Fort St. James was established by Simon Fraser in 1806 in the newly discovered and very isolated region of New Caledonia, an area that proved to be a bonanza area for the fur trade. Next to Fort Mcleod, Fort St. James is the oldest non-aboriginal settlement in British Columbia.
By accident, or perhaps serendipity or maybe even fate, I came across an intriguing excerpt from the following book and which led to me tracking down a copy of this book in New Zealand with the help of abebooks.com.
MEMORIES OF SPORT AND TRAVEL FIFTY YEARS AGO
From the Hudson’s Bay Company to New Zealand
H. Bullock-Webster
Edited by Mrs. Armel O’Connor [Violet Bullock-Webster….author’s sister]
Holcombe & Tombs. Ltd.,
Auckland New Zealand
1938
Illustrations in this book are by the author.
The book documents events from the author’s very exciting life beginning in the early 1880’s. It provides a unique look at the life of a young Hudson’s Bay Company trader. More importantly, it offers a first hand personal account of life in New Caledonia, that important treasure chest of fur-bearing animals first opened up by Simon Fraser of the Northwest Company and subsequently developed [after 1821] by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
This little book is of specific interest to this writer as it provides a very important look at the use of sled dogs in north central British Columbia during the 1880’s as well as an intimate look at the life of a young HBC trader at the Fort St. James post on Stuart Lake. The use of sled dogs by First Nations people in this region, indeed throughout most of what is now British Columbia, was essentially unknown before the presence of the traders. This history is also discussed in my blog posting of March 2009 [www.mushing past.blogspot.ca] entitled Sled Dogs and Stuart Lake.
It was the following quote from the book that initially attracted my attention. Bullock-Webster and two First Nations companions were travelling from their post at Connolly‘s Lake to the main headquarters at Fort St. James, for the Christmas season celebrations. They were almost there, the Fort was just around the next point on Stuart lake. Just like the voyageurs who paddled the large canots de maitre and north canoes across the country, they were determined to make a good impression when they made their grand arrival at the settlement.
“The Indians donned all the finery they had stored away carefully on the journey just for the occasion--dressed buckskin jackets with beautiful bead and porcupine quill work all over them; buckskin leggings to the thigh, with a broad band of beadwork down the sides, and garters three inches wide of exquisite porcupine quill work embellished with pom-poms of wool of all colours. They had , too, neat embroidered moccasins and a skunk skin cap with a broad band of beads, embroidered mittens and a big Hudson Bay scarlet sash [ceinture flechee….worn by the Metis people who may have been employed by the Hudson’s Bay]”.
“I tell you they looked beautiful, and were a credit to the squaws who made the clothes and designed everything with the most primitive tools, the sewing being done with an awl and sinews and the quills dyed with their vegetable dyes”.
“My dress was much the same, except for the orthodox blue stroud leggings to the thigh with scarlet fringe and the white blanket capote or parka [as I think they are called now] with big hood fringed with wolverine and very gorgeous mittens with fur tops, and, of course, the big red sash, which went twice round your waist, with the fringes hanging down the side….”.
I found this description to be quite exciting. The author had left Fort Connolly to journey to Fort St. James….“myself and two Indians, who helped to drive and break trail in the deep snow”. What isn’t clear is whether or not these natives were local Carrier or Sekani men, or whether they too were employees of the HBC. They could be half breed or Metis or possibly Iroquois. In addition to hiring native men, the HBC also contracted with Iroquois hunters/trappers to travel to regions like New Caledonia to trap furs for the company. In addition there were those Iroquois who simply took it on themselves to travel out to “le pays en haut” and to take their chances as independent trappers and hunters. So it isn’t clear, when the beautiful beadwork and embroidery is described, whether it is of Carrier, Sekani, Iroquois or even Metis origin. The fact that the scarlet sashes were part of the attire would suggest that it could be of Metis origin, and that the “Indians” could be of Cree/French background.
The author talks about wearing stroud leggings. Stroud is one form of wool blanketing material. His leggings were modelled on the buckskin leggings worn by the native men. The wearing of leggings necessitated a garter belt, used not unlike the manner in which today’s hockey players use a garter belt to keep their hockey socks in place. Wool leggings were worn by dog mushers right into the 1930’s and then they seemed to disappear from usage all together. No-doubt this is because of changing clothing styles and preferences, as well as due to the development of other/better options such as wool pants and bib overalls. Traditionally, native men [and women] almost universally wore leggings as opposed to pants or trousers.
