A Trip To Manitoba - free ebook by Mary Agnes FitzGibbon

A TRIP TO MANITOBA

"Manitoba, the great province which now forms part of the Canadian Dominion" The Rt. Hon. W. E. GLADSTONE, MP at West Calder....

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DEDICATED TO LADY DUFFERIN. PREFATORY NOTE.

The Canada Pacific Railway, so frequently referred to in the following pages, is now almost an accomplished fact. It will, after traversing for over a thousand miles the great prairies of the Swan River and Saskatchewan territories, thread the Rocky Mountains and, running through British Columbia to Vancouver's Island, unite the Pacific with the Atlantic. Of the value of this line to the Dominion and the mother country there cannot be two opinions. The system of granting plots of land on each si

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CHAPTER I.

The Grand Trunk Railway—Sarnia—"Confusion worse confounded"—A Churlish Hostess—Fellow-Passengers on the Manitoba —"Off at last!"—Musical Honours—Sunrise on Lake Huron—A Scramble for Breakfast—An Impromptu Dance—The General Foe....

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CHAPTER II.

Saulte Ste. Marie—Indian Embroidery—Lake Superior—Preaching, Singing, and Card-playing—Silver Islet—Thunder Bay—The Dog River—Flowers at Fort William—"Forty Miles of Ice"—Icebergs and Warm Breezes—Duluth—Hotel Belles—Bump of Destructiveness in Porters....

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CHAPTER III.

The Mississippi—The Rapids—Aerial Railway Bridges—Breakfast at Braynor—Lynch Law—Card-sharpers—Crowding in the Cars—Woman's Rights!—The Prairie—"A Sea of Fire"—Crookstown—Fisher's Landing—Strange Quarters—"The Express-man's Bed"—Herding like Sheep—On board the Minnesota ....

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CHAPTER IV.

Red Lake River—Grand Forks—The Ferry—Custom-house Officers at Pembina—Mud and Misery—Winnipeg at last—A Walk through the Town—A Hospitable Welcome—Macadam wanted—Holy Trinity Church—A Picturesque Population—Indians shopping—An "All-sorts" Store—St. Boniface and its Bells—An Evening Scene....

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CHAPTER V.

Summer Days—The English Cathedral—Icelandic Emigrants— Tableaux —In chase of our Dinner—The Indian Summer—Blocked up—Gigantic Vegetables—Fruitfulness of the Country—Iceland Maidens—Rates of Wages—Society at Winnipeg—Half-castes—Magic of the Red River Water—A Happy Hunting-ground—Where is Manitoba?...

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CHAPTER VI.

Winter Amusements—A Winnipeg Ball—Forty Degrees below Zero—New Year's Day—"Saskatchewan Taylor"—Indian Compliments—A Dog-train—Lost in the Snow—Amateur Theatricals—Sir Walter Raleigh's Hat—A Race with the Freshets—The Ice moves!—The First Steamer of the Season—Good-bye to Winnipeg....

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CHAPTER VII.

A Manitoban Travelling-carriage—The Perils of Short Cuts—The Slough of Despond—Paddy to the Rescue!—"Stick-in-the-Mud" and his Troubles—McQuade's—An Irish Welcome—Wretched Wanderers....

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CHAPTER VIII.

Faithless Jehu—The "Blarney Stone"—Mennonites in search of News—"Water, Water everywhere"—A Herd of Buffaloes—A Mud Village—Pointe du Chêne and Old Nile—At Dawson Route—A Cheerful Party— Toujours perdrix —The "Best Room"—A Government Shanty—Cats and Dogs—Birch River—Mushroom-picking—The Mosquito Plague—A Corduroy Road—The Cariboo Muskeg....

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CHAPTER IX.

The "Nor'-west Angle"—The Company's House—Triumph of "Stick-in-the-Mud"—On the Lake of the Woods—A Gallant Cook—Buns à l'imprevu —A Man overboard!—Camping out—Clear Water Bay—Our First Portage—A Noble Savage—How Lake Rice and Lake Deception won their Names—At our Journey's End....

