274 THE .\Mi:iif('.\.\ Mrsrj\]f .ioihsal 



of the world's Krcjid. Near tlic railroad the land is mostly uiid<i- ciiltixation 

 and conifortaMc homes and hountiful jrraiii fields testify to the lich nature 

 of the soil. A few miles eastward the i)rushlaiid <,n'\-es way to a le\ el (xpanse 

 of grass-coxcred jjrairie dotted here and there hy large and small lakes 

 probably of glaeial origin. Mile after mile the road follows section lines 

 and one is rarely out of sight of the house of si>me "homesteader." It is 

 through this lexcl farm land that tlie Red Deer liivcr wen<ls its way flowing 

 through a canon far lielow the sm'face. .\ear Wagner's ranch the canon 

 was ])rosj)eeted and so many hones found that it appeared most desirable 

 to do extended searching along the rix'cr. 



Usually fossils are found in "bad lands," where extensive areas are 

 denuded of grass and the surface eroded into hills and ra\ines. .\ camp is 

 located near some spring or stream and collectors ride or walk oxer miles 

 of these exposures in each direction till the region is thoroughly explored. 

 Quite different are conditions on the lied Deer Rixcr. ( utting through 

 the prairie land the river has formed a canon two to fi\e hundred feet deep 

 and rarely more than a mile wide at the toj). In places the walls are 

 nearly ])er[)endieular and the ri\"er winds in its narrow valley, touching 

 one side then crossing to the other so that it is impossibl(> to follow \\\) or 

 down its course any great distance even on horseback. 



It was evident that the most feasible way to work these banks was from a 

 boat; consequently in the summer of lOlO our party proceeded to the town 

 of Red Deer, where the ("algary-Edmonton railroad crosses the river. 

 There a flatboat, twelve by thirty feet in dimension, was constructed on 

 lines similar to a western ferry boat, having a carrying capacity of eight 

 tons with a twenty-two foot oar at each end to direct its course. The rapid 

 current axeraging about four miles per hour precluded any thought of going 

 up stream in a large boat, so it was constructed on lines sufficiently generous 

 to form a living boat as well as to carry the season's collection of fossils. 



Supplied with a season's provisions, lumber for bo.xes, and j)laster 

 for encasing bones, we began our fossil cruise down a canon which once 

 echoed songs of the Bo's hrulf, for this was at one time the fur territory 

 of the great Hudson Bay Company. 



No more interesting or instructixc journey has excr been taken by 

 the writer. High up on the plateau, l)uildings and ha,vstacks proclaim a 

 well-.settled country, but habitations are rarely seen from the rixer and 

 for miles we floated through picturesque solitude unbroken save by the roar 

 of the rapids. 



Especially characteristic of this canon are the slides where the current 

 setting against the bank has undermined it until a mountain of earth slips 

 into tlie rixer, in some cases almost choking its course. A continual sorting 



