EXPEDITIONS TO PACIFIC. 129 



his views as to the number and character of the Indians in the country traversed. Colonel 

 Eobertson Ross reached "Wild Horse Creek, on the west side of the main range of mount- 

 ains, and proceeded southerly via Mooyais liiver. Lake Pend d'Oreille, the Spokane and 

 Snake Elvers to Walla "Walla and Walula, in "Washington Territory, U. S. The portion of 

 the journey across the mountains was tedious and fatiguing. From "Walula he descended 

 the Columbia to Portland, and thence passed northward via Olympia and Pnget Sound to 

 Victoria, in Vancouver Island, where he arrived on October 28th. Remaining about 

 two weeks in British Columbia, he returned through the United States by way of San 

 Francisco, and by railway to Chicago and Ottawa. 



(4) Travch of General Sir W. F. Buller, 1872-1873. 



General, then Captain, W. F. Butler left England in 1872, and travelled by way of 

 Minnesota to Red River. He found the village of Fort Garry, afterwards to be known as 

 the city of Winnipeg, under the excitement of an election, the first which had taken 

 place. On October 4th he left for the Northwest. Reaching the forks of the Saskatchewan 

 his intention being to make this place a central point from which the buffalo could 

 be hunted, he remained in this neighbourhood until February, when with a dog-train 

 he started for the west and reached Fort Carleton. On the 11th of that month he left 

 Fort Carleton and passed by the way of Methye portage, the river Athabasca and Athabasca 

 Lake to Peace River. He ascended the Peace River valley, followed the Finlay or North 

 Branch to Omiuica, and ascended a western tributary to Germansen. From Germansen 

 he passed overland to Fort St. James. Leaving this point ou May 25th he travelled 

 southerly to Quesnel on the Fraser, where he arrived on June 3rd. At Quesnel he came 

 within reach of the appliances of civilization to carry him to New Westminster. On his 

 return to England, General Butler published an account of his travels entitled "The 

 Wild North Laud, being the story of a winter journey with dogs across Northern North 

 America." 



(5) Expedition of the Boimdary Commission, 1872-1874. 



The boundary between British North America and the United States, as described in 

 the Treaties of 1818 and 1846, had been in previous years defined and traced from the 

 Atlantic westward to Lake of the Woods, and from the Pacific eastward to the crest 

 of the Rocky Mountains. There remained to be marked out the intervening distance. 

 In 1872 the British and United States Governments appointed a joint commission to trace 

 the line from Lake of the Woods to the summit of the mountains. The British com- 

 missioner was Major-Geueral, then Major, D. R. Cameron, R. A. Mr. Archibald Campbell 

 acted in that capacity for the United States. A staff of scientific officers of both nations 

 with mounted escorts were detailed for the service. 



The field operations were begun at Lake of the Woods in the autumn of 1872 and 

 prosecuted to completion during the two following years. A topographical survey was 

 made of the belts of country five miles wide on each side of the line. Iron monuments 

 were planted from longitude 96° to 90° at intervals of a mile ; west of the latter point 

 the line was marked by stone pyramids or otherwise at approximate intervals of three 



Sec. II, 1889. 17. 