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CHAPTER X.

Making a New Home—Carrière's Kitchen—The Navvies' Salle-à-Manger —A Curious Milking Custom—Insect Plagues—Peterboro' Canoes—Fishing Trips—Mail-day—Indian dread of drowning—The Indian Mail-carrier and his Partner—Talking by Telegraph—Prairie Fires....

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CHAPTER XI.

Irish Wit—Bears?—Death on the Red Pine Lake—A Grave in the Catholic Cemetery—The First Dog train—A Christmas Fête—Compulsory Temperance—Contraband Goods—The Prisoner wins the Day—Whisky on the Island—The Smuggler turned Detective—A Fatal Frolic—"Mr. K——'s Legs"....

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CHAPTER XII.

Birds of Passage—An Independent Swede—By Sleigh to Ostersund—A Son of the Forest—Burnt out—A Brave Canadian Girl—Roughing it in the Shanty—The Kitchen-tent—Blasting the Rock—The Perils of Nitro-glycerine—Bitter Jests....

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CHAPTER XIII.

We lose our Cows—Cahill promoted—Gardening on a New Principle—Onions in Hot-houses—Cahill is hoaxed—Martin the Builder—How the Navvies lived—Sunday in Camp—The Cook's Leap—That "Beautiful Skunk!"—Wild Fruits—Parting....

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CHAPTER XIV.

For Ostersund—Lake Lulu—Giant Rocks and Pigmy Mortals—The Island Garden—Heaven's Artillery—Strange Casualty at the Ravine—My Luggage nearly blown up—The Driver's Presence of Mind—How to carry a Canoe—Darlington Bay—An Invisible Lake—Lord and Lady Dufferin—A Paddle to the Lakes—The Captain's Tug—Monopoly of Water-carriage—Indian Legends—The Abode of Snakes....

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CHAPTER XV.

Clear Water Bay transformed—Cahill's Farewell—Ptarmigan Bay—A Night under Canvas—"No more Collars or Neckties!"—Companions in Misfortune—Cedar Lake—"Lop-sticks"—An Indian Village—Shashegheesh's Two Wives—Buying Potatoes— Seniores Priores —Excellent Carrots!—Frank's Flirtations with the Squaws—The Dogs eat Carrière's Toboggan....

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CHAPTER XVI.

Falcon River—An Unlucky Supper—The Fate of our Fried Pork—A Weary Paddle—A Sundial in the Wilderness—A Gipsy Picnic—"Floating away"—The Dried Musk-rats—Falcon Lake—How can we land?—Mr. M—— "in again"—Surprised by Indians—How we dried our Clothes—The Last Night in Camp....

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CHAPTER XVII.

Indian Loyalty—A Nap on Falcon Lake—A False Alarm—The Power of Whisky—"Magnificent Water Stretches"—A Striking Contrast—Picnic Lake—How we crossed Hawk Lake—Long Pine Lake—Bachelors' Quarters at Ingolf—We dress for Dinner—Our Last Portage—A Rash Choice—"Grasp your Nettle"—Mr. F——'s Gallantry—Cross Lake—Denmark's Ranche—A Tramp through the Mire....

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CHAPTER XVIII.

Tilford—Pedestrians under Difficulties—The Railway at last—Not exactly a First-class Carriage—The Jules Muskeg—Whitemouth and Broken-Head Rivers—Vagaries of the Engine-Driver—The Hotel at St. Boniface—Red River Ferry—Winnipeg—"A Vagabond Heroine"—The Terrier at fault....

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CHAPTER XIX.

The Minnesota again—Souvenirs of Lord and Lady Dufferin—From Winnipeg by Red River— Compagnons du Voyage —A Model Farm—"Bees"—Manitoba a good Field for Emigrants—Changes at Fisher's Landing—A Mild Excitement for Sundays—Racing with Prairie Fires—Glyndon—Humours of a Pullman Sleeping Car—Lichfield....

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CHAPTER XX.

