North of Athabasca: Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Documents of North West Company, 1800-1821 9780773568716

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North of Athabasca Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Documents of the North West Company, 1800-1821

The fur trade was an important building block in Canada's history. While much is known about the Hudson's Bay Company, information about the North West Company in the Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Districts has been scattered in various archives. In North of Athabasca Lloyd Keith provides the first detailed, document-based history of this pioneering company. Using unused or little-known documents, Keith fills in gaps and corrects inconsistencies in previous information about the company. North of Athabasca not only includes the extensively annotated texts of eleven North West Company documents but Keith's introductory essay amplifies what is known about the context of the fur trade. His biographical notes provide personal details about the proprietors and clerks involved in the fur trade as well as the engages and aboriginal trading leaders. A sketch of the trading activities of every Native mentioned in the journals is included. Engages are shown to be more than labouring drones - Keith demonstrates that men such as Jean-Baptiste LaPrise were as important in furthering the interests of the North West Company north of Athabasca as any of the clerks or proprietors who kept the accounts and wrote the journals included here. The journals, often in fractured English or colloquial Canadian French, and incorporating aboriginal terminology, make intriguing reading. A glossary is provided to assist with some of the more arcane terms. North of Athabasca fills an important void in the literature on this period and region. Readers interested in fur trade history as well as students of exploration, genealogy, ethnography, and Native studies will find this a welcome addition to the literature on a fascinating topic. LLOYD KEITH is professor emeritus of history and sociology, Shoreline Community College. He has published articles with the Centre for Rupert's Land Studies and Michigan State University Press.

RUPERT S LAND RECORD SOCIETY SERIES

Jennifer S.H. Brown, Editor 1 The English River Book A North West Company Journal and Account Book of 1786 Edited by Harry W. Duckworth 2 A Country So Interesting The Hudson's Bay Company and Two Centuries of Mapping, 1670-1870 Richard I. Ruggles 3 Arctic Artist The Journal and Paintings of George Back, Midshipman with Franklin, 1819-1822 Edited by C. Stuart Houston Commentary by I.S. MacLaren 4 Ellen Smallboy Glimpses of a Cree Woman's Life Regina Flannery 5 Voices from Hudson Bay Cree Stories from York Factory Compiled and edited by Flora Beardy and Robert Coutts 6 North of Athabasca Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Documents of the North West Company, 1800-1821 Edited with an Introduction by Lloyd Keith

North of Athabasca Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Documents of the North West Company, 1800-1821 Edited with an Introduction by LLOYD KEITH

McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca

In memory of Amy d 'Ernee Mates

© McGill-Queen 's University Press 2001 ISBN 0-7735-2098-8

Legal deposit second quarter 2001 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper Publication of this work has been made possible by grants from the International Council for Canadian Studies through its Publishing Fund and the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for its activities. It also acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for its publishing program, and support from the Centre for Rupert's Land Studies for its financial assistance.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: North of Athabasca: Slave Lake and Mackenzie River documents of the North West Company, 1800-1821 (Rupert's Land Record Society series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-2098-8

i. North West Company - History - Sources. 2. Fur trade Northwest Territories — Great Slave Lake Region — History — igth century - Sources. 3. Fur trade - Northwest Territories Mackenzie River Region - History - igth century - Sources. 4. North West Company - Biography. 5. Native peoples Northwest Territories - Great Slave Lake Region - History igth century - Sources. 6. Native peoples — Northwest Territories — Mackenzie River Region - History — i gth century Sources. 7. Great Slave Lake Region (N.W.T.) - History - igth century - Sources. 8. Mackenzie River Region (N.W.T.) History - igth century - Sources, g. North West Company History. 10. Northwest Territories - Genealogy. I. Keith, Lloyd II. North West Company. III. Series. FC3212.3-N67 2001 97i.g'2oi coo-goo77g-2 Fio6o.7-N67 2001

This book was typeset by Typo Litho Composition Inc. in 10/12 Baskerville.

Contents

Tables and Maps vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction

xi

PART O N E : O V E R V I E W

i

Historical Background 3 The Distant Past 3 The Recent Past 6 The North West Company 9 Slave Lake District, 1786-99 13 Mackenzie River District, 1795-1800

14

James Porter's Journal, 1800-1 18 John Thomson's Journal, 1800-1 22 Arrival of Opposition in Athabasca, 1800—4 Early Journals of W.F. Wentzel, 1802-5 31 Alexander McKenzie's Journal, 1805-6 37 Alexander HenryJr's Journal, 1806 41

2

^

vi Contents

George Keith's Journals, 1805-7 43 W.F. Wentzel's Journals, 1805-08

53

Declining Returns from the Mackenzie, 1807-15 57 Roderic McKenzie Correspondence, 1807-24 58 Aftermath, 1816-21 66 Wentzel's "Account of Mackenzies River with a Chart," 1821 70 Conclusions

76

PART T W O : NORTH WEST COMPANY D O C U M E N T S

8l

James Porter's Slave Lake Journal of 1800-1

83

John Thomson's Journal of 1800-1

126

W.F. Wentzel's Journals of 1802 and 1804-5 Alexander McKenzie's Journal of 1805-6

L

57

207

Alexander Henry, Jr's Journal of 1806 252 George Keith's Journals of 1805-6 and 1806-7

2

59

W.F. Wentzel's Journals and "Account of Mackenzies River," 1805-21 288 Biographical Notes, Mackenzie River and Slave Lake Districts, 1795-1821 365 Glossary 451 Notes 457 Bibliography Index

489

479

Tables and Maps

TABLES

Mackenzie River Basin Forts, 1795-1822

16

Athabasca Department Returns, 1799-1804 29 North West Company Officers, Mackenzie River District, 1795-1821 36 Mackenzie River District Returns, 1799-1821 55 MAPS Indigenous Peoples of the Mackenzie River Basin 5 Mackenzie River and Slave Lake Districts, 1795-1822 Murdoch McPherson's map of 1824 John McLeod's map of 1831 48 W.F. Wentzel's map of 1821

74

W.F. Wentzel's map of 1822

75

45

12

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Acknowledgments

I wish to thank those who have granted permission to publish the documents in this book. Without their cooperation, this project would not have been brought to fruition. My gratitude is extended to Dr Richard Virr of McLennan Library, McGill University, for permission to publish Wentzel's journals of 1802 and 1807, as well as Alexander McKenzie's and John Thomson's journals. Thanks are due to Judith Hudson Beattie, Keeper of the Hudson's Bay Company Archives, for permission to publish the several maps included in this volume that are found in that repository. My appreciation is extended to Mrs Niki Pollock of the Special Collections Department, Glasgow University Library, for permission to publish W.F. Wentzel's 1822 map of the Mackenzie River District. Susan Corrigall, Assistant Registrar for the National Register of Archives (Scotland), contacted Sir David Hope-Dunbar, Bart., Estate Factor for St Mary's Estate, who kindly gave permission to publish the documents transcribed from the Selkirk Papers. Timothy Dube of the National Archives of Canada pointed out that the Archives can neither grant nor deny permission to publish the manuscripts under its care. Consequently, a good-faith search for heirs of James Porter (journal of 1800-1) and W.F. Wentzel (journal of 1804-5) was made, but no response was forthcoming. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to the Syndics of Cambridge University Library for permission to publish Wentzel's account of the Mackenzie River District and the accompanying map. It is not possible to complete a project such as this without the unselfish help of others who are willing to offer editorial comment.

x Acknowledgments

Among those who read and commented on earlier versions of the manuscript are Shepard Krech III, who suggested, among other things, that Wentzel's account of the Mackenzie River District would serve as a fitting summary to the documents; Renee Fossett, whose valuable editorial comment and knowledge of the Inuit added to my understanding of the climate and people of the Arctic north; and William Sloan, who helped me correct several errors and who loaned me his valuable collection of source materials on the upper Mackenzie River basin. No one read as many versions of the manuscript as critically (and consequently, proved more helpful) as my wife, Karen. My most intimate gratitude is given her for her help and for enduring my obsession concerning this project over these past several years. Others have contributed their time and given their interest to the completion of this book. I owe a debt to the library staff at Shoreline Community College, Seattle, Washington, for their unfailing helpfulness, especially to Judissa Anders, who is in charge of interlibrary loans. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Darwen Hennings, who drew the maps, and Bill Prichard, who guided me through the deep and arcane recesses of Microsoft Word. I reserve my final tribute to Harry Duckworth and Jennifer S.H. Brown, both of whom gave freely and extensively of their time in providing several full reviews of the manuscript. I benefited from an extremely close reading, both in terms of substance and of manner of expression. Most of their editorial suggestions were incorporated into the final version of the book. In addition, as the General Editor of the documentary series of the Centre for Rupert's Land Studies, Jennifer Brown provided assistance in arranging for publication by McGill-Queen's University Press. Harry Duckworth opened his home and impressive library to me for two weeks one fall while I researched at the Hudson's Bay Company Archives in Winnipeg. For these, and many other favours and suggestions, I extend to them my deepest and most sincere gratitude.

Introduction "in one hundred and two days of that summer he [Alexander Mackenzie] covered three thousand miles, mapped the longest river of the continent, and added substantial evidence against the existence of a North West Passage. He had found some of the richest fur country in the world, but was disappointed in having revealed only the Arctic Ocean and not the Pacific at the estuary of the waterway which bears his name." Douglas MacKay1

In 1786 the first fur traders from Montreal arrived on the southern shores of Great Slave Lake. Just three years later North West Company proprietor Alexander Mackenzie descended the river that flows out of that lake with the hope of finding a water route to the Pacific Ocean. In that endeavour he was disappointed, but he did uncover a vast new area into which he and his compatriots hoped to extend the fur trade. Circumstances prevented an immediate response, but about 1795 the Nor'Westers built their first trading post on the Mackenzie River. The initial success was sufficient to encourage them to expand farther down the river in 1800. Returns continued to justify expansion, and by 1810 the company had five establishments on the river or its tributaries. However, the depletion of food sources and external problems caused the company to withdraw from the Mackenzie River District in 1815. It returned two seasons later, but lack of trade goods and provisions and transportation problems rendered the ensuing years unprofitable. The North West Company's tenure on the Mackenzie River came to an end in 1821, when it merged with the Hudson's Bay Company, although several individual Nor'Westers stayed on there as employees of the new concern. Despite the long association of several Nor'Westers with the Mackenzie River, only the exploits of its namesake, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, have become widely known. His other accomplishments notwithstanding, it is not altogether certain that Mackenzie found a new country rich in beaver pelts on his journey to the Arctic Ocean in the summer of 1789. Douglas MacKay's comment (quoted above)

xii

Introduction

reflects a commonly held assumption about the resources of the Mackenzie River basin and the potential the famous explorer uncovered, but few have inquired whether that potential was realized. In 1821 an experienced Mackenzie River trader, Willard Ferdinand Wentzel, claimed that "From all parts of the countries that I have endeavoured to describe herein, beaver and other peltries have been obtained while I was in MacKenzies river, a convincing proof how worthy they are of notice in a commercial point of view."2 Wentzel was certainly in a position to know whereof he spoke, but it is revealing that he did not mention how much peltry had been obtained and from what regions of the extensive Mackenzie River District they came. As it turned out, only the Liard River basin delivered many beaver pelts during the years of the North West Company's presence in the area. The Mackenzie below its confluence with the Liard yielded less marketable furs such as muskrat and marten. Wentzel's statement may be interpreted more as a promotion for future exploitation than as testimony of previous success in "some of the richest fur country in the world." It was my interest in the reputed riches of the Mackenzie River basin and the North West Company's response to Alexander Mackenzie's pioneering journey into that basin that led to the current research. Surprisingly, except for Mackenzie's exploration in 1789, little has been written on early-nineteenth-century European trade in the Great Slave Lake and Mackenzie River regions. Most recent research either is restricted to brief sections in otherwise more comprehensive works or else focuses on a specialized theme, such as Native responses to European intrusion.3 None of it provides much detail on the individuals concerned or the events in which they were involved. Shepard Krech explains this neglect by citing the paucity of documents that have survived from the first two decades of the nineteenth century concerning the Mackenzie River region.4 Although repositories are not overflowing with North West Company material pertaining to this time and place, at least a score of unpublished documents, in addition to a number of published primary sources, can be consulted. Many of these have not been fully utilized, nor in some cases have they even been mentioned. Because the eleven documents presented here were written by persons actually posted in the Slave Lake or Mackenzie River Districts before 1821, they offer, taken together, a coherent narrative of the events involved in the fur trade of the districts during this period, as well as a characterization of the people involved. This volume, then, provides for the first time a detailed, documentbased history of the North West Company's Slave Lake and Mackenzie River District fur trade. It presents new information from unused or

xiii Introduction

under-used documents that fill some of the gaps in the current literature and correct a few of the inconsistencies. With publication of the principal Slave Lake and Mackenzie River documents that have survived from this era, primary sources that have previously been unavailable or difficult to access will now reach a wider range of scholars and students interested in history or anthropology. These eleven documents comprise the most important remaining North West Company records written during the Slave Lake and Mackenzie River fur trade before 1821. Other documentary sources provide useful information about this period, but they reveal fewer details about the trade of the region. They include several early letters and journals written by North West Company personnel at posts on Great Slave Lake, such as Fort Providence and Hay River, all of which shed some light on events in that district, as well as on events farther down the Mackenzie River to the north. Similarly, Hudson's Bay Company post journals kept at Chiswick House, Fort Resolution, and Nottingham House provide insights on the movements of that rival firm not found in the North West Company journals. Other documents include letters from George Keith and W.F. Wentzel written to retired Nor'Wester Roderic McKenzie and published by L.R. Masson in 1889-90. These letters were personal rather than business correspondence, but, nevertheless, they provide details of the business not available elsewhere. That most prolific of the Mackenzie River journalists, W.F. Wentzel, also published two short reminiscences in Great Britain that, with care, can be used where nothing else is available. The North West Company's tenure on the Mackenzie River ran for a quarter of a century (1795-1821), until its merger with the Hudson's Bay Company. Its first trading post on Great Slave Lake was established a decade earlier. Ten of the eleven documents, published here, cover only the years between 1800 and 1808. W.F. Wentzel's "Account of Mackenzies River with a Chart" was written in 1821, after the merger, and provides the best source of information after 1808. The majority of these documents, then, were written during a short eight-year period of the company's long tenure in the region. Three of them, in fact, date from a single trading season (1805-6). No journals survive for the years 1787 to 1799 and 1808 to 1821. As a consequence, the study of these periods requires a greater degree of speculation. Judicious use of the sources already mentioned, however, and reasonable inference can illuminate even these cloudy periods. The authors of all but one of the eleven documents were clerks in the employ of the North West Company; Alexander McKenzie held the rank of partner or bourgeois. John Thomson and George Keith eventually became partners themselves, James Porter and Alexander

xiv Introduction

HenryJr died before they could receive any promotion, and W.F. Wentzel remained a clerk throughout his fur trade career. These six North West Company officers were required to keep journals of their experiences for the edification of the whole in planning for future investments in the Mackenzie River and Great Slave Lake trade. In doing so, what they chose to record was necessarily circumscribed by their status as sojourners. As temporary residents, they interpreted events through the eyes of foreign merchants intent on exploiting fur-bearing resources in a country alien to them but home to various aboriginal people. Consequently, the events described in these documents reflect the cultural experiences and expectations of European and Canadian middle-class mercantilists. The "voice," or cultural perspective, of the Natives is largely absent, as is that of the French-speaking engages. Had these silent participants left a written record of this period, they may very well have chosen to record a different sequence of events or given a different meaning or emphasis from what is found in the present documents. As the editor of John Franklin's journals, Richard C. Davis, points out, the most that can be said of nineteenth-century journal keepers is they have constructed a reflection or "shadow" of the experience they seek to represent by their choice of what to record and by the very words used to convey that record.5 These documents, then, can be viewed as constructed texts by which experiences are communicated, but they must not be confused with the experiences themselves. Two of the eleven documents originate from Great Slave Lake James Porter's journal of 1800-1 and W.F. Wentzel's summer journal of 1802. While not Mackenzie River documents, they provide many details relating to the company's expansion to the north, as well as particulars regarding Native-European relations. The only Indian account of the death of Duncan Livingston and his men in 1799 on the lower Mackenzie River is reported in Porter's journal. It is the earliest surviving journal from the Slave Lake District. Spanning two trading seasons, it begins in February of 1800 and ends in February of 1801. Contemporary with the second half of Porter's journal, John Thomson's journal fragment of 1800-1 is the earliest surviving Mackenzie River document. Not only does it establish the origin of Rocky Mountain Fort on the lower Mackenzie, but it provides strong evidence that no other trading posts existed below it before 1800. Thomson was the second North West Company trader on the Mackenzie (after Duncan Livingston, who established the first post, either in 1795 or 1796) and the first to establish the trade beyond the upper reaches of the Grand River, as the Mackenzie was known before 1805.

xv Introduction

Willard Ferdinand Wentzel is the most commonly encountered journalist in these documents, reflecting his longevity north of Athabasca. Except for one year's leave of absence, Wentzel served his employers on the Mackenzie River from 1802 to 1815, longer than anyone else in the history of the North West Company's presence there. His extended experience gave Wentzel a perspective on the Mackenzie River trade unequalled by anyone else. Besides the wealth of detail provided by his several journals, Wentzel wrote with a frankness not seen in the other journals and with a human - although not always humane - touch. Of his writing published here, the Slave Lake summer journal of 1802 documents the arrival of the rival XY Company on Slave Lake and the presence of a Red Knife Fort near Great Slave Lake's outlet. It also establishes the year in which Fort of the Forks (at the confluence of the Mackenzie and Liard rivers) was built. Wentzel authored the three surviving post journals from Fort of the Forks, in which he recorded the last year of XY Company competition on the Mackenzie, the earliest expansion of the trade up the Liard River, and a wealth of detail regarding Indian-European relations along the Mackenzie River. One of his most noteworthy contributions dates from 1821, when he wrote an account of the North West Company's trade in the Mackenzie River District. This document, also published here, complements the scattered letters and secondhand information that must be relied on concerning the region's affairs between 1808 and 1821. When W.F. Wentzel suggested the company expand up the Liard River in 1805, twenty-six-year-old George Keith was sent to accomplish the task. Keith was the first European-born fur trader to establish himself up the Liard River. A careful reading of his two fragmentary journals, included here, along with his letters to Roderic McKenzie, clarifies much of the murkiness that surrounds the early trade on that river. Lacking the detail or frankness of Wentzel, Keith nonetheless recorded enough information for historians to establish the sequence of trading posts on the Liard, an organization of historical detail provided nowhere else. When George Keith journeyed to the Mackenzie River, he accompanied the brigade headed by North West Company partner Alexander McKenzie, nephew of his more famous namesake, Sir Alexander, and who was the first North West Company proprietor to winter in the Mackenzie River District. McKenzie posted himself at Great Bear Lake for two trading seasons, 1805-6 and 1806-7, an^ his journal for the first of these two seasons has survived. From this journal one learns that the future Fort Good Hope was established in 1806 at the mouth of the Bluefish River. In addition to giving details on his plans to expand the trade, McKenzie's journal is valuable because he attached

xvi Introduction names to the many participants in the activities of fort life in and around Great Bear Lake. Apparently only imperfectly educated, McKenzie's unschooled writing in both English and French presents many interesting difficulties in transcription. He frequently spelled phonetically, but his pronunciation varied from day to day, as did his spelling. On a number of occasions, he offered two or three versions of a name for the same person, especially when it came to Native trading leaders. McKenzie displayed an imperious nature that, with his irascible personality, earned him the nickname The Emperor. Accompanying Alexander McKenzie to Great Bear Lake was a clerk by the name of Alexander Henry, Junior. The oldest son of a retired North West Company partner, Alexander Henry the Elder, he was dispatched to an outlying post on an island in Great Bear Lake. A fragment of Henry's Bear Island journal exists and is included in this volume, not so much because it is interesting, but because it corroborates information from Alexander McKenzie's journal. Seven of the eleven documents published in this book are originals and are located in three repositories - the National Archives of Canada, the Rare Books and Special Collections Department of the McLennan Library at McGill University, and the Cambridge University Library in the United Kingdom. The National Archives of Canada holds the journal of James Porter, as well as the the journal of W.F. Wentzel for 1804-5 at Fort of the Forks. They make up volumes 6 and 8, respectively, of the fifty-nine-volume Masson Collection. The Masson Collection originated with fur trader Roderic McKenzie, who retired from the North West Company in 1801. Setding near Montreal, he retained an interest in the fur trade country and hoped to publish a book on the subject. Mackenzie's grandson-in-law, LouisFrancois-Rodrique Masson, inherited the collection of fur trade documents and, in 1889 and 1890, published a two-volume set under the title Les Bourgeois de la Compaq/lie du Nord-Ouest. Upon Masson's death, the collection was divided between the then Public Archives of Canada and McGill University.6 At McGill University, Masson's collection includes the journals of Alexander McKenzie and John Thomson, and W.F. Wentzel's summer journal of 1802 at Slave Lake, as well as his journal of 1807-8 at Fort of the Forks. One of the original documents included in this volume is not a part of the Masson Collection. It is W.F. Wentzel's "Account of Mackenzies River with a Chart," which he wrote in February of 1821 while assisting John Franklin's first Land Arctic Expedition. It was written from memory and may contain a slip of the pen here and there, but it is the only attempt at an overview of the Native people, the resources, and the fur

xvii

Introduction

trade history to 1821 of the Mackenzie River basin. Wentzel's motivation for writing this account can only be guessed at. It was written before the merger of the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies while Wentzel was still a clerk for the latter concern. Rumours of the merger must have been afloat, however, and it may have been anticipation of some new arrangement that brought Wentzel to draw his valuable map of the district and to write his account. The original of this document can be found in the Cambridge University Library in the United Kingdom. While a photograph of Wentzel's map was obtained from that repository, the microfilm copy of the manuscript held by the National Archives of Canada has been consulted here. Four of the documents survive as handwritten copies in a collection called the Selkirk Papers, which can be found in the National Archives of Canada. They are George Keith's Liard River journals of 1805-6 and 1806-7, W.F. Wentzel's Fort of the Forks journal of 1805-6, and the small fragment that makes up Alexander Henry Jr's Bear Island post journal of 1806. Only microfilm copies of these documents have been consulted. All are handwritten copies made by the Public Archives of Canada in 1906 from originals then in private hands. Thomas Douglas, the fifth earl of Selkirk (and a stockholder in the Hudson's Bay Company), obtained these North West Company documents in 1816 when he captured Fort William on his way to Red River Settlement. Because a number of documents come from the Athabasca Department, it is likely that Selkirk also confiscated records kept at that department's entrepot, Lac La Pluie (Rainy Lake). He was interested in documenting any incriminating evidence that could be used against the North West Company, and he had especially damning portions of some of the journals copied. It was these excerpts, as well as short or lengthy fragments of entire journals, that clerks from the Public Archives later copied. In 1940, a fire destroyed the originals, so that only copies of this collection remain.7 Each of the documents has been transcribed as carefully as possible, retaining the original peculiarities of spelling and punctuation. Editorial emendations are inserted in square brackets ([ ]). Some of the original documents included page numbers, while others did not. In the transcriptions, page numbers are uniformly provided in square brackets, whether they were found in the original or not. The layout of each journal has been retained, except that silent spaces have been added to suggest distinct sentences. Dates of journal entries have all been placed flush with the left margin for the convenience of the reader. Except for these minor alterations, the separate journals appear as much like the manuscripts as is possible with a modern

xviii

Introduction

computer. A glossary of uncommon terms and abbreviations can be found at the back of the book, just before the bibliography. A brief biographical sketch of each of the men named in these documents can be found following W.F. Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River with Chart."

PART ONE OVERVIEW

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Historical Background

THE D I S T A N T PAST

No one knows how long humans have occupied the valley of the Mackenzie River. The most that can be said is that physical evidence survives that indicates a human presence there for at least twelve thousand years.1 The region may well have been peopled earlier, but corroborative evidence has not been found, perhaps because recurring periods of continental glaciation have eradicated any earlier sites and artifacts. Some twenty thousand years ago, the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets merged at what would later become the Mackenzie River valley, forming a continent-wide glacial expanse. Sometime before 12,000 BP (before present), climatic warming caused the two ice sheets to retreat in opposite directions, opening up the Mackenzie River valley as an ice-free corridor to the interior of the continent. Tundra-like herbs and shrubs soon invaded the newly opened corridor, attracting large grazing animals such as mammoths, mastodons, bison, and caribou. It is not unlikely that predators (such as humans) followed these animals in their migrations. By 10,000 BP, open woodlands extended to the mouth of what would become the Mackenzie River, and within the past three thousand years, the distribution fauna and flora of the present Mackenzie River basin (with the exception of the extinct mammoth and mastodon) was established.2 While the Mackenzie River valley may have attracted large grazing animals and their human predators, there is little evidence that many

4 North of Athabasca

early hunters remained. Some sites of Fluted Point people3 west of glacial Lake McConnell (near the modern Peace River) date from 11,500 BP, but none have been found in the Mackenzie River basin. A Northern Interior Microblade culture (microblades were long, narrow tools with a sharp cutting edge) centred in Alaska and Yukon by 10,000 BP may have extended into the Mackenzie River basin, but the earliest confirmed inhabitants of the region were the Acasta, a caribouhunting people who lived north of Great Slave Lake as early as 7,000 BP. Little seems to be known of the Acasta, except that their tools did not include microblades as did those of their neighbours and that they apparently disappeared by 6,000 BP. It is not known if any modern aboriginal people are descended from the Acasta.4 The Yukon-centred Northern Interior Microblade culture was superseded, about 4,500 BP, by the Northern Archaic culture. This change may have resulted from the diffusion of cultural traits from the south or from an invasion of a different people, or both. In any case, Northern Archaic became distinguishable from the earlier culture through the use of notched projectile points. Northern Archaic peoples may have been the ancestors of the modern Gwich'in, K'pshot'ine, Kaska Dena, Deh G(3h Got'ine, and Dogrib.5 By 2.,500 BP, the Taltheilei, possibly related to the Northern Archaic people, migrated eastward from northern British Columbia into the lands about and to the northeast of Great Slave Lake and Lake Athabasca. They were the ancestors of the modern Dene and T'atsaot'ine.6 Distinct from the migrations just mentioned was that of the Palaeo-Eskimo. About 4,000 BP, an Asiatic people who had resided in Alaska for unknown millennia began an eastward trek that would see them sweep from the mouth of the Mackenzie River across the Arctic to Newfoundland and Greenland. After 3,500 BP, the PalaeoEskimo expanded southward into lands abandoned by Shield Archaic people who were forced southward by climatic cooling. They occupied areas as far south as Great Slave Lake and, possibly, the northern shores of Lake Athabasca. About eleven hundred years ago, a second wave of northern peoples from Alaska migrated eastward, bringing with them a superior fishing and hunting technology, including dogsleds. This second wave of Asiatic migration, called the Thule culture by anthropologists, eventually displaced the Palaeo-Eskimo and is ancestral to the modern Inuit. Prior to European contact a period of climatic cooling known as the Little Ice Age (1550-1850) caused the Thule culture to adapt to a harsher environment, so that, except in the eastern Arctic, the Inuit way of life first observed by Europeans was a modification of the way they had lived for centuries.7

Indigenous Peoples of the Mackenzie River Basin

6

North of Athabasca

THE RECENT PAST

The human history of the Mackenzie River basin, then, extends over a period of at least twelve thousand years. By the late i yoos, Athapascan-speaking people had resided in the area for some forty-three hundred years, while the Inuit had been present for nearly a thousand years. The population of aboriginal peoples in the region at contact is unknown, but communities were organized into small, widely dispersed hunting and fishing bands. Caribou in the north and moose in the south were the primary large game animals, while lake trout, whitefish, burbot, and inconnu were the most commonly caught fish. The snowshoe hare provided the basic winter staple all along the Mackenzie River. The Athapascan peoples consisted of eight distinct nations, united by a common language and many common customs. To the south of Great Slave Lake were Chipewyans, some of whom had traded with the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Prince of Wales since early in the eighteenth century. It was probably through Chipewyan middlemen that articles of European manufacture diffused to the people to the north and west. Sometime during this century, Russian goods from Alaska also reached Natives of the lower Mackenzie.8 Yellowknives lived to the north and east of Great Slave Lake. Known in fur trade journals as Red Knives or Copper Indians, these Athapascans were culturally so similar to Chipewyans that they were distinguishable from them only by the territories they exploited and their political identity in relation to neighbouring nations.9 Yellowknives received their several names because they used local copper (found thirty miles or so from the mouth of the Coppermine River) in the manufacture of tools and ornaments. In 1821 English explorer John Franklin estimated their number at 190 men, women, and children organized into three distinct bands.10 Franklin's rendering of what the Yellowknives called themselves, Tal tsa oo dinne, compares closely with the modern spelling of T'atsaot'ine. By the middle of the twentieth century, Yellowknife was no longer a recognizable ethnic entity. All Yellowknives either had died or were amalgamated into neighbouring nations.11 Centred around Lac La Martre, to the north and west of Great Slave Lake, lived the Dogrib nation. In 1821 W.F. Wentzel, who called them the Horn Mountain Indians, estimated there were some two hundred men and boys "capable of pursuing the chase."12 To John Franklin, Wentzel stated the Dogrib in all totaled some 380 men, women, and children.13 If he was accurate, the Dogribs made up the largest of the trading nations along the Mackenzie River. Krech states that they were

7 Historical Background

divided into six "families," or regional bands.14 Fur trader George Keith referred to them as the Filthy Lake Indians, presumably based on an alternative name (Lac La Merde or Dung Lake) given to Lac La Martre. Although they considered themselves distinct from the Slaveys, Keith felt they should be classed with the former "because the language, customs and manners are common to both."15 The Slavey were an Athapascan people who occupied the lands along and above the confluence of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers. Those along the Liard were known by some early fur traders as the Strong Bow or Beaver Indians.16 W.F. Wentzel estimated the Slavey to number about seventy men and boys capable of pursuing the hunt. The Liard Slaveys claimed to be related to the Peace River Beaver, having separated from them in the distant past while fleeing marauding Crees and having been forced northward to the Liard.17 There they displaced the resident Nahanni (today's Kaska), who themselves fled to the remote mountains north of the Liard. Direct trade with the Nahanni did not begin until the late 18205 and early i83os.18 Some contemporary scholars consider the Slavey an intermediate group between the Dogribs and Beaver Indians of Peace River.19 North of the Slavey resided the Rocky Mountain Indians, in the territory bounded by the Liard and South Nahanni Rivers to the south and west and by the North Nahanni and Mackenzie Rivers to the north and east. Krech considers them a branch of the Slavey. Although Wentzel classed them as distinct from the Liard River Indians, he, too, considered the Mountain Indians a mixture of Beaver (Slavey) and Dogrib and "next to the beaver Indians ... the best hunters known along MacKenzies River."20 The Mackenzie River journals sometimes referred to them as Montagneurs, but these Rocky Mountain Indians should not be confused with the Montagneurs mentioned in the Slave Lake journals and James McKenzie's Fort Chipewyan journal, where the term probably referred to a band of Chipewyans.21 The most northerly Athapascan peoples were the Loucheux (today's Gwich'in) and Hare, who, for the most part, occupied the territory to the west and east of the lower Mackenzie River, respectively. Although more numerous than the Slavey or Dogribs, the Hare occupied a land less bountiful in natural resources. Except in April and August, when caribou and musk oxen could be hunted, there were relatively few large game animals. Beavers were scarce in the lands north of Great Bear Lake where the Hare resided, although martens and muskrats abounded. These people subsisted mostly on fishing and snowshoe hare. Calling them the Big or Long Arrowed Indians, fur trader George Keith commented that, even after the establishment of nearby

8 North of Athabasca

trading posts, the Hare continued to pursue their traditional ways, little affected by the presence of European conveniences.22 The Loucheux consisted of ten distinct bands occupying an area of some 121,800 square miles that stretched from Alaska to east of the Mackenzie River delta. Only three of these bands, one of which has since disappeared, resided within the Mackenzie River drainage system.23 The French term "Loucheux," translates loosely as squint-eyes. The reference alluded to their keen sense of sight (it was said they could see out of both sides of their heads at once) and not to the presence of an epicanthic fold. They were also known to fur traders as Quarrellers and appear in the ethnographic literature as Kutchin and, more recently, Gwich'in.2* Krech estimates the precontact population of all the Loucheux bands may have numbered 5,400, but it is not known what proportion of that figure made up the Mackenzie River bands.25 The Loucheux were a forest-dwelling people hunting large game animals such as moose and caribou. Like other Athapascans, they fished for whitefish and trout in the lakes and streams that abounded in their territory; their subsistence economy encouraged a patterned and cyclical nomadic existence.26 The Esquimaux (or Inuit of today) were culturally distinct from their Athapascan neighbours. Descendants of the Thule people, they were relative newcomers, with an ancestral presence of about a thousand years. They occupied the area around the Mackenzie River delta and the adjacent Arctic coast. Lost in antiquity are the causes of the persistent enmity that existed between the Esquimaux and the Athapascan peoples to the south, and while intermittent trade did occur between the two, hostility continued well into the nineteenth century. Originally a whaling people, climatic cooling beginning early in the sixteenth century prompted the Esquimaux to make subsistence adaptations. Conditions were especially severe between 1790 and 1830, when a period of intense cold (known as the Little Maunder Minimum) brought sudden and widespread climatic deterioration.27 Sea ice grew thicker and longer-lasting than usual, making sea-based food supplies difficult to obtain. Summers were spent inland hunting for caribou and fishing, followed by a return to the coast in winter to hunt seals.28 Perhaps it was the increased competition for food that brought about the long-standing conflict between Esquimaux and Athapascan. Along the Mackenzie River, contact with Loucheux and Hare occurred from time to time when parties of Esquimaux would ascend the river some four hundred miles to the limestone cliffs that constrict the river at a place called the Ramparts. They were in search of the flinty slate from which they made knives and arrowheads. Alexander Mackenzie

9 Historical Background

wrote in 1789 that his guide was fearful of descending the river beyond the Ramparts because "of the Eskmeaux, who he says are very wicked and will kill us all, that it is but two summers since a great Party of them came up this River and killed a Number of his Relations."29 The Nor'Westers, desirous of trade, eventually made contact with the Esquimaux in the vicinity of the Mackenzie River delta in 1799, but to no economic gain and with the loss of their lives. Esquimaux were blamed, perhaps unfairly, for the deaths of four fur traders. These, then, were the aboriginal peoples who inhabited the valley of the Mackenzie before the earliest contacts with Europeans. The first direct contact occurred in 1789, during the well-known exploration of Alexander Mackenzie, but knowledge of Europeans preceded him, for he was told a story of white men trading far to the west.30 It is quite possible that knowledge of Europeans and trade items of European manufacture had diffused into the Mackenzie River basin from both the Russian traders to the west and the English traders on Hudson Bay to the east, although, as Krech warns, there is no evidence that European traders or their trade goods had any significant impact on the Athapascan or Inuit way of life at this stage.31 However, the subsequent direct contact with Europeans, with their trade goods, alcohol, and diseases, would fundamentally alter the lives of Native peoples of the Mackenzie River. THE NORTH WEST COMPANY

By the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the trade in beaver pelts and other furs had long been an important industry in North America. For two hundred years, first the French and later the English exploited the seemingly inexhaustible resource in North American peltry for European markets. It was not until the second half of the eighteenth century, however, that Montreal-based Scottish entrepreneurs would enter into competition with the Hudson's Bay Company, which had been established in the business since 1670. A fitful attempt at organization by the Montrealers in 1779 failed to coalesce, but in 1783 a new trading agreement was reached that included experienced traders (called wintering partners) and a number of Montreal capitalists led by the firm of McTavish, Frobisher and Company. It was called the North West Company. For the next thirty-eight years, the Nor'Westers provided the only serious competition to the London-based Hudson's Bay Company. The North West Company operated under several distinct disadvantages not faced by the Hudson's Bay Company. First, unlike the English it did not enjoy a royal charter, and so did not receive the same

io North of Athabasca

incentives and prerogatives from government. Second, unlike the English it did not have the reliable cash reserves that were needed in a business where a pound invested might not show a return for three or four years. Finally, and most importantly, the Nor'Westers had much more difficult and costly logistical problems in getting their product to market. The Hudson's Bay Company depot (York Factory) was fifteen hundred miles closer to the resource than was the Montreal headquarters of the North West Company. Once aboard ship at York Factory, the Bay-men's furs were transported directly to London and to market. The Nor'Westers, on the other hand, had to invest in men, provisions, and equipment to transport their furs through several river systems to their western depot on Lake Superior and from there to Montreal, all before freeze-up. They had to contend with the difficulties of this mode of transportation and, in addition, with the frequently uncooperative Americans along part of their route. Once in Montreal, the furs had to be sorted and cleaned in preparation for shipment to London before the St Lawrence River froze, usually sometime in November. If the furs could not be readied in time, they had to be held over another year, which was costly and delayed return on the investment. It was the desire to seek a solution to the tremendous costs associated with getting furs to market that prompted the Nor'Westers to seek a "northwest passage" to the Pacific Ocean and to the markets of China. Indian trade routes into the interior of the continent west of Lake Superior had been followed by French traders during the 17308 and 17405. After the conquest of Canada, Scots traders from Montreal reestablished those routes to the Saskatchewan River, and by the 17705 a water link was found that enabled them to reach deep into the interior as far as the Churchill River. In 1778 a Montreal-based American trader by the name of Peter Pond succeeded in traversing the twelvemile-long Methye Portage and entered into country called the Athabasca, which was destined to become the most productive department in the domains of the North West Company.32 The problem became evident: expansion into each new drainage system, although it might be rich in furs, increased the distance between fur sources and their markets and therefore increased transportation costs. The country beyond Methye Portage was so remote that returns could not be transported in one season to the company's depot on Lake Superior. The cost of transportation approached the value of the furs, so that further expansion to the northwest would soon become a money-losing proposition. After establishing a post on Athabasca River in the early 17805, Pond began gathering information regarding the lay of the land to the north, including Great Slave Lake and its outlet. He himself appears to have explored part of the lake

11

Historical Background

and its outlet.33 Pond was aware of the North Pacific exploration of the English mariner James Cook and was especially interested in the portion of Cook's charts that indicated a river flowing into Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, on the south Alaska coast. Speculating that the outlet from Great Slave Lake and the river flowing into Turnagain Arm might be the sought-after route to the Pacific Ocean, Pond unwittingly made a major contribution to Northwest exploration. He did not test his own speculation, however, for he withdrew from the trade in 1788. Instead, Pond inspired a fellow winterer to seek out "Cook's River." That man was Alexander Mackenzie. By 1783, the same year the North West Company was formed, a permanent establishment was built on the Athabasca River, south of Lake Athabasca. The newly organized company assumed management of the Athabasca post, and in the fall of 1785 Peter Pond took charge of the North West Company's affairs in the new department. The Nor'Westers were not without rivals, however, and Montreal merchants who were left out of the new arrangements sent wintering partners of their own to Athabasca in opposition. One consequence was the establishment of rival outposts in the Lake Athabasca area. It is not known how many outposts were established, but one seems to have been built by Cuthbert Grant on the north shore of Lake Athabasca.34 Lake Claire may have been another location, for in 1800 James Porter spent a summer there near an "old fort" that may date from this period. In the fall of 1786, the North West Company sent Cuthbert Grant to build a trading post on Great Slave Lake about eighteen miles east of the mouth of the Jean River to accommodate the northern Chipewyans.35 Rival Laurent Leroux provided opposition by building alongside Grant. How long the Nor'Westers remained at this location is unknown, but by 1791 they seem to have built at a new site on the south shore. In July of that year, Malchom Ross and Philip Turnor of the Hudson's Bay Company visited Great Slave Lake and observed the Canadians busy building a new trading post two miles west of the eastern branch of Slave River.36 Later, the post was moved fifteen miles up the Slave River to Ring Lake, where, it was hoped, the fishing would be better. When Alexander Mackenzie descended what he called the Grand River in 1789, he hoped to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean and the markets of China. Although his interest concerned the Grand River itself, and not any of its tributaries, he did investigate the lower two miles of the Liard in August on his return to Athabasca.37 During Mackenzie's journey to the polar sea, Laurent Leroux, now employed by the North West Company, built a second post on Great Slave Lake's northern arm to draw the trade from the Yellowknives.38 Some time

12

North of Athabasca

Mackenzie River and Slave Lake Districts, 1795—1822

later (exactly when and by whom is unknown), the company erected a post among the Dogribs on what was then known as Lac La Merde (as mentioned, today's Lac La Martre) to the northwest of Great Slave Lake and east of the upper Mackenzie River.39 Meanwhile, Roderic McKenzie, first cousin to the famous explorer, abandoned Pond's old

13 Historical Background

Athabasca River Post and established a new headquarters on the southern shore of Lake Athabasca that he called Fort Chipewyan. In 1790 Roderic McKenzie wintered at a post near the entrance of the Mackenzie River that was intended to serve the Slaveys who lived along the upper reaches of the Grand River, but apparently it did not survive long.40 S L A V E L A K E D I S T R I C T , 1786-99

In 1786, Nor'Wester Cuthbert Grant and Laurent Leroux, representing the firm of Gregory, McLeod and Company, brought fur trade competition north of Athabasca. The two rivals built alongside each other about eighteen miles east of the Slave River delta on the lake's southern shore. Leroux apparently arrived without incident, but as Grant's brigade passed down the Slave River, two of his canoes and five men were lost at the rapids that, to this day, are called the Rapids of the Drowned.41 The North West Company merged with Gregory, McLeod and Company in 1787, so afterwards only one post traded at that location.42 Winter subsistence in the Slave Lake District depended heavily on fish and required that the location of a trading post was selected with as much attention to the productivity of the fishery as to its convenience for the trade. The original site of the post on Slave Lake was abandoned within five years because the traders could not catch any fish.43 Hoping to improve their fishery, they selected a site nearer the mouth of Slave River. The responsibility for overseeing the construction of the post was left with Frangois Piche who in 1787 shot and killed an opposing trader, after which he spent the next three years in seclusion among the Chipewyans. This posting appears to have been Piche's reentry into active employment with the North West Company.44 Other short-lived posts were established from time to time in the Slave Lake District between 1789 and 1799, but the only permanent establishment, besides the post near Slave River, was located at Lac La Martre. It is not clear when the Nor'Westers built this post, but fur trader W.F. Wentzel stated it occurred in the third year after the opening of trade among the Dogribs and Yellowknives, perhaps in 1792. This post may have been built by Duncan Livingston's ill-fated interpreter, James Sutherland. Sutherland succeeded in attracting Dogribs and Yellowknives to trade at the post on the southern shores of Great Slave Lake, but because the distance from their lands to the post was so great, they desired an establishment built closer to them.4^ It is not known who served as master at Lac La Martre before 1799; however, James Porter's journal reveals that John Steinbruck acted in that capacity in 1799-1800 and again the following year.

14 North of Athabasca

The post built by Frangois Piche on Great Slave Lake's southern shore was abandoned in 1794 in favour of a new location on the largest of the Moose Islands, near the delta of the Slave River. For some unspecified reason, this site was also found wanting, and in 1799 the Nor'Westers moved once again. This time, they established themselves on a small lake off the main channel of the Slave River, about a mile from its east bank and about fifteen miles from its mouth. This trading post occupied the third distinct site of the North West Company's activities at Slave Lake.46 The small lake remained nameless in the journals, but today it is known as Ring Lake. It produced lake trout, inconnu, and whitefish, but by 1800, when James Porter's journal was written, Ring Lake's fishery failed to support the post. The fishery at the group of islets known as Moose or Moose Deer Islands supplemented the post's larder until 1804, when the entire establishment was moved back to Moose Island. MACKENZIE

RIVER DISTRICT, 1795-1800

The North West Company did not expand into the new territory first explored by Alexander Mackenzie for some time, and it was not until 1795 (some accounts say 1796) that clerk Duncan Livingston received orders to proceed to the Grand River and establish the trade. He selected a site some eighty miles below Great Slave Lake near the mouth of Trout River, a spot where, in 1789, Alexander Mackenzie camped both on his descent as well as on his return to Fort Chipewyan.47 As one of the highest-paid clerks in the Athabasca Department, the company directorate considered Livingston well-suited for the responsibility of opening up new territory. Along with Simon Fraser he received a salary of twelve hundred livres, a sum more than twice that of any other clerk in the department.48 Livingston's Trout River Post served the Mackenzie River Slaveys until 1802, when it was abandoned. That year a replacement was built at the confluence of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers, which came to be known as Fort of the Forks. The site of the original post, like many abandoned posts, came to be known as Old Fort.49 Livingston's successful season of 1798-99 at Trout River Post resulted in a return of sixty-nine packs of furs.5° In the summer of that year, while attempting to follow up on his success on the upper river, Livingston, with his interpreter James Sutherland, three Canadians, and three Slavey guides, descended the river for eight days to establish the trade among the Esquimaux. Somewhere in the upper delta region of the Mackenzie, either through an attack by the Esquimaux or the Loucheux or through duplicity on the part of his guides,

15 Historical Background

Livingston and his men were killed.51 Livingston is said by some to have constructed a post on Great Bear Lake in 1799, although there is no documentary evidence of such an establishment at so early a date. It is more likely that Livingston's successor ordered construction of the first North West Company buildings on Great Bear Lake in 1801.52 The company partners lost no time in providing a replacement for Duncan Livingston. Their choice was clerk John Thomson, who had been posted at Grand Marais on the Peace River until April of 1799.53 Judging from his salary of 240 livres per annum, Thomson ranked as one of the more junior clerks in the Athabasca in 1799 but, perhaps, the only one available to respond to the emergency occasioned by Livingston's death.54 How the distressing news reached Fort Chipewyan is not known, but it is known that Thomson wintered on the Grand River in 1799-1800, because James Porter mentioned sending him supplies from Great Slave Lake on several occasions.55 Thomson, together with his assistant, Francois Piche, reoccupied Livingston's old post that first year, continuing the trade that had already been established. In the spring of 1800 Piche was sent on an expedition to trade among the Slavey and Rocky Mountain Indians lower down the Mackenzie. At a place some distance below the mouth of the Liard River, Piche met a Rocky Mountain Indian trading leader he called Big Chief who indicated a desire to have a post established in his country. After he was shown the precise location, Piche promised Big Chief the company would build there the next year.56 Among those who traded at Trout River Post was The Partridge, a Liard River Slavey, who later played a conspicuous part in the company's expansion into the Mackenzie (for details concerning the Mackenzie River Basin forts, see table i ).57 When hearing of the new post Thomson had built on the Mackenzie, The Partridge let it be known it would be more convenient for him to trade there than at Trout River Post. Because he had taken his credits at the latter post, Thomson dissuaded him from changing posts. The desires of The Partridge were met in 1805, however, when the North West Company established posts up the Liard River, where he could trade closer to his hunting lands. Besides the Slaveys, neighbouring Yellowknives (whom most of the Nor'Westers called Red Knives) also traded at the fort. Business was brisk; Porter received a report on 7 March 1800 that good news had arrived from Mr Thomson proclaiming "all the Red Knives has their credits & a good many skins over." The Yellowknives, however, may have had a different view of the happy news. Grand Blanc, a

Table i Mackenzie River Basin Forts 1795-1822 Dates

Fort

Location

Company

1795-1802

Trout River Post

Right bank, opposite and downstream from the mouth of Trout River on the Mackenzie

NWC

Duncan Livingston

Masson 1960, 1:95; Wentzel 1823, 77

1801-15

Great Bear Lake

Three miles from outlet of Great Bear Lake River on north shore of the lake

NWC

Unknown

Masson 1960, 1:95; 2:106; Wentzel 1821; McKenzie's journal

1800-02

Rocky Mountain Fort

Opposite North Nahanni River on the Mackenzie

NWC

John Thomson

Thomson'sjournal, 1800-1

1802-15

Fort of the Forks

Confluence of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers

NWC

W.F. Wentzel

Wentzel' s journal of 1802

1803

Fort of the Forks

Confluence of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers

XY

Unknown

HBCA, B39/a/l, fol. 24; B41/a/l, fol. 7

1804-5

Great Bear Lake

Near the outlet of Great Bear Lake River

XY

Allan McDonell

Wentzel' s journal of 1804

1805-6

Netla Fort

Right bank of the Liard River near the mouth of the Neda River

NWC

George Keith

Keith's journal of 1805

1806-15; 1818-22

Bluefish River Fort (later) Fort Good Hope

Mouth of Bluefish River (Mountain or Carcajou) on the left bank of the Mackenzie. Fort Good Hope: various locations

NWC

Charles Grant

Initial master

Sources

McKenzie's journal of 1805; Ruggles 1991, 32gles 1991, 32

Dates

Fort

Location

1806-11

BiskagaFort

Left bank of Liard River near and opposite Biskaga (Muskeg) River

NWC

George Keith

Keith's journal of 1806; Keith's letters to Roderic McKenzie, 2-6

After 1806

Fort George?

Twenty miles above the entrance of Mackenzie River on Great Slave Lake

NWC

Unknown

McKenzie's journal of 1805, 28

1801-6

Red Knife Fort

Between Big Island and mouth of Hay River on south shore of Great Slave Lake

NWC

Unknown

Wentzel's journal of 1802; McKenzie's journal of 1805

After 1806

[unnamed]

Right bank of Red Knife River, a few miles up from its mouth

NWC

Unknown

McKenzie's journal of 1805; Wentzel's map of 1821

1806-19

Hay River Post

Above rapids of the Hay River, which falls into Great Slave Lake

NWC

Unknown

McKenzies's journal, 26; HBCA, F.3/2,fol. 176d

1809-15

Fort Normand

Right bank of the Mackenzie River, opposite Redstone River

NWC

Unknown

Masson Collection, vol. 31

1811-13

Fort Nelson

On East Branch of Liard (Fort Nelson) River, upstream from Roch qui Trempe a 1'Eau

NWC

Alexander Henry Wentzel's map of 1821; McPherJr son map of 1824

1817-22

Fort Alexander

Confluence of Willowlake and Mackenzie Rivers

NWC

Charles Grant

Wentzel 1821,7

1822-

Fort Liard

Confluence of the Black (Petitot) and Liard Rivers

HBC

Murdoch McPherson

HBCA, B.116/a/l

Company

Initial master

Sources

18 North of Athabasca

Chipewyan trading leader, told James Porter that Thomson had "pillaged their furs & treated them roughly. "58 Whatever the ethics of his trading methods, John Thomson departed from Trout River Post in the spring of 1800, leaving Jean-Baptiste LaPrise in charge over the summer. He arrived at Fort Chipewyan on 5 July 1800 with seventy-four packs of furs in three canoes, exceeding by five the number of packs brought out by Livingston in 1799.59 Thomson's stay at headquarters was brief. On either 7 or 8 July 1800 he and W.F. Wentzel were sent up the Peace River; Thomson was to go to the "Rocky Mountain" (Wentzel's Montagne de Roche) "giving all the advise and assistance he can to the gentlemen acting for this company as he goes along."60 Thomson accompanied Simon Fraser at least part of the way, as Wentzel reported catching up with them above "the falls" on 19 August i8oo.Sl J A M E S P O R T E R ' S J O U R N A L , 1800-1 Although James Porter served north of Lake Athabasca for at least six seasons, only his Slave Lake journal of 1800-1 has survived. It is the earliest of the Slave Lake journals that is known to exist and contains valuable details regarding the affairs of that district, as well as those of the Mackenzie. The value of the journal is enhanced by encompassing portions of two trading seasons - 1799-1800 and 1800-1. James Porter arrived in the Athabasca Department in the fall of 1796, but his posting for the ensuing two years is unknown. He served at the Slave Lake Post from i7g862 to at least the end of the season of 1801. Because of weather-related delays in bringing the outfit to Slave Lake in the fall of 1802, Porter found himself confined to that post with Daniel McKenzie over the winter of 1802-3. In the season of 1803-4, Porter had charge of the company's post at the confluence of the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers. The last mention of Porter in the journals identified him as the North West Company bourgeois at Great Bear Lake during the trading season of 1804-5. J.N. Wallace claimed James Porter drowned in the summer of 1805, and he may well have, for he disappeared from the journals after that date; however, no substantiating evidence of such an accident has been found.63 Although a North West Company trading post had been established near the mouth of the Slave River since 1786, little detail of the affairs in that district is available until Porter's journal of 1800-1. The post was first located eighteen miles to the east of the Jean River (a branch of the Slave River), along the south shore of Great Slave Lake.64 By 1791 it was moved to a point closer to the mouth of the Slave River, in search of better fishing.65 In 1799 the Nor'Westers moved again, this

19 Historical Background

time up the Slave River. Porter's journal makes clear that the new site, again chosen for its fisheries, was located, as mentioned in the previous section, up the river about fifteen miles and approximately a mile to the east, on a small body of water that, as mentioned, is now called Ring Lake.66 Because the fishing there was not much better, Porter's men continually canoed down the river to the Moose Deer Islands, offshore from the river delta, both to fish for their own subsistence and to supplement that of the post. In 1804 the Slave Lake Post was moved again, this time to the fishery at Moose Deer Island. During the two seasons Porter commanded affairs at Slave Lake, he traded without competition. Previous opponents of the North West Company, such as Gregory, McLeod and Company, had merged with the Nor'Westers, and new rivals were yet to arrive north of Lake Athabasca.67 The post that Laurent Leroux occupied in 1789 on the north arm of Great Slave Lake had not been reestablished, so that over the time of Porter's journal, the North West Company traded at only two locations in the Slave Lake District - Slave Lake Post and a smaller outpost at Lac La Martre to the north and west of the north arm of Great Slave Lake. John Steinbruck had the charge of the latter place.68 Chipewyans and Yellowknives (Red Knives) were the only two nations identified as trading at Slave Lake Post, although Dogribs probably frequented the post at Lac La Martre. The returns from the Slave Lake District for the trading season of 1799-1800 amounted to 103 packs of furs, 23 of which came from Lac La Martre, and 5 kegs of castoreum.69 The only earlier report of the returns from Slave Lake is found in Philip Tumor's Hudson's Bay Company journal of 1791-92; he reported that the Nor'Westers that year brought out "54 packs and much more expected this trade is about half martins."70 Although there were only two trading establishments in the Slave Lake District when Porter wrote his journal, a new post was built soon after along Great Slave Lake's southwestern shore opposite Big Island and west of Stony Point (Pointe de Roche).71 It was called Red Knife Fort and may have been built as a result of Chipewyan trading leader Grand Blanc's lavish description of the beaver country above the rapids on Hay River. He described the country as covered with small rivers and little lakes "entirely choaked up with beaver lodges." Grand Blanc told Porter that he alone brought the equivalent of 170 beaver skins from Hay River and "that if there was a fort established in that country that they would double the quantity of furs."72 Subsequently, a fort was built sometime between May of 1801 and August of 1802, but its success as a trading establishment is unknown. John Steinbruck likely assumed charge of it for the season of 1801-2, and after a summer's absence, resumed his

20 North of Athabasca

management there in November of 1802, until relieved of his responsiblities by W.F. Wentzel on 23 March 1803.73 In keeping his journal, Porter's main concern was to record the daily occurrences of Slave Lake Post and the affairs of the district. In the process, he also recorded some of the earliest known details concerning arrangements on the Mackenzie River. As mentioned, it is known from other sources that in 1799 company clerk John Thomson assumed management of Trout River Post on the upper Mackenzie River after the death of Duncan Livingston and his men. Porter's journal, however, attaches names to the men who replaced Livingston's deceased engages. Francois Piche, Jean-Baptiste LaPrise, Baptiste St Cyr, Etienne Gregoire, Bostonnais (Bastone in Porter's journal), and Chennele all served at least a part of the season of 1799-1800 under the command of John Thomson. The journal entries are also indicative of the frequent communication between the two posts. Piche appears to have spent the entire year at Trout River Post, but all the others at one time or another over the year travelled between the Mackenzie River and Slave Lake Post. LaPrise set off from Slave Lake in February and remained at Thomson's post for the remainder of the season. Bostonnais served only as a courier, for he remained at Slave Lake Post after arriving there from the Mackenzie River in March. He brought the welcome news that trade proceeded well at Trout River Post and that "all the Red Knives has their credits & a good many skins over." St Cyr and Gregoire were sent as couriers to Slave Lake by Thomson in April with a request for supplies. Unable to travel because of sore legs, Gregoire remained at Slave Lake Post and Chennele replaced him when St Cyr returned two days later.74 Porter recorded a vivid fur trade family story in the late fall of 1800. After dark on a cold and blowing November day, a woman arrived with her two children, apparently seeking sustenance and shelter from the weather. She was the widow of Jacques Beauchamp, one of the men who accompanied Alexander Mackenzie on his trek in 1793 to the Pacific Ocean. Afterwards, he apparently remained in the north, for he was one of the engages who served under Duncan Livingston at Trout River Post over the 1798-99 trading season. In June of 1799, Beauchamp acted as Livingston's steersman on the way down the Mackenzie River to establish the trade among the Esquimaux. As mentioned in the previous section, the traders were attacked (by whom remains controversial), and all the Nor'Westers including Beauchamp were killed. As sometimes happened in the fur trade, his family was left unprotected and had to fend for themselves. In this case, the woman and her children remained at Slave Lake Post, presumably receiving some assistance from Porter, for eleven days. She then left to live with

21

Historical Background

an unidentified Indian who arrived at the post the day before. He was likely a relative or someone known to her. At least she had found some protection for herself and her children.75 These details regarding the Mackenzie River District provide interesting particulars, filling in the rough outline of what is already known or can be surmised. The story the Chipewyan Grand Blanc told Porter in December of 1800, however, is a departure from other known records. Most contemporaries (and most historians) have blamed the Esquimaux for the deaths of Livingston and his men. W.F. Wentzel attributed the killings, in writing, to the Esquimaux, as did Roderic McKenzie.76 Because Wentzel's attribution has been published (at least twice), it has become the standard explanation regarding the fate of the doomed Nor'Westers. Grand Blanc, however, told Porter quite a different story. According to the Chipewyan, it was Livingston's Slavey guides, and not the Esquimaux, who committed the crime. The Slaveys' motivation in killing the party was the desire to acquire the equipment and trade goods the Nor'Westers had with them. They purposely injured themselves to make it appear the Esquimaux had perpetrated the deed. The Yellowknives who lived around Lac La Martre discovered the particulars and would have related them to Thomson in the spring of 1800, Grand Blanc said, if he had not pillaged them of their furs and treated them roughly.77 At least one modern writer, J.C. Yerbury, accepts this story in preference to the standard version.78 There are, however, several reasons to suspect the veracity of Grand Blanc's account. The story is at least third-hand, having been told by the Slavey to the Yellowknives and by the Yellowknives to Grand Blanc, who told Porter. More importantly, some details in the story are not consistent with what is known of Yellowknife movements. Grand Blanc said that Red Knives (Yellowknives) "had seen the place where the deceased Mr Livingston and his people had been killed." No other record has been found, however, of Yellowknives visiting any portion of the Mackenzie River delta where John Franklin placed the locality of the attack.79 Grand Blanc also stated that "it was not the Esquimaux that killd them because they were never known to have been so far up river for according to his acco1 it is not a very great distance below the post at a place where there is a great many islands in the river." In fact, the Esquimaux were known to travel as much as four hundred miles upriver to the limestone cliffs of the Ramparts in quest of flinty slate to make their arrow points. The only trading post on the Mackenzie River in 1799 was located opposite the mouth of Trout River, some eighty miles down from the outlet from Great Slave Lake. According to Roderic McKenzie, Livingston and his men paddled down the

22

North of Athabasca

Mackenzie River for fifteen days before they arrived at the spot where they were killed.80 Such a detail is unlikely to have been invented and would place the party far beyond the precincts of Trout River Post. None of these arguments are sufficient to discount Grand Blanc's story, but they provide reason to suspect it. European journal keepers, unacustomed to granting credibility to Indian oral accounts, bring a certain invidious bias to the written record, and none of the commentators, from Wentzel to Franklin, may have had it right. Grand Blanc's account, too, should be viewed from the same perspective. He may very well have had reason to cast aspersions on the Slavey with whom he competed for pelts in the upper Mackenzie River and Hay River areas. JOHN THOMSON'S JOURNAL,

l8oo-l

The North West Company lacked experienced clerks in the Athabasca Department at the time the company expanded into the Mackenzie River basin. Seven of the nine clerks assigned to the Athabasca Department received less than £42 Halifax per year in wages, not quite half that paid their peers elsewhere.81 Of the two experienced clerks, Simon Fraser was assigned duties on the Peace River, while Duncan Livingston assumed management of the Mackenzie River District. When Livingston was killed in 1799, twenty-one year old John Thomson, with only four years in the fur trade, was the most seasoned man available to replace him. Thomson had entered the fur trade in 1795 as an apprentice clerk with the North West Company and had been assigned to Assiniboine River District. Three years later, his name appeared among the clerks in Athabasca, and in the fall of 1798 he was involved in establishing the Peace River post at Grand Marais.82 Thomson may have been present during the summer meeting at Fort Chipewyan in 1799, when news of the death of Livingston and his party arrived. The circumstances are lost, but the result, as we have seen, was that the young clerk found himself in charge of the Mackenzie River District that fall, replacing the fallen Livingston. The Yellowknives who traded at Trout River Post complained of Thomson's ill treatment of them; they became frightened of the trader and refused further to frequent his establishment. However, local Slaveys more than compensated for any loss the Yellowknives' hesitancy to trade might have incurred. By the spring of 1800 Thomson's efforts had produced seventy-four packs of furs. In late June, he left Trout River Post in charge of the seasoned voyageur Jean-Baptiste LaPrise and accompanied the returns to Fort Chipewyan.83

23 Historical Background

After spending much of the summer visiting posts on the Peace River, John Thomson embarked from Fort Chipewyan on 29 September for Trout River Post. Thomson, Willard Ferdinand Wentzel, James Porter, and John Steinbruck set out in six canoes for the north: Porter and two canoes for Slave Lake, Steinbruck and one canoe for Lac La Martre, and Wentzel and Thomson in three canoes for the Mackenzie River. On 4 October, Thomson and Wentzel arrived at Porter's post on Ring Lake.84 With fresh provisions in hand, they left early the next morning for the Mackenzie River. Interpreter William Smith, who had earlier served with Roderic McKenzie at Fort Chipewyan, joined them, embarking with his wife and two children for Trout River Post to assist Wentzel.85 After a stormy passage, the three canoes arrived at Trout River Post on the morning of 10 October to find LaPrise, his two wives, and several children awaiting them. Thomson had it in mind to descend the Mackenzie River and establish a second post while Wentzel remained behind in charge at Trout River Post. This expansion of the North West Company down the Mackenzie River reflected the company's desire to follow through with the efforts of Duncan Livingston. Now there were to be two trading posts on the Mackenzie River. Assisting Wentzel at Trout River Post were LaPrise and family, Smith and family, and two other men, together with goods and provisions brought in one of the canoes, as well as the inventory from the previous year. Early in the morning of 11 October, Thomson set off for the "Rocky Mountain" with eight men, four women and two children in two canoes, to establish a post among the lower Mackenzie Slaveys.86 The previous year, when Francois Piche visited the Rocky Mountain trading leader Big Chief below the confluence of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers, a site was selected for a new trading post. Big Chief, as well as Little Chief and Little Blind Chief, had promised to await the brigade in the fall of 1800 at the precise spot they wished the fort to be built, bringing with them their furs and plenty of provisions. Much to his aggravation when he arrived, however, Thomson found no one to point out the desired location, so he chose a place opposite the mouth of the North Nahanni River to build what would become Rocky Mountain Fort. The site he chose had plenty of wood for building and fuel and a good view of what Thomson considered a rather modest Rocky Mountain. Although the location met with Thomson's approval, it did not suit Big Chief, who later complained that a better spot could be found lower down near a well-stocked tributary.87 The men set about building the "fort," which consisted of a twentyfour- by twenty-foot hangard, or outbuilding for storing provisions, and

24 North of Athabasca

a house that measured thirty-two by seventeen feet square and some seven and a half feet high and that provided quarters for both Thomson and his men. The bourgeois moved in on 30 October, only sixteen days after the men had begun work on the new establishment. Furniture would come later.88 The routine of a fur trading post set in immediately. Each of the men was given the responsibility of cutting six cords of wood for the winter. It is a testament to the climate of the Mackenzie that it took some forty-eight cords of wood to keep a thirtytwo- by seventeen-foot house with two chimneys warm for the winter. Charles Martin,89 a skilled carpenter, set about making furniture for the house, a task that kept him busy off and on over the winter. The daily menu was regular, if uninspiring. Although they occasionally ate the flesh of orignal (moose) and an infrequent beaver tail, the usual fare consisted of hare. Between 19 October 1800 and 26 February 1801, Thomson, his eight men, and their families consumed 1,497 hare. At various times, Gregoire, Gens Sols, La Beccasse, St Andre, Plante, and Francois LaViolette were sent, en derouine,90 to live among the several bands trading at Rocky Mountain Fort, in order to encourage them in their hunt so that they would be able to pay their credits. Thomson had intended keeping LaViolette to manage the post over the summer, but his lethargic attention to duty caused a change in plans. St Andre, on the other hand, while hired only as a milieu (or ordinary engage), earned a bonus from Thomson of two and a half fathoms of tobacco for assuming duties beyond those expected of a mere "middleman."91 In a respite from furniture making, on 11 December Charles Martin set out for Grand Lac (Great Bear Lake) to inform the Natives of that region that a new post had been established on the Mackenzie River and to encourage them to come up and trade their furs. That, of course, would have been unnecessary had a post been situated among them on Great Bear Lake, but, as of 1800-1, none had, although several Natives residing there already owed credits that they must have obtained by trading either at Lac La Martre or at the company's posts on Great Slave Lake. On 10 January 1801 a Dogrib trading leader whom Thomson called General Montgomery arrived with nine others after Five nights out from Great Bear Lake. Although he received 127 skins in payment of credits and an additional 21 skins in other peltry and provisions, Thomson expressed disappointment. Instead of the ten packs that he had expected from Grand Lac, he had to content himself with two. Rather than finding the cause of the shortfall in the scarcity of fur-bearing animals in the region, Thomson blamed the Indians. "I am now fully convinced," he wrote in his journal, "that the Indians who visit that quarter of the

25 Historical Background

country are an Idle, worthless set of beings & I am much afraid that Little good will be ever made of them."92 John Thomson held a low opinion of all the Mackenzie River Natives. Those around Rocky Mountain Fort he denounced as "a Most cursed Lying set of Rascals & there is not the least dependence to be given in a word of what they say." Later, he complained that these ungrateful people "are certainly the most thoughtless set that ever existed for when I reflect what miserable objects they were until only of Late & that many of them is they are now alive may thank us." They were, in his view, "the greatest liars, cowards & glutters of all the Indians." General Montgomery and his band from Great Bear Lake were "a despicable looking set & stink most abominably of fish."93 Because of his condescending attitude, Thomson found it difficult to understand why a young lad he had drafted as fort hunter deserted or why other unwilling hunters "plagued" him, requesting their discharge from that duty. He was even more astonished to learn that local Slaveys did not always desire to trade the best of their provisions to him. Thomson complained bitterly that "All the Indians of this quarter are certainly a most hatefull set for Altho they all have caches of Meat in abundance yet it is impossible to prevail upon them to bring any to the Fort - & what little they do bring generally proves to be stinking & scarcely eatable."94 In a European context, such practices would be viewed in terms of supply and demand, but among Indians Thomson chose to see it as a character flaw. Communication between Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River posts occasioned no unusual difficulty over the winter of 1800-1. Rocky Mountain Fort and Slave Lake, the two most distant posts, required only about nine days' travel.95 Winter travel between the two Mackenzie River posts was accomplished with even greater ease. Arriving late in the evening of 31 January 1801, William Smith surprised Thomson, who had not expected anyone from the upper fort for another month. The pleasure of an unexpected visit, however, soon abated when Thomson learned that Wentzel's provisioning at Trout River Post had not been as successful as his own. He could not expect to receive any provisions there, Smith informed him, on his way out in the spring to Fort Chipewyan. This shortage, Thomson feared, would create hardship in carrying out the year's returns, and fear may have caused him to judge so harshly the Slaveys who did not desire to trade their provisions to him. Although few details are available, it is known Thomson and Wentzel returned to the Mackenzie River District for i8oi-2.96 The previous winter, after learning of the dearth of provisions at Trout River Post, Thomson complained, "God knows in which manner we will be all to

26 North of Athabasca perform the different voyages this approaching summer" [emphasis added] .9? What he meant by "different voyages" is unclear. He could have meant the voyages he and Wentzel would make separately with the returns to Fort Chipewyan. He could also have had in mind a previously planned voyage to Great Bear Lake to establish a new post there. It is clear from Thomson's journal that Duncan Livingston did not establish a post there in 1799. Yet a fort had been built there before Alexander McKenzie's arrival in the fall of 1805. In his letter of 1807 to Roderic McKenzie, W.F. Wentzel stated, "in 1799, Mr. John Thomson was promoted to [Duncan Livingston's] place, and divided this nation [the Mackenzie River Slaveys] the following year into two distinct bodies" [emphasis added] .98 This comment may allude to establishing a lower post to complement the upper one, a plan that had been followed when Rocky Mountain Fort was built in 1800. There would have been no need to comment on "dividing the nation" if Livingston had already built a post in the lower regions of the Mackenzie River basin. Moreover, the Mackenzie returns for 1799-1800 were up some five packs from Livingston's last season, but Wentzel went on to say, "but instead of an increase of trade as expected, a drawback of six packs was experienced the first year, sixteen the next, and so continually until last year [1805-6] and we begin again to recover a few more packs."99 Since the first season was, in fact, up some five packs, Wentzel's "first year" must allude to 1800-1, when Thomson divided the nation. Thomson's journal ends in February of 1801, so it is not known what transpired in the late winter and spring of that year, but the above clues suggest that someone, perhaps LaViolette or St Andre, was sent down in the spring to establish the new post on Great Bear Lake while Thomson accompanied the returns to Fort Chipewyan. Whatever the actual circumstances, sometime between 1801 and 1804 the North West Company established a trading post on Great Bear Lake, perhaps by means of one of the "different voyages" that Thomson alluded to. ARRIVAL OF OPPOSITION IN ATHABASCA, 1800-4

The firm of McTavish, Frobisher and Company (agents for the North West Company) was not the only mercantile house in Montreal in the 17905 to be involved in the fur trade. Forsyth, Richardson and Company, for example, had for some time traded furs in the Great Lakes region, as had the concern of Leith, Jamieson and Company of Detroit.100 However, the poor quality of beaver pelts in that area did not consistently bring adequate prices, and when Jay's Treaty between the United States and Great Britain was signed in 1794, the British

27

Historical Background

were required to evacuate their Northwest posts by 1796, including the fur trading post at Detroit and Michilimackinac. Apprehensive of American interference in an already unrewarding trade, both companies gave up the Great Lakes business and turned their attention to the country north and west of Lake Superior.101 On 28 October 1798 the firm of Forsyth and Richardson joined with Leith, Jamieson and Company to form the New North West Company, each owning three shares. Other Montreal mercantilists would join in future years. Initially called the Montreal North West Company, the legal name of New North West Company was settled upon a year later. In 1801 the new concern became Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Company, when the famous explorer became one of the moneyed interests. None of these names gained currency in the Indian country, where opponents referred to the New Nor'Westers variously as the new company, the little company, the Potties, or, most commonly, the XY Company.102 Phyn, Inglis and Company, of London, held two shares in the new organization for acting as buyers of trade goods, for providing shipping arrangements, and for marketing returns. Six wintering partners, who actually conducted the trade with the Indians, held a share each.103 Among the partners, Alexander McKenzie (the Emperor) was the only one whose activities brought him north of Fort Chipewyan. George Keith, who arrived on the Mackenzie River in 1805, had previously been a clerk for the New North West Company. The new company did not arrive in the Athabasca until May of 1800, when clerks Baptiste Perronne and a man known only as Bellegarde established themselves in opposition to Nor'Wester James McKenzie at Fort Chipewyan. Alexander McKenzie, with clerks John Haldane and George Keith, paddled up the Athabasca and Little Slave Rivers to build at Lesser Slave Lake.10* Either the following year or in 1802 James Leith, another XY Company wintering partner, ascended the Peace River intent on trading among the Beaver Indians. No attempt was made by the XY Company to advance its trade northward from Fort Chipewyan until the summer of 1802, when five men were sent to Ring Lake to oppose W.F. Wentzel, the North West Company clerk who had the summer charge of their establishment.105 In the fall Alexander McKenzie, with clerks Perronne and Edward Smith, arrived to assume management of the new post next door to the Old Company. Nor'Wester Daniel McKenzie, who had traded at Slave Lake as early as 1791, opposed them.106 The Potties established an outlying fishery in the Moose Deer Islands, near the mouth of Slave River, a circumstance that delayed John Steinbruck of the Nor'Westers along his route to assume management of Red Knife Fort. He was asked to spy upon them to determine if they seemed intent on pushing farther into

2 8 North of Athabasca

the Slave Lake country.10? In the summer of 1803 the XY Company sent a clerk and four men to build a post on the Mackenzie River, presumably at the mouth of the Liard River, where the Nor'Westers, the year before, had built Fort of the Forks. It is not known who was placed in charge of this new post. Alexander McKenzie continued supervising the new company's affairs north of Lake Athabasca from his post at Slave Lake. His opponent in 1803 was again Daniel McKenzie, who enjoyed an outfit twice the size of Alexander McKenzie's.108 As the new company expanded into the Mackenzie River, they also followed the Nor'Westers to Lac La Martre, but nothing else is known about their presence there.109 By 1803 the XY Company had eight trading posts in the Athabasca Department: one at Fort Chipewyan, two on the Peace River, one at the east end of Lake Athabasca, one on the Athabasca River or at Lesser Slave Lake, one on Great Slave Lake, one at Lac La Martre, and one at Fort of the Forks. In 1804 a ninth post was added at Great Bear Lake in the Mackenzie River Department. Next to each of these, a neighbouring North West Company trader competed for the Indians' peltry and provisions. Conditions were ripe for a ruinous exploitation of both resources and the people who hunted them. There is little evidence in the journals of the excesses so prevalent to the south regarding the lavish use of alcohol among the Indians or of physical abuse; however, excessive extension of credits did occur as did intimidation of both opposition and Indian traders. Alexander McKenzie complained of excessive credits granted to Indians at Great Bear Lake, which probably occurred at other posts as well. When the Nor'Westers held the numerical advantage at Slave Lake in 1802, they physically intimidated the Potties; when Alexander McKenzie of the new company arrived with reinforcements, he responded in kind and pillaged his opponent's post. Occasionally, alcohol lubricated Indian cooperation. Both W.F. Wentzel in 1802 and Hudson's Bay Company trader Thomas Swain in 1803 reported drinking matches following a trading session with a band of Indians at Slave Lake.110 These excesses contributed to economic waste and further alienated relations between Euro-Canadian and Indian traders. In W.F. Wentzel's opinion, "no good can be derived from the turbulent struggles of opposition in this country; it destroys trade, creates vice, and renders people crafty, ruins good morals, and almost totally abolishes every humane sentiment in both Christian and Indian breast."111 Both companies expended trade goods far beyond the value of the furs they purchased. Peter Fidler reported that for the trading season of 1802-3, tne North West Company brought into Athabasca 28 well-

2g Historical Background Table 2 Athabasca Department Returns, 1799-1804 XY Company

Trading Season

North West Company

1799-1800

648 packs (90 pounds each)

1800-1

?

1801-2

? (94 packs from Slave Lake)

1802-3

182 packs

31 packs

1803-4

315 packs (85 pounds each)

84 packs

(not present) 1 pack 2 packs

loaded canoes and took out 182 packs of furs, whereas three years earlier they had brought in 15 canoes and returned east with 648 packs of furs.112 The New North West Company's extravagance differed only in scale (it employed only two-fifths the number of men in the department, compared to the Nor'Westers), not in the proportion of goods expended per pack of returns. However, while the North West Company's returns generally failed to keep up with expenditures, the new company showed modest but increasing returns. The observant Hudson 's Bay company trader Peter Fidler provided the basis for the comparisons in table 2 concerning Athabasca Department returns.113 The extravagance occasioned by the two companies' competition can be viewed in two ways from the information supplied by Fidler: the number of packs of furs per man employed and the number of packs of furs per piece of trade goods. (A piece of trade goods consisted of a bundle or pack of unspecified goods weighing ninety pounds.) During the trading season of 1803-4, the North West Company employed 195 men in the Athabasca Department, who brought in an average of i .6 packs of furs per man. That same year, the XY Company employed 83 men, who averaged i pack per man. Before the period of competition (in 1799-1800) the North West Company employed 108 men in Athabasca, who returned 648 packs of furs, or an average of 6 packs per man. Another way of looking at increased expenditures during the period of competition is to compare the return in furs to the number of trade good pieces expended. Fidler provided comparative data for the trading season of 1802-3. That year, 28 North West Company canoes brought in 680 pieces of trade goods, or 25 pieces per canoe. For their effort, they received 182 packs of furs or .27 packs per piece of trade goods. This amounted to nearly 4 pieces of trade goods expended for every 85-pound pack of furs. During the same trading season, the XY Company arrived in Athabasca with 10 canoes loaded with 250 pieces

30 North of Athabasca

of trade goods. These goods produced only 31 packs, or about 8 pieces of goods for every pack of furs. By contrast, in the year before competition began in Athabasca, the North West Company received 1.7 packs of furs for every piece of trade goods brought in. While no doubt oversimplified, these comparisons demonstrate the severe economic consequences of competition. The XY Company was not the only concern opposing the Nor'Westers during the first decade of the nineteenth century. In 1802 the Hudson's Bay Company returned to Athabasca for the first time in ten years.114 Peter Fidler, assisted by Thomas Swain, had responsibility for this renewed attempt to oppose the Canadians in the far north. Fidler chose a spot on an island about three-quarters of a mile from Fort Chipewyan to build his post, which he called Nottingham House.115 He sent Thomas Swain up the Peace River to oppose the Nor'Westers there, but he and his men abandoned the effort in January of 1803 when they could not get enough to eat.116 Swain returned to the Peace River in May of 1803 to spend the summer while Fidler accompanied his returns to Cumberland House. Fidler's and Swain's efforts that first year resulted in only 6 small bundles of furs consisting of the equivalent of 253 beaver pelts.117 Swain's summer trade on the Peace proved no more successful than that of the previous year, so Fidler decided to send him down the Slave River to oppose the two Canadian houses at Ring Lake. Swain arrived in September of 1803 and built his post on an island in Ring Lake, not three hundred yards from the North West and XY Company houses. He called his new establishment Chiswick House.118 Although Thomas Swain remained at Chiswick House for three years, his trade never amounted to much. Because of Nor'Wester intimidation, the Chipewyans and Yellowknives who traded there were fearful of dealing with the Hudson's Bay Company. Only the Yellowknife trading leader, The Rat, and his brother had the temerity to defy Nor'Wester threats and continue dealing with Swain.119 Despite the discouraging circumstances, Fidler and Swain persisted for two more years. When the two Canadian companies moved their Slave Lake post to Moose Deer Island in 1804 in search of a better fishery, so did Thomas Swain. His journal for 1804-5 1S lost, and only his meteorological journal for 1805-6 appears in the Hudson's Bay Company Archives, so little detail is available regarding Swain's last two years at Slave Lake. Fidler's Nottingham journals for these years, however, have survived, and they portray such a systematic and unrelenting harassment of him and his men by the Nor'Westers that he found it necessary to withdraw from the Athabasca country in June of i8o6.120 The Hudson's Bay Company's second foray into the heardand of the Nor'Westers had proved as unsuccessful as their first.

