EXPEDITIONS TO PACIFIC. 135 



(13) Exploraiioiis in connection ivitJi the Canadian Pacific Railway, IStl-lSSl. 



Early in IS'Tl, the negotiations lor tlio admissiou of British Columbia iuto the 

 Canadian confederation took such a form that i\vi snccessful termination of them was 

 foreseen. The construction of the Pacifie Railway was a prominent condition in the; 

 articles of union, and in consequence preparations for explorations on a comprehensive 

 scale were commenced. Surveying parties were organized, so as to take the field on the 

 opening of the lakes and rivers. On July 20th of that year the admission of the western 

 province iuto the Canadian Dominion was consummated ; on that day the first detach- 

 ment of engineers left Victoria, Vancouver Island, to commence explorations between 

 the coast and the Rocky Mountains. The vast territory intervening between the valley 

 of the Ottawa and the Pacific coast, which now became the field of survey, cxtendi'd 

 within its extreme limits over fifty-four degrees of longitude and ten degrees of latitude. 

 The chief obstacle to be overcome lay in the mountain region to the west and the wood- 

 land region to the east, and it became necessary to explore long stretches of trackless 

 and uninhabited territory, portions of which so far as we have any record to show, had 

 never been penetrated by civilized man. 



During the season of 1871 twenty-one surveying parties were placed in the field, 

 and their operations were continued from year to year. The examinations were much 

 interrupted during the winter, although as far as practicable the work of exploration was 

 carried on both in winter and summer. It would not be possible wuthin the limits of 

 this paper to give even a faint outline of the detail of these years of labour. The results 

 are fully embodied in the several volumes of engineers' reports annually submitted to 

 Parliament. As a rule the work of each party in the field was confined to a particular 

 district and rarely partook of the character of a "through" expedition. The engineering 

 corps engaged in the mountain region usually made their way to British Columbia by 

 railway to San Francisco and thence by steamer, returning to Ottawa by the same route. 

 Some indiA'idual members of the service who passed overland through the Dominion have 

 been specially mentioned ; the following may likewise be referred to. 



In 1879 Messrs. Gambie and McLeod, accompanied by Dr. Gr. M. Dawson and Rev. 

 D. M. Gordon, left Ottawa by way of San Francisco, for the northern parts of British 

 Columbia. B}'^ steamer they arrived at Port Essington, at the mouth of the Skeena, 

 on June 6th, and immediately commenced the ascent of the river by canoe. In two 

 weeks they reached the forks of the Skeena. Leaving the river, they crossed to Babiue 

 Lake, which they followed to its southern end, and thence passed over to Fort St. James, 

 on Stewart Lake, where they arrived on July Stli. Thence by land they followed 

 the trail to Fort McLeod on the Parsnip, a tributary of Peace River. At Fort McLeod, 

 the party was divided. Dr. Dawson proceeded across the mountains by Pine River 

 pass, while the main party descended the Parsnip and Peace Rivers. Explorations were 

 continued on the two routes until the end of August, when the two divisions of the 

 party rejoined at Dunvegan, on Peace River east of the mountains. In September they 

 again divided. Mr. Cambie recrossed the mountains by Pine River Pass, and reached 

 the Pacific coast by way of the valley of the Fraser. The remaining members of the 

 expedition followed différent routes to Edmonton, and thence across the prairies to 

 Winniiieg. All arrived at Ottawa at the end of the season. Reports from the several 



