, the Indian hurried back to Nicola to report progress, or rather failure, which so confounded the old chief that he again sat, for several days I was told, in meditation. "This man of the Kamloops fort," finally said he, in a great speech, " shelters our enemies and refuses to trade; we will take the fort and all there is in it, and have our revenge on our enemies." Spies told me of this decision and of the approach of the Nicola war party, painted and prancing along the bank of the South Thompson river, which caused the half dozen French-Canadians at the fort to flee hurriedly—though the wife of one upbraided him as a coward—and it caused many other white men who were near to depart, as also the encamped band that was the cause of the mischief. It was now my turn, like the old chief, Nicola, to sit down and ponder, but my pondering occupied minutes instead of days. Seizing an Indian who passed the fort gate on foot, I dragged him, roughly, inside and compelled him to bring from the store a barrel of gunpowder and place it near the door. Then, opening the barrel, I spilled the contents all over the doorway and directed the Indian to bring me a flint and a steel, on which request he bolted, but I caught him, saying, " Not yet; I only wish to see that the flint will act." We tried several and at last got a good apparatus. Thrusting the man out of the fort, I then laid a train of powder to the mass of it and sat down to wait. In about an hour the local Indian, Lolo, or Paul, with a Nicola Indian from the war party— the latter whitewashed as when not meditating a war parley, approached in a canoe. These I addressed from the bank of the river at the fort, driving them off with reproaches: "Begone, and quick! I want not you; where is that woman chief of yours? Where is he? I am alone here, and Nicola fears with his whole tribe to attack a single man," and so forth. That was the " barrel of powder " incident. Nicola, to whom the Indian who had seen the powder spilling ran, held councils, but did not risk an attack. The Indians knew the effect of a flask exploded, but a barrel, they conceived, might devastate the whole district. The end of the matter followed the practice in such cases of the 224 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. civilized nations. Several of Nicola's principal chiefs who knew me came in peaceful array with assurances that he had only been conducting a " reconnaisance in force," and was pleased to know that the enemies of his people had departed; his respect for the great company and its honorable local manager was immense; it was a misapprehension that he ever contemplated an entry into the fort without invitation, but he, personally, hoped for an opportunity of enjoying that satisfaction according to recognized etiquette before departing to the south. So I swept up the powder and entertained as best I could the baffled chieftain. He was a stately personage, the very pink of courtesy, who sat his horse like a crusader and commanded the entire devotion of his followers in any enterprise that did not involve the experimental personal test of an unknown explosive power. I myself never saw a whole barrel of powder exploded. I suppose, in these modern mining days, it would be a trivial incident for outsiders. The Waterloo man,154 in the canoe that took me, first, as I have related, to New Caledonia, said that the explosion of 1,200 barrels of powder at Corunna in 1809, by the British army before embarking, was the finest sight he had ever seen. They formed a pyramid, which did not burst all at once, but with growing crack and rumbling threw out a succession of side flashes and upward flashes, lifted afterwards, as it seemed, into the midst of a stupendous smoky glare, whence issued thunderous redoubled roars and detonations. War Fever Cured by Dread of Small Pox Some time before the "barrel of powder incident," in October, 1846, I think it was, we had been menaced very seriously by the action of a collection of tribes very different from, and, I should say rather inferior to, Nicola's people. They dwelt in a different quarter, namely, from Spuzzum on Fraser river, along its banks, northerly, towards New Caledonia. They were numerous, but in scattered bands, without any great head chief, and were called " Saw-mee-nas "155 by the lower Fraser Indians, with whom a constant feud existed. (154) Possibly Donald McKenzie, Jr. Cf. Tod, Reminiscences, p. 54. (155) Siamannas (''hunters"), a name applied generally to the Interior Indians by tribes in Washington and British Columbia. F. W. Hodge (ed.), Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Washington, 1912, U, p. 564. 1954 John Tod 225 At Pebeion,156 or, as the whites came to call it " Pavilion," on the Fraser, these combined tribes, at a particular time, dried and smoked large quantities of salmon, and the Kamloops station depended on a supply of 10 or 12,000 salmon, from that fishery every season—in fact could not get along without it. In the year I speak of, some rumor of bad feeling by these people towards the whites, gained currency, but I did not fear a general attack on their part, as in order to make it, they must have entered Nicola's country, and the latter at that time, was not unfriendly to the company. What I feared was the loss of the salmon, but concealing even that apprehension, I dispatched a small party, with 60 horses, as usual, to trade for, and bring our supply from Pebeion. The interpreter, Lolo, returned when this party had covered about seventy miles, to inform me that he was assured that the Pebeion people were in war dress, and had resolved not to furnish the usual supplies. What their reason for this was, I never could discover, but have always suspected that Lolo in some way was at the bottom of it. He may have wished to annoy us and then to gain credit by intervening to remove the cause of the annoyance. To us, as above hinted, the loss of the salmon might mean the ruin of our year's work. That same morning of the interpreter's return, news had reached me from Oregon of the prevalence of small pox among some of the Walla Walla Indians, and of the murder of Dr. Whitman and his wife.157 These worthy people really had been trying to help the Indians, but had fallen under a suspicion in their minds, of having tried to poison them. This suggested certain tactics to me which I proceeded to carry out in the following manner. The next dawn, I put several lancets and a bottle of lymph in my pocket, mounted my fine grey mare, and, with a young half breed attendant, reached the camp of our train on Hat river, some 60 or 70 miles away, before night had much advanced. Proceeding onwards, alone, next day, I went ahead to scout, and from a wood near the Indians' camp, saw that the hair of the Indians was tied (156) Skwailuh (" hoar-frost") was the name for a Shuswap town on Pavilion creek, sometimes spelled "Papillion." Hodge, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 596. There seems to be no authority for Tod's spelling of the name, which may indicate that it is a misprint. (157) Marcus Whitman, his wife, Narcissa, and twelve others were savagely murdered at their mission station at Wai-i-lat-pu in Washington Territory on November 29, 1847. See W. N. Sage, Sir James Douglas and British Columbia, Toronto, 1930, p. 135. 226 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. up and their faces painted, and some were walking about brandishing weapons. There must have been about 1,500 of them. Bringing up the train to this wood, and directing my men to fight a fire so as to make a smoke, I put spurs to my gallant grey, and galloped towards the camp of the Indians, among whom I bounded to their infinite astonishment. "What! you! you! Where are you from? What is it? Have you come to trade salmon? " " Salmon! No! I want none of your salmon, but have you heard the news? " " What news? " " Why, the small pox is in Walla Walla, and travelling north, and as I did not wish to see you lying dead on the river bank like your salmon, I come to vaccinate you. My time is short, so come round me, and let us get to work; but first, cut down that tree, and when cut down, cut it into two pieces." This tree cutting was to occupy their minds and prevent councils. After the tree was cut, and while I was busy at work with the lancet, some left the camp and returned soon with a band of women bearing packages of salmon, which they offered to me. I persisted in refusing, but said, if your women wish to trade while we are at work with the medicine, they can look about for my men and my train— perhaps they may see a smoke. I vaccinated about seventy of the Indians on their right arms, and told them to hold these limbs in a sling, and in a certain position, adding that I would give them a lancet and some lymph, in the morning, and instruct them how to get inoculating matter, by and by, from the patients operated on. The only war the Indians thought of by this time was war against the small pox—so I retired to my own camp, which they pointed out to me, saying that the women had been trading at it. This was true, and the trade was to some purpose, for my men had secured about 10,000 salmon. The laden horse train started homeward at daylight, and, then, after seeing it off, I revisited Pebeion, received the thanks of the Indians, and gave them further medical instructions before saying good-bye. I never said a word to Lolo of these circumstances, or of my suspicion of him in the matter, but acted as if the trade had proceeded in the normal manner. Experience had shown me that nothing impresses and baffles these people more than reticence and self-possession, broken by decisive action upon occasion. In this, perhaps they do not differ much from white men. A head watchman or policeman and I had several talks in London, as to managing excited crowds. He said, I remember, that excitement, after a certain height invariably fell; therefore, unless riot accompanied it, he did not actively interfere until the subsidence had begun. He 1954 John Tod 227 knew, also, by experience, the value in such work, of diverted attention. He laughed when I said his training, in some degree was fitting him to take charge of an Indian trade district. Chapter XXIII The reader may have been surprised at my statement in the last chapter, that we were dependent at Fort Kamloops on a salmon supply for food in what has become a fine farming and pastoral district. But, in truth, farm produce, had it existed, would have been of little use, as food, in the extensive, special business of the company, with its many isolated posts in unfertile districts, and its servants, outside of the actual trading staff, constantly on the move, for long and short distances. A similar remark applies to the common and really abundant fish of different kinds in the lakes, rivers and streams of the interior country (some in the lakes very like Scotch red trout). The staple for food had to be something obtainable regularly in large quantities, something fairly nutritious, prepared so as to keep long without decay, easily packed and carried, and with the advantage, also, of cheapness. Dried animal flesh, as in other parts of the continent, might have served most of these conditions, but would have been much more expensive. The company's farms that I have men[t]ioned were exceptional industries, near important stations, or where free settlers were coming in. Even close to the best farm the old rations were issued—for instance at Fort Vancouver, the company's former headquarters of the western department, where from 100 to 200 men were employed according to the time of the year, and where there was, as at Cowlitz a large farm, the weekly ration per man was usually twenty-one pounds salmon, and a bushel of potatoes— very little beef or pork being at any time issued. I had a good little farm at Kamloops, made productive by irrigation, and the officers in charge of many posts, as I have said, had small gardens, but these counted for nothing in the company's general requirements. " No salmon, no furs," was a pithy, true saying to the westward of the Rocky mountains. In the plain country east from the range, the staple food was different, consisting of dried and pounded vension and buffalo meat, served usually with grease.158 (158) This would be pemmican, a preparation of dried buffalo meat pounded, to which melted buffalo tallow and sometimes dried berries were added. The whole mixture was packed into bags of buffalo hide, which were then sewn up. See Merk, op. cit., pp. 346-347. 228 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. In the Hudson's Bay region, as I have said, salted geese and ducks, and, also, dried fish and venison, were largely consumed. I am speaking of staples which the company from a business point of view had to regard, and provide: individual officers everywhere, of course, strove to vary the regular diet, as far as possible, without an expenditure that would be noticed. The dietetic history of service in these fur companies shows that men, for longer and shorter periods, can digest, and five on anything, from buttery bear-fat, and sinewy dog flesh, down to broiled leather. Men seem to suffer more from the sameness of food than from its poor quality. We became very tired—most of us—even of the indispensable salmon. I myself always liked the best food I could get, but others were not so particular. Travelling on one occasion with my friend, Mr. Yale159 already mentioned in these pages, we reached a small station. When the man in charge was absent I had my cook " Como " with me, nominally a Sandwich Islander, but really, a composite of every human race then existing, with which distraction of lineage his speech corresponded— I language of the antipodes " spoken of by Rabelais, which " even the devil could not have a try at"—nevertheless a good, cleanly cook. Looking down the bank, said I. " Como, these are nice salmon in that canoe, but to-day I fancy a bit of young bear," pointing to certain small carcasses on the beach near the canoe, void of heads, tails and feet. " There is no time for braising them with your usual skill—let it be a roast." " Oui! Oui! monsieur," was the reply, and in due course a fine roast appeared on our table. I chewed and chewed, till [my] jaw was weary, then, turning to Como, said: "What on earth is this, Como? How can a young bear be so tough? " " Bear," replied Como, " he is welly good bow-wow." This ended my meal, but Mr. Yale, a very taciturn man, proceeded with seeming enjoyment, to let piece after piece down his throat without the ordeal of mastication. The reader may remember, that at the York Factory " coalition " banquet I referred to a guest of sinister aspect, who was under a suspicion of " poisoning." The suspicion was that, at Peace river he had tried to poison Mr. Yale, I now realised the cause of his failure.160 (159) James Murray Yale, v. supra, foot-note (53). (160) V. supra, foot-note (33). 1954 John Tod 229 Chapter XXIV The foregoing little memories, in a simple narrative of select experiences and observations, might be multiplied without effort, but perhaps they have sufficed in their presentation to give the reader, without tedium, some general notion of the frontier life which it was my lot to endure for nearly forty years. That is a long period in any man's career, but in my case, having retired with a comfortable fortune for a person of my position, I regarded all the past as an apprenticeship, leading not to a reposeful, but to an inquisitive new life on which I proposed to enter. Withdrawal meant to me what the Elizabethan poet wrote of death: " It is to end An old, stale, weary work, and to commence A newer and a better." Some of the company's officers on retiring went to Scotland; others to Canada; those who, like me, were unwearied of the west, naturally tended to settle near the headquarters of the old company. The new fort at Victoria, Vancouver Island, which had been begun in 1843, had been finished now several years. The company in 1849 transferred its headquarters thither from Fort Vancouver on the Columbia river, and in the same year obtained a ten years' conditional grant of Vancouver Island from the home government for purposes of colonization, save the mark! Simultaneously the home government erected Vancouver Island into a colony, and sent out a governor, one Mr. Richard Blanshard, a worthy man, suffering from neuralgia, who tried to fill an impossible position in the front of the great fur company. Some of the books which he left on going home I added to my library. It was to Victoria that I went, and, liking the place and climate, and with no feeling of an exile, owing to the presence there of a " fort," and numbers of friends, I purchased a farm on the seashore a few miles away and built on it a house, in which I took up my residence, bringing thereto all my books and the fiddle and such reminiscences of a fur trader's career as these pages contain—samples of a larger bulk. The dwelling, drawn back a little from the actual shore of the islet stream, narrow gulf, has a south south-east aspect, bounded, across the sea by a lofty mountain range, and, more distant and easte[r]ly by vast, more or less serrated ranges, buttressing a huge, broad shouldered, ever-snowy blunt cone, hidden some days by clouds and at other times calmly brilliant in 230 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. the sunlight.161 The one want in my new place—applicable, indeed, to the whole neighborhood—is the want of vivid, running water; but having had a surfeit during my life since manhood in North America of riverine views and impediments, it was long before I missed this charm of the running water or the ear of my memory reopened to the thrilling murmur that had pleased me in an earlier time as a wandering boy along the Leven. Now, disinclined as I am for travel, there cannot be, I fear, any more " Leven " for me, save in the excursions which sometimes I make thither in my sleep. My new, or as I regard it, my real life, stretched out beyond three decades since my retirement, is to be the subject of Part II of the 1 Scotch Boy's Career."162 The materials exist, indeed, their written shape too, comprising slender, short experiences as a justice of the peace, and in politics as a legislative councillor, but mainly the result of fruitful considerations—^fruitful at any rate to me—of some of the speculative varieties of human existence without preparedness on my part. But purposes and preparations that relate to the ninth decade of a man's life must be infirm, and, as I said, with some truth in " The good, natural' man," this same philosophy is a " good horse in the stable but an arrant jade on a journey." So as to further book-making, it may be as it will. Every book, I dare say, has almost as many sequels as it has readers, each thinking out unconsciously some kind of sequel. The End. (161) Mount Baker in the Coast Range in adjacent Washington State. (162) It is to be regretted that further instalments never came from John Tod's facile pen. 1954 John Tod 231 APPENDIX Notes on the Tod Family A glimpse into a man's home life is not only of interest, but it helps in an appraisal of his career " for better for worse " and in an appreciation of his relations with his fellow-men. For this reason, and to place the author of the foregoing reminiscences in his rightful setting, it seems appropriate to add these few notes on the life and family relations of John Tod which are not generally known. Although Tod himself gives his birthplace as Loch Lomond, and the year 1794,1 according to the records of the Hudson's Bay Company he was born the previous year at Glasgow. These slight variations, at this remote period, are not of much consequence, however, but one or two opinions of bis character and bis achievements are, nevertheless, of importance. The various stages of bis progress in the service of the Company and the different regions in which he was active during his thirty-eight years have been dealt with by himself and will, of necessity, not be repeated. Governor Simpson's opinion of Tod that he was " a good Trader and expresses himself well by Letter. ... Is not generally liked but I think has claims to promotion and may in due time succeed in attaining a Chief Tradership,"2 reveals that he was, no doubt, prejudiced against Tod from the beginning. Alexander Simpson, George's cousin, on the other hand, spoke thus of him: "... John Tod, is a good Lowland Scot, and a very experienced trader. . . . He is a man of excellent principle, but vulgar manners."3 Another opinion, expressed by a fellow fur-trader was: "... those who know him, know the genuineness of his Soul which is opposed to everything mean or contemptible."4 From reading the life-stories of the fur-traders, one is perhaps at first shocked at the matrimonial relations of many of them. Especially is this so when one considers the general attitude toward such matters which prevailed not only in the Victorian British Isles, but also in the young United States of America of those days. Upon consideration of the extremely uncongenial conditions of a fur-trader's life, the remoteness from centres of civilized living, the rigours of insalubrious weather, and the scarcity of food and other domestic comforts, it is not difficult to understand that the company of young native women was the one and only redeeming feature in an otherwise more-than-austere existence. John Tod was no exception to the general practice of fur-traders. His first alliance of which there is any record was to Catherine Birstone, and whilst in the Island Lake District, not far from Norway House, their son (1) V. supra, p. 3. (2) Governor Simpson's Character Book, 1832, H.B.C. Archives, A. 34/2, fols. 49&-50. (3) Alexander Simpson, The Life and Travels of Thomas Simpson, London, 1845, p. 83. (4) R. S. Miles to Edward Ermatinger, August 3, 1839, Transcript, Archives of B.C. 232 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. James was born about the year 1818.5 James was sent to school at the Red River settlement to the Rev. David T. Jones. Whether Tod and Catherine Birstone were formally married is doubtful; nevertheless, they presumably parted, for by the year 1826, after having been in the New Caledonia District for three years, he wrote to his friend, Edward Ermatinger: " I wish you would send that poor boy of mine at R[ed] R[iver] a few things. . . . His mother, I expect, from what Mr Brown wrote me, is under the protection of an other."6 Three years later another reference is made to James, as follows: "I am really obliged to you for speaking to Finlayson about the Boy—I wish to God I had him with me, tho' not his mother."7 Tod had not been long in New Caledonia when he made another attachment, as revealed to Ermatinger: ". . . my fellow labourer in the vineyard is possessed of an excellent ear for music & never fails to accompany me on the Flute with her voice when I take up the instrument."8 Again, in 1829, another reference is made to this same girl: " You ask me what is become of the girl who used to sing at McLeod's Lake . . . why . . . she still continues the only companion of my solitude, without her, or some other substitute life in such a wretched place as this, would be altogether insupportable."9 How many children were born of this union is unknown, but there was at least one daughter as related to the faithful Ermatinger:— Mrs McGillivray, her infant son, with my girl & an other Indian child were, from want of due consideration, sent off to angle in a rapid & dangerous River close to the Fort [McLeod?]