Lakes Smith and Howard—Lovely Lake Scenery—Long Lake—The Little American—"Wait till you see our Minnetaunka!"—Minneanopolis—Villa Hotels—A Holiday Town—The Great Flour-mills—St. Paul's—Our American Cousins—The French Canadian's Story—Kind-hearted Fellow-passengers—A New Way of Travelling together—The Mississippi—Milwaukee, the Prettiest Town in Michigan—School-houses—A Peep at Chicago—Market Prices—Pigs!—The Fairy Tales of Progress—Scotch Incredulity—Detroit Ferry—Hamilton—Good-bye to my Readers

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CHAPTER I.

The Grand Trunk Railway—Sarnia—"Confusion worse confounded"—A Churlish Hostess—Fellow-Passengers on the Manitoba —"Off at last!"—Musical Honours—Sunrise on Lake Huron—A Scramble for Breakfast—An Impromptu Dance—The General Foe. After a long day's journey on the Grand Trunk Railway, without even the eccentricities of fellow-passengers in our Pullman car to amuse us, we were all glad to reach Sarnia. The monotony of the scenery through which we passed had been unbroken, except by a prettily situat

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CHAPTER II.

Saulte Ste. Marie—Indian Embroidery—Lake Superior—Preaching, Singing, and Card-playing—Silver Islet—Thunder Bay—The Dog River—Flowers at Fort William—"Forty Miles of Ice"—Icebergs and Warm Breezes—Duluth—Hotel Belles—Bump of Destructiveness in Porters. The scenery just before entering the St. Mary River, which unites Lake Huron and Lake Superior, is very fine. As the steamer threaded the group of islands with their high, rocky, picturesquely wooded shores, we were sometimes near enough to distin

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CHAPTER III.

The Mississippi—The Rapids—Aerial Railway Bridges—Breakfast at Braynor—Lynch Law—Card-sharpers—Crowding in the Cars—Woman's Rights!—The Prairie—"A Sea of Fire"—Crookstown—Fisher's Landing—Strange Quarters—"The Express-man's Bed"—Herding like Sheep—On board the Minnesota . After leaving Duluth at four o'clock on Tuesday morning by rail, the country through which we passed was very beautiful. Lake succeeded lake, then came wooded hills and tiny mountain streams, crossed by high bridges. These brid

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CHAPTER IV.

Red Lake River—Grand Forks—The Ferry—Custom-house Officers at Pembina—Mud and Misery—Winnipeg at last—A Walk through the Town—A Hospitable Welcome—Macadam wanted—Holy Trinity Church—A Picturesque Population—Indians shopping—An "All-sorts" Store—St. Boniface and its Bells—An Evening Scene. Red Lake River flows into Red River at Grand Forks, some twelve or thirteen miles below Fisher's Landing. It is much the narrower stream, with so many bends that when we were not running headlong into the left

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CHAPTER V.

Summer Days—The English Cathedral—Icelandic Emigrants— Tableaux —In chase of our Dinner—The Indian Summer—Blocked up—Gigantic Vegetables—Fruitfulness of the Country—Iceland Maidens—Rates of Wages—Society at Winnipeg—Half-castes—Magic of the Red River Water—A Happy Hunting-ground—Where is Manitoba? The summer passed uneventfully. Day after day we watched for the white-covered mail-waggon, pails dangling underneath it, dogs trotting behind, rousing as they passed countless wild brethren from every

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CHAPTER VI.

Winter Amusements—A Winnipeg Ball—Forty Degrees below Zero—New Year's Day—Saskatchewan Taylor—Indian Compliments—A Dog train—Lost in the Snow—Amateur Theatricals—Sir Walter Raleigh's Hat—A Race with the Freshets—The Ice moves—The First Steamer of the Season—Good-bye to Winnipeg. Snow lay several inches thick on the ground at Christmas, and we had sleigh drives over the smooth white prairie, one great advantage of Manitoban winters being that when once the ground is covered with snow, if only to

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CHAPTER VII.