The author signed on with the Hudson’s Bay Company as a 19 year old, in 1874. This book was written in 1938 when the author was 83 years of age. He can be excused for getting some of the small details wrong when relying on his memory to remember the details of events that had happened 64 years earlier. He joined the HBC in England as a cadet, he was indentured for a five year period at a pay of 30 English pounds a year. In his five years with the company he served in Montreal, Fort Garry, Peace River, the Mackenzie River area and ended up in New Caledonia.
While in Montreal he received his orientation to the fur trade while working at Hudson Bay House. In the mornings he worked in the office, where he learned all about paperwork and in the afternoon he worked in the warehouse. “There were piles of furs to be sorted and classified, and made into bales and a conglomeration of trade goods to be made up as consignments to different Forts. The men engaged in this work were mostly French Canadians, and the majority of them having served their time up at the northern posts, were experts at handling furs. They talked French [of a kind we didn’t learn at school] a patois mixed with Cree and English words and alarming, strange oaths……they taught me all they could of their French, saying I should find it more useful than English when dealing with Indians”.
The author states that he had “enough tales of his 5 years in the fur trade to fill a whole book“, but unfortunately he only devotes one full chapter to his time in Canada, the rest of the book focuses on his time in New Zealand. That one chapter starts “….In 1878 I was in charge of the Hudson’s Bay Trading Post at Fort Connelly, on Bear Lake, in the far north of British Columbia. I am sure that in my day no one except Hudson Bay men had ever seen this God-forsaken spot”.
Fort Connolly [or Connolly Lakes, also spelled Connelly by the author] post was established by James Douglas in the winter of 1826-27 under orders of chief factor William Connolly. This was really an outpost of Fort St. James, an extremely isolated location with very harsh, almost subsistence living conditions. It was located on Bear Lake, which is north of Takla Lake, near the Driftwood River. The intent was for this outpost to trade with the Sekani First Nation, those people who populated the area north of that inhabited by the Carrier First Nation. Bullock-Webster was stationed there in 1887, during the late 1800’s this post was open intermittently before being permanently closed in 1891.
A couple of notes of interest concerning Bear Lake and Fort Connolly:
1. The name “Bear Lake” seems to have been assigned to a fair number of lakes across the landscape. It is important not to confuse this Bear Lake with another Bear Lake, which is now known as Bowron Lake, located in central British Columbia. On one journey down the Fraser River on his way to the mouth of the Columbia to deliver furs and to pick up trade goods, William Connolly makes mention of meeting First Nations people at the mouth of the Liard River [which is now known as the Cottonwood River, which flows into the Fraser just north of Quesnel] and he says that these people were on their way overland to Bear Lake [which is now known as Bowron Lake]. This is one of the only references that this writer has found that clearly indicates that the First Nations people who Simon Fraser referred to in 1806 as the Nasquitins [Nazkoten] and who today are referred to as the Ndazkoh people, part of the Dakelh or the Carrier First Nation actually inhabited the Bowron Lake area for at least part of the year. These people were essentially wiped out by the epidemics of the 1860’s which coincided with the influx of thousands of gold seekers to the Bowron Lake [Barkerville] area during the Cariboo Gold Rush . The end result is that these people no longer frequent or inhabit this part of their ancestral lands.
2. Just at the north-east corner of Lake Tatla [which is what Takla lake was frequently referred to in the late 1800’s and the author uses this spelling] was the site of Bulkley House, which was built by Major F.L. Pope in 1865 during the search for the most direct route to construct the Collins Overland Telegraph. The survey crew did over-winter in this location, but Bulkley House was abandoned when the decision was made to actually construct this line along the route of present-day highway 16 West to Hazelton and then northwards towards Telegraph Creek, before construction of the line was abandoned altogether in 1868 following the laying of the transatlantic cable.