—their canoe was, by some mischance, overturned and the helpless victims precipitated into the raging Stream where direful to relate all except mine, sunk to rise no more—the latter saved herself by swimming, to The above graphic, but dramatic, description, gives a pen-picture of the dangerous conditions of life in the wilds of British Columbia 100 years ago. A few quotations in reference to Tod's disappointments with regard to the Company may not be out of place at this point. Governor Simpson had stopped overnight with Tod on his journey to the Pacific in 1828. Relating this to Ermatinger, Tod said:— . . . when the Gov[erno]r was here, I had a little chit chat with him on the subject of my being left in the lurch, at the late appointments—all that passed between us on the affair, afforded me but little satisfaction—he exhorted me several times not to dispair [sic] " Yes " said I " but you give me no hopes."11 Tod was bitterly disappointed. In the same letter he anticipates going to the Columbia, which plan, however, came to nought: My going [to the] Columbia is a favour granted me unasked. But I was getting about as unruly & restless as a ghost in an uninhabited castle."12 (5) Baptism record of James, son of John Todd [sic] and Catherine Birstone, H.B.C. Archives, E. 4/la/1820-41, p. 2. The Victoria Colonist, February 28, 1904, in recording the death of James, states that he was then 86 years of age. (6) Tod to Ermatinger, February 27, 1826, Transcript, Archives of B.C. (7) Tod to Ermatinger, February 14, 1829, ibid. (8) Tod to Ermatinger, February 27, 1826, ibid. (9) Tod to Ermatinger, February 14, 1829, ibid. (10) Tod to Ermatinger, February 18, 1830, ibid. (11) Tod to Ermatinger, February 14, 1829, ibid. (12) Ibid. 1954 John Tod 233 Writing bis annual letter to friend Ermatinger, Tod makes further poignant references to his unhappy lot:— It is from not Knowing how to better my condition that, in a manner, compels me to remain in their service—I was once a great builder of castles in the air, but, for the most part, I have now given it up as an unprofitable speculation Again in the same letter:— Neither a successful return of Beaver skins, merit, nor length of service, will give one a chance for promotion in this hateful employ. That feathering thing called favour will always make those, who have nothing but honest worth to recommend them, Kick the beam. Do you know that I conceive myself very ill used, and I think I have just cause to complain.^ All his efforts were in vain and he was doomed to stay longer in the " Land of sin & misery" until a breakdown removed him. Whilst still at Fort McLeod he wrote with resignation: "... misfortunes, we are told, form the anvil on which a man's patience is to be tried, and I find that they have made me a little more a stoic than I was."14 Even Governor Simpson admitted that Tod had " experienced much privation in New Caledonia which has injured his constitution & destroyed his health."15 Leave was granted in 1832 for a year, and Tod left New Caledonia to return to the York Factory District, and in 1833-34 whilst in charge of Nelson River he established Fort Seaborn. Presumably the "singing girl" was left behind in New Caledonia, with her child or children. More leave and the prospect of going home came at long last for Tod, and he sailed from Hudson Bay in the Company's annual ship Prince Rupert with Robert Miles, landing at Portsmouth on October 10, 1834. On board ship he made the acquaintance of Eliza Waugh,16 a Welshwoman, then about 27 years of age. Eliza had been in the Red River District since 1829, having accompanied Rev. and Mrs. David Jones thither on the former's return from leave.17 Her father had at one time been the Governor of Carmarthen Gaol.18 Tod himself says that they were married shortly afterwards in London, but the exact date has not yet been established. By the following February, however, they were on their way to New York by the packet ship of the 24th, after an absence of six months from the " Indian Country."19 After visiting in Montreal and at Norway House, John and Eliza apparently settled at Fort Alexander in the York Factory District, where their daughter Emmeline Jane was born on December 3, 1835.20 (13) Tod to Ermatinger, February 18, 1830, ibid. (14) Tod to Ermatinger, April 10, 1831, ibid. (15) Governor Simpson's Character Book, 1832, H.B.C. Archives, A. 34/2, fols. 49d-50. (16) H.B.C. Archives, C. 1/925. (17) Ibid., A. 10/60, December 20, 1834, and C. 1/915 makes reference to Eliza as " Elizabeth," and she is classified as a " servant," which probably meant that she was a governess. (18) N. de B. Lugrin, The Pioneer Women of Vancouver Island, Victoria, 1928, p. 34. (19) H.B.C. Archives, A. 6/23, fo. 109. (20) At the time of the death of Emmeline the entry in the British Columbia Department of Vital Statistics gives the birth date as December 3, 1837, but there is an obvious mistake in the year. 234 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. Prior to this event the gossiping illiterate, William Sinclair, in writing to Edward Ermatinger, referred to Eliza as "half Cracked Brainid Chamber Maid," and that " they already show symptoms of discord between them."21 By April, 1836, there are references to Eliza's mental state,22 but by the summer she seemed to have improved slightly, so that Tod, after contemplating taking her home, decided that they would spend the winter at Island Lake House, which they did.23 The following summer, however, it was more than obvious that Eliza could not stay in the country and, consequently, Tod was again granted leave of absence, and they embarked with the infant Emmeline, in the brig Eagle from Hudson Bay bound for London, where they landed on October 13.24 Eliza was placed in charge of her mother, Letitia Waugh, at Carmarthen, Wales, who wrote to the Governor and Committee of the Company on February 24, 1838, in part, as follows:— . . . my unhappy Daughter . . . accompanied the Revd. Mr. & Mrs. Jones ... to the Red River Settlement . . . not only in a perfectly sound state of mind, but possessed of very considerable talents . . . [she] has lately returned to me, to my indescribable misery, a confirmed Lunatic.25 Tod, presumably, brought the little Emmeline back again on his return, for in the spring of 1838, when writing to Ermatinger, he said: " Should you visit Montreal in course of the Summ[e]r, I shall take it kindly could you find time to call at Mr. Sam[ue]l Greenshields and see my little Emma."26 During the autumn of 1838 Tod travelled with the brigade to the Columbia River, thereafter to remain on the west side of the Rocky Mountains. From 1839 until 1841 he served at Fort Alexandria on the Fraser River. In his correspondence with Ermatinger during the ensuing years until 1844 there are affectionate references to Emma from time to time. It would appear, however, that she was eventually sent to school in England, staying there until her twenty-first year, when she took the long voyage to Vancouver Island, around Cape Horn, in the ship Princess Royal11 in company with Miss Susan Pemberton, to rejoin her father in 1856. Just when Tod made his fourth marital alliance, which was to Sophia Lolo, is not known, but it was probably between 1843 and 1844. Writing from Thompson's River (Fort Kamloops) to James Hargrave on March 15, 1843, he refers to himself, thus: "... my berth is . . . intolerably dreary & lonesome I hae eye enough a do to keep the bogles ... out o' my head. . . . Altho' solitary & alone I have not yet quite forgot my mother's tongue. . . . "28 In the same letter he refers to Eliza as being in (21) Sinclair to Ermatinger, August 1, 1835, Transcript, Archives of B.C. (22) Archibald Macdonald to Ermatinger, April 1, 1836, ibid., and Thomas Simpson to Donald Ross, April 12, 1836, MS., Archives of B.C. (23) John Charles to Governor Simpson, July 29, 1836, and Charles to John Tod, August 20, 1836, H.B.C. Archives, B. 239/b/92. See also Fleming, Minutes of Council, p. 460. (24) H.B.C. Archives, C. 1/285. (25) Ibid., A. 10/6. (26) Tod to Ermatinger, May 19, 1838, Transcript, Archives of B.C. The Greenshields were relatives of Tod's. (27) H.B.C. Archives, A. 16/63. (28) Quoted in G. P. de T. Glazebrook (ed.), The Hargrave Correspondence, 1821-1843, Toronto, 1938, pp. 422-423. 1954 John Tod 235 " Tharborton's asylum " and to Emmeline as " making good progress in her education." His thoughts were definitely of home and family at that moment. Sophia Lolo was perhaps a daughter of Jean Baptiste Lolo (or Leolo) St. Paul,29 but, to date, research in that direction has been of no avail. It is known, however, that Lolo and John Tod were well acquainted, and that the former had been engaged as interpreter in the New Caledonia and Thompson's River Districts from 1822 onwards.30 The family of Lolo would, therefore, have been known to Tod. According to information supplied at the time of the death of Sophia on February 9, 1883, at the age of 57 years, she was a native of the North West Territory.31 This information would point to her having been born about the year 1826. By 1844 she would have been about 17 or 18 years of age and therefore marriageable, although 32 years junior to Tod. Subsequent references by Tod himself would indicate that he had again set up housekeeping by that time, for, speaking later of the trouble which occurred with the Indians at Kamloops in 1847, he says "... Even my wife & Children I sent away,"32 and another reference to his " wife and 3 children " is also made in connection with another dramatic event which took place about this time.33 It was not until August 17, 1863, that Tod secured a licence through the Rev. John Hall in order to marry Sophia.34 During the summer of 1849 Tod and bis family left Kamloops and travelled to the coast. They appear to have contemplated settling at Point Roberts, where they stayed for a short time.35 But by August they had reached Fort Nisqually on Puget Sound, as recorded in the Journal of that post under an entry dated August 19: " Mr. Tod with his family arrived from F[raser] River."36 In November he was at Fort Victoria and was a witness to the formal marriage of John Work and Josette Legace, which took place on the 6th.37 At that time the decision to settle on Vancouver Island was made, according to John Work in a letter to Ermatinger: "... [Tod] selects a lot . . . intends commencing operations next season."38 However, Tod returned to Nisqually early in 1850 in order to allow Dr. Tolmie to have a brief spell of leave while he took charge of the post.39 Shortly thereafter he (29) For a full biographical account of this unique Indian see George G. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb, " Captain St. Paul of Kamloops," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, III (1939), pp. 115-127. (30) Abstracts of Servants' Accounts, H.B.C. Archives, B. 239/g/l-25; also ibid., B. 239/1/1-5 and B. 239/1/13-16. (31) Information supplied from records in the British Columbia Department of Vital Statistics. (32) John Tod, History of New Caledonia and North West Coast, p. 93, Photostat, Archives of B.C. (33) Ibid., p. SI. (34) Register of Marriage Licenses for Vancouver Island, 1864-69, Transcript, Archives of B.C. (35) Tod, History of New Caledonia and North West Coast, p. 23. (36) V. J. Farrar (ed.), "The Nisqually Journal," Washington Historical Quarterly, X (1919), p. 226. (37) Fort Victoria, Register of Marriages, Photostat, Archives of B.C. (38) John Work to Ermatinger, December 10, 1849, Transcript, ibid. (39) Tod was in charge at Nisqually from January 15 until February 26, 1850, see Farrar, op. cit., XI (1920), p. 145. 236 Madge Wolfenden July-Oct. came back to Vancouver Island, began building a house and ploughing up his first 100 acres of land on the shores of Oak Bay, where he lived during his retirement and until his death on August 31, 1882.40 In an effort to sort out the various children of John Tod, numerous difficulties have been encountered, but of the nine who have been traced, interest centres round four of them—James, Emmeline, Mary and Elizabeth. James apparently remained at the Red River settlement until his father's return from England in the autumn of 1837, for Tod, having made a will at that time in favour of Emmeline, made reference to James, who was to " be immediately withdrawn from thence [Red River settlement] & placed with his mother."41 Early in 1840 James was at Fort Vancouver and is referred to by his father in these terms: "... a great stout fellow & a regular ploughman."42 The following year he was on his way back to St. Thomas, Ont., as reported by Archibald Macdonald, who states that he " bears a very excellent Character for Sedateness & Correctness of conduct."43 A further interesting clue to the character of James is to be found in one of the many letters which passed between Tod and Ermatinger, as for instance:— . . . James, in as far as regards the powers of intellect hereditary transmission appears to have had its full force. You will not find him a bright character, he has however been represented to me as having little of the general character of his country man, but [is] a well disposed hard working lad. . . M By the autumn of 1850 James was again west of the Rocky Mountains, as recorded in the Nisqually Journal under date of November 6: "Mr. J. Todd [sic] here to day, he is on his way to Victoria, there to join his father Mr. Todd [sic] now a resident at Vancouver's Is[land]."45 He was married on October 15, 1857, at Victoria by the Rev. Edward Cridge, to Flora, one of the daughters of Donald Macaulay,46 a servant of the Hudson's Bay Company whose name has been perpetuated in Macaulay Point, where he lived. The couple settled near Cedar Hill, or Mount Douglas, on the outskirts of Victoria, where they farmed for a number of years and brought up a large family. By a curious coincidence Flora suffered fits of mental derangement. James lived to the ripe old age of 86 years, passing away on February 27, 1904.4? James's mother, Catherine Birstone, turned up in Victoria, as reported by Dr. J. S. Helmcken: " . . . at this time [September, 1863] Jim Todd [sic] mother nursed Cecilia."48 Her name also appears in the Rev. Edward Cridge's list of communicants for 1863, where her name is entered as " widow."49 One more reference is all that has been found concerning her (40) Victoria Colonist, September 1, 1882. (41) H.B.C. Archives, Wills, 1837. (42) Tod to Ermatinger, February, 1840, Transcript, Archives of B.C. (43) Macdonald to Ermatinger, March 5, 1841, ibid. (44) Tod to Ermatinger, March 10, 1842, ibid. (45) Farrar, op. cit., XII (1921), p. 145. (46) Fort Victoria, Register of Marriages, Photostat, Archives of B.C. (47) Victoria Colonist, February 28, 1904. (48) J. S. Helmcken, Reminiscences, MS., Archives of B.C., Vol. V, pp. 1-2. (49) Original MS., Archives of B.C. 1954 John Tod 237 residence in Victoria: "After service Spelde told me Mrs. Tod had given Charlie Rabey heartshorn by mistake instead of hive[?] syrup."50 Emmeline Jane, as her name is recorded by the Registrar of Deaths at Victoria, although the variations Emmaline Jean are to be found in numerous Hudson's Bay Company records, was perhaps the most outstanding of John Tod's children. Upon her arrival in Victoria in 1856 she was domiciled at the Fort rather than with her father at Oak Bay. This may be taken as an indication that the menage which prevailed at the latter place was distasteful to her. Very soon afterwards, however, she was married to William Henry Newton51 and removed to Fort Langley on the Fraser River. Emmeline and her husband became the parents of six children, most of them well known to residents of British Columbia. After Newton's death, she was married on November 22, 1878, to Edward Mohun, and continued to reside in Victoria until her death on December 28, 1928.52 Emmeline's mother, after a number of years spent at Tharborton's Asylum in Ayrshire, was eventually admitted to the " Lunatic House " of Guy's Hospital, London, on November 6, 1844, where she died on May 12, 1857.53 Mary, who, on May 24, 1864, was married to John Sylvester Bowker,54 is designated the " second " daughter of John Tod. They were married by the Rev. John Hall of the Presbyterian Church. Towards the end of her life, Mary used to winter in California, and she passed away at Del Monte somewhere about 1911.55 Her son, John S. Bowker, Jr., was a well-known resident of Oak Bay for a number of years, where he resided on part of the Tod property. There are at present many descendants living in British Columbia. Mary Tod's name is perpetuated in Mary Tod Island, a small island off the shores of Oak Bay, between it and the Chain Islands, and Bowker Creek, which flows into the bay, recalls her husband's name. Elizabeth Tod married J. S. Drummond on August 11, 1878, the ceremony being performed by Dr. John Reid of the First Presbyterian Church in Victoria. The marriage record states that Elizabeth was the daughter of John and Sophia Tod and her age is given as 20 years. Elizabeth died on November 14, 1884.56 Of the remaining children, John, Jr., appears to have been the next son after James, but of course with a different mother. At the time of his death on September 5, 1889, he is referred to as the second son and his age is given as 40 years.57 Isaac, William, and Simeon remain to be placed in the list. (50) Edward Cridge, Diary, entry for March 18, 1868, MS., Archives of B.C. (51) Fort Victoria, Register of Marriages, Photostat, Archives of B.C. The marriage took place on September 30, 1856, in the newly erected Victoria District Church. (52) Victoria Colonist, November 29, 1878, and December 29, 1928. (53) Certified copy of the entry of death, No. 99224, Somerset House, London, England. (54) Victoria Colonist, May 26, 1864. For a more recent account of this wedding see J. K. Nesbitt, " Old Homes and Families," ibid., April 20, 1952. (55) Ibid. (56) Ibid., November 15, 1884. Verified by records in the British Columbia Department of Vital Statistics. (57) Victoria Colonist, September 6, 1889. 