31 Historical Background EARLY J O U R N A L S OF W.F.

WENTZEL, 1802-5

Of all the Athabasca Department fur traders, none have been more influential than Willard Ferdinand Wentzel. Of the eleven documents published in this volume, Wentzel authored five. He may not have been more prolific than other company clerks and proprietors, but more of what he wrote has survived. His two early journals document early competition with the XY Company in the Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Districts. They provide insight into the intense rivalry between the two companies, as well as information regarding the personnel involved. Along with the journals of Alexander McKenzie and George Keith, Wentzel's Mackenzie River journals contain important details on the development of the fur trade in that district. Finally, no other document includes as much of the history of the Mackenzie River District as does Wentzel's "Account of Mackenzies River with Chart" of 1821. Employed as a clerk by the North West Company since 1799, W.F. Wentzel, served on the Peace River before his appointment to the Mackenzie River. A summer journal kept between June and August of 1800 at an unnamed post on the lower Peace River has been attributed to him, presumably by L.R. Masson.121 Posted to the Mackenzie in the fall of 1800, Wentzel assumed the charge of Trout River Post on the upper Mackenzie, while John Thomson descended the river to build Rocky Mountain Fort. It is not known whether Wentzel continued at Trout River Post for 1801-2 or whether he served somewhere else in the district. The company's new establishment on Great Bear Lake was probably built in 1801, so he may have been posted there or even at Rocky Mountain Fort.123 In the summer of 1802, Wentzel was assigned the management of the North West Company's primary establishment in the Slave Lake District. This post was located on what today is called Ring Lake, which is, as mentioned in an earlier section, one mile east of the Slave River and fifteen miles from its mouth. The journal begins on 21 August as John Thomson, with four men and fourteen packs, sets out in a large canoe for Fort Chipewyan. It is likely that Wentzel accompanied Thomson from the Mackenzie River and stayed on at Ring Lake as the most eligible person present to manage its affairs over the summer until the arrival of Daniel McKenzie, the North West Company proprietor, or bourgeois, in charge of the Slave Lake District who was expected in the fall, along with the ensuing year's outfit. John Steinbruck, a French-speaking clerk of German ancestry, also spent the summer at Ring Lake, but subject to Wentzel's orders. Unlike other clerks, Steinbruck performed the duties commonly assigned to ordinary engages and, like them, was addressed in familiar terms.123

32

North of Athabasca

In November he assumed the management of Red Knife Fort on the south shore of Great Slave Lake. Summer was not usually the most active trading season, but six trading leaders representing both Chipewyans and Yellowknives did visit the post. The trade was of little consequence, but as the summer months wore into fall, such men as Grand Coquin and Trois Pouce became increasingly anxious to receive their credits for the ensuing year. Wentzel alluded to their anxiety but did not reveal in his journal whether the Indians took their credits from the new company or waited until the arrival of Daniel McKenzie.124 The Yellowknife Petit Rat passed by Slave Lake Post on his way to his lands north of Great Slave Lake from the Mackenzie River, where he had become involved in some dispute with his relatives. However, Wentzel dissuaded him from returning to his northern lands, for fear he would not hunt beaver. Petit Rat left to hunt for subsistence but returned in the fall to collect his credits for the next hunting season.125 It is probable that he was the same person as The Rat mentioned in Thomas Swain's Chiswick House journal of 1803-4, wno insisted on trading with the Hudson's Bay Company rather than with the Nor'Westers.126 Besides the North West Company's primary establishment at Ring Lake, a trading post was located at Lac La Martre, but it apparendy closed in die summer. There was at least one other active trading post in the Slave Lake District in the summer of 1802. On several occasions Wentzel mentioned Red Knife Fort, located on the southern shore of Great Slave Lake west of Hay River and opposite Big Island near the lake's outlet into the Mackenzie River. Daniel McKenzie had ordered a mysterious "Madam L.B." to be conducted to Red Knife Fort, which at the time was under the charge of Bostonnais.127 Not otherwise identified in Wentzel's journal, Steinbruck revealed her name as Madam La Brull, but the reason for her unusual prominence can only be guessed. Perhaps her removal to Red Knife Fort had something to do with her relationship with Daniel McKenzie. She was given special treatment at Red Knife Fort and was even outfitted like a trading Indian or an engage, when she became worried about the welfare of her brother and went looking for him.128 Earlier in the summer, five men of the XY Company were sent to Ring Lake to build alongside the Nor'Westers.129 Wentzel lost little time ensuring his men kept an eye at all times on this newly arrived opposition. The Potties (as Wentzel called them) had not ventured so far north previously, and Wentzel wanted to keep them under close surveillance to determine whether they planned to continue their expansion beyond the southern shore of Great Slave Lake. His concern was well-founded, for plans had already been laid to establish XY Company posts at Lac La Martre and on the Mackenzie River in i8o3.13°

33 Historical Background In August, when Wentzel arrived at Slave Lake Post, neither company had the numerical advantage. For the first two months Wentzel had from three to seven men at his disposal at any given time. Until 4 October the XY personnel amounted to five men led by Baptiste Perronne, who was assisted by thirteen-year-old Peter Warren Dease and three other men. The Nor'Westers appear to have been more seasoned, judging from the confrontations that took place. Wentzel's most reliable engage, Jean-Baptiste Adam, became embroiled in an incident with an XY man named Menard over furs that two Indian women were bringing to trade. The two men fought, and Adam won. Subsequently, Menard and even the XY summer master Perronne behaved subserviently toward the Nor'Westers.131 The subservience came to an end on 4 October, when XY Company partner Alexander McKenzie, clerk Edward Smith, and nine men arrived in two well-supplied canoes. Now the numerical advantage had drastically shifted in favour of the new company. Taking advantage of the circumstances, McKenzie and his men sought an opportunity to repay the Nor'Westers for previous abuses. The XY bourgeois began to tear down a lodge near Wentzel's hangard, when weapons were drawn and bloodshed threatened. Such serious consequences were avoided through young Dease's interference, but Wentzel and the other Nor'Westers knew the Potties were no longer intimidated.132 Alexander McKenzie arrived at the Ring Lake post near Slave Lake seven days after he left Athabasca Lake and over three weeks before Wentzel's relief, Daniel McKenzie, appeared from Fort Chipewyan. Wentzel may well have wondered where his bourgeois was during this autumn of confrontation with the XY Company leader and his men. For some reason, Daniel McKenzie was late arriving at Fort Chipewyan. The ever observant Peter Fidler thought it odd that by 23 September not a single North West Company canoe had arrived from Grand Portage on Lake Superior, while the last of the ten XY Company canoes had reached the lake. Finally, the first of the old company's canoes pulled into sight on 2 October with tales of hardship and hunger. It was feared that some of the men might not survive the voyage. However, they withstood their privations, and canoes began arriving with increasing frequency. It is not known why the Nor'West brigade got such a late start from Grand Portage, but bad weather no doubt played a role in impeding their progress along the way. Daniel McKenzie and James Porter left Fort Chipewyan on 11 October, too late to avoid the ice in the Slave River. Frozen fast, Porter stayed behind to guard the goods while McKenzie trudged ahead on foot to the fort to seek assistance.133 The journal does not reveal exactly when the brigade finally

34 North of Athabasca

arrived at Ring Lake, but it must have been sometime in November. Wentzel's journal ends on 15 October with no word of the brigade. Judging from his entry on 25 September, Wentzel anticipated assuming winter lodgings at a post then under construction at the confluence of the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers. He had sent an engage, LaBeccasse, to escort Madam La Brull to Red Knife Fort, and from there he was to continue to the forks of the Mackenzie River to assist Jean-Baptiste LaPrise in constructing a new house. Wentzel wrote, "Sent word to Bostonnais to treat her well [Madam La Brull] & desired LaBeccasse to continue his route to the Forks of the Grand River & help LaPrise to build a Small [house] to put ourselves in in the fall when we arrived." This entry identifies the beginnings of what came to be known as Fort of the Forks and suggests that Wentzel had been designated to assume its charge. However, Daniel McKenzie and the district's outfit for the ensuing season did not arrive in time for these plans to be carried out, so Wentzel was obliged to remain for most of the winter, at Ring Lake. Although he lacked goods to conduct the trade, LaPrise likely remained at his new lodgings over the winter, as his services were not required elsewhere. The next season, James Porter served as master at Fort of the Forks, a point to which Wentzel alluded in his journal of 1804-5.134 ^ was Porter, then, who first faced XY competition on the Mackenzie River, but, unfortunately, no details of 1803-4 have been found, nor has the whereabouts of Wentzel during that season been determined. One final comment must be made regarding Wentzel's summer journal of 1802 at Slave Lake. On 15 October, as he concluded his summer's remarks, Wentzel complained of having insufficient paper and of having kept his journal "on the backs of old letters & other Pieces of Paper."135 Yet, it survives as a single bound volume at McGill University's McLennan library. The writing is well-formed and continuous throughout. Obviously, Wentzel rewrote the journal at some later date, either at Ring Lake after supplies arrived or later at Red Knife Fort. W.F. Wentzel's journal of 1804-5 documents the change that had taken place in the North West Company's strategy for maximizing Mackenzie River returns. Their two Mackenzie River posts, Trout River and Rocky Mountain Fort, had not been well located. Because of disappointing returns, the Athabasca bourgeois decided to move both of them lower down the river to locations more propitious for the trade. A post at Great Bear Lake, the leadership felt, would be more advantageously situated for the lower Mackenzie River trade than Rocky Mountain Fort, and the confluence of the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers was certainly more centrally located in the upper basin than the mouth of Trout River. The new post on Great Bear Lake was built either the

35 Historical Background

previous year or during this same summer, replacing Rocky Mountain Fort.136 Who was responsible for its construction or assumed its management has not been found in any of the documents. Trout River Post was abandoned when work on Fort of the Forks (as it would be called) commenced in the summer of 1802. James Porter managed Fort of the Forks that first year, but unfortunately his journal has not been located. Wentzel's journal for the subsequent season, then, is the only surviving record that details the trade rivalry between the XY company and the North West Company on the Mackenzie River. From as early as the fall of 1802, Alexander McKenzie had orchestrated the affairs of the XY Company from his headquarters at Ring Lake. It was not until the summer and fall of 1804, however, that the imperious McKenzie (Wentzel sneeringly referred to him as the Grand Cow or Bonaparte) sent Allan McDonell to establish the post at Great Bear Lake, while a W. Tulloch opposed the Nor'Westers at the Forks. Unfortunately, Tulloch died in a drowning accident in September of 1804 and XY leadership at the Forks devolved upon an engage by the name of Perreault.137 He and his two men proved no match for the veteran Wentzel. Although left with twelve pieces of trading goods and two men, Perreault had difficulty in obtaining sufficient provisions. Wentzel would not sell him any and, through unremitting harassment, insured that his opponent's snares and fishery were unproductive. The XY Company men were reduced to eating tete de loches (fish heads).138 Perreault kept up a weak opposition until 19 December, when Wentzel finally drove him and his two men in retreat to Great Slave Lake after only three months of active competition. Meanwhile, James Porter, together with his second, John Steinbruck, and engages Etienne Gregoire, Joseph Gagnier, Cens Sols, along with one other man, provided the North West Company opposition to Allan McDonell on Great Bear Lake. McDonell, too, commanded five men. While the contest between the two rival companies did not amount to much at the Forks, the opposition at Great Bear Lake resulted in heavy credits given to the Indians. Although the XY clerk McDonell brought in only fifteen pieces of trade goods, and Nor'Wester James Porter eleven, the spirit of competition resulted in lavish expenditures in extending credits in the hope of attracting Natives to one post and away from the other.13$ More credits were given out to Indians by the XY Company in the Slave Lake District (of which the Mackenzie was a part) than in any other, save the Peace River. The credits given out at Great Bear Lake cannot be separated from those of the Slave Lake posts, but they must have amounted to nearly half the 3,424 livres worth of goods given to the Indians.^0 A single Yellowknife by the name of Naneauzie accumulated a debt of two hundred made beavers,

36 North of Athabasca Table 3 North West Company Officers, Mackenzie River District, 1795-1821 Year

Master

1795-99

Duncan Livingston

James Sutherland (interpreter)

1799-1802

John Thomson

W.F. Wentzel

1802-4

James Porter

W.F. Wentzel? John Steinbruck?

1804-5

James Porter

W.F. Wentzel John Steinbruck

1805-7

Alexander McKenzie

W.F. Wentzel George Keith Charles Grant Alexander Henry Jr

1807-9

John Clarke

W.F. Wentzel George Keith Alexander Henry Jr Charles Grant

1809-10

J.G. McTavish

W.F. Wentzel George Keith Charles Grant Alexander Henry Jr

1810-13

Simon Fraser

W.F. Wentzel (1810-11) George Keith Charles Grant Alexander Henry Jr

1813-15

George Keith

W.F. Wentzel Charles Grant

1816, Summer

W.F. Wentzel

1817-18

Charles Grant

Peter Warren Dease

1818-19

Charles Grant

Peter Warren Dease Charles Warren Dease

1819-20

Charles Grant

Peter Warren Dease Charles Warren Dease [Peter?] Fraser

1820-21

A.R. McLeod

Charles Grant Peter Warren Dease Murdoch McPherson John McLean

Clerks

37 Historical Background

causing Alexander McKenzie to complain, "how it is possible he could have got such advances I cannot say and is very sertain that he never will pay 2d in the 20£." 141 It may have been over these credits that tragedy struck at Great Bear Lake. According to a later deposition by Etienne Gregoire, in November of 1804 Nor'Westers John Steinbruck, Gregoire, and Joseph Gagnier approached two Indians on the ice of the lake. Standing near them was John McDonald of the XY Company. McDonald warned the three Nor'Westers not to approach any closer, and when Steinbruck failed to heed the warning, McDonald shot him in the arm and broke it. The wound proved more serious than it appeared, and twenty days later Steinbruck died.142 It is not known what prompted McDonald to shoot his adversary, but judging from similar scenes at other posts at the time, it well may have been over the allegiance of the two Indians and their debts.'43 This event occurred early in the trading season, probably in November of 1804. On 19 March 1805, the annual express arrived at Wentzel's post on its way to Great Slave Lake. Joseph Gagnier, the engage in charge of the express, had been an eyewitness to the shooting. There can be no question that news of Steinbruck's death arrived with this express, yet Wentzel made no mention of it. His silence on such a significant incident echoes the strangely absent mention of it among his colleagues. A L E X A N D E R M C K E N Z I E ' s J O U R N A L , 1805-6

Alexander McKenzie, nephew of his more famous namesake, was one of the original wintering partners of the New North West (or XY) Company in 1798. His whereabouts in 1798-99 are unclear, but in 1800-1, he and clerks John Haldane and George Keith spent the winter in the Athabasca River District at Lesser Slave Lake.144 By 1802 McKenzie was in charge of the Slave Lake District.145 During his first year at Slave Lake, McKenzie concentrated his opposition to the North West Company at his single establishment on Ring Lake. In the summer of 1803, however, McKenzie decided to extend the competition to the Mackenzie River and Lac La Martre.146 Because no XY or North West Company journals survive from the 1803-4 trading season, it can only be surmised that the location of the new company's post was at the confluence of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers, opposite the Nor'Westers. This is probably a safe guess because in the summer of 1804, McKenzie escorted a clerk, W. Tulloch, and three men to an establishment located in that vicinity. In the fall he sent Allan McDonell with five men to establish the opposition on Great Bear

38 North of Athabasca

Lake.14? This competition between the XY and the North West Companies at Great Bear Lake lasted for only one year; in November of 1804 the two concerns merged, and beginning with the outfit of 1805, they traded as a single company.^8 Alexander McKenzie was made a wintering partner in the new joint concern and given the charge of the Mackenzie River District in the Athabasca Department. He became the first North West Company proprietor to winter over on the Mackenzie. News of the merger reached the Mackenzie River District in the summer of 1805, too late to prevent the lethal confrontation between John Steinbruck of the North West Company and John McDonald of the XY Company on Great Bear Lake the previous November. Despite this affair, personnel from both companies appeared to adjust to the new arrangement and blended into one firm without undue discord. Alexander McKenzie of the XY faction was placed in charge and settled at Great Bear Lake. North West Company clerks Charles Grant and Alexander Henry Jr assisted him. Nor'Wester Willard Ferdinand Wentzel remained in charge of Fort of the Forks, and the one-time XY clerk George Keith was appointed to the task of establishing the trade on the Liard River. McKenzie's brigade, including Grant, Henry, and Keith, with seventeen men in four canoes, left Fort Chipewyan for the Mackenzie on 15 September 1805. In all, they carried sixty-one pieces of trade goods for the district's outfit. Eleven days later, they arrived at the Forks, surprising Wentzel who had not expected them until later in the fall. Despite the fact that Great Bear Lake was not known as an attractive beaver area, the bulk of the outfit - some thirty-two pieces - was destined for the lower post. Of the remaining pieces, sixteen and a half were provided Wentzel for his trade at the Forks, down from twentyone the previous year, and twelve and a half were allotted to the trade up the Liard. The relative priorities given to this outfit reflected more the unequal status of the traders than the promise of the country into which the trade goods were sent. Although Great Bear Lake did not warrant an outfit of such size, McKenzie kept the bulk of the trade goods because he was, after all, the bourgeois. After just a day at the Forks, McKenzie left for Great Bear Lake in three canoes with Charles Grant and Alexander Henry Jr and most of the voyageurs. Along his way down the river, McKenzie mentioned passing "Old Rocky mountain Fort."^ Had any other trading posts, active or abandoned, been built between the Forks and Great Bear Lake River, he certainly would have mentioned them. McKenzie and his men arrived at the house on Great Bear Lake on 4 October. He considered it inadequate for his winter quarters and four days later be-

39 Historical Background

gan construction of a new residence. Alexander Henry, with five men, was sent to Bear Island at the head of the McVicar Arm of Great Bear Lake to winter over, while Charles Grant and eight men remained at headquarters to assist the bourgeois. The Native peoples who traded at Great Bear Lake included the Slaveys, Dogribs, Yellowknives, and Hare. Engage Cens Sols had been left at Great Bear Lake over the summer to visit the several different nations in the area and encourage them to trade at the fort. Arriving at the fort early in February, Cens Sols was ordered by McKenzie to visit the Loucheux, with whom he also wished to trade. The engage had been instructed to journey to their lands on the lower Mackenzie River over the summer and encourage them to trade at Great Bear Lake but had failed to do so. Later, when the chief of the Bear Lake Hare Indians arrived at the fort with some of his returns, McKenzie solicited a promise from him to bring forty Loucheux to the fort in March. They failed to appear. In December Charles Grant, with two voyageurs and an Indian, was sent to the "Rappid" Indians (presumably, the Mountain Dene of the lower Mackenzie) to encourage them to trade at Great Bear Lake.150 Again, the effort proved unsuccessful. It was this failure to induce the Loucheux and Rappid Indians to trade at Great Bear Lake that convinced McKenzie that a post lower on the Mackenzie must be established if trade among those people was to benefit the company. In July, he did just that. The winter trade at Great Bear Lake produced forty-two packs, and another twelve were collected from the Loucheux and Rappid Indians. Most of the peltry was brought in by Yellowknives such as the trading leader Kascara, but the well-known Dogrib trading leader General Montgomery, who is mentioned in Thomson's journal, also brought in a sizeable return. That there were not more Slaveys trading at Great Bear Lake may have been due to the enmity between them and the Dogribs. Kaskara's wife and family moved closer to the fort on 27 December because there was a report that some Beaver (Slavey) Indians were coming to kill them. Hare Indians were frequent visitors to the post as well, but perhaps because he knew them less well, McKenzie did not record their names. Only about a third of the Hare hunters had visited Great Bear Lake post, trading mostly in martens and muskrats. McKenzie pointed out that among these Indians, "it is only three years since they have had traders."151 This is a strong indication that a trading post on Great Bear Lake had not been established before the summer or fall of 1802. By the spring of 1806 McKenzie had determined to visit the Rappid and Loucheux Indians on the lower Mackenzie before accompanying the returns to Fort Chipewyan. Rushing the season, early in June the

40 North of Athabasca

men had to carry the forty-two packs of furs (as well as an untold number of packs of provisions and trade goods) across three miles of ice to the outlet of Great Bear Lake River. McKenzie admitted that it was impossible to leave Great Bear Lake in June in canoes.152 Alexander Henry was entrusted with the summer charge of the post. With some difficulty, the men made their way down the river to its meeting with the Mackenzie, and eight hours below that confluence, McKenzie came upon the Bluefish River. It would be on this spot, a few weeks later, that the bourgeois would order the building of the first trading post below the Great Bear Lake River. In the vicinity of that portion of the Mackenzie River called the Ramparts, the brigade met Gene, a trading leader among the Rappid Indians, who had never been at any fort. A few days later, near the Trading River (located somewhere between the modern Travaillant and Arctic Red Rivers), McKenzie made contact with the elusive Quarrelers (as he called the Loucheux). In the three days he spent trading among them, he collected seven packs of peltries with what he described as a trifle in goods.153 After promising he would return to the same place next year, McKenzie embarked for Fort Chipewyan, well pleased with his exertions. The Emperor did not exactly keep his promise. Some time after he left the Loucheux on 4 July, McKenzie decided it would be safer for the Loucheux to trade some distance upstream, away from the depredations of the Esquimaux (and more convenient to the Rappid and Hare Indians). On 12 July 1806 the brigade arrived again at the mouth of the Bluefish River, where McKenzie left Charles Grant, JeanBaptiste LaPrise, and Paul Bebar, with three Indian hunters, to build what until about 1808 was known as Bluefish River Post and thereafter as Fort Good Hope. For a number of years after its establishment, Charles Grant assumed management of the post. On his return to Fort Chipewyan, McKenzie made mention of both the abandoned posts of Rocky Mountain Fort and Livingston's "Old Fort" He stopped at Fort of the Forks to consult with Wentzel and Keith, collected their returns, and accompanied the brigade on the rest of the voyage to Lake Athabasca. Wentzel was not at the fort when McKenzie arrived on 22 July. While waiting for him, the bourgeois sent off two canoes with the 56 packs he had amassed over the winter and spring. Keith soon arrived from the Liard, having previously sent down 27% packs, which constituted the returns of his post. Still, Wentzel did not appear, and McKenzie began to despair of being able to consult with him about the results of his voyage to "discover" the Nahanni, among whom McKenzie hoped to expand the trade. Finally, on i August Wentzel returned, but reported no success. Direct trade with the Nahanni (today's

41 Historical Background

Kaska) would have to wait for another thirty years or so. Nevertheless, even though Wentzel had little luck contacting the elusive Nahanni, he managed a respectable business among the Slavey and Dogribs who visited his post. The total district returns amounted to 117 small packs, of which 56 were collected by McKenzie and 27^ by George Keith. Wentzel 's returns, then, must have amounted to about ggVz packs. The summer and fall of 1806 seems to have been the fort-building season. On a map that Wentzel drew from memory in 1821, he located an "Old Fort" a short distance up the Red Knife river, on its right, or east, bank. The Red Knife River falls into the Mackenzie between Livingston's Trout River and the Great Slave Lake. This post, defunct at the time of Wentzel's map, may have been the one Alexander McKenzie planned to build late in 1806. After having left some Indians opposite the River Lapashe (Trout River) on 4 August, McKenzie arrived at a "Grand Camp" of two Chiefs of the Forks where some forty-three Indians were busy making provisions. His comment was, "I intend establishing a fort at or near this plase being a Beaver Countrie." The distance is about right, so Wentzel's "Old Fort" may be the same.154 A second fort was under construction in 1806, about twenty miles above the entrance of Mackenzie's River, that is, on the south shore of Little Lake, known today as Mills Lake. Because it was so near to Red Knife Fort (which McKenzie mentioned passing the next day), the new post was probably intended to replace it. Construction of a third establishment was under way at some unspecified distance up the Hay River. It was McKenzie's opinion that it should have been built a year earlier; "its not being done was at least thirty packs lost to the N.W. CompV155 Interestingly, this rush of construction of trading posts in the Mackenzie and Slave Lake Districts did not occur during the period of intense competition with the XY Company but, rather, after the merger of that concern with the Nor'Westers. Alexander McKenzie returned to his post at Great Bear Lake for the next season (1806-7) DUt retired from the Mackenzie River District in favour of company clerk John Clarke. Having played an important role in opening up the lower Mackenzie River to trade as the first wintering partner in the district, the Emperor turned his back to further pioneering efforts and accepted the management of posts in the more established Lake Superior District. He ended his fur trading career a decade later, a relic of the past.156 ALEXANDER H E N R Y J R ' S J O U R N A L ,

1806

The short fragment from the Bear Island post of Alexander Henry Jr is included in this collection of Mackenzie River documents because it

42

North of Athabasca

confirms some of the incidents found in Alexander McKenzie's Great Bear Lake journal. Like other documents found in the Selkirk Papers, it is a copy made many years later by someone unfamiliar with the people, places, or events concerning the fur trade in the Mackenzie River District. As a result, there may be errors of spelling or of omission that were not Henry's but those of the copyist. Alexander Henry Jr was the oldest son of the well-known fur trader by that name who is identified in the literature as Alexander Henry the Elder. l tf A third Alexander Henry (the Younger), a cousin to the present journalist, was also a fur trader during this time. Alexander Henry Jr entered the employ of the North West Company in i8oo.ls8 Throughout his entire career, he served in the Athabasca Department. Along with Charles Grant, Henry was one of the two clerks who arrived at Great Bear Lake with Alexander McKenzie in the fall of 1805. After a voyage of nineteen days, Henry arrived at Great Bear Lake in October of 1805. His bourgeois, Alexander McKenzie, had wanted him to live with the Loucheux but decided against it for lack of a hunter. Instead, he sent the young clerk to Bear Island, located near the head of McVicar Arm on Great Bear Lake, where it was expected he would fish for his subsistence while trading with the Yellowknives. On 6 October Henry, five engages, a woman, and an Indian guide departed for Bear Island. They remained at Bear Island until March, when, after five months of meagre returns and poor provisions, Henry and his companions arrived back at McKenzie's post with two and a half packs of furs. The previous October, Henry had been given orders not to extend credits to any of the Yellowknives who traded with him but, instead, to send them to Mountain Island as soon as the hunt was over. Mountain Island was a relatively new trading post located in Yellowknife Bay, along the northern arm of Great Slave Lake. It did not exist in the summer of 1802 when W. F. Wentzel kept his journal at Slave Lake Post. By October of 1804, however, the post had been established (assuming it was the same as Peter Fidler's Mountagne d'Leisle, a North West Company post he mentioned at that time).159 A concern of the fur traders was that Indians would take credits on the same beaver skins at more than one trading post, but pay them at only one. McKenzie seemed to assume that the Yellowknives trading at Bear Island had taken their credits at Mountain Island on Great Slave Lake. No doubt Henry kept a post journal for the entire five months he traded at Bear Island, but the fragment found in the Selkirk Papers contains only portions of the months of January and February 1806. Little trade was conducted during this time; Henry's main activity appears to have been catching enough fish on which to survive. Trout and whitefish served as his diet, occasionally augmented with moose or caribou.

43 Historical Background

The incident that stands out in the three pages of this fragment concerns the movements of the couriers McKenzie had dispatched with the winter express. On 30 January McKenzie sent off Guilbord (McKenzie spelled it Gelbore) and Pierre LaRocque with letters for Fort Chipewyan. They were instructed to take the express by way of Fort of the Forks on the Mackenzie River so that communication with that post might be made. The two couriers, however, decided to take a more direct route by way of Lac La Martre, bypassing the Mackenzie River. When informed of Guilbord and LaRocque's behaviour, McKenzie sent three men after them so that his letters for Fort of the Forks might be retrieved, but to no avail.160 The two miscreants made their way south by way of Bear Island, where they arrived on 6 February. Unaware of their misbehaviour, Henry gave them a dram and, two days later, provisioned them for their voyage to Fort Chipewyan by way of Mountain Island.161 The two men thereby received the food necessary for their journey, food that otherwise would have been given them at Fort of the Forks, and Henry became an unwitting accomplice to their misbehaviour. G E O R G E K E I T H ' S J O U R N A L S , 1805-7 George Keith is second only to W.F. Wentzel in importance regarding the extent and value of the Mackenzie River District documents. Both his letters to Roderic McKenzie, written from the Mackenzie River between 1807 and 1817, and his two journals reproduced here provide valuable detail regarding the North West Company's activities in this remote district. Scottish-born George Keith entered the fur trade in 1800 as an apprentice clerk for the xY Company. He was first assigned to the Athabasca River district and helped to establish the new company's first post at Lesser Slave Lake. He was later transferred to the Peace River and, in 1805, became a Nor'Wester. Keith first saw the Mackenzie River District that same year, when he helped to establish the trade on the Liard River. Other than Sir Alexander Mackenzie's two-mile excursion up the Liard River in 1789, no known penetration of any Mackenzie River tributary by Europeans occurred prior to the establishment of the Fort of the Forks.162 On a number of occasions, Wentzel did send Indian hunters with his interpreter, William Smith, up what he called "Grand River Forks" to seek out game, but he gave no intimation of how far these excursions extended.163 Smith must have gained some familiarity with at least the lower 120 miles of the river, because in the summer of 1805 he was sent that far to begin building what would become the first North West Company establishment on the Liard and to await the

44 North of Athabasca

arrival of George Keith, who would assume management of that part of the Mackenzie River District. It is Keith's journal of 1805-6 that records his first year's experiences on the Liard. On 28 September, just a day after he arrived at Fort of the Forks with Alexander McKenzie, George Keith set out on the North West Company's first attempt to establish the trade on the Liard River. His outfit consisted of one canoe and twelve and a half "pieces de traite." To assist him, Keith was provided with four voyageurs (one on loan from Wentzel for the trip) and an Indian guide.l64 The company had not yet decided about building a permanent post on the Liard; all depended on the success of Keith's experiment.165 At the beginning of the summer, Wentzel's interpreter, William Smith, had been sent up the Liard some 120 miles or so to select a site and begin building a fort and to contact the Indians in the area advertising the company's intent to establish a trading post among them. Keith was not sure Smith had selected the best location, but if not, it could easily be moved the following summer. The trip up the Liard was extremely difficult. Earlier in the year, during flood, it would have been easier, but it was September, when "the bones of the river showed."166 Keith and his men had to line their canoe most of the way through shallow waters with a rocky bottom while walking along a rough, stony, sloping shore.167 When lining was not possible, they resorted to portaging around various rapids, such as the small cascade that crosses the entire three-quarter-mile breadth of the river.168 With all these difficulties, Keith and his men made slow progress, averaging only about eighteen or nineteen miles a day during the six days it took them to reach the mouth of the South Nahanni (Nd hdne, in Keith's journal) River.169 After spending the night under the fog-enshrouded Nahanni Butte, Keith ascended the Liard another fifteen miles or so to find William Smith and a few Indians at the post he was building near the mouth of the Netla River, on the right bank of the Liard.170 In his journal, Keith observed: "Before I arrived here I was oppinion [sic] that it would be much better to build farther up the river, as being nigher to the place where most of the Indians work the Beaver, it might encourage them to come oftener to the Fort but upon being informed that part of the Indians were below & part of them above and not knowing positively that there was to be a Fort in this River, I thought it preferable to build here for the first year, seeing that it would be very easy to change the plan afterwards if it did not turn out to be for the Interest of the Concern" [emphasis added].171 This passage demonstrates that this post, some fifteen miles up the Liard from the mouth of the South Nahanni River, was the first one attempted by the North West Company (or by

Facsimile of Murdoch McPherson's map of 1824, "A Chart of the Mackenzie's River Department." Redrawn to clarify details obscured in original (HBCA, 01/52)

46

North of Athabasca

anyone else, for that matter) on the Liard River. Although Keith failed to mention a name for this post, it is designated Netla Fort here, to distinguish it from other Liard River trading establishments.172 No sooner had Keith arrived at his new trading post than he began arrangements for the year's trade. Both Keith and Wentzel described the inhabitants of the Liard as Beaver Indians, because they considered themselves related to the Beaver Indians of Peace River. Although Wentzel claimed the language of these Indians bore a resemblance to that of their southern neighbours, Keith thought "the original language of this Tribe does not sound like the modern Beaver Indian in Peace River. "173 In all probability they were Slaveys or an intermediate group with Slavey and Beaver ancestors.174 Many of the trading leaders who were to come to Keith's Liard River post had previously traded (and incurred debts) at Fort of the Forks. Among them were Mortne (Stillborn), Partridge Chief, Pere du Chien (Dog Father), the Grand Cheveux (Big Hair), Leucheux (Squinty Eyes), and Pouce Coupe (Cut Thumb).175 The draining off of so many trading bands from Fort of the Forks could not help but reduce the returns of the lower post. The previous year, some twenty-one pieces of trade goods had been allocated to Fort of the Forks, compared to the sixteen and a half for 1805-6.176 From this reduction, it is evident that some loss of trade at the Forks was anticipated by the drawing of trade up the Liard, but the returns for 1805-6 suggest that the draw was greater than expected. Small groups of Liard Slaveys began visiting Netla Fort during the fall and winter, but entire bands did not come to trade until the month of June. The peltry they traded was mostly beaver, but they also brought in bear, lynx, wolverine, marten, ermine, dressed moose-deer skins, pecheux (lynx), mink, and muskrat. Much of the trade was in provisions, especially in the winter. Dried "mouse deer meat" (which is what Keith called the flesh of the orignal, or moose) was traded in the fall, and during the winter Indians brought in 591 hares for the consumption of Keith, Smith, the remaining Canadian, and any visitors who may have appeared. In addition, in six journal entries Keith reported trading for a "ribb of mouse deer" and, on two other occasions, for a shoulder of the same animal. Twice, the fort hunter killed and brought in an entire "mouse deer." While Keith employed a number of Indian hunters over the year, he seems to have relied most heavily on Pouce Coupe in that capacity.177 So many hares were brought to the fort that twice Keith had to tell the Indians to hunt beaver instead. Only once did Keith mention fishing the Liard, receiving from his net on that occasion eight pike and one poisson inconnu, a species of whitefish. No mention is made of a garden that first year or of provisions other than meat or fish.

47 Historical Background

One trading leader, The Partridge, brought in a modest fall return consisting of eighteen and a half beaver skins and an assortment of other peltry, as well as a considerable amount of provisions and grease. Keith paid him the amount appropriate for this return but, for some reason, found a reprimand necessary and threatened him "with losing his coat if he did not work well for the ensuing winter."178 Trading leaders, or "chiefs," as the Europeans called them, generally had little authority within their band, except, perhaps, among their relatives. They were usually good hunters who were made "chiefs" by the traders, who clothed them in suits of bright colour as a symbol of their skill. Krech has pointed out that it was possible for a leader to be "declothed" if his trapping success declined, a penalty that was imposed on Grand Cheveux, a Chipewyan trading leader, in i825.1 ^vis '99 1 ' 774~5)John Franklin placed Isle of the Dead at longitude i i4°i8V4' w (Franklin 1969, 11). Franklin placed Burnt Point at longitude H4°57'io"w (Franklin 1969, cxxxiii). On 8 August 1806, as McKenzie made his way back to Fort Chipewyan, he learned that the company was building an establishment at an unspecified distance up the Hay River. It was abandoned in 1819. When the brigade departed from Fort Chipewyan on 15 September, Alexander Henry embarked in McKenzie's canoe. The three heavily loaded canoes carried four men and, in two of them, a clerk. Initially, then, one of the canoes carried no clerk, but sometime in the ensuing nine days, Henry moved to it. This is the first mention that he had the charge of a canoe of his own.

215 Alexander McKenzie 's Journal with the others the swell was very high and a Strong head Wind at 7 OClock in the morning we was obliged to put a shore in the North Channel of Hay river where we remained until half past 10 OClock at night then Embarked, at sun rise we were oposite to Stony Point22 24™ - Encamped nine Miles below the Rappids of McKenzies River2^ at 7 OClock at night 25™ - Embarked at 4 OClock in the morning with every appearance of a pleasent day and at 8 OClock in the Evening Encamped at River a La Pache2* 26™ - Embarked at 12 OClock of the night and at 2 OClock arrived at the Forks where we found Mr Wentzel25 much surprised to se us Arrive so early in fall. I gave the Nessesary Goods &c for that part and the south Branch &c26 22 McKenzie and his men were still off the south shore of Great Slave Lake. 23 Now called the Providence Rapids (Lamb 1970, i77nn2, 3). 24 This appears to be the spelling McKenzie gave to this river, although his handwriting is sometimes difficult to decipher. On his return trip in August, McKenzie spelled it "Lapashe." It is likely that he was thinking of peche, for on Franklin's map of 1825 there is a river flowing into the Mackenzie on the right bank called either Fishing or Trout River. The mouth of this river is a few miles upstream from Duncan Livingston's 1795 post, called Old Fort in McKenzie's journal (see the entry for 3 August). In his map of 1821, W.F. Wentzel provided two names for this river: River a la peche and Trout River (see Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart"). There is another Fishing River on Franklin's map a few miles further upstream with its mouth on the left bank that could also be the river that McKenzie referred to (Franklin 1969, map, "Great Slave Lake to Great Bear Lake River"). 25 Willard Ferdinand Wentzel. McKenzie had just arrived at Fort of the Forks, located at the confluence of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers. This post had been constructed just three years previously, on the instructions of Wentzel. By stressing that Wentzel was surprised to see him 50 early in the fall, McKenzie implied that Wentzel knew of the recent merger and that the Emperor was to be his new bourgeois. Couriers carrying a circular letter announcing the merger arrived at Fort Chipewyan on 6 May and were sent on the next day with the circular to Slave Lake (HBCA,B.39/a/4, fols. 17-17d). It was there, at Ring Lake on Slave River, that Alexander McKenzie and his North West Company counterpart received news of the merger. It is likely that a courier was sent to Fort of the Forks and Great Bear Lake with the news, but unfortunately, confirmation is not possible because Wentzel's journal of 1804-5 ends on 26 March. 26 The south branch referred to was the Liard River. Company clerk George Keith had been assigned the responsibility of establishing the trade in that country at the mouth of a river called the Netla.

216 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

27™ - Embarked at 10 OClock in the morning for Bear Lake with two Cannoes & my own Cannoe, in all 32 trading pieces Encamped at 10 OClock at night at Old Rocky mountain Fort.27 the Houses are yet in good order except the Chimneys [3] 1805 - SEPT R 28™ - Embarked at 4 OClock of the morning and Encamped at 7 OClock 3 miles below Gros Roshere28 embarked at 12 OClock at night at 2 OClock stopped at a Camp of Indians (say Slaves) got 2 Carriboux & i moose deer in meet & embarked 2 young men to assist in going up Bear River 29™ - at 7 OClock in the morning I put a shore where there was 5 Lodges of Dog Ribb Indians Recevd 2 Small Bundles of Peltries two Blatthers [bladders] 29 of Greese & 2 Ribs of Carriboux and embarked one young man which made one Indian per Cannoe it rained very much all day the men being weatt and Mr Henrys Cannoe not with us Encamped at 6 OClock ~ 30™ - Embarked at 5 OClock without any appearance of Mr Henry entered Bear River at 12 OClock put on shore as there was no appearance of the other Cannoe and made a Comfortable Breakfast at 2 OClock embarked thinking that the other Cannoe might have gone up the River at 6 OClock I found that Mr Henry had not passed I encamped for the night OCT i ST -1 made Mr Grant & his Cannoe make the best of their way to Bear Lake and sent an Indian Before Mr Henrys Cannoe the Indian returned at i o OClock with good news that the Cannoe was a Coming, they arrived at 12 OClock and informed me that they had been runing after a Carriboux that they had wounded - I told Mr H. that for the 27 This is the post constructed by John Thomson in 1800 opposite the mouth of the North Nahanni River. It had been abandoned sometime between 1801 and 1804 in favour of the new post on Great Bear Lake (Thomson's journal entry for 13-14 October 1800). 28 Probably after Gros Rocher, or Big Rock. It may be the same as the Roche qui-trempe a-l'eau mentioned in Lamb (1970, 181). 29 Marrow-fat, used in preparing pemmican, was often preserved in bladders taken from the animals from which the fat was rendered and kept in the round bags to distinguish it from pemmican, which was already prepared ("Pemican and How to Make It," 53). On the plains, grease was easily obtained from carcasses of bison, but the large animals of the Mackenzie River basin, such as caribou, are much leaner, and fat is more difficult to obtain. On 12 June (see below) McKenzie mentioned pounding caribou bones to get the fat necessary for making pemmican. The crushed bones were boiled in water and the fatty marrow ladled off the top.

217

Alexander McKenzie's Journal

future he would not detain any Cannoe for his sport we had plenty of provisions I Embarked at 7 OClock Encamped a little Below the first Islands - where we overtook Mr Grant 2 ND - Embarked at 5 OClock fine weather arrived at foot of the Rapids^0 at i OClock Mr G. debarked on the S. Side of the River being some distance a head of his Cannoe when they arrived at the foot of the Rapids the Cannoe crossed to the N. Side as they go up the Rappids on that side. I arrived with my Cannoe only above the Rappids at 8 OClock M" G. Was oposite us and had discharged his Gun two or three times it would have been improper to have sent for him at that hour of the night and would have ran great risque of damaging the Cannoe therefore [4] he was left to amuse himself all night a long side his fier [fire] which he made with his Gun the two other Canoes arrived at 9 OClock OCTR 3BD - at 5 OClock in the Morning I embarked and two miles above my encampment I Crossed on the S. side of the River to Embark Mr G. his Trowsers were much tore By the Branches and had passed a very disagreeable night as it was very Cold I put him a shore on the N. Side of the River as his Cannoe remained at the Camp to Gum - at 8 OClock encamped at the halfway point between the Rappids & Bear Lake 4TH - Embarked at 5 OClock and arrived at Great Bear Lake Castle^1 at 4 OClock in the afternoon my Cannoe only. I was in the House before they [the summer men] perserved [perceived] me. I found seven Indians at the Fort of which not one was able to kill a Carriboux ~ 30 In his 1825 ascent of Great Bear Lake River, John Franklin described two stretches of rapids. The first, less than a day up the river, ran for some 15 miles. He and his men were able to line, or ascend, this stretch by towing their boat while walking along the shore. The second stretch of rapids, only two hours from the river's outlet at Great Bear Lake, was short and was apparently also lined. Although McKenzie portaged his loaded canoes around a portion of the lower rapid in 1806, Franklin's boats ran them without any difficulty (see McKenzie's entry, below, for 25 June; Franklin 1969, 47-9, 86. Franklin's difficulty in ascending these rapids during his expedition of 1825 lends some sympathy for Charles Grant's circumstances in the following account but, at the same time, underscores McKenzie's prudence in not crossing over the river to rescue him in the darkness. 31 McKenzie used the term "Castle" sarcastically, as will be evident in a few days when he condemns the building as "not fit to pass the winter" (see entry for 8 October). It was at or near this post that less than a year earlierJohn Steinbruck of the North West Company was shot and killed by a John McDonald of the XY Company. In none of the journals published here is this incident ever mentioned.

a 18 Alexander McKenzie's Journal 5TH - Mr H. & G. Arrived at 9 OClock in the morning. I made up Mr Henrys Equipment to send him to Bear Island32 as I found it would have been imprudent to send him to the Lusheus [Loucheux] not having a hunter for him nor a man or Indian that had been there Sansols [Cens Sols] was with the Red Knives33 on their lands and had not been to the Lusheu Countrie in the Summer as was expected 6 TH - at 8 OClock in the Morning Mr H. Embarked for his post with 5 men one woman and a Indian with orders not to make any Credits and as soon as the hunt was over to send the yellow or Red Knives to Mountain Island34 and if he met Sansols and the Indians that was with him not to trade with them but to take what provisions he might want and give them a order on me for the amount ~ a great fall of snow today and very cold y TH - I gave a few Credits to the Indians and sent them from the fort delivered the summer men their Equipments Sec 8™ - Set the men to Build a small House as the present one is not fit to pass the winter snow and strong N. Wind ~ [5] 1805 — OCT R 9™ - Six nets now in the watter and do not take sufisent quantity of fish for the men and very little meet in the store excepted pounded meet - the men would not work today as it Continued snowing 32 Bear Island is located at the head of McVicar Arm on the south side of Great Bear Lake. 33 The Red Knives were variously known as Yellowknife or Copper Indians. According to John Franklin, they called themselves Tal tsa oo dinne and may have numbered some 430 in 1805 (Davis 1995, U7;Houston 1974, 124). They occupied the lands to the east and south of Great Bear Lake. 34 Mountain Island is located in the North Arm of Great Slave Lake near the mouth of the Yellowknife River. At this time it was apparently the site of a North West Company trading post, although the exact year of its reestablishment is unclear. Laurent Leroux wintered over near Mountain Island in 1789-90 and had spent part of the previous winter in the vicinity (Lamb 1970, 173, 231, 438). Whether he stayed on for additional trading seasons is unclear. Neither Porter in 1800 nor Wentzel in 1802 mentioned anything about a post on Mountain Island, although frequent reference was made to the coining and going of men to Marten Lake and Red Knife Fort. It appears that sometime after 1802 the post was reestablished. On 4 October 1804 Peter Fidler of the Hudson's Bay Company mentioned a North West Company fort that he identified as Mountagne d'Seisle. By this, he probably meant Mountain Island, and, if so, it must have been established sometime between October of 1802 and October of 1804 (HBCA, 8.39/3/4, fol. 6).

219 Alexander McKenzie' s Journal

i o™ we had set yesterday nine Lines on the Borders of the Ice of which we lost three took 4 Trout the nets could not be visited for Ice 11™ - They was visited & 60 pieces of fish taken. 8 Indians arrived with about 3 packs of furs gave them a dram and 4 Inches of Tobbaccoe each one of the above Indians I keep as hunter for the fort 12 TH - gave the Indians Credits and sent them of[f] at 10 OClock. they are all Hare Indians35 except the Hunter who is a Slave36 13 - sent the hunter to the Chase finished the freese37 of the House the snoe is one foot deep and every appearance of remaining on the ground 14™ - fine weather put 3 nets in the watter - covered the House 15™ - The nets were visited the produse of which was 100 pieces of fish it requires 8 of those fish per man a day they are Herings38 Commenced one of the Chimneys ~ 16 - finished one Chimney and began the other, finished the shop a very mild day 25 above 039. the Hunter returned from his hunt with 3 Carribouxs Tongues ~ 17™ - Sent 3 men with a Indian for meet 21 above 0 18TH _ The second Chimney was finished the men arrived with the meet which was very acceptable 30 above 0. A very heavy rain all day ig TH The men put earth on the House the fishermen and [Francois] Etlier began to make nets as they could not set nets the 35 The Hare Indians occupied the lands to the north and west of Great Bear Lake. For some reason McKenzie regularly placed a diacritical mark above the e of Hare. 36 The Slave, or Slavey, Indians occupied the lands adjacent to the upper Mackenzie and Liard Rivers. Few traded at Great Bear Lake. In some accounts, such as the journals of Wentzel and Keith, they were sometimes referred to as Beaver Indians, although they considered themselves distinct from the Beaver of the Peace River. 37 It is likely that this word refers to the ice house, or glaciere, in which provisions were kept. 38 George Keith, who spent the winter of 1812-13 at Great Bear Lake, described this small fish as "about the size of a herring, very much similar to those taken upon Lake Superior at the Grand Portage. This fish is of an oily substance and becomes rather disgusting, particularly as it is not always prepared and cooked with that delicacy which fish of every kind particularly demand" (NA, Masson Papers, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 64). Catching three to eight hundred in the nets each day, Franklin called them "herring salmon" and described them as small and of inferior quality (1969, 54, 80). 39 A symbol similar to this was written by McKenzie to indicate zero degrees.

220 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

men finds that their allowa[nce] of fresh meet was to little they had 6^lb per man the word was a Moral. A Moral by Et[l]ier4° 2 o The hunter went a hunting on the s side of B. Lake the men got pounded meet for thier suppers -Just 3 nets in watter - [6] 1805 - OCT R 2i S T - The Men began to plaster the house took 50 pieces fish out of the nets, & gave pounded meet for supper 22 N D - Took 45 pieces offish. The Thememater was 2 below 0 23 RD - Took 18 pieces offish gave pounded meet to the men two Indians arrived from Caskans41 with a little fresh meet ~ 24™ - Gave fresh meet to the men and sent the Indians back to their Lodges they wanted some medisenes [medicine] for a seeck man not having any they went without I shall not say anything more of the fishery as I keep an exact accu1 of what is taken in a seperate Book. 25™ - nothing particular ~ 26™ - The Chief of Bear Lake Hare Indians arrived with 4 young men & a Boy with 150 Beavers, they passed best part of the night a dancing as I gave them 4 pints of Rum and one fathom of Tobacco the Chief promised to bring to the Fort 40 of the Lousheus in the Month of March 27™ -1 sent Cadien42 and family to remain with those Indians and LeRocke [Pierre La Rocque] to come back with peltries &c that they have at their Lodges, their having promised to bring of the Strange Indians I gave them more Credits than I would have done on acco' of 40 Apparently the nets could not be set because of the rain. It is assumed that McKenzie intended "allowance" where he wrote "allowa." Exactly what McKenzie meant by "the word was a moral ... a moral by Et[l]ier" remains perplexing. Perhaps Etlier was chastising the men by implying that they could expect to go hungry if they did not work more diligendy toward procuring fish. 41 McKenzie was not always careful with his penmanship. This spelling definitely appears to be as here shown; however, he later prefers the spelling "Eascara" for this Dogrib trading leader. On first glance, it appears to read "Karkara," but on page 8 of the manuscript the juxtaposition of "Kaskara" and "Karkagou" clearly shows the difference in McKenzie's rendering of an s before the letter k and an r. The bark of the cascara tree is used as a laxative. Its properties were probably known, and, while the tree is not native to Great Bear Lake, pieces of its bark could have been included in the medicine bag of the fur traders. It was a word familiar to the trader, and, for some nonsensical reason, it was applied to the principal trading leader at Great Bear Lake. 42 It is difficult to determine which Cadien this is.

221 Alexander McKenzie 's Journal

going for the Natives that had not seen the Fort - at 7 OClock in the evening the Hunter & Brother arrived with Six Carriboux Tongues and informed me that he had wounded 3 more ~ 28™ - I sent 3 men and a Indian for 4 that was on the S side of the River43 in a Large Cannoe & Mr Grant To pay the hunter for two that was killed six miles from the Fort on the N. Side with 3 dogs the hunter is to follow those he wounded 10 below 0 the Later parley returned at 6 OClock in the evening with the two Carribous the Indian killed one of those he wounded yesterday Mr G. broke th Stock of his Gun in his Trip ~ 29™ - Etlier & hunter went with two Slays [sleighs] for the Carriboux that was killed yesterday 13 below 0. they returned at 8 OClock with only part as their dogs ran away with the Slays [sleighs] 30™ - This Morning 27 below 0. [Charles] Martin went for the remainder of the Carriboux. returned at 2 OClock 31 - The men & Indian returned from the South side of the River with the meet & Left the Cannoe at the Enterence of the River 17 below 0 Nov E i S T I gave the men 2lb flour & some Greese to make a feast the hunter & Morent Bro1 home wood for 6 Prs snowshoes 2 Making snowshoes for hunter — [7] Nov R 3 RD - The Men stil working at the House very sloely ~ 4™ 5 TH The last of our fresh meet has been given this morning ~ 6T" Gave pounded meet to the men ~ 7TB - Caskara Came to the Fort to set lines on the Bordage as he was starving at his Lodge I lent him 5 hooks ~ 8™ The hunter arrived from hunting he killed four carribouxs twenty below 0. Etlier sett 6 Lines under the Ice 9'" Sent 3 men & the hunter for the meet - Etlier Gout [caught] 4 Trout on his Lines ~ i OTH The men came home with the meet — put 4 nets under.the Ice i I T H The nets was vissited and only 23 fish taken out of them poor appearance j moved jn tne small Building I had made with Mr Gfrant]. 13 TH [Francois] Edier Pansenou [Pinsonnault] & John. Edier Gout 11 Trout of his Lines & only 7 in the nets - The Lake froze a Cross Last night 30 below 0. I gave out 4 nets more and apointed Morent & [Louis] Generoux for fishermen & Gelbore [Guilbord] to Cut their wood ~

43 That is, Great Bear Lake River.

222

Alexander McKenzie's Journal

13™ 32 below 0-15 fish out of the nets & 10 Trout on the Lines ~ 14™ - 36 0 ~ The Women began making snowshoes The fishermen sat four nets at the enterence of the River 5 Trout of the Lines 15™ The 4 nets at the enterence of the River was visited 63 pieces of fish was all was found in the nets, poor fishing The Indians is much surprised this year not being able to get fish for their families, only one Trout on the Lines today ~ 16™ As I keep an acco' of the fish in a seperate Book I will not take notice of the fishery here ~ 17™ nothing extra. 10 below 0 ~ 18™ " " 2 " 0~

19™

"

"

3

"

0~

20™ " " 2 " 0 ~ the men did not visit the nets 2 i ST The Hunters Brother came home Sick, in a short time after his arrival, he began to eat ~ i below 0~ 2 2 ND Nothing extra - 2 below 0 ~ 2 3 RD Two young Indians arrived from Caskaras Lodge on thier way to Bear Island (say Mr Henrys fort) [8] 24™ NOVEMBER The two Indians Red Knives left this for Bear Island I wrote by them to Mr Henry and sent him an acco1 of the Goods and Indian Credits &c 25™ I went to Kaskares Lodge about 4 miles from the Fort I got 6 Beaver skins and one Karkagou [carcajou] 26™ 18 Below0 27™ 14 " 0 28 TH 14 " 0. the men did not visit the nets I gave them nothing to eat and informed them that when they did not visit them they should go without provisions they Complained of the Wind on the Lake I gave them a Beaver Robe for the winter 2g TH 14 below 0. I made 102 Candels 30™ 30 " 0. The Enterprater is Confined with a swelling in his knee i DEC R 16 below 0. The Hunter is gone to the Chase. 2ND-

27

"

0

3RD the Hunter came horn with four Carriboux Tonges he was very unwell, a little thing makes the Indians of this Countrie Complain and as little will make them well for I have gave them a fill of Tea or warm watter and in two Hours they were quite recovered 4™ I sent 3 men for the meet they Were to se if Kaskara had not killed any as he was a hunting that way 5™ 18 below 0. no fresh meet we supped on pounded meet 6™ 24 " 0

223 Alexander McKenzie' s Journal

7™ The Men Arrived with the meet of 5 Carribouxs as Kaskara had killed one he arrived with them for his Cariboux and 2 Martins44 I gave him a pint of mixt H Wines of which he gave part to the Hunter, the Latter had likewise a pint which made them pass a joveal night The hunter requested of me to permit him to go to the Rappid Indians45 as they always had a great deal of Beaver and did not come to the Fort to trade which would enable him to pay his debt I told him that he should have my leave to go when he returned from the Chase as I had gave him powder and Ball for to the next morning ~ 8™ gave Kaskara 2 nets to put in the watter for the Fort as the men only got 32 pieces offish out of 8 nets 22 below 0. the Hunter is gone to the Chase [9] DEC R 9™ 18 Below 0. The Men did not visit the nets. Severe Snoe Storm gave them fresh meet for the day 10™ I acquainted Mrs[Messrs.] Grant & Etlier to be ready to go with the Hunter KakiBatha46 to the Rappid Indians on the return of the Hunter and not to mention to any person my intentions of sending them 11™ 18 Below 0. Snoe & Strong wind N.E 12™ 25 " 0. Clear sky. 13™ [Louis] Paul & LaRocque arrived with 2 Hare Indians 32 Beafver] 14™ Charles Grant, F. Etlier Paul & 3 Indians left this to discover the Rappid Indians Paul Bebar is to remain at the Hare Indians Lodges provesions i Tore of pemigan 3olb of pounded meet 2 plaucoties [plat de cotes] & fish for their Dogs 240 Beavers in Goods. God send them good Luck ~ 44 Martens (Maries americana) were more numerous in the area than were beaver (Castor canadensis). 45 The identity of the Rappid Indians is not entirely clear, but they were probably Hare. They seem to have occupied the lands along the lower Mackenzie River above the Hare and Loucheux Nations in the vicinity of the mouth of the Bluefish River. In June of 1808 Wentzel reported that "a war party of the rapid Indians from Mr Grants Fort has Killed a great many of the dahodinnais of Bluefish River" (Wentzel's journal entry for 19 June 1808). Charles Grant's post had been built in the summer of 1806 at the mouth of the Bluefish River. 46 If this is the hunter mentioned on 12 October, then he was a Slavey. Unlike Dogribs and Yellowknives, the fur traders usually applied French names to Slavey hunters, but this name appears to be Athapascan.

224 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

15™ 10 Below 0. Snoe 16 24 " 0. Delbergier & [Jean] Ranger arrived from Mr Henrys Fort with an acco1 of their being no packs or provisions there 17™ 18 below 0 18™ 20 below 0 19™ Delbergier & Bouchemain [Beauchemin] went to Bears Island provesions 3olb pemegan 12 fish 3 dogs 3 Hooks i Trench 20 TH 16 Below 0. Snow Storm the netts was not visited gave the men pounded meet for the day N.E. 2i S T 18 Below 0 s 22 N D 10 " 0 N.E 23 RD 2 " 0. Kaskara slep at the Fort and tomorrow to go to the Chase. 24™ 12 below 0 25™ Mr Grant Bebar Be a Hare Indian arrived they only got as far as the Hare Indians their guide would not go further Etlier was left there to wait the arrivall of five of the Hare Indians that was expected every day from the Rappid Indians and if the accots they Bro1 was favourable to go there if possible ~ I gave the men 5 quarts of High wines some flour & pounded meet 26™ I sent the Indian that came with Mr Grant a hunting with Gelbore & Kaskara 27™ Kaskaraes wife and family came and encamped close to the Fort she was afraid of the natives that is to say Beaver Indians47 as there was a report amongst the Dog Rib Indians that the former was a Coming to kill them 28™ 22 below 0. The Hare Indian returned from the chase without success - [10] DEC R 29™ 20 below 0. The Hare Indian was paid 7 skins for coming with Mr Grant as a Guide I sent i pint of Salt & i Small Kettle to Etlier 30™ Gelbore and Kaskara came home without success 3i ST 17 Below 0. i ST JANUARY 21 " 0.1 gave the men 5 Legs of Cariboux i olb flour 5lb greese and 3 Gallons High wines 48 47 North West Company traders, at this time, referred to the Mackenzie River Slavey as "Beaver." It is guessed that McKenzie meant that Kaskara's wife and family were concerned about the Slavey. 48 The extra ration was given to the men in celebration of the new year. Since it was one of the diversions most looked forward to, by men and officers alike, it is odd that McKenzie made no further reference to the day's activities. Perhaps twenty-one degrees below zero cooled his enthusiasm.

225 Alexander McKenzie' s Journal 2 ND 34 below 3RD 46 " 4™ 40 " 5™ 48 " 6TH

jg

«

7™ 20 " 8™ 10 "

9TH 12 " 0. I sent Kaskara a hunting with Paul. Etlier and a Slave arrived from the Hare Indians he informed me that there was several of the hare Indians that had skins when I requested to know his reasons why he did not bring the skins his reason that it was visible he could Hardly walk and had starved then sertainly the Indian that came with you might a Bro1 them and your dog, he bro' 2 Large white fish to the fort so he must not have been long without eating i o™ Etlier is not able to walk with a swelled knee i I T H TO THE 15™ nothing extraordinary, mild weather 16™ 13 above 0. Two Red Knives arrived from Auzie Curre49 a Red Knife with 6 sides of Bufeloe and 4 Tongues of which the men Stole 2 Tongues & i side before they bro1 the slay to the house Paul arrived with Kaskara they only killed 2 small Beavers the skins of which they Bro1 only. 17™ 28 below 0. Charles Martin & family left this for the Forks with a guide % of a Tore [taureau], 25lb pounded meet & 13 fish 18™ 43 below 0... 19™ 38 " 0. I sent Pansenae with the 2 young men that came from Tausie Curries with 30 Beavers of Amunition & 2 faths of Tobbaccoe to make provesions 20™ 40 below 0. & to the 22 nothing extra 23 RD 37 " 0. Naneauzie50 and Daughter Red Knif arrived with 2 sides of Carriboux and one fox this is one years Hunt for a Indian that owes 200 Beavers how it is possible he could have got such advances I cannot say and is very sertain that he never will pay 2d in the 2O/.51 he has acknowledged his not being able to pay 24™ 29 below 0. to the 29* nothing Extra 49 McKenzie spelled this name "Tausie Curries" on 19 January. 50 McKenzie spelled this name in various ways below. 51 Naneauzie may have incurred much of this debt the previous year when the North West and XY Companies competed at Great Bear Lake. It was common during the period of heightened and sometimes frantic competition for the companies to give out excessive debt. In the fall of 1804, North West Company clerk John Steinbruck was killed at Great Bear Lake in an argument over Indian debts with his XY adversary.

226 Alexander McKenzie's Journal 30™ Gelbore & LaRocque left this with the Letters for Arthebaska by the way of MCK52 [ 11 ] McKenzies River i Tore of Pemegan & 30 fish for the dogs Kaskara to Guide them to the Gro. Rosher 31ST 5 below 0. 1 ST FEBRUARY 25 " 0 at Night. Kaskara returned and informed me that Gelbore & LaRocque had gone by Martin Lake53 I told Mr Grant Ranger and Neneauzie to be ready the 2nd in the Morning to go after them and to bring Back my letters for McKenzies River, what can be done with such d[amne] d R[ascal]s Gilbore behaved as bad with M r J McDonell54 at Slave Lake last winter in sted of remaining with the Indians he sent him with he went to Arthebaska where he was reccl with a quart of High Wines on the Table -

52 This was the North West Company's winter express, destined for Kaministiquia on Lake Superior, by way of Fort of the Forks, Great Slave Lake, and Fort Chipewyan, and from the latter place over the well-established canoe route to the summer business meeting at company headquarters. Lacking the advantages of modern communication, relay teams of couriers carried mail packets on snowshoes, by dog sled, and by canoe to the annual rendezvous of wintering partners and Montreal agents, held at this time at Kaministiquia on the western shores of Lake Superior. It was this express that kept the company's policy-makers abreast of the prospects and needs of even the most remote posts in the Indian Country. 53 Marten Lake (Lac la Martre) lies in a direct path between the Great Bear Lake post and the North Arm of Great Slave Lake and would have provided Gelbore and La Rocque with a much shorter route to the comforts of the company's post that was then being built on Moose Deer Island near the mouth of the Slave River. Going by way of the Mackenzie River would have taken them days out of their way. Of course the shortcut left Fort of the Forks out of the link, which was the reason for McKenzie's ire. 54 AJames McDonell was listed as a North West Company clerk in the Athabasca Department in 1806. AJames McDougall had been a clerk with the North West Company since 1798, and in 1800 he accompanied the Athabasca canoes to Rainy Lake, but he was posted on the upper Peace River and in New Caledonia at this time (Lamb 1957, 26). Wentzel complained of Gelbore's (Guilbord's) and Jacques Tournier's misbehaviour at Slave Lake in 1804 (Wentzel's journal entry for 25 October 1804). Guilbord's penchant for miscarrying the mail did not seem to prevent him from continuing in the courier business. In the spring following his innovative departure from Great Bear Lake, Guilbord again was employed as a courier by Edward Smith at Hay River (Smith's journal entry for 23 April 1807, in NA, Selkirk Papers, MG 19, E 1,9340).

227 Alexander McKenzie 's Journal 2 ND Mr Grant ieft this at 10 OClock with Ranger & the Indian my Dog for to Carry thier provesions &c 3RD Sansols arrived from Mr Henrys very weak and a letter from Mr Henry no packs or provesions there 4™ 10 below 0. nothing extra 5TH Mr Grant & Ranger returned as the former was taken very 111 and Could not Continue his journie but sent the Indian to Mr Henrys with my letter 6™ 15 below 0. 7™ I sent Ranger & a Indian to Mr Henrys fort to send the Peltrie he had made or provesions with his men such as those he had nothing else for them to do for keeping men doing nothing is the Ruin of them as I understood was the case there — 8TH 42 below 0 to die 11th nothing extra 12TH Mr Grant went and Camped with the fishermen i4 TH 30 below 0 two Slave Indians arrived with 28 Beavers in peltrie 15™ the two Indians got Credit and returned to thier Lodges contented and have promised to return to the Fort in the Spring i6 TH 22 below 0. Naneauzie arrived with the Indian I sent with Ranger from Bear Island and no letter from Mr Henry the Indian that went with Ranger returned about 15 miles on this side of Bears Island Ranger proseded alone MONDAY 17™ - 46 Below 0. Pascal Sovie55 arrived with two Indians from the Forks with the Express 18TH 46 Below 0. 19™ - 46 Below 0 2OTH - 63 Below 0.56 I sent Sovie & his 2 Indians to the forks and Etlier to a Band of Indians that was at the Big Lake57 to encourage them to work and only to remain there 3 days 21 TO THE 27™ Nothing extra Cold weather ~ [12] 28™ FEB RY 23 below 0. N.E. wind The 3 woman that was at the fort deserted. Etliers Morents & Generouxs. They was overtaken in the Treverse of the Lake by Morent & Kaskara. they returned with the

55 Pascal Sauve. He was posted at Fort of the Forks under W.F. Wentzel and had been put in charge of the winter express to Great Bear Lake. Sauve was killed by Indians at Great Bear Lake the next year. 56 This was the coldest day of the winter. 57 Franklin identified a "Great Lake" at about 63°go"N latitude and i22°45" w longitude and about twenty-five miles east of Mackenzie River (see Franklin 1969, map). Today it is called Fish Lake. This may be McKenzie's "Big Lake."

228 Alexander McKenzie's Journal Woman they was frostbit in several plases they had taken a Large ax of the Compys - Lines and fish hooks and 30 fish in the Evening Morent & Generaux made Kettle and gave the woman a plenty full supper, in sted of Chastesing them58 Etlier was not at home Pavre Canaden [pauvre canadien] 1ST MARCH 20 below 0. a Slave Indian arrived with 10 Beavers in smal peltries 2 N D 10 below 0. Two Hare Indians arrived with z&/z Beavers furs one of the above came to fish for some of his family that was on thier way to the Fort 3 RD 18 below 0. I sent the Hare Indian Back to his Camp with a few Credits he promised to return in two months. 4™ 30 below 0. Etlier arrived with an Indian a few peltries 5™ Sent Bebar to Montgomerys59 band, with 14 Beavers Gratis to remain there to make them hunt and as son as they have a good quantity of meet &c to come to the Fort. Sansols and an Indian went for his Wife & Children to M1 Henrys Fort as I have great suspesion of my Enterperaters not telling the Indians what I tel him.60 - Two Indians & two Woman Slaves arrived with only 6 Skins, he was due A MCK & C° I gave him three Inches of Tobbaccoe. his wants was great but got nothing but abuse for having entered the Oposition fort, for week he shed a few tears which they have always at Command and went and made his Lodge about three hundred yards for the Fort.61 6™ 2 7 Below 0. 7TH 25 " 0 - having but the Enterprater & 2 fishermen at the Fort I engaged a Slave Indian to draw home wood his Brother came 58 While the three women may have deserted because of ill-treatment, the propitiating treatment they received on their return stands in sharp contrast to the abuse said to characterize Nor'Wester treatment of Native women in other parts of the Athabasca (Sloan 1979, 293, 299). 59 General Montgomery was a Dogrib trading leader. 60 There were two engages at Bear Island (John and Ranger), either one of whom may be the interpreter McKenzie alludes to (Henry's journal entries for 11 to 14 February 1806), 61 The XY Company was also known variously as the New North West Company and Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Company. The present Alexander McKenzie, nephew of the famous explorer, had been a wintering partner in the firm. It is odd, then, that here, and again on 25 May, McKenzie chastised an Indian for trading with the company of which he previously had been a partner. Knowing that his new partners would eventually read this journal, McKenzie may have reacted this way for effect.

aag Alexander McKenzie's Journal

to day and gave him the following orders, Brother, you must look and se when there is not much waiter in the House go and fetch more, when you se there is not much fier make on a good fier when the Chief gets up in the morning give him watter in his dish to wash his hands, then through that out and give him fresh watter to wash his fase, then give him his piece of white Linen to wipe his fase and hands, take great care and be attentive 8th I found myself very unwell and delerous I bled myself after I recovered a little [13] MARCH g1" TO THE 12TH nothing extra 13™ Kaskara & the Gashure62 left this to hunt the Beaver for two months. 14 TO THE 22 N D nothing extra 23 RD Sansols and family arrived with a load of goods three Red Knives arrived with 54 Skins 2 Small peltrie 24™ 22 below 0. gave the Indian Six Skins on Credit 25™ TO THE 29™ nothing extra 30™ I sent a Slave for Hotonasie63 to hunt for the fort 31ST 13 below 0 ~ APRIL i ST 5 - • - 0 Commensed to make the packs as the store was not well Covered 2 ND TO THE 5TH nothing extra 6™ 18 Below 0. The Slave returned with Hotonansele the latter bro' 18 Beavers in fur no provesions and remains to hunt for the Fort 7™ 15 below 0. Benel Garie6* or Cadien Leblans [Leblanc?] Brother in law a Red Knife arrived and sent a Slave with 6 fish for his woman 8TH 10 below 0. the woman arrived with two Red Knives one Karkagou [carcajou or wolverine] and one side of Buffeloe was all they had Mr Henry and men arrived from Bear Island with two & a half packs ~ gTH Sent Hotonansie a hunting IO TH 12 below 0. 6 a Gaucher is a French term referring to a left-handed person and was likely applied to those Natives so endowed. In 1807-8 Wentzel identified one of his hunters at Fort of the Forks as The Gaucher; possibly, he was the same man (Wentzel'sjournal entries for 26 December 1807 and i January 1808). 63 Variously spelled by McKenzie as "Hotonansele" and "Hotonansie". It is unclear what nation he belonged to. 64 Nowhere else is this Red Knife trading leader mentioned.

2 go Alexander McKenzie 's Journal

11 Sent the Red Knives a hunting in Charge of Delbergier the Hunter Hotonansie returned killed nothing 12™ & 13™ 4 below 0. 14™ Sent the Fort hunter to the Chase 15™ 10 above - three Hare Indians arrived with 2 slays loaded with good fur 75 Beavers 16TH gave the Indians a few Credits and desired them to return to the Fort in two months with provesions 17™ 13 above 0. 18TH The hunter came home with the Tongues of 3 Carrebouxs 19TH sent for the meet ~ 3 Red Knives arrived with 19 Beavers 2O TH sent Mr Henry & 2 men with the Red Knives to their Lodges three days march from this 120 Beavers of Goods & one Gun Mr H was much displeased at being sent to the Indians65 they have 250 Beavers and perhaps may go to Mountain Island 2 I ST 10 above 0. I sent LaPrise66 to Casseroshes67 for Hotonansies wife as it. will be impossible to make him remain the summer unless he has her a[nd] 17 Beavers in powder & Ball to trade [14] APRIL 22 N D 4 above 0. one Red Knife arrived for Tobbacoe for a Band of Red Knives that was on their way to the Fort. I expect them here this evening 11 Indians & 3 woman Red Knives arrived with provesions and peltrie 23 Rl> 11 above 0. I traded the Indians provesions &c for powder & Ball Mr Henry arrived with the 2 men they was only at Kaskaras Lodge they broc 20 Beavers and some Green meet the hunter killed 2 Carreboux and came home Lame 65 Alexander Henry Junior could not have had an easy time of it this year. Not only did he experience public rebuke from his bourgeois and not only did he have to live most of the winter in an isolated corner of Great Bear Lake without any English speaking colleagues, he now was required to live among the Red Knives. It is small wonder he was "much displeased." 66 Jean-Baptiste LaPrise. It is surprising that LaPrise is not mentioned before this in the journal. He was a man frequently entrusted with responsibility, and he was charged with assisting in the building of Fort of the Forks three years earlier and with the Bluefish River post in the ensuing summer. His dog is mentioned in Wentzel's journal on 9 October 1805, so it is possible he spent part of the year at Fort of the Forks. It is also possible that he had been at Bear Island with Alexander Henry, although he is not mentioned in the fragment of Henry's journal that has survived. 67 Perhaps from casse roches, or Broken Rocks. On i May LaPrise returned from visiting Casseroches, informing McKenzie the Indian will arrive in four or five days with Hotonansie's wife.

231 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

24"™ The Red Knives sent some of their young men a spring fish as I made them trade all their provesions. a young man arrived from a Band of Red Knives (say the little Chief)68 25™ the young man returned with half a fathom of Tobbaccoe as the Band is expected at the Fort in few days 26™ 11 above 0 nothing extra - I sent John & Lepratt to the Soures6^ 27™ 11 Red Knives arrived with the Little Chief with provesions and peltrie I gave them 6 quarts of mixt Rum & one fathom Tobbaccoe 28™ The hunter is gone to the Chase on the s side of the River Delbergier arrived with meet, & sent him Back with Morent and to make the Indians that he is with bring meet with the two men 29™ The Red Knives return'd to their Lodges to hunt at Bear Island and have promised to come to the fort with provesions in one Month a Hare Indian arrived from a Band of them and informed me that they had killed 30 Careboux & to send frenchmen for them he brought 8 Tongues 30™ 5 above 0 I sent Sansols & Jeneraux70 and desired them to bring hare Indians with as much meet as they could get I gave Toutsaugen71 a Slave Indian that I have as fisherman one Cappoe one pair Leggans one Brechclout i fathom gartering & one knife MAY I ST The hunter returned from the Chase he killed 8 Careboux and a young man that was with him one I have no men at the Fort. Leprise arrived and Bro1 g Beavers in Martins no woman he informed me that Casse roshe would be here in four or five days with the woman. 2 ND 5 below 0John & Lepratt arrived from the Soures with 98 Beavers of peltrie they traded 3 Beavers in meet & 21 Beavers of Credits 3ED John Lepratt Jolibaux & Toutsagan went for meet with the hunter. LePalle72 Red Knife went to Kaskaras I sent V& fathom of Tobbaccoe to Babene Coupies7^ & Son as he sent me part of his Credit 68 He may have been the same as the Little Chief mentioned by Thomson as trading at Rocky Mountain Fort in 1800. 69 Perhaps after souris, or The Mouse. 70 McKenzie now began spelling Genereux's name with a.J. 71 McKenzie also spelled his name "Toutsagan". For his services, the Slavey fisherman was rewarded with a capote, or cloak, for his shoulders, leggings for his legs, and a breechcloth for his loins. 72 This may be McKenzie's rendition of "Le Palis", or "The Fence" or "The Picket". He is not mentioned elsewhere. 73 Again, McKenzie's French may have meant Babines Coupe, or Cut Lips. He, too, is not mentioned elsewhere.

232 Alexander McKenzie'sJournal 4™ Bebar arrived with a Slave Indian from Montgomerys band he is expected in the evening. He arrived with 17 young men [15] Men well Loaded with Provesions & peltrie I gave them 3 Gallons of mixt Rum & 2 fathoms of Tobbaccoe 5™ I went with the above 17 young men about a mile from the fort where I had wood Cut for a House they Bro1 the greatist part of it the hunter arrived he killed five Carribouxs the men arrived with meet 6™ I sent John Lapratt Jolebaux Mornset [Morent] & Toutsagan for the animels the Hunter killed & the Slaves for the remainder of the wood. Etlier Paul Sansols Jeneroux Be 2 Hare Indians arrived Loaded with meet. Cadien & i Red Knife arrived the former and family has been starving all winter he brought 23 Beavers which is all he has got from the hare Indians all winter 7™ I Cloathed General Montgomery and he left the Fort with all his young men in great spirits ~ and promises to have good returns next fall 8 TH I sent Delbergier Bebar & Jeneroux for meet to Sasenellie74 Cadien Returned with the Red Knife I sent one foot of Tobbaccoe to Dzene Che75 a Red Knife that had Peltries requesting him to come to the fort and a razor for the Little Chief gratis with 2 foet of Tobbaccoe Etlier went to the Hare Indians to remain & make Greese and to come home the ioth Jun I sent the hunters to the Chase, one of the hunters returned at One OClock PM with 2 Carebouxs Tongues g™ Sansols went for the two Careboux and returned at 10 OClock AM Mr Henry saw 2 Swans i OTH Moreset John Lepratt & Toutsagan arrived with meet 11™ Jeneroux Bebar & Delbergier arrived with 17 Beavers in meet The hunters went to the Chase on the S side of the Lake to hunt with the Dogs 12™ 30 above 0. 2 hare Indians arrived for amunition I gave them for 8 Skins & sent them a hunting Delbergier Bebar Moreset Jeneroux Leprad & John for meet to Sasenellie and sent him three Trenches & 10 Skins in Powder & Ball 13™ 20 above 0. I saw three Swans and two wild Geese pass not far from the Fort 14™ 28 above 0 The Woman began drying the meet 15™ 30 " 0 nothing extra - " 16™ 25 " 0 The hunters returned from the Chase they killed 3 Carebouxs one of which they eat on the spot. 74 Sasenellie's nation is not mentioned. 75 See reference to a Dene OCho on 27 June 1806.

