[howay] the raison D'ETRE OF FORTS YALE AND HOPE 53 



Anderson set out in May, 1846, with five companions, taking the 

 course that had been indicated and Hving on the country as Ogden had 

 ordered. The journey outward occupied nine days ; the distance was 

 estimated to be 229| miles. He unhesitatingly condemned it as 

 altogether useless for the company's purposes. On his return trip, 

 instead of examining the Fraser canyons, he left that river at what is 

 now the town of Hope, taking his course up the defile of the Coqua- 

 halla, across the Cascade Mountains to the Tulameen River, and 

 over the plain country to Kamloops. The whole return journey 

 from Langley consumed thirteen days. In his report^^ Anderson 

 stated that a practicable road might be made by that route, but 

 owing to the elevation of the summit it would only be available for 

 the passage of the brigade between the months of July and September. 

 James Douglas, the head of the company on the Pacific coast, did 

 not favour such a location, with its narrow time limitations, for the 

 connections with the interior. He clung to the belief that a suitable 

 road could be obtained by travelling west from Kamloops along or near 

 the Thompson River, and, after crossing the Cascades, descending to 

 the Fraser in the neighbourhood of Spuzzum. On January 12, 1847, 

 while formally approving and commending the zeal of Mr. Anderson, 

 and condemning the Coquahalla route because of its elevation, he 

 instructed him to examine the possibility of finding a passable trail 

 for the brigade upon the general line above indicated. Accordingly 

 in May, 1847, Anderson and five companions departed once more 

 from Kamloops following now the south side of the Thompson River, 

 but he soon decided that no practicable route could be found in its 

 valley. He, however, discovered further to the southward a suitable 

 line by which Fraser River could be reached at the spot mentioned by 

 Douglas. This trail followed in a general way up the Coldwater 

 River, across the Cascades, and, after proceeding along Anderson 

 River for a distance, turned to the left and reached the Fraser at 

 Kequeloose, about six miles above Spuzzum, and near the site where 

 the suspension bridge was afterwards erected. From that point he 

 had to face the stretch of two or three miles of bad water, the lower 

 canyon of the Fraser. Though the river was then in freshet, Anderson 

 concluded that by portaging at three spots it could be utilized for 

 the conveyance of both the goods and the furs. To assure himself on 

 this essential point he proceeded to Langley, resolving on his return 

 trip to bring a canoe thence to the head of the lower canyon. He 

 left Langley on 1st June and in five days, with some mishaps, succeeded 

 in his purpose. This, however, as he well realized, proved but little ; 



i^Report of A. C. Anderson preserved in Archives of British Columbia. 