238 Madge Wolfenden William died on April 27, 1881, and the newspaper account names him the fourth son.58 He was born on May 12, 1854, and was baptised by the Rev. T. R. Holme, chaplain of H.M.S. President, on October 12 of the same year, the record giving Sophia as his mother.59 From the fragments of information available, with the exception of James and Emmeline, the rest of the family would appear to have been the children of Sophia. They are all, except William, mentioned in a will which Tod made on July 25, 1882. Small legacies were left to the four Newton daughters. The sons John, Alexander, Isaac, and Sym [Simeon] are mentioned in the above order, and the first three were to receive $500, while $1,000 was left to Sym. Elizabeth and Mary were remembered more generously. To his wife he left his " furniture and household goods" and instructions were given that " all monies standing to the credit of my account ... be applied and expended by Mary ... in maintaining keeping and supporting my wife Mrs. Tod."60 Alexander died on September 5, 1889, at the age of 40 years.61 Sophia herself passed away at Oak Bay on February 9, 1883, less than six months after her husband.62 Of Isaac and Simeon, no details have thus far been ascertained, except that the former died in 1892. The foregoing inadequate genealogical record of one of Victoria's earliest families has been compiled with the hope that it may be of general interest in recalling a now almost forgotten man, who in the year 1851 was one of the three Legislative Councillors appointed by Governor Blanshard, besides being a representative fur-trader of a bygone era. To-day the sole material memorial of this eccentric Scot, who spent most of his life amongst Indians, is his house (now on Heron Street), the oldest remaining dwelling in what is now Greater Victoria. Madge Wolfenden. (58) Ibid., April 28, 1881. (59) Fort Victoria, Register of Baptisms, Photostat, Archives of B.C. (60) John Tod's will is on file in the Court-house, Victoria, B.C., and a transcript is in the Archives of B.C. (61) Victoria Colonist, September 6, 1889. (62) Ibid., February 10, 1883. RUMOURS OF CONFEDERATE PRIVATEERS OPERATING IN VICTORIA, VANCOUVER ISLAND The threat of privateering in the Pacific during the American Civil War presented a major problem to the United States State Department and to the Pacific Squadron of the navy. The Confederate States planned to interfere with California's commerce and to capture gold shipments along the Pacific sea lanes, for a stoppage of the flow of gold from the mines of California would weaken the credit and purchasing power of the Federal Government. Indeed, the annual shipments of $40,000,000 in gold and silver from San Francisco to the Northern States and to Europe constituted rich prizes.1 Along the entire Pacific Coast of North America, from Panama to Vancouver Island, attempts were instigated to outfit privateers. Some ventures were authorized by the Richmond Government, while others were the mere aspirations of Confederate sympathizers. Two actual plots to intercept gold shipments were frustrated by the Pacific Squadron in co-operation with Federal and local officials in San Francisco and Panama. At San Francisco in March, 1863, Ridgeley Greathouse and Asbury Harpending tried to outfit the /. M. Chapman as a Confederate privateer, and in November, 1864, at Panama, Thomas E. Hogg, a master's mate in the Confederate States Navy, endeavoured to capture the Salvador in order to convert her into a Confederate raider.2 In addition to these two known plots, numerous rumours circulated that Confederate privateers were active elsewhere. Many such rumours emanated from British Pacific waters, and this factor, coupled with the Trent affair, caused an interesting exchange of diplomatic correspondence and at times created mutual fears on both sides of the far western Canadian border. A final incident in the diplomatic tangle was the appearance of the Confederate warship Shenandoah in the Pacific. (1) Brainerd Dyer, "Confederate Naval and Privateering Activities in the Pacific," Pacific Historical Review, III (1934), p. 433. (2) Benjamin F. Gilbert, "Kentucky Privateers in California," Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, XXXVUI (1940), pp. 256-266; William M. Robinson, Jr., The Confederate Privateers, New Haven, 1928, pp. 272-289. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVHI, Nos. 3 and 4. 239 240 Benjamin F. Gilbert July-Oct. On May 11, 1861, the Duke of Newcastle, British Secretary of State, sent a confidential dispatch to James Douglas, Governor of Vancouver Island, stating that Her Majesty's Government recognized the belligerency of the Southern States, and that instructions regarding questions likely to arise out of the conflict would be issued from time to time. The letter also stated that the naval forces should be impartial and grant neither party in the conflict any preference.3 On May 16, Newcastle forwarded a copy of the Queen's Proclamation of Neutrality to the Governor requesting that it receive the utmost publicity.4 Two weeks later, instructions were circularized to prohibit both warring powers from carrying prizes into British territory.5 On January 16, 1862, Newcastle informed the Governor that no belligerent ship was to be permitted to leave the same British port or harbour within twenty-four hours of the departure of any enemy ship, whether it be armed or unarmed. The Governor was also ordered to notify the commander of any armed vessel of this neutrality rule.6 The crisis resulting from the capture of the Trent created a war scare between the United States and Great Britain. On November 8, 1861, Commodore Charles Wilkes boarded the Trent upon the high seas near Havana and removed the Confederate Commissioners James M. Mason and John Slidell. The act was a definite violation of international law, but was approved by the American people and the United States House of Representatives. Later the incident was successfully settled, but meanwhile the British prepared for possible hostilities.7 At Vancouver Island the British naval forces, as reported in December, 1861, consisted of four vessels—the steam frigate Topaze, surveying ship Hecate, and gun-boats Forward and Grappler. All ships were seaworthy except the Forward, whose boilers needed repairs. In addition, there was a detachment of Royal Engineers stationed in British Columbia, and Royal Marines occupied the disputed San Juan Island. These two detachments together formed approximately 200 officers and men. Governor James Douglas related that the United States had no naval vessels in the vicinity except for one or two small revenue cutters. He (3) Douglas to Newcastle, August 21,1861, MS., Archives of B.C. (4) Newcastle to Douglas, May 16,1861, Circular Dispatch, Archives of B.C. (5) Newcastle to Douglas, June 1,1861, Circular Dispatch, Archives of B.C. (6) Newcastle to Douglas, January 16, 1862, Circular Dispatch, Archives of (7) T. L. Harris, The Trent Affair, New York, 1896, passim; J. T. Scharf, History of the Confederate States Navy, New York, 1887, p. 662. 1954 Confederate Privateers and Vancouver Island 241 possessed intelligence that the United States only had one artillery company in Oregon and Washington Territory, since the regular troops had been withdrawn.8. Governor Douglas wrote to the Duke of Newcastle stating that it would be impossible to defend the British possessions with the small forces available. Hence he suggested that the best defence in the event of war would be an offensive action against Puget Sound by the naval vessels and such local auxiliaries as could be mustered. He believed that his plan would prevent the sending of any expedition against British possessions and would cripple United States trade and resources before any effective counter measures could be undertaken.9 Douglas pointed out the undefended coast and stated that the British fleet was capable of occupying Puget Sound without opposition. He further asserted that with reinforcements of two regiments of Her Majesty's troops that there would be " no reason why we should not push overland from Puget Sound and establish advanced posts on the Columbia River, maintaining it as a permanent frontier."10 The Governor also suggested the dispatch of naval units up the Columbia River to secure the occupation. He assured his home office in London that the scattered settlers would welcome any government able to protect them from the Indians. Douglas firmly believed in the practicability of the operation, conjecturing:— With Puget Sound, and the line of the Columbia River in our hands, we should hold the only navigable outlets of the country—command its trade, and soon compel it to submit to Her Majesty's Rule.11 The Victoria Chronicle, issue of February 4, 1863, published an article entitled "A Bold Plot," in which appeared an account of the arrival of a commodore of the Confederate States Navy to Victoria the previous month. According to the story the commodore held a commission signed by Jefferson Davis authorizing him to purchase an English vessel to be outfitted as a privateer. The vessel was to be armed and a crew recruited. Then the privateer would secretively sail from Victoria for the purpose of capturing a Panama-bound California steamer laden with a million dollars in treasure. The would-be privateers were to abandon their own ship and man the captured vessel, and either put the (8) Douglas to Newcastle, December 28, 1861, MS., Archives of B.C. (9) Ibid. (10) Ibid. (11) Ibid. 242 Benjamin F. Gilbert July-Oct. passengers aboard the privateer or ashore somewhere along the Mexican coast. Once their objective was accomplished, the privateers would abandon or scuttle the steamer and go ashore in Victoria or another British port with their newly acquired riches. However, the newspaper stated that the plan failed for lack of funds, and concluded with the following warning, which is interesting in light of the actual Chapman attempt at privateering occurring five weeks later in San Francisco:— Had not the funds fallen short, the " bold privateer" might to-day have been afloat, and a treasure-freighted California steamer in a fair way of being sent to Davy Jones' locker. As it is, no one has been hurt, and our San Francisco friends, remembering that " fore-warned is fore-armed," will, if they are wise, immediately guard against even the probabilities of the plot being carried to a successful consummation at some future time.12 On the same day a supposedly irate reader addressed a letter to the editor of the Chronicle which was printed the following day. The writer headed his letter " The ' Bolt Plot,'" and signed it "A Confederate." He admitted the recent appearance of a Confederate commodore with a commission, but protested the unjust charge that the passengers would have been treated as enemies. The author of the letter further claimed that Lincoln and his Cabinet had acknowledged the right of privateering by the Confederate States. He alluded to the respect previously accorded to private property and individual rights by Confederate privateers, and completed his retort:— I think, Mr. Editor, I may safely say that you now have no fears or apprehensions of a treasure freighted California steamer being sent to Davy Jones' locker. So we think you need not forewarn or even advise your California "friends" to kick until the rowl touches, for Greenbacks are somewhat under par now, and you might cause a depreciation. If you do honestly sympathize with them don't give Uncle Abraham any unnecessary uneasiness, as I understand he has made another start for Richmond, and I am fearful he has taken the wrong road, and, as Bonaparte said, in crossing the Alps, the road is barely passable, for Uncle Abe has two Hills to cross, one Longstreet to traverse, one Stonewall to surmount, and then will have to enter the city on the Lee side, where, I am told, the wind is very unfavorable for Uncle Abe's crafts. Most respectfully, A CONFEDERATE." A third party now entered the controversy, the rival newspaper, Victoria Colonist. Under the caption " Confederate Privateer," it accused their " local contemporary " of publishing numerous " sensation (12) Victoria Chronicle, February A (13) Ibid., February 5,1863. 1863. 1954 Confederate Privateers and Vancouver Island items," the latest of which was the story of a Confederate commodore attempting to purchase the steamer Thames. The Colonist labeled the story as " perfect bosh," and related that the only basis for the rumour had been the arrival from San Francisco of a certain Captain Manly who negotiated unsuccessfully the purchase of the English steamer for a firm engaged in the Mexican trade. The newspaper stated that the people have been deceived and the United States authorities led to believe a privateer would sail from Victoria. The. journal printed a letter from the firm S. & S. M. Holderness, dated January 7, 1863, San Francisco, which was addressed to Henry Nathan & Co. in Victoria. The letter revealed the intention of this San Francisco shipping firm to purchase the Thames and said that Captain Manly was being sent as their representative. The Colonist indicated that Messrs. Holderness wanted the Thames sent to San Francisco before purchasing it in Victoria, but the offer was not high enough. The newspaper also stated in reference to San Francisco, "A pretty place indeed in which to fit out a Confederate privateer! "14 In reply the Chronicle of the next day stated that they had not named Captain Manly as the commodore nor the Thames as the intended privateer. The newspaper asserted that they were ready to prove an attempt had been made to outfit a privateer and that a commodore had spent three weeks in Victoria. It also corrected an earlier statement that the plan failed for lack of funds, the real reason being disagreement among the ringleaders of the plot. The Chronicle challenged the correspondent " Confederate " or the Colonist's editor to refute the truthfulness of the two articles published on the subject.15 The Colonist, on February 7, replied, repeating that her competitor published falsehoods. It charged that the Chronicle caused local Americans to distrust both Southerners and Englishmen, creating a situation in which espionage abounded in Victoria. In this regard the journal stated: "All that would be required would be an Alcatraz Island or a Fort La Fayette, with the power to arrest, to make Victoria like New York or San Francisco."16 The Chronicle, in its issue of the same day, denied being a sensation sheet and printed another letter from its " Confederate " correspondent, identified as John T. Jeffreys, whom it described as a respectable Orego- (14) Victoria Colonist, February 5,1863. (15) Victoria Chronicle, February 6, 1863. (16) Victoria Colonist, February 7, 1863. 244 Benjamin F. Gilbert July-Oct. nian holding large interests in Cariboo. Jeffreys, in this second letter, wrote that he admitted as true everything stated by the Chronicle, except that the plan was of a piratical nature. However, he charged the editor with betraying a confidence when he exposed the plot. Beneath the letter the Chronicle announced that they had a signed letter from their informant authorizing them to publish whatever they thought proper. It further stated that Jeffreys could see the letter if he cared to call at the editor's office.17 In the same issue of the Chronicle there appeared an article revealing a plot to seize the United States revenue cutter Shubrick. It stated that her commander, Lieutenant James M. Selden, was aware of the scheme to seize the cutter while en route through the sound to Port Townsend. The cutter was then to sail to Victoria, where Confederate privateers would board her. The article concluded that the vessel had not, up to late the previous night, arrived in Victoria, and it assumed that the plot failed because of the loyalty of Lieutenant Selden.18 This issue also disclosed that the Thames was steaming for Barclay Sound and " has not gone a-privateering, but still remains the property of Anderson & Co., of this city."19 On February 9 the Colonist ridiculed the Chronicle for publishing Jeffreys's letter. It referred to Jeffreys as a "veritable Baron Munchausen " and the Chronicle as 1 believers in nursery tales." The journal also asserted that it possessed reliable information that no plot ever existed.20 The next day the Chronicle related that they had been informed that Jeffreys, on the previous Sunday, February 8, told the editor of the Colonist, before witnesses, the truthfulness of his letter. It also asserted that Jeffreys was shown the evidence possessed by the Chronicle and was called upon to confirm or deny it.21- On February 11 Jeffreys wrote a letter from the St. Nicholas Hotel to the editor of the Chronicle asking why he was requested to repeat what he had already stated. He asked whether or not the editor wished to hold his name to ridicule and, if such should be the case, suggested a duel. Once again Jeffreys reiterated his earlier statements concerning the plot. He concluded with the hope (17) Victoria Chronicle, February 7,1863. (18) Ibid. (19) Ibid. (20) Victoria Colonist, February 9, 1863. (21) Victoria Chronicle, February 10, 1863. 1954 Confederate Privateers and Vancouver Island 245 that he would not be consulted again and that friendlier feelings would develop between the two rival newspapers.22 The lengthy controversy of words in the columns of the two Victoria newspapers ended after ten days' duration. The Colonist merely stated that there had never been a commodore in Victoria, and again referred to its rival as " a sensation sheet" and its correspondent as " a Confederate Baron Munchausen."23 The Chronicle assumed that this was an admission by the other newspaper that a plot at least existed.24 In 1904 David Williams Higgins, at the age of 70, who had been editor of the Chronicle in 1863, wrote a book relating his reminiscences. In a chapter entitled " Sweet Marie," he told the story of the supposed plot, which seems confusing in light of the newspaper controversy just presented. A summary of Higgins's account appears pertinent. He stated that soon after the outbreak of the Civil War many Southern sympathizers took up residence in Victoria. One group migrated to Cariboo and engaged in gold-mining and trading. Among these were two groups of brothers—Jerome and Thaddeus Harper from Virginia and John and Oliver Jeffreys from Alabama. They drove cattle from California and Oregon to British Columbia, making good profits.25 In Victoria the St. Nicholas Hotel, located on Government Street, became a meeting-place for Southern sympathizers. Higgins was a resident of the hotel. The Jeffreys brothers occupied Rooms 23 and 24, where they entertained Southern friends. Included among their friends were Mr. and Mrs. Pusey, Miss Jackson, and Richard Loveil. Higgins described Loveil as a handsome young man who claimed to be a Southerner. He was a good dresser and always perfumed his clothes. One evening the Jeffreys brothers and the Puseys gave a party to which Higgins, Loveil, and Miss Jackson were invited. The ladies played music and all sang " Way Down South in Dixie " and " My Maryland." The men and ladies both drank brandy and Hudson's Bay rum.26 On another occasion a party was held celebrating a Confederate victory. When the celebration was over, John Jeffreys followed Higgins into his room, locked the door, and searched about to see that they were (22) Ibid., February 12, 1863. (23) Victoria Colonist, February 13, 1863. (24) Victoria Chronicle, February 14,1863. (25) David William Higgins, The Mystic Spring and Other Tales of Western Life, Toronto, 1904, p. 107. (26) Ibid., pp. 108-110. 