233 Alexander McKenzie's Journal 17TH Sent Joluboix and an Indian for the above meet a Slight Rain all day ~ Cadien and family arrived his Woman very unwell & Blind of one Eye ~ [ 16] MAY 18™ 32 above 0 Jolebois & the Indian arrived with meet a Slight Rain or Scotch mist that would wet a Englishman to the Skin ~ 19™ nothing extra 20 TK Two Indians arrived from Kaskaraes Band for Tobbaccoe they are to be here in two days, he sent his memorandum Book'6 informing me that there was six of them that had 260 Beavers the two young men returned in the evening to their Camp 21 ST nothing extra - 25 above 0. 22 N D A Indian arrived from Tauzie Currie & Pouse Couppie77 Red Knives for Tobbaccoe I sent them 2l/z foot of Tobbaccoe 23 ED Tauzie Currie & Pouse Couppie arrived with g Young men Kaskara & his Band arrived with about 4 Packs of Beaver 24™ I traded all thier property 25™ The Cut Thumb (or pouse Coupie) did not trade his peltries &c until today in expectation of getting some goods Gratis, I informed him that Gratis was dead, and that Old Credit was come to life again, therefore that he must pay one half of his peltries to Old Credit Tauzei Currie being a Red Knife & a Chief with the New Compy all his peltries &c went to old Credit with a severe repremand 78 26™ the above band of Indians left the Fort. 27™ A. MCK went a hunting on the S. Side of the Lake 28™ A. MCK returned from hunting with 15 white Brants79 29 1H gave Credits of Powder & Ball to Caskaraes Band & sent them to make provesions for next fall 76 Just exactly what McKenzie meant by "memorandum book" is unclear. It may have been something as simple as a tally stick. In 1808 the clerk in charge of the North West Company's post at Dunvegan on the Peace River sent a band of Indians off to hunt beaver and "gave them tallies to come back about the gd May" (NA, MG 19, E i, Selkirk Papers, 9279). Giving them "tallies" sounds like a method, or even a device of some kind, such as a tally stick, for keeping an account of when to return to the fort or, in Kaskara's case, of how many beaver had been killed. 77 There was a Pouce Coupe during this period who traded at Fort of the Forks and the Liard River. If he was the same man, Pouce Coupe was the most farranging of the Mackenzie River basin trading leaders. Of course, there could have been more than one man with this name among the Slaveys. 78 Again, McKenzie chastises an Indian for trading with his previous partners. 79 Rather than geese (Branta), McKenzie probably shot tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus).

234 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

30™ Snoe two Inches all the Red Knives left this Fort except Sasenellie whom is to go with me to the Quarters80 31ST Snoe & Cold weather 30 above 0 - Commensed to Build the House81 JUNE i ST nothing extra all Hands at work gND

«

«

«

«

RD

3 finished the walls of the House 4™ Sent 4 men to Cut the Covering of the House A. MCK went a hunting after supper we have daylight here at present no night 5™ Three Slaves arrived from Rocky Mountain with peltrie 6TH Six Slaves arrived from point au Lievre82 in Bear Lake with peltrie Sec I sent the three Indians of [f] that arrived yesterday one of which is to return in five days with 25 Beavers he left on the rode for which he is to get a Old gun 7™ the Slaves brought 100 pieces of the Covering of the House, we put up the Ridge pole of the House -[17] JUNE 8TH a Slave arrived for Tobbaccoe for the Parse83 and nine Slaves that he has with him, he is a Mountainere84 but has been with the Slaves several years he is expected in the evening, I am very happey that he is a Comeing as he will be of much service with me as Enterprater with the Quarlers the men carried 27 packs to the entrence of Bear river wich is about 3 miles from the Fort on the Ice as it tis impossible to leave this in a Cannoe in the month of June85 therefore we have every thing transported to the River on the 80 The Quarrelers were otherwise known as the Loucheux Indians (the Gwich'in of today). Alexander Mackenzie, the explorer, identified them as the Diguthe Dinees, a people who served as a buffer between the Hare Indians to the south and the Inuit to the north (Lamb 1970, 195). 81 McKenzie's expansion of the establishment at Great Bear Lake is a clear indication that he intended its continued occupation. 82 Pointe au Lievre (Hare Point) has not been identified, but it was probably somewhere on the northwest shore of Great Bear Lake, inasmuch as that was the land occupied by the Hare Indians. 83 After, perhaps, "farce" or "faceur," for "Jokester." 84 Farse was a Rocky Mountain Indian. 85 Writing from Great Bear Lake in 1812, George Keith noted that navigation along a shallow shore opened on 5 July and that the lake was not free of ice until i August. The previous year, ice took upon the lake on 25 October, "which by old residents was considered as late" (NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 63). In 1826 John Franklin was able to embark from the fort in canoes on 21 June (Franklin 1969, 84-5). Note that McKenzie located the post about three miles from the mouth of Great Bear Lake River.

335 Alexander McKenzie's Journal Ice Rain today s.w. wind; The Parse arrived in the evening I gave him one fathom Tobbaccoe & 16 pints High wines redused 9™ Traded 75 Beavers with the Slaves that arrived the 6th & sent them a hunting IO T H Traded with the above Band 150 Beavers in peltries & meet Traded with Farse & Band 104 Beavers of peltries I sent seven packs to the River 11 TH I keep the Farse to go with me to the Quarlers made 5 Toroes of 85$ each 12™ sent 8 packs to the River. I got some Bones pounded to make Greese for one Toroe now I have only six Toroes of pemigan and only 25# of Greese in each. 13 Sent 2 Cannoes one pack 4 Bales of meet 4 Bags of pounded meet 300 Cariboux Tongues one Case Ironworks Sc i Bale of goods to the River 14™ I took an inventory of goods &c left at Bear Lake 15™ nothing extra 16™ The men went to the River to gam [gum] the two Cannoes accompanied by Mr Charles Grant as he goes with me to the Quarlers, and Alexr Henry takes charge of this Post Bear Lake is the Largest body of water in this Countrie and is very clear86 you can se the Bottom in so fathoms waiter its course is N. & s. at the N. End of it there is a river that goes to Copper mine River that falls in Hudsons Bay87 ~ The 86 The rest of the entry for this date is the earliest written account of the people and environs of Great Bear Lake. It is odd that McKenzie took the trouble to write this; nowhere else in the journal was he given to such elaborate description. It is so purposive and so deliberate in its composition as to suggest McKenzie was responding to Roderic McKenzie's circular, in which he requested extensive details about the Indian Country and die people who lived there. This, however, is unlikely as Roderic Mackenzie did not write his circular until 21 April 1806, although he may have had prior knowledge of Roderic McKenzie's intentions. See the section entided "Roderic McKenzie Correspondence," in the first part of this book and NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 44, part 3, 1-5. 87 While no river flows from Great Bear Lake to the Coppermine, water communication is possible if one is willing to portage here and there. In 1820 John Franklin contemplated a route to the Coppermine River, access to which, he had been told, was possible "through a series of lakes lying beyond the northeast arm of Great Bear Lake" (see Davis 1995, liii). In 1826John Richardson of the Franklin Expedition did establish communication between the Coppermine River and the headquarters of the Dease River, which flows into Great Bear Lake, but it was not a canoe route (Franklin 1969, 272-8). McKenzie was misinformed, however, regarding the mouth of the Coppermine River. The river opens into die Arctic Ocean, not Hudson Bay.

236 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

Eskimoes has been often seen on the Borders of this Lake ~ there is a great Quantity of fish in it such as Trout, whitefish of a very Large size 14# each and herrings - the latter is what the men live on here in the winter season.88 they speer them & take them in nets about two miles from the Fort & the Trout they take on Lines set under the Ice. [ 18] JUNE i6 TH The Indians that hunt about this Great Lake are Red Knives, Slaves (or Dog Rib)89 and Hare Indians. The Red Knives that Resort here are twenty five men with their families90 Their lands are on the E. Side of the Lake the remainder of them which are about one hundred men) or hunters trade at Slave Lake - they are the best Hunters of Beaver on this side of Peace River, their general Hunting dress is the Cariboux skin dressed with the Hair on for the winter & the moose deer skin without the Hair for the Summer. Every band has their Chief (or Buordere)91 each Chief has from ten to 30 men according to their Esteem or fear of him, as they most generally are stronger than any of their Band. They often fight for thir women; the strongest carries off the woman by the Hair of the Head; their way of fighting is by pulling by the hair to bring their opponents to the ground and there they hold him until he gives up all Claim to the woman - this gives great amusement to the lookers on although they never interfere. They have Likewise a Custom of taking a woman in the woods and four of them hold her, one to each Leg & arm, while the whole Camp of men except her relations, have Carnal Connection with her - such poor woman as this happens to is always despised afterwards.92 ~ The Slaves (say) Dog Rib Indians is about 250 men & Boys - they were formerly on the Borders of Slave Lake but were driven here by the Crees, they are very poor hunters they only hunt the Beaver 88 At Bear Island, Alexander Henry mentioned catching only whitefish and trout; herring was not part of his winter diet. 89 McKenzie, apparently, made no distinction between Dogribs and Slaveys. 90 Someone has edited this portion of the journal, and here and there to its conclusion, to improve the spelling, grammar, and syntax. Whether it was Alexander McKenzie himself who did the editing or some latter-day reader is difficult to say. Where it can be discerned, the emendations appear to be in McKenzie's handwriting. 91 This may be McKenzie's attempt to spell bourgeois. 92 Care must be exercised in accepting such descriptions as this as a "custom." That there may have been such incidents as this is possible, even probable. The perverse know no cultural boundaries. However, from McKenzie's description, it is not possible to separate what may have been customary from what may have been the perversions of a few. If not a perversion, such a practice as McKenzie described could have been punishment for adultery or some other transgression.

237 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

spring and fall their principal diet is fish they make nets of the green whillow which is superior to ours of thread and as fine they Likewise speer fish with a speer made of the Carriboux Horn and take Trout with the Line set under the Ice the Hook is generally made with a Rib Bone of the Beaver fastened to a small piece of wood (thus V [)] the men does all the work even makes his own shoes the woman dreses skins and works belts &c with porgupine quils in the winter they eat their fish Raw or very little rosted only on the out side while the meddle [middle] is frose [19] JUNE 16™ froze, they often make their meal without fier [fire] their dress is much the same as the red Knives but not so cleanly and the men & woman wear thir hair without Cutting any part of it - The Hare Indians is suposed to be 300 men of which only 115 have been at our trading posts, diey are a very Indolent set. they kill very little Beaver; their principal hunt is martins & muskrats - it is only three years since they have had traders amongst them they amuse themselves with taking fish and Hares, the principal of their Clothing is made with the Skin of the Hare. The woman's Robes or frocks are Laced before and very short, at their Camps they are amongst the men without much ceremony: they show all their shapes The men have a small Leather tassel hanging before his private parts, which I suppose is only an ornament, for his all is visible. They set snares for Carriboux and the musk Buffeloe of which they take great numbers. 17™ at 10 O'clock in the morning I left the Fort with the Farrse a Mountainier to go to the Enterance of Bear River. We embarked on the Ice; at a mile from the Fort we found that the Ice was 6 feet thick Lepratte one of my men had cut his Leg with a axe very badly, not able to walk. I had the Cannoes Loaded at 3 OClock and Embarked we shipped a good deal of waiter. I made them put on shore and only left four Men per Cannoe. the others with Mr G and myself walked about four miles where we encamped, not being able to go farther for Ice. Three men from the Forks of McKenzies River arrived93 and informed me that they had left the cannoes at the Enterance of the River, that they could not bring them up for the Ice, and that they had lost one of thir men since 12 OClock about 3 miles below and had remained in search of him all day without finding him. 18TH I sent two Indians in serch of the lost man all the Packs &c was well Covered and sent Mr Grant with all the men to the Fort as they would live there on fish without [20] without diminetion our Small Stock of provesions the Indians returned without finding the man 93 W.F. Wentzel sent off the canoes for Great Bear Lake on 11 June. Among the voyageurs only Carrier was mentioned (Wentzel's journal entry for 11June1806).

238 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

19TH I left Laprise in charge of the Baggage and went to the Fort and sent two more Indians in serche of the lost man the fisherman takes great numbers of Trout more than sufered [sufficed] for the men 20™ the Indians arrived and did se[e] no vestiges of the man 2 I ST I returned to the Bagage with 3 men and sent them to the enterence of Bear River where they left the Cannoes and at some time to serche for the man that was lost and ordered the men at the Fort to follow me to the Camp the 2 4th as I entended to rize Camp the 25 in the morning in the evening I sent four Indians to the enterence of the River to hunt & to wait for me at McKenzies River 2 2 ND fine weather aired the packs 2 g RD dried the pounded meet & put it up in Bags of 85#. 24™ the men arrived from the Fort at 6 OClock AM. 25™ Embarked at 4 OClock in the morning arrived at the portage at 10 OClock94 left half of our Loading and embarked with the other half-Load I forgot to embark my dog95 he followed the Cannoe & Crossed the river twice and arrived where I landed hardley able to walk and much hurt by the Ice we found plenty of waiter in the Rappids the men returned with the other half-Load the hurt one of the Cannoes. We gammed the Cannoes and embarked and encamped at River Lapashe96 at 9 OClock 26 TH Embarked at 4 OClock and arrived at the NTKenzies River at 8 OClock Kasie9/7 was there the suposed Lost man he had found his way back to the cannoes 27™ Embarked at 4 OClock every man his gun in good order arrived at Bluefish River98 at 12 OClock where we found two Lodges of 94 See note for 2 October, above. 95 This is the first mention that McKenzie had a dog with him. The dog amazed the Natives of the lower Mackenzie by fetching a shot bird from the water of the river. 96 This tributary of the Great Bear Lake River, another Riviere a la Peche, is the modern Brackett Lake River. 97 W.F. Wentzel mentioned a Quaaicis/Quaicus/Quaus, who may be the same as this man. George Keith identified a Casce, which is probably closer to the more likely spelling of Gassier or Casse (Wentzel's journal entries for 6 April to 4 June 1806 and Keith's journal entry for 20 October 1805). 98 The Bluefish River drains a lake by the same name and is located a few miles up-stream and opposite present-day Norman Wells. Wentzel showed the mouth of this river on his map of 1821 but forgot the name. The entire Bluefish River is shown on Murdoch McPherson's map of 1824 (Wentzel, "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart"; Ruggles 1991, 156).

239 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

Indians Cansie & Dene OCho^9 _ they informed me that their peltrie was about 3 miles a Cross the River 1 sent them for them they returned in the evening with 87 Beafver] which I traded and left in their Charge 1 made one of them embark with me 28TH Embarked at 4 OClock we saw a Cariboux put on shore eat Breakfast but the Indians Could not get a shot at him [21] 28* Encamped at the Gro Roshe'"0 at 6 OClock Rain & head wind 2g TH Embarked at 5 OClock at 6 OClock saw a Carrebaux but the sight was all at 9 OClock put a shore on the Beaver Tail wich is a small Island oposite the Beaver Mountain.101 here I gave every man 12 rounds of amunition at 4 OClock in the evening arrived at a Camp of 5 Indians and one woman traded 86 Beavers, one of which was called Gene102 or Rappid Chief that nevir had been at any fort he had seen Sir Alex. McKenzie and spoke of him and sid he would be glad to se his Comerade again.103 his wife was a very deasent old Woman. I left Laprise & Lepratt 3 Toroes i Bag pounded meet 8 knives 3 awles 3 fiersteels & 2 packs here and Embarked the Rappid Chief as he was acquainted with the Quarlers MONDAY 30™ Embarked at 4 OClock 2 Cannoes 6 Indians 6 frenchmen Mr C. Grant & myself 2 Bags pemegan i Bag pounded meet and 100 Carreboux Tongues, eat Breakfast oposite the eskimo river (the reason this is Called Eskimo river last year 30 Cannoes of them came up and encamped two days in this river1 °4 not being able to se[e] any of the Quarlers they returned to the sea Coast encamped at 99 If Dene OCho is the same as Dzene Cho, who McKenzie requested to come to the fort on 8 May, it would indicate that the Red Knives traded as far west as the Mackenzie River. Cansie was not mentioned elsewhere in the journal. 100 This may be Bear Rock, where the explorer Alexander Mackenzie encamped on 5 July 1789 (Lamb 1970, 186). 101 This name has not survived. Franklin's map of 1825 shows a large island opposite East Mountain in the vicinity, which may be one and the same (1969, map). 102 In this vicinity of the river the Indians were Hare, so it might be guessed that Gene was of that nation. 103 The explorer Alexander Mackenzie came upon Natives on this part of the river on 7 and 8 July 1789 (Lamb 1970, 187-92). 104 According to Lamb, Eskimos (Inuit) sometimes ascended the river as far as the Ramparts to obtain flinty slate. Thus, Alexander McKenzie's Eskimo River could have been any of the streams between the Travaillant and Hare Indian Rivers. By 1825 the Quarrelers of McKenzie (Loucheux) and the Inuit had agreed to peaceful relations (Lamb 1970, 191; Franklin 1969, 24).

240 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

7 OClock a[t] Medeson [Medicine] point the Rapid Chief Cungured [conjured] '°5 most of the time we was on shore (for I cannot say night) they informed me that about 12 OClock next day we would se where Indians had been and in the evening we would se[e] the Indians but that they would not be able to purches all my goods and more than I wish to put to paper JULY i ST Embarked at 3 OClock - at 7 saw a Hare Indian and family; he had a Beaver shirt for which he wanted a small axe as he had only Stone axes; not finding it was the price of an axe I told him to set snares for Carriboux and have meet when I would return and then I would trade with him. I gave him 4 Inches of Tobbaccoe he then informed me that he had seen smoke at no great distance down the River which he supposed to be Querelleurs I Embarked and at 12 OClock arrived at (Trading River) lo6 where we discovered tracks & found a stone axe and wood for a Cannoe I sent three Indians in search of them, the Farrse & two others found 4 of the Quarters Querelleurs107 whom they Bro1 to our camp all the rest had deserted. I gave them a dram & a little sugar [22] July 1st I sent one of them Back with four of my men to acquaint his relations that we came to make friends with them and to trade with them in about fifty minutes the frenchmen returned with 30 men, women & 3 Children they Camped i o paces from our Camp - after a few words passed they began to trade Beaver & martins -188 Beavers they were all well pleased with the Ironworks & Beads they recd for their furs 2 ND 12 Cannoes arrived from the opposite side of McKenzies River 18 men 8 Women & 6 Children as soon as they debarked we fired two Guns the report of which knocked down four of them - as soon as all of them had drawn up their Cannoes they began to dance in advancing forward to my tent which lasted for one hour, then they began to abuse their relations for not having informed them of our arrival and supposed that it was for fear they would get goods as well as they108 -1 105 Medicine Point would be an appropriate place to conjure, in an effort to see into the future. 106 In 1825 Franklin mentioned the Trading River as the usual limit of the trader's travels from Fort Good Hope downstream. The modern name of the river has not been determined, but it would enter the Mackenzie somewhere between 131 ° and 132° latitude north (Franklin 1969, 24, cxxxiv). 107 This is further evidence of someone having edited this journal. 108 This passage seems confused. Were the dancers fearful they would not get any goods? Perhaps they berated their relations for not telling of the arrival of the traders and suspected them of wanting all the goods for themselves. Alternatively, the dancing mayjust have been a gesture of welcome.

241 Alexander McKenzie'sJournal

informed them that I had plenty of goods that the only thing that they [I?] wanted to get ef them was Beaver for which I would give them any of my goods Except my Guns (they said that they did not expect to get such valuable articles as that but hoped that the Esquimaux would not come to attack them while I was there, that they would all fall in the watter as they se me shoot a Gull & he fell in the waiter and my dog went & bro't him out they requested to trade I told them as soon as it would be done raining I would trade with them at 7 OClock a m I traded their Peltries. Yakiban being the Greatest Raskall amongst them I made a Chief of him.109 I gave him a flag and informed him the use of it.' 10 I gave him a few articles gratis to encourage the others to work the Beaver viz. two flints i awl i fiersteel & a piece of spunk111 - and that I would come to the same place next spring to have all their peltries & provisions there; that if they were112 able to maintain a fort that they should have one they said they were not able to hunt for a fort that they often wanted themselves113 109 By making "a Chief of him," McKenzie may have only meant that he singled Yakiban out to negotiate trade and nothing more. Another method traders used to "make a Chief was to clothe him in a chief's garb as an inducement to trap furs. A "chief's" clothing might consist of a red coat, blue trousers, a shirt, a handkerchief, and a laced hat topped off with feathers. If McKenzie clothed Yakiban, he would have hoped that the Loucheux would be spurred on to trap even more furs and that others, envious of Yakiban's status, might emulate his zeal (Krech 1984, 111-13). no Flags were flown at trading posts and much admired by the Natives. It became customary for a trader to award a flag of some unique design to an important Indian as his personal ensign so that whenever he approached a trading post with his season's catch, he might send his flag on ahead to announce his arrival. The runner who brought the flag would then return to his trading leader with the usual gifts of tobacco and alcohol. 111 Firesteels were used to strike fire from the flints, causing the spunk to ignite. It may have been on this occasion that this technology was introduced to the Loucheux. Six days later, when he gave similar items to another Loucheux, the man was "well pleased of knowing how to strike fire with such ease." See entry for 8 July. I1 2 In this and other places the word "were" is overwritten on "was." 113 That is, if the Loucheux brought in enough peltry, McKenzie would establish a permanent trading post in their midst, implying that a permanent post had not been built among them before this date. "They were not able to hunt for a fort" for this reason, but they would be pleased if one were established. In the phrase "they often wanted themselves," "wanted" probably was used in the sense of being in want or of having no surplus.

242 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

3° I had the packs made up* there are 7 Small packs of 85lb for very little value axes, trenches & Beads, a few knives. 4TH The Beads that are wanted for the Querelleurs are Blue & White at 11 OClock Embarked to return up the River as there were two bands or families a waiting for us to trade that we did not see Coming down. My Indians informed me that there had been some white people destroyed by the Indians on the sea Coast - that the white men had got in [23] a Split Rock and as they were obliged to come out for waiter &c they Killed them all and got a great deal of Bar Iron, Large Beads &c. two of the Indians of this Band had been there - I was very sorry that I was not informed of this while with them as I could have had further information. I supposed that this Split Rock was a stone fort as they informed my Indians that those white people came there to trade on a floating Island (a Ship)' '4 it is a very disagreeable thing to be without an Interpreter when trading with different Nations, but it is very Certain that they can do their Business without them, the trader only has a little more Trouble formerly when from 40 to 70 packs went from this River the best Interpreters of Athabasca115 were here to make discoveries and settle posts in Beaver Countries."6 at 2 of the OClock we came to a family and traded 24 Beavers and one net. four Canaoes of the Querllers accompanied me at 4 OClock arrived at a Small River, set 2 nets and sent 4 Indians to serch a Band of Indians that were up this Small River. 5TH The Indians Returned with some fresh meet 3 Blathers of Greese and a Pack of mixt Peltries which I traded, those being the last Quarlers I expected to se this Spring I informed them that two of them 114 A similar tale of limit contact with Europeans was told to the explorer Alexander Mackenzie seventeen years earlier, albeit without the bloodshed. Lamb speculates that the "Eskimo had probably secured the iron [they had obtained] from middlemen who had traded it from Russian ships in the Bering Sea." On the other hand, McDonald suggests more direct contact with a Russian vessel in the vicinity of present-day Point Barrow (1970, 208; McDonald 1966, 82). This would seem to be an incident begging for scholarly study. 115 Here, as elsewhere, McKenzie's original "Arthebaska" has been subse-' quently changed to "Athabasca." 116 McKenzie's complaints ring hollow. The largest number of packs previously brought out from the Mackenzie River (74) came in 1800 from Trout River Post, where the skills of the interpreter had to contend only with the familiar dialects of the Slaveys, Yellowknives, and Dogribs who traded there. In this year (1805-6), McKenzie delivered 117 packs to Fort Chipewyan, even without the "best" interpreters.

243 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

must embark with me to go to Arthebaska and that they should return in the fall they Consented a third wished to Embark likewise I told him that we was sufisent well then said he I have a Cannoe of my own & I will follow you I made him a Small present and promised to take him with me the next Spring which sattisfied him as I had not a great supply of provesions Embarked at 10 OClock Encamped at 6 OClock Oposite Some smoke on the N. Side of the River I fired two guns in hopes if there was any Indians at the Smoke they would come to the River commenced on our Toro)"7 or Pemigan) as our pounded meet & Tongues is out 6™ Embarked at 4 OClock we had a light Breeze from the N put on shore at 6 OClock in the Evening Eat our supper as the wind Continued at 9 we Embarked but it became quite Calm at a 11 of the Clock we Encamped I cannot say [24] for the Night as the Sun has not sitt for this Eight days with us what quarter of the Globe I am in at present I cannot say as I am no Astronimer118 the Indians of this new Countrie (say Quarters) have long Hair very needy tied with Beads stringed on Sinnue. they make use of their fingers for a Coars Comb and a Small piece of round wood about three Inches long and one Inche in Cercumference split very fine at the End for a fine Comb to smothe their hair which they have tied to their arm or neck ready for use they make use of any kind of Greese for their Hair, they eat meet when quite rotten the fish when they take them at times they put them under ground for one or two days to make them to their palatable on their way to the River from their lands or wintering grounds they take a great many Caribouxs & musk ox which they leave at different Stages for their return in case of being drove from the River by the Eskimoes they likewise leave all their Robes the men have shirts of Carreboux martin muskrats or Beaver the Women have short frocks of drest Carriboux skin very few woman that has large families accompanie them to the River Their Leggins & shoes are all in one, very neatly made, garnished with Blue & white Beads: they are the best dancers I have seen in the N.W. they strike at the post much like the Sotecrs Sauteux but I think they are a more daring nation, but certainly in time will make good hunters as they are very Smart fellows and not so indolent as the other Indians of this River; they are very immodest Both men and woman; the woman thinks nothing of sitting down Before you and open her legs which is not Common with the other natives, and smile at you. The Beaver, martins, & Bears are very 117 McKenzie may have intended to place parentheses around "or pemigan" but in his haste, left this. 118 McKenzie had been north of the Arctic Circle since the 28 or 29 June.

244 Alexander McKenzie's Journal plenty in this Country; my opinion is that this Country would recompence any trouble or pain that may he taken with it; 1 am sorrey to say that it has been much neglected1' •' — 7™ one of the Quarters Querelleurs deserted while we were a sleep; I awoke the other one and told him to go off as the other had deserted he began to Cry and said he would not go back that the Eskimaux had killed the greatest part of his family & that the other went back on acco1 of his wife [25] JULY 7™ Wife & family and that he would not leave me. Embarked at 3 OClock in the Morning & Encamped at 6 OClock in the evening opposite Eskimaux river. 8TH Embarked at 2 OClock arrived where I left Laprise and Lepratt at 6 OClock in the evening no Indians had arrived there but we saw smoke at a great distance in land on the S. Side of the River I examined the provisions and found the pimegan quite musty I prevailed on the Querelleur to return from this place gave him a Caiinoe, one axe, 3 fathoms Gartering, i awl, one fiersteel, i one flint, spunk, i Knife, & 8lb of Bad pimegan half rotten, he was so well pleased off [of] knowing how to strike fire with such ease he returned with great pleasure I added to his Cargo i/i6 lb of Beads and to inform his friends that I intended Building a fort at Blue fish River; where they might come to without danger1"0 and to acquaint his Relations of the others deserting from me and that it would be to far for him to return alone in the fall 9™ Embarked after paying the Old Rappid Chief for his Voyage viz 3 fathoms Gartering i Half Ax & i Knife he was of great service to me as he understood them ~ Encamped at the Beaver Mountain at 6 OClock at 9 OClock the wind from the N. we embarked and sailed to the Rappids121 Camped at 12 OClock heavy Rain IO T H Embarked at 5 OClock and Breakfasted above the Rappids Encamped 6 miles above the Gro Roshe at 9 OClock this Rock is above 250 feet hanging over part of the River slight Rain 119 This is further evidence that no post had theretofore been established on the lower Mackenzie River. 120 Apparently, McKenzie had changed his mind regarding his promise to Yakiban on 2 July that he would "come to the same place next spring" and, if the returns warranted, build a post among them. Perhaps it was the safety of the Loucheux he was thinking of, or possibly he had it in mind to build at a place convenient to the Hare and Mountain Indians as well, thereby increasing the potential returns. i 2 i The Ramparts Rapid.

245 Alexander McKenzie's Journal 11™ Embarked at 3 OClock and encamped 12 miles to the N. of Blue fish River 12™ Embarked at 3 OClock and arrived at Bluefish River at 9 OClock in the morning the Indians I sent for the Mountain or (atahatines' 22 was not returned here 1 paid my five Indians that has been with me and left 3 of them to hunt for Mr Grant Laprise & Paul Beabar that I left here to Build a fort123 - Aperatinies124 is Indians that trades with the Indians here Large Blue & White Beads they Camp 10 nights to meet them on a [26] on a River suposed to be 3 or 4 miles Broad where there is a great Quantity of Beaver this is the large River Sir Alexander was informed of when on his voyage in this quarter135 I expect in two or three years to have people sent there if posible.136 Traded a tew skins with the Indians of Bluefish River. Compleated 12 packs 13™ Embarked at 11 OClock and Encamped 10 miles below Bear River 14TH Embarked at 5 OClock at 9 OClock put a shore to Breakfast at the Enterence of Great Bear River Encamped at 7 OClock at Rappid Island12? 122 Deciphering the spelling of this word is problematical. The opening mark looks like a parenthesis, yet there is no closing parenthesis. The first "a" is the same size as the other letters and is not capitalized. It has a line over it that appears to be a diacritical mark, although McKenzie was not given to such hints for pronunciation. In this instance, McKenzie may have meant the Dahodinne, identified by Wentzel as Embago dinnah (Wentzel'sjournal entries for 16 October 1807, 8 January, and 28 March 1808). The Dahodinne occupied the lands above the mouth of the Bluefish River. 123 Thus, on 11 July 1806 arrangements were in place for building what would become Fort Good Hope. 124 This more westerly Nation may have been the same as Wentzel's Sasdinnah, or Gens D'our (see Wentzel's journal of 1807-8, entry for 28 March). As in the present narrative, Wentzel mentioned that the Sasdinnah lived to the west of the Dahodinne and traded European manufactured goods with them. 125 For the story of the large river alluded to, see Lamb 1970, 212-15. It is supposed that it was the Yukon. See Wentzel's journal entries for 28 March and 19 June 1808 for a similar story. 126 The headwaters of the Yukon would not be reached for another thirty-four years (Karamanski 1983, 174). 127 It took McKenzie four hours to ascend the twelve miles to the mouth of Great Bear Lake River. At three miles per hour, Rappid Island must have been some thirty miles or so above Great Bear Lake River.

246 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

15™' Embarked at 5 OClock passed Isle que de bule 128 at 10 OClock S wind Encamped 8 miles above Castore que de bule at 8 OClock 16TH Embarked at 3 OClock encamped at 10 OClock rain 17™ Embarked at 2 OClock in the afternoon Clear weather, at 6 OClock arrived at 3 Camps or Lodges of Dogrib Indians they had some provisions about a days march in land but although our pimegan was hardly eatible I would not remain to send for it Encamped at 8 OClock 18™ Embarked at 4 OClock and Encamped oposite the Gro Roche 19TH Embarked at 4 OClock and Encamped 9 miles below River Sole 2 o™ Embarked a 5 OClock at 8 OClock put on shore to Breakfast at 5 Lodges of DogRib Indians of the Forks - they have been called Beaver Indians by some in this Country but they are Dog Rib (or Slaves) their intention was to go and join those of the same Nation at Great Bear Lake. I desired that they would return to their Fort that any Indians that left their Fort would not receave a pipe of Tobacco at any other Fort.'29 they promised not to go further down and as soon as the Leaves were yellow they would return to the Forks. (Or Fort) I embarked after giving them each two Inches of Tobacco and Camped 16 miles below Rocky Mountain Fort. 21 ST Embarked at 5 OClock passed Rocky Mountain Fort at 11 OClock. '3° Encamped at 8 OClock the pimegan was so bad I gave the men a dram and some sugar to mix with their pimegan the most of them got sick & weak having such [27] Such bad provisions at 12 OClock at night we Embarked ( I say night) for this is the first time we have seen stars for this 2 2 days 22 N D Eat Breakfast at 11 OClock 10 miles below the forks gave Tea to all the men ~ arrived at the Forks at 4 OClock in the afternoon where we found [Charles] Martin & 2 Indians 23 RD I let the men rest 128 Harry Duckworth suggests that this was likely called lie que deboule (Island That Boils), because of a violent current running around the island. i aq McKenzie was discouraging them from obtaining credits at more than one post. 130 Both going and coming, McKenzie mentioned passing old Rocky Mountain Fort. Had there been any other old posts along his route, he would, no doubt, have mentioned them also. Thus, for the season of 1805-6, only two posts were operating on the Mackenzie: Fort of the Forks and the post at Great Bear Lake. These two had supplanted the Trout Lake River Post and Rocky Mountain Fort as the only trading posts on the main stem of the Mackenzie River.

247 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

24™ Repaired two Cannoes 25™ at 12 OClock sent off a Cannoes, 56 packs 6 men, 4 Toroes and I7olb of Dried meat for Athabasca and remained at the Forks for the arrival of Mr Wintzel from the South Branch as I had sent him to discover the Nahanies if posible131 - rain all day 2 6TH began a new Cannoe with Martin & 2 Indians 27TH Slight rain s.w. wind28™ finished the Cannoe 29™ made the Grand pasches [patches?] & small 30™ a fine N. Wind but know word of Mr Wentzel from his discoveries 31ST finished Gomeing [gumming] the Cannoe I am much affraid I will be obliged to leave this for Arthebaska with Indians as this was the day Mr Wentzel was to be here at furthist ~ AUG' I ST Mr Wentzel arrived at 11 OClock but he had made no discoveries of the Nahanies nor could it be expected as he traveled with a woman & three Children tu thirds of his way132 we settled the nessesary acco15 and I Embarked with four men at 11 OClock at night and Encamped above the first Island being Dark 2 N D Embarked at 4 OClock and Encamped at River La Cashe'33 3 RD Embarked at 3 OClock and Encamped at 7 OClock 8 miles above the Old fort 4™ Embarked at 4 OClock at 8 OClock saw the Hare Indian of the Forks oposite River Lapashe13* at 11 OClock arrived at the Grand 131 W.F. Wentzel's journal for 1805-6 is missing the section from 11 June to 9 August. Had it survived, this missing fragment would have provided not only valuable information regarding Wentzel's reconnoitering of the South Nahanni River but also a useful counterpoint to McKenzie's criticism. 132 It is not known how far Wentzel's wife and children accompanied him on his exploration, but given McKenzie's comment about two-thirds of the way, a likely embarkation point for them would have been the mouth of the South Nahanni River. If McKenzie meant to imply that Wentzel's family slowed him down and prevented his discovery of the Nahanni (Kaska), he may have been out of line. Native women played key roles in assisting the discoveries of such European travelers as Samuel Hearne, Alexander Mackenzie, and, later, John Franklin. However, if the children were very young, they may have slowed them down enough to limit the extent of exploration that McKenzie would have liked. 133 John Franklin's map of 1825 shows River la Cache on die left bank of the Mackenzie about a third of the way upstream between Peau de Lievre River (Rabbitskin River) and the Trout Lake, or Fishing, River (Franklin 1969). 134 Fishing, or Trout Lake, River.

248 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

Camp of the two Chiefs of the Forks 43 Indians to make provesions as I intend establishing a fort at or near this plase being a Beaver Countrie135 I gave them 6 quarts of High Wines & one fathom Tobbaccoe. they had a great quantity of fresh meet, of which they gave me what was wanted for the voyage Encamped 20 miles below the little Lake on the S. Side of the River 5™ wind bound most of the day Encamped at the Little Lake [28] AUG T 6™ Embarked at 4 OClock and went up the S Branch as the Cannoe was not heavy loaded only 12 packs i keg of Castorum and my Baggage I found watter sufisent for a Loaded Cannoe and a much shorter passage than by the main River I met a Chepewayan that informed me that there was people a Building a fort about 20 miles above the entrance of McKenzies River and that he was a going to acquaint the Slaves of it by order of D. MCK 136 - it is sertain if the Red Knives is sent down the River it will drive the Slaves Back to the Forks after so much trouble to have got them from their fishing Countrie and where there is very little Beaver Encamped 6 miles above the Entrance of McKenzies River 7™ Embarked at 5 OClock and arrived at Red Knife Fort137 at 2 OClock - where I found two men one Enterprater and a Clerk which I thought was rather Extravagent 135 This post, if it was ever was built, remains unnamed. Wentzel's map of 1821 shows an "old fort" up the Red Knife river some distance, on the right bank. McKenzie would not have been thinking of building there had a post already been established in the area (Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart"; Stager 1971, 52-3). 136 Daniel McKenzie. This particular post may have been Stager's Fort George, but it obviously was not established in 1804 as his map suggests (Stager 1971, 53). It can only be guessed at, but this new post may have been intended as a replacement for Red Knife Fort (see below). It would not make sense to have two posts located so close to each other. This may have been what McKenzie was complaining of; closing Red Knife Fort and opening Fort George further into Slave country would, indeed, tend to drive the meeker Slaves back to the Forks and toward their fishing country. The new Fort George might also attract Indians away from McKenzie's planned post on the Red Knife River. 137 Wentzel's map shows an "old fort" on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, opposite Big Island, but this must have been the post Stager identified as Fort George, and not Red Knife Fort, because McKenzie had already passed through the south channel around Big Island. Red Knife Fort, then, had to have been located somewhere on the south shore of Great Slave Lake between Pointe Desmarais (opposite Big Island) and Hay River.

249 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

8 1H Embarked at 5 OClock and Encamped at Hay River at 6 OClock in the Evening. I understand there is an Establishment making up this River one Clerk 3 men and an Enterprater for the Chepewayans which ought to have been made last fall138 its not being done was at least 30 packs lost to the N.w. Compy 9TH Embarked at 4 OClock and Encamped at a point between Burnts Island and Isle d Mort (this Island is called so on acco' there was a man Starved to death there) 10™ Embarked at 4 OClock and arrived at Moose deer Island at 12 OClock and was much surprised to find my 4 Cannoes there Cadien had wet his packs twice they had in the four Cannoes 105 packs & 12 in my own which was the returns of McKenzies River 117 small packs 11TH Wind bound - Examined Cadiens packs and found them much damaged 12 TH wind bound 13™ Embarked at 6 OClock. Strong wind, entered Slave River at 8 OClock and encamped at 7 OClock one mile Below Beaver Island. i4 T " Embarked at 4 OClock and Encamped 4 miles above Grosse Isle. 15™ Embarked at 4 OClock and Encamped on Burnt Island. i6 TH Embarked at 4 OClock and at 7 Encamped above the Grand detour [29] AUG T 17™ Embarked at 5 OClock and Encamped at 6 OClock at point aux Gravoir.139 18™ Embarked at 4 OClock at 12 OClock left the portage de Noir1*0 passed the Cree lake at 3 OClock and at 4 Broke our Cannoe from Maitre to Maitre^1 in the middle at the discharge des Grand Remove '42 - we only lost one ax, i portage collar, & one paddle. Martin 138 Thus, the establishment of the post up the Hay River occurred in August of 1806. 139 This may be the same location as Sir Alexander Mackenzie's Point Du Roch (Lamb 1970, 166). 140 Black Portage. This may be the term McKenzie applied to what his exploring uncle referred to as Portage des Moves and what today is called the Rapids of the Drowned, in commemoration of the men Cutbert Grant lost there in 1786. 141 That is, the canoe broke completely in half or from side to side. 142 McKenzie may have meant die Grand Remous, or outlet of a large whirlpool or eddy. The canoe was damaged, "maitre to maitre," stem to stern, gunwale to gunwale. Actually, the bark covering or skin of the canoe was damaged; McKenzie and Martin patched it over and gummed it.

250 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

& myself Repaired the Cannoe Carier [Joseph Carrier] Boy [Boye] and Sansols untied the packs; at sundown the Cannoe was in good order 19TH Dried the packs at 4 OClock in the Evening Embarked and at 5 OClock passed the portage de Mountagne143 at 6 we arrived at Portage du Gallet144 and Encamped at the S. End 20™ Embarked at 5 OClock at 2 OClock passed the last portage having one sick man and Martin that was not able to carry the Cannoe. 1 was obliged to give them assistance in Carrying the Cannoe over the Portages. Encamped at 6 OClock 8 miles above Dog River. 21 ST Embarked at 5 OClock at 3 OClock in the Evening arrived at 2 lodges of Chepewayans, The Teton &c145 and recd 5 skins in meat from him and Encamped 3 miles above the handsome Hill 22 N D Embarked at 6 OClock and Encamped 9 miles Below Rocky River146 2 3 RD Embarked at 4 OClock at i o Saw the Plovers147 & Band in Rocky River at 7 OClock in the Evening arrived at Fort Chepewayan where I found Mr [John] Thomson, [Samuel] Black Andrew McKenzie,148 Brousseau149 and 3 men the Store of this Post certainly is no Credit to those that has it in Charge; for most certainly skins must get damaged in it; Mr Thomson was so kind as to present me some letters from the Agents, wherein they Mention the greatest Economy as well as to make 143 Mountain Portage. 144 Gaktte was a term used by voyageurs to describe a large flat rock, but McKenzie was probably referring to what is now called the Pelican Rapids. 145 Duckworth mentions "The Tittons" in his English River Book, but the name was, apparently, quite common, so this man may or may not have been the same person (Duckworth 1990, 133). 146 The principal waterway between the confluence of the Peace and Slave Rivers and Lake Athabasca is called Riviere des Rochers. 147 This trading leader could have received his name from the shore bird of the same name, but given the Europeans' proclivity for applying condescending French names to Indians, it could also be from plevre and translate as "The Weeper." 148 Andrew McKenzie was the country son of Sir Alexander Mackenzie. At this time, he was employed by the North West Company as a clerk. McKenzie died at Fort Vermilion on the Peace River in 1809 (W. Stewart Wallace 1934. 47 6 )149 Louis Brousseau was a veteran voyageur and interpreter who had been in the Athabasca country for at least twenty years (Duckworth 1990, 140; W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 219). In the manuscript, the name is overwritten from Brassoe to the present spelling.

251 Alexander McKenzie's Journal

the Men spend their wages'5° after I saw that I returned the Sundry Letters to Mr Thomson without looking at any of the Others; I told him I did not know whether I had a right to read them, but that I was sorrey that the Agents did not show the Example of Economy; and any person that wanted [needed?] such instructions ought not to have a Post in Charge ~ Alexr McKenzie

150 It may have been a policy of the North West Company to encourage the men to engage in drinking matches on credit as a way "to make the men spend their wages." George Keith encouraged his men into drinking matches on at least two occasions on the Liard River. By doing so, the company saved money on wages and held a lever when it came time to renew contracts.

Alexander Henry Jr's Journal of 1806

ALEXANDER HENRY JR

Born on 24 March 1782, Alexander Henry Jr was the eldest son of the famous Alexander Henry the Elder and cousin to the equally famous Alexander Henry the Younger. One of three sons born to Julia and Alexander Henry to survive infancy, his fur trade heritage included not only his father and cousin but also an uncle William and another cousin Robert with fur trade connections. In addition, Alexander Jr's brother William entered the service of the North West Company in 1801 and served for some time under cousin Alexander the Younger. The Alexander of concern here signed his first contract with the North West Company as an eighteen-year-old apprentice clerk in 1800. In the spring of that year, Daniel Harmon met this eldest son of the elder Henry in Montreal, and, together with John Clarke, they made their way in the company's canoes to Grand Portage to begin their apprenticeships. In the summer of 1800 there were two Alexander Henrys at Grand Portage: the young apprentice clerk and the seasoned trader of nine years, Alexander Henry the Younger. It is understandable that W. Kaye Lamb, editor of Daniel Harmon's journal, confused the two, but it is clear that both were there. (Harmon himself confused the two in his journal when he wrote that on 6 August 1800 Alexander Henry Jr cast up on his way to Fort Pembina on the Red River, while on the next day he wrote that Clarke and A. Henry arrived.) The older cousin was posted to the upper Red River country, while the younger apprentice clerk set off with Clarke to winter in the Athabasca Department under the leadership of John Finlay.

2 5 3 Alexander Henry Jr's Journal In the fall of 1802 Henry found himself first at Fort Vermilion and, later, at Grand Marais, both on the Peace River. Peter Fidler reported that Henry and two Canadians visited Fort Chipewyan for the New Year's holiday in 1803. He wintered over on Lake Claire, southwest of Fort Chipewyan, during the trading season of 1803-4. Henry's first posting to the Mackenzie River occurred in 1805 under the critical eye of Alexander McKenzie the Emperor, who had just assumed the management of that district. James Bain, editor of the elder Henry's Travels and Adventures, states that Alexander Henry Jr did not appear to have distinguished himself in the fur trade, and his experiences with Alexander McKenzie on Great Bear Lake in 1805-6 bore out this assessment. Henry accompanied the Mackenzie River brigade as it embarked from Fort Chipewyan on 15 September 1805. Immediately, he began to experience difficulties. Some of his bales got wet, "by accident," and his canoe had to wait until they had dried. Another delay occurred when the men of Henry's canoe complained they could not keep up with the others. McKenzie added a man to his crew. At the mouth of Bear Lake River, McKenzie had to wait for Henry again; it seems that the young clerk had taken time out from his voyage to hunt a caribou he had spied along the shore. Exasperated, McKenzie "told Mr H. That for the future he would not detain any Cannoe for his sport [as] we had plenty of provisions." One day after his arrival at the house on Great Bear Lake, Henry was sent to Bear Island, in the McVicar arm of Great Bear Lake, to establish an outpost where he was to winter over. It is from that outpost that the only example of a journal by Alexander Henry Jr exists today, a small fragment of which has survived. Henry had with him five men, a woman, and an Indian, with orders not to take any credits and to return as soon as the hunt was over, sending the Yellowknives to Mountain Island on Great Slave Lake. The conditions at his remote post were difficult, and Henry found himself out of provisions by December. He sent Delbergier, one of his men, to McKenzie for more. The Emperor sent only 30 pounds of pemmican, 12 fish, and some hooks. The message was clear: if more provisions were needed, he was to fish through the ice for them. Henry and his people were able to hold out until the first week in April, when they returned to McKenzie's post with only aVi packs of furs. Twelve days after his return, Henry was sent out to live, like a common engage, en derouine among the Yellowknives, some three days march from the post. "Mr H was much displeased at being sent to the Indians," McKenzie chortled. Indeed, he did not appear to have distinguished himself. Nevertheless, when McKenzie embarked with the canoes on 25 June 1806, he left Alexander Henry Jr in charge of the summer establishment at Great Bear Lake. When the Emperor returned to Great Bear Lake in the fall of 1806, he must have directed Henry to assist George Keith at Biskaga Fort on the Liard River, because by December the young clerk appears in the journal of that place.

a 54 North West Company Documents (The fragmentary nature of Keith's journal of 1806-7 does not preclude an earlier arrival.) Henry seems to have performed his duties competently at Biskaga Fort, for Keith voiced no recriminations and even assigned him the responsibility of conducting the returns to Fort of the Forks. W.F. Wentzel, clerk in charge at the Forks, seconded this confidence in Henry's ability by placing him in charge of some of the canoes sent with the district's returns to Fort Chipewyan. On 22 September 1807 Henry returned to the Forks "in a Saulteux Canoe with his Family and a Jack Montagnier - from Athabasca" with the district's annual supplies. At some time in his seven-year career, either during the long winters on the lower Mackenzie or while visiting headquarters at Fort Chipewyan, he managed to establish a "connection" among the Indians, but nothing else is known about it. The visit to Fort of the Forks was short; Henry and his family were destined to spend another year in the lower regions of the Mackenzie River. On 4 October Henry and John Clarke, the new superintendent of the Mackenzie River District, set off for Great Bear Lake, where the now experienced clerk may have acted as Clarke's second at Great Bear Lake. It is also possible that he served, along with Charles Grant, at the new post Alexander McKenzie had established at the confluence of the Mackenzie and Bluefish Rivers the previous summer. Later in the winter Wentzel reported that "Mr. Henry was en decouverte [exploring] in the Rocky Mountain," an enterprise that would likely have been launched from Bluefish River Post. None of the Mackenzie River documents report on the consequences of Henry's efforts. It is not certain where in the Mackenzie River District Henry spent the next three years. No records have been found that locate his movements. George Keith relinquished his six-year residence on the Liard in the summer of 1811, and it may have been at that time that Alexander Henry assumed the management of that branch of the Mackenzie River trade. In the minutes of the annual meeting held at Fort William, the proprietors of the North West Company noted elliptically that "a change ... had been made in that department last fall." The change could not have been the departure of George Keith, for he left in the summer of 1811, not the fall of 1812. Before Keith's departure the trade had been conducted from Biskaga Fort, located on the north side of the Liard River opposite the mouth of the Biskaga River. Most of the beaver, however, were found to the west, in the Rocky Mountains. Sometime during this period, the decision was made to abandon Biskaga Fort and construct a new post up the East Branch of the Liard and closer to the beaver country. The new post was called Fort Nelson, and the new manager was Alexander Henry Jr. It is perhaps this change to which the proprietors referred. In January of 1813, desperate for ammunition to provide their families with something to eat and having had it denied them on credit, a group of Liard River Slavey (or Tsattine, as they were called in the journals) led by a Michel La Gas

255 Alexander Henry Jr's Journal attacked and killed Henry, his country wife and children, and four of his men, after which they plundered Fort Nelson of its contents. Both Native tradition and George Keith attribute part of the blame to Henry's "morose, inconsiderate and ... unfeeling disposition," which may have exacerbated an already despairing situation. Henry was in his thirteenth year as a fur trader and had attained a salary of 1,200 livres per year, which amounted to only £100 Halifax. His life's savings amounted to little more than £300. He had not received the recognition, the responsibilities, or the promotions that those who entered the service with him had received. It may have been discontent over his financial affairs and his seemingly dead-end career, as well as the straitened circumstances in which he found himself at Fort Nelson, that contributed to his disagreeable manner. Fort Nelson and the entire Liard were abandoned as a consequence of the killings, not to be reestablished for another seven years when Biskaga Fort was reestablished. In 1822, when a new post was put up at the confluence of the Liard and the "little River Noir," Michel La Gas became one of its regular customers. The new post was called Fort Liard, the first time an establishment bore that name in the Mackenzie River District.

This small fragment of Alexander Henry Jr's Bear Island journal is found in the Selkirk Papers at the National Archives of Canada (MG 19, EI, 9266-8). As with all documents in the Selkirk Papers, only copies remain, the originals having been destroyed in a fire years ago. Consequently, errors of both commission and omission may be those of the copyist rather than of Henry. The Selkirk Papers are numbered consecutively in the upper centre from page i to page 20,628. There is a second numbering sequence inserted in the upper right-hand corner of each page that is not consecutive and begins anew from time to time. The former system of pagination is used here. Although unsigned, the location, author, and date of the fragment have been established by a close comparison with the journal of 1805-6 of Alexander McKenzie at Great Bear Lake, as well as by internal evidence within the fragment itself. References. Bain 1969, xxxviii; Brymner 1885, xc; Gough 1988, xxi-xxiii; Karamanski 1983, 17-18; W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 277; MCG, CHi8o.si62, microfilm 14, 1-4, 9, 11, 13, 17; BCARS, Selkirk Papers, Add. MSS 1468, 9332, 9334, 9337; MCG, CHI76.8158, microfilm 13, 6, 8, 24; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 93-5; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 44, part 3, 106; NA, Selkirk Papers, MG 19, E i, 9266-8, 9366; HBCA, B.39/a/i, fol. i3d, i4d; B.39/a/3,fol. i2d;B.n6/a/i,fols. 1,5, 11, 12, 2od; r.4/32, fol. 446. N

256 Bear Island Journal

[BEAR ISLAND JOURNAL] [GREAT BEAR LAKE] [ALEXANDER HENRY JUNIOR] [1806] [Q266] 1

SAT. 18. [January 1806] Caught 20 P8 White fish 3 trouts. ^ Nothing SUN. 19. Caught 15 Ps White fish i trout. > particular MON 20. Caught 12 Ps White fish. J TUES 21. Caught 8 Ps White fish this evening arrived a Young Man. Gave him a Ps tobacco, he says that Jolibois & John are near hand & that the former is much frozen.2 WED 22. Caught 12 Ps White fish. This morning arrived the above mentioned men. Gave them a dram. Dalbec3 who was with the Indians came, with them Gave him a dram also. No great Returns for what was sent. Say that they got 2 Carriboux which they ate in the Span of Six days. I received from Jolibai [Frangois Jollibois] only a Red fox 3 large Bears, i Carcajoux i foutnau4 & 20 Balls. THURS 23. Caught 12 Ps White fish. FRID. 24. This Morning a Yellow Knife sett off. SAT. 25. Caught nothing

1 The following note is written in the upper left-hand corner in handwriting different from that of the journal: "Fragment of Journal by R. Henry Lac D'Ours see s6Jany." The R'm R. Henry is an obvious slip of the pen, for the transcriber of the journal had earlier written an excerpt from this fragment in which he attributed it to Alexander Henry at Lac D'Ours (see 9260). 2 John was at Great Bear Lake on 12 December, but Jollibois is not mentioned in McKenzie's journal until after Henry returned from Bear Island on 8 April. Jollibois must have been among the men sent with Henry to Bear Island on 6 October; John, on the other hand, must have been sent there sometime after 12 December. 3 This is the only mention of Dalbec in either Henry's or McKenzie's journals. He spent the winter of 1804-5 with Grand Chefre and his band on the Mackenzie River (Wentzel's journal entries for 5 January and 19 February 1805). 4 Foutrau, or mink (Avis 1991, 272).

257 Bear Island Journal SUN 26. Caught nothing. Sent Consols5 to Lac dours. Gave him 20 Ps White fish, a dog, a firesteel & an Indian.6 MON. 27. Caught 4 Ps White fish, i trout, ^l Nothing TUES. 28. Caught 2 Ps White fish. >• particular WED 29. Caught i Ps Whitefish.j THURS. 30. Caught 2 Ps White fish. This evening arrived 6 Yellow Knives with Meat. Gave them a dram & Ps Tobacco, they say they have a great many Provisions at their lodges. FRID: 31. Caught 2 Ps White fish, traded 19 nr1 & 8 Sk Br FEBRUARY SATURDAY i. The Indians sett off. Sent John with them. Caught 2 Ps White fish. SUN. 2. Caught 4 Ps White fish. 1 Nothing MON. 3. Caught 3 Ps White fish J particular TUES. 4. Caught Nothing. J. Killed a Martin. - [9267] WED: 5 Caught 2 Ps White fish, & 3 trouts with the lines that the old Man sat Yesterday THURS: 6. This morning arrived Guilbord & La Rocque Gave them a Dram each. News of no consequence.7 5 Gens Sols arrived at McKenzie's establishment on 3 February, the journey between the two posts taking about a week. McKenzie noted that Cens Sols was very weak and that there were no provisions at Bear Island. For three straight days before to Cens Sols's departure from Bear Island no fish had been taken either in the nets or on the lines. 6 For some reason the annotator of this journal felt it important to note on the first page the date of this entry. One can only speculate what was thought significant in this innocuous-appearing entry. 7 While it cannot be said what news the two couriers brought to Bear Island, there certainly was some news of consequence that they must have kept from him. On 30 January Gelbore (Guilbord) and Pierre LaRocque were sent by Alexander McKenzie on a winter express for Fort Chipewyan by way of the Mackenzie River. Letters were written to both places, and when McKenzie found out that the couriers had decided to take a more direct route to Fort Chipewyan, bypassing the Mackenzie altogether, he became enraged. A search party was sent out to intercept them, but with no luck. Bear Island Post was the first stop of several on their shorter route to the comforts of district headquarters. Henry, of course, was not privy to Gelbore and La Rocque's deception, and so he sent them on their way after outfitting them with the "necessaries" of the voyage. Although Henry was an unwitting accomplice, it would be in keeping with his personality for McKenzie to hold Henry responsible for his assistance. Perhaps this explains why McKenzie sent Henry out to the Indians, like a common voyageur and against his desire, upon his return to Great Bear Lake Fort (McKenzie's journal entries for 30 January, 1-5 February, and 20 April 1806).

258 Bear Island Journal

FRID : 7 This Morning arrived a Yellow Knife & Slave with the meat of a small original. Gave them a small Ps tobacco each, omitted that an indian arrived with Guilbord. Gave him a Ps tobacco. I made a pair Snow Shoes. Caught 12 Ps White fish, lines 2 trout. SAT. 8. Sent off Guilbord & La Rocque with the indians for Mountain island8 after having given him his9 necessaries for the Voyage as marked in the waste book.10 - Caught Nothing. SUN: 9. Nothing. MON: 10. Caught i Trout with the lines TUES : 11: Caught 4 Trout with the lines. This afternoon arrived Range from Lac dours fort11 Gave him a dram. WED: 12. Nothing THURS 13 - Caught i White fish. This evening arrived John from the indians. Gave him a dram, he is with 9 Yellow Knives, they brought me a little m1. Gave them a dram & Ps tobacco each. FRID: 14. Arranged the indians to be off sent John & Range with them. SAT: 15. Nothing. SUN. 16. Caught i White fish MON. 17. Caught 2 White fish i trout lines TUES: 18. Caught Nothing but 2 trouts lines I made a Pair Snow Shoes. WED. 19. Caught i White fish lines 2 trouts. This evening arrived a slave he wishes to go to Lac dour he sat lines. - Thurs [9268] THURS: 20. Caught nothing. Sat a nett at another Place, the Young man sat also a nett. -

8 Mountain Island was a North West Company trading post near the mouth of the Yellowknife river in the northern arm of Great Slave Lake. 9 Henry probably meant to say, "after having given them their necessaries." 10 This bookkeeping term refers to a rough account book in which entries are made at the time of their occurrence, to be posted afterwards in a more formal account book (Oxford Universal Dictionary, gd ed., s.v. "waste book"). 11 Jean Range (or Ranger) left Great Bear Lake Fort on 7 February and reached Bear Island only four days later. He had been sent to retrieve any returns and provisions Henry might have and to return to Great Bear Lake with any idle engages who might not have enough to do (McKenzie's journal entry for 7 February 1806).

George Keith's Journals of 1805-6 and 1806-7

GEORGE KEITH

Along with his brother James, twenty-year-old George Keith entered the fur trade in 1800 as an apprentice clerk with the Montreal firm of Forsyth, Richardson and Company. He was assigned to the Athabasca country, spending his first year at the XY Company's new post near the confluence of the Little Slave and Athabasca Rivers. He served his early apprenticeship under Alexander McKenzie, the bourgeois with whom he was reunited in 1805 when they were both appointed to the Mackenzie River District. In the interim, Keith helped the struggling XY Company establish their trade on the lower Peace River. At the merger of the XY and North West Companies in 1804, he Was taken into the new concern as a clerk. George Keith must have impressed his superiors with his fur trading ability, for he was given the responsibility of opening the trade up the Mackenzie's main tributary, the Liard River, in 1805. The Liard drainage system provided the richest habitat for beaver in the entire Mackenzie River District, and the enterprising Scotsman fully exploited the resource. With 20 percent of the district's trade goods, Keith's first-year returns amounted to 23 percent of the Mackenzie River total. His second year's efforts at Biskaga Fort, deeper in the fur-bearing country, resulted in returns that represented 41 percent of the district's total. George Keith continued to manage the Liard River trade for six years, until 1811, when he transferred to the company's post at Great Bear Lake. Not all of Keith's time was given to business, however. Sometime early in his tenure in the Mackenzie River District, George Keith began a marital tie with Nanette Sutherland that would span more than five decades, until it

a6o North West Company Documents finally ended with George's death in 1859. Nanette survived her husband by three years, dying on 4 April 1862. In his will Keith stated that Nanette's father was James Sutherland, a clerk with the North West Company. (Although George failed to mention it, her mother was Chipewyan or part-Chipewyan.) No North West Company clerk by that name has been found in the documents, but a James Sutherland did serve as an interpreter for Duncan Livingston. Although this James Sutherland died, along with Livingston, near the delta of the Mackenzie River in 1799, it is still possible that he fathered Nanette. A more likely candidate, however, is the James Sutherland who served as an engage under W.F. Wentzel at Fort of the Forks as late as 1808. Engage Sutherland still toiled for the Nor'Westers as late as 1820, although sick and in need of medicine at Great Slave Lake. Exactly when George and Nanette began cohabiting is unknown; perhaps they met during the two days in September of 1805 that Keith spent at Fort of the Forks before his initial assignment up the Liard. It is more likely, however, that the romance blossomed during an extended visit by Keith to the Forks in July of 1806, when he met with Alexander McKenzie. No mention is made in the journals of Keith visiting Wentzel over the winter of 1805-6, but given their fragmentary nature, such a visit could have been omitted. It seems a reasonable guess that Nanette accompanied George on his journey to Biskaga Fort in July or August of 1806, because their first child was conceived sometime during the latter part of the following October. In any case, sixteen-year-old Nanette was with child soon after George wound up the affairs of Netla Fort at the end of that first year on the Liard and moved the company's operations upriver to Biskaga Fort. The following summer, after Keith had sent off Henry and two canoes with the year's returns on 21 May 1807, he settled in with the pregnant Nanette to await the arrival of their first child. On 20 July a daughter, Fanny, arrived much to the delight, no doubt, of the new parents. George and Nanette's growing affection for each other accompanied their devotion to what eventually became eight children. The experiences of their first-born child serve as an example. Fourteen-year-old Fanny Keith was betrothed to James Heron, Hudson's Bay Company clerk, in June of 1822. Heron left the company's service in 1832 and retired to Lower Canada, where he and Fanny were officially married (and Fanny baptized the same day) by the Reverend Alexander Gale, who doubled as school teacher for Fanny's younger brother Robert. As a wedding present, George bestowed on James Heron a farm at St Eustache valued at £450. In addition, Fanny, together with her living siblings, received endowments in George's will. Before her death on 30 December 1850, Fanny bore at least five children of her own. Of Fanny's seven siblings, two, or possibly three, were born in the Mackenzie River District. Betsey arrived at Biskaga Fort 15 November

2 61 George Keith' s Journals 1809. (In 1829, she married Hudson's Bay Company clerk - later, chief factor -John Swanston.) A little over three years later, on 14 January 1813, Nanette delivered Louise at Great Bear Lake. In 1835 Louise married Frangois Xavier LeClair and settled down on a farm, given by her father, near Montreal.) Of the Keith's fourth daughter, Sophia, nothing is known but that she died in 1848. George Keith's journals, like those of most traders, do not describe his domestic life or his relations with co-workers. He exercised consistent care not to reveal anything of a personal nature in his journals, judging it inappropriate, it would seem, to mention such things in an official document intended for his superiors in the company hierarchy. It is only through incidental comments in other and later records and letters that anything is known at all. These sources show that George Keith nurtured a life-long devotion to his family. After retirement, he married Nanette, according to European custom, and brought her and one child, their invalid daughter Jane, with him to Scotland. In a comfortable country home outside Aberdeen, the Keiths settled in to sixteen years of contented living. George Keith's skill as a fur trader established the Liard River posts as the most productive in the Mackenzie River District. The returns from Great Bear Lake had fallen off previously, and it might have been the hope of reinvigorating the returns of that post that accounted for Keith's new assignment in 1811. No mention is made in the documents that have survived regarding the success of his efforts at Great Bear Lake, but it is unlikely that the returns increased materially, considering that the area was poor beaver country. Whatever resulted from his efforts, in 1813 Keith was rewarded with a promotion to the rank of proprietor in the North West Company. Now, as superintendent of the Mackenzie River District, the new bourgeois established his headquarters at Fort of the Forks, where he settled in to direct the district's affairs. By the time of Keith's promotion, the Mackenzie River District had fallen upon hard times. Fur bearing animals had become scarce, with a resulting decrease in returns, and cyclical declines in the animal population had reduced the region's food supply to starvation levels. Natives ceased hunting for fur and began hunting for food. In addition, the War of 1812 had interrupted the delivery of trade goods into the district. There was less to trade with and less to trade for. In 1815 the company decided to cut their losses and withdraw from the Mackenzie basin. They intended to concentrate their resources in men and materiel at Great Slave Lake, Athabasca Lake, and the Peace River, in order to meet the increasing challenge of competition from the Hudson's Bay Company. In that year, Keith assumed the charge of Fort Chipewyan, never again returning to the Mackenzie River. During his tenure in the Mackenzie River District, George Keith was second only to W.F. Wentzel as a chronicler of the North West Company's activities in that remote region of the fur trade.

263 North West Company Documents Keith remained at Fort Chipewyan until 1821, when the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies merged their interests. He was brought into the new concern as a chief factor and given the charge of Ile-a-la-Crosse in the English River District. After three years, Keith transferred to the Lake Superior District, where he remained, except for an interlude at Moose Factory, until his retirement in 1843.

When these journals were written, George Keith was a clerk in the newly amalgamated North West Company. From his earliest years in the Athabasca, he had learned the trade under the direction of Alexander McKenzie. By 1802 he had been appointed to the Peace River District and had remained in that country until 1805, when he accompanied his old bourgeois into the Mackenzie River District. The first of the two journals published here he kept at his first trading post at the confluence of the Netla with the Liard River. Keith's Liard River journal of 1806-7 was written at his second site on the Liard, near the mouth of the Biskaga River. Both journals are incomplete, and they are not originals. They were found among the papers the Earl of Selkirk confiscated at Fort William in 1816. Transported to Scotland, these papers remained in private hands until early in the twentieth century, when the Public Archives of Canada obtained permission to copy the journals in the Selkirk Papers that contained Canadian material. Thus, these journals, along with the others from the Selkirk Papers, are copies of the originals, which were subsequently lost in a fire. The copyist, rather than the original journalist, may be responsible for many of the misspellings and ambiguities that occur in these pages. Both journals were transcribed from microfilm located at the National Archives of Canada (Selkirk Papers, MG ig, E I ) . References. Brown 1985, 453-4; NA, Gray 1963, 344; Rich 1939, 81-4, 295-6; Thomas 1979, 16; Wentzel 1823, 78; HBCA, A-36/8, fols. 11, 21; 8.39/3/1, fol. 9, 19; B.39/a/io-i i; 8.89/3/5-9; 8.129/0/1-10; B.i34/c/i2, fol. 196; £.3/2, fol. 58d; NA, Keith Papers, microfilm A-676, u-a, Memorandum of Correspondence, private, 1806-50; Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 1-104; Wentzel'sjournal entries for 4 April, 6 g-iojune, 9 August 1806, and 13 November 1807; Wentzel's "Account of Mackenzies River," 5-6. N

263 Journal of the Riviere de Laird

[9284]* J O U R N A L OF THE R I V I E R E DE LAIRD [LIARD] A B R A N C H OF M A C K E N Z I E S R I V E R 28™

S E P T . 1 805

Left the Forks about 3 o'clock afternoon in order to proceed up the River de Liard with one canot, loaded with about the value of i2 J /4 pieces de Traite besides my own private property & that of three men.2 Mr Wentzel was kind enough to give me one of his men to help us to proceed on our Voyage, which augmented the number to four men oblidged to do duty & an Indian as a Guide. We encamped not far from the Forks.3 29™ - Our course being s.s.w: w & by s. and Southerly & thereabout all day we went pretty well on with two men pulling upon the Line as the Current was pretty strong and a few small Rapids & towards night we broke our Canot which oblidged us to encamp a little earlier than what we would have done, had not this accident happened to us. 30™ - Our Course had been almost southerly all day arrived at the Carrying Place (which is a small Cascade that crosses the river, and 1 As mentioned, the Selkirk Papers are double numbered. In the upper centre is a four-digit page number and in the upper right is a three-digit page number. Only the four-digit page numbers run continuously throughout the Selkirk Papers, and they are used here for purposes of citation. In the upper left-hand margin is found the following note: "R des Liards a branch of McKenzie River 1805-6;" "See 1805 Nov. 12-22 & 1806 Feby 12." This note was written in a hand different from that of the copyist, probably a secretary of Selkirk. The entries identified in the note contain material that could be used to discredit the North West Company. 2 Although this journal fragment is not signed, there can be no doubt it was originally kept by George Keith, who was given the responsibility of establishing the trade on the Liard River in 1805. See Alexander McKenzie's journal entries between 15 and 26 September 1805, W.F. Wentzel'sjournal entries for 3 April and 5-8 June 1806, and W.F. Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart," 5. 3 Keith arrived at Fort of the Forks in company with Alexander McKenzie and the rest of the brigade on 26 September (McKenzie's journal entry on that date). The previous winter, W.F. Wentzel received information concerning the abundance of beaver on the Liard River, and the ensuing summer he sent William Smith to begin building a house about eighty miles up the river. It was this post that Keith was to assume the charge of. See Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart," 4.

264 Journal of the Riviere de Laird appears to be very shallow all over with a stoney bottom)4 about 2 oclock in the afternoon, and after having unloaded the Canot we attempted to pull the Canot up the Cascade, but as there was very little water we were oblidged to desist, the carrying place is not above 15 paces in length & I think when the Water is high in the Summer time it might be waded with the Line.5 a little below this place we saw a Mouse Deer [moose] cross over the river, but as we were then between two rapids we could not pursue after him without running the risk of breaking our Vessel and loosing the Co's [9285] Co's property encamped in sight of the Carrying place from that place and a little below the river is very rapidous, shallow & a Rocky 8c stoney bottom, it was with difficulty we got up some of those Rapids with 2 Men, the Indian and myself upon the Line, not so much on account of the strength and velocity of the Current as of the rough, stoney and declining shore we had to walk upon. The Banks of the River are very high upon both sides particularly upon the side where the Portage is and this night we had a very [uncomfortable] bed upon the rough gravely shore. JST OCTOBER -A continuation of Rapids and sometimes the two men who were in the Canot were oblidged to jump into the Water & pull the Canot forward on account of the shallowness of the River untill about mid-day when the river got smooth and scarcely any rapids with low Banks upon each side of the River, towards night being ashore I perceived 3 Otters, which I fired upon and killed one, the others took themselves to the river and went off. Our Course has been almost southerly as yesterday.6 2 N D Our course the same as Yesterday with a little variation to the Westward. Made use of the line all day, altho' no rapids 3 RD Our course the same as Yesterday untill about two o'clock P.M. when we began to steer to s.w. & w.s.w. and thereabouts. 4TH Very Cold and foggy weather and so continued untill we arrived at a pretty considerable river called the Nahane River, a name derived from a tribe of Indians who formerly were in possession of this river, but who are now oblidged to retire into the rocky Mountain & that

4 Today this small cascade is called The Beaver Dam (Patterson 1955, 24). 5 By "waded with a Line" Keith meant that in the summer there would be sufficient water to cross the small cascade by attaching a rope to the bow of each canoe and having the men pull the canoes by that means over the obstacle without unloading them. 6 The actual trend of the river above The Beaver Dam is southwesterly.

265 Journal of the Riviere de Laird

River, as is reported by the Beaver7 Indians [9286] Indians of this place, who saw some of them last Summer, upon arriving at this branch which seems to bear to the s.E. 8 we found that the Water of the Nahane River resembled very much to sea Water but of a darker or bluer Colour. The Rocky Mountain is not far off, only about one days journey.9 went a little farther and encamped, our course since we left the Nahane river bears East N .E.10 & begins to wear to the Southward. 5™ Arrived about 10 O'clock in the forenoon where W111 Smith11 has built whom I found with a few old Indians who had arrived lately at the Fort. 6™ SUNDAY & 7 TH . Sent off two Young men to advertize their relations that we were arrived and to tell those who had anything to bring to the Fort to come with it & that I wished to see them all upon the first Ice. Gave one measure of shot & i 1A of Powder. Two Young men who had remained with Smith in the Summer time arrived with 3 Beaver skins & i D° in Meat. Before I arrived here I was of oppinion that it would be much better to build farther up the river, as being nigher to the place where most of the Indians work the Beaver, it might encourage them to come oftener to the Fort but upon being informed that part of the Indians were below & part of them above and not knowing positively that there was to be a Fort in this River, I 7 They had come upon the mouth of the South Nahanni River, a major tributary of the Liard. The Nahanni Indians are now referred to as the Kaska. The Beaver Indians Keith mentioned were Liard River Slavey, who, according to their own accounts, descended from the Beaver Indians of the Peace River country (Krech 1984, 103; NA, MG 19,0 i, vol. 51,6). 8 The South Nahanni flows to the southeast, but Keith was, of course, looking northwest into it. 9 Keith mistook the nearby summits for the main range of the Rocky Mountains, which are considerably farther than a day's journey. 10 The general trend of the Liard just above the South Nahanni is almost due south. 11 William Smith was the man W.F. Wentzel had sent up the Liard earlier in the summer to begin construction of the post. The site he selected was on the right bank of the Liard at its confluence with the Netla River. Although Wentzel had instructed Smith to ascend the Liard about 80 miles, or so, he actually built closer to 120, a few miles beyond the mouth of the South Nahanni. Wentzel's map of 1821 identified the spot as "Old Fort 1805."John McLeod's map of 1831 referred to the Netla as "River of the Fort" (see Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River widi a Chart"; Ruggles 1991, 157. In his journals or letters, Keith did not apply a name to this post; herein it is simply called Netla Fort.

266 Journal of the Riviere de Laird

thought it preferable to build here for the first Year, seeing that it would be very easy to change the plan afterwards if it did not turn out to be for the Interest of the Concern.12 8TH Advanced for 35 Skins upon Credit to two Indians and sent them off, one of them is to return to the Fort upon the first Ice in order to hunt for us during the winter - 9 [9287] 9 & i oTH - Sent a Young Indian to advertize a few Indians that I was arrived Sec. Gave him one Measure of Powder & one of shott gratis. The same day a Young man arrived from another band of Indians (Mortne's Band) being the first time this season since Spring. He only brought for 4 Skins in provisions and i Beaver Skin. He says that his relations have been sick all Summer and have done nothing. Sent the Young Man off with a pipe of Tobacco to the Chief & told him to come up on the first Ice I I T H Our hunter arrived today with 2 Cascamines [cascamisks] & i Beaver Skin - two Young men who had been sent out to discover Indians returned without having found any. - They bro' the Rib of a Mouse Deer that they found taken in the snares. i 2'" Sent of[f] two Indians today after having given for i skin upon Credit & traded for the value of 7 Skins in provisions & i Vi Beaver Skins. 13™ SUNDAY 14, 15™. Set a half Net in the Chinaille13 of the Island and caught 8 small pike fish & i Poisson Inconneu.14 sent a young man that remains at the Fort a hunting - he returned wh nothing 16"* An Indians arrived today from below with 16 large Beaver Skins & for the value of 4 Skins in provisions, all which I deducted from his debts. 17™ Sent the Young man off (le fils Aine de Grand Cheveux) 15 after having given him for i ¥i Measrs Powder i in Shott & i in Ball and a pipe of Tobacco gratis. The Partridge Chief with 2 Young Men arrived in the evening. i8 TH Examined their Furs amounting to 18 l/z Beaver Skins, i Grisled Bear Skin, i Black Bear Skin & 2 Cubs with [9288] with 18 As will be seen, Keith did move his establishment further up the river the next year. It is interesting to note that Keith apparently left Fort of the Forks in some ambiguity regarding the company's plans for the Liard. 13 Perhaps after "chenal," or channel. 14 Poisson inconnu (Stenodus leucichthys) is a species of whitefish that, as mentioned earlier, served as an important food throughout the Mackenzie River basin (Lamb 1970, 168; Davis 1995, 20). 15 That is, the elder son of Grand Cheveux.

267 Journal of the Riviere de Laird 25 Skins in provisions & 3 in Grease, out of which I paid them for 7 Skins each & deducted the remr from their debts. - Gave to the Partridge 2 Measrs Powder, i of Shott & i of Ball gratis, but at the same time threatened him with loosing his coat if he did not work well for the ensuing Winter.16 Great complaints of sickness amongst them - last Night I gave them a Quart of mixed liquer amongst them & they set off today apparently well pleased with their reception. 1 g™ An old man arrived today with a few Skins and Meat. A Young man arrived likewise whom I had sent off to advertize his relations he bro1 the meat of one Beaver & the Furr of two. Visited the old Man's Furrs amt to 8 Large Beaver Skins, i Lynx, i Wolverine and 8 Skins in provisions - gave a half axe to him upon credit & deducted the Furrs &c from his debts & sent him off 20 TH Sent Casce'7 one of Mr Wentzel's men (who came up here along with me) with a Young Indian to go to the Forks in a small Canot - I sent two Bales of Meat (ea Wg 93 lbs to Mr Wentzel.18 2 I ST TO 25™ - two Indians arrived to take their goods from the Fort, gave them for 12 Skins upon Credit 26™ TO MONDAY THE 4™ Nov R - The Hunter for the Fort arrived with another Young man, the former brought 11 Large Beaver Skins &: 2 Skins in Provisions the latter only for 2 Skins in provisions and a Parchement Skin which I had recommended him to bring for the Windows of the House. Traded only i Skin. 5™ & 6TH The Hunter busy in making Snowshoes and going out looking for Hares tracts 7 TH - Sent off the Hunter after having given him i Measr Powder & i of Shott gratis. - 8 [9289] 16 See note for Alexander McKenzie's journal entry on 2 July 1806 regarding "chief's clothes." A trading leader could lose his chiefs clothes (and thereby lose status) if his returns fell off (Krech 1984, 113). 17 No given name was provided. Wentzel spelled his name variously Qaaicis/ Quaicus/Quaus. He may be the same as the Kazie mentioned in McKenzie's journal who was lost at the forks of the Mackenzie and the Great Bear Lake Rivers. See Wentzel's journal entries between 6 April and 4 June 1806 and McKenzie's journal entry on a6June 1806. 18 While it took Keith about five days to ascend the Liard to Netla Fort in loaded canoes, it took only one or two days, depending on conditions, to descend the river to Fort of the Forks. Wentzel'sjournal of 1805-6 is missing the dates 18 October to 20 December, so it is not possible to confirm the arrival of the canoe.

