Robber Dogs and an Indian Council 47 



hardly worked and had suffered so much, 

 that it would have been cruelty so soon to 

 put them on the trail again. The result was, 

 that while giving my dogs a rest at times, 

 I had to hire not only incompetent guides, 

 but also trains of native dogs that often 

 sorely tried me. 



A queer lot of Indians they were. But I 

 became interested in them as soon as they 

 stated the reason of their coming. They 

 were a deputation from the northwestern 

 side of Lake Winnipeg, and they had been 

 sent to ask me to go over and meet them in 

 council, and advise them, as I had done 

 other Indians who had made treaties with 

 the Government. 



The great in-rush of white settlers and 

 adventurers into Manitoba and the North- 

 west Territories, in the early seventies, 

 greatly troubled the Indians. They feared 

 that in spite of all the fair promises made 

 to them, they were in danger of losing their 

 lands, the hunting-grounds of their fore- 

 fathers, without a fair compensation. Put- 

 ting ourselves in their places, we can see 

 that they had much to perplex and trouble 

 them. They used to come to me in their 

 bewilderment and ask me to explain many 