246 Benjamin F. Gilbert July-Oct. alone.27 Then Jeffreys asked for Higgins's assistance in a secret plan and told him that if he declined he would have to take an oath not to reveal the scheme. Higgins at first refused, but finally gave his pledge with a definite reluctance. Jeffreys then said:— We intend to fit out a privateer at Victoria to prey on American shipping. A treasure ship leaves San Francisco twice a month with from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 in gold dust for the East. With a good boat we can intercept and rob and burn two of those steamers on the lonely Mexican coast and return to Victoria with five million dollars before the Washington Government will have heard of the incident.28 Higgins argued that such a scheme would constitute an act of piracy, and Jeffreys continued to say that he had letters of marque signed by Jefferson Davis and sealed by Judah P. Benjamin, the Confederate Secretary of State. He also told Higgins that a crew was ready, and that only a suitable ship was needed. Jeffreys asked Higgins to print an article in his newspaper which would mislead the United States Consul, Allen Francis [brother named Simeon Francis], and place the Consul's detectives on the wrong trail. Higgins asked for time to decide, and Jeffreys left agreeing to return in a few days. After Jeffreys departed, Higgins smelled the awful perfume of Dick Loveil in the passage of the hotel.29 Higgins continued his story, telling how he regretted the fact that he allowed himself to hear the secret plan. He later refused to participate in the plot. He even related that Jeffreys challenged him to a duel and told how the fear of being killed haunted him. Eventually the plot was uncovered by detectives from the United States Consulate, who were none other than Richard Loveil and Miss Jackson, two guests at the gay parties held by John Jeffreys. As to the title of the chapter, " Sweet Marie," the author said that it was the name of the perfume used by Dick Loveil, the Union spy, who had listened to the conversation held between Jeffreys and himself.30 According to Higgins the U.S.S. Shubrick was the vessel which the Confederates attempted to capture. It will be recalled that this plot was mentioned in his newspaper, the Victoria Chronicle of February 7, 1863. In his reminiscences Higgins stated that the Shubrick was engaged in customs and guard duty on Puget Sound. She sailed into Victoria, docking along the Hudson Bay Company's wharf. Victor Smith, Collector (27) Ibid., p. 111. (28) Ibid., p. 112. (29) Ibid., pp. 113-114. (30) Ibid., pp. 116-126. 1954 Confederate Privateers and Vancouver Island 247 of Customs for Puget Sound, discharged the officers and crew except Captain Selden and the chief engineer named Winship. Those discharged were suspected of being disloyal and of being involved in the plot. A new crew was hired, and the conspirators thus failed in their scheme.31 The fact that Higgins in his reminiscences did not mention the editorial controversy between his newspaper and the Colonist nor Jeffreys's two letters would lead one to doubt the existence of a plot. However, when Jeffreys returned to United States territory in Oregon, he was arrested. On January 1, 1864, Brigadier-General Benjamin Alvord, commanding the District of Oregon, addressed a letter to Allen Francis, United States Consul at Victoria, referring to his appreciation of the Consul's vigilance. Alvord requested that Francis try to obtain from Higgins " the original card " signed by John T. Jeffreys during the previous February which had been published in the Chronicle. The General wanted the original manuscript signed by Jeffreys, and requested that it be sent to Edward W. McGraw, United States District Attorney at Portland, for it was needed as testimony against Jeffreys. Alvord also asked for the names of witnesses who could avow that Jeffreys participated in schemes against United States commerce, and inquired whether Higgins would come to Portland in order to testify.32 The first alarm over rumours of privateering in Victoria signified by a United States authority occurred on February 25,1863, when General Alvord dispatched a letter to the War Department in Washington, D.C, in which he called attention to the defencelessness of the Oregon and Washington coast. He stressed the need for heavy ordnance at the mouth of the Columbia River, and urged that the Secretary of Navy send an iron-clad to the Columbia River. He stated that he had written to the Navy Department the previous September, but had received no answer. Alvord pointed to the danger across the border in British territory of designs upon United States commerce. He enclosed in his letter a collection of newspaper items commenting on the Victoria Chronicle account of the plot to capture the ShubrickP The American State Department became gravely concerned about this rumour from Victoria, and the matter resulted in lengthy correspon- (31) Ibid., p. 123. (32) Alvord to Francis, January 1, 1864, in Robert N. Scott (comp.), The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Washington, 1890-1901, Ser. I, Vol. L, pt. ii, pp. 714-715. (33) Alvord to Thomas, February 25,1863, ibid., pp. 322-323. 248 Benjamin F. Gilbert July-Oct. dence between Seward's office and the British Legation. On March 31, 1863, Secretary Seward wrote to Lord Lyons:— I regret to inform you that reliable information has reached this department that an attempt was made in January last, at Victoria, Vancouver's island, to fit out the English steamer Thames as a privateer, under the flag of the insurgents, to cruise against the merchant shipping of the United States in the Pacific. Fortunately, however, the scheme was temporarily, at least, frustrated by its premature exposure. In view, however, of the ravages upon the commerce of the United States in that quarter which might result from similar attempts which will in all probability be repeated, the expediency of asking the attention of her Majesty's colonial authorities to the subject, in order that such violations of the act of Parliament and of her majesty's proclamation may not be committed, is submitted to your consideration.34 Two days later Lord Lyons replied that he would immediately send a copy of Seward's note to the Governor of Vancouver Island, which he did on the same day.35 On April 15 Seward forwarded a second note to Lyons enclosing the following telegram he had just received from Ira E. Rankin, Collector of Customs at San Francisco:— Collector at Puget Sound reports plans for fitting out Privateers at Victoria, Secessionists very active and our Officers much alarmed, Colonial Authorities inform Consul that they cannot interfere with the fitting out of Privateers. Can anything be done to secure instructions from Home Government. I am trying to get Commanding Naval Officer to send steamer to the Sound.36 Lyons wired at once to William Lane Booker, British Consul of San Francisco, instructing him to write to the Governor of Vancouver Island in order to obtain assurance that all attempts at privateering would be stopped.37 In the meantime the commandant's office at Mare Island Navy Yard became apprehensive. Captain Thomas O. Selfridge ordered Lieutenant-Commander William E. Hopkins, commanding the U.S.S. Saginaw, to set sail for Port Angeles and Port Townsend, Washington Territory, and for Victoria. If the rumours were confirmed, Hopkins was told to prevent the escape of any privateer, but was cautioned to heed (34) Seward to Lyons, March 31, 1863, enclosure in Booker to Douglas, April 17, 1863, MS., Archives of B.C. This was also printed in House Executive Document, No. 1, 38th Cong., 1st Sess., Pt. I, p. 535. (35) Lyons to Seward, April 2, 1863, enclosure in Booker to Douglas, April 17,1863, MS., Archives of B.C. (36) Rankin to Seward, April 14, 1863, enclosure in Booker to Douglas, April 17, 1863, MS., Archives of B.C. (37) Lyons to Booker, April 16, 1863, enclosure in Booker to Douglas, April 17,1863, MS., Archives of B.C. 1954 Confederate Privateers and Vancouver Island 249 the neutrality laws of Great Britain. After a certain lapse of time, the Saginaw was to coal at Bellingham Bay, and return to San Francisco.38 Captain Self ridge telegraphed Gideon Welles, Secretary of Navy:— I have sent the Saginaw to Puget Sound on important service. The Cyane is here [Mare Island], and the Saranac at San Francisco, for repairs.39 Lord Lyons wrote again to Governor James Douglas at Victoria on April 16, stating:— The alarm and exasperation created by the proceedings of the Confederate Privateers, or ships of War, which have escaped from England, are so great that I am extremely desirous of being enabled to allay, as soon as possible, the anxiety which is felt, lest successful attempts should be made to equip similar Vessels in other parts of the Queen's Dominions.4*) On May 14, 1863, Douglas replied to Lyons's communication, requesting that the President of the United States be informed that " every vigilance " would be used. Douglas stated that there was a report of a privateer being outfitted, but its truth was questionable. He also indicated that the vessel involved, the Thames, was not suited for that purpose.41 On June 3, 1863, Captain Thomas O. Selfridge reported to Secretary Welles on the reconnaissance tour of the Saginaw. The vessel had visited the principal ports of Washington Territory and Esquimalt. Commander Hopkins disclosed that the secessionists in the British possessions had gone undercover since the capture of the Confederate privateer Chapman at San Francisco. He further explained that there were no vessels plying the sound which were suitable for conversion into a cruiser or privateer. Hopkins reported one rumour to the effect that a small steamer, long overdue in port, had been purchased by Confederates, but indicated that it was not suited for privateering. At Esquimalt, Hopkins was unofficially informed that the Saginaw would be ordered to leave the port within twenty-four hours in accordance with Her Majesty's neutrality laws.42 (38) Selfridge to Hopkins, April 23, 1863, in Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Washington, D.C, 1894- 1922, Ser. I, Vol. H, pp. 165-166. (39) Selfridge to Welles, April 28,1863, ibid., p. 173. (40) Lyons to Douglas, April 16,1863, MS., Archives of B.C. (41) Douglas to Lyons, May 14, 1863, MS., Archives of B.C. (42) Selfridge to Welles, June 3, 1863, in Official Records . . . Navies, Ser. I, Vol. II, pp. 259-260. 250 Benjamin F. Gilbert July-Oct. In his report, Captain Selfridge also included a letter from Allen Francis, United States Consul at Victoria, revealing the pleasure of United States citizens there caused by the appearance of the Saginaw. Francis mentioned that an English steamer, Fusi Yama, was due at Victoria, and was rumoured to have been purchased as a privateer. It was reported that the 700-ton vessel, a fast sailer, had munitions stowed aboard. Francis stated that the Chapman plot at San Francisco had created a sensation in Victoria, but he indicated that the activities of privateers had lessened.43 Not all rumours on the Pacific Coast disseminated from Victoria. There were even rumours in England that the United States was making military preparations in California designed to occupy British possessions north of Washington Territory. On May 19, 1863, a dispatch was sent from Downing Street to Governor James Douglas reporting that it had been assured by Secretary of State Seward that the rumours had no foundation.44 On October 16,1863, Judah P. Benjamin, the Confederate Secretary of State, received a letter regarding the aspirations of a would-be privateer in British Columbia. A certain Jules David, president of the Southern Association of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, had been corresponding with James M. Mason, the Confederate Commissioner at London. He informed Mason about the organization of his Confederate society in Victoria and requested the grant of a letter of marque. Mason, who did not have the authority to issue letters of marque, referred David to the Confederate Government at Richmond. Heeding this advice, David wrote to Benjamin, asking permission " to harass and injure our enemies," and requesting that he immediately be sent a letter of marque, for the Southern Association had procured a strong and fast vessel of 400 tons and the funds to arm it. He also stated that in case the Confederate Government denied his request and preferred to send its own vessel to the Pacific Coast, the Southern Association would co-operate in assisting her. David believed that a privateer could easily prey upon United States commerce in the Pacific, as indicated by an extract from his letter:— The Federal Government have not force on this coast, and our privateers could do any amount of mischief without fear of capture. (43) Francis to Selfridge, May 13,1863, ibid., p. 260. (44) Lyons to Russell, April 27, 1863, enclosure in Newcastle to Douglas, May 19, 1863, MS., Archives of B.C. 1954 Confederate Privateers and Vancouver Island 251 It is our most anxious wish to do something for our country, and we can not serve her better than in destroying the commerce and property of our enemies. If you will for a moment reflect upon the extensive commerce of the Federal States with South America, California, the islands, China, and Japan, you can well imagine what a rich field we have before us.4' Four days after Jules David penned his letter, the United States Consul at Victoria, Allen Francis, wrote to his brother, Major Simeon Francis, stationed at Fort Vancouver, stating:— We had a strange arrival here the other day. It was a vessel made entirely of steel. The masts were also steel. She was schooner rigged, of about 300 tons, and is said to be very fast. Since here arrival rumors have been rife that the rebels have been trying to buy her for a privateer, and it is further said that if they gave the price asked they can have her.4^ Francis also revealed that three weeks previously an English ship, the Jasper, arrived from Liverpool with 1,000 barrels of powder and shell, and it had been assumed by some individuals that a connection existed between the two events. He stated that it was a blunder not to have warships in the North Pacific, and that the only available ship was the brigantine Joe Lane, which had neither adequate speed nor armament. Francis further related that miners of secessionists sympathy were coming to Victoria from the Interior in desperate circumstances, and that the " rebels " were holding regular private meetings.47 Major Francis was absent from his station, and the Consul's letter remained unopened for a month. On November 20 Brigadier-General Benjamin Alvord at Fort Vancouver sent a copy of the letter to army headquarters in San Francisco. Then he telegraphed General George Wright at Sacramento, requesting that steps be taken to send the U.S.S. Saginaw or another naval ship to Puget Sound. Alvord also recommended that the army send a copy of the letter to Admiral Charles H. Bell, aboard his flag-ship, U.S.S. Lancaster, or to the Commandant, Mare Island Navy Yard. Evidently Alvord was fearful that among the numerous miners returning to California for the winter there might be some conspirators boarding the steamers, which were heavily laden with gold shipments. However, Admiral Bell replied that he was unable to spare a vessel at the present time.48 On November 23 Consul Francis assured (45) Jules David to Benjamin, October 16, 1863, Official Records . . . Navies, Ser. JJ, Vol. HI, pp. 933-934. (46) Francis to Major S. Francis, October 20, 1863, in R. N. Scott, op. cit., Ser. I, Vol. L, pt. ii, p. 678. (47) Ibid. (48) Alvord to Francis, November 20,1863, ibid., pp. 679-680. 252 Benjamin F. Gilbert July-Oct. General Alvord that he was exerting all efforts to quell any plot. He stated that the Confederate colony had increased because of the influx of miners from British Columbia, but he reported no alarming movements. Nonetheless, Francis noted the ease with which a vessel could be outfitted, since Vancouver Island had so many harbours. He again expressed his belief that the Government was negligent in not keeping a warship in the vicinity.49 Consul Francis continually received intelligence of Confederate plans to outfit privateers, and he had requested a warship on numerous occasions. Again in December, 1863, he begged for the Saginaw. Upon arriving at Acapulco, Admiral Charles H. Bell received a communication from Commodore Charles H. Poor at San Francisco, relating that Francis possessed information concerning the outfitting of a privateer. As soon as the U.S.S. Narragansett completed repairs, Commodore Poor dispatched her to Victoria with instructions to the commanding officer, Selim E. Woodworth, to stop or capture the privateer. A number of sailors and marines from the U.S.S. Saranac and from Mare Island Navy Yard were transferred to the Narragansett in order to increase her complement to a full quota for the mission. The warship stood out of San Francisco on December 11, 1863, and Admiral Bell urged the Secretary of Navy either to cancel previous orders to send the Narragansett to Boston or to furnish him with another ship.50 The following February 20 General Richard C. Drum, located at army headquarters in San Francisco, addressed a letter to Governor Frederick F. Low of California regarding the use of the Narragansett. The letter stated that a number of prominent citizens had requested General George Wright to unite with Governor Low in sending a telegram to authorities in Washington, D.C, in order to advocate the retention of the vessel on the Pacific Coast.51 Three weeks later the warship was undergoing repairs at San Francisco.52 Eventually the vessel reached Vancouver Island, for, on April 22, 1864, Austin H. Layard, British Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, wrote to the Admiralty (49) Francis to Alvord, November 23, 1863, ibid., p. SSI. (50) Bell to Welles, January 9, 1864, in Official Records . . . Navies, Ser. I, Vol. II, p. 583. (51) Drum to Low, February 20, 1864, in R. N. Scott, op cit., Ser. I, Vol. L, pt. ii, p. 761. (52) Poor to Wright, March 15, 1864, ibid., pp. 789-790. 1954 Confederate Privateers and Vancouver Island 253 stating that the strictest neutrality should be enforced concerning the Narragansett's movements within the limits of Vancouver Island.53 Consul Francis's last mention of a rumour about a privateer was on November 18, 1864, when he wrote to Major-General Irvin McDowell, Commandant, Pacific Division, relating that a large group of Southerners from British Columbia and Idaho Territory were gathering in Victoria. Their headquarters were in the " Confederate Saloon," and it was believed that they were machinating to procure a privateer. Francis also indicated that Governor Arthur E. Kennedy of Vancouver Island was co-operating with him to uncover the plot.54 Rumours of Confederate privateers operating in Victoria stopped circulating during the final stages of the Civil War. However, British authorities in Victoria became concerned with one additional problem when the C.S.S. Shenandoah appeared in the North Pacific. This British- built raider had been recently refitted in Melbourne, and after the conclusion of the war continued her depredations against the American whaling fleet in the Arctic and North Pacific. On July 20, 1865, the whaleship Milo arrived in San Francisco with a party of survivors from the sunken whalers.55 The next day the San Francisco journal Daily Evening Bulletin suggested, in an article entitled "A Chance for John Bull to do the Handsome Thing," that a British gun-boat from Esquimalt should be sent in pursuit of the Shenandoah, for it would be three weeks in advance of any United States warship ordered in pursuit. The newspaper asserted that this would be " an excellent stroke of policy " by the British Columbian authorities, inasmuch as the " pirate " was armed and manned by Englishmen and made use of the English flag.56 The Portland Oregonian of August 14 quoted an excerpt from the Victoria Chronicle, suggesting that protection be extended to the Shenandoah within the confines of law, but also expressing a desire for the early end of the " career " of the raider. The Oregonian protested this attitude in no uncertain terms and asked:— Do the Victorians now desire an opportunity to prove as faithless to the United States as their home did when it perfidiously sent the Shenandoah on her lawless cruise?5? (53) Layard to the Admiralty, April 22, 1864, enclosure in Layard to Rogers, April 23, 1864, enclosure in Cardwell to Kennedy, April 30, 1864, MS., Archives of B.C. (54) Francis to McDowell, November 18, 1864, in R. C. Scott, op. cit., Ser. I, Vol. L, pt. ii, p. 1061. (55) San Francisco Daily Alta California, July 21, 1865. (56) San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, July 21, 1865. (57) Portland Oregonian, August 14, 1865. 254 Benjamin F. Gilbert July-Oct. On July 24 Consul Francis and Judge Lander of Washington Territory called on Governor Arthur E. Kennedy of Vancouver Island and asked him to dispatch a British warship to notify the Shenandoah of the fall of the Confederacy. However, the Governor replied that he could not act in the matter without official sanction.58 Meanwhile the British Foreign Office forwarded a circular letter to Governor Kennedy, enclosing a letter of June 19 from James D. Bulloch, the Confederate naval agent at Liverpool, addressed to the commander of the Shenandoah. Bulloch's letter contained instructions relative to the disposal of the ship.59 Then on September 7 the British Colonial Office issued a circular dispatch to Governor Kennedy stating:— It is the desire of Her Majesty's Government that the " Shenandoah " should be detained in any British Port which she may enter. If she should arrive in a Port of your Colony, you will notify to her Commander that it is incumbent on him to deliver up the vessel and her armament to the Colonial Authorities in order to be dealt with as may be ordered by Her Majesty's Government. You will detain the vessel, by force if necessary, supposing that you have on the spot a sufficient force to command obedience. And, at all events, you will prohibit any supplies of any description to the vessel, so as to give her no facilities whatever for going to sea.60 On October 1 the Admiralty ordered British naval forces in the Pacific to detain the Shenandoah, provided she put into a port, or to seize her, if she were equipped as a vessel of war, upon the high seas. Rear-Admiral Joseph Denman was directed to treat the Shenandoah as a " pirate,"61 and his orders read:— You are at liberty to communicate these Instructions to the Commander of any cruizer [sic] of the United States' Navy; and, without actually detaching any of the vessels under your command in pursuit of the " Shenandoah," you may render any assistance in your power in putting an end of the mischievous career of this vessel.