268 Journal of the Riviere de Laird

8, 9 & 10™ - SUNDAY -An Indian arrived and brot 10 Vz large Beaver, 3 Small Lynxes & 2 Cascaminos [cascamines] and - having unfortunately burnt all his effects some time ago I traded all he brought.19 11TH - Sent off the Indian after giving him i Measr Powder, i of Shott, and a pipe of tobacco Gratis. - In the afternoon 7 Indians arrived and brought 45 large Beaver Skins, 6 Lynxes, i Wolverine i Bear Skin, i Smoaked Mouse Deer Skin, i Ribb piece & 87 Hares.20 Gave a Quart of Rum Gratis to them. 12 TH - Paid the Indians for 17 Skins and deducted the Remr from their debts. One of them last night after wishing to return a half axe that he had taken upon credit in the Fall & had slopped21 it in two places and calling Smith a liar wrongfully got his nose twisted a little which hurt his feelings being a disbanded old Chief (Pere du Chien) 22 however after acknowledging his fault I gave him a small Phiol of Medicine & a pipe of Tobacco and he went of [f] well pleased. 13™ TO THE 21 ST - Three Indians arrived today (the Grand Chevaux & his Son &c) they brought 3 Bears Skins, 3 Cubs, 8 Beaver Skins 3 Martens and 4 Lynxes. - the former altho' apparently Robuste and not very old brot only one Ermine Skin, notwithstanding he had impudence enough to ask [for] a few articles Gratis, however I reasoned with [him] a little & told him that he ought to be ashamed to ask for anything gratis having in the course of 2 years only brot 8 Beaver Skins Be i Ermine as I understand &c &c upon which he did not say anything more. — 2 2 N D - Paid the Indians for 12 Skins and deducted the remr from their debts. Gave a folding knife Vz Fath[om] Gart[erin]g [9290] Gart§ and a pipe of Tobacco to the Grand Chevaux's Son gratis - being the second time he has made his appearance since my arrival - Great complaints of sickness. Gave a small Phiol of Sugar &: water as a cordial to rouse them from their lethargy. 19 For a similar circumstance, see Wentzel's journal entry on 20 October 1804. This man was apparently destitute of trapping gear, and Keith took all he brought in, although he might have been more discriminating had the Indian not been in dire straits. 20 Hares served as a basic winter staple for Natives and Europeans alike. 21 That is, broken it by over swinging. 22 By "disbanded," Keith may have meant that Pere du Chien no longer was treated as a chief by the traders. He still commanded a sizable hunting party. It is not clear whether it was Keith or Smith who administered the humiliating twist of the nose, but it was probably Smith, because he was the one defamed. Unlike many of his contemporaries, George Keith was not prone to physically abusing Natives.

269 Journal of the Riviere de Laird 23*" The Hunter arrived with 50 Hares - Sauve23 with an Indian who arrived (with a letter & a few articles I had requested of Mr Wentzel) upon the 2 ist set off today to go to the Forks. 24™ TO 28™ - The Hunter arrived with 20 Hares. He is gone to visit his Collars [collets] upon this side. 29 & 3OTH — SUNDAY & I S T DECEMBER. The Hunter arrived with 10 Hares and says he cannot find any more tracts; having seen some Mouse Deer tracts, I lent him 8 Collars.24 _ 2 i S T J A N Y 1806. WEDNESDAY. 2 5 - Bois [Bove] with an Indian arrived from Mr Wentzel's Fort at the Forks, no particular intelligence. The Indian says that he was ordered to tell the Fere du Chien to go down below soon. Bois very much fatigued.26 22 D & 23°. Sent W"1 Smith, Bois, and the Indian off with letters for Lake D 'Ours2? &c &c. 24™ & 25™. SUNDAY 26TH TO THE 28™ - Three Indians arrived. they brought 30 plues in Furr and for i Skin in Grease, paid them for 6 Skins and gave i Vz Meas1* Powder 12 Ball, i Small Knife, i Awl gratis. Great Complaints of sickness. Kept one of them as a hunter. 29™ - Sent all the Indians off.28 I ST FEBRUARY SUNDAY. 29 - Last night the Hunter (Pouse Coupe) with another Indian arrived. They brought 25 Hares, i Shoulder and two 23 Pascal Sauve. Because Wentzel's journal of 1805-6 is missing entries for the period between 18 October and 20 December, Sauve's departure from Fort of the Forks and his return there cannot be confirmed from that source. 24 The journal is missing the entries between 2 December 1805 and 20 January 1806. 25 In 1806, 21 January fell on a Tuesday. Somehow, Keith gained a day of the week. 26 No additional confirmation of Boye's journey can be ascertained from Wentzel's journal of 1805-6, because it is missing the dates between 2 January and 8 February 1806. 27 Alexander McKenzie's post on Great Bear Lake. These letters would have been in the packet carried by Pascal Sauve that reached Great Bear Lake on 17 February from Fort of the Forks (Alexander McKenzie's journal for this date). 28 No entries for 30 and 31 January appear in the manuscript. 29 Keith confused his dates again, i February should be a Saturday. It is difficult to know whether it was the day of the week or the day of the month that he got wrong. Throughout the rest of this fragment for February, he is one day off.

270 Journal of the Riviere de Laird

ribb pieces of a Mouse Deer which was taken with the Snare. The meat is very indifferent the [9291] the Animal being taken by the Hind leg and had for some time suffered for Hunger in the Snare - Gave 3 Measrs Ammunition gratis to him.3° 8TH FEBRY - SUNDAY. - Two Young men arrived Yesterday with 108 Hares and i Lynx - The Hunter of the Fort arrived & brought two ribb pieces of & a shoulder of a Mouse Deer together with 40 Hares. 9™ Four Young men arrived today they brought 98 Hares. They proposed to bring more some time Hence, but I told them to endeavour to kill some Beaver or Lynx & that I did not want any more Hares from them for the present. - They brought a Gun belonging to an Indian, who traded it here this Winter, & has unfortunately broke the stock of it in endeavouring to kill a wild Goat upon the Rocky Mountain. I suppose the Owner means to return the Gun, this would be nothing uncommon for one of having traded a Gun and upon firing the second time burst the Gun, which upon his return to the Fort, insisted upon returning her, which I absolutely refused others - wishing to return some axes after having slopped them. The Axes are very bad, for I was oblidged to trade an Axe of last Year from an Indian the men having broke no less than three Axes in cutting dried Wood for the House, i OTH - An Indian with his Woman arrived today the former recovering from sickness - They brought nothing, traded 8 Beavers he had formerly sent to the Fort, and four more which he bro' with him31 12TH - W"1 Smith with an Indian arrived from M1 Wentzel's Fort at the Forks, in the afternoon and it appears by Mr Wentzell's Letter, as well as by what I can learn by Smith that both Mr Wentzel and I have [9292] have been grossly imposed upon by false reports from the Indians which induced him to think that the Natives were too severely handled here and I on the other hand from the general report amongst the Indians had good reason to suspect Mr Wentzell of seducing some of them from this Place, which I am happy to find was not the case - and it being now agreed upon by both of us, that any Indian who wishes absolutely to change Forts, shall have a ticket with his name and character upon it &c &c by which means we shall be able to discover Deserters and punish them accordingly.32 30 Entries between 2 and 7 February are missing from the manuscript. 31 There is no entry for 11 February. 32 Wentzel's view of this misunderstanding and its resolution cannot be discerned, because his journal is missing the entries between 11 February and 30 March 1806. February 13 and 14 are missing from Keith's manuscript.

271 Journal of the Riviere de Laird

15TH — SUNDAY. - Four Young Men arrived from the Pere de Chiens Band. They bro1 135 Hares, 6 large Picheux, [pichou] 2 D° Small, i Wolverine, and i dressed Mouse Deer Skin. Traded the Hares for Ammunition and deducted the Furrs from their Credits - and told them not to bring any more Hares, that I would not take them. 16TH - One of the Hunters arrived & brot 18 Hares - he has killed a Young Mouse Deer. 17™ - Sent a man with the Indian to bring the meat of the Mouse Deer to the House. 18TH - The people with the Meat arrived. Valued it for 4 plues which I paid to the Indian and sent him off ig TH — TO THE 23 RD MONDAY. The Hunter arrived here this evening with the value of 4 plues in Meat having killed a Young Mouse Deer25™ One of the Hunters arrived today with the head of a Male Mouse Deer that he has killed. 26™ Sent one man with the Indian for Meat 27™ The people returned again for Meat - Two Indians arrived [9293] arrived with Hares, and only one Lynx. 1806 2 D JUNE — MONDAY. 33 - Two Young men arrived from Those Indians who have not as yet made their appearance at the Fort this Spring, arrived about 7 o'clock (morning) they bring all their Women with them and not a single man is wanting, the whole Band arrived about mid-day together with the two Canadians I sent with them in the Winter time, who say that there is plenty of Beaver, where they made the spring hunt, that there was no vestiges of any person having wrought the Beaver there previously to the latter assertion the Indians agree but they say that they have killed most of the Beaver they found, but the [y] dare not deny but that there is plenty of Beaver thereabouts immediately after giving them a pipe of Tobacco & a dram - I began to receive their Furrs, which I finished in the evening the number of Indians who have brought anything to the Fort Amount to 35 including Boys 3D - Employed all the Men (excepting one whom I sent for Bark along with some Young men) in making Packs which they finished in the evening, but they had not time to press them. -

33 The dates between 28 February and i June 1806 are missing. By this time, Keith had corrected his earlier error in dates. In 1806, 2 June did, indeed, fall on a Monday.

272 Journal of the Riviere de Laird

4™ Early this morning the men loaded their Canot with 27 M> Packs of 85lb ea 3 ¥2 pieces of Grease,34 but 10 of the Packs being not pressed they found the Canot to be overloaded so much so that upon going off they almost upset about 3 feet from shore, in consequence of which I ordered them to unload and press the rem[ainde]r of Packs35 which being done & their canot pitched properly, terminated their days [9294] days work. Cloathed 2 Indians as Chiefs after they had all promised to go farther up the River.36 expended some more than 2 Quarts H.Wine - I engaged 2 of the Men for one Year longer this morning. 5™ - Advanced to the Indians for the value of 800 Skins in Beaver. Sent off the Canot early this morning with 3 Canadians and an Indian, their loading consists of 27 Packs of 85lbs each &c as before.37 6™ - Summed up the Furrs, Provisions &c which I have recd from the Band of Indians lately arrived & which amount to the value of 4i61/i> plues in Beaver go1/? Picheux, 2 Otters, ifyVz plues in Martins, 49 Wolverines, 50 Plues in Bear Skins 5 Plues in Cubs, 7 Pluis in Castorum exclusively of some that was traded 21 Mouse Deer dressd Skins, 333 Pluis in dried Meat, 30 Plues in Pounded Meat & 7^ in Melted & not Melted grease, exclusive of Mitts38 &c & some provisions which were traded, when I was occupied in writing. The Quantity of Beaver produced at this time, shew that they found plenty in the Spring - particularly the Band of Indians (of 9 or 10 Men) 34 This load constituted the returns of the North West Company's first year on the Liard River. Considering Keith's meagre outfit, it represented a good return on the investment. 35 Wentzel complained that Keith did not have the packs marked regularly (Wentzel's journal entry for 8 June 1806). 36 Keith had it in mind to reestablish his trading post further up the Liard. 37 Upon comparing Keith's and Wentzel's journals for this date, it would appear that the men left Netla Fort and arrived at Fort of the Forks on the same day (Wentzel's journal entry for 5 June 1806). However, like Keith, Wentzel, too, had difficulty keeping the days of the month and days of the week straight. Wentzel's journal reads "Friday 5*" [ofJune], but Friday fell on 6 June in 1806. Because it is unlikely that the men made the 120 miles between the two posts in a loaded canoe in a single day, Wentzel must have had the day of the month wrong - it should read "Friday 6th." 38 Keith may have lapsed into Scots dialect, here. "Mett" or "meitt," is a Scottish variation for "meat" (Simpson and Weiner 1989, vol. 9, 530; Warrack 1988, 354). It is also possible that the obvious was meant - Keith may have arranged for local women to make mittens for him and his men over the winter, in exchange for trade goods in the spring.

273 Journal of the Riviere de Laird

where the two Canadians were placed. The others brought Picheux, Wolverines &c & provisions but very few Beaver. Sent off the remr of Indians today. 7™ - A Young Indian whom I intend to send to the Forks with some Mitts & Castorum which was traded after the Canot was sent off arrived. He reports that all the Indians speak of waiting for the Pere du Chien and Leucheux [Loucheux] whom they expect soon. They are encamped at a small Lake about a League & a half from this - An Indian arrived with a [9295] a large Beaver that he had killed upon the other side of the River. 8™ - Sent Smith to tell the Indians, that if they did not sett off & work for their Debts, that I would go myself and take everything from them - he returned on the evening with two Indians, who report that they were willing to go off & would have been off had they not been told to wait some time by one of their relations who said that I desired them to do so 9TH - TUESDAY [Monday] Sent off the Indians early this morning with orders to tell every one of them to go off excepting two Sec &c. Sent of[f] a Young Man to go to the Forks. Gave 5 Measrs of Ammunition to an Indian Chief I have discharged, gratis. i o™ - All the Indians have left the fishing place, three Indians arrived today they brought 8 Beaver Skins, 4 Martins & 3 dressd Skins which I traded & sent off the Indians the same day 11 ™ & i 2™ - Some young men arrived from Leucheux's Band. They brought nothing excepting i Martin. Two other Young Men arrived in the evening & brought 4 Beaver Skins, i Martin, i dress'1 Skin & the Meat of 2 Beavers 13TH - Some more Straglers arrived who brought only 2 Beaver Skins & for i plue in Babist [babiche] 14™ - The Leucheux & Pere des Chiens arrived with some others they brought only 4 Dressd Mouse Deer Skins, i Bear Skin, i Beaver Skin, i Beaver Capot of 4 Skins, i Mink & 4 Muskrats. I had some trouble to make some of the Indians lately arrived consent to go further up, some of them assert that the Beaver Indians of the Peace River, come sometimes not far from the place where they found the Beaver last Spring but [9296] but after some reasoning & threatening I made them agree - I gave 10 Measrs of Ammunition Gratis to two Chiefs & 4 to an old Indian formerly a Chief-Advanced to them for the value of 80 Beaver - Kept one Young Man in case I might want him to go with us to the New Establishment.?9 39 This is the first time Keith explicitly mentioned his intention of building a new post (thereby abandoning Netla Fort after only one year).

274 Journal of the Riviere de Laird 15™ SUNDAY - The Indians Woman with two children arrived. There are three Indians sick. 1 6TH - Sent the Indian and family off, being to[o] expensive at the Fort. Smith accompanied him in order to send off as many Indians as possible - They are all encamped about a days march from this attending upon the sick people, he is likewise to bring two Young men with him17TH Smith with two young men arrived, he reports that two Young men and a Woman are sick, the Two former are dangerously, part of the Indians are to set off tomorrow, but the relations of the sick people mean to remain where they are for some time. - Smith brought a Bears Skin & two Cubs that an Indian had killed 18™ - Sent Smith with an Indian to go for Bark which is wanted for a Canot. They returned with several fathoms. 19TH - Made a Bed for the Canot and laid the Bark. The Water in the River rises every day for sometime past. 20™ - Sewed the Bottom of the Canot. Last night and today the Water in the river has risen much higher than usual owing to the continual rains farther up this Branch. 2 i s ' - As the Water in the River continues to augment very much, I got a stage erected in the store and stowed [9297] stowed up the provisions about 5 feet above the flooring, in case of being inundated and obliged to leave the place 22 D — SUNDAY. - The Water begins to fall considerably. 23° - An Indian arrived today. He brought for the value of 6 Skins in Beaver, i dressd Mouse Deer Skin & for 4 plues in Provisions. Advanced to him for the value of 29 Beaver Skins upon credit. 24* - Employed in making the Canot - The river continues to lower The two Young men arrived from hunting having killed i Beaver and a Swan. -4° N

40 This is the last entry in what has survived of George Keith's journal of 1805-6. Over the summer of 1806, Keith closed down Netla Fort, as he had begun to do in this journal, and moved his operations upstream opposite the Biskaga River. The surviving portion of his journal at that place begins in midsentence on 19 October 1806.

275 Biskaga River

[FRAGMENT OF GEORGE KEITH'S JOURNAL B I S K A G A R I V E R , 1806-1807] [9328]' 1806 OCT E

- discourage them from Hunting, more Than if this affair had not taken place.2 - The arrivants brought 8 Large Beavers, 3 Small Pechuex [pkhoux] and 2 plues in Meat - they say that the[y] Slept 7 Nights to come to the fort - false.3 20™ OCTOBER 1806 - Two Indians arrived this afternoon, more disagreable News they report that the Marde d'Ecureuils Son4 (a man 1 The double page numbering found in the Selkirk Papers also occurs in this journal, although only the four-digit pagination is used here for purposes of citation. The journal was transcribed by the same person who copied George Keith'sjournal of 1805-6 and Willard Ferdinand Wentzel'sjournal of 1805-6. In the upper left-hand corner are found the following notes: "Fragment of G. Keiths Journal Biskaga River 1806-7"; "see 1806 Nov1' 23 & Decr 25"; and "see 1807 May 13 & June i o." The above notes were made in the same handwriting as that of the copyist, but they were probably first written on the manuscript by a secretary of Lord Selkirk, looking for material discreditable to the North West Company. A title is not provided for this fragment of Keith'sjournal. 2 The journal begins thus, in midsentence. It is, regrettably, not possible to ascertain anything about the affair to which Keith alluded. The previous summer, George Keith had moved his centre of operations from the mouth of the Netla River upstream to a site on the left bank of the Liard, just beyond and opposite the mouth of the Biskaga River (today's Muskeg River) (NA, MG 19, c i, vol. 51,6; Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzie's River with a Chart"). In his journal and his correspondence, no name was given to this post. Herein, it is simply referred to as Biskaga Fort. According to Wentzel's map, it was occupied in 1820, but it had not been in use continuously from its present construction, having been abandoned in 1811 or 1812, when Fort Nelson was constructed. The post called Fort Liard was not established until 1823, when Murdoch McPherson of die Hudson's Bay Company built at the confluence of the Liard and Black (today's Petitot) Rivers (HBCA, B.n6/a/i,fols. id~5). The reason for Keith's skepticism was, no doubt, revealed in the missing portion of this entry. 3 Seven nights distance would have placed their trapping grounds at a considerable distance from Biskaga Fort, but such a lengthy trek was not unheard of. One Fort of the Forks trading band travelled twelve nights to reach that place (Wentzel'sjournal entry for igjune 1808). 4 From Merde d'Ecureuil or Squirrel Dung. Nowhere else in the journal is he or his son mentioned.

276 Biskaga River about 20 Years of age) was killed about a Month ago by another Indian, as they were out a hunting - The murderer had his two Sons (boys) with him and having sent them off before he shott the deceased through the Heart, & after arriving at the Camp, he reported that the Grisled Bears had devoured him, but some Indians going in search of him, found his body scratched & cut all over, seemingly with a fer de Fluke,5 the mark of the Ball was visible, his Gun was found broken, & his cloathes were founded torn and scattered about the place, he has eloped since, & they know not (I mean the murderer) where he is gone. The reports mention the death of another Indian (Tete de Boif)6 but do not affirm it to be true, they brought 7 Beaver Skins, 1 Bears Skin, i Marten, & 15 plues in Provisions - The two Indians who arrived last night set off this morning - I sent a pipe of Tobacco (about 3 Feet) to the two Chiefs and told them, that I am sensibly affected with the disagreeable news but that I will not admit of any excuses for their not working the Beaver &c &c7 - Settled one of the Indians who arrived [9329] arrived today and sent him off. 2 1ST - Sent off the other Indian upon the South side of the River in hopes that he will work the Beaver.8 2 2 ND _ TWO y oun g Indians arrived about sun set - they brought 24 Beaver Skins, but no provisions, having come to the Fort about two Months ago.9 5 This must refer to a metal tool of some kind. 6 From tete de boeuf, or bull/ox head. No mention was made of him elsewhere in the journal. 7 Keith was familiar with the grieving customs of the Slaveys and worried that the lamentations and subsequent destruction of material goods would injure his returns. 8 That is, the Indian was sent off on the side of the Liard opposite the fort. The establishment, eventually known as Fort Liard, was built on the south side. This entry provides further evidence that Biskaga Fort and Fort Liard were not one and the same. 9 Biskaga Fort, then, was ready to receive trade by August of 1806. Keith had been absent from Biskaga Fort while visiting Fort of the Forks during Alexander McKenzie's stop there in July (see his entry for 22 December 1806 and McKenzie's journal entries for 22 July to i August 1806). Keith was again absent from Biskaga Fort for an unspecified period after 19 August 1806, for Wentzel had been impatiently waiting for him to occupy the Forks while he went on an excursion to the Indians (Wentzel's journal entry' for 9 August 1806). Keith had left William Smith, his hunter, in charge of Biskaga Fort during his absences, so these two young men had probably traded at the Fort with Smith.

277 Biskaga River

2 3 RD - Paid the Indians for 2 Beavers and sent them off with a pipe of Tobacco to each - The Ice, or rather snow began to drift upon the Water. 24, 25 & 26™ SUNDAY. Nothing Worth mentioning.27™ _ Received from an Indian who remained at the Fort with Smith during my absence 7 Beaver Skins, i Pecheux, and one Wolverine & for 3 plues in Meat - Sent him off in search of Beaver. 28™ The Ice continues to drift upon the River. Very windy Weather 29™ 30™ & 3i ST & I ST OF NOVEMBER, SATURDAY - fine Weather 2 ND & 3RD - We had a very strong gale of Wind from s.s.w. which continued all day with great violence many of the Pines or fir trees were rooted & pulled to the ground, one of which, as one of the men were busily employed upon the roof of the house, fell, & had not the man by a speedy flight, saved himself, he would have been undoubtedly crushed to Atoms, they however continued to Work, altho' with watchful eyes - The Tree broke in two different places and almost brought the House to the Ground. 4TH TO THE 9™ — SUNDAY. - the men finished the outside of a House of 36 Feet long by 20 Broad, the Walls are squared upon the two faces, and the roof also [9330] also upon one side - Last night & today we had a fall of snow about 4 Inches perpendicular - The Ice still drifts upon the river i o™ 11TH & 12™ - Last night the Ice stopped upon the River 13™ - Eight Indians arrived today, they brought 3 Bears Skins, 3 Cubs, 39!/i Large Beaver Skins, i Otter, i Wolverine, 3 Ermines, i Large Pecheux, i Small, i Martin, i dressd Mouse Deer Skin & for the value of 14 plues in Provisions. 14™ - Paid the Indians for the value of 32 pluis and sent them off- It ought to be remarked that the Indians lately arrived, are related & were in Company with some of the Indians who died this Fall, upon which account they made many excuses for having come to the Fort so Light. I told them, that, had they followed my orders of last Spring, and not gone upon the rocky Mountain, their relations would not have Died &c - some of them went off displeased, for my not having advanced to them Goods, but I told them that if they would not obey, they should have nothing next time they come to the Fort.1010 In the spring of 1808, the Liard Slaveys killed twenty-two "of a strange tribe of Indians inhabiting the Rocky Mountain." Keith called them the Trilli-da-ha-tine or Gens d'orignal, but they may have been the people more recently known as the Sekani of the upper Peace River. In 1821, Wentzel made a distinction between a people he called the Tsilladahodinne ( who frequented the upper establishment in Peace River) and the Nahanni, both of whom traded at the Company's post on the Liard

278

Biskaga River

15™ & 16™ - SUNDAY. -After receiving the Debts of The five Indians who are deceased this Summer, I find that the Company loses for the value of 177 plues, which I am persuaded would have been paid this year with an overplus11 - had they lived & been in good Health. 17™ - Three Indians arrived today, two of whom are Brothers to two of the Indians who died this Fall consequently brought very few Beavers, only amounting to 24 Large Beaver Skins, 2 Pecheux's i Carcaguix [carcajou] i Martin [9331] i Martin J/2 plue in Castorum & for the value of 7 plues in Provisions. 18™ - As the arrivants were destitute of all sorts of implements necessary for the Hunt - I was necessitated to advance to them for the value of 42 Skins, notwithstanding which none of them are overloaded with Debts. 19 & 20 TH Four Indians with a Boy arrived to-day one of whom (the Partridge) has had the misfortune to loose [lose] his Wife by Sickness, she died about a Week ago of a lingering Sickness and has left a large family, all very young to bewail her loss. - However I do not think that they have stifled away their time as many of this Tribe do when any such thing happens to them - They brought for the Value &c of 99 Beaver Skins, i Bear Skin, 7 Small Lynx, 3 large D°, 2 Otters, i Mink i Marten and i Ermine.12 21 ST Advanced to the Indians for the value of 132 Beavers and sent them off, after that they had given a Coup de Main13 to plant the (Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart," 4). The Nahanni (today's Kaska), who lived north of the Liard River, were not known in the Peace River country (NA, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 18-19). The incident mentioned here may have been a prelude to that attack. 11 The term "overplus" has been applied to a system of trade wherein traders would charge Indians more for an item than was specified by official standards (Ray 1978, 66-7, 128). However, because this is the only use of the term in all the North West Company's Mackenzie River journals, it is assumed that Keith's use of overplus did not refer to this system and was meant in the general sense that, had the five Indians not died, they would have brought in an abundance of furs far beyond their debts. 12 This was a remarkable return for a man who had just lost his wife. However, the grieving customs of Athapascan peoples generally resulted in a greater destruction of property at the death of a man than of a woman. At least this was true among the Chipewyans and, presumably, among the Slaveys as well (Jenness 1977, 28). 13 That is, the men "lent a hand" to the difficult task of erecting a flag staff.

279

Biskaga River

Flag Staff. - After which I gave each of the men a Gill of Rum, which was succeeded by a small drinking Match of one Quart Amongst them' 4 22 D & 23° - SUNDAY. - The Men having begun a drinking Match I gave them about a pound of Sugar in order to make it more palatable they continued the drinking Match all day, having expended 2Va Quarts Rum besides iVz Pints for Engagements'5 - In the Afternoon two Indians arrived from the Leucheux a Chief, who has been sick for some time past, he is now recovering, they brought 5^ large Beaver Skins, one Cub & the meat of a Beavers, they have (each 10 Beavers at their Lodges, and only three in number [9332] in the Band) they came to the Fort for Ironworks. 24™ - detained the Indians from setting off today as I intend to send W™ Smith my Interpreter, (who is a little indisposed on account of Yesterday's drinking match along with them to make them look for Furrs Paid the two Indians for what they brought and advanced to them for the value of 17 plues besides 9 D° to their Brothers, to whom I sent a pipe of Tobacco. - In the afternoon a Boy arrived and brought 2 large Pecheux, 2 Small D°, i Mink & i Marten, i Bear Skin, i Large Beaver & Bears Depouille for 2 plues - he is alone with his Mother upon the other side - advanced to him for the value of 11 Beavers after having paid his Debt. 25™ Sent off Smith with the Two Indians — the other one set off also. 26™ & 27 TH - Sent two men off this Morning with Letters for Bears Lake - An Indian Woman arrived today, begging a l6

14 See Alexander McKenzie's journal entry on 23 August 1806, where the company agents encouraged officers in the field to "make the Men spend their wages." Certainly, encouraging the men to engage in drinking matches such as this was one way to accomplish that end. 15 Keith rarely mentioned his men by name, but from evidence later in this journal, the men included William Smith, Cadien, probably Le Sapin, and two other unidentified Canadians. The alcohol consumption of four men in two or three days can be judged by the quantities given. Officers of the company had their personal allotment of spirits and never mention their own consumption in their journals. 16 The first fragment in Keith's journal of 1806-7 ends thus, in midsentence. The entries for 28 November through 21 December are missing. The entry for 22 December is only partial, picking up in midsentence.

280 Biskaga River

DECEMBER 1806 from Lac d'Ours1? - Mr [Alexander] Henry'8 having forgot a Letter from Mr [Alexander] McKenzie at Lake d'Ours adressed to me, in which he (Mr Henry) says, that the Canot from this place must be sent off as soon as the Navigation will permit & to provide Bark for to make three Canots, the latter order I received verbally from Mr McKenzie in the Fall at the Forks,'9 but he told me at the same time that the Returns from this Post would arrive in good time about the 8th June at the Forks, being about the time they arrived last Year.20 If I am obliged to send off the returns so early, it will in my opinion occasion a great draw back as the Indians make the best of their Hunt, a little before & about the time the Ice [9333] Ice breaks upon the River. 23 RU Sent off all the Indians & told them to bring no more Hares, in place of which I recommended them to look for Beaver &c Engaged two Young Men to look for Hares about the Fort. 24™ - Last night & today I advanced to the men 3^ Quarts Rum, almost pure High Wines 25™ -1 gave a little Flour & a dram to the Men adding I'/s pints of private property, in expectation of bringing about another drinking Match, but was disappointed mostly on account of the arrival of two Indians with their Women, who probably defeated the Scheme.21 17 Bear Lake. 18 Alexander Henry Jr had the 1806 summer charge of the post at Great Bear Lake and, presumably, served there during the fall. Sometime between 27 November and 23 December, Henry arrived at Biskaga Fort as Keith's assistant, although both men had the same amount of experience in the fur trade. i g This is evidence indicating that Keith was at Fort of the Forks, at least for some of the time, between 22 July and i August 1806. See McKenzie's journal for those dates. It is interesting to note that birch bark had to be sent to Great Bear Lake from die Liard, and not from Fort of the Forks. The importance of this essential item in the transportation system of the fur trade reveals the district's need for the resources of the Liard River. It was not available in abundance elsewhere. 20 They had arrived on the sixth (see Wentzel's journal of 1805-6 for that date). In the spring, McKenzie did not leave Great Bear Lake until 17 June because of the ice, which was still six feet thick within a mile of the fort (see McKenzie's journal for that date). 21 Christinastide was generally not given the same festive emphasis as New Year's Day. Keith seemed more than anxious to encourage the men in their drinking bouts. This was the third such occasion this year and New Year's Day lay ahead. Exactly how the women foiled this latest attempt at a drinking match remains open to speculation.

281 Biskaga River The Two Indians bought 76 Beaver, 2 Martins, i Ermine & for the value of 17 plues in provisions. 22 2 6™ - Traded 2 dressed Skins & 2 pieces of Parch' Skins & advanced to the Indians for the value of 25 Beavers, one of the Arrivants has broke his Gun and altho' he brought 14 Beaver over & above his debts I cannot give him a Gun, this is the case with Several others who are equally destitute of Guns. 27 & 28™ - Advanced to the two Indians, after paying them for the Balance over and above their debts for the Value of 26 Brs. - Sent off two Canadians to go & pass the rest of the Winter with the Indians.23 gave five Measures Amtn to each, to be employed for their livelihood. The Indians lately arrived intend to wait for the arrival of some of their Relations, whom I wish to send upon the south side of the River. In the meantime they are employed in Hunting Hares. 29'" — SUNDAY, 24 Snowy & Stormy Weather. 30™ - The Two Hare Hunters arrived with the value of 11 plues in Hares & one Ermine. 31ST Nothing Worth Mentioning. - [9334] i s r — JANUARY 1807 - The Ceremonies of the day being over, I treated the men with a dinner after which I gave them the usual allowance of Rum, 8c the remainder of the day was spent convivialy only

22 It is not clear what kind of skins Keith traded for. It is likely they were moose skins, which were useful for making clothing. However, if they were beaver, Keith was making a distinction between two grades of pelts. By the end of the eighteenth century the old distinction between coat and parchment beaver no longer prevailed. Technical development within the hatting industry had rendered parchment beaver (castorsec}, that is, furs with both the inner hair and guard hair, as acceptable as coat beaver (castor gras), that is, furs with the guard hair worn off as a result of their use as clothing (Rich 1959, 189). In London, "fine" beaver sold for between 275. 6d. and ags. 5d. per pound, while D/S (damaged and staged) beaver fetched 175. ad. to 205. gd. per pound. Presumably, his "dressed" category reflected the higher grade of pelt (UM, Baby Collection, u/5914). 23 That is, the two Canadians went to live among the Indians to encourage them to bunt over the winter. This common practice nurtured an intimacy between Canadians and Indians that became key to the success of the fur trade. 24 In 1806, 29 December was a Monday.

282

Biskaga River

one of the men became Grogry the other drunk very moderately contrary to custom. - Expended with the Hunters & men about the value of a quart of High Wines.25 2 D 3D & 4™ - Sunday. Fine Weather. 5™ 6™ & 7™ - Six Indians arrived to-day, in consequence of having previously prevailed upon them to go to the South Side of the river, advanced to them for the value of 11 Beaver, traded i dressed Skin, i plue in Martins & i Ermine with 3 plues in Provisions. 8TH _ Gave out for the vajue of 10 Skins upon Credit and sent off all the Indians upon the South side of the river.26 1807 - APRIL: Winds generally attended with Showers of Snow for some weeks past, notwithstanding which I sent Smith with an Indian to go and look out for more Bark so as to be ready to raise some so soon as the Weather will permit - The Hunter for the Fort brings a few Hares now & then. Mr Henry is busily employed after the wood of the Canot. 26™ & 27™ - SUNDAY.27 Fine Weather only since Friday, employed two men Yesterday to gather Gum - Saw three ducks (divers) for the first time this Year 3OTH - Smith with the Indian arrived from raising Bark.28 they brought what was wanted to make the Canot at this place and left 12 Fathoms en cache below, being all they could find nigh to this place and the Ice is too bad now to go farther off - Three Indians (Boys) arrived they brought for the value [9335] value of 6 plues in fresh meat, which they traded for Tobacco only. I ST OF MAY THURSDAY. 29 - The men employed about making the Canot -

25 No better description of the festivities surrounding the fur traders' celebration of New Year's Day exists than that given by James McKenzie, ushering in the nineteenth century (Masson 1960, 2:377-8). 26 This fragment ends with this entry. The dates between 9 January and 24 April 1807 are missing. The entry for 25 April may or may not be in its entirety. 27 In 1807, 27 April was a Monday. 28 Raising bark was a spring activity; in the spring the rind was generally more pliable than at other seasons. However, if the bark was not used readily and allowed to dry out, it could break more easily and cause difficulty in constructing canoes, as happened on 8 May. 29 In 1807, i May was a Friday.

283 Biskaga River

3RD - Late in the afternoon a Band of Indians arrived with one of the Men, who passed the Winter with them. We sat up part of the Night in receiving their Furs. 4™ - Sunday. [Monday] Received the remr of the Furs, Cloathed two Indians by giving a Coat - Shirt & pair of Cotton Trowsers to each after which I gave VI Keg of Mixed Rum & a Fathom of Tobacco amongst them. 5™ - Last Night & this morning paid, and gave advances to the Indians and sent them off, many of them are dissatisfied as we could not afford to be liberal with regard to Credits which I am persuaded will not be the means of augmenting the returns next Year.30 6TH - The Ice began to drift upon the River to day, but stopt soon after. - In the afternoon 4 Indians arrived and after receiving their Furs & giving them a trifle upon Credit, I sent them off instantly. 7™ Having taken an account of the Furs lately received, I find them to amount to 1070 Large fine Beaver Skins, 50 Pecheux 139 Martins, i Mink 4 Wolverines, 5 Black Bear Skins, for the value of 147 plues in Capotries31 2 Ermines, i Otter, 12 plues in Castorum, and for the value of 20 plues in provisions, which in my opinion forms a tolerable good Spring Hunt, considering the Savoir faire and number of the Indians which amounted to [9336] to 41 including Boys. Very cold & rainy Weather. 8 TH - The people are now &: then employed in making the Canot but are often interrupted on account of the bad weather, as well as the bad Bark, which often breaks & consequently occasions many delays. 9™ & IO TH Very rainy Weather. - Sent Smith of[f] with two Young men to raise Bark - Advanced 3 Quarts rum to the men Yesterday evening, iVi Pints of which I exchanged with Smith for dry goods as I shall be very scarce of that articles.32 30 Keith was prescient in his concern; the returns fell off ten packs for 1808-9 (George Keith to Roderic McKenzie, i Dec. 1808, NA, MG ig,c i,vol. 51,18). 31 This might have been what was otherwise known as coat beaver or castor gras (for these terms see nzz, above). 32 It may seem surprising that William Smith, an interpreter, had dry goods to exchange. However, sometimes clerks were allowed special privileges, such as taking part of their wages in goods at a rate less than the normal tariff (see, for example, Duckworth 1990, 106). Occasionally, similar special privileges were extended to valued engages of experience; at least, there are instances in the Mackenzie River journals that indicate some of the men enjoyed privileges unavailable to others. In 1800 two engages sold their personal canoe to John Thomson for 150 livres and an old canoe (Thomson's journal entry for 4 October 1800). In 1806, W.F. Wentzel sold one of his

284

Biskaga River

111H SUNDAY - [MONDAY] A very heavy & incessant rain since Yesterday afternoon, which continued almost all day to-day. In the afternoon Cadien33 with a Young Man arrived from a Band of Indians they are not far from the Fort & will arrive tomorrow. i 2™ -The Indians arrived to the number of 21 including, Boys (31 [)] I receive their Furs immediately after & gave a Suit of Cloathes to one of them (a Handkerchief & Hat wanting) with 5 Quarts Indian rum to drink amongst them. 13™ - As I was very much straightened for dry goods, I obliged the Indians to deliver all their Capotries before I would advance them any thing. - after which many of them were obliged to take Blankets of \Vz pts in place of their Capotries. the balance I paid in Ammunition &c I likewise borrowed of Smith i Capot de Facon & some cloth, besides which I sold 2 old Jackets of my own, as I could not send them off altogether naked,34 the quantity of Furs they brought amount to 291 Beaver Skins, 45 Pecheux, 64 Martins, 5 Wolverines, for the value of 69 plues in Capotries, 5 Ermines, 3 Otters, i dress'd Mouse Deer Skin & 5 plues in Provisions besides some castorum - a poor Hunt, in proportion [9337] proportion to those who preceded them, but I am persuaded, that, had not the Yellow Knife robbed them of a part of their Hunt by working the Beaver Lodges, it would have been much better than what it is.35 - Sent off all the men bark to cover a barn he was building for himself in which he presumably wished to store some of his personal gear (see Wentzel's journal of 1805-6, entry for 4 June 1806). In this instance William Smith, a man of considerable experience and highly esteemed by Keith, may have traded some excess personal clothes or extra blankets for which he would receive some future benefit. 33 This is the only Canadian whom Keith mentioned by name in this journal. 34 In December of 1808 Keith wrote a letter to Roderic McKenzie in which he blamed the reduced returns of 1808-9 to some degree on sickness but principally on the turmoil resulting from the slaughter of twenty-two Trilli-daha-tine, or Gens d'Orignal (George Keith to Roderic McKenzie, i Dec. 1808, NA, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 18-19). He failed to mention the straitened circumstances his meagre outfit put him in. His lack of trade goods must certainly have had a negative impact upon the Natives. 35 The Yellowknives were considered interlopers, taking peltry at the expense of the local Slaveys without any concern about conserving the resource. The Yellowknives continued trapping the upper Liard throughout the summer. Keith wrote Wentzel that "the Red Knives of Slave Lake have overrun the whole of the upper department in quest of Beaver" and as a consequence, "have greatly hurt the trade with the Natives by traficking the little Beaver

285

Biskaga River

Indians today, seemingly well pleased, notwithstanding their miserable Eqpts36 14™ - Began to make and press the Packs, sent off my Hunter after having lent him some Mouse Deer Snares. 15™ & 16™ - The Men have made 40 Packs 17™ & 18™ - Sunday. [Monday] Windy Weather, the men repaired and Gummed the old Canot x gTH _ Tne Men Gummed the New Canot and prepared everything for embarking tomorrow 20™ - We have had a very strong gale of wind today in so much that Mr Henry could not set off with the Canots. - Smith with the two Indians arrived today, they have raised 46 Fathoms of Bark. 21 ST - Mr Henry set off today with 2 Canots loaded with 40 Packs37 i Y3 Keg of Gum, a little provisions & Bark.38 They are to embark a considerable quantity of Pounded Meat at the Old Fort,39 after which I think the Canots will be heavy enough loaded, as the river is very low this Year. - There are two men P. Canot. I retained one man here, as the others will have plenty of time to return for the remr of the Packs that are here, before that Mr Henry will be able to finish 3 Canots below. - Paid the two Indians (12 plues) for their Voyage & sent them off.22° & 23°- The Hunter arrived from hunting having killed 2 Beavers 24™ - Rainy Weather, the man is employed in preparing the Ground for planting Potatoes &c.4° - 25* [9338] 25™ SUNDAY [MONDAY] [no entry]

36 37 38

39 40

[the Slavey] Indians had killed since the spring" (Wentzel's journal entry for 25 September 1807). Keith was concerned about the effects the roving Yellowknives would have on the returns from his post; Peter Warren Dease's returns at Slave Lake, of course, were enhanced by the far-ranging endeavours of the Yellowknives. Chipewyan interlopers, however, presented a longer-term threat to the Slaveys, trespassing on their territory well into the next decade (Krech 1984, 129-31). Again, reference was made to the shortage of goods at Biskaga Fort. Twenty-nine more packs of furs were to follow by June, making, in all, sixtynine packs from Biskaga Fort for 1806-7. Henry, who had acquired a family by this time, accompanied the canoes all the way to Fort Chipewyan. He did not return to the Liard River for 18078, serving, instead, on the lower Mackenzie, where he was sent on a scouting expedition into the Rocky Mountains (Wentzel's journal of 1807-8, entries for 22 September, 4 October 1807, and 6 March 1808). That is, Neda Fort. This is the first mention of a garden at Biskaga Fort.

286

Biskaga River

26 & 27™ Very rainy Weather, the Hunter arrived with 2 Large & 2 Small Beavers, i Bear Skin, 4 Swans i Bustard & 3 Ducks, he left the Meat of the Bear en cache. - The people employed in making packs 28™ Three Indians arrived today, they bring the unpleasant news of their lodges being haunted by bad Indians, who it would appear, wish to kill some one or other.41 the reporters say, that an Indian was seen by two or three others who were a hunting, one of whom having fired upon a Beaver left the gun where he fired, & run to catch the Beaver, & looking back, he observed a Man, who took hold of his Gun & who took his Aim, seemingly with a design to fire upon him, but upon seeing another Indian approaching he desisted, and went off. they accosted him several times, but he made no answer, they seem to think that the Stranger is the Mferde] - de d'Ecuruille's Son, whose brother was killed last Summer, & by the description (if true) they give of him, I believe their suspicion is not groundless.42 - on the other hand, I know them to be great impostors however this report - whether false or not, will do no good.43 JUNE 1807 - and Chipewyans of S. Lake have formed a War party, in order to attack the Natives of this Post but having recd a letter from Mr [Peter Warren] Dease, at Slave Lake dated the 22 nd of April, wherein he makes no mention of anything of the Kind, I do not think myself properly authorised to alarm the Indians upon such a slight report.44 5™ & 6TH - The Hunters arrived with about the value of [9339] of a Mouse Deer in fresh Meat. -

41 To the Liard River Slaveys, "strange" Indians were to be feared because, through sorcery, they could cause sickness or even death. The Slaveys were especially wary of the Kaska (the Nahanni of the Mackenzie River journals) and "were careful to hide their food, clothing, and hearth ashes whenever the Kaska were around so that the latter could not use these items in sorcery" (Krech 1981, 92). Such fear was particularly acute when there was believed to be some basis for retribution, as in the present instance. 42 See entry for 20 October 1806. 43 The segment of the journal ends at this point. The dates 29 May to 4 June 1807 are missing. The entry for 4 June is only partial. 44 Apparently, the Chipewyan raid on the Liard Slaveys did not come off. No mention is made of it anywhere in the journals of the period, except for this rumour.

287 Biskaga River

7™ Early this Morning two Mouse Deer were observed crossing the river, one of whom was killed by the Hunter, the other made his Escape, the men are employed in making & pressing the Packs. 8™ - Sunday [Monday] & 9* Monday [Tuesday]. - Employed the men in covering the House & Store. i OTH - Four Indians arrived today, they report dial their Lodges have been haunted by a Stranger for sometime past, that they are living upon fish & it appears they are afraid to stir about being only employed in guarding themselves.45 _ I intend to send of the remr of the returns tomorrow, amounting in all to 69 Packs of Fur,46 2 Kegs Castorum 31 i lb Grease & upon which account I shall end this Journal, requesting in the meantime that the Gendemen will pass over any vulgarisms, bad style or diction & conciseness, being the effect of illiterary,47 as well as a scarcity of Paper, to correct &: copy it over again G. Keith

45 See earlier references, herein, to Merde d'Ecureuil and the threatening stranger on 20 October 1806 and 28 May 1807. 46 Despite a dearth of trade goods, Keith increased the returns of the Liard by almost forty-two packs over his first year on the river. 47 Throughout his life, George Keith was frequently given to a degree of pretentious modesty in his correspondence, of which this is an early example.

W.F. Wentzel's Journals and "Account of Mackenzies River," 1805-21

The documents that follow make up three of the five texts of W.F. Wentzel published in this volume. The first is a fragment of the journal he kept at Fort of the Forks during the trading season of 1805-6. It is found among the Selkirk Papers located at the National Archives of Canada and is catalogued as MG 19, E i. Like all the Selkirk Papers, only copies of the originals have survived. The same clerk who copied the two journals of George Keith was responsible for this one as well. Apparently unfamiliar with the language of the fur traders or the context in which they worked, many of the errors of spelling and transcription can be attributed to the copyist and not to the author of the journal. The double page numbering found in the Selkirk Papers is continued in this journal. In the upper left-hand corner of the first page of the manuscript is found the following note: "See 1806 June 6 - Sept. 14; Fragment of Journal by Wentzel at Grand River near McKenzie's River 1805-1806." The second document consists of a journal Wentzel kept at Fort of the Forks during the trading season of 1807-8. It is located in the Rare Books Department of the McLennan Library, McGill University, where it can be found under catalogue number CHI76.5158, microfilm 13. It is the original bound volume, with a cover page provided by L.R. Masson. On the cover (not reproduced here) Masson wrote the following: "Continuation of a Journal Forks McKenzie River 1807. Strange sickness among the animals, were sick of having eaten the meat. He is collapsed [?] from [word illegible], Voyageurs overdue 6 March, desertion [three words illegible], The Slaves 28 March, The Gens d'Ours [28 March], sas-dinnah, Rocky Mountain Indians and Country, [word illegible] moon eclipse, L R Masson Terribone." Added below his signature, Masson wrote "supposed by the handwriting to be from Mr Thompson." This

289 Wentzel's Journal of 1805-6 has been crossed out and amended to read, "no, the writer was a clerk see 20 March 1808." Although L.R. Masson's handwriting is difficult to make out, it is clear that he was making notes on the contents of the journal and attempting to determine its author. The handwriting is not that of John Thomson, a determination made by Masson himself. He correctly identified the author as a clerk, and it is clear from the handwriting, spelling, and word choice that it is that of Willard Ferdinand Wentzel. The third document makes a fitting finale to the original texts published in this volume. It bears the title "Account of Mackenzies River with a Chart" and was written by W.F. Wentzel in 1821 as a summary of the Mackenzie River basin and the North West Company's activities there. It serves the same purpose here. While his motives for writing the account are unclear, for some reason Wentzel devoted part of the winter of 1821 (when he was attached to the John Franklin Expedition) to writing seven pages of manuscript on affairs in the Mackenzie and drawing an extremely valuable map of the region. The map, too, has been published and appears earlier in this volume. Wentzel wrote and drew from memory, a circumstance of which he warned his readers, so that they would be alerted to any errors that may have occurred as a consequence. The transcription of this document was taken from microfilm deposited in the National Archives of Canada and catalogued as MG 19, A 20. The original resides in the library of Cambridge University, Cambridge, England. N

[WILLARD FERDINAND WENTZEL'S J O U R N A L OF 1805-1806] [9298]* [SEPTEMBER i8o5] a 1 The journal begins without a title. 2 The journal begins thus, in midsentence, and without the month identified. To compound the ambiguity concerning the month of this fragment, Wentzel appears to have entered the wrong date of this unidentified month because no fall month in 1805 begins on a Monday. The time of year is obviously fall, however, because it is then one would expect to observe migratory birds flying south, to harvest garden produce, to pick berries, and to notice the setting in of frosts. The most likely month for this journal to begin, then, would be September or October. The only point of reference available to resolve the problem occurred in June of 1806. According to George Keith's journal, the year's returns from the Liard River were sent to Fort of the Forks early in the morning of 5 June. The distance was about

2go Wentzel's Journal of 1805-6

brought down after the arrival of the Canoes- Everything in the Garden comes on pretty well - The Onions excepted which comes to nothing - Eat a cucumber 5 Inches long & eleven in circumference, but their growth is over for this Year as the Frost has nipped them already^ The Peas are almost ripe & the Oats - The Turnips are as large as a pint Bason.4 TUESDAY 2ND [3rd September 1805] - Sent off Old [Charles] Martin with two Young men. Send two Young Men who came down with me to set orignal Collets - Many Flocks of Geese passd but none put ashore here WEDNESDAY 3 RD [4 September] - The Young men returned THURS. 4™ [5 September] - Sent them to look for Beaver Lodges & to set Bear Collets FRIDAY 5™ [6 September] One of the Young men who I had sent with old Martin returned complaining of a very sore pain in his Stomach, which he caught from a Fall & that Martin had left him senseless on the Beach - which I believe to be a confounded lye - & think that he must have deserted - for it is not an extraordinary Strain for them to do so, tho' they are promised payment if they behave well. I gave him not a bit of Tobacco or anything else - Rain at intervals. Made Lime to whitewash our House. SATURD: 6™ [7 September] - The Hunters arrived & brought a Swan they have three Beaver Lodges & 2 Traps - they have their collets out they say that there [are] a great many Carribou Tracks behind here SUND 7™ [8 September] - Sent off the Deserter. Set 2 Nets at the Gross Cape.5 MONO. 8™ [9 September] - The Young men are gone to Visit their Collets [9299] Collets & Br Traps, they have now out 74 Collets. - Fine Weather. 120 miles, so it is unlikely that the trip was made in a single day; yet Wentzel places the arrival of the canoe on the same date. If it is assumed that Wentzel's date was off and that it was actually Friday, 6 June when the canoe arrived (Wentzel identified the day of the week as a Friday), then a retroactive correction can be made by moving his dates of the month up one day. By doing this, the partial entry above would be dated Monday, i September 1805 and the full entry Tuesday, 2 September 1805. This is the assumption that has been adopted, and therefore all the days have been adjusted and placed in brackets. 3 It must have been a record-sized cucumber for Mackenzie River gardening. The dimensions describe a squash more than a garden variety cucumber. 4 Perhaps after "bassin," or bowl. 5 This appears as Gros Cape in Wentzel's journal of 1805-6. See entry for 16 November 1804.

ag1 Wentzel's Journal of 1805-6

TUESDAY 9TH [to September] - Qean-Baptiste] La Prise's6 Bitch having eat of the Windows of the Store last night. I shot her in order to keep her from returning a second time WEDNES i OTH [ 11 September] - a very hard Wind & extremely Cold Rain at Intervals. THURS. 11TH [ 12 September] - The Young Men returned broughta Beaver & Missed Another - they have found 4 More Beaver Lodges & have made 10 Traps - A severe frost Last night the ground froze. FRIDAY i 2™ [13 September] - Tore up part of the Turnips for I fear that the frost will hurt, if I leave them out any longer. Took 3 ps of Fish since Monday. SATURD. 13TH [14 September] - The Young men brought the Fat of an Orignal, which they had taken in their Collets on the other side of the River - it is putrified. -1 only trade it to make Pottash - for it is not eatable. — SUNDAY 14™ [15 September] - The Hunters set off early to visit their Beaver traps & their Bear & Carriboux Collets - Got the Fat they brought Yesterday melted, there is 34 Ib. of Grease - Shot 2 Bustards &: 3 Partridges.7 MONDAY 15TH [16 September] - The Levrier arrived with two Young men brought for 22 Skins of Provisions - all went for credits - gave them 5 Skins gratis, they set off immediately and are to return in 10 nights - Shot 3 Bustards The Hunters returned with 3 Bears - a Large and i Small TUESDAY i6 TH [17 September] - Got all our Garden Ware in the Cellar for the Weather begins to get very cold — Snowed at Intervals & Blows very hard & a Cold north Wind. WEDNES. 17™ [18 September] - The Ground Froze half an Inch thick last Night - but this Day was very8 [9300] DEC R CONTIN" 1805 SATURDAY 21 ST - Nothing strange.9 6 LaPrise was apparently away from the fort when his dog ate the parchment covering the windows. 7 The partridges Wentzel shot were probably ptarmigan. Bustard was the name given to the Canada goose (Avis 1991, 101; Franklin 1969, 80). 8 This fragment of the journals ends here, in midsentence. Entries from 19 September to 20 December are missing. 9 Beginning with this fragment, Wentzel corrected his earlier error of misidentifying the days of the week. It is interesting to contrast the different quirks journalists sometimes displayed in their writing habits. When there was a day without much happening, Alexander McKenzie wrote, "Nothing extra," while Wentzel sometimes noted, "Nothing strange."

292

Wentzel's Journal of 1805-6

SUNDAY 2 2 ND - After dark arrived 2 Young men from the Grand Chefre for Tob°. They sleep here. MONDAY 23 RD - I would give no Tob° to the Young Men who arrived Yesterday till (as I told them) I should see them with my own eyes - one of them set off10 They arrived on the other side, when another courier came, gave him 2^ feet Tob° & 2 M Row [rum?] with a Little Vermillion - Fired & Hoisted the Flag for the Honour of his Imperial Majesty, who had a suite of 33 Young & old Men. - received them politely for I thought I saw a few Beavers, otherwise they would undoubtedly have met with a Cold reception - but Beaver Skins will always prevail over resentment It has something so attracting which renders its suite11 irresistable, that it is more than [an] impossibility to be angry when we have so [much] pleasure in counting them - They gave in 281 Skins of Credits - expended 2 Gallons Mixt Rum & 3 fms small Tob° TUESDAY 24™ - Gave out Credits to the Am1 of 203 Skins excluding the old, which upon a average is but 6 Skins a Man - Traded 32 Skins of Trash and 4 of Ml - Sent Boye & [Pascal Sauve] Lauve for Meat WEDNES. 25™ - The Grand Chefre with a Couple of others who had passed the Night here - set off- Gave him 10 skins gratis. THURSDAY 26™ - Boye & Lauve returned Home - Meat brought for 7 Skins - Sent off Two Hunters who remained to chasse Hares. FRIDAY 27™, 28™ THE 29™ - Capot Rouge & all the Hunters arrived, they brot 7 Skins of Orignal ml which the former had killed Gave them each a bit Tob° [9301 ] Tob° MONDAY 30™ - None of these Scoundrels would go off- from un airs if [of] passing the Jour de L'an12 here, in hopes of getting a Dram with a snack of something to swell their G-ts & to keep their Chops in exercise TUESDAY 31ST - Extreme cold JANUARY THE 1 ST 1806 -

WEDNESDAY - Before day I was advertized that it was the Drunken Day of the North by the report of several Guns which was fired at the Window of my room, after their Salute, I had the honour of receiving the i o See note for Thomson's journal entry for 24 November 1800 on the custom of announcing the arrival of an important trading leader. It was a practice Wentzel had participated in before and would participate in again. Why he was so unyielding in this instance is perplexing, unless he was just in one of his peevish moods. 11 Wentzel's use of this term probably derives from the French suivre and could be translated as something like "which renders its coming irresistible." 12 New Years Day.

293 Wentzel's Journal of 1805-6 good wishes of the bonne Ann [ee] from the Men for which they drank through the course of the Day - 2 Quarts of Spirits & i Ditto of HWines and the Indians 15 phials of rum - with a good meal of fresh Ml & Beaver Ditto. No one got out of order everything was lead [led] with great delicacy through the numerous ceremonies necessary [on] such a solemn occasion. THURSDAY 2 ND - Nothing particular^ SUNDAY FEBRY 9™ 1806 - Arrived 5 Indians from the MCorn14 Mountain, brought 99 Skins of furs and 12 Pluis in Hares & Cascamines [cascamisks] Credits - Gave them bits of Tob° & a Dram - they Slept only two nights from their Tents - The intelligence is, that diseases rage wh astonishing fury among them - of which several Die15 Poor News! Nothing will be done again this Year - P6 have not even a Proper Hand among the three Canadians that Winter here able to go for the Indians who have a little furs.17 This will be greatly against18 They will 13 The journal entries between 3 January and 8 February are missing. 14 The Horn Mountain was meant. Located east of Fort of the Forks, Horn Mountain arose in the lands of the Dogribs. 15 George Keith reported sickness among the Indians in October and November of 1805 and again in June of 1806 (Keith's journal entries for 9 and 18 October and 22 November 1805, and 15 through 17 June 1806). Alexander McKenzie reported no epidemics among the Natives who traded at Great Bear Lake; only one sick man was reported in the fall (McKenzie's journal entry for 24 October 1805). Communicable diseases followed the line of transportation northward, arriving first at Fort of the Forks. Wentzel's extreme language regarding disease suggests its impact was more severe there than at the other trading posts, due, no doubt, to its greater longevity in the area. Because contact was relatively frequent between the Natives trading at Fort of the Forks and those up the Liard, disease would spread in that direction first. In 1805-6 it did not reach Great Bear Lake (Krech 1984, 134-7). 16 Two 7s are written; no doubt, a slip of the pen. 17 The identity of the three Canadians is unclear, but they probably included Boye, Pascal Sauve, Carrier, and/or Charles Martin. On 24 December Boye and Sauve were sent from the fort for meat, suggesting that they were among the three Wentzel referred to. Sauve was frequently used as a courier between Fort of the Forks and the other two Mackenzie River trading posts. Carrier and Boye, too, were mentioned as couriers, but less frequently than Sauve. Charles Martin departed Great Bear Lake with his family on 17 January, on his way to the Forks. He could have been among the three mentioned by Wentzel on 9 February. 18 A phrase has been omitted here.

2Q4 Wentzel'sJournal of 1805-6 absolutely not come till they be sent for - So if Capot Rouge cannot be [9302] be prevailed upon to go in quest of them our returns in the Spring I fear will be shabby appearance, when Paraded before the Gentlemen Proprietors in the beach at Fort Chipewean -Yet I am sure that I attend, with the most assiduous application to my duty and do my utmost to promote a general destruction of the Beaver species - Notwithstanding the discouragement I mett with from the indolence of such cursed Vagabonds as these Indians. -1 am determined to persevere perhaps by making trials of different ways. I may happen to pitch upon the good one, if so, success will make me happy and quiet that destruction which I may say ravishes me in a manner of.every nights rest/Q MONDAY 10™ - Gave out Credits to the20 MARCH CONT D 1806 -

Valued at 5 Skins being all round - snowed & blowed die whole day very cold. Toward evening this Mogul took his leave of us & is gone to join his brother who is about half a days march on the other side - as soon as they kill he is to shew himself again.21 TUESDAY 3i ST [i April]22 - Leirier [Levrier] & his wife brought another Young Orignal. Gave him a bit of Tob° & a Dram - Fine weather. WEDNESDAY APRIL 1ST [2 April] - Leirier Killed another Manashish23 on the other side which martin brought immediately to the Fort - Tout somde.24 19 Many French-speaking Canadians, who frequently lived among and married into their bands, were highly esteemed by the Natives. Wentzel seemed doubtful whether Capot Rouge, an Indian, would serve as an adequate substitute in encouraging the band to bring in the returns of the hunt. Although not provided with an adequate complement of Canadians at Fort of the Forks, Wentzel was nevertheless fearful he would be held culpable for any reduction in the returns. 20 The entry ends in midsentence. The surviving fragment of the journal is missing the dates i o February to 30 March, where it picks up again in midsentence. 21 Because this is only a fragment of the entry for 30 March, it is not possible to know to whom Wentzel referred. 22 Wentzel lost his sequence of days again. In 1806, 31 March fell on a Monday. 23 This term cannot be positively identified, but a reasonable guess can be made. Because Wentzel wrote that Levrier killed another (after previously killing an orignal or moose), perhaps it is an alternative to orignal. In the Algonquin tongue, -shish is a suffix meaning "little." Hence, manashish may refer to a young or small moose. The possibility also remains that the spelling may be another transcription error of the copyist. 24 Perhaps after sonde, to imply something that is entirely sound, as in unspoiled.

295 Wentzel'sJournal of 1805-6

THURSDAY 2 N D [3 April] - His altesse25 set off again. FRIDAY 3 RD [4 April] - Sauve arrived from Mr Keith - good news in regard to prov"s having received 7 Animals from the Indians before Carrier had returned above but [9303] but poor hopes relative to returns26 - 5 Days from above. Gave a dram. SATURDAY 4™ [5 April] - SUNDAY 5 [6 April] - Fine Weather. MONDAY 6 TH [7 April] - Qaaicis27 wh Capot Rouge & Sister accompanied by Pere de Blot28 arrived brought 15 Skins in fresh Meat & 11 Pichoux Skins - 3 More Animals dead in cash [en cache] - Gave bits of Tob° & Drams. 25 Skins went on Credit again - The above set off Arrived 3 young boys from the Horn Mountain exhibited 8 Skins in Meat & 9 in furs - The band from whence they came send word that the French Chief speaks too strongly for Hair, that meat has no hair & This seems to disatisfy them & gave them cause for discontent, it appearing to them an impossibility to pay their Debts wh furs only29 - I told them that I was determined to keep to this rule & that no causes of disaffection of their will ever make me alter

25 That is, "His Highness." 26 Confirmation of Sauve's journey to Netla Fort is not possible, because Keith's journal is missing the entries between 28 February and i June 1806. Wentzel's pessimism regarding the Liard returns was not warranted. With only twelve and a half pieces of trade goods, Keith would send down twentyseven and a half packs of furs in June (Keith's journal entry for 28 September 1805 and 4 June 1806). In the years to come, the Liard River would prove a valuable source of provisions for Fort of the Forks. 27 In addition to this spelling, Wentzel used "Quaicus" and "Quaus," while providing no given name. It is likely that "Quaicus" is the same as "Casce" in Keith's journal and "Kazie" in McKenzie's (Keith's journal entry for 20 October 1805, McKenzie's entry for a6June 1806). In the present instance, Quaicus had been living en derouine with Capot Rouge and his band of Slaveys. 28 Perhaps after blatte, or cockroach. This man is nowhere else referred to in this journal. 29 Among the factors contributing to the dramatic decline in Mackenzie River returns by 1821, Sloan mentions "the conscious withdrawal of the Indians from the trade." This withdrawal occurred because the Slaveys and Dogribs of the upper Mackenzie faced recurring periods of starvation, and the choice became one of hunting for their families or trapping for the traders (Sloan 1979, 298). Wentzel's concern about how his returns would reflect on his competency in the eyes of his superiors at Fort Chipewyan may have blinded him to the complaints of the Natives.

296 Wentzel's Journal of 1805-6 it as long as they stick to their former custom of Fishing all summer & F-k-ng all Winter that will ever satisfy us so off they set upon their return30 - Fine Weather. TUESDAY 7 TH [8 April] -All the men were off at sunrise for meat from the Capot Rouge WEDNESDAY 8™ [9 April] - Lcirier brought the Fat & Plat Cotes of a female Dr orignal31 which he had killed the day before yesterday Gave him a bit of Tob° & sent him off immediately - Fine Weather but little or no thaw FRIDAY 10™ [11 April] - The men returned from the Capot Rouge with two Animals upon 4 travus [travois] a small & a Large one - In the afternoon Boye with his Indian arrived with the Express from Slave Lake - Gave them ea a Dram & a bit of Tob°. Mr D1 [9304] Dtanie]1 McKenzie remarks that, My Man & Slave arrived in most Ragged condition without Provns or babish to suspend their feet to their Snow Shoes which Boye denies.32 MAY CONT D 1806 the Winter - Capot Rouge asked for men to go for the two Animals he had killed yesterday - Sent Sauve old Martin and Quaicus - I desired them to abandon hunting any more Animals this Spring To apply themselves to the Hunt of Peltries untill the Animals gets Fat - If I continue trading their provisions at the rate of former times I fear that nothing else but meat will be the Methe [metier, or trade] & Beaver out of Question - They think that I am very hard upon them for Beaver. Great Complaints are made for which I do not care a curse33 - Sent them all off immediately - Capot Rouge is to accompany them.

30 Wentzel frequently made weak attempts to disguise his socially unacceptable language through the use of dashes. One might surmise that this was his concession to gentility. 31 The "Dr" makes little sense in this place, unless it was Wentzel's equivalent to George Keith's "mouse deer." 3 2 Entries between 12 April and 5 May 1806 are missing. Only part of the entry for 6 May has survived. 33 Again, Wentzel ignored the complaints of the Indians. While trapping beaver, they had little time to collect food for their families. When they hunted provisions for the fort, the Indians could not, at the same time, hunt for their families.

297 Wentzel's Journal of 1805-6

WEDNES Y 6 TH [7 May] - Five Swans and Bustard passed before the Fort today. The first Gibrus3^ that we have seen this Year - In the afternoon the men returned with the meat of the Female - weighing 400 Pounds35 - Valued 10 Skins - Part of the Head was eaten by the Wolverines - Rain at Intervals - great water upon the Ice THURSDAY 7™ [8 May] - Sauve & Quaus returned for the Meat of the Manashish - Old Martin working at his Canoe Wood - The materials of one is now almost ready - The old man36 J U N E C O N T I N U E D l8o6

&c &c &c are the complaints THURSDAY 4™ [5 June] - Boye & Quaus plastered the Chimney [9305] Chimney & the walls of my room - Sold Martin rose Bark to make himself a Barn37 - Sawer38 arranged the flooring of my room & rose Ten Barks. Boye Also Martin & Quads three only - Fine Weather Ice still driving down the Grand River FRIDAY 5™ [6 June] -Arrived from Mr Keith's Post 3 Men in a Large Canoe and an Indian - Loaded wh 27% Packs, 11 Rolls of Bark & 324 lb Grease - the returns of that place39 - His men had arrived wh the Indians at the Fort only 4 days ago40 - Good returns considering

34 After gibier a plumes, or game birds. 35 This must have been one of the two animals Capot Rouge killed on the fifth. 36 This fragment of the journal ends here, in midsentence. The entries between g May and 3 June 1806 are missing. Only the last few words of the entry for 4 June have survived. 37 It may have been the privileges of tenure that account for Old Martin not only owning a barn himself but needing one. The term "barn" may have meant something more like a shed or similar outbuilding where he could store his personal effects. "Rose" in this context is a verb rather than a noun, in the sense of to raise or gather by loosening from the tree. 38 "Sawer" is clearly written with what appears to be a vague diacritical mark wandering past the r. It would make better sense if one assumed that Wentzel intended Sauve and that the copyist simply made a mistake. 39 Keith recorded his returns as either twenty-seven or twenty-seven and a half packs of furs, each weighing eighty-five pounds, and three and a half pieces of grease. He failed to mention the eleven rolls of bark (Keidi's journal entries for 4 and 5 June 1806). 40 What Wentzel meant was that the last of the furs arrived at Netla Fort four days before their embarkation to Fort of the Forks.

298 Wentzel's Journal of 1805-6 the Sickly state of his Indians during the whole WinteH1 - Gave them each a Dram - The left their Fort Yesterday42 - Covered the House wh Earth SATURDAY 6™ [7 June] - Grand River full of Ice - Gave as a right to the men i Quart of rum - hoping to make them Buy a little - which did not fail - 2 Quarts was taken upon their respective Accounts.43 The large House was covered with Bark. SUNDAY 7. [8 June] Grand River full of Ice - at Dark sent for the Levrier who had made a free at Gros Cap44 - brought 30 Skins in furs & 9 in Meat - Fine Weather MONDAY 8™ [9 June] - Undid ten Packs which Mr Keith had not time to mark regularly45 Fine Weather. TUESDAY 9™ [ 10 June] - The above Packs were pressed & finished. Sauve Gummed the Large new Canoe - Rain at Intervals - Grand River full of ice. WEDNESDAY iO TH [n June] - Carrier Gummed his Canoe & everything was put in order to send off the Canoes for Bears Lake tomorrow, 120lbs Dried Ml - weight of 30 Plat Cotes of Carribou & Orignal - 2 Rolls of Bark & 2 Coverings, i Ax, i Kettle & two Bale Cords46 41 Compare this statement with the assessment Wentzel made on 4 April. 42 According to Keith's journal the men left Netla Fort early in the morning of 5 June, not the previous day. This discrepancy arose from the circumstance that Keith had initially embarked his men on 4 June, but they had almost upset only three feet from shore. In the haste to transport the returns to the Forks, Keith did not press the last ten packs that had come in. The bulk was so great that the canoe nearly capsized. An extra day was spent pressing the ten packs (Keith's journal entry for 5 June 1806). 43 As mentioned earlier, the company hoped to save on wages by charging these drinking bouts to the men's accounts. Over-charged accounts also provided incentive for the men to renew their contracts. McKenzie noted this policy in his journal entry for 23 August 1806. 44 All that Wentzel meant to say by this confusing sentence is that Levrier had established a camp at Gros Cap. 45 Keith had ordered his men to press the last ten packs that, for some reason, had not been pressed at the time of embarkation from Netla Fort to Fort of the Forks. Apparently, they were not identified or marked to Wentzel's satisfaction. 46 Sauve, Carrier, and Quads were preparing to transport provisions to Great Bear Lake for the summer establishment. Somehow, Quacis lost his way and became separated from the others near the mouth of Great Bear Lake River (McKenzie'sjournal entries between 17 and 26June 1806).

299 Wentzel'sJournal of 1805-6

Memo Yesterday evening arrived an Indian from [9306] from Mr Keith wh a letter4? AUGUST CONT D l8o6

should this happen our success at this Post will absolutely be nothing The [Tho] Mr Alexr McKenzie sincerely promised me that he would expel every one of any Nation without exception that should pretend to intrude upon the quiet of the Indians of this Place48 -1 wait wh the utmost impatience for Mr Keith's arrival for whom I have 8 days ago sent for to occupy this place while I would pay a visit to the Band of Indians I sent off last Spring - which when I have performed, I dread will have been greatly reduced in numbers from desertion & disaffection from my not keeping the promise I made them of going to them about the beginning of August.49 SUND V 10™ - Tuzais betha50 my Companion has taken a Bear in his Collets, but very lean - valued the whole at 5 Skins - and have missed at another. MONDAY 11T" - He is off again, early in the morning. TUESDAY 12 TH - Tuzaisbetha who set off yesterday to visit his Bear Snares returned this afternoon. - He says that the Bears have again cut several of his Collets by which it appears that there must be a great number - He also shot a Beaver but the same sunk before he could catch hold of him. The Weather as usual - Hot and Sultry 47 Keith sent the Indian off on 9 June with some items traded after the returns were sent to the Forks on the fifth (Keith's journal entries for 7 and 9 June 1806). Wentzel's entry for 11 June ends this fragment of the journal. The dates between 12 June and 9 August are missing. The entry for 10 August begins with the correct day of the week and in midsentence. 48 Both Chipewyans and Yellowknives were known to raid beaver lodges in the lands of the Slaveys and Dogribs. 49 Wentzel had just returned a week before from an exploratory expedition up the Liard and South Nahanni Rivers, seeking to make contact with Natives of that region who had never traded at either of the posts. He was unsuccessful (McKenzie's journal entries for 25 July and i August 1806) Keith's delay in relieving Wentzel for his next excursion was due, no doubt, to his superintending the logistics of moving his post from the Netla River to a new location near the mouth of the Biskaga River. 50 Tuzaisbetha's nation is not mentioned in the journal. It is odd that Wentzel referred to him as his companion; it suggests that, except for his family and Tuzaisbetha, Wentzel was alone at the Forks over the summer.

300 Wentzel's Journal of1805-6 WEDNES" 13™ THURS Y 14™ - FRIDAY 15™ SATURD Y 16™ SUND Y 1 7™ -

MONDAY 18™ - Tuzaisbetha who has been to see his Brother - a Days March from this, tells me that a Distemper prevails among the Animals of which [9307] which they dye in great numbers - No less than three were found dead altogether in one spot - The Dogs who had feasted upon them died also.5' SEPT E 1806 CONT D THURSDAY 11TH Last night we observed a Fire which had been lighted a little before sundown - in the Burnt Island opposite the Gros Cap - but no Indians have made their appearance today - We suppose them to be Stragglers who are looking out for some good Fishing Place - Perhaps the Grand Chefre. Rained the most part of the day FRIDAY 12™ - Nothing extraordinary occured SATURDAY i 3™ Arrived the Grand Canoe and Grand Chefre & one other Young Man - From the former I received 9 Brs52 & the Latter only one - the Chief gave in nothing - He is sick & is upon his way to go below the old Fort Rocky Mountain where he supposes to Pass the Winter - Gave them all bits of Tbb° - Snowed today & a very hard frost last night SUNDAY 14™ - Tzalobetha53 Chien's Brules byr gave in 6 Skins of furs & the Levrier Byr also six. this last I have engaged to be the Fort Hunter for the ensuing Winter - Lent him a Gun & gave him 4 Measrs Am™ & Flint. - All the others are looking out for Places where they may be capable of subsisting - For they are all in general exasperated at the disappointment they have met with from the Montagnurs54 who had 51 This portion of the journal ends with this entry. The dates between 19 August and i o September are missing. 52 Whenever Wentzel wrote that an Indian brought in so many skins or so many beaver (as is the case here), he did not necessarily refer to actual beaver skins. 53 Tzalobetha and Tazaisbetha, the fort hunter, were two different men. Neither Tzalobetha nor Chien Brule are mentioned elsewhere in any of the journals. 54 The term "Montagnurs," or "Montagnais," was used ambiguously. The Rocky Mountain Indians, or Embayodinnah, were frequently referred to as Montagnais. In this instance, Wentzel seems to be referring to Slave Lake Indians, who were either Chipewyan or Yellowknives. Eastern Canadian

301 Wentzel's Journal of 1805-6

already (as before remarked) occupied the Country they were sent to in order to Hunt the Beaver - The consequences of these extraordinary regulations of the Indians of Slave Lake will before [9308] before the next Spring be severely felt by the want of Provns in this Post & the few returns that will be made - Yet I do my utmost to recommend the Rocky Montn to Hunt & Pay their debts - but they declare that the Country here around is now too poor to furnish scarcely the means of subsistance55 MONDAY 15™ - Hailed this day & Last Night a very hard Frost TUESD Y 16™ Fine Weather but Cold56 N

Indians such as the Iroquois and a Labrador people called the Montagnais were introduced by the North West Company into the Peace River country to hunt beaver, but it is unknown whether any of them were brought so far north as Great Slave Lake or the Mackenzie River. 55 The staple of wintertime provisions, the hare, was subject to periodic population fluctuations. At this time the population was beginning its decline. Large animals were becoming scarce, and, as earlier noted, many of those remaining were diseased. 56 This entry concludes what has survived of Wentzel's journal of 1805-6 at Fort of the Forks.

302 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River [ l ] A C O N T I N U A T I O N OF THE J O U R N A L OF THE F O R K S M A C K E N Z I E S R I V E R F O R S U M M E R 1807

AUGUST FRIDAY i ST [Saturday].1 Found many articles belonging to both the shop and store missing - which Martin2 tells me were taken per Mr Alex'r McKenzie,3 who left however no account of his having employed them. The goods were Am[munitio]n H[igh] Wines Dressed Moose deer Skins & Orignal snares - This nevertheless not a little perplexes me as I don't know whether I should trust to this report or consider it as an excuse of the Old Fellow to clear himself from reproaches of extravagance - of which however I must confess I cannot accuse him - How true statements of expences can be kept at a post when such means are adopted to supply wants and exigencies are best known to those Gentlemen who practise these short methods of arranging themselves at the expense of other Posts. Yet Mr McK is perhaps the severest of any in finding faults with all accounts except his own - Tho he himself is the first to put the example of transgressing his own rules.4 SATUR Y 2 ND [Sunday]. Early in the morning Mr Clarke5 with two Canadians and Indian embarked in a large Canoe laden wh 23 packs, 4 ps Dried meat his own Boy6 & baggage for Athabasca - Rained in the afternoon 1 As in previous journals, Wentzel had a difficult time keeping the day of the week consistent with the day of the month. Corrections are made in brackets. 2 The identity of this Martin is unclear, but judging from the later reference to "the Old Fellow," he was probably Charles. 3 Wintering partner Alexander McKenzie, the Emperor, had just concluded his second and last winter at Great Bear Lake. He departed from the Athabasca Department in 1807, turning over the management of the Mackenzie River District to company clerk John Clarke. 4 Wentzel was one of the rare company clerks who had the temerity to criticize his superiors. The nine words of the next sentence have been intentionally obliterated by someone and are illegible. 5 John Clarke signed his first contract with the North West Company in 1800 as a nineteen-year-old apprentice clerk. His rise to a position of responsibility was uncommonly rapid, for with only seven years' experience (the same as George Keith), and at the end of his apprenticeship, he was given the charge of the Mackenzie River District. At the time this entry was written, Clarke was accompanying part of the district's returns to Fort Chipewyan, having left his wintering post at Great Bear Lake in charge of his country wife. 6 This is the earliest documentary evidence of Clarke's family connections in the Indian Country. The family he left behind at Great Bear Lake is not mentioned elsewhere.

303 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

SUN Y 3 RD [Monday]. Rained at intervals all DayMON ¥ 4™ [Tuesday]. As I am to be left by [William] Smiths departure to Mr [George] Keith's without a small canoe to fish with, I sent him to raise Maitres for a Seaulteux Canoe TUES Y 5TH [Wednesday]. Rainy weather - Four Indians arrived very sick of a distemper they had caught by eating the Flesh of a dead Animal they found in the woods, Which I suppose died of some disease as great numbers are found all over some unable to rise themselves upon their legs and others dead - Whether this sickness in the Animal species is owing to the Dryness of the Season or occasioned by the great Fires which have almost overrun the whole Country I cannot tell7 - The consequences appear already by the removal of the Indians to the Great Willow & Porcupine Lakes8 for subsistence - they being unable to find food elsewhere. These [a] sad disorders it is to be feared will little contribute to our [success] in the article of returns either of furs or pro118 WEDNES Y 6™ [Thursday]. Sent off Smith with his Indian on his return to Mr Keith - Sent the Latter according to request 13lbs Powder & 32lbs balls with two Large Brass Kettles one of which tho a new Kettle is Cracked in the bottom - Two Indians came from the R. Monn by the way of the Forks. Traded 2 Skins furs & 2 in meat. All the Animals that way dying in great numbers THURS V 7™ [Friday]. Nothing particular occurred, howed in the Potatoes & took in a great quantity of Turnip Seeds FRIDAY 8™ [Saturday]. Nothing strange - Satur'' [ Sunday] 9*. Ditto Ditto 7 A distemper among game animals of the Mackenzie was reported as early as 18 August 1806 (Wentzel's journal entry for that date). At that time dogs who fed upon the diseased animals died also. Why Wentzel thought the disease had something to do with the drought or with the extensive fires then prevalent is puzzling. He seems to ignore the absence of any previous association between distemper and environmental stress. Whether sickness among the Indians, due to introduced European diseases, had any connection with this distemper among the animals is as enigmatic today as it was inconceivable among the fur traders of the time. Krech speculates that it may have had a connection and that the spreading sickness among the Slaveys and Dogribs may have been related to the distemper among the animals reported in the summer of 1806 and, now again, in the summer of 1807 (1983, 126-7). 8 These lakes were on the east side of the Mackenzie River opposite Fort of the Forks. This area, attractive to the Indians as a fishery, was not well sup plied with beaver, a circumstance Wentzel, no doubt, was concerned about.