3. By the time that Bullock-Webster was around Takla Lake, this area was also being frequented by gold miners, attracted by the rush to find gold in the Omineca country. Some theorize that it was Pope’s men at Bulkley House that triggered the Omineca Gold Rush when they found “colours” in the creeks flowing into Takla Lake. One of the most direct routes to these gold fields was north along the system of lakes and rivers from Fort St. James to Takla Landing and then 50 miles overland to the goldfields. G.B.Wright of Quesnelle and Soda Creek, the man responsible for building the first sternwheeler to operate on the middle section of the Fraser River, the S.S. Enterprise, saw an opportunity to make some money and he actually succeeded in sailing this underpowered and unwieldy craft north to Fort George, up the Nechako River to the Stuart River, up this river to Fort St. James on Stuart Lake, up the Tachie River to Trembleur [Tremblay, Tremblai] Lake and then up the Middle River to Takla Lake. The Cariboo Gold Rush in the Quesnelle/Barkerville area was on the wane and Wright was now ideally situated to transport goods destined for the Omineca Gold Rush…..that is until the Enterprise sank in Trembleur Lake. The rusting metal parts of this vessel sat on the lakeshore for years until they were “rescued” and returned to Quesnel, where they now sit on the bank of the Fraser River.
4. A book published in 2004 by Caitlin Press, edited by Jay Sherwood and titled Surveying Northern British Columbia -- A Photojournal of Frank Swannell offers a very poignant look at Bear Lake and the people who lived there. Swannell was a surveyor who carried a cumbersome box camera with him everywhere he travelled. He journeyed into Bear Lake in 1911. This book contains a photo of the site of “Old Fort Connelly” [note the different spelling of Connolly] , where Bullock-Webster’s post was located. Bear Lake was a meeting place for the people of the Sekani First Nation who lived north and east of Bear Lake. The book contains photos of a special gathering on the occasion of the annual visit by Father Nicholas de Coccola O.M.I. to Bear Lake. The photos give a clear impression of the size of Bear Lake as well as of the isolation that was associated with Fort Connolly.
5. In a book published in 1948, written by Theodora C. Stanwell-Fletcher entitled Driftwood Valley gives some insight into life in the Bear Lake country in the late 1930’s. At this date there was still a white trader at Bear Lake although he was an independent operator who had previously worked as a trader at Takla Lake. There is also a small First Nations settlement consisting of about 6 families. At this time these people were using sled dogs for winter travel.
But enough of this digression…. let’s go back to the author’s journey from Fort Connolly with his two First Nations companions by dog team to Fort St. James to take part in the Christmas celebrations. He made his way with two dog teams comprised of four dogs each, each team was pulling a wooden toboggan. The author refers to these toboggans as “sleighs”, a perfect example of a historian’s nightmare. A sleigh is a sleigh is a sled while a toboggan is a toboggan. Fortunately the author was also an artist and he illustrates his text with his own line drawings…clearly showing a four dog team harnessed in tandem…pulling a toboggan….his artwork sets his words into context.
“We had had a week of awful cold, and a blizzard to contend with for the last two days, and were glad to see the Lake and better going”. [He is referring to Takla Lake, the fifth largest natural lake in British Columbia. The journey from Fort Connolly to Takla Lake would have taken a couple of days by dog team, longer if there was deep and/or wet snow]. “We were short of food, and had been on reduced rations for some days. The dogs were so hungry that night that we had to be careful to hang the harness well out of reach, or they would have eaten it and anything else that was chewable. We made a cosy camp, and there being some dead timber about, we got in a huge pile of big logs for the fire. While this was being done, I went back to the woods, or rather the high land on the Lake shore, and had the luck to shoot six ptarmigan and, what they call there a rabbit, though it is actually a big white Arctic hare”.
“This was soon in the pot, and we looked forward to a good square meal; but there was no bread and, of course, no vegetables, though we had a few dried beans which we boiled overnight, and fried up with bear’s fat for breakfast -- we’d run out of bacon. We were just about to begin our meal when the dogs barked like fury, and we grabbed our guns….through the gloom came two very weary-looking men with their packs on their backs…to my astonishment I saw that they were white men….they said they’d been fossicking [one of the delights of this book is the author’s use of very ‘British’ colloquialisms….fossicking is a term used in Cornwall, Australia and in New Zealand, and it refers to prospecting] all the summer for gold, away back south of Fort McLeod, and had determined to strike across to the Skeena via Hazelton….”.
“The meal over, we gave the dogs what bones were left -- but there weren’t many, as the Indians ate all the ptarmigan bones. The dogs got one dried salmon each as a rule, but they were now reduced to half a salmon till we shot some meat. Then we replenished the fire with big six foot logs to last all night….we were quite cosy and comfortable…pipes alight, we had a good yarn. It was quite a treat to meet someone from outside, as I’d been six months up there and had hardly spoken a word of English, that is to say, English as you’d understand it. Patois French and Chinook are not very expressive”.