^2 (58) Victoria Colonist, July 26,1865. (59) Cardwell to Kennedy, July 5, 1865, with enclosures Bulloch to Commander of Shenandoah, June 19, 1865; Mason to Russell, June 20, 1865, Circular Dispatches, MS., Archives of B.C. The second enclosure was a request by the Confederate agent, James M. Mason, to send instruction to the Shenandoah via British diplomatic channels to the possible places where the vessel might stop. These places were Nagasaki, Shanghai, and the Sandwich Islands. (60) Cardwell to Kennedy, September 7, 1865, ibid. (61) Cardwell to Kennedy, October 11, 1865, with enclosures Romaine to Denman, October 1, 1865, and Law Officers of the Crown to Russell, September 21, 1865, ibid. (62) Romaine to Denman, October 1, 1865, ibid. 1954 Confederate Privateers and Vancouver Island 255 On October 11 another confidential circular from the Foreign Office stated that if the Shenandoah was detained or captured, she should be delivered to the United States, but her crew could be allowed to go free.63 While the search by the United States warships was still being made in the Pacific, the Shenandoah finally came to anchor in the Mersey at Liverpool on November 6, 1865.64 Although the alleged Confederate privateers in Victoria failed to outfit any vessel, the rumours of their activities did present a thorny problem in Anglo-American relations, for the United States did not welcome the British recognition of the belligerency of the Confederacy. Fortunately no privateer appeared nor was outfitted in British Columbia, and her authorities were co-operative with the United States in investigating the rumours. Also they must have been relieved when the Shenandoah discontinued her warlike moves. The only damage inflicted by Confederate plots along the entire Pacific Coast was to delay gold shipments and to entail expense to the United States in guarding her commercial route to the Isthmus of Panama. Benjamin F. Gilbert. San Jose State College, San Jose, Calif. (63) Cardwell to Kennedy, October 11,1865, ibid. (64) Cornelius E. Hunt, Cruise of the Shenandoah, New York, 1867, p. 247, see also J. T. Scharf, op. cit., p. 811. NOTES AND COMMENTS BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Victoria Section A regular meeting of the Section was held in the Provincial Library on Thursday evening, May 27, with Miss Madge Wolfenden in the chair. The speaker on that occasion was Mr. John T. Saywell, a graduate of the University of British Columbia and a former staff member of the Provincial Archives, now studying for his doctorate at Harvard University. The subject of his address was A New Light on Joseph Trutch and the Establishment of British Columbia's First Provincial Government. The responsibility for the inauguration of a Provincial government in British Columbia after Confederation in 1871 fell to Sir Joseph Trutch, a former colonial official whose appointment to the position of Lieutenant-Governor by the Federal Government was only moderately well received in the Province. Sir John A. Macdonald had hoped to secure the services of Dr. J. S. Helmcken as the first Premier, but the latter remained firm in his decision to retire from political life. Trutch, therefore, turned to John Foster McCreight, whom he groomed for the position and used his influence to ensure his election. The first session of the Legislature was a difficult one, for the level of Provincial politics was not very high and there was great need for leadership of a strong calibre. John Robson and Amor de Cosmos were probably the two most prominent political figures, doubtless due to the newspaper backing which they could command. By October, 1872, Trutch was less inclined to take part in governmental affairs. For one thing he was becoming bored and found his role as Lieutenant-Governor unsatisfying. The Legislature was even more divided, and, in consequence of the attacks on the McCreight government by Robson and de Cosmos, it was defeated. Trutch then called upon de Cosmos to organize a .new ministry, and the transition from the colonial administration to full Provincial responsible government was completed. Dr. F. Henry Johnson proposed a vote of thanks to the speaker. Mr. R. E. Potter, Vice-Chairman, presided at the meeting of the Section held on Monday evening, June 28, in the Provincial Library, when the speaker was Mr. J. H. Hamilton and his subject The Origin and Early History of the "All-red Route." Mr. Hamilton was formerly manager of the Vancouver Shipping and Merchants Exchange and an authority on marine matters. His paper traced the development of the trans-Pacific steamship service to Australia from its origin in 1893 with the arrival of the Miowera at Victoria on June 6th to its termination in June, 1953, when the Aorangi was withdrawn from service. The inception of this line of communication rounded out the service established by the Canadian Pacific Railway across Canada and its trans-Pacific steamship service to the Orient. In addition to his address, Mr. Hamilton showed a number of photographs of the old ships engaged in the service. The thanks of the meeting were tendered to the speaker by Mr. G. H. Stevens. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 3 and 4. 257 258 Notes and Comments July-Oct. To mark the centenary of the arrival of the ship Princess Royal with its passengers, who became in reality the founders of Nanaimo, the members of the Section motored to Nanaimo on their annual field-day on Saturday afternoon, August 28. There they were entertained by the members of the Nanaimo Section, whose Chairman, Mr. J. C. McGregor, a grandson of Mrs. John Meakin, a passenger on the Princess Royal, addressed the group in St. Paul's Parish Hall on the history of this famous ship and the significance of its arrival to the Nanaimo district. During the afternoon the members also visited the James Dunsmuir home at Departure Bay and the home of Robert Dunsmuir. The first regular meeting in the fall season was held in the Provincial Library on Friday evening, September 24. The Chairman, Miss Madge Wolfenden, took the occasion to pay a tribute to Hayman Claudet, the recently deceased youngest son of Francis G. Claudet, head of the assay office and mint at New Westminster who had been responsible for the minting of British Columbia's only gold coins in 1862. The speaker of the evening was Mr. Reginald Roy, who recently joined the staff of the Provincial Archives, and his subject Early Militia and the Defence of British Columbia, 1871-1885. Mr. Roy, who served for a number of years with the Historical Section of the Canadian Army in the preparation of the official army history of World War II, was well qualified for the task he undertook. The first war scare in British Columbia after Confederation originated from an anonymous letter addressed to the Lieutenant-Governor warning that Fenians were holding regular meetings and drilling with a view to an attack on the Island. There was no effective military force available, and defence rested entirely with the British naval vessels then present at Esquimalt. Trutch was aware of the weakness of this arrangement, for the naval forces were responsible for the protection of British interests in an area covering several thousands of square miles, and he constantly agitated for better defences. Five years later another scare developed in consequence of the Russo-Turkish War. The danger of a hit-and-run attack by Russian naval forces was brought to the attention of the Government in British Columbia, and there was renewed activity on the part of both the Federal and Imperial Governments in the defence of the Province. However, it was not until 1885, following another war scare involving Great Britain and Russia, that the Federal Government became prepared to spend additional money on British Columbia defences. A vote of thanks was proposed by Mr. J. H. Hamilton. A meeting of the Section was held in the Provincial Library on Thursday evening, October 28, when the Chairman, Miss Madge Wolfenden, presented to the meeting extracts from the memoirs prepared by Mr. Hayman Claudet a short while prior to his death, dealing with the life of his father, Francis G. Claudet. Born in England of French parents, Claudet was educated at University College, London, and Caroline College, Brunswick, Germany, and in 1859 received an appointment to establish and operate an assay office in the colony of British Columbia. He reached Victoria early in 1860, having come by way of the Panama, and was then only 23 years of age. From the outset he was faced with many difficulties in organizing his department. For one thing, privately operated assay offices had been first in the field, and they were opposed to the establishment of a colonial assay office. In addition, there was considerable bickering between the various colonial officials. Claudet early advocated the undertaking of a geo- 1954 Notes and Comments logical survey of the colony and the establishment of a mineralogical research bureau; in both of these he was twenty years before his time. He was held in high esteem by Governors Seymour and Musgrave and held many government appointments in addition to his duties as assayer. He fitted well into colonial life and made many friends during his residence in British Columbia, which did not terminate until his return to England in 1873. After a period of unsettlement he eventually became manager of a chemical works in Cheshire and ultimately joined his brother, Frederick, at the Assay Office, London. There he died in 1906. Miss Wolfenden read extracts from his diaries and letters which gave an interesting sidelight on colonial life in New Westminster and Victoria, as well as providing an intimate insight into the character of Claudet. Mr. R. A. Wootton proposed a vote of appreciation to the speaker and pointed out that Hayman Claudet was a pioneer in his own right, having been sent from England in 1904 to install the first oil-flotation plant for the reduction of complex ores at the Le Roi mine in Rossland. Vancouver Section A regular meeting of the Section was held in the Grosvenor Hotel on Wednesday evening, May 5, with Dr. Margaret A. Ormsby in the chair. The speaker on that occasion was Mr. N. H. McDiarmid, a Vancouver lawyer, who chose as his subject The Cedar Creek Gold Rush. Cedar Creek, west of Williams Lake and opposite Likely on the road from the 150 Mile House to Keithley Creek, was first known as a placer operation in the early 1860's. During the winter of 1921-22, reports began to reach Vancouver of a great gold strike. That winter Johnny Lynes, an experienced placer-miner, and Alfred Pratt, the blacksmith at 150 Mile House, found gold, and by May their claim was showing about 160 ounces of gold to the yard, for a value of about $3,000. Through errors in staking, Lynes and Pratt lost out to a group known as the Big Six or The Trappers after extensive litigation. Mr. McDiarmid had acted for the latter group in the Courts and was thus able to shed much light on a latter-day gold-rush that has been comparatively neglected in the mining annals of this Province. The annual picnic of the Section was held on Saturday, June 26, when about 125 members and friends travelled by the Canadian Pacific Railway to Yale. There the party was divided into smaller groups and taken on tours of historic sites in the old town—All Hallows School, St. John's Anglican Church, Front Street, and Steamboat Landing. Later they reassembled and the Secretary of the Section, Mr. Bruce Ramsey, spoke on Place-names of the Cariboo Road. In conjunction with this outing, the Section had prepared and printed an excellent illustrated brochure entitled Historic Yale, which is sold at 50 cents per copy. The first meeting in the fall season was held in the Grosvenor Hotel on Tuesday evening, October 12, when the speaker was Dr. H. V. Warren and his subject Prospectors and Prospecting in British Columbia. Dr. Warren was eminently qualified to deal with his subject, for he is Professor of Mineralogy in the Department of Geology at the University of British Columbia. In the course of his address the speaker outlined the work of prospectors in opening up the country, described the difficult terrain they encountered, and gave an excellent summary of the contributions they had made to the development of the Province. 260 Notes and Comments July-Oct. Nanaimo Section The regular meetings of the Section held on May 11 and June 8 were used to discuss plans for the celebration of the centenary of the arrival in Nanaimo on November 27, 1854, of the passengers brought to the colony of Vancouver Island in the Princess Royal. Arrangements are well in hand for a pageant re-enacting the landing of the pioneers and for the preparation of a roster of the original passengers and their descendants. On August 28 the Section was host to the Victoria Section on the occasion of its annual field-day. Tours of points of interest were arranged, and the Chairman of the Section, Mr. J. C. McGregor, spoke to the members on the significance of the events associated with the Princess Royal. A regular meeting of the Section was held on October 12, on which occasion Mr. J. G. Parker read a paper on Fifty Years of Education in Nanaimo. For this address Miss Dorothy Bryant, of Ladysmith, had made available the note-books and diaries of her father, Cornelius Bryant, one of the pioneer teachers in the district. West Kootenay Section A regular meeting of the Section was held on May 3, when the speaker was Mr. Gordon T. German and his subject Rossland before 1900. This was a very carefully prepared chronological account of the early days in Rossland from the time of the first recorded discovery of a mine to the end of the litigation over the famous Le Roi mine. In 1887 two prospectors, Bohman and Leyson, discovered what became the Lily May, but the real activity did not begin until 1896, when the Homestake, Centre Star, War Eagle, Le Roi, Idaho, Virginia, and Iron Mask locations were staked. Communication was mainly by wagon-road to Northport and thence by boat, but there was considerable agitation for a wagon-road down Trail Creek to the Columbia. In 1894 Augustus Heinze acquired one-third of the Trail townsite for a smelter and began building a railroad to the Rossland mines, and he also planned a line connecting Robson with Trail. In 1898 Heinze was bought out by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Mr. German also traced the development of the city, which was incorporated on March 4, 1897, paying particular attention to the introduction of public services. He also dealt with outstanding events such as the winter carnival, and in conclusion pointed out that two important pieces of labour legislation in this Province—the eight-hour day and workmen's compensation—were inspired by men from the Rossland district. At a meeting held on June 14 the constitution and by-laws of the Section as drafted by Mr. F. M. Etheridge were presented and adopted. The balance of the evening was taken up with the identification of old photographs provided by Mr. J. M. Cameron. On October 25 the Provincial Librarian and Archivist, Mr. Willard E. Ireland, addressed the Section, having chosen as his subject The Role of a River, in which he outlined the history of the communication route that the Columbia River provided from the earliest days of the fur trade down to the advent of continuous steam navigation in the late 1890's. Reference was made to the numerous references to the region from the many published accounts of voyagers on the Columbia. 1954 Notes and Comments 261 Boundary Section In conjunction with the unveiling of the historic marker at Midway on Sunday afternoon, September 19, the President of the British Columbia Historical Association, Captain C. W. Cates, addressed a meeting of the Section. He spoke particularly on the Indian lore of the Province, a subject on which he is well versed. Several of the old-timers of the district present at the gathering were introduced by Mr. E. S. Reynolds, including E. C. Henniger and Howard Pennell, of Midway; J. Lindsay, of Rock Creek; and Mrs. R. B. White, of Penticton, each of whom spoke briefly on their reminiscences of earlier days in the Boundary country. OKANAGAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY The annual meeting of the Okanagan Historical Society was held in the board room of the B.C. Tree Fruits Limited, Kelowna, on Wednesday afternoon, June 2, with Mr. J. B. Knowles in the chair. In his annual report the President noted that there was a growing appreciation of things historical throughout British Columbia. Recently the Society had been requested by the Veterans' Land Administration to suggest appropriate names for streets and roads in the new subdivisions at Westbank and Cawston, and this had been done. Passing reference was also made to the publication of The Story of Osoyoos, by Mr. George J. Fraser. It was with regret that the Society accepted the resignation of Dr. Margaret A. Ormsby as editor of the Annual Report, and as a token of the Society's appreciation a bound set of the reports issued under her editorship was prepared for her. It was reported that the Seventeenth Report had been issued and the plans were well advanced for the Eighteenth Report, which was to feature the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of Kelowna in 1905, with Dr. J. C. Goodfellow acting as editor-in-chief. Other reports indicated that the Society was in a flourishing condition. Following the business meeting a dinner was held in the Royal Anne Hotel, when seventy-five members were in attendance. The guest speaker was Louise Gabriel, secretary of the Indian Council of the Penticton reservation, who gave a very interesting and informative talk on the preparation and use of foods and medicines by the Indians in early days. She explained the Indian technique of steam-cooking: hot rocks were placed in the bottom of a pit, which was lined with bark and pine-needles, then the roots to be cooked were placed on rose branches above the hot rocks, and the whole was covered in, except for an aperture at the top through which water was poured. Indian bread made from moss was also cooked in a similar fashion. Other foods were usually dried for winter use. Each fall the men made ready for hunting by making bows and arrows, the latter from the strong, straight shoots of the syringa, which had to be tipped with flint. Before setting out the hunters had to cleanse themselves so that the wild game would not be able to pick up scent. For this purpose, use was made of the "sweat-house" followed by a plunge into the cold lake. The sweat-house was an " igloo-like" affair, built of small branches intertwined and stuck into the ground and covered with fir boughs and dirt. Heated stones were rolled into the centre and water poured over them to create a steam bath. The hunter would crawl into the sweat-house and close the opening. The speaker also dealt in some 262 Notes and Comments July-Oct.! detail with other techniques used in the hunt and in the preservation of foodstuffs and skins. Indian medicines were many and effective, and all were provided by nature. Olallie juice was given a baby after he was weaned, and wild-strawberry leaves dried and powdered was an effective remedy for his sore mouth. An infusion of red willow was used for irritated skin, and Oregon grape provided a spring tonic. Infusions of balsam bark or thorn-bush cured haemorrhage, and mint tea cured fevers, as did also a tea made from dried fish-heads. Soopolallie made a mild laxative, and rattlesnake-weed was used for more drastic purging. One of the many sagebrushes was used as a remedy for colds, and an onion-like root was dug and prepared for treating poison ivy. Mr. Guy P. Bagnall, of Vernon, also spoke briefly on the question of Indian citizenship. The officers elected for the year 1954-55 are as follows:— His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor. 0. L. Jones, M.P. J. B. Knowles, Kelowna. J. D. Whitham, Kelowna. Mrs. R. B. White, Penticton. C. E. Bentley, Summerland. Rev. J. C. Goodfellow, D.D., Princeton. Guy P. Bagnall, Vernon. T. R. Jenner, Vernon. Rev. J. C. Goodfellow, D.D., Princeton. Mrs. R. L. Cawston, Westbridge. Honorary Patron - Honorary President - President First Vice-President - Second Vice-President Third Vice-President - Secretary Treasurer - Auditor Editor - Assistant Editor - Directors— North— Burt R. Campbell, Kamloops. J. G. Simms, Vernon. J. H. Wilson, Armstrong. Middle- Mrs. D. Gellatly, Westbank. James Goldie, Okanagan Centre. Dr. Frank Quinn, Kelowna. South- Mrs. Vera Bennett, Penticton. George J. Fraser, Osoyoos. Captain J. B. Weeks, Penticton. At large— Miss K. Ellis, Penticton. A. K. Loyd, Kelowna. R. J. McDougall, Sorrento. Mrs. G. Maisonville, Kelowna. The executives of the branch societies are as follows:— Armstrong President - Secretary-Treasurer Directors— Mrs. D. G. Crozier. J. H. Wilson. Arthur Marshall. Mrs. Myles MacDonald. Arthur Young. 