304 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River SUNDAY 10™ [Monday]. The Indian who had sett off with Mr Clarke having been compelled to embark much against his own inclinations, deserted and shewed himself here to day - alledging as an excuse that having conveyed M r Clarke above the Strong Current of the Grand River - he thought his help might very well be dispensed with - adding at the same time that his Gun which remained with Mr Clarke would answer for payment to another Indian if employed in his Stead but the Rascal took good care to Steal away the Pan to serve as a firesteel - having none other. I asked him if he had met with ill treatment he answered in the negative - having no one to fish for me and do other little works about the Fort I employed him to remain here untill the arrival of the Canoes - So that I am not sorry at this unexpected \isit Tho I am far from encouraging such Tricks -9 MONDAY i I T H [Tuesday]. Sent the above deserter to Hunt, gave him 2 meas5 Amn & lent him an old Second Hand Gun TUES Y 12™ [Wednesday]. Sent off two old men with their Families who have been sneaking about the Fort eight days past in hopes of obtaining a little D'Es-tlisse or Credit - gave them two Meas. Am" on Credit - No fish to be taken in the nets notwithstanding that I keep two constantly in the water WEDNES Y 13™ [Thursday]. The deserter returned with two young Beavers and a Duck - besides sinking a Large Beaver, which however will make no troth -10 THURS Y 14™ [Friday]. The Old Men payed me a visit again to day with the meat & skin of a Moyen Bear" - of which I recieved [3] besides the Skin (of little worth) the Plat Cotes, shoulders, thighs & rump 9 The perspective of the European fur trader is everywhere pervasive in these journals, much to the debasement of the Indian. Here the Native guide is seen as a "rascal," who has abandoned the bourgeois of the district while employed in a task that was "much against his own inclination," and such "tricks" should not ordinarily be encouraged (except when other considerations intervened). Nowhere is consideration given to the claim that he did not want to go in the first place and that he might be expected to abscond when opportunity presented itself. What might be reasonable for one was not allowed the other. 10 That is, in Wentzel's view the fact that he had brought in his hunt still did not make him trustworthy. 11 Moyen refers to middle-sized, hence, a middle-sized bear (Duckworth 1990, 190).

305 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

tho' his own his Children are Starving12 - This little piece of good will made me give him a bit of tobacco - A Courier arrived from the opposite side of the River who announced the death of one of his relations, but who yet breaths a little - This man it seems is attacked with the same distemper that the old Gentleman who arrived today had gone through viz' the eating of a dead Animal - These I cured by washing the sores (as they were all over but scabbs) with blue vitriol'3 the smart of which excited many a grin & Grimace in the poor patients - The whites are great People among ignorant Blacks!! FRIDAY 15™ [Saturday]. Layed the small Seaulteux Canoe on the bed & got the Grand Contoures14 sewed SATURY 16™ [Sunday]. Put the Maitres on the Canoe, the Poignes15 sewed & the Inside of the Canoe gummed - This is the eighth day 12 The use of certain words in fur trade journals sometimes carried various meanings. One such word is "starving." It was not always intended in a literal sense. Mary Black-Rogers has written that, in addition to the literal sense of dying from want of food, the term also took on technical and manipulative connotations. If an Indian hunted for sustenance to the exclusion of hunting for trade, he was said to be starving (technical). Sometimes, starving was used in a metaphorical, deliberately ambiguous, or untruthful way to establish or reinforce relationships (manipulative) (1987, 628-45). 13 A blue crystalline hydrous salt of copper, cupric sulfate or blue vitriol was used in this instance as an antiseptic whose curative powers were more perceived than real. Among its many uses, blue vitriol was employed in preserving hides, in tanning leather, and in preserving wood (Windholz 1976,345)14 A trough slightly larger than the desired canoe was dug in the earth, around which stakes were driven into the ground for support until the pieces of bark were sewn together and ribs and other parts put in place. This was referred to as the "bed" of the canoe. 15 A poniard (also spelled poigniard or poignard) is a short, stabbing weapon such as a dagger. The word can also refer to a long, sharp iron lance stuck into a haystack to support the sheaves and, by extension, has been applied more generally to furnishing or fixing something with long pins. When applied to a canoe, it may have referred to the cross pieces or thwarts (Simpson and Weiner 1989, 12:95-6). In French, poitnee is something grasped - a handle, haft, sword hilt, pistol grip, or, in this instance, the gunwales of the canoe. The sewing of the poignees, then, may have referred to the fixing of bark on the gunwales or thwarts of the canoe. Adney and Chapelle's Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America, mentions very few French terms and makes no mention of poigneeM all.

306 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

since the sun has been invisible to us - occasioned by the smoke which has involved the whole Country into almost total darkness not a Track of any animal is to be seen any where. The few Indians who are about the Fort are starving and are daily teazing me to let them to go to some fishing Lake where they may live - I tell them go to Beaver This discourages them - I nevertheless keep them untill the rutting season advances when perhaps some few animals may be found about the Place SUN Y 17™ [Monday] MON Y i8 TH [Tueaday]. Arrived three young men from the Rocky Mont'n of the Rocky River au Liard - brought 16 skins meat & 6 in furs - Gave them each a bit tob° & a dram. They tell me that the others who I Mft left above are employed Still in hunting provisions tho' the animals are extremely scarce l6 TUES Y 19™ [Wednesday]. Sent off the above young men to hunt Beaver WEDNES" 20™ [Thursday], THURS Y ai S T [Friday] FRIDAY 22™ [Saturday] . Nothing extraordinary SATUR Y 23 RD [Sunday]. Altho' I keep the deserter setting nets & Bear snares we cannot out of both find wherewith to feed one person - and by our ignorance in endeavouring to dry the lately arrived meat by Fire, we spoiled the whole. The cause of which is owing to the Animals having been chased down by the dogs - which renders the flesh full of a watery substance that soon putrifys it [4] It is however not entirely uneatable SUN Y 2 4™ [Monday]. We had a small shower of rain to Day MON V 25™ [Tuesday]. TUES Y 26'™ [Wednesday]. Arrived the Levrier & wife - recieved from him no more than gVa Skins in furs 2 in meat & i in Grease. I refused him the usual presents on arrival such as a bit Tob° & a Dram - because I think he has been rather too lazy in not making a better Hunt - he was extremely exasperated at this uncommon treatment and particularly at my having given him a Severe reprimand, it tickled his feelings so much that he could [not] help exclaiming in an extacy of choler that he would not come again very soon to the Fort - which I do not care much about for he owes only 4 Skins and besides he is too fond to appear something respectable before his relatives not to be as ready to make up matters as I am careless 16 What Wentzel meant by "the Rocky Mountain" of the L'iard is puzzling. George Keith's post near the Biskaga River would certainly have drawn the upper Liard or Rocky Mountain Slaveys there. These three men must have frequented the area of the lower Liard, but not as far as the South Nahanni, or Wentzel would have said so. In any case, they hunted at a considerable distance from the Rocky Mountains.

307 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

of breaking them when he does not behave wet consistant to his character of a Second rate grandee -17 Thus he left us muttering I dare say execrations against me without mercy - Capot Rouge18 sent me his Flag as a token that he would soon follow provided he could make a few provisions to clear himself a favourable reception WEDNES Y 2 7™ [Thursday]. A Great Cracking of thunder & lightening all the forenoon which was soon followed by a very heavy Shower of rain - A person would have persuaded himself that the whole Heavens were coming down THURS Y 28™ [Friday]. Early in the morning I was alarmed by the Cries & Screeches of the Old Barbeu and wife whose child is Sick (a boy of 3 months old) - him they have brought to me in order that I should prescribe some speedy relief to obtain a Cure!! for which the Old Gentry promise to pay me well in provns when they will have any which I presume will not be very soon - I however with a design to make them think that I understand something of physic, doctored myself into something as serious as possible & then observed the part affected which I found was no more than a boil to which I immediately supplied a clean rag after having washed it with a little soap suds Thinking that I had now performed enough to be dispensed with I told them to be off to their lodges &: that there was no danger of the Child's life - but the old fellow had a scabby chin [5] of which he wanted to be cured also - as the scabs hung suspended from the Chin by the Grisles of the beard. I poured in some Strong vitriol water which operated so strongly upon the Old Gentleman that he knocked his bk-de19 repeatedly for several times to the ground - & then set off little disposed I believe to go through such another operation his old Lady tho' she seemed to be so greatly affected at the braking out of the boil on her sons thighs, has nevertheless been the executioner of three of her own daughters20 - had another shower of rain today 17 Wentzel changed his opinion of Levrier the ensuing May when the trading leader brought in a sizable hunt. 18 Capot Rouge was in Wentzel's mind the most productive Slavey to visit his trading establishment. 19 While Wentzel frequently obscured indelicate words with dashes, the meaning is usually transparent. In this instance, the transparency is a bit clouded, but the word was probably "backside." 20 In a letter to Roderic McKenzie, Wentzel mentioned that it was the custom of the Slaveys to destroy newborn female children (see Masson 1960, 2:86). However, in his several letters from the Liard River and Great Bear Lake, George Keith mentioned female infanticide only once and that reference was to the Hare Indians of the lower Mackenzie (NA, MG 19, c i,

308 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

FRIDAY 29™ [Saturday]. Sent off the deserter to Hunt he is to Sleep out 2 Nights. Ever since Mr Clarkes departure we have not taken about 14 Ps of fish altogether notwithstanding that two are constantly employed setting here and there SATUR Y 30™ [Sunday]. Nothing new occurred - Fine weather SUN Y 3i ST [Monday]. The deserter returned from his chace, brought a Large Beaver which he had taken in a trap - He made again two other traps - Fine weather MON Y SEPT R I ST [Tuesday]. 2 ND 3 RD 4™. Nothing extraordinary occur since Monday. Fine weather TIIURS Y 5 FRIDAY 5™ [Saturday]. Arrived 2 Strangers who brought 9 Skins in Br one of these fellows owed nothing therefore I traded his furs Am[ountin] s to 7 Skins I made them plaster the inside of the house SATUR Y 6™ [Sunday]. The deserter who I had sent Hunting the day before yesterday returned to day with another large Beaver - Sent off the two former - Fine weather SUN Y 7™ [MONDAY]. 8™. DittoTUES Y 9™ [Wednesday]. Three Indians arrived who brought 4 Skins in Meat & 7 in furrs - one of whom is the Collet, Capot Rouge's byr, & from whom he comes - Slept one night from his tents - His Highness sends word that he will soon come to pay us a visit - Sent off these fellows again WED Y 10™ [Thursday]. My Hunter the deserter is off again to Hunt rather to visit his Br Lodges -

vol. 51, 85). Not once did he mention the practice among the Slaveys, Dogribs, or Yellowknives. It is clear from a letter not published in Masson that McKenzie doubted the credibility of some of Wentzel's statements. Writing in March of 1809 Wentzel assured McKenzie that everything he said was true, unless "I have been the dupe of my interpreter, to whom I am indebted for the greater part of the information I communicated" (MCG, Wentzel to Roderic McKenzie, 30 March 1809, microfilm 13). This interpreter, Wentzel said, had lived among the natives for upwards of twelve years. The informant was probably Jean-Baptiste LaPrise, who was posted to Great Slave Lake as early as 1786 and who may have accompanied Duncan Livingston when he first established the trade on the Mackenzie (Duckworth 1990, 154). LaPrise would certainly have been a credible witness, but it must be remembered that at best, most of Wentzel's information to Roderic McKenzie was hearsay, coming, as it did, from word of mouth rather than personal observation. The old voyageur may not have been above adding a little colour now and then.

3°9 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

THURS V H TH [Friday]. Appeared the Robe de Castor who brought 10 Skins in furrs & 6 in Fat- He brings word that the Montagnes21 byrs who I had left in the R: Mountain are yet Hunting about the Gros Roche - But Animals die very Fast and in great numbers [6] FRIDAY 12™ [Saturday]. Fine weather Sent off the foregoing to look out some place where he can make traps to kill Br SATU Y 13TH [Sunday]. My Hunter returned to day with a Br & sett off again to join the Robe de Castor in seeking for Br Lodges - Brought also two bustards SUN Y 14™ [Monday]. Rained all last night - Since the 5th the Gibries22 have been continually passing in great Flocks tho' none lights near the Fort - Swans, Grey Geese &; Bustards MON Y 15™ [Tuesday]. Arrived three Indians from River au Peau de Lievre.23 These brought 26 Skins furrs & 10 in Provns these have payed us visits already three times - Traded with & sent them off TUES Y i6 TH [Wednesday]. Nothing strange transpired to dayWEDN Y 17™ [Thursday]. Capot Rouge shewed himself to day with 5 Skins of fresh meat. Complains heavily that there are no tracks of Animals - & but few beaver to be killed - He even Cryed saying that he would be pitiful this Winter - & that he feared that he should not be able to find subsistance for the Fort - he asked me to send him a few Orignal Collets which he intends to set as the rutting season is now at hand thinking that some stragling moose may insnare themselves in the snares THURS Y 18™ [Friday]. Sent off the Capot Rouge gave him 3 meass Am11 & desired him to do his best to find out either Animals or Beaver

for that I was quite out of Provm -

21 In enumerating the Native peoples of the Mackenzie River basin in 1821, Wentzel included the "Rocky Mountain Indians," among whom he included thirty or forty men and boys. In his opinion, they consisted of a mixture of Slaveys and Dogribs, although they considered themselves a distinct people. Their lands ranged from the mouth of what today is called the South Nahanni River on the Liard River to the mouth of the North Nahanni on the Mackenzie River (Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart," 4). The family Wentzel refers to in this passage may have been of that nation. The "R. Mountain" Wentzel mentioned in this passage may be those mountains most closely encroaching upon the Mackenzie River below Fort of the Forks to which John Thomson referred when naming Rocky Mountain Fort. 22 That is, game birds such as geese, swans, and ducks. 23 This river falls into the Mackenzie from the east, thirty miles or so above Fort of the Forks. Today it is called Rabbitskin River.

310 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

FRIDAY 19™ [Saturday]. My young man returned & brought i Cascameat [cascamisk] & 2 swans SATUR Y 20™ [Sunday]. Water in the Forks and Grand amazing low My Hunter remained here all day SUN Y 21 ST [Monday]. Sent off my Hunter to his Br traps MON Y 22 N D [Tuesday]. In the afternoon arrived Mr [Alexander] Henry in a Saulteux Canoe with his Family and a Jack Montagnier24 - from Athabasca - He left that Place on the i gth of August - but has always been detained by contrary winds bad weather &c &c according to his own account - News from Fort Chipewean says that 694 packs had been shipped off for Lac La Pluie last spring - Grand River Packs observed to be too light by 2lbs each -25 This deficiency in the weight of our returns I cannot account for, as they were weighed in the same balances & by the same weights as those of last year - of which are com[7] complaints were made last Fall per Mr Alexr McKenzie - from which I had supposed our Packs had been weight else some instructions would perhaps have been given accordingly. We had a very severe Frost last night TUE Y 23 RD [Wednesday]. Fine weather during the day tho' it freezes hard over Night WEDNES Y 24™ [Thursday]. Ditto Ditto, got Part of the Potatoes taken in THURS Y 25™ [Friday]. A litde after sunset arrived Smith and an Indian in a large Saulteux Canoe laden with 7 Ps Dried meat & 2 D° of depouille from Mr Keith — who gives the Pieces for 85lbs weight except the Depouille which runs ioolbs - besides these I received 3 Dressed Moose deer Skins, 12 D° Green Skin Collets, 2 Maskimouts26 of Turnips and one of lime. News from that quarter says that the Red Knives of Slave Lake have overun the whole of the upper department in quest of Beaver & that they have greatly hurt the trade with the Natives - by 24 Obviously a stranger to Wentzel, Jack Montagnier may have been a Canadian Montagnais now introduced into the Mackenzie River District for the first time. According to David Pentland, some Chipewyans were known as Montagnais, and because Henry just returned from Fort Chipewyan, Jack may have been of that nation. He is nowhere else referred to. 25 The standard weight of a pack was ninety pounds, except for packs from the Mackenzie, which were eighty-five pounds each. 26 Muskimoot (variously spelled) was the Cree name given to a large bag made of netted babiche, generally used by hunters to carry game but, as in this case, adaptable to other uses as well (Avis 1991, 501). David Pentland notes that it would be spelled maskimot in Cree and mashkimod in Ojibwe.

g i i Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

traficking the little Br Mr Keith's Indians had killed since the spring from these circumstances litde hopes are entertained above making great returns the ensuing season2? - Gave Smith a Dram FRIDAY 26TH [Saturday]. Proposed to Smith that in consideration of Mr Keith's being in such a critical predicament with his Indians & red Knives it would be highly approved of by the Comp^ if he returned immediately to Mr Keith, as the latter was quite alone & perhaps the Canoes might probably be late in Coming in - to this he opposed Mr Clarkes injunctions to them him in the summer - not to Stir from this untill the Latter (Mr Clarke) arrival from Athabasca - An Indian fired a Gun at the Gros Cap - Sent Smith's Indian to set a net there & see who this firer was - Sleeps there to night - Very cold weather SATUR Y 2 7™ [Sunday]. Snowed at Intervals all day - A very strong North wind all Day - About ten A.M. arrived an old Man, the same who fired at the Gros Cap last night - He gave in 17 Skins of furrs & 7 in Provns SUNDAY 28™ [Monday]. The old Man who arrived yestery sett off again to day - Nofishin the nets - Snowed all day MON Y 29™ [Tuesday]. My Hunter with 3 more Stalkers brought 5 Skins in furrs & iQVz in provns - Snowed all day - exceeding cold TUES Y 30™ [Wednesday]. The above sett off again. Snowing still very hard. [8] WEDNES'Y [OCT] I ST [Thursday]. The weather extremely mild 8c clear - NofishTHURS Y 2 ND [Friday]. Late in the evening arrived Mr Clarke in a light Canoe maned with 8 men & Colours flying in the Stern of his Canoe from Athabasca28 - Gave each of his men a Dram after we had a Short 27 Keith's returns for 1807-8 were fifty-five packs, down fourteen from the previous year. They were down again in 1808-9, but the extent of the reduction is not mentioned. 28 John Clarke returned to the Mackenzie River District to assume its management after having spent the previous winter at Great Bear Lake under the direction of Alexander McKenzie. There appears to be an inconsistency in the documentary record regarding Clarke's tenure in the District. Evidence in this journal makes it clear that Clarke wintered at Great Bear Lake over 1806-7 and 1807-8. Wentzel reported in 1823 that Clarke attempted to reach die mouth of the Mackenzie River in 1809 (Wentzel 1823, 22). This would suggest that he wintered over again on the Mackenzie for 1808-9. Yet in 1820 John Clarke himself related to John Franklin that he had "wintered twice on Mackenzies River" (Davis 1995, 350). It is possible, of course, that he wintered at Fort Chipewyan or Slave Lake during the season of 1808-9 and launched his dash down die Mackenzie from either of those posts.

312 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River & Dry Kick up. - We recieved our Letters Sec &c & every one went to bed - Not however without gratifying ourselves with a perusal of our different Epistles & instructions!! FRIDAY 30 [Saturday]. Early in the morning the loaded canoes on Mr C's Tail appeared to the number of 4 - laden with 20 PS each & manned with 5 Canadians - Gave them also a Dram agreeable to the heads request. After recieving their Several loadings We proceeded to Settle every thing as expeditiously as possible - Five men & 17 Ps Goods was laid aside for Mr Keith's estab', four men & 11 P s " was left at this Post the remainder is to be divided between Bears Lake & Blue Fish River &c.29 Mr Clarke requested that I should dispatch letters to Lac D'Ours3° in the begining of Decr to be at the last Mentd Place about New Years Day - to display great feats in conjunction with the Canadians there - to the Amusement or for the entertainment of the New Year - Fine weather SATUR Y 4™ [Sunday]. Early in the Morning Messrs Clarke & Henry sett off in Company for bears Lake - followed by two other loaded canoes - About an hour after dispatched Smith with 6 Canadians for Mr Keith in two Canoes - two of these men I send for a few Provns - After this I took an inventory of the Bales left here Per Mr Clarke - in which I found some trifling errors - except in the Firesteels which will be severely felt here for instead of 4 Dozen of Firesteels as Stated in the Ac' left here per Mr Clarke - only two Dozen is to be found - The mistake I suppose to have proceeded from the Steels being wrapped up per Vi dozens which were inadvertantly taken for dozens - Fine weather SUN Y 5TH [Monday]. Sett [Charles] Martin & [Alexis] Gibeau arranging the Flooring in the Hall - Exceedingly mild weather MON V 6™ [Tuesday], Made the men arrange the Chimneys 29 This makes it clear that, for the trading season of 1807-8, four posts were established in the Mackenzie River District: Fort of the Forks, Biskaga Fort, Bluefish River Post, and the establishment on Great Bear Lake. The expected returns from each of these posts can be measured by the number of pieces of trade goods assigned to each: to the Forks, eleven; to Biskaga, seventeen, and to Bluefish River and Great Bear Lake, fifty-two. The actual returns reflect a different order of productivity: from the Forks, thirty-three packs; from Biskaga, fifty-five packs, and from Bluefish and Great Bear Lake, seventeen packs. The investment of capital in the Mackenzie River District would appear to have been grossly misappropriated for the trading season of 1807-8. 30 Great Bear Lake.

313 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

TUES Y 7™ [Wednesday]. The Plastering of the inside & outside of the House terminate this days work - Arrived an Indian from the Gros Cap. Brought 2 Brs in meat - Sent him to the Capot Rouge to know [9] if he has any Provisions - for we are indeed very low at present in that article All the Snow which had fallen last week has entirely melted away - One kettle serves for all Hands. WEDNES Y 8™ [Thursday]. Some Showers of Sleet to day-Arrived the Robe de Castor with my Summer Hunter - they brought 4 Br skins & i cascameat - Cold weather THURS Y 9TH [Friday]. Sent off the above - Another appeared who gave 3 Cascameats & i Br Skin - he Keeps the other Skins untill he can gather wherewith to purchase a Gun - The men gathering fire wood Cold weather - Snowing FRIDAY IO TH [Saturday]. Arrived 4 Indians from river au Peau de Lievre - who brought 15 Skins furrs for debts & Traded besides 24 in Peltries & 4 in Cascameats - Gave each a Dram & bit Tob° - Fine weather SATUR Y I I T H [Sunday]. The Above are gone behind this Place in quest of Beaver - Allowed the men to go for Berries on the other side of the Grand River - Very mild weather to Day SUN Y 12™ [Monday]. Very hard Frost the preceeding night - Snowed a great part of the day MON Y 13™* [Tuesday]. Martin busied in white washing the House & Gibeau digging a road through the declivity of the Hill - besides he squared an arm-Piece & two Potoes31 for the same purpose - 36 feet long - Fine weather TUES Y 14™ [Wednesday]. Gibeau put up the Garde Fou32 along the Hill & removed all the little Butes33 &c &c that were in the Fort Martin busied in cleaning &c &c the House - Fine weather WEDNES Y 15™ [Thursday]. His Greatness the Levrier with 6 other of his Nation from different Quarters arrived to day - bringing with them to the Amount of 78 Skins in furrs & 9 in Prons for Debts & traded be31 Wentzel probably had in mind poteaux, or posts. Gibeau must have been working on a footpath hollowed out on the side of the hill, along which a railing, thirty-six feet long, was placed to hold onto. This was the garde-feu, referred to below. 32 Literally, a railing or handrail, but Wentzel could have intended garde-feu, referring to a fire-break around the post. 33 Perhaps Wentzel meant bout, a French term with many meanings, among which are those that refer to the end of something. In this instance, he may have been referring to the smaller tree stumps (or ends) that littered the yard of the fort.

314 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

sides 31 in [furs?] & 29 in meat - Acquainted these according to instructions of the prohibition of all kinds of Peltries except Beaver They promised to work that Animal - as soon as the Ice is taken over the Grand River they say they will go above to the red Knife river34 - I also told them that if they did not stand to this pledge of their Faith -1 had orders from all the Chiefs of Athabasca to Shut up my Shop & Trade no more but send the goods in the Spring to the Loucheux who would give us Beaver in exchange - These Indians are so poor that they Traded [10] Moose deer Sinews from me for Beaver - For making Hare snares The scarcity of Animals never appeared among these people more severely than this year - Some of them are gready in danger of Starving this winter from want of Sinews to make hare Snares Fine weather THURS Y 16™ [Friday]. Arrived the Grand Chefre with 2 young men in a Small Canoe - Who Oh! Wonder! brought 1114 Skins Fat - 7 in Meat and only 9 in furrs - he has passed the Summer opposite to the Gros Roche near the bear Lake River - where he says he had a great Quantity of Seasoned Provns en Cashe - but which is at so great a distance in land that he will not be able to bring it all to the Fort untill the Ice is taken when he will come with all his band drawing the Prov115 on sledges - Part of his young men he has dispatched in quest of the Dahotinnais wh whom he had an interview last Summer - and he now asks for a frenchman to go with him - promising at the same time to bring the fore mentd Strangers here if he meets wh them - I sent off two young men en paroles35 to Lac du Sol: two more to the Rocky Mountain below the Old Fort advising them to bring their relatives as soon as possible to the Fort - After this I repeated what I had told to Levrier to the Grand Chefre - who signified his wish to go in quest of Beaver towards the Spring - which however I must suspect - for he is too cursed a Liar to be depended upon - I then Sent him off again with Martin in a Large Saulteux Canoe - in order to obtain by the Canoe a part of the Provns which the Old Fellow boasts he has en Cashe - Levrier also sett off with all the others Set Gibeau about digging an Ice House - Very fine weather 34 The trading post on the Red Knife River indicated on Wentzel's map of 1821 must not yet have been established, because Wentzel would not have sent Indians from his post to trade at another. 35 By en parole, Wentzel meant that the two young men were taking a message of importance to the people at Lac du Sol, perhaps augmented with a present, such as tobacco, encouraging them to come to the fort with their furs (Hickerson 1959, 280, 305).

315 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

FRIDAY 17™ [Saturday]. The deserter & Beaver Robe came again to day with each a whole Beaver - Gave them bits of tob° - The latter is gone to his Family who are at the Gros Cap - The weather exceeding cold - While my Girls6 was on the other side of the River she met with old Croup de Chien who sent by her 4 Br Skins & i meat - He owes nothing - Gibeau constantly digging at the Ice house - he is a very slow hand indeed but he has two Chimneys to heat & to cook for us all besides - [ 11 ] SATURDAY 18™ [Sunday]. Arrived the Croup de Chien himself who brought 10 more Br Skins which he gives in advance upon a Gun Some time after Capot Rouge came with 3 young men & 4 Women These brought 49 Skins in furrs and 28 debts in provisions, gave them each a bit Tob° and a Dram - Not long after I then signified again to these what I had told Levrier & Grand Chefre with many other additions - they obeyed the summons & promd to go in quest of Beaver But seemed to find it hard that we Should abandon the pechoux trade - of which they would be obliged to destroy great numbers for merely subsistance - Traded 39 Sks furrs & 15 in meat - Fine weather SUNDAY 19™ [Monday]. Arrived the Robe de Castor with 4 others the same have been so often mentd in this Journal - these brought again 16 Br Skins and 2 Cascameats - Arranged them 8c Sent them together with Capot Rouge &c &c off - Late in the afternoon [Francois] Jollibois & [Alexis] Tremp who I had sent to Mr Keiths for provns returned with i Bale of meat & 64lbs grease this the 5th day since they left that Est1- Rained a little - Gibeau employed at the Ice House MON Y 20™ [Tuesday]. Rained all day. Thus no work could be done. TUES Y 21 ST [Wednesday]. Gibeau & Tremp squaring wood for the Ice House - Dug out 9 feet long 4 Vz broad & 5 Vz deep in the earth F. W.37 shot 5 Partridges38 & a Hare - Eagles, Robbins & woodcocks, besides many other Summer Birds are yet to be seen about the Fort The Weather extremely Mild Much more so than in the Month of Sep1WEDNES Y 22 N D [Thursday]. Layed the Flooring in the Ice House Weather as yesty THURS Y 23 RD [Friday]. Rained & Snowed all day - No work done to dayFRIDAY 24™ [Saturday]. Fine weather - The men at work at the Glaciere [ice house] - Got 100 candles made, spent i4Vi>lbs grease. A 36 That is, his country wife. 37 Wentzel frequently referred to himself in his journals in the third person. 38 Ptarmigan.

316 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

young man who had been here a few days past came with 6 Br Skins he is on his way to join his Father who is going to hunt Beaver - Rainy weather in the afternoon SATUR Y 25™ [Sunday]. The Old Barbeu brought 18 Beaver Skins i o of which belongs to his Son - who Sends them here untill he can [get] enough to buy a Fusil [gun] - The remainder I traded as the Old fellow has no debts - This Piece of antiquity tells me that the Capot Rouge and band are off to the Beaver above the River a la Cashe39 - The [men] busy employed at their former work - which goes on very slowly having but one good axe to work with - Rained all afternoon - [12] SUN Y 26™ [Monday]. First Ice appeared in the Forks MON Y 27™ [Tuesday]. The men all at work, two at the Ice House & the other makg ashes TUES Y 28™ [Wednesday]. Snowd all this day- Part of the Covering put on our little batisse -4° WEDNES Y 2Q TH [Thursday]. Snowed all day- Ice House finished THURS Y 30™ [Friday]. Arrived an Indian with his wife - who brought 26 Sks Beaver - Traded 11 of these - the remainder paid his debts - This fellow gave me news of a band who are on the Horn Mountain 41 - These he tells me have their debts but will not come to the Fort but upon the Ice - Snowed the whole day - The Ice House is plastered FRIDAY 3i S T [Saturday]. Nothing new - The Forks Shewed us a second time Ps of Ice - Made the men Make themselves Shovels SATUR Y NOVEMBER i ST [Sunday]. All Saints - No work was done to day42 - Forks driving Ice - none to be seen in the Grand River SUNDAY 2 N D [Monday]. Jollibois Caught a red fox to day in the Steel trapMONDAY 3 RD [Tuesday]. Jollibois shot 3 Partridges - Took 4 Hares in the snares Forks full of Ice - The men gathering wood -

39 On Wentzel's map of 1823, River La Cache flows into the Mackenzie from the west about sixty miles above Fort of the Forks. Today it is called Jean Marie River. 40 Batisse refers to a dwelling or domicile. 41 Horn Mountain is the only eminence of any note to the east-southeast of the Forks and to the north of Mackenzie's River. 42 The two holidays most avidly and universally celebrated by participants in the fur trade were All Saints' Day and New Year's Day.

317 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

TUES Y 4™ [Wednesday]. Three hares in the Collets - A severe Frost last night To day the weather was uncommon cold - The men at work at a P-vy H-u-43 The Forks driving great quantities of Ice WEDNES Y 5TH [Thursday]. The first Ice appeared in the Grand River to day - Snowing, blowing weather THURS Y 6™ [Friday]. The men cleaned the Fort of Snow - I cannot imagine what keeps Martin - as the Grand Chefre promised to send him back as soon as possible - this hurts us particularly in the way of Provisions as I am obliged to Keep three hands here who ply hardy upon the little stock we have in store - Made a Pr Snow Shoes - At Dark the Ice took over the Forks - i Hare in the Snares FRIDAY 7™ [Saturday]. Nothing but Cold Weather SATURY 8™ [Sunday]. At Dark arrived Martin with 9 Indians & Beaulieu's Son who had deserted last summer from Mr Clarke below the Old Rocky Mountain Fort - He alledged in his defence that it was General Montgomery's44 young men who had debauched him With respect to Martin - after he left this he did not arrive at the Grand Chefre's lodges untill the 8th day - he remained there two days & then sett off - and came to the Rocky Mount" Old Fort - with his Canoe where however he was obliged to put in Cashe on Ace1 of the Ice - from thence he came with his load on his back. Grand Chefre [13] Sends word that being aware of the Trouble & misery which Martin & his companions might undergo were they overloaded - thought it more expedient to Keep the Provns untill the Winter when he will come to the Fort himself with them on Sledges - consequently Martin brought but a very trifling Quantity Beaulieu tells me that the Natives below have upwards of 16 Cashes Some as large as my room - but no Furrs - Concerning the Dahotinnais Beaulieu who had made one of the Party that had been in quest of them - says that they saw several Cashes of Provns belonging to that Tribe but could discover none of their Vestiges - However the Grand Chefre will not leave those Quarters untill he either Sees them or is sure that they are not to be found - and sends word accordingly - But I believe the old Rascal cleaves a faster hold at his 43 Wentzel's sensitivity can be amusing. Here he found it indelicate to write "Privy House," while later in this journal he let slip his unflattering name for Collet (Capot Rouge's brother): Farting Father, (see entries below on 20 to 22 November and i to 8 December. A privy house was also sometimes referred to as ajake (HBCA, 6.39/3/22, fol. 69). 44 General Montgomery previously traded at Rocky Mountain Fort and at Great Bear Lake (see Thomson's and McKenzie'sjournals).

318 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

Provns that intentions purposes45 of obtaining the Dahotinnais General Montgomery also dispatches a young man to let me Know if I will recieve him he will very readily come to this Place - as he is together with Grand Chefre - his reasons for wishing to Sprout up this way is on account of the Murder of the Deceased Pascal Sauve the perpatrator of which was one of his band and whose friends & relations are all there there fears of going to Bear Lake is the cause of this message - I however did not think my duty to give him any encouragement - but sent him word that he should return to Bear Lake where if he & his band worked well & were not concerned in the above mentd deed - they would in all probability be recieved accordingly - Understanding that several of the Indians had thrown away great numbers of Martin Pichoux & Carcajoux Skins - on account of what I had told them in the Fall - I thought it would not be amiss to let them know that whatever they has already killed, would be accepted as many of them who have old debts will not be able to pay them if I Should refuse this - rather than get nothing I will take these but at the same time I gave them to understand that they must endeavour to add some Beaver - Jollibois took another red Fox in the Steel Trap - Grand River is full of Ice SUNDAY 9™ [Monday]. As it was too late last night to take an account of what the above Indians brought -1 recieved to day to the Amount of 35Vi Skins in Peltries & 42 in Provisions - weight 3OOlbs of Fat, Grease & Dried & half Green Meat - 6Vz Skins of the Former I traded together with 29 Sk of the Latter, from some who paid their Debts over & above - [14] Besides these I also Traded 5 Dressed Moose deer Skins -As the Grand Chefre still expects to meet with the dahotinnais & demands a Frenchman I arranged Jollibois & Sent him off with them, with orders to come as soon as possible with what Provns he could possibly make the Indians bring to the Fort as they may perhaps otherwise eat the whole themselves without remembering that we are usually in want of them -46 Gave him 6 Plat Cotes of Fat Carribou & Moose deer & 6 meass Amn i Awl & 2 Flints - Took 5 Hares in the Collets - N . B . I Kept two young men to Hunt Hares 45 Some words have been omitted from this sentence. Perhaps it should read "But I believe the old Rascal cleaves a faster hold at his Provns than his intended purposes of obtaining the Dahotinnais." 46 Wentzel consistently put the subsistence needs of the fort above those of the Indians and felt they should subordinate their needs to his. Of course, his Native trading partners placed their own sustenance needs over those of the fort.

319 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

MONDAY 10™ [Tuesday]. Gave my Hunters 150 Snares & Sent them to Set these Collets behind the Fort at a very little distance - Martin made a Pair of Snow Shoes - Snowed pretty hard to day - Grand River completely full of Ice TUES Y i I TH [Wednesday]. Martin folded47 another Pair of Snow Shoes - Got the little House finished - Fine weather tho' cold WEDNES V 12 TH [Thursday]. Arrived 5 Indians - Part of that band who 1 had sent off with Capot Rouge to Hunt the Beaver - the cause of their being yet near to the Fort - they say was occasioned by accident having a few Beaver Traps on this side of the Forks - They left their Families on the opposite side While in their absence the Forks had begun to drive Ice which obliged them to remain on this side untill the Ice had taken entirely - They brought 24 Skins Beaver & 170 Hares As I am Scarce of Snares I gave 8 Sinews to these Indians to be made into Collets - Traded 60 Hares & 7 Skins furrs - and sent them off they must now remain to wait untill a young man comes from Capot Rouge, as none of these knows the road to where the Beaver Lives THURS V 13TH [Friday]. Three young men came again to day who brought 16 Skins furrs & 2 Cascameats - Sent them off again - this is the 5th time these young men have come with Skins to the Fort - My Hunters brought 20 Hares to day - Since the day before yesterday Beaulieu & James Sutherland48 killed 6 Hares - Snowed to day gave 6 Sinews to get Collets made - Martin made another Pair of Snow Shoes FRIDAY 14TH [Saturday]. The men piercing &: putting barrs to their Snow Shoes - Fine weather SATUR Y 15TH [Sunday]. Croup de Chien brought us 5 Skins furrs & 2 Cascameats - this makes him 18 Skins in advance upon a Gun49 47 That is, Martin fashioned a pair of snowshoes by bending the wood frames in the proper way. While men generally constructed or folded the frames, Native or Metis women usually laced or netted the snowshoes. 48 This is the first mention of James Sutherland in the journal. Wentzel was apparendy left without any engages over the summer if his journal is any hint, for he mentioned no engages (except for William Smith, who visited from Biskaga Fort) until the arrival of those who accompanied the district's bourgeois, John Clarke. In October, Clarke left four Canadians at Fort of the Forks: Martin, Gibeau, Jollibois, and Tremp. Sutherland was not among them. His sudden appearance on 13 November is puzzling because only Jollibois and Tremp are mentioned as arrivals from one of the other posts since Clarke left on 4 October. 49 See entry for 18 October.

320 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

Engaged [15] him for a hare Hunter as I fear that my other two will not be able to supply us with a sufficiency for our daily subsistence SUN Y 16™ [Monday]. My hunters brought 72 hares to day~ MON Y i 7™ [Tuesday]. Sent off my three Hare Hangmen - after giving out 100 Snares more - Beaulieu & James Sutherland sett 40 Snares to day Snowing weather - The men busy at their Racquett5" TUES Y 18™ [Wednesday]. The men had a pair of their Snow Shoes Laced - One of my Hare Hunters came for Snares - Sent him to the Robe de Castor's Lodges for some - Beaulieu & Sutherland Took only 3 Hares - The other two Hunters brought 29 Hares - Took a red Fox in the Steel Trap - Very bad weather - Grand River full of Ice - Got lye made to make a kettle of soap WEDNES Y 19™ [Thursday]. Sent off my Hare Hunters THURS Y 20™ [Friday]. Arrived Father of the F-t-g or Collets1 Capot Rouge byr, one who I previously engaged for a Hare Hunter, he was accompd per the Old Barbeux - brought 29 Hares & 4 Br Skins — The Latter 2 Pichoux Skins & 20 Hares - he pleaded his old age for bringing these furrs as an excuse - Beaulieu took 7 Hares Sutherd 2 only Snowed to day - Made 5lbs of Stinking Grease into Soap - Took another Fox (red) in the Steel Trap FRIDAY 2 i S T [Saturday]. Sent off old Barbeu - Collet set snares today I fear however that I will be obliged to send him after his byr to work Beaver - for his is so jealous of his Lady that he scarcely goes to P-s without she follows him, & unluckily for him she is not over scrupulous of Playing with her rump -52 Beaulieu took 8 Hares Mild weather SATURY 22 N D [Sunday]. The F-t-g Father with his wife Sett off to visit the Collets he had Sett yesterday - he is to Sleep out a Couple of nights - Very little Ice in the Grand River - but the water rising very fast SUNDAY 23 RD [Monday]. The Hunters brought 72 Hares - besides 8 they left in Cashe being too heavy loaded to bring them all - The old Croup de Chien has caught a Cold - therefore cannot attend to his Snares - Water still rising. The Hunters went away again to their Stations MON Y 24™ [Tuesday!. Nothing particular50 "Raquette" refers to snowshoes. 51 See note for Wentzel's journal entry on 4 November. 52 Wentzel lost the services of his fort hunter, Pouce Coupe, in 1805 over a similar circumstance in which the husband's jealousy resulted from an affair between his wife and an engage (Wentzel'sjournal of 1804-5, entry f°r 13 January 1805).

3 a i Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

TUES Y 25'"* [Wednesday]. Arrived the Chasseurs [hunters] who brought 40 Hares - The Collet came with them but in Such a humour as presages something has been [16] been done to his wife - or rather by her A-e - He gave only 3 Hares I abused him for his laziness he said nothing - but flew upon one of the other Hunters who had R-g-d53 his wife & fought a battle but the poor Cuckhold was vanguished by his enemy while they were fighting - her ladyship was Skipping [?] about the place exalting within herself at the great love her Husband was exhibiting to the Company he bore towards her - Yet he did not give her one uneven word - In the evening two Indians came from Lac du Sol to tell me that all their relations were Sick therefore could not go to the beaver Country untill they recovered which will not be perhaps untill Spring Gave them no Tob° - Two others came from Old barbeu & brought 250 Hare Snares - the making of which cost 20 branches of beads - receved from the two former 16 Skins furrs - from the latter 3 Skins Furrs & 40 Hares - The Straggling Rascals who came from Lac du Sol are of the Montagnes family54 MON Y 26™ [Thursday], Sent off the Indians who arrived - not however without expatiating greatly upon Beaver killing - Many promises were made - but I believe few will be performed - Nevertheless I sent Martin with the two Indians who came from lac Du Sol - to see if he could prevail upon to quit that fishing above and at the same time gather whatever they had & bring all those who were well to the Fort Cold weather THURS V 27™ [Friday]. Beaulieu & Suther'd took 9 Hares - Collet 7 FRIDAY 28™ [Saturday], Sent Collet for his Snow Shoes which are at Old Barleuxs Lodge - as I intend to Send him & Gibeau with Letters to Mr Keith apprehending that Mr Clarke had forgot in the Fall to let Mr Keith know the time fixed upon for the departure of the Express — Beaulieu & Suther*1 took 9 Hares in their Collets besides three which the Crows had eaten SATURDAY 2g TH [Sunday], The Ice took over the Grand River in the morning - The Boys took 15 Hares to day SUNDAY 30™ [Monday], The Collet returned with his Snow [shoes] brought 10 Hares & 100 Snares which I had recommended to the Old Barbeu. Arranged him 8c Gibeau immediately that they may be off early tomorrow morning - Gave for their voyage 4Olbs weight of good 53 It is guessed that Wentzel meant "ravished" but spelled it "ravaged." 54 Lac du Sol (Sibbeston Lake) is in the middle of the land Wentzel delineated as the home of the Rocky Mountain Indians (Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart," 4). It is to these people that Wentzel may have been referring, rather than to a specific family unit.

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dried ml 2 Cascameats & i o Hares - besides 2 Pr shoes 2 flints 4 measrs Am" a Pcs Spunk & ten Inches Tobacco to the Indian - [17] MONDAY [DECEMBER] 1 ST [Tuesday]. Dispatched Gibeau & The Father of F-t-rs for Mr Keiths with letters - before sunrise - Fine weather TUES V 2 ND [Wednesday]. Our Hunters brought us 23 Hares - they have taken up their Snares to put them elsewhere as they can take no more upon their old road - Beaulieu & Sutherd went to Trench a Br Lodge opposite to the Fort on the other side of the Grand River - Very Cold Weather WEDNES Y 3RI> [Thursday]. In the Evening Croup de Chien came with 7 Skins furrs & 2 Beavers in Meat - which he had killed while the other Hunters has supposed and reported here that he was Sick The Boys took 15 Hares to day. Cold extreme THURS ¥ 4™ [Friday]. In the afternoon one of the Hunters having forgot his Knife yesterday came to day with i o Hares I sent away immediately with old Croup de Chien to Hunt hares also - Beaulieu & Sutherland have Trenched again but could kill nothing - the little M-ass55 being full of Stones FRIDAY 5™ [Saturday]. Beaulieu busily employed at his Beaver Lodge with various success missing at times & stabbing at others without killing anything - Snow at intervals - Sutherd took 11 Hares in Beaulieus Snares SATUR Y 6TH [Sunday]. Beaulieu ran his Trench through the body of the Beaver but was not Strong enough to keep his hold - so that the Beast escaped again - In the evening Levrier & Byr arrived these brought ig'/Si Skins in Beaver & 2 in Meat besides Go Hares - Gave them a Dram & bit Tob° - Cold weather SUNDAY 7™ [Monday]. The Indians who arrived yesterday having paid their - debts traded 7'/2 Skins of Furrs - Gave them agreeable to demand Trencher files & Axes to the Amount of 16 Skins on Credit again - For they are gone to Hunt Beaver & to continue it untill the Spring - If his lordship choses I am certain that he will not be the most indolent of those who will come at that season - for he has pride enough & is moreover one of the Young Moguls of the Place being the indisputable Heir of the Great Chief - A place to which he aspires Beaulieu made another fruitless effort to kill his Beaver Fine weather. When I say fine Weather I only mean that the sun shines MONDAY 8T" [Tuesday]. Late in the evening last, [arrived] Cadien Le Gros Nez's Brother with Cadien Le Sapin - Gibeau & the Farting 55 This word cannot be made out, but judging from the context, it must refer in some way to a beaver lodge.

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Father arrived - the two Former with letters - having met the Latter above L'lle du Gros Cap in the [18] in the River au Liard - Gave them a Dram &: a Prey - for they complained of having been out since the day before they arrived - 13 Days Since they left Mr Keith's - News from that Post with Respect to returns are tolerated with ModestyS6 Very cold weather - N. B. Gibeau's Provisions were all also eaten What Beasts?5? TUES Y 9™ [Wednesday]. Collet is Sick -s disorder from the Tail has reverted to the Head - His Dulcinea58 is at Barbeux's lodges where there are too many young men to leave her, for as I have already remarked she is not temptation Proof - So that I cannot send him off again with Cadien - The men Drank Rum to day for Money. WEDNES Y 10™ [Thursday]. The Hunters came with 73 Hares - Engaged one of them to go to Bear Lake with the men, to carry letters there agreeable to Mr Clarkes request of last Fall - Having no one of my men who Knows the road - Asked the Sapin59 to go, but he refused - alledging that he was not obliged & that he had not cloathes for that purpose - having but one pair of old Trowsers - all this [his] things being at Mr Keiths - I said little to him but acquainted him that this refusal should perhaps be amply paid - Employed Tremp & Cadien Gros Nez Byr who also Started some objections - but however he was soon appeased - He intimated that they had not orders to proceed any farther than this - but I told them they were as much obliged to carry the letters they brought to the Places of their direction as my own men - &: to be short if none of them would go that they should seek for subsistance - for I was determined not to give them a mouthful of any thing untill they obeyed - This terminated all objections THURS Y 11™ [Friday]. Gave out Provisions to the weight of 8olbs Pemican so Hares 4 prs shoes & 4 measrs Am" & i Pr Snow Shoes to the men who were to go to Bear Lake - 3 young men arrived brought 23 Sks furrs & 50 Hares - one of these comes from Capot Rouge who is also on his way to the Fort to see what detains the Robe de Castor &c from 56 This is a strange expression. Perhaps Wentzel meant to say that Keith reported his returns to be modestly tolerable. Keith's returns would turn out to be the most respectable in the entire district for the 1807-8 season. 57 The entry for 8 December is not one of Wentzel's most lucid. In addition to the convolutions within the rest of the paragraph, it is difficult to understand what he was getting at by this postscript. 58 Dulcinea is the prostitute in Don Quixote. 59 Cadien le Sapin. The nickname could have had something to do with his physique, as in "thin as a board" (sapin or sapine), or his demeanour, for sometimes sapin referred to a coffin. Perhaps he was overly somber.

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joining him - This is the 3rd day since we have had exceeding bad Weather - Blowing & Snowing continually FRIDAY 12™ [Saturday]. Dispatched the express Early in the morning - and above Mentd Indians a Short time after - late in the evening Martin with 9 Indians including Boys, came from Lac Du Sol - these brought 47 Skins in furrs 56 ps white [fish] 2 Skins of Grease & 4 Cakes of Fish rows [fish roe] - some of these have their Skins in Cashe near the R>" Mountain - Martin not consenting to wait untill they went for them [19] These fellows came without their Trenches or other Utensils necessary for the Trench - Being aware that I had designs of Sending them for Beaver - They excused themselves by telling me that it was too Cold & the Animals too Scarce for them to go with their families but that towards the Spring in March they were determined to go when they expect to make a considerable Spring Hunt - One of these fellows having told me that I had wronged him in trading -1 wrung his nose & Sent him off - The others admitted the punishment to have been Merited therefore - were not in the least affected on that Ace1 SATURDAY 13™ [Sunday]. Sent off the before Mentd Clan, to whom I gave no Credits untill they come to go to the Beaver Country - Having waited in vain these few days past for the Collet to get well in order to Send off Cadienfio to Mr Keith's who being troubled with the Red Knives will perhaps be greatly in want of his Services - I gave a yard of Common Strouds61 to Beaulieu for Trousers in order to Send him with the Sapin - The Hunters brought 76 Hares SUNDAY 14™ [Monday]. Gave Cadien & Beaulieu who are to sett off tomorrow morning 5Olhs Weight of Dried Meat including 2 Cascameats & 4 Br Tails - besides 17 Hares &: 2 prs of shoes - Reprimanded Martin for some H-gg-h62 Tricks he had played in coming from the Grand Chefre last Fall - of which I recieved information from Beaulieu MON V 15T" [Tuesday]. Before Sun rise Sent off Beaulieu & Cadien TUES Y 16T" [Wednesday]. The men busy Chipping Sc drawing wood WEDNES Y 17™ [Thursday]. Snowed all day - Nothing else particular THURSY 18™ [Friday]. In the evening my Hunters brought 51 Hares FRIDAY ig TH [Saturday]. Ceased snowing to day - Made Martin & Gibeau clean the Fort of snow - Middling cold weather SATUR Y 20™ [Sunday] SUN Y 21 ST [Monday]. Collet arrived to day with 20 Hares - says that the Robe de Castor and band are stopped not 60 Cadien le Sapin. 61 Common shrouds were bolts or pieces of cheap cloth measured out by the yard or fathom (Duckworth 1990, 189). 62 If Wentzel meant "Hoggish" by this construction, it stretches the range of words he thought indelicate.

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far from the Fort by the indisposition of the Chien Brule - who tells me is making long strides towards the other World - What effect a little frivolous Sickness has upon these people - no less than 10 men are here detained from going to work on this only account - One of my Hunters who is byr to the afflicted old fellow,63 asked leave to go to see his byr while my other Hunter demands leave to go give the finishing Stroke - for he is a Doctor of high reputation & a Surgeon of Character - Gave permission - recieved 40 Hares from them to day - [20] MONDAY 22 N D [Tuesday]. Sent off the before mentioned Indians Sent word to those who are well not to concern themselves about the Chien Brule's disorder that I would let his byr my Hare Hunter take particular care of him during the time of his illness - The men busy white washing the inside of the House TUES Y 23 RD [Wednesday]. The Men Cleaning the House & washing the Floorings - Very Cold Weather WEDNES Y 24™ [Thursday]. Only a little Snow occurred to day THURS Y 25™ [Friday]. This being Christmas I gave each of the men a DramofShrub 6 4FRIDAY 26™ [Saturday]. Croup de Chien who had went to try his Skill as a physician upon the Chien Brule returned to day - saying that he was past Curse [cure] - after this Oration he set off to visit his Snares being almost famished - where if he finds any Hares, he will display his abilities [to] better effect In Cracking his Chops - Gaucher the other Hunter remains to be an eye witness of the issue of his sick Brothers indisposition SATUR Y 2 7™ [Sunday]. Arrived an Indian who I have not seen Since the Fall - Paid his debts to the Amount Four Skins and Traded 14 in Br & 4 Br Tails - he gave me no information respecting any others of his Tribe - being alone (three days March from this) with his mother & a Blind Byr in law - Middling fine weather SUNDAY 28™ [Monday]. Sent off the stranger who arrived yesty MON Y 29™ [Tuesday]. TUES Y 30™ [Wednesday]. And that's all WED Y 31ST [Thursday]. Gave a Beaver in meat - 7 white fish & 6 Hares to the men to arrange a Fricos65 for tomorrow's entertain1, got besides these a Great number of Cakes made - a mixture of flour & fish rows Spent grease 2V§lbs - Tolerable weather 63 The Gaucher was the brother mentioned; Croup de Chien was the other hunter. 64 Shrub was an alcoholic drink made from fruit or berry juices and rum or some other distilled spirit. 65 From fricot or stew.

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THURS Y JANUARY i S T 1808 [Friday] - Did not allow the men to Fire at my Windows as usual, my Hunters would have heard it & thus created an additional expence by hastening to the Summons - I Spent in Drams &c &c i Quart H Wines & % of a Flaggon Shrub - and i Fm twist Tob° - agreeble to former Customs66 - In the afternoon Capot Rouge arrived brought with a Scullion6? of his 36 Brs & 2 in Provns Gaucher also came to tell me that his byr was yet dying for tho' he Should have but a Sore Toe he is sure to belong to the Dead - & therefore cannot leave him untill he has either recovered or goes off entirely - Spent a Quart of mixt rum to these fellows & i Vz foot Tob° Capot Rouge says that he comes [21] comes to see if he can obtain any other young men of the Grand Chefre's band (who are to come to the Fort in this Moon) to go to the Beaver Country - he has now given 60 Skins in furrs Since the Fall including his Coatings - which for a man who is lame in arm is not I hope altogether amiss - notwithstanding that some [make] him out to be a Spoiled of all Spoiled Indians of the Posts where such accomplished Gentlemen Winter were to work as well in proportion - Would not these Critics have made better returns last year68 - I kept his majesty's Scullion to supply the Place of the Gaucher - Pretty good weather FRIDAY 2 N D [Saturday]. Sent off above Indians - Capot Rouge is to wait a month & no longer SATURDAY 3 RD [Sunday]. Croup de Chien brought 55 Hares to daySUN Y 4™ [Monday]. Sent away again the Dog's Rump to his Snares MON Y 5™ [Tuesday] TUES Y 6TH [Wednesday]. Nothing particular - Fat-g Father brought 20 Hares - Sent off immediately, his wife is at home WEDNES Y 7™ [Thursday]. No news - The men Chop & draw wood THURS Y 8 TH [Friday]. Jollibois with two Indians Came from Grand Chefre - this last sends me word that he is yet in quest of the Dahotinnais and that as he will not be able to comply with my request of last Fall of going above the Fort towards the river des Couteau Rouges69 in quest of 66 If James Sutherland remained among the hunters Wentzel was so careful not to summon, only Charles Martin and Alexis Gibeau were present to partake of their bourgeois's largess. 67 Capot Rouge must have had a personal servant or some other person with him whom Wentzel thought little of, for this seems to have been a disparaging term. 68 Wentzel's intention might be better served if the two preceding sentences were rewritten to read "Were their Indians to work as well in proportion, would not these critics have made better returns last year." 69 That is, the Red Knife River. This is further evidence that the post on this river, shown on Wentzel's map of 1821, had not yet been established.

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Beaver - that he will Trench Beaver behind the old Rocky Mon Fort where he has discovered a few Br Lodges. Jollibois tells me the same, i.e. that the whole band intimated the very same Story - The two fellow Travellers of Jollibois brought 21 Skins in furrs & 2 in Provns - Grand Chefre sent me 314 Skins of Fat &; Mufles or rather Noses FRIDAY 9T" [Saturday]. Allowed my lately arrived guests to remain here to day on account of the bad weather SATURDAY io TH [Sunday]. Sent off Jollibois & his Companions to resume his Station in land - desired him to do his utmost endeavors to encourage his band to work every Beaver they might come across Very bad weather SUN Y 11™ [Monday] MONDAY 12™ [Monday]. Nothing Strange worth mentioning TUES Y 13™ [Wednesday]. One of the Hare Hunters brought 38 Hares to day - Dogs rump70 has shrunk - takes no more Hares being extremely unwell WEDNES Y 14™ [Thursday]. Sent off the Above Again to his Collets for I believe he will make a pretty good Hangman - Fine weather THURS Y 15* [Friday] . No thing occured deserving of Notice-[22] FRIDAY 16TH [Saturday]. Capot Rouge with his Family and the Farting Father Came to day with 3 Train loads of Hares - Very fine weather SATUR Y 17™ [Sunday]. Recieved 2 Skins in Beaver &: 157 Hares. Remains today SUN Y 18™ [Monday]. The Capot Rouge went away again MON Y 19™ [Tuesday] TUES Y 2O TH [Wednesday]. Gaucher came from his byr who is yet in his former condition - the Former comes to resume his station, as Hare Hunter. WEDNES Y 21 ST [Thursday]. New Brooms sweeps Clean - for our new Hangman cleans every thing before him - Brought to day 44 Hares THURS Y 22 N D [Friday]. He sett off again - Friday & Satu^ Fine weather -

SUN Y 25™ [Monday]. CAURON 7 * the lord High Hangman (C. Rouge) came to day with 96 Hares - & then went away again. MON Y 2 6TH [Tuesday]. Levier & Byr Came to day - brought 11 Br Skins i Cascameat & 60 Hares - These Slept 5 nights from their Families TUES Y 27™ [Wednesday]. Sent the above away - Capot Rouge & they are to join in going Again for Br as the others who had been expected does not come - Nothing else transpired 70 Croup de Chien. 71 While this word has not been identified, the context suggests that it is some sort of expletive. One guess is that Wentzel alludes to Charon, who in Greek mythology took the dead across the River Styx.

328

Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

WEDNES V 28™ [Thursday]. My Hunters brought 81 Hares to day THURS R 29™ [Friday]. The above returned to their Snares FRIDAY 30™ [Saturday]. Capot Rouge & byr came with 50 Hares - they come to let me know that they are now going off untill the Ice Breaks up. The Former assures me that he will not return untill every one who is with him has gathered a good number of Br Skins - unless they Should be frightened away by meeting wh Red Knives - in which case he says he will answer for no other but himself - one of our Hunters gave 50 Hares again today - Gave the Former directions to send me as much Meat as possible but not to amuse themselves with hunting the Large Animals but only in times when they could not possibly Trench - Advanced him 6 Measrs Amn VI fm Tobacco gratis as an encouragement to make him Stand to his promises - He then went away SATURDAY 31ST [Sunday]. Very Stormy Snowing weather TUES Y FEBRUARY 3 ED [Wednesday]. Last Saturday in the night Died one of my little Boys - who had been Sick since the 15 ofJany 72 WEDNES Y 4™ [Thursday]. All our Hunters came to day with 138 Hares Uncommon cold weather THURS Y 5™ [Friday]. The Hunters returned to their stations - Bad weather FRIDAY [Saturday] SATUR Y [Sunday] & SUNDAY [Monday] nothing occurred worth committing MON Y 9™ [Tuesday]. Cold Stormy & Snowing weather - The Hunters brought to [23] to day 35 Hares. They are going to Sett their Snares in some other Place TUES Y IO TU [Wednesday]. The Hunters went away WEDNES V [Thursday] THURS V [Friday], FRIDAY [Saturday] AND SATUR Y [Sunday] 14™. Nothing strange SUN Y 15™ [Monday]. One of the Hunters brought 26 Hares - Fine weather MON Y 16™ [Tuesday]. The above Sett off again - No return of the express from Bear Lake - tho it is now upwards of a month Since they have been off - Very mild weather SUND Y 22 N D [Monday]. Since Monday nothing extraordinary occured The Hunters through the course of this week brought 94 Hares 5 of which I traded for Salt - had a heavy fall of Snow yester7 To day the snow melted off the Houses MON Y 23 E D [Tuesday] Arrived 4 Indians to day-who brought 27 Skins of furrs & 70 Hares these are boys - one of them traded a Gun hav72 This is one of the few instances where Wentzel mentioned his family. The image of a hardened, caustic fur trader is softened somewhat by expressions of a caring father, expressed a little later in this journal.

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ing 15 Skins of Beaver Since the Fall in Store for that purpose & has now paid the full amount - Our Hunters gave us 30 Hares to day Mild weather - No express, what detains them? TUES Y 24 TH [Wednesday]. The Boys who arrived yesterday sett off again to day their lodges are at the River au Peau de Lievre WK0NES y [Thursday], THURS Y [Friday], FRIDAY [Saturday] & SATUR Y [Sunday] 28™. The Hunters gave us since Tuesy 90 Hares - besides 20 for Am" & 15 for Tob° traded of the Hunters - Exceeding mild SUNDAY 29™ [Monday]. No appearances of the return of the express MON Y MARCH i ST [Tuesday]. Very windy weather Snowing all day. The Hunters gave us 32 Hares TUES Y 2 N D [Wednesday]. Recieved again 20 Hares to day Weather same as yestery - Nothing else WEDNES Y 3 RD [Thursday]. Weather as yesterday THURS Y [Friday], FRIDAY [Saturday] 5™. Recieved 50 Hares Since Tuesy - The Snow & Storm ceased about 12 o'clock - got the Fort cleared of snow - The men Split me some varangues [floor timbers] & made a Chair - Martin brought a few Ps of Cypress for Dees-73 SATTJRY 6 TH [Sunday]. At long last - about 2 o'clock in the afternoon Arrived Cadien7* accompanied by 2 Indians from Bear Lake with the express - The Letters from that quarter dated Feby 5* so that it is exacdy a month since Mr Clarke sent them off Qean-Baptiste] LaPrise had been given him in Tremp's stead (who was laid up at Bear Lake with the mal de Racquettes75) but the old fellow being unable to continue remained with Indians along the road &c - [24] There Cadien took Genereux who on account of his having a frozen toe when he left bear Lake could not proceed any further than the Gros Roches where he remained with Grand Chefre - from whence Cadien came with 2 Indians - he says that this is the third day Since he has eat nothing therefore I gave him a Prey - Mr Clarke wrote me that my men first arrived at Bear Lake on the 26* of Jatf after having ran astray to blue Fish owing to the ignorance they were in of the road the Indian having left them on the way - being fearful of being killed for food - as the Provns was lowering very fast & the men litde able to march - they put 73 It might be that Martin brought in a few pieces of a supple wood, capable of being bent into the shape of a D used to connect parts of a harness. If trees from the Cypress family (Cupressaceae) were found in the vicinity of Fort of the Forks, they must have been rare. 74 Cadien Gros Nez, along with Tremp, had been employed to carry the express to Great Bear Lake on i o December. 75 Mal de mquette is a painful injury affecting snowshoers, caused by an undue strain on the tendons of the leg (Avis 1991, 459).

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to go to the Gros Roche only from this 13 days - these are Smart fellows & merit some reward - News from below says - poor expectations [are] entertained of making returns, particularly at Bear Lake?e where no less than three Widowers have been made unknown to themselves & perhaps unvoluntarily - This happened by the desertion of three Ladies last Spring after the departure of the Canoe from that Place - At the head of this party was Mrs Clarke77 with a Great & valuable Booty — which they had the care of taken from the Shop & the Husbands private property - with this These Summer Clerks78 have made the best of their way to the Peau de Lievries Lands79 - where it is supposed they will perform great Feats - not to the advantage of the Compy interest - These are indeed Master Pieces - a woman Clerk had not long ago been commended & even extolled as one of the best Tools that could be employed in charge of a Post for the Summer - I believe these Gentlemen will now be convinced of their own conviction to the Contrary - It is also said lhat three men (Canadians) & 3 Indians are gone for them - Mr. Henry is en decouverte80 on the Rocky Mountain - Fine weather SUNDAY 7™ [Monday]. Arranged Martin & Gibeau to be off tomorrow with the express to Slave Lake - Gave them 37lbs Pemican, 20 Hares, 4 MeasR Am" i old Gun, i half ax, i Pr shoes & 2 Pr racquettes - In the evening Martin accused Gibeau of having Stolen Grease & Fat while he had cooked for me - This happened at the time when I was taken up with the loss of my little Boy - being myself indisposed -8l I allowed him to go to the Store for Hares for our own subsistance - he denied it - but at length confessed that he had taken only about Vi'b - The other 76 The returns from Great Bear Lake for 1807-8 amounted to only seventeen packs, an especially poor number when it is remembered that John Clarke reserved the largest proportion of the outfit for himself at that post. 77 This country -wife of John Clarke was referred to in the footnote for 2 August. They had at least one child - a boy. 78 The summer establishment at Great Bear Lake had apparently been left in the charge of the three country wives, a practice, according to Wentzel's subsequent comments, that had some precedent. 79 This river should not be confused (as Wentzel nearly did) with the River au Peau de Lievre, or Rabbitskin River, mentioned on 15 September and again on a 4 February, which is about thirty miles up the Mackenzie from the Forks. Because of its proximity to Great Bear Lake, it must be assumed here that Wentzel was referring to the lands of the Hare Indians to the north and west of the lake. 80 That is, on an exploring expedition. 81 See entry for 3 February.

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maintained that he had stolen much more - [25] more - This declaration of the one & the feeble defence of the other terminated at length in these words "Why did you discover82 upon me" - "because you had first distributed reports against me." Both cursed Rascals MON Y 8™ [Tuesday]. Before sunrise dispatched the express as remkd yesterday - Veryfineweather TUES Y 9TH [Wednesday]. Arrived 5 Indians from Lac du Sol - Byrs to La Montagne who had promised to go for Beaver in Decr Last - They brought 4 hares - recieved from these 79 Skins in Furrs for debts & Traded 18 more wh 4 Skins of Fresh Meat Gave out bits of Tobacco & Drams - These people in Company wh ten more have Crossed the River au Liard - on their way to join Capot Rouge in order to proceed to the Beaver Indn Mountain above the Old Fort,83 which we now call the Beaver Country - on account of its being the only place from which the Natives can expect to find Beaver - Gave out Credits & gave them orders not to come to the Fort but En Canoe - I also obtained their consent, that they should pass the ensuing summer and winter in the same quarter - so that if no misfortune befalls them - we may expect decent returns next year - Very cold weather WEDNES Y 10™ [Thursday]. Got Snow, Ice, and 23 large kettles full of water thrown into the Ice House - My Hunters brought 30 Hares to day - they have taken up their snares in order to Sett them in another place - They sett off again THURS Y [Friday] i I TH 12™. Nothing Strange SATUR Y 13™. Arrived two young men from La Montagne's band again - paid 14 Skins in furrs debts & Traded 13 more besides iV£ Skin in meat - Gave out credits again & Sent off two of my hare hunters to Accompany these in order to make them also give their Share of furrs - I have now but an old [26] man who I Keep here much against his own willSUN Y [Monday] 14™, 15™, 16™, 17™. Cadien put 56 large Kettles full of water in the Ice House84 SATURDAY 2O TH [Sunday]. Three young men arrived from Capot Rouge & Levrier's band, they brought 8 Skins of Fresh Meat - Slept 4 nights coming to the Fort - Gave them bits of Tobacco & Drams. Paid & Sent them off-with instructions to their Moguls not to come to the Fort but after the departure of the Ice - & that they should remove 82 This is an archaic, but correct, use of the word. 83 That is, the abandoned post near the mouth of the Trout Lake River established by Duncan Livingston in 1795 or 1796. 84 The kettles were not put into the ice house but, rather, used as containers to deliver the water there.

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a little farther from the Fort in quest of Beaver - Sent them according to request i Fm Tobacco - & 6 Meas: Am" - This may perhaps be considered as being rather profuse - and tending to extravagancy - but I hope it will also be considered, that I am obliged to do it in order to please the Natives, that they may attach themselves to the quarter they are now Steering to - besides it will also tend to enduce others from below to follow - When once they will have taken a liking to the country - & then it will be an easy matter for the Clerk who is here (if my Employers should dispose of me elsewhere) to retrench these perquisites with the greatest facility - without fearing to discourage the Indians - Fine weather SUN Y 21 ST [Monday], recieved 100 Hares & 6 Lynx Skins to day from my old Hunter - Sent him off again MON V 22 N D [Tuesday], An elderly man with two young lads arrived from the Horn Mountain - recieved from these their debts account8 to 33 Skins of furrs - Gave drams & bits of Tob° After this traded 80 Pleus [plues] more of Peltries & 10 Hares - Gave out credits again Weather as yesterday TUES Y 23 RD [Wednesday]. Sent off the above Indians WEDNES Y 24™ [Thursday]. My Hunter brought 30 Hares & 3 Pichoux Skins FRIDAY a6 TH [Saturday], recieved 45 Hares & i Pichoux Skin from my Hare Hangman - who was also accompanied per an old man [27] man who brought 23 Skins in furrs and one in Meat. Paid his debts being only 3 Skins & Traded the remainder - this old man is trenching the leavings of other Indians who had trenched the Br Lodges about the Fort last Fall - F. W. took 4 Hares in his Snares SATUR* 27'" [Sunday]. The Hunter went away to his Collets & the old man to his family SUNDAY 28™ [Monday]. In the afternoon arrived Jollibois & Genereux accompanied per two Indians from Grand Chefres The latter brought 3 Skins in furrs & 10 in fat, Pd M( & Fresh Meat - Gave them a Dram each and a piece of Tob° to the two Indians - The intent of this embassy from his majesty is to let me Know that Strangers85 (of whom I have made mention more than once in this journal) have at length paid him a visit to the number of 13 men & Five Boys - without furrs or Provisions - But a numberless quantity of New Songs & Dances- These people Jollibois & Genereux saw as they were present at their arrival to die Lodges - Their own habitation's are only at the distance of two Days from our Indians tents - Yet they could not be prevailed upon to [visit] the Fort - notwithstanding that Jollibois & his 85 That is, the Dahodinne.

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associate did their best to produce the so much desired interview Grand Chefre also applied all the Strength of his persuasive elogence to no purpose - it is to be lamented that I had not a man who understands a little of the language of these People - for I make no doubt but such a man would have persuaded them - particularly as their excuse for not coming - was principally because they had no Beaver & no provisions to bring with them, a circumstance that might have been quickly solved to their satisfaction by a person who had a little knowledge of Slaves Language - Such an interested man as Smith, would have in all [28] all probability, produced the effect - but the others who were present are void of these necessary qualifications for such an enterprize. Grand Chefre, who finds himself now of some consequence, sends me word to send him a pair of Leggins, some Amn Tob° & the loan of an old Gun - These demands tho they do not please me, I will be obliged to answer in order to Keep the old Rascal as much in my sleeve as possible - Perhaps will he persuade them at the long run for I am told by his soninlaw - that the two Nations are to pass the remainder of the spring together — which I am induced to give some Credit to - By the ardent desire the new discovered tribe have of intermarrying among this Tribe - They gave intelligence of another Nation (who are numerous) & carry the name Sas dinnah86 - or the Gens D'our - on ace1 of their dress which consists chiefly of Bear Skin these here all known by the name of Embayo dinnah deriving their pedigree from an Animal of the Rocky Moun resembling in its furr &: size a Sheep - which induces me to call them Gens de Mouten8"7 They boast highly of the numbers of their nation, & seem proud of the peacable disposition with which they live with the other different Tribes that inhabit the Rocky Mountain - They have European dags88 86 The Bear Skin Indians were indicated on Wentzel's map of 1821 but left out of the printed version of 1823. On tne latter map, the Dawhodinny (as the Wernerian Natural History Society of Edinburgh chose to spell Dahodinne) were identified as, reportedly, cannibals. By whose report remains a mystery, but nowhere in any of his journals or letters presently known did Wentzel refer to any Nation as cannibals. This may have been added simply to titillate the buying public. 87 This nation, called by their neighbours the Dahodinne, apparently referred to themselves as Embayodinnah. Now, Wentzel added a third name to the confusion, although he did not follow up his own suggestion on his map of 1821. 88 Knives or daggers (Avis 1991, 195). Duckworth suggests that dags could also refer to heavy pistols, but that seems unlikely in the present circumstance (1990, 192).

334 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

& beads which they Trade from the above mentd Gens D'Our - who get them from another Nation that trades them from the whites at the Sea89 - This what I could get from the two young men who arrived with Jollibois - N.B. The Whites from [whence] they get the forementd dags Trade nothing but Carcajoux & Foxes and Embaye Skins, i. e the Sheep - I asked if it was a great ways to where that Fort was -1 was told in answer that the new Comers had said that they had the Rock'' Mount" to Cross, then a very large River well Stocked in Beaver - and then a large Tract of land where no woods was to be seen being a Country like the Chipeweans lands - at the extremity of this they followed down a river which [29] led them to the Sea Shore where they commenced - this is what the Gens D'Qur told the Gens d'Mouten.90 This is now the n ch day since Jollibois left the lodges - which Genereux tells me may be performed in 5 Days par des gens qui voudra marcher -9' MONDAY 2g TH [Tuesday]. Jollibois asked leave to remain a day or two here to mend his Cloaths &c &c to which I consented - Sent Cadien93 to the Hare Hunter, who came back with the latter & 70 Hares - My Girl took a Lynx in Collets - Thawed a little day. 89 This could have been a Tlingit-Tuchone-Sasdinnah-Dahodinne trading network. 90 A similar story was told to Alexander Mackenzie in 1789 by Indians he met while ascending the Mackenzie River. Editors of Mackenzie's journal are convinced the river referred to must have been the Yukon and the fort a Russian establishment at its mouth (Lamb 1970, 213-14; McDonald 1966, 88). From what the two young men told Wentzel, they no doubt would come to the same conclusion. However, the centre of Russian trade between 1789 and 1808 was far to the south of the Yukon River and Norton Sound. In fact, the first Russian establishment in Norton Sound was not established until 1833, and it was not until six years later that a post was built on the Yukon River (Tikhmenev 1978, a, 426). During the period of time congruent with these reports to Mackenzie and Wentzel, Russian trade centred around Kodiak Island and the archipelago of islands to the south. Allowance must be made for exaggeration in these stories; the large river could as easily have been the Stikine or even the Taku. The "white men's forts" were probably coasting ships and the traders American or British merchants, a conclusion Wentzel himself reached the ensuingjune. See the entry, below, for 19 June 1808. It is not likely that trade was conducted at or near the mouth of the Yukon River, for there were no known European traders in that vicinity. 91 That is, with men who wish to walk. 92 This is Cadien Gros Nez; his brother Sapin was, at this time, at Fort Biskaga.

335 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

TUES Y 3OTH [Wednesday]. Sent one of the young men who came with Jollibois upon the Track of an Orignal - as I hope he will kill it for he is reported to be a capital Butcher - In the afternoon he returned alledging that the Animal had been risen some time ago - & that there was no crust upon the Snow to run him - However as the fellow seems willing to remain untill his father inlaw93 the Grand Chefre comes to the Fort I keep him to Hunt hoping to detach him entirely from the lower quarters where nothing can be had WEDNES Y 3i ST [Thursday]. Sent off Jollibois to resume his Station wh Grand Chefre - gave him all the instructions I could upon what he Should do to bring a Couple of the Strangers to die Fort - at them [the] same time sent word to the Grand Chefre to prevail upon them to come & see me - that since diey had no Beaver, that they might come with provisions &c understanding, that the animals were numerous thereabouts and that my directions might have the better effect upon the old Scoundral -1 added 6 meas: Am: i Pr Leggins & 4 feet of Tobacco - but I excused myself with respect to the Gun - Last night our House took Fire, which we however extinguished not without some difficulty, being obliged to cut a great deal of Bark &c away [30] THURS Y [Friday i April] A very heavy thaw to day - The season is advancing apace & yet I cannot send off back to Mr Keith's as Genereux has a frozen Toe & besides the return of the express from Slave Lake I expect every day - so that I do not believe that two or three days more retarding will occasion any serious consequence to Mr Keith - if it was possible I Should heartily wish to send him off immediately FRIDAY 2 ND [Saturday]. About Sundown arrived 9 men 5 Boys & 3 women from the Lac du Sol Northard - Gave them bits of Tob° & Drams - Very warm weather SATUR Y 3RD [Sunday]. Recieved debts to day to the Am' of 82 Skins furrs & Traded 122 Plews more besides 80 Hares - My Hunter brought also 85 Hares & 3 Pichoux Skins When I asked why they worked the latter they told me that it was for subsistance. Sent all the Indians off again after giving them Credits this gang are also to go & work Beaver next fall above the Old Fort - They got no knives, firesteels, files or Axes -1 have no more SUN Y 4™ [Monday]. Receved 2 Lynx Skins again to day - My Slave Hunter has discovered two Moose Tracks & a Br Lodge - he is now busy making Snow Shoes to run the former TUES Y 6TH [Wednesday]. The Slave is gone to trench the above mentd Br lodge 93 This young man may have been Jollibois's brother-in-law, because sometime during this period the Canadian married one of the Grand Chefre's daughters.

336 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

WEDNES Y 7™ [Thursday]. Very warm weather THURS Y 8TH [Friday]. About Midday arrived Martin with the return of the express from Slave Lake - accompanied by Jean Range - who Mr [Peter Warren] Dease has been Kind enough to send as a substitute in place of Alexis Gibeau who could not return on account of Swelled Ledges [legs] occasioned by the mall de Racquettes This is their tenth day from Turtle Creek94 - excuses attributed to sore eyes, mal de Jambe [sore legs] &c &c. - News from that Quarter Tolerable Mr Rochblave95 has been pleased to inform me [31] that the Red Knives will probably possess the Beaver Country again the ensuing Summer & winter - but that no disturbances or disagreements may Keep the Natives of this Place in the former from working should they meet96 - he assures us that [Jean Baptiste] Adam will be with the Red Knives - This however I fear will not be enough to satisfy the timerous minds of my Indians who are afraid in a manner almost of their own Shadows - We had a little snow to day FRIDAY 9™ [Saturday]. At break of Day Sent off Generux & Cadien to Mr Keith - Gave them 50 Hares & 3 Cascameats - Lent them also an old Gun & gave them 5 meas: Am This week The House was new plastered & white washed SATURY i o™ [Sunday]. The Slave Hunter came from the Trench with out killing any thing - In consideration of the Mens telling me that they had been a great number of Fresh moose 8c Buffaloe tracks at & in the vicinity of the Old Fort - I employed 2 Indians to go in Compy with the Slave to see if they will be able to make a few provisions there - as there are no Animals here abouts - the two young lads thus employed are gone to their lodges for their dogs - they promise to be back on Monday Thaw very fast 94 The location of Turtle Creek has not been found. 95 Pierre de Rastel de Rocheblave, one of the original six partners in the XY Company, was one of only two French Canadians admitted as a partner at the merger of that concern with the North West Company in 1804. While associated with the XY Company in 1803-5, Rocheblave served on the Peace River (HBCA, 6.39/3/2, fol. 5d; 6.39/3/4, fols. 4d-5, 18). After the amalgamation of the two companies, Rocheblave was placed in charge of the Red River Department until 1807, when the management of the Athabasca Department was given to his care. It was as a newly arrived bourgeois, but not one unfamiliar with the Athabasca Department, that Rocheblave informed Wentzel of the activities of the Red Knives (Dufour and Ouellet 1988, 735-9). 96 Perhaps Wentzel's intent might be more clearly understood if this sentence was rewritten to say, "but that no disturbances or disagreements may keep the Natives of this place from working in the Beaver Country should they meet."