A Manitoban Travelling-carriage—The Perils of Short Cuts—The Slough of Despond—Paddy to the Rescue!—"Stick-in-the-Mud" and his Troubles—McQuade's—An Irish Welcome—Wretched Wanderers. After many days of packing, general confusion, and disturbing dust, culminating in breakfast in the kitchen, dinner on a packing-case in the parlour, high tea at a neighbour's in our travelling-gear, and a night at the hotel, we rose at five o'clock on the morning of the 5th of June to be ready for our journey to Cl

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CHAPTER VIII.

Faithless Jehu—The "Blarney Stone"—Mennonites in search of News—"Water, Water everywhere"—A Herd of Buffaloes—A Mud Village—Pointe du Chêne and Old Nile—At Dawson Route—A Cheerful Party— Toujours perdrix —The "Best Room"—A Government Shanty—Cats and Dogs—Birch River—Mushroom-picking—The Mosquito Plague—A Corduroy Road—The Cariboo Muskeg. When we resumed our journey, the weather was hazy and seemed to threaten a thunderstorm. Accordingly, we made great haste, in the hope of reaching "Pointe du Ch

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CHAPTER IX.

The "Nor'-west Angle"—The Company's House—Triumph of "Stick-in-the-Mud"—On the Lake of the Woods—A Gallant Cook—Buns à l'imprèvu —A Man overboard!—Camping out—Clear Water Bay—Our First Portage—A Noble Savage—How Lake Rice and Lake Deception won their Names—At our Journey's End. The "Nor'-west Angle" is a little village at the north-west corner of the Lake of the Woods, and at the mouth of a nameless river, or narrow arm of the lake. The banks on one side are high and wooded, on the other high al

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CHAPTER X.

Making a New Home—Carrière's Kitchen—The Navvies' Salle-à-Manger —A Curious Milking Custom—Insect Plagues—Peterboro' Canoes—Fishing Trips—Mail-day—Indian dread of drowning—The Indian Mail-carrier and his Partner—Talking by Telegraph—Prairie Fires. A detailed account of how we spent the next few weeks would be of little interest, so I will only give it in outline. We slept in the house and took our meals at the fort, Carrière doing the cooking under a low tent close by, which, as a kitchen, was d

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CHAPTER XI.

Irish Wit—Bears?—Death on the Red Pine Lake—A Grave in the Catholic Cemetery—The First Dog-train—A Christmas Fête—Compulsory Temperance—Contraband Goods—The Prisoner wins the Day—Whisky on the Island—The Smuggler turned Detective—A Fatal Frolic—"Mr. K——'s Legs". The chimneys in Mr. C——'s house were built of mud, and one of them, which smoked whenever a fire was lighted, had to be pulled down and rebuilt. The workmen, who were of various nationalities—Carrière an Indian, old Cahill an Irishman, a

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CHAPTER XII.

Birds of Passage—An Independent Swede—By Sleigh to Ostersund—A Son of the Forest—Burnt out—A Brave Canadian Girl—Roughing it in the Shanty—The Kitchen-tent—Blasting the Rock—The Perils of Nitro-glycerine—Bitter Jests. We had plenty of strange visitors; almost every day men passing along the line came in, either to inquire the distance to the next shanty, or to ask for a meal or drink of milk. Some showed a friendly disposition, and would entertain us with their full family history. Others, with

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CHAPTER XIII.

We lose our Cows—Cahill promoted—Gardening on a New Principle—Onions in Hot-houses—Cahill is hoaxed—Martin the Builder—How the Navvies lived—Sunday in Camp—The Cook's Leap—That "Beautiful Skunk!"—Wild Fruits—Parting. A few weeks after the fire, the C——s had another loss, in the sudden death of two cows. No cause could be assigned for it; unless there might have been poison in the wild hay which they ate, put there by the Indians to kill the foxes. The difficulty of supplying their place on the l

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CHAPTER XIV.