1954 Notes and Comments 263 President - Vice-President Secretary-Treasurer - Directors— E. M. Carruthers. Mrs. G. D. Fitzgerald. Mrs. D. Gellatly. R. C. Gore. J. B. Knowles. L. L. Kerry. Mrs. G. Maisonville. Nigel Pooley. J. D. Whitham. Penticton President H.Cochrane. Vice-Presidents Mrs. R. B. White. J. G. Harris. Secretary Mrs. C. G. Bennett. Treasurer Captain J. B. Weeks. Directors— C. E. Bentley. J. T. Leslie. Mrs. R. L. Cawston. Mrs. A. M. Warren. C. F. Guernsey. Mrs. H. Whittaker. Oliver-Osoyoos President H. V. Simpson. Vice-President ..... Mrs. E. Lacey. Secretary R. Butler. Treasurer A. Kalten. Directors— L. Ball. A. Millar. A. McGibbon. Mrs. A. Millar. Vernon President - - - - - - F. V. Harewood. Secretary-Treasurer .... George Falconer. Directors— A. E. Berry. B. R. Campbell. G. E. McMahon. ROSSLAND HISTORICAL MUSEUM On Saturday afternoon, June 12, an interesting ceremony took place on the lawns adjacent to the Court-house, Rossland, to mark the official opening of the Rossland Historical Museum. For some time a special committee of the Rossland Rotary Club, which had taken the museum as a community project, had been at work, and as a result much interesting material had been gathered together and permission received to have it housed in two rooms on the ground floor of the Court-house. Prime mover in this effort was Mr. Gordon T. German, manager of the Bank of Montreal in Rossland. In November, 1954, a public meeting was 264 Notes and Comments July-Oct. held with a view to turning the project over to a group of citizens interested in the operation of the museum, and at that time an interim committee was elected, empowered to draw up a constitution and to secure incorporation under the I Societies Act." This was carried out, and on March 31 the Rossland Historical Museum Association came into existence, with Mr. Gordon T. German as Chairman. At the official opening Mr. R. J. Cotton, president of the Rotary Club, paid tribute to the hard work of Mr. German and his colleagues, and a letter of congratulation from Mr. Willard E. Ireland, Provincial Librarian and Archivist, was read. Mayor Harold Elmes officially opened the museum. Mr. J. H. Armstrong, Chairman of the West Kootenay Section of the British Columbia Historical Association, and Mrs. A. D. Turnbull, First Vice-President of that Association, were present and offered their congratulations. At the conclusion of the ceremony, tea was served by the Rotary Anns, at which background music was supplied by a Model "A" Edison " Fireside " phonograph of 1906 vintage. This museum, which has as its object the preservation of items of interest which tell some of the history of the City of Rossland and its immediate vicinity, has done a remarkably good job. Of particular interest is the one wall of the entrance room which has been papered with stock certificates reminiscent of the great mining boom of the late 1890's, which gives at a glance a vivid impression of the raison d'itre for the community. An excellent start has been made in gathering together a full photographic record of the region, in which project the Provincial Archives has been co-operating. Several show-cases have been donated, and already many valuable historical exhibits are in place. PLAQUE COMMEMORATING FORT LANGLEY PIONEER CEMETERY On Wednesday, June 16, a bronze tablet prepared by the British Columbia Department of Trade and Industry was unveiled in conjunction with the consecration by Right Rev. G. P. Gower, Bishop of New Westminster, of the cemetery adjoining St. George's Church, Langley. The plaque was unveiled by Mr. E. G. Rowebottom, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, whose grandfather was one of the Royal Engineers that came to British Columbia in 1859. Only two older cemeteries are known to have existed on the Mainland before the one at St. George's was used. In the early days of Fort Langley the Hudson's Bay Company used a cemetery on River Road near the original fort-site at Derby, but no one now knows its exact location, Jason Allard, who passed away twenty years ago, being the last to remember the site. When Fort Langley was moved to its new site, a new cemetery adjacent thereto came into existence, but it was completely destroyed a number of years ago when the Canadian Northern Railway right-of-way cut away the bank of the fort hill for a supply of gravel. The cemetery now marked was first used about 1840, but most of the records and tombstones connected with the burial-ground have been lost, destroyed, or allowed to deteriorate over the years. No commitals have been made in the last fifty years. Most of those who lie buried in this cemetery were Hudson's Bay Company employees at Fort Langley or very early settlers in the district. A committee of 1954 Notes and Comments 265 officials of St. George's Church was responsible for the ceremony. The inscription on the plaque, which is fastened to a large granite rock, is as follows:— Pioneer Cemetery Among the many pioneers of the Langley District who here lie buried are OvidAUard, 1817-1874 William H. Newton, 1833-1875 two faithful servants of the Hudson's Bay Company at its post, Fort Langley. MIDWAY HISTORICAL MARKER More than 250 persons were in attendance when Captain C. W. Cates, President of the British Columbia Association, unveiled a bronze tablet erected at Midway through the kindness of the Provincial Department of Trade and Industry on Sunday afternoon, September 19. The plaque, embedded in a concrete base, stands in front of the pioneer entwined trees, only a few yards from the old Midway school to the south of the highway. The ceremony was arranged by the newly organized Boundary Section of the British Columbia Historical Association, whose Chairman, Mrs. Jessie Woodward, extended greetings to all visitors who had travelled from Grand Forks, Greenwood, Midway, Rock Creek, Kettle Valley, and some from the Okanagan Valley. Joe Someday ("Chief Walking Grizzly Bear"), of the Colville Indian band, was also present. Rev. O. L. Greene pronounced the invocation, and music was supplied by the combined Grand Forks and Curlew City bands. The inscription on the plaque reads:— When the International Boundary line was being surveyed in 1857-1861, the major portion of the large Indian band then living in the area moved to the reservation at Colville, Washington. One of the Indians entwined two sapling pines, saying: " Though divided we are united still—we are one." This tree symbolizes the spirit of friendship existing between Canada and the United States. JOHN S. EWART MEMORIAL FUND The Senate of the University of Manitoba invites applications for grants from the John S. Ewart Memorial Fund. This Fund was established to make possible grants for travel to the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa, by students of Canadian history and writers on historical theses from the four Western Provinces of Canada. Information will be supplied and applications received by the Registrar, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man. 266 Notes and Comments CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Madge Wolfenden recently retired as Assistant Provincial Archivist and is a Past President of the British Columbia Historical Association and a student of Pacific Northwest history. Benjamin Franklin Gilbert is Assistant Professor of History, Division of Social Science, at San Jose State College, San Jose, California. Willard E. Ireland, editor of this Quarterly, is the Provincial Librarian and Archivist for the Province of British Columbia. John Tupper Saywell, a contributor to this Quarterly, is a former member of the staff of the Provincial Archives, now on the staff of the Department of History, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. A. F. Flucke is head of the Cataloguing Department of the Provincial Archives of British Columbia. THE NORTHWEST BOOKSHELF Cumberland House Journals and Inland Journals, 1775-82. Second Series, 1779-82. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by Richard Glover. London: The Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1952. Pp. lxii, 313, xiv. This fifteenth volume in the admirable series of publications undertaken by the Hudson's Bay Record Society, like its immediate predecessor, deals with the beginning of Company posts on the Saskatchewan, the first advance from the shores of Hudson Bay into the fur hinterland. Six journals are here reproduced: three for Cumberland House covering the years 1779-82 as kept by William Walker, William Tomison, and George Hudson, and three covering the same years for the subsidiary post, Hudson House, as kept by William Tomison, Robert Longmoor, James Elphinstone, and William Walker. As might be expected, they contain the day-today happenings at these isolated posts, and quite frankly at times they make for tedious reading, but nevertheless there are many significant entries which provide rare insight into the problems the Hudson's Bay Company had to face when it finally decided to leave the Bay and to move inland in order better to meet the competition of the Canadian pedlars. In these journals it becomes apparent that at least by 1782 the grave shortage of man-power was being overcome at least to a degree. Canoes, the other half of the transportation problem, had proved to be easier of solution. The introduction by Dr. Richard Glover, Associate Professor of History at the University of Manitoba, is an excellent continuation of his contribution to the first series. In that volume he drew together all pertinent biographical information, meagre though it was in places, about the men who actually founded the posts on the Saskatchewan. In this volume he has turned his attention to an equally important figure, Humphrey Marten, the Company's chief factor at York, who, although he never saw the inland posts, directed the whole venture and gave it his very considerable personal support. Hitherto, Marten has not appeared in too good a light, thanks to the writings of Edward Umfreville in The Present State of Hudson's Bay. Dr. Glover takes great pains to contradict Umfreville's aspersions one by one and to build up the contrasting picture of a loyal and able, though elderly, Company servant, plagued with ill health, but whole-heartedly in accord with the new policy of establishing the inland posts and determined that everything within his power should be done to launch them successfully. One of his great assets was his unexcelled insight into Indian character. In addition, his dealings with the Company's white servants in the interior was always marked by an honest appreciation of the conditions under which they worked, and he was courageous in pressing their cause even to the point of ignoring the instructions he had himself received from his superiors in London. Marten took great pains to keep the Company in London fully aware of the requirements of the inland posts if the experiment were to succeed, and his comments were often pithy as well as pointed. Much has been written about the French voyageur and his contribution to the opening-up of the continent, but little has been written of his counterpart in the British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 3 and 4. 268 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. service of the Hudson's Bay Company. Once again Dr. Glover has plunged into the defence of the maligned—this time the Company's—labourers, the bulk of whom were recruited from the Orkney Islands and were often not held in high regard by many Company officials. Their home environment fitted them admirably for the rigours of life in the fur country, and, moreover, the Orkneys lay practically on the route from London to Hudson Bay. They rapidly mastered the art of canoemanship, were skilled and patient fishermen, and were (if one omits La Verendrye's men) the first gardeners on the prairies. The journals end on a note of disaster. On the Bay the two principal posts— Churchill and York Factories—were destroyed by the French fleet under La Perouse. In the interior a devastating plague of smallpox swept the country in 1781-82, dealing a double blow to the Company—destroying by the thousands its beaver-hunters and cutting off the Indians who normally helped to transport the furs to York Factory from Cumberland House. Hitherto, this appalling disaster has been known only through the second-hand accounts of men like Edward Umfreville, David Thompson, and Alexander Mackenzie. Now in the journals of William Tomison and William Walker we have the contemporary account compiled by men who lived through the tragedy, untouched by it physically, but often recording " as shattering a disaster as any native race outside Tasmania has ever received from the white man." A few supplementary documents have been provided in an appendix. It can only be surmised that the failure to provide the extremely valuable series of biographical notes that one has come to expect in this series arises from the lack of sufficient data in the archives of the Company to make it worth while. If so, this is regrettable, for here are to be found many af the first residents of the Canadian West, and the meagre information provided in the footnotes and introduction, though appreciated, leaves one's curiosity largely unsatisfied. As usual, the volume is an excellent example of the bookmaker's craft. Willard E. Ireland. Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. Canada's Tomorrow: Papers and Discussions, Canada's Tomorrow Conference, Quebec City, November, 1953. Edited by G. P. Gilmour. Toronto: The Mac- millan Company of Canada, Ltd., 1954. Pp. 324, vii. Ills. $3.50. N? *** Canada in 2003 a.d. will not be too different from the Canada we know in 1954. We will be a more populous nation, but our population will remain only a fraction of that of the United States; our natural resources will be greatly developed and will be in much greater demand, particularly as the American reserves near depletion; technological development will witness immense strides and the applied sciences will continue to be the pampered profession; the role of government will not differ to any great extent from that to which we have grown accustomed in the post-war years, and there seems to be little likelihood of a socialistic or even highly paternalistic state. Canadian educators will probably still be split between traditional and progressive schools of thought, although we might benefit from some synthesis of the two; culturally we will remain indifferent, and the general cultural level will remain lower than we would like, but due to governmental and private 1954 The Northwest Bookshelf 269 encouragement Canadian artists should achieve more national and international renown. Due to the basic facts and fundamental principles of our environment and character, we will probably still lack a distinctive foreign policy, although doubtless we will continue to expand our influence in world affairs. So say the seers who gathered at Quebec under the auspices of the Canadian Westinghouse Company. There is a good deal omitted in this volume of essays that one would have expected to be included. Yet there is much food for thought—mental nourishment that most Canadians cannot afford to neglect. If no clear picture of Canada in 2003 a.d. emerges, it is hardly the fault of the authors, for it is impossible for even the most gifted to foresee the future with any accuracy, as most of the writers hasten to admit. Indeed, the articles are interesting from an historical point of view because they illustrate both the advantages and the limitations of historical knowledge as the basis for prophecy. Each of the essays—The Canadian People, Canada's Natural Resources, The Challenge to Science, The Constriction of Industry, The Role of Government, The Challenge to Education, Cultural Evolution, Canada in the World, and An Outsider Looking In—seeks in some way, and with varying degrees of success, to outline some of the likely tendencies of the future by means of principles and patterns drawn from the past. Some of the articles merely present old wine in new bottles, but the wine is no less for all that. Others contain refreshing and stimulating potions, a little too heady for the common taste, perhaps, and not quite so well brewed as those to which we have grown accustomed. It is refreshing, for example, to note the cautions of an eminent Canadian scientist that exclusive concentration on scientific progress as an end in itself might well lead to Utopia—which is nowhere—or even into a state of hopeless social confusion where means and ends have become sadly reversed. The scientific study of human society must go hand in hand with applied science; we neglect the social sciences at our peril, particularly in the midst of a gigantic social upheaval caused largely by the staggering progress in the applied sciences. The Canadians of the future—the Canadians of today—must assess the use of their new-found and ever-growing leisure time that is the result of increased productivity; they must—we must—be able to distinguish between and carefully weigh the educational and propagandistic values and symptoms of the new mass media in communications; they must consider the social results of free and easy instalment buying, of the rise of " suburbia," of noise, dirt, and congestion. Social scientists and the humanists generally have often questioned the long-term objectives and results of applied science. It is heartening to hear the echo from the citadel itself. Miss Hilda Neatby has done an able job of describing the general level of Canadian culture, but her summary does not obviate the need for thoughtful Canadians to read the Massey Commission Report and the studies prepared for it, from which she has drawn the great bulk of her observations. As one might expect, a slight note of pessimism prevails, but on the whole there appear to be no insuperable obstacles in the way of a constantly rising cultural standard that cannot be overcome by " a conscious dedication to the good life, a genuine worship of the truth." The admirable illustrations by Eric Aldwinckle are themselves certain evidence that very competent interpretative work is being done in the creative arts. 270 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. Contrary to common opinion, Mr. Maurice Lamontagne, of Laval, sees no great change in the role of government fifty years hence. " Private initiative will continue to play the dynamic and dominant role in the field of long-term industrial development," while government activities will be only "auxiliary and conditioning." As in the past, free enterprise will cause frequent periods of short-term economic instability which the government will be forced to offset by enlightened fiscal and trade policies. The government will continue to interfere in some aspects of life, notably health, education, and housing, but only for a short time until an undefined minimum standard is reached, at which point public pressure will force a halt. The federal government in undertaking these duties will ipso facto tend to increase its power at the expense of the Provinces. Other than this slight reference, Mr. Lamontagne neglects to comment at all on the very crucial problems of Canadian federalism. At the same time he does yeoman service in warning against dangers implicit in the unrestrained and uncontrollable growth of a semi-independent, almost irresponsible, bureaucracy. He might well have mentioned, too, the increasing power of the Cabinet as against both parliament, party, and, it seems, the people. Improved methods of democratic control we must have, but the author, while admitting the need, offers no suggestion as to how this may be achieved. President N. A. M. Mackenzie takes a healthy mid-way stand in the current continent-wide education controversy. The great challenge to educators during the next fifty years will be " to work out a synthesis of