“A bright, fine morning with a gorgeous sunrise, but no warmth whatever -- it was twenty below zero [Fahrenheit???]. We packed up, and I directed my friends to an Indian camp I knew of, on the trail to the Skeena, where I thought they’d probably be able to buy meat, and possibly get an Indian and a dog team to run them over the divide and down to the river”. The trail from Takla Lake ran west to Babine Lake, eventually connecting with the Skeena River which was the connection with the Pacific coast”.
“The sleighs were loaded, the dogs harnessed, the bells on their collars jingling, the whips cracked and away we went down the lake -- thirty miles to the next good camping place”. Takla Lake is connected by the Middle River to Trembleur Lake, which in turn is connected to Stuart Lake via the Tachie River. Once on Stuart Lake it is clear going to Fort St. James”. “What a thing it was to be young and absolutely fit, and in that dry snow and clear air! Though awfully cold, no germs or microbes lived, and we never caught cold or ‘flu; a thirty mile tramp on snowshoes didn’t tire us, and only gave us a huge appetite for the square meal we so often lacked”. The mushers were on snowshoes, they weren’t riding on the back of their toboggans. It’s important to note that running behind or in front of the loaded “sleigh” was more than likely the norm until relatively recently.
“Rounding a point on the Lake, I saw a cariboo [sp.] on the shore looking very dejected. The Indian ahead breaking trail dropped like a shot, and crawled back to us. We turned the teams in to the shore out of sight, and I gave him my rifle and sent him up over the bank and round the point to get a shot. I warned him that if he missed we’d jolly well eat him, and we had a job quieting the hungry dogs and muffling the bells on their harness. Bang! He’d got him, dogs barking, bells jingling! Whoo whoop! We will have a feed tonight! We found that he was in good condition, but had been shot in the knee and, by the look of it, quite recently….we had the cariboo skinned, cut up and on the sleighs in twenty minutes. We let the dogs scoff the offal, and eight hungry huskies put it out of sight in about three minutes. The two Indians ate the tit-bits raw while it was warm….we had cut the tender loin steaks each side of the backbone into two long strips, easily chopped off with the axe when we camped, and we cut the tongue out. This is one of the greatest delicacies in the north -- particularly when smoked”.
“With dogs fresh and full, and two Indians whooping with delight at the feast awaiting them when we camped, we bowled merrily along in the clear, frosty air and got to our camping place before dark…..What a feast we had! We toasted the steaks, filled the big billy with meat and stewed it down to soup. If we had only had a bag of flour and some dried vegetables, it would have been a real good dinner”.
“The weather being clear and very cold, and the going good, we did long marches and arrived in style at Fort St. James for Christmas. The arriving at Headquarters is, or was, made a great event. The dogs were made to look their best and the little round bells on their harness polished up with dry snow if you hadn’t anything better. The sleighs were most carefully packed, every lashing had to be in exactly the right place and the load properly distributed. Every detail was criticised by the others there to welcome us”.
This brings us to the excerpt that initially attracted my attention to this great little book and which I quoted above. The author indicates that they had a great time at Fort St. James over Christmas. “It would take many pages to describe all the good times we had during that fortnight --the meeting of pals from distant forts [Fort Kilmaurs [Babine], Fort George, Fort Mcleod, Fort Alexandria, Fort Fraser, Fort Connolly], the good food kept for the occasion and every native delicacy the North could show, moose nose, cariboo tongue, beaver tail and bear ribs, wild fowl of all sorts and frozen fish of every kind, the white fish and big lake trout. There were dances every night in the big trade room; violins gave the music, the French half-breeds being wonderful players…..We criticised each others’ teams of dogs, did some dealing and swopping and had dog races on the lake and shooting competitions in the woods….”.
“I had a hard trip back in a blizzard and deep snow, but with dogs fat and fresh and with plenty to eat. My fort looked more dismal than ever under the shadow of the Rockies; at that time of the year we only saw the sun for an hour or so. I was thankful that I had my leave coming, and would soon be getting out of it. However, Indians came in with stocks of furs, and I had a great trade, the best for years”.
“Gleefully, when the time came, I handed over the keys and the books to my successor, got my two favourite Indians, and packed my sledge, or toboggan [the Indian name for the usual dog sleigh]. No load this time, just my own belongings; you may be sure they were not much and we made record time back to Fort St. James…”.
The author took his leave, returning to England to visit his family. He never did return to HBC service, emigrating instead to New Zealand where he spent the rest of his working life around race horses and hunting hounds.
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