337 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

MON Y 12™ [Tuesday]. The two young men came back yester^ The Slave arranging his Snow Shoes TUES Y 13™ [Wednesday]. Sent off the three young men with Martin on their way to the Old Fort - The latter is to put the Meat &c in Cashe & guard the Hunters against any attempts of the Red Knives Should they meet with any on their route - he is to fish for his living as soon as there is a possibility of Setting a net for which purpose I lent him a Bougon de Retz97 Gave the Hunters 10 Meas: Amn 4 flints & i foot O Tob° - They have orders to come En Canoe- Lent a Gun to the Slave as he has none of his own - [32] WEDNES Y 14™ [Thursday]. Appeared 4 men & two Boys - Paid 30 Skins Peltries of debts & Traded 33 more besides 4 Pleus in fresh mlthey come from Lac du Sol behind the Fort - Fine weather THURS Y 15™ [Friday]. Gave out Credits & Sent off the above Indians - not however without endeavouring to make them go above - they promised to go En Canoe - but they were displeased because they could get no Knives &c &c &c MON Y 19™ [Tuesday]. Since Thursy nothing extraordinary occured To day my old Hare Hunter gave me i Carcajou Skin, 2 Pichoux 20 Hares - he gives notice that an old man had run down & killed an Origl - not far from hence - & demands that Fu [two] Frenchmen to go for the Meat - Prepared little Sutherland & Sent him with Range for the meat - the distance is no more than about 4 leagues from the Fort - Very mild TUES Y 20™ [Wednesday]. The Old man who had Shot the above mentd animal came to day wh a load on his back - telling me that Range & Sutherland had Strayed out of their way yester^ & that he having met them coming back to the Fort - he sent his byr-inlaw with them to the animal - This man says that he saw Swans two days ago WEDNES Y 2 I ST [Thursday]. At Sun down Range &c &c came with the Meat weighg 325lbs his reasons for being so long was that they were compelled to wait for the Frost as the Dogs would Sten98 their Sledges in the woods during the Thaw - which indeed is very great - Some time before Dzomebettaw" with 6 young men and a boy - had given A

97 This phrase has not been specifically identified, but retz (rets) is an old word for nets (see Duckworth 1990, 190). Bougon may be derived from bouger (to move) and could be the term given a pole used for setting a net under the ice. 98 Wentzel may have meant "stem their sledges" (as in get them stuck) between places where the snow had melted and places where it had not. 99 This man returned to the fort on 5 June with another good return. Except for these two occasions, he is not again mentioned or otherwise identified.

338 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

me 45 Skins furrs of debts & traded 91 Skins more & 10 Skins of fat, Grease & Dried Meat - exclusive of this there was a young lad who had 36 Skins to trade a Gun - but as I had none to give him - I could only make him dispose of 17 - the remainder he would not Trade but left them as an advance for a Gun to be given him next fall - consequently I gave him a note for the same - [33] THURS Y 22 N D [Friday]. Gave out Credits & Sent off the above Indians - who promised to come with provisions in the Summer - They are to work some Br Lodges next Fall about old Fork [Fort] Rocky Mount" Water to be seen in many Places on the Ice of the Grand River FRI Y 23 RD [Saturday]. Arrived 3 men with 15 Skins furrs & 5^ Skins Mc one of these is come to give notice that the Slave who is wh Martin this side of the old Fort has killed two Moose in Company with another of the Hunters - The 2nd of these arrivants is from a party of 5 men who are Trenching Beaver this side of the old Fort - the 3rd is from the Band who came here the 3rd Ins' his business is to let me Know that all that gang are going above according to my request. Sent off Range for the above mentd meat - gave him orders to take 3 or four young men with him in order to get all the meat at one hawl to the Fort for I remain here alone100 24™, 25™, 26™, 27™, 28™, 29™. Nothing strange FRIDAY 30™ [Saturday]. Genereux & Beaulieux came from Mr Keith's Estab1 - they left that Post on the 22 nd and have had a great deal of misery coming down as the water had risen a good deal upon the Ice - News very unfavourable from above Mr Keith's Indians have Killed & Massacered 22 Souls of a Strange Tribe of Indians called Tsilladahodinnah - notwithstanding that Smith & a Canadien who was with our Indians employed their utmost endeavours to safe the poor victims thus devoted to destruction101 - In the afternoon 100 Wentzel was not quite alone, of course, for he had has family with him, but he did not have any engages at his disposal. i o i George Keith described this incident, which occurred in the spring, in a letter to Roderic McKenzie on i December 1808. Keith identified the victims as Trilli-da-ha-tine, or Gens d'Original (Orignal). Two young Slaveys were in pursuit of two Trilli-da-ha-tine who had fled, for some reason, while the rest of the two bands settled their differences peacefully. One of the young Slaveys accidentally shot his companion and severely wounded him. The Slaveys attributed accidents such as this to their enemies (seeKrech 1981, 92). In what Keith judged a moment of irrational panic, the young man returned to the peaceful gathering and, in retribution, shot one of the strangers. In the melee that followed, twenty-two men, women, and children of the unoffending tribe were killed (NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 18-19).

339 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

Range came with 3 young men who brought 2OOlbs of Meat - The bones of which had all been taken out They could not bring all 1 Shoulder, i thigh, the Croup, [hindquarters] neck, back bone &c &: wh the Skins had remained in the Cashe - F. W. shot 2 bustards yesterday - Paid these young men & sent them off- [34] SATUR Y [Sunday] 2 ND , 3 RD , 4, 5™. Nothing strange transpired- the men employed all this time in making Canoe wood, melting fat, &c &C&C-

THURS Y 6™ [Friday]. Tossed up the furrs in the Store to see if any were damaged - found every thing in safety - In the afternoon the Ice of the Forks broke up FRIDAY 7™ [Saturday]. The Ice of the Forks cut its Passage clear across the Grand River - The men cutting & bringing Poles to fence in about 60 Paces of land for an additional garden Beaulieu shot 3 Bustards SATUR Y 8TH [Sunday]. The fence put up to day - The Ice Keeps up a Continual noise as if the bottom of the Streams were to be seperated asunder - Makes horrible Cracks now & then MON Y IO TH [Tuesday]. Since Friday Beaulieu Shot 4 Bustards & 2 Ducks, Range shot i bustard - Last night the Moon in its Meridian was entirely eclipsed - but the rim was always visible — appearing as if it had been covered with a Smoaked Glass - The weather was clear, not a cloud visible in the sky - it lasted about 2 hours & then the moon appeared as red & bright as before, without any perceptable change with weather - The stars indeed were somewhat clearer than usual102 WEDNES Y 12™ [Thursday]. Yestery The Ice up the Grand River made a feint of braking up - To day it made a terrible Shove & formed a Dam opposite to the Fort- The water was however prevented from rising any height as a passage was soon forced by the Ice - on the other Side of the Grand River - Shot 2 Bustards & 2 Hares to day - Genereux Beat down an old 12 Inch File - to make firesteels Made 6 out of it Range made rakes for the Garden 102 It is possible to predict eclipses, and if Wentzel had had the proper training, he could have awed the Indians with what would have appeared to them as a bit of sorcery. Lieutenant John Franklin of the Land Arctic Expedition did as much in 1820 when he informed the Yellowknives of an imminent solar eclipse. His purpose, he said in his journal, was to "impress upon their Minds the certainty of a Supreme Being," but in his published account Franklin remarked that "this knowledge was a striking proof of the superiority of the whites over the Indians" (Davis 1995, 56ni35). Among the Slavey, however, such a prediction would have been looked upon with suspicion, for eclipses were seen as the work of sorcerers and as potentially dangerous (Krech 1981, 92).

340 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River SATUR Y 15™ [Sunday]. Since the 12th the river has been totally Clear of Ice - Vested the men howed the Garden - To day two men came from Capot Rouge they brought 40 Skins in Peltries - they come to let me know that they have seen enemies of course [35] This is some imagine vision again of theirs which however ridiculous & probably without foundation, keeps the Indians in a continual alarm & thus prevents them from working had I had men to send with them these frivolous fears would perhaps have been lulled into safety by the great confidence they put in having a Canadian with them - it is then in their opinion impossible for them to be in danger - Here again my last resource is blasted - What returns will I have this year! - Curse that timidity of theirs SUN Y 16™ [Monday]. Early in the morning as the sun was about 2l/z Hours high we were all surprized at the Circles demicles103 circumferencing the whole atmosphere - The Coulours were red, yellow, & purple with white stripes here & there- Its form run thus: It is very remarkable that the moon tho' in its last quarter Should here appear as bright as at midnight - this lasted about zVz hours again & then took another form & (different from this It had however no visible effect upon the weather which was very warm & clear - The Ice of the Grand River came down from above - in very large quantities M Y 17™ [Tuesday]. Genereux arranging a Pr of Ballances [scales] The Grand River driving Ice - An Indian came to day with 6 Brs - F. W. & Range foung [found] two dead Brs on the other side of the Grand River to day TUES Y [Wednesday] 18™ WEDNES Y [Thursday] 19™. Sent the Indian who arrived the day before yesterdy in quest of Jollibois - The men preparing wedges & mallets to press the packs - rained & Snowed yestery all day - last night we had pretty Smart Frost THURS Y 20™ [Friday]. Got 6 packs made - Snowed, rained & blowed all day very cold weather - [36] FRIDAY 2I S T [Saturday]. The men visited 2 nets which had been put in the water the day before yesterday Took 6 Small pieces of Fish The weather uncommon Cold for the season - Got 6 more packs made but not pressed the weather will not allow us - Snowing & raining alternately 103 Perhaps Wentzel meant "semicircles."

341 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River SATURY 22 N D [Sunday]. The men made 11 Packs - Weather as yesterdaySUN Y 2 3 RD [Monday]. Arrived an Indian with two old women & 4 Children they come from lac du Sol - which they have been obliged to leave for want of subsistance - they can take no fish & the Contagion which Carried off so many Animals large [last] year has on all appearance lodged this year upon the Hares - Great numbers of which are found dead every where in the woods - The young man brought the Skin of a Bear that he found dead - yet this Animal had at least 2 Inches & better of Depouille. - I am assured by this visiter that he did not see one moose or Carribou track Since he left the fore mentd Lake which is the 5th day he is marching - Fine weather MV 24™ [Tuesday]. Ice driving very thick down the Grand River. Planted the Potatoes THURS Y 27™ [Friday], Since the 24lh nothing occured worth mentioning except that the weather extremely rainy & the men worked at the Garden - Sowed our other Garden Seeds - Early in the morning Martin with the two Hunters who I had sent with him arrived - They brought 17 Skins in Br & 19 in Meat - One of them had near been drowned by falling thro' the Ice, by which incident he lost his Gun and the Slave had burst the Gun (I had lent him) in firing at a Bear these misfortunes have Kept them Idle above a month past - which is the reason they alledge for not making more provisions, for they tell me that the Animals above the Old Fort are dechen Laun-dai, Thlons1"^ i.e., there are so many, that they are as numerous as the trees - Four other young men came from a band who are along the river, these paid 18 Skins of their debts - & traded 31 more I mean in furrs - for they are Starving - Hares are indifferently begining to be destroyed all over by the Contagion mentd before - [37] Sent Martin & Range to Sett nets at a little river below the little Islands - Fine weather FRIDAY 28™ [Saturday]. Range & Martin returned without having taken any fish - They shot a pichoux - Sent Martin to Sleep at another little river with nets SATUR Y 29™ [Sunday]. Martin brought 10 F of Fish, only two of which were taken in the nets the others at the lines - The men pressed 12 Packs - An Indian from above brought 18 Skins of furrs of debts & traded 7 more - Sent the little Slave to hunt Gave him 4 meas: Amm" 104 Although both W.F. Wentzel and George Keith provided Slavey dialect vocabularies in their letters to Roderic McKenzie, the letters of neither contain any hint of a literal translation of this phrase (NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 11-13; Masson 1960, 1:97-104).

342 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

SUNDAY 30TH [Monday]. Arrived Capot Rouge & Levrier with their respective bands to the number of 18 men & Boys - Gave out bits Tob° & Drams - These gave 247 Skins of Peltries for debts & Traded 136 more, besides 9 Skins in Br Tails, i Dressed moose deer Skin, & a Lodge containing 6 Dressed Skins Out of the above furrs Capot Rouge gave 55 for his Share & the Lodge which is new & valued at 10 Skins - Gave these two great men each a foot of Tob° & 8 Quarts mixt rum & an encouragement that they should Keep above & look for Beaver - forbid them entirely to work any other Kind of Furrs - They made a long Harangue, the heads of which is a demand of plenty Irons next fall & all other necessaries, that they have found plenty of Beaver & are well inclined to work them - that they have never complained of want of Goods, no never asked a Great supply because they had not seen beaver - This year it is quite otherwise We [They] are bold to ask for we are sure to pay & Trade -1 gave them all the assurances required & was honoured so far as to obtain a promise from them that altho' they should meet widi the Red Knives, they will not run away & come down again they have their families & are determined to pass the summer & ensuing winter MONY 3i ST [Tuesday]. Gave out Credits & Sent off all the Indians except two young men who remains here to help me up to the red Knife river where the Natives expressed a desire that I should go that I might recieve the Provisions in the Sunimer105 [38] Gave the Capot Rouge a Chiefs Coat a Shirt & a Brayet in consideration of his good behaviour in seconding me so effectivally in getting so many Indians above - for I must please him as he is the principal head & at the same time the only one who knows dial Country thoroughly - besides an interested Indian, a good Hunter, and I dare say if displeased would be an illustrous Coquin106 - again if he should be sent away any ways disatisfied, a word only would be sufficient to destroy all our hopes of making a good number of Packs next year - particularly as the Indians are but just departed from the Fond Lakes107 to which they often cast a languishing look to return -1 gave the Levrier who is also a would be Chief- one of my Eql 105 As a matter of speculation, it may have been this summer trip in 1808 that demonstrated the need to build the post up the Red Knife River shown on Wentzel's map of 1821. 106 An alternative to Wentzel's usual "rascal." 107 On 20 March three young men from Capot Rouge's band arrived at the Forks after sleeping out four nights. The location of the Fond Lakes, then, can be estimated at a modest distance from Fort of the Forks. By "Fond" Wentzel may have meant no more than the lakes below or behind his fort. Modern-day Hornell and Willow Lakes are possibilities for Capot Rouge's winter quarters.

343 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

Handkerchief108 - Gave Gratis in Trade &c &c altogether Chiefs included - 17 meas: Am" i fm Tob° & 14 flints, a Awls & 4 needles i Skeen thread. My Slave Hunter brought 2 Swans 14 Ducks 4 Cranes i bustard & 4 Loons - The men pressed the remainder of the Packs that were ready for the Press. Weighed 4 more to day TUES Y [Wednesday] I ST . [June] Gave six more Packs made & Pressed - the whole am' now in Store consists of 33 Packs & a remainder109 WEDNES Y 2 ND [Thursday]. Sent all the young men with Beaulieux to Hunt - gave them 8 meas: Am" - In the afternoon Bessemoi110 who had his nose wrung in the month of Decr - brought & Traded 15 Pichoux & i Br Capot value 11 Skins - Sent him off again - Fine weather THURSV 3ED [Friday]. Arrived two young men from Grand Chefres band, they left the old Gentleman after the visit had been returned to the Embayo dinnais. Since then they have not been with him - they could not by this give me any news about Jollibois, concerning whom I begin to be a little uneasy these Indians gave 17'/a Skins of debts in furrs & Traded 23 Skins in furrs more - Sent them off again & desired that they should [39] seek out the Grand Chefre & bring Jollibois to the Fort - They are also to bring provisions during the summer FRIDAY 4™ [Saturday]. Beaulieu with two of the young men brought 4 Cranes i Small Br & 5 Ducks - the young men complained that Beaulieu had fired a great deal of their Am" Sans desire [carelessly]. The little Rascal got a good Sett down & was near getting his ears pinched - As I find that none of Mr Keith's men appear & being myself in a very critical situation for want of Provns I prepared Genereux, Range & Beaulieu to be off tomorrow for Bear Lake - Gave them 28lbs fat & Dried Meat, 12lbsPd ml & 8lbs Grease I lent them an old Gun & 5 Meas: Am" SATURY 5™ [Sunday]. At Sun rise Sent off the Men Mentioned as above to Bear Lake in a Saulteux Canoe - Two hours after arrived Dzomebettaw1'' again w11 7 men & Boys - recieved from these 64 Skins of furrs for their debts & Traded 18 Skins more - Gave out Credits again & sent them off - In the afternoon the slave hunter returned from his chace - brought 2 Swans 4 Ducks & 4 Loons - he missed at a Moose & wounded a Bear but could not pursue him on account of his having no shoes - 5 Ps of Fish in the Nets 108 That is, Wentzel gave Levrier a handkerchief from his personal gear, rather than from the company's stores. 109 This constituted the year's returns for Fort of the Forks. 110 See the entry for 12* December. in See entry for 21 April.

344 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

SUNDAY 6™ [Monday]. In the afternoon arrived Smith with 3 Canadians in two Large Canoes laden with 55 Packs & a remainder of furrs from Mr Keith, this being returns of that at Quarter, together with 8 Ps of Grease 6 Bales of Dried Meat, & 2 bags of Pd Ditto besides i Keg Gum & 20 fms of Canoe Bark for Br Lake exclusive of 2 Pactons112 of Dressed Orignal Skins & Bark for 2 more Canoes for this Place - This is the 3rd Day they [come from] Mr Keith who writes word, that the non arrival of the Indians & the Trouble there was of finding Canoe Bark occasioned this long delay - Very fine weather MON Y 7TH [Tuesday]. Sent off [Joseph] Carrier, Bezaillen"3 & Cadien le Sapin to Bear lake, according to Mr Clarke's instructions last Fall Gave them 5Olbs Dried Meat & iolbs of Fat the latter out of my Stock & the former of a Bale which [40] came from above - Send [sent] the Keg of Gun [Gum] & 20 fms of Bark to Mr Clarke. TUES Y 8 TH [Wednesday]. Rained all day- NB. I forgot to mention that I had given particular orders to the men, to send any Indians they Should meet with who had either Furrs or provisions to this Place as quick as possible & to desire Grand Chefre & Jollibois if they should see them to make all possible diligence, so that I might settle matter to go above WEDNES Y 9™ [Thursday]. The Weather Cleared up towards the afternoon, so that I made a Shift with the help of Smith & Martin to put a Canoe on the Bed THURS Y 10™ [Friday]. Sewed the Bottom seems of the Canoe & tied on the Maitres - We had some Showers of rain FRIDAY 11™ [Saturday]. Got all the Barrs put to the Canoe & the Poignies114 sewed, which terminated this days business SATUR V i2 T H [Sunday]. Put the Serrez115 in the Canoe - & arranged Smith to be off tomorrow to go above in order to procure a few Provi112 Avis identifies a pacton as a "small pack"; in this case the term applies to packs that weigh about 85 pounds each (1991, 540). Adney offers a different meaning for the term. According to him, a pacton consisted of two or more packages readied for portage and weighing, in the aggregate, at least 180 pounds. (1964, 143.) 113 This man has not been mentioned anywhere else in the Mackenzie River journals. 114 See entry for 16 August and footnote. 115 This spelling is uncertain, and consequently, its meaning cannot be ascertained. In the context, Wentzel was making last minute preparations for the canoe to be off. Among these preparations would have been placing the travelling equipment of the canoe, or the agres, on board (Avis 1991, 5). What Wentzel wrote might have been an alternative to agres.

345 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

sions & to put Courage in the Natives, not to Despond at their not seeing [me] up there, that I am only waiting for Grand Chefre &Jollibois - Gave him 20 Meas: Am" & 12 flints to Trade - Got 3 nets put in the water 5 days ago, in which time we have only taken 8 Ps of very bad Fish SUN Y 13™ [Monday]. Smith with all the young men I had here Sett off in a Canoe Batard.116 Gave him islbs of Dried m' MON Y 14™ [Tuesday]. Smith with Gentry returned with the Meat of a Female de Carriboux & her young one which they had Killed this morning above the rapids - Value 6V§ Skins rained a little to day No Fish in the nets. The water in the Forks rising exceeding fast & the Grand River is extremely low TUESY 15™ [Wednesday]. Smith launched out again - I cannot see what Keeps Jollibois so long away - I begin to fear that some melancholy accident has happened to him - for I dont believe [41] believe that the Grand Chefre would Keep so late from coming so late to the Fort - particularly as he has been twice severely [rebuked] on that account already - Water rising amazing fast in the Forks WEDNES Y i6 TH [Thursday]. Layed all the varangues in my Canoe Water still rising - which I believe to be the cause that there is no fish to be taken, notwithstanding that we have 2 nets Continually in the water - Fine weather THURS V 17TH [Friday]. Banded the Canoe.1'7 Martin cleaned the Fort SATUR Y 19™ [Sunday]. Martin washed for me yesterday - To day he rose bark for the Store & House - in the morning an Indian came from above in a Small Canoe, he brought 4 Skins of furrs & 9 Skins in Meat to Trade. Gave besides ^A for Debts - Smith Sends word by this messenger that he will be back as soon as he sees the Indians that are above the old Fort so as to bring down what furrs & provisions they might then have he set off again immediately about 2 hours Arrived Grand Chefre with 4 young men & Jollibois - these brought 47 skins furrs for debts & 45 to Trade - No Provisions they are Starving - Their excuses for not coming sooner was attributed to the Ice £ the mal address118 of Jollibois who cannot go in their small Canoes, but was obliged to walk all the way from their lodges to this Place - which is now the 12th day i 16 Avis defines canoe batard (bastard canoe) as a birchbark canoe about thirty feet in length and capable of carrying two tons of freight, in addition to its ten-man crew. He points out that the canoe batard was intermediate between a Montreal canoe (canot de maitre) and a North canoe (canot du nord) (199!>36). 117 That is, bands of birch bark were placed on the gummed seams of his canoe to make it water-tight (Avis 1991, 28). 118 From maladresse, or clumsiness or awkwardness.

346 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

since they left them - With respect to the Embayodinnais they had been off before Jollibois had got to the Lodges after his return from here in April - Grand Chefre says that this new Nation have no C-ds"9 - because they would not come to the Fort - They have however appointed a place of rendezvous for next winter where they are to come with Br to Trade - They have at length cleared up a Story that there was Forts built on the other side of their lands near the Sea Shore from whence it had long been our opinion & the report of Indians they get their dags & beads from - Which however is simply that a Ship which Keeps Colours also [42] always flying for a particular season near the shore - to where the nations boardering on the Sea resort to traffic their Peltries the principal Trade Carried on is Carcajoux, Foxes, Be Sheep Skins for which they get dags Knives, awls, beads - The dags are Shaped like a Sergeants halbert120 & the Iron very White & very Soft The natives here do not like them - but the beads are handsome in return - these are of the Colours, make & Shape as those got from the new discovered Indians of the Rocky Mountain in Peace River121 These I believe is Yankee Traders122 - When The Big Chief seperated from the Embay-a-dinnais the latter told him that they were going to pass the Summer & Winter at a large river on the other side of the Rocky Mountain where they say there is a great deal of Br & plenty of all kinds of animals upon this river they intend to work Beaver all the Fall & come with it to the same Place where they met the Grand Chefre This spring. The ensuing season The Former is of opinion that if they were sent with 2 or 3 Canadians in quest of this Tribe in the Fall, that they might be discovered perhaps at no considerable distance Tho' he does not offer himself as a conductor - but speaks of it as a thing very possible as there are many of the young men who would be very willing to go - all this may probably be very true but I suspect that the old fellow is wishing to flatter me out something Sans desein [for no reason] I know him to well to confide in all what he tells me - I however gave him an old Shirt of my own & 4 Quarts of mixt rum - Paid him for having fed Jollibois all winter i o Skins in Amn- one of the young men who came to day is from a band of about 16 Men who gen119 Cods, or testicles. 120 A halbert, or halberd, is a weapon shaped something like a combination of a spear and a battle-axe and is about five to seven feet long. 121 Wentzel must be referring to the Sekani, who occupied the lands above Rocky Mountain Portage on the Peace River. 122 See the entry for 28 March.

347 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

erally reside about porcupine Lake,123 as I have long been waiting for them, I asked this fellow where they were & why they did not come to the Fort - with their Credits - He told me that the red Knives with Mauvais Loup124 at their head had [43] had pillaged them of all the furrs they had & besides had taken 3 of their women from them - This is the old Custom of the red Knives they wish to revive former times - if they should unfortunately meet with my Indians above the old Fort & behave in the same manner, Adieu all hopes of returns for next year War, War, is spoken of already as if it had actually began - Grand Chefre says that a war party of the rapid Indians from Mr Grants Fort has Killed a great many of the dahodinnais of Blue Fish river.125 What demon has possessed the Inhabitants of this Quarter this year, every thing seems to alter for the worse - report also says that the 3 Canadians who Mr Clarke sent off last Fall in quest of the women who deserted from Bear lake last year have not returned - Grand Chefre says he thinks they have been Killed - perhaps he is sure of it - This if true might have been forseen by Mr Clarke himself SUN Y 20™ [Monday]. Sent off the Grand Chefre & band desired him to come in the Fall as soon as the leaves begin to fall from the Trees in order to know what is to be done with regard to Embayodinnais - he also promised to send provisions thro the course of the summer he wished greatly to have had a frenchman with him -1 told him it was impossible for me to let him have one - Fine weather MON Y 21ST [Tuesday]. The men Scraped the Canoe & Plastered the in & outside of the House - Fine weather TUES Y [Wednesday] 22 ND , 23 KD , 24™, 25™, 26™, 27™. Since the 22 nd the men have been employed about the Houses, Garden & Fishing. The last however has been lost time for we can take no fish - No more than 11 ps have been caught in all this time MON Y 28™ [Tuesday]. Had a little rain in the morning - «s° I forgot to mention that on the 24* I recieved a letter from Mr Clarke dated May 17th Ulti° requesting me to go down to Bear River & to get [44] another Canoe made - but as the season is past the noticed time that I 123 It is not known which of the several lakes below the Forks and to the east of the Mackenzie River this might be. 124 Wicked Wolf. This Yellowknife trading leader was not mentioned anywhere else in the Mackenzie River journals. 125 It is interesting to note that the Dahodinne were a strange or unknown tribe to Wentzel, who had Grand Chefre and Jollibois searching for them all winter, but that they were apparently known to Charles Grant at Bluefish River.

348 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River should have been below - I did not obey the summons - but advised Martin to split wood & work at the Canoe immediately by this Letter 1 also received the melancholy confirmation of the death of the 3 Canadians & the Montagnier126 who had been murdered by the Peau de Lievres & Slaves - In the forenoon Smith returned from above with an Indian he brought 10 Skins of Fresh meat a few Skins of Furrs & 8 Pleues of very bad dried meat - He has seen all the natives who I had dispatched from this Place in the spring to work the Beaver & Provisions - But unfortunately a of one the Greatest Families are in a dying condition, one young man by the Palsy & the other by the Kicking of his Gun in firing upon a Bear - which broke the lower jaw 8c deprived him of the use of his teeth on the left Jaw - His Head Smith says is prodigiously swelled & Shockingly shattered - Nevertheless they make promises of going to hunt Buffaloe & setting their moose deer Snares - in order to make provisions as fast & as much as possible - Smith also tells me that they hope to meet with red Knives as many of the latters roads of a late date have been seen TUES Y 29 TH [Wednesday]. As The making of the above Canoe cannot be defered I will be obliged to detain Smith a few days in order to give us hand Sc gather a little Gum - When the canoe will be finished I will then be able to spare a man to Send with him to Indians to bring provns to the Fort while Smith can remain gathering more - Took 16 Pcs offish - the water in the Grand River & Forks rising amazing fast & runs down with great velocity WEDNES" 3OTH [Thursday]. Sent Smith to gather Gum, Martin & Self Busy working Canoe wood, for if I do not lend a hand he will not have the wood ready this week - Water lowering THURS Y JULY i S T [Friday]. Sent of Smith to seek Gum, he is to be out 2 Nights No fish - Very Cold Wind [45] FRIDAY 2 MD [Saturday]. In the afternoon we - layed the Canoe upon the Bed & had the bottom seams sewed - The wood all being now ready - Cold wind SATURDAY 9,RD [Sunday]. In the morning Smith returned from gathering, without however bringing so much as I had expected - the fire which ran thro' the woods the preceeding summer having destroyed what little epinettes [spruce] that were about the Fort & its environs Put on the Maitres & barrs to the Canoe SUN Y 4™ [Monday]. Got a few of the Poignes sewed - rain at intervals - Took 16 ps of Fish - But in order to Keep such a fishery for the Short 126 This may have been Jack Montagnier, who came down from Fort Chipewyan with Alexander Henry on 22 September 1807.

349 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

Intervals they give - a man must be continually holding up the net - as the fish keeps upon the tip or surface of the water MON Y 5TH [Tuesday]. Finished sewing at the Canoe & Put the Varangues in her Placed in also the Jerres127 Smith busy looking out for & Gathering gum - 9 ps fish TUES Y 6™ [Wednesday]. Very sultry weather with showers of rain into evening now & then - Smith made his gum weighing 73lbs In the afternoon Arrived Cadien Gros Nez, with 2 more Canadians in a large Canoe from Bear Lake - lading consisting of 17 packs, recieved no Letter from Mr Clarke, as it had been supposed that I would not have been here - which would certainly have been the case had I not received that letter wherein it was requested that I Should get another Built - Cadien also tells me that Cassant128 & Forcier129 (the two men who came with him) are to go to Mr Keiths for Gum &c &c & after to wait Mr Clarkes return from below130 which I the more readily Credited as I observed on the letter to Mr Keith from Mr Clarke "Per Cassant & Forcier - This is the 15* day that they have left Bear river - Gave each a Dram & a Prey to the whole, 5 ps of Fish WEDNES Y 7™ [Thursday]. Sent off Cassant & Forcier according to the above ment'31 & sent Smith with Jollibois & an Indian to the'32 the river in order to obtain Provisions from133 they Ibs had met with the red Knives - [46] Gave 67 of Dried Meat for these expeditions - No Fish. THURS Y 8™ [Friday]. Gummed the inside of the Canoe & layed in the Varangues - 4 Fish in the Nets FRIDAY 9™ [Saturday]. Banded the Canoe - 2 pcs Fish caught SATUR. [Sunday] & SUN Y [Monday] 1i I H . Nothing Particular - 3 FishMON Y [Tuesday] 12™. Cadien busy mending his own Canoe - Martin is now an invalid, occasioned by the pain in his side 127 See entry for 12 June and footnote. 128 This is the only mention of Cassant in the Mackenzie River journals. 129 He may be the same as the Joseph Forcier who served with John Franklin in 1819. 130 Cassant and Forcier proceeded directly from Great Bear Lake to Fort of the Forks, while John Clarke detoured to the Bluefish River post to pick up that establishment's returns. 131 A piece that has resulted in the loss of several words is torn from the manuscript. 132 The tear, mentioned in the previous note, extends to this line as well. 133 Another series of words is missing because of the torn manuscript.

350 Journal of the Forks, Mackenzies River

TUES V [Wednesday] TO THURS Y [Friday] 15™. Cadien has finished his Canoe, & is now mending his sail; Martin is pounding Meat - We have taken no Fish since Mony 16™ TO SUN V [Monday] 18™. Nothing occurred worth mentioning except that on Tuesday we saw a great smoke rising in the Forks at very little distance inland - Which gives me great anxiety as I fear that it has been kindled by some of the Indians that I had sent to the Beaver Country in the spring - who perhaps have met with the red Knives & have run away notwithstanding their promises to the Contrary when they sett off- besides this we percieved three other smokes in different directions tho' none to allarm me so much as the former 19™ TO 2 i ST . Employed in searching little rivers to take Fish, without success - for it now plays hard upon me for provns — Altho' we all mess out of the same kettle & makes but a meal a day - one half of which consists of Turnip Tops - to which I now & then (out of shame Sake) am obliged to add a small bit of grease - In the afternoon Cassant & Forcier returned from Mr Keith's they brought 8 Bales of Dried Meat, i keg gurtens,134 i keg gum, 2 Packs of furrs, 20 Moose deer Snares & 3 Dressd Skins besides 14lbs tob° & 8 lbs of Gunpowder which I had requested of Mr Keith to send for the use of the Forks, where we are entirely out of both - they left Beskawgha Fort135 the day before yesterday SATU V 24™ [Sunday]. Yestery & to day the men136 employed pounding the bales of meat lately brought13? N

134 This term has not been identified. 135 Although the spelling is a variant, Wentzel's identification of George Keith's post on the Liard River provides evidence that it occupied the same site since its establishment in the summer of 1806. 136 Another series of words are lost because of the tear. 137 Thejournal ends abruptly with the final words missing because of the tear.

351 Account of Mackenzies River A C C O U N T OF M A C K E N Z I E S

RIVER —

WITH A CHART FROM MR WENTZELL

MacKenzie's River takes its rise at the West end of Great Slave Lake and is the largest Stream in the Athabasca Track from Fort William; its general breadth being one mile & a quarter, except where swells occur occasioned by large Islands, when it increases to three, & in some places to about five miles. Its banks, which are lofty & formed of different strata of a greyish clay, sand, & a kind of loose brown Earth, entermixed with stone, ascends rather abruptly from the river, and are somewhat thinly clothed with Trees.1 But the Islands which are numerous, compensate by affording abundance of Fir fit for building Houses, or any other purposes required by those who visit these parts from motives of speculation & trade. Besides the great reservoir from whence it derives its source, many considerable streams which originate in the Rocky Mountains on the south side & from extensive Lakes on the north side,2 contribute to its enlargement in its progress down to the Sea. The largest of these, is the Mountain River of Sir Alexander McKenzie, & known in the Country by the name of the Forks or River aux Liard. It is die richest without exception, in large animals and the fur species, of all the streams connected with McKenzies River.3 It produces buffaloe, moose Deer, the Stag, Rein Deer, & Mountain Goat & Sheep, so called on account of their being peculiar to the Rocky Mountains. Its principal attractions however to the trader consists in the number of its beaver, black, brown, & grizzly Bear, lynxes, Martins, otters, Minks, wolvereenes, black, Silver, Cross & Red foxes & wolves. The climate as it recedes from MacKenzies river towards the south is the same as in Peace River & its soil is rich & luxurious, which is discernible in the number, size & growth of its Trees. It appears also to be 1 The essay begins without a title. The title provided here appears on the back of the last page in a hand different from Wentzel's. 2 Wentzel habitually referred to the west side of the Mackenzie River as the south and the east side as the north. This is probably because for the first hundred miles or so, the Mackenzie bears westerly before the Mackenzie Mountains force it toward a northerly course. 3 Despite its early reputation to the contrary, the Mackenzie River basin, especially the regions to the east of the river and below Fort Norman, was never very productive of beaver pelts. Between 1796 and 1821, the strength of the beaver returns in the Mackenzie River Department was due principally to the richness of the Liard River.

352 Account of Mackenzies River

favourable to the culture of foreign vegetables, for potatoes, turnips, cabbages, radishes, beets, lettuce, carrots, barley, & even Peas have been known to thrive with little care. From the Forks down to the Fort Good hope, there are three more tolerably large rivers which discharge themselves into MacKenzies river from the Southward; being unexplored, nothing further is known to us of them than their confluences. The vegetable & mineral productions of the country are Salt, sulphur & Tar springs, Coal, Flint, & Rock crystal, white earth, blue & white clay of an oily substance, this last the natives occasionally eat, a Sweetroot called by Sir Alexander MacKenzie the liquorice root,4 wild flax, & the nettle. The Trees are the birch, aspine, & balsam Poplar, Cypress,5 white spruce, larch, & the Canada balsam fir. The Fruits are the cranberry, Rasp, Straw, cloud, blue, goose, Pier & the magpye berries.6 A piece of Native Silver is said to have been brought from MacKenzies river in the year 1796 & found in the Rocky Mountains up the river aux Liard, which Mr Roderick MacKenzie took to Montreal & had it made into Ear ornaments.7 4 There are at feast two different plants known as licorice-root: Ligusticum in the Umbelliferae family and Glycyrrhiza in the Leguminosae family. Ligusticum is not known in Canada and the northern range of Glycyrrhiza is southeastern British Columbia (see Taylor 1974, 56-8). Another possible identification for this plant is the northern wild licorice, or Galium boreale, It has been found in the Wrigley region along the river (see Porsild 1945, 34). It is possibly this latter plant that Alexander Mackenzie sampled in late July of 1789 along the beach below the Ramparts on the lower river (Lamb 1970, 215). 5 It is likely that Wentzel was referring to Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, or the Yellow Cedar, which is, indeed, in the cypress family. 6 Cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and gooseberries need no further identification. Cloudberries are in the same genus as raspberries (Rubus) and are of the species chamaemorus. Wentzel's Pier berry is probably the same as Alexander Mackenzie's Poire berry, which he described as purple, bigger than a pea, and very well tasted (Lamb 1970, 217, 225). This may be Amelcanchier alnifolia, known more familiarly in the United States as the serviceberry and in Canada as the Saskatoon berry. Magpye berry has escaped identification. 7 This comment suggests that Duncan Livingston explored a portion of the Liard River before 1796, for the silver was found "up the river aux Liard" and brought to Fort Chipewyan that year. Roderic McKenzie was in charge at Fort Chipewyan and Livingston would have brought the silver to him from the Mackenzie River with the arrival of the spring brigade in July of

353

Account of Mackenzies River

Mountains are [word crossed out] common on both sides of the river, of these the most considerable are the Rocky Mountains which run on the south side, in a westerly direction, at a distance of from twenty to about fifty miles, excepting in two places where they approach the water's edge, and in one instance (below Bear Lake river) they are divided by MacKenzies river.8 The next in magnitude, is the Horn Mountain, which commences on the north side of the entrance of MacKenzies river and extends as far down as the Forks on the opposite side, and then strikes off to the northward, and is seen at Martin lake. All kinds of animals are the same in both these ridges, except as observed before the Mountain Goat & Sheep, [2] buffaloe are seldom seen beyond the begining of MacKenzies River. Lakes are innumerable and extensive, particularly on the North side. Those most distinguished for size are the porcupine, great Willow, long & lastly the Great Bear Lakes superior in extent to all, and supposed to equal Lake Superior; it communicates (as do also the other Lakes) by a navigable outlet with MacKenzies river, and is distant about Seventy miles. Its eastern extremity is said to approach the Copper Mine River within a short distance. It contains few islands & is reported to be very deep; it abounds in fish, and its borders are 1796. Roderic McKenzie paid a visit to Canada in 1797, and it would have been in that year that he took the silver to Montreal and had it made into earrings (Masson 1960, 2:46). Forts were generally established in the summer or fall, so Trout Lake River Fort must have been built before to Livingston's arrival at Fort Chipewyan with the silver, that is, it must have been built in the summer or fall of 1795. This would clarify an inconsistency of Wentzel's making. On his map that accompanies this account, Wentzel marks 1796 by the site of Trout River Fort, and it is this date that is usually accepted as the beginning of the North West Company's trade on the Mackenzie River. However, in his essay published by the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh in 1823 Wentzel wrote that "The North-West Company first established a fur-post on the banks of Mackenzie's River in the year 1795." (19). As already mentioned when Wentzel composed the "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart," he did so from memory under difficult circumstances. There are at least two other places in this essay and on his map where he erred or where he forgot something. His memory regarding the founding of Trout Lake River Fort may have been mistaken also. 8 The range north of the Liard and west of the Mackenzie Rivers is the Mackenzie Mountains rather than the Rocky Mountains. The Mackenzie Mountains come near the river just above the San Sault Rapids (between Great Bear River and Fort Good Hope), where two-thousand-foot East Mountain dominates the eastern skyline.

354 Account of Mackenzies River

frequented at all seasons of the year by herds of Rein Deer, 9 to which may be added the Musk ox on the east side. Its shores are rocky & for the most part barren, and unattractive, it nevertheless produces martins, muskrats, white & Red Foxes, a few Beaver,10 wolvereenes, some otters & Bears. The west end bordering on MacKenzies river is rather more liberally supplied with these useful animals, especially the muskrat, which is in great plenty. This description will answer for the other inferior lakes on the same side, excepting that no musk ox is to be found on their confines as in Great Bear lake. To the southward of MacKenzies river are few or no remarkable lakes for their size; but if they are smaller they are also much better supplied than the northern lakes with woods & furnish more occupation and allurements for the Indian hunter who seeks a country capable of supplying his wants and of affording him the means of purchasing those articles, which from long habits have become indispensable to his existence such as Iron works, Kettles, Guns & ammunition, which he barters from the Whites with Peltries. Rum as an article of trade has no value in their opinion & ought not to be encouraged, because it would be destructive to both their health & industry. -'l With respect to different Tribes of Indians inhabiting MacKenzies river, the first is the Horn Mountain Indians who occupy the whole north side as far down as Great Bear Lake; They are the principal branch of the Dog rib Indians & amount to about two hundred men & boys capable of pursuing the chace. These people, & indeed all the Natives of MacKenzies River with which I am acquainted, are of a peacable, mild & inoffensive disposition; hospitable to Strangers & among themselves, and generally speaking honest in their dealings.12 Yet 9 These were actually caribou, i o Very few beaver were ever traded at Great Bear Lake. 11 Throughout the North West Company's tenure in the Athabasca, rum was regularly used as a gratuity and thought an indispensable part of the trading process. However, its does not appear to have been used as lavishly in the Mackenzie River District as in other districts of the Athabasca Department. For example, the journal of 1806 kept at Dunvegan on the Peace River reveals a practice of providing alcohol to Indians for all-night drinking matches (J.N. Wallace 1929, 125, 132, 134)- By comparison, in Wentzel'sjournal of 1807-8, it is found that while he frequently bestowed a dram on a successful hunter, no mention of all-night drinking matches is made. 12 In writing this, Wcntzel overlooked the killing of Duncan Livingston and his party in 1799, the disappearance in 1807 of three Canadians who had been sent to the Hare Indians, the massacre of Alexander Henry Jr and his party in 1813, the "near uproar" created by the dreaded and warlike Loucheux

355 Account of Mackenzies River

withal rather inclined to misstate the truth, particularly when questioned on the productions of their own country, which they always endeavour to represent as poor and unproductive.- Such is their love of peace that I have known the Red Knives or rather Copper Indians to commit with impunity the most daring depredations upon them, their wives are often taken from them, and they themselves stripped of every thing else useful or valuable.- The only instance in which they seem to have exhibited any Symtoms of cruelty in their nature happened in the year 1815 at Bear Lake; when a party of five young men including a half breed, wantonly & outrageously murdered twelve individuals of the Hare Indian Nation, who were at the time on their way to the Fort. This however could hardly be termed a national act as it was the deed [3] of a few senseless young men provoked & tempted to it by a vicious old woman who offered her Daughters as an incitement.'3 The mode of hunting practised by the Dog rib Indians is similar to that of all the other tribes inhabiting MacKenzies river; it consists in making a kind of hedge, leaving apertures at certain distances for placing snares, in which the unwary Moose or Rein Deer is taken. Smaller animals &: all kinds of birds & water fowl are also caught in Snares. The Snare is made of parchment Skin cut up into thongs, a number of which are twisted together & when dryed, become much stronger than hempen rope of an equal size; for Fowl & small birds sinew is prepared. Besides, they make use of the Bow 8c arrow & Gun but not expertly. Being of an indolent disposition, they prefer living on fish, their lakes affording them abundance with little trouble.'4 Nets, they make themselves & show some ingenuity in manufacturing the thread from the inner rind of the willow bark, which they spin, or rather twist very fine. They make traps for the martin, wolf, wolvereen & fox, as well as for the beaver, which mode of taking the latter animal, is confined, as far as my observation extends, to MacKenzies river. A method of hunting the Rein deer common with the dog ribs, is to take the skin of the head & neck & the Horns of a young male, in one hand 8c rubbing a bundle of sticks against the horns with the other, imitating (& slowly advancing at the same time) some gestures of the animal, they so perfectly deceive the unsuspicious deer, as to get into the midst of a herd in 1813, and the threatening conditions under which the North West Company withdrew from the Mackenzie in 1815. 13 Wentzel reported another instance in his journal of 1807-8 when a war party of Rapid Indians (Hare) killed a great many Dahodinnes of the Bluefish River. See his journal entry for 19 June 1808. 14 North West Company traders regularly viewed Indians who fished rather than hunted for subsistence as indolent.

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without creating the least alarm & destroy them before they can effect their escape. They spend much of their time in amusements, and being naturally fond of mirth, singing & dancing afford them the greatest delight, Shooting with the bow & arrow is an exercise in which they take great pleasure, and they practise running, leaping & wrestling. The next nation on the same side of MacKenzie river, is the Hare Indians. They are considerably superior in numbers to the last mentioned Indians, but more inclined to indolence.15 Their hunting grounds are bounded to the northward by the Squint eyes or quarrellers,16 and to the Northeast by the Esquimaux lands which reach to the Sea coast. - The exact number of men in this tribe is imperfectly Known, as is the interior of their country; nor have we better information with respect to the Squint Eyed Indians, who are Neighbors to the Esquimeaux, which occupy the supposed17 discharge of MacKenzies river into the Sea. - With the latter people we are wholly unacquainted. - This completes the number of Indian Tribes inhabiting the north side as well as the south side of the lower parts of MacKenzies river. The South side, from its entrance down to the confluence of River aux Liard or Forks, and from thence about two hundred miles up this branch, as also some ranges of the Rocky Mountains, are lands claimed by the beaver Indians18 or Strong Bows of Sir Alexander MacKenzie, whose number may amount to seventy men & boys. This is the nation who destroyed Fort Nelson & murdered Mr Alexander Henry with his family & all his people in winter 1812/13.19 Untill that unfortunate event they were deemed the most friendly, hospitable and quiet of all the tribes in MacKenzies river & justly esteemed the best hunters. In their manners they are conciliating & sociable, and easily governed by mild & just [4] treatment. The next tribe or family is the Rocky Mountain Indians, consisting of about thirty or forty men & boys; these form 15 That is, they are inclined to fish for a living. 16 The "squint eyes or quarrellers" are otherwise known as Loucheux. Today they are known as Gwich'in and are the most northerly Athapascan Indians, whose neighbours to the north are the Inuit. 17 Since neither Alexander Mackenzie nor Duncan Livingston nor John Clarke actually voyaged all the way to the Arctic Ocean, Wentzel felt it necessary to add this qualification. 18 This nation was more generally referred to as Slave or Slavey, to distinguish them from the Beaver Indians of Peace River. They may have been related to the Peace River Beaver in the distant past. 19 In January of 1813 Michel La Gas led a band of local Tsattine (Liard River Slavey) in an attack that killed Henry, his wife and children, and his four men.

357 Account of Mackenzies River

an intermediate race, between the Beaver Indians & Dog ribs, and are properly speaking, a mixture of both, altho' at present considered as a distinct people.20 Their hunting grounds are bounded on the one side, by the Nahanny river, a large stream which falls into the river aux Liard, & on the other by die Rocky Mountain river21 that joins MacKenzies river opposite the discharge of the Great Willow Lake. These people have nearly the same habits, customs, manners & disposition as those already described, and next to the beaver Indians are the best hunters known along MacKenzies river. After these, tho seperated by a large tract of country, occasionally visited by the dog ribs & Hare Indians, are the Dahodinne's, natives & inhabitants of the Rocky Mountains. They are seen sometimes on MacKenzies river; but of these people we possess hardly any knowledge.22 From the reports of their Neighbours, the Rocky Mountain Indians, we understand that they are numerous & good hunters, commanding a great extent of country, comprizing the whole breadth of the Rocky Mountains, stretching in length, from the Rocky Mountain river down to Fort good hope. No attempt however has been made to explore them; altho it is said that beaver & large animals are abundant in those parts. - We have heard that beyond die Rocky Mountain a very large river flows to the westward & discharges itself into the Sea, on which are two more strange tribes of Indians, one called the Bear Skin Nation & the name of the other I do not remember.23 That ships come yearly up the river to a certain distance & trade with die natives, who get a sort of large dags or lances, made of a kind of soft white Iron, in return for the skins of the mountain Goat, Sheep, wolvereen, Bear & Fox, beaver not being enquired after.24 Returning to the confines of MacKenzies river, the next & last nation who resort for trade to the companys establishments in that quarter is the Squint Eyes, of their habits & manners my Knowledge is very limited & I believe they are as imperfecdy known to others, excepting Messrs Charles Grant & Peter Warren Dease, who have traded with 20 They are sometimes referred to as the Montagnais in the Mackenzie River District journals. They should not be confused with the Montagnais of eastern Canada, who were brought into the Peace River country by the North West Company to trap beaver. None of the latter are known to have reached the Mackenzie River basin. 21 Today this river is called the North Nahanni. 22 Wentzel's journal of 1807-8 details the search for the Dahodinne. 23 Wentzel did not name this second nation in hisjournal of 1807-8, although he mentioned them. See hisjournal entries for 28 March and 11 June 1808. 24 This trading network was alluded to by Wentzel in hisjournal of 1807-8 on 28 March and 11 June.

358 Account of Mackenzies River

them for several successive years at Fort Good hope.25 Besides these Natives we have confused accounts of two others in the upper part of river aux Liard, inhabiting the Rocky Mountains. The first is the Nahannies26 & the second said to frequent the upper establishment in Peace river, are known to the MacKenzie's river Indians by the name of Tsilladahodinne.27 It is probable that communications might be openned with all these unknown Tribes, for there are considerable rivers leading to MacKenzies river from all the different parts of the country occupied by them. The names of these streams begining by the river aux Liard (the source of which is yet unknown) 28 & proceeding down MacKenzies river, may be thus stated in rotation, North branch of river aux Hard, Nahanny river, Rocky Mountain river, Dahodinne river & another stream somewhat above Fort Good Hope, the name of which I cannot at present recall to mind.29 - From all parts of the countries, that I have endeavored to describe herein, beaver & other Peltries have been obtained while I was in MacKenzies river, a convincing proof how worthy they are of notice in a commercial point of view. [5] The Natives of MacKenzies river dress in the same manner, except the squint Eyes, altho the materials depend upon the animals which each particular country contains; some making use of the moose skin, and others of the Skin of the Rein deer. In Winter, the hare skin furnishes under clothing for all alike. The capots or Shirts of the men are wide & long, reaching down to the knees, and adorned with several rows of fringes fancifully wrought in coloured moose hair & porcupine quills. They gird the waist with a broad belt worked with the same materials, which has a handsome appearance, their leggins, shoes & divers collars which they wear round the Neck, are similarly garnished. 25 Charles Grant was master at Bluefish River Post (which became Fort Good Hope) from its establishment in 1806 until the company abandoned the Mackenzie in 1815. Peter Dease assumed management of that post when it was reestablished, presumably in 1818 (for more on Peter Dease's later career at Fort Good Hope, see Krech 1996, 186-7). 26 Today's Kaska Dena. 27 The Sekani inhabited the upper part of the Peace River, but they were known to Europeans as early as 1793, when Alexander Mackenzie made his famous trek across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. They call themselves Tse-keh-ne (Burley 1996, 13). 28 The Liard flows out of the St Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in the southern Yukon. 29 Probably the Bluefish River.

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Their head dress consists of a narrow leather slip surrounding the forehead; bear claws are attached at certain distances to the slip, so as to project forward, and to to their extremities are affixed the feathers of an eagles tail, which dance at every motion. A scalping knife case & a fire bag fastenned to the back between the shoulders, with a pair of mittens, trimmed as their other garments & suspended from the neck, is constantly worn by both sexes, a leather blanket is thrown over all & completes the dress. The women deck themselves out much in the same way, only that their leather gowns, or as the Canadians style them cotillions, are longer & they bestow on them a greater profusion of ornament.30 The North West Company had been in possession of MacKenzies river nine years, yet had only two posts Established, one at the Forks & the second at Great Bear lake, till in the year i8o431 I was sent back to that department & appointed to the charge of the post at the Forks, where Mr James Porter had wintered the year before & made a return of thirty six Packs of Furs.32 The Indians then resorting for trade to the Establishment consisted of the Beaver Indian nation, Rocky Mountain Indians & a number of the Dog ribs, amounting in all to about one hundred & ninety men & Boys. My outfit was twenty seven Pieces of trading goods for which I received fifty Packs weighing 87 lbs each. In the course of this winter, I had an opportunity of making enquiries on the state of the country up the river aux Hard. The information which I collected on that occasion, convinced me of the benefit which might accrue to the concern, by establishing a post there. Full of these ideas, & without waiting orders from the partners of Athabasca, I sent a man33 in the summer to erect a temporary store about eighty miles from the Forks, and some time afterwards followed myself with an Indian in a small canoe, to ascertain whether the river would be navigable for large canoes; in which I was not disappointed, but rather more firmly persuaded of its superior advantages for trade. Therefore 30 This description of Mackenzie River Native dress provides an interesting contrast to that of Alexander Mackenzie (Lamb 1970, 184). 31 Counting back, this statement implies that the company entered into the Mackenzie in 1795 and not in 1796, as commonly believed. 32 If the account in Wentzel's summerjournal of 1802 was followed up, he was on hand at Fort of the Forks upon its construction in October of 1802 (Wentzel's journal entry for 25 September 1802). Here, Wentzel's words "I was sent back to that department" support the supposition that he had been there before. 33 William Smith.

360 Account of Mackenzies River

I divided the Beaver Indians from the other tribes who traded with me at the Forks, & sent them up the river aux Hard to collect provisions, promising that I would write to the Partners at Fort Chepewean, and solicit for them a permanent establishment. - Which I did in a General Letter explaining as well as I could my motives for so doing, setting forth at the same time the promising appearance of the place, & added that I would proceed myself, if a clerk was sent to superintend their affairs at the Forks.3* Mr Alexander MacKenzie supported my suggestions, & accordingly Mr George Keith was sent there, while I remained at the Forks.35 The succeeding year we made each thirty Packs, and the year following we had one hundred & twelve between us, three fourths of which were Beaver - so that the same [6] Indians who gave thirty six packs three years before had now more than trebled their returns.36 At this period Mr Alexander MacKenzie having opened a trade with the Squint Eyes, the aggregate of the returns of MacKenzies river doubled its former ratio. The product of each post stood thus, the new Establishment called Fort Nelson 72 Packs,37 Forks 40, Great Bear Lake 23, & Fort Good Hope upwards of 40, forming in all more than 170 Packs of Furrs, three fourths of which consisted of Beaver Skins.38 The Establishment of the whole department employed a Partner as

34 Thus, the idea of expanding up the Liard River originated with W.F. Wentzel. 35 Smith selected a site closer to 120 miles up the Liard, rather than 80, near the mouth of the Netla River. It was this post that Keith assumed management of in 1805. 36 The Liard River proved to be the most productive trading area within the Mackenzie River District until the massacre of Alexander Henry and his party in January of 1813. 37 The Liard River post was called Biskaga Fort until George Keith left in 1811, when management of the Liard River was turned over to Alexander Henry Jr. Soon after, Henry closed Biskaga Fort and moved up to a tributary of the Liard that is today called Fort Nelson River, where he established the post by that name. The greatest number of packs from the Liard was 69 during the trading season of 1806-7, at which time the river was still under Keith's management and the post still located near and opposite the mouth of the Biskaga River. Writing from memory in 1821, Wentzel forgot these details when he referred to the post as Fort Nelson, the name then current. Wentzel, himself, referred to the Liard River post as Beskawgha Fort on 21 July 1808. 38 Most of the beaver were traded at Biskaga Fort and Fort of the Forks; relatively few came from Fort Good Hope and Great Bear Lake.

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manager, Four Clerks & twenty seven men or Canadians.39 - And its outfit (if my memory does not betray me) did not exceed one hundred & twelve pieces, including equipments, orders & stores for Clerks & engagees remaining in land, & the necessary provisions to five canoes, for a voyage of fifteen or twenty days.- This prosperous situation of the Company's affairs did not however continue long, a reverse soon followed, the causes of which are too painful to relate; besides it might be considered as invidious in me to recapitulate the particulars, when the remedy is too late to recall the evil. - Suffice it to say that the most erroneous system of conduct on the part of some of the managers of MacKenzies river, materially contributed not only to the ruin of the trade, but the destruction of many of the Company's useful servants; leaving the Natives impressed with a lively contempt for our morals & rectitude of character.40 Finally injudicious management brought on the destruction & massacre of Fort Nelson,41 which gave the conclusive 39 The partner was Alexander McKenzie and the four clerks were W.F. Wentzel, George Keith, Charles Grant, and Alexander Henry Jr. 40 It is difficult to pinpoint the grievances to which Wentzel alludes. He did not approve of Alexander McKenzie's loose use of company supplies in August of 1807. Wentzel found fault with John Clarke's management at Great Bear Lake in 1807-8, when, after leaving the post to the care of three women, they fled with some company property. Three Canadians and a Rocky Mountain Indian lost their lives in pursuit of the absconders. Wentzel criticized Francois Martin for becoming romantically involved with Pouce Coupe's wife and thus alienating him from serving the company. The lack of beads almost cost the company the trade with the Loucheux at Fort Good Hope in 1813. Wentzel himself suffered extreme deprivation for want of food at the Forks (and, again at Great Bear Lake), and several of his people, including his fort hunter, William Henry, died of starvation. Any and all of these incidents could have contributed to "the causes of which are too painful to relate." Among the problems the company faced in provisioning this remote district was the ongoing competition with the Hudson's Bay Company and the War of 1812, which contributed to the difficulties of supplying not just the Mackenzie but all the North West Company's far-flung posts. This could have contributed to the lack of beads that caused the difficulty at Fort Good Hope. Wentzel said nothing of these larger factors, preferring instead to cast blame on the "erroneous conduct on the part of some of the managers of MacKenzies River." 41 Again, Wentzel was willing to attribute the cause of the massacre at Fort Nelson to "injudicious management" rather than impersonal factors such as famine, want of goods, and desperation on the part of the Indians. The causes of this unfortunate incident were far more complex than he allows.

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blow to the trade; for in the year 1815 the collective number of Packs amounted to no more than sixty four. - By this time the concern conscieving the department, incapable of defraying its expenses, ordered it to be evacuated altogether, which was accordingly done in the summer 1815, to the great hazard of our lives, for the natives having obtained a knowledge of our intentions, had formed the design of destroying us on our way out. Notwithstanding that no promises had been made of returning at a future period to trade with them, I was sent the following summer with six Canadians in a Large Canoe, & a small supply of goods to renew the intercourse. In the course of my passage down the river as far as Fort Good Hope, I fell in with several parties of all the different tribes, and was welcomed by them with extravagant demonstrations of joy. - They danced & cryed by turns, rushing up to their Knees into the water to pull my canoe ashore, begging at the same time that the whites would return to their lands & promising their utmost endeavours to render our situation with them as comfortable as possible. - I explained to them that it did not depend upon myself, but on the Partners at Fort Chepewean to whom I undertook to make a report of their request, and advised them to hunt furs & prepare provisions, in the expectation that it would be granted; I also assured them that if we did not resume our deserted establishments, a canoe would certainly go down every year to trade their furrs and bring them the most useful supplies. This pacified them & they agreed to exert themselves in collecting peltries. To the Chiefs of bands that were absent I likewise sent presents, and, appropriate messages. My conduct was approved by the Partners assembled in the fall at Fort Chepewean, & the good effects of this journey appeared the [7] succeeding year; for in consequence of my representation Mr Charles Grant was sent to re-establish the department & traded in his journey down forty Packs, whereas I had collected eight only the year before. The Company have now three Posts in that quarter, vizt. Fort Great Hope, Willow Lake river*2 & Fort Nelson43 reoccupied last year. These establishments are committed to the care of one Partner & three Clerks, most of whom are deficient in knowledge of the country & its natives.44 42 Called Fort Alexander. 43 From the evidence on his map provided with this account, it was not Fort Nelson but, rather, Biskaga Fort that was reoccupied. 44 A.R. McLeod was in charge of the Mackenzie River District for 1820-21, but there were four clerks assisting him, not three. They were Charles Grant, Peter Dease, Murdoch McPherson, and John McLean.

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I will now venture to give my opinion on the best manner of re-establishing the prosperity of trade in MacKenzies river. - A manager that is known to the natives of an upright, steady & affable disposition should be appointed (for three years at least) to remain there, for the natives dislike changes. I shall take the liberty of observing that Mr Keith is the only person, as qualified, with whom they are acquainted.43 It is necessary that the Clerks entrusted with the several posts should be men of similar character, otherwise the best measures of the manager would be defeated, & the strictest subordination must absolutely be exercised with regard to the men or Canadians. In summer the Clerks should not be allowed to leave their trusts on whimsical pretenses to visit Fort Chepewean, leaving their Posts to the care of ignorant & lustful Canadians. - If any, from ill health or other urgent reasons wished to retire from the department they might give previous notice of their intention to the concern, which should provide against injuries arising to the trade therefrom, by sending another Clerk a year before to winter with the retiring one, so that he would have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the habits of the natives, by such a precaution the change would be hardly perceptible to them.46 Besides all innovations in the mode of traficking & treatment of them should be forbidden, unless it was fully proved that improvement could thereby be made. - Even then the measures proposed should be slowly adopted, and the trader must first possess their confidence. - Such uniform conduct would destroy all suspicions in the breast of the Indian and encourage him to industry. The posts also, should not be encumbered with more than one or two families, that they may not be exposed to privation. It is scarcely necessary for me to point out, after the remarks which I have already made, the great additional advantages that might be derived from examining the countries about the Rocky Mountains, & establishing an intercourse with the Natives; They would in all probability render MacKenzie river a source of wealth to the Company much above their estimation, & of which it is unlikely that any opponant can partake. To conclude, I shall observe that the foregoing sheets were written from memory while I was at the Expedition House near to Copper 45 Among Wentzel's associates, George Keith was one of the few to escape his criticism. 46 It is difficult to imagine how a clerk suffering from ill health or having other urgent reasons could give a year's notice of his need to retire from the district.

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Mine river, therefore it is likely that some errors may have occurred, which I hope will be deemed excusable when it is considered that I had no documents to which I could refer for a more exact statement.47 Willard Ferdinand Wentzel February 36*1821 Winter Lake, Fort Enterprize

47 With regard to some of the particulars in this account, it is well to keep this caveat in mind.

Biographical Notes, Mackenzie River and Slave Lake Districts, 1795-1821

PROPRIETORS AND CLERKS

CLARKE, JOHN, clerk, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 18069. Montreal-born John Clarke signed his first contract with the North West Company in 1800 as a nineteen-year-old apprentice clerk and served in the Athabasca, Peace, and Mackenzie River Districts for the next ten years. His name first appears in the Mackenzie River journals in 1807, as he was on his way out from Great Bear Lake with the returns for Fort Chipewyan. Alexander McKenzie the Emperor had the charge of the district that season, while Clarke served as his assistant at Great Bear Lake. The season of 1806-7 was McKenzie's last in the district, and the reins of management were turned over to his dashing young assistant. Clarke's abilities must have been highly esteemed by his superiors. He entered the fur trade the same year as George Keith and Alexander Henry Jr, but while they languished on at the lower levels of management, John Clarke was given the charge of an entire district. His rapid ascent in the company hierarchy may have been aided by a visit in the summer of 1806 to company headquarters at Kaministiquia, where he could personally press his interests, while Keith and Henry remained in the interior, without the benefit of personal influence. When Clarke embarked from Great Bear Lake in July of 1807, he left his country wife and those of two other men in charge of the summer establishment, while he brought his son along with him on the journey to Fort Chipewyan. After the canoes had left, the mother of

366 Biographical Notes Clarke's son and the other two women helped themselves to the company's store, as well as their mates' private property, and absconded to the Riviere au Peau de Lievre. (While there is a Rabbitskin River that flows into the Mackenzie a considerable distance above the Forks, it is more likely the women fled to the precincts of the modern-day Hare Indian River, which is much closer to Great Bear Lake.) When John Clarke discovered these circumstances, he dispatched three Canadians and three Indians in search of the women. They did not return, and it was later learned that the three Canadians and a Rocky Mountain Indian had been killed by the Peau de Lievre and Slavey Indians. Wentzel commented that this "might have been foreseen by Mr. Clarke himself." There is no information on what became of Clarke's country wife and the other two women or of the son Clarke had with him on his journey to Fort Chipewyan, nor are their names recorded. In typical style Clarke returned from Fort Chipewyan to the Mackenzie River District on 2 October 1807 "in a light canoe manned with eight men and colours flying in the stern," ready to assume command of the district. When the loaded canoes arrived at Fort of the Forks with the year's outfit, Clarke ordered it dispersed to the district's four establishments (Biskaga, Forks, Bluefish, and Great Bear Lake) and set out to winter in his old precincts in company with Alexander Henry Jr. On 6 July 1808 a loaded canoe arrived from Great Bear Lake with seventeen packs, down six from the previous year. On 24 July, when Wentzel's journal ends, Clarke, with his light canoe, eight men, and "colours flying from the stern" had yet to arrive at Fort of the Forks. Perhaps he had trouble finding a summer replacement. No surviving journal provides the details of the trading season of 1808-9 on the Mackenzie, but in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it must be assumed that, once again, Clarke assumed command of the district. The only reference to him is found in an article published by W.F. Wentzel in 1823 entitled "Notice of the Attempts to reach the Sea by Mackenzie's River, since the Expedition of Sir Alexander Mackenzie." There Wentzel states that Clarke descended the river in the summer of 1809 as far as "the assemblage of islands which form the various channels" of the river's delta. At that place, he encountered a band of "menacing Eskimaux" and, possibly remembering the fate of Duncan Livingston's party, felt it prudent to return upstream "without making any attempt either to land or to proceed farther." From this expedition, John Clarke apparently returned to Fort Chipewyan and a new post on the Peace River, his self-esteem perfectly intact. In February of 1820 Lieutenant John Franklin of the Land Arctic Expedition interviewed Clarke at Ile-a-la-Crosse, where the lieutenant

367 Biographical Notes

was informed that he had "wintered twice on Mackenzies River." This produces a contradiction, because the Mackenzie River documents place Clarke in the district for three winters. The inaccuracy may be laid to Franklin, however, considering his equivocal statement in a subsequent letter, where he stated that Clarke "had passed two or three winters on Mackenzies River." John Clarke left the Mackenzie River District for good in 1809, when in October of that year he assumed the charge of Fort Stjohn on the Peace River. In commenting on Clarke's departure from the Mackenzie, George Keith wrote of him, "A little elevation is apt to dazzle and make us sometimes forget the previous footing we were on. This I am persuaded was his foible." Clarke resigned from the North West Company in 181 o to become a partner in the American-owned Pacific Fur Company and served that concern on the Pacific Coast until 1814. When his partners sold out to the Nor'Westers, Clarke returned to Montreal, where he eventually engaged his services with the Hudson's Bay Company. For the next twenty years he pursued a checkered career as an officer in that firm, until, in 1834, he retired. Never prudent with his personal finances, John Clarke died impoverished eighteen years later. (Brown 1985, 158-9; Davis 1995, 350, 359; Keith 1998, 283-314; Lamb 1957, 124; J.N. Wallace 1928, 62; Wentzel 1823, 79-80; HBCA, 8.39/3/1, fol. 8d; B.3g/a/2, fols. 34b, 36, 47b, 48b; B.39/a/5b, fols. 24, 36, 44b; MCG, 011176.8158, microfilm 13, i, 8, 24, 43-4; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 45; NA, Selkirk Papers, MG 19, E i, 9264-6, 9366)

DEASE, CHARLES JOHNSON WATTS, clerk, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1818-21. Charles J.W. Dease, born in Canada in 1797, was the younger brother of Peter Warren Dease. He entered the fur trade in 1814 as an apprentice clerk for the North West Company, but his whereabouts are unknown until 1818, when he appeared in the Mackenzie River District. Dease's only appearance in the Mackenzie River documents is in a letter written by his brother Peter Warren Dease to J.G. McTavish in February of 1819. Charles had been in charge of the loaded canoes carrying the Mackenzie River outfit of 1818-19 but was stopped by ice a few miles from the Moose Deer Island post on Great Slave Lake. He accompanied the winter express to Fort Alexander, below Fort of the Forks, where he wintered over but was unable to reach Fort Good Hope (at least, by the date of the letter), where Peter had expected him. Unlike his brothers Peter Warren and John Warren (who engaged with the North West Company the same year as Charles and served at Lac La Pluie), Charles J.W. Dease warrants no mention in the

368 Biographical Notes

Dictionary of Canadian Biography. His anonymity is relieved only once in the Mackenzie River documents, and only scarce reference is made to him in the Hudson's Bay Company records. After 1821 he was taken into the latter company as a second class clerk and was posted to Fort Good Hope. After postings to Great Slave Lake and Norway House, Charles Dease retired from the fur trade in 1827. The surname Dease was frequently spelled "Dace" in the journals, which provides a hint about how it was probably pronounced. (Fleming 1940, 55, 433; W. Stewart Wallace, 1934, 435; HBCA, 6.39/3/1, fol. 20; F.3/2, fol. 1840!)

DEASE, PETER WARREN, clerk, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1817-21. Peter Warren Dease was the third youngest of four Dease brothers who entered the fur trade. He arrived in the Athabasca Department in 1801 as a thirteen-year-old apprentice clerk in the employ of the XY Company under the tutelage of Alexander McKenzie the Emperor and was posted to Great Slave Lake. W.F. Wentzel mentioned him in August of 1802 at Great Slave Lake, where Dease had apparendy been left with the summer men under the direction of one Perronne. Unlike Wentzel's Nor'Westers, Perronne, Dease, and the other XY men were in need of provisions and said to be "actually starving." In his typical fashion, the caustic young clerk wrote,"God grant them a good spell of this way of good living." A few days later, however, Wentzel did invite Perronne and Dease over to dine with him. Dease was taken on as a clerk in the North West Company when the two companies merged in 1804, and he continued on in the Athabasca Department. When Charles Grant reestablished the Mackenzie River District in 1817, Peter Dease was placed in charge of Fort Good Hope on the lower river. At the coalition of the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies, Dease was appointed a chief trader and continued on in the Mackenzie River District until 1830. His subsequent career is well known and documented elsewhere. He retired from the fur trade in 1843 and settled near Montreal. (Fleming 1940, 434-6; Sampson 1976, 196-9; MCG, CH25.s6i, microfilm 52, 3,5; H B C A , F-3/2, fols. 184-5)

FRASER, SIMON, proprietor, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1810-13. 1n 1792, at the age of sixteen, Simon Fraser joined the North West Company as an apprentice clerk assigned to the Athabasca Department. It appears that during most of this period of his career he served on the Peace River. Seven vears later, his services were so valued

369 Biographical Notes

that he received a wage more than twice that of any other clerk in the department, save Duncan Livingston. Three years later, he was made a partner in the concern. Eraser was sent west of the Rocky Mountains in 1805 to establish the trade in what became known as New Caledonia and to find a trade route to the Pacific Ocean. He failed in the latter objective, but in the attempt became the first European to descend the river eventually named in his honour. Eraser assumed the management of the Mackenzie River District in the fall of 1810, relieving clerk J.G. McTavish of the duty. In his letters to Roderic McKenzie, George Keith identified Eraser as the officer in charge for both that season and the one following. It is only assumed that Eraser continued in the charge of the district, for no additional reference is made to him in that capacity, with exception of a casual comment made by George Keith. In his letter to McKenzie on 15 January 1814 Keith mentioned that he "had the satisfaction last winter of being favored with one of your sets by our friend Mr. Simon Eraser." If Keith was delivered a packet (or set) of letters by Simon Eraser in the winter of 1812-13, it can reasonably be assumed, in the context, that Eraser was on the spot to give it to him. Simon Eraser's management of the Mackenzie River District for 1812-13 is further supported by Keith's reference a year later to having seen Eraser's journal "a year or two ago," but "I did not presume to take the liberty of asking to have a peep at the rough manuscript in his possession." Keith could hardly have had the temerity to ask for a "peep" had Eraser not been present at the time. After he left the Mackenzie River District, Eraser went on to manage North West Company affairs elsewhere in the Athabasca and in the Red River Department. He retired by 1818 and settled on his farm in Upper Canada. His only remarkable achievement was the well-known descent of the great river in New Caledonia that bears his name. Simon Eraser's fur trade career covered twenty-six years; he was a farmer for forty-four. (Duckworth 1990,151; Lamb 1960, 38-41; 1976, 282-6; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 15, 26-7; vol. 40, i; vol. 45, 48, 51, 95, 99-100; NA, Selkirk Papers, MG 19, E i, 9362-9)

GRANT, CHARLES, clerk, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1805-15, 1817-21. If it could be shown that duty in the Mackenzie River District insured perpetual anonymity in fur trade history, Charles Grant would be the prime case in point. Except from the journal of Alexander McKenzie and from cursory references by W.F. Wentzel, no one seems to know anything of Charles Grant of the Mackenzie River.