the best features of traditional and progressive thought." Education must assuredly prepare the Canadian students for the difficult task of making a living in the manner most in line with his ability and interests. But it must do more: it must prepare him for enlightened citizenship in a democracy, for "the future citizens must realize that the forms in which they participate are empty without the knowledge of the Cromwell's work and the spirit of Hampden"; it must refine his tastes, intellect, and emotions; it must attempt to extend " the rule of love " among men, regardless of social, national, racial, and religious barriers. No shallow phrases these, but words well worth marking for those attempting the difficult passage between Scylla and Charybdis. Although Professor D. G. Creighton exhibits his expected brilliant insight and masterful prose style (delighting the reader with his use of Lytton Strachey's well- known description of the life of Queen Elizabeth as being "passed in a passion of postponements" when assessing the work of W. L. Mackenzie King), the most readable essay came from the pen of D. W. Brogan, the "outsider looking in." Professor Brogan has seen what many Canadians do not see—or, if they do see, disregard—that we have too long tended to define our Canadianism in negative terms. Some of us have been content to sum up our national achievement as continued political separation from the United States, while others have almost exclusively concentrated on the development of Dominion autonomy and the forging of a unique international status. Uncertain and insecure, we have been forever comparing ourselves to others, and concluding that we are less emotional and less boastful than the American (without pausing to think that we have not yet been subjected to equal emotional strains or have as yet less to boast about), less insular than the English, less volatile than the French and so on. This may all be very true, but such comparisons do little to explain or to develop the Canadian character. As Professor Brogan pointedly declares, however, the time has come when 1954 The Northwest Bookshelf 271 " Canadianism must be given a positive and burdensome content," when Canadianism must give " the concept of Canada a positive, not a negative, content." This is, of course, impossible without a sure grasp of what Canada has been and what it is and where it is likely to go. Canada's Tomorrow, even though one may disagree with many of the view-points expressed, encourages thoughtful analysis on a wide range of subjects and furthers the habit of self-cultivation that President Mackenzie stresses as one of the major and essential duties of Canadian education, and is certainly one of the major duties of every Canadian citizen. University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. John Tupper Saywell. The North Peace River Parish, Diocese of Caledonia: a Brief History. Fort St. John: The Alaska Highway News, 1954. Pp. 22. Maps & ills. A Tree Grows in Vernon: the History of All Saints' Parish, Vernon, B.C. By Right Rev. A. H. Sovereign. Vernon: 1953. Pp. 39. Ills. Through the Years, 1904-1954. Woman's Auxiliary of the Church of England in Canada, New Westminster Diocesan Board. Edited by Mrs. F. G. Cousins. Vancouver: 1954. Pp. 36. Ills. Our Goodly Heritage, 1904-1954. Woman's Auxiliary of the Church of England in Canada, British Columbia Diocesan Board. Edited by H. Kathleen Davies. Victoria: 1954. Pp. 44. Ills. the History of the Diocese of Olympia, 1853-1953. Tacoma: The Church Lantern Press, 1953. Pp. 54. Pioneering God's Country: By Thomas E. Jessett. Ills. This has been a period of significant anniversaries for the Church of England in Canada and, in consequence, a number of brochures have been published which contain the results of a considerable amount of research into church history, a field which the local historian for long tended to ignore but which now, evidently, is coming into its own. The North Peace River Parish deals with the origin and development of the work of the Anglican Church in that part of the Diocese of Caledonia lying mainly within the Peace River District, and in particular with St. Martin's Church, Fort St. John; the Church of the Good Shepherd, Taylor; and St. Matthias' Church, Cecil Lake. Party of the story is written by Monica Storrs, who came to the district in 1929, largely through the efforts of Miss F. H. E. Hassel, of the Caravan Sunday School Mission, the real pioneer missionary in the area. She tells of her experiences in a dehghtful way and makes reference to many of the personalities and events in the period of laying the foundations. Miss E. W. Higginbottom, who was sent out by the Fellowship of the Maple Leaf, spent the years 1936-39 in the district and has contributed her reminiscences of the events in which she participated. More recent developments are also chronicled, and the brochure is well illustrated with photographs and pen and ink sketches. The occasion of a diamond jubilee in 1953 afforded AU Saints' Parish, Vernon, the opportunity to prepare a detailed history of the parish, and they were fortunate to secure the services of Bishop A. H. Sovereign to undertake the task. The result 272 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. is a very readable brochure which has much of interest in it on the history of the Okanagan Valley generally. First services of the Church of England in the valley were held in 1879 at Grand Prairie (Westwold), and subsequently at the Coldstream ranch of Forbes Vernon in 1881, when Bishop Sillitoe was present. For some time thereafter Vernon was served from Kamloops. Many interesting records survived from this period of activity, which have been used with great care by the author. In 1893 the first church was established in Vernon. From that date onward the highlights of the progress of the parish are recorded and often illustrated with" interesting and amusing anecdotes. In 1954 the Woman's Auxiliary of the Church of England in Canada celebrated its golden jubilee, and to commemorate the event the New Westminster and British Columbia Diocesan Boards had prepared for publication attractive brochures. For the New Westminster Diocese it was also the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of its founding. This booklet is arranged by chapters chronicling the events during the incumbency of each president, and there is a most useful list of officers and departments throughout the fifty-year period. The brochure of the British Columbia Diocesan Board also follows the strictly chronological approach. Both are well illustrated and worthily commemorate the anniversary celebrated. Pioneering God's Country is a more ambitious undertaking by Thomas E. Jessett, historiographer of the Diocese of Olympia, a long-time student of church history in the Pacific Northwest, and is designed for the centennial celebration of the diocese. Mr. Jessett has not confined himself only to the history of the American Episcopal Church in the Northwest, which might be said to date formally from the arrival at Portland on January 19, 1853, of Rev. John McCarty, D.D., but he has also sketched out the earlier activity of priests of the Church of England, including Rev. Herbert Beaver and Rev. R. J. Staines. The pattern followed in this booklet is to trace developments as they occurred during the various episcopates, from that of Thomas Fielding Scott, first Bishop of Oregon and Washington Territories. The expanding interest was naturally reflected in growing ecclesiastical organization, as shown by the creation of additional dioceses, Olympia achieving full diocesan status in 1910. As a source book for many of the essential details in connection with the history of the American Episcopal Church in the State of Washington generally, this publication will prove extremely useful. The present incumbent, Bishop Stephen F. Bayne, Jr., has contributed a very thoughtful foreword. Willard E. Ireland. Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. History of Kaslo. Kaslo Diamond Jubilee, 1893-1953. By the Historical Committee, Mrs. Ringheim, chairman. Nelson: Leon & Ramsay Printers, 1953. Pp. 64. Ills. The Story of Osoyoos—September, 1811, to December, 1952. By George J. Fraser. Penticton: Penticton Herald, 1953. Pp. 212. Ills. All too often local histories are little more than chronological recitations of local incidents. As conscientious and detailed as these may be, frequently the 1954 The Northwest Bookshelf 273 result is a work in which significant historical facts and the day-to-day trivia of pioneer fife are confused and there is little to interest the reading public beyond the confines of the local scene—those whose lives are in some way connected with the people and events discussed. Except for the particularization of names, dates, and places, which is always of antiquarian interest, local histories will be little appreciated until the writers learn to remove judiciously the shrubbery so that the reader may see the forest. Local-history writers might make greater contributions by outiining the personalities and activities of the pioneers as well as the residents of later days who played major roles in the commercial, social, and cultural development of the locality, and by writing of local events in terms of the persons mainly concerned. Biographical sketches give considerable insight into the history of an area, besides indicating the type of citizen that contributed to its development. In this History of Kaslo, written to commemorate the jubilee of that city's incorporation, the tendency remarked upon at the beginning of this review is much less noticeable than in some others produced in recent years. Mrs. Ringheim and the members of her committee have accumulated a generous fund of information concerning the pioneer days of their city. Kaslo had its origin in the lode-mining boom that sent thousands of people surging into the Kootenays during the early 1890's. A little more background information on early mining developments might have added considerably to the outside reader's understanding of and interest in the area. Also place-names and biographical details could very well have formed separate sections instead of being inserted in arbitrary chronological order. Nevertheless, the writers have given a very clear and interesting picture of the inception and growth of Kaslo. The first section, headed " Early History," deals with early mining pre-emptors, then follows on to discuss the various stages of community development and problems of transportation that are met with in every pioneer settlement. The sections on the fire and flood of 1894 make particularly good reading and bear the marks of having been written from eye-witness accounts. The relating of the Kaslo- Slocan railway difficulties is also well done. The book is illustrated with some very good photographs, which add much to its interest. Referring back to the few introductory remarks on local histories in general, The Story of Osoyoos, by George J. Fraser, has several of the points mentioned to commend it. This local history contains a good many short, but detailed, biographies. The topical subdivisions are well chosen, both for interest as well as for providing a recognizable historical pattern. Purely local events such as the inception and accomplishments of community organizations and business concerns are confined to separate sections and not squeezed in here and there with those having a broader historical interest. This is a larger work than the one dealing with Kaslo. It has fewer and poorer pictures, but the style of writing is better. It is printed on better paper and includes a table of contents. Unfortunately from this point on, one can offer little more than criticism. Glancing at the table of contents, one is impressed by the division headings and the material they include, but on attempting to follow them one finds that apart from the first section— "Fur Trading Era, 1811-1861 "—nothing else in the book fits the contents list. Following the administration of W. G. Cox in 1861, we leap to "The Village" from 1920 to date. The next section is headed " Official Osoyoos, 1946-1950," 274 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. which is not included anywhere in the table of contents. Following this we jump back to the "Haynes Administration of 1860." There follows a 47-page section headed " Biographies," which includes paragraphs on the Indian reserves, the moving of the Customs House, " Government Frugality," " Trails," " Early Land Recordings," and several outstanding geographical features of the area. After this we dodge back to 1910 and the author's first arrival on the scene. This is headed " Development of Osoyoos," but according to the table of contents should be " Era of Evolution of Ranching to Horticulture." When this last-mentioned section is finally located, we find that apart from being pushed to the back of the book, it has been mysteriously mixed up with a number of biographies. If the table of contents had been followed, The Story of Osoyoos would have been one of the better local histories because, as mentioned before, it is written in a pleasing style and the topical subdivisions have been well chosen to provide a reasonably integrated historical pattern. It is extremely unfortunate in this reviewer's opinion that this has been offset by such muddled composition. However, certain sections taken on their own are very well done and provide much interesting information on important aspects of the local economy. There are good sections on " Marketing in the Early Days" and " Problems of the Pioneer Ground Crop Growers." There is another good section on " The Problems of Education," and still another dealing with " Illicit Liquor Traffic " during the prohibition days in the United States. The author, George J. Fraser, was born in Ontario and educated in Manitoba. After ranching for a time in Alberta, he came to the Okanagan District in 1906 to begin fruit-ranching with his brother. His varied career has included the operation of an automobile agency in the early days and, of recent years, an insurance and real-estate business. Mr. Fraser disclaims the distinction of being a real pioneer; nevertheless, he has taken a major part in community affairs during a period of intense development and has been active in promoting and developing several local industries in the Osoyoos area. In 1952 the Village of Osoyoos conferred the award of "All Time Good Citizenship " on both Mr. and Mrs. Fraser. Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. A. F. Flucke. SHORTER NOTICES Admirals, Adventurers and Able Seamen. By Harrison Brown. Vancouver: The Keystone Press Ltd., 1954. Pp. 31. Els. There is always great curiosity amongst the general public and visiting tourists in particular about the derivation of place-names. Mr. Brown, in a very attractively produced booklet, has attempted to meet this need in so far as the lower coastal region of the Province is concerned. The sub-title, "Forgotten Stories about Places on Our British Columbia Coast and How They Got Their Names," gives an adequate description of the publication. Here in simple digest form are to be found many of the incidents relative to the work of the early explorers—Spanish, British, and American—and amusing incidents of other seafarers like Jemmy Jones. 1954 The Northwest Bookshelf 275 Historic Yale, British Columbia. Edited by Bruce Ramsey. Vancouver: Vancouver Section, British Columbia Historical Association, 1954. Pp. 32. Ills. In the summer of 1954 the Vancouver Section of the British Columbia Historical Association made the journey to Yale for its annual outing, and in connection therewith published this brochure, which traces the history of this little community from its inception as a fur-trade post of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1848 through the hectic days of the gold-rush and the even more lively era of railroad construction. Special attention is paid to its historic Anglican church, St. John the Divine, and the Anglican school, All Hallows in the West, as well as the Roman Catholic St Joseph's Mission. There is also an interesting section dealing with steamboating on the Fraser River, for Yale was the head of navigation. A number of good photographs have been reproduced, adding greatly to the attractiveness of the publication. The Bishop of Broadway: David Belasco, His Life and Work. By Craig Timber- lake. New York: Library Publishers, 1954. Pp. 491. His. $4.75. This full-scale biography of one of the most remarkable figures in the history of the American theatre is of particular interest to British Columbians because of the childhood associations of David Belasco with Victoria in the years 1858-1865. The earlier biography of Belasco by William Winter, published in 1918, recounted (probably with Belasco's consent) many stories concerning that period of his life which Mr. Timberlake has been at great pains to investigate. Family traditions and legends die hard, but the result of much of the research proves most of them to be without foundation. James Stephen and the British Colonial System, 1813-1847. By Paul Knaplund. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1953. Pp. ix, 315. $5.50. Dr. Knaplund has contributed several articles to this Quarterly and has established his reputation as an authority on British colonial policy in the nineteenth century. This study of the administration of Sir James Stephen at the Colonial Office from his appointment as legal counsellor until his retirement in 1847 as permanent under-secretary is a masterly analysis of the contribution of one of the great rebuilders of the Empire that emerged from the ruins resulting from the American Revolution. It is not a biography, but such personal data as are pertinent and explanatory of many of the policies that Stephen so strenuously advocated during his tenure of office are provided. A topical approach is taken to Stephen's work over the whole of his administrative career. British colonial interest in the Pacific Northwest had just been aroused when Stephen retired, so there are only minor references to the colonization of Vancouver Island, but as an aid in appreciating the political and administrative climate in which the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island began, the book is invaluable. W.E.I. INDEX Admirals, Adventurers and Able Seamen, review of, 274 Alaska Packing Company, 79 Alexis, John, 81, 83 Alvord, Brig.-Gen. Benjamin, 247, 251, 252 Anderson & Co., 244 Archille, George, 69 Arthur Kennedy's Administration of the Colony of Western Australia Examined as a Background to the Initiation of the Vancouver Island Exploration Expedition of 1864, 103- 115 Athabasca Portage, 208, 209 Auld, William, 139 Back, Sir George, 189 Badgers, 182, 183 Bagnoit, Joseph, 162 Bainbridge, Indian, 53, 58 Baird, Rear-Admiral J. K. E., 27 Baker, Mount, 229, 230 Banks, Peter, 210 Beacon HOI, Victoria, 15-19, 21 Bears, 145, 174-177 Beaver, Rev. Herbert, 119 Beaver, 148, 149, 180-182 Beaver Indians, 171, 172, 188 Bedford, Capt F. D. G., 18 Belasco, David, His Life and Work: The Bishop of Broadway, review of, 275 Bell, Adm. Charles H., 251, 252 Bellingham, 54 Bellingham Bay, 54, 55, 58, 59 Belmont Hill, Victoria, 21 Benjamin, Judah P., 250 Birstone, Catherine, 231, 232, 236, 237 Bishop of Broadway, The: David Belasco, His Life and Work, review of, 275 Black, Samuel, 160, 213-215 Blackwater River, 212 Blair, Col. G. F., 10, 11, 15 Blanchard, Bishop, see Blanchet, F. N. Blanchet, F. N., 39, 40, 57, 208 Blanshard, Richard, 195, 229, 238 Boat Encampment, 209 Bolduc, J. B. Z., 40 Booker, William Lane, 248 Boulet, Father, 72, 78 Bowker, John Sylvester, 237 Bowker, John Sylvester, Jr., 237 Bowker Creek, 237 Brackenridge, John, 141 Brigade, 184, 219 British Columbia, defence of, 240, 241 British Columbia Historical Association, 123— 130, 257-261 British Columbia Provisional Regiment of Garrison Artillery, 23 Brother's Island, 17, 21 Broughton, W. R., 207 Brown, 232 Brown, James, 112 Brown, Harrison, Admirals, Adventurers and Able Seamen, review of, 274 Buchanan, Dr. Charles, 80-83 12 2 Buckley, Patrick, 71 Buffon, see LeClerc, George Louis Bulloch, James D., 254 "C" Battery, 24-26 Cadieu, Indian, 197 Cairn, Boat Encampment, 131, 132 Calder, Dr. John, 140, 141 Camille, 221 Campbell, John Duncan, 155 Canada Act, 196, 197 Canada's Tomorrow, review of, 268-271 Canoes, 160, 161 "Career of a Scotch Boy," John Tod, 133-238 Caron, A. P. C, 24-26 Carrier Indians, 172 Cartier, Sir George E., 6, 7 Cator, Capt R. P., 2-4, 6 Charles, Aloysius, 86, 87 Charles, Mrs. Julius, 61, 73 Charlton, Richard, 201 Cheway, Indian, 169, 170 Chinook jargon, 46, 47 Chirouse, Father Casunir, 40, 56-59, 70-72, 98 Chowitsut, Indian Chief, 53-55, 67 Clarke, John, 155 Claudet, Francis G., 258 Clover Point, Victoria, 118 Coast Salish Indians, agriculture, 44; alcohol, 45; bibliography, 100-102; contacts with whites, 37-47; family life, 34-37, 45, 46; firearms, 38, 42, 44; food, 31-33, 43, 44; Government relations, 41; implements, 44; intertribal relations, 42, 46; language, 46; marriage, 47-50; missionaries, 39, 40, 49; population, 42, 43, 45; religion, 33, 35-37, 48-51; shamanism, 37; smallpox, 42, 43; social classes, 33, 34, 45, 46; textiles, 44; tobacco, 45; tools and weapons, 43, 44; tribes, 97-99; warfare, 42, 44, 45 Columbia River, 241, 247 Colvile, Andrew, 204 Como, 228 Confederate Privateers Operating in Victoria, Vancouver Island, Rumours of, 239-255 Conger, Father, 88 Connolly, Amelia, 153 Connolly, William, 153, 165, 187, 218 Cook, William Hemmings, 139 Cookson, see Cook, William Hemmings Cooper, Capt., 119 Cooper, James, 195 Cousins, Mrs. F. G., ed., Through the Years, 1904-1954, review of, 271 Cowichan Indians, 99 Cowlitz, 211, 227 Cranes Indians, 150 Cree Indians, 148-150, 163, 169 Cree language, 149, 203 Cridge, Edward, 236 Crockett, David, 50, 53, 57, 58, 67 Cumberland House Journals and Inland Journals, 1775-82, Second Series, 1779-82, review of, 267, 268 278 Index Dashwood, see Dease, Peter Warren David, Jules, 250, 251 Davies, H. Kathleen, ed., Our Goodly Heritage, 1904-1954, review of, 271 Davis, Jefferson, 241, 246 Davis, Old, see Gull, Thomas Davison, John, 138 Dease, Peter Warren, 169, 187, 188 Defence of British Columbia, 1871-1885, The Early Militia and, 1-28 De Horsey, Rear-Admiral, A. F. R., 15, 17 Delacombe, Capt. W. A., 7 Demers, Modeste, 39, 57, 208 Denman, Rear-Admiral Joseph, 254 Dodd, Capt. Charles, 210 Dogs, 173, 174 Douglas, Sir James, 153, 195, 206, 210; and defence of British Columbia, 240, 241, 249, 250; and Indians, 41, 164-166 Drill-shed, Nanaimo, 10; New Westminster, 10; Victoria, 9 Drum, Gen. Richard C, 252 Drummond, J. S., 237 Duplante, Belone, 162 Dupont, Capt., 22, 23 Early Militia and Defence of British Columbia, 1871-1885, The, 1-28 East, Capt. J. R., 24, 25 Egerton, Lieut.