For Ostersund—Lake Lulu—Giant Rocks and Pigmy Mortals—The Island Garden—Heaven's Artillery—Strange Casualty at the Ravine—My Luggage nearly blown up—The Driver's Presence of Mind—How to carry a Canoe—Darlington Bay—An Invisible Lake—Lord and Lady Dufferin—A Paddle to the Lakes—The Captain's Tug—Monopoly of Water-carriage—Indian Legends—The Abode of Snakes. The 27th of August dawned sultry and oppressive, but having decided to leave Inver for a long-promised visit to Ostersund on that day, and fe

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CHAPTER XV.

Clear Water Bay transformed—Cahill's Farewell—Ptarmigan Bay—A Night under Canvas—"No more Collars or Neckties!"—Companions in Misfortune—Cedar Lake—"Lop-sticks"—An Indian Village—Shashegheesh's Two Wives—Buying Potatoes— Seniores Priores —Excellent Carrots!—Frank's Flirtations with the Squaws—The Dogs eat Carrière's Toboggan. Towards noon we turned westward into Clear Water Bay, and were soon at the landing. How changed from the night when we landed here nearly a year and a half before! Then it

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CHAPTER XVI.

Falcon River—An Unlucky Supper—The Fate of our Fried Pork—A Weary Paddle—A Sundial in the Wilderness—A Gipsy Picnic—"Floating away"—The Dried Musk-rats—Falcon Lake—How can we land?—Mr. M—— "in again"—Surprised by Indians—How we dried our Clothes—The Last Night in Camp. Half an hour after leaving the Indian village we reached Falcon River, a narrow winding stream running in a swamp between hills. About half a mile down we struck our camp for the night, at a spot where a rude wharf or landing of l

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CHAPTER XVII

Indian Loyalty—A Nap on Falcon Lake—A False Alarm—The Power of Whisky—Magnificent Water Stretches—A Striking Contrast—Picnic Lake—How we crossed Hawk Lake—Long Pine Lake—Bachelors' Quarters at Ingolf—We dress for Dinner—Our Last Portage—A Rash Choice—Grasp your Nettle—Mr. F——'s Gallantry—Cross Lake—Denmark's Ranche—A Tramp through the Mire. Next morning the sun rose bright and clear, but as there was still a good deal of wind, which was likely to increase as the day advanced, we started early; n

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CHAPTER XVIII.

Tilford—Pedestrians under Difficulties—The Railway at last—Not exactly a First-class Carriage—The Jules Muskeg—Whitemouth and Broken-Head Rivers—Vagaries of the Engine-driver—The Hotel at St. Boniface—Red River Ferry—Winnipeg—"A Vagabond Heroine"—The Terrier at fault. We reached Tilford about six. How we pitied the pretty, sad-looking woman, wife of the engineer, for having to live in a house stranded upon a bank of mud, just high enough to keep the water out, and with mud and marsh on all sides

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CHAPTER XIX.

The Minnesota again—Souvenirs of Lord and Lady Dufferin—From Winnipeg by Red River— Compagnons du Voyage —A Model Farm—"Bees"—Manitoba a good Field for Emigrants—Changes at Fisher's Landing—A Mild Excitement for Sundays—Racing with Prairie Fires—Glyndon—Humours of a Pullman Sleeping Car—Lichfield. We came up the Red River in the Minnesota , the vessel in which I had gone down two years and a half before; the same, too, used by Lord and Lady Dufferin, with their party. Some Americans who were wit

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CHAPTER XX.

Lakes Smith and Howard—Lovely Lake Scenery—Long Lake—The Little American—"Wait till you see our Minnetaunka!"—Minneanopolis—Villa Hotels—A Holiday Town—The Great Flour-mills—St. Paul's—Our American Cousins—The French Canadian's Story—Kind-hearted Fellow-passengers—A New Way of Travelling together—The Mississippi—Milwaukee, the Prettiest Town in Michigan—School-houses—A Peep at Chicago—Market Prices—Pigs!—The Fairy Tales of Progress—Scotch Incredulity—Detroit Ferry—Hamilton—Good-bye to my Readers

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