37° Biographical Notes He may have been born in Quebec, possibly about 1784. It is not known when he entered the service of the North West Company, but it is known that in 1805 Grant began his Mackenzie River career. In 1805, when Alexander McKenzie assumed command of the Mackenzie River District, he took two young clerks to assist him at Great Bear Lake. One was Alexander Henry Jr and the other Charles Grant. Both had limited experience and, upon occasion, received the displeasure of their acerbic bourgeois. On ascending Great Bear Lake River, young Grant had the misfortune of disembarking on the wrong side of the river while his men portaged around some rapids on the other side. Rather than send a canoe across above the rapids to ferry Grant back, McKenzie felt it best that he be "left to amuse himself all night along side his fire." The next day, McKenzie crossed over to rescue his chagrined clerk, "his trowsers were much tore by the branches and had passed a very disagreeable night as it was very cold." The object lesson seemed to have worked, as Charles Grant experienced no further misadventures, except for breaking the stock of his gun. In December 1805 McKenzie sent Grant with two Canadians and three Indians to "discover the Rappid Indians," who were reported to live north and west of Great Bear Lake. It was McKenzie's understanding that this band of Indians had never visited a trading post, and he desired to introduce his establishment to them. Eleven days later, Grant and his men returned, unsuccessful in their quest. They had gotten as far as the land of the Hare Indians, where their guide refused to go any further. On 12 February 1806 Charles Grant left the post on Great Bear Lake to live among the fishermen several days distant and to receive his sustenance there. He resided there for the rest of the winter. No mention is made of Grant in McKenzie's journal until 16 June, when he wrote that he planned to take him along on his expedition on the lower Mackenzie River to the lands of the Quarrelers (Loucheux). It was on this expedition that McKenzie decided to build a new trading post at the mouth of the Bluefish River. On 12 July 1806 Charles Grant, two Canadians, and three Indian hunters were given the responsibility of erecting what one day would become the first Fort Good Hope. Charles Grant assumed the management of what at first was called Bluefish River Post. In its time this establishment was one of the most remote in the fur trade country. Perhaps this is why Grant was not frequently mentioned in the journals of his contemporaries. Only W.F. Wentzel made further reference to him. In June of 1808 Wentzel had received word that "the Rapid Indians from Mr. Grant's Fort has killed a great many of the Dahodinnais of Blue Fish River." Except for this re-

371

Biographical Notes

port, which no one else refers to, there was no mention of Charles Grant until Wentzel, once again, resurrected his name in a memoir of 1821. In that document Wentzel reported that Grant had traded with the Loucheux (or "Squint Eyes") for several successive years. He also mentioned that Charles Grant, had been given the responsibility of restoring the trade in the Mackenzie River basin in 1817 after it had been abandoned two years previously. In doing so, he established a new post at the mouth of Willow Lake River, which came to be known as Fort Alexander. There are several entries in the North West Company's Grand Ledger under the name of Charles Grant. He passed the long winters at Bluefish River by reading the Haines Journal. He was mindful of his public duty to charity. In 1811, seventy livres was charged against his account for his donation to the Inverness Infirmary. On two occasions between 1814 and 1818, sums were added to his account, for some unexplained reason, in excess of his salary. From 1817 to 1820, Charles Grant was in charge of the Mackenzie River District, with his headquarters at Fort Alexander. Each summer, as soon as the ice permitted and his district's returns were collected, he accompanied the brigades to Fort Chipewyan, where he delivered his peltry and collected the ensuing year's outfit. In the fall of both 1818 and 1819 his return to the Mackenzie was delayed by ice on Great Slave Lake. Grant seems to have retired from the fur trade about 1821, for no mention is made of him after the merger of the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies. Among the early fur traders in the Mackenzie River basin, Charles Grant must rank along with W.F. Wentzel, George Keith, and JeanBaptiste LaPrise as the most important. Among them, he is the least known. He was responsible for opening up the trade in new regions, constructing two new trading posts, and reestablishing the Mackenzie District after it had been abandoned. His tenure in the district was as long as any and longer than most. Yet he remains an elusive figure in fur trade history. (W. Stewart Wallace, 1934 448; MCG, CHiSo.siGa, microfilm 14, 1,3-4,6,9-11, 17, 21, 25; MCG, CH176.S158, microfilm 13, 43; NA, MG 19, A 20, 4, 7; HBCA, K.3/2, fols. i64 12-19 June, 7 July 1808) LABECCASSE, engage, North West Company, Fort Chipewyan and Mackenzie River, 1799-1803. As early as 1799, LaBeccasse was active in the fur trade, serving at Fort Chipewyan as a fisherman and living in a house that accommodated three men and three women, which

403 Biographical Notes

would suggest that he had taken a country wife. The next year, he accompanied John Thomson on his expedition down the Mackenzie River to establish Rocky Mountain Fort. On several occasions he was sent to live among the Slaveys, and each time he would return unhappy with his circumstances. On the 6 November he was sent to live with Little Chief but came back to the post on the eighteenth because Little Chief was not able to feed him. Two days later LaBeccasse accompanied the trading leader Barbeau to his wintering quarters, only to return the next day. Thomson decided to provide him company and sent him back with St Cyr, another engage. Although only four nights from the post, neither man returned again until St Cyr appeared, as planned, to accompany the express to Slave Lake. He had fared well among the Indians, but LaBeccasse, he reported, was ill from hunger "as his homme de Loge does not take the least notice of him." LaBeccasse may have remained in the Mackenzie River District for the next two years, for he seems to have accompanied the returns of 1801-2 to Fort Chipewyan. In any case, he next appears in Wentzel's summer journal of 1802 at Slave Lake on 11 September, arriving from Athabasca with letters from several bourgeois. He stayed there until the twenty-fifth, when he continued on his way to the forks of the Mackenzie River, in order to assist Jean Baptiste LaPrise in the construction of a new post to be called Fort of the Forks. If he made it that far, he did not stay the winter, for he appeared at Red Knife Fort on 7 January 1803. Until at least the end of March and probably for the rest of the winter, LaBeccasse alternately lived with Indians who owed credits at Red Knife Fort or worked out of the fort itself or its nearby fishery on Great Slave Lake. (Masson 1960, 1:374; Steinbruck's journal of 1802-3, 7~14' Thomson's journal entries of 5-11, 18-21 November 1800, and 20 February 1801; Wentzel's journal entries of 11, 14-25 September 1802)

LABRIE, FELIX, engage, XY Company, Slave Lake, 1802-3. A family of LaBrie brothers served the North West Company at Fort Chipewyan as early as 1799. Pierre died in December of that year, leaving Felix and Joseph as his two surviving brothers. Joseph renewed his contract with the North West Company that year, but if Felix signed with the XY Company, then he may have been the LaBrie who appeared in W.F. Wentzel's summer journal of 1802 at Slave Lake. The LaBrie who arrived at Slave Lake in October of 1802 accompanied the brigade led by Alexander McKenzie. He was among the XY Company men mentioned by Nor'Wester Wentzel who had pillaged a lodge on his premises. After peace between the two camps was

404 Biographical Notes

restored, a drinking match ensued during which LaBrie became involved in a quarrel with his bourgeois, Alexander McKenzie. McKenzie "drew his sword twice with an intention of running LaBrie through the Body" but others apparently prevented the assault. (Masson 1960, 2:373-6; HBCA, F-5/i, fol. 13; Wentzel's journal entries of 4, 12 October 1802) LANCHE, engage, North West Company, Slave Lake, 1800-1. Lanche worked as an ordinary engage at Slave Lake Post during the trading season of 1800-1. In December he and Ouellette were fitted out to live with Grand Blanc and his band of Chipewyans. Lanche returned to Slave Lake Post nine days later, informing Porter that no one would take him into their lodge for the winter because he was a porkeater. (Porter's journal entries of 11-14, 23-29 December 1800) LAPRATT (LePratt), engage, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1805-6. While serving under Alexander McKenzie at Great Bear Lake during the trading season of 1805-6, LaPratt was engaged in the routine duties of a trading post. He was among the engages who accompanied McKenzie on his sojourn down the lower Mackenzie River in search of the Quarrelers (Gwich'in). Along the way the party came upon a band of what were probably Mountain Indians, led by a man McKenzie called Rappid Chief or Cene. Rappid Chief claimed never to have been to any trading post, a circumstance McKenzie quickly took advantage of by trading for eighty-six beavers on the spot. Taking Rappid Chief with him to search out the Quarrelers, McKenzie left LaPratt and LaPrise with the remainder of the band to trade for more furs. Nine days later, McKenzie returned for the two men, but his journal does not indicate how successful they were. (McKenzie's journal entries of 26 April, 2-3 May, 17, agjune, and 8 July 1806; MCG, CHi8o.si62, microfilm 14, 14-15, 19, 21, 25) LAPRISE, JEAN-BAPTISTE, interpreter, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1799-8. A biographical sketch of Jean-Baptiste LaPrise's early fur trade career can be found in Harry Duckworth's English River Book. By 1800 he had served long enough in the Athabasca country to have fathered at least one daughter old enough to be married. He first appears in the Mackenzie River District in 1800 as the carrier of the winter express in 1800 from Trout Lake River Fort to Fort Chipewyan. LaPrise and an Indian arrived at Fort Chipewyan on 31 January with

405

Biographical Notes

letters from his own post as well as that of Slave Lake. He impressed James McKenzie as the only voyageur he knew of who actually turned in his surplus provisions at the terminus of his journey. In midFebruary LaPrise and his companion had returned to Slave Lake, from where, on the eighteenth, James Porter sent them on their way to John Thomson's fort on the Mackenzie River. When John Thomson left Trout Lake River Fort in the spring with the returns of 1799-1800, he left. LaPrise with the summer charge of the post. If it is true that Nor'Westers generally did not adopt the Native custom of polygyny, as Sylvia Van Kirk states in "Many Tender Ties, "Jean-Baptiste LaPrise must have been one of the rare exceptions. John Thomson and W.F. Wentzel arrived back to Trout Lake Fort on 10 October 1800 to find LaPrise "all alone there with his two wives." LaPrise was one of the four men Thomson left at Trout Lake River Fort to assist Wentzel over the trading season of 1800-1 while Thomson and eight men descended the Mackenzie River to establish Rocky Mountain Fort. LaPrise remained at his old post on the Mackenzie River for 1801-2, but in the summer or early fall of 1802 he was sent to the confluence of the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers to begin construction of a new post to replace the one at Trout Lake River. No record has survived for the next two trading seasons, but it can be reasonably surmised that LaPrise was posted to the new establishment, which came to be known as Fort of the Forks. W.F. Wentzel arrived at the Forks on 9 October 1804 to find LaPrise and Francois Martin, who had been left in the summer charge of the place. LaPrise remained with Wentzel at the forks for the ensuing season, assisting him in harassing the small party of XY Company opponents. Something may have happened to one of LaPrise's wives, for mention is made of LaPrise "& his wife" returning from his fishing nets on one occasion and of LaPrise "& his wife" returning from a visit to a trading leader named Loucheux. The missing wife may have died, and the veteran LaPrise himself was getting too old, in Wentzel's opinion, to engage in such arduous tasks as living en derouine with the Indians. LaPrise spent part, if not all, of the trading season of 1805-6 with Alexander McKenzie at Great Bear Lake. The old voyageur does not appear in McKenzie's journal until 21 April, so he may have been sent down mid-season by Wentzel, leaving his family and dogs at the upper fort. Wentzel's only mention of LaPrise in his journal of 1805-6 implies that the old man is absent from the Forks: "LaPrise's Bitch having eat of the Windows of the Store last night, I shot her in order to keep her from returning a second time." In his summer journey to establish the trade on the lower Mackenzie River, McKenzie made extensive use

406

Biographical Notes

of LaPrise's long experience. With LaPratte, another engage, LaPrise was left for ten days with Gene, or "Rappid Chief," of the Hare, or Mountain nation, who had never seen a trading post. McKenzie was anxious to acquaint them with the North West Company and left LaPrise and LaPratte with them for that purpose. McKenzie had descended further down the river to make contact with another nation called the Loucheux or "Quarrelers." He had decided to build a trading post at the mouth of the Bluefish River that would serve these several nations, and on 12 July 1806 left Charles Grant, Paul Bebar, and Jean-Baptiste LaPrise at that place, where the first of the future Fort Good Hopes was built. For the next several seasons LaPrise seems to have been posted at either Bluefish River Fort or at the post on Great Bear Lake. In addition to his regular duties LaPrise served as an interpreter, at least for 1806-7 and probably beyond as well. The last mention of him in the Mackenzie journals occurs on 6 March 1808. He was to have replaced an injured engage on the spring express between the Forks and Great Bear Lake, "but the old fellow being unable to continue remained with Indians along the road." Jean-Baptiste LaPrise was near the end of his long and eventful career. Of all the engages assigned to the Mackenzie River District during its first two decades, LaPrise should rank as one of the most prominent. He was left in the summer command of trading posts on several occasions, including Trout Lake River Fort and Fort of the Forks. He participated in the building of at least two new trading posts, Fort of the Forks and Bluefish River Fort. He served as an interpreter and as an express courier on a number of occasions and helped expand the trade on the lower Mackenzie River. He was the epitome of I'homme du nord. The old campaigner may have died between 1808 and 1811, for his name is not listed among the men's accounts in the great ledger. (Duckworth 1990, 154; Masson 1960, 2:380-1; Van Kirk 1980, 38; W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 291; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 15, 23; Porter's journal entry of 18 February 1800; Thomson's journal entry of 10 October 1800; Wentzel's journal of 1802 entry of 25 September 1802; Wentzel's journal of 1804-5 entries of 9, 12, 16-18, 31 October, 15-17, 20-29 November, 3, 26-31 December 1804, and i, 5, 9, 24january, 13, 22-23 February, 13-14, 24 March 1805; Wentzel's journal of 1805-6, entry of 10 September 1805; McKenzie's journal entries of 21 April, i May, 19, 29 June, and 8, 12 July 1806; Wentzel's journal of 1807-8, entry of 6 March 1808)

LAROCQUE, PIERRE, engage, XY Company and North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1804-6. Before the coalition of the two Montreal

407 Biographical Notes

trading firms, Pierre LaRocque engaged with the XY Company, where Alexander McKenzie became acquainted with his misbehaviour. After 1804 LaRocque was taken on by the North West Company and served under McKenzie at Great Bear Lake in 1805-6. He seems to have performed the duties normally assigned an engage at a fur trading post until 30 January, when he and another man by the name of Guilbord were sent with the winter express to Slave Lake, by way of Fort of the Forks. Looking to shorten their trip, LaRocque and Guilbord struck out direcdy for Slave Lake by way of Lac La Martre rather than taking the more roundabout route through the Forks. When Naneawzie, their Indian guide, returned to Bear Lake and informed McKenzie, the Emperor was outraged. He ordered a search party to go after them and retrieve the letters, but they failed to catch up with the two innovative couriers. Apparendy, LaRocque did not return to the Mackenzie, for no further mention is made of him. However, he must have mended his errant ways, because he served the North West Company in the Athabasca continuously until 1821, after which time his name disappears from the record. (HBCA, r.4/32, fol. 501; UM, Baby Collection, 01/90; McKenzie's journal entries of 27 October 1805, and 30 January, i February 1806; Henry's journal entries of 6-8 February 1806)

LAVIGNE (LeVigne), Auguste, engage, XY Company, Slave Lake, 1802. Auguste LaVigne was one of the men sent by the XY Company to Slave Lake in the summer of 1802 to establish a new post. Through idle gossip with a North West Company engage, LaVigne may have revealed to his opponent the XY Company's plans to expand the next year to the Mackenzie River. Pierre and Joseph LaVigne, who may have been related, served the North West Company in 1806-7 on the Peace River, and a LaVigne is mentioned serving at Fort St John in 1822-23. Duckworth mentions an Antoine Bourcier dit LaVigne in The English River Book, but he left for the Missouri in 1793. (Burley 1996, 155-81; Duckworth 1990, 138; NA, MG 19, E i, Selkirk Papers, 9372' 9382> 9385> 9387~9390; UM, Baby Collection, 01/90; Wentzel's journal entry of 25 August 1802)

LAVIOLETTE, FRANgois, engage, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1800-1. A Francois LaViolette who is mentioned in Duckworth's English River Book is likely the same as the person who appears in the Mackenzie River journals. He was sent with letters from Fort Chipewyan to James Porter at Lake Claire in the summer of 1800, where he arrived

408 Biographical Notes

on i o July and returned the next day. In August, LaViolette helped Porter return to Fort Chipewyan with his returns. He first appears on the Mackenzie in the journal of John Thomson. He had been assigned to James Porter at Great Slave Lake for 1800-1, but in October Porter loaned him to John Thomson, who was on his way to the Mackenzie River to assist in crossing Great Slave Lake. Thomson decided to keep LaViolette and send someone else back in his stead, "in order that he may take charge of post in the summer as none of the men are fit for that purpose." His sanguine assessment of the voyageur soon turned to disgust. Within a month after the work started on building Rocky Mountain Fort, LaViolette began what became an habitual complaint of illhealth. Thomson had assigned each engage the task of cutting six cords of wood for the winter. Somehow, LaViolette always found reason not to be able to complete his portion. Thomson's estimation of the man had completely soured by 14 December, when he complained, "I cannot say whether it is sickness or laziness (for he has a very good appetite) that has prevented him from stirring about a little - for ever since he had been here he has not once attempted to cut a single stick of wood or go for a Drop of water. In short, to do the least kind of work whatever - unless it is 15 or 20 snares that he set near the house & I believe it is now 4 days since he visited them. In fact, the Man is quite a Mere Barther." To rid his post of such a sponge on provisions, Thomson ordered LaViolette to pass the rest of the winter with an unnamed band of Indians. Ever reluctant, LaViolette's heel-dragging caused a delay, but finally, in the evening of 15 December, he was sent off. Two months later Thomson was surprised by the return of LaViolette "sick on a Train two Indians having hauled him from their Lodges here." The voyageur complained that he had been mistreated and ill-fed by the Indians, a charge they loudly denied. There is no report that LaViolette expressed any gratitude to the Indians for dragging him for several days from their lodges to the warmth and comfort of Rocky Mountain Fort. (Duckworth 1990, 156; Masson 1960, 2:391-5, 398; Porter'sjournal entries of 10-11 July, 6 August 1800; Thomson's journal entries of 4, 14-15 October, 914, 27 November, 14-15 December 1800, and 16 February 1801) LEPRATT. See LAPRATT.

MANDEVILLE, JOSEPH, engage, North West Company, Slave Lake, 1799-1801. The servants' contracts of the North West Company reveal that Joseph Mandeville renewed his contract with the company at Fort

409 Biographical Notes

Chipewyan in 1799. It is presumed that this is the same Mandeville mentioned in the Slave Lake journals. He served under James McKenzie at Lake Athabasca in 1799-1800. According to James Porter, Mandeville was an active engage and a family man, which would suggest he had been in the area for some time. He often lived en derouinewtfh the Indians and owned his own canoe, an uncommon circumstance among the engages. In October of 1800 he sold his canoe to John Thomson, who was then in the process of establishing a new post on the Mackenzie River. W.F. Wentzel thought Mandeville unreliable, "knowing him to be something like a weak cock continually shifting from one side to another." There is a Jean Mainville mentioned in the North West Company's great ledger of men's accounts for 1811 to 1821 who might be a son of Joseph, and a Francois Mandeville, perhaps another son, appears in the same ledger as late as 1819, at which time he deserted. (Masson 1960, 2:373, 376, 378; HBCA, ¥.4/32, fol. 650, 743, F.5/1, fol. 6; Thomson's journal entry of 4 October 1800; Porter's journal entries of i March, 14 April, 5, 12 May, 13 October, 15, 24 December 1800; Wentzel's Slave Lake journal of 1824, entries of 29 August, 24 September, and 5-11 October)

MARTIN, CHARLES, and MARTIN, FRANCOIS, engages and interpreter, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1800-8. There were at least two Martins in the Athabasca Department during this time, with either few or confusing distinctions being made between them. Duckworth thinks that the Simon Martin mentioned in The English River Book may be the same as the Martin mentioned in the Mackenzie River journals. However, the only surnames mentioned in those journals are of Charles and Francois, which, of course, does not preclude Simon also having been among them. W.F. Wentzel did make a distinction between Old Martin, or Little Martin Sr, and Young Martin, or Little Martin Jr. Which given names apply to whom remains a mystery. A Martin first appeared in the journal of 1800-1 of John Thomson. While other engages were employed on the larger construction projects of building a new fort, Martin was busy fashioning different pieces of cabinetry and furniture. Pleased with his work, Thomson felt disposed to give a small present to him as a reward. Martin's wife, who was with him at the Fort, worked at setting snares for hares. On 11 December 1800 Thomson sent Martin, with two Indians, to the Grand Lac (Great Bear Lake) to notify the Natives there of the presence of the new trading post. A month later the Dogrib trading leader General Montgomery, with nine others, arrived from Great Bear Lake with nearly 150 pelts. They had come they said, at the request of

410 Biographical Notes

Martin, who had continued on, looking for more hunters. Because of lameness, his expedition was cut short, and there were no further visits from Natives of Great Bear Lake. Thomson was disappointed in Martin's exertions. Instead of the ten packs of furs he expected from that quarter, he had to content himself with but two. Martin returned to his carpentry work. The next time a Martin appears on the Mackenzie River is in Wentzel's journal of 1804-5. The Norwegian identified him as a Francois Martin who was with Jean-Baptiste LaPrise when Wentzel arrived on 9 October. Frangois may be the same as Little Martin, because Wentzel wrote in his journal that earlier in the summer "Etlier and Little Martin came from Slave Lake for this place for the NWCO." When Wentzel arrived at the Forks, Etlier was out among the Indians, so that left Little Martin (Francois) with LaPrise, who had had charge of the post over the summer. However, on 11 October, Wentzel helped to further compound the confusion surrounding the two Martins when he wrote, "I forgot to mention that upon the Potties departure for Lac d'Our [on i October] Little Martin Sen'r set off for the same place in a Saulteau canoe with an Indian." Little Martin Senior and Frangois Martin cannot be the same person, because the former had left the Forks on i October and the latter was present when Wentzel arrived on 9 October. So at one time or another during the late summer and early fall of 1804, two Martin's were present at the Forks. Perhaps Frangois was Little Martin Junior. Martin Senior was alone at the North West Company post on 12 September when W. Tulloch of the XY Company and one of his men, together with three Indians, drowned in the river. Little Martin Junior (Francois) was at the centre of some notoriety at the Forks during the spring of 1804, when he initiated an affair with the wife of Pouce Coupe, one of the principal trading leaders of the post. Wentzel blamed this indiscretion for the lack of productivity in Pouce Coupe's winter provisioning, for the man had earned a reputation as an excellent hunter. Old Martin was slated to return to the Forks from Great Bear Lake with the express in the spring of 1805. The express arrived at Fort of the Forks on 19 March 1805, but Wentzel's journal ends without word whether or not Martin Senior came with it. Charles Martin appears at Great Bear Lake in the journal of 1805-6 of Alexander McKenzie. He was present at that fort as early as 30 October 1805, but on 17 December he and his family left for the Forks. On 2 October, W.F. Wentzel sent off Old Martin with two young men, but he did not say where he sent them. It is possible that they were sent to Great Bear Lake, which would make Charles Martin and Old Martin one and the same. It is perplexing, though, to understand why Old

4ii

Biographical Notes

Martin would have been sent separately to Great Bear Lake, and only five days after the Emperor left the Forks. Perplexing or not, the logistics work out, for Martin is not mentioned again in Wentzel's journal fragment of 1805-6 until i April 1806, long after Charles Martin and family left Great Bear Lake. Old Martin was present at the Forks in May and June 1806, and a Martin was present in late July when McKenzie stopped at Wentzel's post on his way to Fort Chipewyan. When McKenzie resumed his journey on i August, Martin joined his ranks. In the minutes of the annual meeting of the North West Company proprietors in July of 1806, Charles Martin is identified as an interpreter attached to the Athabasca Department, of which the Mackenzie River District was a part. The carpenter Martin reappeared in the journal of W.F. Wentzel of 1807-8. He had, apparently, been left in the summer charge of Fort of the Forks, because Wentzel found him there on i August when he arrived. Martin set about arranging flooring, whitewashing the house, and making snowshoes. On 16 October, Wentzel sent him off with the Grand Chefre to bring back a large quantity of provisions, said to be en cache. Martin was gone three weeks, but, to his bourgeois's disappointment, he returned with "but a very trifling quantity." On 8 March, Martin and Gibeau were dispatched with the spring express to Slave Lake from which Martin and Gibeau's replacement, Range, returned a month later. On 13 April, Martin was again sent off with three Indians to old Trout Lake River Fort to hunt for provisions, Martin to guard the hunters from any depredations threatened by the Yellowknives. On 27 May, Martin's party returned with but nineteen skins in meat. Wentzel did not express his disappointment in the journal, but Martin was subsequently asked to do only routine maintenance tasks about the fort. The last entry mentioning Martin's name noted that he "is now an invalid, occasioned by the pain in his side." Charles Martin apparently retired in 1813, for that year his account was transferred to Montreal. Francois Martin's account in the Athabasca ended a year later. (Duckworth 1990, 159; W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 219; HBCA, F-4/32, fols. 644, 649; Thomson's journal entries of 29 October, 2-5, 12, 17 November, 10-11 December 1800, and 4, 11-12, 27-29 January, and 9, 17, 22-24 February 1801; Wentzel's journal of 1804-5, entries of 9-10 October 1804, and 13 January, 13 February 1805; Wentzel's journal of 1805-6, entries of i, 6 September 1805, and 2 April, 6-8 May, 5 June 1806; McKenzie's journal entries of 30 October 1805, and 17 January, 22 July, 18 August 1806; Wentzel's journal of 1807-8, entries of i August, 5, 13-14 October, 8, 13, 26 November, and 12, 19 December 1807, and 5-8 March, 8, 13, 23 April, 27-29 May, 9, 17-19, 30 June, 12-15 July 1808)

412 Biographical Notes MENARD, JOSEPH, interpreter, XY Company, Great Slave Lake 1802-3, interpreter, XY Company and North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1804. A Joseph Menard from Montreal is listed in 1805 as a North West Company engage who had signed an agreement to serve in the Athabasca Department for two years at a salary of 750 livres. The agreement may have been a consequence of the merger of the North West and XY Companies the previous November, for Menard was an interpreter for the latter organization between 1802 and 1804. During the summer and fall of 1802 he was at Slave Lake, where he and a NorWester named Jean-Baptiste Adam had a violent confrontation terminating with Adam as the victor. Notwithstanding the fight, Menard and Adam became "freres" (brothers), and, in an unusual instance of cooperation, Menard of the XY Company made the doors for the Nor'Wester's house when it was learned the Nor'Westers had no one capable of such carpentry. In the summer of 1804 clerk W. Tulloch, Menard, Beauvais, Perreault, Saucier, and one other engage were sent to the Forks by the XY Company. After the drowning accident that took the lives of the company clerk and an engage, Menard was one of the two men that remained at the Forks with Perreault to oppose W.F. Wentzel and seven men. Joseph Menard must have been transferred to Lac La Pluie in 1820, for his account appears there in the North West Company's great ledger. He is listed as Joseph Menard Sr; Menard Jr apparendy deserted in the fall of 1820 from Fort William. (HBCA, F.4/32, fols. 671-2; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 55, i; Wentzel's journal of 1802, entries of 8-10, 14-15 September 1802; Wentzel's journal of 1804-5, entry of 9 October 1804) MOINEAU, engage, North West Company, Slave Lake, 1800-1. Moineau appears in John Thomson's journal on 4 October 1800, when he and another engage, Mandeville, sold Thomson their canoe. Further mention of him is confined to James Porter's journal. On 12 March 1800 Moineau and an Indian left for the Mackenzie (called the Grand in the journal) River, but they did not stay, because on 11 April the Canadian was back at the Slave Lake Post delivering his cord of wood. On 14 May Moineau reengaged with the company as a devant. He accompanied Porter on the brigade to Fort Chipewyan toward the end of that month but does not seem to have been with his bourgeois at Lake Claire; he may have been among the summer complement of men at Fort Chipewyan. He returned to Slave Lake with the fall brigade and served there the ensuing year. (Porter's journal entries of 28 February, 2, 8-12 March, 14, 25 May, and 2 October 1800; Thomson's journal entry of 4 October 1800)

413 Biographical Notes

MORENT, engage, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1805-6. Morent served under Alexander McKenzie at Great Bear Lake during the trading season of 1805-6. He was one of the three Canadians whose country wives deserted Great Bear Lake Fort in February of 1806. It was Morent who, with the post hunter Kaskara, trailed after the women and brought them back. Instead of punishing them, Morent and Louis Genereux fed a hot meal to the frostbitten trio. (McKenzie's journal entries of 12 November 1805, and 28 February, 28 April, 6 May 1806)

MORIN, interpreter, North West Company, Slave Lake, 1799-1802 Morin served the North West Company in the Slave Lake District during 1799-1800 and 1800-1. In the spring of 1800 Saurarda, a Chipewyan from the Slave Lake region, arrived at Fort Chipewyan with his daughter who had deserted from Morin the previous winter. Morin had sent orders "to sell her to the highest bidder and debit [him] for the amount." The woman refused to be sold and, because she was pregnant with his child, desired to be returned to Morin in lieu of being "turned off' to someone else. Returning to Slave Lake Post, the two apparently reconciled, for the woman is mentioned assisting in bringing provisions to the post later in the year. James McKenzie, the officer in charge at Fort Chipewyan, considered Morin neither a good middleman, foreman, steersman, interpreter, nor carpenter. Nevertheless, he was well thought of by James Porter. In 1800 he left the summer establishment at Slave Lake to Morin's care, for which the seasoned engage received Porter's praise upon his return in October. Morin continued to serve there for the trading season of 1800-1. He is mentioned in W.F. Wentzel's summer journal of 1802 as living with a band of Chipewyans near the rapids of the Slave River and along the Salt River. It is possible, but unlikely, that he is the same as the Joseph Moran dit Grimard mentioned by Duckworth as entering the fur trade in 1772. However, Joseph Moran dit Grimard received only a middleman's wage as late as 1800, whereas the Morin of these journals was a seasoned interpreter with a family. (Duckworth 1990, 158; Masson 1960, 2:384-5; Porter's journal entries of 18 February, 13 April, and 13-20 October 1800; Wentzel's journal of 1802, entries for 23 August, 11, 24 September, and 10 October 1802)

OUELLETTE, engage, North West Company, Fort Chipewyan and Slave Lake, 1800-1. Journal writers could never decide on one particular way to spell this man's name; Porter adopted several variations

414

Biographical Notes

throughout his journal, while James McKenzie spelled it Ouellette. He is not mentioned in any of the other Slave Lake or Mackenzie River journals, so he must have been attached to Fort Chipewyan when he was not at the Slave Lake Post. Ouellette arrived at Slave Lake Post from Fort Chipewyan with Joseph Fournier on 28 March 1800, and the two left with the express for headquarters on 9 April. He was posted to Slave Lake Post for 1800-1, for in November and December of that year Ouellette, Mandeville, and Lanche travelled back and forth between the post and the fishery. On 16 December, Ouellette and Lanche went to live with Grand Blanc's band, en derouine. (Masson 1960, 2:387; Porter's journal entries of 28 March, 8-9 April, 20 May, i8-ig November, and 11-16 December 1800)

PANSENOU (Pinsonnault), engage, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1805-6. This name appears but once in McKenzie's journal, and in that instance the spelling is not certain. At Great Bear Lake in November of 1805 Alexander McKenzie moved into his house, which Pansenou had helped to build amid temperatures that reached minus thirty degrees. (McKenzie's journal entry of 12 November 1805)

PAUL, LOUIS, engage, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1805-6. In May of 1800, midway along the route from Slave Lake to Fort Chipewyan, James Porter assigned Louis Paul to the charge of one of the canoes in his brigade. Porter considered him a more competent steersman than the engage previously assigned that duty. Paul's name appears three times in Alexander McKenzie's journal at Great Bear Lake for the trading season of 1805-6. In all instances, he was employed in the usual duties of an engage, such as hunting for provisions or bringing in provisions already killed by Indians. (Porter's journal entry of 20 May 1800; McKenzie's journal entries of 9, 16 January, and 6 May 1806)

PERREAULT, JOSEPH, engage, North West and XY Companies, Mackenzie River, 1801-4. A-Joseph Perreault reengaged with the North West Company on 25 April 1801 and agreed to winter at Fort Chipewyan. It is possible that he was the same person as the Perreault of the XY Company who is mentioned in Wentzel's journal of 1804-5. The lenthi of his North West Company engagement extended only to 1803; it is possible he did not renew his agreement with that company and instead

415 Biographical Notes

signed with the competing firm. Wentzel's Perreault had previously been engaged with the Nor'Westers and regretted leaving their employ, "but there being so many errors in his account when arrived at Montreal... it was impossible for him to forget [them]." In the summer of 1804 Perreault had been one of the engages who accompanied XY clerk W. Tulloch and four other men to the forks of the Mackenzie to establish an opposition to the North West Company. Alexander McKenzie, the XY bourgeois for the district, came with them to superintend the effort but soon after returned to his headquarters on Great Slave Lake. On 12 September, Tulloch ordered one of his men to ferry three Indians from the opposite side of the river to the trading post. The canoe he took was too small for the passengers and their baggage. As a result, it began to take on water on the return trip. As mentioned already, seeing that the canoe was beginning to sink in mid-river, Tulloch jumped into a second small canoe intent on saving them. When he reached them, the frantic men were in the water and lunging desperately for Tulloch's canoe. In the process they capsized, it and all five men drowned. The Indian fatalities included the son and nephew of the Grand Chefre and the youngest brother of another trading leader, Levrier. Perreault, apparently the senior man, sent Beauvais to Slave Lake to report the disaster. On i October, XY Company clerk Allan McDonell arrived at the Forks on his way to Great Bear Lake. Although company clerk John McDonald accompanied him, Perreault was nevertheless left in charge with only two men to oppose the seasoned W.F. Wentzel and seven Nor'Westers. The outcome of such an unequal contest was inevitable. Wentzel showed Perreault no mercy, harassing him at the hunt and at the fishery. By early December, Perreault and his two men were starving, reduced to eating tete de loches (fish heads) and pieces of depouilk (animal skins). On 10 December, Perreault capitulated and begged Wentzel for enough food for him and his two men to make the trip back to Slave Lake. Arrangements were made for Wentzel to assume Perreault's property for seventy-two pounds of pounded meat and grease, and on 19 December Perreault and his two men left the Forks, terminating a tragic and pathetic competition. The North West Company's great ledger lists a Joseph Perreault who, at some time between 1811 and 1821, was sent to the Columbia Department. (HBCA, ¥.4/32, fol. 900, £5/1, fo. 32; Wentzel's journal entries of 9 October 19 December 1804)

PICHE, FRANgois, interpreter, North West Company, Mackenzie River, 1799-1807. In January of 1799 Francois Piche, ditLa. Mesette or

416 Biographical Notes Lamisette, renewed his contract with the North West Company to serve in the Athabasca Department for five years as commis, interpreter, and boute canoe. He had previously gained notoriety in 1787 when he fatally shot John Ross, an opposing trader for the Montreal firm of Gregory and McLeod. After this incident, Piche fled and lived among the Chipewyans for three years, acquiring during that time a facility with their language that enabled his employment as an interpreter with an unvarying salary of i ,000 livres per year. In 1791 Piche had the summer charge of the North West Company's post on Great Slave Lake; apparently, his reputation had survived the infamy. No record has been found that locates Piche's whereabouts for the next eight years, with the possible exception of the "Pichet" who opposed James Porter at Nipawi Rapids on the Saskatchewan in 1794. However, it is clear from John Thomson's journal of 1800-1 that Francois Piche was posted to Trout Lake River Fort for 17991800. Sometime during that trading season, Piche had descended the Mackenzie River some distance below its confluence with the Liard River and in consultation with, it is supposed, the Rocky Mountain Indians, had selected a site to build a new trading post. Piche was not with Thomson the ensuing year when the trading post was built, and as a consequence, the wrong spot was chosen. It is not known why he left the Mackenzie when he did. In the summer of 1800 Piche is found at Fort Chipewyan. James McKenzie found him "a little cracked brained and as variable as the wind," and therefore he taunted Piche with schemes against the XY Company leader Peronne, in order to make the two hate each another. In 1801 Piche served the North West Company at Fort Chipewyan and the next year was sent to Slave Lake. Francois Piche next appeared in the North West Company journals on 24 September 1802, when he arrived from Athabasca at Great Slave Lake. He lived up to his notoriety at Slave Lake for by 7 October, Wentzel complained that "Piche gives us at present more trouble than the Indians." He had a penchant for liquor, a habit that resulted in his becoming "dead drunk" upon occasion and incurring, as a consequence, a lasting reputation as a toper. A journal written at Hay River in 1807 that is said to be authored by Edward Smith mentions Piche as an active and important engage at that post. Piche, together with a another engage, was left in charge for a month in the spring while Smith visited Fort Vermilion on the Peace River and again in the summer while Smith accompanied the returns to Fort Chipewyan. In addition to his many other duties, Piche served as interpreter at Hay River Post the following winter, a duty he performed the previous year as well.

417 Biographical Notes

No mention is made of Piche in the surviving North West Company documents for the next ten years, except for the great ledger of men's accounts. The ledger records that La Messette served in the Athabasca between 1811 and 1819 at a constant wage of 1,000 livres per year. There is another Francois Piche in the ledger, but he cannot be the same man, because he served in the English River District for the season of 1820-21, two years after Francois the Elder had died. It is likely that he was La Messette's son. The elder Piche appeared once more in June of 1818, when the summer business of the company's post at Hay River had again been left in his charge. That is, if the name of the "well known" F. La Misitte, or Francois La Messette, alias Pickes or Picket, mentioned by J.G. McTavish and Simon McGillivray Jr refers to Francois Piche dit La Mesette or Lamisette, then the two must be the same, which seems likely. While in charge at the Hay River post Piche was in the process of providing two Indians with some liquor when an ember from his pipe fell to the floor of the shop and ignited a keg of gunpowder that had been left open. The resulting explosion killed the two Indians outright, while "the poor old drunkard" lingered for ten days before succumbing to his injuries. (Duckworth 1990, xviii, 163-4; Masson, 1960, 2:392, 394-7; Morton 1929, 19; W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 219; HBCA, 3.39/3/1, fols. 5 337)- Because it was a generic term applied to a stage in the distilling process of any alcoholic beverage, Duckworth simply defines high wines as "distilled liquor of various kinds" (Duckworth 1990, 191). irons. Such items as firesteels, trenches, axes, awls, and similar goods.

454

Glossary

maitre. Any rigid structure that is used to support something or to help maintain its shape, for example, the poles used with fishing nets to help in spreading them out under the water. In the Mackenzie River journals maitres commonly referred to the gunwales needed to maintain the shape of a canoe. These long timbers were the first part of the frame to be installed (Duckworth 1990, 182, 192-3). mal de raquette. A painful injury affecting snowshoers caused by an undue strain on the tendons of the legs (Avis 1991, 459). manashish. This term was used by W.F. Wentzel in two of his journals but has escaped definitive identification. He mentioned killing a manashish on i April 1806, and two years later, in March of 1808, he referred to manshius and manashises, which were doubtless the same as manashish. In the Cree language the suffix -shish implies a diminutive, so a manashish is likely a little animal of some kind. In Wentzel's first use of the term, an Indian hunter and his wife had just brought in to the post the day before a young orignal, or moose. The context, then, suggests that manashish refers to a small or young moose. measure. Frequently abbreviated as "meas," a measure was the quantitative unit used in dispensing ammunition. It is not clear exactly how much a measure was. orignal (Alces alces). The French Canadian term for moose. outfit. The yearly supply of trade goods and provisions of a post or district (Gibson 1997, 5). pemmican. Pulverized meat (usually from bison or other large animals) and melted fat (sometimes called grease in the journals) were mixed together and allowed to harden inside a skin bag called a taureau to produce pemmican. Sometimes berries were added to improve the taste. The resulting concoction resisted spoilage and provided an important food source for Indians and fur traders alike (Avis 1991, 554-5)- Moose or caribou (and occasionally fish) substituted for bison in the Mackenzie River District as the meat used for pemmican. phial. A small vessel for holding drinks. pichou (pecheux). Adapted from the Algonquian term peshewah, pichou referred to the lynx (Felis lynx), the principal predator of the hare (Avis 1991, 558-9). plat de cotes. A French phrase that refers to the top ribs of any large game animal.

455 Glossary

plue. The same word as plu. See Skin. poisson inconnu (Stenodus leudchthys). A species of whitefish that served as an important food throughout the Mackenzie River basin (Lamb 1970, 168; Davis 1995, 20). porkeater (mangeur du lard). Originally, a porkeater was a voyageur who engaged as a canoeman between Lachine, near Montreal, and Grand Portage on the western shore of Lake Superior. The term subsequently came to be applied to any engage short on experience or new to a district (Avis 1991, 575)pottie. The term Nor'Westers derisively attached to the men and officers of the XY Company. Its origins are uncertain, but the suggestion that it may have originated in the Canadian French potee, one of little worth, fits the context (Avis 1991, 583). pounded meat. See green meat.

prey (pret). The daily ration of food allocated to the men at a trading post (Avis 1991, 590). It was more commonly used during the time of the journals by traders on the Peace River than by those on the Mackenzie. See, for example, the journal kept at Pine River in 1807 (NA, MG 19, E i, Selkirk Papers, 9371-92) or that of Dunvegan in 1806 (NA, MG 19, E i, Selkirk Papers, 8958-9003). However, both John Thomson and W.F. Wentzel made occasional use of the term. ps. An abbreviation, commonly found in the Mackenzie River and Slave Lake journals, that refers to pieces of something, such as tobacco or fish. sans dessein. A French phrase meaning "without return" sometimes used by traders when they wanted to distinguish between giving out goods on credit and giving out goods as a gratuity, "without expectation of anything in return" (Hickerson 1959, 301). shrub. An alcoholic drink made from fruit or berry juices and rum or some other distilled spirit. skin. The standard measure of value for the North West Company was the plu (plue), or skin. A skin's worth of anything was equivalent to one prime, full-sized beaver pelt. The term "made beaver" served the same purpose for the Hudson's Bay Company (Avis 1991, 568-69). taureau. A skin bag in which pemmican was kept (Duckworth 1990, 186; Avis 1991, 774-5). The term is spelled in various ways in the several journals. trame. A sledge or toboggan pulled over the snow by dogs or humans.

456

Glossary

travois. A kind of sled consisting of a framework between two poles dragged along the ground by a dog or horse or, more usually in the Mackenzie River basin, by humans. trench (tranches). Chisels used to chop through the ice in the winter, generally in the hunt for beaver. varangues. The floor timbers of a canoe. vermilion. Red sulphide of mercury highly valued by Native peoples as a decorative pigment. viz. An abbreviation from the Latin word videlicet, meaning "namely."

Notes

ABBREVIATIONS

ANQ HBC A MCG NA UA UM

Archives Nationales du Quebec-Montreal Hudson's Bay Company Archives McGill University Libraries, Rare Books Department National Archives of Canada University of Aberdeen, Special Collections Library Universite de Montreal Libraries INTRODUCTION

1 MacKay 1936, 113, emphasis added. 2 NA, "Account of Mackenzies River with a Chart," MG 19, A 20, 4. 3 Sloan 1979, 281-99; Karamanski 1983; Krech 1984, 99-146; Yerbury 1986. 4 Krech 1984, 99-100. 5 Davis 1998, Ixiv. 6 This information is found in a finding aid preceding the Masson Collections, provided by the National Archives of Canada. 7 Gray 1963, 344. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

1 Harris 1987, i. 2 Ibid., plate 4.

458 Notes to pages 4-7 3 The Fluted Point people were so named because of the distinctive way in which they manufactured their chipped-stone tools. Ibid., i. 4 Ibid., 3, plate 6. 5 These are the modern names of people who appear in the journals as Loucheux, Hare, Nahanni, Slavey, and Dogrib. Shepard Krech has pointed out the evolving problem with Native ethnonyms. The fur trade names for aboriginal peoples, Krech states, bear little relation to their self-designations (see Krech, 1997). Following his lead, it is good policy to call a people by what they call themselves, although it is difficult for the nonspecialist to know how to pronounce the ethnonyms, given the unusual symbols used in the spelling. It seems little is accomplished if only a few readers know who is being identified. If one takes into account the fact that various bands of the same people have a different name for themselves, the complexity becomes overwhelming. For example, Gwich'in who live in one place call themselves Vuntut Gwitchin, while those of another place identify themselves as Tetlit Gwich'in. Such particularized self-designation is of utmost importance to the people themselves but confuses the general reader of a book such as this. Consequently, the following policy has been adopted. If a people are referred to in a modern context, the modern general ethnonym is used, but if a people are referred to in the context of the fur trade journals, the contemporary ethnonym is used. 6 Chipewyan and Yellowknife. See Harris 1987, 4-5, and plate 8; Krech !9977 Fossett 1995, chap. 5; Harris 1987, 3-6, and plates 7, 8, 9, 11. 8 Krech points out that knowledge of Russian traders may have reached the lower Mackenzie first by way of Inupiat or Athapascan middlemen. However, he warns, "no assumption about the meaning of that knowledge to the Gwich'in [the Loucheux of the journals] should be made" (1996, 189). In other words, the significance of this indirect cultural contact must remain conjectural. 9 Gillespie 1975,203-4. 10 Davis 1995, 117. 11 Gillespie 1975, 195, 236. 12 Wentzel 1821, 3. 13 Davis 1995, 120. 14 Krech 1984, 102-3. 15 Masson 1960, 2:111-16. In 1812, while at Great Bear Lake, Keith called the Slaveys "Grand River Indians." Earlier, while posted on the Liard River, he referred to them as "Beaver," which, he said, is what they called themselves. 16 Lamb 1970, map between 164 and 165; Wentzel 1821,3. 17 Masson 1960, 2:68; 1:85. 18 Karamanski 1983, 50-1.

459 Notes to pages 7-13 19 Krech 1984, 103; Sloan 1995. 20 Wentzel 1821, 4. 21 In 1821 George Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company divided Chipewyans into "Mountainees, Carribeau Eaters, and Yellow Knives" (Rich 1938, 370-1). More recently, Smith also noted that during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the French name Montagnais was frequently applied to the Chipewyans (1978, 283). 22 Masson 1960, 2:123. 23 Krech 1979, 109-14; 1989, 54-5. 24 McKenzie's journal entries between 31 May and 7 July 1806; Wentzel 1821, 3-4; Krech 1978, 1979, 1983, 1989. 25 Krech 1989, 66. 26 Krech 1996, 188-9. 27 Fossett 1995, chap. 5. 28 Harris 1987, plate 11. 29 Lamb 1970, 191. 30 Ibid., 212-14. 31 Krech 1996, 189. 32 For a concise history of this period, see Duckworth 1990, xiii-xviii. 33 Ibid., xxiii. 34 Ibid., xix. 35 Lamb 1970, 168. In 1990 Harry Duckworth published Cuthbert Grant's journal of 1786 (see Duckworth 1990). 36 HBCA, B.g/a/i, fol. 2gd; B.g/a/3, 79-80. In 1820, Arctic explorer John Franklin called this eastern branch Riviere d'Argent, but it has since come to be known as the Jean River (Davis 1995, 21). 37 Lamb 1970, 179, 225. Mackenzie noted in his journal that the muddy waters of the Liard resisted mingling with those of the clearer Grand River (as the Mackenzie River was then called) for 150 miles, a phenomenon still observable today. 38 Innis 1956, 200; Lamb 1970, 172-3. Like Alexander Mackenzie, Laurent Leroux had earlier been in the employ of the rival firm of Gregory, McLeod & Company. Abandoned for a time, the post built by Leroux eventually was reestablished and called Fort Providence. 39 In 1812, influenced by the early French name of the lake, George Keith wrote a description of the Dogribs who lived in the vicinity entitled the "Filthy Lake Indians" (see NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 70-80). 40 Innis 1956, 201; Yerbury 1986, 59; Masson 1960, 1:95. 41 Tyrrell 1968, 406; mentioned in Duckworth 1990, xxii. 42 Lamb 1970, 168. 43 Tyrrell 1968, 517-19; quoted in Duckworth 1990, 177. 44 HBCA, B.g/a/3, 81.

460 Notes to pages 13-15 45 Masson 1960, i :g4~5. This information is found in a letter Wentzel wrote to Roderic McKenzie in 1807. His memory may have truncated the events of this period. He said that in 1786 Laurent Leroux established a fort at Slave Lake for the North West Company. Leroux did establish a post in 1786, but for the firm of Gregory, McLeod and Company, not the Nor'Westers. However, after the two companies merged in 1787, Leroux continued as a clerk for the North West Company. It is learned from Alexander Mackenzie that Leroux traded among the Yellowknives on Great Slave Lake's northern shore in 1789, and it may have been to this trade that Wentzel's remarks referred. Wentzel stated, "At length, the Company was persuaded by interested motives to establish a fort at Marten Lake [Lac La Martre] the third year after the opening of trade with these tribes." If Wentzel was, in fact, referring to Leroux's summer establishment of 1789, then the post at Lac La Martre would have been built in 1792. 46 Tyrrell 1934, 512, 514, 517; HBCA, B.3g/a/4, fol. 4; 6.41/3/2, fol. 12. 47 Masson 1960, 1:95; Innis 1956, 201; Lamb 1970, 176; Yerbury 1986, 59; Karamanski 1983, i5;Krech 1984, 106. Writing in 1807, W. Ferdinand Wentzel mentioned 1796 as the year Livingston established his post, but later, in 1821, he claimed it was established in 1795 (compare Masson 1960, 1:95, with Wentzel 1821, i, 5, and with Wentzel 1823, 77). On his descent of the river, Alexander Mackenzie spent the night at or near the site chosen for Trout River Post on 29 June 1789 and camped at the same spot on 17 August on his return to Fort Chipewyan. (For the site of Livingston's Trout River Post, see Stager 1971, 51). Trout River was also called Fishing River (or River a la Peche). See Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River," map, and McKenzie's journal entry for 25 September 1805. 48 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 40, i. Simon Fraser entered the North West Company in 1792 and became a partner in 1802. In 1808 he made his famous journey down the river that bears his name. In 1810 he assumed the charge of the Mackenzie River District (see Lamb 1976, 9:282-5. 49 Wentzel 1823, 78-9; Masson 1960, 1:95; Innis 1956, 201; Yerbury 1986, 59. 50 Lamb 1970, 476; Krech 1984, 106. Livingston's successor, John Thomson, took out seventy-four packs in 1800. 51 Wentzel 1823, 78-9; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 32, 32A, 11618; Masson 1960, 1:95; Innis 1956, 201. All these sources report that it was the Esquimaux (Inuit) who attacked and killed Livingston and his men. However, James Porter related an account in which a Chipewyan trading leader by the name of Chennalize or Grand Blanc said that it was not the Esquimaux that killed Livingston and his party but, rather, his Slavey guides (see Porter's journal entry for 15 December 1800). Peter Fidler, of the Hudson's Bay Company, blamed the Quarrelers (Gwich'in), rather than either the Esquimaux or the Slavey guides (see Tyrrell 1968, 457-8 and

461 Notes to page 15 note). British Naval explorer John Franklin placed the site of the attack at the lower extremity of Simpson Island in the upper delta region (see Franklin 1969, 30). 52 Innis 1956, 201; Krech 1984, 106. The date of 1799 for the establishment of a post on Great Bear Lake is doubtful. On 11 December 1800 John Thomson sent voyageur Charles Martin to the Grand Lac to entice Indians there to come and trade at his new Rocky Mountain Fort on the Mackenzie River. There would have been no need for this had a post already been established at that place. That Great Bear Lake and Thomson's Grand Lac are one and the same is evident from references elsewhere in his journal. For example, on 22 December 1800 "2 young men arrived from the Grand Lac below." Of the thousands of lakes below Rocky Mountain Fort near the flanks of the Mackenzie, only Great Bear Lake merits the adjective "Grand." Thomson mentioned that the Indians in the District would "work much better by their being seperated in Two Posts." The two posts known to exist at the time were Trout River Post and Thomson's own Rocky Mountain Fort. No mention was made of a third post at Great Bear Lake. On 10 January 1801, a Dogrib trading leader known as General Montgomery arrived from the Grand Lac, sleeping out five nights on his way to Rocky Mountain Fort. Journal entries of later visitors to Great Bear Lake substantiate that the travel time between that place and Rocky Mountain Fort was five to eight days. Finally, General Montgomery traded with Alexander McKenzie at Great Bear Lake during the season of 1805-6, identifying him as an inhabitant of those precincts. See Thomson's journal entries for 11 and 13 December 1800, as well as 10-11 January 1801, and McKenzie's journal entries for 4-7 May 1806. In 1811 George Keith was stopped by ice near the location of the then abandoned Rocky Mountain Fort, "about seven days march" from Great Bear Lake. See NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 48. 53 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 7. Another version of this journal, consisting of the first four pages, is found in vol. 13 of the Masson Collection. 54 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 40, i. This document does not state whether the wages were in pounds Halifax or in livres, but the highest wages are consistent with the amount paid at that time to the most senior clerks, assuming that twelve livres equalled one pound Halifax (see Duckworth 1990, 178, for the conversion of livres to pounds Halifax). At 240 livres per annum, Thomson ranked among the lowest-paid clerks in the Athabasca Department, suggestive of a veryjunior status, which, in fact, he was, having entered the fur trade in 1795. J.N. Wallace disputes the contention that Thomson was relatively young and inexperienced, claiming he had been in the service for at least ten years. As evidence, he cites William McGillivray's journal of 1790-91, where reference is made to "our little

462 Notes to pages 15-18 friend Thomson" (Wallace 1929, 45). As additional proof that Thomson was supposedly a seasoned fur trader in 1799, Wallace mentions a letter from Alexander Mackenzie to his cousin Roderic, wherein the former reengaged Thomson in 1791 "on the same terms as were offered to McLeod which we know to have been generous" (£200 Halifax per annum). Two hundred pounds Halifax is not congruent with the amount John Thomson received according to the 1799 "Arrangements of the Proprietors, clerks, interpreters, etc." for the NWC. It is probable that the Thomson alluded to by McGillivray and Mackenzie was not John Thomson but, rather, Robert Thompson, as is suggested by the index reference to him in Lamb 1970. Robert Thompson died in 1795. 55 See, for example, Porter's journal entries for 18 February, 9 April, and 17 May 1800. 56 Thomson's journal entry for 13 October 1800. Harry Duckworth has Francois Piche at Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca during the season of 1799-1800. However, Duckworth's source, the James McKenzie journal found in Masson, places Piche at Fort Chipewyan in July of 1800, which is where he would have been after accompanying the Mackenzie returns from Livingston's old post as soon as the ice permitted. Piche wintered over in the Mackenzie District in 1799-1800 and was probably posted to Livingston's Trout River Post between October of 1799 and June of 1800. It was not the "following summer" (1800), as Duckworth would have it, that Piche "located the site for a new North West Company fort on the Mackenzie River below the mouth of the Liard." Rather, it was "last spring," as Thomson stated, that is, the spring of 1800, before the departure of the brigade for headquarters (Duckworth 1990, 163-4, and Thomson's journal entry for 11 and 12 October 1800). 57 Thomson's entry for 13 December 1800. 58 Porter's journal entries for 7 March and 15 December 1800. 59 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 15, 9. Over the summer of 1800, a voyageur by the name of Jean-Baptiste LaPrise assumed charge of the Mackenzie River post until the return of John Thomson. In his journal Thomson identified him only as LaPrise, but Duckworth has found that his given name is Jean-Baptiste, as well as finding further details, such as his promotion in 1799 from milieu to gouvernail, but at a one-hundred-livre reduction in salary! See Duckworth 1990, 154, and Thomson's journal entry for 10 October 1800. 60 Masson 1960, 2:392; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 15, 10. 61 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 15, 26-7. There is a potential for some confusion here. In the fall of 1800 Thomson returned to the Mackenzie to establish a new post farther down the river at a place he called the Rocky Mountain and dubbed his new post Rocky Mountain Fort. In the summer of 1800, however, the "Rocky Mountain" referred to

463 Notes to pages 18-1 g is the country around the upper Peace River, a different place altogether. Thomson did not make it that far, for Wentzel caught up to him just above the (Vermilion) falls from whence they returned to Fort Chipewyan together. This seemingly meaningless summer excursion of Thomson's remains an enigma and may reflect an error. See James McKenzie'sjournal, in Masson 1960, 2:392. 62 The heading to a note in the back of John Thomson's Grand Marais journal of 1798-99 reads, "Credits paid at S. L [Slave Lake] belonging to F. C. [Fort Chipewyan] to Mr. J. Porter, Spring 1799 -" It is a list of nine Indians to whom credits had been paid at Slave Lake. This oddly placed note provides what evidence there is that Porter managed Slave Lake Post for the season of 1798-99 and that Thomson, who made the list, was recording information given to him in preparation for a new posting north of Lake Athabasca. NA, Masson Papers, MG 19, c i, vol. 7, 58. 63 J.N. Wallace 1929, 58. 64 Lamb 1970, 168. 65 HBCA, B.g/a/i, fol. 2gd; B.g/a/3, 81. Peter Fidler remarked that "The Canadians were compelled to abandon these Houses they could not catch any fish which is the only thing to depend upon amongst the Jepewyans One man was eaten by 2 others here thro' necessity." See Tyrrell 1968, 517-19, and note in Duckworth 1990, 177. 66 Regarding the location of Slave Lake Post during these years, it is useful to compare James Porter's journal with Thomas Swain's Hudson's Bay Companyjournal kept at Chiswick House in 1803-4. ^ee HBCA, 8.41/3/1, fol. 6d; 6.41/3/2, fol. 12. 67 A new firm organized as the New North West (or XY) Company arrived in opposition to the Nor'Westers at Fort Chipewyan on 23 May 1800. See Masson 1960, 2:389; J.N. Wallace 1929, 51. The older concern referred to its new rivals as the Little Company or as the Potties. The XY Company did not appear at Slave Lake until the summer of 1802. See Wentzel's summer journal of 1802. 68 Lac La Martre, or Lac La Merde, as it was sometimes called, is first mentioned in the journal on 20 March 1800. Unlike other clerks in the employ of the North West Company who were referred to as "Mister," Steinbruck received a more familiar treatment, in that his given name, John, or a nickname such as the Dutchman was used to identify him in this journal, as well as in W.F. Wentzel's summer journal of 1802 at Slave Lake. He may have been a holdover from an earlier period when clerks (or commis) were not always accorded the status of a "gentleman." 69 Porter's journal entries for 3 and 5 May 1800. 70 HBCA, 6.9/3/3, 123. 71 See W.F. Wentzel's summer journal entry of 25 August 1802 for the first mention of this post.

464 Notes to pages 19-2 4 72 Porter's entry for 19 March 1800. 73 Steinbruck's journal (14 pages) Red Knife Fort was probably abandoned in 1806 when a replacement post was constructed a few miles up the nearby Red Knife River. See Wentzel's map of 1821 and McKenzie's journal entry for 4 August 1806. 74 Porter's journal entries for 18 February, 7 March, and 7-9 April 1800. 75 Porter's journal entries for 30 November and 9 December 1800. 76 Wentzel 1821, 1823; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 32, 32A, 116-18. 77 See Porter's entry for 15 December 1800 for Grand Blanc's account of the death of Duncan Livingston and his men. 78 Yerbury 1986, 59-60. 79 Franklin 1969, 30. Apparently, Franklin relied on fur trade tradition in locating this site. He did not report finding any material artifacts that would lead him to this conclusion. 80 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 32, 32A, 116. 81 The average wage paid by the North West Company to their 93 clerks in 1799 was £87.10.0 (NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 40, 1-5). Pounds Halifax was an accounting currency and did not exist in actual coinage. It was devised to facilitate converting Spanish dollars, the most common coinage then in circulation, to a British unit of exchange. While a Spanish dollar was valued as four shillings six pence in sterling, its value in Halifax currency was five shillings. Thus, Halifax currency was 10 percent higher than the equivalent value in pounds sterling. See Gough (1998, i: Ixxxi) for a discussion of Halifax currency. 82 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vols. 7, 13; Masson 1960, i:6i;J.N. Wallace 1929,43-5. 83 NA, Masson Papers, MG 19, c i, vol. 15, 9. 84 See both Porter's and Thomson's journal entries for 29 September through 4 October 1800. 85 See Thomson's journal entry for 5 October 1800. George Keith referred Smith's serving under Roderic McKenzie in his letter of 28 February 1810. See NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 43. 86 Thomson's journal entry for 11 October 1800. Thomson was definitely not a clerk in the employ of the XY Company as implied by Yerbury 1986, 77. See W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 502; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vols. 7, 13. Volume 14 in the Masson Collection, "Journal of the Rocky Mountain Fort, Fall 1799," was written by an unidentified clerk of that establishment on the Peace River. For the date of Thomson's contract, see ANQ-M, CNi-29, Etude Beek, Repertoire, vol. i, 79, no. 971. 87 Thomson's journal entries for 12-13 October and 24 November 1800. 88 Thomson's journal entries from 16 October to 4 November.

465 Notes to pages 24-7 89 Duckworth identifies a Simon Martin in the North West Company's journal of 1786, and this Martin may be the same person. However, because Alexander McKenzie (the Emperor) mentioned a Charles Martin as one of his engages who later served with W.F. Wentzel at Fort of the Forks, it is assumed that Charles is a more likely candidate for the Martin mentioned prominently in Thomson's journal. See Duckworth 1990, 159; McKenzie 'sjournal entry for 17 January 1806; and NA, Selkirk Papers, MG 19, E 1,9304-5. 90 En derouine referred to the practice of sending men out to trade with Indians at their lodges, rather than at the trading post. See Rich 1955, xxxix. 91 For LaViolette, see Thomson's journal entry for 4 October 1800, and for St Andre, see 2 3 and 2 8 February 1801. As originally used, a fathom was a unit of length equivalent to the outstretched arms of an adult man. It eventually came to be standardized as a length equal to six feet. Tobacco, twisted into rope-like lengths, was commonly measured in terms of fathoms or a fraction thereof. 92 Thomson'sjournal entry for 11 January 1801. 93 A belief common among Nor'Westers was that Indians fished from necessity and not from choice. Given the wherewithal, it was believed, they would rather hunt for their subsistence. Those Indians who persisted in fishing (such as General Montgomery), even when provided with musket and ammunition, were "indolent" or "improvident." From the traders' point of view, if an Indian was fishing, he was not hunting for furs (see Vibert 1997, 120-1). 94 The passages quoted in this paragraph can be found in Thomson's journal for 12 October, 20 November, and 19 and 29 December 1800, and 11 January and 16 February 1801. 95 Porter's journal entries for 18 February, 7 and 12 March, and 7 and 9 April 1801. 96 Porter'sjournal entries for 4 and 5 October and 15 December 1800. 97 Thomson'sjournal entry for 31 January 1801. Wentzel made reference to wintering on the Mackenzie River for 1801-2. See his Slave Lake journal entry for 15 October 1802. 98 Masson 1960, 1:95. 99 Ibid. 100 W.S. Wallace 1934, 17. 101 Pendergast 1957, 30. 102 Ibid., 64-9. 103 Ibid., 64. 104 Masson 1960, 2:389; HBCA, £.3/2, fol. 58d. 105 HBCA, B.39/a/i, fols. 7, i5d, 22. 106 Ibid., fols. 7, 8d, i2d.

466 Notes to pages 28-34 107 Steinbruck'sjournal entries between 6 and 10 November 1802. 108 HBCA, 8.39/3/3, fols. 5d-6. 109 Ibid., B. 39/a/i, fol. 24; B.4i/a/i, fol. 7. 110 Ibid., 6.39/3/1, fol. 24; McKenzie'sjournal entry for 23 December 1805; Wentzel'sjournal entries for 8 September, 9, 10, and 12 October 1802; HBCA, 8.41/3/1, fols. 7d, i8-i8d; 8.41/3/2, fols. 22d-23111 Masson 1960, i :g6. 112 H8CA, 8.39/3/1, fols. 23d-24113 Data come from ibid., 6.39/3/3, fol. 22d and B-39/a/i, fol. i2d. 114 Malchom Ross and Philip Turner first attempted to establish the Hudson's Bay Company at Lake Athabasca in 1790 but were unsuccessful and left in June of 1792. A young Peter Fidler served as one of their clerks. See HBCA, B.g/a/i; B.g/a/3. In 8.9/3/2 are meteorological observations mode by Malchom Ross between 1790 and 1792. 115 HBCA, B.39/a/i, fol. 6d. 116 Ibid., fol. 15; 6.41/3/2, fols. 1-6. 117 Ibid., fols. 24-5. 118 Ibid., 6.41/3/2, fol. 22d. 119 Ibid., 8.41/3/1, fols. 7d, 17, igd. 120 See ibid., 6.39/3/4; B-39/a/5a/ 6.41/3/3. 121 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 15; Wentzel was mentioned on 29 September in Porter's 1800 Slave Lake journsl (Masson 1960, 2:3778, 39°>392)122 It is known that Wentzel served somewhere in the Mackenzie District during the season of 1801-2. He remarked in his Slave Lake journal of 1802, "I received but i quire to keep ajournal, write letters, engagements & give tickets to upwards of 60 Indians last winter in the Grand River." See his journal entry for 15 October 1802. 123 Wentzel's entries for 21, 23, 27, and 30 August; 2, 16, and 20 September; and 4, 6, 12 October 1802. 124 Wentzel's journal entry for 9 October 1802. 125 Wentzel's journal entries for 25, 27 and 29 August, and 10 October 1802. 126 H6CA, 6.41/3/1, fols. 7d, i8d. 127 Wentzel's journal entries for 25 August and 24-25 September 1802. 128 Steinbruck'sjournal entries for 17, 24, and 29 November 1802. 129 H6CA, 6.39/3/1, fol. 7. 130 Ibid., fol. 24. 131 Wentzel's journal entries between 8 and 10 September 1802. 132 Wentzel's journal entries for 12 and 14 October 1802. 133 H6CA, 6.39/3/1, fols. 7-i2d. 134 Wentzel's journal entry for 9 October 1804. 135 Steinbruck, too, seems to have been short of paper, judging from his keeping the Red Knife Fort journal on birch bark.

467 Notes to pages 35-7 136 It has commonly been assumed that the establishment on Great Bear Lake was built in 1799 by Duncan Livingston. However, John Thomson's journal reveals that no post existed on the shores of that lake during the season of 1800-1; one was probably built there the next year. George Keith remembered its establishment "about" 1800. A post at Great Bear Lake certainly existed in 1804, so it had to have been built between 1801 and that that date. George Keith, a former XY clerk who joined the North West Company at the time of the merger of the two companies, stated that there was only one year of competition between the two rivals on Great Bear Lake. Innis 1956, 201; John Thomson's journal of 1800-1; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vols. 51, 65, 92. 137 Wentzel's journal entry for 9 October 1804. Wentzel referred to the drowning victim as a "Mr Tullor," but the "Accounts Current" for Forsyth, Richardson and Company, dated 30 November 1805, list him as W. Tulloch. UM, Baby Collection, g/go. 138 "Loche" refers to any of various fresh-water fish related to the carp. 139 Wentzel's journal entries for 9 and 15 October 1804. McDonell's and Porter's combined outfits totalled only two more pieces of trade goods than Wentzel had by himself at the Forks. A North West Company canoe with an unspecified number of pieces preceded Porter to Lac d'Ours, or Bear Lake. 140 UM, Baby Collection, gi/88. 141 McKenzie's journal entry for 23 January 1806. 142 The details of this incident have remained murky for years. In 1939 Arthur Morton wrote, "In the winter of 1804-1805 McDonell shot the master of the North West Company's post on Great Bear Lake during a quarrel over Indians" (518). He provided no specific documentation for this assertion, and a check of his references (listed at the end of each chapter) proved unrewarding. Still, writers have continued to echo these specifics, based, apparently, on Morton's authority. See, for example, Cooke and Holland 1978, 122, andYerbury 1986, 70-1. Among those employed by the xY Company in 1804 on Great Bear Lake, only clerk Allan McDonell was known by that surname, and it has been assumed that he fired the shot that resulted in John Steinbruck's death. (Steinbruck served as assistant to James Porter and was not the North West Company master at Great Bear Lake). However, there is evidence that it was not McDonell but rather a John McDonald who fired the fatal shot. In September 1806 two North West Company engages, Etienne Gregoire and Joseph Gagnier, attested in separate depositions before Montreal justice of the peace J.B. Durocher that John McDonald was the guilty party. Both Gregoire and Gagnier agreed to testify as witnesses in the session of March 1807 of the Court of King's Bench. (The documents are in private hands, but Harry Duckworth kindly made his copies of them

468 Notes to page 37 available to me.) It could be argued that the French-speaking deponents mistook McDonald for McDonell, but there is further evidence that the two were distinct individuals. Writing from Nottingham House on Lake Athabasca, the observant Hudson's Bay Company officer Peter Fidler noted on 17 September 1805, "A Mr McDonald one of the New Go's clerks of late who shot one of the old Go's masters at the Bears Lake last November" was then present at Fort Chipewyan (HBCA, B.3g/a/5a, fol. 3d). A month later, Fidler remarked "Mr McDonald ... appears much dejected at that accident happening last November - he is to go down to Montreal next summer to stand his trial" (ibid., fol. 6). On 25 May 1806 Fidler wrote, "A man came here for Mr McDonald, who shot the old Go's master last year at Bears Lake" (ibid., fol. 17). Although McDonald and McDonell were sometimes used interchangeably as variants of the same name, such was not the case in this instance. Allan McDonell served as a North West Company clerk at Fort Dauphin in the Assiniboine District at the time John McDonald was standing trial in Montreal (W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 220). Details concerning John McDonald are scarce, but the North West Company's Great Ledger does mention a John MacDonald of Bain. He was a clerk at Fort Dauphin in 1821 and had previously been associated with Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Company (another name for the XY Company) (HBCA, F.4/32, fol. 716). The details concerning John Steinbruck's death were not available to Morton and, consequently, he had little to go on. Oddly, no mention of the incident can be found in any of the Slave Lake or Mackenzie River documents. On 19 March 1805 Joseph Gagnier arrived at Fort of the Forks from Great Bear Lake with the express. Wentzel recorded nothing of Steinbruck's death or even of his being shot, an event he surely would have reported in his journal had Gagnier mentioned it. Wentzel's journal ends on 26 March 1806 with no word from Great Bear Lake about the incident. Acts of violence between the XY and North West Companies occurring elsewhere were subsequently commented upon in the letters and journals of the traders (see Innis 1956, 273; Morton 1939, 513-14). It is curious that none of the Mackenzie River journals available for 1805-6 mention it. Alexander McKenzie, who, on 4 October 1805, arrived at the very spot where the affair had happened the previous spring did not bring it up (see McKenzie's journal for 1805-6). During the same year at the Forks, Wentzel (albeit with only a fragment of his journal surviving) also failed to refer to Steinbruck's death, something that would have been preying on his mind. Wentzel did refer to murder as one of the unfortunate consequences of competition in his letter of 27 March 1807 to

469 Notes to pages 37-41 Roderic McKenzie, but which murder(s) he had in mind is not at all clear (see Masson 1960, 1:96. In his journal fragment of 1805-6 and in his letters to Roderic McKenzie, George Keith, too, remained silent about the affair. In his letter of 15 January 1814 to McKenzie, Keith lamented the "dreadful and altogether unexpected massacre [of Alexander Henry Jr and his men] at Fort Nelson" and was genuinely shocked by their deaths (see NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 93). It is reasonable to assume Keith would have been equally shocked at the death of John Steinbruck, and yet, like McKenzie and Wentzel, he wrote nothing of it. The silence surrounding this incident remains a mystery. Still another mystery surrounds the fate of Steinbruck's bourgeois, James Porter, who disappeared from the documentary records when he left Fort of the Forks on 27 October 1804. He did not even warrant a brief biographical sketch when W. Stewart Wallace wrote the appendix to Documents Relating to the North West Company. Porter's disappearance from the record seems almost to suggest that perhaps he, too, came to an untimely end about 1805. J.N. Wallace claimed that "Someone has written on its [Porter's journal] cover, ' Mr. Porter was drowned in summer 1805' " (1929, 58). This epitaph, in an unknown hand, seems to have disappeared from the journal, but the date is consistent with a legal declaration made by Porter's sister and two brothers on 21 August 1811, where it was stated that James "died in America about six year ago." (The document is in private hands, but Harry Duckworth provided me with his copy.) 143 Wentzel recorded such an argument over Indian debts in his Slave Lake journal of 1802. See his journal entry for 8 September. A cursory reading of the journals kept in competitive periods reveals similar episodes. 144 HBCA, E-3/2, fol. 58d

145 Ibid., B-39/a/i, fol. 7; Wentzel's journal entry for 4 October 1802. 146 Ibid., fol. 24; B.4i/a/i, fol. 7. 147 Wentzel's journal entry for 9 October 1804. 148 W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 206; Masson 1960, 2:482-99. 149 McKenzie's journal entry for 27 September 1805. 150 McKenzie's journal entries for 26 October and 10, 14 December 1805. 151 McKenzie's journal entries for 4 May and 8-12 and iSJune 1806. 152 McKenzie's journal entry for 8 June 1806. 153 McKenzie's journal entries for 29 June and 1-3 July 1806; Franklin 1969, 23-4154 McKenzie's journal entries for 4-5 August 1806; NA, MG 19, A 20, map. 155 McKenzie's journal entries for 6 and 8 August 1806. In the nomenclature of the day, the commencement of the Mackenzie River was considered to be the outlet of Little Lake (Franklin 1969 12).

47° Notes to pages 41-4 156 Woodcock 1987, 466-7. 157 It is commonly accepted that among Alexander Henry the Elder's sons, William was the oldest and Alexander the second-born (Bain 1969, xxxviii; Wallace 1934, 456; Gough 1988, xx-xxiii). However, an examination of the records of the Anglican parish of Montreal published in Report on Canadian Archives 1885 reveals that Alexander was born on 24 March 1782, while William was born nearly two years later on 4 March 1784 (Brymner 1886, xc). 158 Lamb 1957, 15. 159 HBCA, B.39/a/4, fol. 6. 160 McKenzie's journal entries between 30 January and i February 1806. 161 Henry's journal entries between 6 and 8 February 1806. 162 Although Karamanski asserts that traders travelled the first 250 miles of the Liard regularly, it is not likely that excursions of that distance took place before the establishment of Fort of the Forks in 1802 (1983, 16). 163 Wentzel's journal entries for 8, 27, and 31 December 1804 and 3 January 1805. During the winter of 1804-5, Wentzel promised the Liard Slavey that he would do his best to get a permanent post established among them. In his "Account of MacKenzies River," Wentzel wrote that in the summer of 1805 he sent a man to establish a temporary store about eighty miles from the Forks. The man, interpreter William Smith, selected a site at the mouth of the Netla River about 120 miles up the Liard (Wentzel 1821,5). 164 Keith's journal entry for 28 September 1805. This journal fragment has no attribution. Both it and the journals of 1805-6 of Keith and Wentzel are copies found in the Selkirk Papers. There may be errors of spelling and omission due to the copyist and not attributable to Keith or Wentzel. That the journal of 1805-6 was kept by George Keith is evident when a comparison is made with the journals kept that year by Alexander McKenzie and W.F. Wentzel. 165 Keith's journal entry for 6-7 October 1805. 166 In 1823 John McLeod made the trip from the Forks to the mouth of the South Nahanni during flood in four days travelling time (Patterson 1961, 41). George Keith required six days. 167 Keith's journal entries for 30 September through 2 October 1805. "Lining" involved attaching a rope to the bow of the canoe and pulling it upstream against the current while walking along the shore or near the water's edge. 168 A twentieth-century boatman described this cascade, now known as the Beaver Dam, as "a creaming line of white stretched across the Liard" (Patterson 1955, 24). Keith again experienced these difficulties in the fall of 1806 (see NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51,5; Masson 1960, 1:83.

471 Notes to pages 44-6 169 Keith's journal entry for 4 October 1805. Keith noted the water of the Nahanni "resembled very much to sea water or bluer colour." In 1955 Patterson made much the same observation. 170 At least this is the likely location. Patterson reported that the Netla was fifteen miles above the South Nahanni and that it served as the location of a trading post as late as 1954 (1955, 24; see also Usher 1971, 61, 67). In his journal Keith stated that he camped a little above the mouth of the South Nahanni and the next day continued on upstream until about 10 A.M. when he came upon Smith and some Indians. In other words, he travelled about a half day above the South Nahanni, and without rapids to contend with or shallow water to slow him down, he could easily have made the fifteen miles. Selecting a post near clear or potable water would have been important, because the muddy water of the Liard was undrinkable. In 1955 Patterson reported that one does not even wash with water from that river because the result would be dirtier than not washing at all. The Netla is the only tributary such a short distance above the mouth of the South Nahanni River. Murdoch McPherson's map of 1824 indicates an abandoned post on the right, or southeast, bank of the Liard just about where the Netla was probably situated. John McLeod's map of 1831 identifies the Netla as "River of the Fort" (see Ruggles 1991, 156-7, plates 32, 33). 171 Keith's journal entry for 6-7 October 1805. 172 Alone among those who have written on the early Mackenzie River fur trade, E. E. Rich identifies this post at 6o°56' north latitude, and at the mouth of the Netla River as the "original" Fort Nelson. The only Fort Nelson mentioned by George Keith was on the East Branch (Fort Nelson River) of the Liard. Keith did not give a name for either of his posts on the Liard River. W.F. Wentzel called Keith's second post Biskaga Fort. Wentzel's recollection of 1821 of the Mackenzie River District identified Fort Nelson in two places: one on the East Branch and the other on the left, or northwest, bank of the Liard, opposite the mouth of the Biskaga (Muskeg River). In doing so, he contradicted himself. Neither Keith nor Wentzel ever referred to the post at the mouth of the Netla River as Fort Nelson (Rich 1955, Ixxvii-lxxviii, i68n; Wentzel 1821, "Account of MacKenzies River with Chart"). Wentzel must have acquired the reputation for having established the Liard River forts, because in 1821 George Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company referred to "Wintzells Fort about Eight Days March up the River O'L'Orr" (Riviere aux Liard?) (Rich 1938, 394). Rich follows Simpson's lead in attributing the establishment of the Liard River forts to Wentzel. Wentzel did send William Smith up the Liard in the summer of 1805 to begin construction on a new post, but he did not go along himself, nor did he ever manage a trading post on that river. Wentzel's only personal acquaintance with the Liard appears to be an excursion in

472 Notes to pages 46-9 the summer of 1806 as far as the South Nahanni River. Rich is correct in identifying three different sites for Liard River posts but wrong in referring to them all as Fort Nelson. 173 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 6-7; Masson 1960, 1:85. 174 Sloan, personal communication, i November 1995; Krech 1984, 101-5. 175 These names appear in Keith's journal between 8 October 1805 and 12 June 1806. It is interesting to compare Keith's journal with that of Wentzel for the previous year. See Wentzel's journal entries between 10 October 1804 and 13 February 1805 for mention of several of these same trading leaders. 176 Wentzel's journal entry for 27 October 1804. 177 Pouce Coupe was also a hunter for Wentzel in 1804-5, albeit not always a successful or happy one. On i January 1805 Pouce Coupe arrived at Fort of the Forks to hunt for Wentzel, but two weeks later he announced he was going away because he had killed nothing. Upon further inquiry, Wentzel found out that this reputable hunter's illfortune had less to do with his aim than it did with jealousy. Pouce Coupe's mind was not upon hunting, but, rather, it was taken up with resentment over Francois Martin, who had had an affair with his wife the previous spring (Wentzel journal entries, i to 13 January 1805). 178 Keith's journal entry for 18 October 1805. 179 Krech 1984, 113. 180 Keith's journal entries for 4 and 14 June 1806. 181 Keith's journal entries for 5 and 6 June 1806; Wentzel's journal entry for 6 June 1806. 182 McKenzie's journal entry for 25 July 1806. 183 Keith's journal entries between 14 and 24 June 1806. 184 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 2. 185 The site of the Fort Liard found in the literature is near the modern community by that name. That Keith's post of 1806 was not that one and was located on the opposite, or north side of the Liard is further supported in Keith's journal of 1806-7, where on at least four separate occasions he insisted on the Indians hunting on the south (or other) side of the river (Keith's journal entries for 21 October and 27-28 December 1806 and 5-7 January 1807). See, also, the map of 1824 of Murdoch McPherson and the map of 1831 of John McLeod for various spellings of Biskaga, a river identified on those maps as quite distinct from the Black River, which eventually came to be called the Petitot (Ruggles 1991, 156-7, plates 32, 33). Emile Petitot's map identifies the Black River as the Petitot (Savoie 1970, map at the back). 186 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 2-6. Keith's post was called Beskawgha by Wentzel (see his journal entry for 19-21 July 1808).

473 Notes to pages 50-8 187 McKenzie's journal entry for i August 1806. 188 Wentzel's journal entry for 11 June 1806. 189 Keith's journal entry for 22 December 1806. 190 Keith's journal entry for 19 October 1806. 191 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 69. 192 Wentzel's journal entry for 20 October 1804. 193 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 69. 194 Keith's journal entry for 20 October 1806. 195 For phrases quoted in this paragraph, see Keith's journal entries for 2-3, 14, and 19-20 November 1806. 196 The sixty-nine packs of furs that Keith traded during 1806-7 compared very well to the twenty-seven and a half packs of the year before (see Keith's journal entry for lojune 1807). 197 Keith's journal entries for 25 April and 10 June 1807. 198 Keith's journal entries between 21 and 23 November 1806. 199 Keith's journal entries for 24 November and 25 December 1806 and i January 1807. 200 For Henry's appointment to the summer charge at Great Bear Lake in 1806, see McKenzie's journal entry for 16 June 1806. One can only speculate what delayed Henry until December before reporting to Fort Biskaga. 201 For John Clarke's arrival on the Mackenzie, see Wentzel's journal entry for 2 October 1807. For Henry's summer exploration of the Rocky Mountains, see Wentzel's journal entry for 6 March 1808. 202 Wentzel's journal entries for 23 December 1805, 25-26 August 1807, and 31 May 1808. 203 Phrases quoted in this paragraph can be found in Wentzel's journal entries for 13 January and 30 December 1805, 9 February 1806, 19 August and 12 and 20-21 December 1807, and i and 21 January 1808. 204 L. R. Masson mentioned that Wentzel had two children: a son, Alexander, who married and was a carpenter, and a daughter, whose children settled in Manitoba (1960 1:71)- The anonymous daughter's name,Jenny, was provided by John Franklin in 1822. She was, with her family, among the visitors at Fort Resolution on Great Slave Lake in the early months of that year (Davis 1995, 420). Wentzel had more than the two children Masson mentioned, for one son died at the end of January in 1808. 205 Wentzel's journal entry for 6 April 1806. 206 Keith's journal entry for 23 December 1806. 207 Ray 1984, 1-20, 7, i8n. 208 See, for example, Keith's journal entry for 13 May 1807 and Wentzel's journal entries for 11 June and 14 September 1806 209 W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 246-92. 210 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 44, p. 3, 1-5.