-Commander F. E., 3 Eldridge, Jim, 61, 62, 74 Ellice, Edward, 154 Ermatinger, Edward, 206, 232-236 Ewart, John S., Memorial Fund, 265 Fenians, 1-6, 12 Ferndale school, 85, 86 Finkbonner, C. C, 56, 59, 64, 65, 97 Finlay River, 213 Finlayson, Nicol, 190 Fisgard Island, 15, 17 Fitzhugh, 54, 55 Flucke, A. F., History of Kaslo, review by, 272-274; The Story of Osoyoos, review by, 272-274 Fornsby, Johnny, 81, 82 Fort Langley Pioneer Cemetery, Plaque Commemorating, 264, 265 Fort Nelson River, 171 Forts and trading-posts, Albert, 208; Alexandria, 163, 184-186, 212, 213, 215, 219, 233, 234; Assiniboine, 208; Astoria, 206; Colvile, 209, 210, 214, 215; George, 162, 163, 179; Island Lake House, 194; Jasper House, 208; Kamloops, 213-216, 219-224, 227, 234; Langley, 39, 119, 120, 237, 264, 265; McLeod, 160, 161, 168, 172, 178, 179, 181, 184, 232-234; Nez Percys, 213; Nisqually, 235; Norway House, 194, 208, 231; Osnaburgh House, 148; Oxford House, 194; St. James, 160, 165; St. John, 165; Seaborn, 233; Severn, 141-144, 152, 173, 186; Vancouver, 168, 177, 184, 206- 208, 210-216, 219, 227, 229, 236, 251; Victoria, 119-121, 208, 229, 235; William, 153 Francis, Allen, 246, 247, 250-254 Francis, Major Simeon, 251 Franklin, Sir John, 156 Fraser, George I., The Story of Osoyoos, review of, 272-274 Fraser, Simon, 38, 39, 156, 160, 212 Fraser Lake, 160, 164, 166 Fraser River, 177, 178 Frobisher, Benjamin, 153, 155 Fur trade, 38, 39 Georgina's Range, 108 Gilbert, Benjamin, F., Rumours of Confederate Privateers Operating in Victoria, Vancouver Island, 239-255 Gilliland, H. C, Arthur Kennedy's Administration of the Colony of Western Australia Examined as a Background to the Initiation of the Vancouver Island Exploration Expedition of 1864, 103-115 Gilmour, G. P., ed., Canada's Tomorrow, review of, 268-271 Gold, shipment of, from California, 239, 241, 242, 246 Gooseberry Point, 51-53, 80 Grand Rapid, 155 Grant, W. C, 41 Gray's Bay, 207 Greathouse, Ridgeley, 239 Greenshields, Samuel, 234 Gregory, Frank T., 108, 109 Gregory, McLeod, and Company, 153 Guemes Island, 97 Gull, Thomas, 138 Hall, Joe, 142 Hall, Rev. John, 235, 237 Hamilton, 138 Hargrave, James, 197 Hargraves, E. H., 110 Harpending, Asbury, 239 Harper, Jerome, 245 Harper, Thaddeus, 245 Harvey, Daniel, 210 Hat River, 225 Hawse, Jasper, 208 Hay River, 197 Helmcken, Dr. J. S., 120, 121, 236 Higgins, David Williams, 245-247 Historic Yale, British Columbia, review of, 275 History of Kaslo. Kaslo Diamond Jubilee, 1893-1953, review of, 272-274 Hogg, Thomas E., 239 Holderness, S. & S. M., 243 Holland, George, 118-121 Holland Point, 17, 21, 117, 118 Holland Point, The Naming of, 117-121 Holme, Rev. T. R., 238 Holmes, Lieut.-Col. J. G., 23, 24, 26-28 Home, Capt., 120 Hopkins, William E., 248, 249 Houghton, Lieut.-Col. Charles F., 7, 8, 12, 18, 22 Howe, Joseph, 4 Hudson Bay, 138, 139 Hudson's Bay Company, 137-139, 148, 163; organization, 146, 147, 190, 191; union with North West Company, 152-156, 159, 193; Vancouver Island, 195, 196 Index 279 Hughes, Guy, 165, 188 Hume, Lieut., 3 Indians, Northwest Canadian, character and customs, 217-224; food, 169, 170, 218; intertribal relations, 170-172, 222-224; liquor, 193, 194; medicine, 183-187; mortuary customs, 172, 173; murder, 162-166, 195-197, 213-219; smallpox, 225, 226 Inglis, William, 120 Ireland, W. E., Admirals, Adventurers and Able Seamen, review by, 274; Bishop of Broadway, The: David Belasco, His Life and Work, review by, 275; Cumberland House Journals and Inland Journals, 1775-82, Second Series, 1779-82, review by, 267-268; Historic Yale, British Columbia, review by, 275; James Stephen and the British Colonial System, 1813-1847, review by, 275; North Peace River Parish, Diocese of Caledonia, The: A Brief History, review by, 271, 272; Our Goodly Heritage, 1904-1954, review by, 271, 272; Pioneering God's Country: the History of the Diocese of Olympia, 1853-1953, review by, 271, 272; Through the Years, 1904-1954, review by, 271, 282; A Tree Grows in Vernon: the History of All Saints Parish, Vernon, B.C., review by, 271, 272. Irving, Washington, 135, 218 Irwin, Iieut.-Col. D. T., 15, 17, 18 Jackson, Miss, 245, 246 James Stephen and the British Colonial System, 1813-1847, review of, 275 Jameson, 139, 140 Jeffreys, John T., 243-247 Jeffreys, Oliver, 245 Jessett, Thomas E., Pioneering God's Country, review of, 271, 282 John S. Ewart Memorial Fund, 265 John Tod: "Career of a Scotch Boy," 133- 238 Kamloops Museum Association, 130, 131 Kaslo, History of. Kaslo Diamond Jubilee, 1893-1953, review of, 272-274 Kellett, Capt. Henry, 117 Kennedy, Alexander, 154 Kennedy, Arthur, 103-115, 253, 254 Kennedy, Mount, Western Australia, 108 Kennedy Range, Western Australia, 108 Kennedy's Administration of the Colony of Western Australia Examined as a Background to the Initiation of the Vancouver Island Exploration Expedition of 1864, 103- 115 Kettle Falls, 209 King, Richard, 189 Knaplund, Paul, James Stephen and the British Colonial System, 1813-1847, review of, 275 Kootenay Village, 10 Kwa, Indian, 160, 166 Kwakiutl Indians, 46 Kwina, Henry, Indian Chief, 67, 84 Lambert, 119 Lander, Judge, 254 Laurie, Col. J. W., 22 Layard, Austin H., 252 Le Blanc, Pierre, 210 LeClerc, George Louis, 180 Legace, Josette, 235 Le Grace, Indian, 198-200, 204 Liard River, 171 Lolo, see St. Paul, Jean Baptiste Lolo Lolo, Sophia, 234, 235 Lopez Island, 51, 52 Lome, Marquis of, 24 Loveil, Col. J. W., 19-21, 23, 26 Loveil, Richard, 245, 246 Low, Frederick F., 252 Lummi Indians, agriculture, 64-66, 76-78, 87, 95; associations, 89; bibliography, 100-102; Christianity, 50, 57-59, 67, 69-75, 78, 79, 88, 89, 92, 93; contact with whites, 54-57, 63-99; courts, 68, 69; crime, 87; death, 75, 76, 93, 94, 96; economy, 63-66, 87, 88, 95; family life, 62, 63, 73-75, 85, 90-92; food, 53, 54, 58, 59, 63, 64; government, 67-69, 83, 84, 96; hop-picking, 66, 77, 96; houses, 59, 61-63, 90; Indian Bureau, 84-86; inheritance, 85; marriages, 75, 91, 92, 95, 96; modern life, 83-95; police, 68, 69, 87; population, 65, 72, 83, 87; potlatches, 73, 79, 81, 82, 90; religion and native culture, 72-77, 79-83, 89-92, 96; reservation, 41, 51, 52, 55-57, 59-65, 77, 79, 80, 83, 86; schools, 71, 72, 76, 77, 80-82, 85, 86; shamanism, 72, 73, 81, 82, 94; smallpox, 53, 54; social life, 89, 90; territory, 51- 53, 55, 58-60; treaties, 41, 55, 56, 80-83; village, 58-63. Lummi Indians, Post-contact Culture among the, 29-102 Lyons, Lord, 248, 249 Macaulay, Donald, 236 Macaulay, Flora, 236 Macaulay Point, Victoria, 12, 14-18, 236 McCluskey, William, 80 McCreight, J. F., 3 McDonald, see Macdonell, Miles McDonald, Archibald, 177, 215, 236 Macdonald, Sir John A., 5, 6 Macdonell, Allen, 154 Macdonell, Miles, 137, 145 McDonough, 61, 64 McDougal, George, 163 McDowell, Major-Gen. Irvin, 253 McGillivray, Mrs. 232 McGillivray, William, 188 McGraw, Edward W., 247 Mcintosh, William, 155 McKenny, 98 Mackenzie, Sir Alexander, 212 McKenzie, Donald, Jr., 160, 224 Mackenzie, Nancy, 210 McLean, Donald, 215 McLean, John, 159 McLeod, John, 140, 194, 195, 197 McLeod, Malcolm, 177 McLeod's Lake, 177-179, 181, 187, 188, 232 McLoughlin, Eloise, 210 McLoughlin, Dr. John, 117, 184, 185, 206, 207, 210,211,215 280 Index McMillan, James, 39 McNeill, W. H, 117 McPherson, John, 215 McPherson, Murdoch, 197 McTavish, Grace, 210 McTavish, J. G., 155, 156, 210 McVicar, Robert, 155 Magazine, powder, New Westminster, 10; Victoria, 9 Manly, Capt., 243 Marietta, 58-61 Marshall, 148, 150 Martin, August, 84 Mary Tod Island, 237 Mason, James M., 240, 250, 254 Meyers, Father, see Demers, Modeste Midway Historical Marker, 265 Miles, Robert Seaborn, 191, 192, 195, 197, 233 Military District No. 11, 6, 7 Militia and Defence of British Columbia, 1871- 1885, The Early, 1-28 Mist, Commander H. W., 3 Mohun, Edward, 237 Naming of Holland Point, The, 117-121 Nathan, Henry, & Co., 243 Natleh, 160 Nelson River, 171, 172 New Caledonia, 153, 156-163, 165, 167-170, 177-179, 184, 187, 188, 208, 212, 215-219, 224, 234, 235 New Westminster Historic Centre, 131 New Westminster Volunteer Rifles, 1 Newcastle, Duke of, 240, 241 Newton, William Henry, 237 Nez Perces Indians, 218 Nicola, Indian Chief, 222-225 Nisqually Farm, 211 Nooksack River, 53, 55, 77-79, 84 North Peace River Parish, The, Diocese of Caledonia: a Brief History, review of, 271, 272 North West Company, 137, 139, 146, 148, 153, 157, 159, 160, 163, 212, 213; coalition with Hudson's Bay Company, 153-156, 193 Okanagan Forks, 219, 222 Okanagan Historical Society, 261-263 Orcas Island, 51, 52 Oregon City, 206 Oregon Territory, 156, 207, 208 Osoyoos, The Story of—September, 1811, to December, 1952, review of, 272-27'4 Our Goodly Heritage, 1904-1954, review of 271, 272 Oxford Lake, 194 Paint Lake, 150 Panter, Inspector, 110 Parsnip River, 163, 172, 174, 175, 179 Pavilion, 225, 226 Paxton, Sir Joseph, 210 Peace River, 161-163, 172, 179, 208 Pelly, George, 201 Pelly, Sir John, 204 Pemberton, Susan, 234 Pent Lake, see Paint Lake Perch Lake, 181 Pioneering God's Country: the History of the Diocese of Olympia, 1853-1953, review of, 271, 272 Plaque Commemorating Fort Langley Pioneer Cemetery, 264, 265 Point Roberts, 37, 38, 78, 235 Poor, Charles H, 252 Portland Oregonian, 253 Post-contact Culture Change among the Lummi Indians, 29-102 Powell, Col. I. W., 8, 27 Prior, E. G., 9 Privateers Operating in Victoria, Vancouver Island, Rumours of Confederate, 239-255 Puget Sound, 241 Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, 211 Punch Bowl, 209 Pusey, 245 Quimper, Manuel, 37, 38 Rabey, Charlie, 237 Rae, Sir John, 210 Rae, William Glen, 210, 211 Rainsey, Capt. Thomas, 140 Ramsey, Bruce, Historic Yale, British Colum- ' ia, review of, 275 Rankin, Ira E., 248 Red River Settlement, 137, 139, 140, 232, 236 Reid, Dr. John, 237 Rifle companies, 8, 9, 21 Robertson, Colin, 155 Robertson-Ross, Col. F., 6-8 Robinson, Capt. F. C. B., 13 Rock House, 155, 156 Rodd Hill, Victoria, 19, 21 Roe, J. S., 108, 109 Ross, Charles, 188 Ross, Donald, 194 Rossland Historical Museum, 263, 264 Roy, Reginald H, The Early Milttta and Defence of British Columbia, 1871-1885, 1-28 Royal Engineers, 1, 10, 11, 20, 240 Royal Marines, 3, 7, 240 Rumours of Confederate Privateers Operating in Victoria, Vancouver Island, 239-255 Russia, 12-14 Saanich Indians, 29-32, 38, 40, 43, 45, 98, 99 Sahaptin Indians, 218 St. Nicholas Hotel, Victoria, 244-246 St. Paul, Jean Baptiste Lolo, 214-216, 223, 225, 226, 235 St. Thomas, Ontario, 206 Salish Indians, see Coast Salish Indians Samish Indians, 30, 31, 41-43, 45, 52, 55, 56, 97, 98 Samish Island, 56, 97 San Juan Island, 51, 52, 240 Sangster's Knoll, 19 Santley, see Swaine, James, Sr. Saxe, Cape, 19 Saywell, John T., Canada's Tomorrow, review by, 268-271 Scarborough, Capt. James, 118 Scott, R. W., 15 Index 281 Sehome, 55 Selden, Lieut James M., 244, 247 Selfridge, Capt. Thomas O., 248-250 Selkirk, Lord, 137, 140 Semple, Robert, 154 Seward, W. H., 248, 250 Seymour Artillery Company, 1 Seymour Battery of Garrison Artillery, 9, 21, 23,26 Shaw, Angus, 155 Shaw Island, 52 Shelton, Mrs. William, 81 Shillibeer, George, 193 Ships, Beaver, 117-120; H.M.S. Boxer, 3, 4; Cadboro, 118, 119; H.M.S. Chatham, 207; Cimbria, 13; Columbia, 119, 120; Eagle, 195, 234; Eddystone, 140; Edward and Ann, 137-139; H.M.S. Forward, 240; Fust Yama, 250; H.M.S. Grappler, 240; H.M.S. Hecate, 240; H.M.S. Herald, 117; /. M. Chapman, 239, 242, 249, 250; Jasper, 251; Joe Lane, 251; U.S.S. Lancaster, 251; Milo, 253; H.M.S. Myrmidon, 9; U.S.S. Narragansett, 252, 253; Norman Morison, 120; H.M.S. President, 238; Prince of Wales, 156; Prince Rupert, 233; Princess Royal, 234; Robert Taylor, 138; U.S.S. Saginaw, 248-252; Salvador, 239; U.S.S. Saranac, 232; H.M.S. Scout, 3, 5; Shenandoah, 239, 253-255; U.S.S. Shubrick, 244, 246, 247; H.M.S. Sparrowhawk, 3-5; H.M.S. Starling, 211; H.M.S. Sulphur, 211; Thames, 243, 244, 248, 249; H.M.S. Topaze, 240; Trent, 239, 240 Shoemaker, Dick, 69 Siamannas Indians, 224 Siccanies Indians, 169, 170, 172 Signal Hill, 19, 21 Simpson, Alexander, 231 Simpson, Sir George, 146, 154, 157-159, 177, 178, 213, 215, 231-233 Simpson, Margaret, 142 Sinclair, William, 194, 234 Slidell, John, 240 Slocum, John, 79 Smith, Victor, 246, 247 Smith, William, 192, 194, 199, 200 Smyth, Major-Gen. E. Selby, 10, 11, 13-16 Snodie, Adam, 150 Snooks, see Snodie, Adam Songish Indians, 29-31, 37, 41-43, 46, 52, 98, 99 Sooke Indians, 29-31, 37, 42, 43, 98 Southern Association of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, 250 Sovereign, A. H., A Tree Grows in Vernon: the History of All Saints Parish, Vernon, B.C., review of, 271, 272 Sproat G. M., 134 Sproat, G. M., Career of a Scotch Boy Who Became Hon. John Tod, 134-230 Stephen, James, and the British Colonial System, 1813-1847, review of, 275 Stewart, John, see Stuart John Story of Osoyoos—September, 1811, to December, 1952, The, review of, 272-274 Straits tribes, see Coast Salish Strange, Lieut-Col. T. B., 19, 21, 23, 26 Stuart, John, 160, 163, 165, 187 Stuarts Lake, 160, 177-179 Suttles, Wayne, Post-contact Culture Change among the Lummi Indians, 29-102 Swain, James, Sr., 142, 143 Swinomish Reservation, 97, 98 Takulli Indians, 169, 172 Taylor, George, 142, 157 Taylor, Tom, 157, 158 Teuse, David, 69 Thomas, Earl, 86 Thomas, Jim, 69 Thompson, David, 212, 213 Through the Years, 1904-1954, review of, 271, 272 Timberlake, Craig, The Bishop of Broadway: David Belasco, His Life and Work, review of, 275 Tod, Alexander, 238 Tod, Mrs. Eliza, 193-195,198, 233-235, 237 Tod, Elizabeth, 237, 238 Tod, Emmeline Jane, 198, 233-238 Tod, Isaac, 237, 238 Tod, James, 232, 236, 237 Tod, John, birth and childhood, 136, 137, 231; coalition of N.W. Co. and H.B. Co. banquet, 153-155; Chief Trader, 190; Columbia District, 208-212; Cowlitz, 211, 212, 227; emigration of Tod family to Canada, 205, 206; family, 231-238; farming, 178, 179, 211, 227; food, 227, 228; Fort Alexandria, 185, 186, 212, 213, 234; Fort McLeod, 168, 169, 177- 179, 184, 187, 233; Fort Severn, 142-147, 1S2; gas-powder incident, 222-224; house, 133, 134, 229, 230, 238; Island Lake House, 234; journey to Columbia District, 208-210; Kamloops, 213-228,234,23S; marriages, 193, 231-235; member of Legislative Council, Vancouver Island, 195, 238; New Caledonia, 157-187; Nisqually, 235; Oxford House, 194, 195; personality, 134,135,231; Point Roberts, 235; Red River District 194, 195; sciatica, 184-186; Trout Lake, 147-152; Vancouver Island, 195, 235, 236, 238; visits to Great Britain, 191-206; voyages to North America, 137, 138, 194, 233; Western Department 206-208; York Factory, 139-141, 152-160, 162,177, 189,190 Tod, John, "Career of a Scotch Boy," 133-238 Tod, John, Jr., 237, 238 Tod, Mary, 237, 238 Tod, Simeon, 237, 238 Tod, Mrs. Sophia, 235, 237, 238 Tod, William, 237, 238 Tolmie, Dr. William Fraser, 210, 235 Tranquille, Indian Chief, 213, 214 Tree Grows in Vernon, A: the History of All Saints Parish, Vernon, B.C., review of, 271, 272 Trout Lake, 147-152 Trutch, Joseph W., 2-6 Tulalip, 56, 57, 71, 80 Vancouver, George, 38, 207 Vancouver Island, 195, 196,208, 209 Vancouver Island, Colony of, 103, 104, 114, 115 282 Index Vancouver Island Exploration Expedition, 1864, Williams, Mrs. Harriet 81, 82 103,115 Williams, William, 154 Victoria Battery of Garrison Artillery, 15, 19 Wilson, James, 142, 143, 186 Victoria Chronicle, 241-247, 253 Wilson-Brown, G. H„ 133, 135 Victoria Colonist, 242-245, 247 Winship, 247 Victoria Point, 15-17 Wishart, Capt. D. D., 120, 121 Victoria Rifle Corps, 1, 4, 22 Wolfenden, Madge, ed., John Tod: "Career Village Point, 78 of a Scotch Boy," 133-238; The Naming of Holland Point, 117-121 Walbran, Capt. J. T., 117 Woodworm, Selim E., 252 Walla Walla Indians, 225 Work, John, 235 Wallace, Robert, 210 Wright, Gen. George, 252 Wankin, Miss, see Waugh, Eliza Waring, see Wilson, James XY Company, 153 Washington, Joseph, 87 Waugh, Eliza, 191, 193, 233, 234 Yale, James Murray, 162, 164, 165, 228 Waugh, Mrs. Letitia, 234 Yale, Historic, British Columbia, review of, Welles, Gideon, 249 275 Western Australia, 104-115 Yerba Buena, 211 White, see Le Blanc, Pierre York Factory, 138-143, 146, 148, 152-160, 162, Whitman, Dr. Marcus, 225 169, 177, 188-191, 193, 194, 196, 228, 233 Wilkes, Commander Charles, 212, 240 Yukulta Indians, 42 VICTORIA, B.C. Printed by Don McDiarmid, Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty 1956 THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY JANUARY-APRIL, 1954 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. EDITOR Willard E. Ireland, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Madge Wolfenden, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ADVISORY BOARD J. C. Goodfellow, Princeton. W. N. Sage, Vancouver. Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor. Subscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 50# the copy, or $2 the year. Members of the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the Quarterly without further charge. Neither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical Association assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. We BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Organized October 31st, 1922 PATRON His Honour Clarence Wallace, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. OFFICERS, 1954 Hon. Robert Bonner, Q.C. Captain Charles W. Cates - H. C. Gilliland .... Mrs. A. D. Turnbull - J. K. Nesbitt Mrs. Kenneth Drury - Miss Patricia Johnson - - Honorary President. President. - Past President. 1st Vice-President. - 2nd Vice-President. Honorary Secretary. - Honorary Treasurer. MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL Miss Helen R. Boutilier. Dr. W. N. Sage. Miss Madge Wolfenden (Victoria Section). James McGregor (Nanaimo Section). Rev. J. C. Goodfellow, D.D. Dr. F. H. Johnson. Mrs. R. B. White. James Armstrong (West Kootenay Section). Mrs. Jessie Woodward (Boundary Section). Dr. Margaret Ormsby (Vancouver Section). Mrs. David Hoy (Fort St. James Section). Willard E. Ireland (Editor, Quarterly). OBJECTS To encourage historical research and stimulate public interest in history; to promote the preservation and marking of historic sites, buildings, relics, natural features, and other objects and places of historical interest, and to publish historical sketches, studies, and documents. MEMBERSHIP Ordinary members pay a fee of $2 annually in advance. The fiscal year commences on the first day of January. All members in good standing receive the British Columbia Historical Quarterly without further charge. Correspondence and fees may be addressed to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. L'BRARY 3 9424 05061 209 9
Includes an index Includes bibliographic references Other copies: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/937942070 Part of: Dr. C.E. Dolman Collection
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The British Columbia historical quarterly. Vol. XVIII
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