474 Notes to pages 59-62 211 Masson 1960, 1:93. 212 From Wentzel's journal of 1807-8, it can be determined that Clarke wintered at Great Bear Lake both in 1806-7 and 1807-8. See Wentzel's journal entries for 1-4 October 1807 and 6 March 1808, where he identified a Mrs Clarke at Great Bear Lake the previous spring. In his essay "Attempts to Reach the Sea by Mackenzie's River," Wentzel stated that Clarke

attempted to reach the river's mouth in 1809 (1823, 22)- Assuming that Clarke launched his voyage down the Mackenzie from his post in that district, this would place him in the Mackenzie District for a third season (1808-9). Yet, John Franklin, the well-known arctic explorer, stated in a letter written in 1820 that John Clarke "wintered twice on Mackenzies River" (Davis 1995, 350). The potential difficulty this incongruity poses is abated somewhat by another letter written three months later, in which Franklin stated, "We had the opportunity of gaining some information from Mr Clarke a Gentleman who had passed two or three winters on Mackenzies River, and had once seen the Esquimaux Tribes but could not effect an interview with them" (Davis 1995, 359)- Franklin must have misremembered in the first letter when he stated Clarke wintered on the Mackenzie for two winters. 213 Wentzel 1823, 79~8o. 214 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 44. 215 Ibid., 18. 216 Ibid., 45. Both Stager and Cooke and Holland argue that Fort Norman must have been built as early as 1804 (although Cooke and Holland list it in their book under the date 1810) because Fort Good Hope and Fort of the Forks were about 750 kilometers apart and it would have been logical to build a post mid-way between them (see Stager 1971, 54; Cooke and Holland 1978, 132). However, as Wentzel noted in March of 1807, "the lower parts produce very poor returns" (Masson 1960, i :93). It would not have made economic sense to establish a post that was simply for the convenience of the voyageur and that was not an essential link in communication between Great Bear Lake or Fort Good Hope and the Forks. 217 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 31,1. 218 Ibid., vol. 51, 45. 219 Ibid. 220 Ibid., 46. 221 W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 279, 290. 222 Masson 1960, 1:115. 223 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 49. 224 Yerbury 1986, 81. 225 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 45; Wentzel 1823, 79~^o. 226 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 43.

475 Notes to pages 62-6 227 Masson 1960, 1:107. Wentzel, of course, was not quite alone. He had both his country wife and young son and, by this time, perhaps several other children to keep him company. He meant he had no engages to help with the trade of the place. 228 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 48. 229 Ibid., 49. 230 Masson 1960, 1:107; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 48-9. In his otherwise insightful and factual article, William Sloan mistakenly identifies the Henry who died at Fort Nelson in January of 1813 as William, instead of Alexander (1979, 297). The relationship between the two Henrys, if any, is not known. William Henry the hunter should not be confused with the William Henry who was Alexander's younger brother and who was in charge of the North West Company's post near Cumberland House in 1810 (see Bain 1969, xxxviii). 231 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 100. 232 Lamb 1957, 138, 147, 154. 233 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 49. 234 Masson 1960, 1:109-12; NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 33. 235 Masson 1960, 1:114. 236 W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 273, 282. 237 Sloan 1979, 298. 238 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 94. 239 HBCA, B.n6/a/i,fol. 4dff. 240 Karamanski 1983, 17-18. 241 NA, Masson Collection, MG 19, c i, vol. 51, 94. 242 W. Stewart Wallace 1934, 277. 243 NA, MG 19, A 20, see chart. 244 Compare Wentzel's map in his "Account of MacKenzies River with Chart" with his journal entry for 19-21 July 1808. 245 Masson 1960, 1:110. 246 Wentzel, "Account of MacKenzies River and Chart," 2. 247 Masson 1960, 1:109-10. Bruce White has found that the threat of violence or pillage was a tactic widely used by Native people to encourage traders to live up to the rules of trade when a breakdown in normal social relationships was perceived. It was the threat of violence rather than actual pillage that was the usual practice (1994, 212). 248 See Sloan 1979, 281-99, for a fuller treatment of Native responses to North West Company mistreatment. The disappearance of hare was not the only cause of widespread hunger. Other game animals were scarce as well. As early as August 1806 Wentzel reported that "Distemper prevails among the Animals of which they dye in great numbers. No less than three were found dead altogether in one spot. The Dogs who feasted

476 Notes to pages 67-72 upon them died also" (see his journal entry for 18 August 1806). Since about 1790 the Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Districts had, as mentioned, suffered extreme cold temperatures characteristic of a climatic period known as the Little Maunder Minimum. However, it is possible that 1805 and 1806 may have been warmer than usual. If so, climatic conditions may account for the distemper endemic among the wild animals. Fossett has found that "indigenous pathogens, for whom humid conditions were ideal, multiplied and brought the misery of epidemic disease and parasites to human beings, and to the dogs, fish, and reindeer on which they depended (1995, chap. 6). 249 Wentzel, "Account of MacKenzies River and Chart," 6. 250 Sloan 1979, 295-8. 251 Fossett 1995, chap. 5. 252 Wentzel, "Account of MacKenzies River and Chart," 7. 253 HBCA, F.3/2, fol. 184. 254 Ibid., fols. 164, 178. Simon McGillivrayJr wrote that the thirteen packs had been left at Fort Good Hope the previous year (ibid., fol. 169). 255 See Wentzel's "Account of MacKenzies River and Chart," 7. 256 HBCA, F.3/2, fols. 174-6, 184, ig2d, 196-7, 198-9, 204, 2o6-2o6d, 2182l8d, 22O-22Od.

257 Ibid., fols. 184-5. 258 Ibid., B.i8i/a/2, fol. 11. 259 Ibid., F.3/2, fol. ig8d 260 Rich 1939, 95-6, 118. 261 Rich 1938, 11-12, and passim. 262 McKenzie's journal entry for 8 August 1806; HBCA, F-3/2, fols. 164i64d. 263 Ibid., fol. i76d; Rich 1938, 12-13. Francois Piche, the notorious engage of an earlier day, and two Indians were killed in the explosion. See also HBCA, F.3/2, fols. 164, 169. 264 Wentzel, "Account of MacKenzies River and Chart," 7. 265 HBCA, B.I i6/a/i, fol. iff. 266 Ibid., B.i8i/a/3, fols. 6, 13d, 17. 267 Davis 1995, 25, 94, 380. 268 Ibid., 101, 103, 116. 269 Masson 1960, 1:146. 270 Davis 1998, 270. 271 Davis 1995, 121. It took couriers eight days to carry letters between Fort Enterprise and Fort Providence (Ibid., 84). The time it took the express between Fort Providence and Fort Resolution, across Great Slave Lake, has not been determined, but because it is less than half the distance and across flat terrain, four to five days seem adequate. A slow-moving Hudson's Bay Company express took fourteen days between Fort Reso-

477 Notes to pages 72-6 lution and Lake Athabasca (HBCA, B.i8i/a/2, 71). Adding these different legs of the journey, an express leaving Fort Enterprise on 17 April could have reached Lake Athabasca in twenty-six or twenty-seven days, or by 13 or 14 May. 272 Rich 1938, 343,349. 273 Wentzel 1823, 22. 274 Wentzel, "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart," 7. 275 Masson 1960, 1:147, 149~51276 Wentzel, "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart," 6. Compare this with Wentzel's journal entry for 19-21 July 1808. 277 Wentzel, "Account of MacKenzies River with a Chart," 5. 278 Wentzel 1823, 19.

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481 Bibliography - Vol. 6. Journal kept by James Porter at Slave Lake, 18 Feb. 1800 to 14 Feb 1801 - Vol. 8. A N.W. Journal kept at the Grand River, Winter 1804 and 1805 by W. Ferdinand Wentzel - Vol. 15. Fragment of a journal attributed to W.F. Wentzel, kept during an expedition 13 Jun to 20 Aug (1800?) - Vol. 25. Journal of the weather by Mr. A. Henry junr, 1807-1808 - Vol. 31. Record of temperatures at Fort Normand, McKenzie's River during January of 181 o - Vol. 32, 32A. Correspondence between Alexander Mackenzie and Roderic McKenzie, 1786-1816 - Vol. 40. Arrangements of the Proprietors, clerks, interpreters, etc. of the NWC in the Indian Departments, 1799, with records of salaries and other remarks - Vol. 44. Notes by Roderick McKenzie on books read by him dealing extensively with aborigines. Part 2 bears the cover title "R. McK Memorandum," and part 3 the internal title "Some account of the North West Company, containing Analogy of Nations ancient & Modern; by Roderick Mackenzie Esq., A Director." - Vol. 51. An Account of Mackenzie's River Department by George Keith, 1807-1817 - Vol. 55. An Account of the Athabasca Indians by a partner of the NWC, 1795; Journal of a passage in a canoe from Pais Plat in Lake Superior to Portage de 1'Isle in Riviere Ouinipique, 1784, by Edward Umfreville; and a listing of the NWC staff at its posts, 1805, with notations of financial standing and other remarks E. Red River Settlement Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, 5* Earl of (Selkirk Papers). Vol. 31. A.R. McLeod's 1806 Dunvegan Journal, 8958-9003. - Isle aux Compements Journal, January 1807, 9261-63 - Fort Vermilion Journal, May 1806, 9264-65 - [Bear Island Journal] Great Bear Lake [1806], [Alexander Henry [Junior], 9266-68 - Isle aux Compements Journal, April-May 1808, 9269-73 - Dunvegan Journal, January-April 1808, 9274-81 - Journal of the Riviere au Liard, 1805-1806, 9284-97 - Fragment of a Journal by Wentzel at Grand River, 1805-1806,9298-9308 - Archibald McGillivray's 1806-1807 Rocky Mountain Portage Journal, 9309-27 - Fragment of G. Keith's Journal at Biskaga River, 1806-1807, 9328~39 - Edward Smith's 1807 Hay River Journal, 9340-50 - John Stuart's Athabasca Journal, 9360-70

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486 Bibliography Morrison, Jean. ig88a. "James Grant." Dictionary of Canadian Biography 7: 356-7- 19880. "James McKenzie." Dictionary of Canadian Biography. 7: 564-5. Morton, Arthur S. [1939]. A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71. Toronto: Thomas Nelson and Sons. - ed. 1929. The Journal of Duncan M'Gillivray of the North West Company at Fort George on the Saskatchewan, 7794-95. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada. Patterson, R. M. 1955. "Liard River Voyage." The Beaver, spring: 20-6. - 1961. "The Nahany Lands." The Beaver, summer: 40-7. Peers, Laura, and Katherine Pettipas. 1996. "Reverend John West's Collection: Red River, 1820-1823." American Indian Art Magazine, summer: 62-73. "Pemmican and How to Make It." 1964. The Beaver, summer: 53-5. Pendergast, Russell Anthony. 1957. "The XY Company 1798-1804." PHD diss., University of Ottawa, Rochester, New York. Pentland, David. 1997. Personal interview, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, 29 September. Porsild, A.E. 1945. The Alpine Flora of the East Slope of Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories. Bulletin no. 101, National Museum of Canada. Ottawa: Edmond Cloutier. Ray, Arthur J., and Donald Freeman. 1978. "Give Us Good Measure": An Economic Analysis of Relations between the Indians and the Hudson's Bay Company before 1763. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. - 1984. "Periodic Shortages, Native Welfare, and the Hudson's Bay Company 1670-1930." In The Subarctic Fur Trade: Native Social and Economic Adaptations. Shepard Krech III, ed. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press. Rich, E. E., ed. 1938. Journal of Occurrences in the Athabasca Department by George Simpson, 1820 and 1821, and Report. Publication no. i. London: Hudson's Bay Record Society. - 1939. Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, September 1817 to September 1822. Publication no. 2. London: Hudson's Bay Record Society. - 1949. James Isham 's Observations on Hudsons Bay, 1743, and Notes and Observations on a Book Entitled a Voyage to Hudsons Bay in the Dobbs Galley, i749. Publication no. 12. London: Hudson's Bay Record Society. - 1955. A Journal of a Voyage from Rocky Mountain Portage in Peace River to the Sources ofFinlays Branch and North West Ward in Summer 1824. Publication no. 18. London: Hudson's Bay Record Society. Riffenburg, Beau, Clive Holland, and Richard Davis. 1994. "Willard Wentzel's Account of the Mackenzie River." Polar Record 30: 97-104. Ruggles, Richard I. 1991. A Country So Interesting: The Hudson's Bay Company and Two Centuries of Mapping, 1670-1870. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. Sampson, William R. 1976. "Peter Warren Dease." Dictionary of Canadian Biography 8: 196-9.

487 Bibliography Savoie, Donat, ed. 1970. Les Amerindiens du Nord-Ouest Canadien au 19' Siecle selon EmilePetitot, Vol. 2, Les Indiens Loucheux. Ottawa: Bureau des Recherches Scientifiques sur le Nord, Ministere des Affaires Indiennes et du Nord Canadien. Scott, Anatol L. "The 'Veil' Surrounding Alexander Henry the Elder's MixedBlood Sons." Past Imperfect 4:133-61. Sloan, W.A. 1979. "The Native Response to the Extension of the European Traders into the Athabasca and Mackenzie Basin, 1770-1814." Canadian Historical Review, 60: 281-99. - 1985. "Contact and Enlightened Co-operation: A History of the Fur Trade in the Arctic Drainage Lowlands, 1717-1821." PHD diss., University of Manitoba, Winnipeg. - 1995. Personal communication, i November. Smith, James. 1978. "Chipewyans." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 6. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Stager, John K. 1971. "Fur Trading Posts in the Mackenzie Region up to 1850." In Canada's Changing North, William C. Wonders, ed. Ottawa: Carleton University Press. Taylor, T.M.C. 1974. The Pea Family of British Columbia. Handbook no. 32. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Provincial Museum. Thomas, L.G. 1979. "Fur Traders in Retirement." The Beaver, winter: 14-21. Tikhmenev, P.A. 1978. A History of the Russian-American Company. Richard A. Pierce and Alton S. Donnelly, trans, and eds. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. Tyrrell, J.B., ed. 1968. Journals of Samuel Hearne and Philip Turnor. New York: Greenwood Press. Usher, Peter J. 1971. Fur Trade Posts of the Northwest Territories iSjo-iyjo. Ottawa: Northern Science Research Group, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Van Kirk, Sylvia. 1980. "Many Tender Ties": Women in Fur Trade Society, i6joi8jo. Winnipeg, MB: Watson and Dwyer. - 1988. "John George McTavish." Dictionary of Canadian Biography 7: 577-8. Vibert, Elizabeth. 1997. Traders' Tales: Narratives of Cultural Encounters in the Columbia Plateau, 1807-1846. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. Wallace, J.N. 1929. The Wintering Partners on the Peace River. Ottawa: Thorburn and Abbott. Wallace, W. Stewart, ed. 1934. Documents Relating to the North West Company. Publication no. 22. Toronto: Champlain Society. Warrack, Alexander. 1988. The Scots Dialect Dictionary. Edinburgh: Lomond Books. Weeks, Mary. 1943. "The Founding of Fort Nelson." The Beaver, December, 42-3. Wentzel, W.F. 1822. "Notice Regarding the Map of Mackenzie's River by Mr. W.F. Wentzel of the Northwest Fur Company." Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society of Edinburgh 4:562-3, map.

488 Bibliography [Wentzel, W.F.]. 1823. "Notice of the Attempts to reach the Sea by Mackenzie's River, since the Expedition of Sir Alexander Mackenzie." Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 8:77-81. White, Bruce M. 1994. "The Fear of Pillaging: Economic Folktales of the Great Lakes Fur Trade." In The Fur Trade Revisited: Selected Papers of the Sixth North American Fur Trade Conference, Mackinac Island, Michigan, 799 J.Jennifer S. H. Brown et al., eds., 199-216. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. Wilhelmy, Jean-Pierre. 1997. Les mercenaires allemands au Quebec 1776-1783. Sillery, QC: Editions Septentrion. Williams, Glyndwr, ed. 1975. Hudson's Bay Miscellany 1670-1870. Winnipeg, MB: Publication no. 30. Hudson's Bay Record Society. Windholz, Martha, ed. 1976. The Merck Index: An Encyclopedia of Chemicals and Drugs, gth ed. Rahway, NJ: Merck & Co. Woodcock, George. 1987. "Alexander McKenzie." Dictionary of Canadian Biography 7: 466-7. - 1988. "Samuel Black." Dictionary of Canadian Biography 7: 78-9. Yerbury, J. C. 1986. The Subarctic Indians and the Fur Trade, 1680-1860. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press.

Index

and Hare, 66; relations Abenaki: in the northwest, Alexander and James between Dogrib and Robertson (Montreal 167 Mackenzie River Slavey, agents), 83 Acasta, 4 438; relations between animals, 300; diseased and "Account of Mackenzies Dogrib and Slavey, 39; dying, 309, 341; diseases River" (W.F. Wentzel), relations between Dogrib of spread to people, 288, xiii, xvi-xvii, 31, 49, 68, and Yellowknives, 79, 305; distemper epi70-6, 288-9 299; relations between demic among, 58, 300; Adam, Jean-Baptiste (NWC Kaska and Slavey, 286; scarcity of, 314. See also engage), 167-9, *75. relations between Liard beaver, hares, lynx 177, 336; career of, 383; River Slavey and TsilladaAperatinies, 245 fights over furs at Slave hodinnah, 277-8, 338, Lake Post, 33, 171, 412; arrivals at posts: greeting rituals for, 54, 90, 95, 422; relations between gets drunk with Potties, Nahanni and Slavey, 49, 180-1; searches for Per142, 171, 241, 292 51; relations between ronne 's canoe, 172; spies Athabasca District: NWC managers in, 212 Slavey and Yellowknives, on Potties, 170, 179 58, 79, 299; relations Adam's brother-in-law, 166; Athapascan peoples, 6-8; runs away from his relaethnic names of, 468; of with Cree, 105-6, 174, tives, 175 Mackenzie River valley, 236, 433; relations with 3-9; population estiAdam's wife (Yellowknife Inuit, 8-9, 244; relations mates of, 6, 7, 218; relawith white traders, 66, woman), 173-4, 3^3 alcohol, 298; consumption tions between Beaver 67, 79; trade relations, of by post personnel, and Dogrib, 224; rela150; trade relations with tions between Chipewyan 52-3, 180-1, 197, 223, Pacific coast people, 245, 292-3; encouraged by and Dogrib, 299; rela333-4. 338, 346 management, 279, 280, tions between Chipewyan Ayotte, Joseph: killed with 298, 403-4, 416-17; diand Slavey, 299; relations Livingston's party, 374 luting of, 105; use of in between Dahodinne and Native trade, 29, 79, 105, Rapid Indians, 223, 347, Babene Coupies (Great 354; views of J. Porter on Bear Lake trading 355. 37°. 427. 435; relatrade in, 104—5 tions between Dogrib leader), 231, 424

4QQ

Index

Babene Coupies' son, 231, 424 Back, George, 209 Badimois (Slave Lake trading leader), 424 Badimois's brother, 124, 424 Bain, James, 253 Barbar. S#« Barbeau Barbeau (Mackenzie River Slavey trading leader), 141,316,320-1,425, 428 Barbeau's son: boils treated by Wentzel, 307, 425 Bastone. See Bostonnais Bear Island outpost, 224; 1806 journal of A. Henry, Jr, xiii-xiv, xvi, xvii, 41-2, 255; Alexander Henry Jr at, 39; provisions scarce at, 42—3, 253- 2 57 Bear Lake Fort. See Fort Franklin Bear Skin Nation, 357 Beauchamp, Jacques (NWC engage): career of, 383; killed with Livingston's party, 20, 374, 383; Beauchamp's widow, 20-1, 117 Beauchemin (NWC engage), 386-7; goes to Bear Island, 224 Beaulieu, Charles, 384 Beaulieu, Francois, 384 Beaulieu (NWC engage), 317,319-20,321-2, 324, 338-9, 343, 418; m derouine, 397; fur trade career of, 384 Beaulieu's son, 315, 317 Beauvais, Jacques (xvc engage), 185-6,382,3845. 4*2, 4*5 Beaver (people): conspiracy of, to kill white traders, 66. See also Liard River Slavey Beaver Robe (Native man), 186,315

beavers: depletion of, 57-8, 142; grades of, 281; in Liard River basin, xii, 76—7, 263; in Mackenzie River basin, 76-7; numbers of, 19, 91; value of pelts, 429 Bebar, Paul (NWC engage), 224, 225, 232, 406; at Bluefish River post, 40, 208; en derouine, 228, 385; at Fort Good Hope, 385; searches for Hare people, 223-4 Bellegarde (XYC clerk), 27 Benel Garie (Yellowknife man), 229, 425 Bernier (NWC engage), 112,131—3; refuses to go in St Cyr's canoe, 130, 131 Bessemoi (Native man), 324. 343 Bezaillen, 344 bias in journals. Seejournals, bias in Big Arrow Indians. SeeHare Big Chief (Rocky Mountain trading leader), 15, 23, 136, 140-3, 150,346; Cens Sols winters with, 392; Rocky Mountain Fort site chosen by, 440. See also Grand Chefre (Rocky Mountain trading leader), Great Chief (Rocky Mountain trading leader) Billings, Nancy (second wife of W.F. Wentzel), 163 birch bark. See under canoes Biskaga Fort, 49, 65-6, 70, 254-5, 362; 1806-7journal of G. Keith, 49, 50, 262; returns from, 51-2, 259. 285 Black, Samuel, 190; arrives at Fort Chipewyan, 250 Black-Rogers, Mary, 305 Blau (NWC engage), 91, 92.95.385

Bluefish River, xv, 238 Bluefish River Post, 40, 208. See also Fort Good Hope Bostonnais (NWC engage), 34.89-97' n6. 119-22, 176, 214, 385-6; at Red Knife Fort, 32; refuses to travel with Lanche the Porkeater, 115; at Trout River Post, 20 Bostonnais' wife, 94, 386 Bouche, Frangoise, 128 Bouche, Jean-Marie (Athabascan voyageur), 128 Bourcier, Antoine, dit LaVigne, 407 Boye (NWC engage), 189, 193, 196, 202-3, 269, 292-7, 387; en derouine, 195. 198, 387; reports starvation among Natives near Fort of the Forks, 197 Bras Casse (Cree trading leader), 104, 105 Bras Casse's son, 104, 105 Brenard, Francois, 384 Brousseau, Louis (NWC engage and interpreter), 250, 388 Brown, William (HBC), 69, 161 Burnt Island, 98 Burnt Point, 214 Cadien, 101, 284, 331 Cadien Le Blanc (NWC engage), 233,249,389, 397. 425. Wi\ en derouine, 220, 441; starving all winter, 232, 389 Cadien Le Blanc's brotherin-law, 229 Cadien Le Blanc's wife (Yellowknife woman), 389; illness of, 233, 441 Cadien le Gros Nez (NWC engage), 88, 115,334, 389-90, 398; canoe making, 97, 350; carries mail between posts, 329, 336,

491 Index 5, 237, 293, 295, 298, 349. See also Lanneau, 344, 390-1, 420; brings Pierre Natives to Fort of the Cadien le Gros Nez's Forks, 192, 200, 426; brother, 322, 323, killed at Mackenzie 389-90 River, 391 Cadien le Sapin (NWC enCasce (NWC engage), 267, gage), 322-4, 334, 344, 296-8, 390, 391; en der389, 398; alcohol conouine, 295; lost at Bear sumption of, 279; sent en River, 237-8, 298 derouine, 51 Cassant (NWC engage), Cadien neveu De Bale (NWC engage), 94, 104, 349. 35°. 39!-2, 395 Gene, The Rappid Chief 107-9, 1 J 7> 12O > 1 2 2 > (Hare trading leader), builds a canoe, 114, 115; 40, 239, 404, 427; confreezes his feet, 88, 92, jures at Medicine Point, 388; searches for a lost 240; interprets for canoe, 100-1 A. McKenzie, 244, 448 Cadiens (engages): identifiGene's wife, 239 cation of, 88, 388-90 Gens Sols (NWC engage), Cadineyuse (Slave Lake 133, 138, 177,218,227trading leader), 119,425 Cadotte, Jean Baptiste, 83 32; en derouine, 24, 39, 139, 140, 143, 392; at Campagneau (Slave Lake Great Bear Lake, 35; trading leader), 123,425 Campbell, Robert, 431 spies on Potties, 179, 180; suffers hunger at canoes, 249—50; birch bark Bear Island, 257 for, 52, 274, 280, 282, 283, 344; building of, 51- Cens Sols' daughter, 392 Cesar, Henri (NWC en2,97, 114-15,274,283, gage), 189,191, 392-3; 303> 305. 344. 348-50; owned by engages, 409, en derouine, 190, 193, 412; problems with, 98, !94. 392. 433; illness of, 100, 130-1; Saulteaux, 202,392 100, 186; sizes of, 345; Chennele (NWC engage), value of, 132 90-3: 393. 398; attacked Capot Rouge (Beaver, Fort by Moineau, 89; at Trout Dunvegan trading River Post, 20 leader), 426 Chien Brule (Mackenzie Capot Rouge (Slavey tradRiver Slavey trading ing leader), 53-4, 198leader) ,431; poor health of 205,292-6, 307-19, > 325. 327. 428-9 323-31, 426-7; clothed Chienalize. SeeGrand Blanc as trading chief, 54, 57, (Chipewyan trading 342, 427, 440 leader) Capot Rouge's brother Chipewyan, 6; attack on (Slavey), 308, 320, 328 NWC men and post, 199; Capot Rouge's wife, 201, conspiracy to kill whites, 204; illness of, 200 66; move into Slavey tercapotes, 204-5; styles of, ritory, 285; raid on Dogrib and Slavey beaver i?4 Carrier, Joseph (NWC enlodges, 299; at Slave gage), 189,191-8, 201Lake Post, 19

Chiswick House (HBC), 30; 1803-4 journal of Thomas Swain, 32; journals of, xiii Clarke,John (HBC), 128 Clarke,John (NWC clerk), 41,53,252,254,304, 311-12,365-7,391,484; at Bear Lake Fort, 62; expedition to Mackenzie River delta, 59; fur trade career of, 302 Clarke's son, 365, 366 Clarke's wife, 302; runs away, 330, 365-6 climatic conditions, 68-9, 486; effects of on fur trade, 58,64, 77-8; Little Maunder Minimum, 8, 67, 78, 79, 486 clothing ceremony for trading leaders, 47, 90, 169, 241, 283,427, 432-3, 447; Capot Rouge, 57, 342, 427, 440; General Montgomery, 232, 432; Grand Blanc, go, 432-3; Grand Cheveux declothed, 436; Grand Pian de Noir, 92, 437; Marlin, 442; Partridge Chief, 47, 267, 437, 444; Pere Du Chien declothed, 445; Petit Rat's son, 169; The Rat, 95, 447; Tranquille, 90, 449; Yakiban, 241 coat beaver. See beaver, grades of Collet (Slavey, NWC post hunter), 308, 322-7, 398,428 Collet's wife, 428; infidelity of, 320-1, 323, 428 communication. See transportation and communication conjuring, 240 Cook, Captain James, 11 Copper Knives. See Yellowknives

4Q2 Index Cord (Cree man), 103 Corn de Carribou (Yellowknife trading leader), 168, 175, 429 Coues, Elliott, 83 Couroge (XYC engage), pillages lodges at Slave Lake Post, 181,393 Cowie, William, 209 Cree: force Dogrib out of Slave Lake area, 236; at Lake Claire, 103, 105, 106, 107; at Slave Lake, 102; war alliance with Grand Blanc, 174, 433 The Cric (Slave Lake trading leader), 95, 429 Croup de Chien (Mackenzie River Slavey trading leader), 159,315,319, 320,322,428-9,431; poor health of, 327; tries to cure Chien Brule, 325, 428,429,431 Cumberland House: NWC post at, 84 currency, Halifax, 474 Dahodinne (Rocky Mountain people), 77, 245, 317-18,357,402,435; attacked by Rapid Indians, 347, 355, 370, 427, 435; search for, 136, 144, 314,318,332-3 Dalbec (NWC engage), 184, 186, 189, 194, 197,203; en derouine, 193, 195, 198, 202, 256, 393 D'Amil (XYC engage): pillages lodges at Slave Lake Post, 181,393 dancing, 240 Davis, Richard C.: on cultural perspective in NWC documents, xiv Dease, CharlesJ.W. (NWC), 69,367-8 Dease, John Warren, 367 Dease, Peter Warren (NWC clerk), 69, 158, 170, 172, 285, 286, 336, 357-8,

362,367,368,378,418, 424; at Fort Good Hope, 68; at Slave Lake Post, 33 debt system, 202; excessive use of credits, 28, 35-7, 108, 225; Native manipulation of, 146; NWC policy on, 42, 145, 233, 253, 432-44, 446 Deh G(3h Got'ine (Athapascan people), 4 Delbergier (NWC engage), 224, 231,232, 253,386, 394 Demarse, Nicholas: killed with Livingston's party, 374 Dene, 4. See also Chipewyan Dene OCho, 239, 429. See also Dzene Che Diguthe Dinees people, 234 diseases in animals. See under animals diseases in humans. See sickness Dog River, 99 Dogrib, 4, 6-7, 39, 359; attack Hare Indians, 66; conspiracy to kill whites, 66; described by A. McKenzie, 236-7; at Fort of the Forks, 53; hunting methods of, 355; at Lac La Martre, J

9

Dzene Che (Yellowknife trading leader), 232, 429, 430 Dzerrinou, 92, 430, 447 Dzinanah (Yellowknife trading leader), 123, 430, 447 Dzomebettaw (Native man), 337-8, 343 Eastern Natives: in the northwest, 57-8 eclipse of the moon, 339 Embayodinne, 245, 300, 333-343. 347:trade with ships on Pacific coast, 346. See also Dahodinne (Rocky Mountain people), Rocky Mountain people en derouine, 475 engages: equipment of, 188, 218; killed searching for runaway wives, 348,354,361,366 Estrapie, the, 149, 150 ethnonyms and ethnicity: of Native people, 468 Etlier, Francois (NWC engage), 173-4, 185-8, 219, 221,232,394-5, 410; disappearance of, 395; en derouine, 227; offered another man's wife, 394; searches for Hare Indians, 223-4; suffers from swollen knee, 225 Etlier's wife: runs away, 227-8, 394

Douglas, Thomas, fifth earl of Selkirk: NWC documents in possession of, xvii dreams and dreaming: power of, in aboriginal worldview, 204 Dubois (NWC engage): sick and unable to walk, 95,

Fait Parribonneau's brother, 175 Parse (Rocky Mountain trading leader), 234,

394 Duckworth, Harry, 149, 151, 246,380,413,419; identification of Grand Chefre, 434 Dutchman, John, 166-7. See also Steinbruck, John

235. 237. 240.430 Farting Father. See Collet Fidler, Peter (HBC), 42, 99, 169, 214, 372, 380-1; account of Livingston party killings, 121, 374, 470; account of Steinbruck's

493

Index

killing, 478; establishes Nottingham House, 30, 437; harassed by rival companies, 190; reports on fur returns, 28-30, 212 Filthy Lake Indians. See Dogrib Finlay.John, 126, 134, 252 fisheries: dependence of posts on, 13, 14, 18-19, 42. 131 Fleche, The (Chipewyan trading leader), 95, 96, 430 Fluted Point people, 4 food, 79: shortage of among Natives, 140, 153. See also provisions at posts Forcier, Augustin, 395 Forcier, Baptiste, 395 Forcier, Joseph (NWC engage), 349, 350, 391-2, 395 Forcier, Pierre Amable, 395 forest fires: near Fort of the Forks, 303, 306 Forsman, Michael, 101 Forsyth, Richardson and Company, 26-7, 100, 207, 259 Fort Alexander, 67-8, 362 Fort Chipewyan, 13 Fort Dunvegan, 59 Fort Enterprise (John Franklin's winter quarters), 71 Fort Franklin, 61 Fort George, 248 Fort Good Hope, xv, 66, 67-8, 208, 362, 384. See also Bluefish River Post Fort Kaministiquia, 88 FortLiard (HBC), 70, 255, 482 Fort Nelson, 362, 481-2; killings at, 64, 65, 254—5, 354,361,439 Fort Norman, 60, 484 Fort of the Forks, xv, 14, 34-5,53-7.77. 127, 158, 176, 183,359;

1804-8 journals of W.F. Wentzel, xvi, xvii, 31,53, 164-5,288-9; 1805-6 journal of W.F. Wentzel, 49-50; provisions scarce at, 397, 426, 427; returns from, 40, 46; starvation at, 63, 361; XYC post at, 28, 84 Fort Providence, 69, 469 Fort Resolution (HBC), 70; journals of, xiii Fort Vermilion, 70 Fourmay (NWC engage), 115-395 Fournier, Jacques (NWC engage), 87, 91, 92, 93, 188; delays brigade, 396, 399; at Lac La Martre, 385; wife of, 396 Fournier, Joseph, 414 Franklin, John, xvi, 21, 99, 217,235,240,366-7; describes salt plain, 176, 212; Land Arctic Expedition of (1819-22), 71, 161,383, 395; population estimates of, 6, 218 Fraser, Simon (NWC proprietor), 14, 18, 61, 62, 368-9 fur resources, 59; in Liard River basin, xii, 46, 259, 351; in Mackenzie River basin, xi-xii, 76-7, 351; in Slave Lake District, 19. See also beaver fur returns, 28-30, 242; Athabasca Department, 29; Biskaga Fort, 51-2, 60,285,311,344,360; Fort Good Hope, 360; Fort Nelson, 360; Fort of the Forks, 40, 297, 360; Great Bear Lake, 330, 360; Great Slave Lake, 19, 212; Liard River basin, 40-1,47,76-7,259,272, 360; Mackenzie River basin, 76-7; Mackenzie River District, 26, 28-30, 55-6. 58-9, 66, 68-9, 73,

295, 312; Nottingham House, 212; Rocky Mountain Fort, 24 fur trade companies: competition between, 13, 27-30. 33- 64. 66. 69~ 70, 78, 104, 113, 185, 212, 478-9; competition in Athabasca, 11, 26-30, 37-8; competition at Great Bear Lake, 35, 84-5; cooperation between, 189; NWC tries to starve out rivals, 190; salaries paid by, 14, 15, 22, 52, 99, 112, 126, 129, 157, 160, 162, 255, 372. 373. 379. 388, 396. 397. 417. 471-2; watchtower built for spying, 187,189 Gagnier, Joseph (NWC engage), 35. 188,205,396, 478; witnesses killing of John Steinbruck, 37, 396 Gale, Reverend Alexander, 260 gardens and gardening at posts, 290, 303, 339,

34°. 34i Gaucher (Slavey, NWC post hunter), 57, 175, 229, 326,327,428,429,431; nurses Chien Brule, 3257,428 Gaucher's wife: skins stolen from, 179 Gautier, Louis, 122, 123 Gelbore. See Guilbord, Francois General Montgomery (Dogrib trading leader), 24-5.39. H9. 15°, 4°9~ 10, 431-2, 471; clothed as trading chief, 232, 432; Sauve killed by his young men, 432; searches for Dahodinne, 318 Genereaux, Pierre Louis, 397

494

Index

Genereux, Louis (NWC and HBC engage), 221, 2312, 336-43> 338, 384-5. 396-7,413, 418; contacts the Dahodinne, 332—3; freezes his toe, 329.335 Genereux's wife: runs away, 227-8, 397 Gens d'mouton, 333, 334 Gens d'orignal, 277-8, 284,338,358,422. See also Tsilladahodinnah (Gens d'orignal) Gens d'ours: and European goods from Pacific coast trade, 333-4 Gibeau, Alexis (NWC engage), 312-15, 319-26, 322-3,326,398,411; admits stealing provisions, 330—1; injured on spring express, 418; suffers swollen legs, 336, 398 Gibeau's wife, 398 Glover, Richard, 161-2 Goshure, 431. See also Gaucher Grand Blanc (Chipewyan trading leader), 93, 11819, 470-1; account of Livingston party killings, 21-2, 12O-1, 174, 373,

433; accuses John Thomson of rough treatment, 15-18, 21; band affiliation of uncertain, 432; clothed as trading chief, go, 432—3; describes abundant beaver resources, 19, 91; influences location of Red Knife Fort, 19, 433; at war with "distant nations," 174,433 Grand Canoe (Native man), 300 Grand Chefre (Rocky Mountain trading leader), 53-4, 77, 198, 292,314-18,326-9,

344-7, 434; band affiliation of uncertain, 136, 434-5; brother-in-law, 187, 447; mourns for his dead son,196;nephew and son, drowning, 185, 384,412,415,434-5, 439; poor health of, 300, 327; requests Frenchmen to go with him, 314, 347; searches for Dahodinne, 314, 332-3. See also Big Chief (Rocky Mountain trading leader), Great Chief (Rocky Mountain trading leader) Grand Cheveux (Slavey trading leader), 268; declothed of trading chief status, 47, 436; at Netla Fort, 46; sons, 266, 268; warns McPherson of plot against his post, 436 Grand Coquin (Chipewyan trading leader), 32, 103, 108, 167, 168, 170-3, 179, 180, 436-7; debts of, at Churchill HBC post, 437 Grand Isle, location of, 177 Grand Jeune Homme, 446 Grand Marais: post at, 102 Grand Pian de Noir (Slave Lake trading leader): clothed as trading chief, 92,437 Grand Portage, 88, 152 Grant, Charles (NWC clerk), 221, 223-7, 237, 361-2, 369-71, 443; at Bluefish River Post, 40, 208, 254, 357-8, 406; at Fort Alexander, 67-8, 135; at Fort Good Hope, 61, 385; illness of, 227; journey to Great Bear Lake, 38-40, 42, 211, 216-18; searches for Rapid Indians, 39, 223-4, 438 Grant, Cutiibert, 11,13

Grant, David, 83-4 Grant, Peter, 83-4 greasy beaver. See beaver, grades of Great Bear Lake, 31; journals of A. McKenzie, xiii, xv-xvi, 31, 210; Natives trading at, 39; posts at, 28,31,34-5, 127, 166, 471, 477; Wentzel's description of, 353-4 Great Bear Lake people: described by Alexander McKenzie, 236 Great Chief (Rocky Mountain trading leader), 185, 322. See also Big Chief (Rocky Mountain trading leader), Grand Chefre (Rocky Mountain trading leader) Great Slave Lake: 1800-1 journal of James Porter, xiv; Slave Lake journals, 1802 (W.F.Wentzel),xiv; posts at, 11 Gregoire, Etienne (NWC engage), 94, 97, 133, 138,185-8, 398-9; builds watchtower to spy on Potties, 187; en derouine, 24, 139, 398; postings, 20, 35; suffers from sore legs, 93, 398; witnesses killing of John Steinbruck, 37, 399 Gregory, McLeod and Company of Montreal, 13, 19,416 Guilbord, Francois (NWC engage), 188, 221, 224, 258; delays brigade, 226, 399; disobeys McKenzie's travel orders, 43, 226, 257, 399-4°°. 4°7. 438443 > goes to Fort Chipewyan without permission, 226, 400 guns, price of in 1786, 429 Gwich'in, 4, 8, 427; implicated in Livingston party

495 Index Jameson, Robert (keeper, Henry, William (NWC Natural History Muclerk): brother of Alexseum), 72 ander, 252; at CumberJay's Treaty (1794), 26-7 land House, 401 Haldane,John (XYC clerk): John (NWC engage), 221, Henry, William (XYC and at Lesser Slave Lake, 27, 231-2, 256, 401; en derNWC hunter), 400-1; 37 ouine, 231, 448 dies of starvation at Fort Hare (people), 7-8, 356; of the Forks, 63, 361; wife Jollibois, Frangois (NWC enattacked by Dogribs gage), 189, 232-3, 256, given to him as a bribe by (1815), 66; described by J. McKenzie, 400 A. McKenzie, 237; dis315-19.326-7,334-335. 340, 349, 423; contacts Heron, James, 260 ease among, 341; at the Dahodinne, 332-3; en Great Bear Lake, 39; war herring salmon, 219 derouine, 193,401-2,435, hierarchy and social status party kills Dahodinne, 444; Wentzel fears for his in fur trade, 129, 130, 355.427 safety, 343, 345; wife of, 401 hares: abundant at Netla 402 Holonansie (Great Bear Fort, 46; cyclical failure Jollibois, Joseph (NWC enLake hunter), 229, 437 of, 57-60, 62, 79, 143, gage), 402 144, 151-2, 301; dietary Holonansie's wife, 230,437 journals: 1800-1, Rocky hommes de loge: paid for staple at posts, 24, 187, Mountain Fort (J. Thomfeeding engages, 143, 268; disappearance of, son), xiii-xiv, xvi, 22-6, 58, 401, 420, 441 153. 346. 4*9 128; 1800-1, Slave Lake Hood, Robert, 71, 161 Harmon, Daniel, 189, 252 (J. Porter), xiv, xv-xvi, Horn Mountain people: Hay River Post, 70, 249; explosion at, 417 xvi, 18-22, 84-5; 1802, killed by Hare, 355; Slave Lake (W.F. WentWentzel's description of, Hearne, Samuel: miszel), xvi, 34, 164, 179; 354-5. See also Dogrib quoted by James Porter, 108 1803-4, Chiswick House Hudson's Bay Company: Henry, Alexander Jr (NWC (T. Swain), 32; 1804-8, Athabasca trade of, 30; Fort of the Forks (W.F. merges with NWC, 73; clerk), xiii-xiv, 310, 312, Wentzel), xvi, 31, 50, 53, plans to expand into 361,366,370,392,401; 164-5, 288-9; 1805-6, Bear Island journal of New Caledonia, 69-70; 1806, xiii—xiv, xvi, xvii, Fort of the Forks (W.F. postjournals of, xiii-xiv Wentzel), 49-50; 180541-2, 255; at Biskaga hunter, the, 221, 222. See Fort, 53, 61, 280, 285; en 6, Great Bear Lake also KakiBatha derouine, 230, 253; explo(A. McKenzie), xiii, 31, ration to Rocky Mouninfanticide, female, 307 210; 1805-7, Great Bear tain, 330; fur trade Inuit, 8-9; description of Lake (A. McKenzie), xv, career of, 252-5; at xvi; 1805-7, Liard River meeting with white men, Great Bear Lake, 40, 62, 242; John Clarke's expe(G. Keith), xv, xvii, 31, 211, 218, 235, 253;jourdition frightened by, 59, 43,261-2; 1805-8, Great ney to Great Bear Lake, 366; and Mackenzie Bear Lake (A. McKen38-9, 42, 214, 216; River slate, 239; at Great zie), xvi; 1806, Bear killed by Slavey at Fort Bear Lake, 236; impliIsland (A. Henry,Jr), Nelson, 64, 65, 255, 354, cated in Livingston party xiii-xiv, xvi, xvii, 41-2, 356, 439; at Liard River, killings, 14, 21-2, 120-1, 255; bias in, xiv, 22, 121, 61; wife of (Yellowknife 236, 304; Biskaga Fort 373. 383. 433'47o-i; woman), 254 relations with Athapas(G.Keith), 50; Chiswick Henry, Alexander, the cans, 8-9; Thule ancesHouse (T. Swain), xiii, Elder, 42, 252, 400 tral culture of, 4 31; collected by L.R. Henry, Alexander, the Iroquois people: in the Masson, xvi, 31, 86; colYounger, 42, 252 northwest, 106, 167, 301 lected by R. McKenzie, Henry, Julia, 252 Isle of the Dead, 214 xvi, 86; Fort Resolution, killings, 120-3. See also Loucheux

496 Index xiii; Hudson's Bay Company, xiii—xiv; Nottingham House (P. Fidler), xiii, 3i KakiBatha (Hare hunter and guide), 223, 437-8. See also hunter, the Karamanski, Theodore: on eastern Indian nations in northwest, 167 Kasie. See Casce (NWC engage)

Kaska Dena, 4. See also Nahanni people Kaskara (Dogrib trading leader and post hunter), 220, 222-5, 226, 229, 438-9; searches for runaway women, 2 2 7-8, 413, 438; starving at his lodge, 221 Kaskara (Yellowknife trading leader), 39 Kaskara's wife, 438; fears Dogrib attack, 224 Keith, Betsey, 260-1 Keith, Fanny, 260 Keith, George (NWC clerk), xiii-xiv, 7, 27, 159, 189, 197,208,215, 312,361,363; 1805-7 Liard River journals of, xv, xvii, 31,43,49, 50, 261-2; clothes for chiefs borrowed from W. Smith, 422; encourages engages to buy liquor, 52-3, 279, 280; fur trade career of, 43, 63-4, 259-62; at Great Bear Lake, 38, 53, 60, 62, 211; at Lesser Slave Lake, 27, 37; at Liard River, 44-6, 60, 253-4, 263-5, 360; marriage of, 259-61; views on Fort Nelson killings, 65; views on Grand Cheveux, 436; threatens to declothe Partridge Chief, 47, 267, 444

Keith, James, 60, 61, 208, 259 Keith, Jane, 261 Keith, Louise, 261 Keith, Nanette Sutherland. See Sutherland, Nanette Keith, Robert, 260 Keith, Sophia, 261 Krech, Shepard: on Athapascan Native bands, 6-7; on clothing of trading leaders, 47, 90; on fur trade documents, xii; population estimates of, 8 K'pshot'ine (Athapascan people), 4. See also Hare (people) Kutchin. SeeGwich'in LaBeccasse (NWC engage), 34, 133, 138, 171, 1736, 402-3; en derouine, 24, 1 39-42, 403, 441; reports food shortage among Natives, 140, 153 La Beccasse's wife, 402-3 La Brie, Felix (XYC engage), 179, 403-4; pillages lodges at Slave Lake Post, 181, 403 La Brie, Joseph (NWC engage), 179 La Brie, Pierre (NWC engage), 179 La Brull, Madam, 32, 34, 176,386 La Gas, Michel (Liard River Slavey man); and the Fort Nelson murders, 65, 254-5. 356. 436, 439 La Fleur,Jean-Baptiste, 372 La Mesette. See Piche, Francois La Montagne (trading leader), 331 La Mountain (Cree man), 107 La Pratt (NWC engage), 232, 404; en derouine, 231, 406, 448 La Prise, Jean-Baptiste (NWC engage), 86, 127,

133, 158, 176, 186, 1889, 197-8, 202-4, 230-1, 238,291,308,329,397, 403-6, 410, 420, 472; at Bluefish River post, 40, 208, 406; complains of hunger, 192; daughter of, 404; en derouine, 193, 200, 406, 441; at Fort Good Hope, 385^1 Fort of the Forks, 34, 184; reports starvation in Loucheux's lodges, 196, 203; spies on Potties, 187, 190; at Trout River Post, 18, 20, 22, 23;wives of, 23, 133, 192, 196, 404, 405, 441 La Rocque, Joseph: opinion of W.F. Wentzel, 164 La Rocque, Pierre (XYC and NWC engage), 220, 4067; disobeys McKenzie's travel orders, 43, 226, 257, 407, 438, 443; sent to Mountain Island post, 258 La Vigne, Auguste (XYC engage), 169,407 La Vigne, Joseph, 407 La Vigne, Pierre, 407 La Violette, Frangois (NWC engage), 100, 101, 109, 111,132-3, 407-8; en derouine, 24, 146, 408; poor health of, 139, 140, 152, 408; searches for Natives near Rocky Mountain Fort, 136 La Violette's wife, 133; provisioning work of, 143 Lac La Martre, 91,129,170; posts at, 12, 13, 19, 28, 32 Lac La Pluie: post at, 88 Lake Claire, i o i; journal of (J. Porter), 86; "old fort" at, 11, 102 Lanche the Porkeater (NWC engage), 119; en derouine, 120, 121, 404, 414; shunned as a porkeater, 115, 122,404

497 Index xvii, 31, 43, 261-2; Bisk- Little Maunder Minimum Land Arctic Expedition of (climatic regime), 8, 67, aga Fort, 49-53; returns John Franklin (181978, 79, 486 from, 272 22), 71-2, 161-2, 383, Livingston, Duncan (NWC Liard River Slavey: ances395 clerk), 26, 86, 126, 371try of, 265; attack NahLanneau, Pierre, ditCadien 5; accounts of killing of, anni, 51; destroy Fort le Gros Nez, 94. See also 470-1; builds Fort of the Nelson and its personCadien Le Gros Nez Forks, 183; exploration nel, 64, 65; forced out of Latour, Isabella, 208-9 of Liard River, 352-3; territory by Yellowknives, Laverdiere (Native man), killing of his party, xiv, 284; kill Rocky Mountain 147 14-15, 20-2, 120-1, people, 277; massacre L.B., Madam. See La Brull, Tsilladahodinnah peoMadam 127, i57-8.354.372-5. 383, 433; at Trout River ple, 277-8, 338, 422; Le Clair, Frangois Xavier, Post, 14-15, 133 move into Nahanni terri261 Livingston, Mrs Duncan, tory, 49; at Netla Fort, Le Claire, Pierre (HBC): 46; report strangers stalksent en derouine with 375 Long Arrow Indians. See ing their lodges, 286; Grand Blanc, 433 Hare starvation among, 63 Le Palis, 231 Loucheux Chief (Slavey Le Palle (Yellowknifeman), Little Blind Chief (Rocky trading leader) ,197, Mountain trading 439 273, 441-2; agrees to leader), 23, 137, 141; Leith, James (XYC winterhunt closer to beaver and Rocky Mountain ing partner): enters country, 47; at Fort of Fort site, 135-6, 142-3, Peace River country, 27 the Forks, 193; illness of, 440; site for Fort of the Leith, Jameson and Com279; at Netla Fort, 46; Forks chosen by, 143 pany of Detroit, 26—7, starvation among his Little Blind Chief's brother100, 207 people, 196, 441 in-law, 135-6 Lemai, Louis, dit Poudrier Loucheux Chief's brotherLittle Blind Chief's son, (engage): dies of starvain-law: at Fort of the tion at Fort of the Forks, 137 Forks, 193 Little Chief (Yellowknife 63 Leroux, Laurent, 19, 218, trading leader), 23, 139; Loucheux (people), 7, 8, and decline in hares, 469, 470; at Great Slave 356, 357-8; implicated 144; hunger among his in Livingston party killLake, 11,13 Levrier (Mackenzie River ings, 14, 383; McKenzie people, 441; paid for Slavey trading leader), hosting LaBeccasse, 142; visits, 40; refuse to trade, sons 136-7, 147, 155 66 53-4. 291.294,296, 298,306-7,313-15, Little Chief's brother-inlynx, 155; decline in, 59, law, 137, 142-3, 147, 322,327,331,342-3, 60, 62 155; searches for Big 439-40 Levrier's brother (NWC Chief, 136, 140 MacAulay, Aulay, 161 post hunter), 322, 327, Little Chief's youngest MacKay, Douglas: on fur re439; hired to hunt for brother-in-law, 136 sources of Mackenzie the post, 300 Little Company (XY ComDistrict, xi-xii Levrier's wife, 294, 306-7, pany), 100. See also PotMackenzie, Sir Alexander, xi 440 ties; XY Company . n.97. 99> i78-9. Levrier's youngest brother: Little Martin Junior. See 427; on Indian-Inuit reladrowning accident, 185, Martin, Francois (Young tions, 8-9 382,384,415 Martin, NWC engage) Mackenzie River: Wentzel's Liard River basin: beaver re- Little Martin Senior. See description of, 351-4 sources of, xii, 259, 263 Martin, Charles (Old Mackenzie River people: Liard River posts: 1805-7 Martin, NWC engage, Wentzel's description of, journals of G. Keith, xv, carpenter) 354-9

498 Index Mackenzie River Slavey: at Fort of the Forks, 53-4; implicated in Livingston party killings, 121 Mainville, Jean, 409 mal de racquette, 204, 329, 336,398,423 Mandeville, Frangois, 409 Mandeville,Joseph (NWC engage), 408-9; en derouine, 122, 169, 173, !75-6. 179. 4°9; at Great Slave Lake, 88, 94, 118, 167; journey to Great Bear Lake, 214; journey to Great Slave Lake, 113; meat and robe pillaged by Potties, 180; owns a canoe, 97, 131, 409, 412; transporting meat, 120 Mandeville's wife, 175; gives birth to a daughter, 96 Marlin (Chipewyan trading leader), 102, 103, 174, 177; clothed as trading chief, 442; marriage with Tete de Lievre's daughter, 111 marriages: of Canadians and Natives, 294 Martin, Charles (Old Martin, NWC engage, carpenter), 188,225, 409-11, 471; en derouine, 290, 317, 321,324, 410; at Fort of the Forks, 293, 297. 3°2. S^-iS. S^. 326,329,330-1,336-8, 34L344. 345. 348.35o; at Great Bear Lake post, 221; identification of, 475; poor health of, 185, 186, 349; at Rocky Mountain Fort, 24, 133, 138, 140, 143, 149-153, *54-5. !56. 4°9; searches for Natives near Rocky Mountain Fort, 144; with spring express, 202, 336

Martin, Francois (Young complains about excesMartin, NWC engage), sive credits, 28, 37, 85; 184, 185, 188,394,405, criticizes Wentzel's Liard 409—11; affair of with exploration, 49-50; dePouce Coupe's wife, scribes Great Bear Lake and people, 235-7; es" igS-g, 3 6 l >4 1 0 . 445; at Fort of the Forks, 184 tate of, 208; family of, Martin, Simon, 409, 475 208-9; fur trade career Masson, L.R. (Louisof, 37, 38, 41, 207; at Francois-Roderique), 31, Great Bear Lake, 42; 159, 379; documents colheads Mackenzie River lected by, xiv, xvi, 86 District, 38, 253; journey Masson Collection, xvi to Fort Chipewyan, 238Mauvais Loup (Yellowknife 40; journey to lower trading leader): theft of Mackenzie River, 39-40; furs from Grand Chefre 's at Lesser Slave Lake, 27, people, 347 37; meeting with McBean,John, 209 Loucheux, 40; pillages McDonald, Finan, 208 lodges at Slave Lake Post, 181; plan to expand tradMcDonald,John (XYC ing territory, 234; poor clerk), 188, 415; killing health of, 229; at Ring of John Steinbruck, 37, 38, 217,376,396, Lake, 27, 33; threatens to kill Felix LaBrie, 404; 398-9. 477-8 views on A. Henry, 257 McDonald le Borgne, John, McKenzie, Andrew, 250 208 McKenzie, Ann, 208, 209 McDonell, Allan (XYC clerk), 85, 186-8,375-6, McKenzie, Daniel, 27-8, 33-4,84, 158, 173; fur 382,392,415,477,478; trade career of, 212; at Great Bear Lake, 35, heads Slave Lake District, 37-8, 207 31; orders Madam L.B. McDonell,James, 183, 226, to be taken to Red Knife 394 Fort, 32, 176; at Slave McDougall,James (NWC Lake Post, 18-19 clerk), 63, 126, 183, 226 McKenzie, Donald, 99 McGillivray, Duncan, 83 McKenzie, Ferdinand, McGillivray,John, 61 209-10 McGillivray, Joseph, 161 McKenzie, Henry, 99 Mclntosh, William, 189 McKenzie, James (NWC McKenzie, Alexander (the clerk), 99, 104, 105, Emperor), xiii, 27, 35, 108-9, x 1 2 > 173' X 89> 4 1 >97-9> iS8, i76-9. 197; bribes William 184, 231,302,427; Henry by giving him a 1805-6 Great Bear Lake woman, 400; offers Etlier journal of, xiii, 31, 210; another man's wife, 394 1805-7 Great Bear Lake McKenzie, John George, journals of, xv; attack on 209 Francois Piche, 181; McKenzie, Patrick, 209 cheats on personal expenses, 302, 361; clothes McKenzie, Roderic, 99; account of Livingston party General Montgomery as killings, 21-2, 121, 374; trading chief, 232, 432;

499 Index correspondence of, xiv, xv, 49, 58; journals collected by, xvi, 86; requests information on Mackenzie district, 58-9, 235 McLean,John (HBC), 362 McLeod, Alexander, 377 McLeod, A.N., 83 McLeod, A.R. (HBC), 362 McLeod, Charles (NWC clerk), 92, 122, 123, 376—7; wife of, 92, 377 McLeod, Margaret, 161-2 McLeod, Normand, 377 McPherson, Murdoch (HBC), 70, 362, 397, 439, 447; clothes Grand Cheveux, 436; at Fort Liard, 384; identification of Grand Blanc, 432; opinion of Jacques Beauvais, 384 McTavish, Donald: at Fort Dunvegan, 59 McTavish, Frobisher and Company, 9, 26-7 McTavish, John George (NWC clerk), 60, 62, 377 McTavish, Simon, 371—5 McVicar, Robert (HBC), 70, 161; reports starvation among Nor'Westers, 69 Menard,Joseph (XYC interpreter), 172, 173, 174, 185, 382; fights over furs at Slave Lake Post, 33, 171, 412 Merde de Queteux (Native man), 186 Merde d'Ecureuil (Liard River area hunter), 442; son killed by Liard River Slavey, 275-6, 286, 442 Moineau (NWC engage), 8 7> 9°. 94. 97. 99-iOo; owns a canoe, 114, 131, 412; sells his canoe, 131, 412; sent en derouinewith Mandeville's band, 89 Moineau's wife, 89

Monsieur L'Allemand, 167. See also Steinbruck, John Montagnais (eastern Canada people): in the northwest, 167, 300-1, 357 Montagne's brothers, 309 Montagneurs, 7. See also Rocky Mountain people Montagnier.Jack, 254, 310; killed by Natives, 348 Montagniers (Chipewyan), 167, 168, 174, 442; arrive with Mandeville, 179 Montreal North West Company, 27 Moose Deer Island, 213; fishery at, 14, 19, 27, 131; location of, 166, 170; post at, 69 Moran, Joseph, ditGrimard, 413 Morent (NWC engage),

23 1 .232,397.4*3;

searches for runaway women, 227-8, 438 Morent's wife: runs away, 227-8,413 Morin (NWC interpreter), 87, 115-16, 167, 173; builds canoe, 94; mining salt, 176; tries to sell his wife, 413; witnesses Potties pillaging meat and a robe, 180 Morin's wife (Saurarda's daughter), 115,413 Mortne (Slavey trading leader), 191, 198, 202, 44 2-3; at Netla Fort, 46; sickness in his band, 266 Mount Tambora, 67 Mountagne de Leisle. See Mountain island Mountain Dene. See Rapid Indians Mountain Island (NWC post), 42, 218, 258 mourning customs, 50-1, no, 185, 187, 194, 276, 278,433-5

Nahanni (people), 7,40-1, 77, 278, 358; attacked by Liard River Slavey, 49, 51. See also Kaska Naneauzie (Red Knife trading leader), 35-7, 225, 226, 227,442-3,443; searches for Guilbord and La Rocque, 443 Naneauzie's daughter, 225,

443

Nasplette, Joseph, dit PassPar-Tout, 111 Netla Fort, 44-7; 1805-6 journal of George Keith, 261, 262 Nevers, Mrs James: navigates for brigade, 102 New Caledonia brigade, 63 New North West Company. Seexv Company Nipawi House, 83 Nipissing (people): in northwest, 167 North West Company: abandons Mackenzie District, 66; corporate organization of, 9-10, 360-1; extends trading territory, 41, 127, 134, 157; intimidates XYC, 28; logistical problems of, 9-10, 77-8; Mackenzie River District officers, 36; merger with XY Company, 38; posts of before 1800, 11-13; records of, xii—xviii Northern Archaic culture, 4 Northern Interior Microblade culture, 4 Nosognie, 191. See also Loucheux Chief (Slavey trading leader) "Notice of the Attempts to Reach the Sea" (W.F. Wentzel), 72-6,366 Nottingham House (HBC), 30, 31; established by Peter Fidler, 437; journals of, xiii; returns from, 212

500 Index Nulathiheh (Slave Lake trading leader), 443 Old Barbar, 425. See also Barbeau (Mackenzie River Slavey trading leader) "Old Fort," 14, 265, 285, 31?. 33!.337- See also Netla Fort "old fort" at Lake Claire, 11, 102 Ouellette (NWC engage), 92, 93, 98, 118, 119, 120, 121, 413-14; en derouine, 414 overplus system of trade, 278 Pacific Fur Company, 367 Palaeo-Eskimo (arctic peo-

ple), 4 Pansenou (NWC engage), 414; en derouine, 449 paper: shortage of at posts, 40, 179, 182, 287, 476 parchment beaver. See beaver, grades of Parker, Gerrard and Ogilvy, 100 Partridge Chief (Liard River Slavey trading leader), 15,51, 145, 187,266, 443—4; declothing of threatened by G. Keith, 47, 267, 444; at Netla Fort, 46 Partridge Chief's wife: illness and death of, 278, 444 Passpertou's wife, 111 Paul, Louis (NWC engage), 98,414 Peau de Lievres (people): kill Canadians searching for runaway women, 348, 354.361,366 pemmican preparation, 216 Pere de Blot (Native man), 295 Pere du Chien (Liard River Slavey trading leader),

186, 190, 191, 198, 269, Pinsonnault (NWC engage), 221, 225,414 273. 444-5; agrees to hunt closer to beaver Plante, Augustin (NWC encountry, 47; declothing gage at Slave Lake), 133, of, 445; hunger among 139, 148, 152,417; en his band, 193; at Netla derouine, 24 Fort, 46; nose twisted at Plante (NWC engage at Netla Fort, 268, 445; Mackenzie River), 417 sends meat to Fort of the Plover, the (trading Forks, 204 leader), 250 Perreault, Joseph (NWC poisson inconnu, 172, 192, and XYC engage), 158, 266 polygamy, 133,405 186-7, I9l~2> 382, 412, 414—15; at the Forks, 35, Pond, Peter: Athabasca ex195, 415; requests proviplorations of, 10—11 sions from W.F. Wentzel, Porter, James, Jr, 85 Porter,James (NWC clerk), 189-90, 194,415 Perronne, Baptiste (XYC xiii-xiv, 11, 15, 157, 173, clerk), 27, 158, 170, 175176, 183-4, 1^8, 202, 479; 1800-1 Slave Lake 81, 378,416; fears Potties journal of, xv-xvi, 18-2 2, will starve, 172, 174; loses 84-5; clothes trading his canoe, 172, 173; at chiefs, 432-3, 437; death Slave Lake Post, 33 of, 85; fall brigade of dePetit Rat (Yellowknife tradlayed by misbehaviour of ing leader), 32, 179, men, 396, 398; at Fort of 180; accuses John Thomthe Forks, 34, 35, 199, son of rough treatment, 359, 442; fur trade ca168; son clothed as tradreer of, 18-19, 83-5; at ing chief, 169. See also Great Bear Lake, 35, The Rat (Yellowknife 207; journey to Fort trading leader) Chipewyan, 97-9; jourPhyn, Inglis and Company ney to Rocky Mountain of London, 27, 100 Fort, 130-2; at Ring Piche, Francois, dit La Lake, 23, 33; views on alMesette, 415-17 cohol trade, 104-5 Piche, Frangois (NWC enPorter, John, 129 gage), 83, 87, 123, 127, Potties, 27, 158, 166, 175, 134, 176, 177, 180-1, 177, 426; attack on 415-17, 449, 472; alcoIndian lodges at Slave hol consumption of, Lake Post, 181-2; provi180-1, 416; expedition sions shortage among at to Rocky Mountain peoGrand River, 189; theft ple, 15, 23; Rocky Mounof meat and robe from tain Fort site chosen by, an Indian, 180; theft of !34-5. H3'434. 44°; skins from Gaucher's shoots John Ross, 416; in wife, 179. See also XY Slave Lake district, 13, Company 14, 175-6; at Trout River Pouce Coupe (Slavey tradPost, 20 ing leader), 46, 57, 193, Pilon, Francois (engage): dies of starvation at Fort 197. 233. 269. 320, 4456, 482; distressed over of the Forks, 63

501 Index wife's infidelity, 198-9, 410, 445-6; identification of, 445 Pouce Coupe's wife, 361; affair with Francois Martin, 198-9,445 provisions at posts, 24, 46, 137, 151; shortage of, 30,64, 155,301,313, 441; shortage at Bear Island, 42-3, 253, 257, 394; shortage at Fort of the Forks, 62-4, 193, *95. 197. 200, 343, 350, 397, 426, 427; shortage at Grand River, 69, 89; shortage at Trout River, 25-6; trade in, 57, 103, 141, 151, 199-200, 2034, 204, 218, 231-2, 2667, 296, 426-7, 427, 439, 442, 446. See also food Qaaicis: en derouine, 295. See also Casce (NWC engage) Quarrellers (Gwich'in), 8, 243; fear of Inuit, 244; implicated in Livingston party killings, 121; meeting with A. McKenzie, 240-1 Rae, Drjohn, 209 Range,Jean (NWC engage), 224, 258, 336-7, 33943, 411, 418; en derouine, 397; searches for Guilbord and La Rocque, 226, 443; sent to Bear Island, 227 Rapid Indians (Mountain Dene people), 39, 223-4, 437~8; attack on Dahodinne at Bluefish River, 223, 347, 370; identity of, 223 The Rat (Yellowknife trading leader), 30, 94, 118, 119, 122, 430, 446-7; clothed as trading chief, 95, 447. See also Petit Rat

Red Knife Fort, 19-20, 27, 32, 34, 91, 168; Steinbruck's journal of, 476 Red Knives, 89, 168; accuse Thomson of rough treatmenet, 127; at Bear Island, 222; described by Alexander McKenzie, 236; at Fort of the Forks, 205; hunt out beaver of upper department, 31 o11; steal Horn Mountain women, 355. See also Yellowknives revenge, Slavey code of, 286, 442 Richardson, Drjohn, 71, 72, 235; Wentzel's criticism of, 161 Ring Lake, 131, 158; fishery at, 14; post at, 11, 19, 86; XYC postal, 213-14 River of the Fort. See Netla Fort Robe de Castor (Mackenzie River Slavey trading leader), 53-4, 187, 309, 313.315.320,323-5, 428-9,431,447-8 Robertson, Colin (HBC), 69 Roche que Relieur (Cree trading leader), 103 Rocheblave, Pierre de Rastel de, 336; in charge of Fort Ghipewyan trade, 59 Rocky Mountain Fort, xv, 2

3-5. !27- !58'471. 472;

1800-1 journal of J. Thomson, xiv, xvi, 22-6, 128; construction of, 136-8; replaced by Great Bear Lake Post, 34-5; site chosen for, 23-4,31, 134-6,434,440 Rocky Mountain people, 7, 356-7, 359; influence on location of NWC post, 127; Piche's expedition to, 15, 23; Wentzel's identification of, 309. See also Montagneurs

Ross, John (trader for Gregory and McLeod): shot by Francois Piche, 416 Ross, Malcholm, 11, 83,476 runners. See arrivals at posts Russian fur traders, 9, 242, 334

Saint-Cir, Pierre, 419 salt: mining of, 176 Salt River, 98, 176, 212 Sasdinnah people (Gens d'ours), 245,333,402; trade relations with Europeans on Pacific coast, 245 Sasenellie (Red Knife trading leader), 232, 234, 448 Saucier (XYC engage), 382; dies in drowning accident, 185,412,419-20 Saulteaux, in the northwest, 106 Saurarda (Chipewyan), 413 Sauve, Pascal (NWC engage), 227, 269, 292-8, 295; murdered by Dogribs, 227, 318, 420, 432.433 Sekani people, 277, 358. See also Tsilladahodinnah Selkirk, earl of. See Douglas, Thomas Selkirk Papers, xvii, 53 Shield Archaic people, 4 sickness: at Biskaga Fort, 297-8; boils, 307; and eating of diseased animals, 303, 305; among Horn Mountain people, 293; among Kaskara's people, 220; at Lac du Sol, 321, 341; among Liard River people, 274; among Mortne's people, 266-8; among Natives in Mackenzie District, 60; among Rocky Mountain Fort Natives, 145; among Slavey, 54; sorcery, 286

502 Index Simpson, George, 69, 72, 162 Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Company, 27. See also XY Company Siveright.John, 163 Six Fingers (Yellowknife trading leader), 95, 96, 119,448 Slave Lake: 1800-1 journal of James Porter, xvi, xxvxvi, 18-22, 84-5; 1802 journal of W.F. Wentzel, xiv, xvi, 31, 164-5, !?9; NWC fur returns from, 19; personnel at, 33; posts at, 13-14, 18-19, iS 1 Slave River: rapids on, 98, 211, 217 Slavey people, 7, 356; at Great Bear Lake, 39; guides implicated in Livingston party killings, 21, 373-4' 383, 47o; hostile relations with Dogribs, 39; kill Tsilladahodinnah people, 277-8, 338, 422; Piche's expedition to, 15; war party of rumoured, 39. See also Tsattine people Smith, Edward (XYC and NWC clerk), 27, 33, 158, 161, 417; and attack on lodges at Slave Lake Post, 181; fur trade career of, 178 Smith, William (NWC hunter and interpreter), 27 6 >3°3>359. 420-2; alcohol consumption of, 52, 279; carries inter-post mail, 151, 269, 270; collects birch bark, 274, 282; death of, 62; en derouine, 51, 192, 195-6, 203, 279, 421-2; escorts Potties out of Wentzel's trading area, 390,426; at Fort of the Forks, 200, 310, 348-9; goes to Liard

River with G. Keith, 49; journey to Rocky Mountain Fort, 132-3; at Liard River, 43-4, 50, 158-9, 193, 263, 265, 401; at Rocky Mountain Fort, 158, 205; searches for food, 421; searches for hunters for Fort of the Forks, 189; searches for Native people, 191, 194, 202, 421, 445; sells his dry goods to G. Keith, 283-4; spies on Potties, 190; transports returns from Biskaga Fort, 3445; at Trout River Post, 2 3; twists Pere du Chien's nose, 268, 445; Wentzel fears he has starved, 197, 198; witnesses killing of Tsilladahodinnah, 338 Smith's wife, 132, 420 soap making, 151, 192 social status and hierarchy in fur trade, 129, 130, 379-80,473 Souris (Great Bear Lake trading leader) ,231,448 spring express. See under transportation and communication St Andre, Joseph (NWC engage), 98, 133, 140, 152—6,418—19; en derouine, 24, 418; searches for Native people, 136, 139

St Cyr, Baptiste (NWC engage), 93, 133.403.4!8;

carries inter-post mail, 153,156, 398; en derouine, 141-2, 419; leaking canoe of, 130,131; searches for Natives at Rocky Mountain Fort, 136; at Trout River Post, 20 St Germain, Paul, 99, 101 starvation, 66, 125, 314, 485-6; among Barbeau's band, 403; cyclical hare failure and, 57;

among Dogribs and Slavey, 295; effects of on fur trade, 64; at Grand River, 197, 203; among Hare, 389; in Kaskara's lodge, 221; among Liard River Slavey, 63; among Little Chief's people, 441; among Loucheux's band, 196, 441-2; in Mackenzie River District, 261; among Red Knives, 232, 389; at Slave Lake, 93; in NWC brigade, 33; at posts, 62-3, 69, 160, 170, 172, 174, 197,361,401 Steinbruck, John (NWC clerk), 31, 32, 38, 84, 92, 112-13,157-8, 166177, 180, 188,378-81; alcohol consumption of, 179; en derouine, 448; at Great Bear Lake, 35; killed by John McDonald, 37, 85, 217, 225, 376, 396, 477-8; at Lac La Martre, 13, 19, 23; at Red Knife Fort, 19-20, 476; social status of in fur trade hierarchy, 129, 130,379-80,473; spies on Potties, 27-8, 179-80 strangers: stalk Liard River people's lodges, 286 Strong Bows. See Slavey Stuart, John, 63, 160 Sutherland, James (NWC engage, died after 1820), 260,319-26,337,418 Sutherland, James (NWC interpreter, died 1799), 14, 423; at Great Slave Lake, 13; killed with Livingston's party, 14-15, 121,374, 421-2 Sutherland, Nanette (wife of George Keith), 25961,423 Swain, Thomas (HBC), 28, 30, 131, 212; Chiswick

503 Index House journal of 1803-4,32 Swanston,John, 261 Tail, Charles, 208, 209 Taltheilei (Athapascan people), 4 Taltsaoodinne people: population estimate for, 218 T'atsaot'ine people, 4, 6. See also Yellowknives Tauzie Curre (Red Knife, Great Bear Lake trading leader), 225, 233,448-9 Terohaute, Michel (Iroquois engage), 161 Tete de Boif, 276 Tete de Lievre (Chipewyan trading leader), 103, no Tete de Lievre's son-in-law (Cree): death of, no; mourning for, 103 Thain, Thomas, 161 Theardan (Chipewyan trading leader) ,168,449 Thionelzar (Yellowknife trading leader) ,123,449 Thlingobetha (Fort of the Forks post hunter), 197 Thompson, David, 210 Thomson, Francoise. See Bouche, Francoise Thomson, John (NWC clerk), xiii, 15, 84, 86-7, 95-7, 102, 109, 112-13, 157-8, 166-7,433,444, 471-2; buys canoe for journey, 132; fur trade career of, 15, 20, 22, 126-8, 250; journey to Rocky Mountain Fort site, 129-36; at Rocky Mountain Fort, 23-4, 24, 31; Rocky Mountain Fort journal of, xii-xiv, xvi, 22-6, 128; rough treatment of Natives, 15, 18, 21, 22, 120-1, 127, 134, !53. *54. 168, 433; at Trout River Post, 20; views on Native people, 24-5.79.43i

Thule culture (ancestral Inuit), 4 Tilli-da-ha-tine. See Tsilladahodinnah (Gens d'orignal) Todd, William, 162 Tourcotte,Joseph (NWC engage), 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171; en derouine, 172, 424; illness of, 177,424 Tournier, Jacques (NWC engage): delays brigade, 226 Tournier, Joseph (NWC engage), 87, 88, 92, 96100; en derouine, 89, 424 Toutsagen (Slavey, Great Bear Lake fisherman), 231,232,449 trade goods: shortages of at Biskaga Fort, 283 trading leaders: status of in own bands, 47 Tranquille (Slave Lake trading leader), 95, 96; clothed as trading chief, 9°. 449 transportation and communication, 37, 78, 486-7; brigades, 33, 63, 102; delayed, 226, 396, 398, 399; Native trade routes, 10; on open water, 213; between posts, 20, 25; spring express, 93, 205, 387. 390, 396, 397- 398, 406, 411, 414; winter express, 43, 69, 122-3, 176, 226, 324, 367, 3857, 403, 418-20. See also canoes Tremp, Alexis (NWC engage), 315. 319. 323. 423-4; suffers from sore legs, 329,423 Trilli-da-ha-tine. See Tsilladahodinnah (Gens d'orignal) Trois Pouces (Chipewyan trading leader), 32, 1078,167-8, 170-5, 180,

437. 449-5°; refuses to host engages, 177 Trout River Post, 14, 35, 86-7, i33.373.471; establishment of, 353; Natives trading at, 15; personnel at, 20, 23 Tsattine people, 254 Tsilladahodinnah (Gens d'orignal), 338, 358; massacred by Liard River Slavey, 277-8, 284, 422 Tulloch,W. (XYC clerk), 37, 384; drowning accident, 185, 382, 384,410, 412,415,419-20; atFort of the Forks, 35, 207 Tunchesun (people): identity of, 106 Turner, Philip (HBC), n, 132, 372, 476; report on Slave Lake trade, 19 Tuzaisbetha, 299-300 Tzalobetha (Chien Brule's brother), 300 Vieux d'LTsle (Yellowknife trading leader), 169, 449. 45° Wallace, J.N., 85, 102; on James Porter's death, 18 Wallace, W. Stewart, 208, 212; identification of James McDonell, 183 War of 1812: effects on fur trade, 64, 66, 261, 361 Wentzel, Alexander, 159, 160, 195; birth of, 201 Wentzel, Harriet, 163 Wentzel, Jenny, 159, 195 Wentzel, Willard Ferdinand (NWC clerk), xii, xiy . 49-5°. 84. 112-13, 127, 129, 132-3, 15765,215, 247, 263^'Account of Mackenzies River," xiii, xvi-xvii, 31, 49, 68, 70-5, 288-9; alcohol consumption, 160, 164; Arctic Expedition journal of, 162; attempts

504 Index to extend NWC fur trade, 77, 158-9, 360; on conditions at Fort Good Hope, 66; death of his young son, 159,328, 33°. 435;family°f. 495°. 57. iSQ-60' l63> 483; fears engages have starved, 197-8, 421; with Franklin's Land Arctic Expedition (1819-22), 71-2, 161-2; Fort of the Forks journals, xvi, xvii, 31'34-5-49-5°. 53. 164-5, 288-9; fur resources described by, 59; fur trade career of, 18, 20,23,25,31,38,64,67, 6 9. 71. !57-9> 160-4; instructions on provisions for posts, 151; Livingston party killings, account of, 21, 121, 373; map of Mackenzie River District, 65-6; medical assistance, 54- 3°5. 3°7> 425; "Notice of the Attempts to Reach the Sea," 72-6; opinion of Grand Cheveux, 436; opposed by XYC at Ring Lake (1802), 27; paper shortage for journal keeping, 40, 179, 182; poor health of, 61, 63, 160-2; population estimates of, 7; relations with Natives,

54-7, 324, 427, 440; relations with Potties, 189, 190, 194-5,392,415; Slave Lake journal, xiv, xv, xvi, 31, 164, 165, 179; starvation at his post, 160; views on fur company rivalry, 28; views on Native people, 79 Wentzel's first wife (Rocky Mountain woman), 198, 247, 315; birth of a son (Alexander), 201; makes shoes and snowshoes for Potties, 195; traps a lynx, 334; work at trading post, 159 Wentzel's second wife. See Billings, Nancy Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, 72,353 winter express. See under transportation and communication women, 79; prevent drinking match, 280; quarrels over, 199; raped by Red Knives, 236; run away, 227-8,330,347,361, 397, 413; selling and trading of, 394, 400, 413; stolen by Red Knives, 347, 355; at trading posts, 23, 148; "turning off' of, 103, 111; work in fur trade, 102, 103, 115, 137, 159, 170,

i g i , 204, 222, 232, 319,

334. 409 wood: for fuel, 24; and location of posts, 23 Woodcock, George, 208, 209 XY Company: merger with North West Company, 38; organization of, 27, 184, 207; posts of, 27, 28, 32, 33, 84, 166. See also Potties Yakiban (Gwich'in trading leader), 241, 244, 449, 45° Yallenaze (Slave Lake trader), 449, 450 Yellowknives, 6, 89; accuse John Thomson of rough treatment, 2 2; conspiracy to kill white traders, 66; discovery of Livingston party bodies, 21; expand into Slavey territory, 39, 58, 284; raid on Dogrib and Slavey beaver lodges, 299; at Slave Lake Post, 19. See also Red Knives Yerbury, J.C., 61-2; identification of Grand Blanc, 432; views on Livingston party killings, 21 York Factory, 10